World news | The Guardian

Reform UK leader on top deck of party battlebus when objects reportedly thrown from nearby construction site

Union claims Whitbread, which also owns Premier Inn, has not consulted properly with restaurant staffHundreds of workers from restaurants including Brewers Fayre, Table Table and Beefeater outlets are threatening their parent company Whitbread with legal action over alleged poor consultation on 1,500 planned job cuts and closures.The Unite union has written to Whitbread, which also owns Premier Inn hotels, saying it is considering launching employment tribunal claims for unfair dismissal. It says some of the 3,000 workers potentially affected by the company's moves to exit more than 200 restaurants have yet to be told which sites will close despite evidence that plans have been in place since December last year. Continue reading...

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail each win 23% of first preference vote, with Sinn Fein on just 12% after expected landslideVoters in Ireland have bolstered the centrist government, chastened Sinn Fein and elected a handful of far-right candidates in local elections.The ruling coalition hoped also to perform well in the European elections, with preliminary results on Monday suggesting Ireland had, like other European countries, shored up pro-EU mainstream parties. Continue reading...

Far-right gains unlikely to unravel deal but may dampen support for bringing EU in line with 1.5C, say analysts

Win would benefit banks, builders and supermarkets, say analysts, showing appeal of centrist platform' for City

New policy follows sacking of ex-CEO Bernard Looney with top managers given three months to report all relationships in past three yearsBP employees will have to disclose intimate relationships with colleagues or risk losing their jobs, according to a new policy brought out after the dismissal of former boss Bernard Looney for failing to tell the board.Employees must disclose familial and intimate relationships at work" without exception, the FTSE 100 oil company said on Monday. That is a tougher stance than before, when they only had to disclose relationships if they thought there was a a conflict of interest risk. Continue reading...

Cabinet minister Mel Stride says PM deeply regrets' early exit from 80th-anniversary commemoration in Normandy

Man in his 40s also being treated for potentially life-changing injuries after incident at Lambeth country showA woman in her 40s is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after a funfair ride malfunctioned at a country show in south London, the Metropolitan police said. A man in his 40s is also receiving treatment for potentially life-changing injuries.Lambeth country show in Brockwell Park reopened on Sunday, but the rides remained cordoned off. Continue reading...

Most of the European Union's 27 member countries, including powerhouses France and Germany, go to the polls on Sunday, the final dayRobert Fico, Slovakia's prime minister who was shot and seriously injured in May, cast his vote at a hospital in Bratislava.Fico, a populist politician who is closely allied with Hungary's Viktor Orban and has promoted a foreign policy more friendly toward Russia, wrote on social media:I voted in the hospital because these elections are also important. It is necessary to vote for MEPs who will support peace initiatives and not the continuation of war.Consent of western countries given to Ukraine to use western weapons to attack targets on Russian territory is just a proof that big western democracies do not want peace, but an escalation of tensions with the Russian Federation, which will surely happen. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereHere are some images of the hostages and their family and friends embracing after their release:Noa Argamani Continue reading...

Woman, 45, sustained significant trauma' and had part of arm amputated after one attack, and two teens were injured in anotherTwo separate shark attacks at Florida beaches wounded three swimmers, including two teenagers, prompting some popular vacation spots to temporarily close, according to authorities.A shark bit a 45-year-old woman at about 1.20pm on Friday while she swam at Watersound beach, along the coast of Walton county, Florida, in the eastern part of the state. Continue reading...

Move comes after video released showing hip-hop mogul attacking singer Cassie Ventura in 2016Howard University on Friday announced that it has revoked the honorary degree it gave to Sean Diddy" Combs in 2014, discontinued a scholarship program named after the rap mogul and returned a $1m donation from him, citing the video which showed him violently attacking singer Cassie Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel.Mr Combs' behavior ... is so fundamentally incompatible with Howard University's core values and beliefs that he is deemed no longer worthy to hold the institution's highest honor," the Washington DC school said in a statement. The university is unwavering in its opposition to all acts of interpersonal violence." Continue reading...

