At least 15 people injured in incident with authorities saying some of the injuries believed to be seriousAt least 15 people were injured on Saturday after an alleged drunk driver ploughed into pedestrians at a Louisiana parade celebrating the Lao New Year. Some of the injuries are believed to be serious, authorities said.Louisiana State Police said a man had been charged with driving while impaired, 18 counts of first-degree negligent injuring and careless operation, after the incident in New Iberia. Continue reading...
Total of four, including 17-year-old boy, in police custody after fatal incident in Cudworth area on Friday eveningTwo further suspects, including a 17-year-old boy, have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a fatal collision in Barnsley on Friday afternoon.This comes after two people, a 60-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman, were arrested earlier in the day on suspicion of murder after a man died after a collision in the Cudworth area of Barnsley. These two suspects remain in custody. Continue reading...
Archbishop of Canterbury to issue urgent call for peace, as PM exhorts Britons to choose community over division'Religious and political leaders in the UK are highlighting the conflict in the Middle East in their Easter messages, calling for peace, justice and freedom" in the region.The archbishop of Canterbury will deliver her first Easter sermon at Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday as the Church of England's top bishop. Dame Sarah Mullally will call with renewed urgency" for peace in the Middle East and pray for an end to the violence and destruction" in the region. Continue reading...
Charities suggest gendered understanding' of crime means services often fail to recognise girls and young women as victimsAn increasing number of girls are being identified as victims of county lines exploitation, figures have shown.Data from Catch22, the charity that provides the national county lines support service, said girls and young women formed 22% of its caseload in 2025, up from 15% the previous year. Continue reading...
Astronaut calls fellow Canadian Ryan Gosling's movie extraordinary' ahead of Artemis II crew's lunar fly-aroundThe new space movie Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling has gotten a rave review from more than halfway to the moon.Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said on Saturday that he and his Artemis II crewmates got to watch the film with their families before launching on the lunar fly-around. He said it was a real treat" to view the movie while getting ready for his own space adventure. Continue reading...
Met police say 19-year-old was detained in connection with attack after officers recognised him at arraignmentA fourth person has been arrested in connection with the arson attack on Jewish volunteer ambulances in north-west London, the Metropolitan police has said.The force said the 19-year-old man was arrested on Saturday morning at Westminster magistrates court, where three other men were charged over the arson attack. Continue reading...
Roberto Mazzarella, head of a notorious Camorra clan, had been on the run for more than a yearAn Italian mafia boss, who was one of Italy's most dangerous fugitives, has been arrested on murder charges after more than a year on the run, Italian police said on Saturday.Roberto Mazzarella was the head of the notorious Mazzarella clan of the Camorra - the Naples-based organised crime gang. Continue reading...
Storm expected to cause Easter weekend travel disruption, though warm weather could return next weekStorm Dave is expected to cause travel disruption this Easter weekend, with warnings for heavy snow and gale-force winds issued across northern parts of the UK, but a reprieve from the cold snap could be on the way, with temperatures forecast to reach the mid-20s next week.The Met Office has issued a yellow severe weather warning in Scotland for heavy snow and blizzards causing some travel and power disruption. Up to 30 centimetres of snow could fall. An amber weather warning for wind has been issued for parts of northern England, Scotland and Wales on Saturday evening. Continue reading...
by Ashifa Kassam, Jessie Williams and agencies on (#74PW9)
Crew members can now see the moon, which one described as a beautiful sight', from their spacecraft's docking hatchThe Artemis II crew are now closer to the moon than the Earth, Nasa has said, as the four astronauts completed the third day of their flight to the moon.We can see the moon out of the docking hatch right now. It's a beautiful sight," said an unnamed member of the crew, which Nasa shared in a post on X on Saturday morning. Continue reading...
by Aamna Mohdin Community affairs correspondent on (#74Q9J)
Viral reviews of artisan cafes across the capital are sparking a debate over cost, culture - and who gets a slice of the cityThe video that started it all was innocuous enough: a woman in her 20s posted on TikTok about how she spends a perfect weekend in north London. On her list were the bakeries Jolene and Gail's, and the De Beauvoir Deli.The reaction, however, was anything but. Many locals commented that they had never heard of the businesses she mentioned. One north Londoner, Moses Combe, 21, was equally incredulous. If this is where all the north London girlies come in the morning, I'd be a bit surprised," he said in a viral video. Continue reading...
