by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#60HFC)
Olympic gold medallist reveals fears of court martial in army and toll on her mental health as she lifts 34-year public silenceGay rights campaigners have welcomed Dame Kelly Holmes’ decision to come out at the age of 52, in a move that sparked questions about how many older people remain afraid to be open about their sexuality after growing up in more homophobic times.The double Olympic gold medallist lifted a painful 34-year public silence on her sexuality on Sunday, saying that she felt as if she was going to “explode with excitement” by finally coming out after years in which she felt depressed, anxious and even suicidal, keeping her secret from all but close family and friends. Continue reading...
Campaigners say curtailing of women’s rights in Afghanistan means Trump-era waiver must be removedHuman rights groups are urging the UN to end a Trump-era waiver that allows Taliban members most responsible for the oppression of women in Afghanistan to travel abroad.In a test for the international community’s willingness to isolate the Taliban, critics argue that those Taliban members curtailing women’s right to leave their homes within Afghanistan should at minimum be banned from leaving their country. Continue reading...
Rufus Norris says DCMS levelling-up scheme will have opposite effect to that intendedThe director of the National Theatre in London is warning that the government’s levelling-up agenda will take its toll on its touring productions and schools programmes beyond the capital.Rufus Norris said that the decision by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in February “to redistribute Arts Council England (ACE) funding and level up access to the arts” across the country would be detrimental to the National Theatre’s work. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#60H98)
SNP’s Angus Robertson says government will continue to push for repeat of 2014 referendum processThe Scottish government will continue to press for a repeat of the “gold standard” set by the 2014 independence referendum process, the constitution secretary, Angus Robertson, has said.But he refused to comment on reports Nicola Sturgeon is planning to announce a “softer” consultative referendum in order to bypass Westminster’s ongoing refusal to grant Holyrood the powers to hold a legal vote. Continue reading...
by Rowena Mason Deputy political editor on (#60H99)
Transport secretary responds to Keir Starmer’s claim government wants to feed off division of RMT actionGrant Shapps has said it is “crazy” to suggest the Tories want rail unions to go on strike this week, as Labour accused the government of encouraging the walkouts to go ahead to stoke division.The transport secretary said the strikes by 40,000 rail workers, which is due to affect services across much of the country from Monday night, were “unnecessary” and a result of trade union leaders “gunning for” a fight. He accused RMT of planning to “punish millions of innocent people”. Continue reading...
Campaign disseminating disinformation sent thousands of tweets, often targeting the White HelmetsA network of more than two dozen conspiracy theorists, frequently backed by a coordinated Russian campaign, sent thousands of disinformation tweets to distort the reality of the Syrian conflict and deter intervention by the international community, new analysis reveals.Data gathered by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) identified a network of social media accounts, individuals, outlets and organisations who disseminated disinformation about the conflict, with 1.8 million people following their every word. The three principal false narratives promoted by the network of conspiracy theorists involved misrepresenting the White Helmets, the volunteer organisation working to evacuate people in Syria. They also focused on the denial or distortion of facts about the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons and on attacking the findings of the world’s foremost chemical weapons watchdog. Continue reading...
Duchess of Cornwall opens up about being a grandmother and learning from young people in rare interviewThe Duchess of Cornwall has spoken about her struggles with handling media attention in a rare interview, in which she also revealed that she played Wordle with her granddaughter every day.Speaking to British Vogue at Clarence House, the London home she shares with Prince Charles, Camilla opened up about approaching her 75th birthday, being a grandmother and learning from young people. Continue reading...
From September measure to help financially vulnerable will be rolled out further after successful trialA government-supported scheme that provides interest-free loans to the financially vulnerable will be expanded to reach up to 20,000 people.The no-interest loan scheme (Nils), which is backed by the Treasury but is run by credit unions and other lending organisations, successfully underwent a trial in Manchester and from September will be rolled out in other parts of the UK. Continue reading...
Polls suggest advances by new left alliance could hobble centrists’ ability to deliver domestic reformsFrance has begun voting in the final round of parliamentary elections as Emmanuel Macron’s centrists attempt to hold on to their majority against a challenge from a new left alliance.Sunday’s vote will set the balance of power for Macron’s second term, defining his capacity to deliver domestic policy such as raising the retirement age and overhauling state benefits. Continue reading...
Faced with staff shortages, soaring food costs and rising pay, restaurants are trying out less expensive ingredientsThe restaurateur Stuart Gillies is running an unusual cocktail of the week: a delicious-looking Monte Cassino. But what’s that got to do with the price of fish?Everything, as it turns out. Gillies, who ran Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant empire for seven years, is using less popular spirits to create something special on a creative menu aimed at saving him and his diners some money. And the same applies to the food. Soaring fish prices have meant he has taken salmon, cod and sea bream off the menu and replaced them with mackerel and hake. Continue reading...
