World news | The Guardian

Poll has become a tussle between three frontrunners whose campaigns have all hit problemsVoters in the Czech Republic go to the polls this week to elect a new president in a contest that could set the country on a renewed path of populism or bring to office a national unifier promising to heal divisions opened up by the rumbustious incumbent, Miloš Zeman.Eight candidates are vying to succeed the 78-year-old, who is constitutionally bound to step down after two successive five-year terms. Voting will be spread over Friday and Saturday and is almost certain to be followed by a second-round runoff in a fortnight’s time. Continue reading...

UN special envoys to meet in Washington as figures show Libyan politicians’ salaries rose by more than 40% in 2022Western leaders are losing patience with an entrenched Libyan political elite that has collectively failed to agree on the basis of elections for more than a year but has boosted politicians’ salaries by more than 40%, according to official figures.Special envoys from the US, France, Germany, Italy and the UK are due to meet in Washington on 13 January to discuss their next steps after two rival Libyan factions last week failed to reach a final agreement in Cairo on the constitutional basis for national elections. Continue reading...

Of the small number gathered at St Patrick’s Cathedral some did not want to forgive while others remembered cardinal’s ‘legacy’

Anthony Whealy, who was assistant commissioner at the anti-corruption body, says wait is ‘unfair’ on former premier

Human Rights Watch calls on government to address its own ‘alarming deficiencies’, including detention of children under 14 and treatment of asylum seekers

Sewell sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order with 150 hours of community service for affray and recklessly causing injury

New Zealand tribe says only a handful of its cultural taonga, or treasures, are left after successive waves of looting during colonial timesA Māori tribe in New Zealand is calling for the return of treasured relics listed for sale by the auction house Sotheby’s.The auctioneer is in the process of selling a number of Māori artefacts from around the 18th and 19th century – some of which local tribes say are crucial cultural taonga (treasures) and should be returned. Continue reading...

Beck rose to fame with the Yardbirds before fronting the Jeff Beck Group and making forays into the jazz-fusion sound he pioneeredJeff Beck, the celebrated guitarist who played with the Yardbirds and led the Jeff Beck Group, has died aged 78, his representative has confirmed.Beck died on Tuesday after “suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis”, the representative confirmed. “His family ask for privacy while they process this tremendous loss,” they added. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more on this story herePolitico reports that Germany is facing pressure from France and Poland to supply Ukraine with the powerful Leopard 2 tanks.Politico reports:Supplying modern western tanks such as the Leopard 2 would be a big boost for Ukraine’s military, as Kyiv’s allies have so far only been willing to send older Soviet-era tanks that had still been in the stocks of eastern European countries, as well as other weapon systems such as howitzers and air defences.A French official told Politico that Paris is turning the screws on Germany in the hope of extracting an agreement from Berlin to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine ahead of a Franco-German summit on January 22, the 60th anniversary of the Élysée partnership treaty between the two nations. Continue reading...

Public and Commercial Services union announces one-day strike over jobs, pay and conditionsMore than 100,000 civil servants will join one-day strike action on 1 February in a major escalation of action by the PCS union.The union members will take action across 124 government departments, with a further 33,000 balloting again on joining strike action from five more departments including HMRC. Continue reading...

Singer and TV host, who is of Irish and Italian descent, made comment in interview promoting her beauty brandThe singer and TV host Gwen Stefani faced widespread backlash after claiming: “I’m Japanese.”In an interview with Allure magazine released on Tuesday, Stefani, who is of Irish and Italian descent, was promoting her GXVE beauty brand when she said: “My God, I’m Japanese and I didn’t know it.” Continue reading...

Fewer women feel they always got the help they needed during labour and birth, according to CQC pollA health watchdog has sounded the alarm over a “concerning decline” in women’s experiences with maternity services.Fewer women feel they always got the help they needed during labour and birth, many were disappointed at the amount of time their partners could stay with them after the delivery of their babies, and a significant number reported that they did not feel listened to when they raised concerns.Women were less likely to report that they were always able to get help during labour and birth – down to 63% in 2022 compared with 72% in 2019.There was a decline in the proportion who felt they could always get help after birth in hospital – 57% said they were “always” able to get help, down from 62% in 2019.Some 63% said they received help and advice about their baby’s health and progress – down from 71% in 2017 to 63% in 2022, although this was a slight rise on 2021 (60%).Just over two-thirds (69%) reported “definitely” having confidence and trust in the staff delivering their antenatal care.Seven in 10 reported always being given the help they needed when they contacted midwives and health visitors after their babies were born – down from 79% in 2019.There has also been a downward trend for mothers “always” being treated with kindness and understanding while in hospital after the birth, from 74% to 71% between 2017 and 2022.Some 90% said their partner or someone else could be involved as much as they wanted during labour or birth – but this is still down from 96% in 2017.But just 41% of women felt that their partners had been able to be with them as much as they waned after giving birth – prompting a charity to call for a change in policy.Some 77% said that if they raised a concern during labour and birth, they felt it was taken seriously, down from 81% in 2017.And 85% said they were always treat with respect and dignity during labour, down from 89% in the 2019 survey. Continue reading...

