World news | The Guardian

Conspiracists attempting to present an alternative reality of the Wieambilla attack that left two police officers and a neighbour dead

Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, brother of cartel boss ‘El Mencho’, is third member of family to be arrested by Mexican authoritiesThe brother of one of Mexico’s top drug lords has been arrested, the Mexican military said, marking another high-profile capture amid a wave of violence that has overwhelmed the country.Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, brother of the Jalisco New Generation cartel boss known as “El Mencho”, was arrested on Tuesday in the state of Jalisco by the Mexican army working with the national guard, the attorney general’s office and the national intelligence agency. Continue reading...

Welsh ambulance service apologises to Elizabeth Davies, whose care home and family made 10 calls for help after she fellThe Welsh ambulance service has apologised after a 93-year-old woman was left “screaming in pain” while lying on the floor with a broken hip during a 25-hour ambulance wait.Elizabeth Davies fell at her care home on Saturday and was finally picked up at 1.15pm on Sunday and admitted to Ysbyty Gwynedd hospital in Bangor on Monday, where she endured another 12-hour wait before being admitted to a ward. A hip fracture was later confirmed in surgery. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can find our latest Ukraine coverage hereThe Biden administration has crossed a new line in its support for Ukraine, by indicating its willingness to send Patriot air and missile defence systems to aid in the war against Russia.The system – which includes powerful missile interceptors and radar – is likely to prove highly effective for Ukraine, and marks a significant step forward in the scope and complexity of the US’s support. But the gift of such prestige systems will present longer-term challenges for Nato. Continue reading...

Ben Wallace says Putin regime will supply military technology in return for drones used to attack Ukraine

Finds at site west of Jerusalem named after woman said to have assisted at the birth of Jesus ChristArchaeologists have unveiled pilgrims’ lamps and other finds from the ”tomb of Salome”, a burial site named after a woman said to have assisted at the birth of Christ.The tomb was discovered by grave robbers in what is now Tel Lachish national park, west of Jerusalem, in the 1980s. Continue reading...

PM says rises could make inflation worse and states politicians should not ‘cut across’ independent pay review processRishi Sunak has refused to budge on NHS pay, saying that rises could make soaring inflation worse as he comes under growing pressure to negotiate with striking health workers.The prime minister suggested that politicians should not “cut across” the independent pay review process to boost salaries for nurses and paramedics even if it meant further damaging strikes this winter. Continue reading...

The People’s Alliance leader will take over after he secured the backing of the Social Liberal Democratic party to oust longstanding rivalFrank Bainimarama’s reign as leader of Fiji has ended almost 16 years after he instigated a coup in 2006 and installed himself as prime minister the next year.Cheering, singing and car horns filled the streets on Tuesday outside the office of the man who will be crowned Fiji’s new prime minister. Continue reading...

Higher education ministry issues indefinite order three months after thousands sat entrance examsAfghanistan’s Taliban rulers have ordered an indefinite ban on university education for the country’s women, the ministry of higher education said in a letter issued to all government and private universities.“You all are informed to implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females until further notice,” said the letter signed by the minister for higher education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more about Wednesday’s ambulance workers’ strike hereIn his interviews this morning Will Quince, the health minister, said that the military personnel who are helping out when ambulance staff are on strike tomorrow will not be allowed to turn on blue lights when driving ambulances, or drive them through red lights. “They will be there to drive ambulances in a support capacity for individual trusts,” he said.At the health committee hearing Dr John Martin, president of the College of Paramedics, told MPs that ambulance staff are now having to deal with “a sicker population who are calling us more often” than they were in the past. But, despite that, ambulance staff were seeing fewer patients per shift, he said, because of the delays getting people into hospital because of delayed discharges. Continue reading...

Remarks highlight Moscow’s growing acknowledgement that invasion is not going to plan

Open letter signed by Emma Thompson, Mark Rylance and Steve McQueen expresses outrage at Oscar-winner’s arrestFilm stars, playwrights, novelists and directors from across the world have rallied to the defence of the Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti, calling for her immediate release from the infamous Evin prison in Tehran.The Oscar-winning actor was arrested at her home on Saturday and has since told her family she is being detained in Evin. She has been asked to explain Instagram posts in which she denounced the Iranian government for imposing the death penalty on protesters. She had posted a picture of herself in which she was not wearing the hijab and holding a piece of paper reading “women, life, freedom” – the slogan that has come to encapsulate a nationwide protest movement. Continue reading...

