World news | The Guardian

Formation of citizens’ militia in Lod in central Israel follows spate of Palestinian attacks across countryJewish residents in a central Israeli city have formed an armed group they say is for self-defence, after a string of Palestinian attacks across the country sparked fears of a new wave of internal violence.The mixed city of Lod, near Tel Aviv, became the focal point of communal bloodshed that flared in Israel last year, with the government and police struggling to control clashes between Arabs and Jews. Continue reading...

Activists close some of the largest routes through capital in protest at continued use of fossil fuelsSeveral central London bridges, including Waterloo, Blackfriars and Westminster, have been shut down by protesting Extinction Rebellion activists.The group has carried out a series of protests this week demanding an end to fossil fuels. On Friday afternoon, activists staged a series of sit-ins on the bridges, cutting off some of the main traffic arteries of the capital. Continue reading...

Claim about long-term benefits disputed by MP Andrew Mitchell who describes reported cost of £30,000 a person as ‘eye-watering’Britain will save money in the “longer term” by sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda, a minister has said after the reported cost of about £30,000 a person was described as “eye-watering”.Defending the decision to fly out many of those who arrive on the Kent coast to a country more than 4,000 miles away, the Home Office minister Tom Pursglove said it would “crush” the business model of people smugglers. Continue reading...

Russia initially denied reports that warship sank, then later claimed it went down in stormy seas while being towed to portRussia’s Black Sea flagship missile cruiser, the Moskva, sunk while being towed to port after an explosion caused by an unexplained fire, the Russian defence ministry has said, after Ukraine said it had hit the ship with a missile or missiles.Although Russia did not confirm that Ukrainian missiles had hit the ship, early on Friday it struck what it described as a factory in Kyiv that made and repaired anti-ship missiles, in apparent retaliation. Continue reading...

Questions raised about how little-known ‘local lad’ with a colourful past came to be selected as Wakefield’s Tory candidateWhen Imran Ahmad Khan was selected as the last-minute Conservative candidate for Wakefield in the 2019 general election, he sold himself as a “local lad”. He made a big deal of being born at the local hospital, where his late father was a doctor and his mum a nurse, and educated at Silcoats, the town’s lesser private school.It was perhaps odd, then, that none of the local Tories seemed to have any idea who he was, with claims he had been “pushed” on to the constituency. He was a stranger even to Nadeem Ahmed, who had been the leader of the Conservative group of Wakefield council since 2014: “Wakefield is a close-knit place. I didn’t know anybody who knew him.” Continue reading...

Small breached section 44 of the Australian constitution by also holding New Zealand citizenship, but still plans to contest the upcoming election

ALP claims Michael Sukkar and Rachel Swift both imitated Peter Malinauskas’s ad’s distinctive style from SA state election

Former supreme court judge Anthony Whealy says Coalition’s explanation for not legislating a promised anti-corruption commission is ‘spurious’

With five-year contract extensions to keep them at Penrith until 2027, Nathan and Ivan Cleary can build the dynasty their club has always cravedPenrith’s ultimate successes have, historically, been fleeting. Not this time. The signing of star halfback Nathan Cleary and coach Ivan Cleary to long-term deals has set the Panthers up for sustainable security at the top of the premiership ladder. This may not be Melbourne Storm longevity but it is hard to see Penrith missing out on the top four anytime in the 2020s now the Clearys have locked themselves in as centrepieces.Amid a great deal of controversy in 2019, Nathan Cleary was reunited with his father Ivan, who left the Wests Tigers in acrimonious circumstances to return to Penrith for his second stint as head coach. It led to Phil Gould’s departure as Penrith’s executive general manager and left a great deal of angst among the Wests Tigers faithful that the driver of the bus had ditched the joint. It did net a remarkable third premiership for the Panthers last year though, the golden generation realising their potential. Continue reading...

The couple stopped off at Windsor Castle while travelling to The Hague in the Netherlands for the gamesPrince Harry and Meghan have visited the Queen at Windsor Castle on their way to the Invictus Games.The couple were travelling to The Hague in the Netherlands for the games, which begin on Saturday, and on Thursday visited the UK together for the first time since stepping down as senior working royals more than two years ago. Continue reading...

Couple’s relationship counsellor says Heard would ‘initiate a fight’ at times while ex-assistant says she was ‘belligerent and abusive’The dueling defamation case between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard dug further into the heart of an often toxic and violent relationship on Thursday as jurors heard from the couple’s marriage counsellor, Heard’s former personal assistant and Depp’s addiction specialist.Dr Laurel Anderson, who was employed by Depp and Heard as a counsellor to discuss their relationship, described “mutual abuse” between the two. She said that, on more than one occasion, Heard had initiated incidents to stop Depp leaving, stemming from her fear of abandonment, according to Anderson. She also said she had seen photos of Heard with bruises. Continue reading...

