World news | The Guardian

Tempers frayed and tension grew in Whitehall as ministers argued with the PM’s inner circle late into the nightIn a large state room in the heart of Downing Street, as they waited to deliver their fateful verdict to Boris Johnson, a group of cabinet ministers was forced to mingle awkwardly with the prime minister’s closest allies.The delegation had slowly grown throughout Wednesday evening. Nadhim Zahawi, who had accepted the job of chancellor less than 24 hours earlier, home secretary Priti Patel, trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, cabinet office minister Kit Malthouse, Welsh secretary Simon Hart and transport secretary Grant Shapps were all present at various points. Even Simon Clarke, the Treasury minister and one of Johnson’s most loyal supporters from the earliest days of his leadership campaign, joined by phone. “Everybody in that room agreed the game is up,” said one present. “Every single person was there to say that.” Continue reading...

The Eta group’s kidnap and murder of a young councillor in 1997 united a country in revulsion and the wounds are still open todayThe place where it happened is out past the hotel, the roundabout, the pharmacy and the blocks of flats hung with washing and geraniums, out where the small Basque town of Lasarte-Oria gives way to a narrow road fringed with trees and ferns.Today, little carries on the humid coastal air save for birdsong, the barking of a distant dog and the growl of a cultivator. But, 25 years ago this week, two shots from a .22 calibre Beretta pistol rang out beneath the trees and echoed across the length and breadth of Spain. Continue reading...

Prime minister Fumio Kishida warns violence will not be tolerated in defiant speech after the murder of former leaderMany Japanese voters will go to the polls on Sunday with a heavy heart, but also with a sense of quiet defiance, as they cast their ballots just two days after Shinzo Abe, the country’s most influential politician of modern times, was shot dead while making a campaign speech.As the country struggled to come to terms with the first assassination of a current or former leader for almost 90 years, officials in the Liberal Democratic party (LDP), which Abe dominated for a decade, insisted his death would not derail the democratic process. Continue reading...

Beijing’s ‘alignment with Russia’ is complicating relations, US secretary of state tells Wang Yi in talks aimed at defusing tensionsChina’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine is complicating US-Chinese relations at a time when they are already beset by rifts and enmity over numerous other issues, the US secretary of state has told his Chinese counterpartIn five hours of talks in their first face-to-face meeting since October, Antony Blinken said he expressed deep concern to the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, about Beijing’s stance on Russia’s actions in Ukraine and did not believe Beijing’s protestations that it was neutral in the conflict. Continue reading...

Temperatures predicted to hit 33C on Tuesday, with level 2 heat health alert issued for south-east EnglandParents are being advised to keep children out of the sun as the UK braces for a heatwave.With temperatures predicted to hit a high of 33C (91.4F) on Tuesday, Sheffield children’s hospital says children should wear sun cream, light-coloured clothing and stick to the shade to avoid overheating. Continue reading...

Man wielding knife is shot by police officers after holding people hostage at Ruijin hospitalFour people have been wounded in a stabbing at a Shanghai hospital, local police said, before the knife-wielding attacker was shot and subdued by officers.Huangpu district police said on social media that they received emergency reports at 11.30am local time (0430 BST) on Saturday of a stabbing at Ruijin hospital. Continue reading...

Authorities say blaze brought under control but likely to take days to extinguish amid drought conditions, heat and strong windsNearly 1,000 firefighters backed by water-dropping planes have been deployed to battle a massive blaze in France’s southern Gard region that burned 600 hectares (1,500 acres) and forced the evacuation of residents.Local authorities said on Friday the wildfire had been brought under control but would take days to extinguish. Continue reading...

Vladimir Putin dares west to beat Russia on battlefield; Serhai Haidai says Sievierodonetsk ‘is on the verge of a humanitarian disaster’The situation in occupied Sievierodonetsk “is on the verge of a humanitarian disaster” and the city is being widely looted by Russian troops, according to Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, Serhai Haidai.He posted to Telegram this morning, claiming:In Sievierodonetsk, 80% of housing was destroyed or damaged. Some people try to return for things, but more and more often … they find an empty apartment, even if it survived. Having entered the city, the Russians first deported part of the local population, took away the keys, and then began to rob everything. They drive up to high-rise buildings in trucks. If the furniture is good, they take it away. It is no longer just about household appliances.The city is on the verge of a humanitarian disaster – there is no centralised water supply, gas supply, or electricity supply.Last night, for the first time in several weeks, there was no night shelling of Kharkiv. But we have no right to lose our vigilance. After all, just yesterday evening, the enemy massively shelled the Nemyshlyan district of the city. Damaged houses, garages, containers, outbuildings. In total, four people died and nine were injured in Kharkiv oblast during the day.Active hostilities continue on the contact line. In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy is shelling the positions of our defenders and the civilian population with artillery and rocket systems. Continue reading...

