Exclusive: Host expresses gratitude to national broadcaster and reflects on delivering a ‘fun, warm and intelligent’ run

Drag performer who had four IDAHOBIT events cancelled said councils felt they could not create a safe environment

A fortnight of harrowing testimony at consecutive inquests shines a light on the northern rivers’ alternative therapy scene

Exclusive: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is chasing hundreds of overdue fines amid repeated requests to respect the law

Sarah Somerset-How and George Webb charged under modern slavery laws for treating husband ‘like property’A wife and a live-in carer have been found guilty of enslaving her vulnerable disabled husband in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.Sarah Somerset-How and George Webb, who were having an affair, kept Tom Somerset How in dirty conditions and treated him “like a piece of property”. Continue reading...

Protesters tent outside universities as part of growing movement calling for action on high rentsMirko, 19, gets up at 5am for the commute from his parents’ home in Ronciglione to Rome, an almost two-hour journey by bus, train and metro, to make it in time for his 8am lecture at Sapienza University. Then he repeats the journey home after his last lecture, which on some days finishes at 8pm.But now the law student has had enough, and for the last few nights has been sleeping in a tent outside the university as part of a growing movement of students across Italy protesting against high rents. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Haemophilia Society wrote to boss Darryn Gibson about dangers of missed deliveries and patients remain at ‘very serious’ riskThe boss of a private healthcare company exposed by the Guardian for putting seriously ill children and adults at risk was warned it was failing patients three years ago.Darryn Gibson, the chief executive of Sciensus, Britain’s biggest medicines courier, was told in November 2020 that patients with bleeding disorders were being left dangerously exposed to internal bleeding with little or no treatment at home as a result of botched, delayed or missed deliveries. Continue reading...

Party’s national campaigns coordinator was delighted by recent local poll results and lauds Keir Starmer as a ‘problem fixer’For all that some pundits have tried to present Labour’s local elections as middling, Shabana Mahmood is having none of it. Asked how she would have viewed such results for 2023 when she became national campaigns coordinator two years earlier, the response is adamant.“I’d have bitten your arm off,” the Birmingham Ladywood MP says without hesitation. “I’d have done a sort of, ‘Please God, inshallah, let that be true.’ Continue reading...

Scientific breakthroughs allowed experts to detect DNA from Boyd, who was 25 at time of killingA child killer who evaded justice for more than 30 years has been found guilty of murder.David Boyd took seven-year-old Nikki Allen to an abandoned building where he beat her with a brick and repeatedly stabbed her to death in 1992. Continue reading...

Foreign ministry says ‘no record of approved arms sale by state’ after claims from Reuben BrigetySouth Africa’s foreign ministry has summoned the US ambassador over allegations he made that the country had provided arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine.Amid the diplomatic fallout, South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, would also speak with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation said in a statement posted on Twitter. Continue reading...

Film titled Cleaner will follow ex-soldier turned window cleaner who must save hostages from zealous extremistIt is western Europe’s tallest building, and a modern staple of the 21st-century London skyline. Now the Shard will take centre stage in a “nail-biting” thriller starring Star Wars’ Daisy Ridley and directed by James Bond veteran Martin Campbell.The high-wire action-thriller, titled Cleaner, will be “set on the side of the Shard” in present-day London, Deadline reported. It centres on a group of radical activists taking over an energy company’s annual gala at the 310 metre-tall building and seizing hundreds of hostages in order to expose the corruption of the hosts. Continue reading...

Titled Reframing Fashion, May’s magazine focuses on disability justice, accessibility and prideBritish Vogue has released a braille edition of the magazine for the first time in its 107-year history.The May issue of the publication has also been made available in audio format to increase access for blind and partially sighted people. Continue reading...

Officers arrest 27 people and seize tonnes of baby eels, seen as a delicacy but critically endangeredPolice in Spain and France have arrested 27 people and seized 1.5 tonnes of live baby eels, as well as goods worth more than €2m, after breaking up a gang dedicated to breeding the critically endangered fishes and smuggling them to China.Officers also recovered tonnes of frozen baby eels, called elvers, which are prized as a delicacy in Spain and parts of Asia, that had not been subject to any food safety checks and were not suitable for human consumption. Continue reading...

