World news | The Guardian

Prosecutor reads out messages allegedly shared by three defendants in WhatsApp chat in 2019Metropolitan police officers accused of sharing “grossly offensive” messages in a WhatsApp group that included Wayne Couzens joked about beating and sexually assaulting women, raping a colleague and Tasering children, a court has heard.PC Jonathon Cobban, 35, PC William Neville, 33, and Joel Borders, 45, a former officer, listened from the dock as comments they allegedly made were read out by the prosecution at Westminster magistrates court. Continue reading...

Rafiqul Islam, 51, and Mahiqul, 16, found dead with three unconscious relatives while on two-month visitPolice investigating the apparent poisoning of a British family of five on holiday in Bangladesh, which killed a father and son, are hoping the survivors could hold the key to what happened.Rafiqul Islam, 51, a taxi driver from Cardiff, and his son, 16-year-old Mahiqul, along with three other members of their family, were discovered unconscious in a locked room by police officers on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Judge to release ruling in battle of footballers’ wives over Instagram leak allegationIt has taken almost three years of legal arguments, millions of pounds in lawyers’ fees, and an often excruciating public trial – but at noon on Friday the world will finally learn who has won the “Wagatha Christie” libel case.The case, brought by Rebekah Vardy against her fellow footballer’s wife Coleen Rooney, played out over seven days in May at the high court in central London. Rooney had alleged that stories from her private Instagram account were being leaked by Vardy to journalists at the Sun. Vardy said this was false and sued Rooney in an attempt to clear her name, which put the pressure on Rooney to substantiate her claim. Continue reading...

Richard Howson, Richard Adam and Zafar Khan appeal against watchdog findings that they ‘acted recklessly'Three former Carillion executives have been accused of “market abuse” by the City regulator and could face combined fines worth nearly £1m for issuing misleading statements regarding the disgraced outsourcer’s financial health before it collapsed in 2018.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that it found the executives had “acted recklessly” and had been aware the company was publishing “misleadingly positive” statements about its finances in 2016 and 2017, particularly in relation to the UK construction arm. Continue reading...

Felixstowe workers vote in favour of industrial action after Unite union rejected 5% pay riseDockers at the UK’s largest container port have voted overwhelmingly to strike after they were offered a below-inflation pay rise, with action planned for August in the latest blow to efforts by ministers to contain a wave of industrial unrest sparked by the cost of living crisis.Workers at the port of Felixstowe in Suffolk balloted 92% in favour of a strike next month, rejecting a 5% pay rise offer from the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company, which their union, Unite, pointed out would be a real-terms pay cut with retail price inflation standing at 11.8%. Continue reading...

Marina Ovsyannikova, previously fined for bursting into state TV studio, found guilty over social media postsThe Russian former state TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova was fined 50,000 roubles (£681) on Thursday after being found guilty of discrediting the country’s armed forces in social media posts condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine.The ruling was passed after a short hearing in a Moscow administrative court. Ovsyannikova rejected the proceedings against her as “absurd”. Continue reading...

British Gas owner reinstates dividends after operating profits of £1.3bn, while Shell reports £10bn profit between April and JuneShell made record profits of nearly £10bn between April and June and promised to give shareholders payouts worth £6.5bn as the oil supermajor benefited from the surge in energy prices prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The FTSE 100 company made adjusted profits of $11.5bn (£9.5bn) during the second quarter of the year, beating its previous high – set between January and March – by 26%. The profits were more than double the same period in 2021, and higher than expected by analysts. Continue reading...

Mark Steyn’s misleading claim that jab was killing Britons was based on ‘inaccurate reading’ of report, says Full FactGB News is being investigated by the media regulator Ofcom after one of its hosts made misleading claims about the side-effects of Covid booster vaccines.The presenter Mark Steyn wrongly alleged that having the extra dose was killing Britons and alleged there was a media silence on the issue. Continue reading...

