World news | The Guardian

Australia ranks well when it comes to total dental care expenditure. But a closer look at the numbers reveals that trips to the dentist are a luxury many people can't afford

New book casts doubt on accepted picture of communist bloc support for violent radicals during cold warIn June 1986, a pair of operatives from communist Czechoslovakia's StB intelligence service made contact with a mysterious couple staying at a Prague hotel. The man's passport identified him as a Syrian diplomat called Walid Wattar; his pregnant wife also had a Syrian diplomatic passport.In fact, the man was Venezuela-born Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as Carlos the Jackal, perhaps the world's most wanted terrorist at the time. He was with his wife, Magdalena Kopp, recently released from French prison. Continue reading...

Met Office issues warnings for England and Wales, as Scotland and Northern Ireland continue cleanup operationsStormy weather is bringing the threat of flooding to homes and businesses and disrupted travel across large parts of England and Wales, while Scotland and Northern Ireland are still recovering from the impact of Storm Eowyn.On Monday morning, there were 48 flood warnings and 172 alerts in place for England and three Met Office yellow warnings in England and Wales for heavy rain and strong winds. Continue reading...

Esyasoft to acquire UK company, which supplies renewable power to about 245,000 householdsA British green electricity supplier, Good Energy, has agreed a near-100m takeover by a company controlled by a member of Abu Dhabi's ruling family.The retail energy company said on Monday it had agreed a deal with the Dubai-headquartered Esyasoft for a cash offer of 4.90 a share, valuing it at 99.4m. Continue reading...

Thinktank says there has been a shift in attitudes - but claims of a UK Jewish exodus' are alarmist

Introduced to parliament by a minor coalition party, the treaty principles bill seeks to abandon a set of principles that guide the relationship between Mori and ruling authoritiesA marathon public hearing into a bill that seeks to radically reinterpret New Zealand's founding treaty between Mori tribes and the British Crown began on Monday amid widespread outcry the proposed changes are unconstitutional, socially divisive and an attack on Mori rights.The treaty principles bill, which was introduced to parliament by the minor coalition Act party, seeks to abandon a set of well-established principles that guide the relationship between Mori and ruling authorities in favour of its own redefined principles. Continue reading...

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More than 5,000 workers to benefit from reduced hours with no loss of payTwo hundred UK companies have signed up for a permanent four-day working week for all their employees with no loss of pay, in the latest landmark in the campaign to reinvent Britain's working week.Together the companies employ more than 5,000 people, with charities, marketing and technology firms among the best-represented, according to the latest update from the 4 Day Week Foundation. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Office workers have more flexibility than frontline staff such as nurses and shop workers, report saysBritain is dividing into a two-tier workforce as office staff benefit from flexible working but the conditions of frontline staff such as nurses and shop workers remain frozen in time", according to a report.Workers who were considered to be on the frontline during the pandemic have seen no change to their working hours or shift patterns in recent years, according to research by Timewise, a social enterprise that helps businesses with flexible working policies. This is despite the post-pandemic rise in hybrid working for office-based staff. Continue reading...

Hot, dry and windy weather for Australia's south-east prompts bushfire and heatwave warnings

Exclusive: Wiener Holocaust Library has digitised more than 150,000 items including letters, pamphlets and photosOne of the world's largest Holocaust archives is accessible online for the first time after a three-year digitisation of much of the collection.Announced on Holocaust Memorial Day, the Wiener Holocaust Library's new online platform includes more than 150,000 items collected over nine decades. Users can view letters, pamphlets and photographs that record the rise of fascism in Britain and Europe. Continue reading...

Actor has accused Justin Baldoni, co-star and director of It Ends With Us, of sexual harassment in civil actionThe film footage at the centre of Blake Lively's high-profile legal row proves that intimacy coordination should be considered as necessary on set as organising stunts, leading consultants have said.Lively filed a civil complaint against co-star and director Justin Baldoni just before Christmas, accusing him of sexual harassment during the filming of It Ends with Us - a romantic drama released last year. Baldoni denies the claims. Continue reading...

Report by rights groups alleges border police refused to rescue boys and blocked activists' efforts to save themBulgarian authorities have been accused of ignoring emergency calls and obstructing efforts to rescue three Egyptian teenage boys, who later died in sub-zero temperatures near the Bulgarian-Turkish border in late December.A dossier of evidence compiled by two humanitarian organisations, seen by the Guardian, contains photos, testimonies and geolocations allegedly showing the authorities' failure to save the boys, who called for help as they struggled cold and lost in the forests of Burgas, in south-eastern Bulgaria. Continue reading...

