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Watchdog finds complaints against City of Sanctuary UK were misleading and false after online attacks over its migrant welcome projectA refugee charity subjected to vicious social media attacks over a migrant welcome project in schools has been cleared after watchdogs found allegations it encouraged pupils to send Valentine's Day cards to asylum seekers were misleading and false.City of Sanctuary UK came under fire last year after rumours spread online that under its schools programme, children were being forced" to write heart-shaped welcome cards to adult migrants, including cards addressed to my fiance". Continue reading...

London gallery to undergo biggest transformation in its 200-year history, with Kengo Kuma's design called exemplary'The National Gallery has announced that its largest and most significant transformation in its 200-year history will be designed by the Japanese architect behind Tokyo's Olympic stadium.The new wing will be designed by Kengo Kuma as part of Project Domani, the gallery's expansion into art from the 20th and 21st centuries. Its completion will make the National Gallery the only museum in the world that exclusively displays paintings where visitors will be able to view the entire history of painting in the western tradition. Continue reading...

The Reform UK leader says he is shocked' by the remarks which were over the top in every single way'The Green party is backing resident doctors who are on strike. This morning the party issued a statement on the dispute from its co-deputy leader, Mothin Ali, saying:Rather than shifting goalposts or arm twisting resident doctors with threats over training places, Wes Streeting needs to get serious about resolving resident doctors long term concerns over pay, training and working conditions. The government's 10-year plan for the NHS will go nowhere if the workforce feels unappreciated, devalued and demotivated.I think I'm going to stay out of the selection of music by different bands. We live in a free country; people are going to say things. Let's just let people listen to the music they want to.People should choose their music and they don't really they need advice from John Swinney unless they want to listen to The Jam or Amy McDonald.Well, the government should go on and take their decisions within their powers, but I'm not going to give a running commentary on music taste. Continue reading...

Steven Stewart and Mark Shephard claim in high court that LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme is structurally unfair'Two veterans who were forced to resign for being gay due to a ban on LGBT personnel in the armed forces have launched legal action against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) over a scheme set up to compensate them.Steven Stewart, 55, and Mark Shephard, 49, who were both effectively forced to resign" from the military due to their sexuality, and faced enduring psychological and relational harm", are taking legal action against the MoD over the rules of the LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme, with their lawyers telling the high court that it is structurally unfair". Continue reading...

US vice-president claims the bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to destroy the economy of Hungary'... and here they are!JD Vance and Usha Vance off the Air Force Two, welcomed by Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto as they begin their two-day trip to the Hungarian capital. Continue reading...

Pheap Rom was one of 15 people sent to prison in African kingdom last year despite completing US sentencesA Cambodian man deported by the US said he would have accepted being sent to Cambodia, but instead ended up imprisoned in Eswatini, a country he knew so little about that when he first read the name he thought it was another immigration detention centre in Louisiana.Pheap Rom, who had been convicted of attempted murder, was one of 10 deportees sent to Eswatini by the US in October 2025. They joined a group of five men, from Cambodia, Cuba, Jamaica, Vietnam and Yemen, who were deported to the small southern African country in July. All were sent to a maximum-security prison. Rom was deported from Eswatini to Cambodia in March. Continue reading...

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square claims world's biggest music company has suffered because of delay of US listing

Authorities launch investigation after human remains found at DeForest Park in Long Beach

Madrid and Basque government leaders call each other provincial' in dispute over the artworkA row has broken out between the Madrid and Basque regional governments in Spain over the latter's request for Guernica, probably Picasso's most celebrated work, to be housed temporarily in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao to mark the 90th anniversary of the bombing of the Basque town.The work has hung in the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid since 1992 and repeated requests for it to be moved to the Basque Country have been refused. Continue reading...

Planning application expected shortly as London City airport and bank reach agreement for 265m-high building

Bread and biscuits made from Crispr-edited wheat showed substantially reduced acrylamide levels, even after toastingGene-edited wheat which can make bread less carcinogenic when toasted has been successfully developed by scientists.Researchers at Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, used Crispr genome editing which allows researchers to selectively edit the DNA of living organisms. This revolutionary technology was adapted for use in the laboratory from naturally occurring genome editing systems found in bacteria. Continue reading...

