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Det Insp Glen Browne said concerns the alleged fraudster had taken her own life were not given as much weight early in the investigation

Nick Coyle said it was positive that prime minister Anthony Albanese and foreign minister Penny Wong had raised her case with their Chinese counterparts

Exclusive: Report finds struggling families are having on average 10% of monthly income deducted to cover debtLow-income families in Scotland are having on average 10% of their monthly income deducted by the Department for Work and Pensions to cover debts such as universal credit advances or school meals payments, according to research.The report for Aberlour Children’s Charity, seen by the Guardian, found that families in receipt of universal credit (UC) are having their monthly income reduced on average by £80 to cover spiralling debt. Continue reading...

Property website data shows housing market is slowing, with 44% less demand for homes and sellers accepting 3% below asking pricePeople selling their homes have typically had to settle for below the asking price in recent weeks, according to Zoopla, which is predicting house prices will fall by about 5% next year.The average price achieved in recent weeks has been 3% below a seller’s asking price, when for much of 2021 and the first half of this year it matched the asking price, the property website said. Zoopla said it expects discounts to increase further in 2023. Continue reading...

Hikes set to hit warehouses and online retailers hardest in 2023 as UK government addresses ‘brick v clicks’ tax gapAmazon’s UK tax bill jump could jump by £29m next year as a result of changes to business rates that are scheduled to hit warehouses and online retailers the hardest.The online retailer is likely to be among firms facing big tax rises following the chancellor’s autumn statement, according to analysis from the real estate adviser Altus Group. Continue reading...

Call for semiconductor industry plan to be published urgently to help keep Britain in global supply chainThe UK is missing out on a wave of investment and falling behind other countries in the fast-growing semiconductor industry because of a lack of support from the government, MPs have warned.The government should urgently publish a long-delayed semiconductor strategy, and also look to create partnerships with allies to try to ensure the UK remains part of the semiconductor supply chain, according to a report published on Monday by MPs on parliament’s business committee. Continue reading...

Beijing students shout ‘freedom will prevail’, as Urumqi fire prompts levels of disobedience unprecedented in Xi eraPeople opposed to China’s stringent Covid restrictions have protested in cities across the country in the biggest wave of civil disobedience on the mainland since Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago.Protests triggered by a deadly apartment fire in the far west of the country last week took place on Sunday in cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Wuhan and Guangzhou, according to footage shared on social media, in defiance of a series of heavy-handed arrests of demonstrators on Saturday night. Continue reading...

Former England footballer won public vote, with actor Owen Warner in second place and ex-health secretary coming thirdJill Scott has been crowned queen of the jungle after winning I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! on Sunday night.The former England footballer, 35, who was the bookies’ favourite to triumph, accrued the most votes from the public, with actor Owen Warner finishing second after both spent 23 days in camp. Continue reading...

Prime minister to make first major foreign policy speech, favouring a long-term, pragmatic attitude to Moscow and BeijingRishi Sunak will pledge an “evolutionary approach” to British foreign policy, arguing that states like Russia and China plan for the long term and the UK needs to follow suit as he attempts to set out his vision for the country’s place on the global stage.In his first major foreign policy speech since becoming prime minister, he will draw on his years running the Treasury to say that the UK’s strength abroad must be underpinned by a strong economy at home as it stands up to competitors with “robust pragmatism”. Continue reading...

Reece Newcombe, 31, is believed to have been attacked with broken glass in a fight on Richmond BridgeDetectives have launched a murder investigation after a man was stabbed to death with broken glass during a fight on Richmond Bridge.Police were called to the scene in south-west London at about 4am on Saturday and found 31-year-old Reece Newcombe, who had suffered serious injuries. Continue reading...

Seven confirmed dead and search continues for people missing after Saturday’s disaster on IschiaAs rescuers continued to search for five people still missing after a catastrophic landslide in Ischia, anger was growing on the southern Italian island on Sunday over the years of rampant illegal construction that contributed to the disaster.Seven people, including a three-week-old baby and a pair of young siblings, are confirmed to have died in Saturday’s landslide, which was triggered by a violent storm that sent mud and debris from Monte Epomeo, a 789-metre (2,590ft) peak, crashing into the hamlet of Casamicciola Terme. One victim – 32-year-old Eleonora Sirabella – has been named. The others, who include the infant boy’s parents, a five-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother, a 31-year-old island resident and a Bulgarian tourist, have not yet been officially identified. Continue reading...

