World news | The Guardian

Prime minister has shed trusted staffers but can still turn to many genuine friends in and out of governmentGiven that the signs of an embattled premiership are all around - defensive-sounding interviews insisting he will be in post at the next election; a rush of stories about supposed cabinet plotting - now, more than ever, Keir Starmer needs real allies. And here, at least, there is something to feel positive about.If you talk to most Labour MPs, Starmer most likely will not lead Labour into the next election. He may even not remain in No 10 much beyond a set of Scottish, Welsh and local English elections on 7 May, which are expected to be disastrous for his party. Continue reading...

Liz Conmy's death is a profound loss', Democratic party affiliate says following crash shortly after takeoffA small plane crashed just after taking off from Crystal airport north of Minneapolis on Saturday, killing a North Dakota state legislator and the pilot, authorities said.Liz Conmy, a North Dakota state representative from Fargo, was killed in the crash, her colleague, state senator Tim Mathern, told the Star Tribune. Continue reading...

Experts fear losing ground to virus even as the end of the HIV epidemic is in sight, and say decline in infant testing is particularly concerning'The US government released likely the last report from Pepfar (President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief) earlier this month and the chief science officer announced his resignation days later as the US moves to a patchwork of individual partnerships with each country, potentially driven by resource extraction.While more leadership with other countries has long been the goal with global HIV efforts, experts fear the US is moving too quickly without being able to monitor its efforts as well as it has done with Pepfar for more than two decades. They fear losing ground to the virus even as the end of the HIV epidemic is in sight. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Investigation into campaigning materials for local polls in May challenges tactical voting claimsElection leaflets are providing grotesque" information about how to vote tactically in the May elections, using national polling data, dodgy" bar charts and doorstep surveys to support claims about parties' chances of winning.Leaflets distributed by local politicians across England are claiming that either only their party can win, or another party can't win here" when there is no good evidence to show that's true", a Full Fact investigation for the Guardian has revealed. Continue reading...

No indication grandmother knew what Markel Lee, 17, was suspected of doing, and she later identified him to police

Men in tuxedos and women in dresses dove under tables, like a scene from a dozen Hollywood movies, but now it was happening to me

Prime minister says you never hear from ... the people who are supportive, loyal and just want to get on with the job'Keir Starmer and the Labour party continue to fight to maintain control in the aftermath of the Mandelson controversy. Starmer spoke to the Sunday Times about how he believed that the vast majority of Labour still supports him and that his party can still win in May.Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, took to the morning shows to defend Starmer and Labour, noting that in his work abroad and campaigning around the country, Mandelson is rarely mentioned and that particularly during a town hall yesterday with constituents, Peter Mandelson didn't come up once". People are more worried about the impact of the Middle East on their energy bills," Jones said.Chris Philp, shadow home secretary, said that if Starmer doesn't resign, Labour backbenchers and ministers should develop a backbone and get rid of him".SNP also called for Starmer's resignation on Sunday in response to a Daily Mail story quoting Labour insiders as saying that the prime minister was considering sacking chancellor Rachel Reeves. Keir Starmer is living on another planet if he thinks he can save his skin by sacking everyone else," said Kirsty Blackman, SNP chief whip.Kirsty Blackman, SNP chief whip, responded on Sunday to a Daily Mail story quoting unnamed Labour insiders as saying that Keir Starmer is considering firing chancellor Rachel Reeves in a cabinet reshuffle in the aftermath of the Mandelson scandal. Continue reading...

This live blog is closed. Follow our new live blog hereCNN anchor Wolf Blitzer said he was within a few feet of the shooter, and called into CNN to describe his observations.Blitzer said he saw a very, very serious weapon. He starts shooting, and I happened to have been a few feet away from him. As he was shooting, of course, the first thing that went through my mind: is he trying to shoot me? And I don't think he was trying to shoot me, but I was very close to him as the gunshots were fired and he was very, very scary. But I'm OK, now." Continue reading...

