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Penny Wong says allegations are deeply concerning as UNRWA investigates several employees accused of taking part in Hamas attacksAustralia will temporarily pause its funding of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) while an investigation is under way into several employees accused of taking part in Hamas's 7 October attacks in Israel, the foreign minister has announced.Penny Wong on Saturday said Australia will join its likeminded partners in the US and Canada in pausing the funding. She said Australia was deeply concerned about the allegations. Continue reading...

A DNA test has helped Shalom Koray find relatives in the US after escaping the Holocaust in a rucksack at the age of twoIn 1943, a two-year-old boy found wandering the streets of the Warsaw ghetto at the height of the Jewish uprising was smuggled out in a rucksack, probably by a police officer.The identity of the child could not be known. There was no one to attest even to a first name. His early life would be spent hidden away in orphanages, still not safe from antisemitic persecution, and without any real understanding of what it was to have a parent. Continue reading...

Six members of the neo-Nazi group were arrested after dozens of men wearing black hoods and brandishing Australian flags were stopped at North Sydney station

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Charles Michel's decision comes ahead of EU meeting where Hungary's PM is expected to block Ukraine support packageThe president of the European parliament, Charles Michel, has abandoned plans to quit the position early amid fears it could have led to Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, getting the role.His decision comes six days before a crunch meeting of EU leaders at which Orban is expected to once again block a 50bn support package for Ukraine. Continue reading...

Vincent Reynouard discovered living double life in Scottish village where he worked as a tutor, reports sayA Holocaust denier who was arrested in a Scottish fishing village will be extradited back to France after spending two years on the run from the authorities.Vincent Reynouard lost his extradition battle after his arrest in November 2022. He had been discovered living a double life in Anstruther, Fife, where he worked as a private tutor, according to reports. Continue reading...

Senior ministers including Yoav Gallant condemn ruling while Palestinians dismayed it did not go further

Nine-year-old had been recorded as safe and well' in months before he was killed, review findsA nine-year-old boy who was tortured to death by his mother and stepfather had been recorded as safe and well" after visits by police and social services in the months before he was killed, a review has found.Family and neighbours of Alfie Steele from Droitwich, Worcestershire, made more than 60 calls about his welfare in the period leading up to his murder in February 2021, including a call saying it sounded as if he was being hit and held under the water". Continue reading...

Toni Schiavone, who refused to pay notice written in English, says car park firm threatened' him with 10,000 legal costs billA Welsh-language campaigner embroiled in a three-year legal battle after refusing to pay a car park fine written in English has claimed the management firm is threatening" him with a 10,000 legal bill.Toni Schiavone was given the 70 penalty notice in a car park managed by One Parking Solution in the seaside town of Llangrannog, west Wales, in September 2020. Continue reading...

Boy sent to mental health facility after Bae Hyun-jin left with cuts to her head from attack in SeoulA 14-year-old boy who attacked a South Korean lawmaker with a rock has been sent to a mental health facility, police have said, as they continued to investigate the incident that left the politician, Bae Hyun-jin, with cuts to her head.The suspect was arrested at the scene of the attack in southern Seoul on Friday and sent to a hospital after he was interviewed in the presence of his parents, said Cheon Young-gil, an official at Seoul's Gangnam district police station. Continue reading...

Police describe two people they want to speak to in connection with newborn girl found in NewhamThe Metropolitan police have urged the public to refrain from making unnecessary and unhelpful" comments about a newborn found alive in a shopping bag last week.The force used its latest appeal for information to say those commenting had no idea what the baby's mother was going through, and gave a description of two people they would like to speak to. Continue reading...

Calls to prepare for war butt up against record on recent conflicts, pay and conditions, and changing youth cultureOn Friday, soldiers from the British army's Royal Anglian regiment were practising their part in a Nato exercise due to take place in Poland in March. It is expected to be the largest in eastern Europe in a decade, with 20,000 troops from the military alliance scheduled to take part in the show of anti-Russia strength.However, a rift between the army and the Conservative government meant Downing Street, unsure what ordinary soldiers might say, had instructed that no participants would be available for interview by journalists hoping to attend. Continue reading...

French government set to respond after being surprised by scale and fury of grassroots demonstrations in agriculture sectorSpeaking after a meeting with the food industry, the French finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said today that the central issue is the farmers' revenue," Reuters reported.The government would double down" on enforcing a law aimed at guaranteeing fair prices for farmers, he said. Continue reading...

