Conservative party chair Richard Holden says Labour leader ‘doesn’t have courage or conviction to stick to a single pledge’

Ed Miliband, the shadow energy secretary, is up now. He highlights the energy pledge.

4) Set up Great British Energy a publicly-owned clean power company, to cut bills for good and boost energy security, paid for by a windfall tax on oil and gas giants.

Zoraya ter Beek, who has has chronic depression, anxiety, trauma and unspecified personality disorder, expected to end her life soon

• Europe’s slowly shifting attitudes towards assisted dying

A 29-year-old Dutch woman who has been granted her request for assisted dying on the grounds of unbearable mental suffering is expected to end her life in the coming weeks, fuelling a debate across Europe over the issue.

Zoraya ter Beek received the final approval last week for assisted dying after a three and a half year process under a law passed in the Netherlands in 2002.

Hospital director says Slovakia PM has stabilised but remains in a critical condition after he was shot several times on Wednesday

Here are the latest images from Slovakia.

The former president Dmitry Medvedev praised Robert Fico today, writing that there were few politicians like him in Europe and that he had “reasonable” positions regarding Russia, Reuters reported.

Analysis by Office for Students says increasing number will need to make significant changes to their funding model

An increasing number of universities in England face “a material risk of closure” unless they dramatically cut costs or merge over the next few years, according to the higher education regulator’s annual health check.

The report by the Office for Students (OfS) paints a bleak picture of universities overreliant on international students to plug the gaps left by the declining income from domestic student fees, with the OfS warning that 40% of England’s universities are expected to run budget deficits this year.

More than 150,000 unpaid carers are repaying often huge debts after the government failed to tackle its IT problems

A cross-party committee of MPs has urged the government to overhaul the meagre weekly benefit for unpaid carers and fix “without delay” the issues causing thousands to rack up enormous debts.

Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, was told that the government had failed for five years to tackle the IT problems that have left tens of thousands of unpaid carers owing sums that had plunged many into debt and left some facing criminal prosecution.

Exclusive: Labour mayor argues only ‘fundamental rewiring’ of political system can prevent more ‘colossal’ state failures

The final report of the infected blood inquiry must not only deliver justice but act as a catalyst to prevent such “colossal” state failures happening again, Andy Burnham has said.

The mayor of Greater Manchester, a long-time advocate for victims of the scandal, said a “fundamental rewiring of the political system” was needed as too many people were being harmed and then waiting decades for justice.

Ukrainian military says its has forced Russia to reduce tempo of offensive; Russian president thanks Xi Jinping for ‘trying to solve Ukraine crisis’

• Putin in China on mission to strengthen relationship

Vladimir Putin has said that Russia-China cooperation is not directed against any other power and is a stabilising factor for the world, during his meeting with Xi Jinping.

It is of crucial significance that relations between Russia and China are not opportunistic and are not directed against anyone. Our cooperation in world affairs today acts as one of the main stabilising factors in the international arena.”

In our new journey we intend to remain good neighbours, trusted friends and reliable partners, consistently strengthening the relationship between our two nations … defending international equality.”

Council says primary school in Brixham shut due to having no drinking water as cases of cryptosporidiosis investigated

A primary school in south Devon has closed as it does not have drinking water as officials investigate a local outbreak of a disease that causes sickness and diarrhoea.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said 22 cases of cryptosporidiosis, a waterborne disease caused by a microscopic parasite, had been confirmed in Brixham and more were expected. Other reported cases of diarrhoea and vomiting among residents and visitors to the town are under investigation.

Manuel Guerrero Aviña thought he was meeting a date, but was confronted by police who charged him for drug possession

The family of a gay man who was arrested in Qatar say that he was “trapped” by a fake Grindr account and that he urgently needs access to HIV medicine or his health could collapse.

Manuel Guerrero Aviña, who has dual Mexican-British citizenship, was arrested in February after arranging to meet a man named “Gio” on the dating app. When he showed up to the meeting in his apartment lobby, Aviña was instead confronted by police officers.

First non-binary person to win song contest calls for home country to allow third-gender entries on official documents

Nemo Mettler’s operatic, drum’n’bass-propelled entry won Eurovision for Switzerland last weekend, making the singer the first person who identifies as non-binary to triumph at the song contest.

Now the performer has their sights set on another milestone: convincing the Swiss authorities to allow non-binary designations on official documents.