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Businesswoman who turned sex toys and lingerie chain into household name had breast cancerJacqueline Gold, the businesswoman whose Ann Summers retail chain embraced a new wave of sexual liberation to make shopping for vibrators and lingerie an everyday event on British high streets, has died at the age of 62.Her family said her death on Thursday evening after seven years of treatment for breast cancer had left them “utterly heartbroken”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: HCA Healthcare is spending tens of thousands of pounds on ‘golden hello’ bonuses for staff from overstretched public serviceNHS doctors are being offered cash bonuses of up to £5,000 to recruit colleagues for jobs at private hospitals, as commercial healthcare providers compete for staff with an overstretched public health service.US-owned HCA Healthcare, which runs more than 30 facilities in London and Manchester, and claims to be the largest private provider in the world, is spending tens of thousands of pounds recruiting NHS-trained doctors, the Guardian can reveal. Continue reading...

Country becomes second Nato member after Poland to make such a pledge

Campaigners say Will Gardiner’s pay rise comes from subsidies on energy bills paid for by public and accuse firm of greenwashingThe chief executive of the power station giant Drax, Britain’s biggest single source of carbon emissions, has seen his pay rocket almost 70% to more than £5m after a year when high electricity prices profits sent profits soaring.Will Gardiner, who has led the power generator since 2018, received a pay package of £5.4m for 2022, up from £3.2m for the previous year. Gardiner’s package included a 10% increase in his salary to £631,000, a £966,000 bonus and £3.6m under a long-term incentive plan. The total renumeration of the Drax finance chief, Andy Skelton, rose from £2m in 2021 to £3m in 2022. Continue reading...

Jodey Whiting of Stockton-on-Tees died in 2017 about two weeks after her disability benefit was stoppedThe mother of Jodey Whiting, a seriously mentally ill and disabled woman who killed herself after her benefits were wrongly cut off, has won an appeal for a fresh inquest into her daughter’s death.Whiting, from Stockton-on-Tees, took her own life in 2017, days after Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) officials stopped her benefits after she missed a fit-for-work test appointment. Continue reading...

The 2003 invasion’s legacy reverberates in the emboldenment of Iran, Islamic State’s violence and the disintegration of SyriaIn Baghdad’s heart of power, Iraq’s prime minister arrives at work each day in a building once used by Tariq Aziz, Saddam Hussein’s close adviser and foreign minister. The ruins of a Saddam-era defence building still teeter next door, 20 years after an American bomb crashed through its roof at the start of the invasion.Not far away, the green dome of the Republican Palace – built on the orders of King Faisal II, then used by Iraq’s dictator before being occupied by the US army – sits on top of the still-standing totem of Iraq’s history. Continue reading...

Ministers set to halve the £500m promised to invest in staffing of sector with more than 165,000 vacancies, report says

Welsh first minister shown Owain Glyndŵr’s 1406 Pennal letter during visit to France to strengthen tiesThe Welsh first minster has spoken of his emotion at the “contemporary resonances” he perceived in a letter written by a 15th century Prince of Wales envisioning a country free from the rule of the “barbarous” English.During a visit to France, Mark Drakeford said he was moved by the Pennal letter sent by Owain Glyndŵr to the king of France, Charles VI, in 1406 asking for help in his fight against English rule. Continue reading...

Arrests believed to be first time police have detained citizens for possessing literature deemed ‘seditious’ by authoritiesHong Kong’s national security police have arrested two men for possessing children’s books deemed seditious by the authorities – in the latest of a series of moves that underlines the state of civil freedoms in the city.The two men, aged 38 and 50, were arrested and detained after police and customs officers searched their homes and offices and found copies of “seditious publications” that allegedly “incited hatred or contempt” against the Chinese and Hong Kong governments and the judiciary, according to a police press release cited in the local media. Continue reading...

Minimum of £11.40 an hour from July takes total investment in pay to more than £100m over 12 monthsAldi has announced its fourth pay rise in just over a year with shop workers to get a minimum of £11.40 an hour from July.The 3.6% pay rise puts Aldi workers well ahead of the “national living wage”, which will rise to £10.42 next month, and the independently verified real living wage of £10.90. Continue reading...

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