World news | The Guardian

Far-right mayor claimed Lima institution peddled false narrative of 1980-2000 conflict in which guerrillas and army killed 70,000It was supposed to be a museum of memories: a place of dialogue and reconciliation where Peruvians could commemorate the victims of a brutal internecine conflict which killed tens of thousands of people in the 1980s and 1990s.Since its controversial inception in 2015, the Place of Memory, Tolerance and Social Inclusion has received about 60,000 visitors a year. Continue reading...

Wave of thunderstorms and tornadoes over the past few weeks resulted in deaths of 63 peopleSevere tornadoes hit the US this week, with at least seven reported on Tuesday in Illinois, while on Wednesday morning a powerful tornado tore through south-eastern Missouri causing widespread damage and at least five deaths in Bollinger County.According to the National Weather Service, the Missouri tornado lasted about 15 minutes with winds reaching peaks of 130mph. A wave of thunderstorms and tornadoes in the US over the past few weeks have resulted in the deaths of at least 63 people. Continue reading...

New rules require birds to be tested and certified for five diseases before they can travel between UK and EUCute fluffy yellow plumes may be synonymous with Easter, but bird hobbyists have warned that a rare canary species bred for centuries in Britain may become a thing of the past because of Brexit.Access to the birds, particularly in the Netherlands and Belgium where canary and budgie breeding is also popular, has been lethally impeded by new rules. Each bird now has to be tested and certified for five diseases before it can travel between the UK and the EU. Continue reading...

Researcher say making scan at 36-37 weeks routine may also cut risk of severe complications for babiesGiving women a third scan at the end of their pregnancy could dramatically reduce the number of unexpected breech births and the risk of babies being born with severe health problems, research suggests.Pregnant women in the UK have routine scans at 12 and 20 weeks only, with no further scan offered in the third trimester unless they are considered at risk of a complicated pregnancy. The researchers hope their findings could lead to a change in guidance for clinicians that will improve maternity care. Continue reading...

Minister confirms education department documents breached after third-party file transfer service was hacked

Social worker who was run over by her own car outside Sheffield home described as ‘beautiful soul’The family of a “warm, loving and dedicated” social worker have spoken of their grief after a 12-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of her murder.Marcia Grant, 60, died after she was run over by her own car outside her home in the Woodhills area of Sheffield at about 7.10pm on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Embarrassing incidents expose how existing policy allows secrecy, obfuscation and sell-offsThe policy on the receipt of gifts by the royal family was drawn up in 1995 and most recently updated in 2003. It is less a set of rules and more a policy or set of guidelines about how the family should behave. Continue reading...

Palace insists horses given to late queen, including 34 from emir of Dubai, were ‘personal gifts’King Charles III and his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, appear to have made almost £2m from the sale of horses that were gifts from prominent figures.The Guardian has identified more than 40 horses that were apparently given to the queen by a Dubai sheikh, a Muslim religious leader and a Saudi royal. Continue reading...

Call for review to have statutory powers to make witnesses give evidence after only 11 of 14,000 come forward

Project aims to help save molluscs after fall in numbers caused by habitat loss, pollution, the climate crisis and human exploitationHundreds of young freshwater pearl mussels – one of the UK’s rarest aquatic creatures – are to be released into a river at a secret spot in north Wales this summer as part of a project to save the molluscs from extinction.The juvenile mussels have been bred at a hatchery in the Brecon Beacons, in the south of the country, and will be carefully moved to the river in Gwynedd after it was restored to create the sort of conditions they are able to thrive in. Continue reading...

US thinktank and Reagan Foundation targeted, as well as Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the US, in row over President Tsai Ing-wen’s trip

Brisbane detectives believe Lesley Trotter has died, and ‘have not ruled out’ potential neighbourhood dispute

Anti-corruption watchdog investigating claims federal police pressured Higgins not to proceed with alleged rape case

One person in hospital after two cars collided on Barton Highway, with severe weather warnings across eastern Australia

Two constables in serious but stable condition in hospital after allegedly being threatened with knife at a Newcastle home

At least five other people taken to hospital with injuries as result of blaze in block of flats in NewhamA man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman died in a fire at a block of flats in east London, police have said.At least five other people were taken to hospital with injuries after the incident on Thursday in Beckton in Newham. Continue reading...

