World news | The Guardian

UKHSA says adolescent vaccination rates have faltered, leaving many at risk of catching deadly diseasesVaccination rates have fallen among schoolchildren in England since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, health officials have said, amid a global crisis of confidence in vaccines.Fears have been expressed in recent months that thousands of children are at risk of catching deadly diseases, such as meningitis and blood poisoning, with significant outbreaks likely due to reduced vaccination rates. Continue reading...

Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theater and Budapest Festival Orchestra among performers named in lineupThis year’s Edinburgh international festival will focus on themes of hope, community and new perspectives as it attempts to draw audiences back into theatres after the Covid pandemic.It in its first year led by the Scottish concert violinist Nicola Benedetti, the festival will host Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theater, the Budapest Festival Orchestra playing to an audience on beanbags, and the youthful Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. Continue reading...

Government ‘broadly supportive’ as report recommends allowing for ads and scrapping of police powers

Panel established in response to George Floyd killing will visit Washington DC, Atlanta, LA, Chicago, Minneapolis and New YorkA team of United Nations experts has arrived in the US on a tour that will focus on racial justice, law enforcement and policing.On Monday, the Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement, an independent panel appointed by the UN human rights council, began its two-week visit to the US. Continue reading...

Hundreds of healthcare professionals fear plan will cause ‘catastrophic mental and physical harm’ to refugeesMore than 830 UK health professionals and representatives from leading medical bodies have signed a letter to the prime minister expressing “grave concerns” that the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda will cause “catastrophic mental and physical harm” to people seeking safety, in advance of a court of appeal hearing on the policy on Monday.Signatories to the letter include the BMA and the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists. Continue reading...

Big showering of affection at beginning of relationship can be used to confuse victims and gain control, CPS warnsNew guidance on how to prosecute abusive partners for controlling and coercive behaviour has highlighted the phenomenon of love-bombing, a tactic used by suspects to confuse victims and gain more control.The Crown Prosecution Service’s updated guidance sets out the varied, sophisticated and subtle ways suspects can manipulate their partners to exert control over their lives, and to seek to minimise the likelihood of detection and punishment. Continue reading...

Death toll passes 420, including 264 civilians, and more than 3,700 wounded as ceasefires fail to holdWestern and other nations have intensified increasingly desperate efforts to evacuate diplomats and their dependents from Khartoum, as battles raged in the centre of the Sudanese capital and in its twin city of Omdurman.With a series of ceasefires failing to hold, the death toll has now passed 420, including 264 civilians, and more than 3,700 have been wounded, according to local and international NGOs. However, most analysts believe the true total of fatalities and injuries in more than nine days of fighting is much higher. Continue reading...

Ant and Dec pay tribute to fellow Byker Grove alumni as ‘the loveliest of guys’ after family announce deathThe Emmerdale actor Dale Meeks, who recently starred in ITV drama The Hunt for Raoul Moat, has died aged 47, his family has said.Meeks played the character Simon Meredith in Emmerdale between 2003 and 2006. Continue reading...

Lou Conter, 101, is now final survivor of ship on which 1,177 were killed when Japanese attack brought US into second world warKen Potts, one of the last two survivors of the USS Arizona battleship, which sank during the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 102.Howard Kenton Potts died on Friday at the home in Provo, Utah, that he shared with his wife of 66 years, according to Randy Stratton, whose late father, Donald Stratton, was Potts’s Arizona shipmate and friend. Continue reading...

Media giant parent Comcast says investigation by outside counsel led to departure of executiveThe chief executive of NBC Universal, Jeff Shell, left the media giant on Sunday after acknowledging an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, following a complaint that prompted an investigation, parent company Comcast said.“I had an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, which I deeply regret,” Shell said in a statement. Continue reading...

Wayne Stevens, 51, died at the scene after the incident at Cameron Road on Saturday morningA man has been charged over a fatal dog attack at a house in Derby.Wayne Stevens, 51, died at the scene after the incident on Saturday morning. Continue reading...

No one paid much attention to the emergency test, and in Westminster it was hard to distinguish Armageddon from business as usualThis is the way the world ends.The queue for the self-service checkouts in Sainsbury’s doubled back on itself and snaked round the corner into the washing powder aisle. Shortly after 3pm, the first alarm went off. Not loud but insistent. Others soon followed suit. Mine took a while to kick in. My phone has never been quick on the uptake. Continue reading...

