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More than 80 charities to boycott government event as Boris Johnson criticised for ‘broken promise’More than 80 LGBT and HIV charities, including Stonewall and the Terrence Higgins Trust, are to boycott the UK government’s first global LGBT conference, in response to the decision to exclude trans people from a ban on conversion practices.In a statement on Monday, the charity Stonewall said it was withdrawing its support for the Safe to Be Me conference due to “the prime minister’s broken promise on protecting trans people from the harms of conversion therapy”. Continue reading...

Former finance minister was accused of sexual harassment by multiple women while working at the World BankA former finance minister who surprised many by making it into Costa Rica’s presidential runoff has easily won the election and is to become the Central American country’s new leader next month while still fending off accusations of sexual harassment when he worked at the World Bank.With nearly all polling stations reporting, the conservative economist Rodrigo Chaves had 53% of the vote, compared with 47% for former president José Figueres Ferrer, the supreme electoral tribunal said. Continue reading...

Incumbent avoids runoff, but his SNS party will have to form government in coalition with junior partnersSerbia’s populist pro-Kremlin president, Aleksandar Vučić, won a landslide victory in Sunday’s general election, but will need to form a coalition government as he strives to balance ambitions to join the EU with the country’s traditional ties to Russia.Vučić, a former minister for information in Slobodan Milošević’s Yugoslav government, won 58.5% of the vote, the state election commission said on Monday after counting 96.2% of ballots. Continue reading...

The news follows several weeks of public turmoil for the rapper, who was to headline the festival with Billie Eilish and othersKanye West has dropped out of the Coachella music festival just over one week before it opens, TMZ and Variety reported on Monday.The 44-year-old rapper was set to headline North America’s largest music festival for two weekends in April along with Billie Eilish, Harry Styles and the electronic group Swedish House Mafia. Continue reading...

In his hour of victory, the Hungarian PM seems to remember how the Ukrainian president singled him outIn a defiant victory speech after his electoral landslide, Viktor Orbán reeled off those he perceived as opponents he had “overpowered”. It was a familiar list: “the left at home” – his catch-all phrase for political opponents across the spectrum – then “the international left, the bureaucrats in Brussels”, the “empire” of the Hungarian-born billionaire philanthropist George Soros, the international media – and finally, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.While Zelenskiy is admired across the democratic world for his courageous wartime leadership, in Orbán’s Hungary he is just another opponent.Additional reporting by Flora Garamvolgyi Continue reading...

MEPs say billions in payments could be withheld from far-right leader due to democratic backslidingVladimir Putin has congratulated Hungary’s strongman leader, Viktor Orbán, on his decisive election victory, amid signs that European Union authorities will launch a sanctions process against Budapest that is intended to safeguard EU funds at risk from democratic-backsliding member states.Two members of the European parliament said they expected the European Commission to launch the “rule of law conditionality mechanism” against Hungary, a legal process that could ultimately switch off billions in EU payments to Budapest. Continue reading...

Supermarket warns of ‘material adverse effect’ on earnings and sales as grocery market struggles with disruption and rising pricesMorrisons has warned its profits are likely to take a significant hit this year as the cost of living crisis and disruption due to the war in Ukraine weigh on the grocery market.The UK’s fourth largest supermarket chain said “developments in the geopolitical environment” and “ongoing and increasing inflationary pressure” since the beginning of February were hitting consumer sentiment and spending. Continue reading...

The airline cancelled 222 flights over the weekend and pulled another 62 of those scheduled for Monday

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Institution’s huge popularity follows years of innovation under German-born director Eike SchmidtFlorence’s Uffizi gallery has become Italy’s most visited cultural site for the first time following years of innovation under the German-born director Eike Schmidt during which it has even branched out into contemporary art.Once a slow-changing bastion of tradition, it was announced on Monday that the institution famous for its Renaissance masterpieces had last year leapt past Rome’s Colosseum, the ruins of Pompeii, the Vatican Museums and other well-known sites in terms of visitor numbers, attracting 1.7 million visitors last year, according to Il Giornale dell’Arte. The Colosseum was second with about 90,000 fewer visitors. Continue reading...

John Cole claims Logan’s mother, Angharad Williamson, shook the boy, but both deny murdering himA stepfather accused of murdering a five-year-old had threatened to kill the boy if the child’s mother broke up with him, a jury has been told.John Cole, who is on trial for murdering Logan Mwangi, denied making the threat but admitted to striking the boy the day before he died and dumping his body on a riverbank. Continue reading...

