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Southern Water says supplies coming back to St Leonards-on-Sea and Hastings now that rupture in woodland area has been fixedWater has started to return to more than 30,000 homes in East Sussex after a main burst three days ago.Southern Water said in an update on Sunday afternoon that supplies were gradually being restored" to about 32,5000 properties in St Leonards-on-Sea and Hastings. Continue reading...

Graeme McCormick claims he will gather requisite number of signatures to force contest instead of unopposed coronationJohn Swinney could face a leadership contest before he becomes Scottish National party leader after an activist said he expected to win enough nominations to stand.Graeme McCormick, a well-known party activist who stood to become SNP president in 2023, claimed he would gather the 100 signatures needed from 20 different party branches to mount a challenge for the leadership. Continue reading...

Council says punctuation mark causes problem for geographical databases but locals say their loss is a sign of falling standardsA council has provoked the wrath of residents and linguists alike after announcing it would ban apostrophes on street signs to avoid problems with computer systems.North Yorkshire council is ditching the punctuation point after careful consideration, saying it can affect geographical databases. Continue reading...

Foreign Press Association decries move under new law based on claim network is a treat to national securityIsraeli authorities shut down the local offices of Al Jazeera on Sunday, hours after a government vote to use new laws to close the satellite news network's operations in the country.Critics called the move, which comes as faltering indirect ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas continue, a dark day for the media" and raised new concerns about the attitude to free speech of Benjamin Netanyahu's hardline government. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Party insiders say departure of Hilary Schan could mark start of end for grassroots leftwing groupMomentum's future is hanging in the balance" after the leftwing grassroots group's co-chair resigned and quit Labour to campaign for the Green party and independent candidates.Hilary Schan said she had begun contemplating her role within Labour in October when councillors first expressed their frustrations over the leadership's unwillingness to show value to the humanity of Palestinian lives". Continue reading...

Peter Magyar, who is running in European elections, has shot to prominence by pledging to end corruptionA rising challenger to Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, has held what he has called the largest countryside political demonstration in the country's recent history on the latest stop on his campaign tour that has mobilised thousands across Hungary's rural heartland.

Suella Braverman says Conservative party will be lucky to have any MPs unless it adopts harder line on immigration and rightsRishi Sunak will face pressure to adopt hard rightwing policies such as an immigration cap and scrapping European human rights law this week, with Suella Braverman saying he needs to own and fix" a disastrous set of local election results.Sunak's allies were on Sunday insisting he wanted to stick to his current plan and that it was working, as plotters against his leadership accepted they did not have the support to challenge him. Continue reading...

Matthias Ecke, a European parliamentarian for Olaf Scholz's SPD, was set upon while putting up EU election posters in DresdenA 17-year-old has turned himself in to police in Germany after an attack on a lawmaker that the country's leaders decried as a threat to democracy.The teenager reported to police in the eastern city of Dresden early on Sunday morning and said he was the perpetrator who had knocked down the SPD politician", police said in a statement. Continue reading...

Parisian bakers have claimed victory over rivals in Italy who created a baguette almost 133 metres long in 2019For the past five years, bragging rights over the world's longest baguette have belonged not to the residents of a small village or a city in France, but rather to a clutch of bakers 500 miles away in Como, Italy.On Sunday a crop of 12 bakers from France set out to rectify this, spending hours kneading, shaping and baking their way back to victory. Continue reading...

Prof Ghassan Abu-Sitta says Schengen-wide ban imposed by Germany appears to be attempt to silence witness testimonyA London surgeon who provided testimony on Israel's war in Gaza after operating during the conflict has said he feels criminalised after being denied entry to France over the weekend.Prof Ghassan Abu-Sitta, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon was due to speak on the ongoing war to the French parliament's upper house on Saturday. However, after arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris on on a morning flight from London, he was informed by French authorities that Germany had enforced a Schengen-wide ban on his entry to Europe. Continue reading...

Party has gained 768 seats, Labour 545 and the Greens 480, while the Conservatives has lost 1,783The Lib Dems have added more council seats than any other party over the last parliament, gaining more than 750 in the last five years, largely in the south-west and south of England.As Ed Davey's party won more seats than the Conservatives in the local elections last week, the Lib Dems said Tories would be looking over their shoulder terrified" as the general election approached. Continue reading...

