Outcry after group of vehicles led by 4x4 displaying Russian military’s Z symbol drive in convoy down M50

More than 17,000 people flee their homes as landslides engulf villages, cutting off roads and powerRescuers hampered by mud and rain have used their bare hands and shovels to search for survivors of landslides that smashed into villages in the central Philippines, as the death toll from tropical storm Megi rose to 42.More than 17,000 people fled their homes as the storm pummelled the disaster-prone region in recent days, flooding houses, severing roads and knocking out power. Continue reading...

Liam Brandon Maxwell sentenced to two years and six months behind bars after pleading guilty to serious animal cruelty

Federation’s general secretary, in post since 2013, is ‘proud of what we achieved during the pandemic’Frances O’Grady will stand down as general secretary of the Trades Union Congress at the end of the year.The first woman to hold the post in the TUC’s 154-year-old history, she said it had been the greatest honour of her life and a privilege to serve the trade union movement during a turbulent decade for workers in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Continue reading...

Katy Gallagher takes shot at Coalition’s ‘dodgy costings unit’; Scott Morrison promises to create 1.3m new jobs in the next five years. This blog is now closed

French president says he would consider changing controversial reform ahead of second-round pollEmmanuel Macron has indicated he could compromise on his heavily contested proposal to raise France’s retirement age by three years to 65, in an attempt to court voters ahead of the decisive second-round presidential election.The president, who faces a tough campaign for a second term against the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, announced he would consider adjusting the timing and age of the controversial pension reform. Continue reading...

Zali Steggall says ‘Liberal moderates should make clear they would oppose any legislation’ while Christian lobby group wants Coalition to back PM’s ‘strong stand’

Paul Fletcher releases heavily redacted costings for what the Coalition estimates will be a $3.2bn transport project

MPs should carry on meeting constituents but in a safer environment, says Lindsay HoyleThe Commons Speaker has called for a “nicer and kinder politics within the chamber” in the wake of the conviction of Sir David Amess’s murderer.Lindsay Hoyle told BBC Radio 4: “I want a nicer politics. If we haven’t got democracy, what have we got?... It is about the respect of politicians, it’s building trust with our constituents. Continue reading...

The 10-person detail was to be armed with pistols, rifles, two machine guns and a sniper rifle to protect Chinese embassy

Tory MP quits as chair of parliamentary group and withdraws comment criticising conviction of colleague

Investigation launched after whistleblowers said colleagues regularly paid sex workers for 10 yearsAn investigation has been launched after claims that Home Office contractors paid for sex while deporting people abroad, the Guardian has learned.Five whistleblowers have said some colleagues regularly paid sex workers on overnight stopovers over a period of 10 years after accompanying migrants on flights from the UK. Continue reading...

Health minister Martin Foley to ‘reconsider all health orders’ including mask requirements once Covid cases hit expected plateau later this month

Police say assailant was man in his 40s from flashpoint city of Hebron who was being checked by officerA Palestinian man stabbed a police officer with a kitchen knife and was shot dead in the Israeli port city of Ashkelon.Police said an officer was checking a person who had aroused his suspicion on Tuesday when “the attacker pulled out a knife and attacked the officer”. The officer “responded quickly, fired and neutralised the suspect”. Continue reading...

Rate of abuse against parents is highest among 19- to 25-year-olds and most perpetrators are maleAt least 40% of child-to-parent violence and abuse incidents are unreported to police, according to research.The study into the “hidden harm” commissioned by the London mayor’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) found that the rate of violence and abuse against parents and carers was highest among those aged 19-25, and 81% of perpetrators were male. Continue reading...

Rare Breeds Survival Trust annual watchlist shows ‘low-input species’ benefit from changing nature of farmingWhile hundreds of Hackney horses once elegantly clip-clopped around London pulling carriages, the breed is now dying out because that mode of transport is no longer used.The Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) annual watchlist has highlighted the breed as at risk because there are just 31 breeding females left in the UK. Continue reading...

Nearly half went to absentee owners last year as demand outstrips supply amid fears of market overheatingA majority of Highland estates that changed hands last year were sold in secret, and nearly half went to absentee owners rushing to buy rural land for environmental reasons, a report has revealed.The Scottish Land Commission, an official body set up to reform land ownership, has warned these trends are threatening attempts to diversify land ownership, improve the rural economy and increase transparency and accountability. Continue reading...

Activist footage appearing to show severe overcrowding and dead birds differs from KFC film by YouTube influencerKFC has been accused of a “misleading” portrayal of chicken farming after activists revisited a farm recently highlighted in a film by a YouTube influencer.The Behind the Bucket film published last December saw YouTuber Niko Omilana visit a farm operated by meat company Moy Park, one of Europe’s leading poultry producers, which sells chicken to KFC. Continue reading...

