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Whip withdrawn from Somerton and Frome MP after allegations handed to the Independent Complaints and Grievance SchemeA Tory MP was suspended from the parliamentary party on Saturday after a series of allegations relating to sexual harassment and cocaine use.The party has removed the whip from David Warburton, the Conservative MP for Somerton and Frome, who is understood to be facing allegations from three women, while a photo has emerged of the MP allegedly sitting alongside lines of cocaine. The picture of Warburton, published by the Sunday Times, is said to date from February. It is claimed it was taken at the home of a younger woman who he met through politics. Continue reading...

Demonstrators rally in London, Cardiff, Birmingham and other cities following major rise in cap on household billsThousands of people have taken to the streets in the UK in protest against the sharp rise in energy prices, as a cabinet minister said the government could not “completely nullify” the increases.Demonstrations took place on Saturday, including one near Downing Street in central London where crowds gathered to hear speeches, including from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Other protests took place in cities including Cardiff and Birmingham. They follow a major increase in the energy price cap on Friday, with average household gas and electricity bills rising to £1,971 a year. A further jump in October could take the cost up to £2,600. Continue reading...

The Rocketman star, who earlier in the run fainted and tested positive for Covid-19, was starring in CockTaron Egerton has withdrawn from the lead role in his West End play due to “personal reasons”.The Rocketman star, 32, had been performing in a revival of Mike Bartlett’s 2009 play Cock at London’s Ambassadors Theatre. Continue reading...

Former aide says Johnson seeking to protect himself and his wife CarrieDominic Cummings has accused Boris Johnson of encouraging attacks on junior civil servants over the “partygate” scandal in order to protect himself and his wife, Carrie.The prime minister’s onetime senior aide said senior officials had “turned a blind eye” to his behaviour. He referred to briefing against one No 10 private secretary, Hannah Young. It has emerged that her leaving party on 18 June led to the first fines announced this week. Continue reading...

Cause of blaze at Waheen market in Hargeisa, which destroyed hundreds of businesses, is not yet knownA massive fire tore through the main market in the city of Hargeisa in northern Somalia overnight, injuring about two dozen people and destroying hundreds of businesses, officials have said.Images posted on social media showed flames and huge billowing clouds of smoke in the night sky over the city, the capital of the breakaway region of Somaliland. Continue reading...

Woman in her 80s pronounced dead at scene after emergency services were called to address in NewhamPolice have arrested a man after an elderly woman was stabbed to death in east London.Emergency services were called at 9.56am on Saturday to an address in Landseer Avenue, Manor Park, Newham, to a report of a woman in her 80s with stab injuries. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading...

Country’s biggest trade unions are taking on scores of employers to challenge low wage and salary offersUnionised workers are increasingly prepared to challenge inadequate pay offers and take strike action to ensure wages keep up with the sharply rising cost of living, amid signs that workplace militancy is growing in parts of the economy.Some of the UK’s biggest unions are battling scores of firms at the same time, with the number of industrial disputes well above pre-pandemic levels. GMB members entered into dispute with 42 employers between October 2021 and March 2022 – seven times the number of disputes in the same period in 2019-20. Unite members are currently involved in 30 disputes in England – almost four times the reported number involving the union three years ago. Continue reading...

Gardeners warned of frost damage to blooms on Saturday night ahead of a week of unsettled weatherThe UK is braced for more wintry weather across the weekend with frost creeping in overnight and temperatures set to plummet as low as minus 6C in some areas.Forecasters said the “peaks and troughs” of spring will hit most of the country over the next week, with sunny spells and windy intervals expected in most regions. Continue reading...

Levin, who worked for Ukrainian news website and contributed to Reuters, found dead in village north of Kyiv

The prime minister fails to feature on a number of Tory flyers for the 5 May polls, but his opponents are putting him front and centreAfter his ratings plunged in the wake of “partygate” and as his government faces demands to act over the cost of living, it may be a surprise to discover that Boris Johnson’s face can be found on leaflets for the forthcoming local elections. Unfortunately for the prime minister, it is not his own party’s literature that features his image.The Observer has seen Conservative leaflets circulated in London, the Midlands and the north of England in recent weeks. None of them shows Johnson, once regarded as the Tory politician able to reach voters that no one else in his party could. Continue reading...

New inspection system requires pupils to face questions without prior noticeSchools are being downgraded by Ofsted if children questioned by inspectors cannot recall the names of rivers in geography or struggle to explain key concepts in history, according to headteachers.Under a new inspection framework, schools risk being marked down if pupils fail to adequately recall or articulate what they have been taught, sometimes years before, when given an impromptu “pop quiz” by inspectors. At one flagship secondary school, an outstanding rating was lowered to good when 11- and 12-year-olds were unable to explain clearly “the principle of the rule of law”. Continue reading...

