World news | The Guardian

Treasury says move will save four million households £45 a year on their energy billsPrepayment meter customers will no longer be charged more to receive their energy under reforms to be announced in the budget.The chancellor is to end the “prepayment premium” from July, saving more than four million households £45 a year on their energy bills, according to the Treasury. Continue reading...

Latest phase of Aukus scheme comes amid concerns about growing threat from ChinaRishi Sunak will fly to San Diego on Sunday to unveil plans for supplying Australia with nuclear-powered submarines under the Aukus scheme amid concerns about the growing threat from China.A major announcement 18 months in the making is expected when the UK prime minister meets his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, and US president Joe Biden. Continue reading...

From Alan Sugar and Karren Brady to Richard Osman and Nadiya Hussain, there is nothing new about TV presenters writing about politicsGary Lineker’s suspension for expressing political views set off an avalanche of comparisons with other BBC stars who have not been similarly sanctioned for lacking impartiality.Some were obvious: Lord Sugar of The Apprentice, whose 18 years of firing people have been punctuated by political outbursts, from newspaper interviews calling on people to vote Conservative to tweeting a mocked-up image of Jeremy Corbyn sitting next to Adolf Hitler. Continue reading...

Attack by 29-year-old on woman, who was seriously injured, took place outside a leisure centreA 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after a woman was stabbed outside a leisure centre in Cheltenham.The arrest is in relation to the attack on a woman at about 9.15pm outside a leisure centre in Tommy Taylors Lane, Cheltenham on Thursday, Gloucestershire constabulary said. Continue reading...

Councillor says continuing loss of land to the sea would damage local economy, which is heavily dependent on visitorsA councillor has warned that continued erosion of a Norfolk coastline could cause a dramatic decline in the local economy, after a seaside home was demolished.Several wooden properties, built on sand dunes at Hemsby, are perilously close to toppling into the sea due to coastal erosion. Continue reading...

Senior Tories condemn ‘sickening’ plans which would allow unaccompanied minors to be held, in U-turn on past legislationRishi Sunak’s plan to reduce small boat crossings will effectively reverse a ban on child detention implemented under David Cameron and open the door to an expansion of the practice, the Observer understands.With a potential Tory rebellion already brewing over the proposals, it has emerged that the Illegal Migration bill will allow the detention of families with children and even allows the deportation of unaccompanied children if it is deemed to be safe in their country of origin. Continue reading...

Thames Valley police investigating after substance squirted at eyes of 68-year-old who was out walking in WendoverA man and his dog suffered burns from an unknown liquid squirted at them during an assault in Buckinghamshire, Thames Valley police have said.A 68-year-old man who was walking his dog in Grenville Avenue, Wendover at about 6.30pm on Thursday was attacked by another male who squirted liquid from a container into his eyes. Continue reading...

UK Ministry of Defence says capture of city has become ‘highly challenging’ for the mercenary groupRussian forces have made progress in the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut, a key target of Moscow’s months-long campaign in eastern Ukraine that has resulted in many casualties, the Associated Press reported.Their assault , however, will be difficult to sustain without further harsh losses, UK military officials said in an assessment on Saturday. Continue reading...

West Midlands police officers called to Valesha’s nightclub in town centre just after 5am on SaturdayA man was stabbed to death at a nightclub in Walsall, West Midlands police have said.Officers were called to Valesha’s nightclub, also known as Colliseum, on Newport Street in the town centre just after 5am on Saturday after receiving reports that a 29-year-old had been stabbed. Continue reading...

Ofsted inspection process ‘isn’t working’, shadow education secretary tells headteachersA Labour government would create an annual review of safeguarding in schools as concerns about children’s safety and wellbeing are being “missed” due to “infrequent” Ofsted inspections, the shadow education secretary has said.Bridget Phillipson told the annual conference of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) in Birmingham that too many girls were being exposed to “intolerable language, images and behaviour”. Continue reading...

Worst snowfall is over for England as warmer air extends across UK from south-west, bringing cloud and rainTemperatures plunged to -15.2C in areas of the UK on Friday night as heavy snow brought treacherous conditions, but forecasters say there will be a respite from the cold weather.The Met Office had yellow warnings for snow and ice in place covering large swathes of the UK after Storm Larisa battered parts of the country with gales and blizzards. Continue reading...

Speaking ahead of voting opening on Monday, Stephen Flynn praises Yousaf’s childcare, independence and energy plansThe SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, has given his backing to Humza Yousaf to be Scotland’s next first minister, saying the Scottish health secretary can take the party to “new heights”.There are three candidates battling to be the next SNP leader and Scottish first minister. Continue reading...

