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Campaigner calls compensation schemes quasi-kangaroo courts' after final offer made in response to his appealSir Alan Bates, who led the 20-year campaign for justice for post office operators over the Horizon scandal, has revealed he has been handed a take it or leave it" compensation offer of less than half his original claim.The 70-year-old, who was knighted last year, has accused the government of presiding over a quasi-kangaroo court" system for the compensation. Continue reading...

Kim Jong-Un vowed to punish those found responsible for criminal' damage to new 5,000-tonne naval destroyerNorth Korea has detained three people over an accident that occurred during the launch of a new warship this past week, state media reported early on Sunday.Pyongyang has said that a serious accident occurred" at Wednesday's launch ceremony in the eastern port city of Chongjin for a newly built 5,000-tonne naval destroyer, in which sections of the bottom of the vessel were crushed. Continue reading...

Councils will get powers to impose delayed home penalty' under latest government proposalsDevelopers face tens of thousands of pounds in fines if they slow down housebuilding under new powers being granted to councils to help deliver 1.5m homes.Under government proposals, housebuilders will need to commit to a timeframe for construction before they are granted planning permission, and deliver annual reports on their progress. Those who repeatedly fail to build or sit on land could be fined with a delayed homes penalty" or blocked from future planning permission by councils. Continue reading...

David Crisafulli's small-target election campaign has created problems for how the LNP governs that are already beginning to show through

Exclusive: Authors of two major superannuation reviews suggest proposal to trim tax breaks on $3m super balances might not be perfect but is the right way to go'

Dai Roberts, 39, was pronounced dead at the scene near Duns in the Scottish BordersA co-driver taking part in the Jim Clark rally in Scotland has died after a crash on Saturday morning.Dai Roberts, 39, was pronounced dead at the scene near Duns in the Scottish Borders. Continue reading...

Dr Alaa al-Najjar was on duty at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis when she received her children's bodiesAn Israeli airstrike on Gaza hit the home of a doctor, killing nine of her 10 children while she was on duty at her hospital.Dr Alaa al-Najjar, a paediatric specialist at al-Tahrir hospital within the Nasser medical complex, was treating victims of ongoing Israeli attacks across the Palestinian territory on Friday when she received the bodies of nine of her children killed by a strike in Khan Younis. The eldest of the children was 12. Continue reading...

Former prime minister and his wife share news of Poppy Eliza Josephine Johnson's arrival in an Instagram postThe former prime minister Boris Johnson and his wife, Carrie Johnson, have welcomed a fourth baby to the family.The former leader of the Conservative party can be seen holding his daughter, Poppy Eliza Josephine Johnson, in an Instagram post shared on Saturday. Continue reading...

Environmental campaigner and former lead singer of the Undertones tells Daily Express problem now resolvedFeargal Sharkey has urged men to get tested for prostate cancer after revealing he was diagnosed with the disease after a GP visit for a sore throat.The environmental campaigner and former lead singer of the Undertones said the health problem was resolved" a year ago. Continue reading...

Man in custody after girl, 15, two boys, eight and four, and woman, 43, killed in house blaze in Brent's Stonebridge areaA man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a mother and three of her children were killed in a house fire in north-west London.Police confirmed on Saturday afternoon that the four people who died in the early hours of the morning in the Stonebridge area of Brent were from the same family. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereIn its latest humanitarian update on Friday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) called for more aid in Gaza to meet the massive needs" of the territory.Ocha said the small amounts of supplies being allowed into the Gaza Strip are nowhere near enough to roll back the extreme deprivation that Gaza's population is facing". Continue reading...

Relatives of late actor Tim Pigott-Smith among those threatening to exhume remains over redevelopmentFamilies who have relatives buried in Highgate cemetery have threatened to exhume the remains of their loved ones over plans to build a toilet block on the burial ground as part of an 18m redevelopment of the UK's most visited graveyard.Among those opposed to the plans are the family of the actor Tim Pigott-Smith, who described the project, which also includes the building of a new gardener's hut, as horrific". Continue reading...

Attack occurs hours after Russia and Ukraine begin prisoner exchange in deal seen as first step towards ceasefireRussia has launched a large-scale drone and missile attack on Kyiv, injuring 15 people in one of the biggest assaults on the Ukrainian capital since the beginning of the war more than three years ago.The attack came in waves, with Russia launching 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones in the early hours of Saturday, although Ukrainian forces shot down six missiles and stopped most of the drones before they reached Kyiv. Continue reading...