Law expert warns changing Australia Day status in employee agreements could lead to reduction in public holiday entitlement

Owner of Newtown property ordered to make repairs and clean three other boarding houses after council inspections

People fleeing persecution to be taken to stripped-back Hope guest house in Kigali, which has only 50 roomsAsylum seekers flown to Rwanda by the British government will be put up in a no-frills hostel a mile away from Kigali city centre.People fleeing war and persecution will be taken to a guest house, built in 2014, which only has 50 rooms available, although there are plans to expand the facility. Continue reading...

Politicians, legal experts and refugee groups condemn Johnson’s plan to ‘offshore’ Channel crossing crisisBoris Johnson’s plans to send unauthorised asylum seekers on a one-way ticket to Rwanda have been roundly condemned amid warnings that it will be challenged in the courts and could result in further deaths in the Channel.After the prime minister outlined plans to hand an initial down-payment of £120m to the Rwandan government in the hope that it will accept “tens of thousands” of people, politicians and refugee groups condemned the move as inhumane, unworkable and a waste of public money. Continue reading...

Therapist who saw Crouch and Babis Anagnostopoulos says marriage had become increasingly abusiveA Greek pilot accused of murdering his British wife, Caroline Crouch, as she slept in their Athens home, exerted “extreme control” over her, a court has heard.On day three of a murder trial that has gripped the nation, Eleni Mylonopoulou, a counsellor who had seen the pair over several months for couples counselling, testified that the young Briton had fallen victim to an “extremely manipulative” man. Continue reading...

PM insists east African country is safe and scheme will prove ‘very considerable deterrent’

Mother is unlikely to survive without medical intervention, leaving her young son orphaned, say doctorsMPs and a human rights group have called on the UK government to repatriate a young British boy and his gravely ill mother from a detention camp in Syria, after doctors said she was at risk of dying and leaving the child orphaned.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was reviewing the case of Zaid* and his mother, Maryam* – who was injured in an explosion in Syria in 2019 and left with shrapnel in her head – “as a matter of priority”. Continue reading...

The case will be sent to Chester crown court, where Hankey will be sentenced on 12 MayThe former world darts champion Ted Hankey has admitted sexually assaulting a woman. The 54-year-old appeared at Warrington magistrates court on Thursday. He spoke to confirm his name, age and address, and pleaded guilty to the charge.The court heard he was charged with intentionally touching a woman over the age of 16 on 10 September last year. Jonathan Wilkinson, prosecuting, said the victim was under 18. Continue reading...

Three months after Elnaz Hajtamiri was taken, investigators have not determined a motive and have not received ransom demandsOn a cold winter night, three armed men disguised as police officers arrived at a suburban home in a small Canadian resort town and knocked on the door, claiming that they had an arrest warrant for a 37-year-old woman who was staying there.After overpowering the homeowner, they seized the woman, Iranian-born Elnaz Hajtamiri, hauled her barefoot through the snow into a vehicle, and sped off into the dark. Continue reading...

Unions say aviation industry cannot cope with Easter travel crush after effects of Covid leave workforce depleted

Flooded catchments and sewage spills have forced the closure of harvesting areas across the state

Anti-mafia journalist from Palermo scoured Sicilian alleyways in 1970s and 1980s to expose brutal violenceThe celebrated Italian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia, best known for her work documenting the mafia and their victims in Sicily, has died aged 87.Armed only with her Leica camera and mounted on a Vespa, Battaglia scoured the alleyways of Palermo during the 1970s and 1980s photographing the victims of mafia murders and the internal wars between rival clans. As a result she received several death threats. Continue reading...

The foster mother of Tyrrell, who disappeared in northern NSW in 2014, was charged with giving false or misleading evidence to state’s crime commission

The women, all aged in their mid-20s, died when a truck hit their car near Stanthorpe after police believe they failed to give wayFour South Korean women have died in a horrific car crash in southern Queensland, just weeks after they arrived in Australia on a backpacking trip.Police believe their vehicle failed to give way at a Southern Downs intersection and was struck by a semi-trailer about 5.30pm on Wednesday. Continue reading...