The first woman to lead the Telegraph Media Group has been described as extraordinarily energetic, motivated and driven'

Talks that began in 2022 halted amid unhappiness on both sides about lack of access to agricultural marketsThe UK has halted trade talks with Canada, with discussions breaking down after a disagreement over beef and cheese.The two countries have been negotiating for the past two years in the wake of Britain leaving the European Union, with trade continuing under the same deal brokered when the UK was a member of the bloc. Continue reading...

More than 50,000 fake social media accounts found posting against Berlin's support for UkraineGermany has uncovered a significant pro-Russia disinformation campaign using thousands of fake accounts on X to try and stir anger at Berlin's support for Ukraine, a media report has said.The revelations, first reported in Der Spiegel, come amid growing concern about the impact increasingly sophisticated disinformation campaigns could have on elections. Continue reading...

After Phillip Schofield at ITV and Bernard Looney at BP, tendency to overcompensate' could create other serious problems, say HR expertsWe spend so much time in the workplace, it is hardly surprising that many relationships begin there. But after a string of high-profile office relationship scandals, many companies are trying to make it harder to find love, a relationship, or a fling at work.Research by the TUC, the unions umbrella body, has found that one in five people in the UK are married or in a civil partnership with someone they met at work. Continue reading...

William Finlay sentenced to minimum of 20 years for stabbing retired nurse Alyson Nelson in 2022A man has been jailed for 20 years for murdering his former partner in a vicious, unrelenting" attack at her home in Northern Ireland.William Finlay, 68, was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years at Belfast crown court on Thursday for stabbing Alyson Nelson, 64, a retired nurse, in April 2022 at her house in Whitehead, County Antrim. Continue reading...

CMA will assess impact proposed deal could have on competition for consumers and businesses

Orla Baxendale, described by family as a beautiful, radiant, brave soul', died after going into anaphylactic shock in ConnecticutTributes have been paid to a dancer from Lancashire who moved to the US and died after eating a biscuit that contained peanuts.Orla Baxendale, 25, had a peanut allergy. She died on 11 January after going into anaphylactic shock caused by the mislabelled vanilla florentine cookie she ate. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Home Office licence will allow charity to check drugs such as heroin and crack to see if they are contaminatedThe UK's first regular drug testing service is to open on Saturday in Bristol with a Home Office licence, marking a significant progressive shift in government policy.The testing will allow people who are frequent or dependent users of drugs including heroin, crack, benzos and spice to check they are not contaminated with harmful cutting agents, or adulterated with high-strength synthetic opioids such as nitazines or fentanyl. Continue reading...

Cyclone downgraded on Friday after dense fog hits parts of the US and India while drought affects the Philippines and southern AfricaTropical Cyclone Kirrily made landfall on the coast of Queensland on Thursday night (local time). Kirrily originated as a tropical low over the Coral Sea, and gradually intensified over several days. The tropical cyclone then quickly intensified on Thursday, reaching a category 2 system by 10am AEST, and category 3 by 3pm, producing gusts of 170 km/h (105mph). As Kirrily moved inland only five hours later, it left over 34,000 homes and business without power in Townsville. However, the cyclone was quickly downgraded back to a category 1 by midnight.Earlier in the week, dense fog developed from Montana all the way south to the Gulf of Mexico, reducing visibility on Tuesday to less than a quarter mile for many. The combination of last weeks' arctic blast followed by the introduction of warmer air from the south this week allowed water vapour to condense closer to the surface, which is also known as advection fog. Dense fog was then widely seen again on Thursday morning, affecting just under 99 million people from North Dakota across to central Pennsylvania, and as far south as New Orleans. Continue reading...

Giles David to replace Shaun Wills, with sales falling at troubled fashion brandSuperdry has parted ways with its fourth finance boss in five years as losses widened at the troubled UK fashion brand.The company said Shaun Wills, who has been the finance director for three years, is leaving the business and being replaced next week by the interim finance boss Giles David. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese rejects calls for a fresh election by the opposition leader who continues to accuse the PM of breaking a promise

Exclusive: Home Office accused of causing undue suffering as it admits mistake and says correspondence should be disregardedAsylum seekers have been left in despair" after receiving letters sent in error by the Home Office telling them they faced removal to Rwanda, the Guardian has learned.Labour accused the government of being in disarray after Home Office sources admitting to sending the letters out by mistake. Continue reading...

Poverty premium' penalises drivers who cannot pay one-off lump sum, say campaignersCar owners who pay for their insurance monthly rather than with a one-off lump sum are being charged interest of more than 30%, research has found, in what has been described by campaigners as a poverty premium".Insurers give customers the choice of paying one annual premium or breaking it up and paying over the course of the year. Continue reading...

