World news | The Guardian

Fearing heavy election losses and Labour’s return to northern heartlands, Tory MPs are to exit parliament at above-average rateApproximately 10% of Conservative MPs have announced plans to retire at the next election, sparking suggestions that they are jumping ship in the expectation of losing the next election.Having resigned as justice secretary over bullying claims, Dominic Raab is the latest high-profile Tory politician to confirm they are serving their final term in parliament. Continue reading...

Campaigners call for rigorous testing of waterways to protect species after analysis reveals scale of problemChemical cocktails that are harmful to wildlife have been found in 81% of river and lake sites tested in England, a study has found.Wildlife organisations are calling on the government for more rigorous testing of waterways for chemical cocktails, and new legal protections against dangerous mixtures, including requiring assessments of potential hazardous chemical mixture impacts before any new chemical is allowed on the market. Continue reading...

Exclusive: clampdown flagged as part of wider leasehold overhaul for England and Wales being considered by partyProperty management companies would be banned from operating in England and Wales if they persistently ripped off leaseholders, under plans being considered by Labour.Lisa Nandy, the shadow housing secretary, is looking at proposals to clamp down on the sector, amid complaints from leaseholders about escalating fees and essential maintenance being left undone. Continue reading...

Hundreds of students and graduates vow not to work for ‘climate wreckers that insure those responsible for the climate crisis’Hundreds of students and recent graduates of top UK universities are pledging a “career boycott” of major insurers, saying they will not work for firms including Lloyd’s of London if they support controversial fossil fuel projects.More than 500 current and recent students from the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University College London, University of Edinburgh and others have warned they will keep a close eye on firms that fail to shift to climate-friendly policies. Continue reading...

‘We will not accept any elements that harm the friendly and warm ties between India and Australia by their actions or thoughts’, says Indian PM

Broadcaster says it received only 169 ‘good faith’ responses from viewers about coronation coverage, 59 of which have been referred to ombudsman

Councillors vote to acknowledge Indigenous Australians on 26 January through cultural events and activities

Detective also questioned over liking a social media post that said ‘Lerhmann is innocent until proven otherwise’ but denies it demonstrates bias

Dr Kay Patterson questions whether mental health team would be more appropriate while David Shoebridge says police tools are ‘wrong resource’

Federal police try to identify crime syndicate behind elaborate smuggling scheme into NSW, after drugs found at port inspection in Sydney

Artificial ‘culinary companion’ will suggest meals based on what you have in your refrigerator and has a chatbot featureAs media companies sort through the ways artificial intelligence will impact their operations, BuzzFeed on Tuesday launched Botatouille, a personalized recipe generator powered by generative AI.In addition to Botatouille, which BuzzFeed describes as, “the first AI-powered culinary companion” that suggests recipes based on factors like what you already have in your refrigerator, there’s also a chatbot feature that allows people to ask culinary questions while they cook, according to a press release from the company. Continue reading...

David Littleproud left parliament early in February to travel to the Gold Coast, three days after he and his spouse settled on a new apartment there

Members of militias, however, insist their operations in Belgorod are ongoing

Officials seize 164 watches from Pride collection, with watchmaker promising to ‘replenish the stock and display them on-shelf’Swiss watchmaker Swatch has said Malaysian authorities seized 164 rainbow-coloured watches worth a total of US$14,000 from its Pride collection.LGBT people are discriminated against in Malaysia where homosexuality is forbidden and sodomy can be punished with imprisonment and corporal punishment, although enforcement is rare. Continue reading...

Report raises concerns about near 23% rise in children in care over 10 years amid serious shortage of social workersRadical reforms to the care system in Wales are needed to address a “shocking” rise in the number of looked after children, a Welsh parliament committee has concluded.The committee said the number of children in care was up by almost 23% since 2013 while at the same time there were shortages of qualified social workers. Continue reading...

Thinktank warns against wholesale switch to working from home and raises fears over lost productivity in capitalOffice workers in central London are spending on average 2.3 days a week in the workplace, according to a report that warns against a wholesale switch to working from home.The thinktank Centre for Cities carried out polling of office workers in the capital and found they were spending 59% of the time in their workplace compared with pre-Covid levels. Continue reading...

