World news | The Guardian

In unearthed deposition, Lawrence Hecker pleaded the fifth 117 times, but still provided damning details of decades-long predatory behavior

There is more than one way to help people who are on income support,' treasurer says when suggesting rebates and concessions could be boosted

Pop star thrills Paris crowds with songs from newest album The Tortured Poets DepartmentTaylor Swift has added her newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, to an already packed setlist as she returned to The Eras Tour after a two-month break.Swift had described TTPD as new works reflecting events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time - one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure". In Paris on Thursday night she put it more succinctly: Female rage, the musical." Continue reading...

Labour leader to promise to divert 75m to fund specialist force against smugglers using counter-terror powersKeir Starmer will promise to rip up the government's Rwanda scheme and divert 75m to fund hundreds of new specialist officers to tackle people-smuggling with new counter-terror powers.At a speech on Friday in Dover - the home of Natalie Elphicke, who defected to Labour this week after criticising Tory failures on border security - the Labour leader will call the government's plan an insult to anyone's intelligence" and say the gangs that run this sick trade are not easily fooled".Create a new post of border security commander to oversee the unit, working across Europe and with multiple agencies on enforcement and intelligence.Recruit hundreds of additional special investigators, intelligence agents and cross-border police officers.Expand stop and search powers for use against those suspected of people-smuggling.Use Serious Crime Prevention Orders, enforced on terrorists pre-conviction, to shut off the bank accounts and internet access of suspected smugglers.Extend seizure warrant powers normally reserved for terrorism to include organised immigration crime. Continue reading...

Plans for head of border security with access to home secretary will not satisfy all critics of Labour's immigration policiesKeir Starmer's border plans, announced after a giddy week of political triumphs, attempt to address some of the deep structural problems within the Home Office.Paid for with 75m from the existing budget for the Rwanda scheme, the plans echo recommendations handed to Priti Patel two years ago: employ a single border security head who is given direct access to the home secretary. Continue reading...

The music star's major neurocognitive disorder' given as reason by a Los Angeles judge for a two-person conservatorshipA judge found Thursday that Beach Boys founder and music luminary Brian Wilson should be in a court conservatorship to manage his personal and medical decisions because of what his doctor calls a major neurocognitive disorder".At a hearing, Los Angeles superior court judge Gus T May approved the petition filed by the 81-year-old Wilson's family and inner circle after the death of his wife in January, Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, who handled most of his tasks and affairs. Continue reading...

Alan Miller to go to death in September as state rejects warnings that gas-mask method represents cruel and unusual punishmentAlabama has scheduled its second execution of a death row prisoner using the novel technique of nitrogen gas, brushing aside objections that the procedure is a form of cruel and unusual punishment banned under the US constitution.Barring last-minute judicial moves, Alan Miller, 59, will be put to his death on 26 September, after an execution date was set on Thursday by the state's Republican governor Kay Ivey. Should it go ahead, the anticipated killing would be exceptional not only as only the second time that nitrogen has been used in the US, but also because Miller has already been subjected to a botched execution, which he survived. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Operation Safeguard confirmed by Ministry of Justice after damning report on conditions in one of UK's biggest jailsThe government has formally triggered a crisis measure to ease prison overcrowding by using police cells to house inmates.The confirmation of Operation Safeguard by the Ministry of Justice follows a decision to consider releasing some prisoners 70 days before their sentences were due to end. Continue reading...

Linda Thomas-Greenfield will no longer speak at Xavier University of Louisiana after students angered by US ceasefire vetoes at UNXavier University of Louisiana has canceled Saturday's planned commencement address by the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, after news of her appearance sparked outrage among some students.Students were outraged over Thomas-Greenfield's invitation to speak because of their opposition to the past positions by the US on the war in Gaza. Continue reading...

Bestselling author of Lace and Superwoman turned her attention to helping people overcome anxiety about mathsShirley Conran, the author of Lace and Superwoman, has died aged 91, her son the designer Jasper Conran has announced.The bestselling queen of the bonkbuster" was also the founder of the Maths Anxiety Trust, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to help people who experience anxiety or fear when faced with maths problems. Last week Conran was awarded a damehood in her bed in Charing Cross hospital in London for her services to mathematics education. Continue reading...

Woman died of wounds in street after stabbing in broad daylight on Burnt Oak Broadway, EdgwareDetectives have arrested a man on suspicion of murder after a woman in her 60s was stabbed to death in broad daylight in a north London street.The Metropolitan police said they were called at about 11.50am to Burnt Oak Broadway, Edgware, to reports of a stabbing and found a woman wounded in the street near to a bus stop. Continue reading...

