Palestinian leader appeals to US to stop Israel’s Rafah offensive
Mahmoud Abbas says any attack on city could see large numbers of Palestinians flee Gaza entirely.
Tory rebels plan 100-day ‘policy blitz’ if local elections are disaster for party
Worried MPs have concocted five-point plan of quick measures aimed at showing that the party cares about public’s priorities
Rishi Sunak is braced for a bruising week as Tory rebels flaunted plans for a 100-day “policy blitz” to secure quick wins if the local election results prove disastrous for the party.
The prime minister said on Sunday that he was not “distracted” by his personal ratings lingering at record lows. He refused to rule out calling a July general election amid mounting rumours that unruly MPs will attempt to oust him if the West Midlands mayor, Andy Street, and the Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, are defeated on Thursday.
An attempt to end the junior doctors pay dispute with a 10-12% offer.
Further cuts to legal migration numbers, with a curb on the number of foreign students staying in the UK.
Vow to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2027.
Introduce measures to jail prolific offenders and build rapid detention cells to increase prison capacity.
Cut the benefits bill, with a target to reduce payments for depression and anxiety.
Continue reading...Real terms average pay lower in most UK local authorities than in 2008, TUC finds
Union body says austerity is to blame for longest squeeze on wages since Napoleonic era with most ‘wage black spots’ in London
Pay packets are smaller than they were in 2008 in most local authority areas in the UK, according to analysis by the Trades Union Congress, which described the findings as a “damning indictment” of the Conservatives’ economic record.
The TUC, which includes 48 unions with more than five million members, said stagnating wages meant British workers were in the midst of the longest squeeze on wages since the Napoleonic era.
Continue reading...Tory MP says he was deported from Djibouti due to criticisms of China
Tim Loughton had sanctions imposed on him in 2021 by Beijing, which has close ties to east African country
A former government minister who has had sanctions imposed on him by China has said he was detained and deported by Djibouti as a “direct consequence” of the east African country’s close ties with Beijing.
Tim Loughton, the Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham since 1997, said he was held for more than seven hours at the airport earlier this month, barred entry to Djibouti, and told he was being removed on the next available flight.
Continue reading...Three women diagnosed with HIV after getting ‘vampire facials’ in New Mexico
CDC says incidents at unlicensed medical spa are first documented cases of virus transmitted by a cosmetic procedure using needles
Three women who were diagnosed with HIV after getting “vampire facial” procedures at an unlicensed New Mexico medical spa are believed to be the first documented cases of people contracting the virus through a cosmetic procedure using needles, federal health officials said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its Morbidity and Mortality Report last week that an investigation into the clinic from 2018 through 2023 showed it apparently reused disposable equipment intended for one-time use.
Continue reading...Kristi Noem defends killing dog: ‘Cricket had shown aggressive behavior’
South Dakota governor says she ‘understands why some people are upset’ about story of shooting family puppy but points to state law
Kristi Noem, the South Dakota governor and Republican vice-presidential hopeful, on Sunday again defended killing a family dog and goat on her farm, two days after the Guardian revealed how she describes those actions in a forthcoming book.
“I can understand why some people are upset about a 20-year-old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch, in my upcoming book – No Going Back,” Noem wrote on Twitter/X.
Continue reading...Oklahoma tornadoes kill at least four people and leave dozens injured
Governor issues state of emergency for 12 counties as authorities confirm a four-month-old baby was among the dead in Holdenville
At least four people, including a baby, were killed after a series of tornadoes struck Oklahoma on Saturday, amid a weekend of extreme weather that left dozens injured and a trail of destruction across the midwest.
Local authorities confirmed that a four-month-old infant was among the two people dead in Holdenville – one of the hardest hit towns in Oklahoma, located 80 miles south-east of Oklahoma City – where about 20 tornadoes hit late Saturday, leveling buildings and ripping off roofs. The victims have not been named, but at least four others were injured as the tornado left a path of devastation through the town of around 6,000 people.
Continue reading...Ukraine pulls back from three villages in east as Russia claims gains
Update by Ukraine's top commander comes as outgunned Kyiv waits for new delivery of US weapons.
Biden and Netanyahu speak as pressure grows on Israel over Rafah and ceasefire talks
US president and Israeli PM talk as Israel vows to invade Gaza city despite global concern for 1 million Palestinians sheltering there
The White House on Sunday said Joe Biden had again spoken with Benjamin Netanyahu as pressure builds on Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would free some Israeli hostages and bring a ceasefire in the nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza.
