World news | The Guardian

Hamdi al-Najjar, 40, was critically injured when Israeli forces bombed the family house in Khan Younis

Defence secretary acknowledges it will be a number of years before a recruitment drive can be launchedPlans to increase the size of the British Army to deal with new threats identified in Monday's strategic review will be deferred until after the next election, the UK defence secretary has said.John Healey had been hoping to secure an increase of a few thousand from the current target of 73,000 troops, but in a BBC interview he acknowledged it would take several years before a recruitment drive would be put into action. Continue reading...

Investigators say explosions' caused two bridges to collapse, triggering derailments and at least seven deathsRussian investigators said they believed explosions" had caused two bridges in the border regions of Kursk and Bryansk to collapse overnight, derailing trains, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens.In Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, a road bridge collapsed on to a railway line late on Saturday, derailing a passenger train heading to Moscow and killing at least seven people. A rail bridge in neighbouring Kursk also collapsed overnight, derailing a freight train and injuring the driver, officials said. Kursk also borders Ukraine. Continue reading...

France lobbies western nations as it prepares to co-host two-state solution summit with Saudi Arabia

Industry giant paid for Lord Vaizey's trip to Switzerland before he tabled amendment to tobacco and vapes billA Conservative peer proposed delaying the UK's proposed ban on heated tobacco, weeks after a leading cigarette company paid for him to visit its research facility in Switzerland.The tobacco and vapes bill would gradually raise the age at which consumers can buy cigarettes and other tobacco products, making the UK the first major economy to chart a course towards phasing out tobacco altogether. Continue reading...

Win for populist-right candidate Nawrocki will further political deadlock that has hampered Tusk's governmentPolls have opened in Poland for the second round of the presidential election, with the two candidates offering radically different visions for the country locked in a dead heat.The race pits the pro-European Warsaw mayor, Rafa Trzaskowski, backed by Donald Tusk's politically-diverse governing coalition, against the historian and former amateur boxer Karol Nawrocki, endorsed by the populist-right Law and Justice (PiS) party that governed the country between 2015 and 2023. Continue reading...

At the start of Pride month, groups report rise in hate crimes as politicians use laws and speeches to target trans people in particularFar-right politicians in Europe are weaponising LGBTQ+ rights and sowing divisions that are sending hate crimes soaring, campaigners have said as communities prepare to mark Pride month.For years, countries in Europe were among those at the forefront of advancing rights, making steady progress on issues such as marriage equality, said Katrin Hugendubel of ILGA-Europe, an umbrella organisation that works with more than 700 groups across Europe and central Asia. Continue reading...

Conservatives claim dangerous prisoners out of control' and guards need Tasers, stun grenades, high-collar stab vests and in some cases live weaponsThe Conservatives have called for some prison officers to have access to firearms to counter out of control" Islamist gangs and violent prisoners.The shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, said specialist teams should be armed with Tasers, stun grenades and in some circumstances lethal weapons. Continue reading...

Prime minister also reaffirms policy on Taiwan while hitting back at Donald Trump's doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports

Militant group calls for changes to US proposal as IDF confirms it killed Hamas leader on 13 MayThe Times of Israel reports that today, a convoy of tractors that set out from kibbutzim across Israel has arrived at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, calling for the return of hostages held in Gaza.Organised by the Kibbutz Movement and the Hostages Families Forum, it marks more than 600 days since the hostages were taken by Hamas in October 2023. Continue reading...

Funding shortfalls and inadequate services are letting down people in psychiatric crises, the Bondi Junction stabbings inquest hears

Man in his 30s arrested on suspicion of murder after woman in her 20s died at scene, despite teenage boy's efforts to helpA murder investigation has been launched after a woman was stabbed to death in south London.Officers were called to Frith Road in Croydon, at 9.07am on Saturday, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

Trump announced on Friday night that he planned to double rates on imported steel, piling more pressure on the industryThe UK's trade secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will meet his US counterpart next week to thrash out a timeline for exempting the UK from US steel and aluminium tariffs after Donald Trump announced he would double them.British officials are seeking clarity on the implications of Trump's announcement on Friday night that he planned to double the tariffs from 25% to 50% from Wedneday 4 June, piling further pressure on global steel trade. Continue reading...

Low respect for international law and human rights set worrying precedent, international development minister saysIsrael is setting a dangerous precedent for international human rights law violations in Gaza that is making the whole world more dangerous, Norway's international development minister has warned.Norway has played a historical role in the region, including by facilitating the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians that led to a celebrated breakthrough deal in 1993. Last year it recognised the Palestinian state, one of a minority of European countries to do so. Continue reading...

