Figure of 10 Ukrainian refugees per 10,000 population is lowest but one out of 28 European countriesThe UK has taken in fewer Ukrainian refugees per capita than all but one of 28 European countries, a Guardian analysis of official figures from across the continent has found.Seven million people have fled Ukraine for other European countries since Russia invaded on 24 February, according to the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR). Continue reading...

Hong Kong has commemorated 1989 crackdown for decades, but national security law imposed in 2020 has put a stop to annual vigilsHong Kong police have warned that people risk breaking the law if they gather on Saturday to commemorate China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown – particularly in the city’s Victoria Park, the site of a once-annual candlelit vigil.Discussion of the 1989 clampdown, when the government set troops and tanks on peaceful protesters, is all but forbidden in mainland China. Continue reading...

Three-year deal will support the newswire’s service to regional newspapers and radio bulletins throughout the stateRegional media outlets across Victoria are set to benefit from state government support for the newswire Australian Associated Press.The premier, Daniel Andrews, announced a three-year deal worth almost $2.7m to help strengthen regional newspapers and radio bulletins by supporting AAP’s complementary service. Continue reading...

How the Russian invasion has unfolded, from the desperate fight for Mariupol to economic turmoil around the worldIt was just hours until the first missiles would land. The last day of an era in Europe. On the evening of 23 February, the world braced.Over Ukraine’s border, thousands of Russian troops had received their orders. A president in Kyiv and another in Moscow prepared the most significant addresses of their lives. In western capitals, officials worked to ward off what now seemed inevitable: the end of three decades of peace between Europe’s major powers. Continue reading...

Ottawa ‘extremely concerned’ at Chinese pilots’ conduct in skies during effort to enforce UN sanctions on North KoreaCanada’s military has accused Chinese air force pilots of unprofessional and risky behaviour during recent encounters with Canadian planes in international airspace.The Canadian aircraft were deployed in Japan as part of a multinational effort to enforce UN sanctions against North Korea, which has faced international penalties over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles programme. Continue reading...

Aly and Husic, sworn in holding Qurans, say they feel the ‘weight of the moment’ after past Islamophobia and division

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereThe official Telegram channel of Ukraine’s Mariupol authority has again posted accusations of war crimes being committed by pro-Russian occupation forces since they took full control of the city after the surrender of Ukrainian troops at the Azovstal steel plant. They say:In the Mariupol district, the occupiers imprison and shoot Ukrainian volunteers and officials. All of them refused to cooperate with collaborators and the occupation authorities.The fake Donetsk People’s Republic court sentenced the head of one of the Azov villages to ten years in prison. At least one civil servant was executed by firing squad. Continue reading...

Tory peer Lord Rose criticises ‘backwards’ proposal as business department launches 12-week consultationThe government’s push to increase the use of imperial measurements in Britain has been mocked as “complete nonsense” and confusing for business.The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) announced it is pressing ahead with plans to review “overbearing EU rules” regarding weights and measurements and restore “common sense” to the statute book. Continue reading...

Monarch attended event at Windsor Castle after pulling out of Friday’s thanksgiving ceremony at St Paul’s CathedralThe Queen symbolically led the lighting of thousands of platinum jubilee beacons as it was announced she would no longer be attending the national service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral after experiencing “some discomfort” during trooping the colour.Buckingham Palace said the monarch, 96, was missing the service on Friday “with great reluctance” having experienced episodic mobility problems throughout the day on Thursday at the start of her jubilee celebrations. Continue reading...

Cyclist in her 40s suffered serious leg injuries after altercation with man who allegedly set dog on herA female cyclist has been left with potentially life-changing injuries after an altercation with a man who allegedly set his dog on her.The victim, a woman in her 40s, was taken to hospital with serious leg injuries after the incident in Lancaster on 5 May. Continue reading...

The royal couple played cameo roles as guests of honour at a street party in the BBC soap’s Albert SquarePrince Charles and Camilla have appeared in a special episode of EastEnders to celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee.The royal couple’s unlikely cameo appeared to stun the residents of Albert Square when they were announced as guests of honour at a street party organised by Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer. Continue reading...

At least seven young women believed to have been killed after responding to ads on FacebookAuthorities in Mexico have arrested a suspected serial killer accused of luring at least seven young women on Facebook with false job offers.Surveillance camera footage from two states showed the man meeting with the victims in public places, and in one case driving a victim away on a motorbike, officials said. Continue reading...

