DUP and Sinn Féin clash over the future of Northern Ireland’s political process. Speaking at her party’s spring conference in Ballymena, DUP leader Arlene Foster had Sinn Féin in her sights when she posed the question: “What are Sinn Fein delivering for our people?” Mrs Foster called for a ‘shadow Assembly’ to give MLAs a scrutiny role in the absence of devolution. The idea was of a transitional assembly was also championed by Naomi Long at the Alliance Party’s conference in Belfast. In contrast, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald poured cold water on the idea. She said, “Any proposed shadow Assembly would mark a retreat from power-sharing and the leadership needed to restore the Good Friday Agreement framework.” The Sinn Fein president added that, “It would be an unacceptable step backwards, lacking credibility.”

UK unwillingness to accept EU ‘backstop’ option on Irish Border. The Brexit Secretary David Davis has affirmed that the UK will agree to a ‘backstop’ text for the Irish border, but not the one proposed by the EU. Appearing on the Andrew Marr Show, Mr Davis also defined a hard border as “a very visible border, with customs posts on it.” Mr Davis was asked about a report by the Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, which found no evidence to suggest that there is currently a technical solution that would avoid infrastructure at the border. He reinforced his commitment to trusted trader schemes and technological options. Meanwhile, last week in Brussels EU leaders as well as the British Prime Minister agreed to a 21-month Brexit transition period between March 2019, when the UK officially leaves, and the end of 2020. This changeover period will only be implemented if there is also a deal on the border between the Republic of Ireland, the EU and the UK.

Catalonia’s ex-leader Puigdemont detained. Catalonia’s former president Carles Puigdemont, who is wanted by Spanish authorities for his role in recent rebellion and illegal declaration of independence by the state of Catalonia in October of last year, is being held by German police. He had been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium since Catalonia’s parliament unilaterally declared independence in October. The arrest warrant’s charges relate to the issue of rebellion and sedition that and as a result Mr Puigdemont faces up to 30 years in prison in Spain if returned and found guilty. “The president was going to Belgium to put himself, as always, at the disposal of Belgian justice,” his spokesman said. In Catalonia tensions are high, and its separatist leaders abandoned plans to name a new president following the arrest of the latest candidate, Jordi Turull, on Friday.

“The biggest gun control protest in a generation.” That’s what organisers called the #MarchForOurLives events in the US following the Florida school shooting that claimed the lives of 17 innocent people. Further demonstrations took place around the world, including in London, Paris, Mauritius, Tokyo, Stockholm, Sydney, Geneva and Berlin. One of the most emotionally charged moments came when Emma Gonzalez, one of the student survivors of the mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, took to the podium in Washington DC. Ms Gonzalez, who has been at the forefront of the recent student-led protests, delivered a powerful speech in which she listed the 17 people killed at her school by name before she fell silent for several minutes. As an alarm beeped, she switched it off and noted that six minutes and 20 seconds had passed since she first took the stage, saying they represented the exact time it took the gunman to kill her classmates, the crowd erupted into chants of “Emma, Emma,” as she left the stage.

First non-stop commercial flight from Perth to London arrives at Heathrow. In a world first Qantas Flight QF9 completed its 14,498km (9,009-mile) journey from Perth in just over 17 hours. That’s three times the flight time as the longest scheduled flight from Belfast. Qantas is using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which is twice as fuel-efficient as the Boeing 747. It is part of ambitious plans by Qantas to add ultra long-haul flights to its schedules. The Australian flag carrier’s Chief Executive, Alan Joyce, has called the new Perth-London service a “game-changing route.” Some of the passengers agreed to share data on their sleeping and activity patterns with researchers from the University of Sydney. They wore special monitors and devices that also recorded data about their mental state, eating patterns and hydration levels. Some aviation fans in the UK were up early tracking the plane’s flight path and anticipating its landing.