theguardian

UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter were among seven killed when vessel sank during storm last August

Mike Lynch’s superyacht, Bayesian, has been resurfaced for the first time since it sank during a violent storm off the coast of Sicily in August last year, killing seven people including the tech tycoon and his teenage daughter.

The white top and blue hull of the 56-metre (184ft) vessel emerged from the depths of the sea in a holding area of a yellow floating crane barge, as salvage crews readied it to be hauled ashore for further investigation. The Italian coastguard said the recovery was scheduled to begin on Saturday morning.

A spokesperson for TMC Maritime, which is conducting the recovery operation, said the vessel had been slowly raised from the seabed, 50 metres (165ft) down, over the past three days to allow the steel lifting straps, slings and harnesses to be secured under the keel.

The operation – which has cost approximately $30m (£22m) – was made easier after the vessel’s 72-metre mast was detached using a remote-controlled cutting tool and placed on the seabed on Tuesday.

The vessel will be transported to the port of Termini Imerese, where investigators are expected to examine it as part of an inquiry into the cause of the sinking.

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The Bayesian was anchored just offshore near the port of Porticello, in the province of Palermo, when it sank during a violent storm shortly before dawn on 19 August 2024.

Lynchhad beencleared two months earlier of fraud chargesin the US relating to the purchase of his company,Autonomy, by Hewlett-Packard in 2011, and was enjoying a voyage around Sicily to celebrate with his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, and his wife, Angela Baraces, whose company owned the Bayesian.

The lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda, the banker Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy, and the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, were also killed when the vessel sank. Nine other crew members and six guests – including Baraces – were rescued.

The salvage operation was very complex, and was temporarily suspended in mid-May after Rob Cornelis Maria Huijben, a 39-year-old Dutch diver, died during underwater work.

The British-based consultancy TMC Marine, which oversaw a consortium of salvage specialists undertaking the project, said the hull would be lifted on to a specially manufactured steel cradle on the quayside once it had been transported to Termini Imerese.

Investigators hope the yacht will yield vital clues to the causes of the sinking. A forensic examination of the hull will seek to determine whether one of the hatches remained open and whether the keel was improperly raised.

Prosecutors have opened an inquiry into suspected manslaughter. The boat’s captain, James Cutfield, from New Zealand, and two British crew members,Tim Parker Eaton and Matthew Griffiths, have been placed under investigation. InItaly, this does not imply guilt or mean that formal charges will necessarily follow.

According to a preliminary safety report released last month by the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch, the Bayesian may have been vulnerable to high winds when running on its engine and that these “vulnerabilities” were “unknown to either the owner or the crew” as they were not included in the stability information book carried onboard.

The MAIB said a possible “tornadic waterspout” headed towards the boats in the harbour. The docks seemed to divert the whirlwind, which went straight towards the Bayesian, and the vessel sank in the space of a few seconds.

In September, Italian authorities requested additional security around the wreck of the Bayesian, after fears were raised that material in watertight safes onboard might be of interest to foreign governments.

Operators of trial insist age assurance ‘can be done’ but preliminary report finds age verification tools ‘not guaranteed to be effective’

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Technology to check a person’s age and ban under 16s from using social media is not “guaranteed to be effective” and face-scanning tools have given incorrect results, concede the operators of a Australian government trial of the scheme.

The tools being trialled – some involving artificial intelligence analysing voices and faces – would be improved through verification of identity documents or connection to digital wallets, those running the scheme have suggested.

The trial also found “concerning evidence” some technology providers were seeking to gather too much personal information.

As “preliminary findings” from the trial of systems meant to underpin the controversial children’s social media ban were made public on Friday, the operators insisted age assurance can work and maintain personal privacy.

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The preliminary findings did not detail the types of technology trialled or any data about its results or accuracy.Guardian Australia reported in Maythe ACCS said it had only trialled facial age estimation technology at that stage.

One of the experts involved with the trial admitted there were limitations, and that there will be incorrect results for both children and adults.

