World news | The Guardian

Immigration detainees left desperate and suicidal after being held in prisons during the pandemic

Israeli fighter jets have hit targets in central Gaza, the military said on Saturday, and Palestinian militants continued to fire rockets into Israel after a day of deadly violence rocked the West Bank and unrest persisted inside the Jewish state.Early on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said they had hit a Hamas 'operation office' near the centre of Gaza City, with additional overnight strikes targeting what the military called 'underground launch sites'. In an escalation of the worst bout of fighting between Israel and Hamas for seven years, Dozens of Hamas operatives were killed in the strikes by Israeli artillery, the IDF said

Protesters in Australia have joined rallies around the world against Israeli military attacks in Gaza, where fighting continued for a fifth nightJeanine Hourani has been attending protests calling for freedom for Palestine since she was in a pram.“I always joke that as Palestinians we learn too much before we learn to walk,” she laughed. Continue reading...

The CDC says people who have been vaccinated no longer have to wear face coverings in public – but not all are enthusiasticWhen the CDC announced this week that people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 mostly didn’t have to wear masks indoors, many Americans saw this news as cause for celebration, feeling a sense of freedom after 15 months of itchy and cumbersome face coverings.But in New York City, which was the US’s first coronavirus hotspot last spring, not everyone was rushing to rip off their masks, despite the official OK to do so. Continue reading...

Indian community leaders call on officials to do more to avoid a repeat of the scores of empty seats on the first post-ban flightThe Australian government needs to do more to avoid a repeat of the scores of seats left empty on the first post-ban repatriation flight from virus-ravaged India, one community leader has said.Eighty Australians touched down in Darwin on Saturday morning and were moved to the Howard Springs quarantine facility on the city’s outskirts. Continue reading...

University of Southampton spends ‘hundreds of thousands’ on legal battle preventing access due to government vetoWhen the diaries and letters of Lord and Lady Mountbatten were “saved for the nation” in 2010, it should have created an invaluable public resource. Instead, a writer has spent four years and £250,000 of his own money in an ongoing – but still frustrated – attempt to force Southampton University and the Cabinet Office to allow the public to view them.The university bought the Broadlands archive, named after the Mountbattens’ Grade I-listed house, for £2.8m in 2010, attracting funding by stating it would “preserve the collection in its entirety for future generations to use and enjoy” and “ensure public access”. Continue reading...

Dogs are more valuable than ever – which is why so many are being snatched. But some owners and pet detectives are fighting backThe village of Partridge Green in West Sussex on a gorgeous spring morning. The early mist has burnt off; a wood pigeon coos; a flurry of pink snow falls from a showy cherry tree; outside the butcher’s, an orderly, socially distanced queue has formed; a chap out for a morning spin motors along the high street in his vintage MG. It is, as my companion, Colin Butcher, says, a scene straight out of Midsomer Murders.There are no murders today in Partridge Green, but it is a crime scene, and the crime is one that appears to be sweeping the nation. Butcher – ex-police (you can tell), then private investigator, now company director and chief investigator of The UK Pet Detectives – is on the case. He steps from his Range Rover wearing a fleece with an official-looking badge and “UKPD” emblazoned across the back; a twist on NYPD, except PD stands for Pet Detective. “I know the impact of seeing that UKPD – it’s such an international sign,” he says later, putting the jacket on before knocking at an address linked to his main suspect. Continue reading...

British travellers face challenges this year not only from the Covid crisis, but also the effects of Brexit. Here’s the lowdownHolidaymakers in England, Scotland and Wales have been given the green light for trips abroad. Travel is restricted to a small number of countries but the early signs are that they are proving popular with those desperate for a change of scene – this week Tui announced it would be putting on bigger planes to meet demand for trips to Portugal. Bookings for flights to the island of Madeira rose by 625% straight after the green list of countries was announced, according to the website Skyscanner, while demand for Gibraltar leapt by 335%.For most people, this will be the first trip abroad since the UK’s post-Brexit transition period ended. Here’s our guide to booking a trip in the time of Covid and after the time of the EU. Continue reading...

The Queensland government will spend $2m on a fence around Orchid Beach to protect visitors from the native dingo populationA new fence is to be built around a township on Queensland’s Fraser Island after several dingo attacks on children.The state government will spend $2m on the fence around Orchid Beach on the north-east of Fraser Island, which is also known as K’gari. Continue reading...

Experts convened to consider changing male-only succession laws amid preponderance of women in the royal familyA panel of experts has begun talks on addressing the shortage of heirs to the Japanese imperial throne, as a poll showed that four in five members of the public are comfortable with the idea of women becoming reigning empresses.Solving the succession crisis has taken on greater urgency due to a scarcity of males in the world’s oldest monarchy and the abdication, for health reasons, of Emperor Akihito. Continue reading...