MS Victoria is temporary solution to host refugees but there are concerns about small rooms and seasickness

‘Heart-breaking’ figures are first decrease since 2013 but raise questions over slow progressThe Scottish government remains under huge pressure to deliver on its “national mission” to save lives as new figures show drug-related deaths fell by just nine, or 1%, to 1,330 in 2021.Described as “heart-breaking” and “shameful” by politicians and campaigners, the latest figures from National Records of Scotland are the first decrease since 2013 but still the second highest annual total on record. They raise further questions about why attempts to address what has long been acknowledged as a public health emergency are making slow progress. Continue reading...

Shops have a week to appeal after failing to convince Bremen officials they are not fronts for crimeThe northern German city of Bremen is planning to shut down all of its betting shops after the interior senator said their owners had failed to convince him that they were not fronts for money laundering.Bremen, Germany’s smallest city-state, announced on Wednesday it had issued rejection notices to 32 establishments that had applied for betting licences under a new gambling law, meaning any bets placed on their premises would with immediate effect be deemed illegal. Continue reading...

Arms trafficker Viktor Bout reportedly in line for exchange with the WNBA star facing drug chargesBrittney Griner’s defence team have given the prospect of including the WNBA star in a prisoner swap a cautious welcome, as Russia said talks between Moscow and Washington on exchanging prisoners were “ongoing”.“Griner’s Russian defence team learned about US’s offer from the news … In any case, we would be really happy if Brittney will be able to come home and hope it will be soon,” said the WNBA star’s lawyers, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, in a statement. Continue reading...

Chief executive announces external review into error and says appropriate action will be takenBarclays has revealed a 40% slump in profits after putting aside £1.3bn to cover a US trading blunder.The UK bank said pre-tax profits fell between April and June – from £2.5bn a year earlier to £1.5bn – falling short of the analysts’ consensus forecast of £1.6bn. Continue reading...

London venue with long history of offering training and networking has become Seven Dials PlayhouseFor more than 40 years it was a place where actors – from legendary stars to those struggling for a first break – could socialise, network and learn new skills. Among its patrons and members were Laurence Olivier, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Alec Guinness, Anthony Hopkins, Alan Bates and Julie Walters.But last November, the Actors Centre – a registered charity in the heart of London’s West End – was “rebranded” by its new chief executive, Amanda Davey. It is now the Seven Dials Playhouse, a 100-seat theatre that describes itself as “truly inclusive … relevant, dynamic and exciting”. Continue reading...

HMRC says drop for 2020-21 financial year coincided with ‘substantial reduction in international aviation’The number of super-rich people who live in the UK but pay no tax on their offshore income has fallen by 11%, after the pandemic imposed severe travel restrictions, according to figures published by HMRC on Thursday.UK-based people with non-domicile tax status – so called “non-doms” – in the 2020-21 financial year totalled 68,300, a fall of 8,200 on the previous year. The number has been on a downward path since 2017, with tax experts also citing Brexit and tighter government controls on who can claim the tax break. Continue reading...

US-China tension rising as Michael McCaul and Anna Eshoo say they were invited to travel with House speakerNancy Pelosi has invited senior lawmakers to join her on a trip to Taiwan, according to a member of the House foreign affairs committee, providing the first apparent confirmation of the widely speculated visit.The potential visit by the US House speaker to Taiwan is at the centre of spiralling tensions involving the island, China and the US, which analysts fear are at their most dangerous point in decades. Continue reading...

Labour leader accused of stoking unnecessary row by firing shadow minister over interviews from picket linesKeir Starmer has been accused of making a “severe mistake” and stoking an unnecessary row by firing a shadow transport minister over his comments on rail strikes.The former shadow chancellor John McDonnell told the Labour leader to “come off the fence” and stop alienating voters. He claimed there were unprecedented levels of anger at the lack of solidarity with workers taking industrial action. Continue reading...

Tobias Friedrich Moran remanded in custody over the death of 25-year-old schoolteacher in Lismore in 2005

Culture secretary and Liz Truss backer says Tory MPs made ‘huge mistake’ removing prime minister

Decision by attorney general Mark Dreyfus guarantees a dozen Aboriginal non-citizens at risk of deportation will be able to stay in Australia

Gomeroi man’s family tells inquest they felt disrespected throughout search process after he went missing in a Moree river in 2021

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak must stop focusing on economic growth amid global heating crisis, warns co-leader Adrian RamsayThe two candidates to be the UK’s next prime minister must commit to much tougher environmental targets and policies, the Green party has warned, as concerns over the climate, pollution and biodiversity have been largely absent from the leadership debates.Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, and Rishi Sunak, a former chancellor of the exchequer, have both confirmed their commitment to the UK’s legally binding target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but have given little indication of how they would meet the goal. Continue reading...

