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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...

WUC claimed UK unlawfully failed or refused to investigate cotton imports from XinjiangThe World Uyghur Congress has said it is disappointed to have lost a legal challenge against UK authorities for not launching a criminal investigation into the importation of cotton products manufactured by forced labour in China’s Xinjiang province but would continue to fight for accountability.The WUC took the home secretary, HM Revenue and Customs and the National Crime Agency (NCA), to the high court, claiming an unlawful failure or refusal to investigate imports from Xinjiang, allegedly home to 380 internment camps used to detain Uyghurs and people from other Muslim minorities. Continue reading...

Lancashire police investigating whether prime minister broke law when filming in back of carDowning Street has apologised again for Rishi Sunak not wearing a seatbelt while in the back seat of a moving car earlier this week.A No 10 spokesperson said on Friday that the incident was a “mistake”, even as Lancashire constabulary begin an investigation into whether the prime minister broke the law. Continue reading...

Elvis François, 47, from Dominica, had scrawled the word ‘help’ in English on the boat’s hullThe Colombian navy has rescued a man from Dominica who says he survived 24 days adrift in the Caribbean on a sailboat by eating ketchup, garlic powder and seasoning cubes.Elvis François, 47, had scrawled the word “help” in English on the boat’s hull, which officials said was key to his rescue. Continue reading...

Influencer and self-professed misogynist in custody after arrest on suspicion of human trafficking and rapeA court in Bucharest has ruled that Andrew Tate must remain in preventive custody until at least 27 February while an organised crime investigation continues into the former kickboxer, influencer and professed misogynist.The court on Friday agreed to a request by the country’s organised crime agency, Diicot, to extend Tate’s detention, along with that of his brother Tristan and two Romanian female suspects, one a former police officer. Continue reading...

Spokesperson says three trucks carrying supplies for 800 people have headed to scene of intense fighting

David Nash, 26, died after being wrongly diagosed in remote consultations during pandemicA student who died after being wrongly diagnosed in a series of remote GP appointments during the pandemic would probably have lived if he had been seen in person, a coroner has found.David Nash, 26, died from brain-stem swelling on 4 November 2020 at Leeds General Infirmary more than two weeks after first reporting symptoms of mastoiditis, a serious bacterial infection of a bone in the ear. Continue reading...

Concerns court may undermine work of ICC in holding Putin and others to account for war crimes in Ukraine

Prohibitionist approach risks fuelling the black market, worsening health outcomes and sending people to jail unnecessarily, experts say

The national carrier leans into its emotional connection with Australians, so it is bound to be the focus of intense scrutiny

Exclusive: Australia is alone among democracies who have not ratified UN provision enabling legal remedy for someone wrongfully convicted or imprisoned

Residents of Hathersage Court in Islington concerned they would be cut off from energy supplies this winterA council in London has halted the forced installation of prepayment meters after outrage from residents concerned they would be cut off from energy supplies this winter.Residents of Hathersage Court in north London had expressed “shock” after learning this month they would be moved on to prepayment tariffs as part of a nationwide drive to enable people using communal heating systems to pay for their personal energy usage. Continue reading...

Rugby union player suspended from all forms of the game after alleged incident involving a 28-year-old woman in Bondi

Claim over sum imposed by HMRC likely to raise further questions for Conservative party chair

First minister says Alister Jack’s block on gender law marks ‘new and more dangerous phase for devolution’

Ireland’s taoiseach regrets Brexit arrangement imposed without agreement of unionists and nationalistsIreland’s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has said he regrets that the Northern Ireland protocol he agreed with Boris Johnson to end a Brexit impasse was signed without the agreement of unionists and nationalists.The admission came as the latest deadline to restore powersharing in Northern Ireland passed with the Democratic Unionist party continuing to refuse to take part in protest against the protocol. Continue reading...

Unite members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to take further action in February and MarchAmbulance workers have announced a series of fresh strikes including one next month that was already predicted to be the biggest day of stoppages in NHS history.All the new dates announced by the Unite union in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will coincide with strikes already outlined by the GMB union, which also represents ambulance staff. They include 6 February, when up to 40,000 nurses from the Royal College of Nursing will also be on strike in what is set to be a day of massive disruption for the health service. Continue reading...

First genetic map to identify important genes that cause one of most common cancers in children. This blog is now closed

Influencers who are in breach of the Australian Consumer Law can face penalties of up to $2.5m

Sculptor Michael Rakowitz says he will give his fourth-plinth bull to Tate Modern if Iraq can share custodyThe Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz has proposed in a letter to the British Museum that it return one of its ancient Assyrian treasures to Iraq in exchange for the donation of his fourth plinth sculpture to the UK.Rakowitz’s contemporary interpretation of an Assyrian winged bull, known as a lamassu, decorated in tins of date syrup, appeared on the plinth in Trafalgar Square from 2018 to 2020. Continue reading...