Guitarist says band was approached well before talk of Abba shows but he and surviving bandmates couldn’t agreeLed Zeppelin were approached with the idea of doing an Abba-style avatar act, guitarist Jimmy Page has disclosed.Well before there was talk of the Swedish pop group’s Voyage concert, the rock band was asked to do “that sort of thing”, Page told an audience at the Hay festival. Continue reading...

Prince of Wales takes salute on his mother’s behalf while flag-waving crowd enjoys parade and flypastFour days of festivities for the Queen’s platinum jubilee kicked off on Thursday with a display of military pageantry, large crowds and a royal reunion, as the nation marked the 70th anniversary of the longest reigning monarch in British history at trooping the colour.Seventy years after she took her first salute as sovereign, mobility issues dictated that the Queen break with tradition, allowing the Prince of Wales to take the salute on her behalf at Horse Guards Parade. He was joined by the Duke of Cambridge and the Princess Royal. Continue reading...

Industry bosses criticise transport secretary as unions accuse him of being disingenuousThe transport secretary is rejecting calls for an emergency visa for aviation workers to tackle the chaos at airports that has marred the half-term holiday, industry bosses have reportedly claimed.Sources in the sector speaking to the BBC accused Grant Shapps of ruling out filling shortages of ground and air staff by amending the government’s shortage occupation list. Continue reading...

Analysis: Specialist lawyers, a jury trial, social media and targeting Heard all helped Depp win in VirginiaLess than two years ago, Johnny Depp lost a UK libel case against the Sun after his ex-wife Amber Heard gave evidence to back claims in the newspaper that he was a wife-beater.The judge, Mr Justice Nicol, said the Sun had proved its article to be “substantially true” and found that 12 of 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence against Heard had occurred. Continue reading...

Prof Jean Seaton, speaking at Hay festival on future of BBC, says Grade appointment is act of bullyingThe new head of the broadcast watchdog, Michael Grade, is too old, too lazy, and has too many conflicts of interest to lead Ofcom, the BBC’s official historian has said.Prof Jean Seaton told the Hay festival that Grade’s appointment was a “way of bullying” the broadcaster. The Conservative peer, 79, was confirmed as the Ofcom chair in April after impressing MPs with his “character and gravitas” despite concerns over a “clear lack of depth” of knowledge about social media and online safety. Continue reading...

Greens and independents back calls for Mark Dreyfus to withdraw commonwealth consent to all charges in alleged Timor-Leste bugging case

Groups say the legal exemption, which also applies to sex workers, furthers harmful stereotypes and appears ‘redundant’

Scathing auditor general’s report calls for new rules around open tenders and competitive procurement

Albanese government must make key decisions on nuclear submarines and finalise settlement over cancelled French contract

Concern that potential contenders to replace Johnson are not ready, given the speed of backlash after Gray reportRebel Conservative MPs’ plans to oust Boris Johnson next week have descended further into disunity, with some worried that potential contenders to replace the prime minister are not ready to launch their bids.One MP hoping to engineer defeat for Johnson is now encouraging colleagues to withdraw their letters of no confidence to avoid triggering a vote “by accident” as soon as Monday or Tuesday, the Guardian has learned. Continue reading...

About 80% of eastern Ukrainian city in Russian hands as allies promise more missiles

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi says Ryanair worker in Brussels wrongly took issue with her travel documentsA Ugandan-born prize-winning author said she was left feeling “numb” after she was stopped from boarding a Ryanair flight from Brussels back home to Manchester.Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, a British citizen who has lived in the UK for 21 years, was returning from a literary festival when she was barred from checking in. Continue reading...

Michael O’Leary hits back at Grant Shapps’s claim that firms have oversold flights and holidaysRyanair boss Michael O’Leary has suggested the army be drafted into UK airports for the next “three to four months” to help resolve the widespread disruption that has peaked over the half-term break.The airline chief executive said “defence personnel with experience providing security” should be deployed at under-pressure transport hubs to prevent the lengthy queues and delays that have plagued passengers this week. Continue reading...

Latest updates: Labour’s deputy leader says her party would clean up politics and restore standards in public life

Brent crude makes small rise to $116.94 as group sets extra output higher at 650,000 barrels a dayThe Opec oil cartel and its allies have agreed to ramp up production of crude amid a surge in global demand, but did not exclude Russia from contributing to future increases despite its invasion of Ukraine.Ministers representing Opec’s 13 members and 10 non-Opec producers led by Russia, a grouping called Opec+, said on Thursday they would increase output by nearly 650,000 barrels a day in July and August, nearly two-thirds more than previously planned rises of about 400,000 barrels a day. Continue reading...

Letter seen as potential warning to 17 asylum seekers who began protest after being given offshoring dateAsylum seekers who went on hunger strike over plans to send them to Rwanda have been threatened with faster deportation by the Home Office if they do not eat.At least 17 people from Syria, Egypt and Sudan, who are being held at the Brook House immigration removal centre near Gatwick airport, began the protest when they were told they would be sent to Rwanda on 14 June as part of a controversial new scheme. Continue reading...

Weinstein, 70, is jailed in California, where he was extradited last year to await trial on charges he assaulted five womenA New York appellate court has upheld Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction, rejecting the disgraced film producer’s claims that the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced him by allowing women to testify about allegations that were not part of the criminal case.The ruling on Thursday by a five-judge panel in the state intermediate appeals court affirmed a milestone verdict in America’s reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful figures, an era that began with a flood of allegations against Weinstein. Continue reading...

Adam Bisultanov reportedly killed on 26 May in clash with mercenaries including Ben Grant, son of MP Helen Grant

Fugitive Vietnamese state company official Trinh Xuan Thanh was abducted from Berlin park in July 2017A Vietnamese man has been extradited to Germany to face charges of taking part in a brazen cold war-style kidnapping of an oil executive ordered by Hanoi, prosecutors have said.The suspect, identified only as Anh TL, was sent to Germany from the Czech Republic after he was detained in Prague last month on the basis of German and European arrest warrants. Continue reading...

Queen’s son will not attend service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, palace saysPrince Andrew has tested positive for Covid and will no longer attend the Queen’s jubilee service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, Buckingham Palace has said.A palace spokesman said: “After undertaking a routine test the duke has tested positive for Covid and with regret will no longer be attending tomorrow’s service.” Continue reading...

Queen, Kate, Camilla, Meghan and younger Cambridges wear harmonious shades of blueMost of the jubilee audience tuned in not for the trooping the colour, but to watch the royal family observe the proceedings. While the bunting and high-stepping horses trumpeted an official message of unity, the optics of the royal family were closely scrutinised for what they tell us of fraught Windsor family dynamics, of the health of the 96-year-old Queen, and of the messaging “the firm” plans to broadcast during their weekend in the spotlight.Watching the military flypast from a Buckingham Palace balcony, the Queen wore blue and white, two of the three colours of the union flag. At the Royal Windsor horse show last month, she had dressed for comfort in a woollen shawl in place of a coat, but here she was in her customary crisp, no-nonsense, boxy tailoring. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Gender bias means debilitating gynaecological conditions are played down, says RCOG president

Experts doubt state media claims that the worst is over, as WHO warns of global dangers of letting the virus spread unchecked

Actor, who has alopecia, has finally addressed her husband’s decision to slap Rock over a joke about her shaved head at the Academy AwardsJada Pinkett Smith has finally spoken about the shocking moment her husband, Will Smith, slapped the comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars, saying she hopes that “these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out, and reconcile”.On the latest episode of her Facebook Watch show, Red Table Talk, Pinkett Smith turned her husband’s blowup into a teachable moment about alopecia areata, dedicating the episode to the hair loss disorder that affects her and millions of others. Continue reading...

Data shows rates of absenteeism in the first two weeks of May were well above the seasonally-adjusted average

Government’s proposal to ditch opt-out backed by 66.9% to 33.1% in referendum following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Awards also go to doctor who volunteered on Covid frontline and campaigner for women’s safetyFrom the oldest, aged 104, to the youngest, 11-year-old twins, the majority of honours are awarded to ordinary individuals who have undertaken extraordinary acts for their communities.Dance teacher Angela Redgrave, 104, of the Bristol School for Dancing, who taught for 70 years, receives a BEM. Twins Elena and Ruben Evans-Guillen, from Warrington, Cheshire, are the youngest ever recipients and receive BEMs after raising £50,000 for the NHS over the past three years. Continue reading...

Euan Blair is awarded MBE, Arelene Foster becomes dame, and Rio Ferdinand and Damian Lewis recognisedThe Conservative former attorney general Jeremy Wright, who this week called on Boris Johnson to resign, becomes a knight in the birthday honours list, while Euan Blair, the multimillionaire son of the former prime minister Tony Blair, is awarded an MBE.Also on the list, released before the Queen’s platinum jubilee, is Arlene Foster, the former first minister in Northern Ireland, who becomes a dame. The football commentator Rio Ferdinand and the actor Damian Lewis are among sports and arts figures to be recognised. Continue reading...

The focus of the case was a 2018 editorial Heard wrote calling herself ‘a public figure representing domestic abuse’The jury in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial has ruled in favor of Johnny Depp, finding that a Washington Post editorial she wrote defamed her former husband.The jurors’ unanimous decision on Wednesday capped a seven-week trial in a Virginia courtroom which featured dozens of witnesses and experts weighing in on whether Depp was abusive to Heard – or vice versa – during their 15-month marriage. Continue reading...

After six weeks of testimony, a split verdict is returned on the former couple’s dueling defamation claimsMore than three years after Johnny Depp sued ex-wife Amber Heard for defamation over an op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post about surviving domestic abuse, jurors returned a split verdict on the former couple’s dueling defamation claims.After six weeks of testimony, amounting to 61 hours granted to each side, the Depp-Heard saga was only on its face a defamation case. It gave Depp an opportunity to air his narrative of a 15-month, love-to-hate marriage, and Heard, by return, to describe hers. Continue reading...

Rebecca Tuck says internal investigation into president-elect Shaima Dallali will take priorityThe QC leading an independent investigation into alleged antisemitism within the National Union of Students has announced she will examine the election of the organisation’s incoming president as well as wider concerns.Rebecca Tuck, who was appointed to head the inquiry after consultations between the NUS and the Union of Jewish Students (UJS), said an internal investigation into Shaima Dallali, the president-elect, under the NUS’s code of conduct would take first priority, with her findings to be announced within weeks. Continue reading...

Leadership ‘incapable of examining which aspects of its culture have been the most deficient,’ writes Louise Arbour in reportSome members of the Canadian military face greater harm from their comrades than from the enemy, according to a new report on sexual violence in the Canadian armed forces (CAF).Called the Arbour report after its author, the former supreme court justice Louise Arbour, the 404-page document pinpoints the many failures of the CAF over the years to address misogyny, discrimination, sexual violence and trauma experienced predominantly by female members of the military. Continue reading...

Latest allegation against 27-year-old France international footballer relates to new complainantThe Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been charged with a further count of rape.The latest allegation, relating to a new complainant, means the 27-year-old stands accused of eight counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted rape, relating to seven young women. Continue reading...

Jonathan Evans rows in behind Lord Geidt with critical statement on Boris Johnson’s changes to codeA powerful standards watchdog has accused Boris Johnson of failing to allay fears that he and his ministers consider themselves above the rules, as his support continued to ebb away in the wake of the Partygate scandal.Jonathan Evans, the chair of the committee on standards in public life, criticised a planned overhaul to the way the ministerial code is policed, saying they undermined the role of Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser, Christopher Geidt. Continue reading...

Those charged allegedly attended outside gathering of more than two when London was under tier 4 restrictionsSix people are being prosecuted by the Metropolitan police for allegedly breaching Covid-19 restrictions during a vigil for Sarah Everard, who was murdered by a Met officer.According to court documents, those being charged include Dania Al-Obeid, 27, from Stratford, east London; Vivien Hohmann, 20, from Clapham, south London; Ben Wheeler, 21, from Kennington, south London; and Kevin Godin-Prior, 68, from Manchester. Their cases were heard at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday. Continue reading...

People from all over the world have set up tents near Buckingham PalaceWith 24 hours to go until the pageantry of the Queen’s platinum jubilee begins at Buckingham Palace, tents could be seen lining the Mall on Wednesday morning.“We’re here for one thing only, Her majesty the Queen,” said John Loughrey, 67, from London, who was among the first to pitch his tent on Monday, in a bid to get the best possible view of the monarch passing in a golden carriage and later waving from the balcony alongside her family over the jubilee bank holiday weekend. Continue reading...

Rose Martin has claimed someone hacked her account and posted offending imageThe newly elected Conservative mayor of Walsall has been suspended from the party over a racist post from her WhatsApp account.Rose Martin claimed someone hacked her account and posted the offending image, which showed five black children looking at one white child under the caption: “First day at school for a Ukrainian refugee in south London.” Continue reading...