World news | The Guardian

In today’s newsletter: The Casey report gives an in-depth look at the issues at the core of the capital’s police force

Human rights campaigners argue there is no difference between thwarted Saudi bid to sponsor Women’s World Cup and its rebel golf funding

Chris Minns defends promise to scrap public sector wages cap as party leaders scramble in final week of NSW election campaigning

Poet laureate celebrates a plum tree in poem commissioned by the National Trust for its blossom campaignThe poet laureate, Simon Armitage, has written a new poem which pays homage to spring, in celebration of World Poetry Day.Plum Tree Among the Skyscrapers is the first in a collection of poems inspired by blossom and commissioned by the National Trust. Its publication marks the beginning of the Trust’s annual blossom campaign, in which the charity will vow to bring blossom back to landscapes across the UK by planting 20m trees by 2030 to help tackle both the climate and nature crises. Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan promises to hold police force to account after report highlights institutional misogyny, racism and homophobia

David Littleproud says retailers should be permitted to sell nicotine e-cigarettes without a prescription to customers 18 and over

Solicitor, 71, had been charged under national security law and was released to be treated for lung cancerHong Kong police have arrested a veteran pro-democracy politician who was out on bail for medical treatment after spending more than a year in detention on a subversion charge.Albert Ho, 71, once led the city’s largest opposition group, the Democratic party, and runs his own law firm. Police handcuffed Ho and took him away from his home in a vehicle on Tuesday, a Reuters witness said. Continue reading...

Senior lawyer who carried out inquiry into Labour party’s culture says transparent systems needed to tackle issuesKeir Starmer has faced criticism for vowing to adopt a “zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism and racism” without having the transparent systems in place to tackle such issues.Martin Forde KC, the senior lawyer who carried out an inquiry into the party’s culture, said he has become “irritated” by the phrase, which the Labour leader used last month after the ECHR lifted the party out of two years of special measures over its past failings on antisemitism. Continue reading...

The singer’s ex is claiming a voice recording she provided him before he became famous has been used without her permissionBad Bunny’s ex–girlfriend is suing the superstar for at least $40m over a well-known voice recording she provided the singer before he became famous.Carliz De La Cruz Hernández, whose breathy “Bad Bunny, baby” recording was included in two of the artist’s songs, claimed in a lawsuit filed this month in a Puerto Rico court that her voice and the phrase she came up with are being used without her permission. Continue reading...

The Motherhood Group event hears that black women suffer effects of unconscious bias within systemUnconscious bias in the UK healthcare system is contributing to the stark racial disparity in maternal healthcare outcomes, a conference has heard.The Black Maternal Health Conference UK also heard that black women not being listened to by healthcare professionals was also a contributing factor. Continue reading...

Suella Braverman’s claims of ‘constructive’ talks regarding Strasbourg’s injunctions disputed by legal scholarsLegal experts have cast doubt on the UK’s claims of “possible reforms” to European court of human rights procedures that stopped an asylum seeker from being deported to Rwanda last year.During a two-day visit to the country’s capital, Kigali, Suella Braverman told a selected group of government-friendly papers that she was “encouraged” by the government’s “constructive” talks with Strasbourg to reform court injunctions. An ECHR injunction last June prevented an Iraqi national from being deported from the UK to the east African country. Continue reading...

The chain’s mutual model was once hailed as a template, but now it needs cash amid hefty lossesCould breaking the staff-ownership model be the answer for the owner of John Lewis and Waitrose, which is considering bringing in outside investment of up to £2bn as a way to secure its future after reporting hefty losses?The John Lewis Partnership has been owned by its employees since the 1920s, meaning they receive an annual bonus based on profits in a set-up that motivated staff and helped it expand into a stalwart of the British high street. Continue reading...

In final speech as leader, Scottish first minister says contest ‘is an unusual process for the SNP but it’s essential and it’s healthy’Nicola Sturgeon has claimed the crisis surrounding the Scottish National party’s “fractious” leadership battle is a necessary part of its renewal, in her final speech as party leader.Speaking at the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in London, Sturgeon said the leadership contest sparked by her decision to resign was “proving to be a challenging and difficult process”, but denied it would cause longer-term damage to the SNP’s fortunes. Continue reading...

Police have arrested four men on suspicion of murder after Trust Junior Jordan Gangata was found injured on Sunday morningTributes have been paid to a “hardworking, funny and loyal” 17-year-old boy who was stabbed to death at a house party in Leeds.Police launched a murder investigation after Trust Junior Jordan Gangata, known as TJ, was found injured at a property in the Armley area of the city in the early hours of Sunday. Continue reading...

