World news | The Guardian

State news agency says MSC Aries was taken in strait of Hormuz and is being transferred to Iran's territorial waters

Technician, 51, who hung his own picture in an exhibition about art world glitches, has been sacked and given a three-year banThe first picture that greeted visitors to the first-floor exhibition space in Munich's Pinakothek der Moderne gallery on 23 February may not have immediately grabbed their attention.The 60cm by 120cm artwork was a retro-looking photograph of a family of four, with the background and parts of the faces and bodies roughly painted over in white. It was unassuming compared with the video- and photo-based artworks in the adjacent rooms, but only on closer inspection might visitors have wondered why there was no label giving the artist or the work's title. Continue reading...

Stephen Whittle talks about life for young trans people in the 1970s and now, and the influence of anti-trans' views todayWhen Stephen Whittle transitioned as a teenager in 1975, he was one of only a handful of young people in the UK to be offered hormone treatment and, later, surgery.Almost half a century later - much of it spent fighting for trans rights - he said there was masses" he agreed with in this week's review of the NHS's gender identity services by Hilary Cass. He said he also believed the report had been influenced by groups and individuals with transphobic" views, and said the potential for positive change must be backed with resources". Continue reading...

OpenDemocracy investigation names attenders, including Keir Starmer, at Edinburgh meeting to discuss party's banking policies

Troops took Layan Nasir away at gunpoint from her home in the West Bank and her parents haven't been told where she isThe Israeli troops arrived at about 4am last Saturday to take 23-year-old Layan Nasir away at gunpoint from her parents home in the West Bank town of Birzeit. There was no arrest warrant or charges, and her parents haven't been notified where she is held.The only Palestinian Christian woman currently in Israeli detention, her case has been raised by the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. I'm shocked and deeply concerned," he said in a post on X. Please pray for Layan's safety and swift release." Continue reading...

More than 40 locations across the US reported the backlash after rightwing account stokes anti-trans rhetoric about its rulesMore than 40 Planet Fitness locations across the country have received bomb threats after a conservative movement against the gym's trans-inclusive locker room policy went viral online.In the weeks since the backlash against the gym chain started in March, at least 43 locations in Connecticut, Florida, Alabama and other states have received bomb threats, according to progressive media watchdog group Media Matters. Continue reading...

Following Rishi Sunak's decision to cancel the leg, taxpayer has spent 1.4m on properties for a line that is no longer being builtThe government has paid more than 1m to buy properties along HS2's northern leg since Rishi Sunak announced he was cancelling the scheme, the Observer can reveal.The prime minister used his party conference speech in Manchester last year to announce he was axing the line that would have brought it to the city. It angered some senior Tories, while officials and industry insiders have since been scrambling to draw up plans for new capacity on Britain's railways, which had been relying on HS2's northern routes. Continue reading...

Former home secretary will rub shoulders with populist right from across the globe, including Hungarian prime minister Viktor OrbanRishi Sunak is being urged to stop his former home secretary from attending a rightwing convention featuring figures who have been under investigation for extremism, in the latest sign of his waning control of his party.Suella Braverman, who has been a central plotter against the prime minister since she left the cabinet, is set to be one of the keynote speakers at the National Conservatism (NatCon) conference in Brussels this week. Continue reading...

Actor in Disney+ series Andor will appear onscreen alongside Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson next yearVarada Sethu will join Doctor Who as one of the Doctor's two companions for Ncuti Gatwa's second series in the role, it has been confirmed.She will appear onscreen in 2025, alongside the former Coronation Street actor Millie Gibson after speculation over her character Ruby Sunday's future on the sci-fi show. Continue reading...

The superstar arrives in Europe next month - and Swifties, tourist boards and venues are already preparingTim Brown, 44, and his wife, Marcella, 34, may not consider themselves bona fide Swifties", but when it was announced last June that Taylor Swift would be visiting their corner of the globe this summer they could not resist joining the scramble for a pair of tickets.A post-pandemic appetite for live music events has fuelled huge worldwide interest in the American singer-songwriter's Eras tour, which surpassed in $1bn sales in November to become the highest-grossing series of concerts in history. Continue reading...

Filming begins on the most expensive Scots Gaelic series ever made but there is wider crisis in Gaelic broadcastingThe tranquility of a remote castle in the Outer Hebrides, with its views of long golden beaches, rocky coasts and glowering skies, is about to be shattered by the staging of a woman's murder.Detectives will fly in from Inverness. The drama will catapult the castle and this secluded Gaelic-speaking corner of Harris to a global audience, as a dysfunctional family's long-buried secrets emerge. Continue reading...

