World news | The Guardian

Zimbabwe refuses to sign agreement and Kenya faces a court case over data sharing as new aid deals come under scrutiny

A series of bilateral health agreements being negotiated between African countries and the administration of President Donald Trump have been labelled “clearly lop-sided” and “immoral” amid growing outrage at US demands, including countries being forced to share biological resources and data.

It emerged this week that Zimbabwe had halted negotiations with the US for $350m (£258m) of health funding, saying the proposals risked undermining its sovereignty and independence.

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Wendy Faith and Alesi Diana Denise were taken into custody under laws that have outraged LGBTQ+ community and rights activists

Two women have been arrested and detained in Uganda after allegedly kissing in public, an act of “same-sex activity” which can lead to a life sentence in the east African country..

Wendy Faith, a 22-year-old musician known as Torrero Bae, and Alesi Diana Denise, 21, were taken into custody after police raided their rented room in Uganda’s north-west Arua City last week.

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Atmospheric machine-gun has fired storm after deadly storm at the region this year, leaving a trail of widespread destruction

For Andrés Sánchez Barea, in Spain, it was the fear that arose when water started to spurt from plug sockets. For Nelson Duarte, in Portugal, it was the helplessness that hit as violent winds smacked down trees and tore tiles from roofs. For Amal Essuide, in Morocco, it was the reality that dawned when a corpse was pulled onboard a boat in the flooded medina.

Each moment of horror is a fragment of the destruction wrought by an atmospheric machine-gun that in recent weeks has fired storm after storm at the western Mediterranean. Scientists do not know if climate breakdown helped pull the trigger, but research suggests it loaded the chamber with bigger bullets.

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Leaked draft of $1bn memorandum of understanding reveals mandatory targets, sharing of data, and reported access to mining concessions

The US has been accused of “shameless exploitation” over a health financing agreement with Zambia worth more than $1bn (£740m), amid warnings that the country is getting a raw deal from the Trump administration.

A leaked draft of a five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two countries, seen by the Guardian, reveals that Zambia may accept terms worse than health financing agreements the US has reached with 16 other African countries.

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‘Extraordinary’ golden lamb’s head pillaged in 1874 from what is now Ghana remains hidden in officers’ mess

The Royal Artillery is facing criticism after it emerged they are refusing public access to an “extraordinary object” looted by the British army in the 19th century from the Asante people in modern-day Ghana.

The glistening golden ram’s head would seemingly be worthy of any museum, but it remains hidden within the regiment’s mess at Larkhill in Wiltshire.

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Cuban president says country will ‘defend itself with determination’ after deadly coastal assault by exiles

• What we know so far about the deadly boat shooting off Cuba’s coast

Cuba has vowed to defend itself against any “terrorist and mercenary aggression”, a day after border guards said they had killed four exiles on a Florida-registered speedboat that opened fire on a patrol.

Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, wrote on X that the Caribbean country would “defend itself with determination and firmness” after the incident in which six other people on the boat were injured.

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Rare clash off island’s coast took place amid US oil embargo and heightened tensions between two countries

Cuban forces killed four exiles and wounded six others who sailed into its waters onboard a Florida-registered speedboat and opened fire on a Cuban patrol, the country’s government said, at a time of heightened tensions with the US.

Cuba’s interior ministry said the group comprised anti-government Cubans, some of whom were previously wanted for plotting attacks. They came from the US dressed in camouflage and armed with assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives, ballistic vests and telescopic sights, it said.

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João Francisco Inácio Brazão and Domingos Inácio Brazão sentenced for murder of Marielle Franco, a gay Black woman and rising political star

Two influential Brazilian politician brothers have been convicted by Brazil’s supreme court of ordering the murder of Marielle Franco, the Rio de Janeiro city councillor, nearly eight years ago.

João Francisco Inácio Brazão, the former congressman known as Chiquinho, and the former adviser to Rio’s court of auditors Domingos Inácio Brazão were sentenced to 76 years and three months in prison for the murders of Franco, 38, and her driver, Anderson Gomes, 39.

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Four-day Caricom summit dominated by debate about US interventions in the region as military strikes against suspected drug boats continue

US interventions dominated speeches at a summit of 15 nations from the Caribbean and the Americas on Tuesday, as the region’s leaders met amid deadly military strikes against suspected drug boats and an oil blockade on Cuba.

During the opening ceremony of the four-day Caricom summit in St Kitts and Nevis, leaders of the regional bloc called for a strategic collaborations to deal with the impact of recent US policies.