As Australians watch on helplessly, they say their families have learned to live with hopelessness and impending death

WHO chief asks countries to donate jabs instead of vaccinating children; India variant behind Germany decision; France adds more countries to high-risk list

As Covid wreaks havoc overseas Australia risks regressing culturally and economically if borders don’t reopenTony Sammartino has no idea when he will next hug his three-year-old daughter, but it’s almost guaranteed it won’t be for another year at the earliest.“These are the best years of her life, and they should be the best of mine too. And they’re slipping away.” Continue reading...

Government says US missions can no longer hire local staff following law Putin signed last monthThe Russian government has officially deemed the United States and the Czech Republic “unfriendly” states, and announced that US diplomatic missions could no longer employ local staff while Czech missions could employ a maximum of 19.Moscow first announced the ban on the US hiring local staff last month as part of its retaliation for a slew of new US sanctions against Russia for interfering in the 2020 US presidential election and for involvement in the SolarWind hack of US federal agencies. Continue reading...

Northern Ireland agriculture minister and young Earth creationist says someone else will be first ministerEdwin Poots has been elected leader of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) on the promise of remoulding Northern Ireland’s biggest party and ratcheting up opposition to the Irish Sea border.On Friday the Stormont agriculture minister narrowly beat Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, a DUP MP, in a two-horse race to succeed Arlene Foster. Continue reading...

Escalation triggers violent protests in West Bank and further clashes between Arabs and Jews in IsraelPeople in Gaza fled their homes carrying crying children and valued possessions as Israeli forces pounded the territory from air, sea and land on Friday.The escalating conflict triggered violent protests in the occupied West Bank, where seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire, and further violence between Arabs and Jews in Israel. Continue reading...

GP tells jury of former footballer’s medical history at murder trial of police officer Benjamin MonkThe former footballer Dalian Atkinson was pronounced dead barely an hour after he was shot with a stun gun and kicked in the head by a police officer, a jury heard on Friday.PC Benjamin Monk denies the murder or manslaughter of Atkinson, 48, on 15 August 2016. Continue reading...

The Indian Covid variant could pose a threat to England’s roadmap out of lockdown, Boris Johnson warned, as he announced that second vaccinations for the over-50s would be accelerated to combat its spread. ‘The race between our vaccination programme and the virus may be about to become a great deal tighter,’ the prime minister said. While he insisted the planned easing of restrictions on 17 May would go ahead as planned, Johnson said, ‘This new variant could pose a serious disruption to our progress’

Some data suggests variant has ‘increased transmissibility’ compared with other strains

Activists and local people tell how they forced the release of two men detained in an enforcement vanIt was just after 9am on Thursday and he was finishing breakfast when the callout came. Kenmure Street’s “Van Man” – the activist who spent nearly eight hours squeezed underneath an immigration enforcement van to prevent the detention of two men on Glasgow’s southside – was on his bike in minutes.“It’s not often you can catch raids in the act like this, but the southside has a lot of folks pulling together,” he said. “The only way that day could have ended was with our neighbours’ release; there were simply too many local people standing in the street for the police to have taken the van away. The strategy does work – and we want the world to understand that it was the people on the streets who won that victory, not the politicians.” Continue reading...

Labour deputy leader has shown she has a significant power base and is not shy of using itJoe Biden and his vice-president, Kamala Harris, have a standing weekly date for a private one-to-one lunch, just as Biden did with Barack Obama.Breaking bread is one way of keeping a political relationship on track. No wonder, perhaps, that Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have decided to give it a go as they attempt to rebuild their relationship. Continue reading...

Anti-corruption prosecutor alleges Sebastian Kurz deliberately misled MPs investigating scandalThe political future of Austria’s high-flying chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, is in question after it emerged that he is being investigated for lying to a parliamentary committee during the “Ibizagate” affair.In a 58-page criminal investigation cited by Austrian media, the country’s anti-corruption prosecutor alleges Kurz deliberately misled MPs trying to shed light on the entanglement of political and commercial interests highlighted in the 2019 affair involving his former far-right coalition partners. Continue reading...

Italian farmers have protested in recent years about soaring wild boar population wreaking havoc on cropsA herd of wild boar surrounded a woman who had just come out of a supermarket near Rome and stole her shopping, rekindling a debate about the presence of the animal in Italian towns and cities.A video posted on social media on Thursday shows the boars approaching and cornering the woman in a supermarket car park in the village of Le Rughe. Continue reading...

Italian woman visiting family was locked up in detention centre as they waited at the airport, Guardian told

PM to outline how government will counter sharp rise in infections linked to B.1.617.2 variant

If you’re not ready to hug your neighbour, how about a safer elbow rub, air kiss or cruise tap?

