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Typical amount borrowers pay rises to highest level in 13 years at 5.06% after successive interest rate risesThe average standard variable rate paid by UK mortgage borrowers has topped 5% for the first time in more than 13 years, piling more pressure on households.The financial data provider Moneyfacts said the typical SVR rose to 5.06% at the start of July and is at the highest level since January 2009, when it stood at 5.14%. Continue reading...

Composer whose work is indelibly associated with 007 also worked on a string of successful West End musicalsMonty Norman, composer of the instantly recognisable James Bond theme music, has died aged 94. The BBC first reported the news, saying his family had confirmed his death.Norman’s most famous work was created as part of the score for the first Bond film, Dr No, which was released in 1962, and starred Sean Connery in the lead role. Norman said he based the distinctive rolling phrase, which first appeared as part of a medley during the film’s opening, on an earlier piece called Good Sign, Bad Sign, which he created for a musical adaptation of VS Naipul’s A House for Mr Biswas. A jazz arrangement by John Barry for the film led to Barry often being mistakenly identified at the composer; Norman went to court, winning an action for libel against the Sunday Times in 2001, to defend his credit. Continue reading...

Monday’s sitting was delayed as police draped coverings over the central table and buckets were placed around the green benchesThe latest leak to hit parliament has come not from another scandal or high-profile resignation, but water pouring through the House of Commons chamber ceiling.Monday’s sitting of the house was delayed as police officers were seen entering the chamber carrying water-absorbent blankets as a protective covering was draped across the central table and numerous buckets were placed around the green benches catching the falling water. Continue reading...

Three-month pause will not affect the nearly 18,000 people expected to arrive in coming months, says governmentScotland is to pause its Ukrainian refugee sponsorship scheme for three months as it faces a lack of suitable accommodation, the government has announced.Pausing the scheme would “ensure that those displaced people who are already here, and those who will arrive in the coming months, will be safe, secure and supported for as long as they need, after the dangers they have faced at home”, a government statement said. Continue reading...

Airport asks airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Air France to remove flightsHeathrow airport cancelled more than 60 flights on Monday and warned it may have to ask airlines to remove more as it struggles to cope with the rebound in travel demand after the pandemic.The flights were spread across Terminals 3 and 5, with British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Air France among the airlines affected, disrupting plans for about 10,000 passengers. Continue reading...

At least 18 people dead after Russian missile attack on eastern Ukrainian town; residents in two southern regions urged to evacuate as Ukraine prepares to launch counteroffensive

Stabbing of 12-year-old during row about a Snapchat video caused ‘shock and revulsion’ across the cityA teenage boy has been jailed for a minimum of 13 years for murdering the 12-year-old Liverpool schoolgirl Ava White in a stabbing that caused “shock and revulsion” in the city.The 15-year-old boy, who has a legal right to anonymity, stabbed Ava in the neck in a row about a Snapchat video at the switching on of the Christmas lights on 25 November last year. Continue reading...

Almost all European countries have reported surge in infections, driven mainly by Omicron variant BA.5European regulators have recommended a second Covid-19 booster jab for everyone over 60 as well as all medically vulnerable people across Europe amid mounting infections and hospitalisations.The EU’s health and medicine agencies had previously recommended a second booster for people over the age of 80 in April. But with concerns growing over the rise in cases in Europe, driven mainly by the Omicron variant BA.5, the advice has been widened effective immediately. Continue reading...

Indian police say gang went to great lengths in betting scam reminiscent of the 1973 film The StingA gang set up a fake “Indian Premier League” tournament with farm labourers acting as players to dupe Russian punters in a betting scam reminiscent of the 1973 film The Sting.The so-called “Indian Premier Cricket League” reached the quarter-final stage before the racket was busted by police in India. Continue reading...

Junior medics in England being sent home from day shifts and told to come back to plug gaps at nightHospital doctors are being sent home from daytime shifts and told to come back and work overnight in the latest stark illustration of the NHS’s crippling staff shortage.Medics are having to change their plans at the last minute because hospitals cannot find any others to plug gaps in the night shift medical rota and need to ensure they have enough doctors on duty. Continue reading...

