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Biden laments terrible accident' as six people still missing after Francis Scott Key Bridge snapped from collision with vessel

Environment secretary opposed waste plant plans that must be approved by body he overseesThe environment secretary has refused to say whether he abused his position when he tried to stop an incinerator being built in his constituency.But Steve Barclay apologised for not properly declaring his interest and recusing himself, when questioned about it on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Mayor says rescue efforts continuing after cargo vessel hit Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending vehicles into the water

South American neighbours respond to blocking of Corina Yoris, who was favoured to beat strongman Nicolas Maduro in electionsA chorus of Latin American nations, including Brazil and Colombia, have voiced concern over the deteriorating political situation in Venezuela after the opposition politician best-positioned to challenge its strongman leader, Nicolas Maduro, in July's presidential election was prevented from registering for the vote.Corina Yoris, an 80-year-old philosopher, was little-known outside academic circles until last Friday, when she was catapulted on to the frontline of Venezuela's long-running political crisis by being named as the substitute for Maria Corina Machado, a prominent opposition figure who had been banned from running in the election. Continue reading...

National Transportation Safety Board is dispatching investigators, but governor said Francis Scott Key Bridge was sound

Prime minister tells MPs the priority is to get inflation down even though English councils need another 4bn to maintain servicesRishi Sunak has denied there is a crisis" in local government funding despite warnings that well-run councils are on the brink of bankruptcy and local services at risk without more support.The prime minister admitted that councils faced challenges", in particular with inflation, which has significantly outpaced recent cash injections, at the cross-party liaison committee. Continue reading...

Up to 10 non-disclosure agreements signed in last year alongside substantial financial settlementsThe CBI has used gagging clauses to prevent staff from discussing their experiences of sexual misconduct and bullying at the organisation, the Guardian can reveal.Up to 10 non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) have been signed in the past year after the lobbying group's sexual misconduct scandal, in which more than a dozen staff alleged they had been victims of sexual harassment, assault and rape. Those agreements have been accompanied by substantial financial settlements from the CBI. Continue reading...

The Boss says he is proud to become a fellow after being recognised for his impact on the UK's cultural landscape'There is perhaps nobody in the US's short history who is better-known for describing blue-collar American life.But Bruce Springsteen is to be recognised by the most British of institutions when he becomes the first foreigner to be inducted as a fellow of the Ivors Academy. Continue reading...

Tim Davie says 14 years of reductions have put its future at risk, as he announces 200m of cutsCuts to the BBC's budget by successive Conservative governments have been shortsighted" and risked undermining its future, the director general said in a speech on Tuesday.Announcing a further 200m of cuts to the corporation, Tim Davie said 14 years of cuts had reduced its budget by 30% in real terms and had chipped away at our income over many years and have put serious pressure on our finances". Continue reading...

While the musician faces several lawsuits alleging sexual assault, it was not clear if he was the target of the investigationThe Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Monday that agents have raided properties in Los Angeles, Miami and New York that local news outlets have reported are tied to rapper and mogul Sean Diddy" Combs.NBC News and local stations in Los Angeles and Miami first reported the activity at Combs's properties on Monday. Federal Homeland Security Investigations agents and other law enforcement were conducting searches of the properties as part of a sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, two law enforcement officials told the Associated Press. Continue reading...

House of Lords Appointment Commission head says new forms for potential peers to be publishedRishi Sunak ad Keir Starmer will be asked to supply more due diligence about the peers they are proposing for the House of Lords, the appointments commission chief has said.Ruth Deech, the head of the House of Lords Appointment Commission (Holac), said party leaders currently only provide sketchy" information about the potential lords and ladies they put forward to her watchdog for vetting. Continue reading...

Poland's deputy foreign minister Andrzej Szejna tells Polish media Russia knows there will be a counterattack' if missiles go further into its territoryThe Kremlin has refused to be drawn on whether it believed there was a link between the Ukrainian leadership and Friday's Moscow concert hall attack, in which at least 139 people were killed.Asked during a call with reporters whether there was a direct link between Ukraine and the attack, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: I have nothing to add to what has already been said on this topic." Continue reading...

Timothy Snyder says former RNC chair tried to disassemble our democracy' and should not have been invited to take up positionThe former Republican National Committee chair turned NBC politics analyst Ronna McDaniel tried to disassemble our democracy" by supporting Donald Trump's electoral fraud lies and should not be given such a media role, a leading historian said amid uproar over the appointment.What NBC has done is they've invited into what should be a normal framework someone who doesn't believe that framework should exist at all," Timothy Snyder, a Yale professor and author of On Tyranny, told MSNBC, part of the network now employing McDaniel. Continue reading...

ENRC seeking compensation for losses it says were result of fraud inquiry dropped last year, court hearsThe UK government faces an extraordinary" $1bn damages claim, a court has been told, in a lawsuit brought by a mining company that has been bankrolled by Russian banks targeted by sanctions.ENRC, the UK-based arm of a global mining conglomerate belonging to oligarchs, is seeking compensation for losses it claims it suffered as a result of a decade-long Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation that was dropped last year, according to court documents. Continue reading...

