Restored 19th-century ships’ figureheads to go on display in Plymouth

The 14 carvings will hang from the ceiling in arts venue The Box, due to open in the spring

A collection of 19th-century wooden figureheads from British naval warships has been lovingly restored from the ravages of years at sea and will form a striking display at a new heritage and arts complex in Plymouth.

The 14 figureheads, some of which were so badly water-damaged that their insides had turned into a soggy mulch, are to be suspended from the ceiling of The Box gallery and museum, which is due to open in the spring.

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Tories aim to distract from Brexit with crime-focused Queen’s speech

Heavier sentences for violent criminals among policies aimed at wooing Labour voters

Violent and sexual criminals as well as foreign national offenders who return to the UK will face drastically heavier penalties under measures that will form the centrepiece of a Queen’s speech aimed at wresting the agenda away from the delicate Brexit negotiations.

With just days to go before the deadline for Boris Johnson to clinch a last-ditch Brexit deal in Brussels, the Queen will on Monday set out his government’s priorities for a new session of parliament, including 22 new bills.

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Brexit talks fail to yield breakthrough with timely deal feared ‘impossible’

Barnier warns negotiations may have to continue as UK’s Irish border plans are an ‘untested’ risk

A breakthrough in the Brexit talks has failed to materialise after a weekend of intensive negotiations, with European Union capitals concluding that it may now be impossible for the UK to leave the EU by 31 October with a deal.

In a briefing to EU ambassadors on Sunday evening, the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, raised the prospect of the talks having to continue after the forthcoming leaders’ summit on Thursday, such was the lack of progress.

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John Henry Newman is first Briton to be canonised in 43 years

Prince Charles described Victorian theologian as a ‘fearless defender of the truth’

Prince Charles described John Henry Newman as a “fearless defender of the truth” after the British cardinal became a saint in front of an estimated 20,000 pilgrims in St Peter’s Square.

Newman, also a theologian, scholar and poet, was regarded as one of the most influential figures of the Victorian age and is the first Briton to be made a saint since 1976, when John Ogilvie was canonised by Pope Paul VI.

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Support grows for a new Brexit poll amid fears over Johnson’s plan

DUP raises doubts on customs union, while Labour says it will whip MPs to support a second referendum

Pro-remain MPs predicted on Saturday that they were gaining sufficient cross-party support to secure a second Brexit referendum as fresh doubts were raised over whether Boris Johnson can secure a deal with the EU that can pass through parliament.

Related: No-deal Brexit will wreck Tories’ reputation as party of business, says Lidington

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Isis ‘Beatles’ should face trial in UK, says former director of public prosecutions

QC says a US trial makes Britain look like a ‘banana republic lacking faith in our own institutions of justice’

The UK government has been accused of acting like “a banana republic” after suppressing charges against the British group of Isis militants known as “the Beatles” out of fears that trying them at home could set a precedent for mass jihadist repatriations.

Prosecutors charged one member of the group, Alexanda Kotey, with multiple counts of murder in 2016 but the Home Office made no attempt to bring him home to face justice because, sources say, then home secretary Theresa May felt it was politically problematic.

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MI6 accused of thwarting effort to solve 1961 killing of UN chief

Files on Dag Hammarskjöld plane crash are being withheld, says inquiry

MI6, the secret intelligence service, is under pressure to share its files on the mysterious death of a UN secretary general who was killed in an air crash almost 60 years ago.

Dag Hammarskjöld died with 13 others in September 1961, when his plane crashed near Ndola, in what was then Northern Rhodesia. There has been speculation that the plane was brought down deliberately. A film released this year, Cold Case Hammarskjöld, a winner at the 2019 Sundance film festival, has continued to stir interest.

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Police trying to verify identity of arrested French murder suspect

DNA tests used to ascertain whether man held in Glasgow is Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès

Police are carrying out DNA tests to establish whether a man arrested at Glasgow airport is a suspect in the murder of five members of his family in France.

Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès has been on an international wanted list since the bodies of his wife and four children were found buried under the terrace of their home in Nantes in April 2011.

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Extinction Rebellion arrests near 1,300 after Billingsgate protest

Activists say 28 people were arrested after trying to block access to London fish market

Police have announced they have made almost 1,300 arrests of Extinction Rebellion protesters since Monday, as activists hope the weekend will swell their numbers for a protest march through central London.

Animal rights activists affiliated with XR claimed 28 of their supporters were arrested on Saturday morning while attempting to block access to Billingsgate fish market in east London.

