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This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage here.Keir Starmer has confirmed that Labour would seek to improve the Brexit deal that the UK has with the EU. Asked about the reports that the car manufacturer Stellantis wants the trade and cooperation agreement renegotiated because it believes that in its current form it puts manufacturing jobs in the UK at risk, Starmer told BBC Breakfast the UK needed “a better Brexit deal”. He said:Look, we’re not going to re-enter the EU. We do need to improve that deal. Of course we want a closer trading relationship, we absolutely do. We want to ensure that Vauxhall and many others not just survive in this country but thrive.Keir Starmer is absolutely right to say developers and landowners need to be prevented from deliberately slowing the rate at which they build houses to drive up prices – local authorities need more control to direct housebuilding where it is most needed.And he’s bang on when he says targeting the green belt for ‘expensive executive housing’ upsets local communities because that’s not the homes that are needed. We’re facing a bona fide housing crisis, with an entire generation effectively priced out of home ownership. What’s more, far too many people are barely able to afford their rent. Continue reading...

International academics join effort to highlight crackdown on freedom after jailing of opposition leader, Rached GhannouchiEuropean powers must stand by pro-democracy Tunisians resisting a fierce onslaught designed to take the country back to the darkest days of dictatorship, a letter from more than 70 academics has urged.The letter, designed to shine a light on the Tunisian crackdown, was in part collated by Soumaya Ghannoushi, whose father, the Tunisian opposition leader, Rached Ghannouchi, was sentenced to a year in jail on Monday. Continue reading...

Comedian apologises after some critics said gag about dogs chasing a squirrel drew parallels with country’s armyOne of China’s leading comedy show companies has been fined £1.68m after a joke by one of its comedians at a standup show in Beijing about stray dogs went viral over the weekend.In his routine, Li Haoshi, known by the stage name House, told of watching two stray dogs he had adopted chase a squirrel. The phrase that came to mind, he said, was: “Fight well, win the battle” – a punchline based on an eight-character slogan that is associated with China’s People’s Liberation Army. Continue reading...

Ministry’s tweet appearing to blame police for ‘fishing expedition’ withdrawn after Met deputy complainedThe Ministry of Justice has withdrawn a tweet that appeared to blame the police for going on a “fishing expedition” pressuring rape victims to hand over notes on the therapy they had after an attack.The deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Lynne Owens, attacked the tweet, which was trumpeting government changes to the law. Continue reading...

Northumbria force says sorry to George Heron after David Boyd was convicted of seven-year-old’s murderA police force has formally apologised to a man who three decades ago was wrongly accused of killing a seven-year-old girl, after the real murderer was finally convicted.George Heron was 24 when he was charged with the 1992 murder of Sunderland girl Nikki Allan. Continue reading...

International human rights champions and LGBTQ+ campaigners appeal to MPs to vote against bill proposed by rightwingersSlovakian MPs are under mounting international pressure to reject a bill that would see the country follow Hungary in effectively putting a stop to decades of legal gender recognition for transgender people.A vote is expected in parliament within days on a law proposed by conservative and far-right parties that would require someone to have the “correct” set of chromosomes to match their legal gender. Continue reading...

Announcement to take decision away from councillors comes after local party called ‘dysfunctional’

Letting Australians opt out of all targeted advertising under privacy reforms would go further than any other proposal globally, Facebook’s parent company says

Teachers and witnesses first on the scene were described as heroic after an accident that left students with ‘life-changing’ injuries

Apartments and townhouses most affected, as developers opt for detached housing builds that offer ‘much less uncertainty’

Beth Heinrich and others want the former archbishop to be defrocked and stripped of Holy Orders

Exclusive: Minister says providing incentives to developers to convert surplus commercial space presents a ‘good opportunity’ for the state

Exclusive: Letter calls on US and Russia to isolate weapons agreements from other disputes

Masha Gessen steps down as vice-president as group admits ‘mistakes’ over cancellation of literary festivalMasha Gessen, the prominent Russian-American writer who has documented Russia’s decline into authoritarianism, has resigned as vice-president of PEN America after the organisation cancelled an event last week with Russian dissidents after objections from Ukrainian participants.The group, which was founded in 1922 and describes itself as “stand[ing] at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression,” was plunged into controversy after it acknowledged that it had called off an event at a literary festival in New York after Ukrainian writers on a separate panel had threatened to pull out. Continue reading...

Retailer to step up expansion in US and Europe as price rises help increase bottom lineJD Sports has said it is on track to hit £1bn of profits this year as it steps up expansion in the US and Europe in a bet that the trend for trainers and sports leisurewear will roll on.Régis Schultz, the retail group’s chief executive who took over last summer, said JD’s young shoppers had more opportunity to get work, amid staff shortages in all its key markets, and “whenever they get a job they can buy the gear they love”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Apolo Siskos says he was sent section 21 eviction notice – which Tories have promised to banThe family of a billionaire Tory landlord used a no-fault eviction to throw out a tenant after he refused a £1,680 annual rent increase having reported mould, damp and cold, the Guardian can reveal.The flat is part of a rental portfolio part-owned by Zameer Choudrey, who has donated £1.3m to the Conservatives through his wholesale company Bestway, which has a turnover of £4.5bn a year. Continue reading...

