World news | The Guardian

Closure of strait of Hormuz puts pressure on region's economies amid growing resentment about conflict started by US and Israel

EU citizens with post-Brexit settlement status in UK will not have to present British passport to airlinesBritish dual nationals who are EU citizens with post-Brexit settlement status in the UK will not have to use a British passport to return to the UK, the Home Office has said in a significant U-turn on its controversial dual national border rules.The change, which critics say was hidden away" on a government web page, comes weeks after controversy erupted over the new rules that came into effect on 25 February. They require British dual nationals to present a British passport or certificate of entitlement, costing 589, before they board a plane to the UK. Continue reading...

Stanley McChrystal said White House has a we should do because we can' approach to international relationsThe retired US army general who once led Nato forces in Afghanistan says the bellicose foreign policy Donald Trump has pursued during his second presidency can be summed up as we should do because we can" - invoking the lyrics of the Dolly Parton classic Jolene to emphasize the point.Stanley McChrystal delivered those remarks on Friday at Tulane University's New Orleans book festival during a fireside chat hosted by the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, who asked in part about US military strikes Trump has ordered in Nigeria, Venezuela and Iran since Christmas. Continue reading...

Wife of former PM also says she is mentioned in Epstein files and coverage not focused enough on victims of abusePeter Mandelson's critics should remember that he is still a human being", Cherie Blair has said in an interview.Blair added that the former Labour minister was entitled to a fair trial" after he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. He denies criminal wrongdoing and has been released under investigation. Continue reading...

Greenhouse gases dropped just 0.1% last year as environment minister criticises lack of improvementGreenhouse gas emissions in Germany have again missed targets set by the Climate Protection Act and barely fell at all in 2025.Emissions decreased by just 0.1% last year compared to the previous year, according to data from the German Environment Agency. Continue reading...

Demonstrators on Sunday will be arrested for expressing support for Palestine Action or intifada chants, says MetPolice have warned demonstrators that they will be arrested for expressing support for Palestine Action or intifada chants at a protest on Sunday.About 12,000 people are expected to take part in the annual al-Quds Day rally in London, an international demonstration of support for Palestinian rights. The event takes its name from the Arabic version of Jerusalem and was created by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after Iran's 1979 revolution. Continue reading...

Jason Hughes died after falling and being struck by a car driven by a student who had just pranked the teacherA Georgia prosecutor has decided to drop charges against a teenager who police say was driving the truck that struck and killed a beloved high school teacher when a prank turned deadly, the teen's lawyer said. The victim's family had urged authorities not to compound the tragedy by prosecuting the teen driver and his friends.The 40-year-old teacher, Jason Hughes, died after slipping and falling into the street as the teens started to drive away after participating in a community tradition of pranking teachers by throwing toilet paper on to his front lawn. Continue reading...

Race to fill Marjorie Taylor Greene's seat provides glimpse into midterms with Iran and immigration on voters' mindsEarlier this week, a steady trickle of voters casting ballots in Dalton at Georgia's City Hall offered a glimpse into what may be changing fortunes for Democrats in Marjorie Taylor Greene's former congressional district.The district hasn't elected a Democrat since it was created after the 2010 Census. But the party's candidate Shawn Harris drew the most votes district-wide - about 37% - on Tuesday and now faces Clay Fuller, a Trump-endorsed former prosecutor as his opponent in an April runoff election. The winner will finish Greene's term until November, when a whole new election will take place. Continue reading...

Officials sent out repayment letters to about 1,400 people relying on discredited guidance that had been scrappedUnpaid carers have been issued with demands to repay thousands of pounds for allegedly breaking benefit rules even though officials knew the decisions were based on unlawful and discredited policy guidance.About 1,400 carers are understood to have been sent letters by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in January asking them to repay sums relating to breaches of carer's allowance earnings rules that had been scrapped four months previously. Continue reading...

Review from non-profit finds range of scenarios of firms simultaneously lobbying for and against Pfas regulationsSome top US lobbying firms are simultaneously working both sides of the Pfas forever chemicals" issue, raising serious conflict of interest questions and concerns that their activity is slowing states' efforts to rein in the public health threat.The review of six states' lobbying records conducted by the non-profit F-Minus found a range of scenarios in which firms lobbied both sides. Most common Pfas are linked to cancer. The lobbying firm Holland & Knight works for the American Chemistry Council, which represents the nation's largest Pfas makers, and aggressively opposes most regulations. Simultaneously, Holland & Knight lobbies for the American Cancer Society. Continue reading...

