The Guardian

Newspaper broke embargo on confidential briefing note about the royal couple’s movements five days before they arrived in Melbourne for their Australia visit The Daily Mail’s “aggressive” approach to reporting on Prince Harry and Meghan’s Australian visit has “irreparably damaged” the Sussexes’ ability to brief press ahead of trips, Guardian Australia has been told. The Daily Mail broke the embar…

In today’s newsletter: As questions mount over transparency and accountability in the ambassadorial appointment process, the political fallout continues to spread across ​Keir Starmer’s government Good morning. Today the prime minister will face parliament in the wake of the Guardian’s exclusive revelation that during the process of appointing Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US, the former N…

Band shows montage of leaders whose death or ousting the CIA has been proven or suspected to have been part of US band the Strokes have used their Coachella set to make a stark political statement against America’s history of foreign intervention and war in other countries, including Iran and Palestine. At the end of their set at the second weekend of the California music festival, the band perfo…

Exclusive: deputy PM says UK will not join Iran conflict despite Trump’s sometimes ‘incomprehensible’ social-media barbs Donald Trump’s insults towards Keir Starmer are “small and petty” and designed to put pressure on the prime minister to change his position on Iran, David Lammy has said, as he insisted the UK would not get dragged into the conflict. The deputy prime minister argued the US pres…

First recorded in 687BC, the meteoroids were once part of the tail of a comet discovered in 1861 This week, the annual Lyrid meteor shower returns to the spring skies. Although active since 16 April, the shower peaks during the late evening of Wednesday 22 April and early the next morning. The chart shows the view looking east from London at 00.01 (BST) on Thursday 23 April. The origin point of t…

Head of newly formed institution questions whether naming is ‘reflective of our current reality’ amid criticism of ‘shameful’ fossil fuel company promotion Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The newly formed Adelaide University is considering removing gas company Santos’s name from one of its buildings. On Saturday, students and conservationists rallied outside the Santo…

Former minister leading review into young people and work cites survey showing most teachers decry lack of ‘soft skills’ An “exam-obsessed” school system is leaving young people unprepared for work, Alan Milburn has said, as new polling suggests teachers believe pupils are leaving education without the skills they need for adult life. Milburn, a former cabinet minister under Tony Blair and now le…

Jubilation is turning to disenchantment as young activists arrested after protest calling for election date to be set The arrest of several protesters in Madagascar has increased fears among young people that the military regime that took power last year after huge Gen Z demonstrations will be no better than the government it overthrew. Four Gen Z activists, Herizo Andriamanantena, Miora Rakotoma…

Zoological Society of London commissions poet laureate for animation to mark its 200th anniversary Over its two centuries, acclaimed writers and artists have found inspiration at London zoo, from Edwin Landseer’s Trafalgar Square lions, to AA Milne’s naming “Winnie” after resident bear Winnipeg, and Sylvia Plath’s poem Zoo Keeper’s Wife. Plath’s husband, Ted Hughes , who would become poet laureat…

National Gallery, the Box in Plymouth and the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge also shortlisted for £120,000 Art Fund prize The V&A East Storehouse, the National Gallery and an accessible castle in Norwich are among the contenders for this year’s Art Fund museum of the year award, the most prestigious UK prize in the sector. The annual prize offers the winner £120,000, with £20,000 going to each of the o…

Blaze struck a ‘water village’ that is home to some of Malaysia’s poorest residents A huge fire destroyed about 1,000 makeshift homes, many of them built on stilts over water, and displaced thousands of people in a coastal village in Malaysia’s Sabah state on Sunday, authorities said. The blaze broke out early on Sunday morning in a “water village” in Sandakan district in Sabah’s northeast, where…

FC Basel and Polish stadium stop US rapper’s upcoming shows, after similar cancellations in France and UK over antisemitic comments Kanye West’s upcoming concerts in Poland and Switzerland have been cancelled, as a growing number of European countries have stopped or postponed the US rapper’s performances amid a furore over his past antisemitic comments. Swiss football club FC Basel, which is res…

Donald Trump said on Sunday that US marines had taken custody of a vessel that tried to get past the American blockade on Iranian ports Tehran has ‘no plans to participate’ in new talks, state media reports, as it accuses US of violating ceasefire Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. The shaky two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran was unde…

Government sources in multiple states say they are worried about the breadth of the changes and possible costs Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The states are increasingly on edge about Labor’s efforts to cut NDIS spending in next month’s budget, with officials asking the health minister, Mark Butler, to explain pl…

Catholics around Atlanta share mixed feelings on faith and politics as Trump engages in rhetorical war with pope Alex Sullivan tended to his five children on the lawn after a traditional Latin mass at the Catholic Church of Saint Monica in Duluth, Georgia , and contemplated his faith in the light of God and the shadow of Donald Trump . Sullivan, a self-described conservative who once staffed a li…