World news | The Guardian

Kyiv unlikely to be able to mount fresh counteroffensive until late summer at very earliest, says Adm Sir Tony RadakinUkraine is expected to remain short of ammunition and on the back foot in its war with Russia for several months until the west agrees further steps to support Kyiv, the head of Britain's armed forces has acknowledged.Adm Sir Tony Radakin, speaking at a conference in London, did not directly comment on a French suggestion of deploying western ground troops in Ukraine, but instead emphasised an urgent need to increase industrial assistance. Continue reading...

Paul Scully says he is slightly furious' with himself after comments about London and BirminghamJonathan Gullis (Con) asks Creswell if he was told that members of the Post Office board might leave if Henry Staunton was not removed as chair.Creswell says he was told that. Those complaints came to him, and this point was made to him about Staunton. He says there were concerns about Staunton's conduct, and anxiety" that board members might leave if Staunton did not.Yes, I was told that explicitly.By one individual on behalf of two members of the board. So, the complaints about Mr Staunton's behaviour came to me and I had a phone call with Mr [Ben] Tidswell ... he is the senior independent director on the Post Office board and his job is - among other things - to hold the chair to account.So, it was he who contacted me and, indeed, he did say, as you have suggested, that the level of anxiety about Mr Staunton's behaviour was such that we might see resignations from the board. Continue reading...

Yuval Abraham criticises German officials, saying statement devalues term antisemtisim' and puts Jewish lives in dangerAn Israeli film-maker who won one of the top prizes at the Berlin film festival has said German officials' description of the awards ceremony as antisemitic" has led to death threats and the physical intimidation of family members, causing him to hold off plans to return to Israel.Yuval Abraham, 29, was on Saturday awarded the Berlinale's best documentary award for No Other Land, which charts the eradication of Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta in the West Bank. Continue reading...

Benefits for Latin American host nations could be greater still if access to jobs for migrants were increased, research showsAn exodus of nearly 8 million Venezuelan migrants who have fled poverty and political turmoil is boosting the economies of other countries across South America, two studies published by leading international financial institutions have found.The foreign workforce will lift the economies of their main host nations in Latin America and the Caribbean by 0.10-0.25% on average each year from 2017 until 2030, according to the research. Continue reading...

Christina Robinson, 30, also allegedly immersed Dwelaniyah in scalding water and shook him violentlyA woman accused of murdering her three-year-old son beat him with a bamboo cane and said she was allowed to do so because the Bible told her to chastise him.Christina Robinson, 30, also immersed her son in scalding hot water causing severe burns and shook him so violently that it resulted in brain damage, a court heard. Continue reading...

Robert Van de Noort says vice-chancellors must be bold in protecting academic freedom and promoting diversity of thoughtUniversities risk becoming uniformities" of rigid ideas and self-censorship, according to the vice-chancellor of the University of Reading, who accused the government and his fellow university leaders of creating echo chambers on campus.Robert Van de Noort told a seminar at the Houses of Parliament that vice-chancellors needed to be more courageous themselves, and actively and explicitly promote a culture of diversity of thought" to overcome an echo chamber" of academics amplifying identity politics and the government's accountability measures which rewarded conformity over innovation. Continue reading...

Prosecutor says defendants, who deny the charges, had identified targets including an Islamic education centre in LeedsThree men have appeared in court accused of a far-right terror plot in which they allegedly used a 3D printer to produce a semi-automatic firearm and identified targets including an Islamic education centre in Leeds.The men appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday and made it clear through their solicitors that they denied the charges of preparing for an act of terrorism. Continue reading...

Threat not discussed until weeks after chief medical officer warned of significant risk' it would reach WalesThe Welsh government's cabinet did not discuss the threat posed by Covid as the virus spread across the world until a month after its chief medical officer had warned there was a significant risk" it would reach Wales, the inquiry into the pandemic has heard.At the start of three weeks of hearings in Cardiff, the inquiry was told this was more than three weeks after the UK government's cabinet debated Covid, with bereaved families describing this delay as a missed chance to armour up for battle". Continue reading...

