Divisive motormouth or voice of a generation? The creative force behind Britain’s biggest band doesn’t care what you call him – there’s a crisis going onWhen the 1975 released the song Frail State of Mind last October, the opening line, “Go outside? Seems unlikely,” felt like a typical Matty Healy lyric: heavy emotions, light touch. Now, he says, it’s one of many moments on the band’s fourth album, Notes on a Conditional Form, that have acquired an uncanny resonance. “This album asks the same question as the last record,” he says. “Can the centre hold? Is this weird? It’s slightly fearful. It’s going to come out at a time when that feels quite justified.”Well, yes. In a kinder timeline, the 1975 would be headlining US arenas and enjoying the full pre-release hoopla as you read this. So much for that. When lockdown loomed, Healy asked himself where he most wanted to be. Whenever he’s not making music, he has “an inherent lack of purpose”, so he headed straight for the band’s residential studio in Northamptonshire with drummer and co-producer George Daniel. After finishing some production work, the pair started playing around with new 1975 material. Continue reading...

Jim Chalmers says his party is prepared to make some compromises by supporting the national energy guarantee

Pandemic adds to jihadi and climate change threats to present ‘immense challenge’ for region

Restaurants reopen in parts of Germany, while Italy relaxes travel restrictions

David Frost says there has been ‘very little progress’ in talks with Michel Barnier as clock ticks onBritain’s chief negotiator in the talks over the future relationship with the EU has warned Michel Barnier that he must drop his “ideological approach” within the next fortnight, as the latest round of talks ended in stalemate.The comments from David Frost came as both sides offered a gloomy prognosis for the negotiations on trade, security and fisheries, with little sign of the teams finding common ground. Continue reading...

Properties in West Midlands searched after woman’s remains found in Forest of DeanPolice are using DNA analysis to try to identify a woman whose remains were found in two suitcases in a forest.Officers have also been searching properties in Wolverhampton and Birmingham following the discovery in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. Continue reading...

Deal to keep ‘tubes and buses running’ also affects free travel for children and the over-60s

France and Italy also slide into recession as lockdown measures cut consumer spending and investmentGermany has fallen into recession , as the coronavirus pandemic causes severe damage for growth and jobs across the eurozone.Europe’s largest economy shrank by 2.2% in the three months to the end of March, the country’s biggest economic slump since the 2008 financial crisis Continue reading...

Empty streets, hotel rooms and restaurants shine harsh light on crisis facing tourism industry

The confusion sown by Boris Johnson has spread to Covid-19 testing and beyond

Schools in northern Italy were the first in Europe to close. Since then, teachers, parents and kids across the country have all had to adapt to a new existence – and the results have surprised everyone. By Tobias Jones• Read the text version here

A summary of the major developments in the coronavirus outbreak across Australia

A custodial inspection report has highlighted grave concerns about conditions at Roebourne prison in the Pilbara regionAboriginal prisoners in regional Western Australia are being held in unbearably hot cells infested with snakes and mice.A custodial inspection report has highlighted grave concerns about the heat risks at Roebourne prison, which last year sweltered through the hottest March day on record anywhere in the world when the temperature reached 48.1C. Continue reading...

An escaped tiger has been captured by a lasso after three men gave chase to the animal on the streets of Guadalajara, Mexico. The tiger escaped from a local house. Continue reading...

Allegations raise questions over Movianto’s management of government stocks during coronavirus outbreak

Ceremony will end political deadlock that has dragged on for more than 500 daysIsrael’s new unity government is due to be sworn in on Sunday, following a deal made by rivals Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz to end a political deadlock that has dragged on for more than 500 days.The ceremony, originally scheduled for Thursday evening, was postponed hours before it was due to take place after Netanyahu asked for extra time to allocate ministerial portfolios. Gantz agreed to the request, the two sides said. Continue reading...

Two former chief executives and four police officials among 15 individuals charged in caseIkea’s French subsidiary and 15 individuals including former executives and police officials are to go on trial on charges of spying on employees and customers, prosecutors have announced.Two former Ikea France CEOs are among those charged in a case dating back to 2012 when the Swedish-based home furnishings firm was accused of paying for illegal access to police files. Continue reading...

