World news | The Guardian

Train passengers advised to plan ahead over holiday weekend with west coast main line services hitRail passengers have been advised to plan ahead for Easter, with engineering works expected to close the west coast main line between some of Britain’s biggest cities.No trains will run between London Euston and Milton Keynes throughout the four-day holiday weekend from Good Friday on 7 April, until Easter Monday, on 10 April, meaning replacement buses or alternative routes will be needed to travel between the capital and towns and cities including Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. Continue reading...

The Best Part and I Hate Myself are performed by her character in A Good Person, written and directed by Zach BraffFlorence Pugh has released her first performances as a singer-songwriter, which are included on the soundtrack to her new film A Good Person.The British actor has written and performed two songs: the slow ambient ballad The Best Part, and the self-lacerating piano-driven number I Hate Myself. Each are presented in the film as being sung by her character, Allison, a promising musician whose career is set back by personal tragedy. Continue reading...

Thérèse Coffey reveals proposals for England far less ambitious than those set out in first draft of environment document

Legendary folk star is reportedly offering input into screenplay for drama film about her lifeCameron Crowe, the director of Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire, is developing a new drama film with Joni Mitchell about her life.According to a story on the entertainment site Above the Line – which was subsequently reposted on Mitchell’s own website – the project is not a documentary and Mitchell has been collaborating with Crowe on the script for the past two years. Continue reading...

Singer-songwriter says ‘the old days are gone’ amid wider consternation at ticketing company’s pricing policiesNeil Young has lambasted Ticketmaster over its concert ticketing policies, saying “concert tours are no longer fun” due to what he sees as exploitative pricing.Young wrote on his website:It’s over. The old days are gone. I get letters blaming me for $3,000 tickets for a benefit I am doing. That money does not go to me or the benefit. Artists have to worry about ripped off fans blaming them for Ticketmaster add-ons and scalpers. Concert tours are no longer fun. Concert tours not what they were. Continue reading...

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Change of wording to constitutional amendment increases parliament’s power over the advisory body amid concerns about its authority

Human rights court hears seriously ill woman denied procedure as advocates call for change in region with world’s most restrictive abortion lawsHuman rights activists in Latin America hope that a historic court hearing over the case of a Salvadoran woman who was denied an abortion despite her high-risk pregnancy could open the way for El Salvador to decriminalize abortions – and set an important precedent across the region.The inter-American court of human rights (IACHR) this week considered the historic case of the woman, known as Beatriz, who was prohibited from having an abortion in 2013, even though she was seriously ill and the foetus she was carrying would not have survived outside the uterus. Continue reading...

Olha fled the Ukrainian city a year ago this week and has faced many challenges, including enrolling her children in school

Some Greens want to pass the safeguard mechanism changes and keep fighting on fossil fuels while others want to attack it as a Coalition creation that can’t be redeemed

Maryam al-Khawaja says she fears her father Abdulhadi’s health is deteriorating and condemns Denmark for inactionHuman rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s health has suffered so much inside a Bahraini prison that his daughter Maryam has offered to trade places with him. She fears that without urgent action, her father will slowly die behind bars without being able to see his family.“I don’t know how much longer my dad has. I spend every day dreading each time the phone rings, as it might be someone calling me to let me know my dad is no longer around,” said Maryam. “I know he has serious health issues and the authorities are using [lack of] access to proper treatment as a method of punishment. I don’t want to wait around for my dad to be released to us in a coffin. I can’t do that.” Continue reading...

Company offering corporate due diligence services says it received no legal notice of a case against itChinese authorities have raided the office of a US firm in Beijing, shutting down its operations and detaining five Chinese staff, the company has said.Mintz Group, which has offices in 18 cities around the world and offers corporate analysis and due diligence services, said it received no legal notice about the reasons for the unannounced raid. Continue reading...

Report finds students from black Caribbean backgrounds in England ‘acutely’ underrepresented in StemChildren and young people from black Caribbean backgrounds are “acutely” underrepresented in the study of maths, science and technology in England at all levels of education, according to a report by MPs.Fewer black Caribbean students studied triple science than students of any other background, the report said. It also highlighted the lack of diversity in the teaching workforce, pointing out that an additional 15,655 black teachers would be needed in order to bring teacher diversity in line with that of pupils. Continue reading...

