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Exclusive: Australia’s foreign and defence ministers to join French counterparts for ‘2+2’ meeting, the first since relations cooled in 2021 over pact with US and UK

Deaths in the Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan due to kidney injury associated with contaminated medicines, the WHO saidThe World Health Organization has called for “immediate and concerted action” to protect children from contaminated medicines after a spate of child deaths linked to cough syrups last year.In 2022, more than 300 children - mainly aged under 5 - in the Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan died of acute kidney injury, in deaths that were associated with contaminated medicines, the WHO said in a statement on Monday. Continue reading...

Most praised New Zealand’s outgoing prime minister for her handling of crises, while others criticised her domestic policy recordJacinda Ardern’s legacy has divided reader opinion. While many described the outgoing New Zealand prime minister as “inspirational” and praised her ability to manage a crisis, some responses also revealed anger at her handling of the Covid response and criticism for failure to deliver on promises.Below is a selection of reader comments conveying the range of reactions when we asked the question: how will you remember Jacinda Ardern’s time as New Zealand PM. Continue reading...

Archbishops of Canterbury and York say ‘national care covenant’ needed with stronger role for stateEngland’s most senior church leaders want tax rises to fund a new NHS-style universal social care system that could cost an extra £15bn a year.In a challenge to the government to overhaul support for 1 million elderly and disabled people, the archbishops of Canterbury and York have called for a “national care covenant” with a stronger role for the state and citizens delivering more care. Continue reading...

Watchdog report uncovers series of failings in supervision of Jordan McSweeney, who murdered the law graduate last yearMinisters and the probation service have been accused of having “blood on their hands” after a watchdog uncovered failings which left a violent, woman-hating racist free to murder the law graduate Zara Aleena.Jordan McSweeney should have been seen by probation officers as a high-risk offender with a long history of misogynistic and racially aggravated incidents and recalled to prison after missing appointments, the chief inspector of probation, Justin Russell, said. Continue reading...

Richest have gained similar amount over same period, reflecting differing impacts of inflationThe UK’s least affluent households have almost £40 a month less spare cash than they did a year ago while the richest have gained a similar sum in the same period, according to figures exposing how inflation has hit the poorest the hardest.The wealthiest 20% of households had £36 a month more in discretionary income in December compared with a year before, as they enjoyed record earnings growth which offset rising energy and food bills, analysts at Retail Economics found. Continue reading...

Stalled progress on the city’s second safe-injecting facility is heaping pressure on community health professionals

Shadow foreign secretary to mark out diplomatic mission of a future Labour government in landmark speechLabour will make closer cooperation with Europe across security, trade and foreign policy a central plank of a plan to reconnect “a tarnished UK” with its closest allies, David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, will say in a landmark speech designed to mark out the diplomatic mission of a future Labour government.Addressing the thinktank Chatham House on Tuesday, he will say the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not been given a clear set of goals post-Brexit. “Ideological leadership and reckless choices have left Britain increasingly disconnected from its closest allies, an economy in crisis, and a tarnished international reputation.” Continue reading...

Police chief says Rubens Villar Coelho, whose nickname is Colômbia, ordered the murders of the British journalist and Brazilian Indigenous expertBrazilian police have named the alleged mastermind behind the murders of the British journalist Dom Phillips and the Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in the Amazon last year.Rubens Villar Coelho, whose nickname is Colômbia, was first arrested on separate charges last July – one month after the two men were murdered in the Javari valley region of the Amazon. He was released in October but was rearrested last month for breaking his bail terms. Continue reading...

That former PM secretly secured a loan of up to £800k no surprise as financial reliance on others stretches back many yearsBoris Johnson is deeply protective of his personal life – but one thing almost universally acknowledged by those who know him is that he has a tricky relationship with money.It came as little surprise to them, therefore, that he was alleged to have secretly secured an up to £800,000 loan guarantee while prime minister. Continue reading...

Labour MP asks whether Zahawi statement in the summer was untrue, with Cabinet Office minister saying he does not know the answerNadhim Zahawi, the Conservative party chair, has welcomed the decision by Rishi Sunak to ask the No 10 ethics adviser to investigate his case. “I am confident I acted properly throughout,” Zahawi said.Zahawi seems to be using a narrow definition of “properly”. In the statement he issued yesterday, he accepted that his original decision not to pay the tax that HM Revenue and Customs subsequently concluded he should have paid was down to a careless error. He said:Following discussions with HMRC, they agreed that my father was entitled to founder shares in YouGov, though they disagreed about the exact allocation. They concluded that this was a ‘careless and not deliberate’ error.Integrity and accountability is really important to me and clearly in this case there are questions that need answering …That’s why the independent adviser has been asked to fully investigate this matter and provide advice to me on Nadhim Zahawi’s compliance with the ministerial code, and on the basis of that we’ll decide on the appropriate next steps. Continue reading...

