Four people arrested over suspected £44m UK home insulation scam 22. April 2026 (17:56) Serious Fraud Office investigation relates to firms allegedly submitting false invoices for work they failed to carry outThe UK’s Serious Fraud Office has arrested four people on suspicion of a home insulation scam that may have cost energy companies as much as £44m.The SFO and the National Crime Agency said on Wednesday the unnamed people were arrested in coordinated dawn raids across England on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Police search for man who allegedly abandoned baby in New York’s Times Square 22. April 2026 (17:51) A six-month-old girl was found alone in a stroller at a busy intersection in the famed Manhattan sightseeing areaSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxPolice are searching for the father of a baby left in a stroller in Times Square on Tuesday night.The New York police department said they received an emergency call at about 11pm concerning the six-month-old girl, who was found at West 44the Street and Seventh Avenue. Police reported that she was unharmed, conscious and alert inside a stroller. The infant was transported to an area hospital. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Strait of Hormuz is hosting gunboat diplomacy as US and Iran vie for most effective blockade 22. April 2026 (17:48) Iran’s goal is to maintain chokehold on global economy even as some say it could run out of oil storage by SundayMiddle East crisis – live updatesDonald Trump’s indefinite shelving of the plan to bomb Iran’s bridges and power stations on Tuesday night is being widely described as leaving the conflict in limbo, but that is anything but the truth.Pakistan insists the prospect of talks in Islamabad has not evaporated, and positive messages are still being exchanged, but in the meantime the site of kinetic activity has switched from land to sea. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Mother who lost three kids in Louisiana shooting hospitalized with bullet lodged in face 22. April 2026 (17:42) Christina Snow was one of two women injured when gunman opened fire on a family in Shreveport, killing eightSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe mother of three children killed over the weekend in a mass shooting in Louisiana is reportedly recovering in hospital with a bullet still lodged in her face.Jamarckus Snow told NBC News that his cousin, Christina Snow, was one of the two women who were shot and injured early Sunday when a gunman opened fire on his family in Shreveport. Police described the shooting as a “violent domestic incident” in which 31-year-old Shamar Elkins fatally shot eight children – including seven of his children and a cousin. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Britain’s military dependence on US ‘no longer tenable’, says former Nato chief 22. April 2026 (17:30) George Robertson says diplomatic tone from White House is at ‘historic low’ and two allies are likely to keep divergingUK politics live – latest updatesBritain’s high military dependence on the US is “no longer tenable” and the UK has to become increasingly independent of the special relationship with Washington, a former Nato chief has said.George Robertson, who last week accused British leaders of a “corrosive complacency” towards defence, said on Wednesday that the traditional allies were diverging over values – and that even after Donald Trump leaves the White House, the separation was likely to continue. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Palestine Action activist who hit officer with sledgehammer ‘panicked’, court told 22. April 2026 (17:26) Samuel Corner, 23, says he struck Sgt Kate Evans to protect co-defendant amid 2024 Elbit Systems raid near OxfordA Palestine Action activist who struck a police officer with a sledgehammer during a protest at an Israeli-linked arms factory acted to protect a co-defendant he believed was being seriously hurt, a court has heard.Samuel Corner, 23, is accused of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Sgt Kate Evans during a raid on the Elbit Systems facility, in Filton, near Bristol, on 6 August 2024. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
EU agrees to unblock €90bn loan for Ukraine after Hungary lifts veto 22. April 2026 (17:19) Agreement for urgently needed loan reached after Ukraine resumed pumping Russian oil to Hungary and SlovakiaEU member states have reached agreement on unblocking an urgently needed €90bn (£78bn) loan for Kyiv and a new package of sanctions against Moscow after Ukraine resumed pumping Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, prompting Budapest to lift its veto.Cyprus, which holds the bloc’s rotating presidency, said member states’ ambassadors had agreed to launch “written procedures” for the final approval of the loan and the sanctions package, with formal signoff on both due by Thursday afternoon. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Podcast interviews of NSW couple jailed for abusing their daughter in the spotlight 22. April 2026 (17:00) Exclusive: Corrective Services investigates how Richard Guilliatt of The Australian was able to interview Rob and Karen Gilfillan for Shadow of DoubtFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCorrective Services New South Wales is investigating how a journalist from The Australian was able to interview a man and a woman convicted of abusing their daughter for a podcast that raised questions about their guilt.After legal restrictions were lifted last month the victim said the podcast had been highly detrimental to her mental health. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Governments failed to deliver $160m of river improvements including for now-parched NSW wetlands, report finds 22. April 2026 (17:00) NSW and Queensland governments ‘severely underdelivered’ on promised infrastructure to improve water flows, independent review findsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo state governments have drastically underdelivered more than $160m in infrastructure measures to improve river health in the northern Murray-Darling basin eight years since they were promised, a major independent review has found.This includes failure by the New South Wales government to secure any of the private land access needed to improve water flows over floodplains in the state’s Gwydir region where scientists had to scramble to rescue turtles in dried up wetlands last week. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
How Ireland’s war-driven fuel blockades revealed the true cost of Europe’s oil addiction 22. April 2026 (16:47) Donald Trump’s conflict with Iran could speed the EU’s green revolution – if panicking governments can hold their nerve on clean energy• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereA surge in demand for electric vehicles across Europe may be evidence of what George Monbiot greeted as the silver lining of the Iran war. Sales of electric cars in continental Europe rose by 51% in March.The International Energy Agency has called the disruption in the strait of Hormuz the “biggest energy crisis in history”, but it appears, on one level, to be accelerating Europe’s green revolution. Yet, even if car-owners are rushing to the EV showrooms, some European governments, facing a groundswell of anger over soaring petrol and gas prices, are at risk of sending the clean energy transition into reverse. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
