LAHORE – The buying rate of Canadian dollar remained steady as it stood at Rs208.5 in open market of Pakistan on Friday, according to an online currency exchange portal.
The private exchange companies are selling the Canadian Dollar for Rs213.5, reflecting its dominance over the local currency.
The local currency rates reflect ongoing trend in the forex market influenced by regional demand, remittance inflows, and overall economic sentiments.
How much is $1000 CAD in PKR?
As of July 4, they buying rate of the Canadian dollar stands at Rs208.5. It means an individual can convert $1000 CAD for Rs208,500 in open market.
Remittances play a crucial role in supporting the economies of developing countries. They provide a stable source of income for millions of families, helping them meet basic needs such as food, healthcare, and education.
These funds also boost national foreign exchange reserves and contribute to poverty reduction. Unlike loans or aid, remittances flow directly to households, encouraging local spending and investment.
In May 2025, overseas Pakistanis living in Canada sent $69.55 million in wake of the remittances.
According to the SBP, the workers’ remittances from overseas to Pakistan, recording a significant growth of 28.8 percent during eleven months of fiscal year 2024-25, reached nearly US$ 35 billion in the period from July to May while monthly inflows in May increased to $ 3.69 billion.
During May 2025, the workers’ remittances recorded an inflow of US$ 3.686 billion, depicting 16 percent growth over April 25 and 13.7 percent yearly increase against May 2024, the statistics showed.
Currency exchange is a key component of the global economy and holds special importance for countries such as Pakistan.
It refers to the process of converting one nation’s currency into another, which supports international trade, tourism, and investment.
In Pakistan, exchange rates influence the value of the rupee compared to major currencies like the US dollar and UAE dirham. A stronger exchange rate makes imports cheaper and helps control inflation, while a weaker rate can boost exports.
BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) — A cache of 35 remarkably well-preserved wooden tools has been unearthed in southwest China, dating back around 300,000 years, offering new insights into early human technology in East Asia.
The discovery at the Gantangqing site in Yunnan Province, detailed in a study published Friday in the journal Science, marks the earliest known evidence of complex wooden tool technology in East Asia.
Alongside the wooden artifacts, a wealth of associated cultural relics, including stone implements, antler “soft hammers,” animal fossils and plant remains, was also found during the excavation.
According to an international research team, led by experts from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the wooden tools were mainly used for foraging plant roots and stems.
Although early humans have used wood for over a million years, wooden artifacts are quite rare in the archaeological record, particularly during the Early and Middle Pleistocene.
The research team determined that human activity at the site took place between 360,000 and 250,000 years ago, highlighting the diversity and complexity of early human production and survival strategies.
The wooden tools, mainly crafted from pine, bear cutting and scraping marks indicative of activities like branch pruning and shaping. Polished streaks and fractures at their tips further attest to their use.
Soil residues found on some tool tips contain plant starch grains, confirming that these wooden tools were primarily used for digging up underground plant foods.
The findings highlight the crucial role of bamboo and wooden tools in the lives of ancient humans in East and Southeast Asia, and reveal, for the first time, the nature of ancient human gathering economies, said Gao Xing from IVPP, the paper’s corresponding author.
Compared to wooden tool sites in Europe, which generally feature medium-sized hunting gear, Gantangqing stands out for its broader and more diverse array of small, hand-held tools.
The sophistication of these wooden tools underscores the importance of organic artifacts in interpreting early human behavior, particularly in regions where stone tools alone have painted a more “primitive” technological picture.
The site also yielded stone tools, predominantly small scrapers, which were mainly used for crafting wooden tools and butchering prey, according to the study.
The use of wooden tools likely reflects the inhabitants’ shift from stone to wooden implements due to limited stone resources.
Four deer antler fragments identified as “soft hammers” show clear usage marks, indicating that East Asian stone tool technology in the early and middle Paleolithic was more advanced than previously thought and challenging the notion that it lagged significantly behind Western technology, according to Gao. ■
The OCC’s Minority Depository Institutions (MDI) report to Congress is submitted to comply with section 367 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd–Frank Act). As amended by the Dodd–Frank Act, section 308 of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) directs the Comptroller of the Currency to report on actions taken to carry out section 308. Section 308 describes goals for preserving MDIs and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to consult with the Comptroller and chairpersons of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the National Credit Union Administration, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on methods for best achieving these goals.
