Morrison says Warringah candidate Katherine Deves has ‘apologised’ over social media posts; nation records at least 39 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Decision over Spirit of Britain comes as firm planned to resume cross-Channel services for Easter weekendAnother P&O Ferries vessel has been detained after surveyors identified “a number of deficiencies”, casting doubt on the firm’s plans to restart the Dover-Calais route before Easter.The Spirit of Britain, which is based at Dover, has been detained by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and will not be released until a further inspection is carried out. Continue reading...

News Corp Australasia executive chairman issues all-staff memo, with scrutiny on election coverage likely to increase

UN agency intervenes in wake of claims predatory men using Homes for Ukraine scheme to target vulnerable

Former LNP MP backtracks on retirement plans, saying he should have made the move to Pauline Hanson’s party ‘a long time ago’

Archbishop of Canterbury says Church of England has long way to go on journey towards racial justiceThe archbishop of Canterbury has intervened for the second time in a dispute over a contested memorial in the chapel at Jesus College, Cambridge, stating emphatically that “memorials to slave-traders do not belong in places of worship”.Commenting on the legal battle over a memorial plaque to Tobias Rustat, a 17th-century benefactor who invested in slavery, Justin Welby gave his unequivocal support to those seeking its removal and suggested the Church of England still has a long way to go on its journey towards racial justice. Continue reading...

Attorney general asks for legal clarification in wake of acquittals of Black Lives Matter protestersThe attorney general has asked for clarification from the court of appeal over the circumstances in which defendants can cite their human rights as a defence in a case of criminal damage.Suella Braverman made the referral in the wake of the acquittals of four people accused of pulling down the statue of the slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol during a Black Lives Matter protest. Continue reading...

Ukrainians who had narrow escape from missile attack are being treated for devastating injuriesThe evacuation train that was supposed to arrive in the Ukrainian town of Kramatorsk last Friday was late.Andrei Kovalov was standing on the busy platform waiting for the service that would take him west, far away from the fighting, which is on the verge of engulfing his home town of Bakhmut in Donetsk. The 45-year-old was among up to 4,000 other civilians at the train station that morning fleeing the advance of Russian troops across the country’s east. The station was hot and crowded, witnesses said; everyone was willing to stand on the long train journey, if it meant at least they could leave. Continue reading...

Coles pulls salad bags from stores in Queensland, ACT and NSW, while Ferrero issues global recall of Kinder products over food poisoning risk

Investigation launched by Ambulance Victoria and hospital in East Gippsland after the man died from cardiac arrest

Queensland Audit Office finds concessional loan scheme beset by administrative problems

Outfit worn by costume designer Sandy Powell bought by charity boss who has given it to museumThe costume designer Sandy Powell’s one-of-a-kind “autograph suit”, which was signed by more than 200 Hollywood celebrities and luminaries including Leonardo DiCaprio, Spike Lee and Donatella Versace, has been acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum.The suit, worn by Powell during the 2020 film awards season, was auctioned as part of a fundraising effort by Art Fund to save Prospect Cottage, the creative studio of Powell’s mentor and friend Derek Jarman. It was bought by Edwina Dunn, the chief executive of the educational charity The Female Lead, who has given it to the V&A. Continue reading...

Chancellor and PM’s wife, Carrie Johnson, also said to have paid fines for lockdown breaches

Analysis: chancellor’s woes have considerably thinned the field of potential candidates to replace PM

A look at how this all began – and whether Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak will have to resign

Final copies of erstwhile listings and entertainment bible to be printed in June after 54-year run in capitalTime Out will stop publishing its London print edition after 54 years, becoming the latest in a long line of media outlets to abandon their physical presence and go online only.Generations of Londoners used to rely on the listings and entertainment magazine to plan nights out, circling events in the magazine and reading reviews of what was on in the capital – but the final print copies will now be printed at the end of June. Continue reading...

