Wellington: Six dead and 11 missing after fire rips through New Zealand hostel

CNN reports audio recording of Trump talking about classified document; Trump rivals for Republican nomination defend him against indictmentA federal judge appointed by Donald Trump who last year drew scrutiny for a ruling that was seen as differential to the former president may oversee proceedings in the case over his possession of classified documents, a source familiar with the summons told the Guardian.US district judge Aileen Cannon has been listed on the summons sent to Trump’s lawyers, the source said. You may remember the Florida-based juror’s name from last year, when she granted a request from Trump’s attorneys to appoint a special master to review the records federal agents seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in August. Continue reading...

We would like to hear about your podcast highlights of the year so farThe Guardian’s culture writers are compiling their highlights of the year so far – and we’d like to hear about yours, too. We would like to hear all about your favourite podcasts of the last few months.What was your favourite podcast of the year so far, and why? Continue reading...

There are three copies of the 1527 Book of Hours in existence, two of which belonged to Catherine of Aragorn and Anne BoleynA prayer book belonging to Thomas Cromwell, believed to the only object from any 16th-century portrait to survive to this day, has gone on display.The 1527 Book of Hours can, historians say, be seen in Hans Holbein the Younger’s famous portrait of Thomas Cromwell, which was painted in 1532-33 and is in the Frick Collection, New York. Continue reading...

We would like to hear from people who have been diagnosed with long Covid – and for whom it has had a life-changing impactAlthough the pandemic is no longer a global health emergency, the impact of long Covid continues to be felt by many. An estimated one in 10 people who contract Covid experience ongoing symptoms in the following months or years, which often include fatigue, depression, anxiety, breathlessness and brain fog.With this in mind, we’re keen to hear from those who have been diagnosed with long Covid – and for whom it has had a life-changing impact. Perhaps it caused the end of a relationship? Or maybe it significantly disrupted your education and career path? Tell us about it below. Continue reading...

Far from helping customers by absorbing soaring food costs, supermarket chiefs and shareholders are enjoying a bonanzaSharon Graham is the general secretary of UniteIn recent weeks, supermarket spin doctors have been rolling out chief executives to counter Unite research that revealed how UK supermarkets are profiteering at the expense of their customers. The latest in this long line of protesting CEOs was Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s. He was asked on the BBC if the supermarket had been guilty of profiteering: “Absolutely not” was his strident denial. That denial lost some of its credibility this week when Sainsbury’s announced that Simon Roberts’ earnings leaped 40% last year to nearly £5m.And there we have it. Facts will out. Roberts’ bonanza bonuses are actually a boardroom reward for the delivery of bumper profits in recent years. How else to explain it? Britain’s CEOs are never done telling us that their skyscraper salaries are index-linked to their blinding achievements delivering for shareholders.Sharon Graham is the general secretary of Unite Continue reading...

John Finucane, North Belfast MP, due to speak at event honouring members of deadly South Armagh brigadePolitical leaders and victims’ groups have accused Sinn Féin of glorifying murder at a planned commemoration in Northern Ireland for one of the IRA’s deadliest units.John Finucane, the party’s North Belfast MP, is to address an event on Sunday honouring members of the IRA’s South Armagh brigade, which carried out attacks targeting civilians and security forces during the Troubles. Continue reading...

Finance minister reaches deal with 75 manufactures after signs of falling prices for raw materialsBig food manufacturers in France have pledged to lower prices on hundreds of products next month after pressure from the government.The French finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said he had reached a deal with 75 manufacturers after signs that the prices being paid by the industry for raw materials had been falling. Continue reading...

North-eastern states remain under air pollution alerts though National Weather Service says to expect ‘some improvement’Millions of Americans remained under air quality warnings on Friday, even as smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires began to dissipate in the north-eastern US.Moderate to unhealthy air quality continued to linger across a swathe of the country, from the midwest to the Atlantic coast, the National Weather Service said, although it said “some improvement” will continue this weekend. Continue reading...

It is societal inequality, rather than mothers, we should be addressing if we want to solve this attainment gap.   

Mikel Arteta will need to offload players if he's to sign his major targets in the summer transfer window and now the Arsenal boss has Nicolas Pepe back on his plate following an ill-fated loan with Nice

The frontbencher confirmed in a statement that he was being investigated by the party following an allegation made against him

The mural was first discovered on the side of a house in the seaside town of Margate.