Major art exhibition in Alba de Tormes aims to break cultural stranglehold of Madrid and BarcelonaIn an elegant but unfinished basilica 100 miles from Madrid as the crow - or in this case the stork - flies, some of the hidden and long-dispersed religious treasures of the Spanish Renaissance have been gathered together for an unlikely and potentially pioneering exhibition.Although Alba de Tormes has a rich and turbulent history - it is home to both the illustrious House of Alba and the majority of the remains of St Teresa of Avila - the small and picturesque town in Castilla y Leon is not a habitual venue for the kind of art show more commonly staged in Madrid or Barcelona. Continue reading...

Catherine says she hopes to represent you all once again very soon' as colonel of the regimentThe Princess of Wales has written to the Irish guards to apologise for being unable to take the salute and wish them luck for a trooping the colour event.The colonel's review parade rehearsal for trooping the colour was taking place in central London on Saturday. Continue reading...

Prime minister is not first party leader to make bad decisions during heat of a general election campaign

A row between rivals Panini and Topps has meant collectors cannot fill an album with players in their kits from all 24 nations in this year's tournamentAdding stickers of your favourite players into an album is arguably one of the few innocent pleasures that remain for football fans. But children and seasoned collectors have discovered that even this gentle pastime has been affected by modern football's passion for money.The Panini sticker album has been a staple of international tournaments since the 1970s. But after Uefa sold the rights for stickers for Euro 2024 to its American rival Topps, Panini launched an alternative England 2024" album, using rights held by England, Italy, Germany and France that were not part of Uefa's deal. Continue reading...

Fox had said he had no political ambitions when being vetted as chair of Independent Monitoring Authority

Three US nationals on trial in Democratic Republic of Congo over events in May described as an attempted coupMore than 50 people, including three US citizens and a Belgian, have gone on trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo over what the army has described as an attempted coup.The actions of the three Americans were punishable by death", Judge Freddy Ehume told the military court in the DRC capital, Kinshasa. Continue reading...

Olympian says women's 400 metres would have reached a whole new level if her main rival Marie-Jose Perec had competed in the final

Immigration minister announces direction 110 after previous rules used to overturn visa cancellations for non-citizens who committed serious offences

As grim memory of world war fades, many people are anxious amid rise of nationalist, country-first rhetoricTwenty-two British D-day veterans, the youngest nearly 100, crossed the Channel on Tuesday to mark this week's 80th anniversary of the landings in Normandy, representing a thinning thread to the heroics of two or three generations ago when about 150,000 allied soldiers began a seaborne invasion of western Europe that helped end the second world war.Ron Hayward, a tank trooper who lost his legs fighting in France three weeks after D-day, told crowds assembled in Portsmouth on Wednesday why he and other soldiers were there: I represent the men and women who put their lives on hold to go and fight for democracy and this country. I am here to honour their memory and their legacy, and to ensure that their story is never forgotten." Continue reading...

State government failed to take action' on issues with Staying Home Leaving Violence program, Greens say

Federal minister Jason Clare and opposition leader Peter Dutton say additional camera angles may shed light on incident at Canberra airport

Bedouins erect tents only for Israeli forces to return and dismantle them in Negev village earmarked for clearanceUnder the unrelenting heat of the Negev desert, for the fifth time in the last two weeks, Tayaeer Abu Asda has set up an improvised tent, which will serve as a temporary home for his wife and five children for at least the next three days. Abu Asda, 38, a Palestinian Bedouin and truck driver, is one of a group of Bedouins now numbering 500 who have been living for decades in Wadi al-Khalil, a village east of Be'er Sheva, about 12 miles (20km) from Gaza.In early May, Israeli authorities demolished 350 structures in the community, 47 of them homes, leaving hundreds of children homeless. In the shadow of the conflict in Gaza, the government described this action as an important move of sovereignty and governance". Continue reading...

