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Star-studded opening for Obama library in Chicago delivers implied rebuke to Trump

Musical stars and retired politicians from less polarised era seeming antidote to cage fights on White House lawn The Barack Obama presidential center opened in Chicago on Thursday after more than a decade in the making amid a musical fanfare and paeans to democratic principles that evoked a previous age, all while delivering an implied rebuke to Donald Trump . Featuring appearances by a cast of musical stars and retired politicians from a less polarised era, it was a seemingly perfect antidote to the crass spectacle of cage fights on the White House lawn. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/9Gs1thg via IFTTT

Ukraine war briefing: Belgorod under fire after OK for strikes with US weapons

Volodymyr Zelenskiy tells Guardian that permission needs to go further; Putin labels as ‘foreign agents’ wives who want their husbands back. What we know on day 829 Air raids were declared in Russia’s Belgorod city on Saturday morning. It comes after the White House approved strikes using US-supplied weaponry into border areas of Russia used for attacks on Ukraine. Belgorod lies north of Kharkiv , which has been under intensified Russian attack. In an interview with the Guardian , Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said he still needs to be able to use “powerful” long-range weapons that could hit targets inside deep Russian territory – which the White House has refused to approve. Shelling killed five people and wounded others in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Friday, the Russia-installed local regime said. Independent verification was not possible and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia exchanged 75 prisoners of war e...

Biden hits back at Trump’s ‘dangerous’ claim hush-money trial was rigged

US president says it is ‘reckless’ and ‘irresponsible’ for Republicans to malign integrity of America’s justice system Donald Trump conviction – live updates Joe Biden warned on Friday that it was reckless and “dangerous” for anyone to claim Donald Trump’s criminal conviction was the result of a rigged trial, as the former president hit out at the verdict against him and Republicans maligned the integrity of America’s justice system. Donald Trump hit out furiously on Friday morning at the new status of “felon” conferred on him by a New York jury, whose guilty verdict made him the first former US president ever to become a convicted criminal. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/BPGNX3Q via IFTTT

Scientists develop cheap and quick spit test for prostate cancer

DNA test, which takes seconds to collect, can detect men at high risk and spare others unnecessary treatment Scientists have developed a spit test that could “turn the tide” on prostate cancer worldwide by spotting the disease earlier, detecting where men are at high risk and sparing others unnecessary treatment. The number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer worldwide is projected to double to 2.9 million a year by 2040, with annual deaths predicted to rise by 85%. It is already the most common form of male cancer in more than 100 countries. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/NO5oH0p via IFTTT

Things Can Only Get Better group ban Labour from using song

D:Ream members regret association with Tony Blair and do not want song played at July general election The pop group that sing Things Can Only Get Better – which became an anthem for Labour at the 1997 general election victory – will deny any request from Keir Starmer to use the track at this year’s election. D:Ream’s founding members Peter Cunnah and Alan Mackenzie said they were dismayed to hear their song play through a loudspeaker as the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, called a 4 July general election on a wet afternoon in Downing Street. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/vnS2I8o via IFTTT

A ‘catch-and-kill’ scheme and Trump’s pyjamas: key moments from the hush-money trial

A look back at the biggest revelations of the former president’s New York criminal trial Trump found guilty – live updates Full report: Trump found guilty on all 34 counts Jurors in Donald Trump’s criminal trial found the former president guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. The jury of seven men and five women living in Manhattan, over the course of two days this week, weighed whether the former president’s alleged efforts to conceal an affair with the adult film star Stormy Daniels, which he feared would damage his 2016 bid for the White House, were illicit. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/yFTVGAE via IFTTT

M9 crash victim endured ‘almost incomprehensible’ suffering – inquiry

Police Scotland heavily criticised in report on 2015 incident near Stirling where Lamara Bell lay injured in car for three days A young woman endured “almost incomprehensible” suffering as she lay seriously injured next to her deceased boyfriend in their crashed car for three days after the incident was first reported to the police, a fatal accident inquiry has found. The “organisational failure” of Police Scotland “had fatal consequences for Lamara Bell”, according to Sheriff James Williamson. “Her suffering over a period of three days, terribly injured but conscious, is almost incomprehensible.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/cSwtm3e via IFTTT

UK retailers call for business rates and planning reform after fall in shoppers

Visits to high streets, shopping centres and retail parks fell by 3.6% in May, continuing downward trend Retailers have called on the government to rethink business rates and planning laws to revive high streets and shopping centres after visitor numbers fell again in May. Shoppers at stores on high streets, shopping centres and retail parks decreased by 3.6% in May, maintaining a trend that began last summer as a mini-boom in high street visits after the pandemic lockdowns petered out. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/6eGlQ7Z via IFTTT

