World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

Mariano Rajoy ousted as Spain's prime minister
Murdered Maltese reporter faced threat of libel action in UK
Marine Le Pen rebrands Front National in push for support
Palestinian woman shot dead during protest near Gaza fence
Italy vows to 'send home' undocumented immigrants
Russian pilot found after three decades missing in Afghanistan
Melania Trump to skip Camp David trip, marking a 22-day absence
Trade war: Canadians horrified to learn some maple syrup is from ... the US
Harvey Weinstein faces new rape accusation in class action lawsuit
EU opens WTO case against Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs
'Foxes stole my sandals': Nagaokakyo's shoe thieves found
Quiz: how well do you know the Russian World Cup cities?
'North is next’: fresh fight for grassroots power that beat Ireland abortion ban
Nick Hardwick: 'I’m not overjoyed that my career has been sacrificed for John Worboys'
An abortion at the age of 23 gave me freedom
The 20 photographs of the week
Africa: A Journey Into Music review – Nigeria's rich musical history is examined
Donald Trump and the erosion of Democratic norms in America
'Claudia was a good girl. Why did they kill her?' From a Guatemalan village to death in Texas
Mattis accuses China of 'intimidation and coercion' in South China Sea
Eighty shipping containers fall off Sydney-bound freighter
Survivors of Yahya Jammeh's bogus Aids cure sue former Gambian leader
The fall of Rajoy: how Gürtel affair defeated Spain's great survivor
Canadians and Americans are family. Donald Trump is testing even that | Bruce Heyman
The moment Mariano Rajoy is ousted as Spain's PM – video

Mariano Rajoy ousted as Spain's prime minister

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 04:11 AM PDT

Parliament passes vote of no confidence in ruling People's party over corruption scandal

Mariano Rajoy, once viewed as the great survivor of Spanish politics, has been ousted as prime minister in a vote of no confidence after several former members of his party were convicted of corruption in a case that proved a scandal too far.

He will be replaced by Pedro Sánchez, the leader of Spain's opposition socialist PSOE party, which tabled the motion to unseat him.

Murdered Maltese reporter faced threat of libel action in UK

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 06:44 AM PDT

Sons accuse London law firm of trying to 'financially cripple' Daphne Caruana Galizia

A British law firm has been accused by the family of the murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia of harassment, intimidation and an attempt to "cripple" her financially by threatening to sue her in the UK.

When Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb in October 2017, she was fighting 47 civil and criminal defamation lawsuits from an array of business people and politicians, brought by multiple law firms.

Marine Le Pen rebrands Front National in push for support

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 03:46 PM PDT

Rassemblement National, as Front National is now known, aims to appeal to more voters ahead of European elections

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has announced that the Front National party, founded by her father nearly a half-century ago, will now be called Rassemblement National (the National Rally).

Le Pen all but kicked off the campaign for European parliamentary elections next year with the movethat reflects the party's attempt to appeal to a broader range of voters at next year's European elections

Palestinian woman shot dead during protest near Gaza fence

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 11:44 AM PDT

Palestinian health ministry reports Razan al-Najjar, 21, was shot by Israeli soldiers near Khan Yunis on Friday

A Palestinian woman has been shot dead by Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border fence, in another day of protests and violence, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Razan al-Najjar, 21, was shot near Khan Yunis on Friday, bringing the toll of Gazans killed by Israeli fire since the end of March to 123.

Italy vows to 'send home' undocumented immigrants

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 07:20 AM PDT

Far-right interior minister insists he will keep campaign pledge to deport around 500,000 people

Italy's interior minister, the far-right firebrand Matteo Salvini, has declared that one of the new populist government's top priorities will be to "send them home", signalling that he intends to keep a campaign promise to round up hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants in Italy.

The political chaos that has engulfed Italy in recent weeks has centred on questions about whether the government, which was sworn in on Friday and is led by the virtually unknown prime minister Giuseppe Conte, will take a tough line on Italy's fiscal commitments in Brussels.

