A spokesperson for Falun Dafa - a group associated with Shen Yun - said it had received threats against Albanese if upcoming performances went ahead

Should legislation pass House of Lords, the matter will require another vote after May's Welsh electionsWales's Senedd has voted in favour of implementing Westminster's assisted dying bill, overcoming a constitutionally awkward situation that could have forced terminally ill people who wish to end their lives to travel to England or seek private provision.In a debate stretching into Tuesday night in the Senedd's newly expanded chamber, members voted 28 for and 23 against, with two abstentions. Should the legislation pass the House of Lords, the matter will require another Senedd vote after May's Welsh elections. Continue reading...

Volunteer group Citizens of the Reef made the find as part of the Great Reef Census

Ursula von der Leyen talks up prospect of 90bn loan but appears cautious on timetable for Ukraine joining blocZelenskyy says we must be just as determined and strong as we were when the invasion began," as the threat hasn't become smaller."He says Europe can only respond to this war working together with the US, even as he remarks it is not an easy task to maintain transatlantic unity and cooperation in the current conditions."So there must be no place in the free world for Russian oil, for Russian tankers, Russian banks, Russian sanctions ..., schemes, or for any Russian war criminals. The time has come to fully ban all participants in Russia's aggression from entire Europe." Continue reading...

Chief content officer Kate Phillips tells staff she is so sorry' only one racial slur by Tourette campaigner was not edited from recorded broadcastPeter Bradshaw: why the dust has not yet settled on the Baftas N-word rowA senior BBC executive has apologised to staff for the corporation's failure to edit a racial slur from Sunday's Bafta film awards telecast. In a note sent on Tuesday and seen by the Press Association, chief content officer Kate Phillips told staff she was so sorry that a racial slur was not edited out of our broadcast" and that she understood how distressing this was".Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson could be heard shouting the N-word as Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the award for special visual effects at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Continue reading...

Mexico's president says there is no risk' for those visiting for Fifa games after military killed drug lord El Mencho'

Natalie Fleet MP says politicians should not expect death threats as standard', as Lancashire councillor apologisesA Labour MP has said politicians should not expect to face death threats as standard" after a Reform UK councillor shared a Facebook post which said she should be shot".The picture of Natalie Fleet, who has spoken previously about being groomed and raped as a teenager, was accompanied by a fake quote misattributed to her, which read: I voted against the grooming gang enquiry." Continue reading...

Claim of abetting terrorist activities' comes as Kremlin attempts to steer users on to state-controlled appRussia has launched a criminal investigation into the Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, on suspicion of abetting terrorist activities", further escalating the Kremlin's standoff with the widely used messaging app.The state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported on Tuesday that a case had been opened based on materials from Russia's federal security service", which accused the app of being compromised by western and Ukrainian intelligence. Continue reading...

Christopher Trybus charged with manslaughter of Tarryn Baird, rape and coercive and controlling behaviourA woman who took her own life after being subjected to a campaign of physical and sexual violence" by her husband told her family I am so sorry but I just couldn't take it any more", a court has heard.Tarryn Baird, 34, was found dead at her home in Swindon, Wiltshire, on 28 November 2017. Continue reading...

Little sign Moscow's ability to continue waging war for a fifth year is diminished, says head of strategic studies

Josh Simons failed to declare gifts from Labour donor within the stipulated 28 days of receiving them

Labor MP says some children reach adulthood without mixing with people from different cultures and religions

Exiled Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had fled to Italy translated Hebrew bible into their common languageIn 1553, a community of exiled Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had found refuge and patronage in the northern Italian city of Ferrara did something that would have been unthinkable, and very possibly fatal, in their former homelands.They printed their own Hebrew bible in Spanish. Continue reading...

Booking system freezes and screens crash amid rush of fans trying to secure tickets to 21 March free concertTickets for BTS's comeback concert in central Seoul were snapped up almost immediately on Monday night, with authorities expecting an estimated 260,000 fans to descend for the K-pop group's first full performance in nearly four years.At one point, more than 100,000 people flooded the booking website when sales opened at 8pm for the free concert at Gwanghwamun square on 21 March, causing screens to crash and booking systems to freeze. Continue reading...

Links to Jeffrey Epstein have taken political operator from a vaunted position in British diplomacy to arrest in under six monthsJust six months ago Peter Mandelson seemed unassailable as the UK's ambassador to the US, one of the most vaunted positions in British diplomacy. As our man in Washington, Mandelson appeared to have used his skill for schmoozing, learned over years as a cabinet minister and a European commissioner, to secure a good relationship with the tricky Trump administration. He was considered instrumental in securing a relatively favourable US trade deal for the UK.He was also an influential voice in Labour politics with the ear of the prime minister and his inner circle, notably his friend and protege Morgan McSweeney, Starmer's then chief of staff. Continue reading...

