World news | The Guardian

Prime minister says if Coalition wins election he would only introduce legislation if Labor agreed in advance to back heavily criticised model

General David Berger raises concerns about Chinese influence while Australia’s Pacific minister asks Solomon Islands ‘to consider not signing agreement’

March raid in remote Putumayo village was intended to target former Farc dissidents now involved in cocaine tradeColombian authorities are facing growing calls to investigate a botched army raid in which at least four civilians – including a 16-year old boy, a pregnant woman, and an Indigenous leader – were killed.The raid took place early on 28 March in a remote village in the conflict-racked southern province of Putumayo. It was intended to target dissident guerrillas from the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) who are now involved in the cocaine trade. Continue reading...

Nurses are being flown in from interstate amid staffing shortage after 30 positive cases reported, including inside the Alzheimer’s unit

Michael Gove announces deal involving 35 firms but further £3bn still needed to fully address fire safety issuesMore than 35 homebuilders have agreed to put £2bn towards fixing unsafe cladding on high-rise buildings in England identified in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster, Michael Gove, the housing secretary, has said.The move had been expected after Gove asked 53 homebuilders to contribute towards fixing buildings they have had a role in developing. More than 35 said they would commit £2bn, but that still leaves a further £3bn needed to address fire safety problems in high-rise buildings across the country. Continue reading...

Liberal Katherine Deves apologises for post describing trans kids as ‘surgically mutilated and sterilised’ as Zali Steggall calls for her disendorsement

Decision in case of murder suspect Kyung Yup Kim concludes government can trust Chinese assurances extradited defendants will not face tortureNew Zealand’s courts have ruled the government can extradite to China a man suspected of murder – a landmark ruling that, if it proceeds, will be the first time the country has sent a resident to face trial in China.The courts had previously blocked the extradition of Kyung Yup Kim, a man accused of killing a young woman in Shanghai, citing the risk of torture and not receiving a fair trial. Continue reading...

Incumbent MPs and first-time ‘teal’ candidates say unemployment benefit below poverty line is unacceptable

Governor of Luhansk urges people to evacuate as Vladimir Putin insists Moscow will achieve its ‘noble’ aims

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Appeal did not establish that judge had made an error in deciding previous defamation case, court rules

Annunziata Murgia is oldest person ever to attend lessons for middle school diploma after second world war ruined her studiesAn Italian woman who missed out on formal education because of the second world war has returned to the classroom to study for her school diploma – at the age of 90.Annunziata Murgia is the oldest person ever to attend lessons for the licenza media, or middle school diploma, an exam typically taken by children in lower secondary education at the age of 14. She does so at the evening school close to her home in Dolianova, Sardinia. Continue reading...

High-profile death row case prompts some Singaporeans to call for executions to be halted though overall support for capital punishment remains highThe news was delivered in just a few cold sentences. An appeal for clemency for Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a man on death row whose case has prompted a global outcry, had failed.“Please be informed that the position...remains unchanged” wrote Singapore president’s principal private secretary, in a letter to Nagaenthran’s family: “The sentence of death therefore stands.” Continue reading...

OECD leader urges increase despite previously defending Australia’s cuts while finance minister

Ovalbek Turdakun was given special authorization to enter the US after he had been imprisoned in detention camp in ChinaOvalbek Turdakun still doesn’t know what was in the shot the doctors in the Xinjiang detention centre gave him in 2018. He and his 23 cell mates were told it was a vaccine to prevent colds but Turdakun said that after the injection he and his cellmates felt pain in their ears, hands and feet; yellow fluid came out of their ears; some had trouble walking. When he was released after 10 months’ detention, Turdakun still struggled to walk.Turdakun is among the nearly 2 million people who are estimated to have been imprisoned in China’s mass detention camps in the Xinjiang region. On Tuesday, Turdakun, his wife, Zhyldyz Uraalieva, and son Daniyel Ovalbek arrived in the US on a special immigration authorization called significant public benefit parole which grants entry to people who would provide “significant public benefit” such as testifying in a criminal or legal proceeding. Continue reading...

Change to border restrictions marks first step in welcoming international visitors back to country after two years“Hello & kia ora & g’day & welcome” a sign waved at Auckland’s international airport said on Wednesday morning as Australian travellers set foot on New Zealand soil for the first time since the short-lived travel bubble between the two countries abruptly ended in mid-2021.More than 4,000 people travelling from Australia on Air New Zealand flights are expected to arrive at Auckland and Wellington airports on Wednesday, after the Covid-19 border restrictions lifted at midnight. Continue reading...