'True story!'

Take your pick from documentaries, reality TV and animation this weekend

Foreign Office minister Bambos Charalambous said he will will 'co-operate fully and play my full part'.

Rumours are rife that Kelis, 43, and Bill Murray, 72, are dating. 

I stepped out the door of my marital home in Monsey, a Hasidic neighbourhood in New York state, headed for the car where my youngest four children waited in the back seat, and breathed a deep sigh of relief. Then, I was hit with regret. I’d left the other six children behind.I was taking this drastic step to be a responsible mother, but worried that I was doing more harm than good by leaving.“We are going to drive around for a little bit and then we will arrive at our cousin’s house right before the holiday starts.” I chirped as we passed over the suburb’s darkened back roads. I hoped my chatter hid the tension I felt inside. But my fingers were clenched as they grasped the steering wheel.I hadn’t been certain that I would make it out safely with any of the children. Several months earlier, after years of marriage counselling that went nowhere, I had asked my devout husband of 22 years for a divorce. He responded firmly: “You can leave. But if you do, you will never see the children again.”For many years, I had prided myself on being a good daughter, selfless mother and compliant wife in the Hasidic tradition. But now I knew that I had to get out.When I was 16, I was sent to a Jewish seminary, where a rabbi was brought in to prepare me and others for our roles in marriage and motherhood. “The first thing you need to know is the importance of listening to your husbands,” he said. “Every husband needs that kind of respect. That is what will make you a good mother.”He gestured emphatically, twisting his pointy dark beard in his hands as he stood on the small wooden podium, with over 100 teen girls seated on benches surrounding him in the dimly lit classroom.He said that the Talmud states: “Who is a kosher woman? One who follows the will of her husband.” I listened intently to his words, taking it all in. I desperately wanted to be a good wife and mother.When I was 18, I met my future husband for the first time — from across my family’s dining room table, as part of our arranged marriage process.“When our children are younger, we will send them to more Hasidic schools,” he said. “And when they are older, we can send them to other types of yeshivas.” I nodded in agreement, acquiescing to his opinions immediately and letting him make the important decisions. He knew best. After all, he was one of the top scholars in his yeshiva. In fact, his father had demanded a significant dowry before his parents would agree to have him meet with me. I was lucky. The children came quickly. The oldest, a girl, was born prematurely, barely eight months after we were married. The second, a son, followed closely behind, less than 11 months later. By the time I was 23 and my husband was 25, we were parents of four children. By age 39, I was a mother of 10.And I had learned what kind of father my husband was.“Come here,” I once heard him saying from another room. “Go sit under the table, and don’t move.” I heard a muffled cry as Daniel, my 4-year-old son, stumbled over his feet toward the coffee table and bent down, almost folding himself in half to fit himself underneath.“Let him stay there for a few hours until he learns his lesson,” my husband insisted to me, as he headed toward his study. I tightened my lips and didn’t say a word. I kept quiet even though I knew that this wasn’t the way to treat a child. Instead, I pushed my anger down until it was just a tiny little ball, barely noticeable in the tension of my tightly held stomach muscles. I then headed toward the kitchen and began cooking supper, blocking out the sound of Daniel’s crying with the whirring of the Magic Mill. I would be a good wife and mother, I insisted to myself.As the children got older, the atmosphere at home worsened. The large dining room table was set for Shabbat. It was draped in a handmade white tablecloth with beige tassels. A gold-trimmed china dinner plate sat at each of the 10 settings. At the head of the table, my husband’s setting, sat a silver goblet and two loaves of freshly baked challah covered in an embroidered cloth, which was especially designed for this purpose.My seat was at the foot of the table, close to the kitchen door, so that I could both take care of the children and serve the five-course meal. I had gotten used to being quiet during Shabbat meals and serving the food instead of contributing to the conversation. That was what my husband wanted. That’s what the tradition wanted, too. But this Friday night, a conversation that he was having with my oldest son caught my attention, and I sat upright as I began to share my thoughts. I had barely gotten the words out of my mouth when I saw my husband wave his