Guardian Headlines
Guardian Headlines
Fri, 04 Sep 2026 16:49:29 GMT
Togo-sponsored resolution called to phase out traditional map that depicts continent as similar size to Greenland
The United Nations has voted to adopt a resolution for the world to formally phase out the traditional Mercator map of the globe in favour of one that more accurately displays Africa’s size.
In a session at its headquarters in New York, the UN general assembly officially retired the 16th-century Mercator projection in favour of one based on the more accurate 2018 Equal Earth design.
Continue reading...Thu, 03 Sep 2026 12:52:08 GMT
Pedro Sánchez continues to defend Rabat after police report claiming border forces helped 70,000 cross border
Spain has seen no evidence “whatsoever” that Morocco planned or facilitated a mass border breach into its north African territory of Ceuta, the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has told parliament.
The address on Thursday followed the emergence of a police report, commissioned by a judge and widely quoted in the media, claiming Moroccan border forces had actively aided about 70,000 people to cross the border in late July.
Continue reading...Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:11:37 GMT
Claim relating to 1960 attack on hundreds of protesters part of wave of litigation over apartheid crimes in South Africa
The day dawned brightly on 21 March 1960, as residents of the South African township of Sharpeville gathered to protest against pass laws, which forced “Black, Indian and Coloured” South Africans to carry documents at all times specifying where they were allowed to be.
Abraham Mofokeng joined the march, one of dozens organised nationwide by the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), a breakaway group from the African National Congress (ANC). “The weather was very nice, the sun was out. You could not have suspected that the day would go so horribly,” said Mofokeng, who was then a 20-year-old factory worker.
Continue reading...Wed, 02 Sep 2026 09:20:55 GMT
Referendum result means fewer seats in parliament and new rules on candidates, ahead of December elections
Guinea-Bissau voters have approved a new constitution, which critics say will undermine democracy, that significantly expands presidential powers ahead of elections due in December.
According to provisional results, 70% of voters approved sweeping changes in the tiny west African state’s first constitutional amendment since revisions that ended the one-party socialist state more than three decades ago.
Continue reading...Wed, 02 Sep 2026 06:00:25 GMT
Study reveals that pesticide poisoning kills 11,000 people each year, with India accounting for nearly 60% of fatalities
Almost half of the world’s farmers are poisoned by pesticides every single year, a study has found.
Using publicly available data from 2006-2023, the study, which was commissioned by Pesticide Action Network, found there to be an estimated 402-433m cases of unintentional acute pesticide poisoning of farmers and farm workers every year.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 20:21:52 GMT
US president suggests he might support his Argentinian acolyte’s drive to reclaim sovereignty of disputed islands
Donald Trump has long embraced vengeance. “I am your retribution,” he declared to an admiring audience at the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) as he commenced his march back to the White House.
It is unlikely Argentina, and far-flung holdovers of the former British empire, were on the US president’s mind at the time.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:50:43 GMT
Abelardo De La Espriella posts video of himself with rows of body bags as performative populism continues to sweep Americas
Colombia’s hardline president, Abelardo De La Espriella, has provoked outrage after posting a video on social media in which he strides through rows of white body bags that he says contained the corpses of 23 “neutralised” guerrillas.
De La Espriella took power last month vowing “all-out war” against illegal armed groups and he published the footage on Thursday in an apparent attempt to show he was fulfilling that pledge.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 09:31:52 GMT
President cites Trump’s suggestion that he might reconsider US stance on British sovereignty and threatens swifter sanctions on UK oil interests
President Javier Milei has said “winds of change” favourable to Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands are blowing around the world in a televised address, citing signs that Donald Trump may reconsider the US position on the islands’ sovereignty.
“Recently, President Trump declared that the US is re-evaluating its historic position in relation to the Malvinas,” he said, using the Argentinian name for the islands.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 09:24:46 GMT
Ed Miliband says Britain’s position remains ‘unwavering’ in response to remarks by Argentina’s president
British ministers have hit back after the Argentinian president said “winds of change” favourable to his country’s claim to the Falklands were “blowing around the world”.
The foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, said the UK would “resolutely uphold” the self-determination of the islands after the Argentinian president, Javier Milei, said his country needed to take them back.
Continue reading...Thu, 03 Sep 2026 16:17:29 GMT
Opposition leader says interim government lacking democratic mandate to negotiate on natural resources
• The US and Venezuela: a century-old relationship drenched in oil
The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has questioned Donald Trump’s oil deal with Venezuela’s interim government, saying the country’s natural resources do not belong to “an illegitimate regime”.
