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Many observers believe North Korean leader has decided daughter Kim Ju-ae will succeed him, but others say gender politics could block her path to powerWhen North Korea's ruling party held a top-level meeting this month there were predictable boasts of unstoppable nuclear development and, more unexpectedly, a suggestion by Kim Jong-un that his country and the US could get along" - provided that Washington recognised North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power.But for many North Korea watchers, the Workers' party congress - held over several days just once every five years - was a rare opportunity to speculate over the identity of the country's future leader. Continue reading...

Exhibits pay homage to Ukrainians' resilience and bring home the reality that war is going on in EuropeDescending into the windowless basement of a second world war air-raid bunker built for civilians in central Berlin is arguably an eerie enough evocation of what it means to endure life in a conflict.But in a modern twist, before they have even walked into the first room of the city's new Ukraine Museum inside the bunker, visitors are targeted" by a Russian drone just before its operator prepares to release the lethal shot, and see themselves in the firing line on the screen of the weapon's camera. Continue reading...

More than 350,000 people expected to turn out on Saturday for blockbuster lineup of music and culture events

Treasurer says not unusual' for his department to examine options but stresses that no decision has been made

Escalation of violence between the volatile neighbours makes a Qatar-mediated ceasefire appear increasingly shakyPakistan bombed Afghanistan's capital of Kabul and two other provinces on Friday, hours after a cross-border attack, the latest escalation of violence between the volatile neighbours who signed a Qatar-mediated ceasefire in 2025.Following months of tit-for-tat clashes, Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night in what the Taliban government said was retaliation for earlier deadly air strikes. Continue reading...

Lead plaintiff, now 20, says use of social media made her relationships with friends and family anxious and strainedThe young woman at the heart of the landmark trial about the addictive nature of social media testified for the first time on Thursday, saying she got hooked on YouTube starting at age six and Instagram at nine. By the time she was 10, she said, she had become depressed and was engaging in self-harm.The woman, who is now 20 and known by her initials KGM, is the lead plaintiff in an expansive lawsuit against YouTube and Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook. The crux of the case alleges social media companies intentionally create addictive products, leading to mental health issues in young people. Continue reading...

Hash Tayeh flags appeal to Victorian civil and administrative tribunal finding over phrase used at Melbourne rally last year

Graeme Kearns, chief executive of Foundation Theatres, says: Our job in theatre is to absolutely defend the right to tell stories about culture'

Democracy Volunteers says it saw 32 cases of apparent collusion - the highest levels in its 10-year historyAn election observer group has raised concerns over people appearing to collude on voting in the Gorton and Denton byelection.Democracy Volunteers, an organisation founded by Dr John Ault, and supported by the Conservative peer and psephologist Prof Robert Haywood, deployed four accredited election observers across the constituency. Continue reading...

Care roles hit particularly hard by UK's lurch to the right on migration, according to analysis of Home Office dataHospitals and care homes in the UK face an impending car crash", experts have warned, as research shows the number of overseas nurses and carers has collapsed.Analysis of Home Office quarterly data reveals the number of overseas nurses granted entry to the UK has fallen by 93% over three years. Just 1,777 overseas nurses were granted entry in 2025, compared with 26,100 in 2022. Continue reading...

Counting begins in south-east Manchester after one of the most unpredictable byelections in recent years

Omani foreign minister, who was mediating talks, touts progress after meeting wraps and says more talks to take place next week in Vienna

European Anti-Fraud Office to look into the former US ambassador's time as trade commissioner in BrusselsPeter Mandelson is facing an inquiry by the EU's anti-fraud agency after the European Commission requested the body look into his activities during his time as trade commissioner in Brussels.The commission said it referred the peer, 72, to the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) last week after the US Department of Justice released documents allegedly showing he shared sensitive government information with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading...

