World news | The Guardian

No casualties have been reported since flames engulfed construction site in heart of busy Tsim Sha Tsui late on ThursdayHong Kong firefighters have been battling a blaze that engulfed a construction site in the city’s shopping district.Officials said the fire broke out at 11.11pm (1511 GMT) on Thursday in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui, a busy shopping and tourist area on the waterfront. Continue reading...

Institute for Fiscal Studies urges chancellor to encourage over-50s back into labour marketPeople in their 50s and 60s are re-thinking their decision to take early retirement after being made poorer by Britain’s cost of living crisis, a thinktank has suggested.The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the squeeze on living standards caused by the highest inflation rate in four decades was the likely reason why more 50-64 year olds were looking for work. Continue reading...

Teaching unions react with fury to leaked Matt Hancock messages they say show ‘appalling lack of respect’

Building company aims to save £20m, but declines to say how many of its 5,000 workforce will be affectedTaylor Wimpey is planning to cut jobs as the housebuilder warned of slowing sales in the latest sign of a downturn in the UK housing market.The company said the job cuts formed part of efforts to save £20m in costs a year. The chief executive, Jennie Daly, declined to say how many of the 5,000 workforce would be affected, adding that staff consultations were under way. Continue reading...

Chief executive says ‘no place on ITV’ for comments Jeremy Clarkson made in the Sun, but says brand has not been affectedITV has insisted its reputation is intact despite the controversy over Jeremy Clarkson, as the broadcaster said it expected a steep drop in advertising sales this year as the economy weakens.Clarkson, a former Top Gear presenter, presents ITV’s long-running gameshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, but he was forced to apologise over an article in the Sun in December in which he said he was dreaming of the day the Duchess of Sussex was made to parade naked in public while people threw excrement at her. Continue reading...

Asylum seekers in Karachi tell of terror of being sent back to the Taliban and despair at being shackled and held in Pakistani jailsRefugees are reportedly dying in Pakistani prisons, and children are being arrested and tied together with ropes, as a wave of detentions and deportations spreads fearamong the hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have crossed the border since the Taliban took power.According to lawyers representing Afghans in detention, at least four people have died in custody, and thousands more, including children, are being held in prisons as Pakistan hardens its stance against Afghan citizens. Continue reading...

Victim’s mother expects ‘catalogue of mistakes’ to be exposed in Sir John Saunders’ report on 2017 atrocityThe mother of a victim of the Manchester Arena attack has said she expects “a whole catalogue of mistakes” to be laid bare when a landmark report on the atrocity is published on Thursday.MI5 is braced for criticism from the report, which will examine whether the deadliest terror attack in Britain since 7/7 could have been prevented. Continue reading...

Government’s long-awaited plan promises thousands more specialist school places and new national standardsServices for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) in England are to be “transformed”, with the introduction of new national standards and thousands more specialist school places, ministers have announced.The long-awaited changes are being introduced to end the postcode lottery that families currently face and ensure that children and young people with Send get “high-quality, early support” wherever they live, the government says. Continue reading...

Inquest into death of Aboriginal man hears text describing Walker as ‘shit cunt’ was forwarded to Zachary Rolfe

Campaigners urge exam boards to diversify English literature set texts to challenge rising misogynyOnly 2% of GCSE students study a book written by a female author, according to research by campaigners who are urging exam boards to diversify their set text lists to curb the rise of misogynistic views.Research by End Sexism in Schools (ESIS) found that 67% of set texts for modern prose and drama were by male authors, while 58% of the set 19th-century novels were by men. It also found that 69% of the set texts for modern prose and drama papers had a male protagonist, rising to 71% for the 19th-century novel. Continue reading...

Former education secretary said to have made comments in leaked WhatsApp exchanges to Matt Hancock, then health secretaryTeachers complained about a lack of PPE in order “to have an excuse not to teach”, Gavin Williamson said in a leaked WhatsApp chat, commenting later that some teaching unions “really do just hate work”.In new leaked WhatsApp messages from the Telegraph’s investigation, Matt Hancock, the then heath secretary, was asked by Williamson, who was the education secretary, to help unblock school requests for protective equipment if a child became ill at school as classrooms prepared to reopen after the first lockdown. Continue reading...

Up to 60 people missing as rescuers continue efforts to find survivors of head-on crash near LarissaThe death toll from the head-on collision of two trains in central Greece has risen to at least 40 people, with many more missing, according to the state broadcaster, while several of those wounded remained in critical condition.On Wednesday afternoon, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) reported that 50 to 60 people were still unaccounted for after the crash in the town of Tempe. Continue reading...

