Foragers in central region have been repeatedly targeted by Islamist group, says UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human RightsAt least 36 civilians were killed on Friday in an attack in central Syria that was blamed on Islamic State, a war monitor said.The jihadist group “killed 36 people Friday while they were truffle hunting in Sokhna in the Palmyra region”, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Continue reading...

PC Fabian Aguilar-Delgado denies sexual assault after DNA found on woman who requested police supportA Metropolitan police officer accused of sexually assaulting a woman while on duty has told a court his DNA may have ended up on her breast after she shook his sweaty hand.PC Fabian Aguilar-Delgado has been accused of putting a hand down the woman’s top and sucking on her breast after offering to search her house for her abusive ex-partner. Continue reading...

How Iran smuggled drones into Russia; Moscow’s forces close in on Bakhmut; the defenders of VuhledarUkrainian forces reportedly blew up a bridge near the eastern city of Bakhmut, in a sign they may have been planning to retreat from the area, which would give Russia a significant, symbolic boost ahead of the first anniversary of the war, Isobel Koshiw reported. Continue reading...

Government announces three-month continuation of fare initially introduced during Covid lockdownsThe government has extended a £2 cap on local bus fares in England for another three months, amid concerns that operators would be forced to slash the number of routes on offer without the subsidy.The fare cap, introduced initially from January to March, will continue to run from 1 April to 30 June, the Department for Transport said on Friday. Continue reading...

Guitarist pleads with Twitter owner after one of his tweets carried a sensitive content warningThe Kinks’ Dave Davies has appealed to Elon Musk to stop putting content warnings on posts related to the band.The lead guitarist and co-founder of the band pleaded with the Twitter owner after one of Davies’s tweets promoting a video carried a sensitive content warning, thought to be because of the band’s name. Continue reading...

Leo Varadkar comments come after DUP says ‘progress made but more work needed’ in talks with UK PM Rishi SunakLabour will offer Rishi Sunak the additional votes he needs to get a Northern Ireland protocol deal through parliament, the shadow justice secretary has said.Steve Reed told reporters:We’ll wait and see what the government is coming forward with. It’s very important for everybody in the United Kingdom that this problem is resolved. It’s a problem that is of this government’s own making, of course.He added:We have got the prime minister today in Northern Ireland, we hope with a deal to resolve the issues around the Northern Ireland protocol.What we do not want to happen is that that self-same prime minister then rips up the Human Rights Act, which underpins the Good Friday agreement, because if he puts peace in Northern Ireland in peril in that way, that is an act of unforgivable irresponsibility for which you would never be forgiven. Continue reading...

Bulgarian interior ministry says vehicle was transporting timber with people hidden in a compartmentAt least 18 people, including a child, have been found dead in Bulgaria in an abandoned truck near the capital Sofia, officials said.The truck was transporting timber and carrying illegal migrants hidden in a compartment, the country’s interior ministry said on Friday, adding it was found near the village of Lokorsko. Continue reading...

Shaye Groves, 27, convicted of stabbing Frankie Fitzgerald 17 times at her home in Hampshire last yearA serial killer-obsessed woman has been found guilty of the murder of her on-off boyfriend who she stabbed to death after using tips from true crime documentaries to plan her alibi.Shaye Groves, 27, was convicted at Winchester crown court of slitting the throat of Frankie Fitzgerald, 25, before stabbing him 17 times in the chest at her home in Havant, Hampshire, in July last year after trying to portray herself as his victim. Continue reading...

Tensions mount at Dunstable meeting as Hope Not Hate flags five far-right affiliated demonstrations planned this weekendThe anger was palpable as hundreds of Dunstable residents filed into the town’s historic Priory church on Thursday evening.There was a meeting to air concerns about the recent arrival of asylum seekers to a popular hotel across the road, but the subjects of the assembly were too terrified to attend and defend themselves. Continue reading...

Despite prospect of breakthrough pitfalls remain, from getting DUP onside to appeasing Tory hardlinersRishi Sunak is embarking on the highest-stakes talks of his premiership as he tries to tie up a deal on post-Brexit trade in Northern Ireland that satisfies leaders there and across Europe, as well as the hardliners in his own party.But despite the prospect of a breakthrough between Downing Street and Brussels, there are still plenty of potential pitfalls. These are the key political hurdles the prime minister will have to clear if he wants to finally “get Brexit done”, rated by difficulty. Continue reading...

