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Nickie Aiken, whose Westminster council was lost to Labour in local elections, says Partygate has damaged party and government

Member for Stoke-on-Trent North also talked about having suicidal thoughts after being bullied at schoolThe Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis has spoken out about his experiences of mental ill health, saying that he has come close to killing himself and last self-harmed shortly before being elected.In an interview with GB News, Gullis, who was elected as the MP for Stoke-on-Trent North in 2019, said that he had been affected by suicidal thoughts from a young age, and that his poor mental health was triggered by being bullied at school.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or by email at jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...

Witnesses say tanks moving into Sievierodonetsk amid intense shelling and civilian casualties

Sinn Féin vice-president pledges to continue efforts to break deadlock after nominees fail to secure cross-community supportThe vice-president of Sinn Féin, Michelle O’Neill, has said that efforts to resurrect Northern Ireland’s assembly at Stormont will continue, after the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) blocked a second attempt to elect a new speaker.The DUP is maintaining its position that it wants to see action from the UK government over the Northern Ireland protocol before backing a new speaker, which would enable the assembly to start fully functioning again. It described the recall of the assembly on Monday as a “stunt”. Continue reading...

Foreign Office warns against all travel to the country where Islamic State is still a threatUp to 30 Kurdish asylum seekers are facing deportation to Iraq in the first Home Office flight of its kind for a decade.Iraq is deemed to be so dangerous that the Foreign Office warns against all travel there, warning of “a high threat of kidnapping throughout the country including from both Daesh [Islamic State] and other terrorist and militia groups”. Continue reading...

Confirmation of further case follows those of two teenage girls known as Child Q and OliviaThe police watchdog has confirmed it is investigating the strip-search of another child by the Metropolitan police, after two other controversial cases.Two teenage girls, known as Child Q and Olivia, were strip-searched by officers while they were menstruating. Continue reading...

Italy’s PM Mario Draghi suggests big consumers club together to limit how much is paid and raises idea of EU gas price capEnergy prices are skyrocketing as the world confronts the economic ramifications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, supply chain bottlenecks and the lingering effects of Covid-19 lockdowns. But Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi, has a plan.The celebrated former European Central Bank president recently broached the idea of creating a “cartel” of oil consumers at a meeting with Joe Biden. Just as the biggest oil-producing nations club together through Opec to agree annual oil production quotas, Draghi has suggested big energy consumers join forces to increase their bargaining power. Continue reading...

Bridget Brink’s arrival confirmed on US embassy website, as western diplomats slowly return to city

Price increases on global oil markets and at UK forecourts add to concerns about rising inflation and its impactThe global oil price has risen above $120 (£94.90) a barrel as record high petrol and diesel prices in the UK add to concerns about the inflationary pressure facing families and businesses.Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose on Monday to $120 a barrel for the first time since late March, lifted by the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Shanghai and Beijing, a move that could lead to higher demand for energy from China. Continue reading...

Experts voice alarm as areas with highest rates of deprivation lag behind minimum response rate of 85%Public services in Scotland’s poorest areas could be harmed by widespread abstention from this year’s census in urban areas, experts fear.Public policy specialists and opposition parties are alarmed after it emerged that by Monday only 86% of households nationwide had filled it in, well short of the 94% target, despite a four-week extension to the deadline until 31 May. Continue reading...

Passengers at Gatwick express frustration as airport and airlines appear to blame each other for chaosTravellers hoping to enjoy a half-term getaway have continued to be hit by cancelled and overbooked flights .Passengers stranded at Gatwick have expressed their anger after easyJet cancelled more than 200 flights from the airport at short notice during one of the year’s busier travel periods. Tui also axed a number of flights, and the budget Spanish airline Vueling has been flooded with complaints from passengers bumped off overbooked flights. Continue reading...

Analysis claims catch-up plan for English secondary pupils will take more than five years to deliverTake-up of the government’s flagship tutoring programme is so slow that all current secondary pupils in England will have left school by the time the Conservatives finally deliver on their education catch-up promises, Labour has said.Last summer the prime minister announced 100m hours of one-to-one and small-group tutoring over a three-year period to help pupils in England who have fallen behind in their learning due to the disruption caused by the pandemic. Continue reading...