Campaign Against Antisemitism calls on rapper to cancel gigs, while rapper offers to meet Jewish representativesKanye West will face mass protests if his three-night residency at London's Wireless festival goes ahead, according to Jewish groups who say that if the rapper is truly sorry for his antisemitic remarks he should cancel this summer's gigs.In a statement on Tuesday, West, who is legally known as Ye, offered to meet and listen" to members of the UK's Jewish community after a backlash over his planned appearance at the festival in July. Continue reading...

Oil prices seesaw and stock markets on edge amid Donald Trump's deadline for Iran to reopen strait of Hormuz

Licensed school teacher and one-time police officer among those participating in riot-style gatherings as experts warn of threat to public safetyA network of militant neo-Nazi active clubs from around the US has been participating in riot-style combat events with other white nationalist groups in Virginia as part of what their founder called a tip-off point for a fascist cultural revolution".Social media posts and group chats show members of so-called active clubs from Texas, Tennessee and Pennsylvania have in recent weeks and months travelled to Lynchburg, Virginia to train together at a secretive compound. The compound is run by the Wolves of Vinland, which the civil rights watchdog the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as a neopagan white nationalist hate group. Also present were members of the white supremacist hate group Patriot Front and the neo-Nazi skinhead group known as the Hammerskins. Continue reading...

The US president has threatened to bomb power plants and bridges unless Iran reopens the strait of Hormuz. Plus, the US origins of Mexico's toxic waste problemGood morning.Israel has told Iranians their lives will be at risk if they use the country's railways on Tuesday, after Donald Trump's threats to destroy Iran's bridges and power plants unless a deal is reached by Tuesday evening.How are negotiations to end the war going? They appeared to be faltering. Iran, which has submitted its own 10-point peace plan, said it wanted a permanent end to the war, not a ceasefire.What is the latest on oil prices? Oil traded at more than $110 a barrel on Tuesday.This is a developing story. Follow our liveblog for updates. Continue reading...

Minister says change for plan 2 and 3 loans in England and Wales will protect borrowers' from impact of global conflict

Petrol prices have stopped falling, despite the federal government's cut to the fuel excise last week

Roberts-Smith previously failed in his attempt to sue three newspapers which published allegations he murdered unarmed civilians and bullied comrades

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The bank is closed and the door is locked', says Zia Yusuf as calls grow for compensation to remedy historical wrongsReform UK has said it would stop issuing visas to any person from a country which continues to demand compensation from the UK for its role in the transatlanctic trade in enslaved people.Zia Yusuf, the party's home affairs spokesperson, told the Daily Telegraph that the call for reparations was insulting". Continue reading...

UN assists in emergency vaccination drive as country battles worst surge in cases in years amid fall in vaccination ratesBangladesh is battling its worse measles outbreak in years, with more than 100 children dead amid a rise in unvaccinated infants.The government, in partnership with the United Nations, has begun conducting an emergency measles-rubella vaccination drive for children across the country, after more than 900 cases were confirmed since March. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: As cases charged hit their highest level on record in England and Wales, a look at what is behind the increase and whether the criminal justice system is keeping paceGood morning. Disturbing new data shows that stalking offences recorded by police in England and Wales have surged over the past decade, with sharp rises in every region. The number of cases charged by the Crown Prosecution Service has also climbed to the highest level on record.But those figures only tell part of the story. Stalking is not a single incident but a pattern of behaviour - one that can leave victims living in constant fear, reshaping every aspect of their lives.NHS | Wes Streeting has accused resident doctors of torpedoing" their own pay rises and training jobs by walking out on strike again, as tens of thousands of doctors began a six-day stoppage in England.Middle East | Diplomatic negotiations aimed at halting the war in the Middle East appeared to be faltering a day before a deadline imposed by Donald Trump with a threat to destroy Iran's bridges and attack its power plants.UK News| Children are reporting online sextortion attempts in record numbers in the UK, as campaigners urge tech companies to do more to stamp out the crime.Space | Artemis II astronauts broke Apollo 13's distance record, hugging each other in the cramped capsule as they made history by being the four humans to travel the farthest from Earth.Weather | Parts of the UK are forecast to experience the warmest temperatures of the year so far in the wake of Storm Dave, which caused widespread damage and disruption over the Easter weekend. Continue reading...

