World news | The Guardian

The school’s code of conduct instructs students to ‘abstain from biblically immoral practices’, including ‘sexual sins’

US burger giant hints at hundreds of stores in country, which is home to ice-cream chain named Wendy’s Milk Bar

Psychologist who treated one of Leifer’s alleged victims told court her client ‘couldn’t mouth the words’ to describe alleged abuse

The multiverse adventure picked up four major categories, while The White Lotus and Abbott Elementary won big for televisionEverything Everywhere All at Once reigned supreme at this year’s Screen Actors Guild awards, winning four major awards and breaking the record for most wins for a single film.The multiverse fantasy film picked up the night’s biggest award for ensemble in a motion picture, female actor for Michelle Yeoh and both supporting actor awards, for Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan. Continue reading...

Final report of parliamentary probe says the appointment of Stephen Cartwright ‘lacked integrity’

Gang who captured Prof Bryce Barker and his research team wanted compensation after two members shot at logging siteThe decision to take the Australian-based New Zealand archaeologist Prof Bryce Barker and his research team hostage near remote Mount Bosavi in Papua New Guinea was a “spur of the moment” decision by their captors, two of whom had been shot in an earlier encounter with security guards at a logging site.The governor of Hela province, Philip Undialu, said his team had only been able to begin negotiations with the captors – a criminal gang of about 20 “runners” moving guns and drugs across New Guinea – once they had moved the hostages into an area with mobile phone coverage. Continue reading...

Tech dealmaker reported to be unreachable 10 days ago in latest case of a top executive going missing during Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption driveThe Chinese billionaire tech banker Bao Fan, who was reported missing 10 days ago, is cooperating with Chinese authorities conducting an investigation, a China-based boutique bank has said.It is the first time China Renaissance Holdings has given a reason for the disappearance of its founder and chairman, though no details about the investigation were shared. Continue reading...

Most polluting commercial vehicles will pay up to £50 daily under new schemeSheffield has become the latest city to implement a clean air zone, which it hopes will tackle an estimated 500 deaths a year ascribed to pollution.From Monday, the most polluting commercial vehicles will have to pay a daily charge of £10 for older taxis and vans, or £50 for older buses, coaches and HGVs, to enter a zone covering the city centre and inner ring road. Private cars will be exempt from the charge. Continue reading...

Annual rise of £425bn smaller than in previous two years, says Savills as it predicts fall in house prices in 2023The total value of all homes across the UK has reached a record high of £8.7tn but rising mortgage costs are likely to lead to a dip in 2023.The country’s 30m homes were valued by the estate agent Savills at a combined £8.68tn at the end of 2022, a rise of just over 5% or £425bn on a year earlier. Continue reading...

Robert Burns Ellisland Trust proposes to turn Ellisland Farm in Dumfries and Galloway into visitor attractionA charity has revealed its plans to save a barn built by the Scottish poet Robert Burns where he wrote some of his most famous works, including Auld Lang Syne.Ellisland Farm, on the banks of the River Nith in Dumfries and Galloway, was built by Burns in 1788 for his wife, Jean Armour, and their family, and it was where wrote pieces such as Auld Lang Syne and Tam O’Shanter. Continue reading...

Now illegal for 16- and 17-year-olds to marry or enter a civil partnership, even with parental consentCampaigners have hailed a new law raising the legal age of marriage in England and Wales as a significant milestone in child protection.The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act comes into force on Monday following a five-year campaign and will prevent 16- and 17-year-olds from marrying or entering a civil partnership, even if they have parental consent. Continue reading...

Melbourne law firm will launch multi-million dollar case against AFL after ‘numerous’ male and female players suffered head injuries

Final tally not expected until middle of next week as polling system hit by significant technical problemsNigeria is in the midst of a tense wait as election authorities count tens of millions of votes that will determine who will become president in Africa’s most populous country and control its national assembly.Voting on Saturday was marred by widespread delays and some scattered violence but fears of widespread chaos proved unfounded. Continue reading...

Putin makes claim in TV address; mercenary boss and Ukraine make conflicting claims over control of Yahidne village

Police confirm that bodies of man and dog found on mountain are missing Yorkshireman and his dog, BaneThe body of missing hillwalker Kyle Sambrook and his dog have been found in Glencoe, police have confirmed.The 33-year-old was last seen with his beagle, Bane, in the Lost Valley area last weekend after he travelled from his home in West Yorkshire to go hillwalking. Continue reading...

UK nationals outnumber Germans for first time, as post-pandemic rebound helps Greek economy to grow by 5.6% in 2022UK travellers are leading an extraordinary rebound in tourism to Greece with arrivals up by 181% last year, according to the country’s central bank.Almost 4.5 million Britons were registered at Greek entry points, a record number and nearly 3 million more than in 2021. Continue reading...

Home Builders Federation warns planning policy changes will result in government meeting less than half its annual targetHousebuilding in England is due to fall to its lowest level since the second world war, according to an analysis by the Home Builders Federation (HBF), owing to a range of government policies that threaten to dramatically slow development.The study says the supply of new housing is likely to fall below 120,000 homes annually over the coming years, less than half of the government’s target, as a result of changes to planning policy and what developers say is over-strict enforcement of environmental regulations. Continue reading...

