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Ukraine ‘almost out of ammunition’; death sentences at a show trial; the battle for Sievierodonetsk

Analysis: Two years ago the PM promised a ‘war on fat’ – but there’s little of substance in this can-kicking document

Show claiming to feature works by Van Gogh, Matisse and Picasso abruptly cancelled as police launch investigationAn exhibition in Slovenia claiming to feature works by Picasso, Van Gogh and Matisse was abruptly cancelled this week over fears some works were forged, prompting a police probe on Friday.The National Museum of Slovenia planned to officially open the show on Wednesday this week, entitled “Travels” and featuring 160 paintings owned by the little-known Boljkovac family. Continue reading...

A man thought to be in his 40s and a woman in her 60s, both with disabilities, died at Roadford LakeDevon and Cornwall police and the marine accidents body have both launched investigations after two people died in a lake in Devon when a motor boat capsized.A man, believed to be in his 40s, and a woman in her 60s, both with disabilities, died after a boat capsized at about 1.30pm on Wednesday at Roadford Lake, near Okehampton. Their bodies were pulled out of the lake on Thursday, about 24 hours after the incident. Continue reading...

Judge refuses to grant interim relief after lawyers for asylum seekers argued policy was unlawfulA high court judge has ruled that a controversial deportation flight to Rwanda that was due to take off early next week can go ahead.Mr Justice Swift refused to grant interim relief – urgent action in response to an injunction application made by four asylum seekers facing offshoring to Rwanda. Continue reading...

Centrica accuses two big suppliers of resisting proposals in wake of collapse of scores of energy firmsThe British Gas owner, Centrica, has accused rivals of blocking plans to protect customer deposits in response to the collapse of scores of energy firms.Centrica has accused two big suppliers – understood to be Ovo Energy and Octopus Energy – of resisting the proposals to ringfence deposits. Continue reading...

Vladimir Putin compares his actions in Ukraine to conquests of Peter the Great; Zelenskiy says Ukraine ‘holding on’ to key frontline cities in Donbas

Former political research manager says he accepts colleagues had misgivings about methodologyA former manager at YouGov has retracted a claim that the polling company suppressed research suggesting Jeremy Corbyn won a general election debate because it was “too positive about Labour”.Chris Curtis said he was “happy to clarify the position and apologise to YouGov for any confusion caused” after accepting that the results were pulled because of concerns over the methods used. Continue reading...

France’s biggest ever criminal trial enters final weeks, with prosecutors expressing regret about unanswered questionsFrench prosecutors have called for life sentences for 12 of the 20 men suspected of key roles in the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks on a stadium, bars and restaurants and a rock gig at the Bataclan concert hall.As the biggest criminal trial ever held in France entered its final weeks, prosecutors summed up the evidence and regretted that there were still key, unanswered questions about the coordinated attacks that killed 130 people and injured more than 490. Continue reading...

Draft legislation to be issued Monday, as Keir Starmer promises a Labour government would repeal law if it passesControversial legislation to disapply parts of the Northern Ireland protocol will be published next week, but senior government sources acknowledged it was going to be a “difficult” process to get it through parliament.The new laws are aimed at unilaterally changing parts of the protocol to make trade easier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, but critics warned that overriding the post-Brexit treaty could contravene international law. Continue reading...

Civil Aviation Authority warns airports could face court action if services for disabled users do not improveThe aviation regulator has warned UK airports they will face enforcement action if they keep failing disabled and less mobile passengers.The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has demanded airports set out improvements by next week and said it will use enforcement powers, which include court orders, if failures continue. The regulatory threat comes after a series of incidents where wheelchair users have been abandoned on aircraft or offered no help despite having booked assistance. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can find all the latest UK political news hereAnd these are from the BBC’s home and legal correspondent, Dominic Casciani, on the high court hearing this morning on the proposed removal of asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Analysis: Kyiv’s fighting strength is stretched, yet Russia could now benefit from a pause in fighting

Body criticises plan to grant conditional immunity to people accused of murder in Northern Ireland conflictThe Council of Europe has rebuked the UK over a plan to grant conditional immunity to people accused of murder and other offences during the Northern Ireland Troubles.The body, which oversees the European court of human rights (ECHR), on Friday accused the government of not consulting stakeholders and expressed concern over the stated intention to pull the plug on inquests. Continue reading...

Letters to asylum seekers assured them UNHCR was ‘closely involved’ in deportation scheme, high court hearsThe United Nations refugee agency has made a dramatic intervention to try to halt Priti Patel’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.In a late submission of evidence, the UNHCR claimed the home secretary misled refugees over the organisation’s support for the plan. The agency has also said the scheme failed to meet the required standards of “legality and appropriateness” for transferring asylum seekers from one country to another. Continue reading...

As the cost of filling up hits new high, drivers at one service station do their best not to let it spoil their weekend

Requirement to test negative, which has been in place since January 2021, criticized by travel industry and some lawmakersThe Biden administration will today announce the end of its requirement that people entering the country test negative for Covid-19, a senior administration official has told news outlets.According to Reuters, the move will go into effect for US-bound air travelers on Sunday at midnight. Continue reading...