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Firefighters search for 39 people missing in debris after river burst and houses were swept away

Three firefighters pulled a man’s body from the mud amid the rubble of houses swept away in a landslide in south-eastern Brazil, where 30 people died and 39 were still missing on Tuesday after torrential rains.

A river in the state of Minas Gerais burst its banks and streets became raging currents of brown water after an overnight downpour in a region that has seen record rain this month.

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Many observers believe North Korean leader has decided daughter Kim Ju-ae will succeed him, but others say gender politics could block her path to power

When North Korea’s ruling party held a top-level meeting this month there were predictable boasts of unstoppable nuclear development and, more unexpectedly, a suggestion by Kim Jong-un that his country and the US “could get along” – provided that Washington recognised North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power.

But for many North Korea watchers, the Workers’ party congress – held over several days just once every five years – was a rare opportunity to speculate over the identity of the country’s future leader.

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Graeme Kearns, chief executive of Foundation Theatres, says: ‘Our job in theatre is to absolutely defend the right to tell stories about culture’

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The head of the theatre hosting the Shen Yun dance troupe in Sydney says the company would not be intimidated to pull the shows by any “outrageous” anonymous threats and that the publicity had increased interest in the show.

On Monday, the Gold Coast venue for the Shen Yun performances was forced to evacuate after a bomb threat, with a similar threat forcing the evacuation of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s official residence, The Lodge, in Canberra the next day.

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Exclusive: Former New Zealand PM ‘based out of Australia’, according to spokesperson, after rumours she was looking for houses in Sydney

The former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern is living in Australia with her family, a spokesperson has confirmed.

“The family has been travelling for a few years now,” her office told the Guardian.

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Tommy Schaefer released early from sentence for murder of Sheila von Wiese-Mack and will face US federal charges

Indonesia has freed and deported a US man after he spent 11 years in prison for the premeditated murder of his then girlfriend’s mother on the tourist island of Bali, and he will now faces federal charges in the US.

Tommy Schaefer was sentenced to 18 years in prison in Bali for the 2014 murder of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, the mother of Heather Mack, during a luxury holiday, in a case that became known as the Bali suitcase murder. Prosecutors allege the couple were trying to gain access to a $1.5m (£1.1m) trust fund.

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Surface-to-air missiles, which are capable of shooting down aircraft and ballistic missiles, will be located on Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost island

Japan will deploy missiles to a tiny island near Taiwan within five years, its defence minister has said, in a move that is likely to inflame tensions with China.

The surface-to-air missiles, which are capable of shooting down aircraft and ballistic missiles, will be located on Yonaguni – Japan’s westernmost island – by March 2031, Shinjiro Koizumi said.

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Former state Liberal MP begins his evidence after pleading not guilty to 10 charges for various sexual acts

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A former state Liberal MP accused of having sex with a 13-year-old boy in a car park toilet has claimed in court the boy told him he was 17 .

Rory Amon, 36, began his evidence in his New South Wales supreme court trial after pleading not guilty to 10 charges for various sexual acts against the young teen in 2017.

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Party says ‘what’s important now is that we strengthen our party for the future’ but some MPs concerned they will not learn from loss

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A review of the Liberal party’s catastrophic election defeat will be buried in a move that shields the former leader Peter Dutton and the current leader, Angus Taylor, from potentially damaging findings about their role in the campaign.

The Liberal federal executive met on Friday and agreed to permanently shelve Pru Goward and Nick Minchin’s review of the 2025 election, which produced the worst result in the party’s more than 80-year history.

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Health minister says cluster of infections at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred hospital was not publicised to avoid ‘unnecessarily scaring people’

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The New South Wales health minister has denied “covering up” a deadly fungal outbreak at one of Australia’s largest hospitals, saying it was not publicised to avoid “unnecessarily scaring people”.

The cluster of infections caused by aspergillus, a common mould, killed two patients and left four others unwell in the Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) hospital’s transplant unit in late 2025.

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• Negative gearing changes on the table before May budget, Jim Chalmers confirms

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Sarah Mitchell, the NSW shadow minister for health, said revelations two people had died after an outbreak of fungal infections at a major Sydney hospital were “shocking”, calling for more transparency from the Minns government.

