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Kamala Harris named as Joe Biden’s running mate – live VP pick updates Full story: Biden picks Harris as his running mate in historic firstBiden: California senator is a ‘fearless fighter for the little guy’Trump says ‘China will own the US’ if he losesPresident says empty seats at a rally won’t ‘look great’Investigation: finding every US healthcare worker who dies fighting Covid-19US health secretary expects vaccine by DecemberSign up to our First Thing newsletter 12.10am BST Joe Biden had promised to choose a woman as his running mate, but his naming of a Black woman as his vice president is not only historic but also an acknowledgment that Black women’s voting power — and how crucial Black women are to Democratic candidates succes...

BBC and Sky accused of 'voyeurism' in coverage of migrant boats Live footage of people crossing Channel to UK is like ‘grotesque reality TV’, says MPBritain’s television news broadcasters have been criticised by opposition MPs and campaigners over their coverage of migrants crossing the Channel, with claims that some of their reports dehumanise those taking the risk to make the journey.Footage of Sky News and BBC Breakfast teams approaching and filming small boats trying to navigate the busy waters of the Dover strait was widely condemned on social media. The Labour MP Zarah Sultana said: “We should ensure people don’t drown crossing the Channel, not film them as if it were some grotesque reality TV show.” Continue reading... Go to Source

Over 100,000 Scottish exam grades to be reinstated after row John Swinney to face no-confidence vote after being forced to make U-turn on resultsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageScotland’s education secretary is facing a no-confidence vote in parliament after being forced to reinstate more than 120,000 Scottish exam grades following days of protests by pupils, teachers and opposition parties.John Swinney made an emergency statement at Holyrood on Tuesday afternoon after a furious row last week when the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) announced it had downgraded 124,000 exam results, moderating the recommendations of school teachers in nearly a quarter of all awards. Continue reading... Go to Source

Stephen Lawrence's father seeks to overturn decision to end active murder hunt Met police chief announces there are no further lines of inquiry into murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993The father of Stephen Lawrence will attempt to overturn a decision by Scotland Yard to end the active hunt for his son’s murderers, saying it would leave racist killers out on the streets.Neville Lawrence was speaking after the Metropolitan police shifted the status of its search for at least three white men who were part of the gang that attacked Stephen, saying active work to catch them would cease. He and his ex-wife, Doreen, Stephen’s mother, expressed dismay at the decision. Continue reading... Go to Source

Covid live news: New Zealand reports first new cases in community; Russia approves vaccine Coronavirus updates: New Zealand records first new local cases in 102 days; deaths likely to pass 750,000 this week, says WHORussia approves coronavirus vaccine despite testing safety concernsGlobal cases pass 20m as WHO points to ‘green shoots of hope’Lost on the frontline: the 900 US healthcare workers who have diedUK coronavirus updates – live 12.37pm BST Vietnam has reported 16 more infections and one new death, taking the total number of cases in the south-east Asian country to 863, of which 16 have been fatalities.Most of the new cases are linked to the central city of Danang, where the new outbreak began late in July after Vietnam had been more than three months without do...

Dover MP refuses to back fellow Tories' ‘invading migrants’ rhetoric Natalie Elphicke distances herself from letter to home secretary about Channel crossingsThe Conservative MP for Dover has distanced herself from rhetoric used by fellow Tories in a letter to the home secretary, in which they referred to “invading migrants” amid an increasingly fraught debate over the rise in Channel crossings.A group of 23 Conservative MPs and two peers on Monday wrote to Priti Patel to demand “stronger enforcement” efforts to combat a “surge in illegal immigration” as the number of arrivals in small boats surpassed the 4,100 mark so far in 2020. Continue reading... Go to Source

Debenhams ready to cut 2,500 jobs in new blow to high street Beleaguered retailer says trading remains slow after reopening 124 storesDebenhams is to cut a further 2,500 jobs in its department stores in the latest blow to hit the high street.The beleaguered retailer is reducing the number of shop assistants in its stores as trading remains slow despite the reopening of 124 of its stores after lockdown. Continue reading... Go to Source

