World news | The Guardian

Firms in England and Wales offer separate discounts but charities say central fund would help struggling customersMinisters are under pressure to end the postcode lottery" on water by introducing a single social tariff for households on low incomes, amid fresh signs consumers are struggling to keep up with bill payments.Water companies in England and Wales offer their own social tariffs, providing discounts to consumers on low incomes. However, some of the schemes are more generous than others, creating vast disparities in how much consumers pay in different regions. Continue reading...

Study finds serious impact on life chances and mental health of young people amid calls to reassess resits policy in EnglandThe government has been urged to reassess what a social mobility expert has called the national scandal" of teenagers leaving school without GCSE passes in English and maths despite multiple retakes.Ahead of this summer's GCSE results being published on Thursday, Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said his research suggested too many young people lacking the qualifications had lower chances of future success and increased reports of poor mental and physical health. Continue reading...

Grocer's five-year plan also includes up to four new big supermarkets as well as shop refurbishmentsWaitrose is planning to open 100 convenience stores over the next five years as part of a 1bn-plus investment in new outlets and shop refurbishments.The upmarket grocery chain is planning to unveil a revamped outlet in Finchley Road, north London, on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Spring-like temperatures in eastern states come as southern hemisphere experiences three weeks of record-breaking heat

Patterson expected to face trial in Victoria's Latrobe Valley in April. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges

The 85-year-old actor, who fell from London stage in June, says he still has agonising pains' and avoids leaving the houseIan McKellen says his fat suit saved" him after he fell off stage during a London performance in June, though he remains in agonising pain" while he recovers from the injuries.The 85-year-old actor was two months into a season of Player Kings - as Shakespeare's Falstaff - when he fell from the stage into the first row of the audience at London's Noel Coward theatre. He subsequently withdrew from the show. Continue reading...

Police dug up and removed the rust-caked projectiles, which belonged to US troops during the second world warWorkers at a school in Solomon Islands discovered a buried stockpile of the second world war munitions as they dug a hole for sewage", police said.More than 200 rust-caked projectiles - which once belonged to US troops - have been dug up and removed after they were found near a school staff member's house, the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force said. Continue reading...

The US secretary of state's ninth visit to the region since the start of the conflict has ended without truce agreement

The ship was near the port of Rosario and authorities were alerted that a crew member was showing cyst-like lesions'Argentine authorities have quarantined a cargo ship in the Parana River over a suspected case of mpox onboard, the government said on Tuesday, as global public health authorities remain on alert for a new faster-spreading variant of the virus.The ship near Argentina's inland grains port of Rosario alerted authorities that one of its crew members of Indian nationality showed cyst-like skin lesions predominantly on the chest and face," the ministry said in a statement. Continue reading...

Lawyers allege the airline was obliged to refund payments to customers whose flights were cancelled during the pandemic, but failed to do so

Actors, dubbed Bennifer' in 2000s, married in Las Vegas in 2022 after re-sparking relationship from two decades priorAfter just over two years of marriage, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have filed for divorce.According to a report from Variety magazine, Lopez filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles county superior court. The official separation date is listed as 26 April. Continue reading...

Yvette Cooper also plans to increase deportations for refused asylum seekers as part of illegal migration clampdownThe home secretary has announced plans to recruit 100 investigators and intelligence officers to target people-smuggling gangs as part of measures to clampdown on illegal migration.Yvette Cooper said that the National Crime Agency (NCA) will find specialists to dismantle and disrupt organised immigration crime networks that exploit asylum seekers. Continue reading...

Survey found almost a third of UK dog owners spent less than a day researching the breederWould-be dog owners are buying puppies with little thought, effort or research, the UK's leading dog breeding organisation has said, warning that convenience culture is having a devastating" effect on puppy welfare.According to research by the Kennel Club, almost a third (29%) of dog owners in the UK spent less than a day researching their decision and the breeder. Continue reading...

