World news | The Guardian

Anticipation mounts in greatest cycling nation in the world for world’s greatest cycling race

Four further men treated at scene, with cause of blast still unknownA man is in a critical condition after an explosion destroyed a house and damaged several others in Birmingham.The man was in the property at the time of the blast and was helped out by people at the scene, the West Midlands ambulance service said. Four others were assessed by ambulance crews for minor conditions and were not taken to hospital, the service said. Continue reading...

Second world war ship found broken in two at depth of 22,916 feet in Philippines at ‘hallowed war grave’A US navy destroyer that engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of the second world war in the Philippines has become the deepest shipwreck to be discovered, according to explorers.The USS Samuel B Roberts, popularly known as the “Sammy B”, was identified on Wednesday broken into two pieces on a slope at a depth of 22,916 feet (6,985m), or about four miles. Continue reading...

Shadow attorney general says Opposition wants to see detail of constitutional recognition proposal before deciding if it will support it

Some politicians say decision in Roe v Wade will ‘save lives’ but prime minister emphasises ‘in Australia, this is not a matter for partisan political debate’

Admirers pay tribute to writer best known for the Edith trilogy after death in Sydney hospital

Comments by shadow minister David Lammy aimed at showing party is fit for government provoke angry response from Unite bossDavid Lammy sparked a fresh row with a key trade union on Sunday by saying Labour should categorically refuse to back demands from airline workers for a pay rise of about 10%.Unite – which says staff are just asking to reverse a pay cut that occurred during the pandemic – accused the shadow foreign secretary of launching a “direct attack” on the workers it represents. The general secretary, Sharon Graham, said his comments were a “new low” for Labour, which could not be relied upon by working people. Continue reading...

Four fire engines are in attendance at the blaze that has broken out by the historic Royal High School buildingFirefighters are dealing with a blaze at an Edinburgh city centre landmark.Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crews were called to reports of a fire on Calton Hill, by the 19th century-designed Royal High School building, at 15:15 on Sunday and remain at the scene. Continue reading...

Complaint to Queensland Human Rights Commission accuses platform of not taking action against posts that ‘vilify’ Muslims

36-year-old died from serious head injuries sustained in attack while walking in Ilford early on SundayPolice have begun a murder investigation after a woman died having suffered serious head injuries in “a horrific assault” on a street in east London.The 36-year-old was walking along Cranbrook Road in the direction of Gants Hill station in Ilford when she was attacked in the early hours of Sunday morning. She later died in hospital. Continue reading...

The 2021 census was taken when much of Australia was in lockdown. The data will be a snapshot of the ‘enormous ripple effect’ of the pandemic

PM struggles to defuse row triggered by insistence that he would remain in office until 2030sBoris Johnson claimed on Sunday that the record of his government was “remarkable” and “quite exceptional” as he continued to brush aside internal Tory criticism of his leadership.However, in a series of interviews at the G7 summit in Germany, the prime minister sought to defuse the row triggered by his declaration that he wanted to remain in office until the 2030s by saying he meant he was focused on his reform agenda. Continue reading...

Human rights campaigners raise range of safety concerns over planned removal of people on Home Office charter flight this weekMothers and grandmothers, some of whom have lived in the UK for decades, are among those facing deportation to Nigeria and Ghana on a controversial Home Office charter flight on Wednesday.Women the Guardian has spoken to estimate that at least 10 of them are facing removal. It is unusual to see such a large number of women on a deportation flight to the west African countries. Continue reading...

Former prime minister of Qatar was on Time’s most influential figures and named in both Panama and Pandora PapersWith an estimated personal net worth of over $1.2bn (almost £1bn) according to Forbes, sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar, is one of the country’s richest men – and has often garnered attention because of his wealth and is currently in the headlines over alleged cash donations to Prince Charles.Sometimes known as “HBJ” in London’s financial circles, the 62-year-old was named the “man who bought London” after he used his wealth, as well as his influence as the head of Qatar’s multibillion dollar sovereign wealth fund, the Qatari Investment Authority, to expand Qatar’s financial assets in London through a series of valuable assets. Continue reading...

