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Eight children including two infants among dead in vehicle carrying displaced people, says Sudan Doctors Network

A drone attack by a paramilitary group has hit a vehicle carrying displaced families in central Sudan, killing at least 24 people, including eight children, a doctors’ group said on Saturday.

The attack by the Rapid Support Forces took place close to the city of Er Rahad in North Kordofan province, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country’s war. The vehicle was transporting displaced people who fled fighting in the Dubeiker area, the group said in a statement. Among the dead children were two infants.

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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.

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Spain and Portugal hit with torrential rain while flash floods in Morocco force more than 100,000 people to evacuate

The Iberian peninsula has been placed under severe weather alerts as Storm Leonardo continues to batter parts of Spain and Portugal with torrential rain and strong winds.

Since Tuesday, the slow-moving system has brought widespread disruption, flooding and evacuations. In Grazalema, in southern Spain, more than 700mm of rain has fallen since Wednesday, roughly equivalent to the country’s average annual rainfall.

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Umar Bio Salihu, 53, the local head of Woro in Kwara state, says gunmen ‘just came in and started shooting’

The traditional chief of a village in western Nigeria where jihadists massacred residents earlier this week has recounted a night of terror during which the attackers killed two of his sons and kidnapped his wife and three daughters.

Umar Bio Salihu, the 53-year-old chief of Woro, a small, Muslim-majority village in Kwara state, said that at about 5pm on Tuesday the gunmen “just came in and started shooting”.

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Local politician says armed men rounded up residents, bound their hands behind their backs and shot them

More than 160 people have been killed in two villages in western Nigeria in the country’s deadliest armed assaults this year, as communities reel from repeated and widespread acts of violence perpetrated by jihadists and other armed groups.

The death toll from Tuesday’s attacks in Woro and Nuku in Kwara state stood at 162 on Wednesday afternoon, according to Mohammed Omar Bio, a member of parliament representing the area.

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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.

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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.

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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 Argentinian 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.

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Founding of diplomatic outposts in Nuuk comes after US made efforts to secure control of Arctic island

• Opposition to US has hardened in western Europe after Greenland threat, poll finds

Canada and France are to open diplomatic consulates in the capital of Greenland on Friday, showing support for their Nato ally Denmark and the Arctic island after US efforts to secure control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Canada’s foreign minister, Anita Anand, was travelling to Nuuk to inaugurate the consulate, which officials say also could help boost cooperation on issues such as the climate crisis and Inuit rights. She was joined by Canada’s Indigenous governor general, Mary Simon.

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Miguel Díaz‑Canel says Cuba is willing to engage Washington amid the island’s deepening economic crisis

After months of threats from Donald Trump, the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, has said that his government is willing to talk to the United States, just so long as it is “without pressure”.

Standing in front of a life-sized photograph of Fidel Castro carrying a rifle during the 1959 revolution, Díaz-Canel, the 65-year-old president, said on Thursday that his island nation had been subject to an “intense media campaigns of slander, hatred and psychological warfare”.

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Residents of New Zealand capital advised not to enter the water, collect seafood or walk their dogs on local beaches after wastewater plant failure

A sewage leak in New Zealand’s capital Wellington has been described by local authorities as an “environmental disaster,” with repairs to the city’s wastewater treatment plant expected to take months.

Residents of Wellington have been advised not to enter the water, collect seafood or even walk their dogs on local beaches.

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Dozens of people have died, including two Australians, as record-breaking snowfall blankets the north

Dozens of people have died in Japan after record-breaking snowfall blanketed northern regions of the country, while officials warned that warmer temperatures could trigger a new wave of accidents.

Authorities said 35 people had died in snow-related incidents across Japan since 20 January, with almost 400 injured, 126 of them seriously. Most of the deaths were among people who fell while trying to clear snow from their roofs or around their homes.

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The country’s first female PM is the object of a personality cult revolving around everything from her outfits and snacks to her favourite pink pen

Just eight months ago, Japan’s ruling party appeared to have reached the edge of the electoral abyss. It had lost a parliamentary majority for the second time in 15 months; its MPs were implicated in a long-running slush fund scandal; the then prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, was the target of factional plotting.

But as voters prepare to brave freezing temperatures in this Sunday’s lower house elections, the Liberal Democratic party (LDP) is expected to pull off a momentous victory. And the party’s recovery from the disappointment of last year is largely down to one woman.

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Taiwanese president says ties with Washington ‘rock solid’, hours after leaders of US and China share first call since November

In their first call since November, Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned US president Donald Trump to be “prudent” about supplying arms to Taiwan, according to a readout of their call provided by China’s foreign ministry.

“President Xi emphasised that the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” the readout said. “China must safeguard its own sovereignty and territorial integrity, and will never allow Taiwan to be separated. The US must handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence.”

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Industry bigger than all but seven world economies, and accounts for more than third of China’s economic growth

China’s clean energy industries drove more than 90% of the country’s investment growth last year, making the sectors bigger than all but seven of the world’s economies, a new analysis has shown.

