Defence chiefs deliver ultimatum with threat of military intervention after mediation failureWest African defence chiefs have drawn up a plan for military action if Niger's coup is not overturned by Sunday, the regional bloc said, after mediation failed in a crisis that threatens regional security and has drawn in global powers.The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has given Niger's coup leaders until Sunday to step down and reinstate the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum. Continue reading...
State attorney general immediately appeals against ruling that says doctors must be allowed to end unsafe pregnanciesA judge in Texas has ruled that the state's abortion ban is too restrictive for women with serious pregnancy complications and must allow exceptions without doctors fearing the threat of criminal charges.The ruling in Austin was the first to undercut the law since it took effect in 2022 and delivers a major victory to abortion rights supporters, who see the case as a potential blueprint to weaken restrictions elsewhere that Republican-led states have rushed to implement. Continue reading...
Country's health and economy ruined as Islamic charity says rich nations must compensate those suffering worst of climate crisisA year after Pakistan's worst floods in living memory, a report by Islamic Relief Worldwide has revealed the devastating long-term impact on people, especially children, and argued that rich nations must compensate those countries most affected by the climate emergency.Researchers from Islamic Relief who talked to people in the flood-affected areas found 40% of the children they surveyed had stunted growth and 25% were underweight as families struggle to access food and healthcare. About 80% of mothers reported sickness among children, with outbreaks of diarrhoea, malaria and dengue fever increasing. Continue reading...
Public invited to choose from 20 images taken in 2022 for the UK Picture Editors' Guild awardsOne of the last public pictures of the late Queen Elizabeth II is among photographs up for an award to be decided by public vote.People can choose from 20 pictures taken between 1 January and 31 December 2022 for the photo of the year at the annual UK Picture Editors' Guild Awards. Continue reading...
by Lorena Allam Indigenous affairs editor on (#6DJNG)
Pearson says referendum is not a competition between blue and red' after Anthony Albanese's Garma festival speechThe prime minister's Garma speech was the unequivocal" support for an Indigenous voice to parliament of an Australian leader, not a party politician, the Cape York leader, leading yes" campaigner and Guugu-Yimithirr lawyer Noel Pearson has said.The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told the Garma festival in north-east Arnhem Land on Saturday that he would not defer or delay the referendum, and dismissed no" campaigners as being desperate to talk about anything but the actual question".Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...
The incident comes a day after Kyiv said that it had struck a Russian landing ship with a sea droneA Russian tanker was hit by Ukrainian drones in the Kerch Strait a day after Kyiv said it had carried out a seaborne drone strike on a navy ship, Russian officials have said.The SIG tanker ... received a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side, preliminarily as a result of a sea drone attack," Russia's Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport said early on Saturday, adding that there were no casualties. Continue reading...
An extremely fierce battle' in the eastern city of Bakhmut and explosions reported near key Crimean bridgeAn extremely fierce battle is going on" in the long-contested eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, has said, with Ukrainian forces advancing slowly but confidently" south of the city while securing control of positions north of it. The Russians are throwing huge numbers of forces into the Bakhmut area," she said on national TV. It has been important for us to establish ourselves on dominant heights in these areas." Russia's defence ministry said its forces had made air and artillery strikes on the key village of Klishchiivka south of Bakhmut and surrounding towns, knocking out Ukrainian vehicles and equipment.Residents of Russian-occupied Crimea reported an explosion near the bridge linking the peninsula to the Russian mainland early on Saturday, but a Russia-installed official in the region denied the bridge had come under attack. Other pro-Russian officials in occupied areas of Ukraine said the explosions were linked to an attack by Ukrainian drones.A Russian landing ship was struck and disabled in the country's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk by an unmanned Ukrainian boat, known as a sea drone, Kyiv said. The 112-metre Olenegorsky Gornyak from Russia's Northern Fleet, which has been used to transport troops and military hardware into occupied Ukrainian ports, was said to have been sufficiently damaged to have been put out of combat action.Onboard camera footage appeared to confirm the success of the night attack on the ship. Images of a Russian warship tilting to its side emerged shortly after the strike and footage was published by the Unian news agency from the head of the marine drone appearing to show it moving stealthily across the Black Sea towards the ship and hitting it at its centre. Satellite imagery also appeared to show a Russian landing ship leaking oil while docked at a Black Sea port.US bank JP Morgan this week stopped processing payments for the Russian Agricultural Bank, Russia said on