World news | The Guardian

With employment bill unlikely to make Queen’s speech, P&O Ferries-type scandals will happen again, says Frances O’GradyBritain’s top union leader has written to the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, to warn the government that dropping plans to legislate for tougher employment rights after mass sackings at P&O Ferries would “side with bad bosses”.Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said the UK needed urgent “proper legislation” through an employment bill promised by ministers more than two years ago but repeatedly delayed. Continue reading...

Campaigners say Rishi Sunak gave tax break to car users but has not helped public transport usersMore than one in four bus services in England have been cut in the last decade, with the pandemic accelerating the decline, a transport charity has found.Almost 5,000 routes have been axed since 2012, with the north-west and east of England the two regions worst affected. Continue reading...

Europe pledges further sanctions against Russia after reports of killing of scores of unarmed Ukrainians

Exclusive: fixed-penalty notices handed out over events held at No 10 on 16 April 2021Downing Street staff have been issued with fines by police over a party that took place the night before Prince Philip’s funeral, in the first decision by Scotland Yard that Covid laws were broken inside No 10 at the heart of government.After the Guardian revealed that fixed penalty notices were handed out to those who attended a leaving do for an aide to Boris Johnson in the Cabinet Office in June 2020, sources said those who partied into the early hours in No 10 on 16 April 2021 had also been warned they would receive fines. Continue reading...

Exclusive: MP, who is facing allegations relating to sexual harassment and cocaine use, borrowed up to £150,000A close relative of the Conservative MP David Warburton was offered a lucrative advisory role at the firm of a businessman who had provided the politician with an undeclared loan of up to £150,000 for a holiday rental property, the Guardian can reveal.The party has removed the whip from the MP for Somerton and Frome, who is understood to be facing allegations of sexual harassment, cocaine use and failing to declare a loan from Roman Joukovski, a financial adviser who specialised in offshore tax advice and providing tier one “golden” investor visas to foreign citizens. Continue reading...

Analysis: Russian president appears to have operated by a strict playbook in northern Ukraine that has served him well for decades

Women and girls have recounted the abuse they have suffered at the hands of Russian soldiers

Analysis: the backbencher has been a teacher, rock guitarist and van driver who some fellow MPs think had a mid-life crisisDavid Warburton, a relatively unknown political figure outside his Somerton and Frome constituency, has been a backbencher for almost all of the seven years since he became a Conservative MP.But the married father of two was catapulted into the headlines when a picture emerged of him next to lines of white powder alleged to be cocaine and several women reported him to parliament’s harassment watchdog.“I don’t think anyone would ever have mistaken him for Theresa May but this is a lot more than people would have predicted,” says one MP Continue reading...

Police in Saxony investigate 60-year-old for issuing documents without authorisation and forgeryA 60-year-old man allegedly had himself vaccinated against Covid-19 dozens of times in Germany in order to sell vaccination cards to people who did not want to get the jab themselves.The man from the eastern Germany city of Magdeburg, whose name was not released in line with German privacy rules, is said to have received up to 90 shots against Covid at vaccination centres in Saxony for months until he was caught by police, the German news agency dpa reported on Sunday. Continue reading...

Duke met man accused of fraud in high court months before receiving disputed payments, report claimsPrince Andrew had known an alleged fraudster for at least six months before receiving more than £1m in disputed payments from the man, it has been reported.The Duke of York was introduced to Selman Turk via a mutual contact, Tarek Kaituni, a Libyan-born convicted gun smuggler, in May or June 2019 at Windsor Castle, and held subsequent meetings, the Sunday Telegraph reports. Continue reading...

Figures tabled in parliament reveal demand on victims of crime fund growing 16% this year

Airports report long waits because of Covid checks and staff shortages, as tourist traffic eases near DoverPassengers faced long queues at Heathrow and Manchester airports as the Easter holidays got under way.Travellers vented frustration on social media as Covid checks, high passenger volumes and reported staff shortages and e-gate problems meant long waits for check-in at Heathrow. Continue reading...

High demand for crackers, wreaths and trees as sales soar beyond traditional bunnies and chocolateTraditionally a time for bonnets, bunnies and a surfeit of chocolate, Easter has increasingly taken on a new aspect, and more so since the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.Easter crackers, Easter wreaths, and Easter trees are now critical components in the commercialisation of the Christian festival, with the bank holiday now beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Continue reading...

