US government lawyers threatened to quit en masse as then-President Donald Trump hounded them almost daily to help overturn his 2020 election defeat, a congressional inquiry has heard. Justice department officials said they told Mr Trump there was zero evidence for his claims of mass voter fraud. The attorneys also testified that the president’s plan to reverse his loss in key states was “a murder-suicide pact”. The panel is investigating last year’s US Capitol riot as an attempted coup. The House of Representatives select committee is seeking to build a case that Mr Trump’s efforts to stay in power in the lead-up to the violent raid by a horde of his supporters on Congress on 6 January 2021 amounted to illegal conduct. Mr Trump, a Republican, has described the inquiry as a “kangaroo court” designed to distract Americans from the “disaster” of Democratic-led governance and spiralling inflation ahead of November’s mid-term elections.(BBC)…[+]

Myanmar’s deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from house arrest to solitary confinement in a prison in the capital Nay Pyi Taw. The Nobel laureate, 77, was arrested when the military overthrew her elected government in February 2021. For the past year she has been held at an undisclosed location in the capital. Ms Suu Kyi has already been sentenced to 11 years in jail and denies a host of charges which have been widely condemned as politically-motivated. Her move to solitary confinement makes her more isolated than ever – she became a global democracy icon during a previous period of military rule when she spent 15 years in detention, but almost all of it was under house arrest. It’s thought Ms Suu Kyi, who remains highly popular in the country, will attend trial hearings from a special court set up inside prison. Sources close to the court told BBC Burmese that she had been moved on Wednesday to separate, specially-built accommodation inside the jail. Her colleague, ousted President Win Myint, is in similar solitary confinement in the jail.(BBC)…[+]

Colleagues rifling through your underwear drawer. A boss demanding sex in exchange for promotion. Unsolicited nude photos, innuendo, and assaults. These are all experiences of women in Western Australia’s mining industry, as told to a state parliament inquiry. Its report was handed down Thursday, revealing sexual harassment is rife at sites run by large mining firms. The landmark report described the harassment as “appalling” and “generally accepted or overlooked”. Australia’s richest mining companies – including BHP and Rio Tinto – run large operations in the state’s remote Pilbara region, to unearth iron ore, copper and other minerals. Thousands of workers are flown in each season and housed in village camp-style accommodation.(BBC)…[+]

Germany has taken a step closer to gas rationing after a drop in supplies from Russia. The country has triggered the “alarm” stage of an emergency gas plan to deal with shortages, Germany’s economy ministry said. It is the latest part of a standoff between the European Union and Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. German economy minister Robert Habeck said Russia was using gas “as a weapon” in response to EU sanctions. “We must not fool ourselves. The cut in gas supplies is an economic attack on us by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” Mr Habeck said, adding Germans would have to reduce consumption. Mr Habeck said there would “hopefully never” be a need to ration gas for German industry, but he added: “Of course, I can’t rule it out.” Germany has now moved to the second stage of its three-part emergency plan, which is triggered when there is disruption or very high demand for gas. The government will provide €15bn (£13bn) of loans to try to fill gas storage facilities, and will start auctioning gas to industry to encourage big businesses to use less. Moving to stage two of the plan puts more pressure on suppliers and network operators to balance out disruption by taking measures such as finding alternative sources for gas.(BBC)…[+]

The first images showing armed police waiting in a corridor during last month’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas have emerged. Officers arrived earlier in the attack and with more powerful weapons than previously reported, according to US media who have seen investigative documents. Police have been accused of failing to act quickly enough to stop the attack. Twenty-one people, including 19 children, died in the shooting. Texas police have not publicly commented on the reports, from the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV. More details of 24 May shooting at the Robb Elementary School classroom are expected to be presented at a public hearing in the Texas Senate later on Tuesday.(BBC)…[+]

“There was water everywhere, but not a single drop to drink.” That is how Ronju Chowdhary described the scene outside her house on Saturday. She lives in Udiana, a remote village in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, which has been hit by severe floods. It had been raining incessantly, she remembers. The water rose so quickly that the streets were completely submerged within hours. When the water entered their home, she says the family huddled together in darkness trying to keep themselves safe.  Two days on, the family is still marooned in their house – now resembling a lonely island – amid a sea of water. “We are surrounded by flood water from all sides. There’s hardly any water to drink. Food is running short too. And now I hear that the water levels are further rising,” Ms Chowdhary says. “What will happen to us?”(BBC)…[+]

French President Emmanuel Macron has rejected a resignation offer from the prime minister he appointed, saying instead that the government must “stay on task and act”. Elisabeth Borne was criticised by some commentators after Mr Macron’s coalition lost its majority on Sunday. Her future looked under threat after the result, which left the president needing to secure support from rivals. He is set to meet his political opponents for rare talks on Tuesday. But neither Marine Le Pen’s far-right nor Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s left-green alliance are keen to work with Mr Macron’s centrist government, which is 44 seats shy of a majority and desperately trying to avoid political paralysis. The Élysée palace said Ms Borne formally offered to resign on Tuesday morning, submitting a letter to Mr Macron – the head of state – who turned it down.(BBC)…[+]

Tens of thousands of job seekers have called for a shutdown in India to protest against a new army hiring plan which has sparked violence. Some states shut down the internet and suspended train and bus services on Monday. Protesters are demanding the rollback of the plan to hire soldiers on a fixed four-year term, saying it would shatter their dreams of a secure job. They have taken to the streets, blocking roads and torching trains. Several opposition political parties have given their support to the protests. But the government has refused to cancel the plan, though it has been trying to allay the fears of protesters. Demonstrations against the plan began in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar last week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government announced changes to how it would recruit soldiers for the armed forces.(BBC)…[+]

Eight people are now suspects in the murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, police say. Three suspects have already been arrested. But five more people who allegedly helped hide their bodies have now been identified, police told reporters. Mr Phillips and Mr Pereira went missing while on a reporting trip in the remote Javari Valley in Brazil’s far west on 5 June. Their bodies were identified on Friday, after one of the suspects in custody – Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira – reportedly confessed to burying their remains and led police to a spot deep in the rainforest where their remains were found. His brother, Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, was also arrested, but denies any involvement.(BBC)…[+]

Japan’s ban on same-sex marriages does not violate the constitution, a district court in Osaka has ruled. The ruling dealt a blow to gay couples and rights activists, after another district court in Sapporo ruled in 2021 that the failure to recognise same-sex marriage was “unconstitutional”. Japan’s constitution defines marriage as one between “both sexes”. It is the only country in the G7 group of developed nations that doesn’t allow people of the same gender to marry. Opinion polls show a majority of the general public is in favour of allowing same-sex marriage in Japan. Several areas – including Tokyo – have begun issuing partnership certificates, to help same-sex couples rent properties and gain hospital visitation rights.(BBC)…[+]