Foreign secretary and counterpart ‘discuss efforts to secure the release’ of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner

Change will allow teachers around the world with equivalent qualifications and experience to apply for jobsQualified teachers from any country in the world will be able to work in schools in England if they have equivalent credentials and at least one year’s classroom experience, ministers have said.The change, which comes into force next near, will open up opportunities for teachers from countries outside the 39 where teaching qualifications are currently recognised, which include across Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia. Until now, teachers from other countries had to pay to retrain before they could teach in English schools.

Group senses moment to steal long-cherished Tory moniker, by talking up enterprise and social responsibilityFor decades the Conservatives have styled themselves as the natural party of business. But now, as Boris Johnson stretches the relationship to breaking point, senior Labour figures believe their party has a historic opportunity to win that moniker.Launching a report in Manchester on Friday backed by the shadow business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, the affiliate group Labour Business said the party could “seize the moment” to win over company bosses ahead of the next election. Continue reading...

Simon Dobbin was attacked in Southend, Essex, in March 2015 and died in October 2020Five men have been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a man who was left permanently brain damaged by an attack on his way home from a football match and died five years later.Simon Dobbin was assaulted in Southend in Essex after a Southend United v Cambridge United match on 21 March 2015. The former RAF serviceman died aged 48 on 21 October 2020. Continue reading...

Winged intruder ‘put in a fantastic performance’ after arriving in Sadler’s Wells auditorium amid a staging of The Rite of SpringAudience members at Sadler’s Wells theatre in London were taken aback when a bat unexpectedly flew in and out of a production of The Rite of Spring on Wednesday night.A company of 24 dancers were mid-performance when the bat appeared, flapping its way around the stage and into the auditorium before returning to its roost after the show had finished. Alistair Spalding, artistic director and chief executive of Sadler’s Wells, said: “We had an extra cast member join us at The Rite of Spring for one night only. It didn’t quite learn the choreography but it put in a fantastic performance.” Continue reading...

The ‘grey box’ has been eight years and £500m in the making and the striking installation in the foyer is a statement of intentIt started as a pile of rotting reindeer heads dumped outside a court. The Norwegian government had ordered a mass cull of herds owned by Norway’s indigenous Sámi people, and Máret Ánne Sara wanted judges hearing a case against the demand, brought by her herder brother, to experience the grisly consequences.But after a formal opening ceremony presided over by Norway’s Queen Sonja on Friday, Sara’s decapitated heads will make up the first art installation seen by visitors on Saturday as they pass through the doors of what is a new palace of the Nordic art establishment in Oslo – a vast museum of art, architecture and design, known as the National Museum. Continue reading...

Survey underlines everyday concerns over prices of food, energy and petrolMore than three-quarters of adults in Great Britain worry about the rising cost of living, with about half of them doing so almost every day, according to research by the Office for National Statistics.In a survey, 77% of people over the age of 16 reported feeling “very or somewhat worried about the rising cost of living”. Of these respondents, 50% said they worried “nearly every day”. Continue reading...

Seven passengers died and 51 were injured when tram derailed in south London on 9 November 2016Transport for London and FirstGroup-owned Tram Operations Limited have pleaded guilty to health and safety failings over the 2016 Croydon tram crash, the Office of Rail and Road has said.Seven passengers died and 51 were injured when a tram derailed in south London on 9 November 2016. Continue reading...

Show shared final photo of cast and crew on final day of filming when ‘tears were shed’Neighbours has shared a final photo of its cast and crew after filming wrapped on the last scene of the long-running Australian soap opera.The show’s executive producer revealed tears were shed on the final day of filming but feels its 37-year run is an “incredible achievement” that should be celebrated. Continue reading...

Police warn public not to approach suspect after incident at home in Miles Platting area of cityA 14-year-old boy has died and his mother has been injured in a “ferocious” stabbing at a Manchester home.Greater Manchester police warned the public not to approach the suspect following the domestic incident in Miles Platting, where officers were called at about 9.30pm on Thursday. Continue reading...

Commission will investigate concerns the state lab failed to test crucial evidence in sexual assault cases dating back to 2018

Katharine Birbalsingh questions PM’s private life and says he does not look ‘professional enough’The government’s social mobility tsar has said she does not think Boris Johnson is a good role model for children.Katharine Birbalsingh, who was appointed chair of the Social Mobility Commission (SMC) in 2021, told Sky News that while she liked the prime minister she did not think he was “professional enough”, adding his personal life makes her “raise an eyebrow”. Continue reading...

President draws parallel with tsar who waged war on Sweden and says campaign in Ukraine stems from ‘basic values’

Former senator’s office manager tells court his offer was ‘filthy’ and that she was sacked after telling him to stop ‘infatuation’ with colleague

Exclusive: The Dogs by John Hughes withdrawn from $60,000 prize after novelist admits he used parts of nonfiction work of Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich ‘without realising’

Former National Crime Agency chief worries civil service reductions could have devastating effectThe former head of Britain’s equivalent of the FBI has said she fears ministers’ plans to cut civil servant posts could have a “devastating” impact on tackling serious and organised crime.Speaking to Policing TV, Dame Lynne Owens, the former director general of the National Crime Agency (NCA), said she was keeping a “keen eye” on discussions about proposals to axe 90,000 jobs and how they may affect the agency she led for five years. Continue reading...

