World news | The Guardian

Exclusive: Disclosures show figures cited by council leader rested on unfunded ideas listed briefly in budget papersReform UK's flagship council has been accused of telling a blatant lie" after its claim of nearly 40m in savings on net zero was found to be based on hypothetical projects for which there was no documentation.Kent county council, which has a 2.5bn annual budget, is one of 10 where Nigel Farage's party has outright control and is seen as a test case for whether the insurgent party can govern competently. Continue reading...

UK reduces funding by a third despite pledges to tackle hunger, with critics warning the move will cost lives

Party says it has received advice that 2013 investigation of allegations against peer was flawed in several respects'The Liberal Democrat peer Chris Rennard has been suspended from the party amid a new investigation into sexual harassment allegations.The party said it had received advice that a 2013 inquiry into the claims made by four women against Lord Rennard was flawed in several respects". Continue reading...

Darin Smith, who was outside Capitol on January 6, decried as Senate mulls nomination as state's top federal prosecutorA Republican former state lawmaker with no experience trying cases, a record of opposing LGBTQ+ rights, and who was outside the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection, is awaiting Senate confirmation to become the top federal prosecutor in Wyoming.Donald Trump first nominated Darin Smith as Wyoming's US attorney last year, and the judiciary committee advanced him in a party-line vote in January. Democrats have condemned Smith, saying he lacks the experience necessary for the job and threatens to impose a discriminatory approach to federal law enforcement in the state where gay college student Matthew Shepard's 1998 murder galvanized the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Continue reading...

The documents confirm what many have long assumed: elites live by their own special rules and codes of immunityThe millions of Jeffrey Epstein files dumped last Friday by the US Department of Justice will provide journalists, conspiracy theorists and interested members of the public with months of reading. And what they will read is enraging.What makes these files so infuriating, however, is not just Epstein's horrific predatory behavior, which is well-known, but the more mundane examples of elite conduct that the documents continue to expose. They vividly illustrate a world whose existence many everyday people, whether fevered with visions of the Illuminati or just jaundiced by banal anti-establishment cynicism, already suspected exists: an informal global club of powerful, ultra-rich people who all seemingly know each other, help one another out, and protect each other from the consequences of their depravity. Continue reading...

NFU warn it could take years to restore Brexit losses despite efforts to smooth negotiations on farming and other elements of UK-EU resetExports of British farm products to the EU have dropped almost 40% in the five years since Brexit, highlighting the trade barriers caused by the UK's divorce from the EU in 2020.Analysis of HMRC data by the National Farmers' Union shows the decline in sales of everything from British beef to cheddar cheese has dropped by 37.4% in the five years since 2019, the last full year before Brexit. Continue reading...

Critics say law will disproportionately affect immigrant communities and those who speak limited EnglishAs of 6 February, people in Florida are no longer be able to take driver's license examinations in any language other than English, the Florida department of highway safety and motor vehicles (DMV) said in a statement.Before the change, exams for noncommercial driver's licenses were offered in multiple languages, including Spanish, Haitian Creole and Portuguese, while the commercial learner's permit and commercial driver's license knowledge exams were both offered in English and Spanish. Now all driver's license knowledge and skills testing will be conducted in English. Continue reading...

Peaceful demonstrations force a delay in measures aimed at improving revenue collection but which many fear will be fatal for small tradersDemonstrations across Malawi's four main cities during the past week have achieved a delay in the introduction of a new tax regime that business owners claim will cripple their livelihoods.Tens of thousands had signed petitions which this week were presented to tax officials and on Monday thousands of small traders shut up shops and businesses to hold protest marches in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Zomba and Mzuzu. Continue reading...

Chalk artwork sold for record price at a New York Sotheby's auction with proceeds going to the Panthera charityA tiny chalk drawing of a lion by Rembrandt recently sold for the record-setting price of $18m in New York City to benefit the conservation of big cats.After selling at a Sotheby's auction Wednesday, Young Lion Resting shattered the previous mark for the most expensive drawing by the 17th-century Dutch painter ever auctioned: the $3.7m Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo. Continue reading...

Catastrophic failure of safeguarding' highlighted by fact Zuber Bux's lay practice is legal, campaigners sayA doctor who was struck off over a reckless" circumcision that risked killing a toddler is still performing the procedure as a layperson, the Guardian can reveal.Campaigners say Zuber Bux's private circumcision business highlights a catastrophic failure of safeguarding", as alarm grows about the absence of regulation of the procedure. Continue reading...