Man questioned after 13 vehicles and two properties targeted in apparently random attacksDetectives investigating a string of apparently random arson attacks on cars in and around a quiet Dorset town are questioning a man in his 40s.The local man, who has not been named by police, was arrested on suspicion of arson, Dorset police said on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Critics say traps regularly catch non-target species and animals can suffer for daysWales is on track to become the first UK nation to ban snares, after a vote in the Senedd backed criminalising what campaigners say is a cruel and indiscriminate way to trap wild animals.The wire traps are used by gamekeepers and farmers across the country in efforts to catch foxes, which would otherwise hunt lambs and gamebirds. But critics say the traps cause animals immense suffering, and that non-target species are regularly caught. Continue reading...

Criminals used homemade explosives and dressed as police officers to commit violent robberies across countrySpanish police have arrested 14 people and seized guns, satellite trackers and several police uniforms after breaking up two gangs whose members used homemade explosives to blow up cash machines and who dressed as police officers to carry out violent and meticulously planned robberies across the country.The nationwide investigation began in autumn last year after the same gang used explosives to rob three banks in Málaga and Valencia. Investigators traced members of the gang to Madrid and Málaga and discovered that the group had its own bomb-maker who built the explosives by filling metal capsules with gunpowder from fireworks. Continue reading...

Charles Dunstone-backed Strike to cut costs at troubled firm that was once valued at more than £1.3bnPurplebricks, the once high-flying online estate agent that reached a peak valuation of more than £1.3bn, has been sold to Charles Dunstone-backed rival Strike for £1 with all of its more than 750 staff put at risk of redundancy.The company, which had threatened to shake up the property market with its low-cost model, put itself up for sale in February after issuing a string of profit warnings that resulted in its market value plunging to just £30m. Continue reading...

IOPC confirms West Yorkshire police had contact with victims and man charged with their murder in days before killingsPolice were in contact with a man and a woman who were victims of a suspected double murder in the days before their deaths, a watchdog has confirmed.Katie Higton, 27, and Steven Harnett, 25, were killed in a suspected knife attack at Higton’s house in the Dalton area of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, between Sunday and Monday. Continue reading...

‘Strong climber’ Kami Rita Sherpa beats own record for number of ascents on world’s highest mountainA Nepali sherpa has scaled Mount Everest for a record 27th time, beating his own record, a government official and his hiking company said.Kami Rita Sherpa, 53, scaled the 8,849-metre (29,032ft) mountain early on Wednesday morning along the traditional south-east ridge route, guiding a foreign climber. Continue reading...

UBS says it will absorb costs related to litigation, regulatory matters and liability adjustments in emergency rescueUBS is in line to make an almost $35bn (£28bn) gain after its emergency takeover of Credit Suisse – but has said it will take a $17bn hit from costs related to the rushed rescue deal.The Swiss lender has said it will make gains of $34.8bn after taking on Credit Suisse, based on an initial assessment of data until the end of last year, according to a regulatory filing. The accounting gain will be one of the biggest ever reported by a bank in a single quarter. Continue reading...

Court upholds sentence against ex-French president, saying he must serve one-year’s detention at homeA French appeals court has upheld a prison sentence against the former president Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence-peddling – maintaining he should serve one-year’s detention at home with an electronic bracelet.Sarkozy was originally convicted in 2021 of trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated. It was the first time in modern French history that a former president was given a prison sentence for corruption. He had appealed against the verdict. Continue reading...

E.ON Next, Octopus and Good Energy did not supply final bill on time to many households that had switchedThree energy suppliers have been made to pay compensation totalling £8m for failing to supply a final bill on time to more than 100,000 households that had switched provider.The energy regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, said E.ON Next was ordered to pay £5.5m to almost 95,000 customers because it did not provide them with a final bill within six weeks of moving to another supplier, nor did it pay compensation for the delay within 10 days of the missed deadline. Continue reading...

Ex-Brexit party MEP says there is no ‘given right’ to low food prices despite families struggling with cost of living

Sheeran prevails two weeks after winning copyright case that also alleged similarities with Marvin Gaye’s 1973 hitEd Sheeran has defeated a second lawsuit that alleged he imitated Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On for his song Thinking Out Loud, two weeks after he prevailed in another high-profile copyright case regarding the two songs.A district judge in Manhattan, Louis Stanton, dismissed the case that had been brought against Sheeran by Structured Asset Sales (SAS), a company owned by an investment banker David Pullman. Pullman essentially owns a portion of Let’s Get It On, namely part of the song’s copyright originally belonging to Ed Townsend, who wrote the song with Gaye in 1973. Continue reading...

Jamie Gleeson, 49, appeared in court after allegedly crashing into bus carrying Exford primary school children in Eynesbury

Maribyrnong city council says lack of enforcement of road train curfew has undermined its ability to protect residents

Leaders of Japan, India, US and Australia will instead meet on sidelines of the G7 in Hiroshima this weekend

In test case, UK financial ombudsman rules dental practice should be paid interest over delayed claimHundreds of thousands of small businesses that claimed on their insurance during the Covid pandemic but had their payouts delayed could be owed thousands of pounds after a ruling by the UK’s financial ombudsman.In what campaigners say is a key test case, the complaints body has ruled that a dental practice whose claim had been initially declined but later approved should be paid interest by QBE, one of the largest insurers in the world. Continue reading...