Connor Chapman denies murdering beautician who was shot dead outside Wirral pub on Christmas EveA 23-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to murdering a beautician who was shot dead outside a pub on Merseyside on Christmas Eve.Elle Edwards, 26, is believed to have been an innocent bystander when a gunman opened fire outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village in Wirral. Continue reading...

Some critics have even asked if Police Scotland was asked to delay the operation. But there’s no sign she anticipated itWhen Nicola Sturgeon thought she had finished her resignation press conference at Bute House in February, and was gathering up her speaking notes, she was asked a direct question that seemed to make her grimace.Glenn Campbell, BBC Scotland’s political editor, asked her: “Have you been, or do you expect to be, interviewed by the police who are looking into your party’s finances.” Continue reading...

Awning of La Rotonde briefly in flames as hundreds of thousands of mostly peaceful demonstrators again take to streets across FranceHundreds of thousands of people have continued to demonstrate across France against Emmanuel Macron’s plans to raise the pension age to 64, with clashes breaking out between demonstrators and police on the edges of protests in cities including Lyon, Nantes and Paris.In the capital, protesters briefly set fire to the awning of the Left Bank brasserie La Rotonde, well known for hosting Macron’s controversial evening of celebrations when he led the first-round vote in the 2017 presidential election. Police said several hundred of what they described as “radical elements” set bins alight and threw projectiles at officers near the restaurant. Continue reading...

Kashif Anwar, 29, pushed Fawziyah Javed, 31, off Edinburgh hill, leading to death of wife and unborn childAn abusive man who pushed his pregnant wife from the Edinburgh landmark, Arthur’s Seat, days before she was set to leave him has been jailed for at least 20 years for her murder.Kashif Anwar, 29, from Leeds, was found guilty of the September 2021 murder of Fawziyah Javed, 31, and that of her unborn child, after a six-day trial at the high court in Edinburgh. Continue reading...

Daniel Greenberg has received complaints about Johnson allies disparaging privileges committeeParliament’s standards commissioner has left the door open to launching an investigation into attempts by Boris Johnson’s allies to disparage the credibility of the Partygate inquiry.A high number of complaints are thought to have been made to Daniel Greenberg about comments by the former prime minister’s supporters that the inquiry into whether he misled parliament was a “kangaroo court” and “witch-hunt”. Continue reading...

Working group member shares Liberal Bridget Archer’s concern Coalition’s no campaign in danger of running ‘adjacent to racist views’

Exclusive: Simon Birmingham, Marise Payne and Paul Fletcher spoke out against plan as Julian Leeser proposed allowing MPs a free say

New pouches for beef are said to be ‘too compressed’ and ‘like I’ve bought someone’s kidney’Sainsbury’s has said it is determined to make more “bold moves” to cut plastic and defended itself against criticism of new packaging for mince which shoppers have criticised as “very medical”, “too compressed” and “vile”.The supermarket said last month it was the first UK retailer to vacuum pack all its beef mince, part of the retailer’s efforts to halve its use of plastic packaging on its own-label products by 2025. Continue reading...

Competition watchdog calls for evidence deal could give online retailer dominance in smart home marketAmazon’s $1.7bn takeover of the owner of the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner is being examined by the UK’s competition watchdog.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has called for evidence on whether the deal could lead to “a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services” and so would require a full investigation. Continue reading...

French president makes plea as two leaders hold first of series of high-level meetings in Beijing

Outrage as Indigenous communities claim company is operating on illegally deforested land and lacks environmental permitsThe US ambassador to Peru has sparked outrage among Indigenous groups and environmental NGOs by visiting a controversial palm oil company and praising it for abstaining from deforestation and as a leader of sustainable agricultural practices.In a tweet last week, Lisa Kenna commended the company, Ocho Sur, as an example of US-Peruvian ties and as the leading employer in the Peruvian Amazon region of Ucayali. Her expression of support came after she made the solo visit last week while on a trip with her British, German and Norwegian counterparts to the Peruvian Amazon city of Pucallpa. Continue reading...

But Richard Holden also says efforts will be made to avoid people needing to leave port to access local services

Faisal bin Farhan and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Beijing for talks after Chinese brokered agreementThe Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers have met for the first time in seven years, weeks after the two countries came to an agreement, brokered by Chinese officials, to restore diplomatic relations.Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Iran’s Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met in Beijing to discuss the reopening of embassies, the appointment of ambassadors and a planned visit to Saudi Arabia by Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s president. They also discussed resuming flights between the two countries and issuing travel visas for each others’ citizens. Continue reading...

Resignation the latest protest at federal party room’s decision to campaign against referendum

Halifax says market has been helped by easing of borrowing costs

Mobile phones with 4G or 5G signal will make siren sound and vibrate at 3pm on Sunday of testThe first nationwide test of a public warning system that sends alerts to UK mobile phones will take place at 3pm on Sunday 23 April.The emergency alerts system is designed to broadcast urgent messages in the event of a disaster such as severe flooding, fires or extreme weather. Continue reading...

Black Equity Organisation seeks judicial review over Suella Braverman’s decision to drop three reform commitmentsA leading civil rights group has launched legal action against the home secretary over her decision to abandon several crucial reform commitments made as a result of the Windrush scandal.The action by the Black Equity Organisation (BEO) comes as a petition with 50,000 signatories urging Suella Braverman to reconsider is to be delivered to Downing Street later on Thursday. Continue reading...

Liam Garner’s Pan-American adventure lasted a year – now he’s eyeing another odyssey, and planning to write a book about itA US teenager who reported being robbed and even hospitalized while spending more than a year bicycling from northern Alaska to southern Argentina is now mulling plans for a similar trip from Europe to Asia.Liam Garner and his trip across the Americas, which he completed in January, has drawn headlines from international news outlets including CNN, Insider and the BBC. But he is insisting he’s not done with his efforts, which he says demonstrate that one doesn’t have to be rich to travel internationally. Continue reading...

Health watchdog reverses decision not to recommend olaparib for patients with genetic faultThe NHS in England is to offer thousands of cancer patients the world’s first cancer drug to target an inherited genetic fault, after a U-turn by the health watchdog.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) opted last year not to recommend olaparib for breast cancer patients with the so-called “Angelina Jolie gene” because of its high cost. The pioneering drug’s list price is £2,317.50 for one pack of 150mg tablets, excluding VAT. Continue reading...

ChatGPT falsely identified Brian Hood as guilty party in foreign bribery scandal. In reality he blew the whistle on the illegal schemeA regional Australian mayor said he may sue OpenAI if it does not correct ChatGPT’s false claims that he had served time in prison for bribery, in what would be the first defamation lawsuit against the automated text service.Brian Hood, who was elected mayor of Hepburn Shire, 120km northwest of Melbourne, last November, became concerned about his reputation when members of the public told him ChatGPT had falsely named him as a guilty party in a foreign bribery scandal involving a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Australia in the early 2000s. Continue reading...

Finance minister Katy Gallagher says government working through reports that recommend eligibility changes to payment

First meeting since pension changes were presented in January was over in an hour, and unions emerged calling for more protestsHundreds of thousands of people across France are expected to protest on Thursday against Emmanuel Macron’s rise in the minimum pension age from 62 to 64, after talks between trade unions and the prime minister failed to ease tensions.France will face another day of strikes affecting transport, schools and refineries, amid anger over the government’s use of an executive order to push through the pensions changes without a parliamentary vote last month. Continue reading...

