At least 130 foreign delegations and an estimated 200,000 pilgrims to descend on St Peter’s Square on Saturday

An extraordinary array of invitees, spanning heads of state and royals from around the world, as well as refugees, prisoners, transgender people and those who are homeless will descend on St Peter’s Square on Saturday for the funeral of Pope Francis, the groundbreaking liberal pontiff who led the Catholic church for 12 years.

Francis died at the age of 88 on Monday at his home in Casa Santa Marta after a stroke and subsequent heart failure. He had been recovering from double pneumonia that had kept him in hospital for five weeks.

Giuffre’s family issued a statement confirming she took her own life at her farm in Western Australia, where she had lived for several years

Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent victims of the disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein who also alleged she was sexually trafficked to Prince Andrew, has died. She was 41.

Her family issued a statement on Saturday confirming she took her own life at her farm in Western Australia, where she had lived for several years.

Hannah Dugan apprehended in courthouse where she works after agency says she helped man evade authorities

The FBI on Friday arrested a judge whom the agency accused of obstruction after it said she helped a man evade US immigration authorities as they were seeking to arrest him at her courthouse.

The county circuit judge, Hannah Dugan, was apprehended in the courthouse where she works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at 8.30am local time on Friday on charges of obstruction, a spokesperson for the US Marshals Service confirmed to the Guardian.

Michael Alexander Gloss, 21, who died on 4 April 2024, was the son of top-ranking US spy Juliane Gallina

An American man identified as the son of a deputy director of the CIA was killed in eastern Ukraine in 2024 while fighting under contract for the Russian military, according to an investigation by independent Russian media.

Michael Alexander Gloss, 21, died on 4 April 2024 in “Eastern Europe”, according to an obituary published by his family. He was the son of Juliane Gallina, who was appointed the deputy director for digital innovation at the Central Intelligence Agency in February 2024.

Beijing will ‘strengthen bottom-line thinking’ as reports say it could drop tariffs on some US products

• Business live – latest updates

Xi Jinping has announced a plan to counter China’s continuing economic problems and the impact of the US trade war, as reports swirl that it could drop tariffs on some US products, including semiconductors.

Friday’s meeting of the politburo was convened to discuss China’s economy, which since the pandemic has faced difficulties fuelled by a housing sector crisis, youth unemployment and Donald Trump’s tariffs on all Chinese imports to the US.

Republican former representative who had lied about his credentials sobbed in court saying he was ‘humbled’

George Santos, the disgraced former representative, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on Friday, bringing an end to an extraordinary controversy that began with a fraudulent congressional campaign.

He lied extensively about his life story both before and after entering the US Congress, where he was the first openly LGBTQ+ Republican elected to the body. He was ultimately convicted of defrauding donors.

Suspect, charged separately in state court, could face death penalty if convicted over Brian Thompson death

Luigi Mangione on Friday pleaded not guilty to Manhattan federal court charges that he stalked and murdered the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson, late last year.

Mangione, 26, walked into court just before 1pm. He was wearing tan jail garb with a white long-sleeved undershirt. He spoke with his lawyers, who sat alongside him, and at one point appeared to smile; he could be seen flipping through papers on the table.

Exclusive: Court document reveals accusations by former detectives, with one concluding NGN’s Will Lewis could have been arrested

Rupert Murdoch’s company, News Group Newspapers, has been accused by former detectives of having “actively frustrated” their UK investigation into phone hacking, with one concluding a senior executive could have been arrested for perverting the course of justice, according to a newly disclosed court document.

The senior executive, Will Lewis, is now chief executive and publisher of the Washington Post.

Officer suspended after shooting 21-year-old man from behind in Oldenburg in north-west Germany

Civil rights activists in Germany have demanded an independent inquiry into alleged police racism after an officer shot a 21-year-old black man from behind, killing him after an altercation outside a nightclub.

The 27-year-old officer was suspended from duty over the shooting early on Sunday morning in the city of Oldenburg in north-west Germany pending a murder investigation, said state prosecutors. Fatal police shootings are relatively rare in Germany and prosecutors were quoted in local media as saying the suspension and investigation were “routine”.

Fernando Collor, who led the country from 1990 to 1992, was sentenced in 2023 after being convicted for corruption

Brazil’s former president, Fernando Collor, has been arrested early and ordered to begin serving a prison sentence stemming from his 2023 conviction for corruption.

Collor was convicted of receiving 20m reais ($3.5m) to facilitate contracts between BR Distribuidora, a fuel distributor formerly controlled by the state-owned oil company Petrobras, and construction firm UTC Engenharia for the construction of fuel distribution bases. In return, he offered political support for the appointment of executives at BR Distribuidora when it was still state-owned.

The late pontiff embraced those traditionally on the margins of the church and society. Here, some of those he met describe his impact

Pope Francis announced his pastoral intentions from the very beginning of his papacy, saying he preferred a church that was “bruised, hurting and dirty” from being on the streets to one that was cautious and complacent. Although he never strayed from doctrine – to the annoyance of many optimistic liberals – his 12 years as pope were marked by a deliberate embrace of those historically on the margins of the church and society. He wanted a church, he said, for “todos, todos, todos” – which translates into: “Everyone, everyone, everyone.”

Here, some of those who met him recall what his pontificate meant to them.

Italian PM and pontiff could not have been further apart on issues such as migration, climate crisis and economy

It is an awkward weekend for Giorgia Meloni. The Italian leader will host a gathering of world leaders to say goodbye to a much-revered pope whose public views – from the treatment of people fleeing war to the climate crisis – were diametrically opposed to hers.

While Pope Francis was a staunch advocate for asylum seekers, and blessed the vessels that saved refugees at sea, Meloni once said Italy should “repatriate migrants back to their countries and then sink the boats that rescued them”.

Narendra Modi must weigh a response that balances domestic fury with strategic restraint

India’s furious response to the terrorist massacre of 26 men in a popular travel destination is being shaped by public rage at the deadliest civilian attack in Kashmir in a quarter-century.

The brutality of the assault in one of Muslim-majority Kashmir’s marquee tourist spots – and its national resonance – leaves Prime Minister Narendra Modi needing to signal strength, but without triggering uncontrolled escalation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, analysts say.