Ellie Aghayeva confirms freedom hours after Department of Homeland security agents access residence hall

Hiker disappeared in June 2023, aged 31, after departing for a walk near Cradle Mountain

Law demanding IDs match sex at birth' also includes bathroom ban provision for trans people in public buildings

Women from countries with near-total bans on terminations will be given help to access services elsewhereEU states will be able to tap into a social fund to help citizens access safe abortions, in an announcement hailed as a victory for women".The roots of Thursday's announcement go back to a long campaign for the European Commission to create a funding mechanism that would allow women from countries with near-total bans on abortion, such as Malta and Poland, to go where it is legal. Continue reading...

Indhu Rubasingham calls in Jennie Lee lecture for renewed commitment to creative risk and new writingThe National Theatre's artistic director, Indhu Rubasingham, has said conservative theatre-making will kill the industry, even if it helps venues balance the books for now.Delivering the second-ever Jennie Lee lecture in front of an audience of 200 representatives from the UK arts industry on Thursday, Rubasingham called for a renewed national commitment to backing creative risk and new writing. Continue reading...

Hannah Doran's The Meat Kings! (Inc) of Brooklyn Heights and Ro Reddick's Cold War Choir Practice declared joint winners of award for female, transgender and non-binary writersThe Susan Smith Blackburn prize for female, transgender and non-binary playwrights has been awarded to joint winners, both for their debut plays.Hannah Doran's The Meat Kings! (Inc) of Brooklyn Heights and Ro Reddick's Cold War Choir Practice beat the other eight finalists to the 48th annual award. Doran and Reddick each receive a cash prize of $25,000 (18,500) and a signed print by the artist Willem de Kooning. Continue reading...

People across region are bracing for possibility of conflict as embassies evacuate staff and flights are cancelled

English Garden, painted in 1965, is on display before it goes under the hammer with estimate of 2.5m-3.5mDavid Hockney's first English landscape, depicting a perfectly manicured Oxfordshire garden, is on show for the first time in three decades before being auctioned.Sotheby's said the 1965 painting, English Garden, which was completed in Boulder, Colorado, was pivotal for Hockney as well as holding an important place in wider art history. Continue reading...

Councillors vote to allow couple to stay on plot of land, overruling objections of Wuthering Heights actorEarlier this month, Martin Clunes was appearing on a red carpet in London alongside his fellow stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi for the UK premiere of Wuthering Heights.On Thursday, the actor was to be found in the rather less glamorous surroundings of a county hall in the English West Country to hear councillors rule against him in a long-running dispute with a family of new travellers. Continue reading...

Inmate understood to be Huntley taken to hospital after being assaulted at HMP Frankland in County DurhamThe Soham murderer Ian Huntley has been seriously injured in a prison attack in County Durham.A prisoner, understood to be Huntley, who was convicted of killing two 10-year-old girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, was taken to hospital after being assaulted on Thursday morning at HMP Frankland, Durham constabulary said. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Tasmanian Lee Hanson employed as senior adviser to Sean Bell in role worth as much as $180,000

Leaked information obtained by Guardian paints disturbing picture of violence waged by terror group's Ukrainian cellThe Ukrainian wing of an internationally proscribed terrorist organization with suspected links to Russia is continuing to claim multiple murders in Ukraine, which comes after it was linked to the brazen assassination of an intelligence officer in Kyiv over the summer.In a Telegram post, the Ukrainian cell of the Base - born in the US, but with a web of cells all over the world - claimed a successful operation to eliminate an enemy agent in Odesa" in a car bombing, which was later reported on in local Ukrainian media. Continue reading...

Firm, which has announced record profits and 9bn share buyback, has 3bn project for smaller commercial planesThe chief executive of Rolls-Royce has pressed ministers for taxpayer support for a new jet engine, on a day the company also announced record profits and promised to give up to 9bn back to shareholders.The 3bn engine project, designed to power smaller commercial planes, would allow Rolls-Royce to re-enter the lucrative short-haul flights market. Continue reading...

