World news | The Guardian

Taipei takes on the role of commemoration from Hong Kong as the only Chinese-speaking country to hold vigilsOn a steamy summer’s night several hundred people gathered at the foot of Taipei’s grand Chiang Kai-shek memorial for one of dozens of vigils being held around the world to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.A man walked on to the stage, with the eyes of the crowd upon him, and voiced a timid welcome: “Hello everyone.” Then he began to scream. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson’s planned cuts will worsen delays on passports and driving licences, union warnsBoris Johnson’s plans to slash the number of civil servants by 91,000 – around 20% – within three years, will leave Whitehall unable to handle the huge extra workload caused by Brexit, independent experts and unions have warned the government.They say such a reduction would leave the state too small to cope with the added responsibilities taken on by officials in Whitehall since the UK left the EU, including in areas of trade, agriculture, immigration and business regulation. Continue reading...

Diversity in book industry must be sustained, and start at the top, Booker prize-winning author tells Hay festivalThe Booker prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo says she fears that publishers’ interest in black authors may be only a “trend or fashion” that could wane unless the business becomes more diverse.Evaristo, who was the first black woman to win the literary prize for her novel Girl, Woman, Other in 2019, said that the Black Lives Matter movement and the murder of George Floyd in 2020 “really did shake the industry to the core” and had marked a turning point in previously “excluded” authors getting book deals. Continue reading...

As elections loom, public turns against interior minister Gérald Darmanin after he blames Liverpool fans for Paris fiascoWhen Paris stepped in to host the Champions League final, the biggest match in international football after the World Cup final, the French authorities saw a chance to show that the nation was the ideal place to hold global sporting events.This weekend, those hopes appear to be dashed as French opinion polls show widespread disapproval of the chaos that ensued, amid growing criticism of politicians and the police. Continue reading...

Footage shows PM attracted chorus of jeers when he arrived at thanksgiving service for the Queen on FridayKeir Starmer said he was not surprised that Boris Johnson was booed by some members of the public as he arrived at St Paul’s for a platinum jubilee event, claiming: “They are fed up with the government.”The prime minister attracted a chorus of jeers from spectators when he arrived for the National Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen service on Friday with his wife, Carrie, in audio and video footage that was captured by cameras. Continue reading...

French president says door must be left open to allow for improvement in diplomatic relations after war

Serhiy Haidai says counterattack has recaptured a fifth of frontline city from Russian invaders

Five years after London Bridge and Borough Market attacks, watchdog says psychologists should feature in counter-terrorismPsychologists and behavioural scientists should be deployed more frequently to counter-terrorism operations as the number of neurodivergent individuals under investigation rises, a watchdog has advised.The government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation told the Observer that evaluating the threat from individuals with conditions like autism was becoming an increasingly prevalent challenge. Jonathan Hall QC said: “You are seeing a lot more neurodivergence and mental health coming into terrorist investigations, and that’s also having an impact on deradicalisation programmes. Continue reading...

Singer, whose real name is Lamar Jackson, was killed in a fight at an event in Woodford GreenA rapper has been stabbed to death at a jubilee party in east London.The Metropolitan police have opened a murder investigation after Lamar Jackson, known as Hypo, was attacked at an event in Woodford Green on Saturday morning. Continue reading...

Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge all send best wishes via TwitterMembers of the royal family have wished the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’ daughter, Lilibet, a happy birthday as she turns one while in the UK for the Queen’s jubilee celebrations.The Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge congratulated her on her first birthday via Twitter on Saturday. Continue reading...

Severe storms expected to form late on Saturday – but northern UK in line for fine, warm weatherForecasters have issued severe warnings of thunderstorms on Saturday.A yellow weather warning is in place until 1pm on Saturday in south-west England, with a risk of flooding, damage to buildings, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds – as well as a small chance of travel delays and cancellations of train and bus services. Continue reading...

Prime minister renames island in Lake Burley Griffin to honour monarch’s 70 years of service to Australia. This blog is now closed

NSW police say the alleged offender was the boyfriend of a mutual friend who had been invited to the party

Columns of smoke seen rising from villages along 8km stretch in drone footage from country’s north amid opposition to regimeMyanmar junta troops have torched hundreds of buildings during a three-day raid in the country’s north, local media and residents said, as the military struggles to crush resistance to its rule.The Sagaing region has seen fierce fighting and bloody reprisals since the coup last year, with local “People’s Defence Force” (PDF) members clashing regularly with junta troops. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Draft security bill would let spies and ministers enable killings and torture, warn charity and ex-ministerMinisters and spies would be given immunity from accusations of assisting crimes overseas under a new national security law to be debated by MPs next week, a human rights charity and former Tory cabinet minister have warned.The Home Office was told that the powers being proposed were “far too slack” and would diminish the UK’s moral authority to condemn atrocities such as the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Continue reading...

