The Senate, in a bipartisan super-majority, overwhelmingly voted to advance the measure, which Joe Biden is expected to sign

The US Senate voted resoundingly on Tuesday to approve $95bn in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as a bipartisan super-majority united to send the long-stalled package to Joe Bidenas desk for signature. The final vote was 79 to 18.

The bill easily cleared a key procedural hurdle earlier in the day. The Senate overwhelmingly voted to advance the measure in a step hailed by the Senate majority leader as aone of the greatest achievements the Senate has faced in yearsa.

Watchdog says only a third of local authorities are confident they will have enough places for September

The deployment of the governmentas childcare scheme to tens of thousands more families is facing asignificant uncertaintiesa and may struggle to meet its own targets, according to a report by Whitehallas spending watchdog.

The National Audit Office revealed the Department for Education (DfE) had assessed the likelihood of being able to deliver the funded childcare places it promised for September 2024 and 2025 as aamber/red problematica.

Juan Merchan reserves judgment on prosecutorsa request for maximum fine but tells Todd Blanche ayouare losing all credibilitya

• Skeptical judge and National Enquirer deal: key takeaways
• Pecker says he was aeyes and earsa of Trump campaign

The New York judge presiding in Donald Trumpas criminal trial held off on deciding whether he should be fined $10,000 for attacking expected trial witnesses in direct violation of the gag order designed to protect trial participants from being the target of Trumpas abuse.

The judge, Juan Merchan, reserved ruling from the bench. But he appeared deeply unconvinced by arguments from Trumpas lead lawyer Todd Blanche that a series of social media posts were just responses to political attacks on Trump and therefore permitted.

Three-decade campaign by the Gweagal community of La Perouse sees repatriation of four spears to Kamay

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Four spears stolen from Kamay, now known as Botany Bay in Sydney, by Captain James Cook and his crew have been returned to their traditional owners after more than 250 years.

Forty Kamay spears were recorded as being taken by the British in 1770, at the time of first contact between the local Gweagal people and the crew of the Endeavour. The four spears returned on Tuesday are the only ones of the original 40 that remain.

Authorities in Greece warn the dust concentrations can reduce sunlight and visibility, while increasing levels of fine pollution particles pose health risks

Clouds of dust blown in from the Sahara covered Athens and other Greek cities on Tuesday, one of the worst such episodes to hit the country since 2018, officials said.

A yellow-orange haze smothered several regions after days of strong winds from the south, limiting visibility and prompting warnings from the authorities of breathing risks.

One in five people on average need at least three interactions a but for ethnic minorities figure rises to one in three

Ethnic minorities and young people require more visits than other people to the GP before being diagnosed with cancer, according to new analysis.

On average, one in five people across England require three or more GP interactions before being diagnosed with cancer. But for people from ethnic minority backgrounds, the figure rises to one in three, according to analysis of the NHS cancer patient experience 2022 survey by QualityWatch, a joint programme from the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation.

• MPs vote in favour of progressing the Football Governance Bill
• Calls for regulator to have scope to amend parachute payments

MPs have called for the AIndependent Regulator for Football to have the scope to reintroduce replays to the FA Cup, amend the parachute Apayment system and to enforce an effective financial settlement between the Premier League and the EFL, as they voted in favour of progressing the Football Governance Bill.

The second reading of the bill was approved without a vote after a debate in the House of Commons on Tuesday. MPs from all sides of the house spoke in favour of the bill, including Conservative MPs who said they had previously been opposed to regulation. A number of politicians, Ahowever, called on the government to go Afurther in granting the regulator power to achieve financial stability for the football pyramid.

Shares up despite dip in revenue and profits after company said it expects to release new vehicle models sooner than expected

Tesla shares surged nearly 10% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after posting earnings results, despite a revenue miss for the first quarter of 2024, a steep decline in profits, and a recall of its most recently released car, the $100,000 Cybertruck.

