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Leader launches roadmap' of first 100 days in power to show party is ready to govern if it wins Senedd electionsThe leader of Plaid Cymru has described the prospect of leading the next government in Wales as a heck of a task" but that he senses voters are increasingly driven by their Welsh identity and may be ready for Britain to be redesigned".Speaking to the Guardian as he published a glossy 60-page roadmap" for his party's first 100 days in government, if it takes power in May, Rhun ap Iorwerth said he was ready to lead the devolved administration in Cardiff but would work with other parties if he did not win a majority. Continue reading...

PM says British planes in the sky today' to protect allies in Middle East from retaliatory strikes by Tehran

North Carolina's Michael Phillips revealed that he had a 0.38in member in bid to reduce stigma of the conditionA North Carolina man has challenged anyone on earth to disprove his claim of having the world's smallest penis as he advocates against body shaming and aims to raise awareness about the medical condition known as micropenis.Michael Phillips, 38, threw down the gauntlet in an interview posted Friday on TMZ's YouTube channel, in which he purported that his penis was 0.38in (0.97cm) when fully erect - and, holding up the fingernail on his right pinky to illustrate that length, added: When it's flaccid, it's smaller than that." Continue reading...

The education secretary wants a fairer system and the Tories have leapt in with their own plan - but why now?For anyone who attended university in England in the last 15 or so years, the idea of student loans feeling like some sort of debt trap is hardly news. But three weeks ago, when the journalist Oli Dugmore discussed this on the BBC's Question Time, it felt like a moment.It was less the size of the initial debt, he explained, than the way above-inflation interest rates meant the interest charged alone was now almost as much as the original sum. So was it mis-sold to me?" he asked, rhetorically. Yes, I'd say so." Continue reading...

Caspar San Giorgio to appear in court after defacing London statue with slogans including Zionist war criminal'A 38-year-old man has been charged with criminal damage after Winston Churchill's statue outside the Houses of Parliament was sprayed with graffiti labelling the former prime minister a Zionist war criminal".The Metropolitan police arrested Caspar San Giorgio, of no fixed address, shortly after 4am on Friday. He was charged in the early hours of Saturday morning and is due to appear at Highbury Corner magistrates court in London. Continue reading...

Cygnet Texkimp was approved to export machines to Rydena, but ministers examining deal after Guardian highlighted founders' links to Kremlin military supply chainMinisters are reviewing a decision to allow a British company to export hi-tech equipment to Armenia after the Guardian uncovered links to the Russian military supply chain.Cygnet Texkimp, based in Cheshire, was weeks away from exporting two machines that produce carbon fibre prepreg", a lightweight material that can be used in a range of civil and military applications. Continue reading...

Experts say global measles vaccination rates are falling as Trump officials signal a deprioritization of the virusThe US government has amplified anti-vaccine rhetoric and signaled that it does not consider measles to be a priority, which could have global ramifications as countries around the world have lost or are on the brink of losing measles elimination status.The World Health Organization announced in late January that six European countries: the United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan had all officially lost their measles elimination status, which means the virus has been circulating continuously in those countries for more than 12 months. In order to contain measles, at least 95% of children should be fully vaccinated against it, according to health recommendations, but vaccination rates have been falling across Europe. Continue reading...

US president violates UN charter just days into his Board of Peace era, and chooses to take the biggest gamble of his administration

Rebranded' terror group seeks to recruit those alienated by Damascus government's western pivotOn the surface, all that remains of Islamic State in the Syrian town of Baghuz are discarded tubs of whitening cream, spent RPG motors and children's backpacks, with an old grenade nestled in the frayed pink nylon.It was here nearly seven years ago that IS made its last stand. Its most zealous followers were obliterated along with the blood-soaked caliphate they fought to defend. Their bodies were collected and buried next to the town graveyard, while bulldozers came and sealed the entire area under a layer of heavy yellow earth. Continue reading...

Private providers accused of prescribing powerful stimulants without examining young patients properlyChildren with ADHD are being put at risk by poorly regulated private clinics that prescribe powerful stimulants without key physical examinations, doctors have warned.A surge in remote-only assessments has led to what one clinician described as widespread and unsafe practice", where children are being diagnosed and medicated via video link. The clinical warnings have now forced health authorities in Greater Manchester to overhaul prescribing rules, mandating face-to-face checks to protect the safety of children. Continue reading...

