World news | The Guardian

Minister to tell National Press Club Indigenous people more likely to have experienced homelessness than to hold an undergraduate degree'

Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC donated $4.3m to Labor and Coalition in past decade as government contracts increased by 400%, analysis shows

Cost-cutting measure in home city comes as supermarket grapples with rising cost of servicing its 7.5bn debt

Operation allegedly involved moving people from Syria to Spain on a circuitous route via Sudan and north AfricaSpanish police have broken up what they say is an organised criminal gang involved in a highly unusual people-smuggling operation involving the moving of migrants from Syria to Spain on round trip via Sudan.A year-long investigation, which was coordinated by Europol and involved dozens of police officers from France, Norway and Germany, uncovered a network of alleged people-smuggling cells across north Africa and northern Europe as well as the main nerve centre of the gang in southern Spain. Continue reading...

Jamie Barrow incomprehensibly set fire to his neighbours' flat while they slept, saying fire had a calming effect on himUnknown to Fatoumatta Hydara and her two young daughters as they slept in their beds in November last year, their nextdoor neighbour, Jamie Barrow, poured petrol through their letterbox and set fire to it, before calmly walking away and taking his dog out. Their flat was soon consumed by flames. The children, three-year-old Fatimah and one-year-old Naeemah, along with their mother, died of smoke inhalation.It was an appalling crime, made even more incomprehensible as it also appears to be motiveless. Continue reading...

Twenty-five children and 10 adults sent to camps for suspected jihadists repatriated to FranceFrance has repatriated 25 children and 10 women who were held in prison camps for suspected jihadists in north-east Syria, the fourth such operation in a year, the foreign ministry has said.The minors would be handed over to childcare services while the adults would be handed over to the relevant judicial authorities, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Jamie Barrow, who found fires cathartic', poured petrol through neighbour's letterbox and set it alightA man has been found guilty of murdering his nextdoor neighbour and her two young children by pouring petrol through their letterbox and setting fire to their flat while they were asleep.Jamie Barrow, 33, admitted starting the fire in November last year which killed Fatoumatta Hydara, 28, and her daughters, Fatimah Drammeh, three, and Naeemah Drammeh, one. Continue reading...

Health Services Union says wages have hit rock bottom and contributed to 12,000 vacancies as workers head interstate

The programme helped to launch the careers of young actors from the north-east, including the duo who played PJ and DuncanIt was a beloved fixture of the after-school television schedule for children of the 90s, and now their own offspring will experience Byker Grove too.The series, set in a youth club in the Byker area of Newcastle, is being revamped with its former stars Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly as executive producers. Continue reading...

Johnny Mercer says food bank use not an accurate measure of poverty after reports of some military personnel relying on them

Arrangements are being made to house refugees from the camp in other locations, as Arab countries condemn military operationSeveral thousand Palestinians have fled their homes in the Jenin refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank after the launch of the biggest Israeli military operation in the area in two decades, according to Palestinian officials.There are about 3,000 people who have left the camp so far," the Jenin deputy governor, Kamal Abu al-Roub, told the AFP news agency on Tuesday, adding that arrangements were being made to house them in schools and other shelters in Jenin city. Continue reading...

Homeowners with a mortgage will be breathing a sigh of relief after RBA paused rate rising at Tuesday's board meeting

Jeremy Rodgers, 28, arrested in Florida a day after armed man wanted over riot detained near Barack Obama's Washington homeAmericans continue to be arrested on suspicion of taking part in the Capitol attack, two and half years after the January 6 insurrection by supporters of Donald Trump.Court documents on Monday showed that a Michigan man accused of attacking a police officer with a flagpole during the insurrection was arrested in Florida last Friday, a day after an armed man also wanted for the rioting was arrested near Barack Obama's Washington home. Another man suspected of violence at the Capitol was arrested in Maryland last month. Continue reading...

Central bank leaves official cash rate unchanged at 4.1%. Follow live

Like-for-like sales up 9.8% in quarter and supermarket says it has put more than 60m into cutting prices of basicsFood inflation is starting to fall, according to the boss of Sainsbury's, who said shoppers were putting more items in their baskets as it began to cut prices on some basics.Simon Roberts, the chief executive, said the supermarket was putting all our energy and focus into battling inflation" as household budgets were under more pressure than ever". Continue reading...