Known as ‘Rice Tusker’ for his insatiable hunger, the 30-year-old pachyderm has been terrorising the Indian region for yearsThe trail of destruction left by an elephant in Kerala could finally come to an end on Sunday as a crack team of experts plan to capture him.The team of 71 vets, forest officers and field workers have identified a specific spot among the wooded hills in Idukki district where Arikompan – which means the Rice Tusker, because of his love for rice – comes every couple of days to cool off in water. Continue reading...

Former Newtown Jets rugby league player was a sports teacher at public high school in Sydney’s northern beaches in the 1980s

Organisations write to education secretary before review, saying England’s schools have vital role in tackling misogyny and abuseDozens of organisations and charities have written to the education secretary, amid fears that sex education in England may become a casualty of the culture wars.More than 50 organisations concerned with education and tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) have written to Gillian Keegan to urge her to resist the “politicisation” of sex education, following a row in which Conservative backbench MPs claimed that children were being taught “graphic lessons on oral sex, how to choke your partner safely, and 72 genders”. Continue reading...

Largely peaceful protests are marred by outbreaks of violence as unions claim 3.5 million turned out, while authorities put number at just over 1 millionEmmanuel Macron felt the full force of French anger on Thursday as protesters gathered across the country to demonstrate their opposition to the pension age being raised from 62 to 64.Unions claimed 3.5 million people turned out across the country, while the authorities suggested the figure was much lower, at just under 1.1 million. Continue reading...

Actor in talks to take on role made famous by James Stewart in remake written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven KnightA remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 thriller Vertigo is in the works with Robert Downey Jr “eyeing” the lead role.According to Deadline, Paramount Pictures has given the film the go-ahead with the Iron Man star producing and potentially taking on the role of the obsessive detective made famous by James Stewart. Continue reading...

CMA found companies had acted as a cartel over 19 private and public sector contracts worth £150mTen construction firms have been fined a combined £60m by the competition regulator for “illegally colluding” to rig bids for lucrative contracts for projects including Bow Street magistrates court and Selfridges department store.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that the companies had acted as a cartel over 19 private and public sector contracts that were worth £150m. Continue reading...

Report says UK armed service has ‘major questions to answer’ about conduct in war against Islamic StateTwenty-nine civilians are feared to have been killed in nine RAF airstrikes in Iraq and Syria between 2016 and 2018, 10 more than previous estimates, and far higher than the single non-combatant fatality accepted by the UK, according to analysis.In the worst incident, 12 civilians were accepted as likely to have been killed in Raqqa, Syria in 2017 by a US strike, while research points to an RAF drone strike killing at least four member of the same family in Abu Kamal, Syria, in 2016, according to on-the-ground reports. Continue reading...

Former prime minister Imran Khan says election commission’s move is violation of Pakistan’s constitutionPakistan has postponed elections in Punjab, the country’s most populated province, in a move that spurns a recent supreme court ruling and is likely to cause more sparks between supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan and the government.In an eight-page order seen by the Guardian, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) claimed that “it is not possible to hold and organise the elections honestly, justly, fairly, in a peaceful manner”, blaming security threats and financial problems. It said it would be unable to provide a “level playing field” to all political parties as a result. Continue reading...

Legislation to be introduced to parliament next Thursday and sent to parliamentary committee for inquiry

Lehrmann denies receiving legal advice that he would not be criminally prosecuted and says delay was to avoid risk of prejudice

Refugee Action report calls asylum seeker accommodation ‘racialised segregation and de facto detention’Asylum seekers who complain about poor conditions in Home Office hotels have been threatened with being sent to Rwanda, according to a new report.The report from the charity Refugee Action, entitled ‘Hostile Accommodation: how the asylum system is cruel by design’, is based on 100 in-depth interviews with asylum seekers in hotels in London, Manchester, West Midlands and Bradford.More than half complain of overcrowding, a lack of privacy and having to spend more than six months living in a hotel. Some single adults have spent more than two and a half years in hotels.Three-quarters have reported low quality or inappropriate food and say they are facing hunger or malnutrition. A similar number are facing mental health problems.Majority of asylum seekers the charity is supporting are people of colour.Numerous cases of mothers unable to continue breastfeeding because they have become malnourished due to hotel food. Some children have lost weight.A third of families say their children have been unable to access education. Continue reading...

