Crack Down

• Brazilian President announced on Monday a comprehensive enforcement initiative targeting illegal logging and land invasions in the Amazon, deploying 5,000 additional federal agents to protected areas. • The government committed to reducing deforestation rates by 80 percent over the next two years through satellite monitoring and criminal prosecutions of organized trafficking networks. • Environmental groups and the U.S. State Department praised the pledge as a meaningful step toward climate commitments, though skeptics noted enforcement challenges in remote regions.

Prosecutors say 43 people indicted on charges including murder, kidnapping, extortion and drug traffickingMore than two dozen members and associates of the Mexican mafia were arrested during an early morning crackdown in southern California, federal authorities said on Thursday.The FBI and other federal and local agencies executed search and arrest warrants at locations mostly in Orange county, south of Los Angeles, according to the US attorney’s office. Continue reading...

Bill clears 50–48 vote to boost ICE and CBP funding as Democrats oppose and shutdown continuesUS politics live – latest updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailSenate Republicans on Thursday approved a plan to fund Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants for the remainder of his term and pave the way for an end to the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).The budget resolution adopted along a near party line vote in the early morning hours sets the stage for Congress to craft legislation allocating as much as $140b to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), two agencies at the forefront of Trump’s mass deportation agenda that have been without funding since mid-February, when the DHS shutdown began. Continue reading...

• The Trump administration will require all 50 states to explain their plans to revalidate Medicaid providers as part of a national escalation of anti-fraud efforts, announced by Dr. Mehmet Oz on Tuesday. • This marks a significant expansion from previous anti-fraud initiatives that have largely focused on specific states rather than a nationwide mandate. • The move aims to strengthen program integrity and reduce fraudulent claims across the Medicaid system.

Stephen Heydt says he spoke in a custom-made T-shirt and was ‘charged with two offences: one for the shirt, one for the chanting’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastStephen Heydt woke up on Saturday, put on a T-shirt, hobbled out the door with the aid of a walking stick and spoke at a rally in the middle of Brisbane – where he was promptly arrested by a large and heavily armed contingent of police.For his choice of words and wardrobe, the 73-year-old Jewish clinical psychologist became one of the first people in Queensland charged under new laws designed to crack down on antisemitic hate speech. Continue reading...

• Myanmar's military junta arrested 156 pro-democracy activists over the past week during coordinated raids across Yangon, Mandalay, and other major cities, escalating a campaign that has imprisoned over 3,000 political prisoners since the 2021 coup. • The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued a statement expressing "serious concern" about the arrests and called for dialogue; however, the statement stopped short of threatening sanctions or diplomatic consequences. • Activist networks report torture allegations in detention facilities and restricted access to legal representation, prompting calls from international human rights organizations for an independent UN investigation.

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin was arrested after reporting on friendly fire incident during US conflict with IranMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesThe detention of a prize-winning international journalist over his reporting of a friendly fire incident in Kuwait is raising questions about the crackdown on freedom of speech across the Middle East as a result of the US-Israel war with Iran, the Committee to Protect Journalists has warned.Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, born in the US and a Kuwaiti national, was arrested on 3 March during a brief visit to Kuwait. He published footage of a US air force F- 15 E Strike Eagle crashing in al Jahra west of Kuwait city. On his Substack he said the pilot and weapons officer had successfully ejected and survived. He added that video circulating online showed local residents assisting one of the crew in a civilian truck. Continue reading...

• Myanmar's military government arrested 47 pro-democracy activists and journalists on April 12 in what human rights organizations describe as the largest crackdown since the 2021 coup, with detainees held without access to legal representation. • The arrests targeted members of underground resistance networks and independent media outlets, with the junta accusing them of terrorism and sedition charges that carry potential death penalties. • The United Nations Human Rights Council condemned the escalation, calling for international sanctions on military leaders, while ASEAN member states expressed concern over regional stability impacts.

Concerns raised over use of travel data in determining whether people are ‘continuously’ in UK, after HMRC fiasco Ministers are to start removing post-Brexit residency rights from EU citizens who are no longer “continuously” living in the UK.The initiative is legal under the 2020 Brexit withdrawal agreement but the decision to use travel data to partially determine absences has raised concerns following the HMRC fiasco that saw almost 20,000 parents stripped of child benefits because of inaccurate Home Office border data. Continue reading...

Most of the stations hit with penalty infringement notices were in regional NSW, while 23 were in Sydney Ninety-three service stations in New South Wales are facing fines for misrepresenting their prices amid Australia’s fuel crisis – although none are facing penalties for price gouging.A two-week compliance blitz has seen inspectors visit about 75% – or just under 1,800 – of stations registered with fuel price app FuelCheck in NSW, issuing 93 penalty infringement notices, the state government said on Sunday. Continue reading...

US president makes baseless claims about fraud in blue states and says JD Vance will lead clampdown as ‘fraud czar’Donald Trump announced a fresh crackdown on “fraud” in Democratic states and tapped JD Vance to lead the charge. Officials swiftly announced a string of arrests in California.In a Truth Social post on Friday, the US president announced that his vice-president is now “in charge of ‘fraud’ in the United States”, claiming the problem is “massive and pervasive” and that Vance’s new role as “fraud czar” will be “a major factor in how great the future of our country will be”. Continue reading...

