by Amy Sedghi (now); Rebecca Ratcliffe and Mark Sauno on (#72T70)
US president says help is on its way', as reported death toll rises into the thousandsFor the first time in days, Iranians were able to make calls abroad from their mobiles on Tuesday, according to reporting by Associated Press. Texting services have not been restored, however, and nor has the internet.Although Iranians were able to call abroad, they could not receive calls from outside the country, several people in the capital told Associated Press. The internet remained blocked, they said, though it is possible to access some government-approved websites.
US president says of Jens-Frederik Nielsen: I don't know anything about him, but this is going to be a big problem for him'US president Donald Trump has doubled down on his rhetoric on getting control of Greenland, insisting that the US needs Greenland for the purpose of national security," and saying Nato would not be an effective force or deterrent - not even close" in the Arctic.In a social media post, Trump claimed that Nato should be leading the way for us to get it," and if we don't, Russia or China will, and that is not going to happen!" Continue reading...
Ministers have rolled back central element of digital ID plans, possibly allowing people to use other forms of identification to prove their right to workHere are extracts from three interesting comment articles about the digital ID U-turn.Ailbhe Rea in the New Statesman in the New Statesmans says there were high hopes for the policy when it was first announced.I remember a leisurely lunch over the summer when a supporter of digital IDs told me how they thought Keir Starmer would reset his premiership. Alongside a reorganisation of his team in Number 10, and maybe a junior ministerial reshuffle, they predicted he would announce in his speech at party conference that his government would be embracing digital IDs. It will allow him to show he's willing to do whatever it takes to tackle illegal immigration," was their rationale.Sure enough, Starmer announced phase two" of his government, reshuffled his top team and, on the Friday before Labour party conference, he duly announced his government would make digital IDs mandatory for workers. We need to know who is in our country," he said, arguing that the IDs would prevent migrants who come here, slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally".In policy terms, I don't think you particularly gain anything by making the government's planned new digital ID compulsory.One example of that: Kemi Badenoch has both criticised the government's plans to introduce compulsory ID, while at the same time committing to creating a British ICE" that would go around deporting large numbers of people living in the UK. In a country with that kind of target and approach, people would be forced to carry their IDs around with them in any case! The Online Safety Act, passed into law by the last Conservative government with cross-party support and implemented by Labour, presupposes some form of ID to work properly.Here is the political challenge for Downing Street: the climbdowns, dilutions, U- turns, about turns, call them what you will, are mounting up.In just the last couple of weeks, there has been the issue of business rates on pubs in England and inheritance tax on farmers.We welcome Starmer's reported U-turn on making intrusive, expensive and unnecessary digital IDs mandatory. This is a huge success for Big Brother Watch and the millions of Brits who signed petitions to make this happen.The case for the government now dropping digital IDs entirely is overwhelming. Taxpayers should not be footing a 1.8bn bill for a digital ID scheme that is frankly pointless. Continue reading...
by Alexandra Topping Political correspondent on (#72TEG)
Exclusive: Claire Waxman says justice system risks collapse and no other viable way to drastically reduce courts backlogA potential government U-turn on changes to jury trials risks breaking a justice system on the brink of collapse, the new victims' commissioner for England and Wales has warned.The justice secretary, David Lammy, must face down MPs and the legal profession over proposals to reduce the number of jury trials or we will not have victims coming into the system", said Claire Waxman. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Discovery comes amid growing concern over lax regulation and children being put at risk by rogue operatorsCircumcision kits have been found on sale on Amazon UK, highlighting lax regulation as concerns grow about deaths and serious harms to baby boys.In December, a UK coroner issued warnings about insufficient circumcision regulation after the death in 2023 of a six-month-old boy, Mohamed Abdisamad, from a streptococcus infection. Continue reading...
Yoon is on trial for insurrection charges, after trying to declare martial law in late 2024South Korean prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for former president Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law declaration in December 2024, in the first insurrection trial of a Korean head of state in three decades.Prosecutors characterised the case as the serious destruction of constitutional order by anti-state forces", telling Seoul central district court that Yoon had directly and fundamentally infringed upon the safety of the state and the survival and freedom of the people". Continue reading...
Plan will start with TransPennine upgrade with new line connecting Liverpool and Manchester in second phaseLong-awaited plans for better railways across the north of England have been given government backing with an undertaking to reverse years of chronic underinvestment" by spending up to 45bn building Northern Powerhouse Rail.Just over 1bn has been allocated to work up a detailed three-stage plan to connect cities from Liverpool to Newcastle, which could fulfil most of the demands of northern leaders, in a series of long-term projects. Continue reading...
