Retailer said fundamental shift in economic conditions' made it hard for financial partner Aberdeen to raise fundsThe John Lewis Partnership is pulling out of a 500m deal to build almost 1,000 residential rental homes for rent in Bromley, Reading and West Ealing amid a cautious property market".The retailer, which owns Waitrose supermarkets and John Lewis department stores, blamed a fundamental shift in the economic conditions", which it said had made it difficult for its financial partner, Aberdeen, to raise funds for the venture, first launched in 2020. Continue reading...

News of former Harvard president's resignation comes in connection with ongoing review' of Epstein files

Government reviews options for plan 2 loans, such as increasing repayment thresholds, amid growing pressureMinisters are examining ways to ease the burden of student loans after weeks of pressure over a policy pulling more people into repayments, the Guardian understands.The Treasury and the Department for Education are reviewing different options to offer relief to graduates with Plan 2 student loans, often paying tens of thousands more than their original loan amount. Continue reading...

Minister misspoke' by telling MPs UK was pausing for discussions with our American counterparts', officials say

Alan Harris, 72, assaulted children and adults in police and court cells over 27-year periodA criminal defence lawyer who sexually abused vulnerable clients as young as 14 over almost three decades has been jailed for 13 years.Alan Harris, 72, from Plymouth, Devon, assaulted children and adults during consultations in police and court cells, targeting victims he judged would not be believed if they revealed what he had done. Continue reading...

High court judge accepts material distributed without legally required imprint due to inadvertent printing mistake

Judge allows Safe Passage International to launch judicial review of halting of right to bring in children and partnersThe Home Office's controversial decision to suspend the right of refugees to bring their children and partners to the UK is to face a legal challenge in the high court, the Guardian can disclose.Safe Passage International, a charity working with unaccompanied children and refugees, has been granted permission to launch a judicial review of the decision to halt refugee family reunion after it claimed the suspension was unlawful. Continue reading...

Leaked draft of $1bn memorandum of understanding reveals mandatory targets, sharing of data, and reported access to mining concessionsThe US has been accused of shameless exploitation" over a health financing agreement with Zambia worth more than $1bn (740m), amid warnings that the country is getting a raw deal from the Trump administration.A leaked draft of a five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two countries, seen by the Guardian, reveals that Zambia may accept terms worse than health financing agreements the US has reached with 16 other African countries. Continue reading...

Bank reports better-than-expected annual results and CEO signals overhaul of lender is almost overBankers at HSBC are set to share a bonus pot worth $3.9bn (2.9bn), the highest in more than a decade, after Europe's largest lender reported better-than-expected annual results.The bonus pool for staff was 10% higher than a year earlier, which the bank said it had determined based on a review of our performance against financial and non-financial metrics", while the bank's chief executive's pay also rose. Continue reading...

Drinks maker cuts annual sale and profit forecast for second time in four months amid weak demand in US and ChinaDiageo has slashed its dividend and cut its annual sales and profit forecast for the second time in four months, as the maker of Guinness warned of capacity constraints affecting drinkers of the black stuff" in London pubs.The world's largest spirits maker - which owns brands including Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whisky and Don Julio tequila - reported weak demand in the US and China in the first results released under the new chief executive, Dave Lewis. Continue reading...

Details emerge after struggling carmaker reports pre-tax losses of 363.9m for 2025The luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda is to cut its workforce by 20% as it looks to save about 40m after reporting widening losses.The group, which said earlier this month it was consulting on the latest redundancy programme, said it would reduce its workforce by up to a fifth after action at the start of last year that cut 170 jobs. Continue reading...

Poet's second collection The Rot won the Victorian prize for literature and the Indigenous writing category

Ofgem cap drops by 7% to 1,641 a year for consumers' average gas and electricity costs

Methodology: how we trained a machine learning model to analyse rhetoric on immigration in the UK parliament over the course of a centuryThe Guardian has revealed a significant rightward shift toward sentiment relating to immigration among MPs speaking in the House of Commons in the past five years.

Surface-to-air missiles, which are capable of shooting down aircraft and ballistic missiles, will be located on Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost islandJapan will deploy missiles to a tiny island near Taiwan within five years, its defence minister has said, in a move that is likely to inflame tensions with China.The surface-to-air missiles, which are capable of shooting down aircraft and ballistic missiles, will be located on Yonaguni - Japan's westernmost island - by March 2031, Shinjiro Koizumi said. Continue reading...

Criminal proceedings will not follow as posters satisfied certain aspects' of the hate symbol legislation but not others

Earnings report released on Wednesday shows supermarket made $859m net profit in past six months as higher prices hit shoppers

A spokesperson for Falun Dafa - a group associated with Shen Yun - said it had received threats against Albanese if upcoming performances went ahead

Should legislation pass House of Lords, the matter will require another vote after May's Welsh electionsWales's Senedd has voted in favour of implementing Westminster's assisted dying bill, overcoming a constitutionally awkward situation that could have forced terminally ill people who wish to end their lives to travel to England or seek private provision.In a debate stretching into Tuesday night in the Senedd's newly expanded chamber, members voted 28 for and 23 against, with two abstentions. Should the legislation pass the House of Lords, the matter will require another Senedd vote after May's Welsh elections. Continue reading...