Calls for more security measures after man, 51, arrested over alleged assaults at Prince of Wales hospital

Exclusive: Samaritans call for mandatory training for firefighters amid rise in incidentsSuicide-related callouts to fire and rescue services in England have tripled in the last decade, with Samaritans now calling for mandatory training for firefighters, who they say are struggling to deal with the increase in traumatic incidents.New figures show that fire services in England attended 3,250 suicide callouts in the year ending September 2025, the equivalent to 62 callouts a week. This was up from 997 callouts in 2009-10 when records began.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...

Health secretary's power grab' to override Nice comes amid growing concern move may be illegal and benefit big pharmaDozens of MPs are opposing Wes Streeting's decision to award himself power to dictate what the NHS pays for drugs amid growing concern the move may be illegal.Thirty-one MPs have signed a House of Commons motion voicing their disapproval of the health secretary being handed the power to override the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's (Nice) judgment on how much the NHS should spend on individual medicines. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed

Opposition leader doubles down on immigration policy and defends preferencing One Nation over independent in Farrer in ABC interview

The rival superpowers are ramping up preparations for a crewed lunar landing nearly six decades after the first moon walkThe world watched earlier this month as Nasa sent four astronauts around the moon - but to actually land on the surface the US is once again in a space race, this time with China. And China may well win.Both countries plan to build inhabited lunar bases - the first settlement on another celestial body - as well as searching for rare resources and using the deep space environment to test technology for future crewed missions to Mars. Continue reading...

President says incident, in which Secret Service agent was saved by bulletproof vest, was totally shocking to me'

US president and first lady were unharmed and suspect is being charged with two counts of felony firearms and assault charges

Soaring cost of building materials, lack of affordability and planning bottlenecks are some of the obstacles thwarting housing targetAt South and City College in Birmingham, dozens of young people clad in hi-vis vests and hard hats are building mini-walls and plastering half-formed rooms.Some weave in and out of stacks of bricks with wheelbarrows, while others use spirit levels to check the walls are straight and flat. In a few days time, these walls will be demolished and the plastering scraped away, for a new class to come in and try their hands. Continue reading...

Lawmakers and reporters in shock after Washington press event abruptly ends following gunshots

Killhouse is based on real-life story of civilian couple saved from battlefield by Ukrainian drone operatorsIt is being billed as Ukraine's answer to Saving Private Ryan, updated for an age of drones.The war movie Killhouse is an action thriller which shows off the latest in battlefield technology. Released this week, it features cameos by figures well known in Ukraine, including the nation's former military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov. One missing person is Donald Trump. The film is conveniently set in 2024, when Washington and Kyiv were allies. Continue reading...

Footage posted online shows police telling people they were being removed due to suspicion they would interrupt ceremony

This blog is now closedWe have some images coming through the newswires of Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, speaking with Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, and other officials in Islamabad this morning.Araghchi arrived in Pakistan last night. He wrote on social media that his trip would focus on bilateral matters and regional developments". Continue reading...

Chief property and security officer Ian Collard set to submit written answers to foreign affairs committee questionsA key figure in the row over Peter Mandelson's appointment as UK ambassador to Washington will not appear before a parliamentary committee of MPs to give evidence.Emily Thornberry had requested that Ian Collard speak to the foreign affairs committee (FAC) on Tuesday, but confirmed on Saturday that he would submit written answers instead.Whether he felt under pressure to deliver Mandelson's clearance, after Robbins said there was an atmosphere of pressure" and constant chasing" from Downing Street.Whether he had seen the cover form for Mandelson's vetting by UK Security Vetting (UKSV), the agency responsible for checks on candidates for sensitive posts, in which it had ticked two red boxes - meaning they had high concern" and recommended clearance denied or withdrawn".If he was asked by anyone in the Foreign Office, Downing Street or the Cabinet Office for advice about whether Mandelson required vetting for the post given that he was a member of the House of Lords.If he advised on how Mandelson should be treated during the period between his appointment being announced and his clearance coming through. Continue reading...

