World news | The Guardian

Privileges committee investigating whether PM misled parliament when he said ‘no Covid rules were broken’Boris Johnson could be ordered to give evidence under oath when MPs begin a new investigation into claims he lied about Partygate.The privileges committee is expected to start its inquiry within the next month and will aim to deliver a verdict by the autumn on whether Johnson misled parliament. Sessions are likely to be held in public, in an attempt to limit potential criticism about the group’s work and avoid any accusations of a “cover up”. Continue reading...

Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual assault at the schools was rampant and has apologizedCanadian police said they arrested a 92-year-old retired priest for a sexual assault more than 50 years ago at one of Canada’s residential schools for Indigenous children.Sgt Paul Manaigre of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said on Friday that police arrested retired Father Arthur Masse for the assault. Manaigre said the victim was 10 years old at the time and it happened between 1968 and 1970 at Ford Alexander residential school in Manitoba. Continue reading...

Foreign affairs committee chair tells party it should drop focus on ‘divisive politics’ and says he is ambitious for himselfTom Tugendhat has hinted that he will run to replace Boris Johnson in the next Conservative leadership election, as he warned that the party was too focused on “divisive” politics.The Tory backbencher said his party was not like “a church, with one true faith, one Pope”, but that MPs should “offer ourselves forward for service” when another contest for the top job is held. Continue reading...

PM announces programme including battle skills and counter-explosive tactics that will take place outside Ukraine

Terry Wogan and Ulrika Jonsson were on duty when the UK – near-flawlessly – hosted the song contestIt’s 9 May 1998. All Saints are top of the charts, New Labour has been in power for the past year and David Beckham has yet to be sent off against Argentina at the World Cup. Life is good.Fast forward 24 years and you could be forgiven for forgetting that, amid the haze of the late 90s, it was also the last time Britain hosted the Eurovision song contest, hot on the heels of Katrina and the Waves’ success with Love Shine a Light 12 months earlier in Dublin. Continue reading...

Irène Probstein travels from US to remember her family’s escape and thank Channel islanders who rescued themShe was last on these sandy shores eight decades ago when her family – just about – managed to stay a step ahead of the rapidly advancing Nazis.On Friday, Irène Probstein, a 91-year-old Jewish woman who lives in Massachusetts, was back on Jersey to remember her family’s dramatic escape and thank the Channel islanders who rescued them and offered refuge and kindness. Continue reading...

Unprecedented food shortages could spark riots in dozens of countries as Black Sea blockade adds to pressures, says WFP chiefDozens of countries risk protests, riots and political violence this year as food prices surge around the world, the head of the food-aid branch of the United Nations has warned.Speaking in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, on Thursday, David Beasley, director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said the world faced “frightening” shortages that could destabilise countries that depend on wheat exports from Ukraine and Russia. Continue reading...

The new face of the central London street is alleged to harbour tax evasion and counterfeit salesTourists visit London for its world-class museums, restaurants and shopping – and American sweets, judging by the rapid growth of US candy stores in the capital.Oxford Street is home to more than 30 of these American sweet shops, opening in stores abandoned by more traditional retailers. Continue reading...

Self-service bar popular with locals and foreigners has been shut down after being linked to hundreds of casesHeaven Supermarket’s ability to attract young Chinese customers and foreigners has always been viewed with envy by its competitor bars in the Chinese capital.Located in one of the busiest nightlife districts in Beijing, the bar is modelled as a large self-service liquor store with chairs, sofas and tables. It is not the fanciest in its presentation, but on Chinese review websites, patrons highlight its affordability and down-to-earth attitude. Continue reading...

Proposed bar is ‘fightback’ against number of queer venues lost to property developmentQueer campaigners have launched a £100,000 fundraising drive to open the UK’s first community-run LGBTQI+ venue after a property developer stalled on its promise to fund a venue after closing the famous the Joiners Arms bar.The Friends of the Joiners Arms campaign group launched a crowdfunding initiative on Friday, selling shares in the proposed new bar and community venue for as little as £25 in a “fightback” against the number of queer venues lost to property development. Continue reading...

