World news | The Guardian

Victims of paramilitaries demand Dairo Antonio Úsuga come clean about atrocities committed by forces he commandedThe accused head of Colombia’s Gulf Clan cartel is due to appear in a federal court in New York on Thursday, as victims in his home country call for guarantees that he will come clean on atrocities committed by the feared paramilitary fighters he once commanded.Dairo Antonio Úsuga, who is Colombia’s most wanted drug suspect for nearly a decade, was extradited from Colombia late on Wednesday on cocaine and weapons charges. Continue reading...

British farmers say urgent support needed to stop more going out of business, as Waitrose extends £16m lifelineTesco has been criticised over its failure to support crisis-hit British pig farmers, as smaller rival Waitrose extended a £16m lifeline to help suppliers manage the jump in production costs caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine.In an open letter to Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy, the National Pig Association (NPA) said the retailer risked losing its British supply base if it did not pay a “fair price” for its pork. Continue reading...

Sajid Javid announces move after emergency meeting with manufacturers and pharmacists

First girls will join in 2025 after boarding school facilities have been expandedSt Paul’s Cathedral is to admit girls to its internationally renowned choir, breaking with a tradition stretching back 900 years.The move comes 31 years after Salisbury became the first Anglican cathedral in England to offer girls places in its choir. Many others, including York Minster, Durham and Exeter, have followed suit. Continue reading...

Head of PCS, Mark Serwotka, claims failure to disclose key documents raises suspicions plan is ‘built on sand’Priti Patel has failed to disclose key documents to Home Office staff detailing how they should decide which migrants might be eligible to be removed to Rwanda, the leader of the UK’s biggest civil service union has claimed.Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union that represents departmental staff and Border Force officers, said the home secretary’s decision to withhold framework documents explaining the government’s offshoring policy raises suspicions that it is “built on sand” and a cynical attempt to score “cheap political points”. Continue reading...

Re-elected French president seeking coalition of the centre to see off threats from Marine Le Pen and leftwing allianceEmmanuel Macron’s centrist party, La République En Marche, is changing its name to Renaissance as the French president attempts to win a ruling majority in parliament for his second term in office.The party’s rebranding was announced just as campaigning is due to begin for June’s parliamentary elections. Macron is hoping to secure a parliamentary majority against competition from a new alliance of leftwing parties led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, which is seeking to increase its small number of seats. Continue reading...

Sculptures at the Walker depict members of Sandbach family, who made a fortune from slave tradeA sobering set of wrought-iron ankle shackles used to restrain people below deck as they were transported from Africa to enslavement have gone on permanent display in a room of beautiful sculptures at the Walker art gallery in Liverpool.The shackles have been placed near sculpted portraits of the Sandbach family made in the 19th century by John Gibson, Liverpool’s leading sculptor. The family members were part of the Sandbach, Tinne and Co dynasty that made an immense fortune trading in enslaved people and their output, including sugar, rum, molasses, timber and coffee. Continue reading...

Confusion reigns over fighting at Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol as war shifts to grinding artillery duel

Ted Jennings says his wife, Fern-Marie Choya, would have wanted him to have their baby using embryo frozen during IVFA man whose wife died while pregnant with twins after fertility treatment is fighting for the right to use their last remaining frozen embryo to try to have a baby with a surrogate, in a groundbreaking legal case.Ted Jennings, 38, from London, says he is certain that is what his wife, Fern-Marie Choya, would have wanted. But the fertility regulator says this would be unlawful because Choya did not consent to posthumous surrogacy before her sudden death in 2019, while pregnant with twin girls. Continue reading...

Surveyor Myrddyn Phillips believes status of high ground near Blaenau Ffestiniog should be upgradedA hillwalker, surveyor and map-maker has pinpointed what he believes is a new mountain in north Wales that has been created by quarrying.Myrddyn Phillips, who has spent the last two decades sizing up obscure peaks to judge if they qualify for mountain status, has concluded a piece of high ground at a quarry near Blaenau Ffestiniog passes the test. Continue reading...

