World news | The Guardian

Frontbenchers use social media to put pressure on PM after Commons report criticises military funding plansTwo serving ministers have called for a much greater pace" of investment in defence spending, putting pressure on Rishi Sunak one day after the Commons' spending watchdog warned that the Ministry of Defence had no credible plan to fund the military capabilities the government wants.The Foreign Office minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Home Office minister Tom Tugendhat said in a post on LinkedIn that the UK needs to lead the way" by increasing defence and security spending to at least 2.5% of gross domestic product, a measure of the size of the economy. Continue reading...

Bridget Phillipson said the education secretary's talk of punching inspectors demeans officeBridget Phillipson has accused Gillian Keegan of demeaning" the office of education secretary by saying she would probably have punched Ofsted inspectors, describing Keegan's remarks as pathetic".Keegan told a headteacher's conference on Friday that she would have probably punched" rude Ofsted inspectors, based on an account she had heard during a recent school visit. Continue reading...

Posthumous award for police, firefighters and others comes after campaign by fathers of murdered PCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona BoneAn award for public servants killed in the line of duty has been announced by the UK government.The Elizabeth Emblem will be awarded as recognition to the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the course of undertaking eligible public service", the government said on Saturday. It is the civilian equivalent of the Elizabeth Cross, which recognises members of the UK armed forces who died in action or as a result of a terrorist attack. Continue reading...

Ksenia Karelina faces life in prison over what husband says stems from charity donation - and he's calling on the US to helpIt could be the making of a fairytale - a love story about a ballerina and a boxer. Instead, it turned into a nightmare. The amateur ballerina Ksenia Karelina, an American and Russian dual citizen who celebrated the new year with a trip to Istanbul with her partner Chris van Heerden, a South African professional boxer, before heading to Russia to visit family, was arrested and detained by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) on 28 January in her hometown of Yekaterinburg, about 1,100 miles east of Moscow.Karelina may be the latest victim in a chess match over detainees between the US and Russia, which dates back more than 15 years when, in 2008, the US Drug Enforcement Administration arrested Viktor Bout, a former Soviet military officer and translator, on conspiracy charges. Bout was eventually traded in 2022 for the WNBA champion Brittney Griner, who Russian officials had arrested for possessing vaporizer cartridges containing less than a gram of hash oil. Continue reading...

Iran-backed group is attempting to strike ships it claims have links to Israel, in solidarity with Gaza

Cuttings were salvaged from world-famous tree by Hadrian's Wall after it was cut down last yearSeedlings have sprouted from the rescued seeds and cuttings of the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree which was unlawfully felled last year.A National Trust conservation team was able to cultivate about 45 seedlings from the seeds and twigs salvaged from the site by Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, Andy Jaspar, the trust's director of gardens and parklands, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Saturday. Continue reading...

Dangerous batteries and conversion kits still being sold online, new safety data revealsEleven people were killed in fires caused by e-bikes in the UK last year as ministers face calls for urgent action over the sale of dangerous products.E-bike fires can be particularly deadly because they can rapidly ignite in a fireball and are routinely left to charge overnight in hallways, blocking what may be the only exit. Campaigners compare the most dangerous products to unexploded bombs". Continue reading...

Matt Rosendale says his failed Senate run fueled false and defamatory rumors' about his familyA Republican congressman from Montana has announced that he is quitting politics after he says his failed recent bid for the US senate led to a death threat" against him as well as false and defamatory rumors" about him and his family.Matt Rosendale, a member of the far-right House freedom caucus, signed up in February to participate in Montana's Republican primary to challenge the Democratic incumbent, Jon Tester, in November. But Rosendale soon withdrew after Donald Trump and the National Republican Senatorial Committee each endorsed his opponent, Tim Sheehy, an aerospace millionaire and retired navy seal. Continue reading...

Whistleblower Ian Foxley alleges MoD had role in him losing his job while acquitted businessman John Mason seeks payment of legal costs

Duchess of Sussex finds the cruel' hatred being spewed' online disturbing and keeps her distance for her wellbeingThe Duchess of Sussex has said she received hateful abuse on social media while she was pregnant with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.Meghan gave a keynote speech as part of a panel that included the US actor Brooke Shields at the annual SXSW Conference in Texas to mark International Women's Day. Continue reading...

