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Rishi Sunak faces calls for inquiry into whether medical evidence was ignored before the launch of his £849m initiativeRishi Sunak faces calls for an inquiry into whether Treasury officials buried or ignored evidence that his £849m “eat out to help out” scheme fuelled the spread of the pandemic.Officials dismissed a Warwick University study in October 2020 that said Sunak’s initiative may have caused a significant rise in Covid-19 infections. The report estimated 8%-17% of detected new clusters could be linked to the scheme. Continue reading...

State’s attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, says Andrews government has ‘no plans to weaken the laws’ for offenders who pose a serious community safety risk

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Prime minister received hero’s welcome as state opposition pledged $93m to hire 1,000 apprentices and trainees in the public sector

March helps draw to a close 17-day festival, which will wrap up on Sunday evening with a concert in the Domain

The teenager was swimming with two friends when they lost sight of him, while a man’s body was found at a lake in Melbourne’s outer east

Jim Chalmers has accused shadow treasurer of waging a ‘ridiculous scare campaign’ that doesn’t stand up to the facts

Passengers will be hit by biggest increase in ticket prices since 2012Train passengers will be hit by the largest increase in fares for more than a decade on Sunday despite record levels of poor reliability.Fares in England and Wales will rise by up to 5.9% on average, adding hundreds of pounds to the cost of many annual season tickets. Continue reading...

Interactive map designed to help people ‘find activities, events and celebrations nearby’, says culture secretaryThe public has been encouraged to share how they will celebrate King Charles’s coronation – whether it is attending a street party or sitting in the pub all day – on a digital map set up by the government.People will be able to share events they are hosting over the coronation weekend from 6 May to 8 May such as coronation big lunches and volunteering activities in an attempt to foster local community spirit. Continue reading...

First class stamp £1.10 from April and second class 75p as firm predicts £450m operating lossThe cost of a first class stamp will rise to £1.10 early next month, Royal Mail has announced, breaking the £1 barrier for the first time.The company said it would increase the price of a first class stamp by 15p from 3 April, a year after it went up by 10p to 95p. The price of a second class stamp is also going up, by 7p to 75p.The secondary headline on an earlier version of this article gave the incorrect price for second class stamps. This has now been corrected. Continue reading...

Government set to publish legislation that will prevent people who cross Channel from claiming asylumNew powers to crack down on small boat crossings in the Channel are expected to be announced by the UK government next week.The legislation, promised as part of efforts to tackle illegal migration, is understood to likely be launched by Rishi Sunak and the home secretary, Suella Braverman. Continue reading...

Sergei Lavrov says Moscow ‘trying to stop’ war in remarks at India’s Raisina Dialogue conference

Party chair also says taxpayers should not foot bill for former PM’s legal fees during Partygate inquiryThe Labour chair Anneliese Dodds has said Boris Johnson should face “political repercussions” if he is found to have misled parliament, as fresh evidence emerges over lockdown parties.A cross-party interim report into Partygate released on Friday found there was significant evidence that Johnson misled MPs over lockdown parties and that he and aides almost certainly knew at the time they were breaking rules. Continue reading...

Rafael Grossi to meet president to ‘relaunch dialogue’ on nuclear programme, says source, following discovery of 83.7% enrichmentThe UN nuclear watchdog chief has said he has had “constructive” meetings with Iranian officials in Tehran after the discovery of uranium particles enriched to near weapons-grade level.The two-day visit by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, comes as the Vienna-based organisation seeks greater cooperation with Iran over its nuclear activities. Continue reading...

Charity urges Jeremy Hunt to spend more on social care, as it warns of ‘tragedies behind closed doors’Thousands of older people have died without getting the care they needed, a charity has said.Age UK said it was “deeply concerned” about the plight of elderly people whose needs are not being met and urged the chancellor to direct more resources towards social care. Continue reading...