Nicole Shanahan says she and independent 2024 candidate could walk away and join forces with Donald Trump'Robert F Kennedy Jr is considering abandoning his campaign as an insurgent independent presidential candidate in order to help the election of Donald Trump, his running mate has said.The startling disclosure was made by Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy's vice-presidential candidate, who said the pair were considering dropping their campaign over fears it might help elect Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, as president. Continue reading...

Case will be transferred to Utah, where he faces unrelated charges of running prescription drug fraud ringThe rapper NBA YoungBoy has agreed to plead guilty to a federal weapons charge once the case is transferred from Louisiana to Utah, where he faces unrelated charges accusing him of running a prescription drug fraud ring.In court documents filed last week, the rapper, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, waived his right to a trial in Baton Rouge, news outlets reported. US district judge Shelly Dick then closed the Louisiana case and moved jurisdiction to the federal court in Salt Lake City. Gaulden also signed notice of his intent to enter his guilty plea once the case is transferred to Utah. Continue reading...

Report states unit failed to undertake necessary steps to reduce threat' that Army reservist posed to publicThe independent commission investigating the deadly mass shooting that occurred in Maine last year said on Tuesday in its final report that local authorities and the gunman's Army reserve unit missed several opportunities" that might have changed the course of events".The commission created by Janet Mills, Maine's Democratic governor, was formed shortly after Army reservist Robert Card shot and killed 18 people in Lewiston last October before taking his own life, in what became the state's deadliest mass shooting. Continue reading...

UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and daughter among those thought to have been trapped when storm hit off SicilySix people are now presumed dead after the super yacht they were onboard sank in a violent storm off the coast of Sicily.Divers tried in vain on Tuesday to gain access to the inside of the sunken 56-metre Bayesian luxury vessel, where rescue crews believe those missing may have been trapped. Continue reading...

Thomas was one of ten crew members onboard Bayesian yacht, says Italian coastguard, as passengers including tech tycoon Mike Lynch remain missing

More than 400 homes evacuated before 500kg bomb was blown up, decades after it was dropped by LuftwaffePolice and army experts have carried out a controlled explosion on a second world war bomb discovered in Newtownards, County Down, more than 80 years after it was dropped from a German plane.A plume of smoke rose over the Northern Irish town on Tuesday after a loud bang at 3.38pm signalled the destruction of the 500kg (1,100lb) bomb. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Charities say ending household support fund in England will increase hardship for struggling familiesMore than half a million children will go hungry during school holiday periods from the October half-term if the government fails to renew a 1bn local welfare crisis fund due to end in six weeks' time, charities have warned.English councils last year spent 370m from their household support fund (HSF) allocations on holiday food vouchers for pupils on free school meals (FSM) - but more than a quarter of authorities say this support could disappear if the fund is ditched. Continue reading...

Lee Crisp given sentence of more than three years for high octane' abuse of police and egging on crowdA man who shouted abuse at police guarding a hotel housing asylum seekers and celebrated as missiles were thrown at officers has been jailed for three years and four months, as more people were sentenced for their part in the riots on Tuesday.Sheffield crown court heard that Lee Crisp, 42, of Mount Road, Barnsley, was part of a group that gathered outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Wath-upon-Dearne, Rotherham. Continue reading...

Ernestas Juska, 20, accused of killing Nina Denisova, 39, and committing offence against her dead bodyA man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a woman and committing a sexual offence against her dead body.Ernestas Juska, 20, appeared at Sevenoaks magistrates court on Monday over the death of Nina Denisova, 39, and spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth. Continue reading...

Pontoon bridge across Seym River blown up as Ukrainian army reportedly captures another village in Kursk regionFierce fighting has continued inside Russia as Ukrainian troops tried to seize more territory and used kamikaze drones to blow up a Russian pontoon bridge across a strategic river crossing.Satellite images showed that the temporary bridge on Tuesday had disappeared and there were large puffs of grey smoke. Russian forces built the pontoon between the villages of Zvannoe and Glushkovo after Ukrainian missiles destroyed three bridges across the Seym River. Continue reading...

