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Data also shows party accepted 150,000 from Hester days after comments about Diane Abbott condemned as racist were revealedFrank Hester, the businessman at the centre of a row about comments condemned as racist and misogynistic, gave the Conservative party a further 5m in January, figures released by the Electoral Commission show.The donation, made by his company, the Phoenix Partnership (TPP), cements his status as the Tories' single biggest donor with a total of 15m now given by Hester either personally or through his company. Continue reading...

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Woman's body found to have been interfered with' after death but insufficient evidence to identify anyone involved

Disclosure in Senate estimates comes in response to David Pocock's questions about astounding' out of pocket fees for private surgery in ACT

Nacc says it decided not to launch corruption probe as it would not add value in the public interest'

The KX100 design caused controversy when it replaced the classic red phone box - but now a handful may be given listed statusCampaigners are trying to secure listed status for the boringly ugly" telephone boxes that BT controversially used to replace thousands of red phone boxes in the 1980s.The Twentieth Century Society, which champions outstanding examples of modern design, has applied for listed status for one KX100 box each in England, Scotland and Wales before they are removed next year.In England, the 100,000th box to be installed in the country, located at Dunsop Bridge in Lancashire, which sits at the geographic centre of Great Britain and its 401 associated islands.In Scotland, a contender for the country's most remote and scenic payphone near Maaruig, on the Isle of Harris. It is believed to be the only example still bearing the full original yellow British Telecom livery.In Wales, an experimental model at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, which is uniquely powered by a solar panel atop the kiosk and an adjacent 18ft-high wind turbine. Continue reading...

Jury begins deliberations over whether Stein, 33, murdered his former partner's daughter. He has pleaded not guilty

Troy Armstrong was accused of killing Kristy Armstrong by deliberately driving his ute towards her sedan in 2023

Former Jetstar pilot describes struggle that led to deaths of Russell Hill and Carol Clay, after pleading not guilty to murder

Review confirmed in state parliament after Guardian Australia revealed Forbes mother did not receive promised help to intruder-proof' home

Overpayments - many from welfare recipients - were held as credit to pay a future bill that AGL knew was never coming', federal court told

Naval exercises spurred by US support for Ukraine are likely to include port calls in Cuba and Venezuela, says officialRussia plans to send combat vessels into the Caribbean region this summer as part of naval exercises that will probably include port calls in Cuba and possibly stops in Venezuela, a senior US official said on Wednesday.As part of Russia's regular military exercises, we anticipate that this summer, Russia will conduct heightened naval and air activity near the United States. These actions will culminate in a global Russian naval exercise this fall," the official said. Continue reading...

Greens leader says he has written to attorney general to object to what he considers defamatory statements' made on ABC TV

Ben and Annie Vautier's children say in statement their father killed himself just after their mother died of a stroke on WednesdayFrench artist Ben, best known for his ironic painted slogans, has died aged 88, killing himself just hours after the death of his wife of 60 years, his family said Wednesday.His wife, Annie, suffered a stroke on Monday evening and died on Wednesday, the couple's two children, Eva and Francois, said in a statement. Continue reading...

Dizziness, headache and nausea among common symptoms, which occur more frequently with some medications than othersJust under one in seven people who stop taking antidepressants will experience withdrawal symptoms, according to a study.Researchers in Germany analysed data in 79 studies involving 21,000 patients and found that 15% of people experienced one or more withdrawal symptoms that were directly caused by coming off antidepressants, while about 3% experienced severe symptoms. Continue reading...

Recovering PM posts video in which he calls would-be assassin messenger of evil' but offers forgivenessThe Slovak prime minister, Robert Fico, has blamed the country's opposition for fostering the hatred" that led to his assassination attempt in his first appearance since he was seriously wounded in a shooting three weeks ago.In a pre-recorded speech posted on Facebook on Wednesday, in the run-up to the European elections, Fico described the shooter as an activist of the Slovak opposition ... a messenger of evil and political hatred that the politically unsuccessful and frustrated opposition has fanned to unmanageable proportions". Continue reading...

Man, 26, questioned under suspicion of participating in terrorist conspiracy after explosion in hotel north of ParisFrench anti-terror prosecutors have launched an investigation after a Ukrainian-Russian man detonated explosive materials in a hotel room north of Paris.A source at the French anti-terrorism prosecutors office (PNAT) said that on Monday night the 26-year-old man was given medical treatment by fire officers in a hotel in the Val-d'Oise, north of Paris, for significant burns after an explosion". Continue reading...

Ruling by European court of justice ends 17-year legal tussle between Irish chain and global rivalThe small Irish takeaway chain Supermac's has won a David v Goliath court battle with McDonald's over the use of the Big Mac trademark, paving the way for it to open outlets across Europe.The ruling also means the US-founded fast food multinational has lost the right to use the name Big Mac" in the EU in relation to chicken burgers. Continue reading...

