Decision follows backlash from Italian government and European CommissionThe jury of the Venice Biennale has quit just days before the prestigious art exhibition is due to begin, amid a row over the decision to allow Russia to participate.The resignation of the five-member international jury was announced late on Thursday in a brief statement by the Venice Biennale organisers, and came a day after the Italian culture ministry sent inspectors to Venice in search of information about the decision to allow Russia to have a pavilion at the event. Continue reading...

Shares in Domino's Pizza, KFC operator Collins Foods and multi-brand food franchise owner Retail Food Group have all suffered double-digit falls

Critics say Maryland's new law banning rapidly change product costs based on consumer data is full of carveoutsMaryland has become the first state in the US to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores.Maryland's law bans grocers and third-party delivery services from using a person's personal data to set higher prices. Wes Moore, the governor, signed the measure into law on Tuesday. At a time when technology can predict what we need, when we need it, when we'll pay for it and also - when we'll pay more for it, and at a time when we're watching how big companies are then using these analytics against us to make record profits, Maryland is not just pushing back. Maryland is pushing forward because we are going to protect our people," Moore said at the bill signing ceremony. Continue reading...

Report calls for tough action to combat escalating and unsustainable burden' of liver-related problems in EuropeGovernments in Europe should impose much higher taxes on alcohol and unhealthy food to tackle the continent's 284,000 deaths a year from liver disease, experts say.Taxes on those products should rise sharply enough for the money raised to cover the huge costs they place on health services, the criminal justice system and social services. Continue reading...

Ittai Gradel died of renal cancer days after museum awarded him medal for very significant contribution'The academic turned antiquities dealer who exposed the theft of hundreds of artefacts from the British Museum has died aged 61.Dr Ittai Gradel, from Denmark, alerted the British Museum and the police after he was able to buy dozens of museum artefacts on eBay over the course of several years. Continue reading...

Protester says he migrated from Malaysia as a child and describes home secretary's immigration policies as cruel

Hundreds of senior staff in territory benefit from nearly 30,000-a-year grant per child not available to staff in group's other hubsHSBC is reportedly reviewing a perk that covers school fees for bankers in Hong Kong as part of a big overhaul of the bank under chief executive Georges Elhedery.Europe's largest bank is considering whether to scrap the perk for new employees or make changes to total compensation, Bloomberg News reported. No decisions have been made yet. Continue reading...

Conservatives expected to push for privileges committee involvement in a Commons vote on Monday

Mining magnate also claims children are being taught to be ashamed of the Australian flag in a speech to 4,000 people on the Sydney Opera House steps

Staff are handing over sandwiches from behind a theft-proof counter as the high street fights backGreggs has axed self-service display cabinets in bakery stores that have been most severely hit by shoplifters.The move is the latest aimed at combating a problem plaguing the high street. Last year official figures revealed annual shoplifting offences in England and Wales had passed half a million offences for the first time, and since then many retailers have reported high levels of crime in their shops. Continue reading...

Trade union criticises airline's plan to halve passenger numbers to the city as purely profit-oriented'Ryanair is to shut its Berlin operating base and cut its winter schedule to the German capital in half, blaming soaring aviation taxes in the country.The Irish budget carrier said its relocation of seven aircraft to other centres would reduce its Berlin passenger numbers from 4.5 million to 2.2 million a year, with flights in and out of the city served from October by planes based at other airports. Continue reading...

Film sequel reveals how luxury brands have turned the tables on once-dominant magazine editorsThe National Gallery was the grand setting for the party that followed The Devil Wears Prada 2's London premiere this week. Donatella Versace held court in a roped-off area beneath Paul Delaroche's The Execution of Lady Jane Grey.Meryl Streep, reprising her role as Miranda Priestly - Anna Wintour's fictional alter ego - wore a red satin Prada coat as a nod to the film's title and black sunglasses as a wink to Wintour. Glossy magazine editors from Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, flown in for the night, nibbled on fried chicken served with caviar and dishes of mac and cheese presented theatrically under silver cloches. Continue reading...

