A French priest has been jailed for five years for sexually abusing dozens of children in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. Bernard Preynat, 74, admitted abusing boy scouts while a scout leader in Lyon. During his trial, he had told the court he had not understood how serious or grave his crimes were.

“It took me time to learn it was wrong and condemned given the age of the children,” he said in January. Preynat assaulted at least 80 young boys between the ages of seven and 15. Ten of his victims testified at the four-day trial. The abuse took place between 1971 and 1991.

Prosecutors sought an eight-year jail term, and accused Preynat of “shattering” his victims’ lives. Last July, Mr Preynat was defrocked – stripped of his clerical status – after a church tribunal ruled he had committed “criminal acts of sexual character against minors under [the age of] 16”. Representatives of victims also accused Preynat’s superior, Philippe Barbarin, of covering up the abuse. Mr Barbarin, who became archibishop of Lyon in 2002, was originally handed a six-month suspended sentence in March 2019 for not reporting Preynat’s crimes, but this conviction was overturned by an appeals court in January. At the time his lawyer hailed the verdict, saying the court had judged “the cardinal never intended to obstruct justice”.(BBC)…[+]

French-born chef and restaurateur Michel Roux has died aged 79. He passed away on Wednesday night surrounded by his family at home in Bray, Berkshire, after battling a long-standing lung condition. Roux and his brother Albert made gastronomic history when their London restaurant, Le Gavroche, became the first three Michelin-starred restaurant in Britain in 1982.

A family statement said Roux’s “star will shine forever”. His son Alain and daughters, Francine and Christine, on behalf of the family, said he was “a father figure inspiring all with his insatiable appetite for life and irresistible enthusiasm”. “We are grateful to have shared our lives with this extraordinary man and we’re so proud of all he’s achieved,” they added. “A humble genius, legendary chef, popular author and charismatic teacher, Michel leaves the world reeling in his wake. “But above all, we will miss his mischievous sense of fun, his huge, bottomless heart and generosity and kindness that knew no bounds. Michel’s star will shine forever lighting the way for a generation of chefs to follow.”(BBC)…[+]

Former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning is recovering in hospital after trying to take her own life, her legal team has said. Police confirmed there was “an incident” involving Manning, 32, at a detention centre in Virginia where she has been held since last May. Manning was remanded for contempt of court for refusing to testify before an inquiry into Wikileaks.

She is due to appear before a court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Friday. Andy Stepanian, a spokesman for Manning’s legal team, said she continued to refuse to “participate in a secret grand jury process that she sees as highly susceptible to abuse”. “Her actions today evidence the strength of her convictions, as well as the profound harm she continues to suffer as a result of her ‘civil’ confinement,” Mr Stepanian said.(BBC)…[+]

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is self-isolating over coronavirus fears, his office has announced. Mr Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau, began to show mild symptoms of illness late on Wednesday after a speaking engagement in the UK. The couple are staying home until the tests results are returned. Mr Trudeau is not exhibiting any symptoms. There are currently approximately 103 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Canada.

Under his doctor’s advice, he is continuing daily activities while monitoring his health but “out of an abundance of caution” he is working from home, the statement said. A number of politicians around the globe have been self-isolating in recent days after coming into possible contact with the virus, including five senior US Republicans and a Canadian cabinet minister. But Mr Trudeau is among the first world leaders to take the precautionary step. Mongolia’s president recently returned to work following a 14-day quarantine after a visit to China in February.

The prime minister was scheduled to hold meetings over the next two days in Ottawa with provincial premiers and First Nations leaders. Those meetings have been postponed.(BBC)…[+]

Health minister and Conservative MP Nadine Dorries has been diagnosed with coronavirus. Ms Dorries said she has been self-isolating at home. Labour MP Rachael Maskell said she has since been told to do the same as she had met Ms Dorries. The Department of Health said Ms Dorries first showed symptoms on Thursday – the same day she attended an event hosted by the prime minister.

Six people with the virus have died in the UK, which has a total of 382 cases. The latest person to die was a man in his early 80s who had underlying health conditions. Meanwhile, a 53-year-old British woman has become the first person with Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, to die in Indonesia, according to local media reports.