The 31-year-old is accused of sexually assaulting women he had met on online dating sitesA Perth man who police allege spiked the drinks of seven women whom he met on online dating sites has been charged with multiple counts of rape.The 31-year-old man was first charged last month, with police alleging he had met two women on different online dating sites and, while on separate dates with them, spiked their drinks and caused them to become incapacitated.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

Several events at No 10 not yet fully investigated by Met police, posing further threat to PM’s positionBoris Johnson is facing another three potential fines for lockdown breaches, according to senior sources, as he suffered his first ministerial resignation over the Partygate scandal.In a sign of the continued nervousness in government that the prime minister’s position could come under threat when MPs return to Westminster from recess next week, a Downing Street source admitted the apparent lull felt like “calm before the potential storm”. Continue reading...

Thursday: Long delays expected at domestic airports before Easter. Plus: WHO chief blames racism for greater focus on Ukraine than Ethiopia

The Oscar-winning actor has been accused of violating three women but has pleaded guilty to just one allegationCuba Gooding Jr pleaded guilty on Wednesday to forcibly touching a woman at a New York nightclub in 2018.The guilty plea came nearly three years after the Oscar-winning Jerry Maguire star was arrested in the case that saw several delays as his lawyers sought to get charges reduced or dismissed. Continue reading...

Christi Dembrowski says ex-wife Amber Heard called Depp an ‘old, fat man’ and resented his job offer from fashion house DiorThe contours of the high-stakes legal battle between Johnny Depp and his former wife, Amber Heard, became clearer on Wednesday, as Depp’s older sister sought to refute Heard’s claims that her brother was a violent, unaccountable, childlike drug addict.Christi Dembrowski, who is also Depp’s personal manager, said she did not share Heard’s concerns – also advanced by a doctor who was treating Depp’s addiction to pain medication – that the actor was dependent on drugs and that he despaired of ever kicking his habit. Continue reading...

Biden had accused Moscow of genocide but French president says ‘escalation of words’ will not bring peace

Former Scottish Tory leader renews calls for PM to resign, in split from current leader Douglas Ross

Revelation is likely to lead to further questions about the criteria for holding the favourable tax statusOne of the most senior Cabinet Office directors is a non-dom, the Guardian can reveal, in a disclosure which comes as Labour vowed to crack down on the favourable tax status.Anand Aithal, a former Goldman Sachs managing director, is the lead non-executive director at the Cabinet Office, a role which a Whitehall source said meant he had significant responsibilities in the department and a close relationship with the Downing Street chief of staff, Steve Barclay. Continue reading...

Peter Ricketts, former UK ambassador, says presidential hopeful’s plans would completely isolate FranceMarine Le Pen’s plan for a new partnership with a post-Brexit Britain is dangerous for France, ignorant and completely misunderstands the basis of British alliances, Peter Ricketts, the former UK national security adviser and UK ambassador to France, has told the Guardian.He said the far-right presidential hopeful’s proposals represented a plan for French isolation from its main strategic partners, the US, Germany and the UK. Continue reading...

New chief replacing Cressida Dick must ‘restore public confidence’ particularly among women and ethnic minoritiesMinisters and London’s mayor have delivered a withering assessment of the state of the Metropolitan police in a job advert for a new commissioner to urgently root out the wrongdoing that is sapping public confidence.A job advert has been published to replace Cressida Dick, who quit in February after Sadiq Khan lost faith in her ability to drag the force out of a series of scandals, with the Home Office declining to save her. Continue reading...

David Wolfson says behaviour of Boris Johnson and others in Downing Street ‘inconsistent with the rule of law’Boris Johnson has suffered the first resignation since being fined by police for breaking Covid rules, with the justice minister, David Wolfson, saying the prime minister’s actions were “inconsistent with the rule of law”.Wolfson said it would be wrong for “that conduct to pass with constitutional impunity, especially when many in society complied with the rules at great personal cost, and others were fined or prosecuted for similar, and sometimes apparently more trivial, offences”. Continue reading...

Presidential candidate says it is ‘inaccurate and unjust’ to suggest she is indebted to Vladimir PutinThe French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has said that once the Russia-Ukraine war is over, she would propose closer links between Nato and Russia and pull France out of the military command of the US-led alliance.“As soon as the Russian-Ukrainian war is over and has been settled by a peace treaty, I will call for the implementation of a strategic rapprochement between Nato and Russia,” she said at a press conference. Continue reading...

Dutch bank says sorry for ‘pain and suffering’ caused by past actions and activities of its predecessor firmsThe Dutch bank ABN Amro has apologised for its predecessors’ role in the slave trade, after it commissioned an investigation into the “untold suffering” it caused.The investigation, by academics at the International Institute of Social History (IISH), an Amsterdam archive, found that two of ABN Amro’s predecessor companies were involved in either financing the operation of slave plantations directly, or underwriting the trade in products produced by slaves. Continue reading...

