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The fiendish mystery set by Observer crossword compiler Torquemada in the 1930s has only been cracked by four people to date. Can machines do better?Crowdfunding publisher Unbound has partnered with an AI platform to challenge people to use artificial intelligence to solve Cain’s Jawbone, a literary puzzle that has only ever been cracked by four people since it was published in the 1930s.Cain’s Jawbone is a novel by Edward Powys Mathers, who was then the Observer’s cryptic crossword compiler. It’s a murder mystery in which six people die, but it can only be solved if readers rearrange its 100 pages in the correct order. Unbound said the pages could be sorted to reveal the six victims and their respective murderers “through logic and intelligent reading”. Continue reading...

Late, inadequate and overbooked trains are costing the regional economy half a billion pounds a yearBosses of northern train operators conceded their companies are letting passengers and businesses down when they appeared before a parliamentary hearing examining this year’s rail “meltdown” in northern England.Thousands of trains have been cancelled at short notice in recent months and if passengers do get a service it has often been unbearably crowded, unduly expensive or both. Continue reading...

Competition and Markets Authority gathering evidence after drug firms accused of inflating pricesA watchdog has launched an investigation into the sharp rise in prices of antibiotics after a surge in the number of children falling ill with strep A.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Wednesday it had started an inquiry and was gathering evidence after prices soared over the past fortnight. Continue reading...

Peter Hunter and David Smith jailed in 2020 in first successful prosecution related to large-scale ticket fraudTwo ticket touts who were jailed for fraud related to large-scale ticket reselling have been ordered to pay £6.2m in a confiscation order.Peter Hunter, 53, and David Smith, 68, were sentenced to prison in February 2020 after a three-month trial in which the married couple were found guilty of fraudulent trading and possessing an article for fraud. Continue reading...

Fears in retail and hospitality sectors that severe drop in footfall could push some firms over the edgeTrain strikes, a cold snap and snowy conditions have kept workers and shoppers from city centres this week, emptying out high streets and office buildings, figures show.Footfall on Britain’s high streets and at shopping centres plunged on Tuesday morning as consumers stayed at home, according to research by the retail data analysts Springboard. Continue reading...

Consular staff wanted for questioning by police over beating up of activists recalled to BeijingChina’s consul general and five other diplomats have returned home and will escape questioning by Manchester police for their role in the beating up of a pro-Hong Kong democracy demonstrator outside the consulate in the city on 16 October.The Chinese, citing diplomatic immunity, decided to recall the diplomats after the UK Foreign Office gave the embassy a week to make the diplomats available for questioning by British police. Continue reading...

Formal complaints from civil servants mean deputy PM is under investigation for eight separate alleged incidents

Crime writer offers reward for return of computer, thought to have fallen out of bag during wintry weatherIt’s truly a novelist’s worst nightmare – losing a manuscript of a new book or work-in-progress.Now crime writer Ann Cleeves is experiencing just that – the award-winning novelist is appealing for help after losing a laptop containing the draft of half her next book in a blizzard in Shetland. Continue reading...

Labour leader accuses PM of putting political considerations above patient safety by refusing to discuss pay rises

Former England cricketer still in hospital after high-speed crash while filming latest series of BBC showAndrew “Freddie” Flintoff’s son has said his father was “lucky to be alive” following a car crash during the filming the latest series of the BBC’s Top Gear show.The former England cricketer received medical care at the scene before being airlifted to a hospital on Tuesday after a high-speed crash at a Surrey aerodrome. The BBC said he was still in hospital but that his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening. Continue reading...

Emergency crews arrive from mainland Scotland and Orkney after snowstorm downs electricity linesMore than 100 engineers are being sent to Shetland after heavy snowstorms cut power to thousands of homes, many of which face being without electricity until the end of this week.A major incident has been declared, with householders urged to remain at home after heavy loads of ice and snow brought down electricity lines to nearly 4,000 homes earlier this week. Continue reading...

Cadoxton primary installs washing machines and dryer after noticing some pupils’ clothes were not cleanA primary school in a Welsh seaside town has opened an on-site laundry and is asking parents and other users to pay only what they can afford, to help them in the cost of living crisis.Two washing machines, a tumble dryer and washing lines have been installed in a converted shipping container at Cadoxton primary in Barry, south Wales. Continue reading...

Major search and rescue operation launched after incident off Kent coast

Ambulance service blames demand, staff sickness, and patient handover times for elderly man being taken to hospital on plankThe health board for the area where an 89-year-old man was taken to hospital strapped to a plank because no ambulances were available has said the flow of patients through its hospitals is blocked because hundreds of medically fit people have nowhere safe to be discharged to.They have urged people to stay away from emergency departments unless their need is dire. Continue reading...

