Labor claims that although six of the recommendations have been implemented, the government has fallen behind their set timeframe

Brexit could further damage bloc’s economy, which grew just 0.1% in final quarter of 2019

• Governing body will set limits on future shoe technology

Prime minister tells 10-year-old interviewer ‘the only thing to do is keep digging’Boris Johnson may have given his strongest hint yet that he intends for HS2 to go ahead after telling a 10-year-old interviewer that the way forward was to “keep digging”.His comment came as he was quizzed as part of a children’s news programme for Sky. Continue reading...

The musician has promised music and videos to her Patreon supporters, and the possibility of recipes and dating adviceMIA has launched a crowdfunding page to support her future work – which may encompass therapy sessions, dating advice and recipes in addition to the music for which she is best known.MIA, AKA Maya Arulpragasam, said that she had joined the site Patreon because her work was too broad to fit on other sites. “I’ve tried all the other platforms and it’s like: this one is too mean and hateful, this one is too fake and self-obsessed and this one just sells all your data to Cambridge Analytica. Hopefully, this one is going to be just right.” Continue reading...

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as France’s economy contracts by 0.1% in the last quarter

Minister says barrier would send message to smugglers that ‘rules of the game have changed’The Greek government has defended plans to erect a floating barrier in the Mediterranean to deter thousands of people determined to reach Europe from making the sea journey from Turkey.Dismissing criticism, the country’s minister for migration and asylum, Notis Mitarakis, said the proposed barrier would send a strong message to people smugglers that the “rules of the game had changed”. Continue reading...

From the outside, Leo Varadkar may seem like a leader on the crest of a wave, but as elections loom the tide is turning against himLeo Varadkar, youthful leader, elegant dresser, liberal lion, responsible economic steward, banisher of Brexit clouds – what’s not to love? That, at least, is how many outsiders view Ireland’s taoiseach.“Leo, Leo, Leo! We love you!” trilled some Chinese tourists who recently encountered him on Dublin’s Grafton Street, as he canvassed with Fine Gael party colleagues for votes in the 8 February general election. Continue reading...

Demagogos dependem do medo para consolidar o seu poder. Mas a coragem é contagiante – e é por isso que precisamos nos dar as mãos e resistir

Marie McCourt lodges papers requesting judicial review into release of Ian SimmsThe mother of a 22-year-old woman who was murdered as she walked home from work has begun legal proceedings to prevent the release of her killer.Ian Simms was convicted of killing the insurance clerk Helen McCourt, who disappeared in Merseyside in 1988. Continue reading...

Khalid Mollah died while working among the thousands who dismantle old ships in Chittagong. Now, in a test case that could transform the industry, his widow is suing the firm that sold the vessel for scrapKhalid Mollah was uneducated, illiterate and out of work when, in early 2009, he left his pregnant wife Hamida Begum to take the 200-mile bus ride to Chittagong from the small village of Gopai, in northern Bangladesh. The young man’s destination was Sitakunda, the notorious, 20km stretch of wide beach and tidal mudflats just north of Bangladesh’s fast-growing second city.Here, nearly 25,000 people work in dozens of ship-breaking yards, steel-rolling mills and factories to recover and sell on every bit of plate metal, deck, mast, funnel, hatch, gangplank, wire, nut, cable, bolt, wood and rivet that makes up the world’s giant ships. Continue reading...

Hard though it is to accept, as patriots we must wish Brexit a (partial) successBritain has not left Europe; it has just stepped into another room. Its European role has always been complex and ambivalent. “The desire for isolation, the knowledge that it is impossible – these are the two poles between which the needle of the British compass continues to waver.” The words of the historian RW Seton-Watson in a history of Britain in Europe published in 1937. True then, even more true now.We ex-remainers have consistently argued that Brexit will leave the UK weaker, poorer, more divided, less influential, less attractive to the rest of the world. Some evidence is already in. According to Bloomberg Economics, by the end of this year Brexit will have cost Britain some £200bn in lost economic growth – nearly as much (adjusted for inflation) as the country has paid in to the EU budget over the entire period of its membership since 1973. Continue reading...