Al-Qaida-linked group JNIM claims responsibility for strikes on airport in capital, Bamako and four other citiesIslamic militants and separatists attacked several locations in Mali's capital and other cities on Saturday in one of the largest coordinated attacks in the country in recent years.The al-Qaida-linked militant group JNIM claimed responsibility for the attacks on Bamako's international airport and four other cities in central and northern Mali on its website, Az-Zallaqa. It said the attacks were carried out jointly with the Azawad Liberation Front, a Tuareg-led separatist group. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Report shows cost of first appointment rose $20 in one year, with steeper rises in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania

Pair, believed to be mother and son, recovered from water but died at scene in Elthorne Park, EalingA woman and her young child have died after getting into difficulty" in the water at a park in west London, police said.Officers were called to Elthorne Park in Ealing just before 4.30pm on Saturday, where a woman and her son were recovered from the water, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

French president cites joint military aid to Cyprus as proof of Europe's ability to defend itself during trip to AthensEmmanuel Macron has spoken up for Europe's ability to defend itself, saying a mutual assistance clause, enshrined in the EU treaty, was unambiguous and not just words".The French president said the pact had already been proved in action when several member states sent military aid to Cyprus after a drone attack against a British airbase on the island on 28 February. Continue reading...

Klaudia Zakrzewska, 32, was hit at about 4.30am in Soho in incident that left 58-year-man with life-changing injuriesA social media influencer has died six days after a car hit her and other pedestrians outside a nightclub in London, police said.Klaudia Zakrzewska, 32, was injured in Argyll Street, Soho, at about 4.30am on 19 April and was pronounced dead on Saturday. Continue reading...

Officers continue with inquiries after West Midlands police confirm deaths of boys aged one and threeA woman has been arrested after a house fire in Wolverhampton on Friday in which a one-year-old and three-year-old boy died, West Midlands police have said.Emergency services were called to the property in the south of the city at about 8.30pm on Friday, with first responders attending from West Midlands police fire and ambulance services. Continue reading...

Enzo Bettamio alleged to have stabbed Kamonnan Thiamphanit in April 2024 at a property in BayswaterA teenager has been charged with murder over the death of a 27-year-old woman after his extradition from the United Arab Emirates to the UK.The charge relates to the stabbing of Kamonnan Thiamphanit, which took place at a property in Bayswater, west London, on 6 April 2024. Continue reading...

Extra social media checks brought in amid growing threat to politicians from extremistsThe security company that provides bodyguards for MPs has tightened its vetting processes after it sent a bodyguard with far-right links to protect a politician who was under threat from extremists.Mitie, which has a 31m contract for the work, is updating its CPO (Close Protection Operative) vetting processes to include regular social media checks. There will also be random checks on the social media activity of those already taken on. Continue reading...

The court sided with a Canadian hiker who deliberately challenged the order imposed to curb spread of wildfiresAs wildfires raged across Nova Scotia last summer, the Canadian province made a simple plea to residents: stay away from the woods.As the situation deteriorated, authorities turned the request into a prohibition: anyone caught hiking under the shade of the forest canopy faced a C$25,000 fine - a figure more than half the average worker's yearly salary. Continue reading...

Dnipro bore the brunt of the attacks but Odesa and Kharkiv were also targeted in largest onslaught for several daysRussian drone and missile strikes across Ukraine killed at least seven people overnight, including five in the city of Dnipro, Ukrainian local authorities have said.Reports say that at least 34 people have been injured in the strikes, which lasted practically all night", according to the Dnipropetrovsk regional head, Oleksandr Hanzha. The bodies of four people were found in the ruins of a house destroyed in the attacks, and workers continued to search for bodies on Saturday morning. Continue reading...

