World news | The Guardian

US president's claim that conflict is nearing end prompts 15% drop in Brent crude and stock market climb in Asia

Leading US heart health group recommends prioritizing plant-based protein over meat relative to US governmentThe American Heart Association's new nutrition guidance, released on Tuesday, emphasized a dietary pattern rich in vegetables, fruits and whole grains, prioritizing plant-based protein over meat.It also suggested limiting the use of sugar, salt and ultra-processed foods and replacing full fat dairy with non-fat and low-fat dairy. Continue reading...

Khalid Ahmed, 24, from Ealing in west London, remanded in custody until hearing at Old BaileyA 24-year-old man accused of trying to smuggle 10 guns and ammunition into the UK as he drove off a ferry into Dover has been remanded in custody.Khalid Ahmed, from Ealing in west London, who is a dual Dutch and Irish national, appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday, after being charged overnight with firearms offences. Continue reading...

Government keen to avoid panic as oil price surges, but perhaps households need advice on reducing consumptionLabour ministers sent out in recent days to respond to the looming energy crisis sparked by the Iran war have essentially stuck to that reassuring wartime slogan: keep calm and carry on.I think people should go about their lives as normal, knowing that the government is taking action to bring energy bills down," James Murray, the chief secretary to the Treasury, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Rachel Reeves will address concerns about price rises and shortages with retailers as energy costs surgeThe bosses of the UK's biggest supermarkets are to meet the chancellor on Wednesday as the government seeks to gauge the extent of potential price rises and shortages of household essentials amid a surge in energy, fuel and fertiliser costs.Rachel Reeves is meeting the bosses of Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons as concerns rise about the potential impact on the cost of living - including higher food prices - as a result of the Middle East conflict. Continue reading...

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Broadcaster did not look into separate allegations of inappropriate communications' involving the Radio 2 DJThe BBC has apologised for its response after allegations about Scott Mills were raised with the broadcaster last year.Mills was sacked with immediate effect by the BBC on Monday over his personal conduct". It then emerged he had been questioned over separate allegations of serious sexual offences against a boy aged under 16 in 2018, but the case was later closed due to lack of evidence. Continue reading...

Luca Cella Walker asked chatbot for best way for someone to kill themself on railway line before his deathA 16-year-old boy killed himself after asking ChatGPT for the most successful" way to take your own life, an inquest has been told.Luca Cella Walker, a private school pupil from Yateley, Hampshire, died on 4 May last year. Continue reading...

Tabloid outlet has covered Republicans and Democrats relaxing at places such as Disney World as shutdown drags onWhen US federal workers were missing paychecks and the partial government shutdown entered its seventh week, Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, was doing what any responsible lawmaker would do: riding Space Mountain and carrying a bubble wand at Disney World in Florida.Naturally, TMZ had photos of the vacationing senator on its homepage a few days later. Continue reading...

Two-month arrangement aimed at preventing small-boat crossings comes as existing deal expiresThe UK will pay France an extra 16.2m to keep police patrolling Channel beaches and prevent a surge in small-boat crossings after negotiators failed to agree a permanent deal before a midnight deadline.The stopgap arrangement, which will last for two months, comes after French negotiators refused to agree to UK demands for further interventions and patrols to stop asylum seekers from reaching the UK via the Channel. Continue reading...

Nearly a quarter of voters cite Reform leader's support for US president as main reason against voting for his partyBy day 31 of the war in the Middle East, Nigel Farage had become somewhat less vocal about the closeness of his relationship with Donald Trump.Trying to read what's really in the minds of people in the White House right at the moment is a mug's game," said the MP, as he unveiled his party's latest pledge" to cut the cost of living on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Leader understood to have spoken to 10 trade unions after party claimed working class voters are turning to themZack Polanski has kicked off a charm offensive designed to convince trade unions to stop funding Labour and throw their weight behind the Green party, as he delivered the first in a series of speeches to union conferences.The Green leader has had good conversations" with 10 trade unions, including some affiliated to Labour, according to party sources, and is due to address the University and College Union and the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, not affiliated with Labour, in the coming months. Continue reading...

One twin wanted to take parental responsibility from the other for child P after both had sex with child's motherA woman who had sex with identical twins within four days of each other is unable to ensure one of them takes parental responsibility because it is not possible" to know which is the father, the court of appeal has said.One of the twins was registered as the father on the birth certificate of the child, referred to as P. His identical twin, along with the mother, sought to take over parental responsibility by asking the court of appeal to overturn a previous family court decision. Continue reading...

