World news | The Guardian

PM says government will decide who heads domestic spy agency as protests against Ronen Bar dismissal continue

Mohammad Farooq, 29, told a patient - who talked him out of attack - he wanted to kill as many nurses as possible'A clinical support worker who took a viable pressure cooker bomb in to a hospital intending to kill as many nurses as possible" has been jailed for at least 37 years.Mohammad Farooq, 29, of Leeds, also plotted a terrorist attack on RAF Menwith Hill, in North Yorkshire, a top-secret spy base. Continue reading...

Thousands of troops needed to support Ukraine if ceasefire or agreement reached to end war with RussiaThe UK is to accelerate the pace and scale" of military planning to be ready to support Ukraine next week, with No 10 saying all options, including troops on the ground, are possible.Keir Starmer's spokesperson said thousands of troops would be needed to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire and agreement to end the war with Russia, whether by sea, on land or in the air". Continue reading...

PM's spokesman says more meetings will take place in London next week to accelerate' planning to enforce any future peace dealElections will take place in 23 councils across England on 1 May 2025.

Pharma company will invest money over five years in strategic partnership' after ditching UK expansion

Competition watchdog rules BBC, ITV, BT and IMG pooled data on fees for production workers at football and rugby matchesThe BBC, ITV, BT and the sports production company IMG have been fined 4.2m for illegally sharing information about fees for freelance workers at football and rugby matches.The sharing of information, which breached competition law, affected workers such as camera operators and sound technicians, according to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Continue reading...

Politicians and teachers unions condemn president's effort to axe department, which can only be done by CongressTeachers unions and Democratic politicians joined in denouncing Donald Trump's executive order aimed at eliminating the US Department of Education, with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) saying simply: See you in court."Trump's move was long trailed, so much so that Randi Weingarten, the head of the AFT - which represents 1.8 million teachers - put out her statement the day before the order was signed. Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, which represents 200,000 members, teachers and other education workers mostly in New York City, said: We will join our national union and public education allies to protect students and educators. We are working with our partners to file lawsuits to stop this executive overreach. Continue reading...

Pirate's Booty Snacks founder Robert Ehrlich claimed to be tiny Long Island community's mayor - voters disagreedThe popcorn mogul who founded Pirate's Booty Snacks tried to commandeer a New York village's local government, storming this minuscule municipality's office armed with a false statement claiming that he was mayor.Robert Ehrlich strode into the town hall of Sea Cliff, a village of fewer than 5,000 residents within the larger town of Oyster Bay on Long Island, with all the finesse of a literal pirate on 10 March. Continue reading...

Move concerns alleged failings in handling of domestic abuse report by 24-year-old later found dead in a carFour police officers have been served disciplinary notices over alleged failings in their handling of a domestic abuse report by a woman before she was found dead in a car boot.The body of Harshita Brella, 24, was found in a silver Vauxhall Corsa in Brisbane Road, Ilford, east London, on 14 November last year. Continue reading...

Former special forces soldier made enemies after disagreements with far-right factions in Netanyahu's government

Tigray's interim leader flees as rival faction seizes control, while Ethiopian tanks and troops move to border of EritreaAregawi was building a tour-guiding business when war struck Ethiopia's Tigray region in 2020. He spent the next two years fighting on the frontline. Now he is among those who fear Tigray is on the brink of conflict once more.We don't want to become a battleground, but it seems like war is near, maybe even inevitable," he said. Continue reading...

Inquiry into Iain McNicol is third to be launched after revelations in the Guardian's Lords debate investigationThe former Labour party general secretary Iain McNicol is under investigation by the House of Lords standards watchdog after he wrote to the Treasury on behalf of a cryptocurrency company that was paying him.The Lords commissioners for standards said they had launched an inquiry into Lord McNicol over potential breaches of the code of conduct, citing a clause that states members must not seek to profit from membership of the house by accepting or agreeing to accept payment or other incentive or reward in return for providing parliamentary advice or services". Continue reading...

Nino Bucci highly commended in feature writing, investigations and news reporting, while Petra Stock highly commended in science, medical and health reporting

The Mulholland Drive star had lunch with the director weeks before he died, and says: He was not, in any way, done'Mulholland Drive star Naomi Watts says that David Lynch wanted to go back to work" before his death in January.In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Watts revealed that she had spent an afternoon with Lynch in November, along with Laura Dern, who acted in Lynch's Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart. We had a beautiful lunch at his house. I knew he'd been unwell but he was in great spirits. He wanted to go back to work - Laura and I were like, You can do it! You could work from the trailer.' He was not, in any way, done. I could see the creative spirit alive in him." Continue reading...

