World news | The Guardian

The Howard government sent military personnel to the Middle East well before officially authorising Australia's involvement

John Howard's government legislated that marriage must be the union of a man and a woman', but excluded any reference to birth gender

Cancellations include Blackpool, Newcastle, Isle of Wight and Ripon, with weather also causing travel problemsHigh winds and heavy rain battering the UK have caused travel problems and the cancellation of a swathe of new year events including firework displays and a bathtub race that takes place in Europe's largest natural harbour.The predicted strong winds led to the cancellation of displays heralding the arrival of 2025 in places including Blackpool, Newcastle's quayside, the Isle of Wight and Ripon, North Yorkshire, joining the already cancelled Hogmanay festival in Edinburgh. Continue reading...

Nuns mark opening of Druk Amitabha nunnery with performance, five years after Covid closureAbout a dozen nuns performed hand chops and high kicks, some of them wielding swords, as they showed off their martial art skills to hundreds of cheering wellwishers at the reopening of their nunnery in Nepal.The nuns of the hilltop Druk Amitabha monastery put on the show of strength to mark the institution's reopening five years after Covid forced it to close its doors to the public. Continue reading...

Colin Butcher and his dog Molly are increasingly in demand as bereft owners hunt for missing cats and dogsOn a chilly December morning, Colin Butcher and his dog, Molly, are on the streets of Haywards Heath in West Sussex. But Molly is not out for a walk - instead she is hard at work trying to track down a missing cat.Pet theft is on the rise across the UK. Data from the insurer Direct Line suggested dog thefts had increased by 6% between 2022 and 2023, with English and French bulldogs - regularly sold for about 3,000 - among the most frequently targeted breeds. Continue reading...

French aircraft carry out strikes on Islamic State positions, says French defence minister Sebastien LecornuA UN report has said Israel's attacks on hospitals in and around Gaza have led the area's healthcare system to the brink of total collapse".The report by the UN Human Rights Office, titled Attacks on hospitals during the escalation of hostilities in Gaza, examines attacks between October 2023 and June 2024 and said successive attacks raise serious concerns" about the extent to which Israel is complying with international law. Continue reading...

South African dancer and choreographer died unexpectedly after a brief illness, her family saysThe dance world is mourning the internationally acclaimed South African dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo, who died in hospital at the weekend aged 39.Masilo died unexpectedly on Sunday after a brief illness, a spokesperson for her family said in a statement. Continue reading...

Martin Hibbert says his family were terrified after YouTuber who claimed they were crisis actors' covertly filmed themA survivor of the Manchester Arena attack is calling for greater legal protections from conspiracy theorists after a YouTuber with millions of viewers secretly filmed his family to try to prove they were crisis actors".Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve, now 22, were left with life-changing injuries by the blast, which killed 22 people and wounded hundreds more at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017. Continue reading...

Debbie Crosbie says more women take up flexible working to juggle work and childcare but it could block their promotion path

Some descendants are apprehensive but a historian says making 30m pages of records public is important step'For 80 years, details of their ancestors' collaboration with the Nazis have been buried in spotless rows of filing cabinets in The Hague. But thousands of Dutch families face having their relatives' history laid bare later this week when an archive opens on 425,000 people accused of siding with the occupier during the second world war.On Thursday, the central archives of the special jurisdiction courts (CABR), established after the allies liberated the Netherlands to bring collaborators to justice, will open under national archive rules. Continue reading...

Some of the 33 MPs elected in non-target seats have already made a big impression as they settle into unexpected rolesNeil Duncan-Jordan's new parliamentary office is at the top of a steep staircase in a maze of corridors just behind the speaker's house, with a sweeping view of the Thames. The space is decorated with mod posters and jazz vinyls; he has Miles Davis playing on the record player.I want it to be me," he said, gesturing around the room. Because this place isn't me, is it? Working-class people didn't come here very often in the past. Now there's many more of us and we bring our traditions. Somehow you've got to try and make this part of you." Continue reading...

Kennel Club finally recognises breed believed to be more than 1,000 years old that featured in Icelandic SagasA dog breed that was namechecked in one of William Shakespeare's plays and is believed to be more than 1,000 years old is to be finally recognised by the Kennel Club as a pedigree.The Icelandic sheepdog will be classified in the pastoral group on the imported breed register from 1 April. Continue reading...