It is not clear whether the woman – who was reportedly critically ill with multiple health conditions – died due to the virus. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it is “supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Indonesia and are in contact with local authorities”.(BBC)…[+]

Two Russian pranksters claim they duped the Duke of Sussex into making comments about quitting the Royal Family. One of the pair, Alexey Stolyarov, told the BBC Prince Harry discussed various issues after they impersonated teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and her father in two phone calls.

In the calls, Prince Harry is said to criticise Donald Trump over climate change and describe his decision to end official royal duties as “not easy”. Buckingham Palace did not comment. Mr Stolyarov – who performs as part of a duo with Vladimir Kuznetsov – told the BBC’s Moscow correspondent Sarah Rainsford quotes of the two calls published exclusively by the Sun newspaper are “accurate”. The BBC has been unable to verify the authenticity of the phone calls, made on New Year’s Eve and 22 January.

The Sun reported on Wednesday that, in one call, Harry said of his decision to step back as a senior royal: “Sometimes the right decision isn’t always the easy one.” “And this decision certainly wasn’t the easy one but it was the right decision for our family, the right decision to be able to protect my son,” the duke added, according to the Sun. “And I think there’s a hell of a lot of people around the world that can identify and respect us for putting our family first.”(BBC)…[+]

One of the world’s biggest music festivals has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Coachella was set to take place next month in the California desert with Rage Against The Machine and Frank Ocean among the headliners. The event’s organiser Goldenvoice has now postponed it until October, at the request of local health authorities.

They hope to feature most of the same acts that were originally slated for April, reported the LA Times. Latest figures show the US has more than 1,000 confirmed cases of the disease and 28 deaths. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is one of the world’s most high-profile music events with many celebrity attendees. This year hundreds of acts were set to perform including Travis Scott, Calvin Harris and Lana Del Rey. Stagecoach, a country music festival organised by the same company, has also been moved from April to October. “While this decision comes at a time of universal uncertainty, we take the safety and health of our guests, staff and community very seriously,” Goldenvoice said in a statement.(BBC)…[+]

Former President Bill Clinton says his affair with Monica Lewinsky was a way of managing his anxieties. He made the remarks as part of a documentary series titled “Hillary” which looks at the public life of 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Mr Clinton was impeached in 1998 for lying to investigators about his relationship with Ms Lewinsky. He was acquitted at his Senate trial. Ms Lewinsky was a 22-year-old White House intern at the time of the affair.

Mr Clinton told documentary markers Hulu: “What I did was bad but it wasn’t like I thought, let’s think about the most stupid thing I could possibly do and do it.” “You feel like you’re staggering around – you’ve been in a 15-round prize-fight that was extended to 30 rounds, and here’s something that’ll take your mind off it for a while. Everybody has life’s pressures and disappointments and terrors, fears or whatever, things I did to manage my anxieties for years.“(BBC)…[+]

Gunmen have killed more than 30 people during a ceremony attended by top Afghan politicians in Kabul. The country’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, escaped unharmed, but dozens of others were wounded. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility. It targeted the same event, which commemorates the death of an Afghan Shia leader, in 2019. The attack was the first major one in Kabul since a deal was signed between the US and the Taliban last Saturday. That agreement aims to bring peace to Afghanistan. However, IS were not involved in negotiations.(BBC)…[+]

A 14-year-old boy believed to have been abducted over his step-brother’s multi-million drug debt is home with his parents, Toronto Police say.  The teenager was forced into a jeep on Wednesday in the city’s north end. He was found “dishevelled” but safe in a Toronto suburb late on Thursday. Police say that the boy had no connections to drugs and crime and was an innocent victim.

They are still looking for those responsible for the abduction. The saga began around 08:30 (13:30 GMT) on Wednesday in Toronto, when police received reports of a disturbance. Witnesses reported seeing someone being pushed into a Jeep Wrangler  with oversized tyres, shouting “help me”. The boy’s school failed to immediately report his absence to his parents, who only grew concerned when he failed to return home that afternoon and went to police.(BBC)…[+]