Man, 23, was trying to retrieve mobile phone and he and his family now face charges for entering forbidden areaAn American tourist sustained minor injuries after he fell into the crater of Mount Vesuvius as he scrambled to retrieve his phone.The 23-year-old and his family reached the 1,281m-high (4,202ft) summit of the volcano towering over the southern Italian city of Naples after bypassing a visitor turnstile and proceeding along an out-of-bounds path. Continue reading...

Miles Teller, who stars alongside Tom Cruise in the hit action blockbuster, says he is keen, but ‘it’s all up to Tom’Top Gun: Maverick actor Miles Teller has said he is “having conversations” with the film’s producer-star Tom Cruise about a sequel to the hit action blockbuster.Speaking to Entertainment Tonight at a charity golf event, Teller was responding to a question about the likelihood of a third Top Gun film. “That would be great, but that’s all up to [Tom Cruise]. It’s all up to Tom. I’ve been having some conversations with him about it. We’ll see.” Continue reading...

Tory MPs are ambivalent on the issue and there is uncertainty over what a caretaker government can doChannel 4’s privatisation could be dropped by the next prime minister, with plans to sell the channel unlikely to be published before September.Boris Johnson had already signed off on proposals to sell the publicly owned broadcaster, and the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, had been preparing to push the law authorising the change through parliament in the autumn. Continue reading...

Rasoulof and colleague Mostafa Al-Ahmad were taken into custody for calling on security forces to lay down their weaponsIranian authorities have arrested two film-makers over an appeal they posted on social media, accusing them of links with opposition groups based outside the country and plotting to undermine the nation’s state security, Iran’s state-run news agency reported on Friday.According to IRNA, award-wining director Mohammad Rasoulof and colleague Mostafa Al-Ahmad were taken into custody for posting a statement on social media urging members of the Iranian security forces to lay down their weapons. Continue reading...

State government proposes reforms to use of nondisclosure agreements by employers in Australian first

Rescue services urge caution when swimming as boy’s body recovered at Dawber Delph, Appley BridgeA 16-year-old boy has drowned in a flooded quarry in Lancashire, as rescue services urged caution when swimming in open water during the heatwave.The teenager, who has not yet been named, got into difficulty on Saturday night at Dawber Delph, Appley Bridge, Lancashire constabulary said. Continue reading...

Black Widow actor rails at ‘how easy it is for men to totally destroy a woman’s body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see’Florence Pugh has hit back at “vulgar” social media users who criticised her body, after she posted photographs of herself wearing a sheer dress at a fashion show.“What happened to you to be so content on being so loudly upset by the size of my boobs and body?” said Pugh in an Instagram post on Sunday to her 7.4 million followers. Continue reading...

Moderate flooding on parts of Bogan and Darling and minor warnings for Wollombi Brook, Lachlan, Macquarie and Lower Hunter rivers

Opinions from Breyer, Kagan and Sotomayor send stark warning about increasingly radical court abandoning long-held principlesThe US supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, ending nearly 50 years of federal protections for abortion access, was “catastrophic”. The ruling amounted to a “curtailment of women’s rights, and of their status as free and equal citizens”. The drastic decision “undermines the court’s legitimacy”, and the consequences of it will set off an “upheaval in … society”.Those are voices from the supreme court itself: the words of its three liberal justices – Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor – in their scorching and thorough joint dissenting opinion on a decision by their body which has fundamentally altered the lives of millions of Americans. Continue reading...

English sprinter Jonnie Peacock edited out of promotional content, along with footage of Oscar Pistorius, after complaintThe Paralympic athlete Jonnie Peacock is among several public figures who have asked to be removed from the promotional video released by the Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt as she launched her party leadership bid.On Sunday morning, Mordaunt, the MP for Portsmouth North, posted the video on her Twitter account with the caption “Our leadership has to change. It needs to become a little less about the leader and a lot more about the ship.” Continue reading...