Encampments at 15 institutions protesting Israel's war in Gaza lead to concern for safety of Jewish studentsUniversity leaders should take personal responsibility" for protecting Jewish students on campus, Rishi Sunak said to vice-chancellors during an antisemitism roundtable hosted at Downing Street.Sunak told the meeting of 17 higher education institutions from England and Scotland, along with Jewish student and community groups, that it was imperative for universities to remain bastions of tolerance, where debate takes place with respect for others and where every student feels safe". Continue reading...

Lawyers helping detainees say they have been told that dozens have gone on hunger strike in detention centre near Heathrow

CEO of consortium that walked away from bid said he should have closed deal for Spectator magazine right away'The US businessman who fronted a UAE-backed consortium's failed 600m attempt to buy the Telegraph group has said he should have taken a different approach to the deal and immediately snapped up the Spectator magazine, after the takeover collapsed under political pressure.Jeff Zucker, a former CNN chief executive, now runs RedBird IMI, which last week announced it was walking away from its planned deal for the newspaper group after saying the transaction was no longer feasible" because of new legislation that would block foreign states from owning newspaper assets in the UK. Continue reading...

Fresh row erupts over Forbes's conservative views on equality - but appointment is approved by narrow majorityThe Scottish Greens have voted against Kate Forbes becoming Scotland's new deputy first minister in a fresh row over her conservative views on equality.Ross Greer, a Scottish Green MSP, said that as a gay Christian he was unable to support a minister who feels there is something wrong with us" and said all seven Green MSPs would oppose her appointment. Continue reading...

Farmers on the brink' after record rains, phasing out of EU subsidies and price volatilityBritish farmers are considering walking away from their farms as the recent record run of wet weather has left the sector on the brink", rural bodies have warned.The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and the Soil Association raised concerns over the perilous situations facing many in their industry, with profits being squeezed and extreme weather driven by the climate crisis putting financial and mental strain on farm owners. Continue reading...

Newest Labour MP apologises for comments about Charlie Elphicke's victims amid criticism of her admission to partyLabour's newest MP has apologised for defending her ex-husband and casting doubt on his victims' testimonies after he was convicted of sexually assaulting two women.Natalie Elphicke, the MP for Dover who defected from the Conservatives on Wednesday, said she condemned Charlie Elphicke's behaviour towards other women and towards me". Continue reading...

Court says irregularities in Colombian singer's 2018 tax return did not indicate intent to defraudA Spanish court has shelved an investigation into an alleged tax fraud by the Colombian pop star Shakira, putting an end to her legal woes in the country where she once lived.Prosecutors had opened the case in July, alleging she had used a network of companies, some in tax havens, to cheat the tax office out of 6.6m (5.7m) in 2018. Continue reading...

Experts issue warning after finding global average concentration in March was 4.7ppm higher than same period last yearThe largest ever recorded leap in the amount of carbon dioxide laden in the world's atmosphere has just occurred, according to researchers who monitor the relentless accumulation of the primary gas that is heating the planet.The global average concentration of carbon dioxide in March this year was 4.7 parts per million (or ppm) higher than it it was in March last year, which is a record-breaking increase in CO levels over a 12-month period. Continue reading...

After the Guardian expose there is pressure on ministers to save people from a system described as setting carers up for a fall'It has been a month since the Guardian revealed the shocking scale of the carer's allowance overpayments scandal, and the misery and despair it has inflicted on tens of thousands of unpaid carers. The issue is not going away - but what happens next?The story has since spread: from the House of Commons to the sofas of daytime TV and the bulletins of BBC news, accounts of the trials and tribulations of carers who do part-time work on top of caring duties have triggered disbelief and outrage and generated calls for reform across the political spectrum. Continue reading...

About 50% of earnings alerts' for carer's allowance overpayments not looked at by staff, figures reveal Will DWP act on carer's allowance scandal?Tens of thousands of unpaid carers are at risk of debt and criminal prosecution because their cases are lying unchecked on a government alert" database of people being overpaid benefits, according to new figures.Officials are aware of the mounting number of instances where UK carers are at risk of racking up overpayments that can in some cases lead to crippling debt, but for the past five years have chosen not to investigate all cases.. Continue reading...

As prosecutors prepare to retry the ex-movie mogul, court will consider California's request over 2022 rape convictionHarvey Weinstein appeared in a New York City courtroom on Thursday as authorities consider California's extradition request to serve his pending sentence for a 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles.The 16-year sentence Weinstein received in 2023 for raping a woman at a 2013 Los Angeles film festival had been on ice while he served time behind bars in New York after being found guilty of rape in Manhattan in 2020. But the Empire state conviction was overturned late last month, negating its 23-year sentence. Continue reading...

