PM outlines plan to reopen the country by July, but every state and territory will have its own timetable

Deeply flawed from the start, the audacious plan to overthrow Nicolás Maduro unravelled spectacularlyAs get-rich-quick schemes go it was unusually complicated. Invade a foreign country you know little about. Abduct its president to the US. Collect a $15m bounty from the US government – and maybe an even bigger payoff from the people who then seize power.The plan to overthrow Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and bundle him off to Florida to face drug trafficking charges seemed foolproof to a former US army staff sergeant, Jordan Goudreau, as he mapped it out in a luxury Miami apartment in late 2019. The 43-year-old Canadian-American was certain his years as a green beret in Iraq and Afghanistan had prepared him for the task. Continue reading...

Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Doja Cat and tens of other female rappers are breaking through by embracing sisterhood and shaking off the prejudices of the past

190,000 people could die on the continent in the coming 12 months, agency says

Health department assessment the cruise ship was ‘low risk’ introduced ‘an unfortunate element’ into his decision-making

‘Sophisticated’ identity theft attack leads to Australian Tax Office stopping early super withdrawals until Monday

Price’s body was found in her townhouse on Monday, sparking manhunt for Ricardo ‘Rick’ BarbaroThe missing Mercedes belonging to a woman found dead in her Melbourne home has been located.Ellie Price’s body was found in her South Melbourne townhouse on Monday, sparking a nationwide manhunt for Ricardo “Rick” Barbaro. Continue reading...

Scott Morrison expected to emerge from today’s meeting with a plan to gradually open up the economy. Follow all the news, live

European committee says Britain should share same amount of fingerprint data as member statesThe UK should be denied access to an EU crime-fighting system until it agrees to share more fingerprint data with member states, a European parliamentary committee has said.The vote, in the European parliament’s justice and home affairs committee on Thursday, is not binding on EU decision-makers, but could prove influential as the UK seeks to negotiate a permanent deal on the exchange of fingerprint, DNA and other data as part of a long-term security relationship with the EU. Continue reading...

Rapper, who recorded several acclaimed albums, died of pneumonia as he was being treated for coronavirusTy, the acclaimed UK hip-hop star who was nominated for the Mercury prize for his album Upwards, has died aged 47 after contracting coronavirus.A fundraiser that was launched in early April said the rapper, born Ben Chijioke, was “admitted into the hospital with medical complications related to Covid-19. Shortly after, he was put in a medically induced coma to temporarily sedate to help his body receive the appropriate treatment”. Continue reading...

Chief constables say a loosening of restrictions will make enforcement harder

Critics of No 10 warn U-turns undermining efforts to keep public safe from coronavirus

German journalist alleges VGE repeatedly touched her bottom during interviewThe former French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing has been accused of sexual harassment in a legal complaint lodged by a German journalist.Ann-Kathrin Stracke claims VGE, as he is known, repeatedly touched her bottom during an interview at his office on Boulevard Saint-Germain, in Paris, at the end of 2018. She lodged a complaint on 10 March with the Paris public prosecutor’s office. Continue reading...

Gas from LG Polymers plant in Andhra Pradesh leaked into nearby homes while families slept

Confined by the threat of Covid-19, former servicemen and women are disappointed but stoicalSome will be alone, others with close family, and many in care homes, but all are confined by the threat of Covid-19.Seventy-five years on from one of the most memorable days of their lives, many of those who lived through the second world war and the euphoria of Victory in Europe are unable to celebrate VE Day as they planned or wished. Continue reading...

From jungle stakeouts to burning drug dealers’ property, a group of mothers is willing to do whatever it takes to free their community from addictionSister Ester keeps several small plastic bags of colourful methamphetamine – or meth – tablets beside her bed, along with a pistol and a plastic box of bullets.“All of these items were seized by our group in raids on houses selling drugs over the past few weeks,” she says. Continue reading...

First major study of scheme comes as economic toll of coronavirus prompts fresh interest in idea

For two and a half years the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’s verdict on Pell has been like buried ordnance, exploding only nowThis is the portrait of a deceitful man.We have waited over two and a half years but now we can read the unflinching verdict reached by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Cardinal George Pell. Continue reading...

NSW police say Barilaro’s travel was not in breach of coronavirus health orders

As the coronavirus lockdown clamps down on the informal economy and tourism dries up, Egypt’s most vulnerable are left without protection or food security Continue reading...

Covid-19 Senate inquiry hears ‘sophisticated’ fraudulent activity may have deprived up to 150 people of retirement savings

Restrictions to be eased from Monday and ‘Stay Home, Save Lives’ slogan is to be ditched

Spain extends state of emergency; Danish agency warns of risk of second wave

At least two men were arrested in Venezuela after what the country's president, Nicolás Maduro, described a failed armed incursion plot coordinated with Washington to enter the country via the Caribbean coast and oust him.Eight people were killed during the incursion attempt on Sunday, Venezuelan authorities said. Donald Trump has denied any involvement by the US government

Pandemic risks exacerbating economic and social divisions between countries

Shady Habash had been held in Cairo’s Tora prison for more than two years without trialEgypt’s public prosecutor has said a young film-maker who died in prison had mistakenly drunk hand sanitiser in his cell, thinking it was water.Shady Habash died inside Cairo’s Tora prison complex on 2 May. He had been held for more than two years without trial, accused of membership of a terrorist group and “spreading false news” after he produced a music video critical of Egypt’s president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. Continue reading...