CBI figures showing surprise jump in financial sector's growth will be welcome news for Rachel ReevesBritain's financial services companies have reported a strong recovery in activity at the start of the year, in a surprise boost to the government after a gloomy end to 2025.Banks, insurers and investment managers said their businesses were growing, with a positive balance of nearly two-thirds noting an expansion, according to a long-running survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), a lobby group. That contrasted with the negative balance of 38% in December, despite the start of the US-Israel war on Iran. Continue reading...

US president acknowledges significant' 10-point peace plan submitted by Tehran but says it is not good enough'

Withdrawal of additional speciality training roles amid strike deadlock has left some doctors with uncertain futureAfter almost two years on the NHS frontline as a resident doctor, Heather Gunn says she is bracing herself for unemployment. Like many of her colleagues, she was desperate to secure one of the up to 4,500 additional training posts the government agreed to introduce in England over three years to help doctors progress into more specialised fields.The posts were promised in negotiations between the doctors' union, the British Medical Association (BMA), and the government in a long-running dispute over resident doctors' pay and job security. Continue reading...

With polls suggesting Plaid Cymru, the SNP and Sinn Fein could be in power after May vote, constitutional challenges may lie aheadIn four weeks, the shape of British politics is likely to change dramatically. For the first time, nationalists who aspire to break up the UK are expected to be in control of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland simultaneously. The change will be seismic," said Angus Robertson, a senior minister in the Scottish government.Opinion polls consistently suggest that after the elections on 7 May, England will be flanked by countries run by restless centre-left nationalist parties - Plaid Cymru in Cardiff, the Scottish National party in Edinburgh and, in Belfast, Sinn Fein, which shares power with the Democratic Unionists. Continue reading...

State-funded savings accounts set up for children at birth going unclaimed, with 1.5bn estimated to be sat in bank accountsAs Elle Middlemas approached her 18th birthday, she began wondering if she had a child trust fund, a government savings account given to all children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, that can be accessed as soon as they officially hit adulthood.She quickly hit a dead end. She wasn't sure if she was even owed the money and could find no information online. An email to HMRC seeking clarity led her nowhere. Continue reading...

Signed acoustic guitar used on (What's the Story) Morning Glory? - the bestselling album of the 90s - could fetch up to 60,000 at Sotheby'sIncredibly, some critics were lukewarm about Oasis's second album, with one calling it laboured and lazy" and another dismissing it as a marginally less hook-laden reprise" of their debut.But (What's the Story) Morning Glory? went on to become the bestselling British album of the 90s and a guitar Noel Gallagher used to write it will, Sotheby's has announced, be a star lot of its April rock and pop sale. Continue reading...

Claims explosives found near pipeline come before election in which PM Viktor Orban is trailing in most pollsHungary has placed the gas pipeline that straddles the Serbian border under military protection, the prime minister, Viktor Orban, has said, as accusations of a false-flag operation continued to swirl before a crunch election at the weekend and an official visit on Tuesday from the US vice-president, JD Vance.Orban travelled to Hungary's southern border with Serbia on Monday, one day after Serbia said it had found explosives of devastating power" near a pipeline that carries Russian natural gas to Hungary and beyond. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed - our live coverage continues hereA Japanese shipping firm said on Monday that an Indian-flagged tanker owned by its subsidiary had passed through the strait of Hormuz and was en route to India.A spokeswoman for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines told AFP that the Green Asha - a liquefied petroleum gas tanker - had crossed the waterway.Pakistan stands in solidarity with the brotherly people of the UAE and reiterates the urgent need for restraint and de-escalation in the region. Continue reading...

Astronauts become Earth's farthest travelled and exceed a 1970 record on the fifth day of the mission

Woman denies allegations of aggravated kidnapping during Augusto Pinochet's 1970s military dictatorship

