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Casualties relatively low since few remain in region devastated by twin earthquakes two weeks agoThe toll from two earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday – two weeks after powerful quakes killed more than 47,000 people – has risen to eight, with up to 300 recovering from injuries and up to a dozen buildings toppling on both sides of the border.The widespread anxiety and panic sparked by the latest tremors has rattled a region that is still coming to terms with the devastation caused earlier this month. Continue reading...

Scott McDougall alarmed at Palaszczuk government plan to make breach of bail an offence for children

Police say increase highlights erosion of mental health services in recent yearsThe police are dealing with increasing demands to intervene with people suffering mental health crises, freedom of information requests have revealed.Some forces across England and Wales have experienced a tripling in mental health requests between 2019 and 2021, data shows. Suffolk police have recorded an increase of 342%; Norfolk of 260%; Northamptonshire of 90%; and Leicestershire of 54%. Continue reading...

Politician hoping to become SNP leader says public are ‘longing for a politician to answer straight questions with straight answers’

Ofgem says energy companies must compensate customers now rather than wait until its review is completeOfgem has told energy suppliers to uninstall prepayment meters that have been wrongly force-fitted and pay compensation now, rather than wait for the outcome of a review.The watchdog is examining the prepayment meter market after it emerged that suppliers were routinely fitting thousands of meters to recover debts by using court warrants to gain entry into people’s homes, including those of vulnerable people. Continue reading...

Head of state rail company, Renfe, also quits as anger rises over fact trains built in £227.5m contract are too wideSpain’s secretary of state for transport and the head of the state rail company have resigned amid continuing public and political anger after it emerged that dozens of new trains ordered for two northern Spanish regions were too big to fit through some tunnels.Three years ago, the state rail operator, Renfe, announced plans to modernise the rolling stock on narrow-gauge commuter trains and medium-distance trains in Asturias and Cantabria. Continue reading...

While the West End production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop musical continues in London, a new cast will simultaneously tour the UK beginning in Manchester in NovemberFor more than five years, the Victoria Palace theatre in London has been the only “room where it happens” in the UK. But Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash-hit musical Hamilton, about US founding father Alexander Hamilton, will embark on a tour beginning in Manchester in November and continuing in Edinburgh next year, with further locations to be announced.Cameron Mackintosh, producer of the tour, said he would be assembling a new company of actors “to bring this great show to our leading cities”, while the London production runs simultaneously. Visiting Scotland will be fitting, added Mackintosh, because “the real story of Alexander Hamilton began in Ayrshire, where his father was born in the 1700s, before he moved to Nevis in the West Indies”. Continue reading...

PM to reassert support for Ukraine after coalition partner Silvio Berlusconi blamed Volodymyr Zelenskiy for Russia’s invasion

Sheffield-based 5 news presenter says he was knocked off bicycle, sharing images of himself in A&EThe broadcaster Dan Walker has said the cycle helmet he was wearing during a collision with a car “saved my life” as he recovers at home.Walker revealed he was knocked off his bike by a car on Monday as he posted a picture of himself with ambulance crews. Continue reading...

Death toll of 47,000 expected to rise and WHO says 26 million people need assistance across both countriesThe figures are unfathomable: 47,000 people dead, thousands of others missing, millions homeless. In minutes, two massive earthquakes that rocked Turkey and Syria turned entire cities into mounds of rubble. Two weeks later, the scale of the devastation is still being unearthed. The true impact will not be fully understood for decades. Continue reading...

Lawyer says the landmark case is about ‘correcting historical disadvantage’ embedded structurally in Aboriginal society

Three killed and 213 injured, government says, after quakes of 6.4 and 5.8 magnitude shake southern province of HatayA 6.4-magnitude earthquake and a second measuring 5.8 have hit Turkey’s southern province of Hatay, terrifying those left in a region devastated by twin earthquakes two weeks ago.Turkey’s interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, said that at least three people were killed and 213 wounded by the latest quakes, after a large government hospital in the city of İskenderun in the north of Hatay province declared it was evacuating patients. Continue reading...