More than 200 settlements in Sumy region under evacuation orders after Russia takes control of two villagesUkrainian officials issued evacuation orders on Saturday for 11 more villages in the northern Sumy region after continued Russian gains led to fears that Moscow could be gearing up for a fresh ground offensive.Russia advanced deeper into Ukrainian territory on Saturday, taking control of two more villages in Sumy and killing two people in a missile and drone barrage. More than 200 settlements in the region were already under evacuation orders. Continue reading...

The crustacean, since named Calvin, had a genetic mutation that occurs in about one in 30 million lobstersBeing one in a million may sound nice, but being one in 30m recently saved an exceptionally rare, gold lobster from being cooked and served as dinner at a New England restaurant, according to those who had a hand in the animal's reprieve.As the manager of the Nordic Lodge Restaurant in Charlestown, Rhode Island, tells it, one of the eatery's cooks noticed the crustacean in question buried under a bunch of other lobsters after they were delivered to the business. The lobster, since named Calvin, was in a basket ready to be cooked and presented as a meal alongside a number of his brethren when the employee pulled him out and set him aside, manager Jake Dolbey told the Guardian. Continue reading...

Another child in critical condition after suffering serious injuries in south Gloucestershire crash involving a BMWTwo adults and a teenager died and a second child suffered serious injuries in a car crash on the M5 in south Gloucestershire.A white BMW crashed at about 9pm on Friday when it left the northbound carriageway between junction 14 and Michaelwood services, Avon and Somerset police said. Officers believe no other vehicle was involved. Continue reading...

Biometrics app not ready, meaning travellers through Port of Dover will have to exit vehicles to have identity verifiedBritish citizens who travel frequently to the EU face having their fingerprints individually checked each time they cross the border into the Schengen area because of delays in developing an app to verify biometrics digitally, it has emerged.It will be business as usual" this summer but a big change" in travel will be phased in from November, Doug Bannister, the chief executive of the Port of Dover has said. Continue reading...

The man pushed and pulled' the ancient clay warriors and damaged them to varying degrees, said authoritiesA domestic tourist climbed over a fence and jumped into a section of the world-famous display of China's terracotta army, damaging two ancient clay warriors, authorities said on Saturday.The 30-year-old was visiting the museum housing the terracotta army in the city of Xi'an on Friday when he climbed over the guardrail and the protective net and jumped", public security officials said in a statement. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ex-minister to call for wealth tax, and Andy Burnham to demand focus on housing and educationNext month's spending review must be an economic reset" based on a bold wealth tax and higher public investment, the former cabinet minister Louise Haigh will argue, as Keir Starmer faces renewed pressure from within Labour to change course.Haigh's comments come as Andy Burnham called for Labour to re-establish itself unequivocally once again as the party of working-class ambition" with ambitious offerings on housing and education. Continue reading...

Dissatisfaction among MPs has created a febrile mood, with ambitious cabinet ministers assessing their optionsA lesson in comms for any prime minister: when asked whether you will serve another term, try to express some enthusiasm at the prospect.When at the end of his first term, David Cameron breezily told a reporter he would not serve a third, he inadvertently fired the starting gun for leadership jostling between his potential successors. Keir Starmer fell into the same trap this month when he was asked whether he would fight the next election. You're getting way ahead of me," he said. Continue reading...

Study interviewing councillors and officials shows transport projects can be hampered by toxic' online debatesFew local policies generate more debate than cycle lanes. But a report has unveiled a surprising obstacle for local councils when planning bike infrastructure: some cyclists.The study, based on interviews with dozens of councillors and local officials who lead on transport projects across the UK, found that opponents of bikes lanes and similar projects were the most uniformly hostile, but sceptical cycle campaigners were some of the harshest critics. Continue reading...

Data reveals notable increase' in scammers tricking people into sending money abroadUK banks and payment firms have been urged to strengthen their anti-fraud systems for international payments after a rise in scammers tricking people into sending money abroad.After years of horror stories about people losing huge sums through bank transfer scams, rules came into force last October requiring UK banks and other payment firms to refund those who have been manipulated into sending money to criminals. This week, industry data revealed that the number of cases of this type of crime had fallen to its lowest level for five years. Continue reading...

