by Lauren Herdman and Dan Adamson for MetDesk on (#74PHK)
South-east Italy also affected by heavy rain, and snow at higher altitudes, while deadly flooding hits AfghanistanParts of the Mediterranean have been lashed by Storm Erminio this week. Heavy rain, thunderstorms and occasional bursts of hail affected much of Greece throughout Wednesday and Thursday, with the most severe conditions across south-eastern parts of the mainland and several islands in the southern Aegean Sea, including Crete, with streets flooded and vehicles stranded.Some of the heaviest rain fell on Wednesday across Attica, a region encompassing Athens, with one weather station near the city's international airport recording 132mm (5.2 in) in 24 hours. The most intense downpours were overnight, when the coastal town of Nea Makri was particularly badly affected; an unofficial weather station recorded about 50mm falling within just two hours. One person died in the town; a man found beneath a car was believed to have been swept away as he escaped his flooding basement home. Continue reading...
Anna Turley questions revised 25,000 figure for failed attempt to reach Chagos Islands on jet linked to billionaireLabour has queried Nigel Farage's claim that a return trip to the Maldives on a private jet linked to a billionaire donor cost as little as 25,000 as the Reform leader attempted to reach the Chagos Islands.Farage initially recorded his two-day trip to the Maldives as costing 12,500 funded by Thailand-based Reform megadonor Christopher Harborne, before upgrading this to 25,000 in the latest register of interests. Continue reading...
by Daniel Boffey at the Turkish-Iranian border on (#74PFW)
People leaving Iran for Turkey tell of impact of bombs and internet blackouts, while others are travelling the other way to be closer to relatives in perilHe could not help but splutter out a laugh at the question. Amir, whose name has been changed for his safety, had just crossed the Kapkoy border point in eastern Turkey, a mountain pass between snow-topped peaks that is one of the few gateways to the west from Iran.Until a few weeks ago, this was a busy place, popular among Iranian daytrippers coming across to Turkey to do some shopping in the lively city of Van, a further two hours drive west, or to spend a couple of nights out in its discreet Iranian-only nightclubs and bars serving alcohol. Continue reading...
Episodes from William Hartnell era are from mostly lost 12-part adventure called The Daleks' Master PlanTwo episodes of Doctor Who from the William Hartnell era, which have not been seen since 1965, have been released after being discovered in a private film collection.The two episodes, released on Friday and starring Peter Purves as the Doctor's companion, are parts one and three of a mostly lost 12-part adventure called The Daleks' Master Plan, written by the Dalek creator Terry Nation and broadcast as part of the third series of Doctor Who in November 1965. Continue reading...
Unite accuses authority of trying to break' industrial action as waste dispute enters second yearUnite has accused Birmingham city council of trying to break" the bin strikes after analysis showed the council had doubled spending on agency staff since the start of the year-long industrial action.Birmingham's bin workers have taken part in an all-out strike since March last year over proposed pay cuts and role changes. The dispute has left residents without a fully functioning waste collection service and has led to towering waste and overflowing bins on the streets. Continue reading...
People receive rehab only three to four days a week in hospital - and one to two days once they are discharged, data suggestsThe NHS is failing stroke patients and limiting their chances of recovery because of a shortage of rehabilitation care staff, health leaders have said.More people are surviving strokes than ever before in the UK. But their hopes of getting better are being dashed because of a lack of physiotherapists and other specialist staff, according to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Neurology. Continue reading...
Plan for three nuns who escaped from care home last year to go to Rome thought to be positive sign of Vatican's decisionThree nuns who escaped from a care home to return to their convent in a castle close to Salzburg where they had spent most of their lives are a step closer to being able to stay there, sources close to them say.Sisters Bernadette, Regina and Rita, who are in their early to late eighties, broke into their convent home in Elsbethen last September with the help of former pupils of the Catholic school at which they had taught and other supporters. Their case became a cause celebre, attracting attention from around the world. Continue reading...
