World news | The Guardian

Police investigate suspected efforts to fake Covid-19 vaccination records in order to travel to USFederal police have searched the mansion of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro and arrested one of his closest aides as part of an investigation into suspected criminal efforts to fake Covid-19 vaccination records in order to travel to the US.Lt Col Mauro Cid Barbosa, described by the Brazilian press as Bolsonaro’s “right-hand man”, was one of six people arrested on Wednesday morning as police raided multiple addresses in the capital, Brasília, and Rio de Janeiro. Continue reading...

Kenneth Law, 57, arrested in Ontario following allegations he sold lethal substance to people in dozens of countriesPolice in Canada have laid charges against an Ontario man following allegations he sold a lethal substance to people in dozens of countries, including four people who killed themselves in Britain and one in the United States.Kenneth Law, 57, is due to appear in court on Wednesday after Peel regional police charged him with two counts of counselling or aiding suicide on Tuesday in relation to Canadian adults.In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 and online chat is also available. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. A list of prevention resources can be found here.The Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat at TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...

Tehran seeks to bolster influence over Damascus as Gulf states move to normalise relations with AssadEbrahim Raisi has flown to Damascus for the first state visit by an Iranian president to Syria since the civil war broke out in 2011, as Tehran seeks to bolster its political and economic influence over the Assad regime.Iran has been a long-term supporter of Bashar al-Assad, sending Iranian militia to help defeat Assad’s opponents, and as the normalisation of relations between Syria and Gulf states nears, Iran wants to ensure it reaps the economic benefits of its support. Raisi is also making the visit now to try to build a stronger anti-Israeli alliance in the region. Continue reading...

Government hopes the historic increase, which matches the Fair Work Commission order for the sector, will attract more staff

Man at palace gates allegedly threw shotgun cartridges and was ‘grabbed within seconds’Police say the man whose arrest led to a controlled explosion at Buckingham Palace asked to speak to a soldier before he allegedly began throwing shotgun cartridges.The man was arrested outside Buckingham Palace in central London on Tuesday after he approached the gates. Continue reading...

Fired Fox host allegedly described Trump supporters assaulting a man, while finding himself ‘rooting for the mob’A racist text message allegedly sent by the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson set off alarm bells at the top of the network and ultimately contributed to his firing, the New York Times reported.The text, which remains redacted in court filings in Dominion Voter Systems’ defamation case against Fox News, included the line: “It’s not how white men fight.” Continue reading...

Party, which has been without accountants since October, risks losing £1.2m funding if it misses deadline

Merseyside police say people who use guns on streets should be treated like pariahsPolice have condemned the “pariahs” using guns on Britain’s streets after a man was chased into a residential garden and shot near where Olivia Pratt-Korbel was murdered.Merseyside police said officers were called to reports of gunshots and screaming in the Huyton area of Liverpool at 9.45pm on Tuesday. Continue reading...

David Egan quits UK electronics distributor after ‘some shortcomings of judgment on my part’The finance director of a leading UK electronics company has resigned with immediate effect, after recognising that a personal relationship with a colleague showed “some shortcomings of judgment”.David Egan, who had been at the electronic products distributor RS Group for seven years, quit as chief financial officer and director. Continue reading...

Boy, 14, shot teacher in classroom and opened fire on pupils and security guards, police and witnesses sayA 14-year-old boy shot his teacher in a Belgrade classroom on Wednesday morning before opening fire on other students and security guards, killing at least one person and wounding five, police and witnesses said.Milan Milosevic, the father of one of the pupils at the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school, said his daughter was in the classroom when the shooting began. Continue reading...

Rights groups call for urgent and independent investigation into killing of government criticA prominent activist and critic of the government in Laos has been shot dead in an attack at a coffee shop in the capital, Vientiane.Anousa “Jack” Luangsuphom, 25, who runs a Facebook page where people share criticism of the government, was sitting in a cafe in Vientiane on 29 April when the attack happened. Continue reading...

