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This blog is now closed, you can read our full report on this story hereJustice Choudhury KC is back from his deliberation and will make a decision about whether or not he will lift the reporting restriction shortly.Leo Ross's foster family is in court this morning to hear the judge pass his sentence, due this afternoon. Continue reading...

Key Labour figures have rallied around the prime minister amid speculation over his leadershipKemi Badenoch has said that Keir Starmer just received a stay of execution" yesterday. Speaking to reporters on a visit this morning, she said:[Starmer] is in a very dangerous place. The Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the quiet bit out loud.Labour MPs and the Labour party have lost confidence in their leader, but the MPs are too scared of losing their jobs, so they're not going to call an election, and they've given him a stay of execution. The sad thing is that the country is suffering from not being governed at all. Continue reading...

Case is shrouded in fevered speculation about suicides, exceptional psychological instability' and criminal activity on the Bulgarian-Serbian borderIt has been dubbed Bulgaria's Twin Peaks": a grim saga involving the mysterious deaths of six people in the middle of the mountains that has gripped the eastern European country.Zahari Vaskov, the director of the national police general directorate, told a press conference on Monday that the deaths were a case without comparison in our country". Continue reading...

Twelve-year-old was stabbed to death by stranger when walking home from school in BirminghamA 15-year-old boy has been sentenced to at least 13 years in custody for the murder of Leo Ross, 12, in Birmingham last year.Leo was stabbed in the stomach as he made his way home from his school in Yardley Wood on 21 January 2025 and later died in hospital. Continue reading...

Wasserman has apologised for communicating with Ghislaine Maxwell after flirtatious emails they exchanged more than 20 years ago were revealedThe pop star Chappell Roan has announced she has left her talent agency after emails between its founder and Ghislaine Maxwell were featured in the Epstein files.The Grammy-winning artist shared a statement on social media announcing her departure from Wasserman, led by the sports and entertainment executive Casey Wasserman. Continue reading...

MEPs vote to allow people to be deported to places they have never been to, as NGOs express fears over new safe third countries' listThe EU has moved closer to creating offshore centres for migrants and asylum seekers, after centre-right and far-right MEPs united for tougher migration policies.MEPs voted for legal changes that will give authorities more options to deport asylum seekers, including sending people to countries they have never been to. Continue reading...

Labour leader appears to have weathered the storm but the coming weeks and months will bring more moments of peril

It is time for Europe to wake up ... If we do not decide for ourselves, we will be swept away,' the French president saidCuriously, US vice-president JD Vance - who dominated the headlines with his highly confrontational speech on Europe last year - is not attending the MSC this year.He spent the weekend in Italy attending the Olympic Games, visited Armenia yesterday and is in Azerbaijan today, but won't be coming back to Germany, it seems. Continue reading...

Anjlee Sangani signed off private investigator's confession of lawbreaking for Daily Mail publisher, which he now says was forgedA solicitor who approved a private investigator's contested confession of bugging, phone tapping and hacking on behalf of the publisher of the Daily Mail did not oversee the document being signed, the high court has heard.The most serious allegations of unlawful information-gathering against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) came from a signed statement made by the private investigator Gavin Burrows. Continue reading...

Single-engine plane made an emergency landing on a busy road, striking three vehicles and injuring two peopleA single-engine plane made an emergency landing on a busy road in Georgia, striking three vehicles and leaving two people with minor injuries, authorities said.The Hawker Beechcraft BE-36 landed Monday on Browns Bridge Road in Gainesville, about 50 miles (80km) north-east of Atlanta, due to reported engine issues, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and Gainesville police. Continue reading...

New website lists only limited number of medications - and many of them cost less in generic form elsewhereThe Trump administration has launched TrumpRx, but there are other sites offering discounts on more medications, and the new government site will appeal to a very limited group of patients, experts say.Trump has promised reforms on the unusually high drug prices in the US, and he called the announcement the largest reduction in prescription drug prices in history" at a press conference on Thursday. Yet the site only lists 43 medications, more than half of which are available in generic form at significantly cheaper prices elsewhere. Continue reading...

