World news | The Guardian

Accounting firm BDO also warns of future impact of fraudsters using artificial intelligence to rip off customersThe amount of fraud committed in the UK more than doubled to 2.3bn in 2023, marking the second-biggest year for scams in the last two decades, according to a report that also warns of the future impact of fraudsters using artificial intelligence to rip off consumers.The accounting firm BDO's latest FraudTrack report found that the number of reported cases rose by 18% to a three-year high, and the number of high-value cases over 50m increased by 60% year-on-year in 2023. Half of the high-value frauds were over 200m. Continue reading...

Campaigners say system often entails trespassing on private land to reach free-to-roam areas and call for Scotland-style rulesHundreds of people campaigning for the right to roam in England are to descend on Dartmoor in an effort to highlight the limitations of the country's system.More than 90 years since the mass trespass of Kinder Scout, which helped establish the principle of the right to roam in the UK, organisers say England's partial right to roam is ridiculous" and are calling for a system of access rights that echoes Scotland's. Continue reading...

UK Maritime Trade Operations says military authorities exploring apparent explosion near vesselThe UK is investigating reports that a cargo ship has come under attack off the coast of Yemen, after an apparent explosion close to the vessel on Sunday.Following the reports of damage to the vessel, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said: Military authorities are investigating. UKMTO has received a report of an incident 35 NM [nautical miles] south of Al Mukha, Yemen. Continue reading...

Outrage over jailed opposition leader's death grows with detention of over 350 people in Russia who attended vigils

Labour leader calls for a ceasefire that lasts' in speech to Scottish party delegates in GlasgowKeir Starmer has said the fighting must stop now" in Gaza, warning Israel not to extend its military offensive to the southern city of Rafah ahead of another potential crunch point for his party over the crisis.The Labour leader made the comments in a speech to the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow, where he has faced renewed pressure ahead of a crucial Commons vote on Wednesday over a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire. Continue reading...

Fifteen-year-olds also charged with possessing knife in a public place after stabbing of Williams in Rawnsley Park on WednesdayTwo 15-year-old boys have been charged with the murder of 16-year-old Darrian Williams, who was stabbed in a park in Bristol, police have said.Darrian died after being attacked in Rawnsley Park in the Easton area of the city on Wednesday. The suspects, who have also been charged with possessing a knife in a public place, remain in police custody and will appear at Bristol youth court on Monday. Continue reading...

Some said to be lobbying for PM to resign to avoid spectacle of coup, while others are waiting for outcome of May local electionsTory MPs critical of Rishi Sunak's leadership are hoping he will stand down voluntarily to avoid the spectacle of a damaging coup and are looking to May's local elections as a potential crunch point, the Guardian has been told.A former minister said several Conservative MPs had contacted Graham Brady, who heads the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories, to say they want the prime minister to quit, but that they had not sent in letters of no confidence yet. Continue reading...

In some areas young people have been waiting more than two years for plan detailing help they require, FoI reveals

With Ukraine retreating and western sanctions having little impact, the Russian president is growing bolder and may embark on more reckless movesVladimir Putin smiled and looked unusually festive on Friday as he praised factory workers and joked with state reporters at an industrial plant in the Ural city of Chelyabinsk.Putin's confidence was unmistakable - a sign of his full belief that he would get away with the death that day of his biggest critic in jail while outlasting Ukraine on the battlefield. Continue reading...

Six were known to Rome's criminal underworld for tenacity in carrying out burglaries at post officesA gang of six alleged robbers in their 60s and 70s known in Rome's criminal underworld for their tenacity in carrying out a series of armed burglaries at post offices in the city have been arrested by police in Italy.The gang's leaders were 70-year-old Italo De Witt, nicknamed the German", who became renowned in the mid-1990s after a sophisticated heist of a bank near the Spanish Steps, and a 75-year-old who played the role of lookout. Continue reading...

Palestinian Authority ready to engage', says prime minister ahead of talks on formation of new Gaza government

More than 400m paid in dividends in 2022-23 while rest of railway faced cuts and salary freezesPrivate firms that lease out trains for Britain's railway have seen their profits treble in a year, with more than 400m paid in dividends, official figures show.The rolling stock companies paid out a total of 409.7m to shareholders and profit margins rose to 41.6% in 2022-23, according to the Office of Rail and Road, as the rest of the railway was told to make swingeing cuts and salaries were frozen. Taxpayer subsidies are still running at twice pre-pandemic levels. Continue reading...

