World news | The Guardian

Government move follows months of drought and crop failures in Karamoja, with 1.5m people facing malnutrition

Uganda has launched emergency food relief distribution after at least 19 deaths from hunger were reported in an area of prolonged drought in the east of the country.

A crisis has been building in the Karamoja region of Uganda as crops have failed without the season’s expected rains, leaving the region’s 1.5 million people facing acute food shortages and rising malnutrition.

The men were convicted over alleged plan to stage coup and organise deadly demonstrations over fuel prices last year

Two Russian men have been found guilty by an Angolan court of terrorism and spying after being accused of planning a coup and helping to organise deadly demonstrations in the southern African country last year.

Lev Lakshtanov and Igor Ratchin were sentenced to eight and 11 years in jail respectively. They had denied the charges, claiming they were in Angola for cultural and business activities.

September exercise called off after Kenya raises concerns over funding and jurisdiction for criminal offences

The British army has been forced to cancel training for its troops in Kenya after the Kenyan government refused to ratify a bilateral defence agreement.

While the UK government wanted to renew the existing agreement, Kenyan lawmakers had sought changes to give local authorities greater powers to hold British soldiers accountable for any offences committed in the country.

UK resident was evacuated from Democratic Republic of the Congo where there is an outbreak of the disease

A humanitarian worker is being monitored at a specialist hospital in London after potential exposure to the Ebola virus.

The UK resident was medically evacuated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where the worker had been treating patients with the disease, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

Global hunger declined for the third year in a row in 2025 but experts call for action to bring down costs of fruit, vegetables and dairy as report shows 2.69bn people can’t afford to eat well

One in three people cannot afford to eat a healthy diet, a new report has found, prompting calls for urgent action on food affordability.

There are 2.69 billion people unable to afford a diverse diet that meets their energy and nutrient needs, and it will take “immense” amounts of work to achieve the global target of zero hunger by 2030, the annual report from five UN agencies warned.

Nelson Haase Mazzei was sentenced for murdering Jara in 2023, but fled from authorities in Chile

More than 50 years after the murder of the Chilean folk singer Víctor Jara, the last man wanted in connection with his death has been tracked down and brought to justice.

Nelson Haase Mazzei, a retired colonel, fled from authorities in 2023 after he and six other retired soldiers were sentenced in absentia for murdering Jara and another man.

No one was injured and no suspects have been identified in connection to shooting near Toronto compound, police say

Shots were fired near the US consulate in Toronto early on Monday but no one was injured in the second shooting near the diplomatic compound in four months.

“Officers heard a firearm being discharged in the area,” and “a white sedan was seen fleeing the scene”, Toronto police said on X.

Exclusive: CSI Aviation and GlobalX accused of violating civil rights as part of Trump immigration crackdown

Venezuelan men sent last year to a notorious Salvadorian terrorism prison by the Trump administration are suing the US aviation companies that transported them there.

A lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Washington DC accuses the companies CSI Aviation and GlobalX of violating the Venezuelans’ civil rights, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and other violations, for their role in flying the three planes that took the men to El Salvador.

At least 90 active blazes in British Columbia in what PM says is one of the country’s most intense seasons on record

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Fresh wildfires have broken out in western Canada and forests continued to ⁠burn in Ontario as the country ⁠battled what the prime ​minister, Mark Carney, called one of the most intense wildfire seasons on record.

Nearly 34,000 lightning strikes over the past week led to a series of fires ⁠and evacuation orders in southern British Columbia. There were 25 evacuation orders and 90 active wildfires in the province as of Friday morning, and authorities said warming ⁠and drying conditions could cause them to grow.

Of the estimated 179 people aboard, 76 were rescued as efforts continue to salvage the ship and recover all bodies

The confirmed death toll from the recent capsizing of a state ferry off Guyana’s coast has risen to 72, with more bodies recovered as a multinational team struggle to salvage the partially submerged vessel.

Of the estimated 179 people aboard, 76 people were rescued. The government has estimated that 100 may have died in the accident, which would make it the worst marine tragedy on record for the South American nation.

Dunedin will be the focal point, having last experienced such an eclipse in 1163 – before any humans reached New Zealand

Hotels are booking out two years in advance in the New Zealand city of Dunedin as it prepares for the region’s first total solar eclipse in more than 850 years.

At 4.17pm on 22 July 2028, the moon will pass in front of the sun, casting a roughly 100km-wide shadowy band across parts of southern New Zealand. Everywhere within that band – from tourist hotspot Queenstown in the west to Dunedin city in the east – will be plunged into daytime darkness for 2 minutes and 51 seconds.

Isabel Rose, 26, sentenced to six years for blackmail and perverting course of public justice over her allegations against British man

A British woman who reported being raped to police in Hong Kong has been sentenced to six years in prison for blackmail and perverting the course of public justice.

