Criminal charges against media outlets have raised concerns about press freedomIranian journalists have warned of a media crackdown after a series of incidents, the most recent an explosion at a munitions company in which one person was killed and two injured.The explosion on Tuesday, for which there has been no official explanation, occurred in Isfahan, only two days after a thwarted cyber-attack on the communications infrastructure on Sunday, and a huge explosion on Saturday at the strategic southern port of Shahid Rajaee, near Bandar Abbas. Continue reading...

Show dips into lucrative holiday market with butter-yellow, lilac and gold lame outfits reflecting beauty of the backdropChanel has a fresh-faced, avant garde new designer but it still stands for classic glamour. This was the loud and clear messaging at the first Chanel show since Matthieu Blazy took up his role. The show was held at Villa d'Este, the Lake Como palace hotel where Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich holidayed and which Alfred Hitchcock, who filmed The Pleasure Garden there, pronounced the most beautiful place on earth.The location, booked a year in advance, provided the theme: life in a grand hotel. Think White Lotus on Lake Como, art directed by Slim Aarons. First on to the pebbled catwalk weaving through the hotel's terrace was a white bathrobe-style coat. Then there were capri pants in the butter yellow of the hotel parasols, and a lilac tweed suit to match the wisteria trailing overhead. Models swung tote bags big enough for pool towels, while gold lame cover-ups glinted as dazzling as sun on the lake. Continue reading...

Exclusive: US officials have split negotiations with countries into three phases, sources say, with South Korea taking priorityDonald Trump has made a trade deal with the UK a second-order priority, sources have told the Guardian, hampering British attempts to meet their mid-May deadline.US officials have decided to split their negotiations with more than a dozen other countries into three phases, with the UK being placed in either phase two or three, according to people who have been briefed on the talks. Continue reading...

Accusation from UN agency comes as Red Crescent medic held since deadly Israeli attack on ambulances is freedThe embattled UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, has accused Israel of abusing dozens of its staff in military detention and using some as human shields.The head of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, said that more than 50 staff members, including teachers, doctors and social workers, had been detained and abused since the start of the 18 month-long war in Gaza. Continue reading...

Following election loss to Mark Carney's Liberals, Poilievre is likely to face questions over his future as party leader

Xuan Phuong, a war correspondent who is now 96, recalls her entry into the city after South Vietnam's surrenderThe day that Saigon fell, Xuan Phuong, a war correspondent, could only hear shouting and commotion. It was 30 April 1975, and helicopters were frantically lifting personnel and civilians from the US embassy.Phuong, who had travelled down from the north, was initially held back by troops who said fighting was still continuing. When she was finally able to reach the centre of the city the following day, 1 May, she found chaos. Clothes and luggage were scattered and discarded along the streets. Buildings were being looted. Continue reading...

Reports on group thought to have previously hit MGM Resorts come as Marks & Spencer online orders still pausedA major cyber-attack on Marks & Spencer has been linked to a hacking collective known as Scattered Spider, which is previously thought to have hit MGM Resorts and the US casino operator Caesars.The group, which has previously been found to include people in their 20s from the UK and the US - some of whom faced charges over attempts to steal cryptocurrency via phishing attacks in the US - are reported to have encrypted key M&S systems using ransomware, according to the technology specialist site BleepingComputer. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereSeverin Carrell is the Guardian's Scotland editor.Keir Starmer is not expected to campaign in the Hamilton byelection, a critical contest for Scottish Labour which takes place in early June, Anas Sarwar has confirmed.I wouldn't expect Keir to be campaigning in the byelection. That's not to say he won't, but I'm not expecting Kier to campaign in the byelection.I'll be on the stump campaigning for a Labour win. I'm the candidate for first minister next year. I'm the one that wants to remove the SNP from government.Next year, we've got to demonstrate to people that for all Nigel Farage might want to come here with his easy answers and create a bit of a circus, the reality is a vote for Reform only helps the SNP. If you want to get rid of the SNP, only Scottish Labour can beat them. Continue reading...

Party written off months ago completes remarkable comeback after US president's threats boosted campaign

Coalition's outline of changes to national curriculum based on critical thinking' and common sense' is yet to be revealed

The previously safe Liberal electorate Tangney fell to Labor's Sam Lim - a former dolphin trainer - in the red wave of 2022. Now Howard Ong is fighting to win it back

At about 250 to 260 eggs a person each year, our egg consumption is very high by international standards

Exclusive: As they wait on latest weather forecasts, concert goers delay buying tickets. But this has caused some major events to cancel

Spain and Portugal electricity services returning to normal after being hit by biggest power cut in recent European historyPortuguese power network operator REN denied on Tuesday it was behind a message circulated on social media attributing the massive blackout across the Iberian peninsula to a rare atmospheric event, AFP reported.REN confirms we did not put out this statement," spokesperson Bruno Silva told AFP, without giving further details. Continue reading...

