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Vĕra Jourová says the bloc has a moral duty and the project would not necessarily mean a new station

Exclusive: New register shines light on how businessmen, Gulf royals and states such as China have spent billions through offshore jurisdictionsThe BBC chair, Richard Sharp, more than 20 Conservative donors, a string of billionaire businessmen and the Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton are among those who have declared they own UK property through offshore jurisdictions, a Guardian investigation has found.The declarations are made on the UK government’s new register of overseas entities, brought in to increase transparency and help the tax authorities by showing the ultimate owners of British property held offshore. Continue reading...

People including property developers and peers who have collectively donated £21m named on new registerConservative donors who have collectively given the party more than £21m since 2001 have been declared as the ultimate owners of UK properties held through more than 150 offshore companies in a new government register.They include major property developers, such as the Reuben brothers, David and Simon, as well as Nick Candy, a UK-based businessman who owns a £160m flat and other properties through companies based in Guernsey. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Treasurer says ‘best way to shift the needle’ is to ‘find out where those challenges are most acute’, and ‘this is something I care deeply about’

Tribunal ruling says there is ‘no leeway’ for woman who was in Saudi Arabia visiting her son when borders shut

Rosalie Dow asked department for modifications to home but was told the policy was to transfer dwellings – which is yet to occur

Failings in the care of Sarah Andrews and her baby Wynter at hospital in Nottingham were avoidable, says judgeAn NHS trust has been fined £800,000 in the highest ever penalty for maternity care after admitting to failings in the care of a woman and her baby, who died minutes after being born.Wynter Sophia Andrews died on 15 September 2019, 23 minutes after being born by emergency caesarean section, in the arms of her parents, Sarah and Gary, at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. Continue reading...

Grant Shapps tells Britain’s two largest steelmakers they must guarantee certain number of UK jobsThe two largest steelmakers in Britain will have to protect thousands of jobs for a decade to unlock a promised £600m in state funding for their plans to decarbonise, it has emerged.The business secretary, Grant Shapps, has told British Steel and Tata Steel that they must guarantee a certain number of UK jobs until 2033 as part of an agreement to land £300m each in government aid. Continue reading...

Birmingham-based Soffe family still fighting for compensation after fire in Gulf state left Elizabeth with life-threatening burnsA Birmingham family have revealed the distress they have endured in a six-year legal battle in Qatar to gain compensation for the severe injuries experienced by their youngest daughter when they lived in the Gulf state.Elizabeth Soffe, now eight, received life-threatening burns as a baby in a fire at her family’s villa in Al Waab, near the country’s capital, Doha, in 2014. Continue reading...

Journalist headed newspaper for 18 years and helped chess great Garry Kasparov write autobiographyDonald Trelford, the former editor of the Observer newspaper, has died aged 85, his family have announced.The journalist, author and academic, who edited the Observer for 18 years between 1975 and 1993, died after a long illness on Friday in Mallorca, where he had lived for the past decade, said his wife, Claire. Continue reading...

Actor was attempting to stop six-tonne vehicle from hitting his relative after getting out without applying the emergency brakeJeremy Renner’s snowplough accident happened as he was attempting to save his nephew and was hit by the vehicle after failing to apply the emergency brake.According to an incident report from the Nevada sheriff’s office, obtained by Variety, Renner had used the snowplough to tow his nephew’s truck out of the snow, and after getting out without setting the brake, he attempted to stop the six-tonne plough sliding towards his nephew. Continue reading...

No injuries reported after 80 firefighters battle blaze at St Mark’s church in St John’s Wood, north-west LondonAuthorities are investigating after a heritage-listed church in north-west London, described as an “architectural and historical treasure”, was destroyed by fire.Eighty firefighters battled the blaze at St Mark’s church in Hamilton Terrace, St John’s Wood, from 11.19pm on Thursday until it was under control at 2.22am on Friday, the London fire brigade (LFB) said. Continue reading...

