You don’t need a glut of garden apples or courgettes to create mouth-watering preserves that will last you through the months aheadMore than any domestic appliance, preserving is the home cook’s secret weapon. If you have a vegetable garden, fruit trees or an allotment, it is the age-old way of making the summer glut and autumn harvest last through the winter dearth when there is nothing to grow or pick. Even with year-round fresh produce in the shops, a gleaming row of gem-hued jars filled to the brim with crunch and spice can brighten up the most lacklustre meal.The idea of making your own kimchi or bottling a batch of chutney might scare you off. But all you need is a few key ingredients and some patience. Here are a few ideas to get you started. Continue reading...

As businesses in Seattle closed their doors, many storefronts nailed plywood over their windows – but it created the feeling of a ghost town. So artists came together to create something beautiful and uplifting, turning these wooden coverings into murals. Sydney Pertl, who created one of the murals in Pioneer Square, says the response has been amazing Continue reading...

Report by Center for Media and Democracy finds SPLC-designated hate groups receiving income via mainstream platformsDozens of hate groups and racist media outlets are receiving income via mainstream payment processors such as Amazon, Stripe and DonorBox, according to a new report by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).The groups still receiving donations and sales via such platforms include promoters of the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory that motivated the Christchurch shooter, an organization cited as an inspiration by mass shooter Dylan Roof, and several groups that participated in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville that ended in the killing of a protester. Continue reading...

Unlike airlines, rail companies are refunding passengers unable to use tickets, even non-refundable singles

The British ambassador to Portugal, who has been posting videos of himself playing the piano in honour of health workers in the UK and Portugal, has become something of an internet sensation. Chris Sainty began sharing his performances on Twitter during the Covid-19 lockdown. In a video where is he is playing the tune of You’ll Never Walk Alone, he wrote: 'It is for the bravest of the brave: the nurses, carers and doctors of the NHS and the SNS’

President says US is conducting ‘serious investigations’ into Beijing’s handling of coronavirus

The Pentagon on Monday formally released three unclassified videos taken by Navy pilots that have circulated for years showing interactions with 'unidentified aerial phenomena'.

Chefs and owners fear bankruptcy as continent’s gastronomic culture remains in limbo

Bank says outlook for world economies ‘has substantially worsened in the past two months’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHSBC profits nearly halved in the first quarter, after the bank was forced to put aside $3bn (£2.4bn) to help cover potential defaults by customers impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak.The loan loss provisions were far worse than the $1.8bn expected by analysts and $2.4bn higher than than the same period last year, as the economic outlook deteriorated across key markets including Hong Kong and the UK. It sent pretax profits tumbling by 48% to $3.2bn for the three months to March. 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 and how it works with the jobseeker payments

There has been little political will to pool taxes, borrowing and spending to support states worst hit. But it is the only way out

Coal-fired plants have not contributed to electricity grid for 18 consecutive daysBritain has gone without coal-fired power generation for its longest stretch since the Industrial Revolution, breaking the existing record of 18 consecutive days this morning.The UK’s energy system has not used coal-fired plants for more than 438 hours, according to National Grid data, the longest uninterrupted period since 1882. Continue reading...

Research suggests 5% commit another terrorism offence after leaving prisonConvicted terrorists are extremely unlikely to reoffend compared with other prisoners, research by academics and security services in Europe has found.The research shows that less than 5% of convicted terrorists commit a second terrorist offence after leaving prison. In England and Wales, around 45% of all prisoners will reoffend within a year of release. Continue reading...

Yoshitake Yokokura is the latest expert to cast doubt on plans to hold the Games in Tokyo next year

Two popular Middle Eastern series stir surprise with pro-Israel messages backed by Saudi Arabia

Doctors in Kano state report surge in fatal cases of pneumonia among elderly

As Australia moves back to normal activities, the Coalition will be held to account on standards of integrityIt has taken a cruel and untamed global disaster to draw attention from the government’s record of questionable integrity standards.That record is bulging with episodes of controversial conduct, and they are not going to disappear into post-coronavirus history. Continue reading...

Scott Morrison has tightened physical distancing restrictions, but how they are applied will be determined by each state. Find out what’s illegal, and what happens if you break the law

President retreated over the weekend after his bizarre musing that disinfectant could be injected into coronavirus patientsHis autocratic tendencies are well-known. His sudden absence from public view prompted fierce speculation and rumour. One headline suggested that he was “brain-dead”.The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s whereabouts remain unknown. But after a lost weekend, Donald Trump bounced back into the spotlight on Monday determined to prove that he is not only healthy but working very, very hard. Continue reading...

Swimming and surfing allowed from 7am-5pm but beach itself remains closed given the area boasts the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Australia. Follow live

Half the plane maker’s workers at Broughton site to get state help after production slumps

Newport Beach city council now considering closing beaches after residents crowded beach during weekend heatwave

Photos of packed beaches in southern California over the weekend were condemned by the state governor Gavin Newsom, amid fears large crowds could reverse progress on containing Covid-19 in the US.Many popular beaches have remained fully closed to the public, though a handful have taken steps to permit visitors in a limited capacity while adopting a range of restrictions, enforcement plans and recommendations

If Trump quit the self-compliments altogether, he might even have time to start taking napsOn Friday, the New York Times accused Donald Trump of spending time eating fries and watching TV during the pandemic, sometimes not arriving at the Oval Office until noon. As a response, multiple White House officials were rolled out to confirm Trump was working non-stop, so much so that the president sometimes misses his lunch.Let’s make clear that this is not meant to cast shade on lunch-takers. Quite the contrary: taking lunch is as much a measure of how hard one works as a man’s shoe size is a measure of how big his ego is. Continue reading...