Isabel Rose, 26, from south-east London, travelled to Hong Kong in early 2024 to visit a British banker she had met while travelling in south-east Asia.

Foreign minister Penny Wong will deliver speech criticising China’s recent launch of a nuclear-capable submarine-launched missile

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Penny Wong will warn China that Australia and other neighbouring nations will not be bullied by its “provocative” actions, after its involvement in another “destabilising and dangerous” incident this week.

The foreign affairs minister – who will deliver the address on Thursday in the Philippines, where the 59th Asean foreign minister’s meeting is being held – will also caution world leaders against placing a toll on the strait of Hormuz after both Iran and the US threatened to do amid the protracted conflict.

Prosecutors seek a one-year sentence and heavy fine after chef garnished dish with insects not approved for consumption

Prosecutors in South Korea have asked a court to sentence the owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant to one year in prison for serving a dessert topped with ants, an insect not approved for consumption under local food safety law.

The request, made on Monday, also sought a 20m won (£10,108) fine for the company that runs the restaurant, Yonhap news agency reported.

In April Japan coined new term kokushobi for days above 40C as country advises workers to wear shorts to the office to cope with stifling heat

Japan logged its first official kokushobi or “cruelly hot day” on Tuesday since the new term for when temperatures top 40 degrees Celsius was introduced in April. The Japan Meteorological Agency coined the new designation to warn the public of the heat dangers of days that were once freak weather events but have now become more common.

The central Japan cities of Gujo and Tajimi in Gifu prefecture, along with Toyota in Aichi prefecture, all hit 40C. Gujo’s 40C and Toyota’s 40.1C were all-time highs recorded at their respective weather stations.

The NSW anti-corruption watchdog has begun a public inquiry into allegations of branch stacking, illegal donations, and interference with preselections

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If you ever thought branch stacking was a harmless game played by young, ambitious political operatives seeking to advance within the party, think again.

On Monday, on the first day of the corruption watchdog’s inquiry into operation Rosny, an investigation into allegations of “possible offences under the Electoral Funding Act”, we heard boasts on secret tape recordings from a developer that he had “my hands on the state government” and he had “fucked” the career of a state politician by “taking his seat”. As for the state’s building commissioner, David Chandler, who was a thorn in the developer’s side, he was going to “fuck him sideways”.

Exclusive: Resurfaced comments by the One Nation leader underline her criticism of paid family violence leave and domestic violence support groups

Pauline Hanson told a podcast last year she believed “your employer should not be responsible” for providing paid domestic violence leave, while her colleague Malcolm Roberts recently referred to the family court as the “slaughterhouse of the nation”, in the latest One Nation comments critical of the family law system to emerge.

Hanson claimed on a 2021 podcast that domestic violence was being “used as a weapon” in court proceedings, and criticised domestic violence groups for focusing on support for women.

Emergency services pulled the bodies from the ocean at Port Macdonnell as hopes of finding second child fade

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A baby is missing off the coast of South Australia after the bodies of a mother and her toddler were pulled from the ocean below treacherous cliffs.

Emergency services were called to the state’s southernmost coastal town, Port Macdonnell, about 11am on Monday after a vehicle with its engine running was discovered in a car park near cliffs at Cape Northumberland, police said.

Commonwealth and Western Australia to fund study into construction of large-scale petrol refinery as buffer against fuel vulnerability

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Australia’s first new oil refinery in 60 years could be built in Western Australia under the Albanese government’s long-term strategy to shield the country from future global oil shocks.

The commonwealth and the WA government will fund a $4m early-stage feasibility study into construction of what would be the country’s third large-scale petrol refinery.

Performer on trial on six charges of sexually penetrating a 20-year-old woman without consent

A British YouTuber and musician accused of violently raping a fan after a gig never asked his alleged victim if she wanted sex, a court has been told.

Rapper Yung Filly, whose real name is Andrés Felipe Valencia Barrientos, is fighting six charges of sexually penetrating a 20-year-old woman without consent in a Perth hotel room in September 2024.

Two women severely wounded before bystanders intervened in incident near Porte de Clichy

A man attacked three women with knives in Paris before bystanders pinned him to the ground and an off-duty police officer detained him, the French interior ⁠minister, Laurent Nuñez, has said.

The man attacked the three women, aged 19, 24 and 36, with ⁠two kitchen knives, severely wounding two of them, near Porte de Clichy on Monday, Nuñez said.

Coming days are ‘absolutely critical’ for firefighters before temperatures rise again this week, officials say

Firefighters in France and Spain are racing to bring huge wildfires under control before another heatwave this week that will complicate efforts to tame the flames.

Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said Monday and Tuesday were “absolutely crucial days” before temperatures rise again from Wednesday.