Wright says Partygate has done ‘real damage’ to government’s authority, in statement that briefly vanishedJeremy Wright, a former culture secretary and attorney general, has become the latest Tory MP to call for Boris Johnson to resign, arguing that while he could not be sure the prime minister had misled MPs, he was at best “negligent” in how he approached the issue.In a lengthy statement on his personal website, the Kenilworth and Southam MP said Johnson could have been more careful before he assured the Commons that no lockdown-breaking parties had taken place inside Downing Street, and corrected the record sooner. Continue reading...

CMA asks dough brand and French buyer Cérélia to also address its concerns about qualityThe takeover of the Jus-Rol brand by a French-owned rival pastry maker could harm competition, resulting in higher prices and lower-quality products for customers, a UK watchdog has warned.The Competition and Markets Authority said it was particularly concerned about potential price rises for Jus-Rol items – which include dough for puff and shortcrust pastry, pizza, and pain au chocolat – given how stretched household budgets were because of the cost of living crisis. Continue reading...

Labour says prime minister must ‘come clean with British people’ as spokesman insists matter is closedDowning Street has refused to deny that a social event took place in Boris Johnson’s flat during lockdown that was not considered by the Sue Gray inquiry. But officials have insisted there is no need to reopen any investigations and that the matter is closed.Labour has called for an investigation into leaked text messages, reported over the weekend, suggesting Johnson and his wife, Carrie, met two friends in their flat on the prime minister’s birthday, 19 June 2020, when indoor socialising was banned. Continue reading...

Crowd control tactics at Champions League final highlight rift between law officers and public in FranceTelevision images of Liverpool fans being casually teargassed and pepper-sprayed at the Stade de France before Saturday’s chaotic Champions League final have – not for the first time – trained a spotlight on France’s policing methods.Organisations from Amnesty International to the UN’s high commissioner for human rights have criticised France’s crowd control tactics, with Human Rights Watch detailing the extensive physical injuries caused by weapons from truncheons to teargas grenades, rubber bullets and larger “flash-ball” rubber pellets on peaceful citizens in recent years. Continue reading...

Man, 36, placed in psychiatric care after painting’s display case covered in cake in apparent climate protestA 36-year-old man has been arrested and placed in psychiatric care after he smeared a glass screen encasing the Mona Lisa with cake in a purported protest against artists not focusing enough on “the planet”.Officials at the Louvre Museum in Paris, where the enigmatic portrait holds pride of place, declined to comment on the bizarre incident on Sunday, which was captured on several phones and circulated widely on social media. Continue reading...

Shells fired at agrochemical warehouse created toxic plume that has left residents with health problemsAn Israeli airstrike on an agrochemical warehouse during last year’s war in Gaza amounted to the “indirect deploying of chemical weapons”, according to a report analysing the attack and its impact.Incendiary artillery shells fired by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) hit the large Khudair Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Tools warehouse in the north of the Gaza Strip on 15 May last year, setting fire to hundreds of tonnes of pesticides, fertilisers, plastics and nylons. The strike created a toxic plume, which engulfed an area of 5.7 sq km and has left local residents struggling with health issues, including two reports of miscarriages, and indications of environmental damage. Continue reading...

Booing and shouting prompt crackdown from riot police at site of disaster, where 31 people diedProtesters angry over a building collapse in south-west Iran that killed at least 31 people shouted down an emissary sent by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prompting a crackdown in which riot police clubbed demonstrators and fired teargas, according to online videos.The protest directly challenged the Iranian government’s response to the disaster a week ago as pressure rises in the Islamic Republic over rising food prices and other economic woes amid the unravelling of its nuclear deal with world powers. Continue reading...

Analysis: Hurricane Agatha kicks off what is forecast to be another busy period of Atlantic stormsThe first hurricane of 2022 for the eastern Pacific has made landfall in southern Mexico. Agatha has been slowly moving north towards the Mexican Pacific coast, strengthening before making landfall late on Monday. The storm has produced damaging tropical-force winds and heavy rain.Winds are easing but heavy rain will continue through Tuesday as the storm moves inland. It is forecast to cause flash flooding and mudslides that could pose a threat to life. Continue reading...

At least 19 journalists caught up in mass detentions after government moves against Fano, its former ally in Tigray conflictEthiopia has launched a sweeping crackdown against an influential armed militia in its Amhara region that has led to the arrest of more than 4,000 people, including journalists, activists and a former general.The militia group, known as the Fano, played a key role alongside the federal military in beating back November’s southward advance through the Amhara region by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which is fighting an 18-month-long civil war against the government and its allies. Continue reading...

