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Leader targets swing voters in Kent and Essex while shadow chancellor makes vow on taxes and spendingKeir Starmer will declare on Monday that Labour has changed permanently" under his stewardship, after the party ruled out raising income tax or national insurance if it wins the election.In his first keynote speech of the general election campaign, the Labour leader will seek to reassure nervous voters that transforming his party has been his driving mission since day one". Continue reading...

Dorset force appeals for information after 17-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of murderImages of a suspect have been released by police as part of a murder investigation after a woman was stabbed to death on a Bournemouth beach and another was badly injured.A 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of murder following the stabbing on the Blue Flag award-winning beach and remains in custody. Continue reading...

Criticism of proposed scheme comes as another blow to the party's struggling election campaignBritain's armed forces need more money not untrained teenage volunteers, former military leaders and Tory figures have said in a new blow to the Conservatives' faltering election campaign.Within hours of being announced, Rishi Sunak's election pledge to bring back military service for 18-year-olds was rubbished by army chiefs and a former Conservative defence secretary. Continue reading...

Professional rider suffered fatal accident while competing on Global Quest at Bicton international horse trialsA professional horse rider has died while competing at an equestrian event in Devon.Georgie Campbell, 36, was competing at the Bicton international horse trials when she suffered a fatal accident, according to British Eventing. Continue reading...

Leader says party is receiving best response from voters for a generation' as he unveils Yellow Hammer One battlebusEd Davey has said the Liberal Democrats are not putting a ceiling on our ambitions" as he launched the party's general election campaign.The party leader said the Lib Dems had been getting their best response from voters for a generation" while out campaigning. Continue reading...

Prince and Princess of Wales lead tributes to squadron leader, who died near RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire on SaturdayA passionate, professional" RAF pilot who was killed in a Spitfire crash while taking part in a Battle of Britain event has been named.Sqn Ldr Mark Long died following the crash at RAF Coningsby on Saturday. An investigation into the incident that led to his death has been launched. Continue reading...

Croxall has sued corporation for discrimination along with three other female senior journalistsA BBC presenter who has brought a tribunal claim against the broadcaster has returned to the screen. Martine Croxall sued the corporation after being off air for more than a year following the merger of the BBC's News and World News channels.Croxall, 55, and three other senior female BBC journalists, Kasia Madera, Annita McVeigh and Karin Giannone, said they were taken off air after being snubbed for chief presenter roles. Continue reading...

Comments from former Ukip leader, who also said he will stand for parliament in the future, described as outright Islamophobia'Nigel Farage has come under fire for using his first election interview to spout Islamophobia, hatred and divisive comments" after he said a growing number of Muslims do not share British values.The honorary president of the Reform UK party drew heavy criticism on Sunday after claiming Rishi Sunak had allowed more people into the country who are going to fight British values" than any UK leader before him. Continue reading...

First-quarter earnings show 580m pool, reflecting increase in share price as bonus cap scrapped in UKLondon bankers at Goldman Sachs have seen their pay pot jump by more than 20% so far this year, as the bank's surging share price added to the prospect of bumper payouts after bonus caps were lifted in the UK.Filings covering Goldman Sachs International's (GSI) first-quarter earnings show that it built up a $735m (580m) pay pool in the three months to March, averaging out at about $218,000 (170,000) each for its 3,359 staff, the bulk of whom are based in London. Continue reading...

As official mourning for Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi ends, here are some of the names proposed as successorsThe end of official mourning for Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has unleashed a battle for succession, with as many as 20 credible names being proposed.All candidates have to be cleared by the 12-strong elite body known as the Guardian Council, and the regime is torn between ensuring continuity on the one hand and allowing an open competition that stimulates turnout and gives the victor legitimacy. Continue reading...

Exclusive: 3.6bn has been paid out in 1,307 cases, according to information obtained under freedom of information lawsThe NHS has spent 4.1bn over the last 11 years settling lawsuits involving babies who suffered brain damage when being born, amid claims that maternity units are not learning from mistakes.It paid out just under 3.6bn in damages in 1,307 cases in which parents were left to care for a baby with cerebral palsy or other forms of brain injury, NHS figures reveal. Continue reading...

Emergency workers give up hope of finding survivors of Friday's landslide as tribal warfare threatens rescue effortMore than 670 people are believed to have been killed in a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, the UN migration agency has said, as emergency workers and relatives gave up hope that any survivors would be found.The death toll from the landslide on Friday had been estimated at more than 300, but 48 hours later the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it may be more than double that, with the full extent of destruction still unclear. Continue reading...

