World news | The Guardian

Former Auburn deputy mayor, 36, has pleaded not guilty to six charges related to alleged domestic violence

Whether waterlogged from flooding or parched and prone to wildfires, festival sites are having to plan for every eventuality – and the costs are substantialWellies and sun hats are the traditional first guard against the elements at festivals, but this summer they may not be enough to protect revellers. Flood defences, wildfire response teams and satellite weather-monitoring technology are among the ways UK music festivals are adapting to extreme weather events fuelled by the climate crisis.Last summer’s record high temperatures in the UK hit during festival season, and the changing climate has become one of the industry’s biggest challenges, increasing the frequency, severity and likelihood of weather such as heatwaves and thunderstorms. With preparations underway for this year’s festival season, event organisers are increasing their contingency plans to secure their events, at a time of higher costs in labour, energy and insurance. Continue reading...

Hungarian PM previously backed Trump but meetings between Katalin Novák and DeSantis camp suggest he’s hedging his betsHungary’s far-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, one of Donald Trump’s biggest international supporters, has made overtures in recent weeks to Ron DeSantis and one of the Florida governor’s key billionaire backers.Orbán has repeatedly voiced strong support for Trump’s policies and political style even long after the former president left the White House. But meetings between a key Orbán ally and the DeSantis camp suggest the Hungarian leader is hedging his bets amid uncertainty over Trump’s electoral prospects. Continue reading...

Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb says it’s not ‘accurate’ to claim the government’s policies were making Australia uncompetitive

Experience in eastern Mediterranean proves deterrence and harsh conditions do little to discourage refugeesProminent Conservatives openly view Greece’s self-described “strict but fair” migration policies as a model to emulate. The former home secretary Priti Patel told MPs last week that “we would not be in this current situation” had she been allowed to replicate “Greek-style reception centres”.British interest in the Greek model dates back to May 2021, when the former immigration minister Chris Philp made an “urgent” – as internal documents seen by the Guardian called it – trip to Greece. This was followed by an official visit by Patel in August 2021, who toured a newly constructed Greek camp, went out on patrol with the Greek coastguard and spoke of working “closely with Greek partners” on migration. Continue reading...

The country’s second-biggest state has been riven by mass street protests, armed clashes between local police and the federal military as well as the fatal shooting of two aid workersGun battles and mass protests have engulfed parts of Amhara, Ethiopia’s second-biggest region, after a move to centralise the regional security forces of the country’s 11 states.The federal government announced the policy last Thursday, in pursuit of building “a strong centralised army”. People from several towns in Amhara responded with protests, while some units of the region’s security forces refused to disarm and clashed with the federal military. Continue reading...

Majority of judges find that bureaucrats cannot decide whether the minister should consider intervening, as department policy dictates

Fossil from fourth-ever discovered specimen of a titanosaur may reinforce theory that dinosaurs travelled between South America and Australia

eSafety commissioner uses tough new powers against social media giant after complaint from Higgins’s partner David Shiraz

Judge chided firm’s lawyers after they revealed for the first time in nearly two years owner’s executive chairman titleA judge said Fox News had a “credibility problem” as it prepares for a $1.6bn defamation trial after the company disclosed for the first time in nearly two years of litigation that Rupert Murdoch was an officer of the company.On Monday, Fox News and its parent company Fox Corp head to trial over Fox’s coverage of false election-rigging claims. Murdoch, chairman of Fox Corp, is expected to testify. Continue reading...

Depending on the plan, either California would be the most affected, or Arizona and Nevada would be parchedThe federal government on Tuesday laid out options for saving the Colorado River in an effort to prevent it from falling to critically low levels and put an end to months-long negotiations between the seven western states and Indigenous nations that rely on it as a dwindling resource.As less and less water has been flowing through the river and its reservoirs fell to historic lows, the US Bureau of Reclamation, which manages water resources, called on the basin’s seven states – California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming – to find ways to cut as much as 30% of their river water allocation. Continue reading...

