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Travel between Dover and Calais disrupted by 24-hour National Day of ActionFerry services to and from Calais have been suspended due to a national strike in France, the Port of Dover has said.P&O Ferries said it had produced an “optimised” sailing schedule in light of the 24-hour strike, known as the National Day of Action, which began at 7am on Thursday. Continue reading...

Audibert, who runs the Unicorn children’s theatre in London, will replace Daniel Evans who is moving to the Royal Shakespeare CompanyChichester Festival theatre has appointed Justin Audibert as its new artistic director. Audibert, who leads London’s Unicorn theatre for children, will succeed Daniel Evans at Chichester and take up his role in July. Evans is leaving to run the Royal Shakespeare Company with Tamara Harvey.Mark Foster, chair of Chichester Festival theatre, said that Audibert’s “experience in making theatre for audiences of all ages in venues large and small, together with his creativity, energy and enthusiasm, make him an outstanding choice … As well as being one of the UK’s most admired directors, he shares our values and our commitment to the vital importance of community, diversity and inclusion.” Continue reading...

Travel without the combustion-engine fumes and noise is increasingly popular in the country with some of the world’s worst air pollutionThailand’s iconic, gas-guzzling tuk-tuks are being replaced by a greener, more energy efficient model, offering travellers a more environmentally friendly way of getting around what is one of the world’s worst countries when it comes to air pollution.“The benefits are quite clear in terms of the environment”, says Krisada Kritayakirana, co-founder and CEO of start-up Urban Mobility Tech. “When you use traditional tuk-tuks, you can smell the gas and it sometimes could be unpleasant. With the electric tuk-tuks, basically you don’t have any noise and you don’t have any emission from tailpipes.” Continue reading...

After the way home was cut off by floods, Chris English set off on an alternative route further than driving from Madrid to Moscow

Labour leader will stand down no later than 7 February, saying she ‘no longer had enough in the tank’ to do the jobNew Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said she is resigning, in a shock announcement that came as she confirmed a national election for October this year.At the party’s annual caucus meeting on Thursday, Ardern said she “no longer had enough in the tank” to do the job. “It’s time,” she said. Continue reading...

After beating tax-evasion charges, Rappler news chief says that cases against her have left her ‘living on quicksand’Nobel laureate Maria Ressa says she keeps a prison “go bag” with bundles of cash for bail and runs simulations of police raids with her staff as she fights for press freedom in the Philippines.The editor of news website Rappler won acquittal on four tax-evasion charges on Wednesday but said she was prepared for the worst from the three further outstanding cases that could see her sent to jail or her online news organisation shuttered. Continue reading...

William Lai urges Taiwanese to unite in the face of ‘the expansion of China’s authoritarianism’, in first comments since taking party leadershipAppeasing China will not bring peace, Taiwan’s vice-president has said, days after he was elected head of the ruling party in a move that makes him a prime presidential contender at the next election.William Lai, 63, is seen as a likely successor to President Tsai Ing-wen, who is barred from running again after her second four-year term ends in May 2024. Continue reading...

Four teenagers arrested after reports of shots fired in centre of Queensland town

Male players will have a 25% pay cut to enable 25% rise for female players under agreement with governing body FAWPlayers for Wales’s men’s and women’s football teams will be paid the same for playing for their country after a deal was struck by Wales’s governing body.The agreement with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) comes into effect immediately and will cover up to the 2026 Fifa men’s World Cup and the women’s tournament a year later. Continue reading...

Prime minister’s coalition in jeopardy after Aryeh Deri ruled ineligible for government due to tax offencesIsrael’s supreme court has ruled that the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, must fire a key ally from the country’s new cabinet, presenting the Israeli leader with a potential coalition crisis and deepening a rift over the power of the courts.Ten of 11 judges on the high court found that Aryeh Deri, the influential head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party who has served repeatedly in Netanyahu’s previous governments, is disqualified from serving as a minister after he was convicted last year for tax offences and placed on probation as part of a plea deal. Deri has pledged not to quit and met Netanyahu after the ruling. Continue reading...

