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Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa urges world to keep ‘eyes on’ President Mnangagwa amid fears of repression this summerThe leader of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party has warned of violence and repression by the ruling Zanu-PF party to ensure victory in elections scheduled for later this year.In an interview with the Observer, Nelson Chamisa, president of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), called on the international community to have “eyes on” the struggling southern African country despite other crises around the world and to “offer solidarity” to those fighting for change there. Continue reading...

Move follows bishops’ refusal to back gay marriage while blessings to be on voluntary basis for clergySandi Toksvig has said she will be meeting the archbishop of Canterbury for coffee, after bishops this week refused to back gay marriage but said civil partnerships could be blessed in church.“Quick update – I will be meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury for a long promised coffee next week,” the broadcaster and author, who is gay, tweeted on Saturday. Continue reading...

Businesswoman one of four people charged after investigation into trafficking and immigration offencesStagecoach co-founder Dame Ann Gloag has said she “strongly disputes the malicious allegations” made against her after being charged with human trafficking offences.Her husband, David McCleary, and two other members of their family – understood to be her stepdaughter and daughter-in-law, Sarah Gloag, 47, and her son-in-law, Paul McNeil – have also been charged. Continue reading...

Reports Richard Sharp helped ex-PM arrange guarantee on £800,000 loan before he was recommended for jobLabour is calling for an investigation after claims that the BBC chair helped Boris Johnson arrange a guarantee on a loan of up to £800,000 weeks before he was recommended for the job by the then prime minister.The party has written to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, after a report in the Sunday Times that Tory donor Richard Sharp was involved in talks about financing Johnson when he found himself in financial difficulty in late 2020. Continue reading...

The 58-year-old man was treated in hospital after the incident, which took place on 4 February last year

Tarik Namik fled UK before sentencing in December but detained after returning to Manchester airportThe head of a Kurdish people-smuggling ring has been arrested after going on the run before his sentencing, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.Tarik Namik, 45, from Oldham, failed to show up at Manchester crown court and was given an eight-year jail term in his absence on 9 December. Continue reading...

Report finds force missed opportunities to protect Sana Muhammed, who was shot with crossbowThe Metropolitan police is facing renewed criticism after a report found that officers missed opportunities to protect a woman from her ex-husband in the years before he killed her with a crossbow.Sana Muhammad, 35, was eight months pregnant when Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo burst into her home in east London and shot an arrow into her stomach as she tried to flee. Continue reading...

Call for inquiry after Observer investigation uncovers scale of trafficking by criminal gangsDozens of asylum-seeking children have been kidnapped by gangs from a Brighton hotel run by the Home Office in a pattern apparently being repeated across the south coast, an Observer investigation can reveal.A whistleblower, who works for Home Office contractor Mitie, and child protection sources describe children being abducted off the street outside the hotel and bundled into cars. Continue reading...

Announcement from Russian army follows heavy shelling in the region overnight. This blog is now closed

The four-legged clothing market is soaring as designers create outfits for their faithful friends and the high street follows suitThere are Gucci hats made in Italy from pink bouclé wool, Celine travel bags with calfskin trim and a (waste bag) purse studded with gold spikes. But these are not just any designer fashion items … they’re created for clients with four legs and a tail.In the past year, numerous fashion houses have launched ranges for pets, including Gucci, Celine, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss and Christian Louboutin. Dolly Parton also launched her own line of dog clothes in 2022, with the name Doggy Parton. Continue reading...

A plan from Czech railways to replace the emblematic landmark with a modern structure is facing an impassioned backlashA historic Prague railway bridge, whose importance to the city’s landscape has been compared to the Eiffel tower in Paris, has been earmarked for demolition in a move denounced by architects and preservationists.The much-photographed Vyšehrad bridge – instantly recognisable for its parabolic lattice steel structure – is unfit to carry an anticipated rising volume of rail traffic, claims Czech Railways, which plans to replace it with a modern structure. Continue reading...

Actor thanks people for messages of support since he was run over by six-tonne machine earlier this monthThe actor Jeremy Renner has revealed he broke more than 30 bones during his serious snowplough accident.Renner, known for playing the bow and arrow-wielding Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries on 1 January after he was accidentally run over by his six-tonne ploughing machine while trying to help a family member. Continue reading...

Marine and Wildlife Rescue called to scene at 11pm on Friday and tracked down seal outside amusement arcadeA seal pup has been rescued after it was spotted wandering past an arcade and kebab shop in Norfolk.Marine and Wildlife Rescue was called to the scene at 11pm on Friday after the organisation was sent pictures of the grey seal pup outside Istanbul Delight kebab shop in Hemsby, hundreds of metres inland. Continue reading...