UK government allows British private schools in countries like UAE to use BSO kitemark while not teaching about same-sex relationshipsMinisters are allowing private schools abroad to brand themselves as British schools" despite not teaching about same-sex relationships, equality or drug abuse as required in England, the Guardian has learned.Overseas schools are able to be officially accredited as British Schools Overseas" (BSO) by the Department for Education (DfE). This came after the government did a U-turn and exempted them from using the same curriculum it requires in England if it would conflict with local laws. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Data reveals that 77 people died before being offered public housing between April 2019 and March this year

Not ICC practice to consult all states before making application for arrest warrants, Dfat says

Rachel Reeves says Labour plans for an immediate injection of cash into frontline public services if party gets into governmentHere's the Guardian's write-up of home secretary James Cleverly's promise no teenagers would face jail over the national service plans.BBC Scotland's Sunday Show spoke to a roundabout of parties on the first weekend since the election was called, but one topic dominated proceedings. Continue reading...

Shadow chancellor rules out income tax and national insurance rises and says manifesto will have no unfunded proposals

Home secretary says teenagers will not face criminal sanction if they refuse to join military or do volunteer work

Group of about 500 people to reinstate 2017 lawsuit against government due to holes and gaps' in compensation frameworkHundreds of people in the UK infected with contaminated blood and relatives of those infected are going ahead with plans to sue the health secretary for damages, having been left dissatisfied with the government's announcement on compensation.A group claim by about 500 people against the government alleging it breached a duty to take reasonable care to prevent personal injury or loss, amounting to misfeasance in public office, began in 2017 but was paused pending the inquiry into the scandal, which published its final report on Monday. Continue reading...

Lilian Seenoi-Barr, who arrived from Kenya in 2010, will make history when she receives chain of office in DerryLilian Seenoi-Barr will make history on 3 June when she receives the chain of office at Derry's guildhall and becomes Northern Ireland's first black mayor.It will be the culmination of a personal and political journey that began in 2010 when she arrived as a refugee from Kenya and became part of the region's growing multi-ethnic identity. Continue reading...

Any feelgood factor from the Euros or Wimbledon looks unlikely to boost the beleaguered PM's chances in the general electionThere were obvious immediate beneficiaries of the timing of Rishi Sunak's surprise election call: Post Office villain Paula Vennells, for example, bumped off the front pages, and civil service chief of staff Simon Case, whose long awaited evidence to the Covid inquiry went largely unnoticed.Others with cause to celebrate Sunak's seasonal gamble included the tobacco lobby, which has seen his smoking bill conveniently shelved and Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president, whose government has now trousered a cool 250m of British taxpayers' cash for services never likely to be rendered. Continue reading...

Hearing loss charities say deaf people struggling to access healthcare and facing cancelled appointmentsNHS England has been accused of dragging its feet" on bringing in new accessibility procedures, leading to disabled people routinely struggling to access healthcare and facing cancelled appointments.The Accessible Information Standard (AIS), originally implemented in 2016, was part of legislation designed to ensure that NHS and adult social care services providers make sure that people with a disability are able to have their accessibility requirements met when accessing health and social care. Continue reading...

Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail have endorsed Sunak but messaging is more nuanced in Murdoch's Sun and Times

Ukraine president urges Joe Biden and Xi Jinping to show your leadership' and send message to MoscowThe Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has released a desperate video plea calling on world leaders to attend a peace summit" next month in Switzerland, after a deadly Russian attack on a DIY hypermarket in Kharkiv on Saturday killed 12 people and injured dozens more.Zelenskiy appealed in particular to the US president, Joe Biden, and the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, to attend the summit, which is due to start on 15 June. Please, show your leadership in advancing the peace - the real peace and not just a pause between the strikes," said Zelenskiy in English. Continue reading...

Party's leaders are more nervous than ever that it will lose its majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to victoryIt was supposed to be a show of strength, a packed crowd of 83,000 ANC supporters showing South Africa that despite the country's myriad problems, the ruling party was still confident of victory in Wednesday's pivotal elections.Instead, as people streamed out of the three-quarters-full venue before President Cyril Ramaphosa's speech had even begun, the Siyanqoba (To conquer") rally will have left ANC leaders more nervous than ever that the party that liberated South Africa will lose its majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in 1994. Continue reading...