As The Full Monty is remade, entertainers are seeing bookings for gigs in suburban and rural areas

Prime minister cuts an increasingly isolated figure – and his dramatic dissolution of parliament is a very risky moveImran Khan’s dramatic move to dissolve Pakistan’s parliament on Sunday morning, ahead of a vote that almost certainly would have removed him from office, reads to many like the desperate actions of a prime minister who will try to hold on to power at any cost.While his repeated allegations of a “foreign conspiracy” and pressure from the US being behind the no-confidence vote has played well to his diehard supporters, most of whom are vehemently opposed to the west, it is still a very risky move for Khan. Continue reading...

Bosses said to have been unhappy with choice of candidates after all-female shortlist was producedBBC bosses have readvertised the job of political editor after being unhappy with the choice of candidates to replace Laura Kuenssberg in one of the most influential roles in British journalism.Following weeks of interviews and an extensive recruitment process, the corporation had produced an all-female shortlist for the role, with ITV News’s Anushka Asthana and Sky News’s Sophy Ridge believed to be the final two candidates. An announcement on which of them would get the job had been expected to coincide with Kuenssberg stepping down last week. Continue reading...

State of emergency imposed on Friday with country facing severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentialsArmed troops in Sri Lanka confronted crowds protesting against a worsening economic crisis, after a social media blackout failed to halt another day of anti-government demonstrations.The south Asian nation is facing severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentials – along with record inflation and crippling power cuts – in its most painful economic downturn since independence from Britain in 1948. Continue reading...

Officials say no casualties reported after attack, while evidence of war crimes around Kyiv mounts in wake of Russian withdrawal

Imran Khan alleges ‘foreign conspiracy’ to topple his government as US denies involvementPakistan is on the brink of a constitutional crisis and the prime minister, Imran Khan, is facing accusations of treason after he dissolved parliament and called fresh elections in order to block a no-confidence vote that was expected to remove him from power.The former superstar cricketer turned politician stunned the country after he took the dramatic action of dissolving the legislature prior to a parliamentary vote that could have stripped him of his prime ministership. Continue reading...

Disparity is most evident among women in their 30s and older, and for those in working-class occupationsOne in five women who ask for a pay rise are successful in receiving one compared with just under a third of men, polling has found.A YouGov survey of more than 16,000 adults found that of the 40% of people who asked for a pay rise, just over a quarter were successful. Continue reading...

Claims of war crimes in the Ukraine city mount up as residents tell of a month of fear

UN special envoy Hans Grundberg stresses importance of building on truce in effort to end six-year warA UN-brokered two-month ceasefire in Yemen was broadly holding on its first full day with oil shipments reaching the port of Hodeida, including some ships that have been barred from entering for 88 days.The ceasefire is the biggest step forward in the six-year war and is intended to apply inside and outside the country’s borders. Continue reading...

Fears over added pressure on courts as biggest reform of divorce laws for 50 years come in this weekLawyers are expecting a surge in applications from separating couples when no-fault divorce is introduced in England and Wales on Wednesday.In what has been described as the biggest reform of divorce laws for 50 years, couples will not have to either separate for at least two years – increasing to five if one party does not consent – or allocate blame to legally end their marriage. Continue reading...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine looms over contest in which opposition coalition aims to dislodge ruling Fidesz partyVoting has begun in Hungary in a general election that has been overshadowed by the war in neighbouring Ukraine, with the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, seeking a fourth successive term while facing accusations of siding with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.In plummeting temperatures and a mixture of rain and snow that could affect turnout, a steady stream of voters cast ballots after polling stations opened at 6am in an election that has triggered concerns of possible fraud and the outcome of which could determine Hungary’s direction at a pivotal moment in international affairs. Continue reading...

Passion Capital severs ties with Stefan Glänzer, who will appear before magistrates on ThursdayA millionaire former leader of one of London’s most prominent technology investment firms has been removed from the company after a sexual assault charge.Stefan Glänzer, a cofounder of Passion Capital, will appear at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday charged with one count of sexual assault by touching, according to the Metropolitan police. Continue reading...