Scotland Yard to look into footage in which Beckenham MP tells activist Sayed Alwadaei ‘go back to Bahrain’Police will investigate an allegation of racial abuse after the Guardian revealed a confrontation with Tory MP Bob Stewart, who told an activist to “go back to Bahrain”.Scotland Yard have said they will investigate the video footage after a complaint from Sayed Alwadaei, the director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), who had an angry exchange with Stewart outside a reception hosted by the Bahraini embassy. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester police believe part of mill used as illegal cannabis factoryFour Vietnamese men who died in a mill fire were likely to have been the victims of modern slavery, police have said.The men’s bodies were discovered 10 weeks after a huge fire destroyed the derelict Bismark House Mill in Oldham, Greater Manchester, on 7 May. Continue reading...

Aslef action falls between two 48-hour strikes by RMT, knocking out most trains for five daysTrain drivers have called a fresh 24-hour strike on 5 January in the long-running dispute over pay and conditions on UK railways.The action at 15 train operators by members of the Aslef union falls between two 48-hour strikes by the RMT union on 3-4 and 6-7 January, meaning most trains will be wiped out for five consecutive days. Continue reading...

Conservative judges froze passage of measures meant to overhaul appointments to their courtSpain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has vowed to use “whatever measures are needed” to end to a long-running judicial deadlock after conservative judges at the country’s constitutional court took the unprecedented step of suspending the passage of legislation that would overhaul the way appointments to their court are made.Last week, Sánchez’s Socialist-led coalition government managed to get its changes to the penal code through congress, the lower house of Spain’s parliament. Continue reading...

Actor plays ‘intimidating’ role of Coleen Rooney in Channel 4 adaptation of libel action brought by Rebekah VardyIt was one of the most closely followed high court trials in recent years, spawning gossip, memes and social commentary across newspapers, Twitter and the legal industry.But one person who didn’t keep up with the now infamous “Wagatha Christie” trial – the whodunnit of the digital-age – was Chanel Cresswell, the actor who will be stepping into the shoes of one of its key players. Continue reading...

Rong Shi, 18, says ‘it was really hard’ as he and four friends were swept across Phillip Bay on paddleboards after an end-of-school adventure went wrong

It is expected that only category 1 cases will be responded to during the strike in England and WalesAmbulances in some parts of England and Wales will be sent out only to patients at immediate risk of dying when staff strike on Wednesday – although ministers are spending Tuesday trying to persuade them to respond to more calls.Ambulance services in different areas are taking slightly different approaches to the 24-hour strike period, but there is a broad expectation that only the most urgent calls, known as category 1 emergencies, will be responded to. Continue reading...

Irmgard Furchner, 97, who worked at Stutthof concentration camp during the second world war, is given a two-year suspended sentenceA 97-year-old former secretary at a Nazi concentration camp has been found guilty of complicity in the murder of more than 10,500 people imprisoned there, and handed a two-year suspended sentence.Irmgard Furchner, who has been on trial in the northern German town of Itzehoe for more than a year, spoke to the court on one occasion earlier this month to say she was sorry for what had happened, but stopped short of admitting her guilt. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Tariq Stanley was smoking a cigarette in his car when he was approached by officersThe Metropolitan police have apologised more than two years after an insurance underwriter sitting in his car outside his home was handcuffed, injured, strip searched and detained in a cell by officers looking for cannabis.No drugs were found on Tariq Stanley, 30, who believes his race was the reason he was targeted. He said he was left traumatised and suffered injuries to his shoulder and left wrist, which was in a splint for two months. Continue reading...

Former Wimbledon champion tells German broadcaster he learned a hard lesson and experience was ‘worthwhile’Boris Becker has given his first interview since leaving prison in the UK and being deported back to Germany earlier this week, telling German viewers: “In prison I was a nobody.”The former Wimbledon champion, appearing slimmed down and sporting a new hair colour and style, told the broadcaster Sat 1 that as an inmate he was not called by his first name, and “no one gave a shit” about his champion status. Continue reading...