Cargo of tofu was spilled in highway accident near town of Jerome and left to ripen and rot in the open for weeksA staggering 40,000lbs of extra-firm tofu was spilled in an accident near a small town in Missouri and left in the open for weeks, creating a smell that local officials called unforgettable".The cleanup - dubbed the Great Battle of the Jerome Tofu Monster" - began near the town of Jerome, in south-western Missouri, on 1 March, when a tractor-trailer vehicle with a cargo of tofu crashed off a local highway and plunged into a ravine. Continue reading...

Request comes at the start of a two-week inquest into the death of Noongar man Jeffrey Winmar in Melbourne

Pontiff's unusually pointed comments come after Pete Hegseth's prayer for violence against enemies who deserve no mercy'Pope Leo has said God ignores the prayers of leaders who wage war and have hands full of blood", in an apparent rebuke to the Trump administration.The pontiff made the comments on Sunday as thousands of US troops arrived in the Middle East and days after the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, prayed for violence against enemies who deserved no mercy". Continue reading...

Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany were accused of lying on document used to enter Taylor's house on night of shootingA federal judge has dismissed charges against two former Louisville police officers accused of falsifying the warrant used to enter Breonna Taylor's apartment the night police shot her to death.Charles Simpson, a US district judge, issued a one-page ruling on Friday throwing out charges against Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, two former officers involved in crafting the Taylor warrant. Continue reading...

Iran has targeted Israel and Gulf states while denying Trump's claims that any negotiations are taking place. Plus, Democrats flip seat in district that includes Mar-a-LagoGood morning.The US appeared poised to deploy airborne troops to the Middle East, according to reports, as strikes intensified across the region.What is the 15-point framework? Diplomats with knowledge of the talks believe it is likely to be a rehashed version of a proposal put forward by Trump's negotiating team during nuclear talks in May 2025.What is happening with the strait of Hormuz? Iran has announced it is permitting non-hostile" ships to pass safely through the strait.This is a developing story. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates. Continue reading...

Former MP appears at Westminster magistrates court to admit four drugs charges stemming from raid on his homeThe former MP Crispin Blunt has pleaded guilty at Westminster magistrates court to four charges of possession of drugs including cannabis and crystal meth.The 65-year-old former justice minister appeared at Westminster magistrates' court on Wednesday to admit four drugs charges, which stem from a raid on his home in Horley, Surrey, on October 25 2023. Continue reading...

Government's pilot ban for under-16s accompanies consultation as peers vote on Australia-style restrictionsHundreds of UK teenagers will trial social media bans, digital curfews and time limits on apps under a government pilot, which will run alongside a consultation to decide whether the UK should ban access to social media for the under-16s.During the test, led by the UK government, a proportion of 300 teens across all four nations of the UK will have their social apps disabled, mimicking the enforcement of a social media ban at home". Continue reading...

Fuel stocks at same level as when US and Israel launched their war on Iran a month ago, energy minister says

NSW police allege the boy held a mixed ideology and outlined plans for acts of violence'

Tania Warner says she has documents showing she is in the US legally, but immigration agents were not swayed

Senate leader proposes compromise to fund homeland security shutdown amid chaotic scenes at airports

Marco Rubio welcomes release of Dennis Coyle, who was detained in January last year for violating unspecified lawsAfghanistan's Taliban authorities have released the American academic Dennis Coyle after holding him for over a year, with the foreign ministry saying the release came on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.A statement from the ministry said the academic researcher had been released in Kabul on Tuesday, following an appeal from his family and after Afghanistan's supreme court considered his previous imprisonment sufficient". Continue reading...

German rescue teams have been trying to ease the humpback's path back into deeper waters without successA 10-metre-long humpback whale stranded on a sandbar in the Baltic Sea is in danger of dying if rescue workers do not manage to help it move into deeper waters soon, experts have said.Believed to be a young male, the mammal was spotted by guests of a hotel in Niendorf in Lubeck Bay, northern Germany, on Monday after they heard its deep moans and alerted police. Continue reading...

Investigation continues into Iran-linked group's claim it attacked Jewish charity's ambulances in north LondonThe number of national security cases involving hostile states carrying out operations such as spying and sabotage in the UK has increased by half in six months, the head of counter-terrorism policing has said.As the security services continue to investigate the potential involvement of an Iran-linked group in Monday's attack on community ambulances run by a Jewish charity, the assistant Metropolitan police commissioner Laurence Taylor warned of a worrying trend. Continue reading...