The election is being contested by mayor of Bogotá Gustavo Petro and populist business tycoon Rodolfo HernándezVoters head to the polls in Colombia on Sunday in a historic presidential election that could see the left win for the first time in the conservative South American country.Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla and mayor of Bogotá, will face off against Rodolfo Hernández, a populist business tycoon and the former mayor of the city of Bucaramanga, in a contest where both candidates have cast themselves as political outsiders. Continue reading...
Ed Davey calls on Labour and Green voters to switch in Devon seat where result is too close to callLiberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has appealed to Labour and Green party supporters to vote tactically in Thursday’s crucial West Country byelection – to help deliver a “knockout” blow to Boris Johnson’s premiership.The Lib Dems believe they have a realistic chance of causing one of the biggest byelection shocks of recent times by coming from third place to win in the normally safe Conservative stronghold of Tiverton and Honiton. Continue reading...
The death of Roman Ratushnyi, 24, a prominent environmental campaigner who died while fighting the Russians, has come to symbolise the war’s heavy toll on society
There is no evidence asylum seekers are ‘absconding’ but Boris Johnson insists pilot must go aheadThe Home Office has been accused of “victim blaming” asylum seekers after launching a scheme to electronically tag refugees arriving in the UK.Ministers faced calls to abandon the “farce of a policy” after suggestions that those who recently avoided being sent to Rwanda after a legal challenge could be among the first to be tagged under the programme. Continue reading...
Independent candidate who toppled disgraced Conservative in 1997 urges non-Tory voters to think tactically in byelectionsThe former anti-sleaze MP Martin Bell has urged voters to turn this week’s byelections into a referendum on the “loss of trust in public life”, as he warned that Boris Johnson’s conduct had slipped well below those of the government he successfully stood against in the 1990s.Bell ran as an anti-sleaze unity candidate in the Cheshire constituency of Tatton in 1997, in the wake of a series of scandals that helped sink John Major’s government. However, he said that the attempts by Johnson to change rules for political ends meant things were “worse now”. Continue reading...
Seven wounded after motorists protest petrol shortage as government declares two-week school shutdown to conserve fuelSri Lanka’s military have opened fire to quell rioting at a fuel station, officials say, as unprecedented queues for petrol and diesel were seen across the bankrupt country.Troops fired in Visuvamadu, 365km (228 miles) north of Colombo on Saturday night as their guard point was pelted with stones, army spokesperson Nilantha Premaratne said. Continue reading...
Stringent checks may see families left in the lurch when six-month Homes for Ukraine placements endUkrainians being hosted by Britons under the Homes for Ukraine scheme face a “cliff edge” of crumbling support when their placements end, and could be blocked from renting privately, refugee organisations have warned.They say stringent checks on prospective tenants that demand proof of earnings and other documentation could prove impossible for many refugees to pass. Continue reading...
School leavers predicted three Bs face struggle as competition grows for places at elite institutionsMore than 10,000 school leavers who are predicted three Bs in their A-levels this summer have not got a firm offer at any university, as competition for places at top institutions places increases.Experts say that in recent years school leavers were entering a “buyer’s market” in university places, with applicants standing a good chance of talking their way into a good university even if they missed a grade. But this year, with elite universities fearful of over-recruiting after being forced to take more students than they wanted during the pandemic, and a demographic surge in the number of 18-year-olds, competition has been fierce. Continue reading...
Labor government urged to do more to stop Australian WikiLeaks co-founder’s extradition to US from UKThe Albanese government insists it will not conduct “diplomacy by megaphone” as it faces calls to do more to prevent the extradition of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange to the US.On Saturday, the British home secretary, Priti Patel, approved the extradition of Assange to the US, where he is charged with breaching the US Espionage Act and faces up to 175 years in jail if convicted. He has 14 days to appeal the decision. Continue reading...
Warlpiri delegation from Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs, has collected the seven objects from University of VirginiaSeven sacred Indigenous objects have been returned to central Australia from an American university.A delegation of Warlpiri men from Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs, collected the objects after they were repatriated from the University of Virginia last week. Continue reading...