For the second time in three years, the report showed the manufacture, installation and export of batteries, electric cars, solar, wind and related technologies accounted for more than a third of China’s economic growth.

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State transport minister says ebikes modified to exceed 25km/h speed limit will be confiscated by police and ‘end up as a twisted wreck’

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The NSW government has announced a “crackdown” on illegally modified ebikes, with police to be given powers to seize and destroy any that exceed the legal speed limit.

The transport minister, John Graham, announced on Sunday that new seizure laws will be developed to allow police to seize any ebike that does not cut power assistance at 25km/h, with non-compliant bikes to be removed from the streets and crushed.

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Palestine Action Group march planned from Sydney Town Hall to state parliament in breach of public assembly declaration

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Protesters planning to march through Sydney’s CBD during the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog’s visit are being urged to take an alternate route, as the Palestine Action Group prepares to challenge the premier’s use of special powers before the rally.

The acting assistant commissioner of New South Wales police, Paul Dunstan, told reporters on Sunday negotiations were continuing with Josh Lees, from the Palestine Action Group, over the location of Monday night’s march.

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Wind gusts up to 195km/h could develop as cyclone forecast to make landfall between Exmouth and Onslow in the Pilbara on Sunday night

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Severe Tropical Cyclone Mitchell is expected to maintain its category 3 intensity as it barrels along the Pilbara coast before making landfall.

Located west of Karratha, the cyclone was about 30km offshore with 120km/h winds near the centre and gusts up to 165km/h on Sunday morning, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest track map.

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Deal will see all former Nationals frontbenchers suspended from shadow ministry until March

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The Coalition will reunite after Sussan Ley brokered a deal with David Littleproud to bring the Liberals and Nationals back together.

Littleproud guaranteed there would be no further splits while he and Ley were in charge, after both leaders made significant concessions to end a messy and damaging period for the struggling conservative parties.

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They offer independence, reduce emissions and congestion. But they are also endangering lives

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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.

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Former culture minister Jack Lang resigns from Arab World Institute in Paris and is also subject of tax investigation

Jack Lang, a former French culture minister, has resigned as head of Paris’s prestigious Arab World Institute after revelations of his past contacts with the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the launch of a financial investigation by French prosecutors.

Lang, 86, resigned on Saturday night before he was due to attend an urgent meeting called by the French foreign ministry to discuss his links to Epstein.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Donald Trump says another meeting set for next week while warning of ‘very steep’ consequences if Tehran doesn’t make a deal

Indirect talks between Iran and the US on the future of Iran’s nuclear programme ended on Friday with a broad agreement to maintain a diplomatic path, possibly with further talks in the coming days, according to statements from Iran and the Omani hosts.

The relieved Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, described the eight hours of meetings as a “good start” conducted in a good atmosphere. He added that the continuance of talks depended on consultations in Washington and Tehran, but said Iran had underlined that any dialogue required refraining from threats.

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Zubayar al-Bakoush is suspected in Libya attack resulting in deaths of US ambassador and three other Americans

The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, announced on Friday the arrest of a “key participant” in the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack that killed four US government officials, including the US ambassador to Libya, J Christopher Stevens.

Bondi said the suspect, Zubayar al-Bakoush, was taken into US custody at 3am ET on Friday. “We will prosecute this alleged terrorist to the fullest extent of the law. He’ll face charges related to murder, terrorism, arson, among others,” Bondi told reporters at a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington DC.

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It is the first time the US and Iran have sat down for face-to-face negotiations since June last year, when Israel launched attacks on Iran that sparked a war marked by tit-for-tat airstrikes, with the US also joining the fray. It effectively ended the US-Iran talks that were held in the weeks prior to the conflict aimed at reaching a nuclear peace agreement.

More recently, Donald Trump has been threatening to strike Iran for more than a month and just last week warned that an “armada” of US warships had reached the Persian Gulf. This recent clash began after Trump said he would strike Iran if it killed protesters during mass antigovernment demonstrations that swept the country last month. Human rights groups say thousands of people were killed during the brutal government crackdown on those protests.

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Emails appear to show Mountbatten-Windsor attempting to introduce Epstein to UAE crown prince via foreign affairs minister

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor vouched for Jeffrey Epstein during a UK state visit to the United Arab Emirates with Queen Elizabeth II in 2010, according to newly released emails.

The email was sent from “The Duke” to Epstein on 24 November of that year, with the subject listed as “Abdullah” – an apparent reference to the UAE foreign affairs minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

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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.

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Police investigating whether blast that injured at least 169 at Friday prayers in Islamabad was suicide attack

An explosion has ripped through a Shia mosque on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital during Friday prayers, killing 31 people and injuring at least 169 others, according to officials. Police said they were investigating whether the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.