As reported yesterday, the Sydney local health district said the two deaths and four other infections resulted in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital closing its transplant unit temporarily. The infections occurred between October and December, and the SLHD is investigating the source. A spokesperson said on Thursday that fungal spores of the common mould aspergillus could be stirred up by construction works. RPA has been undergoing a major redevelopment since 2023.

The revelations that multiple patients died due to a fungal outbreak at Royal Prince Alfred hospital are shocking. Patients go to hospital to be cared for, not to be exposed to life-threatening infections.

The staff, patients and families of those who lost their lives deserve transparency.

We must recognise that violence has an immediate and long-term cost for all – therefore reforming the systems that currently harm or inadequately protect women and children must be a priority – and simply money makes a difference.

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Hash Tayeh flags appeal to Victorian civil and administrative tribunal finding over phrase used at Melbourne rally last year

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A prominent pro-Palestine protester racially and religiously vilified Jewish people when he chanted “All Zionists are terrorists” at a Melbourne rally, a Victorian tribunal has ruled.

Hash Tayeh, who has flagged an appeal to Thursday’s ruling, was found to have breached the state’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act with his comments in March last year.

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Landslide in Niscemi in January tore away entire slope of town and carved 4km chasm

Firefighters in Sicily have rescued about 400 rare books from a library in Niscemi that hangs on the edge of a mudflow, after a devastating landslide in January tore away an entire slope of the town and carved a 4km chasm.

The library stands on the lip of the precipice gouged out by the landslide, with part of the building in effect hanging in mid-air. The recovery operation, which began on Monday, was preceded by a detailed study of floor plans and interior photographs to map the position of the books.

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Exhibits pay homage to Ukrainians’ resilience and bring home the reality that war is going on in Europe

Descending into the windowless basement of a second world war air-raid bunker built for civilians in central Berlin is arguably an eerie enough evocation of what it means to endure life in a conflict.

But in a modern twist, before they have even walked into the first room of the city’s new Ukraine Museum inside the bunker, visitors are “targeted” by a Russian drone just before its operator prepares to release the lethal shot, and see themselves in the firing line on the screen of the weapon’s camera.

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European Anti-Fraud Office to look into the former US ambassador’s time as trade commissioner in Brussels

Peter Mandelson is facing an inquiry by the EU’s anti-fraud agency after the European Commission requested the body look into his activities during his time as trade commissioner in Brussels.

The commission said it referred the peer, 72, to the European Anti-Fraud Office, known as Olaf, last week after the US Department of Justice released documents allegedly showing he shared sensitive government information with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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Women from countries with near-total bans on terminations will be given help to access services elsewhere

EU states will be able to tap into a social fund to help citizens access safe abortions, in an announcement hailed as a “victory for women”.

The roots of Thursday’s announcement go back to a long campaign for the European Commission to create a funding mechanism that would allow women from countries with near-total bans on abortion, such as Malta and Poland, to go where it is legal.

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‘It will soon be spring – and the Danes will soon be going to the polls,’ Danish PM tells the parliament in a special statement

Nordic correspondent

Frederiksen is speaking now.

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• Latest US-Iran nuclear talks conclude with claims of ‘significant progress’

• How Trump shifted from opposing foreign wars to threatening war in Iran

The nuclear talks today are the third between the US and Iran since June 2025, when the US joined Israel’s war against Iran and bombed its nuclear and military sites. It effectively ended the US-Iran talks that were held in the weeks prior to the conflict aimed at reaching a nuclear peace agreement.

As before, the negotiations are being mediated by Oman, which has maintained a policy of neutrality and assumed the role of mediator both within the Arabian peninsula and more broadly across the Middle East. The country lies in the centre of tensions between the US and Iran and is directly vulnerable to maritime instability and regional escalation.

If the talks fail, there is uncertainty over what the US may do regarding a possible military attack against Iran, and when it might act. Questions remain over what this could mean for the wider region, with Iran warning it would retaliate and even attack Israel.

The state-run Oman News Agency has posted photos on social media showing the Omani foreign minister Badr Albusaidi sat with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Geneva.

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Mediators say more talks to be held next week but no clear evidence two sides any closer on uranium enrichment

High-stakes talks between the US and Iran over the future of Tehran’s nuclear programme ended on Thursday without a deal, as the White House weighs a military operation that would mark its largest intervention in the Middle East in decades.

The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, claimed “good progress” had been made at the talks and Omani mediators predicted negotiations would reconvene at a technical level next week in Vienna.