Families calling for a ‘Hillsborough law’ say proposal lacks powers to secure key documents and prevent cover-upsDominic Raab has announced ministers will set up an “independent public advocate” (IPA) to support victims and families of people killed in major disasters, including by helping them to “navigate” the inquiries and inquests that follow.The justice secretary described the proposed advocate as part of the government’s belated response to the ordeal suffered by bereaved families after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 97 people were killed in a crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Bereaved families and survivors were forced to struggle for decades against a campaign of lies mounted by South Yorkshire police, who sought to blame those who attended the match for the disaster, rather than admit to police crowd management failures. Continue reading...

The Secret Life of John le Carré by Adam Sisman, who published an authorised biography in 2015, promises ‘a hidden life of secrecy, passion and betrayal’A biography focusing on the “turbulent private life” of crime writer John le Carré is to be published, illuminating “a hidden life of secrecy, passion and betrayal”, according to the book’s author Adam Sisman.The Secret Life of John le Carré is a follow-up to Sisman’s authorised 2015 biography, which was published by Bloomsbury. Continue reading...

Police say Hackney Central station in east London will remain closed while officers respond to situationA man is in hospital in a critical condition with laceration wounds after an incident at a train station in east London that armed officers attended.According to the local news website MyLondon, an air ambulance was seen landing near the scene. Continue reading...

Alexei Moskalyov charged with ‘discrediting Russian army’, while daughter punished for drawing rockets fired at Ukraine family

Vote increases chance of Finland joining alliance before its Nordic neighbour Sweden, which is facing objections from TurkeyFinland’s parliament has overwhelmingly approved legislation allowing the country to join Nato, increasing the chances of it becoming a member of the transatlantic defensive alliance before its Nordic neighbour Sweden.Both countries last year abandoned decades of military non-alignment in a historic policy shift triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, submitting simultaneous Nato membership applications and pledging to complete the process “hand-in-hand”. Continue reading...

Allegations come amid defamation lawsuit against Wood by Manson, but cannot be included as evidenceUS actor Evan Rachel Wood has denied pressuring a woman into making sexual assault allegations against rock star Marilyn Manson.In February 2021, Wood and four other women claimed that Manson, real name Brian Warner, had subjected them to various forms of abuse: sexual, physical and emotional, including attacks characterised as torture. Continue reading...

Sunak’s government has refused to echo assertion that Jagtar Singh Johal is being arbitrarily detainedRishi Sunak and the Foreign Office appear to be scaling back the UK’s support for Jagtar Singh Johal, the British Sikh activist held in an Indian jail for five years, his family and Keir Starmer have said.Sunak’s government has refused invitations to echo Boris Johnson’s assertion that the Indian government has arbitrarily detained Johal, a term seen as significant because it means the UK does not recognise there is a proper legal basis to hold him. Continue reading...

Wife’s illness, plagiarism court case and death of music entrepreneur friend Jamal Edwards all came to bear on Sheeran’s sixth studio album, made with the National’s Aaron DessnerEd Sheeran has announced his sixth studio album, entitled – and pronounced “subtract”.The fifth and final entry in his series of albums titled with mathematical symbols, Sheeran wrote and recorded its 14 tracks with Aaron Dessner, a member of US alt-rock band the National who also had a major creative role in Taylor Swift’s Folklore and Evermore. Continue reading...

British Land development will offer up to 3,000 new homes and offices with space for 20,000 workersJust south of a bend in the Thames, a tower block is rising out of the ground, surrounded by several cranes and construction workers. So far, so standard for the capital’s never-ending development and redevelopment.However, this block of flats is one of the first buildings being constructed at Rotherhithe, for Canada Water, a new London neighbourhood. Continue reading...

Former Lagos governor polled ahead of Abubakar and Obi in Nigeria’s most competitive election since end of military rule in 1999Nigeria’s ruling party candidate, Bola Tinubu, was on Wednesday declared winner of the presidential election, after defeating two of his closest rivals in the most competitive election for decades.Tinubu’s victory after the weekend vote signalled the continued dominance of the established political elite in Nigeria. Analysts had described the poll as a potential “inflection point” for Africa’s most populous country, which is struggling with economic turmoil, widespread violence and corruption. Continue reading...