Netanyahu cabinet votes to shut down TV network's operations in Israel; Yoav Gallant says Hamas appear to not be serious about reaching a truce. This live blog is closed

Former home secretary says Tory voters are on strike' and are not coming out to support us' in wake of dire local and mayoral election results

The wartime PM was so taken with Paul Trevillion's work that he arranged a meeting to pay his compliments in personAt the age of 90, and with a successful career as a sports artist under his belt, there is one work of which Paul Trevillion is particularly proud. Perhaps surprisingly, it isn't among his portraits of legendary stars such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Pele, Muhammad Ali, George Best, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.It is an image of another of Trevillion's heroes: a pen-and-ink drawing of Winston Churchill created in 1955, and carrying a rare signature of the UK's wartime leader. Continue reading...

Police say a woman and three children escaped blaze with not life-threatening injuriesA child has died and four people were treated in hospital after an early morning house fire in Bradford.West Yorkshire fire and rescue service sent three crews to the fire at a residential property in the Bolton Outlanes area of the city at 1.05am on Sunday. Continue reading...

Pro-Palestine protesters hope encampments at universities will contribute to an international student revolt'Students across Britain have said they hope pro-Palestine protests will reach the same scale as those seen on US campuses as they call for universities to divest from companies supplying arms to Israel.Protests have spread across university campuses in Sheffield, Bristol and Leeds, after a crackdown in the US on protests, which led to mass arrests of students and staff. Continue reading...

Many prisoners are homeless after release but former inmate and probation worker want to fix thatDarryn Frost and Steve Gallant are still dealing with the trauma of tackling a terrorist at Fishmongers' Hall, London Bridge, in 2019.Gallant, 47, who was on day release from prison where he was serving a life sentence for murder, helped fend off the attacker alongside Frost, 43, a probation worker who had grabbed a 1.5-metre long narwhal tusk as a weapon. Continue reading...

Russian president attends service led by one of his staunchest backers while Zelenskiy asserts God is on Kyiv's sideOrthodox Easter services in Ukraine and Russia have taken on a political tone, as Volodymyr Zelenskiy asserted that God had a Ukrainian flag on his shoulder" and Vladimir Putin attended a church service led by a staunch supporter of Moscow's invasion.Noting that Ukraine had now been fighting Russia for 802 days, Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to pray for each other and the soldiers on the frontline. And we believe: God has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder," said the president, dressed in a traditional embroidered Ukrainian vyshyvanka shirt and khaki trousers. So with such an ally, life will definitely win over death." Continue reading...

Word of the demonstrations that have spread across the west has cheered some in Gaza's southernmost city

Charities say FoI disclosure that 369 such children were held over 21-month period is hugely concerning'More than 350 lone children were held in UK-run detention facilities in northern France over a 21-month period, according to documents disclosed under freedom of information laws.The Home Office has admitted that it failed to keep data on how many properly trained staff looked after the children held in four short-term holding facilities near Calais and Dunkirk in 2022 and 2023. Continue reading...

Former home secretary says PM's plan is not working' and he needs to change course after local elections drubbing

TV head hopes programme will spark a #MeToo moment for men' ahead of two-part show on the Oscar-winning actorOne of the producers of a Channel 4 documentary that contains fresh claims that Kevin Spacey behaved inappropriately" with men says it will be broadcast as planned on Monday, despite public denials from the actor this weekend.Dorothy Byrne, a former head of news and current affairs at the television channel, told the Observer that she hopes the new two-part programme, Spacey Unmasked, will prompt a #MeToo moment for men" and start a wider discussion about standards of behaviour in working situations. Continue reading...

Academics warn loss of higher education arts and humanities courses will harm understanding of racism and imperial historyCuts to arts and humanities subjects within higher education will have damaging implications for our understanding of race and colonialism, academics have warned.Petitions have been launched to save anthropology at Kent University, where the subject has come under threat of closure, while Oxford Brookes confirmed the closure of its music programme earlier this year. Continue reading...

