World news | The Guardian

Luisa Gonzalez, who has pledged to revive Rafael Correa's social programmes, to run against Daniel Noboa in OctoberA protege of Ecuador's former leftist president Rafael Correa will face the son of one of the country's richest men in a runoff presidential vote in October, after first-round voting on Sunday failed to produce an outright winner.With more than three-quarters of ballots counted, Luisa Gonzalez, who has promised to revive Correa's social programmes, was tallying just over 33% support, while Daniel Noboa, the son of the prominent banana businessman and former presidential candidate Alvaro Noboa, was on 24%. Continue reading...

Reports claim PM discussed position with firm's former government relations boss before Nathan Albanese went on to secure two-week, unpaid placement

In today's newsletter: As police in the UK launch an investigation into what happened to missing artefacts, an art detective explains why such thefts are so difficult to prevent Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. The British Museum is reeling from the discovery that gold jewellery, semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD are either missing or stolen.A senior curator, who worked at the institution for 30 years, was dramatically dismissed after the items were discovered missing. His family deny he had anything to do with the lost items. Continue reading...

Environmentalists say nets' bycatch unacceptable but premier Chris Minns says alternative technologies not as good a replacement

Report by Human Rights Watch details alleged attacks using explosive weapons and small arms on Saudi Arabia-Yemen borderSaudi border guards have been accused of killing hundreds of Ethiopians using small arms and explosive weapons in a targeted campaign that rights advocates suggest may amount to a crime against humanity.The shocking claims are made in a detailed investigation by Human Rights Watch, which interviewed dozens of Ethiopian people who said they were attacked by border guards while they tried to cross into Saudi Arabia from Yemen. Continue reading...

School leaders tell of abnormal levels of pupil anxiety amid plan to lower grades back to pre-pandemic levelsHigh levels of persistent absence and mental ill health have undermined pupils' GCSE results to be published later this week, headteachers have said, as education experts warn of 300,000 fewer top grades being awarded in England this year.School leaders who spoke to the Guardian said they experienced unprecedented numbers of pupils failing to turn up or walking out in the middle of exams. Continue reading...

Liberal MP Matt Kean says Warren Mundine and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price will have to clean up this mess' after spokesman's CPAC conference comments

Proceedings against airline on behalf of hundreds of thousands' of customers aims to force refunds for flight credits and compensation due to lost interest

The 31 year-old has been charged with animal cruelty and lighting of open-air fires

More than 35,000 residents under evacuation orders across province, while flames are being held at bay 15km from Yellowknife in Northwest TerritoriesCanada will send in armed forces to tackle fast-spreading wildfires in British Columbia, prime minister Justin Trudeau has said, as more than 35,000 people were put under evacuation orders in the western province.British Columbia imposed a state of emergency late on Friday, giving officials more power to deal with fire risks. The main fire was centered around Kelowna, a city 300km (180 miles) east of Vancouver with a population of about 150,000. Continue reading...

Consumer rights group and travel agents call for regulator to be given powers to act amid flight cancellationsAirlines that break the law by not helping customers when flights are delayed or cancelled should be fined, consumer rights groups and online travel agents have said.In a letter to the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, the consumer rights group Which? and leading online travel agents called for the aviation regulator to be given more powers to act amid flight cancellations. Continue reading...

Catastrophic' flooding expected despite weakening as storm with 80mph winds approaches the US south-westTropical Storm Hilary made landfall in Mexico over the Baja California peninsula and reached south-east of San Diego on Sunday afternoon.Hilary is expected to head towards the US south-west until Monday as authorities warn of life-threatening and catastrophic flooding. Continue reading...

After the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio, voters are hoping the next president can overturn rising violence and economic turmoilEcuadoreans are choosing a new president in early elections amid a powerful display of security after the assassination of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio less than two weeks before the vote.Voters are heading to the polls in the backdrop of rising crime, violence and economic turmoil. Continue reading...

Reporter Phyllis Zorn and editor Eric Meyer said no laws were broken in their investigation of local restaurateur Kari NewellThe police chief who led the raid of a Kansas newspaper alleged in previously unreleased court documents that a reporter either impersonated someone else or lied about her intentions when she obtained the driving records of a local business owner.But reporter Phyllis Zorn, Marion County Record editor and publisher Eric Meyer, and the newspaper's attorney said on Sunday that no laws were broken when Zorn accessed a public state website for information on restaurant operator Kari Newell. Continue reading...

