Pat McFadden says local election results give the party confidence it can win ‘blue wall’ seats that are ‘turning red’

Labour is planning to target the south of England heavily at the general election as the local election results show some “blue wall” seats are turning red, Keir Starmer’s election chief has said.

The shadow cabinet minister Pat McFadden said Labour was advancing in southern Tory heartlands and it was wrong to think the Lib Dems were the only challengers to the Conservatives in the south.

About 52,000 people are eligible under the scheme, but a government spokesperson said Kigali would accept ‘thousands’

Rwanda has admitted it cannot guarantee how many people it will take from the UK under Rishi Sunak’s deportation scheme.

The east African country did not give assurances that the estimated 52,000 asylum seekers in the UK who are eligible to be sent to Kigali would be accepted, instead saying it would be “thousands”.

Foreign Press Association decries move under new law based on claim network is a threat to national security

Israeli authorities shut down the local offices of Al Jazeera on Sunday, hours after a government vote to use new laws to close the satellite news network’s operations in the country.

Critics called the move, which comes as faltering indirect ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas continue, a “dark day for the media” and raised new concerns about the attitude to free speech of Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government.

Governments in Westminster and Edinburgh urged to engage with Petroineos to save Scotland’s sole remaining oil refinery

The UK and Scottish governments have been asked to arrange urgent talks to protect the future of Scotland’s only remaining oil refinery at Grangemouth.

Daniel Johnson, Scottish Labour’s economy spokesperson, has written to PetroChina, part of the joint venture that owns the site, seeking to discuss the future of the complex where oil refining is due to cease next year.

Singer says her country needs the opportunity to remind Europe of Russia’s invasion

Ukraine’s former Eurovision winner Jamala has said her country “cannot afford” to boycott the song contest because it needs the opportunity to remind Europe of Russia’s invasion.

There have been calls for artists to refuse to participate over Israel’s inclusion in the music competition while the war in Gaza continues.

• Men’s players report physical and mental strain of fixture list
• Research shows concerns about safety when travelling to games

The Professional Cricketers Association has called for a cut in domestic cricket, warning that fixture congestion is compromising performance and could even result in “disaster” on the roads as exhausted players bounce from match to match.

Figures released by the union after a country-wide study at the start of the current season show that 81% of men’s players have concerns about the physical strain of the schedule and the heightened risk of injury, while 62% expressed similar worries about the impact on mental health. Two-thirds of PCA members believe there is too much domestic cricket, with the union calling the schedule “unfit for purpose”.

Families of men presumed to be two Australians and American who went missing in Baja California arrive in Tijuana to identify bodies

The bodies believed to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing in the Pacific coast state of Baja California showed the three men were killed with gunshots to the head, Mexican authorities said on Sunday.

María Elena Andrade Ramírez, the state’s attorney general, said the families of the missing men had arrived in Tijuana to verbally identify the bodies. Authorities expected to have official confirmation shortly.

Three men from Scotland and one from Colombia held in connection with discovery at Stags Head Inn, Lelley, East Yorkshire

Four men have been arrested after £40m worth of cocaine was found in the back of a van in a Yorkshire village pub car park.

About 500kg of the drug was discovered in a Vauxhall Vivaro in the car park of the Stags Head Inn in Lelley, East Yorkshire, the National Crime Agency said.

Suspect, 27, from Witham, Essex has been released on bail while five-month-old boy remains in critical condition

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of neglect after a five-month-old boy suffered a cardiac arrest at Legoland Windsor Resort.

The baby is in critical condition in hospital after the incident at about 1pm on Thursday, police said.

Hill’s portrayal of Yosser Hughes in 1982 BBC series launched career that included roles in Titanic and JRR Tolkein epic

Bernard Hill, the stage, television and film actor who rose to fame for his unforgettable portrayal of Yosser Hughes, has died at the age of 79.

Hill played the unemployed character with the famous “gizza job” catchphrase in Alan Bleasdale’s 1982 BBC series Boys from the Blackstuff. It helped launch a stellar career that included playing the captain of the Titanic in James Cameron’s 1997 film and Théoden, king of Rohan, in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy.