World news | The Guardian

Janjaweed commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, known as Ali Kushayb, found guilty over atrocities

The international criminal court has convicted a leader of the Janjaweed militia of playing a leading role in a campaign of atrocities committed in the Sudanese region of Darfur more than 20 years ago.

It was the first time the court had convicted a suspect of crimes in Darfur. The court ruled that the atrocities, including mass murders and rapes, were part of a government plan to snuff out a rebellion in the western region of Sudan.

Continue reading...

African kingdom receives second group of third-country nationals in what NGOs and lawyers say is violation of human rights

Ten people deported by the US have arrived in Eswatini, its government said, the second group of third-country deportees to be sent to the southern African kingdom by the Trump administration in what lawyers and NGOs have described as violations of their human rights.

A statement by the Eswatini government posted on social media before their arrival on Monday said: “The individuals will be kept in a secured area separate from the public, while arrangements are made for their return to their countries of origin.”

Continue reading...

With Islamist militant group 40km from Mogadishu, a ‘strategic stalemate’ has been reached, but some fear worst is yet to come

One night in early July, Maryan Abdikadir Geedi decided it was finally time to abandon her small shop in the town of Moqokori in the Hiiraan region of Somalia.

Though she had heard of the rapid recent gains made by al-Shabaab, the Islamist militant movement, the 46-year-old had hoped to stay. Since getting married in 2013, Geedi had seen control over Moqokori change hands repeatedly.

Continue reading...

Pair had crossed border to support presidential campaign of reggae singer Bobi Wine

Two Kenyan activists have been abducted in Uganda after attending a presidential campaign event for Bobi Wine, the reggae musician turned politician.

Heavily armed security operatives detained Bob Njagi, the chair of Free Kenya, and Nicholas Oyoo, the movement’s secretary general, at a petrol station near Kampala on Wednesday afternoon.

Continue reading...

Prime minister praises security response and says government is ready for talks

Morocco’s prime minister, Aziz Akhannouch, has praised the security force reaction to protests over corruption and public spending and said the government was ready for talks, as organisers called for a sixth night of protests.

In a statement, Akhannouch said the death toll in the protests had risen to three.

Continue reading...

Daniel Noboa’s convoy was attacked by a large group throwing stones in protest against rising fuel prices

Ecuador’s president Daniel Noboa has escaped unharmed after his motorcade was targeted by stone-throwing protesters and what one minister described as a volley of gunshots.

Noboa was inaugurating a water treatment plant in central Ecuador on Tuesday when his motorcade was set on by a large group protesting against rising fuel prices.

Continue reading...

Presidents spoke on a video call as expert speculates that Haiti could be an area where the two leaders can cooperate

Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has urged Donald Trump to scrap tariffs on his country’s imports and sanctions against its officials, as the two men held what the Brazilian presidency called a “friendly” video call, swapping phone numbers after months of friction.

Ties between the US and Brazil have nosedived as a result of Trump’s campaign to pressure Brazilian authorities into abandoning the coup trial of his far-right ally, Jair Bolsonaro.

Continue reading...

Canadian prog-rockers will play seven concerts in summer 2026 in the US, Canada and Mexico, after hiring new drummer Anika Nilles

Rush, the Canadian prog rockers whose epic and detailed songcraft continues to attract a large and heartfelt fandom, are to reform for the first time since the death of drummer Neil Peart.

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, both 72, will tour the US, Canada and Mexico, playing seven concerts in summer 2026 beginning in Los Angeles on 7 June.

Continue reading...

About 350,000 flee homes as heavy rain and winds sweep region, while Hurricane Priscilla forms near Mexico

Typhoon Matmo made landfall on the southern coast of China on Sunday afternoon, shortly after sweeping across the island province of Hainan. The powerful storm forced the evacuation of about 350,000 people, bringing torrential rain and damaging winds, especially between Wuchuan in Guangdong and Wenchang in Hainan. Ferry services were suspended and flights cancelled at Haikou Meilan airport.

Matmo, the 21st typhoon of the year, had sustained wind speeds of 94mph (151km/h) and dumped more than 50mm of rainfall in six hours in Chongzou and Qinzhou. The city of Nanning also had high rainfall totals.

Continue reading...

President said US would turn attention to drug trafficking happening on land during speech at navy ceremony

US forces on Saturday evening struck another vessel off the coast of Venezuela, Donald Trump said on Sunday to thousands of sailors at a ceremony celebrating the US navy’s 250th anniversary. He claimed that the vessel had been illegally carrying drugs and added that the US would also start looking at drug trafficking happening on land.