Scene hero who appeared on stage with Sex Pistols and in films by Derek Jarman later became a veterinary nursePamela Rooke, who became an icon of the British punk rock scene under the name Jordan, has died aged 66.Her partner Nick wrote on Brighton and Hove News: “She died peacefully a stone’s throw away from the sea in her home town of Seaford, East Sussex in the company of her loving family at 9pm last night (Sunday 3 April) … after a short period of illness, she succumbed to a relatively rare form of cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). Jordan was a wonderful woman and will be remembered for countless decades to come.” Continue reading...

Academy of Live and Recorded Arts says it is no longer financially viable and is closing with immediate effectA British drama school has closed after an unsuccessful restructure left it with heavy losses and no longer financially viable, resulting in almost 300 students having to change school with no warning.Students at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) said they were stunned and felt “physically sick” after being told on Monday that the institution, which opened in 1979 and whose alumni include Bridget Christie and Miranda Hart, was closing. All 284 students are being offered places at another drama school, Rose Bruford College, to continue their studies. Continue reading...

Berlin rules out total ban but says it is seeking to cut dependency more quickly after reports of atrocities in Bucha

Bloc urgently working on new round of sanctions against Moscow after claims of mass civilian killings

French president leads the far right’s Marine Le Pen by six points in polls but result is far from foregone conclusion, analysts sayEmmanuel Macron has urged voters to turn out on Sunday for the first round of the French presidential election, stressing the importance of giving him a clear mandate.Interviewed on morning radio, the president said he was surprised by the increasing tendency of people to ask what point there was in voting. Continue reading...

Russian oligarch’s vessel departed after Global Ports Holding was pressed to act over UK sanctionsRoman Abramovich’s $600m (£458m) superyacht Solaris has left a port in Turkey after the London-based company that operates the terminal which had been harbouring the oligarch’s yacht was pressed to act.Solaris, which is 140 metres long and has a helipad and swimming pool, left Bodrum Cruise Port on Monday. It is now at anchor off Yalikavak beach in south-eastern Turkey, according to the shipping data service Marine Traffic. Continue reading...

Easter holidaymakers and lorry drivers travelling to mainland Europe hit by more delaysEaster holidaymakers and lorry drivers travelling to mainland Europe faced further delays on Monday on the chaotic cross-Channel route after a Eurotunnel Le Shuttle train broke down in the tunnel.The breakdown came as Eurotunnel said it was experiencing more traffic than it had since 2019, at the start of the first school holidays since UK Covid travel rules were scrapped. Continue reading...

Chief executive to leave office at end of June after five years marked by upheavals of anti-government protestsHong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, who has governed the Chinese region since 2017, has announced she will not seek a second five-year term of office.Lam’s tenure as the chief executive of one of Asia’s most significant financial hubs has been marked by the upheavals of anti-government protests and, more recently, Covid-19. Critics have accused her of helping Beijing to curtail Hong Kong’s freedoms. Continue reading...

Fashion chain attracts fresh offers as well as bids from the former Kurt Geiger owner SycamoreTed Baker has kicked off a formal sale process for the fashion brand after rejecting a series of bids from the US private equity group Sycamore Partners and others.The company said it had received more than one unsolicited offer from third parties in addition to three bids from Sycamore, a group that previously owned the British shoe shop chains Kurt Geiger and Nine West and has recently been linked to a potential bid for the health and beauty chain Boots. Continue reading...

Immediate threat of severe weather dissipates but SES warns rivers across Gippsland may still peak as rain water flows through catchments

Audit finds one company allowed to keep ‘potential overpayment’ of up to $360,00, despite failing to respond to concerns its revenue had increased 150%

Troops ordered women and children on to buses and sent them to ‘filtration camps’, according to women’s accounts

Rescue operation under way in Blue Mountains after two killed in landslide; Tasmanian premier resigns to focus on family; state member for Lismore questions federal flood support effort as NSW announces relief package; changes to Victorian Covid isolation rules would be ‘premature’, Jaala Pulford says; at least 14 Covid deaths recorded. Follow all the day’s news

Liberal who led his party to victory in the state election less than year ago, says ‘time is now right for me to move on’

Boris Johnson ally claims PM did not mislead public and defends earlier remarks calling revelations ‘fluff’

Prime minister says allegations he raised his opponent’s Lebanese heritage in 2007 internal contest ‘absolutely outrageous’

Witness in defamation case brought by Roberts-Smith tells court SAS command should have ‘dealt with’ war crimes allegations earlier

Sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins says glorification of physical prowess and ‘an experience of danger as exciting’ also play a role

Symptoms including shortness of breath, feeling tired and loss of appetite added to official listThe UK’s official list of Covid-19 symptoms has been expanded to include nine new signs of illness.The extension of the symptoms list to include ailments such as sore throat, fatigue and headache could help to reduce infections, one expert said.Shortness of breath.Feeling tired or exhausted.An aching body.A headache.A sore throat.A blocked or runny nose.Loss of appetite.Diarrhoea.Feeling sick or being sick. Continue reading...