Some familiar, arcane terms are returning to the fore as the Tories study the tactics Labour used against Boris JohnsonThe lexicon of a British parliamentary scandal is arcane.As Keir Starmer fights to remain prime minister, he has had to respond to a humble address", had his judgment picked over during an emergency opposition day debate" and now faces the ignominy of a privilege motion". Continue reading...

Kendrick Guidry, alone among judges, initially ruled that the state supreme court's decision to uphold a lookback window' for abuse claims did not set a binding precedentOnly one judge in Louisiana has ruled in favor of the Catholic church's ongoing attempts to strike down a law there which allowed old abuse claims their day in court - even after a state supreme court decision upheld the constitutionality of that so-called lookback window".But now, that judge - Kendrick J Guidry of Lake Charles - is being forced to acknowledge that his ruling benefited a specific church on whose finance committee he sits, giving him a direct financial interest that required his recusal under the state's judicial code. Continue reading...

Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned amid allegations of an affair and steering grants to politically connected figuresThe secretary of the Department of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, resigned this week after several controversies surrounding her brief tenure at the helm of the agency. But labor officials say even though her troubled reign is over, the US labor authority remains in a state of constant turbulence".Chavez-DeRemer was under investigation over claims she had an affair with a subordinate and allegedly misused travel funds, and that her aides allegedly steered grants to politically connected figures. Her husband was banned from the agency's headquarters over allegations of sexual assault by at least two staffers. Continue reading...

Italian newspapers claim singer and actor, who is tipped to be next James Bond, are planning wedding of the year' in the cityLast July, Dua Lipa shared a series of photos on Instagram while on holiday in Palermo with Callum Turner, the British actor she had become engaged to weeks earlier. In these photos, the pair appeared radiantly in love with each other - and the Sicilian capital.There were pictures of the couple strolling through the city's vibrant baroque alleys, admiring the ceiling frescoes in its striking cathedral and enjoying sunset boat trips. In another, a smiling Turner is holding a pair of ricotta-filled cannoli, the Sicilian dessert. One photo even captured the word amore" scrawled on a wall. Continue reading...

Jets flew from bases in Romania but did not open fire as potential targets stayed within Ukrainian airspaceTwo RAF Typhoons have been scrambled from a Romanian air base to engage Russian drones close to Nato airspace, although they did not open fire.British defence sources said the fighter jets did not enter Ukrainian airspace, contradicting reports that Russian drones had been shot down by the RAF there, an event which would have represented a major escalation in hostilities between the western alliance and Moscow. Continue reading...

A previously unknown species of bacteria found in patients with noma could be key to creating treatments for the neglected tropical diseaseThe astonishing" discovery of a new bacteria could open the door to better ways to prevent, detect and treat a fatal and disfiguring childhood disease, researchers hope.Noma, which is fatal in 90% of cases without treatment, begins as a sore on the gums but goes on to destroy the tissues of the mouth and face. Continue reading...

Study of 1,300 campaigners finds arrests, fines and jail terms increase determination of activists to take direct actionThe criminalisation of direct action climate protests in the UK is counterproductive and increases the determination of activists to undertake disruptive demonstrations, according to a study of 1,300 campaigners.New findings suggest arrests, fines and lengthy prison sentences given to nonviolent climate protesters who have blocked roads or damaged buildings may actually radicalise them. The repression of protest could even be one driver of recent covert actions such as the cutting of internet cables, they said. Continue reading...

Uncle Jack Pearson, an army captain, says heckling not in the Anzac spirit' after welcome to country booed in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth

Haris Doukas warns that with 700,000 residents and 8 million tourists, people are being pushed out of their neighbourhoodsIn the heart of ancient Athens, on narrow streets and around archaeological sites, visitor groups appear to be everywhere, snaking their way behind tour guides.Previously, officials would have welcomed such scenes. But for Haris Doukas, the socialist mayor who is determined to reclaim the capital's congested city centre for its citizens, the start of tourist season leaves the city at risk of over-saturation." Entire neighbourhoods, he believes, are in danger of losing their authenticity because of uncontrolled tourist development. Continue reading...