British actor and comedian says condition has made him disorganised but ‘chaos’ may have helped his standup performanceThe comedian and actor Johnny Vegas has revealed that he has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at the age of 52.The NHS describes ADHD as a condition that affects people’s behaviour with restlessness, trouble concentrating and impulsiveness among its effects. Continue reading...

Officials say there is no threat to public but it is unclear whether radioactive element was deliberately concealedA discovery of metal bars embedded with uranium at Heathrow in late December has triggered an urgent counter-terrorism investigation, in an attempt to establish why it was concealed in an aeroplane shipment.Scotland Yard said on Tuesday night the amount of contaminated material was “extremely small” and posed “no threat to the public” although some reports had suggested, incorrectly, that several kilograms of uranium itself were discovered. Continue reading...

Un-redacted report released in 2020 revealed how archbishop failed to take proper steps to act on complaints about dangerous priests

Control measures including lockdowns have halted the spread of the virus after less than four monthsThe Ugandan government has declared an end to its Ebola outbreak, less than four months after cases were first reported.Since 20 September, 56 people have died from the virus, which is spread through body fluids, and there have been 142 confirmed infections. Continue reading...

Unions say health secretary’s refusal to increase 2022-23 offer has made it ‘impossible’ to talk about next year’s dealHealth unions will not submit joint evidence to the NHS pay review body about the rise staff should get in 2023-24, in a move that threatens the system by which most health service pay is decided.Unions representing more than 1 million NHS staff announced on Wednesday that they would not share their views on what next year’s uplift should be while the dispute over this year’s uplift was still ongoing. Continue reading...

Australian PM to call for ‘a swift conclusion to negotiations’ to treaty and say both countries should ‘work as equals with our fellow Pacific states’

As Netanyahu takes an aggressively anti-Palestinian line, the White House will seek to avoid the humiliations heaped on ObamaThe more things change in Israel, the harder Joe Biden is working to make sure they stay the same.The new far-right government of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, which includes openly anti-Arab racists, is already causing concern in the White House with commitments to expand illegal settlements in the occupied territories and annex Palestinian land. Continue reading...

Man said to have attacked passersby during early-morning rush-hour before armed police wounded and arrested himSix people have been injured by a man wielding a knife during rush-hour at the Gare du Nord station in Paris, French authorities have said.Police arrested the man at the busy station, which serves as a hub for local transport as well as trains to London and northern Europe, after they opened fire and wounded him, said a police source, who asked not to be named. Continue reading...

Almost 2,500 NFTs to be released for the Australian Open, as Tennis Australia says it’s in for the long haul as ‘an innovative company’

There were heroes aplenty – Jennifer Coolidge, Colin Farrell and Michelle Yeoh among them – but only one villain at this year’s star-studded Globes award ceremony“I‘m here because I’m Black,” said incoming MC Jerrod Carmichael, who addressed the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s tarnished reputation head-on in his opening monologue. “They didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd was killed,” he said, shrugging off much of their apparent rehabilitation efforts and saying he only took the gig for the $500,000 paycheck. Continue reading...

23-year-old tells story of how she joined Islamic State and life in a refugee camp in BBC podcast seriesShamima Begum, who left Britain to join Islamic State as a schoolgirl in 2015, has said she understands public anger towards her but insists she is “not this person that they think I am”.Begum, who was 15 when she left her east London home to join IS with her school friends Kadiza Sultana, 15, and Amira Abase, 16, has told the story of how she joined the terror group and life in a refugee camp in a 10-part BBC podcast, The Shamima Begum Story. Continue reading...

Discovery of stuffed animals from central Africa and recordings from ‘human zoo’ inspires exhibitionIt was when part of a Scarborough museum was being redeveloped more than a decade ago that builders found a blocked-up door. Behind it they discovered bags filled with asbestos and, under that, a collection of taxidermied animals that had been collected by a Victorian big game hunter and left to the museum.Neglected, outdated and ethically problematic, the temptation may have been to shut the artefacts away again. Instead, the Scarborough Museums and Galleries opted to do something else with the archive bequeathed by Col James Harrison – some of it much more morally challenging than stuffed antelope heads. Continue reading...