Trump made the comment during a speech at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, next to the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier. It was not immediately clear if he was referencing a strike announced on Friday by the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.

Continue reading...

Campaigners say increase in exports mostly to Malaysia and Indonesia is ‘unethical and irresponsible waste imperialism’

Britain’s exports of plastic waste to developing countries have soared by 84% in the first half of this year compared with last year, according to an analysis of trade data carried out for the Guardian.

Campaigners described the rise in exports, mostly to Malaysia and Indonesia, as “unethical and irresponsible waste imperialism”.

Continue reading...

NZ$180bn worth of housing and $26bn of infrastructure at risk of flooding and storm damage, new government report finds

New Zealand’s oceans are warming 34% faster than the global average, with NZ$180bn (US$104bn) worth of housing at risk of flooding, a new report about the nation’s marine environment has revealed.

The ministry of the environment and Stats NZ’s three-yearly update, Our Environment 2025, collates statistics, data and research across five domains – air, atmosphere and climate, freshwater, land, and marine – to paint a picture of the state of New Zealand’s marine environment.

Continue reading...

Grief and confusion gripped East Java last week after foundational failures caused the Al Khoziny Islamic school to collapse during afternoon prayers

Indonesian rescuers wrapped up the search on Tuesday for victims trapped under the rubble of a collapsed Islamic boarding school in the province of East Java, after retrieving more than 60 bodies, disaster authorities said.

Grief and confusion gripped the small town of Sidoarjo last week after foundational failures caused the Al Khoziny school to cave in on hundreds of people, mostly teenage boys, while they were at afternoon prayers. Most escaped.

Continue reading...

Man charged as police allege a window was smashed in a rare act of violence targeted at a New Zealand politician’s home

A man who allegedly used a crowbar to smash in a window at the home of New Zealand’s foreign minister “during a protest” has been charged, police confirmed on Tuesday.

Winston Peters posted to social media on Monday evening saying “a disgusting coward” had smashed a window in his Auckland home and left a sign on the door.

Continue reading...

At least 200 people still stranded after unseasonally heavy snowfall during China’s Golden Week holiday

Trekkers have described facing “extreme” conditions after an unseasonable snowstorm during one of China’s busiest holiday weekends stranded hundreds of people on Mount Everest, prompting a massive rescue effort.

Chinese authorities said about 350 people had made their way down but at least 200 remained stranded at the Everest Scenic Area, to the east of the mountain, on the Tibetan side of the border.

Continue reading...

Firm will instead invest A$2m a year in ‘climate impact fund’ supporting renewables and switching to EVs

One of the travel industry’s most environmentally focused tour operators, Intrepid, is scrapping carbon offsets and abandoning its emissions targets as unreachable.

The Australian-headquartered global travel company said it would instead invest A$2m (£980,000) a year in an audited “climate impact fund” supporting immediate practical measures such as switching to electric vehicles and investing in renewable energy.

Continue reading...

This blog is now closed

• News Corp Australia chair says social media platforms are ‘true monsters’ and ‘torment our children’

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, is doing a breakfast television blitz this morning to announce that the public will be able to travel for free every weekend from early December until 1 February, as part of the launch of the metro tunnel.

Allan has described it as a “thank you” to commuters for enduring disruptions as the project was built. Speaking on Today, she said:

To say thank you to Victorians for their [patience, we are] delivering free public transport for everyone every weekend, everywhere in our state. From the opening of the metro tunnel in early December through to the 1st of February, when we integrate this amazing piece of infrastructure into the [public transport network].

This is how you do it to get a smooth, safe start, to get passengers using this infrastructure at the earliest opportunity.

Continue reading...

Police allege they identified the trio ‘mobilising’ to kill a man near a childcare centre in city’s south-west

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Two alleged members of a “kill team” have faced court over an alleged plot to murder a man picking up a child at daycare.

NSW Police on Tuesday pounced on a group of men driving through Revesby in Sydney’s southwest, allegedly with balaclavas and pistols.

Continue reading...

Case between police and representatives from the Palestine Action Group and Jews Against Occupation remains before the NSW court of appeal

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

One of New South Wales’ most senior police officers has told a court that a proposed pro-Palestine march to the Sydney Opera House has “disaster written all over it” due to “significant” safety concerns.

Representatives from the Palestine Action Group and Jews Against Occupation are in the NSW court of appeal fighting the police over the proposed march from Hyde Park to the Sydney landmark this Sunday.

Continue reading...