Almost 25 years after an experiment was ditched to caution rather than arrest those carrying small amounts of the drug, a rethink is on the cards - but the British government remains cautiousThe last time London dabbled in decriminalising cannabis, it brought one part of the capital to a brief but giddy high. In 2001, an enterprising Scotland Yard borough commander empowered his officers in Lambeth to caution rather than arrest those carrying small amounts of the drug for personal use - freeing them, according to the scheme's proponents, to concentrate on more serious crimes.The softly-softly approach was controversial in some political and policing quarters, but wildly popular in the borough - and some of its results were dramatic. Over six months, more than 2,500 hours of police officers' time were saved on processing cannabis arrests, while arrests for dealing class A drugs rose by almost a fifth. Continue reading...

The ban, enforced from Sunday, is designed to reduce youth vaping and tackle environmental damageVapers have been warned not to stockpile soon-to-be-banned disposables before Sunday's outright ban as they pose a significant fire risk".The Local Government Association (LGA) said users were stocking up on single-use e-cigarettes while they could, as shops would face fines for selling them after the ban takes effect. Continue reading...

Polls show close-run contest after first round in which one rural municipality was decided by a single voterPoles will cast their votes on Sunday in the closest presidential runoff since the fall of communism, in an election that pits two different visions of the nation against each other.

Examples from six countries include segregated housing for Roma and holding centres for asylum seekersHundreds of millions in European Union funds have been used in projects that violate the rights of marginalised communities, a report alleges, citing initiatives such as segregated housing for Roma, residential institutions for children with disabilities and holding centres for asylum seekers.The report, based on information compiled by eight NGOs from across Europe, looks at 63 projects in six countries. Together these projects are believed to have received more than 1bn in funding from the European Union, laying bare a seemingly low understanding" of fundamental rights across the bloc, according to one of the authors of the EU-funded report. Continue reading...

Don Farrell says US president's latest tariffs announcement an act of economic self-harm' and he will continue to advocate for their removal

This liveblog is now closed.The Republican nominee for governor of Virginia has recently tried to distance herself from her longstanding, hardline anti-abortion record, declining recently to state whether she would support any restrictions on abortion access if she is elected to lead the state this fall. But her record reveals a candidate staunchly opposed to the procedure.Winsome Earle-Sears, now the state's lieutenant governor, supported a 15-week abortion ban and has previously said she wants to make abortion illegal in almost all cases. In audio obtained by the Guardian, Earle-Sears also suggested an equivalence between consenting to sex and consenting to pregnancy. Continue reading...

Attack follows announcement of indirect talks between Damascus and Israel aimed at reducing tensions between the longterm antagonistsIsraeli airstrikes have struck western Syria, the Israeli military and Syrian state media have said, and reportedly one civilian has been killed in the first such attack on the country in nearly a month.Earlier this month Damascus had announced indirect talks with Israel to calm tensions, and the US called for a non-aggression agreement" between the two countries, which are technically at war. Continue reading...

Weiner makes comment as he campaigns for New York City council seat years after sexting scandalAnthony Weiner says politicians such as him and Donald Trump can survive scandals while qualified candidates including Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton lose elections because women get judged much more harshly than men do".I do believe that," Weiner said Friday on ABC's The View amid his run for a New York City council seat years after he crashed out of Congress in the wake of a sexting scandal that some argue aided Trump in clinching his first presidency in 2016. Continue reading...

The actor, who won two Emmy awards, was best known for being one of longest-serving cast members on the hit seriesLoretta Swit, who won two Emmy awards for playing Major Margaret Houlihan, the demanding head nurse of a behind-the-lines surgical unit during the Korean war on the pioneering hit TV series M*A*S*H, has died. She was 87.Publicist Harlan Boll says Swit died on Friday at her home in New York City, likely from natural causes. Continue reading...

Republicans have shown the president great deference, but when it comes to tariffs, he has put them in their placeWhen it comes to cutting taxes or paying for mass deportations, Donald Trump is happy to work with Congress. But if the issue is his prized and disruptive tariff policy, the president has made clear that he has no time for their legislative wrangling.Trump underscored his sentiment towards Congress after a US trade court this week briefly put a stop to his controversial policy of placing levies on a wide range of countries, before a different court reversed that decision while legal proceedings continue. Continue reading...

Ruling reverses hold on Trump administration's ending humanitarian parole of Venezuelan migrants and others

Organizer points to president's anti-diversity push as companies join Adidas and Clorox in withdrawing supportIn another blow to one of the largest celebrations of LGTBQ+ people in North America, Pride Toronto has unexpectedly lost two more major corporate sponsors, just weeks before the festival in a setback the festival's organizer says is direct result of Donald Trump's campaign to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the US.Google and Home Depot both announced their plans to abandon the festival in the form of one-line emails, said Kojo Modeste, the executive director of the Canadian event. Continue reading...