Jury shown phone footage with sound of chainsaw and toppling tree taken by pair, who deny criminal damageTwo men filmed themselves using a chainsaw to fell the famous Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian's Wall in an act of mindless criminal damage", a court has heard.Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, embarked on a moronic mission" to cut down in minutes a tree that had stood for more than 100 years, the prosecutor Richard Wright KC told Newcastle crown court. Continue reading...

Brooke Bellamy denies taking recipes from fellow cookbook author Nagi Maehashi who said it felt like blatant exploitation'

UK and rest of Europe risk losing out to US and China unless they ramp up spending on new medicines, says CEO Pascal Soriot

The American actor told Bill Maher's podcast that he had asked Quincy Jones about the singer's sexuality and felt he couldn't play that character 100%'The actor Terrence Howard has said that he declined the role of Marvin Gaye in a film, because he didn't want to kiss another man.Speaking to Bill Maher on his Club Random podcast, the actor said the biggest mistake" of his career was turning down the leading role in a separate biopic of the singer Smokey Robinson - which Robinson had personally asked him to play. Continue reading...

Owen Lawrence, 38, is believed to have shot two women with crossbow on Saturday afternoon before turning weapon on himselfA man suspected of attacking two women in the Headingley area of Leeds on Saturday afternoon during an attempted misogynistic massacre" has died overnight, counter-terrorism police have confirmed.Owen Lawrence, 38, is believed to shot the women, aged 19 and 31, with a crossbow before turning the weapon on himself at the scene on Otley Road, a popular pub crawl route. Continue reading...

Rock star co-founded cancer charity that helped sign up 250,000 people as stem cell donorsMike Peters, frontman of the Welsh band The Alarm, has died from blood cancer aged 66.The rock star, who was forced to cancel a US tour last year after being diagnosed with fast-growing lymphoma, had been undergoing treatment at the Christie NHS foundation trust in Manchester. Continue reading...

Long-awaited ruling means cash-for-citizenship programme that allowed people to live and work in bloc must be scrapped

Prime minister tells Canadians that America wants our land, our resources, our water' and promises to protect country

Leonardo, who went on the run from his home in Ulverston, covered distance at pace of about 6 metres a dayWhen Leonardo the tortoise went missing from his home in Cumbria nine months ago, his owners feared the worst.But the intrepid testudine has been found about a mile from his home in Ulverston - covering the distance at an average pace of 6 metres a day. Continue reading...

Victoria McCloud brings action against UK for infringement of her human rights after ruling on biological sexBritain's first transgender judge is taking the UK to the European court of human rights over the supreme court's ruling on biological sex.The UK supreme court ruled earlier this month that the terms woman" and sex" in the Equality Act referred only to a biological woman and to biological sex, with subsequent guidance from the equality watchdog amounting to a blanket ban on trans people using toilets and other services of the gender they identify as. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed

First Indigenous Australian to serve as federal minister says to politicise it just adds to the division'

Museums in Belfast, Cardiff, Perth, Warwickshire and County Durham compete for 120,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year awardFive UK museums, all alive with ideas and energy", in Belfast, Cardiff, Perth, Warwickshire and County Durham are to compete for the world's largest prize given to a museum.The Art Fund Museum of the Year prize offers the winner a gamechanging prize of 120,000, with 15,000 going to each of the other finalists. Continue reading...

IET report says running cables below ground about four and a half times more expensive than overhead linesLabour has vowed to press ahead with its plans to build more pylons across England and Wales, a subject of local political division, as a report says underground electricity cables are more than four times more expensive than overhead lines.Pylons have become one of the key electoral issues in a number of counties including Lincolnshire, which is a local election battleground this week. Reform and the Conservatives have called for electricity cables to be buried underground rather than carried overhead by pylons. Continue reading...

Insp Amy Scott, who shot Joel Cauchi in April 2024, tells Sydney inquest she was trained to stop the killing, stop the dying'

Williams says he did not attempt to impose actions or outcomes on any editorial managers' with emails about comedian

Officials draft declaration to help tackle fluctuations' in world economyThe UK and the EU have outlined a new strategic partnership" aimed at bolstering trade and presenting a united European front in Ukraine in defiance of Donald Trump's threat to upend decades of transatlantic alignment.A draft declaration being drawn up by London and Brussels ahead of a UK-EU summit on 19 May points to a common understanding" on a number of shared interests. Continue reading...

While the government's savings are a worthy target', achieving them may not be a straightforward process', some say

All Zionists are terrorists' allegedly chanted outside court where Tayeh was appearing on charges relating to the alleged use of the same phrase

Common Wealth says private gas-fired stations can charge exorbitant fees when renewable energy is in short supplyBritain's gas power stations should be nationalised to prevent their owners from holding the electricity market to ransom", a thinktank has urged.The country's dwindling fossil fuel power plants are ripe for nationalisation as ministers aim to reduce gas consumption to just 5% of the electricity system by 2030, according to a report by Common Wealth. Continue reading...

