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Former British and Irish PMs add to pressure on DUP during panel event with Bill and Hillary ClintonTony Blair and Bertie Ahern have made an impassioned plea to the Democratic Unionist party to revive power sharing in Northern Ireland and help end the period of political instability, saying the “people on this island need them”.The former British and Irish prime ministers told a conference in Belfast on Monday that the region’s leaders had a responsibility to break a political deadlock and safeguard peace. Continue reading...

Invites include Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, accused of wrecking Northern Ireland’s place in the UKAll living former prime ministers, including two leaders accused of wrecking Northern Ireland’s place in the UK, have been invited to a gala dinner in Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement.It is understood Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have both accepted the invitation to the event on Wednesday night. Continue reading...

Number of countries condemn 25-year prison sentence for Vladimir Kara-Murza for criticising the war in Ukraine as his wife criticises UK response

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Note saying ‘I don’t know if I killed them. Maybe I did’ also seen in Manchester trial of nurse accused of murdering seven babiesA nurse accused of murdering seven babies wrote their initials in her diary on the dates she is alleged to have attacked them, a court has been told.Jurors in the trial of Lucy Letby were shown images of her diary in which she had recorded the days on which some of her alleged victims died. Continue reading...

Former Scottish National party MP could face recall repetition if 30-day suspension goes aheadMargaret Ferrier is to appeal against a suspension from the Commons for breaking Covid rules that could lead to a possible byelection and a tight race between Labour and the SNP.The former Scottish National party MP, who now sits as an independent, has appealed to parliament’s independent expert panel to review her 30-day suspension from the House of Commons, a sanction that would trigger a recall petition in her Rutherglen and Hamilton West seat. Continue reading...

Fixture of up to six weeks for trial of Piran Ditta Khan could not be accommodated at Old Bailey this year, court toldA man accused of murdering PC Sharon Beshenivsky 18 years ago may not go on trial until next year.Piran Ditta Khan, 74, who was extradited from Pakistan, appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh high-security prison on Monday for the preliminary hearing before Judge Mark Lucraft KC. Continue reading...

Defamation trial threatens billionaire’s reputation – as well as ambition to reunite TV and newspaper empiresRupert Murdoch’s push to try to bury a landmark defamation case against Fox News aims to avoid further damage to his media empire’s reputation – and protect the 92-year-old from a gruelling court appearance as he formulates succession plans.Judge Eric M Davis moved on Sunday to delay the start of the $1.6bn (£1.3bn) defamation trial between Fox Corporation and Dominion, which has alleged Fox News repeatedly broadcast false claims that its voting machines were rigged, amid reports of a settlement. Continue reading...

Reported nomination of Matthew Elliott provokes complaints relating to funding of pro-Brexit campaignA House of Lords vetting body is facing pressure to reject Liz Truss’s proposed nomination for the former Vote Leave chief Matthew Elliot over critical findings relating to the funding of one of his pro-Brexit campaigns.The reported nomination by the former prime minister has provoked multiple complaints to the Lords appointments commission. Continue reading...

Thirst for ‘revenge’ travel after the Covid pandemic is driving return prices to almost $3,000 to some European cities, booking site says

No voters to constitutionally entrenched body remain at 40%, while Coalition leader Peter Dutton sees approval drop to 44%

Recipe follows coronation chicken and platinum pudding as suggested centrepiece for parties and eventsFrom coronation chicken to platinum pudding, royal occasions demand a signature dish and King Charles III’s coronation is no exception.The “coronation quiche” has been personally chosen by the king and Camilla, the Queen Consort, in the hope it will be a centrepiece to many a coronation “Big Lunch” at street parties and community events on 6 May. Continue reading...

Labour and Lib Dems voice concerns over MP’s role at Turning Point UK, a group linked to misogynist and anti-Islam viewsOpposition parties have called on the Conservatives to cut ties with a rightwing student group that has described drag artists as “groomers”, called UK schools “Maoist indoctrination camps” and held protests alongside an anti-Islam pastor.While Turning Point UK (TPUK) says it has no formal links to the party, a Conservative MP, Marco Longhi, is the group’s honorary president, and it has previously been praised by former ministers Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg, as well as the deputy party chair, Lee Anderson. Continue reading...

Weak sterling makes FTSE 250 firms ‘ripe for takeovers’ with John Wood Group and Network International also approached

EU and Kyiv condemn unilateral bans that aim to protect local farmers amid glut and price crash

After more than a century Sydney has lost its title due to a counting quirkSydney has long been Australia’s most populous city, but last week, Melbourne officially overtook it as the country’s biggest – thanks to a quirk in how the figures are counted.Melbourne’s population was 4,875,400 at the country’s most recent census in 2021, while there were 18,700 fewer people in Sydney, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) which returns Melbourne to the mantle of Australia’s most populous city, a title it last held in 1905. Continue reading...

