World news | The Guardian

Exclusive: Former chief Brexit negotiator says staying out of euro and Schengen area would be perfectly possible'

Exclusive: Richard Hermer's department understood to be first in government to restrict use after recent riotsThe attorney general has told his office to no longer post on X, making it the first UK government department to stop using the Elon Musk-owned platform amid increasing worries about its use to incite violence and racism.Richard Hermer's office last posted on X on Friday, and it is understood that officials have been told to no longer use the site, unless for the specific purpose of combatting disinformation there. Continue reading...

Updated document, which emphasises harm done to African women, is being considered by other Caribbean countriesBarbados's prime minister, Mia Mottley, has announced a new manifesto from Caribbean leaders asserting the moral, ethical and legal case" for reparations over damage caused by hundreds of years of enslavement.Mottley was speaking at a historic" conference in Ghana to advance the push for reparatory justice after the United Nations adopted a landmark resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity. Continue reading...

Analysis says expansion could also harm access to housing, education, healthcare, open spaces and transportConstruction of a third runway at Heathrow is likely to have significant adverse effects on the health and wellbeing of up to 3 million people living nearby, an official report has said, as the government launched the next stage of its rapid airport expansion plan.An analysis for the Department for Transport has found that expanding London's hub airport could have major adverse" impacts on the health of the most local population. Continue reading...

Mastermind' Dawie Groenewald given fine of 2m rand or four-year jail term almost 16 years after arrestTwo traffickers of rhino horns have been sentenced by a South African court in what police said was the world's largest such case, partly bringing to an end an almost two-decade legal saga.Dawie Groenewald and Tielman Erasmus had faced more than 1,700 charges ranging from illegally hunting and dehorning rhinos to racketeering and money laundering. Continue reading...

Education secretary cites admissions data for England, saying Labour is rebalancing the system to focus on 94% of kids in state schools'Adding VAT to private school fees has failed to trigger an exodus of pupils into the state sector despite widespread speculation that it would, the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has said.The Labour government applied 20% VAT to private school fees from the start of 2025. They had previously been exempt from the tax. Newly published admissions data for England showed there had been no influx towards state schools since then. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Analysis shows men aged 18 to 25 are less likely to vote for rightwing parties than other age groups of menYoung men are not turning to rightwing politics more than any other demographic, according to a study of election data, which undermines claims that this group has been a key driver of the recent success of parties such as Reform UK.The analysis of data from the British Election Study, which polls about 30,000 people every year, showed age to be a bigger determining factor in voters' political opinions than gender. Continue reading...

Ukraine's president ramps up rhetoric after overnight drone strikes on Russian capitalHegseth makes it clear that the review will not be just a box-ticking exercise.It's a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colours. In the end, the review is intended to both improve US force posture and basing and strengthen Nato 3.0."It will be designed to ensure that Nato is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defence of Europe."Where other allies do not spend with urgency, our dues, contributions will go down. Nato will be a two-way street." Continue reading...

A decade in the making, the museum will reopen in November in two restored market halls that will house 7m objects and host late-night DJ setsThe new London Museum will be a social space for the city", its director has said, hosting afternoon tea events, monthly dinner clubs and late-night DJ sets where visitors can mingle among the artefacts while dancing.Sharon Ament said that when it reopens later this year the museum will be a democratic" space that engages with all Londoners rather than merely a repository for its collections, which stretch from the city's neolithic prehistory to modern acquisitions. Continue reading...

Miguel Diaz-Canel cites China and Vietnam as possible models for opening up the country's economyCuba's economy needs urgent changes" to overcome a major crisis intensified by a US oil blockade, president Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a speech to Communist party leaders.

Other lawmakers respond with shame on you' in heated confrontation over passing of plan to increase deportationsRightwing MEPs have come under fire after they celebrated a vote aimed at increasing deportations across the EU with chants of send them back", leading other lawmakers to respond with cries of shame on you".The heated confrontation in the European parliament came on Wednesday after lawmakers voted 418 to 218 to approve controversial measures aimed at increasing deportations of undocumented people. Continue reading...

Peter Wai and Bill Yuen sentenced to 10 and eight years at Old Bailey in first convictions under National Security ActA UK Border Force officer and a Hong Kong trade official based in London have been jailed for spying for China in what is the first such conviction in British criminal history.Peter Wai, who conducted shadow policing" operations on Chinese dissidents in the UK, was sentenced to 10 years while his handler, Bill Yuen, received an eight-year term. Continue reading...