Survey of 1,000 factories for campaign group claims many cut rates in pandemic and have not increased them sinceLidl, Zara’s owner Inditex, H&M and Next have been accused of paying garment suppliers in Bangladesh during the pandemic less than the cost of production, leaving factories struggling to pay the country’s legal minimum wage.In a survey of 1,000 factories in the country producing clothes for UK retailers, 19% of Lidl’s suppliers made the claim, as did 11% of Inditex’s, 9% of H&M’s and 8% of Next’s. Continue reading...

Federal government estimates 12m swimming lessons were missed in the 18 months to December 2021

Locals in Farkawan village said that two bombs were dropped on the Indian side of the border but no one was hurtThe Myanmar military launched an airstrike on a prominent training camp for pro-democracy forces close to the Indian border, with jets dropping at least two bombs inside Indian territory according to eyewitnesses.The Myanmar junta, who seized power in a coup in February 2021 and are engaged in a bloody battle to crush pro-democracy insurgents, began bombing Camp Victoria in Myanmar’s Chin state, on Tuesday afternoon, a rebel commander confirmed to the Guardian. Continue reading...

Lorne Benussi says he found the pair 55km from North West Island, from where they had drifted out to sea

Japan says Beijing’s decision to halt visa processing is ‘extremely regrettable’, amid uncertainty as to whether China will take action against other countriesJapan has lodged a protest with Beijing over its decision to suspend the issuance of visas to Japanese citizens in retaliation for Covid testing requirements for travellers from China.Chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno characterised the move as an act of revenge rather than a public health measure and requested China reverse the decision. “It is regrettable that China unilaterally has taken visa suspension action for reasons other than steps for the coronavirus,” he said on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Amid an escalating housing and homelessness crisis, San Francisco has seen increased attacks on unhoused peopleSan Francisco is once again reckoning with its treatment of unhoused people after a video of a business owner spraying a woman with water from a garden hose spread online.Collier Gwin, the owner of Foster Gwin Gallery in downtown San Francisco, admitted to the San Francisco Chronicle that he blasted water on an unhoused woman sitting on the sidewalk in front of his business. The video, captured on Monday morning by the owner of a nearby bakery, shows Gwin spraying the woman, who was crying out in distress. In a calm voice, Gwin then tells her, “Just move,” before spraying her again. Continue reading...

Surrendering weapons is a central part of the November ceasefire agreement which seeks to end a conflict that has killed thousandsTigrayan rebels have begun handing in heavy weapons, a key part of an agreement signed more than two months ago to end a deadly conflict in northern Ethiopia, a spokesperson for the rebel authorities said.The demobilisation of Tigray forces is seen as central to the 2 November ceasefire agreement, alongside the restoration of services, resumption of humanitarian aid and withdrawal of Eritrean troops, who fought alongside Ethiopia’s army but were not party to the truce. Continue reading...

The 80th annual ceremony saw a diverse slate of winners as host Jerrod Carmichael took shots at its troubled historyA year after going on mute – no red carpet, no stars, no television broadcast in 2022 – the Golden Globes returned to form at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles: open bottles of champagne, over time and overstretched, gesturing toward improving its longstanding diversity issues while taking shots from host Jerrod Carmichael.The night’s big winners were The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical family drama that also won him best director, and Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, while the network darling Abbott Elementary, HBO’s prequel House of the Dragon and The White Lotus took home the top TV awards. Continue reading...

Consumer prices rose 7.3% in the year to November, boosting the chances of another RBA interest rate rise in February

Conservative politicians remember Pell as a ‘saint’ and a ‘martyr’, while others prefer to acknowledge victims of child sexual abuse in the Catholic church

Then premier resigned after watchdog said it was investigating whether she broke the law

Australian has died of heart complications after hip surgery, church leaders confirm

Russia’s mercenary firm Wagner claims it has taken control of eastern salt mining town of Soledar Continue reading...

Investigation finds ‘no evidence’ of corrupt or illegal behaviour by the Canterbury Bankstown mayor

Researchers find overall percentage increase from 0.06% in 2000 to 0.11% in 2019 although safety in children not fully establishedThe proportion of children and young people prescribed antipsychotics in England has nearly doubled in just two decades, prompting concern among some experts.The powerful drugs are often used to treat major mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, in adults. They can be associated with serious side effects such as sexual dysfunction, infertility, and weight gain leading to diabetes. Continue reading...