Exclusive: British-Iranian man says he was attacked after protesting against an assault on a teenage girl by security servicesThis story contains graphic imagesA British-Iranian health worker who joined anti-regime street protests in Tehran still has five shotgun pellets lodged in his body after being fired at repeatedly by Iranian security forces at point-blank range.It is thought the security officers were using shotguns to fire buckshot cartridges containing multiple pellets that then spread through the victim’s body. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Several NHS organisations have asked unqualified medics to provide support during strikes later this monthUnqualified medical students are being urged to provide clinical support in English hospitals when tens of thousands of junior doctors go on strike this month, the Guardian can reveal.The NHS faces the prospect of unprecedented disruption to services from 13 March when junior doctors strike for 72 hours in an increasingly bitter row over pay, morale and safe staffing levels. Continue reading...

GMB, Unison and Chartered Society of Physiotherapy take up offer of talks after government concessionsThree health unions have agreed to call off strike action planned for next week and enter into pay talks with the health secretary, Steve Barclay, after the government made significant concessions in an attempt to end the protracted dispute.The GMB, Unison and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy have all decided to take up an offer of fresh talks, after Barclay wrote to them offering to discuss pay, including a one-off cost of living payment for this year. Continue reading...

Reality TV personality ordered to sign sex offender register and not to contact ex-partner Georgia HarrisonThe reality TV personality Stephen Bear has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for sharing a private video of him having sex with his ex-girlfriend Georgia Harrison, in a judgment confirming that sharing intimate images without consent is a serious crime.Bear was also ordered to sign the sex offender register and given a restraining order not to contact Harrison for five years. He will have notification requirements to keep police updated with his address and whereabouts for 10 years. Continue reading...

Host, who is leaving BBC after 46 years, says it is a shame he had to finish 17 days before end of contractThe radio presenter Ken Bruce paid tributes to listeners as he hosted his final show on BBC Radio 2.Bruce, who has hosted the morning programme for 30 years, chose the medley of Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight and The End, which closes The Beatles’ album Abbey Road, to end his last show on Friday. Continue reading...

The director, whose Oscar-nominated film The Fabelmans depicts the racial abuse he faced in the 60s, said he was very surprised by its current resurgenceSteven Spielberg has spoken out about his impression of the current levels of antisemitism in the US.Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Spielberg was asked whether the abuse faced in 1960s California by the young Jewish hero of his new film, autobiographical drama The Fabelmans, was something he recognised today. Continue reading...

Pro-democracy activist sentenced to 10 years as part of Alexander Lukashenko’s purge of opponentsBelarus has sentenced the Nobel peace prize-winning dissident Ales Bialiatski to 10 years in prison as part of Alexander Lukashenko’s purge of opponents after the 2020 pro-democracy protests against his rule.Bialiatski, a pro-democracy activist, is the founder of Viasna, the authoritarian country’s most prominent human rights group. He was detained in July last year and charged with smuggling cash into Belarus to fund his group’s activities, but is widely recognised as being persecuted for his opposition to Lukashenko. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Federal court is expected to sit on 16 March for a preliminary hearing that will focus on the significant delay in filing the claim

Official tells royal commission she was threatened with losing her job after turning off part of the system without approval

Singh, 38, was remanded in custody during a short video link appearance before the Cairns magistrates court

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, had sued College Dropout Burgers, which was named after his 2004 record

Fair Trading says it is taking ‘an educative approach’ to new laws and planning for future audits and enforcement action

Urgent discussions among unions in England on whether to accept offer to discuss one-off cost of living paymentHealth unions in England are considering suspending strike action to enter talks with the government after Steve Barclay signalled he was willing to discuss a one-off cost of living payment for the current year.The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) temporarily called off strikes last week to enter “intensive” negotiations with the health secretary. That move infuriated other unions involved in NHS stoppages, which vowed to press ahead with strikes. Continue reading...

The missing 62-year-old was found in the Tortington Lane area of Walberton, West Sussex, after an 11-day searchPolice have confirmed that a body found in the search for a missing woman has been formally identified as Laurel Aldridge.The 62-year-old, sister-in-law of actor Mackenzie Crook, was eventually found in the Tortington Lane area of Walberton, West Sussex, after an 11-day search. Continue reading...