Irish-language rap trio perform at London festival after member charged for allegedly displaying Hezbollah flag Kneecap review - rap trio remain unbowed by terror chargeThousands of fans showed up to support Kneecap at a festival they headlined on Friday night despite the terrorism charge hanging over one of the members of the hip-hop trio.The Irish-language act performed at the Wide Awake festival in Brockwell Park, south London, two days after band member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in London in November. Continue reading...

President's visit to military academy occurs as books are banned and clubs disbanded in line with anti-DEI policeDonald Trump will address graduates of West Point on Saturday, as his administration moves to implement a rightwing agenda at military service academies that has prompted the disbandment of student clubs, the removal of certain books and at least one faculty resignation.It will be the second time Trump has spoken to graduates of the United States Military Academy in upstate New York where the next generation of army leaders is educated, and offers the president an opportunity to stump for his defense policy. Continue reading...

Incident next to Gujarat border comes two weeks after four-day conflict between the two countriesIndian border troops shot dead a Pakistani man who they said had crossed the international frontier and did not stop when challenged, the force has said.The shooting comes two weeks after India and Pakistan agreed a ceasefire after a four-day conflict, in which more than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Schools minister declines to rule out replacing EHCP documents as part of plans to change Send systemHundreds of thousands of children with special needs could lose their legal entitlement to extra support in schools in England under plans being considered by ministers, a move that campaigners warn could force thousands more pupils out of mainstream education.The reforms relate to education, health and care plans (EHCPs), statutory documents families have relied on for more than a decade to guarantee their children's right to support for conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and mental health issues. Continue reading...

AEC says it is considering recount request while opponent Wilson says he hopes Daniel finds peace'Zoe Daniel has requested the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) conduct a recount in the seat of Goldstein after Liberal Tim Wilson emerged 260 votes ahead after the final distribution of preferences.The AEC automatically recounts votes if the margin is less than 100, but candidates can also request one if they believe they have sufficient grounds to do so.Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Continue reading...

Ministers told symbols matter' and move would give Palestine stronger footing in future peace talksMinisters are under pressure from inside and outside Labour to recognise Palestinian statehood at a UN conference next month, with party grandees arguing it would bolster prospects for peace and demonstrate moral leadership amid escalating tensions.

Simon Case urges ministers to develop new means of launching UK's nuclear deterrent and says the west needs to get our skates on and be ready'The next 20 years will be dominated by conflict between nations, the former head of the civil service has said.Simon Case, who stood down as cabinet secretary in December, made the warning in his first major interview since leaving the job. Continue reading...

Couple caught out after buying fraudulently obtained points from scammer on social mediaHolidaymakers hoping to use frequent flyer points to reduce the cost of their holiday have been warned to beware of fraudsters claiming to sell them on third-party websites.In a case that highlights the dangers of buying points through unofficial channels, a young couple were left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after they were defrauded by a scammer who claimed to be selling them British Airways loyalty points. Continue reading...

A Guardian investigation revealed how hundreds of thousands of people were plunged into debt - and some criminalised - for looking after their loved onesOne February afternoon in 2016, Sir Robert Devereux, at the time the most powerful official in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), was stopped by a junior colleague as he walked through the car park of a civil service office in Preston, Lancashire. Was he aware, the worker asked, about the problems with carer's allowance?Devereux, on a flying visit to the DWP outpost, asked for details and promised to look into it. A few days later, Devereux's office received a long and detailed note, complete with 80 anonymised case studies, setting out how years of shortcomings in the administration of the carer's allowance benefit had wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers' money and inflicted untold hardship and misery on thousands of unpaid carers. Continue reading...

SES warns the worst impacts that people feel are often after the event' as areas reel from devastating' floods

Reform promised much to voters and now runs 8bn worth of public services. After three weeks, what has party accomplished?When Nigel Farage held a victory lap of England after his mammoth local elections win on 1 May, he was characteristically bullish about Reform UK's plan to shake up town halls.The party would send in Elon Musk-style budget-slashing units, he said, while promising to turf out asylum seekers and any civil servants working on climate change or diversity. Continue reading...

Disabled activists say supreme court ruling has left trans community at similar risk of exclusion from public spacesDisabled rights campaigners say they are watching in horror" as the UK's trans community faces similar toilet segregation and exclusion from public spaces that they do.The aftermath of the supreme court ruling on biological sex has led to organisations banning trans people from using the toilets of the gender they live as, with accessible facilities frequently promoted as a solution. Continue reading...

