World news | The Guardian

Series of actions planned this spring as union members call for more pay since firms are ‘raking it’Oil and gas workers have voted in favour of a series of large-scale North Sea strikes amid bumper profits for fossil fuel firms.About 1,400 workers across five rig-servicing companies plan to strike between late March and early June as part of a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions – potentially shutting down platforms in the region. Continue reading...

Performer was shot outside a motorcycle shop in Florida in 2018 and robbed of $50,000Three men were found guilty on Monday of the 2018 killing of star rapper XXXTentacion, who was shot outside a south Florida motorcycle shop while being robbed of $50,000.Michael Boatwright, 28, Dedrick Williams, 26, and Trayvon Newsome, 24, were all found guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery. They will receive mandatory life sentences at a later date. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Midlands city will become official home of Great British Railways, Guardian understandsDerby is to be named the new headquarters of Britain’s rail network by ministers this week, the Guardian understands.The delayed result of the competition to become the official home of Great British Railways is expected as early as Tuesday, with the Midlands city the frontrunner on a shortlist of six including Birmingham, Crewe, Doncaster, Newcastle and York. Continue reading...

Industrial action going ahead despite hopes of breakthrough on pay, conditions and pensions last weekUniversities in the UK have been hit by strike action once again, despite hopes of a breakthrough last week with an offer from employers on pay, working conditions and pensions.Tens of thousands of staff at 150 universities pressed ahead with planned strikes on Monday in the first of three days of industrial action this week, with many branches claiming big turnouts on picket lines. Continue reading...

Whitehall sources say process of dealing with Commons committee was managed by Cabinet Office propriety and ethics teamSue Gray was not involved with handing over Partygate evidence to the privileges committee into Boris Johnson while she was in talks with Labour about a job, multiple sources have said.Allies of Johnson are furious that Gray is off to work for Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, as chief of staff, after the senior civil servant was in charge of the report into Partygate published last May. Continue reading...

Jeffery Woodke and Olivier Dubois, who had been kidnapped by jihadists in the Sahel, were released in NigerA US aid worker and a French journalist who had been kidnapped by jihadists in the Sahel and held for years have been released.American aid worker Jeffery Woodke and French freelancer Olivier Dubois emerged from a plane that landed on Monday at an airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger. Continue reading...

Court has issued warrant for Putin and his children’s commissioner over forcible transfer of Ukrainian children

Scottish first minister reveals more on Loose Women about photograph taken of her at Ibrox event early in 2011Scotland’s first minister has told of how she attended a memorial service while still having a miscarriage.Nicola Sturgeon has been open about her baby loss experience in the past, but provided more detail in an interview on the ITV show Loose Women. Continue reading...

Billionaire mogul will marry Ann Lesley Smith, 66, whom he met in September of 2022. ‘We share the same beliefs,’ Smith saysThe billionaire mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose conservative media empire spans the globe, is engaged to marry for the fifth time at the age of 92 years old, he told an interviewer in his own tabloid newspaper, the New York Post.“I was very nervous. I dreaded falling in love – but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy,” Murdoch said of his new fiancee, Ann Lesley Smith, 66, whose late husband was Chester Smith, a country singer as well as radio and TV executive. Continue reading...

Jeffrey Donaldson confirms unionist party will oppose Sunak plan for Northern Ireland in this week’s vote

Exclusive: 15-metre-long work made up of 650,000 Lego bricks to form part of artist’s biggest UK show in eight yearsClaude Monet’s monumental triptych, Water Lilies 1914 -26, which depicts nature’s tranquil beauty as part of the French impressionist’s world-famous series, will take on new meaning in a giant recreation by artist and activist Ai Weiwei in his new London exhibition.Monet’s brushstrokes in his water and reflection landscapes are replaced by about 650,000 studs of Lego bricks, in 22 vivid colours, in the 15-metre-long work at the centre of Weiwei’s biggest UK show in eight years, opening next month. Continue reading...

Rebel alliance Coalition of Patriots for Change denies responsibility after mayor accuses them of attackChina’s embassy in the Central African Republic has urged its citizens to avoid travelling outside the capital Bangui after nine Chinese nationals were killed in an attack by militants at a gold mine outside the city.The embassy said in a statement on Sunday there had been many “vicious” security incidents against workers of foreign mining enterprises in the area, and Chinese citizens still outside Bangui were requested to evacuate immediately. Continue reading...

