World news | The Guardian

USAid pause affects projects such as veteran rehabilitation, independent media and humanitarian assistanceUkraine is reeling from the shock decision by the Trump administration to pause all US foreign aid programmes immediately, as a variety of projects in the country - from military veteran rehabilitation programmes to independent media and anti-corruption initiatives - have effectively been stopped overnight.It was seen as inevitable that the incoming administration would overhaul USAid, the US development agency, but there was an expectation that spending on Ukraine, or at least some of the most critical programmes, would be subject to a waiver - or there would at least be a winding-down period. Continue reading...

UK foreign secretary issues direct warning during phone call with Rwandan president after escalation of conflictRwanda has put $1bn of global aid under threat by taking part in the invasion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, has said.He made the direct warning in a phone call to the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, on Sunday after also speaking to the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, about the crisis. Continue reading...

Narrow passage of controversial CDU-CSU motion ends longstanding boycott on cooperating with far-right partyThe German parliament has narrowly passed a motion urging tough restrictions on immigration that was highly controversial because it was backed by the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party.The motion was brought by the conservative opposition CDU-CSU and backed by, among others, the AfD, breaking a longstanding taboo on cooperation with the anti-immigration party. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more of our Middle East coverage hereIn a statement given on Tuesday at the United Nations general assembly, in New York, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) president, Mirjana Spoljaric, said she had seen so much devastation" on recent visits to Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank.Spoljaric warned that respect for international humanitarian law (IHL) is in crisis" and threatening the very humanity that these laws seek to preserve".The evidence is clear: hospitals reduced to rubble, civilian neighbourhoods destroyed, and innocent lives lost. Across the globe, respect for international humanitarian law (IHL) is in crisis, threatening the very humanity that these laws seek to preserve.This is not an abstract issue. It is one that impacts millions of lives every day, and one that costs hundreds of billions of dollars to recover from. Continue reading...

India's prime minister Narendra Modi confirmed there had been fatalities at the world's largest religious gatheringDozens feared dead in India at Kumbh Mela religious festivalWednesday is when the sadhus (holy people), all 13 sects of them, take their holy baths in the Ganges.The holy bathing time is at 4am and that is around the time that the crowd crushes are thought to have started. It appears three separate crushes took place, as people surged forward, into groups of people who were sitting or lying on the ground on the banks of the river. Continue reading...

Australian Energy Market Operator also reports coal-fired power plants' contribution fell below 50% for the first time

Albanese government backbenchers among those pushing to add dental to Medicare despite the health minister saying it's not a priority

Man sent coordinates and photo of steering wheel to his girlfriend allowing officers to locate car and rescue himSpanish police have rescued a man who was kidnapped and bundled into the boot of a car after he managed to alert his girlfriend by sending her a photo of the vehicle's steering wheel and a set of coordinates.On 23 January Policia Nacional officers in the Andalucian province of Malaga received a report that a man had been kidnapped two days earlier on the promenade of the town of Sabinillas. The man had been taken by a group of men travelling in two cars who were looking for information on the whereabouts of a third man who had apparently swindled them out of 30,000 (25,000) in a drug deal. Continue reading...

Revenues rise at travel arm, where retailer has shops at transport hubs and hospitals across 32 countries

Government plans to remove legal recognition of gender-based killings in latest attack on women's rightsFemicide will be struck from Argentina's penal code, according to a vow from the administration of Javier Milei, the president. It is his administration's latest attack on women's rights.Mariano Cuneo Libarona, the justice minister, said the government will eliminate the figure of femicide from the Argentine penal code" adding that feminism was a distortion of the concept of equality". Continue reading...

NSW police investigating after explosives found in Dural with premier Chris Minns warning incident could have led to mass casualty event'

John Perumbalath denies allegations by two women from 2023, saying police investigated and took no further actionThe bishop of Liverpool has been accused of sexual assault and harassment by two women.John Perumbalath denies the allegations from 2023, which come months after the Church of England was embroiled in an abuse scandal that triggered the resignation of the archbishop of Canterbury. Continue reading...

