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Teaching unions revamp site with official data on every school in England and Wales to show education fundingTens of millions of parents will, from April next year, be able to see the precise level of budget cuts hitting the state schools their children attend, thanks to an information campaign by teaching unions.The planned cuts to be imposed on every school in England and Wales – with figures detailing what this amounts to per pupil – will be available on a revamped version of the school cuts website, run by the unions and to be unveiled this week. Continue reading...

Report shows failures by government, financial services and retailers to protect people with dementia from scammersPeople living with dementia are “sitting ducks for financial abuse” because of failures by the government, financial services and retailers, according to a report.The report, Retail Therapy by the International Longevity Centre and independent abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, highlights multiple examples of those living with dementia setting up subscriptions or direct debits after being subjected to repeated doorstep cold calls, scam letters and incessant phone calls in which they were asked to share personal financial information. Continue reading...

Online sale lasts twice as long as usual as See Tickets website repeatedly crashesTickets for next year’s Glastonbury festival took more than an hour to sell out after the site experienced a “technical problem”.The second release of tickets was made available from 9am on Sunday and sold out by 10.03am – longer than the typical 30 minutes it takes for the festival. Continue reading...

People struggling with higher mortgage costs after disastrous Tory mini-budget should get help, he says, just as banks helped in 2008Homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages in the wake of Liz Truss’s “disastrous budget” should be helped out with grants of up to £300 a month, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has told the Observer.In a bid to improve his party’s fortunes in “blue wall” seats where Tory voters have shown a willingness to switch parties, Davey said there was now a “mortgage penalty” on some householders after the mini-budget. He said there are people now “worried sick about how they will get by or even afford to stay in their homes”. Continue reading...

Despite the fact that the border is barely open, more than 800 people have lost their livesAlong the US-Mexico border, overwhelmed mortuaries in Eagle Pass, Texas have been forced to stockpile a “backlog of bodies” in a city-owned refrigerated truck.The local government bought but never used the makeshift morgue amid the Covid-19 pandemic, when such desperate sights were not unheard of in various parts of the US, including Texas. Continue reading...

DWP campaign to encourage pension credit results in flood of claims and backlogPoorer pensioners are waiting months for their benefit applications to be approved after the Department for Work and Pensions was overwhelmed by rising demand stimulated by its own publicity drive.In early April, the DWP launched a campaign to encourage pensioners to apply for pension credit – the benefit paid to people on low incomes who are over the state pension age – to handle rising living costs. Continue reading...

in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, people are used to low temperatures but there is anxiety about the soaring costs of staying warmOn the first day of November in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, there is a bitter chill in the air and the temperature hovers around 6C. This is balmy autumn weather for the village, nestled at the foot of the Cairngorm mountains and holder of the unenviable title of Britain’s coldest place, having recorded record low temperatures of -27.2C twice in the past 40 years. Just last year, the village experienced Britain’s coldest night since 1995, when temperatures dropped to -23C in February.Braemar’s temperatures are thought to reach such extremes because of its geography, with the encircling mountains essentially turning the village into a “bowl” in which cold air blows down from the mountaintops and becomes trapped. In the coming months, residents can expect temperatures in the -20s accompanied by heavy snowfall, ice and storms. But while people in Braemar are well prepared for the weather, little can shield them from energy prices surging here as across the country. Continue reading...

Architects’ society forced to defend scheme to remodel entrance from ‘unjustified’ criticismCarbuncles usually take only a few weeks to heal, but the architectural row over the National Gallery has been going for nearly 40 years.The latest eruption came last week, when the president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) took aim at eight of his predecessors over their objections to plans to overhaul the gallery’s Sainsbury Wing. Continue reading...

Decades after the star’s death, safety on set for cast and crew is not the priority it should be, says the award-winning actor Rory KinnearMore than 30 years ago the actor Roy Kinnear died after being thrown from a horse while filming The Return of the Musketeers in Spain. He had dreaded shooting that particular scene because it involved having to “thunder” at speed across a cobbled bridge, despite the danger and his lack of horsemanship.His tragic death seemed to shock the industry into realising the need for health and safety changes, but his son Rory Kinnear, who followed his father into acting, has told the Observer that lives are still being put at risk, with corners cut due to the pressures of time and budgets – “all for the sake of a thrilling shot”. Continue reading...

The department has been found responsible for an ‘unacceptable’ breach of data protection lawsThe Department for Education (DfE) has been found responsible for an “unacceptable” breach of data protection laws over betting firms using children’s information on a student database for age-verification checks.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said there was “prolonged misuse” of pupil information on a database that holds the details of up to 28 million students. The department failed to prevent “unauthorised access to children’s data” from September 2018 to January 2020. The UK information commissioner, John Edwards, said: “A database of pupils’ learning records being used to help gambling companies is unacceptable. Our investigation found that the processes put in place by the DfE were woeful.” Continue reading...

