Supporters wave flags outside Milan Cathedral but critics says ex-prime minister should not be ‘beatified’Silvio Berlusconi has been given the privilege of a state send-off at Milan’s imposing cathedral in a ceremony that drew thousands of mourners to a square outside but appalled critics of the scandal-tainted former Italian prime minister.Supporters waved Italian flags with Forza Italia – the name of the party he founded in 1994 – written on them and, in reference to his long association with AC Milan football club, chanted: “There’s only one president.” Continue reading...

Russia has had 12 months to prepare defensive positions supported by superior air power

Family of university student describe ‘complete devastation' at ‘senseless murder of our son’The families of Nottingham University students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar have described their “complete and utter devastation” after the pair were killed in a series of attacks in the city.David and Emma Webber said “complete devastation is not enough to describe our pain and loss at the senseless murder of our son”. Continue reading...

Complaint also relates to mention of letter allegedly sent by Brittany Higgins to Wilkinson, who claims she has no record of it

Multiple sources say mental health of suspect, 31, is active line of investigation

Workers to extend campaign over pay and conditions despite failing to win formal union recognitionWorkers at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse have voted to take a further six months of strike action, despite failing to win formal union recognition from the tech company.Results of the ballot came as the GMB union’s 800 members at the site, known as BHX4, were on strike for the 19th day. Continue reading...

Police cordoned off part of Seely Hirst House, which is near scene of stabbing

Tradesman gives evidence after nurse claimed incident may have had role in unexplained baby deathsA hospital plumber has told the trial of Lucy Letby that sewage spilled from a sink in the neonatal unit where she allegedly murdered babies, as he gave evidence for the defence.Lorenzo Mansutti confirmed Letby’s recollection of an incident the nurse suggested may have contributed to the unexplained deaths of babies. Continue reading...

Deal to combine firms’ British telecoms networks likely to face competition scrutiny amid union calls for merger to be blockedVodafone and the owner of Three have agreed a deal to merge their British telecoms networks in a move that will create the UK’s largest mobile phone operator.The two companies are the UK’s third- and fourth-biggest operators respectively. The newly combined company will, if the merger is completed, have more than 27 million subscribers, leapfrogging EE, owned by BT, and Virgin Media O2, owned by Spain’s Telefónica and the US-listed company Liberty Global. Continue reading...

Suspect charged with attempted murder after incident at military training groundAn 18-year-old military recruit has been detained after he shot and killed two fellow soldiers and wounded a third at a training range in central Japan.“During a live-bullet exercise as part of new personnel training, one Self-Defense Force candidate fired at three personnel,” the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) said in a statement. Continue reading...

Labour leader says PM is more focused on Tory wrangling over honours than on economy and asylum

Liberal vehemently denied the claims made by the independent senator under privilege, which she later withdrew to comply with Senate rules

Tributes paid to ‘much-loved’ primary school caretaker who ‘always went the extra mile’The third victim of the Nottingham attacks has been named locally as Ian Coates, a “beloved” primary school caretaker.Coates, who was in his 60s, was found stabbed on Magdala Road in the early hours of Tuesday before the suspect is believed to have stolen his van and driven at pedestrians in Milton Street. Continue reading...

Debut feature Silent Roar, ‘a teenage tale of surfing, sex and hellfire’ takes the gala slot, marking a remarkable turnaround for the festival which appeared doomed to closure last OctoberThe Edinburgh international film festival has announced the opening film for its 2023 edition, months after the shock news that the long-running event’s existence was in doubt after its organisers, Centre for the Moving Image (CMI), shut down abruptly in October and called in administrators.The festival’s high-profile opening gala slot has been handed to Silent Roar, the debut feature from director Johnny Barrington, produced by The Inbetweeners Movie’s Christopher Young. Described by the festival as “a teenage tale of surfing, sex and hellfire”, Silent Roar was filmed on the remote community of Uig, on Lewis in Scotland’s Western Isles and stars Louis McCartney and Ella Lily Hyland. Continue reading...

Police arrest man but keep ‘open mind’ on motive, while university cancels graduation ball after two students are among the deadTwo 19-year-old students and a man in his 50s were stabbed to death, and a further three people injured when a stolen van was driven into them, in an early-morning rampage across Nottingham.A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Counter-terrorism police were helping officers with their investigation but Nottinghamshire police insisted they were keeping an “open mind” about the motive. Continue reading...

‘Heartfelt ode to absolute beauty’ was on Austrian artist’s easel when he died unexpectedly in 1918A portrait by Gustav Klimt described as a “heartfelt ode to absolute beauty” is expected to fetch £65m when it is sold in London later this month.Dame mit Fächer (Lady with Fan) is the last portrait Klimt completed. The work was standing on an easel in his studio when the Austrian painter died unexpectedly of a stroke and pneumonia in 1918 at the age of 55. Continue reading...

