World news | The Guardian

Pub Choir cover of song, back in the charts thanks to Stranger Things, gets thumbs up from singer, who told them ‘I love it so much’

Fall in unemployment rate from 3.9% to 3.5% is higher than forecast by most economists and brings rate to the lowest point since August 1974Australia’s unemployment rate plummeted to 3.5% in June, the lowest rate in 48 years.“This is the lowest unemployment rate since August 1974, when it was 2.7% and the survey was quarterly,” Australian Bureau of Statistics head of labour data Bjorn Jarvis said on Thursday. Continue reading...

There are 6,000 properties in the Hawkesbury-Nepean situated below the planning level for a one-in-100-year flood

State of emergency declared as protesters reject premier Ranil Wickremesinghe acting as president and demand he and Gotabaya Rajapaksa resignProtests erupted in Sri Lanka on Wednesday after the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, fled to the Maldives on a military jet – but neither he nor the prime minster officially resigned, throwing the country into political chaos.After Gotabaya’s clandestine departure, a Sri Lankan official said that the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had been appointed by Rajapaksa to be acting president. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereRussia’s RIA Novosti news agency is reporting that the Russian delegation has arrived in Turkey for talks over the export of grain from Ukraine. They cite a diplomatic source.The source told them there was “high confidence” of progress in today’s talks, at which military delegations from Turkey, Russia and Ukraine will meet with a UN delegation at a secret location. Continue reading...

Prime minister Anthony Albanese’s comments come after meeting with Solomons leader at Pacific Islands Forum and despite Pacific nation’s security pact with China

Austerity-era policies meant poverty among larger families in poverty rose at significantly faster rate, says thinktankBenefit cuts imposed by the Conservatives since 2010 pushed up child poverty before the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report warning that poorer families are also among the most exposed to the cost of living crisis.The Institute for Fiscal Studies said relative child poverty rose to the highest level since 2007 immediately before Covid-19 hit, as the incomes of poorer families with children fell further behind due to austerity. Continue reading...

Populist party says it won’t back cost of living package and could withdraw from fragile coalitionThe Italian government is close to collapse after the 5-Star Movement said it would boycott a crucial confidence vote in parliament, prompting calls for early elections.Giuseppe Conte, the former prime minister who leads the populist party, said the funds set aside for a cost of living support package were insufficient and that his senators could not support the bill on Thursday. Continue reading...

Guidance issued after 15-year-old black girl known as Child Q was strip-searched by female police officers in 2020Schools should “assess and balance” the risk of a potential strip-search to a pupil’s mental and physical wellbeing before calling the police, according to new government guidance.The new advice for schools in England has been issued following national outcry over the treatment of a 15-year-old black girl, known as Child Q, who was strip-searched by female police officers in 2020 after she was wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis at her school in east London. Continue reading...

Charges relate to a man who was stopped in Hendon, north London, with the officers accused of common assault by beatingTwo Metropolitan police officers have been charged with assault after allegedly using excessive force when they stopped a man in north-west London in December 2021.Sgt Emily Joshi and PC Ozan Yelken are due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on Friday 15 July, accused of common assault by beating. Continue reading...

Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine, the UN and Turkey seek deal to enable exports to pass on to the Danube

After the visit a communique titled the ‘Jerusalem Declaration’ will reaffirm Israel’s right to defend itselfJoe Biden has said that the US is committed to Israel’s security on arriving in Tel Aviv for the first leg of a three-day visit to the Middle East, a trip focused on deepening the majority Jewish state’s ties with the Arab world as the region faces a common foe in Iran.The US leader was greeted by the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog and caretaker prime minister, Yair Lapid on Air Force One’s arrival at Ben Gurion airport on Wednesday afternoon, fist-bumping rather than shaking hands with Israeli officials during the red carpet welcome, over what the White House said was concern over rising Covid cases. Continue reading...