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Brexit deal prospects look promising, says Nicky Morgan

Minister voices hopes of progress after talks between UK and Ireland over border

The prospects of a Brexit deal with the EU appear to be “promising” after negotiations between Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar over the Irish border, Nicky Morgan has said.

A day after the British prime minister signalled the possibility of a U-turn on his plans, the culture secretary said the “mood music … seems positive, but clearly there are lots of details to be worked out.”

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Suspected fugitive accused of murdering family arrested in Glasgow

Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes has been the subject of an arrest warrant since his wife and children were found shot dead in 2011

A man believed to be a fugitive suspected of killing his wife and four children has been arrested after eight years on the run.

French police have said that Police Scotland officers in Glasgow detained a man on Friday, reportedly named Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes. Scottish police did not give details of his identity, but Reuters said a French police source confirmed that Dupont de Ligonnes had been arrested.

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East London stabbing: boy, 15, arrested on suspicion of murder

Baptista Adjei, from North Woolwich, was killed on Thursday afternoon in Stratford

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing a schoolboy to death outside a shopping centre in broad daylight, the Metropolitan police have said.

Police said that the teenager handed himself in to an east London police station on Friday, and was arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in custody.

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Johnson’s major U-turn sets up 48 hours to clinch Brexit deal

EU gives go-ahead to weekend meetings after PM appears to backtrack on customs stance

Boris Johnson has signalled that he will make a last-ditch U-turn on his plans for the Irish border, setting up 48 hours of intense negotiations that will make or break a Brexit deal.

On a day of rapid movement in talks, EU sources said the prime minister had conceded that there could not be a customs border on the island of Ireland – a critical step away from his previous position.

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Manchester Arndale stabbings: man arrested on suspicion of terrorism

40-year-old man detained over attack that put three people in hospital with stab wounds

A man has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after several people were stabbed in Manchester’s Arndale shopping centre, sending bystanders running for their lives.

Three people were stabbed and taken to hospital after the attack on Friday morning, police said. Two other people were assessed, one was treated at the scene and the other later went to hospital with a superficial wound.

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‘Electrifying’: Boris Johnson’s first meeting with Jennifer Arcuri caught on camera

Picture revealed as files relating to misconduct claims due to be handed to police watchdog

The first meeting with Boris Johnson that Jennifer Arcuri described as an “electrifying” encounter was caught on camera, the Guardian can reveal.

The picture emerged as files relating to allegations of misconduct against the prime minister over his links to the US businesswoman were due to be handed to the police watchdog.

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Brexit: Barnier and Barclay hold talks after positive Johnson-Varadkar meeting on potential deal – live news

Follow the latest political developments after Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar agreed there was a “pathway to a possible Brexit deal” after an unexpectedly constructive meeting

The Pro-Brexit Tory MP, Nigel Evans, has said members of the Eurosceptic European Research Group could vote for concessions on Northern Ireland if the DUP was in favour.

“I think it is very difficult to get it through without the DUP, but we have seen a shift from the DUP already,” he said according to PA.

“We’re going to look at the detail - none of us know.

“I believe it is three dimensional poker and we’re playing very high risk stakes here.

ITV’s Joe Pike has been told that the Labour defector, Angela Smith, now a Lib Dem MP, plans to stand against the Tory backbench shop steward Graham Brady.

She faces a tough battle: In 2017 Brady secured a majority of more than 6,000 votes over Labour with the LibDems a very distant third.

Angela Smith says: ‘Me and the @LibDems are confident we stand an excellent chance of winning the seat.’

The Altrincham constituency leans Remain and Sir Graham Brady is pro-Brexit.

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Facebook paid just £28m tax on record £1.6bn earnings in UK

Profits on social media app surged by more than 50% to £797m in latest tax year

Facebook’s UK operations paid £28m in tax last year despite attracting a record £1.6bn in British sales.

The social media company’s latest UK accounts show that gross income from advertisers rose almost 30% last year to £1.65bn, and pretax profits surged by more than 50% from £63m to £97m.

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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s daughter arrives back in UK

Husband of jailed British-Iranian hopes Gabriella’s return ‘unlocks another’

The five-year-old daughter of the imprisoned British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has returned to the UK.

Gabriella was living with her grandparents in Tehran and visiting her mother in prison in an attempt to minimise the trauma inflicted upon the family, while her father, Richard Ratcliffe, campaigned for his wife’s release. She was arrested three-and-a-half years ago on spying charges, which she denies.

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