Top personal trainers offer their tips on avoiding fitness faux pas, so you don’t have to sweat the small stuff

If hell is other people, then its ninth circle must be Other People At The Gym. Where else can one experience the full gamut of human depravity – from farting on the treadmill to taking conference calls on the cross trainer? And that’s before we get to “gymtimidation.” A recent survey found that one in four people feel self-conscious at the gym, while 28% worry about using the equipment incorrectly (and, God forbid, suffering the ultimate indignity of starring in a viral “gym fail” video).

But how to ensure you are the hero of your own fitness journey, and not the person other gym-goers have nicknamed “grunt”? We consulted the experts.

Does anyone know what Marvel multiverse we’re in? And will anything ever happen in Westeros again? The world’s biggest fantasy franchises are in trouble … but we have ways to make them must-see TV once more

It’s amazing to think that, not so very long ago, people were actually excited at the prospect of a new Star Wars show. Or when it emerged that a fresh Lord of the Rings saga was, through some kind of Gandalfian wizardry, being squeezed on to the small screen, the reaction was one of giddy awe. Even the faintest whisper of another trip to Hogwarts would have set the whole internet ablaze. And now? Well, here’s a test: there’s a new Harry Potter series coming out soon. How does that make you feel? Exactly.

There’s no doubt about it – a worrying number of what used to be the world’s most untouchable franchises are in trouble. But how did they arrive at this point of terminal audience ennui? And is there any route for them back into our hearts?

The Anohni and the Johnsons singer is collaborating with marine scientists for two special shows at Sydney’s Vivid festival that will show the reef’s plight

Anohni Hegarty is about to go to the Great Barrier Reef for the first time. “I feel like I’m going to Auschwitz,” she says nervously. “On the one hand, I’m so excited to go because the landscape is so beautiful, and I know there’s going to be so much that’s gorgeous. And yet, I’m also scared.”

In a week, the British-born, New York-based avant garde singer of Anohni and the Johnsons is flying to Lizard Island, a paradise of powdery sands on the reef, 1,600km north-west of Brisbane. Its luxury villas and bluest of blue waters are a stark contrast to the grim nature of Anohni’s assignment: documenting the current state of the world’s biggest coral reef.

There are valid arguments for the quarterback falling out of the first round. But it came after anonymous backstabs and the harsh glare of the spotlight

The NFL draft can be cruel. Shedeur Sanders, a polarizing prospect in a weak class whose profile was magnified by the fact that he is the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, had to sit and wait for his name to be called in Thursday night’s first round. He waited. And waited. By night’s end, Sanders had fallen out of the first round entirely.

Only two quarterbacks were selected on Thursday. After Miami’s Cam Ward was selected No 1 overall, the QB-needy teams at the top of the board opted to punt on quarterbacks in favor of chasing defensive studs or linemen who could protect their eventual starter.

Buildings that once catered to 1950s road trippers are being transformed into boutique stays attracting a younger demographic

Motel Molly is giving vacay vibes. It’s giving idyllic. It’s giving “hot girl summer” lives on in Mollymook, a town on the New South Wales south coast.

I’m in an oceanside room in one of four colour-themed buildings called Capri, Olive, Limoncello and Rosé. My room in the latter comes in pinks from powder to peach, coral and mauve with – squee! – a Smeg fridge and kettle in a high-gloss fairy-floss colourway. Elsewhere are rattan chairs, Scandi-style ceramics, glasses etched with frosted cursive font and a throw tufted with designs that vaguely evoke the US south-west.

Hurricane Katrina: Mississippi Remembers captures the grief and resilience of survivors in the Magnolia state

Twenty years ago this August, the United States Gulf coast was irrevocably changed when Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and costliest storms to ever hit the country, made landfall. Making landfall as a strong category 3, the storm, which was so vast it stretched the length of the Mississippi Gulf coast all the way into Alabama, hit the Mississippi-Louisiana coastal border before continuing northward.

Since then, superstorms fueled by the climate crisis have become relatively commonplace in the country, but the impact of Katrina endures to this day. Immediately following the storm, the country and world were enthralled by tragic stories out of New Orleans, where the levees failed to a catastrophic effect and the local, state and federal responses were disastrous. But Mississippi, which received the maximum impact from the storm surge, was largely left out of the national narrative around Katrina.

After training together for years, acrobats Tristan St John and Asha Colless realised their ability to support one another was more than just physical

• Find more stories from The moment I knew series

In 2021 I was at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne. That’s where I first laid eyes on Asha. She was part of a group of new students joining my cohort. She instantly struck me as someone I wanted to be friends with. At ballet class that afternoon we shared a barre and became fast friends. Over the next couple of years things remained platonic and it wasn’t until our final year that chemistry began to build.

Towards the end of that dark Melbourne winter, Asha asked if I’d work with her on some acrobatics. Every day after school we’d spend an hour or so training as a pair. There was lots of stretching and chatting, trying and failing various tricks and lots of laughs. It wasn’t long before I realised I was seriously enjoying these sessions, and not just in a professional or friendly way. I was falling in love.

Celebrities including Pedro Pascal are wearing the design as they embrace its message in support of trans women

When the designer Conner Ives took his bow after his London fashion week show this February, he wore a T-shirt that proclaimed “Protect the Dolls”. Two months later, the design – and its message supporting trans women, who are affectionately called “dolls” in the LGBTQ+ community – has become ever more popular.

The singer Troye Sivan wore it to perform at Coachella, and the actor Pedro Pascal wore it for the London premiere of the film Thunderbolts, just days after the supreme court ruled that when the Equality Act referred to women, it only meant biological sex and did not include transgender women.

Shabtai, a Jewish society based at Yale, hosted the extremist far-right politician convicted of supporting terrorism. Why did Yale allow this?

Let me start with a statement that should be obvious: deliberately starving 2 million people – half of whom are children – is indefensible. It is not complicated, it is not a nuanced situation that requires a PhD to parse. It is not an unfortunate and unavoidable part of war. It is quite simply indefensible. I would say that it is also very much prohibited by international human rights law, but that doesn’t seem to exist any more, does it?

As I write this, no food, water or medicine has been allowed into Gaza for almost two months. It is impossible to know just how bad the situation really is because Israel has imposed a media blackout on the region. However, aid organizations have said: “The Gaza Strip is now likely facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months” since the war began. Thousands of children are malnourished. Childhood malnutrition, I can’t stress enough, has long-term consequences. An entire generation’s future has been violently stolen from them.