“The best-in-class reported accuracy of estimation, until this trial’s figures are published, was within one year and one month of the real age on average – so you have to design your approach with that constraint in mind,” Iain Corby, the executive director of the Age Verification Providers Association, told Guardian Australia.

Tony Allen, the project director, said most of the programs had an accuracy of “plus or minus 18 months” regarding age – which he admitted was not “foolproof” but would be helpful in lowering risk.

The Albanese federal government’splan to ban under 16s from social media, rushed through parliament last year, will come into effect in December.

The government trial of age assurance systems is critical to the scheme. The legislation does not explicitly say how platforms should enforce the law and the government is assessing more than 50 companies whose technologies could help verify that a user is over 16.

The ABCreported on Thursdayteenage children in the trial were identified by some of the software as being aged in their 20s and 30s, and that face-scanning technology was only 85% accurate in picking a user’s age within an 18-month range. But Allen said the trial’s final report would give more detailed data about its findings and the accuracy of the technology tested.

The trial is being run by the Age Check Certification Scheme and testing partner KJR. It was due to present a report to government on the trial’s progress in June but thathas been delayed until the end of July. On Friday, the trial published a two-page summary of “preliminary findings” and broad reflections before what it said would be a final report of “hundreds of pages” to the new communications minister, Anika Wells.

The summary said a “plethora of options” were available, with “careful, critical thinking by providers” on privacy and security concerns. It concluded that “age assurance can be done in Australia”.

The summary praised some approaches that it said handled personal data and privacy well. But it also found what it called “concerning evidence” that some providers were seeking to collect too much data.

“Some providers were found to be building tools to enable regulators, law enforcement or coroners to retrace the actions taken by individuals to verify their age, which could lead to increased risk of privacy breaches due to unnecessary and disproportionate collection and retention of data,” it said.

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In documents shared to schools taking part in the study, program operators said it would trial technologies including “AI-powered technology such as facial analysis, voice analysis, or analysis of hand movements to estimate a person’s age”, among other methods such as checking forms of ID.

Stakeholdershave raised concerns about how children may circumvent the banby fooling the facial recognition, or getting older siblings or parents to help them.

Friday’s preliminary findings said various schemes could fit different situations and there was no “single ubiquitous solution that would suit all use cases” nor any one solution “guaranteed to be effective in all deployments”.

The report also said there were “opportunities for technological improvement” in the systems trialled, including making it easier to use and lowering risk.

This could include “blind” verification of government documents, via services such as digital wallets.

Corby said the trial must “manage expectations” about effectiveness of age assurance, saying “the goal should be to stop most underage users, most of the time”.

“You can turn up the effectiveness but that comes at a cost to the majority of adult users, who’d have to prove their age more regularly than they would tolerate,” he said.

Corby said the trial was working on risks of children circumventing the systems and that providers were “already well-placed” to address basic issues such as the use of VPNs and fooling the facial analysis.

Ex-partner of former premier Gladys Berejiklian misled Icac probe over $48m property development, magistrate finds

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Ex-Liberal MP Daryl Maguire has been found guilty of misleading a corruption inquiry about benefits expected from a $48m property development sale.

The former member for Wagga Wagga, whose clandestine relationship with ex-NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian led to herpolitical downfall, appeared at Sydney’s Downing Centre court for the verdict on Friday.

Magistrate Clare Farnan found Maguire misled the NSWIndependent Commission Against Corruptionwhile giving evidence during a hearing in July 2018.

Farnan rejected a bid by Maguire’s legal team to suppress the publication of the guilty verdict.

“The interests of the community in open justice is in my view not outweighed by Mr Maguire’s interests,” she said.

At Icac, Maguire was asked about what he expected to get out of the sale of an estimated $48m property development in Campsie in Sydney’s south-west.

During the criminal hearing earlier in 2025, prosecutors claimed Maguire changed his evidence during questioning over claims he was not expected to be reimbursed.

He will face a sentence hearing on 15 August.

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Icac grilled Maguire and others in 2018 underOperation Dasha, which probed allegations of corruption at the local council.

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The Wagga Wagga MP resigned from the Berejiklian government after giving evidence, before succumbing to pressure and quitting parliament altogether.

