Teenage boy died in attack by man armed with sword, while two police officers and two others were injured

A man has been charged with murder after a series of stabbings in Hainault on Tuesday that left a teenage boy dead.

Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo, 36, was charged with the murder of Daniel Anjorin, 14. He will appear at Barkingside magistrates court on Thursday 2 May.

Exclusive: Revised proposals will allow employees to choose a zero-hour option, prompting fears of undue pressure from employers

Labour is facing criticism over plans for a loophole that would allow employees to work under zero-hours contracts, despite the party having pledged to ban them entirely.

Keir Starmeras party is preparing to announce details of its promise to overhaul workersa rights if it gets into power a a centrepiece of its early plans for government, but subject to fierce lobbying from businesses.

Alvin Bragg says his office awill make decisions based on the facts and the lawa; Gavin Newsom says, aThe right to free speech does not extend to inciting violencea

• Protests at university campuses across the US a in pictures

The occupation of Hamilton Hall came after protestersa defied a 2pm Monday deadline to abandon their camp at Columbia or face suspension. The university promptly began suspending participating students.

Posts on an Instagram page for protest organisers shortly after midnight urged people to protect the encampment on campus and join them at Hamilton Hall. Those signs of supports surfaced as the UN human rights chief said he was atroubleda by how law enforcement has dealt with the recent wave of campus demonstrations.

A little after 9 p.m. this evening, the NYPD arrived on campus at the Universityas request. This decision was made to restore safety and order to our community.

After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice. Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation.

The decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing. We have made it clear that the life of campus cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law.a

Exclusive: Mayor says Conservative government has put obstacles in his way each day of his eight years in office

Sadiq Khan has called the Conservativesa treatment of London aunpatriotica as he accused the government of putting obstacles in his way every day of his eight years running the capital.

The London mayor accused the Tories of atrying to do us downa at every opportunity for political reasons in long-running battles over police funding, cuts to Londonas transport budget and in planning decisions.

• Minute-by-minute updates on the action at Signal Iduna Park
• Any thoughts or comments? Feel free to email Scott

5 min: Dortmund see plenty of the ball. Sancho popping up all over the place as well, already looking far more confident and assured when compared to his Manchester United self.

3 min: Ryerson makes a glorious nuisance of himself down the right. Dribbling hard. Pressing hard, too, upon losing control. He wins a throw deep in PSG territory. Itas flung in long, but the ballas cleared easily enough. A high-octane start by both teams.

Party stands by members set to contest key seats who have claimed climate crisis does not exist and Islamophobia is amade upa

Reform UK has chosen to stand by candidates who have promoted conspiracy theories online, called the climate emergency amake-believea and expressed vaccine-sceptic views.

Those fringe views, and more, were put forward by a group of seven candidates selected to stand for the rightwing populist party at the next general election a including several who will contest seats that some analyses consider to be their top targets.

Spokesperson confirms ainformal meetinga has taken place between leadership frontrunners John Swinney and Kate Forbes

The SNP government has headed off Labouras attempt to force an early Holyrood election, as the frontrunners to succeed Humza Yousaf met for informal talks in an attempt to avoid another divisive leadership contest.

Anas Sarwaras motion of no confidence in Yousafas administration a which would have forced all government ministers to resign a was defeated by 70 votes to 58 on Wednesday afternoon after the Greens voted with the SNP.

Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, says his team is determined to retry case against the disgraced movie mogul

Harvey Weinstein will be retried in New York, the Manhattan district attorneyas office said on Wednesday, a week after the stateas highest court threw out his 2020 rape conviction.

Weinstein arrived at a Manhattan courthouse in the afternoon, his first appearance since the decision by the appeals court last week.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

Shocked people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria herded on to coaches as 200 tents removed and streets cleaned

The convoy arrived just after sunrise: a stream of police vehicles, council trucks, mounted cranes and coaches, ready to dismantle a tent city of migrants and refugees in the heart of Dublin that had become too big, too visible, too political.

They fenced off streets and herded shocked, sleepy men from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries on to buses and began to extirpate about 200 tents, gradually extinguishing all traces of the camp, but no amount of sweeping and hosing could remove the whiff of elections and diplomacy gone wrong.

Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone, Kasia Madera and Annita McVeigh tell tribunal hearing broadcaster discriminated against them

Four senior female news presenters have accused the BBC of agrinding downa women on pay and failing to tackle persistent pay discrimination at a tribunal court hearing in London.

The presenter Martine Croxall a alongside Karin Giannone, Kasia Madera and Annita McVeigh a accused the broadcaster of conducting a asham recruitment exercisea after they lost their jobs when the BBC merged its domestic and global news channels last year.

Some fans of A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie were already at the arena, which has been beset by delays, when the gig was called off

The troubled Co-op Live arena has again cancelled its opening concert at the last minute because of a atechnical issuea.

The US rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodieas show was supposed to be the first official event at the 23,500-capacity Manchester venue, after several shows were cancelled or postponed in the past two weeks.

Hallas campaign has focused on cars and crime while the opposition has exploited her tendency to ashoot from the hipa

Paul Icely puffs out his cheeks a and then slowly exhales. He is visibly deflating. aI thought there might be a few more of us,a the 67-year-old black-cab driver admits, his eyes darting between the students milling outside Barking and Dagenham college. aYou seen anyone else?a Icely asks Lisa Prager, 40, as she limps towards him with the aid of an NHS issue crutch.

Prager, who harbours a grudge against a Labour council over the loss of her job at a local park, appears to be the only other supporter of Susan Hall, the Conservative candidate for mayor of London, to have turned up on this sunny mid morning in Dagenham, east London.

Only about a third of voters are expected to vote in Thursdayas polls but that could fall to as low as 13% in some places

• UK politics a latest updates

From a shopfront in Tilbury, Essex, community worker Yewande Kannike is wrestling with a paradox at the heart of this weekas English local elections: the most deprived people who could most benefit from political reform are least likely to vote.

Across England only about a third of voters are expected to cast a ballot in Thursdayas polls, based on previous turnouts. That could fall as low as 13% in the most deprived parts of places such as Middlesbrough and Hull. In Tilbury a once the gateway to Britain for the economic migrants on the Empire Windrush a eight out of 10 voters stayed at home at last yearas local elections.

A devoted father with a zest for life, he was given an indeterminate sentence in 2006. He is still locked up a and losing hope that he will ever be released

In 2006, Martin Myers got in a scrape over a cigarette. He asked a young man if he had a spare fag. The man declined to give him one. Myers came from a well-known Traveller family. The man, Myers says, made a derogatory comment about Travellers, so Myers gave up the niceties. He threatened to punch him if he didnat hand him a cigarette.

The young man ran away. He then went to the police in Luton and told them what had happened. The police were familiar with Myers. He had previous convictions for dangerous driving, assault, theft and burglary. Myers was arrested, charged and convicted of attempted street robbery. On 8 March 2006, he was given a tariff a the minimum time he could serve a of 19 months and 27 days.

The viral Glasgow event made children cry and adults seethe. Could a California tribute provide some measure of absolution?

She was the sad Oompa Loompa seen around the world. Inside a bleak warehouse in Glasgow, a supposed celebration of Wonkaas delectable world of chocolate left children crying and parents calling the police. Attendees paid APS35 to visit a bleak warehouse with a handful of props and posters; inside, they were treated to two jellybeans each and a few poorly costumed actors. Images of the event went extremely viral, making international news and inspiring a horror film and an hour-long documentary.

Two months later, I found myself walking toward another grim-looking warehouse, this time in downtown Los Angeles. I was here for Willyas Chocolate Experience LA, a tribute to the Glasgow disaster promising live entertainment, a red carpet-style photo op and a rare chance to meet the celebrity Oompa Loompa herself.

The government was determined to make this a good news day. Itas just a shame reality isnat more obliging

Thereas something about the proximity of an election that sends MPs into a tailspin. Especially if they know their party will be taking a hammering. Otherwise moderately intelligent men and women a people who, on a good day, can be relied upon to dress themselves a stand up to make fools of themselves by professing undying loyalty to a lost cause. Generally, by inventing facts to suit themselves. The political wing of the Flat Earth Society. Call it election derangement syndrome. Electile dysfunction.

Even Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak seemed to be affected. Neither were on top of their game for the last prime ministeras questions before Thursdayas local elections. They even forgot to personally abuse each other. That bad. Though some may think thatas no bad thing. Rather, they were merely focused on getting out their election messages in the mistaken belief that someone might be listening.

