The Guardian

Scheme to boost British film industry leads to Universal Pictures pocketing millions of pounds for blockbuster Jurassic World: RebirthA leafy corner to the west of Watford was transformed into a jungle last year. Authentic-looking exotic flowers lined the floor, tree trunks soared up to an artificial canopy and reeds hung from their branches. Peering between them was Hollywood A-lister Scarlett Johansson.The extravagant construction was a set in Sky Studios Elstree where the movie Jurassic World: Rebirth was being made. Filming there, instead of in an actual jungle, enabled Universal Pictures to pocket millions of pounds of UK taxpayers’ money to

Aditya Wahyu Harsono, father of infant with special needs, surprised at work despite valid visa through June 2026An Indonesian father of an infant with special needs, who was detained by federal agents at his hospital workplace in Minnesota after his student visa was secretly revoked, will remain in custody after an immigration judge ruled Thursday that his case can proceed.Judge Sarah Mazzie denied a motion to dismiss the case against Aditya Wahyu Harsono on humanitarian grounds, according to his attorney. Harsono, 33, was arrested four days after his visa was revoked without notice. He is scheduled for another hearing on

Follow today’s news liveAnywhere but Canberra: Australian voters on what matters to themInteractive guide to electorates in the Australian electionListen to the latest episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaSee all our Australian election 2025 coverageGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastThe shadow housing minister, Michael Sukkar, is now up on ABC’s Insiders.He’s asked about his colleague Jane Hume’s comment, reported in the Nine papers on Sunday, that the Coalition’s now-aborted work-from-home policy wasn’t a bad idea - it just wasn’t the right time for it.We’ve made very clear that we’ve left that policy behind.The

With Peter Dutton’s views on climate change in the spotlight, the focus has turned onto whether there will be any policies to reduce emissions in the next decadePolls tracker; election guide; full federal election coverageAnywhere but Canberra; interactive electorates guideListen to the latest episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastThe Coalition is refusing to say if it will introduce any policies to cut Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade as it pledges to unwind most climate measures introduced under Labor.Peter Dutton’s position on the climate crisis came

The energy secretary has accused Reform UK’s leader of peddling dangerous falsehoods about renewable power• Tories and Reform use the steel crisis to knock clean energy. They’re wrong: it will secure all our futuresEd Miliband has torn into Nigel Farage and the Tories for peddling dangerous “nonsense and lies” by suggesting the UK’s net zero target is responsible for destroying Britain’s businesses, including its steel industry.Cabinet ministers are determined to fight back against the way Reform UK and the Conservatives have unceremoniously lambasted the climate crisis agenda for what they believe are nakedly political reasons before important local elections next

English-speaking minority refugees caught up in clashes between the military and separatists are stranded in neighbouring countryAmid the sound of children excitedly practising a drama for a forthcoming performance, a yam seller calls to passers by with discounts for their wares. Outside a closed graphic design shop overlooking them from a small hill, Solange Ndonga Tibesa tells the story of being uprooted from her homeland in north-west Cameroon.In June 2019 she and other travellers were abducted with her three-month-old baby by secessionists, who accused them of supporting the military. Their captors repeatedly hit them with butts of their guns, keeping

Bases in Norfolk, Devon and Hampshire face MoD investigation over possible leaching of dangerous PFAS into environmentThree UK military bases have been marked for investigation over fears they may be leaking toxic “forever chemicals” into drinking water sources and important environmental sites.The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will investigate RAF Marham in Norfolk, RM Chivenor in Devon and AAC Middle Wallop in Hampshire after concerns they may be leaching toxic PFAS chemicals into their surroundings. The sites were identified using a new PFAS risk screening tool developed by the Environment Agency (EA) designed to locate and prioritise pollution threats. Continue reading...

