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Average monthly increase of 1.1% to £285,476 in February, after falls in previous two months, says HalifaxUK house prices picked up in February from the previous month as recent reductions in mortgage rates helped to stabilise the market, according to the lender Halifax.The average house price rose 1.1% to £285,476 last month compared with January, in a sign of resilience amid hopes the broader economic downturn will not be as severe as previously feared. Continue reading...

Indigenous woman’s relatives tell inquest they want to make sure ‘this never happens again’

From jetski patrols to Rwanda deportations, the Tories have not been short of schemes to deter small boats

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One senior woman, Tootsie Daniel, tells federal court that looking at her country now breaks her heart because ‘it’s all barren’ due to mining

Head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force says his troops’ position could be in peril due to a lack of ammunition

New report says a Human Rights Act could have prevented ‘abandonment’ of Australians overseas in Covid pandemic

Six pieces removed from show about health issues after school officials were given legal counsel about state’s abortion ‘gag rule’A public college in Idaho is coming under pressure to explain why it has removed from an upcoming exhibition in its Center for Arts & History several artworks dealing with reproductive health and abortion.The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Coalition Against Censorship have jointly written to Lewis-Clark State College expressing “alarm” at the decision to remove several pieces. Continue reading...

Analysis by thinktank Common Wealth bolsters Labour’s case to launch national energy companyA publicly owned electricity generation firm could save Britons nearly £21bn a year, according to new analysis that bolsters Labour’s case to launch a national energy company if the party gains power.Thinktank Common Wealth has calculated that the cost of generating electricity to power homes and businesses could be reduced by £20.8bn or £252 per household a year under state ownership, according to a report seen by the Guardian. Continue reading...

Researchers say federal departments should not only focus on Chinese-owned TikTok, as other apps also collect a lot of user data

Academic also tells coroner that texts sent by constable Zachary Rolfe showed a ‘cowboy’ mindset with a ‘sense of impunity’

‘To those who are leaving us: we are deeply sorry’, said Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar in staff memo

Magistrate hearing case against two co-accused questioned why officers say ‘no ambulance was obstructed’

Survey lays bare precarious state of local finances and increasingly ‘desperate’ measures planned in many areasMore than half of local authorities in England plan to cut more services while also raising council tax by the maximum possible amount, as they turn to increasingly “desperate” measures to remain financially solvent, a survey has revealed.Nine out of 10 councils are raising council tax from April. This alone will not balance their budgets, meaning most are also proposing to cut spending (52%), increase fees for services such as parking and waste (93%), spend their “rainy day” financial reserves (67%) and sell off assets such as land and buildings. Continue reading...

Trade body Make UK adds to pressure on Rishi Sunak as it calls for reset of relationships with EuropeBusiness leaders say frayed relations with the EU are costing the British economy, as suppliers in the bloc grow more cautious about doing business with post-Brexit Britain.Adding to the pressure on Rishi Sunak’s government as bosses warn that the UK is falling behind its peers, the manufacturers’ group Make UK called for an urgent reset of political and trading relationships with the EU. Continue reading...

Interest rates at highest level since mid-2012 as central bank continues to try to drive down inflation

Moira Shire council also investigated over major construction projects, transportation of asbestos, and occupational health and safety issues

Former department head Kathryn Campbell rejects suggestions at inquiry that oversight was deliberate or government ministers had pressured her

Former Australian PM criticises ‘extent of the bias’ in newspapers’ front-page report warning of armed conflict in Indo-Pacific

In a bellicose first press conference, Qin Gang rebuked Washington over its Taiwan policy and the balloon incident, while praising Beijing’s relationship with RussiaThe US and China are heading towards inevitable conflict if Washington does not change its approach, China’s new foreign minister has said in a fiery press conference in which he defended his country’s strengthening relationship with Russia.In his first media appearance as foreign minister, held on Tuesday on the sidelines of the “two sessions” political gathering, Qin Gang outlined China’s foreign policy agenda for the coming years, presenting China and its relationship with Russia as a beacon of strength and stability, and the US and its allies as a source of tension and conflict. Continue reading...

Sources say Tsai Ing-wen intends to meet McCarthy in the coming weeks, a move that may stoke tensions with Beijing and in the Taiwan strait

The former Australian of the Year was in the courtroom as Bester, the teacher who abused her, entered his plea

Judge says it would likely not be ‘tolerable’ for pair to work together until the beginning of Fair Work dismissal case

Heatwave continues along the coast and extreme fire danger forecast inland as windy weather picks up

Global study shows significant shift in UK attitudes on matters such as casual sex and assisted dyingThe UK has overtaken Canada, Germany and Australia to become one of the world’s most socially liberal nations towards divorce and abortion, the latest wave of a global study has revealed.Significant increases in the last five years in people saying the practices are justifiable is mirrored by sharply increasing acceptance of homosexuality, casual sex and prostitution over the same period, the World Values Survey found. Continue reading...