The machines are growing sentient, waste collection empires are expanding, but don’t worry, Paddington still has the powerOh good – computers are sentient now. Great to start the week with an extra shove of momentum on the kamikaze death-plunge that is modern life. To recap: Google has suspended an AI engineer after he released extracts from a conversation he had with the company’s chatbot development system, known as LaMDA. So far so customer service queue. However, the engineer claimed the conversation showed the bot had become sentient and was actually a person. Continue reading...

Incident under control in 30 minutes with driver and passengers unharmed, according to reportsFirefighters have been called to a bus alight in south London.Dramatic images posted on social media showed the vehicle on fire on Brixton Hill on Friday morning. Continue reading...

Many of those who don’t use direct debit for council tax are still waiting for £150 after two monthsThousands of households are still waiting for the £150 energy rebate more than two months after the scheme to help with the rising cost of living was launched.The payment, part of a package of measures announced by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, in February, is aimed at those living in properties in council tax bands A to D and designed to help cover rising energy bills. Continue reading...

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! defended loaning Monroe’s ‘Happy Birthday’ gown to the reality TV star and said its importance ‘has not been negated, but rather highlighted’The owners of the dress belonging to Marilyn Monroe and worn by Kim Kardashian at last month’s Met ball have hit back against allegations the dress was damaged by the loan.Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, which bought the dress – Monroe wore it to sing Happy Birthday to John F Kennedy in 1962 – for £3.8m in 2016, said it was “confident” Kardashian did not cause any damage to the garment. Continue reading...

Critics question value of US president’s visit, raising fears it will endanger dissidents and legitimise regime’s human rights stanceRights advocates fear Joe Biden’s decision to visit Saudi Arabia will endanger dissidents abroad and be seen by the authorities there as giving the green light to restrict civil liberties domestically.Abdullah Alaoudh, of the thinktank Democracy for the Arab World Now and son of jailed cleric Salman al-Odah, said: “Right before inauguration, he [Biden] said he will be sure to protect Saudi dissidents – those were his words. We’re not protected by someone shaking hands with the same person who is threatening us every day and taking our families hostage due to our activism here in the US.” Continue reading...

Fujian unveiled amid heightened tensions with US over self-ruled TaiwanChina has launched its third aircraft carrier, the first designed and built entirely in the country, marking a significant military advance for the Asian superpower.The announcement comes as tensions between China and the US have ramped up in recent weeks over Beijing’s sabre-rattling towards self-ruled Taiwan, which it views as a breakaway province to be seized by force if necessary. Continue reading...

Epidemiologists and industry groups say requirement no longer needed but chamber of commerce says decision is for health officials

More than 770 crossings will have countdowns shorted by up to a minute and a halfAuthorities in Taipei have shortened waiting times at traffic lights for the summer, fearing that pedestrians could become ill if they are forced to stand in the tropical heat for too long.The announcement on Friday will see more than 770 intersections in the Taiwanese capital cut waiting times by as much as one and a half minutes. On average, the signal countdowns are being cut by 30 seconds each. The new times will run between 9am and 4.30pm until September. Continue reading...

Ad agency no longer considers terms of offer ‘to be fair and reasonable’ after bidder’s shares fallM&C Saatchi has withdrawn its support for a £310m takeover bid from the digital marketing group Next Fifteen, saying it no longer regarded the terms as “fair and reasonable” amid pressure from another bidder.The deal would have ended almost three decades of independence of one of Britain’s most famous advertising agencies. M&C Saatchi said the reason behind the withdrawal of its support was the decline in the value of Next Fifteen’s shares. They have fallen 28% since the deal was announced in late May. Continue reading...

Liberal-leaning justice says ‘there are days I get discouraged … sometimes I cry’ but urges leftwing lawyers to persevereThe liberal-leaning supreme court justice Sonia Sotomayor said on Thursday that US supreme court “mistakes” in high-profile cases can be corrected over time – as she adopted a positive tone ahead of a decision in which its conservative majority is expected to reverse the constitutional right abortion in America.Sotomayor, speaking in Washington DC at the annual meeting of a liberal legal group, did not directly address last month’s publication of a leaked draft opinion in a key abortion case out of Mississippi that includes a request to overturn the pivotal 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, or any of the court’s other current cases. Continue reading...

