Lax employment law cited as motivation for ice-cold crossing in which five people died off WimereuxThe mayor of the French seaside resort where five people died off the coast trying to reach the UK has blamed the British immigration system for the crisis that engulfed the town at the weekend.What's happening today is their fault," said Jean-Luc Dubaele, the mayor of Wimereux, claiming Britain was offering monts et merveilles", a French expression meaning they were promising the world. Continue reading...

Ukraine army chief says A-50 spy plane and Il-22 command aircraft downed near Sea of Azov; some prisoners of war given life sentences by RussiaShapps has cited the UK's increase in support to Ukraine in the highest level ever as an example of its commitment to defence spending.To some the cost may seem steep but Britain cannot afford to reverse the gains we have.Under this Conservative government Britain never will. Continue reading...

Deal mediated by Qatar includes delivery of medicines and aid but leaders in Hamas and Israel deeply divided about way forward

Five other people also arrested over plot being investigated by Met police after tipoff from Daily ExpressA man has been charged with conspiracy to cause public nuisance after an alleged plot to disrupt the London Stock Exchange and cause huge economic damage" was revealed.Sean Middleborough, 31, from Liverpool, will appear at Wirral magistrates court on Monday, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

Court told teacher formed close relationship with student's mother and took student out for dinner

Grant Shapps says UK has no interest in wider Yemen conflict as Rishi Sunak prepares to address MPs

A 47-year-old man has been charged after allegedly receiving $7,542 from $1,767 worth of bets

Nauru become first ally to switch allegiances to Beijing after weekend's presidential elections in TaiwanNauru has switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China less than 48 hours after Taiwan's presidential election.In a statement, the government of the tiny island country in Micronesia, north-east of Australia, said it had decided to recognise the People's Republic of China and was seeking the resumption of full diplomatic relations in the best interests of the Republic and people of Nauru". Continue reading...

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Zain Khan is facing one count of murder and three of attempted murder after allegedly driving a car into pedestrians in September

I've been in love with the UK since I was a little girl' says woman dismissed after missing official deadlineA French woman has spoken about how she lost her job in Shropshire and was left heartbroken" about life in the UK because of a mix-up over the immigration process for EU citizens launched after Brexit.Sophie, who is married to a British man, was in the UK for five years before Brexit but went back to France in 2020 for 18 months after a family tragedy. Continue reading...

Prime minister suggests court cases like South Africa's won't bring peace between Israel and Palestine, as Penny Wong sets off for a trip to the Middle East

Thousands of concerned parents reportedly struggling to sign up for flagship offering that starts in AprilA flagship government childcare scheme is at risk of falling apart" with parents struggling to access new free hours and nurseries in the dark about if they can afford to provide care, according to charities.Parents' groups have accused the government of planning the new free offering on the back of a fag packet", with thousands of furious" parents struggling to sign up for the scheme, which starts in April. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Robin Garbutt says faulty Post Office computer system is not only misleading evidence used to convict himA man who claims the Post Office's faulty computer system was used to frame him for murdering his wife says he is not jumping on the Horizon bandwagon", and that there is other evidence pointing to his wrongful conviction.Robin Garbutt, 58, has spent the last 12 years in jail after being convicted of the murder of his wife, Diana, 40, at their home above the post office and village shop they ran in Melsonby, North Yorkshire. Continue reading...

Police recovered the body of the 46-year-old in bushland near Cabarita Beach two days after he was last seen

Family and patients of Dr Ashley Gordon express shock and grief at his death following a suspected home invasion in Doncaster

Residents in the Brisbane suburb of Teneriffe call on opposition leader to apologise for dog whistling' after he advocated people boycott the supermarket

CanTEST facility also finds more than half of drugs tested were not what user expected, with ones similar to MDMA and potentially fatal bath salts'

Jacinta Allan says event is a key anchor' on the state's major events calendar and is worth millions to the economy

Surf ironman and ironwoman competitors save 25 swimmers from a rip at Maroubra as severe weather warning issued for the Top End

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About 213kg of suspected cocaine has been recovered from beaches including Newcastle, Avoca and Central Coast

James Hunter alleges in a LA court filing that Goth intentionally kicked him while he lay on the ground playing deadAn extra has alleged in a Los Angeles court filing that British actor Mia Goth kicked him in the head on the set of slasher film MaXXXine.James Hunter, a background actor on the latest instalment in the X series, which follows on from the success of X and Pearl, claims he was covered in fake blood and told to lie in the ground and play dead for a scene filmed in April 2023. Continue reading...