Lightning kills 21 and millions of homes submerged while armed forces asked to help amid continuing stormsAt least 59 people died as floods cut a swatch across north-eastern India and Bangladesh, leaving millions of homes underwater, authorities said on Saturday.In India’s Assam state, 18 people died in the floods or landslides and 2 million others had seen their homes submerged in flood waters since Thursday, the state disaster management agency said. Continue reading...
by Maya Yang, Tom Ambrose and Zaina Alibhai on (#60H1A)
Nato chief warns war could last years; Russia sends many reservists to Sievierodonetsk battle, says regional governorRussia’s war in Ukraine could take years, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said. “We must prepare for the fact that it could take years. We must not let up in supporting Ukraine,” he said. “Even if the costs are high, not only for military support, also because of rising energy and food prices.”Russia was sending a large number of reserve troops to Sievierodonetsk from other battle zones to try to gain full control of the besieged eastern city, the governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region said on Sunday. “Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, they will throw in all the reserves they have … because there are so many of them there already, they’re at critical mass,” Serhiy Gaidai said on national television.A big explosion rocked an area near Sievierodonetsk on Saturday. Rodion Miroshnik, an official in the self-styled separatist administration of the Luhansk People’s Republic, posted a video of what he said was the cloud on the Telegram messaging app.Five civilians were killed on Saturday in Ukrainian strikes on the eastern separatist city of Donetsk, according to local authorities. “As a result of the bombardment by Ukrainian forces, five people were killed and 12 others were wounded in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the authorities said in a statement posted on Telegram.Several Russian missiles hit a gasworks in the Izium district in eastern Ukraine, Kharkiv region governor Oleh Synehubov said on Saturday. “A large-scale fire broke out, rescuers localised the fire,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Reuters reported him adding that some other buildings had also been damaged.Russian missiles destroyed a fuel storage depot in Novomoskovsk, a town in eastern Ukraine, on Saturday. According to the head of the regional administration, three people have been sent to the hospital.The Pentagon is considering sending four additional rocket launchers to Ukraine, Politico reports. According to US defence department officials, speaking to the outlet on anonymity, the US may likely send four more high mobility artillery rocket systems, making their total number about eight. The decision would be “based on Ukrainian immediate needs,” the official told Politico.Russia and Ukraine have carried out a prisoner exchange, the Kyiv Independent reports. Five captured Ukrainian individuals were returned to Ukraine on 18 June in exchange for five captured Russian individuals, according to the Ukrainian defence ministry’s intelligence directorate.Yuliia Paievska AKA “Taira”, the Ukrainian captured paramedic who was freed from Russian captivity during the week, released a video thanking Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy for her release. “I always believed that everything would be exactly this, and everyone who is now on the other side, they know everything will work out,” she said.Zelenskiy presented state awards to border guards in Odesa as he visited the troops in southern Ukraine on Saturday. “I want to thank you from the people of Ukraine, from our state, for the great work you are doing, for your heroic service,” the president said. “It is important that you are alive. As long as you live, there is a strong Ukrainian wall that protects our country.” Continue reading...
by Jon Ungoed-Thomas and Michael Savage on (#60GYT)
RMT union leaders say ‘no viable’ deals are on the table and walkout is set to go ahead, hitting tourism, sport and festivalsNetwork Rail bosses say they plan to hold more talks with union leaders today in a last-ditch attempt to avert the biggest strike on the railways for more than three decades.More than 40,000 rail workers are due to walk out on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Only about half of Britain’s rail network will be open on strike days with a very limited service on lines which are open. Continue reading...
Sudden temperature plunge prompts rare lightning warning, but better weather expected by next weekendThe Met Office has urged people to stay indoors where possible as the south of England is struck by a “huge cluster” of thunderstorms.As temperatures plummeted from Friday’s highs of 32C, the forecaster issued a lightning warning that it has only used a “handful” of times before. Continue reading...
Six legislators call for return of cultural treasures held by British Museum ‘to their Athenian home’More MPs and peers have expressed support for the repatriation of the Parthenon marbles to Greece as protesters in London mark the 13thanniversary of the opening of the Athens museum where they believe they belong.Calls for the reunification of the antiquities, removed by Lord Elgin from the Acropolis in controversial circumstances more than 200 years ago – and regarded as vital to the nation’s cultural memory – mounted on Saturday with six UK lawmakers telling the Greek daily, Ta Nea, that restitution was the only proper thing to do. The British Museum acquired the sculptures from the diplomat in 1816. Continue reading...
17-year-old pronounced dead near Spurs stadium despite paramedics’ attention as detectives seek witnessesTwo people have been arrested after a teenage boy was stabbed to death minutes away from Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium in north London.Police were called just after midday on Saturday to reports of a stabbing in Orchard Place, Tottenham, where they tried to save the 17-year-old’s life. Continue reading...