Few clues as to how 10 heavily armed men intercepted on stolen speedboat came together from across Florida or what they hoped to achieveFoot traffic was slow outside the Bay of Pigs Museum on Calle Ocho in Miami's Little Havana neighbourhood. A few tourists in T-shirts and shorts bypassed the gallery dedicated to one of the most fateful days in Cuba's history and headed instead to nearby Maximo Gomez Park to take photographs of Cuban exiles playing dominoes.This is the street at the heart of the Cuban expat community of more than 1 million people where tens of thousands partied through the night in November 2016 to celebrate the death of Fidel Castro, and where they gathered in sorrow almost exactly 30 years ago to mourn four Cuban-Americans shot down by the communist country's air force as they conducted a mission for the humanitarian exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Continue reading...

Project Play finds UK taxpayers are funding record child fatalities' and repeated violence' against children in northern FranceThe deaths of 22 children while trying to cross the Channel in the last two years, along with the mistreatment of thousands of others, were due to catastrophic failures" of the UK and French governments, according to a new report.Project Play, an NGO that has worked with 2,192 children hoping to cross the Channel from northern France to the UK to claim asylum in the last two years, has documented the impact of the hostile conditions in northern France due to regular teargassing, evictions and dinghy-slashing by the French police. Continue reading...

Legendary nightclub Le Palace, where Serge Gainsbourg and Prince also performed, to rise againIn the late 1970s, Le Palace in Paris's busy theatre district was one of continental Europe's most famous nightclubs.On the opening night on 1 March 1978, Grace Jones stunned VIP guests with her rendition of Edith Piaf's classic La Vie en Rose. Later, Serge Gainsbourg and Prince came to perform, Bob Marley was photographed there and Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol and Karl Lagerfeld were part of a glittering cast of international celebrities, politicians, designers and models who came to drink and dance. Continue reading...

As the director general prepares to stand down, potential candidates have fallen away amid a series of crisesThere is an impressive shortlist circulating in Britain's media circles, comprising some of the most talented executives in the business. Unfortunately for the BBC, it contains the names of figures no longer in the running to become its next director general.Those closely observing the corporation's search for a successor to Tim Davie have been quick to note how the events of the past week help explain the alarming attrition rate. Continue reading...

Department of foreign affairs alerts travellers to extremely volatile' situation

Roger Cook condemned dog whistling under the guise of immigration policy' after police lay charges against alleged member of white supremacist group

Likelihood of winning to decrease after NS&I cut the proportion of the total invested amount paid out in prizesThere was some bad news this week for Britain's 22 million-strong army of premium bond holders: the odds of winning a prize are to get worse.National Savings and Investments (NS&I) says it is cutting the proportion of the total invested amount paid out in prizes from 3.6% to 3.3% a year with effect from April's draw. Continue reading...

Case brought by 29 workers and backed by UVW union seen as test case that could lead to changes at other restaurantsHarrods is facing legal action over its addition of a 1-a-head cover charge to diners' bills that does not go to workers, in a test case that could lead to changes at a string of upmarket restaurants.Legislation, which came into force in October 2024, requires business owners to hand over all tips and service charges to staff. Some restaurants, including those at Harrods, add a mandatory cover charge as well as an optional service charge and only pass on the latter to their workers. Continue reading...

PM criticises sectarian politics' in byelection but party may fear Greens' nascent leftwing political machineThe Green party's success at winning Muslim votes in Gorton and Denton has sent tremors through Westminster, prompting recriminations and accusations from opposition parties, who sense another major realignment in British politics.Experts say Hannah Spencer's unexpectedly wide margin of victory was delivered in part by a significant shift of Muslim voters from Labour to the Greens. Continue reading...

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the last seven days Continue reading...

Event's first venture outside London aims to recognise geographical diversity of UK's music talentVisitors to Manchester this week have been visibly amused to be arriving into Olivia Deansgate station, with many posing for selfies in front of the temporary sign. The tribute to the chart-busting musician is just one indication of how Manchester is embracing the arrival of the Brit awards on Saturday, the event's first venture outside London in its five-decade history.Stacey Tang, theBrit awards chair, said the move to the Co-op Live arena was about recognising the geographical diversity of the country's music talent. Creativity doesn't happen in one postcode in the UK ... so the idea that the biggest night in music should always be in London, I think, is ageing out," she said. Continue reading...

US threats to seize Greenland have created new international fault lines' that can be used to spread disinformation, Danish intelligence agencies sayDenmark's intelligence services have warned that a foreign power may try to sway the general election on 24 March, saying the main threat was from Russia over support for Ukraine but also citing the chaos caused by US efforts to seize Greenland.The PET police intelligence service and FE military intelligence said in a joint statement the election campaign could be marked by disinformation and cyberattacks to sow division, influence the public debate or to target candidates, parties or specific political programmes". Continue reading...

