Grenfell residents gathered in London to “say goodbye to their homes” on what is likely to be the last anniversary of the tragedy before the tower is dismantled. The 72 people who died in the tower block fire in west London in June 2017 were commemorated with a silent walk through the streets of north…
Two skydivers have died after an incident at an airfield in Devon, police said. Emergency services were called to the scene at Dunkeswell aerodrome, near Honiton, at 1pm on Friday “following concerns for the welfare of two people”, Devon and Cornwall police said. The force added: “It was reported that they were skydivers. They were…
Keir Starmer will launch a national inquiry into grooming gangs after receiving the recommendations of an independent report on the scandal. The prime minister said a new statutory inquiry was “the right thing to do” based on the findings submitted by Louise Casey, who has carried out a months-long inquiry into the abuse of young…
The severe thunderstorms that have been lashing parts of Europe over recent days are expected to give way to high temperatures this week. Several regions could climb to 10C (50F) above seasonal norms, with Italy braced for the full force of the heat. Florence in Tuscany is forecast to soar to a sweltering 39C on…
Laila Soueif, 69, has been on hunger strike in London for more than 250 days in an effort to secure the release of her son, the activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, from jail in Egypt. As diplomatic pressure mounts, she is now in a critical condition. Alaa’s sister Mona Seif describes to Michael Safi the toll…
How do you say “lottery winner” in western Canada? The answer is: David Serkin, the name of the cancer survivor from Alberta who won three separate lottery jackpots between August and May to accumulate about $2.5m in prize money. According to officials, those lucky tickets marked the second, third and fourth times Serkin had won…
When hundreds of 999 calls came in from fans at the Download festival two years ago, the emergency services must have thought a disaster was unfolding at the three-day heavy metal gig in Leicestershire. In fact, the calls were made automatically from smartwatches and other devices worn by fans because “the tech assumed that people…
A 9-year-old girl nearly lost her hand after a shark attacked her while she swam just off the coast of Florida recently, according to her family and witnesses. The harrowing attack served up a grim reminder that the Sunshine state is a world leader in unprovoked shark bites against humans – though such cases remain…
As tanks and soldiers parade through the streets of Washington on Saturday, millions of people around the country are expected to turn out in their communities to speak out against the excesses of Donald Trump’s administration in what’s expected to be the biggest day of protest since his second term began. The protests, dubbed “No…
Anthony Albanese will tell Donald Trump and the leaders of the world’s biggest economies that free trade can help calm rising global insecurity, as next week’s G7 summit looks set to be dominated by conflict in the Middle East. The prime minister will visit technology giant Amazon’s Seattle headquarters on Sunday, on his way to…