Michael Miller also says media must unite against second ‘big steal’ by tech companies seeking changes to copyright law to access content for free

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Social media is to blame for social cohesion issues across the globe, News Corp Australia’s executive chair, Michael Miller, has said, as he calls for media to present a united front against the platforms and AI companies seeking content for free.

Miller told the Melbourne Press Club on Wednesday social media was rife with “misinformation, disinformation [and] the rabbit holes [that] they drag you down.

Continue reading...

Sébastien Lecornu speaks at the Matignon Palace and expresses optimism that parliament will not need to be dissolved

Emmanuel Macron’s second term is set to end in May 2027 and he has repeatedly said he will not resign, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

If the French president were to quit, the Constitutional Council would declare a vacancy, the Senate president would assume interim powers and a new presidential election would be held within 35 days.

On the far left, Melenchon’s France Unbowed has asked for Macron’s departure.

More surprisingly, and a sign of Macron’s growing isolation inside his own camp, Édouard Philippe, Macron’s first prime minister after he swept to power in 2017 and once a close ally, has suggested the president should step down and call an early presidential election once the 2026 budget is adopted.

Since 1958 and the inception of the Fifth Republic, only one French president has resigned: Charles de Gaulle after losing a 1969 referendum.

New Caledonia, which may seem far from mainland France but on which, as you know, important texts (…) [are to be adopted] in the coming days, and unfortunately the political situation prevents us from starting the debates and the possible adoption of these texts by the National Assembly and the Senate. This is a major concern.

Continue reading...

Cabinet agrees draft legislation after spate of sightings, including over Munich airport

• Europe live – latest updates

German police will be allowed to shoot down drones under new legislation aimed at increasing safety after a spate of sightings across Europe.

Rogue drones, which have not been attributed to a specific owner, have disrupted air traffic across the continent in recent weeks. Some have been spotted over hospitals, canals, armaments factories and other sites of critical infrastructure in Germany.

Continue reading...

Sébastien Lecornu continues meetings with party leaders in effort to pass budget and avoid further political instability

• Europe live – latest updates

France’s caretaker prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has said his talks with various party leaders had revealed a “willingness” to pass a budget by the end of the year and that snap parliamentary elections were now looking less likely.

“This willingness creates a momentum and a convergence, obviously, which make the possibilities of a dissolution more remote,” he said in a brief address on Wednesday from the courtyard of Matignon Palace, the prime minister’s residence, in Paris.

Continue reading...

Dominique Pelicot says Husamettin Dogan’s attempt to overturn conviction in the mass rape case ‘is indecent’

Dominique Pelicot, who drugged his ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot and invited dozens of strangers to rape her over almost a decade, has told a court that a man who is appealing against his rape conviction knew she was sedated and came to their home deliberately to abuse her.

Husamettin Dogan, 44, a married father, is seeking to overturn his conviction for raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was unconscious in her own bed in June 2019. Dogan is being tried on appeal in Nîmes in southern France.

Continue reading...

Mette Frederiksen links social media use to anxiety, depression and lack of concentration

The Danish prime minister says the country will ban social media for under-15s, as she accused mobile phones and social networks of “stealing our children’s childhood”.

Mette Frederiksen used her speech on Tuesday at the opening of Folketing, the Danish parliament, to announce the proposal, in which she said: “We have unleashed a monster.” She added: “Never before have so many children and young people suffered from anxiety and depression.”

Continue reading...

New group of vessels intercepted in international waters while at least seven people from previous flotilla still held

A Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla aimed at breaking Israel’s naval blockade has been intercepted by the Israeli military, days after the detention of activists on an earlier flotilla led to international outrage and widespread protests.

Nine sailing vessels flying Italian and French flags and a motor ship registered in Timor-Leste were intercepted and boarded starting at 4.34am on Wednesday in international waters roughly 120 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza, the organisers the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) and Thousand Madleens to Gaza said in a statement.

Continue reading...

New York City’s mayoral candidate sits in with Brad Lander after commemorating Israeli and Palestinian victims

Zohran Mamdani, the New York City Democratic mayoral candidate, on Tuesday evening attended a vigil in Manhattan convened by Israelis for Peace, an anti-occupation group of Israelis in New York who have rallied weekly since 2023 to call for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages.

Sitting in Union Square alongside New York City comptroller Brad Lander, his one-time rival for the Democratic nomination who has been campaigning for him, Mamdani listened as speakers at the event – which marked the two-year anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel – called for an end to the killing and to Israel’s occupation, and for equal rights for Palestinians.

Continue reading...

