World news | The Guardian

Juan Orlando Hernandez, 55, once a US ally in the war on drugs', found guilty on three counts and faces 40 years in prisonThe former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez has been convicted of cocaine trafficking, securing a place in infamy for the one-time US ally in the war on drugs.Hernandez is the first former head of state to be found guilty of drug trafficking in the United States since Panamanian strongman General Manuel Noriega was convicted in 1992. Continue reading...

Road crash deaths are the leading cause of death for children aged 1 to 13 in Australia and experts say many could be prevented with better restraints

Helpline set up for those worried about Legacy Independent Funeral Directors as investigation proceedsPolice are searching a chain of funeral parlours in Hull and the surrounding area after receiving a report of concern for care of the deceased".A helpline has been set up for anyone worried about their loved ones' treatment at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors. Continue reading...

Security forces and government still refuse to clarify allegations that Freddie Scappaticci was British spy at the heart of the IRAIt is both darkly telling and extraordinarily dispiriting that even now, after a 40m investigation, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher cannot formally say in his interim report that Stakeknife, the British spy at the heart of the IRA, was Freddy Scappaticci, despite the fact that he died last year in England, aged 77.The security forces and the government have steadfastly refused to confirm or deny the allegations that Mr Scappaticci was an agent or that he was Stakeknife," the police officer writes of the man, who operated inside the IRA's so-called Nutting Squad, which sought to root out and kill alleged informers. Continue reading...

President heads for battleground state Pennsylvania as re-election rematch with Trump finally begins in earnestReveling in warm reviews for a fiery State of the Union speech, Joe Biden was set to hit the campaign trail on Friday, heading for Philadelphia as his re-election rematch with Donald Trump finally began in earnest.Three days after Trump dominated the Super Tuesday primaries and saw off the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, his last rival for the Republican nomination, Biden was set to speak at a middle school in Wallingford, the sort of suburb that has trended Democratic as Republicans have marched to the right. Continue reading...

Commission president says pilot delivery is expected to set sail on Saturday but did not say where shipments would land or unloadThe EU has announced the opening of a sea corridor this weekend for shipping humanitarian aid from Cyprus to Gaza in the race to stave off a famine that is already claiming lives.We are now very close to the opening of the corridor, hopefully this Sunday. And I'm very glad to see that an initial pilot operation will be launched today," the EU commission president, Ursula Von der Leyen, told reporters after touring harbour facilities at the Cypriot port of Larnaca, the departure point for the aid shipments. Continue reading...

Package fell down like a rocket' on roof of house near al-Shati refugee camp where people were waiting, a witness saysFive people have been killed and 10 injured in Gaza when they were hit by a pallet of aid parachuted into the territory as part of a humanitarian airdrop.Witnesses said the accident happened on Friday morning near the coastal refugee camp known as al-Shati, one of the most devastated parts of Gaza, after a parachute attached to the pallet failed to deploy properly and the parcel fell on a group of men, teenagers and younger children hoping to obtain food and other supplies. Continue reading...

Highest court threw out previous convictions of Finnegan Lee Elder, 24, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 23,A new trial has opened for two American men accused of killing an Italian plainclothes police officer during a botched sting operation after Italy's highest court threw out their convictions.Italy's highest court of cassation ordered a new trial last year, saying it had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants, with limited Italian language skills, had understood that they were dealing with Italian police officers when they went to meet an alleged drug dealer in Rome. Continue reading...

Matthew Caseby inappropriately unattended' before he absconded from mental health hospital in BirminghamThe Priory healthcare group has been fined more than 650,000 over the death of a 23-year-old patient who was hit by a train after absconding from a mental health hospital.Matthew Caseby, a personal trainer, was able to leave Birmingham's Priory Hospital Woodbourne by scaling a wall after being inappropriately unattended" for several minutes in September 2020, an inquest jury ruled in 2022. Continue reading...

North Yorkshire force stop schoolboy after receiving call that caravan had been stolen near ThirskPolice who stopped a black BMW X5 towing a suspected stolen caravan along the M1 have admitted to being stunned by the identity of the driver: an 11-year-old schoolboy.A spokesperson for North Yorkshire police said officers were staggered" by the incident, which took place on Thursday. Continue reading...

