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After murdering her friend’s mother as a teenager, as dramatised in film Heavenly Creatures, she turned to writing period thrillersA British crime writer who helped bludgeon her friend’s mother to death as a teenager and was the inspiration for Peter Jackson’s film Heavenly Creatures has died in Los Angeles, her publisher announced Wednesday. She was 84.Anne Perry, a prolific author whose period thrillers have sold over 25m copies worldwide, was 15 years old when she and her friend Pauline Parker murdered Pauline’s mother in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1954. Honora Mary Parker died after being hit with a brick about 20 times, in a killing that shocked and captivated the country. Continue reading...

French president reaffirms Sunday’s call for Europe to act more independently from US over China and TaiwanEmmanuel Macron has stood by his controversial comments on Taiwan, repeating that being a US ally did not mean being a “vassal”.At the end of a state visit to the Netherlands during which he has also faced protests over pension reforms at home, Macron appeared to reaffirm the remarks he made in an interview on Sunday, in which he called for Europe to act more independently from the US over Taiwan. Continue reading...

Exasperated former California governor takes action but officials say ‘giant pothole’ is actually service trench dug by utility workersIt was not one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most prominent roles, but is proving to be disproportionately controversial. The Hollywood star and former California governor filmed himself filling in a troublesome pothole near his Los Angeles home, proffering it as an act of civic responsibility by an exasperated resident. But he was then told by the authorities it wasn’t officially a pothole at all.According to city officials, the “giant pothole” Schwarzenegger and a friend packed with quick-drying cement and topped with sand was actually an essential service trench for work being performed by a utility company in the Brentwood neighborhood. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lady Warsi says PM should consider his legacy in handling of ‘extreme views’ on ethnicity and grooming cases

US president tells Belfast audience that current figure could triple and hopes ‘assembly and executive will soon be restored’Joe Biden has dangled a $6bn (£5bn) carrot in front of Northern Ireland’s leaders with a promise to boost the country’s economy with US investment if power sharing is restored.In a thinly veiled message to the Democratic Unionist party, which has been boycotting the devolved government for more than a year, the US president told an audience in Belfast that American investors were ready to “triple” the $2bn already invested. Continue reading...

French president also criticised for saying Europe should act independently from US over TaiwanEmmanuel Macron was heckled and jeered on a state visit to the Netherlands as he faced pressure over both raising the French pension age and his warning that Europe must not become “vassals” in a US conflict with China over Taiwan.The French president was due to give a speech on European strategic autonomy when two demonstrators against his pension changes were arrested as they ran towards him on his arrival at the University of Amsterdam. Continue reading...

Move of London’s live broadcast centre to Doha could involve dozens of job lossesAl Jazeera English plans to close its live broadcast centre that operates from London’s Shard skyscraper and move programming to Qatar, with the possible loss of dozens of UK-based jobs.In an email to staff, the network’s managing director, Giles Trendle, said Al Jazeera was “looking to undertake a restructure involving the move of AJE live programming to Doha. The move would include the news bulletins between 1900GMT and 2300GMT produced from London, and The Stream programme produced from Washington DC.” Continue reading...

Company did not admit wrongdoing in settlement regarding unlawfully marketing its addictive products to minorsE-cigarette maker Juul has agreed to pay $462m to settle claims by six US states including New York and California that it unlawfully marketed its addictive products to minors, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.With the deal, Juul Labs Inc will have settled with 45 states for more than $1bn. The company did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, which also included Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Mexico as well as the District of Columbia. Continue reading...

Musicians have shared tributes on social media to the singer and producer, who influenced dub stars and punk musicians alikeDub and reggae pioneer Jah Shaka has died, according to social media posts from close friends and collaborators. His precise age and the cause of death have not been disclosed.The singer, producer and label owner also known as Zulu Warrior was at the helm of sound system culture in London, releasing some of the scene’s most seminal records and spearheading the influential Jah Shaka Sound System, which he began operating and touring in the 1970s. Continue reading...

