World news | The Guardian

Ed Pilkington explains the president's Big Beautiful Bill' and what it will mean for millions of poorer Americans who voted for him last NovemberOn 4 July - as Americans celebrated their country's independence - Donald Trump signed into law his sweeping tax and spending bill.Trump's Big Beautiful Bill', as he and fellow Republicans call it, is a sprawling piece of legislation covering everything from tax cuts to border walls to repealing environmental protections, the Guardian US's chief reporter, Ed Pilkington, explains. Continue reading...

Chief inspector says jails in England and Wales are overwhelmed by contraband, overcrowding and lack of staffThe volume of drugs being delivered by drones into prisons is severely undermining hopes of rehabilitation among inmates, a watchdog has warned.Criminal gangs are smuggling contraband to bored and vulnerable inmates who are locked up for most of the day in filthy cells with little activity, the chief inspector of prisons' annual report said. Continue reading...

President Lula rejects foreign interference' as Trump claims far-right former leader victim of witch-hunt'Donald Trump has issued his strongest defence to date of Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro, claiming the far-right leader is the victim of a witch-hunt" in his home country.Posting on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday, the US president claimed that Bolsonaro - often dubbed the Trump of the Tropics" - is not guilty of anything", in an apparent reference to the legal cases Bolsonaro is facing in Brazil. Continue reading...

Forty-nine-year-old is 140th child found by Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who search for people disappeared' under 1976-83 dictatorshipA man taken from his mother as a newborn by Argentina's military has been reunited with his relatives after almost 50 years.The man, 49, whose identity was not disclosed for privacy reasons, was identified after he took a DNA test. Continue reading...

Ex-MP for Clwyd West says he will not stand for election and joined as a private individual'The former Conservative cabinet minister David Jones has joined Reform UK.Jones, who was the MP for Clwyd West from 2005 until standing down in 2024, said he had quit the Tories after more than 50 years of continuous membership". Continue reading...

Three were in critical condition but have since improved after incident in Aurillac, south-central FranceA unusual attack by bees in the French town of Aurillac has left 24 people injured, including three who were in critical condition but have since improved, according to local authorities.Passersby were stung over a period of about 30 minutes on Sunday morning, according to the prefecture of Cantal, in south-central France. Firefighters and medical teams treated the victims, while police set up a security perimeter until the bees stopped their attack. Continue reading...

An Israeli directive gives a green light for demolitions in Masafer Yatta, where residents keep watch at night for attackers in the darknessAli Awad is tired. The 27-year-old resident of Tuba, one of the dozen or so villages that make up Masafer Yatta in the arid south Hebron hills of the occupied West Bank, had been up all night watching as a masked Israeli settler on horseback circled his family home.When we saw the masked settler, we knew he wanted violence," said Awad, his eyes bloodshot. They were lucky this time: the settler disappeared into the darkness before police could show up. Continue reading...

Starmer and Macron could set out plans for a one in, one out' returns scheme for asylum seekers

Show will include 30 monumental pieces displayed across gardens and 90 works filling Shirley Sherwood GalleryHenry Moore believed sculpture is an art of the open air" and that his works should be seen in almost any landscape, rather than in or on the most beautiful building".Now the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is planning the world's largest outdoor exhibition devoted to the miner's son who became one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century, it will announce on Monday. Continue reading...

In 2015, a nationwide campaign rounded up hundreds of rights advocates. Since then, suppression has become more systematic and less visible, lawyers sayA decade on from China's biggest crackdown on human rights lawyers in modern history, lawyers and activists say that the Chinese Communist party's control over the legal profession has tightened, making rights defence work next to impossible.The environment for human rights law has steadily regressed, especially after the pandemic", said Ren Quanniu, a disbarred human rights lawyer. Right now, the rule of law in China - especially in terms of protecting human rights - has deteriorated to a point where it's almost comparable to the Cultural Revolution era." The Cultural Revolution was a decade of mass chaos unleashed by China's former leader Mao Zedong in 1966. During that time judicial organs were attacked as bourgeois" and the nascent court system was largely suspended. Continue reading...

Management ask visitors to choose clothing in keeping with the decorum of the theatre' after complaintsOperagoers have been warned they will be banned from entering Milan's prestigious La Scala theatre if they turn up wearing shorts, tank tops or flip-flops. Kimonos, however, are acceptable.The venue's management team reminded people how not to dress for an opera after complaints that some spectators were donning attire more suitable for the beach. Continue reading...