Asbestos-like fragments found at newly-opened Regatta Park in Emu Plains sent for urgent testing, Penrith city council saysPenrith council has closed part of a park in western Sydney over fears it could contain asbestos-contaminated garden mulch from the same company that supplied the product used at Rozelle parklands.Penrith city council says the newly opened Regatta Park at Emu Plains in the city's west was partly closed after a review to determine if any mulch used by the council was provided by Greenlife Resource Recovery.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

Exclusive: Test case likely against UK's seasonal worker scheme as charity alleges breach of right to be protected from labour exploitationWhen Ismael found himself sleeping rough at York station in the late October cold he struggled to understand how an opportunity to pick berries 7,000 miles from his home had so quickly ended there.He had left Indonesia less than four months earlier, in July 2022. He was 18 and ready for six months of hard work on a British farm to save for a science degree. I thought the UK was the best place to work because I could save up a little money and help my parents," he said. Continue reading...

Boating crash comes as at least 12 people are rescued from rips across beaches in three separate incidents on the NSW south coast

Protesters brave heatwave conditions as rally speakers condemn incarceration rates and express solidarity with Palestine

Exclusive: EU states accuse TfL of huge data breach over clean air zone penalties, with many given to compliant vehicles

After the peer admitted to lying about her involvement in lucrative government PPE deals during the Covid crisis, the fate of her high-profile lingerie company raises further questions. David Conn reportsWhen Michelle Mone sat down for an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg last month it was against the backdrop of serious allegations that she had been facing since 2020. Mone and her husband, the Isle of Man-based businessman Doug Barrowman, are the subjects of a long-running National Crime Agency investigation into allegations of bribery and fraud in their securing of 200m in government contracts for a company, PPE Medpro.She admitted to Kuenssberg that she had lied for years when denying her involvement in the lucrative PPE deals, emphasising in the interview that she was a very successful individual businesswoman'. Continue reading...

William Burns and the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service will reportedly meet Qatari prime minister in Europe as part of efforts to broker a deal

Solemn events held at sunrise around the country to acknowledge Invasion Day and Indigenous Australians

Rightmove says average advertised price outside London is up 9.2% on a year ago despite fall in some regionsAverage private rents in Great Britain have climbed to new record highs, though in some regions there has been a small fall in the amount new tenants are being asked to pay, data shows.The typical advertised private rent outside London for new properties coming on to the market rose to a record 1,280 a calendar month in the final quarter of 2023, according to the property website Rightmove. That is 2 higher than the 1,278 figure recorded in the third quarter - a sign that rental growth is slowing. Continue reading...

Carlos Del Toro says present threats mean Britain may want to reinforce its armed forcesBritain should be prepared to review the size of its armed forces given the crisis in the Middle East and the threats from Russia and China, a member of the Biden administration has said during a visit to London.Carlos Del Toro, the US navy secretary, said the UK needed to consider more investment in its navy and reinforcing the army - a day after the head of the British army warned it was too small to fight an all-out war without conscription. Continue reading...

Officers took Bartlomiej Kuczynski to emergency unit in December, on the same day missing person report was filedA man who was found dead in a house alongside the bodies of his two daughters and sister-in-law had been escorted to hospital by police weeks before, it has been confirmed.Bartlomiej Kuczynski, 45, was found with a stab wound to his neck in Costessey, near Norwich, last Friday. His death is not being treated as suspicious, police said. Continue reading...

Calocane detained in high-security hospital after pleading guilty to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibilityThe mother of a Nottingham stabbing victim said true justice has not been served" after the killer was sentenced to indefinite detention in a high-security hospital.Emma Webber, the mother of 19-year-old Barnaby Webber who was killed alongside fellow student Grace O'Malley-Kumar in the violent attacks that left three people dead last year, also said the assistant chief constable of Nottinghamshire police had blood on his hands" over the force's failure to arrest the killer in the months before the killings. Continue reading...

As Valdo Calocane is sentenced for manslaughter of three people, UK political parties unveil plans to stem use of knivesTackling knife crime has become an urgent political debate after Valdo Calocane admitted to the manslaughter of three people in Nottingham on the grounds of diminished responsibility.Last June, he fatally stabbed Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19-year-old students, and a school caretaker, Ian Coates, 65. On Thursday he was sentenced to indefinite detention in a high-security hospital. Continue reading...

MPs told that new EU Entry-Exit System could lead to gridlocked roads in Kent town if scheme goes ahead as plannedTourists heading to Europe could face waits of up to 14 hours at border controls under a new scheme due to come in this October, MPs have been told.The Port of Dover and the surrounding area could be hit by major disruption when the EU Entry-Exit System launches unless measures are introduced to prevent delays, parliament's European scrutiny committee heard. Continue reading...

