World news | The Guardian

Increased number of people arriving in UK in more overcrowded vessels shows Rwanda plan not working, say campaignersPeople-smugglers have dropped their prices and are cramming more people than ever before into already overloaded, flimsy boats, the Guardian has learned.This week 696 asylum seekers crossed the Channel from France to the UK in one day, the Ministry of Defence said. Continue reading...

Tory leadership candidate is praised as an earnest workaholic, but critics say politically he has a glass jaw and is naive“Let me tell you a story,” Rishi Sunak says in his soft-voiced campaign launch video, highlighting his status as the grandson of hard-grafting Indian immigrants.If he wins the race for No 10, the 42-year-old would be the first person of colour to be the UK prime minister, and the first practising Hindu, in a historic break with the past. Yet, in other ways, his story is as establishment as it comes: private school, PPE at Oxford, the City, the Tory party. Continue reading...

Retaliatory measures threaten ‘guardrails’ between two countries as Beijing continues military drills

Labour’s request is latest PM contender has faced with regards to management of family’s fortuneLabour is calling on Rishi Sunak to be more transparent about his finances after the prime ministerial candidate declined to answer questions about the source of hundreds of thousands of pounds he loaned to a company that he jointly owned with his wife.The move is the latest request for the former chancellor to explain details about how he has managed his family’s fortune, which is said to total £730m and has led to him being routinely referred to as the UK’s richest MP. Continue reading...

Breakthrough in the decades-old cold case comes after scientists conducted an isotope ratio analysis of the man’s bones

Daughter and ABC presenter Laura Tingle pays tribute to her father who she says was her ‘greatest urger-on, fan and critic’

Beijing says it will withdraw cooperation on a range of issues in retaliation for the visit of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi. This blog is now closed

Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of strikes at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant; Putin and Erdoğan meet; three ships carrying grain depart Ukrainian ports

Tory favourite for No 10 says taxes should be kept low as rival Sunak says his priority will be to tackle inflationLiz Truss has used her latest pitch to the Tory party membership to warn against talking the UK into a recession, a day after the Bank of England forecast the economy will soon suffer a five-quarter recession.Speaking at the Tory party leadership hustings in Eastbourne, Truss suggested her plans for immediate tax cuts if she becomes prime minister could avert recession. Continue reading...

Candidates face Tory members in Eastbourne; former chancellor, who was filmed saying he tried to divert funds from ‘deprived urban areas’, says it was sensibleThe former housing secretary Robert Jenrick has said the government’s “overwhelming priority” should be inflation.Jenrick, who is backing Rishi Sunak in the leadership race, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:The dashboard is flashing red on the British economy and we shouldn’t fool ourselves into believing that all is going to be fine.I think it’s very clear this morning that our overwhelming priority must be inflation. That’s what many people have been saying for a long time. It’s what Rishi Sunak has been saying throughout this leadership contest and tax cuts, unfunded tax cuts, in the immediate - always attractive though that might be to those of us who want to reduce the burden of taxation - seem less relevant in these circumstances.The reality is we’re facing a recession if we carry on with our business-as-usual policies. People are struggling – whether it’s to pay food bills or fuel bills – that’s why it’s very important we reverse the national insurance increase, we have a temporary moratorium on the green energy levy to help people with their fuel bills.The most important thing is getting the economy going so we avoid a recession and the business-as-usual policies aren’t working, we need to do more, and that’s why I am determined to reform the economy and keep taxes low.I know it’s going to be a tough winter, I want to do all I can to make sure we’re releasing the reserves in the North Sea of gas, I want to get on with things like fracking in areas that support it, and I also want to make sure that we’re moving ahead with nuclear power and more renewables.Of course, it will take time but the best time to start is today in moving that forward, as well as giving people all the help we can by keeping their taxes low and getting the economy going. Continue reading...

