Shadow cabinet reveal their frustration after elections as police

The Liberal Democrats and Labour enjoyed a surge in the polls that raised constitutional issues as well as weakening the PMOn Friday morning, as broadcasters, pollsters and political analysts tried to make sense of a mixed bag of early results from the previous day’s local elections, no one was quite clear who had performed the best. All the party leaders seemed happy enough and the political messages were blurred.Boris Johnson was said by people in Downing Street to be in a buoyant mood when he sat down at his desk at 8.15am, believing the heat was off him. He had told a meeting with his advisers the previous day that “we are going to get our arses kicked”. But while he could see his party had indeed taken a beating and was losing seats, it seemed that a Tory meltdown had been avoided, and that Labour was failing to win back support behind the red wall. Continue reading...

Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel says explosion at Hotel Saratoga appears to have been caused by a gas leakAt least 26 people have been killed and a further 74 have been treated in hospital after a powerful explosion tore the façade from a hotel in the Cuban capital, sending plumes of dust into the air and leaving rubble strewn across the street in the historic centre of Havana.Speaking at the scene soon afterwards, the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, ruled out a bomb and said the blast at the Hotel Saratoga appeared to have been caused by a gas leak. Continue reading...

Drunks, thieves, spies and hedgehogs are all in a night’s work for the men backing up city’s overstretched police force● Russia-Ukraine war: latest updatesThe call came around midnight. There was a suspicious man poking around a rundown complex of garages and workshops, police had heard a gunshot and so they wanted backup.The men of the Maidan group rolled out of the bodyshop that served as their headquarters, into a couple of vans with personalised Maidan numberplates and their own ambulance, and set off into the eerie quiet of curfew-hours Kyiv. Continue reading...

Agencies to approach those who may have had close contact with patient, who recently travelled to NigeriaA patient is being treated at a specialist unit in London after they were diagnosed with monkeypox, a rare viral infection.The person had recently travelled to Nigeria, where they are believed to have contracted the illness, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Saturday. They are being treated in an isolation unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ infectious disease unit. Continue reading...

DUP will refuse to join new administration until UK government addresses post-Brexit trade border

John Lee is the only candidate in the running to succeed Carrie Lam as chief executiveAt the height of Hong Kong’s protests in the summer of 2019, angry pro-democracy legislators shouted in the Chinese territory’s legislative council: “down with John Lee!”, as the veteran security chief defended his force’s treatment of the protesters and journalists.“I hope people will understand the chaotic situation and the pressure faced by each and every one at the scene on that day,” Lee said, unapologetically. “I hope members of the public will not vent their dissatisfaction of the government on police officers, because they are only discharging their duties.” Continue reading...

Book reveals fate of EOKA guerrilla fighters at the hands of the army during the dying days of empire on the Mediterranean islandAt least 14 Cypriots were tortured then murdered by UK forces during an armed uprising in the late 1950s, according to newly unearthed evidence that raises fresh questions over another shocking chapter of Britain’s colonial history.Testimony from British veterans and Cypriot rebel fighters, along with postmortem and morgue records, as well as previously undisclosed material from Cypriot archives, suggest that the victims died after being interrogated by UK officers. The dead, all men aged between 17 and 37, were arrested on suspicion of being part of the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters, a paramilitary organisation known as EOKA, which orchestrated a guerrilla campaign to overthrow British control in Cyprus. Continue reading...

French president promises inclusive education system, accessible health service and stronger military at Elysée Palace ceremonyEmmanuel Macron said that his reelection marked a “fundamental democratic renaissance” as he was sworn in for a second term of office as president of France at a ceremony at the Elysée Palace.Macron, who defeated his far right rival, Marine Le Pen, in the second round vote two weeks ago, entered on Saturday to the strains of Handel played by the Garde Républicaine’s string quartet and listened as the official results were read. Continue reading...

Green New Deal Rising campaigners were escorted from the dinner to chants of ‘out, out, out’A speech by the home secretary, Priti Patel, was disrupted on Friday evening after pro-refugee activists infiltrated a Conservative party “spring dinner”.Eight young social justice and climate campaigners from Green New Deal Rising disrupted the Bassetlaw Conservative Association Spring Dinner and demanded she drop controversial plans to offshore asylum seekers to Rwanda. Continue reading...

Foreign minister meets Solomon Islands counterpart in Brisbane; poll shows independent Sophie Scamps has real prospect of taking seat from Liberal Jason Falinski; Bill Shorten tests positive for Covid; NSW records 19 Covid deaths; Victoria nine, Queensland five, Tasmania two, NT one, SA two and WA six. This blog is now closed

West Indian men gathering to play dominoes in north London have become the centre of a noise complaints row

Lawyer for local resident Ernest Theophile, 73, says order is ‘likely to be indirectly discriminatory’

The 52-year-old man collapsed in the final stages of climbing the world’s third highest mountainAn Indian climber died has during a summit push on Mount Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain, an official said.The death is the third to be reported on Nepal Himalayas during the current climbing season which started in March. Continue reading...