Icac opened a further probe into Maguire, exposing his secret romantic relationship with Berejiklian in 2020.

Berejiklian also stood down from her role and was laterfound by Icac to have breached public trustin failing to disclose the relationship, spanning at least five years while she was transport minister, treasurer and then premier.

Committee seeking warrants for staff from premier and police minister’s offices, but they insist they had ‘reasonable excuse or just cause’ not to attend

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A parliamentary committee is seeking warrants for the arrest of five New South Wales government staffers who failed to appear and give evidence to an inquiry examining the Sydneycaravan “fake terrorism plot”.

The staffers – three from the office of the premier,Chris Minns, and two who work for the police minister, Yasmin Catley – were summoned to appear before the inquiry on Friday.

They did not attend. The staffers claimed – in a letter to the upper house committee chair, independent MP Rod Roberts – that they had the “reasonable excuse or just cause” required by law to not appear.

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The staff members argued they were “proxies” because Minns and Catley could not, as members of the lower house, be compelled to appear as witnesses.

The inquiry – launched with the support of the Coalition, the Greens and crossbench MLCs – isexamining the handling of informationabout the caravan plot amid concerns whether parliament was “misled” beforecontroversial laws aimed at curbing antisemitismwere rushed through parliament.

In January, after it was announced that the caravan had been found in Dural laden with explosives, Minns said it had the potential to be a “mass casualty event”. But in March, the Australian federal police revealed they believed it was a “con job” by organised crime figures seeking to divert police resources and influence prosecutions.

Minns has said he was briefed early on that the caravan plot “could be something other than terrorism as it’s classically defined and that no line of inquiry was being ruled out by NSW police”.

The premier and the police minister refused to appear at the inquiry before the committee sought the appearance of their staffers.

Friday’s extraordinary decision to seek the arrest warrants could lead to the staffers being apprehended and brought before the committee to give evidence, but several steps have to be completed first.

Roberts will meet with the president of the Legislative Council, Nationals MP Ben Franklin, on Friday afternoon to submit the committee’s case.

Under the Parliamentary Evidence Act, if the president is satisfied that the five staffers failed to appear without just cause or reasonable excuse, the matter will be referred to a judge of the supreme court.

If the judge agrees, then warrants would be issued, the staffers arrested and brought before the committee to give evidence.

“This decision follows numerous attempts by the committee over several weeks to secure the attendance of these staff by invitation and ultimately by summons,” Roberts said in a statement.

The staffers summoned to appear included Minns’ chief of staff, James Cullen, and two of his deputy chiefs of staff, Edward Ovadia and Sarah Michael.

The police minister’s chief of staff, Ross Neilson, was also summoned, along with Catley’s deputy chief of staff, Tilly South.

The staffers’ letter to Roberts, released by the committee, stated: “Our attendance before the select committee to give evidence would be at odds with the principles of ministerial accountability and comity between the houses of parliament.”

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They pointed to an outstanding inquiry on parliamentary privilege and ethics, stating they suspected in light “of recent events” it would consider whether compelling ministerial staff to give evidence infringed parliamentary privilege or “offends principles” of Australia’s Westminster system of government.

“In these circumstances, and particularly while the standing committee’s inquiries are ongoing, we consider that there is a reasonable excuse or just cause for us to not attend the hearing, and we propose not to do so,” they wrote on Thursday.

“Given your [Roberts’] comments on breakfast radio yesterday as to the motivation for issuing the summonses, which make it clear we are ‘proxies’ because our respective ministers cannot be compelled as witnesses to the select committee, we also consider that they have not been properly issued.”

The letter noted Ovadia had informed the committee he was on leave during the relevant period.

Minns told reporters on Thursday that his staff would not appear. On Friday morning, Roberts conducted a roll call twice to empty chairs set out for the staffers before closing the hearing.

Earlier in the week, the premier told 2GB radio he believed the inquiry was based on a “giant conspiracy” led by his political opponents.

Minns said summoning staffers to appear was a “bid for some kind of relevance” by opponents.