Plea to partygoers comes as service struggles to handle ongoing critical incident' with patients facing delaysThe chief executive of the Welsh ambulance service has urged New Year's Eve revellers to drink in moderation and eat before they begin partying to help it cope with an ongoing critical incident".Jason Killens admitted people may already have come to harm because of delays in paramedics reaching them and said the crisis was likely to continue for the rest of Tuesday and into Wednesday.Consume alcohol in moderation, eating before they drink and alternating alcoholic beverages with soft drinks.Pre-arrange transport home, and never drive under the influence of drink or drugs.Avoid high-risk activities like fireworks - as well as burns, smoke inhalation from bonfires and fireworks can also irritate respiratory conditions, such as asthma. Continue reading...

Providing an opportunity for people to apply for a visa that will probably never come seems both cruel and unnecessary', review says

Police rushed to Edensor Park after two armed men were allegedly seen trying to break into a home

Exclusive: Care Quality Commission did not act on evidence casting doubt on care provider's version of events, ruling saysThe NHS ombudsman has criticised the service's care regulator for failing to properly investigate the death of a five-year-old boy in a specialist unit.The boy's foster mother - an NHS doctor - has accused the care provider that looked after him of instigating a cover-up" of how he died and frustrating her efforts to get to the truth. Continue reading...

Events including limitless drinks in ticket prices also see huge increase' on one of the year's biggest nights outWhether New Year's Eve is spent watching fireworks, celebrating at a pub, club or party, or eating grapes for good luck, more and more people across the UK are dining out for the occasion as trends shift from club nights to experiences.Eating in restaurants on New Year's Eve is on the rise. It increased in 2023 by 17% year on year, according to the online booking platform OpenTable, making it one of the most popular days to eat out after Mother's Day. Continue reading...

Physical release sales increased to 17.4m but the BPI says AI copyright exemptions put UK music industry at riskCharli xcx's Brat summer may have given way to cold winter, but the success of albums by female artists helped arrest a two-decade-long decline in sales of physical music.Women led the way in recorded music this year, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), topping the singles chart for 34 out of the 52 weeks and accounting for half of the top 20 albums for the first time. Continue reading...

Chris Stride leads project that gives insights into UK society - such as statues of Lester Piggott outnumbering those of womenThere are more statues of Lester Piggott in the UK than there are of sporting women," said the statistician Chris Stride with dismay. It is really bad ... there are hardly any at all."In fact, there are a fewer than a handful of sporting women celebrated with public statues. They include the pentathlete Mary Peters on the outskirts of Belfast; the 1930s Wimbledon champion Dorothy Round in Dudley; and the trailblazing footballer Lily Parr at the National Football Museum in Manchester. Continue reading...

RMT action on New Year's Eve and 2 January over rest day working will mean significantly reduced' timetablePassengers on the London to Glasgow main line face disruption to services in the coming days because of strikes by train managers at Avanti West Coast.Members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) at the company are due to strike on New Year's Eve and 2 January in a dispute over enhanced pay for rest day working, including voluntary overtime to cover staff absences such as those caused by vacancies, sickness, annual leave and training. Continue reading...

Friends last saw missing man Hadi Nazari, 24, descending the Hannels Spur Trail on Thursday

Risk of east coast showers to continue on New Year's Day, BoM says, while parts of NSW and Queensland set to stay dry and Victoria temperatures easing

Pradeep Dissanayake forced members to give him money and send hourly messages of praise before he sexually abused two girls, court of appeal says

People living near the Murray River or adjacent regions urged to take extra precautions to avoid disease transmitted by mosquitoes

The warrant was sought over Yoon's controversial and short-lived decision to impose martial law early in DecemberA South Korean court has approved an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached and suspended from power over his decision to impose martial law on 3 December, investigating authorities said.The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) confirmed a Seoul court approved the warrant requested by investigators examining Yoon's short-lived imposition of martial law. Continue reading...

Cabinet was split over east European countries joining in 2004, with some extremely concerned' by its implicationsSenior figures in Tony Blair's government, including John Prescott and Jack Straw, urged the then prime minister to delay opening the UK labour market to eastern European nationals shortly before they became EU citizens, newly released documents reveal.Papers released to the National Archives in Kew, west London, showed Prescott and Straw warned of a surge in immigration unless some controls were put in place. Continue reading...

Singer urged Tony Blair not to appoint African co-chair to commission on aid, UK government papers showThe Live Aid campaigner Bob Geldof urged Tony Blair not to appoint an African co-chair to the UK-led organisation working to overhaul international aid to the continent because he thought African leadership was very weak" on the issue, newly released government documents suggest.The singer was scathing about the ability and worthiness of virtually all African leaders" before the establishment in 2004 of Blair's Commission for Africa, which would produce a report, Our Common Interest, and prompt a landmark pledge by rich nations to boost aid and write off debt. Continue reading...