Marius Gustavson, 46, was involved in procedures that were little short of human butchery', UK court heard How eunuch maker' livestreamed extreme body modifications

Police arrested 32 people in Amsterdam, with university occupations continuing in Netherlands, Belgium and Spain

Turkey's trade ban with Israel will remain until a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian aid flows are secured, says minister

Vladimir Putin marks second world war Victory Day as relations with west spiral towards crisisSouth Korea's position remains it will not supply lethal weapons to any country, president Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday, when asked if Seoul was prepared to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.Yoon also said his government intended to continue managing relations with Moscow to pursue economic cooperation and mutual benefits" even though the two countries' ties have become uncomfortable" since the start of the war in Ukraine. Continue reading...

New first minister says case for Scottish independence best made by creating vibrant economy'John Swinney has axed the post of minister for independence, in a clear signal to Scottish voters that his government is focused on their immediate cost of living concerns before the general election.The post, held by Jamie Hepburn, was created by the previous first minister, Humza Yousaf, a year ago, with the main responsibility being publishing a series of papers on how different aspects of government would operate under Scottish independence. With no referendum imminent, opposition parties criticised the publications as a waste of taxpayers' money. The 13th in the series, on justice in an independent Scotland, was published last month. Continue reading...

Comments made after Charlie Elphicke jailed for two years criticised be new colleagues in Labour partyHaving seen a fuller version of what Ben Houchen, the Conservative Tees Valley mayor, said on BBC Radio Tees this morning, I have beefed up the post at 10.16am and changed the headline. Houchen did says Rishi Sunak ultimately had to take the blame for the state of chaos" the Tory party is in.Victoria Prentis, the attorney general, told the Commons that Britain continues to view its arms sales to Israel as legal a day after US president Joe Biden warned he would pause the delivery of bombs because they had been previously used to kill Palestinian civilians.I can say that the foreign secretary has reviewed the most recent advice from the IHL cell, and that has informed his decision that there isn't a clear risk that the items exported from the UK might be used to commit or to facilitate a serious violation of IHL. That leaves our position on export licences unchanged, but that position is kept under review. Continue reading...

Fears of biggest UK outbreak in 20 years as 2,793 cases reported to end of MarchThe UK may be experiencing its biggest outbreak of whooping cough in two decades, with five infant deaths reported in England between January and March.According to the latest data published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Thursday, cases of whooping cough continue to increase, with 1,319 confirmed in March. This brings the total number of confirmed cases during the first quarter of 2024 to 2,793 - although because mild cases are easily confused with other respiratory illnesses in the early stages when the infection can be tested for, the true number of cases is likely to be much higher. Continue reading...

The actor said that making movies by a small number of female film-makers was not cause for celebration. You're like, OK, cool. You've chosen four'Kristen Stewart has chastised Hollywood's efforts at gender equality, saying that the industry clapping itself on the back for an embrace of female film-makers feels phony".Speaking to Porter magazine for the release of Love Lies Bleeding, a violent romance set in the world of female bodybuilding, Stewart said much of the high-profile greenlighting of female stories was lip service. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Man who spent 17 years in prison after wrongly being convicted of rape says he will shout from the rooftops' for UK law reformAndrew Malkinson says he could have been spared 20 years of darkness and despair" if the jury system had not been changed to allow majority verdicts.Malkinson was exonerated of rape last summer, two decades after a jury wrongly convicted him by a majority of 10 to 2. Continue reading...

Opposition leader's comments a very bad faith' reading of protestors' chant, Jewish Council of Australia says

Band overtake Oasis's Wonderwall and celebrate how the much-chanted chart staple has been completely embraced by the British public'The Killers' Mr Brightside, already the longest-running Top 100 hit in UK chart history, has been named the biggest single not to reach UK No 1.Currently in its 408th week in the chart at No 71 and still being streamed by the British public 1.8m times a week, Mr Brightside - which has become a much-chanted staple at boozy weddings, karaoke nights and cheesy club nights - has overtaken Oasis's Wonderwall as the most successful single not to reach No 1, with 5.57m chart sales (including 1.066m actual sales and 530,340,000 streams). Continue reading...

NSW premier condemns western Sydney council's ban on Holly Duhig's children's book as motion to rescind it lodged

While Europe's lingua franca remains dominant, there has been a definite shift since a Portuguese song triumphed in 2017There was a time when in order to win Eurovision you had to fly on the wings of love", take me to your heaven" or sail into infinity while reaching for divinity". This year, however, there's a fair chance the winner will estar comiendo el mundo (be eating the world), ridere in queste notti bruciate (laugh in these burnt nights), or even drukkje min broder blod (drink my brother's blood).The metaphors may have been mixed, but for the first two decades of the 21st century, the English language reigned supreme at the Eurovision song contest. In the run-up to the millennium, the so-called language rule restricted English songs to countries that counted it among their official languages, such as Britain, Ireland and Malta. But when the rule was scrapped in 1999, the floodgates opened. Continue reading...