Prime minister says deputy Liberal leader's Australia Day speech was disrespectful' and Katy Gallagher called it nuts'

Accused to face court on Monday after boy found dead from what police allege appears to be blunt force trauma'

Attorney general responded in Poland to criticism from opposition leader over Penny Wong's visit to Auschwitz commemoration

Survey for patient watchdog finds over half of those who made complaint were not satisfied with process or outcomeA quarter of people in England experienced poor NHS care over the last year but fewer than one in 10 of them complained about it, a report by the patient watchdog has revealed.When people did complain, more than half were not satisfied with either the process involved or the outcome, Healthwatch England said. Complaints take many months to resolve.24% of patients had received poor care in that time - the equivalent of 10.7 million people in England.56% took no action - and only 9% made a complaint.20% were scared that complaining would affect their treatment.34% did not trust the NHS to use a complaint they made to improve services. Continue reading...

Journalists and bloggers to have greater access under open reporting provisions' after pilot scheme launched in 2023A scheme allowing journalists increased access to family courts is being rolled out in an effort to improve transparency.The initiative permits accredited journalists and legal bloggers to report on cases as they unfold, as they would in criminal courts, provided the families and certain professionals involved remain anonymous. Continue reading...

The missing 73-year-old set off his distress beacon during stormy weather on Saturday afternoonA 73-year-old British sailor is lost at sea and his yacht has been found eviscerated" off the French coast in stormy weather.A French air force helicopter was dispatched to find the man after he set off his distress beacon at 3pm on Saturday, approximately 50 miles (80km) west of Lacanau in south-west France. Continue reading...

A lifeboat had to make four trips to recover seven people from Worms Head island due to very challenging conditionsIt turned out to be a dangerous trip to a tidal island in Wales that, thanks to the RNLI, seven American students will never forget.The group had to be rescued by the lifeboat service after the incoming tide cut Worms Head island off from the Gower coast on Saturday morning. Continue reading...

Authorities have arrested dozens of people accused of taking advantage of the chaos in Syria to settle old scoresFighters affiliated with Syria's new leaders have carried out 35 summary executions over 72 hours, mostly of Assad-era officers, a war monitor has said.The authorities, installed by the rebel forces that toppled longtime president Bashar al-Assad last month, said they had carried out multiple arrests in the western Homs area over unspecified violations". Continue reading...

A vessel has been seized after suspected sabotage of fibre optic line, probably due to external influence, Latvia saysAn undersea fibre optic cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday, probably as a result of external influence, Riga has said, prompting Nato to deploy patrol ships to the area and triggering a sabotage investigation by Swedish authorities.Sweden's security service has seized control of a vessel as part of the inquiry, the country's prosecution authority said. Continue reading...

Israel delays removal of troops, accusing Hamas of breaking terms of deal by failing to release civilian hostage

PC Morgan Younger ran towards man at London petrol station, disarmed him and restrained him till back-up cameA police officer who raced" towards a knife-wielding suspect and single-handedly tackled and disarmed him as he was trying to stab another man has been commended for his bravery.PC Morgan Younger had stopped at a petrol station on Lee High Road in Lewisham, south-east London, intending to buy a drink on Saturday afternoon at about 3pm. Continue reading...

Former secretary of state has faced threats from Iran since since he took hard-line stances on the Islamic RepublicThe Ohio Republican Mike Turner said on Sunday's Face the Nation he is very concerned" for former secretary of state Mike Pompeo after Donald Trump revoked his security detail earlier in the week.Pompeo and his top aide, Brian Hook, who have faced threats from Iran since they took hard-line stances on the Islamic Republic during Trump's first administration, were told of the loss of protection on Wednesday evening. Continue reading...

US president has suggested Palestinians should leave Gaza for neighbouring countries to just clean out' whole strip

Counter-terrorism scheme should have accepted more help to deal with the Southport killer despite following policyPrevent's assessment of the danger posed by Axel Rudakubana followed policy at the time, an official review will find but it will criticise the scheme for rejecting extra help to tackle his interest in violence.This week the government is expected to publish the review into Prevent's handling of the three referrals of Rudakubana, the last of which was three years before he commited his atrocity on a school summer holiday dance class in Southport. Continue reading...

Works created in hospital after ear mutilation incident to be shown at Courtauld Gallery next monthTwo Vincent van Gogh paintings created in the months after the Dutch artist mutilated his ear will be exhibited in London for the first time.The works, The Courtyard of the Hospital at Arles and The Ward in the Hospital at Arles, would appear at the Courtauld Gallery from next month, the Art Newspaper reported. Continue reading...

