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Setback for London Stock Exchange after travel company says it plans to put proposal to shareholders at AGM

Former Liberal staffer Nicky Hamer tells Bruce Lehrmann's defamation trial she resigned from Linda Reynolds' office over alleged behaviourFormer Liberal media adviser Nicky Hamer has told the federal court she was so angry about Bruce Lehrmann grabbing Brittany Higgins' phone in an attempt to stop her leaving the pub one night she resigned from senator Linda Reynolds' office hours later.Hamer said in early March 2019, three weeks before the night Higgins claims Lehrmann raped her, Lehrmann said he thought Higgins was good looking" and asked Hamer to invite her to the pub for a drink. Continue reading...

NSW premier Chris Minns hails once-in-a-generation opportunity' to maximise housing and add new stations along Metro route

Category three cyclone, which is moving through Coral Sea, predicted to hit Queensland coast next week

Damion Johnson told police he was overcome with grief' after death of John WainwrightA man who stored a friend's body in a freezer for two years after being overcome with grief" over his death has been jailed.Damion Johnson was sentenced to two years in prison after admitting to preventing the lawful and decent burial of the body of John Wainwright, as well as three counts of fraud. Continue reading...

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Briefings of favourable stories to press have contained usual lies and bluster', bereaved families sayBoris Johnson has been accused of trying to rewrite history in advance of his appearance at the Covid inquiry on Wednesday, as unions and relatives of those who died said his team had been briefing favourable stories to newspapers.The TUC and Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, both core participants for this module of the inquiry, said the briefings had been about trying to salvage his legacy and contained the usual lies and bluster". Continue reading...

Former prime minister to give evidence as mystery deepens over retrieval of WhatsApp messagesBoris Johnson will face the first of two days of questioning over his handling of the pandemic when he appears before the UK's Covid inquiry on Wednesday.The former prime minister's appearance comes as the mystery of his Covid-era WhatsApp messages took another twist on Tuesday after it was reported that nearly six months of messages could not be retrieved. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: James Cleverly has signed a treaty aimed at fixing its deportation plan, but there are questions whether its safeguards will change the supreme court's mind Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Whoever it was that bequeathed the Conservative government its current dog's dinner of a policy on immigration and asylum, be in no doubt: the people in charge now are going to do things differently! After setting out draconian new limits on legal migration on Monday, home secretary James Cleverly yesterday turned to irregular migration and the small boats crisis.In Kigali, he signed a new treaty with the Rwandan government that is supposed to help overcome the supreme court's recent decision that the existing Rwanda deportation plans are unlawful. Next, the government will proceed with the second part of its plan to fix the Rwanda scheme: legislation that could prevent new court challenges. As he finalises plans that could be published tomorrow, Rishi Sunak must decide whether he wants to infuriate his party's moderate MPs or those rallying around Suella Braverman on the right.Israel-Hamas war | The UN's top aid official has said the Israeli military campaign in southern Gaza has been just as devastating as in the north, creating apocalyptic" conditions and ending any possibility of meaningful humanitarian operations. Meanwhile, the UN heard accounts of sexual violence during the 7 October attacks by Hamas in a meeting where speakers accused women's rights activists and UN officials of not doing enough to address the crimes.Climate | Many of the gravest threats to humanity are drawing closer, as carbon pollution heats the planet to ever more dangerous levels, scientists have warned. Five important natural thresholds already risk being crossed, according to the Global Tipping Points report, and three more may be reached in the 2030s if the world heats 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures.Nuclear leaks | Sellafield, Europe's most hazardous nuclear site, has a worsening leak from a huge silo of radioactive waste that could pose a risk to the public, the Guardian revealed. Concerns over safety at the crumbling building have caused diplomatic tensions with countries including the US, Norway and Ireland.Covid inquiry | The mystery of Boris Johnson's Covid-era WhatsApp messages has taken another twist before the former prime minister begins his evidence to the inquiry today, after it was reported that nearly six months of messages could not be retrieved. A spokesperson for Johnson blamed a technical issue".NHS | Thousands of junior doctors are to stage new strike action in England after failing to reach a deal with the government in talks over pay. They will walk out for 72 hours from 7am on 20 December, and again for six days from 3 January. Continue reading...

