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The GuardianScandalSouth Africa
‘They will attack me if I stay’: immigrants in South Africa flee for safety amid violence and anti-foreigner protests

‘They will attack me if I stay’: immigrants in South Africa flee for safety amid violence and anti-foreigner protests

More than 2,000 anti-foreigner protesters march through Durban city centre as the arbitrary deadline passes for undocumented migrants to leave the countrySouth Africa was holding its breath on Tuesday as mass anti-immigration protests were held across the country. They come after a weeks-long campaign against foreigners that has seen at least four killed and tens of thousands fleeing for safety.In the coastal city of Durban, where violence had been expected, the streets were unusually quiet and shops were shuttered as tension hung thick in the air.

1d ago
The GuardianScandalSouth Africa
Police units deployed across South Africa before anti-immigration marches

Police units deployed across South Africa before anti-immigration marches

Government fears repeat of anti-migrant violence in 2008 that led to looting and resulted in deaths of 62 peopleSouth African authorities have deployed police units to towns and cities around the country before planned .Security personnel were seen patrolling the central business district in Johannesburg, the economic capital, where many shopkeepers decided not to open on Tuesday. Trucks and other assets belonging to the South African National Defence Force were also present, according to local media reports.

1d ago
The GuardianWar & Conflict
Ukraine war briefing: Swedish defence maker Saab signs deal to deliver 16 fighter jets to Kyiv

Ukraine war briefing: Swedish defence maker Saab signs deal to deliver 16 fighter jets to Kyiv

Defence maker Saab signs contract to deliver ⁠16 ​Gripen E fighter aircraft to Ukraine in $24.6bn deal. What we know on day 1,589Swedish defence equipment maker Saab has signed a contract to deliver ⁠16 ​Gripen E fighter aircraft to Ukraine in a deal worth about ⁠24.6bn Swedish crowns ($2.54bn). Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writing on the Telegram messaging ⁠app, said the agreement reached with ​Swedish prime minister Ulf ‌Kristersson involved ‌the purchase of the 16 aircraft and included ‌technical support. Saab’s timetable differed from that outlined by Zelenskyy, who said deliveries would begin in 2027, while the Swedish defence equipment maker said deliveries were scheduled for 2029-2030.Ukraine’s top military commander said in an interview broadcast on Tuesday that his forces were preparing for a possible ⁠new Russian attack from the north, but any attempt to advance on Kyiv was unlikely. Oleksandr Syrskyi, interviewed on TSN Ukrainian television, also said ⁠an attack from ⁠neighbouring Belarus ​was unlikely after weeks of Ukrainian allegations that Moscow was trying to press its ally to play a greater role in the war. “The ⁠most likely scenario, and this is confirmed by several data sources, is possible offensive action in the north from the territory of Russia, from the ⁠Bryansk region,” Syrskyi said.“This is a realistic option, of course, and we are preparing for ​it.”Russian glide bombs killed two people and ⁠injured ⁠at least ​15 in the south-eastern Ukrainian ⁠city of Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday, regional governor ⁠Ivan Fedorov said. Fedorov, writing ​on ‌the Telegram ‌messaging app, said ‌Russian forces had deployed seven bombs over a 90-minute period in the city, a frequent target ‌of Russian attacks.Denmark announced ⁠on ​Tuesday a new military donation package ⁠to Ukraine worth about 4.4bn ⁠crowns ($671.8m). “Around 1.3 ​billion ‌crowns is ‌allocated to ‘the Danish ‌model’, which makes it possible to finance the Ukrainian state’s procurement costs through its ‌own defence industry,” the government said ​in a statement. “In addition, more funds have been ⁠allocated for long-range artillery ammunition.” It ​is ​Denmark’s 30th ​military support ​package ‌to UkrainePolice on Tuesday were that seriously wounded a sanctioned multimillionaire of Ukrainian origin and two others in Monaco. Officers in Monaco and neighbouring France were hunting for a man in a black fisher’s hat who appeared in surveillance footage after leaving a package in a residential building near the border, authorities said. The device exploded at around 9pm (1900 GMT) on Monday, leaving a man and a woman seriously wounded and a 13-year-old with lighter injuries, according to the Monegasque authorities.Monaco public prosecutor Stephane Thibault said as of Tuesday the man had been stabilised, but the woman’s condition remained “life-threatening”. He said the blast was being investigated as “attempted murder” but was not being considered as a “terrorist” act. He declined to say who was the presumed target of the blast, but several sources have said it was Ukrainian-born businessman Vadym Yermolaiev, who is a permanent resident of Monaco and has acquired Cypriot nationality. Yermolaiev is a sanctioned multimillionaire with a reportedly long list of enemies in his homeland. Kyiv alleges the 58-year-old maintained an alcohol business in Russia-annexed Crimea – paying taxes to Moscow even after it invaded Ukraine in 2022.Kenya’s cabinet on Tuesday approved the country’s accession to two international anti-mercenary treaties, a move aimed at curbing the recruitment of citizens into foreign conflicts and combating human trafficking. Kenya is among several African countries whose citizens have reportedly been forcibly conscripted into the Russian army to fight in Ukraine after being lured with promises of jobs abroad. The foreign affairs ministry officially estimates that 291 Kenyans have been victims of Russia’s “irregular military recruitment”, including 19 dead and 32 missing.