Russian pilot found after three decades missing in Afghanistan

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 01:19 PM PDT

Military veterans group says man whose plane was shot down wants to return to Russia

A Russian pilot who was missing presumed dead after his plane was shot down three decades ago during the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan has been found alive and wants to come home, according to a military veterans group.

"He is still alive. It's very astonishing. Now he needs help," the head of the Russian paratroopers' union, Valery Vostrotin, told RIA Novosti state news agency on Friday.

Melania Trump to skip Camp David trip, marking a 22-day absence

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 08:49 AM PDT

The first lady was last seen in public on 10 May, four days before she was hospitalised to treat a kidney condition

The White House said on Friday that Melania Trump would not be joining her husband at the Camp David presidential retreat this weekend.

Donald Trump was scheduled to head to Maryland on Friday afternoon, but officials said his wife would not be boarding the presidential helicopter with him.

Trade war: Canadians horrified to learn some maple syrup is from ... the US

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 01:07 PM PDT

Trump's new tariffs highlighted a shift many Canadians didn't realize: an increasing amount of American syrup is sold in Canada

When Justin Trudeau's government launched retaliatory tariffs against the US this week, Canadians were not surprised to see one totemic product had been caught up in the brewing trade war.

Maple syrup, produced in bulk and exported around the world, is seen as integral to the country's identity.

Harvey Weinstein faces new rape accusation in class action lawsuit

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 11:43 AM PDT

Three women accuse the former producer of sexually harassing and attacking them in a lawsuit filed in New York

Three women filed a class action lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein on Friday – a fresh blow for the fallen movie mogul, who was arrested in New York and indicted on rape and other charges related to sexual misconduct last week.

One woman, Melissa Thompson, accuses Weinstein of sexually harassing her when she went to his office to pitch a business idea, then luring her to a hotel room in New York and raping her.

EU opens WTO case against Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 03:54 AM PDT

Dispute settlement case lodged but EU stops short of applying retaliatory tariffs on US goods

The European Union is pressing ahead with countermeasures in response to what it said was Donald Trump's "pure protectionist" and "illegal" decision to impose trade tariffs on steel and aluminium.

The EU has opened a case at the World Trade Organisation after the US imposed a 25% duty on European steel and a 10% duty on European aluminium on Friday morning.

'Foxes stole my sandals': Nagaokakyo's shoe thieves found

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 05:13 AM PDT

Police discover two foxes behind spate of vanishing footwear in Japanese neighbourhood

It began at midnight: a six-hour police stakeout to catch the shoe-loving thieves who had pilfered 40 pairs of sandals from a neighbourhood in Japan.

Finally, the officers found the main suspects: a pair of sly foxes.

Quiz: how well do you know the Russian World Cup cities?

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 03:00 AM PDT

As Russia gets ready for the World Cup, how well do you know the 11 host cities?

More on life inside Russian cities hosting the World Cup can be found by following the Guardian Cities Other Russia series

Where was Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist and author of Crime and Punishment born?

Moscow

St Petersburg

Yekaterinburg

Where was Russian president Vladimir Putin born?

St Petersburg

Moscow

Volgograd

Which World Cup host city is known as the 'Russian Riviera' because of its beach resorts and subtropical climate?

Kazan

Rostov-on-Don

Sochi

In which city was Tsar Nicholas II and his family executed following the Russian Revolution of 1917?

St Petersburg

Yekaterinburg

Kaliningrad

Which city did French actor Gerard Depardieu choose as his home address after leaving France to avoid higher taxes in 2013?

Saransk

Samara

Moscow

Which city had its own leaning tower?

Kazan

Sochi

Nizhny Novgorod

The philosopher Immanuel Kant lived and died in which city?

Kaliningrad

Saransk

Volgograd

Where was the rocket built which took the first person (Yuri Gagarin) into space?

Samara

Yekaterinburg

K azan

Where did the largest and bloodiest battle take place in the second world war?

