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Interior minister says pyrotechnics set roof on fire at pop concert in eastern town of KočaniFifty-one people have been killed and about 100 more injured in a massive fire that broke out in a nightclub in North Macedonia’s eastern town of Kočani, the interior minister has told a press conference.The blaze began at around 2.35am on Sunday morning during a concert by a local...

Blaze reportedly broke out in the early hours at Pulse club in town 60 miles from SkopjeInterior minister Panche Toshkovski has confirmed that at least 51 people were killed and over 100 others were injured in the nightclub fire in North Macedonia.“According to the data we have by now, 51 persons lost their lives, and more than 100 persons are injured and transported in...

Police called after reports of abuse, thrown objects on street where NSW premier ordered homes to be demolishedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has been accused of “fuelling division” and “dog-whistling”, after residents of a Lismore street were allegedly attacked and terrorised in the early hours of Saturday morning.The alleged incidents were labelled...

Planning application reignites row over statue on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile of Elsie Inglis, Scottish suffragist and maternal health pioneerEdinburgh’s Royal Mile and its surrounding streets are not short of monuments. In a 30-minute round trip, visitors can rub the nose of Greyfriars Bobby, spit on the Heart of Midlothian and touch David Hume’s toe, all thought to bring good luck. On the way, they...

A trade war could push up inflation when both the UK and US economies really need cheaper borrowing. So what’s a central bank to do?Monetary policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic will be considering how seriously to take Donald Trump’s threats of an all-out trade war as they give their verdict on the path of interest rates this week.The Federal Reserve, the US...

At least 31 people killed in strikes on Sana’a and Sa’ada on Saturday, says Houthi-run health ministryDonald Trump said he ordered a series of airstrikes on Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, on Saturday, promising to use “overwhelming lethal force” until Iranian-backed Houthi rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor.The Houthis reported a series of explosions in their territory on Saturday evening. Images...

Whistleblower says over 1,000 inmates in England and Wales considered for the scheme which bypasses Parole BoardCriminals who have reoffended or broken probation restrictions are being re-released from prisons early on the government’s direction under new measures to ease overcrowding.Justice sources say jails are hurtling towards another capacity crisis despite Labour’s ongoing early release scheme and attempts to shift more offenders into open prisons....

Home Office told Manikarnika Dutta to quit Britain for spending too many days abroad for studyA high-achieving academic has been threatened with deportation from the UK because the Home Office says she has spent too many days conducting her research requiring access to historic Indian archives stored in India.Manikarnika Dutta, 37, a historian, conducted the research as part of her academic commitments to the...

School leaders attacked as ‘an unaccountable elite’ after years of below-inflation pay rises for teachersA record 775 heads of school academies in England were given pay packages worth more than £150,000 in 2022-23, sparking allegations of an unaccountable “gravy train”.Figures published last week by the Department for Education (DfE) reveal that nearly a third of academy trusts (30.8%) rewarded at least one staff member...

Nordic countries were early adopters of digital payments. Now, electronic banking is seen as a potential threat to national securityIn 2018 a former deputy governor of Sweden’s central bank predicted that by 2025 the country would probably be cashless.Seven years on, that prediction has turned out to be pretty much true. Just one in 10 purchases are made with cash, and card is the...

Don Farrell points out most Australian beef exported to US goes to fast food giant McDonald’sGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastDonald Trump’s trade war could raise the price of American hamburgers, Australia’s trade minister has warned, amid fears that tariffs could be extended to beef and other agricultural products.The trade minister, Don Farrell, said most of Australia’s beef exported...

Virtually unknown in the west, Ne Zha 2 is the world’s highest-grossing animation at £1.6bn – outdoing Inside Out 2 – just weeks after its releaseJust a few years ago, the biggest star of the Chinese box office was a brave army commander. Last year it was a woman who rediscovers herself through boxing. But in 2025 the hero that has caught everyone’s attention...

Sprint sensation clocks 20.05 secs in U20 heat at state championshipsAustralian breaks 20-second barrier in final with wind-assisted 19.98s Sprint sensation Gout Gout, Australia’s fastest man over 200m, has lit up the track with a world-leading run during the under-20 heats at the Queensland Athletics championships on Sunday.Gout blitzed the field by more than two seconds to cross the line in 20.05s for the...

This blog is now closedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBandt: government could deliver cheap renewable energyThe Australian government could use publicly owned electricity generators and retailers such as Snowy Hydro to offer power at cost to households and businesses, Bandt says.I think a surplus mentality, understanding that we have got an enormous amount of sun and wind and if...

New contraceptives, IVF and endometriosis treatments added to federal subsidy scheme, with Coalition leaders backing the moveFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNew medications related to contraception, endometriosis and IVF will be subsidised on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) from 1 May, with some women expected to save thousands of dollars each...

Decomposing organic matter in catchments flooded by Cyclone Alfred removed oxygen from water, suffocating aquatic lifeFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThousands of dead fish have washed ashore along the Richmond River at Ballina in northern New South Wales, after flooding in the region from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, according to fish habitat...

Chaotic weekend sees blizzard warnings in midwest, wildfires in southern plains and dust storms in TexasViolent tornadoes ripped through parts of the US, wiping out schools and toppling semitractor-trailers in several states, part of a monster storm that killed at least 26 people as more severe weather was expected late Saturday.In western Kansas, a dust storm was reported to have killed eight people as...

Health secretary says the scrapping of NHS England is ‘beginning, not end’ of bid to slash ‘bloated bureaucracy’The health secretary has declared that scrapping NHS England is “the beginning, not the end” and has vowed to continue “slashing bloated bureaucracy”. Wes Streeting suggested hundreds more quangos could be in the line of fire after the prime minister announced this week the end of the...

Trump had invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport five Venezuelans, but order halted by judgeAlien Enemies Act: what is it and can Trump use it to deport gang members?Donald Trump has invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport five Venezuelan nationals from the US.The White House issued a presidential proclamation on Saturday targeting Venezuelan members of gang Tren...

Diana Șoșoacă’s exclusion follows expulsion of front-runner Călin Georgescu from race amid rising tension around pollRomania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Șoșoacă, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll.Earlier in March, the electoral bureau barred Călin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40% before the rerun election....

Sunday Times estimates the celebrity makeup artist, who founded her brand in 2013, has amassed £350m fortuneCharlotte Tilbury has topped a list of the top 30 richest beauty entrepreneurs in the UK.The entries on the Sunday Times’s inaugural Beauty Rich List have built their wealth from a range of products and services including skincare, hair care, makeup, bath bombs and tanning shops. Continue reading...

Prime minister tells a summit of 29 leaders that the Russian president cannot delay peace talks indefinitelyKeir Starmer accused Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet over agreeing to a ceasefire with Ukraine on Saturday as international pressure grew on the Russian president to enter talks.The prime minister said there was a limit to the length of time Putin could prevaricate, after he convened a...

Launched by Nasa and SpaceX, the Falcon 9 is picking up Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, whose eight days on board the International Space Station became nine monthsA long-awaited mission to return stranded US astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station has been launched by Nasa and SpaceX.The pair were due to spend eight days on the ISS in June,...

Militant group hardening its negotiating position in ceasefire talks amid new violence in territoryThe current fragile pause in hostilities in Gaza has come under further threat with Hamas hardening its negotiating positions amid new Israeli airstrikes in the devastated territory.The first phase of the ceasefire agreement ended two weeks ago but Israel is refusing to implement the scheduled second phase, which is supposed to...