World news | The Guardian

Stephen Smith says he hopes to make regular visits to the WikiLeaks founder, who is in Belmarsh prison and faces espionage charges in the US

Canadian politician, poet, an India MP and journalists are among 120 accounts that have been withheldTwitter has been accused of bowing to government pressure in India by blocking scores of prominent journalists, politicians and activists from its platform in recent weeks.The Indian government issued notices to Twitter to remove people in the aftermath of an internet shutdown in Punjab during the search for a fugitive Sikh separatist leader. Continue reading...

Move to deny Moscow’s children’s commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova a platform comes as she tells parents to write to her ‘to find’ their missing children

CEO of defence firm building Australia’s Ghost Shark autonomous submarines sees the vehicles as ‘a force multiplier’

Average cost of property in Devon town reached £1,244,025 last year, driven by second home owners“Don’t hate me,” said Theo Spink of the view from her office on Tuesday afternoon, “but the sun is shining, there’s a gentle breeze, people are arriving for Easter, eating ice-cream. It’s all rather charming.”If the town of Salcombe, situated on the neck of a narrow estuary in south Devon, sounds idyllic, that is because “it really, really is”, she said. “When the sun shines, you could be in the Mediterranean. It is that beautiful.” Continue reading...

Standards committee calls for ban on APPGs accepting funding from foreign governments and review of parliamentary pass-holdersMPs should be banned from using foreign governments to fund parliamentary “special interest” groups, a committee has recommended as part of a crackdown on the influence of potentially hostile states in parliament.At least two Gulf countries are said to have financially supported All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs), while fears have been raised for years among security officials about the opaque nature of how the networks operate. Continue reading...

Risk of tick-borne encephalitis virus is very low, but infection can be life threateningHikers and mountain bikers have been urged to protect themselves after health officials confirmed that a potentially deadly virus spread by ticks is present in the UK.The first confirmed domestically acquired case of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) was identified in a 50-year-old man who was bitten by ticks while mountain biking in Yorkshire. Continue reading...

Royal coronation invitation realises king’s ambition for title of partner formerly known as Queen ConsortFirst she was to be known as Princess Consort. Then she became Queen Consort. But Buckingham Palace’s coronation invitation confirms what most have suspected all along. From now on, it’s officially Queen Camilla.For years, the palace has shied away from answering “the queen” question when asked directly what Camilla would be known as when Charles acceded the throne. Continue reading...

Andrés Manuel López Obrador asks China to curb exports of opioid after lengthy denunciation of similar calls from USMexico’s president has written to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, urging him to help control shipments of fentanyl, while also complaining of “rude” US pressure to curb the drug trade.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has previously said that fentanyl is the US’s problem and is caused by “a lack of hugs” in US families. On Tuesday he read out the letter to Xi dated 22 March in which he defended efforts to curb supply of the deadly drug, while rounding on US critics. Continue reading...

Mike Hill, 61, remembered as ‘big and strong but soft and tender’, one of six killed at Covenant School in Nashville last monthMike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian who was one of six people shot dead at a Nashville elementary school last week, was remembered on Tuesday for his loving nature, his culinary skills and his faith.Hundreds turned out for Hill’s funeral at Stephens Valley Church. The pastor, Jim Bachmann, said the hearts of the congregation were aching for the man they called “Big Mike”. Continue reading...

Campaigners say Home Office’s plans to use Bexhill site may retraumatise those fleeing oppressive regimesRefugee campaigners have condemned squalid and dilapidated conditions inside a former prison in East Sussex that the Home Office is planning to use to accommodate asylum seekers.Photographs obtained by the Guardian of the Bexhill site, previously Northeye prison, reveal broken ceilings with wires hanging down, pools of water on floors, rusted window frames and tiny cells with huge bolts on the outside of the doors and rectangular slats that guards looked through to view former prisoners. Continue reading...

Country joins alliance in move Moscow says is an ‘encroachment on Russia’s security’

Women hit worst by mental health strains, with more domestic and caring duties amid Covid lockdowns

Buses will carry passengers over Forth Road Bridge from May with a safety driver and ‘bus captain’ onboardSelf-driving buses will begin carrying passengers over Scotland’s Forth Road Bridge next month in what has been hailed as a world first.Five single-decker buses will cover the 14-mile route from 15 May, carrying up to 10,000 passengers every week between the Ferrytoll park and ride in Fife and the Edinburgh Park train and tram interchange. Continue reading...

Annual dinner is among events cancelled because of ‘very serious’ claims that are being investigated

Exclusive: leading heart experts urge BMA to exempt staff working on critical care units in EnglandCritically ill patients “will inevitably die” because hospitals are having to cancel surgery as a direct result of next week’s junior doctors’ strike in England, leading heart experts have warned.There were bound to be fatalities among people with serious heart problems whose precarious health meant they were “a ticking timebomb” and needed surgery as soon as possible, they said. Continue reading...

Trudi Warner, 68, is said to have held placard asking jurors to act on conscience outside trial of fellow Insulate Britain protestersA climate activist who allegedly held a sign outside court telling jurors they were entitled to find protesters not guilty based on their conscience may still face a criminal charge.Trudi Warner, 68, allegedly held the placard outside a trial of fellow Insulate Britain protestors at Inner London crown court on 27 March, which read: “Jurors: You have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience.” Continue reading...