James Sinclair stabbed Shadika Patel in the early hours as she waited to take a food parcel to her teenage sonsA man who stabbed a woman to death as she was taking a food parcel to her two sons has been jailed for 41 years, the Metropolitan police said.James Sinclair, 31, was handed the prison sentence after being found guilty of the murder of Shadika Patel and the attempted murder of a 48-year-old woman, after a trial at the Old Bailey. Continue reading...

Welfare recipients say they have been unable to log on to the new app to log job search efforts required to maintain their benefits

Rubens Villar Coelho ‘produced a fake Brazilian ID’ to investigating officer and had other aliases in Peru and ColombiaPolice have arrested a man linked to the killing of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous advocate Bruno Pereira but officials in the Amazonian city of Manaus warned his detention has not yet produced any evidence he is implicated in the 5 June murders.Media in the area around Brazil’s border with Peru and Colombia where the couple went missing named Rubens Villar Coelho as a possible suspect in the case that brought global attention to the remote Amazonian region last month. Continue reading...

TV presenter’s elder brother, a Catholic priest based in County Durham, died aged 55 after collapsing on Thursday eveningDeclan Donnelly has said he is “heartbroken” following the death of his brother, Father Dermott Donnelly, at the age of 55.Donnelly, who had been a Catholic priest for 30 years – most recently based at St Joseph’s Church in Stanley, County Durham – died peacefully in hospital on Friday afternoon after reportedly collapsing on Thursday evening. Continue reading...

Conduct of Deniz Jaffer, jailed over sharing of images of murdered sisters, further damned in IOPC reportA disgraced police officer who was jailed for taking photos of two murdered women claimed to friends that he covered up an assault on a group of Asian men.Deniz Jaffer, 47, who used racist slurs to describe the men, admitted in a WhatsApp group that the attackers were released after chatting with them “off the record”. Continue reading...

After Boris Johnson’s resignation, critics keen to lay blame at door of ‘too casual’ communications directorWhen he walked into Downing Street five months ago as Boris Johnson’s communications director, Guto Harri drew attention to himself with an interview that branded his new boss as “not a complete clown”.Now, in the postmortem and recriminations that inevitably follow any prime minister’s downfall, fingers are pointing at Harri over a tenure some describe as almost as gaffe-prone as that of his boss. Continue reading...

As the competition watchdog investigates profit margins, here are six of the largest refiners and the corporate interests behind themThe UK’s competition watchdog has turned its guns on oil refiners, pointing to the fat margins they are making as part of an investigation into why fuel prices are so high.The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “found cause for concern in the growing gap between the price of crude oil when it enters refineries, and the wholesale price when it leaves refineries as petrol or diesel”. Continue reading...

Analysis: pulling force out of special measures will be just one of several priorities for Sir Mark RowleySir Mark Rowley becomes leader of the Metropolitan police knowing its problems are so severe, with public confidence so low, that failure to reform may make him the last commissioner of the force as we know it.Already there is renewed talk of taking away the Met’s status as the national lead for counter-terrorism so that it can better focus on serving London’s communities. Continue reading...

Remarks come after Pat Cash accused Kyrgios of ‘cheating, manipulation and abuse’ at this year’s championshipsThe Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios has said that Australia’s tennis legends have a “sick obsession with tearing [him] down”.The 27-year-old claimed he was “the outcast” of his compatriots before describing himself as an inspiration to others who have been surrounded by “negative headlines and clouds”. Continue reading...

The recently found notebook of fragments and finished work has been described as the poet’s ‘most direct’ response to the suicide of his partner and daughter in 1969A series of deeply personal unpublished poems by Ted Hughes has been discovered and will be auctioned at Sotheby’s next week.The previously unseen poems were written shortly after the poet’s partner, Assia Wevill, killed herself and their daughter, Shura, in 1969, six years after the suicide of Hughes’s first wife Sylvia Plath.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.or Continue reading...

UK prime minister’s fellow populist is facing a tough re-election fight in October against former president Luiz Inácio Lula da SilvaTremors from the political earthquake that shook the United Kingdom have reached Brazil, where the left is hoping the demise of a British populist leader presages the downfall of their own far-right authoritarian.Boris Johnson’s political collapse was met with a mixture of hope and humour, with Ciro Gomes, one of the presidential candidates in October’s Brazilian election, describing the leaders of both nations in similar terms. Continue reading...