hand dismissively. “Don’t pay attention. It’s not relevant,” he said, still not meeting my eyes. “The Talmud says that women’s minds are flighty, and that is why they are forbidden to learn the Talmud.”Filled with despair, I slumped back down in my chair. A tiny ember of rage flickered through me, but it was quickly extinguished. It was easier to be silent. After years, I finally reached a breaking point. And against the will of my husband and parents, I started seeing a therapist. One of the first things I did when I started speaking up was to transfer Daniel, who was then 13, out of his current yeshiva, where corporal punishment was the norm, to one that had a gentler approach.But the damage had been done.A picture of the author today.By the time I realised that there was no way I could parent my children or care for myself within the marriage and had to leave, my older children had been made to turn against me. Those final few months in the marital home were excruciating, and I feared I would lose them all. I overheard the older children telling the younger ones not to listen to me.The fact that I left with any of the children was a Passover miracle. “Know this,” my therapist stated with conviction as I told her my fears and pain over leaving. “This is the first time in your life that you were really a mother.” I gasped slightly, sitting up straight, my hands leaning on the soft handle of the dusty pink armchair. It was several days after I had left, and I had settled into a friend’s apartment near Monsey as I looked for a permanent place to live. “But I left the others behind.” My voice wavered as my knees began to shudder involuntarily, the tips of my feet pointing into the shaggy carpet of the therapist’s office. “How can I ever forgive myself?”I had not only left without my 13-year-old son and five older children, but had also taken out an order of protection against my two eldest sons, as I was terrified that they would hurt me or take my younger children away. It was incredibly difficult, but I knew that I had to do it.How else would I protect myself and the younger children? How would they learn that there were consequences to their behaviours if they continued to follow their father’s lead in bullying me?As of last month, it has been nine years since I left the marriage. I have left the Hasidic community entirely and am now an outspoken advocate for change. My role as a mother has expanded.My phone holds countless voicemails and text messages from my older children that fill me with pain. They compare me to a Nazi who wants to destroy the Jewish people. They tell me that they will never forgive me. They say that I will pay for my actions in “the world to come.”Each time another news article is released about my advocacy work or I publish a piece of writing, I am deluged by another slew of texts. Sometimes I block the messages; it is just too much.Other times I reply patiently, knowing that they come from a place of pain.On social media, I am accused of abandoning my children, as I fight a 9-year-long custody battle to keep my younger ones with me. My older children had arranged marriages one after another, and I was not wanted at their weddings. And yet, the positive ramifications of my choice to step up as a real mother on that fateful Passover eve remain.Today, I live with three of my children in a small Brooklyn apartment in New York City, where I watch them explore the world and discover career paths that would have been impossible for them before. I am thrilled when I hear how my older daughters, who are now mothers themselves, are living life boldly. One of them has started a business, and another one has graduated college with honours. They are leading the way for their own children and teaching me more about motherhood than I could have ever imagined. All the children are watching: the ones who live with me and the ones who don’t. I know that every time I speak out publicly about an injustice or take action to empower my younger children, I am having a positive impact on them all. I am giving them permission to choose themselves.I am teaching them that being a good mother is more than being an obedient wife and a subservient caregiver. Instead, being a good mother has meant trusting myself and making powerful choices, against all odds.Beatrice Weber is a writer and advocate for Hasidic children. She is the executive director of Young Advocates for Fair Education, or YAFFED. She is also an ordained interspiritual minister, speaker and coach. She was raised in a Hasidic Jewish community and had an arranged marriage with a rabbi before graduating high school.Related...I Grew Up A Devout Mormon. Then A Shocking Family Secret Came Out And Shook My Faith.I've Had 2 Near-Death Experiences. Here's What I Saw Before I Came Back To Life.After Years Of Infertility, I Got Pregnant At 46. I Had No Idea That Would Be The Easiest Part.

