World news | The Guardian

Nine justices were hearing the appeal that the Trump administration has the authority to strip TPS of immigrantsThe US supreme court heard oral arguments on Wednesday over whether the Trump administration can strip the temporary protected status (TPS) of hundreds of thousands of immigrant Haitians and Syrians, under a program that has shielded them from deportation owing to safety concerns in their countries of origin.During the arguments, justices in the conservative-leaning majority appeared sympathetic to the Trump administration's attempts to strip humanitarian protections for the Syrians and Haitians in this case. Continue reading...

NAACP decries 6-3 decision that ruled Louisiana must redraw its congressional map, a landmark case that guts major section of Voting Rights Act

PM chairs Cobra meeting after condemning appalling antisemitic attack'; man with history of serious violence and mental health issues' arrestedSpecialist officers from Counter Terrorism Policing are leading the investigation and working with police to establish the full circumstances and any links to terrorism, the Met said in a statement.Head of counter terrorism policing Laurence Taylor said:Whilst I must stress this investigation is at an early stage, we are working quickly to understand exactly what happened.Thank you to those who were in the area at the time and supported the response to this terrible incident.Our thoughts are with the victims of this horrific attack. We are grateful to officers who swiftly Tasered and arrested the suspect before he could cause further harm.We are aware of the significant distress and concern this incident is likely to cause in the face of a number of incidents in the local area. A suspect is in custody, and investigators are considering all possible motives.An investigation is under way and a man has been arrested following a stabbing incident in Barnet.At 11:16hrs on Wednesday 29 April, officers responded following reports of people stabbed in Highfield Avenue. Continue reading...

Former FBI director indicted over social media post from last year of seashells arranged into 86 47'

Housing secretary and housing minister latest to criticise idea, which has also been ruled out by No 10Senior ministers have poured scorn on the idea of freezing private sector rents for a year, less than 48 hours after the Guardian revealed Rachel Reeves was considering it.Steve Reed, the housing secretary, and Matthew Pennycook, the housing minister, became the latest government figures to criticise the idea, which has since been ruled out by No 10. Continue reading...

Blockade threat in vital strait and Trump's stance lift crude, pushing pump prices to highest level since 2022

Fed officials cite elevated inflation, slow job growth and uncertainty in Middle East as reasons for holding rates

England's higher education regulator must rebuild trust with troubled sector after series of blunders under previous leadershipIn its brief and unhappy life, England's Office for Students has been offered a series of challenges it has largely failed to meet. This week the latest and most embarrassing of those was unveiled when the high court decisively rejected the higher education watchdog's attempts to fine the University of Sussex more than 500,000 for regulatory failings relating to Kathleen Stock's time as an academic at Sussex.Stock quit Sussex in 2021, saying she felt ostracised and targeted for her views on gender identity and transgender rights. Here was the highest profile test case that the OfS had seen: a subject of enormous controversy and sensitivity, involving key issues of academic freedom and freedom of speech. But as we now know from Mrs Justice Lieven's ruling, in its rush to intervene, the OfS managed to tie together its own shoelaces. Continue reading...

Assailant reportedly hunting for anyone visibly Jewish' in suspected antisemitic attack in north LondonPolice are treating the stabbing of two men in Golders Green, north London as terrorism, with the suspect described as hunting for anyone visibly Jewish" to attack.The stabbings happened just after 11am on Wednesday with the violence coming after a series of arson attacks on Jewish targets in London since March, including two previous incidents in Golders Green. Continue reading...

Justices in unanimous decision revive federal suit brought by anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers' in the state

As his defense secretary testified before House committee, Trump posted AI-generated image of himself with a weapon and a caption saying NO MORE MR. NICE GUY'Pete Hegseth has denied that the US-Israel war on Iran is a quagmire" and claimed critics of the operation posed a greater threat to the US than Iran itself, as he came under pressure to set out Washington's strategy for the conflict.Appearing before the House armed services committee alongside Gen Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, the US defense secretary asked lawmakers to approve a $1.5tn budget in military spending - and then described some of them as the biggest challenge" to the war effort. Continue reading...

Angel Mateos Gonzalez due to play for CD Colunga, making him oldest player to take part in official matchAt an age when many veteran footballers might prefer to be regaling grandchildren, friends and assorted barflies with slightly embroidered tales of their former sporting prowess, 70-year-old Angel Mateos Gonzalez is heading back on to the pitch.The Spaniard, who retired from competitive football 27 years ago, is due to play in goal for the Asturian team CD Colunga in a fifth-tier match this Sunday. If all goes to plan and he pulls on his gloves, he will reportedly become the oldest player to take part in an official match in Spain. Continue reading...

