The Guardian - World News

Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were seized by ICE in Minneapolis last month before a judge ordered their release Attorneys for the Trump administration are aiming to deport Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year-old boy whose photograph wearing a bunny hat in snowy Minneapolis circulated globally after his detention last month by federal officials during the aggressive anti-immigration crackdown there . The child, Liam returned home to Minnesota earlier this week after being taken into custody alongside his father last month and transferred to a notorious family detention facility in Texas. Continue reading...

Wilma Spence’s father was an Anzac buried in a part of the Gaza War Cemetery bulldozed by the IDF Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast “Fighting for those who love him, our darling daddy died,” the inscription reads. Just saying the words threatens to overwhelm Wilma Spence. Continue reading...

One expert says 2027 could be even hotter than the last three years, which have been the top three warmest on record Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here Weather agencies and climate scientists have pointed to the possibility of an El Niño forming in the Pacific Ocean later this year – a phenomenon that could push global temperatures to all-time record highs in 2027. Both the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology have said some climate models are forecasting an El Niño but both cautioned those results came with uncertainties. Experts told the Guardian it was too early to be confident, but there were signals in the spread of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific that suggested an El Niño could form in 2026. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter Continue reading...

Progressive organisation will focus on combating far-right groups and pushing for policy wins in the lead-up to the 2028 election Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Progressive political campaigning outfit GetUp has hired former journalist David Sharaz to a senior role, as it rebuilds organisational strength and pledges to take the fight up to conservative groups including Advance. Sharaz – most recently a public relations executive – is married to former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, who was at the centre of the high profile rape case which has rocked federal politics since 2021. Continue reading...

Clive Foster says action needed now to deliver justice to UK residents who had been wrongly classified as illegal immigrants The Windrush commissioner has warned of a “hurry for justice” as more victims of the scandal die without redress, while stakeholders call for a public inquiry and legislative changes amid fears that a Reform government could stall progress toward justice. Speaking on the sidelines of a people’s inquiry symposium for those affected by the Windrush scandal, Rev Clive Foster said action was needed “now” to deliver justice for those British residents whose lives were upended after being wrongly classified as illegal immigrants. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism The global publishing platform Substack is generating revenue from newsletters that promote virulent Nazi ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism, a Guardian investigation has found. The platform, which says it has about 50 million users worldwide, allows members of the public to self-publish articles and charge for premium content. Substack takes about 10% of the revenue the newsletters make. About 5 million people pay for access to newsletters on its platform. Continue reading...

Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff Last spring, the National Security Agency (NSA) detected evidence of an unusual phone call between an individual associated with foreign intelligence and a person close to Donald Trump , according to a whistleblower’s attorney briefed on the existence of the call. The highly sensitive communique, which has roiled Washington over the past week, was brought to the attention of the director of national intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard – but rather than allowing NSA officials to distribute the information further, she took a paper copy of the intelligence directly to the president’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, the attorney, Andrew Bakaj, said. Continue reading...

New Anthropic campaign suggests other AI platforms will incorporate targeted ads in their chatbot conversations The Seahawks and the Patriots aren’t the only ones gearing up for a fight. AI rivals Anthropic and OpenAI have launched a war of ads trying to court corporate America during one of the biggest entertainment nights of the year. Continue reading...

Irish politicians condemn use of Shannon airport by private jet en route to Israel, owned by Trump donor Gil Dezer Revealed: Private jet owned by Trump friend used by ICE to deport Palestinians to West Bank Politicians in Ireland have said the use of an airport in County Clare by planes deporting Palestinians from the US to Israel is “reprehensible”. A private jet owned by the Donald Trump donor Gil Dezer was chartered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for two separate flights that took detainees to Israel, a Guardian investigation revealed this week. Continue reading...

Proceedings briefly halted after audio from The Rest Is History was broadcast over the courtroom speakers As the highest court in the UK, the supreme court is usually the forum for proceedings of the utmost gravity. But last week, one hearing was momentarily interrupted by an unlikely and comic intervention. As one legal professional addressed the bench, the voice of Tom Holland, host of the popular podcast the Rest is History, boomed out through the court’s microphone system, delivering a satirical impersonation of the late US president Jimmy Carter. Continue reading...