Unite leader said joint action from nurses and ambulance staff on 6 February would be ‘very bad day for the NHS’Health union leaders have urged Rishi Sunak to resolve the deepening NHS pay dispute in the next two weeks to stop the biggest strike in the service’s history going ahead on 6 February.They made their plea as about 16,000 paramedics, call handlers and other ambulance staff in England held the latest stoppage on Monday in their campaign against ministers’ imposition of a below-inflation £1,400 pay rise. Continue reading...

Infrastructure deputy Vasyl Lozinskyi detained after allegedly siphoning money from winter aid budgetUkraine’s deputy infrastructure minister, Vasyl Lozinskyi, has been detained and dismissed from his post for allegedly stealing $400,000 (£320,000) intended for purchasing aid, including generators, according to Ukraine’s state anti-corruption detectives and prosecutors.After the news emerged, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, vowed that the old ways of corruption would not return to Ukraine.

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Trial begins in Brooklyn court for Genaro García Luna, who is accused of taking ‘millions of dollars of bribes’ to protect cartelThe trial of a former top Mexican law enforcement official got underway in a Brooklyn court on Monday, one of the most significant drug trafficking cases since the prosecution of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán more than four years ago.Genaro García Luna, who ran Mexico’s version of the FBI before being appointed to lead the country’s security ministry – and therefore its war on drug trafficking groups – is accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for granting protection to the violent Sinaloa cartel. Continue reading...

Rosie Duffield had said she felt ostracised by the party because of her views on gender reformsThe Labour party must have “respect and tolerance” in the face of differing opinions on gender, Keir Starmer has said after Rosie Duffield’s claim she felt ostracised by the party because of her views.Duffield last week accused male party colleagues of trying to shout her down in the Commons when she spoke to back the government’s move to block gender reforms proposed in Scotland. Continue reading...

Female suspect arrested on suspicion of murder and robbery after victim found in Stroud car park on Sunday morningA woman has been arrested after a man was attacked and killed in the suspected robbery of his mobility scooter.The victim, believed to be in his 60s, was found unresponsive in the car park of a Tesco superstore in Stroud shortly before 6am on Sunday. Continue reading...

Seven-time world champion says he pulled out of tournaments to take part in ITV singing competitionThe seven-time snooker world champion Stephen Hendry has said he was fined by the sport’s governing body over absences due to his appearance on The Masked Singer.The 54-year-old was revealed on Saturday as the character Rubbish on the ITV show in which singers battle it out with their identity hidden by a mask. Continue reading...

PM Mateusz Morawiecki says Poland will ask for Germany’s go-ahead but answer is of ‘secondary importance’

Former Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam tried to claim £30,000 using falsified invoices, trial hearsA former MP accused of submitting fraudulent expense claims to parliament was “heavily addicted to cocaine” and living beyond his means, a court has heard.Jared O’Mara is accused of committing eight counts of “brazen” fraud while he was Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam. It is also alleged he tried to claim about £30,000 of taxpayers money using false invoices for organisations that did not exist. Continue reading...

Alleged plan to abduct health minister revealed six weeks after German aristocrat accused of separate coup attemptFive Germans have been charged with treason over an alleged far-right plot to overthrow the government that included plans to abduct the health minister, prosecutors have announced.The four men and a woman were arrested in recent months over the plot, with the health minister, Karl Lauterbach – unpopular among far-right groups because of anti-Covid measures – confirming he was targeted. Continue reading...

Jeremy Hunt expected to confirm support for British Steel and Tata to employ lower-emissions technologyThe companies running Britain’s four remaining steel blastfurnaces have been offered £600m in government support to help fund the switch from coal and invest in lower-emissions technology.The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is expected to confirm £300m each for British Steel and Tata Steel in an announcement as soon as this week, although the timing will depend on them accepting the offers. The BBC first reported the government offer to both companies. Continue reading...

Fumio Kishida says country may be unable to function if birthrate does not riseJapan’s low birthrate and ageing population pose an urgent risk to society, the country’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has said, as he pledged to address the issue by establishing a new government agency.Birthrates are declining in many developed countries, but in Japan the issue is particularly acute because it has the world’s second highest proportion of people aged 65 and over, after the tiny state of Monaco, according to World Bank data. Continue reading...