Witnesses describe surging crowds that trampled people on the banks of the Ganges as they arrived to bathe on one of the most auspicious days of the Hindu festival

Magistrate allows release of 34-year-old charged with 11 offences related to treatment of her baby daughter

Company apologises over disclosure of information and collection of debts from vulnerable people

Inquiry chair says evidence will make clear the devastating and lasting impact' of Real IRA attack in August 1998The sister of a 23-year-old Spanish visitor killed in the devastating Omagh bomb has said the public inquiry into the atrocity is allowing the family to close a wound that has been open for 26 years".During the opening day of the resumed inquiry, Paloma Abad Ramos told of the mind-blowing shock" she and her family felt in 1998 when they learned the youngest of three daughters, Rocio, had been caught up in a bomb in a foreign country. Continue reading...

The networking and events business struggled with rising rents' and the aftermath of the pandemicAllBright, the women-only members' club with a five-storey townhouse in Mayfair, London, has entered administration, the Guardian can reveal.The networking and events business - which was co-founded by the Telegraph Media Group's chief executive, Anna Jones, and the co-chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce, Debbie Wosskow - emailed members last week to say it was closing the doors of its building just off Regent Street. Continue reading...

Atomic scientists push clock to 89 seconds before midnight, citing nuclear risk, AI and climate crisis as a warning'A panel of international scientists has moved their symbolic Doomsday Clock" closer to midnight than ever before, citing Russian nuclear threats amid its invasion of Ukraine, tensions in other world hot spots, military applications of artificial intelligence and the climate crisis as factors underlying the risks of global catastrophe.The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the clock to 89 seconds before midnight - the theoretical point of annihilation. That is one second closer than it was set last year. The Chicago-based nonprofit created the clock in 1947 during the cold war tensions that followed the second world war to warn the public about how close humankind was to destroying the world. Continue reading...

Driver of Land Rover that crashed into Study Prep school in 2023, killing two girls, arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous drivingThe driver of a Land Rover that crashed into a school in Wimbledon, killing two children, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, the Metropolitan police have said.Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau, both eight, died in the incident at the Study Prep school in south-west London in July 2023, while children were celebrating the last day of the summer term. Continue reading...

California woman gets 41 months as birthright citizenship is thrust into spotlight with Trump's return to White HouseA California woman was sentenced on Monday to more than three years in prison in a long-running case over a business that helped pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States to deliver babies who automatically became American citizens.R Gary Klausner, a US district judge, gave Phoebe Dong a 41-month sentence. Dong and her husband were convicted in September of conspiracy and money laundering through their company, USA Happy Baby. Continue reading...

Jos Leijdekkers, reportedly the son-in-law of African country's president, was sentenced to 24 years in prisonOne of Europe's most wanted men, the Dutch crime boss Jos Leijdekkers, is hiding out in Sierra Leone, Dutch prosecutors have said.The statement came after Dutch media published footage that appeared to show the violent drug trafficker at a New Year's Day church service seated close to Sierra Leone's presidential family. Sierra Leone's information office said it was investigating reports that he was benefiting from high-level protection. Continue reading...

Autocrat conducts rambling press conference as his 31 years of rule are extended by an election dismissed outside the country as a shamBelarusian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko said he had no regrets" about allowing Russia to use his country to invade Ukraine, amid condemnation of the sham" presidential vote that extended his 31 years of authoritarian rule.Germany's foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said on Sunday that the vote was a bitter day for all those who long for freedom and democracy". Continue reading...

Court Services Victoria security staff directed three people to remove the scarves, which are often worn by Palestine supporters

Intelligence sources suggest battle for Congolese regional capital Goma is imminent before UN crisis talks on SundayLarge numbers of troops from Rwanda have been pouring across the border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to help rebels seize the regional capital of Goma before an emergency UN meeting about the crisis takes place on Sunday, intelligence officials have warned.Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) soldiers are believed to have secretly crossed into the eastern DRC over the past few days to assist a lightning offensive by the M23 militia. Continue reading...

Home Office review will criticise counter-terrorism officers for not taking into account Southport killer's obsession with extreme violenceCounter-terrorism officers did not believe Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was in danger of being radicalised", leaks from a Home Office report have revealed.The Prevent learning review will criticise counter-terrorism officers for failing to properly take into account Rudakubana's obsession with extreme violence when it is released, the Sunday Times has reported. Continue reading...

Dozens of underperforming schools have been forced to wait more than a year to reopen under new managementDozens of schools rated inadequate by Ofsted have faced waits of more than a year before reopening, amid accusations from Labour that they were left to fester" by the former Conservative government.The state of schools and the future of academies has become the subject of an increasingly fraught political row. The Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, accused Keir Starmer last week of an act of vandalism" in new laws restricting freedoms enjoyed by academies. Continue reading...