Good Night Scrub park, about an hour from where the 17-year-old was last seen, is crucial' to land, water and aerial search

Social media users are being tricked by false ads advertising fictitious sales - and consumers say the platforms must take action

Rafa Trzaskowski, from the governing pro-EU coalition, faces Eurosceptic populist rightwing historian Karol Nawrocki ahead of run-offPolish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week's run-off, which remains on a knife-edge.During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, the centrist Warsaw mayor Rafa Trzaskowski, from prime minister Donald Tusk's governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the populist rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS). Continue reading...

Officials say Michail Chkhikvishvili is the leader of a neo-Nazi group that promotes violence against minoritiesThe leader of an eastern European neo-Nazi group has been extradited to the United States from Moldova following his arrest last summer for allegedly instructing an undercover federal agent to dress as Santa Claus and hand out poisoned candy to Jewish children and racial minorities, prosecutors said.Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old from the republic of Georgia, was arraigned on Friday before a federal judge in Brooklyn on multiple felonies, including soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence. Continue reading...

Three pensioners and a man in his 30s jailed as four others convicted of related chargesFour men have been found guilty of breaking into a luxury residence in Paris and stealing jewellery worth millions of euros from the American reality TV star Kim Kardashian when she attended fashion week in 2016.Three pensioners and one man in his 30s were convicted of carrying out the armed heist, which was thought to be the biggest robbery of an individual in France in 20 years. Four other people were found guilty of assisting in the plot or related charges. Two people were acquitted of accusations they handed out information about Kardashian's whereabouts. Continue reading...

Ivy League school filed suit accusing White House of unconstitutional retaliation for defying its demands

Police say six victims critically wounded in attack by 39-year-old assailant in Germany's second-largest cityGerman police have arrested a woman after at least 12 people were injured in a knife attack at the main station in the northern city of Hamburg.Some of the injured sustained life-threatening injuries in the stabbing, emergency services said, although the exact number remained unclear. Continue reading...

Trump's latest tariff threats set the stage for a familiar play - and an inevitable U-turnHere we go again. Donald Trump has unleashed a spate of tariff storms over the past four months. Each has left businesses, in the US and across the world, clearing up the damage - and struggling to see what happens next.The US president conjured up two fresh hurricanes on Friday, threatening the EU, his country's largest collective trading partner, and Apple, one of his country's largest companies, with sweeping duties. Continue reading...

Trump administration's effort to ban foreign enrolment could force students to disrupt their studies and careersBritish and international students at Harvard report growing anxiety" over their fate, as the Trump administration's latest attack on the university could force them to disrupt their studies and careers.On Thursday, the administration said it would revoke Harvard University's eligibility to enrol international students, which was later temporarily frozen by a US federal judge on Friday. Continue reading...

Bertrice Pompe and Bernadette Dugasse won a brief victory in bid to stop transfer of Chagos Islands to MauritiusTwo women who brought an 11th-hour legal challenge to try to stop the UK transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius have accused the government of betrayal.British Chagossians Bertrice Pompe, 54, and Bernadette Dugasse, 68, who were both born on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia, vowed to keep fighting to try to realise their dream of returning to their place of birth. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Flagship policy put back until at least autumn amid fears cost of removing two-child benefit cap will outweigh political benefitLabour's flagship child poverty strategy has been delayed until at least the autumn, the Guardian has learned, even though tens of thousands more children will fall into poverty as a result.The decision to push back the strategy comes amid Treasury concerns about the cost implications of the two-child limit on universal credit and questions inside No 10 over the political benefits of scrapping it. Continue reading...

Firefighters expect to be on scene all weekend at Sanders Lodge site in RushdenA major incident has been declared as firefighters tackled a huge fire at an industrial estate in Northamptonshire.A plume of smoke was billowing over the Sanders Lodge site in the town of Rushden on Friday, leading emergency services to warn people to close their doors and windows as they battled to stop the flames spreading. Continue reading...

Two men linked to Sheikh Hasina prevented from selling properties, including apartments in Grosvenor SquareThe UK's serious and organised crime agency has frozen almost 90m of luxury London property belonging to two men linked to the deposed ruler of Bangladesh.In a development that comes after mounting pressure on the UK to assist Bangladesh in tracing assets linked to the former regime, the National Crime Agency (NCA) obtained nine freezing orders, official records show. Continue reading...