Boy, 15, also charged with possession of bladed article on education premises, after incident at school on ThursdayA pupil who allegedly assaulted a teacher at a school in Milford Haven has been charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed article on education premises.Dyfed-Powys police said the 15-year-old boy had been remanded in custody and was scheduled to appear at Swansea magistrates court on Saturday. The senior investigating officer, DCI Matthew Briggs, said: We are continuing to support the victim whilst they recover from this traumatic event. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Daisy Cooper says ex-minister could have abused trading laws' when sharing state information with Jeffrey EpsteinThe Liberal Democrats have urged the UK's financial regulator to immediately investigate Peter Mandelson, saying his apparent decision to leak highly confidential government information to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein may have led to insider trading.In a letter to Nikhil Rathi, the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Daisy Cooper, the MP for St Albans and the Lib Dems' deputy leader, said it was crucial" to determine whether Mandelson or those he shared information with had profited from accessing market-sensitive and confidential material" in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Continue reading...

Tests on both versions of Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata were unable to detect brushstrokes of 15th-century masterAn analysis of two paintings in museums in the US and Italy by the 15th-century Flemish artist Jan van Eyck has raised a profound question: what if neither were by Van Eyck?Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, the name given to near-identical unsigned paintings hanging in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Royal Museums of Turin, represent two of the small number of surviving works by one of western art's greatest masters, revered for his naturalistic portraits and religious subjects. Continue reading...

Competition is driving down prices, albeit slowly, with the median lifetime cover put at 247 for dogs and 180 for cats a yearVet fees continue to rise and many other costs are on the increase, but pet insurance has on average become slightly cheaper as providers compete for custom, new research claims.The pricing data coincides with a study which found that one-third of UK pet owners don't have insurance, with cost cited as one of the biggest factors. Continue reading...

Capture of rogue ship could open a new front against Moscow at a time when Russia's oil revenues are tumblingThe UK is threatening to seize a Russia-linked shadow fleet tanker in an escalatory move that could lead to the opening up of a new front against Moscow at a time when the country's oil revenues are tumbling.British defence sources confirmed that military options to capture a rogue ship had been identified in discussions involving Nato allies - though a month has gone by since the US-led seizure of a Russian tanker in the Atlantic. Continue reading...

Almost 1m UK households are hooked up to heat networks. None had protection from poor service or price hikes ... until last monthIf I could move, I would - to a place without a heat network. But I can't while this debt is hanging over me," says Anja Georgiou.The mother lives with her family in a rented flat in the River Gardens development in Greenwich in south-east London where, three years ago, residents were shocked to be presented with a surprise 200,000 bill for heating and hot water. Continue reading...

Prices paid for large estates not being disclosed on official register, land reform advocates sayLand reform campaigners are alarmed at the increasing use of a legal loophole that allows landowners to conceal the price paid for Highland estates from the public register.Andy Wightman, a land reform analyst, said the loophole meant the prices paid in more than 300m-worth of Highland property transactions were not disclosed on the register. Continue reading...

Socialist Antonio Jose Seguro on course for victory but gains by Andre Ventura's Chega could herald watershedPortuguese voters will return to the polls on Sunday for the final round of a presidential election that has been marked by a push to keep the far-right candidate at bay and overshadowed by deadly storms that have lashed the country in recent days.The moderate leftwing candidate Antonio Jose Seguro won the first round of the election, which was held on 18 January, taking 31.1% of the vote. Continue reading...

Reporters say relatives in Iran have been questioned and persecuted in an effort to curb coverage of unrestExiled Iranian journalists working for the BBC have been warned their movements are being closely monitored by the state, as they said their families in Iran were being interrogated and persecuted for their reporting.Journalists said family members had been threatened with arrest and the seizure of their assets unless their loved ones stopped reporting on Iranian unrest. Continue reading...

Special pods at Chester zoo helped conservationists breed and release more than 100,000 greater Bermuda snailsA button-sized snail once feared extinct in its Bermudian home is thriving again after conservationists bred and released more than 100,000 of the molluscs.The greater Bermuda snail (Poecilozonites bermudensis) was found in the fossil record but believed to have vanished from the North Atlantic archipelago, until a remnant population was discovered in a damp and overgrown alleyway in Hamilton, the island capital, in 2014. Continue reading...

Cyclone was expected to become a category-three system before it hit the Pilbara coast on Sunday

Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was detained on drug charges in 2014 before Canada-China ties nosedived in 2018China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a Canadian official said on Friday, in a possible sign of a diplomatic thaw as prime minister Mark Carney seeks to boost trade ties with Beijing.Schellenberg's lawyer Zhang Dongshuo, reached in Beijing on Saturday, confirmed the decision was announced on Friday by China's highest court. Continue reading...

Deputy director of Russia's military intelligence agency shot several times in the stairwell of his apartmentA top Russian military official who plays a major role in the country's intelligence services has been taken to hospital after being shot in Moscow, state media has reported.Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev was shot several times on the stairwell of his apartment on Friday by an unknown gunman in the north-west of the city and is in critical condition, according to reports. Continue reading...

