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Strikes escalate and MPs call for protection as interior minister warns protesters against wreaking havocRefinery strikes have escalated in France as the interior minister spoke of protesters wreaking havoc across the country and some MPs called for police protection, amid anger at the government pushing through a rise in the pension age without a parliamentary vote.More than 300 people were arrested across France overnight during spontaneous protests against Emmanuel Macron’s decision to bypass parliament and force through his unpopular pensions changes, including raising the eligible age from 62 to 64. Continue reading...

Justice secretary praises ‘vast majority’ of officers but concedes London force clearly has a problem

Move follows pressure from campaigners such as Julie Devey and Carole Gould whose daughters were murderedDomestic abusers in England and Wales who kill their partners or ex-partners are to face tougher sentences under government plans after a campaign by bereaved families.The justice secretary and lord chancellor, Dominic Raab, will push for a change in the law after pressure from campaigners such as Julie Devey and Carole Gould, who have been calling since 2020 for a change to the minimum sentence for domestic homicide. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Britain Called and We Answered project speaks to members of community for 75th anniversaryA south London photographer has taken the portraits of members of the Windrush generation to highlight their courageous journeys, which transformed modern Britain.The photo series, called Britain Called and We Answered, interviews and photographs “everyday” members of the Windrush generation who all have important stories to tell. Continue reading...

CMA gives UnitedHealth and EMIS five working days to tackle concerns over £1.2bn dealThe competition watchdog has warned that a proposed merger between two healthcare technology specialists would lead to higher costs and “worse outcomes for the NHS and ultimately patients and UK taxpayers”.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found the £1.2bn deal for the US firm UnitedHealth to buy British rival EMIS could reduce competition to develop and supply digital and data analytics products to the health service. Continue reading...

‘Intensive’ discussions after series of strikes to include working conditions and workload reduction

Activists hopeful as Canada’s largest school district takes first step towards banning caste discriminationWhen Vijay Puli arrived in Toronto with his wife and baby daughter, he thought they had finally left behind the discrimination, violence and social rejection they had faced in India.Puli identifies as a Dalit, a member of a group who in India are considered to be at the very bottom rung, often deemed “untouchable”. Continue reading...

China says president will meet Russian leader next week with aim of deepening partnership

Midnight Oil frontman and ex Labor minister says the deal ‘stinks’ and backing Coalition’s Aukus pact is departure from established ALP policy

With group to meet again, timetable leaves only a few days for advice to be considered before cabinet meeting

Six teenagers and a dozen adults occupied NSW premier’s office, protesting approval of new coal and gas projects. This blog is now closed

A mother whose son was killed in Basra, a senior non-commissioned officer with PTSD and a psychiatric nurse reflect 20 years onThe Iraq war left a profound mark on the UK. It forced the country to face up to its role, having initially helped rid Iraq of a brutal dictator, in the years of deadly chaos that followed. At home, meanwhile, it acted as the catalyst for one of the most popular domestic antiwar movements the country has seen.The conflict also left many people in the UK asking: could they ever really trust their political leaders at a time of national crisis again? And could it ever be right to send young men and women to war without having first exhausted all peaceful means – and without a clear idea of what they were even meant to achieve once they got there? Continue reading...

Adam Brown has pleaded guilty to murdering Chen Cheng at their home in April 2022

Wizz Air accounts for almost half the total amount owed to customers, according to Which?Airlines including Wizz Air and Ryanair owe millions of pounds to passengers from unpaid refunds and expenses, according to an investigation by the consumer group Which?.It called on the government and regulators to take urgent action over the £4.5m it calculates carriers owe in county court judgments (CCJs), describing the current enforcement of air passenger protections as “fundamentally flawed”. Continue reading...

Outcome almost a decade after execution of Sydney drug dealer Jamie Gao puts paid to hope former rogue detective may have held of eventual release

Australia’s defence minister plays down concerns multi-decade plan could be vulnerable to political changes in the US and UK

Ticketing giant will refund $10 to fans who bought cheapest tickets on the band’s US tour, and $5 to everyone else after frontman asks for an explanationTicketmaster will refund some of its fees to fans buying tickets for the Cure’s US tour, after frontman Robert Smith took them to task over their “unduly high” fees that were, in some cases, adding up to more than the price of a ticket.On Thursday, Smith told fans that he was “as sickened as you all are” and he would contact Ticketmaster after many took to social media to complain about the ticket sales behemoth’s additional fees. Continue reading...

Constables aged 30 and 35 were gunned down by 16-year-old male who then shot and killed himself in Canada’s Alberta province, say authoritiesA 16-year-old has shot his mother and killed two police officers before taking his own life in Edmonton, Canada.A police official and a senior government official said the male shot and wounded his mother early on Thursday at an apartment in the city in Alberta province. Two patrol officers were shot and killed upon arriving at the scene about 12.47am. There was no indication the officers were able to fire shots. Continue reading...

