Weeks before her death, Annabel Rook, 46, from Stoke Newington, left her sister a voice message about Clifton George’s abusive behaviour The co-founder of a social enterprise who was fatally stabbed by her partner said he was “on the warpath” shortly before she died, in a voice message that was played during a murder trial. Clifton George, 45, is accused of murdering 46-year-old Annabel Rook during an argument at their home in north London last June. Continue reading...

Appliance giant slashes earnings forecast and hikes prices by 10% with another 4% spike planned With the war in Iran and economic concerns putting pressure on consumers and how they spend their money, Whirlpool is having to adjust to Americans delaying big-ticket purchases while also raising prices to help stabilize its North American business. The company known for brands such as KitchenAid, Maytag and its namesake, said that the Iran war led to a “recession-level industry decline” in America as consumer confidence collapsed in late February and March. Revenue dropped nearly 10% in the quarter as sales of major appliances in North America declined more than 7%. Continue reading...

There will still be a need to have gas in the wings to keep the lights on, so the financials stack up on Severn plant purchase The eye-catching non-Hormuz news in energy-land last month was that Great Britain is set for a record-breaking summer for wind and solar power generation. The national energy system operator even thought there could be periods – a sunny weekend or a bank holiday afternoon of low demand, for example – when more renewable power would be available than the electricity grid needed. So, on the face of it, it is an odd moment for Centrica, the owner of British Gas, to fork out £370m to buy a 16-year-old combined-cycle gas turbine plant in south Wales. After all, the government’s clean power plan imagines that, come 2030, Great Britain’s entire fleet of gas plants will be used to generate only 5% of its electricity, down from 31.5% in 2025. Continue reading...

Sir David Attenborough has released an audio message thanking the public for the flood of goodwill messages sent in the run-up to his 100th birthday. The veteran broadcaster said he had expected to celebrate quietly, but expressed gratitude for the well-wishes he had received. Attenborough, who was born on 8 May 1926, joined the BBC in 1952 and went on to become one of the world's most respected and influential wildlife presenters Tiny parasitic wasp named after David Attenborough for his 100th birthday Continue reading...

Prosecution says Rico Gedel attacked Ian Watkins in HMP Wakefield then handed homemade knife to Samuel Dodsworth A prisoner accused of murdering the disgraced former Lostprophets singer told guards they “could be talking to someone famous” after stabbing Ian Watkins in the head and neck with a homemade knife, a court has heard. Rico Gedel carried out the attack on Watkins, who was serving a 29-year sentence for child sexual offences, in his cell at HMP Wakefield, a high-security prison, on 11 October, Leeds crown court heard. Continue reading...

President indicated that deal had materialised, but truth was that Saudi Arabia had stopped US use of its bases When Donald Trump abruptly pulled the plug on “Project Freedom”, the scheme to open the strait of Hormuz, barely a day after it had been announced, he gave the impression that an opportunity for a peace deal had materialised that could not be missed. To the surprise of nobody who has been following the US’s recent adventures in geopolitics, Trump’s spin concealed a lot of the underlying reality. It turns out that Trump suspended Project Freedom after Saudi Arabia stopped the US military from using its bases or airspace to carry out the operation, which involved giving air cover to commercial shipping sailing through the strait. Continue reading...

The Ultimate Picture Palace opened in 1911 and is housed in a Grade II-listed building which is in need of renovation The survival of one of the UK’s oldest independent cinemas is under threat while its landlord, Oxford University’s Oriel College, refuses to extend its lease to allow vital renovations. The Ultimate Picture Palace in east Oxford opened in 1911, and has entertained generations of students and residents, including the Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes. It sells tickets for its 106 seats through an old-fashioned box office window to patrons queueing on the street, and its screen is behind a manually-opened curtain. Continue reading...

⚽ Updates from the 8pm BST kick-off; (agg 0-1) ⚽ Palace v Shakhtar – live | Scores | Mail John Will Unwin on Vitor Pereira, fourth time lucky for Forest. Dyche did what he had to, settling things down after a tumultuous start to the season, whereas Pereira wanted to offer greater freedom. Forest are the highest scorers in the league since his arrival, with 19 in nine matches, and have the third-best defence and would sit sixth over the period, according to Goalpoint. Under Pereira, Forest have scored 8.02 goals above xG, arguably a result of the increase in confidence and risk-taking. Continue reading...