Two pieces of pre-attack intelligence cannot be made public but it would be unwise to be overly critical of reportIn a frustrating final report, the chair of the Manchester Arena inquiry half gets at the truth. Tasked with answering the most important question – could the suicide bombing at the Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017 have been prevented? – Sir John Saunders admits his approach will have “raised more questions” in the minds of the families of the 22 who lost their lives.It is nearly six years since that tragedy and yet Saunders feels he cannot fully explain what were the two pieces of intelligence that MI5 obtained in early 2017 which, if acted upon, might have prevented Salman Abedi from carrying out the deadly attack. It was “a significant missed opportunity”, the inquiry concluded, but such is the British state’s addiction to secrecy it cannot be made public, even now. Continue reading...

No casualties have been reported since flames engulfed construction site in heart of busy Tsim Sha Tsui late on ThursdayHong Kong firefighters have been battling a blaze that engulfed a construction site in the city’s shopping district.Officials said the fire broke out at 11.11pm (1511 GMT) on Thursday in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui, a busy shopping and tourist area on the waterfront. Continue reading...

Institute for Fiscal Studies urges chancellor to encourage over-50s back into labour marketPeople in their 50s and 60s are re-thinking their decision to take early retirement after being made poorer by Britain’s cost of living crisis, a thinktank has suggested.The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the squeeze on living standards caused by the highest inflation rate in four decades was the likely reason why more 50-64 year olds were looking for work. Continue reading...

Teaching unions react with fury to leaked Matt Hancock messages they say show ‘appalling lack of respect’

Building company aims to save £20m, but declines to say how many of its 5,000 workforce will be affectedTaylor Wimpey is planning to cut jobs as the housebuilder warned of slowing sales in the latest sign of a downturn in the UK housing market.The company said the job cuts formed part of efforts to save £20m in costs a year. The chief executive, Jennie Daly, declined to say how many of the 5,000 workforce would be affected, adding that staff consultations were under way. Continue reading...

Chief executive says ‘no place on ITV’ for comments Jeremy Clarkson made in the Sun, but says brand has not been affectedITV has insisted its reputation is intact despite the controversy over Jeremy Clarkson, as the broadcaster said it expected a steep drop in advertising sales this year as the economy weakens.Clarkson, a former Top Gear presenter, presents ITV’s long-running gameshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, but he was forced to apologise over an article in the Sun in December in which he said he was dreaming of the day the Duchess of Sussex was made to parade naked in public while people threw excrement at her. Continue reading...

Asylum seekers in Karachi tell of terror of being sent back to the Taliban and despair at being shackled and held in Pakistani jailsRefugees are reportedly dying in Pakistani prisons, and children are being arrested and tied together with ropes, as a wave of detentions and deportations spreads fearamong the hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have crossed the border since the Taliban took power.According to lawyers representing Afghans in detention, at least four people have died in custody, and thousands more, including children, are being held in prisons as Pakistan hardens its stance against Afghan citizens. Continue reading...

Victim’s mother expects ‘catalogue of mistakes’ to be exposed in Sir John Saunders’ report on 2017 atrocityThe mother of a victim of the Manchester Arena attack has said she expects “a whole catalogue of mistakes” to be laid bare when a landmark report on the atrocity is published on Thursday.MI5 is braced for criticism from the report, which will examine whether the deadliest terror attack in Britain since 7/7 could have been prevented. Continue reading...

Government’s long-awaited plan promises thousands more specialist school places and new national standardsServices for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) in England are to be “transformed”, with the introduction of new national standards and thousands more specialist school places, ministers have announced.The long-awaited changes are being introduced to end the postcode lottery that families currently face and ensure that children and young people with Send get “high-quality, early support” wherever they live, the government says. Continue reading...

Inquest into death of Aboriginal man hears text describing Walker as ‘shit cunt’ was forwarded to Zachary Rolfe

Campaigners urge exam boards to diversify English literature set texts to challenge rising misogynyOnly 2% of GCSE students study a book written by a female author, according to research by campaigners who are urging exam boards to diversify their set text lists to curb the rise of misogynistic views.Research by End Sexism in Schools (ESIS) found that 67% of set texts for modern prose and drama were by male authors, while 58% of the set 19th-century novels were by men. It also found that 69% of the set texts for modern prose and drama papers had a male protagonist, rising to 71% for the 19th-century novel. Continue reading...