Palestinian ambassador to UK says Hamas will be consulted but would have no members in government

Prosecutors say actor, 88, does not have permit for any of the 72 weapons seized from his home south of ParisPolice have seized 72 firearms from the home of French screen legend Alain Delon, who doesn't have a permit for any of them, prosecutors said on Tuesday.Officers also found more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition and a shooting range in the actor's rural home in Douchy-Montcorbon, 84 miles (135km) south of Paris. Continue reading...

Jens Stoltenberg says no plans for Nato troops on the ground in Ukraine after Macron refused to rule it outThe Kremlin has suggested that conflict between Russia and the US-led Nato military alliance would become inevitable if European members of Nato sent troops to fight in Ukraine, Reuters reports.Sweden, Poland and the Czech Republic have distanced themselves from Emmanuel Macron saying on Monday that there was no consensus" on sending western troops to Ukraine but nothing should be excluded" (see post at 10am). Continue reading...

Campaigner says he personally rejected cruel' compensation offer as government admits it is still failing to act fast enough

Eugene Shvidler loses crucial legal test case but plans to lodge new appeal to the UK supreme courtA business associate of the oligarch Roman Abramovich has failed in his latest attempt to overturn sanctions which were imposed on him after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in a case widely seen as a crucial legal test for the post-Brexit UK sanctions regime.Eugene Shvidler, who served on the board of companies owned by Abramovich, was sanctioned by the UK government in March 2022 as part of measures to target Russia-linked oligarchs and officials after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

Chancellor in talks with fast-fashion company as it believes it unlikely that SEC will approve US flotation

Kimberly-Clark's toilet paper mill was looking down the barrel of a 100% male workforce when they decided to shake up their strategy - and culture

Despite a 26-year tradition of officers marching at Mardi Gras, the Paddington murders have brought growing discontent with the force to a head

Official tells media still big gaps that need to be bridged' after US president said my hope is by next Monday we'll have a ceasefire'Israel says it has struck multiple targets inside Lebanon. In a message posted to its official Telegram channel, the IDF reported:This morning approximately 35 launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the area of Mount Meron in northern Israel. There were no injuries or damage to the IDF Aerial Control Unit in the area.In response, IDF fighter jets struck a military site and Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Hanniyeh, Jibchit, Baisariyeh, and Mansouri. IDF artillery also struck in the area of Yaroun in order to remove a threat. Continue reading...

Ridouan Taghi among three gang members given life terms with 14 others given lesser sentencesA Dutch court has sentenced the head of a brutal cocaine cartel to life imprisonment over a campaign of murders and attempted assassinations that prosecutors described as a well-oiled killing machine".Ridouan Taghi was among three gang members handed life terms, with 14 others sentenced to between 21 months and 29 years in jail after an unprecedented trial whose nearly six years of hearings were marked by three more related murders. Continue reading...

Alessandra Todde of the Five Star Movement, backed by the Democratic party, is the Italian island's first female presidentThe Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has suffered her first regional election setback since taking power after a leftwing candidate was elected president of Sardinia.Alessandra Todde, a politician with the Five Star Movement (M5S) who was backed by the Democratic party (PD), has become the island's first female president, narrowly beating Paolo Truzzu, the rightwing candidate chosen by Meloni. Continue reading...

Prince of Wales will not attend service for Constantine the former king of Greece at Windsor CastleThe Prince of Wales has pulled out of attending a memorial service at Windsor Castle for for one of his godfathers due to a personal matter".Kensington Palace would not elaborate further but said the Princess of Wales, who is recovering from abdominal surgery, continued to be doing well. Continue reading...

Stan Ford and John Roberts have names memorialised as city prepares to mark 80th anniversary of D-day in JuneTwo surviving British D-day veterans will have their names added to the Normandy memorial wall in Portsmouth on Tuesday as it is announced that the city will hold an 80th anniversary commemorative event on 5 June.Stan Ford and John Roberts, who served in the Royal Navy, will have their names memorialised before what may the last major opportunity for veterans to gather in public and recall their contribution to liberating western Europe. Continue reading...

The decision comes after NSW constable Beaumont Lamarre-Condon was charged over the deaths of the gay couple last week

Burberry, M&S and Next fare best for female representation but too few women are in top roles, report says

Tory suspended over comments about Sadiq Khan would be populist party's first MP if he joinedLee Anderson has said he is not ruling out defecting to Reform UK, in a move that would give the rightwing populist party its first MP.Anderson, a former Conservative party deputy chair, who has been suspended from sitting as a Tory MP because of his comments about the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he had been on a political journey" when pressed about whether he would join Reform. Continue reading...