Thirteen state and federal NSW MPs appeal to police to allow planned march protesting against the visit

The case in Bangladesh, where Nipah cases are reported almost every year, follows two Nipah virus cases identified in neighbouring IndiaThe World Health Organization said on Friday that a woman had died in northern Bangladesh in January after contracting the deadly Nipah virus infection.The case in Bangladesh, where Nipah cases are reported almost every year, follows two Nipah virus cases identified in neighbouring India, which has already prompted stepped-up airport screenings across Asia. Continue reading...

Single-engine Cessna crashed into water at Long Bay near Goolwa South on Friday afternoon

Watergate reporter says colleagues and readers deserve more' after newspaper lays off hundreds of workersThe veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward has said he is crushed" by the mass layoffs of hundreds of colleagues at the paper and said the impact would be felt by readers - noting both deserve more".I am crushed that so many of my beloved colleagues have lost their jobs and our readers have been given less news and sound analysis," Woodward said in his first public remarks on the cuts, which were shared on X. They deserve more." Continue reading...

Harper Dennis also charged with possession of offensive weapon after fatal stabbing in Leicester city centreA man has been charged with the murder of 20-year-old student Khaleed Oladipo in Leicester.Harper Dennis, 18, of North Road, West Drayton, London, has been charged with murder and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, police said. Continue reading...

Podcaster claimed former prime minister not English because he is brown-skinned Hindu'Rishi Sunak has described himself as being British, English and British Asian" in a riposte to increasing racially charged language used by figures on the right.The UK's first British Asian prime minister was speaking after his identity was questioned in recent debate sparked by a claim by the podcaster Konstantin Kisin that Sunak was not English because he was a brown-skinned Hindu". Continue reading...

Opalite video reunites host and guests including Domhnall Gleeson and Lewis Capaldi from Swift's October chatshow appearanceGraham Norton's chatshow has long been an object of fascination for American stars, wowed by its combined star wattage, glasses of wine and Norton's own quick-witted, lightly saucy repartee - and Taylor Swift has now taken that fandom to another level.Norton has been cast in the music video for Opalite, the second single from her album The Life of a Showgirl to receive music video treatment after The Fate of Ophelia. Not only Norton, in fact, but the stars from the guest lineup who sat alongside Swift when she appeared in October 2025: actors Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith, and fellow chart-topping musician Lewis Capaldi. Continue reading...

Jake Lang, a pardoned January 6 rioter, posted a video of himself kicking down the sculpture at Minnesota's capitolThe far-right influencer and US Senate candidate Jake Lang has been arrested after recording himself damaging an anti-ICE sculpture at Minnesota's capitol amid the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's crackdown there.On 5 February, Lang, who received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump over his role in the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, posted a video on X of himself kicking down the sculpture, which was made from ice - as in, frozen water. His efforts changed it from reading Prosecute ICE" to Pro ICE", referring to the federal agency. Continue reading...

Although tech stocks and cryptocurrencies suffered recent falls, investors largely shrugged off geopolitical tensionsThe Dow Jones industrial average crossed 50,000 for the first time, as ballooning tech valuations, robust corporate earnings and hopes of lower interest rates drive it to new highs.Leading stock markets on Wall Street came under pressure earlier this week as technology stocks fell amid scrutiny of extraordinary levels of investment into artificial intelligence. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Material gathered was personally given to Josh Simons when chair of pro-Starmer thinktank, say sourcesA Labour minister commissioned and reviewed an intelligence report in 2023 on journalists investigating the thinktank that helped propel Keir Starmer to power, the Guardian has learned.The research was ordered and subsequently reviewed by Josh Simons, now a minister in the Cabinet Office, when he was chair of Labour Together, according to sources and documents seen by the Guardian. Continue reading...

Christopher Moynihan pleads guilty to misdemeanor charge over threats last October to kill congressmanA rioter who was pardoned by Donald Trump for the felony he was convicted of in the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 has pleaded guilty to a harassment charge over threats to kill congressman and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries.Christopher Moynihan, 35, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor harassment charge in a hearing in Clinton, New York, prosecutors said, and will be sentenced in April. His representative could not immediately be reached. Continue reading...

Material distributed in Gorton and Denton did not have legally required imprint stating it was funded by partyReform UK will face a police investigation in Gorton and Denton after admitting it sent out letters from a concerned neighbour" which did not state they had been funded and distributed by the party.Greater Manchester police confirmed it had received a report about the breach of electoral law and said it would investigate. The Electoral Commission said the omission was a matter for the police, stressing that failing to include an imprint in candidate election material is an offence". Continue reading...