Residents describe their fear as they were forced to leave their homes because of the ‘extremely intense’ blaze

Sitting in their suburban apartment in Mérignac on the outskirts of Bordeaux, Krishma, an interpreter, and her husband, Nassir, first felt a sense of dread when a strange black cloud turned the sky dark in the middle of the day. Then a bitter burning smell filled the air outside.

“The sky changed colour. It seemed like a cloud but it was smoke covering the sun – it wasn’t a natural phenomenon. It didn’t seem real,” said Nassir, an English literature graduate from Kabul who has been living in France for seven years. “We couldn’t breathe easily, you could feel it in your lungs.”

Gibraltar-based Ros Astengo inspired four men to report sexual assaults carried out by Allan Grimson in 1990s

Ros Astengo, a journalist based in Gibraltar who usually focuses on politics and social issues, had qualms when she began investigating the case of the suspected serial killer Allan Grimson as he neared release from prison after serving more than 20 years.

She worried that she might reopen the scars of survivors of Grimson – but also that she could be putting herself in the “crosshairs” of a dangerous man who had sexually assaulted and battered two young men to death in the late 1990s when he was a Royal Navy petty officer.

Team to return for euphoric homecoming after winning all-Ireland men’s final against Kerry, ending decades of defeats

The hex is broken, dispelled, banished, and a story that bewitched Ireland for decades has ended in fairytale: Mayo are all-Ireland champions.

Seventy-five years after a supposed curse condemned its Gaelic men’s football team to endless defeat, the county prevailed and uncorked a wave of emotion that engulfed even its rivals.

Washington and Tehran issue conflicting messages over the status of talks to end Middle East crisis

Donald Trump has once again warned that the US will return to “strong military action” against Iran if diplomatic efforts do not bring a rapid resolution to the crisis in the Middle East.

“We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” the US president told Axios on Monday. Asked for how long he would allow the talks to proceed, he answered: “Not much time. Either it goes fast or not at all.”

Culture Club singer sings ‘I stand with the Jews / I don’t feel brave, I just need to behave like a human’, in song defending Israel’s response to Hamas attack

Boy George has released a new song entitled We Will Dance Again, which voices support for Israel’s military action in Palestine.

Posted on X and Instagram with the Hebrew title עוד נרקוד alongside its English translation, the song features a pop-reggae backing. The opening lyrics are: “You say genocide, I say war / When you’re attacked, that’s what the army’s for / Does it get ugly? You bet it does / When I know you wanna kill every last one of us.”

Refugee family reunions in limbo, despite Foreign Office saying it is ready to get people out of war-torn territory

The Home Office is blocking the evacuation of dozens of women and children from Gaza, despite the Foreign Office saying it is ready to get people out of the war-torn region.

Last September, the Home Office announced it was suspending refugee family reunion applications and that new, more restrictive rules would be announced in the spring. So far there has been no announcement and the process remains suspended.

Top military officials say campaign has reached its limit of effectiveness and warn of dwindling stocks of munitions

The US has paused strikes on Iran for a third night as top military officials advised Donald Trump to halt his bombing campaign, and diplomatic negotiations have continued to avoid a return to all-out war.

Oil prices fell on Monday as markets responded to the pause in combat.

Israeli prime minister says ICC’s war crime charges are ‘bogus’ and plans to be in New York for UN gathering this fall

Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, was “fomenting hate” by calling the Israeli prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over Israel’s war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations general assembly.

Netanyahu said he intended to be in New York in September to address the annual UN gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor’s suggestion that he is not welcome. Mamdani said on Wednesday that while New York City does not have legal authority to execute an arrest warrant issued by the world’s top war crimes court, he encouraged the federal government to do so.

In today’s newsletter: Across ​the country, a ​younger generation is turning private disillusionment into public defiance​ against a government that once felt untouchable

Good morning. As flames engulfed parts of France and Spain this weekend, in India, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, was trying to put out a very different kind of fire. Thousands of people arrived in Delhi on Saturday to demand the resignation of his education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan. When he stepped down in the early afternoon, the protests turned into a triumphant block party.

But the Cockroach protests that have swept through India this summer are about much more than a single minister. They have humiliated Modi and undermined the indomitable power of his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) that has ruled India for the past 12 years. They’re also a lesson in using humour to political advantage.

Wild fires | Authorities in France battled to contain a huge wildfire near Bordeaux in the south-west as Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, warned Spain and the Iberian peninsula were suffering the effects of the climate emergency.

Germany | A man suspected of driving a van into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival then going on a knife rampage in an Islamist terror attack has been shot dead by police, German officials have said.

Iran | The US has paused strikes on Iran for a second night as top military officials advised Donald Trump to halt his bombing campaign, and diplomatic negotiations have continued to avoid a return to all-out war.

UK politics | Britain’s foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, is to indicate he will put the climate crisis and overseas development at the heart of UK international relations by taking up the country’s seat on the board at the World Bank.