Rapper says sport, music and gaming venture in south London is aimed at widening opportunities for young black communityStormzy has won three Brit awards, headlined Glastonbury, persuaded Usain Bolt and Jose Mourinho to star in a music video, and bought AFC Croydon Athletic with the former Crystal Palace player Wilfried Zaha.His skills on the pitch, however, are not up to much. I'm shit at football. I was never going to be a footballer," he said. But maybe if I knew how to be a pundit [I'd have gone down that road]. Maybe if I knew how to be a data analyst or all the intricate jobs behind the scenes that people might not know about." Continue reading...

Longer sentences and court backlogs push 25% of prisoners in England and Wales into shared cells, adding to drug-use and violenceThe scale of the prison overcrowding crisis has been laid bare by figures revealing that a quarter of prisoners in England and Wales have been sharing cells designed for one person with at least one other inmate.According to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), 11,018 cells intended for single use were being shared by two prisoners, with a further 18 such cells shared by three inmates. The overall prison population - which has ballooned over recent decades because of longer sentences and court backlogs - stood at about 88,000 when the statistics were originally compiled in late February. Continue reading...

Lost documents prevented victims from finding out the truth, official inquiry toldDisastrous failures that caused the contaminated blood scandal were denied by ministers for decades after officials destroyed, lost and blocked access to key documents, memos submitted to the official inquiry reveal.Several batches of files involving the work of a blood safety advisory committee were shredded as the government faced the threat of legal action, documents show. Patients who were given contaminated blood when they were children have also told the infected blood inquiry how their hospital medical files were destroyed or initially withheld. Continue reading...

Centre-right politicians must resist urge to copy or work with far right, Spain's environment minister saysThe future of the EU is being jeopardised by people stirring up social tensions for short-term political gain, Spain's environment minister has said ahead of next month's European parliamentary elections.Teresa Ribera, who is heading the list for the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' party in June's poll, said the European project is at risk of an implosion". Continue reading...

Woman and man, aged 21 and 23, facing charges including murder and deprivation of liberty after alleged victim died in hospital

Union leader Sharon Graham says Keir Starmer risks limping into Downing Street'Labour's biggest union backer has warned it may divert election funding earmarked for the party, amid claims that Keir Starmer is diluting plans to overhaul workers' rights.In an interview with the Observer, Unite's general secretary, Sharon Graham, said the Labour leader risked limping into Downing Street" if he backed down in the face of intense lobbying from businesses. Continue reading...

By Sunday morning the city had recorded 92.8mm of rain this month - fast approaching May average of 117.4mm, BoM says

The Georgian government's bid to pass Russia-style law has met spirited opposition, mostly from young people keen to lean towards EuropeThe finale of Beethoven's revolutionary" fifth symphony was met with deafening applause at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Tbilisi last Thursday night. The cheers grew into a powerful expression of solidarity with the protests outside on Rustaveli Avenue.People hung EU flags from the theatre's balconies and shouted, No to the Russian Law! Europe! Georgia [Sa-kar-tve-lo]!" Continue reading...

Katy Gallagher says more aid for women escaping violence could come in form of increased rent assistance as sector struggles to recruit workers

WA premier Roger Cook suggests teenager who allegedly stabbed man in Bunnings car park in Willetton may have been radicalised online

Rutan, known for smooth flying style, survived having to eject twice from planes and being stranded at north poleBurt Rutan was alarmed to see that the plane he had designed was so loaded with fuel that the wingtips dragged along the ground as it taxied down the runway. He grabbed the radio to warn the pilot, his older brother Dick Rutan. But Dick never heard the message.Nine days and three minutes later, Dick, along with co-pilot Jeana Yeager, completed one of the greatest milestones in aviation history: the first round-the-world flight with no stops or refueling. Continue reading...

Siblings Callum and Jake Robinson and US citizen Jack Carter Rhoad were travelling on a surfing holiday when they were reported missing

Labour has secured mayoral victories in London, Greater Manchester, Salford, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Liverpool today

Running as a pseudo-independent' in a region in which Labour faced its own hurdles was not enough to keep Tory mayor in officeAfter a nail-biting finale, Andy Street has become the most high-profile victim of tanking Tory support in May's elections.With the Conservatives shedding seats across the country on Friday, all eyes were on the West Midlands on Saturday to see if he could cling on by sheer will of personality - or Brand Andy" as he calls it. Continue reading...