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Tehran insists deal is possible if Trump abides by preconditions agreed with Witkoff and Kushner

Iran enters critical talks on its nuclear programme with the US on Thursday, insisting a deal is in reach as long as Washington sticks by its willingness to concede Iran’s symbolic right to enrich uranium, allow Tehran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and not to impose controls on Iran’s ballistic missile programme.

The three preconditions for success are seen as critical by Iranian diplomats, but it remains unclear whether Trump accepts these parameters.

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Committee to Protect Journalists report says Israel also to blame for 81% of ‘intentionally targeted’ journalist killings

• The deadly toll on journalists in the Gaza war

A record 129 journalists and media workers were killed in the course of their work in 2025, two-thirds of them by Israeli forces, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

It was the second consecutive year in which killings of members of the press reached unprecedented levels, and the second year running in which Israel was responsible for roughly two-thirds of the total, the New York-based independent organisation, which documents attacks on journalists worldwide, said in its annual report published on Wednesday.

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Emergency meeting called to discuss festival’s ‘future direction’ after series of controversies

The organisation that manages the Berlin film festival is to meet for talks amid reports that its American director faces dismissal after a series of rows over Gaza.

In a statement on Wednesday, the office of Germany’s federal government commissioner for culture and media said the emergency meeting on Thursday had been called to debate the “future direction of the Berlinale”.

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Escalation of violence between the volatile neighbours makes a Qatar-mediated ceasefire appear increasingly shaky

Pakistan bombed Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul and two other provinces on Friday, hours after a cross-border attack, the latest escalation of deadly violence between the volatile neighbours who signed a Qatar-mediated ceasefire in 2025.

Following months of tit-for-tat clashes, Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night in what the Taliban government said was retaliation for earlier deadly airstrikes.

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Proposal approved by Modi government will bring official English name into line with Malayalam language

The Indian state of Kerala, known as “God’s own country” for its golden beaches and lush tea plantations, is to be given a new name.

Narendra Modi’s cabinet has approved a proposal to change the southern coastal state’s name from Kerala to Keralam. The move will bring the official English name into line with how it is pronounced in Malayalam, the primary language spoken by the state’s estimated population of 35 million.

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Dominic Ethan Stewart was among 19 killed when vehicle veered off road and plunged down mountainside

Tributes have been paid to a young British hiker who was among 19 people killed when a packed passenger bus veered off a treacherous stretch of road and plunged 200 metres down a steep mountainside in Nepal.

Twenty-five others were injured in the pre-dawn crash in the Himalayan foothills on Monday. The bus was carrying 44 people, including a number of tourists.

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Motorway stretch plays music as a safety feature but those close to it say ‘intrusive’ noise is constant and distressing

Residents of one of India’s most upmarket neighbourhoods say the country’s first “musical road” has turned their daily lives into a nightmare soundtrack.

A stretch of Mumbai’s recently opened Coastal Road seafront expressway has been engineered to play the pulsating Oscar-winning tune Jai Ho from the movie Slumdog Millionaire when vehicles drive on it at lower speeds.

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‘Intelligence-based, selective operations’ carried out against Pakistani Taliban camps, says information ministry

Pakistan launched multiple airstrikes on Saturday night targeting militants in neighbouring Afghanistan, where the government reported children were among dozens of people killed and wounded.

Islamabad did not say precisely where the strikes were carried out or provide other details.

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Reform UK finished second and Labour is pushed into third place in bad news for PM Keir Starmer

• Full story: Resounding victory for Green party

• Analysis: Labour’s worst fears realised

Reform activists are “hearing Matt Goodwin has all but conceded defeat to the Greens”, the UK poll aggregator Britain Elects has posted on X.

The Green party has predicted a “seismic moment” in UK politics, with a party source telling the Press Association:

Things are feeling positive. Not wanting to get ahead of ourselves, but everything that we thought that was going to be happening looks like it’s happening … Whatever happens, I think it’s fair to say that Greens are here to stay now as a progressive voice in British politics.

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Hannah Spencer elected as party’s first MP in northern England, as Labour sees a 25.3% drop in vote compared to 2024

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The Green party has pulled off a landmark victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection in a significant blow to Keir Starmer.

Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green party councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England after overturning Labour’s 13,000-vote majority.

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Result gives progressive voters clear signal they have an alternative to beating Reform UK – and shows the task ahead for Keir Starmer

• UK politics live – latest updates

Labour MPs have said for weeks that the outcome they most feared at the Gorton and Denton byelection was a Green party victory.