Russian troops have full control and have advanced 8.6km beyond that region of frontline, Russian news agencies sayResponding to US Republican senator JD Vance on a panel at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, German politician Ricarda Lang pushed back at the idea of a deal with Russia.Putin has shown over and over again - and he just showed this with the murder of Navalny on Friday - that he has no interest in peace at the moment. That he does not want peace.So if you say we stop supporting Ukraine, stop giving weapons to them, you are not having some scenario where this leads to peace, but at the moment this leads to two scenarios: either you are prolonging this war, or you give up Ukraine and Putin wins. Continue reading...

Hospital in Khan Younis no longer functional due to Israeli forces' week-long siege'; US ambassador to UN says text could jeopardise negotiationsIsrael's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his government would vote on a declaratory decision" regarding Israel's opposition to any unilateral imposition of Palestinian statehood, Reuters reports.Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting that the move comes after recent talk in the international community about an attempt to unilaterally impose on Israel a Palestinian state". Continue reading...

Former party leader says he won't compare race to 1992 or 1997, but he is convinced now that we're not going to lose'Neil Kinnock has said he is convinced" that Labour will win the next election, although the former party leader said the race could not be compared to 1992 or 1997.Kinnock has previously blamed a moment of apparent complacency ahead of the 1992 general election, when he was Labour leader, for costing the party victory over John Major's Conservatives, who won an unexpected 21-seat majority. Continue reading...

1970s show challenged attitudes by defying gender stereotypes and boldly addressing topical issues, broadcaster saysThey may be best remembered for wacky props such as their oversized flat caps and a bicycle made for three as well as their banging theme tune Goodies, goody goody yum yum".But it may be time to reassess the surreal 1970s and early 80s sketch show The Goodies and regard it not just as silly fun but as a catalyst for social change. Continue reading...

Prince to work with charity to provide temporary homes near Newquay with wraparound support'The Prince of Wales has announced plans to build 24 homes to provide temporary accommodation for local people experiencing homelessness on Duchy of Cornwall land in the south-west of England.Working with the Cornish homelessness charity St Petrocs, the project will provide the homes in Nansledan, a suburb of Newquay, with wraparound support" including training and job opportunities. Continue reading...

Experts say algorithm-based social media is damaging young people's interpersonal skills and contributing to anxiety and depression

Vulnerable people from the Amazon to Africa say stock may never be paid for by ethical beauty chain after it called in administratorsThe Body Shop's fair trade suppliers who work with vulnerable people from the Amazon to Africa say they have been left with more than $1m-worth of beauty ingredients which may now never be ordered or paid for by the ethical beauty chain.The retailer, which called in administrators to its UK arm last week, has partnerships with 18 community fair trade partnerships around the world via its own scheme. Many of the relationships have been in place for more than 20 years. Continue reading...

Mati Diop, the director of Dahomey, which charts the restitution of 26 objects to Benin, says the tiny number involved is humiliating'The first major return of looted treasures from Europe to Africa in the 21st century has left a lingering feeling of humiliation because of the lack of follow-up action, a French-Senegalese filmmaker who accompanied a hoard of artefacts on their journey from Paris to their country of origin has said.In her film Dahomey, which premiered at the Berlin film festival on Sunday, the director, Mati Diop, documents the 2021 journey of 26 treasures that the commander of French forces in Senegal looted from the royal palace of the kingdom of Dahomey, part of modern-day Benin, in 1890. Continue reading...

Erdem and Simone Rocha shows saw outfits that could have come from Elspeth Catton's wardrobeIt's official: the Saltburn effect has hit London fashion week. Saturday's catwalk shows by Erdem and Simone Rocha were peppered with dramatic tulle dresses and elbow-length leather gloves that looked as if they had been fetched straight out of the wardrobe of Elspeth Catton, the eccentric matriarch played by Rosamund Pike in Emerald Fennell's perverse social satire film.It is Pike and her fellow doyens of the film industry rather than Gen Z influencers who are dominating the front row, which clashes with Sunday's Baftas ceremony this season. Continue reading...

Chilean social media users target institution, forcing it at one point to close comments on all its postsThe British Museum is tackling an influx of social media trolls from Chile, who have flooded the museum's Instagram posts calling for the return of a moai statue, one of the stone monuments from Easter Island.The museum has two moai, which were taken from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) by British surveyors in 1868, and there have been longstanding demands for the British to return them to Rapa Nui, which is Chilean territory. Continue reading...

Concerns also raised about Allwyn's commitments to safer gambling and its ownership structureMPs have demanded assurances from the gambling regulator about the new national lottery operator, Allwyn, raising concerns about its commitments to safer gambling and donations to good causes, as well as its ownership structure.The Gambling Commission said in March 2022 that it had decided to award Allwyn the lucrative 10-year licence to run the lottery, estimated to be worth up to 100bn in sales. Continue reading...