Lawyer for award-winning director says court of appeal expected to decide on case by end of weekIran’s judiciary is to rule on whether to release the film-maker Jafar Panahi on bail after his conviction was overturned by the supreme court, his lawyer said.Panahi, 62, who has won a number of awards at European film festivals, was arrested on 11 July last year and sent to jail to serve a six-year sentence which had been handed down in 2010 for “propaganda against the system”. He served two months at the time before being granted a conditional release. He was also barred from leaving Iran and making films, and was largely confined to his home until his arrest in July. Continue reading...

The prime minister and the chancellor have been trying to tickle Britain’s pixels, with decidedly mixed resultsFinding someone who can read out loud in front of a camera is not as easy as it sounds, as any TV executive will tell you.Even so, the young, TikTok-savvy, lens-aware advisers to Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt must be wondering why their bosses find it quite so difficult. Continue reading...

Country’s president mourns interior minister, his deputy and five other senior officials who diedA tearful Volodymyr Zelenskiy attended a memorial service on Saturday for seven senior interior ministry officials killed in a helicopter crash this week.The former interior minister Denys Monastyrskyi, his deputy and five other high-ranking officials were killed when their French-made Super Puma helicopter crashed into a nursery on the eastern outskirts of Kyiv in foggy conditions on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Comments follow reports that Tory party chair paid HMRC a penalty as part of a multimillion-pound tax settlementThe Tory party chair, Nadhim Zahawi, has said HMRC concluded his tax errors were “careless and not deliberate” after reports that he paid a penalty as part of a multimillion-pound settlement.The former chancellor, who still attends Rishi Sunak’s cabinet, released a statement to “address some of the confusion about my finances” after it emerged he had agreed to pay millions to the tax agency in December. Continue reading...

A Kenyan DJ’s post of being denied transit through Amsterdam has put the spotlight on airlines’ alleged racist policiesEmma Nzioka, a Kenyan performer and DJ known as Coco Em, was looking forward to the Terra Sagrada festival in Cape Verde for nearly a year. Some of her favourite African artists, such as Boddhi Satva, would be playing.But Nzioka did not make it to the festival last month, or out of the country, for that matter. At the check-in counter in Kenya, she was told she could not board her flight unless she bought a return ticket with the same airline (she had one with another airline) to “prove” she would return home. Although Nzioka was going to Cape Verde, she was transiting through Amsterdam. Continue reading...

Party member lodges a complaint about the security services ignoring attempt of Russian infiltration into the ConservativesMI5 repeatedly refused to investigate evidence that an alleged Russian spy was attempting to cultivate influence with senior Conservative politicians and channel illegal Russian funds into the party, a Tory member has alleged in a new complaint lodged with the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT).Sergei Cristo, a Conservative party activist and a former journalist with the BBC World Service, has lodged a complaint with the investigatory powers tribunal, filing the case after corresponding with the chair of parliament’s intelligence and security committee, Conservative MP Julian Lewis, who recommended he take the information to the authorities. Continue reading...

Wife of Leicester City footballer posts picture on Instagram praising ‘brilliant’ Lincolnshire fire serviceA gym at the home of Rebekah and Jamie Vardy has been destroyed by fire.The wife of the Leicester City footballer posted a picture on Instagram of two of her children smiling at the camera having climbed inside a fire engine as she praised the “brilliant Lincolnshire fire and rescue service”. Continue reading...

Security forces stage rescue operation in country which is facing violent Islamist insurgencySixty-six women and children kidnapped by armed assailants in northern Burkina Faso last week have been freed, it has been reported.The mass kidnapping was unprecedented in Burkina Faso, which is facing a violent Islamist insurgency that spread from neighbouring Mali in 2015. Continue reading...

The brief encounters between an actor and an interviewer have been compared to Austen’s novels and Hollywood’s golden ageHe’s a Hollywood A-lister, recently named a man of the year and routinely included among the sexiest alive. She is an awkward art-school graduate who has his shirtless photo as the wallpaper on her phone. And they just can’t seem to stop running into each other.The television personality Amelia Dimoldenberg and the actor Andrew Garfield have been hailed as a real-life romcom in the making for their brief but memorable – and, now, heavily hyped – encounters at awards shows. Continue reading...

Angela Rayner calls for explanation after it emerged former chancellor paid 30% penalty to settle tax billNadhim Zahawi’s position as Conservative party chair is “untenable” after reports he paid a penalty as part of a seven-figure tax settlement, Labour has said.The former chancellor, who attends cabinet meetings, has faced pressure in parliament and the media after it emerged he agreed to pay millions to HMRC in December after a settlement with the tax agency. Continue reading...

