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In today’s newsletter: Le Pen’s embezzlement conviction bans her for five years from public office. More on the charges, the sentence and what happens nextGood morning. Marine Le Pen appeared to have been expecting a guilty verdict in her trial for embezzling millions in European parliament funds to pay her party’s workers in contravention of the rules – and even to have anticipated that...

Inferno spread to nearby homes, trapping residents, while full extent of damage still being assessedA colossal fire has erupted in a Malaysian suburb outside Kuala Lumpur due to a burst gas pipeline, prompting evacuations of nearby homes.The inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights in central Selangor state on Tuesday was visible for kilometres. National oil company Petronas said the fire broke out...

Vast scheme aims to counter disinformation and increase awareness in country where low HPV vaccine take-up means many die from the preventable diseaseTens of thousands of doctors across India are being trained to promote the HPV vaccine, in a push to eliminate cervical cancer in the country.They will check with mothers attending medical appointments that they intend to vaccinate their daughters, and visit schools...

Survey shows between 56% and 79% across seven countries in favour if Trump introduces ‘Liberation Day’ leviesA large majority of western Europeans support retaliatory tariffs against the US, a survey has shown, if Donald Trump introduces sweeping import duties for major trading partners as expected this week.The US president appears likely to unleash a range of tariffs, varying from country to country, on Wednesday,...

Nine-hectare site home to 57 species including rhino, zebras and ostriches in UK’s biggest such development“Although we are trying to replicate Uganda and Kenya we are actually in Cheshire so the weather is slightly different,” admits Chester zoo boss, Jamie Christon, on a fresh and very grey Monday morning.But ignore the chilliness and screw your eyes and you could well be transported to a...

Taiwan says it has detected nearly 20 vessels off its coast as Beijing orders large scale sea and air exercises and calls leaders in Taipei ‘parasites’China has launched large-scale military drills around Taiwan, accusing its leaders of being “separatists” and “parasites” who were pushing the democratically run island into war.The drills, accompanied by a propaganda campaign, were launched without warning on Tuesday morning. China’s...

Attempts to seal porous borders through which guns, drugs and fuel flowed in Assad times are turning local tensions deadlyHidden trails snake through the mountains in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa valley, the furrowed earthen paths veering off before entirely disappearing into the mountainside scrub. “That’s Syria,” said Haidar, a smuggler using a pseudonym, tracing with his finger the contours of a route that if followed...

Exclusive: Charities say freeze to housing benefit will push more people into rent arrears and homelessnessOnly 2.5% of private rented homes in England were affordable for people on housing benefit last year, with charities warning that more people will be pushed into rent arrears and homelessness as a freeze on the benefit takes effect.From Tuesday, housing benefit rates will be locked at current rates...

Ministers urged to act as energy, water, car tax, TV licences and a string of other increases squeeze householdsBill rises Britons face, from council tax to energy and carsWill bills continue to rise and what does it mean for Labour?‘It’s relentless’: Britons react to April bill risesMillions of households are bracing themselves for a raft of price increases across a range of bills –...

Increases in council tax, energy and water come less than week after Rachel Reeves revealed raft of cuts to welfareBill rises Britons face, from council tax to energy and carsWill bills continue to rise and what does it mean for Labour?‘It’s relentless’: Britons react to April bill risesMillions of households are braced for higher costs from this week, as energy, water and council tax...

President backs ‘commonsense reforms’ to stop soaring resale prices as singer urges Congress to pass legislationDonald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that aimed to protect fans by cracking down on “exploitative ticket scalping” and introduced “commonsense reforms” to the way live entertainment events are priced.Flanked by a bespangled Kid Rock in the Oval Office, Trump signed what he called a “very serious”...

This liveblog is now closed.Immigration remains a strength for Donald Trump, but his handling of tariffs is getting more negative feedback, according to a poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About half of US adults approve of Trump’s approach to immigration, the survey shows, but only about four in 10 have a positive view of the way he’s handling the...