Analysis: reports the Chinese military will get exclusive use of part of Ream base have been denied, but experts say nature of the arrangement remains unclearAt a ceremony this week, Cambodian and Chinese officials proclaimed their friendship as they announced a new construction project. Holding spades decorated with red bows, they turned over soil to signal the start of building work at Cambodia’s biggest naval base, Ream. It will be expanded and renovated, thanks to a Chinese grant of an undisclosed sum – a development that has alarmed the US.“China and Cambodia have become ironclad brothers,” said China’s ambassador to Cambodia, Wang Wentian, at the ceremony. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war hereFormer Danish prime minister and former secretary general of Nato, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has been speaking on Sky News in the UK. He is currently running the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, which tomorrow will focus on the situation in Ukraine. He said:

‘Maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess,’ actor writes, sharing a photo with fashion designer Ramona Agruma

Labour accuse chancellor of wastefulness for failing to insure against interest rate risesRishi Sunak has been accused of wasting £11bn of taxpayers’ money by paying too much in interest servicing the government’s debt.The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the losses were the result of the chancellor’s failure to insure against interest rate rises on £900bn of reserves created through the quantitative easing (QE) programme. Continue reading...

Low-paid health and care workers cannot afford to fill tanks, head of Unison warnsLow-paid health and care workers are calling in sick because they cannot afford to fill their cars with petrol to travel to work, the head of the UK’s largest trade union has warned.Boris Johnson said on Thursday that the UK economy was “steering into the wind” but cautioned against a “wage-price spiral”, as the cost of a tank of fuel hit a record £100. Continue reading...

Recovery follows rescue of four people from Roadford Lake in Okehampton on WednesdayPolice searching for two people missing after a boat capsized on a lake in south Devon have recovered two bodies.Devon and Cornwall police said the families have been informed of the development and are being supported by specially trained officers. Formal identification has yet to take place. Earlier, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said on its website that the two people who were unaccounted for were disabled. Continue reading...

Wait time for 476 visa, for overseas graduates who want to work or study in Australia for up to 18 months, has blown out to 41 months

Renters in some states are having to sacrifice their pets to secure a place to live

North Sydney’s Independent identifies Lane Cove, North Shore, and Willoughby as potential targets

Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner were captured while fighting in Ukrainian army

Fr Pat Collins says there is urgent need for ‘deliverance ministry’ amid ‘crisis of meaning’ in IrelandThe appeal for help sounds like it was channelled from the TV show Stranger Things. “Exorcist: trained teams needed in parishes to fight evil spirits.”It is, however, the splash headline in this week’s Irish Catholic, Ireland’s biggest-selling religious newspaper. Continue reading...

The largest refuge for Indigenous tribes living in isolation is also a hotspot for poachers and illegal loggers and a major smuggling route for cocaine traffickersIn Brazil’s far west lies an immense swathe of rainforest and rugged terrain reachable only by snaking brown rivers. Wedged alongside the border with Peru, the Javari Valley is nearly the size of Portugal, and is the largest refuge for Indigenous tribes living in isolation from the outside world.“The Javari is one of the last true bastions of primal wilderness in the Amazon – and in the world,” said Scott Wallace, author of The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon’s Last Uncontacted Tribes. Continue reading...

Mayor says incident where teacher died and 14 children were injured was probably deliberateA 29-year-old man who killed a teacher and injured 14 children after driving his car into a crowd in Berlin on Wednesday had a history of suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and was probably intending to kill or injure, German authorities say.“There are no clues pointing to a terrorist motivation behind this deed, and we can also rule out that it was an accident”, said the spokesperson for the Berlin public prosecutor’s office, Sebastian Büchner. “It was probably a deliberate act.” Continue reading...

Collin Reeves’ wife says he bottled up war experience and found Remembrance Sunday triggeringThe wife of a former soldier who killed his nextdoor neighbours with a ceremonial dagger following a bitter dispute over parking has claimed that he suffered mental health issues after returning from fighting in Afghanistan.Collin Reeves’ wife, Kayley Reeves, said he told her his head was “not in the right place” and he was particularly struggling on the day of the killings because it was shortly after Remembrance Sunday, a time of year that “triggered” him. Continue reading...

Two previously unseen short stories by Jackson, rated by Stephen King as one of the great horror fiction writers, are to appear in US magazine the StrandTwo previously unpublished short stories by Shirley Jackson, the queen of gothic fiction, have been released.Charlie Roberts and Only Stand and Wait were both published on 9 June in Strand magazine, a US-based print magazine that publishes short fiction and interviews. Continue reading...

Stats from 2020-21 reveal that the Pointless presenter’s The Thursday Murder Club is the biggest hit in UK librariesRichard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club was the most borrowed book from UK libraries in the year 2020-21, while the prolific bestseller James Patterson was the most borrowed author overall.The Public Lending Right (PLR) data, which collates information on library loans and pays authors for every book borrowed, showed that crime and thriller books were the most popular genres among library users. Continue reading...