Tania Warner is fitted with ankle monitor and released along with seven-year-old daughter Ayla Luca after being deemed not a flight riskA Canadian woman and her seven-year-old daughter, who were held for nearly three weeks in a notorious detention center by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), were released on Thursday evening after posting a bond of $9,500.Tania Warner and her daughter Ayla Luca, originally from British Columbia, are both Canadian citizens. Warner moved to the US in 2021 when she married Edward Warner, a US citizen. Very happy to have my family home ... it's been a whirlwind day," said Edward Warner. Continue reading...
by Wendy Frew, Nadeem Badshah , Lucy Campbell, Tom Am on (#74NHQ)
This blog is now closed. You can read about the latest major development in the conflict here.Trump has claimed that Iran was right at the doorstep" of gaining a nuclear weapon.Earlier on Wednesday the president said he did not care about Iran's stock of highly enriched uranium (HEU), arguing it was deep underground and could be monitored by satellite.From the very beginning my campaign for president in 2015, I said I would never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. This regime has been chanting death to America, death to Israel. Continue reading...
Police say they found a ballistic-style vest, several notebooks and literature they allege contained extremist referencesTwo New South Wales teenagers have been charged with allegedly possessing violent extremist material after police searched one of their homes and found a ballistic-style vest, several notebooks and literature they allege contained extremist references.The Australian federal police and NSW police released a statement on Friday morning confirming the boys, aged 15 and 16 and both from Moree in northern NSW, had been charged with possession of alleged extremist material after a joint counterterrorism investigation. Continue reading...
Ukraine has expertise concerning sea waterways, and the defence and reopening of maritime traffic,' says president. What we know on day 1,500Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered on Thursday to provide Ukraine's expertise in dealing with freedom of navigation in the Black Sea to those countries considering how to keep the strait of Hormuz open amid the conflict in the Middle East. The Ukraine president, speaking in his nightly video address, said the foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, had taken part in a virtual meeting devoted to reopening the strait of Hormuz, attended by about 40 countries. Ukraine has relevant expertise concerning sea waterways, and the defence and reopening of maritime traffic," he said. If [our] partners are ready to act, we will consider how we can strengthen them, how we can apply our expertise, knowledge and technological potential."Russia's army recorded no territorial gains on the frontline in Ukraine in March, for the first time in two and half years, AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed. The Russian army's advances have been slowing since late 2025 due to Kyiv's localised breakthroughs in the south-east, and losing ground in March and February on the southern section of the frontline, between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, the analysis showed. Across the entire frontline, Ukrainian forces managed to recapture 9 sq km in March.North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, gave field guidance" at the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations, which is under construction , state media KCNA said. The museum in Pyongyang will be a place to commemorate the fallen soldiers sent to support the Russian army in the war in Ukraine. The construction of the museum is almost complete and Kim said the opening ceremony would be held in mid-April, marking the first anniversary of the deployment of the North Korean soldiers.Six Ukrainian children will be returned from Russia to their families in Ukraine, the White House said on Thursday, citing efforts by Melania Trump to expedite their return. A seventh Ukrainian child will also be returned to their family later this month, the first lady's office said in a statement. Ukraine says almost 20,000 children have been illegally sent to Russia and Belarus, where they are sometimes subject to military training and forced to fight against their own country's troops.Russian strikes across Ukraine on Thursday killed at least two people and wounded dozens, officials said, as Moscow stepped up its attacks amid stalled peace talks. In the south-eastern Kherson region, Russia attacked with artillery, mortars and UAVs", the regional prosecutor's office said on social media. A 42-year-old man was killed when a drone hit a civilian car, and 16 others - including a teenage boy and three police officers - were wounded in air attacks and artillery shelling, it added. In the Chernihiv region, north of the capital Kyiv, Russia attacked with a ballistic missile, the head of Chernihiv's military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynsky, said on Telegram.Russian forces maintained a daylong barrage of drone strikes on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, on Thursday, injuring at least two people, local officials said. Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, posted reports on Telegram throughout the day and well into the evening, noting strikes in four city districts. One city official said there had been at least 20 drone strikes. He said some had triggered fires and two people had been injured in an evening attack, including an eight-year-old girl.Russian forces carried out 129 attacks on Ukrainian gas and heating facilities during the recent 151-day heating season, the state oil and gas firm Naftogaz said on Thursday. The Russians hit pipelines, gas production, underground storage facilities, heating systems - everything that Ukrainians depend on for heat and gas," it said in a statement. Continue reading...