Sky News podcast casts doubt on One Nation leader's claim she did not know Faruqi was a Muslim when she sent piss off back to Pakistan' tweet, court told

Seven says decision purely commercial but Financial Review editor accuses rival company of abuse of market power'

Government's promised future gas strategy' will argue the fossil fuel is important part of transition to net zero emissions. Follow the day's news live

Gabrielius Landsbergis also backs David Cameron and Emmanuel Macron on standing up to PutinLithuania's foreign minister has raised the prospect of an ad hoc coalition of western countries sending military training personnel into Ukraine backed by ground-based air defence, days after Russia took an increasingly strident tone against what it sees as the threat of deeper western involvement in the war.Speaking to the Guardian after meeting his British counterpart, David Cameron, in London, Gabrielius Landsbergis also backed the British foreign secretary for saying that Ukraine could use British-made weapons against Russia; remarks that alongside Emmanuel Macron refusing to rule out western troops in Ukraine prompted the Kremlin to threaten UK assets and order a tactical nuclear training exercise. Continue reading...

Patients said to have been moved on donkey carts from evacuated hospital, in situation described as catastrophic'Hospitals in Rafah risk being overwhelmed by a wave of sick and injured people if the fighting there intensifies and routes into Gaza remain impassible, doctors and medical officials in the city say.Medics and patients hastily evacuated the Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital, one of the few remaining functioning hospitals in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, on Tuesday after the Israeli army seized the nearby border crossing with Egypt in a dawn raid. Continue reading...

Group being questioned after warrants were executed in Bolton, Great Lever, Abram and Hindley, says Greater Manchester policeThree men have been arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism in Greater Manchester.Warrants were executed by officers in Bolton, Great Lever, Abram and Hindley around 7.30pm on Wednesday, Greater Manchester police (GMP) said. The men, aged 35, 36 and 51, were arrested at separate locations on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000. Continue reading...

Daughters of TV great write introductions to First Squad, First Platoon, a story of war in the Pacific released by Strand MagazineA story of the second world war by Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone, will be published in the US on Thursday after lying among his papers for nearly 70 years.I was writing a memoir, called As I Knew Him, My Dad, Rod Serling," Anne Serling, one of two daughters, told the Guardian. And another writer, Amy Boyle Johnston, who had been doing a lot of researching of my dad's early work and wrote a book called Unknown Serling, sent me the story. She'd found it in the archives in Wisconsin," at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Continue reading...

Concerns raised in NSW parliament about why prosecutor did not oppose bail for domestic violence charges against former partner including rape and stalking

Woman, 24, allegedly sexually assaulted by young boy in far north Queensland before being attacked by a group of children

Troy Armstrong, 36, alledgedly drove his ute at 140kmh at his former wife Kristy Armstrong's car in Molong

Victorian tribunal also finds doctor's communications with patients were inappropriate, discourteous and failed to provide confidentiality

As El Fasher stands on the precipice of a massacre', rights groups call for sanctions after new testimony describes atrocities carried out by RSF paramilitaries in SudanGruesome new testimony details one of the worst atrocities of the year-long Sudanese civil war - the large-scale massacre of civilians as they desperately tried to flee an ethnic rampage in Darfur last summer.Witnesses describe children, still alive, being piled up and shot" by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as they attempted to escape the regional capital of El Geneina in June last year during a bout of ethnic violence in which thousands of civilians were killed. Continue reading...

Super fund boss and Google Cloud global CEO issue joint statement apologising for extremely frustrating and disappointing' outage

Pieces from Diamonds are Forever singer's collection will be exhibited by Sotheby's London before being auctioned for charity in ParisDiamonds Are Forever singer Shirley Bassey is to auction some of her extensive and meaningful" jewellery collection, including a diamond ring given to her by Elton John.Top lots from her collection, which will be exhibited by Sotheby's London later this month before being auctioned for charity in Paris, include a diamond necklace estimated to sell for between 270,000 and 320,000 (232,420 and 275,460). A diamond and gold parure created by Cartier is estimated to fetch between 200,000 and 250,000 (172,170 and 215,210). Continue reading...

Long-serving leader Frank Bainimarama has been sentenced to a year in prison for perverting the course of justice, local media reportsFiji's former long-serving prime minister Frank Bainimarama has been sentenced to a year in prison for perverting the course of justice, local media reported.Bainimarama was initially spared jail in the case during sentencing last month, before an appeal by the country's director for public prosecutions. On Thursday, that appeal was upheld by Fiji's high court. Continue reading...