World news | The Guardian

Deal could see strait of Hormuz immediately open to all', but Trump says US retains the ultimate alternative' if talks fail

Researchers also discover that the ancient vines of Chianti, famed for its red wines, produced white fruitDNA extracted from 2,000-year-old grape seeds found in ancient wells in Tuscany has enabled scientists to map the most extensive genetic history of grapevines recovered from a single site, revealing that vineyards of the Roman era formed part of the empire's sophisticated agricultural network that might have influenced the development of modern winemaking.The research led by scientists at the University of York also found that white grapes once dominated the site in Chianti, an area of Tuscany famous for its red Sangiovese wines. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer said British armed forces intercepted a Russian shadow fleet vessel in the early hours of Sunday morning

Study of mothers in Seattle underscores widespread, systemic problem' of chemical contamination, experts sayBreast milk samples from mothers in Seattle contain alarming levels of dangerous hormone-disrupting chemicals, including BPA, BPS, melamine, cyanuric acid, and triclosan, new peer-reviewed research has found.The chemicals present a serious risk to infants because they likely interfere with hormones that are critical to newborns' proper development, and have been found to be harmful at very low levels of exposure. About 92% of 50 samples were contaminated with at least one of the anti-microbials or plasticizers for which researchers checked. Continue reading...

Rochford LGBTQ+ community say Reform council's ban on flying pride flags or holding events states they're not welcomeBefore Reform gained control of Essex county council in the May elections, Chris Taylor and members of the Rochford LGBTQ+ community already felt they were witnessing a growing tide of political rhetoric around identity.But they were still shocked when the county's new leadership moved to ban Pride events in 74 libraries, scaling back events of any particular groups or themes", a decision they said was straight out of Trumpland". Continue reading...

Medications that target depression, anxiety and poor sleep could help treat pain without opioids' addictive propertiesA range of other medications could serve as alternatives to powerful opioids for pain relief in emergency departments, according to a new study.The review paper examined non-opioid medications available in the emergency department at San Francisco general hospital and examined existing medical literature to figure out which ones might provide pain relief. Continue reading...

Leadership hopeful to also say tax revenues from new North Sea oil and gasfields should be used to cut energy billsWes Streeting's pitch to be the next Labour leader will include a plan to increase high-skilled immigration to the UK, arguing that Donald Trump is telling scientists and AI experts they are not welcome in the US.In a speech this coming week, the former health secretary will also say that tax revenues from new North Sea oil and gasfields should be used to cut energy bills. Continue reading...

Coastal uplift' exposes coral and kills marine life, as residents say shorelines extended by up to 200 metresA powerful earthquake that killed at least 61 people in the Philippines this week raised the seabed by as much as 2 metres (6.6 feet), exposing coral and harming marine life, the environment department said on Sunday.At least 40 people are still missing after the 7.8-magnitude tremor in southern Mindanao island on Monday, according to updated tolls from the disaster agency. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer says operation involving National Crime Agency has delivered yet another blow' to Russia and PutinBritish armed forces intercepted and boarded a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the Channel in the early hours of Sunday, Keir Starmer has confirmed.In a six-hour operation, the first of its kind to be led by the UK, Royal Marine commandos and officers from the National Crime Agency boarded and took control of the vessel, Smyrtos, which was sailing under a Cameroonian flag. Continue reading...

Poolbeg Pharma to test the treatment in NHS hospitals and says it is also developing a GLP-1 weight loss pillA London-based startup is about to trial a drug at six NHS hospitals that could stop people on cancer immunotherapy getting a life-threatening side-effect.Poolbeg Pharma said its oral drug POLB 001 could make treatment for blood cancer safer by preventing cytokine release syndrome (CRS), when the immune system goes into overdrive and attacks the body, leading to organ damage. Continue reading...

