World news | The Guardian

NSW police allege a criminal group planned to sell more than $1m worth of reptiles in Hong Kong

Police say they are treating the 65-year-old woman's death as a domestic violence incident

Exclusive: software believed to have resulted in prosecutions even before full system rollout in 1999

Research also finds that more than half of people who join a gym do so to tackle an illnessMore than half of people who join a gym do so to tackle an illness and three-quarters find that keeping fit boosts their mental health, new research shows.The findings come as hundreds of thousands of people across the UK join or rejoin a gym, swimming pool or leisure centre as part of a new year resolution to improve their fitness. Continue reading...

BMA claims hospitals in England trying to manipulate' exemption requests to get junior doctors to returnHospitals are exaggerating how short-staffed they are to try to get junior doctors to break their strike and return to work, according to the British Medical Association.The doctors' union has accused NHS trusts of trying to manipulate" the agreed process for how hospitals can ask striking medics to work in order to protect patients' safety. Continue reading...

Helen Harrison will stand in Wellingborough byelection called after bullying and harassment revelations against BoneThe Conservatives have chosen Peter Bone's partner as their candidate to replace him as the MP for Wellingborough after he was found to have bullied and harassed a member of his staff.Helen Harrison will be the Tory candidate for the Northamptonshire seat, the party chair announced on Sunday, after a meeting of local Conservative members. Continue reading...

Comments from senior defence officials come during tour by US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, intended to defuse tensions

Jessica Daley rushed to the rescue after Curve theatre in Leicester put out a call for someone who knew the roleAn actor travelled more than 150 miles to ensure a performance of the musical Evita could go ahead after the lead and understudy became ill and could not perform.Jessica Daley stepped into the breach to perform the starring role of Eva Peron after the Curve theatre in Leicester put out an urgent call for a replacement. Continue reading...

RMT suspends action which threatened to halt virtually all tube services in the capital over next four daysA strike that threatened to halt all London Underground services for the next four days has been called off.The RMT union announced that it had suspended its planned action after talks with Transport for London (TfL), after the mayor of London apparently made new funds available. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak defends government response to floods after Keir Starmer accuses him of being asleep at the wheel'After the misery and chaos caused by torrential rain and flooding, authorities have warned people to be prepared for potentially dangerous cold temperatures and treacherous ice.New weather warnings for England were issued on Sunday as flood-hit communities continued to mop up from the effects of Storm Henk. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says Moscow aggression can be defeated', in address to conference in Sweden

Prime minister reveals government could also strip Post Office of its powers to prosecutePost office operators whose lives have been ruined by the Horizon scandal could be exonerated under plans being considered by the government, Rishi Sunak has said.The prime minister also confirmed that Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, could strip the Post Office of its powers to prosecute after more than 700 branch managers were wrongly handed criminal convictions. Continue reading...

President under fire after announcing he will run for election as MEP in June and will stand down if he winsThe president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has said he is running as an MEP in June's European elections and will stand down if elected, sparking a race to replace him or risk the role reverting to Hungary's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban.I have decided to run in the European elections in 2024," Michel told Belgian media late on Saturday. The former Belgian prime minister has served as chief of the EU Council, the group of government leaders of the 27 EU member states, since 2019. Continue reading...

PM sets up possibility of income tax coming down in March and says control of welfare is a priority

Liz Oliva Fernandez says the sanctions, imposed 60 years ago and upheld through Biden, have led to a desperate situation'A Cuban journalist is looking to spread awareness of the US trade embargo in two illuminating documentaries arriving in early 2024.Liz Oliva Fernandez says whenever she covered news or events on the island, be it the push for democratic reforms, or the private businesses springing up after the Castros loosened their grip on power, they always intersected with the sanctions. Continue reading...

World Snooker and PDC World Darts owner Matchroom weighs up India and south-east Asia amid feared over-reliance on ChinaThe owner of the Masters snooker tournament is plotting an expansion trail across Asia after the pandemic exposed the company's reliance on China, its chair has revealed.Steve Dawson, who chairs World Snooker, told the Guardian it was considering staging tournaments in India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand, after its business was held back by three years of Beijing-imposed Covid lockdowns. Continue reading...

Woman was detained overnight and removed despite presenting Home Office documents showing her right to work and live in UKA 34-year-old Spanish woman was forcibly removed from the UK after returning from a Christmas holiday near Malaga despite presenting Brexit paperwork to border officials showing she has a right to live and work in the country.She was flown back to Spain after being detained overnight in Luton airport on 26 December and told she was wasting her time" if she thought the Home Office documentation she had showing her right to live in the UK was valid. Continue reading...

