World news | The Guardian

Government to roll back section 40 legislation, recommended by Leveson, as part of media billMinisters will push ahead with plans to abolish a key piece of press regulation law, unpicking one of the main recommendations of the Leveson inquiry into the culture of the British newspaper industry.The government said they would roll back a rule that could require news outlets to pay the costs of the people who sue them unless the news outlet is signed up to a state-backed press regulator. Labour indicated that opposition MPs will not object to the plan, meaning it is likely to sail through the House of Commons. Continue reading...

Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich provoked outrage by saying there was ‘no such thing as a Palestinian people’

West Midlands fire service had sealed off area outside government building, halting trams in both directionsRoads that were closed in Birmingham after a spillage of an unknown substance at a government building have reopened after it was found to be harmless.West Midlands fire service sealed off an area outside Birmingham’s Civil Justice Centre after being called to the scene, near the West Midlands Metro Bull Street tram stop, at 4.07pm on Tuesday. Continue reading...

John Birt says appointment process for chairman ‘fatally flawed’ due to ‘cosiness’ of Boris Johnson loanFormer BBC director general John Birt has said chairman Richard Sharp’s appointment should not stand as he was an “unsuitable candidate” in a “fatally flawed” process.Lord Birt said the “cosiness” of the £800,000 loan that Sharp facilitated for Boris Johnson makes him unsuitable for the role, despite the BBC chairman denying wrongdoing. Continue reading...

Former prime minister said Sunak’s immigration proposals could deny support to modern slavery victimsThe UK’s illegal migration bill could mean modern slavery victims are less likely to give evidence against traffickers, Theresa May has said.The former Conservative prime minister warned MPs that slave drivers and traffickers will find it easier to escape justice under Rishi Sunak’s immigration plans. Continue reading...

Despite setback Scotland’s first Muslim leader says victory sends strong message to those who feel they ‘don’t belong’Humza Yousaf has said becoming Scotland’s first Muslim leader sends a strong message “to every single person out there who feels that they don’t belong”, after he was voted in by MSPs.But the first minister’s attempts to reunited his party after a bitter leadership campaign fell at the first hurdle after his main rival, Kate Forbes, turned down a position in his cabinet, saying she preferred to support him from the backbenches. Continue reading...

Charles and president likely to instead stage back-to-back visits to mark 25 years of Good Friday agreementHopes that Joe Biden’s landmark trip to Belfast next month will be rounded off by a meeting with King Charles are fading after the US president brought forward by a week his trip to celebrate 25 years of peace.It now appears likely the king and the president will stage back-to-back visits in an echo of historic visits to Dublin by Barack Obama and the queen in 2011. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereSuspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports on its official Telegram channel that this morning the border village of Chernatske in Sumy oblast has been struck. It writes: “Twenty hits were recorded, probably from barrel artillery. The infrastructure of the village was damaged – a cultural centre and a children’s playground, as well as five private houses.”The UK Ministry of Defence says Russia’s 10th tank regiment has borne the brunt of the assault of Avdiivka and has likely lost a “large portion of its tanks” while attempting to surround the town from the south. Continue reading...

NHS ombudsman says more tragedies will occur unless decisive action in takenMothers and babies are being put at risk because maternity services are still providing unsafe care, despite a series of scandals that have cost lives, the NHS ombudsman has warned.More tragedies will occur unless the health service takes decisive action to put an end to repeated and deeply ingrained problems which lead to “the same mistakes over and over again”, he said. Continue reading...

Mexican president says protests to blame for fire in Ciudad Juárez, the latest example of dangers facing those taking route to USMexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has blamed protesting migrants for causing a fire at an immigration detention centre that has killed at least 39 people in Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican city on the US border.Images of the aftermath showed dozens of lifeless bodies on the ground, some covered by silver thermal blankets. Television footage showed emergency workers attending to stunned survivors, who sat on white sheets gasping for breath. Continue reading...

Prime minister tells MPs ‘no one has promised’ flights by summer, after Home Office source said plans were on trackRishi Sunak has raised doubts that asylum flights to Rwanda will take off by the summer, despite official briefings during Suella Braverman’s trip to the African country that plans were on track.During an appearance at the Commons liaison committee, the prime minister told MPs that “no one has promised flights by the summer” after he was pressed over the deterrent effect of the policy so far. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage hereNadia Whittome, the leftwing Labour MP, has said this morning that she hopes the party’s national executive committee throws out the motion that would ban Jeremy Corbyn from being a candidate for the party.Labour has now sent out the full text of Ed Miliband’s speech to the Green Alliance this morning. We have already covered the main points (here and at 10.55am), but it was a substantial, serious speech, and here are some futher things he said.Miliband confirmed that Labour would issue no more licence for oil and gas fields in the North Sea. This is from my colleague Fiona Harvey. Continue reading...

