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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...

Geza Tarjanyi accused of attack on former health secretary and two public order offences, police sayA man has been charged with assaulting the former health secretary, Matt Hancock, on the London underground.Geza Tarjanyi, 61, from Leyland in Lancashire, will appear in court next month, accused of common assault and two public order offences, British Transport Police (BTP) said on Thursday. Continue reading...

Mark Wedgwood traverses territory covered by every one of the 204 Landrangers and says none of his trousers fit any moreBeloved by armchair explorers and outdoors enthusiasts alike, Ordnance Survey’s Landranger maps have inspired countless adventures.But for one keen cyclist they sparked a challenge that is almost certainly a first: riding across every map in Great Britain in a journey of more than 7,000 miles (11,250km). Continue reading...

String of mishaps of cantankerous subway system could throw a wrench in Claudia Sheinbaum’s presidential aspirationsSmoke filled the subway station, the tunnel turning gray in the choking haze as hundreds of passengers were evacuated from the train. More than a dozen were treated for smoke inhalation, the authorities said, after a short circuit apparently caused the wafting fumes.The incident on Monday, which soon billowed across Mexican social media, is just the latest in a string of mishaps on Mexico City’s cantankerous subway system which have left more than two dozen people dead – and potentially thrown a major wrench into the presidential aspirations of the capital’s mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum. Continue reading...

Progress in key areas has stalled because of Covid, conflict and the climate crisis, but peaceful nations are performing betterAfrica is less safe, secure and democratic than a decade ago, with insecurity holding back progress in health, education and economic opportunities, according to an assessment of the continent.The Ibrahim index of African governance, which examines how well governments have delivered on policies and services, including security, health, education, rights and democratic participation, said Covid had contributed to the stalling of progress over the past three years. Continue reading...

Julian Hartley calls for speedy resolution as strikes hamper efforts to tackle A&E delays and care backlog

Dr Farbod Akhlaghi argues that everyone has a right to ‘self authorship’, which is violated even by well-meaning adviceGiving friends and relations advice about crucial life choices such as whether to take a new job or start a family is immoral, according to a new paper by a Cambridge philosopher.Dr Farbod Akhlaghi, a moral philosopher at Christ’s College, argues that everyone has a right to “self authorship”, so must make decisions about transformative experiences for themselves. Continue reading...

Pub chain Mantle Group under under pressure to ‘negotiate a fair dinkum EBA’ after ‘zombie’ deal replaced by ‘another substandard agreement’, union says

São Paulo registry office snubs music star Seu Jorge’s choice for newborn son, despite far more unusual names being acceptedAs the country that produced footballers called Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira and Élvis Vieira Araújo, Brazil is no stranger to unconventional – albeit familiar-sounding – names.A scan of the names of the far-right vandals who were arrested for storming government buildings in Brasília earlier this month confirms the Brazilian penchant for eye-catching monikers. The list throws up a Bach and a Mozart, as well as a Ditter Marx and creative twists on more conventional first names, such as Marileide (Mary Lady), Rosemeire (Rosemary), and Dawydy (David). Continue reading...

Study reports one in 40 primary schools in England produce entire classes likely to earn more than their peersNever mind getting a place at Oxbridge – a child’s future earnings can be significantly improved by the quality of their teachers at the age of four, according to new research.The researchers used Department for Education (DfE) databases to connect adults’ earnings to the reception classes attended. The results highlight the outsized influence of early years’ education, finding that one in 40 primary schools in England produce entire classes likely to gain more money than their peers. Continue reading...

Suella Braverman pushing plan to change law on nitrous oxide as part of crackdown on antisocial behaviourThe Home Office is preparing to introduce a long-mooted ban on the sale or possession of nitrous oxide, one of the most popular recreational drugs among young people, as part of a wider crackdown on antisocial behaviour.The plan is being pushed by the home secretary, Suella Braverman, according to officials, and would lead to people found with laughing gas, which is usually inhaled from balloons filled via small metal cylinders, facing prosecution. Continue reading...

Explosions and air raid sirens as one official says air defences shot down 15 cruise missiles heading to Kyiv

Paramedics administered CPR to 10-year-old, as Bureau of Meteorology issues severe thunderstorm warning for eastern NSW

This blog is now closed

Attendees at the Sydney rally say the strong opposition to the voice to parliament by organisers was shaping how they will vote

Several bids are understood to have been made for assets of failed electric vehicle battery startupThe battery startup Britishvolt owed as much as £120m to creditors when it collapsed last week in a major blow to hopes of sustaining the British car industry, it can be revealed.Creditors are expected to recover a very small proportion of the debts, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, although there are understood to be several bids for the company and its assets. EY, a professional services firm, is handling the administration. Continue reading...