41-year-old tells police he was ‘frustrated’ with former Japanese PM and had ‘intention of killing him’A 41-year-old man has been arrested for murder after the fatal shooting of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.The man, Tetsuya Yamagami, reportedly told police after his arrest on Friday that he “was frustrated with the former prime minister and targeted Abe with the intention of killing him”, according to national broadcaster NHK. Police said the suspect had confessed and had a grudge against what was described as a “specific organisation” he believed Abe was a part of. Continue reading...

Insurance regulator says post-Brexit softening of rules will put billions of pounds of pension saving at riskA deputy governor at the Bank of England has sounded the alarm on City deregulation, saying a proposed softening of the rules for finance companies would put billions of pounds of pension fund savings at risk.Speaking out against a draft law championed by Rishi Sunak while he was chancellor, BoE deputy governor Sam Woods said the changes, which could allow insurers to reduce their cash reserves which are supposed to act as a buffer against sudden downturns, were “unbalanced”. Continue reading...

Analysis: Labour leader must act fast to pin Johnson’s legacy and state of economy on entire Tory party

Dos Santos’s near four-decade rule was marked by brutal civil war lasting almost three decadesAngola’s former president José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Africa’s second-biggest oil producer for nearly four decades, has died aged 79.The former president died on Friday morning at the Barcelona Teknon clinic after a prolonged illness, the presidency said. A spokesperson for the clinic declined to comment. Dos Santos had been receiving medical treatment since 2019. Continue reading...

Russian foreign minister accuses the west of frenzied criticism over his country’s invasion of Ukraine

Plans for bash at country retreat led to accusations Johnson wanted to delay No 10 departure until after event

Former PM says he didn’t tell powerbrokers he would like to join the Australian Rugby League Commission

Analysis: there were mixed messages, mistakes, but also successes, before Partygate helped bring down PMBoris Johnson had been in power for six months when Covid hit Britain and sparked the greatest peacetime crisis in a century. His departure, with the worst of the pandemic surely behind us, means his tenure will be framed by his handling of the virus. To some he got “the big decisions right”. To others he oversaw one of the UK’s worst ever public health failures. Here we look back at the prime minister’s Covid battle and assess how he fared. Continue reading...

Defence barrister says Dawson acknowledged his extramarital affair had been hurtful to Lynette, but that he had already paid a heavy price for it

Remains returned from UK Natural History Museum as well as from across New Zealand, a century after being dug up as curiosities by explorersThe skeletal remains of more than 100 Moriori ancestors, the Indigenous people of Rēkohu – or the Chatham Islands – have been returned to the tribe from the UK, as part of the largest single repatriation of Moriori remains to date.The ancestral remains, or karāpuna in Moriori dialect, were unceremoniously dug up by colonisers to be traded as curiosities and, for up to 100 years since, have sat in collections in London’s Natural History Museum and across Aotearoa New Zealand. Continue reading...

Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital among the facilities suspending some surgeries

The prime minister is variously thanked for this time in office and urged to be gone as soon as possible in today’s front pagesThe chaotic choreography of Boris Johnson’s sort-of resignation as prime minister delivered some contrasting front pages on Friday.The Guardian has a poster-style front page with a picture of an “unrepentant” Johnson during his resignation speech and the headline “It’s (almost) over” in which the words in parentheses are reduced to much smaller point size. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereAuthorities in Odesa are reporting that grain silos in the region and Snake Island have been hit by rockets or missiles overnight.An official channel for Odesa posted:Two rockets hit two agricultural hangars at night, which were destroyed. About 35 tonnes of grain were stored in one of them.According to preliminary data, there are no victims. Continue reading...

Republican former Senate candidate had sued British comedian over appearance on TV show judges ruled was ‘clearly comedy’A winner has been declared in the showdown between comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and former judge and failed Senate candidate Roy Moore, at least for now.On Thursday, Baron Cohen defeated a $95m defamation lawsuit brought by Moore, who said he was tricked into a television appearance that lampooned sexual misconduct accusations against him. Continue reading...

