Canada to head to polls as Mark Carney calls snap election for 28 April

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Prime minister launches contest expected to focus on US relations, as Liberals enjoy lead over Conservatives

Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has called a snap election on 28 April, firing the starting gun on a contest that is widely expected to focus on the strained relationship with the US amid threats to Canada’s economic and political future.

“We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetime because of President [Donald] Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty,” he said. “He wants to break us, so America can own us. We will not let this happen. We’re over the shock the shock of the betrayal, but we can never forget the lessons. We have to look out for ourselves. We have to look out for each other.”

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Labour must involve whole country if it wants to achieve its goals, report warns

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Age of ‘command and control’ is over, says Demos, with work needed from business, charities, unions and public

Labour’s missions are at risk of failing unless the government does more to involve the whole country from businesses to the wider public, as the age of “command and control” is over, a report from Demos has warned.

The thinktank called on the government to embrace “mass mobilisation” for businesses, charities, unions and the wider public to drive its flagship missions, which promise growth, clean energy, cutting crime, rebuilding the NHS and reforming education.

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Andy Peebles, former Radio 1 DJ and presenter, dies aged 76

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Host of Top of the Pops and My Top Twelve among other shows was one of last people to interview John Lennon

Andy Peebles, the former Radio 1 DJ and presenter who was one of the last people to interview John Lennon, has died aged 76, his family has confirmed.

Peebles began his radio career in Manchester in 1973 and joined Radio 1 in 1978, where he was a familiar voice for 14 years.

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3,000-Year-Old Secret Found in King Tutankhamun’s Tomb – The Daily Galaxy –Great Discoveries Channel

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  1. 3,000-Year-Old Secret Found in King Tutankhamun’s Tomb  The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel
  2. King Tutankhamun’s tomb hid a 3,000-year-old secret ritual, scientists reveal  New York Post
  3. Archaeologists uncover a 3,000-year-old SECRET hidden in Tutankhamun's tomb  Daily Mail
  4. Relics in Tutankhamun’s tomb hint he invented elaborate burial rites  New Scientist
  5. Archaeologist makes historic Tutankhamun discovery after studying Egyptian pharaoh's tomb  LADbible
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Bald eagle who went viral for incubating rock dies after fierce storms in Missouri

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Murphy, who lived to 33, took in a rock in 2023 and tried to hatch it, captivating hearts and later fostering two eaglets

Missouri lost an ambassador, role model and community pillar in the violent storms that swept the country on 15 March: a 33-year-old bald eagle named Murphy.

Murphy captivated hearts far beyond the midwest and gained national attention in 2023 when he incubated a rock, attempting to hatch it, in a stunt the internet loved. The World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, Missouri, where he lived, rewarded his instincts, allowing him to foster an eaglet that he nurtured back to health. Another eaglet was placed into his care, and is expected to be released midway through the summer.

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Trump’s expansionism threatens the rules-based order in place since second world war

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UN charter says members ‘shall refrain from the threat or use of force’ against a country’s territory or independence

The post-second world war taboo on acquiring territory through force or by the threat of force is being unravelled by a generation of political leaders, led by expansionist threats from Donald Trump that are unprecedented for a US president.

Experts are warning that a combination of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and Trump’s comments explicitly pushing for the US to acquire Greenland, Canada, the Panama canal and Gaza is fuelling a permissive environment that threatens long-recognised borders and the international rules-based order that has existed since the end of the war.

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‘I’m not stepping down’: Chuck Schumer defies Democrats’ calls over funding bill

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Party leader faces backlash over his decision to support Republican-led bill to avoid government shutdown

Chuck Schumer defied calls to give up the top Democratic position in the Senate after he voted for Republicans’ funding bill to avoid a government shutdown, saying on Sunday: “I’m not stepping down.”

Schumer has faced a wave of backlash from Democrats over his decision to support the Republican-led bill, with many Democrats alleging that the party leader isn’t doing enough to stand up to Donald Trump’s agenda.

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This launcher is about to displace the V-2 as Germany’s largest rocket – Ars Technica

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  1. This launcher is about to displace the V-2 as Germany’s largest rocket  Ars Technica
  2. Isar Aerospace set to make first orbital launch from continental Europe  NASASpaceflight.com
  3. Isar Aerospace: German company set for first commercial rocket launch from Europe  New Scientist
  4. Europe is finally getting serious about commercial rockets  MIT Technology Review
  5. 1st-ever orbital rocket launch from European soil targeted for March 24  Yahoo
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Hamas rejects bridging proposal, refuses to demilitarize, Witkoff says – The Jerusalem Post

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  1. Hamas rejects bridging proposal, refuses to demilitarize, Witkoff says  The Jerusalem Post
  2. Trump Envoy Witkoff Reveals a Harsh Change on Hostages in Tucker Carlson Interview  Haaretz
  3. Witkoff says Hamas may have tricked him into thinking it was game for deal  The Times of Israel
  4. US negotiators ‘duped’ by Hamas, says Steve Witkoff as he claims Putin doesn’t want to ‘take all of Europe’  New York Post
  5. Hamas 'not As Ideologically Extreme As Portrayed,' Says Trump Envoy  i24NEWS
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Labour mayoral candidate on race to stop Reform – and ‘Doge Lincolnshire’

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Jason Stockwood, ex-chair of Grimsby Town FC, has plan for keeping rival Andrea Jenkyns from implementing US-style cuts

Labour can beat Reform UK by focusing relentlessly on the cost of living, the party’s mayoral candidate for Greater Lincolnshire, who is taking on the Conservative defector Andrea Jenkyns, has said.

Jason Stockwood, the former chair of Grimsby Town football club, is standing for Labour in the most high-profile mayoral race of the local elections.

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Israeli Cabinet Moves to Fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara – The New York Times

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  1. Israeli Cabinet Moves to Fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara  The New York Times
  2. Knesset committee to select MK for panel that will weigh firing of attorney general  The Times of Israel
  3. A legal showdown looms in Israel as Netanyahu moves to oust top officials  The Associated Press
  4. Defying protests, Israeli cabinet votes no confidence in attorney general  Reuters
  5. Emboldened by escalating fronts, Netanyahu wages a deceptive war on Israel's democracy  Haaretz
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Israel’s strikes on Hamas leaders in recent days haven’t hit key military commanders – The Times of Israel

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  1. Israel’s strikes on Hamas leaders in recent days haven’t hit key military commanders  The Times of Israel
  2. Palestinian deaths in Gaza rise above 50,000 as Israel expands its military campaign  NPR
  3. Lethal Israeli Strikes Halve Hamas’ Top Leadership in Gaza  Bloomberg
  4. Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has struck the largest hospital in the territory’s south  The Associated Press
  5. At least 19 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, including senior Hamas leader  Fox News
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Keir Starmer says he ‘likes and respects’ Donald Trump

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PM agrees with US president that Europe must bear greater burden for its collective self-defence

Keir Starmer has spoken of how he personally “likes and respects” the US president, Donald Trump, and understands what he is trying to achieve.

The prime minister made the comments in an interview with the New York Times, saying: “President Trump has a point when he says there needs to be a greater burden borne by European countries for the collective self-defence of Europe.”

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