Putin ally projected to easily secure seventh term in election that US and EU have said could not be free or fairAlexander Lukashenko is firmly on track to win a seventh five-year term as Belarusian president with 87.6% of the vote in Sunday's election, according to an exit poll broadcast on state television.Lukashenko, a close ally of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has been in power in the country since 1994. Continue reading...

Police arrest 19-year-old after officer seriously injured by car driven at speed' towards her in CheadlePolice have arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder after an officer was seriously injured when a vehicle was driven at speed" towards her in a car park in Greater Manchester on Saturday night.The incident took place at a retail park on Wilmslow Road in Cheadle. Continue reading...

Three young scientists set traps to capture and film species of special concern in move that can help conserve the shrewIn a 7,000ft-high marshy spot in the cold, rugged eastern Sierra mountains, two groups of mammals scurried around at night. One was going about their normal nocturnal routine of hunting worms. The other was hoping for a glimpse of an elusive creature: the Mount Lyell shrew, the only known California mammal never photographed alive.The three young student scientists faced a tight timeline. They baited 150 pitfall traps - small cups dug into the earth to catch wandering creatures - with cat food and mealworms and monitored them across a 600ft area, checking each trap every two hours for any signs of their goal. They slept no more than two hours at a time. Shrews have such a fast metabolism that they die in traps quickly, one of the reasons this species had never been photographed or studied live. Continue reading...

Source says purpose of Wang Yi's visit is to hold first UK-China strategic dialogue since 2018China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, is due to visit the UK next month for talks with the British foreign secretary, David Lammy, the Guardian has learned.The Foreign Office (FCDO) is drawing up plans to host the Chinese foreign minister in mid-February, according to three people briefed on the plans. The FCDO declined to comment. Continue reading...

Man, 19, died after car struck in Scotland and 20-year-old man killed in Ireland, as Met Office issues further warningsTwo people were killed by falling trees during the record-breaking gusts of Storm Eowyn, which also damaged property and led to widespread power cuts across the UK and Ireland.The deaths were confirmed as the Met Office issued more wind and rain weather warnings, which are in place until Tuesday. Continue reading...

People shot at attempting to get back to their homes, with Israel accusing Lebanese army and Hamas of violating deals

Lack of knowledge about Holocaust identified as well as level of denial and disinformation seen on social mediaA third of young adults in the UK are unable to name Auschwitz or any of the other concentration camps and ghettoes where the crimes of the Holocaust were committed, according to a study.Other growing gaps in knowledge - especially among those aged 18-29 - were also identified, as part of a major international survey in countries including the US and UK. Continue reading...

Rory Talbot to appear at Westminster magistrates court on Monday over killing of Mark Talbot, 75, in PutneyA 30-year-old man has been charged with murdering his father after a 75-year-old man was stabbed to death.Scotland Yard said officers were called in the early hours of Friday to a property on Deodar Road in Putney, south-west London, after reports of a stabbing. Continue reading...

Tenant challenged procedure after 500 docked from universal credit payment at landlord's request, with whom he was in dispute over repairsA computer says yes" program that automatically approves landlord requests to deduct hundreds of pounds from tenants' universal credit benefits without requiring officials to check first with the claimant has been declared unlawful by the courts.The challenge was brought by a tenant who was outraged to find the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had docked 500 from his universal credit payment at the request of his landlord, with whom he was in dispute over repairs. Continue reading...

The movement is on the upswing thanks to Trump but a question lingers: what is their role in his administration?Minutes into the National Pro-Life Summit, Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, had convinced its more than attendees to leap to their feet. She was recording a video, and she had a message she wanted them to send to Donald Trump.THANK YOU MISTER PRESIDENT!" the crowd in the ballroom thundered, before bursting into raucous applause - complete with wolf whistles. Continue reading...

Dutton's cabinet reshuffle added the shadow minister of government efficiency role to Jacinta Nampijinpa Price's position - but it sounds a bit familiar

Former Labour MP puts forward amendment to reform bill aiming to end privilege for 26 C of E bishopsChurch of England bishops who sit in the House of Lords by right should be removed as part of the government's changes to the second chamber, according to the veteran legislator Harriet Harman.Harman, who was a Labour MP for more than 40 years until 2024, has put forward an amendment to the government's hereditary peers bill, aimed at ending the automatic right of 26 bishops to sit in the Lords. Continue reading...