Radio 1 DJ sets record less than 12 months after stopping chemotherapy for bowel cancerThe Radio 1 DJ Adele Roberts has become the fastest woman to complete the London Marathon with a stoma bag, clocking a time of 3hr 30min and 22sec.The 44-year-old, who began using a stoma bag in 2021 after surgery for bowel cancer, said “up yours, cancer” after her achievement. Continue reading...

At her concert on Friday night in Knoxville, the performer invited drag queens on stage to rebuke state’s anti-drag legislationIn a concert on Friday night in Knoxville, Tennessee, in a glittery protest against state legislation designed to restrict drag performances in public, the singer Lizzo filled her stage with drag queens.In concert at the Thompson-Boling arena, the Grammy-winning Juice singer brought out drag performers including Aquaria, Kandy Muse, Asia O’Hara and Vanessa Vanji. Continue reading...

MP loses party whip after writing letter suggesting Jewish, Irish, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people had not experienced racism

Exclusive: Labour says ‘alarming’ NHS figures show rising number of people on waiting lists for support reaching out to 999 in a crisisAmbulance crews in England are spending 1.8m hours a year – the equivalent of 75,000 days – dealing with patients with mental health problems, new NHS figures reveal.Labour’s Dr Rosena Allin-Khan said the data showed that lack of help for people experiencing mental ill health was adding to the strain on the hard-pressed ambulance service. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Cross-party collection of parliamentarians write letter to Sports Direct owner’s companyAlmost 50 MPs and peers have written to Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, the corporate owner of the tycoon’s retail portfolio including House of Fraser and Sports Direct, condemning the use of “live facial recognition” cameras in the group’s stores.Describing the technology as “invasive and discriminatory”, the parliamentarians, a cross-party collection including David Davis, John McDonnell and Tim Farron, have urged the group to end the use of the cameras across the country. Continue reading...

Constant attacks from Russian troops have made it impossible for Kherson residents to return to their normal lives. This blog is now closed

Shoppers at Westfield Stratford reported they hadn’t received the alert, while some that did questioned its usefulness

Rishi Sunak says ‘complex and rapid’ operation carried out, amid fears for remaining UK nationalsThe UK has evacuated its diplomatic staff and their dependants from Khartoum, the British prime minister and foreign secretary said on Sunday, but UK nationals still living in Sudan remained in the country.Announcing the evacuation, Rishi Sunak said British armed forces had carried out “a complex and rapid” military operation. The evacuation involved members of UK special forces and the Parachute Regiment. Continue reading...

Flood of Confederation of British Industry members have quit since allegations reported by the GuardianThe Labour party has cut all ties with the Confederation of British Industry after the Guardian’s revelations about alleged sexual misconduct by male employees at the lobbying group.The CBI experienced an exodus of major member businesses at the end of last week, including the insurer Aviva, the retailer John Lewis, the manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover and the banking firm Natwest Group. Companies said the lobby group was unable to carry out its role effectively following the allegations, after a second woman alleged to the Guardian that she was raped by two male colleagues when she worked at the CBI. Continue reading...

Thinktank says infiltration into area east of Dnipro river could be first step toward trying to dislodge Russian forces

The AE1 was found 103 years after it sank in the first world war. Now a team hopes to salvage part of the disintegrating wreck to be preserved in a museum

More than 140,000 people who traded welfare payments for loans are still repaying them decades later

New figures from the home affairs department show some families are waiting years for temporary visas to be processedAustralian families are living in constant fear of being torn apart, as wait times for partner visas blow out – to years in some cases, according to newly released figures.The Department of Home Affairs has released figures on partner visa processing times to Guardian Australia in response to a freedom of information request. Continue reading...

Italian opera composer’s lost works to be performed in London after discovery by British musicologistUp to 90 previously unknown songs by one of classical music’s greatest composers, Gaetano Donizetti, will be heard for the first time in more than 200 years after their discovery by a leading British musicologist.Roger Parker, a professor of music at King’s College London, described the scores as “incredible” and worthy of Donizetti’s most popular operas, masterpieces that include Lucia di Lammermoor. Continue reading...

