The Guardian

Charges filed in Miami against 94-year-old for allegedly shooting down exiles’ planes in 1996 The United States has issued a federal criminal indictment against Raúl Castro , Cuba ’s former president, on Wednesday, and five others in a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to oust the country’s six-decades-old communist regime. The 94-year-old political figurehead was char…

Case hailed as human rights victory as Tromsø court says Tommy Olsen’s actions are lawful and protected under international treaties The decision of a Norwegian appeals court to dismiss the extradition of an activist accused of facilitating the illegal entry of people into Greece has been hailed as a rare victory for human rights. In a judgment described as unprecedented by lawyers representing T…

UK calls incident ‘unacceptable’ after Su-27 jet comes within six metres of unarmed RAF plane over Black Sea A Russian jet flew within six metres of an RAF spy plane flying at 500mph over the Black Sea, one of two mid-air incidents last month described as “dangerous and unacceptable” by the defence secretary, John Healey. An Su-27 jet conducted six passes in front of an unarmed RAF Rivet Joint fl…

Births of the mammals extremely rare in captivity, say keepers, with ‘Womble’ only the second calf born at Chester Inside a heated incubator at Chester zoo, a wrinkled newborn aardvark nicknamed “Womble” spent its first weeks being bottle-fed milk through the night by keepers determined to keep the rare calf healthy. Named after the creatures in Elisabeth Beresford’s children’s books and the subs…

Ian Cheshire says media regulator must address perception it has been complacent and slow on online safety Ofcom’s incoming chair has vowed to take on the “tech bros”, as he conceded there was now a perception the regulator had been complacent and slow over concerns about online safety. Ian Cheshire, the former Channel 4 chair who has secured the job overseeing the technology and media regulator,…

Exclusive: Ashley Dalton says rejected amendments could have made bill stronger but it became a ‘pretty dangerous set of affairs’ A former public health minister facing terminal cancer has urged MPs not to bring back the assisted dying bill in England and Wales. The Labour MP Ashley Dalton revealed she would be on lifelong treatment for metastatic breast cancer, which has spread throughout her bo…

Soft power institution faces funding crisis linked to Covid-era government loan due to be repaid by September Staff at the British Council in Italy will go on strike over deep cuts that would slash about 80% of its workforce due to a funding crisis facing the organisation . Out of 130 of its teaching staff across Rome, Milan and Naples, 108 are being targeted as teaching activities in Italy face …

Researchers from watchdog group glued trackers to chain’s cups and found not one ended up at a recycling facility If you attach a GPS tracker to a “widely recyclable” plastic Starbucks cup and drop it in an in-store recycling bin, you might expect it to end up in a recycling plant, but environmental watchdog organization Beyond Plastics says that’s not the case in a new report. Starbucks announce…

Clashes between demonstrators and police in La Paz have entered second week, shaking centre-right president Protests blocking roads across Bolivia and turning the centre of the capital, La Paz, into a battleground between demonstrators and police have entered a second week. It is the most turbulent moment of the centre-right president Rodrigo Paz Pereira’s mere six months in office since he ended…

Xi Jinping welcomed Vladimir Putin to Beijing with pomp and pageantry, just days after hosting Donald Trump. But as Russia’s war in Ukraine makes Moscow increasingly dependent on China, and western leaders thaw relations with Beijing, what does the power imbalance mean for Xi and Putin’s relationship? Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s deputy head of international news, Devika Bhat Continue read…

Keir Starmer described the agreement, worth double original estimates, as a ‘huge win’ for British businesses Keir Starmer has struck a trade deal with six Gulf states in what he described as a “huge win” for British business, ending four years of talks led by four different prime ministers. The deal will offer £3.7bn worth of opportunities for exporters – double original estimates – particularly…

Eritrean man was due to be forcibly removed to France under ‘one in, one out’ scheme An Eritrean asylum seeker who was due to be forcibly removed to France today under the “one in, one out” scheme has had his ticket cancelled after making a serious attempt on his life, the Guardian understands. Other detainees said they believed he had made an attempt on his life because he feared he would be in …

Mandatory cap on top grades at one of America’s most prestigious colleges will go into effect in the fall of 2027 Harvard faculty has voted to impose a roughly 20% cap on A grades in an effort to curb decades of grade inflation that, the faculty argues, degrades the value of top-tier academic achievement at the college. The mandatory cap on top grades at one of America’s most prestigious colleges…

Lawyers of Hazara man who was allegedly sexually abused by carer launch bid to prevent imminent deportation to Pacific island Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Albanese government’s $2.5bn deal with Nauru, under which hundreds of non-citizens will be sent to the tiny Pacific island, will face another legal challenge prompted by an alleged child abuse survivor. Legal…

White Australia group says it does not want to ‘doxx’ members as it challenges designation as banned hate group Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A neo-Nazi group has been told it cannot become a political party if it continues to redact the names of its potential members, as it launches a legal challenge to being designated as a banned hate group. The White Australia p…