Rapper very thankful' to be given chance to enter mental health diversion program after arrest in LA last yearA judge has allowed Lil Nas X to enter a mental health diversion program intended to lead to the dismissal of charges of attacking Los Angeles police officers.Judge Alan Schneider told the rapper and singer on Monday that if he sticks to his treatment program and obeys all laws for two years, his four felony counts will be dismissed. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says Russia unlikely to accept - for them, nothing is sacred'; Australian police arrest army reservist for joining war. What we know on day 1,504Ukraine's president has renewed his offer to Russia of a mutual ceasefire on strikes against energy infrastructure. If Russia is ready to stop strikes on our energy infrastructure, we will respond in kind," he said. This proposal has been conveyed to the Russian side through the Americans." Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered last week to observe a ceasefire for Easter, which Orthodox adherents mark on Sunday (13 April) in Russia and Ukraine.In his remarks on Monday, after an overnight attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa killed three people and injured at least 16, Zelenskyy said Russia appeared unwilling to agree to the ceasefire. We have repeatedly proposed to Russia a ceasefire at least for Easter," he said. But for them, all times are the same. Nothing is sacred."Ukrainian drones attacked the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's oil shipping terminal in southern Russia early on Monday, damaging a mooring point and setting four oil tanks on fire, the Russian defence ministry claimed. The Ukrainian army said it had attacked a different terminal in the port of Novorossiysk - without mentioning the CPC, which did not immediately comment. The CPC pipeline handles about 1% of the world's oil supplies, as well as about 80% of Kazakhstan's oil exports.A reservist in the Australian army has been charged after allegedly working as a drone operator for Ukraine. The 25-year-old man from Felixstow, in the South Australian city of Adelaide, was charged by the Australian Federal Police with working for a foreign military without authorisation, the AAP news agency reported. It is the first time someone has been charged with the offence, with the man facing up to two decades in jail if found guilty. Australian laws limit the work defence personnel can perform with a foreign military, government or company without authorisation. The man allegedly travelled to Ukraine in May 2025 and returned to Australia in January 2026.A Russian ship carrying wheat believed to have sunk in the Sea of Azov after a drone attack has been found and towed to shore, Russia's state news agency Tass said on Monday. The death toll has risen to three, it added. Crew abandoned the ship last Friday and made it to shore on Monday, according to Russian reports.Russia jailed on Monday a former governor of the Kursk border region, where Ukraine's army broke through in 2024, for 14 years over alleged kickbacks for government contracts related to the construction of fortifications. Since August 2024, the Kremlin has gone after top regional and military officials for failing to stop the incursion - a massive embarrassment for Vladimir Putin. Alexei Smirnov, the former Kursk governor, was sentenced to 14 years in prison and a fine of 400 million rubles [3.8m/US$5m]", a court statement said. Another former Kursk governor, Roman Starovoyt, who led the region until just before the Ukrainian breakthrough, died last year by alleged suicide - a fate that regularly befalls officials who run foul of the Russian president. Continue reading...

Dennis, whose car fatally struck Hoskins in 2023, wrote on Instagram I have ALWAYS been against any sort of abuse against women'

NSW follows Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia in offering free treatments for kids four and under, saving up to $70

At least 432 ebike fires and 147 e-scooter fires recorded in 2025, up 38% and 20% respectively on previous yearEbike and e-scooter fires in the UK reached a record high last year, an investigation has found, renewing concerns over the use of lithium batteries and unregulated marketplaces.Fire brigade figures obtained by the Press Association show there were at least 432 ebike fires recorded across the UK in 2025, up 38% from 313 the previous year and more than five times higher than the 84 recorded in 2021. Continue reading...

Republican Tony Gonzales ended re-election bid in March after admitting to having affair with a different aide

Home Office will use mapping technology and crime data to identify up to 250 schools in areas of greatest riskSchools across England are to receive dedicated support to prevent knife crime incidents in a hyper-targeted Home Office programme that uses mapping technology to identify areas of risk down to the level of specific groups of streets.Under the 1.2m scheme - part of a series of initiatives launched under a government pledge to halve knife crime within a decade - a maximum of 250 schools will receive help. Continue reading...

Two fatalities reported in southern California so far, with warmer spring bringing reptiles out on trails earlierA sixth person has been bitten by a rattlesnake in southern California's Ventura county in just under a month, two-thirds of the number of people bitten in all of 2025.Andrew Dowd, a Ventura county fire department spokesperson, said paramedics responded to a call on Sunday for a man who had been bitten by a rattlesnake. The victim said he had been bitten near California State University Channel Islands. Continue reading...