17h ago
The GuardianWar & ConflictUkraine
Amid war in Ukraine, the fleeting moments of despair and salvation I witness are what truly tell the story | Charlotte Higgins

Amid war in Ukraine, the fleeting moments of despair and salvation I witness are what truly tell the story | Charlotte Higgins

There are images that flicker in the mind before sleep: the loss, the resilience and then the strange mundanity of it allWhat was it like? Is the question I am often asked when I return from , where I have been travelling regularly since 2022. There’s an understanding implicit in the question that the answer will not – not quite – lie in the accumulation of reporting. For good reasons the reporter keeps her eyes steady and focused outward, collecting the essential information, conveying it as clearly and smoothly as possible. The reporter reins in and disciplines her subjectivity, while, ideally, recognising its existence and understanding its contours. The reporter knows that the facts of the matter are the thing.At the same time, feelings and impressions cannot wholly be untangled from the facts. Feelings are inevitable, if you are functioning as a human in any sense at all. They are the tentacles of empathy that reach out in an attempt to understand people and situations. Feelings have an epistemic role – a part to play in acquiring knowledge. Nevertheless, they must be tidied into the background. Respect for your readers and your subjects demands it; the rituals and rules of journalism demand it.Charlotte Higgins is the Guardian’s chief culture writerUkrainian Lessons by Charlotte Higgins (Cape, £22) will be published in August. To support the Guardian, order your copy at . Delivery charges may apply On Wednesday 30 September, join Charlotte Higgins and our panel of acclaimed Ukrainian writers to reflect on the profound connections between war, art and life. With Olia Hercules, Sasha Dovzhyk, Olesya Khromeychuk, and Shaun Walker. Book tickets Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our section, please .

1d ago
The GuardianWar & ConflictEastern Europe
Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy ridicules Russian military drive, saying Putin keeps postponing goal deadlines

Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy ridicules Russian military drive, saying Putin keeps postponing goal deadlines

