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Police response to protest over closure of Park Guell for glitzy event was totally out of proportion', resident saysCatalan police have been criticised for baton-charging people protesting against the closure of Barcelona's Park Guell for it to host a Louis Vuitton-organised fashion show, as anger grows that the city is being overrun by tourists and glitzy international events to the detriment of local life.A residents association complained that in the lead-up to the event the whole neighbourhood had been cordoned off. For days the neighbourhood has been saturated with police and private security companies," said one resident, Aida Almirall Serra, adding that armed police had demanded ID cards and searched parents' bags when they picked up their children from nursery. Continue reading...

Investigation under way after four people killed and 16 injured in Medusa Beach Club in PalmaInvestigators on the Spanish island of Mallorca are looking into whether overloading and structural issues caused the collapse of a beachfront restaurant and club, killing four people and injuring 16 others.The two-storey Medusa Beach Club in Palma de Mallorca collapsed at about 8.30pm local time (7.30pm BST) on Thursday night, killing at least four people and leaving many others trapped in the rubble. One firefighter told the local newspaper Ultima Hora he had arrived to find a nightmarish" scene, with people screaming and crying and rubble piled high on the ground floor. Continue reading...

Lib Dems, Greens and SNP could lose out as broadcasters focus on head-to-heads between Sunak and StarmerThe Lib Dems, Greens and SNP face being cut out of televised leadership debates, as broadcasters plan to focus on two head-to-head contests between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.ITV is working on a debate featuring only the leaders of the Labour and Conservative parties, according to sources at the broadcaster, in line with the format demanded by Labour. Continue reading...

April's wet weather leads to steeper fall than forecast, with clothing and toy stores among most affected

Children's author tells Hay festival he is aware of need to be inclusive but it should not be imposedThe children's author Anthony Horowitz has said writers should not be instructed to make their books more diverse.The author of the Alex Rider novels has previously sparked controversy over his views on the subject. In 2017 he was criticised by other children's authors when he claimed he had been warned off" writing Black characters in his books. Continue reading...

Agreement will create lender with almost 5m customers and 89bn balance sheetThe Co-operative Bank is to return to its mutual roots after Coventry Building Society confirmed that it will acquire the bank from its hedge fund owners for 780m.The deal has now been finalised after Coventry said it had made a non-binding cash offer for the bank last month that will create a lender with almost 5 million customers and an 89bn balance sheet. Continue reading...

Former nurse denied permission to go to court of appeal over seven murder and six attempted murder convictionsThe former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby has been denied permission to appeal against her convictions for murdering babies.Letby, 34, was found guilty last year of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill another six at the Countess of Chester hospital, in north-west England, in 2015 and 2016. Continue reading...

Labour leader says we can't have both' given state of economy but system of university funding must change

Dangerously high temperatures follow wettest April since 1961 as country swings between extremesPakistan is in the midst of an intense heatwave, with hundreds of heatstroke victims being treated in hospitals across the country.Temperatures soared to 49C (120F) on Wednesday in Mohenjo-daro, in the southern Sindh province. These temperatures are more than 8C above May's average daytime temperature. Authorities in Punjab have been forced to close schools for a week and are advising people to remain indoors. Many labourers have, however, continued to work out of financial necessity. Continue reading...

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Glen Coleman acquitted of raping the woman but also convicted of abusing position of public office to procure woman, 19, for his own sexual gratification

Official figures show 251,377 abortions were carried out in 2022, a 17% increase on previous yearThe number of abortions in England and Wales has reached record levels, with financial pressures believed to be a factor in why women are choosing not to have a baby.There were 251,377 abortions for women resident in the two nations in 2022, official figures from the Department of Health and Social Care show, which is the highest since the Abortion Act was introduced almost 60 years ago and a rise of 17% on the 2021 figure. Continue reading...

Springsteen receives Academy fellowship as Raye named songwriter of the year, and Yussef Dayes, Victoria Canal and Speakers Corner Quartet pick up major awardsBruce Springsteen was the top honouree at the 2024 Ivor Novello awards, given an Academy fellowship - the first international artist to be handed that accolade.Paul McCartney presented him with the award in a playful speech: I couldn't think of a more fitting recipient," he said. Except maybe Bob Dylan. Or Paul Simon, or Billy Joel, or Beyonce, or Taylor Swift. The list goes on ... He's known as the American working man, but he admits he's never worked a day in his life." He reminisced about the pair's performance together on Glastonbury's Pyramid stage in 2022, calling Springsteen a lovely boy". Continue reading...