Kyiv running short of missile defence systems while US military aid dries upUkraine's air defences are being overwhelmed by concentrated waves of Russian bombing aimed at its power stations, acknowledged a senior presidential adviser after the destruction of an entire plant on Thursday.Mykhailo Podolyak said Moscow was adopting new tactics of attacking power stations with up to 10 or 12 missiles at a time", bypassing already stretched Patriot and other missile shields. Continue reading...

Short-lived PM also says she anticipated mini-budget turbulence' and compares herself to Brian CloughLiz Truss ran for Conservative leader and prime minister despite her husband's prediction that it would all end in tears", according to her book, Ten Years to Save the West, which will be published in the UK and US next week.She agreed with an ally that the mini-budget she planned to introduce once elected would prompt brutal turbulence", then resigned after just 49 days in power, seeing herself as the Brian Clough of prime ministers". The Guardian has obtained a copy of the book. Continue reading...

A man was left in despair when his beloved Alfa Romeo was wrecked on a test drive by a staff memberA Birmingham man who took his beloved Alfa Romeo to Halfords Autocentre for a routine service has described his despair after it was written off on a test drive by a staff member, leaving him more than 2,000 out of pocket.Ian Tubbs contacted Guardian Money when, rather than helping a customer whose car was completely destroyed" in its care, Halfords refused to accept liability for the collision and the financial losses he suffered as a result. Continue reading...

Wife of former PM says her time in No 10 helped shape her Cefinn clothing brand, which is opening a London storeWhile the Tories are in freefall, one former first couple are bucking the trend. Samantha Cameron, the designer and founder of the fashion brand Cefinn and wife of the former prime minister David Cameron, is about to open her first bricks-and-mortar store. The Belgravia boutique puts her back in the public eye, just as the role of foreign secretary has returned her husband to the frontline of politics.Cefinn steers a course between garden-party nostalgia and modern life. Its sleek long floral dresses are aimed at a well-to-do customer who has taken half a day off work to be at a school sports day but needs to be back at the office to lead a meeting by 2pm. Continue reading...

New South Wales police say a 16-year-old has been charged over death of 18-year-old and will appear in court on Saturday

Man found unresponsive shortly after being arrested over a simple offence' in the Moonah area

Ferdinand Marcos Jr says building trilateral ties vital, after the three countries criticise China's dangerous and aggressive behaviour' in the regionA cooperation agreement by the Philippines, the United States and Japan will change the dynamic in the South China Sea and the region, the Philippine president has said, while seeking to assure China it was not a target.I think the trilateral agreement is extremely important," Ferdinand Marcos Jr told a press conference in Washington on Friday, a day after meeting President Joe Biden and the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, in the nations' first trilateral summit. Continue reading...

Prospect of party closing Tory loopholes' if elected prompts some wealthy individuals to explore a move overseasPeople are jumping on planes right now and leaving," said Nimesh Shah, the chief executive of Blick Rothenberg, an accountancy firm that specialises in advising very rich non-doms" on their tax affairs. I am not being dramatic, they are leaving right now."Shah said his clients - some of the richest people in the country - were petrified" of plans to abolish the non-domicile" regime, through which for the past 225 years wealthy people have been able to live in the UK and not pay tax on their overseas income. Continue reading...

Few of Hamas's senior leaders have been harmed but its ability to govern is reduced and thousands of fighters are deadSix months after the surprise attacks it launched into Israel, triggering the Gaza conflict, Hamas is weakened and divided but far from defeated, experts, officials and sources close to the militant Islamist organisation say.Hamas remains in de facto control of swaths of Gaza, including the parts where much of the territory's population is now concentrated, and has re-established a presence elsewhere. In recent days, Hamas operatives" armed with batons have been sighted keeping order on the streets of Khan Younis, the southern city from which Israeli forces withdrew just last week. On Wednesday, rockets targeting a kibbutz in Israel were launched by militants from Jabaliya in northern Gaza. Continue reading...

Byelection in the south Sydney seat expected to be won by Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy as AEC warns voter turnout could be low

Higher seat availability has resulted in lower airfares, group says, but cost-of-living pressures continue their impact on holiday plans

President said US are devoted to the defence of Israel' as he urged Tehran to show restraintJoe Biden has said he expects an Iranian attack on Israel sooner rather than later" and issued a last-ditch message to Tehran: Don't."We are devoted to the defence of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed," Biden told reporters on Friday. Continue reading...

