Middle East crisis live: UN rights chief ‘horrified’ by mass grave reports at Gaza hospitals

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Emergency services said bodies found at Nasser hospital as Volker Turk says he is ‘horrified’ by destruction at al-Shifa medical facilities

A source close to Hezbollah said an Israeli strike deep into Lebanon killed a fighter of the Iran-backed militant group on Tuesday as he was travelling in a vehicle, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The strike hit the Abu al-Aswad area near the coastal city of Tyre, about 35 kilometres (22 miles) from the border, an AFP journalist reported.

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Trump hush-money trial live: judge to hold hearing over gag order before first witness David Pecker returns to stand

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Trump to fight court order preventing him from abusing wide range of people connected to trial; former CEO of National Enquirer returns

Then it was the defense’s turn for opening statements.

Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche started by making an effort to humanize Trump, while also repeatedly calling him “President Trump”. “He’s, in some ways, larger than life. But he’s also here in this courtroom doing what any of us would do – defending himself,” Blanche said.

Donald Trump was a very frugal businessman. He believed in pinching pennies … He believed in negotiating every bill.

… Donald Trump’s willingness to [overpay] here shows just how important it was to hide the true nature of Cohen’s [payment] to Ms Daniels and the overall election conspiracy they had launched in August of 2015.

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Sunak claims there is ‘element of compassion’ to Rwanda policy because it is meant to stop dangerous Channel crossings – UK politics latest

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Prime minister says that deaths of five people attempting to cross the Channel shows need to stop boats and bill is intended to stop people smuggling

Rishi Sunak has said that the deaths of five people who were crossing the Channel in the early hours of this morning underlines the need to stop the boats.

Speaking to reporters on his plane to Poland, he argued that there was an “element of compassion” in his Rwanda policy because it is intended to stop people smuggling. He said:

There are reports of sadly yet more tragic deaths in the Channel this morning. I think that is just a reminder of why our plan is so important because there’s a certain element of compassion about everything that we’re doing.

We want to prevent people making these very dangerous crossings. If you look at what’s happening, criminal gangs are exploiting vulnerable people. They are packing more and more people into these unseaworthy dinghies.

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Jeremy Hunt’s scope for tax cuts hit by higher-than-expected borrowing

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Government borrowed £120.7bn in the last financial year, with just under £12bn in March

Jeremy Hunt’s scope for a substantial pre-election tax giveaway has been hit after the latest set of official figures showed the UK’s public finances in worse shape than thought at last month’s budget.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the government borrowed £120.7bn in the 2023-24 financial year – £6.6bn more than the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had expected.

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Guitar played by John Lennon on Help!, lost for 50 years, going up for auction

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Guitar also played by George Harrison on Norwegian Wood could sell for millions in May auction, alongside other memorabilia including a book of Tupac Shakur’s handwritten lyrics

A guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison in sessions for the albums Help! and Rubber Soul, which has spent the last 50 years lying in an attic, is to go up for auction alongside other memorabilia items such as a handwritten concert setlist by Kurt Cobain, a book of handwritten lyrics by Tupac Shakur and a Fendi dress worn by Amy Winehouse.

The 12-string acoustic guitar, a Hootenanny model made by Bavarian firm Framus in the early 1960s, was primarily played by Lennon and also appears in the movie Help!, used to perform You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away. The studio version of that song also features the guitar, as well as Help!’s title track, It’s Only Love and I’ve Just Seen a Face. Harrison, meanwhile, used it to play the rhythm guitar part on Norwegian Wood, and it appears on another Rubber Soul song, Girl.

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Tensions rise as police arrest 150 pro-Palestinian protesters at Yale and NYU

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Unrest spreads across US university campuses as Columbia moves to remote teaching for remainder of semester after student arrests

Police arrested around 150 protesters at pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Yale and New York University on Monday night, while Columbia University announced that classes would be taught remotely for the rest of the semester, as anger boiled over on leading US campuses.

