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Comedian tells Hay literary festival Trump found her ‘obnoxious’ when she interviewed him in 1996Ruby Wax has said she thinks the reason Donald Trump did not make a pass at her when she interviewed him almost three decades ago was because she is too clever. “I’m not his type. I have a brain,” she told the Hay festival in Wales.Speaking at the literary festival to promote her latest book, I’m Not as Well as I Thought I Was, the broadcaster and comedian spoke about the 1996 interview on Trump’s private jet, in which she laughed when he told her he wanted to run for president. Continue reading...

Former prime minister says Cabinet Office gave entries to the Met police without checking their contentsBoris Johnson has insisted the idea that evidence in diaries given to police might suggest further lockdown rule-breaking during the Covid pandemic is “absolute nonsense”.The former prime minister said a Cabinet Office decision to give entries from his official diary to the police without checking their contents with him was “ridiculous”. Continue reading...

Formal identification yet to be confirmed as another boy, 14, remains in critical condition following River Eden incidentThe body of a teenage boy has been found in the River Eden in Carlisle after a 15-year-old went missing on Friday, Cumbria constabulary said.The discovery followed an extensive search operation. Police were contacted at 6.41pm on Friday after a report that four teenage boys had got into difficulty in a section of the river near the city’s Rosehill area. Continue reading...

The hit drama cemented a film and TV boom in the West Yorkshire town and its surroundings – and now the cameras can’t stay awayPiece Hall, in the West Yorkshire town of Halifax, is among the great relics of the glory days of England’s industrial north, one of the few surviving cloth halls, where international business was carried out in the heart of textile-trade country from the late 18th century.Recently it’s had a transformation into a tourist attraction stuffed with independent shops that also hosts major outdoor concerts – this summer will see it play host to gigs by Madness, Rag’n’Bone Man, Hozier and Orbital. Continue reading...

Seth Kneller, 43, remanded in custody after appearing at Westminster magistrates courtA man who was arrested after a car crashed into the gates of Downing Street has been released under police investigation but charged separately with making indecent images of children, police have said.Seth Kneller, of Crewe, was initially detained by armed officers after a crash involving a silver Kia near the prime minister’s official residence in Whitehall at 4.20pm on Thursday. Continue reading...

Group was among the last opposition parties, as political dissent has been banned since 2020’s security lawThe Civic party, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy groups, has voted to disband because of a leadership vacuum, after its members were squeezed out of local councils and charged under Beijing’s national security law.Nicknamed “the barristers’ party”, it was founded in 2006 by professional elites – mostly from the legal sector – who wanted to promote democratisation and civil society in Hong Kong. Continue reading...

Presidential adviser says supply lines and depots already being destroyed as preliminary operations get under way• Russia-Ukraine war – latest updatesPreliminary operations have already begun to pave the way for a counteroffensive against Russian occupying forces, a Ukrainian presidential adviser has said.“It’s a complicated process, which is not a matter of one day or a certain date or a certain hour,” Mykhailo Podolyak said in an interview with the Guardian. “It’s an ongoing process of de-occupation, and certain processes are already happening, like destroying supply lines or blowing up depots behind the lines. Continue reading...

More than 2m litres of water pumped from dam on orders of food inspector who said device held sensitive government dataA government official in central India has been suspended after he ordered a reservoir to be drained to retrieve his dropped phone.Millions of litres of water were pumped over three days from the Kherkatta dam in the state of Chhattisgarh after Rajesh Vishwas, a food inspector, said his Samsung mobile held sensitive government data. Continue reading...

Government accused of backing ‘inhumane’ policies as 16 people are badly hurt by barrier blocking entry via Poland from BelarusRefugees and asylum seekers have been seriously injured by a “dangerous” razor-wire fence that the UK helped to build to keep asylum seekers out of Europe.At least 16 people have been gravely hurt, some hospitalised, when recently attempting to reach Europe by crossing a 5.5m-high barrier the British military helped to construct on Poland’s border with Belarus. Continue reading...