Corruption and the cost of living have trumped concerns about a belligerent neighbour in close race for the presidencyDeep in the mountains of Hsinchu county in north Taiwan, a few dozen residents of Smangus are holding their daily morning meeting in a weatherboard hut, overlooking the towering peaks nearby.The remote Indigenous village, home to about 200 Atayal people, is preparing for Saturday's presidential election. They take it very seriously, running their own polling station since 2008, and discussing candidates with all the residents. Continue reading...

Windsor and Maidenhead scraps cultural budget in wake of similar moves in Suffolk, Bristol, Nottingham and BirminghamThe chill blast of damaging cuts to provincial arts venues has returned to Berkshire this weekend as the cash-strapped local authority becomes the latest to scrap its cultural budget.Local MP and former prime minister Theresa May was among those to salute a reprieve back in February. But theatre lovers in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead now fear their venues are in jeopardy again, since no cultural funds appear in the next budget. Continue reading...

Record number of female and ethnic minority MPs expected to sit in Commons according to study of candidate selectionsThe next general election is set to herald the most diverse parliament ever, with record numbers of ethnic minority and female MPs, according to a detailed analysis of candidate selections in winnable seats.The study, by the thinktank British Future, projects that the number of ethnic minority MPs is most likely to rise from 65 to as many as 83, with much of this rise expected whatever the actual outcome of the election. Continue reading...

Chief executive says further industrial action by junior doctors will hamper progress to reduce health service waiting listsAn NHS boss has warned that his trust is now stretching to the limit to provide safe care" in the face of continuing junior doctors' strikes - and warned that further walkouts would halt efforts to cut long waiting times.Cutting waiting lists was one of Rishi Sunak's key priorities last year, with the state of the health service regularly coming top among voters' concerns. However, with the NHS in the midst of a doctors' strike and what many regard as its toughest fortnight of the winter, there are already warnings that further strikes could halt progress on waiting times. Continue reading...

Government had rejected campaigners' demands for new safety measures on basis of outdated researchThe government is reviewing quad bike safety regulation in what campaigners described as an embarrassing climbdown" after ministers repeatedly claimed that the introduction of roll bars could do more harm than good.Ministers had previously said that research by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) showed that roll bars could increase the risk of injury. But the HSE research was done in 1999, nearly a decade before the invention of newer devices that do save lives, according to evidence from Australia and the US. Continue reading...

Actor and daughters, 12 and 10, died along with pilot on Thursday after small plane they were in crashed into Caribbean SeaA Los Angeles pilates instructor who recently lost her two daughters and their father - actor Christian Oliver - has paid tribute to her girls and her former husband, saying their deaths are deeply felt by all who knew" them.Jessica Klepser's remarks about Oliver and their daughters - Madita Maia and Annik Luna Klepser, ages 12 and 10, respectively - were contained in a statement published late Friday on Instagram by Wundabar Pilates, the studio where she works. Continue reading...

The US secretary of state was speaking in Turkey, on trip that will take him to Jordan, Egypt and IsraelUS secretary of state Antony Blinken has urged Middle East countries to use their influence over regional actors to ensure the Gaza conflict is contained and prevent an endless cycle of violence," as he continued his week-long trip aimed at calming tensions.Blinken was speaking on Saturday, after Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group said it had fired rockets at Israel, who said it had struck a terrorist cell" in retaliation. Hezbollah called the strikes a preliminary response" to the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Beirut last week in an attack widely attributed to Israel Continue reading...

Victoria police say random attacks were not terror-related with 31-year-old man facing 15 chargesA man is facing more than a dozen charges after he allegedly stabbed four strangers in Melbourne overnight in what police say were completely random" and unprovoked attacks.Officers on Sunday arrested the 31-year-old Melton man who allegedly used public transport to travel across the city when committing three separate attacks on Saturday night. Continue reading...

Man found dead in driveway of Donnybrook home with gunshot wounds after firearm claimed off one of the offenders', detective allegesA man found dead in a driveway in Melbourne's outer north was allegedly part of a group of home invaders before he was shot during a struggle, police say.The man, who was yet to be identified, was found outside the property on Middlemount Street in Donnybrook, 30km north of Melbourne's CBD, at about 4.20am on Sunday. Continue reading...

Already decimated by mass arrests, opposition parties have boycotted the sham' election, which will give victory to the ruling Awami LeagueBangladesh began voting on Sunday in an election guaranteed to give a fifth term in office to rime minister Sheikh Hasina, after a boycott led by an opposition party she branded a terrorist organisation".Hasina has presided over exceptional economic growth in a country once beset by grinding poverty, but her government has been accused of rampant human rights abuses and a ruthless opposition crackdown. Continue reading...