Estate agent, once at the vanguard of online property sales, has seen its value fall since 2018Purplebricks has put a new asset on the market: itself. The online estate agent issued a profit warning and said a strategic review could result in the sale of the company.The company said on Friday its efforts to cut costs had “involved more disruption to the sales field than originally envisaged”, adding £1.2m in costs and pushing down the number of people who signed up to sell their houses using the website. Continue reading...

The city’s biggest ‘occasion’ since the 2000 Olympics will be a 17-day program celebrating equality

Security conference seen as a key test of west’s resolve to fight out a prolonged, expensive war

Australia’s former PM urges new government to apply sanctions amid questions why he stopped short of taking such action when in power

Charity’s report highlights scale of unmet support need owing to huge shortfalls in workforceHundreds of thousands of older people in England are having to endure chronic pain, anxiety and unmet support needs owing to the worsening shortage of social care staff and care home beds.Age UK has said older people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart failure are increasingly struggling with living in their own homes because of a lack of help with everyday tasks such as getting out of bed, dressing and eating. Continue reading...

There is a sense of pride about the departing first minister in Govanhill, Glasgow, although some are less effusiveUnder sunless skies on Thursday, the residents of Nicola Sturgeon’s constituency and the community activists who have worked with her since she became an MSP were reeling from her shock announcement that she is standing down as first minister.At Larkfield community centre in Govanhill, Glasgow, where Sturgeon holds a monthly surgery, Anne Marie Miller said the resignation of Scotland’s longest-serving and only female first minister was still hard to take in. “It was a real shock,” says the former Labour councillor. “When she came in last Friday there was no hint.” Continue reading...

Visit suggests announcement of UK-EU solution on Northern Ireland could come as early as FridayRishi Sunak arrived in Belfast on Thursday night, in a sign that a deal on the Northern Ireland protocol is imminent.The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, will also travel to Brussels on Friday for talks with the European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič. Continue reading...

SNP scraps conference on first minister’s proposal to use next general election as ‘de facto referendum’Senior figures in the Scottish National party believe Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation could delay their effort to stage another independence referendum by at least five years.The party’s national executive committee confirmed on Thursday evening that Sturgeon’s plan – to stage a special conference on her proposals to use the next election as a single-issue “de facto referendum” on independence – had been scrapped. Continue reading...

Family of missing woman Nicola Bulley describe her experience of brain fog, poor sleep and headachesNicola Bulley’s family have described how she experienced brain fog and poor sleep from the perimenopause and headaches from the HRT she was taking for her symptoms. What is the perimenopause and how can symptoms best be managed? Continue reading...

Boy and girl, both 15, remanded in custody after Brianna found in park near Warrington with fatal stab woundsTwo 15-year-olds will go on trial in July charged with the “extremely brutal and punishing” murder of the transgender girl Brianna Ghey, a court has been told.The boy and girl, who cannot be named because of their age, appeared via video link for a brief hearing at Liverpool crown court on Thursday. Continue reading...

Marco Goecke smeared excrement on the face of Wiebke Hüster after she posted a critical reviewA leading German ballet choreographer who smeared dog faeces into the face of a dance critic in revenge for her negative reviews of his work has been sacked.The Hanover State Opera said on Thursday that Marco Goecke’s actions last weekend in confronting Wiebke Hüster, a journalist with the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper, had been hugely damaging to its reputation. Continue reading...

‘It’s time for a whole host of other perspectives,’ says museum’s director after £15m redevelopmentAfter 18 months of closure and a £15m redevelopment, Manchester Museum will reopen to the public on Saturday.Alongside the existing collection of about 4.5m objects, from mounted mammals to botanical specimens and fossils, visitors will also be able to explore new spaces and hear diverse, untold stories. Continue reading...

Missing woman’s relatives say ‘focus has become distracted’ as police criticised for disclosing health issuesThe family of Nicola Bulley have said the speculation about her private life “needs to stop” and that the focus should be on finding the missing woman.Bulley was classed as a high-risk missing person when she disappeared from near her home in Lancashire 20 days ago. Continue reading...