Evidence presented in the mushroom murder trial shows the dining table used in the fateful lunch and social media chats

With each guilty verdict, Patterson looked straight at the jury, unflinching, her face unreadable

Critics question pay rise for Thames Tideway project boss, which is drawn from mandatory add-ons to water billsThe chief executive of the London super sewer" project has been awarded a 600,000 pay rise even as the firm revealed that the total cost had risen by 100m.Andy Mitchell received pay of 2.5m for the year to March 2025, up from 1.9m the year before, according to accounts published by the Thames Tideway tunnel builder, Bazalgette Tunnel Limited. Continue reading...

Victorian jury convicts 50-year-old Australian woman who cooked poisoned beef wellingtons that killed three in-laws

Hundreds of thousands of hospital appointments could be cancelled if BMA members vote for series of stoppagesHospitals are bracing for a fresh round of strikes by resident doctors seeking a 29% pay rise, amid warnings that stoppages could lead to hundreds of thousands of appointments and operations being cancelled.NHS leaders fear that a ballot of resident doctors, formerly junior doctors in England, which closes on Monday will produce a majority backing renewed industrial action. Continue reading...

Foster carers describe financial struggles and lack of respect' in broken model' propped up by benefit system

18-year-old from Tottenham, who was sentenced to one year in jail for having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, is safely back in UK, say supportersAn 18-year-old man sentenced to one year in a Dubai jail for having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl has been released and is safely in the UK, a campaign group has said.Marcus Fakana, of Tottenham, north London, received a royal pardon from Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the group Detained in Dubai said. Continue reading...

The 80-year-old, two-time Oscar winner said he had been working pretty hard for almost 60 years' - and is quite happy' watching his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones workTwo-time Oscar winner Michael Douglas has revealed he may be finished with acting, saying he has no real intentions" to return to the industry.Speaking at the Karlovy Vary international film festival in the Czech Republic for the 50th anniversary of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - which Douglas co-produced - the 80-year-old actor and producer told a press conference that unless something special came up" for him, he would not act again. Continue reading...

Jacinta Allan says anti-hate taskforce' to consider if police powers should be increased to stamp out extreme and violent protest'

Over more than two months the court heard details of a meal of beef wellingtons that contained death cap mushrooms and killed three

US exports account for third of Vietnam's GDP and 40% tariff on so-called transshipments - products with Chinese input - means uncertainty for manufacturersAs news spread that Vietnam would become just the second nation to reach an initial tariff agreement with Washington, shares in the clothing companies and manufacturers that have a large footprint in the country rose with optimism.Just hours later though, they declined sharply, as it became clear that the devil would be in the detail, and the most striking part of the deal might in fact be aimed at Vietnam's powerful neighbour China. Continue reading...

Mothers and partners will gain the legal right if they lose a baby before 24 weeks, in Labour workers' rights reformParents in Britain will be granted the right to bereavement leave after suffering a miscarriage as part of Labour's changes to workers' rights, it has been confirmed.In a change to the law made via amendments to the employment rights bill, mothers and their partners will be given the legal right to at least one week's bereavement leave if they have suffered a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks' gestation. Continue reading...

Survey comes before supreme court decision on secret commission payments ruled unlawful by court of appealMore than 23 million people believe they could be due compensation for a mis-sold car loan, according to a poll before this month's supreme court decision.Borrowers, banks and the government are anxiously awaiting the ruling, which could trigger one of the biggest redress schemes since the 50bn payment protection insurance (PPI). The PPI saga forced UK banks to compensate people who had bought often worthless insurance cover. Continue reading...

Footage shows animal leaping over wall in Lahore before attack that left victims with face and arm injuriesThe owners of a pet lion that escaped from a farmhouse and injured a woman and her two children in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore have been arrested, authorities said on Sunday.The arrest came after dramatic video footage emerged showing the lion leaping over a wall and attacking the victims in a residential area. Continue reading...

Doctors' warning comes after report reveals the social cost of gambling in Victoria had doubled to $14bn

One year on from Keir Starmer's election victory and Labour are well behind Reform in the polls, while the government is already having to bend to the will of its backbenchers. So how can Starmer recover? Kiran Stacey talks to Jonathan Ashworth, the chief executive of Labour Together and former MP for Leicester South, and Marie Tidball, the Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, about the party's first year in government, live at the Crossed Wires podcast festival in Sheffield Continue reading...