Behind bullish statements officials have been examining potential scenarios for impending decision in case brought by South AfricaIsraeli officials are bracing for an expected interim ruling from the international court of justice on South Africa's allegation that the war in Gaza amounts to genocide against Palestinians, an emergency measure that could expose Israel to international sanctions.The UN's top court, which settles disputes between states, said on Wednesday that it would hand down its landmark ruling on Friday. The Hague-based body could order Israel to stop its three-month campaign in the Gaza Strip, sparked by the unprecedented attack by Hamas on 7 October. ICJ rulings are binding and cannot be appealed against, although the court has no power to enforce them. Continue reading...

Constitutional council says about half of articles in new law go against constitution and must be scrappedParts of a contested new French immigration law go against the constitution and must be scrapped, France's constitutional council has said.The council, a body that validates the constitutionality of laws, on Thursday annulled about half of the articles in the law, which was passed in December, including restrictions on family reunifications and student residency permits, and making residing in France illegally a crime. Continue reading...

Department for Education estimates 97,000 children were home educated in 2023 summer term, 11,000 more than previous termMore than one in 100 children in England were homeschooled last summer term, with many parents citing lifestyle or philosophical reasons" for abandoning traditional classrooms.New estimates by the Department for Education (DfE) show that 97,000 children were home educated in 2023's summer term, an increase of 11,000 compared with the 86,000 home educated at the start of 2023. Continue reading...

Jenna Moar and three cousins will be first female full members of Viking-dressed squad that will lead annual fire festivalJenna Moar will win a small place in history next week, marked by the sizzling sound and heat of her flare being lit in the darkness of a January night in Lerwick, Shetland. Moar, 16, wearing her handmade Viking warrior's uniform, will be among the first female participants, alongside three cousins, at the heart of one of Scotland's most famous cultural events, Lerwick's Up Helly Aa fire festival.After decades of quiet complaints, covert attempts at subversion and then open rebellion from feminist Shetlanders, she and her cousins are full members of the jarl squad, the axe-wielding Viking-dressed celebrants who will lead Up Helly Aa on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Infant never stood a chance' after her parents went off-grid in freezing conditions, Old Bailey jurors toldA newborn baby girl died due to the reckless, utterly selfish, callous, cruel, arrogant and ultimately grossly negligent conduct" of her parents, who went on the run and lived off-grid in a tent, a court heard.After the baby girl died, Constance Marten, 36, and Mark Gordon, 49, allegedly left her in an disused shed inside a shopping bag and covered in rubbish as if she was refuse", an Old Bailey jury was told. Continue reading...

At least four senior figures from Houthis subject to asset freezes and travel bans, say reports; Gaza-run health ministry says situation in Khan Younis hospital extremely catastrophic'The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, said the conflict in Gaza shows the UN and other world bodies have lost their effectiveness and called on Muslim countries and other nations to unite for a new fair world order", reports Al Jazeera.Reporting from Ankara on Wednesday, where Raisi met his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoan, Al Jazeera journalist Sinem Koseolu said the main agenda of the meeting had been Israel's war on Gaza. Continue reading...

UAE firm's increased investment prompts Cabinet Office order for security panel at telecoms companyThe stake in Vodafone held by a United Arab Emirates-backed telecoms group poses a national security risk to the UK, the government said.The Cabinet Office issued a notice late on Wednesday warning that the 14.6% stake held in Vodafone by Emirates Telecoms, which is also known as e&, amounted to a security concern given Vodafone's strategic role in the country's telecommunications services. Continue reading...

Ulf Kristersson says dialogue between countries is needed amid frustrations following Budapest's failure to ratify Sweden's Nato membershipPopulist battles are not the way to resolve the conflicts between farmers and environmental policy, the chair of the strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture group said today at the opening of the first meeting in Brussels.Peter Strohschneider told the meeting of farmers groups and academics that they had a responsibility to drive their arguments through facts and evidence and withstand the tensions arising from this". Continue reading...

Igor Girkin has been critical of war effort; Darya Trepova delivered bomb that killed pro-war bloggerRussian courts have jailed a prominent ultra-nationalist critic of Vladimir Putin and, separately, a woman convicted over a blast that killed a pro-war blogger.In Moscow, a court sentenced Igor Girkin, a former battlefield commander of Russian proxy forces in east Ukraine who was convicted by a Dutch court over the shooting down of flight MH17, to four years in jail on extremism charges prompted by his criticism of the Russian war effort in Ukraine. Continue reading...

David Mundell says Scotland Office was not consulted about Mone's 2015 appointment