World news | The Guardian

Minister says sale could disturb stability in the region and potentially threaten Norwegian interests'The Norwegian government has called off a plan to sell the last privately owned piece of land on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard in order to prevent its acquisition by China.The remote Sore Fagerfjord property in south-west Svalbard - 60 sq miles (sq km) of mountains, plains and a glacier - was on sale for 300m (277m). Continue reading...

Study reveals support for measures to maintain public services, regardless of impact on household financesTwice as many Britons support tax increases to pay for public services as those who believe they should be reduced even if it means further public service cuts, according to new a report.A study released by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, a research body set up by the fund manager, said the public are willing to support policies that they don't think will benefit their own finances, despite almost two in five (39%) of households now classed as having serious financial difficulties. The number of households with finances in distress has increased by 2.9 million since the last election in 2019, when 28% were in that situation. Continue reading...

Reset with Europe is priority for man who is on course to be foreign secretary, amid two wars and crisis in FranceDavid Lammy will be the first Labour foreign secretary succeeding a Conservative government since Robin Cook in 1997, if his party triumphs in the general election. On his arrival in office, Cook's first two acts were to expand the Foreign Office newspaper subscription list to include the Racing Post, and, perhaps more momentously, give an interview to the Observer hailing an end to xenophobia".Lammy will be less bothered about racing tips, but he is tempted to send a broadly similar signal to Cook's about how the UK under Labour is going to reconnect with the world. Continue reading...

Kaspersky, Moscow-based company deemed security risk in US, has been dropped from Australian consumer watchdog website partner list

Exclusive: Alan Milburn, Jacqui Smith and Sally Morgan would be contenders to take over from Richard MeddingsLabour is poised to axe the chair of NHS England if it wins the election and replace him with a party loyalist to help implement its plans to revive the broken" health service.The party is considering replacing Richard Meddings with the former health secretary Alan Milburn, the ex-home secretary Jacqui Smith, or Sally Morgan, who served as Tony Blair's political secretary. Continue reading...

Some 68,000 people are expected to die alone and unnoticed in Japan this year, police say, as the population continues to ageWe occasionally greet each other, but that's all. If one of my neighbours died, I'm not sure I would notice," says Noriko Shikama, 76. She lives alone in a flat Tokiwadaira, in Tokyo's commuter belt and has come to the Iki Iki drop-in centre to catch up with residents over cups of coffee served by volunteers.Here, amid the everyday discussions about the merits or otherwise of dyeing grey hair, people also share news about the latest lonely death, or kodokushi - officially defined as one in which a person dies without being cared for by anyone, and whose body is found after a certain period". Continue reading...

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Only a third of shifts have enough nurses on duty, the Royal College of Nursing says its analysis showsNHS patients are being left unseen in pain and in some cases to die alone because shifts do not have enough registered nurses, a survey shows.The Royal College of Nursing said analysis of a survey it carried out showed that only a third of shifts had enough registered nurses on duty. Continue reading...

Thirty-five bodies recovered in March from company's premises, along with ashes of unknown number of peoplePolice in Humberside have met with more than 160 families whose loved ones' remains could be among human ashes found at the Legacy funeral home in Hull that will never be identified.A total of 35 bodies were recovered in March from the company's premises on Hessle Road, along with the ashes of an unknown number of people, after reports of concern for care of the deceased". Continue reading...

Tories make last-ditch attempt to persuade their voters to turn out for Thursday's electionLabour would use a landslide victory to shift politics to the left and stay in power for decades, Rishi Sunak will warn on Monday, as he launches a last-ditch attempt to persuade Conservative voters to turn out for Thursday's election.The prime minister will address a rally at the beginning of the final week of the election campaign, which polls suggest will end in the Conservatives being ousted from power. Continue reading...

Music festival eschews football screening out of respect for headliners, but people wheel out portable TVs

Incoming government would need to urgently restore faith in politics through deeds, not words', says leaderKeir Starmer has said a new Labour government would have to stave off a rise of the populist right by urgently restoring faith in British politics through deeds, not words" and making a material difference to people's lives.As the election campaign enters its final days, the Labour leader said that while hope has been kicked out" of people, his plans for economic growth across the country, the NHS and the transition to renewables could help bring it back. Continue reading...

