World news | The Guardian

Towke claims minister messaged ‘do what you feel you need to do’ after he alleged Morrison in 2007 suggested he couldn’t be trusted because he was Lebanese

Image of radical left presidential candidate, who is third in polls, projected at rallies across countrySpeaking via hologram to multiple locations across France, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the radical leftwing politician who aims to throw the presidential election off course, told supporters victory was within their grasp at his last campaign rally on Tuesday evening.The veteran candidate, who has been edging his way up the polls and is in third place, described himself as a political tortoise, slow but with the potential to beat the hares to the finishing line. Continue reading...

Trucks with ads showing the Chinese president voting for Labor have been seen across Australia this week

Law reform body says there should be consequences for offenders who make victims fear they will be sexually assaulted

Exclusive: research shows benefits cut has barely changed fertility rates and pushed thousands of British families deeper into povertyIt was one of the Conservatives’ most controversial cuts: waging war on the UK’s “benefit culture” by restricting social security payments that supposedly enabled “welfare scroungers” to have large families they could ill-afford.The two-child policy – which limits benefits payments to the first two children born to the poorest households – would, proponents argued, cut the welfare bill and bring “feckless” parents to heel by – as one minister put it – teaching them “the reality that children cost money.” Continue reading...

Former prime minister and Indigenous leader say that if the ALP wins government, it must hold a referendum in its first term

Defence department won’t promise to brief Labor on moves made but not announced prior to election being called

Human Rights Watch-Amnesty report accuses Ethiopian paramilitaries of war crimes and crimes against humanityEthiopian paramilitaries have carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Tigray, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes using threats, killings and sexual violence, according to a joint report by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.The rights groups accuse officials and paramilitaries from the neighbouring Amhara region of war crimes and crimes against humanity in western Tigray, in northern Ethiopia. Continue reading...

Exclusive: John Rylands Research Institute and Library to house collection that will also include Granada TV treasuresAn archive’s fabulous treasures, including a Gutenberg Bible, a Shakespeare first folio and the oldest known fragment of the New Testament, are to be joined by Ian Curtis’s handwritten lyrics for Joy Division’s She’s Lost Control and a wealth of material that shines light on Granada TV.The John Rylands Research Institute and Library in Manchester has announced plans for the British Pop Archive (BPA), which it hopes will become the national collection for all aspects of postwar popular culture. Continue reading...

Ukraine president says UN unable to function because of blocking tactics of Russia; bodies of civilians lay on street in Bucha for at least 10 days, UK says

Much of NSW to receive drenching over three days as Sydney’s six-month rainfall total five times that of London

Many Australians expected to be in isolation, with AEC staff prevented from accessing hospitals and some aged care facilities

In wake of Celeste Manno’s death, law reform body says stalking ‘often minimised or trivialised’ and victims are being left to manage alone

The mother of slain US relief worker Kayla Mueller testified Tuesday at the trial of one of her daughter's alleged captorsThe mother of slain US relief worker Kayla Mueller testified on Tuesday at the trial of one of her daughter’s alleged Islamic State (IS) captors, recounting the desperate pleas for her release and tortuous negotiations.Marsha Mueller’s emotional testimony came on the fifth day of the trial in US federal court of El Shafee Elsheikh, a 33-year-old former British national. Continue reading...

Police said they approached the scene ‘gingerly’ after thousands of McVitie’s packets escaped transitDrivers in Derbyshire found themselves obstructed by an avalanche of biscuits when a lorry spilled hundreds of McVitie’s packets across a main road.Derbyshire constabulary were called to Ilkeston Road, in Sandiacre, at about 4.30pm Monday after the road and pavement were strewn with Ginger Nuts and Bourbon Creams. A rescue operation for the fallen biscuits concluded more than seven hours later. Continue reading...

Tesla and SpaceX boss becomes social media platform’s biggest shareholder with 9.2%Twitter has announced it is appointing Elon Musk to its board the day after the world’s richest person was revealed to be the social media platform’s biggest shareholder with a 9.2% stake.Parag Agrawal, the Twitter chief executive, said on Tuesday that he was “excited” to announce that Musk was joining the company’s board of directors. “Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our board,” he said in a tweet. Continue reading...

Peak GPs body calls for Medicare rebate to be extended to cover growing complexity of care for expectant mothers

Cabinet Office won’t confirm or deny existence of taxpayer-funded pictures of illegal gatherings after freedom of information requestMinisters are refusing to disclose any pictures taken by official No 10 photographers of illegal gatherings held inside Downing Street, prompting Labour to call on Boris Johnson to “come clean and release these photos”.The Cabinet Office refused to confirm or deny the existence of any photographs of events in the cabinet room, leaving parties, and a party in the prime minister’s Downing Street flat, after official pictures of the gatherings were requested under freedom of information laws. Continue reading...