The CEO’s comments follow criticism from politicians, players and fans who support a ban on TV and radio adverts

Another officer jailed but sentence too light, say victims’ relatives, after police blamed for triggering crush last OctoberAn Indonesian court has acquitted two senior police officers charged with negligence over a stadium crowd crush last year that killed 135 people, angering relatives of those who died in one of football’s worst tragedies.Another officer was jailed for 18 months but families of the victims said he had been treated too leniently. Continue reading...

Former PM chosen to run again in constituency he currently holds, quashing speculation that he might seek safer seatBoris Johnson has been reselected as the Conservative candidate in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.It comes after speculation that the former prime minister might seek out a safer seat before the next general election. Continue reading...

Letter argues that Chinese-owned video-sharing app could be in breach of UK lawA cross-party group of MPs and peers have asked the information commissioner to investigate whether the Chinese-owned TikTok’s handling of personal information is in breach of UK law.The letter from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) argues that TikTok cannot be compliant with data protection rules – and comes just hours after the UK announced a ban on the popular video-sharing app appearing on ministers’ and officials’ government-owned phones. Continue reading...

Offer includes two one-off payments – 2% bonus and 4% Covid payment – plus pay rise of about 5%Health unions hailed a historic victory on Thursday, after Steve Barclay made a significant new pay offer aimed at ending NHS strikes in England, in a climbdown that could embolden other unions at loggerheads with the government.After months of rolling strikes involving thousands of NHS workers including nurses, ambulance staff and physiotherapists, the government ditched its claim that this year’s pay deal could not be reopened and offered a one-off bonus worth up to 8.2%. Continue reading...

War crimes in Ukraine include wilful killings, systematic torture and deportation of children, says UN report; Polish president says handover to come within days

Move will have no impact on NHS retention of doctors, say economic thinktanks

The deal on offer is a major climbdown by the government, but only long after the writing was on the wall

Chaotic scenes in French parliament as radical left MPs sing La Marseillaise to drown out prime minister

Shadow chancellor says pension changes are ‘wrong priority, at the wrong time, for the wrong people’Rachel Reeves claimed that Jeremy Hunt’s budget was “unravelling before our eyes” as Labour criticised the chancellor for handing a tax cut to the wealthiest with his pension changes.In a 20-minute speech in the Commons, the shadow chancellor accused Hunt of offering “a huge handout to the richest 1% of pensions savers” while doing little to alleviate what is forecast to be the biggest living standards crunch since records began. Continue reading...

NASUWT says there should be more money for school buildings, not less, amid fears some could collapseSchool leaders in England are concerned that the government is cutting back on school building refurbishment and repairs despite the Department for Education’s recent disclosure that there was a “critical – very likely” risk of buildings collapsing.The NASUWT union said the budget this week had cut the DfE’s capital expenditure limits by £400m, from £6.3bn allocated in last November’s autumn statement to £5.9bn. Continue reading...

Four Soviet-era MiG-29s to be sent as first instalment and could lead to other Nato members providing warplanesPoland will become the first country to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine in the next few days, marking a significant upward step in military backing for Kyiv ahead of an expected counter-offensive.The precedent, involving four Soviet-era MiG-29s as a first instalment, could lead to other Nato members providing warplanes, a longstanding Ukrainian request. Continue reading...

Concerns half-point could set off domino effect across financial industry knocked by Credit Suisse crisisThe European Central Bank has raised interest rates across the eurozone by 0.5 percentage points, despite fears that higher borrowing costs could set off a domino effect across a banking sector already reeling from a collapse in confidence in Switzerland’s second largest lender, Credit Suisse.Officials at the ECB, the central bank covering the 19-member euro bloc, said inflation was likely to remain high “for too long”, forcing it to continue with its planned run of rate increases. Continue reading...

From Liz and Kamikwazi to Rish! on NHS pay, it’s more Britannia unhinged than unchainedWe need to talk about Liz. It’s been the best part of five months since Liz Truss was turfed out of office and she still hasn’t recovered from the shame. Imagine being considered an even bigger liability than Boris Johnson by the Tory party. Truss’s public performances have been limited to a single appearance in the Commons during which she made a short speech supporting Ukraine. She seemed to imagine she was uppermost in President Zelenskiy’s thoughts most days. It’s doubtful he has any idea who she is.Liz also made a 4,000-word intervention – part confessional, part cry for help – in the Daily Telegraph. A howl of pain from someone desperate for relevance. Most of it was just an unintelligible rant. Its main purpose seemed to be as some kind of personal catharsis. The acting out of someone on hallucinogenics. It had no meaning in itself. The meaning was all in the process. Having purged the demons, she was ready to reintroduce herself to the world. But since then … Nothing. Nada. Continue reading...

Membership of 72,186 announced after sustained pressure to release figuresThe Scottish National party has revealed that the total number of members eligible to vote in its leadership contest has fallen to 72,186 – a significantly reduced total than previously estimated – after coming under sustained pressure to release its membership figures.Two of the three candidates to replace Nicola Sturgeon as leader have recently questioned the integrity of the ballot process, prompting accusations of “baseless smears” and “Trumpian” behaviour. Continue reading...

