Monday: Family of Kylie Moore-Gilbert deny reports she was tortured in an Iranian prison. Plus, rare long-necked dinosaur found in VictoriaGood morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Monday 18 May. Continue reading...

After ‘disappointing’ talks, UK fears coronavirus crisis has distracted EU leadersBritish negotiators fear Michel Barnier has been unable to get EU leaders to focus on Brexit trade and security talks as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, as Downing Street prepares to publish a draft treaty this week in an effort to reboot the process.David Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator, believes his EU counterpart recognises the need to budge on key issues, including fisheries, over which France, the Netherlands and Spain have imposed a tough line. Continue reading...

Father of one victim and brother of the other arrested in connection with the murders

Support workers in Edinburgh making contactless deliveries of methadone to vulnerable clientsRecovering heroin addicts in Edinburgh who need to self-isolate are now receiving home deliveries of methadone, as experts call for further creative thinking to save lives.With Scotland’s drug deaths rate expected to have risen even higher when annual figures are published this summer, there have been warnings of another public health emergency on top of the coronavirus pandemic, as addicts abandon their substitute treatment prescriptions because of lengthy pharmacy queues, become estranged from support services, and risk overdose by turning to more dangerous alternatives when street supplies of heroin disrupted. Continue reading...

Rival Benny Gantz to take over as PM of Israeli unity government after 18 monthsBenjamin Netanyahu has been sworn in as Israel’s prime minister, heading a unity government in which he will rotate the leadership with his former rival, Benny Gantz, in a deal that could see the annexation of large parts of the West Bank.The coalition agreement ends a deadlock that has dragged on for more than 500 days. In that time, the country has held three back-to-back elections with neither side clinching an outright victory. Continue reading...

As southern Europe begins to emerge from lockdown, new rules of tourism take shape

Three badly injured and traumatised women found on roadside 60 miles from HarareZimbabwean opposition activists and a member of parliament have described torture, humiliation and repeated sexual assaults after being abducted by suspected state security services.The three women, all leaders of the Movement for Democratic Change’s youth movement, were arrested at a roadblock guarded by police and soldiers on Wednesday at a protest in Harare against the state’s failure to provide for the poor during the country’s Covid-19 lockdown. Continue reading...

Cooking and clearing up has been relentless – and that’s without adding a special birthday cake to my range of signature dishes

Green campaigners say giving subsidies to all cars would be missed opportunityCarmakers are negotiating with the EU and UK for subsidies to help boost demand for new vehicles, but campaigners are concerned that the stimulus could end up paying for pollution unless emissions restrictions are imposed.The carmakers argue that subsidies would help kickstart demand as lockdown measures ease and factories reopen, preventing tens of thousands of job losses amid a global slump in car orders. Continue reading...

Instead of phoning up for your takeaway, try cooking them at home with Rob Allison’s recipes

The Cabinet Office minister has said he is confident children and teachers will be safe if they return to the classroom, but admitted the risk remained of contracting Covid-19. Appearing on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, Michael Gove said: ‘The only way ever to ensure that you never catch coronavirus is to stay at home completely. There’s always, always, always in any loosening of these restrictions a risk of people catching the coronavirus’

While France, Italy and Spain stay cautious and look for domestic tourists, Greece hopes to capitalise on its handling of the crisis by opening its doors in July

Boris Johnson is ignoring the concerns of regional mayors and starving them of the funding they need to keep their communities safeTwo weeks ago, I joined the eight other English regional mayors on a phone call with the prime minister. We had a friendly discussion about the release from lockdown and the need for the regions to be empowered to lead recovery within a national framework.

Family’s first statement on Moore-Gilbert, who has been held in Tehran since September 2018, says she is in good health ‘considering her situation’The family of detained Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert have denied reports she has attempted suicide in an Iranian prison, or that she has been tortured by the country’s Revolutionary Guards.Moore-Gilbert’s family have not spoken publicly since the Cambridge-educated Melbourne University lecturer was summarily arrested at Tehran airport in September 2018. Continue reading...