PM, chancellor and Carrie Johnson given fixed-penalty notices for attending No 10 lockdown party

President dismisses killing of civilians in Bucha by Russian forces as ‘fake’

FamilyVoice says Labor not to blame for ‘Morrison’s failure’ to pass the bill as Albanese pledges to extend school chaplaincy program with secular pastoral care

Exclusive: two Victorian councils limiting maternal and infant service, despite government lifting statewide pause enacted during Covid surge

Announcement comes alongside policies to strengthen Medicare and ‘make it easier to see a doctor’ as ambulance wait times blow out

Jobless rate set to sink to lowest rate since 1974 as employers say finding workers is ‘No 1 issue’, despite offering higher wages

Winners chosen from over 150 entries to awards run by Cartoon Museum and British Cartoonists’ AssociationA duck haphazardly flying into the jaws of a sitting bear and a witty depiction of the effects of arts funding cuts are among the winning entries to this year’s young cartoonist of the year competition.The Cartoon Museum and the British Cartoonists’ Association announced the winners on Tuesday after receiving more than 150 entries. Continue reading...

Navy and air force – who reportedly bought over 30,000 pills – claim drug supposedly being used to treat pulmonary hypertensionOpponents of the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, are demanding answers after the revelation that the country’s armed forces had splashed out on tens of thousands of impotence pills.“We must understand why the Bolsonaro administration is spending public money on buying such large quantities of Viagra,” the lawmaker Elias Vaz declared after Brazilian media reported the seemingly unorthodox acquisitions on Monday. Continue reading...

Campaigners are calling for the release of all foreign nationals being held, as conditions deteriorate after the Russian invasionHuman rights groups are calling for the urgent release of detainees in Ukrainian immigration centres, after allegations that conditions have dangerously deteriorated since the Russian invasion in February.At least 45 people are thought to remain in the EU-funded Zhuravychi migrant accommodation centre, a former army barracks situated in a pine forest in the Volyn province, according to the international NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW). Continue reading...

Kemarni Watson Darby murdered in 2018 by Nathaniel Pope while mother, Alica Watson, guilty of allowing child’s deathA man has been found guilty of murdering his partner’s three-year-old son who died in 2018 from severe abdominal injuries after weeks of “horrendous” cruelty.Nathaniel Pope, 32, was found unanimously guilty at Birmingham crown court on Tuesday, while Kemarni Watson Darby’s mother, 30-year-old Alicia Watson, was cleared of murdering her son but found guilty of causing or allowing the child’s death. Continue reading...

Badreddin Abadlla Adam, shot dead by police at scene, made repeated calls to Home Office and contractorsAn asylum seeker who stabbed six people before being shot dead by police had made more than 70 calls seeking help from the Home Office and its contractors, it has emerged.Badreddin Abadlla Adam was shot after he attacked a police officer, hotel staff and fellow asylum seekers at the Park Inn hotel in Glasgow in June 2020 after a serious breakdown in his mental health. Continue reading...

Airline plans for surge in bookings by recruiting employees amid disruption and cancellations

Analysis: Imran Ahmad Khan case puts Westminster’s culture of bullying and abuse back in spotlightThe intervention by Crispin Blunt to attempt to taint a court’s verdict of sexual assault against the former Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan will put the apparent culture of impunity at the Palace of Westminster in the spotlight again.While the #MeToo scandal led to major reforms to try to protect staff members and parliamentary aides from bullying and abuse, there have been multiple attempts over the past few years to cast aspersions on those seeking justice. Continue reading...

Hazel McCallion retired as mayor of Mississauga after 36 years in 2014 but the ‘pragmatic populist’ has shown little sign of easing upWhen Hazel McCallion retired in 2014 as the mayor of the Canadian city of Mississauga, she was 93.But while most people her age typically retreat from the spotlight of public life, “Hurricane Hazel” has shown little interest in slowing down. At 101, she recently accepted an offer to extend her role as a director for the greater Toronto airport authority, a contract that will last three years. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer says breaches of Covid regulations inside No 10 call into question Boris Johnson’s integrity

Several women say they made statements about Hubert Greliak but they were mishandled by policeThe Metropolitan police may have missed a chance to bring charges over a series of alleged assaults by the same man, several women have told the Guardian.The women made statements to the Met and allege the force mishandled their claims about Hubert Greliak, who they claim may be a serial attacker. Continue reading...

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...