An ex-prison guard claimed he owned a Doig original he bought for $100 and accused the artist of lying when he said he didn’t paint itThe acclaimed painter Peter Doig has won a multimillion-dollar judgment against a formal correctional officer who claimed he owned a bona fide Doig work – and that Doig was just lying that he never painted it.On Wednesday Doig was awarded $2.5m by an Illinois federal court after more than a decade of litigation. Continue reading...

President Dina Boluarte vows to punish protesters as crowds continue to call for her resignationA march billed as the “takeover of Lima” escalated into running battles between protesters and riot police amid stone-throwing and swirls of teargas on Thursday evening in Peru’s capital.Thousands of protesters from across the country poured into Lima earlier in the week to take part in a massive march demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte after nearly six weeks of turmoil that has killed more than 50 people, including one police officer and eight people who died as a result of strikes and blockades. Continue reading...

Player agent Peter Jess lists 32 AFL players that have retired with some form of brain trauma injury since 2009

A requiem mass will be held at Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral on 2 February before a private burial

Arrests at biggest march in Paris while train services halted and many primary schools close for the dayMore than 1 million people have taken part in demonstrations across France as transport, schools and refineries were hit by strikes in protest at Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.The interior ministry said 1.12 million people protested nationwide on Thursday, with 80,000 taking part in the biggest rally in Paris. Trade unions said the figure was even higher. Continue reading...

Judge says Peyman Kia abused trust placed in him, and also sentences younger brother to 10 yearsA court in Stockholm has sentenced a former Swedish intelligence officer to life imprisonment and his younger brother to 10 years after finding both guilty of spying for Russia’s military intelligence service for more than a decade.Peyman Kia, 42, served in the Swedish security and counter-intelligence service, Sapo, and in armed forces intelligence agencies, including the foreign intelligence agency (Must) and KSI, a top-secret unit dealing with Swedish spies abroad. Continue reading...

Charges are part of inquiry into serving Met chief inspector who was found dead on day he was to be chargedTwo retired Metropolitan police officers have been charged with child sexual abuse offences as part of an investigation into a serving Met chief inspector who was found dead on the day he was due to be charged.In a statement, the London force said the charges followed a “lengthy and complex” investigation into Richard Watkinson, 49, who was a serving chief inspector for neighbourhoods policing at the west area command unit. Continue reading...

Report criticises indifference to sector’s potential and calls for new approach to address skills shortages

Figures show 1.5m give more than 50 hours a week, as care system struggles with rising demandFive million people – including children as young as five – provide unpaid care to people with long-term health conditions or problems related to old age, census data for England and Wales has revealed.With the social care system struggling with rising unmet care demand and about half a million people in England waiting for help, there has been an increase over the past decade in the proportion of people spending at least 20 hours a week on unpaid care, from 4.2% of the population to 4.7%. About 1.5 million people in England and Wales now spend more than 50 hours a week giving unpaid care.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org. Continue reading...

Bank of England survey shows lenders expect steep rise in borrowers failing to make monthly repaymentsBritain’s mortgage lenders fear a rise in the number of homeowners handing back their keys as the cost of living crisis forces more people to default on their loans.The Bank of England said a survey of lenders showed they were braced for a steep rise in the number of customers who cannot pay their monthly mortgage bills during the first quarter of the year. Continue reading...

Mild weather in Europe reduces gas demand but bills will remain higher than 2021 energy price capAnnual energy bills are expected to fall to about £2,200 from July in a fillip for the government and households struggling with ballooning costs.The energy consultancy Cornwall Insight has predicted that, excluding government subsidies, typical annual household energy bills will have fallen from £4,279 now to £3,208 from April, and then will ease to roughly £2,200 for the remainder of the year. Continue reading...

Data shows Britain losing best-paid jobs, with 70% of EU banker pay increase coming from Italy, France and SpainA record 2,000 bankers across Europe earned more than €1m (£878,000) last year, according to data that shows the scale at which some of the best-paid jobs in Britain have moved from London to the EU since Brexit.The European Banking Authority disclosed on Thursday that the number of bankers earning €1m or more a year had increased by more than 40% to 1,957 in 2021, from 1,383 the previous year. It is the highest number of €1m-plus European bankers since the EBA began collecting the data in 2010. Continue reading...

Industry figures warn of supply ‘cliff edge’ when new regulations come into effect in December

Former PM calls for heavy weapons supplies and brands Russian nuclear threats as ‘nonsense’ in Davos appearance

Media appearances follow Labour analysis that London will receive more than Yorkshire and north-eastThe levelling up secretary has denied that the south-east is getting an unfair proportion of money aimed at tackling inequality in the UK.On a media round, Michael Gove repeatedly denied that the latest announcement of £2.1bn for 100 projects was a tilt away from funding the north of England. Continue reading...

