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The sums lenders charge to secure the best rates have risen in the past five years - and can make a loan much more expensiveThe spring months are typically the busiest of the year in the housing market as buyers mobilise and sunshine adds to a property's kerb appeal.However, today's buyers - and those remortgaging - need deeper pockets than a few years ago. Not only does the average mortgage rate start with a 5" but borrowers face hefty arrangement fees to secure the best deals. These are the fees paid to lenders purely to secure a certain rate, and come on top of any conveyancing or broker fees. Continue reading...

Relatives who waited agonising week before bodies were found speak of passion that drove Red Crescent workers Our aid workers were brutally killed and thrown into a mass grave in Gaza. This must never happen againGaza is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a civilian now that Israeli forces have resumed their military campaign with even more ferocity, but for the first responders who rush towards the wreckage of bombed buildings, the risks are multiplied many times over.The 15 paramedics and rescue workers whose bodies were found last weekend in a bulldozed pit outside Rafah knew they were putting their lives in peril to try to save others, but they could not have been prepared for what awaited them in the early hours of 23 March. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Changes could mark biggest overhaul of policing since the 1960sPlans for a new national police body to lead the fight against terrorism and serious organised crime are being drawn up, as UK police chiefs consider the biggest overhaul of policing since the 1960s.Under the proposals, counter-terrorism policing units would gain independence from local forces and become part of a new force covering at least England and Wales, and sitting in a newly created national centre for policing. Continue reading...

Labor and Coalition would both end Chinese company Landbridge's long-term lease of strategically important asset

When clocks go back it means clarity on opening hours and reservation times for customers between states, Tweed Heads cafe owner says

PM says two options on table: for an Australian-owned company to take control, or for port to return to being a government asset

Agency that sends volunteers to countries around world expects additional visits' from Musk cost-cutting teamThe Peace Corps is the latest federal agency to be targeted by Elon Musk's unofficial department of government efficiency". It appears Doge" could be eyeing cuts to the agency, which sends US volunteers around the world to work in local communities on health, education and environmental initiatives.Staff from the Department of Government Efficiency are currently working at Peace Corps headquarters and the agency is supporting their requests," the agency said in an email to the Guardian on Friday. Continue reading...

The PM has so far avoided the Victorian premier on his campaign trail. It has some state Labor MPs worrying she could be made a scapegoat

County's offer - largest of its kind - would settle lawsuits filed over alleged abuse in juvenile facilities since 1959Los Angeles county has reached a $4bn agreement to settle nearly 7,000 claims of sexual abuse in juvenile facilities since 1959, officials said Friday.The agreement, which still needs approval from the Los Angeles county board of supervisors, would be the largest of its kind and have long-lasting financial effects for the county, officials said. Continue reading...

Livia Tossici-Bolt given conditional discharge and ordered to pay 20,000 costs in case that drew US state department concernAn activist whose case had been cited by the US state department over freedom of expression" concerns in the UK has been convicted of breaching a buffer zone outside an abortion clinic.Livia Tossici-Bolt, an anti-abortion campaigner, went on trial at Poole magistrates court last month accused of breaching a public spaces protection order on two days in March 2023 near to a clinic in Bournemouth. On Friday she was found guilty of two charges of breaching the order. Continue reading...

Labour accuses Nigel Farage's party of mass rebrand' after research into nominations of former ConservativesMore than 60 of Reform UK's council candidates standing in this year's elections are defectors from the Conservative party, according to research from the Labour party.Reform has also selected an ex-Conservative for its candidate in the upcoming Runcorn and Helsby byelection, while the party's mayoral candidate for Greater Lincolnshire is the former Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns, who lost her parliamentary seat in West Yorkshire last July. Continue reading...

Lawmakers say dismissing head of US Cyber Command puts country at risk at a time of unprecedented cyber threats'Top congressional Democrats are protesting against the firing of Gen Tim Haugh as director of the National Security Agency (NSA), with one lawmaker saying the decision makes all of us less safe".Haugh and his civilian deputy at the NSA, Wendy Noble, have been dismissed from their roles, the Washington Post reported late on Thursday, with CNN reporting likewise, both outlets citing multiple unnamed officials and other senior sources close to the matter who had requested anonymity. Continue reading...

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Slumps on S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq cap dismal day for global indices but US president doubles down on tariff planWall Street suffered its worst week since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis five years ago as investors worldwide balked at Donald Trump's risky bid to overhaul the global economy with sweeping US tariffs.The US president doubled down on his plan on Friday, insisting he would not back down even as the chairman of the Federal Reserve warned it would likely raise prices and slow down economic growth. Continue reading...