Only practice procession saw marchers out of step and Gentleman at Arms almost crushed, royal biography saysThe only rehearsal for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral had a band at the wrong start point, a Gentleman at Arms nearly crushed at Marble Arch and everything that could go wrong ... go wrong", a new biography on King Charles has said.The journalist Robert Hardman wrote about the chaos behind the preparations for the state procession in his book, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story. It was a comedy of errors," said Garrison Sergeant Major Vern" Stokes, who was responsible for the military and ceremonial aspects of the funeral. Continue reading...

Cheaper mortgages and anticipation of interest rate cuts are predicted to lead to jump in transactionsUK house prices are on track to beat forecasts of a decline in 2024, a leading estate agent has said, as a mortgage pricing war and expectations of Bank of England interest rate cuts rekindle the property market.After a year of sustained price falls in 2023, the global property consultancy Knight Frank said it was updating its forecast for UK house prices to rise by 3% in 2024, up from an earlier estimate of a 4% drop. Continue reading...

AA and RAC report highest figures for at least five years and criticise lack of permanent repairsBritain's potholed roads caused a surge in vehicle breakdowns last year, according to motoring organisations, which said related callouts were at their highest level for at least five years.Figures from the AA and RAC breakdown services recorded substantial increases as a result of the state of the roads, which the government recently pledged to tackle with money diverted from cutting the HS2 high-speed railway project. Continue reading...

Lady Doreen Lawrence, Adrian Lester and Annie Lennox among those putting pressure on Home Office to speed up processActors, musicians and campaigners have launched a new drive to put pressure on the Home Office to speed up its payment of compensation to people affected by the Windrush scandal.Lady Doreen Lawrence, television presenter Jay Blades, and actors Colin McFarlane and Adrian Lester have joined musicians AJ Tracey and Annie Lennox to call on the government to remove the compensation scheme from the Home Office's control and hand it to an independent organisation. Continue reading...

Report says combined fortunes of Gina Rinehart, Andrew Forrest and Harry Triguboff doubled between 2020 and 2023, while one in eight Australians live in poverty

Latest NHS England figures reveal 20% increase in lengthy delays compared with 2022A record 420,000 patients had to wait more than 12 hours in A&E last year, analysis has shown.The latest NHS England figures revealed a 20% increase on 2022 in people facing lengthy delays after a decision to admit them to hospital from the emergency department. Continue reading...

One-year-old found at Frosterley Drive rushed to hospital but died next afternoon, Durham police sayA man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a young child in Darlington.Police were called to Frosterley Drive at about 9am on Friday. The one-year-old was found at the address and rushed to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle but died on Saturday afternoon, Durham police said. Continue reading...

Global issues are factor but experts say there are problems peculiar to Britain such as rising costs post-Brexit

Unpublished figures reveal a doubling of products in short supply over past two years

Israel will not have security until Palestinians have their own state, Ami Ayalon says in Guardian interview

Palestine Action members allegedly planned to lock on to building and prevent trading, Metropolitan police saySix people have been arrested for allegedly plotting to prevent the London Stock Exchange from opening, the Metropolitan police has said.The police received information that activists with the Palestine Action group were allegedly planning to stop the LSE from opening for trading on Monday by locking on" to the building, and causing damage. Continue reading...

Actor was the last surviving main character of the beloved comedy from television's golden age of the 1950sJoyce Randolph, a veteran stage and television actor whose role as the savvy Trixie Norton on The Honeymooners provided the perfect foil to her dimwitted TV husband, has died. She was 99.Randolph died of natural causes Saturday night at her home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, her son Randolph Charles told the Associated Press on Sunday. Continue reading...