Britain continues to struggle in freezing conditions, with power on Scottish islands not expected to be fully restored until end of weekThousands have been without power in Shetland for a second night as Britain’s infrastructure continues to struggle with sub-zero temperatures.The Met Office has extended a yellow warning for snow and ice to Friday in northern Scotland and north-east England. Continue reading...

Crossbenchers express surprise at lack of direct lobbying from resource companies who may have been blindsided by ‘reasonable pricing’ test

Exclusive: Ex-Tory who defected to Labour says constituents opened his eyes to hardship faced by claimantsChristian Wakeford will apologise on Wednesday for previously claiming asylum seekers “have a shopping trolley as to what they want as economic migrants” when he was a Conservative MP.The MP for Bury South crossed the floor to Labour earlier this year, criticising the Tory government’s policies for only worsening his constituents’ struggles . He said two of his constituents had opened his eyes to the difficulties many asylum seekers faced when arriving in the UK. Continue reading...

Former prime minister tells royal commission that public servants had ‘obligation and duty’ to disclose issues with debt recovery plan

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Indonesian authorities investigating death of West Australian university student Niamh Finneran Loader ‘following medical procedure’

Samantha Ratnam says Greens will work with Labor toward ‘progressive reform’ after her party quadruples upper house seats

Exclusive: In her first interview since being released from prison, Coco recalls how fires three years ago sparked her epiphany

Scheme will make 1,000 tickets available every week to those who cannot afford to pay for cultural activitiesUnsold theatre tickets are to be given to people struggling with the cost of living in a cultural variation on food banks.A London scheme, to be launched in the new year, will make about 1,000 tickets available each week to those who cannot afford to pay for cultural activities. Continue reading...

Exclusive: campaigners criticise failure to fill role after Dame Vera Baird’s departureDominic Raab blocked the reappointment of the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales earlier this year and is not expected to find a replacement for months, the Guardian can disclose.Victims’ groups said the lack of a commissioner meant critical legislation was passing through parliament without an independent tsar, in effect silencing victims and limiting scrutiny. Continue reading...

Nine’s barrister says cruise worker Mark Gillespie was still living with his relatives and Oscar the dog when he returned to Australia for vacations

Skulls’ removal from island in 1890s was colonial-era violation, say campaignersUnder cover of darkness in 1890, two headhunters climbed over a gate and crept into a graveyard on Inishbofin, a remote County Galway island on Ireland’s Atlantic coast. In the ruins of a medieval monastery they found dozens of skulls. They selected 13.“When the coast was clear we put our spoils in the sack and cautiously made our way back to the road,” Alfred Haddon later wrote in his diary. He and his accomplice, Andrew Dixon, smuggled the skulls on to a boat and sailed away. Continue reading...

New relationship caused rift in the family, including with father who was pastor at a conservative independent church

Motels used to temporarily house homeless people were found to often be unclean and unsafeNew Zealand’s emergency housing system that temporarily places homeless people in motel units is breaching human rights, with residents reporting filthy and unsafe environments, an inquiry has found.The report released on Wednesday by the Human Rights Commission included what it called, “distressing” testimonies from those living in emergency housing. It said that while the intent to house people was good, the system was in some cases exacerbating problems and trauma. Continue reading...

Rapper takes stand in case against Canadian-born musician, emotionally recounting night when she was shotMegan Thee Stallion delivered emotional testimony on Tuesday in the trial of Tory Lanez, the fellow musician and former friend who allegedly shot her following a party in Los Angeles.The Texas-born rapper, whose real name is Megan Pete, shared the most in-depth account yet about the moment that led to the shooting in 2020. She described how the attack left her with constant pain in her feet and said the reliving the incident in the public eye had been “torture”. Continue reading...

US rapper cancels Brisbane gig hours before she was due on stage, citing a past experience having a bottle thrown at her

The 42-year-old accused of the murder is the children’s mother, and was extradited from South Korea in NovemberA woman charged with the murder of two children whose bodies were found in suitcases in New Zealand has pleaded not guilty to the charges.The 42-year-old woman accused of their murder is the children’s mother, and was extradited from South Korea on murder charges in late November. Continue reading...

Casey Jenkins is suing national arts body for withdrawing funding for performance exhibition Immaculate in 2020

Colleen Taylor tells royal commission that staff were told ‘not to interrogate’ injustices facing welfare recipients

Eleanor Williams tells jury she was given drugs and alcohol at ‘parties’ where she was paid for sexA woman accused of lying about being raped and trafficked by an Asian grooming gang claimed she was forced to get engaged to one of her abusers to help him get a visa.Eleanor Williams, 22, said the man, Muhmun, was from Bangladesh and that they met in her home town of Barrow when she was a teenager. She told a jury at Preston crown court that he was one of numerous Asian men who plied her with drugs and alcohol and paid her for sex at “parties”, which the prosecution say never took place. Continue reading...