Passenger numbers rose to 16 million last month amid pent-up demand for air travel

Officers will have to consider whether domestic violence is a factor when determining if welfare recipient is part of a couple

But bank expects margins to drop because of tougher competition for mortgage and savings customersProfits at Lloyds Banking Group have jumped 46% amid higher interest charges for borrowers but the lender expects margins to drop over the rest of this year on the back of tougher competition for mortgage and savings customers.Like most of Britain’s big high street lenders, the group reported better-than-expected profits for the first three months of the year, suggesting the UK sector has broadly shrugged off the financial turmoil that has so far caused three American banks, as well as Credit Suisse, to collapse since early March. Continue reading...

Tom Tugendhat insists people will still have ‘liberty to protest’ after government fast-tracked legislationKing Charles’s coronation is a “chance to showcase our liberty”, a cabinet minister, has said, after the UK government fast-tracked legislation to crack down on protests.The security minister, Tom Tugendhat, defended the new laws, which include a 12-month prison sentence for protesters who block roads and a six-month prison sentence or unlimited fine for anyone who locks on to others, objects or buildings. Police will also be able to stop and searchprotesters they suspect are setting out to cause “disruption”. Continue reading...

Reach’s digital revenues down almost 15% since January but newspaper sales ‘robust’The publisher of the Mirror, Express and Daily Star newspapers has blamed changes in the way Facebook displays news content for a slide in its digital revenues.Reach, which also owns hundreds of regional newspapers including the Birmingham Mail, Liverpool Echo and Manchester Evening News, reported a fall in group revenue of almost 6% for the four months to 23 April. Continue reading...

Foreign secretary says there will be no further British evacuation flights from wartorn Port SudanThe final UK rescue flight from Sudan is expected to take off on Wednesday, the government has said.The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said British nationals who wanted to leave the country need to make their way to the Coral hotel in Port Sudan by 10am local time (9am BST), adding that there would be no further British evacuation flights from the city. Continue reading...

Greens senator says she is ‘drawing a line in the sand’ after One Nation leader told her to ‘piss off back to Pakistan’

Natasha Lechner had frog poison applied to her chest during ‘Kambo’ ritual and likely suffered sudden cardiac event, court told

In today’s newsletter: The author of the investigation into government parties during lockdown has herself become the subject of an inquiry – but why was it held back?

Fang Bin was targeted by authorities for reporting on the outbreak of Covid-19 in WuhanA Chinese citizen journalist who disappeared three years ago while reporting on the Wuhan coronavirus lockdown – and was later revealed to have been detained by authorities – has reportedly been released.Fang Bin was let out of detention on Sunday, according to multiple media reports that cited people close to the family. The reports said he had gone to Beijing, where some of his family live, before being sent back to Wuhan on Monday morning, where he remains under strict supervision. Continue reading...

Government-owned company pushes earliest start date of pumped hydro project to the second half of 2028

Religious laws are increasingly being used to silence civil society and human rights groups, say activistsSix Libyans are facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity and proselytising under laws increasingly being used to silence civil society and human rights organisations, say activists.The women and men – some from Libya’s minority ethnic groups, including the Amazigh, or Berbers, in the west of the country – were separately detained in March by security forces. Continue reading...

Ofgem requirement comes amid plans to crackdown on suppliers’ conduct as research shows slump in customer satisfactionEnergy suppliers will be forced to offer vulnerable households dedicated phone lines in a drive by the regulator Ofgem to improve poor treatment of the most disadvantaged customers.The regulator is planning a crackdown on suppliers’ conduct after a slump in customer service during the energy crisis with long call waiting times and difficulty contacting companies. Continue reading...

Victorian premier says interest rates are ‘smashing families’ despite 2020 advice to national cabinet that ‘interest rates won’t be going up’

Police say paramedics are on the scene at Crystal Brook and multiple people are injuredTwo police officers have reportedly been stabbed and an alleged offender shot dead in an incident in South Australia’s mid-north.Police have confirmed they have responded to a high-risk incident at Crystal Brook, a small community about 200km north of Adelaide. Continue reading...