Police apologise after it took almost seven years for man to be charged and he died months before trial had been dueA woman who was raped by her father as a child has told how he died before standing trial after she endured almost nine years of police and court delays.Rachel believes she was robbed of justice by the excessively long police investigation, which left her feeling suicidal. She waited almost seven years for her father to be charged with abusing her and a second person. His trial was postponed due to a barristers' strike and he died six months before facing justice.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html. Continue reading...
Broadcaster's submission calls on Florida court to throw out defamation case where US president is suing over editing of 6 January 2021 speechThe BBC is to attempt to have Donald Trump's $10bn defamation lawsuit over the editing of a speech for Panorama thrown out, according to court documents.The broadcaster faced criticism for airing an episode of the investigative documentary series that featured an edited clip of Trump's address to a rally on 6 January 2021, which it is alleged gave the impression he encouraged supporters to storm the Capitol building in Washington DC. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: A researcher with a focus on the region explains what's behind deadly nationwide demonstrations and what a hardening of public opinion against the state might bringGood morning. At least 648 people have been killed by Iran's security services during nationwide demonstrations, with more than 10,600 arrested. The unrest is widely seen as the most serious challenge to Iran's Islamic Republic in recent years.People took to the streets for reasons ranging from rising economic hardship to long-simmering anger over political repression and civil rights. Together, they represent a hardening of public opinion against the state.Iran | Donald Trump is unafraid to use military force on Iran", the White House said on Monday as the regime faced continued unrest across the country. The Iranian foreign minister claimed protests were under total control".Neurodiversity | The NHS is overspending by 164m a year on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services, with an increasing amount going to unregulated private assessments that can be unreliable, a Guardian investigation has found.Elon Musk | The UK media watchdog has opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk's X over the use of the Grok AI tool to manipulate images of women and children by removing their clothes.UK politics | Nadhim Zahawi was rejected for a peerage by the Conservatives just weeks before he defected to Reform UK, Tory sources have told the Guardian. Zahawi was announced on Monday as Reform's newest recruit despite having claimed Nigel Farage made offensive and racist" comments about him.Sovereignty | Chinese officials have been pushing legal advice" on European countries, saying their own border laws require them to ban entry to Taiwanese politicians, according to more than half a dozen diplomats and officials familiar with the matter. Continue reading...
Paris trial's outcome will determine whether leader of far-right National Rally can run for French presidency in 2027The French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen will face a fresh trial on appeal on Tuesday over the embezzlement of European parliament funds in a case that will determine whether or not she can run in the 2027 presidential election.Le Pen, 57, who leads the far-right, anti-immigration National Rally (RN), was considered to be a contender for next year's election until she was barred from running for public office last March after being found guilty of an extensive and long-running fake jobs scam. Continue reading...
Delhi is world's second largest purchaser of Russian crude, which is now cheaper than oil from Middle EastRussia is already working to circumvent the latest US sanctions to ensure India can continue to import high levels of cheap Russian crude oil, according to industry analysts.Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, India has become the world's second largest purchaser of Russian crude oil, which has been heavily discounted due to the impact of western sanctions. Continue reading...
Wild success of television series drives huge demand for Game Changers novels, with Australian booksellers reporting significant customer ordersA seventh book in Rachel Reid's gay romance series that inspired the TV drama Heated Rivalry will be out later this year but Australian fans are still struggling to get their hands on a physical copy of any of the preceding six books.Unrivalled, the next instalment in the Canadian author's Game Changers series, will be released internationally on 29 September, the publisher HarperCollins announced on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Chinese officials are using a highly specific' interpretation of EU rules to suggest Taiwanese figures should not be granted visas, officials sayChinese officials have been pushing legal advice" on European countries, saying their own border laws require them to ban entry to Taiwanese politicians, according to more than half a dozen diplomats and officials familiar with the matter.The officials made demarches to European embassies in Beijing, or through local embassies directly to European governments in their capital cities, warning the European countries not to trample on China's red lines", according to the European diplomats and ministries who spoke to the Guardian. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Writing for Guardian Australia, Adler says she cannot be party to silencing writers' after Adelaide festival board cancelled Randa Abdel-Fattah's invitation to appear
by Jon Henley, and Miranda Bryant in Nuuk on (#72SAW)
Self-governing island stresses it is member of Nato, which is looking at improving Arctic defences, through DenmarkGreenland's government has said it cannot under any circumstances accept" Donald Trump's desire to take control of Greenland, as Nato's secretary general, Mark Rutte, said the organisation was working on ways to bolster Arctic security.At the start of a critical week for the vast Arctic island, a largely self-governing part of Denmark, the US president restated his interest in the strategically located, mineral-rich territory, saying the US would take it one way or the other". Continue reading...