Amsterdam court dismisses French author’s complaint against film that shows him having sex with young womenA Dutch art collective can release an experimental erotic film showing the French novelist Michel Houellebecq having sex with young women in spite of the author’s attempt to stop its circulation, an Amsterdam court has ruled.Amsterdam’s district court on Tuesday afternoon dismissed a legal complaint by Houellebecq and his wife, Qianyun Lysis, that had aimed to curb the distribution of the film KIRAC 27 by Keeping It Real Art Critics, as well as a trailer that was uploaded on the art collective’s website last month but has since been taken down. Continue reading...

In bid to reduce nuisance behaviour ads will be triggered if people search online for terms such as ‘stag party Amsterdam’The city of Amsterdam is geo-targeting a campaign to tell young British men wanting a “messy” weekend to stay away.Research has suggested these Britons aged 18-35, and Dutch men of a similar age, tend to cause most nuisance in the red light district, with stag parties, pub crawls and all-night drink and drug benders making life unbearable for residents. Continue reading...

Former prime minister told audience in Lagos that his fine from police for breaking Covid laws was ‘bizarre’Boris Johnson has made light of his police fine for the Partygate scandal during a speech in Nigeria, joking that he was criminalised for standing up and eating lunch at his desk for 20 minutes.The former prime minister dismissed his fine from police for breaking Covid laws as “bizarre” at a conference in Lagos on “rehumanising human experience”. Continue reading...

Tribunal rules TV host has not failed to pay any tax or national insurance as IR35 rules do not apply to himGary Lineker has won his battle with HMRC over a £4.9m tax bill.The tax authorities had told the Match of the Day host, who operates his own company and works on a freelance basis for the BBC and BT Sport, that he should have been classed as an employee. Continue reading...

Governor tells MPs market turmoil has ‘tested’ banking sector for signs of weaknesses but denies fresh crisis is loomingThe Bank of England’s governor has said it is on high alert and will remain “vigilant” to further turmoil after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, noting it was the fastest demise of a lender since Barings Bank in the mid-1990s.Andrew Bailey told MPs on the Treasury select committee it had been decades since a lender had gone from “health to death” within a matter of days, saying that Barings – which was brought down by the rogue trader Nick Leeson – was the only worthwhile comparison to what happened to the US tech lender. Continue reading...

Questions raised over Benjamin Netanyahu’s control over coalition as he makes concessions to far rightIsraeli politics has descended into disarray with questions over whether a fired defence minister is refusing to step down and concerns Benjamin Netanyahu may have promised too much to far-right politicians in exchange for a deal aimed at quelling nationwide demonstrations.Facing a climax in the 12-week protest movement against his plans to weaken the power of the courts, the prime minister on Monday evening announced a delay to the proposals, saying he wanted time to seek a compromise with political opponents. Continue reading...

Minister says 13,000 police deployed as Macron vows not to waver on unpopular pensions policyHundreds of thousands of people have taken part in street protests and strikes across France amid fears of violent clashes with police, as demonstrations continue over Emmanuel Macron’s use of constitutional executive powers to push through an unpopular raise of the pension age.The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said 13,000 police had been deployed, 5,500 of them in Paris alone. He said the record number was justified by “a major risk to public order”. Continue reading...

Commissions for ‘pre-party to end all pre-parties’ include monument covered in sandbags, mass kite-fly and ‘queer fantasia’A 200-year-old bronze statue commemorating Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar is to be surrounded by thousands of sandbags to echo the plight of monuments in Ukraine.The plan for Liverpool’s Nelson’s Monument is one of 24 cultural commissions announced on Tuesday as part of a festival that aims to transform the city in the run-up to its staging of the Eurovision song contest. Continue reading...

Israeli prime minister looks out of touch in his handling of response to the country’s latest political crisisThe Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, kept the country waiting all day, but in the end, when he finally announced a suspension to the government’s proposed judicial overhaul, it was a theatrical speech. The 73-year-old compared the unprecedented rift dividing Israel to the tale of Solomon, who commanded an infant be cut in half to decide which of two women was its real mother, thus displaying his wisdom. Try as he might, however, in this story Netanyahu is not playing the role of the king.Rather, Israel’s latest political crisis is once again completely his own doing. Bibi, as he is widely known, has for now bought some time by delaying implementing the controversial legislation weakening the power of the supreme court to the Knesset’s summer session, but the issue is far from resolved. Continue reading...

Party refuses to comply with tough new registration law imposed by Myanmar’s military juntaAung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy faces the prospect of dissolution after it refused to comply with a tough new party registration law imposed by Myanmar’s military junta.The military, which seized power in a coup in February 2021, set Tuesday as a deadline for political parties to re-register under a restrictive new law. It has promised to hold an election, though such a vote has been widely dismissed as lacking in any credibility. Continue reading...

