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Shadow foreign secretary says deputy Labour leader has party's support and has done nothing wrongDavid Lammy has discredited questions over whether Angela Rayner owes capital gains tax (CGT) as smears being run" to distract people from Tory chaos" and the rising cost of living before the local elections.The shadow foreign secretary said Rayner had Labour's full support, that she had done nothing wrong, and that her tax arrangements had been subject to advice from accountants and lawyers.Guardian Newsroom: What is Labour's plan?

Structured decision making' tool has not been updated since 2013 and families minister says system is not delivering the outcomes we want to see'

Israel was previously undecided on whether to attend talks but will now take part in the latest round of negotiations

Antonio Guterres voices alarm' as Latin American governments sharply criticise Quito's move to arrest former vice-presidentThe UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has added his voice to a torrent of criticism of Ecuador's decision to storm the Mexican embassy in Quito in order to arrest the former vice-president Jorge Glas.The secretary general is alarmed at the forced entry of Ecuadorian security forces into the premises of the Mexican embassy," Guterres said through his spokesperson on Sunday, adding that violations of the sanctity of diplomatic and consular property jeopardise the pursuit of normal international relations". Continue reading...

International Atomic Energy Agency warns about safety after Russia says Ukrainian drone detonated at nuclear power plant

Exclusive: lecturer finds striking similarities' between lines in Jonson's Every Man in His Humour and later Shakespeare worksHe was an actor, as well as the greatest dramatist of all time, but no-one has been able to name with certainty a single role that William Shakespeare performed himself. Now a leading scholar has concluded from linguistic analysis that Shakespeare played an obsessively jealous husband in a 1598 drama by fellow playwright Ben Jonson.Dr Darren Freebury-Jones, a lecturer in Shakespeare studies at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, has discovered striking similarities" between phrases recited by Thorello in Every Man in His Humour and those in Shakespeare's Othello, Hamlet and Twelfth Night. Continue reading...

Peter Magya building centrist movement that has visibly shaken ruling party he dramatically broke withA political newcomer who is causing headaches for Hungary's government has said his experience as a regime insider can help him succeed where other opposition figures have failed, citing his crazy" rise in the polls and vision" as signs that change is possible.Fourteen years after the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, returned to power and put the country on an illiberal path, some Hungarians had lost hope that his hold on power could be eroded. Continue reading...

The tribute will be unveiled in Handsworth Park, near where the poet grew up, after the accidental removal of another artwork in the cityThe late Benjamin Zephaniah, one of Birmingham's leading cultural figures, is to take his rightful place watching over the city when a new, official mural honouring the life of the poet and campaigner is unveiled at a ceremony in Handsworth Park on 14 April.Despite the threats posed by the bankrupt city council's recent cut to all arts funding, the public artwork will arrive at a relative high point for Birmingham's wider cultural reputation, as the popular television drama This Town continues to chronicle the 80s boom in Ska and 2 Tone music in the Midlands. The BBC show is written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, a writer who, like Zephaniah, has been instrumental in rebuilding the confidence of a city often unfairly lampooned for its modernist urban infrastructure and supposed lack of sophistication. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Figure includes 500 homeless people detained since government pledged to replace Georgian-era legislation in 2022Almost 2,500 homeless people have been arrested by police in England and Wales since 2019 under the Georgian-era Vagrancy Act, among them nearly 500 people since the government pledged to replace the act in 2022.Freedom of information requests to police forces by the Liberal Democrats showed a total of 2,412 arrests since 2019 under the 1824 law, originally introduced to target homeless and wounded veterans of the Napoleonic wars. Continue reading...

Shadow foreign secretary says far too many people have died' but refuses to back call for immediate ban on arms sales

Fellow Spotlight producer told Auerbach he found it bizarre' he was taking Lehrmann to dinner every night

Israel PM's woes continue to mount, but the country's policy on Gaza is unlikely to changeFor Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the last week has perhaps been the worst since the Hamas attack on 7 October, six months ago, that triggered the current war in Gaza.Protests against the longtime Israeli leader by hostage families and the opposition returned with a vengeance across the country as he spent two nights in hospital for hernia surgery. Then his major political rival, Benny Gantz, undermined the unity of the wartime government by calling for early elections; Netanyahu's ultra-Orthodox coalition allies are already angry with him over a row regarding military conscription. Continue reading...