Couple in Wales jailed for series of ‘dine and dash’ offences

Ann and Bernard McDonagh from Port Talbot ‘cynically and brazenly’ defrauded restaurants, says judge A couple have been jailed for carrying out a string of “ dine and dash ” offences, racking up large bills for food and drink before leaving without paying. A judge at Swansea crown court said Ann McDonagh, 39, and Bernard McDonagh, 41, had “cynically and brazenly” defrauded restaurants and a takeaway in south Wales. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/IZidPGf via IFTTT

Macron’s handling of New Caledonia is not working, we need a new way | Jimmy Naouna

New Caledonia needs a new referendum on independence, not more politics from Paris How New Caledonia caught fire – podcast The unrest that has gripped Kanaky-New Caledonia is the direct result of Emmanuel Macron’s partisan and stubborn political manoeuvring to derail the process towards self-determination in my homeland. The deadly riots that erupted two weeks ago in the capital, Noumea, were sparked by an electoral reform bill voted through in the French National Assembly, in Paris. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/mYckB5P via IFTTT

Camden review – Dua Lipa’s TV show is less informative than a five-minute Google

Strap in for three hours of annoyingly vague celeb analyses of the London musical hotspot’s cultural significance – featuring no punks and almost no history. It’s downright cringeworthy Close your eyes and think of Camden, the rowdy, gaudy north London neighbourhood known for its old-school boozers, perpetual congregation of punks and surplus of tourist-trap tat. Now, which musical artists can you hear amid the hubbub? Cheeky-chappy two-toners Madness , whose Dublin Castle residency made them synonymous with the area? Grotbag indie revivalists the Libertines , who staged notoriously raucous early gigs in their Camden basement flat? How about robotically slick, fiercely business-minded dance-pop doyenne Dua Lipa? Presumably not the latter – but with her first foray into TV, Lipa is hoping to remedy that. Camden, a four-part documentary series about the area’s outsized musical influence, is co-produced by the pop star and enlists some big names (Noel Gallagher, Chuck D, Boy George) to ...

North Korea reportedly sends balloons carrying excrement into the South

South Korea has warned residents to be alert after media reports that more than 90 balloons carrying various objects have been detected South Korea has warned residents living near the border with North Korea to be on alert, after media reports that balloons had been detected carrying various objects including what appeared to be rubbish and excrement. Photographs published in South Korean media showed an inflated white balloon with a plastic bag tethered to it and in another image, what appeared to be a collapsed balloon with trash strewn around it. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Jw4pOuT via IFTTT

Ukraine war briefing: Macron, Scholz agree Kyiv should use allies’ weapons against launchers in Russia

Nato secretary general says alliance members should allow deep strikes, which White House says it doesn’t ‘encourage or enable’. What we know on day 826 Ukraine should be allowed to use its allies’ weapons to “neutralise” Russian military bases used to fire missiles into Ukraine , France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said on Tuesday. But he added: “We should not allow them to touch other targets in Russia , and obviously civilian capacities.” Macron commented during a state visit to Germany, whose chancellor, Olaf Scholz, appeared to back Ukraine on the matter as well – saying he agreed with the French president as long as the Ukrainians respected the conditions of the weapons’ suppliers. The chancellor has however refused to supply Germany’s Taurus cruise missiles – sought by the Ukrainians and capable of powerful strikes on Russian positions inside Ukraine and deep into Russia. The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, told the Economist that alliance members should let Uk...

Where the wild things are: the untapped potential of our gardens, parks and balconies

Gardens could be part of the solution to the climate and biodiversity crisis. But what are we doing? Disappearing them beneath plastic and paving In my 20s I lived in Manchester, on the sixth floor of a block of council flats just off the A57, or Mancunian (Mancy) Way. A short walk from Manchester Piccadilly station and the city centre, it was grey, noisy and built up. I loved every piece of it – my first stab at adulthood, at living on my own. I painted my bedroom silver and slept on a mattress on the floor, and I grew sweetcorn, tomatoes and courgettes in pots on the balcony. (I was 24 – of course I grew sweetcorn on the balcony.) I worked and played in the bars and clubs of Manchester’s gay village, and I would walk home in the early hours, keys poking through my clenched fist to protect me from would-be attackers, and I would see hedgehogs. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/y82Iufs via IFTTT

Inflation in UK shops falls amid price cuts on furniture and TVs

Biggest drop since November 2021 as ‘unseasonable’ weather pushes retailers to continue promotions Shop price inflation has eased to the lowest level since November 2021 after retailers cut the price of big purchases such as furniture and TVs as households keep a tight rein on spending amid cost of living pressures and poor weather. Prices rose at an annual rate of 0.6% in May, down from 0.8% in April – the slowest pace since November 2021 – according to the latest monitor from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) trade body and the market research firm NielsenIQ. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ybDp5kx via IFTTT

