World news | The Guardian

Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced the shocking' images of freed Israeli hostages as Hamas accused Israel of slow killing' imprisoned PalestiniansA small crowd has gathered at Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, which will only grow as the release of Ohad Ben Ami, Or Levy and Eli Sharabi draws closer, Israel's Haaretz newspaper is reporting.The people are holding signs with posters of the three hostages, and one is holding a homemade sign reading I'm sorry that it took so long, welcome back". Continue reading...

Parents of Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe also criticise televising of Axel Rudakubana's sentencingThe parents of two of the girls murdered in Southport have spoken of the moment they were told something awful has happened" to their children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.The families of Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe also called for more protection for children from the internet and criticised the decision to televise the sentencing of Axel Rudakubana, who was jailed last month for a minimum term of 52 years. Continue reading...

MP also suspended from Labour party after exposure of messages in which he said he hoped for pensioner's deathA Labour minister has been sacked and suspended from the party after messages were exposed in which he said he hoped a pensioner who did not support him would die before the next set of elections.Andrew Gwynne, who was a health minister, was also accused of writing a series of other messages containing racist and sexist comments. They included apparent antisemitic remarks and demeaning comments about Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister. Continue reading...

Pledge to fix broken welfare system follows new evidence that people are worried about returning to work for fear that benefits will be withdrawnBritain's broken welfare system is fuelling the greatest unemployment challenge of a generation", ministers have concluded as they draw up a root-and-branch overhaul designed to counter the spiralling numbers deemed too unwell to work.Rules that force benefit claimants into an all or nothing" choice between working and being deemed too sick to work are set to be redrawn, the Observer understands. It follows new evidence that thousands of people who want to work are worried about taking steps to return to the workplace out of fear that their benefits will be withdrawn. Continue reading...

When Covid hit, people were anxious and frightened. So Catherine Barrett started a page - the Kindness Pandemic - to let them know they weren't alone

Shareholder lobby group says parents trust G8 Education to look after children but carers are not supported to look after their own'

A bizarre mining business's fake audit reveals the potential for fraudsters at Companies HouseAt first glance, there is nothing remarkable about Gofer Mining plc. It appears to be just another multibillion-pound corporate giant, with London headquarters in Canary Wharf and interests stretching from Tibet to Ukraine.Its lengthy financial accounts are full of prosaic details about mineral weights, rare metal assets and exploration plans. Continue reading...

Reform has surged in the polls, panicking both Labour and the Conservatives. It's a trap, and the risks are highNigel Farage is making trouble again. Reform, his latest political vehicle, has surged in the polls, moving into first place with some pollsters, and ruffling feathers on Labour back benches.While Farage has caused headaches for every prime minister since David Cameron, his recent rise is something new. Reform scored an average of almost 25% in January polls, past the peaks achieved by Ukip or the Brexit party in earlier parliaments. And while past Farage surges were spikes driven by circumstances - European parliament elections, the EU referendum, the collapse of Theresa May's government - the current rise is more sustained. This Farage boom is no bubble. Continue reading...

From the third runway to Rosebank, the party is rethinking policies, amid the threat of Reform and return of TrumpIt only takes a quick look at today's poll by Opinium for the Observer to see why a big tactical rethink (some in the Labour party call it a panic) is under way in Downing Street.In the space of a couple of weeks, the Labour high-command has morphed from being a risk-averse, technocratic operation which said and did very little that was interesting in order to win power - and did little more in the first six months after taking it - into something else entirely. Continue reading...

Leaders from across Africa call for immediate ceasefire at cross-party summit in TanzaniaA summit of regional leaders has called for an immediate unconditional ceasefire within five days in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.The Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, and the president of the DRC, Felix Tshisekedi, joined a summit in Tanzania on Saturday, where African leaders said they were deeply concerned by the crisis. Continue reading...

Kerr's mother, Dawn Searle, and her partner Andrew were found dead at their rural home in south-west France on ThursdayA former Hollyoaks actor has said he is grieving the tragic loss" of his mother after she was found dead alongside her husband in France.The bodies of Andrew Searle, a retired fraud investigator, and his wife, Dawn, a project manager, were discovered at about 12.30pm on Thursday at their home in the village of Les Pesquies, south of Villefranche-de-Rouergue. The couple had moved to south-west France from Scotland about 10 years ago. Continue reading...