The front pages offer differing perspectives on fines issued to Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak over Covid breachesAs might be expected, there is a polarity to the coverage in today’s papers of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak being among those to receive a fixed-penalty notice over Partygate.“PM: I broke my own law but I refuse to go”, with Johnson and Sunak shown side by side, is on the front page of the Guardian. Continue reading...

US president says Russian leader is ‘trying to wipe out the idea of even being Ukrainian’ in comments welcomed by Voldymyr ZelenskiyJoe Biden has accused Russia of carrying out genocide in Ukraine, saying that Vladimir Putin is “trying to wipe out the idea of even being Ukrainian”.Biden has been consistently outspoken in denouncing Russian wholesale killing of Ukrainian civilians, labelling Putin as a “war criminal” in mid-March. Multiple investigations are under way into Russian atrocities in Ukraine, which include the razing of Mariupol and the executions of civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. Continue reading...

Unusual move to seek legal clarification, which cannot reverse verdict, amounts to the ‘politicisation of jury trials’, says defence lawyerThe attorney general has referred the case of four protesters cleared of the toppling of the statue of the slave trader Edward Colston to the court of appeal for legal direction.In a rare move, which cannot reverse the not guilty verdicts, Suella Braverman is to ask appeal judges for clarification on whether defendants can cite their human rights as a defence in a case of criminal damage. Continue reading...

Joint committee on human rights says plans contravene principle that human rights are universal

Practitioners’ struggles include increased workloads, greater demand from patients, and paperworkA third of GPs in England say they want to quit within five years, according to a regular survey which warns that clinical doctors are especially unhappy with the number of hours they work.The survey of 2,195 GPs undertaken in 2021 found 33% planned to leave “direct patient care” by 2026. The figure represents a return to levels last seen in 2015, after plans to quit peaked in 2018 when two in five GPs wanted to stop seeing patients within five years. Continue reading...

Few sexually transmitted infection test kits available online meet official standards, BMJ study findsPatients are being put at risk in the UK because very few sexually transmitted infection (STI) tests offered online meet official standards, experts have warned.The NHS provides free in-person tests for STIs via its network of sexual health and genitourinary medicine clinics. Patients can also order tests via the internet from both NHS-commissioned and private providers, a practice that has become increasingly popular during the pandemic. Continue reading...

House prices are dropping amid rising living costs and higher interest rates – what does that mean for you?For the first time in more than a decade, New Zealand house prices recorded a quarterly drop. ANZ economists say the mood in the market has shifted – from “fear of missing out” to “I’m not paying that”.We’re eager to hear from our New Zealand readers on how this might be affecting you. Continue reading...

Number of young people disappeared is increasing as total number of cases exceeds 95,000, very few of which are solvedCorrupt state officials and organized crime factions are to blame for Mexico’s soaring number of enforced disappearances, whose victims increasingly include children – some as young as 12, according to a new UN investigation.Just over 95,000 people were registered as disappeared at the end of November 2021. Of those, 40,000 were added in the past five years, according to the new report by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances. Continue reading...

The standup comic, also known for voicing Iago in Disney’s animated Aladdin, has died after a long illnessComedian and actor Gilbert Gottfried has died at the age of 67.His family announced his death after a long illness via his Twitter page. Gottfried was known for his standup comedy and for roles in films including Aladdin and Problem Child. Continue reading...

A US 2023 budget request shows the UK is one of several European countries where investment is under way at ‘special weapons’ storage sitesMilitary bunkers in the UK are being upgraded so they can be used to store US nuclear weapons again after 14 years of standing empty, according to US defence budget documents.In the Biden administration’s 2023 defence budget request, the UK was added to the list of countries where infrastructure investment is under way at “special weapons” storage sites, alongside Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey – all countries where the US stores an estimated 100 B61 nuclear bombs. Continue reading...

Aiden Aslin said his unit in Mariupol has run out of food and ammunition and can no longer hold out

A look at denials made by the prime minister and his chancellor over allegations of lockdown breachesPerhaps the most damaging aspect of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak receiving fines for breaking lockdown laws is the fact the pair have publicly denied any wrongdoing.Here is a look back at some of the denials made by the prime minister and his chancellor.What I can tell the right honourable and learned gentleman is that all guidance was followed completely in No 10.Because I have told you and what I want to repeat … that the guidance is there and I am very, very keen that people understand this.All the guidelines were observed.I repeat that I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken.I can tell you once again that I certainly broke no rules … all that is being looked into.On your point about rules, I follow the rules.Those were people at work, talking about work. I have said what I have to say about that.I believed implicitly that this was a work event, but with hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside. Continue reading...