Asked if his staffers were prepared to be arrested, Minns said: “Well, I hope it doesn’t get to that. I mean, I think that would be a giant overreach. It’s never happened before.”

The NSW Liberal leader, Mark Speakman, was asked by reporters on Friday if the move was drastic.

“It is drastic and it’s easily avoidable if they do the right thing, obey the law and appear,” he said. Minns and Catley were contacted for comment.

The education minister,Jason Clare, has launched an “unprecedented” intervention into the leadership of the Australian National University (ANU) by writing to the vice-chancellor and referring governance and management concerns to the higher education regulator.The move follows continued backlash over the university’s leadership decisions, including an ongoing restructure that would shed more than 600 jobs to make savings of $250m.

In March, more than 800 ANU staff passed a no-confidence motion in the leadership of the vice-chancellor,Prof Genevieve Bell, and the chancellor, Julie Bishop.Clare said following “significant concerns” raised by Labor colleagues he had written to ANU on 6 June “seeking assurances that they are managing these issues appropriately”. He had also forwarded criticisms raised by independent senatorDavid Pocockto TEQSA.At a town hall meeting held by Pocock on Wednesday, he accused management of “trashing” the university over its handling of the restructure, including breaching its enterprise agreement, and giving wrong information to the Senate.The ANU was approached for comment.

‘Transformative’ project wins the 2025 architecture medallion as town centres, industrial restorations and residential homes collect other awards of note

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Sydney’s recently opened network of city metro stations have taken out one of the top prizes at the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2025 NSWArchitectureawards, announced on Friday night.

Dozens of Australian architecture firms, engineering companies, landscape designers and public art experts shared in the 2025 NSW architecture medallion for their work on the Central, Barangaroo, Gadigal, Victoria Cross, Martin Place, Waterloo, Sydenham and Crows Nest stations in what the judges hailed as a “legacy-making” and “city-shaping” cross-sector collaboration.

“The project is transformative, not just in transport terms but in how it redefines civic experience inSydney,” the judges’ citation said.

“This is infrastructure that supports not just movement, but social and cultural connection as a catalyst for future development and change. It demonstrates the far-reaching impact architects can have on shaping public life and delivering tangible benefit to society and the environment.”

More than 130 NSW projects were shortlisted for the awards, with the first building constructed for the new city of Bradfield and the surrounding area of Aerotropolis – the site of Sydney’sfuture second international airport– collecting the Premier’s prize.

Hassell’s First Building – the first stage of an advanced manufacturing readiness facility – is a prefabricated timber pavilion that can be disassembled, expanded or relocated for future use.

“A new city requires a big dream … it’s incredibly exciting to see that dream taking shape here in Bradfield,” the premier, Chris Minns, said of the Hassell design.

“The way this building plays with natural light, the way it sits at home in the landscape, it’s incredible attention to detail, it’s craftsmanship – not to mention the innovation and progress that will happen here. In short, it’s a beautiful place.”

GroupGSA’s restoration of a collection of early 20th-century industrial buildings in Rosebery won the Lord Mayor’s prize – restricted to projects within the City of Sydney – for the project’s imaginative commitment to heritage, sustainability and urban vitality.

The brick factories and industrial sheds, constructed between 1921 and 1940, and the neighbouring textile mills have been unified into a single precinct, connected by a central pedestrian spine that knits tenant spaces, showrooms and retail outlets together and presents a freshly energised street front for passersby.

“This is not capital-A architecture,” the judges said. “[It is] the result of extraordinarily skilful handling – in patching, opening up and scrapping back found fabric – creating an interesting, cohesive experience for workers, visitors and the neighbourhood.”

“Like a trifle made to a cook’s whim” was how judges described BVN’s Yarrila Place, in Coffs Harbour, which won the Sulman medal for public architecture.

The new civic and cultural space in the north coast town emerges from the ground with a solid brick base before giving way to deep green ceramic panes, curved and glazed like leaves of the enormous fig tree the building is anchored to.