Military chief says review into chaplaincy found unacceptable views about minority groups, women, LGBTQI+ persons'Some religious chaplains in the air force hold unacceptable views about minority groups, women [and] LGBTQI+ persons", posing a mental health risk to members, the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide has heard.And part of a review commissioned by the defence department into the air force chaplaincy unit - quietly tabled as evidence to the royal commission - found tension between theology and values, notably in relation to gender and LGBTI inclusion".Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Central Asians go to Russia attracted by higher salaries but live in cramped apartmentsFormer colleagues and clients at the small barber shop where Muhammadsobir Fayzov once worked were stunned when they saw the news.They knew the 19-year-old as a promising, hard-working stylist, and saw no signs that together with three other Tajik gunmen he would commit last Friday's bloodbath at a concert city hall in Moscow. Continue reading...

Netanyahu's office said Israel will not cave to Hamas's delusional demands', ending immediate attempts to negotiate a ceasefire and hostage release deal

Mayor hits back after Conservatives pull online video showing panicking crowd in New York to criticise crime record

This year's total tally has now outpaced last year's numbers, with 64 confirmed cases in 17 states so far, compared with 58 in 2023Measles cases in the US are rising, as major health organizations plead for increased vaccination rates and experts fear the virus will multiply among unvaccinated populations.Most notably, this year's tally of measles cases has now outpaced last year's total. Continue reading...

Rescue operations are under way after at least seven vehicles fell into the water. Plus, UN security council demands immediate ceasefire in GazaGood morning.Maryland is in a state of emergency, the governor, Wes Moore, has announced, after at least seven vehicles fell into a river after a bridge in Baltimore collapsed after being hit by a cargo vessel early on Tuesday.How many people fell into the water? A spokesperson for the Baltimore city fire department, Kevin Cartwright, said it was too early to know, but labeled the collapse a developing mass-casualty event". The latest updates are on our liveblog.Why did the US veto? It requested a condemnation of Hamas minutes before the vote, which was resisted. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US envoy to the UN, said the US did not agree with everything in the resolution but fully supported some of the critical objectives. You can follow our liveblog here. Continue reading...

Lender says move is unrelated to takeover talks with Coventry Building SocietyThe Co-operative Bank has unveiled plans to cut 400 jobs as part of the lender's largest cost-cutting and restructuring programme since it was bailed out by hedge funds in 2017.The job cuts aim to reduce the size of its 3,000-strong workforce by about 12% Redundancies will affect staff across the business, including at its 50 branches. Continue reading...

Former CEO of shared office space rental company has reportedly been in talks with investors

Christopher Tape, indicted in 2022 before charges were dismissed, says office will stop giving exam that helps collect key evidenceHaving been elected against no opposition despite prior charges of child molestation, the chief medical examiner of a south-east Louisiana community with more than a quarter-million residents took office Monday, poised to deliver on a pledge to eliminate an agency program that has helped collect key evidence in cases of sexual assault.Dr Christopher Tape, 53, is expected to ultimately face an effort from voters to subject him to a recall election and force him from office, the top local government official in St Tammany parish has told the outlet, which exposed the new coroner's criminal history. Continue reading...

Former aide to Craig Kelly found guilty of sex crimes against four victims aged between 19 and 24 at time of offending

Johnny Mercer given 10 days to reveal source of claims British troops engaged in war crimesThe minister for veterans' affairs, Johnny Mercer, has been given 10 days to reveal the source of allegations British troops engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan, or face a potential prison sentence.Mercer in effect admitted last month in front of the public inquiry into the claims that he believed members of the SAS had engaged in dozens of unlawful killings of Afghan civilians between 2010 and 2013. Continue reading...

Israeli PM cancels White House visit by two ministers and says US abandoned its policy in the UN' after abstaining on voteThe UN security council has voted to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, after the US dropped a threat to veto, bringing Israel to near total isolation on the world stage.The vote result sets up the strongest public clash between US president Joe Biden and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the war began. Continue reading...

Human Rights Law Centre says bill deliberately separates families' and risks non-compliance with obligations under refugee convention

Federal government investigating deaths as a matter of priority', with efforts under way to treat remaining animals

A local man whose property is on the Herbert River in Cordelia said the reptile had started to come for us'

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Parts of South Australia, NSW and Victoria can expect heavy rain as remnants of Cyclone Megan and a low-pressure trough over the Northern Territory and Queensland move south

From expensive rent to efforts to keep up with fashion, a young man's missives on display in Cumbria are relatable to todayWhen Ben Browne set off on horseback from his small village in the north of England for the bright lights of London in 1719, his concerns were not so different from those of today's young people. Mainly: please send money, everything is so expensive.About 65 letters sent by Browne to his father back in Troutbeck, in the historic county of Westmorland, now part of Cumbria, have survived the intervening 300 years. On Tuesday they go on display at Townend, the Browne family home that is now cared for by the National Trust. Continue reading...