There were no immediate details of the conversation, which took place as Israel vows to invade Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah despite global concern for more than 1 million Palestinians sheltering there. The US secretary of state is returning to the Middle East on Monday.
Continue reading...Will it be safe for Palestinians in Gaza to return and rebuild their homes?
The United Nations warns it could take 14 years to clear the rubble and unexploded bombs in Gaza.
Thames Water collapse could trigger Truss-style borrowing crisis, Whitehall officials fear
Exclusive: Concerns over effect on UK’s finances lead officials to believe utility should be renationalised before general election
Senior Whitehall officials fear Thames Water’s financial collapse could trigger a rise in government borrowing costs not seen since the chaos of the Liz Truss mini-budget, the Guardian can reveal.
Such is their concern about the impact on wider borrowing costs for the UK, even beyond utilities and infrastructure, that they believe Thames should be renationalised before the general election.
Continue reading...World Central Kitchen to resume food aid in Gaza
The aid organisation had stopped distributing food in Gaza after an Israeli strike killed seven workers.
‘Wild and free’ Kidman collects Hollywood achievement award
Nicole Kidman says it has been a privilege to play unconventional women as she picks up a prestigious prize.
Ireland looking to send asylum seekers back to UK: Report
UK PM Rishi Sunak says it's evidence that his plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is acting as a deterrent.
Russia makes more gains around Avdiivka as Ukraine awaits US aid
Ukrainian officials say situation ‘very difficult’ but ‘not catastrophic’ amid loss of two villages and fighting in Ocheretyne
Russia has consolidated recent battlefield gains in the east of Ukraine, and is attempting to break through Ukrainian defensive lines before a long-awaited package of US military assistance arrives at the frontline.
On Sunday Russian troops advanced near the city of Avdiivka. They seized two villages and expanded a narrow corridor around the rural settlement of Ocheretyne, which the Russians entered a week ago. Ukrainian security officials described the situation in the Donbas region where Russia is attacking on multiple fronts as “very difficult”. It was “not critical or catastrophic”, they added.
Continue reading...Week in pictures: From student protests in US to Indonesia’s new president
A roundup of some of the week’s key events.
Antony Blinken to visit Saudi Arabia to try to restart Gaza ceasefire talks
US secretary of state to discuss avoiding regional conflict amid fears about Israeli ground invasion of Rafah
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will travel to Saudi Arabia to try to restart fraught ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel and discuss efforts to prevent spiralling regional conflict, while other senior US officials claimed Israel was willing to listen to their fears about a ground invasion of Gaza’s southernmost city.
A delegation from Hamas, expected in Cairo in parallel to Blinken’s visit, said they would provide a response to an Israeli proposal focused on an initial hostage release.
Continue reading...‘Do not bow’: ex-Black Panther praises pro-Palestinian student protesters from prison
Mumia Abu-Jamal tells New York City students they’re on the right side of history by deciding ‘not to be silent and to speak out’
In a powerful and rousing live address to students at the City University of New York (CUNY) on Friday night, the incarcerated Black political activist Mumia Abu-Jamal praised the pro-Palestinian movement growing at US colleges as being on the right side of history.
“It is a wonderful thing that you have decided not to be silent and decided to speak out against the repression that you see with your own eyes,” Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther, said while calling from Pennsylvania’s Mahanoy state prison. “You are part of something massive, and you are part of something that is on the right side of history.
Continue reading...Russian attacks are pushing us back, Ukraine’s army chief says
Oleksandr Syrskyi says Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from positions in eastern Donetsk.
BHP’s pursuit of Anglo American has a major obstacle: South Africa
The De Beers owner is a longstanding jewel in the African' state’s economic crown – it would be a ‘big blow’ to see it sold off
The world’s largest mining company has a problem. Australia’s BHP has set out its intention to snap up the rival miner Anglo American in a multibillion-pound deal that would reshape the global industry. Its proposed £31bn takeover plan has already been rebuffed as a lowball offer that undervalues the company. But Anglo’s deep roots in South Africa could be a far more sensitive issue to address.
Africa’s most advanced economy was built on mining. For more than 150 years since the first discovery of diamonds, gold and coal, the industry has remained South Africa’s economic lifeblood. Today it is the world’s fifth largest producer of coal and diamonds and the 10th largest producer of gold.
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