CPAC Australia, an organisation chaired by Warren Mundine, calls speaker's comments a comedy' skit

Council is conducting rapid safeguarding review after death that has sparked international manhuntA 10-year-old girl whose death sparked an international manhunt was previously known to the authorities, Surrey county council has confirmed.Sara Sharif was found dead at her home near Woking on 10 August having suffered multiple and extensive injuries, which Surrey police said were likely to have been caused over a sustained and extended period of time". Continue reading...

From the Gulf of Mexico and almost to the Great Lakes, the US is still suffering from extreme heat during a record-breaking summerSweltering temperatures lingered on Sunday in a large swath of the central US, causing misery from the Gulf of Mexico almost to the Great Lakes.Record high temperatures were recorded in Texas and other states. People were told to chug extra water while mowing lawns or exercising outdoors, and to check on neighbors to ensure air conditioning is available. Continue reading...

Pledge comes a few days after US approved the possible delivery of the fighter jets

Location, Location, Location star's parents, Anne and David, died after their car toppled off a bridge into riverThe TV presenter Phil Spencer has said his parents would have held hands" after their car crashed into a river on their farm.The Location, Location, Location presenter paid an emotional tribute to Anne and David Spencer on Instagram after the accident on Friday. Continue reading...

Danish PM says country will provide 19 in stages when pilot training is completed as Dutch counterpart pledges up to 42 planesThe Netherlands and Denmark have announced they will donate up to 61 F-16 fighter jets between them to Ukraine once pilot training has been satisfactorily completed, as Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited both countries after months of entreaties to bolster the Ukrainian air force.Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said her country would provide 19 jets - hopefully" six around new year, eight more next year and the remaining five in 2025. Please take this donation as a token of Denmark's unwavering support for your country's fight for freedom," Frederiksen said. Continue reading...

More than half of people believe MP's absence is significantly damaging parliament's reputation, poll showsA campaign group has written to the standards watchdog asking for an investigation into Nadine Dorries after its poll suggested more than half of people believe her absence as an MP and failure to quit has significantly damaged parliament's reputation.Tom Brake, the director of Unlock Democracy, called for an inquiry after the group commissioned an Opinium survey that found 55% of people thought Dorries had caused significant damage by failing to speak in parliament and delaying her decision to quit. Continue reading...

Jubilation at victory over England will take a while to sink in - and there are hopes it will bring lasting changeBy mid-afternoon on Sunday, the August-quiet, sun-fried streets around Madrid's WiZink Center had begun to fill with red strips, dazed and happy faces, and the inevitable chorus of horns from the capital's jubilant motorists. Spain had done it. But the fact they had done it was going to take a while to sink in.Among the hundreds of people milling about outside the sporting arena and concert venue - where giant screens had shown the World Cup triumph of the Spanish women's team to 6,000 people - were Laura Luengo, her wife, Tamara Rodriguez, and their young son, Alvaro. Continue reading...

No 10 says it will find appropriate' way to celebrate defeated finalists as Labour calls for full-team honoursNo 10 is considering awards for England's female footballers for reaching the World Cup final, as Labour called for the whole team to get honours.Downing Street said it would find a way to reward the players after they lost 0-1 in the final to Spain in Australia on Sunday. Continue reading...

Initiative aims to increase police presence as retailer sees rise in theft and aggressionWaitrose and John Lewis are offering free coffees and other hot drinks to on-duty police officers amid a rise in shoplifting.The drinks are aimed at encouraging a police presence in order to make thieves think twice" about stealing goods, said the head of security at the John Lewis Partnership, which owns the John Lewis and Waitrose brands. Continue reading...

Mayor threatens sanctions over reported practices of large minimum spends and selecting diners by size of previous billsThe mayor of St-Tropez has threatened racketeering" restaurateurs in the Med's most famous - and overpriced - former fishing village with sanctions after reports that some are selecting diners by the size of previous bills and are setting minimum spends.These accusations are extremely shocking to me because they are unfortunately true," Sylvie Siri told local media, adding that she and the entire council are totally opposed to such despicable practices", which were ruining the town's image". Continue reading...

