Leaked clip of deputy leader also fuels moves to tighten social media regulationA video of Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s tánaiste, socialising in a nightclub has triggered a debate about the right to privacy and regulation of social media.The brief clip of the deputy prime minister was clandestinely recorded in a Dublin nightclub earlier this month and has racked up millions of views on multiple platforms. Continue reading...
Amnesty accuses Morocco and Spain of also failing to offer first aid after crush in which at least 37 diedThe “widespread use of unlawful force” by Moroccan and Spanish authorities contributed to the deaths of at least 37 people who perished during a mass storming of the border fence between Morocco and Spain’s north African enclave of Melilla in June, according to a report.The Amnesty International report also accuses Moroccan and Spanish police of failing to provide even basic first aid to those injured in the crush as they were left “in the full glare of the sun for up to eight hours”. It says Moroccan authorities prioritised moving corpses and treating security officials above the needs of injured migrants and refugees. Continue reading...
Forecast predicts people will leave platform over technical problems and spread of hate speechMore than 30 million users are expected to leave Twitter over the next two years as concerns mount over technical issues and the proliferation of offensive content after Elon Musk’s $44bn takeover, according to a forecast.The number of global monthly users is predicted to fall by nearly 4% next year and 5% in 2024 – more than 32 million in total – in the first annual declines forecast by the market research agency Insider Intelligence since it began tracking the social media platform in 2008. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#66SBF)
Children who have special education needs among those worst affected, says watchdog’s chief inspectorChildren’s recovery from the pandemic is being held back by a workforce crisis in schools, colleges and early years, with children who have special education needs among those worst affected, according to England’s schools inspectorate, Ofsted.Publishing her annual report on Tuesday, Ofsted’s chief inspector, Amanda Spielman, said the Covid pandemic continued to “cast a long shadow” over children’s education and social care, and despite teachers’ best efforts, recovery was “far from complete”. Continue reading...
by Helen Davidson in Taipei and Aakash Hassan in Delh on (#66SAH)
Region on high alert after dozens reported injured in first clash in disputed area for more than two yearsChinese and Indian troops have clashed in a disputed Himalayan border region for the first time in more than two years, with reports of dozens injured.At least 20 Indian soldiers were injured in the incident on 9 December in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, the Indian army said on Tuesday. The clash was the most serious since June 2020, when at least 24 soldiers died in violent hand-to-hand combat, and comes after months of major acts of disengagement by both militaries in the long-running dispute. Continue reading...
Yang Zijing, 25, apparently detained in Guangzhou after taking part in rallies against harsh restrictionsA young protester has been held in police detention in southern China for nine days after taking part in rallies against Covid restrictions, her mother has said, expressing fear and anguish over her daughter’s safety.China last week effectively ended its harsh zero-Covid policy, after years of economic damage and simmering public discontent that erupted in nationwide protests on a scale unseen in decades. Continue reading...
Ousted president calls successor Dina Boluarte the ‘snot and slobber of the coup-mongering right’ in a letter written behind barsOusted Peruvian president Pedro Castillo has derided his successor as a “usurper”, and vowed to continue as head of state as the death toll from growing protests against the new government of Dina Boluarte rose to seven.Demonstrations in support of Castillo spread from city to city on the sixth day of unrest, with widespread vandalism and looting showing little sign of abating. Continue reading...
Indictment says Daniel Duggan provided military training to the pilots through a ‘test flying academy’ in South Africa between 2010-12Australian pilot Daniel Duggan – a former US Marine Corps aviator – has been accused of breaking American arms control laws by training Chinese fighter pilots to land on aircraft carriers, according to an indictment now unsealed by a US court.The indictment said the naturalised Australian “provided military training to (PRC) People’s Republic of China pilots” through a “test flying academy” in South Africa between 2010 and 2012. Continue reading...
Property website has shared the most viewed listings in 2022, which include a £35m house in HighgateIf you spend a good proportion of your evenings idly browsing property websites looking for your favourite fantasy home, you’re not alone. Property site Rightmove says millions of us do just that, and our fantasy bank balances appear to be much larger than our actual purchasing power.“From homes with years of history, to contemporary pads with every modern feature available, this year millions of people have been looking at the most amazing homes on the market,” said Rightmove’s Tim Bannister. “Many of us have thought about where we could live if money was no object, and this shows in the most viewed homes of the year which have captured the imagination of people across Great Britain during 2022.” Continue reading...
Democracy activist and founder of Apple Daily tabloid newspaper potentially faces life in prison over charges of conspiring to collude with foreign forcesA Hong Kong court has delayed the national security trial of media mogul Jimmy Lai until September 2023, after a hearing revealed Lai’s British lawyer had been denied a visa extension and forced to leave.Lai’s trial was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, but has faced delays, including the Hong Kong government’s attempts to prevent his British lawyer Tim Owens from representing him. Continue reading...
The country is believed to be the first to implement an annually rising legal smoking ageNew Zealand has introduced a steadily rising smoking age to stop those aged 14 and under from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes in world-first legislation to outlaw smoking for the next generation.Associate health minister Ayesha Verrall said at the law’s passing on Tuesday: “Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be $5bn better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking, such as numerous types of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, amputations.” Continue reading...