Review involved interviews with 50 current and former players, managers and coaches of New Zealand women’s rugby teamNew Zealand’s governing rugby body has failed to properly support women’s high performance rugby, with some players reporting favouritism, ghosting, body-shaming and culturally insensitive comments, a scathing review of one of the world’s top women’s rugby teams has found.The more than 30-page review, which came with 26 recommendations, was instigated after a senior Black Ferns player – Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate – posted on social media that she had suffered a mental health breakdown following the Black Ferns’ 2021 end-of-year tour to England and France. Continue reading...

Campaigners hope encouraging wild swimming will press water companies to reduce discharge of raw sewageA stretch of the Thames is to get bathing status for the first time, in an attempt to ensure the water becomes safe and clean for swimming.Part of the Wolvercote Mill Stream at Port Meadow, Oxford, an area popular with wild swimmers, will be only the second inland stretch of water to be officially designated as bathing water from next month. Continue reading...

Charity calls for debt cancellations for poorest countries to counter ‘worst collapse into poverty and suffering in memory’The rising price of food caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and increased energy costs could push a quarter of a billion more people into extreme poverty, Oxfam has warned.The charity said these new challenges had piled on to the economic crises created by Covid, and called for urgent international action, including cancelling debt repayments for poorer countries. Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy taking chemical weapons threat ‘seriously’ as Mariupol mayor says thousands have died in devastated port city

Police continue search for suspects after teenage boy charged with carrying knife in publicA teenage boy has been charged with carrying a knife, but police say the suspected perpetrator of a fatal stabbing during what they say was a brawl at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show remains at large.Police believe more people were involved in what they described as a senseless and tragic incident, involving two groups of teens. Continue reading...

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Three ads by Join the Conversation did not include a political authorisation statement, despite website being registered to One Nation’s Brisbane candidateThe Australian Electoral Commission is investigating a Facebook page that is linked to a One Nation candidate and promotes candidates opposed to vaccination mandates.Join The Conversation is described as a community forum “that connects minor candidates with local voters”. However, its website and social media accounts appear to promote a catalogue of mostly One Nation and United Australia Party candidates who heavily oppose vaccination mandates. Continue reading...

Iraqi militias and others say undercover networks being used to supply materiel such as RPGs and anti-tank missiles

Shadow assistant minister Andrew Leigh confirms the party has dropped plans to review the unemployment benefitLabor has not committed to an additional increase to the jobseeker payment and has dropped plans for a review into the rate, the shadow assistant minister for the treasury, Andrew Leigh, has confirmed.Asked by the Australian Council of Social Service (Acoss) chief executive Cassandra Goldie to clarify Labor’s position on the jobseeker payment at an event on Tuesday, Leigh said “we haven’t committed to an additional increase”. Continue reading...

High court denies bid by almost 7,000 people to challenge flood compensation ruling

Opening ceremony will take place at MCG, while Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Gippsland will hold sporting events

Study finds 7% of global population experience migraine and 9% a tension-type headache on any given dayAlmost one in six people around the world have a headache on any given day, with about half of those experiencing a migraine, researchers have found.Headache disorders can be painful and debilitating and have myriad causes, from stress to over-use of medications such as painkillers. Now a large scale review has highlighted just how common such conditions are. Continue reading...

Expansion of specialist teams proposed in report, along with independent legal advice for complainantsPolice teams that specialise in investigating rape must be set up across England and Wales and independent legal advice must be offered to victims and survivors facing demands for their digital devices, a parliamentary committee has concluded.In an examination of why rape prosecutions are falling, the home affairs select committee found that the unacceptably low numbers of prosecutions for rape and sexual offences would continue without major reforms to the criminal justice system. Continue reading...

As he prepares to bow out, Chibnall says Covid pressure almost cut his three-season run to twoThe outgoing Doctor Who showrunner has revealed that pressures of working during the Covid pandemic threatened to curtail his three-series run to two.Chris Chibnall, who is bowing out as the show’s executive producer after taking over from Steven Moffat for series 11, said: “That we made Doctor Who at all during the past two years is a miracle.” Continue reading...

Three members of cross-party LGBTQ+ group to resign after chair calls verdict ‘dreadful miscarriage of justice’

Exclusive: signatories of letter who include many politicians say complaints by Jewish students need to be taken more seriouslyMore than 20 former presidents of the National Union of Students, including three former cabinet ministers, have sent an unprecedented private warning to the organisation’s trustees, urging them to address concerns from Jewish students.The letter, which has been leaked to the Guardian, was sent to the union’s trustees by 21 former presidents dating back to the 1960s, including the former cabinet ministers Jack Straw, Charles Clarke and Jim Murphy, the shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, and Maeve Sherlock. Continue reading...

Analysis: Unlike his predecessors, he has not criticised tax havens or pledged to go after tax avoidersSince becoming chancellor, Rishi Sunak has not delivered any of the tub-thumping speeches of his predecessors about going after tax avoiders.He has not criticised tax havens in the House of Commons. And his only mention of offshore has been in relation to wind power. Continue reading...