Ryan Bridge is co-founder of Raise the Colours, which has been criticised for anti-immigrant rhetoricThe leader of a flag campaign group has been arrested on suspicion of causing religiously and racially aggravated harassment.Ryan Bridge is the co-founder of Raise the Colours, which has put up hundreds of union and Saint George flags across England and attracted criticism for spreading anti-immigrant rhetoric. He was arrested on Tuesday and released on police bail the following day. Continue reading...
Data shows 209 cases recorded as assisted dying referred to CPS by police between 1 April 2009 and 31 March this yearThirteen cases of suspected assisted dying are being considered by prosecutors in England and Wales, according to the latest data.Encouraging or assisting the suicide or attempted suicide of another person is against the law in England and Wales, under the Suicide Act 1961.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#74P7T)
Partnership' on drug pricing also gives patients in Britain greater access to potentially life-extending treatmentsBritish drug exports to the US will escape tariffs imposed by Donald Trump as part of a controversial UK-US medicines deal that critics fear will mean less money for the NHS.The deal will also give patients in Britain greater access to potentially life-extending drugs because the rules have been relaxed to allow the NHS to pay more for particular treatments. Continue reading...
London mayor says more arrests will be made after young people stormed into shops as part of social media trendSadiq Khan has warned against any repeat of utterly unacceptable" scenes of disorder in Clapham earlier this week, saying culprits who assault and intimidate shop workers will face the full force of the law.The mayor of London said more arrests would be made in the coming days, and urged anyone considering more violence over the Easter weekend to think again. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#74P51)
Daniel Kebede tells his members that detail in new policies just does not deliver' and schools are running on empty'The leader of the UK's biggest education union has torn into the government's record on schools, accusing Labour of letting down the nation's children and failing to deliver on its promises for education.Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), was unsparing in his criticism of the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson's policies in a speech to delegates at the NEU's annual conference in Brighton on Thursday. Continue reading...
Abdullah Baig alleged Meta ignored flaws putting billions at risk, but a US judge ruled he lacked sufficient evidenceA US court has dismissed a lawsuit from WhatsApp's former security chief, who alleged that parent company Meta ignored internal flaws he flagged about the messaging app's digital defenses.Abdullah Baig, who claims he was fired in retaliation for raising these concerns, had alleged that billions of users had been put at risk because of these vulnerabilities. Thousands of employees could view sensitive user data, including profile photos and location, Baig claimed in the lawsuit filed in September. A judge ruled he had not presented enough evidence to move forward. Continue reading...
US president's 19-minute Wednesday address at the White House was met with bewilderment from commentatorsDonald Trump's primetime nationwide address on the war with Iran caused widespread bewilderment, with commentators voicing shock at his vow to continue bombing to bring them back to the stone ages".Speculation before Wednesday's speech from the White House Blue Room suggested that the president might be about to signal a winding up of the US military effort, which began on 28 February. Continue reading...
Post your questions below to get insight from the Guardian's politics live blogger on the future of Labour and the role of the political reporterQ: Do you agree with the Tories about wanting more oil and gas drilling from the North Sea?Davey says Kemi Badenoch claims she can get an extra 2.5bn in tax revenue by allowing more exploration in the North Sea. He says she is just lying". He says everyone knows that that is not realistic. Continue reading...
Dozen people arrive under new deal but legal challenges expected with process criticised for dehumanising process'A flight carrying people being deported from the US has landed in Uganda, as Donald Trump's administration pushes on with its strategy of expelling migrants to countries they have no ties to.The deported people would stay in the east African country as a transition phase for potential onward transmission to other countries", an unnamed senior Ugandan government official told Reuters. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#74P0W)
Six-day stoppage in England next week to go ahead and minister confirms offer of extra training places withdrawnThe NHS is bracing for the longest strike yet by resident doctors after last-ditch talks failed, prompting Wes Streeting to accuse the medics of suffering from delusion".Many thousands of resident - formerly junior - doctors across England will stage a six-day stoppage over pay and jobs starting at 7am on Tuesday, just after the Easter weekend. A deadline for agreement ended on Thursday. Continue reading...
Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic features interviews with cast members and will air on 5 AprilHBO has more Harry Potter magic up its sleeve - today, the company announced a standalone, behind-the-scenes special to accompany its upcoming TV adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic will offer an in-depth look at the making of the first season", including plenty of production footage and details on the lengthy, UK-wide casting process for Harry, Ron and Hermione, played by Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton. Continue reading...
by Lorenzo Tondo and Quique Kierszenbaum in Jerusalem on (#74P0Y)
Dozens of videos have gone viral on TikTok and Instagram showing harassment of Palestinians and activistsTikTok has removed an account belonging to an ultranationalist, pro-settlement Israeli influencer for breaching hate speech and bullying rules after the Guardian flagged videos showing him harassing activists in the occupied West Bank.The Guardian has reviewed dozens of videos posted by various social media figures that have gone viral on TikTok and Instagram documenting the harassment of Palestinians as well as physical attacks on Israeli and international activists. Continue reading...
Union has reached a tentative agreement for a three-year contract after holding a 24-hour walkout in MarchEmployees of the CBS News streaming channel CBS News 24/7, who held a 24-hour walkout last month amid an impasse in contract negotiations, have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract.About 60 CBS News employees are part of the union. In the coming days, they will vote to ratify the new agreement. More details about the agreement will be provided after the agreement is ratified, the union said. Continue reading...
Director and producer is co-creator of You Are Here, a one-day immersive theatrical event traversing 75 years of youth cultureOut of chaos come great cultural movements, according to the director and producer Danny Boyle, who will inflict a little curated chaos on London's Southbank Centre with what has been described as an epic, one-off pop culture spectacular".Boyle, whose 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony drew on the rich thread of British culture, is the co-creator and director of You Are Here, a one-day immersive theatrical event traversing 75 years of youth culture and social movement: think teddy boys, Lovers' Rock, punk, Ziggy Stardust, rave, acid house, the spoken word, Brit pop, ballroom to name a few. Continue reading...
The Hungarian prime minister said his Polish counterpart should worry about his own country and people, not Vladimir PutinBack to Trump's frustration with European allies - although it doesn't involve a Nato member this time - Austria is the latest country to risk the US president's wrath after a defence ministry spokesperson confirmed it denied all US requests for military overflights related to the Iran war.There have indeed been requests and they were refused from the outset," Col Michael Bauer told AFP, adding that every time a similar request involves a country at war, it is refused." Continue reading...
Fertiliser created from waste produced in block of toilets used by 700 revellers at Boomtown festival last yearScientists are aiming to grow 4,500 trees at a national park with the help of fertiliser made from festivalgoers' urine.The fertiliser was created by the Bristol-based startup NPK Recovery, which connected its unit to a block of toilets used by 700 revellers at Boomtown festival in Hampshire in July last year. Continue reading...
by Robyn Vinter North of England correspondent on (#74NS6)
Funeral director Robert Bush had previously admitted to dozens of counts of fraud at hearing in OctoberA funeral director has admitted preventing a lawful burial after 30 bodies and a quantity of ashes were found at a funeral home in Hull in 2024.Robert Bush, 48, had previously admitted to dozens of counts of fraud at a hearing in October, after police raided the premises of Legacy funeral home on Hessle Road over concern for care of the dead. Continue reading...
by Julian Borger Senior international correspondent a on (#74NQD)
Battlefield outcomes are connected by the sharing of weapons and intelligence as well as the damage to the global economyThe Iran and Ukraine wars are becoming more intertwined with every passing week - to the point that some analysts argue the two conflicts are beginning to merge.Quite how each war will affect the trajectory of the other is hard to predict, but it is already clear that their interconnectedness is drawing more countries into both cauldrons, extending an arc of instability that straddles Europe and the Middle East. Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#74NMV)
Exclusive: Laurence Taylor says separate scheme needed to report concerns over young people's non-ideological interest in extreme violenceThe scheme meant to identify people before they become terrorists is being overwhelmed" by a large surge in referrals, Britain's head of counterterrorism has said.Assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor told the Guardian that more than 10,000 people would be referred to Prevent this year, up more than a third from two years ago. Continue reading...
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