Turkish opposition leader calls for weekly rallies and deeper economic boycott

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Özgür Özel expanded call to boycott companies perceived as close to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Turkey’s anti-government protesters are weighing their options, amid calls by the main opposition leader for weekly rallies, a growing economic boycott and a groundswell of fired-up student demonstrators determined to stay on the streets.

The leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Özgür Özel, expanded a call to boycott goods and services from companies perceived as close to the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during a rally in support of the jailed Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu.

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White House correspondents’ dinner cancels anti-Trump comedian’s appearance

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WHCA says it was dropping Amber Ruffin’s performance so the event’s ‘focus is not on the politics of division’

Comedy is off the menu at the annual White House correspondents’ dinner, a once convivial get-together for reporters to meet with federal governments officials that has become too fraught for light-heartedness amid the second Donald Trump presidency.

The dinner, scheduled for 26 April, is organized by the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), and it typically features a post-meal comedic interlude where a comedian sets to work on the powerful. Beginning with Calvin Coolidge in 1924, every president has attended at least one WHCA dinner – except for Trump.

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Donors quit Prince Harry’s charity when he left UK, says Sentebale chair

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Sophie Chandauka claims there is ‘significant correlation’ with drop in funders and prince’s move to the US

Donors abandoned the charity Prince Harry founded in memory of his late mother when he left the UK, the chair of Sentebale has said amid a bitter media row in which she accused the prince of trying to “eject” her through “bullying” and “harassment”.

Sophie Chandauka told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme that there was a “significant correlation” between a drop in funders and the Duke of Sussex’s departure to the US after the controversy caused by his rift with the royal family.

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What We Know About Talks for a Renewed Gaza Cease-Fire – The New York Times

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  1. What We Know About Talks for a Renewed Gaza Cease-Fire  The New York Times
  2. Hamas agrees to Egyptian ceasefire proposal, Israel counters  CNN
  3. Report: Hamas may be open to freeing some hostages in exchange for Eid al-Fitr truce  The Times of Israel
  4. Hamas reportedly agrees to release five living Israeli hostages for ceasefire  The Guardian
  5. Gaza war in cruise control as Israel, Hamas await hostage deal breakthrough  The Jerusalem Post
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Donald Trump says he is ‘very angry’ with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine

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US president says his Russian counterpart’s questioning of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s credibility could delay ceasefire

Donald Trump has said he is “pissed off” with Vladimir Putin over his approach to a ceasefire in Ukraine and threatened to levy tariffs on Moscow’s oil exports if the Russian leader does not agree to a truce within a month.

The US president indicated he would levy a 25% or 50% tariff that would affect countries buying Russian oil in a telephone interview with NBC News, during which he also threatened to bomb Iran and did not rule out using force in Greenland.

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Biotech group warns exit of top FDA vaccine official will ‘erode scientific standards’

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Rare admonition from a sector that has largely been silent in the face of the second Trump administration

The US biotech industry’s main lobby group issued a rare warning following the forced and abrupt resignation of the nation’s top vaccine official at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), saying the loss of his experienced leadership would “erode scientific standards” and affect the development of transformative therapies to fight disease.

The statement, issued on Saturday by John Crowley of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), followed the news a day earlier that Dr Peter Marks – who led the FDA division that ensured the safety of vaccines – had resigned over what he called “misinformation and lies” from health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Stephanie Kirchgaessner contributed reporting

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Police officers ‘mocked and ostracised’ for paternity leave in England and Wales

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Exclusive: Most only take a week’s leave, and paternity pay for back-office staff in Met is nearly three times higher

Police officers have described being ostracised for taking paternity leave, as it is revealed that back-office staff in the Metropolitan police are entitled to proportionately nearly three times as much paternity pay as frontline fathers.

A freedom of information request has revealed that most serving police officers in England and Wales only take one week of paternity leave, with some describing being on “blue lights” duty and carrying Tasers a week after the birth of their babies.

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Man arrested over three deaths in fire at house near Kettering

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Four-year-old girl, young man and woman killed by blaze at former stationmaster’s house in Rushton

A 54-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a fire at a historic former stationmaster’s house killed three people, including a four-year-old girl, police have said.

Emergency services were called at about 10.30pm on Friday to reports of a large blaze at a property in Beswick Close in Rushton, near Kettering.

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Netanyahu says he is ‘willing’ to reach deal to free Gaza hostages

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Prime minister says military pressure is working, as he rejects claims that Israel is not serious about negotiations

Rejecting claims from Hamas and Israeli protesters that his government is not engaged in serious negotiations aimed at securing the release of those held captive in Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he was committed to reaching an agreement to free the hostages and military pressure had been effective.

“We are willing,” Israel’s prime minister told a cabinet meeting. “We are negotiating under fire” and “can see cracks beginning to appear” in what Hamas has demanded in its negotiations, he said.

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Special elections to deliver voters’ verdict on Trump’s chaotic first months

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Key elections in Florida, Texas, Arizona and Wisconsin could offer a glimmer of hope to Democrats

Several elections on Tuesday will be a crucial test of the popularity of the chaotic and extremist first two months of Donald Trump’s second term and the clout of his close ally, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who has been tasked with radically reforming the US federal government.

They could also offer a glimmer of hope to Democrats – fresh off a surprise upset win in a local race in Pennsylvania last week – that their divided political party could be seeing a resurgence in its fortunes. Or, if they fail to land further blows on Republicans, it will be yet another sign that the party is destined for a long period in the wilderness amid historic lows of its popularity in recent polls.

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Super fund took more than 500 days to approve death benefit for grieving widow, Asic says

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Landmark report makes 34 recommendations to overhaul the superannuation sector, citing delays, poor customer service and ineffective procedures

An unnamed superannuation fund took more than 500 days to approve a death benefit payment to an Indigenous woman grieving the loss of her husband and ignored her concerns about financial hardship and a confusing claims process.

The “distressing” case has been highlighted by the financial regulator as one of many “poor industry practices” by funds that have had “devastating impacts” on members experiencing “deep grief, vulnerability, frustration and genuine suffering”.

A “landmark” report released by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) on Monday has made 34 recommendations to overhaul the superannuation sector. The report investigated the conduct of 10 trustees, which are responsible for 38% of all member benefits in Australia.

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