Paul Butler, 53, charged over death of Claire Chick, 48, who was found seriously injured on WednesdayA 53-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a nurse and university lecturer who was found injured in the street in Plymouth.Officers were called to West Hoe Road at 8.55pm on Wednesday after reports that a woman had been seriously injured. Continue reading...

Labour's James Frith and Conservative Caroline Nokes gifted tickets by Paddy Power worth up to 1,000 eachTwo MPs received VIP tickets for the sold-out World Darts Championships courtesy of a betting company - weeks after a national outcry over politicians accepting freebies.Labour MP James Frith, who has campaigned for safer gambling, and Conservative MP Caroline Nokes, the deputy speaker of the House of Commons, were gifted platinum" hospitality tickets by Paddy Power worth up to 1,000 each. Continue reading...

Far-right chatrooms are abuzz as extremists plan to use the next four years as breathing room' and look to expandOne week into Donald Trump's second administration and the verdict among far-right activists and neo-Nazis is that the next four years will be a time to relax, organize and take advantage of the popular awakening of American fascism.Be ready to cash out the next four years," wrote one delighted neo-Nazi account on Telegram, in a post viewed more than 1,000 times. Get the bag, infiltrate existing institutions with power, build new institutions while we have breathing room, and tear down anything leftist." Continue reading...

Firms including United Healthcare have denied basic scans and taken months to reconsider, physicians sayAmerican doctors are accusing US health insurance giants of causing deadly delays to vital medical procedures and care - and putting profits ahead of their patients' health.Firms including United Healthcare have denied basic scans, and taken months to reconsider, according to physicians who spoke to the Guardian. Continue reading...

President tells reporters he believes US will take control of island, after horrendous' call with Denmark PMDonald Trump has said he believes the US will take control of Greenland, after details emerged of a horrendous" call in which he made economic threats to Denmark, which has insisted the territory is not for sale.Speaking onboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said: I think we're going to have it," and claimed that the Arctic island's 57,000 residents want to be with us". Continue reading...

Impeached leader Yoon Suk Yeoul could face years in prison after six-hour imposition which set off political upheavalSouth Korea's prosecutors indicted the impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, on Sunday on charges of leading an insurrection with his short-lived imposition of martial law on 3 December, the main opposition party said.The charges are unprecedented for a South Korean president, and if convicted, Yoon could face years in prison for his shock martial law decree, which sought to ban political and parliamentary activity and control the media. Continue reading...

Witness in fraud case was allegedly killed in a scheme set up by the fiance of a former stuntwoman turned attorneyIn a blockbuster development in a long-running case that exposed a multimillion-dollar staged-accident fraud scheme, a man linked to the murder of a key federal witness recently pleaded guilty - and alleged that his attorney's fiance, a disbarred lawyer, set up the killing.With his family looking on, Ryan Red" Harris agreed to a 35-year sentence in the murder in exchange for his cooperation in the massive case, which has led to more than 50 guilty pleas by people who admitted to intentionally ramming into 18-wheel trucks then collecting money from fraudulent lawsuits. Continue reading...

About 70 people, including patients, believed to have been killed in attack blamed on rebel Rapid Support ForcesAbout 70 people have been killed in an attack on the only functional hospital in the besieged city of El Fasher in Sudan, the head of the World Health Organization said on Sunday, the latest in a series of attacks as the African nation's civil war has escalated in recent days.The attack on the Saudi Teaching Maternal hospital was blamed by local officials on the rebel Rapid Support Forces, a group that has recently faced apparent battlefield losses to the Sudanese military and allied forces under the command of army chief Gen Abdel-Fattah Burhan. Continue reading...

Jason Riddle says he rejected pardon because it happened. I did those things, and they weren't pardonable'At least one more person who was convicted in connection with the 2021 US Capitol attack carried out by Donald Trump supporters has rejected a pardon from the president, saying he believed his actions weren't pardonable".In an interview published Friday by New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR), US navy veteran Jason Riddle said: It's almost like [Trump] was trying to say it didn't happen. And it happened. I did those things, and they weren't pardonable. Continue reading...

In two actions, migrant workers claim exploitation while farmers demonstrate against inheritance tax planThis is a tale of two countrysides. One was featured prominently on Saturday by broadcasters as farmers held demonstrations throughout the UK against inheritance tax plans they believe will cripple family farms.A smaller protest staged a day earlier outside the Home Office received almost no attention. A small band of fruit and vegetable pickers, mainly from Latin America, were highlighting their battle against what they call the exploitation of migrant workers. Continue reading...