Home Office investigates firm linked to religious sect over immigration visas

• Peace talks between the US, Israel, and Iran held in Islamabad have broken down, prompting the Trump administration to announce a US Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. • The breakdown in diplomatic negotiations marks an escalation in US-Iran tensions and threatens to further disrupt global energy supplies already stressed by Middle East instability. • The blockade decision signals a shift from diplomatic engagement to military enforcement, with potential consequences for international shipping and energy markets worldwide.

• The UN's top aid official has warned that Sudan's humanitarian crisis is being abandoned as the war between rival militaries enters its fourth year, with attacks intensifying and humanitarian access shrinking following a deadly airstrike on a funeral gathering in West Kordofan. • Civilians caught in the conflict face mounting dangers as the situation deteriorates, with the UN condemning the escalating violence and calling for renewed international attention to the neglected crisis. • The warnings come as the global community grapples with multiple concurrent conflicts, raising concerns about resource allocation and diplomatic focus on overlooked humanitarian emergencies.

• Finance ministers and central bank governors gathered in Washington for IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings are confronting an unprecedented global energy shock caused by the Iran war and Strait of Hormuz closure, according to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. • Georgieva warned that "there will be no neat and clean return to the status quo ante," indicating long-term economic impacts regardless of ceasefire outcomes or efforts to reopen shipping routes. • The energy crisis is already affecting hundreds of millions of people globally, with decisions made at the meetings regarding resource allocation and emergency funding expected to have tangible impacts on livelihoods in the coming weeks.

Thousands face power outages and a number of schools close across region as forecasters warn of hail and floodingSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA day after severe storms damaged communities in the Plains and the midwest, forecasters warned that storms could bring giant hail, tornadoes and severe wind gusts to the regions again on Tuesday afternoon and evening.Authorities in Kansas reported several people with minor injuries after storms passed through on Monday. Three people were left with minor injuries in rural Franklin county, about 50 miles (80km) south-west of Kansas City, according to the sheriff’s office. In the town of Ottawa, officials said there was structural damage, but no deaths or injuries. A National Weather Service survey team will assess damage in the Ottawa area on Tuesday to determine whether a tornado passed through there, according to Chelsea Picha, a meteorologist with the weather service’s office in Topeka. Continue reading...

Parent company of non-profit news website Baltimore Banner announces it acquired paper for undisclosed sumThe Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots that date back to 1786, was set to close next month, in a major blow to the city and a sign of the distressed state of local news. Not any more.On Tuesday, the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, the parent company of the Baltimore Banner non-profit news website in Maryland, announced it had acquired the Post-Gazette for an undisclosed sum. Continue reading...

County officials review whether ICE’s warrantless raid and forced transport of a St Paul US citizen broke lawAuthorities in Minnesota are investigating the detention by federal immigration officers of a US citizen as a possible kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment.The arrest of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, 56, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in January became symbolic of Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s brutal crackdown in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul. Continue reading...

Congressman says keeping gas supplies at home could lower costs for Americans amid price hikes sparked by warAmid historic jumps in gas prices triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran, California congressman Ro Khanna is to introduce legislation on Tuesday that would ban the export of gasoline during price spikes.“The country is crying out for a new energy policy,” said Khanna in an interview with the Guardian, “that doesn’t have us subject to the whims of the profits of big oil companies.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Victoria and Albert Museum has deleted maps and images deemed sensitive by Beijing censors from exhibition publicationsOne of the UK’s leading museums has accepted demands by a Chinese firm that publishes its catalogues to remove images that fall foul of the country’s censorship laws.The Victoria and Albert Museum has agreed to requests by the Chinese printing company it uses to delete maps and images from at least two recent exhibition catalogues, according to documents released to the Guardian under freedom of information. Continue reading...

Ron Prosor says verbal attack on Friedrich Merz referencing Nazi regime ‘erodes the memory of the Holocaust’Israel’s envoy to Germany has criticised a far-right Israeli cabinet member who made historically charged accusations against the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, saying the attack “[eroded] the memory of the Holocaust”.In a rare rebuke of a top Israeli official by an active ambassador, Ron Prosor said he wished to “unequivocally condemn” Bezalel Smotrich’s tirade against Merz, in which he made reference to the Nazi regime and said: “You will not force us into ghettos again.” Continue reading...

Additional £1bn allocated to payments for victims and their relatives, including extra £35,000 for former Treloar pupilsCompensation payments will rise for people affected by the infected blood scandal, including an extra £35,000 each for pupils who were experimented on at school without their knowledge, the paymaster general has announced. The government has allocated £1bn for the payments.The final report of the inquiry into what has been described as the biggest treatment disaster in NHS history was published in May 2024. The compensation scheme that followed has also been blighted by controversy. Continue reading...

The policies include a Swiss-style EU deal, lower electricity prices and reduced dependence on the USA group of Labour MPs is to propose a series of new policies to defeat rightwing populism, including a Swiss-style deal with the EU, lower electricity prices, a robust defence of climate policies and a reduced dependence on Washington.Among those contributing to a new collection of essays is the former cabinet minister Anneliese Dodds, who calls for a fundamental reappraisal of the UK-US relationship, saying alliances should be based on “a hardheaded assessment of which nations share our values and goals.” Continue reading...

Fiona Hill, a former White House chief adviser, joins ex-Nato chief in criticising Starmer’s leadership on defenceUK politics live – latest updatesA co-author of Britain’s strategic defence review has joined criticism of Keir Starmer’s leadership on military policy, warning of a “bizarre” lack of urgency in defence planning.Fiona Hill, a former chief adviser to the White House on Russia, echoed the concerns of George Robertson, her co-author with Gen Richard Barrons on the strategic defence review (SDR), over what he had called the prime minister’s “corrosive complacency”. Continue reading...