World news | The Guardian

If PM elevates Nigel Adams and Nadine Dorries to Lords, byelections could be the acid test for new Tory leaderBoris Johnson is threatening to set an “early test” for his successor by ensuring they have to face two early byelections as the new Tory leader, the Observer has been told.The prime minister is planning to elevate at least two current MPs to the House of Lords well before the next election, triggering two contests that will test public support for whoever replaces him in Downing Street. Continue reading...

Preet Chandi, first woman of colour to complete a solo unaided trip to the South Pole, announces plans for her next tripWhen she became the first woman of colour to complete a solo, unaided trip to the South Pole, Capt Preet Chandi wanted to prove “no matter where we are from, no matter what we look like, we can achieve anything we want”.Now, “Polar Preet” has her sights set on a greater challenge – to become the first woman to complete a solo and unsupported journey across the entire continent of Antarctica. Continue reading...

Beyond the frontlines, academics are fighting to counter the fake tales of their country’s past that are peddled by the KremlinAt the entrance to Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv, a bronze relief of the face of Mykhailo Hrushevsky stares out towards the red-painted portico. A historian by training, and a key figure in Ukraine’s national revival in the early 20th century, Hrushevsky served briefly as the head of Ukraine’s revolutionary rada – or parliament – in 1918.Taras Pshenychnyi, deputy dean of the history department, pauses to examine the image of his distinguished forebear, and to reflect on the extraordinary times the university is seeing since the Russian invasion. Continue reading...

At least 37 deaths across country since Thursday as residential areas appear to be targeted• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updatesAir raid sirens sounded across Ukraine on Friday evening, as the country braced itself for another string of intensified long-range missile strikes on cities and towns across the country.At least 37 people have been killed in missile attacks since Thursday that appear to have targeted busy civilian areas and crowded buildings, a tactic Russia has repeatedly denied employing. Continue reading...

During lockdown, fledgling comedians won virtual acclaim. Now they hope real-life festival crowds will find them just as funnyHow does a newcomer fill a theatre while up against thousands of rival entertainers? This is the challenge posed by the Edinburgh fringe festival. But an answer can now be found on TikTok.Several of the up-and-coming talents at the fringe for the first time next month are already celebrities on the social media site, andwill arrive equipped with bands of admiring followers to match those of established names on the comedy circuit. But will their online audience turn up in real life? Continue reading...

Emergency meeting held on Saturday afternoon as Met Office warns ‘lives are at risk’An emergency meeting is being held by ministers and officials on Saturday amid soaring temperatures, which experts have warned could put lives at risk.The high temperatures are expected to peak on Tuesday, with an 80% chance of the mercury topping the UK’s record temperature of 38.7C (101.7F) set in Cambridge in 2019, and a 50% chance of temperatures reaching 40C somewhere in the UK. Continue reading...

Prime minister Anthony Albanese says support will continue until the end of September amid winter Covid wave set to peak in August

Bookmakers’ favourite to replace Johnson as PM accuses other campaigns of running ‘black ops’ briefings against her

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk urges mask-wearing indoors after national cabinet meeting. This blog is now closed

Calls for aid to be let into Port-au-Prince district after ‘battlefield’ violence leaves dozens dead and cuts supplies of food and waterHaiti’s capital has been racked by a week of heavy fighting between gangs, with the global medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warning that thousands of people were trapped without food or water in one district of Port-au-Prince’s notorious Cité Soleil slum.“We are calling on all belligerents to allow aid to enter Brooklyn and to spare civilians,” said Mumuza Muhindo, the MSF’s head of mission in Haiti, in a statement referring to the contested area within the sprawling Cité Soleil. Continue reading...

A 17-year-old was fatally stabbed following a violent brawl on 11 April

Sir Kevan Collins says recovery plan may end up little more than ‘a few kids in the corner doing a bit of tutoring’The former education recovery commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins, has accused the government of burying its head in the sand over the loss of learning among children in England due to Covid, warning the problem will not just “go away”.He expressed regret about lost opportunities after the government rejected his ambitious £15bn plan for recovery, including an extended school day for all, and warned that the flagship national tutoring programme (NTP) was in danger of becoming little more than “a few kids in the corner doing a bit of tutoring”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Labour leader, speaking after meeting German chancellor, condemns candidates’ ‘fanciful’ spending plansKeir Starmer has dismissed the acrimonious Conservative leadership race as a “travelling circus”, in which the candidates have demolished their party’s economic credibility by promising billions of pounds of unfunded tax cuts.Speaking on a visit to Berlin where he held talks with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the Labour leader highlighted the “fanciful” spending pledges made by the five contenders battling it out to succeed Boris Johnson. Continue reading...