Belarus opposition candidate in Lithuania after second night of protests Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s low score in official election results has prompted two nights of unprecedented protest actionSvetlana Tikhanovskaya, the main opposition candidate in Sunday’s disputed elections in Belarus, has left the country as clashes between heavily armed police and demonstrators escalated during a second night of protests.Lithuania’s foreign minister, Linas Linkevičius, told the Guardian that she had been detained by Belarusian authorities for seven hours after filing a complaint against vote-rigging. She crossed the border towards morning, he said. Continue reading... Go to Source

Race equality chief faces legal challenge over appointment Exclusive: anti-racism group cites Tony Sewell’s attempt to downplay institutional racism as grounds for disputeThe academic chosen to lead the prime minister’s new racial equality commission, despite having cast doubt on the effects of institutional racism and making homophobic comments in the past, is facing a legal challenge to his appointment.Tony Sewell, the former head of an education charity, is Downing Street’s choice to lead the commission it set up in July as a response to the global Black Lives Matter protests, through which demonstrators have demanded racial equality. Continue reading... Go to Source

Pressure grows on ministers over England A-level results 'mess' 39% of teacher predictions may be downgraded and poorer pupils hit hardestCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMinisters are under immense pressure over the botched handling of English A-level results after Scotland announced a dramatic U-turn and major research showed that high-achieving pupils from poorer backgrounds are likely to be hardest hit.The universities minister was writing urgently to vice-chancellors, asking them to be lenient with their offers and keep places open for pupils pursuing appeals amid fears that this year’s results will not truly reflect pupils’ abilities. Continue reading... Go to Source

Trump escorted from briefing by Secret Service after shooting outside White House – live President abruptly departs briefing after just minutesMnuchin: ‘If we can get a fair deal, we’ll do it this week’New data shows huge uptick in infections of childrenUS passes 5m Covid-19 casesStreet fridges of free food help Americans survive pandemicUS PPE shortage could last years, experts warnSign up to our First Thing newsletter 12.41am BST We were less than three minutes in with the president holding court on one of his favourite subjects – mail-in voting – when pandemonium broke out.A Secret Service agent – grey suit, shaved head, earpiece with squiggly wire – leaned in and spoke quietly to Donald Trump, asking to step outside.“Excuse me?” ...

Scientists urge routine Covid testing when English schools reopen Exclusive: experts say staff and pupils should be screened for virus, possibly by group testingScientists have called for routine Covid testing of teachers and pupils alongside a robust test-and-trace system, amid a debate over how to safely reopen schools in England.On Sunday, the children’s commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, said teachers and pupils should have weekly tests, but Nick Gibb, the schools minister, ruled out the idea, saying instead that those who are symptomatic should be tested. Continue reading... Go to Source

Lebanese government quits following Beirut port explosion PM Hassan Diab forced to exit, saying ‘corruption is rooted in every part of the state’Lebanon’s besieged government has fallen, one week after a cataclysmic explosion destroyed Beirut port, with the country’s prime minister, Hassan Diab, claiming the disaster was the result of endemic corruption.Diab announced the resignation of the government after more than a third of ministers quit their posts, forcing Diab himself to resign. Continue reading... Go to Source

Belarus opposition candidate rejects election result after night of protests ‘I will believe my own eyes,’ says Svetlana Tikhanovskaya after commission says Alexander Lukashenko won landslideShare your reaction on the Belarus election resultThe main opposition candidate in Belarus’s election has rejected the official results that gave President Alexander Lukashenko a landslide victory and her team has vowed to stay in the country to campaign for a change of power.“I will believe my own eyes – the majority was for us,” Svetlana Tikhanovskaya told reporters in the capital, Minsk, on Monday, after widespread reports of vote-tampering in Sunday’s election. Continue reading... Go to Source