Fifa and Qatar claimed the World Cup would transform workers’ rights, but 100 days on from the final, the Guardian has found that for some it has become worseSecurity guards employed by a company with contracts at sites linked to the World Cup in Qatar are allegedly still being paid as little as 35 pence an hour, four months after the Guardian first revealed their plight.In a Guardian investigation, published on the eve of the World Cup, the guards alleged they were being subjected to abusive practices, including overtime pay below the legal minimum. Interviews this month with security guards employed by Al Nasr Star Security Services at multiple sites suggests the issue of illegal pay remains. Continue reading...

CWU union lines up action as MP brands bosses’ threat to put service into administration as ‘scandalous’Postal workers at Royal Mail are poised to stage a fresh wave of strikes after Easter as talks stalled, amid a “scandalous” threat by bosses to put the company into administration.The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents about 115,000 postal workers, is close to agreeing multiple strike dates to take place later in April, the Guardian understands, in the long-running dispute between the company and union. A formal announcement of the strike dates is expected this week. Continue reading...

Crisis engulfs president amid growing row over plan to raise retirement age from 62 to 64The depth of the domestic crisis facing Emmanuel Macron can be measured by the growing university barricades and packed student assemblies where angry young people have gathered in recent days to intensify protests and help teenage high-school pupils blockade their lycées.As long as the country’s youth largely stayed away from the two months of trade-union-led street demonstrations and transport strikes against Macron’s plan to raise the pension age from 62 to 64, the government felt the protest movement would be manageable. But street demonstrations on Tuesday have shown how far anti-Macron feeling and anger at the use of constitutional executive powers to push through the pension changes without a parliament vote, have spurred growing numbers of young people to begin taking part. Continue reading...

Group admits string of transgressions, days before reforms of gambling laws are finalisedWilliam Hill has been fined a record £19m for “widespread and alarming” social responsibility and anti-money-laundering failures that were revealed just days before long-awaited reforms of Britain’s gambling laws are finalised.The 88-year-old bookmaking brand, owned by 888 Group, admitted a string of transgressions, including allowing customers to lose tens of thousands of pounds within minutes of opening an account. Continue reading...

The Russian president has managed to rally people around the flag with talk of a fight for national survival

Eighteen German vehicles handed over at border to bolster military supplies from Britain and EU countries

Bectu launches safer theatres charter as survey reveals 45% of workers may quit due to shocking levels of antisocial behaviour by drunken theatregoersUK theatre staff have been attacked, sexually harassed and abused by drunken audience members during performances, a new survey has revealed.Front of house staff facing violent assaults, theatregoers urinating in fire exits and mass brawls breaking out in auditoriums were among the incidents uncovered by the report from the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre union (Bectu). Continue reading...

Excerpts from depositions of actor’s children also to be read in court during trial over 2016 collisionGwyneth Paltrow’s attorneys are expected to call a series of experts and read depositions from her two teenage children in the first full day of the actor’s trial that they have to call witnesses to make their case.Owing to the eight-day limit the judge imposed on the trial, Paltrow’s defence team is expected to face difficult time-management decisions, much like Terry Sanderson’s experienced last week as they attempted to juggle family members, ski instructors and experts in skiing and brain science. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed.

Party remains two seats short of governing in its own right as three crossbenchers promise supply

In today’s newsletter: The former health minister inherits a party, country and movement in flux from predecessor Nicola Sturgeon

Q+A host says presenter Jeremy Fernandez was reduced to a ‘cameo’ role on an otherwise ‘entire white panel’

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing’s failure to treat severe mould led to the death of two-year-old Awaab IshakA social landlord claimed refugee tenants were lucky to have a roof over their heads and that mould was “acceptable” in their homes, an investigation has found.A manager at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), the housing provider whose failure to treat severe mould led to the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, made the remark to a colleague, according to a damning report into the landlord’s wider conduct. Continue reading...

Tenants and social organisations say proposed change don’t go far enough to addressing housing stress

Defence minister says government ‘willing to explore’ participating in ‘pillar two’ of defence deal founded by Australia, UK and USNew Zealand’s government has confirmed it is discussing joining the non-nuclear part of the Aukus alliance founded by Australia, the UK and US.“We have been offered the opportunity to talk about whether we could or wish to participate in that pillar two [non-nuclear] aspect of it,” said Andrew Little, the New Zealand defence minister. “I’ve indicated we will be willing to explore it.” Continue reading...