Ian Claughton, 60, jailed after setting up crow scarers, stun guns and homemade flame-thrower to deter intrudersA drug dealer has been jailed for seven years after rigging a series of houses with Home Alone-style booby traps to deter intruders.Ian Claughton, 60, was found guilty of several drugs and firearms offences in November after standing trial at Doncaster crown court alongside his ex-wife Lesley Claughton, who was given a 21-month sentence suspended for two years. Continue reading...

Seamus Culleton describes conditions as torture' as he pleads with taoiseach to raise his case with Donald TrumpAn Irish man who has been held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for five months despite having a valid work permit and no criminal record says he fears for his life and has appealed for help from Ireland's government.Seamus Culleton said conditions at his detention centre in Texas were akin to torture" and that the atmosphere was volatile. I'm not in fear of the other inmates. I'm afraid of the staff. They're capable of anything." Continue reading...

Head of army says potential peacemakers' being trained, in what would be first outside force in Gaza since 1967Indonesia has said it is preparing to send up to 8,000 troops to Gaza to be part of a peacekeeping force under Donald Trump's Middle East plan.The announcement by the army chief of staff, Gen Maruli Simanjuntak, makes Indonesia the first country to deliver a specific commitment to the international stabilisation force (ISF) envisaged as part of the second phase of the Trump plan. Continue reading...

CS Venkatakrishnan dismayed by depravity and corruption' revealed in Epstein files as he announces profits

Pressure mounts on oil and gas company as it aims for turnaround under new chief executive

Palestinian boy has been in the West Bank since 2022 but is still registered as a resident in the strip where ban appliesAn Israeli court has rejected an appeal to allow a five-year-old Palestinian boy with an aggressive form of cancer to enter Israel for life-saving treatment, citing a government policy that bars residents registered in Gaza from crossing the border, even when they no longer live there.In a ruling issued on Sunday, the Jerusalem district court dismissed a petition seeking permission to transfer the child from Ramallah to Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv for a bone marrow transplant - a procedure unavailable in either Gaza or the occupied West Bank. The boy has been in the West Bank since 2022 where he was receiving medical care unavailable in the Gaza Strip. His doctors have determined that he urgently requires antibody immunotherapy. Continue reading...

Teacher who ran school outside Paris was a formative influence on generations of comedians and actors including Helena Bonham Carter and Emma ThompsonMaster clown Philippe Gaulier, the influential founder of France's Ecole Philippe Gaulier, has died aged 82. Gaulier taught the art of clowning for decades and his students included Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, Rachel Weisz and Geoffrey Rush.Gaulier died on Monday due to complications from a lung infection. He had a stroke in 2023 and, since then, had received warm words of encouragement from all over the world", according to a statement made by his family. He seemed especially happy to receive letters and messages from his former students. Teaching was his passion and purpose in life." Continue reading...

Persistent wet weather is affecting farmers, builders, sports, wildlife - and damaging roads and homesFeel like it hasn't stopped raining?" the Met Office asked on Monday. For some places, the forecaster said, it really had rained every day so far this year.People who live in parts of Devon, Cornwall and Worcestershire have been dodging deluges or showers for 40 days - the same number of days that it rained in the Bible's Noah's ark story, the same number of soggy days you can expect if it rains on St Swithin's Day, according to folklore. Continue reading...

Scientists find underwater acoustic project to stop fish being sucked into cooling systems could save 44 tonnes a yearScientists have found that plans to use a fish disco" to deter migratory marine life from the nearby Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor could help save 90% of fish from the power plant's water intake pipes - but the solution is set to cost its developer 700m.EDF Energy, which is building the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset, said research it commissioned from scientists at Swansea University had found that using an acoustic deterrent system helped to ward off the vast majority" of fish it tagged for the experiment. Continue reading...

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Jann Alhafny says she feared there could be a stampede or that she might suffocate after she was allegedly pushed to the ground

Push discussed in private talks and echoes tactic of then-Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull used against Peter Dutton

Any officers who acted unlawfully should face prosecution for actions, Muslim groups say

Many in red wall' seat of Josh Simons, a staunch ally of the PM, have had enough of Labour - and its leaderAs he rose to his feet in the Commons in September 2024, the incoming Labour MP Josh Simons echoed Keir Starmer's promise to deliver.Unless working people like those I am so proud to represent feel change and unless we in this chamber demonstrate humility and honesty and act with integrity and with respect, they have no reason to believe in democracy," he said. Continue reading...

