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Spanish PM says negative test not needed even as Boris Johnson warns against travel to amber list countries

Campaigners demand greater transparency over police operations week after protest foils detention of two men in cityLeading Glasgow politicians have written to the Home Office telling officials to stop unannounced immigration raids, as the Scottish Refugee Council urged Police Scotland to “push back” against further operations.Their demands came a week after a peaceful protest prevented the detention of two men in the south of the city. Continue reading...

Judge rejects new request for Osman Kavala, among 16 other people on trial, to be freed from custodyA Turkish court has begun the retrial of the philanthropist Osman Kavala and 15 other people over their alleged role in nationwide protests in 2013, an expanding case that critics and even Ankara’s western allies say aims to quash dissent.Kavala and eight others accused of organising the protests that began in Istanbul’s Gezi Park were acquitted of all charges in February 2020 but an appeal court overturned that ruling in January. Continue reading...

PM says he is ‘obviously very concerned’ after inquiry condemns Martin Bashir’s 1995 broadcast

From Lil Wayne to Willow Smith, the pop-punk drummer is making his mark across the musical landscape – is it more than mere nostalgia?The most influential person in music right now is Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. Don’t believe us? This year alone, 25 tracks featuring or produced by Barker have been released. He has worked with the new pop-punk era Willow Smith and TikTok e-boy turned singer Lil Huddy, signed TikTok emo Jxdn, produced Trippie Redd’s Neon Shark album, and drummed on Bebe Rexha’s new single.Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips Continue reading...

Mother and four children offered flat by council but pictures show state of serious disrepairA single mother and her four children are the last remaining family on an east London housing estate that is being demolished around them, in a case described as “beyond shocking”.Demolition work on Marian Court, a council estate in Hackney, began in February, while the woman was home-schooling her children, aged five to 13, during lockdown. Residents have described severe noise and disruption, and claim the family’s water and broadband have regularly been cut off. Continue reading...

The royal recounts his mother’s funeral and celebrities including Lady Gaga talk about trauma, in a well-meaning but sanitised TV series on mental healthThe latest addition to the teeming tide of contributions to the mental health debate – all promising to dismantle stigma and help us all recognise the trauma in ourselves and others – is led by Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry, who have launched a new series on Apple TV+ called The Me You Can’t See.I have been knocking back the anti-emetic medication since the trailer dropped, and the series itself is as cloying as expected. After some soaring music, sweeping introductory shots of various soothing natural landscapes and an equally soothing voice assuring us that “it’s never too late to heal”, we join Oprah and Harry in a cream-toned, simply dressed room with cameras therein – no artifice here! The fourth wall, she is broken! Here, they begin what they would probably call their “journey” together. Continue reading...

Grand achievements in Preston. Is there something in the water? Well me, eventuallyOh frabjous day – callooh callay! Monday 17, that long-awaited day that marks our arrival at the next staging post of the roadmap out of lockdown. Swap your horses, adjust your britches, take a draught of small beer and regard with pleasure the great plains of freedom lying before you (ignore any musterings of variants you think you see on the horizon. They are not there). Continue reading...

The Pennsylvania detective’s unvarnished realness has hit a fashion nerve with viewersThe style icon everyone is talking about wears drab flannel shirts with flat shoes and crumpled jeans. She has frown lines and dark roots. She might wear mascara if she’s going out to eat but if she’s going to work she doesn’t bother. As a Pennsylvania detective in Mare of Easttown, the Oscar-winning actor Kate Winslet bucks the trend for high fashion on the small screen that has given us a string of glossy shows such as Succession, Queen’s Gambit and Halston, with a character whose unvarnished realness has hit a nerve.A grizzled detective with a complicated personal life; a naked female corpse; a sleepy small town squirrelled with secrets. The set-up of HBO’s hit show, Mare of Easttown is familiar TV fare, but the transformation of serial Vogue cover star Kate Winslet into Mare Sheehan provides an unexpected plot twist. Nowhere to be seen are the blow-dries of Big Little Lies or the silk blouses and velvet coats of The Undoing. Instead, the first episode sees Detective Sheehan dressed in nondescript denim and sack-adjacent plaid, one woolly-socked foot up on her kitchen table, drinking a bottle of beer while using a bag of frozen oven chips as an improvised ice pack for a sprained ankle. Continue reading...