Volunteer group Citizens of the Reef made the find as part of the Great Reef Census

Ursula von der Leyen talks up prospect of 90bn loan but appears cautious on timetable for Ukraine joining blocZelenskyy says we must be just as determined and strong as we were when the invasion began," as the threat hasn't become smaller."He says Europe can only respond to this war working together with the US, even as he remarks it is not an easy task to maintain transatlantic unity and cooperation in the current conditions."So there must be no place in the free world for Russian oil, for Russian tankers, Russian banks, Russian sanctions ..., schemes, or for any Russian war criminals. The time has come to fully ban all participants in Russia's aggression from entire Europe." Continue reading...

Chief content officer Kate Phillips tells staff she is so sorry' only one racial slur by Tourette campaigner was not edited from recorded broadcastPeter Bradshaw: why the dust has not yet settled on the Baftas N-word rowA senior BBC executive has apologised to staff for the corporation's failure to edit a racial slur from Sunday's Bafta film awards telecast. In a note sent on Tuesday and seen by the Press Association, chief content officer Kate Phillips told staff she was so sorry that a racial slur was not edited out of our broadcast" and that she understood how distressing this was".Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson could be heard shouting the N-word as Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the award for special visual effects at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Continue reading...

Mexico's president says there is no risk' for those visiting for Fifa games after military killed drug lord El Mencho'

Natalie Fleet MP says politicians should not expect death threats as standard', as Lancashire councillor apologisesA Labour MP has said politicians should not expect to face death threats as standard" after a Reform UK councillor shared a Facebook post which said she should be shot".The picture of Natalie Fleet, who has spoken previously about being groomed and raped as a teenager, was accompanied by a fake quote misattributed to her, which read: I voted against the grooming gang enquiry." Continue reading...

Claim of abetting terrorist activities' comes as Kremlin attempts to steer users on to state-controlled appRussia has launched a criminal investigation into the Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, on suspicion of abetting terrorist activities", further escalating the Kremlin's standoff with the widely used messaging app.The state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported on Tuesday that a case had been opened based on materials from Russia's federal security service", which accused the app of being compromised by western and Ukrainian intelligence. Continue reading...

Christopher Trybus charged with manslaughter of Tarryn Baird, rape and coercive and controlling behaviourA woman who took her own life after being subjected to a campaign of physical and sexual violence" by her husband told her family I am so sorry but I just couldn't take it any more", a court has heard.Tarryn Baird, 34, was found dead at her home in Swindon, Wiltshire, on 28 November 2017. Continue reading...

Little sign Moscow's ability to continue waging war for a fifth year is diminished, says head of strategic studies

Josh Simons failed to declare gifts from Labour donor within the stipulated 28 days of receiving them

Labor MP says some children reach adulthood without mixing with people from different cultures and religions

Exiled Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had fled to Italy translated Hebrew bible into their common languageIn 1553, a community of exiled Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had found refuge and patronage in the northern Italian city of Ferrara did something that would have been unthinkable, and very possibly fatal, in their former homelands.They printed their own Hebrew bible in Spanish. Continue reading...

Booking system freezes and screens crash amid rush of fans trying to secure tickets to 21 March free concertTickets for BTS's comeback concert in central Seoul were snapped up almost immediately on Monday night, with authorities expecting an estimated 260,000 fans to descend for the K-pop group's first full performance in nearly four years.At one point, more than 100,000 people flooded the booking website when sales opened at 8pm for the free concert at Gwanghwamun square on 21 March, causing screens to crash and booking systems to freeze. Continue reading...

Links to Jeffrey Epstein have taken political operator from a vaunted position in British diplomacy to arrest in under six monthsJust six months ago Peter Mandelson seemed unassailable as the UK's ambassador to the US, one of the most vaunted positions in British diplomacy. As our man in Washington, Mandelson appeared to have used his skill for schmoozing, learned over years as a cabinet minister and a European commissioner, to secure a good relationship with the tricky Trump administration. He was considered instrumental in securing a relatively favourable US trade deal for the UK.He was also an influential voice in Labour politics with the ear of the prime minister and his inner circle, notably his friend and protege Morgan McSweeney, Starmer's then chief of staff. Continue reading...

With the Russian military performing poorly, Ukraine is clarifying strategy and pushing back with modest successRussia's invasion of Ukraine, now entering its fifth grim year, has already gone on longer than the entire fight on the eastern front in the second world war. The Soviets marched from the gates of Leningrad to Berlin in a little over 15 months in 1944-45; today the Russian rate of gain in Pokrovsk in Ukraine is 70 metres a day, in Kupiansk, 23 metres, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.The gains are trivial, given Ukraine's size, amounting to 1,865 sq miles during 2025 (about 0.8% of the country) - so the idea touted by the Russians, sometimes accepted by a credulous White House, that Ukraine is suffering a slow-motion defeat, is not accurate. In reality, even allowing for the fact that hundreds of thousands of homes are without electricity, heating and water after Russian bombing, Ukraine is clarifying its strategy and pushing back with modest success. Continue reading...