Israel's security cabinet has approved plans that pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territoryA White House official has reiterated Donald Trump's opposition towards Israel annexing the West Bank, after Israeli plans were announced that would pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.The measures, announced on Sunday, included allowing Jewish Israelis to buy West Bank land directly, and extending greater Israeli control over areas where the Palestinian Authority exercises power. It was unclear when the new rules, approved by Israel's security cabinet, would take effect but they do not require further approval. Continue reading...

Charity to also offer activities for young families and host NCT volunteer-led sling and buggy walks at selected sitesThe great stone circles, abbeys, castles and manor houses that English Heritage manages acted for centuries as places to meet and mingle.Now in an effort to tackle parental isolation, the charity is tapping back into this sense of community by introducing bonding benches" at many of its most famous sites. Continue reading...

Politicians who attended protest against visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog say police actions against demonstrators were wildly inappropriate'

Christian charity executive, Lauren Mastrosa, pen name Tori Woods, found to have written novel that sexually objectifies children'

Helen Pidd follows the twists and turns on Monday as the prime minister fought to keep his jobOn Monday morning, the prime minister was preparing to reset relations with MPs after the resignation of his chief aide, Morgan McSweeney.Just before midday, news broke that Tim Allen, Keir Starmer's director of communications, had resigned. By lunchtime, it emerged that Anas Sarwar, Labour's leader in Scotland, was preparing to hold a press conference calling on Starmer to stand down. Continue reading...

Four Corners reported comments by Marcus' alleging agency was warned Sajid and Naveed Akram supported Islamic State

Former nanny Scarlett Pavlovich filed suit in three US states alleging author assaulted her in New Zealand in 2022Federal judges have dismissed three lawsuits accusing the bestselling fantasy author Neil Gaiman of sexually assaulting his children's nanny in New Zealand four years ago.Scarlett Pavlovich filed a lawsuit against Gaiman and his wife, Amanda Palmer, in Wisconsin in February 2025, accusing Gaiman of multiple sexual assaults while she worked as the family's nanny in 2022. She filed lawsuits against Palmer in Massachusetts and in New York on the same day she filed the Wisconsin action. Continue reading...

Government contractor stripped custody suites in England and Wales of motivational murals deemed too welcoming, report saysA government contractor has been accused of being petty and vindictive" after tearing down brightly coloured artworks carrying motivational messages that were intended to improve the conditions for people held in court cells.The decision by Serco to remove the artworks, commissioned to cheer up court custody areas that are often underground and bleak", is revealed in the annual report of the Lay Observers, independent members of the public who monitor court custody and escort conditions. The report draws on 759 visits to court custody suites across England and Wales, representing almost 2,000 hours of monitoring. Continue reading...

Schitt's Creek and Home Alone star died aged 71 in January after being rushed to hospital due to breathing difficultiesCatherine O'Hara, the Emmy-winning actor and beloved star of the series Schitt's Creek and the 1990 hit movie Home Alone, died from a blood clot in her lungs, her death certificate revealed Monday.The death certificate released by the Los Angeles county medical examiner's office also listed rectal cancer as an underlying cause. Continue reading...

UK projects will allow local areas to control and profit from renewable power generation, says energy secretaryThe UK government is pledging to spend up to 1bn on community-owned green energy schemes in an effort to combat growing scepticism and resistance to renewables and grid upgrade projects.Ed Miliband, the UK energy secretary, said the new funding was intended to help democratise the energy system, increase the wealth and financial independence of local communities, and potentially cut some local energy bills. Continue reading...

Prime minister addresses parliamentary Labour party amid Mandelson scandal fallout

Keir Starmer's future as prime minister suffered another major blow when the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, called for him to go. With the cabinet rallying around him, the PM seems to be safe for now, but for how much longer? Pippa and Kiran look at what might happen next

Allies of leading candidates keen to tout credentials but others despair at options at top of Labour party Revealed: Rayner for leader' site briefly went live in January

Cap-busting tax hike will be embarrassing for the party, which has made low council tax a priorityReform-led Worcestershire county council is likely to issue England's largest council tax rise this April after it was given special permission by the government to increase it by up to 9%.Worcestershire is one of a handful of authorities whose requests to be allowed to increase local rates above the standard 5% cap from April have been accepted by ministers. Continue reading...

