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Simon White comes clean after finding clay pieces in toffee tin, saying he took them as souvenir from Wenlock PrioryFragments of a priory's medieval tiled floor that spent almost 60 years stashed in a toffee tin after being pocketed by a nine-year-old boy during a family outing have finally been handed back.The three pieces of decorative clay tiles, dating from the late 13th to early 14th century, were taken as a souvenir by Simon White during a family visit to Wenlock Priory in Shropshire in the late 1960s. Continue reading...

Exclusive: women massively underrepresented' in next week's local and devolved elections, campaigners sayWomen will be massively underrepresented on ballot papers across the UK next week, campaigners say, with research revealing that almost twice as many men as women are standing as candidates across the local, mayoral and devolved elections.Democracy campaigners say men of all political stripes are likely to dominate local government, with women's views on issues from social care to bin collections sidelined by the huge gap between the numbers of male and female candidates. Continue reading...

Yara CEO warns of global auction that would leave poorest countries scrambling for supplies they can ill affordThe Iran war could have dramatic consequences", causing food shortages and price rises in some of Africa's poorest and most vulnerable communities, the head of the world's largest fertiliser company has said.Svein Tore Holsether, the chief executive of Yara International, said world leaders needed to guard against soaring prices and shortages of fertiliser causing a de facto global auction that would leave the poorest countries, particularly in Africa, scrambling for supplies they could ill afford. Continue reading...

Students taking part in university's annual ritual say images of them in swimwear are being published without consent in national newspapersWhen the sun rises at dawn on Friday, hundreds of St Andrews University students will brave the chilly North Sea for the annual May Dip, an undergraduate ritual said to bring good luck in exams. But the students won't be alone at the beach. In recent years this quirky ritual has become a target for agency and freelance photographers looking to cash in on images of students in bikinis, including some who camp out overnight on the East Sands dunes near the Fife coastal path.It ruined my night," said Anna, one of the students whose photo appeared in a spread published by the Scotsman. Now when I think about that May Dip, I think about that image, and that's it." Continue reading...

Exclusive: Letter sent to government about case of Inuit woman whose baby was removed after now-banned testThe United Nations has warned Denmark that the treatment of a Greenlandic mother whose newborn child was removed by Danish authorities as a result of controversial parenting competency tests may amount to ethnic discrimination".Keira Alexandra Kronvold's daughter, Zammi, was taken away from her when she was two hours old and placed in foster care in November 2024 after Kronvold was subjected to so-called FKU (parental competence) psychometric tests. At the time, she was told that the test was to see if she was civilised enough". Continue reading...

Five-year-old's grandfather and senior Warlpiri elder appeals for calm, saying: It is time now for sorry business' Warning: This article contains references to and images of Indigenous Australians who have diedNorthern Territory police say one person is facing charges and more are expected over unrest in Alice Springs after the arrest of a man in connection with the death of five-year-old girl.The grandfather of Kumanjayi Little Baby, whose body was found on Thursday 5km from the Old Timers town camp where she was last seen alive on Saturday night, called for calm in the central Australian town on Friday, saying the violent confrontation between police and others at Alice Springs hospital was not our way". Continue reading...

Speculative reports say Amazon is considering relaunching the reality show once hosted by the US president, with his eldest son floated as a possible host

Denise Ann Williams, 62, was last heard from on 15 April, when she told her family she was travelling to the west coast of Cape Breton Island in Canada's eastA search is underway in Canada for a 62-year-old Australian woman who was reported missing on Tuesday while hiking in a coastal national park in the country's south-east.Denise Ann Williams was last heard from on 15 April, when she told family she was travelling to Cheticamp, a fishing village on the west coast of Cape Breton Island in the province of Nova Scotia. Continue reading...

Company reported $111.2bn in revenue in first earnings report after announcement of Cook's pending departureApple blew past Wall Street expectations in its first earnings report since it announced CEO Tim Cook would be stepping down.Cook shared his thoughts about the leadership transition on Thursday, saying: There's no one on this planet I trust more to lead Apple into the future" than incoming CEO John Ternus. Asked by an investor what advice he's given Ternus, Cook said: Never forget the north star for the company. You know, we're about making the best products in the world that really enrich other people's lives." Ternus spoke briefly, too, praising Cook's thoughtfulness in financial decision-making and saying: This is the most exciting time in my 25-year career at Apple to be building products and services." Continue reading...

State pension was built for a different era', says former PM's organisation amid pressure on government financesLabour has been urged by Tony Blair's thinktank to scrap the pensions triple lock amid mounting pressure on government finances.With the Iran war threatening to derail public spending plans, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) said the unaffordable" manifesto pledge to maintain the triple lock should be torn up as part of a wider overhaul of the state pension. Continue reading...

Parliamentary committee takes unusual step of declaring no confidence in executives at utility providerMPs have accused the leadership of South East Water of incompetence over repeated water outages for tens of thousands of customers, and expressed no confidence in their ability to reform the company.MPs from across the political spectrum said David Hinton, SEW's chief executive, and the board of directors operated a culture of unaccountability at the company, which provides drinking water for 2.3 million customers in Berkshire, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Continue reading...