Administrative data on drug stock-outs were obtained from Zimbabwe’s MoHCC, whose Pharmacy Services Department collects the data. Facility authorities submit their stock information quarterly to the MoHCC, and the Ministry collates the dataset into a single database. The data contain information on SP availability at each facility in all the districts. The information is collected to monitor drug availability at the health facilities, which includes stock in hand, drugs used, and stock-outs. The data used in the current paper were collected quarterly per facility and district from 2011 to 2015.
The DHS dataset is collected from developing countries every five years and has been conducted in Zimbabwe since 1988. The dataset contains information on demographic and socioeconomic variables, healthcare services utilisation, maternal and child health outcomes, and maternal and child mortality. A total of 9,955 women were interviewed, yielding a 96.2% response rate. However, we only included information on women who gave birth between 2011 and 2015, for which stock-out data were available. Data on 2010 health outcomes were not included, as there were no data on stock-outs for the same year. After excluding individuals with missing observations, the data analysis was based on 3,432 observations. The survey data were prone to missing observations due to recall and non-response bias. Robustness checks were performed to examine whether the missing observations in the analysis resulted in biased estimates and the results are part of the supplementary information.
We first added facility GPS coordinates to the stock-out data by merging master facility data, which contained information on facility location and stock-out data to link facility and household survey data. To combine the drug stock-out data and the ZDHS data, we then used the facility and survey cluster GPS coordinates. A total of 296 facilities were merged into the clusters in the ZDHS in the analysis. The ZDHS cluster coordinates and the facility coordinates were merged based on the assumption that people in the same cluster use the same facility. The ZDHS GPS coordinates were displaced 2 km in urban areas and 5 km to 10 km in rural areas. The displacement of coordinates was done carefully, to ensure that clusters did not overlap with other administrative areas (see [22]). To correct the impact of coordinate displacement, we used a 10 km buffer zone by considering only the facilities within a 10 km radius. We combined the 2015 ZDHS and drug stock-out data in the analysis. We used 2015 cross-sectional data, but child’s year of birth provided a retrospective time dimension within the survey. Drug stock-out data, were, however are collected quarterly for each facility. The time dimension in the stock-out data was linked to the birth timing in the DHS cross-section.
Analysis
We used the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) model to examine the relationship between malaria prophylaxis stock-outs and birth- and maternal outcomes in Zimbabwe. We also included regional and birth-year fixed effects in the analysis to capture regional and birth-year variations. Clustered standard errors are used to account for common variations inside survey clusters. Therefore, we measured associations, and not causal relationships – specifically between stock-outs and birthweight for neonates and maternal anaemia. Given that haemoglobin levels are only monitored during data collection in 2015 and not earlier during pregnancy, when women are more vulnerable to malaria, the paper focused on mothers who had given birth or were pregnant in 2015. This is because these women were more likely to be affected by malaria infections than women who were not pregnant at the time of the survey. However, one major weakness of this analysis is that haemoglobin levels might have adapted to post-birth experiences in potentially biased ways. The results on the association between malaria prophylaxis stock-outs and maternal anaemia are reported in Tables B and C of the supplementary information and are presented as explanatory rather than definitive. The model for malaria prophylaxis stock-outs relationship with health outcomes was specified as follows:
where ({y}_{ict}) was the birthweight or haemoglobin level of individual i in cluster c at time t, ({stockout}_{ct}) was the SP stock-out at cluster c (where the cluster was equal to the facility) in period t. ({X}_{ict}) was the matrix of other control variables in the model, which were education, parity, preterm delivery, wealth index, BMI, currently pregnant, work status, birth interval, interacted ANC and stock-outs, interacted IPTp districts and stock-outs and HIV status, ({alpha }_{2}) was the vector of parameters, ({varepsilon }_{ict}) represented the error term, ({theta }_{i}) represented regional fixed effects, and ({phi }_{t}) represented birth year fixed effects.
After this analysis, we used the recentered influence functional (RIF) unconditional quantile regression model to estimate the association between malaria prophylaxis stock-outs and health outcomes along different quantiles of the birthweight distribution. The unconditional quantile regression model shows the marginal effects of explanatory variables on the unconditional quantile of the dependent variable [15, 35]. RIFs of the unconditional quantile provide a robust analysis of every unconditional quantile [35], useful for policy implementation [1]. According to Firpo et al. [15], the model is simple and easy and can be used for other distributional statistics like the Gini coefficient and conditional quantile. The unconditional quantile regression model focuses on unconditional quantiles when independent regressors are present, which differs from the conditional quantile used in the presence of endogenous regressors [15]. In this regard, conditional quantile regression shows heterogeneity in parameters that characterise the relationship between conditional quantiles of dependent variables and independent variables [1]. The effects of independent variables in unconditional quantile regression are a weighted average of conditional quantile regression. The RIF unconditional quantile regression was specified as follows:
where y was the dependent variable, (alpha) represented the constant, and ({beta }_{j}) represented the unconditional quantile partial effect of changes in X in the model. ({X}_{i}) showed the independent variables used in the paper including interacted variables, (p) showed the quantiles, and ({varepsilon }_{i}) represented a normally distributed error term. We used bootstrapped standard errors. Although the RIF approach allows for estimation of the covariates across the outcome distribution in the population (rather than conditional on covariates), it may limit generalisability in contexts where the underlying distribution of covariates differs substantially from the study sample.
