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Prime minister says MLRS rockets can help embattled forces but stops short of UK offering M270 system

London magistrates sentence Michael Strubel to more than six years for failing to pay compensationA fraudster who conned people out of more than £70m in a “Ponzi-style scheme” claiming he was supplying services to the London 2012 Olympic village and large hotels has been given more than six years in jail for failing to hand back more than £1.4m of illicit profits.City of London magistrates court committed Michael Strubel to prison for six years and seven months for failing to pay his confiscation order. Continue reading...

New rules say ministers can apologise or temporarily lose pay for breaking code, which PM is accused of doing

Boris Johnson’s former aide is identified as present at two events and mentioned six times in Sue Gray report

Cases involving Rosgvardia, known as Vladimir Putin’s private army, are clearest sign yet of dissent in Russian ranks

Owners take their canine companions to ‘bag’ a peak as staycationers seek out ever more challenging beauty spotsBetty, a six-year-old kerry blue terrier, celebrated reaching the summit of her 282nd and final Munro – Am Basteir on Skye – with a hard-boiled egg. Her owner, Shona Marshall, toasted her dog’s entry into the rarefied class of canine completers – only 15 are registered with the Munro Society – with a mini bottle of fizz, carried up the 934-metre mountainside for the occasion.“It really does strengthen the bond between you,” says Marshall of their 367-day challenge, completed on Good Friday, to raise funds for Kerry Blue Terrier Rescue. “They are trusting you to tell them it’s OK to cross this river or climb down this bit of rock. It’s humbling.” Continue reading...

ITV’s hit reality show has been criticised for its lack of diversity and contestants using racial slursContestants on ITV’s hit reality show Love Island will be given training on how to avoid micro-aggressions as well as the use of appropriate language around race, after generating controversy and complaints.The show has been criticised for its lack of diversity, for contestants using racial slurs and disregarding black female contestants as romantic choices, as well as emotional abuse towards female participants. Continue reading...

Terrier’s family contacted Guinness World Records after learning younger dog had received honorA toy fox terrier has been named the world’s oldest living dog at 22 years old.Pebbles, born on 28 March 2000, was awarded the Guinness World Record this month. The 4lb canine takes hold of the title after news of TobyKeith, the former record holder, emerged. Continue reading...

Situation in Donbas ‘even worse than people say it is’, says Ukraine’s foreign minister, as Kremlin makes further gains

When rumours went viral, Billy Gannon had ‘an existential crisis’, joining a list of those denying being the enigmatic artistTo be clear, Billy Gannon is not Banksy. Or at least – that’s what he says.“The problem I have is that when I say to people, ‘I am not Banksy,’ I can see this look in their eyes, and they say, ‘That’s what Banksy would say,’” says the 58-year-old from Pembroke Dock, west Wales. “Every time I deny I am Banksy … a significant number of people in the town [decide] that I am, or could possibly be, Banksy.” Continue reading...

Move follows series of high-profile corporate collapses including Carillion and BHSEY is planning to spin off its audit business, working towards the biggest shake-up of one of the UK’s big four accounting and consultancy firms in decades after a series of high-profile corporate collapses including Carillion and BHS.Senior partners at the firm – formerly known as Ernst & Young – are drafting plans for a voluntary split of the firm’s advisory and audit divisions, which was first reported by Michael West Media. Continue reading...

Calls for ‘ethical consideration’ of short-term lets as 3,000 second homes registered in south-west in pandemicTourists heading to holiday homes in the south-west of England are being urged to check before they travel if their rental will worsen the area’s affordable housing crisis.The call for “ethical consideration” of the potential negative impact of short-term lets comes as figures showed 3,000 new holiday and second homes were registered in the south-west during the pandemic while homes listed for normal letting halved and rents jumped. Continue reading...

Analysis: high temperatures affect southern Europe, while in US state mercury rapidly drops more than 30CExtremely hot and mostly sunny conditions have been experienced across southern Europe this week. Parts of Spain have had record-breaking temperatures for the month of May, with the southern city of Jaén in Andalucia recording 40.3C (104.5F) on Friday 20 May, according to the Spanish weather agency Aemet. Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Andújar, temperatures exceeded 42C two days in a row.Intense heat also affected northern Africa, with Sidi Slimane city in Morocco recording its hottest day in recorded history, reaching a scorching 45.7C. Although one particular weather event cannot be directly attributed to the climate crisis, scientists believe the severity and duration of heatwaves are expected to increase in the future in response to a warmer global climate. Continue reading...