‘Bold is what we need’ from budget to lift people out of poverty and address cost of living, Grattan Institute’s Danielle Wood says

Eliza Kloser says she was stopped by police while photographing the art’s removal from Burrup peninsula and then had images seized from her Karratha home

Discussion paper shows the government is considering powers to ‘access, store and use large amounts of data’, prompting alarm from the Greens

Rockets were fired towards Israel from Gaza after the death of Khader Adnan was announcedIsraeli jets struck targets across Gaza as armed groups there fired rocket barrages toward Israel in response to the death of a Palestinian hunger striker in Israeli custody.Plumes of smoke spiralled into the sky late on Tuesday as the jets hit targets that the Israeli military said included weapons manufacturing sites and training camps of Hamas, the Islamist group that governs the blockaded coastal enclave. Continue reading...

Australian rocker recalls Queen Elizabeth II being ‘the most charismatic woman I have ever met’ and says he is not ‘so damn grouchy’ to refuse the inviteNick Cave has denied being a monarchist or a royalist after it was revealed he is attending the coronation of King Charles III, saying he “hold[s] an inexplicable emotional attachment to the royals”.Writing in his newsletter the Red Hand Files, in reply to letters from three Australians and one Brit – some incredulous at the news he would be attending the coronation as part of the Australian delegation – Cave described himself as “not a monarchist, nor am I a royalist, nor am I an ardent republican for that matter”. Continue reading...

About 20 former students say they were ‘deceived and misled’ about major that left them unable to work in regulated industry

Top east Asia diplomat says US also in talks with Vanuatu and Kiribati on proposed embassies, amid concerns about China’s presence in region

Four-concert limit cap blamed for stopping Sydney hosting artists such as Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel and Beyoncé

PM says he will make coronation allegiance pledge to King Charles III, with whom he had an ‘insightful and rewarding’ audience

Investments in Bristol and Santo Tomas in the Philippines will be worth £100m and £166m respectivelyDyson has revealed plans to build a new battery factory in Singapore, alongside investments by the maker of vacuum cleaners and dryers in technology centres in the UK and the Philippines.The company, run by the billionaire Sir James Dyson, said the investments in Bristol in the UK and Santo Tomas in the Philippines would be worth £100m and £166m respectively. The Singapore investment will be significantly larger. Continue reading...

Writers Guild of America calls first work stoppage in 15 years as industry grapples with streaming boomHollywood productions have ground to a halt after thousands of film and television writers went on strike following the breakdown of last-minute pay talks with major studios.The Writers Guild of America (WGA) called its first stoppage in 15 years after failing to reach an agreement on higher pay, pitting its 11,500 screenwriters against old-guard companies, such as Universal, Paramount and Walt Disney, as well as tech newcomers, such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple. Continue reading...

Nuria Piera, known for her investigations into corruption, was targeted three times, Amnesty International saysOne of the Dominican Republic’s most prominent investigative journalists was targeted using spyware made by NSO Group, according to a new report released by Amnesty International.Nuria Piera, who is well known for her investigations into corruption, was hacked three times between 2020 and 2021, according to Amnesty’s forensic analysis of her mobile phone. The revelation marks the first confirmation that NSO’s military-grade spyware, Pegasus, has been used to target journalists in the Dominican Republic, making it the third Latin American country – after Mexico and El Salvador – where such abuse has been discovered. Continue reading...

Seven others taken to hospital with stab wounds after serious altercation in the early hours of Sunday morningA man has been charged with the murder of a 32-year-old man in an incident near a nightclub in Cornwall where several people sustained stab injuries, police said.Michael Allen died of stab wounds after a serious altercation close to the Eclipse nightclub in Bodmin in the early hours of Sunday, to which the police were called. Continue reading...

New fraud strategy responding to web- and phone-based scams will result in recruitment of 400 new ‘specialist investigators’Ministers have announced a clampdown on the use of cold calls to sell financial products and on technology which allows mass texting of numerous phones as part of a strategy to combat fraud, now the UK’s most common crime.The new fraud strategy, a response to the massive growth of web- and phone-based scams, will alsoresult in what was billed as 400 new specialist investigators across police and the National Crime Agency recruited as part of a revamp for how the the crime is investigated. Continue reading...