Josep Borrell wants European-Arab initiative to revive a peace process, with the ultimate aim being a two-state solutionThe World Health Organization and the United Nations have made a new delivery of medical supplies to southern Gaza, the WHO director-general has said.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the shipment included eight refrigerators, eight solar panels, and clean delivery kits to supports 66 births as well as medicines and supplies to enable surgeries. He added that it would support 142,000 people requiring care. Continue reading...

Paul Maynard under investigation by MPs' expenses watchdog over claims he charged taxpayers for political campaign servicesCalls have been made for the prime minister to suspend the whip from a minister while claims he used his taxpayer-funded constituency office to campaign for the Conservative party are reviewed.Paul Maynard, the pensions minister, has been referred to an investigator by the parliamentary expenses watchdog over reports that he charged taxpayers when producing political materials. Continue reading...

Victim of software scandal says TV drama has reignited issue as 50 new operators contact lawyersA former post office operator who led a campaign to fight against wrongful convictions brought by the Post Office has called for compensation for the victims to be sped up after the broadcast of an ITV drama about the scandal.The Metropolitan police confirmed on Friday the Post Office was under criminal investigation over potential fraud offences" committed during the Horizon scandal. Continue reading...

Figures show rise in incidents of online extremism and violent content, partly fuelled by Israel-Gaza conflictMore than 1,000 violent and extremist posts have been taken down from social media at the federal government's request since 7 October following an increase in referrals brought on in part by the conflict between Israel and Hamas.It follows a warning by the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, in the days following Hamas's 7 October attacks in southern Israel that it was the job of social media companies to prevent the spread of distressing violent and terrorist content". Continue reading...

Documents reportedly reveal Sunak had concerns over cost of plan to send asylum seekers to RwandaRishi Sunak had significant doubts about the government's scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda when he was chancellor, it has been reported.The BBC said it had seen documents suggesting the now prime minister believed hotels were cheaper" than reception centres and that he was concerned about the costs of the Rwanda scheme. Continue reading...

Escalation of violence comes as US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and Europe's Josep Borrell begin tours of the region Middle East crisis - live updatesThe most senior diplomats from the US and the EU launched a dual diplomatic offensive in the Middle East on Saturday aimed at calming tensions that threaten chaos and wider conflict across the region.Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, began a five-day tour of the region with meetings in Turkey and the EU's most senior diplomat Josep Borrell, visited the Lebanese capital Beirut. Continue reading...

Police link death of woman, found in car after collision on A340, to nearby death of man, 18, found on railway trackPolice have launched a murder investigation into the death of a 56-year-old woman who was found in her car with a fatal stab wound in the village of Pangbourne in Berkshire.Officers were called at about 5.45pm on Thursday to a road traffic collision involving a Lexus vehicle on the A340. The woman received medical attention but died at the scene. Continue reading...

Nearly 200 planes out of commission as FAA investigates Saturday flight from Portland, Oregon, where cabin panel blew out mid-airUS regulators have ordered the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft following a cabin panel blowout late Friday that forced a brand-new airplane operated by Alaska Airlines to make an emergency landing.The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight," said Mike Whitaker, a Federal Aviation Administration administrator, on Saturday. Safety will continue to drive our decision-making as we assist the NTSB's [National Transportation Safety Board] investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282." Continue reading...

Buyers and renters compete for limited stock as the Western Australian capital favours sellers and landlords, CoreLogic analysts sayThe Australian property boom has shifted from east to west, with buyers and renters tussling for a limited number of Perth homes and creating a housing crisis for those left behind.Perth has become the hottest selling market among state capitals, with homes listed for a median 11 days before being sold, according to CoreLogic data calculated for Guardian Australia. Continue reading...

Heather Hallett's first findings are to be published before the summer and will show how austerity and Brexit hit pandemic planningAn explosive report spelling out how the Conservative government failed to prepare the country for the Covid-19 pandemic as it obsessed about Brexit is to be released before the likely date of the next general election, the Observer has been told.In a move that will cause alarm in Downing Street, Heather Hallett's independent Covid-19 inquiry will issue a detailed interim report before the summer" on the first batch of public hearings held last June and July, which revealed a catalogue of errors, including the lack of PPE and failures to act on recommendations of previous pandemic planning exercises. Continue reading...

The National Flood Forum says flooded communities face future misery if they can't make a business case for helpPeople affected by this month's floods will face the same problems in future because their communities cannot access government support, campaigners have warned.Small towns and villages affected by floods in England and Wales can ask for flood defences and mitigation through their council or the Environment Agency (EA), but are being turned down because they cannot make a business case, according to the National Flood Forum. Continue reading...

