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Five-year-old’s grandfather and senior Warlpiri elder appeals for calm, saying: ‘It is time now for sorry business’• Warning: This article contains references to and images of Indigenous Australians who have diedNorthern Territory police say one person is facing charges and more are expected over unrest in Alice Springs after the arrest of a man in connection with the death of five-year-old girl.The grandfather of Kumanjayi Little Baby, whose body was found on Thursday 5km from the Old Timers town camp where she was last seen alive on Saturday night, called for calm in the central Australian town on Friday, saying the violent confrontation between police and others at Alice Springs hospital was not “our way”. Continue reading...

Dozens of people gathered outside the hospital where the 47-year-old was being treated five days after the five-year-old girl disappeared•Warning: This article contains references to and images of Indigenous Australians who have diedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAn angry crowd has clashed with police outside a hospital in Alice Springs where a 47-year-old man arrested by police in connection with the death of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby was being treated.The arrest of Jefferson Lewis was confirmed in a brief statement by Northern Territory police just before 10pm local time on Thursday night. Continue reading...

Article 42.7 had languished in obscurity for decades – until Donald Trump began casting doubt on US commitment to Nato• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereMost people have heard of Nato’s article 5. The “one for all, all for one” clause states an armed attack on one member country should be considered an attack on all, requiring member states to come to the victim’s aid – including with “the use of armed force”.Not so many, till this week, had heard of the EU’s own mutual defence clause, article 42.7 (pdf), which says that if a member state comes under armed attack, the others “shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power”. That’s perhaps because there hadn’t, until recently, been much need for Europeans to consult article 42.7. More than 40 US military bases and 85,000 troops across the EU (and UK) were testament to Washington’s defence commitment to the old continent. Continue reading...

Where Olly Robbins relied on recollections, Cabinet Office’s top civil servant was at pains to link her account to paper trail Seen through the Westminster bubble, the Peter Mandelson vetting affair looks like an age-old conflict pitting ministers against mandarins. Yet the latest top civil servant to testify to parliament over what some are now calling “Mandygate” gave an intriguing account that suggested it has never been as simple as that.Cat Little, the top civil servant at the Cabinet Office, did not put it in these terms, but what she revealed was an extraordinary dispute between the country’s most senior civil servants. Continue reading...

Top civil servant reveals more details of vetting process and lack of paper trail for approval of Mandelson’s appointment UK politics live – latest updatesIn more than 90 minutes of evidence to the foreign affairs select committee about the Peter Mandelson scandal, Cat Little, the head civil servant in the Cabinet Office, was low key and often cautious.But she did reveal several pieces of new information – or at times information different to that given to the same committee by Olly Robbins, the former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office. Continue reading...

In evidence to MPs, Cabinet Office’s top civil servant disputes claim her department suggested vetting might not be neededUK politics live – latest updatesOlly Robbins refused to hand Peter Mandelson’s vetting summary to the Cabinet Office, the civil servant who leads the department has said.The summary – which would have revealed that Robbins, the now-sacked Foreign Office head, had granted Mandelson clearance against the advice of security officials – was instead provided to Cat Little by UK Security Vetting, she said. Continue reading...