Plans to film veteran broadcaster close to birds for Wild Isles series pulled over concerns about his healthTelevision producers feared David Attenborough would catch bird flu and die during filming for his latest series – likely to be the veteran broadcaster’s last job on location.Wild Isles, which premieres on Sunday, will be Attenborough’s first landmark series on the natural history of Britain and Ireland. Filmed over the course of three years, the five-part series aims to shine a light on the challenges affecting the British Isles and celebrate nature that exists on our doorsteps. Continue reading...

Lower proportion of cases are solved in comparison with incidents involving white people, charity research suggestsMissing persons cases involving black and Asian people are less likely to be resolved by police than those involving white people, research suggests.Black and Asian children are also likely to be missing for longer, the report, published by the charity Missing People, found. Continue reading...

Proposed law, criticised as cruel and unworkable, could be made to apply retrospectively from TuesdayRefugees who cross the Channel in small boats from Tuesday could face detention and deportation under a new migration law that Labour and charities have called “unworkable” and “cruel”.In an acknowledgment that the law will prompt a fresh rush of refugees across the Channel, the Home Office is seeking to make the illegal migration bill apply retrospectively from the day it is introduced to parliament, the Guardian has been told. Continue reading...

Temperatures could plummet to -15c in some sheltered Scottish areas with snow cutting off some rural areasTuesday night could be the coldest this year so far, the Met Office has warned, with fears that Arctic air could cut off some rural communities and cause power and transport chaos.Temperatures could fall as low as -15c in some sheltered Scottish areas, with locations that have seen snowfall especially vulnerable. Continue reading...

Council says problem is being eradicated after claims of ‘rats as big as cats’ in cliffs above popular south Wales seaside townThe seaside town of Tenby is one of Wales’ most popular tourist destinations, with tens of thousands flocking each year to enjoy its beaches and picturesque coastline.But those admiring the view from Castle Beach in the last fortnight could have been in for a shock, as they may have seen large rats burrowing within the cliff above their heads. Continue reading...

The Oscar-winning film-maker has announced he is months into making Musk, which will examine the controversial entrepreneurOscar-winning film-maker Alex Gibney has announced that he is in the process of making a documentary about Elon Musk.The documentarian behind films such as Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is months into the making of Musk, “a definitive and unvarnished examination” of the provocative tech entrepreneur. Continue reading...

Gunmen opened fire on vehicle in northern city of Matamoros, and FBI is offering $50,000 reward for return of victimsGunmen kidnapped four US citizens who crossed into Mexico from Texas last week to buy medicine and got caught in a shootout that killed at least one Mexican citizen, officials said on Monday.The four were in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. They came under fire on Friday shortly after entering the city of Matamoros from Brownsville, the southernmost tip of Texas near the Gulf coast, the FBI San Antonio division office said in a statement on Sunday. Continue reading...

Graphic clip shows detained combatant standing in a shallow trench before being apparently shotUkraine has urged the international criminal court to investigate footage circulating on social media that appeared to show Russian fighters killing a Ukrainian prisoner of war.In the graphic clip that first circulated on Telegram, a detained combatant is seen standing in a shallow trench and smoking a cigarette. The soldier says “Glory to Ukraine” and is then apparently shot with automatic weapons. Continue reading...

ACMD says sale and possession of laughing gas for recreational use should not be barred despite Home Office desire for crackdownThe UK’s drug advisory panel has rejected calls to ban the sale and possession of nitrous oxide for recreational use, despite the Home Office’s eagerness to do so, a new report has revealed.While supplying nitrous oxide for psychoactive purposes is already banned, laughing gas or “nos” remains hugely popular among young people. Its growing use has thrown concerns about possible associated health and social problems into the spotlight. Continue reading...

Whitehall chief called travellers being confined to Covid hotels ‘hilarious’, according to leak of chats with former health secretaryFormer senior civil servants have expressed surprise and concern at the cabinet secretary, Simon Case’s “unprofessional” and jokey WhatsApp chats with Matt Hancock during the Covid crisis, saying they appeared to be a highly unusual departure from normal standards.Case’s correspondence with Hancock is revealed in a leak to the Telegraph, known as the Lockdown Files, which shows the head of the civil service saying it was “hilarious” that some travellers were being “locked up” in hotels after entering the UK. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson’s allies continue campaign to discredit Partygate inquiry run by departing civil servantSenior Conservatives have launched a bid to stymie Labour’s “unprecedented” hiring of outgoing civil servant Sue Gray, amid claims the rules for departing senior officials had been breached.Conservative MPs demanded the appointment be blocked for up to two years given her “knowledge of the most sensitive details of government ministers”, while Boris Johnson’s allies ramped up their campaign to discredit the Partygate inquiry she ran. Continue reading...