The latest security assistance brings the total US military aid to $3.8bn as UN secuirty council’s first statement on crisis omits words ‘war’ and ‘invasion’

Analysis: As the heatwave in India and Pakistan starts to intensify again, Thailand and China are recording strangely cold May daysThe final days of April saw further unbearable temperatures recorded in India and Pakistan. Temperatures peaked at 49C in Jacobabad, Pakistan on 30 April, with a high of 47.2C observed in Banda, India. The Indian Meteorological Department confirmed that average temperatures in April were the highest for northern and central parts of the country since records began over 100 years ago.Heatwaves are a common occurrence at this time of year in India and Pakistan, but scientists believe the intensity, duration and arrival time of the conditions witnessed so far this year are caused by rising global temperatures. Despite a slight respite in the extreme heat over the past few days, temperatures are set to intensify once more this weekend and into next week with maximum temperatures expected to approach 50C in parts of north-west India and Pakistan. Continue reading...

This blog has now closed. You can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war in our new live blogRussia’s defence ministry said that its missiles destroyed a large ammunition depot in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.

Productivity commissioner releases report following Icac hearings involving former premier Gladys Berejiklian

Party takes more seats and extends reach, with victories in South Tyneside, Cumberland, Oxford and Worcester

PM insists ‘mixed’ results also included some ‘remarkable gains’ for Conservatives; Labour, Lib Dems and Greens celebrate key wins

Minister says there is evidence that connects the Scheherazade to senior members of the Russian government

Mental health bill aims to limit detentions of autistic people and those with learning disabilitiesAn overhaul of what Boris Johnson described as “antiquated” mental health laws will make it harder to detain people with learning disabilities and autistic people in hospital.The reforms – which will be part of the Queen’s speech next week and are the first big changes to the Mental Health Act in four decades – are designed to reduce the number of people being detained under current laws in England and Wales. The number of detentions rose by 40% between 2005-06 and 2015-16 and have continued to rise year on year. Continue reading...

Opposition leader says all his frontbenchers are worthy of their roles but that caucus would have its say if the ALP defeats the Coalition on 21 May

Analysis: UAP has bought every available billboard space, and has signs on dusty dirt roads in the middle of nowhere

John Barilaro and Barnaby Joyce were never shy in pleading the case for the regions. Can the party respond just as forcefully now?

Order to remove Vote Angus Out community group’s election signs in Hume came after complaint from Liberal incumbent’s office

Doctor calls nurse who conducted initial assessment a liar after she told inquest she suggested Nelson be taken to hospital

Russian foreign ministry says it will continue to react ‘harshly and decisively’ to all sanctions imposed by London

Evacuees share horror of months in Avozstal steelworks bunker; why Putin’s shift to the east could lengthen the war; and tattoos of Ukraine resistance

Anti-vaxxer convicted of causing nuisance or disturbance at Guy’s hospital in London in JanuaryPiers Corbyn has been fined £250 after accusing NHS staff at a London Covid-19 vaccination clinic of murdering people.The brother of the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had arrived with a group of anti-vaxxers at Guy’s hospital in central London on 18 January with a “cease and desist” letter that they claimed was to prevent NHS staff from administering the Covid-19 vaccine. Continue reading...

Party becomes closest challenger to SNP after gains including West Dunbartonshire and near-upset in Glasgow

Conservative leader at the Welsh parliament says candidates had to answer questions about Johnson on doorstep

Analysis: Few outlets considered April 2021 event a story at the time, but then Partygate happenedIf Keir Starmer is fined for a breach of lockdown rules, the person who would claim credit for bringing him down is the anti-lockdown campaigner Laurence Fox.Fox, the former actor and leader of the niche Reform party, was the first person to widely share a 34-second grainy video showing the maskless Labour leader having a beer with one of his MPs after a day’s campaigning. In the background party activists can be seen eating curry, in what Labour has always insisted was a work environment. Continue reading...

Scale of Tory backlash tempered by mixed picture for Labour, while Lib Dems and Greens perform well

Issa brothers’ EG Group lining up to buy retailer out of administration after Morrisons’ rescue deal rejectedMcColl’s is set to appoint administrators, putting 16,000 jobs at risk, after its lenders turned down a last-minute rescue deal from Morrisons.It is understood that EG Group, the petrol forecourts operator owned by the Blackburn’s billionaire Issa brothers, is lined up to buy McColl’s out of administration in a deal that would save all jobs and the convenience store group’s more than 1,100 outlets around the country but would not include its pension scheme. Continue reading...