Buyers of Starbucks operations say they paid £4.7m for assets, despite 2021 revenues ten times that figureIn the weeks after the invasion of Ukraine began, western companies in Russia were faced with a costly conundrum. Facing pressure from their customers and western governments to end all operations in Russia, brands from Coca-Cola to Levi’s, to Ikea all announced they would pull out.So as ordinary Russians found their access to Apple services limited and their Netflix cut off, many western brands with a significant physical presence in the country found themselves taking huge financial hits for their decision to “self-sanction”. Continue reading...

Kyiv says components including microchips supplied for civilian purposes are sent to Russia through countries such as China

Northern Irish developer Moyallen owns 52% of Victoria Square development at centre of local authority’s financial meltdownWoking council plans to sever ties with the Northern Irish developer behind a skyscraper venture that helped tip the tiny Surrey local authority into effective bankruptcy.Amid ballooning costs and delays, a dramatic plunge in the value of the council’s Victoria Square development – which is 52% owned by Moyallen, a business from Dungannon, County Tyrone – is at the centre of the local authority’s financial meltdown. Continue reading...

Exclusive: redundancies are the first mass job losses at the corporation since 2020

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Compensation decision follows Ofgem review that found ‘severe weaknesses’ in complaint handlingThe power supplier E.ON Next has been ordered to pay £5m in compensation to consumers for poor customer services, the energy watchdog for Great Britain has announced.Ofgem said a review of customer service standards and complaint handling across the sector uncovered “severe weaknesses” at E.ON Next, with customers facing long call waiting times and a high level of unanswered calls. Continue reading...

Labor senators urged Coalition to consider if probing Katy Gallagher’s relationship with Higgins’ partner, David Sharaz, was ‘ethical’

Rise of China and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompt more coordination between Europe, North America and the Indo-Pacific, expert says

Names for boys and girls like Charlie, Riley, Jordan, Jesse, Casey, Morgan are rising up the top 100 list, research shows

Author of Blood Meridian, The Road and No Country for Old Men died in his home of natural causes, publisher announcesCormac McCarthy, the revered novelist whose bleakly violent, apocalyptic visions of the American south drew him fans from Oprah Winfrey to Saul Bellow, has died at the age of 89.McCarthy died in his home of natural causes. His son John confirmed the death. Continue reading...

Judge says Aaron Baslangic’s offending was so unsophisticated ‘a year 12 student could have worked out’ where money was going

Abdul Eneser described incident at Manchester Piccadilly as ‘most traumatic experience’A blind man who fell on to rail tracks and was nearly hit my a freight train is suing Network Rail for failing to put in place tactile paving to protect him.Abdul Eneser, 20, says he fell on to the tracks at Manchester Piccadilly station as he was unable to feel where the platform edge was due to the lack of metal studs or adhesive tiles. He was also not provided with passenger assist support, which helps disabled people navigate a station, due to a train delay. Continue reading...

‘The most tolled capital city in the world’ may have to pay Transurban compensation, says roads minister

US-based comic Jocelyn Chia strains relations between Singapore and Malaysia with joke about how Malaysia’s planes cannot flyMalaysian police will seek Interpol’s help to track down a US-based comedian who mocked the country and joked about the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.Jocelyn Chia will be investigated under the country’s laws relating to insulting speech and offensive or obscene online content, Malaysia’s state news agency Bernama reported. Police chief Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani was quoted as saying that the police would ask Interpol for assistance in finding out her full identity and whereabouts. Continue reading...

Emergency contraception, HIV-prevention and abortion drugs are locked in a warehouse in Khartoum – leaving women to turn to desperate measuresRape survivors in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, are struggling to get hold of emergency contraception and abortion medication.Access to a warehouse where 47,000 medical post-rape kits are stored has been cut off since the conflict began in April. Women are using social media to share information about where to find drugs to prevent pregnancies and infections – or are using herbal remedies. Continue reading...

Volunteers in the area saved 108 people in 2022 as charity unveils new equipment to get 20 people from water in 90 secondsAlmost a third of all people saved by lifeboat crews in the UK and Ireland last year were rescued from the Channel as they tried to cross in dinghies and other small vessels, the RNLI has revealed.Publishing the figures for the first time, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution said its volunteers saved the lives of 108 men, women and children who were crossing in small boats. Continue reading...

Ministers launch inquiry into use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC)Ministers have launched a UK government-wide inquiry into the use of crumbling concrete in public buildings following fears that nurseries, offices, shops and leisure facilities are in danger of collapse.Every Whitehall department has been ordered to assign a civil servant to identify the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) across the £158bn government estate, the Guardian has learned. Continue reading...

