The Guardian

Officers left feeling ‘hamstrung’, says Mark Rowley after offender allowed to return to flat overlooking playground Pressure to cut the number of prisoners on remand has led to “dangerous and prolific offenders” being granted bail, the country’s most senior police officer said after a paedophile was allowed to return to his flat that overlooked a children’s playground. Zafer Dogan was jailed on T…

Crystal Mason has spent nearly a decade fighting conviction for casting provisional ballot that ultimately wasn’t counted The nearly decade-long case of a Black Texas woman who was sentenced to five years in prison in a controversial illegal voting case will end with an acquittal, the state’s highest criminal court said in a 5-4 decision on Thursday. The woman, Crystal Mason, has been appealing a…

Israeli PM attacks critics and calls New York mayor Zohran Mamdani ‘antisemitic’ in inflammatory address Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an inflammatory address to the United Nations on Thursday, decrying what he said was a global anti-Jewish conspiracy and swatting aside criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza, as he faces down international isolation and a fight for political survival in upcoming electi…

Senior Iranian officials say Washington has four to five days to respond to its conditions for reopening the strait The UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, has met his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, for the first time in New York amid warnings from senior Iranian security officials that the US has four to five days to respond to its conditions for reopening the strait of Hormuz. The previous…

GOP stymies House-passed war powers resolution as conflict passes 200-day mark with 19 US service members killed Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic effort to end the US war with Iran, voting 49-50 against a House-passed war powers resolution as the conflict passed the 200-day mark, with 19 American service members killed. The measure passed the House earlier with bipartisan suppo…

Deference was deafening as US president rolled out red carpet for world’s biggest jailer of journalists – perhaps he was seeking tips One is an authoritarian who represses the media with a strong allergy to democratic elections. The other is head of the Chinese Communist party. Donald Trump welcomed the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to the White House on Thursday, setting the stage for a scene q…

State supreme court rules Chad Bianco’s conduct unlawful and says he ‘must refrain from further handling’ of ballots A Republican California sheriff must return more than a half-million ballots he seized for an investigation into unfounded voting improprieties in a special election last year, the state supreme court ruled Thursday. Riverside county sheriff Chad Bianco in February seized approxima…

Legislators sent letter to Marco Rubio saying US interference is weakening Brazil’s democratic institutions US politics live – latest updates A group of 31 Democratic members of the US Congress has sent a letter to the secretary of state, Marco Rubio , criticising the Trump administration over “an apparent effort to interfere with, and potentially undermine” Brazil ’s elections. Latin America’s l…

‘If you’re not in the internal market, you don’t get the same protection,’ says French minister of policy designed to curb Chinese competition France is leading a push to exclude the UK from the EU’s “Made in Europe” policy that could result in British companies losing out in the race to supply European countries with low-carbon technologies and electric cars. The plans were raised by Andy Burnha…

Datacentre hailed by government was supposed to start operating next year but may be held back into mid-2030s A huge datacentre project hailed by the UK government will miss its launch date next year and could be delayed into the mid-2030s. The site in Loughton, Essex, was described as the country’s largest AI supercomputer when it was announced in 2025, but power supply problems mean it now face…

Warning comes hours after Poland says fire at Starlink satellite station was ‘act of sabotage’ Russia could launch a limited military attack against a Nato country in the coming months, Danish intelligence said, in one of the starkest warnings yet by western security services. In a report published on Thursday, the Danish defence intelligence service warned of a “low but growing risk” that Russia…

Thirty-seven-year-old in custody on suspicion of crimes including criminal damage with intent to endanger life The far-right agitator and anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage with intent to endanger life after he filmed himself appearing to slash the side of a dinghy in the middle of the Channel while a rescuer was onboard. The arrest came as the H…

Chinese president’s proposals for lessening tensions come amid period of intense competition between the two countries over AI and trade US politics live – latest updates Xi Jingping has called for extensive cooperation with Washington to avoid the “Thucydides trap” that could put the US and China on a military collision course. At the start of his summit meeting with Donald Trump in the White Ho…

Former Yes musician plays at sanctuary to raise awareness of animals that remain stuck in cages at ‘bile farms’ Rick Wakeman has played to all kinds of people around the globe, but he has now performed to an audience he had never encountered before – an enclosure of 150 bears. The former Yes musician, who has gone on to have a prolific solo career, played the piano at a Vietnamese bear sanctuary.…

Scheme set up after Russian invasion in 2022 paid £350 a month to people hosting Ukrainians but this will reduce to £100 next year Ukrainian refugees fear they could be left homeless after the government quietly axed 70% of funding for hosts of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, reducing monthly “thank you” payments to them from £350 to £100. The scheme was launched after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine …