World news | The Guardian

This blog is now closed.

Parliamentary inquiry told unregulated agents given cash ‘under the table’ to attract students with promise of full-time work

Jared Skeete, 19, sentenced to three years in prison over incident outside Suites hotel in KnowsleyA teenager who threw lit fireworks at police officers during a “shameful” protest outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers has been sentenced to three years in prison.Jared Skeete, 19, snorted ketamine in front of the line of riot police as he shouted abuse at them during the disorder outside the Suites hotel in Knowsley on 10 February, Liverpool crown court heard on Monday. Continue reading...

Opposition leader tells Sky News he mentioned general concerns about abuse in Alice Springs which Anthony Albanese confirmed

Exclusive: Urgent legal advice being sought by courts to clarify how decision could affect pending and finalised cases

Suppliers in Great Britain have agreed code banning them from installations in homes of over-85sThe energy secretary, Grant Shapps, has urged Ofgem to turn words “into action” to ensure new industry rules designed to protect vulnerable people from being forced on to prepayment meters are properly enforced.The Guardian revealed on Monday that all energy suppliers in Great Britain had signed up to a code of conduct banning them from putting the meters in the homes of people aged 85 and over as well as those with severe health conditions. Continue reading...

Exclusive: National Education Union includes call in submission to forum that will determine Labour’s general election manifestoKeir Starmer is facing mounting calls to extend free school meals to every child in England if Labour makes it into power, to help families struggling with the cost of living and close the educational attainment gap.The National Education Union has also called for long-term funding for the holiday activities and food programme fronted by the England footballer Marcus Rashford, offering free places to children on universal credit (UC), in its policy submission to the party. Continue reading...

Committee says too many black women receive treatment that falls short of acceptable standardsMinisters have failed to tackle “appalling” and “glaring” racial disparities in maternal health despite repeated promises, MPs have said, as they called for new targets to eliminate inequalities.In a scathing report, the women and equalities committee said maternal death rates in deprived areas were on the rise, with women in the poorest areas about two and half times more likely to die in childbirth than those in the richest areas. Continue reading...

Automotive sector’s lobby group warns deadline to end sale of fossil fuel trucks by 2040 may be missedThe UK does not have a single public electric charger or hydrogen refilling station dedicated to lorries, with fewer than 12 years until the first ban on diesel engines comes into force, according to the automotive industry’s lobby group.The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said the government must urgently set out a strategy to help the sector to decarbonise or risk missing the target to stop the sale of fossil fuel trucks by 2040. Continue reading...

Andrews government bought a Flinders Street site for $40.3m in 2021 but it has sat empty since

Cheddar and budget sausages sold by Asda were highest risers, with supermarkets’ prices for oats and skimmed milk also soaringThe price of staple foods such as cheddar cheese, white bread and pork sausages has soared by up to 80% in some shops over the past year, in further evidence of how inflation is hitting those on the tightest budgets the hardest.Porridge oats topped the price increase ranking among a basket of British basics measured by the consumer group Which?, with prices up by an average of 35.5% followed by skimmed milk, which was up by 33.6%, and cheddar cheese, which rose by 28.3%. Continue reading...

Ennahdha party’s Rached Ghannouchi, 81, is at least the 20th person to be held in recent months in crackdown by Kais SaiedRached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Ennahda political party and one of the main opponents of the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, has been arrested, the latest in a string of opposition figures held.Ghannouchi, 81, whose party was the largest in parliament before Saied dissolved the chamber in July 2021, was arrested by police at his Tunis home and taken “to an unknown location”, the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha said in a statement. Continue reading...

Steve Barclay and Rishi Sunak are gambling that nurses’ appetite for a fight is waning – and ballot results back them upEveryone loves nurses, don’t they? They are near the top of the list of the nation’s most admired and trusted workers. They inspired a TV drama called Angels. And when they were striking in December, January and February, they were the NHS staff group that the health secretary, Steve Barclay, most wanted to make peace with.But since the Royal College of Nursing decided to launch a new series of strikes in England after its members rejected a pay deal their leadership had recommended, the government is playing hardball with the union. Rishi Sunak and Barclay plan to make no new improved offer to either NHS nurses or junior doctors, whose four-day strike ended last Saturday and led to 195,000 cancellations. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Suppliers in Great Britain will also make workers wear body cams as part of new code of conductEnergy suppliers have agreed to a ban on forcibly installing prepayment meters in the homes of customers over 85 and will make representatives wear body cameras as part of a new code of conduct, the Guardian can reveal.Suppliers have agreed to fresh guidelines for putting in the devices when households have run up energy debt after an outcry over agents using court-approved entry warrants to break in to install them. Continue reading...

