US will reportedly allow Russian oil tanker to reach Cuba amid blockade 30. March 2026 (00:41) Anatoly Kolodkin could soon discharge at Matanzas port, US official says, three months after Cuba’s last oil importThe US is allowing a Russian tanker full of crude oil to reach Cuba, the New York Times reported on Sunday, possibly granting a lifeline to the Caribbean island amid a de facto oil blockade imposed by Washington.Ship tracking data showed the Russian-flagged tanker Anatoly Kolodkin on Sunday was just off the eastern tip of Cuba. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Australia politics live: Chalmers says there is no ‘expectation’ of a recession; Pocock condemns stories of older Australians ‘charged $200 to have a shower’ 29. March 2026 (23:58) Treasurer says government’s inflation forecast from a fortnight ago is now looking ‘conservative’. Follow updates liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTrade minister to speak at National Press Club after signing of EU free trade dealDon Farrell, the trade and tourism minister, will speak to journalists at the National Press Club in Canberra today, talking up the government’s new free trade agreement with the European Union.We haven’t had an honest conversation in this country about issues around taxation for a very long time, because the conversation always gets shut down. So I absolutely support us having honest conversations as Australians about what we should be doing into the future that’s in the best interest of our nation. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Keir Starmer to launch local elections campaign with focus on cost of living 29. March 2026 (23:30) PM will also cite Iran war as reason to stick with Labour, as party adopts new slogan: ‘Pride in Britain’ Keir Starmer will say that a vote for Reform UK will put at risk progress Labour is making on the cost of living, arguing that Britain’s values are being tested in a volatile world.Launching the party’s local elections campaign with a new slogan: “Pride in Britain”, Starmer will urge voters to stay the course with Labour. A dire set of results are predicted for the party in Wales, Scotland and English councils, especially in the north-east of England and London. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Chesney the kangaroo found three days after hopping away from farm 29. March 2026 (23:07) Marsupial escaped from enclosure at Wisconsin’s Sunshine Farm on Wednesday after he was spooked by stray dogsHow does a kangaroo escape a petting zoo?It’s not the opening line to a dad joke. If you’re Chesney the kangaroo, you scale an 8ft (2.5-meter) fence and go on the lam for three days, giving your keeper sleepless nights and sending residents of a small Wisconsin town on a search that would end happily on Saturday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Cory Booker says Democrats have ‘failed this moment’ and calls for new leaders 29. March 2026 (21:32) Senator’s comments come amid growing divisions within the party, which he says has ‘too small of a coalition’Cory Booker, the Democratic senator from New Jersey, renewed his calls for new leadership of the Democratic party, saying the party has “failed this moment”.“As a whole, our party has failed this moment,” Booker said on Sunday. “I’ve called for a generational renewal, because this left-right divide is killing our country and our adversaries know it.” He also said that “purity tests” within the party have led to more division in the US. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
NHS restructure is greatest danger to Streeting’s effort to revive service 29. March 2026 (20:45) Health secretary still confident of success but critics say scrapping of NHS England has been ‘a total car crash’NHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in EnglandIn the Great Hall at the University of East London last Wednesday, the perennially upbeat Wes Streeting was exuding even greater positivity than usual. After years of neglect under the Conservatives, he said, the NHS was starting to revive thanks to Labour’s medicine.In a bravura performance in front of an audience of health service bosses, policy experts and student nurses in their blue and green uniforms, Streeting reeled off a long list of improvements in his 20-month tenure as health secretary. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
What the Houthis’ entry into the Iran war means for the conflict and the wider region 29. March 2026 (20:27) Fresh attacks on Red Sea shipping would be devastating – but the Iranian proxy has reasons to be cautiousThe true significance of the long-awaited entry of Yemen’s Houthis into the Iran war depends on whether the Tehran-backed proxy group is intending to send a few missiles and drones from a distance towards Israel or will instead capitalise on its proximity to the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait to effectively close off the Red Sea to shipping, just as Iran has in effect shut the strait of Hormuz.The combined effect of both waterways being shut to commercial traffic from countries that neither the Iranians nor Houthis favour would be devastating. Napoleon Bonaparte’s remark that “the policy of a state lies in its geography” has never seemed more apt. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Iran accuses US of plotting ground assault while publicly seeking talks 29. March 2026 (20:03) Tehran says it will confront any land attack, as Houthi missiles fired at Israel signal further escalation in regionMiddle East crisis – live updatesIran has warned the US that it is prepared to confront any ground assault, accusing Washington of secretly planning a land attack while publicly seeking talks, as the war that has killed thousands of people and caused the biggest ever disruption to global energy supplies entered its second month.As efforts to find a negotiated conclusion to hostilities inched forward with a meeting of regional powers in Pakistan, there were signs of further escalation over the weekend as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis entered the conflict for the first time, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his country was widening its invasion of southern Lebanon. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Dozens of No Kings protesters arrested in Los Angeles after clash with police 29. March 2026 (20:02) Officers fired pepper balls and teargas into group of about 150 on Saturday night, arresting those who did not disperseThird No Kings protest draws 8 million worldwide to push back on Trump administrationPolice arrested dozens of protesters and shot teargas into a crowd on Saturday night at a No Kings protest in Los Angeles.The conflict is the latest of many that have taken place outside the Metropolitan detention center, which has become a focal point of protests since the Trump administration launched an immigration offense on Los Angeles last year. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Lawmakers react to reports Pentagon preparing for ground operations in Iran 29. March 2026 (19:00) Conflict shows signs of entering new, more dangerous phase as additional 3,500 US troops arrive in the Middle EastUS lawmakers responded to reports that the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, as thousands of US troops assemble in the Middle East and the conflict showed signs of entering a new, more dangerous phase.Officials told the Washington Post that a ground operation in Iran could be limited to raids by Special Operations forces and infantry troops, but it was unclear whether Donald Trump would approve any of the Pentagon’s plans. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
