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PM visits Kyiv to agree partnership and says Putin shows no signs of wanting to stop unrelenting aggression'Keir Starmer has announced a historic" 100-year partnership with Ukraine, saying the UK would support the country beyond this terrible war" and into a future where it is free and thriving again".Speaking during his first trip to Kyiv as prime minister, Starmer said the unprecedented agreement reflected the huge affection between our two nations". He added that right now Putin shows no signs of wanting to stop" his unrelenting aggression". Continue reading...

Duties remain unclear for the three actors, who are Trump supporters and are no strangers to controversyDonald Trump has tapped three of his longstanding celebrity supporters - Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone - to purportedly make Hollywood stronger than ever before" as special ambassadors" to the movie capital.The president-elect announced the new appointments, whose duties remain unclear, on Truth Social on Thursday, four days before his inauguration. It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California," he wrote. Continue reading...

Opposition leader says PM's woman problem is not my concern' when asked jokingly if she would back Starmer if he sacked the chancellorRichard Adams is the Guardian's education editor.Thirty-two sixth form colleges across England will be hit by more strikes over a pay disparity between staff employed by academies and those in standalone colleges.We will never accept a situation in which college teachers in non-academised colleagues are paid less than their academised peers for identical work. It is absurd and blatantly unfair to under-fund sixth form colleges in this way, risking lasting damage to longstanding collective bargaining arrangements.We cannot make a 5.5% pay offer for the whole year, because the government has not provided funding for the whole year. Students will pay the price for this through further disruption to their education. Continue reading...

Officials say review is not national inquiry ministers have been pressed for after series of X posts by Elon MuskYvette Cooper has announced an urgent national review of the scale of grooming gangs amid a raft of other new measures to tackle them, in a significant shift of approach on the issue after intense political pressure.The announcement does not create the full national inquiry the Conservatives have demanded. Continue reading...

Arab diplomats fear political vacuum and say PA should work in conjunction with UN relief agency UnrwaIsrael and the incoming Trump administration are being urged by Arab states to avoid a dangerous political vacuum in Gaza and allow the Palestinian Authority (PA), in conjunction with the UN Palestinian relief agency Unrwa, to oversee the territory's recovery.The future governance of Gaza is due to be discussed at the start of negotiations on the second stage of the deal 16 days after a ceasefire begins. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has refused to broach the subject since the war began, regarding any discussions on the day after" as likely to open destabilising internal political divisions inside his coalition. Continue reading...

Tory leader says her party offered policies without plans while in government and politicians are not being honest with public

Wellings, who was found guilty of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour, is sentenced to six and a half yearsA violent and controlling monster" who subjected his late partner, Kiena Dawes, to repeated assaults, bullying and belittling has been jailed for six and a half years.Ryan Wellings, 30, was on Monday found guilty of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour by a jury at Preston crown court. Continue reading...

UK prime minister meets Ukrainian president as they sign 100-year partnership agreement to deepen security ties between nationsStarmer hails closer than ever' partnership with Ukraine on visitCity officials say there have been no casualties after the reported Russian drone attack on Kyiv, but say a car was damaged by falling debris in one of the districts.As we have previously mentioned, Starmer is in Kyiv to sign a so-called 100-year partnership" treaty between Britain and Ukraine (see more details of what is in the agreement here). The UK, one of Ukraine's biggest military supporters, has committed 12.8bn in military and civilian aid to Kyiv over the war and has trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops. Starmer is to announce another 40m for Ukraine's postwar economic recovery. Continue reading...

Relief at news of deal to end war in Gaza, as UK government now urged to launch family reunification scheme

Judge adjourns case to 24 February and tells MP for Runcorn and Helsby he is leaving all sentencing options open

Jaymey McIvor, Reform UK's first Essex councillor, was suspended from Conservatives last year amid claimsA Reform UK councillor has been accused of being expelled from the Conservative party last year over allegations he sent an unsolicited picture of his private parts".Jaymey McIvor had been due to stand as a Tory parliamentary candidate in July but was suspended before the election. Sources say he was expelled after an investigation into the allegations. Continue reading...

Knife lodged in spine of actor during 2am attack at Mumbai property he shares with Kareena Kapoor and their two childrenSaif Ali Khan, one of Bollywood's most popular actors, is recovering in hospital after a knife became lodged in his spine during an attack by an intruder in his Mumbai home.Medical officials said Khan sustained six stab wounds in the attack, which took place during a 2am altercation with an intruder who had entered the family home he shares with his wife, the Bollywood superstar Kareena Kapoor, and their two children. Continue reading...