In speech to Bafta, Chariots of Fire producer says industry must invest ‘far more’ to close yawning skills gapThe Oscar-winning producer David Puttnam has issued a rallying cry to the film industry to address its yawning skills gap and grow audiences before the UK is eclipsed as a cinematic powerhouse.In a speech to Bafta on Tuesday, Puttnam – the president of the Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) and a former peer – urged the industry to “invest far more” in its workforce to retain international competitiveness. Continue reading...

Party is striking chord with ‘blue wall’ voters by championing a classic environmental issuePosing for the cameras with a photogenic dog is something of an election campaign cliche, but as Ed Davey picks up Marvin, an affectionately squirming norfolk terrier, the intended message is about something much less obviously appealing: sewage.The Liberal Democrat leader is posing with a series of dogs and their owners on Eastbourne beach, a local election stop intended to bring attention to an issue his party has campaigned on enthusiastically for the past two years, and with increasing cut-through. Continue reading...

At launch of cleaner water plan, minister says those who say they can end problem are ‘detached from reality’ or dishonest

Formal accession nearly doubles Nato border with Russia as Moscow warns it will boost its defences if necessaryFinland has become the 31st member of Nato after its foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, signed an accession document and handed it to the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, at a ceremony in Brussels.The handover marks the formal accession of Russia’s western neighbour to the world’s largest military alliance, completing an accelerated application process launched last May, when Finland and neighbouring Sweden abandoned decades of military nonalignment to seek security as Nato members after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

Grain producers say they are being undercut by tariff-free imports from Ukraine

National gallery, library and museum among organisations to be thrown financial lifeline after years of underfunding

Bongo Bazar and three adjacent markets said to be gutted, as 11 people reported injuredHundreds of Bangladeshi firefighters have battled an inferno that raged through a popular clothing market in the capital, Dhaka, and covered the city’s oldest neighbourhoods in black smoke.No deaths have been reported, but shop owners and fire officials told reporters that the famous Bongo Bazar and three adjacent markets had been gutted in the dawn fire. Continue reading...

Khalid Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri said to have been responsible for planning IS attacks in EuropeThe US military has said it carried out a strike in Syria, killing a senior Islamic State group official responsible for planning attacks in Europe.The strike in the north-west of the country on Monday killed the senior IS leader Khalid Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri, US Central Command said. Continue reading...

The county was the deadliest for rights activists in 2022, and Latin America and Ukraine together accounted for 80% of the 401 deathsColombia was the deadliest country in the world for human rights defenders in 2022, accounting for 186 killings – or 46% – of the global total registered last year, according to the latest report from the international human rights group Front Line Defenders.Front Line Defenders found that killings of rights defenders across the globe increased in 2022, with a total of 401 deaths across 26 different countries, compared with 358 deaths in 38 countries registered in 2021. Continue reading...

His termination follows a statement he published criticising the force and his prosecution over the shooting of Indigenous man Kumanjayi Walker

Authorities say at least 50 passengers were onboard train that crashed into a crane between The Hague and LeidenA train in the Netherlands rammed into a maintenance crane on the tracks before it derailed and ploughed into a field, killing the crane operator and injuring dozens of passengers.The maintenance work was planned and standard, but “we have no idea how the crane got on the track which was still open for traffic”, John Voppen, the chief executive of the railway infrastructure company ProRail, said at a news briefing on Tuesday. Continue reading...

New recruits being frantically trained up so as many church bells as possible can ring out on 6 MayIt is supposed to be a day when all the UK’s 38,000 church bells ring out to mark the coronation of Kings Charles but some may stay silent amid a shortage of campanologists.Since a call went out from the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (CCCBR) last autumn for new recruits to join 30,000 existing campanologists, about 1,750 have come forward. Not all have followed through, but many are in the process of being trained. Other volunteers have made direct approaches to local churches. Continue reading...

Clients who paid a deposit but didn’t have an insurance policy have lost their money, liquidators revealed at an at-capacity webinarProperty owners caught up in the collapse of Porter Davis may lose their deposits as plans for their homes are held hostage.Liquidators Grant Thornton on Tuesday hosted a webinar for Porter Davis customers, which immediately ran into trouble as the meeting hit capacity and many were blocked from attending. Continue reading...

Cash rate on hold as the Reserve Bank indicates it will monitor state of economy and the outlook before lifting borrowing costs further

Gillon McLachlan says product fee arrangements with wagering companies generate ‘a percentage of their operations on the AFL’

The sale represents the largest known price for a luxury brand established in Australia

Government-commissioned report argues structural reform is essential and requires a simpler, clearer billing system

Peak legal body endorses findings by independent monitor that recommends scrapping continuing detention orders

Jimin’s single Like Crazy is the 66th track ever to debut at the peak of the Hot 100 chart, and the first by a South Korean solo artistJimin, a member of the K-pop supergroup BTS, has made history as the first South Korean solo artist to land the No 1 spot on the top US songs chart, Billboard announced on Monday.The single, Like Crazy, debuted at No 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 this week, bumping Miley Cyrus’s track Flowers out of the top spot, where it had reigned for eight weeks. Continue reading...