Appeals court sides with Jefferson Griffin, who lost supreme court election and wants thousands of ballots thrown outMore than 65,000 people in North Carolina who believed they were eligible to vote could have their ballots thrown out nearly five months after election day, flipping the results of a supreme court election, a state appeals court ruled on Friday.The 2-1 ruling from the North Carolina court of appeals came in response to Republicans' months-long effort to overturn the results of the state supreme court election in November. The Democrat Allison Riggs, who currently sits on the court, defeated appellate judge Jefferson Griffin, a Republican, by 734 votes. After the election, Griffin filed a protest seeking to get around 60,000 votes thrown out. Continue reading...

At least 25 killed in attack on Khan Younis in south as Israel says it is aiming to pressure Hamas into releasing hostagesIsrael has restarted ground operations in the northern Gaza Strip and killed at least 25 people in airstrikes on the southern city of Khan Younis in what it says is a renewed military campaign aimed at pressuring Hamas into releasing Israeli hostages.At least 25 people were killed in the attack on Khan Younis early on Friday, the local Nasser hospital told AFP, as the search for survivors continued. Continue reading...

Released court statement says alleged Chinese spy helped draft private letters to Chinese presidentThe Duke of York sent letters directly to China's president, the prince's former senior adviser told a special immigration tribunal, with an alleged Chinese spy advising him on how to write them.Dominic Hampshire, who worked for Andrew from 2019-22, said Andrew had always had a communication channel" with Xi Jinping that was accepted" and may even have been encouraged by Buckingham Palace and the late queen. Continue reading...

Secretary of state says Putin will have to make a decision' as US officials appear to be growing impatientThe US will know within weeks whether Russia is serious about pursuing peace with Ukraine, the secretary of state said on Friday, warning that Donald Trump was not going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations" with Russia.We're testing to see if the Russians are interested in peace. Their actions - not their words, their actions - will determine whether they're serious or not, and we intend to find that out sooner rather than later," Marco Rubio told journalists in Brussels after talks with Nato allies. Continue reading...

Rap mogul has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering and sex trafficking as trial begins in Manhattan on 5 MaySean Diddy" Combs was hit with a new federal indictment on Friday charging the hip-hop mogul with five criminal counts including racketeering and sex trafficking, court records showed.Combs had previously faced three criminal counts, to which he has pleaded not guilty and is in federal jail in Brooklyn awaiting trial in Manhattan federal court on 5 May. Continue reading...

Ladies Day visitors wear spectacular outfits with some saying financial sacrifices are worth it to attend Liverpool raceThe tradition of fascinators and hats during Ladies Day is usually more about showcasing excellent style than being practical. But this year, spectators at Aintree had good need for their headwear, as the sun shone at the racecourse for the first time in almost a decade.A crowd of 45,000 people had been predicted, and as temperatures reached 19C on Friday, the Met Office said it was just short of being the warmest Aintree festival this century. Continue reading...

Broadcaster wants to branch out with shows covering crime, history and sport and says he has investors lined upPiers Morgan is planning to create a YouTube empire covering true crime, history and other genres, claiming to have significant players" already lining up to invest.Morgan said he was looking to branch out from his Piers Morgan Uncensored YouTube channel and find a series of mini-mes" to front other shows under the brand. He said his current show was already turning a profit since he broke away from Rupert Murdoch's media empire in January. Continue reading...

US secretary of state says markets will adjust' during press conference following Nato summit in BrusselsAsked further about Ukraine, Rutte lists a number of projects by Nato member states, including Poland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic.He says that the shortest answer" to question on safety guarantees is to adopt measures that make sure that Putin will never, ever try again to get one square kilometer or one square mile of Ukraine in the future, that he knows that there is a deterrence and a defence by which Ukraine can never be attacked in the future." Continue reading...

Trump's new 10% universal tariffs will not apply to many fossil fuel products in sign of his fealty, advocates say

Health secretary says roles will need to be reinstated amid Trump administration's push to slash federal workforce

There are major concerns about the potentially catastrophic' impact US policy will have on vehicle makersEmerging into the springtime sun from gate 17 at Volkswagen's main factory in Wolfsburg at the end of his shift, Carsten, 63, pulled heavily on a cigarette and shook his head when asked about Donald Trump's US tariff policies.It's just another nail in the coffin for the German car industry," the assembly line worker said on Thursday. He cited managers' plans to slash jobs and close factories earlier this year, and a decade before that the dieselgate" scandal -costly financially and reputationally - when Germany's largest carmaker was found to have falsified CO emissions tests. Continue reading...

