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Minister van Huisvesting Steve Reed zegt dat niemand over de cijfers beschikt voor een uitdaging en dat Labour zich achter de premier moet scharen.

• Aandelen Pop Mart [HKG: 9992] stegen met 7% tijdens de handel in Hong Kong nadat miljardairsbelegger Duan Yongping op sociale media aankondigde dat hij al zijn belangen in steenkool, waaronder China Shenhua Energy, heeft ingeruild voor aandelen van de speelgoedmaker. • De zet signaleert vertrouwen in het bedrijfsmodel van Pop Mart en weerspiegelt een bredere verschuiving onder grote beleggers, weg van traditionele energiesectoren richting consumentengerichte aandelen. • De ruil demonstreert de aanhoudende belangstelling van beleggers voor Chinese consumentengerichte bedrijven, ondanks macro-economische tegenwind en regelgevend toezicht in de technologie- en financiële sectoren.

Te midden van publieke apathie en frustratie strijden Labour en Reform om de tweede plaats achter de SNP, terwijl de Greens een 'seismische' vierde plaats claimen. Lang voordat de laatste stemmen in Schotland waren geteld, stelden ervaren Labour-politici dat dit een nederlaag was die in Downing Street was veroorzaakt. Toen de leider van Scottish Labour, Anas Sarwar, op vrijdagmiddag de telplaats in Glasgow betrad, geflankeerd door sombere activisten, was het tafereel een spiegelbeeld van dezelfde locatie in 2024, toen zijn heropgevkonen partij 36 zetels won van de Scottish National Party, wat een belangrijke rol speelde in de overweldigende overwinning van Keir Starmer. Lees verder...

Samuel Whitsed, 27 jaar, is vermoedelijk vanuit Victoria gereisd om de Bibbulmun Track nabij de buitenwijken van Perth te bezoeken.Drie maanden nadat een wandelaar voor het laatst is gezien op een populaire wandelroute, maken de politie en hulpdiensten zich steeds grotere zorgen over het welzijn van de vermiste man.De politie heeft dicht struikgewas grondig doorzocht naar de man uit Victoria nadat hij verdween van een populaire wandelroute aan de andere kant van het land. Lees verder...

• Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Marco Rubio ontmoette donderdag Paus Leo XIV en Kardinaal Pietro Parolin in het Vaticaan gedurende 2,5 uur om vredesinspanningen in het Midden-Oosten te bespreken. • Het bezoek is bedoeld om de banden te herstellen na de recente publieke kritiek van president Donald Trump op de paus over het beleid ten aanzien van Iran. • Rubio richtte zich op het bereiken van een duurzame vrede te midden van aanhoudende Amerikaanse druk op Teheran, inclusief een marineblokkade en een vredigvoorstel.

De Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken zal ook gesprekken voeren met de Italiaanse regering, die door Trump werd bekritiseerd vanwege het gebrek aan steun voor de oorlog tegen Iran.

De Pontifex reageert nadat de Amerikaanse president hem ervan beschuldigde 'veel katholieken in gevaar te brengen' met zijn standpunt over de oorlog in Iran Midden-Oosten crisis – live updates Paus Leo heeft verklaard dat hij nooit kernwapens heeft gesteund en dat zij die hem bekritiseren de waarheid moeten spreken, als reactie op de laatste tirade van Donald Trump waarin hij hem beschuldigde van het “in gevaar brengen van veel katholieken” vanwege zijn standpunt over de oorlog in Iran. In een gesprek met journalisten op dinsdagavond na het verlaten van het pauselijke retraite in Castel Gandolfo, nabij Rome, zei de eerste in de VS geboren pontifex: “De missie van de kerk is om het evangelie te prediken, om vrede te prediken.” Lees verder...

Eigenaar van nachtclub Japan zegt: ‘Dit is een reactie op een jaar aan beledigingen die door de Verenigde Staten tegen ons – als land – zijn geuit’

De Amerikaanse president richt opnieuw kritiek op de pontificus, dagen voordat minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Marco Rubio het Vaticaan bezoekt. Midden-Oosten-crisis – live updates Donald Trump heeft een nieuwe verbale aanval gelanceerd tegen Paus Leo XIV, waarbij hij de pontificus beschuldigde van het “in gevaar brengen van veel katholieken” omdat “hij vindt dat het prima is dat Iran een kernwapen heeft”. De opmerkingen volgen twee dagen voordat Marco Rubio, de Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, Leo in het Vaticaan ontmoet in een poging de spanningen te verminderen die zijn opgewekt door Trumps eerdere felle kritiek op de in Chicago geboren pontificus vanwege diens veroordeling van de Amerikaans-Israëlische oorlog tegen Iran. Lees verder...

