Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme and standards commissioner suspend workTwo MPs’ standards watchdogs have been criticised for winding down their operations for a week to honour the remaining “period of national mourning” for Queen Elizabeth II.Alleged victims who made complaints against their bosses in parliament were told over the weekend by the head of the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) that all investigations “would be paused”. Continue reading...

Whether Ayres returns to cabinet or retires to the backbench, Dominic Perrottet faces further headaches

Anglicare Australia finds a couple on age pensions could afford to rent only 1.4% of properties advertised

Incoming brief to Albanese government cites risk of malicious employees accessing and inappropriately using systems

Bob Broadhurst says royal family’s desire to be close to public is an ‘absolutely frightening’ prospect

Inquest hears how Ianto Jenkins was playing on his bicycle before being struck by vehicle on dairy farmA three-year-old boy died after being accidentally hit with a pickup truck and trailer driven by his father at a farm in south-west Wales, an inquest jury has concluded.Ianto Jenkins sustained a fatal head injury as he played on his bicycle on the dairy farm near Efailwen, Carmarthenshire, on 3 August last year. Continue reading...

Charles faces challenge to convert outpouring of affection for his mother into enduring support for the institution

Ricky Morgan sentenced at Old Bailey after unprovoked assault on Jubilee line left victim with severe woundsA man has been jailed for life after carrying out a machete attack on a random commuter on a tube train in London.Panicked passengers fled through two carriages when Ricky Morgan launched an unprovoked assault on James Porritt on the Jubilee line between Green Park and Bond Street in July last year. Continue reading...

Liz Truss expected to announce plans for immediate tax cuts in what will amount to emergency budget

Brexit chief extends olive branch in effort to bring UK back to negotiating table in long-running disputeThe EU has initiated a fresh attempt to end the Northern Ireland Brexit dispute with the UK with a proposal to reduce checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea to a near “invisible manner” involving just “a couple of lorries” a day.Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said physical checks would be made only “when there is a reasonable suspicion of illegal trade smuggling, illegal drugs, dangerous toys or poisoned food”. Continue reading...

As the King grapples with his new position, his sister is likely to act as his counsel and confidante

Queen’s second son has adopted a more visible role in the past few days, but that will end with her state funeral

Controversial cabinet secretary was in charge during Partygate scandal and had been expected to be replaced

Rail groups and TfL tell travellers to expect crowded services as mourners visit Westminster Hall

Kyiv’s troops have reportedly retaken towns up to the Russian border, including strategic Izium

Case involves farm that allegedly received funds after ownership was transferred to Babiš family membersThe trial has opened of the Czech Republic’s former prime minister Andrej Babiš on charges of subsidy fraud, in a case that could profoundly affect the politics of the central European country.Babiš, a billionaire tycoon, is accused of illicitly obtaining €2m (£1.7m) in EU small business funds for the development of Stork’s Nest, a hotel and conference centre in the Bohemian countryside, when it was ineligible for such financial aid because it was part of his multi-industry Agrofert business empire, which controls vast tracts of the Czech economy. Continue reading...

Detectives investigating killing of nine-year-old using drones and divers to search West Derby clubPolice are carrying out an extensive search of land at a golf course for the gun that killed Olivia Pratt-Korbel.Detectives investigating the killing of the nine-year-old, who was shot dead in her home in Dovecot, Liverpool, on 22 August, were using drones and divers to search West Derby golf club in Merseyside. Continue reading...

Police say marsupial was shot dead as it posed a threat to paramedics trying to treat injured man near Albany

Politicians pay warm tributes but memories of colonial atrocities prompt fierce criticism too

Greens senator says people expected her to be ‘ranting and raving’ after Queen’s death but she has reflected and now wants Labor to ‘show ambition’

New monarch pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at ceremony and receives condolences from Speakers

Audience members in Perth took offence to actor’s references to sexual conquests and comments about LGBTQ+ community

Josh Ross and Adam McCurdie recognised for work on social enterprise that donates ticket booking fees to charity

Chief executive has offered robust defences of controversial outsourcing firm since 2014The UK government contractor Serco has announced the planned retirement next year of its chief executive, Rupert Soames, who said “it is now time for me to outsource myself” after leading the controversial company since early 2014.Soames, 63, will step down as chief executive on 1 January 2023, by which point he will have led Serco for nearly nine years. He will be replaced by Mark Irwin, the chief executive of Serco’s UK and Europe division, the company said on Monday in a statement to the stock market. Soames will remain as an adviser until September 2023. Continue reading...

Sweden Democrats become second biggest party after vote on Sunday

Anthony Koletti will give evidence at inquest into presumed death of Sydney alleged fraudster whose foot was found on NSW South Coast

Victim activated duress alarm before losing consciousness, with her 21-year-old attacker later admitting he planned to rape her

Jailed activist-blogger may escalate six-month hunger strike as supporters say UK is failing to pressure its Cop27 partnerThe British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah has warned his family he may die in prison, as he reaches six months on hunger strike in the run-up to the Cop27 climate conference in Sharm El Sheikh.“I don’t want to upset you, but I don’t believe there’s any chance of individual salvation,” he told his mother during her visit to Wadi al-Natrun prison. He passed on a list of demands, including the release of those detained by the Egyptian security forces and thousands held without charge in pre-trial detention. Continue reading...