As jobseekers face ‘humiliating’ tasks to maintain payments, vast network of job agencies rakes in hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollarsTwo words make the money go round in Australia’s multi-billion dollar welfare-to-work industry: mutual obligation.When someone loses their job and applies for the dole, they are sent to an outsourced job agency to get help looking for work. It triggers a payment to the provider – and the possibility of more to come. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Angry calls for action after 16 Indigenous deaths broke previous state record set in 1997

The world heritage site still has some capacity for recovery but the window is closing fast as the climate continues to warm• Get our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastThe Great Barrier Reef is one of the planet’s natural jewels, stretching for more than 2,300km along Australia’s north-east.But as well as being a bucket-list favourite and a heaving mass of biodiversity across 3,000 individual reefs, the world heritage-listed organism is at the coalface of the climate crisis.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

Exclusive: asylum seekers in the offshore detention centre who had contact with Australian journalists, lawyers and advocates were closely watched, documents reveal

Experts baffled by absence of commissioner, police minister and police union head among dozens of witnesses called

Ukrainian president and British and US ambassadors criticise report that says soldiers should not be based in empty schools

Russia bolsters troops in south; grain ship leaves port for first time since blockade; UN to investigate prison attack that killed dozensEvery week we wrap up the must-reads from our coverage of the Ukraine war, from news and features to analysis, visual guides and opinion. Continue reading...

Official say plant still works and no radioactive discharges detected; Russian and Turkish presidents met to discuss Ukraine and Syria

Biden ‘hopeful’ about Griner release after foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warns Russia will not tolerate ‘megaphone diplomacy’Russia is ready to discuss a prisoner swap for imprisoned Americans, said its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, but added that the Kremlin would resist public pressure to free US basketball star Brittney Griner and others being held in Russian prisons.Lavrov’s remarks came a day after Griner received a nine-year prison sentence on drug charges that were seen as a gambit to demand an exchange for high-profile Russians in prison in the US, including the arms trafficker Viktor Bout. Continue reading...

Ten life sentences handed out after 18-year-old fatally stabbed in Sunderland group attackThe mother of one of 10 boys sentenced for the joint-enterprise murder of Jack Woodley has said she is “devastated” as her son had “not murdered anyone”.A judge handed out 10 life sentences with minimum terms ranging from eight to 17 years at Newcastle crown court on Friday morning for the murder of 18-year-old Woodley, who died a day after an unprovoked attack by the group of boys in Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland, last October. Continue reading...

Palestinian officials say seven dead after Israel said it was preparing to ‘remove the threat from this region’Israeli warplanes struck numerous sites in the Gaza Strip on Friday in what Israel said was a preemptive strike against Palestinian factions allegedly planning rocket strikes at targets in Israel.Palestinian health officials reported that up to 10 people died in an initial barrage which killed the commander of Islamic Jihad, Tayseer Jabari, in the north of Gaza. Among the fatalities was an eight-year-old girl. Continue reading...

Archbishop of Canterbury acknowledges consensus is near-impossible after public criticism over declaration against gay sexThe archbishop of Canterbury has acknowledged the near-impossibility of a divided global Anglican church reaching a consensus on issues of sexuality, after he faced sharp criticism for affirming a 1998 declaration that gay sex is a sin.Addressing more than 650 bishops from around the world at the once-a-decade Lambeth conference, Justin Welby said: “We are not at liberty to choose who are our brothers and sisters … We should seek with passion the visible unity of the church. But that is very difficult, for so often it will lead to criticism in our society.” Continue reading...

Workers in Coventry, Bristol and Rugeley also stage walkouts over level of proposed wage risesAmazon workers at Tilbury in Essex have stopped working for the second day in a row as fury over the online retailer’s “insulting” pay rise offer spread to three other UK warehouses.The GMB union said about 50 workers were gathered in the facility’s canteen on Friday in protest at the pay offer, which is an estimated 3% rise. Continue reading...

