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Typical figure in first three months of 2022 was 6.1% higher than a year earlier, standing at £849 a monthMore than one in seven private tenants are “overpaying” to secure a rental property, often because they are desperate or there is nothing else available, research suggests.Average UK rents have increased for the sixth quarter in a row as shortages of available properties continue to drive up costs, according to the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), a government-authorised scheme that keeps tenants’ deposits safe. Continue reading...

Islamist group says it captured mercenary from Kremlin-linked private security firmA jihadist group in Mali claims to have captured a fighter from the Kremlin-linked Wagner mercenary group reportedly fighting Islamist militants in the west African country.“In the first week of April, [we] captured a soldier of the Russian Wagner forces in the Segou region in central Mali,” the GSIM (the Group to Support Islam and Muslims) said in a statement sent to AFP overnight. Continue reading...

Cabinet split emerges after minister Nadine Dorries criticises notes being left on empty civil servant desks

Foreign Correspondent’s Club’s decision sparks outrage from journalists and resignations from press freedom committeeHong Kong’s Foreign Correspondent’s Club has scrapped its annual Human Rights Press Awards just days before it was due to announce winners, out of fear it would violate the city’s wide-ranging national security law.The decision sparked a number of resignations from the club’s press freedom committee, and public criticism from journalists and former award winners, who described the move as sad, and evidence that it could no longer serve in its mission to defend the press. Continue reading...

Far-right candidate finished far ahead of Emmanuel Macron in Guadeloupe, Martinique and RéunionMarine Le Pen may have lost to Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential election, but the far-right candidate finished far ahead of the incumbent in some of France’s overseas territories, doubling or in some cases even trebling her vote share.In the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique and in French Guiana, the National Rally leader scored 69.6%, 60.8% and 60.7% respectively. She also won in the Indian Ocean constituencies of Mayotte (59.1%) and Réunion (59.5%). Continue reading...

Russian state media reports fires at civilian and military depots in Bryansk, which are potentially an act of sabotage by Kyiv

Former chancellor says he has no intention of resigning his seats on boards of Russian energy firms

Moscow complains about US military aid as Washington promises more support, including advanced weapons

Conservative lobby group uses images of elite swimmers in ads targeting ‘woke politicians’ but Emily Seebohm says Advance acted ‘without my consent’

Government lawyers confirm Home Office plan to force small boats back to France has been abandonedPriti Patel’s refugee pushback policy has been officially withdrawn by the government days before a judicial review of the tactic was due to be heard in the high court.The government’s legal department acknowledged in a letter on Sunday that the plan to try to force people in dinghies back to France has been abandoned after Boris Johnson’s announcement that the Royal Navy would take over operations in the Channel. Continue reading...

Man charged with flouting no-fly zone after hitting Piazza Venezia – last week a drone crashed into the Leaning Tower of PisaA tourist has been charged with flouting strict no-fly zone rules after crashing a drone into the roof of a prominent monument in central Rome in the latest drone-related tourist mishap in Italy.The Argentinian man, 39, had been flying his drone in Piazza Venezia when he lost control of the device and sent it crashing into the roof of Palazzo Venezia, a 15th-century building from where the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini delivered some of his most famous speeches. Continue reading...

Cat Rock Capital says Just Eat ‘torpedoed’ share price by providing misleading outlook before Grubhub takeover

Presidents and prime ministers from Europe, the Americas and across the world have expressed relief at Emmanuel Macron’s victory over Marine Le Pen

Deputy Labor leader says Chinese Solomon Islands base would make Australia ‘less safe’; Anzac Day services and marches return for the first time since pandemic began; Peter Dutton compares events in Ukraine to ‘the 1930s’; ABC presenter Fauziah Ibrahim under social media review; at least 17 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

President acknowledges divisions after historic 13 million votes for Le Pen’s anti-immigration partyThe pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron has vowed to unite a divided France after winning a second term as French president in a decisive victory against the far-right’s Marine Le Pen, who nonetheless won more than 13 million votes in a historic high for her anti-immigration party.Macron became the first French leader to win re-election for 20 years, scoring 58.54% to Le Pen’s 41.46%. Continue reading...

Residents hope to avoid Shanghai-style shortages as Chinese authorities rush to stamp out outbreak in the capital

RSL says crowd numbers are ‘wonderful’ and felt like a return to normal after two years affected by Covid

Mail on Sunday accusation of ‘Basic Instinct ploy’ criticised by cabinet ministers and MPs across CommonsAngela Rayner has hit out at “sexism and misogyny” in politics, as a storm of criticism erupted after a newspaper reported that she crosses and uncrosses her legs during prime minister’s questions to distract Boris Johnson.Cabinet ministers including Johnson himself, and MPs from across the House of Commons condemned the Mail on Sunday report, which the chair of the House of Commons women and equalities committee, Caroline Nokes, a Conservative, called a “dirty little story”. Continue reading...