Low-income household will spend on average £200 more on bills than last year, Which? warnsSome of the UK’s least well-off households could be left more than £200 worse-off on their energy bills this year because of reduced government support, the consumer body Which? has warned.Joining calls made by other campaigners, it said the government urgently needed to introduce a “social tariff” for gas and electricity to protect the most financially vulnerable. Continue reading...

China previously warned McCarthy he is ‘playing with fire’ over the meeting and risks ‘serious confrontation’

US defence department releases statement saying object was used in training after photo emerged of military inspectionThe Pentagon has said that a picture that featured in a report by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) on Monday about apparent damage to a US nuclear bomb at a Dutch airbase was a dummy weapon used for training emergency response teams.FAS published a photograph of a B61 bomb being inspected for damage by US soldiers, including two from an explosive ordnance disposal unit, and a civilian. The rear of the bomb appears to have been twisted by an impact and one of the tail fins is missing. There is pink sticky tape covering an apparent hole. Continue reading...

Lawson served in a number of cabinet roles in Margaret Thatcher’s government during a political career spanning 18 yearsThe former Conservative chancellor Nigel Lawson has died at the age of 91. Lawson was the MP for the Blaby constituency from 1974 to 1992 and served in numerous cabinet positions in the government of Margaret Thatcher.He became chancellor in 1983 and oversaw a period of economic growth known as the Lawson Boom before resigning in 1989 amid disagreements with Thatcher over policy. Continue reading...

Cheryl Korbel pays tribute to her daughter after her killer was jailed for a minimum of 42 years

Rights group says execution is first during the fasting month since 2009Saudi Arabia has executed a man during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which a rights group said on Monday had not occurred in years.The execution took place on 28 March – five days into the fasting month – in the Medina region, which includes Islam’s second holiest city, the official Saudi Press Agency has reported. Continue reading...

Government-commissioned study by Patricia Hewitt also calls for a shift in focus towards preventing ill healthThe NHS should abolish many of its national targets while shifting its focus towards preventive healthcare, according to a review by a former Labour health secretary.The study by Patricia Hewitt, commissioned by the government and due to be published on Tuesday, will say that, while targets can help concentrate the minds of those responsible for a service, having too many makes them less effective. Continue reading...

A Moscow district court says it has received documents relating to arrest of the Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich

Number likely to increase this week as upper-level low travels east across country and low pressure moves north-eastTornadoes affected several US states on Friday – particularly Iowa, Illinois, Arkansas and Tennessee – causing significant damage and a number of fatalities. It has been a fairly active year for tornadoes so far, with a preliminary total of 385 across the US as of 2 April, and that is likely to increase this week. An upper-level low will move slowly east across the US, while at lower levels an area of low pressure moves north-east from the central Rockies towards the Great Lakes.Warm, moist air is expected to be drawn northward through much of the eastern half of the US. Severe thunderstorms are anticipated, with parts of the south and lower midwest likely to be affected again. The strongest storms are expected on Tuesday, when supercells – the rotating thunderstorms responsible for many tornadoes – are likely. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center is warning of the potential for strong tornadoes and damaging straight-line winds. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Date set for start of long-awaited hearing into Wiltshire woman’s 2018 poisoningThe long-awaited independent inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess in the Wiltshire novichok poisonings will begin in autumn 2024, the Guardian can reveal.Sturgess’s father, Stan Sturgess, expressed relief that a date had been set and said he hoped it would mean that those responsible for the attack would be held to account. Continue reading...

Local news reports say bomb was hidden in bust of blogger gifted to him by suspect moments before blastRussian police have arrested a woman suspected of delivering a bomb that killed a prominent pro-war Russian military blogger in a blast in a cafe in central St Petersburg on Sunday, as authorities blamed Ukraine for the attack.Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed by a bomb blast as he was hosting a discussion with other pro-war commentators at a cafe on the banks of the Neva River in the historic heart of St Petersburg. Continue reading...

US government ‘keenly, strongly, closely’ tracking Evan Gershkovich’s detention; IAEA chief Rafael Grossi expected to visit on Wednesday

Complainant told jury he felt ‘emotionally blackmailed’ by Timothy Schofield into ‘weird and wrong’ activitiesThe brother of Phillip Schofield has been found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage boy over three years, prompting the television presenter to say he has disowned his sibling.Timothy Schofield, 54, a civilian police worker with Avon and Somerset police, had denied 11 offences but was convicted by a jury at Exeter crown court on all counts. Continue reading...

Barbara Bolton, from Bury, Greater Manchester, had refused to put her heating on despite pleas from familyAn 87-year-old woman who repeatedly refused to put on her heating due to fears over high energy bills died from profound hypothermia after being found slumped in her home, an inquest has heard.Barbara Bolton was discovered by her grandson at her kitchen table unable to speak on 11 December 2022. Medics found she had a body temperature of just 28C; a normal temperature is 37C. Continue reading...