Regulator investigating 40 alleged ‘Slapp’ cases, including action by firm on behalf of Russian oligarch who runs Wagner groupLaw firms have been warned by their regulator that they should not act as “hired guns” to silence critics of the wealthy, amid a spate of allegations of abusive litigation by Russian oligarchs since the invasion of Ukraine.The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which regulates solicitors in England and Wales, has revealed it is investigating 40 cases of alleged strategic lawsuits against public participation (Slapps). There are “significant concerns being raised about solicitors making meritless claims on behalf of oligarchs to stifle public discourse about corruption or money laundering”, it said in a report published this week. Continue reading...

Online retailer raises incentives for senior management after slump in share price and slow Christmas salesThe boss of Boohoo could be in line for a bonus worth as much as £50m as the fast fashion retailer seeks to overhaul its management incentive scheme and put the business back on track after a slump in its share price.The online retailer – known for its brands including Pretty Litle Thing and Nasty Gal, and for tie-ups with celebrities including Kourtney Kardashian Barker and Megan Fox – has announced a new performance plan making it easier for the senior management team to hit targets. Continue reading...

The new law is aimed at Israeli citizens who have received financial aid from the Palestinian AuthorityIsrael has passed legislation allowing the state to strip Arabs convicted of terror offences of citizenship or residency and deport them to the West Bank or Gaza Strip if they have accepted financial aid from the Palestinian Authority.The new law, which the Knesset voted for on Wednesday, is designed to discourage what Israel calls “pay for slay” stipends, which Palestinians view as assistance for the families of those imprisoned. Israel says that the longstanding practice serves as an incentive to violence. Continue reading...

Many homeowners who bought during the pandemic property boom will switch from fixed to variable rates this year

Asic raises concerns about people being charged missed payment fees or giving up essentials to afford BNPL repayments

Very warm weather conditions will extend across southern areas and linger until next week, Bureau of Meteorology says

Gallery puts chest freezer of Margate mural into storage for safe keepingA Banksy mural in Margate has been taken apart for a second time, after its first removal by the local council before being returned again.On Thursday morning, people visiting the artwork found the chest freezer, which was part of the mural, missing. This is despite it having been returned by Thanet District Council on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Shadow home secretary says party would closely check social media accounts of accused officersPolice vetting standards will be overhauled under a Labour government, including close checks of social media and immediate suspensions of officers accused of sexual offences or domestic violence, Yvette Cooper has said.The shadow home secretary said although the Home Office had powers to make changes immediately, Labour would legislate for a completely new standards framework to underpin the new rules. Continue reading...

Corbyn ally says suggestions Starmer challenged handling of issue while in shadow cabinet are ‘nonsense’

Damien De Pyle said he was forced to commit humiliating acts while suffering sleep deprivation during torture resistance training, court documents show

Crowds of retirees gather in cities of Wuhan and Dalian to protest against cuts as local government coffers feel strain of years of Covid policiesCrowds of hundreds of older people took to the streets in the Chinese cities of Wuhan and Dalian on Wednesday in escalating protests against changes to the public health insurance system.The protests were sparked by cuts to monthly allowances paid to retirees under China’s vast public health insurance system. The changes, gradually introduced since 2021, come as local government finances are strained following years of strict and costly zero-Covid policies. Continue reading...

More than 80 minutes of rare and mostly unseen video was taken during pioneering 1986 expeditionHaunting new footage of the wreck of the RMS Titanic was set to be released on Wednesday, taken during the pioneering 1986 expedition that gave the first glimpses of the doomed ocean liner since its notorious sinking on its maiden voyage more than seven decades before.The cache of more than 80 minutes of the rare and mostly unseen video comes from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) of Massachusetts, which partnered with French explorers in the discovery of the ship’s remains. Continue reading...

Britain’s largest energy supplier only recently ended its much-criticised forced installation of prepayment metersThe owner of British Gas is poised to reveal record annual profits of more than £3bn, weeks after suspending the forced installation of prepayment meters due to concerns over its treatment of vulnerable customers.Analysts expect Centrica, which owns Britain’s largest energy supplier, to post underlying profits of £3.3bn in 2022 on Thursday, up from £948m in 2021. Continue reading...