Wendy Faith and Alesi Diana Denise were taken into custody under laws that have outraged LGBTQ+ community and rights activistsTwo women have been arrested and detained in Uganda after allegedly kissing in public, an act of same-sex activity" which can lead to a life sentence in the east African country..Wendy Faith, a 22-year-old musician known as Torrero Bae, and Alesi Diana Denise, 21, were taken into custody after police raided their rented room in Uganda's north-west Arua City last week. Continue reading...

Move comes after 35% of sector workers surveyed described their mental health as poor' or very poor'The Film and TV charity has unveiled a landmark set of principles for safeguarding mental health in what's been called a watershed moment" for the UK creative sector's duty of care to its production community.The principles are the result of a collaboration between the charity and more than 45 industry organisations, including all the public service broadcasters, studios, leading streamers, production companies and trade unions. Continue reading...

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Lawyer for protest groups argues state needs to prove it was rational to prevent all protests' to achieve social cohesion

PM clarifies remark but says he disagrees with some language the 2021 Australian of the Year has used

Polls put seat in three-way dead heat with Labour facing threats from Reform and Green party in once safe seatThe Gorton and Denton byelection is the biggest electoral test yet for Keir Starmer before what are expected to be disastrous results for Labour in the May local elections. Polls put the race in a three-way dead heat, making it nearly impossible to call.The vote is particularly symbolic because of the threat Labour faces from Reform UK and the Green party in a once safe seat. Should Labour lose, it will put the spotlight back on Starmer's decision to block Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, from contesting the seat. Continue reading...

Rare clash off island's coast took place amid US oil embargo and heightened tensions between two countriesCuban forces killed four exiles and wounded six others who sailed into its waters onboard a Florida-registered speedboat and opened fire on a Cuban patrol, the country's government said, at a time of heightened tensions with the US.Cuba's interior ministry said the group was comprised of anti-government Cubans, some of whom were previously wanted for plotting attacks. They came from the US dressed in camouflage and armed with assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives, ballistic vests and telescopic sights, it said. Continue reading...

As MPs vote to release the documents relating to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's appointment as trade envoy, Helen Pidd speaks to Andrew Lownie, author of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, about the former prince's antics in the role and whether this scandal will be the monarchy's lastThis week MPs backed a call to release documents on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's appointment as UK trade envoy between 2001 and 2011. Andrew was released under investigation last week after his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office relating to that role. He has previously denied any wrongdoing over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.Pressure is now mounting on King Charles as to why he did not do more and act sooner. Plus, can the future king, Prince William, reform the monarchy and return its image to its glory days? Helen Pidd speaks to author Andrew Lownie Continue reading...

Daniel Stevens and Gerard Andrews denied bail after being charged with alleged murder and kidnapping of 85-year-old

Updated guidance from Crown Prosecution Service covers forms of spiritual and immigration abuse for first timeThe Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has published new guidance for its lawyers to help tackle honour"-based abuse, with spiritual and immigration abuse included for the first time.The guidance was updated to reflect growing concerns around evolving forms of abuse and to tackle what the CPS described as emerging harmful practices". Continue reading...

From racism to staff shortages, the interim report found a host of deep-rooted issues affecting women and babies

Damning inquiry into services in England reveals falsification of medical records after negligent' care

Independent commissioner's report finds websites can act as accelerators' of exploitation for sex workers using themThe anti-slavery watchdog has called for a complete overhaul of websites advertising sexual services after an investigation revealed they can act as accelerators" of exploitation for sex workers using them.While working online can provide enhanced protections for some, a new report from the independent anti-slavery commissioner, Eleanor Lyons, investigated the experiences of women who said they were exploited on the adult services sites, which typically allow users to browse through images and videos of women selling sex in their local area. Continue reading...

French utility to acquire owner of electricity cables and power lines across London, south-east and east of EnglandA French utility has agreed to buy the owner of the electricity cables and power lines across London, the south-east and the east of England in a deal worth 10.5bn.Paris-headquartered Engie said on Wednesday that it had struck a deal to buy UK Power Networks (UKPN) in a major milestone" for the company's ambition to become the best energy transition utility". Continue reading...