Bystanders ran in to rescue 12 newborns from fire at children's hospital as PM Narendra Modi says deaths are heart-rending'Six newborn babies have died after a fire tore through a children's hospital in the Indian capital, Delhi, with people charging into the flames to rescue the infants, police have said.India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, called the fire and deaths heart-rending" in a post on social media. Continue reading...

US rapper detained in Amsterdam on suspicion of possessing soft drugs' before being fined by Dutch policeNicki Minaj has offered her deepest and most sincere apologies" after her Manchester concert was cancelled at the last minute as she was arrested in Amsterdam.The US rapper was detained for hours at Schiphol airport on suspicion of possessing soft drugs" before being fined by Dutch police and allowed to continue her journey. Continue reading...

An ex-ENO artistic head and the director who staged War Horse working on a contemporary opera about drug addiction crisisThe opioid crisis is to be the subject of a new opera by a former artistic director of English National Opera (ENO) and the man behind the stage adaptation of War Horse.The Galloping Cure would tell a lurid tale of the greed surrounding the tragedy of the opioid crisis", said Tom Morris, its director. Continue reading...

Gunman shot Jennifer and Gretl Petelczyc, aged 59 and 18, at Floreat home where it's believed his ex-wife was staying, before taking his own life

Numbers waiting for treatment have increased by 27% in less than two years as the UK's population ages and grows more obeseThe rising number of people waiting for physiotherapy treatment is causing problems in other parts of the NHS and harming the UK's economy, leading clinicians have warned.Waiting lists for treatment for musculoskeletal (MSK) problems such as back, neck and knee pain have grown by 27% since January last year. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) said the number of physiotherapy posts in the NHS was not keeping pace with demand from Britain's ageing and increasingly obese population. Continue reading...

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The author of an acclaimed new biography of the Labour leader, reveals what has driven him to change his party - and why he now wants to do the same for the countryOver a cup of tea around his kitchen table a few weeks ago, Keir Starmer compared waiting for the general election to being in jail. It feels like I'mchalking off the days on my cellwall before I can be released," he told me.Like many real prison inmates across the country recently, he's been allowed out a bit earlier than expected by the government. Rishi Sunak's surprise decision to call a 4July election means the gates haveswung open and the Labour leader is emerging into the white light of a campaign. Continue reading...

Fears that the party faced an awkward wait before an autumn poll are over, yet the Tories aim to undermine it on areas like defenceLabour has been rescued from an awkward summer vacuum by Rishi Sunak's surprise snap election, senior figures believe.Some of the party's most prominent figures are using this weekend to ridicule the chaotic start of the Tory campaign, accusing Sunak of displaying a reverse Midas touch" after his rain-soaked election announcement outside Downing Street and a series of early gaffes on the campaign trail. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer makes Scotland central to the mission' as polls indicate an election meltdown for beleaguered nationalistsThe deputy leader of Scottish Labour said she was taking nothing for granted" after a poll suggested the party is poised for huge gains north of the border at the general election.Jackie Baillie said: We are moving in the right direction but I always approach elections with respect ... We have our candidates out there, knocking on as many doors as they can. We started last year with maybe six target seats and now we have considerably more than that." Continue reading...

Prime minister knows economy is likely to be in even worse shape by autumn or winter, but summer's good news won't impress a battered publicThere was an economic logic to Rishi Sunak's election dash, a decision that defied earlier predictions of a vote in the autumn or even winter. The prime minister could see that hopes of a recovery were fading, and with them his chances of redemption as the architect of Britain's future prosperity.Unemployment was going to continue rising. Inflation, after falling steadily over the past year, could bounce back in the autumn. And interest rates, which are a burden for mortgage payers and indebted businesses alike, looked like remaining stubbornly high. Continue reading...

Due to new import controls, a judging session for the Great Taste awards is being held outside the UK for the first time in 30 yearsThe Great Taste awards are a British success story - the world's largest food awards, celebrating the best products on the planet. But new post-Brexit import controls have forced the organisers to hold a judging panel outside the UK for the first time in the awards' 30-year history.On Sunday, judges from the Guild of Fine Foods panel will travel to County Tipperary in Ireland to spend three days tasting products that have become much harder to bring to the UK. Continue reading...

Steven Miles says pre-election trial will save commuters money and boost patronage but transport experts question if funds could be better spent

Queensland police service says the incident is being assessed by the ethical standards command

This blog has now closed. You can read our latest report on the Israel-Gaza war here and all our coverage on the conflict hereAl Jazeera are reporting that an Israeli military strike has targeted a family home in Gaza City's Sabra neighbourhood, killing a woman and injuring other people. It attributes the information to colleagues on the ground".The publication, citing the Palestinian news agency Wafa, reports that numerous other neighbourhoods of Gaza City have come under heavy artillery shelling ... including Sheikh Ajlin, Tal al-Hawa and Zeitoun". Continue reading...