Former education secretary said to have made comments in leaked WhatsApp exchanges to Matt Hancock, then health secretaryTeachers complained about a lack of PPE in order “to have an excuse not to teach”, Gavin Williamson said in a leaked WhatsApp chat, commenting later that some teaching unions “really do just hate work”.In new leaked WhatsApp messages from the Telegraph’s investigation, Matt Hancock, the then heath secretary, was asked by Williamson, who was the education secretary, to help unblock school requests for protective equipment if a child became ill at school as classrooms prepared to reopen after the first lockdown. Continue reading...

Up to 60 people missing as rescuers continue efforts to find survivors of head-on crash near LarissaThe death toll from the head-on collision of two trains in central Greece has risen to at least 40 people, with many more missing, according to the state broadcaster, while several of those wounded remained in critical condition.On Wednesday afternoon, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) reported that 50 to 60 people were still unaccounted for after the crash in the town of Tempe. Continue reading...

Families calling for a ‘Hillsborough law’ say proposal lacks powers to secure key documents and prevent cover-upsDominic Raab has announced ministers will set up an “independent public advocate” (IPA) to support victims and families of people killed in major disasters, including by helping them to “navigate” the inquiries and inquests that follow.The justice secretary described the proposed advocate as part of the government’s belated response to the ordeal suffered by bereaved families after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 97 people were killed in a crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Bereaved families and survivors were forced to struggle for decades against a campaign of lies mounted by South Yorkshire police, who sought to blame those who attended the match for the disaster, rather than admit to police crowd management failures. Continue reading...

The Secret Life of John le Carré by Adam Sisman, who published an authorised biography in 2015, promises ‘a hidden life of secrecy, passion and betrayal’A biography focusing on the “turbulent private life” of crime writer John le Carré is to be published, illuminating “a hidden life of secrecy, passion and betrayal”, according to the book’s author Adam Sisman.The Secret Life of John le Carré is a follow-up to Sisman’s authorised 2015 biography, which was published by Bloomsbury. Continue reading...

Police say Hackney Central station in east London will remain closed while officers respond to situationA man is in hospital in a critical condition with laceration wounds after an incident at a train station in east London that armed officers attended.According to the local news website MyLondon, an air ambulance was seen landing near the scene. Continue reading...

Alexei Moskalyov charged with ‘discrediting Russian army’, while daughter punished for drawing rockets fired at Ukraine family

Vote increases chance of Finland joining alliance before its Nordic neighbour Sweden, which is facing objections from TurkeyFinland’s parliament has overwhelmingly approved legislation allowing the country to join Nato, increasing the chances of it becoming a member of the transatlantic defensive alliance before its Nordic neighbour Sweden.Both countries last year abandoned decades of military non-alignment in a historic policy shift triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, submitting simultaneous Nato membership applications and pledging to complete the process “hand-in-hand”. Continue reading...

Allegations come amid defamation lawsuit against Wood by Manson, but cannot be included as evidenceUS actor Evan Rachel Wood has denied pressuring a woman into making sexual assault allegations against rock star Marilyn Manson.In February 2021, Wood and four other women claimed that Manson, real name Brian Warner, had subjected them to various forms of abuse: sexual, physical and emotional, including attacks characterised as torture. Continue reading...

Sunak’s government has refused to echo assertion that Jagtar Singh Johal is being arbitrarily detainedRishi Sunak and the Foreign Office appear to be scaling back the UK’s support for Jagtar Singh Johal, the British Sikh activist held in an Indian jail for five years, his family and Keir Starmer have said.Sunak’s government has refused invitations to echo Boris Johnson’s assertion that the Indian government has arbitrarily detained Johal, a term seen as significant because it means the UK does not recognise there is a proper legal basis to hold him. Continue reading...

Wife’s illness, plagiarism court case and death of music entrepreneur friend Jamal Edwards all came to bear on Sheeran’s sixth studio album, made with the National’s Aaron DessnerEd Sheeran has announced his sixth studio album, entitled – and pronounced “subtract”.The fifth and final entry in his series of albums titled with mathematical symbols, Sheeran wrote and recorded its 14 tracks with Aaron Dessner, a member of US alt-rock band the National who also had a major creative role in Taylor Swift’s Folklore and Evermore. Continue reading...