Birdwatching no longer niche, old-fashioned pastime, says RSPB as research shows 47% increase in hobby since 2018Birdwatching is the second fastest growing hobby for generation Z after jewellery making, according to a multiyear study of more than 24,000 people.Almost 750,000 gen Zers (16 to 29-year-olds) in Britain regularly enjoy watching birds, a -1,088% increase since 2018, according to research by Fifty5Blue published by the RSPB. Continue reading...

Patient safety mechanism which gives patients the right to seek a second opinion having lifesaving impact', says health secretary

Advice charity also helping thousands of tenants before Renters' Rights Act comes into force on FridaySolicitors say they have been inundated with requests to serve last-minute section 21 no-fault eviction notices before they are banned when the Renters' Rights Act comes into force in England on Friday.The legislation, which has been hailed as the biggest change to renting in a generation, bans no-fault evictions, limits rent increases and abolishes fixed-term tenancies. Continue reading...

Dozens of people gather outside hospital where 47-year-old was being treated five days after the five-year-old girl disappearedWarning: This article contains references to and images of Indigenous Australians who have died

President Lula's veto of the bill was overturned by Brazil's congress and senate, meaning it now awaits confirmation by supreme courtBrazil's largely conservative congress has approved a bill reducing the prison sentence of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted last year of attempting a coup.The bill had initially been passed by congress in December, but President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vetoed it in January in a symbolic move marking three years since Bolsonaro supporters ransacked the capital, Brasilia. Continue reading...

Agents would not allow Pavel Talankin to carry statuette for Mr Nobody Against Putin onto flight from New York

Pop star was arrested in March after she was pulled over for driving erratically on US 101 in California

Mark Rowley defends officers who arrested suspect in Wednesday's incident and calls on Green party leader to show solidarityThe Metropolitan police chief has said that Green party leader Zack Polanski sharing a post about the arrest of the Golders Green terror suspect will have a chilling effect".Met officers arrested a 45-year-old man after two Jewish people were stabbed in the suburb of north-west London on Wednesday. Police said the suspect was shot with a stun gun to subdue him. Continue reading...

Hope that sessions of MDMA-assisted therapy could help soldiers fight longer by helping them process traumaA new doctrine could soon take hold in part of the US war on drugs: psychedelic drugs for active-duty soldiers suffering from PTSD.In two studies funded by the Department of Defense (DoD), 186 service personnel with PTSD will likely next year undergo multiple sessions of MDMA-assisted therapy. Continue reading...

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President says decision made in honor of the king and queen' as industry officials call deal significant boost'In a gesture of diplomatic friendliness after King Charles's visit to the White House, Donald Trump said the US would be removing all tariffs on whisky imports.In Honor of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, who have just left the White House, soon headed back to their wonderful Country, I will be removing the Tariffs and Restrictions on Whiskey having to do with Scotland's ability to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky on Whiskey and Bourbon," Trump said in a post on social media. Continue reading...

Republican-controlled House approved bipartisan measure to fund much of DHS, including Secret Service and TSA

Green checkmark will appear on artist profiles to signal they meet the platform's standard for authenticitySpotify on Thursday unveiled a new verification system designed to help listeners distinguish human musicians from AI-generated content, as people flood streaming platforms with a growing volume of synthetic tracks made with artificial intelligence.The Swedish streaming giant said its Verified by Spotify" badge - marked by a green checkmark - will begin appearing on artist profiles and in search results in the coming weeks, signaling that a profile has been reviewed and meets the platform's standards for authenticity. Continue reading...

Bipartisan measure includes funding for Secret Service and TSA, but excludes immigration enforcement operations

Keir Starmer pledges crackdown on protesters chanting or displaying antisemitic slogans as terror attack is assessed to be highly likely'Keir Starmer has pledged to crack down on those venerating the murder of Jews" at protest marches as the UK terror threat level was raised to severe in the wake of the Golders Green attack.The prime minister promised to do everything in our power to stamp this hatred out" after meeting emergency workers and community leaders near the scene in north-west London where two Jewish men were stabbed on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Senator Jack Reed says at hearing that defense secretary failed to give Trump accurate picture of war in Iran

Dozens handed life peerages in apparent concession, enabling their return to red benchesDozens of hereditary peers whose seats have been abolished have had their lawmaking powers restored as Keir Starmer seeks to accelerate changes to the House of Lords.It is understood that 15 Conservative hereditary peers, two Labour and nine crossbenchers have been handed life peerages, enabling their return to the red benches. Continue reading...

Coroner says none of the five civilians killed in incident in Belfast during Troubles should have been shotBritish army soldiers lost control" and used force that was not reasonable" in the killing of five civilians in Northern Ireland in 1972, an inquest judge has ruled.Four of the victims - two teenagers, a father of six and a Catholic priest - posed no risk when they were shot in the Springhill and Westrock areas of west Belfast on 9 July 1972, Mr Justice Scoffield said on Thursday. Continue reading...