First joint strike action on 6 February set to seriously affect hospitals and services in England and WalesThe NHS is facing a day of massive disruption next month when nurses and ambulance staff in England and Wales stage an unprecedented joint strike over pay.Health service bosses said the coordinated walkouts were “a huge concern” and Monday 6 February “could be the biggest day of industrial action the NHS has ever seen”. Continue reading...

Charity says government’s move to tackle ‘TikTok traffickers’ could affect ability to highlight plight of refugeesA government plan to stop people-smugglers from using social media to advertise small boat crossings across the Channel could result in lawful footage being censored, campaign groups have warned.Michelle Donelan, the culture secretary, said on Tuesday that she would use the online safety bill to ensure social media companies proactively tackle “TikTok traffickers” or risk fines of up to 10% of turnover, as imposed by Ofcom. Continue reading...

The film will be directed by Antoine Fuqua, whose credits include Training Day, and will be in collaboration with the singer’s estateA long-gestating movie about the life of Michael Jackson is set to start production this year.The film, called Michael, will be directed by Antoine Fuqua, whose credits include Training Day, The Equalizer and, most recently, slavery thriller Emancipation. The screenplay will come from three-time Oscar nominee John Logan, who wrote the scripts for Gladiator and Skyfall. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our Russia-Ukraine war coverage hereDmytro Zhyvytskyi, governor of Sumy region, and Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Lviv region, have both posted their regular morning status updates on Telegram, and both say that their regions passed the night without any shelling or air raid warnings taking effect.Politico’s chief Brussels correspondent Suzanne Lynch reports from Brussels that the Lithuanian foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, has said he expects Germany will sign off on sending tanks to Ukraine at a key meeting of the Ukraine defence contact group at the Ramstein airbase in Germany on Friday. Continue reading...

Met Office has issued weather warnings for all four nations, and declared flooding of Somerset Levels to be a major incidentThe Met Office has warned of continued travel disruption caused by ice and snow in parts of the UK, as a major incident has been declared in Somerset because of flooding after heavy rain in recent weeks.Weather warnings for snow and ice are in place for four parts of the UK until midday on Thursday, including northern Scotland and the Orkney Islands, Northern Ireland and north-west England, Wales and parts of the West Midlands. Continue reading...

Guidelines funded by Health Canada represent drastic shift from previous recommendations issued in 2011New alcohol guidelines recommending that Canadians limit themselves to just two drinks a week – and ideally cut alcohol altogether – have prompted intense debate over risk versus enjoyment in a country where the vast majority of adults regularly consume alcohol.The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) this week called for a substantial reduction in consumption, warning that seemingly moderate drinking poses a number of serious health risks, including cancer, heart disease and stroke. Continue reading...

Publisher says Hanover Square building can no longer meet its needs and it is moving to EmbankmentSupermodels, celebrities and even royalty have swept though its revolving doors, but after six decades, Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue, is moving out of its historic London offices on Hanover Square.In an email on Wednesday, staff were told they would be relocating to the Adelphi building in Embankment, “potentially” by January 2024. Continue reading...

Zelenskiy warned against delaying military support after German chancellor’s reluctance to commit at Davos summitGermany’s chancellor avoided committing to the supply of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine at the Davos summit on Wednesday, although he held the door open to a positive decision at a special summit of western defence ministers on Friday.Olaf Scholz did not mention the Leopard tanks at all when asked by a Ukrainian delegate “why the hesitancy” in signing off their re-export – prompting an apparently frustrated Ukrainian president to warn the same forum against delay. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more about this story hereHuw Merriman, the rail minister, told MPs this morning that the government has lost more money due to the impact of rail strikes than it would have cost to settle the disputes months ago, PA Media reports. PA says:Merriman told MPs the row has “ended up costing more” but insisted the “overall impact” on all public sector pay deals must be considered.Ben Bradshaw, a Labour member of the committee, put it to Merriman that “we’re talking of a cost to the government of over a billion (pounds) so far” from the impact of strikes, which have repeatedly decimated services for several months. Continue reading...

