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Appointment of Harry Mount to role overseeing Lords nominations triggers fresh cronyism accusations

IOPC report criticises detectives for failing to bring double killer Christopher Halliwell to justice soonerDetectives in Wiltshire missed “significant opportunities” to bring the double killer Christopher Halliwell to justice sooner for the murder of one of his victims and were slow to search a pond he used as a “trophy store”, an investigation managed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has found.The current chief constable, Kier Pritchard, was criticised specifically for his role overseeing the flawed investigation into the death of Becky Godden-Edwards, which the report said was hampered by poor supervision, meaning good lines of inquiry were not immediately pursued and key evidence not forensically examined.A soil sample from a spade belonging to Halliwell that was seized when he was arrested in 2011 not being forensically examined until three years later, when it was found to match the field where Godden-Edwards’ body was discovered.Evidence from an RAC recovery driver who attended to Halliwell’s broken-down vehicle in the early hours of 3 January 2003, six miles from where Godden-Edwards’ body was buried. Police knew of this in 2011 but details of it were established only three years later.The testimony of a GP in April 2011 that Halliwell visited their surgery on 3 January 2003 with severe scratches to his face and damage to his hand, claiming he had been assaulted by a passenger in his taxi. Continue reading...

Edmonton decided Ken Lum’s paired figures of a bison and fur trader could ‘cause harm and induce painful memories’A Canadian city has pulled a public art project over fears that a pair of towering bronze statues could be seen as an endorsement of colonialism – the exact opposite of the work’s intended meaning, according to the artist.The work, which cost C$375,000 (US$285,000), comprises two large bronze figures which were intended to stand on either end of a pedestrian bridge in Edmonton. On one end, a 13ft bison was to stare out over the water. At the other, a colonial fur trader, measuring 11.5ft, would sit atop a pile of bison pelts. Continue reading...

Poultry processor Ranjit Singh Boparan says increase will add £1m a week to his business costsOne of the UK’s biggest chicken producers has warned food security could be under threat and shoppers exposed to a “price shock” after a more than threefold surge in the price of carbon dioxide (CO).Pig farmers, soft drink producers, brewers and bakeries are also being hit by the increase in the cost of the gas, which is used to stun animals before slaughter, as well as in packaging and as an ingredient. Continue reading...

South Cambridgeshire district council set to vote on pilot of shortened week for 470 desk-based employeesA Cambridgeshire council is poised to become the first in the UK to trial a four-day week, in a pioneering test of whether the working pattern can be applied successfully in the public sector without disrupting frontline services.Councillors at South Cambridgeshire district council will vote later this month on whether to pilot a shortened week on the same pay for 470 desk-based workers before possibly rolling it out to bin collectors. Workers at the authority – which operates in a district of more than 100 villages circling Cambridge – are being informed about the trial on Friday. Continue reading...

Victorian facility did not breach legislation for failing to afford woman dignity by declaring she was no longer technically a resident because she had died

Fairfield mayor says ‘people are suffering’ due to lack of affordable housing in migrant communities as PM pledges $575m investment

NSW government had threatened to terminate existing enterprise agreement with rail workers over ongoing industrial action

Years of mismanagement have led to soaring debt levels, but critics say that without meaningful relief, austerity will continueThe International Monetary Fund has approved a $1.3bn (£1.1bn) loan to Zambia, as the country scrambles to rebuild its crisis-hit economy after defaulting on its foreign debts in 2020.The Covid pandemic compounded Zambia’s economic woes, blamed on years of mismanagement and corruption, which left the country with unsustainable levels of debt. Continue reading...

Department store group says it is responding to customers’ demand for more sustainable shoppingSelfridges is aiming for almost half its interactions with customers to be based on resale, repair, rental or refills by 2030 as the upmarket department store responds to increasing demand for more sustainable shopping.The retailer said it wanted to step up action after increasing sales of secondhand items by 240% to 17,771 pieces last year and facilitating 28,000 repairs, more than a third of which were pairs of trainers, in its effort to trade in a more environmentally sustainable way. It also rented out more than 2,000 items to customers and sold more than 8,000 refills. Continue reading...

Wifi, Netflix, a laptop, presents for family and the odd night out with friends are in this year’s Minimum Income StandardWhat constitutes a no-fripperies minimum standard of living in the UK in 2022? It’s not just sufficient money for three meals a day, suitable clothes, heating and a roof over one’s head, according to the public, but enough for a Netflix subscription, a smart speaker, the odd night out with friends and a supply of Covid masks.It’s about being able to afford things such as a smartphone, a laptop, wifi, a cooker, a TV, the odd alcoholic drink and also enough to take an unostentatious week’s holiday away in the UK once a year, treat yourself to an occasional takeaway, buy presents for the children and family, and make charitable donations. Continue reading...

