World news | The Guardian

Phenomenon is forecast to expand as it strengthens, triggering conditions of more than 30C in parts of EuropeParts of southern and western Europe have been experiencing unusually high temperatures. Areas of Spain and Portugal have recorded daily maximum temperatures in the high 30s celsius for more than a week, exceeding 40C in parts of southern Spain on Sunday. Italy, France, Germany and the Benelux region also reached the low-to-mid 30s celsius in places at the weekend.The heat is caused by a large area of high pressure that is stagnating over Europe and preventing the usual pattern of low pressure systems moving eastwards into Europe from the Atlantic. This is known as a blocking high and results in very dry and stable conditions, as the fronts associated with more dynamic weather patterns are forced away by the high pressure. Continue reading...

Exile in 1976 spawned mass protest movement and led to exodus of some of GDR's top artists and actorsThe life of East Germany's most prominent dissident singer-songwriter, Wolf Biermann, is being celebrated for the first time in a major exhibition that examines his pivotal role in the country's divided post-war history.Biermann's banishment from the GDR in 1976 by communist authorities - who were unable to tolerate his outspoken criticism - not only fuelled his own popularity but helped spread his lyrical, incisive ballads, songs and poems to a far wider audience. It also spawned a mass protest movement, leading to the exodus of some of the German Democratic Republic's most popular artists and actors and the imprisonment of scores of freedom of speech campaigners. Continue reading...

Toddler disappeared from garden of grandparents' house in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence on SaturdayFrench police are engaged in an extensive air and land search for a missing two-year-old boy who disappeared from a village in the south of the country at the weekend.The toddler, Emile, was playing in the garden of his grandparents' house in a hamlet just outside Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence between Grenoble and Nice when he vanished on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading...

Victoria Police says Christophe Glasl was not in Tasmania at the time of Port Arthur massacre, despite his claim to have been involved in its resolution

Consulting firm's self-imposed ban follows scandal over misuse of confidential government tax informationPwC has announced it will no longer make donations to political parties, but a Labor senator central to investigating the consultancy firm's misuse of confidential government tax information says the company needs to further boost its own accountability procedures.In a note to the company's partners on Monday, PwC's acting CEO Kristin Stubbins said the firm's self-imposed ban on making political donations was an important step" in rebuilding its reputation.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

PM says from Berlin $1bn Germany defence deal a win for national sovereignty'. Follow the day's news live

Man taken to hospital after reptile, believed to be 2m long, attacked him in the Litchfield national park

Calls follow royal commission finding Morrison allowed cabinet to be misled', but former PM rejects suggestion of wrongdoing

Indigenous leader's comments come as polling suggests state could be a barrier to vote's success

Request comes as Anthony Albanese attends Nato summit in Europe and possible talks with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Money follows 500m injection in March but troubled utility warns much more future funding needed

Research into loss of trawler with hundreds of deaths strongly contradicts official accounts - while finding a failure to mobilise help and evidence that survivor statements were tampered withAttempts by the Greek coastguard to tow a fishing trawler carrying hundreds of migrants may have caused the vessel to sink, according to a new investigation by the Guardian and media partners that has raised further questions about the incident, which left an estimated 500 people missingThe trawler carrying migrants from Libya to Italy sank off the coast of Greece on 14 June. There were 104 survivors. Continue reading...

Police said poor weather conditions and cool temperatures' meant the tourist could not have survived, but they still hope to bring family closure'

Child safety minister Craig Crawford says frontline staff, experts and advocates will inform review

Following the success of Linden Farm, the Simon Trust helps families create specialised local residences for their adult children with highly complex needsParents across the UK are forming partnerships with local councils to build pioneering supported-living homes for their severely autistic children.With growing numbers of parents increasingly unable to find suitable, safe and secure residential accommodation for their young adult children - and cash-strapped councils having to pay exorbitant costs when already expensive placements break down - the two are coming together to forge a solution. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Document was originally thought to be written by clerk on behalf of Canterbury Tales writer who worked as civil servantA 14th-century bureaucratic document requesting time off work for a civil servant has been identified as the only surviving handwriting of Geoffrey Chaucer, revered as the father of English literature.While it was known that the individual seeking a leave of absence was the author of The Canterbury Tales - during his 12-year employment as controller of the London Wool Quay - the application was assumed to have been made on his behalf by a clerk. Continue reading...