Food and Drug Administration ‘concerned’ about unproven health claims and packaging that appeals to childrenThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warnings to companies selling products including delta-8 THC, a cannabis compound, for making unsupported claims about the health benefits of the items.The FDA said even though there is very little research on delta-8 THC, a substance found in the cannabis sativa plant, online retailers and cafes are claiming products containing the compound will reduce anxiety or help with sleeping. Continue reading...

Traces in shirts and T-shirts appear to contradict German firms’ promises to revise supply chainsResearchers say they have found traces of Xinjiang cotton in shirts and T-shirts made by Adidas, Puma and Hugo Boss, appearing to contradict the German clothing companies’ promises to revise their supply chains after allegations of widespread forced labour in the Chinese region.Recent reports have suggested more than half a million people from minority ethnic groups such as the Uyghurs have been coerced into picking cotton in Xinjiang, which provides more than 80% of China’s and a fifth of the global production of cotton. Continue reading...

People urged to come and view 5cm Bible found during survey – but do bring a magnifying glassA library is keen for people to come and see a century-old lost treasure it discovered during lockdown – but do think about bringing a magnifying glass.“Or really strong glasses,” said Rhian Isaac, special collections senior librarian at Leeds Libraries, talking about an 876-page Bible with Old and New Testaments which is less than 5cm in size. “It just looks like small squiggles, it really is tiny.” Continue reading...

Ex-tennis star may have to represent himself in potential case that could set post-Brexit legal precedentBoris Becker will be considered for deportation, the Home Office has confirmed, as experts said the potential battle could set a legal precedent and Becker may have to represent himself in court if he wants to remain in the UK.Last week, the former tennis star was jailed for two years and six months for hiding millions of pounds’ worth of assets after being made bankrupt in June 2017. Becker, sentenced under the Insolvency Act, will serve half the full prison term. Continue reading...

‘Once-in-a-generation’ exhibition will show 22 of his paintings for first time in BritainTwenty-two paintings by the influential post-impressionist painter Paul Cézanne that have never before been seen in the UK will go on show in a “once-in-a-generation exhibition” at Tate Modern in the autumn.They include the acclaimed Still Life With Fruit Dish, on loan from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which confirmed Cézanne’s reputation as one of the most important modern European artists. Continue reading...

The Old Vic theatre says its much-anticipated production of 4000 Miles, co-starring Eileen Atkins, will no longer go aheadIt was one of London’s hottest theatre tickets for 2020: a Pulitzer-nominated play with the enticing pairing of actors Timothée Chalamet and Eileen Atkins. But just over two years after Amy Herzog’s drama 4000 Miles had been scheduled to have its first performance at the Old Vic, the long-postponed production has finally been cancelled.A message from Chalamet, Atkins and the Old Vic’s artistic director, Matthew Warchus, was emailed to ticket bookers on Thursday morning. “Despite an enormous amount of effort from all involved, we have now sadly and reluctantly concluded that we are unable to reschedule the show at a time possible for everyone involved,” it stated. Continue reading...

Land to be repurposed for military use in one of the biggest expulsion decisions since 1967 occupationAfter a two-decade legal battle, Israel’s high court has ruled that about 1,000 Palestinians can be evicted from an area of the West Bank and the land repurposed for Israeli military use, in one of the single biggest expulsion decisions since the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories began in 1967.About 3,000 hectares of Masafer Yatta, a rural area of the south Hebron hills under full Israeli control and home to several small Palestinian villages, was designated as a “firing zone” by the Israeli state in the 1980s, to be used for military exercises, in which the presence of civilians is prohibited. Continue reading...

Broadcaster proposes almost doubling staff outside capital and becoming ‘northern-based’Channel 4 has said it could sell its £100m London headquarters and almost double the number of staff working outside the capital, to become “northern-based” under a plan it hopes offers an attractive alternative to the government’s privatisation push.Describing itself in the proposals as the “levelling up broadcaster”, it said it intended to increase spending on TV shows commissioned by production companies outside of London by hundreds of millions of pounds annually by 2030, in a move it estimated would create at least 3,000 jobs. Continue reading...

