World news | The Guardian

Humanoid artist Ai-Da pays tribute to monarch with painting but critic calls it ‘a cynical, transparent con’At first glance, the Queen could be wearing a tin hat with camouflage netting set against a thunderous sky. A commentary on the inevitable conflicts and turbulence that took place during her 70-year reign, perhaps. Or a thoughtful juxtaposition of stability and instability.But no, it seems that Ai-Da, the robot artist who painted the Queen’s portrait to mark her platinum jubilee, was simply paying tribute to “an amazing human being”. The monarch’s trademark pearls and bold colours, along with a stoic facial expression, are the standout features of Algorithm Queen, which was unveiled on Friday. Continue reading...

Comments by Winston Peters come as China hopes 10 Pacific countries will sign wide-ranging security dealNew Zealand and its allies have failed to listen to “alarm bells” about China’s growing influence, and allowed a “vacuum” to develop in the Pacific, New Zealand’s former foreign minister Winston Peters has said.His comments come amid news that China hopes 10 Pacific countries will sign a wide-ranging draft deal covering security, trade and investment. The agreement would dramatically increase China’s influence in the region. Continue reading...

Visitors to the city in the past 10 days advised to look out for symptoms after five people admitted to hospital

In commencement address New Zealand PM warns against the ‘scourge of online disinformation’, and wins standing ovation for crackdown on weaponsJacinda Ardern has spoken out against the online “scourge of disinformation” in an address at Harvard University, in which she also won standing ovations for her government’s gun control laws, diversity and decriminalisation of abortion.The New Zealand prime minister was honoured by the American university , making the annual commencement address to more than a thousand students on Thursday from the same stage as figures such as Winston Churchill, Angela Merkel, Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey. Continue reading...

Netflix spokesperson says season four’s ‘opening scene is very graphic’, which will include warning of violence towards children when it launches on FridayNetflix has added a last-minute content warning to the opening episode of the latest season of Stranger Things, in wake of the school shooting in Texas that left 21 people dead, including 19 children.The first episode of the show’s fourth season will premiere worldwide on Friday, just days after the mass shooting at Robb elementary school in Uvalde. The season reportedly opens with a telekinetic massacre that includes the depiction of several dead children covered in blood. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereMaksym Kozytskyi, the governor of Lviv, has posted a status update for the day. He said that there was one air alert overnight, but there were no strikes reported. He also said that for the first time since Lviv started accepting displaced people from elsewhere in Ukraine, there was not a single person who registered for temporary accommodation yesterday.

Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto will display 180 designs, jewellery, accessories and perfumesThe V&A is to host the first ever exhibition in a major UK museum on the work of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, covering the career of the French designer from the opening of her first millinery boutique in Paris in 1910 to the showing of her final collection in 1971.The London museum’s exhibition, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto, will display 180 designs as well as jewellery, accessories and perfume, and outfits created for Lauren Bacall and Marlene Dietrich. Continue reading...

Former veterans affairs minister says ‘it’s important we listen to the message we received over the weekend from the Australian people’

Labour installed as minority administration in capital with Lib Dem and Tory help, to the outrage of SNPThe Scottish National party has failed to take all Scotland’s largest cities after Labour won control of Edinburgh with Liberal Democrat and Tory help.The SNP had hoped to retain power in the Scottish capital after winning the most seats and brokering a coalition deal with the Scottish Greens which left them three seats short of overall control. Continue reading...

Company says it will look at levy’s impact after CEO previously stated no projects would be mothballedBP has said it will review its investments in the North Sea after the government unveiled a windfall tax on oil and gas operators.The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, laid out plans on Thursday for a 25% tax increase to taxes on North Sea energy companies, in a move that is expected to raise £5bn. Continue reading...

Law Society argues many fines issued to vulnerable residents are invalid, unfair and could trap disadvantaged people in debt

State and federal authorities raised concerns periodically, but fund continued to target vulnerable people until its final collapse in March

Chancellor says ‘energy profits levy’ will be temporary but will raise around £5bn

The actor, whose films also include Something Wild, Marriage Story and Hannibal, died in his sleep while shooting his latest project in the Dominican RepublicRay Liotta, star of Goodfellas and Field of Dreams, has died at the age of 67.According to his representative who confirmed the news, the actor died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic while shooting his latest film Dangerous Waters alongside Saffron Burrows. Continue reading...

Israel claims the Al Jazeera journalist was killed during a battle between its soldiers and Palestinian militantsA Palestinian investigation into the shooting death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh has concluded that she was deliberately killed by Israeli forces, the Palestinian Authority has announced.Israel is likely to reject the findings as biased and unfounded. Continue reading...