Airline denies misleading conduct after customer was unable to find flight to London for advertised $2,455 return price

Australians are expected to live longer and remain healthier to an older age, while having fewer children over the next 40 years

Lack of glass is impeding efforts to rebuild and repopulate areas hit by Russian shelling such as the village of Shevchenkove

Exclusive: papers appear to show embassy officials pressing attorney general's office over Palestine Action protestersIsraeli embassy officials in London attempted to get the attorney general's office to intervene in UK court cases relating to the prosecution of protesters, documents seen by the Guardian suggest.The papers, obtained through a freedom of information (FoI) request by Palestine Action, indicate that embassy officials pressed for the director general of the attorney general's office (AGO), Douglas Wilson, to interfere into cases related to protests on UK soil. Continue reading...

Attempt to cut ties with bank, which directly invests in new fossil fuel projects, fails at AGMOne of Britain's most powerful charities, the National Trust, has hit back at pressure to cut ties with Barclays Bank over environmental concerns.The trust, which acts to conserve more than 780 miles of coastline and 500 historic properties, claims that it can wield influence within the banking sector as a whole and does not need to ditch the global bank as a supplier. Continue reading...

Actor had a double lung transplant in 2020 because of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseRon Cephas Jones, a veteran stage actor who won two Emmy awards for his role as a long-lost father who finds redemption on the NBC series This Is Us, has died at age 66, a representative said.Jones's manager, Dan Spilo, said the actor died due to a long-standing pulmonary issue". Continue reading...

Public inquiry that is now almost inevitable will need to examine failings of people and processes - and result in meaningful changesThe scale of Lucy Letby's crimes, and the Countess of Chester hospital's failure to act on warnings that could have halted her killing spree, means the announcement of an independent inquiry on Friday was almost inevitable.It will have to forensically examine the failings of people and processes involved in her serial targeting of sick newborns and make detailed recommendations to ensure babies in neonatal units are much better protected. Continue reading...

Sir Duncan Nichol says board was told there was no criminal activity pointing to any one individual' after reviews in late 2016The former chair of the NHS trust where serial killer Lucy Letby worked has said the board was misled" by hospital executives.Sir Duncan Nichol, who was the board's chair, said it was told there was no criminal activity pointing to any one individual" after two hospital-commissioned reviews in late 2016. Continue reading...

Finding at Civita Giuliana villa throws light on lowly status of slaves in ancient worldArchaeologists have discovered a small bedroom in a Roman villa near Pompeii that was almost certainly used by slaves, throwing light on their lowly status in the ancient world, Italy's culture ministry said on Sunday.The room was found at the Civita Giuliana villa, some 600 metres (2,000 ft) north of the walls of Pompeii, which was wiped out by a volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago. Continue reading...

Yashica Dutt accuses makers of Made in Heaven of failing to acknowledge her contribution to story of bride from low casteAn Amazon Prime series on Indian wedding planners has been accused of failing to acknowledge the contribution of a Dalit journalist who says that the main character appears to be based on her own life, as recounted in a book she wrote.Yashica Dutt, 37, has been based in New York for a few years but grew up in India amid the daily contempt to which people who belong to her caste are subjected. Continue reading...

Decision not to fly to Australia has been questioned by those who say Lionesses deserved top-level supportThe Prince of Wales may have cheered on the Lionesses from afar, but has faced criticism from some quarters at home over his reluctance to get on a plane to support the England team in person.William was absent from Stadium Australia despite being president of the Football Association, and is understood to have made the decision not to go because of the long flight involved for such a short period of time. Continue reading...

Families said to have run away with nothing as three forces fight in South Kordofan stateThousands of people have fled their homes in the capital of South Kordofan state in Sudan after an attack by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North rebel group, one of three forces now fighting in the area.The SPLMN has been trying to capture the city from the regular army, known as the Sudanese Armed Forces, since June, when it entered the conflict that broke out in April between the SAF, led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Continue reading...

Recruits on full salary while waiting months for permission to work at Kent site due to lengthy security checksMore than 100 people recruited to work as guards at the Manston camp in Kent have spent months on full pay without being allowed to do any work, the Guardian has learned.Manston, near Ramsgate, which processes asylum seekers who arrive in the UK on small boats, was hit by a series of crises last year. An outbreak of diphtheria led to one man dying after falling ill with the infection. There were also reports of filthy conditions, assaults by some contractors and groups of asylum seekers being taken from the camp and dumped in the streets of central London. Continue reading...