New deputy prime minister says he has experienced ‘frustrations’ dealing with Whitehall officials

Ukraine military sets up positions on east bank of Dnipro river; France and Baltic states dismayed at Chinese ambassador comments

Amanda Spielman says for vast majority of schools ‘it’s a positive and affirming experience’The head of Ofsted has admitted that “a culture of fear” exists around England’s school inspections but said she had no reason to doubt the system of school gradings that has been blamed for the death of a headteacher.Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools in England, made the comments in her first interview since the death of the Berkshire headteacher Ruth Perry following a critical Ofsted report that abruptly downgraded Perry’s school from “outstanding” to “inadequate”. Continue reading...

Men of Bangladeshi origin say they cannot find new homes, after paying landlord to live in ‘humiliating’ conditionsUp to a dozen men who escaped a fatal fire in an overcrowded flat in east London described by one as being “worse than slums in Bangladesh” are facing homelessness from Monday because they cannot find affordable housing.In a case marking a new low for Britain’s housing crisis, they are among 18 students and workers of Bangladeshi origin that were squeezed into a two-bedroom flat in the Maddocks House council block in Shadwell. An e-bike battery caught fire last month, killing Mizanur Rahman, who only days earlier had moved into the flat that was packed with bunk beds. Continue reading...

A couple’s identity as Travellers, and thus their right to live on a plot near his farm, has been questioned by the actor’s lawyersThe spot is idyllic – a wooded West Country hillside with tumbling streams and banks of bluebells rising above a picture postcard Dorset town built of honey-coloured stone.But a planning dispute involving a showbiz star and a ‘new traveller’ family who have lived peacefully on their plot of land among the trees for more than two decades is disturbing the sylvan tranquility. Continue reading...

David Beckham and Prince of Wales among those paying tribute to Welsh club after Saturday’s historic victoryHollywood celebrities and fans have been celebrating Wrexham AFC’s glorious return to the English Football League in a comeback story that has captivated people across the globe.The club’s co-owner, Ryan Reynolds, paid tribute on social media to his beloved team, which will be returning to the EFL after a 15-year absence. Continue reading...

Parliamentary commissioner for standards urged to open inquiry that could pave way for former justice secretary’s constituents to launch recall petitionParliament’s standards commissioner is facing demands to open an inquiry into Dominic Raab’s conduct, while a local campaign has been launched calling for the former justice secretary to step down as an MP.The Observer understands that a complaint is being filed with Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, arguing that the revelations over Raab’s bullying of officials could amount to “serious breaches of the code of conduct for members of parliament”. Continue reading...

Producers of West End show Vardy v Rooney say surprise legal move to trademark a pun will be referred to in scriptA big publicity boost for a West End show can come from the most unexpected thing, but a copyright challenge to the title of the play must be among the most alarming. The producers of Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial were trying to establish this weekend whether they needed to make changes to the title of their play after Rebekah Vardy announced last week that she was the legal owner of the phrase “Wagatha Christie”.“We didn’t see it coming,” said Eleanor Lloyd, the show’s originator and co-producer. “But so far, after looking into it all in the last couple of days, I can see no reason why I can’t go on without changing the name of the show.” Continue reading...

The tradition of bashing pots and pans in protest has been revived, with ministers facing a cookware cacophony across the countryThe French have turned protesting into an art form. A country synonymous with revolution has given the world the “manure protest”, where tonnes of muck were dumped outside parliament; the “vegetable protest”, with carrots and rotten tomatoes spread on the steps of public buildings; and the “dairy protest”, in which gallons of milk were spilled. Earlier this month, opponents of Emmanuel Macron’s bill to raise the state pension age to 64 dumped gas and electricity meters outside Marseilles city hall.For the past week, furious French people have revived a much older form of protest: the casserolade, or “pots and pans protest”, after Macron pushed through the unpopular law. Continue reading...

As Khalifa Haftar’s influence emerges, analysts warn the area could be a battleground for multiple playersThe Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar helped to prepare the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a militia now fighting for control of Sudan, for battle in the months before the devastating violence that broke out on 15 April, the Observer has been told by former officials, militia commanders and sources in Sudan and the UK.The involvement of Haftar, who runs much of the eastern part of Libya, will raise fears of a long-drawn-out conflict in Sudan fuelled by outside interests. Analysts have described a “nightmare scenario” of multiple regional actors and powers fighting a proxy war in the country of more than 45 million people. Continue reading...