My brother was killed because he tried to tell the world what was happening to the rainforest, says Sian PhillipsThe British journalist Dom Phillips has been laid to rest in Brazil, exactly three weeks after he was gunned down while journeying through the Amazon with the Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira.Pereira and Phillips, a longtime Guardian contributor, disappeared while travelling on the Itaquaí River on Sunday 5 June. Continue reading...

Government and Charity Commission urged to examine claims Qatari sheikh donated €3mPrince Charles faced fresh controversy over the funding of his charities on Sunday, with calls for the government and the Charity Commission to investigate claims he accepted€3m in cash from a billionaire Qatari sheikh.Claims in the Sunday Times that Charles accepted three donations between 2011 and 2015 from former Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani – known as “HBJ” – were described as “shocking” by critics. One donation, totalling €1m, was reportedly handed over in a small suitcase and another was stuffed in a carrier bag from upmarket department store Fortnum & Mason. Continue reading...

Saudi Arabia tells pilgrims to use new online system and to seek refunds from any agencies they have already paidBritish Muslim travel companies have said they face going out of business, with travellers potentially losing thousands of pounds, after Saudi Arabia launched a new system for applying for the hajj pilgrimage.The Saudi government announced this month that pilgrims from Europe, the US and Australia could no longer book through travel agencies and would instead have to apply through a lottery system. Continue reading...

Analysis: reports that the prince accepted €3m from a former Qatari prime minister throws a spotlight on his charities• Prince Charles given €3m by Qatari politician, according to reportClaims by the Sunday Times of alleged cash donations given to Prince Charles by a former Qatari prime minister are the latest to throw a spotlight on fundraising for the heir to the throne’s charities.Billionaire Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al Thani, who was Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister between 2007 and 2013, is a contentious figure. Continue reading...

RMT mulls future dates for industrial action as prime minister says it can’t be ‘business as usual’ on the railwaysTalks were set to resume on Monday between the RMT and rail bosses, with the union’s national executive committee mulling further strike dates as the prime minister backed plans to close ticket offices.Services started returning to normal after a later start on Sunday due to the last of three 24-hour national strikes by workers at Network Rail and 13 train operating companies on Saturday. Continue reading...

Met police say they are investigating allegations former chief whip assaulted party worker at London pubA senior Scottish National party MP accused of sexual assault has quit the party and will sit as an independent after the Metropolitan police said they were investigating the allegations.The Met said it had received a complaint from a third party about Patrick Grady’s alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old party worker at the Water Poet pub on Folgate Street, London, in October 2016. Continue reading...

Kyiv under attack as G7 leaders meet in Germany; focus of Russia’s campaign shifts to Lysychansk

NGOs say toll could be as high as 37 after hundreds of people break into border control area in attempt to reach Melilla enclaveHuman rights campaigners in Spain and Morocco have called for investigations to be launched in both countries after a mass attempt to scale the border fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla left at least 23 people dead.Spanish officials said about 2,000 Africans made their way to the iron fence at dawn on Friday, with more than 500 managing to slip into a border control area after cutting an opening with shears. Continue reading...

At G7 summit, PM pushes for renewed sanctions and says he would welcome a visit to UK by Volodymyr ZelenskiyBoris Johnson has warned about the likelihood of “fatigue” among western nations over continued support for Ukraine, as he began talks at the G7 summit in Germany, where he hopes to push for renewed sanctions against Russia.Before the first day of the annual gathering of political leaders, held amid ultra-tight security in the Bavarian countryside, Johnson also hailed a new international ban on importing Russia gold. Continue reading...

Analysis: A price cap on Russian oil and potential famine in Africa are among issues pressing for attention

Health secretary urges men to discuss mental health and to ‘seek help’ when they need toSajid Javid has urged men to speak out about their mental health as he spoke publicly for the first time about the loss of his brother, who took his own life.The health secretary said he still wonders if he could have acted to prevent his brother’s death, and spoke of his “deeply personal” mission to prevent suicides. Javid’s brother, Tariq, 51, took his own life in a hotel in Horsham, West Sussex, in July 2018.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org. Continue reading...

Ex-Beatle’s gig seen by many in huge festival crowd as ‘something to tell your grandkids about’Paul McCartney’s history-making Glastonbury set was hailed as one of the greatest headline performances of this generation as a crowd of more than 100,000 people gathered at the festival’s famous Pyramid stage to watch him play.He was joined on stage by Bruce Springsteen and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl – and even sang a duet with his old bandmate John Lennon, using special effects pioneered by the Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson. Continue reading...

Residential buildings and a kindergarten hit in centre of Ukrainian capital before planned Nato summit on Tuesday

Police in southern city of East London launch investigation and rule out stampedeAt least 17 young people were found dead at a nightclub in a township in South Africa’s southern city of East London on Sunday, police said.“We got a report about 17 (people) that died in a local tavern in Scenery Park which is based in East London,” said Thembinkosi Kinana, a provincial police spokesperson brigadier. “We are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.” Continue reading...

Former Formula One team boss Gérard Lopez, who gave £400,000 to Conservatives, has been charged after investigationA Tory donor who has been described as a friend of Vladimir Putin, and who donated £400,000 to the party before the Brexit referendum, is facing charges of forgery in Luxembourg.Gérard Lopez, 50, who chaired the Lotus Formula One team in the UK, donated to the Tories in April 2016, two months before the referendum. He has denied the charges. Continue reading...

Shows with a feelgood factor are boosting box-office takings“I simply remember my favourite things and then I don’t feel so bad,” sang Maria among the mountains in The Sound of Music, introducing to the world one of the most memorable musical lines of all time. Uplifting sentiments like these now seem to have set sales of tickets to musicals in the West End of London soaring to new heights, with pundits suggesting two years of misery have left people desperate to lift their spirits.Box-office figures from the Society of London Theatre (Solt) reveal that, since the beginning of the year, West End musicals outperformed their 2019 equivalents in 20 out of 22 weeks for attendance and 19 out of 22 for revenue. There are fewer plays than in 2019, which might partly explain the strong sales, but people in the industry think it’s more than that. Continue reading...

New rules on fixed recoverable legal costs mean solicitors will no longer be able to afford to take on housing casesPoor and vulnerable tenants who are evicted from their homes or living in dangerous conditions will lose the chance to take their landlords to court when new government rules on legal costs come into force next year, experts are warning.The rules, designed to deter “ambulance chaser” personal injury claims, mean claimants awarded damages of less than £100,000 will only be able to seek “fixed recoverable costs” (FRCs) to cover legal expenses. Continue reading...

Report suggests half of all foster carers are looking after a child with complex needsFoster care in Britain is facing a “mental health crisis” because the government is failing to meet the needs of mentally ill children in care.That is the damning verdict of the latest report from the Fostering Network, a charity representing foster carers. The report, shared with the Observer, suggests half of all foster carers are looking after a child with complex mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression and attachment and eating disorders. Continue reading...

The annual competition to discover outstanding new arts reviewers has now opened for submissions“Lear Alone offers us a vision of theatre in the post-pandemic age. Yes, that’s partly about its demonstration of innovative ways to film and stream theatrical content – taking the action outdoors, making dramatic the objects and sounds of street life. But it’s also about its engagement with live political issues.”So wrote Calum Jacobs, the winner of the Observer/ Anthony Burgess prize for arts journalism 2022, in his review of Lear Alone, a web film series in which actor Edmund Dehn wanders London’s lockdown streets performing only the lines of King Lear from Shakespeare’s tragedy. It’s the perfect Burgess prize subject, a piece of art that engages with a particular moment in time and subtly reframes its form. Continue reading...

Sussan Ley and Jason Clare react to US supreme court decision on abortion rights; Australia to send $1m earthquake relief to Afghanistan; nation records 26 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Young academics and support workers at Leeds University are on the breadline as the cost of living crisis bitesStaff are asking universities to set up food banks because they are struggling with rising bills and say they cannot afford to eat properly.As food and energy prices rise, the University and College Union says young academics teaching on casual contracts and low-paid support workers such as porters and cleaners are finding themselves on the breadline. Continue reading...

Move to install venture capital investor as chair of committee comes after series of Conservative donors given positions on cultural boardsA Tory donor has been handed a prominent role at the heart of the UK’s honours system, the Observer can reveal.In a move that provoked immediate claims of political interference, John Booth, a venture capital investor who has given the party more than £200,000, has been made the “independent chair” of the committee that oversees honours in the arts and media. The role means he will also sit on the main honours committee, which considers all awards. Continue reading...