45-year-old Sudanese-born man who allegedly stole luggage at airport becomes latest former detainee charged following NZYQ decision

Study of 302 cases in England and Wales shows majority of those killed had been hiding in plain sight'A review of 302 domestic homicides recorded in a four-year period has found that the majority of those killed had been hiding in plain sight", having made contact with the police, health services and other public agencies before their death.Nicole Jacobs, the government's independent domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, said the findings highlighted an ongoing lack of political will" at national level to learn from what were often avoidable deaths. Continue reading...

Human Rights Watch warns bar on women means unqualified men now teach boys, fewer subjects are taught and beatings are routineThe Taliban is causing irreversible damage" to Afghanistan's education system through the reintroduction of corporal punishment, curriculum changes and the use of unqualified teachers to replace women, most of whom have been barred from schools, Human Rights Watch has warned.After taking power in 2021, the Taliban banned girls from secondary schools. A new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW), published on Wednesday, warns that boys' education has also suffered under the Taliban, although this has gone largely unreported. Continue reading...

Seventeen groups issue statement sounding alarm at migration laws agreed by most EU membersThe EU risks opening the door to increased discrimination and racial profiling in what is being described as a potentially irreversible attack" on the international system offering asylum and refugee protection, human rights organisations have said.Seventeen NGOs have together sounded the alarm before what is expected to be one of the final meetings on the text of a package of controversial new migration laws already agreed by most EU leaders. Continue reading...

Troy Maskell, 44, sentenced to maximum eight years in prison for killing John Burke, 73, of Strathmerton

After accusations of erratic decision-making during the pandemic, the former prime minister will finally face the inquiry. Aletha Adu reportsFor several weeks the Covid inquiry has been sifting through the testimony of scientists and politicians in an attempt to judge the UK's handling of the pandemic. Many have had their say on the leadership offered by the then prime minister, Boris Johnson.According to Dominic Cummings, Johnson was like a broken shopping trolley, weaving around. To some of the scientists, the prime minister seemed bamboozled by the scientific detail he needed to understand. There have been claims Johnson missed essential meetings and prioritised writing a book when he should have been preparing the country for the health crisis. Continue reading...

Order from president Nicolas Maduro comes after referendum on whether Venezuela should claim sovereignty over the regionVenezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has ordered the country's state-owned companies to immediately" begin to explore and exploit the oil, gas and mines in Guyana's Essequibo region, a territory larger than Greece and rich in oil and minerals that Venezuela claims as its own.The announcement came a day after Maduro declared victory in a weekend referendum on whether to claim sovereignty over the region. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president had been expected to join Zoom call but something came up at the last minute'

Speakers also attacked women's rights activists and UN officials for not doing more to investigate or condemn crimes

Grace Jabbari detailed the highs and lows in an allegedly toxic relationship over two years with the 34-year-old Creed III actorJonathan Majors's ex-girlfriend detailed a tumultuous and toxic relationship at his assault trial in New York on Tuesday, where she is expected to detail how he allegedly assaulted her.Prosecutors accused the Creed III and Marvel star of assaulting Grace Jabbari in March after she saw a text message from another woman on his phone. Majors faces three charges of misdemeanor assault, aggravated assault and harassment. He has pleaded not guilty. Continue reading...

Access to huge parks, restaurants and transport links plus a Ted Lasso-factor lead area to top Rightmove's happy at home' indexIt is home to London's largest royal park as well as big-hitting tourist attractions such as Kew Gardens and Hampton Court Palace, and has more recently become a place of pilgrimage for fans of the hit TV comedy Ted Lasso. Now, the borough of Richmond upon Thames in south-west London has been named the happiest place to live" in Great Britain.It received the accolade from property website Rightmove, which runs a happy at home" index - now in its 12th year - where it asks residents how they feel about their area based on 13 happiness factors". Continue reading...