A court in Moscow has sentenced the opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years prison; Slovakia will temporarily halt imports of grains and other selected products from UkraineA court in Moscow has sentenced the opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years prison, in one of the most high-profile cases to date of a Russian dissident being jailed for opposing the invasion of Ukraine. Kara-Murza, a father of three, was detained in April 2022 and charged with spreading false information about the Russian army in Ukraine. He was later also charged with “high treason” over a series of public speeches he made that criticised Kremlin policies and the war in Ukraine. Kara-Murza’s ruling is the longest sentence yet given to a political opponent of Vladimir Putin, as the Kremlin further steps up its relentless crackdown on dissent.The British government on Monday summoned the Russian ambassador to make clear its condemnation of what it described as the “politically motivated” conviction of Kara-Murza, a British dual national. “Russia’s lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming,” British foreign secretary James Cleverly said in a statement. “We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations including Vladimir Kara-Murza’s entitlement to proper healthcare.”Slovakia will temporarily halt imports of grains and other selected products from Ukraine, a government spokesperson said on Monday. Talks between Ukraine and Poland over grain exports were due to start in Warsaw around noon local time (11am BST), Polish agriculture minister Robert Telus has said. EU member countries’ envoys in Brussels will discuss the weekend move by Poland and Hungary to ban grain imports from Ukraine to protect their own agricultural sectors.Russian president Vladimir Putin has met Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu in Moscow. Putin said the two countries were “working actively through our military departments” and regularly exchanging “useful information” while Li said ties between the two countries had “already entered a new era” and surpassed “the military-political alliances of the cold war era”.Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu on Monday read a report to President Vladimir Putin about drills conducted by the country’s Pacific Fleet. In footage broadcast on state television, Putin responded by saying that snap checks had shown the Pacific Fleet at a high level of readiness, and that Russia’s priority was Ukraine. Shoigu said that more than 25,000 military personnel, 167 ships and vessels, 12 submarines, 89 aircraft and helicopters are participating in the exercises.Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday that Tokyo had lodged a protest with Russia over its military exercises around disputed islands near Japan’s Hokkaido.Slovakia has handed over all 13 MiG-29 fighter jets it had pledged to Ukraine, the Slovak defence ministry said on MondayThe village of Krasnoe, which is in Belgorod in Russia, close to the border with Ukraine, came under fire from Ukrainian forces, according to regional governor, Vyacheslav GladkovUkrainian forces are finding a growing number of components from China in Russian weapons used in Ukraine, a senior adviser in president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office told Reuters. China has repeatedly denied sending military equipment to Russia.One hundred and thirty Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released and returned home in a “great Easter exchange”, a senior Ukrainian presidential official has said. It was not clear how many Russians were sent back the other way.The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, will visit Baghdad on Monday, his first trip to Iraq since Russia invaded Ukraine. Kuleba is expected to hold talks with the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and the foreign minister, Fuad Hussein. Continue reading...

Group also made up of former high-level military advisers say ‘actions still fail to match the rhetoric’

Cash payments are no longer king, representing just a fraction of the value of point-of-sale transactions in Australia

Wong also hits back at former prime minister saying his comments diminish ‘his legacy and the subject matter’

Most of $50m settlement with federal government will go to those affected by forced removals of Indigenous people from their families

State treasurer Daniel Mookhey says ‘difficult to avoid’ costs include extending funding for 1,112 temporary nurses

ABC says it has no plan yet to shut down accounts but is ‘liaising with Twitter regarding changes to account verification and labels’

Force criticised for failing to reinvestigate 1981 abduction of Vishal Mehrotra despite ‘significant’ new evidenceThe family of a murdered schoolboy have criticised the police for a “baffling” failure to reinvestigate the case despite “significant” new evidence coming to light 42 years after he disappeared.Vishal Mehrotra, eight, was abducted from west London in July 1981 and his remains were found in Rogate, West Sussex, seven months later. No one has been prosecuted for his murder. Continue reading...

About 5 million people eligible for jab until end of June as vaccinations get under way across 3,000 sitesMillions of people are now eligible for the spring Covid-19 booster after hundreds of thousands of vaccination appointments became available to book through the NHS.About 5 million people in total are eligible for a booster until the end of June, with the first vaccinations taking place from Monday across 3,000 sites in England. Continue reading...