Country says accusations against Ivan Velásquez attempt by Guatemala to ‘persecute’ those investigating high-level corruptionA growing diplomatic row has broken out after Guatemala’s government accused Colombia’s defence minister of breaking the law during his time as the head of a UN-backed anti-corruption mission in Guatemala.This week, Guatemala announced that Ivan Velásquez was being investigated for “illegal, arbitrary and abusive acts” stemming from his inquiry into corruption allegations involving the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht. Continue reading...

The prime minister has chosen to pick a fight with the nurses – a battle he’s never going to winRishi Sunak is the incredible shrinking man. The more you see of him, the less there appears to be. When he became prime minister, he had the appearance of a moderately successful – if rather over-eager – tech bro, brought in to save the Conservative party from itself. But that was a chimera. Because Rish! isn’t even that successful. He’s a politician with the fatal flaw of not being very good at politics. A man unable to convince others that he inhabits their world. Now he’s just a ball of need. Desperate to be liked, but unable to make an emotional connection with voters.To be fair, Sunak has the odds stacked against him. It’s not entirely his fault the Tories voted for Liz Truss rather than him. Though imagine how useless the Conservative membership must think him to be if they went full on Trussterfuck. It’s not his fault that Putin invaded Ukraine. But he has to take the blame for the Tories’ record of 13 years in government when it’s hard to think of anything that works better now than it did in 2010. Continue reading...

Jake Davison, who killed five people in August 2021, had strongly misogynistic views and made ‘disturbing’ online posts, jury toldA man who killed five people including his mother and a three-year-old girl was fascinated by mass shootings, serial killers and violent heroes of “incel” ideology, an inquest jury has heard.The jury also heard that Plymouth gunman Jake Davison expressed strongly misogynist views and despair about his own life in the months before he killed five people. Continue reading...

Nurse accused of attempting to murder six-week premature infant at Chester hospitalA baby girl made a “dramatic” recovery after she was removed from a hospital where a nurse allegedly tried twice to kill her, a court has heard.Lucy Letby, 33, is accused of attempting to murder the six-week premature infant while working at the Countess of Chester hospital in September 2015. Continue reading...

Six people accused of publishing book relating to 2019 protests in move critics say has spread terrorPolice in Hong Kong have raided a lunar new year shopping fair and arrested six people for selling a “seditious” book related to the 2019 anti-government protests in a move critics say has spread “terror” just days before the celebrations.National security officers accused three men and three women, aged between 18 and 62, of producing and publishing “a seditious book about a series of riots that occurred in Hong Kong from June 2019 to February 2020”, and selling it in a lunar new year stall in a shopping centre in Mong Kok, a bustling shopping district. Continue reading...

Remarks at odds with government claims that planned minimum service law has ‘international seal of approval’

Three other boys guilty of violent disorder and one other acquitted over March 2021 stabbing of Ian KirwanA 15-year-old boy has been convicted of murdering a supermarket shopper, who was stabbed in the chest after a row in an Asda car park in Redditch.Ian Kirwan, a 53-year-old software engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, was stabbed on 8 March last year after a confrontation with five boys outside the supermarket. He died before he reached hospital. Continue reading...

Trisha Napier says investigation into treatment of Bianca Williams and Ricardo Dos Santos was ‘watered down’An investigator at a police watchdog has revealed she quit her role over the handling of a complaint about the stop and search of black athletes Bianca Williams and Ricardo Dos Santos.Both athletes were handcuffed after the stop in north-west London in July 2020 with their three-month-old baby in the car. Continue reading...

UN figures show number of those attempting to escape horrendous conditions in refugee camps increased from 700 in 2021 to over 3,500 in 2022The number of Rohingya refugees taking dangerous sea journeys in the hope of reaching Malaysia or Indonesia has surged by 360%, the UN has announced after hundreds of refugees were left stranded at the end of last year.Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps have warned that human smugglers have ramped up operations and are constantly searching for people to fill boats from Myanmar and Bangladesh headed for Malaysia, where people believe they can live more freely. Continue reading...