With the Russian military performing poorly, Ukraine is clarifying strategy and pushing back with modest successRussia's invasion of Ukraine, now entering its fifth grim year, has already gone on longer than the entire fight on the eastern front in the second world war. The Soviets marched from the gates of Leningrad to Berlin in a little over 15 months in 1944-45; today the Russian rate of gain in Pokrovsk in Ukraine is 70 metres a day, in Kupiansk, 23 metres, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.The gains are trivial, given Ukraine's size, amounting to 1,865 sq miles during 2025 (about 0.8% of the country) - so the idea touted by the Russians, sometimes accepted by a credulous White House, that Ukraine is suffering a slow-motion defeat, is not accurate. In reality, even allowing for the fact that hundreds of thousands of homes are without electricity, heating and water after Russian bombing, Ukraine is clarifying its strategy and pushing back with modest success. Continue reading...

NSW detectives say Toyota Corolla involved in crime was spotted in Pitt Town one day after 85-year-old abducted from North Ryde home

Virginia Bell says scope of inquiry will be reduced to avoid prejudicing criminal proceedings

China has opposed the smearing of its nuclear policy' while insisting Beijing would not engage in any nuclear arms race'The US has accused China of dramatically expanding its nuclear arsenal, while doubling down on claims that Beijing had conducted secret nuclear tests.Washington said the lapsing of New Start - the last treaty between top nuclear powers the US and Russia - earlier this month presented the possibility of striking a better agreement" that included Beijing. Continue reading...

Dominic Ethan Stewart was among 19 killed when vehicle veered off road and plunged down mountainsideTributes have been paid to a young British hiker who was among 19 people killed when a packed passenger bus veered off a treacherous stretch of road and plunged 200 metres down a steep mountainside in Nepal.Twenty-five others were injured in the pre-dawn crash in the Himalayan foothills on Monday. The bus was carrying 44 people, including a number of tourists. Continue reading...

Criminal barristers welcome justice secretary's move to remove limit on hearing days at crown courts in England and WalesA cap on court sitting days is to be lifted as the government seeks to ease the cases backlog, David Lammy has announced.The justice secretary and deputy prime minister said every crown court in England and Wales would be funded to hear more cases in the next financial year. Continue reading...

Performer appeared in closing ceremony of 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and was a mainstay of city's drag scene

Prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand say they would not object to his removal from royal succession lineA parliamentary inquiry into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's links to Jeffrey Epstein is a matter for MPs, Downing Street has said, as ministers faced a new push to uncover details about the former prince's role as a trade envoy.It comes as the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, wrote to Keir Starmer to say his country would have no objection to Mountbatten-Windsor being removed from the royal line of succession. Later, a spokesperson for New Zealand's prime minister, Christopher Luxon, said his country would also support the proposals. Continue reading...

The arrest followed search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas, police saidBridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has been speaking about the Send reforms at an event in Peterborough.This is what she said about the need for inclusion.Inclusion is a choice. It is an educational choice, and it is also a political choice because we could duck this challenge, ignore the injustice of a postcode lottery in life chances putting off fixing the Send system yet again.The system works well for some at least.We welcome the scale of vision contained in the white paper which has the potential to create an education system that fully values children and young people with additional needs and their families.We also welcome the commitment to retain statutory education, health and care plans (EHCPs) for children and young people whose needs cannot be met through this new model. We know that many parents will welcome the legal requirement for schools to create individual support plans (ISPs) for all children with Send. Continue reading...

Hungary's veto prevents EU countries from adopting latest round of sanctionsOne other thing we will be keeping an eye on today is the latest on the EU-US trade relationship after last Friday's US supreme court ruling on Trump's tariffs.The European Parliament is expected to discuss what to do with the EU-US trade deal later today. Continue reading...

Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala set up AOG Technics, which sold more than 60,000 components in a 40m global fraudA one-time techno DJ who orchestrated a 40m global fraud selling fake aircraft parts from his garage outside London has been jailed.Engine parts from AOG Technics found their way into planes used by American Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Delta and Ryanair before the scam was discovered, leading to regulators issuing safety alerts and planes being grounded. Continue reading...

PM asks ethics adviser to examine conduct of Cabinet Office minister amid Labour Together scandal fallout

Exclusive: Assessors unable to override algorithm-based tool, leaving people at risk of being pushed into aged care homes before they are ready

Everyone Hates Elon campaigners fix photo of ex-prince slouched in backseat of car after arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public officeActivists have hung a photo in the Louvre museum in Paris of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor being driven from a police station after his arrest.The British political campaign group Everyone Hates Elon fixed the photo, which shows the former prince slouched in the backseat of a Range Rover, on a wall of the Paris gallery on Sunday. Continue reading...

As details of the death toll for January's protests continue to emerge, three students explain why they are resisting a return to normalityMore than 45 days after a brutal January crackdown that left thousands of Iranian protesters dead, students across several universities are protesting again. As Iran's new academic term began on Saturday, students in Tehran gathered on campus, chanting anti-government slogans, despite a heavy security presence and plainclothes officers stationed outside university gates.The Guardian spoke to protesting students about why they were rallying despite the fact that thousands had been killed and tens of thousands arrested in the January demonstrations. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese writes to British PM as UK prepares to consider laws to strip former prince of his right to inherit the throne

Report into unprecedented' violence between members of two communities in 2022 calls for action on communalism

Former senior civil servants say culture of deference meant excessive expenses claims were waved throughAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor charged taxpayers for the cost of massages and excessive travel expenses while he was the UK's trade envoy, it has been reported.Former senior civil servants said they were shocked to see the claims, and that there was a culture of deference towards the former prince within Whitehall that allowed them to proceed. Continue reading...

