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Annual Big Lunch project becomes part of official events to mark crowning of King Charles III

Souvenir editions abound and positive appraisals dominate amid descriptions from ‘his crowning moment’ to ‘king of the world’

Amount received will depend on location, treasurer says, but no comment on calls to increase jobseeker base rate

CEO says demand for assistance in cases including domestic violence far outweighs funding and more support is needed to avert closure

The invitation had suggested a break with tradition, but the royal family opted to play it safeWhen the official Coronation invitation was unveiled last month featuring a bee, bluebells and a Green Man, an ancient mythological figure symbolising rebirth, it hinted that the new monarch’s investiture was perhaps, going to break away from tradition.Further hints came via the meat-free Coronation quiche recipe, news that the anointing oil was set to be vegan and Charles’s decision to ditch the customary silk stockings and breeches. The Princess of Wales was even rumoured to be swapping a tiara for a flower crown. Continue reading...

Crowds who gathered to watch event did their best to shrug off the miserable weather

Wagner chief says his forces will pull out of Bakhmut while Ukraine says they are reinforcing positions; Zaporizhzhia villages near frontline evacuated

Robert’s retirement means a second byelection test for Peter Dutton’s opposition, this time in the Queensland seat of Fadden

The WikiLeaks founder writes that he has been captive in the prison for more than four years ‘on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign’

Advocates say cancellations may embolden anti-LGBTQ+ groups to target other events and state needs stronger anti-vilification laws

Harbourside sites such as seawalls and wharves at Cockatoo Island and Macquarie Lightstation in Vaucluse to be shored up with investment

Crowning of new king and queen will include UK’s biggest military spectacle in 70 yearsForeign royalty, heads of state and other dignitaries from around the globe have descended on London for the crowning of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, which will include a military spectacle unmatched in Britain in 70 years.Seven thousand troops will be on parade with 19 military bands in a coronation procession stretching one mile from front to rear, the most at any state occasion since the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Continue reading...

Conservatives continue to suffer heavy defeats as Labour, Lib Dems and Greens make gains

London fire brigade suggest smoke probably caused by train’s brakes and police say nobody hurt in incidentPassengers climbed out of the smashed windows of a tube train at Clapham Common station in London on Friday evening amid a fire alert.A video posted on social media shows a man with a hammer cracking one of the Northern Line tube windows to allow travellers trapped inside to get out, while other videos show smashed windows. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak can’t revive his party, says leader of Lib Dems, after series of council gains from Conservatives

Keir Starmer tells aides party will win next election, even as pollsters suggest it could fall short of majority

BBC submits material to Buckingham Palace for approval before use, raising questions about editorial independenceThe BBC has allowed Buckingham Palace to veto what footage it can use in its coronation coverage, raising questions about the national broadcaster’s impartiality in relation to the monarchy.In recent days the BBC has submitted material to the palace for approval in royal-themed programming, only for Buckingham Palace to declare certain pieces could not be used, according to individuals with knowledge of the situation. Continue reading...

Revelation raises questions about whether US and Europe should have been more prepared for 2014 invasionVladimir Putin told Bill Clinton three years before his 2014 attack on Ukraine that he was not bound by the Budapest Memorandum guaranteeing the country’s territorial integrity, according to the former US president.The revelation raises questions about whether the US and its European allies should have been more prepared for the 2014 attack, when Russia annexed Crimea and attacked the Donbas. Continue reading...

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has a history of dramatic statements, says troops will leave fiercely contested city on 10 May. This live blog is closed

Teenager who attacked woman and three girls on walk home from school to be sent to therapeutic unit for at least 18 monthsA 13-year-old boy who carried out sexual attacks on a woman and three teenage girls as he walked home in his school uniform has avoided a custodial sentence but will be sent to a specialist therapeutic unit for at least 18 months.A judge told Shrewsbury crown court on Friday he had “absolutely no idea” why the boy attacked a 16-year-old, two 17-year-olds and a woman in her 30s in four separate incidents in Telford, Shropshire. Continue reading...