Succession star warns cost of rental accommodation is ‘squeezing the lifeblood’ out of festivalThe Succession star Brian Cox has warned the Edinburgh fringe risks “cutting off the lifeblood” of young talent at the festival if action is not taken to lower soaring accommodation costs for performers.The 76-year-old actor, who plays Logan Roy in the hit HBO show, said the festival, which starts on 5 August, is the only one like it in the world – and it is a “conduit for young talent”. Continue reading...

While leaders presented a picture of harmony, more vexing topics like Australia’s fossil fuel ambitions and China were kicked down the road

Co-founder of Guadalajara cartel was one of FBI’s most-wanted fugitives after being freed from prison in 2013Rafael Caro Quintero, a drug lord known as “the narco of narcos” who was behind the killing of a US drug enforcement agent in 1985, has been captured by Mexican forces nearly a decade after walking out of prison, according to the country’s navy.Caro Quintero was arrested after a search dog named Max found him hiding in brush in the town of San Simon in Sinaloa state during a joint operation by the navy and the attorney general’s office, a navy statement said. The site was in the mountains near Sinaloa’s border with the northern border state of Chihuahua. Continue reading...

At least three killed and 15 hurt in Dnipro missile strike; UK says Kremlin responsible for British captive’s death; Ukraine reports May peak in military losses

This live blog is now closed. We will return in a few hours to bring you all the latest developmentsRussian and pro-Russian Luhansk People’s Republic separatist forces claim to have entered the outskirts of Siversk in Ukraine’s Donbas, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.Acknowledging that reports have not corroborated, the ministry said Russian forces have been slowly advancing westwards and probing assaults towards Siversk from Lysychansk to open a pathway onward to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.Bakhmut is likely to be the next objective, once Siversk is secured,” the report read.The simple truth is that, as we speak, children, women and men, the young and the old, are living in terror.” Continue reading...

The five candidates face off in a televised Channel 4 debate

Head-to-head sees open arguments over tax and identity politics, with no candidate willing to say Boris Johnson is honest

Experts warn of worse to come, with most states likely several weeks away from peak hospitalisation rates

Ongoing focus on disaster management needed to avoid kneejerk reactions from one event to the next

Level 4 heat alert announced for next week means ‘illness and death may occur among the fit and healthy’Thousands of people could die in the coming heatwave, experts have warned, as the government triggered the first ever national emergency heat red alert with a record 40C (104F) temperature forecast for south-east England on Tuesday.Health officials fear people living alone on upper floors of buildings are among those who could perish, as people did in Paris in 2003. Last year two lesser heat episodes caused about 1,600 excess deaths, according to official figures. Continue reading...

Russian strike kills 23 in Vinnytsia, grain ships stuck in the Black Sea and the deadly danger of sea mines

Maya and Clara Pope-Sutherland blame Gaia’s disappearance and death on serial failings by police and mental health servicesThe wonderful memories of Gaia Pope come easily and vividly to her twin, Maya Pope-Sutherland, and older sister Clara Pope-Sutherland.“We never spent a moment apart when we were younger, we were so close, we had a real bond,” Maya, 24, told the Guardian. “There was a spirituality about Gaia. Her name means ‘Mother Earth’ and she felt a connection with the trees, the sky, animals. She was altruistic and caring, a great listener.” Continue reading...

Health officials are advising people how to stay safe during expected record temperatures next weekPut that cold beer down, hold the iced coffee and shut the window. Common tricks for keeping cool in a British summer do not apply to the sweltering, record-breaking temperatures forecast for much of England early next week.Heat of 40C (104F) is a risk to life and not only to vulnerable people. Healthy people who do not take care were also in danger, government health officials warned on Friday. So go easy on the caffeine and alcohol, pull the curtains, drink water and stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day. Importantly, do not presume the air outside is cooler than inside. But, most of all, check that people who live alone or in potentially hot and stuffy rooms are safe. Continue reading...

