It’s the ancient ritual that unites millions of Christians in faith – but the Church of England is facing accusations that holy communion excludes non-drinkers or worshippers with dietary intolerances. C of E guidance determines the type of bread and wine that can be consecrated as part of the Eucharist ritual, which symbolises Jesus Christ’s…

A man has been arrested after three people were injured in a suspected knife attack that has left a Dublin neighbourhood in “a state of shock”. Irish police said they were responding to a serious incident after about 3pm on Sunday. Three men, aged between their mid-20s and mid-40s, were injured in what was described…

Police want changes to the law giving them “a licence to kill”, leading rights groups have warned as the government prepares to give officers new protections from prosecution. A government-ordered review into police accountability is expected to report within weeks. It followed fears of a walkout by angry armed officers in London after a police…

Russell Vought, Donald Trump’s newly installed acting head of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, announced on Saturday he had cut off the agency’s budget and reportedly instructed staff to suspend all activities including the supervision of companies overseen by the agency. Reuters and NBC News reported that Vought wrote a memo to employees saying…

Robbie Williams has said he bought Eric Morecambe’s glasses for £20,000 at auction as the comedian was an “uncle of sorts” whose “spirit has been salve for my soul”. The singer said he cried “happy, childlike tears” after winning the bidding war last month with a final offer far exceeding the £2,000 to £4,000 estimate.…

Two in three retirees who rent privately owned homes live in poverty and the problem will get worse, a new report has found. Most older working Australians who rent do not have sufficient savings to keep paying rent in their retirement, according to the report from the Grattan Institute. More than half of households aged…

The Greens say Labor must drastically cut the pay of the national broadband network’s chief executive in exchange for their support on a bill to block any future privatisation of the publicly owned network. The party’s amendments to Labor’s bill include a salary cap for senior executives, placing a legal obligation on NBN services to…

Narco-musical Emilia Pérez has won best European film at Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars amid the fallout from its star’s past racist and Islamophobic social media posts. Karla Sofía Gascón – the star of the film and the first transgender woman to be nominated for a best actress Oscar – did not attend the ceremony…

The Greens have conceded the loss of the Victorian state seat of Prahran to the Liberals, while the result in the once-Labor stronghold of Werribee remains too close to call. The Greens leader, Ellen Sandell, said on Sunday the result in the inner-Melbourne seat was close but that it was clear the minor party will…

Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, is now neck and neck with Labour largely because its stance on immigration is proving attractive to floating voters, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer. The rise of the populist rightwing party is causing increasing concern in the Labour high command and among the many Labour…