Higher interest rates will plunge borrowers into debt as they seek to plug gap between income and outgoings, charities warnGrowing numbers of households are likely to turn to credit cards and loans “to plug the gap between their income and outgoings”, as winter sets in and energy bills increase, a leading debt charity has warned.Higher mortgage payments and rent increases, as well as the rising cost of food and energy bills, could also force householders who have never been in debt before to borrow to make ends meet. Continue reading...

If the ex-PM had lost the leadership contest, his value stood to drop by half, according to the entertainment industryBoris Johnson would have forfeited earnings of at least £10m a year from speeches and sales of his memoirs if he had fought a leadership battle against Rishi Sunak and lost, according to informed sources in the entertainment industry, who believe financial considerations played a part in his decision to pull out.Since he resigned in July, Johnson is known to have been in talks with entertainment and talent agencies including Endeavour, run by US businessman Ari Emanuel, and the Harry Walker Agency (HWA), one of its subsidiaries. Continue reading...

Ali, who has been trapped in a hotel for nearly 500 days, tells of his frustration and his desire to contribute to societyLife in room 221 of the Berkshire hotel Ali has called home for the past 487 days is a drab affair, with an in-built guarantee that every day will be the same as the one before.The food is repetitive, his fellow guests never leave, the streets of Reading rarely change. “There is nothing to do. Nothing happens. All I want is an actual book to read but there are none here and there is no way I can afford them.” Continue reading...

MP Theresa Villiers says proposal to axe thousands of laws is unworkable and unnecessaryOne of the Tory party’s leading Brexit supporters has raised concerns about plans to scrap 2,400 EU laws by the end of next year – as fears grow that the policy will overwhelm the civil service and bring government to a virtual standstill.Former environment secretary Theresa Villiers, who backed Brexit in 2016, told the Observer that the proposals would take up vast amounts of civil service time and would involve undoing legislation that, in many cases, was broadly popular and good for the country. Continue reading...

Refugees and support workers say Home Office-funded service is ‘torment’, with some callers left on hold for up to three hoursThe government’s round-the-clock helpline for asylum seekers has been rated inadequate after callers faced “unacceptable” delays, official documents have revealed.Run for the Home Office by the charity Migrant Help, the helpline is the main point of contact for asylum seekers needing support with housing, money and access to healthcare. Continue reading...

The actor, whose wife died last year, talks to Desert Island Discs about his relationship with his parents growing up in AfricaFive days after marking the anniversary of his wedding to his late wife, a grieving Richard E Grant will talk candidly about surviving an upsetting childhood in Eswatini (then called Swaziland) before finding sanctuary in his 38-year marriage.The Oscar-nominated film star, who appears as the guest on Desert Island Discs on Sunday morning, met his wife – the renowned dialect expert Joan Washington – when, as an aspiring young actor, he hired her as a voice coach. Grant details the shock of Washington’s diagnosis with lung cancer in 2020 and tells how they prioritised time together in the months before her death in September last year. Continue reading...

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Ebrahim Raisi declares streets ‘safe and sound’ while shopkeepers strike and student demonstrations sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death reach 50th dayIranian students protested and shopkeepers went on strike despite a widening crackdown, according to reports on social media, as demonstrations that flared over Mahsa Amini’s death continued for a 50th day.Saturday’s protests came as President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran’s cities were “safe and sound” after earlier dismissing a pledge from the US president, Joe Biden, to “free Iran”. Continue reading...

ACT police do not believe any other party involved after previously discovering bodies of mother and brother in Yerrabi Pond on Saturday

Russian troops looting Kherson city amid alleged searches in province for residents refusing to evacuate; pro-Russia judge in serious condition after assassination bid

State opposition leader Chris Minns also pushes for tighter rules around evicting tenants without reasonable grounds

Extra bank holiday will follow king’s coronation two days earlier on Saturday 6 MayThe government has announced an additional bank holiday to mark the coronation of King Charles III next year.Downing Street said the UK-wide holiday will fall on Monday 8 May after the coronation at Westminster Abbey two days earlier. Continue reading...

Sitdown protests are part of a day of demonstrations in and around Schiphol airportDutch border police arrested hundreds of climate activists who stormed Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and sat in front of the wheels of aircraft to prevent them from leaving.More than 100 protesters, wearing white suits, entered an area where private jets are kept on Saturday as part of a day of demonstrations in and around the airport organised by environmental groups. Continue reading...

Angry at not being invited to the Queen’s funeral, minister sent string of abusive textsGavin Williamson is facing an investigation over a series of abusive and threatening messages sent to the then Tory chief whip complaining he had been excluded from the Queen’s funeral.The cabinet minister, who was a backbencher at the time, accused Wendy Morton of using the death of the monarch to “punish” senior MPs who were out of favour with Liz Truss’s government. Continue reading...