Damning report says group that has experienced abuse and arbitrary detention falls under effective control' of UK governmentA group of 61 asylum seekers who have been stranded on the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia for more than two years should be urgently relocated after experiencing violence, abuse and arbitrary detention, according to a UN report.The inspection report from UNHCR - the UN Refugee Agency - marked confidential" and disclosed to the Guardian and the BBC by the supreme court of British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), is the first to be carried out since a group of asylum seekers, mainly Tamils from Sri Lanka, arrived on the island in October 2021. They were rescued and taken to Diego Garcia after a boat they were travelling in, hoping to reach Canada to claim asylum, got into difficulty. Continue reading...

The electrical goods retailer says Elliott significantly undervalued' the businessCurrys has rejected a takeover bid from US investment group Elliott saying it significantly undervalued the electrical goods retailer.Elliott tabled a 700m bid for Currys - at 62p a share a 32% premium to its latest share price - with the investment group. Currys was valued at 533m at the close of trading on the London stock market on Friday. Continue reading...

Shadow foreign secretary says Labour will look at SNP motion but adds that Commons vote won't bring peace to Gaza

Mayor Sadiq Khan thinks his new line names for the capital's ever-expanding rail network bring clarity, but not everyone agreesThe ancient Egyptians saw names as magical. It was said that Isis tricked Ra, the sun god, into telling her his true name, to give her power over him and put her son Horus on the throne.Londoners have a different take. The Northern line was nearly named TootanCamden in the 1920s, the historian Robert Graves wrote - a pun on the Tutankhamun craze of the time and the line's route through Tooting and Camden. Continue reading...

The drop in civil inquiries by fraud unit sparks criticism that the authority's use of its powers of enforcement are waningThe number of civil investigation cases opened by a HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) fraud unit investigating offshore, corporate and wealthy taxpayers has fallen by more than half in five years, figures reveal.The Observer reported last month that HMRC has not charged a single company under landmark legislation to crack down on tax evasion. Campaigners warned that HMRC was undermining its own deterrents by failing to use its criminal enforcement powers. Continue reading...

Price Promise tariff gives discount on current cap and guarantees to be at least 1 per fuel under April oneBritish Gas has launched a fixed-rate gas and electricity deal that offers a 12% saving over most existing price-capped tariffs, adding a new choice to the hard-to-navigate home energy market.For the past two winters, consumers have largely been spared having to seek out the cheapest deal, because, in almost all cases, it was their supplier's price cap-protected standard tariff. Continue reading...

Despite victory in two Conservative safe seats, a Labour government is not a foregone conclusion, say party hawksFor the past few months, with Labour enjoying a stubbornly large double-digit lead in the polls, close allies of Keir Starmer remained obsessed with the notion that complacency will slip into the mindsets of MPs, advisers and activists.In a breathless week that saw Labour veer from having to abandon one byelection before scooping previously safe Tory seats in two others, the obsessives were given three opportunities to drive their point home. Continue reading...

As fresh party infighting erupts after two byelection losses, the right are targeting public service funding to pay for tax cuts while others urge restraintRishi Sunak is being warned he risks taking his party further towards disaster by sanctioning a new public spending squeeze in a desperate pursuit of pre-election tax cuts, as more Tories said they feared an election wipeout.With more infighting erupting this weekend after two huge byelection losses in former safe seats, Treasury officials are examining cuts to public spending should they be needed to fund tax cuts, demanded most vociferously by the right of the party. Continue reading...

NSW environment watchdog gives venue green light after tests; agency says schools at Marsden Park and Orchard Hill found to have mulch containing bonded asbestos. This blog is now closed

Positive tests recorded at schools in Marsden Park and Orchard Hills takes total number of sites to have tested positive to 34 since early January

Move comes after second group found in Western Australia and believed to have arrived on same boat as group found 25km away on Friday

Formerly exiled billionaire freed six months into eight-year sentence due to age and healthFormer Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been freed on parole and returned home, six months after he was arrested on his dramatic return to the kingdom from 15 years of self-imposed exile.The controversial billionaire, twice elected premier and ousted in a 2006 military coup, was jailed for eight years on graft and abuse-of-power charges after he arrived in Thailand in August. Continue reading...

Refugees will have certainty and assurance' says Home Office, but charities say move insufficient as many face homelessnessUkrainians who sought sanctuary in the UK after the Russian invasion will be permitted to extend their visas for an extra 18 months, the Home Office has announced.More than 200,000 Ukrainians visa holders have arrived in the UK since March 2022, with the first visas to expire in March next year. The Home Office said that the new scheme would provide certainty and assurance" for Ukrainians in the UK. Continue reading...