Smaller allies emerge as powerful kingmakers in effort to form government before swearing in of PMNarendra Modi is facing the first test of coalition politics after losing his outright majority in the Indian election, with smaller coalition allies emerging as powerful kingmakers in the formation of the government.Modi's Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) won the most seats in the election results declared on Tuesday, but not enough to pass the 272 parliamentary majority mark, forcing it to rely on coalition partners to return to power. Continue reading...

French officials insist on checking paperwork of 400 troops landing in Normandy for 80th anniversary commemorationEyebrows were raised at the Ministry of Defence when French immigration and customs insisted on checking the paperwork of 400 British paratroopers immediately after they dropped into fields near Saneville, Normandy on Wednesday.Some felt the French were trying to make a point in response to the UK's decision to leave the EU and, while immigration checks for British troops on exercise abroad are routine, doing so at a public commemoration is deemed exceptional. Continue reading...

Total of eight infants have died from the disease this year, as experts urge pregnant women to get vaccinatedThree more babies have died from whooping cough this year as cases continue to rise across the country, according to the UK Health Security Agency.Since January, there have been 4,793 confirmed cases of whooping cough, with 181 babies under the age of three months diagnosed with the illness. A total of eight babies have now died from whooping cough this year. Continue reading...

Experts say both are at critical point' of escalation and that people should ensure they are up to date with vaccinations

Scathing report finds Department of Communities and Justice not providing the care needed to protect children's safety and welfareNew South Wales is failing tens of thousands of vulnerable children due to an ineffective" and unsustainable" child protection system, a damning audit has found.The state's auditor general, Bola Oyetunji, released the scathing report on the child protection system on Thursday, finding that the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) was not meeting its legislative requirements to provide the care needed to protect children's safety and welfare, nor providing the appropriate assistance for parents. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak will reportedly introduce tiered system and longer sentences under new proposalRishi Sunak will reportedly pledge an overhaul of homicide laws, introducing US-style classifications for murder and increasing sentences, as part of the Conservative manifesto.The proposals would include a tiered system of first- and second-degree murder, as well as increasing the minimum sentence for murders that take place in the home from 15 to 25 years. Continue reading...

Labour leader accuses PM of resorting to lies' in TV debate as election campaign turns bitter and personalRishi Sunak lied to the country and broke the ministerial code when he claimed Labour's spending plans would increase taxes by 2,000, Keir Starmer has said, as his party attempts to regain control of the election narrative.Both Starmer and the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, rounded on Sunak in an increasingly bitter and personal war of words, saying the prime minister's tactics during Tuesday night's TV debate showed he was dishonest under pressure. Continue reading...

ABS says spending for the period would have been lower for clothing, merchandise and dining if not for Eras tour

The radio and voiceover veteran was diagnosed with aggressive skin cancer in 2019

Biden-backed proposal is causing rifts in unstable coalition led by Israeli PM that could lead to his government falling apartIsrael's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is facing growing pressure both at home and internationally to support a new ceasefire plan for Gaza, a move he is resisting over fears it will collapse his government.Far-right members of the prime minister's coalition have threatened to quit the coalition if Israel surrenders" before total victory" over Hamas, while his leading rival, the centrist Benny Gantz, has said he will resign from the emergency unity government if Netanyahu does not commit to a deal and day after" plan for Gaza by 8 June. Continue reading...

Area from south-east California to central Arizona see will extreme heat, with temperatures topping out at 113F in PhoenixParts of California, Nevada and Arizona are expected to bake this week as the first heatwave of the season arrives with triple-digit temperatures forecast for areas including Phoenix, which last summer saw a record 31 straight days of at least 110F (43.3C).By Wednesday, most of an area stretching from south-east California to central Arizona will see easily their hottest" weather since last September, and record daily highs could be seen from Las Vegas to Phoenix, the National Weather Service said late on Monday. Continue reading...