Andy Burnham hopes a successful byelection will mean he can encourage Keir Starmer to step aside as prime ministerThe trial of two Russian-linked arsonists who targeted property connected to Keir Starmer shows that the UK is under attack from bad actors who want to exploit division" and destabilise our democracy", the prime minister has said.Roman Lavrynovych, 22, from Ukraine, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, from Romania, were found guilty on Monday of conspiring to carry out arson attacks on property linked to the prime minister, and appear to have operated under the instruction of an online handler with links to Russia. Continue reading...

Kyiv says attack, which also forced evacuation at Russia's biggest airport, was in response to strike on historic monastery

Jamie Varley jailed for life and partner John McGowan-Fazakerley jailed for 25 years over death of Preston DaveyA secondary school teacher has been jailed for life for sexually abusing and murdering the baby boy he was adopting with his partner.Jamie Varley, 37, was sentenced to a whole-life order on Thursday for abusing and killing 13-month-old Preston Davey. It means he will stay in prison for the rest of his life and never be eligible for parole, the judge Mr Justice Turner said. Continue reading...

Waiting period before receiving medication was included in draft law to gain support for abortion ban in 2018 referendumIreland's parliament has voted to remove a mandatory three-day wait for abortion during early pregnancy after campaigners said the rule was an unnecessary restriction.The Dail passed the bill on Wednesday night, clearing a path for the legislation to go to a parliamentary committee and become law later this, or next, year. Continue reading...

Boseley won for her high-profile, multiplatform political explainer series, Parliamen-Tea: explaining the chaos of Australian politics

Exclusive: Muslim Council of Britain national guidance also urges mosques to strengthen police ties and improve CCTVMosques are being advised to carry out lockdown drills, strengthen ties with local police and improve CCTV coverage under new national guidance published amid growing concerns about anti-Muslim attacks.The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has released new security and preparedness framework for mosques, trustees and volunteers, warning that places of worship and community centres face an increasing threat from vandalism, intimidation, threats and targeted hostility. Continue reading...

Generator's shares rise as regulator finds no evidence of misleading statements about fuel's sustainability

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John Ray, 17th-century botanist who coined words petal and pollen, was a tutor at Cambridge when he created his first gardenHe coined the terms petal and pollen, helped to lay the foundations of modern biology and is widely regarded as the greatest English naturalist of the 17th century.But it was while he was a young college tutor at Cambridge in the 1650s that the botanist John Ray - also known as the father of natural history" - created his first known garden and began to systematically study plants for the first time. Continue reading...

Drop will put pressure on Bank of England to raise interest rates despite peace deal in Iran war

Exclusive: Ex-minister accuses Labour of overcautiousness' and says his proposal was cut from manifestoWes Streeting has said his plan to ban private equity sharks" from the social care sector was removed from the Labour manifesto, as he accused the government of overcautiousness" in reforming the industry.In a Fabian Society report on how to create a national care service, Streeting said overhauling social care was one of the defining challenges of our age" but an absence of good political leadership" was holding back change. Continue reading...

UK's biggest retailer reports better figures than expected by City analysts and is cheered by strong online sales

Coroner tells freebirth inquest new material of such significance' any findings must be postponed so information can be analysedThe closing submissions in an inquest into the death of a woman who gave birth at home with no support from medically trained health workers has been delayed, after new evidence came to light following a forensic analysis of her mobile phone.Stacey Warnecke, a 30 year-old nutritionist, died on 29 September in Frankston hospital in Melbourne. Continue reading...

Startups and testamentary trusts to receive carve outs after criticism of Labor's CGT changes

Sellers of luxury villas have wiped tens of millions of pounds off asking prices, with sales down 19% in May from the previous monthProperty sales in Dubai have fallen off a cliff", a leading market watcher has said, after war in the Middle East forced a dramatic slowdown in one of the world's most expensive real estate markets.Sales in the city dropped 19% in May compared with the previous month, accelerating from a 4% drop in April, the researcher ValuStrat found. Continue reading...

Kyiv is not taking any risks amid Moscow's efforts to integrate Minsk ever more closely into its warRussian spy drones flying into Ukraine from Belarusian airspace have sharply increased since the beginning of the year, as senior officials in Kyiv express mounting concern over Belarus's involvement in the war.Ukraine has stepped up by reinforcing fortifications on its northern border, including anti-tank ditches, concrete dragons' teeth" obstacles to block armoured vehicles and new areas of barbed wire. Troops operating along the border say they have noted a jump of about 20% in Russian intelligence drones since January. Continue reading...