‘Embarrassed’ Daily Telegraph writer and Fox Sports host tells reporters outside court it is his turn in the spotlight of the ‘rugby league soap opera’

Exclusive: politicians can only contribute to official campaign essays according to how they vote on constitutional alteration bill

Joe Biden’s decision to pull out of visits to Australia and PNG will reflect poorly on the US amid growing competition for influence in the region

Scott Austic was acquitted in 2020 after having spent almost 13 years behind bars for his girlfriend’s murder

Move may mean government must deal with Greens to pass PRRT reforms as shadow treasurer warns against gas industry’s ‘death by a thousand cuts’

Labor’s Deborah O’Neill says it’s not enough for company to ‘share summary of key recommendations’, amid calls for AFP investigation

Former British PM says Taiwan is ‘on the front line of the global battle for freedom’ during trip that China has called a ‘dangerous political show’Free nations must commit themselves to a free Taiwan and must be prepared to back it up with concrete measures, Liz Truss has said in a keynote speech in Taipei, in which she called for an “economic Nato” to tackle Beijing’s growing authoritarianism.The former British prime minister said she had come to show support for Taiwan, which was “on the frontline of the global battle for freedom”, under threat from a totalitarian regime in China. Truss arrived in Taiwan on Monday for a five-day visit, and is expected to meet senior government officials. Continue reading...

New Zealand police open homicide inquiry after at least six die in Loafers Lodge blazeA fire that erupted in a Wellington hostel, killing at least six people, is being investigated as arson by New Zealand’s police, who have started a homicide inquiry.Nobody has been arrested, Inspector Dion Bennett said on Wednesday. He would not say why officers believed the fire was deliberately lit, or whether accelerants were used. Continue reading...

Schools told to honour court order as families seek compensation and training for pupils who missed education because of their hairAbout 1,200 Rastafarian children in Malawi are expected to return to state schools over the next month after being banned for a decade because of their hair.After a landmark decision at the high court in March, letters have now been sent out to about 7,000 schools telling headteachers that the exclusion of children with dreadlocks from the classroom has been ruled as unconstitutional. Continue reading...

Revenues rose to £990m last year as people unable to upsize their home opt to pile their possessions elsewhereBritons have packed away enough possessions to fill Buckingham Palace more than 60 times over as the housing crisis, enduring consumerism and a sentimental reluctance to let go of inanimate objects means self-storage is now on the brink of becoming a £1bn-a-year business.Self-storage units are proving cheaper than renting or buying a bigger home and are springing up alongside new housing developments across the UK, with at least 280 more stores planned between now and 2026 – a more than 10% increase. Continue reading...

Dictator visits assembly facility as state media says satellite will be ready for loading after final checksKim Jong-un has inspected North Korea’s first military spy satellite and given the go-ahead for its “future action plan”, according to state media.Kim met the “non-permanent satellite launch preparatory committee” on Tuesday before viewing the satellite, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. Continue reading...

Wage price index increase to annual rate of 3.7% will be scrutinised by Reserve Bank

Organisers say they ‘need a break’ after several challenging years for music festivals across Australia

The man, who cannot be named, is charged with two counts of raping a young woman in Toowoomba in 2021

Labor MP Julian Hill says behaviour of some providers is harming students and could ‘destroy the social licence’ of the sectorThe vocational education and training (VET) sector’s reputation will be destroyed if urgent action isn’t taken to clean up malpractice among international education providers, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.In the past weeks, the committee has heard of providers working with unregulated international education agents to steal students from prestigious public institutions for massive commissions, sell work visas and open “ghost schools” where students don’t attend classes and get handed degrees. Continue reading...

Government models also outline benefits to patients as guild says changes will send small and regional businesses ‘to the wall’

Scheme will then continue for 13 months at £2.50 for a single journey, on back of £500m fundingBus passengers in England will be able to keep travelling for £2 after the government extended funding by another £500m, easing fears about a further decline in local services.The fare cap on most local buses, brought in as a temporary measure last year to boost patronage, will be extended until the end of October and then for another 13 months at £2.50 for a single journey, in a move that the Department for Transport said would support people with the cost of living and ensure stability in the sector. Continue reading...

Fatigue and lack of motivation top poll of reasons why people don’t improve diet and exercise moreIt’s the question many of us ask ourselves: why don’t I exercise more, eat better food and generally lead a healthier lifestyle?For many who want to, but just can’t seem to make it happen, it turns out the answer to that question is – feeling just too tired. Continue reading...

Experts warn Michael Gove lack of detail would allow landlords to circumvent legal overhaulTenants and campaigners have warned Michael Gove not to create a “back door” for unfair evictions as private rented sector reforms are unveiled on Wednesday.The legal overhaul will ban no-fault evictions but strengthen landlords’ rights to throw tenants out for antisocial behaviour. Continue reading...