Daniel Harris, 19, to serve 11 years in young offender institution for ‘stream of rightwing terrorist bile’A teenage extremist who inspired two far-right killers in the US has been ordered to serve 11 and a half years in a young offender institution for publishing a “stream of rightwing terrorist bile”.Daniel Harris, 19, celebrated white supremacist murderers including Anders Breivik and called for an armed uprising in videos posted from his grandfather’s house in Derbyshire. Continue reading...

‘We underperform every key competitor out there,’ staff are told in global address by Tufan ErginbilgicThe new chief executive of Rolls-Royce has told staff that the engineering company is a “burning platform” that must transform to survive.Tufan Erginbilgic, the former BP executive who replaced Warren East as chief executive at the start of January, said the coronavirus pandemic could not be blamed for what in reality was a perennial underperformance of the business compared with rivals. Continue reading...

Actor says recent conversations about role of monarchy ‘opened his eyes’ to suffering of Indigenous people around the worldWe tend to receive things on our birthdays, but on his 58th Alan Cumming has given something back: the OBE he was awarded in 2009.In a post on Instagram, the Scottish actor talked about how he had recently “opened his eyes” to the “toxicity” of the British Empire. He said his soul-searching was prompted by the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the conversations the event sparked. Continue reading...

Former culture secretary and Johnson loyalist picks ex-PM as launch guest for regular Friday night show

Since Covid pandemic ‘whole world of work has gone crazy’, adds Tony DankerMost bosses secretly want to get all staff back to working in the office, according to the head of Britain’s leading business lobby group.Tony Danker, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said the whole world of work had “gone crazy” since the coronavirus pandemic, which led to a major shift to more working from home for many people who used to work solely from the office. Continue reading...

Tropical storm upgraded to cyclone status, hitting Indian Ocean island with 75mph winds and intense rainfallMadagascar continued to be hit by intense rainfall this week, resulting in serious flooding and several landslides. Severe Tropical Storm Cheneso made landfall in the north-east last week, and had weakened as it pushed south-west across the island. But after reaching the warm waters of the Mozambique channel on Monday, Cheneso restrengthened, achieving tropical cyclone status by Wednesday with sustained wind speeds of 75mph, equivalent to a category 1 hurricane.Unusually, the system remained near-stationary for almost four days, stalling just off the west coast of Madagascar and bringing more than 100mm of rain each day to some coastal areas. Cheneso’s lack of movement resulted in weakening of the system on Thursday, as upwelling of cooler water beneath the storm reduced the energy available to the cyclone, and sustained winds decreased to about 55mph. The storm has now started to accelerate to the south, and begun the process of curving out towards the southern Indian Ocean. Cheneso may briefly restrengthen during this period, before becoming extratropical by Monday. Continue reading...

Grocery wholesaler may look to make further market purchases of supermarket’s sharesBestway, the owner of the Costcutter chain and is one of the UK’s largest grocery wholesalers, has taken a near £200m stake in Sainsbury’s and could seek to increase its stake further.The privately owned Bestway, which also owns the UK’s third-largest pharmacy chain and 2,000 convenience stores under the Costcutter and Best-one brands, has bought almost 81m shares, giving it a 3.45% stake in the UK’s second-largest supermarket chain. Continue reading...

Hazardous material experts searching for 8mm by 6mm capsule believed to have fallen from truck as it was travelling from Pilbara to Perth

Lawyers for the Liberal senator threaten to take case to WA supreme court as they pursue an apology and damages over tweets

This blog is now closedUkrainian loss would embolden leaders in Pacific region, ambassador saysThe ambassador of Ukraine to Australia and New Zealand, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, stresses that the reason Australia’s assistance needs to continue is because it’s in Australia’s interests to support the Ukraine:The reason why we need to keep up and step up that assistance because this war in Ukraine is disrupting everything. It’s really undermined security, regionally, globally.It’s having a major impact on your partners here in the region. Look at Indonesia. I mean, they are really suffering from the lack of food that can get on their market. They have 275 million people to feed and they really rely on grain from Ukraine, which now they have a hard time getting hold of as the prices have surged. We’ve seen the impact on the energy markets on the volatility of the commodity markets.What’s important is that Australia continues to support Ukraine. We are truly thankful for what Australia has done so far, especially the last package which was announced in October where another 30 Bushmasters were allocated and the troops which are now in Britain have already been able to train Ukrainian soldiers. It’s really a big help. Continue reading...