In her first public comments since Trump announced what he called “the biggest oil deal in world history” with Venezuela last Friday, Machado walked a diplomatic tightrope between challenging the agreement and trying not to rile the White House.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 07:47:41 GMT
Seoul reportedly seeking parliamentary approval to send military assets to Middle East but president’s office plays down claims
South Korea is reviewing a possible deployment of military assets to the strait of Hormuz amid pressure from Donald Trump over Seoul’s reluctance to provide support in the region, according to domestic media reports.
Citing unnamed government and military sources, the reports published on Thursday and Friday said preparations were under way and that the government intended to seek parliamentary approval for a new deployment. The reports, which appeared in major South Korean outlets, said the exact scale and timing had not been agreed.
Continue reading...Thu, 03 Sep 2026 14:33:58 GMT
Jump lifts currency to highest level against dollar in a month, while global markets remain jittery
The Japanese yen has soared by more than 2% against the dollar amid speculation the Bank of Japan is set to raise interest rates.
The latest jump on Thursday lifted the yen to its highest level against the dollar in a month, at 155.57, and followed a 0.9% move the previous day.
Continue reading...Wed, 02 Sep 2026 23:01:37 GMT
Oil consumption plummets and EV sales soar as analysts say demand may not fully return even if crude price falls
China’s carbon dioxide emissions fell by 1% after the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, thanks to a sharp reduction in oil consumption and a steady rise in the use of electric vehicles and public transport, analysis shows.
The report reveals the role of clean energy in cushioning the price shocks caused by the strait of Hormuz crisis to the world’s biggest oil importer. It also reinforces hopes that China, which is the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, may be nearing a turning point in decarbonising its economy.
Continue reading...Wed, 02 Sep 2026 05:15:00 GMT
Speed limit dropped from 60km/h for around 70% of general roads in the hope of making narrow streets of crowded cities safer
Drivers on residential roads in Japan have been forced to take their foot off the accelerator, after the speed limit was slashed from 60km/h (37mph) to 30km/h in an attempt to reduce deaths and injuries among pedestrians on narrow urban streets.
The new limit, which went into effect on Tuesday, applies to residential roads with no centre line or maximum speed signs, media reports said.
Continue reading...Wed, 02 Sep 2026 04:57:27 GMT
Wong, 29, is accused of urging foreign powers to impose sanctions, blockades and other hostile measures against China
Joshua Wong, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to seek foreign sanctions against Hong Kong and China, a national security charge that carries a maximum life sentence.
Prosecutors have accused Wong, 29, of working with the exiled Hong Kong activist Nathan Law to urge foreign powers to impose sanctions, blockades or other hostile measures against China.
Continue reading...Sat, 05 Sep 2026 02:00:54 GMT
A total fire ban is in place for greater Sydney with extreme fire danger exacerbated by hot and windy conditions
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Summer heat is due to arrive early across much of eastern Australia with potentially record early September temperatures predicted for Brisbane and Sydney, while snow was expected in southern New South Wales.
Maximum temperatures in Sydney during the first days of September were on track to match the city’s midsummer average of 26.4C, warmer than any other start to spring since the city’s Observatory Hill station opened in 1858.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:00:12 GMT
Cotality says prices have declined in most capital cities over winter. Search the data to see how they have changed in your area
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Australia’s property market is facing a rare price correction, as rising interest rates and less favourable tax settings for investors accelerate a downturn.
Most capital cities recorded winter price falls, according to Cotality data, with Sydney leading the decline. That weakness is expected to continue, as higher inflation could lead to further interest rate hikes, denting demand.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 07:29:46 GMT
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‘Gut-wrenching’: Bowen to meet with Nepali community today
Chris Bowen said he would meet members of the Nepali Australian community later today.
Every person who’s been rescued or found is a relief to their family and to the broader Australian community. But of course, we still have 36 Australians who are missing and unaccounted for, which is just gut-wrenching for all Australians and for the Nepalese Australian community in particular, whom I’m spending time with later today.
But all I can say is that we’re continuing to send any support that the Nepalese government asked for.
I think that leaders in the Pacific were deeply concerned: one, that a missile test was done without permission of the countries whose airspace it had travelled through, and two, that there was no notice of the said missile test. So I think it’s both. It is a concern about sovereignty and safety, and one that Australia fully backs.
