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...
by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#6BXQP)
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...
by Rebecca Ratcliffe in Bangkok and agencies on (#6BXP2)
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...
Veteran broadcaster says she has no regrets and treasures the friends she has madeEsther Rantzen has revealed that her lung cancer has progressed to stage 4, after announcing her diagnosis for the disease in January.Rantzen, 82, who is considered a trailblazer for female broadcasters, became a household name during her career at the BBC. She is best known for presenting That’s Life! between 1973 and 1994. Continue reading...
House adjourned for holiday weekend but lawmakers could be recalled to vote on deal if agreement is reached. Plus, why men lose their friends – and how they can make more
by Martin Belam, Guardian staff and agencies on (#6BXES)
One killed and 15 injured at medical facility in Dnipro after night of missile and drone attacks launched by Russia at Kyiv and other regionsVolodymyr Zelenskiy announced that one person has been killed and 15 injured in a Russian attack Friday on a medical facility in the city of Dnipro. In his message, Ukraine’s president said “Russian terrorists once again confirm their status of fighters against everything humane and honest”. The injured included two children aged three and six who have been hospitalised. Ukraine’s ombudsmen says that another four people are considered missing.Ukraine claims to have shot down 10 missiles and 25 drones launched by Russia in overnight attacks on the capital Kyiv, the city of Dnipro and eastern regions, Ukrainian officials said on Friday. The Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 10 missiles fired from the Caspian Sea, and 23 Iranian-made Shahed drones and two reconnaissance drones. It said a total of 17 missiles and 31 drones had been launched during the attacks, which started at about 10pm local time on Thursday and continued until 5am on Friday. Several drones and several missiles hit targets in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, officials said. There was no immediate word of any deaths.Denis Pushilin, the Russian-imposed leader of the occupied Donetsk region, has said the city of Donetsk has come under fire from Ukrainian forces. As a result, he said, a young woman died and another was injured.Ukraine struck two regions in southern Russia with a rocket and a drone, though the missile was shot down by air defences, according to Russian officials and media reports. In the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, a blast damaged a residential and office building, officials said. In the neighbouring Rostov region, the local governor said a Ukrainian missile had been shot down by air defences on Thursday near Morozovsk, where there is a Russian airbase.Russia’s deputy security council chair, Dmitry Medvedev, said on Friday that negotiations with Ukraine were “impossible” as long as Zelenskiy was in power. Ukraine has previously ruled out negotiating with Russia while Vladimir Putin remained in power.China hopes the Black Sea grain initiative deal can be implemented in a balanced and comprehensive manner, and wants to cooperate on global food security, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday.Japan will place additional sanctions on Russia after the Group of Seven (G7) summit the country hosted last week agreed to step up measures to punish Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said on Friday.Russia has moved ahead with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, claimed on Thursday that the relocation of some of the weapons from Russia to Belarus had already started, according to reports.Dutch prosecutors have seized a plot of land near Amsterdam that belongs to Vladimir Putin’s former son-in-law, a joint investigation by the Guardian and two other media organisations revealed. The plot of land in Duivendrecht is owned by Jorrit Faassen, a Dutch businessman who was married to Maria Vorontsova, the Russian president’s elder daughter.Britain is likely to keep Russian state assets immobilised for some time after the war in Ukraine ends, and certainly until Moscow has agreed to pay compensation for the damage it has inflicted, British officials have confirmed. The Council of Europe summit last week established a digital register of damage for Ukraine as the first step towards an international compensation mechanism for victims of Russian aggression.Unverified footage appears to show a drone speedboat attack on the Russian naval vessel the Ivan Khurs in the Black Sea on Wednesday. The video appears to show at least one of the drones getting extremely close to the ship, though it remains unclear whether or not any damage was done.Ukraine secured the release of 106 captured soldiers in a prisoner exchange with Russia on Thursday, according to Zelenskiy’s chief of staff. The soldiers, including eight officers, were reportedly said to have been captured fighting in Bakhmut. Continue reading...