Three detained after racist slurs directed at Real Madrid forward, with four more held over mannequin hanging from bridgeSpanish police have arrested three people in connection with the racist abuse suffered by Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinícius Júnior during a match with Valencia on Sunday, and detained a further four suspects over an effigy of the player that was hung from a bridge in Madrid four months ago.In a brief statement on Tuesday morning, the Policía Nacional said three young men had been arrested in Valencia over the “racist behaviour” that took place during the match at the city’s Mestalla stadium. Continue reading...

Police say West Virginian who died 40 years ago raped and killed 16-year-old Sharron Prior in a Montreal suburb in 1975Canadian police say they have solved one of the highest-profile cold cases in Quebec history, linking the 1975 rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl to a West Virginia man who died more than 40 years ago.Police in Longueuil, Quebec, said that DNA evidence allows them to be 100% certain that Franklin Maywood Romine murdered teenager Sharron Prior in the Montreal suburb. Continue reading...

Only students on courses designated as research programmes will be able to bring dependants under home secretary’s policy

More than 20,000 people throng stadium for event that plays to confidence of India’s diaspora

Streaming video company alerting users that their accounts cannot be shared for free outside of their householdsNetflix on Tuesday expanded its crackdown on password sharing to the United States and more than 100 other countries, alerting users that their accounts cannot be shared for free outside of their households.The streaming video pioneer has been looking for new ways to make money as it faces signs of market saturation, with efforts including limits on password borrowing and a new ad-supported option. Continue reading...

David Johnston warns that subversive efforts represent ‘increasing threat’ to democracy but public inquiry would be the wrong choice

South Wales force refers itself to police watchdog following deaths of Kyrees Sullivan and Harvey EvansPolice are facing serious questions and community anger after taking almost 24 hours to admit potential involvement in the pursuit of two teenagers, whose deaths sparked riots in Cardiff.Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, were killed in the Ely area of the city just after 6pm on Monday, minutes after CCTV footage appeared to show them being followed by a police van as they rode together on an e-bike. Continue reading...

Streaming company tells millions of British subscribers that the service can no longer be used free by other householdsNetflix has begun its crackdown on the millions of UK subscribers who share their passwords with friends and family who live outside of their household.The streaming company has sent a letter to almost four million British subscribers that it has identified as giving friends and family members outside their home free access. Continue reading...

Impact of unrest following death of two teenagers will be long-lasting as police face questions on handling of incidentIt began with a tragedy: the death of two friends out riding an e-bike through the streets of a Cardiff estate on a warm spring evening.The night ended in an outburst of extraordinary violence as up to 150 rioters attacked cars and the lines of police that arrived to restore order. Continue reading...

Dan Kaszeta is one of at least eight speakers banned by opaque vetting scheme in ‘attack on free speech’A chemical weapons expert has been disinvited from giving a keynote speech at a UK-run expert conference after civil servants discovered social media posts he wrote criticising Conservative ministers and government migration policy.Dan Kaszeta is one of at least eight speakers banned from government events by an opaque vetting scheme introduced by Jacob Rees-Mogg in 2022, a policy that the banned expert described as an attack on free speech. Continue reading...

Kent police bungling meant Sarah Everard’s murderer was not linked to indecent exposure report in Dover, finds IOPCWayne Couzens escaped being identified as a sex offender six years before he murdered Sarah Everard, despite police having the registration of a car he had allegedly used to flash passersby, as well as his name and address, an official report has revealed.The full extent of Kent police’s bungling of their investigation, which could have caught Couzens, can only now be reported for the first time. Continue reading...