Performer is being extended forgiveness' over antisemitic remarks, says Melvin Benn, despite calls for banThe promoter of Wireless festival has stood by the decision to have Kanye West perform at the event, despite an outcry over the rapper's antisemitic behaviour and calls to cancel his appearance.West, who is legally known as Ye, has been criticised for making antisemitic remarks including voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler. Last year he released a song called Heil Hitler, a few months after advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website. Continue reading...

Jackie and Shadow's eaglets emerged from eggs on Easter weekend in Big Bear Valley as watched by thousands onlineOver Easter weekend, thousands of people tuned in to celebrate something spectacular unfolding 145 feet up a pine tree in southern California's San Bernardino national forest - the hatchings of two bald eagle chicks.Two eaglets were born to Jackie and Shadow, the southern California pair that have become avian celebrities thanks to the webcam that has livestreamed their activities since 2018. Continue reading...

Trump targets media to find leaker' who revealed that a US airman was missing after being shot down by Iranian forcesDonald Trump threatened to jail a journalist - or journalists - who reported that a second US airman was missing after being shot down by Iran on Friday in an effort to identify their source.The badly injured airman hid in a mountain crevice to avoid capture before being rescued by a US recovery team that received heavy fire. The US president announced on Sunday that the service member had been recovered. Continue reading...

Ron Gibson had recently expressed support for a 14-acre, $500m datacenter project in Martindale-BrightwoodAn Indianapolis city councilor said his home was fired at on Monday, with a note left behind suggesting he had been targeted over his support of datacenters.The case involving Ron Gibson - a Democrat on Indianapolis's city council - comes amid growing bipartisan concern in the US over political violence in the wake of cases such as the September murder of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist. Continue reading...

President dismisses concerns that bombing civilian targets would punish ordinary people and could be war crimesDonald Trump on Monday claimed that Iranian civilians were actively welcoming US strikes on their country's infrastructure, saying they would be willing to suffer" the loss of power and basic services in order to achieve freedom from the Islamic Republic.Speaking to reporters from the White House press room, Trump dismissed concerns that targeting Iran's power grid and civilian infrastructure would punish ordinary Iranians rather than the regime, saying without evidence that US intelligence had intercepts of civilians near active bombing sites urging American forces to continue. Continue reading...

Retailer faces public outcry over treatment of Walker Smith, who tackled shoplifter stealing Easter eggs at London storeWaitrose is under growing pressure to reinstate an employee of 17 years who was sacked after tackling a shoplifter who was trying to steal Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs.The retailer has faced public outcry over its treatment of Walker Smith, who was fired two days after he stopped the shoplifter taking items from the Easter egg display. Continue reading...

Legal experts say attacking Iran's infrastructure would constitute a war crime - but would military officers be held responsible?

Nurul Shah Alam, a nearly blind Rohingya refugee, was left alone in a Buffalo parking lot. His death has been ruled a homicide - what now?On 19 February, the second day of Ramadan, Mohamad Faisal Nurul Amin and his family gathered to pray before sunrise in their apartment on the outskirts of Buffalo, New York. After nearly a year of waiting, they believed their family would be together again. Amin's father, Nurul Shah Alam, 56, was coming home.For the first time since we arrived in America, I felt happy," said Fatima Abdul Roshid, Shah Alam's wife, speaking through an interpreter. I thought my husband would be with our two sons and me for Ramadan." Continue reading...

She got ripped away from me,' army soldier Matthew Blank said after his wife Annie Ramos was detained in LouisianaImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents under the command of the Trump administration have reportedly detained the wife of a US army staff sergeant at his military base in Louisiana amid his preparations to deploy.The arrest of Annie Ramos, 22, took place last Thursday, just days after she married 23-year-old Matthew Blank, a soldier who has served for more than five years and previously deployed to the Middle East and Europe, the New York Times first reported on Sunday. Continue reading...

Kyriakos Mitsotakis calls alleged scamming of EU agricultural funds a turning point'The Greek prime minister has vowed to tackle what he has called a deep state" he says is plaguing the country, as he sought to address a growing political crisis over a farm fraud scandal that has forced the resignation of multiple government ministers.In a speech, aired on national TV, Kyriakos Mitsotakis attempted to limit the damage, describing the revelations as a turning point" that had turbo-charged his commitment to rooting out entrenched corruption. Continue reading...