Mock hospital drills held as new Omicron variant suspected of causing highest number of infections since 2022India has experienced its highest number of Covid infections in months, reportedly caused by a new variant, with almost 8,000 new cases reported on Wednesday.Mock drills were carried out in hospitals and some states reintroduced mask mandates over concerns at the increase, with more than 40,000 active cases across India, the highest since last year. Continue reading...

Party leader says US president’s Belfast speech was ‘measured’ as he refuses to support claims by his own partyPerhaps anxious to show that he does not hate Britain, or Northern Ireland, Joe Biden (or, more accurately, the person running his social media) tweeted a message this morning it being “great” being back.Sky News has broadcast footage of Joe Biden meeting Rishi Sunak in his Belfast hotel. (It does look more like a coffee than a bilateral – see 9.54am.) Continue reading...

Separate investigations also launched by standards commissioner into Scott Benton and Henry Smith

Classified Pentagon document seems to show Serbia has committed to sending lethal aid or has supplied it already

Alexei Moskalyov fled house arrest hours before he was sentenced to two years for ‘discrediting’ Russian army

Buckingham Palace announces Duchess of Sussex to remain with Prince Archie and Princess LilibetThe Duke of Sussex is to attend his father’s coronation, but without the Duchess of Sussex or their two children.Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that the Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6 May. The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.” Continue reading...

Police questioned former Radio 1 star in March and again last week over five allegationsThe DJ Tim Westwood has been interviewed under caution by the Metropolitan police in relation to five sexual offence allegations dating back more than 40 years.The 65-year-old was interviewed in March and again last week in relation to offences allegedly committed in London between 1982 and 2016. Continue reading...

Death toll in Sagaing could reach 100 in what could be deadliest junta attack since coup in 2021

Exclusive: legal concerns on way QPS handled internal discipline cases were raised more than two years before recent court of appeal ruling

Health minister says adults will be allowed to grow and consume limited amounts privately or at members clubs by end of yearAdults in Germany will be able to grow and consume recreational cannabis privately or via non-profit members clubs by the end of the year, the country’s health minister announced on Wednesday, scaling back previous plans to make the drug distributable via shops or pharmacies nationwide.“The previous cannabis policy has failed,” said the health minister, Karl Lauterbach, as he presented the German government’s new two-phase approach to legalising cannabis at a press conference in Berlin. “Now we have to go new ways.” Continue reading...

Move fuels speculation a second wave of mobilisation is planned, despite Kremlin denials

US does not mention case of Mikheil Saakashvili but move coincides with protests in Tbilisi over ex-president’s detentionFour current and former judges in Georgia have been put on a US sanctions list amid a wave of protests in Tbilisi against the failure of Georgian courts to release the former president Mikheil Saakashvili, a prominent Kremlin critic, from jail.The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has accused the men – who have chaired courts and sat on the Georgia’s high council of justice, which oversees the judiciary – of “significant corruption”. They deny the accusations. Continue reading...

World’s largest commercial printer of money issues profit warning after downturn causes ‘significant degree of uncertainty’Demand for paper money has fallen to its lowest level in more than 20 years as consumers switch to card and contactless payments, the world’s largest commercial printer of banknotes has said.De La Rue – the 200-year-old British firm responsible for a third of all banknotes worldwide, including the new King Charles III design being produced for the Bank of England – said the drop in demand was affecting its order books. Continue reading...

Upmarket chain says its proposition feels as relevant as ever as it continues to open new sitesThe allure of luxury sofa seating and a menu including parsley and garlic dough balls and hot honey halloumi helped the upmarket cinema chain Everyman bounce back to profit last year.The group, which started in Hampstead and now has 38 venues across the UK, hailed a post-pandemic return to “business as usual” as admission numbers rose by 70% to 3.4 million last year. Continue reading...