Waters was accused of being ‘a widely known antisemite’ in Frankfurt council instruction to cancel concert, with other German cities also proposing cancellationsRoger Waters has said he will take legal action against city authorities in Germany over the threatened cancellation of concerts there, after the former Pink Floyd frontman was accused of antisemitism, which he denies.In February, magistrates in Frankfurt instructed the venue for Waters’ 28 May concert in the city to cancel it, arguing that Waters was “one of the most widely known antisemites” in the world. Continue reading...

Herzog offers alternative to far-right coalition’s changes but PM says it perpetuates current situationA compromise proposal presented by Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, on controversial legislative changes has been rejected by the governing coalition, putting a swift end to hopes that the country’s political crisis can be immediately resolved.In a televised address to the nation on Wednesday night, Herzog revealed what he called “the people’s directive” aimed at ending the 10-week standoff between Israel’s new hardline government and the large protest movement opposed to the plans, which would give politicians much greater control of the judiciary. Continue reading...

UN nuclear watchdog raised alarm hours earlier amid concerns about radiological and security risksMore than 2 tonnes of natural uranium reported missing by the UN’s nuclear watchdog in war-torn Libya have been found, a general in the country’s east has said.Gen Khaled al-Mahjoub, the commander of eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar’s communications division, said the containers of uranium had been recovered barely 5km (3 miles) from where they had been stored in southern Libya, and after the International Atomic Energy Agency reported their disappearance earlier on Thursday. Continue reading...

Warning follows group’s second ever full-year loss, and 3% fall in sales at WaitroseJohn Lewis and Waitrose staff will not get a bonus this year after the retail group fell into the red, posting a worse than expected £230m full-year loss.Sharon White, the chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, warned of job losses to come as she said “inflation hit us like a hurricane”, with higher freight, energy, labour and fuel bills adding £180m in costs. These helped push the group into the second ever full-year loss in John Lewis’s history. Continue reading...

Pensions tax break for the very wealthiest contrasts badly with whopping increases faced by basic and higher rate taxpayersAs an advertising slogan, “pay more get less” has limited appeal and so Jeremy Hunt was keen to focus on other aspects of his budget as he did the customary tour of the TV and radio studios to explain the reasons behind his tax and spending decisions.Two of Britain’s leading thinktanks felt no need for such reticence, and instead both the Resolution Foundation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies used their post-budget analysis to highlight that families are paying more in tax but getting less back from the state in return. Continue reading...

Joshua Bowles, 29, accused of stabbing woman outside leisure centre in CheltenhamA man accused of trying to stab a woman who works for the intelligence agency GCHQ has appeared in court.Joshua Bowles was charged with attempted murder following an investigation by counter-terrorism detectives after the incident last Thursday outside a leisure centre located about three miles from the GCHQ base in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Continue reading...

MPs to vote on statutory instrument relating to Windsor framework’s Stormont brake on Wednesday

Barrow charity shares impact of 22-year-old’s false allegations, as police say effects will be felt for ‘years to come’A charity in Barrow that supports victims of sexual exploitation said many of its clients were reluctant to report abuse to police because they “don’t want to be arrested”, like Eleanor Williams.As a result, police in Cumbria did not know the true scale of sexual exploitation in the town, a judge has been told. Continue reading...

Decision comes after Trevelyan family apologises for ownership of more than 1,000 enslaved African peopleA BBC journalist whose family made history for publicly apologising for its ownership of more than 1,000 enslaved African people and paying reparation has quit the broadcaster to campaign for reparative justice full-time.Laura Trevelyan and her family travelled to the Caribbean country of Grenada last month to publicly apologise for their family’s role in slavery and announced £100,000 in reparations. Continue reading...

Sydney’s Observatory Hill is set to see a 165-year-old high temperature record tumble over the weekend

After playing with the Beach Boys, George Harrison and other mid-century stars, Gordon was convicted of killing his mother during a psychotic episode in 1983Jim Gordon, a session drummer in the 1960s and 70s who contributed to hits by the Beach Boys, Steely Dan and dozens more, has died aged 77.He died in a psychiatric prison in Vacaville, California. Gordon had been incarcerated since 1983, after he killed his mother during a psychotic episode. He was diagnosed as schizophrenic and sentenced to 16 years to life, but never attended parole hearings and never left prison. Continue reading...

Deal is designed to counter rising threat from Beijing but analysts in China say it could push region closer to conflictWhen the UK, the US and Australia announced the details of their multibillion-dollar deal to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines on Monday, the reaction in China was both outrage and confusion.The allies were “walking further and further down the path of error and danger”, said Wang Wenbin, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, on Tuesday. The Chinese mission to the UN accused the three countries of fuelling an arms race. Continue reading...

Daniil Frolkin handed 5.5-year sentence in move widely seen as attempt to silence other servicemen

Retail company to vacate premises at the Myer Centre it opened in 1988 after talks broke down with landlord over new lease

One claimant from Ltyentye Apurte, 85km south-east of Alice Springs, lived with a blocked toilet and leaking shower for 269 days

The company, which provides credit to JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman shoppers, says 100,000 ID documents and 225,000 customer records stolen

Malcolm Turnbull has also questioned deal amid UK economy’s ‘existential problems’