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Ernest Moret was stopped at rail station and taken into custody, where he was questioned about his participation in French protestsA French publisher has been arrested on terror charges in London after being questioned by UK police about participating in anti-government protests in France.Ernest Moret, 28, a foreign rights manager for Éditions la Fabrique, was approached by two plainclothes officers at St Pancras station on Monday evening after arriving by train from Paris to attend the London book fair. Continue reading...

Colin Beattie arrest announced as new first minister prepared to set out ‘fresh vision’ to MSPsAttempts by Scotland’s new first minister, Humza Yousaf, to stamp his authority on his already beleaguered administration were scuppered by the arrest of the Scottish National party’s treasurer hours before a major policy statement.Police Scotland said Colin Beattie, 71, the SNP MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh and a former banker, had been taken into custody on Tuesday morning and was being interviewed by detectives as part of an investigation into the party’s funding and finances. He was released without charge later that day, pending further investigation. Continue reading...

Information Commissioner’s Office reprimands forces as app was originally intended for hostage negotiatorsTwo police forces have been reprimanded by Britain’s data watchdog after officers unlawfully recorded more than 200,000 phone conversations using an app originally intended for hostage negotiators.The automatic recordings, made over several years, included “highly sensitive” conversations with victims, witnesses and perpetrators of suspected crimes, according to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Continue reading...

Hardliners may instead lobby for a commitment in next manifesto to use as a dividing line with LabourConservatives who want to railroad through measures to curb small boat crossings by pulling the UK out of the European convention on human rights (EHRC) could make a “tactical retreat” and instead lobby for a commitment in the party’s next manifesto.Some of those who put their name to a rebel amendment to the illegal migration bill, which is due to go through its final parliamentary stages next Tuesday, told the Guardian a climbdown was possible. Continue reading...

Broadcaster says programme will contrast revelry in Downing Street with hardship across rest of UKPartygate, the scandal that helped bring down Boris Johnson and may yet cost him his parliamentary seat, is being made into docudrama for Channel 4.Partygate the True Story will dramatise numerous drunken parties in Downing during the Covid lockdown, including booze runs to fill a staff wine fridge, vomiting officials, and the breaking of a child’s swing during a garden party. Continue reading...

Exclusive: No 10 urged to explain as lists of interests since 2019 do not refer to Akshata Murty’s sharesOpposition parties have called on Downing Street to provide answers over Rishi Sunak’s family financial interests as the Guardian discovered that previous ministerial registers made no mention of his wife’s stake in a childcare firm, even though it began in 2019.The prime minister could be ordered to apologise to the House of Commons if an inquiry announced on Monday into his declarations about the investment finds he breached the code of conduct for MPs. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage hereHundreds of civil servants working in jobcentres are to stage a fresh strike in a long-running dispute over jobs, pay, pensions and conditions, PA Media reports. PA says:The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said more than 600 of its members at 13 jobcentres in Glasgow and Liverpool will strike for five days from 2 May.The union said Glasgow hads been targeted for disruptive action because it is one of the areas piloting a scheme on claimants having to attend an office several times over two weeks, while Liverpool will face action because of plans to close a local jobcentre. Continue reading...

Chain was refused licence to sell hot food in Leicester Square over police concerns about antisocial behaviourThe bakery chain Greggs is to appeal a ban preventing a central London outlet from selling hot food through the night after police claimed it could lead to a spike in crime and disorder.The company was last summer refused an overnight licence to open its store in Leicester Square between between 11pm and 5am amid claims it could become a “hotspot for late-night disturbances and antisocial behaviour”. Continue reading...

Senior Tory Tobias Ellwood says details of ‘near-shoot down’ revealed in Pentagon leaks should have been publicisedThe senior Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood has accused the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, of concealing a potential Russian “act of war” against an RAF spy plane, during an emergency debate in the Commons.The chair of the defence select committee questioned an account given by Wallace to parliament of the dangerous incident, which occurred last September and was revealed last week in a leak of hundreds of top secret Pentagon documents as a “near-shoot down”. Continue reading...

Colin Beattie is in custody and being questioned by detectives, says Police Scotland

Noel Hanna died during descent of world’s 10th highest mountain, say expedition organisersA Northern Irish climber has died and an Indian climber is missing after falling into a crevasse in separate incidents on Mount Annapurna, the world’s 10th highest mountain.Another Indian climber fell ill on the way down from the 8,091-metre (26,540ft) summit but survived after spending the night in harsh conditions on the mountain. Continue reading...