Deputy prime minister says leader’s apology for not wearing seatbelt shows integrity and accountabilityDominic Raab has said the prime minister should not have to resign after receiving a fine for not wearing a seatbelt in a moving car.The deputy prime minister said Rishi Sunak had the “highest standards of integrity” and had shown “accountability” by apologising for not wearing his seatbelt, which resulted in the police issuing a fixed-penalty notice – his second in nine months after his Covid lockdown breach. Continue reading...

Amanda Pritchard says ongoing action over pay is having impact but parties are trying to resolve disputeRepeated strikes by health staff are making workloads more challenging, the chief executive of NHS England has said.Amanda Pritchard said the strike action was “clearly having an impact”. Continue reading...

Lifeguards close Shelly and Manly beaches after attack by multiple bull sharks

Prime minister holds talks with Microsoft founder on climate change, energy and health. This blog is now closed

Culture minister’s attack on two documentaries set in Palestinian territories part of campaign to silence dissent, film-makers sayIsrael’s culture minister is attempting to revoke state funding from two documentary films dealing with the occupation of the Palestinian territories, increasing concerns that the country’s new hard-right government will follow through on promises to crack down on dissenting voices.The minister, Miki Zohar, of Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, has pledged to “revoke funding that promotes our enemy’s narrative” and withhold grants from films that “present Israeli soldiers as murderers”. He has also said he will require film-makers to sign a declaration they will not use state funds to create content that “harms the state of Israel or IDF soldiers”. Continue reading...

Police in Lima use teargas on demonstrators, with authorities claiming massive fire at historic building was ‘duly planned’Dozens of Peruvians were injured when tensions flared again on Friday night as police clashed with protesters in anti-government demonstrations that are spreading across the country.In the capital, Lima, police officers used teargas to repel demonstrators throwing glass bottles and stones, as fires burned in the streets, TV footage showed. Continue reading...

Flinders University, the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia adjust policies

Beale was ordered to surrender his passport, not contact witnesses and to report to police daily after appearing in Parramatta local court

Russia claims to have captured village near Bakhmut; Germany declines to take decision on supplying Ukraine with tanks

Former Australian Test captain and Yarbrough fined with public nuisanceFormer Australian Test captain Michael Clarke and his girlfriend have been fined after their public spat in Noosa.Vision emerged on Wednesday of an expletive-laden argument with Clarke, partner Jade Yarbrough and her brother-in-law, Karl Stefanovic.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Move comes after country’s minister for Indigenous people says issue is an ‘absolute priority’Brazil’s first-ever minister for Indigenous peoples, Sônia Guajajara, has vowed to make tackling the humanitarian crisis plaguing the country’s largest Indigenous territory “an absolute priority”, as she prepared to fly into the region with the new president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.Under the former president, Jair Bolsonaro, thousands of illegal gold miners poured into the Yanomami enclave in the Amazon, bringing violence, pollution and a healthcare calamity captured in a recent series of photographs of severely malnourished children and adults. Continue reading...

Minister selected by Labour party to succeed Jacinda Ardern after her shock resignation on ThursdayA new prime minister for New Zealand has been chosen by the Labour party after the shock resignation of Jacinda Ardern on Thursday.Chris Hipkins – the minister for education and policing, and one of the primary architects of the Covid response – was nominated uncontested by the party caucus on Saturday morning, after efforts by senior MPs to achieve consensus and secure a smooth transition in Ardern’s wake. The caucus is due to formally endorse his selection on Sunday. Continue reading...

Radical reforms needed to tackle waiting times, says former health secretaryPatients should be charged for GP appointments and A&E visits, Sajid Javid has said, as he called the present model of the NHS “unsustainable”.The former health secretary said “extending the contributory principle” should be part of radical reforms to tackle growing waiting times. Continue reading...

St James’s hospital declares critical incident after suspicious package found outside Gledhow wingA 27-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of a terror offence after he was allegedly seen with a suspected firearm and a suspicious package at a hospital’s maternity wing in Leeds.Police ordered a partial evacuation of the Gledhow wing at St James’s hospital after the suspect was detained at about 5am on Friday. Continue reading...

Kyiv hopes western tanks could provide tactical breakthrough; dozens die in Dnipro attack; Germany gets a new defence minister

Poland says lives will be lost because of Berlin’s inaction, as summit breaks up without progress over Leopard 2sGermany has declined to take a decision on whether to give Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine at a special international summit, prompting frustration in Kyiv and a warning from Poland that lives could be lost because of hesitation in Berlin.It had been hoped in Europe and the US that Germany would at least allow Leopards owned by countries such as Poland and Finland to be re-exported, but despite days of pleading, Berlin’s newly appointed defence minister said no final decision had been taken. Continue reading...

