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The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images Greece is poised to send Germany a formal diplomatic note detailing its demand for billions of euros in wartime reparations after MPs voted overwhelmingly for the emotive issue to be raised officially. In a move bound to stir sentiment ahead of crucial European parliament elections, Athens vowed to pile pressure on Berlin, taking legal and diplomatic steps that will throw the spotlight on crimes committed during the brutal Nazi occupation. “It is an open issue that must be resolved,” Greece’s deputy foreign minister, Markos Bolaris, told the Guardian, hitting back at German insistence that compensation claims had been conclusively settled. “For matters of this kind there is international justice,” he said on Friday. “In all disputes the EU abides by it, on principle. Germany may say it has been resolved but what counts is international law.” Greeks suffered hugely at the hands of Hitler’s forces, enduring what Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, recently described on a visit to Greece as “unimaginable” horrors. Tens of thousands were killed in reprisals as Greeks mounted what historians would later hail as a heroic resistance against the Wehrmacht [German army], with entire villages being wiped out between 1941 and 1944. By the time the occupation ended, an estimated 300,000 people had died from famine and the country’s Jewish community had been almost entirely obliterated. The prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has raised the issue more persistently than any other to date. Despite criticism of political opportunism as European polls near, Greek MPs this week backed a resolution calling for the government to pursue demands for €300bn in damages following debate on the findings of an all-inclusive parliamentary inquiry into the German occupation. The findings have been described as the first complete reading of Nazi atrocities in Greece. In its report - compiled after in-depth research of records obtained from US national archives and Russia - the cross-party committee estimated that €11bn was owed for an interest-free “occupation loan” forcibly extracted by German forces. Gold holdings, seized from the country’s central bank in 1943, were used to fund Germany’s campaign in north Africa. A further €288bn, it said, remained outstanding for the destruction Greece sustained during the war. Berlin has long argued that recompense was delivered when, under a bilateral accord, it paid Athens DM115m in 1960. But addressing the Greek parliament, Sia Anagnostopoulou, the minister who will be heading the compensation campaign, described the reimbursement as inadequate. “The agreement did not take into account the occupation loan or reparations … they concerned individuals, victims of the Nazis,” she said, adding that the Netherlands had received a much greater sum despite having “one-hundredth” of the total number of victims of Greece. “There is an issue here with the German people and the German government with whom we are friend and allies, and we must not forget that.” Leftist MPs have long claimed that Greece’s brutal wartime experience delayed its development as a modern European state. The issue of war crimes reignited with renewed passion with the eruption of Greece’s debt crisis in late 2009 when Germany, as Europe’s paymaster, imposed punishing austerity measures as the price of emergency loans to keep the insolvent country afloat. At its height, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, was depicted in Greece in Nazi garb, wearing a swastika armband, with many Greeks drawing comparisons to the time when they lost sovereignty under Nazi rule. Although Tsipras has since tempered his rhetoric, forging visibly warm relations with the German leader, the question of war debt is likely to gain traction as Greece gears up for general elections later this year. Prior to Athens exiting its third and final bailout last summer, officials say it would have been “nonsensical” to have raised the issue. Indicative of the emotions Nazi-era crimes are still prone to elicit, within hours of the vote in the Greek parliament, the MP in charge of Warsaw’s reparations campaign announced that Poland should follow suit. Greek compensation claims pale by comparison. Warsaw was razed to the ground by the Nazis after an abortive uprising in which 200,000 civilians died. The lives of 6 million Poles - including 3 million Polish Jews - were lost. Poland, which also faces parliamentary elections this year, has since demanded €800bn in war debts it insists it is still owned by Germany.

The Queen celebrated her 93rd birthday with her family at the annual Easter Sunday service in Windsor today amid reports of upheaval in The Firm. Zara and Mike were joined by Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn.

Loose Women presenter Nadia Sawalha has a huge challenge on her hands - and her feet. She revealed on Sunday that she is one of five celebrities and 100 readers of The Sun set to take part in a trek through the Himalayas to raise money for breast cancer research. The paper's charity of choice, Coppafeel! was set up in 2009 to encourage women of all ages to check their breasts for signs of cancer and the idea is to mark their 10-year anniversary with a huge goal. So The Sun team is aiming to raise £1 million in sponsorship money from the brave volunteers who will lace up their boots, strap on their rucksacks and take on the 50-mile hike through the Indian mountain range in October.Loose Women's Nadia Sawalha is going to take part in a trek through the HimalayasAlongside Nadia will be Great British Bake Off winner Candice Brown, Frankie Bridge from The Saturdays and Olivia Buckland from Love Island (with her husband Alex Bowen in tow), as well as author and YouTube star Giovanna Fletcher, who helped to select the 100 readers who’ll also take part.MORE: See Strictly star Kevin Clifton's sweet birthday message to KarenGiovanna Fletcher is also on board Nadia has admitted to struggling with low self-esteem in the past, especially around her looks and body shape. She even put out a weight loss DVD but shared on Instagram in January that she was actually happiest when she was pregnant and so happy that it wasn’t a struggle to eat well. “My biggest problem was not being kind to myself and I found my way through it by carrying my babies,” she said. She used her experience to encourage others to appreciate their bodies, however they look, writing: “Beauty is a state of mind, confidence and self belief is what makes us all shine."READ: Buckingham Palace respond to reports that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are moving abroadShe's going to need all the strength and confidence she can muster to make it through the mountains later this year, but if she can hold her own against Carol McGiffin and Janet Street-Porter on TV, there’s no reason to think she can’t help bring home £1 million for charity.Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.

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The former England international believes the Old Trafford side need a revamp ahead of next season after poor showings recently

The Prime Minister's grip on the Tory leadership has been dealt another blow as councillors call for her to go.

There's something special about seeing a royal truly break it down. From Town & Country