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Exclusive: Charities and civil groups say FO pursued an over-optimistic agenda of democracy first' in SudanThe UK Foreign Office has been accused of ignoring repeated warnings from Sudanese groups and western experts that Sudan was teetering on the brink of a conflict that would lead to mass atrocities and identity-based crimes.Sudan has been gripped by violence since two rival generals went to war against each other in April. The Commons foreign affairs select committee is conducting an inquiry into Whitehall's anticipation of the crisis and the level of support provided to British citizens trapped in Sudan. Continue reading...

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, president of temple in British Columbia, found fatally injured in car parkA campaigner for a Sikh nation to be carved out of India's Punjab state who was wanted by Indian authorities has been shot dead in Canada, police have said.Federal police said a man was found in his pickup truck in the car park of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, British Columbia, at about 8.30pm on Sunday, with apparent gunshot wounds. Continue reading...

Minns government asks taskforce to examine enforcement of laws but experts say making drivers legally responsible will be difficult

Immersive show includes talk by late singer's designer Bob Mackie as well as items worn by Prince and Elton John

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Video appears to show Tory workers dancing at jingle and mingle' event during Bailey's London mayoral bidPressure is growing on the former Tory London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey not to accept the peerage offered to him by Boris Johnson, as a senior Conservative MP said he should consider his position".Tobias Ellwood said there were big questions" around the peerage after a video surfaced appearing to show Tory party workers drinking alcohol and dancing on 14 December 2020, at a mid-lockdown gathering held by the campaign team involved in Bailey's unsuccessful mayoral bid. Continue reading...

Launch comes amid resurgent demand for air travel after end of Covid lockdownsAs the deafening roar of an F35 fighter jet washes over the Paris air show, Tony Douglas allows himself a moment of nostalgia: he was formerly responsible for the UK government agency charged with buying the planes.Now he is in charge of a different aviation proposition, leading the launch of a new commercial airline belonging to the Saudi Arabian state. Continue reading...

Sydney's minimum temperature dropped to 1.8C and Canberra's to -5.6C as Bureau of Meteorology predicts the cold to linger

Victorian premier says his comment in parliament was in defence of Labor MP Kat Theophanous

The $188m eight-part series was to be filmed in Melbourne but has been shelved because of push costs and uncertainty'The $188m Apple TV+ remake of Fritz Lang's 1927 sci-fi classic Metropolis has been cancelled.The major project was in pre-production in Melbourne when NBCUniversal's Universal Studio Group announced the eight-part series would not go ahead. Continue reading...

National Disability Insurance Agency seeking information after 1.1TB of law firm's data was posted to dark web this month

Nevertheless, Labor has confirmed it is deferring a decision on an increase to the sales tax on the Star casino group

Gay hate crime inquiry hears items of Crispin Dye's clothing were not forensically analysed after he was attacked in Sydney in 1993

In today's newsletter: The special unit meant to reform the Home Office is to be closed - leaving many to wonder what comes next

Queen's funeral credited for hymns' revival while Time to Say Goodbye replaces You'll Never Walk Alone at No 1Hymns are back among the most popular funeral songs, boosted by the queen's funeral, while the Monty Python song Always Look on the Bright Side of Life has slipped out of the top 10, funeral directors have said.All Things Bright and Beautiful and Abide With Me are the first hymns in the top 10 for seven years, in the Co-op Funeralcare chart based on song selections at about 93,000 funerals. Continue reading...

Some patients' cancer became incurable as a direct result of long waits, says Macmillan Cancer SupportAt least 100,000 people across the UK have had their lives put at risk over the last decade because of delays to them getting tested or treated for cancer, a new report claims.In some cases, patients' treatment options narrowed or their cancer spread or became incurable as a direct result of their long waits for NHS care, according to Macmillan Cancer Support. Continue reading...

Historic and contemporary pieces interrogate city and university's connections to colonialismAn exhibition by the Fitzwilliam Museum will explore Cambridge's connections to enslavement and exploitation for the first time, both in the university and the city.Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance features works made in west Africa, the Caribbean, South America and Europe, and interrogates the ways Atlantic enslavement and the Black Atlantic shaped the University of Cambridge's collections. Continue reading...

Lambie tells Senate the Brereton report gave senior commanders a free pass' while soldiers were thrown under the bus'

Exclusive: Ukrainian mayor says there is no time to waste in drawing up vision for devastated city, which is under Russian controlA tram glides pasts cyclists and pedestrians making their way along green and pleasant streets. A submerged diver swims in clear waters by an underwater research centre while families enjoy a picnic at the nearby beach, gazing over at the yachts in the distance as they enjoy the afternoon sun.It is a vision of a thoroughly modern coastal city, but two strangely familiar images in the bundle of architectural drawings hint at the identity of this place and its dark and troubling recent past: there is the Memory Centre Dram", an amphitheatre overlooked by a towering steel and glass structure in the shape of what was Mariupol's elegant drama theatre, and then, on the following page, an industrial works given over to nature, now described as the Azovstal memorial park. Continue reading...