Tory leader to condemn predecessors' Brexit, climate and migration failings amid rising popularity of Reform UKKemi Badenoch will attack the Conservative party's record under Boris Johnson and Theresa May on Brexit, the economy, net zero and immigration in a speech aimed at rebuilding trust".The Tory leader, who is competing with the sharp rise in popularity of Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, will acknowledge the Conservative party made mistakes" under her predecessors. Continue reading...

Eastern NSW, particularly northern rivers, and Gold Coast at high risk for severe thunderstorms and winds on Thursday, BoM forecasts

Two arsonists wanted over death of woman who died in suspicious fire in Truganina in city's west

If Moscow's forces manage to take all of Donetsk oblast it would be a symbolic moment for Putin - and KyivIn an underground command post in eastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian soldier peered at a map. Russian positions were marked in red. A year ago enemy troops were at least 35 miles (60km) away from the administrative border between Donetsk oblast and the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region. Now they were on the doorstep: a mere 5 miles away.The situation is pretty bad," Valerii - call-sign Oves" - admitted, sitting in front of a bank of screens showing live footage from the battlefield. Reconnaissance drones zoomed in on Russian positions under a snowy tree-line. If a mouse moves, we can see it," he said. His brigade, the 110th, spent a year and a half defending the eastern city of Avdiivka. It fell in February 2024 after a long and brutal siege. Continue reading...

Melbourne-born surfer turned fashion visionary credited with designing yoke waist' boardshortsThe surfing community is paying tribute to the Quiksilver founder Alan Greeny" Green, who died from cancer on Tuesday at his home in Torquay, Victoria aged 77.Considered a pioneer of surfwear, Green started making wetsuits in 1969 along with friends and Rip Curl co-founders Brian Singer and Doug Claw" Warbrick. Continue reading...

Netanyahu says final details' of deal still being worked on; two American hostages to be free in first phase, reports say

Storms and industrial action cause more delays on Australia's busiest train system on Thursday

Surrey town saw 12.5% increase in asking prices last year with rest of UK rising just 1.4%, according to RightmoveIt's very name conjures images of warmth, and now Sunbury-on-Thames has been named as a property hotspot. According to listings website Rightmove, the Surrey town recorded the biggest rise in asking prices in Great Britain last year, registering a 12.5% leap in the average, from 527,005 to 592,976.The town has long been popular with commuters, as it takes less than an hour to travel into London Waterloo station, and is close to the recently expanded Shepperton Studios, which now claims to be the second biggest film studio in the world. Continue reading...

Royal College of Nursing says people routinely coming to harm' with vital equipment not available and staff too busyPatients are dying in hospital corridors and going undiscovered for hours, while others who suffer heart attacks cannot be given CPR because of overcrowding in walkways, a bombshell report on the state of the NHS has revealed.So many patients are being cared for in hospital corridors across the UK that in some cases pregnant women are having miscarriages outside wards while other patients are unable to call for help because they have no call bell and are subjected to animal-like conditions", said the Royal College of Nursing.Patients have died on trolleys and chairs in corridors and waiting rooms in settings where all the fundamentals of care have broken down".One nurse had seen cardiac arrests in the corridor with no crash bell, crash trolley, oxygen, defibrillator ... straddling a patient doing CPR while everyone watches on".Patients are being given drugs, intravenous infusions and, in one case, a blood transfusion in corridors which are cold, noisy and too cramped to allow them to have loved ones present.One nurse had to tell a patient he was dying as other patients were wheeled past and orders were shouted across the unit. They said: How is it fair to tell someone they are dying in a corridor?"Lack of space means patients also being treated in storerooms, car parks, offices and even toilets. Continue reading...

Deal to pause 15-month war expected to be officially accepted by Israel after cabinet meeting

Vaccine damage payment scheme inadequate and inefficient,' says Vaccine Injured spokespersonPeople who were severely harmed by Covid vaccines faced an inadequate and inefficient" process for obtaining a government payout, with many rejected and others waiting years for a decision, the Covid inquiry has heard.The vaccine damage payment scheme offers a one-off sum of 120,000 to people who have such serious adverse reactions to the vaccines that they are at least 60% disabled. But people affected by vaccine injuries told the inquiry they did not get the help and financial support they deserved. Continue reading...