On the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut, authorities arrested at least 47 protesters on Monday evening, the university said in a statement. Students who were arrested will be referred for disciplinary action.

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What’s behind the record FTSE 100 high?

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Hopes of a UK interest rate cut and easing geopolitical tensions are not the only reasons for the intraday peak reached this morning

The UK stock market has hit an intraday record high, lifted by hopes of interest rate cuts and easing geopolitical tensions, after setting a new closing high on Monday. The FTSE 100 index touched 8,076 points at the opening bell on Tuesday, surpassing a previous high of 8,047 reached in February 2023. We explain what is behind the rising London market.

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Soiled nappies and karate: AI-rendered Putin biopic to be released

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Polish director Besaleel’s film will feature an AI-rendered Russian president and footage shot by Ukrainian film-makers during the Russian invasion

The “world premiere” of a new biopic of Russian president Vladimir Putin featuring an AI-rendered central character, has been announced for 26 September. In a statement released via PR Leap, Polish studio AIO said the film, titled Putin, will be released in 35 countries, and describes itself as “up close and personal with the Kremlin leader’s story”.

First announced in May 2022, Putin is the English-language debut of Polish director Besaleel, also known as Patryk Vega, who was responsible for a string of homegrown box-office hits characterised by grisly violence and glossy production values including Pitbull, Mafia Women and Botoks.

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Sunak ‘confident’ civil service will enact Rwanda bill despite legal concerns

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Union threatens ministers with legal action amid fears staff could be obliged to breach civil service code and international law

Rishi Sunak has said he is confident Home Office staff will enact the Rwanda deportation scheme, despite fears that could put them in breach of international law.

The FDA, the union for senior civil servants, has threatened ministers with legal action if they are forced to implement the government’s Rwanda deportation bill.

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Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov shows off workout amid health rumours

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Independent Russian media outlet claims strongman was diagnosed with pancreatic necrosis in 2019

Chechnya’s strongman leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, has published a workout video in an apparent move to scotch rumours of illness after a media report claimed that his health was rapidly deteriorating.

Novaya Gazeta Europe, an independent Russian outlet, published a report on Monday that said Kadyrov was diagnosed with pancreatic necrosis in 2019, a severe condition characterised by the death of pancreatic tissue.

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‘Really good, not too long’: Swansea churchgoers praise first ‘micro-service’

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Regular worshippers joined by newcomers for first 15-minute service at St David’s in Penllergaer

Outside, the hustle and bustle of everyday life carried but for a few minutes – precisely 15 actually – there was a little bit of space for a calm coming together and reflection in the church of St David’s in Swansea.

Regular worshippers were joined by commuters and families who had popped in to sample the first “micro service” being led by the Rev John Gillibrand, the vicar of Pontarddulais with Penllergaer.

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Five people die in attempt to cross Channel in small boat from France

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Three men, a woman and a child reported dead with vessel said to have been carrying more than 110 people

Five people including a child have died in an attempt to cross the Channel near the town of Wimereux, south of Calais, French authorities have said.

The prefect’s office in Pas-de-Calais said that at about 5am on Tuesday, a small boat “carrying more than 110 people” had departed near the Plage des Allemands at Wimereux.

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Dozens arrested at Yale and NYU as pro-Palestine student protests spread | First Thing

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Police broke up encampments at a further two US universities on Monday. Plus, a charity says pedophiles are creating nude AI images of children to blackmail them

Good morning.

Police have arrested dozens of pro-Palestine protesters at Yale University in Connecticut and Manhattan’s New York University as demonstrations over the Gaza war continue to unfold across US campuses.

How many were arrested? At least 47 protesters on Yale campus; police in New York said the number of arrests would not be known until later.

What about at Columbia? More than 100 students were arrested on Thursday – but a new encampment has sprung up, hundreds of faculty members have held a mass walkout in protest at the university’s response, and it has triggered a wave of demonstrations in solidarity.