Canadian PM right candidate for the moment in success shaped more by chance than meticulous planningMark Carney, the economist, banker and politician, has long professed a simple article of faith when navigating through crisis: A plan beats no plan."And his rapid ascent to Canada's top job might be taken as evidence of such preparation. Continue reading...

Campaigners warn against removing group as statutory consultee as part of plan to speed up building new homesThousands of playing fields could be lost to housing if the government strips Sport England of its role in national planning policy, campaigners have warned.As part of the national planning and infrastructure bill the government has said it wants to speed up the delivery of new homes and critical infrastructure" by removing the powers of some of the statutory consultees on planning decisions. Continue reading...

The outage, blamed by operators on temperature variations, left tens of millions without electricityLights flickered back to life across most of Spain and Portugal on Tuesday after a massive blackout hit the Iberian peninsula, stranding passengers in trains and elevators while millions lost phone and internet coverage.Electricity had been restored to nearly 90% of mainland Spain by early on Tuesday, the grid operator REE said. Power was restored overnight to around 6.2m households in Portugal out of 6.5m, according to the national electricity grid operator. Lights also came on again in Madrid and in Portugal's capital, Lisbon. Continue reading...

This blog has now closed. You can read our latest wrap of developments here.We are just getting a line from Reuters news agency saying that the Conclave to elect new pope will start on 7 May, according to its source.We have not independently verified this report. Continue reading...

Dairy-based drinks and non-dairy substitutes could be taxed as soft drinks under plans put out for consultationThe sugar tax applied to fizzy drinks could be extended to milkshakes and similar treats under government proposals.Plans to end the exemption from the levy for dairy-based drinks, as well as non-dairy substitutes such as oats or rice, were put out for consultation on Monday. Continue reading...

Amendment to bill would affect anyone who qualifies for sex offender register, but charities concerned that move is being rushedForeign nationals convicted of sex offences will be banned from claiming asylum in the UK, Yvette Cooper has said, as Labour attempts to fight off the threat from the Reform party before Thursday's local elections.For the first time, anyone from overseas who qualifies for the sex offender register will be excluded from refugee protections. Continue reading...

Detectives Crockett and Tubbs are set to return in a new big screen take on the 80s cop show from Joseph KosinskiDetectives Crockett and Tubbs are in line for a new look with the 80s cop show Miami Vice set to make a big-screen comeback.The Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski has been set as director of a new take on the NBC series which followed two undercover cops trying to dismantle the world of illegal drugs in Miami. Continue reading...

Ronen Bar to leave role in June, having been sacked by the PM only for the supreme court to block that decision

Revealed: Sources say bosses at R&A, which organises the annual golf tournament, were quizzed about 2028 eventSenior Whitehall officials have asked golf bosses whether they can host the 2028 Open championship at Donald Trump's Turnberry course after repeated requests from the US president, sources have said.Officials had asked senior people at the R&A, which organises the world's oldest major golf championship, what the hurdles would be to hosting the 2028 Open at Turnberry. Continue reading...

Fashion revival and warm weather had boosted the retailer - but the attack has halted website sales

PM says supporters of both groups are being misled and a tie-up would be a disaster' for BritainDowning Street has described the alleged comments by the band Kneecap in the kill MP' footage (see 12.10pm) as completely unacceptable".At the morning lobby briefing, the PM's spokesperson described the comments as completely unacceptable".We do not think individuals expressing those views should be receiving government funding.That's up to the group, but clearly the PM rejects the views expressed ... does not shy away from condemning them.I don't want to see strike action, I don't think anybody wants to see strike action.And certainly here we are in a healthcare environment with all the staff working really hard. The last thing they want to do is to go into dispute again. Continue reading...

Several countries in Europe have been scrambling to restore electricity after a huge power cut causing blackouts

Court considering if Israel acted unlawfully by cutting ties with Unwra with claim it is starving, killing and displacing Palestinians'Israel appears set on destroying the framework created to ensure compliance with international law in a way that will have profound consequences that reverberate far beyond Palestine, the international court of justice has heard.The warning was made at the start of five days of proceedings in The Hague that may prove critical to Israel's future within the world body. The UN's top court will hear from dozens of nations and organisations in order to draw up an advisory opinion on Israel's humanitarian obligations to Palestinians more than 50 days into its total blockade on aid entering Gaza. Continue reading...

Scott Pelley castigated network over independence pending sale to Skydance Media requiring Trump's approval

Broadcaster said trolling got too bad' and at least two death threats against him were being investigated by policeFor many cyclists, Jeremy Vine's commitment to filming drivers he regarded as endangering his fellow two-wheeled travellers made him a hero. It also made the presenter the target of some extraordinary online hate from those who accused him of persecuting motorists.After years of documenting clashes and close shaves on the road, Vine has announced he is ending his sharing of footage, saying the fallout they generated had become too hard to bear. I'm stopping my cycling videos," he announced. The trolling just got too bad. They have had well over 100m views but in the end the anger they generate has genuinely upset me." Continue reading...