With some demonstrating in solidarity with Gaza and others with Israel, students waved flags and chanted slogansStudents demonstrating in solidarity with Gaza waved Palestinian flags and keffiyehs and chanted anti-war slogans during the University of Michigan's commencement ceremony on Saturday.Videos on social media showed students donning their graduation gowns as they appeared to chant: Israel bombs, UMich pays!" and How many kids have you killed today?" One photo showed a plane appearing to carry a sky banner over the university with the message: Divest from Israel now! Free Palestine!" Continue reading...

Resounding victory in London mayoral race came despite media reports suggesting it would be a close contestSadiq Khan's election victory as London mayor has bucked the trend" of Muslim voters turning away from Labour over the party's stance on the war in Gaza, party figures said.The 53-year-old won a third term as the capital's mayor on Saturday, without seeming to have lost the support of large numbers of Muslim voters - unlike Labour candidates elsewhere in England last week. Continue reading...

Rob Ford was part of the BBC team analysing the local election results as they poured in over the past 48 hours. Here he tells how a dramatic set of results for the government unfoldedThe nervous wait for the first result was longer than usual, as counting centres wrestled with multiple ballots for councils, mayors and police and crime commissioners. It was well past midnight on Friday morning when the first ward flashed up, coming as always from Sunderland, which prides itself on its rapid vote counting. A big Tory to Labour swing in Sunderland's Copt Hill.As we moved into the small hours of the morning, the flow of data rose from a trickle to a torrent, and an overall picture began to form. Voters clearly wanted the Conservatives out. Who they wanted instead was less clear. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer says the prime minister has no option but to call a general electionRishi Sunak was dealt a series of shattering blows last night as Labour won a knife-edge battle to seize the West Midlands mayoralty from the Conservatives and Sadiq Khan trounced his Tory rival in London to secure a third term.The results, along with decisive victories for Labour's Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, Steve Rotheram in Liverpool and Tracy Brabin in West Yorkshire, left Labour in charge of most of England's mayoralties. Continue reading...

Program aims to help create better disability support plans to guide carers and support workers' response to challenging behaviour

The Tory incumbent's hopes of a third term in the role dashed in a damaging result for his party

Local election results in England justify the decision to focus on Conservative areas, claim party strategistsThe Liberal Democrats are increasingly confident that they will claim more than one Tory big beast" at the coming general election, pointing to local election results putting them ahead in a series of true blue constituencies.Ed Davey's party has been criticised for failing to improve its polling performance in recent months, while its 17% projected vote share from last week's local elections was down slightly on last year. Continue reading...

Interior minister Nancy Faeser promises tough action' to protect democracy as political assaults riseThe German interior minister Nancy Faeser has vowed to fight a surge in violence against politicians after a German member of the European parliament had to be taken to hospital following an attack while he was campaigning for re-election.Matthias Ecke, 41, a member of Faeser's Social Democrats (SPD), was hit and kicked by a group of four people while putting up posters in Dresden, capital of the eastern state of Saxony, police said. An SPD source said his injuries would require an operation. Continue reading...

Hamas confirms four of men killed during raid in village of Deir al-Ghusun were from its armed wing

From the new mayoralties through to bellwether councils, find out what happened in your area

Banned dogs found on allotment where officers described conditions as appalling'More than 20 dogs have been seized after police raided a suspected illegal XL bully breeding farm in Sheffield.Twenty-two animals were seized from an allotment on Thursday, including mothers and puppies, which were being kept in what officers described as appalling conditions". Continue reading...

Hundreds of cities across Rio Grande so Sul hit by floods with 32,000 people displaced and infrastructure destroyedThe death toll from rains in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul has risen to 57, local authorities said on Saturday afternoon, while dozens still have not been accounted for.The state's civil defence authority said 67 people were still missing and more than 32,000 had been displaced as storms affected nearly two-thirds of the 497 cities in the state. Continue reading...