UK travellers face road and rail disruption over bank holiday weekend

Motoring organisations warn of heavy traffic, and delays and cancellations will hit two rail routes out of London

The bank holiday getaway is likely to be a tricky one, with transport analysts predicting congested roads and the year’s busiest day so far for departing airports, while long-distance rail passengers dodge the start of more engineering work.

Motoring organisations forecast traffic to be at its worst on Friday, with many drivers surveyed apparently taking an extra day off before the long weekend and half-term break for most schools in England and Wales.

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Loan scheme to rearm Europe could be ‘important breakthrough’ in Ukraine support

EU defence commissioner says he expects a lot of loan requests from member states under €150bn programme

A €150bn (£126bn) loans programme to rearm Europe that was finalised this week could be “a very important breakthrough” in the EU’s military support for Ukraine, the bloc’s defence commissioner has said.

Andrius Kubilius, a former prime minister of Lithuania who is the EU’s first defence commissioner, said he expected a lot of member states to request EU-backed loans under the €150bn Security Action for Europe (SAFE) scheme, which was approved on Wednesday.

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North Korean Warship Seen Severely Damaged After Failed Launch – Bloomberg

  1. North Korean Warship Seen Severely Damaged After Failed Launch  Bloomberg
  2. Kim Jong Un’s New Warship Capsizes at Launch Due to ‘Absolute Carelessness’  WSJ
  3. North Korean leader furious over failed destroyer launch, vows to arrest those responsible  AP News
  4. Kim Jong Un’s fury after watching North Korea’s new navy destroyer crippled in botched launch  Yahoo
  5. North Korea launches probe into accident during warship's launch  Reuters
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Malcolm Turnbull accuses ‘stupid’ Nationals of ‘holding a gun’ to Liberal party’s head with Coalition split

MPs pushing behind the scenes for parties to mend the rift acknowledge ‘really messy’ week as regional areas battle floods and drought

The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has accused the Nationals of “holding a gun to the Liberal party’s head” over the threat to split the Coalition this week, claiming the rural party been “stupid” in its actions.

The Nationals MP Darren Chester, who was among a band of MPs pushing behind the scenes for the Coalition to mend its rift, acknowledged it was “frustrating” for the opposition to be bickering among themselves as regional and rural areas battled floods and droughts, and urged colleagues to get on with the job.

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World’s seven wealthiest countries agree to counter China’s trade practices

G7 finance ministers and central bank governors pledge to address ‘economic imbalances’, without naming China

Top finance officials from the world’s seven wealthiest democracies have set aside stark differences on US tariffs and agreed to counter global “economic imbalances”, a swipe at China’s trade practices.

Ahead of the meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors there had been doubt about whether there would be a final communique, given divisions over US tariffs and Washington’s reluctance to refer to Russia’s war on Ukraine as illegal.

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Mahmoud Khalil finally allowed to hold one-month-old son for the first time

Detained Palestinian activist granted contact by judge who blocked Trump administration’s efforts to separate family

Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate and detained Palestinian activist, was finally allowed to hold his infant son for the first time Thursday – one month after he was born – thanks to a federal judge who blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to keep the father and infant separated by a Plexiglass barrier.

The visit came before a scheduled immigration hearing for Khalil, a legal permanent resident who has been detained in a Louisiana jail since 8 March.

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UK agrees to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal it says protects a key US base – AP News

  1. UK agrees to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal it says protects a key US base  AP News
  2. 'Chagos surrender' and 'Shipshape Kate'  BBC
  3. Chagos islanders fear they will never get to go home after UK’s Mauritius deal  The Independent
  4. UK signs Chagos deal with Mauritius to seal future of US-UK air base  Reuters
  5. UK plan to transfer Chagos Islands goes ahead despite last-minute legal injunction  CNN
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Everest climbers head home on last leg of seven-day mission – The Washington Post

  1. Everest climbers head home on last leg of seven-day mission  The Washington Post
  2. A renowned mountain guide puts clients on Everest summit less than a week after they left London  AP News
  3. British soldiers make Everest history using new method  BBC
  4. Xenon Climbers Summit Everest in Five Days from Home  Explorersweb »
  5. Minister’s record Everest climb  The Telegraph
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Scott Adams Reveals Trump Called Him To ‘Check In’ After Terminal Cancer Diagnosis – The Daily Wire

  1. Scott Adams Reveals Trump Called Him To ‘Check In’ After Terminal Cancer Diagnosis  The Daily Wire
  2. 'Dilbert' creator Scott Adams says he's dying from same kind of cancer that Joe Biden has  USA Today
  3. Dilbert cartoonist reveals Trump personally reached out following his terminal cancer announcement  Fox News
  4. ‘Dilbert’ creator Scott Adams, battling same cancer as Joe Biden, says Donald Trump called to offer help  Times of India
  5. Scott Adams reveals he has metastatic prostate cancer, the same as Biden: '100% not curable'  Los Angeles Times
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A look at the deportees on plane that headed for South Sudan from US – AP News

  1. A look at the deportees on plane that headed for South Sudan from US  AP News
  2. Trump admin deportations to South Sudan violated court order, judge rules  Axios
  3. White House agrees to keep migrants in Djibouti for now, blasts federal judge's ruling  NPR
  4. Trump Defies a Judge’s Order With Another Deportation Flight—This Time to South Sudan  Slate Magazine
  5. Court halts Trump administration’s effort to send eight men to South Sudan  The Guardian
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