Female students reportedly given sham disciplinary hearings', suspended from classes and threatened with zero grades' for defying head covering lawAt least 60 female students in Iran have reportedly been barred from university for flouting the country's mandatory hijab law.Videos recently shared by citizen journalists show the harassment of women and girls in subways, streets and university campuses by disciplinary committees and pro-regime civilians. In defiance, female university students across the country have been recording themselves without headscarves. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Revelation about Tory former minister raises questions about adequacy of transparency rulesIt was her robust questioning of the former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond that first brought Andrea Leadsom to political prominence.During the Treasury select committee's review of Diamond's part, as head of the bank, in the Libor rate-fixing scandal, the Conservative MP was viewed as having been masterly in her command of the subject and her attack on the banking sector. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sharon Grant, wife of the late Tottenham MP, criticises party's progress on BAME representationLabour must do more to dispel the perception of racism within the party, the widow of one of the country's first black British MPs has warned, amid frustrations that no graduate of the party's sole scheme for developing minority ethnic talent has been selected to stand as an MP.The party has launched the second cohort of its Bernie Grant leadership programme (BGLP), dedicated to developing the next generation of black politicians, in recognition of a lack of diversity across all levels. Continue reading...

Charity identifies triple shock' of Covid, austerity and cost of living as premature deaths increaseA growing number of disadvantaged and vulnerable women living in one of the poorest parts of England are dying prematurely because public services are not meeting their needs, according to a report.Research published on Monday calculates that in 2021, a woman in the north-east of England was 1.7 times more likely to die early as a result of suicide, addiction or domestic murder than women living in England and Wales as a whole. Continue reading...

Antonio Guterres decries conflict's utter disregard' for human rights law as clashes reported in multiple statesSudan is on the brink of a full-scale civil war" that could destabilise the entire region, the United Nations has warned, after an airstrike on a residential area killed about two dozen civilians.The health ministry reported 22 dead and a large number of wounded among the civilians" from the strike on Khartoum's sister city Omdurman, in the district of Dar al-Salam. Continue reading...

Outgoing president of Royal College of Psychiatrists will say issue must be tackled to improve recruitmentRacism is a stain on the NHS" and tackling it is key to recruiting and retaining staff, the outgoing president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) will warn.The health service has a moral, ethical and legal duty to do more to stamp out racism, Dr Adrian James is expected to say at the college's international congress in Liverpool. Continue reading...

Unison says some workers given substandard accommodation and 80-hour weeks and forced to repay recruitment feesCare operators have been accused of shocking abuse" of migrant workers who are allegedly being forced to pay back thousands of pounds in recruitment fees, housed in substandard accommodation and asked to work 80-hour weeks.Christina McAnea, the general secretary of Unison, the health care trade union, has written to the social care minister, Helen Whately, urging the government to step in and demanding a meeting over a situation she described as a crisis".Required to be permanently on callWorking 19-hour shifts without breaksHaving wages withheldRequired to pay large sums to recruitment agencies, which are then split with the care operator. Continue reading...

Justice secretary cites significant progress', but campaigners point out that vast majority of rape survivors still do not report to policeViolence against women campaigners have accused ministers of being too quick to celebrate increased rape convictions while overall reporting rates remain low.The justice secretary, Alex Chalk, said on Monday that the government was on course to exceed a target to reverse low conviction rates for rape by the end of this parliament. Continue reading...

Berlin to buy 100 Boxer heavy weapon carriers made in Brisbane by German manufacturer Rheinmetall

Both victims, one of whom was attacked at a hotel housing Afghan refugees, taken to hospital after incidentA man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after two people were stabbed, including one at a hotel housing Afghan refugees, in south-west London.One person is believed to have been attacked at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Surbiton, while another man was attacked at a garage next door. The incident occurred at approximately 1.45pm on Sunday. Both victims were taken to hospital and the man was taken into police custody. Continue reading...

Scheme aims to raise standard of insulation in 19m of the UK's leakiest homesLabour has said that job opportunities for almost 4 million workers would be created under its plan to bring 19m of the UK's leakiest homes up to an acceptable standard of insulation.While it has previously said that the plan would reduce annual household energy bills by up to 500, the party has set out details of what it said would be a major expansion of the retrofitting workforce. Continue reading...

