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Exclusive: Mayor raises concerns about using public money to support firms ‘who act contrary to London’s values’UK politics live – latest updatesSadiq Khan may oppose Scotland Yard using Palantir’s AI systems to process criminal intelligence because of his “concerns about using public money to support firms who act contrary to London’s values”.The mayor of London’s office made the statement after the Guardian revealed last week that Palantir, whose software has been used in Donald Trump’s ICE immigration crackdown and by Israel’s military, has held talks with the Metropolitan police over a wide-ranging contract that could run into tens of millions of pounds. Continue reading...

Musician Chris Martin, tennis star Iga Świątek and footballer Robert Lewandowski join Piotr Garkowski in epic fundraiserA Polish social media influencer has raised more than £50m after a nine-day, non-stop online stream during which he was joined by a parade of celebrity guests to help a charity supporting children battling cancer.Streaming from a studio flat in right-bank Warsaw, social media influencer Piotr Garkowski, 23, nicknamed Łatwogang, listened to a charity song dedicated to children battling cancer on loop for nine days straight, filling time with entertaining dares and celebrity appearances. Continue reading...

Students aged 12 to 15 steered bus to safety and called for help after driver lost consciousness from asthma attackMiddle school students in Mississippi acted quickly to halt their school bus from crashing after their driver passed out while on a highway, prompting the operator to declare: “They saved my life.”The bus in question had just left the Hancock middle school in the Mississippi community of Kiln on Wednesday when the driver, Leah Taylor, suffered an asthma attack and lost consciousness. Continue reading...

National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report further says crash prevention system didn’t generate alertA firefighter whose truck collided with an Air Canada jet last month on a runway at New York’s LaGuardia airport, killing both pilots, heard an air traffic controller warn “stop, stop, stop” but didn’t know who it was for, federal investigators said Thursday.The National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on the 22 March collision that a crash prevention system for air traffic controllers didn’t generate an audio or visual alert, and lights on the runway that act as a stop light for crossing traffic were on until about three seconds before the collision. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Report finds Natural England has created no new SSSIs, which protect areas from development, since 2023The government’s wildlife watchdog for England is failing to save nature because it has stopped giving protection to rare wildlife and habitats, according to a new report.No new sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) have been designated by Natural England since 2023. SSSIs are nationally or internationally important places for rare wildlife and habitats. Without the designation, endangered species can be at risk of being lost to development. Continue reading...

More landlords having to cut prices to secure tenants, Rightmove data showsAverage private rents have stopped rising in Great Britain after almost a decade of increases, as more landlords cut their prices to secure a tenant, data shows.The typical advertised private rent outside London for properties coming on to the market remained flat at £1,370 a calendar month in the first three months of 2026, according to the property website Rightmove. Continue reading...

Lelia Doolan, who finished 220km trek at parliament gates, says use of Shannon airport violates Irish neutralityA 91-year-old peace activist has crossed Ireland on foot and arrived in Dublin to petition the government to bar US military flights.Lelia Doolan completed a two-week, 220km trek on Wednesday, ending at the gates of parliament accompanied by throngs of supporters. 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...

Chief inspector for England and Wales says prison remains in ‘precarious state’ more than year after urgent notificationThe Prison Service has made “very little progress” in enforcing a formal demand to stop drones from delivering drugs into one of its worst performing jails, a watchdog has concluded.Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons for England and Wales, said HMP Manchester remained in a “precarious state” after a failure to fix broken windows and install security to stop contraband being delivered to gangs. Continue reading...

Crawford fined after Omaha traffic stop at gunpointBoxer ordered to pay $75 plus $49 in court costsPolice review found officers acted lawfullyTerence Crawford was found guilty of careless driving Monday and ordered to pay a $75 fine stemming from a traffic stop last year during which police ordered the world champion boxer and passengers out of his vehicle at gunpoint.Crawford was stopped on 28 September, hours after his hometown of Omaha held a parade through downtown to celebrate his unanimous-decision victory over Canelo Álvarez in a super middleweight championship fight. The win made Crawford the first male boxer to capture three unified division titles. He announced his retirement in December with a 42-0 record and 31 knockouts. Continue reading...