Ukrainian president says Kremlin leader has repeatedly set and deferred timelines to fully capture eastern Donbas area. What we know on day 1,588Volodymyr Zelenskyy has mocked Russia’s military drive, saying the Kremlin has set and put off 15 deadlines to ⁠capture Ukraine’s eastern Donbas ⁠region across four years. The Ukrainian president’s was responding to Vladimir Putin’s rejection a day earlier of what the Russian leader said was a Ukrainian proposal to abandon long-range strikes and ⁠scale down the fighting. He said Putin’s comments showed he was out of touch with the feelings of Russians who , linked to a Ukrainian campaign of ⁠strikes on oil industry targets. “Even an oil-producing state – a ‘gas station’ as Russia has often been called – is now facing ​fuel shortages,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Monday. “This ‌is a direct consequence of ‌the war; one of many consequences. It is also one example of how Ukraine responds – with precision, not through ‌terrorism.”Zelenskyy also said the Kremlin had set – and later put back – 15 deadlines over the course of more than four years to capture four regions in eastern Ukraine: Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas, and Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. “Russia’s political leadership remains obsessed with Donbas,” he said. “If Russia does not end the war, it will have to postpone that deadline once again.” Putin on Sunday said Russian forces would press ahead with their battlefield aim of ⁠fully capturing the four regions.Russian attacks across Ukraine killed 10 people and wounded ⁠dozens on Monday, authorities said, with strikes continuing into the afternoon as the death toll climbed. A missile attack in ⁠the south-eastern city ⁠of Dnipro ​killed six people and wounded 29, the regional governor said. Zelenskyy said the strike targeted infrastructure and that rescue ⁠rescue operations were under way. A Russian drone attack on a passenger ‌minibus in Zaporizhzhia killed two men and a woman and injured eight others, including a seven-year-old boy, regional officials said. A glide bomb also hit ​the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, killing a 23-year-old woman and wounding 10 others, according to officials there.A Russian court has said it jailed three bar workers for participating in the “international LGBT community”, in the first such case since Moscow labelled the community “extremist” in 2023. Russia has for years targeted LGBTQ+ organisations but has become even more hostile since invading Ukraine in 2022. A court in Orenburg, a city bordering Kazakhstan, said on Monday its verdict was in the “first criminal case” for “organising and participating in the activities of an extremist organisation – the international LGBT movement”. It said the owner, the administrator and art director of the Pose bar in Orenburg were found guilty of organising “events united by the theme of demonstrating solidarity with people of non-traditional sexual orientation” – the Russian legal term for LGBTQ+ people. The three would serve between two and seven years in jail and the owner would have to pay a 1m rouble ($13,000) fine, the court said.Ukraine’s energy grid was on Monday amid the European heatwave. Authorities in the western Rivne region introduced emergency power outages to ease pressure on the grid, while the central Khmelnytsky region also announced temporary outages. Five other regions – from Ivano-Frankivsk in the west to Zaporizhzhia on the frontline in the south – warned households and businesses to be prepared for blackouts on Tuesday.A Russian army veteran who threatened Vladimir Putin with mutiny has been convicted of displaying “extremist” symbols and jailed, according to his Telegram account and court documents. The former soldier, who had reportedly served on the frontline against Ukraine, posted videos on Instagram last week calling for a meeting with Putin – alleging that many soldiers were being tortured for refusing “mindless, suicidal orders” – and threatening an army mutiny, attracting millions of views. The Kremlin said on Friday it had not yet seen the video but that it appeared to have “strange wording”. The court on Monday published only limited information confirming the case, without giving the sentence, but the soldier’s Telegram account said he was jailed for 11 days.

1d ago
The GuardianScandalNorth West England
Andy Burnham says ‘nothing off table’ in case of Rochdale grooming gang leader

Andy Burnham says ‘nothing off table’ in case of Rochdale grooming gang leader

Labour leader-in-waiting wants to close loophole preventing deportation of sex offenderAndy Burnham will explore “all possible options”, if he becomes prime minister, to close a legal loophole that prevented the deportation of a “vile” Rochdale grooming gang leader.In his first significant intervention as Labour leader-in-waiting, Burnham said nothing would be “off the table” in the case of Shabir Ahmed, 73, who is expected to be on Thursday.