Unite says Royal Mail behaving like ‘greedy speculator’ but firm says falling letter volumes and rising costs to blameThe price of a first-class stamp increased by 10p to 95p from Monday. Second-class stamps have increased by 2p to 68p.The Royal Mail said there had been a long-term decline in letter usage, coupled with rising inflation. Continue reading...

Three of four remaining Kamay spears, stolen by James Cook from Gweagal men, to be displayed at Chau Chak Wing Museum for three months

Concerns sparked of repeat of 2019 when one in five named for government bodies before election called had Liberal or National ties

Canberra must walk a delicate line when responding to challenges presented by Beijing and Solomons’ security agreement

Government polling finds a high fear of crime and little confidence anything will be done about itThe public do not believe ministers’ promises to tackle crime, official documents seen by the Guardian show.The Home Office documents reveals polling carried out for the government found a high fear of crime, and low confidence much will be done about it. Continue reading...

Analysis: newspapers have attracted record numbers of readers seeking trusted sources in uncertain timesFrom the pandemic and the war in Ukraine to the Westminster partygate saga, newspapers are benefiting from a financially lucrative news boom. However, is the news industry enjoying a one-off blip in the battle for survival against big tech, or is this proof that publishers have finally forged commercial models fit for the new media age?In a sign of the shifting fortunes amid unprecedented news events, Rupert Murdoch’s Times and Sunday Times last week reported a doubling of operating profits to their highest level since 1990 and the Sun, a one-time cash cow turned high-profile casualty of the digital age, is within £1m of returning to operating profit for the first time in a decade. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Senior figures say signing confidentiality agreements that cover up unacceptable behaviour violates Labour policyA dozen senior Labour women have called on the party to end its use of confidentiality agreements to “cover up” allegations of sexual harassment, saying the treatment of two former staffers was appalling.Laura Murray, Labour’s ex-head of complaints, and Georgie Robertson, who worked in the party’s press office, said they refused to sign the agreements after reporting an official for “inappropriate” and “possessive” behaviour. Continue reading...

Ukraine president says worse atrocities may yet be found elsewhere as satellite images show mass grave near church in Bucha

The specter of Oscars chaos loomed over the music awards – a mega-concert which included a message of hope from the Ukrainian president

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National Rally leader is closing gap on Emmanuel Macron in polls for this month’s presidential electionFrom her housing estate in northern Marseille, Elisabeth, 68, who once voted for the left, will return a ballot for the far-right Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election this month. “People used to think Marine was nasty,” she said. “Now they realise she’s not. Other politicians are taking her ideas. They all talk like her now.”Elisabeth left school at 16 and worked at a shoemaker’s, in factories and as a housekeeper, but her €800 pension barely covers bills and food. “I live on credit, overdrawn by the middle of the month,” she said. “I make a weak stew and it lasts me three days. But Le Pen will cut taxes and put money in our pockets.” She agrees with Le Pen’s anti-immigration stance. She feels “Europeans” are becoming outnumbered in multi-ethnic northern Marseille and worries about crime. “I’ve been mugged twice, once for a necklace, once for a cigarette,” she said. Society is tense and divided, she feels, but Le Pen will “calm things down”. Continue reading...

Money can be used for repairs to gas and electricity services, rebuilding, and purchase of white goods

Karin and Robert McDowell have received 220 accounts of near misses at Woolloongabba intersection where son Max died

Bill will strengthen existing protections against vilifying conduct, attorney general says

World leaders condemn alleged atrocities and call for independent investigations after bodies of civilians and mass graves found

Accusations of war crimes and calls for tougher sanctions feature on Monday’s front pages amid horror at civilian killings by Russian troops

All 26 cabinet ministers aside from the president and the prime minister quit as unrest over the country’s worst financial crisis in decades continuesSri Lanka’s entire cabinet aside from the president and his sibling prime minister resigned from their posts on Sunday as the ruling political clan seeks to resolve a mounting economic crisis, with a social media blackout failing to halt another day of anti-government demonstrations.The south Asian nation is facing severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentials – along with record inflation and crippling power cuts – in its most painful downturn since independence from Britain in 1948. Continue reading...

Travel agents and aid workers raise issues of safety and note that tourism dollars will only benefit the ruling militaryForeign tourists have been urged to avoid visiting Myanmar after the junta signalled plans to open up the country despite widespread ongoing rights abuses and violence including kidnappings and killings by the military, as well as food shortages and regular blackouts.More than a year after it seized power and ousted Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s military has announced it plans to reopen for tourism and resume international flights on 17 April. Continue reading...