As shoppers faced price rises, Ken Murphy’s basic salary rose, although his overall pay package fellThe boss of Tesco earned almost £4.5m last year despite profits halving and price rises for shoppers.Ken Murphy’s total £4.4m package compared with £4.7m a year earlier, after his bonus dipped because of missed targets on profits and food waste. His basic salary rose 1.7% to £1.4m. Continue reading...

Boycotts, divestment and sanctions bill, designed to stop public bodies boycotting Israel, will be tabled soonPlans to stop UK public bodies boycotting foreign countries and British companies that trade with them represent a further attack on the right to freedom of expression, civil society groups have said.Officials from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) have said the boycotts, divestment and sanctions bill, announced in last year’s Queen’s speech and designed to stop actions against Israel, will be tabled soon. Continue reading...

Yang Maodong called it a ‘score-settling’ punishment for his two decades of rights advocacyA Chinese court has sentenced a prominent rights activist to eight years in jail on subversion charges in what he said was a “score-settling” punishment for his two decades of rights advocacy.Yang Maodong, who goes by the pen name Guo Feixiong, was sentenced on Thursday by the Guangzhou intermediate people’s court for “inciting subversion of state power,” his brother Yang Maoquan wrote on social media. Repeated phone calls to the court went unanswered on Friday. Continue reading...

Spokesperson blames admin errors for case reaching court after archbishop caught doing 25mph in 20mph zoneThe archbishop of Canterbury has claimed he repeatedly tried to resolve a speeding ticket with the Metropolitan police but was denied three times before being handed three points on his licence and ordered to pay £510.Justin Welby was prosecuted at a private hearing on Wednesday after being caught in his Volkswagen Golf doing 25mph in a 20mph zone along the Albert Embankment in London on 2 October last year. Continue reading...

Tattoo artists will offer original designs inspired by the master painter at his former home in AmsterdamArtists may suffer for their art but now audiences can feel the pain too, thanks to a pop-up tattoo studio at the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam where Rembrandt van Rijn lived, painted and taught.In one of the more extreme attempts to attract a younger audience post-Covid, the newly renovated museum in Amsterdam is launching a “poor man’s Rembrandt project” for a week in June. Celebrated tattoo artists from the studio Schiffmacher and Veldhoen will be “artists in residence”, offering original tattoos costing from €100 to €250, inspired by the 17th century Dutch master’s etchings, self-portraits and signature. Continue reading...

Draft legislation also proposes restriction on sales with aim to be tobacco-free by 2040The Portuguese government has announced draft legislation that would restrict tobacco sales and ban smoking in covered outdoor terraces and near schools, hospitals and sports venues in an attempt to create a smoke-free generation by 2040.The health minister, Manuel Pizarro, said the proposals were intended to tackle tobacco use and not to punish smokers or business owners. “This is a bill that takes firm steps towards promoting health and protecting people from exposure to tobacco smoke,” he said on Thursday. Continue reading...

Simon Thompson to leave after just two years as postal firm seeks fourth boss in four yearsThe chief executive of Royal Mail is stepping down after just two years in the wake of an acrimonious tussle with unions.Simon Thompson, who took the top job in early 2021, will stay on until the end of October as the postal company seeks for its fourth boss in four years. Continue reading...

Two officers face criminal and disciplinary inquiries after London man fell five floors from balconyTwo Metropolitan police officers have been placed under criminal investigation after a man was shot with a Taser and then fell five floors to his death.The Independent Office for Police Conduct made the announcement on Friday, following the incident last month in Peckham, south London. Continue reading...

Judges’ decision comes amid rising tensions as former Pakistan PM faces claims over illegal land transfersPakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been granted bail for two weeks by the Islamabad high court in a corruption case, but said he feared being immediately re-arrested after his release.Security was tight as Khan appeared at a hearing at Islamabad high court on Friday. He had been in police custody since Tuesday after he was dramatically arrested on the premises of the court by almost 100 paramilitary officers. Continue reading...

Francesca Albanese says Israel is maintaining occupation to get as much land as possible for Jewish peopleIsrael treats the Palestinian territories as its colonies, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied territories has said on her first visit to London since her appointment last year.Francesca Albanese, an Italian lawyer and human rights academic, has faced calls to resign by Israeli government ministers, such as Amichai Chikli, who accused her of “spewing hatred and antisemitism”, and Zionist groups have described her as biased. Continue reading...

