The Guardian

A wartime boom in Russia has given way to sluggish growth, tax hikes and squeezed public services. Will it affect the conflict in Ukraine? Western leaders were bullish when they imposed sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. “The Russian economy is on track to be cut in half,” said the then US president, Joe Biden, in March, a month into the war. Continue reading...

Large majorities in six nations express antipathy to Trump’s US and support European self-assertion Western Europeans prize Europe’s autonomy and values over transatlantic ties and will not give them up to placate Donald Trump, according to a poll suggesting opinions of the US have plunged to their lowest since YouGov began tracking them a decade ago. The US president’s attempted Greenland grab h…

Iran and the US are set to hold high-stakes negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme, but a dispute over the agenda suggests progress will be hard won Analysis: Iran is betting Trump does not have a plan for regime change US and Iran talks brought back from the brink after White House relents on move to Oman Patrick Wintour and Andrew Roth: Iran’s foreign minister said late on Wednesday that …

Analysis of nearly 500 tinned and chilled products finds 23% exceed government’s voluntary salt target Nearly a quarter of all soup bought in supermarkets contains too much salt, with one brand containing more salt than two McDonald’s cheeseburgers, according to research. Soup has long had a reputation for being a healthy choice for lunch. The analysis of nearly 500 varieties of tinned and chille…

In wake of Donald Trump’s call for Republicans to ‘take over’ voting, senator Ruben Gallego urges citizens to take a stand and give the ‘ultimate response’ The Democratic senator Ruben Gallego has proposed that, should Donald Trump try to sabotage the midterm elections, Americans should respond with a general strike that would “grind the country to a halt”. Earlier this week the US president call…

Residents of New Zealand capital advised not to enter the water, collect seafood or walk their dogs on local beaches after wastewater plant failure A sewage leak in New Zealand’s capital Wellington has been described by local authorities as an “environmental disaster,” with repairs to the city’s wastewater treatment plant expected to take months. Residents of Wellington have been advised not to e…

Dozens of people have died, including two Australians, as record-breaking snowfall blankets the north Dozens of people have died in Japan after record-breaking snowfall blanketed northern regions of the country, while officials warned that warmer temperatures could trigger a new wave of accidents. Authorities said 35 people had died in snow-related incidents across Japan since 20 January, with al…

The four-year-old, from South Australia, was last seen playing outside home on family sheep station in the outback in September Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Missing four-year-old Gus Lamont’s “devastated” grandmothers have engaged lawyers a day after police declared his disappearance a major crime. Gus went mis…

Death toll from Washington’s campaign on alleged drug traffickers now at least 128 The US military on Thursday said it killed two alleged drug traffickers in a strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific, bringing the death toll from Washington’s campaign to at least 128. “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in n…

When marine biologist Océane Attlan saw the tiny Braun’s wrasse, it was like ‘recognising a familiar face, but you can’t put a name on it’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The chances of encountering the rare reef fish were so far-fetched, it took marine biologist Océane Attlan a few seconds to clock what she was seeing. “All of a sudden I saw this fish. You know when …

In a video posted on social media, he further implored the people holding Nancy Guthrie to send proof they had her TV host Savannah Guthrie’s brother on Thursday renewed the family’s plea for their mother’s kidnapper to contact them, hours after an Arizona sheriff said investigators don’t have proof Nancy Guthrie is alive, but believe “she’s still out there”. “Whoever is out there holding our mot…

The journalist Jen Ortiz charts the rise of Bad Bunny – the Puerto Rican superstar musician and ICE critic – before his performance at the Super Bowl on Sunday The halftime show at the Super Bowl is an American cultural institution and this year it will be performed by perhaps its most controversial star yet. Bad Bunny has been labelled by those on the American right as “un-American” and “shamefu…

The country’s first female PM is the object of a personality cult revolving around everything from her outfits and snacks to her favourite pink pen Just eight months ago, Japan’s ruling party appeared to have reached the edge of the electoral abyss. It had lost a parliamentary majority for the second time in 15 months; its MPs were implicated in a long-running slush fund scandal ; the then prime …

Officers attended Tuncurry property on Friday morning following reports of a home invasion, police say Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A man has been shot dead by police after reportedly breaking into a home on the New South Wales mid-north coast armed with a chainsaw and a knife and stabbing a woman. NSW police s…

Andrew Bell says it’s ‘regrettable’ that former PM suggested judge had made a ‘political judgment’ regarding pro-Palestine protest in August The chief justice of New South Wales has criticised former prime minister Tony Abbott for what he says was a regrettable, misconceived and ignorant attack on a judge’s decision regarding last year’s pro-Palestine Sydney Harbour Bridge march. Andrew Bell said…