Description of variables
The independent variables used in this analysis are birth interval, parity, preterm delivery, stock-out index, wealth index, work status, education, geographical location, BMI, currently pregnant and HIV status. These variables were selected from the prior literature.
Work status was a dummy variable denoted by working (for women with a paying job or a business) and not working women. Working women were expected to have better health outcomes than non-working while the geographical location was a binary variable denoted by rural if the location is one and urban if the location is zero. The wealth index was another variable measured in ZDHS using principal component analysis from the household’s assets. Women from wealthy families tend to have enhanced health outcomes compared to those from less wealthy households.
Another variable was education, which depicted the number of years in which the highest qualification was acquired, and educated women were more likely to have improved health outcomes than their uneducated counterparts. Preterm delivery also affects birth and maternal outcomes. Preterm delivery was defined as birth before the 37th week of pregnancy, children born before 37 weeks are preterm represented by one in the analysis and zero if a child is born after 37 weeks of pregnancy. Preterm neonates tend to have lighter birth weights than the non-preterm neonates. Parity was another variable representing the number of children that the woman has ever given birth to, either stillborn or born alive. On the other hand, birth interval shows the spacing between pregnancies by the mother which affects the health of the children and it was represented by the number of children a woman gave birth to within a year in this paper. Women with short birth intervals were more likely to have compromised birth and maternal outcomes.
While there are many causes of anaemia in pregnant women, including iron deficiency and genetic factors, malaria is considered one of the major causes [46]. The WHO [43] defines anaemia as a condition where the number of red blood cells is below the recommended level. Haemoglobin level is used as a measure of maternal anaemia. Birthweight was used to measure the association of neonatal health outcomes with malaria prophylaxis stock-outs. According to the WHO (2019c), babies weighing more than 0.5 kg and less than 2.5 kg are considered to have low birthweight, which is undesirable for a child’s subsequent growth trajectory. Given that birthweight can either be affected directly via placental malaria or indirectly via maternal anaemia, we assumed that we detect the direct effects of malaria on birthweight, as maternal anaemia is mostly measured after pregnancy in the ZDHS. In addition, we created the stock-out index by calculating the proportion of stock-out days per quarter per facility, and then averaged these proportion of days drugs are stocked out at a facility for two quarters over time to get stock-out for the two final trimesters of pregnancy (see supplementary information A.2). Drug stock-outs increase the likelihood of receiving no or fewer SP doses than recommended, increasing the probability of malaria infections [14, 25]. Therefore, SP stock-outs were expected to be negatively associated with birthweight and maternal haemoglobin levels.
BEIJING, July 4 — Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, entrusted leading officials of the CPC Central Committee’s Organization Department to convey his encouragement and regards to renowned actor You Benchang, who recently joined the Party at the age of 92.
Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said he was pleased to hear the news and described You’s faith in the Party as truly heartwarming.
Xi encouraged You to play an exemplary role as a CPC member and inspire more artists and cultural sector professionals to contribute to the development and prosperity of socialist culture and the building of China into a leading country in culture.
You, born in 1933, is a first-class actor with the National Theatre of China who has spent decades bringing beloved characters to life on stage and screen. In 2024, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles at the 32nd China TV Golden Eagle Awards, one of the country’s top honors for television.
In early 2024, You submitted his application to join the CPC, and was accepted as a probationary member in May 2025.
Fashion trends rise and surge in popularity so much that even those items you might have thought you’d never see again will likely come back. This has already come true with the jelly shoes trend and now Cat Deeley’s Wimbledon outfit has got me feeling nostalgic again.
The This Morning host attended with co-star Ben Shephard on Day 4 wearing a byTiMo floral mini dress with gladiator sandals. These open-toe shoes were especially popular in the late 90s and Cat’s laced up her legs and were secured just above her ankles.