Former British and Irish PMs add to pressure on DUP during panel event with Bill and Hillary ClintonTony Blair and Bertie Ahern have made an impassioned plea to the Democratic Unionist party to revive power sharing in Northern Ireland and help end the period of political instability, saying the “people on this island need them”.The former British and Irish prime ministers told a conference in Belfast on Monday that the region’s leaders had a responsibility to break a political deadlock and safeguard peace. Continue reading...

Invites include Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, accused of wrecking Northern Ireland’s place in the UKAll living former prime ministers, including two leaders accused of wrecking Northern Ireland’s place in the UK, have been invited to a gala dinner in Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement.It is understood Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have both accepted the invitation to the event on Wednesday night. Continue reading...

Number of countries condemn 25-year prison sentence for Vladimir Kara-Murza for criticising the war in Ukraine as his wife criticises UK response

This blog is now closed. You can read the latest report on this story here:

Note saying ‘I don’t know if I killed them. Maybe I did’ also seen in Manchester trial of nurse accused of murdering seven babiesA nurse accused of murdering seven babies wrote their initials in her diary on the dates she is alleged to have attacked them, a court has been told.Jurors in the trial of Lucy Letby were shown images of her diary in which she had recorded the days on which some of her alleged victims died. Continue reading...

Former Scottish National party MP could face recall repetition if 30-day suspension goes aheadMargaret Ferrier is to appeal against a suspension from the Commons for breaking Covid rules that could lead to a possible byelection and a tight race between Labour and the SNP.The former Scottish National party MP, who now sits as an independent, has appealed to parliament’s independent expert panel to review her 30-day suspension from the House of Commons, a sanction that would trigger a recall petition in her Rutherglen and Hamilton West seat. Continue reading...

Fixture of up to six weeks for trial of Piran Ditta Khan could not be accommodated at Old Bailey this year, court toldA man accused of murdering PC Sharon Beshenivsky 18 years ago may not go on trial until next year.Piran Ditta Khan, 74, who was extradited from Pakistan, appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh high-security prison on Monday for the preliminary hearing before Judge Mark Lucraft KC. Continue reading...

Defamation trial threatens billionaire’s reputation – as well as ambition to reunite TV and newspaper empiresRupert Murdoch’s push to try to bury a landmark defamation case against Fox News aims to avoid further damage to his media empire’s reputation – and protect the 92-year-old from a gruelling court appearance as he formulates succession plans.Judge Eric M Davis moved on Sunday to delay the start of the $1.6bn (£1.3bn) defamation trial between Fox Corporation and Dominion, which has alleged Fox News repeatedly broadcast false claims that its voting machines were rigged, amid reports of a settlement. Continue reading...

Reported nomination of Matthew Elliott provokes complaints relating to funding of pro-Brexit campaignA House of Lords vetting body is facing pressure to reject Liz Truss’s proposed nomination for the former Vote Leave chief Matthew Elliot over critical findings relating to the funding of one of his pro-Brexit campaigns.The reported nomination by the former prime minister has provoked multiple complaints to the Lords appointments commission. Continue reading...

Thirst for ‘revenge’ travel after the Covid pandemic is driving return prices to almost $3,000 to some European cities, booking site says

No voters to constitutionally entrenched body remain at 40%, while Coalition leader Peter Dutton sees approval drop to 44%

Recipe follows coronation chicken and platinum pudding as suggested centrepiece for parties and eventsFrom coronation chicken to platinum pudding, royal occasions demand a signature dish and King Charles III’s coronation is no exception.The “coronation quiche” has been personally chosen by the king and Camilla, the Queen Consort, in the hope it will be a centrepiece to many a coronation “Big Lunch” at street parties and community events on 6 May. Continue reading...

Labour and Lib Dems voice concerns over MP’s role at Turning Point UK, a group linked to misogynist and anti-Islam viewsOpposition parties have called on the Conservatives to cut ties with a rightwing student group that has described drag artists as “groomers”, called UK schools “Maoist indoctrination camps” and held protests alongside an anti-Islam pastor.While Turning Point UK (TPUK) says it has no formal links to the party, a Conservative MP, Marco Longhi, is the group’s honorary president, and it has previously been praised by former ministers Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg, as well as the deputy party chair, Lee Anderson. Continue reading...