PM tells Guardian Australia Hezbollah should cease reprisals and confirms Australia’s military surveillance aircraft will remain in regionGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has urged Israel to stop its attacks on Lebanon and raised concern over its intensified military campaign on Beirut and the country’s south after the ceasefire in the Middle East.Albanese also called on Hezbollah to cease attacks on Israel, reiterating his government’s belief that the Middle East ceasefire must include Lebanon. The prime minister also confirmed Australia’s military surveillance aircraft would remain in the region for at least another month beyond its initial deployment. Continue reading...

Authorities said driver and passenger of car had been arrested after they saw large amounts blood and unresponsive man in the rear seatNorthern California law enforcement pulled over the driver of a Chevrolet Suburban on Easter Sunday morning for a suspected registration violation, and came upon a grisly scene that ultimately led them to two homicide victims.The California Highway Patrol said in a statement that two people, the person driving the vehicle and a passenger, had been arrested in connection with the killings. The passenger attempted to flee when officers stopped the SUV in Clearlake, about 100 miles north-east of San Francisco, but was quickly detained, according to CHP. Continue reading...

The ‘bank is closed and the door is locked’, says Zia Yusuf as calls grow for compensation to remedy historical wrongsReform UK has said it would stop issuing visas to any person from a country which continues to demand compensation from the UK for its role in the transatlanctic trade in enslaved people.Zia Yusuf, the party’s home affairs spokesperson, told the Daily Telegraph that the call for reparations was “insulting”. Continue reading...

The retailer has been criticised over treatment of Walker Smith, 54, who worked in London store for 17 yearsWaitrose is under growing pressure to reinstate an employee of 17 years who was sacked after tackling a shoplifter who was trying to steal Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs.The retailer has been criticised for its treatment of Walker Smith, who described his devastation after managers fired him two days after he stopped the shoplifter taking items from the display of Easter eggs. Continue reading...

Walker Smith, 54, who worked for retailer for 17 years, says he grabbed bag from thief before they escapedA Waitrose employee of 17 years has described his devastation after being sacked for stopping a shoplifter who had ransacked a display of Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs.Walker Smith, a shop assistant at a branch of Waitrose in Clapham Junction, south London, was going about his normal duties when a customer stopped him. “They told me someone had filled up a Waitrose bag with the eggs,” he said. Continue reading...

The former British foreign secretary is among 3,000 signatories, including leading members of Jewish diaspora, to open letter to Isaac HerzogThe former British foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind is among leading members of the Jewish diaspora urging the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, to intervene to stop “attacks by Jewish extremists” on Palestinians in the West Bank.An open letter to Herzog facilitated by the London Initiative – a liberal Zionist network of 360 people, including eminent Jewish, Israeli and Israeli Palestinian figures – has attracted more than 3,000 signatories, including diplomats, philanthropists, rabbis and academics from Australia, Canada, across Europe, South Africa the UK and US. It follows a spate of killings and arson attacks by settlers on Palestinian civilians in March. Continue reading...

Deep divisions on Israel mean the union has failed to act over Lebanon, Gaza, or settler violence in the West BankThe human costs of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon were plain to see when the Irish MEP Barry Andrews visited Beirut last month. He met people who had fled Israeli airstrikes and complied with evacuation orders in southern Lebanon.At makeshift shelters – converted schools – conditions were even worse than during Israel’s last incursion in 2024, he was told. “There are dirty mattresses, dirty blankets, [people] are getting infections, they are getting rashes,” he said recalling a picture of misery compounded by swingeing aid budget cuts. Continue reading...

Two-month arrangement aimed at preventing small-boat crossings comes as existing deal expiresThe UK will pay France an extra £16.2m to keep police patrolling Channel beaches and prevent a surge in small-boat crossings after negotiators failed to agree a permanent deal before a midnight deadline.The stopgap arrangement, which will last for two months, comes after French negotiators refused to give in to UK demands for further interventions and patrols to stop asylum seekers from reaching the UK via the Channel. Continue reading...

