World news | The Guardian

Borrowers will be eligible for forgiveness if they've made 20 or 25 years of monthly IDR payments, education department saysJoe Biden's administration will cancel $39bn in student debt for more than 804,000 borrowers, the education department said on Friday, describing the relief as the result of a fix" to income-driven repayment (IDR) plans.Borrowers will be eligible for forgiveness if they have made either 20 or 25 years of monthly IDR payments, the department said. The IDR program caps payment requirements for lower-income borrowers and forgives their remaining balance after a set number of years. Continue reading...

Ukraine claims to have shot down 16 drones overnight; Pentagon says Wagner mercenaries no longer participating in Ukraine

British brand's sales jump by 18% year on year on back of post-Covid bounceback in ChinaBurberry has reported a sales surge of almost a fifth thanks to a bounceback in China, but the luxury British fashion brand has warned that London is losing out to rivals such as Paris and Milan, which are enjoying a stronger tourist shopping boom.The British fashion brand, best known for its signature check bags and raincoats, said that global sales grew 18% year on year to 589m in the quarter to 1 July - its fastest growth rate in two years. Continue reading...

Speculation he could move to crossbench if appeal is unsuccessful as allies suggest he may run as an independent at next election

The Reserve Bank of Australia's first female governor will begin her appointment at or very near the end of the cycle of rate rises

Simon Geoffrey Raymond, 39, has been in custody since Tuesday after he was arrested over alleged threats against Anne Webster

Police allege former husband also breached his bail and an AVO, after Christine Formosa Rakic's body was found in Western Sydney home

Union-negotiated deal the latest in the tussle between financial institutions and employees over work-from-home arrangements and pay

Supreme court judge drops demand for broadcaster to reveal source, stating former commando already knew their identity

Report calls for urgent reform to NHS services with some people unable to access care said to be using pliers to extract teethNHS dental services are not fit for purpose and need urgent reform, according to MPs who have warned that people are resorting to DIY treatment using pliers.A report published on Friday by the health and social care select committee said it was totally unacceptable in the 21st century" that large numbers of patients had to experience pain and distress because they could not see an NHS dentist. Continue reading...

Campaign aims to put onus on men to stop violence against women as figures suggest most already feel country safe place for womenA campaign aimed at making young men reflect about violence against women and domestic abuse is being launched in Wales as new figures suggest most already feel the country is a safe place for women and almost 40% believe enough has been done to fill the gender equality gap.The Sound" campaign, which the Labour-controlled government hopes will help tackle the crisis of toxic masculinity, is aimed at men between the ages of 18 and 34, and will try to reach them via social media, podcasts, digital television and streaming channels.75% of men think Wales is a safe place to be a woman.37% believe the country has gone far enough in closing the gender equality gap.39% believe efforts to achieve women's equality have led to discrimination against men.43% believe traditional masculinity is under threat.64% underestimate the prevalence of violence against women.There was a very low understanding of terms such as love-bombing, gaslighting and coercive control.Younger men were both more likely to agree that traditional masculinity is under threat - and to describe themselves as feminists. They also perceived scenarios involving physical abuse as less harmful and wrong compared with older age groups. Continue reading...

NSW supreme court judge rules newspaper article by former political editor was a one-off mistake'

Bullock replaces current Reserve Bank of Australia chief Philip Lowe, whose term expires in September

Simultaneous strikes by WGA and Sag-Aftra are expected to halt the majority of Hollywood's film and TV productionThe union representing Hollywood actors formally announced a strike on Thursday, expanding the standoff between Hollywood workers and studio executives over wages, AI technology and how to divide the profits of the new digital streaming era.The strike by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra), and marks the first time in 63 years Hollywood writers and actors are striking simultaneously. Continue reading...

The bombs, which open in air to deploy scores of deadly bomblets, are banned in 120 countries, but not in the US, Ukraine or RussiaCluster munitions provided by the United States have now arrived in Ukraine, the Pentagon confirmed on Thursday.The munitions - bombs that open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets - are seen by the US as a way to get Kyiv critically needed ammunition to help bolster its offensive and push through Russian frontlines. US leaders debated the thorny issue for months, before President Joe Biden made the final decision last week. Continue reading...

Council orders contractor to immediately remove material made by firm implicated in 2017 disasterMaterials made by a company implicated in the Grenfell Tower disaster have been installed on a pair of nearby council tower blocks during fire safety works, in a move met with outrage in the west London community.Insulation made by Kingspan, the firm that provided some of the combustible foam on the tower, which went up in flames on 14 June 2017 killing 72 people, was discovered last week on the Adair and Hazelwood towers, a few hundred metres from Grenfell. Continue reading...

US president plays down worries during Finland visit when asked about whether Russian president could escalate action in Ukraine. This live blog is now closed

The government has offered rises of between 5% and 7% to workers including teachers and doctors

Fines on list given to the Guardian were levied by agency created at Ron DeSantis's behest to investigate voter fraud, which is rareFlorida Republicans have hit dozens of voter registration groups with thousands of dollars of fines, the latest salvo in an alarming crackdown on voting in the state led by Governor Ron DeSantis.At least 26 groups have cumulatively racked up more than $100,000 in fines since September of last year, according to a list that was provided by Florida officials to the Guardian. The groups include both for-profit and nonprofit organizations as well as political parties, including the statewide Republican and Democratic parties of Florida. Continue reading...

The ISC's warnings are unlikely to act as much of a brake on Britain's approach to ChinaIf there is one constant in the UK's policy towards China over the past three decades it has been its short-termism and inconsistency, the scathing intelligence and security committee report on China rightly finds, comparing Britain's to Beijing's capacity to think strategically about how to advance the global interests of the Chinese Communist party.If Downing Street thinks in terms of the next news bulletin, China has a planning cycle that in some of its documents takes it to 2049, as the ISC was told by one of its intelligence agency witnesses. Continue reading...

Iger, 72, says decision by Sag-Aftra to recommend strike action will have a very, very damaging effect on the business'As a strike by Sag-Aftra appears imminent without a contract, Disney chief executive Bob Iger has said writers and actors preparing to picket are not being realistic" with their expectations, and that the threat of a strike is disturbing".In an appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box on Thursday morning, Iger said the decision by the actors and writers unions to go on strike is very disturbing to me. We've talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges we're facing, the recovery from Covid, which is ongoing, it's not completely back. Continue reading...

Sources claim corporation journalists may have made early inquiries into allegations of workplace improprietyFor six days, the BBC's top journalists have gathered at Broadcasting House in central London and dedicated themselves to investigating Huw Edwards, the corporation's most famous news presenter.Up above them, on the building's fourth floor, the BBC director general, Tim Davie, has been working non-stop to get a grip on the scandal, receiving updates on the allegations, and fighting for the broadcaster's reputation. Continue reading...

Researchers reported alarming increase' in drownings among low-income and ethnically diverse childrenParents are being asked to speak to their children about water safety after new data revealed an 85% increase in the number of child drownings in England between 2019 and 2022.There were 20 drownings in 2019 to 2020 compared with 37 in 2021 to 2022, according to a report published on Thursday by the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) team at the University of Bristol. Continue reading...

Inspectors praise sensitive and impartial' teaching of relationship and sex education at Rye College after secret video raised concernsOfsted has given the school at the centre of the cat pupil" allegations a clean bill of health, with inspectors praising its culture of kindness" as well as its handling of relationship and sex education.Ofsted inspected Rye College in East Sussex after a complaint by Kemi Badenoch, the minister for women and equalities. There had been media coverage of a video of pupils arguing with a teacher over gender and identity, with one pupil appearing to claim that a student identified as a cat. Continue reading...

Antonio Avola, 66, went on trial for sexually assaulting student, 17, but judge rules grope too fleeting to be a crimeAn Italian judge has provoked outrage after clearing a school caretaker of groping a teenage girl because the sexual assault only lasted a handful of seconds".The case relates to a 17-year-old student at a school in Rome who described being groped by the caretaker as she walked up a staircase with a friend. Continue reading...

Unions hail verdict that describes Kwasi Kwarteng's approach as unlawful and irrational'Legal changes brought by the government to let agency staff fill in for striking workers have been quashed by the high court, with ministers' approach to the policy being labelled irrational".A number of unions, including Aslef, the RMT and Unite, joined in legal challenge to strike-breaking" regulations announced last summer by the government as it faced widespread industrial action across rail and other sectors. Continue reading...

