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Health secretary says the scrapping of NHS England is beginning, not end' of bid to slash bloated bureaucracy'The health secretary has declared that scrapping NHS England is the beginning, not the end" and has vowed to continue slashing bloated bureaucracy".

One of those waiting for Labour's announcement explains why he depends on personal independence paymentsAdam Gabsi is unequivocal on the subject of his personal independence payment: It really is an essential lifeline. Idon't feel that I would be able to function without it."Gabsi receives his Pip disability benefit for multiple sclerosis, with which he was diagnosed 18years ago, when he was 21. Continue reading...

Russian leader's antagonism to Zelenskyy and lack of interest in a ceasefire leaves colossal task for US

London council's policy of offering people homes far from the area led to England's highest number of refusalsA Labour-run London council left more than 100 families homeless without support last year after they refused to be relocated outside the borough, the Observer can reveal.Freedom of information data from about 80% of English councils shows that they ended their legal duties to 615 households who refused offers of housing outside the local authority area in 2024 - but this national total is heavily skewed. Continue reading...

As cases of romance fraud soar by 27%, tricked woman tells of her 115,000 ordealThe first time Yvonne met Gary Rogers he arrived at her house in a shiny black Range Rover smelling of Armani Code perfume, with neatly gelled silver hair. It was August 2017, and Yvonne's ex-husband had suggested she ask the motor dealer, known locally as the Jag man", to fix her car.Yvonne* says their relationship developed slowly. Gary" boasted he had been spending time on his 42-ft boat, claimed to own two houses, and once turned up in a Porsche to take her for a drink. As they began to see more of each other, he would arrive at Yvonne's house with freshly cut fruit and smoked salmon, always with a wad of money on him. Continue reading...

Filipino national killed during collision between Vladimir Motin's vessel and a US oil tanker in the North SeaThe captain of the Russian container ship that crashed into a US oil tanker in the North Sea, killing a crew member, has appeared in court.Vladimir Motin of Primorsky, St Petersburg, in Russia was charged with gross negligence manslaughter over the collision earlier this week. Continue reading...

Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor sworn in and expected to call election soonMark Carney has said Canada will never be part of the US, after being sworn in as the country's 24th prime minister in a sudden rise to power.We will never, in any shape or form, be part of the US," the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England told a crowd outside Rideau Hall in Ottawa, rejecting Donald Trump's annexation threats. We are very fundamentally a different country." Continue reading...

Woman alleged she was raped when the department of justice already knew Wayne Astill was abusing his position towards female inmates'

TV doctor and former heart surgeon vows to fight healthcare fraud at Senate hearing for health roleDr Mehmet Oz promised senators on Friday to fight healthcare fraud and push to make Americans healthier if he becomes the next leader of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Vladimir Motin was in charge of the Solong when it hit a tanker off East Yorkshire coast, leaving one man deadThe master of the container ship the Solong, which crashed into another vessel in the North Sea, has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter.Vladimir Motin, 59, a Russian national, was in charge of the ship when it collided with a tanker carrying jet fuel on Monday about 12 miles (19km) off the East Yorkshire coast, leaving one man dead. Continue reading...

Arizona senator had also clashed with billionaire over the latter's traitor' jibe after Kelly posted about his Ukraine visitThe Arizona Democratic senator Mark Kelly announced he was ditching his Tesla car, because of brand owner Elon Musk's role in slashing federal budgets and staffing and attendant threats to social benefits programs.Every time I get in this car in the last 60 days or so, it reminds me of just how much damage Elon Musk and Donald Trump is doing to our country," Kelly said, in video posted to X, the social media platform owned by Musk. Continue reading...

Shaken by rail protests, Kyriakos Mitsotakis brings in new transport minister while tacking right on migrationThe Greek prime minister has appointed a former far-right student activist to the helm of the migration ministry as part of a broad reshuffle aimed at resetting" his government amid public outrage over its handling of a deadly 2023 train crash.In an attempt to stem declining approval ratings, Kyriakos Mitsotakis placed the self-described nationalist, Makis Voridis, in the sensitive post while selecting a number of younger officials to key portfolios including the transport ministry. Continue reading...

A spokesperson offered no evidence for the claim after 26 people were killed on a train that was hijacked in Balochistan province on TuesdayPakistan's military has accused neighbouring India of sponsoring militant groups in the south-west of the country as survivors recounted their ordeal from an unprecedented attack that killed 26 passengers on a hijacked train.The scope of the attack in Balochistan province underscores the struggles that Pakistan faces to rein in militant groups. Continue reading...