Moderate Democrat believes she can unseat Republican Derrick Van Orden, who was at the Capitol on January 6Wisconsin's third congressional district has voted for Donald Trump every time he's been on the ballot, but the moderate Democrat Rebecca Cooke, a waitress who grew up on a dairy farm, thinks she can flip the state's most competitive seat next year.Last year, Cooke outperformed other Democrats when she tried to unseat incumbent Derrick Van Orden, a retired US Navy Seal who attended the January 6 Stop the Steal

Closure of Nippon Electric Glass plant would put further pressure on Rachel Reeves's industrial strategy

Impoverished African country is hit with highest tariff rate at 50%, overturning decades of global trade policyThe day after Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs, Lesotho's garment workers feared for their jobs.Last year, Lesotho sent about 20% of its $1.1bn (845m) of exports to the US, most of it clothing, as well as diamonds, under a continent-wide trade agreement meant to help African countries' development via tariff-free exports. Continue reading...

Nicholas Jacobs was immersed in party activities, even working to elect the Musk-favored candidate who lostArchived social media posts from a student Republican operative, Nicholas Jacobs, who received a $1m check from Elon Musk, show that he was deeply immersed in Republican electioneering over the last year, working not only to elect Donald Trump but other party candidates in the state.They included failed Wisconsin Republican senate candidate Eric Hovde; first-term congressman Tony Wied; incumbent Milwaukee Republican vice-chair Brett Galaszewski; and Brad Schimel, the state supreme court candidate whom Musk has spent $25m supporting. Continue reading...

Harvard weighs costs of standing up to president as other elite schools, such as Princeton, signal they won't concedeThe day after the Trump administration announced a review of $9bn in federal contracts and grants with Harvard due to what it claimed was the university's failure to combat antisemitism on campus, the university's president, Alan Garber, sent an email to the Harvard community titled: Our resolve.When we saw the Garber statement's subject line, everybody thought: Oh, great, Harvard's going to stand up!" said Jane Sujen Bock, a board member of the Coalition for a Diverse Harvard, a group of alumni founded in 2016 amid a legal battle over affirmative action. Continue reading...

Joanne Sharkey had previously admitted to manslaughter after incident when she was suffering postnatal depressionA woman who killed her newborn baby 27 years ago while suffering from postnatal depression has been spared jail because her thinking was substantially impaired" by mental illness.Joanne Sharkey, 55, was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility over the death of her days-old son, whose body was found wrapped in bin bags in woodland in 1998. Continue reading...

Helge Lund likely to leave post in 2026, with investor opposition having derailed net zero plansThe chair of BP has announced plans to step down from the struggling oil company after growing shareholder opposition derailed its net zero agenda.The oil company said on Friday that Helge Lund planned to leave his post in due course" once a successor has joined the board, which would most likely" be in 2026. Continue reading...

London's stock market opened at its lowest level since January, while France suggests pause on investing in the US. Plus, what now for TikTok?Good morning.Donald Trump's barrage of tariff announcements has wiped trillions of dollars off the value of the world's largest companies and supercharged recession fears, with London's stock market opening on Friday morning at its lowest level since January.What has the political reaction been? There are some signs of a slight Republican backlash, with the former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell calling tariffs bad policy" that hurt ordinary Americans. McConnell and three other Republican senators backed a Democrat resolution demanding that the 25% tariffs on Canadian products be reversed.Get the latest from our business blog and our US politics blog.Were others fired? Yes - Trump said earlier on Thursday that he had fired some" White House national security council officials. The announcement came a day after the far-right activist Laura Loomer raised concerns with him about staff loyalty. Continue reading...

Chanel Tapper holds Guinness World Records title with her 3.8in tongue that is longer than a medium-sized lightbulbParty tricks are second nature to Chanel Tapper, who has long wielded the Guinness World Records title for woman with the globe's longest tongue.The California native can easily use the 3.8in (9.75cm) organ to remove Jenga blocks from a stack. She can flip red plastic cups with it; touch the tip of her nose as well as under her chin; and raise a spoon by curling it around the utensil. Continue reading...