Chief constable issues swift denial after Emily Spurrell becomes first PCC to call her area’s force institutionally racistA police and crime commissioner (PCC) has become the first to call her area’s force “institutionally racist”, a statement quickly followed by a categorical rebuttal from the chief constable.In a roundtable discussion between three elected PCCs on Policing TV’s Talking Crime programme, Emily Spurrell, the Merseyside commissioner, was asked if she accepted that Merseyside police were institutionally racist. Continue reading...

Russian and Ukrainian forces remain engaged in ‘bloody battles’ inside Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol as 344 more people are evacuated

Chancellor considered rise of more than 3.1% but was told he could only do it ‘once a year’ due to 40-year-old system

Women’s movements have fought hard to reverse anti-abortion laws in their countries and say it’s not the end for the USReproductive rights activists across Latin America have vowed to protect hard-fought gains in their own territories as they brace for potential ripple effects if the US supreme court overturns Row vs Wade – the 1973 ruling which guarantees the right to abortion.Latin America has some of the most draconian anti-abortion laws in the world. But feminist movements have fought for decades to chip away at the prohibitions, and in recent years a younger, diverse generation of activists has mobilized in massive numbers to help clinch a string of victories in traditionally conservative countries. Continue reading...

Bronnie Taylor says government accepts there is a ‘need to do more’ and will pore over 44 recommendations

In election debate, Labor’s Brendan O’Connor says defence minister’s line of attack on China is for his own political purposes

Josh Frydenberg debates Kooyong challenger Monique Ryan; at least 56 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

Plane returns to Heathrow after ‘rostering error’ meant first officer didn’t meet Virgin Atlantic protocolsA Virgin Atlantic aircraft turned back to Heathrow after it emerged the first officer had not completed his final flying test.The Airbus A330 jet was nearly 40 minutes into its journey to New York on Monday when the two pilots on board became aware of the “rostering error”, the airline said. Continue reading...

Roberts-Smith’s former comrade admits failing to provide to court an email with marked-up pictures of Afghanistan compound, despite subpoena

The hip-hop star, whose music career ended in the late 1980s, stabbed a homeless man, John Jolly, with a steak knifeKidd Creole, a member of foundational hip-hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for manslaughter, after stabbing a homeless man in New York City.The rapper, real name Nathaniel Glover, 62, was convicted of the crime last month. Prosecutors said that Glover killed John Jolly, 55, with a steak knife after the two engaged in conversation; Glover’s defence was that he felt intimidated by Jolly, who, it is alleged, asked Glover “what’s up?” in a threatening manner. Continue reading...

Trevor Evans defends use of quotes from registered charities despite inclusion potentially breaching political advocacy rules

Bernie Finn’s Facebook post came after the leak of draft decision suggesting US supreme court may overturn Roe v Wade

This blog has now closed. You can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war in our new live blogDaniel Boffey reports for us from Brussels on the contents of Ursula von der Leyen’s speech to the European parliament:The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has been detailing her proposal to the member states on the sixth package of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, which includes a total ban on oil imports.

Woman the 10th survivor of the disaster, in which at least five people perished after a six-storey building in Changsha caved inRescuers in central China have pulled a woman alive from the rubble of a building that partially collapsed almost six days earlier, state media reported Thursday.The unidentified woman is the 10th survivor of the disaster in the city of Changsha, in which at least five people have died and an unknown number, possibly dozens, are still missing. Continue reading...

Mining giant also apologises for bullying culture at annual shareholder meeting

Labor leader eventually handed briefing notes from an advisor after struggling to list party’s six-point plan

Covid pandemic and invasion of Ukraine have brought sudden halt to years of flourishing business in Calabrian town of ScaleaThe services listed on the billboard outside Rotondaro Costruzioni, an estate agency and builder, are written in Italian and Russian, as are the details of the properties advertised for sale in the window display.Inside, about a dozen thick red folders, filled with plastic envelopes containing details of customers dating back to 2010, spill out of a cabinet. The majority of those property buyers were Russian. A short distance away is a stretch of Italy’s southern Calabrian coastline lapped by clear-blue sea. This is not the glitzy Costa Smeralda in Sardinia or Tuscany’s Forte dei Marmi, where lavish villas and yachts belonging to Russian oligarchs have been seized over the last two months, but Scalea, a low-profile holiday resort with a medieval hilltop village whose economy has flourished over the past decade, partly thanks to the ordinary Russians who flocked here for the cheap property and sunshine. Continue reading...