Supporters privately concede appetite for ex-PM’s return is depleting after post-Brexit deal humiliationBoris Johnson’s supporters are increasingly doubtful he could make a comeback as prime minister after being “humiliated” over his post-Brexit deal with the European Union.Though allies have been agitating for Johnson’s return in an attempt to try to reverse the Conservatives’ stubbornly low poll ratings, some privately conceded the appetite among sceptics of Rishi Sunak to challenge their leader was depleting. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: Rishi Sunak hails the new Windsor agreement as a breakthrough but what does it mean for businesses and politicians – and what comes next?

Children of late Gunditjmara elder and activist recount mother’s ordeal to Victorian truth-telling inquiry

Court hears allegations against Ashlyn Nassif, 27, relate to Skyview development in Castle Hill

Magistrate says she ‘didn’t understand’ why police imposed bail on Cherish Kuehlmann, 23, who was charged with trespass after protest last month

Beijing – which itself blocks access to Facebook, Twitter and many others – hits out at ban on Chinese-owned software on US government devicesUS government bans on Chinese-owned video sharing app TikTok reveal Washington’s own insecurities and are an abuse of state power, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson has said.China, though, has itself long blocked a large list of foreign social media platforms and messaging apps, including YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Continue reading...

Treatment waiting times at worst-ever levels as post-Covid recovery programme ‘falling short’A £14bn plan to reduce NHS backlogs caused by Covid is failing to meet targets, with cancer waiting times at their worst-ever levels, parliament’s spending watchdog has said.A report by the Commons’ public accounts committee said NHS England’s three-year recovery programme for elective and cancer care, agreed in 2022, was already “falling short” in its first year and expressed serious doubts that the wider plan would be achieved on time. Continue reading...

Law Society of England and Wales to challenge government’s ‘irrational’ refusal to bring in minimum recommended raiseMinisters could face a legal battle over their refusal to increase legal aid rates for criminal defence solicitors in England and Wales by the minimum recommended in an independent review.The Law Society, the professional body for solicitors, claims there has been an “unlawful and irrational” failure to implement the 15% minimum increase recommended by Christopher Bellamy as necessary to sustain the future of the criminal justice system. Continue reading...

Pentagon official says war now a ‘grinding slog’; Belarus president to meet Xi Jinping

Queensland police officers escort Rajwinder Singh on plane from Delhi to Melbourne

Lib Dems say levelling-up secretary is ‘living in a different century’ with the proposalMichael Gove has suggested that parents who fail to ensure their children attend school regularly could have their child benefit payments stopped.Gove has argued such penalties would help restore “an ethic of responsibility”. He had previously attempted to introduce the measure while education secretary during the coalition government in 2010 but was blocked by then Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. He later pushed David Cameron to put it in the Conservative manifesto for the 2015 election. Continue reading...

Timing, trust and intense talks brought Northern Ireland deal over the finish lineDuring the final talks on the new post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland in Windsor on Monday, Rishi Sunak briefly halted proceedings to present Stéphanie Riso, a key member of Ursula von der Leyen’s negotiating team, with a small birthday gift.The top official, who is moving to a senior European Commission role after six years living and breathing Brexit, was said by those present to have been visibly moved that the prime minister had both known and then chosen to mark the moment. Continue reading...

Consultant says that concerns were raised over Lucy Letby eight months before she was take off frontline dutiesDoctors came under pressure “not to make a fuss” when they raised concerns with hospital managers about a nurse who is accused of killing seven babies, a court has been told.Dr Ravi Jayaram, a consultant, told a jury his team alerted management to their concerns about Lucy Letby in October 2015, eight months before she was removed from frontline nursing duties. Continue reading...

Long-delayed drama starring Steve Coogan will air after extensive back-and-forths within BBC over its contentSteve Coogan’s television drama about the paedophile Jimmy Savile will finally air this year, amid deep concerns within the BBC over the reaction to the programme.The Reckoning was filmed at the end of 2021 but the editing process is still not finished, with extensive back-and-forths within the BBC over its content. While some of Savile’s victims were involved in the making of the programme, others have publicly criticised the decision to make the show at all. Continue reading...

Couple first arrested on Monday on suspicion of child neglect after several weeks avoiding police but infant not with themA couple who disappeared with their baby have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, as officers searching for the child say fears are growing for its safety.Constance Marten and her partner, Mark Gordon, have not told police the location of the infant or even its sex since being arrested on Monday. Police said on Tuesday that, as the period the child has potentially been exposed to the winter weather approached 24 hours, they had to take increasingly seriously the possibility that, as a minimum, its life is in imminent danger. Continue reading...