Guy Chambers says future albums may need disclaimers about how they were made amid rise of AI's use for writing songsThe songwriter behind hits for Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue has described the acceleration in use of artificial intelligence in the music industry as terrifying" because of its potential to replace songwriters.Guy Chambers, who has collaborated with Williams over more than two decades, said: I think we may get to a stage in the future where an album will need to have a badge saying this is an all-human record'. Continue reading...

Some of the Tories' anti-woke warriors' seem unaware that protection of speech in parliament does not extend to social mediaOn 28 October, Michelle Donelan, the secretary of state for science, published a letter expressing her disgust and outrage" that two academics who had been appointed to an advisory group had been sharing some extremist views on social media".It was an extremely serious accusation levelled against two researchers who had just joined a Research England advisory group on equality, diversity and inclusion. Donelan wanted the group disbanded. Continue reading...

Fifth major pro-Palestine rally of the year comes after government adviser warns against portraying protesters as extremistThousands of protesters are expected to gather again in central London to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the fifth major pro-Palestine demonstration in the capital so far this year.Saturday's protest comes a day after Dame Sara Khan, a UK government adviser on social cohesion, said attempts to portray protesters on pro-Palestinian marches as extremist were outrageous" and dangerous. Continue reading...

Gili Roman recalls worst days of my life' while sister was missing and relief after her release in NovemberFor five days, Gili Roman waited for a phone call to bring news of his sister's release among the first group of hostages freed from Gaza in November, after weeks of relentless violence in the war between Israel and Hamas.When the call came at two in the morning, he cycled from Tel Aviv to his father's home in a neighbouring town. There they waited, and when morning came he told his three-year-old niece of her mother's return, watching as she ran through the apartment smiling and laughing. Continue reading...

Problem rooted in staffing levels and unsustainable pressure on exhausted employees, complaints body for NHS in England saysCancer patients in England could be at risk because NHS staff are overstretched and exhausted, the official complaints body has warned.The parliamentary and health service ombudsman, which investigates complaints about government departments and the NHS in England, said that between April 2020 and December 2023, 185 of 1,019 investigations relating to patients with cancer were upheld or partly upheld. Continue reading...

Proceeds from sale - which is believed to be below $5 million - will be used to pay back some of the money stolen from investors

Large-scale gang assault on multiple government buildings in capital reported as violence causes political crisis to spiral out of control

Exclusive: Syndicate agreed to lend up to 640m to Allwyn in 2020, two years before contract awardedThe company behind the national lottery was borrowing millions from Kremlin-owned banks when it won the UK's largest public-sector contract, the Guardian can reveal.Russia's two largest lenders, VTB and Sberbank, were part of a syndicate that agreed to lend up to 640m (545m) to Allwyn in 2020, two years before the pan-European gaming specialist was named the preferred bidder" for the 6.5bn lottery contract. Continue reading...

Police say they acted appropriately' when they shot a 26-year-old woman who fatally stabbed her 53-year-old mother

Pitch music and arts festival attenders urged to delay arrival, with those already on site advised to head home

Bus mounted a kerb and pinned the 18-year-old against wall near one of the city's busiest intersections during peak hour

The 39-year-old has also been charged with improperly interfering with a corpse or human remains

Thirty-year-old arrested over death of three-month-old child in September 2011

PropTrack report finds availability at its lowest in 17 years, with only 39% of properties affordable for median income households

Investigation begins into Homerton Fertility Centre after errors discovered in freezing processesA fertility clinic in London has had its licence to operate suspended because of significant concerns" about the unit, the regulator has said.The Homerton Fertility Centre has been ordered by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to halt any new procedures while investigations continue. Continue reading...

Defense department releases report calling deluge of reports and claims about government reverse-engineering tech inaccurate'The US is not secretly hiding alien technology or extraterrestrial beings from the public, according to a defense department report.On Friday, the Pentagon published the findings of an investigation conducted by the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), a government office established in 2022 to detect and, as necessary, mitigate threats including anomalous, unidentified space, airborne, submerged and transmedium objects". Continue reading...

Ben Trotman had an invasive growth of cells called a glioblastoma, which leaves patients with an average nine-month life expectancyThe only person in the world to receive a groundbreaking treatment for brain cancer is doing well almost a year and a half later, a charity has said.Ben Trotman, 41, took part in a clinical trial that used immunotherapy to target his glioblastoma, an invasive growth of cells in the brain that gives an average life expectancy of nine months. Continue reading...