The 16-year-old was shot in the head after reportedly driving from service station without paying for 20 euros of petrolThousands of protesters have marched through Thessaloniki and Athens, as Roma community leaders appealed for calm after the death of a teenager shot in the head last week during a police chase.The 16-year-old boy, who has not been officially named, died on Tuesday, eight days after he was shot by a police motorcyclist after reportedly driving away from a service station without paying for 20 euros of petrol. Continue reading...

Move comes after cross-party push and means major housebuilders could be obliged to pay towards new facilitiesMinisters have backed down in the face of a cross-party push for childcare to be treated as an infrastructure issue like schools, GPs and public transport, meaning major housebuilders could be obliged to pay towards new childcare facilities.The campaign was led by the Labour MP Stella Creasy, who argued that the issue of new homes being built without accompanying childcare was exacerbating a national shortfall in provision that has resulted in prices rising to levels unaffordable for many parents. Continue reading...

Fire service says it handed over reported gas leak to Island Energy seven hours before explosionJersey’s energy company is facing questions over the deaths of up to nine people after the island’s fire chief said his officers handed over a reported gas leak to the firm seven hours before a block of flats blew up.Paul Brown, Jersey’s chief fire officer, said his service attended the Haut du Mont flats in St Helier on Friday evening at 8.36pm, and responsibility for the case was passed to Island Energy by 9.01pm. Continue reading...

Unmentioned in Netflix series is how UK media figures could be dragged into legal proceedingsOn the surface, there is the fight you can see.With Buckingham Palace bracing itself for a second tranche of the Harry and Meghan documentary on Thursday, Britain’s tabloid media have warned of the threat the renegade royals pose to the monarchy. Continue reading...

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Rail bosses and unions also signal they will not budge, as RMT’s Mick Lynch says there is ‘no deal in sight’

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Result boosts president’s effort to win second term as leader of the ruling African National CongressSouth Africa’s parliament on Tuesday voted against launching an impeachment process against embattled president Cyril Ramaphosa, boosting the veteran politician’s effort to win a second term as leader of the ruling African National Congress at a key elective conference which opens later this week.The motion to impeach Ramaphosa followed a report by an independent panel appointed by parliament that accused the veteran politician of serious misconduct after the theft from his private game ranch of somewhere between $500,000 (£410,000) and $5m in cash almost three years ago. Continue reading...

Just 7% of people working in sector identify as people of colour, compared with 14% in workforce at largeHalf as many people from ethnic minorities work in the environment charity sector in the UK as do proportionally across the general workforce, new research has found.Just 7% of people working across environmental charities identified as people of colour, compared with 14% in the workforce at large, according to the data from the Racial Action for the Climate Emergency (Race) report campaign. Continue reading...

Energy supplier to compensate 25,000 customers classed as vulnerable who use prepayment metersUtilita Energy is to pay out £830,000 after the regulator Ofgem raised concerns over its support of households on prepayment meters.Ofgem said the energy supplier would hand out compensation to 25,000 of its customers who had been potentially affected, including those with medical issues and those classed as vulnerable. Continue reading...

Concerns raised over pharmacists’ losses as market price increases outpace reimbursement pricesThe cost of antibiotics used to treat infections including strep A have risen more than tenfold in the UK in recent weeks, pharmacists have said, with many facing continued difficulties in sourcing supplies.Cases of scarlet fever and strep A have increased earlier in the season than usual: last Thursday the UK Health Security Agency said that since mid-September there had been 60 deaths from invasive strep A infections across all age groups in England, including 13 children. Continue reading...

Bear found guilty of sharing private content and voyeurism over CCTV footage of him with ex-girlfriend Georgia HarrisonReality TV star Stephen Bear has been found guilty of sharing a sex tape showing him with ex-girlfriend Georgia Harrison after the recording emerged on the website OnlyFans.

EU reaches in-principle deal to send €18bn in further aid to Ukraine; freed Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout joins Russian ultranationalist party

Prosecutors request more time to study case of David Hunter, who admits smothering his partnerA court in Cyprus has adjourned the trial of a Briton, accused of murdering his cancer-stricken wife, for an eighth time, highlighting the sensitivity that the case has elicited in a country that continues to outlaw euthanasia.A judge sitting in the south-western town of Paphos delayed the hearing for a week after the prosecutor told the tribunal that the attorney general, the island’s top legal officer, required more time to study the file. Continue reading...

Candice Servatius, an evangelical Protestant, claimed ceremony infringes on her children’s religious freedomsA Canadian court has again rejected claims from a mother that Indigenous cultural events at her children’s school infringed on their religious freedoms, ordering her to pay costs after revelations her lawsuit was secretly funded by a Christian activist organization.Candice Servatius, an evangelical Protestant, complained in 2016 after an Elder performed a smudging demonstration at her children’s school in the western British Columbia town of Port Alberni. A hoop dancer also said a prayer while performing at a school assembly. Continue reading...

Ukraine president calls for more infrastructure aid to counter Putin’s ‘blackout and energy terror’