NSW detectives say Toyota Corolla involved in crime was spotted in Pitt Town one day after 85-year-old abducted from North Ryde home

Virginia Bell says scope of inquiry will be reduced to avoid prejudicing criminal proceedings

China has opposed the smearing of its nuclear policy' while insisting Beijing would not engage in any nuclear arms race'The US has accused China of dramatically expanding its nuclear arsenal, while doubling down on claims that Beijing had conducted secret nuclear tests.Washington said the lapsing of New Start - the last treaty between top nuclear powers the US and Russia - earlier this month presented the possibility of striking a better agreement" that included Beijing. Continue reading...

Dominic Ethan Stewart was among 19 killed when vehicle veered off road and plunged down mountainsideTributes have been paid to a young British hiker who was among 19 people killed when a packed passenger bus veered off a treacherous stretch of road and plunged 200 metres down a steep mountainside in Nepal.Twenty-five others were injured in the pre-dawn crash in the Himalayan foothills on Monday. The bus was carrying 44 people, including a number of tourists. Continue reading...

Criminal barristers welcome justice secretary's move to remove limit on hearing days at crown courts in England and WalesA cap on court sitting days is to be lifted as the government seeks to ease the cases backlog, David Lammy has announced.The justice secretary and deputy prime minister said every crown court in England and Wales would be funded to hear more cases in the next financial year. Continue reading...

Performer appeared in closing ceremony of 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and was a mainstay of city's drag scene

Prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand say they would not object to his removal from royal succession lineA parliamentary inquiry into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's links to Jeffrey Epstein is a matter for MPs, Downing Street has said, as ministers faced a new push to uncover details about the former prince's role as a trade envoy.It comes as the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, wrote to Keir Starmer to say his country would have no objection to Mountbatten-Windsor being removed from the royal line of succession. Later, a spokesperson for New Zealand's prime minister, Christopher Luxon, said his country would also support the proposals. Continue reading...

The arrest followed search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas, police saidBridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has been speaking about the Send reforms at an event in Peterborough.This is what she said about the need for inclusion.Inclusion is a choice. It is an educational choice, and it is also a political choice because we could duck this challenge, ignore the injustice of a postcode lottery in life chances putting off fixing the Send system yet again.The system works well for some at least.We welcome the scale of vision contained in the white paper which has the potential to create an education system that fully values children and young people with additional needs and their families.We also welcome the commitment to retain statutory education, health and care plans (EHCPs) for children and young people whose needs cannot be met through this new model. We know that many parents will welcome the legal requirement for schools to create individual support plans (ISPs) for all children with Send. Continue reading...

Hungary's veto prevents EU countries from adopting latest round of sanctionsOne other thing we will be keeping an eye on today is the latest on the EU-US trade relationship after last Friday's US supreme court ruling on Trump's tariffs.The European Parliament is expected to discuss what to do with the EU-US trade deal later today. Continue reading...

Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala set up AOG Technics, which sold more than 60,000 components in a 40m global fraudA one-time techno DJ who orchestrated a 40m global fraud selling fake aircraft parts from his garage outside London has been jailed.Engine parts from AOG Technics found their way into planes used by American Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Delta and Ryanair before the scam was discovered, leading to regulators issuing safety alerts and planes being grounded. Continue reading...

PM asks ethics adviser to examine conduct of Cabinet Office minister amid Labour Together scandal fallout

Exclusive: Assessors unable to override algorithm-based tool, leaving people at risk of being pushed into aged care homes before they are ready

Everyone Hates Elon campaigners fix photo of ex-prince slouched in backseat of car after arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public officeActivists have hung a photo in the Louvre museum in Paris of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor being driven from a police station after his arrest.The British political campaign group Everyone Hates Elon fixed the photo, which shows the former prince slouched in the backseat of a Range Rover, on a wall of the Paris gallery on Sunday. Continue reading...

As details of the death toll for January's protests continue to emerge, three students explain why they are resisting a return to normalityMore than 45 days after a brutal January crackdown that left thousands of Iranian protesters dead, students across several universities are protesting again. As Iran's new academic term began on Saturday, students in Tehran gathered on campus, chanting anti-government slogans, despite a heavy security presence and plainclothes officers stationed outside university gates.The Guardian spoke to protesting students about why they were rallying despite the fact that thousands had been killed and tens of thousands arrested in the January demonstrations. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese writes to British PM as UK prepares to consider laws to strip former prince of his right to inherit the throne

Report into unprecedented' violence between members of two communities in 2022 calls for action on communalism

Former senior civil servants say culture of deference meant excessive expenses claims were waved throughAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor charged taxpayers for the cost of massages and excessive travel expenses while he was the UK's trade envoy, it has been reported.Former senior civil servants said they were shocked to see the claims, and that there was a culture of deference towards the former prince within Whitehall that allowed them to proceed. Continue reading...