Labour to ask how Michelle Mone-linked firm was assessed as fit to agree deal worth more than £200mMinisters will come under intense pressure this week to explain how they assessed that a personal protective equipment (PPE) company linked to the Conservative peer Michelle Mone was fit to receive government contracts worth more than £200m during the pandemic.Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, has drawn up a list of parliamentary questions over the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) decision to award major public contracts to the firm and whether it took into account its tax record. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Adviser role for Bill Morgan also raises questions over potential conflict of interestRishi Sunak has appointed a private healthcare lobbyist with links to a series of controversial clients to advise him in Downing Street, raising concerns over further privatisation within the NHS.Bill Morgan, a founding partner of the PR and lobbying firm Evoke Incisive Health, joined No 10 as a health policy adviser earlier this month where he is believed to be helping drive through NHS efficiencies. Continue reading...

Shakespeare’s most violent play to be staged with actors’ candles being pummelled in scenes with bloodshedEight years after a stomach-churning, splatter-fest production of Titus Andronicus led to some audience members fainting, Shakespeare’s Globe is to ask how do you generate a similar murderous horror in a more intimate, candle-lit space?The solution? The candles get bumped off. Continue reading...

Exclusive: More than 4,000 European medics have chosen not to work in NHS since Britain left EU, data revealsBrexit has worsened the UK’s acute shortage of doctors in key areas of care and led to more than 4,000 European doctors choosing not to work in the NHS, research reveals.The disclosure comes as growing numbers of medics quit in disillusionment at their relentlessly busy working lives in the increasingly overstretched health service. Official figures show the NHS in England alone has vacancies for 10,582 physicians. Continue reading...

UK MoD says it has provided Brimstone 2 missiles to Ukraine; reports suggest there are signs troops could be getting ready to leave

Chinese leader will see widespread demonstrations against zero-Covid policy as threat to CCP’s authorityJust five weeks after being elected to a historic third term, President Xi Jinping suddenly faces cracks in the facade of unchallenged authority that he so successfully presented to the world at the 20th national congress of the Chinese Communist party.For groups of protesters, apparently without central coordination, to take to the streets across China and to social media, and for some then explicitly to call for Xi and the Communist party to stand aside, is a seismic shock. Continue reading...

Improved delivery times from suppliers has caught out many big-name shops such as Marks & SpencerBritish retailers are hoping that one of the traditionally busiest shopping periods of the year will help reduce the amount of clothing filling warehouses after being caught out by improving supplier-delivery times.Marks & Spencer is among the big retailers that have found they are receiving orders more quickly than expected, giving them an additional headache just as the UK economy braces for an expected recession. Continue reading...

Labour leader says it will be a ‘red line’ if party takes power, despite backing the policy three years agoKeir Starmer has ruled out bringing back free movement of people between Britain and the EU, saying it would be a “red line” for Labour if it gets into power – despite supporting the policy just three years ago.The Labour leader said free movement “won’t come back” if he becomes prime minister as Brexit has already happened and “ripping up” the deal would lead to years more wrangling with Brussels. Continue reading...

The government is being urged to explain their official data on the number of people with the diseaseThe Home Office is being urged to explain why official health data has shown only one case of diphtheria near Manston processing centre in recent months, despite there being 50 instances of the disease linked to the site.According to weekly figures about cases of infectious diseases in England, known as the notification of infectious diseases data (NOID), there has only been one case recorded since September that is likely to relate to Manston – in Ashford, Kent. Continue reading...

This year’s tournament has been dominated by off-field matters. We look at the issues around the labor used to build the tournament’s infrastructureThe deaths of migrant workers in Qatar in the build-up to this year’s World Cup have drawn criticism across the world. While the tournament’s organizers put the official count at 40, estimates by the Guardian put the figure in the thousands. Here we explore the key questions around an issue that has tarnished the World Cup for many fans. Continue reading...