NSW premier says health funding ‘a great start’ after national cabinet meeting; electricity reserves improve across National Energy Market; ASX plunges to lowest level since November 2020; nation records 51 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

John Penrose, former anti-corruption tsar, says PM ‘shouldn’t be weakening role’ after ethics adviser’s resignationThe government’s former anti-corruption champion has said it would be “quite a big mistake” for Boris Johnson to scrap the ethics adviser role after the resignation of Lord Geidt.The prime minister’s official spokesperson said on Thursday that Johnson would not immediately start looking for a replacement for Geidt, but would instead review the system of enforcing the ministerial code. Continue reading...

Both One Nation and Coalition suffer swings against them in state Senate race as AEC finalises results

Extreme temperatures follow warmest-ever May in France and hottest in Spain in a centuryExtreme heat has been affecting the Iberian peninsula and France over the past week. These high temperatures have occurred unusually early, with this event likely to be one of the most severe before the summer solstice.It follows the warmest May on record for France and hottest for Spain in at least 100 years. Temperatures have been about 10C above the average in some places for this time of year, putting intense pressure on vulnerable groups and the demand for electricity for air conditioning. Continue reading...

CCC says Covid recovery has contributed to lobbying surge, and government decisions ‘can be inappropriately influenced’

Report into specialist court finds victims feel safer and perpetrators are more likely to agree their behaviour must change

Former education minister Alan Tudge claimed the plan would ‘effectively end’ the use of religious chaplains in some schools

Analysis: PM said he sought Lord Geidt’s advice on whether overriding trade rules would be in line with ministerial codeBoris Johnson has suggested that his ethics adviser resigned in a row over protection for the British steel industry, after being asked for a view about potentially breaking the UK’s obligations to the World Trade Organization.In his letter responding to Christoper Geidt’s resignation, the prime minister said he wanted advice on the use of tariffs for “protecting a crucial industry”, which “might be seen to conflict with our obligations under the WTO”. Continue reading...

Former police officer denies ‘deliberate omission’ in not taking witness statement

People aged 18 to 24 had to deal with mental ill health or job woes far more than older people, Australian Bureau of Statistics finds

Michael Ellis questioned suitability of Labour MP over tweets about Boris JohnsonA senior minister appeared to pile pressure on the chair of an upcoming Partygate inquiry to stand down, as he questioned her suitability to conduct the investigation fairly.Michael Ellis, the paymaster general, suggested Labour’s Harriet Harman should not lead the investigation into whether Boris Johnson misled parliament by repeatedly denying Covid rules were broken at law-breaking No 10 parties. Continue reading...

More government funding and better service delivery needed amid unsustainable financial losses and a workforce crisis, report says

The retailer identified the pricing error on its website before any bottles were soldMark Twain reputedly said: “Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough.”Online shoppers at the supermarket Morrisons came close to testing his theory when the retailer accidentally priced bottles of a Scotch whisky at just £2.50, a 93% discount from its usual price of £36. Continue reading...

Maria Lvova-Belova accused by Ukraine of organising capture of vulnerable children in Luhansk and Donetsk

Some patients will have heart attack and die as a result of ‘dangerous’ delays, charity warnsAlmost 100,000 people with serious heart problems, including some “living on borrowed time”, are enduring long waits for potentially life-saving NHS care because hospitals are so busy.Some of them are in such poor health they will have a heart attack and die as a consequence of facing such “dangerous” long delays, the British Heart Foundation has warned. Continue reading...

Patrick Carson took advantage of immature young woman who had recently arrived in Darwin, prosecutor tells trial

ABC’s news director emailed staff on Thursday following internal allegations over experiences of racism at the broadcaster

Despite promising turnout of job seekers, Sydney airport CEO says long queues and travel disruptions will continue ‘for a while longer’

Social services minister Amanda Rishworth acknowledges the ‘most vulnerable’ Australians hit hardest by cost of living crisis

Michelle Bachelet says she was supervised by China officials throughout six-day visit that critics have called a propaganda coup for BeijingMichelle Bachelet has said wasn’t able to speak to any detained Uyghurs or their families during her controversial visit to Xinjiang, and was accompanied by government officials while in the region.The UN human rights chief, who this week announced she would not be seeking another term, told a session of the 50th Human Rights Council in Geneva that there were limitations on her visit to the region in China, where authorities have been accused of committing crimes against humanity and genocide against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. Continue reading...