Fourteen structures burnt in Lind, in east of state, as forecasters in California warn ‘sleeping giant’ McKinney fire could grow furtherA small town in Washington state was evacuated due to a fast-moving fire that burned a half-dozen homes, as crews in California made progress against the state’s deadliest and largest wildfire of the year.In Washington, the Adams county sheriff’s office warned residents of Lind on Thursday afternoon to flee due to the encroaching flames. Continue reading...

Owners prioritise multimillion-pound shareholder dividends over paying decent wages, says unionDockers at Felixstowe are planning eight days of strike action over pay that could cause serious disruption to the UK’s largest container port.Nearly 1,900 workers plan to stop work for more than a week at the Hong Kong-owned port, starting on Sunday 21 August and ending on Monday 29 August, according to the union Unite. The workers voted 92% in favour of strike action last week. Continue reading...

Vine told court ‘the Jimmy Savile of trolling’ had waged a campaign of abuse against him on social mediaAlex Belfield, a YouTuber and former local BBC radio host, has been found guilty of stalking four people including the broadcaster Jeremy Vine.Jurors at Nottingham crown court found Belfield, whom Vine described in court as “the Jimmy Savile of trolling”, guilty of four stalking charges. Belfield, 42, showed no emotion as the verdicts were delivered. Continue reading...

Man who allegedly injured former co-workers before being shot by police is entitled to assisted dyingA Spanish court has ruled that a paraplegic man, who was accused of firing on colleagues in a rage before being shot in the spine by police, can avoid trial as he has the right to end his life.Last December, Marin Eugen Sabau, 46, a Romanian security guard, allegedly fired on his former co-workers at a security company in Tarragona in eastern Spain, seriously injuring three people. He later shot and injured a police officer before being severely wounded by police marksmen. Continue reading...

Witnesses saw large group of youths gathered in Highbury Fields, Islington, before stabbing on Thursday eveningA 15-year-old boy has died in a stabbing in north London.Officers were called to Highbury Fields, Islington, just before 9pm on Thursday, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

Scenes of panic and desperation as revellers flee blaze in Chonburi province, 90 miles from BangkokThailand’s prime minister has ordered an investigation into a massive blaze that tore through a nightclub, killing at least 14 people.The fire broke out about 1am on Friday at the Mountain B nightspot in Chonburi province’s Sattahip district, about 90 miles south-east of Bangkok. Continue reading...

Video shows candidate telling Tories in Tunbridge Wells he started making sure ‘areas like this are getting the funding they deserved’Rishi Sunak has admitted taking money from deprived urban areas in order to give it to other parts of the country.The former chancellor, who is standing to be prime minister, made the claim last month while speaking to Conservative party members in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Continue reading...

Analysis: China’s response gave little room for it or Taiwan to back down. Can the crisis be managed without further escalation?Things changed this week for Taiwan. When news of a highly controversial visit by the US speaker Nancy Pelosi drew threats of reprisals from Beijing, most citizens shrugged. China’s government frequently fulminates over foreign visits to Taiwan, which it claims is a Chinese province it will soon retake, and with which it tries to stop any international cooperation. Its regular promises of countermeasures rarely exceed some People’s Liberation Army jets flying in and out of Taiwan’s large air defence identification zone (ADIZ).But analysts warned that this time looked different. Beijing’s protests were louder, and more threatening, and gave little room for either them or the US to retreat without losing credibility. This time, it would have to follow through with something bigger, they said. Continue reading...

Government seizes on ‘fantastic news’ that will allow skeleton service to continue during planned strikesManagers employed by Network Rail have voted to accept a 4% pay offer in a move seized on by the government as a breakthrough in the wider rail strikes dispute.The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) confirmed its management-grade members had accepted the deal which should ensure a skeleton service will continue to run during planned strikes in August. Continue reading...

Music festival organisers say they are notifying patrons after two infections reported in people who visited Byron Bay site

UK regulator rules that businessman breached fiduciary duties by sharing ConvaTec informationSir Christopher Gent, the former chief executive of Vodafone and ex-chair of GlaxoSmithKline, has been fined £80,000 by the UK financial watchdog for disclosing inside information to shareholders while chair of the medical-devices maker ConvaTec.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Gent, one of the most prominent figures in British business, after ruling that he shared information relating to a revision of the financial performance of ConvaTec and plans for the retirement of its chief executive to senior individuals at two of the London-listed company’s biggest shareholders. Continue reading...