Bezalel Smotrich’s comments come as far-right coalition pushes ahead with judiciary overhaulAn Israeli minister has claimed there is “no such thing” as a Palestinian people as Israel’s new coalition government, its most hardline ever, ploughed ahead with a part of its plan to overhaul the judiciary.Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition said it was pushing a key part of the overhaul – which would give the coalition control over who becomes a justice or a judge – before the parliament takes a month’s holiday break next week. Continue reading...

Motions to be put before parliament against backdrop of rising tensions between protesters and policeThe French government is to face two no-confidence motions amid street protests, strikes and roadblocks in opposition to Emmanuel Macron’s decision to push through an unpopular rise in the pension age without a parliament vote.The no-confidence votes are taking place on Monday afternoon against a backdrop of increasing tension on the streets, after clashes between protesters and police in Paris at the weekend and demonstrations in cities around the country. Roadblocks and demonstrations at roundabouts were under way in some parts of France on Monday, including outside Nantes and Lorient. In Rennes, bins were set alight on a highway and cars were stopped. Continue reading...

Resolution Foundation analysis suggests UK lagging behind similar economies such as GermanyWorkers in the UK are £11,000 worse off a year after 15 years of “almost completely unprecedented” wage stagnation that signals a failure of recent economic policy, according to the Resolution Foundation.The thinktank, which focuses on low- to middle-income households, compared wage inflation before the 2008 financial crash with the pace set since and found that the average worker was losing out by thousands of pounds a year. Continue reading...

Coalition senators offered both vague laments and staunch justifications, while the Greens found an unlikely ally

State Parliamentary Budget Office estimates Labor’s pledges would improve bottom line by $1.4bn compared to the Coalition’s $97.2m

Liberal MP says she has ‘done nothing wrong’ after Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto calls her position ‘untenable’

New highs reached in NSW, Victoria and South Australia while above-average temperatures predicted from April to June

Ma Ying-jeou’s tour is the first since the end of the civil war in 1949 and comes amid intensifying efforts by Beijing to subsume Taiwan as a provinceMa Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s former president, will visit China this month in the first visit by a current or former leader since the defeated Nationalist Chinese government fled to the island at the end of the civil war in 1949.The high profile visit has been presented by Ma and his party, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), as a chance to boost friendly cross-strait exchanges at a time of extreme disconnection, which has been driven by Beijing’s plans to annex Taiwan and exacerbated by the pandemic. However it is also likely to fuel domestic political division between the KMT and ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) over relations with China. Continue reading...

Focus group of people living in Tory constituency suggests party’s electoral recovery has not emergedVoters in a bellwether south-west England constituency are willing to back Labour at the next election as the “dead-walking Conservative government” has failed to ease the pressure on working people and struggling public services.In Sir Robert Buckland MP’s South Swindon seat, Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget felt like a “kick in the teeth” as the highest earners were rewarded with a huge pensions giveaway, while the working class received no gains. Continue reading...

Party calls for urgent extra funding as it finds there are hundreds of old X-ray machines, CT scanners and radiotherapy machines in useFour in 10 NHS hospitals in England are using outdated medical equipment including 37-year-old X-ray machines, according to research from the Lib Dems, who are calling for extra funding to replace outdated devices.NHS hospitals are using hundreds of old X-ray machines, CT scanners and radiotherapy machines, with some dating back to the 1980s, according to research based on freedom of information requests to 69 hospital trusts. Of these, 41 said they had at least one X-ray machine that was more than 20 years old. Continue reading...

Martin Hewitt, outgoing NPCC chair, says new leader deserves time to turn things around after series of scandalsThe Metropolitan police has no “God-given right” to exist in its current size and form if it cannot regain the trust and confidence it has haemorrhaged after a series of scandals, the leader of Britain’s police chiefs has said.Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said that the new Met commissioner, Mark Rowley, had been unflinching in taking on the challenges facing Britain’s biggest force and deserved time to turn it around. Continue reading...

Tribunal makes misconduct findings against Dr Lee Gruner, saying she failed to ensure clinical services were delivered safely at Bacchus Marsh hospital

Nanaia Mahuta says she will raise concerns over Ukraine and human rights issues as well as ways the two countries can cooperateNew Zealand’s foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta, will leave for China on Tuesday in the first visit to Beijing by a New Zealand minister since 2019.Mahuta, who will meet her counterpart Qin Gang, said she would raise New Zealand’s concerns about key security challenges at the meeting, such as the “illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine”, and advocate for outcomes reflecting New Zealand’s values on human rights issues. Continue reading...