Laura Brody had to deliver son at home after miscarriage and was then told Lewisham A&E could not take remainsA London hospital has launched an investigation after a woman whose baby died in the womb had to deliver her son at home due to lack of beds and keep his remains in her fridge when A&E staff said they could not store them safely.Laura Brody and her partner, Lawrence, said they were “tipped into hell” after being sent home by University hospital Lewisham to await a bed when told their baby no longer had a heartbeat but no beds were immediately available to give birth, the BBC reported. Continue reading...

Newspaper says possible definitions of renamed HTSI include ‘how to save it’ as cost of living crisis bitesThe Financial Times magazine How To Spend It has long provided inspiration to bankers wanting to blow their bonuses on designer goods – but the publication has been rebranded because spending big is no longer seen as a positive quality.The luxury magazine, packaged with the FT’s Weekend edition, is stuffed with expensive adverts for high-end watches, safaris, and luxury yachts aimed at its jet-set wealthy readership – making it a money-spinner for the newspaper. Continue reading...

New additions include AJ Tracey, Jamie T and Kae Tempest, while there are prestigious slots given to Sam Fender, Megan Thee Stallion and Pet Shop BoysGlastonbury festival has announced full details of its lineup, allowing ticketholders to studiously plan their gig-going across the vast site, and those at home to plan their evenings watching and listening to BBC coverage.New additions to the lineup include AJ Tracey, Jamie T, Ziggy Marley, Kae Tempest, Yungblud, Little Dragon, Pa Salieu, Sea Girls and the Libertines. Continue reading...

ABC calls south Melbourne seat of Macnamara for Labor, guaranteeing a Labor majority of at least 76 in the House of Representatives

Officials in Nunavut say there are 31 cases of active tuberculosis in the hamlet of Pangnirtung, a community of 1,500A tuberculosis outbreak in the Canadian Arctic has prompted frustration in a remote Inuit community and highlighted the persistence of an illness that has largely been wiped out in the rest of the country.The outbreak also lays bare the dismal living conditions and overcrowding in many Arctic communities, despite Canada’s status as one of the world’s wealthiest nations. Continue reading...

Winning bid was attributed to Whitebit, a cryptocurrency exchange, and came in the form of 500 ethereumEurovision song contest winners Kalush Orchestra have auctioned off their trophy to raise money for the Ukrainian army.The band, whose song Stefania was triumphant in Turin earlier this month, said they raised $900,000 (£713,000) by auctioning off the glass microphone, and a further $370,000 by raffling off the pink bucket hat frontman Oleh Psiuk wore during the performance. Continue reading...

Federation of Small Businesses calls on Rishi Sunak for more support to deal with ‘ticking timebomb’

Seats of Gilmore, Deakin and Macnamara remain in the balance; Covid booster eligibility expanded as nation records 10 Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s developments

Byron mayor says disaster exacerbated region’s housing crisis and ‘left us really exposed’

Lynette Dawson was scared of husband Chris finding out she had visitors, Sydney murder trial told

Low pressure system to cause icy temperatures and damaging winds across Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, eastern NSW and southern Queensland

Several Pacific nations reportedly want to defer action on the draft agreement or have it amendedPacific countries have declined to sign up to a sweeping regional economic and security deal proposed by China, after a crucial meeting of Pacific foreign ministers and their Chinese counterpart on Monday.China’s foreign minister Wang Yi is in the middle of a marathon tour of the region, visiting eight countries in 10 days, a trip that security experts have said represents a dramatic “uptick in tempo” of China’s push for influence in the region. Continue reading...

Coroner identifies unacceptable treatment in lead-up to death from multi-organ failure due to sepsis, calls for new interstate rules

Musician whose real name was Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu was killed a day after his security cover was withdrawnIndian police are investigating the murder of a popular Punjabi rapper a day after he was fatally shot.Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, better known by his stage name Sidhu Moose Wala, was killed on Sunday evening while driving his car in Mansa, a district in Punjab state, northern India. Moose Wala, 28, was taken to hospital where he was declared dead. Continue reading...

A series of portraits by the award-winning British photographer Lewis Khan from the Romanian border documents the stories of mothers and children who fled Ukraine as bombs and bullets rained down on their homesThe stories of four mothers fleeing Ukraine have highlighted the heart-breaking decisions that families have had to make during three months of war.These compelling images also show what each family packed as they were forced to flee their homes. Some brought just a few changes of clothes, toys for their children and medical supplies, not knowing if they would be gone for weeks, months or even years.Iryna*, with her 10-year-old daughter Nikolina* Continue reading...

Concerns of breaching security law prompt cancellation of services that were among last ways to publicly mark China’s 1989 crackdownFor the first time in 33 years, church services to commemorate the Tiananmen Square crackdown will not be held in Hong Kong, erasing one of the last reminders of China’s bloody suppression of the 1989 protests.Since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020 to snuff out pro-democracy demonstrations, once-packed candlelit vigils have been banned, a Tiananmen museum has been forced to close and statues have been pulled down. Continue reading...

Actions spark angry reactions amid growing frustration with China’s zero-Covid policy though some restrictions begin to ease

The pair will lead a much-depleted party, with the Liberal-National Coalition likely to hold just 58 or 59 seats in the House of Representatives

Woman and four children among 14 victims of latest wave of killings in south-east Anambra StateA spate of killings in south-east Nigeria blamed on a prominent Biafran secessionist group has sparked outrage and added another layer of insecurity in the country, where kidnappings for ransom are common in the north-west and an Islamist insurgency has been going on for more than a decade in the north-east.In one incident last week a pregnant mother and her four children were killed as they were travelling home from a visit to family members on a motorcycle taxi. At least seven other people were killed in Anambra state last Sunday, a day after the mutilated bodies of an abducted state lawmaker and his aide were discovered. Continue reading...

Kira Rudik says on visit to UK that without further military help Ukraine will fail to push back invaders

NSW Liberals reportedly working on plan to have Berejiklian run for a federal seat in 2025

Tail number clearly visible in wreckage photo of Tara Air aircraft, which took off from Pokhara, after conditions hampered earlier searchNepal’s army says it has located the crash site of a plane that went missing on Sunday with 22 people onboard.“Search and rescue troops have physically located the plane crash site,” army spokesperson Narayan Silwal said on Twitter on Monday, posting a picture of the wreckage with the plane’s tail number clearly visible. Continue reading...

Matthew Carney, Morag Ramsay and Joel Tozer to lead Four Corners, Foreign Correspondent and 7.30

Barnaby Joyce has been defeated by the Queensland MP in a leadership spill

Arkansas-born showman – known as ‘The Hawk’ – cut his teeth on the South’s tough 50s circuit but settled in Canada where he nurtured local talentRonnie Hawkins, the Arkansas-born rock’n’roll legend who mentored the young Canadian and American musicians later known as the Band, has died.Hawkins, described in tributes as the most important rock’n’roller in Canadian history, died at the age of 87 after an illness, his wife, Wanda, said on Sunday. Continue reading...

Tweet about Wellington water feature drew light-hearted responses from MPs and the public, with one saying: ‘There’s a fine line between iconic and crap’The husband of New Zealand’s British high commissioner has announced his loathing of the Wellington bucket fountain, a well-known and polarising water feature that graces the centre of the nation’s capital.Toby Fisher, husband of British commissioner Laura Clarke, tweeted: “After 4 years in Wellington, it’s time to be straight with you all, this is the crappiest fountain ever.” Continue reading...

Country could double spending and acquire ‘first-strike’ capability in shift away from defensive postwar postureWeeks after he became Japan’s prime minister last year, Fumio Kishida pulled on a dark green bomber jacket, the hinomaru flag emblazoned on his sleeve, and climbed into a tank.Official photos show him displaying an awkward smile for his audience at Camp Asaka – the men and women of the the country’s Self-Defence Forces – an indication, perhaps, that postwar Japanese leaders and military hardware have not always been easy bedfellows. Continue reading...

Rivals Gustavo Petro will face Rodolfo Hernández on 19 June amid growing discontent over inequality and inflationColombia’s election will go to a runoff between two opposing anti-establishment candidates on 19 June after voters on Sunday were unable to pick a president outright.Gustavo Petro, a leftist former guerrilla and onetime mayor of Bogotá, won the largest share of the vote, with 40%, but fell short of the 50% required to win outright and prevent a second round. Petro’s rival in the runoff will be Rodolfo Hernández, a business magnate and social media firebrand, who is viewed as a conservative, populist outsider. Continue reading...