Penelope Williams ignored advice to call ambulance after man collapsed in car outside hospitalA nurse has been struck off by the UK regulator for nursing and midwifery after a patient with whom she was having a secret relationship died while in his car with her.Penelope Williams ignored advice to call an ambulance after the man collapsed in the vehicle outside the Spire hospital in Wrexham, north Wales, in January 2022, a hearing was told. Continue reading...

Cane toads first crossed into WA from the Northern Territory 15 years ago and have slowly spread through the Kimberley

In today's newsletter: The death of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk triggered five nights of riots in Paris and beyond - but they had been brewing for years Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Apologies if this is the second time you are receiving this email - due to some technical gremlins some people received yesterday's newsletter on Labour for a second time. Below is today's First Edition on France.After a tumultuous week in which the country was shaken by five nights of serious disorder, destruction and - at times - violence, the rioting has subsided and the streets are largely calm.Palestinian territories | Israel has launched a major aerial and ground offensive into the West Bank city of Jenin, its biggest military operation in the Palestinian territory in years, in what it described as an extensive counter-terrorism effort". At least eight Palestinians were killed and 50 injured, 10 seriously, in the attack that began at about 1am on Monday.Hong Kong | China has accused the UK of protecting fugitives after the British foreign secretary criticised Hong Kong's decision to offer HK$1m bounties for the arrest of eight democracy activists based overseas. The Chinese embassy in London called on British politicians to stop using anti-China Hong Kong disruptors to jeopardise China's sovereignty and security".Fuel | The UK energy secretary has accused fuel retailers of using motorists as cash cows", after a consumer watchdog found that drivers were paying more for petrol and diesel than before the Covid pandemic because of weakened" competition.UK politics | Sue Gray was found to have apparently breached the civil service code by discussing a role with Keir Starmer without telling her Whitehall bosses, a Cabinet Office investigation has found.D-day | Leon Gautier, the last surviving member of the French commando unit that waded ashore on D-day alongside allied troops to begin the liberation of France, died on Monday. He was 100 years old. Continue reading...

Prof Brigid Heywood has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and offensive behaviour over an alleged incident in March 2022

Men remanded in custody after allegedly demanding Forest Lake residents hand over e-scooter for sale on Facebook Marketplace

Senior party figures insist they are taking nothing for granted amid concern about whether voters know what Keir Starmer stands forIn a packed school assembly hall in an inner London comprehensive on a balmy evening last week, the great and good of the Labour party gathered to celebrate the launch of the memoir of the shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting.The party's general secretary, David Evans, mingled over glasses of wine and bowls of crisps with Peter Hyman, Keir Starmer's senior aide, Deborah Mattinson, Labour's director of strategy, and a host of other Labour MPs, political journalists and party officials. Continue reading...

Actor who died after going on solo hike said in last UK interview he had seen spooky things' on mountainsJulian Sands spoke of feeling chilled" by the discovery of human remains when pursuing his love of climbing, in his last UK interview before he died on a solo hike in California.The 65-year-old actor was a committed climber and said he increasingly ventured out alone. Pals I used to climb with have stopped going to the mountains," partly because rock faces had become more unstable with climate change, and partly because of age, he told the Radio Times. Continue reading...

Chinese embassy in London tells UK to stop interfering' in China's affairs, as Hong Kong leader says overseas activists will be pursued for life'China has accused the UK of protecting fugitives after the British foreign secretary criticised Hong Kong's decision to offer HK$1m bounties for the arrest of eight democracy activists based overseas, as the territory's leader said the group would be pursued for life".In a statement late on Monday, China's embassy in London said: British politicians have openly offered protection for fugitives. This is crude interference in Hong Kong's rule of law and China's internal affairs." Continue reading...

