World news | The Guardian

Publisher Simon & Schuster says The Philosophy of Modern Song ‘resembles an epic poem’Bob Dylan will publish a new essay collection celebrating songs by peers such as Elvis Costello, Hank Williams and Nina Simone.Dylan began work on The Philosophy of Modern Song in 2010, according to a press release. His first book of new writing since 2004’s Chronicles: Volume One, it contains 60 essays in which the 80-year-old musician “analyses what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal”. Continue reading...

Expedition team locates wreckage of explorer’s ship which sank in Weddell Sea in 1915The “world’s most challenging shipwreck search” for one of the greatest legends of exploration history, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance, lost 106 years ago in the icy waters of Antarctica, has succeeded.The wreck has been found, 3,008 metres below the surface of what Shackleton described as “the portion of the worst sea in the world”. It was discovered on Saturday, the 100th anniversary of Shackleton’s funeral, the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust said. Continue reading...

Famous dog show expects record UK interest and to welcome host of new ownersAlmost two years after Covid triggered a puppy boom, Crufts is expecting a host of newcomers as new dog owners who honed their skills during lockdown take to the ring this week.“There are new people, who got a dog during lockdown, who have started to show their dogs. Some have qualified for Crufts for the first time ever, which is obviously really exciting,” said Bill Lambert, the head of health and welfare at Crufts. Continue reading...

Police say three-month-old girl died after sustaining injuries in incident near Woodland SpaTwo people who were arrested after a baby girl was mauled to death by a husky in Lincolnshire have been released under investigation.Police said the three-month-old girl, who has not been named, died after sustaining injuries from a dog attack in the car park area of the woodland area Ostler’s Plantation, near Woodhall Spa, late on Sunday night. Continue reading...

EU’s first such rule dropped just a month after it took effect, as minister says it can no longer be justified

British bus operator makes U-turn on £1.9bn proposal and agrees deal with fund managed by German firm DWSThe British bus operator Stagecoach has dropped its support for a £1.9bn merger with National Express, instead agreeing to be taken over by a major infrastructure investment fund in a £595m deal.In a sudden U-turn, Stagecoach said it was recommending a sale to the fund managed by the German firm DWS Infrastructure for 105p a share in cash, and has withdrawn support for the National Express bid. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Research finds that disease is associated with 39% rise in odds of people in UK having inadequate income for basic needsPeople living in the UK’s most deprived areas are more likely to be infected with Covid-19, but new research suggests this relationship is a two-way street: becoming infected also increases people’s risk of economic hardship, particularly if they develop long Covid.“We’ve shown that Covid has an impact on people’s ability to meet their basic household requirements – something that is only going to be exacerbated by the cost of living crisis which is happening at the same time,” said Adrian Martineau, a professor of respiratory infection and immunity at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), who supervised the research. Continue reading...

Defence’s closing address calls prosecution witness ‘armchair expert’ and urges against frame-by-frame analysis on final full day of trial

Prof Brian Schmidt tells Senate inquiry independence of Australian Research Council grant process is ‘core part’ of liberal democracy

Counsel for Daniel argued ‘absurd’ law means signs protesting war in Ukraine could also be ruled against

Nineteen-year-old fighting for his life in Darwin hospital after incident at Palmerston on Tuesday morning

Polish charity says three vans were blocked from getting on ferry because they didn’t have required paperwork

Pandemic and other disaster recovery efforts will further power state debt, says rating agency

The temporary bridge will aid work on a makeshift hospital as the city’s Covid death rate reaches world’s highest per 1m people

An explosion at the mine killed 29 workers and police are still conducting a criminal investigation into the tragedyThe remains of two more men killed in the Pike River mine tragedy, one of New Zealand’s worst mining disasters, have been found more than a decade after the disaster.The blast in November 2010 killed 29 workers and many of the families have been fighting to have the remains of their loved ones found ever since. Continue reading...

Pentagon says plan for Poles to give Soviet-era jets to US ‘not tenable’ as Ukraine cities await promised Russian ceasefire

This blog is now closed. Follow our live coverage of the Russian invasion here.