Parliamentary hearing focused on online harms from X, TikTok and Meta including use of AI to nudify young girls

Scheme expanded to four schools with known or suspected cases, as UKHSA figures show number has fallen to 23The meningitis B vaccination programme will be expanded to include year 11 pupils at schools affected by the outbreak in Kent, health officials have said.Figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show the number of cases of meningitis have fallen from 29 on Sunday, when 20 cases were confirmed and a further nine were under investigation, to 20 confirmed cases with a further three under investigation, as of 12.30pm on Monday. Continue reading...

Declan Conlon will argue officials have failed to act despite clear evidence of the ecological collapse of Lough NeaghAn eel fisher is to argue at the high court in Belfast that the authorities have allowed the ecological collapse of Lough Neagh by failing to take action over pollution.Declan Conlon, whose family have for generations fished the inland lake in Northern Ireland that once hosted the largest wild eel fishery in Europe, is seeking to take a judicial review against the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera). He will argue the department has failed to act against polluters despite clear evidence of the ecological collapse of the lake. Continue reading...

Chris Parry describes Shomrim members as cosplayers' hours after arson attack in north London

PM tells MPs a lot of what is said or done is undoubtedly said or done to put pressure on me'Matthew Pennycook, the housing minister, was speaking for the government on the morning news programmes earlier. Speaking to LBC, he confirmed that the government wanted the Competition and Markets Authority to deal with any potention profiteering by oil companies. Pennycook said prices were prices are soaring in places" and we're seeing a huge differentiation in prices across the country, which is why the CMA have put fuel retailers on notice".Donald Trump has said he has instructed the defence department to postpone all airstrikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, Yohannes Lowe reports. This is subject to the success" of ongoing meetings and discussions", Trump said in a Truth Social post. Continue reading...

Israeli military says it will continue operations in line with Israeli government directives until told otherwise

Italian prime minister says she will respect the vote but says it is a lost change to modernise Italy'Meanwhile, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban attempted to get on the front foot after allegations that his foreign minister Peter Szijjarto was leaking confidential EU talks to Russia as he ordered a probe into what he called a wiretapping of Szijjarto's phone.We are dealing with two serious issues: there is evidence that Hungary's foreign minister was wiretapped, and we also have indications of who may be behind it. This must be investigated immediately," Orban tweeted on Monday, as reported by Reuters. Continue reading...

Karachi particularly badly affected with 18 people killed, more than 50mm of rain and winds gusting up to 60mphUnseasonally wet weather struck southern Pakistan and north-west India on Wednesday, as heavy rain rolled in from the west, accompanied by thunderstorms, hail, and strong winds.Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, was particularly badly affected, locally recording more than 50mm of rain with winds gusting up to 60mph. Walls, buildings, and a pedestrian bridge collapsed, with flooding and power outages across the city. At least 18 people were killed and several more injured, many by structural collapses, with other deaths attributed to a fallen tree and a lightning strike. Continue reading...

UK's bilateral aid to Africa, which funds areas such as schools and clinics, to be cut by almost 900m by 2028-29Some of the world's poorest countries will lose out on UK aid that funds programmes such as schools and clinics, due to budget cuts set out by the foreign secretary.The UK's bilateral aid to Africa will be reduced by almost 900m by 2028-29 - a 56% cut - part of more than 6bn in cuts which are funding an increase in defence spending. Continue reading...

Cryptocurrency's biggest Pac spent more than $10m for their candidates, only to be defeated by those who are anti-crypto

Business secretary announces new steel safeguards' during visit to Tata's Port Talbot plantThe UK is to double tariffs on Chinese and other foreign steel in a bid to save its remaining plants from collapse.The new steel safeguards" came weeks after bosses at Tata Steel in south Wales warned the government they had just two months to be saved. Continue reading...

CenTax warns bill under debate in parliament has easily exploitable' loopholes and will not prevent foreign interferencePolitical donations by companies should be banned to protect UK elections from foreign interference, a thinktank has warned.In the first big overhaul of election funding in 26 years, ministers have pledged to keep British democracy safe" by closing a loophole that allows individuals not eligible to vote in Britain to donate to political parties through UK-registered companies. Continue reading...

Five-day cessation announced as mass funeral held for some of hundreds of victims of airstrike on rehab centrePakistan has announced a five-day pause in strikes against neighbouring Afghanistan, as a mass funeral was held for some of the hundreds of victims killed in Monday's attack on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul.The Afghan Taliban government has said more than 400 people were killed in and 265 others wounded in that attack, which took place as people and staff at the centre were praying days before the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Continue reading...