The star makes for a charming lead playing a mother falling for a younger pop star in a passable adaptation of Robinne Leeas bestselling pulp

There are lithe, low-level pleasures to be had in the glossy pop romance The Idea of You, Amazonas latest attempt to turn a fanfic fave into a broadly alluring date movie. It follows last yearas Red, White and Royal Blue, a smartphone screen adaptation of Casey McQuistonas what-if gay romp. In that film, it was the fantasy of a presidentas son and an English prince. Here itas a 40-year-old mum and a Harry Styles-level pop star, a blogpost daydream of love and lust, played out with both jostling for space.

Itas a far sleeker and far more satisfying package than the former, illuminated by the genuine movie star power of Anne Hathaway and made with a higher level of craft, from the sturdy studio-level direction of Michael Showalter to a mostly smooth-going script. The romcom genre has allegedly been abacka for a while now but thatas mostly translated to quantity over quality and while last yearas sleeper smash Anyone But You might have looked the part, it was cursed with junky dialogue, hapless plotting and a disastrously ill-fitting leading lady. With Hathaway at its centre, The Idea of You is on far surer footing, in small moments almost threatening to be something far greater but settling into being perfectly acceptable instead, a plane movie par excellence.

The critically acclaimed American writer has died aged 77. Here, contemporaries pay tribute to his life and work

aC/ Brooklynas bard: Paul Austeras tricksy fiction captivated a generation

aC/ Paul Auster a a life in quotes

aC/ Paul Auster a a life in pictures

British novelist
The exquisite chapter of domestic accidents that opens Paul Austeras final novel, Baumgartner, leaves us with a microcosm of all that drew a worldwide, discerning readership to this super-abundantly gifted, big-hearted novelist: a limpid present tense; a subtle awareness, comic as well as tragic, of what Virgil identified as asunt lacrimae reruma a there are tears in the nature of things a which, in Paulas version, proposed pratfalls as well as death; a perfect expression of a hovering consciousness in the still moment; and finally, a honed prose that seemed to hint that just below its surface were instructions on how to read it and how it was written. The adroit self-consciousness of his writing made him our supreme post-modernist. If his imagination seemed so spacious it was because he was as much a European as an American writer. If he had Thoreau at his back, he also had Beckett. It is possible to cross a Paul Auster Platz and walk down a rue Paul Auster. Not many novelists have been so honoured. As a presence he was ridiculously handsome, worldly, generous, funny and, unlike most great talkers, a highly attuned listener.

The British brand has entered the booming market in luxury acar-chitecturea, opening a themed tower in Miami boasting ballroom, helipad and infinity pool a all offering millionaires a perfect view of our choking, collapsing world

Move over, James Bond a a new Aston Martin has rolled into town, brimming with more flashy features than Q could ever dream of. Parked ostentatiously on the Miami waterfront, overlooking a private marina brimming with superyachts, its streamlined flanks glisten in the Florida sunshine, housing an interior trimmed with the finest leathers and exotic wood veneers. Thereas no ejector seat or rocket-launcher, but it is the biggest Aston Martin ever made a housing Jacuzzi, bar, cinema, golf simulator, art gallery, ballroom and infinity pool, all crowned with a 66th-storey helipad.

Unveiled in the week of the Miami Grand Prix, the latest exclusive model from the timeless British automotive brand is not a high-performance sports car, but an ultra-luxury apartment building a the tallest residential tower in the US, south of New York. After Aston Martinas years of financial woes, following a disastrous stock market performance since the companyas 2018 listing, it seems that the boutique car-
maker is seeking salvation in property development.

aI have photographed fathers and sons holding hands from Bulgaria to Armenia and beyond. I approached these two as a stranger a and had just seconds before it got too awkwarda

A few years ago, while walking my sons to school, I found myself thinking that, although I held their hands daily, one day they wouldnat need me alongside them, that we would lose that sense of physical closeness. I decided to photograph my own father and grandfather holding hands a but it was the start of the pandemic, my grandfather was 95 and we wanted to keep him safe. We couldnat meet for over a year.