US president-elect demanded a deal - while success against Iran and Hezbollah, and changed Israeli coalition arithmetic, gave Israeli PM room to make oneThe phone call from Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steven Witkoff, surprised the aides of Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.Calling from Doha in Qatar last Friday evening, after shabbat had already begun, Witkoff announced he was coming to Israel and would meet Netanyahu. Overruling the suggestion of Netanyahu's aides that they could meet once the Jewish day of rest was over, Witkoff, 67 - a billionaire lawyer and real estate developer - insisted brusquely that they meet in the morning. Continue reading...

Health secretary says treating patients in corridors because no beds available in wards is undignified' - but eradicating practice will take timeThe Mauritian government said talks will continue on the Chagos Islands deal, with attorney general Gavin Glover set to return to the UK for further negotiations, PA Media reports.A statement issued following a meeting of prime minister Navin Ramgoolam's cabinet said:The commitment and resolve of Mauritius to reach an agreement and end this long battle for the sovereignty of Mauritius over the Chagos Archipelago remains unshaken. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Man jailed for 17 years for rape he did not commit says CCRC is infected with a culture of denial'Andrew Malkinson has said the miscarriage of justice watchdog needs to be completely dissolved" as it has become infected with a culture of denial".Speaking to the Guardian after the resignation of the chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, Helen Pitcher, Malkinson said the organisation should be dismantled. Continue reading...

Tory cheers were just a muted, half-arsed Pavlovian response as their leader failed to land a single punch on the PMIt's becoming existential. First the Tory MPs began to wonder if there was any point to them being in Westminster. Sure, the title impresses some people and gets them one or two freebies, but those minor thrills soon start to pall as reality kicks in. Just drifting in the liminal spaces. Out of power. Out of control. And next to nothing to look forward to. They are less popular than Reform and in any case the next election is at least four years away. Days, weeks, months and years of nothingness lie ahead.Now Conservatives are starting to have the same thoughts about Kemi Badenoch. At first they believed she was an exciting breath of fresh air. Someone ready to get stuck into any culture war. Continue reading...

Fianna Fail's Micheal Martin will be taoiseach for first three years with Fine Gael's Simon Harris taking over in November 2027Ireland's two main centre-right parties have clinched a deal with a group of independent lawmakers to form a coalition government, six weeks after an election that wiped out the Greens as a political force.In the deal, sealed on Wednesday, Fianna Fail's leader, Micheal Martin, will become taoiseach, or prime minister, for the first three years of the five-year government, with the incumbent Fine Gael leader, Simon Harris, taking over in November 2027. Continue reading...

The BMA wants physicians to be allowed to raise procedure with patients, but some MPs disagree

Deal with Hamas inches closer amid warnings from Israeli rightwingers against any hostages-for-prisoners agreement

Impeached president questioned over martial law declaration last month after standoff at his residence

Exclusive: Kai Shannon has always maintained his innocence. There is now growing pressure to re-examine evidence with a former police officer on his sideWhen 18-year-old Wahab Zaaki was found bleeding to death from five stab wounds on an east London estate, police were under immense pressure to find his killer.It was spring 2009 and knife crime in the capital had been branded an epidemic. Zaaki was one of four teenagers killed in separate incidents over just three days in London that March. Continue reading...

State considers legal action as RTBU accuses politicians of trying to sway public opinion' against them

Judge rules health board failed to provide a secure and relaxed' space for Robyn Gibbins at workA healthcare worker has won a claim of harassment against an NHS health board after she was not provided with a suitable private space to express breast milk.Robyn Gibbins told an employment tribunal she felt let down by the trust in Cardiff after she was not given a room that she could lock when she came back to work from maternity leave. Continue reading...

Will Conclave get the votes, or can best film be snatched by A Complete Unknown? Here's the final shortlist before the awards ceremony on 16 February

Healthcare workers among suspected cases of Ebola-like disease as WHO issues warning of high risk to the country and its neighboursA suspected outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD) in Tanzania has killed eight people and poses a high risk to the country and its neighbours, global health leaders have said.The World Health Organization (WHO) said nine suspected cases of the Ebola-like virus had been reported as of 11 January, in two districts of the Kagera region in the north of the country, including the eight deaths. Continue reading...