UK recruits to the legion of foreign fighters are heading for the frontline – fully aware of the horrors that may lie ahead

Russian scientists are turning to partners abroad to help them escape, but face an uncertain future even if successful

Coalition releases detainees as it prepares to face independents calling for more humane treatment of refugees, advocates suggest

Clovelly beach flooded over, Coogee Surf Club battered and boats ripped from moorings in Manly and Bronte

CEO Martin Hoffman says he regrets the practice and ‘it was a single case’ that will not be repeated

Prime minister says he did not say Towke was a Muslim or suggest he couldn’t be trusted because he was Lebanese

Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Russia is trying to recruit conscripts from Crimea, as Kyiv denies being behind oil depot attack

Orlando Fraser to chair Charity Commission despite select committee calling him ‘slapdash and unimaginative choice’The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, has pressed ahead with the appointment of former Tory parliamentary candidate Orlando Fraser to chair the Charity Commission, despite his rejection by an MPs’ scrutiny committee.The news that Dorries had ignored the cross-party group of MPs to appoint Fraser was slipped out in a brief statement by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) early on Friday evening. Continue reading...

Unions have been pressing for promised bill to be brought forward after sacking of hundreds of P&O staffThe Trades Union Congress (TUC) has reacted with fury to a report that an expected employment bill has been postponed despite anger over the sacking of hundreds of P&O workers.TUC said dropping the bill from next month’s Queen’s speech would “betray” workers. Continue reading...

Daniel Andrews and Matthew Guy are stuck at home – but that hasn’t made Victorian politics that much quieterBoth of Victoria’s political leaders were stuck at home this week – Daniel Andrews having tested positive for Covid-19 and Matthew Guy as a close contact of his nine-year-old son.But it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference if they weren’t. Continue reading...

Coalition spent $145m on advertising last financial year, with defence recruiting and Covid vaccines among biggest campaigns

Former judge Anthony Whealy says size of funding promises justifies keeping body to scrutinise water projects

Chancellor’s wife, Akshata Murthy, has £690m stake in Indian IT firm, which is now moving staff out of RussiaIndian IT services company Infosys, in which the chancellor Rishi Sunak’s wife owns an estimated £690m stake and collects about £11.5m in annual dividends, is “urgently” closing its office in Russia.Infosys’s decision to shut its Moscow office comes as pressure mounts on Sunak to answer accusations that his family is collecting “blood money” dividends from the firm’s continued operation in Russia despite the invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

Families, friends and survivors listen in silence to recordings from inside theatre where 90 people diedOn the evening of 13 November 2015, about 1,500 concertgoers were watching the California rock band Eagles of Death Metal at the Bataclan theatre in central Paris. At the beginning it was “a great show”, fans reported afterwards. Youngsters were dancing in the pit in front of the stage and on the balcony; some were buying drinks at the bar.On Friday, for the first time, a French court heard audio recordings and saw photographs of what happened next. There was silence as the court was played three sound recordings from the Bataclan attack, one of a series of bombings and shootings across Paris that killed 130 people and injured more than 300. Continue reading...

DJ responds to demand for nightlife that suits older people and other ‘Cinderellas’More than 40 years ago, the folk singer Fred Wedlock branded anybody showing a little grey hair who fancied a night on the tiles as that most tragic of figures: “the oldest swinger in town”.But, in 2022, refusing to give up dancing once your skin clears up is no longer a source of shame. Instead, there are enough people in middle age ready to go clubbing that they are taking over venues – until the clock strikes midnight, at least. Continue reading...

‘Huge battles’ expected in coming days as glint of normality returns with lift of alcohol ban

Insolvency Service starts ‘both criminal and civil investigations’ over firm’s dismissal of 786 workersCriminal and civil investigations have been launched into the conduct of P&O Ferries after the operator summarily sacked nearly 800 crew without notice or consultation.The Insolvency Service said it had “initiated both formal criminal and civil investigations” into the circumstances of the redundancies, after making inquiries at the request of the government. Continue reading...

Besieged region has an estimated 2 million people suffering from an extreme lack of foodA convoy of aid trucks has arrived in Tigray, the first emergency food supplies to reach the besieged region of northern Ethiopia by road for more than 100 days.Two weeks after Abiy Ahmed’s government declared an immediate “humanitarian truce” with rebel Tigrayan forces to allow aid in, the World Food Programme said it had received the assurances it needed to dispatch 20 trucks containing vital supplies of food. Continue reading...

Surge in passenger numbers after lifting of Covid restrictions comes as airports struggle to fill vacanciesPassengers expecting delays at UK airports this Easter holiday are taking extra precautions including arriving early, with some even staying in nearby hotels the night before they fly.Sallyanne Glynn, 52, decided to stay in a hotel near Heathrow with her family the night before a flight to New York to celebrate her daughter’s 21st birthday, at a cost of £1,000. “It was to make things easier for us,” she said. “I don’t think anybody is back to normal yet. The airport is a huge operation with thousands of staff and you can’t just switch that on and off.” Continue reading...

