Kenya investigates crash that killed military chief
Gen Francis Ogolla was in the west of the country when his helicopter went down killing 10.
Oil price rises as US says Israel has struck Iran
Reports of a retaliatory strike by Israel raise commodity prices and fears over inflation.
Two arrested in Poland over attack on Navalny ally
Leonid Volkov was hospitalised and his arm broken in the attack outside his Lithuanian home in March.
Children among nine dead in Russia strike on Ukraine
Russia strikes two cities in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, hitting the station in Dnipro.
Bowen: Crisis shows how badly Iran and Israel understand each other
After decades of rivalry, the rival Middle East powers have both miscalculated, writes Jeremy Bowen.
Allman Brothers Band guitarist Betts dies at 80
Dickey Betts helped create their band's Sothern rock style and wrote classic songs like Ramblin' Man.
Taylor Swift is vulnerable but vicious on new album
The star's 11th album is much more than a break-up record, and may even mark the end of an era.
Will US Congress pass long-awaited Ukraine aid bill?
A huge $61bn support package that could help reshape Kyiv's war effort will go to a vote in coming days.
Netflix profits soar after password crackdown
The streaming giant said it added 9.3 million subscribers in the first three months of the year.
BBC Persian sent footage of Isfahan explosions
Video sent to the BBC shows flashes in the sky, while a large explosion can also be heard.
Australia news live: Dfat issues Middle East travel advice; Nationals concerned after fire ants spotted near Murray Darling Basin
Reports of explosions in Iranian city of Isfahan prompt sell-off of stocks in Australia – and in other markets such as Japan. Follow the day’s news live
- Middle East crisis live: Israel has carried out an attack on Iran, US officials say, after blasts reported near Isfahan
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The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, is speaking to the media after a 16-year-old was charged with a “terrorist act” for allegedly stabbing a bishop on Monday and is expected to appear at a bedside hearing today.
She said members of the joint counter-terrorism team interviewed the alleged offender at a medical facility last night, and he was subsequently charged with a commonwealth offence for terrorism and refused bail.
We expect he will be attending a bedside court hearing today to determine bail. This relates to the stabbing of the Bishop [Mar Mari Emmanuel, who] we allege on Monday night [was] stabbed up to six times.
We also allege that the boy had travelled for 90 minutes to attend that location from his home address.
We’ve got a crisis of male violence in Australia. We know that it’s a scourge in our society, we know it must end and I think it’s really clear women can’t be expected to solve violence against women although it is time for men to step up.
I don’t think debating definitions is the way to go … We need to act, we need to educate ourselves, men need to step up, we need to talk to our sons, to our colleagues, to our friends. We need to work together to a solution. And I think going down some kind of almost a wrong path to say let’s redefine – it’s not about definitions. This is about action. We need to shift the way in which we think about this …
Continue reading...Middle East crisis live: Israel has carried out an attack on Iran, US officials say, after blasts reported near Isfahan
US officials say military operation carried out, without giving further details; Iran state media says air defences fired and airspace closed in some areas
- Full report: Israel has carried out airstrikes on Iran, US officials say
- What we know so far about Israel’s strike on Iran
- Follow all our Middle East crisis coverage
It’s 7:24am in Tehran and 6:54 In Tel Aviv. Let’s get a reminder of what we know so far:
US officials have confirmed that Israel has carried out military operations against Iran but did not describe those operations.
The Israeli military has told news agencies including Agence France-Presse and Associated Press: “We don’t have a comment at this time.”
Iran’s state media reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan Friday
Air defence systems over several Iranian cities were activated, state media reported, after the country’s official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the city of Isfahan.
Iran’s Fars news agency reported “three explosions” were heard near the Shekari army airbase in the north-west of Isfahan province, while Iran’s space agency spokesperson Hossein Dalirian said “several” drones had been “successfully shot down”.
Nuclear facilities in Isfahan were reported to be “completely secure”, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported, citing “reliable sources”.
Flights were suspended across swathes of Iran on Friday. “Iran’s air defence has been activated in the skies of several provinces of the country,” Tehran’s official IRNA news agency said.
Mehr news agency reported that “flights to Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz, and airports in the west, northwest and southwest have been suspended.”
Flight-tracking software showed commercial flights avoiding western Iran, including Isfahan, and skirting Tehran to the north and east.
There was no immediate comment from Dubai’s Emirates airline, which was operating several of the planes.