Nick Timothy said an event attended by the mayor of London that included prayers was an act of domination'Polanski says the government should be doing more to improve home insulation, and on the drive towards renewable energy.And he says the government should commit to ensuring energy bills do not rise above the April-June price cap.The government should guarantee right now that it will not allow energy bills to rise beyond the April-June price cap - instead setting aside approximately 8.4bn to prevent a rise of up to 300 per household that could be coming down the track.No, it's not cheap. But the alternative is unacceptable: if the price cap rises, we will see interest rate rises. Mortgage rates up. Bond yields up. And inflation up - and we will be back into the doom loop that has done untold damage to our economy and caused misery for households across the UK for years now.There are ways to pay. Instead of scrapping the windfall tax on energy companies, as this government is planning to do, we should be strengthening it instead. We need a real, loophole-free windfall tax with no exemptions for reinvesting in fossil fuels. A robust tax that claws back every single pound of reckless profiteering from this crisis and repurposes it immediately to protect every home in the country. And while taxing extreme wealth in the ways we need to will take time to implement, there are levers the government could pull right now - like equalising capital gains tax with income tax and reforming the base, to raise 12bn.It's time for the government to act decisively, eliminate the uncertainty that is plaguing people and the markets and insulate us from some of the worst economic effects of Trump's war.This was not a war of self-defence, there was no imminent threat. Negotiations were ongoing. It was, as the BBC's international editor said, a war of choice.People across the Middle East are terrified of what Trump and Netanyanhu's war will mean for them and their loved ones. And the repercussions are echoing across the world as instability spreads and oil prices spike.People are already struggling so hard just to make ends meet. People feel like they're running every day just to stay in the same place. The idea that yet again - for the second time in just a few years - that we are going to have to deal with another enormous spike in the cost of the basics is unacceptable.It's unacceptable because we didn't need to be here. It's unforgivable that just four years after we last saw an energy price shock, that one triggered by Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, far too little has been done to protect this country, its people, and its economy - from the impact of yet another energy price shock. Continue reading...

As Deep As the Grave, the true story of 1920s archeologists, will bring late actor back with support from his estateVal Kilmer is set to be the latest Hollywood star to be resurrected by AI. The acting legend, who died last year at age 65, will star in the drama As Deep As the Grave.Kilmer was attached to the project prior to his death from throat cancer. Continue reading...

Reform UK leader was paid to make remarks about imprisoned rapper and ex-Honduran president in Cameo videos

Offer to reform taxes, tackle rip-off Britain' and overhaul fiscal rules could tempt exasperated Labour supporters

The bloc's foremost troublemaker could lose April's election, but the headaches he's caused will not necessarily disappear with him Don't get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereHow do you solve a problem like Viktor Orban? By crossing your fingers and hoping it disappears in just over three weeks' time. But even if the European Union's disruptor-in-chief is ousted in elections next month (which is far from certain), Europe's Hungary problem is unlikely to vanish overnight.EU leaders will gather in Brussels on Thursday and Friday for yet another summit that will be at least partly hijacked by Orban, Hungary's illiberal prime minister. Continue reading...

Records shed light on how Scott Brown - then Trump's New Zealand ambassador, now running for Senate - responded to Kennedy's 2019 Samoa trip ahead of measles outbreakWhen Robert F Kennedy Jr ran for president as a Democrat in 2023, he found an unexpected ally in Scott Brown. A former Republican senator, Brown had begun a tradition of hosting Republican presidential candidates for barbecues in his New Hampshire back yard, where they could stump for votes and get attention ahead of the state's crucial primary.Kennedy became Brown's first Democratic invitee. His appearance in September 2023 drew hundreds of people, Brown's biggest crowd ever. Kennedy held Brown in such high regard that after he decided to run instead as an independent, he reportedly reached out to Brown as a possible vice-presidential running mate, though Brown declined. Continue reading...

Pardoned by Trump after violating US banking law, Ben Delo provides funding, networking, and podcasting space for a range of groups, including those with hardline views on migration and abortionA British billionaire convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate money-laundering controls on his cryptocurrency business is funding a political base in the heart of Westminster used by anti-woke" and rightwing activists.Ben Delo, 42, who was pardoned by Donald Trump last year, has given support in kind to Rupert Lowe, the anti-migration MP challenging Nigel Farage from the right - while also connecting with mainstream figures including the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and former cabinet minister Michael Gove. Continue reading...

Ottawa wants to modernize a region in the north that's about six times the size of Texas, just like in the 1800s'Picture an Arctic territory, marginalized by its own country, almost entirely lacking roads, ports and power sources, but rich in mining potential and suddenly feeling vulnerable to outside threats.It's not Greenland; it's the Canadian Arctic. Continue reading...

Sociology faculty are refusing to alter syllabi, even as state targets how race, gender and inequality are taught