I much prefer this style to knee-length gladiator sandals as the laces are already quite statement and shorter ones are better to wear in the heat. Cat’s shoes were a plain, tan colour which allowed the iconic shape to do all the talking.
(Image credit: Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty)
Shop Gladiator Sandals
Schuh Turner Tie Black Sandals
The Turner Tie Sandals have a cushioned design for comfort and are crafted with adjustable straps and a sleek black gladiator silhouette. They’re currently even more affordable now that they’re in the summer sale and they also come in a black and yellow version.
Mango Gold Lace Up Sandals
You tie these up at the ankle with pretty straps, and they also have a toe post to keep your foot extra secure. The metallic gold shade goes with so many other colours and feels special enough for these to be party sandals, as well as everyday shoes.
Russell & Bromley Strappy Sandals
Made from leather with a fun yet still-neutral snake print, these sandals are a great option when you want barely-there shoes. The fine straps curve around the foot and the ankle and secure with a buckle. This makes them quite a practical choice compared to the slightly more fiddly tie-up style of true gladiator sandals.
Although you could wear gladiator sandals under roomy wide-leg trousers, the lace-up detailing means they work better with shorter skirts and dresses. This showcases them more and woman&home’s Digital Fashion Editor, Rivkie Baum, thinks that Cat’s choice of a floral frock accentuated the 90s feel of her sandals.
“We know that the nineties and noughties are back in fashion, and Cat Deeley has just flown the flag for some long forgotten trends. Pairing a floral dress with tan gladiator sandals, this retro look feels chic and summery, with a healthy dose of what we might now consider a vintage aesthetic,” she explains.
Rivkie adds that whilst “florals are always a must when it comes to the best summer dresses” the way Cat teamed her look with these “late 90s sandals has got her feeling nostalgic”.
(Image credit: Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty)
Shop Floral Dresses
Nobody’s Child Floral Andie Dress
This mini dress is perfect for hot days and has a pretty cream-yellow background colour with delicate pastel flowers and covered buttons. Flowing angel sleeves and a V-neckline accentuate the femininity of this design.
Boden Samantha Scoop Jersey Dress
You can currently get this cerulean blue dress for £61.92 with the code SS25X10 at Boden. The Samantha dress features a scoop neckline, flared skirt and is made from a soft and comfortable jersey fabric.
Nobody’s Child Green Ditsy Dress
If you prefer a longer dress, this fern green one is worth picking up for your summer wardrobe. It’s got an Empire line waist, angel sleeves and a small split in the hem. Pair with white sandals and add a crossbody bag and you’re good to go.
“Fashion is cyclical, and so it’s worth holding on to key pieces you love, because you never know, as Cat Deeley’s just proven, when they’ll come back into circulation,” our expert says.
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Cat’s mini dress had ruching on the bodice, which accentuated her waist and the short puff sleeves felt ultra-feminine. Running all over this piece was a floral print featuring daisies, scarlet poppies and blue blooms alongside green leaves.
Ditsy florals are often thought of as being quite vintage-esque and this complemented the gladiator sandals. She matched her shoes to her bag, which was a spacious tan leather tote that provided plenty of space for anything she needed to take to Wimbledon.
(Image credit: Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty)
Cat wore her blonde hair in a relaxed side ponytail and added a pair of subtle gold hoop earrings. With her toes on show in her strappy sandals, she also had her nails immaculately painted in a sorbet pink that’s a big summer pedicure trend.
To recreate her Wimbledon outfit and embrace gladiator sandals for 2025, consider pairing some with a delicate floral dress like hers. These kinds of frocks are a go-to for many of us this time of year anyway, and the classic feel of a flower print dress can help to balance the more out-there sandals.
PARIS — About 40% of flights were canceled Friday at all Paris airports and tens of thousands of passengers were rearranging plans at the height of the summer travel season because of a strike by French air traffic controllers seeking better working conditions.
Disruptions started hitting airports around France on Thursday and intensified Friday. The national civil aviation authority asked airlines to cancel 40% of flights Friday at Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Beauvais airports serving Paris, half of flights in Nice and 30% of flights in Marseille, Lyon and some other cities.
Despite the preventive cancelations, the authority warned in a statement that ″disruptions and long delays are to be expected at all French airports.”
Ryanair was among airlines that announced widespread disruptions, saying in a statement it canceled more than 400 flights affecting 70,000 passengers. The company said the strike affects all its flights over French airspace, as well as traffic in and out of French airports, and urged the European Union to reform air traffic rules.