I’m scared about the health secretary’s vow to find the cause behind the so-called ‘autism epidemic’

I always knew my parents operated on a different wavelength than most.

For one, they are both exceptionally smart. My mother is a former mathematician, who studied the various levels of infinity as part of her master’s thesis. My father is a computer programmer who, at 17 years old, was one of the youngest people to ever be able to communicate with ships in morse code. They met at a party for members of Mensa, a club for the highly intelligent.

This presidency places authoritarian ambition above all – and now the people of Ukraine are paying the price

To see the true face of Donald Trump, look no further than Ukraine. Laid bare in his handling of that issue are not only his myriad weaknesses, but also the danger he poses to his own country and the wider world – to say nothing of the battered people of Ukraine itself.

Don’t be fooled by the mild, vaguely theatrical rebuke Trump issued to Vladimir Putin on Thursday after Moscow unleashed a deadly wave of drone strikes on Kyiv, killing 12 and injuring dozens: “Vladimir, STOP!” Pay attention instead to the fact that, in the nearly 100 days since Trump took office, the US has essentially switched sides in the battle between Putin’s Russia and democratic Ukraine, backing the invaders against the invaded.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist and the host of the Politics Weekly America podcast

100 days of Trump’s presidency, with Jonathan Freedland and guests. On 30 April, join Jonathan Freedland, Kim Darroch, Devika Bhat and Leslie Vinjamuri as they discuss Trump’s presidency on his 100th day in office, live at Conway Hall London and livestreamed globally. Book tickets here or at guardian.live

At the scene of the deadliest attack on our capital this year, I see the war on Ukraine is still very real – and Putin shows no signs of ending it

War teaches you to believe only in what happens, rather than what is merely said or promised. A day after the “peace talks” in London, which the US secretary of state Marco Rubio didn’t even turn up for, Ukrainians were not anxiously waiting for the results of a possible deal, which looked unfeasible anyway. Instead, they were counting their dead.

According to Ukraine’s air force, in the early hours of Thursday morning Russia launched 11 Iskander ballistic missiles, 37 KH-101 cruise missiles, six Iskander-K cruise missiles, 12 Kalibr cruise missiles, 4 KH-59/KH-69 missiles and 145 drones. For Kyiv and Kharkiv residents that night, this was not just a case of reading numbers on a news feed, but hearing and feeling explosions rock their cities. It turned out to be the deadliest night for the Ukrainian capital this year.

Nataliya Gumenyuk is a Ukrainian journalist and CEO of the Public Interest Journalism Lab

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 letters section, please click here.

Harvard is leading the pushback because it can afford to fight. Others are realising that they can’t afford not to

Enfeebling universities or seizing control is an early chapter in the authoritarian playbook, studied eagerly by the likes of Viktor Orbán in Hungary. “Would-be authoritarians and one-party states centrally target universities with the aim of restricting dissent,” Jason Stanley, a scholar of fascism at Yale, wrote in the Guardian in September. Last month, he announced that he was leaving the US for Canada because of the political climate and particularly the battle over higher education.

It is not merely that universities are often bastions of liberal attitudes and hotbeds for protest. They also constitute one of the critical institutions of civil society; they are a bulwark of democracy. The Trump administration is taking on judges, lawyers, NGOs and the media: it would be astonishing if universities were not on the list. They embody the importance of knowledge, rationality and independent thought.

Would the legendary American writer have welcomed the publication of her therapy notes? It seems unlikely

Joan Didion entered the fray on the publication of Ernest Hemingway’s unfinished final manuscript in an essay titled Last Words in 1998: “You think something is in shape to be published or you don’t, and Hemingway didn’t,” she wrote. You believe a writer’s unpublished work is fair game after their death or you don’t, and Didion – it would seem – didn’t.

Debate about the ethics of posthumous publication has been ignited once more, this time with Didion at its centre. After the writer’s death in 2021, about 150 pages were found in a file next to her desk. These were meticulous accounts of sessions with her psychiatrist, from 1999 to 2003, focused mainly on her adopted daughter Quintana, who was spiralling into alcoholism. Addressed to her husband, screenwriter John Gregory Dunne, this journal has been published under the title Notes to John. “No restrictions were put on access,” we are told in a brief, anonymous introduction, presumably the ghostly hand of her literary estate.

Grand slam clash is vital stepping stone in Red Roses’ quest to reclaim the World Cup crown they last held in 2014

There are two games to think about at Twickenham on Saturday, the one the Red Roses will play in, and the one they want to play in. The first is their grand slam decider against France, which kicks off at 4.45pm. The second – at the same venue, five months and one day later – is the World Cup final which, if everything goes as the team hopes at the Stadium of Light, Franklin’s Gardens, Ashton Gate and the other grounds they will visit between now and then, will be the next game they play at the home of English rugby.

The Red Roses head coach, John Mitchell, has been around long enough to know the smart thing to do is separate the two. “We’ve got to be careful focusing on the World Cup final because we’ve got to earn the right to contest it,” Mitchell said this week. “It’s good to have the chance to be back at our home stadium, but it’s an isolated situation, that’s the way we see it.”

• Real Madrid refuse to turn up for pre-match events
• Club had previously demanded action from RFEF

Real Madrid have denied that they ever considered refusing to play the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona after they boycotted the pre-match activities, prompting uncertainty that the game would go ahead. A statement from Madrid finally confirmed that they would play after 10pm on Friday night, just 24 hours before kick-off.

A previous statement from Madrid had demanded that the Spanish football federation (RFEF) take action after comments made by the referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea in the buildup to the game. That came after Madrid had refused to show up for the pre-match press conference, training session or the managers’ photocall at the Cartuja Stadium in Seville. Amid reports from media close to the club that they were contemplating refusing to play the match, Madrid finally confirmed their participation late on Friday night.

Age, weight and whispers have raised doubts over who might triumph on Saturday but once the sound and fury fade we will be left with nothing to show for it

Ben Shalom and Eddie Hearn usually do not like each other but on Thursday evening, at the final press conference for the troubling bout between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn, the promoters were almost breathless in their audacity and unity as they hailed a gift from the boxing heavens.