1h ago
The GuardianPoliticiansLondon
Andy Burnham says he will end culture of briefing against female ministers

Andy Burnham says he will end culture of briefing against female ministers

PM hopeful tells meeting of women’s parliamentary Labour party that any staff who undermine female members of his team will be sackedAndy Burnham has said he will end the culture of briefing against female ministers, promising Labour MPs he will sack any staff who undermine women in his team.Speaking at a meeting of the women’s parliamentary Labour party in Westminster, Burnham also strongly criticised descriptions of him as “the first female Labour PM” in the Spectator magazine.

1d ago
The GuardianHumanityUnited Kingdom
Rochdale grooming gang ringleader cannot be deported, victims told

Rochdale grooming gang ringleader cannot be deported, victims told

Provisions in Immigration Act prevent Shabir Ahmed, due to be released, being sent to PakistanThe ringleader of the notorious Rochdale grooming gang is due to be released from prison this week and cannot be deported from the country, his victims have been told.Shabir Ahmed, 73, known to his victims as “Daddy”, was convicted of multiple counts of rape and sexual offences against girls in 2012.

1d ago
The GuardianHumanity
Fears of Catholic schism as defiant sect ordains ultra-conservative bishops

Fears of Catholic schism as defiant sect ordains ultra-conservative bishops

Consecrations by Society of Saint Pius X bring automatic excommunication for bishops – and crisis for Pope LeoA rebel group of ultra-conservative Catholics has defied Pope Leo by ordaining bishops without his consent, which they declared a “sacred duty” despite it causing their automatic excommunication.In a ritual-filled ceremony on Wednesday, streamed live from the Swiss village of Ecône, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) went ahead with the consecrations of four bishops, one from Switzerland, one from France and two from the US.

5h ago
The GuardianScandalUSA
US supreme court upholds birthright citizenship in blow to Trump agenda

US supreme court upholds birthright citizenship in blow to Trump agenda

Court rules against Trump administration on policy that people born in the United States are citizensThe has upheld the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship, affirming that nearly all people born on US soil are American citizens and rejecting a central pillar of Donald Trump’s .The president had issued an executive order on the first day of his second term that sought to deny automatic citizenship to the children born to undocumented immigrants and temporary foreign residents. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said this order violated the 14th amendment of the US constitution.

1d ago
The GuardianScandalUSA
What to know about the US supreme court ruling on birthright citizenship

What to know about the US supreme court ruling on birthright citizenship

What will Trump do now after justices’ stunning rebuke?In a stunning rebuke to Donald Trump’s aggressive anti-immigrant agenda, the ruled against the president’s highly contentious attempt to end the right to US citizenship for children born in the United States.The justices ruled that the Trump administration violated a provision of the 14th amendment, which was affirmed by the supreme court 128 years ago.

23h ago
HaaretzHumanityIslamic World
Erased Israeli Settlers' Brutal War on Palestinian Communities in the West Bank

Erased Israeli Settlers' Brutal War on Palestinian Communities in the West Bank

Erased Israeli Settlers' Brutal War on Palestinian Communities in the West BankScroll downCredit: Avishay Mohar, B'TselemHagar ShezafShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppThese images appear again and again – from the ground, from the air, and on maps: dozens of Palestinian communities wiped off the landscape, while illegal Israeli settler outposts continue to spread across the West Bank.Since October 7, 2023, this phenomenon has intensified significantly. Unlike the war in Gaza, there is no discussion in Israel about ending this parallel campaign of dispossession.

5h ago
The GuardianHumanityVenezuela
Strong aftershock terrifies Venezuelans days after devastating twin quakes

Strong aftershock terrifies Venezuelans days after devastating twin quakes

Caracas and La Guaira affected by 4.6-magnitude tremor as death toll passes 1,700 and humanitarian crisis growsA strong aftershock has rattled northern Venezuela, sending terrified residents racing on to the streets five days after the twin earthquakes that killed 1,719 people, left tens of thousands missing and triggered a growing humanitarian emergency.The aftershock early on Monday – which the US Geological Survey measured at a magnitude of 4.6 – shook the capital, Caracas, and the devastated port city of La Guaira, where rescue crews are still hoping to pull as many survivors as possible from the rubble. Colombia’s geological survey put the aftershock’s magnitude at 5.1.