Commissioner Katarina Carroll lacks ‘no confidence’ powers to dismiss staff, unlike her counterparts in other states

Announcement comes just before court ruling on whether to strip father of Maria Moskalyova of parental rights for his criticism of Ukraine war

Pearson, one of the architects of the Uluru statement from the heart, called Dutton an ‘undertaker preparing the grave to bury Uluru’

News of invitation follows announcement that US president will visit Ireland and Northern Ireland next weekJoe Biden has accepted an invitation from King Charles III for a state visit, a White House spokesperson has said.The invitation was made during a “friendly” 25 to 30 minute phone call in which Biden congratulated the king on his upcoming coronation, which the US president will not attend. Continue reading...

About 170 organisations warn ministers not to put people in military bases, barges and ferries around the countryMinisters have been warned of a “humanitarian catastrophe” if asylum seekers arriving in the UK are accommodated in camps on military bases and on barges.Approximately 171 organisations – including the Refugee Council, Choose Love, faith groups, city of sanctuary representatives and law centres – have written to Rishi Sunak urging him to “listen to common sense” and scrap plans for asylum camps at former RAF bases at Scampton in Lincolnshire, Wethersfield in Essex and Catterick in North Yorkshire and the site of a former prison in Bexhill in East Sussex, along with proposals to use ferries and barges. Continue reading...

Sir Mark Rowley vows to ‘lift the stone’ – but says rooting out every unfit police officer could take yearsScotland Yard is battling its biggest corruption crisis since the 1970s, its commissioner has warned, as new evidence emerged of the widespread bungling of sexual and domestic abuse claims against officers.The review of past allegations was triggered by the David Carrick scandal, where the force missed repeated clues that the Metropolitan police firearms officer was a threat to women, while he attacked at least 12 victims over a 20-year period, committing 85 serious crimes.Checks on 10,000 of the Met’s 50,000 officers and staff against police databases showed 38 cases of possible misconduct and 55 cases of a potential association with a criminal, all of which will be investigated further.Gross misconduct investigations, which can lead to sackings have risen 62% to 431, with such hearings taking less time to be held.A total of 144 officers were suspended from duty, double that from September 2022, with 701 on restricted duties.There has been a 70% increase in those dismissed – or leaving before they could be sacked – in the last six months. Continue reading...

No charges have been laid over the crash itself which happened late Tuesday night

Blackpool South MP reportedly offered to lobby on behalf of gambling industry and leak confidential documentA Conservative MP who reportedly offered to lobby ministers on behalf of the gambling industry and leak a confidential policy document for up to £4,000 a month has had the party whip suspended.Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, was caught by undercover reporters for the Times posing on behalf of a fake investment fund saying he could “call in favours” from colleagues and get “easy access” to ministers when queueing for parliamentary votes. Continue reading...

US judge says he ‘would not quash’ subpoena from Dominion Voting Systems requesting testimony from mogul and son LachlanA judge in Delaware on Wednesday said Dominion Voting Systems can compel Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch to testify in the election machines company’s $1.6bn defamation suit against Fox News.If Dominion files the appropriate subpoena, Judge Eric M Davis said, “I would not quash it and I would compel them to come.” Continue reading...

Fourth man is released from detention after arrest in March of 10 guards who protected UK embassy staff in AfghanistanThe Home Office has paused plans to remove three Nepali guards who protected British embassy staff in Afghanistan to their home country, while releasing a fourth from detention.Bam Bahadur Gurung, a 37-year-old Nepali national who worked in Afghanistan for more than a decade, was released from detention on Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading...

National Public Radio protests decision to give US broadcaster same designation as Russia’s RT and China’s Xinhua News AgencyTwitter on Tuesday evening labeled the account of National Public Radio (NPR) as US state-affiliated media, drawing fierce criticism from the news organization’s leadership.Other publications with the label include Russian propaganda network RT and China’s Xinhua News Agency. Continue reading...