World news | The Guardian

Martinez Lake, about 145 miles west of Phoenix, reached 110F (43.3C) on Thursday amid scorching south-west heat

International Energy Agency recommends emergency measures, including working from home, as Iran war hits fuel supplyLowering speed limits to minimise fuel consumption is among potential contingency plans being drawn up by the UK government as the crisis in the Middle East threatens global oil supplies.Sources stressed that there is no shortage of fuel in the UK, but said that officials in the Department for Transport were working with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) on an analysis of what measures could be taken to curb oil demand. Continue reading...

Tania Warner and Ayla, her seven-year-old with autism, sent to notorious Texas detention center and told to self-deport'

Scientific advisory committee to examine impact of offering routine MenB jabs to wider range of people

Lawsuit alleges university violated civil rights of Jewish and Israeli people in aftermath of war in GazaThe Trump administration renewed its assault on Harvard University on Friday, filing a lawsuit in Massachusetts alleging the Ivy League institution violated the civil rights of Jewish and Israeli people in the aftermath of the war in Gaza.The lawsuit, shared publicly by the New York Times, accuses Harvard of allowing anti-Israel protesters to operate on campus with impunity" following the 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Gaza and Israel's massive military response. Continue reading...

Gwyn Samuels, who committed crimes as James Bubb, befriended both victims online befriended both victims onlineA Metropolitan police officer who raped a girl and a woman after systematically" grooming them both online has been jailed for 24 years.James Bubb, who now identifies as a woman named Gwyn Samuels, first sexually assaulted the girl when she was just 12 years old after befriending her online in 2018, the trial at Aylesbury crown court was told last year. Continue reading...

Three people were suing ex-Sinn Fein leader for liability over IRA bombings in UK that left them injuredThree victims of IRA bombings who sued Gerry Adams alleging he was a member of the paramilitary group and culpable for the attacks have withdrawn their lawsuit on the last day of the civil trial.John Clark, Jonathan Ganesh and Barry Laycock, who were injured respectively in the 1973 Old Bailey bombing and the 1996 London Docklands and Manchester bombings, were seeking symbolic vindicatory" damages of 1 each. Continue reading...

This blog is now closedSeverin Carrell is the Guardian's Scotland editor.Malcolm Offord, Reform UK's Scottish leader, has doubled down on his defence of the party's vetting by dismissing remarks by candidates backing Tommy Robinson or describing Humza Yousaf as an Islamist moron" (see 10.12am) as fruity language".It has taken a matter of hours for Reform Scotland's big launch to fall apart and their true colours to show.If Nigel Farage refuses to act and remove this candidate, Malcolm Offord must step up and show some leadership himself. This incident has confirmed once and for all how poisonous and chaotic Reform is and I have no doubt that Scots will send them packing.Again, as I say, this was done in a former life before she became a member of Reform. We've all said things in the past that may be intemperate... I am saying that we have to grow up on this and not take offence at every moment in time.I've been very clear that we have brought in a whole range of candidates, 80% of whom are not politicians. They're real people with real lives who said real things in a past life. Okay, this was said before she was a candidate. She wasn't even a member of the party at that time.And what we got in the situation is that in all our lives in the past, we've made comments that might sometimes be intemperate. But the issue with this modern world we live in is everything is now written down and remembered. I just think we have to be more, more realistic about the fact that real people say real things, and now she's a candidate, she will be held to a higher standard.Liberal Democrats urge the government to ensure the NCA or new National Police Service takes over investigations into serious waste crime. We also need an independent review of the entire waste crime system to crack down on organised gangs once and for all. New powers for the Environmental Agency simply won't cut it. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our European news coverage hereMeanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron has confirmed the seizure of the tanker, which he said belonged to the Russian shadow fleet.In a strongly worded post on X, he said:The French navy boarded this morning in the Mediterranean a new vessel from the shadow fleet, the Deyna.The war in Iran will not divert France from its support for Ukraine, where Russia's war of aggression continues. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Chris Bryant says policy agreements are being done in bits and pieces but a greater vision is needed by both sidesIt was all smiles and warm handshakes when the two men in charge of renegotiating the UK's relationship with the EU met in Brussels this week.Maro efovi and the UK minister for EU relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, sharing a stage on the third floor of the vast European parliament building, were at pains to show the cross-Channel relationship was in a good place after years of rancour. Continue reading...

CBS News Radio to shutter after nearly 100 years as editor Bari Weiss tells staff cuts were necessary' decision

Late-night hosts panned Trump's joke about the 1941 attack, addressed new unredacted Epstein emails and talked popular puppy namesWith The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on hiatus until at least 27 March, late-night hosts on Thursday discussed Donald Trump's snafu while meeting Japan's prime minister, his caginess over Iran, and new findings in the Epstein investigations. Continue reading...

