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The SNP has been accused of hiding the fact its accounting firm resigned six months ago after its new leader revealed it did so and implied he was not previously aware.

Humza Yousaf said Johnston Carmichael stopped doing the SNP’s accounting “round about October” of last year but he could not “comment on what was done prior to me becoming a leader of the SNP”.

The SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister did not say why they had quit then.

Mr Yousaf, who was in Nicola Sturgeon’s cabinet, agreed it was “extraordinary” that the party had failed to appoint a new set of auditors since they had resigned.

His revelation came after it emerged last week Johnston Carmichael was no longer handling the SNP’s accounts.

Days before, former party chief executive and Ms Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell was arrested and questioned by police investigating the party’s finances.

Mr Murrell, who had been in the role for 25 years, quit during the contest to find Ms Sturgeon’s successor after she unexpectedly announced her resignation.

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Last week he was questioned by Police Scotland as part of its investigation into where £600,000 of party donations earmarked for independence campaigning has gone.

Mr Murrell was released without charge “pending further investigation”, police said.

Opposition parties said Mr Yousaf’s revelation about the auditors resigning raised even further questions about who knew what about their finances.

MSP Jackson Carlaw, Scottish Conservative leader from 2019 to 2020, said: “Why did they hide it from the membership and the public? All very grubby and murky from the Nats. No wonder auditors resigned,” he tweeted.

Mr Yousaf, who was only elected leader just over two weeks ago, said one of the party’s “major priorities” is appointing new auditors “quickly”.

But he said the SNP hopes to still have its accounts prepared in time to be submitted to watchdogs at the Electoral Commission in July, although that will be “problematic”, he admitted.

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Sturgeon: Last few days ‘difficult’

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said it was “yet another massive understatement” from Mr Yousaf.

“The SNP have been without auditors for more than six months while the police investigate serious allegations about £600,000 of funds,” he said.

“The questions for Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf to answer are growing.”

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie said “the plot continues to thicken” and the fact the SNP “did not come clean about this for months stinks to high heavens”.

She added it was “deeply worrying” if they have not yet been able to replace their auditors and it is “time for the secrecy to end”.

SNP will not pay Peter Murrell’s legal fees

The first minister refused to agree to suspend Mr Murrell from the party but said it will not be paying his legal fees.

“I operate on the premise that people are innocent until proven guilty,” he told ITV Border.

“He’s obviously been questioned, as we know, under caution.

“He’s no longer the chief executive of the party – I’ll be castigated, I’m sure, if we pay his legal fees and castigated if we don’t pay his legal fees.

“So, we’ve taken the decision as a party not to pay those legal fees given he’s no longer the chief executive of the party I think that’s pretty reasonable.”

Read more: Sturgeon will ‘fully cooperate’ with police inquiry after husband arrested

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Police outside Nicola Sturgeon’s house

Mr Yousaf insisted the SNP remains in a “position of strength” and has the opportunity to rebuild under his leadership.

He said he has asked the SNP’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) to carry out a review into governance and transparency, with a motion to be presented at a meeting on Saturday.

He also said he would “very imminently” confirm if he will launch legal action against the UK government after it blocked a bill backed by MSPs that would have made it easier and quicker to change gender.

During his leadership campaign he made it clear the block was an “undemocratic veto over legislation that was passed by a majority of the Scottish Parliament”.

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Trump ‘very disappointed’ in Russian strikes on Ukraine and calls for Putin to ‘sit down and sign a deal’

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Trump 'very disappointed' in Russian strikes on Ukraine and calls for Putin to 'sit down and sign a deal'

Donald Trump has said he’s “very disappointed” with Russia as he continues to push for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.

On Saturday, the US president met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican for their first face-to-face meeting since their explosive White House summit.

The Ukrainian president said the meeting ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral could end up being “historic.” Hours later, Mr Trump questioned Vladimir Putin’s appetite for peace in a Truth Social post.

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From Saturday: Trump meets Zelenskyy at funeral

Speaking before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, Mr Trump again said the meeting went well, and that the Ukrainian leader was “calmer”.

“I think he understands the picture, I think he wants to make a deal,” he said, before turning to Mr Putin and Russia.

“I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal,” the US president said, adding he was “very disappointed that they did the bombing of those places (including Kyiv, where nine people were killed in a Russian airstrike on Friday) after discussions”.

However, Mr Trump said he thinks Mr Zelenskyy is ready to give up Crimea, which the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly said he would refuse to do.

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He added that “we’ll see what happens in the next few days” and said “don’t talk to me about Crimea, talk to Obama and Biden about Crimea”.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, while Barack Obama was president.

Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Sky’s US partner network NBC News that a peace deal to end the war was “closer in general than they’ve been any time in the last three years, but it’s still not there”.

“If this was an easy war to end, it would have been ended by someone else a long time ago,” he added on the Meet the Press show.

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It comes after North Korea confirmed it had deployed troops to fight for Russia, months after Ukraine and Western officials said its forces were in Europe.

State media outlet KCNA reported North Korean soldiers made an “important contribution” to expelling Ukrainian forces from Russian territory, likely to be the Kursk region.

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KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un made the decision to deploy troops to Russia and notified Moscow, and quoted him as saying: “They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland.”

It also quoted the country’s ruling Workers’ Party as saying the end of the battle to liberate Kursk showed the “highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship” between North Korea and Russia.

Last June, Mr Kim and Mr Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty after a state visit – his first to the country in 24 years.