Richard Tice made some eye-opening statements on the climate, and the manifesto is packed with even more falsehoodsDespite 40C record heat in 2022 and the wettest 18 months on record this winter, this general election seems set to test the UK's political consensus on climate change like never before.Reform UK, the rightwing party that describes itself as offering commonsense" policies on immigration and energy, has eschewed the consensus in favour of outright climate scepticism. So what exactly does the party have to say about global heating and the UK's net zero target? Continue reading...

Omar Barghouti, who attended Columbia University in 80s, says student solidarity with Palestine has educated the worldThe student-led protests demanding universities cut financial and academic ties to Israel have led to unprecedented support for the Palestinian liberation struggle, and have propelled the divestment debate into the mainstream, according to the co-founder of the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement.Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian human rights defender who helped launch the BDS movement almost 20 years ago, said the students' solidarity had helped educate the world about the Israeli occupation and apartheid" while exposing the hypocrisy - and repressive tendencies - of some of the world's most prestigious universities with investments in corporations which put profit before people and the planet". Continue reading...

Deterrence policy against asylum seeker boats is under strain, with three vessels arriving in a week in May

H7N3 detected at farm in state's south-west, sparking a safety alert for all bird owners including households with backyard chickens

Justin Stein blames confusion' for changing version of events around nine-year-old's death, trial told

Kye Schaefer died after being found with significant' stab wounds early on the morning of 2 May

Former pilot, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Russell Hill and Carol Clay, told police the deaths were the result of an accident

Parliamentary inquiry finds NSW mental health care is reactive and crisis-driven' because it is chronically and severely underfunded

Exclusive: Yvette Cooper says a Labour government would instruct new enforcement body to act over alleged exploitation of workersLabour will launch an investigation into the treatment of migrant workers in the British social care sector if it wins the election, the party has announced, after dozens of cases of alleged exploitation were uncovered.Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, called the allegations revealed by the Guardian a disgrace", accusing the government of turning a blind eye to the problem. Continue reading...

Parent company says P&O would be integrated into its sister line Carnival Cruise Line in March 2025

Guy Meogrossi, 30, faced court on charges of producing child abuse material and filming a person's private parts without their consent

Cecil Farley says implant, which could become standard treatment, means he can still see his wife of 63 yearsA 91-year-old man who became the first patient in England to have his sight saved by an artificial layer in his cornea has praised the procedure for allowing him to still see his wife.Cecil Farley, from Chobham in Surrey, had problems with his right eye for about 15 years before losing his vision. He required a cornea transplant to save his sight but his previous surgery - a graft with a human cornea - failed and doctors warned the next might too. And the shortage of human corneas from deceased donors meant Farley faced a year-long wait. Continue reading...

John Swinney claims Anas Sarwar not keeping to Rachel Reeves's constraints on NHS, schools and renewables funding as leaders clashThe SNP has accused Scottish Labour of completely rewriting" Rachel Reeves's spending plans, as the party leaders took part in the first televised debate of the election campaign.The clash between the the SNP, Scottish Labour, Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Liberal Democrats was screened by STV, without a studio audience, and involved intensive cross-examination of each leader by his political rivals. Continue reading...

Honorary president of the former Brexit party to make eighth attempt to enter parliamentThe Conservative party's faltering general election campaign suffered a potentially damaging blow when Nigel Farage announced he intended to stand as an MP and lead the Reform party for the next five years.The former Ukip and Brexit party leader said he would stand in Clacton, Essex, after changing his mind while spending time on the campaign trail. He claimed that he did not want to let his supporters down. Continue reading...

Nicola Forster was a safety training officer at Hendon Police College who developed PTSD after role during Grenfell Tower fireA Metropolitan police trainer took her own life after the actions of her employer made her mental health worse, an inquest has found.Nicola Nikki" Forster, 45, a safety training officer at Hendon Police College in north London, was found dead at her home in September 2022.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...