Foreign minister Marise Payne says China has provided no evidence against Yang Hengjun, who has been held for more than two yearsThe detained Australian writer Yang Hengjun will be tried on charges of espionage in a closed Chinese court next week after being held in Beijing for more than two years.The foreign minister Marise Payne’s office said the government had been notified by Chinese authorities that Yang would face trial next Thursday, 27 May. Continue reading...

Speaking on Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry show The Me You Can’t See, the singer outlined further details of attack she first disclosed in 2014Lady Gaga has told new details about sexual assault she suffered when she was 19. Speaking on The Me You Can’t See, Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry’s new Apple TV+ series about mental health, she said the rape – that she first disclosed in 2014 – was by a music producer and left her pregnant.“I was 19 years old, and I was working in the business, and a producer said to me, ‘Take your clothes off,’” she said. “And I said no. And I left, and they told me they were going to burn all of my music. And they didn’t stop. They didn’t stop asking me, and I just froze and – I don’t even remember.” She said “the person who raped me dropped me off pregnant on a corner”. Continue reading...

Defence minister took exception to some personnel wearing rainbow-coloured clothes at an LGBTI eventPeter Dutton has been ridiculed as the “minister for culture wars” after he took exception to a morning tea where staff wore rainbow clothing to celebrate diversity and inclusion.The defence minister on Friday told the Sydney Morning Herald he had ordered the defence force chief, Angus Campbell, to issue a department-wide note ordering events “such as morning teas where personnel are encouraged to wear particular clothes” to “cease”. Continue reading...

Brazil’s former leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva left no doubt he was planning a finale to a dramatic political careerBrazil can be rescued after being turned into a Covid-stricken global outcast by its “psychopath” president Jair Bolsonaro, the politician best placed to defeat him in next year’s presidential election has insisted.In an interview with the Guardian, Brazil’s former leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – who is widely tipped to challenge Bolsonaro for the presidency after regaining his political rights – stopped short of explicitly confirming he would run. But Lula, who rose from rural poverty to become Brazil’s first working-class president, left no doubt he was plotting an extraordinary finale to one of the world’s most enduring and dramatic political careers. Continue reading...

School climate strikers call on federal government to do more on climate change; Scott Morrison says this is ‘worst time’ for Victoria to lift taxes; some Covid vaccination sites reportedly operating at less than a quarter of capacity. This blog is now closed

Palestinians poured on to the streets after Israeland Palestinian militants agreed to a ceasefire. The truce comes after an 11-dayconflict that killed more than 230 people in Gaza and 12 in Israel. Cars packed the streets of Gaza, with flags waving from the windows while mosque loudspeakers hailed a 'victory'

A sow, two cows and a one-legged chicken are the stars of Victor Kossakovsky’s unique documentary, which Hollywood’s most famous vegan, Joaquin Phoenix, has helped to get the audience it deservesWhen Victor Kossakovsky was four, his parents sent him from St Petersburg to stay with his uncle’s family in the countryside. “It was a cold winter,” he says, brrr-ing over Zoom. “Minus 30 degrees.”Warmth came from the boy’s friendship with a one-month-old piglet named Vasya. They were inseparable – until she became cutlets for New Year’s Eve supper. Continue reading...

The veteran commentator and correspondent has clashed on-air with the pro-Israel channel’s hosts over US support for airstrikesThe Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera has become a rare and outspoken voice on his conservative television channel in lambasting Israel over its attacks on Gaza and other Palestinian targets in the current conflict.Geraldo has conducted numerous heated and emotional spats with other Fox News personalities, including powerful figures like Sean Hannity, by criticizing Israel’s activities and lauding those defending Palestinians – both rare positions on the reliably pro-Israel channel. Continue reading...