Campaigners call for reforms to allow those who claim to be wrongly convicted – such as Kevin Nunn, jailed for murdering his ex-girlfriend – to obtain information to appealPrisoners convicted of serious crimes who may be the victims of miscarriages of justice are being blocked from access to crucial forensic information that could prove their innocence, experts have warned.Campaigners are calling for legal reforms to provide improved access to evidence that may help prove the innocence of the wrongly convicted. They say a supreme court ruling in 2014 is effectively being used to deny access to police files and evidence. Continue reading...

Disability royal commission begins hearings in Alice Springs focused on NDIS for First Nations people

Five-month programme of special events will take place before relocation to new home in SmithfieldAn “epic leaving party” potentially lasting all night will be the final public event of the Museum of London before its building is demolished ahead of a move to a new site, its director has said.The doors will close for the last time on 4 December, the museum has confirmed, “and we are really gearing up for that last weekend”, the museum’s director, Sharon Ament, said. “If there is demand, we will stay open 24 hours – we really want everybody who hasn’t been to the Museum of London to come and see it.” Continue reading...

Artist Patricia Piccinini says she is in ‘absolute shock’, while National Gallery of Australia says a dedicated team is working to repair damagePatricia Piccinini’s much-loved Skywhale was grounded in Victoria over the weekend after strong winds in Ballarat ripped a gash in the balloon – but according to the National Gallery of Australia, her wounds are not serious.The hot-air balloon sculpture has been regularly taking to the skies across Australia, as well as Japan, Ireland and Brazil, for almost a decade. But over the weekend, Skywhale failed to become airborne in Ballarat, after high winds ripped a one-metre gash between its breasts. Continue reading...

Court told Mammarella conspired to falsely claim 713 addressed envelopes were for disability services provider

WorkSafe Victoria alleges Heritage Care failed to properly train staff at its Epping Gardens home during 2020 outbreak

ACT independent senator David Pocock says he will introduce his own bill in Senate for territory rights if Labor too slow

PM reacts to Beijing’s four-point advice on improving relations following high-level G20 meeting between the two countries• Get our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastAnthony Albanese has said Australia “doesn’t respond to demands”, after China listed four ways the relationship between the two countries could be improved.“We respond to our own national interest,” Australia’s prime minister said on Monday.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

The US secretary of state flies to Japan to give condolences to nation as country’s ruling LDP holds muted celebrations for poll victoryThe US secretary of state, Antony Blinken has described assassinated former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe as a “man of vision”, as the country’s ruling party held muted celebrations following a resounding election victory.The Liberal Democratic party (LDP), which Abe led for almost a decade, and its junior coalition party increased their majority in the upper house on Sunday, two days after Abe was shot during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara. Continue reading...

As the two-month long trial wraps up, Dawson’s barrister has urged the court to find him not guilty of killing his wife in January 1982

Future of satirical comedy show remains in doubt as Micallef says decision is ‘entirely down to me’ and that a ‘younger’ host could be found

A leak of internal documents from inside Uber reveals evidence that the company broke laws, duped police, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied prime ministers and presidents in an effort to break into markets long held by taxi companiesBack when Uber was starting up, barely more than a concept and attempting to break into new cities, it had a playbook. First it would attract drivers to switch to its service from the competition. Then it would encourage customers to try it out by subsidising fares. And then, when it had gained a foothold, it would heap pressure on local regulators to grant them approval to continue operating.As Johana Bhuiyan tells Michael Safi, the Uber model was spectacularly successful. The company grew from its San Francisco beginnings to be a truly global company in a matter of years. But as it grew, it attracted controversy, and the scandals started to mount up. Continue reading...

Jury clears Roberts of murders of Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller, two decades after original conviction

The group of 10 people, including nine from UK, managed to take shelter when avalanche struckTen people, including nine Britons, are reported to have survived after a huge avalanche swept over them in the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan.Footage uploaded on Instagram by Harry Shimmin, one of the people on the trekking tour, showed snow starting to break down a mountain in the distance, before sweeping towards them and forcing the group to take cover as the snow went over the top of them. Continue reading...