President reportedly wanted Dulles airport and Penn Station to be renamed after him in exchange for continued funding A federal judge has reversed a freeze put on funds by Donald Trump for $16bn in enhanced rail links connecting New York and New Jersey amid reports that the US president wants major travel landmarks named after him in return for continued investment. The Gateway Project will build a new commuter rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey under the Hudson River on the western side of New York City and repair a century-old tunnel used by more than 200,000 travelers and 425 trains daily. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says Trump administration has proposed to host next round of trilateral talks in US Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the US has given Ukraine and Russia yet another deadline to reach a peace settlement, and is now proposing the war should end by June. The Ukrainian president also told reporters that both sides had been invited to further talks next week. Zelenskyy said the Trump administration “will probably put pressure” on Ukraine and Russia to end the war by the beginning of the summer. “They say they want to get everything done by June,” he said. “ They will do everything to end the war and they want a clear schedule of all events.” Continue reading...

Move will hit Michigan, Illinois, New York and other states with highest levels of lead drinking water pipes the hardest There is outrage among some politicians and activists after the US Congress voted to slash $125m for replacing toxic lead drinking water pipes that are particularly a threat to children. The move will hit Michigan, Illinois, Texas, New York and other states with the highest levels of lead pipes the hardest. The cut was part of a broader government funding bill and particularly controversial in the context of the fight over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) funding. Continue reading...

UK reduces funding by a third despite pledges to tackle hunger, with critics warning the move will cost lives UK politics live – latest updates Keir Starmer has been accused of hypocrisy after cutting funding to the UN World Food Programme by a third while pledging to tackle “suffering and starvation”. The reduction in UK funding to the World Food Programme (WFP) from $610m (£448m) in 2024 to $435m last year is part of a wider reduction in aid spending that campaigners say is putting lives at risk. Continue reading...

Party says it has received advice that 2013 investigation of allegations against peer was ‘flawed in several respects’ The Liberal Democrat peer Chris Rennard has been suspended from the party amid a new investigation into sexual harassment allegations. The party said it had received advice that a 2013 inquiry into the claims made by four women against Lord Rennard was “flawed in several respects”. Continue reading...

The documents confirm what many have long assumed: elites live by their own special rules and codes of immunity The millions of Jeffrey Epstein files dumped last Friday by the US Department of Justice will provide journalists, conspiracy theorists and interested members of the public with months of reading. And what they will read is enraging. What makes these files so infuriating, however, is not just Epstein’s horrific predatory behavior, which is well-known, but the more mundane examples of elite conduct that the documents continue to expose. They vividly illustrate a world whose existence many everyday people, whether fevered with visions of the Illuminati or just jaundiced by banal anti-establishment cynicism, already suspected exists: an informal global club of powerful, ultra-rich people who all seemingly know each other, help one another out, and protect each other from the consequences of their depravity. Continue reading...

Darin Smith, who was outside Capitol on January 6, decried as Senate mulls nomination as state’s top federal prosecutor A Republican former state lawmaker with no experience trying cases, a record of opposing LGBTQ+ rights, and who was outside the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection, is awaiting Senate confirmation to become the top federal prosecutor in Wyoming. Donald Trump first nominated Darin Smith as Wyoming’s US attorney last year, and the judiciary committee advanced him in a party-line vote in January. Democrats have condemned Smith, saying he lacks the experience necessary for the job and threatens to impose a discriminatory approach to federal law enforcement in the state where gay college student Matthew Shepard’s 1998 murder galvanized the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Continue reading...

Deregulation alone can’t make homes affordable when rising inequality, not zoning, is what is driving prices up Donald Trump has an interesting view of how housing plays in US politics. “I don’t want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes,” he said at a recent cabinet meeting. Unaffordable housing may be front and center of the “affordability crisis” pissing off voters. Still, he insists: “We’re not going to destroy the value of their homes so that somebody that didn’t work very hard can buy a home.” It can be hard to square some things Trump says with other things Trump says , let alone with reality. One can’t help but remember his campaign “goal of cutting the cost of a new home in half” by eliminating pesky regulations that raise the cost of construction. Forget that cheap new entry-level homes will weigh on the price of the existing housing stock. Continue reading...

NFU warn it could take years to restore Brexit losses despite efforts to smooth negotiations on farming and other elements of UK-EU reset Exports of British farm products to the EU have dropped almost 40% in the five years since Brexit, highlighting the trade barriers caused by the UK’s divorce from the EU in 2020. Analysis of HMRC data by the National Farmers’ Union shows the decline in sales of everything from British beef to cheddar cheese has dropped by 37.4% in the five years since 2019, the last full year before Brexit. Continue reading...