One of the two unions leading the strike, UNSA-ICNA, said in a statement there are not enough employees to handle surging air travel and that inflation is eating away at salaries. The unions also are protesting new reform measures aiming to more tightly monitor their work, prompted by a near-collision at the Bordeaux airport.
Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot called the union demands — and their decision to strike just as French schools close for the summer and many families head on vacation — ″unacceptable.″
In June, Norwegian had 2,371,908 passengers, which sets a post pandemic record for June. Widerøe had 394,290 passengers, bringing the group total to 2,766,198. The load factor for both Norwegian and Widerøe increased with a solid four percentage points compared to last year. In addition, Widerøe delivered record high passenger numbers during the month.
“We are very pleased to see June coming in with strong traffic figures. For Norwegian we had the highest passenger number and load factor for June since 2019, and solid traffic figures overall. Widerøe also had a great month, with the most passengers in the company’s over 90-year history,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.
Norwegian’s capacity (ASK) in June was 3,698 million seat kilometres, down 0.2 percent from last year. Actual passenger traffic (RPK) for Norwegian was 3,268 million seat kilometres, up 5 percent. The load factor was 88.4 percent, up a solid 4 percentage points. Norwegian operated an average of 89 aircraft during June.
Widerøe’s capacity (ASK) in June was 192 million seat kilometres, up 4 percent from last year. The actual passenger traffic (RPK) for Widerøe was 156 million seat kilometres, while the load factor was 81.1 percent, also up over 4 percentage points.
Norwegian and Widerøe’s punctuality, defined as share of flights departing within 15 minutes of scheduled time, was 81.6 percent and 89.1 percent, respectively. Regularity, measured by the share of scheduled flights taking place, was 99.8 percent for Norwegian and 97.8 percent for Widerøe.
Peak season is here
During July, Norwegian and Widerøe will operate over than 400 routes to more than 170 destinations across Europe.
“We are well prepared for the summer peak season. July will be very busy, and the booking momentum into the autumn looks promising. We continue to deliver one of the best on-time performances in Europe, and I would like to thank all our great colleagues across the network who are working hard to maintain this position,” said Geir Karlsen.
During June, Norwegian launched its new booking platform across all markets. The platform will offer exciting new possibilities, not least among them interlining with Widerøe later this year.
A separate press release on Widerøe’s traffic figures is available at the Widerøe media centre (In Norwegian only).
Good morning. On Wednesday, MPs including home secretary Yvette Cooper wore sashes to celebrate the legacy of the Suffragettes, whose methods included arson attacks, non-lethal bombings, and disabling railway lines. Then many of them voted to make wearing a Palestine Action t-shirt punishable by up to six months in prison, and membership of the group liable for a sentence of up to 14 years.
The legislation is the result of Cooper’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action. Today, the high court will hear a case brought by co-founder Huda Ammori asking for a temporary block on the order. If it fails, a group which pursues disruptive direct action aimed at buildings, equipment, and institutions rather than violence will be designated a terrorist entity for the first time.
Cooper says that Palestine Action must be banned because it attacks the UK’s defence industry, which is “vital to the nation’s national security”. For today’s newsletter, I spoke to Martha Spurrier, a human rights barrister and former director of Liberty, about a new frontier in the UK’s view of the line between disruptive protest and menacing force.
This is my last newsletter for a while – I’m going on paternity leave, ahead of the imminent arrival of our, er, second edition. Aamna will be with you from Monday, and I’ll be back in the autumn. Here are the headlines.
Five big stories
UK politics | The MP Zarah Sultana, who was suspended from Labour last year, has said she will “co-lead the founding of a new party” with Jeremy Corbyn. But Corbyn, who has not yet publicly committed to establishing a formal party, is understood to be frustrated at Sultana’s unilateral announcement and reluctant to take on the title of leader.
Diogo Jota | Jürgen Klopp and Cristiano Ronaldo led the tributes from across the football world to Diogo Jota after the 28-year-old Liverpool and Portugal forward was killed in a car accident in Spain. Jota’s brother, André, also died in the crash in the province of Zamora.
Middle East | Israel has escalated its offensive in Gaza before imminent talks about a ceasefire, with warships and artillery launching one of the deadliest and most intense bombardments in the devastated Palestinian territory for many months. In all, about 300 people may have been killed this week and thousands more injured, officials said.
US politics | The US House of Representatives narrowly passed Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill on Thursday. The “big beautiful bill” makes sweeping cuts to safety net programs but adds trillions to the national debt through major tax cuts and spending increases on immigration enforcement and the military.