Asiana Airlines officials say man pulled lever to open emergency exit shortly before landingPolice in South Korea have arrested a man who allegedly opened the door on an Asiana Airlines flight shortly before the aircraft landed, triggering panic among the 194 passengers onboard and leaving several requiring hospital treatment for breathing problems.The Airbus A321 plane landed safely, but with its door still open, at Daegu airport in South Korea at about 12.40pm (0340 BST) after leaving Jeju island an hour earlier, the airport’s flight schedule showed. Continue reading...
Ennosuke Ichikawa taken to hospital, but mother and father died after taking overdoseThe world of Japanese kabuki, a classical form of Japanese theatre that combines highly stylised movement and unusual vocalisation, has been rocked after the popular actor Ennosuke Ichikawa was taken to hospital and his parents found dead.Ennosuke was found by his manager collapsed at his home in Tokyo along with an apparent suicide note and taken to hospital. Continue reading...
by Royce Kurmelovs and Natasha May (earlier) on (#6BXCV)
The former independent senator has lost his legal challenge against what he argued were unreasonable delays in the freedom of information (FOI) system. Follow the day’s news live
Nine men and two women detained on Friday in relation to attempted murder of senior detectiveEleven people have been arrested by police investigating the attempted murder of a senior detective in Northern Ireland.DCI John Caldwell was shot multiple times at a sports complex in Omagh, County Tyrone, in February in an attack linked to dissident republicans. Continue reading...
AFP acting assistant commissioner tells inquiry she was concerned police and defence counsel interactions were feeding ‘conspiratorial ideas of collusion’
Met Office says temperatures could reach 24C with fine conditions expected to continue into next weekThe UK could experience the hottest day of the year so far this bank holiday weekend, with temperatures expected to reach as high as 24C (75F).The Met Office said the area of high pressure, which has brought fine conditions across the UK over the last few days, is forecast to continue through the weekend and into next week. Continue reading...
Strand Magazine will publish Blackmail, a tale of a blind Korean war veteran, found by New York editor Andrew GulliA New York editor and literary detective is celebrating the discovery and release of an unpublished short story by James M Cain, one of the greats of American noir, a “poet of the tabloid murder” whose works made famous on film include The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce.“For all the work that you do,” said Andrew Gulli, editor-in-chief of the Strand Magazine, “like 2% of the time you hit the jackpot. I just feel so good. It’s worth it.” Continue reading...
Durrell Goodall, Reano Walters and Nathaniel Williams are applying for a formal review of their convictions as teenagersLawyers for three black men convicted as teenagers of a 2016 murder in Manchester will apply for their convictions to be formally reviewed, arguing they resulted from institutional racism by the police, prosecution and judge.The mothers of the three men – Durrell Goodall, Reano Walters and Nathaniel “Jay” Williams – will travel to Birmingham to personally deliver their sons’ 180-page application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). Continue reading...
by Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent on (#6BXHV)
Former Coronation Street actor calls for more support, as survey finds lack of safety net for self-employed creativesMore financial support should be available to artists in the periods where they are not working, the former Coronation Street actor Julie Hesmondhalgh has said, as research revealed universal credit is pushing the creative workforce into destitution.The study by the performing arts union Equity and the University of Warwick found that of those subject to the universal credit rule known as the “minimum income floor” (MIF) – which reduces the amount of support that self-employed creatives are eligible for – 41% had gone without essential items such as food or utilities. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#6BXHT)
More than 3,000 planes scheduled to take off on Friday, with road traffic peaking as leisure trips coincide with commutingThe start of the May half-term holiday for many schools will see “hectic” roads and the most flights departing the UK since before the pandemic, according to industry estimates.About 19m leisure journeys by car are expected on Britain’s roads over the next four days, and more than 3,000 planes are scheduled to take off on Friday. Continue reading...
by Pete Pattisson in Doha, Imran Mukhtar in Islamabad on (#6BXH7)
Workers at World Cup 2022 venues fired as tournament ended and allegedly jailed or deported after trying to claim unpaid wagesThree World Cup security guards who were detained while trying to resolve a dispute over unpaid wages are still being held in Qatar four months after their arrest.Shakir Ullah and Zafar Iqbal from Pakistan, and an Indian national, have allegedly been sentenced to six months in prison and fined 10,000 riyals (£2,220) each. Continue reading...
