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People felt confident to gather for first time since Covid, according to Whitbread and Mitchells & ButlersNils Pratley: was there a Christmas high street miracle? Not quiteFriends and families gathered together to eat and drink over the festive season for the first time since Covid, boosting Christmas sales in the face of the cost of living crisis, according to hospitality companies Whitbread, which owns Premier Inn, and the pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers.Whitbread, which also owns the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre chains, said it had seen almost 17% like-for-like growth in the UK in sales of its Premier Inn hotel rooms, and food and drink at its restaurants in the 13 weeks to 1 December, compared with a year earlier. Continue reading...

The Russian president may have put Gen Gerasimov in charge of the invasion to balance tensions between the army and the Wagner groupAnother month, another Russian military reshuffle: Vladimir Putin changes the general in charge of his forces in Ukraine with something of the frequency of a Premier League club desperate to secure immediate success.It is obvious that such inconsistency demonstrates that the Kremlin is dissatisfied with the conduct of the war but the decision to put Gen Valery Gerasimov, the head of the armed forces, in charge of the invasion is eye-catching for other reasons too. Continue reading...

Elnaz Hajtamiri woman was abducted on 12 January 2022 from an Ontario house by three men disguised as police officersInvestigators in Canada are offering a C$100,000 reward in a bid to solve the brazen kidnapping of an Iranian Canadian woman by assailants disguised as police officers that continues to baffle detectives.Elnaz Hajtamiri was violently abducted on 12 January 2022, from a house in an Ontario beach community, by three men disguised in police gear, who hauled her barefoot through the snow and into a waiting SUV. Continue reading...

Campaigners had said initial police response was poor because of boy’s raceA white woman who struck a 12-year-old black boy on the forehead with a large paddle at a Bristol riverside park, leaving him permanently scarred, has been given a suspended jail sentence.The police were strongly criticised over the attack by Fay Johnson on Antwon Forrest, because she was initially not prosecuted after claiming she acted in self-defence and felt “threatened” by the youngster. Continue reading...

Donetsk governor says 559 civilians could not be evacuated, while Ukraine claims troops are ‘holding on’ to city

The NASUWT said members had voted overwhelmingly to support a strike, but it would not go ahead as turnout was under 50%The British Medical Association said its meeting this morning with Steve Barclay, the health secretary, ahead of a planned strike in March was “constructive”, but without any fresh offer being made.Prof Philip Banfield, chair of council at the British Medical Association (BMA), told reporters that Barclay was “in listening mode” and that Barclay was “collaborative”, not confrontational.It went as we expected. We went into the meeting to discuss the pay review body and we came out of the meeting having laid out our stall and making it very clear the state of the NHS and that, really, the pay dispute with the junior doctors has to include some form of addressing full pay restoration.No, we’re not getting into the detail of money and numbers at this point in time, and I wouldn’t have expected that.Twenty-six per cent is a lot to lose from your salary, so although it’s a lot of money, it’s a lot of money to lose as well. We’ve got junior doctors who are really struggling financially now because they are qualifying with £100,000 of debt.What was constructive today was the willingness to listen and to get into the room and discuss what pay restoration may or may not look like.We’ve got about six weeks, haven’t we, to sit down and try and resolve the situation. None of our doctors want to strike, they would prefer that this was resolved before we got into that situation.The review of cases identified a small minority of individuals connected to the tier 1 (investor) visa route that were potentially at high risk of having obtained wealth through corruption or other illicit financial activity, and/or being engaged in serious and organised crime.I should stress that the work carried out only implies that a particular individual potentially poses a risk of having connections to criminality; it does not mean guilt has been proven.The Home Office has found that there are inherent difficulties in an investment-based immigration route based on passive wealth, both in terms of security and economic value. I am determined this government will ensure such mistakes are not repeated. Continue reading...

Contractors forced to move between safe houses given green light to leave but others remain in the countryNearly 100 British Council contractors forced to live in hiding since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan have been given the green light to come to the UK.After 18 months of moving between safe houses while they were “hunted” by soldiers of the new regime, about half the contractors who worked for the council had their final security checks signed off. Continue reading...