South-western France could hit 25C, while a powerful Nor'easter is forecast to bring blizzards to Boston

New Art UK chair Ben Terrett appointed as charity marks 10 years of building online databaseFrom a bronze Rodin sculpture of the naked Eve outside a Nando's in Harlow to more than 6,000 artworks by JMW Turner, to a crumpled-up piece of A4 paper owned by Manchester Art Gallery, the UK's public art collection is a wonderful and varied thing.It is huge, as demonstrated by the charity Art UK, which has announced it has reached a million artworks on its database and appointed a new chair who said: We've only scratched the surface." Continue reading...

The Labor heavyweight and union legend says young Australians increasingly feel economic policy is rigged against them. But will Jim Chalmers step up?

Premier Chris Minns says state has been working with federal government as group of 11 women and 23 children attempt to leave refugee camp

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Man, now 22, told jury he messaged friend after the alleged incident saying he had anxiety and stomach pains

New subscription features on app for gay and bisexual men come with a price tag - from $109.99 a month in Australia to $349 in the US

Drug lord who was killed by Mexican special forces on Sunday led a cartel known for aggression and military-style arsenal

Environment watchdog says water corporation is responsible for ensuring it doesn't pollute our beautiful beaches'

Duterte, 80, is accused of crimes against humanity over an anti-drugs crackdown in which thousands of people were killed in south-east Asian countryThe pre-trial hearing for former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte for his alleged role in a deadly drug war" is set to begin at the international criminal court on Monday, despite his refusal to attend the proceedings.Duterte, 80, who was arrested in Manila and flown to The Hague last year, is accused of crimes against humanity over an anti-drugs crackdown in which thousands of people were killed. Continue reading...

Death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, one of world's most wanted drug traffickers, sets off wave of disorder across several Mexican states

Karoline Vitto, Phoebe English and Sinead Gorey include wide range of body shapes on catwalksBody diversity has made a comeback at London fashion week despite a wider shift towards ultra-thinness in the fashion industry.Emerging designers including Karoline Vitto, Phoebe English and Sinead Gorey included a wide range of body shapes on catwalks over the past four days. Sizes have ranged from a UK size 10-16, a category referred to as mid-size in the industry, to plus-size, also known as curve models, which measures from a UK size 18 upwards. Sample size, often referred to as straight models, ranges from a UK 4-8. Continue reading...

Reform UK leader flew to the Maldives for a day despite not having permit to visit nearby archipelagoNigel Farage has been accused of performing Maga stunts" after claiming the British government stopped him from travelling to the Chagos Islands on a humanitarian mission.The Reform UK leader said he had flown to the Maldives to join a delegation bringing aid to four Chagossians who are trying to establish a settlement on one of the archipelago's islands to protest against Britain's plans to transfer control of the territory to Mauritius. Continue reading...

Moscow continues to invest in strikes more than diplomacy,' says Zelenskyy, as logistics and energy facilities targetedRussia has fired scores of missiles and drones at targets across Ukraine, flattening a residential house in the capital, two days before the fourth anniversary of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion.Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Kremlin had launched 297 drones and nearly 50 missiles on Sunday, in the latest in a wave of overnight strikes. He said a significant proportion" had been shot down as he called on allies to strengthen the country's air defences against enemy attacks. Continue reading...

Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber, expects shocking' failures into care of triple killer Valdo Calacone to emerge at inquiry starting on MondayThe mother of a student who was killed in the 2023 Nottingham attacks has said she will fight to the bitter end" to get to the truth of how Valdo Calocane was free to attack, before the beginning of a public inquiry into the incident.Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, 19-year-old students, and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates were fatally stabbed by Calocane on 13 June 2023 in a frenzied attack. Early the next day, Calocane drove a van into pedestrians Wayne Birkett, Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronski, leaving all three with severe and life-changing injuries. Continue reading...

Welsh Rugby Union is to cut number of professional teams from four to three, with Ospreys the likely choiceFor Ian Gough, a lock forward who had been dropped by the Wales national rugby union team, signing with Swansea's Ospreys in 2007 was life-changing: he credits his time at the club with resurrecting his international career.It was great fun playing for the Ospreys," he said. They did it the hard way, ground their way up, and the supporters embraced that identity and went with them on that journey to becoming a good side. Continue reading...

Intelligence-based, selective operations' carried out against Pakistani Taliban camps, says information ministryPakistan launched multiple airstrikes on Saturday night targeting militants in neighbouring Afghanistan, where the government reported children were among dozens of people killed and wounded.Islamabad did not say precisely where the strikes were carried out or provide other details. Continue reading...