Bacari-Bronze O’Garro, 18, to appear again at Thames magistrates court after posting ‘prank’ videoA teenager is to appear in court after he was charged with breaching a criminal behaviour order imposed for posting a “prank” video on TikTok.Bacari-Bronze O’Garro, 18, known as Mizzy, of Hackney, north London, was made subject to the order at Thames magistrates court on Wednesday, banning him from posting videos on social media without the consent of those featuring in them. Continue reading...

Votes will allow the parties to hone their strategies before December’s general electionSpain heads to the polls on Sunday to elect 12 regional governments and 8,000 municipal councils in votes that will allow the governing Socialists and the opposition conservatives to gauge their strengths and hone their strategies before December’s general election.Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the rightwing, populist president of the Madrid region, will be aiming to secure an absolute majority for the People’s party (PP), while Barcelona’s leftwing mayor, Ada Colau, will be hoping to see off challenges from the regional branch of the Socialist party and a centre-right Catalan pro-independence party. Continue reading...

Asiana Airlines flight was about 200 metres above the ground when the passenger pulled emergency exitA man who opened an emergency exit on a flight in mid-air felt “suffocated” and wanted to get off quickly, South Korean police have said.The Asiana Airlines plane was carrying nearly 200 passengers as it approached the runway on Friday at Daegu international airport, about 150 miles south-east of Seoul, on a domestic flight. Continue reading...

Investigators in Horizon IT scandal were asked to group suspects by racial features, including ‘negroid types’Lawyers investigating post office operators in the Horizon computer scandal used a racist term to categorise Black workers, according to documents released to campaigners.Investigators were asked to group suspects based on racial features, the results of a freedom of information request found. Continue reading...

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Kovacic ran for the lower house seat of Parramatta in the last federal election but was defeated by Labor’s Andrew Charlton

Motorists urged to carry out safety check as rubber on cars left idle for long periods can deteriorateThere has been a sharp rise in the number of cars with cracked tyres – which can result in an MOT failure – because of vehicles lying idle during the coronavirus pandemic.Figures from Kwik Fit, the car maintenance chain, show that its mechanics saw almost twice as many cars with premature cracking last year compared with before the lockdowns. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Researchers analysed works run by nine water and sewerage companies in England and WalesEleven billion litres of raw sewage were discharged from a sample of 30 water company treatment works in one year, new research suggests.The study aimed to reveal the volume of discharged effluent released from storm overflows by water firms. Companies are not forced to reveal the volume of raw sewage released during discharges. They are only required by regulators to provide data on the number of discharges and the length of time they lasted. Continue reading...

Phillip Mehrtens, who has been held hostage since February, makes the claim in a new video released by the separatist groupRebels in Indonesia’s Papua region have threatened to shoot a New Zealand pilot being held hostage if countries do not comply with their demand to start independence talks within two months, a new video released by the group shows.Guerrilla fighters in Papua’s central highlands, who want to free Papua from Indonesia, kidnapped Phillip Mehrtens after he landed a commercial plane in the mountainous area of Nduga in February. Continue reading...

Minister for Indigenous affairs says referendum ‘will be determined by the Australian people, not politicians’

In a special edition of Full Story, Guardian Australia’s daily podcast, Bridie Jabour speaks to the key players of its launch in May 2013The story of how Guardian Australia launched in 2013 is one of strength, determination, a chance encounter, a spying scandal and a lot of coffee. At a time when Julia Gillard was prime minister, newspapers were laying off thousands of staff and Gina Rinehart was vying to take control of Fairfax, the Guardian arrived in a dire period for public interest journalism. But since May 2013 the once-tiny news site has achieved what some thought impossible. In this special edition of Full Story, Bridie Jabour speaks to the key players of Guardian Australia’s launch.This podcast also features Katharine Viner, Lenore Taylor, Katharine Murphy, Alan Rusbridger, Lee Glendinning, David Marr, Christian Bennett, Graeme Wood, Malcolm Turnbull, Luke Pearson, Lorena Allam, Melissa Davey, Ben Doherty, Mark Scott, Cassandra Goldie, Michael Safi and Luke Henriques-Gomes. Continue reading...