Under proposed changes in response to Bondi terror attack, only Australian citizens will be able to obtain a gun licence, with no cap on number of weapons

Exclusive: Cabinet secretary Chris Wormald is expected to follow Morgan McSweeney and Tim Allan out the doorThe most senior civil servant in Downing Street is negotiating his exit as part of a wider shake-up of Keir Starmer's operation after one of the most dramatic 48 hours of the prime minister's time in office, sources have told the Guardian.Chris Wormald, the cabinet secretary, is understood to be negotiating the terms of his departure from No 10, which would make him the third senior member of staff to leave in recent days. Continue reading...

Peter Schofield tells staff he will leave the department for personal reasonsThe government's top welfare official is to step down after his department's handling of a longstanding benefits failure that plunged thousands into debt and became known as the carer's allowance scandal.Sir Peter Schofield, the permanent secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions, announced to staff on Monday that he is to step down in July for personal reasons. Continue reading...

Release into Helman Tor reserve marks historical first for keystone species hunted to extinction in UK 400 years agoShivering and rain-drenched at the side of a pond in Cornwall, a huddle of people watched in hushed silence as a beaver took its first tentative steps into its new habitat. As it dived into the water with a determined plop" and began swimming laps, the suspense broke and everyone looked around, grinning.The soggy but momentous occasion marks the first time in English history that beavers have been legally released into a river system, almost one year after the government finally agreed to grant licences for releases. Continue reading...

Mountbatten-Windsor suspected of forwarding reports to child sex offender when he was government trade envoyKing Charles has expressed his profound concern" over allegations about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and will stand ready to support" the police if approached over the claims, Buckingham Palace has said.Thames Valley police confirmed on Monday they were assessing claims that Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential reports from his role as a government trade envoy with the child sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2010. Continue reading...

While the herd is yet to move against Keir Starmer, many believe his tenure may be coming to an endWhen Boris Johnson resigned as the British prime minister in 2022, he explained that the politicians who had once loyally supported him had turned against him.This had sealed his fate. The herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves," he said. Continue reading...

Prosecutor claims Juan Pablo Guanipa was re-arrested due to non-compliance with terms of releaseOne of Venezuela's most prominent opposition politicians, Juan Pablo Guanipa, has been detained by security forces just hours after being released from prison, as the South American country's leaders sent mixed signals about their commitment to political reform after Nicolas Maduro's downfall.Guanipa, who is a close ally of the Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado, emerged from nearly nine months' detention on Sunday - one of at least 35 political prisoners to be freed over the course of the day. Continue reading...

The media mogul and prominent pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong for national security offences. His family has described the sentence as heartbreakingly cruel', given the 78-year-old's declining health. Lai was convicted in December on charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, after pleading not guilty to all charges. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian's senior China correspondent, Amy Hawkins - watch on YouTube Continue reading...

Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to Nato, responds to criticism in the Munich Security Conference report

Tom Homan suggested that a widespread approach to immigration operations would lose public supportTom Homan - the Trump administration's border czar" sent to Minnesota in January after federal agents fatally shot two US citizen protesters - warned last year that the government's aggressive, widespread approach to immigration enforcement would cost it public support.Homan made the observation in an interview with NBC in June for the forthcoming book Undue Process, by the network's homeland security correspondent, analyzing the immigration policy of mass deportation that Donald Trump has pursued during his second presidency. Continue reading...

Detentions of senior Reformists Front figures follow criticism of the authorities' handling of recent protestsThe head of Iran's Reformists Front, the organisation instrumental in securing the election of the country's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has been arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in a move that is likely to exacerbate tensions over the handling of recent street protests.Azar Mansouri, the secretary general of the Islamic Iran People party, had expressed deep sorrow at protesters' deaths, and said nothing could justify such a catastrophe. She had not in public called for the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to resign. Continue reading...