Vital food exports fall as fields become battle zones and Ukraine accuses Russia of sabotaging Black Sea grain corridor

Petition for judicial review puts new first minister Humza Yousaf on collision course with WestminsterScottish ministers will challenge in court the UK government’s block on Holyrood’s gender recognition reform bill, putting the new first minster, Humza Yousaf, on a constitutional collision course with Westminster only two weeks after his election.The social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville announced on Wednesday that she had informed the Scottish parliament that ministers would lodge a petition for a judicial review of the decision in January by the Scotland secretary, Alister Jack, to use section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 for the first time to halt the Holyrood bill from going for royal assent, citing concerns it would have an “adverse impact” on UK-wide equalities law. Continue reading...

First minister reveals firm resigned several months ago but that he did not find out until first NEC meeting as party leaderThe new leader of the Scottish National party, Humza Yousaf, and his closest rival for the position, Kate Forbes, have urged party members to stay the course as further accusations of secrecy and financial mismanagement engulf the party.On Tuesday, Yousaf revealed that the SNP’s auditors quit six months ago, a fact none of the leadership contenders were made aware of during the campaign to replace Nicola Sturgeon, raising significant questions about transparency under the former chief executive Peter Murrell. Continue reading...

Home Office curtailed Saiful Islam’s visa in 2010 after wrongly linking him to criminal convictionsA chef from Bangladesh who was wrongly recorded as a sex offender by the Home Office has won the right to remain in the UK after fighting since 2010.Saiful Islam, 47, arrived in the UK in 2003 at the age of 27 after being granted a work permit to take up a job as a chef in a Thai restaurant. In 2005 he raised the alarm with the police and the Home Office that his employer was exploiting him by withholding most of his wages, forcing him to work 18-hour days, and beating him. Continue reading...

Pembrokeshire couple intrigued to discover what was causing damage catches culprit on stealth cameraCreeping through the darkness, the midnight vandal fells yet another tree with “machete-like” skill.On a hidden camera planted in their garden, a couple whose trees disappeared from their garden “overnight” have unmasked the unlikely culprit: the first wild beaver spotted in Wales in 400 years. Continue reading...

Road and rail travel problems hit Wales as Met Office extends yellow weather warning to south-east EnglandA swathe of stormy weather with heavy rain and strong gusts is set to sweep across the UK on Wednesday.The weather system, named Storm Noa by Météo-France, is predicted to grow stronger over the course of the day with coastal areas in south-west England, particularly Devon and Cornwall, likely to be worst affected. Continue reading...

Taipei says Beijing has confined flight ban north of island to 27 minutes on Sunday after initial three-day plan

Official says Britain remains one of America’s closest allies after former DUP leader Arlene Foster claimed Biden ‘hates the UK’

Conciliation service urged to look for ways to end logjam with government over demand for 35% pay rise

Senator’s show of reluctance comes after Julian Leeser resigned as shadow attorney general over referendum stance

The AEC says it will be ‘proactive’ online and use a variety of other media to help inform voters about the upcoming referendum

After government announced deal with China that could end tariffs on barley, wine producers now cautiously optimistic

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Leading tertiary voices push for Morrison government policy to be scrapped, saying it hurts both students and universities

Former Auburn deputy mayor, 36, has pleaded not guilty to six charges related to alleged domestic violence

Whether waterlogged from flooding or parched and prone to wildfires, festival sites are having to plan for every eventuality – and the costs are substantialWellies and sun hats are the traditional first guard against the elements at festivals, but this summer they may not be enough to protect revellers. Flood defences, wildfire response teams and satellite weather-monitoring technology are among the ways UK music festivals are adapting to extreme weather events fuelled by the climate crisis.Last summer’s record high temperatures in the UK hit during festival season, and the changing climate has become one of the industry’s biggest challenges, increasing the frequency, severity and likelihood of weather such as heatwaves and thunderstorms. With preparations underway for this year’s festival season, event organisers are increasing their contingency plans to secure their events, at a time of higher costs in labour, energy and insurance. Continue reading...