Experts call major spike in deaths on 19 July and following day ‘extraordinary data’ and a wake-up call over dangers of extreme heatThe hottest day on record last summer resulted in 638 more deaths in England than normal, according to official figures, which experts said show the danger that extreme heat and climate change pose to human life.The following day, when temperatures remained almost as high, 496 more people died than would usually be expected. Continue reading...

‘Brief error of judgment’ captured while PM was recording Instagram video in back of moving carRishi Sunak has become the second sitting prime minister in history – and in the last 12 months – to be fined by the police after he received a fixed-penalty notice for not wearing his seatbelt.Lancashire constabulary announced on Friday it was fining the prime minister, who filmed a social media video earlier this week while travelling in the back of a car without his belt on. Continue reading...

Eight have been charged with murder over death of Ken Lee, but none can be identified under Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice ActThe family of the Toronto man allegedly killed by teen girls in a “swarming” attack have denounced “flaws” in the criminal justice system, criticizing the opacity surrounding youth cases involving serious crimes.Eight teenage girls have been charged with murder over the death of Ken Lee, who was repeatedly stabbed at a plaza near the main rail station in Canada’s largest city in the early hours of 18 December. Three of the girls are 13, three are 14 and two are 16. Continue reading...

Dmitry Mazepin’s vessels, both called Aldabra, went missing within weeks of each other last summer

Research reveals attitudes that could be contributing to the 1.6% charge rate in rape casesGovernment-funded researchers have uncovered “striking” evidence that rape myths – such as the belief that a woman’s behaviour plays a part in her rape – are believed by police officers investigating allegations of the crime.A study of specialist rape and sexual offences officers in one large police force gives a rare snapshot into attitudes which researchers warn could be contributing to the 1.6% charge rate in rape cases in England and Wales.In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...

Right-leaning Onward claims Keir Starmer’s party needs to appeal more to ‘left authoritarians’Keir Starmer’s Labour should consider moving to the right on social issues to appeal to floating voters who have a left-leaning stance on economic matters but are more traditional on cultural policies, a thinktank report argues.The study by the right-leaning Onward claims that even a relatively small rightward shift on cultural values could deliver enough additional votes to bring a 1997-style landslide for Labour at the next election, or even more. Continue reading...

Grant would help steelmaker cut its carbon footprint and avoid thousands of jobs lossesJeremy Hunt is poised to approve a £300m financial support package for British Steel designed to cut its carbon footprint and avoid thousands of jobs being lost.The chancellor is expected to tell the UK’s second-biggest steelmaker, which employs about 4,000 people, within days that he has given the green light to the delivery of £300m in instalments over the next few years. Continue reading...

Others question panel’s conclusion that novel pathogen may be to blame rather than algae blooms or toxinThe mystery behind the deaths of thousands of crabs and lobsters along England’s north-east coast has developed a further twist, with experts saying it could be down to a new disease.The die-offs, which began in autumn 2021 and recurred at various points in 2022, affected at least 70 km of the coastline, with some of the crustaceans showing an unusual twitching while dying. Continue reading...

Peruvians speak up about inequality as President Dina Boluarte declares state of emergency in LimaDaniel, 32, an indigenous mine worker from the city of Abancay in the southern-central Apurimac province, did not participate in the mass protests that swept over Peru in 2020, after president Martín Vizcarra was ousted.“But I did take part this time, in my town, to support my people, Indigenous people, who have been treated like garbage for centuries by the ‘elites’.” Continue reading...

Telecoms engineer sentenced to six-and-a-half years over plans to destroy phone mastsA telecoms engineer and conspiracy theorist has been jailed for six-and-a-half years for planning to launch terrorist attacks against phone mast sites.Oliver Lewin, 38, from Coalville, Leicestershire, was told he must serve two-thirds of his sentence before being able to be considered for parole. Continue reading...

Commissioner denies claim committee was closed because it raised concerns about Black Lives Matter commentsLeicestershire’s police and crime commissioner was taken to an employment tribunal by his ethics committee after they alleged he closed down the group because they had raised concerns about comments he made condemning Black Lives Matter, it has been revealed.Rupert Matthews, the Conservative PCC for Leicestershire, said after his election in 2021 that on his third day in office he banned his staff from contact with Black Lives Matter groups in an online meeting in which he criticised the UK branch of the organisation. Continue reading...