• Meer dan één miljoen inschrijvingen ontvangen van Britse hardlopers • Londen vestigt ook record met 1,3 miljoen aanmeldingen in totaal

• Amerikaans minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Marco Rubio reist deze week naar Rome voor besprekingen op hoog niveau met functionarissen van het Vaticaan, na publieke spanningen tussen president Donald Trump en paus Leone. • De wrijving ontstond door de aanvallen van Trump op de kritiek van de paus over Amerikaanse luchtaanvallen in Iran en Libanon, evenals harde migratiepolitiek, wat een breder conflict tussen de VS en de Heilige Stoel riskeerde. • De agenda omvat conflicten in Iran en Libanon waar paus Leone pleitte voor de bescherming van burgers, Amerikaanse migratiebeperkingen en zorgen over het beleid ten aanzien van Cuba en Latijns-Amerika.

Het tweedaagse bezoek van de Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken is naar verluidt bedoeld om de ijzige relaties tussen Washington, het Vaticaan en Italië te ontdooien.

• Pope Francis appointed a former undocumented immigrant as a bishop in the United States, marking a symbolic statement on immigration policy. • The appointment reflects the Vatican's stance on immigrant rights and social justice within the American Catholic Church. • The move comes amid ongoing debate over immigration policy in the Trump administration.

Leo, who has criticized Trump’s hardline immigration policy, selected Evelio Menjivar-Ayala as state’s new bishopSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxPope Leo XIV has appointed a man who had once entered the United States as an undocumented immigrant, hidden in the trunk of a car, as the new bishop of West Virginia.The pope approved the resignation of Bishop Mark E Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, and selected Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, 55, of Washington to take his place, reported OSV News. Continue reading...

Elusive nightingale ‘doing well’ at Northward Hill, Kent, but experts cite concerns around loss of habitatThe dawn chorus at RSPB Northward Hill in Kent is a riot of sound: the melodic robin, the two-tone cuckoo, the whitethroat’s scratchy warble. Even the garbling geese and mooing cows from the neighbouring Thames marshes add to the symphony.But in late April one energetic singer hogs the limelight. For a few weeks after arriving from West Africa, the nightingale spends the night – and early morning – in complex song. As it searches for a mate and marks its territory, its song is at times as sweet and tuneful as a soul singer, at others as frantic as a car alarm. Continue reading...

Prime minister says the middle of a global fuel crisis is ‘the worst possible time to jeopardise’ Australia’s partnerships with Asian trading partnersThe prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has confirmed next month’s federal budget will not include a new tax on existing gas export contracts as he criticised the “populist” campaign calling for a levy on producers.As reported last week, Albanese was poised to reject pressure to introduce a 25% tax on gas exports amid concerns the intervention could alienate the same Asian trading partners Australia is relying on for supplies of diesel and petrol. Continue reading...

Sarah Mullally hails Leo for addressing the ‘many injustices in our world’ after private meeting with pope in RomeThe archbishop of Canterbury praised Pope Leo on Monday for speaking “powerfully about the many injustices” in the world, in an apparent reference to the pontiff becoming more outspoken in recent weeks, particularly in his criticism of the US-Israeli war on Iran.Sarah Mullally, who in March became the first woman to lead the Anglican church, arrived in Rome on Saturday for a visit aimed at reinforcing relations with the Vatican. Mullally had a private meeting with Leo, the first US-born leader of the Catholic church, at the Apostolic Palace, the pope’s official residence. Continue reading...

• Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution reported that Atlantic cod and other commercial fish populations have rebounded 34% over the past four years following strict catch quotas and marine protected areas implemented in 2022. • Population surveys conducted across 850,000 square kilometers of Atlantic waters show biomass increases in previously depleted stocks, with detailed findings presented at the American Fisheries Society conference on April 19. • The recovery demonstrates that science-based fisheries management can restore ecosystems within a decade, providing a model for international ocean conservation efforts.

Aldeas, The Final Dream of Pope Francis is being screened to commemorate the first anniversary of Francis’s deathMartin Scorsese’s documentary about Pope Francis is to have its world premiere in the Vatican today as one of a set of events commemorating the first anniversary of Francis’s death.The screening of the film, titled Aldeas, The Final Dream of Pope Francis, is being staged by Scholas Occurrentes, an international organisation aiming to “to encourage social integration ‎and the culture of encounter through sports, arts and technology”, which was set up in Argentina by Francis in 2001 while he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and made into a foundation when he became pope in 2013. Continue reading...