Election of new Hungarian government in April has paved way for EU member states to agree to open talksUkraine and Moldova will take a decisive step towards joining the EU on Monday, as they embark on the first phase of membership negotiations.The start of substantive negotiations, launched by senior EU officials and ministers from both countries in Luxembourg on Monday, will be a highly symbolic moment for the two countries that were both part of the former Soviet Union. It comes after Russia has intensified its bombardment of Ukrainian towns and cities, while sustaining huge losses for little territorial gain. Continue reading...

Lisa Nandy says discussions are taking place about how to keep this country safe' after John Healey's resignation

Exclusive: Recovery efforts remain slow and passing of time makes it more likely they will be skeletonisedThe International Committee of the Red Cross has said the risk that the thousands of Palestinians buried beneath Gaza's rubble may never be identified is increasing by the day, as recovery efforts remain slow and many victims have yet to be retrieved, the Guardian can reveal.There is no doubt that these bodies could soon become difficult to identify," said Pat Griffiths, the ICRC spokesperson in Jerusalem. The longer it takes for human remains to be recovered, the more difficult it can be to identify them. The longer the deceased lie beneath the rubble, the more likely they will be in advanced stages of decomposition - even skeletonised - when eventually recovered." Continue reading...

Exclusive: Cancer charity says dispelling falsehoods gleaned from social media is now routine task for cliniciansSocial media misinformation about the use of dietary supplements such as turmeric, St John's wort and magnesium is now so common that dispelling online claims has become a routine part of NHS clinicians work.Two out of five frontline health workers say they encounter patients who raise inaccurate or misleading information about supplements at least once a week. Continue reading...

Increase in road deaths amid rise of e-bikes prompts Houten to test willingness of freedom-loving cyclists to slow downAs road deaths increase and cycle lanes overflow with e-bikes, the Netherlands is considering a cycling speed limit of 12mph (20km/h).The government has started a two-week trial in Houten, near Utrecht, to gauge whether freedom-loving Dutch cyclists are willing to slow down - and whether they have any idea how fast they are going in the first place. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Former minister calls for urgent action against companies such as X that allow incitement to violenceWes Streeting has called for Keir Starmer to take urgent action against X and other online platforms that have helped whip up social tensions, suggesting they should be forced to contribute to rebuilding costs after the riots in Belfast.The intervention by the former health secretary, who is seen as a likely challenger to Keir Starmer in any leadership contest, comes after Downing Street said any response would be left to Ofcom, the media regulator, meaning no action is likely for at least two months. Continue reading...

Failure to clear up rotting, rat-infested site is a key issue for local people as they weigh up politicians' promisesA mountain of rubbish sits behind a metal fence in the village of Bickershaw, where it has remained for more than 20 months. For many residents, it is a physical manifestation of the north-south divide as well as a rotting, rat-infested symbol of a broken system in which organised criminal gangs make millions while communities endure the toxic impact of their trade.The 25,000 tonnes of household and trade rubbish is one of the largest toxic waste dumps in the country. Unlike many illegal dumps that appear in woodlands, by rivers and on farmland, this one is in the heart of a residential street, right next to a primary school. Continue reading...

Nine-year-old visiting relatives in Punjab province when police opened fire on car, local media report

Charlie Verco managed to grab hold of the woman and bring her back to shore after the Sydney shark attack on Saturday

Keir Starmer says commercial and government agreements will create tens of thousands of jobsThe UK and Japan are set to agree 18bn worth of investment, creating tens of thousands of jobs.Prime minister Keir Starmer will welcome his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi to Downing Street on Sunday ahead of the G7 summit next week. Continue reading...

New safety measures had little effect so far, study finds, with Starmer expected to announce under-16s banNearly half of girls and a third of all teenagers saw suicide, self-harm and eating disorder content on social media in a week, a study shows.The Molly Rose Foundation (MRF) research found that 47% of girls aged 13 to 17 encountered high-risk content during a seven-day period. Continue reading...

Police stop comes after far-right activist rose to further prominence on social media amid racial tensions in BritainTommy Robinson was detained by police on Saturday at Heathrow airport under counter-terrorism laws, after a week in which he rose to further prominence on social media.It was understood the far-right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was stopped and had his phones seized under section 3 of the Counter-Terrorism Border Security Act 2019. Continue reading...