Former Labour leader confirms he will stand as an independent candidate in Islington NorthJeremy Corbyn has confirmed he will stand as an independent candidate in Islington North, vowing to fight for equality, democracy and peace.The former Labour leader, who has held the seat for more than 40 years, says he will defend policies that have not been adopted by Labour or the Conservatives, including rent controls and the abolition of the two child benefits cap. Continue reading...

Australian former US marine pilot faces potential prison sentence of up to 60 years on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering

Chef Josh Niland quite emotional' to learn his seafood spot named in extended list of restaurants ranked 51 to 100

Exclusive: Signatories cite union's continued apathy' to plight of Palestinians and seek official call for ceasefireMore than 200 staff members of EU institutions and agencies have signed a letter expressing growing concern" over the union's response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, arguing that it runs contrary to its core values and aim of promoting peace.The letter, signed by 211 people in their personal capacity as citizens and addressed to the EU's top three officials, begins by condemning the 7 October attacks in the strongest terms". Continue reading...

The artist used ephemera to convey how white Australia failed to come to terms with the country's Indigenous peoples

Victoria police confirm man, 32, was not wounded when shots fired in Thomastown on Friday morningA former Mongols bikie has survived a shooting in suburban Melbourne, two years after an assassination attempt outside a cemetery.Shots were fired at Suleiman Sam" Abdulrahim, a professional boxer who goes by the name The Punisher", as he left his Thomastown home early on Friday morning. Continue reading...

Coroner suspends inquest into death of man who consumed ayahuasca and frog toxin kambo at the Dreaming Arts festival at Arcoora in 2021

Watchdog says outstanding caseload has increased from 60,000 to 67,573 since MoJ set target of 53,000 in 2021The Ministry of Justice's ambition to reduce the backlog in crown courts in England and Wales to 53,000 by March next year is no longer achievable, a parliamentary watchdog has said.The MoJ set the target in October 2021 when the outstanding caseload was 60,000, but by the end of last year it had reached 67,573 - its highest level ever - according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report. Continue reading...

Ahmad Farhad was pushed into vehicle hours after posting about threats from country's spy agency, says Syeda Urooj ZainabThe wife of a Pakistani poet and journalist who was abducted from outside his house last week has accused the country's spy agency of responsibility, saying it acted because of his activism.Ahmad Farhad was pushed into a vehicle after returning from a dinner in the early hours of Wednesday 15 May and driven away. Continue reading...

Move comes after retail chain Cue ends investment in brand that has dressed celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa

Gaye Grant, who is in her late 70s, was jailed for six years in late 2022 for abusing boy in 1970s

PLA says exercises launched in response to president's inauguration will test capacity to seize power, launch joint attacks and occupy key areas'China has begun its second day of military drills targeting Taiwan, in what it says is punishment for separatist acts" after the inauguration of its new president on Monday.The exercises, which involve Chinese military units from the air force, rocket force, navy, army, and coast guard, were announced suddenly on Thursday morning, with maps showing five approximate target areas in the sea surrounding Taiwan's main island. Other areas also targeted Taiwan's offshore islands, which are close to the Chinese mainland. Continue reading...

Government plan to fix fiasco' doesn't go far enough for those who have already paid debts put on hold before 2017, Andrew Wilkie says

Kerry Davis was flung to ceiling when flight SQ321 hit turbulence before falling motionless to floor of plane

Exclusive: Ombudsman's report says devices discharged directly on' detainees and into areas where people retreated, including those not involved in riots

Trading standards officers find 70% of test purchases of beer and wine have less of the drink than they shouldMore than two-thirds of beer and wine sold in pubs and bars is short-measured, costing the average consumer about 115 a year, according to research.Trading standards officers visited 77 venues across the UK, finding 96 short measures out of 137 test purchases, meaning approximately 70% had less of the drink than had been declared or paid for. Continue reading...

Ceiling of Medusa Beach Club on the seafront at Palma de Mallorca gave way, according to reportsAt least four people have been killed and about 21 people injured after a building collapsed on a beachfront in Mallorca on Thursday, emergency services said.The two-storey building, the Medusa Beach Club, collapsed in Palma de Mallorca. Continue reading...