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From June 2024: Putin drives Kim around in luxury limo during state visit

The North Korean leader promised at the time “full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine”.

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40 killed in blast at Iran’s biggest port as Tehran denies explosion ‘linked to fuel for missiles’

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40 killed in blast at Iran's biggest port as Tehran denies explosion 'linked to fuel for missiles'

At least 40 people have been killed and several hundred more injured after an explosion and fire at Iran’s largest port, according to state media.

The blast, at the Shahid Rajaei container hub near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, happened on Saturday as Iran held a third round of talks with the US in Oman about Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Shipping containers burned, goods inside were badly damaged and the explosion was so powerful that windows several miles away were shattered, reports said.

Iranian Red Crescent rescuers work at the site of the blast. Pic: Reuters
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Iranian Red Crescent rescuers work at the site of the blast. Pic: Reuters

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The blast at the Shahid Rajaei port happened as Iran and the US met for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Helicopters and aircraft dumped water from the air on the blaze and by Sunday afternoon it was 90% extinguished, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society told state media.

Officials said port activities had resumed in unaffected parts of Shahid Rajaei.

Out of the 752 people who had received treatment for their injuries, 190 were still being treated in medical centres on Sunday, according to Iran’s crisis management organisation.

Chemicals at the port were suspected to have worsened the blast, but the exact cause of the explosion was not clear.

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Iran’s defence ministry denied international media reports that the explosion may be connected to the mishandling of solid fuel used for missiles.

The reports were “aligned with enemy psyops [psychological operations]”, according to a ministry spokesperson, who told state TV the blast-hit area did not contain any military cargo.

Firefighters work to extinguish the fire. Pic: AP
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Firefighters work to extinguish the blaze. Pic: AP

Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

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According to the Associated Press, British security company Ambrey said that the port in March received sodium perchlorate, which is used to propel ballistic missiles and the mishandling of which could have led to the explosion.

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The Financial Times previously reported two Iranian vessels had shipped from China enough of the ingredient to propel up to 260 mid-range missiles.

It was reportedly to help Tehran replenish stocks after its missile attacks on Israel in 2024.

Iran’s military has sought to deny the delivery of sodium perchlorate from China.

Iran’s state-run Irna news agency reported on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed several emergency aircraft to Bandar Abbas to provide help.

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Pilgrims travel to Pope Francis’s tomb to remember the late pontiff

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Pilgrims travel to Pope Francis's tomb to remember the late pontiff

Anna and Irene have already been queuing for an hour or so, and they know they have a long wait still to come.

“Two hours, three hours, ten hours – what does it matter?” says Irena. “This is about eternity.”

They have come to Rome from Slovenia, Catholics who felt “Papa Francis would have wanted us to be here”.

People take photos of the grave of late Pope Francis inside St. Mary Major Basilica.
Pic: AP/Andrew Medichini
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People take photos of the grave of late Pope Francis inside St. Mary Major Basilica. Pic: AP/Andrew Medichini

A single white rose left on the tomb. Pic: Vatican
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A single white rose left on the tomb. Pic: Vatican

And under the sun outside Santa Maria Maggiore, they are awaiting the opportunity to visit his tomb.

Francis, says Irena, “was like a rainbow” who lit up the world. Anna nods along: “We are so happy to be here.”

The Pope’s tomb has become a new source of pilgrimage.

More than 30,000 people came to view it during the first morning after the Pope’s funeral, the queue snaking from the front of the mighty basilica and then up and down across the square at the back.

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Some were curious visitors, others were devout followers – priests and nuns mixing in the queue with tourists and devoted locals.

All of these admired Francis; a very few actually knew him.

Father Alessandro Masseroni is a deacon who came to Rome to train to become a priest. On his phone, he shows me a photo of him and Francis, with the Pope offering words of encouragement.

Father Alessandro Masseroni meeting the Pope
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Father Alessandro Masseroni meeting the Pope

He says: “I had the honour to serve Pope Francis and to talk to him many times and it was a special experience. I understand why he was so loved by all the people – he was simple and direct.

“He was sunny. St Francis was his role model and when I saw the first picture of the Pope’s tomb, the first thing I thought was of the tomb of St Francis of Assisi.

“Pope Francis will leave a legacy – it doesn’t end with his death but will continue.”

People attend the funeral Mass of Pope Francis at the Vatican, April 26, 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
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People attend the funeral of Pope Francis. Pic: Reuters/Yara Nardi

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Video shows Pope’s tomb

What are your emotions now, as you wait to visit his tomb, I ask. Father Alessandro pauses and smiles.

“Many emotions of course, but mainly, I think… thankfulness.”

That has been a recurring aspect among so many of the people we have met in Rome over the past week – the sense that sadness for Francis’s death is outweighed by the sense that his was a life that should be celebrated.

Volodymyr Borysyak flew in from London on the morning of the Pope’s funeral to make his third pilgrimage to Rome.

Barely had he arrived than his phone was stolen, a crime he responded to by praying for the thief.

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Volodymyr is a refugee from western Ukraine who worries that his home country’s plight is being forgotten by some of the world.

Now, the Pope who inspired him has died.

You might imagine that he would be resentful and angry. Instead, he is full of smiles.

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The farewell to Pope Francis

“We are happy to be the pilgrims of the world and this is a special day,” he tells me. “I know the pope used to pray in this basilica so that is why we will stay so long here to visit Santa Maria Maggiore.

“I think Pope Francis was, is and will be the pope for the world, because of the mercy of his heart and his love for everybody.”

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