As the daytime titan prepares to step down after a swirl of controversy, a host of big names have been thrown into the mix as her successorWith Ellen DeGeneres preparing to leave her talk show in order to focus on something more “challenging” – which, if reports are true, will hopefully include creating a work environment where everybody on the payroll isn’t permanently cowed and miserable – a void will soon appear right at the heart of daytime. The question is: what will fill it?Related: The end of Ellen’s show signifies how celebrity culture has shifted | Adrian Horton Continue reading...

Duke of Sussex says he tried to ‘mask’ his emotions and to ‘feel less like I was feeling’ on TV series The Me You Can’t SeeThe Duke of Sussex has said the trauma of his mother’s death led him to use alcohol and drugs to mask his emotions and to “feel less like I was feeling”.Prince Harry was 12 years old when Diana, Princess of Wales, died in August 1997 in a car crash while being pursued by the press in Paris. Continue reading...

A conductor, who was not qualified to drive the train, sat in the driver’s seat during his three-minute absence, in breach of the rulesA driver on one of Japan’s shinkansen bullet trains is facing disciplinary measures after he abandoned his cab to go to the toilet while the train was carrying passengers and travelling at 150km/h.The 36-year-old driver, who has not been named, reportedly had a stomachache and asked a conductor to take his place while he went to the toilet. Continue reading...

Children in overcrowded Cox’s Bazar settlement likely to suffer most from reduced humanitarian spending, say campaigners

National Audit Office examines why only 633 people have received compensation from schemeThe Home Office has failed to compensate victims of the Windrush scandal quickly enough, a critical National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into the compensation scheme has found.The NAO investigation attempts to explain why only 633 people have received payments, out of an original government estimate of 15,000 potential applicants, two years after the scheme’s launch in March 2019. Continue reading...

Work culture of presenteeism sees some staff told to switch on GPS location tracking by distrustful managers

Instead of just bringing in Pacific Islanders to pick fruit, the government should focus on tertiary educationIn a budget filled with winners, there were a few notable losers.There was our university sector. Already languishing, the government dealt our unis the twin blows of a sustained “fortress Australia” – prohibiting a revival of the international student market – and a reduction in funding. Continue reading...

Netanyahu’s office announces ‘mutual and simultaneous’ truceIsraeli and Palestinian militants have agreed to a ceasefire ending an 11-day conflict which has cost more than 230 lives in Gaza and 12 in Israel, after days of international pressure to stop the bloodshed.The ceasefire came into effect at 2am local time on Friday, after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced late on Thursday that the cabinet had unanimously approved the “mutual and unconditional” ceasefire proposed by Egypt which had been mediating talks. Continue reading...

One-third of detainees at immigration centre who had crossed Channel on constant suicide watchThe Home Office’s rush to deport asylum seekers who had crossed the Channel in small boats last year led to “unprecedented levels” of those at risk of suicide, a watchdog has found.During the period between the end of July to December 2020, when the Home Office was operating a programme of “compressed” charter flights, one-third of the detainees at Brook House immigration removal centre near Gatwick were placed on constant suicide watch, the Independent Monitoring Board [IMB] found. Continue reading...

Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex say their mother was failed by the BBC over Martin Bashir Panorama programmeI would like to thank Lord Dyson and his team for the report. Continue reading...

Harry also criticises media practices after damning report into Martin Bashir Panorama programmePrincess Diana’s sons have slammed the BBC over the Martin Bashir Panorama interview with their mother, saying the corporation’s failures contributed to the fear she felt in her final years and was part of a “culture of exploitation and unethical practices that ultimately took her life”.In a blistering statement, Prince William said that BBC leaders had failed Diana, Princess of Wales, with their “woeful incompetence”, and said the “deceitful way” the interview was obtained had substantially influenced what his mother had said. He said he was saddened the corporation had not properly investigated complaints earlier and that his mother had never known she had been deceived. Continue reading...