White House says it is important ‘that we get this done quickly’ as indirect talks restart in Sharm el-Sheikh

A US delegation led by envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to join talks in Egypt on Wednesday to reinforce President Donald Trump’s involvement in the newly restarted negotiations between Hamas and Israel aimed at ending the war in Gaza.

The indirect talks at Sharm el-Sheikh, the Egyptian resort city on the Red Sea, entered their second day on the second anniversary of the Hamas surprise attack into Israel that triggered the bloody conflict.

Continue reading...

Israelis gather to commemorate the second anniversary of the Hamas-led attack in which 1,200 people were killed. This live blog is closed

Deborah Cole is Berlin correspondent for the Guardian

Germany marked the two-year anniversary of the 7 October attacks with sombre commemorations across the country and official flags pulled to half mast.

Continue reading...

In two years there have been many versions of a ‘day after’ plan for Gaza and many obstacles to overcome

George Mitchell, the great US advocate for the Northern Ireland peace agreement, described diplomacy as 700 days of failure and one of success. In Gaza, tragically, there have been 730 days of failure and none of success. Indeed, the destruction, the death toll and the spillover of the conflict into other countries is a monument to shame diplomacy and what remains of international law. Arguably, it is the profession’s lowest point since 1939.

Some will claim failure is inevitable since this conflict is now so embedded and impervious to compromise that it can only be settled at the barrel of the gun, in essence through the repression or erasure of one side.

Continue reading...

Dozens more injured by night strike on anti-government demonstration held during national holiday

A Myanmar military operation that used a motorised paraglider to drop bombs on a village this week killed at least 20 people including children and injured dozens more, according to witnesses and local media.

The attack hit Chaung U, in Sagaing region, during a national holiday. Myanmar has been engulfed in armed conflict since the military seized power in 2021 and the village has been a key battleground in the war.

Continue reading...

Activist Jagtar Singh Johal has been held in Indian prison for nearly eight years without full trial

The sisters of the British-Egyptian human rights campaigner Alaa Abd el-Fattah have intervened for the first time since his release from prison in Egypt to call on Keir Starmer to push Narendra Modi to free a British Sikh activist when he meets the Indian prime minister next week.

Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, has been held in an Indian jail for nearly eight years without facing full trial in what his supporters say is an arbitrary and egregious denial of justice by a British ally.

Continue reading...

Taliban authorities cut fibre-optic network in nationwide shutdown of communications to prevent ‘vice’

Afghans are living under a near-complete communications blackout after Taliban authorities cut internet and mobile phone services for a second day as part of an unprecedented country-wide crackdown.

The former insurgents, who retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, began gradual restrictions on internet access earlier this month. The measures also affect telephone lines, as they are often routed over the internet.

Continue reading...

Telecoms disrupted nationwide after authorities cut fibre-optic connections in several provinces to prevent ‘vice’

A huge communications blackout has hit Afghanistan after Taliban authorities began severing fibre-optic connections in several provinces to prevent “vice”.

“A nationwide telecoms blackout is now in effect,” said Netblocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and internet governance.

Continue reading...

Victims include nine children at election campaign gathering in Tamil Nadu led by popular actor and politician

Police in India have opened a criminal case against the leaders of a party headed by the actor turned politician Vijay, after a crowd crush at one of his rallies killed 40 people and injured at least 124 others.

Local officials reported that at least nine children had died at the rally, which took place on Saturday night in the Karur district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. Vijay, one of the most popular and successful actors in Tamil cinema, who entered politics last year, was addressing the crowd for his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party before state elections early next year.

Continue reading...

Party leader says measure is a ‘bad tax’ and scrapping it would free up the housing market and improve social mobility

Voting in the Labour deputy leadership election opens today. Lucy Powell, the former Commons leader, is seen as the favourite and, as Jessica Elgot reports, Powell told supporters yesterday that, if she is elected, she will use the post to argue for changes in the way the government is operating. “We can’t sugarcoat the fact that things aren’t going well,” she said.

Powell is no longer a government minister and, if she is elected deputy leader, she will do the job from the backbenches. In an interview on Newsnight last night, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary standing against Powell, said a Powell victory would be “destabilising” for the party. She said:

[Electing Powell] risks destabilising the party … we best achieve what we need to do together when we have those fierce conversations, including disagreements, behind closed doors.

Members need to understand that there’s a potential challenge around all of that – that if you’re not inside when the big decisions are being made, you’re not at that table, you’re not in those conversations.

Continue reading...