Analysis: Putin’s ally was Russia’s ‘main guy in Ukraine’ but Kremlin has refused prisoner exchangeHe was Vladimir Putin’s best friend in Ukraine but the Kremlin says it won’t make a trade to secure his freedom.Viktor Medvedchuk, a man often named the “dark prince” of Ukrainian politics, has been a loyal ally to Putin for two decades, leading a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine for years, even after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the beginning of the deadly war in Donbas. Continue reading...

Video mocked up with BBC News logo has been aired on Russian state TV and spread across social media

Amess’s family make plea for greater kindness in society after ‘beyond evil’ attack on MPThe family of Sir David Amess said they would “for ever shed tears” after his murder by a terrorist assassin who was sentenced to “die in prison” for an attack “on the heart of democracy”.Ali Harbi Ali, 26, was handed a whole-life tariff by Mr Justice Sweeney after being convicted on Monday of murdering the MP and of planning terrorist attacks on other MPs, including the cabinet minister Michael Gove, for two years before he killed Amess. Continue reading...

Army says it purchased three silicone implants, rather than the 60 reported by media, after revelations the military bought ViagraFurther questions have been raised about military spending on impotence treatments under Jair Bolsonaro after allegations Brazil’s defense ministry had approved the purchase of penile implants costing more than half a million pounds.Those claims followed revelations on Monday that the armed forces had forked out for more than 35,000 Viagra pills in what one leading opposition politician called an erectile “outrage”. Continue reading...

Most recent graduates in England and Wales will be charged 9% from September amid rising retail prices indexInterest rates on student loans are set to soar to as high as 12%, costing higher-earning graduates an extra £3,000 unless the government intervenes, according to the Institute for Fiscal Students.Interest rates on post-2012 student loans are based on the retail prices index (RPI), with the rise in the RPI in March meaning most recent graduates in England and Wales will be charged 9% from September, up from the current rate of 1.5%. Continue reading...

Those fined up to £1,000 during UK lockdowns contrast their experience with the prime minister’sIn May 2020, David Wilson received a £1,000 fine after hosting an outdoor party he says followed coronavirus rules at his restaurant, Calypso, in Blackburn. He’s still fighting the fine in court, and is terrified that if his case fails and he’s asked to pay, he’ll be forced to close an 11-year-old family business that delivered food to vulnerable people during the pandemic.This, he said, was the reality for “the small man”, contrasting his experience with that of the prime minister and his associates, who have been fined for attending parties at 10 Downing Street during lockdown. Continue reading...

Sylvia Lancaster set up charity after daughter was killed in ‘savage’ attack in Lancashire in 2007Sylvia Lancaster, the mother of a 20-year-old woman who was murdered in 2007 because she was dressed as a goth, has died.Lancaster died suddenly and unexpectedly on Tuesday morning, according to a statement posted by the Sophie Lancaster Foundation on social media, a charity founded in her daughter’s memory. Continue reading...

Firm says ‘significant uncertainties’ weigh on business despite pre-tax profits jumping from £1.1bn to £2.2bnTesco doubled pre-tax profits to more than £2bn last year but has warned on profits for this year as it faces a battle to “keep the cost of the weekly shop in check” amid soaring inflation driving up costs and squeezing household budgets.Total revenues for the UK’s biggest supermarket, which proved to be a pandemic winner by taking a share from rivals and boosting online sales, rose by 6% to £61.3bn as pre-tax profits jumped from £1.1bn to £2.2bn in the year to the end of 26 February. Continue reading...

Thirty children among dead found by Ukrainian authorities investigating killings, torture and rape

Caribbean Community had endorsed Patricia Scotland but Jamaican minister Kamina Johnson-Smith will now oppose herPatricia Scotland’s hopes of being re-elected Commonwealth secretary general have been dealt a blow, with Jamaica’s foreign minister, Kamina Johnson-Smith, announcing that she is challenging Scotland for the post.The decision has sparked controversy in the Caribbean, which had previously met to back Scotland’s bid for a second term. The Antiguan prime minister, Gaston Browne, has described Jamaica’s decision to break ranks as a “monumental error”. Continue reading...

David Smith, former security guard at British embassy, faces nine charges under Official Secrets ActA former security guard at the British embassy in Berlin who is accused of spying for Russia will face a trial at the Old Bailey next year.David Smith, 57, allegedly passed secret information about the British government to a military attache. Continue reading...