Attorney general Shannon Fentiman signs notice of appeal to be lodged on Thursday afternoonA Queensland teenager who killed a pregnant woman and her partner is facing an appeal against their sentence on the grounds it was manifestly inadequate.The families of victims Matthew Field, 37, and Kate Leadbetter, 31, had described the 10-year jail sentence handed to the 18-year-old as “grossly inadequate”. Continue reading...

Defence raises questions about credibility of witness who claims Dawson meant getting rid of his wife Lynette Dawson ‘for good’

Police chief says one of the men arrested in connection with the pair’s disappearance had confessed to killing them

Zumbo is accused by five women of 20 charges including sexual touching and indecent assault and has pleaded not guilty to all chargesFormer MP Craig Kelly’s office manager promised young female staffers career development and mentoring but instead used his “power and control” to allegedly sexually touch them.Francesco Zumbo, 55, faced Sydney’s Downing Centre local court on Wednesday accused by five women of 20 charges including sexual touching and indecent assault between 2014 and 2020. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereDmitry Medvedev, a long-term ally of Vladimir Putin who is currently deputy chair of the Security Council of Russia, has posted this morning to Telegram a message which gives some insight into the current state of senior level Russian thinking about the situation in Ukraine.In the message, Medvedev questions a Ukrainian request that it receive energy imports this winter with an option to delay payment for two years. Medvedev says:Just a question. Who said that in two years Ukraine will even exist on the world map?There is a lot of excitement. More and more people want to obtain citizenship of the Russian Federation. Residents of the Kherson region today are en masse in queues to submit documents for obtaining Russian citizenship just because Russia can protect, Russia can feed and provide socially for a person in the country, in which a person is the highest social value of the state. Continue reading...

British crown estate portfolio rises in value by 8.3% to £15.6bnThe value of rights owned by the Queen’s property company to exploit the seabed around Britain’s coastline has swelled to £5bn after a record-breaking auction of plots for offshore windfarms.Profits for the crown estate, which generates money for the Treasury and the royal family, jumped by £43.4m to £312.7m in the year to the end of March. Continue reading...

Retired Lt Col Trevor Cadieu preparing to return home to face two charges relating to alleged incidents in 1994 when he was a cadetA former Canadian general who reportedly went to Ukraine to fight Russian invaders has been charged back home in Canada with sexual assault, after a months-long investigation.Retired Lt Gen Trevor Cadieu faces two counts of sexual assault that relate to alleged incidents at Canada’s Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario in 1994 when he was a cadet, the office of the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal said in a statement. Continue reading...

Analysis: job to uphold ministerial code has been tainted by Boris Johnson’s undermining actionsWho would be an ethics adviser to this government? Unless there is a figure lurking in the wings, it is unclear who would be prepared to fill one of the most tainted jobs in public life.It is always possible that No 10 has an immediate replacement in mind. But Boris Johnson found it hard enough to recruit this one – it took five months for him to appoint Lord Geidt, after the bitter circumstances around the resignation of the preceding ethics adviser, Sir Alex Allan, in November 2020. Continue reading...

Asylum seekers at Gashora transit centre say they fear reaching UK and ending up where they started after torturous journeyMany have attempted perilous crossings across the Mediterranean to reach the UK in the past. But asylum seekers at Rwanda’s Gashora transit centre say they are now too scared to try again for fear of ending up back where they started.Zemen Fesaha, 26, from Eritrea, arrived at the sprawling complex of accommodation and leisure facilities in July. The refugee camp, an hour and a half’s drive from Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, houses 249 men, 125 women, and 83 children, who were evacuated from squalid detention centres in Libya. Continue reading...