Former mid-level official Kristin Lumley says she believed there was ‘inaction’ from her boss and it would ‘end up in federal court’

Case of soldier charged with being ‘disorderly in female attire’ among stories told in Queer Lives tourIn June 1916, a 22-year-old soldier from the Royal Fusiliers appeared at Highbury magistrates court charged with desertion and with “being an idle and disorderly person in female attire”. Though the soldier was charged under the name Frederick Wright, they appeared wearing a veiled hat, a wig and makeup, and told the court they wished to be known as Kathleen Woodhouse.The soldier had already appeared in court earlier that year after attempting suicide, which was illegal at the time. They had been ordered to enlist in the army. When arrested for a second time, they had told police: “I wish I had been a woman, as I love wearing beautiful clothes and all my tastes are feminine.”Queer Lives is at the Tower of London from 18-24 February 2023. Continue reading...

Pat Anderson says there was a ‘big megaphone’ at the protests but there is still a lot of support from First Nations people and other supporters

Behind in the polls, the former PM has resorted to a no-holds-barred attack on his presidential rival, Petr PavelThe former Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš faces a potentially career-defining reckoning this weekend when voters deliver their verdict in a presidential election that polls indicate he could lose heavily.The combative Babiš, who together with his ally the outgoing president, Miloš Zeman, has dominated the central European country’s politics over the past decade, is up against a decorated military figure, Petr Pavel – a retired general and former Nato second-in-command – in a head-to-head runoff that many observers see as pivotal to the future of Czech democracy. Continue reading...

But reporting from inside China during the lunar new year period suggests rates of infection and fatalities exceeding official reportsChina’s health authorities have said the Covid wave is past its peak, with rapid decline in both severe cases and deaths in hospitals, but experts remain wary of the government’s official data.According to China’s Center for Disease Control (CDC), the number of critically ill patients in hospital peaked in the first week of January, then rapidly declined by more than 70%. The number of deaths also reached its highest level that week, the data said. Continue reading...

PM urges parliamentary colleagues to put voice debate above politics and unite behind his ‘mainstream proposition’

Hindenburg Research accusations denied by Adani as ‘baseless’ while activist investor claims legal action will reveal accounting fraudThe US investor targeting Indian conglomerate Adani Group over what it claims is the “biggest con in corporate history” has dared the company to sue, given it would open the coal producer to further scrutiny.Hindenburg Research’s report has already wiped billions of dollars of value from the sprawling empire of Gautam Adani, the world’s third richest man, and drawn in the contentious Carmichael coal and rail project in Queensland. Continue reading...

Palestinian militants fired rockets from Gaza on Friday morning, to which Israel responded with missile strikesWashington has raised concern over the escalation in Israeli-Palestinian violence after Israeli forces on Thursday killed nine Palestinians during a West Bank raid in the deadliest single day in the territory in decades.The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said he feared the security situation could worsen after two rockets were fired from Gaza early on Friday and Israel responded with airstrikes on the territory. Continue reading...

Conflict and economic hardship force farmers to rely on opium, with poppy cultivation rising by 33% in 2022Production of opium has flourished in Myanmar since the military’s seizure of power, with the cultivation of poppies up by a third in the past year, according to a UN report.In 2022, in the first full growing season since the military wrested control from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, Myanmar saw a 33% increase in the cultivation area to 40,100 hectares, according to the report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime released on Thursday. Continue reading...

Comedian says C of E’s position is ‘untenable’ after meeting archbishop of CanterburySandi Toksvig has said the Church of England’s position on same-sex marriage is “untenable” after a meeting with the archbishop of Canterbury.The comedian met Justin Welby after she expressed her dismay last year that he had reaffirmed the church’s 1998 declaration that gay sex is a sin. Continue reading...