Shock for party chair who had previously expected everything to be all right on the night and learned not to try too hardFirst manage your expectations.When the Tory party chair, Greg Hands, announced last week that he expected the Conservatives to lose 1,000 seats in the local elections, he was being characteristically disingenuous. What he really meant was that the Tories would lose between 500 and 600 seats and he would be able to take to the airwaves and crow about his party having done far better than anyone imagined. The plucky Conservatives yet again seizing triumph from a potential disaster. And it would all be down to him and his idiotic tweets of a 13-year-old Liam Byrne gag. At least we won’t be seeing them again. Continue reading...

Glen Matlock says he could make up lyrics as he goes along when he plays version of 1977 hit on coronation dayGod Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols is the only track in chart history to be have been listed with a blank title to avoid offence. Now, the band’s former bassist is drawing another blank as he tries to rework the lyrics before King Charles’s coronation.Glen Matlock, who will perform God Save the King at the 100 Club in London on Saturday, indicated he was struggling with one or two of the rhymes. Continue reading...

In extraordinary video tirade, Yevgeny Prigozhin attacks defence minister and chief of armed forces

Rachel Simpson from Newport accessed computer systems to obtain information about police drugs operationsA Crown Prosecution Service officer who leaked sensitive files about complex police investigations that were passed to members of organised crime gangs has been jailed for six years.Rachel Simpson, 39, from Newport in south Wales, repeatedly accessed CPS and crown court computer systems searching for information about investigations into major police drugs operations and money laundering. Continue reading...

Rescue deal for publisher would wipe out existing shareholders, including James Murdoch

Thousands evacuated to army camps as authorities struggle to bring inter-ethnic tensions under controlIndian troops have been deployed to the north-eastern state of Manipur with orders to “shoot on sight” and enforce a curfew as deadly clashes between tribal and non-tribal groups continue for the third day.The violence and arson has forced about 9,000 people to flee their homes in the remote state, which borders Myanmar. The state government has not given the number of deaths but the chief minister, N Biren Singh, said that “precious lives have been lost” and at least 20 people were reportedly injured, including two local politicians. Continue reading...

Nurse allegedly killed five-day-old boy before poisoning his twin brother with insulinLucy Letby sobbed in court as she recalled the “traumatic” death of a baby boy she allegedly murdered before poisoning his twin brother with insulin.The nurse wiped away tears with a tissue as she told the jury she had “never seen a baby bleed in that way before” when the five-day-old boy died in front of his parents. Continue reading...

Royals surprise those camped outside the palace following lunch with Commonwealth leaders

Among sweeping security measures, police expected to use radar to detect rogue objects in the airThe authorities have banned drone flights in central London as part of the sweeping range of security measures being taken to protect the king’s coronation from possible disruption at lunchtime on Saturday.The action comes a couple of days after two drones, most likely operated by pro-Ukrainian groups, managed to fly over presidential offices at the Kremlin in Moscow, the historic centre of Russian government. Continue reading...

Police investigate whether Vincenzo Costanzo was gunned down by rival clan or shot by accidentThe 26-year-old son of a mafia boss was shot dead and more than a hundred people were injured on Thursday during delirious celebrations by football fans in Naples, after the city’s team won its first Serie A title in 33 years.Vincenzo Costanzo, who was known to police and had a “significant” criminal record, was gunned down during the spontaneous street partying that took place across the city after Napoli were crowned champions. Continue reading...

Party takes back control of council in ‘red wall’ territory it aims to regain at next general electionIt was clear that a decisive win in Stoke-on-Trent was very important to Keir Starmer. In the weeks running up to the election, the Labour party poured a huge amount of resources into its campaign in the city, and its leader visited multiple times.High-profile MPs such as the Birmingham MP Jess Phillips and the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, were drafted in for door-knocking in the final hours before polls closed. The candidates had been chosen early to given them maximum time for campaigning. Continue reading...

Judge says Ike Ekweremadu was ‘driving force’ in scheme to obtain kidney for his sick daughterA senior Nigerian politician has been sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison in the UK for being the “driving force” in a plot to harvest a kidney for his sick daughter from a young man he had trafficked to London.Ike Ekweremadu, 60, a former deputy president of the Nigerian senate, his wife, Beatrice, 56, and Dr Obinna Obeta, 51, were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury in March in the first organ trafficking conviction under the Modern Slavery Act. Continue reading...