UK news | Five Palestine Action activists face being sentenced as terrorists for breaking windows and throwing red paint at a branch of Barclays Bank in Lancashire.

Monday | Andrew and Tristan Tate are due back in the Florida court where they’re fighting their extradition to the UK, to face rape and sex-trafficking charges.

Tuesday | Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are expected to be among those attending the Washington DC memorial service for the late South Carolina senator and Trump ally Lindsey Graham.

Thursday | People will go to the polls to elect the next mayor of Greater Manchester, who will replace Andy Burnham.

Ally forced to resign, with opposition parties reinvigorated and strongman leader’s grip over media channels rocked

Even the night before Narendra Modi accepted the resignation of his education minister, India’s prime minister appeared confident that the largest mass uprising to take place in his 12 years in power would do little to rattle his government.

Addressing his “young friends” in a late-night Instagram selfie reel on Friday, he thanked the people – who were mobilised en masse across the country, shouting anti-government slogans – for their “thoughtful suggestions”.

Dharmendra Pradhan steps down after demonstrations over exam leak scandal, prompting celebrations among thousands of protesters

India’s education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, has resigned after a week of mass demonstrations, handing a major victory to a new youth movement that has posed an unprecedented challenge to Narendra Modi’s government.

In a statement on Saturday afternoon, Pradhan said he had submitted his letter of resignation to the prime minister after student pressure.

Bollywood stars accused of ‘cowardice’ as hundreds of thousands of young Indians take to the streets to challenge government

Bollywood stars and other Indian celebrities have faced fierce criticism for staying silent in the face of some of the biggest protests India has seen in years.

Hundreds of thousands of young Indians took to the streets this week as part of a new youth movement that calls itself the Cockroach Janata party (CJP), demanding accountability over exam paper leaks in an unprecedented challenge to prime minister Narendra Modi’s government. Many vented their anger against what they saw as “cowardice” from India’s biggest celebrities.

‘I can’t tolerate this life,’ said the 24-year-old in his last voice message to his relatives. Attacked by the military, a rebel army and criminal gangs, Siraz Ullah risked all for a better future

The fear was audible as he spoke, recording a message to his family, asking for their prayers. After pressing send, 24-year-old Siraz Ullah boarded a boat he hoped could deliver him from the violence and persecution surrounding him at home in Myanmar.

Instead, Siraz is among 500 Rohingya refugees who have vanished at sea after setting sail for Malaysia in late June.

Robert Bush, owner of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, left bodies ‘rotting away’, family members say

A fraudulent funeral director broke the trust of families on an “almost industrial scale” as their loved ones’ bodies were left “rotting away”, a court has heard.

Robert Bush, owner of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, appeared at Hull crown court on Monday for a five-day sentencing hearing. He previously pleaded guilty to 67 offences, including 30 counts of preventing lawful and decent burial.

PM promises lasting solution for England but Tories rule out backing changes funded by tax rises or borrowing

Andy Burnham has pledged to work collaboratively with other parties to find a lasting solution on social care, though the Conservatives have ruled out backing changes funded by tax rises or borrowing.

Senior Labour and Liberal Democrat figures have privately cast doubt on Burnham’s ability to find a cross-party consensus on social care reform in England, given the terms of the Tories’ participation.

Canadian-born British operator, president of the British Puppet Guild, died after a ‘short illness’

Ronnie Le Drew, best known for operating the puppet Zippy on the classic children’s television programme Rainbow has died aged 78, after a short illness. The news was confirmed by the British Puppet Guild, of which Le Drew was president.

The Canadian-born British puppeteer was also known for working on 1986’s Labyrinth alongside David Bowie as well as 1986’s Little Shop of Horrors and various Muppet movies including in 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol. He worked on various iterations of Sooty, alongside Harry and Matthew Corbett, usually as Sweep, Sooty’s sidekick.

Judge quashes Enfield council’s decision to grant planning permission for new women’s and girls’ football academy

A council’s decision to allow Tottenham Hotspur Football Club to build a new training facility in a park in north London has been quashed by a judge at the high court.

The campaign group Guardians of Whitewebbs told a hearing in June that Enfield council’s decision to grant planning permission for a new women’s and girls’ football academy on 6.5 hectares (16 acres) of land in Whitewebbs Park was unlawful.

Appointment of three ministerial aides is first time members of Labour’s most leftwing faction have held government positions

Andy Burnham has appointed three new ministerial aides from Labour’s most leftwing faction, the first time members of the Socialist Campaign Group have been part of the government.

The new chief whip, Anneliese Midgley, has also promised MPs that the government will beef up the role of ministerial aides – known as parliamentary private secretaries (PPSs) – who traditionally go under the radar, allowing them to do more media appearances, take on parliamentary roles and contribute more directly to policy direction.