Analysis: newspapers still hold great power, and pro-Johnson Mail has set out its ‘anyone but Rishi’ stall

Results in from first round of knockout votes in contest to decide next prime minister

Police arrest Mohamad Lilo after frustrating six-month investigation into abduction by ‘fake officers’Canadian police have arrested and charged a man in a kidnapping case that has baffled investigators for months and produced few leads.Mohamad Lilo, an ex-boyfriend and former business partner of Elnaz Hajtamiri, was charged with her kidnapping, six months after she was abducted by men dressed as police officers. Continue reading...

Activists and councillors are concerned about conflicts over noise levels arising between new residents and club in LGBT quarterActivists and councillors in Birmingham have warned of possible “rising tensions” in the city’s gay village after a proposed 12-storey block of flats near a famous nightclub was given the go-ahead.Approval has been given to the development of 456 apartments on the same road as the city’s oldest gay nightclub, the Nightingale, in the heart of the city’s LGBT quarter. Continue reading...

UHY Hacker Young given “severe reprimand” over audits that failed to highlight firm’s uncertain futureBritain’s accounting watchdog has issued a “severe reprimand” to the auditor of Laura Ashley, after it failed to highlight risks over the fashion and homeware chain’s future in two reports before its collapse.The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said it had fined UHY Hacker Young £300,000, and imposed other sanctions against the firm, relating to its audits of the retailer, which slid into administration during the pandemic. Continue reading...

Drivers who made claim via portal ‘without lengthy court proceedings’ say they were misledUber drivers say they feel “misled” and “shafted” after it emerged that they have been paid up to 10 times less compensation for missed holiday pay than those who hired lawyers to take action against the company.Drivers won payouts after the supreme court in February last year endorsed a landmark employment tribunal ruling that Uber drivers should be classed as workers with access to the minimum wage and paid holidays. Continue reading...

Regulator is concerned that gas and electricity customers may fall into debt or overpay unless improvements are madeThe British energy regulator has told a string of suppliers to take urgent action after finding “severe weaknesses” in handling customers’ direct debits.Ofgem has scrutinised how energy companies handle direct debits, finding evidence that customers have been treated poorly. Continue reading...

Sales of draught ales, ciders and lagers drop 8%, with analysts citing customers’ Covid nervousnessThe pub chain JD Wetherspoon has warned of bigger-than-expected annual losses amid rising staff pay and a slow recovery in bar trade as older drinkers continue to stay at home and sales of pints slump.The group said it was anticipating losses of about £30m for the year to the end of July after investing to attract and retain workers, and ramping up spending on the wider business, including on repairs and marketing. Continue reading...

Trade minister likens Boris Johnson to Paul McCartney playing new songs when people want the hits

Campaigners say sentence amounts to torture amid fears that country’s new regime is rolling back women’s rightsA woman in Sudan has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, the first known case in the country for almost a decade.Maryam Alsyed Tiyrab, 20, was arrested by police in Sudan’s White Nile state last month. Continue reading...

Police called after MP’s Dorset home targeted with eggs and windows smashed with croquet malletPolice were called after the home of Tobias Ellwood was vandalised after the Conservative MP was alleged to have run over and killed a valuable Bengal cat – then reportedly drove off without stopping.The MP was hailed as a hero in 2017 for trying to save the life of a police officer who was stabbed during the Westminster terror attack. But he is now in disgrace with some of his constituents after the family who owned the cat were allegedly left cradling their dying pet as the MP drove away. Continue reading...

Transport minister also dismisses claim by Jacob Rees-Mogg that Sunak was a ‘socialist chancellor’The UK transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has denied Rishi Sunak’s Conservative leadership campaign has engaged in “dirty tricks”.His comments came after the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, who is supporting Liz Truss in the election, accused the former chancellor’s team of using “dark arts” to help get Jeremy Hunt into the next round because “Team Rishi” believed Sunak would beat Hunt in the final run-off vote of party members. Continue reading...