The electric vehicle manufacturer posted $21.3bn in revenue, lower than the $21.48bn that was estimated and a 9% drop year over year a marking its biggest decline since 2012. Profit was $1.1bn, a 55% decline from the first quarter of 2023, the company said.

Deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov, who has been sanctioned by US and EU, faces up to 15 years in jail

A Russian deputy defence minister has been detained on suspicion of bribe-taking, the countryas top law enforcement agency has said, a rare move amid the offensive in Ukraine.

The investigative committee reported Timur Ivanovas detention on Tuesday without offering any details of the accusations against him, saying only that he is suspected of taking an especially large bribe a a criminal offence punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Full and part skeletons found in Mexico reveal body shape and anatomy of Ptychodus as well as its likely diet

Fossil experts say they have gained unprecedented insights into a type of enormous prehistoric shark, after finding complete skeletons of the creatures.

The specimens, discovered in small quarries in north-eastern Mexico within the last decade, belong to Ptychodus a a creature that roamed the seas from around 105m to 75m years ago.

• Dance, yoga and work-out sessions to be held inside museum
• Move aimed at whipping up enthusiasm before Games begin

The Louvre museum in Paris is planning to organise yoga and sport sessions in its famed galleries as part of a city-wide cultural programme ahead of the Olympics.

The worldas biggest museum is to offer visitors the chance to take part in dance, yoga and work-out sessions with instructors and coaches while gazing upon its world-renowned paintings and sculptures.

Kremlinas push for territory before western aid arrives; Ukraine pulls consular services from potential conscripts living abroad. What we know on day 791

The US Senate voted resoundingly on Tuesday to approve $95bn in wartime aid for Ukraine and Israel, along with defence support to Taiwan, as a bipartisan super-majority united to send the long-stalled package to Joe Bidenas desk for signature. The final vote was 79 to 18.

In a call on Monday, Biden informed the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that he would amove quicklya to send desperately needed military aid, including air defence weaponry, after the billas passage by the Senate.

The legislation includes $60.8bn to replenish Ukraineas war chest as it seeks to repel Russia from its territory; $26.3bn for Israel and humanitarian relief for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8.1bn for the Indo-Pacific region to bolster its defences against China.

Russian missiles attacked a residential district of Kharkiv early on Wednesday, said the mayor, Ihor Terekhov. Information on casualties was being clarified, he added. Public broadcaster Suspilne said civil infrastructure had been destroyed in the assault. The air raid alert in Kharkiv region was subsequently lifted.

Russian authorities have arrested Timur Ivanov, a deputy defence minister, on suspicion of taking an especially large bribe. Russiaas state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying that both Vladimir Putin, the president, and Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister, were informed. Ivanov, 48, is one of Russiaas 12 deputy defence ministers, and is under Europe and EU sanctions over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian forces have made significant advances in a narrow corridor in eastern Ukraine, as an offensive to take territory before a fresh injection of western military aid arrives appears to be gathering pace, Dan Sabbagh in Kyiv and Luke Harding report. Footage from Kremlin military bloggers showed a Russian tricolour flying above the shattered village of Ocheretyne, north-west of the occupied town of Avdiivka, after advancing about 5km in 10 days.

Farther north, a large Russian offensive is under way to seize the town of Chasiv Yar. Ukraineas eastern military command has said 20,000-25,000 enemy troops are trying to storm the hilltop town and surrounding districts.

Ukraineas foreign ministry is suspending consular services for military-age men living abroad, except for those heading back to Ukraine, in a move designed to increase conscription. Ukraineas foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said: aA man of conscription age went abroad, showed his state that he does not care about its survival, and then comes and wants to receive services from this state. It does not work this way. Our country is at war.a Since Russiaas full-scale 2022 invasion, men between the ages of 18 and 60 have to stay in Ukraine, with exceptions. The Eurostat database estimates about 4.3 million Ukrainians were registered in European Union countries as of January 2024, of whom about 20% are adult men a roughly 860,000 people.