Stuart Niven found to have diverted Covid grants to personal account and other candidates' Islamophobic remarks revealed

HHS is looking into the states for alleged disregard of, or confusion about' the federal Weldon amendment

Moon orbit program, preceding planned landing in 2028, has been delayed due to fuel leaks and clogged helium linesFor the second time this year, Nasa moved its moon rocket from the hangar out toward the launchpad on Friday in hopes of sending four astronauts on a lunar fly-around next month.If the latest repairs work and everything else goes Nasa's way, the Space Launch System could blast off as early as 1 April from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The Artemis II crew went into quarantine this week in Houston in preparation for blastoff. Continue reading...

Palestinians say the move is part of a wider Israeli strategy to leverage security tensions to tighten restrictionsFor the first time since 1967, al-Aqsa mosque - Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site - was closed at the end of Ramadan on Friday, with tensions rising among Palestinians as Israeli authorities keep the complex shut, forcing worshippers to hold Eid prayers as close as they could to the sealed site.On Friday morning, hundreds of worshippers were forced to pray outside the Old City, as Israeli police barricaded the entrances to the site. Continue reading...

The right to protest is fundamentally American', says Bajun Mavalwalla who awaits trial and faces six years in prisonThis story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer CenterA US military veteran arrested on federal conspiracy charges after participating in a June 2025 protest against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told the Guardian he refuses to plead guilty and is ready to face justice. Continue reading...

Fusion of cherished American eateries hopes to revive brands that have gone hungry' while rest of industry feastsNo one could say the New York union of Applebee's and Ihop happened without fanfare.A car park in Hawthorne, 30 miles north of Manhattan, had been decked out with a 30ft-high inflatable red apple. Red, white and blue bunting flew from masts. Upbeat music blasted from speakers. Continue reading...

Deficit rises unexpectedly to 14.3bn in February as markets price in up to three interest rate rises in 2026

Foreign minister issues warning after Israeli attack on South Pars gasfield that prompted retaliatory strike on Qatar. Plus, what happened to the Oscars red carpet after the ceremony?

Michael Randrianirina, who sacked PM and cabinet without explanation, claims measure is to root out corruptionMadagascar's military president has said new ministers will have to pass lie detector tests to root out corrupt candidates, after he dismissed the prime minister and cabinet without explanation earlier this month.Michael Randrianirina came to power in a coup in October after weeks of youth-led protests under the banner Gen Z Madagascar". However, young people were quickly disenchanted by his choice of government officials, which they saw as being part of the old, corrupt elite. Continue reading...

Kyiv sources say they think injection contained relaxant meant to make people more talkative in interrogationsHungarian security operatives administered a forced injection" to one of the Ukrainians detained earlier this month during a dramatic raid on bank vehicles carrying gold bars and tens of millions of dollars and euros in cash, sources have told the Guardian.Hungary's TEK anti-terrorism police detained seven Ukrainians from the state savings bank, Oschadbank, on 5 March. They were accompanying a convoy of two armoured cars from Vienna to Ukraine, as it transited Hungary in what Kyiv claims was a regular transfer of state funds. Hungarian officials have claimed it was money for the Ukrainian war mafia", without giving details. Continue reading...

Jesus Javier Gomez Islas, 23, says in filing against LAPD he has permanently lost vision in one eye due to unjustified munition fired at his faceA 23-year-old Los Angeles man who attended a recent immigration protest outside a federal building says he was blinded in one eye by a law enforcement projectile.Jesus Javier Gomez Islas filed a claim against the LA police department (LAPD) on Thursday stemming from permanent injuries he says he suffered at a 31 January demonstration outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. The federal facility has been the site of frequent protests against Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and was the site of ICE Out" rallies that week. Continue reading...

Group, which also owns Dove and Hellmann's, will focus more on personal care products if deal agreedUnilever, the owner of Marmite, Dove and Hellmann's mayonnaise, is in talks to combine its food business with the US-based spice and seasoning maker McCormick.The Anglo-Dutch food company - which last year spun off its ice-cream division, the home to Ben & Jerry's, Magnum and Wall's - has entered discussions over the future of the highly attractive" business. Continue reading...

Interim president announces changes after firing defence minister, who was close to Maduro, the leader ousted by USVenezuela's interim president has said she has replaced all her senior military commanders, the latest in a flurry of changes since the US ousted Nicolas Maduro.Delcy Rodriguez announced the changes in a social media post a day after firing the long-serving defence minister, who had been close to Maduro, and replacing him with a former intelligence chief. Continue reading...