Second posthumous miracle attributed to leukaemia victim Carlo Acutis, qualifying him for canonisationA London-born teenager who died of leukaemia aged 15 is to become the Catholic church's first millennial saint.Carlo Acutis was a computer prodigy who helped to spread Roman Catholic teaching online before his death in 2006. On Thursday, Pope Francis decreed that a second posthumous miracle has been attributed to Acutis, qualifying the teenager for canonisation. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer says Tory plans up in the air or in the bin', with proposals to end no-fault evictions also likely to be droppedRishi Sunak has dropped flagship policies on deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda and banning smoking for young people on the first full day of his election campaign, leaving his legacy increasingly threadbare.Ministers confirmed that key pieces of legislation that could be rushed through by MPs before parliament is suspended were likely to be dropped, including plans to end no-fault evictions and to introduce a football regulator. Continue reading...

Prosecution hints that Lawrence Hecker, 92, accused of historical rape and kidnapping, is feigning illness to avoid going to trialA dispute over whether a retired New Orleans Catholic priest is in a hospital or not is the latest reason his high-profile rape and kidnapping trial has been delayed.Lawrence Hecker, 92, a confessed serial child molester, has been residing at Bridgepoint continuing care facility in Marrero, Louisiana, a facility across the Mississippi River from New Orleans that is attached to a hospital campus. Continue reading...

Last of state's Indigenous tribes vote in solidarity' to bar Noem after she claimed tribal leaders benefit from drug cartelsSouth Dakota's far-right governor Kristi Noem is now officially barred by Indigenous groups from visiting all tribal lands in her own home state.The sweeping ban is the latest development in the contentious relationship between Noem and Indigenous tribes after controversial comments the governor made connecting tribal leaders to international drug cartels. Continue reading...

While some bills will be dealt with swiftly in the wash-up' period in parliament, others could fall by the waysideRishi Sunak's promise to deliver a secure and stable future for the country has been left hanging in the balance as a number of laws that would have kept people physically safe from terror attacks, dangerous cycling incidents or even from no-fault evictions will probably not be introduced to parliament before the election. The legislation for his much-vaunted smoking ban is also in peril.Sunak's government had 16 bills subject to the wash-up" on Thursday, a period in the parliamentary process when legislation is swiftly pushed through before an election. The laws not likely to be passed are: Continue reading...

Spokesman says there aren't any contacts' with former president regarding Evan Gershkovich's release from RussiaDonald Trump boasted on Thursday he would quickly free jailed US journalist Evan Gershkovich from Russia if he wins the presidential election, but Moscow denied discussing the case with the Republican candidate.The former president, who has frequently voiced admiration for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and has voiced skepticism over US support for Ukraine, said the Moscow strongman will do that for me, but not for anyone else". Continue reading...

Mike Schmidt conceded the Multnomah county election, where Portland is located, to Nathan Vasquez amid political upheaval in the stateOregon voters have ousted the progressive district attorney of Multnomah county, who had pledged to reform the criminal justice system, in favor of a centrist challenger endorsed by several police groups.Mike Schmidt conceded the election on Wednesday afternoon in a phone call to challenger Nathan Vasquez, one of his deputies. Vasquez, who has worked as a prosecutor in Multnomah county, where Portland is located, since 2001, had campaigned on promises to improve the office's relationship with police, address the city's drug crisis and seek more prosecutions. He won Tuesday's nonpartisan primary election after returns showed him receiving more than 50% of the vote. Continue reading...

Simon Case, who was responsible for Covid policy at time, calls Boris Johnson's Downing Street the worst governing ever seen'The UK's most senior civil servant has set out the chaos at the heart of Boris Johnson's Downing Street, saying good officials were just being smashed to pieces" while he was not warned in advance about the eat out to help out" scheme.In a day of often damning testimony to the inquiry into the pandemic, Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, said Johnson's No 10 had been involved in the worst governing ever seen" in the UK. Continue reading...

After some tetchy interviews the PM flew to all four nations, while Starmer and Davey focused on voters' desire for changeFar from the bedraggled figure who announced an election outside No 10, Rishi Sunak positively bounced into a biscuit factory for his first stump speech of the election campaign.He had given a tetchy performance on the broadcast round on Thursday morning, bristling at those challenging his economic record and failure to carry out his Rwanda plan. Continue reading...

Bills, including smoking ban for people born after 2009, unlikely to become law before 4 July vote

Lawyer criticises inhumane' treatment of men who were accused over deadly sinking of vessel crossing from LibyaGreek police have been accused of the inhumane" treatment of nine Egyptian men after placing them in detention despite a court throwing out charges against them over a deadly shipwreck.Police said on Thursday they were placing the men in custody as it was thought they could flee the country, two days after a tribunal in the southern city of Kalamata dismissed charges against them due to a lack of jurisdiction. Continue reading...