Firm’s owner, Pernod Ricard, faced calls for boycott and political pressure after resuming some exports in AprilThe maker of Sweden’s Absolut vodka has said it is ceasing all exports to Russia after calls to boycott the brand flared up in Sweden and on social media.The Absolut Company said it had “decided to stop the export of its brand to Russia”. Continue reading...

Juan Carlos is promised a warm welcome by mayor on visit to boating competition in GaliciaSpain’s self-exiled former king, Juan Carlos, who abandoned the country almost three years ago after a series of damaging financial allegations that further tarnished his diminished reputation, is due to make a trip home to take part in a sailing regatta this week.The 85-year-old former monarch, who retains the title rey emérito (king emeritus), has been living in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, since August 2020. Continue reading...

Konstantin Malofeyev, accused of aiding pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine, appeared to continue moving money through the global system

Officials say it will leave in May if Taliban cannot be persuaded to let local women work for organisationThe UN is ready to take the “heartbreaking” decision to pull out of Afghanistan in May if it cannot persuade the Taliban to let local women work for the organisation, officials have said.The warning comes after UN officials spent months negotiating with the group’s leaders in the hope of persuading them to make exceptions to a hardline edict this month barring local women from working for it, according to the head of the UN Development Programme (UNHP), Achim Steiner. Continue reading...

US journalist to remain in detention until trial at end of May on charges of espionage

Kremlin says president visited occupied territories where he discussed conflict with military officials

Prosecutors say there is sufficient evidence to charge serving and former officer with misconductA serving officer and a former officer of the Police Service of Northern Ireland are to be prosecuted for allegedly sharing images of dead bodies, including that of a person who took their own life.There is sufficient evidence to charge the two with misconduct in public office after an investigation by the police ombudsman, the public prosecution service said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

The station, in New York’s Chinatown, was allegedly run by Beijing’s ministry of public security to track Chinese dissidentsThe FBI has arrested two men accused of running a covert station for China’s police force in New York, and using it as a base to track Chinese dissidents living in the US.The station, in Manhattan’s Chinatown, was allegedly set up in February 2022 and operated by Beijing’s ministry of public security (MPS) as part of a campaign of transnational repression against Chinese pro-democracy activists and other political opponents around the world. Continue reading...

Unemployment benefit rates are at ‘such an inadequate level that they create a barrier to paid work’, committee finds

Miranda Dickson fails to overturn ruling that colour was not in keeping with historic character of propertyA woman has been forced to repaint the pink front door to her listed building in Edinburgh following a protracted battle with local authorities.Miranda Dickson was told to alter the colour last year after a complaint was made to City of Edinburgh council from an anonymous person. The local authority ruled that the pink door was not “in keeping with the historic character” of the listed building in the city’s New Town area. Continue reading...

Court previously suspended order to put down female brown bear after appeal by animal rights groupAuthorities in northern Italy have captured a bear that fatally mauled a jogger and became the focus of a battle over what to do with the country’s growing brown bear population.Officials in Trento announced on Tuesday that the bear, identified as Jj4, had been captured overnight. Continue reading...

Film-maker asked by No 10 to be ‘maths champion’ says ‘nobody thought to ask me whether I support this policy’Downing Street has reportedly ditched a campaign to promote Rishi Sunak’s “maths to 18” policy after officials obtained only one case study – a film-maker who believes the proposal to be “misguided” and “tone deaf”.The prime minister’s office appears to have left it until the last minute to seek endorsements from people across British industry for a social media push, the Times reports. Stephen Fellows, a leading film data analyst, was approached on Friday, three days before the PM relaunched the policy with a speech in London. Continue reading...

Critics argue some cases have highlighted serious issues with the way officials are targeting peopleA fierce debate has broken out in Ukraine over allegations that a clampdown on corruption is being used to frame high profile business advocates of state reform, raising wider doubts about Ukraine’s internal political trajectory – and its ability to absorb billions in European reconstruction funds once the war ends.The concerns have been expressed to the US Department of State and UK Foreign Office, and are shared in part by Ukrainian anti-corruption campaigners. Continue reading...