Government has now effectively deterred the senior Met officer from two of the highest roles in law enforcementNeil Basu is to drop out of the race to be the next leader of the National Crime Agency and is considering an official complaint after Downing Street allegedly intervened to halt the selection process.An expert panel assessed Basu, the favourite and a former head of counter-terrorism, and Graeme Biggar, the NCA’s acting director general, to be sufficiently qualified to be appointed to the high level role. Continue reading...

Plans include merging BBC News and World as well as cuts to local TV and radio services in EnglandCBBC, BBC Four and Radio 4 Extra will shut down and become online-only services, the corporation has said, as part of plans to close television and radio channels in order to focus on streaming services.The BBC director general, Tim Davie, made the announcement on Thursday, in response to the culture secretary Nadine Dorries’s decision to freeze the licence fee at £159 for the next two years. Continue reading...

Large TVs play Russian state news in support of invasion in war-torn city still lacking electricity and water

Councils pushing to break ties had been prohibited from taking ‘non-commercial considerations’ into accountThe UK government introduced legislation on Thursday to help councils, NHS trusts and other public bodies exit contracts with Gazprom and other Russian companiesCouncils have been keen to withdraw from contracts amid concerns they were helping to fund Vladimir Putin’s regime. They had been prohibited from taking “non-commercial considerations” into account when procuring or terminating contracts, and they have a statutory duty to find the cheapest deal on behalf of the taxpayer. Continue reading...

Sinn Féin vice-president hails move after MLAs back petition – but DUP dismisses recall as a ‘stunt’The Stormont assembly is to meet on Monday in a new attempt to nominate a Speaker after more than 30 members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) signed a recall petition.The Sinn Féin vice-president, Michelle O’Neill, said it was important that the assembly “meets to get down to business” and started delivering for the public. Continue reading...

Signatories of legal opinion say territory’s government is using continued presence of overseas judges as ‘vote of confidence’International judicial figures including the former UK attorney general Sir Robert Buckland have warned the remaining British, Australian and Canadian judges operating in Hong Kong that they are working in an environment where judicial independence has been wholly undermined and the Chinese Communist party can dictate the outcome of cases.The group has backed a legal opinion that says the systematic threats to Hong Kong’s judicial independence will continue to intensify, and that the continued presence of overseas judges is being used by the territory’s government as a vote of confidence. Continue reading...

Dispute due to go before Conseil d’Etat in municipal bid to allow people to wear any kind of swimwearThe legal row over whether burkinis, or full-body swimsuits, should be allowed in French municipal swimming pools is to go before France’s highest administrative court as the city of Grenoble battles the state.The city, at the foot of the French Alps, has been a the centre of a bitter political row since its Green mayor, Éric Piolle, who leads a broad left-wing coalition, proposed loosening rules on swimwear in outdoor municipal pools. Continue reading...

Changes are aimed to attract ‘high quality, growth’ firms such as biotech companiesThe City watchdog is proposing to relax London’s stock market rules in an attempt to attract more fast-growing startups instead of losing out to other financial centres such as New York, Paris and Frankfurt.The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) proposals would mean scrapping the current two-tier system, where firms decide whether to follow looser rules of a so-called standard listing, or the more rigorous standards of a premium listing. Continue reading...

‘Temporary, targeted’ levy part of £15bn package intended to soften impact of cost of living crisis

Federico Soda said there needed to be ‘more condemnation’ of the conditions in state-run detention centres in LibyaEurope has been accused by a senior international official of acquiescence over the plight of thousands of migrants in Libya held in arbitrary detention in “deplorable conditions”.Federico Soda, chief of mission at the International Organisation for Migration’s mission in Libya, said not enough was being done by outside actors to try to change the war-torn country’s “environment of arbitrary detention and deplorable conditions” for migrants. Continue reading...

Outstanding issues include event in Downing Street flat and Boris Johnson’s seeming lack of awareness

Black rights campaigner was shot in head at close range in May 2021 and now requires constant medical careA reward of up to £20,000 is being offered for information about who shot a prominent black rights campaigner as a charity tries to smash a “wall of silence” that has frustrated investigators for the past year.Crimestoppers will pay the money to anyone who anonymously shares information leading to the conviction of those responsible for Sasha Johnson’s shooting. Continue reading...

Artworks by sculptor William Mitchell, designed to encourage public interaction, earn Grade-II accoladeA group of concrete murals on a flyover in Birmingham, known as a “brutalist climbing wall”, have been given listed status.The three-banked mural walls flanking the entrance to the Hockley flyover underpass feature geometric shapes and abstract patterns and were designed by the sculptor William Mitchell to encourage public interaction. Continue reading...