Second landfall expected over weekend in NT as Queensland premier says relatively limited damage so far an incredibly good news story'

Exclusive: Richard Hermer, who is Jewish, says Tory leader and shadow minister seem to only have an issue with Muslim events'Richard Hermer, the attorney general, has challenged Kemi Badenoch to say whether she would object to Jewish prayer in public, after the Conservative leader backed one of her shadow ministers who said an Islamic prayer event was intimidating and un-British.Hermer, one of the UK's most prominent Jewish politicians, said Badenoch's decision to support the views of Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, put her on a par with Reform UK and Tommy Robinson, the far-right activist. Continue reading...

Unseasonably warm and even dangerous temperatures this week were up to 30F above average for the time of yearThe record-breaking heatwave scorching the US west this week would have been virtually impossible" if not for the climate crisis, a team of scientists has determined.Millions of Americans from the Pacific coast to the Rockies baked under unseasonably warm and even dangerous temperatures this week, with temperatures up to 30F (17C) above average for the time of year. Continue reading...

Sharon Graham tells party to wake up and smell the coffee' after shameful' handling of Birmingham bin strikeLabour will be decimated" in the upcoming local elections and should hang their heads in shame" over the handling of the Birmingham bin strike, Unite's general secretary has said.In a speech to refuse workers near a waste depot in Tyseley on Thursday, Sharon Graham said working people were moving away from Labour in droves and called on the party to wake up and smell the coffee". Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: Bereaved families say the latest findings confirm long-standing concerns about capacity, care and political choicesGood morning. Yesterday lunchtime the UK Covid-19 inquiry published its latest findings - this time on how the NHS, its staff and patients were affected during the pandemic. It delivered a stark verdict: the health service teetered on the brink of collapse" and only avoided it through the almost superhuman efforts" of staff.Heather Hallett, the inquiry chair, said healthcare systems coped, but only just" - and rejected the claim made by Conservative ministers at the time that the NHS had not been overwhelmed. For bereaved families, that language matters.Middle East | Iran said it would show zero restraint" if its energy infrastructure was targeted again as Qatar revealed that almost a fifth of its liquefied natural gas export capacity had been knocked out in an Iranian strike.Health | Meningitis vaccination has been expanded in Kent after cases linked to a Canterbury nightclub rose to 27. Two people have died, and officials say the outbreak is being contained.Politics | Muslim leaders have condemned Nigel Farage's call to ban public prayer by Muslims in the UK as bigoted and warned of a growing tide of hate" after Kemi Badenoch questioned whether the events fitted within the norms of British culture".EU | EU leaders have pledged to stand behind Cyprus as it seeks an open and frank discussion" on the future of the British bases on the island, which have become a target after the outbreak of the latest Middle East crisis.Immigration | A 16-year-old schoolgirl is stranded in Denmark after she was not allowed to board a flight to the UK due to new border rules on dual nationals. Continue reading...

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IEA makes 10 recommendations to help households and businesses prepare for a drawn-out disruption to energy marketsThe world's energy watchdog has advised governments to reduce highway speeds and encouraged workers to carpool or, ideally, work from home to combat soaring oil prices and impending fuel shortages caused by the Middle East conflict.It has also recommended countries consider limiting car access to designated zones in large cities, by giving vehicles with odd-numbered plates access on different weekdays to those with even-numbered plates.Work from home where possible to save petrol.Reduce highway speed limits by at least 10km/h to reduce fuel usage.Encourage public transport to reduce oil demand.Limit car access to roads in large cities through a number-plate rotation scheme.Increase car sharing.Encourage efficient driving for commercial vehicles through load optimisation and vehicle maintenance.Divert LPG use from transport to preserve it for essential needs like cooking.Avoid air travel where possible.Encourage electric cooking and other options to reduce reliance on LPG.Help industrial facilities switch between different petrochemical feedstocks to free up LPG. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lack of enforcement is allowing people to drop rubbish with complete impunity, says Clean Up BritainScores of councils across the UK have in effect ended enforcement of fines for littering, while others are letting litterers off lightly and many more are neglecting to enforce fines for fly-tipping.At least 71 councils failed to issue a single fine for littering last year, while a further 67 issued fewer than 10, according to data from the Clean Up Britain campaign. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Testing in Bentham, home to UK's highest recorded Pfas levels, finds one in four have blood levels in greatest risk categoryAlarming levels of toxic forever chemicals have been found in the blood of people living in a town previously revealed to be contaminated with the UK's highest recorded level of Pfas.Pfas, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and commonly known as forever chemicals because of their persistence in the environment, have been linked to a wide range of serious illnesses, including some cancers. They are used in a variety of consumer products but one of their most prolific uses is in firefighting foam. Continue reading...