Thousands of works will disappear from galleries as rent rises and a stand-off with city government take their toll

Lockdowns around the world continue to loosen as China reports highest level of internal travel since February

With millions of young followers, Olajide Olatunji is one of Britain’s biggest internet stars – now the man behind the acronym explains why he is revealing his personal sideDuring the past couple of months, the internet star KSI has been prolific on YouTube, because what else has there been to do? He has asked subscribers to tell him their jokes and recorded himself reacting to them. He has filmed himself playing scary video games (“I’m shaken”), invited his haters to insult him (“Why am I doing this?”) and responded to pressing personal questions from superfans, including this corker: “Who is your barber?” Captivity, it turns out, will spark a boom time for content. “If anything, it’s moving faster now,” says KSI, during a video chat on a Thursday afternoon in April. “People have time on their hands!”KSI stands for “Knowledge, Strength, Integrity”. It is the alias of Olajide Olatunji, a 26-year-old from Watford, who happens to be one of the most successful YouTubers in the history of YouTube – a product and exemplar of our very online culture. (Friends call him JJ.) More than 20m people subscribe to his main YouTube channel, which he registered in 2008, when he was 15 and still at school and uploading videos of himself playing Fifa. This was before most of us, least of all grown-ups, came to realise that recording yourself playing video games in your bedroom might actually turn out to be lucrative. “I have African parents,” Olatunji says. “They wanted me to be the kind of person who becomes a doctor.” When he was asked to leave school, at 16, acrimoniously (grades troubles), family relationships became strained, though his parents needn’t have worried. At the time of writing, Olatunji’s videos have been viewed more than 5 billion times. He has 5.7m followers on Twitter and an Instagram audience of 8m. Even his secondary YouTube channel has 10m subscribers. At a moment when numbers like these really seem to matter – culturally, financially, anthropologically – Olatunji is overloaded with them. Continue reading...

Danish transition out of lockdown has become the model for Boris Johnson’s government as it tries to convince teachers to return

The charity says it has provided funds to compensate those sent to Australia by the Fairbridge Society, many of whom suffered physical and sexual abuseFormer child migrants sent from the UK to Australia by the Fairbridge Society may be a step closer towards receiving compensation for sexual and physical abuse, after the Prince’s Trust said it was providing funds to allow survivors to make claims.Many of an estimated 2,500 child migrants sent to most Australian states by the Fairbridge Society between 1912 and 1970 were sexually abused, as well as regularly beaten. Continue reading...

The US president has used the pandemic to provoke a wider confrontation but Beijing should not be regarded as an enemyDonald Trump’s histrionic threat last week to “cut off the whole relationship” with China produced a scornful response from Beijing. “Such lunacy is a clear byproduct of the anxiety the US has suffered since China began its global ascent,” the Global Times, the Chinese government’s mouthpiece, commented. The “Washington elites” were in a panic over the pandemic, it claimed.While the tone was unfortunate, neither assertion wholly lacked truth. The US and its western allies do have concerns – some legitimate, some exaggerated – about China’s rise to superpower status. And the mishandling of the Covid-19 crisis by Trump, who appears increasingly unbalanced, makes China’s president, Xi Jinping, look undeservedly competent by comparison. Continue reading...

In a black-and-white thinking culture, how should we consider the richness of who we are in old age?

Willard, whose career was reinvigorated by his work on the mockumentaries of Rob Reiner and Christopher Guest, was a beloved and ubiquitous presence in US comedyFred Willard, an actor whose career was dotted with innumerable indelible cameos playing genial buffoons in unfortunate roles of authority, has died aged 86.The news was first broken by Jamie Lee Curtis, the wife of Christopher Guest, in whose mockumentaries – including Best in Show and A Mighty Wind – Willard won a new army of fans. Continue reading...

It wasn’t the Premier League and the stands were empty. But it was a live match – at last

The brother of the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was one of several protesters arrested at an anti-lockdown demonstration in Hyde Park. Between 50 and 70 people defied social distancing guidelines to gather close together at Speakers’ Corner

Concerns remain worldwide over new infections as businesses, beaches and borders reopen

Statistics now coming to light show that Covid-19’s elderly victims have paid a heavy priceSweden’s health authorities are blaming the country’s death toll – which is higher than in neighbouring Denmark, Norway and Finland – on the fatality rate in care homes. Continue reading...

The show gardens at Chelsea take a year to plan, so what do you do when the highlight of the horticultural calendar is cancelled? Five designers talk plan BsDesigned by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg Continue reading...

The region’s overcrowded and underfunded prisons have become centres of disease, with inmates rioting for better protectionCoronavirus – latest global updatesThe last time Víctor Calderón saw his son, Miguel, alive was on the eve of Venezuela’s coronavirus shutdown in mid-March.Seven weeks later he saw a photograph of Miguel’s bullet-riddled body displayed on a police computer alongside dozens of fellow prisoners at Los Llanos prison in the western state of Portuguesa. Continue reading...

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

Suspect in murder of Jemal Ebrahim in Seven Sisters ‘remains in the community’, Met saysPolice have said a “dangerous individual” is at large after the murder of a 23-year-old in north London.Jemal Ebrahim was found stabbed in Russell Road, Seven Sisters, on Wednesday evening and later died in hospital. Continue reading...

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...