Member states are considering removing the country’s voting rights after its attempts to stymie support for KyivThe posters are going up all over Hungary. “Let’s not allow them to decide for us,” runs the slogan alongside three classic villains of Hungarian government propaganda.They are: Ukraine’s wartime leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy; the European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen; and Manfred Weber, the German politician who leads the centre-right European People’s party in the European parliament, which counts Hungary’s most potent opposition politician among its ranks. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/19/orban-ukraine-hungary-eu-relations-kyiv Author : Jennifer Rankin in Brussels Publish date : 2025-04-19

Ukraine says five regions damaged overnight after wave of drone and missile attacks by RussiaAnalysis: Trump team reveals lack of expertise – and patience – as it threatens to abandon peace talksDonald Trump has said the US will “take a pass” on a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine if “parties make it difficult”. The US president made the comments to reporters during the swearing-in ceremony for Mehmet Oz as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.Trump added that he believed there was a “good chance” of “solving the problem”. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, had

Some in his party argue the prime minister’s cautious approach is out of step with modern politicsSenior Labour figures are urging Keir Starmer to take a leaf out of Donald Trump’s book and make more frequent media appearances in an attempt to dominate the political agenda as the US president does.MPs told the Guardian they want the prime minister to act more like Trump, who has upended political convention by televising large parts of his cabinet, holding long bilateral meetings on camera and calling in to live television shows. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/apr/19/labour-mps-urge-starmer-to-get-out-there-with-trump-style-media-strategy Author : Kiran Stacey Political

Questions arise over election proposal to axe penalties for high-emitting cars after revelations Toyota RAV4 model used in analysis has been discontinuedPolls tracker; election guide; full federal election coverageAnywhere but Canberra; interactive electorates guideListen to the latest episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastThe Coalition’s claim cars will be more expensive as a result of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) has come under scrutiny because at least one of the opposition’s headline figures is based on a car no longer on sale.The revelation casts doubt on a key

Opposition leader also said his migration plan would prioritise tradies and not yoga teachersElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignPolls tracker; election guide; full federal election coverageAnywhere but Canberra; interactive electorates guideListen to the latest episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastThe Coalition says it will introduce tax offsets to help an extra 350,000 small businesses get going if it is elected.On Saturday morning, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, announced an “entrepreneurship accelerator” which would see new businesses receive tapered tax offsets and tax deductions for tech upgrades.Sign

Fire broke out during onboard cooking before wooden vessel capsized with 500 passengers aboardThe death toll from a boat fire and capsizing in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this week has risen to 148 with more than 100 people still missing, officials said on Friday.About 500 passengers were on board the wooden boat when it capsized on Tuesday after catching fire on the Congo River in the country’s north-west. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/18/congo-boat-disaster-death-toll-rises-to-148-with-more-than-100-still-missing Author : Associated Press in Kinshasa Publish date : 2025-04-18 21:40:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

After cutting off $2.26bn in funding, the US president reportedly gave the IRS a potentially illegal orderHarvard University is in a standoff with Donald Trump after rejecting a series of demands from the president’s administration, which critics view as an attack on the elite college for its reputation among conservatives as a bastion of liberal thought.After cutting off its funding, Trump has reportedly given the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a potentially illegal order to revoke the university’s tax-exempt status. Such a decision would mark an escalation in the Republican president’s weaponization of federal government agencies against the people and institutions

Order comes a day after the ‘efficiency’ team sent out orders to lay off 1,500 of the agency’s 1,700 employeesA federal court has blocked the sweeping termination of staff at the top US consumer protection agency, a day after the Trump administration moved to axe around 1,500 of the agency’s 1,700 workforce, while officials investigate whether the action violated existing judicial orders.The ruling from judge Amy Berman Jackson put a legal hurdle in front of mass layoffs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on Thursday, which came after a federal appeals court modified – but did not eliminate

‘We’re not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end,’ US secretary of state saysThe Kremlin said on Friday that some progress had already been made in talks about a possible peace settlement to end the war in Ukraine but that contacts were rather complicated with the United States.“Contacts are quite complicated, because, naturally, the topic is not an easy one,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Russia is committed to resolving this conflict, ensuring its own interests, and is open to dialogue. We continue to do this.” Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/apr/18/russia-ukraine-war-peace-talks-us-marco-rubio-zelenskyy-trump Author :