Israel's military says large number' of militants dead in Shujaiya area near Gaza City amid reports of bodies in streets

Exclusive: Dr George Dimitroulis has not yet been required to respond to claims, but previously denied negligence in relation to first case reported by Guardian Australia

Greens use Parliamentary Budget Office analysis to demand Labor wind back both policies in return for support on Help to Buy scheme

Ukraine president says long-distance strikes and modern air defences crucial to halting Russian terror'The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has renewed his calls for more air defences and long-range weapons after a missile attack in southern Ukraine killed seven people including two children.Ukrainian officials released photos showing bodies covered with picnic blankets in a park in Vilniansk, a town near the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, alongside deep craters in the scorched earth and the charred remains of a nearby building. Continue reading...

Five others wounded in attack police sources say may be linked to settling of scores between drug traffickersOne person has been killed and five others wounded in north-east France after masked gunmen opened fire at a wedding ceremony, police said.Sources suggested the attack in Thionville could be linked to a settling of scores between drug traffickers. Continue reading...

Prime minister says he's fighting very hard' as campaigning reaches final days with Labour retaining the lead in polling for the ObserverRishi Sunak said the slur used about him by a Reform UK canvasser was deeply inappropriate and racist".The prime minister told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show that anyone becoming a politician expects a degree of criticism because it comes with the territory". Continue reading...

Prime minister reiterates stance that Britain's economic problems are the result of Covid and war in Ukraine

Man-made crises in Gaza and Sudan leaving millions of people at risk, says retiring British diplomat Martin GriffithsSudan is facing horror beyond imagination", the outgoing UN aid chief has warned, with 750,000 people under imminent threat of famine and with conditions in danger of worsening even further.The British diplomat Martin Griffiths will retire from his job as the UN's undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs at a time when famine on a historic scale is looming over Sudan and Gaza. Continue reading...

Alfie Friedman delves into the dark side to star in Linnie Reedman and Joe Evans' Southwark Playhouse productionIt was Oscar Wilde's only novel, but one whose subject matter about the desire for eternal youth still resonates more than 130 years after its publication. Now The Picture of Dorian Gray has been turned into a contemporary musical with an emphasis not just on self obsession and fame, but also gay sex and hard drug-taking.Oscar would be delighted for his novel to be adapted as a musical celebrating open queerness," says Linnie Reedman, creator and director of Dorian: The Musical. Yet our Dorian also has moral quandaries and tortuous moments." Continue reading...

David Pocock urges government to fix gap in the law after 28 complaints, but Labor says it will not support amendment

The voice of Gaelic football and hurling for half a century, RTE Radio commentator's wry, deadpan remarks were sporting folkoreWhen the time came for Micheal O Muircheartaigh to leave the field and discover if there are Gaelic Games in the afterlife, Ireland mourned a radio broadcaster who for half a century had been the voice of sport.Sadness at news of his death on Tuesday at the age of 93 swiftly alchemised into a celebration of a singular ability to paint pictures with words, lyricism and wisecracks that made the nation laugh and entered folklore. Continue reading...

Adam Bandt says misinformation during referendum campaign shows need for deeper discussion about the truth of our country's history"

Women should be at centre of climate policies as they face increased rates of violence and homelessness after disasters, researchers say

Celebrities including Kit Harington, Deborah Meaden and Jason Manford back Keir Starmer's partyElton John has led a lineup of celebrities who have announced their support for Labour at the general election.The singer-songwriter and his husband, David Furnish, joined actors Kit Harington and James Norton, singer Beverley Knight, comedian Jason Manford and businesswoman Deborah Meaden in bringing some stardust to a Labour supporters' meeting held in the final days before next week's poll. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Documents reveal the ADF has conducted more than a dozen investigations into allegations about army and navy personnel since 2022

Concerns mount for the UK's non-EU migrants, as even those who have lived in Britain for decades will have to provide proof of residencyThe government is telling migrants who have lived in Britain for decades to provide proof for every year of their residency as part of the controversial transition to digital visas, immigration lawyers have warned.Under a process that critics say risks a repeat of the Windrush scandal, the Home Office is changing how non-EU migrants prove their residency rights, switching from physical biometric residence permits (BRPs) to digital eVisas" at the end of this year. Continue reading...