Schulz would be ‘extremely vulnerable’ in prison and at risk from Taliban sympathisers if he remained there, court hears

Police allege Ward indecently assaulted a 17-year-old boy in 2013 and raped a 27-year-old man in 2015

Sarah Mantell’s script awarded Susan Smith Blackburn prize, beating plays by Zadie Smith, Kimber Lee and Ruby ThomasThe American playwright Sarah Mantell has won this year’s Susan Smith Blackburn prize for their play In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot.Written for a cast of seven female, non-binary and transgender actors, all aged over 50, the play is described by Mantell as exploring “queer ageing, capitalism, campfires and falling in love as the world ends”. It follows a group of itinerant warehouse workers on their night shifts as they search for people they have lost. Continue reading...

British Retail Consortium blames rising price of butter, eggs and cocoa, with sugar at a six-year highA surge in the cost of sugar on global commodity markets is being blamed for a rise in the price of chocolate eggs and hot cross buns ahead of celebrations over the Easter weekend.Figures from global food markets show that the main ingredients of traditional festive treats – butter, eggs, cocoa and sugar – have risen in price month after month since last summer, with sugar at a six-year high. Continue reading...

Votes come as Labour says people will continue to risk lives to cross Channel under new billAs Alex Wickham from Politico points out, the questions Rishi Sunak is getting this morning suggest this audience is not happy with the government’s record on crime.Q: The Conservatives have “dropped the ball a little bit, to be honest”. The questioner says laughing gas is the least of their problems. People are using much harder drugs. He has skimmed through the action plan document. Some of it is good. But punishments need to be firmer. People probably won’t turn up for community sentences. And the government needs to tackle drugs at source. Continue reading...

Incoming Chris Minns government will have an interim cabinet sworn in as vote counting continues in key seats

National Education Union to recommend members reject offer of 4.3% rise and £1,000 one-off paymentA major teaching union has criticised ministers’ “insulting” new pay offer, raising the prospect of further walkouts in schools this spring.The National Education Union said the offer of a 4.3% rise for most teachers plus a £1,000 one-off payment for the 2023-24 year was not enough and it will recommend that its members reject the deal. Continue reading...

New leader needs to convince Scotland that he can take the SNP in a fresh directionThe first act of Humza Yousaf’s leadership of the SNP was to fire off a letter to Rishi Sunak demanding a section 30 order which, if granted, would trigger the mechanism to allow a second Scottish independence referendum to go ahead.His predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon, had already tried this in 2017 and again in 2019, but her approach failed when the UK government refused to agree to it. Downing Street has already made it clear that Sunak’s response to Yousaf will be no different. Continue reading...

PCS union announces all-out strike at end of month of industrial action by members in different sectorsMore than 133,000 civil and public servants will go on strike on 28 April at the end of a month of industrial action, a leading union has said.The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said its members would be on strike throughout April, including another all-out strike by 133,000 civil and public servants on 28 April. Continue reading...

Authors say supported mindfulness-based cognitive therapy also cheaper than treatment NHS usually offersPractising mindfulness is much better than taking part in talking therapies at helping people recover from depression, a British study has found.People who used a mindfulness self-help book for eight weeks and had six sessions with a counsellor experienced a 17.5% greater improvement in recovery from depressive symptoms than those who underwent cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) while being supported by a mental health practitioner. Continue reading...

Area supports an abundance of species, from rare and endangered birds to seagrass meadowsPoole harbour is one of the most strictly protected environmental areas in the UK and Europe, but as the frantic clean-up taking place on Monday showed, it is not immune to pollution from oil spills.As a site of special scientific interest, a European special area of conservation and a marine protection zone, the harbour and its waters support an abundance of species, from rare and endangered birds to the seagrass meadows in its waters that are carbon sinks. Continue reading...

Duke of Sussex in London for hearing in his claim against Associated Newspapers over alleged unlawful information gatheringThe Duke of Sussex has arrived at the high court in London for a hearing in his claim against the publisher of the Daily Mail over allegations of illegal behaviour by the outlets’ journalists.Prince Harry’s arrival came ahead of the first court hearing in a lawsuit also brought by Doreen Lawrence, the singer Elton John and other high-profile figures against Associated Newspapers over alleged phone-tapping and other breaches of privacy.The hiring of private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside people’s cars and homes.The commissioning of individuals to surreptitiously listen in to, and record, people’s live, private telephone calls while they were taking place.The payment of police officials, with allegedly corrupt links to private investigators, for sensitive inside information.The impersonation of individuals to obtain medical information from private hospitals, clinics, and treatment centres by deception.The accessing of bank accounts, credit histories and financial transactions through illicit means and manipulation. Continue reading...

Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan in running to replace Nicola SturgeonThe Scottish National party is preparing to announce later on Monday which candidate has won the bitterly contested battle to be Scotland’s next first minister.With voting now closed, Humza Yousaf, the frontrunner, said he wanted to greatly increase taxes on the rich, and introduce a windfall tax on energy firms and on landowners to fund more generous anti-poverty measures. Continue reading...