Last-minute offer to be put to members is understood to include an average 6.6% pay upliftResident doctors in England have called off strike action after the government made a new offer which will be put to members.They were set to stage a four-day walkout from 7am on Monday - the 16th round of strike action since 2023. Continue reading...

Funding for extracurricular activities comes as ministers prepare to introduce social media restrictions for under-16sThe government has announced a 132.5m funding package for after-school clubs as ministers prepare to introduce expected restrictions on social media use for under-16s.The programme is designed to expand access to enrichment activities in schools, with funding for clubs ranging from music groups and debating societies to engineering and sports, in what ministers describe as an effort to give children alternatives to time spent online. Continue reading...

Two fires in 12 years wiped out all but a handful of the mature native pines in Victoria's Wyperfeld national park, a key breeding ground for endangered pink cockatoos

Man, 18, and boy, 17, detained on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in Southend-on-SeaTwo people have been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after an incident involving a loading vehicle which has left a teenage girl in a critical condition in hospital.Police attended the Chalkwell Park area of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, at about 12.30am on Saturday after receiving a report of an incident involving a small articulated loading vehicle". Continue reading...

Police make several arrests as rival demonstrators take to streets of Brighton, Liverpool, Sheffield and GlasgowFar-right marches took place across the UK on Saturday after violent unrest in Belfast and Southampton in recent days.Several people were arrested on Saturday afternoon as far-right groups clashed with anti-racist and anti-fascist demonstrators in Brighton, Liverpool, Sheffield and Glasgow. Continue reading...

Frederic Priestley, 34, falsely advertised property he did not own for rent on Facebook, obtaining payments and depositsA man has been jailed after defrauding more than 30 people out of more than 77,000 in a rental scam, police said.Frederic Priestley, 34, from Southwark, London, falsely advertised a property for rent on Facebook between April and September last year. Continue reading...

More than 100 UK lawmakers urge government to cancel London event, warning it is linked to land stolen from Palestinians'More than 100 UK lawmakers have called for the cancellation of an Israeli real estate event scheduled to take place in London on Sunday, which had appeared to advertise the sale of land in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.In a letter sent to the foreign secretary on Friday, 101 parliamentarians and members of the House of Lords, warned the event was firmly embedded in Israel's project of colonial expansion by facilitating the sale of land that has been stolen from Palestinians" and called on the government to take all necessary steps" to stop the event from going ahead in the capital. Continue reading...

Funeral procession travels to palace as people remember royal's campaigning and work for underprivilegedAs the sun began to set on the golden spires and gilded finials of Bangkok's Grand Palace, the gates were open, waiting for the return of a princess.Since December 2022, Princess Bajrakitiyabha had been in hospital, having collapsed while out training her dogs. After nearly four years in a coma, the princess died earlier this week. Continue reading...

Fencing removed at environmentally sensitive site, mirroring protests against Trump son-in-law's projectAbout 200 protesters on Saturday tore down metal and razor-wire fences surrounding a luxury development site on Albania's Adriatic coast, in another sign of growing anger against construction in environmentally sensitive areas.Albanians have been protesting for weeks against a planned luxury resort backed by a company linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Donald Trump, near Vlora, which is famed for its flamingos and a turtle nesting site. Continue reading...

Footy Addicts helps amateur players find a game at short notice - and tackles the problem of lonelinessCries of Boss! Boss! Boss!" emerge from the pitch during a hard-fought game of football in a London park. There aren't a lot of names used in this game, because most players only met just before kick-off. They were brought together by an app that's injecting life into grassroots football.Footy Addicts was invented to solve an infuriating problem for amateur players - the late dropout, which can lead to unbalanced teams and ruined games. The app brings together strangers who are desperate to play football, and who can step in after a cancellation to make up the numbers at short notice. Continue reading...

