World news | The Guardian

Only 18 of 382 councils have minimum gender representation parity, say equality charitiesThe vast majority (95%) of local authorities across the UK are dominated by men, while only just over a third of local councillors are women, according to figures that highlight the gender disparities of local government.The analysis, conducted by the Fawcett Society and Democracy Club in the run-up to local elections in May, reveal only 18 of 382 councils have the minimum gender representation parity. Continue reading...

Palaszczuk government accepts report into law that enabled Brisbane’s Citipointe Christian College to warn teachers they could be fired for being openly homosexual

Report says significantly fewer dwellings will be completed over the next few years, even as the number of new households continues to increase

Jurors on Monday handed down mixed verdicts, convicting Leifer of 18 offences against two students, and acquitting her of nine charges

Palestinian women are fighting back, despite personal losses and scarcity of opportunities in the conservative territoryRouzan al-Najjar, a paramedic from the Gaza Strip, knew that her work saving lives during the 2018 protests on the frontier with Israel challenged assumptions in the highly conservative Palestinian territory about the role of women.“Being a medic is not only a job for a man,” the 21-year-old said in an interview shortly before she was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper. Continue reading...

Pair of suspected ‘illegals’ are thought to have been a married couple living separate lives in Brazil and GreeceHalfway through a trip to Malaysia in January, Gerhard Daniel Campos Wittich stopped messaging his girlfriend back home in Rio de Janeiro and she promptly launched a frantic search for her missing partner.A Brazilian of Austrian heritage, Campos Wittich ran a series of 3D printing companies in Rio that made, among other things, novelty resin sculptures for the Brazilian military and sausage dog key chains. Continue reading...

The machine in the northern prefecture of Akita sells locally killed wild bear captured by huntersJapan has added to its large and eclectic pool of vending machines with one a new model that sells fresh bear meat – and which has proved an unlikely hit.The machine, in the northern prefecture of Akita, has attracted a steady stream of customers since it was installed at the end of last year, according to media reports. Continue reading...

Federal Nationals leader’s comments come as Latham announces he is on leave until NSW upper house results are finalised

Consumer group finds Australia’s best-performing bog rolls come at a high price – but the worst-ranked does too

Vladlen Tatarsky, who had over 560,000 followers on Telegram, dies in explosion that injures about 30 people

Pre-budget funding announcement follows a groundswell of support for cultural institutions after decades of budget cuts

Marin says ‘democracy is always a wonderful thing’ as her Social Democrats come third behind rightwing NCP and nationalist Finns partiesFinland’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, has lost her battle to stay in power after her centre-left Social Democratic party (SDP) was narrowly beaten into third place in a cliffhanger election by its conservative and far-right rivals.With all of the votes counted on Sunday, the right-wing National Coalition party (NCP) won 20.8% of the vote, with the populist, nation-first Finns party scoring 20.1%. Marin’s SDP took 19.9% of the vote. Voter turnout was 71.9%. Continue reading...

Former PM says ‘electoral catastrophe’ follows party ‘being told by its media backers to move further and further to the right’

Washington, which has ties with the island nation but has been represented by diplomats based in New Guinea, also plans embassies in Kiribati and Tonga

UK study will look at patch’s effect on boosting libido associated with hormone level drop, which could transform lives globallyThe UK is to launch the world’s first clinical trials of a new testosterone patch aimed at boosting libido in women with symptoms of the menopause, in a move researchers believe could transform lives globally.Testosterone is an essential hormone for women and its production drops heavily after menopause. Continue reading...

Number of firms disclosing anti-slavery measures within supply chains has nearly halved, says CipsEfforts to tackle modern day slavery are stalling with nearly half the number of companies disclosing anti-slavery measures within their supply chains, according to the international procurement body.Only 29% of organisations required to produce a modern slavery statement have submitted it to the UK government registry for 2022, an analysis by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (Cips) found. Continue reading...

National Education Union reports findings before result of vote that could trigger further strikes and school closuresTeachers have said they are facing “unmanageable” levels of stress and workload, before the result of a crucial vote that could trigger further strikes and school closures in England in the coming weeks.Some teachers surveyed by the National Education Union (NEU) reported turning to antidepressants to cope, while 48% said their workload was unmanageable all or most of the time. In contrast, just 1% of teachers said their workload was always manageable. Continue reading...