US test of 120 umbilical blood cord samples identified 42 Pfas compounds, which do not naturally break down

US workers are finding it difficult to afford basic necessities as the president claims the economy is roaring back'US workers are still struggling with the cost of living despite Donald Trump's campaign promises to fix the US affordability crisis.The Guardian spoke to workers as an exclusive poll showed cross-party concerns about the Trump administration's handling of the US economy. Continue reading...

Yara's Svein Tore Holsether says it would be catastrophic' if the strait of Hormuz was closed for a yearThe boss of one of the world's largest fertiliser companies has said global food supplies could be badly damaged this year if the Iran war becomes an extended conflict.Svein Tore Holsether, the chief executive of Norway's Yara International, has called on global leaders to consider the impact that soaring food prices will have in some of the world's poorest countries before it is too late". Continue reading...

Summer holidaymakers opting for more familiar, easy-to-reach locations' as travel industry counts cost of Middle East conflictHolidaymakers who had planned to visit the eastern Mediterranean this summer are moving their trips to the west and the Caribbean because of the US-Israel war on Iran, travel companies have said.Travellers from the UK and mainland Europe are increasingly swapping their holiday destinations away from Cyprus, Turkey and Greece towards Italy, Spain, Malta and Croatia, as the region around the Middle East grapples with flight cancellations and airspace closures. Continue reading...

With membership soaring, the Green party is grappling with logistics, culture shifts and a flood of new activistsIt is, as one Green activist put it, a never-ending series of constantly good problems to have". But how does a party adapt to the sudden trebling of its membership? And when a majority of people in an organisation are new, is it even the same thing anymore?The basic facts alone are startling. Before Zack Polanski took over as leader last September, the Greens in England and Wales had around 66,000 members. They are now at 215,000, and still rising at speed. Continue reading...

Mayor condemns cowardly act' on south side of city that caused limited damage and no reported injuriesAn explosion has damaged a Jewish school in Amsterdam in what the city's mayor described as a deliberate attack against the Jewish community".The explosion early on Saturday in a residential neighbourhood on the south side of the city caused limited damage, the mayor, Femke Halsema, said in a press release, as police and firefighters arrived at the scene quickly. Continue reading...

High-net-worth residents of UAE heading to Ireland and France to wait out missile attacks before tax year endsWealthy UK nationals fleeing war in the Gulf are seeking sanctuary in countries such as Ireland and France to avoid hefty tax bills back home.In the face of possible demands from HM Revenue and Customs, high-net-worth individuals who had been living in the United Arab Emirates and neighbouring countries are hoping to wait out the missile and drone attacks elsewhere rather than return to the UK. Continue reading...

Carmaker's decision to drop NissanConnect EV app on relatively recent cars fuels warnings from expertsOwners of some Nissan Leaf electric vehicles are angry after the carmaker announced it would shut down an app that lets them remotely control battery charging and other functions.Drivers of Leaf cars made before May 2019 and the e-NV200 van (produced until 2022) have been told that the NissanConnect EV app linked to their vehicles will cease operation" from 30 March. This means they will lose remote services, including turning on the heating, and some map features. Continue reading...

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

Treasury minister Spencer Livermore trails new strategy as chancellor pins hopes on benefits of AI amid global uncertaintyThe NHS and Ministry of Defence will be urged to buy British tech, as the government pins its hopes on the benefits of artificial intelligence to kickstart growth in the face of the Iran crisis, Treasury minister Spencer Livermore has said.The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will restate her economic strategy in a high profile lecture on Tuesday, just as rocketing oil prices have raised fears of higher inflation and weaker growth. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds data from flagship medical research leaked dozens of timesConfidential health data has been exposed online on dozens of occasions, a Guardian investigation can reveal, raising questions about the safeguarding of patient records by one of the UK's flagship medical research projects.UK Biobank, which holds the medical records of 500,000 British volunteers, is one of the world's most comprehensive stores of health information and is credited with driving breakthroughs in cancer, dementia and diabetes research. But scientists approved to access Biobank's sensitive data appear to have sometimes been cavalier about its security. Continue reading...

Datacentre investment boom is one of the biggest infrastructure gambles of this era, and Britain may be uniquely exposedStargate was to be the world's biggest AI investment: a $500bn infrastructure project to secure American leadership in AI". Never shy of hyperbole, its key backer, the ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, promised massive economic benefit for the entire world" with facilities to help people use AI to elevate humanity".Now, OpenAI appears to be dropping out of a part of the deal - the expansion of a flagship datacentre stretching across a swathe of land in Abilene, Texas, which has become one of the most visible manifestations of a frenzy of investment in the chips and power plants required to build and run AI. There has been a breakdown in negotiations over project financing, as well as the timeline of when the expanded capacity might come online. Continue reading...