Shalom, Eubank Jr’s promoter, lauded “the biggest British boxing story ever”, “a monumental event” and “an unbelievable show” which has been “35 years in the making” as he suggested that Saturday night’s showdown completes the trilogy between two families – after the fighters’ fathers, Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn, shared a couple of seismic bouts in the early 1990s. Hearn, who promotes Benn, spoke of “a fight for the generations … an iconic main event … an incredible time for boxing” and urged us to “remember this night … this is what it’s all about.”

• Colorado QB had been expected to go in first round
• Five QBs now selected ahead of Sanders
• Analysis: Sanders’s fall exposes cruelties of draft

Shedeur Sanders is still waiting – after three rounds of the NFL draft, 102 picks and five quarterbacks selected ahead of Deion Sanders’s highly touted son.

The Colorado quarterback was widely considered a first-round talent. But his stunning slide continued on Friday night when his name wasn’t called in the second or third round.

Manager’s changeable lineups have pushed striker to usurp Ollie Watkins and likely lead the attack at Wembley

Unai Emery keeps his Aston Villa players on their toes. Sometimes he tells his squad the lineup the day before a game, on other occasions half an hour before they depart the team hotel for the stadium on a match day. Training tends to offer some clues but of late there have been surprises. Emery, a hugely emotional character, has been known to make impulsive, snap calls. Morgan Rogers, a rare mainstay and one of Villa’s trio of undroppables, recently described how his manager’s decision‑making can feel like flip‑of-the-coin stuff.

When the teamsheets are released an hour before kick-off at Wembley on Saturday, the eyeballs will jump towards the most intriguing selection dilemma: will Emery favour Marcus Rashford or Ollie Watkins?

Paris Saint-Germain’s hopes of becoming the first side to complete a Ligue 1 season unbeaten came crashing down at the Parc des Princes on Friday when Nice handed them their first defeat of the league campaign, winning 3-1 to boost their own Champions League ambitions.

Having already secured the title earlier this month, PSG still top the Ligue 1 standings on 78 points, while Nice move up to fourth on 54.

• Tiffany Saine was on life support at time of selection
• Harmon said mother helped motivate him in career

Tiffany Saine, the mother of Derrick Harmon, died shortly after learning the Pittsburgh Steelers had selected her son with the 21st pick of the NFL draft.

Harmon was visibly emotional as he was picked, and the ESPN broadcast showed a video in which the defensive tackle spoke about his mother’s health issues and paid tribute to the positive effect she had on his life. Saine was on life support when Harmon was selected and the 21-year-old told reporters he was going to see her in hospital after Thursday night’s ceremony.

Hugh Brasher, the London Marathon race director, certainly thinks so but the Ugandan faces stiff competition from Eliud Kipchoge and Tamirat Tola

Earlier this year Jacob Kiplimo produced a performance so staggering that it sent the jaws of even seasoned track and field watchers crashing to the floor. It came on the streets of Barcelona, where the 24-year-old Ugandan covered 13.1 miles in 56min 42sec – a half marathon time 48 seconds quicker than anyone else in history.

Little more than two months later, Kiplimo is in London for his full marathon debut and the noise has only grown louder. Could he break the world record on Sunday? Could he even become the first man to break two hours in an official race? It is speculation that the event director, Hugh Brasher, is more than happy to stoke.

Developed countries pressed to submit national plans well before Cop30 as time runs out to avoid 1.5C temperature rise

Rich countries are dragging their feet on producing new plans to combat the climate crisis, thereby putting the poor into greater danger, some of the world’s most vulnerable nations have warned.

All governments are supposed to publish new plans this year on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but so far only a small majority have done so, and some of the plans submitted have been inadequate to the scale of action needed.

Trees are being cleared for rainforest mega-event – but state governor says a ‘new history’ is under way

Fake metal trees have been set into the concrete ground of the Amazonian host city of this year’s climate summit, prompting scandalised contrasts with the once-living vegetation that has been cleared in preparation for Cop30 in Brazil.

But in an unlikely convergence of views, both the centre-right state governor and leftwing social movements insist this is a storm in a plant pot compared with the darkening geopolitical threats to the world’s biggest diplomatic gathering, which will take place in November in Belém.

Exclusive: EU Transparency Register shows law firms also among lobbyists working for fossil fuel companies

A handful of “small but dirty” public affairs and law firms in Europe are enabling pollution by lobbying extensively for big oil, an analysis has found, with most major companies in the industry working for at least one fossil fuel client.

Several of the top spenders on activities to influence EU policymaking are on the payroll of oil and gas companies, according to an analysis of the EU Transparency Register by the Good Lobby nonprofit, but fossil fuel clients represent just 1% of the industry’s revenue.

Transforming a former industrial area in Sweden will bring psychological benefits for future residents and reduce construction’s climate impact

Although activity is high, it is surprisingly quiet inside the construction site of a high school extension in Sickla, a former industrial area in south Stockholm that is set to become part of the “largest mass timber project in the world” according to the Swedish urban property developer Atrium Ljungberg.

Just a few months remain until students enter the premises, but there is no sound of drilling or pounding against concrete walls. The scent of wood is unmistakable, and signs of the material can be spotted everywhere – from glulam (glued laminated timber) columns and beams in the building’s frame to cross-laminated timber (CLT) slabs in the floors, ceilings and staircases. CLT, made by gluing together layers of planed wood into panels, offers strength and rigidity comparable to concrete but is significantly lighter and quicker to build with.

Exit comes after Joe Kasper was implicated as orchestrator of power grab that led to dismissal of three Pentagon officials

Joe Kasper, the controversial chief of staff to the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, who was central to a dramatic power struggle at the Pentagon, has left his post, in an unexpected departure.

Despite Hegseth’s assurances just days ago in a TV appearance on the Fox & Friends show that Kasper would merely transition to “a slightly different role” within the department, Kasper confirmed to Politico in a Thursday interview he will instead return to government relations and consulting, maintaining only limited Pentagon ties as a special government employee.

Welfare fraud bill would allow funds to be taken from bank accounts and driving licences to be cancelled

• Should benefit claimants risk having their bank accounts spied upon and driving licences revoked? I don’t think so

Keir Starmer is facing a rebellion over his plan to use direct deductions from people’s bank accounts and the cancellation of driving licences as part of a government crackdown on welfare fraud and over-claiming.