People continue to struggle with no water, heating and electricity two weeks after city was recaptured

Rights activist Farideh Moradkhani releases video describing government as ‘murderous and child-killing’ after her arrestA niece of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called on foreign governments to cut all links with Tehran’s “murderous and child-killing” regime in a video posted online two days after she was arrested.The video of a statement by Farideh Moradkhani, a well-known rights activist, has been circulating online after it was shared by her France-based brother Mahmoud Moradkhani on Friday. Mahmoud Moradkhani said his sister had been arrested on Wednesday after going to a prosecutor’s office following a summons. Continue reading...

Troubled startup battery maker formally abandons long-shot plan to build 60GWh plant in QuebecBattery startup Britishvolt has formally abandoned a long-shot plan to build a second factory in Canada, as it focuses on securing new funding for its struggling UK project.Britishvolt’s main project is an attempt to build a factory near Blyth in north-east England capable of producing batteries with a capacity of 30 gigawatt hours (30GWh) every year. Continue reading...

Critics say telecoms firms such as BT – which made £1.9bn profit last year – can afford to keep customers on benefits connectedBT has warned that the telecoms industry cannot afford an estimated potential annual loss of up to £2bn providing low-cost broadband to millions of the UK’s most financially pressured households, but critics have said they have an obligation to do so.Marc Allera, the chief executive of BT’s consumer division, which includes the mobile company EE, said the industry needed government support to help cover the ongoing cost of providing cheap tariffs, the same way households have been helped with energy bills. Continue reading...

The ultimatum to English National Opera was attacked as ‘cultural vandalism’, but raised some hopes nearer ManchesterWhen the Arts Council halved English National Opera’s funding earlier this month and made its new £17m grant contingent on the company leaving London – possibly for Manchester – the diktat was greeted as “madness” by the Evening Standard, “cultural vandalism” by Melvyn Bragg and an order that would kill off the institution by April by the company’s chair, Harry Brünjes.The battle over ENO’s future soon became the latest frontline in the culture wars as debate raged over what it meant to level up culture. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Mark McDonald believes Russell murders case will turn out to be a serious miscarriage of justice“He rings me every day, we talk every day,” says Mark McDonald, the barrister who for the past two decades has represented Michael Stone, the man convicted of one of the most notorious crimes in British history: the murders by hammer of Dr Lin Russell and her daughter Megan, and the attempted murder of her eldest child, Josie, the sole survivor.Sat at a table in a sparsely decorated office in his chambers off London’s Chancery Lane, McDonald reaches past a pile of papers for a phone to check his call records. Continue reading...

UK defence ministry confirms providing missiles to Ukraine as civilians in Kherson flee from Russian shelling

Leonid Volkov warns Russian opposition leader’s health is at risk from indefinite solitary confinementAlexei Navalny’s survival may depend on his value to Vladimir Putin as a future bargaining chip, his chief aide said, warning that the opposition leader’s health was at risk after being forced into indefinite solitary confinement.Leonid Volkov, speaking on a visit to London, added that Navalny had lost access to his family and was being permanently detained in a “8 by 12ft” cell following the isolation decision by Russian authorities last week. Continue reading...

Head of West Midlands police warns of rising crime in poorest areas as forces are stretched beyond capacityA child experiencing a mental health crisis had to live in a police station for two days due to a lack of psychiatric places, a chief constable has revealed, as he condemned austerity for hitting the poorest areas hardest.Sir David Thompson, who leads West Midlands police, said his force – which is still missing officers and funding after cuts – was being asked to do too much, and warned of rising crime as desperation increases in the poorest areas.Dismissed attacks from government and rightwing media that claim the police are too woke.Condemned those trying to drag policing into the “culture wars”.Revealed fears that the poorest areas would be hit hardest again by the cost of living crisis, fuelling a “real risk” of rising crime.Said that bias explained some of the reasons that black people experienced more use of force and coercive powers than other groups.Called for a radical rethink on tackling the problems blighting society, as public services work in “silos”.Warned that police were being expected to do too much, including in the field of mental health. Continue reading...