IDF says ground forces have joined the attacks on Gaza Strip but have not entered the enclave. This live blog has now closed – for the latest reports, please head here

All forms of political opposition here are met with crackdowns from President Museveni’s government

Military says no troops currently operating inside territory as number of casualties continues to grow

Bars, restaurants and entertainment venues in Taipei to close and rapid testing stations to be set up

Duke of Sussex also speaks of ‘genetic pain and suffering’ in royal family in new interview in US

Judge says ABC program made V’landys look ‘rather foolish’ but chief executive was not defamed in racehorses storyRacing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys has lost his defamation case against the ABC over a report showing graphic footage of retired racehorses being slaughtered at a Queensland abattoir.While the 7.30 program titled The Final Race did not portray the chief executive in a positive light, it did not defame him, federal court justice Michael Wigney said. Continue reading...

Beavers cause internet outages, steal posts and even put 30 sq ft of a town underwater – but experts say the animals have a profound effect on ecosystemsAt first, the theft of wooden fence posts seemed like a crime of opportunity – amid soaring lumber costs, stacks of wood have gone missing from construction sites across North America.But officers in the Canadian prairie community of Porcupine Plain, Saskatchewan, soon identified the culprit: local beavers had stolen the posts to build their dam. Continue reading...

A leaked email from an Odysee executive suggests the site favoured by the far right could do more to restrict extremistsA top executive at the video sharing platform Odysee wrote guidance to moderators in late April that a “Nazi that makes videos about the superiority of the white race” would not be grounds by itself for removal from the platform, according to a leaked email obtained by the Guardian.The platform, whose owner, LBRY Inc, is currently being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for trading in unregistered securities, has been increasingly popular with extremists who have been banned from other platforms, and who are attracted by Odysee’s cryptocurrency-based monetization program. Continue reading...

Swedish Academy documents reveal debate over naming the dissident writer the 1970 literature laureate, four years before his exile from the Soviet UnionNewly opened archives at the Swedish Academy have revealed the depth of concern among Nobel judges for the consequences awaiting Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn if the dissident Soviet writer were awarded the prize for literature in 1970.The author of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, who revealed the horrors of Stalin’s gulags in his writings and was eventually exiled by the Soviet Union, was named the Nobel laureate that year, lauded by the committee for “the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature”. Continue reading...

A nun working in war-torn Tigray has shared her harrowing testimony of the atrocities taking place

Japan Pom Pom started with five people 26 years ago and now has 17 active members, all older than 55, who passed auditions to join Continue reading...

Judge rules medical staff can use minimum force on woman who has barely left home in four yearsMedics can use force to remove an agoraphobic pregnant woman from her home so she can give birth in hospital, a judge has ruled.Justice Holman concluded that it would be in the 21-year-old’s best interests to allow staff trained in restraint techniques to use minimum force if the woman refused to leave home. Continue reading...

From a guide to being an ‘ethical slut’ to Charlotte Roche’s disturbing Wetlands, historian Kate Lister picks the best books about the beauty, ugliness and joy of sexualityFrom sex history and modern erotica to self-help books and the art of penis origami, sex is a topic that spans every generation and culture in the world, so any “best” list can only offer the books that have meant the most to me, personally and professionally, as a historian of sex.Vénus Noire: Black Women and Colonial Fantasies in Nineteenth-Century France by Robin Mitchell is an impeccably researched history of how ideas of blackness and black women were appropriated by 19th-century white French culture as hypersexual, predatory and “exotic”. It opens with the story of Sarah Baartman, the so-called “Hottentot Venus” who was paraded on tour before white paying tourists, and Mitchell’s passionate rejection of the idea that historians should be objective and unemotional about their subject. The book is a triumph not only because it shows how narratives around black women’s bodies have evolved, but because Mitchell unashamedly makes the personal political. Continue reading...

Hazara community in mourning but defiant after more than 60 people killed in school bomb blasts

With international tourism frozen, families separated and expats feeling abandoned, the question of how to reopen is becoming pressing

Ethiopian nun speaks of widespread horror she and colleagues are seeing on a daily basis inside the heavily isolated region of Tigray

Howard Beckett, a member of Labour’s National Executive Committee, later apologised and deleted the tweet

Design Museum, London

International travel for Welsh citizens will also resume on Monday, the first minister has confirmed

Friday: Anthony Albanese promises 20,000 new properties in his federal budget reply. Plus: two dead on Mount EverestGood morning. It’s Friday 14 May and ,while budget week might be over, the analysis is just beginning. The sexual harassment conversation shows no signs of slowing in Australia’s halls of power. And violence continues to escalate in Gaza. This is Imogen Dewey with this morning’s main stories.Experts have suggested that Tuesday’s federal budget fails to address Australia’s housing shortage and homelessness – and in last night’s reply speech, Anthony Albanese pledged $10bn to a social housing fund if Labor win the next election. He also committed to creating 10,000 new energy apprenticeships, criminalise wage theft and make employers responsible for workplace sexual harassment. Continue reading...

Sources say government poised to approve jab for over-16s in worst-affected areas

Immigration Enforcement officials released two men after a day-long standoff with local residents. Hundreds of people surrounded the officials’ van in a residential street to prevent the detention of the men during Eid al-Fitr, chanting ‘these are our neighbours, let them go’

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