David Parish, 38, was said to be actively psychotic' when he attacked Beryl Purdy at her home in SomersetThe family of an 86-year-old beaten to death in a Somerset village have said her killer has escaped a life sentence" after he was sentenced to six years in prison.David Parish, 38, had been taken to Wellsprings hospital near Taunton but left and made his way to the tiny village of Broomfield, where he killed Beryl Bez" Purdy in her home after trapping her husband, Peter, in the kitchen, Bristol crown court heard. Continue reading...

There were fears latest meeting could collapse but both sides appear willing for more talks on uranium enrichmentTalks between Iran and the US on whether Iran will be allowed to continue to enrich uranium inside the country have ended without an agreement, but apparently without the feared breakdown.The indirect talks between the two sides were mediated by Oman and held in Rome. Continue reading...

The 76-year-old singer has canceled all concerts owing to diagnosis, which can lead to problems with hearing, vision and balance'Billy Joel has canceled all upcoming concerts after he was diagnosed with the brain disorder normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), the singer announced on Friday.The condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision and balance", according to a statement posted to the 76-year-old singer's official Instagram. Under his doctor's instructions, Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period. Billy is thankful for the excellent care he is receiving and is fully committed to prioritizing his health." Continue reading...

Glamping company Yurtel, whose packages for festival started at 10,000 a head, entered insolvency this monthGlastonbury fans who paid more than 10,000 each for glamping packages have been left out of pocket and face missing the festival after the company through which they booked their tickets entered liquidation.In an email sent to some customers, Yurtel, which provided what it calls a luxury festival experience, said it would be unable to fulfil its future obligations" to them after entering insolvency this month. Continue reading...

Reform UK leader said he'd exchanged contracts' to buy property last November, but it's in name of Laure FerrariNigel Farage claimed with great fanfare last year to have bought a house" in Clacton - but it turns out the substantial detached property is owned in the name of his girlfriend.The Reform UK leader said he had exchanged contracts" to buy the house in Essex last November, saying it should deal with criticism that he does not spend enough time in the constituency. Continue reading...

Defamation suit claims Marubo people were depicted in story as tech-addled and porn-obsessed after introduction of internetAn Indigenous tribe from the Brazilian Amazon has sued the New York Times, saying the newspaper's reporting on the tribe's first exposure to the internet led to its members being widely portrayed as technology-addled and addicted to pornography.The Marubo tribe of the remote Javari valley, a community of about 2,000 people, filed the defamation lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages this week in a court in Los Angeles. Continue reading...

UN secretary-general says Israel has only allowed a teaspoon of aid' into the territory after latest strikes

This blog is now closed. Read more of our Middle East coverage hereHere are some of the latest images being sent to us over the newswires from Gaza, where relentless Israeli attacks are continuing to kill civilians across the territory:Aid workers are wrestling with moves by Israel and the US to impose a controversial new aid system for Gaza, which would limit distribution to a few locations and put it under armed private contractors - to prevent theft by Hamas, Israel says. Continue reading...

Monthly publication has been going for 104 years and is seeking increased investment in its digital productsThe Cricketer magazine, a 104-year-old monthly publication that has been edited by some of the game's most notable grandees, is searching for a new owner.The title was founded by the former England captain turned cricket writer Sir Pelham Plum" Warner in 1921, who remained involved until his death in 1963. Other editors have included some of the best known names in cricket writing and broadcasting, including EW Swanton, Christopher Martin-Jenkins and David Frith. Continue reading...

Merz told Xi about the common efforts of Europe and the EU to bring about a quick ceasefire in Ukraine'For more coverage of Trump's tariffs threats - which also include a warning that Apple must pay a 25% tariff unless it manufactures its iPhones in the US - follow our business live blog here:US president Donald Trump has just called the EU very difficult to deal with," lamenting the bloc's powerful Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against American Companies, and more" (original capitalisation!).Our discussions with them are going nowhere!Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. Continue reading...

Tata Consulting Services said to be holding internal inquiry into whether its staff or systems were used to gain access

Site with annual revenues of 1bn in discussions with consortium led by US investment firm Forest Road CompanyThe owner of OnlyFans, the subscription platform used by millions for its adult content, is in talks to sell the UK-based business for $8bn (5.9bn).The site's owner, Fenix International, is in discussions with a consortium led by the US investment firm Forest Road Company (FRC), whose board members include Kevin Mayer, who was an executive at Disney for nearly 15 years and also briefly ran TikTok. Continue reading...