“BVN have taken all the ingredients of a civic hub – library, gallery, museum, makerspace, civic offices and chambers, and more – and layered them with deliberate unpredictability,” the judges said.

“Proportions, adjacencies and stackings defy conventions.”

Heritage work was acknowledged with Design 5’s massive remodelling of the White Bay power station, which collected the Greenway award for heritage, while the conservation award was won by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer and Purcell Architecture for its research-led, methodical and careful approach to restoring Australia’s oldest building in continuous use, the NSW Parliament House in Sydney.

The Colorbond award for steel architecture went to a residential house in Leura. Marra+Yeh Architects’ Eco-House, set in a rare hanging swamp, was praised for its holistic and deeply thoughtful approach to sustainable architecture.

The house’s roof design deflects prevailing winds and captures water for reuse in bushfire defence and irrigation, while its interior configuration is season adaptable, ensuring comfort and minimal energy use year round.

BVN collected another award in the residential category for its transformation of a typical suburban block of land in Byron Bay into a dwelling christened the Lighthouse, which seamlessly blends interior with exterior with an open, central garden forming both the entry and heart of the home.

Also in the residential category, Casey Brown Architecture was recognised for its major interior remodelling of Babylon, architect Edwin Kingsberry’s eccentric 1950s residence perched on the ridge dividing Pittwater and Avalon. Its new interior was “full of contradictions – ramshackle and refined, rich and restrained,” judges said.

The final result was a highly original interior that was “unexpected, joyful, and completely unique”.

Among the dozens of other winners, of particular note were AJC Architects’ win in the Enduring Architecture category for its Moore Park Gardens residential project in Sydney and Tzannes’ 39 Martin Place, which won the Sir Arthur G Stephenson award for commercial architecture.

Wardle’s handsome industrial park of the future design, Bourke & Bowden, situated in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Alexandria, was also recognised in the commercial category.

The Australian Institute of Architects’ NSW president, Elizabeth Carpenter, said in a statement the 2025 winners highlighted a profession that was “not only responding to urgent challenges, but leading with integrity, innovation and care”.

“The awarded projects are powerful reminders that architecture is both an art and a responsibility – one that connects communities, strengthens cultural understanding, and shapes more sustainable and inclusive futures,” she said.

The border dispute has led to a surge in nationalist sentiment and tit-for-tat actions by both governments

Cambodia has banned imports of fruit and vegetables from Thailand, the latest escalation in a series of retaliatory actions sparked by a long-running border dispute between the South-east Asian neighbours.

Tensions flared in May when troops briefly exchanged fire at a contested area of the border, killing a Cambodian soldier.

The incident has led to a surge in nationalist sentiment and tit-for-tat actions by both governments. Thailand has imposed border restrictions with Cambodia in recent days, whileCambodiahas banned Thai films from TV and cinemas, closed a border checkpoint, and cut internet bandwidth fromThailand. Both countries have shortened visas stays for visitors for one another’s citizens.

A ban on imports of Thai fruit and vegetables to Cambodia came into effect on Tuesday. This follows an ultimatum by Cambodia’s former leaderHun Sen, who ran the country for almost four decades before handing over to his son in 2023, who said those imports would be blocked unless Thai border restrictions were lifted.

On Wednesday, tens of thousands of Cambodians, carrying national flags and pictures of the country’s leaders, took to the streets of Phnom Penh for an official rally to support the government’s stance.

The deputy prime minister, Hun Many, brother of the prime minister, told the crowd the march was “an encouragement and additional energy for the government and our forces”.

“When the country faces a threat or any insult, the Cambodian people will not stay still, we will stand up in united spirit,” he said.

Cambodia has asked the international court of justice (ICJ) to resolve the border dispute. However,Thailanddoes not accept the court’s jurisdiction and has said it prefers to solve the matter through direct negotiations.

The long-running dispute dates back more than a century, to when France, which occupied Cambodia until 1953, first mapped the land border.

The dispute has, over the years, has repeatedly fanned nationalist sentiments in both countries. In 2003, rioters torched the Thai embassy and Thai businesses in Phnom Penh after a Thai celebrity allegedly questioned the jurisdiction over Cambodia’s World Heritage-listed Angkor Wat temple.