Groups say Trump’s demands set out in executive order threaten to ‘silence potentially millions of Americans’Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to overhaul the nation’s elections faced its first legal challenges Monday as the Democratic National Committee and a pair of nonprofits filed two separate lawsuits calling it unconstitutional.The Campaign Legal Center and the State Democracy Defenders Fund brought the first lawsuit Monday afternoon. The...

President promises he will be ‘very kind’ but critics warn his strategy risks triggering chain reaction and global trade warAs Donald Trump prepared to unveil a swathe of reciprocal tariffs, global markets braced and some Republican senators voiced their opposition to a strategy that critics warn risks a global trade war, provoking retaliation by major trading partners such as China, Canada and the European...

Group’s chief executive condemns president’s ‘dangerous’ agenda and says funding cuts will cause ‘devastation’The reproductive health provider Planned Parenthood said the Trump administration would cut federal family planning funding as of Tuesday, affecting birth control, cancer screenings and other services for low-income people.Planned Parenthood said that nine of its affiliates received notice that funding would be withheld under a program known as Title X,...

Administration accuses university of failing to protect students and plans to look into federal grants and contractsThe Trump administration announced a review on Monday of $9bn in federal contracts and grants at Harvard University over allegations that it failed to address issues of antisemitism on campus.The multi-agency joint task force to combat antisemitism said it will review the more than $255.6m in contracts between...

Live-action animated film starring John Cena and Will Forte will hit cinemas in 2026, after it was controversially shelved in favour of a $30m tax write-downFor once, things are working out for Wile E Coyote.The film Coyote vs Acme, which stars John Cena and Will Forte acting alongside beloved Looney Tunes cartoon characters, will finally be released to the public, almost two years after...

Elon Musk attacks decision along with other figures from the right including Viktor Orbán and Geert WildersNationalist and populist figures around the world, from Elon Musk to Viktor Orbán, have united in condemnation of a Paris court verdict barring Marine Le Pen from running in the country’s 2027 presidential elections.In a bombshell ruling many believe could boost support for the party, the figurehead of...

Move is latest in controversial method of deporting people from Guantánamo to prison abroad without US due processThe 17 additional people the US shipped off to a prison in El Salvador on Sunday and accused of being tied to transnational gangs were sent there from immigration detention at Guantánamo Bay, a White House official confirmed to the Guardian on Monday afternoon.The secretary of state,...

Iranian officials accuse US president of breaching UN charter and say ‘violence brings violence’Iran has reacted with outrage after Donald Trump said the country will be bombed if it does not accept US demands to constrain its nuclear programme.The US president said on Sunday that if Iran “[doesn’t] make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they...

WHO warns there is urgent need for care capacity, while US agency says number of dead could eventually exceed 10,000Aftermath of the Myanmar earthquake – a visual guide The fallout from Myanmar’s earthquake has overwhelmed parts of the healthcare system, the World Health Organization has said, as the official death toll rose to more than 2,000, with many more missing.Rescue operations faced “significant obstacles...

US president accused of blowing up country’s ability to respond to disasters by removing fundingAs aid from China, Russia, India and the UK begins to flow into Myanmar, there is a conspicuous gap in global support from the world’s richest country: the US.The powerful 7.7-magnitude quake that struck central Myanmar on Friday has caused widespread destruction, flattening swathes of the country’s second-largest city, Mandalay,...

The 7.7 magnitude quake on Friday wrought destruction across central areas of the country, including the capitalA devastating earthquake has wrought destruction across central Myanmar, toppling ancient sites, bringing down hospital buildings and collapsing homes.The 7.7 magnitude quake on Friday was followed by a number of aftershocks along the Sagaing fault. It also caused damage in neighbouring Thailand, where a skyscraper under construction collapsed...

University called Dr Joanne Liu, ex-head of Doctors Without Borders, after planning to speak on Gaza and federal cutsThe former international head of Doctors Without Borders says she was left “stunned” after New York University canceled her presentation because some of her slides discussing cuts at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) could be viewed as “anti-governmental”.Dr Joanne Liu, a pediatric emergency...