Clandestine cemetery in Chalchuapa is believed to contain as many as 40 bodies – most of them thought to be womenAuthorities in El Salvador are excavating a clandestine cemetery at the house of a former detective which is believed to contain as many as 40 bodies – most of them thought to be women.The remains of at least 24 people have been recovered so far at the house in the municipality of Chalchuapa, about 48 miles (78km) north-west of the capital, San Salvador. Exhuming the bodies could take another month, officials said. Continue reading...

Latest figures from PHE come as another new variant is designated ‘under investigation’

US White House says it believes Israel is in a position to wind down operationsIsrael’s security cabinet has met amid reports that the government was considering halting its bombardment of Gaza, as international pressure to end the bloodshed gathered momentum.The country’s public broadcaster, Kan, reported that the cabinet, headed by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, would vote on a proposed “unilateral ceasefire” to go into effect within 24 hours. Israeli officials did not immediately confirm the report. Continue reading...

Allen Minish was surveying land when he locked eyes with a brown bear in an encounter that left him with a crushed jaw and deep cuts

Sixty-six people who’ve spent up to seven years in detention on PNG and Nauru and 78 onshore, plus their family members, passed initial approvalAlmost 150 refugees held within Australia’s offshore processing system in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, or in onshore detention, are in the last stages of approval for resettlement in Canada.The non-profit migrant and refugee settlement service Mosaic, based in Vancouver, said it had successfully submitted applications on behalf of 66 people in PNG and Nauru, a further 78 in onshore detention, and 98 family members in third countries. Continue reading...

Tit-for-tat sanctions over Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs puts halt on investment agreementThe European parliament has voted overwhelmingly to “freeze” any consideration of a massive investment deal with China, following recent tit-for-tat sanctions over Beijing’s treatment of its Uyghur population in Xinjiang province.According to the resolution, the parliament, which must ratify the deal, “demands that China lift the sanctions before parliament can deal with the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI)”. Some MEPs warned that the lifting of the sanctions would not in itself ensure the deal’s ratification. Continue reading...

Maurice Kirk acquitted after arguing he was simply a constituent seeking help from MP Rebecca PowA former vet has been cleared of stalking a Conservative MP in Somerset.Maurice Kirk, 76, was accused of stalking Rebecca Pow, the MP for Taunton Deane, for more than a year, causing her serious alarm or distress. Continue reading...

Former president of the International Council of Nurses who fought for nursing conditions worldwideKirsten Stallknecht, who has died aged 83, was a leader of nurses in Denmark, Europe and the world for more than 30 years. She was a formidable force in nursing and public life, not only in her native Denmark but as a trade unionist fighting for nurses’ conditions internationally.In 1967, Kirsten – not quite 30 – took over the presidency of the Danish Nurses’ Organisation (DNO), a reputable but financially weak professional association; when she resigned in 1996, at the end of her seventh term, the organisation had become one of Europe’s most respected nursing bodies. Continue reading...

Stone structures appear at three locations, courtesy of ‘talented, patient,’ unknown artistLake District landscapes have inspired artists for centuries, from Beatrix Potter to Taylor Swift, and now it seems another has been stirred by the views after a number of stone artworks appeared in the area, courtesy of an unknown artist whom locals are referring to as the “Borrowdale Banksy”.Two structures have been photographed so far, one on Castle Crag and another a three-hour walk east on Raven Crag. According to the local village hall there is one more on Dalehead, but no one had managed to photograph it at the time of writing. Continue reading...

Cuts were agreed on the basis of a forecast shown five days later to be too pessimistic, report findsUK civil servants were given five to seven working days to prepare 30% cuts in the overseas aid budget last summer, including a £730m cut to bilateral aid that it later emerged was unnecessary.The cuts were agreed in July 2020 on the basis of a single forecast reduction in the size of the UK economy, which was shown to be too pessimistic five days after the cuts package was signed off. Continue reading...

