Labour leader says police ‘should be involved’ after Tory MP was alleged to have misused campaign funds to pay off ‘bad people’

• UK politics – latest updates

Keir Starmer has called for a police investigation into allegations that campaign funds were misused by the MP Mark Menzies, who has lost the Conservative whip.

The Labour leader said there were “unanswered questions” in relation to the allegations against the MP for Fylde in Lancashire, who has also been suspended as a government trade envoy.

Chair Helen Pitcher says she is ‘deeply sorry’ for failing man jailed for 17 years for rape he did not commit

• Rape, DNA and injustice: a timeline of the Malkinson case

The chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission has offered an “unreserved apology” to Andrew Malkinson for its handling of his case after he spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.

The apology from Helen Pitcher came after the completion of an independent review of the case by Chris Henley KC.

European Commission to seek approval from leaders to start talks with UK on visa-free exchanges for 18- to 30-year-olds

The European Commission has proposed opening negotiations with the UK to allow free movement enjoyed before Brexit to millions of 18- to 30-year-olds in a major concession.

It said it would now seek approval from individual EU leaders to start the talks, which could partly eliminate one of the most controversial elements of Brexit, a block on the right to live in each other’s countries visa-free.

Minister told London conference that Glorious Revolution of 1688 paved way for economic certainty

It would be wrong to attribute the UK’s wealth and economic success to its colonial history or racial privilege, the business and trade minister, Kemi Badenoch, has told an audience in the City.

Addressing financial services bosses at TheCityUK’s international conference in London, the business secretary said the UK’s past exploitation and oppression of other countries and groups of people could not sufficiently explain the country’s economic trajectory.

Chief scientist voices fears about H5N1 variant that has ‘extraordinarily high’ mortality rate in humans

The World Health Organization has raised concerns about the spread of H5N1 bird flu, which has an “extraordinarily high” mortality rate in humans.

An outbreak that began in 2020 has led to the deaths or killing of tens of millions of poultry. Most recently, the spread of the virus within several mammal species, including in domestic cattle in the US, has increased the risk of spillover to humans, the WHO said.

Police say girls aged six and 11 sustained superficial wounds in attack close to their school near Strasbourg

A man has been arrested after two girls aged six and 11 were injured in a knife attack close to their school in the east of France.

The 11-year-old was stabbed outside school in the town of Souffelweyersheim, just outside Strasbourg, while the six-year-old was allegedly attacked by the same man nearby.

Email was sent suggesting postal company should withhold disclosing investigation guidelines

The Post Office was urged by its external law firm to “try and suppress” disclosure of a key document for “as long as possible” as branch owner-operators tried to mount legal action against the state-owned postal company, a public inquiry has heard.

Rodric Williams, a senior in-house lawyer at the Post Office, giving evidence to the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal was asked about an email sent to him in which it was suggested that his employer should withhold disclosing its investigation guidelines as they could harm its defence to a lawsuit brought by post office operators.

Dozens died when a blaze tore through Stardust nightclub in Artane on Valentine’s Day in 1981

The 48 young people who died in the Stardust nightclub disaster in Dublin in 1981 were unlawfully killed, an inquest jury has found.

The devastatingfire at the nightclub in Artane, north Dublin, broke out in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 1981.

Exeter crown court hears how boy, then 16, attacked two fellow pupils and a staff member with a hammer

A 16-year-old boy attempted to murder two fellow pupils at a private school as they slept in their boarding-house beds by hitting them repeatedly with a claw hammer, a jury has heard.

The boy, who cannot be named, had “fermented” a plan to kill the pair, who were 16 and 15 at the time, the jury at Exeter crown court was told.

• Team GB and ParalympicsGB kits navy with red and white trim
• Fashion verdict: short on imagination as function wins out

Blue is the colour for British athletes competing at this summer’s Paris Olympics and Paralympics with the official kit featuring a stripped back design – and a traditional union jack.

While the Tokyo 2020 design was a mixture of red, white and blue, the 2024 edition is largely a dark navy blue kit, with red and white trim.