Crown Prosecution Service launches action plan to help potential victims and perpetrators understand behavioursYoung people may not even realise they have been victims of stalking, the Crown Prosecution Service has said as it launched a scheme to tackle a rise in offending.The number of stalking offences charged by the CPS in England and Wales reached a record high last year of 7,168. More than 80% of these were flagged as relating to domestic abuse, meaning most victims were stalked or harassed by someone they knew. Continue reading...

John Ashby to serve minimum of 14 years after admitting rape, robbery, intentional strangulation and religiously aggravated assaultA man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years for the religiously aggravated rape and assault of a Sikh woman.John Ashby, 32, had admitted charges of rape, robbery, intentional strangulation and religiously aggravated assault on Tuesday. Ashby asked to see his barrister and changed his pleas around an hour after being sworn at and told to sort your shit out" by a member of the public who approached the dock of Birmingham crown court. Continue reading...

Green groups say European Commission is chief roadblock' to its own plans, as report finds poor progress four years onHarmful compounds in children's nappies and toxic forever chemicals" in everyday products are among 14 hazardous substance groups hit by lengthy delays to EU pollution controls, according to report findings described by scientists as extremely frustrating".The European Commission sought to push broad categories of dangerous substances off the market with a restrictions roadmap" in April 2022 that was hailed at the time as the largest-ever ban of toxic chemicals. Continue reading...

Inquiry began in March after report on security arrangements involving FBI director's girlfriend, NYT says

HMRC owed more than 640,00 by company that advised clients such as TikTok, GSK and PalantirPeter Mandelson's former consultancy business, Global Counsel, went bust owing 4.6m - including more than 600,000 to the taxman - a report by the group's administrators reveals.The company, which provided advice to high-profile clients including Chinese-owned TikTok, US tech business Palantir and UK pharmaceutical firm GSK, collapsed into administration in February, after it lost a series of accounts over the peer's relationship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading...

Renowned artist, who won 12 Grammys, died at home after being diagnosed with an aggressive type of brain cancer

Fires that spread during drought in Georgia and Florida have blanketed cities hundreds of miles away in smoke

Consumer confidence hit its lowest level since October 2023 this month, with surveys showing the cost pressures companies are facingConfidence in the UK economy has fallen sharply amid the mounting economic fallout from the Iran war, surveys show, as businesses prepare to raise their prices and consumers brace for a fresh cost of living shock.Highlighting the knock-on impact of the Middle East crisis in Britain, several closely-watched surveys of business activity and consumer confidence blamed the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran for a marked deterioration in the outlook in April. Continue reading...

The findings land before supreme court hearing on Trump bid to end protections for Syrians and Haitians

PM under increasing pressure over Mandelson vetting scandal as sources say ministers spoke up at tense meetingKeir Starmer is looking increasingly isolated over his handling of the Peter Mandelson scandal with divisions emerging in cabinet over his decision to sack the Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins.On another difficult day for the prime minister, the Guardian learned of concerns around the cabinet table, a senior minister refused to say the dismissal was fair and several mandarins called for him to be reinstated. One Labour MP called on Starmer to quit. Continue reading...

Move marks government's most radical attempt to weaken impact of soaring wholesale gas prices on electricity costs

PM to tell Commons he was himself misled and would never knowingly mislead parliament or the public'

Twin reports from top accounting firms underline scale of economic threat as Iran war shatters business confidenceA quarter of a million people could lose their jobs by the middle of next year as Britain flirts with recession", analysis suggests, after business confidence was shattered by the US-Israel war on Iran.As the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, summoned bank chiefs for talks aimed at containing the fallout, twin reports from top accounting firms underlined the scale of the economic threat facing the UK. Continue reading...

Holiday park firms say such bookings are on the rise because of impact of Iran war on aviationHoliday companies have predicted a surge in bookings for UK summer breaks after a jump in interest from Britons fearful of flight cancellations linked to the Iran war.Summer bookings are expected to rise in the coming weeks amid warnings of possible jet fuel shortages and resulting cancellations by airlines across Europe. Continue reading...

Exclusive: George Robertson calls on officials to identify the fit and willing' in UK's 95,000-strong strategic reserveThe Ministry of Defence has lost track of military veterans they intend to recall at a time of national danger, according to a key government adviser.About 95,000 former soldiers and officers are in the strategic reserve but it is claimed that officials have failed to maintain a full record of their contact details. Continue reading...