Labour lambasts youth policy as desperate and unfunded' and designed to make youngsters fix government-created problemsRishi Sunak has announced that a future Conservative government would bring back mandatory national service, as he attempted to reignite his election campaign after an error-strewn start.Under the plan, which appeared to be his latest attempt to reduce Tory losses by winning over voters drifting to Reform UK, the prime minister late Saturday said that every 18-year-old would have to spend time in a competitive, full-time military commission or spend one weekend a month volunteering in civil resilience". Continue reading...

Boy arrested on suspicion of the murder of Kamari Johnson, who died at the scene in Hayes on FridayA 17-year-old boy has been arrested after another teenage boy, 16, was stabbed to death in London.An investigation was launched after police were called at about 1.30pm on Friday to reports of a stabbing in Hayes, west London. Continue reading...

The federal government hopes parents will educate themselves so they can teach their children to have safe, healthy relationships'

The agency's GenCost analysis says a first nuclear plant for Australia would deliver power no sooner than 2040' and could cost more than $17bn

Dozens also injured after guided bombs hit residential area, in attack Zelenskiy says is terrorism'Russian strikes on a crowded DIY hardware store and a residential area in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv killed at least six people and injured 40 on Saturday, local officials said.Four people were killed after two guided bombs hit the DIY hypermarket in a residential area of the city, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on national television, while 40 people were injured in the attack and 16 still unaccounted for. Continue reading...

Bestselling writer says Lake District sites in new book You Are Here are genuinely all made up'David Nicholls has warned his fans not to attempt to visit the locations in his new novel. While those who loved the hit Netflix adaptation of Nicholls' novel One Day have been able to visit locations from the series, such as the Lewisham pizza joint Bella Roma or Charlton Lido, the locations in You Are Here are genuinely all made up", the author said.The novel, which was published last month and follows a midlife couple as they hike through the Lake District, contain a disclaimer from the author explaining that while he has tried to describe the landscape as accurately as possible, the pubs, hotels and restaurants along the way are all entirely fictional", and he has also taken a few small liberties with the route". Continue reading...

Dan Paterson and Pastenji Sherpa went missing during descent after landslide of snow and ice on mountainA British man and his Nepali guide are believed to be dead after reaching the summit of Mount Everest on Tuesday, a guiding company said.Dan Paterson, 40, and Pastenji Sherpa, 23, reached the peak just before 5am on Tuesday but have not been heard from since, according to Paterson's partner, Becks Woodhead. Continue reading...

Rapper detained at Schiphol on suspicion of possessing soft drugs' hours before show in ManchesterNicki Minaj has been arrested at an airport in the Netherlands hours before she was due to perform at Co-op Live in Manchester on Saturday and appeared to livestream the encounter with security staff.The 41-year-old rapper was detained on suspicion of possessing soft drugs" at Schiphol airport while travelling from Amsterdam to Manchester for her Pink Friday 2 Tour show. Continue reading...

Exclusive: PM made flying visit to his North Yorkshire constituency, using millionaire's chopper to return to LondonRishi Sunak took a helicopter owned by a millionaire Conservative donor to fly from North Yorkshire to London on Saturday, before appearing at a hastily arranged campaign trip in south London.The prime minister made two relatively low-key campaign stops during the day, after the Guardian revealed on Friday he was planning to spend the day solely in his constituency and London. Continue reading...

The shadow chancellor has accused Conservatives of making unfunded financial commitments after calling a snap electionShadow chancellor Rachel Reeves accuses the Tories of making 64bn of unfunded spending commitments in a desperate and reckless" effort to rescue their gaffe-strewn general election campaign.Speaking to the Observer, Reeves said that what appeared to be pledges to slash taxes - including national insurance, income tax and inheritance tax - were reminiscent of Liz Truss's catastrophic mini-budget and showed the Conservatives had learnt nothing from her disastrous time at No 10. Continue reading...

Police in Rajkot, Gujarat, say blaze now under control and rescue operation under wayAt least 20 people, most of them children, have died after a huge fire broke out at an amusement park in western India, police said.The fire erupted at the park in the city of Rajkot in Gujarat state on Saturday. Police commissioner Raju Bhargava said the fire was under control and the rescue operation was under way with 20 bodies recovered. Continue reading...