Farage was given 5m by the Thai-based billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 general election

Justices rule in landmark decision Louisiana must redraw congressional map, largely killing major civil rights law

Fishing companies can also access subsidies in loosening of state aid rules to cover fuel and fertiliser price rises

About 500 officers deployed as part of operation at headquarters of Ahmadi Religion of Peace and LightPolice have raided the headquarters of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light following an investigation into allegations of serious sexual offences, modern slavery and forced marriage.About 500 officers drawn from across the north-west of England were on the ground on Wednesday morning. Police confirmed nine people had been arrested in relation to the investigation and were being held in custody. Continue reading...

Critics say Maryland's new law banning rapidly change product costs based on consumer data is full of carveoutsMaryland has become the first state in the US to ban surveillance pricing in grocery stores.Maryland's law bans grocers and third-party delivery services from using a person's personal data to set higher prices. Wes Moore, the governor, signed the measure into law on Tuesday. At a time when technology can predict what we need, when we need it, when we'll pay for it and also - when we'll pay more for it, and at a time when we're watching how big companies are then using these analytics against us to make record profits, Maryland is not just pushing back. Maryland is pushing forward because we are going to protect our people," Moore said at the bill signing ceremony. Continue reading...

The fuel crisis is seeing more voters keen to shift to renewable energy rather than stick with fossil fuels

Bank says it has withdrawn proceedings against former Telegraph owners Aidan and Howard Barclay at high courtThe former owners of the Telegraph have avoided bankruptcy after reaching an 11th-hour agreement with HSBC over more than 140m in overdue debts.At a high court hearing on Tuesday, a lawyer for Europe's biggest bank said it was seeking to dismiss the petitions against Aidan and Howard Barclay, whose family lost control of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph in 2023 over 1.16bn of unpaid debts owed to Lloyds Bank. Continue reading...

Ursula von der Leyen later due to meet new Hungarian leader who is seeking to unlock EU funds in return for reformsAFP is reporting that so far, officials in Brussels are hopeful that Peter Magyar - who once served under Viktor Orban, before turning on his former boss - will genuinely launch a new chapter in ties.But wary of celebrating too soon, they insist they need to see concrete moves and not just kind words.A huge mandate, a strong mandate, a great responsibility!We know our task: we will bring home the EU funds that Hungarians are entitled to. More soon." Continue reading...

Government request follows contingency planning to stop planes being grounded if Iran war supply shocks continue

Four years after president's pledge, his would-be successors are divided on how to tackle rising guerrilla attacksThe landmark 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and the largest insurgent army in Latin America succeeded in some ways: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) agreed to lay down their weapons, and the violence that had racked the country was substantially reduced.But the deal alone could not end the decades-long armed conflict for good. Subsequent administrations slow-walked the implementation of the settlement, which was rejected by Farc dissidents and other rebel factions. Continue reading...

New lawsuits allege employees urged company to notify authorities months before deadly Tumbler Ridge attackFamilies of seven victims of a mass shooting at a secondary school in British Columbia are suing OpenAI and the company's CEO for negligence after it failed to alert authorities to the shooter's troubling conversations with ChatGPT.The lawsuits, filed on Wednesday in a federal court in San Francisco, allege that the violent intentions of the shooter, identified as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, were well-known to OpenAI. Employees at the company flagged the shooter's account eight months before the attack and determined that it posed a credible and specific threat of gun violence against real people", according to the lawsuit. Continue reading...

Leader mentions for first time lengths to which troops go to avoid falling into enemy hands while fighting for RussiaKim Jong-un has praised North Korean soldiers who blew themselves up with grenades in order to avoid capture while fighting Ukrainian forces in Russia's western Kursk region, confirming the existence of the extreme battlefield policy.Mounting evidence, including from intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors, has indicated North Korean soldiers are explicitly told to resort to self-detonation or other forms of suicide to avoid falling into enemy hands. Continue reading...

Commission says tech company does not have effective measures to keep under-13s off Facebook and InstagramThe tech company Meta has been found to be in breach of EU law for failing to prevent children under 13 from using its Facebook and Instagram platforms.Issuing the preliminary findings of a nearly two-year investigation, the European Commission said on Wednesday that Meta did not have effective measures in place to stop under-13s accessing its services. Continue reading...

