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Experts say the detention centres were a breeding ground for extremism and a new generation of IS membersHumanitarians warned for years that the camps in north-east Syria holding tens of thousands of family members of suspected Islamic State (IS) fighters would have to be dealt with. Calling them a ticking time bomb", relief groups said the women and children could not just be left to rot in squalid desert camps indefinitely, because eventually they would come home.Despite the warnings, most states ignored the problem, refusing to repatriate their citizens. At least 8,000 women and children from more than 40 countries have been stranded in the camps of north-east Syria since 2019. Continue reading...

Dana Eden, 52, co-creator of hit TV series Tehran, reported by Greek police to have taken her own life on SundayThe co-creator of an Israeli hit TV series has been found dead in a hotel room in Athens where the fourth season of the spy thriller is being filmed.Dana Eden, 52, was discovered by her brother late on Sunday, Greek police said, attributing her death to suicide.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 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

The government was warned by its lawyers that such a move could be illegal as it pledges an additional 63m to help councils with reorganisationIn his Q&A with journalists, Keir Starmer was also asked to respond to a report by the BBC's James Landale saying he is looking at plans to raise defence spending to 3% of GDP by the end of this parliament. In the past Starmer has just said that he would like to do this at some point in the next parliament.In his reply, Starmer said that at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend he was arguing that the UK, and Europe as a whole, needs to step up".We want a just and lasting peace, but that will not extinguish the Russian threat, and we need to be alert to that, because that's going to affect every single person in this room, every single person in this country, so we need to step up.That means, on defence spending, we need to go faster. Continue reading...

More than 170,000 seek compensation after UCL Covid settlement opens door to claims across university sectorDozens of universities are facing legal action from more than 170,000 students seeking compensation after their studies were moved online during Covid.Pre-action claim letters have been sent to 36 universities in England and Wales, including Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Cardiff, Leeds, Imperial College London, Liverpool and Warwick, on behalf of aggrieved students. Continue reading...

Quentin Deranque, 23, who was on sidelines of a protest, died from a brain injury after attack that has fuelled political tensionsFrench police have launched a murder inquiry after a far-right activist died in hospital having been beaten up in an attack that has fuelled political tensions in France.Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old mathematics student, died from a severe brain injury at the weekend. The Lyon prosecutor, Thierry Dran, said Deranque was assaulted by at least six masked individuals. Police were working to identify suspects and no arrests had been made, Dran said. Continue reading...

Actor shouted down and pelted with fruit during Catarina, or the Beauty of Killing FascistsAn actor at a theatre in Germany was at the weekend shouted down, pelted with fruit and subjected to an attempted stage invasion as he delivered a final monologue in character as a far-right activist.The violent scenes came on Saturday during the German premiere of the Portuguese playwright Tiago Rodrigues's work Catarina, or the Beauty of Killing Fascists in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. Continue reading...

Move could mean fewer free exhibitions and paid-for shows and more expensive ticketsThe National Gallery is to make significant cuts in the face of an 8.2m deficit in the coming year, which could mean fewer free exhibitions and ticketed shows, less international borrowing of artworks and more expensive tickets.As a result of considerably increased running costs and stagnant income, the gallery has said it will be looking to cut spending in areas such as public programmes, and activities where, for a number of reasons beyond our control, we can no longer justify their costs". Continue reading...

Rubio says relationship with Orban is vital for US national interests' ahead of Hungarian elections in AprilBack to Budapest now. Marco Rubio and the Hungarian foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, appear to be signing an agreement to facilitate cooperation on a civilian nuclear programme.We'll give you any key lines from the press conference. In the meantime, our European community affairs correspondent, Ashifa Kassam, has reported on the EU's proposed deportation law that rights groups warn could intensify already widespread racial profiling across the continent. Here is an extract from her story:More than 70 rights organisations have called on the EU to reject a proposal aimed at increasing the deportation of undocumented people, warning that it risks turning everyday spaces, public services and community interactions into tools of ICE-style immigration enforcement.Last March, the European Commission laid out its proposal to increase deportations of people with no legal right to stay in the EU, including potentially sending them to offshore centres in non-EU countries. Continue reading...

The group of 34 - families of dead or jailed extremists - were prevented from returning to Australia by poor coordination' with DamascusGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralian women and children held for years without charge were forced to return to a detention camp in northeast Syria on Monday after being released by Kurdish authorities for their expected repatriation to Australia.The 34 women and children in the group are the wives, widows and children of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters and were being held at al-Roj camp, which is controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Continue reading...