ABS data shows changes in grocery consumption, prompting concerns over eating habits and the nation's health

Stories include man with bruise in shape of Prince Harry and statue of H from Steps being erected in WalesThe comedian Joe Lycett has disclosed the fake stories that he successfully planted in the British media over the past month included a man with a bruise in the shape of Prince Harry and a statue of H from Steps being erected in his home town of Cowbridge in Wales.In the first episode of his new Channel 4 show, Lycett said four stories that were covered by newspapers and television news were fabricated. Continue reading...

Announcement is latest in series of debt cancellations as president addresses key issue for young voters ahead of November electionThe Biden administration will cancel $7.4bn in student debt for 277,000 borrowers, the White House said on Friday, the latest in a series of debt cancellations.Joe Biden announced plans on Monday to ease student debt that would benefit at least 23 million Americans, addressing a key issue for young voters whose support he needs as he seeks re-election in November. Continue reading...

Manuel Rocha, 73, will also pay a $500,000 fine after pleading guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign governmentA former career US diplomat was sentenced Friday to 15 years in federal prison after admitting he worked for decades as a secret agent for Cuba, in a plea agreement that leaves many unanswered questions about a betrayal that stunned the US foreign service.Manuel Rocha, 73, will also pay a $500,000 fine and cooperate with authorities after pleading guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed more than a dozen other counts, including wire fraud and making false statements. Continue reading...

Helicopters called in to rescue people after accident outside Turkish resort city of AntalyaOne person has been killed, seven injured and nearly 200 stranded in midair when a pylon supporting cable cars collapsed outside the Turkish resort city of Antalya.Helicopters equipped with night vision were called in to rescue 184 people still stranded in the cable car system's cabins, Antalya mayor Muhittin Bocek said in a statement late on Friday. Continue reading...

Officials say driver planned the attack deliberately in retaliation for having been denied a commercial driver's licenseOne person was killed and 13 others were injured when a stolen semitrailer crashed into a Texas department of public safety (DPS) office in a rural town west of Houston on Friday, authorities said.The driver suspected of the crash has been identified as 42-year-old Clenard Parker. He was arrested on the scene, though investigators have not immediately said which charges he might face.The Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...

Doctor who helmed abdominal transplant program reportedly manipulated records to make patients ineligible to receive liversA prominent hospital in Houston has halted its liver and kidney transplant programs after officials said one of its doctors secretly manipulated records to make some of his patients ineligible to receive new livers.Memorial Hermann-Texas medical center said it discovered a pattern of irregularities" with donor acceptance criteria after an investigation found problems with information entered into a database used to match patients awaiting a liver transplant.Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...

West African state turned to Russia to help in fight against insurgents throwing into doubt future of operations with USRussian military trainers have arrived to reinforce Niger's air defenses as the west African country pulls away from close cooperation with the US in counterterrorism efforts, turning instead to Moscow for help as it fights Islamist insurgents.State television in the country broadcast footage of Russian military trainers arriving in the country aboard a plane equipped with military supplies late on Thursday. Two Russian trainers were filmed in front of the plane wearing military uniforms, caps and face coverings. Continue reading...

David Blunkett and Alan Johnson join Iain Duncan Smith in dismay at DWP's treatment of benefit recipients' minor mistakes

Nicholas Panayiotou and Eleanar Attard among gang who planned to smuggle 58kg of the drug into the UKMembers of a gang, including two former winners of a Channel 4 cooking programme, have been convicted after their plan to import large amounts of cannabis was uncovered.Nicholas Panayiotou, Eleanar Attard, Constantinos Zavros, Luke Wileman and Koby Haik planned to smuggle 58kg of cannabis into the UK from the US, but were foiled after a theft at a London airport, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

Inquest delivers findings 48 years after 10 Protestant workers were shot dead when their minibus was ambushed in County ArmaghThe shooting dead of 10 Protestant workers at Kingsmill in Northern Ireland in 1976 was an overtly sectarian attack by the IRA", a coroner has ruled.Nearly eight years after the inquest opened, Brian Sherrard delivered his findings in Belfast on Friday into the Troubles killings in County Armagh. Continue reading...