The US is unlikely to pressure Benjamin Netanyahu to comply with truce terms. Europe must take action The meaning of the term “ceasefire” should be self‑evident. Yet Israel’s strikes have killed scores of people in Lebanon since it agreed a truce with Hezbollah under pressure from the US, with the two sides trading fire. There was a strike on Beirut on Wednesday. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would be delighted to resume war with Iran. But it is wary of Donald Trump’s wrath as he seeks an exit from the conflict. In Gaza, the Israeli military has killed more than 800 people since the truce there was declared in October, striking almost every day. This, too, is not a true ceasefire but a de-escalation, however necessary. Lethal Israeli attacks on an engineer and drivers transporting water have intensified the water crisis that is fuelling the spread of infectious diseases; Médecins Sans Frontières has called the weaponisation of water supplies a campaign of collective punishment. Never mind the estimated $70bn cost of reconstruction; homes are still being flattened. Families in tents face a rat infestation. Essential medicines are unavailable. Hospitals and schools lie in ruins. An analysis of the war’s impact on education described children feeling “like the living dead”. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Once again, digital tools are running ahead of regulators. Civil liberties must not be sacrificed to policing It is a familiar story. Extravagant claims are made on behalf of novel computerised tools. The public are told that this or that digital application or system is going to change the world for the better. Efficiencies will be unlocked and problems solved as human limitations are overcome by networked devices plugged into vast stores of data. Anyone who questions the narrative is a pessimist or, perhaps, a criminal. This appears to be the logic behind arguments put forward on behalf of one such tool – live facial recognition technology. Law-abiding citizens have “nothing to fear” from the police’s increased reliance on mounted cameras, said the Home Office minister, Sarah Jones, last month, after a high court challenge brought on human rights and privacy grounds failed. The use of AI-powered identification software, made by the Japanese company NEC, “only locates specifically wanted people”, she added. Last year, Ms Jones described the technology as “the biggest breakthrough for catching criminals since DNA”. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

⚽ Updates from the 8pm BST kick-off; agg 3-1 ⚽ Villa v Forest – live | Scores | Mail Niall Back in April 1962, Crystal Palace hosted Real Madrid in a friendly to christen Selhurst Park’s new floodlights. Alfredo Di Stéfano graced the pitch with “effortless ease at walking pace” (according to the Croydon Advertiser) and his team ran out 4-3 winners. Save for a solitary Intertoto Cup tie and a few Anglo-Italian Cup outings, that was pretty much it for Palace and European football, until this very season. It’s been a steep learning curve – demoted from Europa to Conference League, Palace had to progress via the playoff round while planning for the summer departure of Oliver Glasner. Continue reading...

Whoever leads Britain through the next three years may have to navigate a recession, even a war. The way we choose that person needs an urgent overhaul This is going to be an ugly weekend for British politics. How ugly we won’t quite know until Saturday night, when enough votes will have been counted to judge whether Keir Starmer’s government has suffered merely a midterm kicking or a full-blown collapse, and what dark forces may have been unleashed in the process. For you needn’t be a Labour voter to worry about the implications of local elections in which so many candidates were caught expressing views so extreme they chill the blood. It’s fear of what this means for Britain in the long term that explains, in part, why the prime minister’s enemies were gathering long before the polling stations closed. Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Spurs fired survival chances with 2-1 win over Villa ‘It was a great first XI,’ says Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi has rubbished the notion that Tottenham’s vital win at Aston Villa on Sunday was down to them facing heavily-rotated opposition. Spurs’s 2-1 success moved them above West Ham and out of the relegation zone with three matches to play, but much of the reaction focused on how Unai Emery made seven changes to his lineup. Emery made the decision after Villa’s Europa League semi-final first leg at Nottingham Forest last Thursday. De Zerbi preferred to talk up a fine performance from his side that has given them hope they can preserve their Premier League status. Spurs are next in action at home to Leeds on Monday. West Ham entertain Arsenal on Sunday. Continue reading...

Moscow steps up maritime presence in North Sea after UK threats to seize shadow fleet oil tankers Britain’s Royal Navy tracked and followed a Russian frigate every day last month as it sailed from the Atlantic to the North Sea as Moscow steps up its maritime presence after UK threats to seize shadow fleet oil tankers. The Russian navy’s Admiral Grigorovich escorted six Russia-linked vessels during April, including at least three under economic sanction passing east through the Dover strait, while being watched continuously by four UK ships and helicopters. Continue reading...

Continue reading...

Facebook and Instagram owner claims charges should not be calculated based on a company’s global revenue Meta has launched a legal challenge against the UK’s media regulator over the fees and fines regime it is enforcing under landmark digital safety legislation. The Facebook and Instagram owner is claiming that Ofcom’s methodology for calculating the charges is flawed and should not be based on a company’s global revenue. Breaches of the Online Safety Act can be punished by fines of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue (QWR) or £18m – depending which is higher. Continue reading...

Turner’s original vision is under serious threat these days Ted Turner, who died on Wednesday aged 87, was many things – a philanthropist, a conservationist, the one-time husband of movie star Jane Fonda, a yachtsman and the owner of the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Hawks. He thought big and lived large. Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

‘I think we give much more than what we get back’ Novak Djokovic lending his support to players Jannik Sinner refused to rule out participating in a player boycott of the grand slam tournaments and accused the majors of disrespect for the top players due to their lack of response in the ongoing prize money dispute. “It’s more about respect, you know?” said Sinner, the men’s No 1. “Because I think we give much more than what we are getting back. It’s not only for the top players; it’s for all of us players. Again, from men’s and women’s side, we are very, very equal. I think the top 10 men, top 10 women, we wrote a letter. It’s not nice that after one year we are not even close to the conclusion of what we would like to have. Continue reading...