Cause of death of Duangpetch Promthep, who moved to Leicester to attend a football academy, has not been confirmedDuangpetch Promthep, one of the 12 boys from the Wild Boars football club who were rescued from a flooded Thai cave in 2018, has died in the UK.Duangpetch, who had moved to the UK to attend a college’s football academy, died on Tuesday, the Zico Foundation, which had supported his scholarship abroad, said. His death was also confirmed by Brooke House college in Leicester. Continue reading...

Survivors in Jindires feel forgotten by the world, and have particular scorn for UN’s dealings with AssadRuqaya Mohammed Mustafa stood next to her few remaining neighbours and the heaped piles they once called home and wearily welcomed the first visitors she had seen since the earthquake last week.All this time, she and the people of Jindires, in northern Syria, had been begging for help. First to dig survivors from the rubble, then to provide shelter and food in the cruel grip of winter. Continue reading...

Jake Davison should never have been allowed to have shotgun, Devon and Cornwall police tell inquestThe police force that issued the Plymouth gunman Jake Davison with a shotgun certificate has said he should never have been allowed to have the weapon and apologised in public for the first time to his victims’ families.Devon and Cornwall police also said Davison, who had a history of violence and an obsession with weapons from an early age, should “certainly” not have been given his shotgun back after it was confiscated when he attacked two children the year before the shootings. Continue reading...

Ukrainian defenders could have destroyed up to 40% of Russia’s pre-war army tank fleet but thousands of older models still in storeRussia’s army is estimated to have lost nearly 40% of its prewar fleet of tanks after nine months of fighting in Ukraine, according to a count by the specialist thinktank the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS).That rises to as much as 50% for some of the key tanks used in combat, forcing Russia to reach into its still sizeable cold war-era stocks. Ukraine’s tank numbers are estimated to have increased because of the number it has captured and supplies of Soviet-era tanks from its western allies. Continue reading...

Lost in the questioning from hostile senators was much insight into why the Reserve Bank wants to keep raising rates

The widely varying levels of bulk billing across Australia suggest diverse solutions may be needed to restore affordable GP services

Police say they have been ‘inundated’ with false information about missing 45-year-oldPolice have said there is still no evidence of crime in the case of Nicola Bulley, who went missing near her home in Lancashire nearly three weeks ago, but they are being “inundated with false information, accusations and rumours”.Bulley was last seen in St Michael’s on Wyre, not far from her home in Inskip, Lancashire, on the morning of 27 January. Continue reading...

‘Bombshell’ step in response to rulings by Polish judges that breach principle of the supremacy of EU lawThe European Commission is taking Poland to court over rulings from Polish judges considered by experts as a “legal Polexit” that fundamentally undermine the EU’s legal order.The decision to refer Poland to the European court of justice on Wednesday – described by one expert as a bombshell – comes as Poland’s rightwing nationalist government battles to secure €35.4bn (£31.4bn) in EU Covid recovery funds that have been frozen over concerns about government-influenced courts. Continue reading...

If former leader capitalises on huge local support to stand as an independent, party allies and supportive MPs face a dilemma

Theatre says it will be forced to close after losing £1.8m Arts Council England subisdyFormer Coronation Street stars have described the closure of one of Britain’s oldest theatres, the Oldham Coliseum, as “catastrophic and heartbreaking” and vowed to fight for its survival.The 138-year-old theatre said it would be forced to close at the end of next month after its £1.8m government subsidy was axed by Arts Council England (ACE). Continue reading...

Leader says Labour ‘not going back’ and predecessor will not stand for party at next general election

Girl and boy, both 15, remanded into custody charged over death of transgender 16-year-oldTwo 15-year-olds have been remanded into custody after being charged with the murder of the transgender girl Brianna Ghey.Brianna, 16, was found stabbed to death in a Warrington park on Saturday afternoon. Police have said a few lines of inquiry are being pursued, including whether it was a hate crime. Continue reading...

One teacher accused of cutting hair of at least 100 students after relaxing of regulations last monthActivists in Thailand have called for clearer guidance and enforcement to stop the use of humiliating punishment haircuts in schools, after a teacher was accused of cutting the hair of at least 100 students as they sat in rows on the floor.For decades, students in Thailand have had to comply with strict rules regarding the length and style of their hair. Last month, however, in response to growing protests from young people, the ministry of education revoked its hair regulations, saying schools could instead develop their own policies. Continue reading...

Revelation shows dangers posed by bad actors and paid operatives in democratic systems across Africa