Dresses worn by Marilyn Monroe, Maria Callas – and Elton John’s 50th birthday costume – feature in London exhibition“I will always be as difficult as necessary to achieve the best,” Maria Callas – one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century – once said.For the sentiment, Callas and countless other performers, from Barbra Streisand to Beyoncé and Mariah Carey, have been labelled as “divas”. The term, which means goddess in Italian, has over the years come to denote a self-important person, usually a woman, who is demanding and difficult to please. Continue reading...

Advertising Standards Authority rules ads misled consumers about the environmental impact of flyingAn ad campaign by Etihad Airways trumpeting its approach to “sustainable aviation” has been banned by the UK advertising watchdog, which ruled it was misleading consumers over the environmental impact of flying.The United Arab Emirates (UAE) national carrier, which has an extensive marketing strategy that includes sponsorship of Manchester City Premier League team including stadium naming rights, ran two Facebook adverts promoting its green credentials. Continue reading...

Former PM to say in speech that any attempts by western leaders to appease Xi Jinping would be a mistakeLiz Truss will say Emmanuel Macron’s recent trip to China was a “sign of weakness”, after the French president asked Beijing for support in ending the war in Ukraine.In the latest of a series of foreign policy interventions designed to encourage Rishi Sunak to take a tougher approach towards China, Truss will say in a speech that any attempts by western leaders to appease Xi Jinping would be a mistake. Continue reading...

In a career spanning seven decades best known for his landscapes, Olsen won the Archibald prize in 2005 for a self-portrait

Leaked US documents appear to indicate Egypt was planning to covertly supply Russia weapons; US says reporter Evan Gershkovich ‘wrongfully detained’ Continue reading...

Social media site stops censoring links and searches for newsletter platform after launch of rival microblogging serviceA six-day row between Twitter and Substack has come to an uneasy truce after the social media site stopped censoring links and searches for the newsletter platform following the latter’s decision to launch a rival microblogging service.However, the spat appears to have put an end to Elon Musk’s “Twitter Files” project, after he tweeted then deleted screenshots of a conversation between himself and one of its writers, Matt Taibbi, in which the pair sparred over the censorship. Continue reading...

Keswick mountain rescue team dispatched to bring men down fell after reports they were in troubleThe doughty men and women of Keswick mountain rescue are well used to helping walkers who have lost their way on the Lake District fells. But on the weekend they had to assist a group who had also lost their minds.Just after noon on Saturday, the team were called to the Stoneycroft, Newlands and Seathwaite area of the national park following reports that a group of young men were in trouble after taking magic mushrooms. Continue reading...

Exclusive: ‘Everyone told me it would never work’, says professor of nanomedicine, but science needs alternatives to experimenting on animalsProfessor of nanomedicine Wojciech Chrzanowski finds it “heartbreaking” to recall some of his early scientific work, where research involving animal testing was inevitable.“The moment you start working in a lab, and have to start squeezing and cutting animals, you feel sorry for them,” Chrzanowski said. Continue reading...

Neighbours at Merrylands apartment block called police about 11.30pm on Easter Sunday to report concerns for her welfare

Strike is expected to lead to 350,000 appointments including operations being cancelledJunior doctors across England have begun a four-day strike that will result in an estimated 350,000 appointments including operations being cancelled.Doctors will mount picket lines outside hospitals from 7am until Saturday morning in a deteriorating dispute over pay. It is the longest industrial action in the health service since nurses, ambulance crews and other health workers took action last year. Continue reading...

Detectives suspect a rubbish truck had transported the body of Lesley Trotter, 78, on 28 March

Latest move fits with Albanese government’s attempts to pursue ‘constructive’ dialogue with China without making any policy concessions

In ‘sign of goodwill’, federal government temporarily suspends WTO challenge as China agrees to review its tariffs

Including ministers outside cabinet, there are now more women in country’s executive than menNew Zealand has reached gender equity in its government cabinet for the first time in its history.The country had elected its most diverse parliament ever under former prime minister Jacinda Ardern in 2020, significantly boosting numbers of female, Māori and LBGTQ+ members. Now, it has reached gender parity at the decision-making table of cabinet, the body of senior ministers responsible for most important policy, legislative and spending decisions. Continue reading...