Some of party’s MPs even believe they could narrowly win next election – but the odds remain stacked against themWhen Rishi Sunak took over, most Conservative MPs were in despair. Some even suggested the party did not deserve to be in power. “We need a reset,” one said at the time. “A period out of office to get our act together.”But almost five months on, Sunak has given them hope that they can avoid a total wipeout at the next election. Despite 13 years in office and all the problems the UK is facing, they now believe they could hang on, albeit with a significantly smaller majority. Continue reading...

Ex-director general says decision to suspend presenter for criticising government’s asylum policies is mistaken

We look at who might be the winners in the industry’s biggest industrial dispute in decadesAfter 23 days of national strikes, two years of talking and hundreds of thousands of cancelled trains, rail workers are contemplating a pay rise that barely catches the coat tails of inflation. The rail industry’s biggest industrial dispute in decades may be approaching its final chapter – but with little chance of a happy ending for anyone involved.The pain for passengers is not yet over – four more 24-hour strikes across 14 operators by train and station staff in the biggest rail union, the RMT, start next Thursday, 16 March. Continue reading...

Scenery, sandy beaches and solitude are key to the Ionian island’s appeal, according to the report, which put party-loving Mykonos in last placeKefalonia, the largest of the Ionian islands, with its emerald-coloured mountains, secluded coves and underground lakes, has been crowned the best Greek island by Which?.Abundant sandy beaches, scenery uninterrupted by high-rise buildings and access to much-sought-after solitude sealed the deal for the island, off the west coast of mainland Greece, in the consumer body’s annual survey. Which? asked more than 1,000 visitors to rate the 10 main Greek islands on factors including beaches, attractions, scenery and value for money. Continue reading...

NEU members had been due to strike for two days next week but will now consider Welsh government’s proposalTwo days of strike action by teachers in Wales next week have been called off after the Welsh government proposed a revised pay offer.Members of the National Education Union (NEU) were due to stop work on 15-16 March in a dispute over pay. Continue reading...

Yevgeny Prigozhin thanks Kremlin for ‘heroic’ production increase but says concerns about shortages remain

Ukraine endures the largest missile barrage in weeks; casualties mount in the battle for Bakhmut; a draft law in Georgia stirs anti-Russian sentiment

Powers had been doubled less than a year ago to tackle backlog in courts and cut prison overcrowdingSentencing powers for magistrates have been scaled back less than a year after they were doubled in an effort to tackle the courts backlog.In May, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced magistrates in England and Wales would be able to hand out jail sentences of up to a year for a single offence – up from the previous maximum of six months – as part of efforts to deal with the number of criminal cases waiting to be heard. Continue reading...

PM announces £500m package to stop people trying to cross Channel, after meeting Emmanuel Macron in ParisBritain will help fund a detention centre in northern France as part of a £500m package to stop refugees trying to cross the Channel, Rishi Sunak has said, amid continuing criticism of his plans to lock up and deport those arriving in small boats.After a meeting in Paris, Sunak and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said they had agreed joint funding for more French border patrols, including 500 additional officers and new drones. Continue reading...

Head of one Hertfordshire school in survey of 14- to 18-year-olds says it has led to rise in sexual abuseA major new survey of British schoolchildren’s attitudes to pornography has found significant numbers of young people aged between 14 and 18 are watching it frequently, with some becoming addicted to sexually explicit content.Teachers say they are being left to “pick up the pieces” from the damage pornography causes in schools, with the proliferation of adult material leading to warnings of sexually harmful behaviour among teenagers. Continue reading...

Chain forced to remove products from shelves after imported beef was falsely labelled as BritishBooths, the supermarket chain known as the “Waitrose of the north”, has confirmed that it is the retailer linked with a possible case of food fraud after imported beef was falsely labelled as British.The UK’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) is investigating the alleged fraud by the unnamed meat supplier. Booths confirmed that it removed the products from its shelves and stopped trading with the supplier as soon as it was alerted. Continue reading...

Broadcaster says children’s TV audiences have largely moved to YouTube and other streaming servicesITV is shutting down its CITV channel and shifting most of its children’s programmes to streaming-only, arguing that young people have largely given up on watching scheduled television.CITV will disappear as a standalone channel in the autumn, with all children’s content shifting to the streaming platform ITVX. The broadcaster said the channel was unprofitable and children’s TV audiences had collapsed in recent years because of a shift to YouTube and other streaming services. Continue reading...

In his letter, Panuelo openly canvassed the country switching its diplomatic recognition from Beijing to TaipeiChina is engaged in “political warfare” in the Pacific, the outgoing president of the Federated States of Micronesia has alleged in an excoriating letter, accusing Beijing officials of bribing elected officials in Micronesia, and even “direct threats against my personal safety”.Two months before his term as president expires, David Panuelo’s letter alleged China is preparing for conflict over the island of Taiwan, and that its goal in interfering in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) was to render the country neutral in any potential Pacific war. Continue reading...