President of Israel in video address to Trafalgar Square demonstrators marking 100 days since deadly Hamas attack

Lee Anderson could be one of six Conservatives on the payroll' ready to support the amendmentsConservative rebels have said as many as 70 MPs could back amendments or abstain from supporting Rishi Sunak's flagship Rwanda bill, telling the prime minister he will have nowhere to go" if he does not toughen up the legislation.A leading figure on the right wing of the party said at least three junior ministers and six Tories on the payroll, including a vice-chair of the party, had already informed the whips they were sympathetic" to the amendments. Continue reading...

Seismic activity intensified overnight near Grindavik, the fifth eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula in two yearsHouses have caught fire in the fishing town of Grindavik in south-west Iceland after a volcano erupted for the second time in less than a month.Two fissures formed near the town on Sunday after an increase in seismic activity that prompted authorities to evacuate the community the day before. Continue reading...

Foreign secretary says anyone involved in government in past two decades has got to be extremely sorry'David Cameron has said he cannot remember in any detail" being briefed about the Horizon scandal while he was prime minister.The foreign secretary, who was in No 10 from 2010 until 2016, faced questions on what he did to stop the growing scandal following reports that the Post Office could be facing a 100m bill and insolvency after claiming tax relief for its compensation payments to post office operators. Continue reading...

Victims part of group of about 70 trying to board vessels off seaside resort of Wimereux in early hours of SundayFive people have died and a sixth is in a critical condition after getting into difficulty in icy waters trying to reach the UK from northern France, the French maritime authority has said.Four people were found dead in the early hours of Sunday morning, while the body of a fifth victim was found by a walker at about 9am. Continue reading...

Yellow warnings moving south from northern Scotland during week with temperatures 5C to 6C below seasonal norm, says Met OfficeCold Arctic air will bring snow, ice and travel disruption to parts of the UK next week.The Met Office has issued yellow snow and ice warnings as temperatures are expected to plunge over the coming days. Liam Eslick, a meteorologist, said that temperatures will be about 5C to 6C lower than usual for this time of year. Continue reading...

Tens of thousands on streets of Danish capital to see monarch hand over to eldest sonDenmark's prime minister has proclaimed Frederik X king on the balcony of Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, after Queen Margrethe II formally signed her abdication, ending her 52-year reign as the country's longest-serving monarch.Tens of thousands of people gathered on the streets of the Danish capital on Sunday to greet Frederik and bid farewell to Margrethe, who became the first Danish monarch in nearly 900 years to abdicate voluntarily. Continue reading...

The altars have been placed at two of the building's key spots - the Spire Crossing and Trinity ChapelMore than 800 years after work began on Salisbury Cathedral, the space is still being developed and modified - and this weekend two new altars were officially unveiled and consecrated.Created by the sculptor William Pye in collaboration with the furniture maker Luke Hughes, the altars have been placed at two of the building's key spots - the Spire Crossing and Trinity Chapel. Continue reading...

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy represented by chief of staff as Switzerland says talks aim to finalise principles for lasting and just peace'Ukraine pushed ahead with its peace formula to end nearly two years of war with Russia with a meeting of national security advisers from around the world in Davos on Sunday.President Zelenskiy, who is scheduled to address the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos later in the week, was not in the opening morning session, which included 81 participants from countries and international organisations. Continue reading...

Labour leader denies he has rowed back on pledge to give MPs a say before authorising military interventionKeir Starmer has rejected claims he has watered down promises to introduce a law giving MPs a vote before military intervention and to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia.During his party's 2020 leadership race, the Labour leader promised to introduce a prevention of military intervention act" that would stop more illegal wars" and ensure military action could only be taken if a lawful case was made, the Commons had given its consent and there was a viable objective". Continue reading...

Targeted assassinations in Lebanon could rupture fragile understanding between two sides, say envoys

Presidency makes announcement nearly a week after wave of violence hit South American countryScores of hostages have been released from Ecuador's gang-controlled prisons, the government has claimed, nearly a week after the South American country was shaken by a massive wave of violence.All of the hostages have been freed," the Ecuadorian presidency announced on social media on Saturday night. Continue reading...

Key figure of Soviet underground literary scene and critic of Ukraine war dies days after being hit by car

Imperium Press, whose blog fosters a worldview it calls folkishness', has become an intellectual resource for the far right, but its works are widely available through mainstream sources

Experts say tobacco companies are turning to the booming wellness industry as a way of normalising more harmful products, and that some brands obscure or hide their ownership