Filings suggest manufacturers' lending arms have massively underestimated bill from FCA's 9.1bn redress schemeCarmakers are under pressure to drum up 3bn to cover payouts for motor finance scandal victims after failing to adequately prepare for a UK-wide compensation scheme that is due to begin this summer.Company filings show the lending arms of big vehicle manufacturers including Ford, BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen may have massively underestimated the final costs of the financial regulator's 9.1bn redress scheme. Continue reading...

The Albanese government overhauled policy and promised significant pollution cuts - but carbon offsets are still being used as an excuse

Two men died at the scene after head-on motorway collision near Kincross, Police Scotland sayTwo drivers have died in a motorway crash in Scotland involving a car apparently travelling in the wrong direction on the carriageway, police have said.The two men died at the scene of the collision on the M90 near Kinross, a town in Perth and Kinross, at 10.30pm on Friday. Continue reading...

Labour calls on Nigel Farage to sack candidates and says his party's checks clearly not fit for purpose'Reform UK's checks on candidates are clearly not fit for purpose", Labour has said after two more candidates in May's local elections were accused of making offensive or potentially racist social media posts.Meanwhile, it emerged that Restore Britain, the party set up by the MP Rupert Lowe after he left Reform, appeared to have accepted a donation from someone who has called publicly on social media for another Hitler" to come to power. Continue reading...

Exiled leader to revive push for change amid US backing of Delcy Rodriguez and delays to democratic transitionVenezuela's opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, will seek to revive her push for political change with a rally in Madrid on Saturday, having found herself sidelined by Donald Trump after the abduction of the president Nicolas Maduro.Venezuela will be free," the Nobel peace prize winner insisted in an interview on the eve of this weekend's demonstration in the Puerta del Sol square, which is expected to draw tens of thousands of protesters. Continue reading...

Victoria Bonya says authorities too scared to raise issues with Vladimir Putin, whose approval ratings are decliningThe Kremlin is grappling with the fallout from the viral spread of a celebrity blogger's criticism of Russian authorities, as Vladimir Putin's approval ratings register their sixth consecutive weekly decline.Victoria Bonya, a household name in Russia who rose to fame in 2006 on Dom-2, the country's answer to the reality TV show Big Brother, posted a video on Monday warning the Russian president that a string of mounting problems risked spiralling out of control. Continue reading...

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Growing numbers in the capital Honiara are playing the street card game Pass for a chance of a big payout, while risking big lossesAs the school day ends in Honiara, *Irene, a 43-year-old teacher in a floral dress with a yellow daisy in her bun, steps on to a minibus.After 10 minutes, Irene gets off the bus, walks down an alley, and enters a damp, smoky shelter. Plastic tables fill the space and playing cards are scattered on the floor. Irene has stopped by a hidden gambling table in a western suburb of Honiara to play Pass, a street card game gaining popularity in the Solomon Islands capital. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Officials have spent weeks debating whether or not to release highly sensitive information about the affairKeir Starmer was left in the dark about sensitive information relating to Peter Mandelson's security vetting by two other top civil servants, including the head of the civil service, the Guardian can reveal.The prime minister said on Friday that it was unforgivable" and staggering" that senior officials did not tell him that Mandelson failed a security vetting process weeks before he took up his role as ambassador to Washington. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer says it is staggering' and unforgivable' that he was not told Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting before taking up the role of US ambassador. The comments follow a Guardian investigation that exclusively revealed Mandelson had initially been denied clearance after a background check by security officials, but that the decision was overruled by the Foreign Office. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian's head of investigations, Paul Lewis - watch on YouTube Continue reading...