Royal commission hears Paul Menzies-McVey was awaiting ‘definitive advice’ from the solicitor general on robodebt’s legality

Citizens Advice analysis suggests 2.7m households in England struggle with damp, mould or excessive coldCampaigners have called for private housing landlords to be held to new standards set out after the death of Awaab Ishak, as research indicated that 1.6 million children live in privately rented homes with damp, mould or excessive cold.The government this month announced a new “Awaab’s law” that will set deadlines for social landlords in England and Wales to tackle reported hazards. Two-year-old Awaab was killed by mould in a social housing flat in Rochdale in 2020. Continue reading...

Feminist groups and TUC say public services with mainly female workforces will have rights affected by ‘draconian’ lawFeminist campaign groups have raised the alarm about the government’s anti-strike bill, which will enforce minimum service levels, saying women’s rights will be disproportionately affected by the restrictions.In a letter to the equalities minister Kemi Badenoch, a coalition of four organisations as well as the TUC said that public services with a predominantly female workforce including health and education would have their rights affected by the bill. Continue reading...

A dark chapter in the story of a tiny British island is to be depicted in a reproduction of a Nazi execution site created by an artist whose work explores the impact of destruction and violence.Piers Secunda has taken a mould of a bullet-damaged wall, part of a Victorian fort on Alderney, one of the Channel Islands, from which he will make a cast to be exhibited in London next month. Continue reading...

Qin Gang says he is ‘deeply concerned’ about the war spiralling out of control and appears to hit back at the US for ‘shifting blame to China’China’s new foreign minister has accused the US of shifting blame for the Ukraine war on to China, in an apparent pushback against warnings from Washington that China is considering supplying weapons to Russia.Speaking on Tuesday morning, at the launch of a Chinese government paper on its global security initiative, Qin Gang said China was “deeply concerned” about the war in Ukraine escalating and possibly “spiralling out of control”. Continue reading...

Charities find nearly 40% of people end the month with no money, and 67% say UK government not doing enough about crisisOne in four households regularly run out of money for essentials and voters do not believe the government is doing enough to help, a group of charities have said.Nearly 40% of people end the month with no money left, while 24% run out of money for essentials either most months or most days, a survey found. Continue reading...

Kate Forbes says she does not support self-identification for trans people and would not have voted for same-sex marriageDeep splits over LGBT+ rights have emerged between the two leading candidates vying to replace Nicola Sturgeon as first minister of Scotland.The finance minister, Kate Forbes – who returned early from maternity leave on Monday to declare her bid for leadership of the SNP – told reporters in a round of interviews that she would not challenge the UK government’s block on Holyrood’s gender recognition reform bill, did not support self-identification for trans people and would not have voted for same-sex marriage. Continue reading...

Ten of thousands to take part in industrial action in escalation of row between NHS staff and governmentHundreds of thousands of operations and medical appointments will be cancelled in England next month and progress in tackling the huge care backlog will be derailed as the NHS prepares to face the most widespread industrial action in its history.Junior doctors are poised to join nurses and ambulance workers in mass continuous walkouts in March after members of the British Medical Association (BMA) voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action. Continue reading...

‘Catastrophic’ failings that allowed gunman to kill five people increase pressure to overhaul 1968 legislationSenior police officers, families of shooting victims and anti-gun campaigners have called for a “radical reform” of the firearms licensing system after an inquest jury found “catastrophic” failings allowed the Plymouth gunman, Jake Davison, to legally possess a shotgun that he used to kill five people.Pressure is mounting on the UK government to overhaul the 50-year-old licensing legislation and ensure police forces are adequately funded to allow them to fully examine the suitability of gun owners. Continue reading...

Call for more personalised approach on back of broader efforts to build deeper relationships with familiesPersonalised text messages to parents could be used to help improve school attendance rates, as teachers struggle to re-engage children and their families after the disruption of Covid, according to experts.Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said there was a “national persistent truancy crisis” in England, with significantly more children now missing lessons compared with before the pandemic. Continue reading...