Party deletes video after viewers list gaffes, including scenes of US, Serbia and Slovenia - plus Russian jetsCanada's Conservative party has deleted a social media campaign video with a heavily nationalist message after much of the video featured scenes from other countries, including Ukrainian farmers, Slovenian homes, London's Richmond Park and a pair of Russian fighter jets.The video, titled Canada. Our Home" was initially posted to X on Saturday, with various scenes overlaid by a speech from the party leader, Pierre Poilievre. The Conservatives, who lead the governing Liberals in the polls, are preparing for what is widely expected to be a bitterly contested federal election. Continue reading...

Further excavation of burial pit hoped to help explain what happened to remains of thousands killed in 1815 clashThe fate of those killed in the notoriously bloody Battle of Waterloo has long been the subject of macabre speculation. Now, a team of archaeologists will seek to provide some answers by digging at the site where it took place in Belgium.About 20,000 men died in the June 1815 battle that took place in the province of Walloon Brabant. In 2022, an excavation at the site of a former field hospital at Mont-Saint-Jean farm discovered horses that had been put down, buried alongside a human skeleton. Continue reading...

If you ignore people at a point where they really need some of that earlier intervention ... then you're up for a higher cost', says expert

Zach Smith says federal government plan to appoint administrators has left members feeling their democratic rights have been stripped

After an often-heated parliamentary sitting, new figures show spike in ejections of opposition members as Kylea Tink labels behaviour unacceptable'

Late French film star wanted his pet Belgian malinois Loubo put to sleep' and laid beside him in graveThe late French actor Alain Delon's wish that his pet dog be put down and buried with him has been rejected by his children after an outcry from animal rights campaigners.The actor, who died at 88 on Sunday, had said he wished the animal, a 10-year-old Belgian malinois called Loubo, to be humanely destroyed in his arms and laid in his grave in the cemetery of his home in the village of Douchy in the Loiret. Continue reading...

Residents leave homes in huge numbers after surprise incursion; Russia making significant advances near PokrovskRussian forces said on Tuesday they had captured the key hub of New York in eastern Ukraine, as Moscow - under pressure by a Kyiv counterattack on its territory - presses on with its offensive.The defence ministry said its troops had captured one of the largest settlements of the Toretsk agglomeration and the strategically important logistics hub (of) Novgorodskoye", referring to the town in Ukraine's Donetsk region by its former name. Continue reading...

Israeli military says it struck Hamas militant base inside the school but civil defence agency spokesperson says bodies of men and children recovered

Monarch to meet children who survived attack in which three girls were killed and thank emergency workersKing Charles has arrived in Southport to meet those affected by the fatal 29 July stabbings and the riot that followed in the town.He travelled to Merseyside to privately meet some of the children who survived the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed dance class. He was also expected to thank frontline emergency responders personally. Continue reading...

New Jersey lawmaker said Tuesday would be final day after being found guilty in New York trial last monthThe disgraced New Jersey senator Robert Menendez is expected to resign today just over a month after being convicted of bribery charges that could see him sentenced to years in prison.Menendez, 70, a three-term senator, was found guilty by a jury in a Manhattan courtroom of 16 counts of corruption, including bribery, extortion and acting as a foreign agent. A years-long investigation found Menendez had accepted bribes in the form of cash and gold bars in exchange for helping the governments of Qatar and Egypt. Continue reading...

Scheme will mirror US Esta and apply to travel to Schengen area, with under-18s and over-70s exempt

IDF says the dead men were all civilians abducted from kibbutzim during Hamas's 7 October attack

Hudson Mobley, 17, receives certificate signed by Biden for using defibrillator to resuscitate man dying on golf courseThe American Red Cross has conferred one of its highest distinctions to a teenager after he used a defibrillator to help resuscitate a man who had collapsed on a golf course amid a medical emergency that otherwise likely would have killed him.Hudson Mobley, 17, was directly responsible for the fact that the man whom he aided that day was still living, according to officials who honored him recently during a rally at his New Orleans-area high school. Continue reading...