• Ewan McGregor, Christopher Walken, and Al Gore celebrate birthdays on March 31, 2026. • The annual roundup highlights star power with these icons marking another year.

Bill passes by 213 to 203 votes in move prolonging weeks-long budget standoff that has disrupted travelUS House Republicans rejected a bipartisan Senate deal to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security and instead passed their own funding measure late Friday, extending a weeks-long budget standoff that has disrupted travel.The stopgap bill, which proposes funding the DHS in full for eight weeks, passed by 213 to 203 votes after Republicans in the lower chamber refused to take up a Senate-passed deal that excluded money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. Continue reading...

Riverside county sheriff had last month seized more than 650,000 ballots cast in the state’s November special electionCalifornia’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, is seeking a court order to stop the Riverside county sheriff’s department from continuing its recount of ballots from the November 2025 special election.The LA Times reports that Bonta filed a petition with the fourth appellate district on Monday, writing that “the Sheriff’s misguided investigation threatens to sow distrust and jeopardize public confidence” in upcoming elections. Continue reading...

Monument made from shattered pieces of original statue tossed into Baltimore’s inner harbor by protesters in 2020US politics – live updatesA statue of Christopher Columbus has been installed in the grounds of the White House in the latest attempt by Donald Trump to position the controversial explorer as a foundational hero of the US.The president had the 13ft statue, which weighs one ton, placed outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, on Pennsylvania Avenue. It is a replica of a monument to Columbus that was torn down and tossed into Baltimore’s inner harbor by protesters in the city amid widespread anti-racism protests in 2020. Continue reading...

Reform leader ‘unavailable’ on service after Guardian investigation unearths clips of him repeating extremist slogansFarage videos reveal support for rioter, neo-Nazi event and far-right slogansNigel Farage has stopped using the personalised video platform Cameo after revelations that the Reform UK leader has filmed a string of highly questionable paid-for clips.On Thursday morning, Farage’s page on the website said he was “unavailable”, and sources said he had ended his use of the platform over security concerns. Continue reading...

Iran war has increased gas price, with effects on UK energy bills that could be avoided, Common Wealth saysHousehold energy bills could be reduced by up to £203 a year by stopping expensive fossil gas setting the price of energy in the UK, according to a report.Under the existing system, gas – the most expensive form of electricity production in the UK system – set the price of energy 85% of the time in 2024 in the UK, even though it generates only about a quarter of Britain’s electricity. Continue reading...

After carrying out an audit, the council found some parts of the town were ‘overwhelmed’ A local council has stopped residents from installing any more memorial benches in the town amid concerns that it is becoming “overwhelmed”.Hartlepool borough council has said it is not currently taking any new applications for benches, after concerns from residents that there are too many. Continue reading...

The Federation Council in Corowa received 266 submissions from ratepayers opposed to a plan to remove Indigenous flags, and only 44 in favourFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA regional New South Wales council has abandoned a controversial plan to ban the display of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, after receiving almost 700 submissions criticising the idea.But because of council procedure, the flags were removed anyway – at least temporarily. Continue reading...

Time is running out to find agreement on areas such as tuition fees EU citizens would pay in Britain and rules for food safetyThe EU is hoping to urgently reboot talks on the “reset” of relations with the UK as negotiations are in danger of foundering before a planned July summit.At a public meeting of the EU-UK parliamentary partnership assembly in Brussels, the European Commission vice-president and trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, said both sides had to “change gears” now to ensure the deal got over the line. Continue reading...

Letter sent to Starmer claims ‘small number of peers have been using procedural tactics’ to stymie its progressMore than 100 Labour MPs have called on Keir Starmer to stop the House of Lords from blocking the assisted dying bill and give it more time to return to the Commons, with the legislation now certain to fall owing to lack of time.The private member’s bill, sponsored by Labour’s Kim Leadbeater, will fall when the parliamentary session comes to an end in May because peers have used multiple amendments and lengthy debates to prevent it from being put to a vote. Continue reading...