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‘Nightmare’ queues and missed flights: readers report turbulent start to EU entry-exit system

Some travellers spent hours in lines at airport, with kiosks not working, little seating and few staff on hand to help

Some travellers passing through the new EU entry-exit system (EES) have faced huge delays at border checks, with some waiting for up to three hours, airports say.

The new rules have gradually been introduced in Europe since October 2025, and came into effect on Friday in the Schengen countries – 25 of the EU’s 27 states plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

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© Photograph: Lucy North/PA

© Photograph: Lucy North/PA

© Photograph: Lucy North/PA

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Rising costs forcing 3m UK households to skip meals, Which? report finds

Consumer insight tracker shows 85% are worried about food prices and a majority think the economy will deteriorate

Three million UK households are being forced to skip meals as consumers resort to drastic measures to deal with rising costs, according to a Which? report published on Thursday.

The conflict in the Middle East and subsequent surge in oil and raw material prices has led to businesses preparing to raise prices, putting more pressure on household finances and hitting consumer confidence.

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© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

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BBC responds to interest in Cornish with new language podcast

Learn Cornish launched few months after language given new level of protection

Listeners tuning in to the BBC’s latest podcast offering on Friday may find themselves saying dydh da to a language that is enjoying something of a resurgence. The new programme called Learn Cornish will be fronted by the Radio 1 host Danni Diston and includes guests such as the Bafta-winning director Mark Jenkin.

Diston, who is from north Cornwall, said that she initially did not know any Cornish “other than small words that I’ve learned growing up and mainly dialect … [but] the idea would be to learn alongside other people”. She will be joined by co-presenter Sarah Buck, a fluent Kernewek speaker, throughout the weekly episodes that are designed to introduce basic phrases in the Cornish language.

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© Photograph: Ricky Vigil M/Justin E Palmer/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ricky Vigil M/Justin E Palmer/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ricky Vigil M/Justin E Palmer/Getty Images

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RSPB cautiously welcomes slight increase in UK nightingale population

Elusive nightingale ‘doing well’ at Northward Hill, Kent, but experts cite concerns around loss of habitat

The dawn chorus at RSPB Northward Hill in Kent is a riot of sound: the melodic robin, the two-tone cuckoo, the whitethroat’s scratchy warble. Even the garbling geese and mooing cows from the neighbouring Thames marshes add to the symphony.

But in late April one energetic singer hogs the limelight. For a few weeks after arriving from West Africa, the nightingale spends the night – and early morning – in complex song. As it searches for a mate and marks its territory, its song is at times as sweet and tuneful as a soul singer, at others as frantic as a car alarm.

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© Photograph: Ben Andrew

© Photograph: Ben Andrew

© Photograph: Ben Andrew

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Jarvis Cocker and Kim Sion to curate art exhibition at Hepworth Wakefield

Musician and his wife, a creative consultant, hope the Hodge Podge can expand ideas of creativity and community

A new exhibition curated by Jarvis Cocker and his wife, the creative consultant Kim Sion, will open at Hepworth Wakefield next year, aiming to encourage people to discover their own creativity.

Opening in May 2027, the Hodge Podge will bring together a personal selection of works challenging conventional ideas of what art can be.

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© Photograph: Tom Jamieson/Hepworth Wakefield

© Photograph: Tom Jamieson/Hepworth Wakefield

© Photograph: Tom Jamieson/Hepworth Wakefield

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‘Outrageous’: Rebel Wilson denies she was behind Snapchat leak of actor’s nude photo, court hears

The Pitch Perfect star is being sued for defamation by Charlotte MacInnes, the lead actor of Wilson’s directorial debut, The Deb

Hollywood star Rebel Wilson has slammed as “outrageous” an accusation she directed a cyber attack on her co-star’s social media account that led to a nude photo leak.

The Pitch Perfect star is being sued for defamation by Charlotte MacInnes, the 27-year-old lead actor of the musical comedy The Deb, which is Wilson’s directorial debut.

