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He was the king of British light entertainment – now he’s pursuing bankers for bringing on austerity. Just don’t ask him what his secret is...In the courtyard outside an Edinburgh hotel, a boy barely in his teens excitedly asks Noel Edmonds for a selfie. The former presenter seems surprised, but it might be a bit of an act: he is, after all, one of the most recognisable faces in Britain. And since his brief but compelling turn on last year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Edmonds’ appeal has become what he calls “intergenerational”. His teenage stepson’s mates have looked him up on YouTube and were, he says, wowed by his appearance “introducing a band at some massive gig at Wembley”. (They mean Live Aid, where Edmonds’ company also provided all of the helicopter transport.)So now he is familiar to the kids of 2019, as well as those of us who grew up with him in the 1970s (presenting Multi-Coloured Swap Shop and Top Of The Pops), 1980s (The Late Late Breakfast Show, Telly Addicts), 1990s (Noel’s House Party) or 2000s (Deal Or No Deal). House Party, his madcap teatime show featuring sidekick Mr Blobby and the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, reached a peak of 15 million viewers on BBC One. It is difficult to think of anyone else who has had so many mainstream hits, over such a long period of time. For a bloke who can’t sing, dance, act or even really tell a joke, he’s an unlikely king of British light entertainment. What is Noel Edmonds’ secret? Continue reading...

Acting US defence secretary Patrick Shanahan warns stability in the region is under threat, including the South China SeaThe United States will no longer “tiptoe” around Chinese behaviour in Asia, with stability in the region at threat on issues ranging from the South China Sea to Taiwan, acting US defence secretary Patrick Shanahan has said.Shanahan did not directly name China when making accusations of “actors” destabilising the region, but went on to say on Saturday that the United States would not ignore Chinese behaviour, the latest acerbic exchange between the world’s two biggest economies. Continue reading...

Rookie PC prevents suspects from breaking into jewellery shop in south-west LondonA newly qualified police officer has won plaudits for stopping armed burglars while wearing only his underwear.The 29-year-old PC was off-duty when he was woken up by a disturbance near his home in Barnes High Street, south-west London, at about 3.30am on Friday. Continue reading...

Call for solidarity follows warning that Jews wearing cap face abuse and attacksGermans of all faiths and none are being urged to wear kippah skullcaps on Saturday as a symbol of solidarity with the Jewish community, after a steep rise in antisemitic attacks.Protests across the country have been called by the government’s antisemitism ombudsman after he triggered a heated debate when he warned Jews last week not to wear the kippah because of the increasing likelihood of being attacked. Continue reading...

Deal worth $1.76bn with Melco will leave Consolidated Press Holdings with 26%James Packer has sold almost half his stake in Crown Resorts for $1.76bn to a Hong Kong-based entertainment company.Consolidated Press Holdings, Packer’s private investment company, confirmed on Thursday night it had sold 19.99% of its shareholding in Crown Resorts to Melco Resorts and Entertainment. It was sold for an aggregate purchase price of $1.76bn, equivalent to $13 a share. Continue reading...

Government ‘unwilling’ to engage with financing of extremists, says Whitehall thinktank

Friday: Donald Trump admits, then denies, that Russia helped his election campaign. Plus: scientists induce autism in miceGood morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 31 May – the last day of autumn. Continue reading...

Australia Institute finds more than 50% of the benefit of cuts after 2024-25 will go to the top 20% of taxpayersA new analysis says high-income earners are the overwhelming beneficiaries of the income tax cuts promised by the Morrison government after 2024-25, with more than 50% of the benefit going to the top 20% of taxpayers.As Labor continues to mull whether or not to support stages two and three of the Coalition’s tax plan, the new work from the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute to be released on Friday underscores previous analysis indicating the benefits of the latter phase of the tax cuts flow to high-income workers. Continue reading...

Committee hears that government is ‘not ready’ to implement Don Dale commission recommendations despite ‘failed policy’Almost three years on from the royal commission into Don Dale, every single child in detention in the Northern Territory is Aboriginal, the NT social policy scrutiny committee has been told.But as one committee member said the system was “broken”, Territory Families said it was still “not ready” to implement some of the royal commission’s key recommendations, including raising the age of criminal responsibility to 12 years old, and the age of detention to 14. Continue reading...