1d ago
The GuardianElectionsUSA
Democratic socialist Melat Kiros defeats 15-term incumbent in Colorado House primary

Democratic socialist Melat Kiros defeats 15-term incumbent in Colorado House primary

Twenty-nine-year-old beat Representative Diana DeGette in deep-blue Denver districtThe democratic socialist Melat Kiros unseated long-serving US representative Diana DeGette in Colorado’s primary elections held on Tuesday, after a campaign in which support for Israel became a wedge issue among voters.The Associated Press reported that Kiros had defeated DeGette for the Democratic nomination in the deep-blue first congressional district centered on Denver. The victory of Kiros came a week after New York voters unseated two Democratic congressional incumbents and replaced a third who was retiring with on standing up to Israel amid that it was carrying out a genocide in Gaza.

12h ago
The GuardianSustainabilityUSA
‘Everyone dies of cancer’: the Puerto Rican island poisoned by the US navy

‘Everyone dies of cancer’: the Puerto Rican island poisoned by the US navy

For decades Vieques was a bombing range, leaving a legacy of cancer clusters and unexploded munitions. Now residents fear the US military wants to reopen its basesWhen the ferry docks in Vieques, about 6 miles (10km) off , the first person many tourists see is José Belardo, known as “Gato”, a retired police chief who now drives a taxi.Driving to Esperanza, a town on Vieques’s southern coast, he points to Sun Bay, a popular beach, and to large cleanup tents behind a barbed-wire fence. Gato notes the wildlife preserve, riddled with , and the health centre, but without doctors. He mentions a woman walking by, whose husband recently died of cancer.

5h ago
The GuardianHistory
‘I thought of her as a volcano’: the triumphant art and very troubling death of Ana Mendieta

‘I thought of her as a volcano’: the triumphant art and very troubling death of Ana Mendieta

Her shocking performances and stunning images made Mendieta the talk of the art world in the 1970s and 80s. Then she fell from a New York apartment block in 1985 – and her husband was charged with murder. As a major exhibition comes to London, her friends discuss her genius and their search for answersIn the summer of 1985, Ana Mendieta was playing with gunpowder and a chainsaw. Just 5ft tall, the Cuban American artist worked outside her studio in Rome, trying to figure out the scale of a new commission for MacArthur Park, Los Angeles. Her idea was to cut up trees and burn the gunpowder directly into them, creating a totem “grove” inspired by her recent trips to neolithic sites. It was a breakthrough of sorts – permanent, monumental work that built on her performance art – and in a photograph of her standing next to a test piece, Mendieta looks proud, excited.She had arrived in Italy two years earlier, after winning the prestigious Prix de Rome and a residency at its American Academy. She alienated half the staff, but fell in love with the city, driving like a local (right hand on the wheel, left middle finger out the window). Mendieta admired Roman women, mailing her friend, the film critic B Ruby Rich, a newspaper clipping of a pro-choice demonstration. “She said, ‘Look, they’re not like American women,’” remembers Rich. “‘They’re showing women butchered and dead from botched abortions. Look how much fiercer they are.’”

13h ago
The IndependentHumanityEngland
White working class pupils failed by English education system, inquiry finds

White working class pupils failed by English education system, inquiry finds

Download our app An independent inquiry has concluded that the education system in England is "not set up to serve white working-class children and families," identifying them as the lowest-performing large demographic in the school system. The inquiry, commissioned by Star Academies and supported by the Department for Education, highlights a "white working-class disadvantage gap," noting that only 36% of white British pupils on free school meals achieve a Grade 4 or above in English and Maths GCSE, significantly lower than their non-free school meal peers.