At a special Tribeca film festival event, the stars of Michael Mann’s acclaimed crime saga reminisced while offering suggestions of who could play them in a remakeAny misgivings about terseness at a Q&A panel dedicated to Heat, a film in which men prefer to let their automatic rifles talk about their feelings for them, were quickly put to one side last night at the dazzling United Palace theater in Manhattan’s Washington Heights.The Tribeca film festival event dedicated to the 1995 crime classic from Michael Mann – who couldn’t attend due to a positive Covid test, but took care to record a video message from the Italian set of his forthcoming Enzo Ferrari movie, wistfully recalling his initial pitch all those years ago at a Broadway Diner lunch – began with an out-of-the-gate standing ovation for the assembled talent: producer Art Linson, as well as stars Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, a couple of guys unable to get a cup of coffee in New York without a round of applause. Things only got rowdier from there. Continue reading...
Relic of the murdered Republic of Congo leader will be returned to his family as Brussels confronts its bloody past in AfricaThe Belgian government will return a tooth of Patrice Lumumba to his family this week, hoping to draw a line under one of the most brutal and shameful episodes in the country’s bloody exploitation of central Africa.The relic is all that remains of Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, under its earlier name Republic of Congo, and an icon of the struggle against colonialism in Africa, who was murdered by separatists and Belgian mercenaries in 1961. His killers dissolved his remains in acid, though some kept teeth as macabre mementoes. Continue reading...
Boris Johnson reaffirms commitment to provide long-term ‘strategic resilience’ to help expel Russian troopsBoris Johnson has reaffirmed Britain’s support for Ukraine, cautioning against “Ukraine fatigue” as Russia’s invasion enters its fifth month.Speaking to reporters on his arrival at RAF Brize Norton after his trip to Kyiv, the prime minister said: “When Ukraine fatigue is setting in, it is very important to show that we are with them for the long haul and we are giving them the strategic resilience that they need. Continue reading...
Sevenfold rise in those waiting at least a year for cases to be heard as lawyers quit over cuts in legal aidMore than 5,800 victims of violent crime and sexual offences are stuck in one of the worst-ever backlogs in the crown courts, enduring delays of at least a year before their cases are heard, the Observer can reveal.The number of cases facing these delays once a defendant has been charged has increased more than sevenfold in two years, according to an analysis of crown court figures in England and Wales. Continue reading...
Strikes on railways confirmed for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and on tube network on TuesdayUnion leaders have confirmed that next week’s rail and tube strikes will go ahead after talks failed to resolve a bitter row over pay, jobs and conditions.The three 24-hour strikes by 40,000 Rail, Maritime and Transport union members will cause almost a week of disruption. Continue reading...
As rates on shorter-term loans increase, longer-term deals look more attractiveLocking into a 10-year fixed-rate mortgage used to come at a considerable cost but as interest rates on shorter-term home loans have edged up, the price of a decade’s worth of certainty has fallen.This week the best two-year fixed-rate mortgages had a rate of 2.54% for those borrowing 60% of the property’s value, while five-year deals were at 2.64% and the best 10-year rate was 2.73%. Continue reading...
Explosion heard 6km away before three blazes seen in separate buildings, with the fire expected to continue burning for some timeAt least one person was killed in a large fire at a Shanghai chemical plant that shot clouds of smoke across the city on Saturday, state media reported.The fire at a Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co plant in outlying Jinshan district broke out around 4am but was brought under control later that morning, according to state news agency Xinhua. Continue reading...
Temperature could exceed 42C in parts of France as scientists warn heatwaves will hit earlier than usual due to climate changeFrance, Spain and other western European nations braced for a sweltering weekend that is set to break records and sparked concern about forest fires and the effects of climate change.Temperatures already nudged over 40C (104F) in parts of France on Friday. Continue reading...
Life inside Mariupol after it fell, fighting in Sievierodonetsk – a battle that could decide the course of the war – and the Russians fighting for Kyiv
Labour leader and deputy have promised to resign if found to have breached Covid rules by eating curry and drinking beer at eventKeir Starmer and Angela Rayner have returned questionnaires to Durham constabulary, giving their account of a gathering during last year’s local election campaign, the Labour party has confirmed.The pair have both promised to resign if they are found to have breached Covid rules by eating a curry and drinking a beer at the event, which was caught on camera. Continue reading...
by Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent on (#60FWP)
Singer breaks multiple records with Stranger Things-revived hit after ‘manual reset’ of streaming ratiosKate Bush has scored an improbable and inspiring No 1 in the UK singles chart, with Running Up That Hill reaching the top 37 years after the song was released.The 1985 track has stormed domestic and global charts after its inclusion in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things last month, introducing it to a new generation of fans. Continue reading...
World news | The Guardian