Former ambassador to US had earlier declined to give apology for keeping in touch with sex offender after his convictionPeter Mandelson has issued an apology for his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein - after declining to do so in an interview broadcast on Sunday.The Labour peer, who was sacked as US ambassador when details of his support for Epstein emerged in September, gave an interview to the BBC in which he suggested that as a gay man he knew nothing of the disgraced financier's sex life. Continue reading...
Prime minister tells parliamentary party that being in the room' for trade and defence talks will boost UK economyKeir Starmer has defended his frequent trips out of the country to Labour MPs, attempting to draw a direct link with the cost of living at home, which he warned would not be solved by isolationism.The prime minister told the meeting of the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) on Monday night that it was essential for him to be in the room" for international negotiations on trade and defence, which would then have an impact on the domestic economy. Continue reading...
Incriminating video, dismissed by officials as a hybrid attack' has forced resignations of Nikos Christodoulides's wife and chief of staffThe Cypriot president, Nikos Christodoulides, has said he has nothing to fear" over a scandal that has forced the resignations of his chief of staff and his wife from a leadership role of a major charity.As allegations of high-level corruption swirled days after the island assumed the rotating EU presidency, officials insisted the country had been the victim of hybrid warfare". The incriminating claims, implicating the president and first lady in a cash for access network, were made in a video uploaded on X. Continue reading...
Nadhim Zahawi's ministerial experience is badly needed by Nigel Farage but it comes with his former party's tainted brandIn the death throes of Boris Johnson's government in the summer of 2022, Nadhim Zahawi was appointed chancellor by an increasingly desperate prime minister determined to cling on to power.The vacancy arose after Rishi Sunak, who had led the Treasury for more than two years, quit saying he no longer had confidence in Johnson to lead the country, setting off - with others - a string of high-profile desertions. Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#72S49)
Exclusive: Dutch police question claims used by West Midlands force in evidence to inquiryDutch police have questioned the credibility of claims used by British officers to justify excluding Israeli fans from a football match in Birmingham in their testimony to an official inquiry.Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from the Europa League game against Aston Villa in November by a Birmingham safety committee following intelligence from West Midlands police. Continue reading...
Damien Egan, the Labour MP for Bristol North East, had a visit with a local academy called off in case his presence inflames the teachers'A planned visit by a Jewish Labour MP to a school in his Bristol constituency was cancelled after a campaign by a pro-Palestine group, it has emerged.Damien Egan, the Labour MP for Bristol North East, had been booked in to speak to students at Bristol Brunel Academy, but the visit was called off by the school hours before it was due to happen. Continue reading...
Liz Kendall says decision by X last week to restrict the Grok AI deepfake tool to subscribers did not go far enoughZahawi says he accepts that the Conservatives are to blame for some of the problems facinng the country.Since leaving parliament, I have been reflecting on the successes and failures of my old party's time in government, and I rue the timidity, even at times the weakness, with which we try to deal with the problems of the country.My analysis is that a huge culprit is the over-mighty bureaucratic inertia that now dominates and runs the country, that has taken control of swathes of the economy and, with barely a shrug of the shoulders, restricts the individual liberty of each and every one of us.So it is time for another glorious revolution to get us back to a fully sovereign parliament.Britain needs Reform.My own party, and by definition to some extent me personally, should share some blame for the continuation of the Blairite constitutional vandalism and our failure, to coin a phrase, to take back control from the rich powers of the unelected bureaucracy. Continue reading...
