Walkouts, marches and other gatherings planned for ‘May Day Strong’ demonstrations across the country

Thousands are set to join an economic blackout for International Workers’ Day on Friday, as part of 3,500 “ May Day Strong ” events across the country. Organizers are calling for “no school, no work, no shopping” with walkouts, marches, block parties and other gatherings planned into the evening.

May Day has long been an annual day of protest for the labor movement, and this year, many active movements are converging to fight for “a nation that puts workers over billionaires”. Demanding no ICE, no war, and taxing the rich , the May Day Strong coalition includes labor unions, immigrants rights groups, political organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America, and the organizers behind the No Kings protests. Friday’s economic disruption builds on a similar coordinated effort out of Minnesota in January, when tens of thousands of Twin Cities residents took off from school and work to flood the streets in protest of federal immigration agents storming the city.

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A sophisticated sour flavoured with a dense and intense rhubarb cordial

The spiced rhubarb base doesn’t make quite as much as you might imagine, because it’s reduced so much that you end up with a super-thick and very intense cordial. That said, any leftover cordial also works well as a soft drink mixed with water and lemon juice to taste; it’s pretty tasty poured over thick yoghurt and/or fruit, too.

Stan O’Brien, Vivien, Edinburgh

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Essa Suleiman accused of stabbing two Jewish men in Golders Green and Ishmail Hussein in south London

A man has appeared in court charged with the attempted murders of three people during two knife attacks in London.

Essa Suleiman, 45, is accused of stabbing two Jewish men in Golders Green on Wednesday, having already attacked another man over a personal dispute in south London.

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Philip Young changes all pleas to guilty after initially denying charges of making indecent images of children

A former Conservative councillor who admitted nearly 50 offences of drugging, raping and sexually assaulting his former wife has pleaded guilty to additional offences of making indecent images of children.

Philip Young, 49, pleaded guilty in January at Winchester crown court to 11 counts of rape and 11 counts of administering a substance with intent to stupefy his former wife Joanne Young, 48, who has waived her right to anonymity.

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What was your experience? Have you found another place to rent?

Solicitors have said they were inundated with requests to serve last-minute section 21 no-fault evictions prior to the Renters’ Rights Act , which came into force in England today.

Citizens Advice said thousands of people facing a no-fault eviction had approached it for help in the last month.

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Wales could be richer than any other area of the UK. I just wish Plaid’s leader would be more confident about independence

If I were living in Wales, next week I would vote Welsh nationalist, for Plaid Cymru. But I would do so for what its leader claims to support but doesn’t talk about enough: independence. Wales is where I have spent a fifth of each year for almost all of my life. Its natural beauty, the charm of (most of) its towns and the talents of its people should render it the richest place in the UK outside London.

So why is it one of the poorest? The figures hardly bear reciting. Wales’s growth rate has limped at barely half of England’s for a quarter-century. Its GDP per head is lower than any region in the UK other than the north-east of England. Wales comes bottom of almost every UK league table on healthcare. The median waiting time for elective treatment has almost doubled since before Covid – much higher than the current level in England. And waiting times in major A&E departments in Wales have worsened over the past two years, with almost half of patients waiting more than four hours for treatment.

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Three teams vie for two promotion spots on Saturday, with Charlton and Birmingham going head-to-head

Three teams, two automatic promotion spots and only one point between them. Add the fact that two are facing each other and Saturday’s final day of the Women’s Super League 2 season is set perfectly for an afternoon of high drama, twists and emotions.

Charlton Athletic, Birmingham City and Crystal Palace are dreaming of a WSL place. For this season only, there are two automatic promotion spots rather than the usual one, as the top tier expands from 12 to 14 teams, offering a precious opportunity that adds to the tension for the 3pm kick-offs, the most tantalising of which comes at the Valley, where the top two, Charlton and Birmingham, go head-to-head.

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Bath’s European player-of-the-year contender on international recognition, the ultimate test in Bordeaux and those budgie smugglers

The shortlist for this year’s Champions Cup player of the year award is an eye-catching one. There are five contenders and four of them – Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Finn Russell, Matthieu Jalibert and Caelan Doris – are established world-class operators. So who is the fifth Beatle? An uncapped Englishman who eats only toast on matchdays and is arguably most famous for parading around in his budgie smugglers.

Step forward Alfie Barbeary, the shaggy-haired Bath colossus looking to smash a few holes in Bordeaux Bègles’ title defence at the Stade Atlantique on Sunday. The 25-year-old Barbeary might not yet be a connoisseur of the region’s celebrated wines – “I know there’s red and white but that’s about it” – but he makes up for that in other respects. Some people are born entertainers and the big No 8 is definitely one of them.

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De Profundis/Hollingworth
(Coro)
Aiming to perform Renaissance music as it was originally heard, De Profundis find richness and precision in the Spanish composer’s finely wrought settings

The Spanish composer Cristóbal de Morales, Palestrina’s predecessor at the papal chapel, was internationally famous in the mid-16th century, his music reaching as far as Mexico and Peru. His choral music is gaining attention again today, not least from the chamber choir De Profundis , whose adult male lineup seeks to replicate the standard choral sound on mainland Europe at the time. This is the third release of their planned series of 12 recordings encompassing all Morales’s masses and magnificats.

The Magnificat Secundi Toni is a finely wrought example written for Rome that blossoms into six vocal lines towards the end. Framing it are Morales’ two mass settings based on L’Homme Armé , a song dating from the time of the fall of Constantinople which spawned its own tradition of mass settings – more than 40 survive from this period. The two masses use the song in different modes, giving the five-part mass a more mellifluous, less sombre air than the four-part one; in the five-part mass the addition of organ and bajón – a medieval precursor of the bassoon – adds to the richness of the texture. Robert Hollingworth , also known as the director of I Fagiolini, conducts precise and sonorous performances.

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