UK coronavirus live: education secretary says Covid-19 unlikely to spread in classrooms Gavin Williamson says plans for school reopening guided by evidence of little transmission Little evidence Covid spreads in schools, says Gavin WilliamsonCoronavirus UK map: the latest deaths and confirmed Covid casesLockdown reduces cases of flu, colds and bronchitis in EnglandGlobal coronavirus live: latest updates 12.35pm BST The number of cases of Covid-19 around the world will reach 20 million this week, with a global death toll of 750,000, the director general of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said today.At a virtual press conference, he praised the decision to implement local lockdowns in the UK.Over the last few days, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson put areas of...

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under new national security law Leading pro-democracy figure detained over alleged foreign collusion as police search Apple Daily officesHong Kong media tycoon and leading pro-democracy figure, Jimmy Lai, has been arrested for alleged foreign collusion under controversial new national security laws, and the offices of his newspaper Apple Daily have been searched by police.The 71-year-old, who is already facing several other charges over the organisation and promotion of protests last year, was detained on Monday morning. Continue reading... Go to Source

Monday briefing: Hong Kong media tycoon held under new security law Pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai detained and newspaper offices searched … schools reopening under scrutiny … storms threaten to end heatwaveMorning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are top stories you need to know about this Monday. Continue reading... Go to Source

Belarus election: Lukashenko's claim of landslide victory sparks widespread protests Riot police deployed in Minsk and about 20 other cities in some of the biggest clashes in the country’s historyOpposition candidate comes out of hiding as Belarus votes Clashes broke out in cities across Belarus on Sunday evening as riot police used rubber bullets, flash grenades, teargas and water cannon to quash protests against the results of the contested presidential election.Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled for 26 years, claimed he had won a landslide victory in an election marred by accusations of vote-rigging. The election commission claimed Lukashenko was ahead with 82% of the vote in preliminary results on Sunday evening. The opposition, led by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, had held some of...

Downing Street plans rape prosecution targets for police and CPS Exclusive: unusual intervention aims to reverse decline and bring more cases to trialWhy are rape case targets being planned in England and Wales?Downing Street is planning a controversial intervention to reverse the record decline in rape prosecutions by imposing targets on police and prosecutors, the Guardian has learned.In a highly unusual move, the prime minister’s crime and justice taskforce is planning to set targets for police to refer more high-quality rape cases to the Crown Prosecution Service and for the CPS to prosecute and bring more rape cases to trial. Continue reading... Go to Source

Labour MP Dawn Butler stopped by police in London Car driven by a friend pulled over, with officers subsequently admitting they made a mistake Dawn Butler, the Labour MP and former shadow equalities minister, has described being stopped by the police while driving with a friend through east London, saying her experiences show “the system is institutionally racist”.Butler, a strong critic of police stop-and-search tactics, said the car being driven by her male friend, who like Butler is black, was pulled over by two police cars in Hackney, with officers saying the vehicle was registered to North Yorkshire. Continue reading... Go to Source

Social care at breaking point in England after 'lost decade' – report Exclusive: government urged to quickly rectify years of policy failures and underfunding‘Craving contact’: a carer’s view of her clients’ lonelinessPolicymakers’ failure to tackle chronically underfunded social care has resulted in a “lost decade” and a system now at breaking point, according to a report.A team led by Jon Glasby, a professor of health and social care at the University of Birmingham, says that without swift government intervention including urgent funding changes England’s adult social care system could quickly become unsustainable. Continue reading... Go to Source

Ministers urged to help schools with Covid measures after call for routine tests rejected Labour calls for extra resources after Nick Gibb insists only those showing symptoms will be tested in EnglandCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMinisters are facing fresh pressure to help schools in England limit the spread of coronavirus when they reopen fully in September after rejecting a call for teachers and pupils to undergo routine testing.Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said the government would not go along with a demand from the children’s commissioner for England to bring in routine coronavirus testing, and would only test those who showed symptoms. Continue reading... Go to Source