She has just turned 75 and there’s a new biopic in the works. What better time to look back at a film CV that’s full of memorable roles?HBO produced this heavy-handed but affecting anthology film on the topic of abortion, premiering it at the Toronto film festival on the combined star clout of Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek and, of course, Cher, who also directed the third (and best) of its segments. It remains her only directorial credit, and she would have done well to keep at it. She shows a sure touch with actors, herself included, uncharacteristically restrained as a benevolent abortion doctor working through a violent anti-choice protest. It is enough to make you wonder whether HBO should have kept her on its books. Surely there could have been a place in The Sopranos for Cher. Continue reading...

Luna Reyes targeted by far-right supporters after footage of gesture goes viralThe image captured the raw humanity of the moment: a Red Cross volunteer tenderly consoling a Senegalese man moments after he stepped foot in Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta.Hours after the footage went viral, however, Luna Reyes set her social media accounts to private after she was targeted by a torrent of abuse from supporters of Spain’s far-right Vox party and others incensed by the unprecedented arrival of 8,000 migrants in Ceuta. Continue reading...

Case in Paris was brought by 2,700 women over implants made by French company and certified as safe by German firmThousands of victims of the PIP breast implant scandal, including 540 British women, will receive compensation after a Paris appeals court ruling.The case in Paris was brought by 2,700 women who said they had suffered long-term health effects after receiving implants manufactured by a French firm which were filled with cheap, industrial-grade silicone not cleared for human use. Continue reading...

Former president of France, already convicted of corruption, faces accusation of overspendingThe former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has gone on trial for the alleged illegal campaign financing of the massive, showman-style political rallies he staged during his failed re-election bid in 2012.Sarkozy, president for one term from 2007 to 2012, was not present for the opening of the trial in Paris on Thursday but will take the stand next month. Continue reading...

Local force says it has identified more than 30 groups planning some kind of action during event

Abubakar Shekau dead or seriously wounded after clashes in forest, Nigerian authorities sayIntelligence officials in Nigeria have claimed the leader of Boko Haram is dead or seriously wounded after trying to kill himself to avoid capture during clashes with a rival extremist faction.There is no confirmation of the claims, and Nigeria’s intelligence services and military have reported Abubakar Shekau’s death many times before. Continue reading...

As his latest film Army of the Dead hits Netflix, the Justice League director takes time to answer questions from fans and collaboratorsLuca, Zack Snyder’s chow-labrador cross, is going bananas. It’s early morning in rural Pasadena and the air is filled with growls. When a bear ambled past the other day, Luca didn’t bat an eyelid. But the appearance of the gardener (who apparently comes every day) means he needs considerable restraint.So it was while wrestling this “big, muscly, silly dog” that Snyder answered questions set for him by Guardian readers – and a few colleagues – yelling amiably over the din. Continue reading...

Vaccines work against new variants but ‘increased mobility may lead to more transmission’

Arrival of thousands of migrants in Spanish enclave is just latest example of issue that affects whole of ‘Fortress Europe’On the outskirts of the Spanish city of Ceuta, a warehouse has been hastily transformed into a makeshift shelter for young people, their actions watched over by hired security. Days after joining an unprecedented influx of 8,000 migrants into Spain, the fate of these minors who arrived alone has become a thorny issue, stretching far beyond the north African enclave.“It’s important to understand that we’re seeing children that are much younger than the usual – children of seven, eight, nine years old,” Spain’s minister for social rights, Ione Belarra told broadcaster RTVE on Wednesday. “Many of them didn’t understand the consequences of crossing the border and we’re finding that many of them want to return home.” Continue reading...

Organisers of Games are pressing ahead despite massive public opposition due to Covid pandemic

Like many others I rediscovered running during lockdown, and a school friend’s death has given it extra purpose“Distance. One kilometre” says the computerised Strava voice into the wireless headphones. “Time. Five minutes. And 48 seconds.”Almost six minutes? That must be wrong. Please no more than five. It felt fast. Suddenly my calves start burning. My lungs tighten. Psychologically defeated by an app. Nine more of them? There’s no way. I could just do 5k. I didn’t sign a binding contract before I left the house. No one will know. Continue reading...

Dogs can carry bacteria and parasites, while cats smuggle in gory ‘presents’. So is it best to lock them out of the bedroom?