Exclusive: MP for Enfield Southgate also has whip restored as internal process does not uphold complaint about his conductA former shadow minister has been readmitted to the Labour party after a 10-month-long investigation into a complaint about his conduct.Bambos Charalambous, the MP for Enfield Southgate who lost the Labour whip last June, said he was delighted" his suspension had been lifted. Continue reading...

Leaders of two nations vow to muster international support for two-state solution to Gaza crisisIreland and Spain have reiterated their intention to forge an alliance of countries that will soon recognise Palestine as a nation state.The Irish taoiseach, Simon Harris, and Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, vowed on Friday to muster international support for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine. Continue reading...

Shadow health secretary calls for more thoughtful approach but says he understand scepticism among trans peopleWes Streeting has said he wants the Cass review to be a watershed moment in the provision of health services for young people questioning their gender identity but understands why some trans people may feel frightened".The shadow health secretary said children and young people, but trans people more generally, had been utterly failed" by the state of healthcare available, adding: We've got to get this right" for them. Continue reading...

Deputy Labour leader has faced questions over sale of former council house before she became MPAngela Rayner has pledged to step down as deputy leader of the Labour party if a police investigation finds she has committed a crime, amid allegations of breaching electoral law and avoiding capital gains tax.Greater Manchester police (GMP) said on Friday that they were investigating the sale of her council house in March 2015, after she was accused of giving false information about where she was living for the first five years of her marriage before she was elected as an MP in May 2015. Continue reading...

Prime minister testified at public inquiry into foreign interference that Beijing's interference was never relayed to himCanada's spy agency is under pressure after Justin Trudeau and his closest advisers say they were never made aware of a report that Beijing clandestinely and deceptively" interfered in both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.Canada is in the midst of a contentious public inquiry examining and assessing" foreign interference by China, Russia, and other foreign states and non-state actors, and this week the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, testified under oath about the steps his government took to respond to the threat of meddling. In his appearance, which lasted nearly four hours, Trudeau insisted that despite the efforts from hostile states, previous federal elections held in their integrity". Continue reading...

Residents tell of shock and no longer feeling safe on day Kulsuma Akter's husband appeared before courtBradford is still in shock" almost a week after the killing of Kulsuma Akter, who was stabbed to death while pushing her seven-month-old son in a pram in the city centre.The 27-year-old, who her cousin said was always smiling and liked to make people laugh", was attacked outside a shop in the Westgate area last Saturday. Continue reading...

Gibraltar's chief minister says progress made in talks about free movement across border with SpainThe UK and the EU are within kissing distance" of a post-Brexit deal to guarantee free movement over the border between Gibraltar and Spain, Gibraltar's chief minister has said.After a meeting between the UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, Spain's foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, and the European Commission vice-president Maro efovi, agreement was reached on issues that have dogged negotiations for the past five years. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereAlan Cook, who was the managing director of Post Office, has just told the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry that he was not aware until late in his tenure that the Post Office was the prosecuting authority in many of these cases.I knew there were court cases. But I didn't realise that Post Office, in about two-thirds of the cases, had initiated the prosecution as opposed to, you know, the DPP or the police or whatever.Reliance was placed on Royal Mail Holdings governance as well as Post Office Ltd governance. For example, producing the annual results and having the accounts audited was a process that would have been run through an audit committee, and that audit committee was at the Royal Mail Holdings level. I fully accept I was on the board of Royal Mail, but I'm just saying that from a Post Office Ltd board's perspective, they weren't the accountable party that. Continue reading...

Polish MPs vote in favour of sending all four bills to special commission as campaigners call it good news for Polish women'The Polish parliament has voted in favour of sending all four bills on abortion to a special commission.Two of the bills are aimed at legalising abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy and another is focused on decriminalisation. The fourth, introduced by the conservative Third Way alliance, seeks a return to strict 1993 laws. Continue reading...

Jeffrey Cook received 44,000 in cash and two cars worth 30,000 as kickbacks on public contract that he arrangedA former Ministry of Defence civil servant has been jailed for 30 months after being convicted of misconduct in public office.Jeffrey Cook, 67, received more than 70,000 of payments and gifts as kickbacks on a public contract that he arranged while he was an employee at the MoD between 2004 and 2008. Continue reading...

Alan Cook says he will regret the inappropriate' expression used in 2009 email for the rest of his lifeA former boss of the Post Office sent an email to two staff members in 2009 telling them his instinct about the Horizon scandal was that subbies with their hand in the till" were blaming the technology, it has been revealed.The message from Alan Cook, who was Paula Vennells' predecessor, came to light at a session of the Post Office Horizon inquiry. Continue reading...