Blasts were also reported in southern Syria, according to a local activist group. “There were strikes on a Syrian army radar position,” said Rayan Maarouf, who runs the Suwayda24 anti-government website that covers news from Sweida province in the south, reports AFP.
Oil prices surged more than three per cent in early Asian trade on Friday after the reports of explosions.
Continue reading...Israel has carried out airstrikes on Iran, US officials say
Iranian state media reports that drones have been shot down over Isfahan province in attack on Friday and that the nuclear site there is ‘completely safe’
US officials have confirmed that Israel has carried out airstrikes against Iran as explosions were reported in the sky over the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz, while the Iranian government sought to play down the scale of the attack.
Officials in Washington said Israeli forces were carrying out military operations against Iran but did not describe the character or scale of those operations. Iranian state media said that drones had been shot down over Isfahan province in the early hours, and showed live shots of morning traffic in Isfahan city after sunrise to show that the situation was calm.
Continue reading...After their PM halts Ukraine aid, Slovaks dig deep to help
A crowdfunding campaign to buy artillery shells for Ukraine quickly exceeds its target of €1m (£850m).
Letting grass grow long boosts butterfly numbers, UK study proves
Analysis of 60o gardens shows wilder lawns feed caterpillars and create breeding habitat
Good news for lazy gardeners: one labour-saving tweak could almost double the number of butterflies in your garden, according to a new scientific study – let the grass grow long.
In recent years nature lovers have been extolling the benefits of relaxed lawn maintenance with the growing popularity of the #NoMowMay campaign. Now an analysis of six years of butterfly sightings across 600 British gardens has provided the first scientific evidence that wilder lawns boost butterfly numbers.
Continue reading...Rwanda bill: what does the latest delay mean?
Flights have been pushed back to summer after the House of Lords spoke out for Afghans and refugees – here’s what to expect over the coming weeks
Rishi Sunak’s plan to fly people seeking asylum to Rwanda this spring appears to have been put back to the summer after House of Lords insisted on changes to the scheme.
On Thursday the prime minister’s spokesperson said the Lords were responsible for any delay after attaching unwanted amendments to the deportation bill.
Continue reading...Most UK dairy farms ignoring pollution rules as manure spews into rivers
Exclusive: 80% of Welsh dairy farms inspected, 69% of English ones, 60% in Scotland and 50% in Northern Ireland breaching regulations
The majority of UK dairy farms are breaking pollution rules, with vast amounts of cow manure being spilled into rivers.
When animal waste enters the river, it causes a buildup of the nutrients found in the effluent, such as nitrates and phosphates. These cause algal blooms, which deplete the waterway of oxygen and block sunlight, choking fish and other aquatic life.
Continue reading...Joanna Scanlan among actors backing gender equality push in theatre
Women in Theatre Lab will act as incubator for playwriting and acting talent and address gender inequality
Gemma Arterton, Joanna Scanlan and Stella Kanu are some of the figures backing an initiative to promote women in the theatre, who are being overlooked across the industry, according to the project’s founder.
Women in Theatre Lab will primarily act as an incubator for playwriting and acting talent. Its founder, Jennifer Tuckett, said the group would also put pressure on Arts Council England (ACE) to launch a review of gender inequality across the arts.
Continue reading...Lost orchards and blossom flourish in placenames across England and Wales
Doubling of related street, house and farm names since 1900 gives glimpse of flower ‘ghosts’, says National Trust
Over the last century orchards and blossom trees have been slipping out of the British landscape at an alarming rate but the “ghosts” of lost flowers are glimpsed in an increasing number of placenames recalling the vanished pinks and whites, researchers have found.
A National Trust study has discovered that the number of street, house and farm names relating to orchards and blossom has doubled across England and Wales since the turn of the 20th century, a period in which more than half of traditional orchards have disappeared.
Continue reading...Basque election: leftwing coalition partly descended from Eta leads in polls
Surveys suggest EH Bildu’s focus on health, housing and employment is attracting younger voters
A leftwing coalition of Basque separatists, partly descended from the political wing of the defunct terrorist group Eta, could become the largest party in the Basque Country’s parliament after an election in the northern Spanish region on Sunday.
Latest polls suggest that EH Bildu, which is led by a convicted Eta member who later played a key role in persuading the group to end its armed campaign for an independent Basque homeland, has edged ahead of its rivals in the Basque Nationalist party (PNV).
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