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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

Exclusive: Sen Const Beau Lamarre took a police gun home before allegedly using it to murder his former partner and his ex's new boyfriend

French president tells Paris conference Moscow must not and cannot' win the war and that Europe's security is at stakeThe French president, Emmanuel Macron, has called for western countries to step up their support for Ukraine, warning that Moscow's actions in recent weeks signal that Russia could attack Nato states in the next few years.Speaking at the opening of a hastily convened conference of 20 mainly European leaders in Paris designed to speed up the supply of weapons and financial aid to Ukraine, Macron said Russia must not and cannot win this war" and that Europe's own security was at stake. Continue reading...

Committee releases minutes of board meeting before appearance by former Post Office chair Henry StauntonNewly published documents show that a toxic culture of disbelief" persists at the top of the Post Office when it comes to wronged post office operators, MPs have been told.Post Office board members complained of being tired and constantly distracted by historical issues, short-term crisis management and funding issues", minutes of one of their meetings last year show. Continue reading...

Actions of Kyle Parker might have crossed legal bounds that could make him an unregistered foreign agent, New York Times reportsA senior staffer who advises the US Senate on Russia policy is under investigation for making trips to Ukraine in military uniform and supplying the country's armed forces with privately donated sniper equipment, it was reported on Monday.The actions of Kyle Parker, chief of staff to the Helsinki commission that informs senators on issues of European security, might have crossed legal and ethical grounds that could make him an unregistered foreign agent, according to the New York Times, which reviewed a confidential report by the commission's director and general counsel. Continue reading...

Sir Lindsay Hoyle tells MPs he was advised that granting fresh vote could be further breach of Commons protocolThe Commons speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, has rejected an SNP request for a further Gaza ceasefire vote after last week's angry scenes at Westminster amid concerns that it could be a further breach of parliamentary protocol.The SNP had asked for a vote on a substantive" motion on whether there should be an immediate ceasefire after the speaker said last week that he would be willing to consider an emergency debate. Continue reading...

First Nation members say in lawsuit that radiologists subjected them to a secret study without their knowledge or consentMembers of a First Nation in Canada have launched a lawsuit alleging they were subjected to a secret medical experiment without their consent that left them feeling violated and humiliated".The class action lawsuit, which was certified by the Nova Scotia supreme court in early February, revives the painful history of Canada conducting medical experiments on Indigenous peoples and the persistent discrimination they continue to face within the country's healthcare system. Continue reading...

Yes vote comes nearly two years after historically neutral country applied to join military allianceHungary's parliament has approved Sweden's Nato accession nearly two years after the historically neutral country applied to join the western military alliance, bringing to an end months of diplomatic wrangling.Speaking after the vote in Budapest on Monday, the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, hailed a historic day". Continue reading...

Pupils at four schools in Beziers introduced uniform the government says could be rolled out nationwide if successfulThey have not been compulsory in state schools in mainland France since 1968. But uniforms have made a return to one town as part of a government pilot scheme to establish if they can reduce inequality - and improve behaviour.About 700 pupils at four schools in the southern town of Beziers became the first to introduce a uniform on Monday in a scheme that the government says could be rolled out nationwide if successful. Continue reading...

Court hears that Christine Rawle, who stabbed her husband, Ian, in August 2022, claimed he had made her life a miseryA woman who allegedly murdered her 72-year-old husband by stabbing him in the back during an argument told police he had been violent, sexually abusive and financially controlling, a jury has heard.After the attack, Christine Rawle, 69, removed the knife from her husband Ian Rawle's back, kicked it under a stable door and sat down to wait for the emergency services to arrive, the court was told. Continue reading...

Sir Lindsay Hoyle says he will not allow further emergency debate, saying that MPs came to a resolution on Gaza only last weekRishi Sunak is now on BBC Radio Lincolnshire. Scott Dalton is interviewing him, and asks why it is taking so long for the HS2 money to go to transport projects in the north.Sunak says he thinks the money has been redirected quite quickly.I believe racism or prejudice of any kind is completely unacceptable, and we must stamp it out.And that's because we're the most successful multi-ethnic democracy in the world. And that's because we have a way of doing these things, of respecting everyone, and at the same time ensuring that everyone integrates into our community and subscribes to a common set of British values. That's not an easy thing to do. But I think we do it better than any other country, and we need to work hard to protect that. Continue reading...