Trio of dissidents in US condemn president’s trip to Saudi Arabia and accuse him of ‘normalising’ murderous regimeKhalid Aljabri, Lina al-Hathloul, and Abdullah Alaoudh grew up within a few blocks of each other in their Al-Falah neighborhood in Riyadh, but never knew each other.On Friday, as Joseph Biden touched down in Jeddah, in their native Saudi Arabia, the three exiles met for the first time for a Middle Eastern breakfast in Arlington, Virginia, in the outskirts of Washington. Continue reading...

Employers will no longer be able to withhold tips and will be obliged to share tipping recordsA bill to force restaurants to hand over all tips to their staff, including any service charge, will come into law after winning backing from MPs.The private members’ bill on tips was put forward by the Conservative MP Dean Russell after the delay of a wider Employment bill, which was intended to include the new rules. Continue reading...

1986 song gets first ever UK chart placing after appearing in season finale, reaching No 22First there was Kate Bush, scoring a No 1 hit with Running Up That Hill 37 years after it was released. Now, the supernatural power of Stranger Things to resurrect old hits continues, giving Metallica their first UK Top 40 hit since 2008.Like Running Up That Hill, their 1986 song Master of Puppets was used as a key plot point in the Netflix series, featuring in the final episode of the fourth season in an operatically epic scene. Continue reading...

Kurtis Dilks, 35, tied up the former England player in front of his children and threatened to cut off his fingersA “chillingly ruthless” robber who was part of a gang who tied up former England footballer Ashley Cole in front of his children, and threatened to cut off his fingers, has been jailed for 30 years.Kurtis Dilks, 35, was also ordered to serve an extended licence period of five years by a judge at Nottingham Crown Court after smashing his way into the footballer’s Surrey home with a sledgehammer and subjecting his family to a “terrifying” ordeal. Continue reading...

Hart was the primary songwriter for the Philadelphia sweet-soul group, who recorded with Thom Bell and were covered by Prince and Aretha FranklinWilliam Hart, lead singer of US R&B group the Delfonics, has died aged 77. He was admitted to hospital in Philadelphia with breathing trouble and died from complications during surgery on Thursday, his son told TMZ.Raised in Philadelphia, Hart was a prolific singer with local groups such as the Four Gents, the Four Guys, the Veltones, the Everglows and Little Hart. Around 1964, he formed the Orphonics with his brother, Wilbert, alongside Randy Cain and Richie Daniels, inspired by the likes of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach. Continue reading...

Steve Martin found guilty of gross misconduct after punching and verbally abusing 15-year-old boyA Metropolitan police officer who punched a handcuffed black child in the face has been sacked.PC Steven Martin, who was serving in the firearms command, also verbally abused the 15-year-old despite him not resisting, as he tried to arrest him, believing he was a suspect in a knifepoint robbery. Continue reading...

We take a look at who is covered by the latest recommendations from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation

Head of national security council says ‘more and more civilian targets’ being hit, after deadly Vinnytsia attack

Union says customers can expect disruption to services including repairs, installations and supportBT staff are to go on strike on 29 July and 1 August in the first nationwide action at the telecoms company in 35 years, with consequences for customers across the country having broadband services installed or faults fixed.The two 24-hour strikes by BT engineers and call centre staff belonging to the Communication Workers Union (CWU) represents the majority of its 58,000-strong frontline workforce. Continue reading...

Mayor of Greater Manchester and former health secretary gives evidence to infected blood inquiryAndy Burnham has suggested there may be a case for charges of corporate manslaughter in relation to the contaminated blood scandal, as he challenged the Conservative leadership candidates to commit to making interim compensation payments to infected survivors.The former health secretary, now mayor of Greater Manchester, wrote to each of the five remaining candidates on Friday to coincide with his evidence to the infected blood inquiry. Continue reading...

Pay-TV, broadband and mobile company aims to build scale to take on BT and SkyVirgin Media O2 has explored making a multibillion-pound offer for broadband and the telecoms company TalkTalk in its latest move to build scale to create a new “national champion” to challenge BT and Sky.The pay-TV, broadband and mobile company, which is jointly owned by Spain’s Telefonica and John Malone’s Liberty Global, is understood to have held exploratory talks with the Salford-based TalkTalk. Continue reading...

Paul Urey, who was captured and accused of being a mercenary, has died, Donetsk official saysThe British aid worker Paul Urey, 45, has died while being held hostage by pro-Russia separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), a local official in the rebel-held territory has said.His mother, Linda Urey, said she was “absolutely devastated” and described the separatists as “murderers”. Continue reading...