AFP says incident at Kellie-Jay Keen rally referred to professional standards command after senator complained about actions of officers

Kane Te Tai fought with the International Legion and was known for documenting battles and daily life in Ukraine on social mediaA former New Zealand soldier who drew an online following with his dispatches from the frontline of the Ukraine war has been killed in fighting there.The death of Kane Te Tai, 38, was confirmed by New Zealand’s foreign ministry Thursday, citing Ukrainian government sources. Continue reading...

But expert says limiting frequency of rent hikes without a cap is unlikely to make a difference amid rising rate of homelessness

Exclusive: Felicity Wilson later told the Guardian a reelected Perrottet government would not privatise more assets

Boris Johnson and Liz Truss among 22 Tory rebels voting against deal agreed with European Commission

Former PM suggests ‘unsocially distanced farewell gatherings’ were allowed at work and that he didn’t think following guidance meant following it perfectlyTurning back to the Northern Ireland protocol deal vote for a moment, Steve Baker, the Northern Ireland minister, has said that Boris Johnson risks being remembered as a “pound shop Nigel Farage” for his stance on the Windsor framework.Baker said that reviving the Northern Ireland protocol bill, Johnson’s declared alternative to Rishi Sunak’s deal (see 9.40am), would “wreck our relations with the European Union and damage our standing internationally”. Sky’s Sam Coates has posted the full quote on Twitter. Continue reading...

MPs investigating Partygate scandal have denounced former PM’s ‘flimsy’ explanations before committeeBoris Johnson faces being formally reprimanded for recklessly misleading parliament after MPs investigating the Partygate scandal denounced his “flimsy” explanations and suggested he had wrongly interpreted Covid guidance.The former prime minister was left fighting for his political career after a tetchy three-and-a-half-hour evidence session in which he repeatedly claimed No 10 parties, with alcohol and little social distancing, had been “necessary” for work purposes. Continue reading...

Staff received ‘tirade of abuse’ after inaccurate news reports about drag queen teaching sex educationTeachers at a school on the Isle of Man have faced death threats over false reports that children had been left “traumatised” by inappropriate and graphic sex education taught by a drag queen, the island’s government has said.Staff at Queen Elizabeth II school had faced a “tirade of abuse” ranging from “threats to turn up at the school, demands for staff to be dismissed, to demands for people to be arrested and executed”, according to education minister Julie Edge. Continue reading...

Announcement comes after members of the RMT union voted to accept a pay offer from Network RailThe RMT has suspended strikes due to be held on 30 March and 1 April, the union has announced.More details to follow. Continue reading...

Former PM tells hearing that if rule-breaking was ‘obvious’, it should also have been obvious to current PM

Request for exemption from ICE car phase-out would displace up to 46m electric cars, says campaign groupA shock German push to break an agreed EU-wide phase-out of conventional cars by 2035 could displace up to 46m electric car sales and trigger the burning of 135bn more litres of fossil petrol than needed, according to a new study.EU leaders and MEPs had agreed a phase-out of internal combustion engines (ICEs) by 2035 but earlier this month, Germany’s transport ministry, led by the liberal FDP party, lodged an objection just days before a rubber-stamping vote. Continue reading...

Jury convicts teenager over fatal stabbing in West Yorkshire last yearA teenager has been found guilty of murdering a 15-year-old boy in a “well-planned and targeted” ambush outside the school gates.Khayri Mclean died from a single stab wound to the heart after he was brutally attacked by two boys on his way home from school in Huddersfield last September. Continue reading...

Jens Stoltenberg, who steps down later this year, says Putin is engaged in a war of attrition

Thomas Cashman, 34, tells trial he was smoking cannabis at friend’s house at time nine-year-old was shotThe man accused of murdering Olivia Pratt-Korbel, broke down in tears and told a court he was being blamed for something he had not done, when asked whether he killed the nine-year-old.Thomas Cashman, 34, said he was not present at the murder and, at the time the nine-year-old was shot in her home by a masked gunman, he was smoking cannabis and counting £10,000 in cash at a friend’s house. Continue reading...