Centrist Tories want PM to stick by UK's human rights obligations while those on the right want new bill to override themTory MPs are at loggerheads as competing factions engage in last-minute lobbying efforts to try to change Rishi Sunak's flagship Rwanda legislation before it is published in the coming days.The prime minister is due to announce a new bill as soon as this week, which Downing Street says will deal with concerns raised last month by the supreme court over the government's scheme to send asylum seekers to east Africa. It follows the signing of a new treaty with Rwanda on Tuesday by the home secretary, James Cleverly, in Kigali. Continue reading...

Some reportedly called on the Israeli prime minister to resign at meeting on Tuesday

Dual Haitian-American citizen attended meetings in south Florida and Haiti ahead of the assassination and faces life imprisonmentA former confidential informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration has pleaded guilty to conspiring to assassinate President Jovenel Moise of Haiti, whose killing in 2021 caused unprecedented turmoil in the Caribbean nation.Joseph Vincent, a dual Haitian-American citizen who lived in the US and attended meetings in south Florida and Haiti ahead of the assassination, is the fourth of 11 defendants in Miami to plead guilty. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison on charges including conspiracy to kill and kidnap a person outside the US and conspiracy to provide material support and resources. Continue reading...

UN warns of possible tragedy unless people are rescued from two boats on Andaman SeaAbout 400 Rohingya refugees have been adrift in two boats on the Andaman Sea for about two weeks, according to the United Nations, which called on regional governments to help rescue them.The number of Rohingya Muslims fleeing by boats in a seasonal exodus - usually from squalid, overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh - has been rising since last year due to cuts to food rations and an increase in gang violence. Continue reading...

Two-thirds of 115 bereaved families surveyed by Ipsos thought the fatal attack on their loved one had been very or fairly preventableWhen the police arrived at Kimberley Seeger's house to tell her that her sister, Gemma Marjoram, had died of stab wounds, she was so overcome with anger that she collapsed on the floor. I screamed, I cried and I blamed them. I said, this is your fault'."Marjoram had been murdered by her ex-partner, Michael Cowey, after a seven-year relationship with a man who exerted coercive control, including controlling her phone and finances and trapping her in the house. He had been arrested several times for his abusive behaviour towards her, and to other women previously, yet the police did not consider her to be at high risk. Continue reading...

BMA announces strikes on 20-23 December and 3-9 January after breakdown of talks with government

Increase in sponsor earnings from 18,600 to 38,700 will prevent up to 70% of workers in UK bringing in family, data showsJames Cleverly's plan to crack down on legal migration is causing confusion and distress for many international couples, lawyers have warned, with families facing being split up by stringent new visa rules.The home secretary announced a five-point plan to bring down immigration on Monday, in what Downing Street said was the biggest clampdown on legal migration ever". Continue reading...

28-year-old in custody after armed officers attend scene, victim in hospital with non-life-threatening injuriesA 28-year-old man has been arrested by armed police officers after a woman, who is believed to be pregnant, was stabbed in the street in the village of Aberfan in south Wales.The attack led to armed officers combing Aberfan and nearby villages in search of the suspect while local schools and a childcare centre were put into lockdown. Continue reading...