Critics say law will disproportionately affect immigrant communities and those who speak limited English As of 6 February, people in Florida are no longer be able to take driver’s license examinations in any language other than English, the Florida department of highway safety and motor vehicles (DMV) said in a statement. Before the change, exams for noncommercial driver’s licenses were offered in multiple languages, including Spanish, Haitian Creole and Portuguese, while the commercial learner’s permit and commercial driver’s license knowledge exams were both offered in English and Spanish. Now all driver’s license knowledge and skills testing will be conducted in English. Continue reading...

Peaceful demonstrations force a delay in measures aimed at improving revenue collection but which many fear will be fatal for small traders Demonstrations across Malawi’s four main cities during the past week have achieved a delay in the introduction of a new tax regime that business owners claim will cripple their livelihoods. Tens of thousands had signed petitions which this week were presented to tax officials and on Monday thousands of small traders shut up shops and businesses to hold protest marches in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Zomba and Mzuzu. Continue reading...

Ombudsman found bank wrongly rejected 34% of complaints last year, with NatWest and HSBC close behind Monzo has wrongly denied refunds to thousands of fraud and scam victims, the Guardian can reveal. The digital-only bank wrongly rejected more than 1,000 fraud and scam complaints that were closed last year alone, according to data from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Continue reading...

Disclosures show figures cited by authority’s leader rested on unfunded ideas listed briefly in budget papers Reform UK’s flagship council has been accused of telling a “blatant lie” after its claim of nearly £40m in savings on net zero were found to be based on hypothetical projects for which there was no documentation. Kent county council, which has a £2.5bn annual budget, is one of 10 where Nigel Farage’s party has outright control and is seen as a test case for whether the insurgent party can govern competently. Continue reading...

Gordon Brown says he believes current prime minister is a man of ‘integrity’ who was ‘misled and betrayed’ by Peter Mandelson A Labour minister commissioned and reviewed a report in 2023 on journalists investigating the thinktank that would help propel Keir Starmer to power , the Guardian has learned. The research was paid for and subsequently reviewed by Josh Simons, now a minister in the Cabinet Office, when he was director of Labour Together, according to sources and documents seen by the Guardian. Continue reading...

Campaigners welcome criminalisation of non-consensual AI-generated explicit images but say law does not go far enough Victims of deepfake image abuse have called for stronger protection against AI-generated explicit images, as the law criminalising the creation of non-consensual intimate images comes into effect. Campaigners from Stop Image-Based Abuse delivered a petition to Downing Street with more than 73,000 signatures, urging the government to introduce civil routes to justice such as takedown orders for abusive imagery on platforms and devices. Continue reading...

Chalk artwork sold for record price at a New York Sotheby’s auction with proceeds going to the Panthera charity A tiny chalk drawing of a lion by Rembrandt recently sold for the record-setting price of $18m in New York City to benefit the conservation of big cats. After selling at a Sotheby’s auction Wednesday, Young Lion Resting shattered the previous mark for the most expensive drawing by the 17th-century Dutch painter ever auctioned: the $3.7m Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo. Continue reading...

‘Catastrophic failure of safeguarding’ highlighted by fact Zuber Bux’s lay practice is legal, campaigners say A doctor who was struck off over a “reckless” circumcision that risked killing a toddler is still performing the procedure as a layperson, the Guardian can reveal. Campaigners say Zuber Bux’s private circumcision business highlights a “catastrophic failure of safeguarding”, as alarm grows about the absence of regulation of the procedure. Continue reading...

Boy, 15, also charged with possession of bladed article on education premises, after incident at school on Thursday A pupil who allegedly assaulted a teacher at a school in Milford Haven has been charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed article on education premises. Dyfed-Powys police said the 15-year-old boy had been remanded in custody and was scheduled to appear at Swansea magistrates court on Saturday. The senior investigating officer, DCI Matthew Briggs, said: “We are continuing to support the victim whilst they recover from this traumatic event. Continue reading...

Tests on both versions of Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata were unable to detect brushstrokes of 15th-century master An analysis of two paintings in museums in the US and Italy by the 15th-century Flemish artist Jan van Eyck has raised a profound question: what if neither were by Van Eyck? Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, the name given to near-identical unsigned paintings hanging in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Royal Museums of Turin, represent two of the small number of surviving works by one of western art’s greatest masters, revered for his naturalistic portraits and religious subjects. Continue reading...