Nine candidates were preselected just days before the 2022 federal election amid bitter recriminations in the NSW branch

Last week’s byelection losses saw huge swings to the best-placed Tory opponent – without any formal electoral pactOn one of the final days of campaigning in Honiton last week, a Liberal Democrat canvasser found himself on the horns of a dilemma as he scrambled for every vote.“I saw this house and there was a huge Labour poster on the railings outside. I was thinking ‘do I or don’t I?’ If I try, she’s just going to say: ‘Can’t you see? Can’t you read?’” Continue reading...

Hollie Hughes told a Sydney Institute forum parents need to ‘turn the internet off’ as she gave reasons for the party’s election defeat

Private equity links and the pursuit of profit come with risks for children in the care sector, say expertsMore than 100 privately run children’s homes in England with serious failings have been branded inadequate by inspectors, with several found to have links to private equity firms, an Observer investigation has found.Poorly trained staff, chaotic management and a series of incidents that left children’s safety in danger were cited in official reports by Ofsted, which inspects children’s homes, as it concluded they were providing inadequate care. Several have closed since inspectors raised concerns. Continue reading...

Analysis: Juul is only the fourth most popular e-cigarette with adolescents, who are opting for disposable alternativesThis week, the US effectively banned Juul after the Food and Drug Administration ordered the e-cigarette maker to remove its popular products from the marketplace.Experts have hailed the move as significant. But they are also concerned that such efforts are failing to keep up with a fast-moving vaping industry – one where young people leap quickly from one product to another. Continue reading...

Bankrupt nation’s energy minister apologises to motorists but unable to say when petrol and diesel imports will be restoredSri Lanka has increased the price of fuel by up to 22%% after the energy minister warned it had virtually run out of petrol and diesel after several expected shipments were delayed.Kanchana Wijesekera apologised to motorists as he said on Saturday that oil cargoes that were due last week did not turn up, while those scheduled to arrive next week will also not reach Sri Lanka due to “banking” reasons. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says Ukrainian forces will win back all the cities it has lost to Russia, including Sievierodonetsk

Chief health officer Brett Sutton warns BA.4/BA.5 strain traces have risen in recent weeks, and has greater ability to evade vaccine immunity

Money was passed immediately to one of the prince’s charities, says Clarence HouseThe Prince of Wales accepted bags containing millions of euros in cash during meetings with a senior Qatari politician, according to a report.Prince Charles was said to have been given a total of €3m (£2.6m) during meetings with Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar. Continue reading...

Crowd of more than 500 enter border control area after cutting fence in attempt to cross from MoroccoThe death toll from the mass attempt to cross from Morocco into Spain’s enclave of Melilla has risen to 23, according to Moroccan state TV.About 2,000 people approached Melilla at dawn on Friday and more than 500 managed to enter a border control area after cutting a fence with shears, the Spanish government’s local delegation said in a statement. Continue reading...

ATO gives example of child being given $180,000 then repaying it to parents for cost of bringing them up as going against community expectations

Despite initial relief over island nations’ rejection of security and economic pact, senior government figure says reprieve could be only temporary

Defeat for the Tories in two key byelections shows that tactical voting could put safe seats in play if replicated at a general electionWakefield and Tiverton and Honiton are at opposite ends of the country geographically, socially and politically. But they have two features in common: both voted Leave heavily in 2016, and both turned against the Conservatives last week. Defeats on the same day in a northern “red wall” seat and a southern rural stronghold suggest that, six years on from the EU referendum, the Conservative majority Boris Johnson stitched together with a promise to “get Brexit done” is beginning to unravel.For both opposition parties, the byelections have a distinctly 1990s flavour, with the return of a pattern from the Major years that has been largely absent in the past decade of Conservative government – voters in both seats seemed determined to eject Tory incumbents and flocked to the local opposition candidate seen as best placed to do so. Tactical coordination among Labour and Liberal Democrats voters is back, and if replicated at a general election, it could put a lot of seemingly safe Conservative seats in play. Continue reading...