MSF charity reports 33% rise in malnourished patients at giant Dadaab complex after influx from drought-stricken SomaliaMalnutrition among children in one of the world’s largest refugee camps has surged over the past year as concerns grow at worsening conditions at the site in Kenya.Médecins Sans Frontières said its health facility in Dagahaley, a camp in the Dadaab refugee complex, has treated 33% more patients – mainly children – for malnutrition over the past year, while the rate of malnourishment in the camps grew by 45% in the last six months of 2022. Continue reading...

Journalist and activist Claudia Jones among five women whose life and legacy will be marked by English HeritageThe woman described as the “founding spirit” of the Notting Hill carnival is to be commemorated with a blue plaque at her former London home this year.Claudia Jones, a feminist, political activist and journalist who was born in Trinidad in 1915, is one of five women whose achievements and legacy will be marked by English Heritage. A sixth blue plaque will commemorate the violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Continue reading...

With Australia increasingly uneasy about celebrating its national day, recognition of Indigenous people in the constitution has become a new flashpointTens of thousands of people have marked Australia’s national day by attending protest rallies in cities across the nation, amid a rising political and social reckoning with the country’s colonial history.Australia Day – 26 January – commemorates the landing of the British First Fleet of convicts at Sydney Cove in 1788, the beginning of the settlement that entrenched European colonisation of the Australian continent. Continue reading...

It is claimed 6,543 Russian personnel have surrendered since the hotline launched in September 2022More than 6,500 Russian military personnel have sought to surrender through a bespoke “I want to live” hotline, Ukraine’s government has claimed, with the call centre said to have been recently moved to a secret location to avoid Moscow interference.Vitaly Matvienko, spokesperson at the department for prisoners of war, said those who had made contact through the service had been verified as serving in the Russian forces using their personal data and service number. Continue reading...

Campaigners say bloc’s plan to use development aid, trade policy and access to visas as ‘leverage’ fails to put human rights firstThe European Union could use development aid, trade policy and access to visas as “leverage” over non-EU countries that are deemed to be failing to take back their citizens denied the right to stay in Europe, according to a draft communique seen by the Guardian.The EU’s 27 national leaders could endorse a plan at a summit in Brussels next month to use “all relevant EU policies, instruments and tools, including development, trade and visas as well as opportunities for legal migration” as “leverage” over migrants’ countries of origin. Continue reading...

Thousands sign petition calling for better postnatal care amid concerns over conditions in maternity unitsControversy is mounting in Italy over conditions in hospital maternity units after a newborn is believed to have died by suffocation under the weight of his mother who fell asleep after breastfeeding him.An investigation is under way into the tragedy, which occurred at the Sandro Pertini hospital in Rome on 8 January. The results of the autopsy are expected within 60 days. Continue reading...

Arrest of 32-year-old, reportedly Mark Horne, ends a nationwide manhunt that started last October

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised the decision by western allies but urged speed in the delivery of new weaponry

Roiland, who has pleaded not guilty, will no longer work on Hulu shows Solar Opposites or Koala Man, as well as being dropped from Rick and MortyJustin Roiland has been dropped from two more animated shows, Solar Opposites and Koala Man, after being charged with felony domestic violence against a former girlfriend, a day after he was dropped from hit series Rick and Morty.US network Hulu announced on Wednesday that it had “ended our association with Justin Roiland”, a day after Rick and Morty distributor Adult Swim released a similar statement saying he would no longer voice the titular characters or work as showrunnner. Continue reading...

Co-chair of Indigenous voice to parliament co-design group says proposed body is ‘first step’ to First Nations contributions to policymaking

Environmentalists are giving England’s newly announced post-Brexit subsidies system a cautious welcome

Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused of orchestrating mass wiretaps of political allies and foesThe leader of Greece’s main opposition party has tabled a motion of no confidence against the government, accusing the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, of orchestrating mass wiretaps of political friends and foes.“For the past six months, Greek society has been witness to disclosures of an inconceivable number of phone taps, the deepest deviation from rule of law that the country has seen in its modern history,” said Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the leftist Syriza party, as he submitted the motion. “We have a historic duty to act.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Insiders believe depth of inquiry and severity of some claims means deputy PM will struggle to keep jobDominic Raab is facing a much broader bullying investigation than originally anticipated with at least 24 civil servants involved in formal complaints against him, the Guardian understands.Government insiders believe the depth of the inquiry and severity of some of the claims means the deputy prime minister will struggle to survive in post, and throws further doubt on Rishi Sunak’s judgment for having him in such a senior position.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or by emailing jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org. Continue reading...