London gallery’s move prompts calls for rethink of ‘lazy’ mislabelling of Ukrainian art and heritage

Government’s move comes after charities voice despair over slow progress and red tape

Schools warn of ‘postcode lottery’ in which cash-strapped councils hold back money to cut budget deficitsSpecial schools in England are struggling to access crucial government funding worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to offset rising staff salaries and soaring fuel costs, headteachers have warned, with some facing cuts to class sizes.The autumn spending review set out £1.2bn in funding for schools to cover forthcoming national insurance increases and “wider cost pressures”, including the new £30,000 starting salary for teachers, as well as fuel price rises.

The Ukraine forces are picking up cut-price UK vehicles via a fund established by a comedian

Alyssa Healy soars to the highest score ever in a World Cup final as Australia beat England by 71 runs to lift the trophy4th over: Australia 11-0 (Alyssa Healy 5, Rachael Haynes 6)It’s a bit of a cat and mouse game going on so far - the English bowlers are mostly bowling very good line and length and the Australian batters are just waiting on the opportunities for the slightly looser balls to pounce on. It’s a very good over from Shrubsole, just one from it. Continue reading...

Civilians fleeing in cars mown down in the town of Bucha, north-west of Kyiv, where 20 bodies were found on the streets

Individual voluntary arrangements are an alternative to bankruptcy, but it is feared they are being widely mis-soldThe number of people with crippling debts who have entered into controversial official agreements to repay the money has reached an all-time high, new figures reveal.Individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) registered in England and Wales totalled 81,199 in 2021, more than double the number in 2015, according to the Insolvency Service. Continue reading...

Dangerous flash flooding possible in East Gippsland; NSW reports 11 Covid deaths and 16,807 new cases; Victoria has two deaths and 9,008 cases; Towke breaks silence over 2007 preselection fight with Morrison. This blog is now closedWe were expecting to hear from Scott Morrison this morning during his visit to Devils Gate Hydroelectric Power Station in Tasmania.There’s no media conference yet from that visit, but if and when it does happen we’ll let you know. Continue reading...

Attempts to find savings to help parents pay the bills would only trigger an exodus of low-paid staff, a government study warnsMinisters are being warned against loosening the rules around the number of children nursery staff can care for, after it was revealed that regulations are being examined as a way of cutting costs for parents.Expanding the number of children per staff member or relaxing other rules are being reviewed by children’s minister Will Quince, who is undertaking an international comparison as part of attempts to tackle the cost of living crisis. Continue reading...

Ukrainian forces liberating the town near Kyiv find streets littered with corpses of civilians and burned-out Russian tanksSee all our coverage of the Ukraine warThe retreat of Russian forces around Kyiv has left horrifying evidence of atrocities against civilians littered across the region’s suburbs and towns, turned into hellish war zones by Vladimir Putin’s invasion.As Ukrainian armoured columns rolled into Bucha, a town north-west of the capital, they found streets blocked by burned-out Russian tanks and military vehicles, and strewn with the bodies of civilians whom locals said had been killed by the invading forces without provocation. Continue reading...

Warnings in place for East Gippsland and the Snowy, Buchan, Bemm and Cann rivers with some areas likely to flood overnight

Seeing the tricolour as tainted, they took the ‘blood’ out to leave blue and white, then found others had done so too• Russia-Ukraine war: latest developmentsWhen Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine, anti-war Russians such as Kai Katonina, a 31-year-old designer who lives in Berlin, joined protests around the world. Katonina held up a sign that read “No to war”, but few in the crowd knew that they (Katonina’s preferred pronoun) were Russian.They said: “Onlookers thought we were Ukrainians because our people look the same. It was crucial for us to stand apart and show that Russians also oppose the war. We needed to identify ourselves.” Continue reading...

Ministers are considering another postponement to border controls amid fears of supply chain problems and higher pricesGovernment plans to waive border checks on goods from the EU – including food and livestock – will put the country at risk of importing devastating infectious diseases such as African swine fever and compound serious damage to UK trade caused by Brexit.The double warning has been issued by the British Veterinary Association (BVA) as ministers consider yet another postponement of post-Brexit inspections because of fears that checks will slow supply chains, add to bureaucracy and increase prices in shops at a time when UK consumers are already facing a cost of living crisis. Continue reading...