UK to plunge into deepest slump on record with worst GDP drop of G7 Official measure to be declared this week as coronavirus lockdown shrinks GDP by 21% in second quarterBritain’s economy will be officially declared in recession this week for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, as the coronavirus outbreak plunges the country into the deepest slump on record.Figures from the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday are expected to show that gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic prosperity, fell in the three months to June by 21%. Continue reading... Go to Source

BBC apologises for N-word in television broadcast after DJ Sideman quits Director general admits mistake following 18,000 complaints The BBC’s director general, Tony Hall, has apologised after the N-word was used in a TV news broadcast, following mass complaints and the resignation of one of the corporation’s radio DJs.“Every organisation should be able to acknowledge when it has made a mistake. We made one here,” Hall said in an email to all BBC staff. Continue reading... Go to Source

Two-thirds of UK’s furloughed workers continued job in Covid-19 lockdown Male employees flouted government wage subsidy scheme more than women, survey revealsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe majority of people who have been furloughed have carried on working during lockdown, with men significantly more likely than women to flout the rules of the scheme and work for their employer when they are not allowed to do so.Working mothers have also felt more compelled to volunteer to be furloughed than working fathers, research shared exclusively with The Observer reveals. Continue reading... Go to Source

Belarus presidential challenger goes into hiding on eve of election Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who is trying to unseat Alexander Lukashenko, fled her home after police detained staffers Belarus’s opposition candidate for president was forced to go into hiding the night before challenging the country’s longtime leader, Alexander Lukashenko, on Sunday in the country’s most dynamic election in a generation.Candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya left her apartment after police detained two senior staffers and seven other campaign members in what they called an attempt to scare the opposition before the crucial vote. She was expected to re-emerge to vote on Sunday with an entourage of campaign staffers and journalists. Continue reading... Go to Source

Lebanon information minister quits in first cabinet resignation Manal Abdel Samad apologises for failing Lebanese people over fatal Beirut port explosionLebanon’s information minister, Manal Abdel Samad, has quit in the first government resignation since an explosion in the port of Beirut killed more than 150 people and destroyed swathes of the capital.“After the enormous Beirut catastrophe, I announce my resignation from government,” she said on Sunday in a statement , apologising to the Lebanese public for failing them. Continue reading... Go to Source

UK weather: heatwave to continue before 'severe thunderstorms' roll in The mercury is set to hit 35C in Kent and Sussex on Sunday before thunderstorms arrive early in the weekMany Britons are set to bask in another hot day, with temperatures well above 30C.The mercury looks set to reach as high as 35C on Sunday – with Kent, Sussex and parts of London being the most likely to see the warmest temperatures, according to Met Office forecaster Craig Snell. Continue reading... Go to Source

Instagram ‘censorship’ of black model's photo reignites claims of race bias #IwanttoseeNyome outcry after social media platform repeatedly removes pictures of Nyome Nicholas-WilliamsFifteen minutes into her shoot with model Nyome Nicholas-Williams, photographer Alexandra Cameron knew she had captured the perfect image: a dreamy split second with Nicholas-Williams bathed under natural light, her eyes closed and arms wrapped around her breasts.The response on Instagram was ecstatic: “stunning … beautiful … this should be in a gallery!”. But within hours, Instagram had deleted the photo and Nicholas-Williams had been warned her account could be shut down. Continue reading... Go to Source

Coronavirus: Johnson urged to help out travellers stuck in quarantine Senior MPs, scientists and trade unions call for sick pay if holidaymakers forced to self-isolateCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBoris Johnson was under mounting pressure on Saturday to overhaul holiday quarantine rules and compensate those caught out while abroad, amid growing concerns over rising cases of Covid-19 in France.A cross-party group of senior MPs, scientists and trade unions said that holidaymakers already staying in a country that has been added to the quarantine list should be given statutory sick pay during their two-week isolation, in an effort to improve compliance and help those unable to work. Continue reading... Go to Source