Slovakia PM Robert Fico ‘fighting for life’ after five shots fired in ‘politically motivated’ attack, ministers say – live updates

Posted on by

Defence and interior ministers say Fico in ‘extraordinarily serious’ condition after shooting; suspect reported to be a 71-year-old ex-security guard detained

Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia’s president, said she spoke with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

After a delay, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and the neighborhood commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi, issued a statement on Georgia.

The adoption of this law negatively impacts Georgia’s progress on the EU path. The choice on the way forward is in Georgia’s hands. We urge the Georgian authorities to withdraw the law, uphold their commitment to the EU path and advance the necessary reforms detailed in the 9 steps.

Continue reading...

Biden campaign accuses Trump of ‘playing games with debates’ – live

Posted on by

Team Biden comments after Trump says he accepted three debates while president has agreed to do two

In a letter to Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, top Donald Trump advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said the former president had accepted their invitation to participate in two debates, while demanding further face offs between the two candidates.

“Today is a good day for America’s voters, now that Joe Biden has FINALLY accepted President Trump’s debate challenge. President Trump and our campaign have been requesting this for months with a consistent message: ANY TIME! ANYWHERE! ANY PLACE!” Wiles and LaCivita write.

We believe there should be more than just two opportunities for the American people to hear more from the candidates themselves. With the soaring inflation of Bidenomics costing America’s hardworking families at the grocery store and at the gas pump, with our border being totally overrun, with chaos at home, chaos across the world, chaos on our college campuses, we should have one debate per month.

Therefore, we propose a debate in June, a debate in July, a debate in August, and a debate in September, in addition to the Vice Presidential debate. Additional dates will allow voters to have maximum exposure to the records and future visions of each candidate.

Crooked Joe Biden is the WORST debater I have ever faced - He can’t put two sentences together! Crooked is also the WORST President in the history of the United States, by far. It’s time for a debate so that he can explain to the American People his highly destructive Open Border Policy, new and ridiculous EV Mandates, the allowance of Crushing Inflation, High Taxes, and his really WEAK Foreign Policy, which is allowing the World to “Catch on Fire.” I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September. I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds - That’s only because he doesn’t get them. Just tell me when, I’ll be there. “Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!”

Continue reading...

UK to introduce new offence of causing death or injury by dangerous cycling

Posted on by

Law change not ‘anti-cycling’ says Iain Duncan Smith, who brought the amendment to the criminal justice bill

A new offence of causing death or serious injury by dangerous, careless or inconsiderate cycling is to be introduced.

The law will be changed after a deal was reached between the government and the former Conservative leader, Iain Duncan Smith, whose amendment to the criminal justice bill was backed by 37 fellow Tory backbenchers.

Continue reading...

Hearing delayed for US woman accused of killing husband before writing book on grief

Posted on by

Kouri Richins, 33, charged in Utah with murder over death of Eric Richins, who prosecutors say was fatally poisoned with fentanyl

A Utah judge on Wednesday postponed a hearing to determine if prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed to trial in the case of a woman charged with fatally poisoning her husband before she published a children’s book about coping with grief.

Judge Richard Mrazik delayed the hearing until 18-20 June after prosecutors said they would need three days to present their evidence against Kouri Richins, whose lawyer says she is innocent.

Continue reading...

Slovakian PM Robert Fico ‘fighting for his life’ after being shot

Posted on by

Suspect in custody after assassination attempt that has raised fears across Europe of rising political violence

Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, has been left with life-threatening injuries after an assassination attempt that has sparked warnings across Europe of rising political violence.

Video captured on Wednesday appeared to show the moment five shots were fired at Fico, 59, as he shook hands with a small group of supporters in the town of Handlová, about 90 miles (150km) north-east of the capital.

Continue reading...

Israel war cabinet split looms as defence minister demands post-war Gaza plan

Posted on by

Yoav Gallant, who Benjamin Netanyahu tried to fire in 2023, says he will not allow Israeli rule of Gaza

A long-festering split at the heart of Israel’s war cabinet has burst into the open with the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, challenging the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to come up with plans for the “day after” the war in Gaza, and saying he would not permit any solution where Israeli military or civil governance were in the territory.