PM’s toughest political test comes amid plummeting interest in Brexit and elaborate parliamentary intrigueFor a Brexit-minded MP, the parallels may seem striking: an electorally embattled prime minister trying to push through a controversial Northern Ireland deal in the face of Tory and Democratic Unionist party (DUP) scepticism. But one thing has changed: this is 2023, not 2019.Theresa May’s struggles with Brexit, and her tumbling popularity with voters, led to her being forced out as prime minister by Conservative backbenchers. While no one would dispute that Rishi Sunak faces perhaps his toughest-ever political test, the stakes for him are, if not necessarily lower, then perhaps different. Continue reading...

New rules also cover transgender women ‘with their male genitalia intact’, says Dominic RaabRules barring some transgender women from female prisons in England and Wales are to come into force on Monday, the justice secretary has announced.Dominic Raab had already announced in October that trans women with male genitalia or who had committed sexual offences would not be allowed in women’s prisons. Continue reading...

Russian leader’s comments on state TV channel follow first anniversary of invasion of Ukraine

Vladimir Putin accuses west of wanting to liquidate Russia; US president Biden says China negotiating peace deal ‘not rational’

Dance company project enables parents to find a community of likeminded people in the areaIt’s Friday afternoon and there’s a casting for a new show at Leeds Playhouse. Dancers are asked to do the usual light choreography and improvisation tasks, but unlike most auditions there are regular breaks for nappy changes and breastfeeding.Contemporary dance company balletLORENT has encouraged parents and their children – aged between three weeks and four years old – to try out for its new multi-generational production of Rapunzel, to take place across two dates in April. The programme is looking to recruit three paid professional dancers to perform alongside their tots. Continue reading...

‘The world is ready,’ says campaign after 56 out of 61 firms in trial extend policyThe organisers of the world’s largest trial of the four-day working week have launched a drive to persuade more companies to try the idea, after receiving global coverage.The 4 Day Week Campaign said it aimed to persuade hundreds more companies to adopt the four-day week – crucially with no loss of pay for workers – after the six-month trial concluded this month. Autonomy, a thinktank supporting the campaign, said it would help companies in the transition during a national rollout programme. Continue reading...

Exclusive: research shows universal credit allowance far below cost of food, energy and essentials

Charities say figure of £120 a week – at least £35 more than universal credit allowance – is at stringent end of spectrumHow much is just enough to get by? According to new research, it is £120 a week. After housing costs, that is the bare minimum required for an unemployed single adult in the UK to eat regularly, heat their home, have the odd shower, take the odd bus trip, use a mobile phone, and, well, not do too much else.If you are one of Monty Python’s four Yorkshiremen or a certain kind of backbench Conservative MP, £120 a week will seem an absurd luxury. If you are a poverty researcher, on the other hand, it’s a relatively modest sum that offers a big upgrade on current benefit levels while only scratching the surface of the UK’s “deep poverty” problem. Continue reading...

Ben says he is ‘fairly privileged’, as for many it is no longer a question of heating or eating because they cannot afford either

Fast-tracking development in the Macarthur region will give Sydney a massive new infrastructure challenge

Practice of taking over people’s homes should be included in an overhaul of the Modern Slavery Act, say MPs“Cuckooing” in the homes of vulnerable people by drug gangs should become a criminal offence, according to a call from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) thinktank which has gathered cross-party backing.Labour MP Jess Phillips and the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith are leading calls for the practice – which was spotlighted in the BBC series Happy Valley – to be criminalised as part of an overhaul of the 2015 Modern Slavery Act. Continue reading...

Italian restaurants are forced to replace classic dishes with ‘white’ versions as cost of their staple ingredient soarsGet ready for tomato-less pasta sauce and white pizza. Italian restaurants across Britain are having to ration tomatoes, increase prices and in some cases remove the pomodoro from their menus entirely as costs soar.The price of tomatoes has increased as much as fourfold in the past year, from £5 a case to £20 a case, according to the Federazione Italian Cuochi UK (FIC UK), a chefs’ association. Continue reading...

John McDonnell among former shadow cabinet members contradicting pacifist message

March follows Kais Saied’s allegation that undocumented sub-Saharan migrants were part of plot to change country’s cultureHundreds of people in Tunisia’s capital took to the streets on Saturday to protest over the president’s anti-migrant clampdown.On Tuesday, amid wider moves against his critics, President Kais Saied accused undocumented sub-Saharan migrants of being part of a plot to change the country’s character, bringing longstanding racial tensions to the surface. Continue reading...

Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation says services barred on Google amid rise in wagering adverts and Sportsbet’s partnership with TikTok

Key strategists say military needs to focus on maritime and long-range strike capabilities to defend Australia’s interests across a wider region

Meta says it removed ads for failing to state they were sponsored by an initiative of British American Tobacco Australia

Former US marine’s segregated, maximum security imprisonment is unjustified and causing severe psychological distress, wife says

The former chair of the supermarket chain was a big donor to Blair and Brown but cut off his support under CorbynKeir Starmer’s election war chest has been given an extraordinary boost after one of the biggest New Labour-era donors returned to the party fold with a £2m donation, the Observer can reveal.David Sainsbury, who was consistently one of the largest donors under the last Labour government before withdrawing his support, has now renewed his backing with his first multimillion-pound donation since 2016. Continue reading...