Prime minister says country needs to resist those who seek to exploit division' and destabilise democracy'The trial of two Russian-linked arsonists who targeted property connected to Keir Starmer shows that the UK is under attack from bad actors who want to exploit division" and destabilise our democracy", the prime minister has said.Roman Lavrynovych, 22, from Ukraine, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, from Romania, were found guilty on Monday of conspiring to carry out arson attacks on property linked to the prime minister, and appear to have operated under the instruction of an online handler with links to Russia. Continue reading...

YouGov survey of six countries shows respondents think crime is increasing - though most trust their national policeWestern Europeans believe crime is rising in their country, according to a survey, despite long-term overall crime rates falling across the region since the mid-1990s.The YouGov poll of Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain found most countries trusted their national police, led by Denmark where 74% of respondents said they had a lot or a fair amount of confidence in police nationally. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Economists find Brexit caused 12% depression in UK exports, most of which is due to leaving single marketBrexit has depressed UK exports to the EU by 12%, and rejoining the customs union would undo only a fraction of the damage, research shared with the Guardian shows.With the UK's future relationship with the bloc likely to feature prominently in a potential Labour leadership contest, the economists John Springford and Anton Spisak, of the Centre for European Reform, provide fresh evidence of the damage caused by exiting. Continue reading...

Supply problems pose risk to health, with common painkillers, epilepsy medication and HRT affectedBritons are facing some of the most severe" shortages of NHS medicines on record including common painkillers, epilepsy drugs and HRT, health leaders have warned, even forcing some patients with impaired digestive systems to skip meals.The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has warned that medicine shortages pose a serious risk to patient safety". Continue reading...

This blog is now closed - see our full report on the latest in the Middle East crisisTrump also addressed media reports of a leaked US-Iran deal (see post at 11:57), denying claims it includes a $300bn reconstruction fund for Tehran.We're not putting up 10 cents," he said. We are not investing and we do not have a fund."It's not final. It's a memorandum of understanding, and if I don't like it, we'll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs on their head.If I don't like it, if they don't behave, we'll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head, okay, because they've misbehaved for 47 years." Continue reading...

Katherine, five, and brother Harry, 14 months, died on Wednesday after their pram was hit by an SUV in Cabramatta

Senator Bill Cassidy attacks worst foreign policy blunder in decades' while others in his party skeptical over peace dealA handful of Senate Republicans have sharply criticized the agreement Donald Trump reached with Iran, accusing the administration of committing the worst foreign policy blunder in decades".On Wednesday, the Trump administration released the text of an interim deal between Washington and Tehran to end the 110-day conflict, framing it as a major win" for the US - even as the 14-point accord made significant political and financial concessions to Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz and prevent a worldwide depression". Continue reading...

University of New South Wales ranks 19th in QS World University Rankings, with nine Australian universities achieving record-high positions

Nottinghamshire tree, one of Europe's oldest and largest, fails to produce leaves after being stressed by series of hot, dry summersThe Major oak, one of Europe's oldest, largest and most celebrated ancient trees, has died.The huge tree, which has grown in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, for at least 1,000 years, failed to produce any leaves this year, after becoming stressed by a series of hot, dry summers. Continue reading...

Wessex Archaeology suspect they have uncovered a prototype for world-famous Stonehenge site in WiltshireA 5,000-year-old monument that was aligned with the summer and winter solstices and may have served as a prototype for the later solar alignment at Stonehenge has been discovered close to the famous neolithic site, in what archaeologists have described as a once in a lifetime" find.The structure at Bulford, 5km (3 miles) from the world heritage site in Wiltshire, has been carbon dated to around 3000BC, the same time as the earliest phase of construction at Stonehenge and 500 years before its huge trilithon stones were carefully placed to line up with the midsummer and midwinter sun. Continue reading...

Epstein associate's lawyer rejected preferential treatment claims in January, saying humane treatment isn't special'Staff from the House oversight and judiciary committees visited the Texas prison where Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, is serving her sentence, according to Democratic lawmakers.In a statement, the Democratic representatives Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin said staff from the committees traveled to the minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, on Tuesday to seek answers about Maxwell's transfer there, and about allegations that she has received preferential treatment at the prison camp. Continue reading...