Firm says person fined A$10,000 is one of over two dozen staff in Australia caught using AI in exams since July

British women in Spain and Greece face huge problems' entering UK because of differing surname rulesNew rules requiring British dual nationals to show a UK passport when entering Britain are discriminatory" against women, campaigners claim.From 25 February, British dual nationals are required to present a British passport when boarding a plane, ferry or train to the UK, or attach a new document, a certificate of entitlement", which costs nearly 600, to their second passport. Continue reading...

Workers decried John Paulson's plan after billionaire painted himself as advocate for domestic manufacturingJohn Paulson, a hedge fund billionaire and one of Donald Trump's earliest Wall Street backers, is planning to offshore an Ohio manufacturing plant to China despite heavy pushback from employees.Workers at the plant call the move a slap in our face", after Paulson vocally defended domestic manufacturing, and are fighting to keep the plan open. Continue reading...

More than 130,000 people considered missing or disappeared in Mexico as drug cartels expandIt was a bright morning in August 2022 when Angel Montenegro was taken. A 31-year-old construction worker, Montenegro had been out all night drinking with some work buddies in the city of Cuautla and was waiting for a bus back to nearby Cuernavaca where lived.At about 10am, a white van pulled up: several men jumped out and dragged Montenegro and a co-worker inside before speeding off. Montenegro's co-worker was released a few hundred meters down the street, but Montenegro was driven away. Continue reading...

Gus went missing on 27 September from Oak Park Station, where South Australia police have begun a two-day search for evidence

American politicians break rank at Munich Security Conference to hit out at destructive' president and urge Europe to stand up to TrumpDonald Trump's most unbridled critics at this weekend's Munich Security Conference have not been Europeans but Americans - and not just Democrat politicians.A few Republicans, out of earshot of the US president's favoured Fox News, have had the courage to challenge Trump's diet of tariffs and unpredictability. Continue reading...

The pop superstar will oversee the annual music and art celebration in June, marking the festival's 31st edition and the venue's 75th anniversaryHarry Styles is to curate the Meltdown festival at London's Southbank Centre, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the venue.The 32-year-old pop star follows Little Simz as curator of the 2025 event, and previous editions led by artists including Grace Jones, Nile Rodgers and Robert Smith of the Cure. Continue reading...

Board considering whether to re-engage in move that could prompt a second bidding war with Netflix

Angus Taylor says the hardline policy document designed under Sussan Ley has no validity' but hints he will toughen policy

Andrew Hastie and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price among those expected to return to frontbench as new leader pursues rightwing agenda

GPS led driver on to the Broomway in the Thames estuary, where dozens of people are known to have diedAn Amazon delivery van got stuck trying to drive along one of Britain's most dangerous coastal paths as the driver followed GPS directions on to mudflats to try to get to an island in the Thames estuary used by the military, the coastguard has said.Rescuers were called to reports the van had been driven out on to the Broomway - a 600-year-old pathway across the flats to Foulness Island that has been called the deadliest in the country. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Victorian executive fast-tracks Mornington Peninsula mayor as former deputy opposition leader's successor in byelection

Much of Messina's cultural memory was destroyed in a 1908 earthquake, but the Italian government has secured a masterpiece by the port city's greatest sonOn 28 December 1908, the city of Messina was struck by what is still considered the deadliest natural catastrophe in modern European history. In just 37 seconds, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake killed half its population and levelled much of the city.Along with homes, churches and monuments, invaluable historical sources and documents were lost, including works by Messina's greatest son, Antonello da Messina, the artist widely credited with transforming the course of Renaissance art. Continue reading...

ACCC alleges the supermarket breached the law by offering illusory' discounts on many products with Down Down' promotion

Protesters welcome high court decision but many remain in legal limbo as government prepares to lodge appealRetirees making up some of the nearly 3,000 people arrested for supporting Palestine Action since the organisation was proscribed have said they feel vindicated" by the high court's decision to overturn the ban this week.However, uncertainty remains over whether their trials under terror laws may still go ahead after the government revealed it plans to appeal against the judgment made on Friday by three of the UK's most senior judges. Continue reading...

Fresh fruit and other items now available but at high prices in territory where unemployment is estimated at 80%Every morning, Mansour Mohammad Bakr sets out from the small rented room in Gaza City he shares with his pregnant wife and two very young daughters. The 23-year-old walks past the port and the breaking waves of the Mediterranean where he once earned his living.Before the two-year war that devastated Gaza, Bakr was a fisher, sharing tackle and a boat with his father and brothers. Now his brothers are dead, his father is too old, and his equipment was destroyed during the conflict. Like hundreds of thousands of others across Gaza, Bakr needs a job. Continue reading...