Former PM cautions against ‘top down’ changes to Northern Ireland peace deal to protect power sharingThe Good Friday agreement should only be changed with cross-community consent in Northern Ireland, Tony Blair has said, amid calls to amend the peace deal to prevent political parties from collapsing power sharing in the province.The former prime minister, who played a pivotal role in negotiating the historic agreement in 1998, acknowledged that there was a case for reforming the devolved structures at Stormont, given the regularity of collapses in governance in the region over the last 25 years. Continue reading...

Actor soon to step aboard the Tardis pips Alice Oseman and Huw Edwards to be named most powerful person on British televisionDoctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa has been named the most powerful person on British television, beating broadcaster Huw Edwards to the top spot.The 30-year-old actor topped the RadioTimes.com TV 100 power list, after rising to prominence for his role as Eric in the Netflix series Sex Education and being set to debut as the Doctor at the end of this year. Continue reading...

Cancelled treatment causing a ‘lifelong’ impact on children’s health, senior doctor warns

CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless says rising migration levels are also playing a role

Results show 90% support for ridding Paris of ‘self-service scooters’ whose riders are accused of flouting rules of the roadParisians have voted to rid the streets of the French capital of rental electric scooters, with an overwhelming 90% of votes cast supporting a ban, official results show.Paris was a pioneer when it introduced e-scooters, or trottinettes, in 2018 as the city’s authorities sought to promote non-polluting forms of urban transport. Continue reading...

Shadow home secretary reveals proposals including more neighbourhood policing and introduction of ‘respect orders’Labour has announced a series of proposals to tackle antisocial behaviour, as it said ministers were failing to address the problem.The new plans include increasing neighbourhood policing and introducing new “respect orders” giving the police more power to punish adults who breach antisocial behaviour injunctions. Continue reading...

Taskforce to offer ethnicity data to police as Suella Braverman accused of ‘dog whistle’ rhetoric over child sexual exploitationRishi Sunak is to announce new measures to tackle grooming gangs on Monday, claiming that “political correctness” would not get in the way of a crackdown, while his home secretary was accused of “dog whistle” rhetoric over child sexual exploitation.A new grooming gang taskforce will be set up with specialist officers, supported by the National Crime Agency, helping local forces and offering the use of ethnicity data to assist police investigations. Continue reading...

Veteran actor, awarded Olivier for lifetime achievement, says cost must not prohibit putting ‘bums on seats’

Calls described as ‘great relief’ after Kevin Cornwell, 53, and an unnamed man were detained in AfghanistanThe families of two British men held in custody by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been able to speak to them for the first time since their arrest.Kevin Cornwell, a 53-year-old charity medic, and another British national, who has not been named, were detained by the Taliban’s secret police on 11 January. Continue reading...

Russian news agency reports Vladlen Tatarsky died in blast that also injured at least 16 peopleWe reported earlier on the Ukrainian claims of deaths as a result of Russian shelling in Kostiantynivka. Ukrainian officials have now put the death toll at six people, with a further eight wounded, Reuters says.Zelenskiy’s office say 16 apartment buildings, eight private houses, a school and an administrative building were damaged. An official posted photos showing the partial destruction of buildings and craters from explosions on the Telegram messaging app. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the photos or the number of casualties.Gershkovich’s unwarranted and unjust arrest is a significant escalation in your government’s anti-press actions. Russia is sending the message that journalism within your borders is criminalised and that foreign correspondents seeking to report from Russia do not enjoy the benefits of the rule of law. Continue reading...

National Coalition party has slight lead over Sanna Marin’s Social Democrats with 40% of votes countedFinland’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, was facing a battle to hold on to power on Sunday with the country’s conservative opposition National Coalition party (NCP) holding a narrow early lead in a knife-edge general election.Among the 40% of voters who cast their ballots before election day, the NCP garnered a score of 20.8%, fractionally ahead of Marin’s centre-left Social Democrats (SDP) on 20.7%. The far-right nationalist Finns party scored 18.6%. Continue reading...