Home secretary says working with French is vital to stop boats crossing, as UK prepares for Emmanuel Macron visitYvette Cooper has lauded new tactics used by the French to reduce the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats, before Emmanuel Macron's visit to the UK this week, during which new initiatives are likely to be announced.It is understood that a French review of how police could intervene to block boats that are already in the water has been completed, and French and British officials were continuing talks this weekend about what more could be done. Continue reading...

Artwork and poems from contemporary artists and former Bethlem hospital patients to go on showThe vivid dream that vanishes on waking but fragments of which remain tantalisingly out of reach all day. Powerful emotions - tears, terror, ecstasy, despair - caused not by real events, but by the brain's activity between sleeping and waking.Dreams and nightmares have long been studied by psychologists. Now they are the subject of a new exhibition featuring several artists that were patients at the world's oldest psychiatric hospital, Bethlem (sometimes known as Bedlam), and its sister institution, the Maudsley hospital. Continue reading...

Exclusive: PM lacks ambition and vision, says Ed Davey in damning assessment of first 12 months in powerKeir Starmer risks becoming little more than continuity Rishi Sunak" because of his lack of vision and ambition, Ed Davey has said in a damning assessment of the prime minister's first year in power.The Liberal Democrats leader, whose party recorded its best result in a century at the last general election, said believed Starmer was a decent and principled man, but that it was unclear what he stood for. Continue reading...

A third of emergency responses are to clubs, largely to attend to people having bad experiences with drugsThe ambulance service on the Spanish island of Ibiza says it is at risk of collapse because of frequent callouts to attend to clubbers having bad experiences with recreational drugs.The local ambulance union says up to a third of emergency calls are to clubs, the largest of which has a capacity of as many as 10,000 partygoers, and are largely drug-related. It is calling on club owners to contract private ambulance services. Continue reading...

TikTok video watched by 2 million people has led to cafe owner receiving obscene' messages amid tide of supportA woman who livestreamed Kneecap's Glastonbury festival set to 2 million people on TikTok has described the obscene" abuse she says she has received afterwards, including people calling her a Nazi.Helen Wilson, a Swansea-based yoga teacher who also runs the Ground Plant Based Coffee cafe, said she had been sent a lot of personal insults, but had received hundreds and hundreds times more support than negativity". Continue reading...

Fiona Eastwood says real-life experiences that bring people together are vital in the battle for attention in the digital eraArtificial intelligence is in the process of upending the business models of companies all over the world, but when it comes to the $100bn (73bn) global theme park business the thrill of big metal" rollercoasters is still the biggest draw.Fiona Eastwood, the boss of the sector's second biggest operator, Merlin Entertainments, says that in a world dominated by battles over screen time it is real-life experiences that provide families with an antidote to phones and digital technology". Continue reading...

Bridget Phillipson stresses that changes to welfare bill after threatened rebellion by backbench MPs have come at a costDowning Street's U-turn on changes to welfare last week will make it harder to implement other policies such as potentially scrapping the two-child benefit cap, Bridget Phillipson has said.The education minister said Labour was still committed to tackling child poverty but, when asked whether the backbench rebellion that resulted in about 5bn of annual savings on welfare being scrapped had diminished the chances of the cap being removed, she said it would have an impact. Continue reading...

Party's supporters tell of dissatisfaction, but many feel the Starmer government's good points have been overlookedLabour supporters have told the Guardian of their dissatisfaction with the party's first year in government, as Keir Starmer marks 12 months since becoming the first Labour prime minister since Gordon Brown.Members and voters said initial optimism had given away to unhappiness about the government's record, although many were keen to state the positives they felt had been forgotten under the weight of recent events. Continue reading...

Burke defends Labor's efforts to curb antisemitism but says job of making sure it is eliminated belongs to every single one of us'

This blog is now closedHere's how Melbourne's Metro Tunnel will transform the city and commutingFor nearly a decade, deep beneath Melbourne, tunnel boring machines and construction crews have been quietly reshaping the city with the creation of the Metro Tunnel.I think every Liberal seat in the country is a marginal seat, right now. But my feelings around quotas and the talk in the media oversimplifies the issue, which is around the culture in the Liberal Party and how women are treated in the Liberal Party ...I had two attempts to take me out as a sitting member of parliament by blokes, very aggressively. So, until the culture is addressed, we could have all the quotas in the world, but it will be a revolving door of women." Continue reading...