James Cleverly’s comments come after No 10 said ‘no deal has been done as yet’James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, will discuss the Northern Ireland protocol in a call with the European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič this afternoon, PA Media reports. They will be joined by the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, amid expectations both sides are inching closer to a deal.Micheál Martin, the Irish foreign minister and tánaiste (deputy PM), has urged UK politicians not to play politics with the Northern Ireland protocol negotiations. Speaking in Brussels, where he has been attending the EU foreign affairs council, he said:I think what’s very important is that everybody now from here on think about the people of Northern Ireland.Not power play, not politics elsewhere, I think the people of Northern Ireland have had enough of that, of people playing politics with their future. And, in my view, my only concern is that the people of Northern Ireland voted [in last May’s assembly election], they want their institutions [at Stormont] restored. Continue reading...

Officers confirm identity of body as that of 45-year old mortgage adviser who went missing 24 days agoPolice have confirmed that a body pulled from a river in Lancashire is that of the missing woman Nicola Bulley.Lancashire constabulary said they had identified her after a body was found by two walkers in undergrowth near the village of St Michael’s on Wyre on Sunday. Continue reading...

Statistics suggest many older and younger people could be disenfranchised at England’s May local electionsHuge numbers of older voters could be disenfranchised at local elections in May after official data has shown that only 505 people aged 75-plus have applied for free voter identification documents in the month since the scheme launched.Statistics for the numbers who have applied since the system opened on 16 January also showed that fewer than 6% of those seeking the document were aged under 25, another group seen as disproportionately likely to lack the necessary ID. Continue reading...

Visit is unwelcome twist for Vladimir Putin as he prepares state of the nation address to mark invasion’s anniversary

Punk IPA maker says it wants to sell more of its craft beer in world’s biggest marketBrewDog has said it plans to brew in China as part of a deal with Budweiser China to expand sales in the world’s biggest market for beer.Budweiser China would start brewing BrewDog’s Punk IPA, Hazy Jane and Elvis Juice beers by the end of March at its Putian craft brewery near the south-east coast, the companies announced on Monday. Continue reading...

Longtime Ireland correspondent McDonald, 57, lauded after untimely death following treatment for cancerPolitical leaders in Northern Ireland have led tributes to the writer and former Guardian and Observer correspondent Henry McDonald, who has died at the age of 57.Family, friends and media colleagues expressed shock and sadness on Sunday after McDonald died at the Royal Victoria hospital in Belfast, where he was being treated for cancer. Continue reading...

Landmark case from Indigenous man seeking to access pension three years early hears Australia fails to account for age gap from ‘racial disadvantage’

Campaigners fear media crackdown under PM Sheikh Hasina after suspension order upheldThe only newspaper of Bangladesh’s main opposition party has stopped publishing after a government suspension order was upheld, stoking fears about media freedom in the south Asian nation.Campaigners and foreign governments including the US have long expressed worries about efforts by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to silence criticism and what they see as creeping authoritarianism. Continue reading...

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Woman says she felt deeply uncomfortable about Zumbo’s consistent advances and told him ‘I do not consent’

With youth prisons full, there are fears the new laws will lead to an ‘explosion’ of children in adult watch houses

Visit to Taipei by Shanghai officials was arranged by mayor from opposition Kuomintang party, attracting accusations of secrecyA Chinese government delegation has visited Taiwan for the first time since the start of the pandemic, sparking some partisan tension on the island over cross-strait interactions as Beijing reiterated its intentions to annex it.The delegation of six officials, including the deputy head of the Shanghai office of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Li Xiaodong, arrived in Taipei with plans to visit the Lantern festival and hold talks with local officials. They were invited by the city government, led by mayor Chiang Wan-an, of the opposition Kuomintang party (KMT). Continue reading...

Document makes clear senior Fox News figures knew after 2020 election voter fraud claims were false – and it’s likely a landmark caseThe Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe said Dominion Voting Systems’ brief requesting summary judgment against Fox News for defamation – and $1.6bn – is “likely to succeed and likely to be a landmark” in the history of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.“I have never seen a defamation case with such overwhelming proof that the defendant admitted in writing that it was making up fake information in order to increase its viewership and its revenues,” Tribe told the Guardian. “Fox and its producers and performers were lying as part of their business model.” Continue reading...