Home secretary says Brexit did not cause chaos seen at port as angry customers see trips cancelled

Families of pupils whose foreign trips were cancelled owing to the delays blame border staff, Brexit and ferry companies

Exclusive: 240-year-old scrap of indigo woollen cloth identified as fabric made in Yorkshire to clothe millions of enslaved peopleIt is a scrap of indigo woollen cloth that is slightly moth-eaten and so tiny that few would give it a second glance, but a 1783 note on its reverse has revealed its chilling significance.Discovered in a public record office in England, it has been identified as the only surviving fragment of its kind used to clothe millions of enslaved people in the Caribbean and North America for almost 200 years. This coarse fabric, known as “slave” or “negro” cloth, was woven in West Yorkshire, close to the town of Penistone, from which it derives its name. Continue reading...

Russian foreign minister rejects request and says US must not ‘make a fuss’ over arrest of Evan GershkovichAntony Blinken, the US secretary of state, called for Russia to free the detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich in a rare phone call with his Moscow counterpart since the start of the war in Ukraine.The American’s plea was rejected by Sergei Lavrov, who responded by saying that US officials and media outlets must “not make a fuss” or try to politicise the plight of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Labour says record number of disclosures before Easter recess is effort to evade accountabilityLabour has accused ministers of being “desperate to avoid scrutiny” after government departments published a record number of “transparency disclosures” over a 48-hour period before parliament rose for the Easter break.The Cabinet Office website shows that 150 documents were released over 30-31 March, more than in the previous 44 days and beating the previous record, set exactly a year ago, when there was a data dump of 120 documents just before the recess. Continue reading...

Inquiry to focus on whether emergency state-backed UBS takeover breached criminal lawSwitzerland’s federal prosecutor has launched an investigation into whether last month’s state-backed takeover of the stricken bank Credit Suisse by its bigger rival UBS broke Swiss criminal law.The office of the attorney general said it was looking into potential breaches by government officials, regulators and executives at the two banks who thrashed out an emergency merger over a frantic weekend in mid-March to prevent a wider financial meltdown. Continue reading...

Itamar Ben-Gvir says force will focus on Arab unrest as police chief voices concerns and opposition figures denounce it as ‘militia’Israel’s government has authorised the establishment of a national guard proposed by the far-right security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said it would focus on Arab unrest, as political rivals accused him of setting up a sectarian “militia”.The previous government had begun moves to set up an auxiliary police force to tackle internal political violence after pro-Palestinian protests in mixed Jewish-Arab areas during the Israel-Gaza conflict in May 2021. However, that government ended before the force was finalised. Continue reading...

Home secretary refuses to give a deadline for when her controversial policy for asylum seekers will beginSuella Braverman has been unable to confirm that the first promised deportation flights to Rwanda will take off this summer, as the controversial policy continues to face scrutiny in the courts.The home secretary, whose officials briefed that plans were on track during her trip to the African country last month, played down the prospect of the flights going ahead shortly. Continue reading...

Natalie Rabey, who relies on power-hungry machines to help her breathe, is campaigning for solar power for Victoria’s public housing

The national housing report, released on Monday, says rising interest rates have reduced supply of new homes

The Grattan Institute report recommends 10 changes to superannuation taxation that could save the budget billions a year

Malcolm Turnbull says the party’s future rests on its ability to move back to the centre

Volunteer detectives could look again at all 13,000 cold cases on National Crime Agency’s missing persons unitMissing persons investigations going back decades and cases of unidentified remains across the UK will be freshly investigated under a new pilot scheme.The programme, by the charity Locate International, will be limited initially to a small number of police forces. But the National Police Chiefs Council has said it could be extended nationwide, bringing in volunteer detectives from around the world to reinvestigate all 13,000 cold cases on the National Crime Agency’s UK missing persons unit. Continue reading...

Sakamoto was one of Japan’s most successful musicians, acclaimed for work in Yellow Magic Orchestra as well as solo albums and film scoresRyuichi Sakamoto, the Japanese musician whose remarkably eclectic career straddled pop, experimentalism and Oscar-winning film composition, has died aged 71.As a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra alongside Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto created joyous and progressive electronic pop in the late 1970s and early 1980s, alongside solo releases. He acted alongside David Bowie in the 1983 film Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and composed its celebrated theme, the first in a series of film scores including Oscar-winning work in 1987 with David Byrne and Cong Su for Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor. Continue reading...