Journalist who wrote column A Life Inside while jailed for murder fell into the sea in January 2024

A journalist and author who wrote much-admired columns from prison drowned in a Devon marina after spending an evening in a harbourside pub, an inquest has concluded.

Erwin James Monahan, who used the pen name Erwin James and wrote a regular column for the Guardian – the first of its kind in British journalism – fell into the sea at Brixham in Devon, close to where the boat he was staying in was moored, the inquest in Exeter heard.

Continue reading...

UK ministers seek to end pricing row with pharma industry cited as reason for firms axing projects

Ministers are preparing to raise the amount the NHS pays pharmaceutical firms for medicines by up to 25% after weeks of intensive talks with the Donald Trump administration and drugmakers.

The government has drawn up fresh proposals to end a standoff with the industry over drug pricing, including changing the cost-effectiveness thresholds under which new medications are assessed for use on the NHS, according to industry sources.

Continue reading...

Loughborough, Heriot-Watt and Glasgow corresponded with companies concerned about campus protests

Universities in the UK reassured arms companies they would monitor students’ chat groups and social media accounts after firms raised concerns about campus protests, according to internal emails.

One university said it would conduct “active monitoring of social media” for any evidence of plans to demonstrate against Rolls-Royce at a careers fair.

Continue reading...

Gillard reveals reading fiction is her most treasured pastime and looks forward to working with ‘a joyful panel of judges’

Australia’s first and, so far, only female prime minister, Julia Gillard, is set to chair the UK’s Women’s prize for fiction in 2026.

The annual award is for the best full-length novel of the year written in English by a woman and published in the UK. The £30,000 prize, which has previously been known as the Orange prize and the Baileys prize, has run since 1996.

Continue reading...

Qatari PM and US’s Witkoff and Kushner join Hamas and Israeli negotiators working on Trump’s Gaza plan

As part of the Guardian’s Israel-Gaza: two years on series marking the second anniversary of the Hamas attack into Israel and the war in Gaza, the below has been published:

The children’s names appear on a list of victims of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, maintained by health authorities in the territory. As of the end of July it ran to 60,199 names, of whom 18,457 were under 18s. Far from comprehensive, the list does not include the thousands still buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings, as well as the war’s many indirect victims.

Continue reading...

Trump attacks Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois governor JB Pritzker on social media amid his crackdown on Democratic states

A series of “violent” texts sent by a Democrat seeking to become Virginia’s attorney general has shaken up the state’s governor’s race, with Republican candidate Winsome Earle-Sears seizing on the controversy to try to reverse her opponent’s double-digit polling lead.

Earle-Sears has released new campaign advertisements condemning Democratic former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, her opponenent in the governor’s race, for continuing to support Jay Jones, whose private texts three years ago speculated about a senior state Republican getting “two bullets to the head” and “breeding little fascists”.

Continue reading...

Memphis lawmaker to go up against Steve Cohen, joining wave of younger candidates calling for generational change

Justin Pearson, a Memphis state lawmaker who rose to prominence in 2023 as part of the “Tennessee Three” gun control advocates, on Wednesday launched a primary challenge against Democratic congressman Steve Cohen, joining a wave of younger candidates calling for generational change in the party.

“For too long, our district has been told to ‘keep going’ with the same leadership and the same outcomes, even as Memphis’s poverty rate at 22.6% is nearly double the rate for all Tennesseans,” Pearson, 30, said in a statement, announcing his candidacy. “We can’t afford more of the same.”

Continue reading...

Air traffic controllers warn of escalating delays and stress as the government shutdown enters its second week

• US politics live – latest updates

Staffing shortages at US airports are anticipated to cause further disruption to air travelers on Wednesday as effects from the US government shutdown, now in its seventh day, ripple out across the country.

Union leaders for air traffic controllers and airport security screeners have warned the situation is likely to get worse, as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported staffing issues at airports in Nashville, Boston, Dallas, Chicago and Philadelphia, as well at its air traffic control centers in Atlanta, Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Continue reading...

Report looks at White House nominees and appointees and agencies dictating energy, environment and climate policy

Donald Trump has placed dozens of people with ties to the fossil fuel sector in his administration, including more than 40 who have directly worked for oil, gas or coal companies, according to a new analysis.

The report from Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy and ethics non-profit that has been critical of the Trump administration, alongside the Revolving Door Project, a corporate watchdog, analyzed the backgrounds of nominees and appointees within the White House and eight agencies dictating energy, environmental and climate policy. That includes the Environmental Protection Agency, the interior and energy departments and others.

Continue reading...