Friday. JP Morgan had handled some Russian grain export payments for the past few months with reassurances from Washington. However, that cooperation stopped this week, Russia's foreign ministry said on Friday. The direct channel between the Russian Agricultural Bank and JP Morgan ... was closed on 2 August," foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted by Russian media as saying.Russia's defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, visited a combat zone in Ukraine to inspect a command post and meet senior military officers, the army said on Friday. Shoigu got an update on the situation on the front and thanked commanders and soldiers ... for successful offensive operations" in Lyman in eastern Ukraine, it said, without mentioning when the visit took place.At the Russia-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the UN nuclear watchdog said it had finally" been granted access requested a month ago and that it had found no explosives after claims of mines being planted around the infrastructure.A court in Russia has extended Alexei Navalny's prison sentence by 19 years and sentenced him to a special regime with the harshest prison conditions in the country. Navalny was found guilty on six counts, including inciting and financing extremism, creating an illegal NGO, the rehabilitation of nazism and inciting children to dangerous acts. He and his supporters have rejected the charges as being politically motivated.An associate of Navalny who worked for his YouTube channel also stood trial in a Moscow court on Friday. Daniel Kholodny, a TV technician, was found guilty of organising an extremist group and sentenced to eight years in prison, Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported. Continue reading...
Ex-newsreader famous for dancing on 1976 Morecambe and Wise show will be joined by Amanda Abbington and Layton WilliamsAngela Rippon is to compete in the upcoming season of Strictly Come Dancing becoming the oldest competitor on the BBC primetime show at the age of 79.The actor Amanda Abbington and Bad Education star Layton Williams have also been announced as the first contestants for the 21st series of the dancing competition this autumn. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#6DJD7)
Actor and writer posted yesterday after performing her show Sunsets to one audience memberAn actor who went viral online after she posted a tearful tweet about performing her one-woman show to an audience of one at the Edinburgh festival fringe has played to a sell out crowd only 24 hours later.The actor and writer Georgie Grier received messages of support from comedians including Jason Manford and Dara O Briain when she posted on Twitter on Thursday afternoon: There was one person in my audience today when I performed my one-woman play, Sunsets' at #edfringe. It's fine, isn't it? It's fine ...?" Continue reading...
by Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo and agencies on (#6DJ7H)
Adrienne Vaughan was on family holiday and reportedly fell overboard when speedboat collided with a sailboatAdrienne Vaughan, the 45-year-old president of the US branch of the Bloomsbury publishing house, has been killed after a collision between a speedboat and a 45-metre sailboat on Italy's Amalfi coast.Vaughan was on holiday in Italy with her husband and two children when the collision happened on Thursday. Continue reading...
Lucky was left in kennels in Bern but escaped and made her way to Lake Geneva before being found and traced to ownersAn escaped border terrier named Lucky made an epic 100-mile journey across Switzerland on the eve of the country's national holiday, according to local media reports.Her owners had left her in kennels in the region of Bern, but the 14-year-old dog broke out on Monday evening. The following morning she turned up in Geneva 160 kilometres (100 miles) away, the RTS public broadcaster reported. Continue reading...
by Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent on (#6DJ7G)
Mahek and Ansreen Bukhari convicted over killing of pair who died when car was rammed off roadA former TikTok influencer and her mother have been found guilty of murdering two men who died in a fireball when their car was rammed off the road during a late-night chase outside Leicester.Mahek Bukhari, 24, and her mother, Ansreen Bukhari, 46, were convicted alongside two other defendants of killing Saqib Hussain and his friend Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21, in February last year. Continue reading...
by Sarah Butler, Joanna Partridge and Phillip Inman on (#6DJ7J)
Farmers warn wheat, oilseed rape, potatoes and other crops have been affected after wettest July on recordUK farmers have warned that harvests of wheat, oilseed rape, potatoes and other crops have been hit by the cool, wet summer, raising fears of further food price inflation.The wettest July on record for parts of the UK risks colliding with rising prices of essential ingredients on global markets due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and unpredictable weather affecting harvests from southern Europe to China. Continue reading...
Margolis, who played drug lord Hector Salamanca in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, also appeared in Scarface and The WrestlerMark Margolis, the American actor best known for his role as former drug kingpin Hector Salamanca in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, has died. He was 83.Margolis died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City following a short illness, his publicist said. His wife, Jacqueline, and son, Morgan, were at his bedside. Continue reading...