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© Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

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US father and daughter admit selling fake Picasso and Banksy works, duping art world

Pair apologise in court after being accused of defrauding buyers including some of New York’s most prominent fine art auction houses

A father and daughter in New Jersey have pleaded guilty to running a years-long counterfeiting scheme to trick art galleries and auction houses into buying forged paintings of works by prominent artists such as Andy Warhol, Banksy and Pablo Picasso.

Federal prosecutors said Erwin Bankowski, 50, and Karolina Bankowska, 26, commissioned an artist in Poland to create at least 200 of the fakes and ultimately defrauded buyers of at least $2m.

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© Photograph: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York

© Photograph: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York

© Photograph: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York

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Christchurch gunman fails in bid to appeal against guilty pleas in New Zealand court

Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslims said poor mental health made him admit to crimes

The Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019 has been prevented from appealing against his guilty pleas, after one of New Zealand’s highest courts said his bid was “utterly devoid of merit”.

Brenton Tarrant, who is responsible for the worst mass shooting in New Zealand’s history, asked the court of appeal in February to allow him to appeal against his guilty pleas, claiming harsh prison conditions had affected his mental health and compelled him to admit to the crimes.

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© Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian

© Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian

© Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian

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Bondi royal commission: report calls for better policing of Jewish festivals after ‘high’ terror risk flagged for Hanukah event

Interim report contains 14 recommendations, after inquiry examined agencies’ actions before the attack in which 15 people were killed

Sydney’s Jewish community told police of a “high” threat of an attack at December’s Chanukah by the Sea festival at Bondi beach, but New South Wales police appeared not to have completed a comprehensive risk assessment for the event, an interim royal commission report has found.

The interim report of the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion, established in the wake of December’s terror attack, found no gap in current laws that could have prevented the shooting. But it did call for greater coordination of policing at Jewish festivals and events.

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© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/EPA

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/EPA

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/EPA

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Brown University shooting suspect driven by ‘accumulation of grievances’, FBI says

Claudio Neves Valente, who killed himself after deadly attack, began planning for violence in 2022, authorities say

The gunman behind a deadly shooting at Brown University in December appeared to have been aggrieved by personal failures and sought retribution against those he deemed responsible, federal authorities said on Wednesday.

More than four months after Claudio Manuel Neves Valente opened fire on the Ivy League campus, killing two students and injuring nine others, officials with the FBI’s Boston division announced they had concluded a significant portion of their investigation into the shooter.

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© Photograph: Taylor Coester/Reuters

© Photograph: Taylor Coester/Reuters

© Photograph: Taylor Coester/Reuters

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Existing property investors likely to avoid more tax under possible CGT changes in Chalmers’ May budget

Treasurer tells Commonwealth Bank podcast that he aims to ‘recognise the decisions that people have taken in the past’

Existing property investors look set to avoid paying more tax under Labor’s mooted changes to CGT in next month’s budget, after Jim Chalmers said he wanted to “make sure that we recognise the decisions that people have taken in the past” and flagged any reforms would not generate “a huge amount of revenue”.

The treasurer is widely expected to modify the flat 50% tax discount on profits from the sale of assets held for more than one year, potentially returning to the pre-1999 model where capital gains are adjusted for inflation.

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© Photograph: Darren England/AAP

© Photograph: Darren England/AAP

© Photograph: Darren England/AAP

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Archibald prize 2026: Jacob Collins portrait wins the Packing Room prize as finalists revealed

Painting by self-taught artist was chosen by Art Gallery of NSW staff who hang finalists for exhibition, ahead of main prize announcement on 8 May

A portrait of actor Jacob Collins by Sean Layh has won the favour of Art Gallery of NSW staff, who awarded it the Packing Room prize on Thursday, ahead of the Archibald prize’s main announcement on 8 May.

Layh, a self-taught painter who has exhibited in Australia and abroad, said winning the prize for his work – an oil painting titled The tragicall historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke – was “one of the great honours of my professional life”. This is the first time he has been a finalist in the Archibald prize.

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© Photograph: Jenni Carter

© Photograph: Jenni Carter

© Photograph: Jenni Carter

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