Government accused of creating ‘atmosphere of fear’ with plan to compel schools to inform parents if pupils question genderTeachers in England are warning that young people could be put at risk of harm and homelessness if the government presses ahead with new guidance compelling schools to inform parents if their child is questioning their gender.Union leaders accused ministers of trying to inflame a culture war around gender issues in schools to distract from their “appalling record on underfunding, pay erosion and teacher shortages”. All unions in England have rejected the government’s latest pay offer for teachers, and fresh strikes are planned for Thursday and Tuesday 2 May. Continue reading...

Joe Biden says US has retrieved personnel from Khartoum as fighting continues between rival armed groupsThe US military has evacuated embassy staff and families from Khartoum, according to Joe Biden, as other countries are also scrambling to get their nationals out of Sudan amid continued fighting.France’s foreign ministry said on Sunday that a “rapid evacuation operation” had begun, and that European citizens and those from “allied partner countries” would also be assisted, without giving further details. Continue reading...

As exodus of members continues, business chiefs say the lobby group ‘has run its course’ and ‘needs a total rethink’The future of the Confederation of British Industry is in the balance this weekend as one business leader warned its brand was “beyond repair”.A CBI board statement on Friday said there was demand for “far reaching change” after allegations of sexual attacks and harassment first revealed by the Guardian. The organisation has suspended key activities until June after an exodus of business members. Continue reading...

Tributes have flowed across Australia, with both politicians and entertainers sharing messages praising the late comedian

Fears that number of people turned away at May’s local elections over identity could be underestimatedPolice forces have been alerted to the risk of a spike in disputes and confrontations at the forthcoming local elections, amid concern that new voter ID rules will provoke rows in polling booths across England.Polling station staff are being trained to de-escalate heated situations expected to arise next month, when many more people than usual are likely to be turned away as a result of new identity checks. Continue reading...

A doctor was shocked to find no anti-allergy pens on board the train, though operator says law forbids it at presentA junior doctor is calling for lifesaving adrenaline auto-injectors to be carried on Eurostar after caring for a young child who suffered an allergic reaction on the service.Dr Raphaelle Debray, 26, who is French and works for the NHS, was en route to Paris when she responded to an appeal for a doctor. She requested the onboard medical kit and found it contained only some plasters and a defibrillator. In contrast, international guidelines state that commercial airlines should carry emergency medical kits, with equipment and medication including adrenaline. British Airways and easyJet said they carried adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) on all flights. Continue reading...

Prime minister welcomes move to let New Zealanders apply for Australian citizenship without becoming permanent residents first

Singh surrendered in Punjab town of Moga, says a Sikh leader, as police appeal to public for calmIndian police have arrested a separatist leader who revived calls for an independent Sikh homeland and the secession of India’s northern Punjab state, which has a history of violent insurgency.Amritpal Singh had been on the run since March after capturing national attention in February when hundreds of his supporters stormed a police station in the Punjab town of Ajnala with wooden batons, swords and guns to demand the release of a jailed aide. Continue reading...

Leaving welfare payments at current rate ‘unconscionable and grossly irresponsible’, says anti-poverty body

A satellite that issues a correction signal to most Australian farm machinery went down this week, leaving farmers in the lurch

Advocates say rules for ‘guests of size’ are inconsistent across Australian aviation, generating anxiety and unfair costs for those affected

Pat Cullen attacks health secretary’s attempt to prevent 48-hour action in England as ‘frightening for democracy’The leader of the Royal College of Nursing has said a legal attempt by the health secretary to block next weekend’s strike in England is “frightening for democracy and very frightening for trade unionism”.Pat Cullen, general secretary of the RCN, said it was “disgraceful” that Steve Barclay was attempting to thwart the strike via the courts, and said nurses would “not be bullied into silence”. Continue reading...

No 10 adviser urges political appointments in a radical plan following crisis over bullyingRadical plans to bring in more “politicisation” of Whitehall by allowing ministers greater powers to appoint their own civil servants – including some with overt political affiliations – are being considered by the government’s own adviser on the civil service.Writing in today’s Observer, the Conservative peer and former Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, who is expected to report shortly to Rishi Sunak, says that in order for ministers to get the best advice possible, we need “to be more robust and less mealy mouthed about ‘politicisation’”. Continue reading...

Russian defence ministry says it has made progress in heavily contested region. This blog is now closedA guided bomb hit the village of Orlykivka in Chernihiv in the early hours of Saturday.No casualties were reported by Ukraine’s operational command northern region on Saturday, after the bomb was dropped from a Russian SU-35 jet. Continue reading...