Police treating deaths of Neil and Alison McLaughlin as unexplained' but say no information suggests anyone else involvedA man and woman found dead at a property in Greenock have been named by police.The deaths of Neil and Alison McLaughlin are being treated as unexplained", however detectives said they have no information to suggest anyone else is involved. Continue reading...

Protesters also call for UK to stop arms sales to Israel and end to Israeli occupation of Palestine

Andrej Sagaidak appears at Westminster magistrates court in connection to report of an incident in Islington on 1 JanuaryA serving Metropolitan police officer has been charged with rape and suspended from duty, the force has said.PC Andrej Sagaidak, attached to the local policing team in south-east London and who was working in his probation period, was charged on Friday with two counts of rape, one count of non-fatal strangulation and one count of causing actual bodily harm. Continue reading...

As River Trent reaches record levels, council urges people to check on elderly neighbours and consider relocatingPeople in Nottinghamshire have been urged to consider staying with friends after river levels reached record levels.Communities near the north of the River Trent are most at risk from flooding, according to the local authority, with residents urged to check on elderly and vulnerable residents. Continue reading...

Boy, five, among 126 people dead, after boiling water spilled on him during Monday's 7.6 magnitude quakeA woman in her 90s has been pulled alive from a collapsed house in western Japan, 124 hours after a major earthquake hit the region, killing at least 126 people, toppling buildings and setting off landslides.The woman in Suzu city, Ishikawa prefecture, survived for more than five days after the 7.6 magnitude quake on Monday. Nationally broadcast news footage showed helmeted rescue workers covering the view of the area with blue plastic, and the woman was not visible. Continue reading...

Four people also killed in suspected arson attack on a train, which police say was aimed at scaring people before votePolling booths have been set on fire in Bangladesh on the eve of general elections.On Friday four people, including two children, died in an apparent arson attack on a train in Bangladesh. Police said they had arrested seven people in connection with the incident. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage hereRussia has started using ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea to attack Ukraine, Washington and Kyiv have claimed, in an indication that Moscow plans to further expand its arms deals with regimes under sanctions in order to sustain its war effort.Washington also alleged Russia was in talks with Iran to buy short-range ballistic missiles. The US intelligence assessment is that Iranian missiles have not yet arrived in Russia, but that the deal will eventually be done. Continue reading...

Pitman, 16, was stabbed to death on Primrose Hill in north LondonA teenager has appeared in court charged with the murder of 16-year-old Harry Pitman, who was stabbed to death in north London on New Year's Eve.Pitman had gone to Primrose Hill with friends to watch the fireworks and was stabbed to death in the Camden park shortly before midnight. Continue reading...

Failatu Abdul-Razak is being cheered on and widely celebrated in west African countryA chef in Ghana has been preparing regional dishes on live TV since New Year's Day in an attempt to break a world record for marathon cooking.Failatu Abdul-Razak had cooked for more than 110 hours as of Friday afternoon at a hotel in the northern city of Tamale where she is aiming to break the Guinness world record for a cookathon of 119 hours and 57 minutes held by the Irish chef Alan Fisher. Continue reading...

Sources say land bought for train route north of Birmingham unlikely to be sold before polls - paving way for project's revivalA Labour government will have the option of reviving the northern legs of the HS2 rail project, after it emerged it is very unlikely that any land bought by the government for the route will be sold off before the election.Keir Starmer has resisted calls to recommit to the northern phase of the project, surprisingly axed by Rishi Sunak in his Tory conference speech last year. The Labour leader has partly blamed the fact that the government was already releasing land between Birmingham and Manchester" bought up for the route. Continue reading...

Maurizio Patriciello has had police protection since a bombing near his church in Caivano, Naples, but he vows to keep fighting crimeFather Maurizio Patriciello is running late. I'm waiting for my bodyguards," he says by text message.He is neither a celebrity nor a politician but a parish priest in Caivano, a desolate, crime-ridden town on the outskirts of Naples. He has been living under police protection ever since a bomb, accompanied by the message get out of our way", exploded by the gate of his church. Continue reading...

US performer has accused British TV producer of multiple sexual assaults while she was judge on hit TV showsNigel Lythgoe said it is with a heavy heart he has decided to step back from the next series of So You Think You Can Dance amid allegations of sexual assault.The announcement comes less than a week after the US singer and dancer Paula Abdul accused the British TV producer of multiple sexual assaults while she appeared as a judge on the hit TV shows American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. Continue reading...