Exclusive: Under Whitehall blueprint for water company some lenders could lose up to 40% of their money

Thames Water could be renationalised, with the bulk of its £15.6bn debt added to the public purse, under radical plans being considered by the government, the Guardian can reveal.

The blueprint, codenamed Project Timber, is being drawn up in Whitehall and would turn Britain’s biggest water company into a publicly owned arm’s-length body. Some lenders to its core operating company could lose up to 40% of their money under the plans.

Husband of Nicola Sturgeon was rearrested ‘in connection with the embezzlement of funds’ from party, say police

Peter Murrell, the husband of the former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, has been charged in connection with embezzlement after being arrested for a second time by police investigating allegations regarding the funding and finances of the Scottish National party.

Murrell, the former chief executive of the SNP, was first arrested and interviewed as a suspect by Police Scotland detectives in April 2023 at the home he shared with Sturgeon in Glasgow, but was released later that day pending further investigation.

Prime minister also seeks to assure allies Israel’s response to Iran will be measured, as officials urge him to focus on ceasefire deal

Benjamin Netanyahu has told western diplomats that he will go ahead with a ground offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza, and has also suggested that Israel’s anticipated reprisal for Iran’s missile and drone salvo will be aimed at Iranian interests rather than Tehran’s proxies.

The Israeli leader has sought to assure anxious allies that Israel’s response to Iran will be measured, while also claiming he will flood Gaza with aid and ensure that civilians and aid agencies are given ample opportunity to flee Rafah, the last relative refuge for at least 1.4 million displaced Palestinians.

Development follows Labour calling for investigation into Tory MP alleged to have misused funds to pay off ‘bad people’

• UK politics – latest updates

A Conservative MP who was suspended over allegations that campaign funds were misused to pay off “bad people” is to be contacted by police over the matter.

Keir Starmer earlier called for a police investigation into allegations that campaign funds were misused by the Fylde MP, Mark Menzies, who was also suspended as a government trade envoy to Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina.

Commission to seek approval from leaders to start talks with UK on visa-free exchanges for 18- to 30-year-olds

The European Commission has proposed opening negotiations with the UK to allow mobility enjoyed before Brexit to millions of 18- to 30-year-olds in a major concession.

It said it would now seek approval from individual EU leaders to start the talks, which could partly eliminate one of the most controversial elements of Brexit, a block on the right to live in one another’s countries, albeit for a limited period and with conditions.

Jonathan Hall, Britain’s reviewer of terrorism legislation, says more children could be exposed to encrypted extremist content

The UK’s terror watchdog has criticised Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta for lowering the minimum age for WhatsApp users from 16 to 13, warning that the “extraordinary” move could expose more teenagers to extreme content.

Jonathan Hall KC said more children could now access material that Meta cannot regulate, including content related to terror or sexual exploitation.

Poland’s national prosecutor says man was preparing to share security details of airport used by Ukrainian president

A Polish man has been arrested on allegations that he aided a plot by Russian intelligence services to assassinate Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors.

The office of Poland’s national prosecutor said in a statement that the man, identified only as Pawel K, was accused of being prepared to pass airport security information to Russian agents and that he was arrested in Poland on Wednesday.

Case comes after insiders warned of a potential ageism row last year following merger of BBC News and World News channels

The BBC is facing another damaging row over equal pay, with the presenter Martine Croxall taking legal action against the broadcaster for age and sex discrimination.

Croxall is suing the corporation after being off-air for more than a year following the merger of the BBC’s News and World News channels, according to listings for London Central tribunal court for 1 May.

Nursery worker Kate Roughley, 37, accused of manslaughter over death of Genevieve Meehan in May 2022

A Stockport nursery worker accused of killing a nine-month-old baby told the girl to “stop your whingeing” in the days before she died, a jury has heard.

Genevieve Meehan, known as Gigi, was found unresponsive in the baby room at Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, on 9 May 2022.

Rowaa Ahmar’s claims were made in the court papers of a discrimination case against the Cabinet Office

A former senior civil servant has said in court papers that “a hostile racist working environment” in the Cabinet Office meant she was “forced to resign”.

Rowaa Ahmar, who has now withdrawn a discrimination case against the Cabinet Office, said that “the racism within the Cabinet Office appeared to be unrelenting and systemic” and claimed that she was frozen out of ministerial meetings after complaining about it.