On Friday morning, those fears were realised.

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Households on a default dual-fuel tariff in Great Britain could cut costs by moving to a fixed deal

Experts have told households whose energy bills are pegged to the price cap not to “rest on their laurels” as they could save more than £200 a year on a fixed deal.

This week, Ofgem said the price cap in Great Britain would drop by 7% from April. This usually only matters if you are on a default tariff, but this time the reduction applies to everyone because the government is removing green charges from bills.

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In today’s newsletter: ​This byelection has long been mooted as a foreshadowing of upcoming elections in Wales, Scotland and eventually the whole of the UK

Good morning. Hannah Spencer is the new MP for Gorton and Denton after the Green party’s first ever parliamentary byelection victory. In a bitter blow to Keir Starmer, Labour were pushed into third place in a constituency the party has represented for nearly a century. Reform’s Matt Goodwin came second, as Nigel Farage claimed the result was “a victory for sectarian voting and cheating”.

This contest had been billed as a three-way fight and for much of the campaign, it felt like a pollster’s nightmare. One side of the seat looked ripe for Reform’s message of grievance and cultural threat; the other was saturated with Green posters and the sense that Labour’s coalition was splintering. Add the row over Andy Burnham being blocked from standing, accusations of dirty tricks and disinformation, and you had a byelection that felt like a microcosm of 2026 British politics.

Iran | High-stakes talks between the US and Iran over the future of Tehran’s nuclear programme ended on Thursday without a deal, as the threat of war grows.

Migration | Hospitals and care homes in the UK face “an impending car crash”, experts have warned, as research shows the number of overseas nurses and carers has collapsed.

UK politics | Jeremy Corbyn is to become the parliamentary leader of Your Party, after an election in which his rival Zarah Sultana was also voted on to the party’s leadership committee.

Environment | US “bullying” over a proposed carbon levy on shipping appears to be paying off, experts have said, after Panama reversed its support for the measure.

Epstein | Peter Mandelson is facing an inquiry by the EU’s anti-fraud agency after the European Commission requested the body look into his activities during his time as trade commissioner in Brussels.

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Streaming service says ‘deal no longer financially attractive’ at price required to match Paramount Skydance offer

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Netflix has walked away from its planned takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, declining to raise its offer for the media conglomerate’s storied Hollywood studios and streaming business after it determined a sweetened rival offer from Paramount Skydance to be “superior”.

In a statement on Thursday evening, Netflix co-chief executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said that “at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive”.

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• Trump news at a glance: No deal reached in Iran talks as potential for US attack looms

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Cindy McCain announced today that she will step down from her role as executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme to focus on her health.

McCain, the widow of the late US senator John McCain, suffered a mild stroke last October and had returned to Italy to resume her work after that, but the demands of the job were affecting her recovery, the organization said. She started the role in April 2023. She will step down in three months.

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Federal Aviation Administration bars flights around Fort Hancock after reported use of anti-drone military laser

The Federal Aviation Administration barred flights on Thursday in an area around Fort Hancock, Texas, after congressional aides told Reuters a military laser-based anti-drone system was believed to have accidentally shot down a US government drone.

The FAA and Pentagon did not immediately comment but the FAA cited “special security reasons” in its notice about the restrictions on the airspace near the Mexican border posted on its Notam alert system, shorthand for “Notice to Air Missions”.

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Lead plaintiff, now 20, says use of social media made her relationships with friends and family anxious and strained

The young woman at the heart of the landmark trial about the addictive nature of social media testified for the first time on Thursday, saying she got hooked on YouTube starting at age six and Instagram at nine. By the time she was 10, she said, she had become depressed and was engaging in self-harm.

The woman, who is now 20 and known by her initials KGM, is the lead plaintiff in an expansive lawsuit against YouTube and Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook. The crux of the case alleges social media companies intentionally create addictive products, leading to mental health issues in young people.

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OpenAI-powered assistant will help to ‘understand overall service patterns’, company says, as move sparks backlash

From hospitality workers to retail employees, the exaggerated “customer service voice”, often mocked in internet memes as wildly different from someone’s real voice, has long been a cultural trope. Fast-food giant Burger King is now taking that voice one step further, saying it will detect whether employees are using words like “please” and “thank you” through the assistance of artificial intelligence.

On Thursday, Burger King announced it is rolling out a new AI chatbot connected to employee headsets at hundreds of locations in the US as part of a platform called BK Assistant, powered by OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.

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