Questions also linger over what the network offered the ex-president in exchange for what some called a Trump infomercialDonald Trump and his circle believe he got everything that he wanted from the controversial town hall hosted by CNN, even as it prompted a wave of outrage and embarrassed the network, including many of its own staff who were upset that it gave Trump a platform to lie to a large audience.The former US president was interested in doing the town hall with CNN for two main reasons, people close to Trump said. There was an understanding that CNN would book Trump surrogates – which a CNN spokesperson denied – and because it would give the campaign vast amounts of material to clip for social media. Continue reading...

Lizzie Blandthorn says giving parents two years to reform their lives before losing children is a ‘blunt instrument’

Alice Chambers was handcuffed by officers when she was standing on the Mall near Just Stop Oil protestersPolice have been forced to apologise to a royal fan after arresting and detaining her for 13 hours for standing near a group of Just Stop Oil protesters at King Charles’s coronation.Alice Chambers, an Australian architect based in London, was waiting on the Mall in central London to see the king pass by on his way to Westminster Abbey when she was handcuffed by police officers. Continue reading...

Aslef and RMT unions deny targeting Eurovision final in Liverpool with stoppages in long-running pay disputeRail services across Britain will be severely disrupted on Friday as train drivers stage the first of the latest wave of planned strikes in a long-running pay dispute.Members of the drivers’ union Aslef will strike for 24 hours across virtually all the big passenger operators in England, stopping some major intercity and commuter services entirely. Continue reading...

To hear death of Jarrad Antonovich described as ‘beautiful’ was ‘particularly galling’, brother tells court

Kemi Badenoch’s ‘irresponsible’ proposals risk undermining rights relating to discrimination, the environment and consumers, according to top barristersThe Conservatives’ decision to water down proposed legislation to remove 4,000 EU laws from the statute books is still a “reckless” and “irresponsible” project, leading barristers have said.While the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, was accused of “a massive climbdown”, barristers say the retention of sweeping “undemocratic” ministerial powers and the removal of the “interpretive effect” of EU law will blow up decades of legal precedent set by courts in Britain and makes for legislation like that found in authoritarian states. Continue reading...

With makeshift coolbags and an endless quest for ice, refugees are desperately struggling to protect their precious medication – if they can access any at allBags of ice and wet towels have become the emergency lifelines for Sudanese diabetics struggling to keep their insulin cool while waiting in extreme heat as they try to escape the recent violence.A vital medication for many diabetics, insulin must be kept cool to remain effective, But since fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces last month, hospitals and pharmacies have forced to close and there has been damage to cold-storage facilities. Continue reading...

Coroner Jayne Basheer makes no adverse findings against officers but attributes 29-year-old Indigenous man’s death in custody to a lack of training

The former governor general was last month reprimanded over his failure to remove paedophiles from the church’s ranks while Brisbane archbishop

Michael Gove to introduce bill strengthening lessors’ rights in England as charities warn of impact for domestic abuse victimsLandlords in England will be able to evict tenants for antisocial behaviour more easily as part of a wider package of reforms to the rental market, after heavy lobbying by industry organisations and Conservative backbenchers.Michael Gove will use the renters’ reform bill, which could be introduced to the Commons as soon as next week, to strengthen landlords’ rights when it comes to dealing with alleged antisocial behaviour. Continue reading...

Previously suspended for nine months, Deeming has been accused by colleagues of ‘bringing discredit’ to the party

Dmytro Pletenchuk, a press officer, took photos in the aftermath of last week’s devastating shelling in Kherson

Tech development comes after mishandled baggage rates soared last year as airlines returned to pre-Covid levels of operation

Shane Drumgold admits he should have clarified that he no longer held those views

Two Liberal MPs have resigned from the party after flagging concerns about the planned $715m Macquarie Point Stadium

Albanese government will spend $28bn on schools in 2023-24, but unions demand more to improve retention rates

Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS will be out on 9 July, ending feverish speculation that the previously untitled book was a Taylor Swift memoirThe guessing game began this week when a mysteriously untitled book, scheduled for publication in July and known only as “4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023”, appeared. It quickly became a bestseller when Taylor Swift fans began feverishly speculating that it was her surprise memoir.But the mystery has been solved, with publishing house Flatiron Books bringing forward their announcement by a month to reveal the book is actually by another musical powerhouse: the K-pop boyband BTS. Continue reading...

