US should judge UK on its actions, not on social media exchanges, defence secretary says

Campaigners say birds could die trying to access ancestral nests that were sealed during rail refurbishmentSome swifts returning to Britain to breed will be unable to access their ancestral nesting holes after they were blocked in a £7.5m refurbishment of a Derbyshire railway viaduct, campaigners say.Nature lovers had appealed to Network Rail to unblock three holes which were among at least nine swift nesting sites on the twin viaducts at Chapel Milton, on the edge of the Peak District. Continue reading...

Woman also treated in hospital for arm injury as result of a dog biteA 45-year-old man has been arrested after a three-month-old baby girl died in a suspected dog attack.Cleveland police said they were called to a house in the Dormanstown area of Redcar shortly after 1.30pm on Thursday afternoon after a report of concern for the welfare of the child. The baby is believed to have died as a result of a dog bite, police said. Continue reading...

Hauliers and farmers block motorways and bring parts of Dublin to a standstill in fourth day of actionMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesProtests over fuel prices have caused chaos in Ireland and spread to Norway in a knock-on effect from the conflict in the Middle East.Hauliers, farmers and other groups blocked motorways and brought parts of Dublin to a standstill on Friday in a fourth consecutive day of action. Continue reading...

Former UK ambassador to US was photographed in November outside George Osborne’s London homeThe former senior Labour figure Peter Mandelson faces a fixed-penalty notice after being caught urinating in public, it has emerged.Mandelson was photographed in the act while standing outside the home of the former chancellor George Osborne last November, shortly after he had been sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US over his relationship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading...

Clarence Curtis Jordan was convicted in 1978 but hadn’t had a lawyer for over 30 yearsThe Texas court of criminal appeals has overturned the death sentence of Clarence Curtis Jordan, a 70-year-old man with intellectual disabilities, who spent nearly 50 years on death row – much of that time without a lawyer.Jordan was convicted in 1978 for the murder of Joe L Williams, a 40-year-old grocer in Houston, and was sentenced to death. In the years that followed, courts determined that Jordan, who has intellectual disabilities, was “incompetent”, making him ineligible for execution under constitutional standards. Continue reading...

Summer flights and holidays may also be at risk, says the Airports Council International European airports have said jet fuel shortages could hit the summer holiday season, if oil supplies do not start to flow through the strait of Hormuz within the next three weeks.Airports Council International (ACI) Europe wrote to Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the EU transport commissioner, saying the bloc is three weeks away from shortages. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Dozens of organizations write to Congress after general announced plan to ‘deal with’ those fleeing any humanitarian crisis on the islandDozens of US and international human rights organizations are decrying the Trump administration’s plans to establish a migrant “camp” for fleeing Cubans at the Guantánamo Bay military base if the island nation’s crisis worsens under pressure from the US, according to a letter to members of Congress on Friday.The 85 groups plan to submit the joint letter, exclusively shared with the Guardian, to US senators and House representatives, expressing their “profound concern” with comments made last month by a top Department of Defense commander, and describing any prospect of further migrant detention at the base as “deeply troubling and unacceptable”. Continue reading...

Democratic representative Yassamin Ansari says the war has only more deeply entrenched the Iranian regimeSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxDonald Trump is an “evil human being” who “wants to be an emperor” and should be removed from office over the war in Iran, Yassamin Ansari, an Iranian American member of the US Congress, has told the Guardian.Ansari, the daughter of Iranian immigrants who decades ago fled the regime, spoke out after the president threatened to wipe out Iran’s civilisation before backing down and announcing an uncertain two-week ceasefire. Continue reading...

Prices were up 3.3% over the year, adding to the unpredictability that first came with Trump tariffsSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxUS inflation soared in March amid the US-Israel war with Iran, with prices up 0.9% compared to last month and 3.3% over the year, according to new data released Friday.The spike in the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the price of a basket of goods and services, is the largest in nearly two years and the first official measure of how the conflict has impacted US consumer prices, particularly as Iran blocked the strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil and gas would typically pass through. Continue reading...

Soaring crime and corruption top voter concerns in highly unpredictable election with 35 candidates for presidentPeruvians go to the polls on Sunday hoping to break a cycle of instability that has produced nine presidents in a decade as well as surging violent crime, corruption scandals and overwhelming distrust in institutions and politicians.About 27 million people who are eligible to vote must choose between a record 35 presidential candidates as well as contenders for a bicameral congress – all from a ballot sheet measuring nearly half a metre – the longest in the country’s history. Continue reading...

Army deployed in Pakistan’s capital as negotiations set to begin. Plus, Melania Trump issues bafflingly timed denial of ties to Jeffrey EpsteinGood morning.As Pakistan prepared to host negotiations between Iran and the US, the already fragile ceasefire in the conflict showed further strain as Donald Trump accused Tehran of doing “a very poor job” in upholding promises on the strait of Hormuz, and Israel attacked Lebanon – which Iran claimed violated the truce.What about the strait of Hormuz? The agreement also included Iran lifting its near-total blockade of the strait, which has caused the worst-ever disruption to global energy supplies. Trump posted on Truth Social late Thursday that Iran was being “dishonorable” in not allowing oil to go through the strait. “That is not the agreement we have!” Trump wrote.This is a developing story. Follow our liveblog here.Why did she make this speech? The first lady’s surprise address created confusion about why she had chosen to speak out now – or whether her husband knew she was planning to draw attention to a subject he has called for the public to move on from.What did she ask for? In a final twist, Melania urged Congress to give Epstein survivors a public hearing to help uncover the truth, a call immediately endorsed by the Democrat Ro Khanna and the Republicans Majorie Taylor Greene and Nancy Mace. Continue reading...