Group stormed by Italian special forces included a pregnant woman and two minors with hypothermiaA group of alleged hijackers on a cargo ship stormed by Italian special forces were in fact malnourished asylum seekers – including a pregnant woman and two minors suffering from hypothermia – who did not represent a threat and sneaked on to the vessel in the hope of reaching Europe, prosecutors in Naples have concluded.Italy’s far-right defense minister Guido Crosetto announced on Saturday that he had deployed three military ships, dozens of special forces units and two attack helicopters to overpower a group of “pirates” who had attempted to hijack the Turkish vessel. Continue reading...

Gathering in Vilnius is likely to result in post-war security guarantees and easier route to join alliance when the time comesUkraine will not be offered a timeline with specific dates by which it can join Nato at its summit in Vilnius next month but instead may be offered a shorter route when an offer of membership is made. The proposal, reflecting a gathering consensus of key partners in the western defence alliance, will come as a disappointment to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.Nato members, but outside formal Nato structures, will also offer post-conflict security guarantees to Ukraine, which are likely to take the shape of broad commitments to protect Ukraine from assaults by Russia. They are also expected to continue to provide ammunition and to help the Ukrainian armed forces become more convergent with Nato. But the commitments are likely to take a broad high level form rather than be specific offers of weaponry. Continue reading...

Badiucao calls for Australian support after Chinese government asked Poland to close Warsaw exhibitionA Chinese-Australian artist has called for more support from the Australian government after Chinese officials tried to shut down his latest show in Poland.The artist, who goes by the name Badiucao, is due to launch his latest exhibition at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw on Friday. Continue reading...

Disney has shuffled plans for its biggest franchises, with new Star Wars and Avengers films also delayedIt may have taken Avatar: The Way of Water more than a decade to finally arrive in theatres in 2022, but the long parade of Avatar delays isn’t over yet.On Tuesday, the Walt Disney Co. announced it has pushed the release of Avatar 3 back a year, bumping it from December 2024 to December 2025. The timeline is stretched even further for the next planned instalments. Avatar 4 is now slated to hit theatres in December 2029; Avatar 5 is set to arrive in December 2031. Continue reading...

Chris Minns visits devastated town as Singleton Roosters say support from wider community has been ‘overwhelming’

Tobias Friedrich Moran is no longer accused of killing his girlfriend Simone Strobel in 2005

After months of bitter divisions in the world of professional golf, a major deal has resulted in victory for Saudi Arabia and its bid to influence the future of the sport. Ewan Murray reportsFor years professional golf has been a lucrative but fairly placid affair. That all changed with the advent of LIV golf – a new entity that encouraged some of the sport’s biggest names to play its new-format tournaments and sign multi-million dollar contracts. It was lavishly backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and it left the world of professional golf reeling. Friendships ended as players either signed up for the new competitions or decided to stay loyal to their traditional paymasters, the PGA tour.As golf correspondent Ewan Murray tells Michael Safi, when the two sides put aside their bitter differences last week to announce a merger, it came completely out of the blue. Now with peace agreed and a massive cash injection beckoning, is the future of golf in safe hands? Continue reading...

Governance Institute report finds executive salary increases at some of the largest companies more than double rate of inflation

Andrew Bragg and Bridget Archer make call after Network Ten asks AFP to investigate alleged leaking of evidence in Bruce Lehrmann trial

City train stations at 70% of pre-pandemic capacity amid warnings of potential effects of bringing workers back full-time

Volodmyr Zelenskiy meets head of UN nuclear watchdog; US House of Representatives votes unanimously to call for return of detained US journalist

Police have issued an amber alert for a missing child after two women were seen taking a baby from Ipswich hospital

Exclusive: methodology used by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism risks undermining media in global south, says RessaNobel peace laureate Maria Ressa has claimed Oxford University’s leading journalism institute is publishing flawed research that puts journalists and independent outlets at risk, particularly in the global south.One of the world’s most prominent and respected journalists, Ressa said she resigned last year from the advisory board of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ), because of deep concerns about how it compiles an annual Digital News Report. Continue reading...

Two 19-year-old students and man is his 50s die in early morning attack with 31-year-old held on suspicion of murder

Police find body of Brisbane woman Julia-Mary Lane, 25, who had been living in Alberta, near Bear Lake in British ColumbiaAn Australian hiker has been found dead in Canadian bear country after a Mounties search that deployed police dogs and a drone.Twenty-five-year-old Julia-Mary Lane, from Brisbane, had been living in Canmore, Alberta since January. Continue reading...

The long-running investigations into murder allegations in Afghanistan will be replaced by new inquiries because of concerns about evidence

Actor, 82, also comments she ‘wouldn’t want to be straight for anything’ as she appears on the cover of Vogue for the first timeMiriam Margolyes has said she “never had any shame about being gay” as she makes her British Vogue cover debut at the age of 82.The award-winning actor, known for her foul mouth and lovable eccentricity, said gay people are “not conventional” and she “wouldn’t want to be straight for anything”. Continue reading...