More than 1,400 cases of treason and collaboration with the Russian army have been brought against citizens

US general in Finland to back Nato bid; 14 million Ukrainians displaced in conflict, says UN; Macron says Putin isolated after ‘historic error’

Ukrainian forces say they have pushed back Russians in the city

Kaja Kallas said security concerns over Russia gave no ‘opportunity to continue cooperation’Estonia’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, has called for talks on a new government after her ruling coalition fell apart, urging unity because of security concerns over neighbouring Russia.Kallas spoke to reporters after President Alar Karis accepted her request to dismiss seven Centre party ministers from the 15-strong cabinet, including the foreign minister, Eva-Maria Liimets. Continue reading...

Alan Wilson calls PM’s self-defence ‘nonsense’ and says country needs leader it can trustThe bishop of Buckingham has joined the growing calls for Boris Johnson to resign and believes that he “obviously” lied over lockdown parties in Downing Street.

100 days of Vladimir Putin’s war; fight for Sievierodonetsk as eastern city becomes key war aim for Moscow; a closer look at Biden’s pledge to send high-tech rocket systems

Mass for victims of deadly 2017 attack followed by tea at mosque, representing ‘British values of unity and hope’A service of commemoration has been held to mark the fifth anniversary of the London Bridge and Borough Market terror attack in which eight people were killed.A further 48 were injured on 3 June 2017, when terrorists drove into pedestrians in a hired van before attacking passersby with 12-inch knives. Continue reading...

Moscow has seized about a fifth of Ukrainian territory since its invasion and vows to continue ‘until all goals are achieved’

NHS spent £10m relocating women and girls from hospitals in England since 2017, putting recovery at risk, say experts

Ethical group says developing world farmers are struggling with a hit to both living and production costsShoppers are being urged to keep on buying Fairtrade products amid fears of a “race to the bottom” as struggling Britons look for ways to save money during the cost of living crisis.Anna Barker, head of responsible business at the Fairtrade Foundation, said the organisation had not seen a shift in spending away from the ethical brand but was worried about how people would react to the worsening squeeze on their finances. Continue reading...

Archbishop of York says monarch is ‘still in the saddle and we are all glad there is still more to come’

Some are looking back at weeks before invasion and asking if more could have been done

Prime minister greeted with whistles and jeers by crowd waiting at cathedral for Queen’s thanksgiving service

Fivefold increase in refugees from Afghanistan crossing in small boats this year as they flee TalibanRefugees who worked alongside international organisations in Afghanistan are among a rising number of Afghan asylum seekers in camps in northern France planning to cross the Channel in small boats.The number of asylum seekers from Afghanistan crossing the Channel in small boats has risen fivefold this year, according to immigration figures released last week, as more refugees flee in the wake of the Taliban takeover. Continue reading...

Calls grow for repeal of statute of limitations and widening of definition of rape after former model makes allegations on TikTokA young woman’s account on TikTok of being drugged, raped and then blackmailed by a beauty pageant organiser when she was 16 years old has provoked outrage in Nepal and prompted calls to reform the country’s “grossly inadequate” rape laws.In one of a series of videos, which together have been viewed millions of times, the former model and child actor broke down in tears as she talked about Nepal’s statute of limitations that dictates survivors must report cases of rape within one year of the offence being committed. Continue reading...

Musician celebrated for slide guitar playing and soulful voice released a string of acclaimed albums between 1994 and 2012Kelly Joe Phelps, the celebrated singer and guitarist whose music traversed blues, country and jazz, has died aged 62. A post on his Facebook page said he died “quietly at home in Iowa”.Born in Washington state, Phelps was raised in a musical family and first trained as a jazz musician, but broadened his playing after being inspired by artists such as Mississippi Fred McDowell. “I wanted to figure out a way to improvise like a jazz musician would, but at the same time play a style of music that was more closely linked to folk forms,” he explained. Continue reading...

Fresh from US defamation case win against Amber Heard, actor has been playing UK gigs with Jeff BeckIn the latest stop of his UK tour, only days after winning a multimillion-dollar defamation trial against Amber Heard, Johnny Depp was spotted holding a cub badger in Kent.“Guess who’s been to see us,” Folly Wildlife Rescue Trust wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday, which received thousands of likes. “That’s the real Johnny Depp!” Continue reading...