Volgograd

Moscow

St Petersburg

Which city was once named after Soviet writer Maxim Gorky?

Nizhny Novgorod

Rostov-on-Don

Saransk

Which city lies immediately between Asia and northern Europe, and is known as the 'gateway to the North Caucasus'?

Rostov-on-Don

Nizhny Novgorod

Sochi

11 and above.

Excellent

10 and above.

Great

9 and above.

Great

8 and above.

Well done

7 and above.

Well done

6 and above.

5 and above.

4 and above.

hmm

3 and above.

hmm

2 and above.

hmm

0 and above.

Oh dear

1 and above.

Oh dear

'North is next’: fresh fight for grassroots power that beat Ireland abortion ban

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 01:00 PM PDT

Women who rallied across borders to win referendum have their sights set on Northern Ireland and northern Australia

Just a few years ago, the Abortion Rights Campaign in Ireland was predominantly active in the capital of Dublin. By the time a landslide 66.4% of the country voted on 25 May to repeal the eighth amendment and give women easier access to abortion, the Abortion Rights Campaign had 36 offshoot groups outside the capital, including in counties where Catholicism and conservatism are deeply entrenched.

The Dublin-based organiser for the Abortion Rights Campaign, Cathie Shiels, knows how hard it is to stand in the middle of a remote Irish-Catholic town holding up a placard advocating for abortion reform. She comes from Donegal, close to the Northern Ireland border and the only county that voted "No" in the referendum.

Nick Hardwick: 'I’m not overjoyed that my career has been sacrificed for John Worboys'

Posted: 02 Jun 2018 12:00 AM PDT

When the Parole Board decided to release 'black-cab rapist' John Worboys, the public outrage forced chair Nick Hardwick to resign. Does he have any regrets?

Nick Hardwick says he always knew one controversial case could do for him. Of course he did: you don't take jobs like chair of the Parole Board with blinkers on. But when the controversy came, it proved more incendiary than even he had imagined.

In January, it was reported that John Worboys would be released from prison after 10 years in custody. Worboys, who was convicted of 19 offences against 12 women, including one count of rape, had in 2009 been given an indeterminate prison sentence with a minimum of eight years. But such open-ended sentences were later outlawed by the then justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, who called them a "stain" on the system.

An abortion at the age of 23 gave me freedom

Posted: 02 Jun 2018 01:00 AM PDT

During the Irish referendum, there was a lot of talk about abortion in extreme cases, but some – like mine – are banal but necessary

When I was 23, my life forked. Until then, it had felt like one of those LA freeways with half a dozen lanes: I had options in terms of which path I took, but they were all going in the same general direction.

I was barely making a living in a job I enjoyed, and living in a dump with friends I adored. Life was wide open. Then one day I took a pregnancy test and suddenly there were two directions for me: have the baby or don't. I cried on the bathroom floor with my best friend, but the tears were out of embarrassment that I had been so careless. They weren't out of fear. It was years before I appreciated what a privilege that was.

The 20 photographs of the week

Posted: 02 Jun 2018 12:54 AM PDT

Demonstrations in Gaza, the holy month of Ramadan, lava flow from the Kilauea volcano and Rafael Nadal at the French Open – the week captured by the world's best photojournalists

Africa: A Journey Into Music review – Nigeria's rich musical history is examined

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 03:05 PM PDT

Musician, DJ and Afrobeat expert Rita Ray tours the west African country to explore its musical legacy and meets its legends, such as King Sunny Adé

I've been known to be a bit down on BBC4's Friday night music docs. You know how they go: blokes sitting in front of their massive vinyl collections and mixing desks, listing people from "back in the day", showing off about how much they know, while dropping names and hinting at wild times. These shows can sometimes seem to be more about talking about the music than the music itself.

Not this lovely one though, which is full of joy and wonderful music. Presenting is Rita Ray, broadcaster and DJ (she co-ran the legendary Mambo Inn in Brixton in the 1990s that I remember very fondly … hang on, who's being boring and showing-off now?). Now, she's starting her whistle-stop African music odyssey, which will also drop in to Mali and South Africa, in Nigeria.