Mark Butler is urging Australians to get their booster jabs as case numbers rise and pandemic supports are scaled back

YouGov poll indicates nearly one in 10 HR professionals were not open to recruiting a person with disability in the future

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereRussia’s Tass news agency is reporting that “dozens of people were injured as a result of the strike of the armed forces of Ukraine at Novaya Kakhovka”.Novaya Kakhovka is on the Dnieper river in an area of Kherson occupied by pro-Russian forces in the south of Ukraine.Unfortunately, there are casualties, a large number of injured, dozens of people were left homeless. The victims were admitted to both the city hospital and the military hospital. We still have to assess the damage, because the situation is still ongoing. Continue reading...

Students who engaged with the meditation practice benefitted but many were bored by it, say researchersSchool-based mindfulness training does not appear to boost wellbeing or improve the mental health of teenagers, according to research that found many pupils were bored by the course and did not practise it at home.At a time when concern is mounting about poor mental heath among children and young people in the UK, researchers wanted to find out whether a universal mindfulness intervention in secondary schools might help build resilience and have a positive impact on pupil wellbeing. Continue reading...

Brigade says it now has fire at The Admiralty under controlMore than 100 firefighters tackled a “challenging” blaze at a pub in Trafalgar Square in central London.The fire broke out at The Admiralty pub shortly before 5.50pm on Tuesday, and huge plumes of smoke could be seen billowing from the building. Continue reading...

Rajapaksa, 73, and his wife boarded a special air force flight bound for the Maldives, local officials saidSri Lanka’s embattled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has flown out of the country, heading to the neighbouring Maldives, according to local officials.The 73-year-old leader, his wife and a bodyguard were among four passengers on board an Antonov-32 Sri Lankan military aircraft which took off from Colombo’s international airport on Tuesday, immigration officials told Agence France-Presse. Continue reading...

The Bridgerton actor, Doctor Who writer and I May Destroy You creator are among 60 new fellows appointed to the UK’s charity for the advancement of literatureBridgerton actor Adjoa Andoh, I May Destroy You creator Michaela Coel, Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies and poet Lemn Sissay are among the new fellows elected to the Royal Society of Literature (RSL).The RSL, the UK’s charity for the advancement of literature, announced 60 new appointments at an event held at Battersea Arts Centre in London. Continue reading...

Six complaints of bullying and sexual misconduct were made to the corporation between 1994 and 2013The BBC has said it will publish an internal investigation into bullying and sexual misconduct allegations against radio presenter, Tim Westwood, within the next two weeks.The DJ, who was a BBC radio presenter for almost 20 years, stepped down from his show on Capital Xtra in April after accusations by several women of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour. The claims were uncovered by a joint investigation involving the Guardian and the BBC. Continue reading...

Offenders ‘emboldened’ by failure of authorities to investigate, says three-year investigation into scandalMore than a thousand children in Telford were sexually exploited over decades amid the failure of authorities to investigate “emboldened offenders”, an independent inquiry into the scandal has concluded.The three-year investigation by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) found that exploitation was allowed to continue for years and children, rather than perpetrators, were often blamed. Continue reading...

Call to tighten rules after residents voted for demolition or rebuilding of their estates in 20 out of 21 votesBouncy castles and free pizza may be helping skew votes on housing estate demolitions, according to activists who want stricter rules to stop landlords gaining an unfair advantage.Hundreds of thousands of pounds are being spent on tactics ranging from family fun days to repeated door-to-door canvassing by landlords determined to persuade social housing tenants to approve multimillion pound redevelopments in a way that would breach the rules of standard democratic elections, campaigners warn. Continue reading...

Six groups will be chosen to read a shortlisted book, with the most ‘original and engaging’ readers to be invited to the prize ceremonyBook clubs across the UK are being invited to take part in the inaugural Booker prize book club challenge, with seats at the prize ceremony dinner up for grabs.Six book clubs will be chosen for the challenge by this year’s judging panel, which is chaired by cultural historian Neil MacGregor. MacGregor and his fellow judges – broadcaster Shahidha Bari, historian Helen Castor, author and literary critic M John Harrison and novelist Alain Mabanckou – will be looking for the “most interesting, passionate and wide-ranging set of readers possible”. Continue reading...