Plans to cut waiting lists in England were welcomed but critics say they do not address deeper staffing issuesRishi Sunak has been warned his plan for more private sector partnerships with the NHS in England to cut waiting lists will amount to reshuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic" without addressing deeper structural issues with staffing.The recommendations of an elective recovery plan, published on Friday, were broadly welcomed by opposition parties and health experts, but said to be overdue. Critics also said they only addressed a fragment of the much wider capacity and staffing issues across the whole of the country's health systems. Continue reading...
by Kevin Rawlinson (now); Lucy Campbell (earlier) on (#6DHSQ)
Amid criticism of its anti-oil protest at constituency manor, group says action would not have gone ahead if Sunak had been at homeKhan suggests drivers start looking for alternative cars now, when asked if there is enough time to buy a Ulez-compliant vehicle with the 2,000 scrappage grant before the expansion comes in on 29 August.Well, the good news is that people can now start looking for alternative cars if their car's not compliant, but the even better news is more than likely not your car is going to comply, and what people don't realise because of the misinformation is they're probably driving, if they are driving, a compliant vehicle as it is.Almost half of households in London don't even own a car. Those that do, in inner London, 97% of cars that are seen driving are complying. In outer London, nine out of 10 are compliant.I'm quite clear in relation to this policy, which is to clean up the city, but also tackle climate emergencies.I've been listening throughout my years as mayor: when I first announced the policy in November, as a consequence of me listening.These policies are policies that are popular when they're properly explained. Continue reading...
Putin critic faces harsh prison regime after being found guilty of charges decried as politically motivatedA court in Russia has extended Alexei Navalny's prison sentence by 19 years, and sentenced him to a special regime with the harshest prison conditions in the country.Navalny, 47, once led street protests against the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, built a nationwide political opposition, and revealed salacious details of Kremlin officials' corrupt lifestyles. As revenge, Russia has sentenced him to a cumulative three decades in prison, a term that will most likely keep the Kremlin critic behind bars and out of politics for as long as Putin remains alive. Continue reading...
Stores saw unseasonal spending pattern as rain-soaked July shoppers plumped for winter comfort foodSummer is traditionally the time of year for barbecuing, eating ice-cream and drinking sundowners but after a rain-soaked July, weary Britons are taking solace in wintry comfort food such as roast dinners, soup, rice pudding and custard.For campers and festivalgoers, the fact that the UK had one of the wettest Julys on record is not news. Indeed, in Northern Ireland and parts of England such as Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside, rainfall records were broken. And there is no end in sight soon, with Storm Antoni due to bring strong winds and heavy rain on Saturday. Continue reading...
by Sarah Marsh Consumer affairs correspondent on (#6DJ0K)
Pilot of about 20 patients in London will track success of hormone-free intracervical insemination kitsNHS patients will be given free at-home fertility kits as part of a trial to explore methods beyond IVF that could be used for those struggling to conceive.Currently the only fertility treatments funded by the NHS are IVF, when a fertilised egg is inserted into the womb, and intrauterine insemination (IUI), which involves directly inserting sperm into a woman's womb. Access can depend on location, relationship status, BMI and sexual orientation. Continue reading...
GTR blames driver overtime ban but seaside resort's council frustrated by lack of creative solutionThere will be no trains between London and Brighton on Saturday, causing major disruption for people travelling to the coastal city's Pride festival.Talks between Brighton and Hove city council and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which operates Southern rail, collapsed after a compromise was unable to be found. Continue reading...
Clashes between the army and a regional militia threaten public security and are causing serious economic and humanitarian damage', said officialsEthiopia's council of ministers has declared a state of emergency in the Amhara region after its leader said he was no longer able to contain a surge in violence between a local ethnic militia and the army.The office of the prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, announced the emergency on Friday, saying attacks by armed extremist groups" posed an increasing threat to public security and were causing significant economic damage. Continue reading...
