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...

Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, asks nation to ‘lean on the wheel of history and give it a push’

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by New York editor Andrew GulliA New York editor and literary detective is celebrating the discovery and release of an unpublished short story by James M Cain, one of the greats of American noir, a “poet of the tabloid murder” whose works made famous on film include The Postman Always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...

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...

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...

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...

Indigenous body says it has blocked about 300 people in the past week who used racist slurs

Authorities ‘furiously’ searching for two people among 15 sleeping rough in heritage building the night before fire

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...

Federal court justices uphold judge’s ruling and reject appeal by Racing NSW boss

Judge rules fair trial impossible as perpetrator may seek to shift moral blame to employer so cannot give objective evidence

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...

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...

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...

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...

Comments from Alexander Lukashenko, Belarusian president, come as Russia and Belarus sign new deal for storage of nuclear weapons

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...

Vehicle struck gates blocking entrance to street while Rishi Sunak was inside complex

Prosecutor suggests nurse spotted ‘opportunity’ to harm newborns when their parents were not aroundNurse Lucy Letby murdered five babies and attempted to kill another two shortly after their parents left their sides, a court has been told.The prosecutor Nick Johnson KC suggested that Letby spotted “an opportunity” to harm the newborns when their parents were not around. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Jorrit Faassen, previously married to Putin’s elder daughter, is said to have been questioned over sanctions evasionDutch 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 can reveal.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. Continue reading...

Alexander Lukashenko’s comment come after countries signed pact that provides for Moscow to deploy weapons in Belarus

Roald Dahl Story Company announces new shows, including a large-scale circus and a reading of The Magic FingerA slate of Roald Dahl adaptations has been announced, including a family musical based on The Enormous Crocodile, a reading of The Magic Finger and a large-scale circus show featuring many of the author’s most famous characters.The three shows will join the new musical The Witches, co-produced by the National Theatre and readying for its debut in November, while a further four creations have been commissioned by the theatre division of the Roald Dahl Story Company and are under development. Continue reading...

Former regulator head’s comments follow Guardian Australia analysis which shows Coles and Woolworths increased profit margins during cost-of-living crisis

Exclusive: Party leader says the reform is ‘weak’ and ‘not worth the napkin it was written on’, accusing government of bending to gas lobby

External commissioners appointed as council’s debts expected to exceed 100 times its annual net income

Banks Bourne, sole owner of Tanner Pharma in North Carolina, took sum from Tanner’s UK arm, records showAn American banker was paid a £73m dividend in 2021 after his firm won hundreds of millions in Covid contracts, figures show.Banks Bourne, the sole owner of the medical company Tanner Pharma, took the sum from Tanner’s UK division, Companies House records show. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Joint letter from organisations and experts says singling out British-Pakistani men draws attention away from other sources of sexual abusePoliticians who make “inaccurate or divisive claims” about child sexual abuse and grooming gangs undermine efforts to tackle the crime and almost certainly make children less safe, organisations and experts in the subject have warned in an unprecedented joint letter.The letter, signed by 50 researchers and more than a dozen organisations, including the NSPCC and Victim Support, urges Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak to avoid narratives on abuse based on “misinformation, racism and division”. Continue reading...

PPB Counterparty Services to pay £490,000 for breaching social responsibility rulesThe bookmaker Paddy Power sent a promotional push notification to customers who had signed up to exclude themselves from gambling, inviting them to bet on a football match.The Gambling Commission, which regulates the industry, said PPB Counterparty Services, trading as Paddy Power and Betfair, would pay £490,000 for breaching social responsibility rules. Continue reading...

PM tells ITV show he reads veteran author’s racy books for ‘escapism’

Peter Lam Bui posted his video after a Vietnamese official visited the celebrity chef’s London steakhouseA Vietnam court has jailed a noodle seller who went viral for impersonating celebrity chef Salt Bae, after the restaurateur served a gold-leaf steak to a powerful official, his lawyer said.In 2021, Peter Lam Bui posted a parody video impersonating Salt Bae – Nusret Gökçe, a Turkish chef who parlayed his meme stardom into high-end eateries – by sprinkling herbs on noodle soup and calling himself “Green Onion Bae”. Continue reading...

Committee highlights serious problems with residence schemes affecting Brits already living in the EU before Brexit

Iain Livingstone says ‘institutional racism, sexism, misogyny and discrimination exist’ in forcePolice Scotland is institutionally racist and discriminatory, its chief constable, Iain Livingstone, has said in a public acknowledgement that has been welcomed by campaigners but prompted calls for action.“It is right for me, as chief constable, to clearly state that institutional racism, sexism, misogyny and discrimination exist,” Livingstone told a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority on Thursday morning. Continue reading...

Anne Boden is also a major shareholder and hopes move will shield online bank from possible concernsThe founder of Starling Bank, Anne Boden, is to step aside in a surprise move designed to shield the online bank from potential concerns over a conflict of interest, because she is a major shareholder in the lender.Boden, who launched the bank in 2014, said on Thursday that the roles and priorities of a shareholder and chief executive “ultimately differ” and that to ensure there was “no potential conflict”, she would give up her executive role next month but remain on the board as a non-executive director. Continue reading...