Brenda Venables’s body was found in a septic tank 37 years after she disappearedDavid Venables, 89, has been found guilty at Worcester crown court of the 1982 murder of his wife, Brenda, whose body was found hidden in a septic tank 37 years after she disappeared.The retired pig farmer, who was required to sit in the dock after previously being allowed to sit beside his legal team, was convicted of his wife’s murder in a 10-2 majority verdict. Continue reading...

Foreign secretary announces tax cut proposals worth billions of pounds during online leadership debateLiz Truss has sought to breathe new life into her faltering Tory leadership campaign with a flurry of new tax cut promises worth billions of pounds, as the five remaining candidates took part in their first mass debate.Ahead of a televised event on Channel 4 on Friday evening, Truss and the four other would-be successors to Boris Johnson joined a Zoom-based Q&A hosted by the Conservative Home website. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Tory leadership candidate has voiced support for what others say is bogus treatmentPenny Mordaunt, a leading contender to win the Conservative party leadership contest and become prime minister, has repeatedly advocated the use of homeopathy on the NHS, analysis of her parliamentary records and public comments shows.Homeopathy is a treatment based on the use of highly diluted substances that practitioners claim can cause the body to heal itself. It has been called bogus by the most senior doctor in the NHS, and the health service does not fund it because of “the lack of any evidence for its effectiveness”. The NHS position is backed by a high court judgment. Continue reading...

Battle to be in final two has been beset by mud-slinging as frontrunners bid to pick off supporters from rivalsWhat happens when the “most duplicitous, lying electorate that you’ve ever come across” holds an internal contest via secret ballots covered breathlessly by the media with the fate of the country at stake?That description of the race to become prime minister by the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith goes some way to explaining why there has been a torrent of blue-on-blue attacks, “dark arts” and betrayal of long-held loyalties over the past week. Continue reading...

From Europe to India and the US, the revelations have fuelled anger from across the spectrum, from the drivers to politicians

President shown surrounded by smiling and clapping Uyghur residents on first visit in eight yearsChina’s president, Xi Jinping, has paid his first visit to Xinjiang in eight years, as western nations continue to accuse Beijing of genocide against the region’s mostly Muslim Uyghur population.State media reported on Friday that the visit from Tuesday to Thursday including stops at a university and a trade zone in the regional capital, Urumqi. A photo from the official Xinhua news agency showed a maskless Xi surrounded by smiling and clapping residents, many of them apparently Uyghurs wearing traditional costumes and Muslim prayer caps. Continue reading...

Network Rail says safety restrictions will include slower trains to avoid buckled rails and trackside firesRail passengers across England and Wales have been urged to only travel if necessary next week, with extreme temperatures forcing blanket speed restrictions across much of the network.Network Rail said the impact on train services would vary by region, but that journeys would take significantly longer. It said there was a high likelihood of cancellations, delays and last-minute alterations to services on Monday and Tuesday. Continue reading...

Lord of the Dance star ‘thrilled’ self-financed film finally being released four years after premiereAlmost four years after it premiered and promptly disappeared, a spy thriller written, directed, produced, financed by and starring the Irish-American dancer Michael Flatley will be released in Irish cinemas in September.According to its blurb on IMDb, Blackbird is about a “troubled secret agent” who retires and opens “a luxurious nightclub in the Caribbean to escape the dark shadows of his past”. Then, in a bittersweet development for the eponymous former spy, “an old flame arrives and reignites love in his life, but she brings danger with her”. Continue reading...

Little attention has yet been paid to key ally of Tory leadership hopeful who lists his job title as ‘Grand Enchilada’On Wednesday night, dozens of journalists and political aides joined the Tory leadership hopeful Penny Mordaunt at a drinks event in the garden of Westminster Abbey. Guests such as Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK enjoyed plenty of wine and were joined by costume actors dressed as traditional British icons such as Beefeaters, Paddington Bear and Edina from Absolutely Fabulous.Mordaunt was the star of the party, which was held by a charity run by the multimillionaire PR agency boss Chris Lewis, an ally of Mordaunt over the last decade. Continue reading...

As first ever national emergency red alert for heat is issued, here’s how to spot the signs of heat exhaustion and heatstrokeWith temperatures in the UK rising amid a summer heatwave, experts have warned the public to be on their guard against heat exhaustion and heatstroke, which can be life threatening. We take a look at how to spot the signs:What are the signs of heat exhaustion? Continue reading...