Victims' families say Jon Boutcher's report into British spy proves state and IRA were co-conspirators' in murderThe police chief who led the inquiry into a murderous British spy in the IRA known as Stakeknife has condemned MI5 for stalling his investigation, as his report was hailed by victims' families as proof that the British state and the IRA had been co-conspirators" in murder.Jon Boutcher criticised attempts to undermine me and the investigation" and spoke of a delay strategy deployed by the secret services as he revealed that agent Stakeknife had probably killed more people than he saved in the service of the British state.The army's claim that Stakeknife saved hundreds" of lives was implausible", rooted in fables and fairy tales" and should have rung alarm bells". He said it was probable that the handling of Stakeknife resulted in more lives being lost than saved".Stakeknife was involved in very serious and wholly unjustifiable criminality, including murder".There were several cases of murder where the security forces had advance intelligence but did not intervene in order to protect sources.Boutcher had extremely fractious spells" with the secret services. He was forced to hold several meetings with MI5 to raise concerns regarding access to information, its decision to classify as top secret' an accumulation of secret' documents, the fact that solicitors representing former security force personnel had been given greater and unorthodox access to MI5 materials and my concern that its strategy was one of delay".When Operation Kenova tried to submit evidence files in October 2019 to prosecutors on Scappaticci and members of the security services relating to cases of murder, abduction and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, that MI5 informed us that the building's security accreditation had expired and we therefore could not proceed". The evidence was finally submitted in February 2020. Continue reading...

Juan Orlando Hernandez, 55, once a US ally in the war on drugs', found guilty on three counts and faces 40 years in prisonThe former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez has been convicted of cocaine trafficking, securing a place in infamy for the one-time US ally in the war on drugs.Hernandez is the first former head of state to be found guilty of drug trafficking in the United States since Panamanian strongman General Manuel Noriega was convicted in 1992. Continue reading...

Road crash deaths are the leading cause of death for children aged 1 to 13 in Australia and experts say many could be prevented with better restraints

Helpline set up for those worried about Legacy Independent Funeral Directors as investigation proceedsPolice are searching a chain of funeral parlours in Hull and the surrounding area after receiving a report of concern for care of the deceased".A helpline has been set up for anyone worried about their loved ones' treatment at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors. Continue reading...

Security forces and government still refuse to clarify allegations that Freddie Scappaticci was British spy at the heart of the IRAIt is both darkly telling and extraordinarily dispiriting that even now, after a 40m investigation, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher cannot formally say in his interim report that Stakeknife, the British spy at the heart of the IRA, was Freddy Scappaticci, despite the fact that he died last year in England, aged 77.The security forces and the government have steadfastly refused to confirm or deny the allegations that Mr Scappaticci was an agent or that he was Stakeknife," the police officer writes of the man, who operated inside the IRA's so-called Nutting Squad, which sought to root out and kill alleged informers. Continue reading...

President heads for battleground state Pennsylvania as re-election rematch with Trump finally begins in earnestReveling in warm reviews for a fiery State of the Union speech, Joe Biden was set to hit the campaign trail on Friday, heading for Philadelphia as his re-election rematch with Donald Trump finally began in earnest.Three days after Trump dominated the Super Tuesday primaries and saw off the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, his last rival for the Republican nomination, Biden was set to speak at a middle school in Wallingford, the sort of suburb that has trended Democratic as Republicans have marched to the right. Continue reading...

Commission president says pilot delivery is expected to set sail on Saturday but did not say where shipments would land or unloadThe EU has announced the opening of a sea corridor this weekend for shipping humanitarian aid from Cyprus to Gaza in the race to stave off a famine that is already claiming lives.We are now very close to the opening of the corridor, hopefully this Sunday. And I'm very glad to see that an initial pilot operation will be launched today," the EU commission president, Ursula Von der Leyen, told reporters after touring harbour facilities at the Cypriot port of Larnaca, the departure point for the aid shipments. Continue reading...

Package fell down like a rocket' on roof of house near al-Shati refugee camp where people were waiting, a witness saysFive people have been killed and 10 injured in Gaza when they were hit by a pallet of aid parachuted into the territory as part of a humanitarian airdrop.Witnesses said the accident happened on Friday morning near the coastal refugee camp known as al-Shati, one of the most devastated parts of Gaza, after a parachute attached to the pallet failed to deploy properly and the parcel fell on a group of men, teenagers and younger children hoping to obtain food and other supplies. Continue reading...