Weak sterling makes FTSE 250 firms ‘ripe for takeovers’ with John Wood Group and Network International also approached

EU and Kyiv condemn unilateral bans that aim to protect local farmers amid glut and price crash

After more than a century Sydney has lost its title due to a counting quirkSydney has long been Australia’s most populous city, but last week, Melbourne officially overtook it as the country’s biggest – thanks to a quirk in how the figures are counted.Melbourne’s population was 4,875,400 at the country’s most recent census in 2021, while there were 18,700 fewer people in Sydney, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) which returns Melbourne to the mantle of Australia’s most populous city, a title it last held in 1905. Continue reading...

A court in Moscow has sentenced the opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years prison; Slovakia will temporarily halt imports of grains and other selected products from UkraineA court in Moscow has sentenced the opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years prison, in one of the most high-profile cases to date of a Russian dissident being jailed for opposing the invasion of Ukraine. Kara-Murza, a father of three, was detained in April 2022 and charged with spreading false information about the Russian army in Ukraine. He was later also charged with “high treason” over a series of public speeches he made that criticised Kremlin policies and the war in Ukraine. Kara-Murza’s ruling is the longest sentence yet given to a political opponent of Vladimir Putin, as the Kremlin further steps up its relentless crackdown on dissent.The British government on Monday summoned the Russian ambassador to make clear its condemnation of what it described as the “politically motivated” conviction of Kara-Murza, a British dual national. “Russia’s lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming,” British foreign secretary James Cleverly said in a statement. “We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations including Vladimir Kara-Murza’s entitlement to proper healthcare.”Slovakia will temporarily halt imports of grains and other selected products from Ukraine, a government spokesperson said on Monday. Talks between Ukraine and Poland over grain exports were due to start in Warsaw around noon local time (11am BST), Polish agriculture minister Robert Telus has said. EU member countries’ envoys in Brussels will discuss the weekend move by Poland and Hungary to ban grain imports from Ukraine to protect their own agricultural sectors.Russian president Vladimir Putin has met Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu in Moscow. Putin said the two countries were “working actively through our military departments” and regularly exchanging “useful information” while Li said ties between the two countries had “already entered a new era” and surpassed “the military-political alliances of the cold war era”.Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday read a report to President Vladimir Putin about drills conducted by the country’s Pacific Fleet. In footage broadcast on state television, Putin responded by saying that snap checks had shown the Pacific Fleet at a high level of readiness, and that Russia’s priority was Ukraine. Shoigu said that more than 25,000 military personnel, 167 ships and vessels, 12 submarines, 89 aircraft and helicopters are participating in the exercises.Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday that Tokyo had lodged a protest with Russia over its military exercises around disputed islands near Japan’s Hokkaido.Slovakia has handed over all 13 MiG-29 fighter jets it had pledged to Ukraine, the Slovak defence ministry said on MondayThe village of Krasnoe, which is in Belgorod in Russia, close to the border with Ukraine, came under fire from Ukrainian forces, according to regional governor, Vyacheslav GladkovUkrainian forces are finding a growing number of components from China in Russian weapons used in Ukraine, a senior adviser in president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office told Reuters. China has repeatedly denied sending military equipment to Russia.One hundred and thirty Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released and returned home in a “great Easter exchange”, a senior Ukrainian presidential official has said. It was not clear how many Russians were sent back the other way.The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, will visit Baghdad on Monday, his first trip to Iraq since Russia invaded Ukraine. Kuleba is expected to hold talks with the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and the foreign minister, Fuad Hussein. Continue reading...

Group also made up of former high-level military advisers say ‘actions still fail to match the rhetoric’

Cash payments are no longer king, representing just a fraction of the value of point-of-sale transactions in Australia

Wong also hits back at former prime minister saying his comments diminish ‘his legacy and the subject matter’

Most of $50m settlement with federal government will go to those affected by forced removals of Indigenous people from their families

State treasurer Daniel Mookhey says ‘difficult to avoid’ costs include extending funding for 1,112 temporary nurses

ABC says it has no plan yet to shut down accounts but is ‘liaising with Twitter regarding changes to account verification and labels’

Force criticised for failing to reinvestigate 1981 abduction of Vishal Mehrotra despite ‘significant’ new evidenceThe family of a murdered schoolboy have criticised the police for a “baffling” failure to reinvestigate the case despite “significant” new evidence coming to light 42 years after he disappeared.Vishal Mehrotra, eight, was abducted from west London in July 1981 and his remains were found in Rogate, West Sussex, seven months later. No one has been prosecuted for his murder. Continue reading...

About 5 million people eligible for jab until end of June as vaccinations get under way across 3,000 sitesMillions of people are now eligible for the spring Covid-19 booster after hundreds of thousands of vaccination appointments became available to book through the NHS.About 5 million people in total are eligible for a booster until the end of June, with the first vaccinations taking place from Monday across 3,000 sites in England. Continue reading...

