World news | The Guardian

NGOs and UN say country is worse off than ever before' with wide-scale displacement, hunger and attacks on refugee camps

Mental Health Foundation says civil unrest last summer left many fearful of attacks by far-right protestersLast summer's riots, which took place after the murder of three girls at a Southport dance class, led to a deterioration in the mental health of asylum seekers, with many becoming fearful of walking down the street in case they were targeted by far-right protesters, according to a report.The report from the Mental Health Foundation, published on Tuesday, identified a decline in the mental health of asylum seekers as a result of the civil unrest and attacks on hotels, compared with the state of their mental health when they published a similar report in February 2024. Continue reading...

Spring sunshine boosted spending on gardening, DIY and food products, but households are still prudently budgeting' as bills riseWarm weather in March helped give a lift to retailers despite a late Easter, with sales of gardening, DIY, food, and health and beauty products getting a boost from the spring sunshine.Purchases for Mother's Day also helped retail sales climb 1.1% last month, according to a British Retail Consortium-KPMG survey, keeping pace with February despite trading against a much stronger period a year before and a downturn in visitor numbers on high streets and in retail parks as more sales shifted online. Continue reading...

Actor and dwarfism charity founder Samantha Davis suffered cardiac arrest after surgery complications, coroner concludesThe actor and campaigner Samantha Davis, the wife of Harry Potter star Warwick Davis, died after suffering a cardiac arrest hours before a hospital was planning to discharge her, an inquest has found.Davis, who co-founded Little People UK - the dwarfism charity known as an essential resource for little people and their families" - died aged 53 at London's University College hospital on 24 March last year. Continue reading...

Police searching for a killer after multiple shots fired in an attack on a home in Ambarvale

Government's rapprochement with Beijing may risk national security in wake of British Steel crisis, party members saySenior Labour figures have urged the government to review Chinese investment in UK infrastructure in the wake of theBritish Steel crisis, warning that a rapprochement with Beijing could risk national security.Government officials insisted on Monday the country remained open to funding from Chinese companies even after a dramatic weekend during which ministers wrested control of the Scunthorpe steelmaking plant from the Chinese owners, Jingye. Continue reading...

The US says it can't aid in his return as he's in El Salvador; El Salvador says to help would be like smuggling' him backIt is difficult to find a term more fitting for the fate of the Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia than Kafkaesque.Abrego Garcia is one of hundreds of foreign-born men deported under the Trump administration to the Cecot mega-prison in El Salvador as part of a macabre partnership with the self-declared world's coolest dictator", Nayib Bukele. Continue reading...

Aaron Stelmach-Purdie ran scam from Regent's Park barracks between November 2014 and January 2016, court hearsA Ministry of Defence clerk is facing jail time for fraud and money laundering after stealing nearly 1m by entering fake expenses claims into the department's online administrative system.Southwark crown court heard on Monday that the former corporal Aaron Stelmach-Purdie, 34, had run the scam for just over a year between November 2014 and January 2016 while he worked in central London as a clerk at the MoD's administrative headquarters. Continue reading...

Pope Francis recognises the heroic virtues' of the creator of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia basilica in first step of processHe's long been nicknamed God's architect" by those who point to his piety and the religious imagery woven through his soaring spires, colourful ceramics and undulating lines.Now it seems the Vatican may be ready to make it official. It said on Monday that Antoni Gaudi, the Catalan architect behind Barcelona's Sagrada Familia basilica, had been put on the path to sainthood. Continue reading...

Arrested man was allegedly aided by a forensic pathologist said to have falsely certified the decomposition of bodiesPolice in Sicily have arrested a former gravedigger and are investigating 18 others accused of illegally removing bodies from tombs to make way for new corpses.The former gravedigger's assistant was also arrested on Monday in the investigation dating from 2023 for alleged corruption and bribery in Trapani, on the west coast of the Italian island. Continue reading...

Amendment passes with 140 votes in favour and 21 against despite disruption in the chamber as rights campaigners say it chips away at human rightsThe Russian defence ministry also responded to the criticism for its attack on Sumy, claiming it had targeted a meeting of Ukrainian commanding officers, Russian news agencies reported on Monday.We are now hearing from the Kremlin, with Russia insisting that it strikes only military or military-related targets," despite the widespread condemnation for the attack on civilians in Sumy (9:18). Continue reading...