Trio will present football highlights show after Gary Lineker steps down, BBC saysThe new hosts of Match of the Day have promised to evolve" the TV institution when they take the reins this summer, after the BBC confirmed that three people will replace Gary Lineker at the end of the current season.Gabby Logan, Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman are to share presenting duties on the football highlights show, which celebrated its 60 anniversary last year. The trio have all previously worked together on the BBC and are each established broadcasters with decades of experience between them. Continue reading...

Struggling water firm tells regulator for England and Wales proposals would make it hard to attract talent to sectorTroubled Thames Water has threatened to increase the salaries of its executives if the industry regulator sees through on plans to limit bonuses for the bosses of water companies.The company, which serves more than 16 million customers across London area and the Thames valley, is attempting to stabilise its debt-laden finances. It has told Ofwat that it intends to raise base executive pay. Continue reading...

Drake had alleged Universal Music Group and Spotify each manipulated the popularity of Lamar's track Not Like UsDrake has withdrawn a legal challenge he made against his own label, Universal Music Group (UMG), and Spotify, alleging they artificially inflated the popularity of a Kendrick Lamar diss track about him.UMG and Spotify were accused of trying to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves". Lawyers for the rapper had claimed that UMG paid influencers and radio stations to play the track, Not Like Us, which topped the US charts and proved to be the hammer blow in the Drake-Lamar feud between March and May last year. Continue reading...

Decision comes after alleged assault on 63-year-old Claudia Campomayor Watt on Monday

Law to stop armed groups profiting from trade in gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum is being breached, rights groups sayThe European Union has been urged to clamp down on illegal imports of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after evidence was found that current regulations had been breached.The advocacy group Global Witness (GW) said there remained a high risk" of the EU's mineral imports being used to fund militias and state repression in several countries. Continue reading...

Chancellor tells Tory MP to get real' and that UK bond market changes are similar to those in other countriesRachel Reeves has told the Conservatives to get real" as she blamed global economic volatility for the recent spike in UK borrowing rates, which has triggered calls for her resignation and left her contemplating further public sector cuts.The chancellor appeared in front of MPs on Tuesday for the first time since travelling to China and after several days of bond market turmoil that have taken the government's borrowing rates to their highest levels in decades. Continue reading...

Sum includes 5m to chief investment officer and is 10 times the remuneration for health research charity's governorsThe Wellcome Trust, the UK health research charity, has been criticised for paying its investment executives more than 11m last year, more than 10 times as much as its own governors.The pay packets, which included 5m for Wellcome's chief investment officer, Nick Moakes, were awarded after its investment portfolio rose in value, generating more funds for its mission of tackling health inequalities. Continue reading...

David Crisafulli's comments come after 63-year-old supermarket worker was allegedly attacked by teen with a knife in Ipswich on Monday evening

Exclusive: Costs of UK cleanup will reach 9.9bn a year in UK if emissions of forever chemicals' remain uncontrolled

Delays on Sydney-Johannesburg route after advice from US government over debris from SpaceX rocket re-entry in southern Indian Ocean

Exclusive: Sarah Crew of Avon and Somerset says early intervention is part of new national approach to rapistsA senior English police officer at the vanguard of a new national approach to catching rapists has put domestic abusers in her sights.The chief constable of Avon and Somerset police, Sarah Crew, said domestic abusers in her area should know we're coming for you" after launching a drive to target the most persistent offenders and overhaul how the force deals with domestic abuse. Continue reading...

Austerity affected courts, prisons and public services while rates of poverty surged, creating the conditions for more crime

Cash profit on a sale falls for second year in a row, to below 100,000, finds HamptonsSellers in England and Wales made less than 100,000 profit on the sale of their home last year, or just over 40% - the lowest return in a decade - according to the estate agent Hamptons.It was the second annual fall in a row in terms of cash profit after the market hit a peak in 2022 when the average gain hit almost 113,000 compared with 91,820 last year. The average cash return in London fell by the most - dropping below 200,000 for the first time since at least 2015. Continue reading...

UK chancellor made comments during visit to China where agreements were made worth 600m to UK economyRachel Reeves vowed to stand by her non-negotiable" fiscal rules as she arrived in China for a trip overshadowed by market turbulence at home.The UK chancellor declined to comment extensively on the financial markets in the UK during a visit to bicycle-maker Brompton's flagship Beijing store on Saturday, but said the rules she had set for herself in October were essential for economic stability. Continue reading...