In an attempt to claw back the annual £9.7bn in benefit overpayments made by the Department for Work and Pensions due to fraud or error, the government has adopted Conservative plans for debt recovery.

The London-based company, the second largest food deliver app in the UK, said no ‘firm offer’ had been made yet

DoorDash is offering to buy its UK-based rival Deliveroo for $3.6bn (£2.7bn), Deliveroo said on Friday.

Deliveroo said that its board was in talks with DoorDash over the offer and that a firm offer had not been made, according to statement sent to the Guardian. Should a firm offer of £1.80 ($2.40) a share be made, Deliveroo said, “it would be minded to recommend such an offer to Deliveroo shareholders.

Wealthy fans of Brideshead Revisited or Bridgerton may soon be able to stay at newly refurbished Castle Howard

Laurence Olivier’s elderly Lord Marchmain in Brideshead Revisited died in it and a pair of hot young newlywed aristocrats in Bridgerton made out in it.

Now someone with deep pockets may be able to occupy that same 18th-century canopy bed at Castle Howard. In the morning they might take breakfast in a room with Canaletto paintings on the wall and Meissen plates on which to butter their toast.

Move that opens door for companies to test self-driving technology on trucks over 10,001lb likely to face pushback

California regulators have released a new proposal to allow the testing of self-driving heavy-duty trucks on public roads.

The state’s department of motor vehicles announced proposed regulations on Friday to allow the testing of driverless trucks over 10,001lbs, opening the door for companies to test self-driving technology on vehicles roughly the size of a Ram or Ford super duty pickup truck.

Countries trade blows across line of control in disputed Kashmir as tensions rise after deadly shooting

Troops from Pakistan and India exchanged fire overnight across the line of control in disputed Kashmir, officials have said, after the UN urged the nuclear-armed rivals to show “maximum restraint” after Tuesday’s massacre of Indian tourists by Islamic militants.

Relations have plunged to their lowest level in years, with India accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after gunmen carried out the worst attack on civilians in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir for a quarter of a century.

Alda Curtis, who earned US$1 for the T-shirt she sold on RedBubble, had US$600 removed from her PayPal account without explanation

• Election 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaign
• Get our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcast

Alda Curtis, a 63-year-old counselling student from Sydney, set up a Redbubble store as a hobby, including selling a T-shirt featuring an unhappy cat cartoon.

After years of running the store, a single sale of that T-shirt resulted in a US$100,000 default judgment against her for infringing on the trademark of Grumpy Cat late last year. Then Curtis noticed nearly US$600 had been taken from her PayPal account.

Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter

As state is first to order in-person voting at jails, official says ‘one step closer to realizing our democracy’s full potential’

It was a Sunday in late October 2024 when Jesus Rodriguez, then 29, voted for the first time.

He voted in person for the presidential and state races, but his polling place wasn’t at a church, school or community center – it was inside the Jefferson county jail in Colorado.

Faustin Nsabumukunzi, 65, is charged with hiding his past when applying for a green card and citizenship

A New York beekeeper who has been in the US for decades has been accused of concealing a leadership role in the genocide in Rwanda in the mid-1990s, prosecutors have said in documents.

The man told federal agents: “I know I’m finished” when he was arrested on Thursday on charges that he hid his past when he applied for for a green card and US citizenship, according to the prosecution in the case.

With the arrival of a new video store in Brooklyn, we asked you to tell us about your most memorable anecdotes

After a film had been in the cinema but before a film was on general sale (also called ‘Home Release’) there would be a window of perhaps a few months where the retail price of a single VHS tape would be about £100 [$133]. In a world of digital media that now feels mad, but it was obviously profitable for the rental shops to buy tapes at that price.

With the film’s promising teaser trailer, the world’s eyes have flipped silver and it’s party time in the cryo-sarcophagus aisle of Space Ikea!

The actor has long been an activist for LGBTQ+ rights and has a transgender sister who often accompanies him on the red carpet

The actor Pedro Pascal has attacked author JK Rowling on X, calling her a “heinous loser”.

Pascal responded to a comment reporting the words of activist Tariq Ra’ouf in an Instagram video, in which he urged people to boycott Rowling’s work.

In a statement, the 86-year-old director of the critical and box-office flop said the book confirms his feeling that ‘art can never be constrained’

Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola’s $120m passion project, was neither a box office nor a critical success on release last year. Largely funded by the sale of Coppola’s own vineyards, the sci-fi epic starring Adam Driver took around $14m at the global box office amid unconvinced reviews and rumours of abnormal on-set behaviour by its director.

A marketing campaign attempted to leverage bad critical notices by flagging that previous works by Coppola now acclaimed as masterpieces – including Apocalypse Now and The Godfather – had been dismissed by critics at the time. But this backfired after it emerged all of the sniffy historical reviews had been fabricated.

Late-night hosts discuss the defense secretary’s many scandals and Musk’s alleged screaming match outside the Oval Office

With several hosts still on holiday, Jimmy Kimmel reacts to reports of a screaming match at the White House and Pete Hegseth bringing his wife to meetings.

Korean retailers report strong sales for Light and Thread, featuring speeches, essays and poems by novelist

A book featuring Han Kang’s Nobel prize lecture sold 10,000 copies in its first day on sale online.

Light and Thread, which takes its title from Han’s December lecture, is her first book to be published in South Korea since she was announced as the winner of the Nobel prize in literature last October.

Learning to discuss topics in which you differ is something people can get better at and can benefit relationships

Why can’t the dirty plates go straight into the dishwasher? Whose turn is it to pick up the kids? And why do you insist on doing that thing you do when you know how much it annoys me? No honestly, don’t worry, I’m fine.

Perhaps – if you are part of a long-term couple – that kind of conversation sounds familiar. Or perhaps you are George and Amal Clooney and you never, ever argue. That, at least, was the actor’s boast this week to a US morning show: in almost 12 years of marriage, he said, he and his lawyer wife have never had a single argument. “We’re trying to find something to argue about,” he joked.

An orange blur obscured my vision. By morning it was even worse

It was a cool May afternoon in 2002. I was 19 and had driven to Westport beach in Washington with a few friends to enjoy a day by the ocean.

