World news | The Guardian

Keir Starmer's approval ratings suffer but his party remains far ahead of Conservatives as Westminster summer recess beginsLabour goes into the Westminster summer break with a commanding 17-point lead over the Conservatives, despite a fall in approval ratings for party leader Keir Starmer.The latest Opinium poll for the Observer puts Labour on 42%, down one point since a fortnight ago, while the Tories are down three points to 25%, their poorest showing since the disastrous premiership of Liz Truss. Continue reading...

Britons among those evacuated from hotels and homes as strong winds sweep blaze towards coastMore than 1,000 people were forced to flee homes and hotels on Rhodes after an uncontrolled wildfire swept across the Greek island on Saturday.The fire had been burning for most of the past week but had been confined to the island's mountainous interior until strong winds, high temperatures and dry conditions swept the blaze towards the coast on the island's central-eastern side. Continue reading...

She represented her Cynon Valley constituency in South Wales for 35 years, eventually becoming the oldest woman to sit in the House of CommonsLabour leaders past and present have led the tributes to the long-standing former MP Ann Clwyd after it was announced that she had died at the age of 86.Clwyd represented her Cynon Valley constituency in South Wales for 35 years, eventually becoming the oldest woman to sit in the House of Commons before she stood down at the 2019 election. Clwyd was first elected in a byelection in 1984 and had already served as an MEP for Mid and West Wales for five years in the European parliament. Continue reading...

Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to free parliament from supreme court legal oversight has led to widespread protestsTens of thousands of Israelis opposed to a judicial overhaul sought by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, marched to Jerusalem on Saturday as pressure mounts on his rightwing government to scrap a bill that would curtail the supreme court's powers.Carrying Israeli flags, a long column of protesters hiked up the winding highway to Jerusalem under a scorching summer sun, to the sounds of beating drums and anti-government chants and cheers. Continue reading...

Indians were shocked when social media exposed a mob abusing minority Kuki women. But similar incidents have been happening with impunity for monthsAs footage emerged last week of two women in the state of Manipur being forcibly stripped, paraded naked, publicly molested and allegedly gang raped, everyone from prime minister Narendra Modi to the chief justice of India publicly expressed their shock and disgust.Breaking his long silence on the conflict that has been raging in Manipur for months, Modi declared that what happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven" and that the entire country has been shamed" by the attack. Continue reading...

Government survey finds that less than 30% of holiday homes are on continent - compared with 40% a decade agoThey used to go wild for villas by the Med and ski chalets in the Alps; now they are forking out for views of the Channel and hilly walks in Shropshire.According to figures released this week by the English Housing Survey, the proportion of English owners of second homes who have properties in Europe has fallen again, with 60% of holiday homes located in the UK rather than outside it. Continue reading...

The actor was taken to hospital in April after a medical complication'Jamie Foxx has spoken publicly for the first time since he was taken to hospital for an unspecified health problem earlier this year.In April, Foxx's family said he had been hospitalised in Atlanta after a medical complication". Continue reading...

Saturday expected to be busiest day for travel this year as millions take to UK's roads, airports and portsHolidaymakers face delays of up to three hours at the Port of Dover as poor weather and train strikes hit Britain's summer getaway.Saturday is predicted to be the year's busiest day for travel after schools in England and Wales broke up for the six-week summer holiday. Abta, the travel association, said more than 2 million UK holidaymakers will head overseas this weekend. Continue reading...

From Suffolk to Sheffield, youngsters inspired by England's Euros triumph sat down before big screens to enjoy the side's World Cup campaignNinety minutes before the Lionesses took to the pitch for their World Cup opener, the under-11s Hadleigh United girls' team kicked off their own tournament - a mini World Cup five-a-side organised by coach Matt French. More than two dozen girls, representing global national teams, showed off their skills to cheering families and friends.After the final whistle, it was time to head to the clubhouse to watch the England women's team play. Continue reading...

With a local dispute swaying voters, the result in Boris Johnson's old seat did not accurately reflect the national mood Read more: Starmer under pressure after Uxbridge as Tories tackle mission impossibleOne out of three ain't bad? A surprise win in Boris Johnson's former seat of Uxbridge gave Conservatives something to cheer on Friday morning as Rishi Sunak narrowly avoided being the first prime minister since Harold Wilson to suffer three byelection defeats on the same day. But with a local dispute swaying Uxbridge voters, the contests in Selby and Somerton may provide a clearer indication of the national mood. The picture they paint is bleak: two heavy defeats for the government to different opponents at opposite ends of England.In the week when Labour leader Keir Starmer took to the stage for the first time with his predecessor Tony Blair, Labour achieved a byelection breakthrough in North Yorkshire worthy of Blair's mid-1990s prime. Selby and Ainsty's 20,000-vote Conservative majority is the largest ever overturned by Labour in a byelection, and the swing to Labour was the second largest recorded. Labour comfortably outperformed its current polling with a swing which would decimate the Conservative benches if replicated in a general election. This was the performance of an opposition on its way back into government. Continue reading...