Grant Shapps visits Ukraine and urges wake up call for the world'; overnight Russian artillery and mortar attacks kill two women and a man in Kharkiv regionUkraine's defence ministry said that overnight, Ukrainian air defenders shot down 33 our of 37 Russian Shahed' UAVs."Here is footage of a woman pulled from the rubble after Russian missiles hit Kharkiv region. Continue reading...

Anneliese Dodds says Theresa May's decision to stand down after 27 years is part of trend of Tory MPs who have no confidence in party or leader before next election

UN special rapporteur on torture to carry out fact-finding investigation after receiving allegations detained Palestinians were mistreated

Items by Italian sculptor Umberto Mastroianni taken from exhibition at Vittoriale degli Italiani estateGold statues and jewellery made by the Italian sculptor Umberto Mastroianni have been stolen from an exhibition in northern Italy in a 1m (850,000) heist.The 20 gold statues and 30 pieces of jewellery were crafted between the 1950s and 1990s by the artist, who was the uncle of La Dolce Vita film star Marcello Mastroianni. Continue reading...

Critics say Elton does not meet revised breed standard, but world's biggest dog show says he passed all relevant health checksA row has erupted at the world's biggest dog show after the prize for the best canine in the utility group went to a French bulldog that some have argued has no discernible nostrils.Concern over hugely popular squashed-face breeds such as pugs and French bulldogs has grown in recent years, not least because they are prone to short lives and myriad health problems. Continue reading...

Amnesty International UK among 46 groups to warn of chilling effect' of new legislation and policing powersNearly 50 organisations have joined forces to condemn what they call a crackdown" on the right to protest by the UK government.In response to Rishi Sunak's recent remarks on extremism and mob rule" linked to protesters, Amnesty International UK and 45 others have sent a letter to the prime minister calling for leadership, not censorship". Continue reading...

Exclusive: Influx of reports comes amid concerns about welfare of young people detained in overcrowded adult watch houses

The preselection of Simon Kennedy in Cook has fanned fears about lack of balance - with more men set to replace retiring female MPs

Salary package for Murray Auchincloss branded sickening' by anti-fossil fuel campaigners

Martyn Blake, 40, pleads not guilty at Old Bailey over death of Kaba, 24, who was shot in south London in 2022A Metropolitan police firearms officer has denied the charge of murdering Chris Kaba, who was shot dead by police in south London in 2022.Martyn Blake, 40, entered his formal plea of not guilty during a pre-trial hearing at the Old Bailey in London. Continue reading...

Documents show officials stressing need to keep the Saudis on side' after revelations about notorious al-Yamamah dealBritain's Ministry of Defence moved questionable payments through its own bank account amid one of the biggest corruption scandals in history, despite concerns the money could be pocketed by the Saudi royal family.Previously confidential documents show how the MoD agreed to make the payments to a Saudi bank account after the transactions came under scrutiny following an investigation by the UK anti-corruption agency, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Continue reading...

Former PM says she wants to focus on causes close to her heart after 27 years in parliament

New owner Frasers Group decides it is unwilling to fund turnaroundThe luxury clothing retailer Matchesfashion is to enter administration after its new owner, Mike Ashley's Frasers Group, said it was not willing to fund a turnaround.Matches was acquired by Frasers just three months ago for 52m in cash from private equity firm Apax Partners but the business has consistently missed its business plan targets" and made losses, Frasers said. Continue reading...

Research looked at three London boroughs to value overall health benefits of active travel over 20 years at up to 4,800 per headPolicies to help people walk and cycle such as low-traffic neighbourhoods can create public health benefits as much as 100 times greater than the cost of the schemes, a long-term study of active travel measures has concluded.The research, based on six years of surveys among thousands of people living in three outer London boroughs that introduced LTNs or similar schemes, found they tended to prompt people to switch some trips from cars to active travel, although the effects were varied. Continue reading...