Mohammad Farooq, 27, from Leeds, faces charges of firearm possession and keeping explosiveA man has been charged with a terror offence after being arrested at St James’s hospital in Leeds last Friday.Mohammad Farooq faces one charge of engaging in an act of terrorism, one charge of possessing an imitation firearm, and one charge of keeping an explosive with intent to endanger life or property. Continue reading...

Move follows Nicola Sturgeon telling MSPs Isla Bryson would not be detained at all-female Cornton ValeIsla Bryson, a transgender woman found guilty of raping two women before transitioning, has been moved from Scotland’s all-female Cornton Vale prison to a male facility after an intervention by Nicola Sturgeon.The first minister told MSPs earlier on Thursday that Bryson would not be incarcerated in the women’s prison “either short term or long term”, after a report saying the offender had been transferred there on Tuesday prior to sentencing prompted outrage across the political and campaigning spectrum. Continue reading...

But ‘ban on excessive displays of skin’ feels subjective and hats rule is currently unfashionable

Tory chairman announces decision amid continued row over his tax affairs. This live blog is now closedThe former chancellor Philip Hammond has said he would not have accepted the job if he had been involved in an HMRC investigation.Asked by Sky News if it was “acceptable” that Nadhim Zahawi paid an HMRC penalty to settle a tax dispute while in charge of the Treasury, Hammond said:My own personal view is that I would not want to accept the office of chancellor if I was at that time involved in a live negotiation of an outstanding tax case with HMRC.If he was aware of these issues, then I think the question falls at his door. Why did he appoint somebody to this role who clearly was not in a position to carry out that function?”Carelessness is a concept in tax law. It can be relevant to how many back years that we can assess, can be relevant to whether someone is liable to a penalty and if so, what penalty they will be liable to for an error in their tax affairs. There are no penalties for innocent errors in your tax affairs. So if you take reasonable care, but nevertheless make a mistake, whilst you will be liable for the tax and for interest if it’s paid late, you would not be liable for a penalty. But if your error was as a result of carelessness, then legislation says that a penalty could apply in those circumstances. Continue reading...

National Audit Office finds ‘extraordinary waste’ along with failures of governance, oversight and financial controlsThe Department of Health has wasted a total of £15bn on unused personal protective equipment, Covid tests and vaccines, prompting heavy criticism from the Whitehall spending watchdog.The department spent £8.9bn during 2020/21 and another £6bn last year on such supplies, including masks and gowns for NHS staff that have proved unuseable and are now being burned. Continue reading...

Daniel Harris faces jail after being convicted of publishing terrorist material from his grandfather’s house in GlossopA teenage extremist from Derbyshire inspired the suspect accused of killing five people and wounding 17 others in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in the US, a judge has been told.Daniel Harris, 19, is facing jail after being convicted of publishing far-right terrorist material from his grandfather’s spare bedroom in Glossop. Continue reading...

Senior civil servant admits budget of £220,000 for ex-PM to defend claims he misled parliament could riseBoris Johnson could get more taxpayers’ money to cover extra legal support as the inquiry into his Partygate denials drags on, it has emerged.The cost of helping the former prime minister defend himself over claims he misled parliament about law-breaking parties during Covid “could potentially exceed” the current £222,000 budget, a senior civil servant admitted. Continue reading...

Outlet declared ‘undesirable’, with journalists, sources and donors facing threat of prosecutionRussia has declared the news outlet Meduza an “undesirable organisation”, in effect outlawing one of the country’s best-known sources of independent reporting on the Kremlin and war in Ukraine.Meduza, founded by Russian journalists in Riga, Latvia, in 2014, was declared an undesirable organisation by the general prosecutor’s office on Thursday for “posing a threat to the foundations of the Russian Federation’s constitutional order and national security”. Continue reading...