Police, junior doctors and teachers in England to get more money and minister says frontline services will be protectedMillions of public sector workers will be given a pay rise of at least 6%, but government departments have been told to fund the rise from within existing budgets.Police officers, junior doctors and teachers in England are among those who would benefit after Rishi Sunak accepted all the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies. Continue reading...

Parliamentary committee says Beijing is targeting UK economy, politics, civil infrastructure and academiaChina's state institutions are aggressively targeting the UK, putting the country on course for a nightmare scenario that represents not just a commercial challenge but an existential threat to liberal democratic systems, parliament's influential all-party intelligence and security committee has found.The inquiry - launched in 2019 and subject to various delays was completed in May - is scathing about the failure of the UK to wake up to the scale of the systemic challenge posed by the Chinese government's whole of state" assault on the British economy, politics, civil infrastructure and academia. Continue reading...

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are the preferred platforms for those who prey on vulnerable people, says attorney generalMark Zuckerberg, Meta's chief executive, is being asked to respond to the extraordinary" number of cases in which the company's social media platforms are used to facilitate human trafficking in Florida.It follows revelations this week that Meta's platforms - Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - were used to facilitate human trafficking in 146 of the 271 reported cases of social media platforms being used by traffickers to commit their crimes in Florida, between 2019 and 2022. Continue reading...

Ivan Popov appears to criticise head of army and defence minister, saying: Our most senior commander hit us in the back'

Liberal leader does not want a replacement for Philip Lowe to have any connection with the government

Pledge from government source comes after peers made fresh amendments to bill designed to tackle small boats issue

Broadcaster resumes investigation, as Sun faces questions over its suggestion presenter had bought explicit images from 17-year-old which the young person deniedThe BBC has resumed its internal investigation into the presenter Huw Edwards, after the police concluded that the News at Ten presenter had no criminal case to answer over allegations he had paid a young individual for explicit images.A spokesperson for the BBC said it would focus on fact finding", with the corporation also likely to consider separate allegations of potential workplace misconduct that are not of a criminal nature. Continue reading...

Michael Foggo says more venues would provide better data and that he hoped to report back that the scheme reduces harm

This blog is now closed.

Consumer Action Law Centre says providers should do more to direct customers to help as average energy bill debts increase by $750 since 2021

In today's newsletter: As Labour reaffirms its pledge to remove VAT exemption from private education, a new report outlines the impacts on the wider system Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. If you can afford to pay tens of thousands of pounds to educate your children, do you deserve a hefty tax break? That question has long been at the centre of debates over private education in the UK, and the particular tax status of what, by tradition, are known as public schools (yet are anything but).Private schools in Britain, the majority of which are also registered charities, are exempt from VAT on their fees, meaning they escape the 20% tax that is applied to most other goods and services.BBC | Huw Edwards has been named as the presenter suspended over allegations he paid a young person for explicit images. The Sun newspaper - which alleged in a front-page story that the presenter paid a young person, now aged 20 but 17 when it started, for photos - faces questions over its reporting and ethical standards after police concluded there was no evidence to support this allegation of serious criminal wrongdoing. Edwards, one of British TV's most famous faces, is now receiving inpatient hospital care for serious mental health issues", his wife, Vicky Flind, said in a statement on Wednesday.Nato | Joe Biden concluded the Vilnius summit on Wednesday promising Ukraine full support even without membership in the alliance. Leaders only signed off a carefully negotiated declaration promising Ukraine could join after making democratic and security sector reforms". Britain's defence secretary earlier suggested Ukraine should show more gratitude for the west's help. Separately, Russia's foreign intelligence chief said he and his CIA counterpart discussed the Wagner mercenary mutiny and what to do with Ukraine" in a phone call.Science | An unprecedented" closeup image of the nearest star-forming region to Earth was released by Nasa on Wednesday to mark the first year of operation of the James Webb space telescope. The space agency called it a dynamic image that belies the region's relative quiet - and practically begs for explanation of what exactly we are looking at".Technology | Anthropic, a US artificial intelligence company, has launched Claude 2, a rival chatbot to ChatGPT that can summarise novel-sized blocks of text and operates from a list of safety principles drawn from sources such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The chatbot is publicly available in the US and the UK.Conservatives | Nadine Dorries has been reported to the chief whip and Commons speaker after allegedly sending forceful" emails to the government about not being given a peerage. In a highly unusual move, the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, said he had flagged" the issue to the parliamentary authorities, and also asked for advice about any potential breach of the law. Continue reading...