MoD says none of soldiers detained will take part in Queen’s platinum jubilee paradesSix Irish Guards and a Coldstream Guardsman veteran have been arrested on suspicion of drugs and money-laundering offences, the Ministry of Defence has said.A statement from the MoD press office said: “As part of a planned operation, the Royal Military police arrested six Irish Guards soldiers and a Coldstream Guardsman veteran from across the UK on suspicion of conspiracy to supply drugs and money lending and laundering offences. Continue reading...

Feline’s handler, Ian Fenn, who has autism, brings discrimination case after London supermarket incidentChloe the assistance cat could make legal history with her handler, Ian Fenn, after Sainsbury’s refused to allow her into one of its shops.Fenn, who has autism and has trained the black cat to be a support for him, is taking legal action against the supermarket. Continue reading...

NSW paramedics take industrial action; election vote count ‘progressing well’; interest rate rises on horizon; Penny Wong speaks at Fiji press conference; Anthony Albanese signs Fair Work Commission submission on increasing minimum wage; decision on Biloela family due; at least 39 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

As thousands flee the latest fighting in DRC to join 1.5m already in Uganda, the UN’s food aid agency is stretched as never beforeThe rain will determine what time Uwimana Nsengiyuava gets on the truck to Nyakabande transit centre, where Uganda is hosting 20,000 refugees who, like her, have fled fresh fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).Since March, up to 500 refugees a day have been silently streaming into the east African country via Kisoro, a picturesque district in south-west Uganda dotted with endless hills, streams and a lake. Continue reading...

Catholic Weekly called on to apologise over editorial comparing new rights to the Holocaust

Parliament debates law that bans people from changing their names more than three times after stunt leads to unforeseen consequencesTaiwanese parliamentarians have debated changing legal limits on name changes, after some of the hundreds of people who legally altered their name to “Salmon” in return for free sushi reportedly became stuck with it.In March 2021 restaurant chain Sushiro ran a promotion offering free all-you-can-eat sushi for a whole table to anyone with the Chinese characters for salmon, “gui yu”, in their name. In what was later dubbed “Salmon chaos”, 331 people took part, paying a nominal administration fee to legally call themselves names including “Salmon Dream” and “Dancing Salmon”. Continue reading...

Tamil family can return to Queensland town while their immigration status is resolved, Labor’s Jim Chalmers says

President Erdoğan presses on with move by leveraging his Nato veto over Nordic states’ accessionTurkey’s plan to expand a buffer zone inside northern Syria and use it to relocate large numbers of refugees has gained momentum after officials endorsed a military push that analysts from both countries say will force demographic shifts inside Syria.Though a timeline has not been decided, military and political leaders have confirmed that an extensive operation is being prepared to move Kurdish populations away from Turkey’s southern border and assert Turkish control as deep as 18 miles into northern Syria. Continue reading...

Analysis: Western leaders are divided on arming Ukraine, oil embargoes and whether Kyiv will have to accept territory lossAn increasingly bitter diplomatic row over Germany’s unwillingness to supply heavy weaponry to Ukraine threatened to spill into a wider dispute between allies over whether they are prepared to accept a peace settlement that leaves Vladimir Putin capable of claiming victory.One western official said western leaders are divided between those who think they can work with Vladimir Putin’s Russia once the war is over, and those who think they cannot. Continue reading...

ABF officials made it clear publication of the interception could only proceed on the authority of the home affairs minister, Guardian Australia understands

Labor’s Indigenous affairs minister Linda Burney says NSW assured commonwealth the reburial would not go ahead until court action considered

Government to allow in tourists from 98 countries and regions next month – but only as part of tour groups

Trial held up due to Covid and fall of Kabul now waits for evidence release by new attorney general and reappearance of Person 27

Highly regarded Queensland barrister was told as a boy he would probably end up in jail because his family is Aboriginal

Life had begun to return to normal in Ukraine’s second city after Moscow’s troops were forced to retreat• Ukraine-Russia war – latest updatesArtillery has pounded the city of Kharkiv for the first time in two weeks, just as life in Ukraine’s second city was starting to return to normal after Russian troops were pushed back from its outlying towns and villages.Kharkiv’s regional governor, Oleh Synehubov, said at least nine people had been killed and 17 injured in the attacks on the northern part of the city. Continue reading...

Doctors performed procedure in 2002 without consent while Francisca was under anesthesia because she was HIV positiveThe Chilean state has apologised to a woman who was forcibly sterilised by doctors because she was HIV positive.The woman, known only as Francisca and then 20, was diagnosed with HIV in March 2002 while pregnant with her first child. But while she was under anaesthesia during a Caesarean section, doctors at a public hospital performed a surgical sterilisation on the grounds that it would be irresponsible for an HIV-positive woman to have more children. When Francisca woke up after the operation, she was informed by a nurse that she had been sterilised without her consent. Continue reading...

A fanged crowd of 1,369 broke the Guinness World Record for vampire gatherings in celebration of Bram Stoker’s classic novel

Chancellor’s measures, including tax on oil and gas companies, criticised as too late and a ‘drop in the ocean’Rishi Sunak bowed to months of pressure over the cost of living crisis with a £15bn package of support, part-funded by executing a remarkable U-turn to impose a windfall tax on energy companies.Announcing the measures on Thursday, in a bruising week for the government, the chancellor said his “significant set of interventions” would help the poorest in society – with a one-off £650 payment for 8 million families on means-tested benefits, alongside an extra £200 for all energy bill payers that will not have to be repaid. Continue reading...

James Wharton says he didn’t know Hungarian talkshow host Zsolt Bayer was speaking at rightwing eventThe chair of England’s university regulator, who was criticised for participating in a conference in Hungary on the same platform as a notorious far-right journalist accused of antisemitism, has said he did not know who he was appearing alongside.James Wharton, chair of the Office for Students (OfS), addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (Cpac) via a video message last Friday, on the same day as Zsolt Bayer, a talkshow host who has called Jews “stinking excrement”, referred to Roma as “animals”, and used racial epithets to describe Black people. Continue reading...

Genivaldo de Jesus Santos dies of asphyxiation as video shows officers forcing him into vehicle then releasing gas grenadeBrazilians have responded with outrage to the death of a mentally ill Black man who was bundled into the back of a police car by officers who then released a gas grenade inside the vehicle.Genivaldo de Jesus Santos, 38, was stopped by the federal highway police in the city of Umbaúba on Wednesday. Video footage of the incident shows two officers in helmets holding the car boot closed on his thrashing legs, as clouds of gas billow out of the vehicle. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson’s allies rally to his defence as one former minister says he ‘will not defend the indefensible’Four more Conservative MPs called for Boris Johnson to resign on Thursday over lockdown-breaking parties, as Downing Street sought to contain the political aftermath of the Sue Gray report.The prime minister’s allies reiterated the defence that his attendance at a series of gatherings for departing staff was permitted as work duties. His official spokesman argued that Covid guidelines did not specifically rule out leaving drinks. Continue reading...

Drummer who joined in 1972 also played on albums by John Lennon and George HarrisonAlan White, longtime drummer for prog rock band Yes, has died at home aged 72 after a short illness. Announcing the news, the band said they were “shocked and stunned”.White was one of the longest-running members of the group, having joined in 1972, replacing Bill Bruford (who joined King Crimson). Continue reading...

Sean Mallon tells inquest he made mistakes on night Dorset teenager went missingA police officer who was disciplined over the search for the Dorset teenager Gaia Pope has told her inquest jury that he made a number of mistakes on the night she went missing.Sean Mallon was acting up as a sergeant when he was made aware the 19-year-old had been reported missing on 7 November 2017, Dorset coroner’s court heard. Continue reading...

Crown Prosecution Service authorises criminal charges against the 62-year-old actorThe actor Kevin Spacey is facing four counts of sexual assault against three men, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.The CPS said it had also authorised a charge against the 62-year-old of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. Continue reading...

Service held six months after her murder, as city leaders say more must be done to keep women and girls safeHundreds of mourners lined the streets of Plymouth for the funeral of the murdered teenager Bobbi-Anne McLeod as city leaders acknowledged more needed to be done to keep women and girls safe.McLeod’s favourite music – alternative rock – was played at the service in the city centre church of St Andrew and many mourners wore band T-shirts and black jeans in tribute to the 18-year-old. Continue reading...

Airline forced to scrap 200 flights due for early afternoon takeoff and delay many others as a resultAirline passengers faced fresh disruption on Thursday after an IT glitch forced easyJet to cancel about 200 flights around Europe.The airline scrapped a stream of flights due to take off between 1pm and 3pm, affecting dozens to and from UK airports, including its biggest base at Gatwick. Continue reading...

Home Office data shows majority of successful claimants arrived via small boats so may face prosecutionThe proportion of asylum seekers being granted refuge in the United Kingdom has risen to a 30-year high, prompting renewed concern from refugee charities about recent changes to the system which will see many people criminalised or transferred to Rwanda.New Home Office data shows that 75% of asylum claims in the year ending March 2022 were granted, with most claimants entering the UK via small boats or other irregular routes. This means they could face prosecution under the new Nationality and Borders Act, which was passed in April. Continue reading...

Timothy Tymoshenko was sent to Poland because of his distress but does not qualify for Homes for Ukraine scheme

Latest calls from within party for prime minister to stand down come day after Sue Gray report published

Webbe targeted love rival Michelle Merritt between September 2018 and April 2020The former Labour MP Claudia Webbe has lost an appeal against her conviction for harassing a love rival, but her sentence has been reduced.Webbe, who represents the Leicester East constituency as an independent after being expelled from Labour, was given a suspended prison sentence for harassing Michelle Merritt between September 2018 and April 2020. Continue reading...

Acting commissioner Stephen House says no evidence was found that PM breached Covid rules more than once

Jean-Luc Martinez is accused of conspiring to hide origin of works taken out of Egypt during Arab springThe former president of the Louvre museum in Paris has been charged with conspiring to hide the origin of archaeological treasures that may have been taken out of Egypt during the Arab spring uprisings, in a case that has shocked the world of antiquities.Jean-Luc Martinez was charged this week after he was taken in by police for questioning, a French judicial source told Agence France-Presse. Martinez ran the Paris Louvre, the most visited museum in the world, from 2013-21. Continue reading...

Aberdeen-based firm considering approach by US private equity firm I Squared Capital AdvisorsFirstGroup, Britain’s biggest train operator, is evaluating a £1.2bn takeover offer from a US private equity firm, the latest UK transport group to become a takeover target.The Aberdeen-based bus and rail operator said it had received a series of unsolicited proposals from I Squared Capital, and rejected them unanimously, apart from the latest approach, received on Wednesday evening, which it is evaluating. Continue reading...

Sir Stuart Rose describes handout as a ‘drop in the ocean’ compared with pressures struggling consumers faceThe government’s £15bn cost of living handout is not enough to help struggling families and only a “drop in the ocean” compared with the pressures consumers are facing, the boss of Asda has said.Sir Stuart Rose, the chairman of the UK’s third largest supermarket, said he welcomed the one-off payments announced by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, on Thursday, worth a minimum of £400 for all households and up to £1,200 for the poorest, but said: “There is still going to be continuing pressure and a lot of toughness for people.” Continue reading...

Governor of Luhansk says Ukrainian troops retreating in some areas, as city of Lyman reportedly captured

Medical charity’s president calls publication of controversial photographs ‘a mistake’ and says guidelines will be tightenedThe international president of Médecins Sans Frontières has apologised for publishing photographs of a teenage rape survivor from the Democratic Republic of the Congo on its website, following criticism that the images were unethical and racist.Dr Christos Christou also announced that the medical charity had tightened its guidelines on photographing vulnerable minors, such as survivors of sexual abuse, requiring that they should not be identified visually or by name. Continue reading...

Health officials say they are ready to respond but that overall risk to general public is lowCases of monkeypox have been confirmed in Wales and Northern Ireland, public health officials have announced, as experts stress the risk to the general public remains low.Public Health Wales, which has confirmed one case, urged people to be aware of the symptoms of the virus, adding it was important for gay and bisexual men to be alert. A sizeable proportion of monkeypox cases recently diagnosed in England have been found among people who identify as gay or bisexual and among men who have sex with men. Continue reading...