Reconstructed rampart structure that stood almost 2,000 years ago will open to visitors in Richborough, KentAn 8-metre-high rampart and gateway built almost 2,000 years ago at the spot where Roman forces invaded Britain has been reconstructed for 21st-century visitors.The original structure was built to allow soldiers a clear view of any threat to the military base they created at Richborough in Kent, the main entry point to Britain from mainland Europe and often referred to as the “gateway to Britannia”. Continue reading...

Officials ready for nuclear threats and cyber-attacks as part of Russian response to predicted counter-offensiveWestern leaders are preparing for Vladimir Putin to use “whatever tools he’s got left” including nuclear threats and cyber-attacks in response to an expected Ukrainian counter-offensive against Russia.British officials at the G7 foreign ministers’ summit in Japan said they were expecting Russia to retaliate and “must be prepared” for extreme tactics as it attempted to hold on to Ukrainian territory. Continue reading...

Bentleys, Rolls-Royces and Aston Martins among royal cars, but Guardian investigation finds ownership often unclearThe royal family have the use of a fleet of luxury cars, including vintage Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, Jaguars and an Aston Martin. But untangling which vehicles are owned privately, which are held by the sovereign in right of the crown, and which are leased from the manufacturer is no simple task.The royal mews at Buckingham Palace is the primary home of the motorcade of limousines and other luxury vehicles used by the family for formal occasions. These are often referred to as “state cars”, but the term does not necessarily mean they are owned by the state. Continue reading...

Research finds independent salons particularly hard hit by consumer spending squeeze and rising billsMore than a quarter of hairdressers are thinking of closing sites or reducing the size of their salon as stylists struggle with high bills and fewer clients, research suggests.Two-fifths of salon owners say they are anxious about the future, with almost a quarter struggling to pay their energy costs and one in five having to ask family and friends for financial help, according to a survey by the comparison site Uswitch. Continue reading...

Youth involved in late-night altercation in Dalby says he feels he was targeted because of the colour of his skin

China is positioning itself as a regional mediator after brokering the restoration of ties between Iran and Saudi ArabiaChina’s foreign minister told his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts his country is ready to help facilitate peace talks, state media reported.The separate phone calls between Chinese foreign minister, Qin Gang, and the Israeli and Palestinian top diplomats comes amid recent moves by Beijing to position itself as a regional mediator. Continue reading...

Parliament clerk finds claim Labor’s Jim Madden used public money to buy an artwork for former partner ‘not substantiated’

Almost a third of respondents say they have chosen not to apply for a property because they didn’t trust tech company with their details

Earlier this year, hundreds of top secret Pentagon documents were posted on the social media platform Discord. Manisha Ganguly and Julian Borger reportThe US authorities are investigating the leak of hundreds of secret US defence documents, some of which related to the war in Ukraine.The Guardian’s investigations correspondent, Manisha Ganguly, tells Hannah Moore how these documents migrated between different websites before being picked up by the press. Julian Borger, the Guardian’s world affairs editor, explains what we learned from the leak and how the US authorities have responded. Continue reading...

The nine board members were very close to raising the cash rate another 25 basis points in April due to inflation and labour market

Opposition home affairs spokesperson to sit on backbench before retiring at next election

Last month’s fatal fire in Ciudad Juárez is latest in a series of deaths and injuries dogging the country’s militarized migration agencyMexican authorities have arrested the head of migration for the state of Chihuahua in connection with a fire which killed 40 people at a government-run detention facility in the northern border city of Ciudad Juárez last month.The death of the migrants sparked outrage across Mexico after surveillance footage showed that officials failed to unlock the doors of the holding cell where migrants were trapped. Continue reading...

In government’s plan to close loophole people who sell blades would face up to two years in jailMachetes and zombie knives could be banned in England and Wales, with people selling them facing up to two years in jail, under government plans to close a legal loophole.After complaints from police chiefs and MPs that some large, bladed weapons are excluded from current laws, the Home Office will consult the public over plans to ban their ownership and sale. Continue reading...

Figures show need for work to make streets safer, including cutting speed limits, says Transport for LondonPeople living in London’s poorest areas face a far higher risk of suffering traffic-related deaths or serious injury than those in wealthier neighbourhoods, a Transport for London study has found.TfL said the casualty figures demonstrated the need for continued work to make streets safer as a matter of social justice – including cutting speed limits on more of the roads it manages throughout the capital. Continue reading...