Bedfordshire police officers were called to the woman's home on Thursday afternoon after reports of an injuryAn 83-year-old man has been charged with the murder of an 84-year-old woman, who was found dead in her home, police have said.Officers were called to Kingsbury Avenue, Dunstable in Bedfordshire, just after 1.40pm on Thursday, after reports that a woman had been injured. Continue reading...

People who deny the truth of the bitter past' could be jailed for up to five years under the law, which still needs parliament approvalCambodia's government has approved a draft law that will jail for up to five years anyone denying atrocities, including genocide, committed by the Khmer Rouge.The draft law - which aims to prevent a repeat of the Khmer Rouge's crimes and provide justice for victims - was approved during a cabinet meeting chaired by the prime minister, Hun Manet, on Friday, the government spokesperson Pen Bona said. Continue reading...

People planning return to neighbourhoods to search for loved ones and assess damage to homes this weekendTens of thousands of people will risk death or injury this weekend from shells and bombs buried in rubble when they try to reach their ruined homes in areas of Gaza that have been inaccessible throughout much of the 15-month war, explosive disposal experts and aid officials have warned.To comply with the ceasefire deal that came into effect last Sunday, Israel must allow movement from southern Gaza to the north - where destruction has been most intensive - through a major checkpoint on the Israeli-held Netzarim corridor. Continue reading...

Trend forecasters predict wide-leg trend may be kicked out in favour of indie sleaze' narrow trousersAs the men's shows drew to a close this week, something looked different on the catwalk. Trousers hugged calves. Fabric that once billowed around thighs clung tight. Shoes usually hidden by hems were now visible.After several seasons in which wide-legged trousers had expanded beyond the catwalk to men who shop at Uniqlo, Muji, Zara and M&S and beyond, was the skinny, slimline, tapered trouser staging a comeback? Continue reading...

Ice given unprecedented authority to expedite deportations as US cities face raids and troops arrive at US-Mexico border

Russian president strikes noticeably favourable tone, downplaying Trump's previous economic threatsVladimir Putin has said he is ready to discuss the war in Ukraine with Donald Trump and suggested it would be a good idea for them to meet.In his first comments since Trump issued threats to inflict economic damage on Russia if it failed to end the war in Ukraine, Putin struck a favourable tone towards the US president. Continue reading...

The Holme in Regent's Park, which has 40 bedrooms, was put on the market two years ago for 250mA 40-bedroom mansion inside Regent's Park formerly owned by the Saudi royal family has been sold for about 139m in one of London's biggest ever property sales.The Holme, a 2,694 sq metre (29,000 sq ft) residence in 1.6 hectares (4 acres) of gardens, sits next to the park's boating lake close to London zoo and the US ambassador's residence, Winfield House. It was put on the market nearly two years ago, with agents reportedly seeking offers as high as 250m. Continue reading...

Succession star will play ghost of Adam Smith in James Graham's operatic' drama about the 2008 financial crashThe Dundee-born actor Brian Cox will return to the Scottish stage for the first time in a decade to play the ghost of the Scottish economist Adam Smith, a role he created for himself, in the first major drama to tell the story of Royal Bank of Scotland's role in the 2008 financial crash.Cox, whose performance as the ailing patriarch and media mogul Logan Roy in TV's acclaimed Succession won him a Golden Globe and multiple Emmy nominations, will play the Enlightenment-era economist in Make It Happen, an operatic in scale" production for the National Theatre of Scotland by the playwright and screenwriter James Graham. Continue reading...

Video footage allegedly showed student performing salute and another mimicking a Hitler moustache

NSW premier Chris Minns says police will track down people behind Maroubra attack and foreshadows new anti-hatred laws

Alex Cullen referred to Portelli by the nickname McLaren guy' on air after the mogul offered cash to the first TV presenter to do so

Unnamed gunman killed Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghisseh before shooting himself, Mezan reportsTwo judges have been killed in a shooting on Saturday at the supreme court building in Tehran, Iranian state media have reported.This morning, a gunman infiltrated the supreme court in a planned act of assassination of two brave and experienced judges. The two judges were martyred in the act," the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported. Continue reading...