Russian-installed governor, Sergei Aksyonov, reports explosion at ammunition depot but no casualties

Glasgow crowds root for Greta Gerwig's bubblegum satire over Christopher Nolan's atom bomb sagaCineworld on Glasgow's Renfrew Street might be the tallest cinema building in the world, with 10 floors hosting almost 20 screens, but on Friday evening it felt like only two were really necessary.Dubbed Barbenheimer", the simultaneous opening of the blockbusters Barbie and Oppenheimer has generated unexpected excitement, thanks in large part to their comedically juxtaposed subject matter and tone: Greta Gerwig's bubblegum-pink, plastic-fantastic satire in one corner and Christopher Nolan's brooding exploration of the invention of the atomic bomb in the other. Continue reading...

Presenter tells affected consumers to open Hawkstone bottles under water, pour cider away and apply for refundJeremy Clarkson has warned that bottles of his cider could explode because of a massive cock up".The TV presenter started selling beer and cider in 2021 under the brand name Hawkstone. Continue reading...

Review could show that thousands more Jews and prisoners of war died on Channel Island Alderney than previously thoughtThe full horrors of the only Nazi concentration camps to exist on British soil will finally be investigated in an official government inquiry, the Observer can reveal.Eighty years on from one of the darkest episodes in British history, the government is to carry out a review into the numbers of prisoners murdered by the Nazis on Alderney, the tiny Channel Island and British crown dependency. Continue reading...

Film being reviewed to ensure it is not violating the country's social, cultural and religious valuesThe launch of the highly anticipated Hollywood movie Barbie has been delayed in Pakistan's Punjab province over objectionable content".Officials said the film would be reviewed and needed clearance from the provincial boards that censor scenes violating the country's social, cultural and religious values. Continue reading...

Some local branches to defy teaching unions' advice to accept deal over recruitment concernsStrikes in schools across England may still happen in September, after local branches of the largest union representing teachers told the Observer this weekend that they would vote against the proposed pay offer.Two weeks ago the government announced that it would accept the recommendation of the independent School Teachers' Review Body for a 6.5% pay rise for most teachers from September, and the four education unions representing teachers and heads advised their members to vote in favour of the offer. Continue reading...

People in Italy, Spain and Greece describe their day-to-day struggles in soaring temperaturesWith sea temperatures in the high 20s, open-water swimmer Grabiela Rojas feels it isn't safe to train in the ocean near Valencia this summer.Rojas, 35, is instead training by swimming laps in an indoor pool, rather than long distances in the ocean. It's way too hot in the water," she says of Spain's coastal waters, which have hit new records for this time of year. There's a point where you can't cool down. It's brutal." Continue reading...

Starmer hails results as cry for change' as Sunak's party loses Selby and Ainsty and Somerton and Frome, but clings on in UxbridgeRishi Sunak's chances of guiding the Conservatives to victory at the next general election looked increasingly slim on Friday after his party suffered two shattering byelection defeats.Labour gained its second biggest swing from the Tories since 1945, overturning a 20,000-vote Tory majority in Selby and Ainsty, with the Liberal Democrats also toppling the Conservatives in the previously safe West Country seat of Somerton and Frome. Continue reading...

Tourism, academia and literature all exhibit signs that trend of closer ties has gone into reverseCultural ties between the US and China are at a low point after several years of decline, according to Guardian analysis of official figures.The Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, coupled with the continuing trade war between the two countries, is diluting cultural exchanges, with visitor numbers, students and even the world of literature all affected. Continue reading...

Influencers Megan and Whitney Bacon-Evans withdraw high court case amid victory for equality' as service expands treatmentA married lesbian couple who launched a landmark legal test case against the NHS have claimed a victory for equality" after their local health service group agreed to change its fertility treatment rules for same-sex couples.Megan Bacon-Evans, 36, and Whitney Bacon-Evans, 35, have formally withdrawn their case at the high court after NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB) volunteered to give same-sex female couples the same access to fertility treatment as heterosexual couples, following a two-year review. Their case sparked national debate and led to a significant policy U-turn by the government last year. Continue reading...