More workers are taking on multiple jobs as they grapple with higher interest rates, inflation and underemployment

Social services minister Amanda Rishworth says government needed to work hard' to fulfil election promise

Drone team has bombed tanks, armoured fighting vehicles and ammunition dumps but still Russians are on the moveAt night, Sasha and his drone team go in search of the enemy. They set off in a dirt-covered vehicle towards the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariinka, occupied by Russia since December. They unload a large drone. And then they fly it in darkness across the frontline, above a ghostly landscape of fields and ruined houses, towards the twinkling city of Donetsk. The drone carries a deadly arsenal of six grenades.Sasha, who uses the call sign Tourist", has bombed more than 100 pieces of Russian military equipment. The list includes tanks, armoured fighting vehicles and self-propelled guns, as well as hidden ammunition dumps. Russian howitzers are another key target. Recently his special operations unit forestalled a large-scale attack. It spotted seven Russian tanks massed for a dawn raid and disabled two of them. Continue reading...

Electric carmaker concerned at overblown' claims that Albanese government's plan to import environmentally cleaner cars would increase ute prices

Japanese artist remembered for his unique world of creation' including comic series that spawned films, video games and TV seriesAkira Toriyama, the influential Japanese manga artist who created the Dragon Ball series, has died at the age of 68.He died on 1 March from an acute subdural haematoma. The news was confirmed by Bird Studio, the manga company that Toriyama founded in 1983. Continue reading...

Debate has begun on Article 23 - legislation designed to bring laws closer to those of mainland ChinaHong Kong's government has released the draft text of a new national security law that would further tighten control on the city and bring its laws closer in line with mainland China.The law, known as Article 23, is a domestic piece of legislation defining and penalising crimes related to national security. Continue reading...

Findings from survey of UK practitioners may explain why many more women than men suffer from a range of conditionsAbuse and violence suffered by women and girls is the main reason they are much more likely than men and boys to develop mental ill health, Britain's psychiatrists say.Experiencing such behaviour can trigger very serious mental health problems in women and girls, including suicidal thoughts and psychosis, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists.In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women's Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...

Motherhood penalty' appears to be worsening, with pay gap for median hourly pay growing by 93p an hour since 2020The motherhood penalty" is wreaking havoc on women and the economy, according to campaigners, as fresh analysis reveals that the pay gap between mothers and fathers in the UK has grown by nearly 1 an hour since 2020.A study of the hourly earnings of mothers and fathers, released on International Women's Day, found that on average mothers earned 24% less an hour than fathers in 2023 - a motherhood pay penalty" of 4.44 an hour. Continue reading...

Recommendation to ban non-disclosure agreements comes as report uncovers shocking' prevalence of sexual harassmentMPs are calling for new laws that would ban City firms from using gagging orders to silence victims, after a parliamentary inquiry found a shocking" prevalence of sexual harassment and bullying against women in the UK's financial sector.It is one of the key recommendations to come out of the Treasury's committee's Sexism in the City inquiry, which raised concerns about a lack of progress in promoting and protecting women in one of the UK's most lucrative industries. Continue reading...

Latin-inscribed artwork tells story of Walter Tirel whose son killed monarch, William the Conqueror's sonThe Italian descendants of King William II's killer want to donate a work of medieval art partly depicting William's death to a British museum.The three-slab triptych, believed to have been made by a Norman artist in 1100, has been owned by the Tirelli family, whose aristocratic origins can be traced back to France, for over 400 years. Continue reading...

Progress to prevent female genital mutilation needs to be 27 times faster', says UNThe number of girls and women who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) has increased by 15% in the past eight years according to new data.Figures released by the UN children's agency, Unicef, show that more than 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM, compared with 200 million in 2016. The trend is towards girls being cut at a younger age, said Unicef executive director Catherine Russell. Continue reading...