The British Columbia program was abruptly shut down and nine officers are reportedly under investigation after the incidentPolicing experts in Canada have called for an overhaul of undercover tactics after reports that officers at a training session participated in “disgusting, appalling” behaviour, including penetrating a colleague using a vegetable, defecating on another and exposing genitalia.According to Global News and CTV, the BC Municipal Undercover Program was abruptly shut down after the workshop in May, which included a role-playing exercise in which some participants went to “extreme lengths” to prove they were not officers. Continue reading...

Joshua Mason, 23, and his 50-year-old mother, Deborah Mason, likely to plead guilty after victim’s leg was found on Northern Territory highway, lawyer says

Advocates and key councillor hope the halt is short-lived, but transport union criticises existing lanes

Anti-corruption watchdog plans to publish its own report on pork-barrelling, ‘including whether and how it relates to corrupt conduct’

Tim Edwards spent 35 hours grinding his work into a glass illusion that took out the $15,000 Tom Malone prizeArtist Tim Edwards has won the prestigious Tom Malone prize for Australian glass art with a work that plays tricks with the viewer’s eye.The winning work, titled Ellipse #8, is a luminous blue form 47cm tall and from some angles it is difficult to tell whether the glass is two- or three-dimensional. The piece is 3D but not very thick with a depth of just 8mm. Continue reading...

Voters frustrated that promised changes have gone undelivered since ‘red wall’ seat turned blueIt was nearing 4am on election night in 2019 when Wakefield became yet another piece of Labour’s crumbling “red wall” and the new Conservative MP, Imran Ahmad Khan, declared that residents had “for too long felt taken for granted” and promised to give them a voice.Two and a half years later, the West Yorkshire city and its surrounding towns are fighting to have that pledge fulfilled after being left unrepresented in parliament owing to a lengthy legal battle that ended with Khan being jailed for child sexual assault. Continue reading...

PM reveals Labor remains committed to ending trade but first needs to consult with farmers and Western Australian government

Effort to win over doubters in Berlin, Paris and other capitals and start accession process

Exclusive: force says Project Alpha scours social media to identify offenders and fight serious violenceMetropolitan police documents say the force has been collecting “children’s personal data” from social media sites as part of a project to carry out “profiling on a large scale”.The Met says the scheme, known as Project Alpha, helps fight serious violence, with the intelligence gathered identifying offenders and securing the removal of videos glorifying stabbings and shootings from platforms such as YouTube. Continue reading...

Front pages are awash with red, white and blue, as well as images of Prince Louis – aka the ‘prince of wails’ – being deafened by Red ArrowsThe Queen’s Jubilee celebrations were splashed across the front pages of most British newspapers on Friday, as large crowds gathered in London to catch a glimpse of the monarch on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.For the Express, the whole occasion was “Incredible”, taking its headline from remarks the Queen reportedly made to a “teary Prince Charles” at the sight of the “rapturous crowds” thronging the Mall. “Oh, how incredible,” she is said to have uttered to her heir. Continue reading...

Police believe the boy ran on to McIntyre Road in Sunshine North about 6.30pm on Thursday and was hit by a red sedan that failed to stop

Northern Territory police allege the man, 23, and woman, 50, moved the victim’s body after she was struck by the car on Monday nightA man and a woman have been charged after the body of a pedestrian was found near Darwin two days after her leg was discovered on a Northern Territory highway.The 23-year-old man is accused of hitting the Indigenous woman with his car on the Stuart Highway on Monday night on the outskirts of Darwin. Continue reading...

Delivery riders 13 times more likely than recreational cyclists to present to emergency department between 8pm and midnight

Russian forces now occupy about 20% of Ukraine’s territory as Zelenskiy notes ‘some success’ in battles at Sievierodonetsk

Countries use North’s elevation in rotating presidency to chastise Pyongyang over recent missile tests and feared preparation for fresh nuclear testNorth Korea skipped the diplomatic niceties for a combative tone as it took the helm of the Conference on Disarmament.“My country is still at war with the United States,” declared Pyongyang’s ambassador, Han Tae-Song. Continue reading...

Cost of living concerns and shift to working from home continue to hold footfall below pre-Covid levelsRetailers are warning of fragile confidence among shoppers after figures revealed visitor numbers to UK high streets, shopping centres and retail parks last month remained 12.5% down on pre-pandemic levels.The shift to working from home and concerns about the cost of living continue to hold back trade, with visits to shopping centres down by more than a quarter on 2019 while high streets had 14% fewer visitors. Continue reading...

Former US secretary of state speaks of working with Russian leader and his ‘goal of restoring imperial Russia’Vladimir Putin has an “almost messianic belief in himself” and does not like critics, especially if they are women, the former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has said.