Exclusive: walkout over pay due to take place before ChristmasThe biggest nursing strike in NHS history is set to take place before Christmas after union officials said that “large swathes of the country” had voted for industrial action.Patients who are already facing record waiting lists are now likely to see operations and appointments delayed or cancelled. This is set to be the first national strike in the history of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). Continue reading...

Russian troops taking vehicles, art and even religious artefacts from Kherson; UK says Russia struggling to train new recruits. This blog is now closed

Social media firm sets deadline for workers to name person to represent them at job consultations amid layoffsTwitter staff who face losing their jobs in the UK have been given three days to nominate a representative for a formal consultation about their employment.An email sent to staff from Twitter’s HR department on Saturday said they had until 9am on Tuesday to nominate any current employee. Staff can nominate themselves. Continue reading...

Victorian education department investigating after teacher accused of playing ‘explicit and blasphemous’ video to class

‘Total destruction’ and dozens of people still unaccounted for in Texas town while Arkansas and Oklahoma also hit by tornadoesAt least one person has died and dozens more are injured after tornadoes ravaged parts of Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.Several twisters caused property damage and physical injury across the various states on Friday. Tornado warnings had still been in effect as of late Friday in parts of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.Ramon Antonio Vargas contributed reporting. Continue reading...

Alexander Nikulin, who sentenced two captured Britons to death in June, had attempt made on his life in eastern DonetskA judge in a Ukrainian town controlled by Moscow is in a “serious” condition after surviving an assassination attempt, a separatist leader in Donetsk said.Alexander Nikulin was on a judicial panel that in June sentenced to death two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and a Moroccan, Brahim Saadoune, who were fighting on the Ukrainian side. Continue reading...

Party vice-president Michelle O’Neill says government must find a way to make post-Brexit arrangements workThe Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, has said the UK government needs to “step up to the plate” and find a way to make the Northern Ireland protocol work.On Friday, the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, said there will not be a Stormont election in December. Continue reading...

Unexpected announcement quashes hopes of lifting lockdowns, quarantining and rigorous testingHealth officials in China on Saturday dashed hopes there would be a relaxation of the country’s strict Covid-19 restrictions. At a news conference, they insisted China would “unswervingly” stick to its zero-Covid policy which includes lockdowns, quarantining and rigorous testing aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.The announcement follows several days’ speculation that they were considering changing a disease containment policy that has disrupted economic growth and daily life, and is increasingly out of step with the rest of the world. Continue reading...

Amid cabinet backlash, No 10 has signalled to insiders that sale will not be in media bill, says Financial TimesRishi Sunak is expected to shelve the proposed privatisation of Channel 4 after a backlash against the move from within his own cabinet.Industry insiders expect the sale of Channel 4 to be dropped from the upcoming media bill as the prime minister overhauls policy pledges, according to the Financial Times. Continue reading...

Protest by People’s Assembly campaign group also calling for action on the cost of living crisisThousands have gathered in central London on Saturday to demonstrate against what they called “Tory austerity” and demand an immediate general election.The protest, called Britain is Broken, has been organised by the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, and is supported by groups including CND, Unite, Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion. Continue reading...

Prasanna Puwanarajah, who is playing the disgraced BBC broadcaster, on how the Netflix drama approached the infamous Panorama programmeIt was the TV interview that confirmed it all. When Diana, Princess of Wales, agreed to join Martin Bashir on Guy Fawkes night in front of BBC cameras to talk about her feelings of marital betrayal and loneliness, the foundations of the British establishment shook. The broadcast of that fateful interview was, of course, also a moment of personal pain and sorrow for Prince Charles, now King Charles, and their two sons, William and Harry.The BBC have since agreed never to show the Panorama programme of 1995 because of the duplicitous way Bashir secured the late princess’s involvement, misleading her into suspecting widespread treachery against her. But now, contrary to the wishes of the royal family, the makers of The Crown, the award-winning Netflix drama, have faithfully recreated the infamous encounter and are to show its key moments, as well as the background to the broadcast, over two episodes of the upcoming fifth season, which starts on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Tragedy that killed 135 sparks safety fears over creaking colonial-era structuresThe collapse of a bridge in Gujarat that left 135 people dead has prompted concerns over the safety of thousands of other colonial-era structures across India.The bridge in Morbi was more than a century old when it snapped in two last month while families had gathered on it to enjoy an evening on the river. Many of those standing in the middle of the bridge plunged into the river and drowned, while others died from the impact of falling on to the stones and boulders below. Continue reading...

Newly discovered official accounts show that, while a prisoner of Elizabeth I, her cousin lived a life of luxuryShe was executed as a Roman Catholic threat to the English throne, but during her long years of imprisonment by her Protestant cousin, Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots was still treated as a queen, previously unpublished documents reveal.The British Library has acquired official financial accounts for the 1580s which detail the finest foods and other luxuries given to the Scottish queen during her captivity at Wingfield Manor in Derbyshire and Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire. Continue reading...