Veteran jurist to lead interim government after fall of Sebastian Kurz over ‘Ibizagate’The president of Austria has appointed the country’s first female chancellor to lead an interim government until elections later in the year.Brigitte Bierlein, the head of the constitutional court, will now be tasked with forming a cabinet after the previous government collapsed over the “Ibizagate” corruption scandal. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lord Brookman among dozens not to speak, raising fresh questions about the chamber

Marc Burrows discovered Bill Gates interview in which the writer warned of ‘parity of esteem’ given to stories published on the netIn 1995, the internet was a world of dial-up connections and Usenet newsgroups, but according to his biographer, Terry Pratchett had already “accurately predicted how the internet would propagate and legitimise fake news”.Marc Burrows was digging through old cuttings about the late Discworld author for his forthcoming biography when he came across an interview Pratchett had done with Microsoft founder Bill Gates in July 1995, for GQ. “Let’s say I call myself the Institute for Something-or-other and I decide to promote a spurious treatise saying the Jews were entirely responsible for the second world war and the Holocaust didn’t happen,” said Pratchett, almost 25 years ago. “And it goes out there on the internet and is available on the same terms as any piece of historical research which has undergone peer review and so on. There’s a kind of parity of esteem of information on the net. It’s all there: there’s no way of finding out whether this stuff has any bottom to it or whether someone has just made it up.” Continue reading...

Testimonies for independent inquiry reveal how abusers use beliefs to manipulate victimsChildren who were sexually abused in religious institutions often did not disclose assaults and mistreatment because they felt ashamed and guilty, says a report from the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA).Almost one in five of those abused reported a loss of faith as a direct consequence of experiences, according to testimonies given to the inquiry’s Truth Project. Continue reading...

Vox became the first far-right party to win more than a single seat in Spain's parliament since the Franco era when it won 24 in the general election. Last week, it fought its first mayoral campaign in El Ejido, a town in Andalucía with a population of 90,000 people, 30% of whom are migrants. Many of them work in the 150 square miles of greenhouses that surround the town. We follow the campaign and talk to Spaniards and migrants to find out why this socialist stronghold of 40 years is turning to the right Continue reading...

Canna Kitchen owner says police and trading standards told him CBD oil was legalA south-coast vegetarian restaurant has become the first UK food business to be shut down for infusing its dishes with CBD cannabis oil despite its owners saying they were assured less than a year ago by police and trading standards that the products were legal.The Canna Kitchen, in Brighton, has been closed since a police raid at the start of May. Continue reading...

Widespread praise for ‘world-first’ budget tackling mental illness, family violence and child povertyAfter more than a year of curiosity and speculation, New Zealand’s Labour coalition government has unveiled its “world-first” wellbeing budget, to widespread praise from social agencies charged with looking after the country’s most vulnerable people.Finance minister Grant Robertson unveiled billions for mental health services and child poverty as well as well as record investment in measures to tackle family violence. Continue reading...

Leader says his party would ‘do whatever is necessary to stop a disastrous no-deal outcome’Jeremy Corbyn has pledged that Labour will back a second referendum on any Brexit deal put to parliament, but warned of a “deliberately inflamed divide” as he sought to calm tempers among senior party figures.The Labour leader, who is visiting Dublin to meet Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Thursday, said his party would “do whatever is necessary to stop a disastrous no-deal outcome” and said Labour would work across party lines to block a new Brexiter prime minister who could crash the UK out of the EU. Continue reading...

Labor leader to elevate fresh faces while treating former leader Bill Shorten with ‘appropriate respect’The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, will unveil his new shadow ministry on Thursday, elevating fresh faces to his new frontbench while fighting a rearguard action from factional heavyweights in the party.The new leader secured his first victory on Wednesday for his shadow ministerial team after successfully securing a position for New South Wales senator Kristina Keneally on his frontbench. Continue reading...

