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Franco Albrecht plotted against politicians he blamed for the ‘disintegration of German society’A German soldier with far-right views has been found guilty of planning to carry out “false flag” attacks on senior politicians and public figures while successfully posing as a Syrian refugee.Frankfurt’s Higher Regional Court on Friday sentenced Franco Albrecht, 33, to five and a half years in prison for plotting a “serious act of violent subversion”, violating German arms and explosives laws and two accounts of fraud. Continue reading...

High court judge rules boy has ‘no hope’ of recovery from brain damage apparently suffered while taking ‘blackout challenge’The parents of a 12-year-old boy who suffered a “catastrophic” brain injury have lost their battle for his life support treatment to continue.Archie Battersbee, a child with an “infectious enthusiasm for life”, sustained brain damage about three months ago when, his mother believes, he choked while taking part in a viral social media trend known as the “blackout challenge”. Continue reading...

Snap national cabinet meeting is shaping as Anthony Albanese’s first major domestic test since taking office

Portugal declares ‘state of contingency’ as France, Spain and Morocco also battle fires, while record heat hits ChinaThousands of people in Portugal, Spain, France and Morocco have been evacuated from their homes as firefighters tackle wildfires caused by this week’s heatwave, which has brought extreme temperatures of more than 45C (113F) to parts of Europe and north Africa.One person has died and at least 135 people have suffered mainly minor injuries since wildfires began in Portugal last week. A “state of contingency” has been in effect since Sunday, and about 800 people have been evacuated from their homes, according to the country’s Civil Protection Authority. Continue reading...

Estimated 3.5 million people thought to have disease in first week of July, with Omicron sub-variants blamedCovid infection levels in the UK have risen by almost 30% in a week, with an estimated 3.5 million people thought to have had the disease in the first week of July.Figures from the Office for National Statistics based on swabs collected from randomly selected households, show that in the week ending 6 July, 2,873,600 people in the community in England are estimated to have had Covid – about one in 19 people. The week before, the figure was 2,154,000 people, or about one in 25. Continue reading...

Streaming company’s family drama marks shift from locally made ‘edutainment’ to shows that reflect complex realities of Kenyan lifeKenya’s first homegrown Netflix series, the family drama Country Queen, has its premiere on Friday, marking the beginning of a significant investment in African film by the streaming company.Shot in English, Swahili and a mix of other local languages, the series features a female lead character and chronicles the lives of ordinary Kenyans fighting against corporate power and land grabs. It explores urban and rural Kenya through characters intertwined by love, betrayal and conflict. Continue reading...

More than 400 sign open letter expressing opposition to tie-in with green energy subsidiary of coalminerHundreds of teachers have pledged not to take their students to the Science Museum in London until it cancels its sponsorship deal with a company linked to the coalminer Adani.More than 400 teachers and educators have so far signed an open letter to the museum warning that it faces a widespread boycott over a deal with Adani Green Energy, whose parent company, Adani Group, is a major operator of coalmines and coal-fired power stations. Continue reading...

Warning of ‘exceptional hot spell’ on Monday and Tuesday, covering much of EnglandThe Met Office has issued its first extreme heat weather warning for next week, covering much of England. It warns of an “exceptional hot spell on Monday and Tuesday leading to widespread impacts on people and infrastructure”.“Exceptional, perhaps record-breaking, temperatures are likely on Monday, then again on Tuesday,” the Met Office said on its website. Continue reading...

Brexit is not the dividing line it was, but members spooked by the byelection loss nearby have divergent visions of the party’s futureOn a sun-drenched common, supporters of Tory leadership candidate Penny Mordaunt, Andrew Wood and Jaspal Chhokar periodically pause as yet another truck from the HS2 rail project rumbles through a constituency that is home to one of Britain’s largest local Conservative parties.While the scheme weighed heavily in the Tories’ byelection loss in neighbouring Chesham and Amersham – raising questions about the party’s so-called blue wall in southern England – the din is also a reminder here in Beaconsfield of the cocktail of factors that fuelled Boris Johnson’s downfall. Continue reading...