A man has taken to social media to share how he can't stop thinking about a woman he dated for just four weeks 16 years ago - and doesn't know how to tell his wife

It may have also helped their brains grow.

The Guardian’s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world Continue reading...

She was due to play the lead role.

A concerned mum admitted that she 'tried not to scream' after noticing her best friend breastfeeding her ten-month-old baby without permission during a friend's wedding

It was an emotional moment.

A growing number of water customers are withholding payment of their bills until they are satisfied the pollution is being dealt with.

Parents say Hamdan Aslam found to have pre-existing heart condition and call for online speculation to endA 14-year-old boy who died after an incident at a school in Blackburn, West Lothian, died from natural causes, police have said.Hamdan Aslam’s family revealed he had a pre-existing heart condition that had never been detected, and said “sadly his death could have occurred at any time”. Continue reading...

Mr Charalambous said he will "cooperate fully" with the investigation.

Tributes have been paid to a young couple expecting a baby who died tragically in a car crash this week, with the man's dad describing his son as his 'proudest achievement'

Analysis has revealed that fewer than one in five private rental properties in England were viable within the current local housing allowance rates

The mega metal weekender celebrates its anniversary this year. In an oral history its stars, punters and long-suffering crew remember Spitfire fly-bys, urine-filled bottles and a lot of mudAs AC/DC said, “It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock’n’roll”. Ask any of the 100,000-odd people embarking on their annual pilgrimage to the spiritual home of metal, and they’ll jokingly tell you the road to Donington Park doesn’t feel much shorter. Born from the ashes of the Monsters of Rock one-dayers, recalibrated for rock’s burgeoning new generation and christened with a suitably edgy name that would most definitely never age badly, the Download festival has, since 2003, established itself as the beating heart of a scene with the volume turned up to 11. With the festival this weekend marking its 20th anniversary with its biggest event yet, the story of its rise is one of community, circle pits and an inordinate amount of urine in bottles …Stuart Galbraith (founder of Download & CEO of promoters Kilimanjaro Live) In the early 2000s, there were whole new genres of rock coming through. I felt we needed something that was able to embrace that, as well as still cover heritage artists. Continue reading...

Not being listened to is exhausting. If you want to continue the friendship, you’ll need to make your needs clearI have a question on how to deal with my friend “V”. She is very sweet but a complete chatterbox. When we meet, she talks nonstop, usually about herself. We are both women in our early 30s and have been friends since secondary school. It is only in the last few years that I have noticed our conversations are really her monologues. She rarely asks me questions or shows much interest in what I am up to.Things I have tried include: jumping in to say something rather than waiting to be asked (in which case, she nods and listens politely, then gets back to whatever she was banging on about before I spoke), and continuing to talk whenever she starts to talk over me (I used to just fall silent and let her take the floor). I have to say, “V, let me finish” or “V, it’s my time to speak now” (her husband has to do the same). Continue reading...

The BBC has been told a complaint about Bambos Charalambous was made to Labour's complaint process.

There has been many weird celebrity pairings over the years from intense short flings to chance meeting and those who still regard each other as one of their favourite exes

The two Atlus titles are set to arrive on Xbox Game Pass day one and are launching sooner than you'd think.

Manchester City face Inter in the Champions League final on Saturday night

Camden Council give green light to 131ft wheel despite raft of objections to the ‘theme park’ attraction -but plans must now go to the Mayor of London for final approval

It'll have to arrive before 2026.

Wayne Rooney has spoken of his admiration for Lionel Messi as the Argentinian prepares to move stateside to join David Beckham's MLS franchise Inter Miami this summer

Hamdan Aslam’s family revealed he had a pre-existing heart condition that had never been detected.

Hamdan Aslam’s family revealed he had a pre-existing heart condition that had never been detected.

Shocked onlookers on a passing tram watched the shocking attack at the Cemetery Road stop

She’s been the sound of London, and now she’s going to be the face of it too with TV drama Champion set to propel Ray BLK into a whole new world. Emily Phillips meets her

We want to hear from fathers across the UK about their views on paternity leaveWe would like to find out more about the experience of paternity leave across the UK.If you are a father in the UK, did you take paternity leave? If not, tell us about why. Continue reading...

The windfall tax on oil and gas companies will be scrapped if prices fall to certain levels, ministers announced.

The windfall tax on oil and gas companies will be scrapped if prices fall to certain levels, ministers announced.

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands has ordered that a Dutch museum’s trove of historical treasures from Crimea be sent to Ukraine

Meeting is expected to discuss ‘internationally coordinated action’ to mitigate risks posed by artificial intelligenceRishi Sunak has announced that the UK will host a global summit on safety in artificial intelligence in the autumn, as fears grow that the technology’s rapid advancement could spin out of control.Safety concerns are mounting after breakthroughs in generative AI, which can produce convincing text, images and even voice on command, with tech executives such as Elon Musk among the figures expressing alarm. Here is a look at what the summit might achieve. Continue reading...

After finally shedding his nearly man tag, the Scot can eclipse Hammers legends Ron Greenwood and John Lyall

‘No justification to support such laws’ says Welby