Insurers have made huge hidden payments for buildings cover over many years, experts sayLandlords of developments in England and Wales where residents face hefty service charges face calls to disclose millions of pounds in secret commissions" raked in over the years for arranging buildings insurance.Experts say these hidden commissions, paid to landlords including City investment funds that hold freeholds and managing agents, have been worth tens of millions of pounds a year. The arrangements were made without residents being told and resulted in higher service charges. Continue reading...

Search was conducted in difficult terrain near Mitchell Plateau as Coalition presses government over third boat since November'

Former foreign secretary says Britain needs to forge closer political and foreign policy links with Europe if it is to thriveThe UK has lost influence since Brexit to become just one of many middle powers" in the world, former foreign secretary David Miliband has said.Writing for the Observer, Miliband, now president and chief executive of the International Rescue Committee, said that in order to reverse the decline, the UK needed to enter new structures and commitments" with the EU on foreign policy. Continue reading...

First minister calls for end to vexatious reports after far-right agitators attempt to overwhelm' official systemsNeo-Nazi and far-right agitators are exploiting Scotland's new hate crime law to make vexatious complaints en masse in an attempt to overwhelm" police systems.A prominent figure in England's white nationalist movement is among those urging followers to spam Police Scotland with anonymous online reports, the Observer has found. Continue reading...

NSW emergency services minister warns flood threat not over after heavy rain causes flooding in and around Sydney

Close ally of populist prime minister Robert Fico claimed 53.85% of vote, beating pro-Western opposition Ivan KorokNationalist-left government candidate Peter Pellegrini has won Slovakia's presidential election ahead of liberal, pro-western opposition candidate Ivan Korok.The close ally of populist prime minister Robert Fico received 53.85% of the vote with the ballots from more than 98% polling stations counted by the Statistics Office in Saturday's runoff election, topping former foreign minister Korok who had 46.14%. Continue reading...

Ukraine soldiers describe almost daily' illegal gas attacks as invaders seek to dislodge them from embedded positionsRussia has been accused of systematically using illegal chemical gas attacks against Ukrainian soldiers.Ukrainian troops told the Daily Telegraph that they have been subjected to regular attacks from small drones dropping teargas and other chemicals. Continue reading...

Police believe suspect, who was detained near scene in Hackney, was known to victimA man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death of a woman who was found unresponsive in a car in east London.Officers were called to Whiston Road in Hackney just before 6.45am on Saturday, the Metropolitan police said. Police forced entry to the vehicle and attempted to resuscitate the woman before the ambulance staff arrived, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading...

Sajak, 77, announced last summer he was ready to retire as host, marking the end of a four-decade gig on venerable gameshowPat Sajak will take his final spin on Wheel of Fortune on 7 June, marking the end of a four-decade gig as host of the venerable gameshow.Sajak, 77, announced last summer that he was ready to retire as host from the show, which features contestants guessing letters to try to fill out words and phrases to win money and prizes. Deadline confirmed his final date on air on Friday. Continue reading...

Let Women Speak leader says rally aimed to test Scotland's new hate crime legislation, Telegraph reportsGender-critical activists and counter-protesters clashed in Edinburgh in a dispute over transgender rights.Let Women Speak (LWS), an organisation described by supporters as a gender-critical feminist" campaign, led a rally outside the Royal Scottish Academy in the Scottish capital on Saturday. Continue reading...

Move to join US-led maritime corridor follows international fury at last week's killing of seven aid workersThe Royal Navy was ordered into action on Saturday to help supply desperately needed aid to Gaza, as the foreign secretary, David Cameron, warned that the Palestinian people trapped there were on the brink of famine.With the UK and US governments under intense pressure to halt arms sales to Israel, Downing Street said on Saturday that ministers would instead boost support for a planned new maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, to channel life-saving aid" by sea to a population in urgent need of basic food supplies. Continue reading...

After weeks of intense Russian strikes, Ukraine's president calls for artillery shells as well as more Patriot missile systems

Yellow wind warnings issued while storms also brings hottest day of the year, reaching 20.9C in Suffolk

Opinium's latest research for Observer finds voters deserting the Conservatives for Reform and Labour in equal numbersOnly four out of 10 people who voted Conservative in 2019 will do so at the next general election, according to the latest dire poll for Rishi Sunak's party.Opinium's latest survey for the Observer finds that just 41% of those who backed the Tories under Boris Johnson intend to do so next time. Continue reading...