Preliminary findings appear to reject claims blast or collision may have caused deadly sinking in 1994The 1994 Estonia ferry disaster that claimed the lives of 852 people was caused by a faulty bow door rather than by a collision or explosion, according to the preliminary findings of an intergovernmental investigation.Estonian, Finnish and Swedish investigators concluded (pdf) on Monday that Europe’s worst peacetime maritime disaster since the second world war happened after the roll-on, roll-off ferry’s bow shield was wrenched off in heavy seas. Continue reading...

Survey finds women targeted by online harassment, together with male ‘backlash’ towards #MeTooSexism remains at “alarming” levels in France in all areas, according to an official report that found the situation is getting worse, particularly for younger women.Women are being targeted by new forms of harassment including online violence, verbal abuse on social media and pornography with “barbaric” content, it said. Continue reading...

Teddy Hobbs, four, from Somerset, is UK’s youngest member of high-IQ-score clubA boy who taught himself to read and count – including in Mandarin – while playing on his tablet has become the UK’s youngest member of Mensa.Teddy Hobbs, four, of Portishead, Somerset, has become the youngest member of the high-IQ-score club after his parents asked health visitors to assess him before he starts school. Continue reading...

Case brought by two creative writing lecturers will draw on landmark 2021 supreme court gig economy rulingTwo academics are suing Oxford University for employing them as gig economy workers in a case which draws on the landmark ruling that gave Uber drivers the right to paid holidays and a pension.The two lecturers were employed on fixed-term “personal services” contracts to teach on Oxford’s creative writing course for 15 years, but these were not renewed in 2022. Continue reading...

US government claims Daniel Duggan will have to forfeit assets linked to alleged offences of arms trafficking and money laundering

Exclusive: While committed to an increase in defence spending, Labor’s Richard Marles refuses to rule out building first nuclear-powered submarines offshore

Prime minister’s lowest result since last August doesn’t necessarily mean the end of government’s post-election honeymoon

Reported death toll surges to 72,000 after zero-Covid restrictions lifted; some experts estimate 1m deathsAbout 80% of China’s population has been infected with Covid-19 since restrictions were lifted in early December, Chinese health authorities have said.The figure, which equates to about 1.2 billion people, prompted some pandemic experts to estimate that more than 1 million may have died – far more than the government’s official tally of about 72,000. Continue reading...

Ally signals Tory chair is digging in and ‘absolutely not resigning’ over tax row despite cross-party calls

Police searching for driver of vehicle after four people were taken to hospital and two treated at sceneSix people have been injured after being hit by a car in north London on Sunday, police have said.Officers are searching for the driver of the vehicle after four people were taken to hospital and two were treated at the scene. None of the six was thought to have life-threatening injuries. Continue reading...

Power ministry reports second ‘major breakdown’ of grid in last three monthsTens of millions of people in Pakistan have been left without electricity as the power ministry reported a second “major breakdown” of the national grid in three months.Factories, hospitals and schools across the country were without power for hours on Monday after a voltage fluctuation in the grid occurred between the cities of Jamshoro and Dadu in southern Sindh province, power minister Khurram Dastgir said. Continue reading...

Museum of London Docklands appeals for missing pieces whose influential creators have been overlookedWanted: David Bowie’s dress, Greta Garbo’s hats and the shirts worn by Sean Connery in his first role as James Bond.They are iconic items of 20th-century clothing – but their whereabouts is unknown. Now the Museum of London Docklands has made a public appeal for help locating these and other garments before a big exhibition scheduled for later this year. Continue reading...

Alarm raised on Sunday after man went missing from offshore installation south-east of AberdeenRescuers are searching for a man missing from an offshore installation off the coast of Scotland.The operation was launched after the alarm was raised at about 9pm on Sunday. Continue reading...

Ofgem could look to take legal action if companies are not taking proper care of vulnerable householdsEnergy companies are to be investigated by the regulator Ofgem after the number of households struggling with their bills being forced on to prepayment meters has increased sharply.Ofgem could consider taking legal action if it determines that the rise in the number of homes being forced on to prepayment meters is proven to show companies are not taking proper due care of vulnerable households. Continue reading...

Exclusive: NHS England data show 4.6m or so women still unscreened or behind with tests, for disease diagnosed in 3,200 annually in UKRecord numbers of women are not being screened for cervical cancer, official figures show, as a leading charity urged ministers to commit to eliminating the disease.Cervical cancer is the 14th most common cancer among women in the UK. About 3,200 women are diagnosed with it each year, of whom more than a quarter die. Continue reading...