2d ago
The GuardianHumanitySub-Saharan Africa
‘Witch-hunt’ in Niger as military regime rounds up LGBTQ+ population

‘Witch-hunt’ in Niger as military regime rounds up LGBTQ+ population

Fears of resurgence of HIV/Aids amid loss of access to PrEP drugs as at least 40 people arrested in ‘toxic’ climateA “witch-hunt” is under way in Niger, where dozens of people have been arrested for homosexuality in the west African state following the introduction of a new penal code earlier this year.Up to 40 people have been arrested and 16 men, including high-ranking military officials, have been imprisoned across the country, according to local media.

10h ago
BBCWar & ConflictLondon
Chris Mason: Starmer's defence plan leaves crunching trade‑offs for Burnham to confront

Chris Mason: Starmer's defence plan leaves crunching trade‑offs for Burnham to confront

If, as expected, Andy Burnham becomes prime minister next month, he will inherit a £4.7bn bill to deliver the Defence Investment Plan, or DIP, and that is before he worries about how to boost defence spending further as the next general election looms. The numbers accompanying the much delayed plan point to a big gap that the current government anticipates the next one will need to fill this autumn.

9h ago
The GuardianWar & ConflictUnited Kingdom
Burnham left with £4.7bn bill for Starmer’s new defence investment plan

Burnham left with £4.7bn bill for Starmer’s new defence investment plan

Ally of PM-in-waiting says four-year boost for the armed forces is an ‘unexploded bomb’Andy Burnham will have to find an extra £4.7bn for defence in his first budget, after Keir Starmer (Dip) without having fully identified how it will be funded.Sources close to the Makerfield MP said he would not try to renegotiate the Dip after the outgoing prime minister announced its details at a press conference on Tuesday.£47bn on new nuclear submarines, including the Dreadnought replacement for the Trident submarines and the new Aukus attack submarine project, being developed with Australia and the US.£13bn on a new nuclear warhead and £1.7bn on nuclear fuels. Another promise to pay £1bn for 12 Lockheed Martin F-35A jets capable of carrying nuclear bombs will come after 2030.£8.6bn on the development of the Gcap next-generation fighter aircraft in a joint project with Italy and Japan, plus an extra £1.1bn to keep existing Typhoons in service until the 2040s.A total of £5bn more on drones, £1bn more than announced in last year’s strategic spending review, with investments in air, land, sea and underwater drones to operating alongside soldiers, warships and fighter jets.

21h ago
The GuardianWar & ConflictUnited Kingdom
Starmer warns Burnham not to borrow to fund defence as he reveals £15bn plan

Starmer warns Burnham not to borrow to fund defence as he reveals £15bn plan

The prime minister unveiled his long-awaited defence investment plan on Tuesday after months of delaysKeir Starmer warned his successor not to borrow more to pay for defence as he raided energy, transport and housing projects to pay for a £15bn military spending plan.The prime minister revealed his long-awaited defence investment plan (Dip) on Tuesday after an that cost him his defence secretary and arguably contributed to his downfall.

1d ago
The GuardianWar & ConflictEngland
Nato chief says he is confident Burnham will stick to defence spending target

Nato chief says he is confident Burnham will stick to defence spending target

Mark Rutte stressed need for military investment ahead of long-awaited UK funding announcement on TuesdayNato’s secretary general has said he is confident Andy Burnham will stick to the alliance’s long-term spending commitments, and that the man expected to be the UK’s next prime minister would recognise that rearmament can spur economic growth.During a visit to London, Mark Rutte said he did not expect the UK to meet an alliance target to spend 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035 “in one big step” when its long-delayed defence investment plan was published on Tuesday.