Controversy over pro-Palestinian speeches at closing gala criticising Germany as partners in genocide'The organisation that manages the Berlin film festival is to meet for crunch talks amid reports that its American director faces dismissal after a series of rows over Gaza.In a statement on Wednesday, the office of Germany's federal government commissioner for culture and media said the emergency meeting on Thursday had been called to debate the future direction of the Berlinale". Continue reading...

Corporation says broadcasting of N-word by Tourette syndrome campaigner was serious mistake' as anger at error risesThe BBC is to undertake a fast-track investigation into how a racial slur broadcast during its coverage of the Bafta film awards was not edited out, amid rising anger inside the corporation over the error.Tim Davie, the outgoing director general, has now instructed the corporation's complaints unit to investigate what the BBC describes as a serious mistake". Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereThe Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published figures showing that local authorities in England dealt with 1.26m flytipping incidents in 2024/25 - 9% increase on the previous year.And there was an 11% increase in incidents involving a tipper lorry load" amount of rubbish. There were 52,000 of these, up from 47,000 in 2023/24. Defra said these alone cost councils 19.3m.These figures show the equivalent of 142 monster landfills a day took place, confirming what communities across the country know all too well - our beautiful countryside is being used by criminal gangs as their personal landfill.For far too long, waste gangs have pocketed millions in illegal earning, poisoning our environment and our health without consequence. The Liberal Democrats are demanding an end to this environmental vandalism. Continue reading...

Joao Francisco Inacio Brazao and Domingos Inacio Brazao sentenced for murder of Marielle Franco, a gay Black woman and rising political starTwo influential Brazilian politician brothers have been convicted by Brazil's supreme court of ordering the murder of Marielle Franco, the Rio de Janeiro city councillor, nearly eight years ago.Joao Francisco Inacio Brazao, the former congressman known as Chiquinho, and the former adviser to Rio's court of auditors Domingos Inacio Brazao were sentenced to 76 years and three months in prison for the murders of Franco, 38, and her driver, Anderson Gomes, 39. Continue reading...

Tis live blog is now closedPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was looking to repair the Druzhba oil pipeline but it was not so fast," Reuters reported.Shipments of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia have been cut off since 27 January, when Kyiv says a Russian strike hit pipeline equipment in western Ukraine. Continue reading...

Labour backbenchers turn on Rachel Reeves as MP claims former students are stuck in a loans Hotel California'Angry backbench Labour MPs have attacked ministers over the student loans crisis, saying graduates are being outrageously scammed".During a Commons Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday, several Labour MPs joined calls for an urgent shake-up of the unfair" system, with one describing it as an absolute dog's dinner" and another likening the terms to something that a loan shark" would offer. Continue reading...

I looked back to discover the untold story of how western intelligence was misread, even in Kyiv. The conclusion offers a stark warning for the futureTuesday marked the fourth anniversary of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and at this time of year it's hard not to recall memories of the morning of 24 February 2022, when the fate of Ukraine and the history of Europe were irrevocably changed by the decision of the man in the Kremlin.Around 9pm the evening before, I had received a message from a colleague at another news outlet. It was an unequivocal warning from an intelligence source that the war would start that night. We discussed it among the Guardian's Ukraine reporting team and international editors. My colleague Emma Graham-Harrison, who was on an overnight train from Kyiv towards the frontline city of Mariupol, decided she would get off halfway, in the middle of the night, and beg a spot on the first train heading back to Kyiv. It turned out to be a wise move: Mariupol was soon under siege and the scene of much of the worst carnage of the war. Emma remained in Kyiv, part of our team covering the initial Russian attack on the capital. Continue reading...

Cars with higher real-world consumption may add to Australia's difficulties in reducing transport emissions

Jess Wilson's housing plan offers little that is truly new - but Jacinta Allan claims it draws a line through Melbourne and locks millennials out

Police says others involved' in killing of Chris Baghsarian whose body was found near a golf club in Pitt Town