What is Blue Labour? Can Andy Burnham's Manchesterism' be replicated elsewhere? And is the two-party system over in British politics?In a special episode, Pippa and Kiran take your questions. Please keep sending them to politicsweeklyuk@theguardian.comYou can listen back to Pippa and Kiran's interviews with Andy Burnham at the Labour party conference here, and with the Green party leader, Zack Polanski, here.Watch John Harris's Anywhere But Westminster in Gorton & Denton here. Continue reading...

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Parents wish to take matters into our own hands' as William Blake House faces potential winding up orderA group of families have launched an audacious bid to take over their disabled children's residential care home after it emerged the charity running it faces closure after amassing huge tax debts and paying 1m in fees to one of its trustees.William Blake House faces a potential winding up order in seven weeks and is under investigation by regulators over serious financial governance concerns. The families said they no longer trust that the charity's board has their children's best interests at heart. Continue reading...

Institute of Public Affairs latest to raise free speech concerns over bill facing criticism from across the political divide

Crackdown on undocumented people could lead to home raids, surveillance and racial profiling, 75 organisations sayMore than 70 rights organisations have called on the EU to reject a proposal aimed at increasing the deportation of undocumented people, warning that it risks turning everyday spaces, public services and community interactions into tools of ICE-style immigration enforcement.Last March, the European Commission laid out its proposal to increase deportations of people with no legal right to stay in the EU, including potentially sending them to offshore centres in non-EU countries. Continue reading...

Leader vows to repay the young martyrs' who died as North Korea intensifies propaganda glorifying troops deployed to fight for RussiaNorth Korea has said it completed a new housing district in Pyongyang for families of North Korean soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, the latest effort by leader Kim Jong-un to honour the war dead.State media photos showed Kim walking through the new street - called Saeppyol Street - and visiting the homes of some of the families with his increasingly prominent daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju-ae, as he pledged to repay the young martyrs" who sacrificed all to their motherland". Continue reading...

The Guardian's community affairs correspondent, Chris Osuh, reports on the plot by two IS terrorists to massacre Jews in Manchester, and how it was thwarted by an undercover stingWalid Saadaoui had once worked as a holiday entertainer, organising dance shows and quizzes at a resort in his native Tunisia. After moving to the UK and marrying a British woman, he became a restaurateur and an avid keeper of birds.All the while, however - as the Guardian's community affairs correspondent, Chris Osuh, explains - he was hiding a secret: he had pledged allegiance to Islamic State. Continue reading...

Police decided there was no tangible benefit' to conducting disciplinary action against the officer and opted not to investigate

Year of the horse signals optimism and opportunity, with authorities keen that the extra day of holiday this year provides an economic boostChinese officials are hoping that this year's extra long lunar new year holiday will provide a boost to the country's economy, where increasing domestic spending has been identified as a key priority for the year ahead.The government expects a record 9.5 billion passenger trips to be made across China during the 40-day spring festival period, up from 9 billion trips last year. Hundreds of millions of people will be crisscrossing the country to make what is often their only trip home to see their families for the Chinese new year celebrations. Continue reading...

Cabinet Office minister commissioned report that made baseless claims' about reporters who were investigating Labour TogetherKeir Starmer is facing calls from the Conservatives and his own MPs for an inquiry into the commissioning of a report that made baseless claims" about journalists who were investigating a thinktank linked to the prime minister.The calls add to pressure on the Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons, who commissioned a report in 2023 on journalists investigating Labour Together, the thinktank that would help propel Starmer to power. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Research suggests official statistics could track as few as 6.5% of the true number of cases

After her death, police dropped a case examining Katie Madden's former partner, despite evidence he had repeatedly told her to kill herself

UK Health Security Agency urges parents in Enfield to get their children vaccinated as Easter holiday travels approachA big measles outbreak in north-east London is affecting unvaccinated children under the age of 10, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed.UKHSA previously reported 34 laboratory-confirmed measles cases among children who attend schools and nurseries in Enfield from 1 January to 9 February, with some requiring hospital treatment. Continue reading...

Director of public prosecutions says he is confident police would examine any evidence of potential misconductThe UK's top prosecutor has said nobody is above the law" amid growing pressure on police to fully investigate Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's links with Jeffrey Epstein.Thames Valley police said earlier this week they were in discussion with the Crown Prosecution Service over allegations of misconduct in public office against the former prince. Continue reading...

