Gothenburg promised to optimise school admissions with a piece of code. The resulting chaos showed how unaccountable systems are ruining lives

We like to imagine that injustice announces itself loudly. That when something goes wrong in the public system, alarms go off and someone takes responsibility or is held accountable if they do not. But in 2020 in Gothenburg, injustice arrived quietly, disguised as efficiency.

For the first time, the city used an algorithm to allocate places in its schools. After all, working out geographical catchment areas and admissions is an administrative headache for any municipality. What better than a machine to optimise distances, preferences and capacity? The system was designed to serve public efficiency: framed as neutral, streamlined and objective.

Charlotta Kronblad researches digital transformation at the University of Gothenburg.

My country has been under occupation, dogged by corruption and war. Yet even I’ve been bewildered by the way the US seems to be fracturing

• A version of this piece appeared in the Dial under the headline No Common Ground

In 2008, when I was a reporter for a leading Ukrainian TV station, I insisted on following Barack Obama’s campaign for US president. Few Ukrainian media outlets could afford to send a journalist to travel around the US to report on the election; even the newsrooms of those that could took some convincing.

As a media student in 2004, I had spent two months on the streets of Kyiv during the Orange Revolution, where people protested a stolen election and succeeded in defending their vote. The excitement of the fight for freedom and justice, combined with the energy of mass gatherings, was seductive. I recognised a similar momentum in the US during Obama’s campaign and wanted to see how things felt on the ground. As a Ukrainian, I could relate to Obama’s promises to restore respect for human rights and the rule of law, and his desire to mobilise people around the idea of “hope”. It also stood in contrast with what I knew of the US: I had studied foreign news reporting at the time of the US invasion of Iraq and the military’s crimes in Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo.

Pair apologise in court after being accused of defrauding buyers including some of New York’s most prominent fine art auction houses

A father and daughter in New Jersey have pleaded guilty to running a years-long counterfeiting scheme to trick art galleries and auction houses into buying forged paintings of works by prominent artists such as Andy Warhol, Banksy and Pablo Picasso.

Federal prosecutors said Erwin Bankowski, 50, and Karolina Bankowska, 26, commissioned an artist in Poland to create at least 200 of the fakes and ultimately defrauded buyers of at least $2m.

Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslims said poor mental health made him admit to crimes

The Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019 has been prevented from appealing against his guilty pleas, after one of New Zealand’s highest courts said his bid was “utterly devoid of merit”.

Brenton Tarrant, who is responsible for the worst mass shooting in New Zealand’s history, asked the court of appeal in February to allow him to appeal against his guilty pleas, claiming harsh prison conditions had affected his mental health and compelled him to admit to the crimes.

Oil markets spooked as Donald Trump appears willing to maintain the US Navy blockade and Iran’s keeps strait of Hormuz all but shut

The price of Brent oil soared above $122 a barrel on Wednesday, its highest level since 2022, as US-Iran ceasefire negotiations stalled and the critical strait of Hormuz remained effectively closed.

In a one-day surge of almost 10%, the price of Brent crude hit the highest level since the war began, tipping past $122 before settling about $120. Not since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has Brent topped $120.

Over the last six weeks, the Iranian regime has carried out a spate of executions of political prisoners. The Guardian journalist Daniel Boffey reports

Iran has hanged 18 political prisoners during the last six weeks.

Chief reporter Dan Boffey tells the stories of some of the condemned and their families, describing a system of vague charges, unfair trials, and a whole judicial process rushed through under the cover of war. It is as though, he tells Annie Kelly , the regime is letting the Iranian people know it is still in control, despite the US-Israeli strikes and the death of so many in the leadership.

Interim report contains 14 recommendations, after inquiry examined agencies’ actions before the attack in which 15 people were killed

The federal government’s counter-terrorism coordinator should be a full-time position, and the prime minister and national security ministers need training in responding to terrorist incidents, an interim royal commission report has found.

The interim report of the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion has handed down 14 recommendations – five of which remain secret – to the government on Thursday morning.

Surplus 50% means co-operation ‘already under way’ with other countries and standing offer to US; SBU hits oil station 1,500km inside Russia. What we know on day 1,527

Indictment accuses high-level officials in Sinaloa of offences such as drug trafficking, weapons offences and kidnapping

The US justice department has charged the governor of Sinaloa and nine other current and former officials for alleged ties to the Sinaloa cartel, accusing them of aiding in the massive importation of illicit narcotics into the United States .

Some officials were members of Mexico’s progressive ruling party, Morena, posing a political conundrum for Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum as she seeks to offset mounting pressures from the Trump administration.