Friends Harshita Nair, 21, and Mahial Sran, 20, were pulled out of water by rescue crews but died later at local hospitals

Exclusive: Allies of Labour's Makerfield candidate concerned rapid collapse of Starmer government would increase instabilityAndy Burnham's campaign has been forced to talk ministers out of resigning as early as this weekend to avoid Keir Starmer's government descending into chaos amid fallout from the Makerfield byelection, the Guardian can reveal.As they prepare for a potential change of leader in the event he beats Reform on Thursday, Burnham's team is increasingly concerned a rapid collapse of Starmer's administration would mean further instability for the country. Continue reading...

The southern US is seeing intense rain that is expected to cause dangerous flash flooding

Jane and Alan Kelvey's holiday yacht met a warship in the Channel - at a tense time for Anglo-Russian relationsWe actually had right of way," said Jane Kelvey, a little crossly, though keeping it civil. But we weren't going to argue with a warship."The dramatic standoff in the Channel on Tuesday morning between Admiral Grigorovich, a 125-metre (409ft) battle-hardened Russian frigate, and Bright Future, a 12-metre (40ft) pleasure yacht owned and helmed by Jane, 69, and her husband, Alan, 71, has rather caught the nation's imagination. Continue reading...

Refugee charity says decision to let officers request the devices as part of public order powers is sickening'French riot police deployed in northern France under a 660m deal with the UK are authorised to use water cannon against asylum seekers, the Guardian has been told.Two specialist policing units, including a 50-officer riot squad, have begun working to prevent asylum seekers and people smugglers from launching small boats under the UK-France deal in time for the summer months. Continue reading...

Musician says on Instagram he is doing much better' and receiving treatment and therapy after 2025 arrestThe musician Lil Nas X posted a moving video update to his Instagram on Wednesday morning. In the nearly three-minute clip, the artist - born Montero Lamar Hill - shared that he has been in rehab for a few months" and since then, has returned home to Atlanta, where he is from and his family lives, and Los Angeles, where he resides.The update comes in response to an event last summer in which the musician was charged with attacking Los Angeles police officers. Continue reading...

The US president's opulent tastes will be well served in a palace that has hosted Putin, King Charles and JFKFor a US president who has likened himself to a king and redecorated the Oval Office with golden paint and gold ornaments, it feels like the perfect dinner venue.Donald Trump said one of the deciding factors in accepting an invitation to dine with Emmanuel Macron at the spectacular, 2,300-room Palace of Versailles was that it was not gold leaf" but the real deal". Continue reading...

French president welcomes group's unity after very deep change' in Washington's approachEmmanuel Macron has said the whole of the G7, including the US, recognises the territorial integrity of Ukraine" as he hailed a re-synchronisation" of positions on the issue.The French president welcomed a very deep change in the US approach", saying Donald Trump and all the leaders present at the G7 summit at Evian-les-Bains understood that Vladimir Putin was not interested in peace. Continue reading...

The US president earlier hailed Macron's beautiful job' in hosting summit, after greeting leaders with the words I'm the boss' at morning sessionRutte says the adjustment in the US pledge to the Nato Force Model is not primarily about where forces and assets are currently, but about who would do what if our defence plans were activated."He says historically the model was overly reliant" on the US.You will likely have seen news adjusting its contributions to the Nato force model. In some cases, this has been cast as a problem, as the US pulling away from its allies, but that is not the reality. The US has made clear that it is committed to Nato.That commitment comes with an expectation that allies will more fairly share the responsibility for our security here in Europe." Continue reading...

Greater Manchester mayor tells supporters a vote for him is a vote to power up north of England' and end 40 years of trickle-down economics that didn't trickle down much'Andy Burnham may have trouble getting through to Keir Starmer if he tries ringing him after the Makerfield byelection to urge him to set a timetable for his departure. Burnham reportedly wants to call Starmer this weekend. (See 9.47am.) But, in his interview with Sky News, Starmer said: I'm sure I'll talk to Andy after the weekend."If Starmer declines to take Burnham's call, he may be following Ed Miliband's example. In a Times story today, Patrick Maguire and Steven Swinford report:Sir Keir Starmer's relationship with Ed Miliband has broken down to such an extent that the energy secretary has been accused of ghosting" the prime minister in recent weeks.Senior government sources claimed that Miliband declined to take calls from the prime minister during a tense stand-off over defence spending. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer has called the firing of warning shots by a Russian warship at a British yacht sailing across the Channel on Tuesday deeply concerning and reckless'.Russia's defence ministry said the yacht was on a dangerous course' and several attempts were made to contact it - a claim disputed by the retired couple onboard the 40ft yacht.Nosheen Iqbal speaks to the Guardian's defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh - watch on YouTube Continue reading...