President has affixed his name to institutions and edifices, and his visage now glowers from several federal buildingsThe US has a history of naming things after its presidents.Washington DC has the Ronald Reagan airport, while John F Kennedy international airport is New York's main air transport thoroughfare. The Hoover Dam straddles Nevada and Arizona; Theodore Roosevelt is one of several former presidents to have a Washington DC building named after them; Franklin Delano Roosevelt has an island; Abraham Lincoln has the Lincoln Memorial; and George Washington has the nation's capital and an entire state. Continue reading...
by Ashifa Kassam and Flora Garamvolgyi in Budapest on (#74Q8C)
The rightwing populist has been in power for 16 years but a new generation of voters are preparing to vote for his opponent, polls suggestAs he rushed to finish off his cigarette before heading to class, Akos, 20, confessed that he has more at stake than most as Hungarians prepare to head to the polls in the coming days.If things remain the same, or get even worse, I can't see a future here," said the aspiring teacher. There are many people who want to try living elsewhere, and that's totally fine, but I'm not one of them. For so long I've dreamed of working and teaching here." Continue reading...
by William Christou and Abbas Abdelkarim in Tyre on (#74Q8D)
As Israel expands its invasion of southern Lebanon, people are having to bury their dead in temporary gravesIn Lebanon, the dead are usually given one last glimpse of their home town before they are laid to rest. Hoisted high above the heads of the living, their casket is slowly marched through the streets where they grew up.It is the hands of their loved ones that guide them into their final resting place, already dug, and gently sprinkle dirt on their body. Continue reading...
Despite hostile rhetoric Trump let a Russian ship break his blockade - could it herald a Venezuela-style outcome?When a sanctioned Russian oil tanker, the Anatoly Kolodkin, docked at Cuba's Matanzas oil terminal on Tuesday, unloading 700,000 barrels of crude, it was not immediately clear why the ship had been allowed to pass through Donald Trump's oil blockade.In January, the US president had proclaimed on social media: THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!" yet last week he told reporters, If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem with it" - and waved the Russian ship through. Continue reading...
Senior figures express concerns over medical union's refusal of pay rise that is higher than offer to other NHS staffTrade unions have privately expressed qualms about the forthcoming doctors' strikes, expressing frustration at the conduct of the talks and the demands of the British Medical Association.The BMA is pushing for a pay rise higher than the 3.5% offered to doctors by the government, with strikes planned for next week. Continue reading...
Initial reports suggested parts of arena's wall had collapsed, but Alianza Lima says there were no structural failuresOne person has been killed and dozens more injured at the Alejandro Villanueva Stadium in Lima, Peru, according to the football club Alianza Lima.Hundreds of fans were attending a flag-waving event" on Friday around the stadium, a day before a derby match between the home team Alianza Lima and local rivals Universitario de Deportes. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#74Q6D)
Fears of Easter chaos over scaling up of new EU border system are eased, with no facial IDs for Eurotunnel and Eurostar passengersPassengers crossing the Channel from the UK to France will not face new biometric checks in the coming weeks, despite an imminent deadline for the complete implementation of the EU's entry-exit system (EES), ports say.Airlines and airports across Europe have feared chaos over the Easter holidays. Continue reading...
Lack of regulation for specialist classes leaves UK fitness enthusiasts at risk, say professional bodiesThe boom in reformer pilates has created a wild west" of studios where poor regulation has resulted in inexperienced teachers and a rise in injuries, professional standards bodies have warned.Pilates is not formally or legally regulated, and as its popularity has surged, industry experts say, so too has the growth of packed reformer-based classes often led by instructors with limited training. Continue reading...
Riccione's leftwing mayor, Daniela Angelini, says public purchase is victory for town and act of love and vision'An Italian council has bought a villa where Benito Mussolini spent his summer holidays, partly to avoid the property falling into the hands of fascist nostalgics".Daniela Angelini, the leftwing mayor of Riccione, a town close to Rimini along Italy's Adriatic coast, said the acquisition of Villa Mussolini through an auction was an act of love and vision" and that bringing it back into public hands was a victory for the entire town. Continue reading...
Man and woman released pending further enquiries after arrests at separate properties in state's north-east on Saturday morningTwo people have been arrested as part of the investigation into how Porepunkah fugitive Dezi Freeman was able to survive on the run for seven months before he was shot dead last week.A man and a woman were arrested at separate properties in north-east Victoria on Saturday morning around 7am, before being later released. Continue reading...
by Bethan McKernan Wales correspondent on (#74Q57)
Reports on English policies seen in Wales as relating to whole of UK contribute to widespread confusion, researchers sayUK media is failing to report properly on devolved issues in Wales, leaving voters ill-informed about May's Senedd elections, a report has found.A Cardiff University study of more than 3,000 news items found repeated patterns in coverage across different broadcasters and platforms, including not signposting whether an issue was relevant to England or England and Wales only, widespread references to the government" rather than the UK government", and the use of you" and your" in contexts that apply only to people living in England. Continue reading...