Interior minister says island's facilities at breaking point and calls for aid to Lebanon similar to recent Egypt pactThe EU must help Cyprus deal with record numbers of Syrian migrants from Lebanon, the island's government says.Before a visit to Beirut to discuss the emergency on Monday, Cyprus's interior minister appealed for support from Brussels, saying the country's reception facilities were at breaking point. Continue reading...

The post on X also breached royal protocol on politics by using image of the kingThe Conservatives are having problems with their socials again. Having claimed last month that London was the crime capital of the world", the party has now deleted another social media exhortation not to let the doomsters and the naysayers" talk down Britain.The post on X claimed that Britain was the second most powerful country in the world, illustrated by pictures including a Canadian-owned Aston Martin, a US F-35 fighter jet and a Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft developed by a European consortium while the UK was in the EU. Continue reading...

Peter Magyar, once an insider in the ruling Fidesz party, declares that Change has started in Hungary which can't be stopped'Tens of thousands of Hungarians protested against the country's leadership on Saturday in one of the biggest demonstrations in years, organised by a former government insider who has shaken up Hungary's political landscape.Peter Magyar, a lawyer and former diplomat who used to belong to an elite circle around Hungary's ruling party, publicly broke with the government in February and is now aiming to challenge the position of Viktor Orban, the powerful prime minister. Continue reading...

Blast struck in conflict-stricken Daraa province, where dozens of incidents have claimed about 100 lives this yearAt least seven children were killed after a roadside bomb detonated in south-western Syria, in an area where dozens of incidents have already claimed about 100 lives in 2024, state media and a war monitor reported.

Campaigners and MPs demand regulation of the sector as struggling consumers increasingly use the deals to buy everyday essentialsMinisters are being urged to intervene over a surge in unregulated buy now, pay later" credit after the amount UK consumers spend online using such deals rose up to 1.7bn a month.Debt advisers warn that many people are routinely resorting to deferred payments to buy household essentials. Any consumer who then misses payments risks seeing their case turned over to debt collectors. Continue reading...

Yellow wind warnings issued while Saturday also becomes hottest day of the year, reaching 20.9C in SuffolkStorm Kathleen has brought disruption to the UK and Ireland with dozens of UK flights cancelled and about 34,000 left without power as Saturday provisionally become the hottest day of the year.The highest temperature of 20.9C was reached in Santon Downham, Suffolk, on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading...

Gaza's Islamist rulers reiterated demands for a permanent end to the war and a withdrawal of Israeli troops

After bonkers gig' at Huddersfield town hall paired doom metal bands with pipe organist, churches are keen to get in on the actIt was a bonkers gig", pairing heavy metal with a pipe organ - a musical curiosity that the bands thought would surely seldom be repeated, if ever.But Pantheist and Ar, the doom metals bands who performed the concert at Huddersfield town hall last year, have been inundated with requests to repeat the performance - with churches leading the way. Continue reading...

Women with symptoms are being penalised, National Education Union's annual conference toldThe UK's biggest teaching union is to lobby for menopause training to be made mandatory for all school leaders, saying women with symptoms are being penalised for sickness absence and disciplined on competency grounds.Older staff were at greatest risk of capability procedures", delegates at the National Education Union's (NEU) annual conference in Bournemouth were told, while others were being forced out of their jobs, affecting not only their income but their pensions. Continue reading...

Martin Griffiths lamented the unconscionable prospect of further escalation in Gaza, where no one is safe and there is nowhere safe to go'

Police release image of person they want to speak to over incident in Stoke Newington on 18 NovemberPolice are searching for a woman who allegedly struck a woman in the face and grabbed her hijab in north London in what they describe as a racially and religiously motivated assault.Police have released an image of a woman they would like to speak to in connection with the incident, which happened on 18 November. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester police, who have launched murder inquiry, say victim was likely to be older than 40Human remains found wrapped in plastic at a nature reserve in Greater Manchester are those of a man older than 40 and who had been dead for only a matter of days, police said.A human torso was found on the Kersel Wetlands, former home of the Manchester racecourse, on Thursday evening, Greater Manchester police said. Continue reading...