Exclusive: leaked Whitehall report criticises departments for lack of transparencyNearly £100m of public money has been spent on private consultancy firms recruited by the government to provide Brexit advice, including no-deal planning, a leaked Whitehall report obtained by the Guardian reveals.The draft report by the National Audit Office (NAO), which scrutinises spending for parliament, details how government departments have paid at least £97m to Brexit consultants up to April this year and criticises them for not meeting transparency standards. Continue reading...

Weyand’s career move marks departure of one of the biggest names from EU’s ‘taskforce 50’The European Union’s deputy Brexit negotiator Sabine Weyand has been promoted to a senior trade job, giving her a crucial role in any future talks with the UK.Weyand will become director-general of the European commission’s trade department from 1 June. She is the most senior player to leave the EU’s “taskforce 50”, a squad of senior officials created to negotiate the UK’s exit from the bloc. Continue reading...

MP summonsed to face accusations over comments made before EU referendumBoris Johnson has been summoned to court to face accusations of misconduct in public office over claims that he lied by saying Britain gave £350m a week to the European Union.The ruling follows a crowdfunded move to launch a private prosecution of the MP, who is the frontrunner in the Tory leadership contest. Continue reading...

Collars, car keys, poly bags – they’ve all made it into his vast and richly colourful paintings. We meet the Guyana-born painter who is finally receiving his duesPut something down in Frank Bowling’s studio and it could easily end up embedded in one of his vast paintings. Bangles, cigarette lighters, even his wife’s car keys – all have suffered this fate. So I am on my guard when I drop by his workplace in south London. And indeed, one of the first things he shows me is his latest painting: an exuberant seven-metre work-in-progress in which yellow, red and gold ripple out from two hemispheres. It’s decorated with scraps of a dress belonging to his grandson’s girlfriend – although, to be fair, the dress was offered rather than swallowed up by one of his vats of paint, as the car keys were.“She walked in with a dress she had made in Africa,” says the Guyana-born artist, “and she didn’t like it so we tore it up.” He points up at the work and says: “That black there across the middle was the petticoat, and the circles around it are made up of the dress itself.” Continue reading...

The Malaysian government says the country has become a dumping ground for rich nations as it announces it will send as much as 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste back to the countries it came from. Malaysia became the world's main destination for plastic waste after China banned its import last year. 'We will fight back,' Malaysia’s environment minister, Yeo Bee Yin, said. 'We will fight back. Even though we are a small country, we cannot be bullied by developed countries'

Trio arrested over alleged role in failed independence bid should be freed, panel saysThe fugitive Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has welcomed a UN report on the detention of three fellow separatists, which he said confirmed they were “political prisoners”.The former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras and the Catalan civil society group chiefs, Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez, arrested over their alleged role in the failed regional independence bid, have been in custody since late 2017 and are among 12 regional leaders currently on trial in Madrid. Continue reading...

Ringleader Khuram Butt was under MI5 investigation, inquest hearsThe London Bridge terrorists started preparing their atrocity more than two weeks before they struck, while the ringleader Khuram Butt was under MI5 investigation, an inquest has heard.Three 12-inch knives used in the attack on 3 June 2017 were bought 19 days earlier from an east London Lidl supermarket. During the attack a rented van ran over people on London Bridge, killing two, before three terrorists sprinted out to stab to death six people. Continue reading...

The court has said the ‘club of outlaws’ is a danger to the public orderDutch judges have banned the biker club Hells Angels and ordered all its chapters to close in the Netherlands as authorities pursue a clampdown on outlaw motorcycle gangs.The country-wide ban is a first for the club, which operates 470 chapters in 56 countries. Continue reading...

Women from Nicaragua, Ecuador and Guatemala who suffered child rape take cases to UN human rights committeeFour women from Latin America whose lives were put at risk when they were not allowed abortions after being raped as girls are taking their cases to the UN human rights committee.The women, from Nicaragua, Ecuador and Guatemala, filed cases against their governments on Wednesday for failing to provide appropriate healthcare and denying them abortions, even when it was their legal right to have one. Continue reading...

Israeli PM has until midnight to form government but no breakthrough in sightBenjamin Netanyahu has until midnight to form a new ruling coalition or face the possible end of his decade of leadership of Israel.As the hours ticked by, there was no sign of a breakthrough in talks with the far-right former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman. Missing the deadline could end the prime minister’s bid to lead the next government, a scenario he intends to avoid by preemptively triggering another election. Continue reading...

