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Artist behind giant piece of land art made using ancient Cornish hedging technique says work is a message to future generationsIt is an intriguing piece of land art, a hymn to the almost-lost craft of Cornish hedging and also - perhaps - an optimistic message from the early 21st century to future generations.As the sun rose over Bodmin Moor on spring equinox morning, a Cornish bagpipe struck up and Kerdroya, five years in the making and built to last four millennia, was officially opened. Continue reading...

Shaftesbury Capital sells stake in estate, which includes shops, market and transport museum site

After years of controversy regarding poor conditions, the site will no longer house asylum seekers from SeptemberNapier barracks, one of the first mass accommodation sites opened to house asylum seekers, is to be closed after years of controversy about conditions there, including a mass Covid outbreak, decrepit facilities and far-right protests.The news is buried in a Home Office document uploaded to parliament's cross-party home affairs committee on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the provision of asylum accommodation. In the document the Home Office states: The Home Office intend to occupy and deliver services at Napier until September 2025, at which point the site will be handed back to the Ministry of Defence." Continue reading...

Prime minister defends changes to welfare system but Labour MPs struggle to digest plans for disability paymentsThe rising benefits bill is devastating for public finances" and has wreaked a terrible human cost", Keir Starmer has said as he defended the government's drastic changes to the welfare system.Writing in the Times, the prime minister said the facts are shocking", noting one in eight young people are not in education, employment or training and 2.8 million working age people are out of work because of long-term sickness. Continue reading...

Shortly after call ended, about 45 drones targeted region around Kyiv with anti-aircraft fire audible across capital overnight

Investigation will not examine whether laws should be repealed, despite crossbench members' concerns they may have been misled'

South-west sees biggest jump, up 17% between 2020 and 2024, while rate in southern England increases by 10%Smoking rates in parts of England have increased for the first time in nearly two decades, according to research.Academics at University College London examined smoking data for more than 350,000 adults in England over an 18-year period. They found that while the proportion of adults who smoke cigarettes, pipes, cigars or other forms of tobacco fell from 25.3% of the population in 2006 to 16.5% in 2024, progress since 2020 has flatlined and in some areas smoking rates are increasing again. Continue reading...

Suzie Miller's award-winning monologue hits the road next year, with the Killing Eve actor playing a barrister who defends men of rape and is assaulted herselfJodie Comer is to reprise her Olivier and Tony award-winning performance in Prima Facie one last time" on tour next year, including a visit to her hometown of Liverpool.The monologue, written by Suzie Miller, stars Comer as a barrister who defends men of rape and is assaulted herself. The Killing Eve actor made her West End debut in 2022 in the show, which sold out and then broke box-office records when it played in cinemas for NT Live. Comer took it to Broadway in 2023 and also recorded an audiobook adaptation by Miller, who spent 15 years as a lawyer. Continue reading...

Minister Pat McFadden says at least half will be permanently cancelled in effort to reduce wasteful purchasesThousands of Whitehall officials will have their government credit cards" suspended this week in Labour's latest crackdown on what it regards as wasteful spending in the civil service.Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, said on Monday he would freeze almost all of the 20,000 government procurement cards (GPCs) within days with a view to permanently cancelling at least half of them. Continue reading...

Many of 27 people who drowned in 2021 might have survived if rescue services had searched for longer, lawyers argueMany of the people who drowned in the biggest ever loss of life in a migrant dinghy in the Channel could have been saved if rescue services had searched for them for longer, lawyers for their families have said.Their comments came after the independent Cranston inquiry, which is scrutinising the circumstances surrounding the mass drowning, heard evidence from an expert into survivability in the water. Continue reading...

Edward Spencer, 19, had only passed his driving test five weeks before fatal crash in 2023A teenage motorist has admitted causing the deaths of three passengers, who died in a collision in Warwickshire five weeks after he passed his driving test.Police said the case of Edward Spencer showed the devastating consequences" that can occur if a car is driven carelessly. Continue reading...

Marcedes Myran's remains found in search mission after Jeremy Skibicki preyed on Indigenous women in 2022Canadian police have confirmed the identity of a second woman whose body was dumped at a private landfill near Winnipeg by a serial killer who preyed on Indigenous women and left their bodies hidden in trash.The Manitoba Royal Canadian Mounted police said in a statement on Monday that the human remains found in the Prairie Green Landfill, north of Winnipeg, were those of Marcedes Myran, 26. Continue reading...

Canadian PM stresses importance of reliable allies' in Paris before travelling to London where he was received by kingCanada is the most European of the non-European countries", Mark Carney has said during his first overseas trip as prime minister to France and the UK, where he is seeking stronger alliances to deal with Donald Trump's attacks on his country's sovereignty and economy.Without mentioning the US president by name, Carney and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, made a joint appearance in Paris to show a united stance against what they said were economic and geopolitical crises - a reference to Trump's trade war and America first" diplomacy that has left longtime allies scrambling. Continue reading...

Changes could deny benefits to people who need help to wash or to remember to go to the toiletKeir Starmer will unveil drastic cuts to disability benefits on Tuesday, despite deep opposition from Labour MPs and poverty campaigners, and warnings from economists against making kneejerk savings to hit fiscal targets.In the government's most controversial move yet, it will announce a package of changes expected to affect some of the UK's most severely disabled people. Continue reading...

Fund is for UK and overseas emergencies but was used to help 12,000 people, some of whom had contracted scabiesThe British Red Cross had to use hundreds of thousands of pounds from its disaster fund to provide basic clothing for asylum seekers in the UK in what it described as an unprecedented intervention.The charity is the largest UK provider of services to refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants. It said the decision to seek 220,000 from its disaster fund, which is earmarked for emergencies in the UK and overseas, was to buy items for 12,000 asylum seekers who were struggling to clothe themselves. Continue reading...

Demonstrators call for change and justice for 59 victims after tragedy blamed on multiple safety violationsWith flags still flying at half mast in North Macedonia, grief over a fire that tore through a nightclub killing dozens of people turned to anger as thousands took to the streets in protest.In Koani, the town where the fire destroyed the Pulse venue early on Sunday, demonstrators demanded justice for the 59 people who lost their lives and called for an end to the corrupt practices blamed for the tragedy. Continue reading...

Ivy League school is latest US university to make step with aim to make it affordable to more students than ever'Harvard University is offering free tuition to more students, the Ivy League school announced on Monday, joining a growing number of higher education institutions in the US to take such a step.The announcement from Harvard says that undergraduate tuition at the institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will be free for students of families who make annual incomes of $200,000 or less. The university will also make schooling completely free for students from families with annual incomes of $100,000 or less, with financial aid that covers tuition, food, housing, health insurance and travel costs. Continue reading...

Amanda Spielman says outlined changes put unions and union members ahead of children'

We have more cards we can play,' foreign secretary tells MPs as he says G7 foreign ministers found common ground' when meeting last weekThe Reform UK press conference is about to start. There is a live feed here.Nigel Farage is going to announce that 29 councillors have defected to his party, according to the Guido Fawkes website. Continue reading...

Asda claims to have pretty significant war chest' but analyst says it is unclear if it can commit to months of cutsMore than 4bn has been wiped off the value of Tesco, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer stock since Friday amid fears that rival Asda will step up the grocery price war.Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket, took the biggest hit as its share price fell more than 12% on Monday, while second-place Sainsbury's was down more than 8%, with M&S dropping 9%. Continue reading...

Kaja Kallas says the bloc cannot automatically fill the gap left by the USThe EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, expressed disappointment over US funding cuts to Radio Free Europe and said the EU could not automatically fill the gap.The US Agency for Global Media stopped grants over the weekend to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which was founded during the cold war and broadcasts to 23 countries, including Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Iran and Afghanistan. Continue reading...