In first interview since his stabbing, writer tells how knifeman was last thing my right eye would ever see'Salman Rushdie has said that his first thought upon seeing the man who would stab him on stage in August 2022 was: So it's you. Here you are."It felt like something coming out of the distant past and trying to drag me back in time, if you like, back into that distant past, in order to kill me," said the Indian-born British-American author of books including The Satanic Verses and Midnight's Children. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage hereSix Ukrainian drones struck Russia's Belgorod oblast this morning, injuring two and damaging an administrative building, the regional governor said on Telegram.Russian air defence shot down four of the drones, said governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. One caused a grass fire on the outskirts of Belgorod city, while the other struck the administrative building.After months of delay, the US House speaker is negotiating with the White House on advancing wartime funding for Ukraine - a package that would deviate from the Senate's $95bn foreign security package and include several Republican demands. House Speaker Mike Johnson has been facing mounting pressure regarding a Ukraine aid package, not just from Joe Biden, who has repeatedly chastised Republicans for not helping Ukraine, but from hard-right members of his own party who remain staunchly opposed to additional Ukraine aid. Johnson is set to travel to Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Friday to meet with Donald Trump - who has said he would negotiate an end to the conflict as he tries to push the US to a more isolationist stance.A Russian drone damaged equipment at a substation in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast overnight, cutting power to a number of households and individual consumers, Ukrainian energy operator Ukrenergo said on Telegram. The attack came after Russian missiles and drones destroyed a large electricity plant near Kyiv and hit power facilities in several regions of Ukraine on Thursday, destroying the Trypilska coal-powered thermal power plant near the capital. Ukrenergo said 399 settlements were without power as of Friday morning, with a blackout in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Kherson oblasts.Thousands of Russian soldiers are fleeing the war in Ukraine, lying low while awaiting the results of their asylum applications to western countries like Germany, France and the US. Asylum claims from Russian citizens have surged, but few are winning protection - policymakers remain divided over whether to consider Russians in exile as potential assets or risks to national security. Fewer than 300 Russians got refugee status in the US in fiscal year 2022 while less than 10% of the 5,246 people whose applications were processed last year got some sort of protection from German authorities. In France, asylum requests rose more than 50% between 2022 and 2023, to a total of around 3,400 people.Ukrainian authorities conducted a search of a high-ranking priest of Moscow-linked church. Sources told the Kyiv Independent that the premises of Archpriest Mykola Danylevych, a senior member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, was searched this morning by the security service of Ukraine. The Moscow Patriarchate-linked church has repeatedly been accused of aligning with the Russian government, which the church has denied. The church had yet to comment on the search on Danylevych.Five civilians were killed in Russian attacks on the Mykolaiv oblast, said regional governor Vitalii Kim on Telegram.Ukraine's parliament passed a controversial bill on Thursday that will change the rules on civilian military mobilisation in an effort to address fledgling manpower among its forces. The legislation, which must be signed by the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is seen as crucial for Ukraine to address what military analysts say are major manpower problems as it fights a better armed and larger foe.Russian forces outnumber Ukrainian troops seven to ten times in eastern regions, Ukraine's Gen Yuriy Sodol told parliament on Thursday. The enemy outnumbers us by 7-10 times, we lack manpower," said Sodol, who is commanding the troops in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine. Continue reading...

Belgian PM says Russia is trying to influence upcoming elections to weaken European support for UkraineProsecutors in Belgium have opened an investigation into alleged payments by Russia to members of the European parliament following an intelligence operation in Brussels, the Belgian prime minister has revealed.Alexander De Croo said Moscow's objective was to weaken" support for Ukraine in Europe. Continue reading...

AirTanker revelation comes amid government confidence that deportations will start soon

Delivering a baby was already risky, but an unprecedented surge in gang violence has forced clinics and hospitals to closeThe worst fears of midwives at Heartline Haiti were realised last week. As they prepared the maternity clinic for patients that evening, armed men laid siege to their neighbourhood in eastern Port-au-Prince, spraying bullets at police and rival gangs, setting cars on fire and ransacking houses.All of our staff were huddled in an interior hallway hearing the noises outside the gates and walls, afraid they may be next," says Tara Livesay, the NGO's executive director. A gang member was shot dead outside, just two doors over." Continue reading...