Refusal to kowtow to US president has won public backing - and left Badenoch and Farage playing catch-upIt is not often that Keir Starmer's allies believe he has Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch on the run - but on Iran, they think he is on the right side of history and public opinion.It could be the making of him," said Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs committee, who was first out of the blocks to say she thought Donald Trump's strikes on Iran were illegal. You've not had a British prime minister say no to an American president since Vietnam. This is a big deal." Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lough Neagh, which supplies drinking water for 40% of NI, contains genes resistant to last-resort antibioticsGenes capable of creating antibiotic-resistant superbugs have been detected in the UK's largest lake, which supplies drinking water to about 40% of Northern Ireland.Testing of water from Lough Neagh, which has a surface area 26 times bigger than Windermere, found genes resistant to a wide range of antibiotics, including carbapenems - drugs reserved for life-threatening infections when all other treatments have failed. Continue reading...

Iran's is trying to create wedges between Gulf states and the US, but Trump is very comfortable on the escalatory ladder'In its current phase, the Israeli-US war against Iran and its proxies has become a proving ground for two competing concepts of military escalation, each of which threatens to become a trap.On one side, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have failed thus far in their ill-defined and shifting strategic aims. Despite killing Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and other key leaders in the opening salvo of the campaign, the clerical regime remains and Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium is unsecured. Airstrikes are intensifying and hitting a greater number of targets. Continue reading...

Iranian military said in a statement that oil and energy infrastructure belonging to firms that cooperated with the US would immediately be destroyed'

This blog has now closed. Follow our Middle East blog hereBoth Pete Hegseth and Dan Caine were asked today about energy secretary Chris Wright's comments to CNBC on Thursday, where he said that the US Navy cannot escort ships through the strait of Hormuz now but it was quite likely" that could happen by the end of the month.Gen Caine appeared to agree with Wright's assessment, calling the waterway a tactically complex environment". Continue reading...

Former spy chief says recommendations regarding intelligence agencies shouldn't wait for royal commission's final report

Sources tell Reuters layoffs could affect 20% or more of company as plans reflect broader tensions within big techMeta is planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Meta seeks to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers.No date has been set for the cuts and the magnitude has not been finalized, the people said. Continue reading...

Commuters on Craigieburn, Upfield, Ballarat and Seymour lines will be first to test tap-and-go technology

Tehran residents report relentless bombing with US and Israeli planes launching wave of attacks

President thanks Grenell for outstanding work' and says Matt Floca, vice-president of operations, will take overDonald Trump has announced that Ric Grenell, the longtime Republican foreign policy adviser who oversaw far-reaching changes at the Kennedy Center, which prompted many artists to abandon the performing arts venue, will be replaced by Matt Floca, vice-president of operations at the center.Trump made the announcement on social media that he has replaced Grenell, thanking him for the outstanding work he has done". Floca was photographed in December personally overseeing the addition of Trump's name to the center's facade. Grenell's departure comes as the Kennedy Center prepares to close this summer for a two-year renovation. Continue reading...

Trump DoJ's investigation was purportedly about the management of the central bank's renovationA federal judge on Friday blocked the justice department from serving subpoenas to Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell in an inquiry purported to be about the management of the central bank's renovation.Powell disclosed the surprise investigation on 11 January, and described the move as a threat to Fed independence and part of the Trump administration's attempts to pressure the Fed to cut rates. Continue reading...

TSA employees have been working in US airports without pay since the partial shutdown began in FebruaryA rising number of US airports are asking for donations to support employees affected by the partial government shutdown with airport security officials missing their first full paychecks Friday.Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees have been working in airports around the US without pay since a shutdown began in February after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach a funding agreement. Democrats have since refused to support a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, the TSA's parent agency, without first receiving guaranteed immigration enforcement reforms. Continue reading...

Kenya Chapman was arrested for allegedly selling firearm to Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, who killed one person on ThursdayThe US Department of Justice on Friday charged a man who authorities say sold a gun to the Old Dominion University (ODU) shooter despite the gunman's previous conviction in a terrorism case.Kenya Chapman is facing federal charges in connection to the sale of the weapon to Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former army national guard member who yelled Allahu Akbar" before he opened fire in a classroom at the Virginia school on Thursday, according to authorities. Continue reading...