UK politics | Rachel Reeves said she is “cracking on with the job” of chancellor after her she was seen visibly distressed in the Commons on Wednesday. Speaking after a public show of unity alongside Keir Starmer at the launch of the NHS 10-year plan, she said she had been upset over a “personal issue”.
In depth: ‘People who can’t afford to be arrested simply won’t show up’
Yvette Cooper could shift the definition of terrorism in the UK. Photograph: UK PARLIAMENT/AFP/Getty Images
Yvette Cooper announced the decision to proscribe Palestine Action a few days after activists from the group broke into RAF Brize Norton and spray painted two military planes red.
The home secretary called that incident “disgraceful”, and said it was part of a “long history” of criminal damage that has “increased in frequency and severity”. She said that the attacks had done millions of pounds worth of damage and sparked panic among bystanders, who had been “subjected to violence”. But she did not suggest that Palestine Action is a group devoted to violence as the mechanism for securing its political aims, because it isn’t.
The proscription order was voted through parliament this week – but doesn’t come into force until Saturday. Here’s what you need to know.
What’s at stake in today’s hearing?
At the high court today, Huda Ammori will seek an interim order from the judge on the case, Martin Chamberlain, preventing Cooper’s decision from taking effect until a court makes a decision on a judicial review. It is not a full examination of the substantive issues raised by the case, Martha Spurrier said. “It will probably be focused on questions of process: does the complainant understand why the order was made? Has she been given the underlying evidence and the reasons? Has the process been fair, and have the right people been consulted?
“Part of it will be about creating the legal mood music for the judge,” she added. “This has all happened very fast, and the level of the debate has not really been proportionate to the seriousness and novelty of the change, and so they will hope that the judge will find it more attractive to press pause and ventilate the issues thoroughly in court in a few weeks time.”
The government, for its part, is likely to argue that the threat posed by Palestine Action is so serious and immediate that the UK’s national security requires an instant response. If they succeed, the order will take effect on Saturday and place Palestine Action alongside the likes of Islamic State, al-Qaida, and the neo-Nazi group National Action.
Here are some of the consequences. (For more detail, see Netpol’s useful breakdown.)
Membership or encouraging others to support the group will become a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Informal expressions of support, including through clothes and banners, will become a criminal offence that could attract a six-month prison sentence. (None of this would apply retrospectively, and challenging or protesting the ban itself would still be allowed.)
Organising or attending meetings of as few as three people would be banned along with fundraising or providing logistical support. Payment platforms would face investigation if they facilitated donations.
Intelligence services and police would not be granted new powers of surveillance and infiltration directly, but proscription would likely increase resources flowing to monitoring suspected members of the group and might strengthen the case for warrants.
Can the proscripton order still be overturned if the government wins today?
If the government prevails, that is not the end of the story – but the route to overturning the ban becomes significantly harder. “The minute the order is effective it is strengthened by being the status quo,” Spurrier said. “The deference shown to the government on national security issues is enormous.”
Should the case enter the appeals process, the first route is to the home secretary, whose view seems fairly predictable. After that it enters the legal system – but rather than being heard in open court, the case might end up in closed hearings, where Palestine Action would be represented by special advocates under severe limits on what they can share with their clients.
For that to happen, the government would have to demonstrate that it has evidence which presents a national security risk to share publicly. If they succeed, the challenge for Palestine Action becomes incredibly steep, because they will only hear the parts of the case against them that have been agreed by the court not to present a national security risk.
“You can’t answer the specific allegations, whether by saying I wasn’t there on that date, or if you think our modus operandi is X or Y I can prove that it’s not,” Spurrier said. “It’s the special advocate’s job to make the strongest case they can in the absence of their client being able to give them instructions – but fundamentally they are working with both hands tied behind their back.”
Is this a new frontier in the definition of terrorism?
In the 1990s, Greenpeace was involved in a number of radical direct actions, like occupying the Brent Spar oil platform so it couldn’t be disposed of in the sea, and destroying a field of genetically-modified maize. When the terrorism bill under which the Palestine Action decision has been made was going through parliament in 1999, Jack Straw, the home secretary at the time, dealt with the question of whether Greenpeace could be caught in the definition.
“I make it clear that the new definition will not catch the vast majority of so-called domestic activist groups,” Straw said. “To respond to a recent example, I know of no evidence whatever that Greenpeace is involved in any activity that would fall remotely under the scope of this measure.”