Australian meteorologists and scientists will be impacted by mass firings at Noaa, experts warn

Imogen Nunn told support worker she had bought something online' before she died in Brighton, mother saysA TikTok star who died after consuming a poisonous substance she bought online told an NHS support worker about the purchase a month before her death, an inquest has heard.Imogen Nunn took a poisonous substance and died in Brighton, East Sussex, on New Year's Day 2023. The 25-year-old, who was deaf, raised awareness of hearing and mental health issues on her social media accounts, which gained more than 780,000 followers.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

US president says consequences of any future attacks by Yemen's Tehran-backed rebels will be dire'The US president, Donald Trump, on Monday declared he would hold Iran directly responsible for any future attacks by Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthi rebels, who have targeted US and other foreign ships in the Red Sea.Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. Continue reading...

Russian leader and US president to speak by phone and discuss Ukraine ceasefire planPolish prime minister Donald Tusk has commented on the Lithuanian prosecutor general's report on Russian-linked acts of sabotage and arson in the EU (9:42), linking it to peace negotiations with Russia, as he warned that such is the nature of this state."In a social media post in English, he said:Dear allies, the investigation of the Lithuanian prosecutor's office has confirmed our suspicions that [those] responsible for setting fires to shopping centres in Vilnius and Warsaw are [linked with] the Russian secret services.Good to know before negotiations. Continue reading...

Unrepentant paedophile' Richard Burrows, 80, abused boys in 60s and 70s and was found guilty of 97 offences by Cheshire courtA former boarding school housemaster and scout leader has been convicted of nearly 100 offences, including dozens of child abuse charges, nearly 30 years after he fled to Thailand.Richard Burrows, 80, was found guilty of abusing boys between the late 1960s and mid-1990s while working at a school in Cheshire and later as a scout leader in the West Midlands. Continue reading...

Project 2025 alarmed progressives by pushing deep cuts to government, LGBTQ+ protections and DEI effortsThe director of Project 2025, a rightwing plan to dismantle the federal government which Democrats warned about last year and forced Donald Trump to attempt to disown it, said Trump's actions in power were proving way beyond my wildest dreams".Paul Dans was director of Project 2025 for the Heritage Foundation, the hard-right group which has produced such policy plans for more than 40 years. Continue reading...

Divisions continue to simmer after suspension of MP and Farage's claims of outright racism' towards party chair

Trump says negotiators have already discussed dividing up certain assets' and that he will talk to Putin on Tuesday

Outside St James' Park and the Angel of the North, Magpies fans explain significance of Wembley victoryAfter years and years of hurt, it was just glorious," said 67-year-old Paul Wearmouth outside St James' Park on the morning after the night before. It was tremendous. I'll be honest, I was crying. They were tears of jubilation."Wearmouth, a retired school caretaker, has been a fan of Newcastle United all his life and can tell you at length about how difficult a commitment that can be. Continue reading...

Ruling coalition continues its crackdown on LGBTQ+ people under its child protection' legislationHungary's ruling coalition is continuing its crackdown on the country's LGBTQ+ community, as members submitted a bill to parliament that would ban the popular Budapest Pride event and allow authorities to use facial recognition software to identify people attending.The bill, presented on Monday, is almost certain to pass as the coalition has a two-thirds majority in parliament. Continue reading...

Communist party aims to promote reasonable wage growth' and to reduce financial burdens amid Trump tariffs

The treasurer will say we deserve better as a long-term partner and ally' in major economic address on Tuesday one week before delivering budget

Actor-rapper will release project on 28 March, including the song Beautiful Scars which makes reference to his infamous Oscars slapWill Smith is to release his first album in 20 years later this month, as the actor continues to rebuild his career following his assault on Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.Writing on Instagram, he said the album Based on a True Story would be released on 28 March, adding: Been working on this project for a minute and I'm itchin' to get it out to y'all". Continue reading...

Palestinian experts and British archaeologists say more than two-thirds of heritage, cultural and archaeological sites in Gaza have been damagedHamouda al-Dahda stands in the ruins of Pasha Palace in Gaza City, where before the war the golden limestone walls of the 800-year-old building towered above him, the gardens shaded visitors, and the cool vaulted halls held hundreds of priceless historical artefacts.The palace was like a small paradise on Earth. Now, there is no life here at all and anyone who comes is sad. They can remember what it once was," the 40-year-old museum director says. Continue reading...