The host of the 1980s cooking show, Come and Get It, died peacefully on Friday with his wife and children at his side

Court documents suggest Israelis were asked to carry out missions that were at first modest but quickly escalatedBefore Israel launched its war on Iran last month, its security service uncovered an extensive network of its own citizens spying for Tehran - on a scale that has taken the country by surprise.Since Iran's first missile barrage on Israel in April 2024, more than 30 Israelis have been charged with collaboration with Iranian intelligence. Continue reading...

Many feel counter-terrorism policies and brazen Islamophobia have increased hostility and isolation experience by communityFor many in the British Muslim community, the tragedy of 7 July 2005 lives long in the memory. The bombings sent shockwaves through the nation but also marked a turning point that left many grappling with grief, fear and a new scrutiny of their identity.Twenty years on, feelings of suspicion, isolation and hostility experienced in the aftermath of the attacks have, for some, only worsened after decades of UK counter-terrorism policies, and a political landscape they say has allowed Islamophobia to flourish. Continue reading...

Hopes that pause to the killing may be agreed were boosted despite 24 Palestinians being killed including 10 seeking aidIsrael has continued to launch waves of airstrikes in Gaza, hours after Hamas said it was ready to start talks immediately" on a US-sponsored proposal for a 60-day ceasefire.The announcement by the militant Islamist organisation increased hopes that a deal may be done within days to pause the killing in Gaza and possibly end the near 21-month conflict. Continue reading...

New South Wales man, 34, charged over attack on East Melbourne Hebrew congregation on Friday night

The influential Birmingham band played their final concert - called Back to the Beginning - and were joined by the cream of heavy metal. Relive all 11 hours of mayhem hereYou'll be thinking: show me photos of all these starry metal shenanigans! I'm really sorry but Live Nation have told me there won't be any photos available until the end of the gig, and the livestream doesn't allow screengrabs. Use the power of your mind, I guess.There are a notable number of empty seats there, but remember this was all going on two hours ago which is quite an early start for a massive stadium show. Stadium really pretty full from the beginning - testament to the depth of the line up," Michael says. Maiden a fortnight ago had a higher proportion of battle jackets though." Continue reading...

Government announces 500m project to provide single point of access for health, education and wellbeing servicesOne-stop shop family hubs will be rolled out across England to give parents advice and support, the government has announced. The centres will offer help with breastfeeding and housing issues, as well as supporting children's early development and language, ministers said.The 500m project will open 1,000 centres from April 2026, meaning every council in England will have a family hub by 2028. It will build on the existing family hubs and start for life programme to provide a single point of access for services in health, education and wellbeing. Continue reading...

While the electorate will be hoping for a more stable result, it's again unlikely either major party will be given a majority

More than 850 people had been rescued by Saturday, yet scores remain missing with families asking for information

Steve Rotheram and Tracy Brabin urge PM to listen more, with one saying his government is disjointed' from the rest of LabourKeir Starmer's government appears disjointed" from the rest of the Labour party just a year after taking power, regional mayors have said, with one blaming No 10 for overseeing a mess of our own making".Steve Rotheram, the Labour mayor of Liverpool city region, said Downing Street's repeated missteps were winding up" people who wanted to back the government. Continue reading...

Allegations in Sunday Times say MP took out government loans during the Covid pandemic for businesses with no employeesA Reform MP, James McMurdock, has given up the party whip while he is investigated over allegations about his business conduct during the coronavirus pandemic.Lee Anderson, the party's chief whip, made the announcement on Saturday, saying it related to accusations in the Sunday Times over government loans he is alleged to have taken out during the Covid pandemic. Continue reading...

Pressure grows on Pedro Sanchez to call snap election as latest resignation adds to corruption allegationsPedro Sanchez's efforts to reset Spain's ruling socialist party after damaging corruption allegations that threatened to topple his coalition government have suffered a severe setback after a party official resigned over accusations of sexual harassment.The prime minister had hoped this weekend's meeting of the federal committee of his Spanish Socialist Workers' party (PSOE) would help the party move past weeks of scandals that have undermined the ethical and anti-corruption pledges on which it came to power seven years ago. Continue reading...

Almost 300 researchers have applied for for positions at Aix-Marseille University after Trump unleashed his attack on academiaIt was on a US-bound flight in March, as Brian Sandberg stressed about whether he would be stopped at security, that the American historian knew the time had come for him to leave his home country.For months, he had watched Donald Trump's administration unleash a multipronged attack on academia - slashing funding, targeting international students and deeming certain fields and even keywords off limits. As his plane approached the US, it felt as though the battle had hit home, as Sandberg worried that he would face reprisals over comments he had made during his travels to the French media on the future of research in the US. Continue reading...