CBI chair Rupert Soames tells podcast he is completely unembarrassed' about abuse that occurred in early lifeWinston Churchill's grandson has revealed he was abused as a child while boarding at a prep school by some masters who had an entirely unhealthy appetite for young boys".Speaking about his childhood on the the Crisis What Crisis? podcast, Rupert Soames, the chair of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said he was completely unembarrassed" to talk about the abuse and that hiding painful experiences from childhood could act as a sort of sepsis in your brain". Continue reading...

Infrastructure Australia criticises project's business case and backs concerns over cost blowouts

Parties call for intervention after ACCC report found Australian grocers among most profitable in world amid cost-of-living crisis

Compound was last bastion in the capital, Khartoum, held by rival paramilitary Rapid Support ForcesSudan's military has retaken the presidential palace in Khartoum, the last bastion in the capital of rival paramilitary forces, after nearly two years of fighting.Social media videos showed soldiers inside giving the date as the 21st day of Ramadan, which was Friday. A Sudanese military officer wearing a captain's epaulettes made the announcement in the video, and confirmed the troops were inside the compound. Continue reading...

Emmanuel Lidden, 24, to learn fate after breaching nuclear non-proliferation laws by shipping samples of radioactive material to parents' suburban home

In today's newsletter: As Zelenskyy urges the EU to step up, divisions remain on how to secure the continent's future amid Russian aggressionGood morning. Yesterday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed a European Council summit in Brussels, and emphasised the urgency of the EU's role in Ukraine's future as Donald Trump turns away. It's crucial that our partners' support for Ukraine doesn't decrease but instead continues and grows," he said. And he added: Europe must always be at the table in discussions about its own security."EU countries certainly agree on that, and said yesterday that they were ready to again increase sanctions against Russia - but they are sharply divided on how to achieve it. Meanwhile, after a meeting with western military planners near London, Keir Starmer yesterday appeared to step back from his pledge to put boots on the ground in Ukraine, saying instead that allied forces would be deployed by sea and air in support of Kyiv's own forces.Heathrow | London's Heathrow airport will be closed all day on Friday after a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport caused a significant power outage" and left thousands of homes without power. The shutdown at one of the busiest hubs in the world is likely to affect about 1,300 flights.Climate crisis | The government is absolutely up for the fight" over net zero, energy secretary Ed Miliband has said, as he accused the Conservatives and Reform of a total desertion and betrayal" of future generations by failing to tackle the climate crisis. Some Labour MPs fear the government could row back on funding and targets under political pressure.Middle East | Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to call for a new ceasefire in Gaza and to protest against what they say is an attack on the country's democracy by the rightwing governing coalition of Benjamin Netanyahu.Interest rates | The Bank of England said UK businesses are freezing their hiring plans in response to Rachel Reeves's tax increases and amid mounting global uncertainty as it kept interest rates on hold at 4.5%. The bank's monetary policy committee voted by eight to one to pause its cycle of rate cuts after three reductions in the past year.UK news | One of Stephen Lawrence's killers may now accept he was involved in assaulting the teenager, according to a report by the Parole Board. The board said yesterday that David Norris, now 48, will face his hearing in public with the reported support of Stephen's parents. Continue reading...

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Australia employment department announces more payment system pauses due to it not operating in alignment with the law'

More than 1,300 flights expected to be affected after airport closes down for all of Friday due to a substation fire

Muhammad Arshad, from Pakistan, was a foreman building Aramco Stadium in Al Khobar, one of 11 new venues for 2034A migrant worker has died while working on a new stadium being built for the 2034 World Cup, the Guardian can reveal.Muhammad Arshad, from Pakistan, fell to his death from an upper level during the construction of the Aramco Stadium in the eastern city of Al Khobar on 12 March, according to sources with knowledge of the incident. Continue reading...

Independent assessment, which was handed to government before US election, warns of global geopolitical and economic fragmentation'

Exclusive: NHS England has dramatically increased recruitment of workers from states with critical medical staff shortagesBrexit has left the NHS increasingly dependent on doctors and nurses from poor red list" countries, from which the World Health Organization says it is wrong to recruit.The health service in England has hired tens of thousands of health staff from countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe since the UK left the EU single market at the end of 2020. Continue reading...