Trade body attends meeting with Rachel Reeves, hours after saying it was pulling out over suggestions of price gouging Watchdog puts UK fuel retailers on notice' over profiteering from Iran warThe trade body for the UK's petrol station industry has got into a row with the government after claiming the inflammatory language" used by ministers to describe rising pump prices may have incited abuse against forecourt staff.The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said ministers had for several days suggested that forecourts might be price gouging" and ripping off" motorists as global oil markets have surged in response to the war in Iran. Continue reading...

Bolivian interior ministry says Sebastian Marset is being extradited to US, where he's wanted for money laundering

Gretchen Whitmer says community is on edge' with fear of increased violence amid escalating US-Israeli war on Iran

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who was born in Lebanon and became a naturalized US citizen, lost two brothers, a niece and a nephew in the airstrike

Exclusive: Chancellor plans help for vulnerable and low-income customers due to conflict in Middle EastRachel Reeves will set out extra support next week for households across the UK facing a surge in the cost of heating oil due to the conflict in the Middle East.The chancellor is expected to set out plans to assist those on low incomes or with other vulnerabilities, particularly in rural areas. The help will be delivered in England via councils using the new crisis and resilience fund. Continue reading...

Oscar, Ana and their children fled violence for safety in the US. Now Oscar, afraid and alone, is back in Honduras - at the mercy of God and his will'As soon as Oscar's deportation flight landed at the La Lima airport in Honduras, he put on his baseball cap. On the airport shuttle toward the terminal, he pulled his cap even lower - trying to obscure his face at various police checkpoints.His parents picked him up in a car, and drove him to a lodging they had arranged for him - miles away from his family home. He has hardly stepped outside since. Because I can't trust anyone - not the authorities, not the government, not a police officer," he said. He has visited his mother a handful of times since the US deported him three weeks ago, and only under the cover of night. They will kill anyone here. There is death everywhere." Continue reading...

White House contends with reality of shoddy preparations for war and unclear conditions for victory

Trio captured relaxing around a wooden table in photo believed to have been taken on Martha's VineyardAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson have been pictured in bathrobes alongside Jeffrey Epstein, in the first known photograph of them together.The trio were captured relaxing outside at a wooden table with mugs decorated with the American flag in the newly unearthed photograph believed to have been taken on Martha's Vineyard, an island off Cape Cod in Massachusetts that is favoured by the wealthy. Continue reading...

Mayor says he will encourage Met to scale down his official vehicle alongside plans for new charges for big carsThe London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has said he would be encouraging the Met to abandon his armoured car in favour of a smaller vehicle as he signalled a clampdown on driving SUVs in London.Khan and Transport for London are considering options including additional charges on outsize vehicles to tackle the increasing numbers of SUVs on London's roads, primarily to address road safety but also to address concerns about parking and congestion. Continue reading...

The prime minister issues the statement after a fuel trade body earlier withdrew from a meeting with the chancellor todayEven before Donald Trump's Operation Epic Fury on Iran unleashed higher oil prices, threatening the outlook for growth and inflation, the UK economy was flatlining.That's the bleak message in the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which showed zero GDP growth in January. Continue reading...

The move, which lowers fees to 25%, is a breakthrough for Chinese developers Tencent and ByteDance

US defense head is eager to frame operation as a success - and slam journalists for not portraying it in a positive light

Campaigners rejoice after Keir Starmer backs Philomena's Law' to protect payments for up to 13,000 survivors living in BritainSurvivors of Ireland's mother and baby homes can continue to receive benefits in the UK after Downing Street dropped a plan to cut payments.Keir Starmer bowed to pressure from campaigners to back a bill known as Philomena's law, which would ringfence survivors' benefits if they accepted compensation from Dublin. Continue reading...

Longer sentences, overcrowding and inexperienced staff cited as factors in rising tensions' in prisonsNotorious prisoners such as the Soham killer Ian Huntley are facing increasingly violent attacks from inmates with nothing to lose", the head of the Prison Governors' Association has said.Tom Wheatley, the president of the PGA, which represents governors in England and Wales, said those serving lengthy sentences or whole-life tariffs in high-security institutions had no fear" of being given additional time in prison, and could earn status by singling out famous child murderers and paedophiles.Last week, a 20-year-old sex offender who had recently moved to my son's prison was kettled'. In prison, that means boiling water, mixed with a bit of sugar, was thrown into his face. He has been scarred for life.This is the kind of threat that my son and every sex offender has to live with every day when they are in prison. Continue reading...

Number of American troops to be killed in Iran war after incident in western desert now stands at 13