Exclusive: PCS joins action with charity and a woman placed at Kent processing centre for boat arrivalsA trade union that represents many Home Office staff is joining a legal action against the home secretary over “horrendous, inhumane and dangerous” conditions at the Manston processing centre for people arriving in the country by small boat.The Public and Commercial Services union, the UK’s largest union for civil servants, counts among its members Border Force staff, enforcement officers and caseworkers making decisions about whether to detain small boat arrivals. Continue reading...

Reports suggest blaze could have been started by a drunk man firing a ‘flare gun’ on the dancefloorRussian police have detained a man suspected of causing a huge fire overnight at a bar in the city of Kostroma that killed at least 15 people.Firefighters fought through the early hours to extinguish the blaze at the popular Poligon bar in the city. Russian news agencies reported that the fire may have been started when a drunk man fired a “flare gun” on the dancefloor. Continue reading...

Moscow is deporting residents along with stolen art, tractors and cars as Ukraine’s forces close in

Police say they stopped the show near the capital Jakarta when fans surged forward to get closer to the stageK-pop band NCT 127 were forced to end their first concert in Indonesia early after 30 people fainted in a crush, police said.Indonesia is still reeling after more than 130 people, including more than 40 children, died in a stadium crush last month – one of the deadliest disasters in football history. Continue reading...

Counter-terrorism unit says evidence points to an extreme rightwing motivation behind attackThe firebombing of a migrant centre in Dover had “an extreme rightwing motivation”, police have said.Andrew Leak, 66, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, is believed to have killed himself after throwing two or three “crude” incendiary devices at the Western Jet Foil site in Kent last Sunday. Continue reading...

Pair were trapped underground for nine days and pitched a tent to keep themselves warmTwo South Korean miners who were trapped underground for nine days survived on coffee powder, authorities have said, after the pair were brought to safety.The men walked free from a collapsed zinc mine in the north-eastern county of Bonghwa late on Friday. They had been trapped in a vertical shaft about 190 metres (620ft) underground after the mine collapsed on 26 October. Continue reading...

Jordan Bardella, 27, who joined the party as a teenager and is a protege of Marine Le Pen, replaces her as leaderFrance’s far-right National Rally (RN) has elected a 27-year-old from the Paris banlieue who joined the party as a teenager as its new president to replace Marine Le Pen.The result means that for the first time since the party – originally the National Front – was created in 1972, it will not be run by a Le Pen. Continue reading...

Law enforcement concedes insufficient planning as president belatedly expresses regret for disasterThousands of people gathered near Seoul’s city hall on Saturday to commemorate the 156 people killed in a Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon last weekend.Christian and Buddhist leaders spoke on stage, demanding President Yoon Suk-yeol step down and asking how the country could mourn without knowing the truth behind the deaths. Continue reading...

Case was reinvestigated after outcry over reduced charge, and age of consent was set at 15A 33-year-old man has been convicted of raping an 11-year-old girl in a landmark case that led to the establishing of an age of consent in France.The accused, who has not been named, admitted having sex with the secondary school pupil in 2017 after meeting her in a park. He was 28 at the time and insisted the girl had consented. Continue reading...

Minister says ‘small number’ of drones were sent to Russia months before invasion but denies supply continuesIran has acknowledged for the first time that it supplied Moscow with drones but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used drones to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.The Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said a “small number” of drones were supplied to Russia a few months before Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine on 24 February. He denied Tehran that was continuing to supply drones to Moscow. Continue reading...

Prime minister declares inflation ‘number one enemy’ and promises to rebuild trust in governmentRishi Sunak has vowed to limit the impact of rising inflation on people with mortgages, as he promised to rebuild trust in the government.The prime minister said inflation was the “number one enemy” and that he was doing everything he could to “grip” the issue. Continue reading...

Move came too late to reinstate services on Saturday, and they will remain ‘extremely limited’Rail passengers in Britain are being warned they could still face disruption on Saturday despite a series of planned strikes being called off.The RMT union said on Friday afternoon that three days of industrial action by thousands of its members at Network Rail, due to take place on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday on lines across the country, would no longer go ahead. Continue reading...

Daniel Greenberg pledges to be advocate for ‘vast majority’ of MPs committed to high public standardsThe reputation of British politicians is at a “low point”, the UK’s new independent parliamentary commissioner for standards has said, as he pledged to be an advocate for the “vast majority” of MPs who were committed to high standards in public life.Daniel Greenberg, who takes over from Kathryn Stone when her five-year term comes to an end in January, admitted that a slew of scandals in recent years as well as the turbulence of the past 12 months had tarnished parliament’s reputation. Continue reading...