German Marshall Fund says oligarchs biding their time until after war ends to reassert their influence

The 62-year-old ballet dancer and author of bestselling memoir Mao's Last Dancer is retiring after 11-years as artistic director, having been diagnosed with a heart conditionLi Cunxin, the renowned ballet dancer and author of bestselling memoir Mao's Last Dancer, is retiring as the artistic director of Queensland Ballet due to ill health.On Tuesday, the Queensland Ballet confirmed the 62-year-old had been diagnosed with a heart condition and has been troubled by serious health concerns since 2022". He recently experienced complications" and is retiring in order to recuperate. Continue reading...

Victorian premier says families of those killed by Paul Denyer should have been treated better when he sought parole

French expert and British explorer believed to be among five onboard submersible missing in north Atlantic since Sunday

Minutes from RBA meeting on 6 June show the board was concerned about the considerable uncertainty regarding the outlook for household spending'

Queensland police alerted to man who suspended himself over Port of Brisbane Road, blocking all eastbound lanes

Singer says he will no longer do residencies in the US, describing recent changes in law as disgraceful'Gay rights are going backwards in the US, where disgraceful" laws are discriminating against LGBTQ+ people, Elton John has said.The singer said he would no longer do residencies in the US, though he would consider more live shows elsewhere. Continue reading...

Efforts to regain place at intersection of business and government after scandal complicated by refusals to engageThe Confederation of British Industry has been frozen out of regular meetings with other leading business lobby groups, hampering its fight for survival after a sexual misconduct scandal.Formerly Britain’s leading voice for business, the CBI has been battling to overhaul its culture and regain trust after multiple allegations of misconduct were made by female employees, including two who said they were raped. Those allegations resulted in an exodus of members from John Lewis to Aviva and led Labour and the Conservatives to cut ties with the organisation. Continue reading...

Harriet Harman says matter ‘could hardly have been of more importance’ as MPs debate report that found he misled Commons

Menswear has moved away from logos to more refined silhouettes, with collections from Prada to Raf Simons ditching streetwearSuch is the piercing influence of Succession on the wardrobes of the rich and famous that its stars didn’t even need to make a front-row appearance at Milan fashion week to make their presence felt. Excess is out and elegance is in as designers pursue the “quiet luxury” look that owes much of its recent popularity to the Roy family stone.At Prada, the bellwether of where the fashion mood heads next, the co-designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons used the humble white shirt as a springboard for “a reconsideration of simple things”, said Prada after the show on Sunday. Continue reading...

Footage shows PM making fun of Lib Dem leader Ed Davey after he said women could have penisesDowning Street has defended Rishi Sunak after a video emerged of the prime minister seemingly making a joke that mocked transgender people, saying the comments were simply aimed at a political opponent.The footage of Sunak addressing fellow Conservative MPs, leaked to PinkNews, shows him making fun of Ed Davey after the Liberal Democrat leader said it was possible for a woman to have a penis, which can happen under the government’s own gender recognition laws. Continue reading...

Manchester United fan who wore shirt with reference to Hillsborough banned from games for four yearsA man has pleaded guilty to displaying threatening or abusive writing likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress after wearing a football shirt at Wembley stadium that made an offensive reference to the Hillsborough disaster.James White, 33, of Warwickshire, admitted the charge at Willesden magistrates court in north-west London on Monday. Continue reading...

PM not planning to attend parliament on Monday due to other diary plans, spokesperson saysRishi Sunak is to miss a vote on whether to impose sanctions on Boris Johnson over his Partygate denials because of other diary plans, Downing Street has signalled.In a sign No 10 wants to defuse the blue-on-blue row over the former prime minister’s conduct as quickly as possible, Sunak’s spokesperson said he was not planning to attend parliament on Monday due to “commitments that he can’t move”. Continue reading...

As charities press for mine clearance to be at centre of recovery conference, some farmers are tackling the devices themselvesIn the weeks during which Russian troops occupied the Husarivka dairy farm, almost all of its 2,500 cattle were killed in artillery fire or for target practice. When the farm was liberated, the carcasses covered the land as far as you could see.Those that were not blown up or gunned down starved. They were so hungry, they ate each other’s tails. The survivors standing at the trough in one of the farm’s wrecked sheds have stubs where their tails once were. Continue reading...

Liu Jianchao accused of directing fugitive recovery operations targeting regime’s opponentsA cross-party group of British MPs and peers has written to the prime minister urging him to reconsider a decision to allow a visit this week by a senior Chinese government official accused of overseeing the forcible repatriation of hundreds of dissidents back to China, including some from the UK.Liu Jianchao, the head of the international department of the Communist party of China central committee, is due to speak at the Chatham House thinktank and meet UK parliamentarians. Continue reading...

Intervention by International Labour Organization ‘hugely embarrassing’ for government, says TUC

Exclusive: Staff say ‘there’s a lot still to do’ and worry decision signals ‘rolling back’ on promises of changeThe Home Office unit responsible for reforming the department after the Windrush crisis has been quietly disbanded, after the UK home secretary, Suella Braverman, let it be known that she believes it is time to “move on”, the Guardian has learned.Staff working in the transformation directorate, the unit handling changes meant to prevent a repeat of the scandal, were told in an online meeting that it would be closing at the end of this month. Continue reading...