Ex-president gave speech to commemorate fallen service members and said he had no regrets' after election loss

Mission to deliver help is one of most obstructed aid operations in recent history', humanitarian agency saysGaza is the hungriest place on Earth", according to the UN, which has warned that the Palestinian territory's entire population is at risk of famine.Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the territory was the only defined area - a country or defined territory within a country - where you have the entire population at risk of famine. One hundred per cent of the population at risk of famine," he said on Friday. Continue reading...

Move comes as Trump administration also moved to stop student visa interviews at all US embassies worldwide

Pen Green, a model for Labour's Sure Start, could face closure if Reform-led North Northamptonshire council fails to actA world-renowned children's centre that provided the model for Sure Start is on the brink of collapse, with its future in the hands of the newly elected Reform UK leadership of its local council.The Pen Green Centre, which pioneered wrap-around care and learning for preschool children in one of the most deprived areas of the UK, was the blueprint for Labour's totemic early years Sure Start programme in the late 1990s. Continue reading...

French president espouses shared principles and cooperation on security and trade to counteract superpowersEuropean and Asian countries should form a positive new alliance" based on shared principles, security, defence and trade, away from the battling superpowers of the US and China, Emmanuel Macron has said.Addressing the Shangri-La security dialogue in Singapore on Friday, the French president said the division between the US and China was the biggest threat in the world right now, but he also warned of the threat from Russia and North Korea. He said it was crucial that allied nations act together to maintain credibility against aggressors. Continue reading...

Official register reveals presents included 300,000 car from king of Bahrain, as well as trees and a model shipKing Charles received coronation gifts ranging from a luxury Rolls-Royce to a feather crown and two hand-woven coconut leaf hats, according to an official register.The Rolls-Royce Cullinan Series II, thought to be worth at least 300,000, was given by the king of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. As an official gift to Charles as head of state, the car will become part of the royal mews to be used on official occasions and not for private use, sources indicated. The Bahraini king also gave Charles a decorative clock. Continue reading...

International students and employees are afraid to speak out' as White House escalates push to control enrollmentLabor unions representing undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral and academic workers at Harvard University criticized the Trump administration's efforts to prevent Harvard from enrolling foreign students, calling it one of the single largest concentrated deportation threats against a unionized workforce in our nation's history".A judge on 29 May extended an injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking Harvard's ability to host international students, which would affect 5,000 current students and 2,000 graduates in a post-graduation work programme. Some 4,000 student workers represented by unions at Harvard who would be impacted. Continue reading...

Doge head at times took dissociative daily, along with ecstasy and psychedelic mushroom use, according to NYT

Author says she won't revisit the beloved character because it would seem inappropriate' to discuss her sex lifeJacqueline Wilson has said she would feel very wary" about writing an adult novel about Tracy Beaker because it would seem inappropriate that we would learn about her sex life".Last year the beloved children's author published her first novel for adults since the 1970s. Think Again was a sequel to her Girls series for teenagers, which was published between 1998 and 2002, and revisited its protagonist Ellie, who in the new book is turning 40. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sources reveal closely guarded membership numbers as average age hits 68 in Victoria

As John Pesutto scrambles to raise funds to pay $2.3m owed to Moira Deeming, the saga threatens to engulf the entire party', including its new leader

Badenoch and Farage seize on Richard Hermer's clumsy' remark in speech made in defence of international lawThe attorney general has apologised for a clumsy" remark that compared Conservative and Reform calls to disregard international treaties and quit the European convention of human rights (ECHR) with the early days of Nazi Germany.In a speech on Thursday, Richard Hermer defended the government's commitment to abide by international law and likened those who wanted to ignore it to German jurists in the 1930s, such as Carl Schmitt. Continue reading...

Laila Soueif continues protest against detention of Alaa Abd el-Fattah in CairoThe mother of the imprisoned British-Egyptian human rights activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been admitted to hospital after spending more than 240 days on hunger strike.Laila Soueif's family said she had been admitted to St Thomas' hospital in London on Thursday night with dangerously low blood sugar levels, but continues to refuse medical intervention that would provide her with calories. Continue reading...

Paul Doyle appears in court charged with multiple offences after 70 people injured as vehicle drove into crowdA former Royal Marine has been remanded in custody accused of driving into and injuring fans at Liverpool football club's Premier League victory parade.Paul Doyle, 53, looked shaken and tired as he appeared at Liverpool magistrates court on Friday charged with offences including wounding and causing grievous bodily harm to six people, including an 11-year-old. Continue reading...

Joshua Schulman's pay includes 380,000 in moving costs as ailing brand plans to cut a fifth of its global workforce