Royal commission told NDIA services and communications need to be tailored to meet the needs of First Nations people

Phantom Labs, which crafted stage sets for West’s concerts, accused rapper of ‘weaponising fame and reputation to take advantage of eager collaborators’Kanye West has been sued by a production company alleging that he has not paid $7.1m (£6m), owed for work it completed for the rapper’s concert performances.Phantom Labs, based in Los Angeles, created the stage set – dubbed The Mound – for the Free Larry Hoover benefit concert in December 2021, where West performed alongside Drake. It also worked on a concert marking the release of the album Donda 2, on West’s Sunday Service gospel and prayer events, and on his cancelled 2022 Coachella performance. Continue reading...

Lola handbag range and signature trenchcoat give luxury fashion retailer boost elsewhereBurberry has reported sales growth of only 1% in its latest financial quarter because of the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns in China, while sales were boosted elsewhere by its Lola handbag range and signature trenchcoat.The luxury fashion retailer said sales fell 35% in mainland China because of restrictions and store closures to contain the latest outbreak of the coronavirus, while sales grew 16% across the rest of the world in the 13 weeks to 2 July. Continue reading...

Ukrainian city captured by Russians in late May is thought to be burying people found under ruined buildings

Albanese government aims to provide $10bn in funding to build 30,000 social and affordable properties in five years

Bruce Morcombe asks filmgoers to not see Thomas M Wright’s The Stranger, but producers say it does not name Daniel or depict his death

Officer who allegedly flagged the dropping of charges was not authorised to make that decision, Victoria police tell court

Exclusive: doctors will use pay row to expose ‘desperate state’ of NHS after years of government neglect, Prof Philip Banfield warnedA doctor’s strike is “inevitable” and will expose how dangerously threadbare the Conservatives have left the health service, the profession’s new leader has said.In his first interview since taking over as the British Medical Association’s chair of council, Prof Philip Banfield warned ministers that doctors will take the fight to them by using a pay dispute to tell the public patients are dying as a direct result of government neglect of the NHS. Continue reading...

Thousands of staff have been left up to £500 short on payday, which has forced some to use food banks or leave bills unpaidAsda employees are having to skip household bill payments, take out loans, and even use food banks to get through the month due to regular payroll errors that have seen some underpaid by £500 or more.The scale of the problem emerged after the private equity-backed company admitted to members of the Scottish parliament that its external payroll firm had made nearly 11,000 errors in recent months, affecting the wages of 5,500 staff. Continue reading...

Ranil Wickremesinghe to be interim president until MPs vote for a new leader next week following months of mounting protests over economic crisisSri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has officially resigned, the parliamentary speaker confirmed, after a dramatic week which saw the beleaguered leader flee the country after his presidential palace and offices were stormed by protesters.The formal announcement of Rajapaksa’s resignation was made in a televised address by the speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, on Friday morning. Continue reading...

Samuel William Davidson can apply for parole after 15 years over deaths of three children from Abdallah family and their cousin• Get our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastA drunk and drugged driver who killed four children walking along a Sydney footpath to buy ice-creams has had his jail term slashed.Samuel William Davidson was driving erratically and speeding when he struck Sienna Abdallah, eight, her siblings Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13, and their 11-year-old cousin Veronique Sakr. Continue reading...

Marcelo de Arruda was shot at his birthday party by a supporter of President BolsonaroBrazilian political leaders called for calm this week after the killing of a Workers’ party member prompted fears that political violence in the polarised nation will erupt in the runup to October’s presidential election.Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the leftwing former president and Workers’ party leader who is currently leading the polls for the ballot on 2 October, sent his condolences to the family of the dead man, who belonged to his party, and called for “dialogue, tolerance and peace”. Continue reading...

Town festival authorities refuse to play chart-topping Layla by DJ Robin & Schürze, prompting complaints of censorshipThey are loud in volume, unsophisticated in tune and often offensively bawdy in content. With titles ranging from Sex With a Bavarian to Big Tits Potato Salad, the ballermann sub-genre of schlager pop is a big hit in German-dominated nightclubs on the Balearic island of Mallorca, but is more likely to elicit winces of embarrassment or Fremdschämen at home.Yet this week German newspapers have been filled with detailed analysis of schlager song lyrics, and even the country’s justice minister felt inclined to share his musical taste after a Bavarian city decided to banish this holiday season’s ballermann hit from its beer halls for its sexist tendencies. Continue reading...