Dmitriy Popov fatally stabbed O'Shae Sibley in Brooklyn in 2023 and was found guilty of manslaughter as a hate crimeA New York City man who was recently convicted of a hate crime in the 2023 stabbing death of vogue dancer O'Shae Sibley is facing a prison sentence of between eight and 25 years.Sentencing for Dmitriy Popov, who was 17 at the time of Sibley's slaying, was tentatively scheduled for 30 June following his conviction. Continue reading...

Boy, 14, among three people held after 21-year-old was found critically injured in Central Park, ChelmsfordThree teenagers, including a 14-year-old boy, have been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 21-year-old man in a park in Essex.Emergency services attended Central Park in Chelmsford at about 7pm on Friday, where the victim was found with critical injuries. Continue reading...

Excoriating article under Caroline Dinenage's name remains on ConservativeHome websiteIt was a crisis that toppled a BBC director general and his head of news. After contentious accusations of bias by a former external adviser, Michael Prescott, both Tim Davie and Deborah Turness quit the corporation.At the height of the media storm that ensued last November, the corporation was struck by another blow. A key figure in scrutinising the BBC - the chair of the Commons culture, media and sport committee - delivered an equally damning verdict. Continue reading...

The country is ready to blow away decades of dashed hopes and celebrate, with marching bands and all-night partiesScotland is leaning into one of its most treasured traditions: embracing the hope and anxiety of a football World Cup, with a healthy dose of self-deprecating style.There are brash new tartans, an Edinburgh bar offering free Irn-Bru-infused fiery ginger" beers for patrons with red hair, a collaboration between Scottish whisky firms and a Brazilian distiller, and all-night parties in nightclubs repurposed as fanzones. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Greater Manchester mayor serious' about taking over essentials of life' if he becomes PM, a move critics say could cost taxpayer billionsA decade-long project to bring water and energy into public control will lie at the heart of Andy Burnham's agenda should he become prime minister, according to sources close to the Greater Manchester mayor.Several close allies of Burnham have said he wants to take over broad swathes of UK utilities in an effort to improve performance and potentially reduce bills for consumers. Continue reading...

Change in viewing habits offered by match times at 2026 tournament could mean using cheaper off-peak powerWatching late-night or early hours football could provide UK households with a practical opportunity to cut their energy bills, as even just doing the washing when cheaper electricity rates apply can net a decent saving.At a time when energy costs are back at worrying highs, research by E.ON Next shows the potential to save money on a time-of-use tariff - in this case, its Next Smart Saver deal, which has three rates: peak, off-peak and super off-peak. Continue reading...

Pauline Hanson claimed fundraiser was moved from original location due to too many bookings', not because of expected protests

Exclusive: Fighting Dirty taking legal action against government over proposal it says could import weaker standardsAn environmental campaign group is taking legal action against the government over proposals that it claims could fast-track chemical hazard classifications from other countries with lower standards into UK law.Fighting Dirty claims proposals to change the classification and labelling of potentially hazardous chemicals could result in the UK weakening standards on cancer-causing substances. Continue reading...

Other western acts have attempted to crack country's music scene since singer's breakout success in 2018One week after announcing she was cancer free", the British pop star Jessie J did what any recovering patient would do and travelled thousands of miles around the world to perform for an audience of more than a billion people.On 29 May, the singer-songwriter, whose real name is Jessica Cornish, belted out a stage-rattling rendition of Frank Sinatra's My Way on the stage of Singer, a hugely popular Chinese singing competition similar to The Voice. She also performed her new song, California, briefly adapting the lyrics to change California to Changsha, the Chinese city where Singer is hosted. Continue reading...

Claims of two-tier policing and uncontrolled immigration may not be borne out by the facts, but that has not stopped them being played up for political endsAs the people of Glengormley, on the northern edge of Belfast, tidied up and prepared for more violence in the midst of what has been described as a modern-day pogrom, a court 500 miles away in Southampton, on the south coast of England, started to deal with its own outbreak of thuggery.The trigger for this week's riots in the Northern Irish capital had been the image of a black assailant who appeared to be stabbing and slashing his supine white victim in the face and neck while shouting in Arabic. The suspect was later revealed to be a refugee from Sudan. Continue reading...