There were fears the death toll from the blast at the Khadija al-Kubra mosque in Islamabad could rise as some of the injured were reported to be in a critical condition. Television footage and social media images showed police and residents transporting the injured to nearby hospitals.

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Officials say calm restored to province day after dozens killed in suicide and gun attacks in at least 10 cities

Pakistan’s security forces have intensified their operations against separatist militants in Balochistan province who launched a large-scale assault on Saturday in which at least 31 civilians and 17 security personnel were killed.

A day after the militants carried out suicide attacks in the heart of the province’s capital, Quetta, the chief minister of the south-western region, Sarfraz Bugti, said 145 people he described as militants had been killed in 40 hours and that their bodies were in the custody of the authorities.

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Five years after the junta’s coup, the civil war devastating Myanmar has reached a turning point. The military is carrying out large-scale counter-offensives across the country to reclaim territory seized by pro-democracy rebels of various ethnic and religious backgrounds

In Tanintharyi, the southernmost region of Myanmar, the local resistance has managed to contain the military. After five years of guerrilla warfare, the revolutionary youth there remain determined to restore democracy through armed struggle.

A long, narrow stretch of land at the southern tip of Myanmar, between the Andaman Sea to the west and Thailand to the east, Tanintharyi region is one of the areas where the resistance challenges the military’s authority. For decades, the region has been home to an armed rebellion led by the Karen ethnic minority, which operated mainly in the peripheral mountains.

Soldiers from the Karen National Union (KNU) inspect the ruins of a Buddhist monastery destroyed by a junta airstrike in Myeik district, Tanintharyi region

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• Concern raised over politicisation of sport

• Bangladesh pulled out of men’s World T20 after row

Bangladesh’s withdrawal from the men’s T20 World Cup could have implications for India’s 2036 Olympic bid amid concern at the International Olympic Committee over the potential politicisation of sport.

Bangladesh pulled out of next month’s tournament last weekend after the International Cricket Council declined a request to move their group matches from India to the co-hosts Sri Lanka, after a long-running political row triggered by Kolkata Knight Riders’ decision to remove the Bangladeshi bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their Indian Premier League squad.

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Resolution Foundation finds one in three carers from poorer families unable to work because of responsibilities

A growing “unsung army” of 1 million people with full-time caring responsibilities needs better support, according to a report that found one in three unpaid carers from poorer backgrounds were unable to work because of their duties.

The trend is the result of an ageing society and rising ill-health and disability concentrated in the poorest half of the country’s working-age families, the Resolution Foundation’s research found.

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Met Office forecasts more rainfall to continue UK’s 37-day run, and flooding expected especially in south-west England and Midlands

The unrelenting rain is expected to continue on Sunday and into next week with dozens of flood warnings in place across Great Britain.

The Environment Agency (EA) has issued 85 warnings for England, meaning flooding is expected, mainly concentrated in the south-west and Midlands.

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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.

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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.

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Proceedings briefly halted after audio from The Rest Is History 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.

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Today show host tells potential kidnappers of mother Nancy that family is prepared to pay for safe return

Savannah Guthrie told the potential kidnappers of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, on Saturday that the family is prepared to pay for her safe return, as the frantic search for the 84-year-old entered a seventh day.

“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” she said in a video posted on social media, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

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Several demonstrators taken into custody Saturday after marking killing of Minnesota woman by immigration officer

Police arrested several demonstrators Saturday outside a federal building just south of Minneapolis, breaking up a protest marking the one-month anniversary of a Minnesota woman’s death at the hands of an immigration officer.

Renee Good was killed on 7 January as she was driving away from immigration officers in a Minneapolis neighborhood. Her death and the killing of another Minneapolis resident, Alex Pretti, just weeks later have stoked outrage nationwide over Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

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Departure comes days after newspaper laid off nearly one-third of staff, including more than 300 journalists

Will Lewis, the Murdoch media veteran who took over as publisher and chief executive of the Washington Post in early 2024, announced abruptly on Saturday evening that he is leaving the company.

His departure comes just three days after the Post laid off nearly one-third of its entire staff, citing the need to cut costs and reposition the money-losing publication. Lewis, who did not appear on the all-staff meeting during which the cuts were announced, has faced criticism for his absence and leadership.

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Lead singer died on Saturday, months after he announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer

Brad Arnold, the lead singer of the Grammy-nominated rock band 3 Doors Down, has died, months after he announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer. He was 47.

The band said in a statement on Saturday that Arnold “passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, in his sleep after his courageous battle with cancer”.

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Raman, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, enters a crowded field that includes incumbent Karen Bass

Los Angeles city council member Nithya Raman formally entered the race for mayor on Saturday, unveiling her campaign during a press conference.

Representing areas that stretch from the San Fernando valley to Silver Lake, Raman declared her candidacy just hours before the filing deadline. She now joins a field that includes former reality television personality Spencer Pratt, Housing Now California deputy director Rae Huang, veteran city engineer Asaad Alnajjar and the incumbent mayor, Karen Bass.

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