Opposition accuses Narendra Modi government of using quotas as cover for redrawing electoral mapThe Indian government has failed to pass a bill to increase female representation in parliament after being accused of using the plan as a guise to redraw the country's electoral map.It was the first time in 12 years in power that a constitutional amendment proposed by Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government was not passed by parliament. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer understood to have lost confidence in official over decision to override security vetting failure

Accumulations of up to 3cm deep reported as severe thunderstorms also bring heavy downpours to central ItalySevere thunderstorms have affected the Mediterranean this week. On Monday, a surface low-pressure system in the Mediterranean in conjunction with an upper air cut-off low, led to thunderstorms over north Africa. Their intensity was aided by the hot precursor conditions.Algeria and Tunisia were notably affected by the thunderstorms, with some hail accumulation layers as a result. When so much hail forms, it starts to lay down sheets of hail, covering the ground like snow. Hail accumulations of up to 3cm were reported in Oum Ladjoul and Hammam Sokhna in Algeria, and there were hailstones of up to 3cm in diameter in Makthar, Tunisia. Thunderstorms continued in the region through the following day, with further hail accumulations, notably in Ouled Bousmir, Tunisia, where there was a layer about 2cm deep. Continue reading...

Though welcomed by chefs and campaigners, many schools say the government's plan to remove grab and go' options from the menu is a step too farIt is lunchtime at Richard Challoner school, a Catholic comprehensive for boys in New Malden, south-west London. The familiar smell of school lunch is beginning to waft around the corridors.In the canteen, there is a moment of calm as the kitchen team make final preparations before year 7 descend - a mass of chatting, laughing boys, with backpacks swinging and empty tummies grumbling. Continue reading...

Tony award-winning actor will play lead role of Judith Bliss in Noel Coward's comedy at Wyndham's theatre in LondonChristine Baranski is to make her West End debut alongside Richard E Grant in a revival of Noel Coward's comedy Hay Fever. The US star, known for her TV roles in The Good Fight and The Gilded Age, says she is looking forward to tearing a passion to tatters" in the 1925 play about a family toying with their guests at a country house party.She will star as the newly retired actor Judith Bliss, with Grant playing her novelist husband. Baranski has twice won the Tony award for best featured actress in a play - with New York productions of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing in 1984 and Neil Simon's Rumors in 1989. She also appeared in the comedies Hurlyburly (in 1985) and Boeing-Boeing (in 2008) on Broadway. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Experts say scheme will help repair damaged marine ecosystems while sequestering large amounts of carbonMore than 15m juvenile oysters are to be released into the North Sea in one of the biggest rewilding projects in UK waters.The scheme, which will use a unique rearing process, hopes to re-establish a huge oyster bed around Orkney that experts say will create a trophic cascade" of climate and ecological benefits. Continue reading...

Liza Tobay, who lives in UK, was told her settled status had been red flagged' after trying to make a connecting flight from Munich to EdinburghA German woman has been separated from her two-year-old daughter in Edinburgh after a Home Office mistake left her stranded in Dusseldorf earlier this week.Liza Tobay, who has lived in the UK for 15 years, had taken her oldest child, a six-year-old boy, to visit his grandfather and some other relatives over Easter when confronted with what she said appeared to be a serious administrative error". Continue reading...

How much fuel does Australia have left today, and when could we run out? Track how much petrol and diesel prices have risen near you in Sydney, Melbourne and across the country.

This blog is now closed. Our live coverage continues hereIran has stopped all petrochemical exports to prioritise domestic supply and prevent shortages of raw materials, Reuters reported.The state-owned National Petrochemical Company ordered firms to suspend exports until further notice. Continue reading...

Duke and Duchess of Sussex also met with emergency workers and Sydney Jewish Museum representatives on final day of Australia trip

Jay Bryant negotiating plea deal in New York death of Run-DMC star, over which one conviction has been overturnedOne of the three men charged in the killing of Jam Master Jay plans to plead guilty, court records show, in what would be the first admission anyone has made in court to any role in the Run-DMC star's death in 2002.Jay Bryant pleaded not guilty to murder after his 2023 indictment, but his lawyer and federal prosecutors told the court in recent letters that they were negotiating a plea agreement. Continue reading...

Tory leader criticises Farage for saying that holding another independence vote probably quite reasonable'Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative party, has accused Nigel Farage of being an opportunist who does not believe in unionism after he urged Scottish nationalists to back Reform.Farage said earlier this week he believed genuine nationalists" would not support the Scottish National party's bid to rejoin the EU, and urged them to vote Reform in the Holyrood election on 7 May. Continue reading...

Guardian investigation uncovers decision by UK security officials to deny clearance before Mandelson took up role as US ambassador