Richard Blumenthal says company acts like it has ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’ as records show it upping fees to cut lossesTicketmaster quietly raised other fees after US crackdown on hidden chargesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailSenators slammed Ticketmaster for raising ticket fees following a regulatory crackdown on hidden charges as revealed in a report by the Guardian last week.The Federal Trade Commission last May began requiring Ticketmaster to disclose concert ticket fees upfront – a practice known as all-in pricing. The company eliminated the order processing fee it charged at the the end of a transaction to comply with the rule. Continue reading...

Bosses write to home secretary and London mayor listing series of incidents staff have faced in past week Marks & Spencer has called on the government and London’s mayor to crack down on retail crime, saying it has become “more brazen, more organised and more aggressive”, after reporting an increase in shoplifting and violence at its stores.The M&S chief executive, Stuart Machin, has written to the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and its retail director, Thinus Keeve, has written to the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, saying greater resources are needed for police to tackle the crime effectively and target repeat offenders and crime hotspots. Continue reading...

At least 77 people killed in anti-corruption youth uprising in September, which began over a brief social media banNepal’s former prime minister, KP Sharma Oli, was taken into custody on Saturday as police investigate whether he was negligent in failing to prevent dozens of deaths during Gen Z protests last September.This week, a Nepali panel which investigated violence during the anti-corruption protests recommended that Oli, 74, be prosecuted for failing to prevent the crackdown on the protests. Continue reading...

Actor outside Kennedy Center urges Americans to ‘stand tall against authoritarianism’ and resist free-speech threatsThe actor Jane Fonda joined journalists, musicians and writers outside Washington’s John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in urging US citizens to “break your silence” and “stand tall against authoritarianism”.At a damp but defiant rally hosted by Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment on Friday, around a hundred invited guests gathered to hear speakers and singers rail against book bans, political censorship and other threats to free speech under Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Documents obtained by Guardian show company increased different fees to ‘offset revenue loss’ from FTC rule changeFollowing a wave of regulations banning the surprise fees that appear at the end of a transaction, Ticketmaster stopped charging the extra few dollars it added to each order at checkout. Typically shared with the venue, the order processing fee was a boon to a global platform that sells hundreds of millions of tickets a year.But documents obtained by the Guardian show that while Ticketmaster eliminated this fee to comply with the rules, the company simply raised the cost of different fees in a number of its venues to ensure it didn’t lose money. Continue reading...

Reform’s ability to fundraise is hobbled in a move that draws attention to donations from an overseas billionaireReform UK are no doubt the biggest losers from the government’s emergency measures to overhaul political donations.Labour MPs are absolutely delighted that No 10 is at last bringing in changes that will hobble Reform’s ability to raise money from its Thailand-based mega-donor, Christopher Harborne, at the same time as making the electoral system fairer in the eyes of the public. Continue reading...

Businesses ranging from vegetable growers to miners warn of disruption from rising petrol prices and lack of supplyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIndependent petrol station operators and miners are urging the federal government to crack down harder on major fuel wholesalers hoarding supply and withholding deliveries from smaller operators.Amid growing disruption from the Iran war, smaller operators are running out of fuel, including in rural and regional areas. Outlets that buy petrol on the spot market, and do not operate with longstanding contracts for fuel supply, have asked for extra help, including from the government’s new fuel supply tsar. Continue reading...

Practices must publish price lists, cap prescription fees and reveal if they are part of a large group, watchdog saysBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK’s competition watchdog has ordered vets to cap prescription fees at £21 and proposed a price comparison website, after finding consumers had faced huge price rises and been “left in the dark” over bills.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said public satisfaction with the cost of services was “low” after an investigation into the £6.3bn market found “there is not strong competition between veterinary businesses”, with large chains dominant. Continue reading...

Hopes for uniform nationwide gun control reform fade as states walk back federal cabinet commitment after Bondi beach massacreGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, assured gun lobbyists that he had no plans to strengthen firearm laws in the state despite agreeing to a national crackdown after the Bondi beach massacre.In a letter signed a day before the government entered caretaker mode for the state election on 21 March, Malinauskas told a peak shooters group that SA had some of the strictest gun laws in the country and there was “currently … no plans to amend” them. Continue reading...

Underquoting and ‘dummy bidding’ will attract fines of $110,000 in bid to create a ‘fair property market’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales government will introduce new laws this week to force property sellers to publish a price guide on all advertising, and impose a fivefold increase to fines for underquoting real estate agents.The government says the draft laws, first flagged last year, are aimed at cracking down on agents providing misleading price estimates on property listings, a practice often used to inflate interest. Continue reading...

Minns government introducing legislation to significantly increase penalties. Follow the day’s updates liveFuel shortages not expected, Chalmers saysJim Chalmers has told Sky the government does not expect Australia to run out of fuel amid the ongoing war in Iran. About a fifth of the world’s oil supplies travel through the Strait of Hormuz and the growing conflict has already played havoc with international prices.We don’t have a model that has petrol prices going that high, but there’s a lot of volatility and a lot of unpredictability in the global oil market.The way these things unfold is ultimately a matter for those officials to determine they’ve done the absolute best they can by these Iranian women under extreme and extraordinary pressure, and often that requires some pretty dramatic and unusual steps, like those which you’ve described. Continue reading...