Intelligence and security committee says failure of PM and immediate predecessors to engage is unacceptable'

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage hereThe UK has suffered a sharp decline in its performance in the latest round of influential international academic tests, wiping out recent progress, as the widespread disruption caused by Covid continued to take its toll on education, the Guardian reports.Yesterday, when he was being interviewed at the Resolution Foundation conference, Keir Starmer was asked by Zanny Minton Beddoes, the editor of the Economist, if he could say in what way his policies were different from the Conservatives'. Starmer was able to provide a half-decent answer, but he did not entirely dispel her suggestion that in many areas the policy overlap is getting more and more pronounced.Today's announcement is an admission of years of Tory failure on both the immigration system and the economy, as net migration has trebled to a record high under the Tories since they promised to reduce it at the last election.Labour has said repeatedly that net migration should come down and called for action to scrap the unfair 20% wage discount, raise salary thresholds based on economic evidence, bring in new training requirements linked to the immigration system, as well as a proper workforce plan for social care. Immigration is important but the system needs to be controlled and managed. But whilst the Conservatives have finally been forced to abandon the unfair wage discount that they introduced, they are still completely failing to introduce more substantial reforms that link immigration to training and fair pay requirements in the UK, meaning many sectors will continue to see rising numbers of work visas because of skills shortages.What that means is, if you've got a shortage occupation, not just health and social care workers - that might be also engineers, might also include now bricklayers - employers will still be able to recruit at less than the threshold. And yet the government is still doing nothing to tackle those skills.We think the Migration Advisory Committee should look at this very swiftly before it is introduced, particularly at the impact this is going to have on British citizens who fall in love across borders. Continue reading...

Israeli forces pushing towards southern city of Khan Younis and engaged in battles for key urban areas in the north

Reuters news agency says children are en route to Ukraine via Moscow, under deal brokered by Qatar

Guidance says any transgender woman with history of violence against females who is assessed as risk will not go to a women's prisonTransgender inmates with a history of violence against women will not be housed in female prisons in Scotland except in exceptional circumstances".The long-awaited Scottish Prison Service policy review was prompted by the public outcry after a newly convicted transgender woman, Isla Bryson - who committed two rapes while living as a man, Adam Graham - was initially sent to the women-only prison Cornton Vale in January for assessment. Continue reading...

Live music at grassroots level is no longer economically viable' says co-owner of the cherished gig venueOne of the UK's best-known grassroots music venues, where acts including Oasis, Radiohead, the Smiths and Ed Sheeran cut their teeth, is to close after 45 years, while the 26-year-old music festival Nozstock is also coming to an end - both due to pressures from the cost of living crisis.Moles, in Bath, has permanently closed its doors with immediate effect, and with all future events cancelled. Its co-owners said it had been a horrendous" decision that they were forced to make. Massively increased costs of stock, utilities and rent compounded by our customers also feeling the impact of the crisis has made it impossible to continue," said venue co-owner Tom Maddicott. Continue reading...

Nearly one in 10 patients are waiting longer than a year to be admitted, according to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Half of Shakespeare's plays would have been lost without it - and it is now among the most valuable in the world

NSW suspends vaccination requirements for shelters and boarding kennels until 31 January, but cats and kittens with uncertain history considered too high risk to accept

Major productions to be targeted after talks over wage rise break down between performers' union and peak producers body

The public service commission has created a new team to investigate serious misconduct allegations

Hundreds of staff could be out of work when the state's contract with ISS comes to an end, prompting calls for reform

Israel says it has raided Hamas military HQ, as UN humanitarian chief says an even more hellish scenario is about to unfold'

Pressure grows on US electric car company to grant collective bargaining rights to employeesDenmark's largest trade union has joined strike action by Swedish Tesla workers, piling pressure on the US electric car company to agree to collective bargaining rights for its employees.Members of the Swedish trade union IF Metall have been on strike for six weeks - attracting support across industries, including from postal workers, painters, electricians and dock workers who have all launched secondary action. Continue reading...

Band hope festival will be a prototype for an industry they says is not doing enough to reduce its environmental impactMassive Attack are planning a one-day festival that will be powered by 100% renewable energy and act as a prototype for the music industry, which they believe is woefully behind where it should be on issues of sustainability.Founding member Robert Del Naja said promoters already have the technology available to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of the sector. Continue reading...