Moscow says equipment, which was being repaired in Canada, was crucial to restore gas supplies to GermanyCanada’s Ukrainian community has urged the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to refuse to compromise the country’s sanctions against Russia in order to return a turbine that Moscow says is critical for supplying natural gas to Germany.Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom cut the capacity along the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to just 40% of usual levels last month, citing the delayed return of equipment being serviced by Germany’s Siemens Energy in Canada. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Timor-Leste president welcomes decision to end prosecution of ‘good man’ who helped expose Australian bugging operation

Minister for women says mission to improve workplace conditions is urgent and will not ‘die a little slow death’

Analysis: with his exit dragged out, will outgoing PM fumble governing or make problems for successor?Britain has always been able to manage an orderly transfer of power from one prime minister to another, despite our uncodified constitution and its blend of practice, tradition and impromptu pragmatism.But that constitution has never come across a disruptive personality like Boris Johnson. Just as with Donald Trump’s transition after his defeat, Conservative MPs fear how Johnson could behave. Continue reading...

Meeting in Indonesia will be the first with the Russian envoy since the Kremlin invaded its neighbour, triggering global food and energy crisesSee all our Ukraine coverage hereRussian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has flown into the Indonesian island of Bali for a gathering of G20 foreign ministers, which is likely to be overshadowed by Moscow’s war in Ukraine and deep divisions within the bloc over how to respond to the crisis.US secretary of state Antony Blinken, Lavrov and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi are all due to attend the gathering as concern among western governments mounts about the war’s impact on the cost of food and fuel, which has prompted the UN to warn of an “unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution”. Continue reading...

Research comes amid growing push for companies and governments to quantify costs and benefits of wellbeingWhat price happiness? The answer might be £3,360 a year.The average UK worker would take a 10.5% pay cut to work for an employer where staff enjoy “above average” levels of happiness, a study has shown. Continue reading...

The Welsh-Iraqi writer said she plans to make use of her experience ‘sitting with one foot on either shore of different heritages’Hanan Issa, a Welsh-Iraqi poet, film-maker and artist, has been named the fifth national poet of Wales.As national poet Issa, who is due to serve a three-year term, will represent the diverse cultures and languages of Wales and act as an ambassador for the people of Wales. Continue reading...

Celebration plans likely to come under scrutiny after PM’s resignation as Conservative leaderBoris Johnson has planned a July wedding party with his wife, Carrie, at his prime ministerial retreat, multiple sources have said.Johnson, who resigned on Thursday, and his wife have sent save-the-date invitations to guests to the party at Chequers, the prime minister’s grace-and-favour home in Buckinghamshire, at the end of the month. Continue reading...

Unite union to ballot members on ‘vastly improved’ offer for check-in staff – while Jet2 announces 8% salary increasesThe dispute that threatened to cause a strike by British Airways check-in staff at Heathrow airport during the summer holidays has been suspended, after the airline made a “vastly improved” pay offer.After a day of talks on Wednesday a package was agreed with the Unite and GMB unions that sources said in effect met its demand to restore the 10% pay cut introduced during the pandemic. Continue reading...

Analysis: PM was bullish, resentful and unrepentant as he reprised what he saw as his achievements

Warm weather set to continue through next week and following weekend, especially in south of EnglandBritain is expected to be hit by a heatwave over the weekend, with temperatures likely to reach the mid-30Cs by the middle of next week.Much of the UK experienced sunshine on Thursday, with temperatures reaching 25C, and forecasters say the mercury could touch 35C by mid-July. Continue reading...

Artillery ‘working very powerfully’ as it inflicts blows on Russian logistics, according to Ukrainian president

Kyiv protests over ‘unacceptable situation’ after Russian-flagged ship leaves port in Karasu

Shortages of workers forced up pay and prices of key materials have rocketed since invasion of Ukraine, builder saysPersimmon, one of Britain’s biggest housebuilders, said shortages of materials and labour contributed to a 10% drop in the number of homes built in the first half of the year.The company completed 6,652 homes in the first six months of 2022, down from 7,406 a year earlier. It blamed further delays in the planning system, as well as material and labour shortages. Customer inquiry levels were healthy and cancellation rates low, Persimmon said. Continue reading...

Kazuki Takahashi found in snorkelling gear floating in the sea off coast of Okinawa, reports sayA Japanese artist who created the hit manga comic series Yu-Gi-Oh!, which spawned a worldwide media franchise including a trading card game, has been found dead in the sea, according to media reports.Kazuki Takahashi, 60, whose real first name was Kazuo, was discovered wearing snorkelling gear and floating in the sea near Nago, in the southern island prefecture of Okinawa, early on Wednesday and identified a day later, the NHK public broadcaster reported. Continue reading...

Prime minister has agreed to quit as Tory leader after resignation letters piled in from ministers and aides