Capture of rogue ship could open a new front against Moscow at a time when Russia’s oil revenues are tumbling The UK is threatening to seize a Russia-linked shadow fleet tanker in an escalatory move that could lead to the opening up of a new front against Moscow at a time when the country’s oil revenues are tumbling. British defence sources confirmed that military options to capture a rogue ship had been identified in discussions involving Nato allies – though a month has gone by since the US-led seizure of a Russian tanker in the Atlantic. Continue reading...

Almost 1m UK households are hooked up to heat networks. None had protection from poor service or price hikes … until last month ‘If I could move, I would – to a place without a heat network. But I can’t while this debt is hanging over me,” says Anja Georgiou. The mother lives with her family in a rented flat in the River Gardens development in Greenwich in south-east London where, three years ago, residents were shocked to be presented with a surprise £200,000 bill for heating and hot water. Continue reading...

Prices paid for large estates not being disclosed on official register, land reform advocates say Land reform campaigners are alarmed at the increasing use of a legal loophole that allows landowners to conceal the price paid for Highland estates from the public register. Andy Wightman, a land reform analyst, said the loophole meant the prices paid in more than £300m-worth of Highland property transactions were not disclosed on the register. Continue reading...

Reporters say relatives in Iran have been questioned and persecuted in an effort to curb coverage of unrest Exiled Iranian journalists working for the BBC have been warned their movements are being closely monitored by the state, as they said their families in Iran were being interrogated and persecuted for their reporting. Journalists said family members had been threatened with arrest and the seizure of their assets unless their loved ones stopped reporting on Iranian unrest. Continue reading...

Socialist António José Seguro on course for victory but gains by André Ventura’s Chega could herald watershed Portuguese voters will return to the polls on Sunday for the final round of a presidential election that has been marked by a push to keep the far-right candidate at bay and overshadowed by deadly storms that have lashed the country in recent days. The moderate leftwing candidate António José Seguro won the first round of the election , which was held on 18 January, taking 31.1% of the vote. Continue reading...

Special pods at Chester zoo helped conservationists breed and release more than 100,000 greater Bermuda snails A button-sized snail once feared extinct in its Bermudian home is thriving again after conservationists bred and released more than 100,000 of the molluscs. The greater Bermuda snail ( Poecilozonites bermudensis ) was found in the fossil record but believed to have vanished from the North Atlantic archipelago , until a remnant population was discovered in a damp and overgrown alleyway in Hamilton, the island capital, in 2014 . Continue reading...

Files reveal a world of flattery and fratboy tones, where rich men are cultivated and women provide services Pluck an email at random from the millions in the Department of Justice’s Epstein Library. It is a Saturday evening in February 2013, and Jeffrey Epstein is messaging Bill Gates’s assistant about guests for a dinner he wants to organise. “People for Bill,” the email begins. Epstein starts listing possible candidates: the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, the film director Woody Allen, the prime minister of Qatar, a couple of Harvard academics, the billionaire CEO of Hyatt hotels, a White House communications director, a former US secretary of defence. Continue reading...

Cyclone was expected to become a category-three system before it hit the Pilbara coast on Sunday Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A tropical cyclone off northern Western Australia is expected to intensify into a severe category three system. Cyclone Mitchell was offshore of Port Hedland and moving south-west towards the coast off Karratha late Saturday morning. Continue reading...

Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was detained on drug charges in 2014 before Canada-China ties nosedived in 2018 China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a Canadian official said on Friday, in a possible sign of a diplomatic thaw as prime minister Mark Carney seeks to boost trade ties with Beijing. Schellenberg’s lawyer Zhang Dongshuo, reached in Beijing on Saturday, confirmed the decision was announced on Friday by China’s highest court. Continue reading...

Jon Hallford, condemned in court as ‘monster’, stashed decaying bodies and gave grieving families fake ashes A Colorado funeral home owner who stashed 189 decomposing bodies in a building over four years and gave grieving families fake ashes was sentenced to 40 years in state prison Friday. During the sentencing hearing, family members told Judge Eric Bentley they have had recurring nightmares about decomposing flesh and maggots since learning what happened to their loved ones. Continue reading...

YouTuber Sur Ronster issued with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving in relation to the bridge ride-out Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast New South Wales police have fined an American social media personality and issued two traffic infringement notices for alleged negligent driving after a swarm of ebike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in peak-hour traffic on Tuesday. A group of about 40 people riding ebikes and motorcycles travelled along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The group then turned around and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket. Continue reading...