Separatist rebels confronted Indonesian army troops as they searched for New Zealander who was taken hostage in FebruarySeparatist gunmen attacked Indonesian army troops who were deployed to rescue a New Zealand pilot taken hostage by the rebels in Indonesia’s restive Papua province, leaving at least six dead and about 30 missing, officials said on Sunday.Initial information from army reports said there were about 36 soldiers at a post in the hilly district of Nduga, when attackers from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, opened fire on Saturday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: child mental health crisis deepens with one-third of all referrals denied helpA quarter of a million children in the UK with mental health problems have been denied help by the NHS as it struggles to manage surging case loads against a backdrop of a crisis in child mental health.Some NHS trusts are failing to offer treatment to 60% of those referred by GPs, the research based on freedom of information request responses has found.In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. You can contact the mental health charity Mind by calling 0300 123 3393 or visiting mind.org.uk. YoungMinds is at youngminds.org.uk. Continue reading...

Violence between military factions that has left at least 56 dead in the capital spreads to other parts of countryCivilians in Sudan have been subjected to a second day of heavy fighting, waking up in the capital, Khartoum, on Sunday to the sound of gunfire and military jets over the city despite a four-hour UN-proposed humanitarian ceasefire between the two main factions of the ruling military regime.The violence that broke out on Saturday between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and left at least 56 civilians in the capital dead spread to other parts of the country, with the UN’s World Food Programme suspending operations in the country after three of its employees were killed in clashes in Darfur. Fighting was also reported in the eastern border state of Kassala. Continue reading...

White Hart Inn in Grays, which has been the subject of a reported hate crime, daubed with graffiti and has windows damagedAn Essex pub where police confiscated golly dolls has been vandalised with graffiti and damage to five windows occurring early on Sunday morning, police have said.The incident occurred at about 12.40am at White Hart Inn in Grays. Essex police said they have deployed extra patrols in the area. Continue reading...

Posters attacking Rishi Sunak on crime made Britons feel less favourable about both main parties, Opinium findsLabour’s controversial “attack ad” accusing Rishi Sunak of failing to put paedophiles in prison has caused more voters to think negatively of Keir Starmer’s party than a Conservative poster that accused the Labour leader of being soft on crime, according to an Opinium poll for the Observer.The striking result, when people were asked to react to the two posters, comes after 10 days of internal Labour ructions over its sudden switch to hyper-aggressive and personalised online campaigning. Continue reading...

High-risk tactic increases likelihood of combined stoppages by nurses and junior doctors in EnglandRishi Sunak appears set on trying to face down unions in a high-risk strategy to tough out a renewed wave of NHS strikes in England that health service leaders warned were unsustainable and could put patient safety at risk.With the prime minister and his health secretary, Steve Barclay, seemingly offering no fresh concessions for nurses or junior doctors, they risk the possibility of combined strike action, a scenario one NHS leader said would put the health service “into uncharted territory”. Continue reading...

Huw Edwards and Reeta Chakrabarti among those to receive letters in what corporation says was a standard HR exerciseThe BBC has reportedly sent letters offering voluntary redundancy to some of its top presenters as it looks to cut expenditure in its news division.The corporation’s interim managing editor of news and current affairs, Philippa Busby, wrote to all of its senior TV and radio presenters – including Huw Edwards, Clive Myrie, Reeta Chakrabarti and Sophie Raworth – at the beginning of this month, according to the Mail on Sunday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Post-Windrush training module urges caseworkers to call asylum seekers ‘customers’Details have emerged of a training course designed to make Home Office staff behave more compassionately, revealing guidance urging immigration caseworkers to display greater empathy to avoid further “reputational damage” to the department.The Face Behind the Case training module instructs staff to refer to visa applicants and asylum seekers as “customers” and encourages Home Office staff to remember that “a human being sits behind every case file and reference number”. Continue reading...

Pedro Sánchez asks victims for forgiveness after change allows some offenders to reduce sentencesSpain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has apologised to victims for a loophole in a landmark new law that was intended to toughen penalties for sexual crimes but has allowed some convicted offenders to reduce their sentences.The legislation, popularly known as the “only yes means yes” law, came into effect last October. It overhauled the criminal code by making sexual consent – or lack of it – key in determining assault cases, in an effort to define all non-consensual sex as rape. Continue reading...

Exclusive: The independent MP says the findings of the scathing Broderick workplace culture review should be addressed ‘quickly’

Brandon Russell, who has previously been jailed for possession of bomb-making materials, communicated with Australian extremists via Telegram

Chair says party could lose 1,000 English seats on 4 May, despite voters finding Rishi Sunak more palatable than his predecessorsEven by the standards of political expectations management, Greg Hands’ message in his Sunday morning interviews was stark: the Conservative party, which he chairs, should expect to lose more than 1,000 councillors in next month’s local elections.When party bigwigs make such predictions they usually do so against a context of significant wins the last time the seats were contested. But in May 2019, Theresa May was weeks away from announcing her departure, and the Tories lost more than 1,300 seats. Continue reading...