Organisations pulled out of Safe to Be Me after government failure to ban conversion practices for transgender peopleThe government’s flagship LGBTQ+ conference is to be cancelled after it fell into disarray with more organisations pulling out and a key government adviser accusing ministers of waging a “woke war”.With Downing Street under fire for watering down its commitment to ban conversion practices, the Safe to Be Me event due to be hosted in June has now been scrapped. Continue reading...

Milton Keynes coroner rules highways officer Richard Woodcock was unlawfully killedA “heroic” neighbour who sacrificed his life to save a two-year-old boy died after being repeatedly hit with a kettlebell, a coroner has said.The body of Richard Woodcock, 38, a highways officer, was found by Thames Valley police when they forced their way into a property in Milton Keynes on 26 June last year. Continue reading...

Analysis: why ministers are risking political capital pushing ahead now with privatisation plan is unclearAccording to one key individual involved in the battle for Channel 4’s future, the broadcaster is a “wonderful company doing a fantastic job”, it is performing well financially and plays a crucial role in supporting the British television ecosystem.Curiously, that individual is Stephen Parkinson, a government minister arguing that the only solution to secure Channel 4’s future is to rapidly privatise it and sell it off to a commercial owner, possibly one based overseas. Continue reading...

Zelenskiy calls for Nuremberg-style trials in address to UN security council; landmine danger in Bucha; EU proposes new sanctions

The French president’s supporters welcomed his late arrival on the campaign trail at an event on Saturday in Paris’s business districtThis time almost five years ago, Caroline Janvier was a member of the newly elected Emmanuel Macron’s army of would-be parliamentarians.These “novices”, as La République En Marche – the pop-up party created to bring Macron to power – called them, were so green they were sent on a one-day crash course on how to run a campaign, organise and motivate a team and deal with the press. Continue reading...

Analysis: The Ukraine invasion has far exceeded the capacity of Putin’s forces. An expert explains how they have fallen short in the field

Head of Catholic church invited to Ukrainian capital by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Mayor Vitali Klitschko

Report follows Turkish millionaire’s claim in high court that her financial adviser said cash was for help with passport applicationOne of the Duke of York’s senior aides told bankers that a now disputed cash payment to the prince was for his daughter Princess Beatrice’s wedding, it has been reported.In 2019, Andrew received £750,000 from Nebahat Isbilen, a Turkish millionaire and wife of a former leading politician, who has claimed in the high court that she was told by her financial adviser Selman Turk to pay the sum to the prince in return for assistance with a passport application. It was later claimed in court documents that this was a false representation. Continue reading...

Met commissioner to step down on 10 April, with search for replacement expected to take monthsCressida Dick will leave her role as commissioner of the Metropolitan police with a payoff of £166,000, the Guardian understands.Dick announced her resignation in February after clashing with the London mayor, Sadiq Khan. She officially ceases to be commissioner on 24 April. Continue reading...

Key city east of Kyiv has been liberated, says mayor, as Zelenskiy says Russians withdrawing ‘slowly but noticeably’

After recent seizures of aircraft and yacht, Grant Shapps grounds plane at Luton airport pending investigation

Drivers queueing in traffic for hours while part of the M20 is being used to park lorriesMotorists are facing huge queues and gridlocked roads into Dover after a buildup of lorries waiting for disrupted ferry services at the Kent port.Drivers are reporting queueing in traffic for hours to board ferries, while part of the M20 is being used to park lorries. The disruption is being caused by a shortage of ferries and poor weather conditions. Continue reading...

As a Virginia jury hears horrific allegations, experts say the trial of El Shafee Elsheikh sets an important precedentAs the trial against the accused Islamic State fighter El Shafee Elsheikh began this week on American soil, jurors in a northern Virginia courtroom were quickly exposed to accounts of unimaginable brutality.Elsheikh, prosecutors alleged, carried out terrorist acts that involved the grisly deaths of four Americans – the journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as the aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig. Continue reading...