Four women reach resolution with corporation after claims they were victims of rigged' recruitment processFour female news presenters have reached a last-minute settlement with the BBC over claims they were the victims of a rigged" recruitment process.Martine Croxall, Annita McVeigh, Karin Giannone and Kasia Madera claimed they lost their positions on the BBC News channel as a result of the recruitment exercise, with their claims involving age and sex discrimination. Continue reading...

School leaders says current special educational needs system in England is on brink of collapse

Actor Javier Bardem and Kiss frontman Gene Simmons will be among the talking heads in a film about the British heavy metal band by director Malcolm VenvilleIron Maiden are to have an official documentary made about them, charting their long career as cornerstones of British heavy metal.The currently untitled film, scheduled for release in cinemas in the autumn to mark Iron Maiden's 50th anniversary, will feature interviews with the band - including the final interview with early member Paul Di'Anno, who died last year - as they recall their path from grotty east London to five UK No 1 albums and phantasmagoric arena-filling stage shows. Superfans including Kiss's Gene Simmons, Metallica's Lars Ulrich and actor Javier Bardem will be on hand for analysis. Continue reading...

Labour MPs suggest backlash means Starmer cannot push ahead with freeze on some personal independence payments

Betar US is among far-right groups supporting Trump effort to deport students involved in pro-Palestinian protestsA far-right group that claimed credit for the arrest of a Palestinian activist and permanent US resident who the Trump administration is seeking to deport claims it has submitted thousands of names" for similar treatment.Betar US is one of a number of rightwing, pro-Israel groups that are supporting the administration's efforts to deport international students involved in university pro-Palestinian protests, an effort that escalated this week with the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, an activist who recently completed his graduate studies at Columbia University. Continue reading...

Moves by US, UK and other donors to cut aid mean high malnutrition rates, starvation and death', say expertsCuts to food assistance by the US, Britain and others are already leading to more people starving to death around the world, experts have warned.As the United Nations and other agencies try to understand just how badly President Donald Trump's announced 83% cut in funding to USAid will affect the world's most vulnerable people, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has said its aid provision in Somalia is being reduced, after last month's estimate that 4.4 million people in the east African nation will be pushed into malnutrition from April because of drought, global inflation and conflict. Continue reading...

For all the fraternal rhetoric, the alliance has always been asymmetric. It seems Washington under Trump sees it as immaterial

Duterte faces charges over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups say killed tens of thousands. This live blog is closed

Peer and former head of army offered to secure meetings with ministers for potential commercial clientThe House of Lords watchdog has started an official investigation into revelations that a peer offered to secure meetings with ministers for a potential commercial client who wanted to lobby the government.The investigation into Richard Dannatt, a former head of the British army, was announced on Friday. Continue reading...

Fearing release of distressing material, lawyers have petitioned a Santa Fe court to seal records to protect the family's right to privacyA representative for the estate of actor Gene Hackman is seeking to block the public release of autopsy and investigative reports, especially photographs and police body-camera video, related to the recent deaths of Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, after their partially mummified bodies were discovered at their New Mexico home in February.Authorities last week announced Hackman died at age 95 of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer's disease as much as a week after Arakawa, 65, died from a rare rodent-borne disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity on 18 February, indicating an abnormal heart rhythm on the day he probably died. The couple's bodies weren't discovered until 26 February. Continue reading...

President's changes to student loan programs leave millions facing higher payments and uncertainty over relief optionsMany of the nearly 43 million Americans who have federal student loan debt are seeing their carefully budgeted monthly payments soar amid Donald Trump's overhaul of education in the United States.In the last few weeks, the Trump administration closed applications for all income-driven repayment plans (even ones not blocked by courts) and limited those eligible for public service loan forgiveness (PSLF). That program forgives the loans of government and select nonprofit workers after completing 10 years of service and making 10 years of minimum payments. Continue reading...

Commentary urged CK Hutchison to think twice' about what position and side they are on' in sale to US investors

The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil has sent shockwaves through US civil society because of its apparent ramifications for immigration and free speech. Here's what you need to know Continue reading...

Scott Anthony Gastal, who at age 11 had testified in court in the 1980s that his priest had raped him, was beaten to deathThe clergy abuse survivor who effectively ignited the US Catholic church's reckoning with clerical molestation when - at age 11 - he testified in the 1980s that his priest had raped him was recently beaten to death in south-west Louisiana.Scott Anthony Gastal, whose later life was marked by legal struggles after enduring child sexual abuse at the hands of notorious clergy predator Gilbert Gauthe, was 50. Continue reading...