March in tribute to Harvey Willgoose, 15, a Sheffield United fan, ends at club's Bramall Lane stadiumThe family of 15-year-old Harvey Willgoose, who died after being stabbed at his school in Sheffield, led a march through the city in tribute to him.Harvey's parents, Caroline and Mark, held a banner as they marched from Sheffield town hall towards Sheffield United's stadium in Bramall Lane. Continue reading...

Defra officials concerned about conflicted position' of Sir Adrian Montague over dual role chairing holding companyThe chair of Thames Water was suspected by government officials of holding a potentially conflicted position" when his company made an unjustified" dividend payment of 37.5m to its shareholders.The water provider, on the brink of bankruptcy, was in the high court last week seeking an emergency 3bn loan as it struggles to stay afloat under massive debts. It is under fresh scrutiny over its dividend payments. Continue reading...

US president also offers asylum to Afrikaners and criticises law that allows land seizures without compensation in some circumstancesThe US president, Donald Trump, has signed an executive order to cut financial assistance to South Africa, accusing the country's government of unjust racial discrimination" against white Afrikaners and offering them asylum in the US.The order criticised a law signed by the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, last month that allows for land to be expropriated with nil compensation" in limited circumstances. Continue reading...

Rita and Philip Potter never gave up hope' after their labrador Daisy was stolen by suspected backyard breedersA couple whose dog was stolen more than seven years ago have said it was a dream come true" when the RSPCA reunited them.Rita and Philip Potter, from Norfolk, said they never gave up hope on her being found one day" after thieves stole their labrador Daisy from their garden in November 2017. Continue reading...

Jocelyn Samuels says her dismissal from EEOC is part of greater strategy to target inequity and roll back rights for trans employeesSeven days after Donald Trump was inaugurated, Jocelyn Samuels received a message from the White House saying that the president - who had first appointed her as a commissioner to the US government agency tasked with fighting workplace discrimination - now wanted her gone.Like so many other officials Trump has axed since retaking office, Samuels was informed she was being terminated from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) because of her support for radical Biden administration guidance, DEI initiatives and a refusal to defend women against extreme gender ideology". Continue reading...

Families at Downing Street meeting on Wednesday will call for judge-led inquiry into killingsThe families of those killed in the Nottingham attacks will meet the prime minister next week to call for a judge-led statutory inquiry into the killings.On Wednesday a report found that Valdo Calocane, who killed students Barnaby Webber, 19, Grace O'Malley-Kumar, 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, before attempting to kill three other people in a spate of attacks in the city in June 2023, was not forced to take injectable antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles. Continue reading...

The US sports betting industry has boomed since 2018 - with it brings a dark side' as gambling addiction also risesMore Americans than ever are expected to place bets on Sunday's Super Bowl, with a record $1.39bn of estimated wagers to be placed, amid concerns over the rise of gambling addiction.Since the supreme court overturned a federal law that made sports betting illegal in 2018, the industry has boomed, with 38 states opting to legalize. Gambling revenue hit $99.4bn in 2022, according to the American Gaming Association (AGA), the industry lobby group. Continue reading...

Problems began in the UK at about midnight on Friday, with more than 71,000 users complaining of losing access to online eventsThe PlayStation Network (PSN) is down, depriving online gamers around the world from accessing weekend events.The PSN is the service that Sony's PlayStation console owners use to access its online gaming network. It allows players to connect with other gamers around the world. Continue reading...

Company will start sunsetting' goals it set in 2017 after an evaluation of changing US political landscapeAccenture has scrapped its global diversity and inclusion goals after an evaluation of the changing US political landscape.According to an internal memo sent by its CEO, Julie Sweet, seen by Reuters and also reported in the Financial Times, the company will start sunsetting" the diversity goals it set in 2017, along with career development programmes for people of specific demographic groups". Continue reading...

Two months after the fall of Assad's regime, Whitehall's decision to pause asylum applications from Syrians has left more than 6,600 cases stuck on hold in the UKMore than 6,000 Syrians in Britain are stuck in limbo because of an ongoing freeze on their asylum claims, two months after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime.The Home Office announced a pause" on Syrian asylum seekers' claims on 9 December, the day after rebels swept into Damascus, saying that it needed to assess the current situation". Continue reading...

