Former advisers and ministers say outbreak makes job for chancellor harderChancellor Rishi Sunak will have to rethink key parts of the budget next week because of growing fears that the spread of the coronavirus will trigger a global economic downturn, economists, former government ministers and advisers have warned.Related: Britain’s economy dangerously exposed as coronavirus fear grips global markets Continue reading...

Papers show Telegraph article was in briefing pack before historic speech on EuropeMargaret Thatcher’s infamous “No, no, no” retort to Jacques Delors, a historic moment in the UK’s relationship with Europe, which also had the effect of precipitating her downfall, was partly inspired by an article penned by a young journalist named Boris Johnson, her newly released private papers show.In 1990, 30 years before Johnson took the UK out of the European Union, an article he penned as the Telegraph’s EC (European Community) correspondent warning of the threat the EC posed to national sovereignty was in Thatcher’s briefing pack as she delivered the combative speech to parliament. Continue reading...

As the PM who likes to style himself as the Generation X John Howard knows all too well: what good is a conservative who can’t keep Australians safe?Have you heard the Morrison government has a plan?The Plan® was very hard to miss, given the prime minister used the word “plan” or “plans” more than 20 times when he answered his first Dorothy Dixer in question time on Thursday. Lest any ambiguity remain, Peter Dutton went on to utter “plan” another 16 times if you happened to be counting, and our indefatigable live blogger, Amy Remeikis, bless her, was counting. Continue reading...

In week in which Covid-19 jumped fence into Europe, serious questions emerge over continent’s preparedness

US condemns attack which Turkish official says killed 33 of its soldiers, in Ankara’s worst day of the conflict so farDozens of Turkish soldiers have been killed in an airstrike in Syria’s Idlib province, in a dramatic escalation in the battle for control of the country’s last opposition stronghold.Turkish officials said at least 33 of its military personnel were killed in the attack on Thursday night, and more than 30 others injured. Military sources among moderate and jihadist rebel factions fighting in the north-western province bordering Turkey said the deaths followed a precision strike on a two-storey building in the village of Balioun. Continue reading...

Mohammad Zubair, a Muslim, was brutally attacked as Delhi experienced some of its worst religious riots in decades. ‘My clothes were drenched in blood,’ he said of his ordeal. Muslims and Hindus across the region have been mourning their loved ones after dozens of people were killed in the latest wave of violence Continue reading...

Government document reveals plans to ditch tool that allows for fast extradition of criminals

UK reports two new cases as outbreak spreads and losses on stock markets mount

Deployment of 100,000 ducks to worst locust plague in 20 years less damaging than pesticidesChina is planning to dispatch a 100,000-strong army of ducks to help Pakistan combat a massive locust infestation, a local newspaper reported on Thursday.The legion of lotus-eating waterfowl will be sent from the eastern province of Zhejiang following the earlier arrival of a team of Chinese experts in Pakistan to advise on how to tackle the infestation, said to be the worst in 20 years, the Ningbo Evening News said. Continue reading...

Airline, broadcaster and drinks group also among affected firms

The defendants have been held in Rome’s Regina Coeli prison in Rome since the arrestTwo US students have appeared in an Italian court on the first day of their trial over the fatal stabbing last year of a policeman during a botched drugs bust.Finnegan Lee Elder, 20, and fellow student Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 19, are charged with murdering Mario Cerciello Rega in central Rome on 26 July in an incident that shocked Italians. Continue reading...

Brand ambassador pledges ‘work will be done’ after children are filmed toiling on Guatemalan farms believed to supply companyGeorge Clooney has said he is “surprised and saddened” by the alleged discovery of child labour on farms used by coffee giant Nespresso, the brand for which he has long served as ambassador.The Oscar-winning actor and director, who during school holidays worked on his own family’s tobacco farm in Kentucky, vowed that “work will be done” to improve conditions after a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, due to air next week, filmed children picking coffee beans and hauling sacks on six Guatemalan farms believed to supply Nespresso. Continue reading...