New leader will take over from Frances O’Grady when she retires after 10 yearsThe Trades Union Congress has named Paul Nowak, a former call centre worker from Merseyside, as its next general secretary.Nowak will become general secretary designate at the TUC conference in Brighton in September, taking over from Frances O’Grady when she retires at the end of the year after 10 years at the helm. Continue reading...

French government plans to buy remaining 16% of energy giant to keep bills down could cost up to €10bnShares in EDF have surged on reports that the French government is prepared to pay more than €8bn (£6.8bn) to nationalise the energy company.France’s prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, announced plans last week to take full control of the power group in an attempt to keep a handle on spiralling household electricity bills. Continue reading...

Banks and traders have been ‘let off the hook’ by G7 despite being more to blame for the looming crisis than ChinaWestern governments should “compel” private lenders to ease loan repayments from low-income countries to tackle a debt crisis, according to campaigners.Debt Justice, formerly the Jubilee Debt Campaign, said African governments owe three times more debt to western banks, asset managers and oil traders than they do to China, and are charged double the interest. China has been “mistakenly” blamed by western leaders for the failure to make progress on debt restructuring. Continue reading...

Information commissioner will look into the personal information handling practices of the retail giants

Members of the public pay their respects to former prime minister outside Buddhist templeFamily and friends of Japan’s former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, have attended his funeral at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo while members of the public paid their respects outside, four days after he was shot dead while making a campaign speech.Mourners in black suits and dresses gathered at Zojoji temple for the private funeral service, while police officers monitored onlookers, some holding bunches of flowers, who had braved the early afternoon heat. Continue reading...

Rebecca Louise Burden pleads guilty to attempted murder but tells court she believes ‘I am a good person who made a grave mistake’

Human rights lawyer’s team calls on new Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos Jr to ‘stop the rot’ and allow a free pressHuman rights lawyer Amal Clooney has condemned a decision by a court in the Philippines to uphold the conviction of Nobel prize-winner Maria Ressa in a cyber libel case and her legal team has said the world is watching to see if newly elected president Ferdinand Marcos Jr will “stop the rot” or continue attacks on journalists.Maria Ressa, co-founder of the website Rappler, lost her appeal last week against a conviction for cyber libel – just one of an onslaught of legal cases and investigations the journalist is battling. Continue reading...

Those in home isolation will be forced to wear a bracelet tracking their movements as territory introduces China-style QR code systemHong Kong will mandate electronic tracking bracelets for people in home isolation and bring in a China-style electronic health code system as part of fresh measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.The quarantine bracelets, to be introduced on Friday, will be mandatory for people who have tested positive and are quarantining at home to ensure they do not leave the building during their isolation period. Continue reading...

Economists and Conservative opponents say proposals would blow hole in public financesThe scale of tax cuts promised by Conservative leadership hopefuls would blow a hole in the public finances and could lead to rampant inflation, Tory opponents and economists have warned.Nadhim Zahawi, who took over as chancellor last week, used a leadership speech on Monday to announce tax policies that would cost an estimated £50bn a year, almost as much as the combined budgets of the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office. Continue reading...

High-profile professors in Europe and the US were engaged as part of lobbying campaign, leak showsUber paid high-profile academics in Europe and the US hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce reports that could be used as part of the company’s lobbying campaign.The Uber files, a cache of thousands of confidential documents leaked to the Guardian, reveal lucrative deals with several leading academics who were paid to publish research on the benefits of its economic model. The reports were commissioned as Uber wrestled with regulators in key cities around the world. Continue reading...

Richard Marles delivers speech in US warning of increased militarisation in South China Sea and importance of climate action to Pacific allies

Elective surgeries are again at risk of being delayed with predictions hospitalisations may exceed past Covid waves

Gotabaya Rajapaksa informs PM’s office of resignation intention as brother Basil is turned away at airport and opposition leader signals plan to run for presidentSri Lanka’s government has confirmed the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is to resign, paving the way for the appointment of a successor, amid reports that the beleaguered leader had fled the country on Monday.A statement from the office of the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said “Rajapaksa has officially informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he will be resigning”, in the most formal confirmation yet that the president intends to step down later this week. Continue reading...