Justice experts say there needs to be a more rigorous process for when Tasers and guns can be deployed to change the way officers manage incidents

Army leader Abdel-Fatteh al-Burhan has asked the UN to replace its envoy to the countrySudan’s army has asked the United Nations to change its envoy to the country, as it calls on reservists and retired soldiers to re-enlist amid the ongoing conflict with a rival paramilitary force.Friday’s call to former soldiers to present themselves at their nearest military base comes days into a shaky truce between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Continue reading...

Toll from Russian missile attack on Dnipro rises to two; Medvedev says conflict could last decades; Blinken to visit Finland, Sweden and Norway

Environmental groups say the event in Perth to court the biggest polluting oil company of all time is ‘akin to a joint trade show with a tobacco major’

Exclusive: Welsh first minister points to ‘13 years of erosion’ under Conservatives after unrest that followed deaths of two boysThe Welsh first minister has accused the UK government of creating the poor social conditions that formed the backdrop to the Cardiff riots by systematically eroding community life, public services and citizens’ incomes.Mark Drakeford, who represents the Ely area where the riots broke out on Monday night after the deaths of two teenage boys, said public services and people’s standards of living had declined there during 13 years of Conservative rule. Continue reading...

Policy was uncovered by defenders of two women repeatedly detained when trying to re-enter the UKA secret Home Office policy to detain people with the right to live in the UK at air and seaports has been found to be unlawful in the high court.The policy applied to those with unpaid NHS debts and was only uncovered through evidence gathered from charities and lawyers fighting the cases of two mothers who were repeatedly detained. Continue reading...

Presenter parts from agents and says he lied about affair with younger employee while he was marriedPhillip Schofield has sensationally quit ITV and admitted to an affair with a younger male colleague at This Morning while he was still married.The 61-year-old – who stepped down from presenting the daytime TV programme last Saturday – said the “consensual on-off relationship” was “unwise, but not illegal”. Continue reading...

Zelenskiy says rocket attack on Friday morning hit medical facility after night of heavy bombardment across country

Evidence that both women experienced stress and anxiety, with Elizabeth traumatised by mother’s death and issue of marriageElizabeth I was heavily influenced by her mother Anne Boleyn, despite the fact that the latter died when the Tudor queen was less than three years old, according to the historian and author Tracy Borman.As well as being influenced by feminist ideas that were ahead of their time, Borman said there was evidence they both experienced stress and anxiety. Continue reading...

Prospect and FDA suspend strike action after offer of ‘meaningful’ talks, with PCS also attendingCivil service unions have entered talks with the government on pay, believing ministers may finally be willing to offer more money to match rises given to health and teaching staff.Two unions, Prospect and the FDA, said they would be suspending strike action and ballots because the government said it was willing to engage in “meaningful” talks. Continue reading...

Justice Joshua Wilson planned to tell an international conference that court positions are filled on the basis of politics rather than ability

Health and safety failures by MoJ contractor found to have led to death of Lorraine Barwell in London in 2015Serco has been fined more than £2m for health and safety failures that led to a mentally ill prisoner kicking a custody officer to death.Humphrey Burke, 29, attacked Lorraine Barwell, 54, as she tried to escort him from his cell in Blackfriars crown court in London in June 2015. Burke was due to be sentenced for arson and attempted robbery. Continue reading...