Former Liberal party senator, who was elected to state upper house in March, says flights worth every cent'

Relatives of London pupils and German villagers mark anniversary of English misfortune' that Nazis turned into propaganda coupOn 17 April 1936, the bells of St Laurentius church in the Black Forest rang out to guide to safety a group of London schoolboys trapped in deep snow on a mountain hike gone very wrong. Ninety years on to the day, as the bells sounded again, there was hardly a dry eye in the congregation of British relatives and German villagers remembering the night that had brought together their parents and grandparents.The people of Hofsgrund risked their lives heading out with sledges and lanterns in the deadly weather to rescue the party of 27 and their teacher after two boys, fumbling though fog and frozen to the bone, had reached a farmhouse and told its startled inhabitants there were many more of them strewn over the Schauinsland mountain.The Daily Sketch from 20 and 29 April 1936 Continue reading...

The 32-year-old jailed for life for a racially motivated sex attack on a Sikh woman had a collection of hate-filled uploadsJohn Ashby is a man who did not hide his hatred of women.In fact, the rapist, who was sentenced this week to life in prison with a minimum of 14 years for a racially motivated sex attack on a Sikh woman, vented his misogyny online for all to see. Continue reading...

After a two-year wait, video of a young male crossing above a road gives hope that critically endangered species can survive habitat fragmentationThe critically endangered Sumatran orangutan has been filmed for the first time using a canopy bridge to cross a road.In 2024, conservationists in the Pakpak Bharat district of North Sumatra in Indonesia built the bridge high over the Lagan-Pagindar road, which provides an essential route for local people but which became a barrier for animals. Continue reading...

Former US ambassador and Labour peer joins a long line of people who have gone out to meet awaiting paparazzi head-onFor a man at the centre of a storm that has rocked the political establishment, Peter Mandelson has spent the week looking remarkably relaxed. Day after day, as MPs have grilled civil servants over who knew what when about the former US ambassador's security vetting, and police continue to investigate serious allegations over his own conduct, Mandelson has stepped out of his Regent's Park mansion and pottered across the road to take his dog for a walk.Smart-casually dressed in jeans and a jumper and holding in front of him a plastic ball-thrower, he has set off for the park like a weekending solicitor on his way to an egg and spoon race. There have been occasional small smiles for the photographers at his gate, but no comment. The message appears to be: I am insouciant, normal. Not in prison. Continue reading...

Testimony emerges from Babak Alipour, who spent three years on death row before being taken to gallows in MarchWriting from his cell in the Rajai Shahr prison in the northern Iranian city of Karaj, Babak Alipour wanted to tell his friends about those who had already gone to their execution.There was Behrouz Ehsani, 69, the elder statesman of the group, who was never angry" about their predicament. Then there was Mehdi Hassani, a 48-year-old father of three who he saw a couple of times in the prison hospital and who would ask him to pass on to the children the message that he was fine". Continue reading...

In February 2025, a cheap Russian drone tore through Chornobyl's confinement shelter. Workers warn the site of the world's worst nuclear accident is not safe yetThe dosimeter clipped to your chest ticks faster the moment you step off the designated path inside the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. Step back, and it slows again - an invisible line between clean ground and contamination.Above rises the new safe confinement" (NSC) - the largest, movable steel structure ever built, taller than the Statue of Liberty, wider than the Colosseum, its arch curving overhead like an aircraft hangar built for giant planes. Continue reading...

Roberts-Smith, who has denied five charges of war crime murder, says he was always going to attend: I never thought about not coming'

OpenAI said the company had identified an account using abuse detection efforts, but determined at the time it didn't meet threshold for legal referralThe head of OpenAI has written a letter apologizing that his company didn't alert law enforcement about the online behavior of a person who shot and killed eight people in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.In the letter posted Friday, Sam Altman expressed his deepest condolences to the entire community. Continue reading...