Donald Trump and the erosion of Democratic norms in America

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 11:00 PM PDT

For some, the president's efforts to undermine the justice department and the Mueller investigation represent a threat to democracy

Ask people with deep knowledge of the US justice department about the damage Donald Trump might be doing to the country, and the conversation quickly flips back to Watergate.

Following Richard Nixon's failed attempt to pull the plug on a special prosecutor who turned out to be on to something, the need for investigators to work free from White House interference was recognized by the public and reinforced by elected officials.

'Claudia was a good girl. Why did they kill her?' From a Guatemalan village to death in Texas

Posted: 02 Jun 2018 12:30 AM PDT

A week ago, 20-year-old Claudia Gómez was shot dead by border patrol agents in Texas – and no one has provided answers for her grieving family

When Claudia Gómez was a little girl she would climb fruit trees for cherries and apricots, and chase her friends through the lush corn fields scattered across the hills of their village in western Guatemala.

Her family remember her as a warm-hearted and mischievous girl who was riveted by mathematics from an early age, and who would sing to her two younger sisters as she braided their long black hair.

Mattis accuses China of 'intimidation and coercion' in South China Sea

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 10:50 PM PDT

US defence secretary warns of consequences if China continues militarisation of manmade islands

China's placement of weapons systems on manmade islands in the South China Sea is designed to intimidate and coerce others in the region, the US defence secretary James Mattis has said, laying out a sharp criticism of Beijing at an international security forum.

Speaking at the Singapore summit, he warned that America's recent move to disinvite China from a multinational naval exercise this summer was an "initial response" to the militarisation of the islands.

Eighty shipping containers fall off Sydney-bound freighter

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 11:01 PM PDT

Boat operators warned after Liberian-registered YN Efficiency lost part of its cargo in rough seas off coast of New South Wales

Nappies and surgical masks were washing up on New South Wales beaches as boat operators were warned to look out for debris after more than 80 shipping containers came loose from a vessel off Newcastle.

The Liberian-registered YM Efficiency was making its way from Taiwan to Sydney on Thursday night when it encountered rough seas.

Survivors of Yahya Jammeh's bogus Aids cure sue former Gambian leader

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 08:44 AM PDT

Lawyer brands deposed president one of the 'great modern villains' as trio claim damages over alleged complications

The Gambia's former president, Yahya Jammeh, has been summoned to court for the first time since he was forced out of office more than a year ago as survivors of his controversial HIV treatment programme sued for compensation.

Lawyers for Lamin Ceesay, Ousman Sowe and Fatou Jatta – the only woman in the case – filed a civil suit at the high court in Banjul on Thursday, claiming damages for harm suffered from the treatment.

The fall of Rajoy: how Gürtel affair defeated Spain's great survivor

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 06:47 AM PDT

Deposed PM took his own advice and stayed strong – but in the end he was powerless

In January 2012, Mariano Rajoy texted a friend who was going through a rough patch.

"Luis, stay strong," he wrote. "Luis, we are doing what we can."

Canadians and Americans are family. Donald Trump is testing even that | Bruce Heyman

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 03:00 AM PDT

We shouldn't be surprised by the president's decision to start a trade war with Canada – but he is playing a dangerous game, with no idea who it will hurt

Playing Russian roulette with your enemy is dangerous; playing it with your best friend is simply reckless. And that is exactly what Donald Trump is doing with American jobs in his negotiations with Canada on Nafta and his ill-conceived tariffs on steel and aluminum.

The moment Mariano Rajoy is ousted as Spain's PM – video

Posted: 01 Jun 2018 03:58 AM PDT

Rajoy has been deposed after a vote of no confidence, triggered by a corruption scandal involving the ruling People's party where former members were convicted. He will be replaced by Pedro Sánchez, the leader of Spain's opposition socialist PSOE party, which tabled the motion to unseat him