Reports of clogged motorways add to news of travel chaos on bank holiday forecast to be busiest since pandemicBritish Airways has cancelled more than 175 flights as the fallout from an IT failure entered its second day, fuelling predictions of widespread travel disruption at the start of a bank holiday weekend forecast to be the busiest since before the pandemic.As motorists hit the roads, encouraged by forecasts of sunny and warm weather at the start of the school half-term holidays, reports of clogged motorways were already emerging on Friday afternoon. Continue reading...

Alan Paton was involved in incident in Fife in 2015 in which 31-year-old died while being detained by policeA police officer involved in the arrest of Sheku Bayoh has denied wanting to join a far-right organisation as a teenager.The pre-recorded testimony of Alan Paton, who has since retired from Police Scotland, was played to the inquiry into the death of Bayoh, which occurred in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in 2015 while he was being detained by police. Continue reading...

Samantha Lee says she has been made scapegoat for crisis engulfing Metropolitan policeA former officer who botched an inquiry into Wayne Couzens hours before he kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard has said she has been made a scapegoat for the crisis engulfing the Metropolitan police.

Coroner says chain of command failed to recognise risk of stress to officer cadet and get her seen by doctor after ballThe army missed opportunities to prevent the suicide of a “positive and bubbly” officer cadet at the Sandhurst military academy, an inquest has found.Olivia Perks, 21, was found hanged in her room at the elite training school in Berkshire on 6 February 2019. Continue reading...

Chemist made a profit of £137m in year to 31 August, helped by closure of 44 underperforming storesThe Boots boss, Seb James, more than doubled his pay to £3.8m last year after the chemist chain tripled profits as pandemic restrictions eased.The beauty retail and pharmacy business made a pre-tax profit of £137m in the year to 31 August, across its three entities which file accounts at Companies House, up from £44.5m a year before, while sales rose just under 10% to nearly £7.8bn. Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy describes missile strike as a crime against humanity after 23 people are injured

Deal to release Olivier Vandecasteele in exchange for Assadollah Assadi raises concerns Tehran’s hostage diplomacy has been rewardedA Belgian aid worker jailed in Tehran has been released in a prisoner swap with an Iranian diplomat who had been sentenced to 20 years in jail for his role in a plan to bomb an Iranian opposition rally in Paris in 2018.Assadollah Assadi had served just over two years of his 20-year sentence, and his release will raise questions about whether Iranian hostage diplomacy – the practice of seizing dual nationals as bargaining chips – has been rewarded by the Belgian authorities. The final stages of the deal were negotiated by Oman, but Belgium had been negotiating with Iran over the fate of the diplomat for much longer. Continue reading...

Charity calls for public to nominate notable women for project, with 85% of plaques currently honouring menThe disparity between men and women honoured by the London blue plaques scheme is so great that it would take 300 years, at current rates, to reach equality between the sexes, English Heritage has said, as it called for people to continue nominating more women.Despite significant progress having been made in recent years in recognising more notable women from history, Anna Eavis, the charity’s curatorial director, said the scheme would welcome many more diverse nominations, to fully recognise the capital’s “extraordinarily rich history”. Continue reading...

Pink Floyd singer wore costume during performance in which he imagines himself as fictional fascist dictatorPolice in Germany have launched a criminal investigation into the Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters over a Nazi-style uniform he wore at a recent concert in Berlin.“An investigation has been opened over the costume displayed at the concerts on 17 and 18 May,” Berlin police spokesperson Martin Halweg told the Guardian. Continue reading...

Britons have less body hair than ever before, say historians, as exhibition on Roman hair removal opensEver since Roman texts warned women against appearing “bristly like a goat”, body hair removal trends have come and gone, but historians say Britons now have less body hair than ever before in human history.The UK retail industry for shaving and hair removal products was worth £574.1m in 2022, and with the advent of laser hair removal, there exists the option to remove body hair permanently. Continue reading...