Educational research group says rise is more to do with other countries' performances dropping

Scores of civilians die in one of country's deadliest military bombing accidentsA Nigerian army drone strike accidently killed at least 85 civilians in a village in north-west Kaduna State, emergency officials said, in one of the country's deadliest military bombing accidents.President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday ordered an investigation after the army acknowledged one of its drones accidently struck Tudun Biri village on Sunday as residents were celebrating a Muslim festival. Continue reading...

Rescuers find more bodies, after second eruption halted search for missing climbers on MondayRescuers searching the hazardous slopes of Indonesia's Mount Marapi volcano found more bodies among the climbers caught by a surprise eruption two days ago, raising the number of confirmed and presumed dead to 23.More than 50 climbers were rescued after the initial eruption on Sunday, and 11 others were initially confirmed dead. Another eruption on Monday spewed a new burst of hot ash as high as 800 metres (2,620ft) into the air and temporarily halted search operations. Continue reading...

Analogue advice given by PM alongside measures to better prepare UK for future pandemics, disasters and cyber-attacksPeople should stock up on battery-powered radios and torches, as well as candles and first aid kits in order to prepare for power cuts or digital communications going down, the deputy prime minister reportedly said.According to the Times, Oliver Dowden described the supplies as analogue capabilities that it makes sense to retain" in a digital age during a visit to Porton Down, the UK's military laboratory. Continue reading...

Representatives from three consultancy firms tell inquiry they were unable to inspect venues or speak to key stakeholders

In today's newsletter: Keir Starmer has praised the former prime minister, while Rachel Reeves promises to follow the chancellor's public spending plans. What does that tell us about what the next government will look like? Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Is Keir Starmer a Thatcherite? That's the question Labour would like you to be asking yourself this week. Or maybe not you, precisely. By inserting a line of praise for the former prime minister in a Sunday Telegraph column - she sought to drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism", he said - Starmer is once again declaring where he intends to focus his party's energies ahead of the next election. A set of voters who supported the Conservatives in 2019 are still, it seems, making their minds up about Labour. If Starmer can convince that fabled demographic of his rectitude, the argument goes, he'll enter Downing Street with a majority.Quite how many undecided punters view the Thatcher years as a halcyon age is another matter. In any case, Starmer doubled down on that approach yesterday, in a speech at an event run by economics thinktank the Resolution Foundation. Anyone who expects an incoming Labour government to quickly turn on the spending taps is going to be disappointed," he said. And he warned that relying on spending to create growth is a habit the Labour party has had for a long time".Cybersecurity | The UK's most hazardous nuclear site, Sellafield, has been hacked into by cyber groups closely linked to Russia and China, the Guardian can reveal. The astonishing disclosure and its potential effects have been consistently covered up by senior staff at the vast nuclear waste and decommissioning site, the investigation has found.Immigration | James Cleverly has announced a package of measures designed to cut the number of migrant workers and their dependants entering the UK, making it far harder for employers to bring in overseas staff, including in the NHS and social care sector. The home secretary presented a five-point plan which he says will help reduce net migration by 300,000 a year.Cop28 | The president of Cop28 has been forced into a fierce defence of his views on climate science, after the Guardian revealed his comment that there was no science out there ... that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what's going to achieve 1.5C". Sultan Al Jaber said: I respect the science in everything I do."Contaminated blood scandal | Rishi Sunak suffered his first parliamentary defeat as MPs voted to establish a compensatory body for victims of the infected blood scandal. MPs voted 246 to 242 in favour of an amendment to the victims and prisoners bill that will require the government to set up a body to administer compensation within three months of the bill becoming law.Coronavirus | Boris Johnson asked spies to plan a raid" on a Dutch vaccine plant to obtain impounded" doses of AstraZenica's vaccine during the pandemic, it has been claimed. Ahead of the former prime minister's appearance at the Covid-19 inquiry, the Daily Mail reported that Johnson asked for military options" because he was enraged" at possible export restrictions within the EU. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed.A WARNING FOR READERS: this blog contains graphic details of allegations of sexual assault