After an indifferent sojourn in Hollywood, the film-maker went back to South Korea do his next film – and produced an undisputed masterpiece. Why is his stunning critique of the class system striking chords all over the world?The past year has been a whirlwind for Bong Joon-ho, and he is still in the midst of it. His movie Parasite has whisked him to places few directors – and certainly no South Korean director – have been before. It started with winning the top prize at the Cannes film festival last May, and the momentum has not let up: critical adulation, box office success, US talkshow appearances and a ridiculous 170 awards and counting.And not just not just awards in the “foreign film” categories; Parasite is the first foreign-language film to win the Screen Actors Guild’s coveted ensemble performance award. It is also up for six Oscars, including best picture and best director. Before, it was only connoisseurs who appreciated Bong’s singular output – including Donald Glover, Edgar Wright, Guillermo del Toro and Quentin Tarantino. Now there’s a whole online “#BongHive” sharing memes, news and general love about the 50-year-old film-maker. He’s this season’s must-have selfie for Hollywood stars to brandish on Twitter. Even Bong’s ever-present translator, Sharon Choi, has become a minor celebrity. Continue reading...

Exclusive: US president will insist NHS pays higher price for drugs, says Kim Darroch‘Irony is we got things right by 2015’ – Britain’s EU envoys on BrexitDonald Trump will put the interests of corporate America first and demand that the NHS pays higher prices for US drugs in a free-trade deal with the UK, the outgoing British ambassador to Washington has told the Guardian.Kim Darroch, in his first interview since his resignation from his post in July, from where he spearheaded attempts to grow trade with the US, insisted that Trump would reward his backers in drug firms and farming communities by opening up British markets, while questioning where the UK’s gains would be found. Continue reading...

Controversial rightwing commentator locked out of the social media site after complaints from anti-racism campaignersThe controversial rightwing commentator Katie Hopkins has had her Twitter account suspended for violating the terms of the social media site.Hopkins’ account was still visible online on Thursday night, but Twitter said that Hopkins had been temporarily locked out of the platform for violating its anti-hate policy. Continue reading...

Several incidents of xenophobia reported, along with long queues to buy face masksChinese people in Italy have been the target of racist abuse as paranoia mounts over the spread of the deadly coronavirus.A number of people in the country have been tested for the virus in recent days and the results have so far been negative. Tests were carried out on Thursday on two passengers onboard a cruise ship in the port city of Civitavecchia. Continue reading...

Exclusive video: late U-turn from Chinese authorities meant that Matt Raw and his 75-year-old mother Hazel were given permission to fly along with Raw’s wife Ying, who holds a Chinese passport. Previously, restrictions imposed by China meant those with Chinese passports were not permitted to leave the country, and China does not recognise dual nationality.

Studies project rapidly deploying HPV vaccine in 78 of the world’s poorest countries could help prevent more than 74 million casesMore than 74m cervical cancer cases and 62m deaths could be averted in the next 100 years if 78 of the world’s poorest countries rapidly deploy HPV vaccinations, cervical screening and cancer treatment, two new studies have projected.The predictive modelling is published on Friday in Lancet by Université Laval, Harvard University and Cancer Council New South Wales working with the World Health Organisation. All three teams independently developed their models based on the biological understanding of cervical cancer, and multiple data sources from multiple countries located in east Asia and Pacific, Europe and central Asia, Latin America and Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson to mark moment of departure with message promising to unite countryBoris Johnson will say on Friday that Brexit signals “the dawn of a new era” as his government prepares for a low-key celebration at the moment of departure.The prime minister is expected to mark the moment at 11pm with a pre-recorded video message promising to bring the country together and seek to eradicate inequalities between regions. Continue reading...

The World Health Organization director general on Thursday declared the novel coronavirus a global health emergency but stressed that it was 'not a vote of no confidence in China'. Tedros Adhanom said that the declaration comes amid concern for countries with weaker health systems

Friday: Death toll now at 170 with more than 7,700 cases. Plus, scientists ask Australians to document habitat and wildlife recovery from bushfiresGood morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 31 January. Continue reading...