Retailers and food producers offer to help efforts reduce ‘unnecessary red tape’ costing industry billions of poundsMore than a dozen of Britain’s biggest retailers and food producers, including Marks & Spencer, J Sainsbury and Asda, have called on the EU to reduce checks on food and drink crossing the Channel and Irish Sea, which they say are costing billions of pounds.Ahead of a summit on 19 May that is hoped to “reset” trade ties five years on from Brexit, they are urging politicians to hammer out a deal on sanitary and phytosanitary checks. They hope this would include a veterinary

Visit by Maryland’s Chris Van Hollen comes as a federal appeals court rules against the Trump’s administration’s efforts to block return to the USHello and welcome to the US politics live blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I’ll be bringing you all the latest news over the next few hours.We start with news that Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen met in El Salvador with Kilmar Ábrego García, a man who was sent there by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation.James Comer, the chair of the House oversight committee, and Elise Stefanik, chair

One woman managed to get back to shore after three washed into water near George Bass coastal walk south of MelbourneGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastA woman has died and a man is missing after they were swept from rocks near a popular coastal walk in Victoria.A further two people have also drowned in separate incidents in New South Wales.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/18/woman-dead-and-man-missing-after-being-swept-from-rocks-near-popular-coastal-walk-in-victoria Author : Australian Associated Press Publish date : 2025-04-18 07:21:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Study shows women today are happier being women – but getting up to go to work remains as punishing as everThe mundane tasks of everyday life, such as homework after school and household chores at the weekend, may not have changed in the past 80 years, but societal attitudes towards them could not be more different.A study by the Policy Institute at King’s College London (KCL), comparing public attitudes now and in the 1930s and 40s, reveals how significantly views on everyday life in Britain have shifted over the decades. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/18/homework-housework-british-attitudes-changed Author : Sally Weale

Woman’s two boys in hospital with one in induced coma as police say they ‘strongly believe’ kidnapping was targetedPolice fear a body in a burnt-out car in Sydney’s south overnight is that of a Bankstown woman allegedly abducted from a home on Thursday, in what they have called a “horrendous” crime of “unprecedented” violence.Emergency services attended a residential street in Beverly Hills at about 11.30pm on Thursday night, following reports of a car fire. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/18/body-found-burnt-out-car-beverly-hills-sydney-ntwnfb Author : Stephanie Convery Publish date : 2025-04-18 02:14:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Suspect, charged with four federal counts, faces separate state charges over death of Brian Thompson in ManhattanLuigi Mangione was indicted on Thursday on a federal murder charge in the killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last year, a necessary step for prosecutors to seek the death penalty.The indictment returned by a grand jury in Manhattan federal court also charges Mangione with two counts of stalking and a firearms count. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/17/unitedhealthcare-ceo-killing-luigi-mangione-charges Author : Guardian staff and agencies Publish date : 2025-04-17 23:05:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Activists had called for the firm’s boycott after it announced a roll back of diversity, equity and inclusion effortsOn Thursday morning, Rev Al Sharpton met with Brain Cornell, the Target CEO, to discuss the fallout from the company’s decision to walk back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts earlier this year. The meeting happened in New York at Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) headquarters, and also included the NAN national board chair Dr W Franklyn Richardson and the NAN senior advisor Carra Wallace.In January, activists in Minnesota called for a boycott of Target following the Minneapolis-based company’s decision to

Police took one suspect into custody shortly after reported gunfire at Florida State University in TallahasseeA mass shooting on Thursday on the Florida State University campus sent several people to a nearby hospital, a medical center spokesperson said, with at least one person reported dead.Local reports in the early afternoon spoke variously of at least six people hurt and taken to hospital, with further details and confirmation being sought from the authorities. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/17/fsu-tallahassee-florida-state-university-shooting Author : Marina Dunbar and agencies Publish date : 2025-04-17 18:48:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.