PM marks public broadcaster’s 90th birthday with a defence of its importance and thinly veiled attack on former government• Get our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastOnly a government ruled by ideology or fear would attack the ABC, Anthony Albanese has said at the 90th birthday celebration of the public broadcaster in Sydney.In a thinly veiled attack on the former Coalition government’s fraught relationship with the ABC, the prime minister on Friday evening said a strong independent broadcaster was vital to democracy and brought Australia together as a nation.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

Song from pair’s album 18 appears to take several lines from Hobo Ben by Slim Wilson without giving creditRepresentatives for Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck have said the duo will review allegations they stole lyrics from a poem by an incarcerated man on their collaborative album, 18.The song Sad Motherfuckin’ Parade appears to take several lines from Hobo Ben, a poem and song by Slim Wilson, the alias of a self-proclaimed cheat and pimp who served time for murder and armed robbery, Rolling Stone reports.Ladies of culture and beauty so refined, is there one among you that would grant me wine?I’m raggedy I know, but I have no stink Continue reading...

Beijing also targets relatives of US House speaker as major military activity continues around Taiwan

Minister for Indigenous Australians says negotiating organisations have one week to agree on future of community centre

Brigid Heywood has stood down but denies wiping saliva on a schoolgirl’s face and commenting on her skin colour

Adelaide-based public servant blew the whistle on the use of garnishee notices to claw back debts from taxpayers

Family planned to distribute book, deemed ‘protest material’ by security, to MPs and media as they urged government to intervene in proposed extradition

Kathrina Lo tells inquiry she had not been aware of Stuart Ayres’ input into recruitment process

From US floods to drought in France, communities around globe are still feeling effects of July’s extreme weatherCentral US states are still reeling from a week of extreme flooding events in the final days of July. Initially, the extreme rainfall into St Louis gave a quarter of the normal annual rainfall in just 12 hours, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). A few days later, in eastern Kentucky, at least 10-12 inches (about 25-30cm) fell in the space of a few days, causing devastating flooding in the Appalachian region of the state.The complex, numerous and steep valleys in the region enabled rainwater to quickly run down valley sides and build up on the limited and often built-up floodplains. Deforestation and historic mining activity in the region have also been mentioned as potential contributors. Both flooding events have been classified as one in 1,000 year events by the NWS. Continue reading...

New president Wickremesinghe tries to crush mass demonstrations that forced his predecessor outThe Sri Lankan government has been accused of a draconian crackdown on protesters who were involved in toppling Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president, with activists facing intimidation, surveillance and arbitrary arrest.Dozens of protesters have been detained by the police in recent days as the government, led by the newly appointed president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, tried to crush the mass protest movement that forced Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign in early July. Continue reading...

Deceased victims of the shooting have been identified as Mervyn and Maree Schwarz, and Graham Tighe

Hollywood actor loses appeal to have arbitration award overturned amid allegations of sexual misconductKevin Spacey has lost his appeal to have a $31m dollar (£25.5m) arbitration award to the producers of House of Cards overturned.In November, the Hollywood actor was ordered to pay the sum to MCR following “explosive” allegations of sexual misconduct involving young crew members working on the production. Continue reading...

In Biloela, Priya Nadesalingam says ‘I know my daughters will get to grow up safely in Australia. Now my husband and I can live without fear’

Two customers’ account numbers and balances pop up on screen when NT resident Nick Oliver was using bank’s siteAn ING Australia customer was able to access the account information including bank balances for at least two other customers through his internet banking login, due to an issue with the company’s online banking site.Northern Territory resident Nick Oliver told Guardian Australia he was logged into his ING account and was attempting to do a transfer on Thursday night when he noticed a “complete stranger’s” account details popped up on his screen.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...