Former marine pilot fighting extradition to US on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering says case is a ‘test of Australian sovereignty’

NSW Labor opposition has committed to beginning a treaty process with state’s Indigenous people if it wins 2023 election

Former senator, who is mounting federal court challenge, says delays in the review process are crippling the system

Investigators believe a faulty lithium-ion battery exploded, badly damaging Eastgardens house

Russian president lauds Xi ahead of meeting, while Beijing calls for a ‘rational way’ out of the crisisVladimir Putin has praised “good old friend” Xi Jinping in a newspaper article published in China on the eve of a state visit by the Chinese president that will reaffirm the leaders’ strong ties and provide Moscow with an opportunity to emphasise that it has not been isolated by the global community.The two leaders, who are believed to share a strong personal relationship, will meet one-on-one on Monday, followed by an informal lunch, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said. Continue reading...

The 66-year-old actor, who also appeared in Chopper and Neighbours, died while snorkelling at Fremantle’s South beach

Ally says he would ‘never rule out’ former PM’s return as he prepares to face the privileges committeeBoris Johnson may emerge from a televised grilling next week over claims he misled parliament about Partygate unscathed and go on to lead the Conservative party again, a former cabinet minister has said.Kwasi Kwarteng, who was made business secretary by Johnson before a short-lived stint as chancellor under Liz Truss – which ended after his notorious mini-budget – said he would “never rule out” a return by Johnson to frontline politics. Continue reading...

Historian Dan Snow pleads for person to come forward who removed head from animal washed up on Lepe beachAn appeal has been launched to recover the head of a rare smalltooth sand tiger shark after the fish was washed up on a Hampshire beach.The 2 metre (6ft) long shark was initially found on Lepe beach on Friday. Continue reading...

New figures reveal only 100 hospital doctors left NHS in 2022 due to voluntary early retirement, despite claims by Jeremy HuntThe number of hospital doctors that could be helped by Jeremy Hunt’s pensions giveaway has been cast into doubt, after new figures revealed that only 100 of them left the NHS last year due to voluntary early retirement.Criticism has mounted about the measure announced in the budget, which would scrap the up to 55% tax levied on lifetime pension pots worth just over £1m and raise the annual allowance threshold from £40,000 to £60,000. Continue reading...

Anger among European Research Group over vote on key part of Windsor framework for Northern IrelandRishi Sunak faces a reckoning from hardline Brexiters on his backbenches who are prepared to follow the Democratic Unionist party in voting against a key element of his “Windsor framework” that overhauls the Northern Ireland protocol.Anger is rising among those in the European Research Group at ministers using a vote on a statutory instrument to implement the “Stormont brake” on Wednesday, as a proxy for MPs to have their say on the whole deal. Continue reading...

Discovery of wall paintings of national significance in Micklegate flat is ‘bonkers’, says Luke BudworthA man renovating his kitchen has found a 400-year-old wall painting of “national significance” in his York flat.Parts of the friezes, dating back to about 1660, were found by kitchen fitters in Luke Budworth’s flat on Micklegate in York city centre last year and have since been fully uncovered. Continue reading...

In wake of chief executive’s resignation, Scottish finance secretary says decisions being taken by ‘too few people’Scottish National party members feel disempowered and in doubt about whether their party is genuinely democratic, Kate Forbes, one of the frontrunners to replace Nicola Sturgeon, has said.The Scottish finance secretary told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg the dramatic resignation of the SNP’s chief executive, Peter Murrell, who is also Sturgeon’s husband, on Saturday amid a transparency row was a direct result of decisions being taken by “too few people”. Continue reading...

Macron’s decision to push through changes without vote led to widespread protests over weekendThe French government will face a no-confidence vote on Monday, as MPs said they feared for their safety, strike action intensified and police banned demonstrators from parts of central Paris after Emmanuel Macron’s decision to push through an unpopular rise in the pension age without a parliament vote.Opposition politicians have filed two no-confidence motions in protest at the government using controversial executive powers to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64. Continue reading...