As a child, I’d been a keen gymnast, always doing backflips and energetic routines. As I got older, I still had a habit of doing cartwheels whenever I found an open space. That day on the beach, on the soft, flat sand, I couldn’t resist.

​Readers share their ​favourite experiences that benefit local people, including community cottages in Northern Ireland, an anti-mafia tour of Palermo​ and an eco project in Ecuador

Global Mamas, in the port town of Elmina, creates financial prosperity for local women through the production of handcrafted goods using traditional techniques. We joined them at a batik workshop, where Mavis Thompson showed us how to dip our chosen designs into melted wax, and stamp a length of cream cotton. After dyeing the fabric using natural pigments, we plunged it into boiling water to remove the wax. As the cotton had to be sun-dried between each stage, we sat on low stools and watched the other Global Mamas produce larger, more complex designs. Our vibrantly coloured tablecloths are a reminder of a happy afternoon with Mavis and the mamas.
Helen Jackson

Are you responding to reality or possibility, asks advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Knowing the difference might help your better judgment win out

• Read more Leading questions

How do I start dating casually when I know I’m going to catch feelings even if I don’t want to? My last relationship ended about a year ago and I’ve been taking time for myself and healing and all that good stuff but I now feel as though I’m ready to get back out there.

I haven’t dated casually before and I’d like to try it out, but even if I know it’s a bad idea, there’s going to be a significant part of myself that might fall in love with whoever I spend time with. How do I turn off that completely illogical, hopeless romantic part of my brain?

An intriguing, lemongrass twist on the classic margarita

At Bar des Prés, Cyril Lignac’s menu of Franco east-Asian flavours translates into our drinks list, which also combines ingredients from far and wide. The infused tequila here can also be used in a more classic margarita or in a tequila soda.

Sascha Angelucci, bar manager, Bar des Prés, London W1

London professionals are taking advantage of reduced rents in vacant buildings in often unusual spaces

A top-floor, open-plan property in a trendy east London neighbourhood would usually set you back thousands of pounds a month in rent, but Luke Williams is paying a fraction of that.

The 45-year-old programme manager is one of a growing number of professionals turning to property guardianship – a housing arrangement whereby people live in vacant buildings in exchange for reduced rent.

We’d like to hear from small business owners in the UK and elsewhere about any impact of changing tariffs

China has raised tariffs on US imports to 125% in an escalation of the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.

US tariffs on Chinese goods now total 145%, while most other countries, including the UK, have maintained a 10% tariff on goods following Donald Trump’s announcements on Wednesday pausing “reciprocal” tariffs for 90 days.

We want to hear your tips for how to renew your sense of adventure – whether it’s making spontaneous decisions, trying new things, or actively broadening your horizons

As we get older, many of us feel like we lose our sense of adventure. Busy lives can leave us lacking in energy, while increasing responsibilities can leave little room for more adventurous pursuits.

But maintaining an adventurous perspective can help to keep life exciting. With this in mind, we want to hear your tips for how to renew your sense of adventure – whether it’s making spontaneous decisions, trying new things, or actively broadening your horizons. If you know a surefire way to reignite your adventurous side, tell us about it below.

We would like to hear from parents who sometimes get too involved when their children play football

Kids’ football can be emotional. Some parents shout at their own children, others swear at officials, and a few even get into fights. We’d like to hear from parents about the times they’ve become too involved in their kids’ football matches.

What has your experience been like and how did your children react? Have you noticed other parents’ behaviour on the pitch?

To mark 20 years since the first ever YouTube video, we’d like to hear your favourite YouTube TV shows

The first YouTube video, a 19-second clip posted entitled “Me at the zoo” posted by co-founder Jawed Karim, was uploaded on 23 April 2005. Now the most popular video-sharing platform in the world, YouTube has expanded far beyond short clips and into TV streaming.

To mark the anniversary, we’d like to hear your favourite YouTube TV shows of the moment. You can tell us your favourite and why below.

Jean Chrétien, 91, appears keen to wield his influence to fight for a Liberal victory, drumming up support for Carney

In the frenzy of a Canadian general election campaign, few things drain party activists more than the relentless travel, as they crisscross the country’s vast geography to drum up support in far-flung electoral districts.

But ahead of what has been described as the most consequential general election in a lifetime, the 91-year-old former prime minister Jean Chrétien has campaigned for the Liberals in 30 electoral districts across the country as the party seeks to match – or even eclipse – his 1993 landslide victory.

The pontiff shunned fanfare by picking a small niche in the basilica he visited more than 100 times during his papacy

As a priest, and then cardinal, Jorge Mario Bergoglio would always call into Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major), one of the four papal basilicas in Rome, during his regular visits to the Italian capital.

The fourth-century basilica with its distinctive bell tower is perched on one of Rome’s seven ancient hills in Esquilino, a neighbourhood that lies between the Colosseum and Termini train station, which during the Roman empire served as a burial ground for slaves.

Redolent of old great power thinking, Trump’s Crimea giveaway could usher a return to international lawlessness

“Crimea will stay with Russia,” Donald Trump told Time magazine in a largely sympathetic profile on Friday. And with that statement, the US president made clear that he wanted to carve up another country, Ukraine, and so legitimise the forcible seizure of land made by Moscow 11 years ago.

From reading the transcript of the interview, Trump’s thinking is hardly coherent. Crimea, he says, wouldn’t have been seized if he had been president in 2014, but “it was handed to them by Barack Hussein Obama” and now Crimea has “been with them [Russia] for a long time” – so it is time to accept the seizure.

Holocaust survivors gathering on Holocaust Memorial Day speak out against Palestinian starvation and suffering

Few days speak so profoundly to the soul of Israel than Holocaust Memorial Day. As the country sat in silence on Thursday to remember 6 million Jews exterminated by the Nazis, the same refrain was, as always, repeated by many: never again.

But for some across Israel, as the war in Gaza continues to ravage the Palestinian people and wipe out entire families, never again had come to hold another meaning.

Sadness at pope’s passing is tinged with giddiness at holding world’s gaze with a pageant for the ages

Beneath the basilica’s soaring Renaissance dome, the body in the coffin looked unexpectedly small, even shrunken, and for those who had come to say goodbye that somehow felt apt. Francis was pope but he was still, amid all the pomp and circumstance, just a man.