Shadow foreign secretary to accuse Conservatives of treating international law with cavalier disrespectLabour will restore the UK's tarnished global reputation by backing a global anti-corruption court and by reinstating a requirement to follow international law in the ministerial code, the shadow foreign secretary will say in a speech on Monday.David Lammy says the measures will restore the country's reputation for keeping its word, as well as going some way to undo the damage caused by Conservative party scandals in recent years. Continue reading...

Metropolitan police name Nuria Sajjad, eight, as second victim of impact in south-west London on ThursdayA second child has died after a Land Rover crashed through a school fence in south-west London on Thursday.The Metropolitan police named the girl as eight-year-old Nuria Sajjad. Continue reading...

Scandal over male presenter could define Tim Davie's tenure and set future direction of the corporationTim Davie is facing possibly the biggest crisis of his crisis-strewn stint as the BBC's director general after one of the corporation's prominent male television presenters was suspended.How Davie handles the crisis - and whether he survives it - could define his tenure at the helm of the broadcaster and shape the BBC's future. Continue reading...

The Cessna C550 crashed on approach during its second attempt to land at French Valley airport, where visibility was limitedAuthorities have identified the six California residents who died on Saturday when the small plane they were traveling in crashed after after taking off in Las Vegas.A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration, Mina Kaji, told the Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California, that the Cessna C550 business jet took off from Harry Reid international airport at about 3.15am on Saturday. The plane crashed about an hour later at French Valley airport in Murrieta, California, about 80 miles (130km) south-east of Los Angeles. All those onboard were killed. Continue reading...

Stephen Cottrell tells General Synod mistakes have been made', while sacked safeguarding board member says we did our job too well'The archbishop of York has said there is a crisis of safeguarding" within the Church of England after its executive disbanded an independent body on abuse.Stephen Cottrell told the C of E's ruling body, the General Synod, on Sunday that mistakes have been made" and that Jesus would be weeping at the events of recent weeks. We recognise things have gone wrong," he said. This is a watershed moment for us. We can't get this wrong again." Continue reading...

The US and Germany are unwilling to support Ukraine's membership while the conflict with Russia is ongoingUkraine is increasingly pessimistic about taking a significant step forward in joining Nato as leaders of the western military alliance are set to assemble on Tuesday in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.Kyiv is expected to be offered a package of last-minute enabling security guarantees" at the two day summit - an assurance from countries such as the US, UK, France and Germany that military aid and training will continue in the long term. Continue reading...

Chancellor says barriers to careers in public life must be removed after being refused account as a politically exposed person'Jeremy Hunt was refused a bank account with Monzo last year, which the chancellor said was an example of the barriers" faced by people wanting to work in public life.Hunt said he believed he was denied the account - before he became chancellor - because he was a politically exposed person" (PEP). Continue reading...

Meeting between US president and UK PM carries more significance than previous visits in light of recent disagreementsJoe Biden's meeting in Downing Street on Monday with Rishi Sunak - their fifth in the past five months and the sixth since Sunak become prime minister - probably carries more significance than any other.Never mind that it is essentially a stopover on the way to the Nato summit in Vilnius and being squeezed between tea with King Charles at Windsor Castle and a speech on climate finance. Continue reading...

Youssouf Traore in hospital after being tackled to ground at rally in memory of his brother, as government bans fireworks for Bastille DayA brutal arrest during a peaceful march against police violence has again put French law and order under the spotlight, as the government, fearing further unrest, banned fireworks outside authorised displays during the Bastille Day holiday weekend.Amid continuing tensions after rioting sparked by last month's fatal shooting of a teenager, police faced further accusations of brutality on Sunday when video emerged of the arrest of the brother of a black man who died in custody seven years ago. Continue reading...

Three monitored river bathing zones in the French capital will open in 2025, said the mayor, Anne HidalgoA quarter of a century after the late president Jacques Chirac promised Parisians they would be able to swim in the Seine within three years, the French capital's mayor has confirmed three river bathing areas are to open in the city in 2025.The sites - opposite the central Ile Saint-Louis in the centre, by the Quai de Grenelle in the 15th arrondissement to the west, and at Bercy in the eastern 12th arrondissement - will be monitored by lifeguards and marked by buoys, Anne Hidalgo said on Sunday. Continue reading...