Each week we ask experts to break down a political advertisement: who are the candidates trying to reach, and are they succeeding?

Marcus Stewart says current timeframe of Yoorrook Justice Commission not enough to ‘unpack 200-plus years of colonisation’

Issues include understaffing, poor access to services and discrimination towards First Nations people seeking medical help

ALP will benefit in Braddon and Lyons and will preference JLN Senate candidate Tammy Tyrrell

Emergency services were called to the scene in Brunswick at around 5.20am on ThursdayTwo men have died after being stabbed in Melbourne in the early hours of Thursday morning.A woman was arrested on a tram in Carlton after two men were fatally stabbed on Hope Street in Brunswick. Continue reading...

Muslim group say coroner’s decision to include gunman’s social media activity in investigation a ‘landmark moment for the accountability of digital platforms’The online activities of the Australian white supremacist who opened fire on two New Zealand mosques – and how much of a role social media and internet platforms played in his radicalisation – will form part of a coroner’s inquiry into the deaths of 51 Muslim worshipers in the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attack.But the presiding coroner, Brigitte Windley, who announced the scope of her inquiry in a decision released on Thursday, has warned of “monumental hurdles” to exploring the terrorist’s online activities – including Brenton Tarrant’s attempts to wipe parts of his digital footprint before committing the attacks. Continue reading...

Policies encouraging property investment have fuelled soaring debt ratio to create ‘big potential problem’, researcher warns

Foreign minister Ann Linde spoke after meeting with US secretary of state Anthony BlinkenSweden has received assurances from the US that it would receive support during the period a potential application to join Nato is processed by the 30 nations in the alliance, foreign minister Ann Linde said in Washington on Wednesday.Sweden and neighbour Finland stayed out of Nato during the cold war, but Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its invasion of Ukraine have led the countries to rethink their security policies, with Nato membership looking increasingly likely. Continue reading...

Judge rejects prosecutors’ claim that Andrew Fahie, arrested in DEA drug sting, could flee US if freed from prisonThe premier of the British Virgin Islands, whom US prosecutors described in court as “corrupt to the core”, has been given a $500,000 bond that would allow him to be released from prison as he awaits trial on charges tied to a US narcotics sting.Federal court judge Alicia Otazo-Reyes rejected prosecutors’ argument that Andrew Fahie would flee the US and possibly engage in criminal activity if he is freed. Continue reading...

Tory candidates ask voters not to punish them for ‘mistakes’ in Westminster in wake of PartygateHundreds of Tories are distancing themselves from Boris Johnson by standing as “Local Conservatives” in Thursday’s council elections, with rebel MPs saying they will gauge support over the weekend for a move against the prime minister.Election leaflets seen by the Guardian show local candidates across England playing down their Tory affiliations, eschewing pictures of Johnson and styling themselves as “Local Conservative” on voting ballot papers. Continue reading...

The judge in Edinburgh described the murder as ‘truly evil’, and the child’s mother said she will fight to ensure Lukasz Czapla ‘never leaves prison’A father who killed his two-year-old son after discovering that his mother was in a new relationship has been jailed for life.Lukasz Czapla, 41, was unanimously found guilty of the murder of Julius Czapla and was ordered to spend a minimum of 23 years behind bars. Continue reading...

Opposition also pledges to defend Australian Human Rights Commission with return to merit-based appointments

Opposition leader Matthew Guy previously argued treaty negotiations should occur at national level

Victoria’s treasurer, Tim Pallas, says government will standardise construction contracts and set up register of projects