Chi Leung Wai and Chung Biu Yuen convicted over surveillance of dissidents in ‘shadow policing’ operation A UK Border Force officer and Hong Kong trade official based in London have been found guilty of spying for China and surveilling dissidents through a “shadow policing” operation. Chi Leung “Peter” Wai, 38, and Chung Biu Yuen, 65, also known as Bill, were found guilty at the Old Bailey of assisting a foreign intelligence service, making them the first people in British history to be convicted of spying for China. Continue reading...

Readers respond to an editorial on the need to speed up the shift to renewables Your editorial is spot-on (The Guardian view on the green transition: politicians should speed it up – and households too, 4 May). Sadly many of the policies implemented by politicians are counterproductive, based on the fear of public backlash. Fossil fuel tax cuts encourage climate harm and will exacerbate the coming shortages. Nuclear power is a way to spend billions today that will have no impact for at least a decade, while readily available competitive solutions go begging. Fuel rationing and efforts to hasten the transition nudge us in the right direction, though they still lack a clear financial signal for the wider economy and households. Continue reading...

Vic Harper on why the government should ensure better access to fresh food Your article on UK food prices being on track to be 50% higher by November 2026 (4 May), read alongside your editorial on unhealthy Britain (3 May) describes a single story from two ends. Food has become unaffordable and the households absorbing those price rises are getting sicker. By the time poor health shows up in the data, families have been cutting food quality, quantity and variety for years. The Bread and Butter Thing runs affordable food clubs from Maidstone to Northumberland, supporting more than 10,000 households each week. Last week alone, 439 new members joined our network. Our 2025 survey of more than 8,500 members shows the mechanism playing out. Among households with £0-£25 left each month after housing and energy bills, 87% describe their overall health as not good. Continue reading...

Jean Coussins says a cross-party Lords committee has been tasked with coming up with a plan to normalise resilience in our everyday lives Your editorial (Britain’s fragile systems: when global shocks hit your shopping bill, 1 May) makes clear that the public need to be more fully informed about global threats and actively engaged in a national resilience plan. The UK remains dangerously exposed to external shocks, whether from cyber-attacks, extreme weather triggered by climate change, or hostile state interference with our democratic processes and critical national infrastructure. A cross-party House of Lords special inquiry committee, which I chair, has been set up to examine national resilience. “Keep calm and carry on” doesn’t cut it: a plan for the 21st century needs to recognise the interconnectedness of threats: a cyber-attack can quickly escalate into power cuts, transport chaos, supply chain disruption and the collapse of public services. And this is not a case of “what if”: hybrid warfare emanating from Russia, China or Iran as cyber-attacks, disinformation or the sponsorship of proxy terrorist attacks is already commonplace. Continue reading...

Ways to enjoy life | Butterfly sightings | Cutting speed limits | Bad actors | Rejecting the ‘old age’ label At nearly 75, I have to sit on the front seat at the top of the bus like Justin Myers (49 ways to have fun right now!, 4 May). I have been known to let one bus go and wait for the next one if there are people in my seat. If it ever gets to the point where my legs won’t get me up there, I shall know that my time has come. Liz Fairhurst Banstead, Surrey • Sara Hudston’s country diary (6 May) chimes exactly with the sightings on our weekly butterfly count for Yorkshire Wildlife, similarly on a dismantled railway siding, here in North Yorkshire. The holly blues are particularly numerous this year, but we have yet to see an adder. We have, however, had a huge Morel toadstool, which can occur where there are heavy metal deposits. Gill Mawby York Continue reading...

Eilish and Cameron are mismatched in flashy pop documentary that misses the subtlety of her music For a long time concert tour films were seen as a cash-in. Ask a music fan for their favorite, and they’ll probably answer with something that isn’t really a concert film at all, such as Madonna’s deliciously gloves-off documentary Truth or Dare or Stop Making Sense, Jonathan Demme’s high-concept performance art classic starring Talking Heads. But in recent years the concert film has become a bona fide cinematic event for super-fans wishing to relive the experience as well as those who draw the line at paying a month’s rent to see their favorite musician. In 2023, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour became the genre’s biggest-grossing film of all time, taking over $250m at the global box office. (Swift herself took home an estimated third of that figure thanks to an exclusive distribution deal with AMC Theaters). Beyoncé’s Renaissance film extended her album as a cultural moment, while this year Baz Luhrmann’s Epic: Elvis Presley in Concert has packed out multiplexes and a concert documentary from the K-pop boyband Stray Kids topped the global box office. Continue reading...

Shell has made $6.9bn in profits since the Iran war began, cashing in on soaring energy prices. The enormous profits have reignited calls for higher taxes on fossil fuel companies to fund support for those hardest hit by rising costs. Lucy Hough speaks to energy correspondent Jillian Ambrose. Continue reading...