The Canadian singer announced the cancellation of the European leg of her Courage World Tour as she continues to battle Stiff Person SyndromeCeline Dion has cancelled all of her tour dates for 2023 and 2024 as she continues to deal with a rare neurological disorder known as Stiff Person Syndrome.“I’m so sorry to disappoint all of you once again. I’m working really hard to build back my strength, but touring can be very difficult even when you’re 100%,” the 55-year-old Canadian singer said in a statement posted on her website. “It’s not fair to you to keep postponing the shows, and even though it breaks my heart, it’s best that we cancel everything now until I’m really ready to be back on stage again. I want you all to know, I’m not giving up … and I can’t wait to see you again!” Continue reading...

Ten-month-old Finley Boden died on Christmas Day, just over a month after being returned to parents’ careA couple found guilty of the “savage and brutal” Christmas Day murder of their 10-month-old son have been sentenced to life imprisonment.Finley Boden died 39 days after a family court ruled he could be returned to the care of his parents, Stephen Boden, 30, and Shannon Marsden, 22. Continue reading...

Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi reported on death of Mahsa Amini and face charges of conspiring with foreign powersSupporters of the two award winning Iranian female journalists who first reported on the death of Mahsa Amini, the young Kurdish woman who died last year in police custody, have demanded that their trials due to start next week are held in public.Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, who both have a prestigious record of on-the-ground reporting on social affairs in Iran, have been kept in jail since first being arrested eight months ago and face charges of conspiring with hostile foreign powers that potentially carry the death penalty. The regime’s critics claim they are being punished for the protests that followed their reports of Amini’s death after she was arrested for not wearing the hijab correctly on a visit to Tehran. Continue reading...

Ciro Maiello, whose home is adorned with a painting of the player, says Napoli’s first Serie A win since Diego’s days heralds a new dawn for the cityAt 10.37pm on 4 May the man who lives in Diego Maradona’s head threw open the window of his flat in the Spanish Quarter district in Naples for the first time in months, erupting in a cathartic scream as the city celebrated another moment in its rebirth.Ciro Maiello, a 50-year-old pork butcher, moved to the apartment block featuring a giant mural of the Argentinian in 1996 and lived there through a period he called the “dark days [when] dozens of people were killed in these streets.” The mural was painted a few years earlier, in honour of the player who gave the city’s football team the most successful period in its history, including its first Serie A title win, and whose veneration by Neapolitans is comparable only to the adoration of its patron saint, Gennaro. Continue reading...

Family say couple were not offered support to evacuate despite living near British embassy in KhartoumAn 85-year-old British citizen was shot by snipers and his wife died of starvation after they were left behind in Sudan, their family has said.Abdalla Sholgami, who owns a hotel in London, lived with his 80-year-old wife, Alaweya Rishwan, who is disabled, close to the UK’s diplomatic base in Khartoum, the BBC said. Continue reading...

Measures come after warning of electricity shortages due to high demand and decreased hydropower productionCities in Vietnam are cutting the use of public lighting to save energy as unusually hot temperatures threaten to stretch the country’s power supplies.A sweltering heatwave has gripped swathes of Asia over recent months, causing school closures and deaths in India, as well as health warnings across many countries in the region. Continue reading...

Drugs found in shipment said to be destined for Belgium also had the name Hitler printed on themPeruvian anti-drug police have seized 58 one-kilo packages of cocaine destined for Belgium bearing a picture of a Nazi flag on the outside and the name Hitler printed in low relief.The discovery occurred in the port of Paita, on Peru’s northern Pacific coast close to its border with Ecuador. Continue reading...

High court judge says allegations over burglary and tracking device can be heard, but not phone hackingA damages claim brought by Hugh Grant against the publisher of the Sun over allegations of unlawful information gathering will go to trial after a ruling by a high court judge, although the actor’s phone-hacking claims against the company will not be among the issues before the court.Grant has alleged that people working for the company burgled his flat and placed a tracking device in his car – as well as tapping his landline and hacking his voicemails – in an attempt to find stories about his personal life. Continue reading...