Attorney general releases investigation into abuse between 1950 and 2019 and hails survivors ‘who have long suffered in silence’An Illinois attorney general’s office investigation released on Tuesday found that 451 Catholic clergy sexually abused nearly 2,000 children in the state over a nearly 70-year period, which was more than four times the 103 individuals the church named when the state began its review in 2018.The attorney general Kwame Raoul said at a news conference that investigators found that Catholic clergy abused 1,997 children in Illinois between 1950 and 2019. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Home secretary under further scrutiny as sources say she has repeatedly made ‘basic errors’ in No 10 meetingsSuella Braverman is facing fresh controversy after it was claimed civil servants in her department were forced to “fact-check” the home secretary’s statements to cabinet on up to six occasions.Concerns have been raised about the under-fire minister’s competence, as Downing Street denied Rishi Sunak was dithering about whether to launch an investigation into a potential breach of the ministerial code over her bid to avoid a speeding fine. Continue reading...

BBC Studios to look for overseas commercial opportunities for long-running radio show – and others, and focus on podcastsThe BBC has announced plans to hand over control of Desert Islands Discs to its for-profit division, with the aim of making more money from the show by targeting listeners outside the UK.The long-running interview programme, presented by Lauren Laverne, is currently made by the BBC’s public service division, which focuses on producing shows for British licence fee payers. Continue reading...

Records of visits were allegedly found in official diary by lawyers as they were preparing for Covid public inquiryBoris Johnson has been referred to police by the Cabinet Office over claims he broke lockdown rules by hosting family and friends at Chequers during the pandemic.The visits to the former prime minister’s grace-and-favour residence were found in his official diary by his government-funded lawyers as they were preparing for the public inquiry into the Covid pandemic. Continue reading...

Former editor allegedly told reporter to obtain details of Campbell’s mortgage payments in 1999Piers Morgan told reporters to hack into Alastair Campbell’s bank account in the hope of finding incriminating transactions, it has been claimed at the high court.Morgan, then editor of the Daily Mirror, allegedly told reporter Gary Jones to obtain details of Campbell’s mortgage payments in 1999. The court heard that Jones then subcontracted the work to private investigator Jonathan Rees. Continue reading...

Samantha Lee found guilty of gross misconduct for failing to properly investigate Couzens before he murdered Sarah EverardA former Metropolitan police officer who investigated Wayne Couzens over two indecent exposure incidents hours before he kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard has been barred for life from the police service after being found guilty of gross misconduct.Samantha Lee carried out a “sloppy” and “unprofessional” investigation after Couzens, 50, exposed himself to female staff at a drive-through McDonald’s in Kent on 14 and 27 February 2021, a police disciplinary hearing has found. Continue reading...

Josep Borrell says 1,300 missiles given to Ukraine as EU discuss raising Europe’s military budget

Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested on espionage charges is being held in Moscow prison with no date set for trial

Artist, musician and TV personality, who was jailed for sexual assaults against girls and young women, died on 10 MayThe convicted child abuser Rolf Harris, whose career as one of the most recognisable performers on British TV ended in disgrace after he was found guilty of the indecent assault of teenage girls, has died aged 93.A registrar at Maidenhead town hall, close to Harris’s family home in the Berkshire village of Bray in the UK, confirmed that the former entertainer died on 10 May of neck cancer and “frailty of old age”. Continue reading...

Government agrees to reverse policy of cutting subsidy, with remaining amount being paid by schoolsMinisters are to double funding for the government’s flagship tutoring programme.The national tutoring programme (NTP) was launched in November 2020 to help children in England make up for learning lost during the coronavirus pandemic, when schools were closed to most pupils for months at a time during 2019 and 2020. Continue reading...

Horatio’s Garden is designed to be a restorative sanctuary for people with spinal injuriesA wheelchair-accessible garden for people with spinal injuries has won best in show at the Chelsea flower show this year.Horatio’s Garden is designed to be a sanctuary for those who may otherwise find gardens inaccessible, and to help people with spinal injuries to heal. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Study sparks calls for academic journals to consider penalties for inadequate declarationsResearchers with links to tobacco and vaping industries are failing to disclose their potential conflicts of interest in work published in respected academic journals, prompting calls for journals to tighten their policies and consider penalties for inadequate declarations.Research published in The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health on Thursday analysed how often authors who directly or indirectly received funding from the tobacco industry declare this in their research. Continue reading...