Robert Bonnier has counter-sued against Candy’s claims of fraudulent misrepresentation and global freezing ordersThe property tycoon Nick Candy is locked in a bitter legal dispute with a former business partner in which they have traded allegations about each other’s conduct and financial worth.The Tory donor’s firm Candy Ventures Sarl (CVS) is pursuing a claim for alleged fraudulent misrepresentation against the social media company Aaqua and its boss, Robert Bonnier. Bonnier was once seen as one of the City’s hottest young entrepreneurs as chief executive and founder of online business directory Scoot, which was valued at more than £2bn at the height of the dotcom boom but ended up being bought out for £5m. Continue reading...

Attack near western city of Homs early on Sunday was Israel’s third in recent daysFive Syrian soldiers were wounded in the latest Israeli airstrike on Syria, the state news agency Sana reported on Sunday, while Iran said two Revolutionary Guards officers had died in earlier attacks.Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian territory during more than a decade of civil war, primarily targeting Iranian-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions. Continue reading...

Signed by 38 senior news figures from around the world, the letter criticises the Kremlin’s ‘anti-press’ detention of Evan GershkovichMore than three dozen editors of news organisations from across the world have signed a letter condemning the detention of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.An experienced reporter of Russian affairs, Gershkovich was working in the city of Yekaterinburg when he was detained. The Kremlin claimed he had been spying and had been caught “red-handed”. However, the Wall Street Journal vehemently denied the allegations against him while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also condemned the arrest. Continue reading...

Le Monde and Libération correspondents sent home in junta’s latest move against media from former colonial powerBurkina Faso has expelled correspondents from Le Monde and Libération, the newspapers said on Sunday, the latest move the junta running the west African country has taken against French media.Burkina Faso, where two coups took place last year, is battling a jihadist insurgency that spilled over from neighbouring Mali in 2015. Continue reading...

Home secretary points to ‘particular combination of factors’, but Labour says ministers need to ‘start doing their actual job’Suella Braverman has denied Brexit is responsible for delays at the port of Dover after some passengers said they had been queueing up to 14 hours to have their passports checked.Extra sailings were being put in place overnight with hopes of clearing the backlog by lunchtime on Sunday, after a critical incident was declared at the port on Friday. Continue reading...

Diplomats add their voices to Japanese campaigners in demanding LGBTQ+ rights as Hiroshima prepares to host the G7 summitAkane Kousaka and her partner live in fear of the day when one of them falls ill or is injured in an accident. The LGBTQ+ couple have a “partnership certificate” issued by their ward office in Tokyo, but it comes with none of the legal guarantees afforded married heterosexual couples – including the right to visit a spouse in hospital.“We might be able to get special permission, but we shouldn’t have to rely on other people’s goodwill … it’s not right,” Kousaka told the Observer. Other countries were leaving Japan behind, she added. Continue reading...

Campaigners’ anger as 1,173 held despite ministers’ pledge to scrap legislationMore than 1,000 homeless people have been arrested for sleeping rough or begging since the government pledged to scrap the nearly 200-year-old Vagrancy Act, new figures show.Freedom of information responses from 29 police forces across England and Wales show officers have arrested 1,173 people since 2021 for offences under the archaic 19th-century act including “vagrant being found in or upon enclosed premises” and “begging and wandering around”. Continue reading...

Elizabeth Siddal, immortalised in the painting by John Everett Millais, is finally being judged for her art at a new Tate exhibitionShe is immortalised as the drowning Ophelia in John Everett Millais’s celebrated 1850s painting and as the auburn-haired model for several pre-Raphaelite artists in the mid-19th century. After dying prematurely aged 32, Elizabeth Siddal was marked down for decades as a depressive and laudanum addict, and was portrayed as such in Ken Russell’s 1967 BBC film Dante’s Inferno – named after her husband, Dante Gabriel Rossetti.More recently, she has been mythologised in several TV dramas and novels – even as a vampire victim. Continue reading...