Separatist rebels confronted Indonesian army troops as they searched for New Zealander who was taken hostage in FebruarySeparatist gunmen attacked Indonesian army troops who were deployed to rescue a New Zealand pilot taken hostage by the rebels in Indonesia’s restive Papua province, leaving at least six dead and about 30 missing, officials said on Sunday.Initial information from army reports said there were about 36 soldiers at a post in the hilly district of Nduga, when attackers from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, opened fire on Saturday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: child mental health crisis deepens with one-third of all referrals denied helpA quarter of a million children in the UK with mental health problems have been denied help by the NHS as it struggles to manage surging case loads against a backdrop of a crisis in child mental health.Some NHS trusts are failing to offer treatment to 60% of those referred by GPs, the research based on freedom of information request responses has found.In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. You can contact the mental health charity Mind by calling 0300 123 3393 or visiting mind.org.uk. YoungMinds is at youngminds.org.uk. Continue reading...

Violence between military factions that has left at least 56 dead in the capital spreads to other parts of countryCivilians in Sudan have been subjected to a second day of heavy fighting, waking up in the capital, Khartoum, on Sunday to the sound of gunfire and military jets over the city despite a four-hour UN-proposed humanitarian ceasefire between the two main factions of the ruling military regime.The violence that broke out on Saturday between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and left at least 56 civilians in the capital dead spread to other parts of the country, with the UN’s World Food Programme suspending operations in the country after three of its employees were killed in clashes in Darfur. Fighting was also reported in the eastern border state of Kassala. Continue reading...

White Hart Inn in Grays, which has been the subject of a reported hate crime, daubed with graffiti and has windows damagedAn Essex pub where police confiscated golly dolls has been vandalised with graffiti and damage to five windows occurring early on Sunday morning, police have said.The incident occurred at about 12.40am at White Hart Inn in Grays. Essex police said they have deployed extra patrols in the area. Continue reading...

Posters attacking Rishi Sunak on crime made Britons feel less favourable about both main parties, Opinium findsLabour’s controversial “attack ad” accusing Rishi Sunak of failing to put paedophiles in prison has caused more voters to think negatively of Keir Starmer’s party than a Conservative poster that accused the Labour leader of being soft on crime, according to an Opinium poll for the Observer.The striking result, when people were asked to react to the two posters, comes after 10 days of internal Labour ructions over its sudden switch to hyper-aggressive and personalised online campaigning. Continue reading...

High-risk tactic increases likelihood of combined stoppages by nurses and junior doctors in EnglandRishi Sunak appears set on trying to face down unions in a high-risk strategy to tough out a renewed wave of NHS strikes in England that health service leaders warned were unsustainable and could put patient safety at risk.With the prime minister and his health secretary, Steve Barclay, seemingly offering no fresh concessions for nurses or junior doctors, they risk the possibility of combined strike action, a scenario one NHS leader said would put the health service “into uncharted territory”. Continue reading...

Huw Edwards and Reeta Chakrabarti among those to receive letters in what corporation says was a standard HR exerciseThe BBC has reportedly sent letters offering voluntary redundancy to some of its top presenters as it looks to cut expenditure in its news division.The corporation’s interim managing editor of news and current affairs, Philippa Busby, wrote to all of its senior TV and radio presenters – including Huw Edwards, Clive Myrie, Reeta Chakrabarti and Sophie Raworth – at the beginning of this month, according to the Mail on Sunday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Post-Windrush training module urges caseworkers to call asylum seekers ‘customers’Details have emerged of a training course designed to make Home Office staff behave more compassionately, revealing guidance urging immigration caseworkers to display greater empathy to avoid further “reputational damage” to the department.The Face Behind the Case training module instructs staff to refer to visa applicants and asylum seekers as “customers” and encourages Home Office staff to remember that “a human being sits behind every case file and reference number”. Continue reading...

Pedro Sánchez asks victims for forgiveness after change allows some offenders to reduce sentencesSpain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has apologised to victims for a loophole in a landmark new law that was intended to toughen penalties for sexual crimes but has allowed some convicted offenders to reduce their sentences.The legislation, popularly known as the “only yes means yes” law, came into effect last October. It overhauled the criminal code by making sexual consent – or lack of it – key in determining assault cases, in an effort to define all non-consensual sex as rape. Continue reading...

Exclusive: The independent MP says the findings of the scathing Broderick workplace culture review should be addressed ‘quickly’

Brandon Russell, who has previously been jailed for possession of bomb-making materials, communicated with Australian extremists via Telegram