EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, warns against further escalation following US and Israel strikes on IranA Cypriot government spokesperson has just confirmed that two unmanned drones headed to RAF Akrotiri were intercepted before reaching the base.Two unmanned aerial vehicles that were moving towards the direction of the British Bases at Akrotiri were confronted in time," Konstantinos Letymbiotis said. Continue reading...
17th-century Dutch master's Vision of Zacharias in the Temple to go on display this weekIt hung unrecognised on the wall of a private home for decades but now a 17th-century painting has been revealed as a Rembrandt, taking its potential value from thousands to millions of pounds.The Rijksmuseum announced on Monday that it had rediscovered an early biblical scene by the Dutch master that was once thought lost, thanks to hi-tech scanning and two years of expert analysis. Continue reading...
Former Oxford University professor and UK government adviser faces up to 20 years in prison if convictedThe prominent Swiss academic and Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan will go trial in Paris on Monday on charges of raping three women in France between 2009 and 2016.Ramadan, who advised previous British governments on Islam and society, denies all the charges in a case that has been seen as one of the biggest repercussions of the #MeToo movement in France. Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday North of England editor on (#73Y6B)
Hartlepool leaders furious and appalled' after meeting with Steve Reed about growing cost of social careThe housing, communities and local government secretary has been accused by a Labour council of showing arrogance, indifference and moral bankruptcy" towards children in social care.In an unusually forthright attack, Labour leaders of Hartlepool council said they were furious and appalled" at Steve Reed after a meeting with him last week. A cross-party delegation had asked the secretary of state for 3m to help alleviate the growing cost of social care. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: A region already strained by years of proxy conflict is now confronting its most volatile moment in decades, as the death of Iran's supreme leader could drag us into a rapidly widening crisis, with no clear path to deescalationGood morning. Over the weekend the US and Israel launched a series of attacks on Iran that resulted in the assassination of Tehran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - a move that dramatically raised the stakes in their long-running conflict.The assassination of a serving supreme leader is an extraordinary act - one that signals not containment, but confrontation. Retaliatory strikes by Iran have already spilled the conflict far beyond its borders, drawing a host of regional powers into the fray. Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, the judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, and senior cleric Alireza Arafi will reportedly lead Iran in the transitional period following Khamenei's death.Iran | Donald Trump said on Sunday he was prepared to talk to what was left of the Iranian leadership in the wake of the killing of the country's supreme leader by US-Israeli air strikes aimed at overthrowing the regime.British military | The UK's RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus was hit by a suspected drone strike, causing limited damage and no casualties, Cypriot authorities and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.Immigration | Shabana Mahmood has ripped up the government's asylum rules so that from Monday every refugee will be told that their status is temporary and will last just 30 months.UK politics | The Green party said its membership had passed 200,000 in the wake of its victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection, in which it overturned a huge Labour majority.AI | Datacentre developers are facing pressure to reveal whether their projects will increase the UK's net greenhouse gas emissions, amid concerns the sites could double national electricity demand. Continue reading...
Sporadic clashes reported in several provinces in Afghanistan as both sides give conflicting death tollsAfghanistan has said it had thwarted Pakistan's attempted airstrikes on Bagram airbase, the former US military base north of Kabul, as cross-border fighting between the two countries stretched into a fourth day.Months of clashes have flared up again since Thursday, when Afghanistan launched attacks along the frontier and Pakistani forces hit back on the border and from the skies. Pakistan has declared it is in open war" with Afghanistan. Continue reading...
by Anna Bawden Health and social affairs corresponden on (#73Y16)
Royal College of Psychiatrists says impact on mental health often overlooked and calls for improvements in careNearly three-quarters of UK women do not know menopause can trigger a new mental illness, polling shows.This lack of understanding is so acute that the Royal College of Psychiatrists has launched its first targeted position statement" to raise awareness about menopause and mental health. Continue reading...