National Education Union chief Daniel Kebede says Labour pledges are a long way from the scale of change' neededA new Labour government could find itself facing a wave of industrial action by teachers in England and Wales if it fails to meet demands over pay and education funding, the leader of the UK's biggest education union has warned.Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), fired a warning shot over Keir Starmer's bows, declaring that Labour's current proposals on schools and education were a long way" off the scale of change needed. Continue reading...

Oleksandr Syrskyi says all enemy attempts to break through to the settlement have failed

Campaigners and supporters gather in Brixton to remember those who have died without redress'Campaigners and supporters have gathered for a vigil to to mark the sixth anniversary of the Windrush scandal being exposed and to remember those who have died without redress".More than 50 people gathered at Windrush Square in Brixton for the event, which was organised bygroups supporting victims of the scandal including the Windrush National Organisation (WNO), the Black Cultural Archives and Churches Together in England. Continue reading...

HMS Trent seized 200kg of cocaine and other drugs in two operations that intercepted speedboatsThe Royal Navy has seized nearly 17m worth of drugs after it intercepted smuggling speedboats in the Caribbean Sea.HMS Trent seized 200kg of cocaine and other drugs with an estimated street value of 16.7m across two operations. Continue reading...

Head of NHS Providers says proposed reduction of second-class deliveries to two days a week would be extremely unhelpful'NHS leaders have warned that Royal Mail's plans to cut second-class deliveries to two days a week could risk patient safety.The changes are part of wider measures announced by Royal Mail's parent company, International Distributions Services (IDS), including cuts of up to 9,000 routes, which could take more than two years to implement, saving 300m a year. IDS has assured the Royal Mail workforce that there will be no compulsory redundancies and they will request only 100 voluntary redundancies. Continue reading...

Attorneys for Christopher Dorsey asked federal judge in court filings Friday to allow musician to remain on supervised releaseAttorneys for New Orleans-born rapper BG maintain he did have official permission to perform alongside prominent fellow musicians despite what authorities claimed when they recently arrested him on allegations of violating the terms of his supervised release from federal prison.Lawyers for Christopher Dorsey - BG's legal name - made those contentions in court filings Friday that asked a federal judge to allow the artist to remain on supervised release rather than face re-imprisonment. Continue reading...

Case was closed in 2018 without finding assailant but it is hoped Once Upon a Bridge' will prompt fresh clues to culprit's identityWhen a jogger on London's Putney Bridge was caught by CCTV as he callously pushed a stranger into the path of a double decker bus seven years ago, the act of random violence stunned the world. Shocking still images from the footage appeared on the front pages of international newspapers and, in the following months, leagues of amateur online detectives scrutinised the running style of the anonymous offender, from his clenched fists to his straight back, for clues to the identity of the Putney Pusher".Only the driver of the number 430 bus, Olivier Salbris, came forward publicly. As he drove over the Thames that day in early May he had averted disaster by swiftly swerving away from the 33-year-old female pedestrian and so he was widely saluted, appearing on morning television show sofas. But the true cause of the strange incident remains a mystery. Continue reading...

Former prime minister says a western arms embargo on Israel would hand victory' to Hamas

Employees in England, Scotland and Wales can now request flexible working from first day in new jobEmployees will have the legal right from Saturday to request flexible working from their first day in a new job.Previously, it applied only when someone had worked for their employer for 26 weeks or more. Continue reading...

Disparity, along with lower increases for car cover in rest of Europe raises questions about motor insurance in BritainUK insurers have revealed the amount they paid out for motor claims went up by about 18% last year, even as British drivers faced premium increases of more than a third - far above the rises in the rest of Europe.The Association of British Insurers (ABI) put the average increase for car cover in the UK at 34%, but many drivers have seen rises far exceed that, even doubling in the case of electric vehicles (EVs). Continue reading...

I kept praying and praying', says rescued woman as search for four people missing from hiking trail set to resume following Wednesday's quakeRescuers in Taiwan planned to bring in heavy equipment on Saturday to try to recover two bodies buried on a hiking trail, while more than 600 people remained stranded in various locations, three days after the island's strongest earthquake in 25 years.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff says he will advise governor Barbara Baker that he be recommissioned to form a new government