Holyrood bill introducing a system of self-declaration for gender recognition has polarised opinionScottish government plans to reform how a transgender person changes the sex on their birth certificate will reach their last legislative stage with week, with amendments to a bill being discussed on Tuesday and the final debate and vote on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Wednesday’s strike goes ahead as Royal College of Nursing highlights low payNurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland went on strike on Tuesday in an ongoing dispute with the government about pay and concerns about patient safety.Up to 100,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) took part after it balloted its members in October. It has said that low pay is the cause of chronic understaffing that is putting patients at risk and leaves NHS staff overworked. Continue reading...

Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander to offer mortgages on medium and high-rise properties from JanuarySix of the UK’s largest banks will start lending on medium and high-rise flats with cladding from January, in a move that could help thousands of people stuck in properties they have not been able to sell or remortgage.Lenders including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest and Santander, said they would consider fresh mortgage applications from 9 January, after receiving long-awaited guidance from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) on how to value affected properties. Continue reading...

Fellow Liberal new arrival Evan Mulholland calls for prison sentences to be scrapped for some drug offences

Cross-party group of MPs say column contributes to ‘unacceptable climate of hatred and violence’More than 60 cross-party MPs have written to the Sun’s editor, Victoria Newton, to demand an apology and “action taken” against Jeremy Clarkson for a column where he said the Duchess of Sussex should be paraded through the streets naked.In a letter, they said Meghan had received credible threats to her life and that columns such as Clarkson’s contributed to an “unacceptable climate of hatred and violence”. Continue reading...

Decision grants people on temporary protection visas rights to social security and reunion with family members

Albin Kurti warns rising tensions only benefit Putin as ethnic Serbs set up road blocks in north of country

Renewed push comes after last week’s fatal shooting of two Queensland police officers and a neighbour in Wieambilla

Having survived a tough childhood in Coventry, Hall became one of pop’s defining voices at the turn of the 80s, chronicling British decline and disfranchised youth with the 2 Tone band• Alexis Petridis: ‘Terry Hall was the self-assured eye of the Specials storm’

Gaby Hutchinson, 23, was working in security role at London venue on night of Asake gigA security guard has become the second person to die after a crowd crush at the O2 Academy Brixton last week.Gaby Hutchinson, 23, was working as a contracted security provider at a performance on Thursday by the Nigerian Afrobeats singer-songwriter Asake.A previous version of this story was launched on Monday 19 December 2022. This version reflects updated information released by the Metropolitan police. Continue reading...

Francesco Velli, 73, had history of harassing neighbours before killing three members of the condo board and two othersThe man who shot and killed five people at a suburban Toronto condominium on Sunday evening had spent years harassing his neighbours and threatening the building’s condo board over a belief that the building’s electrical room was making him sick.At a news conference on Monday, York region police chief James MacSween identified the gunman in Sunday night’s attack in the city of Vaughn as Francesco Velli. Continue reading...

DfE annual report lays bare state of dilapidated education estate built during postwar shortagesOfficials have raised the risk level of school buildings collapsing to “very likely”, after an increase in serious structural issues being reported – especially in blocks built in the years 1945 to 1970.England’s dilapidated school estate has been a cause of growing concern, but the dangers were laid bare in the Department for Education’s (DfE) annual report, which highlights school building safety as one of six key risks. Continue reading...

No increases until August 2023 despite Jeremy Hunt’s first full budget being scheduled for 15 MarchA freeze on alcohol duty is to be extended for a further six months as the government seeks to help pubs, restaurants, brewers and distilleries weather the looming recession.The Treasury minister James Cartlidge told MPs there would be no increases in duty on beers, wine, cider and spirits until August 2023 – when a new simplified system comes into force – even if the chancellor announces new rates in next year’s budget. Continue reading...

Findings this month of geoglyphs, which date back more than 2,000 years, are smaller and can be seen from the groundMore than 100 new designs discovered in and around Peru’s ancient Nazca plain and surrounding areas could bring new information to light about the mysterious pre-Columbian artworks that have intrigued scientists and visitors for decades.Following two years of field surveys with aerial photos and drones, Peruvian and Japanese researches from Yamagata University earlier this month reported the discovery of 168 new designs at the Unesco World Heritage site on Peru’s southern Pacific coast. Continue reading...