A list compiled by spymaster Robert Cecil gives an insight into the beginnings of the secret service, says historianFor more than a century, it lay undisturbed in the National Archives: a single sheet of paper, headed The names of the Intelligencers, with the power to unveil a hidden network of secret Elizabethan spies.Now, the 428-year-old secret dossier of Robert Cecil, spymaster to Elizabeth I and the man who discovered the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, has been pieced together using this key document. It reveals how Cecil set up and used a clandestine espionage network to spy on European monarchs for the English throne. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester police say dog was destroyed at the scene as the last possible option' and two men arrestedAn XL bully dog has been shot dead by police after a woman was attacked and injured.Greater Manchester police said officers were called to Gladstone Road in Eccles at 9pm on Friday after several reports of a dog dangerously out of control. Continue reading...

There may be more than one Portillo moment' this time, with the chancellor and a former leader among those at riskThe felling of Michael Portillo became a famous moment of the 1997 Labour landslide. This election could see a series of Tory big beasts lose their seats if the polls prove to be right. From a former leader to the current chancellor, these are the senior Conservatives at risk. Continue reading...

Volunteers helping police in search of rocky wildness close to where teenager went missingA mass search" for the missing teenager Jay Slater has begun in Tenerife after police called for volunteers to take part.Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, was last heard from on the morning of Monday 17 June when he called a friend to say he had no water and only 1% battery left on his phone. Continue reading...

Bodies of Lauren Evans, 22, and Daniel Duffield, 24, were discovered at a house in Hednesford, Cannock, on TuesdayPolice say they are not looking for anyone else after a a woman and a man were found dead at a house in Staffordshire.A murder investigation was launched after the bodies of Lauren Evans, 22, from Bridgend, south Wales, and Daniel Duffield, 24, a paramedic, from Cannock, were discovered at a property in Hednesford, Cannock, on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Loss of income, curbs on benefits and soaring bills are piling pressure on people caring for family membersPeople who look after family members free of charge are taking a huge hit to their finances which could continue into their retirement as they find themselves unable to balance paid work with their caring commitments.Recent analysis of official figures by the financial firm Just Retirement found seven in 10 people who were receiving carer's allowance were not in paid work, and missing out on earnings and private pension contributions. Continue reading...

Frontman, who spoke before about substance addiction, said to have taken mix of pharmaceutical and street drugsThe US singer Seth Binzer, whose rap-rock band Crazy Town became a No 1 hit with 2001's Butterfly, died as a result of an accidental drug overdose, his group's manager told the Guardian on Friday.Crazy Town manager Howie Hubberman said the death on Monday of the musician known as Shifty Shellshock occurred after he ingested an unintentionally lethal combination of pharmaceutical and street drugs, though the medical examiner in the vocalist's home town of Los Angeles had not yet provided details on an official cause or manner of death. Continue reading...

Investigation details industry campaign including legal threats and charm offensive aimed at Tory MPsRishi Sunak abandoned his legacy" policy to ban smoking for future generations amid a backlash from the tobacco industry in the form of legal threats, lobbying and a charm offensive aimed at Conservative MPs, an investigation reveals.The UK had been on course to become the first country to ban smoking for future generations, via the tobacco and vaping bill, which Downing Street hoped would help define Sunak's place in British political history. Continue reading...

Mohamed Ould Ghazouani expected to be re-elected in region of Africa where coups have been commonplaceAn estimated 2 million people are expected to vote in the presidential election in Mauritania in what could be the desert nation's first civilian-to-civilian transition.After independence from France in 1960, the west African state experienced multiple coups in the following years. The fledging democracy has been somewhat stable since 2019, when Mohamed Ould Ghazouani was elected president. Continue reading...