His predecessors occupied plinths and alcoves around St Peter’s, figures of stone and marble with names etched in history books, while Jorge Mario Bergoglio lay in his wooden box, by common consent among mourners, a good man who did his best.

Few policymakers mention US president by name, but his tariffs dominate IMF-World Bank meeting

Kristalina Georgieva’s favourite film, the International Monetary Fund boss told the audience at a packed panel event in Washington on Thursday, is Tom Hanks’s cold war romp Bridge of Spies.

In one of the stranger digressions in a frequently strange week, Georgieva recalled the moment when Hanks’s character, a US lawyer, tells the Soviet spy he has been appointed to defend that he will probably be executed. “You don’t seem alarmed,” Hanks says to him; to which the spy – played by Mark Rylance – replies, “Would it help?”

As London once again becomes the most searched-for location on Rightmove, which is better, rural or city life?

London has once again become the most searched-for location on the property website Rightmove, with more than half of the people living there (58%) looking to stay rather than leave.

This comes five years after the start of the Covid pandemic, which prompted many people to seek an escape from city life in favour of more outdoor space to accommodate working remotely. This trend has since reversed with more employers asking workers to return to office working.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s claims about deadly Kyiv strike highlight Kremlin’s reliance on Kim regime’s soldiers, ammunition and missiles

North Korea’s role in the war in Ukraine has come into sharp focus after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said a Russian missile that killed 12 people in Kyiv had been supplied by the regime in Pyongyang.

“According to preliminary information, the Russians used a ballistic missile manufactured in North Korea,” Zelenskyy said. “Our special services are verifying all the details.

Family incarceration has been revived after Biden – and Jade, Jason and Gabriela are speaking out about their distressing treatment in Texas

When Jade and her family first arrived at the detention facility in Karnes county, Texas, she wasn’t really sure what to think.

“I guess I was confused and scared,” said the 13-year-old. Her parents were doing their best to reassure her that everything would be OK, but she knew they were in danger of being deported.

Americans have often moved between states for opportunities. Now they’re being forced to uproot themselves to escape hostile forces under Trump

Noah Musingku made a fortune with a Ponzi scheme and then retreated to a remote armed compound in the jungle, where he still commands the loyalty of his Bougainville subjects

By Sean Williams. Read by Simon Darwen

The US justice department says it did not fire a former pardon attorney, Liz Oyer, after she refused to recommend reinstating Mel Gibson’s gun rights.

But Oyer tells Jonathan Freedland a different story, one she believes points to a wider crackdown by the Trump administration on the rule of law in America

Archive: ABC News, Face the Nation, CBS News, CNN, PBS, NBC News, Fox News, WHAS11

From struggles over miscarriages of justice to groundbreaking music, Lanre Bakare looks at the places and events that shaped Black Britain in the Thatcher years

When Guardian arts and culture correspondent Lanre Bakare was growing up, he learned the same Black British history as many of us did. It was a series of singular events: the docking of the Windrush in 1948, unrest in Notting Hill or Brixton, the murder of Stephen Lawrence. All important, but all firmly focused on the capital.

Now Lanre has written a book about the Thatcher years, looking at the stories that are less often told: those that took place outside London, in Liverpool – with the oldest Black community in the UK – or in his home town of Bradford.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Seb Hutchinson and Dan Bardell as Manchester City get a vital win over Aston Villa in the hunt for Champions League football

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the podcast today: two midweek Premier League games to review. One more consequential than the other as Manchester City go third with a late win over Aston Villa. In the other fixture, Crystal Palace score two brilliant goals to claim a point at Arsenal.

Madeleine Finlay and Ian Sample discuss three intriguing science stories from the week. From a hint at alien life on a distant planet to a clue in the search for answers over why colon cancer rates are rising in the under 50s, and news from scientists who claim to have found a colour no one has seen before

Are we alone? New discovery raises hopes of finding alien life
Childhood toxin exposure ‘may be factor in bowel cancer rise in under-50s’
Hue new? Scientists claim to have found colour no one has seen before

Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod

They are everywhere – and they may be messing with your body more than you realise. They’re linked to obesity, gut issues, even chronic disease. But how exactly are UPFs making us sick?

Neelam Tailor speaks to the food philosopher and former industry insider Prof Barry Smith, who breaks down what UPFs do inside your body, how food companies keep us hooked, and how you can reduce how much UPF you eat

More than 150 people were injured as they jumped from buildings after a strong earthquake struck Istanbul on Wednesday. Another quake, of magnitude 4.9, occurred 10 minutes later, with the epicentre off the coast of Büyükçekmece in the Sea of Marmara. Some businesses closed for the day after a wave of aftershocks rattled shoppers

Salmon is often marketed as the sustainable, healthy and eco-friendly protein choice. But what you may not realise is that most of the salmon you buy is farmed, especially if you live in the UK, because Scottish salmon producers are no longer required to tell you.

Josh Toussaint-Strauss finds out why it is important for consumers to know where their salmon comes from, and examines the gap between the marketing of farmed salmon and the reality for our health, the environmental and animal welfare

• Scottish government must do more to control salmon farming, inquiry finds

• Scottish salmon producers allowed to remove ‘farmed’ from front of packaging

• Norway rules out fish farm ban despite ‘existential threat’ to wild salmon

As demand for smartphones, laptops and electric vehicles has soared, so has demand for the minerals - such as cobalt and coltan - for the batteries that power them. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has vast reserves of these minerals, and their extraction is fuelling the country's civil war. Josh Toussaint-Strauss finds out more about how global demand for tech is causing human suffering in central Africa, and how we, and western powers and companies, are complicit

Protesters across the US rallied against Donald Trump's policies on Saturday. The 'Hands Off!' demonstrations are part of what the event's organisers expect to be the largest single day of protest against Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk since they launched a rapid-fire effort to overhaul government and expand presidential authority

• US protests – live updates

• More than 1,000 ‘Hands Off’ anti-Trump protests begin across the US

Cory Booker, the Democratic senator from New Jersey, spoke on the Senate floor for more than 25 hours, the longest speech ever given in Senate history. Starting his speech on Monday evening in Washington, vowing to remain on the Senate floor as long as he was 'physically able', Booker spoke in protest at what he called the 'grave and urgent' danger that Donald Trump's presidential administration poses to democracy and the American people. In 1957, Strom Thurmond, a Republican from South Carolina, gave an anti-civil rights speech that lasted 24 hours and 18 minutes

• Senate Republicans consider joining Democrats to oppose Trump over tariffs

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said that although no signs of life had been detected, the search for survivors in the rubble of a skyscraper that collapsed during the 7.7 magnitude Myanmar earthquake will continue as experts 'still have hope'. He added that 12 bodies have been found, but that the search for survivors is the priority.