Progressive Analilia Mejia maintains slim lead after votes seemed to be swinging for Tom Malinowski

Former minister and Benjamin Wegg-Prosser met disgraced financier before formal foundation of Global Counsel

Properties in London and Wiltshire targeted by officers investigating alleged leaks to late child sex offenderPolice are searching two properties connected to Peter Mandelson as part of an investigation into claims that he passed market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein.A Metropolitan police statement, which did not name Mandelson, said searches were taking place in Camden, north London, and Wiltshire. Mandelson has been living in a rented property in Wiltshire since being sacked as ambassador to the US over his links to the late convicted child sex offender. Continue reading...

Acts are alleged to have occurred in 2024 on set of TV drama The Cleaning Lady, which Busfield acted in and directedA grand jury in New Mexico has indicted the actor Timothy Busfield on child sex abuse charges, officials announced on Friday.Busfield was indicted on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child, the Bernalillo county district attorney's office said in a statement.In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sasan Ghandehari reluctant to share details of $10bn trust in row with Christie's auction houseA high court battle over a Picasso painting has shone a light on the offshore financial structures of an Iranian-born businessman who paid for Nigel Farage's 50,000 trip to Davos.The details about Sasan Ghandehari, who funded Farage's tickets to the summit, emerged in court papers about a 4m claim brought by a British Virgin Islands firm, which has accused Christie's auction house of misrepresentation when it sold the art to it. Continue reading...

Two coins celebrating Queen Elizabeth II criticised for failing to resemble late monarchTwo Australian coins commemorating Queen Elizabeth II have been criticised for failing to resemble the late monarch.The $5 (2.56) and 50c (26p) silver coins, created by Royal Australian Mint to commemorate the centenary of the queen's birth, were released in an online ballot that closed on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Zubayar al-Bakoush is suspected in Libya attack resulting in deaths of US ambassador and three other AmericansThe US attorney general, Pam Bondi, announced on Friday the arrest of a key participant" in the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack that killed four US government officials, including the US ambassador to Libya, J Christopher Stevens.Bondi said the suspect, Zubayar al-Bakoush, was taken into US custody at 3am ET on Friday. We will prosecute this alleged terrorist to the fullest extent of the law. He'll face charges related to murder, terrorism, arson, among others," Bondi told reporters at a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington DC. Continue reading...

We're closing this blog now, you can read more on this story hereNearly 60,000 unauthorised migrants and convicted criminals have been removed or deported from the UK since Labour took office, the Home Office has said.The announcement came amid claims that the government was promoting harmful stereotypes" by equating migration with criminality. Continue reading...

Officials, MPs and other insiders recall a need for clarity and Blair-era frisson before election - even if Sue Gray was wary

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereHundreds of protesters gathered in Milan on Friday to oppose the presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the closure of schools and streets in the city ahead of the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina Winter Games.Reuters reported that protesters - mostly students with signs reading ICE out" - assembled in Piazzale Leonardo da Vinci, in front of a building of the Politecnico University in the eastern part of the city. Continue reading...

Noel Gallagher and Harry Styles lead way, and sales of jeans in general rise faster than wider fashion marketThe UK was one of Levi's fastest-growing markets last year as British trend leaders from Harry Styles to Noel Gallagher and Grime Gran were spotted in the brand's kit.Lucia Marcuzzo, the managing director of the European operations at the US company famous for its denim jeans, said the revival of 1990s trends had boosted sales of its classic 501s. New trends such as baggy jeans and cinch styles, which can be adjusted around the waist, had also helped, as denim has found its way back into wardrobes. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereIt is the first time the US and Iran have sat down for face-to-face negotiations since June last year, when Israel launched attacks on Iran that sparked a war marked by tit-for-tat airstrikes, with the US also joining the fray. It effectively ended the US-Iran talks that were held in the weeks prior to the conflict aimed at reaching a nuclear peace agreement.More recently, Donald Trump has been threatening to strike Iran for more than a month and just last week warned that an armada" of US warships had reached the Persian Gulf. This recent clash began after Trump said he would strike Iran if it killed protesters during mass antigovernment demonstrations that swept the country last month. Human rights groups say thousands of people were killed during the brutal government crackdown on those protests. Continue reading...

Doron Almog has previously faced arrest warrants over allegations he committed war crimes in Gaza in 2002, which he denies

AA says long-awaited evaluations show schemes are a catastrophic waste of time, money and effort'

Spain and Portugal hit with torrential rain while flash floods in Morocco force more than 100,000 people to evacuateThe Iberian peninsula has been placed under severe weather alerts as Storm Leonardo continues to batter parts of Spain and Portugal with torrential rain and strong winds.Since Tuesday, the slow-moving system has brought widespread disruption, flooding and evacuations. In Grazalema, in southern Spain, more than 700mm of rain has fallen since Wednesday, roughly equivalent to the country's average annual rainfall. Continue reading...