Coldest temperatures recorded near Cooma and Bega at -8C as Southern Ocean cold front moves across country

Scientists say aerosols thrown into stratosphere in January responsible for volcanic twilight ‘afterglows’The great white continent of Antarctica has been awash in dazzling pink and plum hues, thanks to the “afterglow” effect of the Tongan eruption.The unusually fiery skies have already been reported across New Zealand and Australia in the past month, which scientists put down to a spike in aerosols that were hurled up into the stratosphere following the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption in January. Continue reading...

Ministers have suggested states should pick up the cost of Covid leave payments as calls grow for support to continue

Boom lift, digger and resuscitation used in operation that took place in heavy rain in Khao Yai national parkVeterinarians and park staff have pulled off a dramatic rescue of a pair of elephants in Thailand that involved the use of a boom lift, a digger and the resuscitation of an unconscious mother by three people.The rescue took place in the pouring rain in central Nakhon Nayok province on Wednesday when a one-year-old elephant fell into a roadside drainage hole. The distressed mother stood guard over her calf, according to national park staff, but also fell in shortly after she was sedated. Continue reading...

Three children among dead and dozens of people injured after missiles hit civilian buildings in Ukrainian city

Exclusive: company acknowledged in documents leaked to the Guardian it had used ‘hyper-aggressive tactics’ in global expansion

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereImages of Ukrainian territorial defence troops having dinner outside the town of Bucha, near Kyiv, have dropped over the wires this morning.Hot meals were served to servicemen after a combat tactic training exercise.It is going to be a tough 2022—and possibly an even tougher 2023, with increased risk of recession.The human tragedy of the war in Ukraine has worsened. So, too, has its economic impact especially through commodity price shocks that are slowing growth and exacerbating a cost-of-living crisis that affects hundreds of millions of people—and especially poor people who cannot afford to feed their families. And it’s only getting worse. Continue reading...

The Rings of Power series to air on Prime from September, and is set thousands of years before films based on JRR Tolkien’s storiesThe first full-length trailer for Amazon’s £1bn Lord of the Rings prequel has been released, with Morfydd Clark’s debut as Galadriel getting a starring role in the promotion for the keenly awaited series that will be released in September.The Swedish-born Welsh actor, 33, plays a much younger version of the elf, who was played by Cate Blanchett in Peter Jackson’s films of JRR Tolkien’s novels. Continue reading...

Ripudaman Singh Malik, 70, was accused of being a part of the worst terror attack in Canadian history in which 329 people diedA man acquitted over the bombing of a 1985 Air India from Montreal to Mumbai has been killed in Canada, in what police believe was a targeted shooting.The family of Ripudaman Singh Malik confirmed the 70-year-old was shot and killed Thursday morning in front of his clothing import business. Continue reading...

Move comes after widespread industrial action announced by Aslef union, which will bring many services to a haltDrivers at 14 train operating companies are to go on strike for two days in August, in a move that will bring many services around Britain to a halt. The announcement was made hours after another union confirmed strike action for July.RMT members at Network Rail and 14 train operators will strike for two further days on 18 and 20 August in the row over jobs, pay and working conditions, the union announced. Continue reading...

In her first post in nearly three years, the Hustlers actor said she tried to kill herself after a negative response to tweets she had sentConstance Wu has said that she attempted suicide after backlash to a series of “careless” tweets in 2019.In a statement marking her first return to Twitter in nearly three years, the Hustlers actor announced her upcoming book, Making a Scene, and explained that she was “afraid of coming back on social media because I almost lost my life from it: 3 years ago, when I made careless tweets about the renewal of my TV show, it ignited outrage and internet shaming that got pretty severe.”In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...

John Holland-Kaye has until midday on Friday to assure ministers the airport has sufficient security workers and to assist disabled passengersMinisters have issued an ultimatum to the chief executive of Heathrow, calling on him to provide a plan to resolve the airport’s staffing problems, it has been reported.John Holland-Kaye has until midday on Friday to assure ministers that the airport has sufficient workers for security screening and to assist disabled passengers, according to a letter from the Department for Transport’s (DfT) director general for aviation, maritime and security and the chief executive of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) seen by the Daily Telegraph. Continue reading...