Figure has surged over the past 10 years with pressure growing for officers to be sacked on the spotShocking figures obtained by the Observer show roughly one in 100 police officers in England and Wales faced criminal charges, including for sexual offences, last year alone.An Observerinvestigation has found that the Police Federation, the staff association for police officers, received 1,387 claims for legal support from members facing criminal charges in 2022. Continue reading...

Son of missing Laurel Aldridge has announced on Facebook that his mother’s body has been foundPolice searching for Laurel Aldridge, sister-in-law of actor Mackenzie Crook, have found a body.Aldridge, 62, was reported missing from her home in the village of Walberton, near Arundel in West Sussex, on 14 February and was last seen at Slindon Cricket Club about two and a half miles away. Continue reading...

Comments from French president come after Joe Biden said it was ‘not rational’ for Beijing to be negotiating a peace deal

Vote largely peaceful in Africa’s largest economy but half of polling stations opened late due to technical issuesPolls have shut in Nigeria, after tens of millions cast their votes to decide a tight and unpredictable contest for the presidency and parliament of Africa’s most populous nation and its biggest economy.The opening of more than half of all polling stations was delayed by at least an hour with many others suffering problems with new voting technology, civil society groups said. There was some sporadic violence across the country, including a suspected attack by Islamic extremists and some disruption by hired thugs. Continue reading...

Email blunder sparks inquiry into New Issues Group’s ‘collaboration with Islamophobes’A secretive organisation accused of collaborating with far-right activists has been operating out of the House of Lords for more than a decade, a cache of leaked documents suggests.The organisation, called the New Issues Group (NIG), includes the former Ukip leader Malcolm Pearson and the Tory former deputy speaker of the House of Lords Baroness Cox. Continue reading...

The Story of Flanders, spanning 38,000 years of the region’s history, is funded by the nationalist government and is accused of stretching the truthIt is blockbuster TV, with Romans and Vikings, knights and Neanderthals, trains and the trenches of the first world war – and a hefty dose of political controversy.The Story of Flanders, a 10-part history series airing in Belgium’s northern region until March, has been a cultural landmark. But the apparently lavish funding from the region’s government, run by the separatist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party, which seeks to make Flanders independent from Belgium, has led to accusations of propaganda. Continue reading...

Around 2,000 inmates transferred on Friday as part of president’s crime crackdownEl Salvador’s government has moved thousands of suspected gang members to a newly opened “megaprison”, the latest step in a controversial crackdown on crime that has caused the Central American nation’s prison population to soar.“This will be their new home, where they won’t be able to do any more harm to the population,” the president, Nayib Bukele, wrote on Twitter. Continue reading...

Mother of Joanna Brown, who was bludgeoned to death by husband Robert, says she ‘fears for women’The family of a woman murdered by her husband, who is due to walk free later this year, has called on Dominic Raab to review his release.Robert Brown, a British Airways captain, bludgeoned his wife, Joanna, 46, to death with a claw hammer at their family home in Ascot, Berkshire, in October 2010. Continue reading...

Discovery comes after tugboat, believed to have crew of two, capsized while towing cruise shipDivers involved in an underwater search after a tugboat capsized have recovered two bodies.Police Scotland has confirmed the bodies of two men were recovered off Custom House Quay at about 1.40pm on Saturday. Continue reading...

Researchers have found a racial bias by match officials in the country’s top league, but say it could be linked to crowd pressureReferees in Italy’s top football league give more yellow and red cards to Black and darker-skinned players than to their light-skinned teammates, research shows.Officials in Serie A awarded an average of 20% more fouls per season against darker-skinned players from 2009 to 2019, with 11% more yellow cards and 16% more red cards. Continue reading...

Meeting between Charles and Ursula von de Leyen cancelled, reports say, as Varadkar says deal ‘inching towards conclusion’Rishi Sunak is facing criticism after reports that a meeting between King Charles and the president of the European Commission was cancelled days before the announcement of an expected deal on the Northern Ireland protocol.According to reports, there had been plans for an in-person meeting between the king and Ursula von der Leyen, as part of a trip to the UK to seal the deal on the Brexit trading arrangements. Continue reading...

Energy prices, Brexit and climate crisis mean growers lack confidence to plant crops, says NFU deputyShortages of some fresh fruit and vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers could be the “tip of the iceberg”, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said.Certain products are hard to come by in UK supermarkets due to poor weather reducing the harvest in Europe and north Africa, Brexit rules and lower supplies from UK and Dutch producers hit by the jump in energy bills to heat glasshouses. Continue reading...

Police say man in his 20s died after car carrying three people went through railings into river in Bedminster areaA man in his 20s has died after a car entered a river in Bristol.Avon and Somerset police were called to York Road in the Bedminster area of the city at about 1.30am on Saturday. The force said a vehicle, with three people inside, had gone through railings and into the River Avon. Continue reading...