Authorities in Ukraineas Sumy oblast bordering Russia reported four injuries from 51 attacks by Russian forces on Tuesday.

Emergency services in Russian-held parts of Ukraineas Zaporizhzhia region said a Ukrainian drone strike on Tuesday killed four people in a car north of the town of Melitopol.

Attempt to cross via overcrowded dinghy from Wimereux aborted after engine stalls and five people drown

They could have been on a school trip. Fifty teenagers from Vietnam, dressed for the biting cold in puffer jackets, smart trainers and woolly beanies, sat on the pavement by the bus shelter outside Gare Calais listening to music and watching videos on their smartphones.

They were waiting for the 423 bus to take them back to a forest outside Dunkirk, where they have been staying at night with about a thousand others. It had been a disappointing morning for the group.

Vintner Tom Gilbey raised more than APS13,000 for hospice charity with challenge that went viral on social media

A wine merchant who blind tasted a different glass of wine at each mile of the London Marathon has said he feels ahonoureda his challenge went viral on social media, as he surpassed his fundraising target.

Tom Gilbey, nicknamed athe wine guya, sampled 25 glasses of wine during the race, stopping to guess the drinkas grape variety, country of origin and vintage at each mile.

This relentless documentary takes us back in time to meet the women abused by glam-rock star Gary Glitter as children a| and the roadies who tried to stop him (and set his wig on fire) 25 years before he finally got caught

Do you remember a it feels so long ago now a the days when it was a shock to find out that a rich, famous, charismatic man had been using his riches, fame and charisma to rape and abuse women and children and cover it up for years and years?

Glitter: The Popstar Paedophile is the bleakest of nostalgia trips, taking us back to those quaint times, before the public Jimmy Savile revelations, before the R Kelly revelations, before the Rolf Harris revelations, before Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein a| I could, unfortunately, go on but I think the point is made.

Manufacturers call for geographic food name protection in face of threat from cheap Chinese imports

Blackpool rock, a British seaside institution as traditional as donkey rides on the beach, amusement arcades and fair to middling weather, is facing an existential threat from cheap and inferior Chinese imports, manufacturers have said.

Ten rock makers have come together to sign a letter warning of a agrave and immediate challenge to our industry, jeopardising the lives of our employees and the sustainability of our businessa.

Michael Tomlinsonas efforts to defend Rwanda bill show how well suited he is to be part of the new moronocracy

When Jeffrey Bernard was too pissed, hospitalised or generally unfit to file his weekly column, the Spectator used to publish the note aJeffrey Bernard is Unwella in its place. It worked a treat. Everyone knew precisely where things stood.

Perhaps now is the time for the Tory party to do something similar. It couldnat be any worse than repeatedly sending out underprepared ministers to do interviews in which they crash and burn. Far better to let the public think the government is half-witted, rather than to have it proved.

Rescued from Cashas low ebb in the early 1990s, this fun, lightweight song is a long way from the moody recordings with Rick Rubin he soon turned towards

In the great American saga of Johnny Cash, the early 90s are held to be among his lowest ebbs: the lull that made the triumphant final act of his career a the American Recordings series with Rick Rubin, critical acclaim, Grammy awards, platinum sales and all a seem all the more startling. Head been dropped by Columbia Records after 28 years and a brief and turbulent period with Mercury had yielded mixed artistic dividends and indifferent sales. One of country musicas Mount Rushmore figures was reduced to recording Christmas songs for a now defunct budget label called Laserlight Digital.

