UK - The Evening Standard

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1. Starmer faces Commons showdown over Mandelson vetting scandal

   Sir Keir Starmer will tell MPs that he did not know Lord Mandelson had failed the initial vetting process and it was ‘unforgivable’ not to tell him.

2. Bereaved Israeli and Palestinian fathers now call each other brother

   The two men are campaigning for peace after losing their daughters to the conflict between their two nations and spoke at an event in Dublin.

3. Doddie Weir’s widow ‘incredibly grateful’ to motor neurone disease donors

   George ‘Doddie’ Weir died in 2022 after suffering from motor neurone disease for several years.

4. Paddington’s meeting with the late Queen recreated with new Steiff bear

   The scene resembles the time the late Queen appeared in a comedy sketch with a digitally animated Paddington.

5. People forced to suffer due to public toilet ‘deserts’, health leaders warn

   The data is based on more than 200 Freedom of Information requests to councils in charge of providing public toilets.

6. UK to narrowly avoid recession and jobless rate to surge, Item Club warns

   The independent forecasting group said interest rates will remain on hold in 2026 despite soaring inflation caused by the Iran war.

7. Exercise to test response to offshore energy threat involving vessels and drones

   ‘Exercise Granite Resolve’ will gauge how the offshore industry and government agencies deal with a complex emergency.

8. Swinney says he will win independence vote in 2028 and run for election in 2031

   The SNP leader believes Scotland could be independent by the end of 2030 – and wants to run in the 2031 elections to be the country’s leader.

9. Average price tag on a home jumps by nearly £3,000 in April – Rightmove

   House price growth is proving strongest in parts of the market less exposed to higher borrowing costs, Rightmove said.

10. Starmer should resign for ‘shameful role’ in appointment of Mandelson – Flynn

    The SNP Westminster leader is calling on Scots to vote SNP at the Holyrood elections to ‘sack Keir Starmer’.