British-Nigerian was last seen alive being chased by police officers two weeks before body found in riverA blue plaque is to be unveiled in Leeds commemorating David Oluwale, a British-Nigerian man who died in 1969 after being harassed by police.The plaque will be on Leeds Bridge, close to where Oluwale was last seen alive, being chased by Sgt Kenneth Kitching and Insp Geoffrey Ellerker. His body was found two weeks later about a mile away in the River Aire, which flows under the bridge. Continue reading...

Brexit, Covid and supply chain problems have disrupted availability of medicinesPharmacy staff in England are facing growing abuse and aggression from patients frustrated that drug shortages mean they cannot get their usual medications, a survey reveals.The hostility, including swearing and spitting, comes as availability of medicines is becoming more uncertain as a result of Brexit, the Covid pandemic and ingredient supply problems. Hormone replacement therapy drugs are in short supply in many places, affecting women undergoing menopause, for example.75% of pharmacies have seen patients turn aggressive when told they cannot have the medication they have been prescribed.49% of staff say patient abuse is undermining their mental wellbeing.51% believe supply chain issues affect patients every day. Continue reading...

WA Health has confirmed it is managing an undisclosed number of positive cases aboard the Coral Discoverer, docked at BroomeWestern Australian authorities are working to contain a Covid-19 outbreak onboard one of the first cruise ships allowed back in the state.WA Health has confirmed it is managing an undisclosed number of positive cases on the Coral Discoverer, docked at Broome in the state’s north-west.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can follow our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war in our new live blogHello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the latest developments in Ukraine with me, Sarah Haque.It is 11am, and this morning the sun came out as Ukrainians marked Orthodox Easter in the capital, Kyiv, with prayers for those fighting on the front lines and others trapped in places like Mariupol. Continue reading...

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles says Coalition ‘is a government which beats its chest’ but does not deliver

Warringah candidate says she and her family have fled Sydney amid fears for their safety

Emmanuel Macron has beaten Marine Le Pen in the presidential runoff and will serve another term as president of France. Macron won 58.6% of the vote, while Le Pen, who improved her 2017 performance, fell short at 41.5%. Find out how the race unfolded department by department.Live coverage and reactionThe election on Sunday 24 April is a runoff to decide between the first two candidates from the first round of voting on 10 April. Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen topped that earlier poll. Continue reading...

Fears death toll from Sunday’s clashes could rise after armed tribesmen attacked villages of non-Arab Massalit minorityClashes between rival groups in Sudan’s Darfur killed at least 168 people on Sunday, an aid group has said, in the latest bout of deadly violence to hit the restive region.Darfur, which was ravaged by civil war that erupted in 2003, has seen a spike in deadly conflict since October last year triggered by disputes mainly over land, livestock and access to water and grazing. Continue reading...

Fewer than 200 people would have been sent to Africa last year under PM’s migration policy, data revealsFewer than 200 people who came to the UK without authorisation would have been sent to Rwanda last year, analysis of government figures has found.The Refugee Council said 172 people could have been sent to the east African country had a deal been in place. It estimates that this year the number is not likely to be much higher. Continue reading...

Committee says international travel should not be singled out in response to any future pandemicsInternational travel should be protected in future pandemics, MPs have urged, describing the Covid restrictions imposed by the UK government as confusing, arbitrary and disproportionate.The Commons transport select committee said the government should learn lessons from the coronavirus pandemic to create a predictable and transparent system for future public health crises, to support travellers and the aviation industry. Continue reading...

An independent regulator, shadow boards made up of club supporters and a new owners and directors test among changesThe government will seek to implement all 10 of the key recommendations of the fan-led review into English football, setting up the possibility of a sea change in the governance of the national sport.Five months after a landmark report led by Conservative MP Tracey Crouch called for the creation of an independent regulator for the game, alongside greater powers for supporters and an improved “owners and director’s test” for those seeking to control local clubs, sport minister Nigel Huddleston will tell parliament on Monday that the government endorses the ideas. A white paper bringing forward legislation will be published in the summer. Continue reading...

President’s victory against Le Pen was significantly narrower than five years ago, scoring an estimated 58.8% of the vote

Macron faces a second term at least as challenging as his first, if not more soAssured of another five years in the Élysée after beating his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen, on Sunday, Emmanuel Macron faces a second term at least as challenging as his first, if not more so. Here we look at some of the key challenges and priorities of the re-elected president: Continue reading...

Far-right leader hails ‘victory in itself’ and vows to fight on after winning more than 40% of the vote

Ashish Jha says spreading variant unlikely to have much effect on the nation’s pandemic recoveryThe White House Covid response coordinator Ashish Jha appeared to undercut the Biden administration’s efforts to reinstate the federal mask mandate on Sunday, stating that the spreading BA.2 variant in the US was unlikely to have much effect on the nation’s pandemic recovery.The justice department announced last week it would appeal the decision of a federal judge in Florida to prematurely lift the mandate on air, rail and bus travel in the US, based on the assertion by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that “an order requiring masking in the indoor transportation corridor remains necessary for the public health”. Continue reading...

Eric Bourne and Stephen Carpenter, who work on RRS Sir David Attenborough, hope to tie the knot on MondayTwo polar research ship crew members are to become the first same-sex couple to get married in the British Antarctic Territory.Eric Bourne and Stephen Carpenter hope to tie the knot on Monday, although it may be pushed back because of the weather. Continue reading...

18th-century bonbonniere was identified after coming up for auction last year and will now go on displayIt was an audacious and highly professional heist. At 2am on a June night in 2003, five men wearing balaclavas and blue boilersuits smashed their way through a window at Waddesdon Manor, the extravagant French-style chateau built in Buckinghamshire by the Rothschild banking dynasty.Despite high security, they grabbed more than 100 gold boxes and other precious objects worth several million pounds – and four minutes later they were gone. Almost all disappeared without trace. Continue reading...

Forensic doctors discover fléchettes – rarely used in modern warfare – in bodies found in mass graves

Police appeal for witnesses as fire crews describe blaze as the largest in the area for yearsFamilies have been evacuated from their homes after a wildfire swept across heathland in Dorset, destroying about 17 hectares (42 acres) of wildlife-rich habitat.Canford Heath in Poole is a 340-hectare nature reserve and site of special scientific interest that is home to rare species including smooth snakes, sand lizards and Dartford warblers, as well as adders, dragonflies and nightjars. Continue reading...

Labour leader says cannot ‘pass over’ the fact prime minister and other officials broke the lawKeir Starmer has defended Labour’s determination to keep pressing the prime minister over parties in Downing Street during Covid lockdowns, saying even Conservative MPs were “sick of defending the indefensible”.Challenged about whether he had focused too much on Partygate, the Labour leader insisted his party could not just “pass over” the fact that Johnson had been issued with a fixed-penalty notice (FPN), along with Rishi Sunak and scores of officials. Continue reading...

Francesco Bonanno was accused of terrorising passengers by working with ‘uncommon zeal’An Italian train conductor who was sacked for issuing passengers with too many fines said his “nightmare is over” after the country’s top court ruled he was wrongfully dismissed.Francesco Bonanno, 61, was accused of “terrorising” passengers by overzealously handing out a record number of fines within the space of a couple of years as he controlled tickets across northern routes on Trenitalia trains. Continue reading...

Suspect from Bedworth detained after attack on at least 10 people on SaturdayA 33-year-old man who was arrested after at least 10 people were injured in a knife attack has been detained under the Mental Health Act.It comes after disturbances in Bedworth town centre, north of Coventry, on Saturday morning, in which three people suffered stab wounds, Warwickshire police said. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Olga Kolisnyk was told by UK visa officials her infant daughter would require biometric scans 800 miles away in Warsaw

Exclusive: Fears grow that bed shortages have left NHS increasingly reliant on independent sector

Brooke Martin was one of the inpatients to die at an Elysium mental health facility. Her family say its negligence ‘defies logic’

Official says Covid ‘spreading invisibly’ within capital as Shanghai residents complain about barriers at residential buildingsAuthorities in Beijing are on high alert for an upsurge in coronavirus cases amid a fresh outcry in Shanghai over buildings blockaded under China’s zero Covid policy.The number of new cases in the capital rose by 22 on Sunday – all locally transmitted – compared with six the day before, according to official reports. Beijing authorities have so far not taken steps to lock down the capital, but they have ordered a number of gyms and after-school activity providers to suspend in-person classes. Continue reading...

The MY Kahu was intercepted 80 miles south of Plymouth last year, and goes on sale WednesdayA superyacht seized from drug smugglers attempting to bring £160m worth of cocaine to the UK will be sold on behalf of the government in an online auction this week.Acting on a tipoff, Border Force and National Crime Agency officers intercepted and boarded the 120ft (37 metre) yacht in international waters near Guernsey last year. They discovered more than two tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than £160m. Continue reading...

Former health secretary never declared hospitality from head of firm connected to lobbying scandalThe former health secretary Matt Hancock was given an overnight stay at a country estate owned by the head of Randox, the healthcare firm that had hired the MP Owen Paterson as a consultant.During a two-day visit to Northern Ireland as health secretary in 2019, Hancock had a private dinner and stayed overnight at the Dundarave country estate in County Antrim, which is owned by Peter Fitzgerald, Randox’s founder. Continue reading...

Tributes paid to ‘one of the all-time greats’, who also wrote Only When I Laugh and Duty FreeEric Chappell, the writer of some of ITV’s most popular sitcoms, including Rising Damp, Only When I Laugh and Duty Free, has died at the age of 88.His death was revealed by the actor Reece Dinsdale, who starred alongside the late John Thaw in Chappell’s sitcom Home to Roost. Dinsdale wrote on Twitter: “Thank you for everything you did for me, Sir … your scripts were a complete joy to play. Great times!” Continue reading...

Emmanuel Macron goes into the election with a reasonable lead in polls over Marine Le Pen, after a fractious campaignThe polls have opened in mainland France for the second round of the presidential election in which voters will choose to give Emmanuel Macron another five years in office or elect Marine Le Pen.Macron is favourite to win but any second term will be determined by whether he finishes with a convincing victory. Both he and Le Pen need to have convinced the almost 50% of voters who did not choose either of them in the first round ballot two weeks ago. Continue reading...