News in Detail

Vladimir Putin marks second world war Victory Day as relations with west spiral towards crisisDavid Cameron is to warn that the west is not learning the lesson of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, that authoritarian adversaries will only be spurred on if the west shows hesitation or caution.The foreign secretary will call for the west to be tougher and more assertive and realise it is locked in a battle of wills in which “we all must prove our adversaries wrong – Britain, and our allies and partners around the world”. Continue reading...

The US president tells CNN he has made it clear to Benjamin Netanyahu that a major offensive on the Gaza city would mean a halt to more weapons shipmentsAnalysis: Biden seeks to pull rank in US-Israel relationshipAt least 34,844 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza and 78,404 Palestinians injured, according to the territory’s health ministry. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings. Here are some of the latest images from Gaza:Israel’s national security minister presented himself before the television cameras to make a statement on Sunday, shortly after leaving a meeting with the country’s prime minister. Continue reading...

NSW premier condemns western Sydney council’s ban on Holly Duhig’s children’s book as motion to rescind it lodgedGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe ban on same-sex parenting books at libraries in a western Sydney council area could be rescinded after widespread backlash and a warning from the premier, Chris Minns, that LGBTQ+ people were being used as a “political football”.Four Labor councillors on Cumberland city council have lodged a rescission motion to overturn the ban, which they expect will be debated at the next council meeting on 15 May. The vote is expected to be tight.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Anneliese Dodds backs move to accept Conservative defector Natalie Elphicke as backlash growsThe Labour party’s chair has defended the decision to admit a staunchly rightwing MP while Diane Abbott has remained suspended and under investigation for more than a year.Anneliese Dodds said she believed Elphicke was a good fit for Labour because her remarks on border security and housing were “absolutely fundamental to the Labour party”. Continue reading...

While Europe’s lingua franca remains dominant, there has been a definite shift since a Portuguese song triumphed in 2017There was a time when in order to win Eurovision you had to “fly on the wings of love”, “take me to your heaven” or “sail into infinity while reaching for divinity”. This year, however, there’s a fair chance the winner will estar comiendo el mundo (be eating the world), ridere in queste notti bruciate (laugh in these burnt nights), or even drukkje min broderѕ blod (drink my brother’s blood).The metaphors may have been mixed, but for the first two decades of the 21st century, the English language reigned supreme at the Eurovision song contest. In the run-up to the millennium, the so-called language rule restricted English songs to countries that counted it among their official languages, such as Britain, Ireland and Malta. But when the rule was scrapped in 1999, the floodgates opened. Continue reading...