Inclusive promotion urges women to ‘toast a summer for all, without stereotypes’Spain’s equality ministry has launched a creative summer campaign encouraging women of all shapes and sizes to hit the beach, with the slogan: “Summer is ours too.”The colourful campaign’s promotional photo features five women of different body types, ages and ethnicities enjoying a day in the sun. “Summer is ours too,” it says. “Enjoy it how, where and with whomever you want.” The campaign also features a woman who has had a mastectomy topless. Continue reading...

Tigrinya speakers say they face beatings, detention and privation, and blame UN for ‘abandoning’ them, despite right to be in EthiopiaEritrean refugees in Ethiopia say they are being targeted for arbitrary arrest and forcible relocation to war-torn parts of the country, despite having UN permission to remain in Ethiopia.Government security officers are accused of rounding up, abusing and unlawfully detaining refugees who have legal status, as well as Eritreans who have foreign citizenship. Continue reading...

Yang Huiyan, a majority shareholder in Chinese property giant Country Garden, saw net worth plunge to $11.3bn in a yearAsia’s wealthiest woman has lost more than half her fortune over the past year as the crisis engulfing China’s real estate sector continues to worsen, a billionaire index showed on Thursday.Yang Huiyan, a majority shareholder in China’s biggest property developer Country Garden, saw her net worth plunge by more than 52% to $11.3bn from $23.7bn a year ago, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Continue reading...

Customs checks and border queues cited as leading barriers, as only 29% of firms say sales increased in Q2Britain’s exporters have seen their overseas trade stagnate over the past year despite strong growth in domestic demand for their products and booming export markets, according to a survey.The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said that a survey of 2,600 exporters found a quarter had suffered a fall in exports and another 46% reported no change. Continue reading...

Installation on remains of Roman structure in Northumberland is part of wall’s 1,900th anniversary celebrations“It is a little-known fact that the Romans invented bouncy castles,” a father tells his young, dubious daughter as they spot in the distance what could be a wildly colourful inflatable house in the remains of a fort on Hadrian’s Wall.When the family have made their 15-minute way up from the car park to the fort, they will realise the structure is neither bouncy, nor a castle. Continue reading...

More than 30% have no access to free menstrual products at school or college, despite government schemesAlmost a third of girls and young women in the UK cannot access free period products at their school or college, despite government schemes being in place for several years, research suggests.Some 32% of girls and young women said they could not access free menstrual products at their school or college because they were unavailable, according to a survey commissioned by Girlguiding. Continue reading...

Legend claims Saint Columba never came up with cross for Tory island so artist Sarah Lewtas fulfils pledgeIt is more than a thousand years late, and made of cardboard rather than stone, but the residents of Ireland’s remotest inhabited island have finally got their cross.The 6.5-metre sculpture reached Tory island, a windswept rock nine miles off Ireland’s north-west coast, on Wednesday, arguably restoring the tainted honour of a patron saint. Continue reading...

Guardian Australia brings together all the latest on daily new Covid-19 cases, as well as stats, charts and live state by state data from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT. We bring together the latest numbers on the vaccine rollout and fourth dose booster vaccination rates.

Managing director says Parramatta Square relocation to be complete by early 2024 and will put ABC at ‘centre of a dynamic, purpose-built precinct’

Ukraine confirms seizure of Vuhlehirska power plant in Donetsk but calls it a ‘tiny tactical advantage’

The bodies of two mountaineers, Eakin and Canadian man Richard Cartier, found on the world’s second-highest mountain in Pakistan

Guidelines for who should get immunised have also been updated ahead of newer vaccines being made available in Australia

Investment NSW CEO Amy Brown to be recalled while Labor presses Liberal deputy Stuart Ayres to appear

Defense department’s Ely Ratner says such incidents represent ‘one of the most significant threats to peace and stability in the region’

Police fired teargas in a bid to stop crowds who entered parliament waving flags, taking photographs, chanting and cheeringHundreds of supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr danced and sang in parliament after storming Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone in protest at a rival bloc’s nomination for prime minister.Police fired barrages of teargas in a bid to stop the protesters from breaching the gates of the heavily fortified Green Zone, but the crowds surged forward and entered parliament. Continue reading...