Green space in Allerton will feature works by local artists inspired by his lyricsA memorial green space honouring the Beatles guitarist George Harrison is to open in Liverpool next year.The project, named the George Harrison Woodland Walk, was announced on Tuesday on what would have been the late musician’s 77th birthday. It will be built on a 12-acre site in Allerton in the south of Liverpool, close to the suburb of Wavertree where he grew up. Continue reading...

The actor and activist said her own allegations against Weinstein would not go to court as the statute of limitations had passedRose McGowan has described Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction as a watershed moment and claimed that he “could be one of the biggest serial rapists in history”.McGowan, who emerged as one of the most high-profile figures in efforts to expose Weinstein after the New York Times reported in 2017 that she had received $100,000 from Weinstein as a settlement over an alleged rape in 1997. It is one of a string of instances in which women are believed to have received payments. Continue reading...

Atrocities are committed when societies are indifferent, treasurer warned during a speech at the war memorialJosh Frydenberg has used a speech at the Australian War Memorial to warn the far right is on the rise in Australia and around the world, and to argue horrors are perpetrated when societies lapse into indifference.Following a speech earlier in the week where Australia’s top intelligence chief warned the threat of rightwing extremism in Australia was real and growing, the treasurer used remarks on Wednesday at the opening of an exhibition about the Holocaust to warn denial was on the rise. Continue reading...

Calls for sachets to be included in UK and European legislation banning other single-use itemsThe government must act urgently to stamp out the “curse” of single-use plastic sachets, billions of which are helping to fuel the global plastics crisis, campaigners are warning.A coalition of more than 50 business leaders, politicians and campaigners is demanding that the plastic sachets – used for everything from ketchup to shampoo – be included in European and UK legislation outlawing other “throwaway” items such as plastic straws and cotton buds. Continue reading...

Countries question whether to attend amid questions over division in the west and Russian military actionRussian ceremonies in May to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the second world war are posing an increasingly urgent dilemma for western capitals on whether to go – and who to send.Discussions have been under way for some weeks between UK and US officials on a coordinated response. But the decision is complicated by the unpredictability of Donald Trump, and by Emmanuel Macron’s decision to accept Vladimir Putin’s invitation to the 9 May victory parade as part of his diplomatic overture to Moscow, without consulting Nato allies. Continue reading...

Debbie Zurick, 56, killed in Somerset while her husband is believed to be in hospital with serious injuriesA dog breeder who supplied spaniels to the rich and famous has been shot dead in Somerset near the rural estate of the prime minister’s father.Debbie Zurick, 56, was found with severe injuries outside a cottage near the hamlet of Winsford, which is close to Stanley Johnson’s estate. Continue reading...

NSW health minister says the baboons were being transported to RPA so one could have a vasectomyThree baboons being transported to a major Sydney hospital so one of them could have a vasectomy escaped from their truck on Tuesday afternoon, triggering sightings around the hospital, a police response and widespread interest online.Callers to Sydney talkback radio station 2GB were first to report they’d seen primates running about the area of the Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) hospital, which is just outside the central business district and adjacent to the University of Sydney. Continue reading...

Model and actor is one of dozens of women to pursue a civil law suit against disgraced Hollywood powerbrokerOne of the first women to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault says his conviction has come as a “shock” to her.Zoë Brock, a New Zealand model, actor and writer, is one of dozens of women to take a civil law suit against Weinstein. Along with other accusers, she was offered a settlement by Weinstein’s lawyers last year, but says she is yet to accept the money and wants to pursue further legal action against him. Continue reading...

Wang Xining stuck to party lines even as ABC panel audience laughed at his claims that Uighurs are voluntarily in ‘training centres’China’s number two diplomat in Australia, Wang Xining, has defended shocking footage showing people suspected of having coronavirus being forcibly pushed into vans as justified, and described the detention camps used to hold an estimated one million people, mostly Uighurs, as “training centres” whose residents are “mostly” there voluntarily.In a rare public appearance on the ABC’s Q&A on Monday night, Wang grimly held to party lines even as he was laughed at by audience members for his defence of the Chinese government’s treatment of Uighurs and challenged by other panellists over the country’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Continue reading...