Russian foreign minister meets Narendra Modi and praises India’s refusal to condemn Ukraine invasion

Hit Netflix show responsible for renewed interest in filming locations around the country, industry saysBridgerton, the steamy soap-opera take on Regency England full of decadent costumes, dashing dukes and elegant backdrops, has once again shot to the top of the Netflix charts. And one industry is reaping the benefits – England’s stately homes.The regal properties are reporting a “Bridgerton factor” aspeople enchanted by the baroque interiors and bucolic gardens of the hit show decide to visit its real life landmarks. Continue reading...

While some in Uxbridge and South Ruislip remain angry and think PM should resign, others voice weariness with continuing scandalIn the heart of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London, where Boris Johnson has been MP since 2015, people expressed their discontent over allegations of “unfair” lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street. Yet, even those critical of Partygate expressed their waning interest or said they felt it was beyond their control.While for some the decision by the Metropolitan police to fine 20 people for lockdown breaches is a confirmation of law-breaking for which Johnson should be held accountable, others said they were “annoyed” by reactions to the affair, or saw no reason to hold on to the past. Continue reading...

Morrison government to sign interim agreement which has taken on extra urgency given Australia’s rocky relationship with China

King helped launch many of London’s top restaurants including Wolseley and Le CapriceJeremy King, the famed restaurateur behind the Wolseley and the Delaunay, has been ousted from the fine dining group he founded in 1981.King, who with his business partner Chris Corbin launched and ran many of London’s top restaurants including Wolseley next to the Ritz on Piccadilly, Delaunay on the Strand and Le Caprice in Mayfair, announced on Friday he had lost a battle to buy his venture, Corbin & King, out of administration. Continue reading...

Bands voice dismay at ‘devastating news’ but landlord says it will continue to operate as music venueOne of the UK’s leading music venues, which played a pivotal role in the careers of bands including Pulp, Kaiser Chiefs and Arctic Monkeys, is at the centre of a row over whether it will close.News that the Leadmill in Sheffield might be shutting brought a wave of dismay on social media but was on Friday firmly rejected by the venue’s landlord, the Brixton-based Electric Group. Continue reading...

Carl Hughes had said it was his duty to remain at company part-owned by oligarch Oleg DeripaskaThe former Deloitte partner Carl Hughes has resigned from the board of En+, the mining company part-owned by the sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, weeks after defending his decision to remain in the post following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.Hughes, who has served as an independent director of the London-listed company since 2019 and chairs the audit and risk committee, said last month it was his “fiduciary duty” to stay on. The members of En+ board split $7m (£5.3m) in remuneration in 2020, according to the company’s annual report published last year. Continue reading...

Britons face a shock as household costs soar – and some unexpected items such as beer also go upIt’s been dubbed “bleak Friday” by some: pre-announced price rises for many household bills are to take effect on 1 April, adding to the misery for consumers who are already paying more for goods and food than this time last year. Continue reading...

Group says Gambling Commission got it ‘badly wrong’ when deciding to hand operation of draw to AllwynThe national lottery operator Camelot is launching a high court challenge to the Gambling Commission’s decision to hand over the operation of the draw to a rival after 28 years, accusing the regulator of getting the decision “badly wrong”.In a statement, Camelot’s chief executive, Nigel Railton, said: “We are launching a legal challenge today in our capacity as an applicant for the fourth [national lottery] licence because we firmly believe that the Gambling Commission has got this decision badly wrong.” Continue reading...

Court ruling could unwind Morrison’s ‘captain’s picks’ forcing Liberals to hold rushed votes to select candidates ahead of May election

Workers took action after share of tips paid on credit and debit cards was cut from 70% to 50% in 2021Pizza Express waiting staff have won back a bigger slice of their tips after a year-long campaign against a change that handed more to kitchen staff.The restaurant workers were forced to take action after their share of tips and service charges paid on credit and debit cards was cut from 70% to 50% last year at a time when pay was already under pressure from social-distancing measures that limited the number of diners. Continue reading...

Scott Morrison says Bushmaster vehicles bound for Ukraine after confusion in Senate estimates; PM delaying election announcement to run political ads, Albanese claims; Michele Bullock becomes first female deputy governor of RBA; child younger than five in SA among at least 16 Covid-related deaths across nation. This blog is now closed

Officials confirm Tudge remains minister ‘on leave’ despite acting minister Stuart Robert performing functions of the role

Former SAS soldier defends himself against accusations from Arthur Moses SC of trying to justify his own failures as a soldier

ANU modelling shows 56% of dollar value of cost-of-living measures goes to Australia’s middle and higher income earners

Germany, France and the UK reject Russia’s demand to pay for gas in roubles; Kremlin announces further sanctions on EU leaders

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese backed pay rises in budget reply speech, while unions call for a 25% boost

She began working with the National Park Service at 84 to reveal ‘untold stories’ of Black people’s efforts during the second world warBetty Reid Soskin, the National Park Service’s oldest active ranger, has retired at the age of 100.Soskin, who worked at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front national historical park in Richmond, California, spent her last day as she had for the last decade and a half: sharing her experiences and those of other women who worked on the home front in the second world war. Continue reading...

Residents from Lismore to the Lower Macleay in northern New South Wales under evacuation orders