Ray Blanchette admits he may be a little crazy' as he outlines chain's hopes of building 1,000 outlets globallyI am a little crazy maybe," admits Ray Blanchette, a former TGI Fridays kitchen manager who has taken on the revival of the bar-restaurant chain's UK business in the face of blasting industry headwinds.Blanchette's family investment firm, Sugarloaf, rescued the Dallas-based parent business from administration in 2025. He then went on to pick up its UK arm in January after the local franchisee got into difficulties, retaining 33 UK restaurants but closing 16, with the loss of 456 jobs. Continue reading...
Royal visitors have long been popular in the US, and Charles has decades of diplomacy under his belt. But can soft power save the special relationship?What's the worst that could happen when King Charles visits Donald Trump in Washington at the end of this month? And what will be the best outcome from Keir Starmer's point of view, since it is the prime minister who directed the visit to go ahead in the hope of improving our battered, supposedly special relationship? While the relationship is still apparently meaningful to Britain, to the US it appears to not mean so much - especially now.The king goes where he is told, whether he would prefer to stay at home or not. This time to a land whose president denounces our aircraft carriers as toys and accuses us of cowardice, and whose defence secretary talks derisively of our Royal Navy. Perhaps Charles ought to wear his naval admiral's uniform when he goes to the White House, medals and all. Continue reading...
by Adam Fulton (now); Lucy Campbell, Nadeem Badshah, on (#74PF7)
This blog is closed - our live coverage continues in a new blog hereAuthorities in Abu Dhabi have reported two incidents of debris falling from intercepted aerial threats in the UAE capital, with one sparking a fire at a gas facility,The official Abu Dhabi Media Office said authorities responded to an incident of falling debris at the Habshan gas facilities. Operations have been suspended while authorities respond to a fire," it said in a post on X, adding that no injuries were reported. Continue reading...
Russian advances slowing, thinktank's data shows; 14 killed in Ukraine in massive drone and missile salvo. What we know on day 1,501Russia's army recorded almost no territorial gains on the frontline in Ukraine in March for the first time in two-and-a-half years, according to analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) conducted by Agence France-Presse. The Russian army has been slowing in its advances since late 2025 - because of Kyiv's localised breakthroughs in the south-east of the country. Across the entire frontline, the Russian army seized only 23 sq km (8.9 sq miles) in March, losing territory in some areas, according to the analysis. This figure excludes infiltration operations conducted by Russian forces beyond the frontline, as well as advances claimed by the Russian side but neither confirmed nor denied by the ISW.The Russian army made 319 sq km of gains in January and 123 sq km in February, which was then the smallest advance since April 2024. Its advance in March was the smallest since September 2023. The ISW attributed the slowdown to Ukrainian counteroffensives, but also to Russia's ban on using Starlink terminals in Ukraine" and the Kremlin's efforts to restrict access to Telegram". The messaging app - very popular among Russians, including those fighting on the front - has been barely usable in recent months due to blocks imposed by the authorities. As in February, Russia lost ground on the southern section of the frontline, between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.Russian strikes killed 14 people in Ukraine on Friday, officials said, as Moscow launched the latest in an increasing number of daytime barrages. Moscow has been firing aerial broadsides at Ukraine throughout its more than four-year invasion, mostly at night, but in recent weeks has stepped up daytime attacks. The Russian military used more than 500 drones and dozens of missiles in its salvo on Friday, according to the Ukrainian air force.Russia's Baltic oil export hubs at Ust-Luga and Primorsk remain unable to handle shipments after a series of Ukrainian drone attacks, prompting the country's refineries to find alternative routes for export, industry sources said on Friday. The attacks have damaged port infrastructure and continued through the last two weeks of March, with at least five strikes on Ust-Luga in the space of 10 days. Sources said the export restrictions, along with disruptions at large refineries, could lead to a decrease in oil production in Russia. Traders said refineries had been unable to deliver diesel fuel to Primorsk for export since 22 March, leaving refineries in European Russia and Siberia without their most viable export route. Traders said refineries were having to consider more expensive rail transport routes to other export terminals.Zelenskyy has called on lawmakers to pass key legislation next week to avert a funding crisis, help Ukraine fight the war against Russia, and enact key reforms required for EU accession. Due to lagging reforms and slow legislative progress in late 2025 and early this year, Ukraine missed deadlines to unlock billions from its key lenders, economists said. With the need for external financing standing at $52bn this year - equivalent to about a quarter of annual economic output - the budget situation is desperate. I have a list of key draft laws that are critical for securing funding," the Ukrainian president said in remarks released on Friday. They range from strengthening the court system to reforming energy sector procedures. I believe that members of parliament from all parties must understand the importance of these bills for Ukraine's budget," said Zelenskyy, who has a majority in parliament but its relations with his government have soured. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#74Q21)
Misogynistic abuse of female staff is increasing, leaving teachers feeling traumatised' and humiliated'Teachers' leaders have said a masculinity crisis" is fermenting in schools across the UK, with misogynistic abuse of female staff on the increase, leaving victims traumatised", demeaned" and humiliated".Almost a quarter of female teachers who took part in a union survey said they have been the target of misogyny from a pupil over the past 12 months - the highest proportion in the last four years of surveys. Continue reading...