Talks with UK government at early stage about returning Sinaga, found guilty in Manchester of assaulting 48 menThe UK has begun talks with Indonesia to repatriate a serial rapist convicted of assaulting scores of men.Reynhard Sinaga, 41, was found guilty in Manchester in 2020 of assaulting 48 men, whom he drugged after taking them back to his apartment from bars and clubs in the city. Continue reading...

Demoralised clergy speak of church in freefall and crisis of trust in run-up to governing body meetingMutiny may be in the air when the Church of England's normally staid ruling body, the General Synod, meets for a five-day session next week.The gathering of the 500-member church parliament follows a series of tumultuous events that have resulted in the unprecedented resignation of the archbishop of Canterbury, repeated calls for the archbishop of York to stand down, and the sudden departure of the bishop of Liverpool. Behind all are cases of abuse, alleged abuse and the church's failure to deal with abuse. Continue reading...

Veterans of May and Johnson governments share lessons from their experiences with unpredictable US presidentIt was just a few mangled sentences spoken in the darkness on an airport tarmac. But Donald Trump's comments this week - his most significant yet regarding the UK - were enough to give heart to people in Downing Street and the Foreign Office.UK is out of line. But I'm sure that one, I think that one, can be worked out," Trump said to reporters travelling with him at the Joint Base Andrews air force facility in Maryland. Prime Minister Starmer has been very nice. We've had a couple of meetings, we've had numerous phone calls, we're getting along very well." Continue reading...

Warning by vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice comes as Silicon Valley' planned between Oxford and CambridgeThe University of Cambridge risks losing unbelievable talent" owing to a drop-off in funding for PhDs, the vice-chancellor has cautioned.Prof Deborah Prentice, who took over as vice-chancellor in 2023, described PhD students as the lifeblood" of the university's research and innovation work, and expressed concern that funding from research councils had dropped off significantly". Continue reading...

Figures show practice continues eight years after pledge to end it, potentially impeding young people's recoveryChildren and young people in England with serious mental health problems are still being sent for treatment many miles away from their homes because bed shortages in some areas remain so severe, despite a pledge to end such practices eight years ago.NHS England promised in 2017 to stop forcing highly troubled under-18s to leave family and friends after some received care more than 300 miles from where they lived. Continue reading...

Widowed parent's allowance claims for those not married or in civil partnership can only be backdated from 30 August 2018Two bereaved parents have filed a case at the European court of human rights, claiming that the UK government's treatment of them is discriminatory.Jyotee Gunnooa and Andrew Byles lost their partners but were unable to claim a benefit for widowed parents because they were not married or in civil partnerships when the deaths happened. Continue reading...

The strikes, which were called in a dispute over rest-day working, will affect Avanti West Coast servicesPassengers will face significant" disruption on busy rail routes this weekend as train managers stage another strike in a dispute over rest day working.Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Avanti West Coast are due to strike on Sunday. In addition to strike delays, vital engineering work will stop trains in their tracks between Rugby and Stafford via Nuneaton on Saturday and Sunday, leading to some Avanti services being diverted, resulting in longer journey times. Continue reading...

Launch may be decisive test for franchise known for skimpy staff uniforms which has previously struggled in UKThe (in)famous orange signage is up. Work is apace to be open in a fortnight. The job ad has gone out. Fifty girls" wanted and they are hiring in all positions".Hooters, the American breastaurant", known for its chicken wings and female waiting staff in skimpy nylon shorts and tight vests, is launching in the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne. The experiment in the north-east of England may well prove to be the decisive test of the brand's reach in Britain. Continue reading...

Most in Gloucestershire town agree 240-year-old statue should be taken down, but Dan Guthrie argues against preserving it at allThe Stroud-raised artist Dan Guthrie had just come out of a meeting about what to do with the racist" blackboy clock that has been present in his home town for 240 years, when he had a thought. Why not just destroy it?The clock that sits on the side of a former school has been at the centre of a culture war in Stroud since 2021, when Guthrie asked the local council why the figure, who has large red lips and is wearing a golden leaf skirt, was still present in the town. Continue reading...