Christian organizations helped create Pepfar, credited with preventing 25m early deaths, particularly in AfricaChristian evangelical organizations instrumental in creating the US program that has saved millions of lives from HIV/Aids are pressing the Trump administration to rescue the scheme from crushing cuts to foreign assistance.The state department has said that the two-decade-old President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), which is estimated to have prevented 25m early deaths, is exempt from the cancellation of most US overseas aid. But the program is heavily reliant on logistical support from the US Agency for International Development (USAid), which has seen most of its projects killed off. Continue reading...

Reserve Bank opens submissions for redesign after theme chosen from 2,100 nominated

Radio National, Triple J, ABC Classic and ABC News Radio were all down due to a technical issue from about 8am AEDT on Monday, broadcaster says

This blog has now closedMan drowns in Hunter region waterholeA man in his 20s has drowned at a waterhole near Dungog in the Hunter region of New South Wales.We apologise for this break in our program, we will return to normal programming as soon as possible. Continue reading...

Labor government moves to rush through legislative fix to ensure orders affected by printing error' are enforceable

At least 10 hospitals in NSW risk being stripped of accreditation to train junior doctors as serious concerns' raised in Industrial Relations Commission court

Rising Tide campaigners were arrested at Newcastle's coal port in late 2024 after using kayaks and rafts to protest at facility

Joanna Kathlyn Kinman, 48, was working at an animal shelter when she found body parts of dogs' owner who had died of natural causes

Civil liberties report warns that Italy along with Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia intentionally undermining rule of law in nearly all aspects'Italy's government has profoundly undermined the rule of law with changes to the judiciary and showed heavy intolerance to media criticism", in an emblematic example of Europe's deepening democratic recession", a coalition of civil liberties groups has said.A report by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) said Italy was one of five dismantlers" - along with Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia - that intentionally undermine the rule of law in nearly all aspects". Continue reading...

Chancellor will meet regulators after calling for action to restrict their scope in bid to save businesses billionsRachel Reeves will meet UK regulators on Monday after calling for more action to restrict red tape and spur economic growth.The chancellor argued that government plans would reduce costly delays and disputes, saving businesses billions, and said regulators must accept a more streamlined decision-making process. Continue reading...

Highest possible rise for third year running comes as cash-strapped authorities try to repair finances and, for some, avoid bankruptcyMost households in England will be charged the maximum increase in council tax for the third consecutive year after local authorities confirmed their plans before the 2025-26 financial year.Nearly nine in 10 (88%) of 153 upper-tier authorities in England will impose a 4.99% increase in April, the most allowed without triggering a local referendum. Continue reading...

Decade-high level despite rush to beat stamp duty deadline will push sellers to restrict price rises, says RightmoveHomebuyers who miss this month's stamp duty deadline in England will benefit from a decade-high choice of properties this spring, with competition forcing many sellers to restrict price increases, according to a report.The average price of a property coming to market for sale across the UK has risen by 1.1% or 3,867 this month to 371,870, in line with the long-term average increase in March, according to the property website Rightmove. Continue reading...

Joint statement says important strides have been made since mass firing of workers by P&O Ferries three years agoThe UK government's employment rights bill has made important strides" to stop another P&O Ferries scandal happening - but more must be done, according to trade unions.The TUC, Nautilus and RMT unions said more measures to prevent unscrupulous" employers such as P&O Ferries from treating staff like disposable labour" were needed as they marked the three-year anniversary of the firing by P&O of UK workers. Continue reading...

Four times more buy-to-let firms than fast-food shops now registered at Companies House as landlords switch set-up to cut tax paymentsBuy-to-let businesses have become the largest single type of business in the UK - with nearly four times as there are fast food takeaways or hairdressers.There are more companies set up to hold buy-to-let property registered at Companies House than any other type of business, according to research from the estate agent Hamptons. Continue reading...

Alexandra Clarke, 26, was on a diving excursion near Koh Tao when blaze broke outA British tourist is missing in Thailand after the tour boat she was travelling on caught fire off the island of Koh Tao.Alexandra Clarke, 26, from Lambeth, south London, was onboard the Davy Jones Locker for a diving excursion. Continue reading...