Lindo speaks out after man with Tourette syndrome shouted slur while actor was on stage with Michael B JordanBritish-American actor Delroy Lindo expressed gratitude for the support and love" he and Michael B Jordan have received after a man with Tourette syndrome (TS) shouted the N-word as the two men presented a Bafta award.We appreciate all the support and love that we have been shown," Lindo - who, like Jordan, is Black - said on stage at the annual NAACP Image awards in Los Angeles. He called it a classic case of something that could be very negative becoming very positive". Continue reading...
by Presented by Annie Kelly, with Patrick Wintour, pr on (#73XXR)
The US and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran on Saturday, killing Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Why did Trump decide (again) to attack Iran during negotiations on a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic? How does he sell a new war in the Middle East, with potential US casualties, to people at home? What happens next for Iran?In this special collaboration with Today in Focus, Annie Kelly speaks to the Guardian's diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour.Archive: CBS News, NBC News, PBS Newshour, CNN, Fox News Continue reading...
The diaspora hope the death of Ali Khamenei will bring change - and peace - even as fears remain over Iran's futureOn Saturday night, with bombs falling across the Middle East and rumours of the death of Ali Khamenei, the longtime ayatollah of Iran, spreading, the streets of north London resembled a party.Thousands of revellers filled Finchley Road, a part of London often called Little Tehran because of the large Iranian community, waving flags, many with the lion and sun, the flag of the Iranian state before the 1979 Islamic revolution. Continue reading...
Belgian special forces boarded the Ethera, which was sailing under the flag of Guinea, on Saturday nightBelgium has seized an oil tanker believed to form part of the so-called shadow fleet" used by Russia to circumvent western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.Special forces assisted by French helicopters boarded the ship in a clandestine operation in the North Sea on Saturday night, Belgium's defence minister, Theo Francken, said on Sunday. Continue reading...
The mutual resentments that have fueled tensions between the US and Iran have simmered for nearly half a centuryFor millions of younger Americans, the sudden explosion of Iran onto the national political stage and consciousness may seem like a bolt from the blue.Yet for older generations and those with deeper historical awareness, Donald Trump's announcement on Saturday of strikes against a distant foe is more like the outcome of a collision long foretold. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Labour's Rushanara Ali plans to intervene in elections bill amid warnings of foreign interferenceA former Labour minister has added her voice to those of a growing list of experts and senior MPs calling for a ban on political donations in cryptocurrency as concerns grow over foreign interference in British elections.Rushanara Ali, the Labour MP who helped draft the elections bill when she was a minister in the communities department, called for the government to strengthen the legislation with an outright ban on donations in digital currencies. Continue reading...
Sales beat wider retail sector last year thanks to customers inspired by websites such as Vinted, industry body saysYoung people inspired by secondhand fashion websites such as Vinted and Depop are helping charity shops thrive despite rising energy and employment costs.Save the Children's retail sales rose 3% last year, helped by a surge in December when the charity rang up 11% more than the same month a year before, raising more than 1m for its causes. Continue reading...
Rhun ap Iorwerth tells party conference Labour and Tories slipping away' and Reform UK is main threatThe leader of Plaid Cymru has claimed the Welsh parliament elections in May will be a straight fight between his party and Reform UK, which he billed as a choice between culture or ignorance, humanity or indifference".Speaking at the party's biggest ever conference, Rhun ap Iorwerth, the clear favourite to be the next Welsh first minister, said the Gorton and Denton byelection showed Labour and the Tories were slipping away", and he promised Plaid had a radical plan to improve Wales's fortunes. Continue reading...
by Jason Burke in London, Shah Meer Baloch in Islamab on (#73WGB)
Wave of strikes comes after Taliban forces attack Pakistani border troops following earlier action from IslamabadPakistan has bombed major cities in Afghanistan including the capital, Kabul, with Islamabad's defence minister declaring that the hostile neighbours were in a state of open war" as a cycle of retaliatory attacks escalated further.Witnesses in Kabul and Kandahar, the southern Afghan city, reported explosions and jets overhead until dawn, while the Taliban government said later that Pakistani surveillance aircraft were still flying over Afghanistan. Continue reading...
by Ramon Antonio Vargas in New Orleans on (#73VVD)
The actor, long open about his struggle with sobriety, was also ordered to undergo drug testing and pay $100,000 bondShia LaBeouf on Thursday was ordered to enroll in substance abuse treatment, undergo a drug testing program and pay a $100,000 bond as conditions of his release from custody after the actor allegedly battered and hurled homophobic slurs at two men at a New Orleans bar.The requirements imposed on LaBeouf, 39, by New Orleans judge Simone Levine came after the Transformer film franchise star was initially allowed to leave jail without being required to pay a bond in the hours after his 17 February arrest on two counts of misdemeanor battery. Continue reading...