County councils across England are being elected on 1 May, along with four regional mayors. Find out which areas are voting and search for your ownIn many other years, the first set of local elections with a new government and prime minister in place would be scrutinised keenly as a judgment on the PM's performance so far. This year the runes will be harder to read because so many of the councils that are up are Conservative councils in Conservative areas. Few of the big cities are up, although some university cities and towns will be voting.In contrast, the results will probably be read as judgment on the performance of the new Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch. The last time these council seats were contested, in most cases, was in 2021, when the Conservatives under Boris Johnson were riding high in the polls on the vaccine boost", and before the partygate scandal started to dent their popularity. Continue reading...

Super industry's peak body says majority of hacking attempts stopped but money lost by a small number of customers

Singer-songwriter made more than 30 albums away from the mainstream, inspiring numerous artists in American alternative musicMichael Hurley, the American singer-songwriter whose unique path through the US folk scene made him an inspiration to generations of alternative musicians, has died aged 83.A statement from the family announced his recent sudden passing", though no cause of death has been given. It added: The godfather of freak folk' was for a prolific half-century the purveyor of an eccentric genius and compassionate wit ... There is no other. Friends, family and the music community deeply mourn his loss." Continue reading...

Court of appeal rules Mokbel to be released, saying there is a strong chance' his convictions will be quashed

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Temperature could hit 24C in central England on Friday amid very high to extreme' risk of wildfires across BritainThe UK could experience its warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures higher than European holiday hotspots, after firefighters tackled wildfires in parts of Britain.Much of the country would be dry and sunny on Friday, and some of central England could hit 24C (75F) as weather nearer to what we'd expect in July" continued, the Met Office said. Continue reading...

Damning report by public accounts committee finds some of Tory government's initiatives have worsened the crisisThe official plan to increase access to NHS dental services in England has been a complete failure", and some of the government's initiatives have worsened the crisis, a damning report warns.Millions of patients continue to be denied dental care, forcing them to pay for private treatment, build up mountains of credit card debt, or even worse perform dangerous DIY dentistry on their own teeth, the research by MPs found. Continue reading...

Artwork thought to date from reign of Elizabeth I reveals how those with disposable incomes decorated their homesRare and fantastical 16th-century wall paintings which shine light on the interior design tastes of well-off Tudors have been revealed in a former hunting lodge.Historic England said the wall paintings at The Ashes in Inglewood Forest, Cumbria, were remarkable and warranted extra heritage protection. Continue reading...

Justice committee said the majority of public submissions oppose the legislation, which seeks to reinterpret the country's founding documentA parliamentary committee has recommended a bill that seeks to radically reinterpret New Zealand's founding treaty between Mori tribes and the British Crown should not proceed.The treaty principles bill, which was introduced to parliament by the minor coalition Act party, seeks to abandon a set of well-established principles that guide the relationship between Mori and ruling authorities in favour of its own redefined principles. Continue reading...

Suspended president removed after impeachment over martial law declaration, with acting leader Han Duck-soo to remain in office until election held

Amon is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty to 10 charges, including five counts of sexual intercourse with a person over the age of 10 and under 14

Men arrested at Melbourne sporting venue allegedly carrying loaded firearms after passing through upgraded security

Exclusive: The party's Bennelong candidate Scott Yung was described as young Chinese talent' in the videos that are still live on his page

A man, a woman and five children got out unharmed from blaze that took hold of terraced house in Prescot overnightA 13-year-old girl has died in a house fire near Liverpool.The blaze was found in the first-floor rear bedroom of a mid-terraced house in Kingsway, Prescot late on Wednesday evening, Merseyside police said. Continue reading...

Campaigners denounce cover-up of a cover-up' as IOPC clears officers of scapegoating Liverpool supportersA 12-year investigation into the Hillsborough disaster by the police watchdog has concluded that no senior South Yorkshire police officers were guilty of misconduct for falsely blaming misbehaviour by Liverpool supporters.That police case was wholly rejected in 2016 by the jury at the second inquest, who determined that no behaviour of Liverpool supporters contributed to the disaster, which happened on 15 April 1989 at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium. Continue reading...

Mette Frederiksen, who met island's new and outgoing PMs, says she wants to cooperate with Trump on Arctic securityThe Danish prime minister has put on a show of unity with Greenlandic leaders in her first visit to the Arctic island since Donald Trump's renewed threats to acquire the territory, telling the US: You cannot annex another country."Speaking onboard an inspection ship in front of a military helicopter, alongside Greenland's new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and Greenland's outgoing prime minister, Mute B Egede, Mette Frederiksen switched from Danish to English to address the diplomatic standoff with the Trump administration. Continue reading...