Sixty-year-old was found dead in car in Evans Head with police questioning her 39-year-old son

Magistrate lifts order which prohibited naming son of former AFL footballer accused of murder

NSW Corrective Services investigating error that led them to incorrectly believe Corey Hastings had been granted bail

According to the research group, Counting Dead Women Australia, 64 women were killed in violent incidents in 2023

You need drivers, trucks and a distribution system that doesn't exist,' says president of Refugees International aid advocacy groupThe US plan to build a floating port off the Gaza coast is a bold move, reminiscent of the Mulberry harbours built after D-day in Normandy, but there are serious concerns that what relief it brings will be too little too late for Palestinians facing starvation.When we talk about the sea route, it's going to take weeks to set up and we are talking about a population that is starving now. We have already seen children dying of hunger," said Ziad Issa, the head of humanitarian policy at the ActionAid charity. Continue reading...

All high level benefit' targets missed and only three-quarters forecasted to be achieved by 2024/25, according to NAOGovernment plans to overhaul the country's ailing railway system are significantly delayed while promised savings have yet to be achieved, according to a highly critical report by the government's spending watchdog.The National Audit Office (NAO) assessment of how ministers' plans were progressing found the government had failed to meet any of the 12 high level benefit" targets it set for rail in 2021. Continue reading...

Australia co-ordinated the largest search to date, which failed to yield answers despite surveying more than 120,000 square kilometres under the ocean MH370: one of aviation's biggest mysteries remains unsolved 10 years on

School council says Nicholas Sampson resigned following an irrevocable breakdown of trust'

Assailants reportedly surrounded Kuriga school as pupils were starting the day in second abduction in country in less than a weekGunmen have attacked a school in Nigeria's north-west region seizing at least 287 students, in the second mass abduction in the West African nation in less than a week.Authorities had said earlier that more than 100 students were taken hostage in the attack. But Sani Abdullahi, the headteacher, told Kaduna governor Uba Sani when he visited the town on Thursday that the total number of those missing after a headcount was 287. Continue reading...

President to make announcement in State of the Union speech while senior US official says We are not waiting on the Israelis'US forces will build a temporary port on the Gaza shoreline in the next few weeks to allow delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale, Joe Biden will announce in the State of the Union speech, amid warnings of a widespread famine among the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians.We are not waiting on the Israelis. This is a moment for American leadership," a senior US official said on Thursday, reflecting growing frustration of what is seen in Washington as Israeli obstruction of road deliveries on a substantial scale. Continue reading...

Song amended after organisers banned entry for seeming references to 7 October attacks, which broke rules on political neutralityIsrael will be allowed to compete at the Eurovision song contest after changing the lyrics to its song, organisers have confirmed.Eden Golan, representing Israel at this year's competition, originally submitted a ballad called October Rain, widely thought to reference the Hamas attacks of 7 October. However, the entry was barred on the grounds of breaking rules on political neutrality. Continue reading...

Guests at Biden address to include Alabama woman whose IVF was cancelled, and Texas women who went through abortion ordeals

Housing secretary did not register free box seats organised by owner of company he referred for 164m PPE contractsMichael Gove failed to declare hospitality worth more than 1,700 at three Queens Park Rangers matches over the course of two years, not just the one occasion when he attended with a Conservative donor, it has emerged.The housing secretary was placed under investigation by the House of Commons standards watchdog last week, after the Guardian reported that he failed to register hospitality he received in August 2021 alongside David Meller, a donor whose firm he had referred to the VIP lane for assessing PPE deals during the Covid pandemic. Meller's firm, Meller Designs, won six PPE contracts worth 164m. Continue reading...

UK foreign secretary discusses conflict with counterpart in Berlin amid tensions over Germany's reluctance to provide missilesGiving Ukraine the weapons it needs to defend itself against Russia would not escalate the war, but help to forge peace, David Cameron has said. The UK foreign secretary was speaking on a trip to Berlin, less than a week after a leaked top-secret military call exposed internal tensions about Germany's support for Kyiv.Germany is under growing international pressure to provide Taurus missiles to Ukraine, despite reluctance from Olaf Scholz's government. Continue reading...

Popular national figure given new role after being dismissed by Volodymyr Zelenskiy a month agoUkraine's former commander in chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, is to become the country's next ambassador to the UK, a month after he was fired by the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, from his job leading the military.The decision makes good on Zelenskiy's promise to keep the popular former general as part of the team" but it also removes him from Ukraine, where he is seen as the only realistic challenger to the president if there were to be an election. Continue reading...