Nearly 2m energy support vouchers worth £125m in total either lost, delayed or unclaimedNearly a quarter of energy vouchers, designed to help the most vulnerable households with their gas and electricity bills, still have not been redeemed, according to the latest government figures.Failure to receive the energy support payment could “be the difference between having a warm home, keeping the lights on, eating a warm meal or not”, according to the charity Citizens Advice. Continue reading...

Brain surgeon maintained he was acting in patient’s best interests and denied being negligent

‘It all became very sly. Everyone was lying and covering each other’s backs,’ royal commission hears

Incoming WHO chief scientist says if morale, staffing and training not addressed, workers ‘won’t be there when you need them’Healthcare workers are “absolutely shattered” and unless something is done to address the crisis in morale, staffing and training then “they won’t be there when you need them”, one of the world’s leading scientists has warned.Speaking to the Guardian, Prof Jeremy Farrar, the director of Wellcome and soon to be chief scientist of the World Health Organization, warned that healthcare workers would not be ready should another crisis hit. Continue reading...

Moderate and conservative factions refuse to back transport minister for upper house seat left vacant by Peter Poulos’s sacking

‘We were fighting it and it did a U-turn and slammed into the engine,’ said the skipper of the damaged vessel after being towed to safety

Kim Yo-jong blames escalation on US forces in the region, as head of South Korea’s ruling party calls for Seoul to have its own nuclear deterrentNorth Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast Monday, South Korea’s military said, as the powerful sister of the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, warned the nuclear-armed state could turn the Pacific into a “firing range”.The tests prompted the head of the ruling party in South Korea to warn that continued provocations by Pyongyang would only strengthen calls for the South to develop its own nuclear deterrent – a move that would dramatically raise tensions on the peninsula. Continue reading...

Mortgage adviser, 45, went missing while walking her pet after dropping off daughters at schoolA body has been found in the search for the missing woman Nicola Bulley after a tipoff by members of the public, police have said.Bulley, 45, a mortgage adviser from Inskip, Lancashire, vanished while walking her dog after dropping off her daughters, six and nine, at school more than three weeks ago, on 27 January. Continue reading...

Majority of job losses are at large retailers such as Tesco and Asda, according to Centre for Retail ResearchNearly 15,000 British retail jobs have already been cut since January in a “brutal start to the year” for the high street.A total of 14,874 retail job losses have been announced by companies so far, according to analysis from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR). Continue reading...

Tony McAvoy says Craven ‘way outside his remit’ and ‘incorrect’ to describe some views in the group as ‘misplaced intransigence’ and ‘egotism’

Met police say investigation under way after fatal accident in Greenwich on Sunday eveningA man has died after being hit by a motorcycle in south-east London, the Metropolitan police said.An investigation is under way after a fatal collision in Plumstead Road, Greenwich on Sunday evening. Continue reading...

Standup comedian played police role in Homicide: Life on the Streets, Law & Order: SVU and other seriesRichard Belzer, a stand-up comedian who became one of TV’s most indelible detectives as John Munch in Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: SVU, has died. He was 78.Belzer died on Sunday at his home in Bozouls in southern France, his longtime friend Bill Scheft told the Hollywood Reporter. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sadiq Khan’s plan, spurred by ministers’ ‘failure to act’, will save families about £440 for every childFree school meals will be offered to all primary school pupils across London for a year under plans by Sadiq Khan to tackle what he said was a failure by ministers to step up support during the cost of living crisis.The move will come into force from September, saving families about £440 for every child and benefiting 270,000 children, City Hall estimates. Continue reading...

Man arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving after incident near Plymstock Albion Oaks Rugby ClubA seven-year-old boy has died after being hit by a car in Plymouth.A man, 55, was arrested after the incident near Plymstock Albion Oaks Rugby Club on Sunday. Continue reading...