Archivist Jo Klett says the 40 boxes of material will provide a full picture of Roger's entire working career'It's a joy to be old," wrote Roger McGough, one of Britain's most popular, prolific and funniest poets. The dog dead and the car sold."Another joy might be decluttering. After the departure of dozens of boxes of notebooks, manuscripts, drafts, project files, journals, posters, letters, personal artworks and more, McGough has admitted his house is significantly emptier. If anyone wants to buy some old empty filing cabinets then get in touch ... through you," he joked. Continue reading...

Michael Kenny's daughter Juliette, a sixth-former at a school in Kent, died one day after showing symptomsThe father of an 18-year-old school pupil who died after the meningitis outbreak in Kent said his family's devastation is immeasurable" as he called for better protection for young people.Juliette Kenny died last Saturday, one day after first showing symptoms of vomiting and discoloration in her cheeks, her father, Michael Kenny, said. Continue reading...

Government faces political fight as industry says mooted 25% levy on exports would hurt Australia's economy and energy security

Flight 41 from Los Angeles encountered patch of rough air shortly before landing in Sydney, leaving four crew injured

Prime minister makes hasty exit after people heard yelling phrases including disgrace', shame' and genocide supporters'

Samoa and Tonga raise supply concerns with foreign partners as businesses and residents in Papua New Guinea grapple with higher fuel prices amid the Iran warThe leaders of some Pacific countries have appealed for help with oil supplies while others urge against panic buying" as the import-reliant nations grapple with fears over possible fuel shortages and escalating costs caused by war in the Middle East.Oil prices have surged to nearly $110 a barrel after strikes against energy infrastructure in Iran and the Gulf states. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed - our coverage of the Middle East crisis continues hereTurning to Australia now, a petrol tsar will manage unprecedented" supply issues caused by the Middle East conflict as the finishing touches are put on measures to address dire shortages in many regional areas.Prime minister Anthony Albanese convened a snap virtual meeting of the national cabinet on Thursday to discuss major price shocks and shortages driven by the US-Israel war on Iran.My government will be announcing more measures to prepare the nation for supply chain challenges over coming days and weeks.Our fuel supply is currently secure. However, I want us to be over-prepared. Continue reading...

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Colombia-born Estefany Rodriguez, whose detention had alarmed press freedom advocates, freed on $10,000 bondThe Nashville journalist who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this month was released from a Louisiana detention center on Thursday after spending 15 days in custody.Estefany Rodriguez, who covers immigration and other topics for the outlet Nashville Noticias, was detained in Nashville on 4 March and spent a week at a county jail in Alabama before being transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana. Her lawyers said Rodriguez was detained without warrant. Continue reading...

As other Asian economies race to conserve energy, China has huge reserves of oil and gas as well as alternative energy sources like wind and solar

Minns Labor government criticised over strategy as no new mines have been proposed for several years

Federal law says living presidents can't appear on currency, but commission approves design for US's 250th birthdayA federal arts commission on Thursday approved the final design for a 24-karat gold commemorative coin bearing Donald Trump's image to help celebrate the US's 250th birthday on 4 July.The vote by the US Commission of Fine Arts, whose members are supporters of the Republican president and were appointed by him earlier this year, was without objection. It clears the way for the US Mint to begin production on the coin, whose size and denomination are still under discussion. Continue reading...

US president was meeting with Japanese PM when he said: Who knows better about surprise than Japan?'

Mother and child held in notorious Rio Grande Valley detention centre despite presenting visa, family saysA Canadian mother and her seven-year-old daughter, who has autism, have been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Texas since Saturday, family members have said.Relatives of Tania Warner and her daughter Ayla Lucas say they were detained unlawfully. They are uncertain about what problem ICE found with their immigration paperwork. Continue reading...

London museum defies drop in numbers seen elsewhere, attributed to cost of living and fall in international touristsLondon's Natural History Museum (NHM) was the most popular attraction in the UK during 2025, with its renovated gardens, new climate gallery and lack of entry fee leading to record-breaking numbers of visitors.More than 7.1 million people passed through its doors, a 13% increase in visitors year on year and an all-time record for any UK museum or gallery. Continue reading...

The price of popular branded eggs has risen by over 40% in some cases while some have also shrunk in sizeShoppers are shelling out for smaller eggs again this Easter as shrinkflation takes another bite out of the favourite seasonal treat.The price of popular branded chocolate eggs has risen by more than 40% in some cases while some have also shrunk in size, according to research by the consumer champion Which?. Continue reading...