Fawzi Mukhalifa was one of two Palestinian teenagers to be killed by Israeli forces in day of West Bank violenceIsraeli forces shot dead a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said, in what the army described as a car ramming attempt" near Nablus.Fawzi Mukhalifa, 18, was killed by the occupation [Israeli] bullets in the town of Sebastia" late on Friday, the Palestinian health ministry said. Continue reading...

Rick Stanton delivered the commencement address at Adul Samon's graduation at a New York school where the pair met againA British diver who helped rescue 12 members of a Thai youth soccer team who became trapped in a cave in 2018 has rejoiced after getting to personally watch one of the players graduate from a prestigious high school in New York.Rick Stanton - the diver who had a hand in saving the Wild Boars soccer squad whose entrapment of more than two weeks landed in news headlines across the world - got to reunite with one of the rescued children, Adul Samon, when Samon graduated in mid-June from the Masters School college preparatory outside New York City, according to the institution as well as ABC News. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Rising numbers of consultants are opting for a new life abroad, where they can double their salariesThe NHS is losing senior doctors to countries including Ireland, Australia and the United Arab Emirates because they can double their salary and enjoy better working conditions.Medical leaders are concerned about a growing exodus of hugely experienced doctors and surgeons to foreign healthcare systems, the Guardian has been told. Rising numbers of middle-aged consultants are opting for a new life abroad, which is exacerbating the NHS workforce crisis. Continue reading...

Body of art dealer Tim Klingender, 59, found Thursday amid debris from fishing boat at base of The Gap but Andrew Findlay, 51, still missingPolice will continue the search for a second man lost overboard in a fishing boat accident off Sydney Harbour on Thursday, but say they do not believe he could have survived.The body of art dealer Tim Klingender, 59, was found on Thursday, after his borrowed fishing boat was discovered overturned and broken up on the rocks at the base of The Gap off South Head, near the entrance to Sydney Harbour. Continue reading...

Police have extended the search for Andrew Findlay after the body of Tim Klingender was found. This blog is now closed

The 23-year-old was arrested at Balmain police station and charged with one count of use carriage service to menace, harass or offend

RMT union stages second 24-hour strike in three days as Aslef overtime ban nears endRail passengers across Britain are facing another day of limited and disrupted services, as the RMT union stages a second 24-hour strike in three days in the long-running pay dispute.Services were due to start late this morning and end early tonight with reduced schedules across England in particular, as about 20,000 train staff working for operators contracted to the Department for Transport (DfT) took action. Continue reading...

The woman managed to secure a safe haven visa but not her parents and brother, who escaped with her to Australia

Moscow waging war' on global food supply, US tells UN; Putin says it will use all means at its disposal' to defend Belarus after Warsaw moves troops to east

Launches come days after Pyongyang suggested docking of US submarine in South Korea could be grounds for nuclear attackNorth Korea has fired several cruise missiles" into the Yellow Sea between China and the Korean Peninsula, South Korea's joint chiefs of staff (JCS) says.The launches, which the military said took place about 4am on Saturday (1900 GMT Friday), come as relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points ever and as Pyongyang remained silent about the fate of a US soldier who fled across the border on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Semilla's Bernardo Arevalo, who came second in June election, condemns flagrant demonstration of the political persecution'The Guatemalan presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo has denounced a police raid on his party headquarters as a corrupt" show of political persecution" just a month before the high-stakes runoff election.Police raided the headquarters of Arevalo's Semilla party on Friday, saying it was carrying out a 12 July court order that had canceled the party's legal status. Continue reading...

Security council session told that world's poorest and most vulnerable at risk after Russia blocked exports What was the Black Sea grain deal and why did it collapse?Russia has been accused at the UN security council of stoking famine by blocking grain exports through the Black Sea, with the aim of profiting from higher global food prices.Russia's representative said on Friday that Moscow might consider restarting the scheme if it was given better terms for its own food and fertiliser exports, but was accused by western diplomats of holding the world's poor to ransom. Continue reading...

Former PM's spokesperson says relevant' messages will be handed over to Covid inquiry unredacted'

Russian president reacts angrily after Polish defence minister sends troops to guard eastern borderVladimir Putin has said Russia will use all means at its disposal" to defend Belarus after Poland and other EU countries voiced concerns about the deployment of Russian paramilitaries near their borders.Putin delivered a series of aggressive remarks during a meeting of his security council, where he claimed without evidence that Poland was seeking to invade Belarus, a Russian ally, and that their elites were dreaming of Belarusian lands". Continue reading...