What examples did prosecutors give of catch-and-kill tactics? They said it included AMI’s $150,000 payoff to the Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed to have had an extramarital affair with Trump.

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Pennsylvania primary provides window into voters’ minds in crucial swing state

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Both Biden and Trump held events ahead of primary, underscoring the state’s pivotal role in the general election

Pennsylvanians will head to the polls on Tuesday to cast ballots in the state’s primary races, and the results will provide a window into where voters in the crucial battleground stand roughly six months out from the general election.

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump have already locked up their parties’ nominations, but Pennsylvania voters will still have other options in the presidential primaries.

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Cava firm Freixenet to furlough 80% of its workers in Catalonia due to drought

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Spanish-German company announces layoffs as conditions in north-eastern Spain hit grape production

The Spanish-German cava giant Freixenet, known for its distinctive black glass bottles of sparkling wine, is to furlough 80% of its workers in Catalonia as the north-eastern Spanish region struggles with a drought that has lasted more than three years and severely affected grape production.

In a statement released this week, Freixenet said the temporary layoff – which will apply to as many as 615 of the 778 people it employs in Catalonia – would begin in May.

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Central Coast Mariners star Angel Torres charged with sexual assault and stood down from A-League

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Football Australia imposes interim suspension after Torres arrested over alleged incident in March

The Central Coast Mariners’ star striker Angel Torres has been stood down from playing in the A-League Men after he was charged with sexual assault.

Torres, 24, was arrested at a property in Terrigal on Monday in relation to an alleged sexual assault of a woman on 24 March.

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AfD politician’s aide arrested on suspicion of spying for China

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Man worked as assistant to Maximilian Krah, top candidate in European parliament elections, say prosecutors

A close adviser to a leading member of Germany’s far-right populist Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD) has been arrested on suspicion on spying for China in the latest high-profile espionage case to have come to light.

The man, identified by prosecutors as Jian G, was accused of “an especially severe instance” of espionage, prosecutors said, following his arrest in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It comes after the arrests of three German citizens accused of industrial spying for China in return for payment.

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Jerry Seinfeld says the movie business is over: ‘No longer the cultural pinnacle’

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In an interview promoting his Pop-Tarts movie Unfrosted, comedian says confusion and disorientation have taken film’s place

Jerry Seinfeld has said the film business is “over” and that movies are no longer “the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy” they once were.

In an interview with GQ magazine, Seinfeld talked about his experience on his feature film directing debut Unfrosted, saying that he admired the dedication of his collaborators on the movie, but that the industry itself was in crisis. “I thought I had done some cool stuff, but it was nothing like the way these people work. They’re so dead serious! They don’t have any idea that the movie business is over. They have no idea.”

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Tulsi Gabbard repeats false Hillary Clinton ‘grooming’ claim in new book

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Ex-Democrat, reported contender for Trump running mate, sued Clinton for Russia remark but dropped case

Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman, has repeated a discredited claim about Hillary Clinton that previously saw Gabbard lodge then drop a $50m defamation suit in a new book published as she seeks to be named Donald Trump’s running mate for US president.

Accusing Democrats of making up “a conspiracy theory that [Trump] was ‘colluding’ with the Russians to win the election” in 2016, Gabbard claims: “Hillary Clinton used a similar tactic against me when I ran for president in 2020, accusing me of being ‘groomed by the Russians’.”

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Council of Europe human rights watchdog condemns UK’s Rwanda bill

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Commissioner expresses grave concern after Rishi Sunak’s asylum policy passes parliamentary stages

The Council of Europe’s human rights watchdog has condemned Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda scheme, saying it raises “major issues about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law”.

The body’s human rights commissioner, Michael O’Flaherty, said the bill, expected to be signed into law on Tuesday after passing its parliamentary stages on Monday night, was a grave concern and should not be used to remove asylum seekers or infringe on judges’ independence.

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