Howard Michael Phillips, 64, arrested by counter-terrorism police, held sensitive information in regards to an MP', says prosecutorA British man has been charged with assisting Russia's intelligence service after being arrested by UK counter-terrorism police.Howard Michael Phillips, of Harlow, in Essex, was charged on Thursday with an offence contrary to section 3 of the National Security Act (NSA), the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

Three top officers close to Bashar al-Assad are on trial in absentia over the deaths of a student and his fatherWitnesses have told a Paris court how children and elderly people considered enemies of the ruling Syrian regime were tortured in a notorious military prison, at the trial of three high-ranking officers close to the country's leader, Bashar al-Assad.The three are being tried in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes in connection with the deaths of two French-Syrian dual nationals, Patrick Dabbagh, a 20-year-old student, and his father, 48. Continue reading...

Relatives speak of huge void' in their lives after blaze on 17 May, as murder suspect appears at Portsmouth courtRelatives of a 96-year-old woman allegedly murdered by a 26-year-old man have paid tribute to a dear mum".The body of Emma Finch was found by firefighters following a fire at her home on a quiet road in the village of Liss, in Hampshire. Continue reading...

Former CEO says she does not recall making conscious decision not to go back and review all past criminal cases' and denies media coverage was a factor

Financial indexes barely flickered as the election was announced, suggesting Starmer's move to woo the City has been a successFive years ago, the prospect of a landslide Labour election victory might have been expected to prompt at least some anxiety in financial markets. In a sign of how successful Keir Starmer's campaign to woo the City and move his party's position to the centre has been, markets barely budged in response to news the vote would be held this summer.The FTSE 100 opened flat on Thursday, the pound pushed slightly higher and stock futures a touch lower as markets appeared relaxed about the likelihood of a Starmer win, having had more than a year of reading about 15-point-plus poll leads to get used to the idea. Continue reading...

Josep Borrell describes the aid agency as an indispensable lifeline in Gaza and the region'A two-day Israeli raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin killed at least 12 Palestinians, health authorities and an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent said on Thursday.Israeli troops withdrew from the city early Thursday, the AFP correspondent said, after carrying out raids in the city's refugee camp and exchanging fire with masked gunmen in a nearby neighbourhood in the city centre. Continue reading...

European court of human rights rejects appeals over Mikheil Saakashvili's criminal cases heard in Georgian courtsThe former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili was fairly convicted of abuses of power for ordering the beating of an opposition MP and pardoning four murderers, human rights judges in Strasbourg have ruled.Saakashvili, who was president of Georgia from 2004 to 2013, was said by the European court of human rights on Thursday to have failed to show he had been unfairly treated in his trials in 2018. Continue reading...

Church statement expressing regret' that members took money from plantation owners in 1844 condemned as shameful'The Free Church of Scotland has been accused of shameful" behaviour after it refused to apologise for receiving money from slavery worth millions of pounds today.The Free Church is known to have accepted donations from plantation owners in the southern US states soon after its foundation in 1843 and then a significant bequest from a wealthy Glaswegian sugar baron 10 years later. Continue reading...

The ex-president's most enduring rival during the primaries joined the ranks of many one-time foes who will nevertheless support him. Plus, are phones designed for adults causing children to lose their love for music?Good morning.Nikki Haley, who emerged as Donald Trump's most enduring rival and trenchant critic during the Republican primary elections, has said she intends to vote for the former US president in November.Any other one-time Trump foes who will nevertheless support him? Haley joins the ranks of the US Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell; Trump's former attorney general turned critic William Barr; and Chris Sununu, the New Hampshire governor.What has Trump himself been up to? On social media and in a Tuesday fundraising email, Trump falsely said the Department of Justice was ready to kill him. Trump was apparently referencing the FBI order for a search warrant in August 2022 of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in search of classified documents Trump had allegedly taken. The FBI took the unusual step of responding, describing the language in the warrant as a standard policy statement limiting the use of deadly force. No one ordered additional steps to be taken and there was no departure from the norm in this matter." The Washington Post has previously reported that FBI agents picked a day for the raid when Trump would not be at Mar-a-Lago and told the Secret Service ahead of time.What next, diplomatically? The US is worried Netanyahu may be willing to torpedo a potential normalization deal with Saudi Arabia if it entails ending the war in Gaza and committing to working towards a two-state solution. Continue reading...