Film once described as one-way ticket to post-traumatic stress disorder' originally classified U Watership Down has been upgraded to a PG. It'll still terrify childrenWhen Watership Down was first released in 1978, the film's director, Martin Rosen, insisted the image featured on its promotional poster should warn viewers that this was no cutesy cartoon about some bunnies.I reckoned a mother with a sensitive child would see a rabbit in a snare with blood coming out its mouth and reckon, Well, maybe this isn't for Charlie - it's a little too tough,'" he has said. Continue reading...

Temperatures reached as high as 53.3C in the US and flooding hit South Korea and IndiaA remote township in the north-western region of Xinjiang set a Chinese record of 52.2C (125.9F) on Sunday - in a country that was battling -50C weather six months ago. Sanbao is in the Turpan Depression, an arid basin of sand dunes and dried-up lakes where 50.3C was recorded in 2015. Beijing topped its record for high-temperature days in a year on Tuesday, with 27 days above 35C. The temperature in its southern suburbs soared even higher on Wednesday to 36.3C. Continue reading...

Hun Manet, eldest son of strongman who has ruled for four decades, faces balancing act when he inherits patronage systemWhen Cambodians go to the polls on Sunday, there is little doubt about who will be declared the winner. The only major opposition party has been banned from running, its members arrested and activists beaten in the streets. Independent media outlets have been closed down or their websites blocked.With no viable opposition, Hun Sen, the strongman prime minister who has held power for almost four decades, is expected to again sweep to victory. His intense crackdown - which rights groups say is a deterioration even on the repression that preceded elections in 2018 - comes as he prepares to hand over to his eldest son, Hun Manet, 45. Continue reading...

Broadcaster changes headline after former Ukip leader obtained evidence suggesting political considerations also behind move

There is no win for the government in Labour and the Lib Dems losing their deposits or the Greens' sticky results

People buying full-face masks alongside hats, fans - and hats with inbuilt fans - as temperatures rise above 35CIn scorching Beijing, facekinis" are the hottest new fashion as surging temperatures shatter records.With the air temperature rising above 35C (95F) and the ground surface temperature soaring as high as 80C in some parts of the country, residents and visitors have taken to carrying portable fans and covering themselves up to avoid getting burnt. Some hats even have fans built in. Continue reading...

Team exploring field of synthetic biological intelligence hopes to create better AI machines' - despite concerns over the existential risks' of such technology

Green party candidate to fight Brighton Pavilion constituency says Keir Starmer is abandoning pledges

Conservatives avoided a 3-0 defeat but face a daunting task if they are to retain an overall majority at next election

Victorian premier says it is possible a $5bn budget allocation was proposed earlier this year, prior to Games being cancelled

Board finds memoir by non-binary writer Maia Kobabe appropriate for its intended audience' following an appeal

Joon Seong Tan, 38, deliberately tried to hide his crime, a judge said as she handed down a 28-year sentence for the 2021 murder in Epping

Keir Starmer will face discontent from unions and MPs at the National Policy Forum in NottinghamKeir Starmer faces battles over the two-child benefit cap and other flashpoints at a key Labour policy gathering this weekend where trade union delegates will cite new evidence of the mounting cost of living crisis facing their members.Discontent at all levels of the party over his resistance to pledging to scrap the cap if Labour wins power forms the backdrop to potentially stormy negotiations behind closed doors at the National Policy Forum (NPF). Continue reading...

Property in Henderson linked to Duane Keffe D' Davis, whose late nephew, Orlando Anderson, was long suspected in rapper's killingA home that Las Vegas police searched this week in connection with the 1996 drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur is tied to a man whose nephew had emerged as a suspect shortly after the rapper's killing.Detectives sought items concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur" from Duane Keffe D" Davis, according to a copy of the warrant obtained Thursday. Davis is the uncle of Orlando Anderson. Anderson denied involvement in Shakur's killing at the time, and died two years later in an unrelated gang shooting in Compton, California. Continue reading...

Forestry workers unable to resuscitate unnamed pilot, 41, after helicopter went down near Haig Lake in north-western AlbertaA helicopter pilot has been killed in a crash in western Canada, in the third death in recent days connected with efforts to fight fires in the country's worst wildfire season on record.The pilot was the sole occupant of the helicopter when it crashed on Wednesday near Haig Lake in north-western Alberta province, and forestry workers were unable to resuscitate him, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. He was declared dead at a nearby airport. Continue reading...