New Zealand PM apologised for comment made live on parliament television during question timeNew Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has become the latest leader to fall victim to a hot microphone, after her comment that the leader of a minor opposition party was an “arrogant prick” was picked up and broadcast on parliament television.During question time in the house on Tuesday, the leader of the libertarian Act party, David Seymour, asked Ardern if she could “give an example of her making a mistake, apologising for it properly, and fixing it”. Continue reading...
Senior staff tell HM Inspectorate of Prisons the initiative could begin immediately, after report highlights deep divisionsBlack prisoners and white guards should cook and eat together as a way of breaking down cultural barriers and suspicions, the official prisons watchdog has said.Some senior prison staff told HM Inspectorate of Prisons that the initiative could begin immediately after concerns of deep divisions between black prisoners and prison staff who remain predominantly white. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#66R9N)
Landlords in Kent, London and Devon named as housing ombudsman criticises ‘poor performance’The social landlords in England with the worst records of maladministration have been named by the housing ombudsman, who said failures were “deeply concerning” and that poor performance was “still at unacceptably high levels”.Richard Blakeway, the ombudsman for England’s 4.4m social homes, concluded there was maladministration in 90% of the complaints cases brought to it by tenants of Golding Homes, which provides housing for more than 21,000 people across Kent, including in the case of a resident who complained for seven years about problems including damp and cold. Continue reading...
Mohammed Abouagela Masud accused by US of having set timer for bomb that destroyed the Boeing 747, killing 270 people in 1988A former Libyan intelligence operative accused of preparing the bomb that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 was taken into US custody after being abducted from his home by a notorious warlord and then detained by armed militia for two weeks, the Guardian has been told.Mohammed Abouagela Masud appeared briefly in court in Washington DC on Monday, accused of having set the timer for the bomb that destroyed the Boeing 747, killing 270 people in the most deadly terrorist attack to have taken place on British soil. Continue reading...
Treasury officials tell select committee they set out impacts of £45bn plan for former chancellorKwasi Kwarteng disregarded warnings that his £45bn mini-budget could trigger a backlash on the financial markets, Treasury officials told MPs today.The department’s permanent secretary, James Bowler, said he was “absolutely confident Treasury officials set out the right advice” to the then chancellor. Continue reading...
Tactical police shoot dead three suspects at Wieambilla property after the ‘ruthless, targeted execution’ of two officers from Tara and a member of the public
British editor of the UK Sunday Times, which is also owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, will take the position in early 2023Emma Tucker, the British editor of the UK Sunday Times, was named on Monday as the new editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, and will become the first woman to lead the 133-year-old business title.The move, announced by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, will happen in February next year when Tucker, who will also run Dow Jones Newswires, will succeed Matt Murray, who will depart after a four year tenure. Continue reading...
by Joe Middleton (now); Andrew Sparrow (earlier) on (#66R54)
Royal College of Nursing says Steve Barclay refused to discuss pay at meeting on Monday; Welsh nurses to strike after last-minute talks fail. This blog is now closedPat Cullen, the Royal College of Nursing’s general secretary, told ITV this morning that there was no point talking to Steve Barclay, the health secretary, if he was not prepared to discuss pay. She saidWhat I’m saying … to the health secretary this morning, is if you don’t want to speak to me directly about nurses’ pay, we have engaged with the conciliation service Acas, they can do that through Acas, but our door is absolutely wide open and it appears at the minute that theirs is totally shut …Fundamentally, I need to get to a table and talk to them about pay. This isn’t just me, it’s the 320,000 nurses that voted for strike action … They voted through an independent ballot that we carried out and surely to goodness you couldn’t look at one of those people this morning in the eye and say: ‘You’re not worth an extra brown penny’. In my mind they absolutely are.I think it’s a very challenging international picture. About a third of the world’s economies are predicted to be in recession, either this year or next.We’re no different in this country and truthfully, it is likely to get worse before it gets better, which makes it even more difficult when we have big public sector strikes going on at the moment. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#66RPP)
Exclusive: Government-commissioned paper pinpoints budget squeeze as key reason for service’s loss of capacityA “decade of neglect” by successive Conservative administrations has weakened the NHS to the point that it will not be able to tackle the 7 million-strong backlog of care, a government-commissioned report has concluded.The paper by the King’s Fund health thinktank says years of denying funding to the health service and failing to address its growing workforce crisis has left it with too few staff, too little equipment and too many outdated buildings to perform the amount of surgery needed. Continue reading...
West Midlands police say a fourth boy remains in critical condition in hospital after incident on SundayThree boys, aged eight, 10 and 11, have died after falling through thin ice at a lake near Solihull in the West Midlands.A fourth boy, aged six, was in a critical condition in hospital after the incident on Sunday afternoon. All four children were in cardiac arrest when they were pulled from the lake at Babbs Mill Park, a nature reserve in Kingshurst. Continue reading...