Approach to expanding trade has been castigated for allowing Beijing to invest heavily in vital UK infrastructure

Almost 4,600 fewer people went to the US in March compared with the same time last year, according to government data

Construction industry already faces shortfall of 80,000 workers as government vows to build 250,000 homes a year for four years

Exclusive: Katy Gallagher says focus will be on driving cultural change' within public service if Labor wins the election

Move comes after Hashem Abedi injured three officers with hot oil and improvised blades at HMP FranklandThe Prison Service is to suspend the use of kitchens for the most dangerous inmates after after the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber attacked three officers at HMP Frankland.Hashem Abedi, a convicted terrorist who was jailed for life after helping his suicide-bomber brother Salman Abedi carry out the Manchester Arena attack in 2017, set upon staff with hot cooking oil and blades made out of cooking trays. Continue reading...

Move by Algiers comes after arrest of Algerian consular official in Paris over alleged involvement in kidnap of influencerFrance is considering its response after Algeria ordered the expulsion of 12 embassy staff over the arrest of an Algerian consulate official in Paris over alleged involvement in the kidnap of a TikTok influencer.Algiers has given the French representatives 48 hours to leave the country in a move that has stretched already strained relations between the two countries to breaking point. The French foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, has warned that if the expulsions go ahead Paris would be forced to respond immediately. Continue reading...

Prisoner, 44, at Cambridgeshire jail is arrested over death of John Mansfield, 63, who was serving life sentenceA prisoner has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a convicted killer at a high-security prison.John Mansfield, who was jailed for life in 2007 for the murder of his 63-year-old neighbour, was found dead at HMP Whitemoor near March, Cambridgeshire, on Sunday. Continue reading...

Net zero and clean energy can actually help save the steel industry, experts point out

Ukrainian president calls on US counterpart to visit country as Trump appears to downplay strike on Sumy by calling it mistake'

Dwayne Johnson is working with investigative journalist Nick Bilton on the project, with a film in the pipeline starring Emily Blunt and Leonardo DiCaprioThe actor Dwayne Johnson, who began his career as wrestler The Rock, is to co-author a nonfiction book about a Hawaii crime syndicate in the 1960s and 1970s.Writing on Instagram, Johnson said he was super grateful to co-author my next project (a nonfiction book) with award-winning investigative journalist, @NickBilton. Continue reading...

Charges follow investigation into alleged cheating related to bets placed on when general election would be heldThe former Conservative MP Craig Williams is among 15 people, including several other senior Tories, charged by the Gambling Commission for alleged cheating connected to bets based on the date of the 2024 UK general election.Williams was the MP for Montgomeryshire and Rishi Sunak's parliamentary private secretary, but lost the support of the Conservative party after a Guardian story about alleged bets placed on a July election just days before the date was announced. Continue reading...

Turin and Genoa likely to be among worst hit, while central and eastern Europe could get early taste of summerNorth-west Italy is braced for heavy rainfall and thunderstorms across the southern side of the Alps, particularly in Piedmont and Liguria.Turin and Genoa are expected to be among the worst affected, with snowfall also likely on higher ground. The region has been forecast to receive 140-160mm of rainfall between Sunday and Friday this week. Continue reading...

Xi Jinping is expected to emphasise China as a reliable partner in contrast to Washington, which imposed - then suspended - punishing tariffs across the regionThe Chinese president, Xi Jinping, warned there would be no winners" in a trade war and that protectionism leads nowhere", as he began a three-nation trip to south-east Asia starting in Vietnam on Monday.Xi's tour, which kicked off in Hanoi, also includes rare visits to Malaysia and Cambodia and will seek to strengthen ties with China's closest neighbours amid a trade war that has sent shock waves through global markets. Continue reading...

Steve Bray cleared of flouting police ban on playing anti-Conservative and anti-Brexit music through speakersSteve Bray, 56, known as the Stop Brexit Man", has been cleared at Westminster magistrates court in London of flouting a police ban on playing anti-Conservative and anti-Brexit music through speakers outside parliament in March last year.More details soon ... Continue reading...

The Liberal leader's son opened up to the cameras about his housing aspirations - and highlighted the voters in the Coalition's sights

Wera Hobhouse says her apparent presence on secret list of critics of country's human rights record made her a target

Firm in race against time to get key materials as business secretary says no guarantee it will get what it needs

Winston Jones, who for a decade was unable to return home from Jamaica, almost didn't apply for compensation, fearing it was a trapWinston Jones has worked hard to rebuild his life after Home Office errors meant he was unable to return to his family in the UK for 10 years after taking a short holiday in Jamaica in 2005, enduring a decade of near destitution and homelessness in Kingston.Jones, 64, a former bakery manager at Sainsbury's, has used the money he received from the Windrush compensation scheme to set up a podcast studio and music recording unit in Manchester, working with his son to create opportunities for local young people. Continue reading...

Supplier rallies small businesses as critics say overhaul would harm development of clean energyOctopus Energy has rallied thousands of its small business customers to back an overhaul of Great Britain's electricity market.The largest energy supplier in Britain and more than 3,700 of its customers wrote to the Treasury last week calling for an immediate introduction of postcode electricity pricing. Continue reading...