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Aakash Hassan in Delhi a on (#74Q22)
Ripple effects of oil and fertiliser shortage felt by farmers in India and Sri Lanka despite governments saying there is enough stock to go roundGurvinder Singh never thought the war in Iran would touch his quiet corner of Punjab.Yet looking out over his smallholding, where he alternates between wheat and rice crops in the state known as India's breadbasket, the 52-year-old farmer can barely think of anything else. His anxiety over a conflict playing out thousands of miles away is crippling as he fears what will come of this season's rice crop. Continue reading...
Met police investigate incident, removing five officers from frontline duties after member of the public discovers itemsArmed police officers protecting the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, allegedly left a bag containing guns and a Taser on the street which was discovered by a member of the public.The Metropolitan police said on Friday it was investigating the incident and five officers had been removed from frontline duties while inquiries were being carried out. Continue reading...
Democrat Tammy Duckworth writes letter to TSA calling on agency to reinstate the shoes-off airport security policyNine months after US airports allowed passengers to pass through scanners without taking off their shoes, rescinding the stringent policy after almost two decades, a top senator claimed the reckless" move could put passengers in danger.The policy amounts to a potentially catastrophic security deficiency", according to Tammy Duckworth, Democrat for Illinois, and ranking member of the Senate commerce, science and transportation (CST) aviation subcommittee. Continue reading...
Veteran justice, 76, was treated for dehydration in March; a retirement would give Trump new chance to shape courtUS supreme court justice Samuel Alito was reportedly taken to a hospital after becoming sick at a Federalist Society dinner in Philadelphia in March, further fueling speculation that Donald Trump could have more chances to shape the land's highest court through new appointments.A CNN report said Alito was checked by medical staff and given fluids due to dehydration. He later returned to his home in Virginia that same night with his security detail. In the weeks since, Alito has resumed his duties, including participating in oral arguments. Continue reading...
PM gets widespread backing after president's mocking impersonation takes US-UK relationship to new lowKeir Starmer has been warned his relationship with Donald Trump may be beyond repair after the US president derided the prime minister for consulting his team about military decisions, in a mocking impersonation.In a new low for UK-US relations, Trump appeared to imitate Starmer in a weak voice during an Easter lunch speech at the White House, and said the UK was not our best" ally. Continue reading...
Academics and youth workers say cuts to services, not social media, help explain recent unrest in south LondonIt started with a flyer sent around on Snapchat. Teenagers were invited to gather in a south London basketball court to celebrate the start of the Easter holidays. They were told to bring their own weed and laughing gas because it was going to be a late one.What followed in the hours after was chaos. Hundreds of young people came to the link-up", which happened last Saturday, and then gathered on Clapham High Street. Continue reading...
Victim of Woolwich shooting named as Eghosa Ogbebor as two boys and 18-year-old held on suspicion of murderThree teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 14-year-old boy was fatally shot in Woolwich, south-east London.The Metropolitan police said officers received reports of a shooting on Lord Warwick Street, Woolwich, at about 3.40pm on Thursday. Continue reading...
Petrol has risen 19% and diesel 35%, while in England the north has had the sharpest increasesFuel prices have risen faster in Northern Ireland than in any other UK region since the beginning of the Iran war.Analysis of official data shows petrol has jumped by 19% in Northern Ireland since the end of February, and diesel is now 35% more expensive. The rises are among the largest in Europe. Continue reading...
The telco's sweeping price changes and the closure of its cheaper starter' plan risk putting off many of its loyal customersTelstra has long traded on its claim to have better - and far more expansive - mobile coverage than its rivals to justify a steep pricing premium that has accelerated in recent years.But the telco's latest changes, which include steep price hikes and the closure of its cheaper starter" plan to new users, combined with a dramatic rejection of its coverage claims by the industry regulator, risk putting off many of its traditional customers, according to consumer advocates. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#74PQ7)
NASUWT says full entitlement should be increased to 26 weeks and paternity pay also improvedFull maternity pay for teachers across the UK should be increased to 26 weeks to help stem the exodus of women in their 30s from classrooms, a union leader has said.Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the NASUWT teachers' union, said it was a national scandal" that so many teachers who quit said inadequate maternity support was one of the reasons. Continue reading...
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