Many families move to afford a freestanding house, but higher density living could save them money, experts say

Labour leader thought loss to Tories in byelection meant party going backward, according to new biographyKeir Starmer considered resigning as Labour party leader after the defeat in the Hartlepool byelection in 2021, according to a new biography.The loss of the County Durham constituency to the Conservatives was a blow to Starmer as the party had held the seat since it was created in 1974. Nearly two and a half years later, Labour are ahead in the polls and achieved a double success by winning the byelections in Wellingborough and Kingswood on Friday. Continue reading...

Move comes as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas make little progress, according to key Qatar negotiator

Exclusive: Family calls for inquest, saying Wilkinson visited police almost every day' before she was murdered by her husband in 2021

Party hopes for compromise wording after previous SNP motion saw 56 MPs defy Keir StarmerLabour is hoping to defuse a fresh crisis over Keir Starmer's cautious stance on Gaza by rewording a Scottish National party motion calling for an immediate ceasefire.With the support of Scotland's first minister, Humza Yousaf, the SNP will table a motion to be debated in the Commons on Wednesday, which intends to challenge Starmer by calling for an immediate end to the violence. Continue reading...

Suspect charged with assisting unlawful entry into the UK after discovery at Newhaven ferry portOne person has been charged with assisting unlawful entry into the UK after six people were found in the back of a lorry at a ferry port in Sussex.Police had arrested two men in connection with the incident at Newhaven port in East Sussex on Friday. One was detained on suspicion of people smuggling and the other on suspicion of entering the UK illegally. The six people discovered in the lorry were taken to hospital. No deaths have been reported by Sussex police. Continue reading...

Actor left fourth draft of screenplay for first movie in the London flat that he was renting while filmingA Star Wars script left in a London flat by Harrison Ford has been sold at an auction for 10,795.The fourth draft of the screenplay for the first Star Wars movie, originally titled The Adventures of Luke Starkiller, had an estimated selling price of 8,000-12,000 and was bought on Saturday by an Austrian private collector. Continue reading...

Reading is cool again, but publishers and parents fear that new TikTok trend promoting erotic titles goes too farParents, publishers and booksellers have generally welcomed BookTok", the videos on TikTok promoting literature. In an age when many worry about children spending too much time in front of a screen, reading has become cool" on the platform.But a trend for spicy" (ie sexy) books has led to fears children may be reading titles with adult content. Continue reading...

Russian opposition leader's death occurred on Friday, say supporters, but official cause remains disputedThe death of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, has been confirmed by his representatives, who are calling for the return of his body amid confusion over the cause of the death of Putin's once most significant political challenger.Navalny, 47, died in jail on 16 February at 2.17pm local time, said his official spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, citing a message from Navalny's mother and challenging Russia's official explanation that Navalny died after a fall at the Arctic penal colony where he was being held. Continue reading...

In an age when we love bagging bargains online, locals and experts in one of the UK's most affluent towns debate whether there's any future in high-street retailingIf you wanted to look at the struggles of the British high street, Cheltenham would not necessarily be the first place to start. There are no boarded-up shop windows or empty windswept streets, no surplus of betting offices and charity shops. Nor do outlets with the word pound" in their titles loom conspicuously large.On the contrary, the handsome town centre streets are bustling, business seems to be, if not booming, then not exactly in existential crisis. So it is not hard to believe, on a bright Wednesday afternoon, that all is right in the world - or at least in this affluent corner of Gloucestershire. Continue reading...

US secretary of state tells Munich security conference that almost all Arab countries want to normalise tiesA climate of fear pervades a hospital in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, where patients and doctors are reeling from last month's deadly raid by Israeli agents disguised as medics, reports news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).AFP say that at the rehabilitation ward at Jenin's Ibn Sina hospital, two patients recalled hearing the screams of a nurse as Israeli forces reached the third floor. Continue reading...

Amid biting austerity and rising inflation, the al-Sisi government is off-loading assets - some to a convicted murderer with Emirati cashAs dusk fell over the verdant grounds of the Marriott Mena House hotel, the reflection of the Great Pyramid of Giza grew darker in a pool built to reflect the last of the seven wonders of the world.A band played a smooth jazz rendition of the Eagles' Hotel California on the grassy lawns as guests assembled for dinner, while the staff attempted to project a sense of business as usual, despite the hotel's recent acquisition by an infamous Egyptian real estate tycoon, Hisham Talaat Moustafa, and two powerful Emirati conglomerates. Continue reading...

Latest figures show racial disparity in use-of-force incidents among inpatients in EnglandThe number of black inpatients injured while being restrained by police in mental health units has risen dramatically - at the same time as the number of non-black inpatients injured has fallen, according to analysis of government data by the Observer.The Home Office's police use of force statistics for 2022/23 show that police forces across England recorded 820 incidents of force used in mental health units against black inpatients, resulting in 36 injuries. This is up from the 770 use of force incidents and 27 injuries recorded in 2021/22. Continue reading...