Charlotte Nokes died aged 38 in her cell at the Sodexo-run Peterborough prison in 2016An artist who died in a private prison told members of her family the indeterminate term she was serving was “like a death sentence”, a jury has heard.Charlotte Nokes was suffering from physical and mental health problems when she died aged 38 in her cell in Peterborough prison, run by the outsourcing corporation Sodexo, on 23 July 2016, an inquest into her death was told. Continue reading...

Settlement comes after tribunal ruled that Ahmed should have been paid same as fellow presenter Jeremy VineThe BBC has decided not to appeal against the equal pay case involving the Newswatch presenter Samira Ahmed after she won an employment tribunal against the broadcaster, giving hope to other women seeking back pay from the national broadcaster.Ahmed successfully claimed she was owed almost £700,000 in back pay because of the difference between her £440-an-episode rate and the £3,000 an episode Jeremy Vine received for hosting Points of View, a similar programme to Newswatch. Continue reading...

Queensland coroner says ‘shoddy record keeping’ contributed to accident on Thunder River Rapids ride in October 2016The Queensland coroner has detailed “irresponsible”, “dangerous” and “inadequate” safety practices at the Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast that contributed to the deaths of four people on a ride three years ago.Coroner James McDougall is delivering his findings after a 2018 inquest into the deaths of Cindy Low, who was a New Zealander, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi in October 2016. Continue reading...

As we continue to see impacts from global heating around the world, research in the places first affected becomes increasingly more important. Off the coast of Tasmania the oceans are heating and it’s one of a handful of places around the world that have seen an increase of 2C in a short time. In this episode of Full Story, we go to Tasmania to see how this has impacted on fishing industries and marine ecosystems Continue reading...

Firms demand assurances their testimony will not be used against them in a criminal caseThe Grenfell Tower public inquiry has been delayed again over demands from companies involved in the disastrous refurbishment that their evidence should not be used to help jail them.The inquiry into the 2017 disaster that killed 72 people was due to restart on Monday after a three-week postponement but will not restart until at least the beginning of March. Continue reading...

Art fair founder says western institutions belatedly investing in contemporary art from AfricaMajor western culture institutions – including Tate and MoMA – are “playing catch up” to create truly global collections that recognise modern art from the Africa, according to the founder of an influential art fair devoted for contemporary African art.Touria El Glaoui, the director and founder of 1-54, said that only in the last decade have institutions begun to take it seriously. Continue reading...

Labor broadens attack on grant programs, arguing the urban congestion fund was used to promote Coalition candidatesThe Senate inquiry into sports rorts has decided to call the head of the public service, Phil Gaetjens, and the former sport minister Bridget McKenzie.Guardian Australia understands the decision, taken on Friday, will mean the pair are asked to appear at a 16 March hearing to answer questions about McKenzie’s handling of the $100m community sport infrastructure grant program and Gaetjens’ report that contradicted the auditor general’s conclusion it was skewed towards marginal and target seats. Continue reading...

More than half of the country’s 602 cases have been traced to a church in DaeguSunday morning found Kim Tae-woo sitting in his convenience store at the normally bustling East Daegu train station, counting the day’s customers on the fingers of one hand.“Thing are beyond quiet here,” he said. “It feels like I’m at a meditation centre. I’m thinking of removing the magazine stand. No one has the peace of mind to flip through them now.” Continue reading...

Former French presidential candidate faces accusations of misusing over €1m to employ wife in allegedly non-existent roleFormer French presidential hopeful François Fillon will stand trial for embezzlement in the aftermath of a “fake” jobs scandal that destroyed his political career.Fillon, 65, who was on track to lead France in 2017, will appear in court with his Welsh-born wife, Penelope. Continue reading...

Giuseppe Conte says cases of the the Covid-19 virus in Italy have risen dramatically in the past two days. The prime minister told a press conference Italy would not try to suspend the Schengen treaty as such a measure would be disproportionate.Schools in Milan will be closed, however, and people will not be allowed in and out of affected areas. Social and sporting events in Lombardy and Veneto have also been cancelled. As of Sunday morning, there were 89 confirmed coronavirus cases in Lombardy – with two in its industrial centre, Milan – 16 in Veneto, three in Piedmont – including two in Turin – and two in Emilia-Romagna

Labour leadership candidate responds to criticism of Labour Campaign for Trans RightsLisa Nandy has said she was given “pause for thought” about signing a pledge card from the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights.The pledge calls on candidates in the Labour leadership race to back the expulsion of party members who hold “bigoted, transphobic views”. Continue reading...