Labour leader uses PMQs to focus on waiting times and real-life example of woman who died in Plymouth

Regulator fines TonyBet for imposing unfair terms on payouts, anti-money laundering failures and not checking for vulnerable customersAn online betting firm has been fined £442,750 for demanding ID from winning punters before it would give them the cash, while failing to carry out similar checks on potentially vulnerable people depositing money.The Gambling Commission punished TonyBet, which is based in Estonia but has a licence to operate in Great Britain, for imposing unfair terms and failures in anti-money laundering and social responsibility measures. Continue reading...

Union leaders call for ‘massive mobilisation’ to oppose latest attempt to overhaul pension systemFrance is braced for widespread chaos as unions and protesters call for a “Black Thursday” general strike this week against the government’s pension changes.The day of action will be the first major test of the public’s resolve to force President Emmanuel Macron to back down over plans to raise the official retirement age, and his minority government’s resolve to stand up to them. Union leaders have called for a “massive mobilisation”. Continue reading...

This online tool will help you discover what is contributing to your household’s cost of living increasesInflation is soaring in the UK as people are hit by higher prices for everyday essentials.Now in double digits, the latest inflation rate for the 12 months to December 2022 means that goods and services cost over 10.5% more than they did a year ago – in most cases, surpassing any pay rises workers can expect to receive. Continue reading...

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Second distress signal in a month for airline after Singapore to London flight made emergency landing in Azerbaijan in late December

Exclusive: Treasury sources say chancellor is resisting pressure from MPs who want taxes to start falling well before next electionJeremy Hunt is planning a “slimmed down” spring budget with no immediate tax cuts as the Conservatives press ahead with attempts to win back economic credibility after the damage inflicted by the Truss administration.Treasury insiders told the Guardian the chancellor was not expected to announce any tax cuts in his fiscal statement this March as his focus was wholly on getting the economy back on a steady footing and the public finances were tight. Continue reading...

Central station is replacing its messy, overflowing cycle parking facilities with a low-cost area that’s tucked away out of sightBeneath the clear waters and pleasure boats by Amsterdam central station is a remarkable feat of engineering: an underwater garage for 7,000 bicycles.The garage, which opens on 26 January, is the result of a four-year, €60m (£53m) project to clear heaps of rusty bikes left by hasty commuters and install rows of clean, safe parking spaces underground, where bikes can be left free for 24 hours and then at a cost of €1.35 per 24 hours. Continue reading...

Coalition accuses ALP of trying to ‘deliberately undermine’ public holiday by allowing government workers flexibility on 26 January

Actor was hospitalized after he was crushed by a snowplow while trying to clear driveway near his Nevada homeThe actor Jeremy Renner has returned home from hospital, as he recovers from an accident involving a snowplow that left him seriously injured.Renner, 52, updated fans by commenting on a tweet posted by the account of his Paramount+ TV show, Mayor of Kingstown. He wrote: “Outside my brain fog in recovery, I was very excited to watch episode 2.01 with my family at home.” Continue reading...

Former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman says officers who allowed offender’s career to flourish must be investigatedThe Metropolitan police and the government are coming under pressure to punish officers who allowed the serial rapist David Carrick to be shielded from the sack despite multiple warnings about his abuse and violence against women during his two decades in the force.The demands came as the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), confirmed it had no plans to investigate how Carrick went undetected. Continue reading...

While young transgender Scots express anger and frustration at intervention, critics doubt the looming legal battle will bring any more clarity“I honestly can’t tell if I’m angry or exhausted, probably a mix,” said Arabel, one of a group of young trans Scots who shared their experiences with MSPs last year as the Holyrood parliament considered the gender recognition reform bill.The group’s frustration and weariness was palpable on Wednesday morning, following the announcement from Scottish secretary, Alister Jack, that he will block the bill – which simplifies the system by which transgender individuals change their gender and lowers the age of application to 16. Continue reading...