Australia drops to 11th in the latest World Happiness Report rankings, with New Zealand 12th and Nordic nations still on top of the world

Indonesia's 1,700m Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupted for 11 minutes on Thursday, causing ash cloud but no damage to nearby villages on the island of Flores

Conservation charity is also pausing some projects because of labour costs stemming from the autumn budgetThe National Trust has frozen all but essential recruitment and is pausing some projects as it faces a 10m jump in labour costs this year as a result of higher employment costs stemming from last autumn's budget.The conservation charity, which looks after 500 historic houses, castles, parks and gardens, as well as 780 miles of coastline and 250,000 hectares of land, said the extra costs were the result of changes to employers' national insurance contributions and an increase in the legal minimum wage, which both come into force next month. Continue reading...

Western Forest will cover 2,500 hectares across Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset and BristolA new Western Forest is to be created across a swathe of the west of England from the Cotswolds to the Mendips, the government has said.The project, one of the government's promised national forests, will create 2,500 hectares (6,200 acres) of woodland by 2030 across five priority areas in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Bristol, with plans to plant 20m trees by 2050. Continue reading...

Exclusive: energy secretary says 2050 target is imperative, and accuses opposition of betraying of future generationsThe government is absolutely up for the fight" over net zero, Ed Miliband has said, as he accused the Conservatives and Reform of a total desertion and betrayal" of future generations by failing to tackle the climate crisis.After a turbulent week for Labour in which it has been charged with abandoning its values by slashing disability benefits, the energy secretary sought to focus attention on the party's plans for the green energy transition. Continue reading...

Actors including Stephen Fry and Brian Cox criticise plan that will remove support for more than 1 million peopleAn array of high-profile celebrities including Sir Stephen Fry, Brian Cox and Stanley Tucci have criticised the government's 5bn cuts to disability benefits, calling the plans shameful" and a stain on this country".They joined the UK's biggest food bank network, Trussell, in urging ministers to rethink the planned changes, warning they risked pushing even more disabled people into poverty and reliance on charity food handouts. Continue reading...

David Norris, whose parole hearing is due, denied guilt after being jailed for the 1993 murder in south-east LondonOne of Stephen Lawrence's killers may now accept he was involved in assaulting the teenager, according to a report by the Parole Board.Lawrence, 18, was murdered by a gang of racists in south-east London in 1993, but only two of his killers have faced justice. Gary Dobson and David Norris were jailed for life in 2012. Continue reading...

UltraViolet attacks Trump administration for reportedly influencing Romanian officials to allow him to fly to FloridaA prominent women's justice organization launched a campaign on Thursday to have the accused rapist and human trafficker Andrew Tate extradited from the US.The group, UltraViolet, also attacked the Trump administration for reportedly influencing Romanian officials to allow Tate to fly to Florida last month.This story was updated on 20 March 2025 to correct that the women's justice group is attempting to have Andrew Tate extradited, not deported; Tate is a US citizen and cannot be deported. Continue reading...

Paul Thijssen stalked 21-year-old water polo coach as she attempted to push back' against his manipulation, court hears

Over 30 demonstrators accuse campus officials and police of wrongful arrests and negligence during demonstrationsMore than 30 pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) sued campus officials and several law enforcement agencies, alleging civil rights violations, wrongful arrests and excessive force during demonstrations last year.A lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles superior court outlines the violence and significant injuries that UCLA Palestine Solidarity Encampment members experienced at the hands of police and counterprotesters from April to June of 2024. Continue reading...

Major cuts nearly inevitable' as Mayor Karen Bass warns no department is too precious' to pass over for reductionsBattered by the aftermath of historic wildfires and worsening economic conditions, the city of Los Angeles is projecting that it will face an estimated $1bn shortfall in its budget next year, which is likely to result in major cuts to city services.Next year's nearly $1bn budget gap makes layoffs nearly inevitable", city administrative officer Matt Szabo told the city council on Wednesday. We are not looking at dozens or even hundreds of layoffs, but thousands." Continue reading...

Union says Labour-run council could end industrial action with decent rate of pay', but town hall says offer is fairTalks aimed at ending a strike by waste collectors in Birmingham have ended without a breakthrough.Members of the Unite union in the city launched an all-out strike on 11 March in a long-running dispute over pay, leading to rubbish piling up and bins remaining unemptied for weeks. Residents have complained that rats are rummaging through the waste, leading to fears over public health.

