South Korea’s fertility rate sinks to record low despite $270bn in incentives ( www.theguardian.com )
India confronts Google over Gemini AI tool’s ‘fascist Modi’ responses ( www.theguardian.com )
Russian pilot who defected found dead in Spain, says Ukraine security agency ( www.theguardian.com )
A Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine last year in a secret operation has been found dead in Spain, according to the main military intelligence agency in Kyiv....
Italian town in turmoil after far-right mayor bans Muslim prayers ( www.theguardian.com )
Bangladeshi residents and others in Monfalcone say decisions to prohibit worship at cultural centres and banning burkinis at the beach is part of anti-Islam agenda...
‘They lied’: plastics producers deceived public about recycling, report reveals ( www.theguardian.com )
Plastic producers have known for more than 30 years that recycling is not an economically or technically feasible plastic waste management solution. That has not stopped them from promoting it, according to a new report....
European leaders call for stronger defence ties after Trump’s Nato remarks ( www.theguardian.com )
European leaders have called for greater unity and military cooperation across the continent in response to comments from Donald Trump that threatened to undermine the basis of Nato....
Biden criticises Israel military campaign in Gaza as ‘over the top’ ( www.theguardian.com )
US President Joe Biden has suggested that Israel’s military response in Gaza has been “over the top” and said he is seeking a “sustained pause in the fighting” to help ailing Palestinian civilians....
Italy’s far-right government submits plan to decriminalise abuse of office ( www.theguardian.com )
Cern aims to build €20bn atom-smasher to unlock secrets of universe ( www.theguardian.com )
Research lab submits plans for next-generation model at least three times size of Large Hadron Collider...
Protesters throw soup at Mona Lisa in Paris ( www.theguardian.com )
Visitors at Louvre look on in shock as Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece attacked by environmental protesters...
Families of hostages storm Knesset meeting after Netanyahu rejects Hamas offer ( www.theguardian.com )
Family members of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip have stormed a parliamentary meeting in Jerusalem to demand that Israel’s government does more to return their loved ones, as fighting in Khan Younis reached unprecedented levels....
What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation | US education | The Guardian ( www.theguardian.com )
What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation | US education | The Guardian::Teachers say mobile phones make their lives a living hell – so one Massachusetts school barred them
Newly discovered cosmic megastructure challenges theories of the universe ( www.theguardian.com )
A 1.3bn light year-sized ring discovered by PhD student in Lancashire appears to defy the cosmological principle assumption...
Almost 100 dead in blasts at Iran memorial for assassinated commander ( www.theguardian.com )
Two explosions at Kerman ceremony marking anniversary of killing of Qassem Suleimani raise Middle East tensions further...
Berlin’s plan for driverless magnetic trains derided by climate groups ( www.theguardian.com )
Russia warns US and Europe over reports Ukraine may get its seized assets ( www.theguardian.com )
Kremlin threatens ‘serious consequences’ if there is an unprecedented seizure of Russian assets held abroad...
Woman who sued Texas for abortion left state to have procedure after ‘hellish’ week ( www.theguardian.com )
Center for the Reproductive Rights, which is representing Kate Cox, says she left after being ‘in and out of the emergency room’...
How do you reduce a national dish to a powder?: the weird, secretive world of crisp flavours ( www.theguardian.com )
New Zealand scraps world-first smoking ‘generation ban’ to fund tax cuts ( www.theguardian.com )
Health experts say axing plan to block sales of tobacco products to next generation will cost thousands of lives
How the Israel-Hamas conflict is dividing the UK Labour party ( www.theguardian.com )
Keir Starmer’s refusal to back calls for ceasefire has led to resignations and calls to quit from some in his party
Young people think vapes aren’t harmful because they are so easy to buy, study finds ( www.theguardian.com )
Gaza hospitals ceasing to function as water and fuel run out ( www.theguardian.com )
Pope accepts resignation of Polish bishop after gay orgy scandal in diocese ( www.theguardian.com )
Russia’s Avdiivka offensive is failing, says top Ukrainian officer ( www.theguardian.com )
A top Ukrainian commander has claimed that Russia’s biggest offensive in months – involving tanks, thousands of soldiers and armoured vehicles in an attack on the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka – is failing, as he admitted Kyiv’s own attempts to advance in the south were proving “difficult”....
Calls for Starbucks boycott grow amid aggressive union-busting activities ( www.theguardian.com )