Jeffrey Cook, 65, and John Mason, 79, deny making corrupt payments to senior Saudis in exchange for contractsThe jury has been discharged in the trial of two men accused of funnelling bribes totalling millions of pounds to a Saudi prince and other high-ranking officials to secure lucrative commercial contracts.During the trial which started in May, the Serious Fraud Office alleged that a total of £9.7m was paid to Prince Miteb bin Abdullah and a group of senior Saudi officials to land the contracts for a British subsidiary of the European aerospace group Airbus. Continue reading...

‘Questions’ follow on MP’s past performance as trade minister after she gains ground over Liz Truss

Welsh comedian becomes patient at Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff, where he is a patronRhod Gilbert, the comedian and television presenter, has announced he is being treated for cancer.The 53-year-old from Carmarthen said he was a patient at Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff, a hospital he has been patron of for a decade and for which he has fundraised.

Forest Hill venue praised for inspiring the next generation and reconfiguring programme in light of pandemic, BLM and climate crisis

Festival reminded by authorities of rule change in June, but didn’t tell ticket holders until Monday – when ticket resale deadline expired

Support grows for stricter penalties for supplying cigarettes to minors and a crackdown on e-cigarettes, National Drug Strategy Household Survey reveals

Labor says it has ‘no money’ to continue pandemic leave payments as state leaders and some of its own backbenchers urge rethink

Another says experience of new points-based system has been ‘humiliating and degrading’

Justice secretary’s withdrawal follows that of Priti Patel from another hearing and as effort to limit gambling harms is deferred

Trade minister consolidates second place behind Sunak as second vote narrows field to five

The film adaptation of the book by Jodi Kanrot and Megan Twohey depicts their investigation to expose the disgraced mogulThe painstaking work to expose Harvey Weinstein comes to the big screen in the first trailer for She Said, the film adaptation of the book by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey.The duo, who won a Pulitzer prize (along with The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow) for their 2017 investigation into the sexual predation by the formerly untouchable film producer, helped ignite the #MeToo movement and several subsequent investigations into abuses of power. Continue reading...

DWP data shows 1.3m children affected by limit as research shows risk of long-lasting harm increasing due to cost of living crisisOne in 12 of all UK children now live in families hit by the two-child limit, the government’s controversial cap on benefits that cuts household income by at least £2,800 a year and puts affected youngsters at risk of poverty and emotional harm.The latest official statistics revealed that 1.3 million children in 359,000 households were subject to the two-child limit in April as the policy dragged an additional 150,000 kids in 40,000 families into its net. Continue reading...

Delay follows advice to PM that proposals cannot be published until new Conservative leader in placeProposals to reform gambling laws have been postponed for a fourth time, after advisers to Boris Johnson concluded it could not be published until a new leader of the Conservative party is elected to replace him as prime minister.Amid a tussle between different Tory party factions over the content of the plans, multiple Whitehall sources told the Guardian that a white paper had been added this week to the government’s “grid” of announcements and was scheduled to be published on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Government forecast anticipates 12% decline, mainly due to fewer births, with surplus school places in years aheadEngland’s school population is set to shrink by almost a million children over the next 10 years, according to the government’s latest data, raising the prospect of surplus places and school closures in some areas of the country in the years ahead.Department for Education figures reveal that predicted pupil numbers, already in marked decline according to earlier modelling, have had to be revised down further in line with projections of fewer births than expected. Continue reading...

Pano Christou also given 27% salary rise in 2021 as chain took more than £50m in government supportPret a Manger handed a near-£4m share bonus and 27% salary rise to its chief executive in the same year it cut staff pay and took more than £50m in government support via furlough and business rates relief.The coffee shop chain paid Pano Christou £4.2m in the year to the end of December 2021, including a £400,000 salary, according to accounts for its main holding company. Continue reading...

Mario Draghi’s government survives vote but he had said he would not continue without movement’s supportItaly’s coalition government is teetering on the brink of collapse after the Five Star Movement refused to participate in a confidence vote, raising the spectre of a snap general election.Five Star, headed by the former prime minister Giuseppe Conte, is a formerly anti-establishment party that has plummeted in the polls and lost parliamentarians since joining the government, hurt by policy U-turns and internal divisions. Continue reading...