Australian states and territories report 25 Covid deaths; damaging winds hit parts of NSW along with hazardous surf and abnormally high tides. This blog is now closed

Ukraine’s president says the Russians are leaving mines as they withdraw; central cities hit by new missile strikes

Prices of basics such as oil and wheat are shooting up and shortages are showing on supermarket shelves in Lebanon, Somalia and Egypt

War means ‘breadbasket of the world’ faces unprecedented difficulty sowing, harvesting and exporting wheat and other produce

Every photograph of bleached corals a reminder we’re not doing enough to tackle climate crisis, conservationists say

Parents and other carers now able to book lower-dose appointments for Monday onwardsChildren between the ages of five and 11 in England will be able to book their first coronavirus vaccine from Saturday morning, NHS England has said.Parents and carers are able to book appointments for Monday onwards through the NHS vaccines website, or by calling 119 from 7am, on Saturday morning – with hundreds of sites offering the vaccine across England. Continue reading...

Lockdown parties investigator not expected to be told which civil servants or politicians have received penalty noticesSue Gray is being kept in the dark about which Downing Street parties have attracted fines, as officials began to receive £50 penalties for attending illegal lockdown gatherings, following the Metropolitan police investigation.Emails were received by some partygoers this week, after the police said they were issuing 20 penalty notices to those they had a “reasonable belief” attended gatherings during lockdown. Continue reading...

Declaration comes after hundreds of protesters clashed with police and the militarySri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared a nationwide public emergency, following violent protests over the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.Rajapaksa said in a government gazette notification late on Friday that he took the decision in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and essential services. Continue reading...

Argentine foreign minister calls for improvement in bilateral relations with Britain 40 years after conflict

Ukraine president adds that Kremlin is trying to conscript troops from Crimea, while Kyiv officials say captured troops from both sides have been exchanged today

Actor will accept ‘any further consequences’ the body’s board considers appropriate after Oscars slapWill Smith has resigned from Hollywood’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars ceremony, saying that he “betrayed the trust of the Academy” and will accept “any further consequences”.In statement released on Friday afternoon, the actor described his actions at the 94th Academy Awards as “shocking, painful, and inexcusable”. Continue reading...

India has abstained from UN resolutions censuring Moscow and has increased oil purchases from Russia

Special committee including Scott Morrison and Dominic Perrottet chooses candidates for nine seats

Israeli police say the men were armed and were ‘killed in a shootout’ after tensions rise in the past weekIsraeli security forces have killed three Palestinian gunmen in the occupied West Bank, Israeli police said.There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials. The Israeli police said the men were armed and were “killed in a shootout,” in the pre-dawn incident on Saturday. Continue reading...

The fine particulate matter in cannabis smoke from bongs is at least four times greater and more dangerous, experts saidA new study has found that secondhand cannabis smoke from bongs can be even more harmful than tobacco due to an increased concentration of fine particulate matter.Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, who published their report on the JAMA Open Network this week, conducted their experiment with students from the university. They measured levels of fine particulate matter before, during and after eight cannabis social-smoking sessions in the living room of an apartment near campus. Continue reading...

Duke of York is named in ruling on dispute between a Turkish woman and businessmanPrince Andrew is facing calls to explain why he received £1m in payments linked to a financier who is now facing allegations of fraud in the high court.The Duke of York, who is already embroiled in controversy after settling a US sexual assault case for up to £12m, is named alongside his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, in a ruling on a dispute between a Turkish woman and businessman. Continue reading...

Agreement comes after significant escalation in bloody conflict between Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebelsYemen’s warring sides have accepted a two-month truce, starting with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to the UN envoy to the country.Hans Grundberg announced the agreement from Amman, Jordan, after meeting separately with both sides in the country’s brutal civil war. He said he hoped the truce would be renewed after two months. Continue reading...

True list of casualties of war, which include museums, churches and a Holocaust memorial, likely to be much longerThe UN’s cultural agency has confirmed that at least 53 historical sites, religious buildings and museums have sustained damage during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“This is the latest list, but it is not exhaustive, as our experts are continuing to verify a number of reports” filed by Ukrainian authorities, a Unesco spokesman told AFP as the body published a list of the 53 damaged sites in the north and east of the country. Continue reading...

Former BBC chair will lead watchdog even though report said his knowledge of social media and online safety clearly lacked depthMichael Grade has been confirmed as chair of the communications watchdog despite MPs warning that he has a “clear lack of depth” of knowledge about social media and online safety.The former BBC chair will lead Ofcom, which will play a key role in regulating large social media platforms and search engines in the UK, as the body charged with implementing the landmark online safety bill. However, the digital, culture, media and sport committee said on Friday that it was concerned by Lord Grade’s admission this week that he does not use social media but is aware of how it works thanks to his children. Continue reading...