Two dembow progenitors are suing superstars including Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee – in a case that also names Justin Bieber – claiming that they deserve credit for birthing the genreWith the release of their song Fish Market in 1989, the Jamaican duo Cleveland “Clevie” Browne and Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson inadvertently changed the course of pop music. The track featured the first known example of what would come to be known as a “dembow” rhythm – the percussive, slightly syncopated four-to-the-floor beat that travelled from reggae to become the signature beat of reggaeton, today the world-conquering sound of Latin American pop.Now, more than 30 years after Fish Market was released, Steely & Clevie Productions is suing three of reggaeton’s most celebrated hitmakers – El Chombo, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee – for what they characterise as unlawful interpolation of Fish Market’s rhythm (or “riddim”), and are seeking the credit – and royalties – they say they deserved from the start. Continue reading...

President comes out fighting in TV interview as protesters clash with police across FranceEmmanuel Macron has insisted he will not back down over raising the French pension age as he came out fighting in a live TV interview ahead of another day of national strikes and protests.The president furthermore ruled out dissolution of parliament, reshuffle of his centrist government and the resignation of his prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, as the opposition has demanded. Continue reading...

Who were the people mentioned in the former PM’s defence at the Commons privileges committee, and where are they now?

The House of Commons voted to approve parts of the deal struck with the EU to change the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol, but with some notable rebels. Find out how all MPs voted Continue reading...

Walking groups say government reneged on scrapping deadline to register historic rights of wayEngland is at risk of losing precious footpaths as walking groups accuse the government of a U-turn on its promise to scrap a deadline for registering them.There are many historic pathways across England that are rights of way but have been “lost” and are now part of private land. Campaigners have been trying to register them to make them once again legally binding rights of way by using old maps where the paths appeared. Continue reading...

MPs and ministers support campaign to locate relatives of Peter Brown, who died alone in London aged 96A search is under way to find the family of one of the RAF’s last black second world war veterans, who died recently.Peter Brown, a retired flight sergeant, died alone aged 96 in Maida Vale, west London. Without any known family, Westminster council and the RAF are attempting to locate any relatives of Brown to pay tribute to him at Mortlake Crematorium on 29 March. Continue reading...

Three-horse races and optional preferential voting making calling seats ahead of Saturday’s state election a risky wager

Calls to tackle rise in SUVs, utes and 4WDs by reducing tax incentives and building narrow lanes and parking spots exclusively for small cars

Government source says people were asked questions such as ‘do you agree Matt Kean is responsible for pushing up energy prices?’

Case that was heading to high court next week is settled, after Jon Moss claimed he was owed lost tour income following expulsion from groupJon Moss, a founding member of Culture Club, will be paid £1.75m by his former bandmates, who have reached a settlement with him instead of commencing a high court trial.Moss was allegedly “expelled” from Culture Club in September 2018 by manager Paul Kemsley, bringing his 37-year career as the band’s drummer to an end. Continue reading...

Lord Justice Haddon-Cave issues call for evidence, saying it is critical law-breakers be referred to authoritiesA judge investigating allegations of more than 50 summary killings by SAS soldiers in Afghanistan has issued a call for anyone with evidence to come forward, saying it was critical that law-breakers be referred to authorities.Launching his independent inquiry, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave said he was “very hopeful” there would be “full cooperation” with his work, which he said was ultimately about restoring the reputation of the military and “moral authority”. Continue reading...

Vox motion had been hoping to capitalise on public anger over botched sexual offences legislationSpain’s Socialist-led minority government has comfortably seen off a no-confidence vote tabled by the far-right Vox party, as the country gears up for regional and municipal elections in two months’ time and a general election due before the end of the year.Although Vox’s motion, which was debated in congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, was never likely to attract support from other parties, the party had been hoping to capitalise on public anger over the government’s botched sexual offences legislation – which has resulted in reduced prison terms for hundreds of convicted felons – and its overhaul of sedition legislation. Continue reading...