Bank expects its base case for GDP growth to be 0.5% this year, lower than IMF's 0.8% prediction for Britain

The Pitch Perfect actor is being sued by Charlotte MacInnes, the lead actor of Wilson's directorial debut, The DebHollywood star Rebel Wilson has rejected an absolutely outrageous" accusation that she dumped her phone to avoid handing over key communications in a defamation case.The Pitch Perfect star is being sued by Charlotte MacInnes, the 27-year-old lead actor of the musical comedy The Deb. Continue reading...

Washington facing long economic war or risky military action to reopen strait of Hormuz - which may now be more valuable to Iran than a nuclear weaponDonald Trump is learning first-hand about the perils of mission creep.The US-Israel war in Iran has just passed its eighth week - twice as long as the president predicted it would take when US warplanes launched their joint attack with Israeli forces to decapitate the Iranian leadership and paralyse its military. The military attacks were successful. The predictions about the political cause-and-effect to follow were not. Continue reading...

Teacher at Marist College Ashgrove claims she suffered serious psychiatric injury' after the schoolyard incident, as school claims matter has been dealt with

Remarks by US president likely to cause embarrassment for aides of UK monarch, who usually remains neutral

Programme of events announced on anniversary of Bristol bus boycott aimed at inspiring new social manifesto for cityBristol has long been a city of activists prepared to work for change, from followers of John Wesley in the 18th century to the 21st-century citizens who toppled the statue of slave trader Edward Colston.On Wednesday, a new campaign was launched - on the anniversary of the start of the groundbreaking 1963 Bristol bus boycott - aimed at making the city the UK's capital of civil rights. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed

Soaring oil prices and the blockade are preventing food, fuel and medicine being delivered to millions of people in desperate need, say NGOsThe volatility of global oil prices caused by the US and Israel's war on Iran is taking a toll on the most vulnerable people, by slowing or blocking food and medical aid from reaching them.Now aid organisations are calling for a humanitarian corridor" to be opened through the strait of Hormuz amid rocketing transportation costs. Continue reading...

Coleen Lamarre, 63, charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to trial over alleged murders of Luke Davies and Jesse Baird

Albanese defends plan forcing Meta, Google and TikTok to make deals with Australian news publishers through a levyThe Trump administration has described Australia's moves to make big tech companies pay for news online as extortion" but Anthony Albanese defended the plan by saying it was about protecting and rewarding media outlets for the work they produce.Labor's plan to encourage Meta, Google and TikTok to make deals with Australian news publishers, or face a 2.25% levy, is likely to be supported by the Coalition and Greens in parliament. But a bigger problem may be the ire of Donald Trump, who has strongly opposed extra regulation being imposed on US-based tech companies. A major tech industry lobby group on Wednesday urged the White House to consider retaliatory trade measures. Continue reading...

Labor under pressure to scrap group voting tickets as Avi Yemini details plan to funnel votes to conservative parties at state election

Exclusive: Cambridge research finds socioenvironmental stressors may influence body's ability to function healthily in pregnancyStress from racism and deprivation could explain why black women are more likely to die during childbirth, a study has found.Researchers reviewed 44 existing studies that examined three physiological pathways associated with worse pregnancy outcomes: oxidative stress, inflammation, and uteroplacental vascular resistance, and found black women had higher levels of the three metrics. Continue reading...

Prime minister says the middle of a global fuel crisis is the worst possible time to jeopardise' Australia's partnerships with Asian trading partners

In today's newsletter: As Labour braces for heavy local election losses, senior figures are signalling unease and morale is sinking, can the prime minister hang on?Good morning. Keir Starmer is on thin ice. The prime minister survived a bruising Tuesday in the Commons as MPs continued to scrutinise his account of the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. Almost all Labour MPs backed Starmer in a key vote on whether he should face an inquiry into whether he misled parliament.But in Westminster there is a growing feeling that the Labour leader is on borrowed time. Next week's local and parliamentary elections, which Starmer will face as one of the most unpopular prime ministers since records began, is likely to see public dissatisfaction crystallise. He's in last chance saloon," one minister said after last night's vote.US | King Charles has extolled the importance of Britain's special relationship" with the US in a speech to Congress that made pointed reference to the importance of Nato, the defence of Ukraine and the climate crisis.Middle East | Britain is facing a 35bn economic hit and the risk of a recession this year as the fallout from the Iran war adds to the pressure on Keir Starmer's government, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) has warned.Oil | The UAE has quit the Opec oil cartel after 60 years of membership, in a heavy blow to the group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, as global energy markets contend with the biggest supply crisis in history.UK news | The chair of NatWest was forced to defend the bank against accusations of climate backtracking" at a chaotic annual shareholder meeting, which was temporarily suspended owing to singing protesters.Women's rights | Fifa has given permission for Afghan Women United - a squad composed of refugees scattered around the world in Australia, the Middle East and Europe - to represent Afghanistan in official competitions without requiring the approval of the Taliban, which banned the team. Continue reading...