Police investigating if attacks linked, citing similarities as gunmen in both cases said to have fired at people ‘randomly’Four people have been killed and eight wounded in a bar in eastern South Africa after two men fired indiscriminately at customers, police said, on the same night as a bar shooting in Soweto left 15 dead.Police were trying to verify if the attacks were linked, they said, noting their similarity. Continue reading...

Research paints bleak picture in which huge numbers go undiagnosed and seriously ill people do not receive specialist carePeople with depression are “stagnating” in the UK healthcare system, according to research that suggests many wait years to be diagnosed and then often receive suboptimal treatment.The research, led by scientists at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, aimed to assess how real-world care for depression compared with best practice and painted a bleak picture that sees huge numbers go undiagnosed and those with very serious illness are not referred on for specialist care quickly enough. Continue reading...

Foreign secretary and newly-appointed Foreign Office minister reveal bids to replace Boris Johnson as Tory leaderSajid Javid, who resigned as health secretary five days ago, is on BBC’s Sunday Morning discussing his leadership bid.

Premier Dominic Perrottet announces change after costly plans to install new flagpole scrapped

Anneliese Dodds asks for clarity on which contenders have held tax status after Zahawi revelationsThe Labour chair, Anneliese Dodds, has written to her Conservative counterpart to seek assurances that all Tory leadership candidates will reveal if they have ever had non-dom tax status or used arrangements such as offshore holdings or stakes in shell companies.After revelations on Saturday about the chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, the letter also requests information as to whether any of the would-be successors to Boris Johnson have been investigated over their financial affairs or had officials raise concerns about these. Continue reading...

Sources say 1922 Committee may raise threshold of supporters required to 25 to narrow down crowded fieldConservative leadership hopefuls face a bruising week in which they must quickly scramble for supporters in what looks likely to be a dramatically accelerated contest to find Boris Johnson’s successor.After an acrimonious weekend in which several MPs launched their plans to cut tax, those currently vying to be prime minister are likely to be whittled down to a final two in about a week. Continue reading...

Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Billie Jean King among those celebrating former champion as ‘simply the best’Tennis stars have bid an emotional farewell to Sue Barker as she said she wished she could front the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage for another three decades.

More than 3,000 firefighters battle blazes as EU offers emergency help and temperatures could hit 43CWildfires in Portugal have left 29 people injured as thousands of firefighters and dozens of aircraft battle the blazes.Authorities said 12 firefighters and 17 civilians required medical treatment for minor injuries, as reported by the Portuguese state broadcaster RTP and local media. Continue reading...

Paralympian Jonnie Peacock had publicly asked to be removed from video, which also originally featured Oscar Pistorius

Australia Institute survey finds Coalition’s treatment of women seen as ‘weakness’ by two-thirds of voters

Hottest UK temperature on Sunday was 29.5C and warm air from France and Spain could push it even higherBritons will face sweltering conditions this week when a heatwave could bring highs of up to 33C, and forecasters are warning that there could be a new UK record temperature set.On Sunday, the hottest temperature recorded in the UK, according to the Met Office, was 29.5C in Wisley, Surrey. Continue reading...

Outcomes following votes at eight train companies expected on Monday as talks with RMT resumeThe national rail dispute will reach a critical juncture on Monday with the results of ballots for industrial action by drivers at eight train companies, as talks resume with the biggest rail union to head off more strikes.The votes, called by Aslef, could lead to action with even more impact than during last month’s strikes by 40,000 RMT workers – when the absence in particular of signallers stopped most services in the UK – particularly if it coincides with action by Network Rail managers, whose ballot by the TSSA (Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association) will also be announced on Monday. Continue reading...

Son announces death of broadcaster, who presented on BBC current affairs programme from 1969 to 1977The TV presenter Michael Barratt, best known for his work on BBC’s Nationwide, has died aged 94, his family have announced.A statement released on Sunday by Barratt’s son Olly read: “We’re very sad to report that our lovely dad/husband/Mike/Michael Barratt died this morning. Continue reading...

Staff absences adding to workforce problems caused by Brexit, pension disputes and exhaustion, says expert