Syaban Shadikillah told to get new driver's licence after being issued one using photo of him with colander on his head

The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is widely regarded as one of the Democratic party's leading contenders for the 2028 presidential election. He has also published a new book, Young Man in a Hurry, reflecting on his childhood and his path to the governor's mansion.This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Newsom about why he believes the Democrats suffered such heavy losses in 2024, why the party needs to be less judgmental, and whether he intends to run for president in 2028 Continue reading...

Critics claim the operations are geared at social media, but police say they have enabled real arrestsPolice officers from Bangkok's metropolitan bureau had less than 24 hours to prepare for their latest undercover operation. They would be starring as performers of a lion dance at a temple fair held for the lunar new year. Their mission: track down and arrest a suspected thief who had a history of evading officers.The dance was spontaneous. We just did what we did," said the police captain Lertvarit Lertvorapreecha, adding that nobody had time to practise. In his haste, he accidentally picked up his colleague's male mask, which he wore with a red silk dress, trousers and tactical shoes. Continue reading...

Taliban offer to resolve dispute via dialogue after Pakistan bombed cities in Afghanistan in latest escalation with its neighbourWashington endorsed Pakistan's right to defend itself" after it bombed major cities across Afghanistan amid heightened tensions between the two hostile neighbours.The Taliban government in Kabul stressed it was ready to negotiate on Friday as violence intensified between the two countries. Continue reading...

Riot police use teargas to disperse people gathering around wreckage of plane loaded with money from central bankAt least 15 people have died after a military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed on Friday near Bolivia's capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on a highway and scattering bills on the ground, an official has said.Fire chief Pavel Tovar did not specify if those killed were in the plane or on the highway near the airport in La Paz. He said people had been injured. Continue reading...

US president accuses Tehran of failing to negotiate in good faith' over its nuclear programme

As tensions between two countries reach new highs, US president says regime is talking with us'Donald Trump has suggested the US could carry out a friendly takeover" of Cuba as tensions between Washington and Havana reach a new high after the capture of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro.As he left the White House for a campaigning event in Texas on Friday, Trump said: The Cuban government is talking with us. They're in a big deal of trouble." Continue reading...

Sherry Xue Li ripped off millions from foreign investors and funnelled some stolen money into US political campaignsA New York businesswoman was sentenced Friday to nine years in federal prison over a financial scheme that ripped off more than $30m from foreign investors and funnelled some of the stolen money into US political campaigns, including a Donald Trump fundraiser during his first presidency.Sherry Xue Li was also ordered to forfeit $31.5m, as well as property at three locations, and to make restitution to her victims. Continue reading...

Musician died after being rushed to hospital in Los Angeles on Friday, with his family remembering him as a true rock and roll legend' and inspiration to millions'Neil Sedaka, the singer-songwriter behind Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, Oh! Carol, Calendar Girl and Bad Blood as well as many hits performed by other artists including Stupid Cupid and Love Will Keep Us Together, has died aged 86.A representative confirmed his death to Variety on Friday, hours after he was reportedly rushed to hospital in Los Angeles. No cause of death was given. Continue reading...

Opposition leader Jess Wilson is under pressure to reveal her position on a deal with Pauline Hanson's party as the state election approaches

Home secretary will defy plain wrong' calls from unions and leftwing MPs that she is alienating Muslim votersShabana Mahmood will press on with hardline immigration policies despite calls for a reversal from unions and left-leaning Labour MPs after the Green party's byelection victory.Senior Labour sources insisted that the home secretary would continue to roll out changes to asylum policy, dismissing as plain wrong" claims that it would further alienate Muslim voters. Continue reading...

Law demanding IDs must match sex at birth' invalidated the driver's licenses of about 1,700 trans people in the state

Mary Walsh, leaving after 46 years, says staffers told to aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum'A veteran CBS News producer who is leaving the network after 46 years has suggested that political bias is at play at the network in a farewell memo sent to colleagues on Friday afternoon.We've been reading a lot of goodbyes lately and here I am headed out the door. It's too soon, even after 46 years," Mary Walsh wrote in the memo, which was obtained by the Guardian. But maybe it's for the best. We've been told to aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum. Honestly, I don't know how to do that." Continue reading...