Friends and family question police handling of case after three people found dead and two badly injuredFamilies and friends have expressed anger that it took up to 46 hours to find five people in the wreckage of a car crash that left three of them dead and two seriously injured.Friends and relatives of the three young women and two men raised the alarm when they failed to return home from a Friday night out in Newport, south Wales. Continue reading...

Priscila Guevara and Constantín Dumitru also ordered to pay €750,000 to insurers over the theft of 45 bottlesA court in Spain has sentenced two people to four and half years in prison after the theft of €1.6m (£1.4m) worth of expensive wine from a high-end restaurant in a heist that made headlines around the world.In October 2021 one of the owners of Atrio hotel and restaurant in the city of Cáceres sounded the alarm after discovering 45 bottles of wine – including a 217-year-old bottle of Château d’Yquem worth €350,000 – were missing from the cellar. Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy discusses situation in besieged city as senior Ukraine commanders remain in favour of strengthening positions. This live blog is closed

Former PM accused of having ‘discredited honours system’ with selections for long-delayed resignation list

BMA ballot finds 86% of consultants would take industrial action, putting patient care in England under further stressSenior doctors are prepared to strike in protest over their pensions and deep cuts to their pay, a consultative ballot by their union has shown.The indicative ballot run by the British Medical Association (BMA) found that 86% of more than 17,000 consultants in England who voted would go on strike. Continue reading...

Move met with indignation by many across country, where liquor sales have boomed in recent yearsOver the past two decades of problems in Iraq, where to find a drink has never been one of them. But one of the country’s most popular vices – alcohol – is again at the centre of a tussle between hardliners, who are demanding an import ban, and drinkers intent on defying them.The latest row about whether alcohol can be served has followed a decree from a conservative cabinet minister at the weekend that ordered customs officials to impose an import ban on liquor. Continue reading...

Northern mayors at transport summit call for operator to be removed with 20,000 trains expected to be cancelled this yearTransPennine Express bosses have been warned to sort out “unacceptable” rail services, ministers said, as northern mayors demanded that the government “get a grip” on the operator which is on track to cancel more than 20,000 trains this year.TPE has already cancelled about a quarter of services in 2023, with 40% scrapped in one week in January because of a lack of staff. Continue reading...

Geoffroy de Lagasnerie says focus on friendships over relationships or family is radical act in today’s societyBuilding your life around close friendships rather than family or romance is a joyous and necessary act of rebellion, and governments should put in place Friendship Ministries to radically rethink the way society is organised, a key French philosopher has argued.Geoffroy de Lagasnerie this week publishes a manifesto for friendship, 3 Une Aspiration au Dehors, detailing his close friendship with two other writers, Didier Eribon and Édouard Louis. The three friends eat together in the evening, speak many times daily, wish each other goodnight and good morning every day and synch their schedules to make sure they prioritise friendship moments, namely meeting up for long chats. He described the friendship as the centre of their lives, “one long discussion that never ends”. Continue reading...

Contaminated earth in Almería is result of 1966 air crash involving a B-52 loaded with hydrogen bombsNearly 60 years after a midair collision dumped four US hydrogen bombs in south-eastern Spain, strewing radioactive plutonium across the landscape, Spanish officials have renewed efforts to have Washington cart off tens of thousands of cubic metres of contaminated soil to the US for storage.A source at Spain’s ministry of foreign affairs confirmed on Monday that it had formally requested the US takes action to remove the radioactive earth. The request is in line with a non-binding agreement struck between the two countries in 2015 and which included a US commitment to “arrange for disposal of the contaminated earth at an appropriate site in the United States”. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak to announce funding before next week’s budget, aimed at urgently modernising military

Labour leader points to looming May elections as refugee groups condemn PM’s proposal for deporting asylum seekers

FBU members overwhelmingly accept offer, ending prospect of strikes

Fears of future blazes after health, learning and religious facilities also destroyed in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Ike Ekweremadu, 60, tells Old Bailey he paid Dr Obinna Obeta £1,800 to find kidney donor for his daughterA Nigerian politician accused of organ trafficking to the UK issued an “abide by the law” instruction to a doctor who offered to find a kidney donor for his sick daughter for a fee, the Old Bailey has heard.Ike Ekweremadu, 60, former deputy president of the Nigerian senate, admitted paying Dr Obinna Obeta an initial fee of 1m naira (£1,800) in September 2021 to find a suitable kidney donor for his daughter Sonia, a postgraduate media student at Newcastle University, the court heard. Continue reading...