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Aakash Hassan in Delhi on (#6DHY4)
With elections due next year, there are fears unrest will grow as the ruling BJP faces criticism over its alleged inactionAn imam stabbed and shot to death in a mosque that was then burned to the ground. A young doctor, walking home, set upon by an armed mob who thrashed and molested her. A railway officer, boarding a train, prowled the carriages for his targets and shot dead three men. The incidents, which all took place in India this week, were seemingly unconnected, yet the victims were united by a common factor: they were all Muslim.Since the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) came to power in 2014, led by prime minister Narendra Modi, incidents of sectarian violence targeting the Muslim minority, who make up about 14% of the population, have become increasingly frequent. Continue reading...
by Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent on (#6DHY5)
Communist party secretary for Hebei made comments after visiting flood-hit areas earlier this weekChinese social media users have reacted angrily to comments from a local Communist party official suggesting that the city of Zhuozhou and other flood-hit areas near Beijing should be used as a moat for the capital".Ni Yuefeng, the Communist party secretary for Hebei, a province that borders the capital on three sides, made the comments after visiting flooded areas earlier this week. Typhoon Doksuri has ripped through north-east China, destroying homes and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate. Continue reading...
Thousands of people evacuated from homes in Beijing, while South America swelters during heatwaveChina has been battered by two typhoons in recent weeks that have caused severe flooding across the east coast. Typhoon Talim hit the south on 17 July, with gusts of 85mph (137km/h), according to the Guangdong weather bureau.Days later, on 28 July, Typhoon Doksuri struck Fujian province on China's south-eastern coast with gusts above 100mph. Continue reading...
Parliamentary ombudsman says Matthew Hedges was let down by UK government during imprisonmentThe UK's parliamentary ombudsman has found that the Foreign Office failed to notice signs of torture" when officials visited a British academic imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates.Matthew Hedges was convicted on spying charges by the UAE in 2018 after travelling to Dubai to conduct research for his PhD at Durham University. He spent six months in prison, where he has said he had been handcuffed, drugged and questioned for hours, before being pardoned from a life sentence for spying. Continue reading...
Group, which runs services for NHS, councils and military, reports loss of almost 68m for first half of yearCapita expects to take a financial hit of as much as 25m as a result of a cyber-attack that began in March, pushing the outsourcing group to a pre-tax loss of almost 68m for the first half of the year.The group is still recovering from the attack by the Black Basta ransomware group, which hacked its Microsoft Office 365 software and accessed the personal data of staff working for the company and dozens of clients. Continue reading...
Second victim in a stable condition after shots were fired when fight broke out in city centreOne of two people who were shot in downtown Auckland on Thursday night has died in hospital, police have confirmed.Police were called after receiving reports of a fight between a group of people at about 11.30pm on Thursday on lower Queen Street, in Auckland's city centre. Continue reading...
North Yorkshire police criticised over major security breach' after protesters covered PM's home in black fabricA group of Greenpeace activists arrested following an anti-oil protest on the roof of Rishi Sunak's constituency manor house have been released while inquiries continue, police have said.North Yorkshire police, who have come under criticism following the security breach at the prime minister's grade II-listed mansion in Kirby Sigston on Thursday, said their investigation remains ongoing". Continue reading...
Children suffering from shameful' failure to protect play with park budgets falling by 350m in 11 yearsPlaygrounds around England are falling to pieces, missing large pieces of play equipment, or simply being locked up, as councils facing huge budget cuts struggle to maintain them. In some of the poorest parts of the country, family groups are warning that children face a summer spent indoors because of a lack of safe and free spaces to play.The head of Play England has said that children's mental health will suffer as a result, and has called for radical change from what he called a shameful" lack of protection for children and play in planning. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Deleting national emissions ceiling regulations as part of scrapping EU laws a clear example of deregulation'The government is ignoring its post-Brexit green watchdog over the removal of air quality regulations, in a move that has been described by experts as a clear example of deregulation".The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) was set up in 2020 to replace the role the EU had played in regulating and enforcing environmental law in the UK. Campaigners raised concerns at the time that it might not have the same teeth as the EU and that it would not be able to stop the government riding roughshod over environment protections. Continue reading...
Campaigners urge more openness after more than $1m handed to influential British thinktanks by donors in USTransparency campaigners have called for thinktanks to be more open about their funding sources, after it emerged that some of Britain's most influential ones received more than $1m (787,000) from from donations in the US in 2021.They include the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), regarded as an inspiration for policies adopted by the Liz Truss government, and Policy Exchange - a conservative thinktank used as a platform by ministers to trail new measures and which recently incubated hardline immigration plans. Continue reading...
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