Highest court threw out previous convictions of Finnegan Lee Elder, 24, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 23,A new trial has opened for two American men accused of killing an Italian plainclothes police officer during a botched sting operation after Italy's highest court threw out their convictions.Italy's highest court of cassation ordered a new trial last year, saying it had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants, with limited Italian language skills, had understood that they were dealing with Italian police officers when they went to meet an alleged drug dealer in Rome. Continue reading...

Matthew Caseby inappropriately unattended' before he absconded from mental health hospital in BirminghamThe Priory healthcare group has been fined more than 650,000 over the death of a 23-year-old patient who was hit by a train after absconding from a mental health hospital.Matthew Caseby, a personal trainer, was able to leave Birmingham's Priory Hospital Woodbourne by scaling a wall after being inappropriately unattended" for several minutes in September 2020, an inquest jury ruled in 2022. Continue reading...

North Yorkshire force stop schoolboy after receiving call that caravan had been stolen near ThirskPolice who stopped a black BMW X5 towing a suspected stolen caravan along the M1 have admitted to being stunned by the identity of the driver: an 11-year-old schoolboy.A spokesperson for North Yorkshire police said officers were staggered" by the incident, which took place on Thursday. Continue reading...

Grant Shapps visits Ukraine and urges wake up call for the world'; overnight Russian artillery and mortar attacks kill two women and a man in Kharkiv regionUkraine's defence ministry said that overnight, Ukrainian air defenders shot down 33 our of 37 Russian Shahed' UAVs."Here is footage of a woman pulled from the rubble after Russian missiles hit Kharkiv region. Continue reading...

Anneliese Dodds says Theresa May's decision to stand down after 27 years is part of trend of Tory MPs who have no confidence in party or leader before next election

UN special rapporteur on torture to carry out fact-finding investigation after receiving allegations detained Palestinians were mistreated

Items by Italian sculptor Umberto Mastroianni taken from exhibition at Vittoriale degli Italiani estateGold statues and jewellery made by the Italian sculptor Umberto Mastroianni have been stolen from an exhibition in northern Italy in a 1m (850,000) heist.The 20 gold statues and 30 pieces of jewellery were crafted between the 1950s and 1990s by the artist, who was the uncle of La Dolce Vita film star Marcello Mastroianni. Continue reading...

Critics say Elton does not meet revised breed standard, but world's biggest dog show says he passed all relevant health checksA row has erupted at the world's biggest dog show after the prize for the best canine in the utility group went to a French bulldog that some have argued has no discernible nostrils.Concern over hugely popular squashed-face breeds such as pugs and French bulldogs has grown in recent years, not least because they are prone to short lives and myriad health problems. Continue reading...

Amnesty International UK among 46 groups to warn of chilling effect' of new legislation and policing powersNearly 50 organisations have joined forces to condemn what they call a crackdown" on the right to protest by the UK government.In response to Rishi Sunak's recent remarks on extremism and mob rule" linked to protesters, Amnesty International UK and 45 others have sent a letter to the prime minister calling for leadership, not censorship". Continue reading...

Exclusive: Influx of reports comes amid concerns about welfare of young people detained in overcrowded adult watch houses

The preselection of Simon Kennedy in Cook has fanned fears about lack of balance - with more men set to replace retiring female MPs

Salary package for Murray Auchincloss branded sickening' by anti-fossil fuel campaigners

Martyn Blake, 40, pleads not guilty at Old Bailey over death of Kaba, 24, who was shot in south London in 2022A Metropolitan police firearms officer has denied the charge of murdering Chris Kaba, who was shot dead by police in south London in 2022.Martyn Blake, 40, entered his formal plea of not guilty during a pre-trial hearing at the Old Bailey in London. Continue reading...

Documents show officials stressing need to keep the Saudis on side' after revelations about notorious al-Yamamah dealBritain's Ministry of Defence moved questionable payments through its own bank account amid one of the biggest corruption scandals in history, despite concerns the money could be pocketed by the Saudi royal family.Previously confidential documents show how the MoD agreed to make the payments to a Saudi bank account after the transactions came under scrutiny following an investigation by the UK anti-corruption agency, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Continue reading...

Former PM says she wants to focus on causes close to her heart after 27 years in parliament