Mark McGowan also thanked media mogul Kerry Stokes for ‘marvellous front pages’ attacking Palmer in 2020, court hears in defamation case

Comparing Tuesday’s unforgettable images with how these locations usually look via Google Street View shows the scale of the flooding

Ukraine president’s echoing of Winston Churchill in emotional speech to British MPs reverberates across the front pages

Taylor says Australia has ‘kept our foot on the accelerator’ when it comes to supply of oil and gasThe Australian energy minister, Angus Taylor, has criticised “activists” for opposing new oil and gas development in the Beetaloo Basin, declaring European nations are now regretting not pursuing a “gas-fired recovery”.After the United States banned Russian oil imports in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and the United Kingdom said it would phase them out by year’s end, Taylor told Sky News Australia that Australia had been correct to continue expanding fossil fuel development. Continue reading...

Documents show Probuild’s WBHO Infrastructure borrowed $48.7m from other parts of the group last year as it struggled to surviveAdministrators of the collapsed Probuild building empire say they will investigate a transaction last year in which almost $50m was transferred from other parts of the business to the group’s struggling civil construction division.Company documents show Probuild’s civil construction company, WBHO Infrastructure, borrowed $48.7m from other parts of the group last year as it struggled to survive massive losses caused by one of its key projects, the western roads upgrade in Melbourne. Continue reading...

Questions raised about how Coalition settled on its three potential locations

Transport secretary Grant Shapps says he has made it a criminal offence for any Russian aircraft to enter UK airspaceRussian planes that stray into British airspace could be detained by the British government, the transport secretary announced on Tuesday.Grant Shapps said he had made it a criminal offence for any Russian aircraft to enter UK airspace, as the government scrambles to sanction Russia for its brutal war on Ukraine. Continue reading...

Platforms to be required to protect users from pre-paid fraudulent adverts as well as user-generated scamsMeasures to protect people from internet scams will now be included in proposed online safety laws, the government has said.Under a previous draft of the online safety bill, platforms which host user-generated content would have a “duty of care” to protect users from fraud by other users. Continue reading...

Domestic intelligence agency can now tap communications and use undercover informants to spy on activitiesA German court has ruled that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) can be classified as a suspected threat to democracy, paving the way for the domestic intelligence agency to spy on the opposition party.The court dismissed a legal challenge brought by the AfD last March that delayed plans by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) to put the party under surveillance. Continue reading...

Former Royal Marine commando Ben Grant defying advice to Britons not to join war and says 100 more will follow

‘Our values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine,’ says burger chain’s chief executive

Succession of Tory MPs condemn Home Office for ‘dragging its feet’ over visa applications

Independent Canadian investigators call for reinvestigation of 14 deaths of Indigenous people in northern OntarioA group of independent investigators have called for the reinvestigation of the sudden deaths of 14 Indigenous people in a north Ontario city, after finding that the original inquiries were hampered by sloppy police work and a legacy of institutional racism.The team have examined hundreds of deaths between 2003 and 2017 in Thunder Bay, the largest city in the northern reaches of the province – and one where the police force has long faced allegations of racism within its ranks. Continue reading...

Analysis: Ukraine’s president wants a no-fly zone but Britain could play a role securing alternatives

Ukrainian president delivers historic address to MPs in the Commons via video link as country resists Russian invasion

Health secretary says people should help relatives quit smoking, adopt better diets and stop taking drugsFamily members should help loved ones to quit smoking, adopt better diets and stop taking drugs to help relieve the huge pressure on the NHS, the health secretary has said.Sajid Javid urged relatives to do what they could to persuade each other to lead healthier lives so the health service could better cope with the rising tide of illness it is facing. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lt Gen David Leakey says ex-Speaker should be barred while he refuses to show contrition for bullyingJohn Bercow should never again hold public office or a position of leadership, a former Black Rod has said, as the former Speaker was found to have repeatedly lied and to have bullied staff during his tenure in the House of Commons.Lt Gen David Leakey, who made one of the complaints against Bercow and acted as a witness to others, told the Guardian he had been determined to ensure Bercow’s record was examined fully. Continue reading...