Republicans had hoped that Trump’s 2025 tax cuts would be at the forefront of voters’ minds, but many have reportedly not noticed a differenceSign up for the Breaking News US emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.It is Tax Day and Republicans are ramping up their efforts to highlight last year’s sweeping tax cuts and turn them into political capital.Eric Swalwell officially resigned from Congress amid the threat of an expulsion vote and other misconduct allegations he has denied. A special election to fill his vacant seat will be held 18 August. At a Los Angeles press conference this morning, Lonna Drewes accused Swalwell of drugging and raping her in 2018, telling reporters she “did not consent to any sexual activity.”The House still needs to pass a bill to fund several Department of Homeland Security (DHS) subagencies, like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Coast Guard, amid a record-breaking partial government shutdown. The Senate advanced measure that remedies this funding lapse, but doesn’t include money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol, has stalled in the lower chamber.Meanwhile, House Democrats on Tuesday proposed creating a commission that would work with JD Vance to remove Donald Trump from office under the 25th amendment, should they determine he is no longer fit to serve. The measure, introduced by Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee, follows a series of statements from Trump, including his recent warning that Iran’s “whole civilization will die” if it did not capitulate to his demands, and a social media post that depicted him as Jesus Christ.Donald Trump has said that talks with Iran could resume in Pakistan over next two days, according to an interview with the New York Post. “You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there,” Trump was quoted as saying.The US state department said Tuesday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed-upon time and place. The state department “expressed hope” that the meeting between Israel and Lebanon would “lead to peace agreement”.The Senate will hold its confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, the president’s pick to fill the vacant seat of Federal Reserve chair, next week, on 21 April. Both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee are expected to probe Warsh about his wealth and ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as his views on the Fed’s independence.The justice department has asked a federal appeals court to throw out the seditious conspiracy convictions of several leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who were involved in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. In a court filing today, the department asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to vacate the convictions – a step further than moves Donald Trump made to commute the leaders’ prison sentences last January when he granted clemency to all defendants charged in the attack. Continue reading...

Chancellor faced with fund’s forecast that impact of Iran war will leave Britain as G7’s biggest loserIran war escalation could trigger global recession, IMF warnsThe Iran war is bad news for the global economy. But for some countries, the unfolding conflict is having a bigger impact than for others. The International Monetary Fund’s verdict is that Britain is the G7’s biggest loser.Amid the rising damage from the Middle East war, the Washington-based fund warned UK economic growth rate would be 0.5 percentage points lower this year than it had predicted back in January – the biggest downgrade among the club of wealthy nations. Continue reading...

Chief inspector for England and Wales says prison remains in ‘precarious state’ more than year after urgent notificationThe Prison Service has made “very little progress” in enforcing a formal demand to stop drones from delivering drugs into one of its worst performing jails, a watchdog has concluded.Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons for England and Wales, said HMP Manchester remained in a “precarious state” after a failure to fix broken windows and install security to stop contraband being delivered to gangs. Continue reading...

Two sides tested one another’s resolve but timeframe meant it was probably unrealistic to expect deal Middle East crisis – live updatesIt was if the two delegations in the Iran-US peace talks in Islamabad hoped that the sheer number of negotiators flown into Pakistan could overcome the handicap of having only a finite number of hours in which to settle a 20-year dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, now overlaid by complex new issues such as future control of the strait of Hormuz and US compensation for its attack on Iran.Iran sent two planeloads of negotiators, including many members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) present to ensure that no gains made in the field were relinquished at the diplomatic table. Diplomats fanned out across political, legal, security, economic and military files. One Iranian-drafted technical explanation on nuclear facility safety ran to more than 100 pages. Continue reading...

Nationals leader’s solution to the high cost of living is to force us to buy more expensive, locally made goodsMatt Canavan’s “economic revolution” is a populist mirage masquerading as an answer to a generational challenge that will define our prosperity in the decades to come.That challenge is: how do we create a new economy that is more resilient, secure and affordable, without undermining our prosperity?Patrick Commins is Guardian Australia’s economics editor Continue reading...

‘Bear slayer’ Honey injured during confrontation to protect family and animals from ursine home invader A half-blind, 12-year-old New Mexico dog is being called “bear slayer” after she fended off an ursine intruder at her family’s home, protecting dozens of chickens and other animals but only narrowly surviving the violent encounter.As told by her caretakers, the story of Honey demonstrates the extreme loyalty of dogs to their owners. Continue reading...

Pretending not to hear parents or hiding toys are among children’s early ploys, while by age of three they may be telling lies such as ‘a ghost ate the chocolate’, research finds They may be yet to take their first step or say their first word, but some babies have already grasped the basics of deception before their first birthday, according to research.The study, based on interviews with 750 parents, suggested that by 10 months about a quarter of children were practising some rudimentary form of deceit such as pretending not to hear their parents, hiding toys or eating forbidden foods out of view. By the age of three, children were more proficient, creative and frequent fabricators, according to the parents’ responses. Continue reading...