World news | The Guardian

Shipments to Russian smelters from Aughinish Alumina have increased sharply since the invasion of UkraineA leading Irish metals refinery is part of an international aluminium supply chain that appears to conclude with shipments to arms producers feeding the Kremlin's war machine in Ukraine, leaked records and public data suggests.Trading records show that shipments to Russian smelters from Aughinish Alumina, which is located on the Shannon estuary in the west of Ireland and has been owned by the Russian aluminium group Rusal since 2006, have increased sharply since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Continue reading...

Ukraine president vows to respond to move that would draw Belarus more directly into the war; EU anger at Hungary over Russia information sharing. What we know on day 1,490 Continue reading...

This blog is closed. Follow our new liveblog here.British prime minister Keir Starmer is set to chair an emergency meeting on the economic fallout from the war in Iran on Monday, with chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey also attending, the UK government has said.Financial markets face another turbulent week after Iran said it would strike its Gulf neighbours' energy and water systems if Donald Trump followed through on his threat to obliterate" Iran's power plants if it doesn't fully open up the crucial strait of Hormuz.Topics expected to be covered are the economic impact of the crisis on families and businesses, energy security and the resilience of industry and supply chains alongside the international response. Continue reading...

Policy begins on 1 April and is aimed to ease financial pressure as the price of fuel surges due to conflict in the Middle EastNearly 150,000 New Zealand families will soon receive a weekly cash payment to help them afford petrol, the government has announced, in what is believed to be the world's first fuel relief package that directly pays citizens since the Iran war began.On Tuesday, prime minister Christopher Luxon and finance minister Nicola Willis announced roughly 143,000 families with children will get an extra NZ$50 ($29.20; 21.80) a week through a boost to the in-work tax credit - a payment to families with dependent children where at least one parent is in paid employment and neither parent receives benefits. Another 14,000 families on slightly higher incomes will also be eligible for payments, but will receive less than $50 per week. Continue reading...

Australian manufacturers can call their wares parmesan and kransky, but terms like feta, romano and gruyere will eventually be phased out

Watchdog also fines PhotobookShop for editing a paid review from an influencer who had described process as fiddly'

Exclusive: Pacific island's new leader Lord Fakafnua discusses exciting' US partnership as critics fear impacts of seabed explorationThe recently elected leader of Tonga has described a deal to partner with the US on deep-sea mineral exploration as an exciting development" amid concern in the small Pacific nation over the practice of seabed mining and the potential environmental impact.Tonga is located in the South Pacific Ocean, a region attracting growing interest over whether critical minerals buried in the seabed could be extracted to help power industries and green technologies. Continue reading...

In incident filmed by security cameras in Rio de Janeiro, group of attackers beat animal with sticks and iron barsPolice in Rio de Janeiro have arrested eight people for brutally beating a capybara - the world's largest rodent.Resembling a giant guinea pig, the light brown capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is often seen roaming the Brazilian city, particularly near streams and lagoons. Continue reading...

Transport plane carrying 125 soldiers and crew crashes shortly after takeoff in southern Amazon regionAt least 34 people were killed when a Colombian Air Force plane carrying 125 people crashed just after takeoff in the south of the country, authorities said.The defence minister, Pedro Sanchez, said the accident happened as the Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 plane was taking off from Puerto Leguizamo, deep in Colombia's southern Amazon region, on the border with Peru, as it transported troops from the armed forces. Continue reading...

From a shop owner in India to a community worker in New South Wales, rising fuel prices are forcing people to ration oil usage

People evacuated on Oahu and Maui as rains lifted houses and cars, swept through stores and left streets mud-clogged

President claims immigration agents could help manage long lines as TSA agents go unpaid during partial shutdown

Demonstrations to be held across the US against ICE's reign of terror' with flagship event in Minnesota's Twin CitiesMillions of people are expected to protest the Trump administration at more than 3,000 No Kings events in cities and small towns across the country on Saturday. Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, one of the groups coordinating No Kings, said he expected it to be the biggest protest in American history".This will be the third No Kings protest since Trump was re-elected. A flagship event will be held in Minnesota's Twin Cities - Minneapolis and St Paul - after residents stood up to the surge of federal immigration agents the Trump administration sent into the region earlier this year. In January, agents killed two residents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were observing Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities. Continue reading...

Donna Motsinger alleges she was drugged and raped by Cosby in 1972 after he gave her a glass of wine in his limo

Officials say bomb squad called to Fort Washington Park, which has been closed by National Park Service

New online accounts on Polymarket platform betting a total of $70,000 suggest some degree of inside info'Several accounts on the online platform Polymarket laid bets on a US-Iran ceasefire over the weekend that appeared to show signs of insider knowledge, according to experts.Eight accounts, all newly created around 21 March, bet a total of nearly $70,000 (52,000) on there being a ceasefire. They stand to make nearly $820,000 if such a deal is reached before 31 March. Continue reading...

Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf at first dismissed talks took place, insisting Trump's claim was fake news' designed to soothe markets

Trump administration announces deal with TotalEnergies to redirect investment in wind to oil and gas insteadAs a fuel crisis triggered by the war in Iran drives up global fossil fuel prices, the Trump administration has announced it will pay French energy major TotalEnergies $1bn to kill plans to construct wind farms off the US east coast.The deal is the latest blow to the US offshore wind industry, which has faced repeated disruptions to multi-billion-dollar projects under Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Met police say authenticating claim of responsibility by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia is priority'

CCTV showed three people setting light to an ambulance in Golders Green in the early hours of Monday morning

European shares start to rise after US president says talks have been very good and productive'

Company will assess whether drop to 186mph from 224mph will save money and help bring forward launchMinisters have told High Speed Two to consider running its trains at lower speeds, in an attempt to rein in the spiralling budget and begin operations as soon as possible.HS2 Ltd will assess whether limiting the speed to 186mph (300km/h) instead of 224mph could save money - potentially billions of pounds - and bring the railway into being earlier in the 2030s. Continue reading...

Ship arrives three weeks after Iranian-made drone hit British base of RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus

Sudanese and Afghan students with offers to study in UK say government's emergency brake' is discriminatory

France's Marine Le Pen and the Netherlands' Geert Wilders among speakers praising prime minister at Budapest eventMarine Le Pen has called Viktor Orban an exceptional leader" and Geert Wilders hailed a lion on a continent led by sheep" as Europe's far-right figureheads rallied round Hungary's prime minister before an election that polls suggest he may lose.Hungary has become a symbol in Europe of a proud and sovereign people's resistance against oppression," Le Pen, the parliamentary leader of France's National Rally (RN), told a gathering of EU-sceptical leaders in Budapest on Monday. Continue reading...

YouTube gamer planned audacious alibi, appeared grief-stricken at wake and apparently spied on victim's family

Belfast court heard how Stephen McCullagh livestreamed recording of himself as part of concocted cover story'

Gavin Burrows said claimants in case against Daily Mail publisher very misled' over his workA private investigator whose disputed confessions of illegal activity form a key part of the case brought by Prince Harry and others against the Daily Mail's publisher has said the admissions were a thing of fiction".Giving highly anticipated evidence at the high court, Gavin Burrows said the claimants in the case, as well as their lawyers, had been very misled" over his work, adding that the supposed admissions in his name were a pack of lies". Continue reading...

Fatih Birol says effects on energy markets from Iran bombings and closure of strait of Hormuz not initially understood by world leaders. Plus, feminist magazine reclaims Charlie Kirk-style campus toursGood morning.The global energy crisis caused by the war in Iran is equivalent to the combined force of the twin oil shocks of the 1970s and the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the head of the International Energy Agency has said.Why is the ex-CIA chief Leon Panetta in the news? He has spoken out about Donald Trump's attack on Iran, telling the Guardian the US president is sending a message of weakness" to the world.What's the latest in Iran? Its government is threatening to lay mines across entire Gulf if its coasts are attacked.This is a developing story. Follow our liveblog here.What happened? The aircraft hit the fire truck while travelling at about 24mph, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24. In the moments before the crash, an air traffic controller could be heard giving clearance to a fire vehicle to cross part of the runway, then trying to stop it. The controller can then be heard quickly diverting incoming aircraft from landing. Continue reading...

PM will chair Cobra meeting with key ministers and Bank of England on Monday, as experts warn of economic shock

Trump and border czar Tom Homan confirm plan to assist TSA agents amid partial government shutdown standoffDonald Trump and his border czar, Tom Homan, have followed through on promises from the president's administration to send in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to US airports beginning on Monday to assist with security amid extremely long lines - and to help airport security agents who have been working without pay since 14 February because of a partial government shutdown.ICE agents were seen at airports such as Atlanta, Newark, New Orleans and New York's John F Kennedy. CNN reported nine other airports where ICE agents were seen. Continue reading...

Co-founder Julian Hearn and actor likely to get big payday after takeover by French group

Pet owners fear there is no viable alternative service after Great Western Exotics owner deems business unviableOn a nondescript industrial estate on the outskirts of Swindon, a faint squawking was heard in the distance, as bird lovers from Exeter to Edinburgh brought their brightly coloured budgies and macaws to an exotic animal hospital.But now, the UK's premier parrot surgery, which treats all kinds of creatures, will be shut down after it was bought out by a conglomerate that has decided the business is not viable. Continue reading...

Democratic Senate hopeful says experience of being key witness in Trump's first impeachment makes him right choice for FloridaAlex Vindman is not a man to hold a grudge. Ask him about the bullying, intimidation and retribution meted out by Donald Trump and Maga acolytes following his appearance as a key witness in the first of the president's two first-term impeachments, and he almost shrugs it off.For people that know anything about me, I basically smile all the time," he says. Continue reading...

Investors believe Bank of England is likely to act amid sustained rise in inflation from Iran war

Union says belowinflation pay rises and insecure work threaten the future of Australia's publicinterest journalism

More than 30 people face charges after collision between two trains that killed 57 people in February 2023A long-awaited trial has begun into Greece's worst train tragedy, which killed 57 people in 2023, leaving the entire country in shock.Thirty-six people face charges and more than 350 witnesses are due to be heard at the trial that opened in the central city of Larissa, near where a freight train and a passenger train collided on 28 February 2023. Continue reading...

Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland is ferret-free after 4.5m five-year partnership led by RSPB NIPredatory feral ferrets have been removed from an island for the first time ever, in a boost for Northern Ireland's largest seabird colony.Rathlin Island is ferret-free after a 4.5m five-year partnership led by RSPB NI involving islanders, charities, volunteers and a red labrador called Woody. Continue reading...

In what is beginning to look like a fragmented five-party system, small swings carry outsized political consequencesCabinet reshuffles, party infighting, policy reversals, byelections, defections and apparently huge swings in support - the UK's political news cycle feels especially relentless at the moment.But if you look closely at the polls since last year's local elections, remarkably little has changed. Continue reading...

While Labour braces for a rout that could see off Starmer, a rising drive to keep out Farage is complicating expectationsLocal elections are often regarded as a referendum on the sitting government, with many previous administrations taking a bloody nose from the electorate but successfully fighting back by the next general election.Senior Labour figures have taken to reeling off a list of midterm results - 1999, 2003, 2012 - to prove that point. As we get closer to the general election, it will be less about people's view of the parties generally and more about the actual choice in front of them," one said. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: Off Duty revisits the conviction of Alexander Villa, raising troubling questions about how it was builtGood morning. On the evening of 29 December 2011, Clifton Lewis - an off-duty Chicago police officer working as a security guard at a minimart on the city's west side - was shot dead during a robbery. The killing prompted a huge manhunt and an intensive investigation by the Chicago police department. Years later, prosecutors said they had their man, and in 2019 Alexander Villa was convicted of Lewis's murder and sentenced to life in prison.But the case against Lewis has long been contested - and as the Guardian's new investigative podcast series, Off Duty, explores, there are troubling questions about how that conviction was secured, from confessions that were later recanted to evidence that appears shaky or missing. And it revolves around a justice system that, once it settled on a suspect, seemed unwilling to reconsider.Iran | The global energy crisis caused by the war in Iran is equivalent to the combined force of the twin oil shocks of the 1970s and the fallout of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the head of the International Energy Agency has warned.UK news | Four ambulances belonging to the Jewish community ambulance service have been set on fire in Golders Green, with police saying they were treating the incident as an antisemitic hate crime".Technology | Palantir is to be granted access to a trove of highly sensitive UK financial regulation data, in a deal that has prompted fresh concerns about the US AI company's deepening reach into the British state, the Guardian can reveal.UK news | An undercover police officer has admitted he was exposed as an infiltrator by his own blunder, which has been described by activists as worthy of Inspector Clouseau, the spycops public inquiry has heard.Business | Several porridge products in the UK have been recalled over a possible mice contamination at their manufacturing site. Continue reading...

Federal Coalition tells Pauline Hanson's party to expect more policy scrutiny after historic result in South Australia election

Energy minister, Chris Bowen, says we're a long way' from further action like fuel rationing despite shortages

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Narelle weakens to a tropical low after bringing heavy rain to already-saturated parts of the Northern Territory

Fatih Birol says effect on energy markets of Iran bombings and closure of Hormuz strait not initially understood by world leaders

Doubling tariffs on imported steel will raise cost of the metal when Iran war is already inflating steel and concrete pricesOne of HS2's biggest contractors has warned the government that raising tariffs on foreign steel imports will exacerbate" cost pressures for the UK construction industry, amid growing concern over the 100bn railway's rising budget.Ministers said last week they would double the tariffs on imported steel and slash the amount that can be bought from overseas, in an attempt to save Britain's struggling steelmakers. Continue reading...

From steel to screen, podcasts to defence, Sheffield's economy is diversifying amid a wave of new investmentIt has seen its fair share of Hollywood parties - albeit with a twist. Instead of champagne and caviar it is usually Guinness and scampi fries. Red carpet? There aren't even cushions on the seats.The tiny Sheffield pub, Fagan's, has raised more than a few toasts in the last year as Adolescence, the Netflix hit made by two of its owners, scooped multiple awards at the Emmys and Golden Globes and became one of the world's most-watched dramas. Continue reading...

City hall veteran beats rightwinger Rachida Dati in French capital, while far-right RN fails to win Marseille and Toulon in French local electionsThe Socialist Emmanuel Gregoire has been elected mayor of Paris, beating the former rightwing minister Rachida Dati, with Marine Le Pen's far-right, anti-immigration National Rally (RN) failing to take key cities targeted in Sunday's second round of local elections.Gregoire took a victory bike ride with future councillors in Paris on Sunday night to show that the French capital would continue its pro-cycling and environmental policies. Continue reading...

National leader Christopher Luxon drops in preferred PM stakes with rise in people saying country heading in wrong directionThe personal ratings of New Zealand's prime minister, Christopher Luxon, have dipped, polling shows, as his government's handling of the economy fails to impress voters ahead of the November election.The RNZ-Reid Research poll, released on Monday, also found a growing number of people felt that New Zealand was heading in the wrong direction. Continue reading...