Sector is overwhelmed by demand and expanding faster than administrative structures can supportWhen Craig, not his real name, started as a clinician for a private ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) clinic in the spring of 2023, he was pleased by how thorough the training was and how seriously the organisation seemed to take clinical standards.The training and clinical supervision there were the best I've ever experienced in any organisation," he said. They truly invested in developing their staff ... a consultant paediatrician would often sit in on assessments to observe and provide detailed feedback." Continue reading...
by Sarah Marsh, Carmen Aguilar García and Rachel Hal on (#72S1C)
Exclusive: Total spending in England expected to double existing budgets, with funding for private providers rising threefoldThe NHS is overspending by 164m a year on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services, with an increasing amount going to unregulated private assessments, a Guardian investigation has found.Analysis shows that total spending on NHS ADHD services is expected to be more than double existing budgets. Further data shows the amount spent on private ADHD services has more than tripled over three years. Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday North of England editor on (#72RVJ)
Masrob Ali, 54, who died in crash that also claimed lives of three teenagers, described as the kindest man'A taxi driver who was among four people killed in a head-on collision in Greater Manchester was the gentlest soul" and was not at fault for the crash, his family has said.Masrob Ali, 54, died when his taxi collided with a Seat Leon travelling on the wrong side of a residential road in Bolton shortly before 1am on Sunday. Continue reading...
Jens-Frederik Nielsen repeated the government's statement it would work on strengthening security through NatoThe European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is to travel to Paraquay on Saturday to sign the controversial Mercosur trade deal with a group of Latin American countries this Saturday.The deal with Brazil, Argentina, Uraguay and Paraguay was adopted by member states on Friday, ending 25 years of negotiation and months of wrangling with member states over the final compromises. Continue reading...
Emmy-winning actor and director allegedly touched child inappropriately on set of The Cleaning Lady TV seriesAuthorities in New Mexico issued an arrest warrant recently for the director and Emmy-winning actor Timothy Busfield to face a child sexual abuse charge.An investigator with the Albuquerque police department filed a criminal complaint in support of the charge, which says a child reported that Busfield touched him inappropriately. The acts cited in the warrant - issued on Friday - allegedly occurred on the set of The Cleaning Lady, a TV series Busfield directed and acted in. Continue reading...
Daytime gigs where parents can bring their infants without fear of judgment are proving a sellout successWhen Nick Page saw the exhaustion of the new mothers arriving at his comedy gig, he suggested turning the hour-long set into a sleepover. He had been joking - but the women enthusiastically agreed.In any other room, a comedian asking the audience to fall asleep would have been career ruining. In the world of baby-friendly comedy clubs, however, it was a masterstroke. Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#72RJM)
Sadiq Khan says public health' approach has made the capital one of the safest cities in the western worldLondon's murder rate has dropped to its lowest in more than a decade with police in the capital and the mayor saying it is now one of the safest cities in the western world.The figures come as those on the radical right criticise the city for having a crime problem, hoping to gain politically from such claims being believed. Continue reading...
Canada's PM seeks to smooth over past ructions in relationship with China as trade war takes its tollDuring the final stretch of Canada's spring election campaign, Mark Carney told a debate audience that China was the country's biggest geopolitical risk". He pointed to its attempts to meddle in elections and its recent efforts to disrupt Canada's Arctic claims.When Carney's government plane touches down in Beijing this week, it will be the first time a Canadian prime minister has been welcomed in nearly a decade. The trip, undertaken amid the rupturing of global economic and political alliances, reflects a desire by Ottawa to mend a broken relationship with a global superpower that uses its vast and lucrative market to both woo and punish countries. Continue reading...
by Julian Borger Senior international correspondent on (#72RD8)
Lawyers for Abu Zubaydah accused British intelligence services of providing questions to his CIA interrogatorsThe UK has settled out of court by paying a substantial sum" to a Guantanamo Bay detainee who was suing the government for its alleged complicity in his rendition and torture, according to the inmate's legal team.Lawyers for Abu Zubaydah have accused the British intelligence services of providing questions to his CIA interrogators to put to him while they were torturing him at a string of CIA black sites" around the world where he was held between 2002 and 2006. Continue reading...
Backed by actor Sally Phillips and MPs across parties, group raises concerns about overhaul of provision in EnglandKeir Starmer is being urged not to diminish the legal rights of children with special educational needs by a new national campaign backed by the actor Sally Phillips and a cross-party group of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative MPs.The group Save Our Children's Rights claims the prime minister is considering taking our legal rights away" as part of the government's overhaul of special educational needs and disabilities (Send) provision in the forthcoming schools white paper for England. Continue reading...
Senior politicians have tabled bill that would force UK banks to make affordable finance more accessibleSenior Labour backbenchers are urging the government to introduce legislation forcing UK banks to expand affordable lending to small businesses and low-income neighbourhoods.The former minister Gareth Thomas has tabled a 10-minute rule bill - a type of private member's bill - echoing the US Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Continue reading...
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