Difficult conditions frustrate rescue efforts after landslide buried hundreds in Papua New Guinea

UN says authorities working to clear debris after Friday’s disaster, while local media report one couple rescued from the rubble Unstable terrain, remote locations and damaged roads are hampering relief efforts in Papua New Guinea, where more than 670 people were feared killed in a landslide last week , the United Nations said on Monday. Emergency crews, led by Papua New Guinea’s defence personnel, were on the ground in the country’s north, but heavy equipment required for the rescue had yet to reach the remote village, as the main road remained cut off and the only access was via helicopter. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/dnGu0UW via IFTTT

Much ado about nothing: world’s most relaxed people gather in Seoul for ‘space-out’ competition

Participant with the lowest resting heart rate wins contest aimed at reminding workers to stop and take a breather In downtown Seoul, in front of the iconic Gyeongbokgung palace, dozens of people of all ages sit on wet yoga mats, staring into space. Some are dressed in doctors’ and dentists’ uniforms, while others wear the attire of office workers and students. Welcome to the international “space-out competition”. The rules are simple: do absolutely nothing. Falling asleep, however, leads to disqualification. Organisers monitor the participants’ heart rates; the contestant with the most stable heart rate wins. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Tc8Bezq via IFTTT

Rates of melanoma skin cancer hit all-time high in UK, study finds

Cancer Research UK notes particular rise in diagnoses among older people and says majority of cases are preventable Rates of melanoma skin cancer have reached an all-time high in the UK, according to analysis that highlights a substantial rise in the number of cases over the past decade, particularly among older people. New diagnoses increased by almost a third from 21 to 28 in every 100,000 people between 2007-09 and 2017-19, according to Cancer Research UK (CRUK) figures, with a 57% rise among the over-80s and a 7% rise in those aged 25 to 49. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/xwHUZyD via IFTTT

More than 300m children victims of online sexual abuse every year

First global study of its kind exposes ‘staggering scale’ of crime, with one in nine men in the US admitting to the offence More than 300 million children across the globe are victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse each year, research suggests. In what is believed to be the first global estimate of the scale of the crisis, researchers at the University of Edinburgh found that 12.6% of the world’s children have been victims of nonconsensual talking, sharing and exposure to sexual images and video in the past year, equivalent to about 302 million young people. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/9PXqMwC via IFTTT

‘They call us Nazis’: inside the wealthy German town where the far right is on the rise

Counter rallies in Kaufbeuren show split between supporters of AfD and locals who acknowledge the Bavarian town’s Nazi past Soaring church spires, the 1,000-year-old town centre unblemished by second world war bombing or graffiti, snow-capped Alps in the middle distance – Kaufbeuren, in Bavaria, can count many blessings. Unemployment is in the low single digits, the Luftwaffe backed away from plans to move its training school for Eurofighter and Tornado jet technicians elsewhere and crime is at a historic low. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/d5FGjeJ via IFTTT

Israel-Gaza war: anti-government protesters clash with Tel Aviv police and demand hostage deal

Demonstrators also called for resignation of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and for fresh elections Scuffles between Israeli police and protesters have erupted in Tel Aviv after thousands gathered to demonstrate against the government and demand that it bring back the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. Meanwhile, a small US military vessel and what appeared to be a strip of docking area washed up on a beach near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on Saturday, not far from the US-built pier on which the Israeli military said humanitarian aid is moving into the Palestinian territory. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/SRQINDz via IFTTT

Singer Sean Kingston and his mother charged for over $1m fraud

Two were arrested on Thursday after Swat team raided rapper’s rented mansion in suburban Fort Lauderdale Rapper and singer Sean Kingston and his mother committed more than a million dollars in fraud in recent months, stealing money, jewelry, a Cadillac Escalade and furniture, documents released Friday allege. Kingston , 34, and his 61-year-old mother, Janice Turner, have been charged with conducting an organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, identity theft and related crimes, according to arrest warrants released by the Broward county, Florida, sheriff’s office. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/4wgiOYx via IFTTT

RFK Jr attacks Trump and Biden as he makes 2024 pitch to Libertarian voters

Independent candidate pledges to pardon Snowden and drop Assange charges, and says Trump ‘caved’ over pandemic response Robert Kennedy Jr, a longshot independent candidate for US president, has sought to woo Libertarian party voters by casting rivals Donald Trump and Joe Biden as enemies of individual freedom. Kennedy, 70, brought Libertarians to their feet by promising to pardon government whistleblower Edward Snowden, currently exiled in Russia, and drop espionage charges against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder battling US attempts to extradite him from Britain. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/PC46w8I via IFTTT
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