Concerns raised after some brands sold in shops in England and Wales found to exceed legal limitsSome high street vapes claiming to be nicotine-free actually contain the same level of addictive substances as full-strength e-cigarettes, tests shows.Data shared with the Guardian by Inter Scientific – which offers analytical testing of products to check whether they are following regulations – examined dozens of vape brands sold in shops across England and Wales. Continue reading...

Why is the government promoting vapes for smokers in England while discouraging them for youth?E-cigarettes are being promoted in England as part of the government’s efforts to help people quit smoking tobacco at the same time as it cracks down on youth vaping. We take a look at why there are two very different campaigns on the devices. Continue reading...

Workers gather at picket line on Sunday in ongoing demand for pay increase from £11 to £15 an hourWorkers at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse have begun a fresh round of strike action in a dispute about pay during the cost of living crisis.GMB union members are planning three days of strikes at the huge Coventry centre, known as BHX4, from Sunday 16 to Tuesday 18 April, to be followed by three further days, from 21 to 23 April. Continue reading...

Cathedral service overseen by clerics independent of Russian-affiliated patriarchate for first time since 17th century

Architect of Israel’s judicial changes doubles down for next round of legislative battle when Knesset reconvenes in MayThe vicious fight in Israel over the government’s proposed judicial changes “transcends issues of left and right, and comes down to public distrust in government”, one of the architects of the plans has said, acknowledging that there is room for compromise going forward.Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, returned to office in December at the helm of a coalition of conservative and religious parties that make up the most rightwing government in the country’s history. The new administration’s most pressing item on its agenda proposed what it called “judicial reform” to limit the supreme court’s ability to overturn laws and to give politicians more control over the appointment of justices. Continue reading...

Police appeal for witnesses and say 19-year-old man arrested over crash in Merrion Street on Saturday nightA woman in her 40s has died after being struck by a car in Leeds city centre on Saturday night.A 19-year-old man was arrested after the collision on one of the city’s liveliest nightlife streets. Continue reading...

Documents among those shared by alleged leaker raise questions over island’s military readinessChina would probably establish air superiority very rapidly in any attack on Taiwan, according to leaked US intelligence assessments that raise disturbing questions about the self-ruled island’s military readiness.The documents, part of a series allegedly leaked by the US air national guardsman Jack Teixeira, emerged as G7 foreign ministers met to discuss a common China strategy and Beijing briefly halted flights over part of the East China Sea on Sunday. Continue reading...

Campaigners, unions and MPs raise concerns about surveillance and use of ‘management by algorithm’Campaigners, trade unions and MPs are calling for stricter oversight of the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, amid growing concerns about its effect on staff rights.The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is holding a half-day conference on Tuesday to highlight the challenges of ensuring workers are treated fairly, as what it calls “management by algorithm” becomes increasingly prevalent. Continue reading...

Shadow health secretary says party correct ‘to take the gloves off’ and will be more of the same to comeWes Streeting has vigorously defended Labour’s highly personal attack adverts targeting Rishi Sunak, saying the party was “absolutely right to take the gloves off” and that there would be more such campaign tactics to come.Labour has faced considerable criticism, and some doubts from within the party, over a series of online ads which began with one claiming that Rishi Sunak does not believe people who sexually abuse children should be sent to prison. Continue reading...

Atiq Ahmed, jailed since 2019, was in police custody and taking questions from journalists when attackers struckA former Indian MP convicted of kidnapping and facing murder and assault charges has been shot dead along with his brother in a brazen attack broadcast live on TV in northern India.Atiq Ahmed – jailed since 2019 – and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were being taken handcuffed by police to a hospital in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, when three men targeted them from close range as they took questions from reporters. Continue reading...

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Initiative at heart of next month’s royal event could fall flat after steady decline in number of people in UK offering their timeAn event at the heart of the king’s coronation festivities is at risk of being a “damp squib” because of a volunteering crisis across Britain, the government has been warned.The Big Help Out is inviting people across the country to mark the occasion by signing up to volunteer in their communities on the one-off bank holiday Monday on 8 May in the hope of inspiring more people to start volunteering amid record shortages. Continue reading...

Boy sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries when set upon by the dingo on Friday night at a campground in Karijini national parkA mother has been praised for her bravery after she fought off a dingo that attacked her two-year-old son at a remote Western Australia national park.The boy sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries when set upon by the dingo about 7pm on Friday at Dales Campground in Karijini national park.Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Continue reading...