European Commission accused of acting unlawfully in two separate cases bought by environment groupsThe European Commission is being sued by environmental campaigners over a decision to include gas and nuclear in an EU guide to “green” investments.Two separate legal challenges are being lodged on Tuesday at the European Union’s general court in Luxembourg – one by Greenpeace and another by a coalition including Client Earth and WWF – after the classification of fuels in the so-called taxonomy, a guide for investors intended to channel billions into green technologies. Continue reading...

Star present in person to greet Josie Felix at group’s show in east London where digital band members perform their hitsThe Abba star Björn Ulvaeus has said he believes avatars are the future after greeting the 1 millionth attender at the group’s hit show, Voyage.Ulvaeus praised the technology as he greeted the guest at the purpose-built Abba Arena in east London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Monday. Continue reading...

David Byrne shot six times at Regency hotel in one of first deadly attacks of Hutch-Kinahan gangland feudGerry “the Monk” Hutch has been found not guilty by a non-jury court of the high-profile murder of David Byrne at a Dublin hotel seven years ago.Byrne, 33, died after being shot six times at a crowded boxing weigh-in event at Dublin’s Regency hotel on 5 February 2016, in one of the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud. Continue reading...

Figures show ‘colossal impact of industrial action on planned care in NHS’, says medical chief for EnglandAlmost 200,000 hospital appointments and procedures in England were cancelled during last week’s junior doctors’ strikes, it has been revealed.There were 20,000 more appointments cancelled in the strikes that ran between 11 and 15 April than in the shorter strike in March, NHS England figures show. A total of 27,361 staff were not at work during the peak of the strikes, though the true figure could be higher as some workforce data was incomplete. Continue reading...

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has said it would pause Twitter activities after being labelled ‘government-funded media’Prime minister Justin Trudeau has waded into a feud over Twitter’s decision to label Canada’s public broadcaster as “government-funded”, accusing his main political rival Pierre Poilievre of enlisting the help of tech executives in an attempt to defund the network.Last week, the Conservative leader called on Twitter owner Elon Musk to label the English-language feed of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s “government-funded” – but stopped short of asking for the French arm of the network to also be given the same label. Continue reading...

Stuart Peach, running in this year’s election for Ashfield district council, also talked about ‘stoning migrants’A Conservative local election candidate in Nottinghamshire has posted on social media about “stoning migrants” and complained of an “invasion of Islam”.Stuart Peach is running in this year’s election for Ashfield district council, based in the constituency of the party’s deputy chairman, Lee Anderson. Continue reading...

Met officers had been called to a block of flats in Peckham in response to reports a man was threatening to jump from a balconyAn investigation has been launched after a man fell to his death from a balcony when he was Tasered by police following an hour-long standoff.Officers from the Metropolitan police were called to a block of flats in Peckham, south London last week in an attempt to save the man’s life. Continue reading...

Ex-leader also praised for discipline and passion as she becomes only third chancellor to receive GroßkreuzGermany’s former leader Angela Merkel has been awarded the country’s highest order of merit despite criticism over her legacy, receiving praise for her discipline and passion during 16 years as chancellor.She was presented with the honour by the president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in Berlin on Monday evening in recognition of her contribution to German political life at an event attended by her political allies, including the current chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the former national football coach Jürgen Klinsmann, Ulrich Matthes, an award-winning actor who had helped improve how she delivered speeches, as well as family and friends. Continue reading...

Investigation understood to be related to PM’s links to childcare firm in which his wife is an investor

PM’s spokesperson says people will continue to use national park’s English name despite change to Welsh one, Bannau BrycheiniogDowning Street has stepped into a growing row over a decision to ditch the English name of the Brecon Beacons in favour of the old Welsh one, Bannau Brycheiniog.The prime minister’s official spokesperson said he was sure people would continue to use the national park’s English name and questioned the move to drop a symbol of a flaming beacon from the park’s logo. Continue reading...

Neither side shows any willingness to heed appeals from US, UK, African Union and Arab states as death toll nears 100

Paris court clears aviation giants over disaster that killed 228 people flying from Rio de Janeiro to ParisThe families of victims of France’s worst-ever air disaster said they were “devastated” after a Paris court cleared Air France and Airbus of manslaughter charges over a 2009 crash that caused the deaths of 228 people.Giving its verdict on Monday, the court said that, if there had been faults committed, “no certain causal link” with the accident had been demonstrated. Continue reading...