It’s a pretty strong statement, Sally, and one that Australia played a role in crafting.
Fri, 04 Sep 2026 06:28:04 GMT
Charles says claims by developer Jean Nassif in an intercepted phone call that ‘we’re reshuffling the government’ did not reflect promises allegedly made to Nassif
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The younger brother of Dominic Perrottet has denied asking his brother to appoint a cabinet minister to achieve outcomes for a property developer, a corruption inquiry has heard.
Charles Perrottet told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Friday that claims made in an intercepted phone call featuring developer Jean Nassif days before his brother became the NSW premier – in which Nassif described Dominic Perrottet as “my boy” – did not reflect promises allegedly made to Nassif.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 06:24:50 GMT
‘Challenging’ weather conditions and lack of snowfall are being blamed after a winter that broke multiple heat records
Major Australian alpine resorts are closing their ski operations up to a month early after a winter that broke multiple records for heat with limited snow falls being washed away by rain.
Predictions in June that a building El Niño could combine with global heating for a challenging ski season came to pass, with seven resorts either already closed or announcing ski lifts will stop operating this weekend.
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Continue reading...Sat, 05 Sep 2026 04:00:26 GMT
Irish boxer lauded for her tenacity and inspiration before her last fight in front of 80,000 people at Croke Park
When Katie Taylor steps into the ring on Saturday night to defend her titles and once again enthral Ireland, there will be a bittersweet tinge. After a singular career that pioneered women’s boxing, the super-lightweight champion and Olympic gold medallist is bowing out. She is 40 and it is to be her final bout.
“The end of an era, isn’t it?” said Trevor McMahon, her brother-in-law and founder of a gym where she trains. “It’ll be an amazing night but it’ll also be a little bit sad. Everything she did, it might not ever be achieved again.”
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 16:01:10 GMT
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in Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt
Polls have suggested that the election on Sunday could yield Germany’s first-ever state government led by the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), shattering a postwar taboo and leaving minorities’ fate in the hands of a party that has promised to launch deportations “from day one”.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:37:52 GMT
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has told SBU to deliver ‘appropriate, tangible response’ to Kyiv strike
The head office of Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency has been hit in a Russian drone attack, sending plumes of black smoke rising into the air in the heart of Kyiv.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said he had instructed the SBU to deliver an “appropriate, tangible response” to the strike, while the foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, described it as a “major escalation”.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:22:53 GMT
Belarusian said to have had tourist visa issued by Italy is investigated over alleged attempt to attack Leipzig airport
Germany is urging its European partners to introduce tighter limitations on Russian citizens entering the EU on tourist visas, after recent sabotage attacks which Berlin has blamed on Moscow.
German authorities are investigating a Belarusian national, who also holds a Russian passport, over the alleged attempt to attack Leipzig airport using drones and explosives.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 14:35:16 GMT
Russian and Ukrainian strikes in July killed more crew than in whole war to that month, preventing grain exports
A summer of hostilities in the Black Sea proved deadly for seafarers, as Russia and Ukraine attacked each other’s ships and port infrastructure, preventing vital grain exports and prompting concerns that the conflict will push global food prices even higher.
More crew were killed in the Black Sea in July than during the entirety of the war before that month as the conflict has intensified, making the body of water the most dangerous in the world for commercial shipping. This is despite the conflict between the US and Iran, with vessels still being targeted in the strait of Hormuz, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Continue reading...Sat, 05 Sep 2026 00:00:21 GMT
The Israeli army had helped plan the delivery of food aid on 1 April 2024, but things went wrong from the beginning and ended in seven deaths
• Exclusive: why seven international aid workers were killed in Israeli airstrike
On the evening of 1 April 2024, a team of aid workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK) stood on Gaza’s Mediterranean shore overseeing the unloading of a barge full of desperately needed food on a makeshift jetty made of sand and rubble.
The Gaza war had been raging for six months and Israel’s closure of land crossings had left the whole territory facing the threat of famine. WCK and local Palestinian contractors had constructed the jetty out of everything they could lay their hands on, including debris from the bombed house of one of the contractors, so that the pallets of humanitarian assistance could be delivered by boat from Cyprus.
Continue reading...Sat, 05 Sep 2026 00:00:20 GMT
Exclusive: Guardian investigation reveals targeting of World Central Kitchen convoy was result of widely used military tactic
• Death on the road to Rafah: the night the IDF targeted World Central Kitchen aid workers
Seven aid workers killed in an airstrike in Gaza were marked as targets under an Israeli military practice of establishing guilt by association, a Guardian investigation shows.
A top Israeli military prosecutor announced last month that he would not pursue criminal proceedings for the April 2024 incident in which drones fired missiles at three clearly marked World Central Kitchen (WCK) cars soon after they had escorted a food aid delivery to Gaza. Three British humanitarian workers along with an Australian, a Palestinian, a Pole and a dual US-Canadian national were killed.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:12:53 GMT
Troops escort settlers into al-Mughayyir and raze village outside Hebron as ethnic cleansing of West Bank continues
Israelis have shot dead two teenagers in a Palestinian village encircled by settlers, and Israeli troops have razed an entire village outside Hebron, in the latest attacks in a surge of Israeli terror and ethnic cleansing across the occupied West Bank.
The shootings targeted Khalil Abu Alia, 16, who was about to start 11th grade at the al-Mughayyir boys school, and 19-year-old Omar al-Nassan, who graduated from the same institution with top marks this summer.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 12:37:57 GMT
Family-run Al-Qarara Seed Bank is striving to help Palestinians gain sovereignty over their food security
Salama Ayesh Muhanna still remembers the first seeds he planted on his family’s land in al-Qarara, Gaza. At just 17, Muhanna had proudly sprouted cucumbers.
“I was very happy because I saw the results,” Muhanna says. “We were farmers at heart.”
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 10:19:23 GMT
Mourning turns to anger as residents of Kuhestak say Baloch communities are being placed in path of conflict
People in Kuhestak, a predominantly Baloch city in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, are mourning after a strike on a wedding killed at least four people, including a child, and injured more than 60, according to local authorities.
The blast hit at around 9.30pm on 1 September, turning a night of celebration into one of devastation for the small coastal community, which is on the strait of Hormuz.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:10:26 GMT
Officials say pair were rescued from Trishuli 3A hydropower tunnel in Nepal after being trapped at depth of 170 metres
Two people have been pulled out alive from a hydropower tunnel in Nepal nine days after deadly flash floods buried the projects in deep mud and left them trapped.
The workers were rescued during an operation at the Trishuli 3A tunnel, a hydropower project in one of the areas worst affected by last week’s floods, according to the army spokesperson Brig Gen Raja Ram Basnet.
Continue reading...Thu, 03 Sep 2026 11:25:06 GMT
About 46 people believed to be trapped in ‘room-like’ structure inside hydro plant tunnel on Nepal-Tibet border
Nepal authorities have said they are “confident” that dozens of workers in Nepal’s Rasuwagadhi hydropower plant are still alive, more than a week after deadly flash floods left them trapped in an underground chamber.
Authorities said that at least 639 workers were still missing from hydropower plants built along Nepal’s Bhote Koshi and Triushuli rivers.
Continue reading...Wed, 02 Sep 2026 10:00:21 GMT
Bangladeshi complainants allege Rampal power station’s pollution and climate risks threaten the Sunderbans, a world heritage site
Barclays Bank is facing a formal complaint over its financial links to a coal-fired power station near the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and home to millions of people in Bangladesh and India.
Three complainants from the region have submitted a case to the UK government’s Office for Responsible Business Conduct, alleging that the British bank breached international guidelines by underwriting companies involved in the emission-heavy Maitree super thermal power project, also known as the Rampal power plant.
Continue reading...Wed, 02 Sep 2026 01:59:06 GMT
Several missing Australians have been found since Tuesday morning, bringing the total citizens unaccounted for to 38
A total of five Australians missing after devastating floods ravaged the Nepal-Tibet border last week have been found.
Of the five Australians confirmed safe, one was found in Nepal, one in Tibet, and three outside the crisis-hit area. The total number still missing is 38.
Continue reading...Tue, 01 Sep 2026 22:58:32 GMT
More than 1,000 people confirmed dead and more than 4,000, including 36 British nationals, remain missing
A British aid worker was mistakenly identified by Nepalese authorities as a rescued survivor after returning to Kathmandu on a humanitarian aid flight.
Alastair Chambers, a 45-year-old former Gloucester councillor, said he flew to Nepal last week to distribute sleeping bags, food and essentials to communities cut off by collapsed bridges.
Continue reading...Sat, 05 Sep 2026 05:00:29 GMT
Experts say invasive species are creating ‘pollinator deserts’ and could have serious impact on food security
British beekeepers have called for a national awareness campaign about the impact of Asian hornets as they warned the invasive species was creating “pollinator deserts” and threatening food security.