Sussexes say monarchy has no jurisdiction over use of word ‘royal’ overseasThe freeze in relations between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Buckingham Palace has become apparent after the couple were forced to drop plans to use the brand “SussexRoyal”.Posts on the couple’s official website suggest they are angry at the way the decision was reached and how they have been treated compared with other royals. A statement on Friday night suggested that a blanket ban on the use of the word “royal” was unenforceable abroad. “There is not,” it noted, “any jurisdiction by the monarchy or Cabinet Office over the use of the word ‘royal’ overseas.” Continue reading...

Police watchdog says global witness hunt has slowed investigation of PM’s friendship with entrepreneur when he was London mayorThe police regulator says it has been tracking down witnesses across the world, as it seeks to explain why it has yet to decide whether to launch an investigation into Boris Johnson and his relationship with the US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri.Since late September the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has been evaluating whether to investigate the prime minister for possible criminal misconduct over his friendship with Arcuri when he was mayor of London. Continue reading...

Melanie Chisholm tells Desert Island Discs of her struggle to cope with fameMelanie Chisholm, the former Spice Girl Mel C, dates her past struggle with eating disorders and depression back to an incident at a Brit awards ceremony, she reveals on Desert Island Discs on 23 February.In 1996, before the girl group was officially launched, Chisholm was almost chucked out of the Spice Girls for unruly behaviour, following “a scuffle between me and Victoria” that she has only recently admitted to. Continue reading...

WA Indigenous affairs minister Ben Wyatt said decision was ‘regrettable’ and Greens senator Rachel Siewert called it ‘hurtful’The Western Australian branch of the RSL has withdrawn its ban on the performance of Welcome to Country ceremonies and the flying of the Aboriginal flag at all of its Anzac and Remembrance Day services.In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, RSLWA had said that while it supported the right to fly the Indigenous flag and make a Welcome to Country dedication at official ceremonies, “What RSL is not supportive of is the use of Welcome to Country as part of the actual service itself in terms of the Dawn Service of ANZAC Day and the 11am Service at Remembrance Day”. Continue reading...

Freed from the need to defend their last stronghold, the jihadists there will be well placed to regroup and take the struggle undergroundOutsiders can be forgiven for being tired of the Syrian conflict. After all, the violence has lasted for nearly a decade and the worst chapters – for outsiders, at least – have come and gone: Islamic State (Isis) seized almost half the country, in addition to one-third of Iraq and launched a global network of terror in 2014. But the world has now caught its breath and the threat has all but ended. Refugees, too, flooded Europe some years ago but the influx has been contained.Also, expert warnings about a resurgence of violence or extremism did not materialise and the return of state control seems to be the steady trajectory of the conflict despite persistent problems. Most of the country is currently under the control of either the regime, Turkey or the United States-backed Kurdish forces in eastern Syria. Even in the Kurdish zone, many would concede that it might be just a matter of time before these areas are recaptured by Damascus, even without much fighting, if and when the US eventually ends its presence there. Continue reading...

Fishing was a powerful factor in the case for leaving the EU. On the eve of crucial trade talks, the Observer finds optimism tempered by caution on the quays of Devon and CornwallNeil Watson was eight or nine when his dad took him out to sea for the first time. Soon he was earning his first pocket money by washing fish boxes on the quay at Brixham in south Devon. Three years after he started crewing, he got his skipper’s ticket and eventually he bought his own boat. For 30 years, he regularly spent seven days at sea followed by one night off, only stopping when his boat sank two years ago.“I fished through good times and bad times. Fishing’s like riding a wave – one minute you’re up the top, and the next you’re down in the trough,” he said. Now Watson works at Brixham’s fish market, one of the largest in England, where £40m of fish was sold last year across the UK and Europe. A fisherman’s life is brutal, he said, but he badly misses the camaraderie. Continue reading...