Man and woman in their 70s found dead at property in Dore, say South Yorkshire policePolice have launched a double murder inquiry after the bodies of a man and a woman, both aged in their 70s, were discovered at a property in Sheffield.A 51-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the deaths at the address in Terrey Road, Dore. Continue reading...

Charlie Bartolo and Kearne Solanke, both 16, were stabbed to death a mile apart on Saturday afternoonPolice have named two teenage boys who were stabbed to death a mile apart in south-east London and confirmed they are treating the murders as linked.The boys, both aged 16, have been identified as Kearnie Solanke and Charlie Bartolo. Continue reading...

Visits for retail and recreation have boosted activity in Sydney and Melbourne, but work from home preferences are keeping office trips low

Of four state election candidates backed by Climate 200, two remain in contention – but both trail Liberals

Party also argues Victorian campaign finance reforms favoured Andrews government as Anthony Albanese calls out media ‘scare campaign’

TransPennine Express uses ‘outrageous’ loophole in which services cancelled a day ahead do not appear in statisticsOne of the north of England’s main railway companies is taking advantage of an “outrageous” legal loophole that allows it to vastly under-report cancellations, it has emerged.Figures obtained by the Guardian show that during the October half-term holiday, TransPennine Express (TPE) cancelled 30% of all trains, and at least 20% each subsequent week until 20 November. Most of those services were cancelled in full, but some started or ended at different stations from those advertised on the current May 2022 timetable. Continue reading...

A quarter of Monmouth Town FC’s players are English – so Tuesday will be quite a night in front of the clubhouse TVMonmouth Town FC’s packed, raucous clubhouse on the banks of the muddy River Monnow fell momentarily silent as Wales’s painful loss to a reinvigorated Iran sunk in on Friday. But thoughts – and perhaps a whole nation’s hopes – soon turned to the first clash between England and Wales in a World Cup finals.The manager of the tight-knit Welsh regional league club, Steve Davies, 50, is not a man for giving up. He believes in resilience, family and community. Continue reading...

Mark Harper raises likelihood of winter strikes as he says keeping pace with living costs is unaffordableInflation-matching pay rises for struggling public sector workers are “unaffordable”, the transport secretary has said, raising the likelihood of winter strikes going ahead across the rail network, schools and the NHS.Mark Harper said there was not a “bottomless pit” of money to meet the demands of workers planning to take industrial action in the coming weeks, even though benefits and pensions are going up in line with inflation. Continue reading...

Public protests are the most visible signs of anger and scepticism over latest series of draconian lockdownsVictoria Li* has experienced several lockdowns since Covid emerged in China almost three years ago. Being a prisoner in her own home in Beijing made her feel depressed, powerless and angry.“Being stuck at home with my door sealed, I felt unmotivated to do anything,” she said. “I didn’t want to work, I didn’t want to study. Sometimes, I crept into my bed and cried,” said the lawyer, who is in her 20s. Continue reading...

Exhibitions in UK and Africa rewrite history by celebrating discoveries of overlooked black excavators in colonial eraThe photographs are rare, the subject choice unusual, but what the photographer captured was a common sight in the early 20th century: a team of colonised people, hard at work under a hot sun, excavating an ancient monument.Today, without these photos, taken in Kenya in the 1940s and 50s, there would be scarcely any evidence that African Kenyans were present at archaeological digs. Their contributions and priceless finds were credited to their European bosses – and their important role in unearthing the history of their own continent has been all but forgotten. Continue reading...

An online campaign to boost his popularity has helped the former Tory minister to the final three of the TV reality contestWhen Matt Hancock entered the I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! jungle, pundits predicted he would be the first to be voted out.His decision to appear on the ITV show, despite his record during the pandemic and the fact he is a sitting MP, had provoked anger and disgust. More than 1,700 people complained to Ofcom, the broadcast regulator, and the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group issued a searing statement. Continue reading...