Described by Paul Kelly as ‘one of our greatest songwriters’, McKean – who wrote some of Dusty’s biggest hits – died on Thursday night surrounded by familyAustralian singer-songwriter Joy McKean, who wrote some of her husband Slim Dusty’s most popular songs, has died at 93 from cancer.EMI said McKean had passed away peacefully on Thursday night, surrounded by family. “She will be remembered as a pioneer in Australian music,” the statement read. Continue reading...
IOPC opens investigation after police on emergency call collide with boy as he crossed road on Thursday nightAn 11-year-old boy is in a critical condition after he was struck by a police van in Lancaster.Lancashire police said they were attending an emergency call on Thursday night when the collision occurred with the boy, who was crossing Owen Road just before 8.30pm. Continue reading...
The acquisitive award is Australia’s richest art prize for artists under 40, with the finalists exhibited at the Art Gallery of South Australia until August
The two-time Academy Award winner spoke to the graduates on truth and was given a volleyball as a giftAs the US grapples with a disinformation crisis, Tom Hanks told graduates of Harvard on Thursday to be superheroes in their defense of truth and American ideals, and to resist those who twist the truth for their own gain.“For the truth to some is no longer empirical. It’s no longer based on data, nor common sense, nor even common decency,” the two-time Academy Award winner said during his keynote address. He invoked the Latin word for truth, “veritas”, Harvard’s motto. Continue reading...
US, Japan and South Korea tighten monitoring of North’s missile launches; meanwhile South puts first commercial satellite in space on own rocketNorth Korean media has criticised as “sinister measures” plans by South Korea, the United States and Japan to share real-time data on missile launches by Kim Jong-un’s regime – with the North lashing out as its neighbour this week undertook its largest-ever live-fire exercises with the US.The leaders of South Korea, the US and Japan met at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, last weekend and discussed new coordination in the face of North Korea’s illicit nuclear and missile threats. North Korea has undertaken a series of missile and weapons tests in recent months, most recently a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The North’s missile and nuclear weapons programmes are banned by the UN security council. Continue reading...
Police say two people were fatally stabbed and two police officers who came to investigate were shot deadJapanese police have detained a suspect who had been holed up in a building after allegedly killing four people including two police officers in a gun and knife attack, an official said.The man was taken into custody outside the farm property near the city of Nakano in Nagano region, with police confirming a fourth fatality overnight – an elderly woman who was found injured at the scene and later pronounced dead. Continue reading...
Electricity lines and trees downed and ‘what used to be a jungle looks like toothpicks’ as governor declares the worst is overMuch of Guam was without power and running water after a typhoon packing ferocious winds and torrential rains battered the western Pacific island but caused no reported fatalities or serious injuries.Residents in the US territory were ordered to boil their water until further notice as crews repaired generators damaged by Typhoon Mawar, according to local media and Guam’s water authority. Continue reading...
Former spin doctor tells Hay festival politics lessons for young children could be called ‘arguing’ or ‘big issues’Politics should be taught in primary schools, Alastair Campbell has said, with the former spin doctor advising that the lessons for young children could be called “arguing”.“We teach our kids that PE, running around the playground, is good for them. I think we should teach our kids to be interested in and engaged in politics,” Campbell told an audience at the Hay festival. Continue reading...
Jack Addis and Jeremy Laxton pleaded guilty to conspiring with Ch Insp Richard Watkinson who was found dead in JanuaryTwo retired Metropolitan police officers have admitted a three-year plot to share child sexual abuse images with a serving Met chief inspector, who was found dead before he was charged.Jack Addis, 63, and Jeremy Laxton, 62, pleaded guilty at Southwark crown court in London on Thursday to a charge of conspiring with Richard Watkinson, 49, to distribute or show indecent images of children. Continue reading...
Private army led by Ivan Aleksandrovich Maslov accused of acquiring weaponry for use in UkraineThe United States has imposed sanctions on the head of the Wagner group in Mali, accusing the Russian private army of using the country as a conduit for arms and military equipment for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.The US Treasury said Ivan Aleksandrovich Maslov works closely with Malian officials to build Wagner’s presence in Mali and elsewhere in Africa. Continue reading...