The artist behind the magazine’s famous “fold-in” drawing, Jaffee was Mad’s longest-tenured contributor and only retired when he was 99Al Jaffee, the pioneering Mad magazine cartoonist and inventor of the “fold-in” who worked for the publication for seven decades and retired when he was 99 years old, has died at the age of 102.Jaffee died on Monday in a Manhattan hospital of multi-system organ failure, his granddaughter told the New York Times. Continue reading...

In open letter, 48 MPs and senators warn ‘closest strategic ally’ that pursuit of WikiLeaks founder ‘set a dangerous precedent’Australian federal politicians from across the political spectrum have jointly asked the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, to abandon attempts to extradite Julian Assange from the UK.The 48 MPs and senators – including 13 from the governing Labor party – warned that the pursuit of the WikiLeaks founder “set a dangerous precedent” for press freedom and would damage the reputation of the US. Continue reading...

Two dogs seized by council from a Woodridge property after the child sustained significant abdominal, chest and shoulder injuries

Land Rover was monitoring a dissident republican parade commemorating the 1916 RisingThe British and Irish governments have condemned petrol bomb attacks on police in Derry on the eve of Joe Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland.A small crowd threw petrol bombs and other missiles at a police Land Rover during a parade by dissident republicans in the Creggan area of the city on Monday. The vehicle briefly caught fire and was withdrawn. Continue reading...

Rescue workers continue to search smouldering debris for more people after suspected explosion, as manslaughter investigation openedRescue workers have recovered a sixth body from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in Marseille, as emergency services battled difficult conditions to look for missing people.More than 24 hours after a suspected explosion at the building, where people had reported a strong smell of gas, dozens of rescue workers and dogs worked among the debris and rubble as a fire still smouldered underneath. Continue reading...

Wealthiest 10% captured growth in company profits while most Australians watched their real wages shrink, Australia Institute finds

Aged care workers in capital cities would have to spend 77% of their pay on housing to pay the average rent of $572 a week

Dismissal of Yoav Gallant triggered unprecedented surge of protest against plan to disempower judiciaryAs Israel faces a surge in violence on almost every front, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has reversed his decision to fire the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for warning that his judicial overhaul was harming the military.In a televised speech late on Monday, Netanyahu said Gallant would stay in his position, two weeks after he dismissed the minister. Continue reading...

Near miss occurred off coast of Crimea in September 2022, according to apparent leak of Pentagon documents

Lucy Dee sustained critical injuries in attack on Friday that killed her daughters Maia and RinaThe mother of two British-Israeli sisters killed in a shooting in the occupied West Bank has died from injuries sustained in the incident.Maia and Rina Dee, 20 and 15, were killed on Friday when their car was shot at by a suspected Palestinian gunman. Their mother, Lucy (also known as Leah), 45, who was in the car with them, sustained critical injuries and was left in a coma. Continue reading...

Operation comes as attempted crossings of Mediterranean from north Africa surge over weekendThe Italian coastguard said on Monday it was carrying out a rescue operation involving two fishing boats with a total of 1,200 passengers on board, as the number of people attempting to cross the Mediterranean from north Africa surged over the weekend.One vessel carrying about 800 people was more than 120 miles (190 km) south-east of the Sicilian city of Syracuse, the coastguard said. Continue reading...

Key players in Yemeni coalition government ready to go along with minimum eight-month ceasefireSaudi Arabia has persuaded the key players in the Yemeni coalition government to go along with a minimum eight-month ceasefire with Houthi rebels in parallel with talks on the future of the country that may take as long as two years, as it rushes to capitalise on its new relationship with Iran.Saudi and Houthi leaders met on Sunday for the first time in public in the Houthi-held capital, Sana’a, with the Saudis keen to cut their losses after a disastrous eight-year-long intervention that started with airstrikes in 2015. Mediators from Oman were also present. Continue reading...