Unclear how encounter between Britain's shortest-serving PM and US president was initiated and how long it lastedAfter spending time and resources crisscrossing the Atlantic to cultivate the support of the Maga faithful, Liz Truss has finally got the prize she apparently craved: a photo with Donald Trump.Britain's shortest-serving prime minister tweeted a photo on Sunday showing her in the company of the US president at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Continue reading...

Defence leaders write joint appeal urging public on need to be prepared for war with Russia and resulting costs

Israel says strikes were in response to Hamas violations of ceasefire as Hamas calls attacks massacre' of displaced peopleAt least 12 Palestinians were killed and several more injured across the Gaza Strip on Sunday as the Israeli military said it carried out airstrikes in response to ceasefire violations by Hamas.The Gaza civil defence agency said five people were killed and several others hurt when an airstrike targeted a tent sheltering displaced people in the northern city of Jabaliya. Continue reading...

Flooding expected in parts of south-west of England and Midlands and chance of snow showers in far northAnyone hoping for relief from the UK's wet weather may be disappointed next week, with more flooding expected and patches of snow forecast.The Environment Agency has issued 73 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, mainly in areas of the south-west of England and the Midlands. There are also 177 flood alerts - which indicate possible flooding - in place across England. Continue reading...

Tragedy has prompted a wave of support for town from neighbouring communities and across countryWhen Jim Caruso heard the news of the school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, he knew immediately he needed to be there. He packed his bags and boarded a plane for the community 700 miles away. I wanted to be here to bring some level of comfort," he said. I wanted to hug people, pray for them and, most importantly, to cry with them."On Tuesday, a shooter opened fire in the town's secondary school, killing eight people, most of them young children. It was one of the deadliest attacks in Canada's history and has left the country reeling. Continue reading...

Members of Gorton byelection candidate's team reported to have expressed support for far-right groupsReform UK's candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection must distance himself from racist content" shared by members of his campaign team, the Labour party has said.In a letter to Matt Goodwin, Lucy Powell, Labour's deputy leader, said an investigation by the Manchester Mill revealed five separate members who had campaigned with Goodwin had shared racist content online and had expressed support for far-right groups. Continue reading...

Yvette Cooper says claim against Kremlin deeply serious' while Russia dismisses western feeblemindedness'The UK is mulling fresh sanctions against Moscow after pinning blame on the Kremlin for the poisoning of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Yvette Cooper has suggested.The Foreign Office and four of the UK's allies - Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands - announced on Saturday they had determined that Navalny's death was most likely the result of poisoning using dart frog toxin arranged by the Russian state. Continue reading...

Reza Pahlavi, son of the last shah, tells 200,000 in Munich he is ready to lead country to a secular democratic future'Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in rallies around the world to show their solidarity with anti-government demonstrators in Iran whose continued protests have been met with brutal and deadly repression.On Saturday, Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah, addressed a crowd of 200,000 people in Munich, telling them he was ready to lead the country to a secular democratic future". Continue reading...

Pentagon tracked sanctioned Veronica III from Caribbean Sea after it left Venezuela on day Maduro was capturedUS military forces boarded another sanctioned tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean Sea in an effort to target illicit oil connected to Venezuela, the Pentagon said on Sunday.Venezuela had faced US sanctions on its oil for several years, relying on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. Donald Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers in December to pressure the president, Nicolas Maduro, before Maduro was apprehended in January during a US military operation. Continue reading...

Kaja Kallas says other countries look up to us' and rejects idea Europe faces civilisational erasure'The EU's foreign policy chief denied claims levelled by the US that Europe was facing civilisational erasure, rejecting what she condemned as fashionable euro-bashing" by Washington.Kaja Kallas also insisted the US was discovering that it could not settle the war in Ukraine without Europe's involvement and consent. Continue reading...

Exclusive: National security adviser previously held the role under Blair but is considering plans to step down this yearJonathan Powell, Keir Starmer's national security adviser (NSA), has rejected overtures to become the prime minister's chief of staff after the resignation of Morgan McSweeney, the Guardian has been told.Powell's allies say his decision not to take forward discussions about the job - the same role he undertook under Tony Blair's premiership from 1997 to 2007 - was largely motivated by an intention to return to the mediation consultancy that he set up in 2011, with little interest in returning to a job he has already done. Continue reading...