Exclusive: leaked documents on illegal migration bill also say legal aid fees will need to rise in order to ensure legal coverMore than 3,000 asylum seekers could be detained and deported from the UK every month to enforce Suella Braverman’s flagship asylum bill, leaked documents show.As Rishi Sunak faced a backlash from Conservative MPs over record levels of net migration, briefing papers have revealed the government has drawn up plans to remove 3,163 asylum seekers every month from January. Continue reading...
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent on (#6BXC5)
About 140,000 Indians sought educational opportunities in Britain last year, and the number is growingThe aspiration to travel abroad for university and work has long been ubiquitous across India.In a country of 1.4 billion people, places at India’s top universities are excruciatingly competitive and graduate job prospects at the other end are gloomy. India’s economy is the fifth largest in the world but unemployment topped 8% last month, with graduate unemployment even higher at about 18%. Continue reading...
by Nadeem Badshah (now) and Andrew Sparrow (earlier) on (#6BX1G)
Armed officers at the scene but incident not being treated as terror-related, Metropolitan Police saysRishi Sunak is being interviewed on ITV’s This Morning.He says immigration levels are too high, but he rejects claims it is out of control. This is from the Daily Mirror’s Lizzy Buchan. Continue reading...
Anti-corruption campaigner says he was asked bizarre questions on call apparently with former Ukrainian presidentThe Kremlin critic Bill Browder has said he was targeted by a deepfake hoax when he participated in a bizarre video call this week with somebody impersonating the former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko.The anti-corruption campaigner was invited to discuss “anti-Russian sanctions,” but ended up being asked if he favoured lifting sanctions on Kremlin oligarchs, and even to perform a salute to a rap song performed by the current president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Continue reading...
by Aubrey Allegretti and Denis Campbell on (#6BXB6)
Health experts and MPs criticise Steve Barclay’s delays to some projects and failure to offer sufficient fundingMinisters have admitted eight of the “40 new hospitals” they pledged to build by 2030 will be delayed into the next decade, leading to claims of another broken promise that will leave the NHS in England “crumbling” and damage patient care.Long-planned new facilities in London, Sussex, Lancashire and other parts of England, to replace hospitals that in one case date back to the 1840s, have been downgraded by Steve Barclay. Continue reading...
The retailer removed some apparel the CPAC group called ‘demonic paraphernalia’ amid death threats to designerThe rightwing Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) has attacked the US retailer Target over items in its Pride collection, the latest in a wave of conservative backlash against LGBTQ communities and businesses that promote their civil rights.The political group issued a statement on Thursday calling out the retailer for “promoting demonic paraphernalia” that is included in its LGBTQ+ collection. Continue reading...
Council of Europe has established digital register of damage as first step towards compensation mechanismBritain is likely to keep Russian state assets immobilised for some time after the Ukraine war ends, and certainly until Moscow has agreed to pay compensation for the damage it has inflicted, British officials have confirmed.The Council of Europe summit last week established a digital register of damage for Ukraine as the first step towards an international compensation mechanism for victims of Russian aggression. Continue reading...
Deal would help Asda move into convenience retailing and cut costs at merged entity by about £100m, as well as reduce EG’s debtsAsda is finalising a deal to buy its sister business EG Group’s UK and Irish petrol forecourts in a deal worth £3bn, allowing the supermarket to step up its shift into convenience retailing.The businesses are expected to formally announce a long-awaited tie-up in the next few days, which will create a combined business worth about £10bn. Continue reading...
Mourners pay respects to black RAF air gunner, who had ‘selflessly’ dedicated his life to BritainHundred of mourners gathered for the funeral of a black second world war veteran to pay their respects to an “inspiration” who had “selflessly” dedicated his life to Britain.Peter Brown, a retired flight sergeant who was born in Jamaica, died alone aged 96 in his home in Maida Vale, west London. Continue reading...
Police spent three days scouring reservoir after request by German authorities hoping to prove case against convicted rapistPortuguese police have said material unearthed from a reservoir in Algarve will be sent to Germany for analysis after the first major search for Madeleine McCann in a decade came to a close.After three days of excavation on a spit of land jutting into the Barragem do Arade reservoir in south Portugal, officers were stood down and a spokesman for the Polícia Judiciária said the “collected material” would be delivered to the German authorities. Continue reading...
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