State department turns down special request to supply city of Tijuana in drought-affected north for first time everThe United States has refused a request by Mexico for water, alleging shortfalls in sharing by its southern neighbor, as Donald Trump ramps up a battle on another front.The state department said on Thursday it was the first time that the United States had rejected a request by Mexico for special delivery of water, which would have gone to the border city of Tijuana. Continue reading...

Two animals tested positive after being rescued in Appin, prompting biosecurity measures to stop the disease spreading

Actor suggests she may have been intentionally smeared but no one has to forgive me' after recent controversyKarla Sofia Gascon has described herself as less racist than Gandhi" and insisted no one has to forgive me for anything" as she returns to the public eye after the emergence of offensive social media posts widely thought to have torpedoed the Oscar hopes of her film Emilia Perez.The Spanish performer, who became the first transgender woman to be nominated for a best actress Oscar, was dropped from the film's campaigning materials by its studio, Netflix, and criticised by colleagues and prominent politicians after the series of old racist and Islamophobic tweets came to light. Continue reading...

Hospitals say high proportion of women and children among dead in latest strikes

Samuel Jarrett-Coker, 61, who arrived from Sierra Leone as a child, had sought to resolve immigration status since 1980sThe Home Office has granted a man who has lived in the UK since he was a child the right to remain under the Windrush scheme after a battle of almost 50 years.Samuel Jarrett-Coker, 61, arrived in the UK at the age of 13 in 1976 from Sierra Leone on the diplomatic passport of his brother, who was 20 years older than him and worked in the country's embassy in London. Continue reading...

UK leader says Russia cannot veto how Ukraine defends itself as western military officials meet to draft security plans

As Trump seeks to withdraw the US from European defence, Keir Starmer is trying to develop closer ties with the UK's neighboursDonald Trump's isolationism and Vladimir Putin's menace leaves post-Brexit Britain in a delicate position. While the combination of US disengagement from Europe and the reality of Russian aggression has forced a reappraisal of security across the continent, Britain's half-in, half-out status makes for complications.The prime minister, Keir Starmer, wanted to showcase Britain's credentials as a European military leader on Thursday, first with a visit to the Barrow shipyard where nuclear submarines are built and then to look into a meeting of 30-plus military heads, mostly from Europe, as they discuss how to create a post-war stabilisation force for Ukraine. Continue reading...

Witness to defamation claim against the Guardian says the director requested she bend over till genitalia were visibleAn actor was embarrassed and horrified after Noel Clarke pressured her into an exposing and vulnerable position" in a film scene and then shared the footage with others on set, the high court has heard.Mila (not her real name), the seventh of Guardian News and Media's (GNM's) oral witnesses to Clarke's defamation claim against the publisher, said the former Doctor Who star directed her to bend over in a nude scene until her genitalia could be seen. Continue reading...

Police Scotland says former first minister not charged in party funding inquiry as husband appears in court for embezzlementNicola Sturgeon is no longer under investigation as part of the police case looking into alleged mishandling of Scottish National party funds.Police Scotland said the former Scottish first minister would not face any charges after her former husband, Peter Murrell, appeared for a private hearing at Edinburgh sheriff court on a single charge of embezzlement on Thursday. Continue reading...

Diplomats now working to secure release of two more citizens after backpacker Olivier Grondeau finally freedFrance is stepping up efforts to secure the release of two more of its citizens in Iran after Tehran freed a French man imprisoned for more than 880 days.News that Olivier Grondeau, arrested in Iran in October 2022 and sentenced to five years on charges of spying, had returned to France was announced by Emmanuel Macron. Macron gave no details of the negotiations leading to his release, though it came on Nowruz, the Persian new year, when Iran has released prisoners in the past. Continue reading...

Show of unity marred by Viktor Orban refusing to back declaration of support for UkraineEU leaders - apart from Hungary's Viktor Orban - say they are ready to increase pressure on Russia through further sanctions, as summit talks exposed a geographical divide on rearming Europe.Meeting in Brussels, the bloc agreed it was ready to levy further sanctions on Russia and strengthen existing measures after talks with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who joined by video link. Continue reading...

All nuclear power plants belong to the people of Ukraine,' Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Norway. This live blog is closedSwedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson said he was cautiously optimistic" about the progress made on Ukraine, but was growing frustrated with Russia's ifs and buts" on ceasefire, adding it was up to Moscow to prove it" that it is serious about ending the conflict.He also pointed to later talks in the UK with army chiefs and planners as an important part of discussions on how Europe can support any future peace agreement. Continue reading...