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...

With employment bill unlikely to make Queen’s speech, P&O Ferries-type scandals will happen again, says Frances O’GradyBritain’s top union leader has written to the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, to warn the government that dropping plans to legislate for tougher employment rights after mass sackings at P&O Ferries would “side with bad bosses”.Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said the UK needed urgent “proper legislation” through an employment bill promised by ministers more than two years ago but repeatedly delayed. Continue reading...

Campaigners say Rishi Sunak gave tax break to car users but has not helped public transport usersMore than one in four bus services in England have been cut in the last decade, with the pandemic accelerating the decline, a transport charity has found.Almost 5,000 routes have been axed since 2012, with the north-west and east of England the two regions worst affected. Continue reading...

Europe pledges further sanctions against Russia after reports of killing of scores of unarmed Ukrainians

Exclusive: fixed-penalty notices handed out over events held at No 10 on 16 April 2021Downing Street staff have been issued with fines by police over a party that took place the night before Prince Philip’s funeral, in the first decision by Scotland Yard that Covid laws were broken inside No 10 at the heart of government.After the Guardian revealed that fixed penalty notices were handed out to those who attended a leaving do for an aide to Boris Johnson in the Cabinet Office in June 2020, sources said those who partied into the early hours in No 10 on 16 April 2021 had also been warned they would receive fines. Continue reading...

Exclusive: MP, who is facing allegations relating to sexual harassment and cocaine use, borrowed up to £150,000A close relative of the Conservative MP David Warburton was offered a lucrative advisory role at the firm of a businessman who had provided the politician with an undeclared loan of up to £150,000 for a holiday rental property, the Guardian can reveal.The party has removed the whip from the MP for Somerton and Frome, who is understood to be facing allegations of sexual harassment, cocaine use and failing to declare a loan from Roman Joukovski, a financial adviser who specialised in offshore tax advice and providing tier one “golden” investor visas to foreign citizens. Continue reading...

Analysis: Russian president appears to have operated by a strict playbook in northern Ukraine that has served him well for decades

Women and girls have recounted the abuse they have suffered at the hands of Russian soldiers

Analysis: the backbencher has been a teacher, rock guitarist and van driver who some fellow MPs think had a mid-life crisisDavid Warburton, a relatively unknown political figure outside his Somerton and Frome constituency, has been a backbencher for almost all of the seven years since he became a Conservative MP.But the married father of two was catapulted into the headlines when a picture emerged of him next to lines of white powder alleged to be cocaine and several women reported him to parliament’s harassment watchdog.“I don’t think anyone would ever have mistaken him for Theresa May but this is a lot more than people would have predicted,” says one MP Continue reading...

Police in Saxony investigate 60-year-old for issuing documents without authorisation and forgeryA 60-year-old man allegedly had himself vaccinated against Covid-19 dozens of times in Germany in order to sell vaccination cards to people who did not want to get the jab themselves.The man from the eastern Germany city of Magdeburg, whose name was not released in line with German privacy rules, is said to have received up to 90 shots against Covid at vaccination centres in Saxony for months until he was caught by police, the German news agency dpa reported on Sunday. Continue reading...

Duke met man accused of fraud in high court months before receiving disputed payments, report claimsPrince Andrew had known an alleged fraudster for at least six months before receiving more than £1m in disputed payments from the man, it has been reported.The Duke of York was introduced to Selman Turk via a mutual contact, Tarek Kaituni, a Libyan-born convicted gun smuggler, in May or June 2019 at Windsor Castle, and held subsequent meetings, the Sunday Telegraph reports. Continue reading...

Figures tabled in parliament reveal demand on victims of crime fund growing 16% this year

Airports report long waits because of Covid checks and staff shortages, as tourist traffic eases near DoverPassengers faced long queues at Heathrow and Manchester airports as the Easter holidays got under way.Travellers vented frustration on social media as Covid checks, high passenger volumes and reported staff shortages and e-gate problems meant long waits for check-in at Heathrow. Continue reading...

High demand for crackers, wreaths and trees as sales soar beyond traditional bunnies and chocolateTraditionally a time for bonnets, bunnies and a surfeit of chocolate, Easter has increasingly taken on a new aspect, and more so since the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.Easter crackers, Easter wreaths, and Easter trees are now critical components in the commercialisation of the Christian festival, with the bank holiday now beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Continue reading...