Airline sets out case for coronavirus bailout that will cut share value by extra 95%

Patients may have new type of toxic shock syndrome, which causes pain and inflammation

A report by think tank Per Capita estimates the injection of service fees to the sector to reach $210m

Jonathan Philip Clayton found guilty of 13 sexual assaults at North Yorkshire school in 2019A supply teacher has been jailed for eight and a half years for sexually assaulting six girls at a primary school in North Yorkshire, two years after similar allegations were dropped.Jonathan Philip Clayton was convicted of 13 counts of sexually touching girls aged between seven and 11 over a period of six weeks last year. Continue reading...

Global lockdowns have lowered emissions but longer-term changes needed, say scientistsThis year is on course to be the world’s hottest since measurements began, according to meteorologists, who estimate there is a 50% to 75% chance that 2020 will break the record set four years ago.Although the coronavirus lockdown has temporarily cleared the skies, it has done nothing to cool the climate, which needs deeper, longer-term measures, the scientists say. Continue reading...

Families of NHS staff who die from coronavirus to get £60,000; Johnson says lockdown cannot yet end as second peak would be disaster

Becoming, which drops in May, follows the former first lady on her 34-city book tour, will offer a ‘rare and up-close’ look at her lifeNetflix has announced a new original documentary focused on former first lady Michelle Obama to be released on 6 May.Becoming will follow Obama on her 34-city tour to promote her book of the same name and will offer an “intimate”, “rare and up-close” look at her life. It’s directed by Nadia Hallgren, who recently made the documentary short After Maria, which looked at the effect of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rican families. Continue reading...

Group says nudity is ‘a symbol of how vulnerable we are without protection’A group of German doctors have posed naked in an attempt to draw attention to shortages of protective clothing and equipment.Calling their protest Blanke Bedenken, or Naked Qualms, members of the group said they felt at risk from coronavirus and claimed their calls for help over several months had gone unheeded. Continue reading...

Boy, 16, evacuated from Libya under EU scheme, alleges incident took place at Gashora transit facility during coronavirus curfew

As the campaign is reshaped by the coronavirus, the president has sought to shift focus away from his erratic responseMeet “Beijing Biden”, also known as “Sleepy Joe”. According to Donald Trump and his allies, he is both a comrade of “Crazy Bernie” and an establishment creature of Washington, whose coziness with China and long history of verbal stumbles make him unfit for the presidency.This emerging, and at times conflicting, portrait of Joe Biden is part of a recent effort by the Trump campaign to define the presumptive Democratic nominee to its advantage, ahead of a general election that has now been thoroughly reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading...

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

She-wolf in country’s north is pregnant, and newcomers from France or Italy spotted in southBelgium is becoming “the wolf crossroads of Europe”, a conservation charity has said as it reported new sightings from France and Germany, while Flemish authorities separately announced the imminent arrival of wolf puppies.Flanders’ environment minister, Zuhal Demir, announced that a pair of wolves in the north of the country were expecting cubs, four months after arrival in the area of a female wolf, Noëlla, who was billed as “a potential new love” for a previously lone wolf, August. Continue reading...

Hayden Prince, 24, fell to his death when large rock to which rope was tied became dislodgedA British man fell to his death in the Swiss Alps when a rock holding his abseiling rope toppled over as he descended a mountain, an inquest has heard.L/Cpl Hayden Prince, 24, was on a private trip with two mountaineering friends while on annual leave from the British army. The group set out from the Hornli hut at the base camp of the Matterhorn at 6am on 2 June last year with a plan of turning around and descending by 2pm regardless of whether they had reached the summit. Continue reading...

Zdenêk Hřib says there is ‘risk to my life’ as magazine alleges he was poisoning targetThe mayor of Prague has said he is under police protection from a “risk to my life”, with one Czech investigative outlet reporting he had been targeted in a Russian poisoning plot.Zdeněk Hřib confirmed on Monday that police had placed him under protection several weeks ago after identifying a threat against him, but declined to say whether had been been targeted by Russia or reveal the nature of threat. Continue reading...

‘From Russia with love’ package including doctors and PPE criticised as propaganda to exploit cracks in EU

Southern Transitional Council breaks with wartorn state’s internationally recognised governmentThe Saudi Arabian-backed government in Yemen has warned of a catastrophe if the country’s powerful separatist movement forges ahead with its declaration of self-rule over the key port city of Aden and other southern provinces.The Southern Transitional Council’s armed forces were deploying on Sunday in Aden, the interim seat of the internationally recognised government backed by the Saudi-led military coalition that had until now included the STC. Continue reading...

New Zealand easing Covid-19 restrictions, but Deborah Birx says Americans can expect social distancing measures for months to come. Plus, awkward scenes with the creator of Sex EducationGood morning. Continue reading...

‘Russians, Cubans, Chinese doctors came. Germans and French didn’t’

Much garlanded novelist, playwright, poet and Oscar-winning screenwriter hailed as ‘a giant among European writers’

Amazon’s sales have hit £8,800 a second, while concerns persist about its tax affairs, treatment of staff and effect on small retailers. Here’s how to buy everything from technology to beauty to books without it

Country eases coronavirus measures after quick response helped it limit cases to 7,400

Two months after storms battered south Wales, many are trapped in damp and damaged homesBack in February, the residents of Lewis Street in the village of Pentre, in the Rhondda Valley, were battling flooding as a series of storms battered south Wales.Two months on, many of them are enduring the trauma of being locked down in homes that are still damp and damaged. Continue reading...

The world may be faced with a new foe, but old ones lie in wait if lockdowns disrupt existing vaccination programmes

The probe was launched earlier this month after chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, made the claim to a NZ parliamentary hearing. Follow live