Police seek warrant for Bang Si-Hyuk over allegations he illegally gained millions in investor fraud schemeSouth Korean police said on Tuesday they were seeking to arrest Bang Si-Hyuk, the chair of the agency behind the K-pop band BTS, as they expand an investigation into allegations that he illegally gained more than $100m (£74m) in an investor fraud scheme.The Seoul metropolitan police agency confirmed it had asked prosecutors to request a court warrant for arresting Bang, founder and chair of HYBE. Continue reading...

Catholics around Atlanta share mixed feelings on faith and politics as Trump engages in rhetorical war with popeAlex Sullivan tended to his five children on the lawn after a traditional Latin mass at the Catholic Church of Saint Monica in Duluth, Georgia, and contemplated his faith in the light of God and the shadow of Donald Trump.Sullivan, a self-described conservative who once staffed a libertarian state representative at the Georgia capitol, described his faith as almost medieval. Continue reading...

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a long supporter of Trump, says president’s feud with the pope is a ‘distraction’A Republican lawmaker has condemned what he refers to as Donald Trump’s “holy war” against Pope Leo XIV.Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a long supporter of Trump and the ultraconservative Maga movement, condemned the president’s attacks on the pope during a Fox News interview on Saturday. Continue reading...

Trump appears to have crossed a line with his Christian supporters. Will it come back to bite him in the midterms?Donald Trump’s depiction of himself as Jesus Christ and recent spat with Pope Leo XIV could come back to bite him and the Republican party in the midterm elections, according to experts, with some newly aggrieved Christian groups set to play an outsized role in key races across the US.The president’s Trump-as-the-Messiah Truth Social post sparked immediate criticism among some Christians, including some on the right. Trump, 79, said he thought the AI image of him administering an ethereal light to a stricken man’s head as translucent figures descended from the heavens represented him as a doctor. Continue reading...

Americans having less kids plus an ageing population could be a recipe for disaster that further erodes social stabilityRemember environmentalist Paul Ehrlich’s 1960s-vintage prediction about how overpopulation would deplete the Earth’s resources and condemn millions to starvation? His Malthusian condemnation of humanity’s voracious appetite has kept a grip on the debate over the future of the planet, even scaring the young out of having children.Ehrlich was wrong. Yet as we have come around to the thought that overpopulation won’t kill us all, we are being walloped by another demographic emergency: we are not having too many kids, we are having too few. This problem is real. Continue reading...

Manhattan church led by Norman Vincent Peale was known for opposing presidency of JFK – and Catholics in generalDonald Trump’s attacks this week on Pope Leo, for his criticism of the US attack on Iran and the US president’s decision to post an image of himself as Jesus Christ on social media, make a good deal more sense considering Trump attended services as a young man at the Protestant Marble Collegiate church in Manhattan, which was led at the time by an anti-Catholic pastor.That church’s pastor in Trump’s youth, Norman Vincent Peale, who would later officiate at Trump’s first wedding, is best-known today as the author of the Christian self-help book The Power of Positive Thinking, but when Trump was 14, Peale made national headlines as the leader of a group of Protestant churchmen who loudly objected to the presidential candidacy of John F Kennedy, on the grounds that he was a Catholic. Continue reading...

Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo XIV polarizing the diverse community as faith and politics come to a headMaryellen Lewicki meets once a week for Bible study with a group of Catholic women in Decatur, Georgia, in a space they try to keep clear of politics. But Donald Trump’s name arises nonetheless.“We have one person that we pray for during the course of the week,” she said. “What my friend said is that she prays for the president every day, that God will remove that hard heart of his and replace it with a softer one that has love.” Continue reading...

Trump administration has riled head of Catholic church over use of theology to justify conflict in IranThe contrast in experience between the two men disagreeing over war and theology was striking.On the one side was Pope Leo XIV, the first North American to head the Catholic church and the first cleric from the Augustinian order, who this week visited the modern Algerian city where Saint Augustine once lived. For Leo, who wrote his doctoral thesis on Augustine’s ideas, it was the culmination of a lifelong intellectual interest. Continue reading...

Individuals such as Matt Goodwin and Lord Frost benefited from largesse of self-styled ‘illiberal democracy’UK politics live – latest updatesThe last 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s rule have been kind to a number of British political figures – from the Tory peer David Frost to Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin and James Orr.All benefited from largesse extended by the self-styled “illiberal democracy” established by the Hungarian leader’s ruling Fidesz party, which took a particular liking for those on the harder right of British conservatism. Continue reading...