Exclusive: In letter to Rishi Sunak, Unite says it is disappointed at lack of plans to tackle ‘serious threats’ facing sectorThe government’s failure to support the ailing UK steel industry in last week’s budget has put thousands of jobs at risk, the prime minister has been told.In a letter to Rishi Sunak, shared with the Guardian, the trade union Unite said it was “disappointed” that the government had not announced plans to tackle the “serious threats facing the sector”. Continue reading...

Oliver Dowden says it ‘won’t be easy’ to fund estimated £1.5bn offer for nurses and ambulance staffA breakthrough pay rise offer for nurses and ambulance workers may have to be funded within the existing NHS budget, a senior cabinet minister has admitted.Footing the bill – estimated to be about £1.5bn – “won’t be easy”, according to Oliver Dowden, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. Continue reading...

Party leader sets out no new policies in York but focuses on ‘community politics’ and proportional representationThe Conservatives are “a bunch of mutinous pirates” more interested in squabbling over self-advancement than helping the British people, Ed Davey has told the first in-person Liberal Democrat conference since he became leader more than three years ago.In a speech setting out the party’s main arguments before May’s crucial local elections, and looking ahead to a general election expected next year, Davey focused almost all his fire on a Tory government he said had “reached the end of the road”. Continue reading...

Jim Chalmers says figures based on Treasury projections reveals opposition’s ‘deception’

Move comes after UK government bans app on government devices over fears of data being accessed by Chinese stateThe BBC has urged its staff to delete the Chinese-own social media app TikTok from corporate mobile phones.Guidance to BBC staff circulated on Sunday said: “We don’t recommend installing TikTok on a BBC corporate device unless there is a justified business reason. If you do not need TikTok for business reasons, TikTok should be deleted.” Continue reading...

Streetlights and more than 100 other outdoor lights will be changed in Hawnby in the North York MoorsAn entire village in North Yorkshire is turning down its lights to provide a better view of the Milky Way.Hawnby is the first village in England to swap its streetlights and more than 100 other outdoor lights for dark skies-friendly lighting in a bid to cut light pollution and allow residents and visitors to see the stars. Continue reading...

Alerts with siren-like beeps can be sent during events such as severe flooding, fires or extreme weatherA new government public warning system, in which alerts are sent to mobile phone users about events that may put their life in danger, has been launched in the UK with a nationwide trial planned next month.The Cabinet Office said the emergency alert system could be deployed in events such as severe flooding, fires or extreme weather, noting that similar systems had been credited with saving lives in countries including the Netherlands and Japan. Continue reading...

Jeremy Hunt has been told his budget giveaway will have a ‘catastrophic’ effect without more fundingA key plan to expand free childcare will “absolutely guarantee” the closure of more nurseries, the departure of staff and a fall in places if there is not a substantial increase in the funding behind it, Jeremy Hunt has been warned.An eye-catching pledge for a huge expansion of free childcare provision was a main giveaway in the chancellor’s budget last week. However, while childcare providers have welcomed extra help for parents, nurseries across England, speaking to the Observer, said that the plan risked having a “catastrophic” impact on the sector without an overhauling of central funding. Continue reading...

Refugee Council’s claims on impact of her bill come as the home secretary, on a visit to Rwanda, faces pressure from her own partySuella Braverman’s plan to stop the Channel crossings would see as many as 45,000 children effectively barred from refugee status in the UK, the Observer has been told.The claims are made in a forthcoming Refugee Council report analysing the overall impact of the illegal migration bill, which reveals the possible extent of children who could have their asylum claims deemed inadmissible under the new laws. The news comes as the home secretary is facing a mounting rebellion from both wings of the Tory party over her controversial plans to tackle the Channel crossings, amid growing concerns over their impact on children and trafficking victims. Continue reading...

Defence minister says Aukus deal does not include arrangement to join US in a potential future conflict with China

Poll finds ITV news is more trusted source of information and trust in BBC has slippedThe BBC has slipped behind ITV as Britain’s most trusted news source in the wake of the row over Gary Lineker’s suspension, according to a new poll for the Observer.The corporation remains one of the most trusted providers, according to the latest Opinium poll. Two in five trust BBC News and 26% distrust it, giving it a “net trust” of +14%. ITV recorded a net trust score of +23%. Continue reading...

US president joined by German chancellor in support of action taken after Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian childrenThe US president, Joe Biden, has backed the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over his role in the abduction of Ukrainian children, saying it was “justified”.Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was among other international leaders who welcomed the decision, saying on Saturdayyesterday that it showed “nobody is above the law”. Continue reading...