Defence secretary says PM will make case for spending boost at Nato’s 75th anniversary summit later this year

• UK politics – latest updates

All Nato countries should boost their defence spending to 2.5% of their GDP to meet the demands of a “more dangerous world”, the UK’s defence secretary has said.

Grant Shapps said the prime minister would make the case at Nato’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington DC this summer, after accepting that while the UK was the biggest spender on defence in real terms in Europe, Poland, Greece, Estonia and Hungary all spent more as a proportion of GDP.

Long-serving MP dedicated Westminster career to tackling social issues including child poverty and modern slavery

Tributes from across the political spectrum have been paid to the former Labour minister and welfare campaigner Frank Field, who has died at the age of 81.

Lord Field, who dedicated his career in Westminster to tackling social issues, including child poverty and modern slavery, served as an MP for 40 years.

Fears Israel is influencing location of dock away from the north, where famine threat is most severe

A giant floating dock is nearing completion in the eastern Mediterranean from where it will be pushed towards the Gaza shore, but there is growing uncertainty over how useful the US project will be in containing a famine.

There are concerns in the humanitarian community that Israel has co-opted the pier plan, which Joe Biden touted as a way to bring about a “massive” increase in aid to Gaza, with one aid official saying the project was in danger of becoming a “smokescreen” for the planned invasion of Rafah.

Pictures and videos of riderless horses in centre of English capital shared on social media

Military horses have bolted through central London after a number of the animals got loose.

Army personnel and horses have been hurt and vehicles damaged when chaos broke out on Wednesday morning. Reports indicated that up to five people have been injured.

Rights chief also warns Britain will be ‘judged harshly by history for its failure to help prevent civilian slaughter in Gaza’

The UK has been accused by Amnesty International of “deliberately destabilising” human rights on the global stage for its own political ends.

In its annual global report, released today, the organisation said Britain was weakening human rights protections nationally and globally, amid a near-breakdown of international law.

Former DUP leader will be seen for first time since his arrest when he attends court in Newry on Wednesday

Jeffrey Donaldson is due to make his first court appearance in Northern Ireland on sexual offence charges amid a heavy security presence.

The former Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader is scheduled to appear at Newry magistrates court in County Down on Wednesday morning to face allegations of sexual abuse against two people.

‘No clear consensus’ from British public for outright ban on likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg hosting shows

• UK politics – latest updates

GB News can continue to use politicians as presenters, after the media regulator Ofcom concluded the British public does not want to ban the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lee Anderson from hosting programmes on news channels.

Cristina Nicolotti Squires, the Ofcom executive responsible for broadcast regulation, said that while “many are instinctively uncomfortable” with politicians presenting current affairs programmes, there was “no clear consensus for an outright ban”.

About 300 people were detained near Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer’s Brooklyn home

Hundreds of Jewish anti-war demonstrators have been arrested during a Passover seder that doubled as a protest in New York, as they shut down a major thoroughfare to pray for a ceasefire and urge the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, to end US military aid to Israel.

The 300 or so arrests took place on Tuesday night at Grand Army Plaza, on the doorstep of Schumer’s Brooklyn residence, where thousands of mostly Jewish New Yorkers gathered for the seder, a ritual that marked the second night of the holiday celebrated as a festival of freedom by Jews worldwide.

£2.2bn-worth of oil processed in China, India and Turkey – to whom Russia supplies crude – was imported in 2023, data shows

The UK has been accused of “helping Russia pay for its war on Ukraine” by continuing to import record amounts of refined oil from countries processing Kremlin fossil fuels.

Government data analysed by the environmental news site Desmog shows that imports of refined oil from India, China and Turkey amounted to £2.2bn in 2023, the same record value as the previous year, up from £434.2m in 2021.

Passengers numbers this year predicted to hit 82.4m but airport’s future uncertain, with proposed £6bn sale in doubt

Heathrow is expecting its busiest ever summer holiday season but faces uncertainty over its long-term future as the proposed £6bn sale of the UK’s biggest airport remains in doubt.

The airport said on Wednesday that the summer getaway this year was expected to be “the busiest on record” and promised to have “robust” plans in place to keep the airport “running smoothly”, even if staff strikes held last year are repeated.