Badge holders and carers report being harassed, filmed and threatened by strangers who think they are faking disabilityDisabled people who use blue badges to go about their daily lives have said they are being harassed, questioned and even assaulted, as anti-benefits rhetoric becomes more mainstream in the UK.About 3 million people in the UK now have a blue badge, including 1 in 15 adults in England. The number of people who qualify for the scheme - which allows drivers to park in more accessible spaces - has caused some to warn of misuse and fraud. Continue reading...

Exclusive: 839,000 homes in urban areas face threat of surface-water flooding, with social housing tenants most vulnerable to costsEight in 10 of the homes that are at high risk of flooding in England are now in towns and cities, according to analysis by the National Housing Federation (NHF), which said social housing tenants are disproportionately vulnerable to the financial cost.Research found that 839,000 homes in urban areas are now classed as being at high risk of surface water flooding, a threefold increase since 2018. Continue reading...

Charity says starting specialised care after first miscarriage instead of third reduces risk of future lossesGiving women access to specialised care after their first miscarriage could prevent about 10,000 pregnancy losses a year across the UK, according to a study.Currently, women in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are eligible for specialist care on the NHS for early baby losses after they have had a minimum of three miscarriages. Continue reading...

Delegates at event in Cape Verde highlight opportunities from tech while stressing AI is no replacement for talentLast July, the Nigerian singer-songwriter Fave found herself caught up in a viral moment: an unauthorised version of a track featuring an AI choir had been released, quickly becoming an internet sensation. To get ahead of the situation, she recorded her own remix that integrated the AI-assisted song and added it to her discography.In my view, [that] was smart and very business aware," Oyinkansola Fawehinmi, a Lagos-based entertainment lawyer, observed a few months later. She essentially reclaimed the AI version' and released it as her own official expression." Continue reading...

Dublin scholars find 1,200-year-old manuscript of Caedmon's Hymn composed by Northumbrian cattle herderA lost copy of a poem composed in the seventh century by a Northumbrian cattle herder - the earliest surviving poem in the English language - has been discovered in Rome.Scholars from Trinity College Dublin (TCD) uncovered the manuscript that contains Caedmon's Hymn at the National Central Library of Rome. Continue reading...

Financial markets are betting the Reserve Bank will hike interest rates for a third straight meeting next Tuesday

Research on maths teaching in English secondary schools upends decades of debate over mixed-ability educationTeaching pupils in classes grouped by ability improves the results of high-flyers but does not affect the progress of less able children, according to a study that upends decades of debate over mixed-ability education.The research by University College London's Institute of Education found that secondary school pupils in England with previously strong maths performances made slower progress in mixed-attainment classes than when they were taught alongside children with similarly high ability. Continue reading...

Niesr says even under best-case scenario, economy would grow at slower pace in 2026 and 2027 because of conflictBritain is facing a 35bn economic hit and the risk of a recession this year as the fallout from the Iran war adds to the pressure on Keir Starmer's government, a leading thinktank has warned.The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said that even under a best-case scenario the UK economy would grow at a much slower pace this year and next because of the Middle East conflict. Continue reading...

Latest ONS figures also suggest lower population growth in coming decades than previously expectedDeaths are projected to outnumber births in the UK every year from 2026 and the population is expected to grow at a slower rate over the next few decades than previously reported, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).About 1.7 million people are projected to join the population between 2024 and 2034, pushing the total up 2.5% from 69.3 million to 71 million, before it starts to decrease in the mid-2050s. Continue reading...

No 10 deploys full weight to block parliamentary inquiry bid as MPs warn PM running out of political capitalKeir Starmer has seen off a major Labour rebellion over a bid to force a parliamentary investigation into his appointment of Peter Mandelson, but many of his own MPs warned he was running out of political capital.After Downing Street deployed its full weight to force Labour MPs to block a referral to the privileges committee over the scandal, some angrily accused Starmer of leaving them facing accusations of a cover-up". Continue reading...

Singer-songwriter was known for collaborations with former husband John Martyn as well as star-studded 1960s singles and 2014 comeback albumBritish folk singer Beverley Martyn, known for her collaborations with her former husband John Martyn as well as spirited, sublime solo work, has died aged 79.A statement from the family of the late John Martyn announced the news, saying she died peacefully at home on Monday. Beverley was a remarkable woman of great inner strength," the statement continued. She was beautiful, intelligent, warm and kind." Continue reading...