Yevgeny Prigozhin poses with some of his mercenaries in Ukrainian town renowned for its salt minesThe head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has claimed his forces have completed the takeover of the Ukrainian town of Soledar, which if confirmed would mark Moscow’s first major battlefield success since last summer.“Wagner units have taken the whole territory of Soledar under control,” said Yevgeny Prigozhin in an audio message released on his Telegram channel late on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Alexandre Padilha says insurrection by Bolsonaro supporters was well-organized ‘act of terrorism’ aimed at toppling governmentThe insurrection that shook Brazil’s capital was a well-organised coup attempt that was thwarted thanks to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s swift and firm reaction, one of the president’s top ministers has told the Guardian.Speaking at the presidential palace on Tuesday, the minister of institutional relations, Alexandre Padilha, said he believed Sunday’s far-right assault on the three branches of Brazil’s government was “an act of terrorism” designed to bring down Lula’s week-old government. Continue reading...

Constantine was forced into exile in 1967 after clashing with military rulers, who later abolished monarchyGreece’s former King Constantine II, whose nine-year reign coincided with one of the most turbulent periods in the country’s political history, has died at a private hospital in Athens, his doctors announced late on Tuesday. He was 82.Constantine, a cousin of British monarch King Charles III, died “of a stroke”. He was admitted to an Athens hospital last week with breathing problems, Greek media reported. Continue reading...

Campaigners condemn government plan to update list of countries whose GR certificates are automatically recognisedRishi Sunak has been told he risks “re-toxifying” his government’s record on LGBTQ+ rights and introducing “an effective trans travel ban” after the equalities minister announced a review of countries whose process for changing gender on legal documents is recognised by the UK.Kemi Badenoch notified the Commons on Monday of plans to update the list of approved countries and territories whose gender recognition certificates (GRCs) are automatically recognised by UK officials. Continue reading...

Romanian court denies challenge and rules he must serve full 30 days along with brother and two female suspectsA Romanian court has rejected Andrew Tate’s appeal against his detention, ruling that the former kickboxer, influencer and professed misogynist must remain in custody while an organised crime investigation continues.Tate, 36, his brother Tristan, 34, and two Romanian female suspects were arrested by prosecutors on 29 December on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group to exploit women. Both men have denied wrongdoing. Continue reading...

The striking similarities between events at the Capitol and Brasília stem from links fostered by the former presidents and their familiesIn the days following the 6 January 2021 storming of the US Capitol, a Brazilian professor and expert on disinformation, David Nemer, gave an interview predicting the same thing would happen in Brazil two years later.Sunday’s insurrection in Brasília came just two days after the second anniversary of the Capitol attack. Nemer said his prediction was not the work of a seer, but was based on analysis of the close and growing symbiosis of the hard right in the US and Brazil – a bond that was built up around the Trump and Bolsonaro families and their entourages. Continue reading...

Zholia Alemi allegedly forged qualifications despite failing medical degree and was paid up to £1.3m by NHSA “most accomplished fraudster” was paid between £1m and £1.3m by the NHS during the nearly two decades she posed as a qualified doctor after forging a degree certificate, a court has heard.Zholia Alemi, believed to be 60 years old, worked as a psychiatrist in the UK for 19 years after claiming to have qualified at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, a trial at Manchester crown court heard. Continue reading...

The memoir, which includes claims Prince William attacked him, records figures of 400,000 on its first dayPrince Harry’s autobiography has become the UK’s fastest-selling nonfiction book ever, recording figures of 400,000 on its first day on sale.The controversial memoir Spare has made headlines in the weeks leading up to its publication, finally hitting the shelves on Tuesday. Figures include sales for hardbacks, ebooks and audiobooks. Continue reading...

People in England and Wales advised to only request ambulance if a life is at riskPeople experiencing less serious health symptoms are being urged to visit a GP or pharmacy, or use the NHS111 telephone advice service instead of dialling 999, during Wednesday’s ambulance strike.NHS bosses have warned patients that ambulances will take even longer than usual to arrive and that some people may have to make their way to hospital themselves rather than wait for paramedics. Continue reading...

Missing British men named as volunteers Andrew Bagshaw and Christopher Parry; Annalena Baerbock makes surprise visit to Kharkiv. This live blog is now closed

Annalena Baerbock promised Ukraine aid and arms but did not confirm release of Leopard 2 tanks