Photosynthesis does not always result in wood growth, a key factor in carbon dioxide sequestrationTrees may not be able to store as much planet-heating carbon as hoped, a study suggests, with researchers finding photosynthesis does not always lead to wood growth.Scientists studied 137 sites across the US and found trees stopped growing months before the point in the year at which photosynthesis stopped. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed - see our latest full report on the Middle East crisisIran's official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) has cautioned against media speculation about a potential memorandum of understanding to end the war, particularly on claims regarding the strait of Hormuz.IRNA reported that Iran will not surrender its control of the strategic waterway and the US will have no role in its future management.Contrary to some bizarre claims in the media, Iran in no way makes a commitment in this text to hand over its management or to restore the strait of Hormuz to the state before the military aggression of the US and Israel. The only point mentioned is the normalisation of transit through the strait of Hormuz upon the end of the war, the establishment of maritime security by the coastal states, the end of the illegal blockade, and the removal of threats to commercial shipping by the US and Israel. At Iran's request, the US will have no role whatsoever in the future management of the strait of Hormuz. It has been made clear that the future administration of the strait will be based on an Iranian initiative and proposal, within the framework of a matter pertaining to the countries of the region. In this framework, discussions about the future of the strait of Hormuz will not take place even in negotiations after the signing of the agreement, and Tehran will directly resolve this issue in talks with Oman." Continue reading...

A woman in her 30s has been transported to hospital with arm and leg injuries and beaches in Sydney's east have been closed after the attack

Deal still under UK scrutiny with new investigation, and could face lawsuit from state attorneys generalDonald Trump's Department of Justice has decided to approve the $111bn merger of Paramount Skydance, controlled by the Ellison family, and Warner Bros Discovery, the parent company of networks like CNN and HBO.The deal was approved by the justice department's anti-trust division after months of review, and despite the concerns of many people in the entertainment and media industries who believe it will hurt competition by reducing the number of film studios and - most likely - merging two news networks, Paramount's CBS News and CNN. Continue reading...

In video, The Hills actor, who did not contest the outcome of the election, said his campaign to save' LA was just startingSpencer Pratt appeared to concede the Los Angeles mayor's race on Friday in a new video where he says the campaign portion of my mission to save Los Angeles is coming to a close", but declares war" against the two candidates advancing to the city's general election.In the video posted on social media, Pratt notably did not contest the results of the election, despite Donald Trump's repeated, but unfounded claims the race was rigged". Trump, who endorsed Pratt, called California's elections crooked". Continue reading...

Beloved movie critic and arts reporter was known for bushy hair and mustache and affection for groan-inducing punsGene Shalit, a movie critic and arts reporter for the Today show over four decades who was known for his puffy hair, oversized handlebar mustache and affection for groan-inducing puns, has died. He was 100.Shalit's family announced the death Friday to NBC News, saying in a statement that he passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life". Continue reading...

Climate minister Chris Bowen says country must prepare for changing world and can play bigger role in reducing emissionsAustralia will find exporting fossil fuels increasingly difficult but can switch to exporting clean energy products, the president of the next UN climate negotiations has declared.Speaking at a climate conference in Bonn, Germany, Chris Bowen, Australia's minister for climate change and energy, argued his country had led the global push to transition away from fossil fuels" - based on the rapid growth of renewable energy and batteries in its domestic power grids - and that its economy could manage the switch. Continue reading...

Data analytics company loses on 22 out of 23 counts in lawsuit disputing how Swiss government rejected firm's servicesThe US technology company Palantir has lost a legal challenge to force a Swiss independent magazine to publish its responses to articles about how the Swiss government rejected its services.The data analytics company lost on 22 out of 23 counts of the suit. In a ruling on Friday, Zurich's commercial court dismissed the majority of counterstatement requests filed by the company and its Swiss subsidiary finding that only a single passage in one article warranted a published response from the company. Continue reading...