Gallant’s comments, immediately backed by his fellow minister Benny Gantz, plunged Israel’s leadership into a highly public row, in the midst of the Gaza conflict, raising immediate speculation over his future in the Israeli government and of Netanyahu’s fractious coalition.

Continue reading...

UK free school meal allowances too low for healthy lunches, study finds

Posted on by

Researchers also find lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in schools and say portion sizes sometimes not enough

Free school meal allowances are not enough for students from lower-income backgrounds to buy healthy school lunches, research suggests.

The study, presented at the European Congress of Obesity (ECO), involved 42 pupils aged between 11 and 15 at seven schools across the UK.

Continue reading...

Man who made $5m in Masters thefts pleads guilty in federal court

Posted on by
  • Richard Globensky transported stolen Augusta goods
  • 39-year-old faces up to 10 years in jail over thefts

A former warehouse assistant for the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia pleaded guilty Wednesday to transporting millions of dollars worth of stolen Masters tournament memorabilia and historic items, including one of Arnold Palmer’s green jackets.

Richard Globensky, of Georgia, entered the plea during his initial appearance in federal court in Chicago.

Federal prosecutors said the 39-year-old would take items from the warehouse and sell and transport them to another party in Florida for sale online. The scheme went on for nearly a decade and Globensky made roughly $5m from the sales. As part of a plea deal, Globensky must write a $1.5m cashier’s check to the government.

He was charged with one count of transporting goods knowing they had been stolen.

“I plead guilty,” Globensky, who was wearing a suit and tie, told the judge.

The items – stolen between 2009 and 2022 – included T-shirts, mugs and chairs, and historic memorabilia, including green jackets and tickets to Masters tournaments in the 1930s. The total loss to Augusta National was more than $3m, according to prosecutors. A representative for Augusta National did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.

Globensky declined to comment to reporters. His attorney, Thomas Church, said the case was being tried in Chicago because some of the stolen goods were recovered in the area.

Sentencing will be in late October. Globensky faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, but will likely get closer to two years in prison under the sentencing guidelines.

Augusta National hosts the annual Masters golf tournament. This year’s edition was won by Scottie Scheffler last month.

Continue reading...

UK government was ‘scared’, says man behind failed UAE-backed Telegraph bid

Posted on by

RedBird IMI deal effectively killed by new legislation blocking foreign states from owning UK newspapers

The former CNN executive who fronted a failed bid for the Telegraph newspaper by a UAE-backed consortium has suggested the government was not willing to listen to assurances about editorial neutrality.

Jeff Zucker said there were figures in the UK who were “scared” of the £600m deal, which would have seen the Abu Dhabi-backed consortium, RedBird IMI, take control of the Telegraph and Spectator.

Continue reading...

Ex-headteacher convicted of sexual offences against four girls in Wales

Posted on by

Judge expresses concern that previous warnings about former NEU official Neil Foden, 66, were ignored

A former headteacher has been found guilty of sexual offences against four girls, with a judge expressing concern that warnings about him were ignored.

Neil Foden, 66, who worked in schools in north Wales, was convicted of 19 offences and told he faces a lengthy jail term when he is sentenced in July.

Continue reading...

Labour begins candidate selection for Jeremy Corbyn’s Islington North seat

Posted on by

Ex-leader who still does not have party whip will not be on shortlist and is likely to run as an independent

Labour has kicked off candidate selection to run in Jeremy Corbyn’s seat of Islington North, with the contender for the seat expected to be confirmed by 1 June.

Corbyn, who is still suspended for comments he made in the aftermath of the equalities watchdog report into antisemitism in Labour, has been barred from standing again for the party. He won the seat with a majority of more than 26,000 in 2019.

Continue reading...

UK trade summit in Saudi Arabia accused of promoting firms linked to senior Tories

Posted on by

Lib Dems says Conservatives have ‘serious questions to answer’ about what appears to be clear conflict of interest

A UK government trade summit in Saudi Arabia has been criticised for helping to promote businesses linked to a string of senior Conservatives, including peers and the former chair of the party, Ben Elliot.

Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, has been in Riyadh this week launching the government-backed Great Futures campaign to promote British trade with Saudi Arabia, despite the Gulf country’s controversial record on the repression of women and LGBT people.