Native to south-east Asia, the yellow-legged hornet is thought to have arrived in Europe in 2004 and has continued to spread ever since, its numbers probably boosted by increasingly warm springs and summers.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 18:16:10 GMT
Splits emerge within party after resignation of officials reported to police for apparent plot to evade donations law
Nigel Farage sought to shore up his damaged leadership on Friday as he attempted to distance himself from two of his most senior officials reported to the police for apparently plotting to evade the law on foreign donations.
As the scandal engulfed Reform UK’s party conference in Birmingham, Farage was forced to suspend close aides Dan Jukes and head of policy James Orr after an undercover investigation by reporters from a group called Verbatim.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 17:48:34 GMT
James Orr, an associate professor, was shown in Channel 4 News footage apparently trying to sidestep electoral law
Cambridge University has said it is examining the conduct of James Orr, its associate professor and a top Reform UK aide, after he was filmed appearing to try to circumvent electoral laws on foreign political donations.
Orr, the suspended head of policy for Reform, is one of two senior officials to step aside after claims that he orchestrated a plot to have polling paid for by a foreign firm – something that is impermissible under British electoral law.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 17:48:21 GMT
Nazir Afzal to focus in review’s first stage on support given to professor in immediate period before his death
The University of Cambridge has asked Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor for north-west England, to lead the first part of its review into the death of the scholar Jason Arday.
Arday died at his home in south London on 14 August, nine days after his resignation as a Cambridge professor amid swirling allegations of plagiarism and inconsistencies in statements about his career.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 17:02:25 GMT
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British ministers have hit back after the Argentinian president said “winds of change” favourable to his country’s claim to the Falklands were “blowing around the world”, Kiran Stacey reports.
The Electoral Commission has issued a statement this morning saying it is in touch with the police about the undercover investigation into Reform UK. In a statement, it said:
We are considering all relevant information, in line with our regulatory remit, and we are in touch with the Met police.
The Electoral Commission has not approved the donor vetting process for Reform, or any other party. Parties are responsible for ensuring their internal processes and controls are fit for purpose.
Continue reading...Sat, 05 Sep 2026 02:15:18 GMT
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President Trump threatened in a social media post on Friday to stop trade with some countries unless the US Federal Reserve moves to cut interest rates.
Trump cited August’s strong jobs report as sufficient justification to lower rates, and warned that, if the central bank didn’t go along, he’d halt trade between the US and any nations with which it maintains a trade deficit.
Continue reading...Sat, 05 Sep 2026 01:57:34 GMT
Ruling allows defense department to proceed for now in exerting greater editorial control over military news outlet
A federal judge has declined to stop the Pentagon from firing journalists who say they were illegally punished for speaking out about the need for the Stars and Stripes publication to maintain its editorial independence.
The ruling by US district judge Trevor McFadden allows the Pentagon to proceed for now in exerting greater editorial control over the historically independent military news outlet.
Continue reading...Sat, 05 Sep 2026 00:59:38 GMT
Indira Talwani’s ruling presents major setback for president as first states begin to send out mail ballots for midterms
A federal judge on Friday again blocked Donald Trump’s executive order to impose sweeping restrictions on mail-in voting, the latest in a legal back-and-forth playing out less than two months before election day.
US district court judge Indira Talwani initially placed a temporary order blocking the president’s mandate and has now extended that prohibition with a stronger preliminary injunction. The ruling comes hours after North Carolina became the first state to start sending out mail-in ballots for the 3 November midterm elections.
Continue reading...Sat, 05 Sep 2026 00:50:41 GMT
Interior department given three months to decide whether wolves can be removed from endangered species list
Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday directing the interior department to consider de-listing gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act and to contemplate whether the agency could make it easier to authorize killing them.
The order gives interior secretary Doug Burgum three months to determine whether gray wolves and Mexican gray wolves have recovered enough for the federal government to de-list them.
Continue reading...Fri, 04 Sep 2026 21:51:27 GMT
Jeffrey Mosteller pleaded no contest to charges relating to burning death of Thomas Cooper in Michigan
A former safety manager has been sentenced to one year and seven months in prison in connection with the death of a five-year-old Michigan boy who was killed in a fiery January 2025 explosion inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
Jeffrey Mosteller, 66, received that sentence after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter in Oakland county circuit court in Michigan on Monday.
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