Transport secretary tells MPs they ‘won’t have to wait long’ amid continuing oppositionSpeculation that a decision on HS2 will be made early next week is mounting as the prime minister and key figures are understood to have held final talks on the controversial project.The chancellor, Sajid Javid, who has publicly swung behind the scheme, and the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, are believed to have met Boris Johnson as the high-speed line continues to divide opinion among backbenchers. Continue reading...

More than 350,000 UK citizens have opted to apply for post-Brexit insurance policy since 2016The number of British citizens who have applied to acquire the nationality of another EU member state has surged since the Brexit referendum, data shows.Since 2016 more than 350,000 UK citizens have opted to apply for the post-Brexit insurance policy, with some even forfeiting their British passport to retain their EU rights after Brexit. Continue reading...

The north African country’s population have suffered years of turmoil, fuelled by the meddling of outside players. The civil war may yet escalateLet’s all be good. This was, in essence, the conclusion of the conference in Berlin this month which aimed to at least begin the work of ending a war which has cost thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Libya. Participants agreed that foreign meddling should cease and that everyone should abide by the UN arms embargo.Despite the desperate need for peace, there was good reason to be cynical. The host, Angela Merkel, argued publicly with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, over what had actually been agreed. Fighting soon raged again. The UN refugee agency announced on Thursday that it is suspending all operations at a facility in Tripoli and moving refugees from the site, fearing for their safety and that of its staff and partners amid worsening conflict. The UN says that several participants in the Berlin meeting have since shipped both arms and mercenaries to Libya, blatantly violating the embargo. Continue reading...

On the eve of Brexit, readers reflect on the UK’s departure from the European UnionBrexit day will be an incredibly sad occasion. The loss of the many economic, social and environmental benefits that membership of the largest single market in the world brings will leave us all the poorer in so many ways. Benefits associated with the free movement of goods, capital, services and people across the EU have been immense. Exiting is such a needless act of self-destruction, hitting the poorest hardest. It is a move I predict we will go on to regret.Pro-EU events being held on Friday do, however, afford us the opportunity to celebrate the benefits that membership has brought – peace, stability and prosperity. The EU flag will also still fly outside the Scottish parliament. Continue reading...

Michael Meadowcroft says the US should end its multibillion-dollar annual subsidy to Israel, Chris Doyle says the plan announced this week will make the post-1967 occupation permanent, and Saville Kushner proposes a single-state solutionQuite apart from its gross offence to justice and basic humanity, the striking point about the Trump-Netanyahu plan is its complete lack of reality in relation to the situation in the Middle East (‘Occupation normalised’: Trump plan ticks every box on the Israeli wishlist, 29 January). Does the Israeli government believe for a moment that if the situation was reversed it would quietly accept Palestinian domination over its people’s lives?If Israeli citizens were constrained behind a wall, were forced to use separate roads, had land confiscated for Palestinian housing, had draconian rules on movement and had the Hebrew language treated as inferior, they would take every possible form of action against their oppressors, and they would be right to do so. Once again Israel makes the argument that these measures are for its security, but this is perverse: every action to constrain Palestinian life provokes increasing action against Israel. Israel will never be at peace with its neighbours while it represses them. If Trump really wants to help Israel’s security, there is one simple way: to end the almost £3bn paid annually by the US to Israel, mainly to support its military. This would force Israel’s government to come to the table and to discuss a genuinely fair and equitable settlement between the two neighbours.

Defence ministry says floating barrier will stop migrants crossing from TurkeyThe Greek government has been criticised after announcing it will build a floating barrier to deter thousands of people from making often perilous sea journeys from Turkey to Aegean islands on Europe’s periphery.The centre-right administration unveiled the measure on Thursday, following its pledge to take a tougher stance on undocumented migrants accessing the country. Continue reading...