Continue reading...

More than 100,000 people in the US died of drug overdoses in 2023

Posted on by

Sobering figure obscures the fact that the number of overdose deaths in the US declined for the first time since 2018

An estimated 107,543 people died of drug overdoses in the US in 2023, a shocking figure that obscures a glimmer of hope – this is the first annual decline in drug overdose deaths since 2018.

The grim toll represents Americans’ struggle with powerful synthetic drugs, in particular the synthetic opioid fentanyl, known to be up to 100 times stronger than morphine. More than 1 million people have died of a drug overdose since 2001, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Continue reading...

Ukraine’s troops withdraw from parts of north-east as pressure mounts

Posted on by

Volodymyr Zelenskyiy has cancelled all foreign trips after Russia launched a major surprise offensive last week

Ukraine’s troops have withdrawn from several areas of the country’s north-east amid mounting pressure from a new Russian offensive, as the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, postponed all foreign trips underscoring the seriousness of the threat.

The moves came as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said Moscow’s latest operation was “going to plan” and Russian forces were improving their positions daily even as the US rushed to resupply arms and ammunition to Kyiv.

Continue reading...

Activists blame Argentina’s government after three gay women killed in arson attack

Posted on by

Four women were set on fire in Buenos Aires in alleged hate crime as demonstrators accuse Milei of promoting intolerance

Activists in Argentina have accused the country’s far-right government of stoking homophobia after an alleged hate crime in which four gay women were set on fire, killing three and seriously injuring the fourth.

A man in his 60s is alleged to have thrown burning rags into the women’s shared bedroom of a boarding house in Buenos Aires early on 6 May.

The headline to this article was amended on 15 May 2024. A previous version incorrectly stated four women were killed.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden and Donald Trump agree to two US presidential debates

Posted on by

Both candidates agreed upon two dates for debates: 27 June and 10 September, and Trump also posted about a third date in October

Shortly after the Biden-Harris re-election campaign proposed two TV debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump ahead of November’s presidential vote, both men have agreed upon two debate dates: 27 June and 10 September.

CNN confirmed that it would host the first debate of 2024 on that date at 9pm ET from the crucial battleground state of Georgia.

Continue reading...

Don’t panic about presidential polls – yet

Posted on by

Trump’s criminal hush-money trial continues in New York, while both Trump and Biden fight for voters in swing states

Hello! Welcome back to our new US elections newsletter.

Non-Trump supporters have been all jittery this week, after a poll appeared to show Joe Biden getting royally stuffed by Trump in the election.

Continue reading...

Far-right Geert Wilders agrees deal for Dutch coalition government

Posted on by

Wilders will not become next Dutch PM in experimental ‘business government’ arrangement

The Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders has agreed the basis of his first rightwing coalition government in the Netherlands.

Six months after his shock win of a quarter of parliamentary seats, his anti-Islam, anti-immigration Party for Freedom (PVV) will take the lead in an uneasy four-party coalition.

Continue reading...

UK politics: I never called for rainbow lanyard ban, claims Esther McVey – as it happened

Posted on by

‘Common sense minister’ denies plan to Channel 4 News despite saying earlier this week that lanyards should be a ‘standard design’

Labour says the Ministry of Justice’s decision to delay court hearings because of prison overcrowing (see 10.39am) shows that people are “less safe” under the Tories. That’s a very convenient retort to Rishi Sunak, because only two days ago he gave a major speech arguing that security was a key reason why his party deserved to win the election.

In a statement, Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, said:

The Tories continue to make major and unprecedented changes to the justice system without so much as a word to the public. It’s completely unacceptable and the public will be alarmed at this latest panic measures.

The government is stalling justice and leaving victims in limbo because of the mess they have created. This comes days after they hid from the public that they’re now letting criminals out of jail earlier than ever before.

The government is completely failing [on knife crime]. We’ve had an 80% increase since 2015 and rises all around the country. That’s the first point.

On stop and search, that is intelligence lead and evidence-based and is a really important tool. We’ve had, for example, the Inspectorate of Constabulary, an independent organisation, looking at this saying that what’s essential is that it is done in that targeted way.

Continue reading...