Liam McCarthy, 33, jailed for seven months after continually' sending emails and leaving voicemails for then MPA 33-year-old man has been jailed for seven months after sending threatening emails to a female politician.Liam McCarthy, of Copperfield Road, Southampton, continually" sent emails and left voicemails for the Conservative politician Caroline Nokes between 15 May 2022 and 4 March 2023. Continue reading...

Horror after leaders' debate galvanises party into fierce counterattack, labelling PM a liar and linking conduct to Partygate

But, says Jose Maria Neves, this should not stop governments trying to build solutions using diplomatic corridorsCape Verde's president, Jose Maria Neves, said the rise of rightwing populism has made it difficult to hold a serious debate over colonial reparations but argued that should not stop governments from having those conversations behind closed doors.In an interview with the news site Brasil Ja, published online on Wednesday, Neves said debating reparations in the public arena" could lead to more political polarisation in countries such as in Cape Verde's former coloniser, Portugal, where the far right is on the rise. Continue reading...

Strongman-style leader set for historic third term but with authority diminished after loss of majority

Exclusive: Chancellor says Conservative party is broad church' and criticises Nigel Farage's claims over immigrationJeremy Hunt has warned the Conservatives that elections are won from the centre ground, amid fears that the party could lurch to the right in response to Nigel Farage's return to frontline politics.In an interview with the Guardian, the chancellor suggested the party must remain a broad church" despite concerns that Reform UK could cost the Tories as many as 60 seats at the general election. Continue reading...

Party says it has reached out to opposition leaders after election result as it looks to form coalitionAn influential committee in the African National Congress (ANC) has recommended the party form a government of national unity, as the group tries to build a coalition after losing its parliamentary majority in South Africa for the first time since it swept to power at the end of apartheid.The second largest party, the pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA), has ruled out working with the fourth-largest, Marxist-inspired Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). However, some analysts said that the lure of power may end up bringing most of the largest parties together. Continue reading...

Extreme hunger already leaving huge toll, say food security reports, regardless of delays to possible declaration of famineMonths of extreme hunger have already killed many Palestinians in Gaza and caused permanent damage to children through malnutrition, two new food security reports found, even before famine is officially declared.The US-based famine early warning system network (FEWS NET) said it was possible, if not likely" that famine began in northern Gaza in April. Two UN organisations said more than 1 million people are expected to face death and starvation" by mid-July. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Siyabonga Twala looking forward to reunion with his son after government withdraws exclusion orderA man who has been exiled in Turkey and separated from his British son for more than a year can return home after the UK government conceded it should never have excluded him.Siyabonga Twala has spent the last 18 months living in limbo in Ankara after he was prevented from boarding a flight back to Manchester with his family in December 2022. Continue reading...

Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Conservative leader, says vote reflects badly on Keir Starmer as Labour says vote is a stunt. This live blog is closed

Academic tortured in UAE tells families of Britons arrested in controversial circumstances abroad to go public promptlyFamilies of Britons arrested in controversial circumstances abroad should raise concerns promptly in public because Foreign Office quiet diplomacy" is not effective, an expert has warned after the arrest of a former British Royal Marine in Dubai.Matthew Hedges, a British academic who was detained and tortured in the United Arab Emirates in 2018, said the case of Matt Croucher, a military veteran held in the country for seven months, also showed how far the international influence of the UK had disappeared" in the Gulf region. Continue reading...

Politician to go up against her former party in London's Chingford and Woodford Green constituencyFaiza Shaheen, the candidate blocked by Labour from standing in Chingford and Woodford Green, has announced she will stand as an independent.In a move that will pit her against Labour in one of the party's target seats, she said she was standing in response to hundreds of messages from local people who said there were no options left for them. Continue reading...

Anger at rampant unemployment, stagnant wages and inflation led to surprise losses in Uttar PradeshIt was less than six months ago that Narendra Modi walked solemnly through the ornate surroundings of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state and one of its most politically crucial. His appearance in the holy city to inaugurate the newly constructed Hindu temple, built on the ruins of a mosque demolished two decades earlier, was cast as the pinnacle of the prime minister's decade in power - the crowning glory of his Hindu nationalist agenda and his ticket to a third term in office. The ceremony was deemed to mark the unofficial launch of his election campaign.But on Tuesday evening Modi was faced with a rude awakening. His Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), which has ruled India with an iron grip for a decade, has lost its majority as a single party and will have to rely on coalition partners to return to government. The losses were particularly heavy in Uttar Pradesh, long considered to be the BJP's bastion - and nowhere more so than in Ayodhya. Continue reading...