A lot of parents are feeling really angry and frustrated with the government,' director of Trans Justice Project says

Crooked Cross, Sally Carson's electrifying masterpiece' from 1934, to be republishedSally Carson was not an oracle or a prophet, just a young woman from Dorset, born in 1901. Yet she foresaw a dark and violent future for Europe and gave voice to those fears in a 1934 novel that is now being hailed as an electrifying masterpiece".Carson's book, Crooked Cross, predicted the scale of the Nazi threat and is to be republished for the first time this spring, ahead of the 80 anniversary of the end of the second world war. Controversial in its day, her novel had to walk a careful path to avoid the accusation that it was alarmist about the Fuhrer's aims. A stage adaptation of her story was even censored, shorn of all its Heil Hitlers". Continue reading...

Palestinians find moment of respite in going out to dinner or relaxing in cafes as devastated territory seeks to rebuildIt is a Thursday night in Khan Younis and business is good at the al-Sawafiri restaurant. Not far away, entire blocks have been reduced to rubble, but here, in this small corner of the city in the southern Gaza Strip, the damage is less extensive. Raed al-Sawafiri, the owner and manager, stands in front of chicken rotating on a grill and smiles. Every one of his plastic tables is occupied.Al-Sawafiri had no experience of the restaurant trade until very recently. Displaced 10 times during the 16-month conflict in Gaza, the 23-year-old opened his first establishment in Rafah, the southernmost city in the territory, early this year, after sourcing old equipment and sending his father to the border with Egypt to buy meat. Continue reading...

Leaders praise each other at White House but president warns Japan could face tariffs if it doesn't cut US trade deficit to zeroThe Japanese prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, and the US president, Donald Trump, struck a warm tone at their first meeting on Friday, with Tokyo avoiding tariffs that Trump has slapped on other allies - for now.Heaping praise on each other at the White House, the two leaders pledged to stand together against Chinese aggression" and said they found a solution for a blocked deal for troubled US Steel. Continue reading...

When asked if US will deliver nuclear submarines on time, US defense secretary says we sure hope so'

Prolonged period of oppressive heat' could push temperatures to mid 40C in South Australia, and mid 30C in Melbourne and Hobart

Monsoon trough and forecast heavy rain is a hammer blow to residents who have begun returning to their inundated homes

National Rail says incident will continue to cause major disruption to services between Manchester and LiverpoolRail lines between Manchester and Liverpool have reopened after a car driven on to train tracks by a suspected drunk-driver was cleared.Major disruption is still expected until the end of Friday because trains and crews have been displaced. Services operated by Northern, TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales are affected. Continue reading...

Prosecutor argues Matildas star's claims about what happened in taxi do not make one blind bit of difference to what this case is about'

Andrew Searle, retired fraud investigator, and wife, Dawn, found dead in their rural home in south-west FranceFrench police are investigating the deaths of a retired British couple who were found in their renovated rural home in Aveyron, south-west France.The bodies of Andrew Searle, a retired fraud investigator, and his wife, Dawn, were discovered at about 12.30pm on Thursday at their home in the village of Les Pesquies, south of Villefranche-de-Rouergue. Continue reading...

Proceeds from sale of 1714 instrument will be used to fund scholarships for violinists at New England ConservatoryA Stradivarius violin crafted in 1714 sold for $11.25m (9.1m) at a New York auction on Friday, missing the world record for a musical instrument that some predicted it might break, but still securing a solid financial future for a new generation of performers.The 311-year-old instrument, listed by Sotheby's of Manhattan as a masterpiece of sound", once belonged to the celebrated 19th-century Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim, a close friend of the composer Johannes Brahms. It was gifted to the New England Conservatory in 2015 following the death of its most recent owner, a former student, Si-Hon Ma, with the understanding it would one day be sold to fund musical scholarships. Continue reading...

Inquest into deaths of three prisoners within three weeks at HMP Lowdham Grange in 2023 criticises poor leadership'There were several failings and missed opportunities at an overwhelmed prison where three inmates took their lives in the space of three weeks, an inquest jury has found.Anthony Binfield, 30, Rolandas Karbauskas, 49, and David Richards, 42, were found in their cells at HMP Lowdham Grange in Nottinghamshire between 6-25 March 2023.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Media group led by Guardian seeks release of document written by Dominic Hampshire in support of Yang TengboLawyers for an aide to Prince Andrew are fighting to prevent the release of a statement he made in support of a man accused of being a Chinese spy who became a trusted business partner of the prince.The Guardian is leading a group of media organisations seeking the release of a witness statement written by the prince's fixer and close friend Dominic Hampshire, originally at the personal request of the businessman Yang Tengbo. Continue reading...