Prominent contemporary visual artist explored range of techniques across six decades of work

US president said he was instead nominating radiologist and Fox News contributor Dr Nicole Saphier for the post

Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre's assessment means terror attack highly likely'The UK terrorism threat level has been raised to severe" by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre after the Golders Green stabbings, meaning a terror attack is thought to be highly likely".The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, described Wednesday's attack as a vile act of terrorism. Today, the national threat level has increased to severe', which means a terrorist attack is considered highly likely," she said. Continue reading...

Vehicle was travelling through Juvisy-sur-Orge when it veered off the road and fell in the riverFour people have been rescued from the Seine near Paris after a bus driven by a trainee driver collided with a parked vehicle before plunging into the river.The bus was travelling through the town of Juvisy-sur-Orge, south-east of the French capital, on Thursday when it veered off the road into the Seine, prosecutors said. Continue reading...

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, allegedly stormed the White House correspondents' association dinnerThe man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump by rushing the black-tie press gala in Washington DC at the weekend where the US president was a guest, agreed on Thursday to remain in custody while his federal criminal case moves forward.The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, was not planning immediately to contest prosecutors' arguments that he was a danger to the community and should remain in jail, his attorney, Tezira Abe, said during a federal court hearing in the capital. Continue reading...

Global Sumud Flotilla describes interception as violent raid' while Turkey condemns it as act of piracy'Israeli forces have intercepted and detained the crews of at least 22 boats near the Greek island of Crete from a flotilla that is attempting to break Israel's maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid.The Global Sumud Flotilla, consisting of about 58 vessels carrying people from across 70 countries, departed from Italy on Sunday. Continue reading...

A new reboot of the 1999 horror hit will feature two of the original stars and the directing team as executive producersThe reboot of The Blair Witch Project will now boast those involved with the original as producers after they voiced their frustration.The 1999 indie smash was made for $35,000 but made $248m, becoming one of the most profitable films ever made. Continue reading...

Suleiman had been referred to scheme to try to stop people becoming terrorists in 2020 but case was closed the same year

The candidates standing in the upcoming local elections have been arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatredOn BBC Radio Merseyside the presenter, Tony Snell, put it to Kemi Badenoch that Merseyside was a lost cause for the Tories. He said that Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, had been on the programme yesterday. He said that Farage argued that Scousers were down to earth and the Tories they were seen as aloof and remote".Badenoch said no one had ever described her as aloof and remote. When it was put to her that Farage was talking about the party, she said the Tories were the party of working people. Labour were only interested in welfare, she claimed.Nigel Farage can say as much as he wants that he's the one who's down to earth. Someone just gave him a 5m gift to the other day. I don't know what's down to earth about that.Who gets 5m is a gift. If I got 50,000 as a gift, I think people would raise their eyebrows. That's a hundred times that. And he forgot to register it. He forgot that he'd been given 5m. I don't think that's down to earth. So I'm not going to be taking any lessons from Nigel Farage. Continue reading...

US president uses social media post to criticise chancellor over Ukraine, immigration and interfering' in Iran conflictThe Commission was also asked about yesterday's meeting of Hungary's incoming prime minister, Peter Magyar.But we didn't get much more than what we saw in yesterday's social media posts from Magyar and the EU's Ursula von der Leyen. Continue reading...

State's police minister says buyback doesn't focus on keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists and criminals', leaving NSW only clear supporter of plan

Mojtaba Khamenei says Tehran will eliminate enemy's abuses of the waterway' and guard its nuclear and missile programmes

The musician was known for working-class anthem Take This Job and Shove It as well as hits like The Ride and othersDavid Allan Coe, the country singer-songwriter who wrote the working-class anthem Take This Job and Shove It and had hits with You Never Even Called Me By My Name and The Ride among others, has died. He was 86.Coe's wife, Kimberly Hastings Coe, confirmed his death to Rolling Stone on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Mills cites lack of funds as rival to unseat Susan Collins fuels Democratic rift under Donald Trump

First quarter output, driven by AI investment and government spending, rose as oil shock fuels inflation fearsUS gross domestic product (GDP) accelerated 2% in the first three months of 2026, though consumer spending is slowing as the war with Iran continues to impact energy prices.The last GDP reading for the fourth quarter of 2025 showed that US economic growth slowed to a 0.5% pace, largely due to a contraction in government spending after massive layoffs of federal workers last year. The federal government is down 355,000 workers, or 11.8% of the workforce, since October 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continue reading...

Artist has not yet confirmed whether large statue on plinth in Waterloo Place is by himBanksy's signature has appeared scrawled at the base of a large new statue in central London.The elusive artist, known for his provocative works of graffiti, has not yet confirmed whether the statue is by him. He often posts confirmation on his website shortly after a work is discovered by the public. Continue reading...

Absolutely clear' people are being targeted for being Jewish, says PM as he holds meeting with agencies and ministers

Ruling has gutted provision intended to prevent racial discrimination in voting. Plus, oil tops $126 a barrel to reach highest level since 2022

Bank governor says latest MPC decision is reasonable given unpredictability of events unfolding in Middle East

The 155-page interim report released on Thursday shows how little is known - and can be shared - about the 14 December shooting