NSW police say remains found near Goulburn after Sen Const Beau Lamarre charged with murders of ex-Channel Ten TV presenter and Qantas flight attendant

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In today's newsletter: As suspended backbencher Lee Anderson launches a fresh attack, a former Tory MEP explains how the party got here Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Your 7am Lee Anderson update: still not apologised. The reason, he said yesterday, is that when you think you are right you should never apologise, because to do so would be a sign of weakness".Others might feel that the weaknesses of Anderson's position are apparent enough already. In any case, the Conservatives remain in crisis over his claims that Islamists had got control" of Sadiq Khan, and their tepid response since he was suspended.Budget | Jeremy Hunt's financial planning is dubious" and lacks credibility" and the chancellor should not announce tax cuts in next week's budget if he cannot lay out how he will fund them, an economic thinktank has said. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) calculates that a spending freeze to fund pre-election giveaways would mean about 35bn in public service cuts.Israel-Gaza war | Joe Biden has said he believes a new, temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is possible by next Monday. The US president offered the update spontaneously during a visit to New York yesterday, in response to reporters inquiring about when he expected a ceasefire could start.Russia | Alexei Navalny's allies allege that Vladimir Putin had the opposition leader killed in jail to sabotage a prisoner swap in which Navalny would have been exchanged for a convicted hitman jailed in Germany. Maria Pevchikh, a close ally of the opposition leader, said Navalny was only days from being freed.US news | An active-duty member of the US air force has died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington DC, while shouting Free Palestine"". 25-year-old airman Aaron Bushnell said on a livestream that he would no longer be complicit in genocide"."Education | Labour has said it will help schools to train young male influencers who can counter the negative impact of people like Andrew Tate, a self-declared misogynist influencer, if it wins the next election. The party announced plans to pupils how to question the material they see on social media from people like Tate. Continue reading...

Inquest hears Rolfe told former soldier he wanted to leave police force to find wild work'

The disgraced MP for Wagga was a special kind of serial pest' but ex-premier's shared vision of the future with him clouded her judgment, court hears

Clauses in Michael Gove's bill include exemptions for properties in a retirement village or on land where a lease has already been grantedMichael Gove's signature bill to stop developers selling new houses as leasehold properties contains loopholes that will allow them to continue doing so in certain circumstances, a revelation that has triggered anger among housing campaigners.The housing secretary will bring his leasehold reform bill back to the Commons for a final time on Tuesday, this time with clauses to ban leases on new homes after they were mistakenly left out at the previous stage. Continue reading...

Finance minister's calls come after Sussan Ley says she rejects backbencher's comments that Workplace Gender Equality Agency report is annual Andrew Tate recruitment drive'

Allegations, which rapper and mogul denies, is the latest in a series of lawsuits accusing him of sexual assaultSean Combs, the rapper and mogul known as Diddy, was sued Monday by a music producer who accused the hip-hop mogul of sexually assaulting him and forcing him to have sex with prostitutes.The suit, filed in federal court in New York, accuses Combs of repeated instances of unsolicited groping and sexual touching. It also says the man had to work in a bathroom while Combs showered and walked around naked. Continue reading...

Karen Webb was speaking to media about Jesse Baird and Luke Davies who were allegedly murdered by police officer Beau Lamarre

Consumers are using their spending power to switch retailers and the major chains are scrambling to shore up customer loyalty

Covid peak-era PM described his constituents as quiet Australians' who seek the fair go for those who have a go'

For Swedes it means a dramatic change of national identity, while the alliance gets greater control of the Baltic SeaJust a few short months ago, Sweden's Nato membership seemed a very long way from being a done deal. Having submitted its application to join in May 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it seemed at times as though Stockholm might be left hanging interminably. While Finland, which had applied to join the alliance at the same time as its neighbour, became a member at record speed last April, Sweden got stuck in a diplomatic quagmire.Last summer a series of Qur'an burnings in Sweden inflamed ties with Turkey, making a yes" from Ankara look unlikely and at times inconceivable. And as recently as September, Viktor Orban's government was embroiled in a public war of words with Sweden over criticism of Hungary's democracy and teaching in Swedish schools. Late last month, after Turkey's parliament had given Sweden the green light, the Hungarian prime minister was still pushing for negotiations in a public letter to his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson. Continue reading...