Scarcity of flights due to coronavirus pandemic has caused problems with getting enough bamboo to feed them

Osman Bash Taqi, a teacher from Sierra Leone, has been in limbo since early 1990s despite having right to remainA teacher from Sierra Leone has spent 28 years battling the Home Office for permission to remain in the UK, even though lawyers say he has had a legal right to be in the country from the start.Osman Bash Taqi, 55, known as Ossie, has found himself in an extraordinary catch-22 scenario which has spanned six governments, from John Major to Boris Johnson, and seen the immigration goalposts moved more times than he can count. Continue reading...

From green backlash to reimposition of border controls, pandemic is accelerating tensions that could unravel the EUWe are still in the early chapters of the Covid-19 story and it’s too soon to judge the full impact of the pandemic. But one can tentatively discern six negative trends for Europe. These had all emerged before the virus struck but are now accelerating. In various ways they are all likely to help the cause of anti-EU populists: greater economic autarky, stronger borders and more hostility to green policies. Continue reading...

Amid this unfolding disaster, we have seen countless acts of kindness and solidarity. It’s this spirit of generosity that will help guide us out of this crisis and into a better future. By Rebecca SolnitPeople behaving badly is a staple of the news, and the pandemic has given us plenty of lurid snapshots. In the US alone, we have seen protesters with guns in Michigan’s capital demanding an end to lockdown, anti-vaxxer women in a frenzy at California’s capitol, opportunists stockpiling hand sanitiser to resell for profit.One of the biggest cliches about disasters is that they reveal civilisation as a thin veneer, beneath which lies brutal human nature. From this perspective, the best we can hope for from most people under crisis is selfish indifference; at worst, they will swiftly turn to violence. Our worst instincts must be repressed. This becomes a justification for authoritarianism and heavy-handed policing. Continue reading...

Magistrate labels alleged filming of the scene ‘morally repugnant’ but not illegalA Porsche driver accused of filming and abusing police dying on a Melbourne freeway after a truck crash has been denied bail.Richard Pusey, 41, had been pulled over after allegedly drug driving at 149km/h along the Eastern Freeway at Kew last month. Continue reading...

Benjamin Aidoo, the group’s leader, wants to teach the world to hold joyful funerals, and is planning to expand his business across the globe

Thursday: Reports of child sexual abuse material on the rise. Plus, a unique opportunity to move towards a zero-emissions worldGood morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 14 May. Continue reading...

Mother and child doing well but 18 other babies left motherless after deadly rampageAs gunmen rampaged through a Kabul maternity hospital on Tuesday, shooting new mothers, pregnant women and nurses, labour continued despite the slaughter, with one baby born during the attack, a charity has said.Twenty-four people were killed, the majority women who had just given birth. They left behind 18 motherless babies, said the Afghan deputy minister of health, Wahid Majrooh, one of the first people to enter the hospital after the attack. Continue reading...

Cressida Dick says many criminals ‘inhibited in their activities’ under lockdown

A summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak

Lockdown delays restoration of The Night Watch, but it can be viewed online in ‘minute detail’The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has posted online the most detailed photograph ever taken of Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, revealing every brushstroke and random fleck of paint.The so-called hyper-resolution image was launched as the museum announced a delay to the completion of the painting’s restoration, which was begun last year and live-streamed to a global audience. Continue reading...

Amnesty International says appeals ruling will affect ‘acts of solidarity’ throughout EuropeA French court has scrapped all charges against an olive farmer who helped migrants enter the country illegally, the final chapter in a groundbreaking case that defined so-called “crimes of solidarity”.Cédric Herrou, who helped about 200 people cross the border from Italy into southern France, was given a four-month suspended sentence in August 2017. Continue reading...

Ruling that ex-Sinn Féin leader was unlawfully detained in 1970s prompts call for other Troubles-era cases to be scrutinised

Sir Keir Starmer faced off with Boris Johnson during prime minister's questions for the second time since he became Labour leader.

As Complicité’s The Encounter goes online, its creator discusses the need to rebuild British culture ‘from the ground up’

Relatives of woman who died of novichok poisoning challenging coroner’s decision to limit the scope of inquestThe family of Dawn Sturgess, who died in the Wiltshire novichok poisonings, has won the first stage of a legal challenge against a coroner’s decision to limit the scope of her inquest.David Ridley, senior coroner for Wiltshire, decided earlier this year that he would not consider issues such as whether the UK failed to protect the public following the initial poisonings of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury. Continue reading...