Bailey says he has continued to suffer from trauma of nerve agent attack in Salisbury in March 2018A police officer who suffered novichok poisoning when he searched the home of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal following the Salisbury nerve agent attack has reached a settlement with his former force.Lawyers for Nick Bailey argued that he continued to suffer from the trauma of the poisoning more than four years on and made a personal injury claim against Wiltshire police. Continue reading...

Alice Walker, 66, won grand final by six points with perfect score on her specialist subject, the Peak DistrictAlice Walker’s earliest childhood memories of the Peak District are of picnics, visits to stately homes and walks with her parents. Years later, Britain’s first national park holds new significance: it was her specialist subject as she became the oldest female winner of Mastermind.The title came as a surprise to the career quizzer: “I don’t really think of myself as an older woman,” admitted Walker, now 67. “But I guess I am.” Continue reading...

Zelenskiy rejects request by Frank-Walter Steinmeier for meeting in Kyiv, Bild reportsUkraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has rejected a request by the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to visit Kyiv along with other European politicians on Wednesday.Steinmeier, a former foreign minister and erstwhile ally of the ex-chancellor Gerhard Schröder, is on a state visit in Poland, where he is discussing the implications of the Russian war in Ukraine with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda. Continue reading...

Chief constable Stephen Watson said the three women, who have received ‘substantial’ damages, were let downThree victims of organised grooming gangs in Rochdale have received “substantial” damages and an apology from a police chief who accepted his force had let the women down.The three women, who have lifelong anonymity, met Stephen Watson, the chief constable of Greater Manchester police (GMP), at the force headquarters on Tuesday to be given the apology in person. Continue reading...

Big-budget fantasy sequel has had six seconds cut, as Warner Bros releases statement to say ‘the spirit of the film remains intact’Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore has been edited for release in China to ensure any gay references have been removed.The fantasy sequel, which has an estimated budget of $200m, contains allusions to a romantic history between the characters of Dumbledore and Grindelwald, played by Jude Law and Mads Mikkelsen respectively. Six seconds of dialogue, including the lines “Because I was in love with you” and “The summer Gellert and I fell in love”, were taken out for the Chinese release on 8 April. Continue reading...

Analysis: Little evidence thus far that civilians in Mariupol had fallen ill because of chemical attack

Alaska Natives are especially at risk, as sea ice and permafrost melt and villages are lost to flooding and erosionTribal communities will soon have access to $46m to tackle impacts of the climate crisis which disproportionately threaten Indigenous Americans’ food supplies, livelihoods and infrastructure.The funds are part of a historic five-year investment plan under Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law, meant to improve climate resilience and adaptation in tribal territories. Continue reading...

Unconfirmed reports of Russia using chemical weapons in Mariupol, where Ukrainian authorities say more than 10,000 civilians have been killed

Fashion retailer swings from £106m profit to £16m loss in six months to February, while share prices rise

Bill that includes Northern Territory infrastructure funding did not pass before parliament was dissolved

Concerns raised over development costs for ‘integrated resort’, as well as crime and gambling addictionThe focus of Japan’s quest to open its first casino is a human-made island in Osaka that, if the city’s government gets its way, will end decades of wrangling over the country’s fraught relationship with poker tables and slot machines.On a recent weekday morning there was little to suggest that Yumeshima – “Dream Island” – could, by the end of the decade, be the site of an unprecedented experiment with gambling in the world’s third biggest economy. Continue reading...

Jesus College ‘let down’ but will not appeal ruling preventing removal of memorial to slave trader Tobias RustatThe Church of England’s procedures for addressing issues of racial injustice and contested heritage are “inadequate” and “not fit for purpose”, according to the head of Jesus College at the University of Cambridge.The damning assessment was made as the college ruled out an appeal against a church court judgment preventing the removal of a memorial in its chapel to 17th-century benefactor Tobias Rustat, who was involved with the slave trade. Continue reading...

Research finds risk of myopericarditis after Covid jab is low and similar to that after flu vaccineHeart inflammation after a Covid jab is not only rare but no more common than after other types of vaccinations, researchers have found.As Covid vaccination programmes began around the world it emerged that some people – particularly young men – subsequently developed myocarditis, a type of inflammation of the heart muscle, or pericarditis, inflammation of the outer lining of the heart. Continue reading...

Karl Nehammer becomes first western leader to hold face-to-face talks with Russian president since invasion of Ukraine

Announcement comes after singer was released from conservatorship she says required her to stay on birth controlFans have congratulated Britney Spears after she appeared to reveal she is pregnant with her third child.The Toxic singer shared the news in a post on Instagram, saying she had taken a test after her partner, Sam Asghari, had teased her about being “food pregnant”. Continue reading...

Tuesday: Austrian chancellor becomes first western leader to hold face-to-face talks with Russian president since invasion of Ukraine. Plus: Australia’s top travel experiences