The UN hailed a pilot project that cut the cost of helping refugees, but the Home Office remains set on hardline illegal migration billThe UN has backed a Home Office-funded pilot that would dramatically reduce the spiralling costs of the crisis-hit asylum system - yet Suella Braverman is refusing to endorse the scheme, despite it being described as more humane".This week, the UNHCR (the refugee agency that helps the UK government improve its asylum system) will praise a Home Office-funded scheme in Bedfordshire, which it found cut the cost of accommodating refugees and migrants by more than half when compared with placing them in detention. The savings came through housing people and giving legal and welfare support. Continue reading...

Specialist creative college on model of Croydon institution that nurtured Adele and Amy Winehouse to be sited in BradfordThe Department for Education has approved plans for a northern version of the Brit school, which has nurtured performers such as Adele and Amy Winehouse.The BPI - the representative voice of record labels across the UK - plans to open a new specialist creative college in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in around 2026-27 to allow students aged 16-19 to study performance, production and digital subjects. Continue reading...

With courses in shopping centres offering cocktails and DJs, mini golf is booming in the UK like never beforeThere's nothing mini about crazy golf these days. The number of miniature or adventure golf courses in the UK has jumped by about 25% since the pandemic, according to figures compiled by the curator of the Crazy Golf Museum.The UK is now home to more than 1,200 courses, according to Richard Gottfried, with 320 opening or announced since May 2020. In 2006, there were only about 600. Continue reading...

Labor to lay out new economic growth plans in response including focus on digital technologies and aiming to become a renewable energy super power'

Patients turned down care they needed after demands for advance payments amid complaints of government's hostile environment'Hundreds of migrants have declined NHS treatment after being presented with upfront charges over the past two years, amid complaints the government's hostile environment" on immigration remains firmly in place.Data compiled by the Observer under the Freedom of Information Act shows that, since January 2021, 3,545 patients across 68 hospital trusts in England have been told they must pay upfront charges totalling 7.1m. Of those, 905 patients across 58 trusts did not proceed with treatment. Continue reading...

100,000 more girls are playing football in England than they did in 2017. At a training session near Ipswich, we meet the under-12s who love the gameWooh! Good finish," calls out coach Ian Westlake as 10-year-old TJ Spurling fires a shot at goal. Set it," he shouts to the next player in line, and then run. You want to come off your left foot."It's halfway through the Kesgrave Kestrels' regular 90-minute Thursday evening training session - somewhere between the opening drills and the finishing game - and a brisk southwesterly wind is blowing in from the Suffolk coast nine miles away, gusting across the pitch of blue artificial turf. Continue reading...

Unions say members could take industrial action as early as 2 September if next round of bargaining is unsuccessful

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Campaigners say rape and trafficking victims have been betrayed by the Tories' failure to appoint commissioners to defend themGovernment ministers have heartlessly" betrayed rape and trafficking victims after failing to fill two key independent watchdog roles designed to defend human rights, campaigners have said.Next month, the role of the victims' commissioner for England and Wales will have been left vacant for a year, at a time when vital legislation is passing through parliament. Continue reading...

New figures undermine Rishi Sunak's claims to boost PE ahead of Women's World Cup finalThe number of hours young people spend doing PE and sport in secondary schools in England has fallen by more than 12% since the 2012 London Olympics, despite promises by ministers that the games would inspire a generation" and kickstart a massive expansion of sport in the state sector.The fall is recorded in the latest figures released by the government, which show a drop from 326,277 hours in 2011/12 to 285,957 in 2022/3. Although the total went back up after the pandemic, it then fell again over the last year by more than 4,000 hours. Continue reading...

Tony Chambers says he was not aware of serious concerns being raised until June 2016 - a year after the nurse was linked to a series of unusual infant deathsThe former chief executive of the hospital where Lucy Letby murdered seven babies said he first heard serious concerns" about the nurse in June 2016 - a year after she was linked to a series of unusual infant deaths.However, Tony Chambers, who left the Countess of Chester hospital shortly after Letby's arrest, said he was told at the time that she was an enthusiastic, capable and committed nurse", despite the fears of senior doctors. Continue reading...

Drowning reported in Baja California peninsula ahead of storm's arrival on Saturday night before hitting southern California on SundayHurricane Hilary was downgraded to a category 1 storm as it moved towards the Baja California region on Saturday evening, amid warnings of deadly flooding.The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an advisory on Saturday night that catastrophic and life-threatening flooding" was still likely and that the storm had maximum sustained winds of 90mph (145km/h). Continue reading...