Experts say legislation will prevent vulnerable people from accessing justice in latest government-backed crackdownHuman rights groups in Peru have voiced alarm over a controversial anti-NGO law that prevents civil society organisations from taking legal action against the state for human rights abuses - a move that activists say will prevent the vulnerable from accessing justice.Peru's deeply unpopular congress added a harsher amendment to an existing bill which was fast-tracked through the chamber with 81 votes in favour, 16 against and four abstentions on Wednesday. Continue reading...

The decision upholding native title as a property right is a win for the long-running Gumatj case but is also said to have long-term ramifications'

Invasive Species Council says moratorium a knee-jerk reaction' to inadequacy of national eradication program

Attorney general says legislation developed in response to Citipointe scandal could create unnecessary burden on organisations and institutions'

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Police find remains while searching for 39-year-old man reported missing on Thursday

Insiders say UK national security adviser avoids limelight, but it found the calm operator' this weekIn the topsy-turvy world in which Keir Starmer and his aides operate, the US putting the onus on Russia to agree to a truce with Ukraine marked a significant victory.The proposed 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine is the culmination of two weeks of high-wire negotiations involving Ukraine, the US, UK, France and Germany. Continue reading...

Researchers told to respond within 48 hours to more than 30 questions, including on DEI, gender and climate Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Trump administration has been accused of blatant foreign interference" in Australia's universities after researchers who receive US funding were asked to confirm they aligned with US government interests, including only recognising two genders.The questionnaire, sent to university researchers over the past fortnight, seeks a response within 48 hours to more than 30 questions to support program determinations", according to a copy of the questionnaire seen by Guardian Australia. The questions relate to the priorities of the Trump administration, including whether the organisation receives funding from China, whether there are DEI elements, and whether the project is taking appropriate measures" to defend against gender ideology" in line with Trump's executive order on gender.Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Continue reading...

Headteachers' conference to be told that rise in bullying, abuse and malicious use of deepfakes is being reportedSocial media operators must be brought to heel" for the misery and disruption they are causing to the lives of students, teachers and parents, according to a senior school leader.Manny Botwe, the president of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), will tell the association's annual conference that teachers are reporting increased bullying, abuse and the malicious use of deepfakes" against pupils and staff through social media. Continue reading...

This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Heather Boushey, an economist and former adviser to Joe Biden, about what Donald Trump's long game is with his trade war, and how voters will view his handling of the economy should there be a Trumpcession'

Atlassian co-founder says he has extremely rigorous carbon regime' but makes hard tradeoff' to run global business and be a constantly present dad'

Israeli Oscar-winner Yuval Abraham speaks out after Miami Beach mayor proposed evicting a local cinema for screening the Palestinian-focused documentaryThe Israeli director of No Other Land has criticised a Florida mayor's efforts to evict a local cinema after it screened his Oscar-winning documentary about Palestinian displacement in the West Bank, saying: Banning a film only makes people more determined to see it."Steven Meiner, the mayor of Miami Beach, has issued a draft resolution calling for the termination of the city's lease agreement with O Cinema, and withdrawing $40,000 in promised grant funding for the nonprofit that runs the independent cinema. Continue reading...

Zelenskyy says Russia is manipulative' and seeking to extend the war while Trump says he is ready to call' PutinVladimir Putin has said he has many questions about the proposed US-brokered ceasefire with Ukraine and appeared to set out a series of sweeping conditions that would need to be met before Russia would agree to such a truce.Speaking at a press conference at the Kremlin alongside the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said he agreed in principle with US proposals to halt the fighting but said he wanted to address the root causes of the conflict". Continue reading...

This live coverage has ended, thank you for following along. You can find all of the latest Ukraine news here.Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, and partially occupied Zaporizhzhia were the Ukrainian regions that suffered overnight Russian attacks. Ukraine's military has claimed it shot down 74 of 117 drones overnight, and that Russia also launched an Iskander-M missile.Russian media reports that Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, has arrived in Moscow. Continue reading...

Nineteen people died in the Mariana disaster, prompting a claim of up to 36bn claim against the mining firm BHPWith tears in their eyes, mothers of children who died in Brazil's worst environmental disaster - the 2015 Mariana dam collapse - demanded justice for their loved ones as submissions in their London lawsuit came to an end on Thursday.Nineteen people were killed when the Mariana dam in south-eastern Brazil collapsed and unleashed a wave of toxic sludge, leaving thousands homeless, flooding forests and polluting the Doce River. Continue reading...

Health secretary consistently rejected notion of axing NHS England on the basis of legal challenge he must now tackleSince Labour won power last July, Keir Starmer has repeatedly affirmed his deep affection for the NHS, close family ties to it, intention to fix" it - and also his determination to change it.In a speech last September, he said the health service in England is in such dire straits that it's reform or die" and his government's plans to overhaul how it works could amount to the biggest reimagining of our NHS since its birth" in 1948. Continue reading...

Giving evidence in her husband's libel case against the Guardian, Iris Clarke says he always tried to help peopleNoel Clarke's wife has said his accusers are liars who have deliberately fabricated sexual misconduct claims about him.Giving evidence in the actor's libel case against the Guardian, Iris Clarke said her husband was generous and caring, and that people he had worked with and helped had taken advantage of him. Continue reading...

Reforms proposed by health secretary predicted to save as much as 500m but could be distraction for ministersWes Streeting has ordered a high-stakes" reorganisation of the NHS that will scrap 10,000 jobs in an attempt to free up cash for frontline care.Experts warned that the move to abolish NHS England and fold it into the Department of Health could distract ministers from the urgent job of ending long waits for treatment, while trade unions expressed concern about the shambolic" announcement of job cuts for public servants.Join Wes Streeting in conversation with Pippa Crerar discussing England's health and social care system and how Labour plans to turn it around on Tuesday 25 March 2025, 7pm-8.15pm (GMT). Book tickets here or at guardianlive.com Continue reading...

Influential Labour figure says cuts not a Labour thing to do', while George Osborne says when chancellor he resisted move as step too far'The former shadow chancellor Ed Balls has criticised plans for cuts to disability benefits, saying on his podcast that it was not going to work".George Osborne, the architect of welfare cuts during the coalition years, also told the same podcast that he had resisted freezing personal independence payments (Pip) - a move currently under consideration - because he felt it was going too far. Continue reading...

RMT union wins 87% backing from members for improved package for train managers at Avanti West CoastTrain managers on Britain's biggest intercity service, Avanti West Coast, have settled a dispute over rest-day working, ending a series of weekend strikes.The RMT union said 87% of its members had voted to accept a deal including additional pay for working weekends and an agreement on the allocation of staffing for extra shifts. Continue reading...

Union says staff will have been left reeling after surprise news that body will be scrappedStarmer is now talking about regulatation, and giving examples of where he thinks it has gone too far.l give you an example. There's a office conversion in Bingley, which, as you know, is in Yorkshire. That is an office conversion that will create 139 homes.But now the future of that is uncertain because the regulator was not properly consulted on the power of cricket balls. That's 139 homes. Now just think of the people, the families, the individuals who want those homes to buy, those homes to make their life and now they're held up. Why? You'll decide whether this is a good reason because I'm going to quote this is the reason because the ball strike assessment doesn't appear to be undertaken by a specialist, qualified consultant'. So that's what's holding up these 139 homes.When we had those terrible riots ... what we saw then, in response, was dynamic. It was strong, it was urgent. It was what I call active government, on the pitch, doing what was needed, acting.But for many of us, I think the feeling is we don't really have that everywhere all of the time at the moment.The state employs more people than we've employed for decades, and yet look around the country; do you see good value everywhere? Because I don't.I actually think it's weaker than it's ever been, overstretched, unfocused, trying to do too much, doing it badly, unable to deliver the security that people need. Continue reading...

Food and Drink Federation say businesses are struggling to deal with added complexity and bureaucracy'British food and drink exports to the EU have tumbled by more than a third since Brexit, according to new trade body figures highlighting how bureaucratic barriers have changed the relationship between the UK and its most important trading partner.Products including whisky, chocolate and cheese remain popular with EU customers, however overall food export volumes to the bloc fell to 6.37bn kg in 2024, representing a 34% decline compared with 2019 levels, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) found. Continue reading...

Homes searched in inquiry into alleged corruption at European parliament relating to Chinese technology giantSeveral people have been arrested and homes searched as part of an investigation into alleged bribery and corruption at the European parliament relating to the Chinese technology giant Huawei, Belgian prosecutors have said.The investigating judge in charge of the case has asked for seals to be fixed to the offices of two European parliament assistants alleged to be involved. Continue reading...