Tories could do better than expected in May elections as Sunak shakes off predecessor’s legacy, Robert Hayward predicts

Rail firm given six-month extension after pointing to improvements but Labour says decision is inexplicable

Members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the offer, worth 9% over two years, in deal that should bring worst of disruption to endMembers of the RMT union have voted to accept a pay offer from Network Rail.Thousands of rail workers including signalling staff voted by three to one in favour to accept the offer, a 9% pay increase over two years, in a referendum that closed on Monday. Continue reading...

Liberal and Labor MPs Bridget Archer and Alicia Payne unite in call for welfare boost

Key resignations, ideological conflicts and drop in membership numbers have left the SNP close to collapseThey are phrases the Scottish National party once happily used as attack lines against the Conservatives and Labour: “tremendous mess”, “unedifying” and “spectacularly wrong”.Yet they came from the SNP’s new acting chief executive and its honorary president, Mike Russell, and he was talking about his own party. “I think it is fair to say there is a tremendous mess and we have to clear it up,” he told the BBC on Sunday. Continue reading...

Bloc’s most senior diplomat says procurement needs to be ‘quick, cheap and in the necessary amounts’ to replenish dwindling stocks

As parliament dissolves, party of Paetongtarn, whose father was deposed in 2006, has best chance of forming majorityThailand’s parliament has been dissolved, paving the way for an election in early May that will pit military-backed parties against the daughter of the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.King Maha Vajiralongkorn has endorsed a decree to dissolve parliament, according to an announcement in the Royal Gazette on Monday. An election must be held between 45 and 60 days after the house’s dissolution. Continue reading...

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International court’s prosecutor to make case at conference in London after Putin warrant issuedKarim Khan, the prosecutor of the international criminal court, will plead on Monday for extra cash to pursue Russian war crimes in Ukraine, including the potential prosecution of Vladimir Putin for overseeing the abduction of children from Ukraine to Russia.Khan made his dramatic move against the Russian president last week ahead of a conference in London co-hosted by the UK and the Dutch government aimed at raising cash to fund the ICC’s war crimes investigatory work inside Ukraine. The ICC’s budget has not been increased even though it has 40 investigators working inside Ukraine. Continue reading...

World Happiness Report finds higher levels of benevolence in all global regions than before the pandemicIt claimed 6.7 million lives, locked down entire countries and triggered a global economic slump, but Covid-19 has not affected humankind’s happiness, an international study has found.Interviews with more than 100,000 people across 137 countries found significantly higher levels of benevolence in all global regions than before the pandemic. And when asked to evaluate their lives on a scale of one to 10, people on average gave scores just as high in the 2020-22 Covid years as in 2017-19. Continue reading...

‘We’ll look at some models and we’ll get it done as quickly as we can,’ attorney general says

Crowds outside building believed to be supporters of a Sikh separatist movement appeared to be encouraging man’s actionsA man has been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder after crowds gathered and a window was smashed at the Indian high commission in London.Metropolitan police officers were called to the building in Aldwych, Westminster at about 1.50pm on Sunday, and two security guards sustained minor injuries. Continue reading...

Russian president flew in by helicopter and then drove a car in several districts of the city, site of one of the war’s bloodiest battles

Cross-union group sends out leaflets and hold online calls to persuade staff to vote against package agreed by leadersMembers of Britain’s biggest health unions are organising a campaign to reject the pay agreement being recommended by union leaders, in a move that threatens to destroy the tentative truce between the government and NHS staff.A cross-union group called NHS Workers Say No has sent out thousands of leaflets, held online calls and started WhatsApp networks in an effort to persuade members to vote against the 5% increase hammered out during months of talks. Continue reading...

Owner of Night & Day is taking Manchester city council to court in hope it will drop notice served 18 months agoMuch-loved Manchester music venue Night & Day will be back in court this week appealing against a noise abatement notice brought by an adjacent flat.The owner of the bar, a fixture of the city’s Northern Quarter for 30 years, is taking Manchester city council (MCC) to court in the hope it will drop the notice served 18 months ago. Continue reading...

Russian president makes first trip to Donbas region since invasion, in show of defiance after ICC arrest warrant

Defence minister says any decision to engage in armed conflict should be better debated and scrutinised

Attorney general Shane Rattenbury says territory may take action unilaterally if federal government does not act

Advocates say there needs to be ‘urgent action’ after report reveals many workers experience discrimination and abuse

Police confiscated bottles of drug known as GBL, which can be sold under a loophole for industrial purposes

Michael Aron praised facility part-owned by British American Tobacco at ribbon-cutting event in 2019A UK ambassador took part in the opening ceremony of a Jordanian cigarette factory part-owned by British American Tobacco (BAT) and praised the new facility in a televised interview, in the latest example of British diplomats breaching strict guidelines against mixing with the tobacco industry overseas.The envoy stood at the ribbon as it was cut and later appeared in promotional material on the tobacco company’s website, but no record of his presence at the event was kept by the British embassy in Amman because the event was not considered a “formal meeting”. Continue reading...