Cem Özdemir said measure would help protect children from obesity and diabetesGermany’s agriculture minister has called for a ban on all advertising accessible by children of unhealthy food including sweets and items with a high salt, fat and sugar content, arguing that the future health of Germany’s young people is at stake.Cem Özdemir, of the Greens party, said it was time to protect children from the effects of unhealthy food including obesity, diabetes and other illnesses. Continue reading...

Traffickers are changing methods of ensnaring children, parliamentary education committee hearsCounty lines adverts on Instagram and Snapchat designed to groom children and young people now resemble professional job adverts, a parliamentary committee heard on Tuesday.Experts from charities gave evidence to Tuesday’s cross-party education committee about the constantly evolving scene, with traffickers frequently changing their methods of ensnaring children and young people. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Funding hole directly affects elderly people whose bills are entirely or partly paid for by councils

Pair arrested on suspicion of child neglect amid urgent operation to find infant born at time of disappearance in JanuaryA couple who disappeared with their baby have not revealed the location of the infant after they were arrested on suspicion of child neglect, police have said.Constance Marten and her partner, Mark Gordon, were located by Sussex police at Stanmer Villas in Brighton on Monday night after a member of the public reported seeing them shortly before 9.30pm. Continue reading...

Suspected attack on students in city east of Tehran is latest in spate of incidents over past three monthsDozens of schoolgirls in Iran were admitted to hospital on Tuesday after a mysterious poisoning, an Iranian news agency has reported, in the latest in a spate of suspected attacks.Hundreds of cases of respiratory distress have been reported in the past three months among Iranian schoolgirls, mainly in the city of Qom, south of Tehran, with some needing hospital treatment. Continue reading...

Vaccine status of more than 400 children near Bilbao investigated amid concerns about anti-vaxxer nurseDozens of families in Spain’s Basque Country have taken legal action after a nurse was accused of faking the administration of routine child vaccinations.Local authorities opened an investigation last autumn after parents began publicly voicing concerns about the nurse’s attempts to discourage them from getting their children vaccinated during visits to a health centre in Santurtzi, about nine miles from Bilbao. Parents also raised concerns about the way she appeared to inject the vaccines. Continue reading...

Labour party chairman Julius Abure says vote has been ‘irretrievably compromised’Nigeria’s main opposition parties have called for the country’s presidential election to be scrapped, alleging that results showing the ruling party’s candidate in the lead had been manipulated.Early results have put Bola Tinubu from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) well ahead of the main opposition Peoples Democratic party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the outsider third challenger, the Labour party’s Peter Obi. Continue reading...

NUJ votes ‘overwhelmingly’ to back industrial action over programme-sharing plan for local radioBBC local staff are set to strike over changes to radio schedules after members of the journalists’ union “overwhelmingly” backed industrial action in a formal ballot.Last year, the corporation announced plans to introduce greater programme-sharing on local radio in England at times of the day when it says listening is typically lower. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Report reveals oversight panel appealed to chief of ADF and chief of army to act with ‘a sense of urgency’

Lawyers consider implications of patriarch’s testimony as they prepare to fight defamation suit brought by Lachlan Murdoch

Menopausal women could be offered paid time off as part of efforts to support wellbeing of womenMenopausal women could be offered paid time off and working environments with temperature-controlled areas under Labour plans to support the wellbeing of women in the workplace.About one in 10 women aged 45-55 left their jobs last year due to their symptoms and ultimately the lack of workplace support, according to research supported by the Fawcett Society. Continue reading...

One-off dispensation for weekend celebrations will allow venues to screen events without a TV licenceThe BBC is to suspend the licence fee as part of a one-off dispensation for the king’s coronation weekend.The move will allow venues to screen the live coronation ceremony coverage on 6 May and the coronation concert on 7 May without needing to buy a TV licence. Continue reading...

Households paying £811 a year more on grocery bills than 12 months ago, says research firm KantarA quarter of British people say they are struggling financially, up from a fifth a year ago, as grocery price inflation hits the highest level on record at 17.1%.Households who have not changed their shopping habits are spending £811 a year more on grocery bills than 12 months ago, according to the latest figures from the market research firm Kantar, which said it was a year since grocery inflation had topped 4%. Continue reading...