Coalition government to slim down school curriculum after cramming of subjects under previous nationalist administrationPoland's new government is seeking to slim down the material taught in schools by about 20%, saying a cramming of the curriculum under the previous rightwing populist administration has left teachers and students exhausted.Speaking during a school visit in the Silesian town of Mysowice over the weekend, the education minister, Barbara Nowacka, said she was consulting experts on how to narrow down the curriculum, which will come into force in secondary schools after the summer break, from 1 September. Continue reading...

Detectives, who have charged Sen Const Beau Lamarre with murder, also canvassing at Grays Point near Cronulla and searching Royal national park

Australian Chinese former fashion blogger, whose appointment in 2021 was met with controversy, announces she is leaving the magazineThree years after becoming the youngest person to hold an editor title at Vogue, Margaret Zhang is leaving her position as editorial director of Vogue China.The Australian Chinese creative director announced her exit on Instagram on Monday, writing: As we kick off a transformative Year of the Dragon, I'm excited to announce that I have decided to wrap up with Vogue and jump into the next chapter of my career." Continue reading...

City of Melbourne council says CCTV footage shows a group cutting down statue early Monday, in third attack on a Captain Cook memorial in Melbourne, this year

Police and ambulance workers given unlawful directions to get vaccinated or face potential disciplinary action, supreme court findsCovid-19 vaccine mandates for Queensland police and ambulance workers were made unlawfully, the state's supreme court has found.The court on Tuesday delivered its judgments in three lawsuits brought by 86 parties against Queensland's police ambulance services for their directions to workers issued in 2021 and 2022. Continue reading...

NSW police allege multiple shots were fired from a dark-coloured sedan at about 8.30am on Stella Street

NSW police claim an alleged incident occurred around 2.30am on Tuesday and the photographer did not require medical attention

The 67-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was travelling alone when he left a luxury lodge to travel to Victoria Falls National ParkAn Australian tourist reported missing late last week in Zimbabwe near Victoria Falls already had been missing for nearly a week before that, according to new information released Monday by national park officials.

As millions skip meals and are unable to regularly afford groceries, the Food Foundation warns of widening health inequalitiesMillions of people - including one in five families with children - have gone hungry or skipped meals in recent weeks because they could not regularly afford to buy groceries, according to new food insecurity data.According to the Food Foundation tracker, 15% of UK households - equivalent to approximately 8 million adults and 3 million children - experienced food insecurity in January, as high food prices continued to hit the pockets of low-income families. Continue reading...

Defra proposal to relax farming rules accused of breaking Tory pledge to raise standards post-Brexit as the practice can cause painProposals to legalise the carrying of chickens by their legs in the UK would represent an unacceptable dilution of animal welfare standards and the first such weakening of regulations in the area since Brexit, campaigners have said.The government's Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) has made the recommendation despite acknowledging it to be a welfare compromise" that can cause pain, discomfort and breathing difficulty" leading to distress and injuries such as fractures and dislocations. Continue reading...

Exclusive: activists endorse Anderson's comments and decry threat of Islam' in leaked messagesGrassroots Conservative supporters have called Rishi Sunak a snake" over Lee Anderson's suspension as MPs on the Tory right said he should be given a route back in.In leaked WhatsApp messages obtained by the Guardian, members of the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO), which was founded by disgruntled Tories after Boris Johnson and then Liz Truss were ousted, attacked the prime minister for kicking Anderson out of the parliamentary party. Continue reading...

The shadow education secretary said they would help schools train role models as powerful counterbalance' to Andrew Tate influenceLabour would help schools to train young male influencers who can counter the negative impact of people like Andrew Tate, the shadow education secretary has said.In an interview with the Guardian, Bridget Phillipson said that in order to combat sexual harassment, Labour wanted to see schools develop role models who could provide a powerful counterbalance" to Tate and others like him. Continue reading...

Leslie Reti quoted as saying the event's program description is deeply offensive', but artistic director calls it a celebration' of connection between communities