Labour leader questions ability of super-rich politicians to relate to public amid cost of living crisisKeir Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of “rank hypocrisy” and questioned the ability of super-rich politicians to relate to the public as No 10 came under pressure to reveal if any other ministers had used schemes to avoid tax.In an interview with the Guardian amid controversy over Rishi Sunak’s wife’s tax status, Starmer said having a spouse who was a non-dom would create a “very obvious conflict of interest” for any cabinet minister. Continue reading...

Court had found force’s decisions in run-up to event in South London were ‘not in accordance with the law’The Metropolitan police has been refused permission to appeal against a high court ruling that found the force breached the rights of organisers of a vigil for Sarah Everard in south London last year.Reclaim These Streets (RTS) proposed a socially distanced gathering in Clapham Common to mark the death of the 33-year-old marketing executive, who was murdered by a serving Met officer. Continue reading...

West of England mayor says Russian investors must sell their shares in Swedish firm Voi or ‘other e-scooters are available’

Parole Board said Adam Swellings, who kicked father of three to death in 2007 at the age of 19, had shown ‘exemplary’ conduct in jailThe Parole Board has recommended that the ringleader of a murder that shocked Britain in 2007 be moved to an open prison.Garry Newlove, a father of three, was “kicked like a football” in front of his family by drunken youths he had challenged after they vandalised vehicles outside his Cheshire home. Continue reading...

Jury selection under way as former couple face off in Virginia court in case centered on allegations of domestic violenceJohnny Depp has lost one high-profile defamation case involving his ex-wife, Amber Heard, in a London court. On Monday, the 58-year-old actor launched a sequel in Fairfax, Virginia, as part of an effort to refute career-damaging allegations that he abused Heard during their three-year marriage.Ahead of jury selection, a court order said fans of the two celebrities could not “camp on courthouse grounds” and added: “Litigants and their legal teams in this trial will not pose for pictures or sign autographs in the courthouse or on courthouse grounds.” Contravention of the order would be treated on grounds of contempt.Press Association contributed to this report Continue reading...

Organisations call for reforming controversial religious exemptions to anti-discrimination laws

Highs of up to 22C expected in some areas, with dry conditions forecast for most of the countryEaster weekend could see the hottest temperatures of the year so far across the UK, with highs of up to 22C in some areas, weather forecasters have said.Warm weather is set to continue throughout the week, with dry conditions expected for most of the country ahead of the bank holiday. Continue reading...

The 36th brigade say they face ‘death for some of us, and captivity for the rest’ as Russian offensive continues

Monarch’s official dresser doubled up as a hairdresser when pandemic hit, she reveals in updates to 2019 bookThe Queen avoided a dreaded case of lockdown hair during the early days of the pandemic after trusting her personal adviser and dresser with the royal tresses, it has emerged.Many commented on the monarch’s elegant coiffure during her TV addresses from Windsor Castle, where she was shielding, protected in “HMS Bubble”, made up from selected staff. Continue reading...

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Steven Seagal is isolated voice in backing Russian president as Gérard Depardieu, Silvio Berlusconi and others condemn invasionAt an upscale restaurant in Moscow, the bubbly was flowing as guests in cocktail dresses and expensive suits danced the night away.They had gathered on Sunday for the 70th birthday of Steven Seagal, the American-born actor best known for playing hard-bitten cops and commandos in action movies. Continue reading...

Nine in 10 voters back leader to stay in office in poll viewed as foregone conclusion by critics and supportersNine in 10 Mexicans voting in an unprecedented recall election engineered by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador have backed him to stay in office, underlining his domination of a polarised political agenda.Critics and supporters had viewed his victory as a foregone conclusion in a ballot that had fed speculation it could open the door to extending presidential term limits, now limited to a single six-year period. Continue reading...

Leader says associates of Stop the War coalition must support Nato and reject ‘false equivalence’ with RussiaJeremy Corbyn will not have the Labour whip restored while he continues to associate with the Stop the War coalition, Keir Starmer has suggested, saying it was “very clear” those who wanted to be Labour MPs had to be supporters of Nato and reject “false equivalence” between Nato and Russian aggression.Starmer has previously suggested Corbyn may be allowed to return to sitting as a Labour MP if he apologises for a statement made in the wake of the equalities’ watchdog report into antisemitism. But speaking to the Guardian on Monday, the Labour leader suggested there was now a bigger obstacle to his return. Continue reading...

Man carrying the cane said he had no idea it concealed a sword and was able to catch his flight after it was confiscatedA man passing through a Transportation Security Agency (TSA) checkpoint was stopped for having a sword concealed in his cane – and claimed he had no idea the blade was there.Around noon last Tuesday, TSA officers at Logan airport in Boston were searching the traveler, a Massachusetts resident headed to New York. Continue reading...