Ex-Speaker banned from holding Commons pass as standards commissioner upholds 21 complaintsJohn Bercow should have been expelled from parliament had he remained an MP, an independent inquiry has found, calling him a “serial bully” and a liar.The former Black Rod Lt Gen David Leakey told the Guardian Bercow should never again hold any form of public office. Labour suspended him from the party, pending an investigation. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president summons spirit of Winston Churchill and tells MPs his country ‘will fight to the end in the sea, in the air, whatever the costs’

Broadcaster had paused its reporting in country after passing of law that could impose jail terms over ‘fake’ newsThe BBC is to resume English language reporting in Russia after it suspended its coverage to assess the implications of a new law.On Friday, the BBC said it had paused its reporting in Russia after its parliament passed a law that could impose a jail term of up to 15 years for anyone found to be intentionally spreading “fake” news. Continue reading...

Number of people escaping Ukraine passes 2m and WHO says vital medical supplies are running out

Michelle Bachelet’s announcement comes as 192 groups call for release of long-postponed report into regionThe UN rights chief has announced that she will make a long-delayed visit to China in May, including to Xinjiang, where activists and western lawmakers say Beijing is subjecting Uyghur people to genocide.“I am pleased to announce that we have recently reached an agreement with the government of China for a visit,” Michelle Bachelet told the UN human rights council on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Tory MP Sir Roger Gale accuses home secretary of exaggerating help being offered by UK

Video shows Sergei Tsivilyov being blamed for deploying local riot police to Ukraine

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

Police hunting killer of Martine Vik Magnussen detain woman in her 60s on suspicion of assisting an offenderDetectives investigating the death of a Norwegian student they suspect was murdered by the son of a Yemeni billionaire in London in 2008 have made an apparent breakthrough, as they announced an arrest on Tuesday.Scotland Yard said a woman in her 60s had been taken into custody on suspicion of assisting an offender. Continue reading...

From an abortion rights campaigner in Poland to a protester in Myanmar, our correspondents choose some of the women they most admire to mark International Women’s DayGender-based violence is not just something I cover at work; it has also deeply affected my life. In 2017, I lost two friends, who were murdered by men. Those experiences reinforced my desire to write about the experiences and perspectives of women in the countries I have covered in the Middle East; highlighting the remarkable strength and resilience of women and girls I have met in the region is a powerful antidote. Continue reading...

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, members of Manchester’s Ukrainian community have been in constant contact with family caught up in the conflict. They’ve also been coordinating aid efforts that respond to what people are asking for – from flak jackets to thermals and first aid equipment – which are packed and driven directly to Ukraine by volunteers

Latest updates: follow reports from the UK and across the globe as well as data and research on IWD 2022

Official in north-eastern Ukrainian city says Russian airstrike hit residential street

I yearned for the partiers, the people posting as the virus raged, to be publicly shamed. But everyone is processing this differently, and I can’t change thatIf I followed me on Instagram, I would mute myself so quickly.I found myself thinking this often over the last two years, shame winding its way into the back of my brain after I’d log on to share my daily array of Covid-related information. Continue reading...

When a widower washes up in a remote Finnish town with his son, his culinary skills enchant the locals and mesmerise the cameraFinnish director Mika Kaurismäki (elder brother of Aki Kaurismäki) gives us a well-intentioned if watery and bland drama, a decently performed but tepid heartwarmer which can be filed under that dodgiest of sub-headings: “foodie”, that is, something with a supercilious tendency to showcase delicious-seeming food as a shortcut to being life-affirming and life-enhancing.A Chinese widower called Cheng (played by Hong Kong actor Pak Hong Chu) shows up out of the blue in a remote Finnish town with his young son Niu Niu (Lucas Hsuan), and walks into a roadside cafe run by Sirkka (Anna-Maija Tuokko), who is listlessly serving up dull grub for the locals. With no Finnish and only halting English, Cheng asks everyone in the place if they know of “Fongtron”: this mysterious person or business is the reason he’s here. No one can help (and weirdly, it doesn’t occur to anyone to use Google Translate to help with their communication difficulties). Continue reading...