“I don’t think there’s any evidence that parliament’s intention was that groups like this would be caught by the definition of the terrorism act,” Spurrier said. “This is the first time where the primary accusation is of property damage and not harm to people.”
That obviously opens the way to wider applications in an era where direct action – often over the climate crisis – has become a major political issue, she added. “It’s really unclear to me what the principled distinction would be if Just Stop Oil began another wave of damage to property. There would surely be at the very least a political conversation about whether they should be proscribed.”
Crucially, there are already plenty of laws in place for which members of groups like Palestine Action can be prosecuted for criminal damage – and which do not involve imposing the draconian restrictions of proscription. That is part of a wider political shift in the definition of acceptable protest, Spurrier said.
“I remember giving evidence to MPs about this a few years ago – and it was so noticeable that the fault line, which had always been peaceful or not peaceful, had moved – and suddenly it was disruptive or not disruptive. I had MPs saying to me that if it got in the way of the school run surely it should be banned. So there has been a paradigm shift.”
What will it mean in practice?
If the ban goes ahead, “I don’t expect you’ll see white grannies being carted away for carrying a Palestine Action sign,” Spurrier said. “They will be astute in who they arrest and who they prosecute. But you will see communities of colour bearing the brunt of it in the way they always do. And there will be a chilling effect – people who can’t afford to be arrested because they will lose their job or they are just frightened by the prospect, simply won’t show up.”
There are reasons to worry about the broader consequences, including how the ban might interact with a bill going through parliament seeking to criminalise face coverings at protests and expanding the use of facial recognition. It might also lead to children being referred to the authorities under the Prevent scheme if they tell a teacher that their parents support the group, Spurrier said. “There are so many pieces of architecture that can sweep people up for things that aren’t criminal acts but speak to some kind of intention – and then you’re in the dragnet.”
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With all that in mind, it may seem extraordinary that the legislation passed the House of Commons this week by 385 votes to 26. “I was really disappointed,” Spurrier said. “But, whether you’re talking about protest or asylum or criminal justice, the prevailing view is that a hardened anti-rights, anti-rule of law stance is almost a centrist position. So I was surprised that the numbers were quite so low. But I was never under the illusion that it would meet with serious resistance.”
What else we’ve been reading
Foam along the shoreline of Holloman Lake in New Mexico. Photograph: James Kenney/New Mexico Environment Department/AP
Holloman Lake, a 1965 wastewater pond in New Mexico, was a wildlife oasis until researchers tested strange shoreline foam and uncovered the devastating impact of forever chemicals on the ecosystem. Aamna
A year after winning the election, Labour is at a low ebb, Polly Toynbee writes. It is time to be honest about the need for significant tax rises, she says – and to “remind citizens that their taxes go to things everyone values most”. Archie
A jury has acquitted Sean “Diddy” Combs of sex trafficking, convicting him only of transporting male prostitutes. The case hinged on consent: the women said no; he said yes. The jury sided with him, cementing what feminist Moira Donegan calls the #MeToo backlash era. Aamna
Ahead of the first date of the Oasis reunion tour tonight, I enjoyed Simon Armitage’s tribute: as they return to the stage, “fans will be back on each other’s shoulders or arm in arm, singing gnomic phrases and occasional nonsense, united by some irresistible bond.” Archie
To save time, people brush their teeth in the shower or wear slip-on shoes. Are these “life hacks” clever conveniences, or a depressing sign of how overstretched, overworked and overwhelmed we’ve all become? Aamna
Sport
Diogo Jota. Photograph: Paul Greenwood/Shutterstock
Football | “It is impossible not to feel a deep sense of pain, sadness and shared heartbreak at news of the sudden death of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva,” Barney Ronay writes. He was “the kind of footballer who barely seems to leave a dent in the grass, who, for all the tactical match-smarts seems still to be playing the same endless teenage game.”
Tennis | The British No 1 Jack Draper was taught a grand slam lesson by the veteran Marin Cilic, losing 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 4-6 in the second round at Wimbledon. Iga Świątek went about her business almost unnoticed as she defeated Caty McNally 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the third round.
Football | It took under 90 seconds for Esther González to score the first goal for Spain against Portugal in the Women’s Euros, and then they came quickly, finishing up at 5-0. Italy defeated Belgium 1-0 with Arianna Caruso’s stunning, curling first-half goal.