The RSPCA says it removed dogs amid investigation into alleged illegal breeding operations

Exclusive: Former human services minister denies claim made to parliament's audit committee by ex-Synergy 360 insider that it proposed a structure for him to benefit from government contracts

Adelaide detectives allege 62-year-old family member killed Brenda and Lynton Anderson a year apart by deliberately administering medication

Bodies found in cars in Royal national park south of the city and in western suburb of North Parramatta

Australian rules footballer Heather Anderson, who died in November 2022 aged 28, found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Some fishers say they lack information and worry about Japan's plan to discharge treated wastewater into the seaEvery day fisher Charlie Maleb takes his string lines and his nets out from Wala Island, Vanuatu, into the Pacific Ocean.The 54-year-old drops his net around 5am and waits an hour before pulling it out, hoping to catch sardines, poulet and mangrove fish. Later in the day Maleb drops a line attached to a traditional fishing rod, fashioned out of a long tree branch. Continue reading...

Ambassador Lynne Tracey was allowed to meet the journalist in a Moscow jail in her second such visit since his arrest in MarchRussia has granted the US consular access to jailed Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich after a more than two-month gap, with the US ambassador reporting him in good health.The state department said ambassador Lynne Tracey met Gershkovich at the Lefortovo prison in Moscow on Monday, only her second such meeting with him since he was arrested on 29 March during a reporting trip in the Urals. Continue reading...

Telecoms providers added insult to injury' as prices rose, says report by Which? for year to January 2023More than half of UK broadband customers have experienced problems with their connections, according to a report that says telecoms providers are adding insult to injury" after forcing inflation-busting price rises on to their customers.Many of the UK's mobile and telecoms companies have been accused of greedflation" for pushing through mid-contract price increases of up to 17.3%. Continue reading...

The south and the midwest were hit hard, and the greatest increases were seen in Native American and Alaska Native womenMaternal deaths across the US have more than doubled over the course of two decades, with the most deaths occurring among Black women, researchers said on Monday.The findings were laid out in a new study published on Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama). Researchers looked at maternal deaths between 1999 and 2019 - but not the pandemic spike - for every state and five racial and ethnic groups. Continue reading...

Decision by Parole Board to free Colin Pitchfork, who raped and killed two teenagers in 1988, called unthinkable' by Alex ChalkThe justice secretary has asked the Parole Board to reconsider its decision to allow the double child-killer Colin Pitchfork to be released from prison.Announcing the move, Alex Chalk said it was vital that dangerous offenders be kept behind bars. Continue reading...

Mikheil Saakashvili appears frail and emaciated on court video link, leading to concern about his treatmentGeorgia's former president Mikheil Saakashvili has appeared on television for the first time in months, looking frail and emaciated, fuelling concerns over the detained politician's treatment.The 55-year-old was almost unrecognisable and looked like a ghost of his former self when he appeared in a video link for a court hearing on Monday. Continue reading...

Peers voted against government-proposed measures on detention and deportation of asylum seekersThe government's small boats bill suffered a series of defeats in the House of Lords on Monday as Channel crossings in June by people seeking asylum set a new record.Peers voted to limit the time that children and pregnant women who claim asylum after arriving by irregular means can be detained, and backed preventing LGBTQ+ people from being deported to a country where they would have a well-founded fear of persecution. Continue reading...

Civil inquiry finds Gray's talks over role without telling bosses is prima facie' breach of codeA Cabinet Office investigation has said Sue Gray apparently breached the civil service code by discussing a role with Keir Starmer without telling her Whitehall bosses, prompting a vehement fightback by Gray's allies, who said the inquiry was arbitrary and politically motivated.Jeremy Quin, a Cabinet Office minister, said a civil inquiry found a prima facie" breach of the code about outside interests to be clear and transparent - meaning an apparent contravention of the rules based on first impressions. Continue reading...

Pair - aged 27 and 17 - arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder over stabbing on ThursdayDetectives have arrested two men suspects over a double murder in north London in which 15-year-old Leonardo Reid and a 23-year-old man were killed.The pair - aged 27 and 17 - were arrested on Monday evening on suspicion of murder and attempted murder and are in custody at a north London police station. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Bridget Phillipson says early-years education key to improving life chancesMore graduate teachers would be parachuted into nurseries under plans being considered by Labour to improve education for under-fours, the Guardian has learned.There could also be more nursery places in primary school settings as the opposition works up proposals to drive up standards and formally integrate early years into the English education system. Continue reading...