More than a million people were in the streets of Buenos Aires celebrating the victory, according to estimates from authoritiesAround the Obelisk in Buenos Aires, revelers in football shirts, hats, wigs and face-paint in the Argentinian colours danced long into the night to drums and sound systems blaring cumbia and reggaeton.Young people climbed fences, light posts, and the giant BA sign at the foot of the monument. It was an ecstatic tribute to a World Cup victory this country had been waiting for ever since this football-mad nation last carried the trophy home in 1986. Continue reading...

The PM seems undecided about delivering the big uplift in military help Kyiv needs to get ready for a possible Russian offensive

Evening Standard owner among a series of peers who appear to play a minimal role without a formal leave of absence from LordsEvgeny Lebedev has turned up to little more than 1% of Lords sessions since Boris Johnson made him a peer, Guardian analysis shows, making him among the seemingly least active members of the chamber over the past three years.Of 318 possible sittings since he formally entered the Lords in November 2019, the billionaire newspaper proprietor and friend of Johnson attended four times up to 7 December, attendance records show, 1.25% of the total. Continue reading...

Handing over of Bülent Keneş is one of Ankara’s key demands in exchange for ratifying Sweden’s membershipSweden’s supreme court has blocked the extradition of an exiled Turkish journalist, which was a key demand by Ankara to ratify Stockholm’s Nato membership.The court said on Monday there were “several hindrances” to sending back Bülent Keneş, a former editor-in-chief of the Zaman daily, who Turkey accuses of being involved in a 2016 attempt to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Continue reading...

Such moves by energy firms labelled ‘morally repugnant’ as households struggle with soaring billsMPs have called for a ban on forced installations of prepayment meters amid fears that elderly and vulnerable people are being effectively cut off from heating and power supplies.Prepayment meters (PPM) are under the spotlight as thousands of warrants allowing forced installations are being issued while households struggle with a rise in the cost of energy. Continue reading...

Exclusive: MP said she received allegations from staff of elderly patients being left in corridors for hoursThe Birmingham MP Preet Gill has called on the UK health secretary to launch a major public inquiry into allegations that a bullying and a toxic culture is risking patient safety at University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB).The MP for Edgbaston, where UHB is based, said she had received complaints from staff alleging elderly patients had been left on beds in corridors outside wards due to mismanagement, and medics were discouraged from speaking out about problems.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. For more information visit www.samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.

Two men identified as leading players in May 2021 disturbance are jailed for six years and three monthsRioters turned a housing estate in Swansea into a “war zone” for the sake of “mass entertainment”, leaving families terrorised, police officers injured and a community scarred, a judge has said.Sentencing 18 men who organised or took part in the disturbance in May 2021, the judge, Paul Thomas KC, said the plan had been to “light up” the Mayhill estate, with ringleaders “cynically hijacking” a vigil for a teenager who died suddenly to create a “large-scale ruckus”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: NWAS letter says ambulance will come only if a patient is having a cardiac arrest or if there is immediate risk of them dying

Belarusian leader stresses country’s independence as Russian president makes first visit since 2019

As Penny Wong heads to Beijing for the first such visit in four years, trade minister says he is confident economic issues can be resolved

Unions say ‘bar must be set very low’ as only 9% of facilities rated substandard despite recent reports of poor conditions

Country’s president wins second five-year term as party leader after campaign dogged by scandalThe South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has been re-elected as leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) for a second five-year term in a party leadership contest.Votes casts by delegates at the party conference gave Ramaphosa a clear victory over his rival, Zweli Mkhize, a former party treasurer and health minister. Continue reading...

Government announces help for 900,000 households in Great Britain and £600 Northern Ireland paymentPeople living in care homes and on caravan parks can receive £400 to help with their fuel bills as part of a government drive to support all UK households with energy costs this winter.The government said on Monday that 900,000 households in England, Scotland and Wales without a direct relationship to an energy supplier would be able to apply online for the £400. Continue reading...