A senior US official said the president needed a dose of reality' to deal with Iraqi insurgents, documents revealTony Blair's advisers privately questioned if the US had proper political control" of military operations in Iraq after a senior US official confided that George W Bush believed he was on a mission from God" against Iraqi insurgents, newly released documents reveal.Blair needed to deliver some difficult messages" to the then US president for a more measured approach" in April 2004, following a US military operation to suppress a major uprising in the city of Falluja, according to papers released to the National Archives in Kew, west London. Continue reading...

Stretched primary services causing increase in emergency visits for issues from coughs to hiccups, health leaders sayThe number of people turning to A&E departments in England for minor ailments including hiccups, sore throats and coughs is soaring, as senior health leaders warn that NHS primary and community services are massively overstretched".NHS data shows a large increase in people arriving at emergency departments for non-emergency ailments including backache, insomnia and earache. Continue reading...

Government accuses Tories and rightwing media of being out of touch', as VAT policy due to come into forceThe government has accused critics of its plan to put VAT on private school fees of being detached from the real world after polling showed the policy, which will come into force on 1 January, is strongly backed by the public.The poll, commissioned by the Private Education Policy Forum (PEPF) thinktank, found that 54% of people backed the idea, with 22% opposing it. This is an even greater margin of support than seen in similar polls carried out before the election. Continue reading...

Newly released files show proposals to divert 2m - earmarked to prevent conflict in Africa - to fund schemeTony Blair's government discussed diverting 2m earmarked to prevent conflict in Africa in order to fund a controversial pilot scheme to process and house asylum-seekers in Tanzania, newly released government files show.Under the scheme, Britain would have offered Tanzania an extra 4m in aid if it opened an asylum camp to house people claiming to be Somalian refugees while their applications to live in Britain were assessed. Continue reading...

Patients waiting many hours for ambulances to arrive, while those phoning 999 struggle to get throughA critical incident" was declared by the Welsh ambulance service on Monday evening due to significantly increased demand and extensive handover delays.The ambulance service, which covers 3 million-plus people across Wales, said more than 340 calls were waiting to be answered at the time the critical incident was declared. Continue reading...

Former post office operators recognised in new year honours list for services to justiceCampaigners for justice in the Post Office scandal have said they will never give in" after receiving OBEs in the new year honours list.Lee Castleton, Seema Misra, Chris Head and Jo Hamilton were all honoured for services to justice. The lead campaigner, Sir Alan Bates, was knighted earlier this year. Continue reading...

Mayor of London truly humbled' to be made a knight as authors, actors and sporting stars receive honours

Raid on St John's Wood mansion believed to be one of biggest thefts from a house in British criminal historyDetectives are hunting a lone wolf" burglar who stole bespoke jewellery and designer items worth more than 10m in a 19-minute heist at a billionaire's row mansion in London.The man broke in through a second-floor window and cracked a safe to carry out what is believed to be one of the biggest ever thefts from a British home. Continue reading...

Council tells Israeli ambassador it condemns air raids that have killed Yemeni civilians as well as Houthi attacksIsrael has set out its case to the UN security council for a full assault on Houthi forces in Yemen, claiming the Iranian-backed group now represents a well-armed terrorist army that threatens not just the regional economy but the entire global order.The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, also called for the Houthis to be designated as a foreign terrorist organisation, a step that may make it more difficult for Iran to provide material support without facing further economic sanctions. Continue reading...

Some of the freed Ukrainians had been held since war's early days, while Russians were captured in Ukraine's Kursk offensiveRussia and Ukraine have carried out a major prisoner exchange, with at least 150 people from each side returning home before New Year's Eve, in a swap partly brokered by the United Arab Emirates.The return of our people from Russian captivity is always very good news for each of us. And today is one of such days: our team managed to bring 189 Ukrainians home," the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a message posted on Telegram on Monday. Continue reading...

Johnathan Joseph, known as DJ Spoony, went to hospital on 21 December after a headache lasted for weeksThe BBC presenter DJ Spoony has thanked the NHS and his family after being treated in hospital for a small bleed to the brain over the Christmas period.The Radio 2 host, whose real name is Johnathan Joseph, told listeners on Monday that he had been suffering with headaches for a few weeks but had put off being seen by a doctor until 21 December, when he decided to go to A&E. Continue reading...