Entrepreneur Selman Turk is being sued by a Turkish millionairess, in a case involving a payment to the Duke of YorkWhen the Turkish entrepreneur Selman Turk launched a new digital bank three years ago, he was entering a crowded market of online start-ups hoping to grab business from the traditional banks.It seemed there was little to distinguish the new London-based venture, Heyman A, from a host of other contenders. It had a rudimentary website, meagre funding compared to some of its digital rivals and no banking licence. “We are building a good bank for good people,” said its website. A footnote added that it was “in the application process” to become a bank in the UK. Continue reading...

Deputy defence minister says territory is ‘liberated from the invader’ as disturbing images in Bucha show bodies had been bound and hooded

Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, issues blistering attack on Seoul and ‘reckless remarks’ by Suh WookThe influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called South Korea’s defence minister a “scum-like guy” for talking about preemptive strikes on the North, warning that the South may face “a serious threat”.Kim Yo-jong’s statement on Sunday came amid heightened tensions between the rival Koreas over the North’s spate of weapons tests this year, including its first intercontinental ballistic missile launch in more than four years. Continue reading...

The 13-year-old boy and a 51-year-old woman were rescued from the Glenelg River near South Australia border in early hours of SundayTwo kayakers missing in Victoria’s south-west were located after a resourceful 13-year-old used his watch to signal a police helicopter.The kayakers – a teenage boy and a 51-year-old Mount Gambier woman – failed to return to their rendezvous point near the Keegans Bend Track at Drik Drik about 8pm on Saturday. Continue reading...

Shadow treasurer moves to make Labor policy crystal clear after Coalition seizes on ambiguity in Anthony Albanese’s comments

Russian retreat from Kyiv region reveals evidence of execution of civilians and mass graves; Kremlin has ‘accepted’ Ukraine’s position on all issues bar Crimea Continue reading...

Duke of York wrote about his experience in the conflict in a post on his ex-wife’s Instagram account that was quickly deletedThe Duke of York said he returned from the Falklands war “a changed man” in a piece posted to his ex-wife’s Instagram account.Andrew, who reached a multimillion-pound out-of-court settlement in a civil sexual assault case a few weeks ago, wrote more than 700 words about his experience in the Falklands. Continue reading...

P-28 plane took off from airfield in Warwickshire and was bound for Le Touquet in northern FranceRescue teams have carried out a search in the Channel after a plane flying from the UK with two people onboard went missing.The French coastguard told Sky News the aircraft is the “subject of a worrying disappearance” and a search for the plane was carried out “all afternoon”. Continue reading...

Jon Snow and other leading broadcasters express concern over appointment and call for C4’s public service remit to be protectedMinisters have been accused of another case of cronyism over the appointment of the new Channel 4 chair. Veteran businessman Sir Ian Cheshire has been chosen to oversee the broadcaster, which has been beset with rumours that it faces privatisation.Cheshire, former chief executive of Kingfisher, the B&Q owner, served on a business taskforce for former prime minister David Cameron. He also oversaw the selection process under which Tory donor Ben Goldsmith was appointed to the board of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He is chairman of Goldsmith’s investment firm. Continue reading...

The plane crashed in Upper Heyford near Bicester soon after midday on SaturdayA small plane has been destroyed and the pilot injured after crashing into a block of flats in Oxfordshire, emergency services have said.Oxfordshire fire and rescue service said it arrived at the scene of the collision in Upper Heyford, near Bicester, at 12.18pm on Saturday. Continue reading...

Concerns women in abusive relationships or refuge accommodation face delays and poor communication with service providers

• MPs turn on Rishi Sunak over living costs crisis• Cut taxation not the deficit, chancellor toldThe chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is facing a growing Tory revolt over economic policy and his handling of the cost of living crisis, as senior Conservatives warn that high taxes will fatally undermine their party’s appeal to voters at the next general election.Former Tory cabinet minister David Davis said on Saturday that if the Conservatives were to become known as the party of high taxes, the damage to their economic reputation would be as deep and lasting as that inflicted on John Major’s government by the disaster of Black Wednesday in September 1992. Continue reading...