Diary and wine industries urge Canberra to hold the line in resisting restrictions on using terms feta and prosecco

Businessman’s Altice UK reiterates that it does not intend to make a bid for the British telecoms groupThe French billionaire Patrick Drahi has increased his stake in BT to more than 24%, but reiterated that he does not intend to make a bid to take over the £15bn British telecoms group.Drahi, who had control of an 18% stake through his subsidiary Altice UK, raised that position to 24.5% on Tuesday. Drahi’s purchase of 650m shares cost about £960m, at BT’s share price of 147.85p at the close of trading on Monday. Continue reading...

Former CBI president and outgoing Tesco chair denies all but one of the claims as housebuilder says it has received no complaintsThe housebuilder Barratt Developments has said its chair will stand down to prevent the impact of the allegations against him “from becoming disruptive to the company”.The news came after it was announced on Friday that John Allan would step down as chair of Tesco at the supermarket’s annual meeting on 16 June. Continue reading...

Action Fraud notes surge in number of people paying for fake flights and accommodationHoliday fraudsters conned UK consumers out of more than £15m last year – twice as much as the year before – according to the UK’s scam reporting centre.Action Fraud said there had been a surge in the number of people being conned into paying for fake flights and accommodation bookings as more people sought cheaper holidays, partly as a result of the cost-of-living crisis. Continue reading...

Iosco recommendation runs counter to MPs’ stance that cryptocurrency trading should be treated as form of gamblingThe global markets watchdog has urged the UK to regulate cryptocurrencies in the same way as traditional assets such as stocks and bonds, countering MPs’ calls last week for the risky investments to be treated as a form of gambling.The International Organization of Securities Commissions (Iosco) – an umbrella group of regulators from 130 jurisdictions – made the recommendation as part of the first set of international guidelines for crypto regulation. Continue reading...

Maurizio Fugatti is awaiting a court decision on his latest request to kill a bear accused of fatally attacking a manFor several weeks, Italians have been following with bated breath the escalation of Maurizio Fugatti’s battle against the bears that populate the mountains of the northern Trentino region of which he is governor.Captures, imprisonments, deportations and death sentences have followed one another to the chagrin of national public opinion and government inertia. In Trentino, there have been demonstrations for and against the bears. Continue reading...

Taipei criticises ‘unfair and unjust’ decision to deny observer status despite support from US, UK, France and other countriesThe World Health Assembly has again rejected Taiwan’s request to join its annual gathering amid routine objections from China and despite strong support from a coalition of countries including the US, UK, France and Australia.The assembly – the forum through which the World Health Organization is governed - on Monday decided not to extend an invitation for Taiwan to attend the 21-30 May event in Geneva as an observer. China and Pakistan spoke against the bid, while the Marshall Islands, Belize, Nauru and eSwatini – four of Taiwan’s 13 formal diplomatic allies – spoke in support. Continue reading...

Duke denied permission to challenge Home Office over decision on private payment for security servicesPrince Harry has lost his bid to bring a legal challenge against the Home Office over its refusal to allow him to pay for police protection while in the UK.The Duke of Sussex was seeking permission to bring what would have been a second challenge relating to his security arrangements. Continue reading...

Operation at site about 30 miles from where three-year-old went missing in 2007 is expected to last two daysA search by German and Portuguese police for Madeleine McCann has started 16 years after the three-year-old went missing in the Algarve, with German and Portuguese police focusing on a peninsula jutting into a reservoir, 30 miles from where she disappeared.Officers with pickaxes, chainsaws and rakes started to search the barren spot and surrounding woods by the Barragem do Arade reservoir on Tuesday morning, fanning out across a piece of land roughly 500 sq metres in size. Continue reading...

Live life to the full and relish the simple things, says Máirín HughesIreland’s oldest woman has marked her 109th birthday by sharing two tips on how to enjoy a long life: don’t waste time, and live it to the full.Máirín Hughes follows her own advice by bird-watching, reading newspapers and novels, doing crosswords, listening to music, playing Scrabble – and enjoying the fuss every time she reaches another birthday. “I just like living,” she told reporters on Monday. Continue reading...

Australian PM announces cricketer Adam Gilchrist as board member of new centre for Australia-India relations in Parramatta