White suspect was arrested but police later told Antwon Forrest’s family no further action was being takenPolice have been strongly criticised for not prosecuting a white woman who hit a 12-year-old black boy on the forehead with a paddle so forcefully he needed hospital treatment for a deep cut.The woman was arrested following the incident at a riverside park near Bristol but three weeks later Avon and Somerset police informed the boy’s family that no further action was being taken because the woman claimed she acted in self-defence and felt “threatened”. Continue reading...

Homicide investigators are trying to identify the child, whose cause of death is not yet knownPolice in Canada are trying to identify a young Black girl whose body was found in a Toronto dumpster, a grim discovery that has shaken the city and seasoned investigators looking into the case.The Toronto police service announced on Thursday that the body, discovered on Monday in an affluent neighbourhood, was that of a young Black girl, believed to be between the ages of four and seven. Continue reading...

Labour close to a clean sweep of the capital’s boroughs, and the Lib Dems and Greens are making gains

Sinking of the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet was seen as a high-profile loss for its militaryUS officials have said they had shared information about the location of the Russian warship Moskva with Ukraine prior to its sinking last month, a fresh demonstration of the close intelligence support Kyiv is receiving from Washington.It is unclear how far the US intelligence helped Ukraine launch an accurate double missile strike on the Moskva – and the US officials briefing the information insisted the targeting decision was a matter for the Ukrainians alone. Continue reading...

Hull win – alongside other successes – suggests coalition taint is fading for voters seeking alternative to Tories and Labour

The writer calls the planned destruction of copies of five titles – by Bernardine Evaristo, Alison Bechdel, Imbolo Mbue and Stephen Chbosky as well as his own – ‘an unconscionable horror’Dave Eggers, author of dystopian satire The Circle, has said he will provide free copies of his novel to schools in South Dakota, as well as copies of four other books that have been banned in the district’s schools.School administrators in Rapid City thought The Circle, along with How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue, Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Booker prize-winning Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, inappropriate for pupils. The district’s schools’ copies have been marked as surplus and are due to be destroyed. Continue reading...

Exclusive: MTC profits soared before early termination of £50m contract to run Rainsbrook facility near RugbyA private prison company that ran an “inadequate” youth jail made £11m in the same year inspectors raised serious safety concerns about the welfare of children, some of whom were locked up alone for more than 23 hours a day.Soaring profits, described as “tragic” by Labour, were disclosed in accounts filed by the US-owned Management & Training Corporation (MTC), which was awarded a £50m contract from the Ministry of Justice in 2016 to run the Rainsbrook secure training centre in Warwickshire. Continue reading...

Conservatives down 122 seats with just over half the results for England declared, and Labour up 35

Trial told teenager found guilty of manslaughter was part of a group who ‘hunted down’ 14-year-old in Birmingham last yearThe mother of a 14-year-old boy stabbed to death in Birmingham last year said the “justice system has let me down”, after a teenager was sentenced to six years and six months in detention for his killing.The 15-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons due to his age, was acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter following a trial that heard he was part of a group who had “hunted down” Dea-John Reid in May last year. Continue reading...

Museum on site where Nazis agreed to surrender in 1945 will be renamed Museum Berlin-KarlshorstA Berlin museum dedicated to German-Russian relations on the site where the Nazis agreed to unconditionally surrender in 1945 is to drop the word “Russian” from its name before anniversary events to mark the end of the second world war in Europe.With tensions already high in the lead-up to the 77th anniversary on 8 and 9May of Nazi Germany signing the surrender agreement, the German-Russian museum’s director, Jörg Morré, said he would be renaming it Museum Berlin-Karlshorst. Continue reading...

Queen decides only working royals will appear after the platinum jubilee trooping the colour on 2 JuneThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Duke of York will not be joining other royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony after the trooping the colour that kicks off the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations.The Queen has decided only working royals will gather on the balcony for the traditional flypast at the conclusion of the ceremony on Thursday 2 June. Continue reading...

Durham police are looking into claims the Labour leader may have broken lockdown rules last year

Russian citizen held along with boyfriend a year ago when flight she was on was forced to landA woman who ran a Belarusian opposition messaging app channel and was arrested along with her activist boyfriend when an airliner they were on was forced to land in Belarus has been convicted of charges that included inciting social hatred.Following her conviction, Sofia Sapega was sentenced to six years in prison. Sapega is a Russian citizen, and her lawyer, Anton Gashinsky, said she would appeal to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to intervene. Continue reading...

Conscription notices given to male protestors demanding evacuation as 50 people defy ban

Labour incumbent Marvin Rees to serve out term until 2024 as opposition welcomes ‘new chapter’ in return to committee system