More than 6,000 passengers and 1,000 crew members have been stopped from disembarking the Costa Smeralda ship over fears a woman onboard could have coronavirus. Footage shows passengers onboard the ship, which is docked at the Italian port city of Civitavecchia while tests are carried out

Last year the small Pacific island of Bougainville, a self-governed part of Papua New Guinea, held a referendum on whether it should become an independent country. In this episode of Full Story, Leanne Jorari looks at the long and sometimes violent journey to this historic vote, and where to now for BougainvilleYou can read this explainer on Bougainville’s referendum by Pacific editor Kate Lyons. Leanne Jorari also reported on the lead up to the referendum, and the day of the vote. Continue reading...

The chancellor is set to support the controversial rail project at a meeting with Boris Johnson and the transport secretary, Grant Shapps3.00pm GMTThe Times Scotland’s political editor has been tweeting out results of their new YouGov polling, which shows a lead for Scottish independence of 51%. The majority in favour of independence will boost the SNP as Nicola Sturgeon prepares to set out her next steps towards another referendum tomorrow, after Boris Johnson refused her request for the powers to hold a legal referendum earlier this month.EXC: New @YouGov poll puts Yes in lead on #indyref. Margin of 51-49, first time Yes has led since 2015.

Lawyers for bereaved and survivors say companies ‘all have blood on their hands’The companies who worked on the Grenfell Tower refurbishment killed 72 people “as sure as if they had taken careful aim with a gun and pulled the trigger”, the public inquiry into the disaster has been told by lawyers for the bereaved and survivors.After three days of submissions from the corporates which the inquiry’s lead counsel described as a “merry-go-round of buck-passing”, the survivors said on Thursday they were “genuinely shocked at corporates seeking to defend the indefensible”, adding “all have blood on their hands”. Continue reading...

By backing Israeli annexation and denying Palestinians their rights, Donald Trump is only perpetuating the conflictDonald Trump’s long-awaited “deal of the century”, unveiled with boastful fanfare on Tuesday in the presence of a beaming Benjamin Netanyahu, is not by any stretch of the imagination a plan that will allow Israelis and Palestinians to work out how they can live together in peace, equality and dignity.It is unlikely to lead to any kind of negotiations, because the Palestinians were already understandably furious at a series of unilateral US moves that undermined decades of international consensus about how to resolve the world’s most intractable conflict – involving the status of Jerusalem, the legality of Israeli settlements and the ever-emotive question of Palestinian refugees. It ignores countless UN resolutions, the Oslo accords of 1993, the Arab peace initiative of 2002 and the fundamental idea that Palestinians, like Israelis, have the inalienable right to self-determination. Continue reading...

Which passport should my children use? Will I pay home or EU student fees? Your questions answeredThere is continuing confusion about citizens’ rights after Brexit. We asked you about your concerns, and many wrote in with questions about pension and healthcare rights.You raised other issues too: can I still sail around Europe? Will I pay home fees if I start university in the Netherlands this year? What will happen about my pet’s passport? There is much unfinished Brexit business, as you will see from our answers below, composed with the help of experts and government departments. Continue reading...

Call for inquiry into CPS as prosecutions fall by a quarter and convictions by a fifth

This plan is simply a continuation of US-Israel policy. Palestinians have heard it all before and won’t accept itAt the White House on Tuesday, Donald Trump laid out his “deal of the century”: a plan for total Palestinian capitulation. It calls on Palestinians to recognise Israel as a Jewish state with all of Jerusalem as its capital, to give up the right of return that would allow Palestinian refugees to live in Israel, to accept the annexation of the Jordan Valley and the illegal Israeli settlements there, and to live in a series of Bantustans connected by roads and tunnels that would all essentially be controlled by Israel.None of this should be surprising. Not only is the plan simply a continuation of the Trump administration’s policy towards Israel and Palestine since the day he took office, but it comes after decades of disregard towards Palestinian aspirations of freedom and sovereignty. Continue reading...

Bronze sculptures and etchings by Spanish surrealist stolen from Stockholm’s Couleur galleryThieves have stolen bronze sculptures and etchings by the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí from a gallery in Stockholm in a smash and grab raid.The Couleur gallery, in the Swedish capital’s upmarket Östermalm district, was holding an exhibition of work by Dalí containing about 10 pieces by the Spanish artist, the news agency TT said. Continue reading...