Tensionsflared most recently in 2011when an estimated 28 people were killed, and tens of thousands displaced by fighting at the border.

The Thai and Cambodian armies both said they acted in self-defence in May’s exchange of fire.

Cambodia has asked the ICJ to rule on four areas of the disputed border. This includes Mom Bei or Chong Bok, an area where the borders of Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos meet, and which was the site of last month’s clash, as well as three ancient temples.

“The royal government of Cambodia will undertake this task with strong determination and high responsibility to protect our territorial integrity and the best interest of the Cambodian people,”prime minister Hun Manetsaid in a statement earlier this week.

Hun Manet has added that he wanted to maintain “peace and good cooperation” with Thailand.

Cambodia has previously referred the dispute to the ICJ, and in 1962, the court ruled that Preah Vihear, an 11th century Hindu temple, was Cambodian, though it did not rule on the area surrounding it. Cambodia sought a clarification of the ruling in 2011, and in 2013, the ICJ verdict stated that anarea next to the temple was also Cambodia.

Thailand’s prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, has said the government is committed to protecting Thailand’s sovereignty, and ensuring peace along the border. She has criticised “unprofessional communication”, in an apparent reference to frequent social media statements by the former leader Hun Sen.

Wellington says it has paused payment of some funding until Pacific island nation takes steps to ‘repair the relationship and restore trust’

New Zealand has halted millions of dollars in funding to the Cook Islands over the “breadth and content” ofagreements the smaller Pacific nation made with China, officials from the New Zealand foreign minister’s office has said.

New Zealand, which is theCook Islandsbiggest funder, won’t consider any new money for the nation until the relationship improves, a spokesperson for foreign minister Winston Peters told the Associated Press on Thursday.

Relations between other Pacific islands and their larger regional backers Australia and New Zealandhave stumbled over ties with Chinain recent years as Beijing has vied to increase its Pacific sway.

But the latest move by New Zealand’s government was striking because it reflected growing friction between two countries with strong constitutional ties – Cook Islands is self-governing but shares a military and passports withNew Zealand– over two countries’ diverging approaches to managing relations with Beijing.

Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown told lawmakers in parliament on Thursday that the funding was “not halted, it’s paused,” and downplayed the significance of the amount frozen.

News of the NZ$18.2m ($11m) funding halt on Thursday, which emerged only when a Cook Islands news outlet saw its brief mention in a government budget document, is likely to prove difficult for New Zealand’s prime minister, Christopher Luxon, who is inChinafor his first official visit and is due to meet President Xi Jinping this week. Beijing has defended its Cook Islands pacts before, saying in February that the deals were not intended to antagonise New Zealand.

Brown made a pointed reference to Luxon’s China visit in parliament on Thursday, highlighting the New Zealand leader’s announcements of increased trade with Beijing and looser visa requirements for Chinese travellers. The Cook Islands leader said he trusted any agreements Luxon made in Beijing would “pose no security threat to the people of the Cook Islands” despite Avarua not knowing their content.

Separately the Cook Islands foreign ministry said in a statement the country was committed to restoring its high-trust relationship with New Zealand and appreciated the funding support received from Wellington.

In a report tabled in the Cook Islands parliament this week, the public accounts committee registered “concern” about a reduction of NZ$10m ($6m) in the government’s purse, the first known mention of the finance freeze. The money was earmarked for “core sector support”, which funds the Cook Islands’ health, education and tourism sectors – with audits by Wellington on how it’s spent.

The money is part of NZ$200m directed to the Cook Islands by New Zealand over the past three years as part of an almost 60-year-old arrangement. The links demand consultation by Cook Islands leaders with Wellington on its agreements with other parties that might affect the relationship and the deals with China were the first serious test of those rules.

The Cook Islands, population 15,000, has a large and lucrative exclusive economic zone, with Brown’s government exploring prospects for deep sea mining activity, and Cook Islanders can freely live and work in New Zealand. That prompted dismay in Wellington when officials learned of the raft of agreements Brown signed in February.

