Sierra Leone’s president has fired the head of the immigration service days after footage was published showing him receiving a birthday gift from a fugitive Dutch drug kingpin. The footage of Alusine Kanneh being handed a present by Johannes Leijdekkers – which has not been independently verified by the Guardian – was published by the…
Mahmoud Khalil: arrest of Palestinian student activist raises alarm about free speech in US Good morning, and welcome to our US politics blog. The Trump administration’s decision to have immigration authorities arrest Mahmoud Khalil – a vocal critic of Israel’s war on Gaza – for alleged support of Hamas is an attack on free speech,…
NFL star Odell Beckham Jr has denied any wrongdoing after saying he was named in a lawsuit that alleges Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs initiated a gang-rape against a woman in California. In an initial lawsuit filed in October, Ashley Parham claims she was lured to an apartment in Orinda, California, and assaulted by multiple men. She…
Fertilizers that shed microplastics are increasingly spreading on America’s cropland, research shows, raising new worry about the soil contamination and safety of the US food supply. A peer-reviewed University of Missouri paper found common types of slow-release fertilizers are often encapsulated with plastic and can be so small that they could be considered microplastics. Those…
European markets have risen and the euro gained against the dollar to the highest level since the US election, as the greenback sank against other leading currencies amid mounting “Trumpcession” fears. The euro rose sharply, breaking above $1.09 for the first time since early November, when Donald Trump’s election victory sent the dollar soaring. That…
The Hollyoaks actor and reality TV star Paul Danan died at his Bristol home from a cocktail of drugs including cocaine and heroin, an inquest has heard. Danan, 46, played Sol Patrick from 1997 to 2001 on the Channel 4 soap and was later known for his reality TV appearances, including on Celebrity Big Brother…
Seven medical professionals who tended to the Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona during his final days are going on trial accused of criminal negligence over his death. Maradona died on 25 November 2020 aged 60 while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot, after decades battling cocaine and alcohol addictions. Each defendant could face…
The population of eastern monarch butterflies – who migrate from Canada and the US to Mexico during the winter – has nearly doubled over the last year, according to a recent report commissioned in Mexico, generating optimism among nature preservationists. The modest growth in numbers for the orange-and-black butterflies follows years of ongoing conservation efforts…
US-Ukraine talks begin in Saudi Arabia US and Ukrainian delegation have started their meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine’s foreign ministry just said, posting a video of the Ukrainian delegation arriving for the talks. The flag of Saudi Arabia is seen in the middle between the USA and Ukraine flags prior to talks. Photograph: Salah…
A surfer fatally mauled by a shark at a remote beach in Western Australia was on a six-month holiday with his partner and pet dog. Victorian man Steven Payne, 37, was attacked on Monday at Wharton beach, east of Esperance, and his remains were yet to be recovered, police said. Drone footage shot by a…