New Hampshire's Chris Sununu said of Musk he's, in a way, so rich he's removed from the potential financial influence'The Republican New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu was caught in a riptide of criticism for a comment that Elon Musk - the world's richest man and close ally of US president-elect Donald Trump - was too wealthy to be corrupted or influenced.Sununu was asked on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday if he thought Musk had a conflict of interest in owning companies, including SpaceX, that have held billions of dollars in government contracts while also leading an unofficial agency to slash public spending in Trump's second presidency. Continue reading...

After death of former US president at age 100, leaders from the UK, Ukraine, Australia, Egypt and France have spoken of his enduring commitment to peace

Hussam Abu Safiya feared injured as Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza shut down after 11 weeks under siegeOne of the few doctors still working in northern Gaza has been taken to an Israeli prison and his hospital shut down, his family believe.Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza's Jabaliya refugee camp, was initially taken to the Sde Teiman detention camp, according to his son, who has been told that the doctor's leg was badly injured during a raid on the hospital by Israeli soldiers. Continue reading...

Lavin became working-class icon as waitress in TV sitcom and enjoyed long and celebrated career on stage and screenLinda Lavin, a Tony Award-winning stage actor who became a working-class icon as a paper-hat wearing waitress on the TV sitcom Alice, has died. She was 87.Lavin died in Los Angeles on Sunday of complications from recently discovered lung cancer, her representative, Bill Veloric, told the Associated Press in an email. Continue reading...

Hogmanay festival organisers cancel outdoor events with high winds and rain predicted to hit city in coming daysEdinburgh's New Year's Eve street parties and fireworks display have been cancelled on safety grounds because of storms forecast for the next 36 hours.The city's Hogmanay festival organisers said the high winds and rain predicted to hit the city made it unsafe to hold any of the outdoor events planned for Monday and Tuesday nights. Continue reading...

Severe storm system led to at least 45 reports of damage in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and GeorgiaMultiple tornadoes that began spawning across several southern US states on Saturday afternoon have resulted in the deaths of at least four people.Officials spent Sunday assessing the devastation inflicted by the severe storm system that produced the tornadoes. Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center, told the Associated Press that there were at least 45 reports of damage from the tornadoes across the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Continue reading...

Racing champion turned active travel advocate criticises parts of the media for safety scaremongeringThe UK's public health is being directly harmed by anti-cycling coverage in parts of the media, Chris Boardman, who heads the government's main active travel organisation, has told the Guardian.Boardman, a former champion cyclist and businessman, leads Active Travel England (ATE) and is at the forefront of government efforts to help people switch from car trips to healthier and more sustainable travel. Continue reading...

Two others charged with drug supply in connection with One Direction singer's fall from Buenos Aires hotel balconyThree people have been charged with manslaughter, and two others with drug supply, in connection with the death of Liam Payne, who was allegedly seen being dragged to his room" while unconscious moments before he fell from his balcony in Argentina earlier this year.The 31-year-old former One Direction singer fell from the third floor of the Casa Sur hotel in Buenos Aires on 16 October. Continue reading...

A spate of six murders has taken the Caribbean nation's total to 623 in 2024, of which nearly half were gang related and almost all linked to organised crime, say policeThe government of Trinidad and Tobago has declared a state of emergency after a weekend of violence in the Caribbean dual-island nation took the number of murders this year to 623.Five men were shot overnight in an estate on the outskirts of the capital, Port of Spain, and a 57-year-old woman was shot dead on Friday as she collected her teenage son from hospital in San Fernando. Continue reading...

Authorities announce investigation as shocked citizens enter second day of official mourningSouth Korea has launched an emergency safety inspection of the country's entire airline operations, and a separate check of all Boeing 737-800s, after 179 people died in a Jeju Air crash involving the aircraft on Sunday.As shocked citizens began a second day of official mourning and flags flew at half-mast, the government said it would carry out the audit of all 101 of the aircraft in domestic operation, with US investigators, possibly including Boeing, joining the inspection. Continue reading...

Mizo Games wants players to have a chance to experience war on the tabletop before it reaches us'As families in Taiwan prepare to gather for lunar new year celebrations in January, a game that will be released that month promises to offer some war-themed fun over the festive period.The board game 2045, developed by the Taiwanese company Mizo Games, invites players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years in the future. Players are given roles that include Taiwanese army officers, Chinese sleeper agents and volunteer citizen fighters. Continue reading...

Financier has sued paper over articles containing allegations that he had sexually assaulted or harassed womenThe hedge fund manager Crispin Odey is seeking at least 79m in damages from the Financial Times after suing the publication for libel, documents filed at the high court show.Odey began legal action against the FT in May over four articles published in 2023 which contained allegations that he had sexually assaulted or harassed multiple women. Continue reading...