As The Full Monty is remade, entertainers are seeing bookings for gigs in suburban and rural areas

Prime minister cuts an increasingly isolated figure – and his dramatic dissolution of parliament is a very risky moveImran Khan’s dramatic move to dissolve Pakistan’s parliament on Sunday morning, ahead of a vote that almost certainly would have removed him from office, reads to many like the desperate actions of a prime minister who will try to hold on to power at any cost.While his repeated allegations of a “foreign conspiracy” and pressure from the US being behind the no-confidence vote has played well to his diehard supporters, most of whom are vehemently opposed to the west, it is still a very risky move for Khan. Continue reading...

Bosses said to have been unhappy with choice of candidates after all-female shortlist was producedBBC bosses have readvertised the job of political editor after being unhappy with the choice of candidates to replace Laura Kuenssberg in one of the most influential roles in British journalism.Following weeks of interviews and an extensive recruitment process, the corporation had produced an all-female shortlist for the role, with ITV News’s Anushka Asthana and Sky News’s Sophy Ridge believed to be the final two candidates. An announcement on which of them would get the job had been expected to coincide with Kuenssberg stepping down last week. Continue reading...

State of emergency imposed on Friday with country facing severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentialsArmed troops in Sri Lanka confronted crowds protesting against a worsening economic crisis, after a social media blackout failed 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 economic downturn since independence from Britain in 1948. Continue reading...

Officials say no casualties reported after attack, while evidence of war crimes around Kyiv mounts in wake of Russian withdrawal

Imran Khan alleges ‘foreign conspiracy’ to topple his government as US denies involvementPakistan is on the brink of a constitutional crisis and the prime minister, Imran Khan, is facing accusations of treason after he dissolved parliament and called fresh elections in order to block a no-confidence vote that was expected to remove him from power.The former superstar cricketer turned politician stunned the country after he took the dramatic action of dissolving the legislature prior to a parliamentary vote that could have stripped him of his prime ministership. Continue reading...

Disparity is most evident among women in their 30s and older, and for those in working-class occupationsOne in five women who ask for a pay rise are successful in receiving one compared with just under a third of men, polling has found.A YouGov survey of more than 16,000 adults found that of the 40% of people who asked for a pay rise, just over a quarter were successful. Continue reading...

Claims of war crimes in the Ukraine city mount up as residents tell of a month of fear

UN special envoy Hans Grundberg stresses importance of building on truce in effort to end six-year warA UN-brokered two-month ceasefire in Yemen was broadly holding on its first full day with oil shipments reaching the port of Hodeida, including some ships that have been barred from entering for 88 days.The ceasefire is the biggest step forward in the six-year war and is intended to apply inside and outside the country’s borders. Continue reading...

Fears over added pressure on courts as biggest reform of divorce laws for 50 years come in this weekLawyers are expecting a surge in applications from separating couples when no-fault divorce is introduced in England and Wales on Wednesday.In what has been described as the biggest reform of divorce laws for 50 years, couples will not have to either separate for at least two years – increasing to five if one party does not consent – or allocate blame to legally end their marriage. Continue reading...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine looms over contest in which opposition coalition aims to dislodge ruling Fidesz partyVoting has begun in Hungary in a general election that has been overshadowed by the war in neighbouring Ukraine, with the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, seeking a fourth successive term while facing accusations of siding with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.In plummeting temperatures and a mixture of rain and snow that could affect turnout, a steady stream of voters cast ballots after polling stations opened at 6am in an election that has triggered concerns of possible fraud and the outcome of which could determine Hungary’s direction at a pivotal moment in international affairs. Continue reading...

Passion Capital severs ties with Stefan Glänzer, who will appear before magistrates on ThursdayA millionaire former leader of one of London’s most prominent technology investment firms has been removed from the company after a sexual assault charge.Stefan Glänzer, a cofounder of Passion Capital, will appear at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday charged with one count of sexual assault by touching, according to the Metropolitan police. Continue reading...

London gallery’s move prompts calls for rethink of ‘lazy’ mislabelling of Ukrainian art and heritage

Government’s move comes after charities voice despair over slow progress and red tape