2d ago
The GuardianEconomyChina
EU sets up three months of talks with China over €360bn trade deficit

EU sets up three months of talks with China over €360bn trade deficit

Two sides agree to try to make bilateral relationship ‘more balanced’ after weeks of threatsThe EU and China have agreed to enter three months of talks to try to avoid a trade war over the bloc’s €360bn (£310bn) annual import/export imbalance.In their first joint statement in seven years, the two sides agreed in Brussels to open a formal trade consultation after weeks of threats and recriminations from China if the EU imposed any measures to stop the flood of goods and components into the bloc.

1d ago
The GuardianScandalUnited Kingdom
Henry Nowak murder: two officers under gross misconduct investigation

Henry Nowak murder: two officers under gross misconduct investigation

IOPC to consider if race was a factor in response to student, whom officers initially handcuffed and treated as a suspectTwo police officers in the case of Henry Nowak have been placed under investigation for gross misconduct by the police watchdog.Nowak, 18, died in December 2025 after being stabbed by Vickrum Digwa in Southampton. Digwa falsely told police , which led officers to handcuff Nowak and treat him as a suspect, despite him saying he had been stabbed and that he could not breathe.

8h ago
NatureScienceWorld
Food web complexity underlies biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning

Food web complexity underlies biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning

Biodiversity change has elicited widespread concern over the consequences for functions and services provided by ecosystems1,2,3. Despite extensive evidence for a positive effect of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning within a single trophic level4,5, how this biodiversity effect varies with multi-trophic food web structure remains unresolved6 even though most ecosystems contain two to six trophic levels7.

22m ago
The GuardianHumanitySudan
Sudan’s RSF committed crimes against humanity in El Fasher, Amnesty says

Sudan’s RSF committed crimes against humanity in El Fasher, Amnesty says

Report accuses paramilitary force of crimes including ethnic cleansing in systemic campaign against civiliansThe Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its seizure of El Fasher last year, Amnesty International has alleged.Many of the crimes, including murder, torture, rape, enslavement and sexual slavery, were carried out as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians and amounted to crimes against humanity, the human rights organisation said released on Wednesday.

5h ago
The GuardianScandalMalta
Businessman accused of ordering Daphne Caruana Galizia murder stands trial in Malta

Businessman accused of ordering Daphne Caruana Galizia murder stands trial in Malta

Yorgen Fenech, who denies all charges, appears in court more than nine years after the journalist’s deathThe businessman accused of ordering the murder of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia goes on trial on Wednesday, more than nine years after her death in a car-bomb attack that sent shockwaves through Europe.Yorgen Fenech, the heir to a property empire worth hundreds of millions, is one of seven men prosecutors accused of involvement in the killing, and the last to face trial.

4h ago
The GuardianBusinessmenUnited Kingdom
Up to 150 former WH Smith stores to close as high court approves restructure

Up to 150 former WH Smith stores to close as high court approves restructure

Restructuring plan involves writing off debts to suppliers and cutting rent for many landlordsUp to 150 former high street stores are to close after the high court approved a swingeing restructure that could affect thousands of jobs.The retailer, which has 450 stores and employs about 5,000 staff, was bought last year by the private equity firm Modella Capital, which also owns Hobbycraft, and.

5h ago
The GuardianClimateUSA
New Orleans residents on warning to abandon sinking city: ‘Nobody wants to leave home’

New Orleans residents on warning to abandon sinking city: ‘Nobody wants to leave home’

After a recent study found New Orleans is at a ‘point of no return’ amid the climate crisis, some locals say they will ‘only leave if forced to’. But what would it take to stay?When a study in May concluded that has hit a “point of no return” due to the that will require people to eventually retreat from their storied yet ultimately doomed city, the local reaction was swift and fiery.The onward march of rising seas around a sinking city was unsettling, but the is “more focused on generating publicity and clickbait headlines” than coming up with solutions, Helena Moreno, New Orleans’ mayor. There is flooding in Miami, and wildfires and earthquakes near San Fransisco, Moreno pointed out, “yet no serious movement exists to declare those cities lost causes”.

5h ago