Caldicot had planned to hold street celebration but organisers got zero donations on crowdfunding pageIt had been billed as “the party of the year” but a Welsh market town has been forced to cancel its coronation celebration after failing to raise any money to cover costs.Caldicot, in south-east Wales, was planning a “massive street party” with a big screen to watch the coronation of King Charles, a “fully decorated town centre”, entertainment, children’s activities and competitions. Continue reading...

Lib Dems urge Derbyshire police to investigate clip of Johnson urging Conservatives to vote

Government accused of racism for forcing sale of social housing in Copenhagen’s Mjølnerparken estateA trendy neighbourhood in Copenhagen named the “coolest in the world” is bracing itself for a major protest over an anti-ghetto law that critics say is racist and pushing out the remaining social housing residents.Hundreds of demonstrators, supported by the Danish capital’s mayor for the environment, Line Barfod, are expected to mass on the edges of the Mjølnerparken housing estate, in the popular Nørrebro area, on Saturday. Continue reading...

Citizens of Kherson stock up on food and water as Ukraine forces step up shelling of Russian positions• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesResidents of the key southern Ukrainian city of Kherson are stocking up on food and water after another night of heavy Russian shelling and before an announced 56-hour curfew due to begin on Friday evening.A number said they planned to stay indoors before the curfew and planned closure of the city, adding that they had slept in their clothes or gone to shelters because of the intensity of the Russian attack. Continue reading...

Police Scotland has told officers to shave off facial hair by end of May so they can use FFP3 face masksAt least four officers are pursuing discrimination claims after Police Scotland announced plans for a “clean-shaven” policy without adequate consultation, according to their professional body.Officers are being told to shave off their beards and moustaches so they can use a particular type of protective face mask, which is face-fitted and requires the wearer to be clean-shaven. Continue reading...

Younger collectors drive up prices of ‘kitsch’ ceramic animals as Victoriana look returns yet againPairs of Staffordshire ceramic dogs, once commonplace on Victorian mantelpieces, are having a sudden resurgence with a boom in demand from a new generation.The vintage marketplace Vinterior reports that searches for Staffordshire dog statues is up 115% year-on-year. When Vinterior launched a recent pop-up store in London’s Selfridges, it was the dogs not the Danish dining chairs that were the first items to sell out. Continue reading...

The actor will take to the stage as the Scottish king in December, in the last production of the London theatre’s 30th-anniversary seasonHot on the heels of the news that Ralph Fiennes will play Macbeth in a tour of repurposed UK warehouses comes the announcement that David Tennant will also star as the Scottish king at London’s Donmar Warehouse.It is the Scottish actor’s first Shakespearean stage role since he played Richard II for the Royal Shakespeare Company, on and off, from 2013 to 2016. In 2022 he was Macbeth in a two-part BBC Radio 4 broadcast. The Donmar production will be directed by Max Webster and will conclude the 30th-anniversary season for the London theatre, which was previously home to a banana-ripening warehouse. Continue reading...

Rain forecast for UK over bank holiday weekend, including in London as Charles III is crowned

‘He said “I’m going to kill you” and that’s when I saw the axe,’ Mari Buci told the jury of the attack

Margaret Dale Hawke will spend at least 25 years in jail for killing her daughter and two sons in the family’s Port Hedland home

Broadcaster and friend calls invitation to pay allegiance ‘well-intentioned and rather ill-advised’King Charles would find the idea of people paying homage to him “abhorrent”, his friend Jonathan Dimbleby has said while seeking to pin the blame for the proposal on the archbishop of Canterbury.There has been a widespread backlash against the idea of a “homage of the people”, in which the general public is invited to swear allegiance to the king during the coronation on Saturday. Continue reading...

Federal leader refuses to rule out federal intervention after John Pesutto declines to respond to Deeming threat

A 37-year-old man was arrested by police after stabbing at service centre in Haymarket

As the results come in, find out how Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems and other parties fared in Thursday’s polls for hundreds of English councils

Unanimous decision announced at the Art Gallery of NSW, where all finalists will be exhibited from Saturday

Judge finds Australian Catholic order should not benefit from its ‘own inaction’ in not speaking to known abuser before he died

Opposition leader supports diplomatic intervention in WikiLeaks founder’s case, saying it has ‘gone on too long’

The Reserve Bank’s quarterly statement on monetary policy predicts that the underlying inflation rate will end the year at 4%