You might consider it an era in Cashas artistic life best forgotten, but posthumous retrospection has a way of recalibrating history: just as David Bowieas 1990s output has been significantly upgraded since his death, so a collection of Johnny Cash songwriting demos that no label wanted in 1993 emerges 31 years later, heralded as a major new release.

aBlanda or aabsolutely breathtakinga? Our readers are divided over Swiftas epically long, richly detailed new album

As someone who has been a Swiftie for over a decade, my initial impression is that this album is one of her best lyrically, but production-wise it can get a bit repetitive by the end. While Folklore, Evermore and Midnights were full of either fictional tales or vague reminiscences, The Tortured Poets Department is a clear return to her old style of extremely personal, confessional songwriting, but still retaining the poetic lyricism sheas acquired in recent years. Some critics might find the album boring or confusing, but I think the fans familiar with her past work will have an easier time understanding the little details and references, and will have a great time analysing them.
Elena, 23, Spain

The internet is rife with speculation about the real-life stalker and real-life abuser from the Netflix hit. Is this show about exploitation starting to seem uncomfortably careless a even exploitative?

Baby Reindeer was only released a little over a week ago, and already it has become a sensation. Richard Gaddas adaptation of his 2019 Edinburgh festival one-man show, which in turn was a dramatisation of the ordeals he had been through at the hands of a stalker and a powerful abuser respectively, has not only been the most watched Netflix show in the UK, but made the top 10 in 12 other countries.

And quite right too, since itas as gripping and queasy and uncomfortable a show as youare ever likely to see. But unintended consequences can come with success. The narrative surrounding Baby Reindeer has moved away from the show this week and into the real world. Besides its lead, the show is essentially about two people: a middle-aged woman who spent years inundating Gadd with thousands of unwanted messages to the detriment of his wellbeing, and a successful older writer who subjected Gadd to a prolonged period of sexual abuse. And while Baby Reindeer attempted to gloss over the true identity of these figures, the internet has, unfortunately, been busy.

The huge success of her memoir has turbocharged the Scottish comedianas career, with midlife, Catholicism and marriage in her withering sights

Cynicism is now and then expressed about the phenomenon of comedians writing books. Rare is the instance of a comic finding more success on the page than at the microphone. Step forward, then, Fern Brady, whose memoir Strong Female Character, about her experience as an undiagnosed autistic woman, has met with awards and widespread acclaim a and seems to have turbocharged the Scotas standup career too. One assumes the bookas success was a factor in securing Brady gigs at next monthas Netflix Is a Joke festival in Los Angeles, and this new special on the streamer too a whose title, Autistic Bikini Queen, invites fans of the memoir to come savour more of the same.

Is that what theyall get? Well, theyall certainly get a potent hit of the 37-year-oldas unsentimental personality, as Brady a filmed at a Bristol performance last year a launches into spiky riffs on marriage and relationships. Thereas not much, or at least not directly, on her experience of autism. The topic is efficiently dispatched in the opening five minutes with a droll gag about the idea that her neurodiversity is aa superpowera. Thereas also a joke about her undiagnosed condition revealing itself in Bradyas squeamishness about touching or hugging her mum, which sounded to this viewer less like a symptom of autism than of Scottishness.

There can be a big gap between self-perception and how our loved ones see us. Is it ever a good idea to seek the truth?

Name: Personality audit.

Age: People have worried about what other people think about them since the beginning of time.

A scheme to allow British under-30s to live and work in the EU has been flatly rejected. Why punish them for older votersa mistakes?

Only those born before 1998 could vote on Brexit, so there is no conceivable way of knowing which way todayas 18- to 30-year-olds would have felt about it. Oh, except there is: 70% of 18- to 24-year-olds think leaving the EU was a bad idea. Of the 25- to 49-year-olds, 66% also think we were wrong to leave. If you can bear to drag your mind back to the immediate aftermath of Brexit, youall recall that words like aoverwhelminga and avasta were completely debased by their use in conjunction with majorities that were actually wafer-thin. So letas just say most young people are remainers.

For a long time, politics has dealt with the young remainer as it does with the rest of us; ignore us for long enough, and weall go away. If the Brexit argument had had any foundation a if it had brought trading or other benefits, if it had caused only negligible difficulties and those of the teething variety a then that would probably have worked. Most referendum outcomes get more popular over time.

Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist

After last nightas Commons vote, they want a aproof of concepta journey to get the tawdry policy back on track. But itas too flawed for that

There will be a sigh of relief in No 10 with the passing of the Rwanda bill, as well as a degree of frustration. Having to steward another migration bill through parliament was not part of the governmentas plan.

With the Rwanda bill passing on to the statute book, overriding the supreme court judgment that Rwanda is not a safe country to which to send people seeking sanctuary, the government now hopes it can finally get on with locking up and then removing those seeking safety on our shores. The prime minister told a hastily arranged press conference on Monday morning that the first flight would not take off for a10 or 12 weeksa (having previously said it would be in spring). Officials are privately describing it as a aproof of concepta flight a this means focusing on having an initial flight to test how legally watertight the new laws are.

Enver Solomon is chief executive of the Refugee Council

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We seek peace in Gaza, Ukraine, Yemen, Sudan, the DRC and elsewhere, but weare ignored. History will damn the warmongers

aThe protagonists of 1914 were sleepwalkers, watchful but unseeing, haunted by dreams, yet blind to the reality of the horror they were about to bring into the world.a

Christopher Clarkas The Sleepwalkers retells the story of the outbreak of the first world war. Mapping a multipolar world enthralled by imperialism and paranoia, Clark refuses to pin the blame on a single power. Instead, he explains how political leaders narrowed the prospects for peace one misstep at a time, and sleepwalked into a global catastrophe that left around 20 million people dead.

Jeremy Corbyn MP is the independent MP for Islington North and a former leader of the Labour party

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Indexas rise has been driven by the dollaras strength against the pound a and that effect can reverse

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Every dog will have its day and here comes the FTSE 100 index, not so much soaring as limping to a record high of 8,076. If that sounds too grumpy, consider that the previous record, 8,047, was set in February last year. In the 14 months it has taken the UKas premier index to regain its old record level, the S&P 500 index in the US has marched upwards by 22% a and done so in a straight line, more or less, until a slip in the past fortnight.

Also note that the Footsieas latest push above 8,000 carries a heavy flavour of currency effects at work. The US dollar has been strengthening against most major currencies, including sterling, as markets look at the persistence of inflation in the US and judge that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates this year (and could even raise them).

Education is all about provocation. Without being provoked even young minds can remain stuck in old tracks

The most important thing I teach my students is to seek out people who disagree with them.

Thatas because the essence of learning is testing oneas ideas, assumptions and values. And what better place to test ideas, assumptions and values than at a university?

From Kanye West to Chris Pratt, the celebrity approach to housing is more out of touch than ever

Looking for a bargain beach house? Then youare in luck. Kanye West has just lowered the price on his minimalist mansion in Malibu, California, to a mere $39m (APS31.5m) a a $14m discount on its original listing price. There is a catch though: the house has no windows, doors, electricity, plumbing or interior finishes. Itas completely uninhabitable, unless you happen to be a gull.

The sparseness isnat a deliberate design choice a though you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. West, who also goes by the name Ye, is after all a man who opened up a lawsuit-magnet of a private school in Los Angeles called Donda Academy which, according to court filings, had empty windows because the musician adoesnat like glassa. Ye is, to put it in the politest terms possible, an individual with eccentric tastes.

With his claims of a asicknote culturea, the prime minister is scapegoating those worst affected by 14 years of Conservative rule

When a prime minister knows he is heading for electoral wipeout, he has one of two options. He can choose dignified statesmanship, using his remaining months in power to bring about as much unity and stability as possible. Or he can choose desperation, grasping for votes by scapegoating marginalised people, and leaving division and misery in his wake.

Rishi Sunak has gone for the second option. On Friday, he announced a new crackdown on disability benefits that has been described by charities as aa full-on assault on disabled peoplea. The country has a asicknote culturea that needs to be tackled, the prime minister said. Britain acanat afforda its record levels of welfare spending and itas anot faira on the taxpayer.

Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist and author of Crippled: Austerity and the Demonisation of Disabled People