Villagers celebrate anniversary of buyback of 400-year-old Packhorse near Bath, and hope to inspire othersOn the day of the Packhorse’s grand reopening exactly five years ago it snowed heavily. “Boy did it snow,” said Phil Legard, one of the hundreds of shareholders who together had raised more than a million pounds to save the beloved pub near Bath.“By 9am the village was cut off and the first thing we had to do was organise a team of people to grab their shovels and dig so our first customers could actually get here,” said Legard. “But that is what the Packhorse is about. Community spirit, finding a way.” Continue reading...

The writers of the Northern Ireland criminal drama want to shed light on continued threat posed by gangs involved in drugs tradeA portrayal of the brutality entrenched in some Belfast communities in a major new BBC drama has shocked younger actors not old enough to have lived through the Troubles. The violent legacy of sectarian division in the criminal underworld had to be explained by older cast and writers.Police show Blue Lights is due to come to television screens just before the Good Friday agreement marks its 25th anniversary early next month, and it focuses on the continued threat posed by gangs involved in the drugs trade. Set in the ranks of the Police Service of Northern Ireland today, it follows three recruits learning how to navigate a treacherous urban landscape. Continue reading...

Wagga Wagga experiences its hottest March weather yet, breaking a previous high set in 1983

Poll shows just 17% of people back the Conservatives on public services against 43% for the oppositionMore than twice as many voters now trust Labour to improve public services as the Conservatives, after the government finally backed down and agreed an improved pay deal for NHS workers aimed at ending months of damaging health sector strikes.The latest Opinium poll for the Observer shows just 17% of people back the Tories on public services against 43% who would prefer Labour to manage them, after the government came forward with an enhanced offer last week. Continue reading...

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Firing of short-range weapon comes as the US and South Korea stage major military drills

Comments follow protests in which anti-transgender activists performed Nazi salutes on the steps of the Victorian state parliament

Magnitude 6.8 quake shakes area 50 miles south of Ecuador’s second city, Guayaquil, with one death reported so far in PeruA strong earthquake shook southern Ecuador and northern Peru on Saturday, killing at least 15 people, trapping others under rubble, and sending rescue teams out into streets littered with debris and fallen power lines.The US Geological Survey reported an earthquake with a magnitude of about 6.8 in the country’s coastal Guayas region. Its centre was about 50 miles (80km) south of Guayaquil, which has a metropolitan area of more than 3 million people. Continue reading...

Russia accused of using cluster bombs in Kramatorsk strikes that leave two dead after a series of attacks the previous day; Black Sea grain deal renewed

Faith Marley, from Leith, Edinburgh, was spotted on CCTV meeting an older man on Wednesday, police sayA fresh appeal has been launched to help police trace a 15-year-old girl who has been missing for three days.Faith Marley, from the Leith area of Edinburgh, was last seen on CCTV meeting a man in Glasgow. Continue reading...

Home secretary’s trip to publicise refugee policy has been compared with Donald Trump’s news managementOutrage at the unusual level of control imposed on media coverage of the home secretary’s trip to Rwanda has grown this weekend during Suella Braverman’s first hours in the country.Prominent names, including news presenters, academics and opposition MPs expressed shock at what they considered the partisan reporting of the trip from the right-wing news organisations invited to join the trip. The Guardian, BBC, Mirror, Independent and i Newspaper were barred. Continue reading...

Citizens who worked with British government or helped army told to get necessary documents stamped by the authoritiesThe Ministry of Defence has apologised after an investigation found Afghan applicants to a resettlement scheme were told they could only come to the UK if their documents were approved by the Taliban.The Independent revealed that the mistake affected applicants to the Afghan relocations and assistance policy scheme (Arap), which aims to relocate Afghan citizens who worked with the UK government or helped its armed forces in Afghanistan. The MoD decides which applicants – who may apply with their families – are eligible for relocation to Britain. Continue reading...

Russia seized Crimea in 2014, eight years before launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.Ukraine has released details of overnight drone attacks by Russia.Some hit the relatively peaceful region of Lviv in the west of Ukraine. Dnipro was also targeted, as was Kyiv, where air defences shot down all attacking drones. Continue reading...

Supporters of ex-prime minister and police fight outside court where he was addressing charges of unlawfully selling state giftsA court in Islamabad has cancelled Imran Khan’s arrest warrant after intense clashes between police and the former prime minister’s supporters outside the judicial complex.Khan officially appeared before the court in Pakistan’s capital on Saturday, complying with a judicial order that led to a failed attempt to arrest him on Tuesday. He is facing various legal challenges including unlawfully selling state gifts given to him by foreign dignitaries while in office from 2018 to 2022. Khan says he followed legal procedures in acquiring the gifts. Continue reading...