Melissa Holdbrook-Akposoe is among prominent figures promoting the semi-formal collection on social mediaWimbledon is working with influencers to promote its clothing range for the first time in its 146-year history. In a break from tradition, the club has hired style influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers to appeal to a younger audience.Melissa Holdbrook-Akposoe, who is better known as Melissa's Wardrobe and is the rapper Stormzy's stylist, normally posts pictures of herself in Prada and Victoria Beckham. This week, the 32-year-old Londoner, who has 314,000 Instagram followers and is one of Britain's biggest fashion influencers, posted a photo of an 85 Oxford shirt from Wimbledon's new semi-formal" collection. Continue reading...

Officers under investigation for misconduct should be forced to hand over relevant information, says peerPolice officers under investigation for discipline offences should have to hand over data from their personal mobile phones, Doreen Lawrence has said.Concerns have been raised that government attempts to streamline and reform the system for rooting out bad officers are too slow and being delayed. Continue reading...

Possessing images of a child undertaking sexual acts has a starting sentence of 26 weeks, says obscenity lawyerThe BBC presenter accused of paying a 17-year-old for explicit photographs could face a six-month prison sentence if they are found guilty of a criminal offence, according to a leading obscenity lawyer.Myles Jackman, who has represented individuals accused of similar crimes, said possessing images of a child undertaking sexual acts had a starting sentence of 26 weeks in prison. The sentence could increase substantially if they are found to have shared those images. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Therapeutic Goods Administration documents reveal separate reports made in 2022 about two boys, aged six and seven, were false

As mechanical bird's 250th anniversary arrives, time and lack of regular use in lockdowns has taken tollUnderstandably, because it is 250 years old, the mechanical silver swan of Barnard Castle is not quite at its best.It does work but when it moves the neck has to be supported," said the curator Vicky Sturrs, also doing a visual impression of how the swan's neck would normally twist and dip down into a pool of water to grab fish. Continue reading...

Watch station at RAF Ibsley is thought to be structurally unique as well as historically importantIts walls are made of crumbling concrete and covered in graffiti, its windows shattered or stolen, and the landscape it was built to oversee has long since been dug up and carted away.But this derelict shell in a corner of rural Hampshire, once a wartime RAF watching station, is so rare and important that it must urgently be saved, according to building conservation campaigners. Continue reading...

With cruise ships decanting thousands of tourists in Athens, tough new controls have been imposed at the country's most visited siteIt's official: more than 25 centuries after it was built and nearly 200 years after it began attracting tourists, the Acropolis will adopt crowd control policies to ease the very modern plague of soaring visitor numbers.Unprecedented queues at the foot of the site, a dramatic rise in sightseers since the Covid-19 pandemic and unruly scenes at the gateway to the sanctuary have spurred the Greek government to take action. Continue reading...

Company made after-tax profits of 20m as wagers rise sharply across industryThe bookmaker Betfred has reported a jump in profits as gamblers' losses mounted after the end of coronavirus restrictions.The gambling company made profits after tax of nearly 20m in the year ending on 25 September 2022, up from just over 5m the year before, according to newly published accounts at Companies House. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Victoria Prentis's shareholdings not disclosed in registers despite potential for conflicts of interest

Exclusive: MPs found to hold in effect secret' stock in listed firms from banks to housebuilders

The traditional staple is losing the battle with more convenient and cheaper alternative foodsThe Dojima branch of Yoshinoya in Osaka is doing a roaring lunchtime trade. As soon as one diner vacates their counter seat, another takes their place, while staff take just seconds to assemble the next order of the restaurant's trademark dish: gydon.The Observer has joined the rush, ordering a set lunch of seasoned beef and onion on rice, and side dishes of pickled cabbage and miso soup - all for a extremely affordable 632 (3.46). Continue reading...

After years of deepening economic and military mistrust between the superpowers, they were finally back in a room togetherWhen Janet Yellen left Beijing on Sunday after four days of talks, the US treasury secretary in effect admitted that the delegation achieved its main objective simply by sitting down with top Chinese officials.After years of dangerous and deepening separation between the people running the world's two biggest economies, they were finally back in a room together. Continue reading...

Well-known' presenter reportedly accused of paying teenager more than 35,000 for explicit imagesThe BBC should now be given the space" to investigate allegations that an unnamed presenter paid a teenager for sexually explicit images, the culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, has said after holding urgent talks with the broadcaster's director general, Tim Davie.After speaking with him on the phone about the deeply concerning" allegations involving one of the BBC's presenters, she said he had assured her that the BBC are investigating swiftly and sensitively". Continue reading...