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce among those who raised objections to the Peter Dutton proposal for regional airport feesThe Morrison government has overhauled cost recovery arrangements for regional airports to conduct security screening to head off a potential revolt by the Nationals in the Senate.The Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick sought on Wednesday night to disallow regulations imposing security screening requirements that he says would have forced small airports to seek cost recovery through increases in landing charges. Patrick said the changes originally proposed by the home affairs minister Peter Dutton could see fares from Whyalla increase by $54 to $70 per passenger. Continue reading...

Coalition delays a Labor and Greens push to expand the $1,500 fortnightly wage subsidy and insists it will be delivered until September

Blackpool and other popular seaside resorts sound Covid-19 warning to protect residents

It’s not unusual to have more tins of chickpeas than you know what to do with, but luckily there are many tasty options, whether it’s a simple curry or a super-comforting pasta dish

Second case was identified on 26 April, but workers say they were not offered masks until 30 AprilWorkers at Cedar Meats say they were not given face masks for six days after the first case in the outbreak was identified.Workers have told Guardian Australia that face masks were only provided at the plant on Thursday 30 April. The first worker was diagnosed on 24 April, and the Victorian Department of Health said there were indications of a cluster at the meatworks by 26 April when a second worker tested positive. Continue reading...

Independent festivals group says 98% of its members are uninsured for outbreak-related cancellationsThe British independent festival sector is at risk of collapsing, with many cancelled events falling through the cracks of government support measures for businesses suffering as a result of the coronavirus crisis.The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), which represents 65 festivals in the UK, including Gloucestershire’s 2000trees, London’s Meltdown and Sheffield’s Tramlines, reports 92% of its members saying they face costs that could ruin their businesses as a result of cancelled events, with the vast majority (98.5%) not covered by insurance for cancellation related to Covid-19. Continue reading...

Jayson Westbury apologises for comments about the host of A Current Affair during a webinarThe chief executive of the peak body for travel agents has apologised for saying A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw “needs to be given a firm uppercut or a slap across the face” but he is still facing calls for his resignation.Jayson Westbury, the chief executive of the Australian Travel Agents Association, made the comments during an industry webinar discussing coverage of the industry’s failure to refund travel during Covid-19. Continue reading...

Renewed fighting and deepening humanitarian crisis means Covid-19 could prove a fatal blow

Economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni says bloc needs a sound plan to avoid divisionsThe risk of an uneven economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis poses an “existential threat” to the European Union, one of its most senior economic policymakers has said.Paolo Gentiloni, a former Italian prime minister and now the EU’s economy commissioner, said the bloc also had a “historic opportunity” as it charts a plan to rescue Europe’s economy. Continue reading...

Sione Filipe Totau, known as Mano, was one of six Tongan boys who spent 15 months marooned on a Pacific island. Suddenly the world wants to hear his storyThe past few days have been something of a whirlwind for Sione Filipe Totau.The 73-year-old Tongan, who is commonly known as Mano, was living quietly in the Australian city of Brisbane, when this week he was catapulted into the global spotlight, after the story of how he and five of his friends survived for more than a year on a deserted Pacific island became a runaway hit. Continue reading...

The Australian government has passed legislation for a $1,500 per fortnight wage subsidy for eligible employers amid the coronavirus. Check your eligibility, how much you’ll get, when it will be paid and how it works with the jobseeker payments

‘They want to fuck with my family’, Brazilian president reportedly vented during a recent cabinet meetingThe Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro allegedly launched a foul-mouthed tirade during a recent cabinet meeting, declaring that the country’s federal police were persecuting his family.“They want to fuck with my family,” Bolsonaro reportedly vented during the 22 April meeting according to sources heard by the news magazine Veja. Continue reading...

Suspect in death of Harry Dunn who fled UK will not be extradited, says state department

‘Four nations’ approach dealt further blow as Stormont announces its own, more cautious plan

Ashraf Ghani orders resumption of anti-Taliban offensive after attacks in Kabul and NangarharGunmen attacked a hospital that houses a maternity clinic in Kabul, killing at least 16 people including two newborn babies, and a suicide bomber killed at least 24 others at a funeral on a morning of double tragedy for Afghanistan.In the capital, soldiers raced out of the hospital carrying infants wrapped in bloodstained blankets to waiting ambulances, after the attackers rampaged their way through the wards. Continue reading...

From virtual hospitals to FaceTimed GP visits, innovations that have sprung up in response to coronavirus could transform a sector notoriously resistant to reform

Vaughan Gething was photographed walking with his family and eating chips in a park