Wong Kei-kwan, known as Zunzi, says it was a ‘mutual decision’ after the Ming Pao newspaper ended his columnA decades-old political cartoon column has been scrapped by a respected Hong Kong newspaper after it faced a barrage of criticism from officials, in a move widely seen as a further blow to the city’s freedoms since the implementation of the controversial national security law.On Thursday, the Ming Pao newspaper announced it would stop publishing cartoons by Wong Kei-kwan, better known under his nom de plume “Zunzi”, from Sunday. Continue reading...

Independent report into Vera-2R, released through FoI, found it was ‘extremely poor’ at predicting risk of offending

Health policy analysts say payment boost will not reverse the trend of practices already charging patients gap fees

European Broadcasting Union, which oversees song contest, says appearance by Ukrainian president could politicise the eventThe owners of the Eurovision song contest have turned down a request from Volodymyr Zelenskiy to make a video appearance during the final on Saturday in Liverpool.The Ukrainian president had hoped to appeal to the global audience of about 160 million people to continue their support for his country in the war with Russia. Continue reading...

Amended legislation gives chief executive power to veto any foreign lawyer working on cases brought under national security lawHong Kong has passed a law that allows authorities to ban foreign lawyers from working on national security cases, completing a months-long effort to block a UK practitioner from defending the media mogul and activist Jimmy Lai.The amendment, which was passed unanimously by the Legislative Council on Thursday, gives the chief executive the power to veto any foreign lawyer from working on cases brought under the 2020 National Security Law (NSL). Continue reading...

Perth synth-metal band voted among 10 winners of their semi-final in LiverpoolThe Perth band Voyager has won through to this weekend’s Eurovision final after storming through the semi-final in Liverpool.The Australian synth-metal musicians faced off against Albania, Armenia, Cyprus, Romania, Austria, Denmark, Lithuania, San Marino, Belgium, Slovenia, Iceland, Georgia, Greece, Poland and Estonia in the competition on Thursday evening in the UK. Continue reading...

Homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warns people against crossing border illegally in White House briefingWe’re a few minutes away from the daily White House press briefing, where homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will appear ahead of the midnight expiration of Title 42, the rule put in place under Donald Trump that has allowed US authorities to turn away most asylum seekers over the past three years.Immigration authorities and some communities at the border are bracing for a potential surge of new migrants once the measure expires, and Mayorkas is likely to use his appearance to warn people against trying to cross into the US illegally, and outline steps Washington will take to stem the flow. He may also be asked about the possibility Republicans will follow through on their threats to impeach him over the situation at the border. Continue reading...

Father had criticised force for failing to reinvestigate killing of 8-year-old son who disappeared in 1981Sussex police are to re-examine the case of a murdered schoolboy who disappeared on his way home more than 40 years ago.Vishal Mehrotra, eight, vanished from west London in July 1981 and part of his remains were found in Rogate, West Sussex, seven months later. No one has been convicted for his murder. Continue reading...

Samuel Fosso scoops £30,000 award for performative self-portraits of historical figures including Angela Davis and Mao ZedongOne of Africa’s most important living photographers and contemporary artists, who photographs himself in the style of leading historical figures including Martin Luther King and Angela Davis, has won the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation prize 2023.The Cameroonian-born Nigerian photographer Samuel Fosso was awarded the £30,000 prize – one of the most prestigious in the industry – at the Photographers’ Gallery in London on Thursday. Continue reading...

FDA union votes to use ‘all means available’, including ‘targeted legal action’ in wake of Dominic Raab scandalSenior civil servants have voted to take a stand against inflammatory language from politicians and in favour of legal action to combat bullying, as former cabinet ministers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Dominic Raab renewed their attacks on officials.Members of the FDA union passed a motion in favour of using “all means available” to challenge bullying and harassment of officials, including “use of targeted legal action”, in the wake of the scandal that forced Raab to resign. Continue reading...