Ross McCullam, 30, killed Megan Newborough, 23, then dumped her body in a country lane in LeicestershireA lab technician has been convicted of murdering a colleague at his parents’ home in Leicestershire before dumping her body in a country lane.Ross McCullam, who had admitted manslaughter, claimed he could not be guilty of murdering 23-year-old Megan Newborough, because he acted after a loss of control inadvertently triggered by his victim. Continue reading...
‘Shambles’ entirely predictable, says Labour on first full day of new winter timetableAlmost a third of TransPennine Express train services have been cancelled on a “dreadful” first full day of a winter timetable that is supposed to improve connectivity on key rail routes.The timetable should have meant hundreds of extra trains added to Britain’s beleaguered rail network, including the resumption of three services an hour to and from Manchester to London on Avanti West Coast. Continue reading...
Dina Boluarte says she will submit bill to move elections forward by two years as thousands take to streets after ousting of predecessor Pedro CastilloPeru’s new president, Dina Boluarte, has announced plans to move forward with general elections amid deadly protests over the ousting of her predecessor Pedro Castillo after he attempted to dissolve congress.In a televised address early on Monday, Boluarte said she would submit a bill to bring general elections forward two years, to April 2024. But her proposal is unlikely to placate surging protests as Castillo supporters call for early Peru’s widely loathed congress to be closed and early elections. Continue reading...
Exclusive: NHS trusts increasing fuel stocks and putting staff on standby to postpone operations, FoI revealsEnglish hospitals have increased emergency fuel supplies and put staff on standby to postpone operations and switch off X-ray scanners amid heightened concerns over energy provision this winter.NHS hospital trusts across England have put their power plans under the microscope as they look to protect patients from potential outages for lifesaving equipment. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#66RE8)
Ioane Koroiveibau’s case gives hopes to hundreds of other Commonwealth nationals who served in UK forcesA Fijian British army veteran who suffered from deafness after serving in Afghanistan has been allowed to return to the UK, in a case that gives hope to hundreds of other Commonwealth former soldiers living abroad.Ioane Koroiveibau, 36, gave up on Britain in 2015 when his immigration paperwork was lost after his discharge on medical grounds, his hearing loss caused by repeated exposure to gunfire on a dangerous tour in Helmand. Continue reading...
The former Britpop star has denied sending ‘abusive and sexually orientated’ messages to Davies, who performs as the Anchoress and worked on Draper’s debut solo albumPaul Draper, former frontman of the Britpop band Mansun, has been accused of stalking the musician Catherine Anne Davies, AKA the Anchoress, including sending “abusive and sexually orientated” messages to the musician and her partner.After Draper’s musical career had effectively ended following the demise of Mansun in 2003, Davies invited him to sing on her debut album, 2016’s Confessions of a Romance Novelist, and then helped him launch a solo career, co-writing songs for his 2017 album, Spooky Action, which charted at No 19. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#66RAJ)
Johan Lundgren gets rise of about 273% from 2021, when he received no bonus because of Covid pandemicThe boss of easyJet was paid almost £3m in 2022, in the year when the airline made a £208m loss and cancelled thousands of flights because of staffing and other problems.The easyJet chief executive, Johan Lundgren, received a £1.2m annual bonus and £925,000 in shares on top of his £833,000 fixed salary and benefits. Continue reading...
Majidreza Rahnavard accused of fatally stabbing security force members early in protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death in custodyIran has publicly hanged a man accused of killing two members of the security forces in its second use of capital punishment against anti-government protesters.Majidreza Rahnavard’s family were woken early on Monday morning to be informed that he had been executed and that his body had been buried in a lot in the local cemetery. Continue reading...
Duke of Sussex makes the claims in new trailer for Harry and Meghan Netflix docuseriesAn intriguing claim involving the Prince of Wales by his brother features in the latest trailer for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix documentary.In a 90-second teaser released on Monday, Harry says: “They were happy to lie to protect my brother,” before adding: “They were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.” Continue reading...
Moon Jae-in gave up hunting dogs claiming government refused to cover food and veterinary billsA pair of dogs gifted four years ago by the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, have ended up at a zoo in South Korea after a dispute over who should pay for the animals’ care.Kim had given the two white Pungsan hunting dogs – a breed indigenous to North Korea – to the then South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, as a gift after their summit talks in Pyongyang in 2018. Continue reading...
Freezing temperatures linked to weak polar vortex in the stratosphere, with cold weather expected to remain through the weekThe current cold spell in Europe will persist this week as high pressure continues to stagnate over western Russia. The cold weather is linked to a weak, split polar vortex in the stratosphere, which allowed high pressure to build across Greenland last week. This in turn led to Arctic air flooding south across the UK on northerly winds. The polar vortex is due to strengthen, eventually helping to end the cold spell with low pressure to the west of the UK becoming dominant.Much of western and central Europe, including the UK, will stay consistently around 5C below typical values for this time of year, with many places struggling to rise above freezing even during the daytime. Change is on the horizon, however, as low pressure systems begin to encroach into Europe towards the weekend. Latest forecasts show temperatures in western Europe returning to average by the start of next week, though in central and northern Europe extreme cold will persist a little longer. In contrast, Spain, which has experienced a record-breaking warm and dry autumn, will finally have some recognisably wintry temperatures. Continue reading...
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