UK home secretary says police have her full support in using tactic to prevent violence and save livesSuella Braverman has called on police to increase the use of stop and search powers “to prevent violence and save more lives”.In a statement aimed at all 43 forces in England and Wales, the home secretary said officers who used the powers had her “full support”. Continue reading...

C of E clergy and lay staff represented by Unite ask for 9.5% increase in first ever claimChurch of England vicars have become the latest group of workers to demand a pay rise in the face of the cost of living crisis, as Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, claimed they were among the “working poor”.More than 2,000 clergy and lay staff represented by the union have submitted their first ever official pay claim, asking for a 9.5% rise in the annual stipend, which stands at £26,794. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Numbers taking courses have risen under Suella Braverman, who previously said they were a wasteThe number of Home Office staff receiving diversity training has more than doubled under Suella Braverman’s leadership of the department, despite her assertions that such lessons are a waste of taxpayers’ money and should be banned.One month before she was promoted to home secretary in Liz Truss’s cabinet, Braverman, then attorney general, fiercely criticised equality sessions across Whitehall, revealing she had blocked officials at the Government Legal Department from attending such courses. Continue reading...

Coalition senator emailed supporters asking if they heard about the attack on her from the ‘woke celebrity and voice activist’

Exclusive: Green MP calls for inquiry after being named by government units after she criticised ministersThe Green party MP Caroline Lucas has called for an inquiry into a government unit intended to combat disinformation after it emerged she had been flagged by it for criticisms of ministers and government policy over Covid.Lucas, who lodged a subject access request along with the campaign group Big Brother Watch for details held on her by the counter-disinformation unit (CDU), said her inclusion in a series of reports amounted to “staggering overreach” by ministers. Continue reading...

Michael Gove quoted as saying council-level sanctions undermine UK foreign policy and lead to antisemitic abuseA government bill aimed at banning councils from imposing boycotts on Israeli goods is expected to be presented next week.The proposed legislation will prevent public bodies from adopting their own approach to international relations, including through sanctions and divestment campaigns. Continue reading...

Met police launch investigation after bodies, including two children, discovered on FridayFour family members found dead in a flat in west London, including two children, have been named by police.The Metropolitan police launched an investigation after the four bodies were discovered at a property in Hounslow on Friday afternoon. Continue reading...

Ukrainian military officials say they are making gradual progress to push Russian forces out of southern sectors of the country

Singer admits he made ‘huge error in judgment’ and has been dropped from Nottingham Pride lineup in JulyTake That member Howard Donald has said he is “deeply sorry” after making a “huge error” by “liking social media posts that are derogatory towards the LGBTQIA+ community”.Donald, 55, who performs in the pop group alongside Gary Barlow and Mark Owen, has been dropped from playing at Groovebox’s Nottingham Pride festival event in July. Continue reading...

Plan to charge £43 per consignment could see some small businesses struggle to stay openMany UK businesses which import food products from the European Union will have to pay a special “Brexit tax” that will further drive up prices, particularly in smaller shops such as delicatessens, under proposals set out by the government last week.The planned charge of £43 per consignment, outlined in a consultation document issued by the Department for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), was described on Saturday by a leading industry figure as “the sting in the tail of a post-Brexit food inspection regime” that was already fuelling inflation. Continue reading...

BMA’s junior doctors’ committee says government can end dispute by ‘paying doctors what they are worth’The NHS will be “looking into the abyss” if hospital consultants follow the example of junior doctors and go on strike over pay, the leader of England’s hospital bosses has said.Hospitals will be left unable to function normally if consultants – the most senior doctors on wards – stage walkouts in pursuit of their pay claim, Sir Julian Hartley said. Continue reading...

Husband, Chris Jagger, uses 1972 album cover to support settlement application for Moller, who has lived in UK for 74 yearsAs a result of Brexit, Norwegians living in the UK were required to apply to the EU settlement scheme – despite Norway not being a member state – to remain living in Britain.But after former model turned yoga teacher Kari-Ann Moller was stopped by British immigration officials earlier this year and told she was not allowed to remain because of her Norwegian passport, her husband, Chris Jagger – brother of Rolling Stone Sir Mick – got involved. Continue reading...

Knighthood for late novelist Amis is dated 18 May as honours cannot be given posthumouslyTwo giants of the literary world, the novelists Ian McEwan and the late Martin Amis, are recognised in the king’s first official birthday honours along with the fashion colossus Dame Anna Wintour.The Booker prize-winning McEwan, whose acclaimed titles include Amsterdam, On Chesil Beach and Atonement, becomes a companion of honour, the highest award for outstanding achievement, of which there are only 65 at any time. Continue reading...

David Boyd must serve at least 29 years for killing seven-year-old he stabbed 37 timesA child killer who brutally murdered a “bright and sparky” seven-year-old girl and managed to escape justice for more than 30 years has been sentenced to life in prison.A judge on Tuesday ruled that David Boyd must serve a minimum term of 29 years for the murder of Nikki Allan. Continue reading...