Chris Hipkins promises a ‘solid’ government that will focus on bread-and-butter issues, in the wake of the international stardom of Jacinda ArdernJacinda Ardern has a natural presence most politicians would sacrifice a kidney for.She spoke like a normal person most of the time, but could switch into moving rhetoric at the exact points it was needed – like when a terrorist carried out a mass murder, a global pandemic shut the world down, or at a normal old election rally. Continue reading...

Folk-rock pioneer ‘writing, playing, singing his ass off and preparing a fantastic show’ in his final days, says guitarist Steve PostellDavid Crosby was working on a new album and planning to tour again until the day he died, according to musicians who worked with the folk-rock pioneer in his final days.The founding member of the Byrds, and Crosby, Stills and Nash died last week at the age of 81. But other artists who were working with Crosby on new music told Variety that his death had came as a shock, as he’d been rehearsing for a new tour and “seemed practically giddy” about new songs he was working on. Continue reading...

French law enforcement facing renewed accusations of excessive force in aftermath of widespread protests against pension reformDoctors had to amputate the testicle of a young man who got clubbed in the groin by a police officer during demonstrations in Paris last week, according the man’s lawyer.Images and footage from Thursday’s demonstrations circulating online show a policeman hitting a man on the ground between the legs, and then leaving. The man is seen holding a camera. Continue reading...

Annalena Baerbock makes clearest signal yet that European allies could deliver German-made hardwareGermany would not “stand in the way” of Poland sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine, foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has said, in what appeared to be the clearest signal yet from Berlin that European allies could deliver the German-made hardware.Asked in an interview with French television station LCI what would happen if Poland sent its Leopard 2 tanks without German approval, Baerbock replied through a translator: “For the moment the question has not been asked, but if we were asked we would not stand in the way.” Continue reading...

Angela Rayner says Rishi Sunak should come clean about any concerns raised with No 10 about ex-chancellor and HMRC penaltyNadhim Zahawi’s political future appeared under increasing threat on Sunday night, after Labour pushed hard for answers about his tax issues and government colleagues offered little support for his plight.After a weekend dominated by questions over the Conservative party chair’s tax position, Labour signalled its intention to pin the controversy on to Rishi Sunak, demanding the prime minister explain if he knew about the issue when he appointed Zahawi to his cabinet. Continue reading...

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa urges world to keep ‘eyes on’ President Mnangagwa amid fears of repression this summerThe leader of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party has warned of violence and repression by the ruling Zanu-PF party to ensure victory in elections scheduled for later this year.In an interview with the Observer, Nelson Chamisa, president of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), called on the international community to have “eyes on” the struggling southern African country despite other crises around the world and to “offer solidarity” to those fighting for change there. Continue reading...

Move follows bishops’ refusal to back gay marriage while blessings to be on voluntary basis for clergySandi Toksvig has said she will be meeting the archbishop of Canterbury for coffee, after bishops this week refused to back gay marriage but said civil partnerships could be blessed in church.“Quick update – I will be meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury for a long promised coffee next week,” the broadcaster and author, who is gay, tweeted on Saturday. Continue reading...

Businesswoman one of four people charged after investigation into trafficking and immigration offencesStagecoach co-founder Dame Ann Gloag has said she “strongly disputes the malicious allegations” made against her after being charged with human trafficking offences.Her husband, David McCleary, and two other members of their family – understood to be her stepdaughter and daughter-in-law, Sarah Gloag, 47, and her son-in-law, Paul McNeil – have also been charged. Continue reading...

Reports Richard Sharp helped ex-PM arrange guarantee on £800,000 loan before he was recommended for jobLabour is calling for an investigation after claims that the BBC chair helped Boris Johnson arrange a guarantee on a loan of up to £800,000 weeks before he was recommended for the job by the then prime minister.The party has written to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, after a report in the Sunday Times that Tory donor Richard Sharp was involved in talks about financing Johnson when he found himself in financial difficulty in late 2020. Continue reading...

The 58-year-old man was treated in hospital after the incident, which took place on 4 February last year

Tarik Namik fled UK before sentencing in December but detained after returning to Manchester airportThe head of a Kurdish people-smuggling ring has been arrested after going on the run before his sentencing, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.Tarik Namik, 45, from Oldham, failed to show up at Manchester crown court and was given an eight-year jail term in his absence on 9 December. Continue reading...

Report finds force missed opportunities to protect Sana Muhammed, who was shot with crossbowThe Metropolitan police is facing renewed criticism after a report found that officers missed opportunities to protect a woman from her ex-husband in the years before he killed her with a crossbow.Sana Muhammad, 35, was eight months pregnant when Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo burst into her home in east London and shot an arrow into her stomach as she tried to flee. Continue reading...