The front pages
Photograph: Handout/The Guardian
The Guardian splashes on “Hundreds killed as Israel steps up Gaza strikes despite ceasefire hope.” The Times leads with “NHS app to give patients a ‘doctor in your pocket’,” while the Mail has “The doctor in your pocket will see you now.” The FT leads on “Big asset managers piled in to gilts as markets dipped during Reeves crisis,” the i Paper has “Pensions face tax hike to pay for Labour welfare U-turn,” and the Telegraph goes with “Corbyn’s hard-left challenge to Starmer.”
Pictures of Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash in Spain, feature on many front pages. The Mirror splashes on “Liverpool star tragedy: Devastating,” for the Sun, it’s “Football has lost a champion,” and the Express leads with “‘Our hearts are broken’ …fans in shock over death of Kop star.”
Something for the weekend
Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now
TV Gaza: Doctors Under Attack | ★★★★★ Several powerful documentaries have emerged on Palestine this year, but this is the most unflinching. Its central thesis: the IDF systematically targets medics in all 36 of Gaza’s hospitals. The pattern they lay out is chilling: first bombardment, then siege, followed by raids with tanks and bulldozers. Medical staff are detained, hospitals destroyed and the forces move on. The aim appears to be long-term devastation and ensuring Palestinians have nothing to return to. The documentary’s slow, methodical unfurling of this thesis is the stuff of nightmares. Stuart Heritage
Film Heads of State | ★★★★☆ Idris Elba and John Cena return in this gun show from Nobody director Ilya Naishuller, playing a UK prime minister and US president at odds. After a joint press conference goes sideways and derails a Nato-backed energy deal, the two are forced to fly together to repair the damage, only for their Air Force One trip to end in a fiery crash. Elba deftly toggles between Odd Couple chemistry with Cena and romantic tension with Priyanka Chopra. Naishuller delivers action with pratfalls and one-liners. This is the perfect summer movie – fun, fiery, and totally frivolous. Andrew Lawrence
Music . (Period): Kesha | ★★★★☆ Kesha’s sixth album marks a fresh start, bringing back the artist who once brushed her teeth with Jack Daniel’s and danced with giant penises on stage. Only the piano ballad Cathedral feels fully rooted in her recent legal battles. This is clearly an album designed to put Kesha back at the centre of pop. The songs are strong, full of smart twists, drops, and funny, self-referential lines: “You’re on TikTok / I’m the fucking OG.” The army of collaborators, from Jonathan Wilson to Madison Love, rally behind her. Kesha plays the part of Kesha 1.0 to perfection. For all the lyrical excess, nothing feels forced. Why would it? She’s simply reclaiming the role she created. Alexis Petridis
Today in Focus
Sean “Diddy” Combs Photograph: Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images
Guilty … and not guilty: understanding the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs verdict – podcast
The rapper faced charges often levied at mafia bosses. Anna Betts explains what the jury heard, and Andrew Lawrence tells Nosheen Iqbal what the verdict means for the music mogul
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Spain’s players warm up before their match with Portugal in the Euro 2025 football tournament, in Lausanne, Switzerland. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
Spain’s women’s football team has battled systemic misogyny and poor treatment for years, culminating in a World Cup win in 2023 overshadowed by an unwanted kiss from football chief Luis Rubiales.
The incident ignited global outrage and amplified calls for equality. The outcome of the scandal was that it sparked wider social debate in Spain about gender and power, and ultimately gave young women the voice they needed. The players now say that this turning point has led to a positive change.
Player Aitana Bonmatí says, “It was tough to play here; the situation wasn’t good … Now everything is better.”
Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
Celebrity chef questions Meghan Markle’s new wine value in scathing attack
Meghan Markle launched new wine Rosé under her lifestyle brand As Ever and it was quickly sold out, however, it has still failed to woo a celebrity chef.
Celebrity chef Jameson Stocks criticized the wine for being too exclusive and said that the high price and three-bottle minimum made it unappealing to a wider audience.
He even joked that the wine might “taste like vinegar and be as bitter as her,” and admitted the price wasn’t shocking, while speaking with The Express.
“Nobody knows what it tastes like,” he said before adding that why would people want to “buy three bottles minimum.”
The wine could “taste like vinegar and be as bitter as her,” he quipped.
“It’s similar to her other products, it’s not meant to be affordable for the general public but rather caters to a more exclusive market,” the expert continued.
“Having worked extensively in South Africa, a region known for producing some of the world’s finest wines, I’m confident that you can create top-quality wine at a fraction of the price she’s charging and still make a decent enough mark up per bottle.
“I collaborate regularly with vineyards and growers there, and I’m currently producing my own wine in South Africa for next year.”