Mother appeals for help finding Natalie Jenkins, 32, who was last seen on 10 DecemberA woman has appealed to the public for help finding her daughter as detectives launched a murder inquiry.Natalie Jenkins, 32, was last seen in Middlesbrough on 10 December and although she was close to her family, they have not heard from her since. At a news conference in Middlesbrough, DCI Mark Dimelow said the force was treating her disappearance as a suspected murder. Continue reading...

Chinese authorities yet to give plane permission to leave region at centre of outbreakHundreds of Britons hoping to flee the Chinese region at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak have been left stranded after an emergency flight chartered by the government to take them home was delayed.A plane was due to leave locked-down Wuhan on Thursday morning, evacuating about 200 Britons to the UK where they would be quarantined for two weeks at a secure NHS facility. Continue reading...

WHO prepares to meet to decide whether to declare outbreak a global emergency

Political party of Los Israelitas wins second largest share in new congress, and prompts concern over their fundamentalist viewsIn a country that takes pride in its colourful folklore, Los Israelitas – a religious sect whose members dress in flowing biblical robes – were regarded as just one more strand in Peru’s cultural tapestry.That was until their political party became an unexpected winner in parliamentary elections on Sunday. Continue reading...

Mother of victim urges Netflix to be respectful and truthful as people still grieving today

Former senator Nigel Scullion is also a shooting enthusiast and funds were announced shortly before May 2019 electionBridget McKenzie gave a $500,000 grant to the Northern Territory shooting club of Nigel Scullion, her former Coalition colleague and fellow shooting enthusiast.Guardian Australia also understands that the club’s application for the grant was initially given a low score of 60 out of 100 by Sport Australia, well below the 74-point cut-off identified by the auditor-general as necessary for projects to be awarded money. Continue reading...

Politicians sing Auld Lang Syne in raw end to a banal debate where the result was never in doubt

Quim Torra address lays bare splits over best way to achieve independence from SpainCatalonia’s separatist president, Quim Torra, has announced he will call an early regional election amid growing divisions and deteriorating relations between the two pro-independence parties in his coalition government.In an address that laid bare the splits between his centre-right Together for Catalonia party and the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), Torra said: “No government can work without unity and without a shared, common strategy and loyalty between partners.” Continue reading...

UK nationals rush to settle in Spain before they lose their rights as EU citizens on 31 December

Campaigners say Césars are acclaiming ‘an abuser and rapist on the run’Feminist campaigners have accused France’s most prestigious film awards of acclaiming “an abuser and rapist on the run” after Roman Polanski’s latest film topped the list of nominations for prizes this year.The Polish-born director fled from the US to France in 1978 after admitting the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl and he has been a fugitive from the US justice system ever since, despite repeated attempts to have him extradited. Continue reading...

Hundreds of foreigners evacuated from Wuhan as number of confirmed cases in China reaches almost 6,000

As Britain prepares for Brexit day on Friday, we visit the countries that are desperate to join“I sometimes think that those who are inside the European Union don’t realise how cold it is outside,” said Zoran Zaev, who in April will stand for re-election as North Macedonia’s prime minister. For Zaev, watching the Brexit saga play out has been a bemusing experience as he pushes to take his country in the other direction.The western Balkans nations have been promised an EU future for more than a decade, but expectations of a formal start to accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania were dashed late last year when the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said that given Brexit and other challenges, the bloc should reconsider how it goes about enlargement. Continue reading...

Hearing on teenager who later killed herself could lead to first international standard for protection from sexual violence at schools in Latin AmericaAn international court hearing that involves the alleged sexual abuse of an Ecuadorian schoolgirl between the age of 14 and 16 by her vice-principal could transform girls’ rights across Latin America.In a region where 30% of students between 13 and 15 claim to have experienced sexual harassment while at school, it is hoped that the case, heard on Tuesday at the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR) in Costa Rica, will establish the first international standards to protect girls from coercion and sexual violence in school. Continue reading...