Government acknowledges that many victims have felt too nervous to engage with officials from Home OfficeA 1.5m fund has been launched to encourage people affected by the Windrush scandal to come forward to seek compensation, as ministers finally acknowledge that many victims have felt too nervous to engage with officials from the Home Office.Since the compensation fund was launched in 2019 it has been the subject of intense criticism over long processing delays, low offers of payment, and the lack of legal aid for claimants. There has also been unease over the original decision to hand the administration of the scheme to officials from the department that was responsible for the scandal. Continue reading...

Listings on resale site suggest that touts are speculatively selling tickets they do not yet haveThe ticket resale platform Viagogo has been accused of failing to prevent misleading and potentially unlawful" practices on its platform, despite facing intense scrutiny as the government consults on new anti-touting laws.Ministers are weighing up plans to cap the price at which tickets can be resold, after Labour pledged in its election manifesto to tackle ticket touts using platforms such as Viagogo and StubHub to charge fans huge mark-ups for in-demand shows. Continue reading...

Research from the NEU suggests only 1.5% of school staff unaffected by stress at workStress is taking an immense toll" on the lives of teachers in England, with only 1.5% of those working in schools unaffected by the high levels of strain that plagues their colleagues.The findings from research by the National Education Union (NEU) reveal that one in three state school teachers in England are stressed at work for at least four fifths of the time, while only a tiny fraction said they are never overstretched. Continue reading...

Neither Anthony Albanese nor Peter Dutton say they want house prices to fall, as experts warn new promises could worsen affordability crisis

Actor, 72, understood to have used behaviour and language considered threatening against housemate Chris HughesThe Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke has been kicked out of the Celebrity Big Brother house over instances of unacceptable behaviour" and inappropriate language".The 72-year-old Bafta winner is understood to have used behaviour and language that was considered to be threatening and aggressive during a task, directed towards his housemate Chris Hughes, a former Love Island contestant. No physical altercation took place, according to the PA news agency. Continue reading...

Government calls in military experts as month-long refuse workers' strike brings warnings of public health emergencyOffice-based military specialists have been called in to deal with the mounting piles of rubbish on the streets of Birmingham after a month-long strike by refuse workers.Tens of thousands of tonnes of rubbish have gone uncollected and Birmingham city council has declared a major incident and issued a public health warning since the all-out-strike by Unite union members began on 11 March. Continue reading...

ITV drama set in aristocratic house in Edwardian London explored class and social change, and won many awardsJean Marsh, the actor and writer best known for co-creating and starring in the 1970s TV show Upstairs, Downstairs, has died aged 90.The film-maker Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who was a close friend of Marsh, said she died of complications with dementia in her London home on Sunday. Continue reading...

Chair of prison workers body says copycat incidents must be prevented after attack by convicted terroristThe union representing prison officers has said inmates should be banned from cooking in jail, with staff fearing copycat incidents after the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber attacked three officers at HMP Frankland.Hashem Abedi, a convicted terrorist who was jailed for life after helping his suicide bomber brother Salman Abedi carry out the Manchester Arena attack in 2017, is alleged to have set upon staff with hot cooking oil and improvised blades. Continue reading...

Police say body is yet to be formally identified but girl's family have been informedA body has been found in the River Thames in the search for 11-year-old Kaliyah Coa, who entered the river in North Woolwich on 31 March, police have said.According to the Metropolitan police, officers were alerted to a body in Maritime Quay in east London at about 9am on Sunday. Continue reading...

Former City minister accused of illegally receiving plot of land from her aunt, ousted PM Sheikh HasinaAn arrest warrant for the former City minister Tulip Siddiq has been issued in Bangladesh with a new allegation accusing her of illegally receiving a plot of land from her aunt, the ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.Bangladeshi media reported the warrant was issued by a judge for 53 people connected to Hasina, including Siddiq. There is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Bangladesh. Continue reading...

Relief International medics among dead as paramilitaries step up violence against region's displaced peopleParamilitaries in Sudan have murdered more than 200 civilians in a wave of attacks in refugee camps and around the city of El Fasher, the last big city still in the hands of the Sudanese army in the Darfur region.The deaths include at least 56 civilians killed by the Rapid Support Forces over two days of attacks in Um Kadadah, a town they seized on the road to El Fasher. Continue reading...

Palestinian Red Crescent says Assad al-Nsasrah was forcibly abducted' while carrying out humanitarian workA Palestinian paramedic who has been missing since a massacre of medics and rescue workers by Israeli troops in Gaza last month is being detained in Israel, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).The whereabouts of Assad al-Nsasrah, a Palestinian paramedic, had been unknown for weeks since an incident on 23 March when workers from the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) and Palestinian civil defence came under fire as they drove ambulances to rescue injured colleagues in the southern city of Rafah. Continue reading...