Alarm on both sides of Atlantic as French president warns against being drawn into any Taiwan conflictEmmanuel Macron has flown into a storm of criticism after he said Europe should not become a “vassal” and must avoid being drawn into any conflict between the US and China over Taiwan.The French president made the remarks in an interview on his plane after a three-day state visit to China, where he received a red carpet welcome by President Xi Jinping – a show of pageantry that alarmed some European China watchers. Continue reading...

Ship-launched fighter jets have previously never been seen in island’s air defence zoneChina’s military exercises targeting Taiwan have concluded after three days in which it encircled the island, simulated missile attacks on cities, and practised ship-launched strikes from the east.China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said on Monday the combat readiness drills had “comprehensively tested the troops under actual combat conditions”. Continue reading...

Centre for Responsible Technology ‘supportive’ of proposed reforms, calling them the ‘first significant upgrade of privacy laws in four decades’

Student disengagement is on the rise and the ‘disciplinary climate’ is among the least favourable in the OECD, education policy outlook warns

Labour says data reveals ‘mental health crisis at the heart of Whitehall’, as unions say staff cuts and low pay among reasonsWhitehall civil servants took a record 771,433 days of sick leave last year because of stress and other mental health problems, figures show.This all-time high number of mental health sick days taken by officials working for government departments was 38% higher than the 558,125 recorded just a year before. Continue reading...

Conference accuses inspectorate of ‘mercilessly bullying’ teachers and follows NEU in calling for changeOfsted inspectors have been accused of a “reign of terror” over teachers and school leaders in England, as a second major teaching union backed a campaign to abolish the schools watchdog.Delegates to the NASUWT annual conference voted for a motion describing Ofsted as a “major contributor to the excessive workload and bureaucracy that blights the lives of teachers” and instructed the union to campaign for its abolition and replacement.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org. Continue reading...

Exclusive: EMFS, devised by Treasury and Bank of England as backstop fund, was quietly closed this yearThe Treasury spent almost half a million pounds on an unused emergency scheme for energy traders launched by Liz Truss that was quietly closed earlier this year.

Giorgia Meloni’s rightwing government puts food and wine at heart of its nationalistic expressionA tall ship named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci will embark on a two-year voyage as Italy’s conservative government puts the promotion of the country’s food and wine at the heart of its nationalistic expression of Italian identity.The navy vessel, built in 1930 and described as “the most beautiful ship in the world”, will set sail on 1 July “to bring Made in Italy and the excellence of our country to the world”, according to the defence minister, Guido Crosetto. Continue reading...

Tropical cyclone brews off the Kimberley while freezing rain causes chaos in Quebec and OntarioAt the weekend a tropical low that was situated in the Timor Sea moved west-south-west into waters north of the Kimberley, Western Australia. Deepening as it moved, the low developed into a tropical cyclone on Sunday night that brought gale-force winds of up to 56 mph (90km/h) to the coast. Squally thunderstorms across northern parts of the region produced strong winds and heavy rain.The tropical cyclone is forecast to reach category 3 by Tuesday. From Wednesday it is expected to turn south, prompting the Australian Bureau of Meteorology to warn that a significant risk of further instability could steer the storm south-east into central or eastern Pilbara, or western Kimberley. Given sea surface temperatures will be 30-32C (86-90F), the cyclone is expected to deepen to a category 4, with some models forecasting central pressure as low as 910hPa. Continue reading...

Interaction at temple in India seen in video that has gone viral condemned as ‘inappropriate’ and ‘scandalous’The Dalai Lama has apologised after he faced allegations of inappropriate behaviour after kissing a young boy on the lips and asking him to “suck his tongue” at a public event in India.The interaction, which took place in late February at the Dalai Lama’s temple in Dharamshala, was attended by about 100 young students who had just graduated from the Indian M3M Foundation. Continue reading...

‘Very cold and gusty’ winds have lowered temperatures up and down the east coast and brought warnings of wild surf conditions

Grant Thornton hopes to finalise discussions about solutions for parts of the builder in the next week

Gatherings over Easter long weekend expected to cause further increase in infections, with Victoria already 60% up in past fortnight