UK defence secretary will meet counterparts from Poland and Baltics in drive to get Berlin to agree re-export of Leopard 2 tanks

Immigration from non-EU countries failed to take up slack after ‘freedom of movement’ endedBrexit has led to a shortfall of 330,000 people in the UK labour force, mostly in the low-skilled economy, a report by leading researchers has found.The departure from the EU in 2020 led to an increase in immigration from non-EU countries but not enough to compensate from the loss of workers from neighbouring countries, according to the joint findings of the thinktanks Centre for European Reform (CER) and UK in a Changing Europe. Continue reading...

Investment will sustain its work in London for another year after ENO was removed from ACE’s national portfolioThe English National Opera (ENO) has announced it will receive an £11.46m investment from Arts Council England (ACE) to sustain its work in London for another year.The ENO is one of a number of organisations that have been removed from ACE’s national portfolio, losing its £12.8m annual grant and told it must move outside London if it wants to qualify for future grants. ENO chiefs have said the 100% funding cut would decimate the 100-year old company, while many big names across the arts world called the decision a “simplistic move”. Continue reading...

Trio convicted of public order offences in 1972 but their protest had been infiltrated by an undercover officerThe criminal convictions of three anti-racism campaigners have been overturned after it was disclosed that senior Scotland Yard managers told an undercover police officer to lie in their trial.The trio were convicted of public order offences five decades ago when they took part in a protest against South Africa’s apartheid regime. Continue reading...

Struggling stationary retailer may go in administration less than six months after previous buyoutStruggling stationery retailer Paperchase is facing an uncertain future, with the owners considering a sale or potential administration less than six months after a previous buyout.The retailer, which faces rising costs and lacklustre sales and requires additional funding, has beenput up for auction under the advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), as first reported by Sky News. Continue reading...

Crash involving vehicle carrying building workers to Hinkley Point C was initially declared a major incidentDozens of people were injured, three seriously, after a doubledecker bus carrying 70 construction workers overturned in Somerset, police have said, as what was initially declared a major incident was stood down.Avon and Somerset police said a significant number of police, fire and ambulance units attended the scene on the A39 Quantock Road near Bridgwater after receiving the first call at about 6am on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Home secretary says bureaucracy appears to have prevailed over ethics, but Labour calls her response weakSuella Braverman has announced an internal review of the Met’s dismissal processes after the failure to remove the serial rapist David Carrick as a serving police officer despite multiple allegations of misogynistic abuse over two decades.The home secretary told MPs that “bureaucracy and process appear to have prevailed over ethics and common sense” in the UK’s biggest force after Carrick was allowed to continue as a firearms officer. Continue reading...

CWU says fresh talks are not heading toward agreement as it prepares to ballot members over further stoppagesRoyal Mail has been accused by a union leader of “waging war” on staff and using intimidation tactics, including suspending more than 200 workers, in a protracted dispute over pay and conditions that appears no nearer to being resolved.The head of the Communications Workers Union (CWU), which is preparing to ballot its more than 100,000 members over further national strikes, said fresh talks were not heading toward an acceptable agreement. Continue reading...

The first woman to co-write and co-produce an album in Australia never found a firm footing on the charts, but has left a catalogue ripe for reappraisalRenée Geyer was many things in a career that spanned 15 studio albums and 50 years, and she continued singing to packed houses up to only a month ago. She was surely the finest white soul singer, male or female, that Australia has produced, but to speak only of her immense talent does not capture what she was about; her real greatness.Geyer was, above all, unapologetic. It was this attitude that defined her, as much as her singing. Paul Kelly, who became a close friend, recognised it when he wrote Difficult Woman for her, knowing full well how she would respond. Women, after all, are always the ones thought to be difficult, never men. Continue reading...

Clash over transgender rights will be seen as a test of the constitutional balance between Holyrood and WestminsterAs the UK government confirms that it will use a section 35 order to block a new law that would make Scotland the first part of the UK to introduce a self-identification system for people who want to change gender, we explain what it is and why there is such controversy over it. Continue reading...