Punch Bowl Inn at Hurst Green, said to have been haunted by highwayman, must be reconstructed using materials from rubbleA group of property developers have been ordered to rebuild a Grade II-listed pub that they demolished without permission.The historic Punch Bowl Inn at Hurst Green, Lancashire needs to be rebuilt brick by brick within a year, a judge has ruled. Continue reading...

ISW claim Wagner group is taking ‘tactical pause’ in Bakhmut; Grossi reappointed as UN nuclear watchdog chief; Pope says war driven by interests of several ‘empires’

Gunman, who is among the dead, is believed to have been a former member of the religious communityThe suspect in the shooting dead of seven people at a Jehovah’s Witness centre in Hamburg is reported to have been a former member of the church.The man, who was found dead at the scene, is believed to have been aged between 30 and 40 and to have used a handgun after forcing himself into the building close to the city centre. Continue reading...

Decision comes at time when US and mainland Europe are pushing forward with green tech spendingThe UK’s decision to delay the HS2 rail line will discourage British investment at a time when the US and mainland Europe are pushing forward with major spending on green technology, according to the chair of the National Infrastructure Commission.Sir John Armitt said the delay to HS2, a high-speed line that aims to increase British rail capacity, contrasted with the heavy investments by the US and EU on decarbonisation. Continue reading...

Buckingham Palace says ‘title will be held by Prince Edward for His Royal Highness’s lifetime’King Charles has conferred the title of Duke of Edinburgh on his youngest brother, the Earl of Wessex, on the occasion of his 59 birthday, honouring the wishes of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.The title will be held for the lifetime of Prince Edward and means his son, Viscount Severn, now becomes Earl of Wessex. Continue reading...

Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal reportedly spent $4m to out priests who use hookup apps and notified bishops nationwideA conservative Catholic group based in Colorado spent millions to obtain data that identified priests using gay hookup and dating apps, later sharing the data with bishops nationwide.The project was carried out by conservative non-profit Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal, the Washington Post first reported. Continue reading...

Documents tabled by MP Andrew Wilkie claim to show church used jobkeeper funds to help purchase Melbourne’s Festival Hall

Channel crossings and Aukus pact will be central to talks that could also improve Britain’s standing with the EUThe attempt by Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron to reset the Anglo-French relationship on Friday is not just important bilaterally, but also in terms of Britain’s relationship with the EU.The French president, a gatekeeper to improved relations, sees the British prime minister’s efforts to resolve the Northern Ireland trade issues as a signal Britain is in the hands of a fellow technocratic nationalist, and that its brush with populism may be over. Continue reading...

Two families dispute identity of soldier caught on camera calling ‘glory to Ukraine’ before being killed by Russian captorsThe graphic 12-second clip spread quickly across Ukraine. A Ukrainian prisoner of war, unarmed, is derided by his Russian captors, who are recording the scene. He calmly puffs on his cigarette, looks his tormentors in the face and says: “Glory to Ukraine.” Within an instant, multiple shots can be heard. He slumps dead to the ground.The video, allegedly posted to Telegram by Russian soldiers on Monday, has led to a war crimes investigation and, within Ukraine, a battle over the identity of a man hailed as a national hero and symbol of resistance. Continue reading...

Gulf of Carpentaria town’s elderly residents airlifted and supplies flown to nearby Indigenous community as rivers reach peak levels

Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau stand to benefit as White House warns of Beijing’s intent and ability to ‘reshape the international order’Alarmed by China’s success in wooing Pacific island nations, the Biden administration is proposing to spend billions from its federal budget to keep three of those countries in the US orbit.President Joe Biden’s spending plan, released on Thursday, includes more than $7.1bn in funding for the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. The money is included in the $63.1bn request for the state department and the US Agency for International Development. Continue reading...

Alternative für Deutschland leaders were among those lauding Sunak’s bill, while other EU figures raised doubts about its legalityEuropean far-right leaders have praised Rishi Sunak’s illegal immigration bill, after a senior EU official repeated her doubts about the legality of the plans.“Bravo,” wrote the Alternative für Deutschland party on social media. “Way to go! The current [British] government plans now to deny asylum to illegal immigrants and fly them out to Rwanda,” the party wrote on Facebook, saying Germany should follow this approach. “When will we finally have it?” Continue reading...

Five men found bound with note apparently from drug cartel alluding to ‘mistakes caused by lack of discipline’Five men who purportedly carried out the attack on four Americans last week have been found dumped on a street in the city of Matamoros, with an apology note claiming to be from the fearsome cartel that controls much of Tamaulipas state.The five men were discovered with their hands tied, shirts pulled over their heads and bare chests to the pavement. Nearby, a note in black marker read: “We’ve decided to hand over those involved and directly responsible in the events who acted at all times under their own free will.” Continue reading...