Victims reportedly bled to death when glass-coated strings were entangled around their necksSix people, including three children, have died after their throats were cut by glass-coated kite strings during an annual kite-flying festival in India.Hundreds flocked to terraces and rooftops to unfurl their kites towards the sky at the Uttarayan festival in the western Indian state of Gujarat over the weekend. Continue reading...

Transition period that excludes non-metropolitan pokies being considered after concerns raised by Nationals

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Travel between Dover and Calais disrupted by 24-hour National Day of ActionFerry services to and from Calais have been suspended due to a national strike in France, the Port of Dover has said.P&O Ferries said it had produced an “optimised” sailing schedule in light of the 24-hour strike, known as the National Day of Action, which began at 7am on Thursday. Continue reading...

Audibert, who runs the Unicorn children’s theatre in London, will replace Daniel Evans who is moving to the Royal Shakespeare CompanyChichester Festival theatre has appointed Justin Audibert as its new artistic director. Audibert, who leads London’s Unicorn theatre for children, will succeed Daniel Evans at Chichester and take up his role in July. Evans is leaving to run the Royal Shakespeare Company with Tamara Harvey.Mark Foster, chair of Chichester Festival theatre, said that Audibert’s “experience in making theatre for audiences of all ages in venues large and small, together with his creativity, energy and enthusiasm, make him an outstanding choice … As well as being one of the UK’s most admired directors, he shares our values and our commitment to the vital importance of community, diversity and inclusion.” Continue reading...

Travel without the combustion-engine fumes and noise is increasingly popular in the country with some of the world’s worst air pollutionThailand’s iconic, gas-guzzling tuk-tuks are being replaced by a greener, more energy efficient model, offering travellers a more environmentally friendly way of getting around what is one of the world’s worst countries when it comes to air pollution.“The benefits are quite clear in terms of the environment”, says Krisada Kritayakirana, co-founder and CEO of start-up Urban Mobility Tech. “When you use traditional tuk-tuks, you can smell the gas and it sometimes could be unpleasant. With the electric tuk-tuks, basically you don’t have any noise and you don’t have any emission from tailpipes.” Continue reading...

After the way home was cut off by floods, Chris English set off on an alternative route further than driving from Madrid to Moscow

Labour leader will stand down no later than 7 February, saying she ‘no longer had enough in the tank’ to do the jobNew Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said she is resigning, in a shock announcement that came as she confirmed a national election for October this year.At the party’s annual caucus meeting on Thursday, Ardern said she “no longer had enough in the tank” to do the job. “It’s time,” she said. Continue reading...

After beating tax-evasion charges, Rappler news chief says that cases against her have left her ‘living on quicksand’Nobel laureate Maria Ressa says she keeps a prison “go bag” with bundles of cash for bail and runs simulations of police raids with her staff as she fights for press freedom in the Philippines.The editor of news website Rappler won acquittal on four tax-evasion charges on Wednesday but said she was prepared for the worst from the three further outstanding cases that could see her sent to jail or her online news organisation shuttered. Continue reading...

William Lai urges Taiwanese to unite in the face of ‘the expansion of China’s authoritarianism’, in first comments since taking party leadershipAppeasing China will not bring peace, Taiwan’s vice-president has said, days after he was elected head of the ruling party in a move that makes him a prime presidential contender at the next election.William Lai, 63, is seen as a likely successor to President Tsai Ing-wen, who is barred from running again after her second four-year term ends in May 2024. Continue reading...

Four teenagers arrested after reports of shots fired in centre of Queensland town

Male players will have a 25% pay cut to enable 25% rise for female players under agreement with governing body FAWPlayers for Wales’s men’s and women’s football teams will be paid the same for playing for their country after a deal was struck by Wales’s governing body.The agreement with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) comes into effect immediately and will cover up to the 2026 Fifa men’s World Cup and the women’s tournament a year later. Continue reading...

Prime minister’s coalition in jeopardy after Aryeh Deri ruled ineligible for government due to tax offencesIsrael’s supreme court has ruled that the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, must fire a key ally from the country’s new cabinet, presenting the Israeli leader with a potential coalition crisis and deepening a rift over the power of the courts.Ten of 11 judges on the high court found that Aryeh Deri, the influential head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party who has served repeatedly in Netanyahu’s previous governments, is disqualified from serving as a minister after he was convicted last year for tax offences and placed on probation as part of a plea deal. Deri has pledged not to quit and met Netanyahu after the ruling. Continue reading...