Attorney general says $111bn deal will be investigated amid concerns over monopoly power and job losses

Former Boy Scouts cave to Pete Hegseth as he laments move from focus on God as the ruler of the universe'

Tehran's ICBMs cannot currently reach the US, experts say, and White House has claimed its nuclear programme has been destroyed

Ofcom says that after provisional ruling it could apply to courts to demand internet providers stop access to siteA suicide forum linked to deaths in Britain has been ruled provisionally in breach of the Online Safety Act after it failed to properly block access to UK users when ordered to do so last year.Ofcom, the online regulator, said it could now apply to the courts to demand internet service providers block access to the site in the UK. This will depend on how the site, which also faces fines, responds over the next 10 days. Continue reading...

Attorney general Pam Bondi says 39 people now charged over January protest and warns more to come'Federal authorities have arrested more people on Friday for their alleged involvement in a protest at a church in Minnesota in January, following earlier arrests of organizers and journalists that were demonstrating amid sweeping, and often violent, immigration enforcement efforts in the state.Attorney general Pam Bondi said the justice department unsealed an indictment that charged 30 more people for the demonstration. Of those charged, federal agents have already arrested 25 of them, Bondi said, with more to come". The latest arrests bring the total number of people charged to 39. Continue reading...

Investigation under way after vehicle ploughs into buildingA tram derailed and crashed into a building in Milan on Friday, killing two people and injuring 38 others.One of the dead was hit by the tram as it derailed while the second victim was a passenger, the city's mayor, Giuseppe Sala, told reporters at the scene. Continue reading...

Labour billed it as two-horse race' with Reform UK, but Greens' media campaign, and Hannah Spencer's authenticity, won the dayFrom the outset of the Gorton and Denton byelection, Labour strategists were desperate to say the party was on course to win, but the party's trouncing at the hands of the Greens has made this look laughable in hindsight.Hollie Ridley, Labour's general secretary, sent a note to No 10 at the end of January saying it was clearly a two-horse race" with Reform UK, and only 3% of voters saying they would stick with the Greens. Continue reading...

Military reckoned good' Afghan insurgents were separate from bad' Pakistani insurgents but distinction has blurredDays after the Taliban swept to power in 2021, Pakistan's then spymaster appeared in Kabul on what looked to many like a victory lap. Sipping tea in the lobby of the Afghan capital's fanciest hotel, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed told reporters: Don't worry, everything will be OK."This week it became clear just how badly Pakistan had miscalculated how it could rely on the Taliban, as Islamabad unleashed airstrikes in Afghanistan and troops from both countries fought each other on the border. Continue reading...

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Scale of defeat to Greens has plunged party into fresh despair and again raised prospect of leadership challengeKeir Starmer is facing an ultimatum from his own party to change direction or risk a leadership challenge within months after the Greens humiliated Labour with a historic byelection victory in Gorton and Denton.Overturning a 13,000 Labour majority from the general election, Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green councillor, became the party's fifth MP on Friday. Reform UK's Matt Goodwin was second, just ahead of the Labour candidate, Angeliki Stogia. Continue reading...

Countdown to May has begun and dejected Labour MPs want to see in that time that PM is capable of changeWhen Labour's Scottish leader, Anas Sarwar, urged Keir Starmer to stand down two weeks ago, Starmer's closest advisers presented him a choice: fight, flight or hand over his destiny to his party by calling a leadership contest.The prime minister chose the first option and his Downing Street team sprung into action to contain the threat. At the moment of greatest peril for Starmer, MPs peered over the precipice and didn't like what they saw. Continue reading...

Reports of African men being attracted to Russia by promises of jobs and ending up on Ukraine's frontlines have become more frequentAt least 55 Ghanaians have been killed in Russia's war with Ukraine after being lured into battle", Ghana's foreign minister has said after a visit to Kyiv in which officials raised the issue of Russian recruitment of African people.Reports of African men being attracted to Russia by promises of jobs and ending up on Ukraine's frontlines have become more frequent in recent months, creating tensions between Moscow and some of the countries involved. Continue reading...

In a stunning setback for Labour, the Green party has decisively won the Gorton and Denton byelection, with Reform UK finishing second. Does this result signal the end of Labour's safe seats? And could it mark the beginning of the end for Keir Starmer? John Harris, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey unpack the fallout - and explore what might happen next Continue reading...

This live blog is now closedTrade between the EU and two South American countries may start within two months under a provision application of the Mercosur deal.The law allows the provisional application of the deal can happen two months after notification has been exchanged between both sides in the form of a note verbale' that the deal will enter into provision application."The president reached out to member states and to MEPS, that's what it means. She reached out to member states and MEPs, and I remind you that the member states as the European Council, endorsed and approved the EU Mercosur agreement and empowered the European Commission to move forward with provisional application." Continue reading...

Newly elected Gorton and Denton MP taps into colour meme of the moment with statement waistcoat