Report by Lancet Commission says BMI should be used as screening tool' rather than determining factorThis week, doctors confirmed what many people have felt for a long time: the way we think about obesity is not helpful, BMI (body mass index) is unreliable, and this needs to change.The Lancet Commission has urged a radical overhaul" of how obesity is diagnosed, warning that reliance on BMI has resulted in both under- and over-diagnosis of the condition affecting approximately 1 billion people globally. Continue reading...

Agreement earlier approved by the security cabinet will pause 15-month war in Gaza for an initial six weeks

Populist leader allegedly had a child with a teen girl in 2016, which would constitute statutory rape under Bolivian lawA Bolivian judge has ordered the arrest of the former president Evo Morales over his alleged abuse of a teenage girl while in office, raising the stakes in the state's months-long showdown with the former leader.The judge in the southern city of Tarija called for Morales, 65, to be arrested after Bolivia's first Indigenous president ducked out of a hearing on his possible pre-trial detention for a second time. Continue reading...

Verdicts against trio suggest legal representatives are latest target of Kremlin's crackdown on dissentRussia has sentenced three lawyers who had defended Alexei Navalny to several years in prison for bringing messages from the late opposition leader from prison to the outside world.The case, which comes amid a widespread crackdown on dissent during the Ukraine offensive, has alarmed rights groups that fear Moscow will ramp up trials against legal representatives in addition to jailing their clients. Continue reading...

PM stressed shared unbreakable commitment to Nato and Ukraine' with Poland in meeting with Donald TuskKeir Starmer has urged world leaders to double down" in their efforts to support Ukraine during a visit to Poland, days before Donald Trump's return to the US presidency risks jeopardising international solidarity on the issue.Speaking alongside the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, after the pair discussed a proposed defence-focused treaty, Starmer dodged questions on the possible impact of Trump, but insisted the only way forward was peace on Ukraine's terms". Continue reading...

Republicans and conservatives meanwhile are pouring in for celebrations with hotels being nearly 70% bookedAlejandra Whitney-Smith has plans for president-elect Donald Trump's inauguration next week: spend a week in a cabin without technology.It [inauguration weekend] coincides with my birthday weekend, which I usually do spend in DC, but when the election happened, I told myself, Oh, no, I can't be here,'" said Whitney-Smith, whose mother was working at the Library of Congress during the January 6 attack on the US Capitol in 2021. I just remember that feeling of fear for her and then also just concern for me being in the city. I just knew for me - I didn't want to be around that sort of hostile negative energy." Continue reading...

Visit comes amid speculation that Democratic mayor hopes to seek pardon from president-elect on corruption chargesThe New York City mayor, Eric Adams, is scheduled to meet with Donald Trump at the incoming president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Friday.The visit between the two men comes amid speculation that Adams, who faces a federal indictment over corruption charges, hopes to seek a pardon from Trump and amid moves that have been widely seen as his attempt to get politically closer to the incoming US president. Continue reading...

Rare spherical egg could fetch in region of 200, with proceeds of sale going to charityA farm worker in Devon has discovered what she believes to be a one-in-a-billion" spherical egg.Alison Greene, who has worked as an egg handler on Fenton Farm near the Somerset border for three years and handled more than 42m eggs, said she had never found a round one before. Continue reading...

Senior officers say fraction of child abuse cases relate to gangs and resources could be diverted from current casesSenior police officers fear that government pressure to reinvestigate closed historic cases of gang grooming could make it harder to catch those targeting children today.The government on Thursday announced more reviews of past cases and also that victims, whose cases did not end in prosecutions, will be given a new right of appeal to have their investigations reopened. Continue reading...

President-elect will be first to be sworn in inside since Reagan in 1985 when temperature was below freezing

Former leader and wife found guilty of illegally obtaining lucrative plots of land in deal with property tycoonPakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption, another setback for the beleaguered leader who has already spent over 18 months in jail and is facing more than a hundred cases.Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were found guilty of illegally obtaining lucrative plots of land, worth billions of rupees, through a corrupt deal with a Pakistani property tycoon. Khan was given a 14-year sentence while his wife was given seven years, and Khan was fined 1m Pakistan rupees (2,900). Continue reading...

Call for prisons to lose immunity from prosecution after report into suicides of Katie Allan, 20, and William Lindsay, 16, at PolmontThe deaths of two young people in custody could have been avoided, according to the long-awaited report of a joint inquiry into their suicides within months of one another.The 419-page document, which identified a catalogue of failures" in the system that was charged with their care, prompted their families' lawyer to call on the UK government to end prisons' immunity from prosecution.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...