Angela Merkel has said antisemitism is a problem in Germany and the country has a historical responsibility to face up to the growing threat of far-right populism both at home and abroad. Her comments came days after Germany’s ombudsman for antisemitism, Felix Klein, warned German Jews not to wear kippahs in public after a spate of racist attacks

Italy’s deputy PM asks Five Star Movement members to back him after falling to third in pollThe leader of Italy’s Five Star Movement (M5S), Luigi Di Maio, is seeking a confidence vote from party supporters after a bruising defeat in European elections.The vote will take place online on Thursday on a dedicated platform linked to the party, Di Maio said in a blogpost. Continue reading...

Refugee support groups have criticised the move, pointing out the home affairs department’s border security focusPeter Dutton and the home affairs department have regained responsibility for refugee settlement services and migrant adult education.The administrative changes were made on Wednesday, accompanying the swearing-in of ministers appointed by Scott Morrison following his post-election reshuffle. Continue reading...

Centre Alliance signals it could move amendments to extend divestiture power across whole economyAnthony Albanese has declined to say whether Labor will continue to oppose the Morrison government’s controversial “big stick” legislation allowing energy companies to be broken up if they engage in price-gouging.The Coalition’s package also faces turbulence in the Senate, with the Centre Alliance signalling it could move amendments with the purpose of extending a divestiture power across the whole economy rather than restricting the proposal just to energy – an idea that could find favour in some quarters of the National party. Continue reading...

MP’s move forestalls factional brawl over Keneally, after new leader Anthony Albanese said he wanted her in the ministry

ANU expert questions if beams came from fishing boats that are part of China’s maritime militiaAustralian navy helicopter pilots have been hit with laser beams from fishing boats suspected of being part of China’s maritime militia during a recent military exercise in the South China Sea.La Trobe University’s Euan Graham was among academics invited to observe the Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 exercise onboard landing helicopter dock HMAS Canberra during its Vietnam to Singapore leg. Continue reading...

The big parties grew smaller and the small parties bigger. But the voters still believe in the European projectWhen the eurozone was locked in crisis and, later, when a million migrants fled to Europe from the Syrian war and elsewhere, many predicted that the European Union would not be able to stand the strain. When these crises were followed by the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump, it was common to say – especially in the English-speaking world – that this was only the start, and that other European countries would also succumb to a domino effect of their own nativist revolts and populist demagogues, and that this would hasten the probable disintegration of the post-1945 European project.It would be extremely foolish, even now, to pretend such a thing could never happen. After all, the political mood across Europe is still volatile. Confidence in rulers remains mostly at a low ebb. Nevertheless, it is also clear that those earlier prophecies of EU doom were wrong. Continue reading...

Expert witness says officers were too slow to give the 25-year-old first aidPolice officers who restrained and pepper-sprayed Edir da Costa on the night he was fatally injured used unusual force for a stop and search and failed to give him first aid quickly enough, an expert witness at the inquest into his death has said.Joanne Caffrey, a specialist in restraint who was a police officer for 23 years, said that it was not necessary for officers to have struck the 25-year-old father of one or jabbed a pressure point in his neck while attempting to restrain him for a stop and search under section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. Continue reading...

Follow live updates on the day’s political news including the ECHR inquiry, Tory leadership contest and the latest recriminations from the European elections

Relatives of Khuram Butt were concerned about his extremist beliefs 18 months before attackThe family of one of the London Bridge attackers became so concerned about his extremism they reported him to police 18 months before the atrocity, an inquest has heard.Khuram Butt and two other terrorists killed eight people on 3 June 2017, first driving a hired van into two pedestrians before stabbing another six people to death. Continue reading...

Global agreement urges governments to share information on actual cost of medicines, with aim of making them more affordableThe UK government has refused to sign up to a global resolution on greater transparency for drug pricing.The resolution urges governments and others buying health products to share information on actual prices paid, and pushes for greater transparency on patents, clinical trial results and other factors affecting pricing from laboratories to patients. Continue reading...