Journalists’ union’s lawyers argued page was ‘clear interference in press freedom’The French government has taken down a Covid-19 “fake news” page after accusations it had overstepped its constitutional role and infringed press freedoms.A page called Desinfox – a play on the word desintox (detox) – appeared on the government’s website last week. It claimed to be busting disinformation about coronavirus in the French media. Continue reading...

Despite a decade-old financial crisis that has crippled its hospitals, Greece appears to be keeping its coronavirus outbreak under control, with a far lower death toll than many other European nations. Dr Yota Lourida, the head of the Covid-19 clinic at Sotiria hospital in Athens, explains how it dealt with the crisis, and the steps taken by the country to mitigate against potentially catastrophic outcomes Continue reading...

Sydney harbour master says ship was allowed to dock even though he had concerns about putting a pilot on board because of coronavirus

The co-creator of The Office and Extras on how Ford’s 90s thrillers are helping him through lockdown and why he rarely watches comedy

ABS to examine impact of lockdown on overall death rate, as funeral homes reduce hours and hospitals report fewer patients

The studio flat in Surry Hills leaves little to the imagination but is still attracting interest in a quiet rental marketAustralia’s property market has taken a massive hit thanks to coronavirus, with sales values dropping as much as 85% in Melbourne over the past two months, and many tenants breaking their leases because they can no longer afford rent.But you can bank on Sydney to hold on to its hot housing prices. Continue reading...

The Apprentice host is partner in firm whose teeth-whitening product he recommendedA tweet by Lord Sugar promoting a company set up by a winner of The Apprentice has broken the UK advertising rules.In December, the 73-year-old host of the BBC television show posted a tweet encouraging people to buy a teeth whitening package as the “perfect Xmas gift”. Continue reading...

Covid-19-related developments throughout the Pacific Islands

Two men and woman were attacked by the animal in Monmouthshire, say police

The US president said the government's top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, would not testify in the House of Representatives but only before the Senate. He argued this was because 'the House is a set-up. The House is a bunch of Trump haters.'He later said the US 'wants' and 'needs' to reopen amid the coronavirus outbreak

Woman arrested and police not looking for anyone else in connection with incident

Scott Morrison has said of the pandemic, ‘we’re all in this together’ but his government has excluded more than 1 million people from assistance. Laura Murphy-Oates talks to some of those people and Ben Doherty analyses the government’s response.You can read Ben Doherty’s reporting on people excluded from coronavirus relief funding here. Continue reading...

• Offer may include three-nights-for-price-of-two deal on accommodation in Sicily, and even cheap flights

Warning comes as study finds cost of checks on Northern Ireland supermarket deliveries could exceed £100,000 per lorryBrexit talks are hurtling to another crisis point unless progress is made in the next two rounds of talks, the Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has said.His warning comes as industry analysis of deliveries from Britain to high-street supermarket chains in Northern Ireland found that firms could incur costs of more than £100,000 per lorry unless the special Brexit arrangements for the region were sorted out. Continue reading...

Budapest assembly refuses to ratify Istanbul convention on violence against women

Manuscript page features unrecorded lyrics about Jesus, the devil and the loss of innocence and notes for Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go MineA page of Bob Dylan’s manuscript featuring lyrics for Blonde on Blonde, regarded by many as his greatest ever album, is being auctioned by Sotheby’s in London. Online bidding for the 1966 item opened today and runs until 12 May, with an estimated price of £12,000-15,000.The page features lyrics to the song Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine, a breakup song whose narrator can’t deal with the unpredictability and lack of commitment from their partner. The handwritten notes feature alternate lines such as: “You say disturb me & you don’t deserve / well honey sometimes you lie / you say you’re sorry … well I’ll go at last / let you pass.” Continue reading...

Award for Thailand-born artist comes as National Portrait Gallery comes under growing pressure to drop BP as sponsorA delicate portrait of friends interacting in a Berlin bar by a self-taught artist has won the 2020 BP portrait award, amid intensifying scrutiny of the oil company’s continued sponsorship of one of the most prestigious prizes in the art world.Jiab Prachakul’s Night Talk was picked as the winner by the judging panel, which, for the first time since 1997, had no representative from BP on it after continued pressure, including criticism from several former Turner Prize winners. Continue reading...

‘Special corona fee’ levied to deter gatherings after police called in to break up crowds

Two inquiries into ship linked to 21 coronavirus deaths hear evidence of multiple errors and confusion surrounding ship’s return to Sydney

World’s largest independent survey of drug use asks people how their use has changed during Covid-19 lockdown

Exclusive: Home Office figures cover period when 18.1m people entered country

Civil society has outperformed the state in helping to feed India’s poorest. It should be seen as ally not enemyThe highways connecting India’s overcrowded cities to the villages had not seen anything like it since the time of partition 73 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of workers were on the move, walking back to their villages with their possessions bundled on their heads.On 24 March, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide 21-day lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. States sealed their borders, and transport came to a halt. With no trains or buses to take them home, India’s rural-to-urban migrant population, estimated at a staggering 120 million, took to the roads. On 5 April a statement from the home ministry said 1.25 million people moving between states had been put up in camps and shelters. Continue reading...