As Matt Hancock and Michelle Mone are proving, the pandemic was just one big payday for the ConservativesFor the corrupt Tories and their opportunistic friends, the double whammy of Brexit and the pandemic has been a cash handout bonanza, the clatter of fruit machine payouts drowning the lamentations of millions of mourners. Handsy Matt Handcock even got a £400,000 cow’s anus-noshing, sin-eating television appearance out of his role in the racket.At least it isn’t as offensive as Handcock’s last reality TV special, where he touched that woman’s bum in an office with his two hands when the rest of us weren’t even allowed to wave to Grandma through a window or go to her subsequent funeral. But it is disrespectful to a dead cow, an animal that is sacred to the Hindu, for example, to have its anus eaten by Handcock.Stewart Lee’s standup shows Snowflake and Tornado are available on the BBC iPlayer. Basic Lee tour dates are available now Continue reading...

Channel Nine appointments follow the departure of veteran broadcaster Tracy Grimshaw

Gourmet Fadi Kattan wants to give the UK capital an authentic taste of his homeland’s cuisine with a new restaurant ventureAkub, also known as gundelia, is an unruly plant that blossoms across the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East after the winter rains. Some believe that the crown of thorns placed on Jesus’s head during the crucifixion was made from this long-lasting, sweet-smelling thistle.It is foraged everywhere, from the Kurdish highlands and Cyprus to the Sinai peninsula, for its earthy, tender stems and delicate-tasting flower buds, but is most highly prized in Palestinian cuisine. Each spring, people defy the Israeli authorities – who say the plant is in danger of overcollection – to bring as many bags of prickly akub as they can carry back to their kitchens to throw into meat stews or fry with eggs and lemon. Continue reading...

Former universities ministers David Willetts, Jo Johnson and Chris Skidmore say PM’s move will hit economy and levelling upRishi Sunak is facing an immediate backlash over plans for a “mindless crackdown” on overseas students, as three former Tory university ministers warned it would hit attempts to level up the country and hold back Britain’s faltering economy.Tory discontent is growing on several fronts just weeks into Sunak’s premiership, with rebellions growing this weekend over housebuilding plans and his vow to keep a ban on new onshore windfarms. Continue reading...

Unaccompanied child refugees describe attacks in notorious Manston camp after officials ‘ignore or discount’ ID documentsThe Home Office is routinely changing the dates of birth of unaccompanied child asylum seekers to classify them as adults, according to experts who say the practice is now happening on a “horrifying scale”.As a result, many children are being wrongly sent to the notorious Home Office site at Manston in Kent, the experts warn, and detained in unsafe conditions for up to several weeks. Continue reading...

The Sainsbury Wing’s co-designer Denise Scott Brown says plans to remodel her award-winning entrance are tragically bad. Here, she explains whyThe architect of the controversial Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London has publicly hit back at plans to completely rebuild it, accusing the new designer of “making our building look like a circus clown”.When it was completed in 1991, the Sainsbury Wing, designed by Denise Scott Brown and her husband Robert Venturi, was derided at first by modernists and traditionalists. Yet by the time Venturi died in 2018, it was, according to the architectural historian Dr Barnabas Calder, “in the absolute top rank of postmodern buildings internationally” and Historic England granted it Grade-I listed status. Continue reading...

Queen Mary in London and Wolverhampton criticised for ‘brutalising’ stance against employeesTwo universities have threatened striking academics that they will be docked all of their pay “indefinitely” in a move that has been described by a union as “brutalising staff into submission”. The University and College Union (UCU) claims record numbers of its members, at 150 higher education institutions across the UK, went on strike on Thursday and Friday. More action is planned for Wednesday.Academics expect to have their pay docked for the three days they are striking. However, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), a member of the prestigious Russell Group, and Wolverhampton University have caused outrage by threatening to continue docking 100% of academics’ pay unless they reschedule all the classes they have missed. Continue reading...

Some practices in England are encouraging stable patients with serious conditions to make their own way to hospitalSome of the country’s GP are advising patients requiring urgent hospital care to “get an Uber” or use a relative’s car because of the worst ever delays in the ambulance service in England.Patients with breathing difficulties and other potentially serious conditions are being told in some cases that they are likely to be transferred more quickly from a general practice to accident and emergency if they travel by cab or private vehicle. Continue reading...

With a primary vote sitting on 29.7% – its lowest result since 1952 – it’s clear the party’s problems run deep