Prosecutor urges jury in Rory James Constantino trial to use common sense about wounding of officer with makeshift weapon

Agency fined after denying students access to their homes during the pandemic, but company says it fell victim to a business gone bust

Government guidance sets out strict rules urging international royalty and presidents to travel by commercial flights

As Queen Elizabeth II’s cortege drove from Balmoral to Edinburgh, well-wishers from near and far paid understated tributeThe hush had settled on the waiting crowd even before the Queen’s cortege appeared over the rise in the road from Balmoral. An oblivious toddler chattered into the silence on Ballater main street, where the country’s longest-serving monarch shopped for barbecue sausages at the local butcher.It was a typically Highland farewell to a woman those lining the village streets considered a treasured neighbour: deeply felt, but understated in its expression. There was no applause, no spontaneous chorus of anthem or hymn as the coffin passed by sedately, and all eyes were pulled to the east to follow it beyond sight. Then, as though released from a trance, the bystanders turned to nod to friends and disperse promptly, leaving behind the metal crowd barriers, taking home the weight of their loss. Continue reading...

Recently extended powers to strip people of their nationality almost exclusively targets Muslims, report saysBritish Muslims have had their citizenship reduced to “second-class” status as a result of recently extended powers to strip people of their nationality, a thinktank has claimed.The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) says the targets of such powers are almost exclusively Muslims, mostly of south Asian heritage, embedding discrimination and creating a lesser form of citizenship. Continue reading...

Marías, also a translator and columnist, was described as ‘one of Spain’s greatest contemporary writers’The Spanish novelist Javier Marías, author of All Souls, A Heart so White, and the epic, three-part Your Face Tomorrow – and a writer regularly touted as a candidate for the Nobel prize for literature – has died at home in Madrid at the age of 70.Marías, who had been ill with pneumonia for the past month, died on Sunday, according to his publisher, Alfaguara. Continue reading...

A stone’s throw from well-to-do King’s Cross lies a community hub bringing people together through foodOn a sunny Thursday morning in September, the Pantry in north London is buzzing. Customers browse the wooden crates for celeriac and butternut squash; one picks up a tin of organic tomatoes and pops it in her basket. The smell of rich mushroom soup wafts through the air.But this is not a luxury food shop with prices to match; it is a “people’s pantry” on an estate that may be a stone’s throw from the high-end retail outlets of King’s Cross but feels a million miles away. Continue reading...

Cortege passing through villages of Royal Deeside where many considered monarch a dear neighbourThe Queen has commenced her final journey from her beloved Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire and is heading down the north-east coast to Edinburgh.The cortege carrying her coffin left Balmoral at about 10am and was making slow progress through the villages of Royal Deeside, allowing the thousands who lined the route to bid a final farewell to the country’s longest-serving monarch and the woman many locally considered a dear neighbour. Continue reading...

Paris city hall expected to propose cutting back lighting of monument by more than an hour a dayThe Eiffel Tower, whose twinkling lights define the night-time Paris skyline, is to fall dark earlier because of the energy crisis.Paris city hall is expected to propose this week that the monument, which is among the most visited in the world, should go dark more than an hour earlier than usual, as Europe faces spiralling energy costs aggravated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

Madrid museum buys three hand-carved canoes from Zapatistas, with proceeds going to Open Arms NGOThree exquisitely decorated canoes hand-carved in the jungles of southern Mexico and borne across the Atlantic on a ship tasked with a peaceful, symbolic – and cumbia-soundtracked – invasion of Spain could soon find a permanent mooring in the heart of Madrid.More importantly, proceeds from the sale of the small boats could help save some of the tens of thousands of men, women and children who risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean each year. Continue reading...

Energoatom says staff able to transfer facility to ‘safest state – cold shutdown’ after restoration of power lineThe last operating reactor at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station has been shut down and the plant “completely stopped”, Ukraine’s nuclear power operator has said.The six-reactor Zaporizhzhia plant was disconnected from the grid last week after all its power lines were disconnected as a result of fighting in the area, and was operating in “island mode” for several days, generating electricity for crucial cooling systems from its only remaining reactor in operation. Continue reading...

Playwright Mike Bartlett says his drama King Charles III, which premiered in 2014, included some uncanny predictions

The painter’s view of Venice, now in St James’s Palace, once hung in George III’s bedroom

From failing eyesight and tiredness to dealing with younger colleagues – some of the challenges facing the new king

Man was interviewed by counter-terrorism officers in connection with 1996 attack that injured 200A man who was arrested in connection with the 1996 Manchester IRA bombing has been released without charge.He was held on suspicion of terrorism at Birmingham airport on Thursday and has now been released from custody, Greater Manchester police said. The man was interviewed by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North West. Continue reading...

Former business secretary reveals in memoir that he tried to keep health issues a secret and carry on workingVince Cable had a minor stroke when he was leader of the Liberal Democrats that seriously affected his performance when giving speeches and at other political events, he reveals in a memoir published on Sunday.The former business secretary decided to keep his health issues secret for more than a year and to soldier on as leader, until he stepped down in July 2019. Continue reading...

Low-paid workforce could leave the profession in droves, with very survival of health service at riskNurses will vote to go on a national strike for the first time in their history because the NHS has “gone over the precipice” and may not survive, the leader of the UK’s largest nursing union has told the Observer.Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said there is anger among nurses, who feel that ministers do not believe they are important. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese quotes late Queen in saying ‘grief is the price we pay for love’ in describing Australia’s reaction to her death

WA scrambles to control polyphagous shot-hole borer, which has spread to 200 locations in state’s capital

‘Today I am proud to create him Prince of Wales, Tywysog Cymru’ said King Charles in first speech as monarch

Prime minister, opposition leader and governor general take part in ceremony. This blog is now closed