Some former supporters of Nikki Haley are now organizing for Harris, who they see as the better choice' over TrumpAfter the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican primary earlier this year, some conservatives across the US continued to vote for her in subsequent primaries, casting ballots that indicated dissent within a party that has otherwise fully embraced Donald Trump.When Haley finally announced that she would be supporting the ex-president in the upcoming election, she said that it was on him to mobilize her loyalists. Continue reading...

For students fathoming British accents, cinema is a godsend. Three Ukrainians getting used to Yorkshire explain how light entertainment has been seriously usefulThat's my favourite moment," says Tanya Driver, as she points to the large screen facing her students. At Keighley College, students laugh along to the antics of Rowan Atkinson's Mr Bean, more specifically the part when Mr Bean is visiting his dentist. The favourite moment in question is when Mr Bean's chair is reclining", which Tanya enunciates and writes on the whiteboard as students jot down the word.This is an entry level two ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) class at Keighley College in West Yorkshire. Driver has been teaching English to students from all walks of life for 22 years. She usually shows five to six forms of TV and film to the students in each academic year, which, as well as Mr Bean, includes shows such as Inside No 9 and films such as the 1988 Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy Twins. On this occasion, the Mr Bean episode is followed by a group discussion about the different verbs and phrases used, as Driver asks students to describe the wacky scenarios in which Mr Bean finds himself. Continue reading...

More than 20 parliamentarians - including Jacqui Lambie and Lidia Thorpe - sign letter calling for blanket ban

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State-backed body EDC has reportedly sold at deep discount two loans made to debt-ridden UK utilityCanada's state-backed export credit agency is reportedly nursing steep losses after lending debt-ridden Thames Water hundreds of millions of pounds.The British utility, which has said it could run out of cash by next June, received two loans from Export Development Canada (EDC) in 2018 and 2019 at the behest of the Canadian pension fund Omers. Continue reading...

Some Coalition MPs have indicated privately they would be concerned if opposition leader was advocating to permanently refuse visas to Palestinians

Up to 85 staff take a voluntary redundancy after Nine newspapers announced it was cutting 200 jobs

Anthony Albanese and Prabowo Subianto announce conclusion of treaty negotiations but reporters weren't able to ask questions about new deal

Scottish photographer Dougie Wallace documented the Swifties from the UK and beyond decked in their finery to see their hero performAs Taylor Swift's Eras Tour sweeps across the globe, it's on track to gross more than $1bn (770m) by the end of 2024, having already become the first tour to pass that figure last year.Economists have even started talking about the Swift effect" or Swiftonomics. Rumour has it that the tour's impact may have played a role in the Bank of England's deliberations before cutting its interest rate at the start of this month. With almost 1.2 million fans attending concerts in the UK, each spending an estimated average of 848 on the overall experience of attending the concerts, the surge in spending sparked a short-term bump in inflation.Infectious energy that could only come from dedicated Swifties who had travelled from all corners of the UK and beyond. Being from Scotland and not into football meant I was visiting Wembley for the first time.' Continue reading...

Design with bees on reverse, part of collection inspired by plants and animals, was voted people's favourite

South Korean military says it is investigating but can't confirm the person's exact motivations and goals'A North Korean has defected to South Korea by crossing the militarised border in the eastern part of the Korean peninsula, with Yonhap news agency reporting that the defector is a soldier.Seoul's military said on Tuesday it had picked up one suspected North Korean individual on the eastern front and handed them over to the relevant authorities". Yonhap news agency reported that the person was a staff sergeant. Continue reading...

Parents and three children were inside caravan when they felt it move, police say

Blue Mountains council to install CCTV after English oak chopped off at the weekend - itself a replacement for another stolen tree honouring former PM