Hungarian PM previously backed Trump but meetings between Katalin Novák and DeSantis camp suggest he’s hedging his betsHungary’s far-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, one of Donald Trump’s biggest international supporters, has made overtures in recent weeks to Ron DeSantis and one of the Florida governor’s key billionaire backers.Orbán has repeatedly voiced strong support for Trump’s policies and political style even long after the former president left the White House. But meetings between a key Orbán ally and the DeSantis camp suggest the Hungarian leader is hedging his bets amid uncertainty over Trump’s electoral prospects. Continue reading...

Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb says it’s not ‘accurate’ to claim the government’s policies were making Australia uncompetitive

Experience in eastern Mediterranean proves deterrence and harsh conditions do little to discourage refugeesProminent Conservatives openly view Greece’s self-described “strict but fair” migration policies as a model to emulate. The former home secretary Priti Patel told MPs last week that “we would not be in this current situation” had she been allowed to replicate “Greek-style reception centres”.British interest in the Greek model dates back to May 2021, when the former immigration minister Chris Philp made an “urgent” – as internal documents seen by the Guardian called it – trip to Greece. This was followed by an official visit by Patel in August 2021, who toured a newly constructed Greek camp, went out on patrol with the Greek coastguard and spoke of working “closely with Greek partners” on migration. Continue reading...

The country’s second-biggest state has been riven by mass street protests, armed clashes between local police and the federal military as well as the fatal shooting of two aid workersGun battles and mass protests have engulfed parts of Amhara, Ethiopia’s second-biggest region, after a move to centralise the regional security forces of the country’s 11 states.The federal government announced the policy last Thursday, in pursuit of building “a strong centralised army”. People from several towns in Amhara responded with protests, while some units of the region’s security forces refused to disarm and clashed with the federal military. Continue reading...

Majority of judges find that bureaucrats cannot decide whether the minister should consider intervening, as department policy dictates

Fossil from fourth-ever discovered specimen of a titanosaur may reinforce theory that dinosaurs travelled between South America and Australia

eSafety commissioner uses tough new powers against social media giant after complaint from Higgins’s partner David Shiraz

Judge chided firm’s lawyers after they revealed for the first time in nearly two years owner’s executive chairman titleA judge said Fox News had a “credibility problem” as it prepares for a $1.6bn defamation trial after the company disclosed for the first time in nearly two years of litigation that Rupert Murdoch was an officer of the company.On Monday, Fox News and its parent company Fox Corp head to trial over Fox’s coverage of false election-rigging claims. Murdoch, chairman of Fox Corp, is expected to testify. Continue reading...

Depending on the plan, either California would be the most affected, or Arizona and Nevada would be parchedThe federal government on Tuesday laid out options for saving the Colorado River in an effort to prevent it from falling to critically low levels and put an end to months-long negotiations between the seven western states and Indigenous nations that rely on it as a dwindling resource.As less and less water has been flowing through the river and its reservoirs fell to historic lows, the US Bureau of Reclamation, which manages water resources, called on the basin’s seven states – California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming – to find ways to cut as much as 30% of their river water allocation. Continue reading...

Dresses worn by Marilyn Monroe, Maria Callas – and Elton John’s 50th birthday costume – feature in London exhibition“I will always be as difficult as necessary to achieve the best,” Maria Callas – one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century – once said.For the sentiment, Callas and countless other performers, from Barbra Streisand to Beyoncé and Mariah Carey, have been labelled as “divas”. The term, which means goddess in Italian, has over the years come to denote a self-important person, usually a woman, who is demanding and difficult to please. Continue reading...

Advertising Standards Authority rules ads misled consumers about the environmental impact of flyingAn ad campaign by Etihad Airways trumpeting its approach to “sustainable aviation” has been banned by the UK advertising watchdog, which ruled it was misleading consumers over the environmental impact of flying.The United Arab Emirates (UAE) national carrier, which has an extensive marketing strategy that includes sponsorship of Manchester City Premier League team including stadium naming rights, ran two Facebook adverts promoting its green credentials. Continue reading...