The leader of Reform UK was questioned by an audience in Birmingham as election campaigning enters its final days

Even Democrats are now saying that it might be time for Biden to hang up the spurs' after disastrous debate

Millions expected to boycott election as they believe regime will manipulate result to ensure loyalist victoryMore than 61.5 million Iranians aged over 18 have been given a chance to vote for a new president and send a message to the regime about the state of the economy, although millions were expected to boycott an election they believe will be manipulated by the regime to ensure a loyalist victory.Iran's leaders want to renew their legitimacy after a steady decline in turnout reached crisis point last year with fewer than 41% voting in parliamentary elections, and fewer than 10% in the capital, Tehran. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Commissioner Michael Outram appeals for greater powers to manage high level of risk' and worrying rates of addiction in facilities

A Guardian Australia investigation has revealed Panthera had circumvented blacklisting designed to stop it operating in Victoria

Though the betting often interests few outside Westminster, leaders must be clear on where opportunity for impropriety really liesUntil the past few weeks, online casinos and bookmakers have made handy villains for an under-pressure government.Ministers could legitimately claim to be cleaning up Labour's mess with reforms that partially roll back the permissive regulatory regime ushered in under Tony Blair. Continue reading...

About 50 members of the group felt the lightning strike as they were hiking, but none sustained life-threatening injuriesSeven members of a youth group hiking in Utah were transported to hospitals on Thursday after lightning struck the ground near them.The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints youth group from Salina, Utah, were in the eastern part of Sevier county at about 1.45pm when a light rain began and the lightning hit, the Sevier county sheriff, Nathan Curtis, said in a statement. Continue reading...

Lawyers acting for victims of Horizon IT scandal accuse Gareth Jenkins of protecting out of control monster'A former Fujitsu engineer has been accused by a lawyer acting for victims of the Post Office scandal of hiding" problems with the Horizon IT system to protect the out of control monster", a public inquiry heard.Gareth Jenkins, formerly a senior engineer at Fujitsu, which developed the Horizon IT system, faced tough questioning by lawyers acting for post office operators caught up in the scandal, which has been described as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in recent history. Continue reading...

Big-serving left-hander is seeded for first time at a grand slam after breakthrough win against Carlos AlcarazThere may have been some indifferent football from England and Scotland in the Euros, and Andy Murray may be straining to be fit enough for one last Wimbledon, but there is at least good news for British sports fans in the emergence of Jack Draper.Last week at Queen's the British No 1 beat Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion, in the second round. It was a breakthrough win for the 22-year-old left-hander, whose thunderous serve put Alcaraz - who won the French Open just under three weeks ago - always on the back foot. Like Alcaraz, whose forehand often draws gasps from the crowd due to its power, Draper had fans oohing and aahing as he sent down 135mph bullets. Continue reading...

Several high-profile members' among 27 supporters of climate group arrested across England, say policeTwenty-seven Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested across London, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Devon, Essex, Manchester, Surrey, Sussex, Norfolk and West Yorkshire on suspicion of planning to disrupt airports this summer, the Metropolitan police have said.Scotland Yard said that on Tuesday four people were arrested after being identified at Gatwick airport and had been released on bail. It said that on Thursday a further six people were arrested at an east London community centre as part of a publicly advertised event promoting airport disruption". Continue reading...

Youth groups from Serbia and Kosovo who organise the Miredita Dobar Dan cultural event accuse Serbia's interior ministry of failing to protect them from intimidationOrganisers of a festival designed to promote cultural exchange between Kosovo and Serbia say Belgrade authorities have caved in to pressure from hooligan groups by banning this year's event.In a statement released on Thursday afternoon, Belgrade police cited security concerns as the reason to cancel the event Miredita Dobar Dan (meaning Good day" in Albanian and Serbian), which was due to start in the Serbian capital yesterday. Continue reading...

In what felt like a Greek tragedy, Trump didn't win the first presidential debate of 2024 - but Biden certainly lost itThat sickening thud you heard was jaws hitting the floor. That queasy sound you heard was hearts sinking into boots. That raspy noise you heard was a US president embodying what felt like the last gasp of the ailing republic.Say it ain't so, Joe. Continue reading...

Chief executive Mike Sneesby says economic headwinds' and end of Meta deal are to blame for lost jobs