Supermodel alleges concerted deception' by fellow trustee kept her in dark over running of Fashion for ReliefThe supermodel Naomi Campbell has claimed she knew nothing of the extensive financial misconduct and mismanagement at the anti-poverty fashion charity she created and sat on the board of for more than five years.Campbell was disqualified from running a charity in May 2024, before the publication of a devastating watchdog report that revealed a trail of administrative chaos, misuse of charity funds, and chaotic record-keeping. Continue reading...

President takes aim at agencies such as FBI and IRS in executive order cracking down on anti-Christian bias'

Exclusive: Bank holds crisis meeting to discuss response to news that Sir Evelyn de Rothschild left after allegation of sexual misconductSenior bankers at Rothschild & Co gathered on Tuesday in a meeting room at its St Swithin's Lane headquarters in the heart of the City of London to discuss a memo that would shake the storied financial group to its foundations.The memo, to be sent to staff on Wednesday morning, would admit for the first time that their celebrated former leader, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, had left the bank in 2004 after an allegation of sexual misconduct. Continue reading...

Hamas accuses Israel of delaying humanitarian aid trucks before next round of hostage and prisoner releases due on Saturday. This live blog is closedIran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Friday that his country would reciprocate if the United States threatened or carried out actions against Iran.If they threaten us, we will threaten them. If they carry out this threat, we will carry out our threat. If they attack the security of our nation, we will attack their security without hesitation," said Khamenei during a meeting with army commanders. Continue reading...

Former French president was found guilty of trying to bribe a judge in 2014 after he had left officeFormer French president Nicolas Sarkozy was fitted with an electronic tag on Friday after losing his appeal against his conviction for corruption and influence peddling.He will be required to remain at his Paris home between 8pm and 8am, but has been given a special dispensation to be outside until 9.30pm for three days a week when attending his current trial on charges - that he denies - of accepting millions in illegal campaign funds from the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Continue reading...

Rights groups say punishment is insufficient after first conviction for abuse in a system where dozens have diedAn Israeli soldier has been found guilty of severe assaults of Palestinian detainees from Gaza, the first conviction for abuse in a system where dozens of people have died in custody and whistleblowers say torture and violence is rife.Israel Hajabi, 25, repeatedly attacked bound and blindfolded detainees with his fists, a baton and his assault rifle, a military court found, describing his actions as serious and severe". On one day alone, 5 June last year, at the Sde Teiman detention centre he beat two men 15 times. Continue reading...

The work and pensions secretary said those who think they were unable to work probably could with the right supportLord Hermer, the attorney general, must be getting used to bad publicity, but there is an article in the Times today that ought to worry him more than others.A long-standing friend and barrister colleague of Keir Starmer (Hermer was Starmer's junior in countless cases), Hermer was a surprise choice for attorney general. Emily Thornberry thought she was lined up for the job. But Starmer appointed Hermer, who became the first person to be appointed attorney general in more than 100 years who was not already an MP or peer.On Chagos, the popular critique is simple. Hermer, an actual lefty lawyer who would wear that pejorative as a badge of honour, is putting international law - already an ephemeral and often disregarded thing even before the return of Donald Trump - before domestic politics ...One puts the case against the attorney-general like this: Richard seems to be under the impression that the government needs objective legal advice." Another senior figure now butting heads with Hermer adds: He genuinely doesn't realise that he is our lawyer." Trying to govern for voters who would otherwise be drawn to the radical right is proving much harder with Hermer laying down the law: pushing back, warning that this or that initiative can't go ahead for fear of judicial reviews ministers would happily fight to prove a political point.This week I asked a minister who knows Starmer well whether he might one day move Hermer if the politics of the moment demanded it. They answered yes, without hesitation. If my co-author and I have learnt anything about the PM from studying his leadership in often microscopic detail, it is that he is capable of moving hard and fast when political reality changes ...The legal architecture he and his radical contemporaries helped to build - Starmer at Doughty Street, Hermer at Matrix Chambers - is beginning to look distinctly old-fashioned. If it no longer serves his government, is this shapeshifting prime minister really prepared to lash himself to the mast of a sinking ship? Continue reading...