Crunch negotiations begin next monthDowning Street is accusing the EU of being in disarray over its plans for a post-Brexit trade deal, in the latest deterioration of relations ahead of crunch talks next month.Boris Johnson will also unveil his blueprint for a US trade deal next week, in a move designed to heap further pressure on Brussels. However, EU sources regard the hostile briefings as a bluff from the prime minister’s team, saying that their pre-negotiation plans are on track. Continue reading...

Families enter Sydney Olympic Park service through a guard of honour, with a row of 25 candles marking each life lostThe scars remain but traumatised communities are starting to heal as a state memorial honoured the lives lost and the heroes forged in the New South Wales bushfire crisis.A public state memorial was held at Sydney Olympic Park on Sunday to recognise the devastating toll of the bushfires that ripped through much of NSW. Continue reading...

US ‘hypocritical’ to seek Wikileaks founder’s extradition but not send Anne Sacoolas back to UK for trial over son’s deathThe family of Harry Dunn has called for Julian Assange not to be extradited as long as the United States refuses to send the suspect in the teenager’s death back to Britain.The family has have accused the US government of “demonstrating an extraordinary amount of hypocrisy” in seeking the Wikileaks founder’s extradition but rejecting a request for Anne Sacoolas to return to Britain. Continue reading...

French president says fishing rights will be key point of contention for negotiationsFrench president Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said he was “not sure” it would be possible for the European Union and Britain to reach a trade deal by the end of the year.Britain and the EU are about to embark on negotiations aiming to hammer out a trade agreement by the time the post-Brexit transition period shuts at the end of December. Continue reading...

Jean Vanier of L’Arche, an international community supporting disabled people, had ‘manipulative sexual relationships’A respected Catholic figure who worked to improve conditions for people with developmental disabilities for more than half a century sexually abused at least six women during most of that period, according to a report released on Saturday by the France-based charity he founded.The report produced for L’Arche International said the women’s descriptions provided enough evidence to show that Jean Vanier engaged in “manipulative sexual relationships” from 1970 to 2005, usually with a “psychological hold” over the alleged victims. Continue reading...

Political pledges of action to deal with far-right terrorism are met with scepticismDays after terror struck in the heart of its community, something like normality returned to the streets and cafes of Hanau yesterday. On Freigerichtstrasse on the eastern side of town, people once again gathered in one of the multifunction spaces that act as sports bars, betting shops and shisha stores, to have a smoke or a hot drink with friends.“Am I scared? I guess it is scary,” said the Romanian woman who runs the venue. “But more importantly, would you like a cup of tea?” Continue reading...

President Erdoğan announces meeting with Putin and Merkel to discuss Idlib crisisTensions in north-west Syria continued to escalate on Saturday after another Turkish soldier was killed in a bomb attack by Russian-backed government forces.Turkey’s 16th military death in Idlib province came as fighting has intensified, huge numbers of people have been displaced, and talks between Ankara and Moscow have stalled. Continue reading...

Business brands promote a fundraising message of empathy following the death of the Love Island hostScanning the magazine aisle at her local supermarket last weekend, Nikki Evans suddenly felt sick. She was stocking up on celebrity and gossip weeklies for her beauty salon when she realised that she couldn’t face buying them any more.“It’s awful that it took the passing of Caroline [Flack] for people to stop and think ‘enough is enough’, but I re-evaluated and looked at all these magazines and I couldn’t see anything positive in them,” she told the Observer. “People come to my salon to feel good; we’re all about wellbeing and wellness, and I’m going to hand them magazines calling people trash? I’m done with it.” Continue reading...

The unexpected show of approval came as the French president is faced with ever more protestsSomething unusual happened to President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday: he was praised by a member of the French public.“Well done for holding firm in Brussels,” said a farmer at France’s annual agricultural show. Continue reading...

Those who stressed and sacrificed repaying Centrelink debts they could not disprove under a scandal-hit scheme are yet to be offered refundsOver Christmas, Andrea Godwin’s fridge broke down. It was the worst timing for a working mother of two young boys, let alone someone who also relies on Centrelink to get by.At times like these Godwin would usually request an advance on her parenting payment. But these days she is barred from accessing them. Centrelink claims she owes it money – an $8,500 robodebt. Continue reading...