President vows thorough investigation and says ‘many people were complicit … the truth is the palace was full of Bolsonaristas’The Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said he suspects hardcore supporters of the former president Jair Bolsonaro among the presidential staff facilitated the entry of insurrectionists who stormed his presidential palace seeking to overthrow Brazil’s government.Speaking to a group of political journalists in Brasília’s Planalto palace – one of three buildings trashed by the pro-Bolsonaro mob last Sunday – Lula vowed to carry out a “thorough screening” of employees in the wake of the historic attack. Continue reading...

Critics in Italy – a key exporter of wine – say ‘terrifying’ warnings are ‘direct attack’ against the countryA plan by Ireland to put stark health warnings on bottles of wine, beer and spirits has caused anger in Italy.Ireland is free to go ahead with the measure, which would warn consumers about the risks of cancer and liver diseases linked to alcohol, after a deadline passed for the European Commission to oppose it. Continue reading...

Mick Lynch meets Rail Delivery Group in effort to break deadlock over pay

Supreme court finds top government, police and intelligence officials were responsible for ‘failing to prevent’ bombingsThe supreme court in Sri Lanka has ordered former president Maithripala Sirisena to pay millions in compensation to the victims of the 2019 Easter bombings, the first time the courts have acknowledged the government’s role in the attacks.The top court found that Sirisena and several other top government, police and intelligence officials were responsible for “failing to prevent” the bombings in April 2019, “despite receiving intelligence ahead of the attack”. Continue reading...

Union condemns Gupta group ‘switch from substantial investment’ to idling plant and curbing outputLiberty Steel has announced plans to cut 440 jobs and suspend manufacturing at its plant in south Wales, in a sign of difficulties in Sanjeev Gupta’s metals empire.The steelmaker on Thursday said it would turn its Newport manufacturing plant into a distribution centre, make idle a site at nearby Tredegar and another at West Bromwich, in the West Midlands, and cut back production of primary steel and steel products at Rotherham, Yorkshire. Continue reading...

Treasury research found most severe poverty is ‘particularly entrenched’, but children far more likely to progress than in US

Key reporting systems designed to stop rorting have been offline for an extended period

Car parts to bicycles retailer urges government to do more to encourage people to train as techniciansHalfords has said difficulties in hiring enough car mechanics was partly to blame for a profits warning.The car parts-to-bicycles retailer said a lack of technicians meant sales at its Autocentre motor servicing garages were focused on less-profitable services and this was having an effect on overall profitability. It called on the government to do more to encourage people to train as mechanics. Continue reading...

Independent investigation says union failed to protect members from hostile attacks within its organisationThe National Union of Students has failed to protect Jewish members and activists from hostile attacks within the organisation, according to an investigation that found “numerous instances” of antisemitism in the union over the last decade.The independent investigation found multiple examples of Jewish students subjected to antisemitic bullying and ostracisation within the NUS because of their faith and their views on Israel, and that the NUS’s internal procedures had been inadequate or repeatedly ignored in dealing with their complaints. Continue reading...

People less likely to vote leave in every EU member state for which data was available than in 2016-17, survey findsSupport for leaving the EU has dropped significantly, and sometimes dramatically, in member states across the bloc in the wake of the UK’s Brexit referendum, according to data from a major pan-European survey.The European Social Survey (ESS), led by City, University of London and conducted in 30 European nations every two years since 2001, found respondents were less likely to vote leave in every EU member state for which data was available. Continue reading...

‘Interspecies communicator’ consulted to track down cat lost in transit, prompting criticism of country’s state companiesBolivia’s state airline has enlisted an “interspecies communicator” – or animal psychic – to track down a lost cat, after a passenger’s pet went missing in transit.The incident has prompted pointed questions over the performance of Bolivia’s many state companies, a continual source of debate between the leftist government and its opposition. Continue reading...

Police are yet to identify the woman but say she was 30 to 55 years old, 155 to 165cm tall with dark brown hair and prescription glasses

In contrast with security deal between China and Solomon Islands, the Australia-PNG agreement will be ‘public and transparent’, prime ministers vow

Data shows men in Scotland almost three times more likely to be diagnosed at a late stageProstate cancer patients across the UK face a “postcode lottery” of care, a charity has warned, with men in Scotland almost three times more likely to be diagnosed at a late stage compared with men in London.Prostate Cancer UK said the proportion diagnosed when the disease may be too advanced to treat varied hugely depending on where patients lived. Health leaders called the findings “shocking”. Continue reading...