False claims and fake videos spreading across continent with voting to being from Thursday. This live blog is closedAlternative for Germany's Tino Chrupalla said the party's local council candidate Heinrich Koch was injured with a knife in Mannheim when confronting poster vandals" and wished him a speedy recovery.As the D-Day commemorations get underway, White House National Security adviser Jake Sullivan said aboard Air Force One on the way to France that Joe Biden will stress how the men on those cliffs put the country ahead of themselves" and detail the dangers of isolationism, and how, if we back dictators and fail to stand up to them, they keep going and ultimately America and the world pays a greater price," the Associated Press reported.

US president and Ukrainian president to sit down after they arrive for anniversary of D-day landings in France, White House confirms. This live blog is closedFrench president Emmanuel Macron is to host US president Joe Biden, British King Charles and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on the shores of Normandy, representing the three main countries involved in the landings on 6 June 1944, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and about 200 surviving war veterans are also expected to attend. Continue reading...

Text appears to have been copied out and backdated by Camus in 1944, possibly as a way to raise funds during Nazi occupationA handwritten manuscript of the classic French novel L'Etranger by Albert Camus has sold for more than 650,000 (553,000) at auction, despite bafflement over the reasons for which the Nobel prize-winning author appeared to have faked and backdated it.The bound, 104-page draft of Camus's novel about a French settler in Algeria who kills an unnamed Arab man went under the hammer in Paris on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Israeli prime minister tours country's northern border with Lebanon; gunman wounded after shots fired at US embassy north of Beirut

Royals, politicians and military leaders begin two days of events to mark 80th anniversary of Normandy landingsThe king has paid tribute to D-day veterans at a commemorative event in Portsmouth marking the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings.Charles said their stories of courage, resilience and solidarity" move, inspire and remind us of what we owe to that great wartime generation - now, tragically, dwindling to so few". Continue reading...

Madeleine Ruse reported her car as stolen only to find out 12 months later it had been moved by Sheffield councilA woman was left without her car for a year because a council forgot to inform her it had been towed away due to roadworks.Madeleine Ruse, 22, assumed her 15-year-old Citroen had been stolen when she discovered it was missing from its usual parking space in February 2023. She reported it to the police and received a payout from her insurer. Continue reading...

Union's claim of epidemic of migrant worker abuses' could force Fifa to reject state as 2034 host if it fails to meet rights obligationsSaudi Arabia, the likely host of the 2034 World Cup, is facing allegations of widespread use of forced labour among its vast migrant workforce, in a complaint filed at the UN's International Labour Organization.The complaint to the ILO alleges that migrant workers in Saudi Arabia are subject to a raft of labour rights violations including failing to pay wages, passport confiscation, illegal recruitment fees, debt bondage and preventing workers freely changing jobs. Continue reading...

Russian-speaking ransomware gang lets hackers use its tools in exchange for cut of proceedsA Russian-speaking ransomware criminal gang called Qilin is thought to be behind the cyber-attack on NHS medical services provider Synnovis, that halted tests and operations at hospital trusts to a halt and affected GPs across London.Although the location of the group is unknown, if it is based in Russia, it will be difficult for British law enforcement to directly target it. The Russian state has long had a ban on extraditing criminals overseas, and since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it has largely ended all cooperation on cybersecurity matters so long as the hackers focus their attacks on foreign targets. Continue reading...

Zaylin Washington, who earned a full college scholarship after also enduring bullying, says I wanted to prove [doubters] wrong'A newly minted high school graduate from Texas who endured a period of homelessness, bullying and other adversities before earning a full college scholarship says his experience so far has taught him that people do want to help you".It's not you versus the world," Zaylin Washington told the Dallas-Fort Worth news station KTVT. Continue reading...

Heinrich Koch reportedly stabbed in altercation over election posters days after police officer died in attack in same German cityA candidate for the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party has been stabbed in the south-west German city of Mannheim, less than a week after a police officer was killed and five others were injured in a knife attack in the city.The attack, which took place on Tuesday evening but was only confirmed by police on Wednesday, left a man with non-life threatening injuries for which he is being treated in hospital. Continue reading...

Pedro Sanchez questions timing of court order before European elections and accuses opponents of orchestrating smear campaign

Caution against enforcing tight public sector pay settlements will add to pressure on Starmer if he wins election

As people at the border reach a high, and after failed attempts to pass reforms, the president presents his most aggressive restrictions yetJoe Biden on Tuesday signed an aggressive new immigration order suspending asylum rights, signalling that securing the border" was a central tenet of his re-election bid.At the southern US border, the policy is set to cause chaos and hardship for those seeking the protection of the United States. Continue reading...

Survey also finds one-quarter experienced workplace bullying as broadcaster's news director calls harassment and bullying unacceptable'

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Former environment minister and Midnight Oil frontman calls on government to add site to Kakadu national park

Accused double murderer to give evidence in Victorian supreme court after prosecution closed their case on Wednesday

Regulator will now focus on tribunal case launched by Elon Musk's social media platform which is seeking a review of decision to order removal of tweets

The Guardian's Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the first TV head to head between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak Continue reading...