Fair Work Commission rules Hedley Wycliff Atunaisa Fihaki was not employed by the church but sacking would remain valid even if he had been

Device trialled at tournament captures images with camera and projects them into sight lineRosie Pybus has been to Wimbledon several times and watched her first tennis match this year, thanks to a headset for visually impaired people. She told of the exhilarating" moment she tested the innovative device, which allows users to watch live action from the stands.Visually impaired tennis fans at SW19 have been trialling the headsets, which capture images with a camera and project them into a person's sight line. Users can adjust the images with a remote control. Continue reading...

One in five firms see risk of financial failure in next six months due to sums owed by NHS and councilsDozens of home care companies in England fear collapse because invoices are going unpaid by councils and the NHS.Hundreds of millions of pounds in unpaid bills are threatening parts of a care industry already stretched by a recruitment crisis and rising wages, according to research by the Institute of Health and Social Care Management (IHSCM). Continue reading...

The Victorian Nationals MP was allegedly threatened in phone calls and emails with the accused, 39, due to face a Brisbane court on Friday

Ashley Ruscoe arrested on Wednesday after investigation into alleged domestic violence incident at a Sydney home on 1 March

Person found at Brisbane home yet to be identified, with police still looking into the cause of the fire

Police say no evidence of criminal offence committed, as presenter's wife names him as the man at the centre of the allegationsSouth Wales police say they have ended their inquiries into the matter.The force said a meeting with the BBC and Met police earlier this week led to them carrying out fresh inquiries. Continue reading...

Comments come after Ukrainian leader complained his country had not been given firm timetable for joining allianceBritain's defence secretary and the US national security adviser have suggested Ukraine ought to show more gratitude for the help it has received from the west, in response to Volodymyr Zelenskiy's complaints that his country has not been issued a firm timetable or set of conditions for joining Nato.Their unscripted remarks - at two different events on the margins of the second day of the Nato summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius - appeared to prompt a change of tack from the Ukrainian leader on Wednesday, who later said he was grateful to all leaders of Nato countries" for their support and help. Continue reading...

Venus of the Rags, one of the contemporary Italian artist's most famous works, was burnt to cindersOne of the most famous works by Italian contemporary artist Michelangelo Pistoletto, Venus of the Rags, has been burnt to cinders in a suspected arson attack in Naples.The installation, in which a statue of the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility stands next to a vast pile of coloured, discarded clothes, was destroyed where it stood on display near the town hall in the southern Italian city. Continue reading...

Another 14 wounded after seven improvised devices set off in attack by organized crime group in Tlajomulco, Jalisco stateFour police officers and two civilians have been killed by bombs planted in a road in western Mexico that officials said were an ambush set by a drug cartel.The attack late on Tuesday appeared to mark the first time that Mexican criminals have successfully targeted law-enforcement personnel with improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, in the latest example of the brazen military challenge posed by organized crime groups in the country. Continue reading...

Junior doctor leaders have threatened to keep up industrial action until spring unless they receive a credible pay offer'Rishi Sunak's pledge to cut NHS waiting times will be impossible to meet if strikes are still disrupting care beyond the summer, health service chiefs have privately warned ministers.The prime minister promised in January that NHS waiting lists will fall" when he outlined five pledges, reflecting the people's priorities", by which voters should judge his performance, he said. Continue reading...

Documents containing allegations of torture filed to court in support of complaint made by Bobi WineThe Uganda president, Yoweri Museveni, and his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba have been accused of sponsoring violence and abusing critics in harrowing testimony filed before the international criminal court.The submissions contain detailed allegations of the torture of opposition figures and activists who report being arrested arbitrarily and being held incommunicado in torture centres", where they were reportedly interrogated about their links with the opposition figure Bobi Wine and subjected to physical harm and indignifying treatment. Continue reading...

RSL president Bernadine Evaristo highlights need to change to become an organisation for all writers rather than just the white and middle classBroadcaster and writer Emma Dabiri, young adult author Patrick Ness, Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik and poet Anthony Anaxagorou are among the fellows newly elected to the Royal Society of Literature (RSL).The RSL, a UK charity aimed at advancing literature, announced its 62 new fellows during a ceremony at the Garden Museum in London on Wednesday. Continue reading...