Liz Kendall to launch consultation next week that will explore alternatives such as curbs on infinite scrollingMinisters will take another step towards banning social media for under-16s next week as they launch a consultation on the policy, with government insiders increasingly certain that Keir Starmer will back the idea.Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, will publish the terms of reference for the consultation, which is expected to explore options including an age limit and less hardline action such as curbs on infinite scrolling. Continue reading...
It will soon be spring - and the Danes will soon be going to the polls,' Danish PM tells the parliament in a special statementNordic correspondentFrederiksen is speaking now. Continue reading...
Labour has focused its efforts at voters who may be tempted to back the Reform candidate in the by-electionThe number of asylum seekers being housed temporarily in hotels has fallen to the lowest level for 18 months, Home Office figures show. Rajeev Syal has the story.A minister has confirmed that the government is pressing ahead with the deal to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.Yes. My colleague the foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has been talking to Marco Rubio, her opposite number in the US, about it. Foreign policy is never easy. We will make progress on the Chagos deal. Continue reading...
British Muslim Trust says fund announced last week falls short as it requires mosques to prove they have been targetedMinisters are being urged to drop the requirement for mosques to prove they have faced a hate crime before they can apply for protective security.Last week, the Home Office announced up to 40m in funding for security staff, CCTV, fencing, alarms and floodlights for mosques, Muslim schools and community centres through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme. Continue reading...
by Patrick Butler Social policy editor on (#73VR4)
An estimated 4,793 people slept rough in tents, doorways or parks on single night in autumn - up 3% year on yearRecord numbers of people slept rough on the streets of England last year, according to the latest official statistics.An estimated 4,793 people spent the night in tents, doorways and parks on a single night in autumn 2025, up 3% year on year, and overtaking the previous peak of 4,751 in 2017, though charities believe these figures underestimate the scale of the nation's homelessness crisis. Continue reading...
Alan Milburn says people feel social contract is being broken' as number of Neets climbs to 957,000The number of young people in the UK not working or in education has risen closer to a million, figures show, as a government adviser warned that for the first time in a century parents do not think their children will have a better life than them.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of people aged 16 to 24 who were not in education, employment or training (Neet) rose to 957,000 in the final three months of last year, equating to 12.8% of this age group. Continue reading...
The US has lost factory jobs amid promises of a tariff-led renaissanceWorkers at Whirlpool, the US's largest appliance manufacturer and a champion of Donald Trump's tariff policies, are criticizing the company for cutting jobs at an Iowa plant while bolstering production in Mexico.The job cuts at Whirlpool come as the company has continued to support the Trump administration's trade policies and claimed they will help bolster US manufacturing. Trump's trade policies appear to have done little for US manufacturing so far. The US has lost 83,000 factory jobs since Trump took office in January 2025. Continue reading...
BBC and Financial Times among those calling for frameworks to help publishers gain control over their content being scraped and copied'A coalition of UK media companies including the Guardian has urged industry peers to back global frameworks ensuring AI firms pay for the journalism they use.The news providers are calling on leaders across publishing, broadcasting, media and news to join their newly created group, with the aim of protecting original journalism" and securing the long-term sustainability of our industry". Continue reading...
After the star made a fresh denunciation of the US president at an alternative State of the Union event, Trump returned fire at length on Truth Social, calling De Niro sick and demented'Donald Trump has responded to a recent podcast appearance by Robert De Niro, in which he called the president an idiot".Speaking on Monday's episode of The Best People with Nicole Wallace, De Niro, who has long criticised the politics, morals and competence of Trump, said: He's an idiot. We gotta get rid of him. He's gonna ruin the country." Continue reading...
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