The agreements didn’t promise security cooperation between Beijing and Cook Islands, but they did pledge more funding from China for infrastructure projects and educational scholarships. Not all of the documents Brown signed were released publicly.

The spokesperson for New Zealand foreign minister Peters said on Thursday said the agreements illustrated “a gap in understanding” between the governments “about what our special relationship of free association requires”, which included consultation to ensure the preservation of shared interests.

The “breadth and content” of the deals and lack of consultation with Wellington about them in advance prompted a review of funding to the Cook Islands, Peters’ office said.

“New Zealand has therefore paused these payments and will also not consider significant new funding until the Cook Islands government takes concrete steps to repair the relationship and restore trust,” the spokesperson’s statement said.

New Zealand’s latest action was an “entirely avoidable consequence of Cook Islands’ strategic flirtations with China,” said Mihai Sora, analyst with the Australia-based thinktank Lowy Institute.

“It’s a bit cute to sign up to a comprehensive strategic partnership with China in 2025 and pretend there is no strategic angle for Beijing, given all the mounting evidence of China’s malign strategic intent in the Pacific,” he said.

In phone call, Paetongtarn Shinawatra discusses border dispute with former Cambodian leader and calls him ‘uncle’

Thailand’s prime minister,Paetongtarn Shinawatra, apologised after a leaked phone conversation with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen prompted public anger and threatened the collapse of her government.

In the leaked call, Paetongtarn – daughter of the populist former leader Thaksin Shinawatra –discusses an ongoing border disputewith Hun Sen, who is known to be a friend of her family.

In the recording, she can be heard criticising a senior Thai military commander who she said “just wanted to look tough”, describing him as an opponent. Addressing Hun Sen as “uncle”, she adds that if there were anything he wanted to “just let me know, I’ll take care of it”.

Paetongtarn told a press conference on Thursday: “I would like to apologise for the leaked audio of my conversation with a Cambodian leader which has caused public resentment.”

Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for almost four decades, was succeeded by his son, Hun Manet, the current prime minister, in 2023, but remains politically powerful.

Paetongtarn said her comments were a negotiating tactic, but this has done little to quell public anger.

The Thai foreign ministry summoned the Cambodian ambassador on Thursday to deliver a protest letter complaining about the leaking of the call. The full version was released by Hun Sen after the initial clip was leaked.

The phone call threw Paetongtarn’s government into chaos, threatening to destroy the uneasy partnership formed between her family and their former rivals in the military.

The conservative Bhumjaithai party – the second largest in the coalition – pulled out of the ruling coalition, leaving her government with a slim majority. Leaders of the Chartthaipattana, United Thai Nation and Democrat parties held urgent talks on the crisis on Thursday afternoon but have not withdrawn.

If another coalition partner were to pull out, it could make her position untenable and could force an election, or an attempt by other parties to cobble together a new coalition.

Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, leader of the opposition People’s Party, earlier called for Paetongtarn to dissolve parliament to prevent groups from exploiting the situation “and inciting an incident that could harm the democracy”, warning against a military coup.

Thailand’s government has been challenged by a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, and for the past two decades the country’s politics has been dominated by a power struggle between the military and Paetongtarn’s family, the Shinawatras. Her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted in a 2006 coup, and her aunt Yingluck was removed from power by a court ruling followed by a coup in 2014.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters, some of them veterans of the royalist, anti-Thaksin “Yellow Shirt” movement of the late 2000s, demonstrated outside Government House on Thursday, demanding that Paetongtarn quit.

Ken Lohatepanont, a Thai political analyst, said that “while a coup is no longer completely unthinkable” it did not appear likely yet, adding: “The democratic process has not yet reached an impasse.”

Thailand’s military said in a statement that army chief Gen Pana Claewplodtook “affirms commitment to democratic principles and national sovereignty protection”.

“The Chief of Army emphasised that the paramount imperative is for ‘Thai people to stand united’ in collectively defending national sovereignty,” it said.