Republican states fighting Joe Biden’s plan falsely said they’d be financially impacted by the scheme, debt forgiveness group claimsNewly uncovered documents show that the Republican states fighting Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan have made false claims that they will “suffer injuries”, or rather, be financially impacted by the scheme, a debt forgiveness campaign group has claimed.The supreme court case that will decide the fate of Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, Nebraska v Biden, rests on one of the plaintiffs, Missouri’s state attorney general, who claims Mohela – as the higher education loan authority of the state of Missouri is known – will be financially affected by the plan for the worse. Continue reading...

James Cleverly urges British nationals still wanting to leave the war-torn nation to make their way to Port SudanThe final UK evacuation flight is expected to take off from Sudan on Wednesday, the foreign secretary has announced.James Cleverly urged British nationals still wanting to leave the war-torn nation to make their way to Port Sudan. Continue reading...

Head of civil service Simon Case faces fresh questions after ministers fail to publish outcome of inquirySue Gray is refusing to cooperate with a government inquiry into her departure from Whitehall amid concerns that the investigation is politically motivated and not based on any official process.Simon Case, the head of the civil service, faced fresh questions over his handling of the controversy after ministers failed to publish the outcome of the inquiry despite widespread briefing that it would find she had broken the civil service code. Continue reading...

Ex-Fox News anchor shown referring to fans as ‘post-menopausal’ and unnamed woman as ‘yummy’ in clips released on TuesdayLeaked video published on Tuesday showed the fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson describing an unnamed woman as “yummy”, referring to his fans as “post-menopausal” and attempting to discuss sexual technique with British journalist Piers Morgan.The first two remarks were previously reported by the New York Times. The clips were released by Media Matters for America, a progressive watchdog that on Monday released other video in which Carlson derided the Fox Nation streaming service. Continue reading...

Thousands line route as Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney join men’s and women’s teams on open-top bus tourRyan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Wrexham AFC’s staff and players celebrated the team’s promotion with an open-top bus parade on Tuesday evening.Thousands of fans lined up along a 3.5-mile route in the north Wales city as three buses left from the club’s Racecourse ground carrying the team that won the National League title and promotion back to the English Football League after a 15-year absence. The women’s side also clinched promotion to the Genero Adran Premier by winning their playoff final. Continue reading...

Many are already camping to get a good spot before thousands expected to line the Mall arrive to catch a glimpse of King Charles

The civil service is ‘a team without a captain’, argues Anthony Seldon. But can Sunak stomach ousting Case before the election?Senior civil servants have been asking whether Simon Case can survive at the top of Whitehall for almost as long as he has been in post.From his oversight of No 10 during the Partygate scandal to his role in the Richard Sharp affair, Case’s name has cropped up in almost every controversy to have dogged Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak over the last two years. When a top official repeatedly becomes the story, more often than not that means their days in the job are numbered. Continue reading...

Oliver Dowden says process ‘involved interviewing relevant persons’ but Sue Gray chose not to take partMomentum, the Labour group set up to promote Jeremy Corbyn’s agenda when he was party leader, claims that Keir Starmer could end up like Nick Clegg if he abandons his promise to abolish tuition fees.Responding to what Starmer said on this this morning (see 9.01am), Momentum spokesperson said:This move wouldn’t just fly in the face of party democracy and the wishes of Labour Students. It would be a betrayal of millions of young people in desperate need of hope. The Labour leadership should learn from Nick Clegg’s failure, not repeat it.

Home Office claims timing of new powers, taking effect days before king’s coronation, is coincidentalOfficial warning letters have been sent to anti-monarchists planning peaceful protests at King Charles III’s coronation saying that new criminal offences to prevent disruption have been rushed into law.Using tactics described by lawyers as “intimidatory”, the Home Office’s Police Powers Unit wrote to the campaign group Republic saying new powers had been brought forward to prevent “disruption at major sporting and cultural events”.Protesters who block roads, airports and railways could face 12 months behind bars.Anyone locking on to others, objects or buildings could go to prison for six months and face an unlimited fine.Police will be able to head off disruption by stopping and searching protesters if they suspect they are setting out to cause chaos. Continue reading...