Garry Mogg’s wife, Emma, called 999 after he reported chest pains but paramedics took 1 hour 43 minutes to arrive and he died ‘in agony’ at home in Bath

Exclusive: figure is more than double the comparable fatalities in 2021, in what a union calls a ‘hidden scandal’ of delaysMore than 500 seriously ill patients died last year before they could get treatment in hospital after the ambulance they called for took up to 15 hours to reach them, an investigation by the Guardian reveals.The fatalities included people who had had a stroke or heart attack or whose breathing had suddenly collapsed, or who had been involved in a road traffic collision. In every case, an ambulance crew took much longer to arrive than the NHS target times for responding to an emergency. Continue reading...

Roger Ng, 50, found guilty by Brooklyn jury in massive embezzlement linked to Malaysian state investment fundRoger Ng, the former Goldman Sachs banker at the center of the multi-billion 1MDB embezzlement scandal, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday, placing a capstone on one of the largest and most bizarre financial frauds of the past decade.A jury in Brooklyn, New York, found Ng, 50, from Malaysia, guilty of violating US anti-bribery laws, money laundering and illegally skirting Goldman’s accounting controls, after a seven-week trial. Continue reading...

Italian ministers approve tougher laws against people-smugglers during meeting in CutroProtests were held as the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, held a cabinet meeting on Thursday in Cutro, the Calabrian town close to where at least 72 people died in a shipwreck last month.The rightwing cabinet approved tougher laws against people-smugglers, including jail terms of up to 30 years for those who cause the death of more than one person, as well as measures to boost legal routes through which foreign workers can enter Italy. Continue reading...

Up to 40cm of snow expected in Peak District and Pennines, with warning of ‘exceptionally cold night’ on FridaySnow and rain is expected to bring further travel disruption across large areas of Britain on Friday.Three amber warnings for blizzard conditions with up to 40cm (15.7in) of snow were issued by the Met Office on Thursday and remain in place until Friday morning. Continue reading...

Email in name of home secretary claimed civil servants had blocked attempts to curb migrationHome Office mandarins are demanding an apology from Suella Braverman for offering “praise [to] staff in private only to attack them in public” after an email in her name claimed civil servants had blocked attempts to curb migration.A letter sent to the department’s most senior civil servant has accused the home secretary of “an outrageous attack on the integrity and impartiality of the thousands of Home Office staff” and says she most apologise. Continue reading...

Deaths have remained above average post-Covid lockdowns, with A&E and ambulance delays likely to ‘have had substantial impact’The crisis in the NHS is leading to continued higher-than-usual death levels in England and Wales, experts have said.Figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that almost 170,000 more people than normal died in England and Wales between March 2020, when coronavirus was declared a pandemic, and the end of 2022 – 11% higher than the five-year average. Continue reading...

At least six people killed as energy and other infrastructure damaged in biggest Russian missile attack in weeks• Ukraine war live – latest updates

Exclusive: Up to 50% of British-based diplomatic jobs for key countries cut despite ‘Indo-Pacific tilt’British-based diplomatic posts for key Indo-Pacific countries have been cut by up to 50% in recent years, new figures reveal, sparking accusations that the headline aim of the government’s national security strategy is “hollow rhetoric”.The numbers working for embassies and consulates in Pakistan, China and India have all been diminishing over the last seven years, despite those countries being identified as key places to deepen ties with over the coming decade. Continue reading...

Labour MP takes more than five minutes to name the 109 women killed in UK by men or where a man is the principal suspect

Scottish Refugee Council head says under government’s plans thousands of refugees would have been denied sanctuaryThe head of the Scottish Refugee Council, Sabir Zazai, who arrived in the UK in the back of a lorry 23 years ago, has said Rishi Sunak’s illegal migration bill would have denied sanctuary to thousands of refugees such as him and Sir Mo Farah.The home secretary, Suella Braverman, struggled to clarify on Wednesday whether the Olympic gold medallist Farah would have been deported as soon as he turned 18 years old under the latest immigration proposals. Continue reading...

Witnesses described the chaos and panic of the 2021 US departure during the Republican inquiry, which had people in tears at timesMilitary members and veterans of the Afghanistan war offered harrowing eyewitness testimony of the chaotic and deadly withdrawal from the country’s longest conflict, during an hours-long congressional hearing on Wednesday. They also pleaded with Congress to help the Afghan allies left behind.In searing, sometimes graphic detail, several witnesses recounted their experiences as active-duty service members sent to assist with the evacuation of US troops and civilians from Afghanistan as the Taliban swept to power in August 2021. Continue reading...