Singer smiles and thanks judge as jury acquits him after two and a half hours’ deliberationThe former JLS singer Oritse Williams has been cleared of raping a woman in a hotel room.The 32-year-old singer had been accused of the attack after meeting the complainant at a solo gig in Wolverhampton in 2016. Continue reading...

Germany has responsibility to tackle antisemitism and far-right politics, says chancellorAngela Merkel has said antisemitism is a problem in Germany and the country has a historical responsibility to face up to the growing threat of far-right populism both at home and abroad.Speaking after European elections where nationalists made gains and her Christian Democrats lost support, the German chancellor said “spectres of the past” meant the country always had to be vigilant. Continue reading...

Former communications chief for Tony Blair voted for Lib Dems in European elections

Indigenous community welcomes plan but warns against prioritising symbolism over actionWestern Australia will become the first state in Australia to permanently fly the Aboriginal flag outside every police station as part of an attempt to address long-standing divisions between police and Indigenous communities.The proposal forms part of WA police’s first ever reconciliation action plan, released on Tuesday, which also includes a promise to increase Indigenous staffing levels in the organisation, develop protocols for delivering a Welcome to Country at police events, and “look into the feasibility of offering Aboriginal language lessons to staff”. Continue reading...

As applications to study in Europe plummet before Brexit, we ask British students who’ve done it where they are nowAdam Hussain was about to go to university in 2013 when tuition fees in the UK nearly trebled to £9,000. With additional loans for living costs, he realised he would incur debts of £40,000. So when he saw a television report about an exodus of UK students to the Netherlands, Hussain decided to attend an open day at Maastricht University, where annual fees were €2,000 (then about £1,700). That year more than 1,000 British freshers started university in the Netherlands.“I already wanted to live abroad; when the higher fees came in it was a no-brainer,” says Hussain, 24, who attended an east London comprehensive. Continue reading...

From flattened cobbles to threshold ramps, the Dutch city of Breda has much to teach its neighboursWhen I arrived at Breda station last month to find out why this Dutch city was recently named the winner of the 2019 Access City award, I did something I have not done while travelling in a long time. Instead of taking a taxi, I independently pushed the two kilometres to the hotel, to see whether lack of access for wheelchair users like me is as big a problem here as it is in most other cities.Usually, a journey like that would be a nightmare, particularly in older European towns like Breda, a city of just under 200,000 people that was an important centre during the Holy Roman Empire. Medieval city centres and cobble-stoned markets are a recipe for broken castor wheels and painful pressure sores for wheelchair users. Continue reading...

Cold front lays the foundations for a solid ski season in Victoria and New South WalesA cold snap across the south-east of Australia is starting to lay the foundations for a solid ski season in Victoria and New South Wales, while people in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra are shivering through a chilly end to autumn.The Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Sarah Scully said one cold front had come through on Monday and a second was moving up through Tasmania. “It’s expected to push into Victoria tonight,” Scully said. Continue reading...

Tory leadership candidate also plans to abolish need to prove settled status if he becomes PMMichael Gove will pledge free British citizenship for 3 million EU nationals after Brexit if he becomes prime minister, as well as abolishing the burden of providing proof of settled status, the Guardian understands.The environment secretary, one of the leading figures in Vote Leave, is understood to believe strongly that the pledge would honour the promises given to EU citizens by that campaign during the 2016 referendum. Continue reading...

My mother, Esmé Osler, who has died aged 92, made Britain her home after spending her youth in Japanese-occupied Singapore.Born in Miri, Sarawak, in British North Borneo (now part of Malaysia), Esmé was the second of three children of Walter Roberts and Hilda (nee Weston), an Anglo-Indian couple from Madras, India. Walter worked on the oilfields, but when he was made redundant Hilda returned to Madras with the children to live with their grandmother until Walter secured a job in Singapore, where the family then settled. Continue reading...

The Labour leader says he is ‘listening very carefully to what everyone has to say’, after his party suffered significant losses. The comments came after shadow ministers said Labour should campaign to remain in the EU. Corbyn says he will consult Labour members, affiliates, MPs and shadow cabinet ministers as the party’s approach to Brexit is reviewed.