Reports handed to EU claim vessels likely to have entered coastal states’ waters where stocks are dwindlingEuropean fishing fleets have been illegally netting tuna from dwindling stocks in the Indian Ocean, according to data presented to EU authorities and analysed by expert groups.EU purse seine (a type of large net) fishing vessels were present in the waters of Indian Ocean coastal states, where they were likely to have carried out unauthorised catches, and have reported catches in the Chagos archipelago marine protected area and in Mozambique’s exclusive economic zone. Continue reading...

Business secretary intervenes after biggest shareholder Patrick Drahi raised stake in UK telecom giant to 18%The business secretary has used new government powers on national security to intervene in a potential takeover of BT by its biggest shareholder, the French billionaire Patrick Drahi.BT said Kwasi Kwarteng would investigate the move by Drahi’s telecoms group Altice, after it increased its stake in BT from 12.1% to 18% in mid-December. Continue reading...

Former PM says he will back new Liberal leader and downplays loss, saying party ‘will regroup’

Queensland school says it has now abandoned anti-gay and anti-trans contracts and ‘statement of faith’

Prime minister feels it is his ‘job to get on with my job’ despite report detailing major leadership failures at No 10. This live blog is now closed. You can find our latest Partygate stories below:

PM says he takes full responsibility but insists it never occurred to him the gatherings he attended broke rulesBoris Johnson has insisted he was oblivious to a culture of excessive drinking and partying in Downing Street during lockdown, despite a damning report laying bare a litany of rule-breaking behaviour at the heart of government.Sue Gray’s final report, published on Wednesday, set out details of 15 events where officials variously spilled red wine on the walls of No 10, vomited, got into a fight, used a karaoke machine, and continued festivities until 4am while the country was subject to strict curbs on socialising. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester police agree to withdraw penalty notices issued to two nurses for socially distanced protest in March 2021Two NHS nurses have won compensation from Greater Manchester police (GMP) after being fined over a socially distant protest about NHS pay during lockdown.Karen Reissmann, a 61-year-old mental health nurse who worked throughout the pandemic, received a £10,000 fixed penalty notice for organising the protest on 7 March 2021 over the government’s proposed 1% pay rise for NHS workers. Continue reading...

Putin signs decree to make it easier for residents of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions to get passports

Five-year-old Hiyaan Kapil died early on Monday after being sent home from the Logan hospital

Company tells consumer watchdog it is set to lose $10bn this year in wake of Apple iOS feature hampering ability to collect user data

Citing huge workloads for MPs, premier will introduce bill to increase House of Assembly, reversing 1998 reduction

Incoming Indigenous affairs minster says predicament of families affected by collapse of predatory funeral fund is ‘totally unacceptable’

Cards branded with Australian government’s ‘Zero Chance’ logo and QR code to border force website distributed in Indonesia

There were 1,842 drug-induced deaths in 2020, equivalent to five deaths a day, report finds

Gray report reveals exchanges showing how staff planned events – and, in some cases, were clearly aware that what they were doing was wrong

PM issues partial apology for boozy culture including wine spilled over walls and drunken staff told to leave by back entrance

The 2021 total, spread over 30 states, was 52% higher than 2020 and about double each of the three previous years, the agency saidThe United States experienced 61 “active shooter” incidents last year, the highest tally in over 20 years, according to new FBI data.The number of “active shooter” incidents marked a sharp rise in the sheer number of attacks, casualties and geographic distribution from 2020, according to the FBI. The 2021 total, spread over 30 states, was 52% higher than 2020 and about double each of the three previous years, the agency said. Continue reading...

Can-do attitude and self-discipline essential for role at primary school on Foula, inhabited by 28 peopleIslanders on Foula, one of the UK’s most remote inhabited islands, are looking for a new headteacher to run their tiny primary school, with a register of just four pupils and another child in its nursery.Foula, an island of 4.9 sq miles with a permanent population of 28 people, lies 16 miles to the west of Shetland and vies with Fair Isle, which is 44 miles to the south, as the most isolated and exposed inhabited place in Britain. Continue reading...

Regulator publishes guidelines as Severn Trent launches £30m support package amid cost of living crisisThe regulator Ofwat has urged water companies to do more to help people across England and Wales who are struggling to pay their utility bills as the cost of living squeeze tightens.Ofwat has published a new set of guidelines for water companies designed to make it easier for households to get help with paying their bills or repaying debts. Continue reading...

Detailed summary of civil servant’s report into lockdown-breaching parties in and around Downing Street

Sharp critique from Duncan Lewis comes as Chinese foreign minister embarks on ‘extraordinary’ Pacific island nation tour

Court hears former model made indirect attempt to contact ex-husband’s fiancee, Michelle PenticostKatie Price has been warned she faces jail after admitting breaching a restraining order against her ex-husband’s fiancee over a message in which she accused the pair of having an affair.The 44-year-old former model sent Kieran Hayler a message on 21 January this year in which she called his new partner, Michelle Penticost, a “gutter slag”. Continue reading...