Move by Pete Hegseth marks latest escalation by Trump administration against the Ivy League school The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth , has said the Pentagon is ending all military training, fellowships and certificate programs with Harvard University, marking the Trump administration ’s latest escalation against the Ivy League school. “The @DeptWar is formally ending ALL Professional Military Education, fellowships, and certificate programs with Harvard University ,” Hegseth said in a statement posted on X, labeling Harvard as “woke”. Continue reading...

Thirteen state and federal NSW MPs appeal to police to allow planned march protesting against the visit Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The NSW government has invoked special powers ahead of the Israeli president’s visit next week with the premier, Chris Minns, warning would-be protesters that police will not allow “conflict on Sydney streets”. But 13 state and federal NSW MPs have written to the police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, appealing for him to work with protest organisers to facilitate a planned assembly and march from Town Hall to state parliament. Continue reading...

The case in Bangladesh, where Nipah cases are reported almost every year, follows two Nipah virus cases identified in neighbouring India The World Health Organization said on Friday that a woman had died in northern Bangladesh in January after contracting the deadly Nipah virus infection. The case in Bangladesh , where Nipah cases are reported almost every year, follows two Nipah virus cases identified in neighbouring India , which has already prompted stepped-up airport screenings across Asia. Continue reading...

Vice-president given hostile reception by some in Milan US broadcast cuts out crowd’s show of dissent The US vice-president, JD Vance, was greeted by a chorus of boos when he appeared at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan on Friday, although American viewers watching NBC’s coverage would have been unaware of the reception. As speedskater Erin Jackson led Team USA into the San Siro stadium she was greeted by cheers. But when the TV cameras cut to Vance and his wife, Usha, there were boos, jeers and a smattering of applause from the crowd . The reaction was shown on Canadian broadcaster CBC’s feed, with one commentator saying: “There is the vice-president JD Vance and his wife Usha – oops, those are not … uh … those are a lot of boos for him. Whistling, jeering, some applause.” Continue reading...

They offer independence, reduce emissions and congestion. But they are also endangering lives Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast After the Sydney Harbour Bridge was swarmed by 40 or so ebikes and e-motorcycles on Wednesday, the Australian government said the country faced a “real emergency”. “[Illegal ebikes] are a total menace on the road,” the health minister, Mark Butler, said on Friday. Continue reading...

Nathan Smith, 27, known professionally as DJ Young Slade, was a music producer, artist, engineer and NYU graduate American rapper Lil Jon said on Friday that his son, Nathan Smith, has died, the record producer confirmed in a joint statement with Smith’s mother after police found a body in a pond north of Atlanta, Georgia. “I am extremely heartbroken for the tragic loss of our son, Nathan Smith. His mother [Nicole Smith] and I are devastated,” the statement said. Continue reading...

Initial announcement sparked fury from US cattle ranchers as economists say change will have little impact on prices Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation to hike the US’s low-tariff imports of Argentine beef, though economists have said the attempt to lower costs for US consumers will likely have little impact on prices. A White House official said in October that Trump would make such a move, evoking fury from the nation’s cattle ranchers. Continue reading...

California governor accused the administration of trying to ‘distract’ from Trump posting a racist video of the Obamas California governor Gavin Newsom debunked a claim by senior Trump officials that his state plans to release more than 33,000 undocumented criminals from its jails. On Friday, Stephen Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff, posted on X that “California is getting ready to free up to 33 thousand criminal illegal aliens.” Continue reading...

Watergate reporter says colleagues and readers ‘deserve more’ after newspaper lays off hundreds of workers The veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward has said he is “crushed” by the mass layoffs of hundreds of colleagues at the paper and said the impact would be felt by readers – noting both “deserve more”. “I am crushed that so many of my beloved colleagues have lost their jobs and our readers have been given less news and sound analysis,” Woodward said in his first public remarks on the cuts, which were shared on X. “They deserve more.” Continue reading...

Sgt Erik Duran convicted by judge for causing Eric Duprey to fatally crash his motorized scooter in 2023 A New York City police officer was convicted on Friday of second-degree manslaughter after he tossed a picnic cooler filled with drinks at a fleeing suspect, causing the man to fatally crash his motorized scooter in 2023. Judge Guy Mitchell handed down the guilty verdict in Bronx criminal court in the case against Sgt Erik Duran in the death of Eric Duprey. The 38-year-old Duran was the first New York police department (NYPD) officer in years to be tried for killing someone while on duty. Continue reading...