In the meantime, while walking around Bulgariaas capital Sofia, where I live, I stopped to photograph a house that caught my eye and a woman came out pushing a man in a wheelchair. I assumed they were going to chase me away, but instead she showed me a framed picture of a young man, aged about 30. She said he was their only son and he had died eight months before. She asked if I would photograph her husband with the portrait.

With limited sizes in bridal salons, it can be impossible to order a dress that works for you when you canat even fit in a sample

Iall just give it to you straight: shopping for a wedding dress mostly sucked.

Anyone who has ever planned a wedding knows that securing the look is crucial. If youare a bride, that usually kicks off with Pinterest stalking and research. Then you make an appointment at a bridal salon (or several), try on dresses, fork over thousands of dollars (per Brides.com last year, in the US the average wedding dress cost between $1,800 and $2,400), wait months for the gown to be made, then pay an additional fee a probably three figures a in alterations.

The former player, once a world No 1, also inspired a defining Adidas shoe and is the subject of a revealing new documentary

For sports fans of a certain age, the seasonal queues that form around shoe stores in anticipation of the latest Jordan sneakers are a painful reminder of the many young people who only know of the hoops legend as an athletic brand. But well before Nike reduced Michael to a Jumpman silhouette, Adidas was hawking Stan Smiths a the leather, low-top kicks that became such a fashion statement among rockers and rappers that perhaps more young people have no idea the mustachioed face on the tongue belongs to one of the most consequential players in tennis history. aA lot of sneaker enthusiasts want to understand the heritage and story behind it,a says the director Danny Lee. His latest film answers the essential question: Who Is Stan Smith?

Produced under LeBron James and Maverick Carteras Uninterrupted imprimatur, Who Is Stan Smith? revisits the life and times of the former world No 1, from his working-class beginnings to his improbable bond with Arthur Ashe to his even more improbable emergence as a style icon a a SoCal James Bond, Sean Connery in country club kit. Thatas despite, as one of his children helpfully points out in the doc, Smith rocking his trademark top lip strip for the better part of the last 50 years. That astache wasnat just all the rage during Smithas prime (in the late-60s and early-70s, mostly), it was part of a sandy-haired, cerulean-eyed 6ft 4in all-American package that the super agent Donald Dell turned into one of the most commercial billboards in sport. And yet: the glamor of the epoch has nothing on these times. aNow theyave got teams, theyave got people doing the jet set thing,a says the 77-year-old Smith, recalling the days on tour when it was just him and his wife, Margie. aItas still tough as a professional athlete, but back then she and I were the team more or less.a

Targeting people who need support for depression and anxiety will only make these growing problems worse

• Jay Watts is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and senior lecturer working in London

When does crude electioneering become a threat to public health? Rishi Sunakas and Mel Strideas relentless attack on disabled people, with a specific targeting of mental health claimants, will have damaging and potentially deadly consequences. Those of us working in acute psychiatric wards and community services can attest to the severe impact their suggestion of stopping disability benefits would have, and the pain caused by the callous manner in which they have delegitimised mental anguish.

Sunak has accused the benefits system of amedicalising the everyday challenges and anxieties of lifea. Stride, the secretary of state for work and pensions, has labelled depression and anxiety as conditions potentially unworthy of welfare. He proposes vouchers, one-off grants and improved access to treatment and support as alternatives to cash benefits. This approach not only complicates the process with additional bureaucratic hurdles, but also insinuates that long-term needs can be addressed with temporary solutions, which is not feasible.

Jay Watts is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and senior lecturer working in London

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

A day with some blind and partially sighted walkers has shown me how much I barely notice a and how hard it is to find the right words

How many shades of green are there? Whatever the answer may be, I soon ran out of words to describe them. I was walking north along the Grand Union canal, trying and failing to adequately describe what I could see, to a friend who couldnat. This was Dave Heeley, ultra-runner, who in 2008 became the first blind person to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. Today we were walking rather than running a which, with me guiding him, was just as well.

I had guided a blind adventurer once before when I took part in the television series Pilgrimage. One of my fellow pilgrims was the remarkable Amar Latif. We were high up on the side of a deep, lush valley in eastern Serbia. I was focused on the trickiness of the path itself, but Amar kept asking me to describe the vista. I looked down that valley at the mountains in the distance and simply didnat know how or where to start. I had a bash, as there was plainly plenty of material to work with, but didnat feel I had done justice to the richness of that scene.

Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist

The European hospital is crammed with severely injured and dying children a a military offensive here will be catastrophic

• James Elder is Unicefas global spokesperson

The war against Gazaas children is forcing many to close their eyes. Nine-year-old Mohamedas eyes were forced shut, first by the bandages that covered a gaping hole in the back of his head, and second by the coma caused by the blast that hit his family home. He is nine. Sorry, he was nine. Mohamed is now dead.

Over three visits to the European hospitalas ICU in Rafah, Gaza, I saw multiple children occupy the same bed. Each one arriving after a bomb had ripped through their home. Each one dying despite doctorsa immense efforts.

James Elder is Unicefas global spokesperson

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

While Sadiq has transformed Londonas mayoralty, Susan Hall would be a divisive disaster. Re-elect him, and help us really change this country

• Keir Starmer is leader of the Labour party

Twenty-seven years ago today, the British people went to the polls and turned the page on a disastrous period of Tory government. It was a decisive choice, not just in favour of a new party, but in favour of a new politics. In that moment, Britain voted for a minimum wage, peace in Northern Ireland, a million children to be lifted from poverty, the shortest NHS waiting times in history and crime to be reduced by a third.

Like most people in our country, I wanted a general election tomorrow and the opportunity for Britain to look forward with hope once again. Rishi Sunak refused to let the nation have a say for fear of the message the people would send. Yet the many council and mayoral elections still offer millions of voters up and down England the chance to reject chaos, division and decline with the Tories and embrace stability, unity and renewal with Labour.

As someone who is unable to vote in the UKas local elections, I hope my peers donat waste the precious gift theyave been given

Local elections are coming this week. After receiving far-right leaflets (aClose the borders! Pause all immigration!a) through my letterbox and paying taxes to an underwhelming council, I canat wait to vote a except that Iam not eligible. As an immigrant with no settled status, voting isnat one of my rights.

And while most of my friends here can vote, many say they wonat. My best friend, for example, keeps his electoral registration up to date, but rarely goes to the polling station.

Joyce Yang is a freelance writer based in London

We shed light on the regimeas crimes from the US, thanks to the extreme bravery of reporters on the ground

• Sakhidad Hatif is the new editor-in-chief of Etilaat Roz, which is the subject of the Guardian documentary House No 30, Kabul

In the two decades before the Taliban returned to power, Afghanistan had a vibrant media sector. There were newspapers, television channels, periodicals, magazines and more, invigorating the public discourse by allowing citizens to express their views on national and local issues. That is completely gone now.

I have been the editor-in-chief of one of Afghanistanas largest newspapers, Etilaat Roz, since 2022. When the Taliban dismantled the republican system of the country in August 2021, establishing their own theocratic Islamic emirate in the process, they imposed the harshest restrictions possible on the media. This acrackdown on free speecha was followed by the prolonged detention, gruesome beating and even death of journalists who defied the Talibanas policies against the free press. Two of my reporters at Etilaat Roz were grievously assaulted and detained for doing their jobs.

Sakhidad Hatif is editor-in-chief of Etilaat Roz

Watch Guardian documentary House No 30, Kabul (26 mins), a video diary by journalist Abbas Rezaie, shot inside the Etilaat Roz office when the Taliban seized power in 2021 and forced many of the journalists to flee abroad

There is a fundraising page for the Etilaat Roz newspaper on GoFundMe

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Symptoms include paranoia, anxiety and a compulsion to snoop on your neighbours. Iam not judging a Iave had a brush with it myself

One of my many guilty pleasures is lurking on my former homeas Facebook group. The New York apartment complex, which houses the population of a small town, is classified as a naturally occurring retirement community, which means there are a lot of people in the group with time and energy to devote to petty feuds. The gossip is unrivalled and often a little unhinged. At one point there was a heated debate about birth control for pigeons that resulted in at least one person getting banned.

Recently, a mania of sorts has swept the group. An influential neighbour rather belatedly learned about video doorbells. When he bought one it set off a spate of other people buying the devices a and obsessively monitoring them to check for package thieves. Every other Facebook post now seems to be a photo of some hapless stranger taken by a video doorbell with a panicked caption along the lines of astranger dangera.