Actor's eldest daughter, Drena, makes announcement on Instagram but family has not released details about cause of deathLeandro De Niro Rodriguez, the grandson of actor Robert De Niro, has died at the age of 19, family members announced on Monday.De Niro's eldest daughter, Drena, posted on Instagram to say her son had died. She said the family had lost a sweet angel". Continue reading...

Gautier was one of 177 green berets in the Kieffer unit which stormed the Normandy beaches on 6 June 1944Leon Gautier, the last surviving member of the French commando unit that waded ashore on D-day alongside allied troops to begin the liberation of France, died on Monday. He was 100 years old.Gautier was one of 177 French green berets who stormed the Normandy beaches defended by Hitler's forces in 1944. Continue reading...

Tom Tugendhat asks Treasury to review whether banks are blacklisting those with controversial viewsIt should be completely unacceptable" for banks to close accounts on political grounds", a Home Office minister has said, as Conservatives weighed in on a so-called freedom of speech row prompted by claims from Nigel Farage.Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, was speaking in parliament after the culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, urged regulators to take action against banks that shut off access to people with controversial views. Continue reading...

Rain and technical problems with BBC coverage add up to a troubled opening day for tennis tournamentIt is supposed to be one of the highlights of the British summer. But the first day of Wimbledon proved less than ideal for thousands of fans who flocked to SW19 on Monday.Some queued for up to 10 hours to get in, rain lashed the tennis championships in short, sharp bursts, and technical problems affected television coverage of the opening matches. Continue reading...

European Commission head is seeking to curb Russian influence in central and eastern EuropeThe EU has said it will be impossible to envisage a future for the bloc without Ukraine and Moldova as members, in part to reduce Russian influence in east and central Europe.While other countries such as Romania and Bulgaria took 11 years to become members of the EU, joining in 2007, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, hinted the future of the new accession candidates will be swiftly decided. Continue reading...

Child among people injured in attack in Sumy; Lynne Tracy visits Wall Street Journal reporter in prison after court upholds FSB request to extend his detention

Lords inflicts three defeats on government in favour of amendments to billRishi Sunak has accused Australia of breaking the spirit of cricket over the controversial dismissal of Jonny Bairstow at Lord's, PA Media reports. PA says:England's Bairstow was stumped in bizarre circumstances on a tense final day in the second Test, with Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey throwing down the stumps after the batter ducked the final ball of the over and set off to talk to partner Ben Stokes in the apparent belief the over had ended.At the morning lobby briefing, the prime minister's spokesperson said Sunak, a keen cricket fan, agreed with the views of England captain Stokes about the incident. Continue reading...

Frontrunner Sandra Torres alleged votes were manipulated after centrist Bernardo Arevalo claimed surprise runner-up spotThe US has issued a warning over possible efforts to interfere with Guatemala's presidential election result, after the country's top court ordered ballots from the first-round vote be reviewed, setting up the potential for a recount.US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Washington had endorsed findings from observers over the vote's validity, and said undermining the outcome would be a grave threat to democracy with far-reaching implications". Continue reading...

Zafar Khan's disqualification comes more than five years after outsourcing firm's collapseThe former finance director of the collapsed outsourcing company Carillion has been banned from serving as a company director for 11 years over his role in the company dishing out dividends of more than 50m while misstating its financial position by more than 200m.The outsourcer's implosion in 2018 was one of the most high-profile failures in British corporate history, costing 3,000 jobs and plunging 450 public sector projects, including hospitals, schools and prisons, into chaos. Continue reading...

People turn out across the country to support local government after arrests on Sunday fell to 49 from 719 on SaturdayViolent protests in France over the police shooting of teenager Nahel M appeared to ease after five nights of unrest as crowds gathered at town halls across the country to show solidarity with local governments targeted in the violence.Police made 49 arrests nationwide on Sunday, French media reported, citing the interior ministry, down significantly from 719 arrests the day before, and 1,300 on Friday. Continue reading...

Politicians on the left have criticised the collection, set up by a far-right activist, but GoFundMe has refused to take it downA row has broken out over a collection for the family of the French police officer under investigation for shooting dead a 17-year-old that has topped more than 1m in donations.A similar collection to help the family of the victim, Nahel Merzouk, killed a week ago in Nanterre outside Paris after being stopped by two motorcycle patrol officers, has collected less than 200,000. Continue reading...