For years Haredi men have been allowed to continue Torah study, but proposal could force some to enlistA proposed bill to extend compulsory military service to ultra-Orthodox students, historically exempt from conscription, has ignited a fierce debate in Israel, with Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly warning that failure to pass the law could jeopardise the stability of the government.Israel has mandatory army service but for decades made an exemption for ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as Haredi, who are allowed to continue full-time Torah study. The proposal, as Israel approaches six months since the 7 October Hamas attacks that began the war in Gaza, seeks to extend the duration of military service for conscripts and raise the age for reservists, while also urging an end to the customary exemptions granted to yeshiva students. Continue reading...

Opposition leader David Crisafulli says LNP would rewrite Youth Justice Act to put victims first' if it wins October election

David Lambourne may be forced out of the Pacific nation if he loses challenge to president Taneti Maamau's attempt to sack himDavid Lambourne, an Australian-born high court judge whose attempted deportation two years ago from Kiribati sparked a judicial crisis in the Pacific nation, appeared in court in a case closely watched by the United Nations and international legal groups.Lambourne, who has lived in Kiribati for 30 years and is married to opposition leader Tessie Lambourne, faces deportation if he loses a high court challenge to Kiribati president Taneti Maamau's attempt to sack him. Kiribati will hold national elections later this year. Continue reading...

The man, in his 30s, said he had been trying to retrieve his phone after it fell into the underground drain

Footage of four gunmen appears to support Islamic State's claim that it masterminded the worst terrorist attack in Russia in two decades. But the Kremlin has put Ukraine in the frame. Andrew Roth reportsThe attack on Crocus concert hall near Moscow was the worst act of terrorism carried out in Russia in more than 20 years. More than 130 people were killed after gunmen stormed the venue on Friday night.Islamic State quickly claimed responsibility for the attack and provided additional video footage of the massacre. Continue reading...

Victorian gambling watchdog says company has addressed failings identified in royal commission but action will be taken if there is any regression to old Crown'

Labor brings forward urgent bill, which would also create power to impose a bar on new visa applications from non-citizens in designated countries

Federal court rules authorisations on 2022 newspaper ads fell foul of electoral advertising laws

Matthew Trihey, former member of the Lads Society, opened the #WomenWillSpeak event in Melbourne on Saturday

Creation of a cohesion and conflict unit' in England is among recommendations in government-commissioned reviewSchool leaders have welcomed proposals for the creation of a cohesion and conflict unit" to support teachers who face freedom-restricting" threats and harassment during the course of their work.It is one of a number of recommendations in a government-commissioned review into threats to social cohesion in England, which highlights the case of a religious studies teacher at a school in West Yorkshire who was forced into hiding after accusations of blasphemy. Continue reading...

Footage of people panicking, designed to attack the London mayor's record on crime, was filmed in a New York subway stationThe Conservatives have deleted an online video that used scenes of a panicked crowd at a New York subway station to criticise Sadiq Khan's record on crime in London.The attack ad, posted on X in support of Susan Hall - Khan's rival for the London mayoralty, showed people panicking and rushing through New York's Penn station after false reports of gunfire in 2017. Continue reading...

Former Brazil president spent two nights at legation after two close aides were detained in February over alleged coup plotBrazil's foreign ministry has summoned the Hungarian ambassador to explain why the South American country's embattled former president Jair Bolsonaro spent two nights hiding" at Hungary's embassy in Brasilia last month as federal police investigators closed in on some of his closest allies.Security footage obtained by the New York Times showed that in early February - four days after two Bolsonaro aides were arrested on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the Brazilian government - the rightwing populist took shelter in the embassy, a short drive from the presidential palace Bolsonaro once occupied. Continue reading...

In rare admission, commander of Indonesian military in the province says horrific footage is a violation of the law', and confirms 13 personnel have been detained

Special rapporteur will tell human rights council Israel's actions reveal an intent to physically destroy Palestinians as a group'A UN human rights expert will deliver a report on Tuesday saying that Israel has carried out acts of genocide in Gaza and should be placed under an arms embargo.Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said in her report there were reasonable grounds" to believe that Israel was carrying out three of the five acts defined as genocide: killing Palestinians, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction" of the population in whole or in part. Continue reading...

Battery-powered system can down a drone travelling at 100km/h, according to its developers, Melbourne-based AIM Defence

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on the Moscow concert hall attack, read our latest report:

This live blog is now closed. For more on the UN security council vote, you can read our full report:

Deputy PM, who didn't really sign up for this, seemed reluctant to declare war on a superpowerThe deputy prime minister's statement on cybersecurity and China-backed attempts to undermine UK democracy had been briefed far enough in advance that MPs had had time to sharpen their insults. Iain Duncan Smith said Oliver Dowden's announcement was like watching an elephant giving birth to a mouse. The SNP member Stuart C McDonald accused Dowden of taking a wooden spoon to a gunfight. Labour's Chris Bryant called him wilfully blind, and therefore dangerous".The inattentive observer might come away from the statement unclear on who posed the greater threat to our national security, Oliver Dowden or the Chinese. Continue reading...