Coalition demands answers about Anthony Albanese’s meeting with billionaire following helicopter ride reports

Meat and Livestock Australia say farmers were holding on to cattle to rebuild herds after successive natural disasters

Victorian premier says those abused ‘at the hands of the Catholic church’ are foremost in his thoughts

Paramedics say scooter caught fire inside the Darra home

Report shows 3.2m people disconnected last year as they ran out of credit

Guy Black, deputy chair of Telegraph newspapers, says draft legislation sets too low a bar on what constitutes spyingThe UK’s proposed national security bill could have a “chilling effect” on investigative journalism because it sets too low a bar on what constitutes spying, the deputy chair of the Telegraph newspapers has warned.Guy Black told the House of Lords that he was concerned the draft legislation could “potentially criminalise” reporters and whistleblowers because it says simply that a crime is committed if it “may materially assist a foreign intelligence service”. Continue reading...

Riverdance star has undergone surgery and is in care of doctors, according to Instagram accountMichael Flatley, best known for his Riverdance show, has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of cancer.A post on the Irish dancer and director’s Instagram account said: “Michael Flatley has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He has undergone surgery and is in the care of an excellent team of doctors.” Continue reading...

Valery Gerasimov to replace Sergei Surovikin, who was appointed in October, as Zelenskiy mocks claims of Russian victory in SoledarRussia appointed Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, as its overall commander for the war in Ukraine on Wednesday, in the latest of several major shake-ups of Moscow’s military leadership during the stumbling invasion of its neighbour.In a statement, the defence ministry said that Gerasimov’s appointment constituted a “raising of the status of the leadership” of the military force in Ukraine and was implemented to “improve the quality … and effectiveness of the management of Russian forces.” Continue reading...

Officials from 14 health unions want to hold direct talks with ministers to agree pay rises for NHS staffThe system for setting NHS staff pay is under threat after health unions refused to submit evidence to the two bodies that advise ministers on how big annual increases should be.The role and credibility of both the NHS pay review body (NHSPRB) and the review body on doctors’ and dentists’ remuneration (DDRB) have been brought into question by the move. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage hereLynch says in areas where the Department for Transport has not had the final say, the RMT has beeen able to negotiate acceptable pay deals.He claims the DfT is following an obstructive strategy that was put in place when Grant Shapps was transport secretary.Why would you, if you’re seeking a solution to a serious industrial dispute that’s high profile, would you wait until a Sunday afternoon at four o’clock to put nine clauses into the document which weren’t in the previous version?It’s daft. To me, it’s sabotage. They wanted these strikes to go ahead … Continue reading...

Woman also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender after shooting of 26-year-old beautician in pub on Christmas EveA 22-year-old man from Wirral has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Elle Edwards, who was shot dead in a pub on Christmas Eve.A Wirral woman, 23, is also being held on suspicion of assisting an offender, the force added, bringing the total to five. Both have been taken to police stations for questioning. Continue reading...

Safety not thought to be affected despite up to 25,000 workers joining picket lines across England and WalesFewer people called for an ambulance on the service’s biggest strike day so far, during which up to 25,000 union members join picket lines across England and Wales to express their “disappointment” and “despair” over pay and staffing levels.Up to 25,000 paramedics, 999 call handlers, ambulance drivers and technicians from the Unison and GMB unions staged staggered strikes against a below-inflation 4% pay deal on Wednesday. The industrial action covered most of England, except the east, and nearly all of Wales. Continue reading...

Foreign secretary warns Tehran over case of Alireza Akbari, an ex-Iranian minister accused of being MI6 spyThe UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has urged the Iranian government not to press ahead with plans to execute a British-Iranian dual national found guilty of spying for MI6.Alireza Akbari, a former Iranian deputy defence minister who has lived in the UK for more than a decade, could be executed within days after he was found guilty by the revolutionary courts of being a senior spy for M16. His appeal was rejected more than three months ago, but for reasons that are not clear the Iranian security services are now threatening to go ahead and impose the death penalty. Continue reading...

Bridgen likely to be permanently cast out from party after tweet comparing immunisation to Holocaust

Far-right activists loyal to ex-president have launched what the government called a botched coup attemptSecurity has been stepped up in Brazil’s capital amid concerns that hardcore supporters of the former president Jair Bolsonaro were planning to mobilise again, three days after thousands of extremists launched what the government has called a botched coup attempt.Reports in the Brazilian media said far-right activists had summoned “a mega nationwide protest to retake power” on Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday night, members of the national public security force in black SUVs could be seen taking up position along the esplanade leading to Brazil’s congress, supreme court and presidential palace – the three buildings stormed and ransacked during Sunday’s turmoil in Brasília. Continue reading...