Reserves would give six months to find alternative supply if Scunthorpe blast furnaces are switched offNetwork Rail has built up a stockpile of rails to last as long as a year in case of disruption in the supply from British Steel's Scunthorpe works.The company, which manages Britain's railway tracks, has been stockpiling rails over the past 12 months as British Steel started to contemplate the closure of its two blast furnaces. The rails are stored at depots around the country. Continue reading...

Limit of $100 a barrel said to be ineffective with the price of crude having crashed in response to Trump's trade warThe UK and its G7 allies are considering tightening the meaningless" cap on Russian oil export prices after Donald Trump's trade war caused global oil markets to crash.UK Treasury officials are understood to be actively considering plans to lower the $60 (46) a barrel cap on Russian oil exports after the market plunged to $59.77 a barrel for the first time in more than four years this week. Continue reading...

When academics fear travelling or partnering with US institutions, the impacts ripple through the entire global knowledge ecosystem,' Dr Alison Barnes says

Exclusive: Funding would go towards third-party training for doctors and nurses, which advocates say would remove barriers to treatment

Trauma specialists at Ramsay Clinic Thirroul have reportedly resigned against the backdrop of a larger shortage of psychiatrists across the stateIn 2022, Ramsay Healthcare opened Australia's first women's-only hospital dedicated" to trauma-related mental health issues in Wollongong.Ramsay Clinic Thirroul was supposed to be a game-changer" designed specifically to provide women - often survivors of family and sexual violence - the safe environment needed to be able to escape the flight or fight stress response and begin to recover through a program of therapies. Continue reading...

Jonathan Reynolds says allowing British Steel to collapse would have cost 1bn as public ownership looks increasingly likelyJasper Jolly, a financial reporter at the Guardian, has written some analysis on the multiple crises British Steel faces as the supplies needed to keep the blast furnaces operating at the Scunthorpe plant are running low. Here is an extract from his piece:Union leaders representing steelworkers said they were relieved that the government appeared to be moving towards public ownership. Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, a former Scunthorpe steelworker and national officer for the GMB union, said nationalisation was the only way to save the UK steel industry", and that the ability to direct the company's actions was the first step in that process".Yet even nationalisation will not deliver Scunthorpe's workers from the bigger questions over its long-term future. Jingye had rejected a 500m offer of support to switch to electric arc furnaces - to match aid given to Tata Steel at Port Talbot, south Wales - but Scunthorpe will need to make the switch if it is to have a future in a world of net zero carbon emissions.The Green party says it supports nationalisation of the steel industry as it could prove to be a key driver of a green industrial revolution". The party's co-leader, Adrian Ramsay, told Sky News' Trevor Phillips this morning: Steel is essential for the transition to a green economy. The Greens have been arguing for decades that we need to have the ability to produce more of the manufactured goods... within our country. And with what we're seeing now with the international political climate and the bullying behaviour of President Trump, it only underlines our point that we need to be able to produce these things more locally."Plaid Cymru has accused the UK government for acting to save the Scunthorpe plant but not taking the same action when the Tata Steel works in Port Talbot were threatened with closure. Tata ended primary steelmaking at Port Talbot last September with the closure of its last blast furnace, a decision that was projected to lead to 2,500 job losses. As part of a deal the government committed 500m to help the company move to greener forms of steelmaking. Addressing the Commons at the emergency session yesterday, Liz Saville-Roberts, Plaid's Westminster leader, said yesterday: Scunthorpe gets security, Port Talbot gets a pittance."The Lib Dems' deputy leader Daisy Cooper said recalling parliament yesterday was absolutely the right thing to do" but the party has also criticised the UK government for not intervening to protect the Port Talbot steelworks in the same way.The SNP's Stephen Flynn questioned why the legislation only applies to England. He said yesterday: Why is this not being extended to Scotland? Why is Grangemouth (refinery in Scotland) not being included? Why is the smelter up at Lochaber not being included? Why the DL steelworks not being included? The answer why they are not being included is because westminster is only interested in westminster." Continue reading...

President's first stop is Vietnam as China urges US to end trade war and return to right path of mutual respect'The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will visit Vietnam on Monday as he begins a tour of south-east Asia where he will seek to strengthen ties with neighbouring countries amid an escalating trade war.Xi will visit Vietnam from Monday, before travelling to Malaysia and Cambodia, a high profile tour that Chinese officials have described as being of major importance". Continue reading...

Civil defence agency says al-Ahli hospital hit as IDF operations cut off access to southern city of Rafah