Paetongtarn, who has been in officeless than a year, is also facing legal threats. At least three petitions have been filed against the leader over the leaked call, including to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, accusing her of ethical misconduct and violating the constitution, and to the Central Investigation Bureau, accusing her of offences against national security. The Election Commission has also been urged to investigate.

The crisis comes at a time when the Thai economy is struggling, with a fall in Chinese visitors hitting its tourism industry, and the threat of US tariffs of 36% looming.

Paetongtarn has not responded to calls for her to resign, but has sought to convince the public that her government stands united with the military as it responds to the dispute with Cambodia.

“Now, we have no time to fight among ourselves. We must defend our sovereignty, and the government is ready to support the armed forces by all means. We will work together,” she said.

On Friday, Paetongtarn will travel to Thailand’s northeast, where clashes have occurred, to meet with Lt Gen Boonsin Padklang, the commander of the forces in northeast Thailand, whom she criticised in the call.

Messages advise staff to also warn students off celebrations to avoid violating national security law

Teachers inHong Konghave been warned to keep themselves and students away from any US Independence Day celebrations as they may breach national security laws, educators have alleged.

A text message purportedly sent by the principal of a Hong Kong school to staff said the education bureau’s regional education office had reminded them “to be careful about Independence Day activities organised by the US consulate in Hong Kong, and not to participate to avoid violating the national security law and Hong Kong laws”.

The text was published on Edu Lancet, a Facebook page run by a former manager at the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, Hans Yeung. It urged staff to be diligent in “protecting” any students who were considering participating, and to discourage them.

Another email shared on Edu Lancet, and seen independently by the Guardian, told faculty staff that any teacher who received an invitation from an embassy or a foreign organisation funded by an embassy must seek permission to attend from the principal for the purpose of “maintaining national security”.

The Hong Kong education bureau did not confirm or deny the claims in response to questions from the Guardian, but in a statement said it had enacted policies to help schools “effectively prevent and suppress acts and activities that endanger or are detrimental to national security.

“Schools have the responsibility to play a good gatekeeper role and to enhance the sensitivity of teachers and students to national security.”

The bureau had enacted “clear guidelines” for schools that required them to “establish school-based mechanisms and formulate appropriate measures, according to their own circumstances and needs, to implement various tasks related to safeguarding national security and national security education”, it added.

The bureau did not answer questions about what laws would be broken by attending any Fourth of July event, or whether such warnings only applied to the US holiday.

The US Consulate in Hong Kong has been contacted for comment.

Edu Lancet and Yeung, who runs the page to voice concerns from those working with the education system and “expose the current problems”, have been criticised by the Hong Kong government in the past for their posts. The security secretary, Chris Tang, has accused Yeung of “making incitements” from his current home in the UK.

The purported directives fit in with tightening restrictions on Hong Kong’s education system, and a push to have the curriculum focus more on national security amid increased control of the city by the Chinese government. After pro-democracy protests rocked the city in 2019, the ruling Chinese Communist party imposed a national security law on Hong Kong that broadly outlawed acts of dissent and opposition as violations against the state.

In 2020, the then chief executive, Carrie Lam,blamed the education systemfor fuelling the protests, setting the tone for an overhaul that is ongoing.

The Hong Kong governmenthas since alteredtheschool curriculumto includeteachings on national securityin subjects such asEnglish language, music, maths and sport, and to focus more onpatriotic education. It has also banned texts it sees as endangering national security, including a picture book about sheep created by the city’s physiotherapists union,and prosecuted authors.

Teachers in Hong Kong have previouslytold the Guardianthey felt pressure to self-censor for fear of being reported for remarks seen as unpatriotic. Since the start of the 2023-24 school year, all new teachers in public sector schools, direct subsidy scheme schools and kindergartens must sit an exam on Hong Kong’s mini constitution, the Basic Law, and the national security law.

Hong Kong’s education minister, Christine Choi, hasrepeatedly warned of “soft resistance” in schools, and this month said educators had to be vigilant against the infiltration of “hostile forces” through events such as book fairs and extracurricular activities which “could include undesirable reading materials”.

Additional reporting by Jason Tzu Kuan Lu