Prime minister had previously refused to say whether he or his family used the NHSRishi Sunak has said he is now registered with an NHS GP, having previously used private healthcare, during a prime minister’s questions dominated by the state of the NHS and the strikes by health and ambulance staff.“I am registered with an NHS GP. I have used independent healthcare in the past,” Sunak told the Commons in response to a question from the Labour MP Cat Smith about NHS dentistry. He also praised a hospital in his Yorkshire constituency “for the fantastic care they’ve given my family over the years”. Continue reading...

Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy and the acclaimed multiverse fantasy have five nominations each while Ozark leads the TV sideThe Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All at Once lead this year’s Screen Actors Guild nominations.Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy about a friendship turned sour received five nominations for lead male actor Colin Farrell, supporting female actor Kerry Condon, supporting male actors Barry Keoghan and Brendan Gleeson and the night’s biggest award for ensemble. Continue reading...

It is the first known ruling against a soldier who criticised Kremlin’s unpopular mobilisation

Unions warn of escalation of disputes in 2023 unless ministers give ground on pay risesThe end of 2022 was marked by mass industrial unrest as employees across the transport network, NHS, Royal Mail, schools and the civil service took strike action.The start of 2023 will bring further stoppages by rail workers, bus drivers, teachers in Scotland, nurses, ambulance workers and civil servants. Continue reading...

Seizure of town would represent substantial gain for Moscow after series of humiliating retreats

Industry leaders warn customers’ confidence is ‘ebbing away’ as they switch to rival modes of transport

Head of carbon credit system review says absolute emissions cuts must be priority, as Albanese government weighs up limits on use of credits

Researchers and engineers team up to identify new technologies to safely delve deeper into the icy continentGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastRobots could soon collect tissue samples from whales off the coast of Antarctica or fly long distances over the icy continent with surveillance cameras, allowing Australian scientists to observe dangerous and previously inaccessible areas.The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) has partnered with Prof Peter Corke, a robotics expert, to develop a shortlist of new technologies that could improve safety and scientific research on the continent.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Paintings adorning grand staircase of St Bartholomew’s to benefit from £5m lottery heritage fund grantTwo paintings by William Hogarth on the walls of a grand staircase at St Bartholomew’s hospital in London are to be restored with the help of a £4.9m grant from the National Lottery heritage fund.Hogarth, an artist, critic and satirist, depicted two biblical stories in the works, the Pool of Bethesda and the Good Samaritan, in the 1730s. They feature 2.1-metre (7ft) high figures, some drawn from real life. Continue reading...

Secondary schools shut across Scotland, before 16 consecutive days of action from next week in row over pay

Waves of respiratory diseases, staff attrition and an older population are taxing Canada’s overburdened hospital systemWhen Allison Holthoff entered a crowded Nova Scotia hospital at the end of December, the intense pain in her abdomen worsened with each hour she spent waiting for treatment. With the emergency room under renovations, overwhelmed staff triaged a stream of incoming patients in a makeshift treatment area.“‘I feel like I’m dying. They’re going to let me die here,’” Holthoff told her husband, Gunther. Continue reading...

Supermarket on track for profits at top end of forecasts after shoppers go ‘all out for big Christmas dinner’Shoppers going “all out for a big Christmas dinner” and returning to Argos stores amid the rail and postal strikes have helped put Sainsbury’s on track to achieve annual profits at the top end of expectations.The UK’s second-biggest supermarket said sales rose by 7.1% in the six weeks to 7 January compared with the same period in 2021 – ahead of the 5.2% average for the three-month period to the same date – as 50% more people visited its Argos outlets in supermarkets amid fears of delivery holdups. Continue reading...

Minister urges 999 calls for life-threatening incidents only, as workers across England and Wales hold action

Newspaper group reports slump in print advertising and digital ads in traditionally strong fourth quarterThe publisher of the Mirror and Express is to cut 200 roles in a £30m cost-cutting drive, after advertisers failed to spend heavily through the World Cup, Black Friday and Christmas season.The newspaper group, which also owns hundreds of regional titles including the Manchester Evening News, reported a slump of a fifth in print advertising and 6% in digital ads in the traditionally strong fourth quarter. Continue reading...