• ‘It’s beyond description’: Bodies pile up in mass graves as Myanmar grapples with quake toll

• Myanmar earthquake death toll tops 2,000, as health system ‘overwhelmed’

Net zero is a target that countries should be striving for to stop the climate crisis. But beyond the buzzword, it is a complex scientific concept – and if we get it wrong, the planet will keep heating.

Biodiversity and environment reporter Patrick Greenfield explains how a loophole in the 2015 Paris climate agreement allows countries to cheat their net zero targets through creative accounting, and how scientists want us to fix it

South Korea’s Prime Minister Han Duck-soo expressed his gratitude to the constitutional court after it ruled against his impeachment and to restore his role as acting president. When he arrived at the government complex in Seoul, Han said the court had made a 'wise decision'.

• South Korea’s Han Duck-soo reinstated as acting president after court strikes down impeachment

As droughts become more prevalent, corporate control over our drinking water is threatening the health of water sources and the access people have to them. Josh Toussaint-Strauss explores how foreign multinational companies are extracting billions of litres of water from natural aquifers to sell back to the same communities from which it came – for huge profits

• ‘It’s not drought - it’s looting’: the Spanish villages where people are forced to buy back their own drinking water

• Foreign firms taking billions of litres from UK aquifers to make bottled water

Chaotic weekend sees blizzard warnings in midwest, wildfires in southern plains and dust storms in Texas. At least 26 tornadoes were reported but not confirmed as a low pressure system drove powerful thunderstorms across parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri. The Storm Prediction Center said fast-moving system could spawn twisters and hail as large as baseballs, but the greatest threat would come from straight-line winds near or exceeding hurricane force, with gusts of 100mph (160km/h) possible.

• At least 17 dead as massive storm system sweeps across US south with multiple tornadoes

A SpaceX mission was launched to replace two Nasa astronauts who have been stuck at the International Space Station for nine months. The stuck astronauts are scheduled to depart the station on 19 March after the Crew-10 astronauts arrive on 19 March

• Crew lifts off on SpaceX mission to replace stuck Nasa astronauts

In Sudan, fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, appear to have filmed and posted online videos of themselves glorifying the burning of homes and the torture of prisoners. These videos could be used by international courts to pursue war crime prosecutions.

Kaamil Ahmed explains how the international legal system is adapting to social media, finding a way to use the digital material shared online to corroborate accounts of war crimes being committed in countries ranging from Ukraine to Sudan

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

China has dramatically increased military activities around Taiwan, with more than 3,000 incursions into Taiwan's airspace in 2024 alone. Amy Hawkins examines how Beijing is deploying 'salami-slicing' tactics, a strategy of gradual pressure that stays below the threshold of war while steadily wearing down Taiwan's defences. From daily air incursions to strategic military exercises, we explore the four phases of China's approach and what it means for Taiwan's future

Each spring since 2003, Jon Aars, senior scientist at the Norwegian Polar Institute, and his team have conducted an annual polar bear monitoring program on Svalbard - collaring, capturing and taking samples from as many bears as they can across several weeks.

By studying polar bears they get a better understanding of what is happening in this part of the Arctic environment. The bears roam over large distances and, being apex predators, provide lots of information about what is happening lower in the food chain and across different Arctic species.

The Guardian accompanied Aars on an expedition to the southern end of Spitsbergen island, the largest in the Svalbard archipelago.

Donald Trump has said there is ‘no room’ left for negotiation with Mexico and Canada on planned tariffs. He also said the US would institute tariffs at 20% on China. All Mexican exports to the US face a levy of 25% under the plans. Most Canadian exports will face a 25% tariff, with 10% for energy products

• Trump says ‘no room left’ for deal that avoids tariffs on Mexico and Canada

Russia's foreign minister has dismissed the prospect of a place for Europe at talks between the US and Russia to end the fighting in Ukraine. Speaking at a press conference alongside his Serbian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov said: 'If they are going to weasel out some cunning ideas about freezing the conflict, while actually intending – as is their custom, nature and habit – to continue the war, then why should we invite them at all?'

European leaders have been unnerved by the willingness of Donald Trump, the US president, to engage the Kremlin directly over Ukraine and have been attempting to find a place for themselves in the talks

• Europe live – latest updates

Divers have documented evidence of what conservationists say is widespread coral bleaching at the Ningaloo Reef off Western Australia’s north-west coast. Waters off WA have been affected by a prolonged marine heatwave since September, with ocean temperatures 1.5C higher than average over a five-month period

• Large areas of WA’s Ningaloo corals could die in ‘weeks ahead’ after widespread bleaching documented

The parents of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny joined hundreds of mourners at their son's grave on Sunday to mark the anniversary of his death. Navalny died aged 47 on 16 February last year while being held in a jail about 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle, where he had been sentenced to 19 years under a ‘special regime’

• Alexei Navalny supporters visit grave on first anniversary of his death

The death of Pope Francis, women mourn the dead in Gaza, Russian airstrikes in Kyiv and emperor penguins in Antarctica: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

• Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

Mark Cohen’s photographs of his daily walks in New York show the world viewed from the height of a child – revealing fresh threats, thrills and perspectives

Click here to submit a picture for publication in these online galleries and/or on the Guardian letters page

‘As a species, these crocs are easy to find and easy to catch. Brice Itoua is the most skilled hunter in his village. But they kill the crocs to eat – not to sell’

The Congo dwarf crocodile is a lovely species. They’re very shy and, unfortunately, very easy to find and catch. Mostly hunted for their bushmeat, these crocs only grow up to a few feet in length and during the dry season, they often spend the daytime hiding in burrows and dens at the water’s edge. Hunters use a long, woody liana vine with a hook on the end to drag them out, before binding their snout with a shorter vine and carrying them away.

Last summer, I shot a story about the Congo dwarf crocodile after being given access to the Lake Télé Community Reserve by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which manages this protected area in the Republic of the Congo with the Congolese government.