The book about the trial of William Corder, publicly executed and dissected after being convicted of murdering his lover, is bound using his skin

A second copy of a book bound in the skin of a notorious 19th-century murderer is now on display at a Suffolk museum.

However, Horrible Histories creator Terry Deary has told the Guardian that the volume is a “particularly sick” artefact which “shouldn’t be on display”.

Continue reading...

Ukrainians grieve and clear away wreckage in north-eastern city after morning attack that killed at least 35

• Europe live – latest updates

On a warm spring day relatives gathered to say goodbye to Viktor Boiko and his wife, Olha. Their open coffins were laid out next to one other. Viktor wore his best suit. Olha was in a flowery blouse, with carnations heaped around her slippered feet. A priest sang prayers. Gravediggers lowered the couple into the ground, and shovelled earth on top. It landed with a percussive thud.

“Give me a weapon. Any weapon. I want to kill those butchers in Moscow,” said Viktor’s brother-in-law Anatolii Prykhodko, as his wife stood sobbing next to him. “They have murdered so many people. Adults, kids, peaceful citizens. If you lose a house or a car in a war, you can get it back. If you lose a person, a loved one, they are gone for ever.”

Continue reading...

Complicated road ahead for Reform UK leader as he sets out battle lines in biggest local election speech yet

It was, a Labour official hastily explained, “just one front page”. But for Nigel Farage it was quite a front page : a banner headline in the Sun proclaiming “Britain is broken”, the exact slogan Reform UK is using for May’s local elections.

Inside the paper was not an actual endorsement for Reform, but something that felt as if it could be a precursor to one – details of polling that showed Farage is more trusted than Keir Starmer by red wall voters on a series of key issues, with his party level-pegging with Labour for support.

Continue reading...

US-owned coffee chain dived to £35m loss after paying £40m in royalty and license fees to parent company

Starbucks’s UK retail business paid no corporation tax for last year as it dived to a £35m loss after paying £40m in royalty and licence fees to its parent company.

The US-owned coffee chain said it made the payments despite sales declining 4% to £525.6m in the year to 29 September 2024, amid what it called a “challenging economic climate” and a consumer boycott linked to the Gaza conflict.

Continue reading...

Social media platform formerly known as Twitter says 66.3% revenue drop was down to fall in advertising income

X’s revenues and profits collapsed in the UK in the year after Elon Musk took over the social media platform, the company has admitted.

A decline in advertising spending amid concerns about “brand safety and/or content moderation” were cited as the reason for the fall, according to accounts filed this week to Companies House.

Continue reading...

Terrorism office launch investigation into assaults including gunmen opening fire on entrance to Toulon jail

France’s national terrorism office has launched an investigation into a wave of apparently coordinated attacks at multiple prisons across the country believed to be linked to a government clampdown on drug traffickers.

Gunmen with automatic weapons opened fire on the entrance to Toulon prison in southern France in the early hours of Tuesday, while in recent days cars have been set alight outside four other jails, and in Marseille a residential building housing prison guards was attacked.

Continue reading...

Oak in Whitewebbs park in Enfield was cut down by contractors but Enfield council has urged police to investigate

The sudden felling of one of the oldest and largest oak trees in London has been reported to police, as campaigners renewed calls for better protection for such nationally significant trees.

The oak in Whitewebbs park in Enfield was up to 500 years old, with a trunk that was more than six metres in circumference. It was listed on the Woodland Trust inventory of ancient trees, but was not the subject of a tree preservation order.

Continue reading...

For disabled parents, the built environment can be inaccessible – but we are showing that there are countless ways to have bodies and minds

We met K when she was a week old. We were foster parents and not expecting a call about a newborn. Despite becoming her mom with just 12 hours’ notice – we adopted her the next year – my early months with her felt so natural.

I had been disabled for six years. While on a hike, I developed dysautonomia, which is secondary to a genetic connective tissue disorder called hEDS [hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome]. I experience a great deal of daily pain and can’t stand for more than a minute or sit upright unsupported for more than five.

Her kindergarten classroom. In fact, the entirety of the school she attended for two years.

Countless hikes.

Multiple preschool tours – so many schools in California, North Carolina and Ontario are up or down stairs.

Field trips.

Nearly every shop and restaurant in Montreal while on a family vacation.

Birthday and holiday parties.

Most playgrounds with sand or gravel.

In an ambulance, twice.

Continue reading...

The program, set to expire on 24 April, aids migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela

A judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration ’s attempt to terminate a Biden-era program that granted legal status to migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti.

The ruling, in federal district court in Boston, prevents the wholesale shutdown of the program, which was set to expire on 24 April.

Continue reading...