Industrial action will see rubbish bins go uncollected on Spring, Flinders, Victoria and Spencer streets

Parliament ratifies powers that allow the military to detain people, limit public gatherings and search private propertyTwo activists who helped lead mass demonstrations that toppled Sri Lanka’s president have been arrested, police said, as parliament extended tough emergency laws imposed to restore order.Then acting-president Ranil Wickremesinghe had declared a state of emergency on 17 July. It allows for the military to be given powers to detain people, limit public gatherings and search private property. The emergency ordinance would have lapsed on Wednesday if it had not been ratified by parliament. Continue reading...

Dow, who appeared in hundreds of episodes, helped shape the image of the mid-20th-century teenagerTony Dow, who as Wally Cleaver on the sitcom Leave It to Beaver helped create the popular and lasting image of the American teenager of the 1950s and 60s, died Wednesday. He was 77.Frank Bilotta, who represented Dow in his work as a sculptor, confirmed his death in an email to the Associated Press. Continue reading...

Deborah Glass says she’s ‘not prepared to spend further public resources on these matters’

Amendment would include duty for employers to provide reasonable adjustments for menopausal employeesMPs have called for menopause to be a protected characteristic and for a special ambassador to keep women in the workplace, after a report showed the UK is currently “haemorrhaging talent”.Employers’ lack of support for menopausal symptoms is pushing “highly skilled and experienced” women out of work, according to the cross-party women and equalities committee. Continue reading...

War in Ukraine, lockdowns in China and chip shortages among factors slowing recovery in sector already hit by CovidThe UK car industry has said it will not be able to produce a million vehicles a year until 2025, two years later than expected, after the global sector was hit by a string of crises.Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Covid-19 lockdowns in China and continued shortages of computer chips have all combined to stall the recovery in car-making, leaving manufacturers unable to supply enough cars to willing buyers. Continue reading...

Government says extra day off if Lionesses achieve football glory against Germany this Sunday would come with costsThe country should get an extra bank holiday if the England women’s football team win in the Euro final, Keir Starmer has said.The Labour leader reportedly backs a “day of celebration” if the Lionesses claim victory at a sold-out Wembley Stadium on Sunday. It comes after they beat Sweden, the highest-ranked team in the Uefa Women’s Euro 2022 competition, 4-0 in the semi-final on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Offer also seeks return of US executive Paul Whelan and is a reversal of previous US policy resisting such dealsThe Biden administration has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, ex-US marine Paul Whelan, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Wednesday.In a sharp reversal of previous policy, Blinken also said he expects to speak with his Kremlin counterpart for the first time since before Russia invaded Ukraine. Continue reading...

Tory leadership hopefuls set out plans to tackle violence against women and girls, as Labour’s Stella Creasy welcomes Truss U-turn

Extension is to enable parents of boy, 12, to make application to European court of human rightsThe parents of a 12-year-old boy, who doctors have said is showing “no signs of life”, have been granted a further 24 hours to appeal against a decision to end his life support treatment.The extension is to enable Archie Battersbee’s parents to make an application to the European court of human rights (ECHR) but they said their preferred option is to take the case to the United Nations convention on the rights of people with disabilities (UNCRPD). Continue reading...

Aslef members voted for action in August, while the RMT chief, Mick Lynch, called for a general strikeUnions warned the UK could face a general strike this year as rail workers voted for fresh action set to deepen a summer of industrial unrest.The vote for further transport strikes came as Keir Starmer sacked shadow transport minister Sam Tarry who conducted broadcast interviews alongside striking RMT workers at Euston station - a move that is likely to fuel divisions between Labour and trade unions. Continue reading...

Labour MP removed from role as shadow transport minister after ignoring warning not to join picket lines