Actor is suing White Lantern Films and SMC Speciality finance for fee for A Patriot but two firms are countersuingThe Hollywood actor Eva Green has been unfairly portrayed as a “diva” by producers and financiers in an attempt to shift blame for the collapse of a sci-fi film in which she was supposed to star, the high court has heard.The former Bond Girl is suing White Lantern Films and SMC Speciality finance for her $1m (£807,000) fee for A Patriot but the two companies are countersuing, alleging that Green pulled out of and breached her contract. Continue reading...

The fourth season of the critically acclaimed HBO series about a tumultuous media conglomerate family will return on 26 MarchThe Roy family is back and seemingly as dysfunctional and cutthroat as ever. A new teaser trailer for Succession, the popular show from British creator Jesse Armstrong, suggests the media conglomerate-owning, billionaire family’s travails and scathing power struggles will continue in the fourth season, which HBO announced will return in March.The trailer finds the Roy siblings – futile presidential candidate Connor (Alan Ruck), former golden boy Kendall (Jeremy Strong), puerile Roman (Kieran Culkin) and scheming daughter Shiv (Sarah Snook) – in turmoil following their failed coup in the third season finale and their father’s proposed sale of the company to tech mogul Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård). Continue reading...

Former security official Viktor Yahun says Ukraine’s SBU agency has long been overly close to Russia’s FSBRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesThe arrest of a high-ranking Ukrainian intelligence agent accused of spying for Russia has highlighted the urgent need for a cleanout of the country’s key security service, a former deputy head of the agency has said.The Ukrainian security service (SBU) reported on Thursday that they arrested a lieutenant colonel in their ranks on suspicion of “high treason” and published a photograph of bundles of cash found in his home. Continue reading...

Kyron Hibbert, who couldn’t swim, died in Stewartby lake during last summer’s heatwaveA “happy, cheeky, funny, intelligent” 13-year-old boy drowned when he jumped from a rope swing over a lake during last summer’s heatwave, a coroner has heard.Kyron Hibbert, who could not swim, disappeared under the water of Stewartby lake as his friends tried vainly to save him. His body was recovered early the following morning, the inquest heard on Thursday. Continue reading...

Co-chair of memorial foundation says urgency of need to start work has increased given number of survivors dyingLord Pickles, co-chair of the body overseeing a new £100m UK Holocaust memorial, said he is “desperate” to finally start building, given the dwindling number of survivors.On Wednesday, the prime minister said he would legislate to work around a court ruling preventing the memorial and learning centre being erected on the Grade II listed Victoria Tower Gardens beside the Houses of Parliament. The scheme has been in development since 2014 but has been mired in controversy. Continue reading...

Consumer watchdog received over 150 tip-offs about influencers who reportedly failed to disclose affiliations with products they were promoting

The Greens senator blames an ‘administrative error’ for the move in November before being forced to withdraw by Adam Bandt

High street banks have now announced 87 closures so far this year – see full list of NatWest closures belowNatWest is to shut another 23 branches in England and Wales, adding to a raft of high street banking closures already announced this month.The sites will close in the first half of this year. The bank said the closures were due to more customers moving to mobile and online banking. Continue reading...

About 7,500 Spanish Republicans who fled to France were deported to Mauthausen camp in AustriaWhen, on 5 May 1945, two tanks from the US army’s 11th Armored Division finally rolled into Mauthausen, one of the camp’s prisoners caught a glimpse of himself and his fellow inmates in their liberators’ faces.“Before their eyes,” recalled Alfonso Maeso, “marched a dismal procession of men devastated by years of suffering, massing before them, some whispering, others sobbing inconsolably.” Continue reading...

Jim Harra says his officials will help ‘in any way we can’ with ethics inquiry into Tory chair’s tax affairsThe head of HM Revenue and Customs has told MPs there are “no penalties for innocent errors” in relation to tax affairs, raising further questions about the circumstances that led to the Conservative party chair, Nadhim Zahawi, being fined by the tax office.HMRC’s chief executive, Jim Harra, said his department did not penalise taxpayers who were deemed to have taken “reasonable care”. Continue reading...