UK government accused of being devoid of understanding of issues in Scotland, Wales and Northern IrelandThe UK government’s dealings with the devolved nations has been described by former ministers as “demoralising”, “depressing” and devoid of understanding of issues in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.As the former Brexit minister David Frost is tipped to take charge of matters relating to the union in a potential Liz Truss government, nine former ministers in governments in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast have spoken out about their tussles and frustrations with Westminster in interviews with the Institute for Government. Continue reading...

Scott Roderick Glanville was waiting for help after his van rolled in 2019 when struck and killed by ute, Tasmanian coroner rulesA Tasmanian father-of-three who walked away from a car crash caused by black ice was killed moments later when he was struck by a ute that lost control on the same section of road, a coroner has ruled.Scott Roderick Glanville, 46, died on the side of a road in the state’s north on the morning of 25 June 2019. Continue reading...

Former Labor minister celebrated as one of the state’s ‘most respected daughters’

Notice in two major newspapers asks reporters to use ministerial emails instead of contacting James MarapeThe Papua New Guinean prime minister’s office has taken out a full page advertisement in the country’s two major newspapers urging journalists to stop calling and texting him directly.“This circular is to advise all members of the media fraternity, both national and international, that the Prime Minister Hon. James Marape MP will no longer accept direct press enquiries from the date of this correspondence onwards,” said the public notice published in the Post Courier and the National on Friday. Continue reading...

Clubs lobby is seeking charges of contempt against the YouTuber and Troy Stolz over interview

NSW police will continue to review content from a private chatroom at the elite boys’ school containing inappropriate and offensive messages

Business welcomes immigration increase as government also announces measures to reduce visa wait times

More than 130 extra submissions received since QPS chief Katarina Carroll took stand

Economist tells Jobs and Skills Summit ‘we are kidding ourselves’ if Australia focuses on wage rises rather than mineral rent taxIncreased spending on healthcare and defence could be met through a greater grab from the resource sector, without the need to raise income taxes, economist Ross Garnaut has told the Jobs and Skills Summit.Garnaut’s comments, made to delegates over dinner on Thursday night, were followed on Friday by the Albanese government hinting that it may expand paid parental leave even as it ruled out tapping extra revenue from the booming mining sector.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

In August, 8,644 people reached the UK, the highest monthly number since 6,961 arrived last NovemberThe UK had the highest monthly total of people crossing the Channel on record in August with more than 8,000, an analysis of government figures show.In the 31-day period, 8,644 made the journey on 189 boats, with crossings taking place on 21 of those days. It is the highest monthly total since records began in 2018, with the previous high of 6,961 recorded in November 2021, according to analysis by the PA news agency. Continue reading...

Canadian singer-songwriter announces she will step back from a tour with Arcade Fire following allegations against Win ButlerThe Canadian singer-songwriter Leslie Feist, known mononymously as Feist, has announced she will leave a tour with Arcade Fire following allegations of sexual misconduct against the band’s frontman, Win Butler.A Pitchfork investigation published last week alleged that the 42-year-old singer-guitarist of the Canadian indie rock band took advantage of age gaps and fandom with four people; three women, aged 18 to 23 at the time, alleged Butler sent unwanted sexual messages between the years 2015 and 2020. Continue reading...

The wife of supreme court justice Clarence Thomas urged a Wisconsin state senator and representative to do their ‘duty’Ginni Thomas, the wife of the US supreme court justice Clarence Thomas, lobbied lawmakers in Wisconsin as well as Arizona in November 2020, seeking to overturn Joe Biden’s victories over Donald Trump in both swing states.Thomas emailed lawmakers in support of Trump’s lie that Biden won thanks to electoral fraud. Continue reading...

Officials’ proposed measures include national insurance cuts and pause to green leviesThe Treasury is working on a menu of options to counter Britain’s cost of living crisis in readiness for an emergency mini-budget due to take place within two weeks if Liz Truss replaces Boris Johnson as prime minister.With opinion polls and bookmakers’ odds showing Truss the clear favourite to move into 10 Downing Street next week, officials are drawing up plans that would allow the new government to move quickly over bills and longer-term reforms of the energy market. Continue reading...

Noncompliant claims widespread across the $110m-a-year scheme, part of the federal government’s welfare-to-work system

Lyrics sheet for one of singer’s most famous songs on sale with guide price of £30,000 to £40,000The original handwritten lyrics of David Bowie’s Starman are going up for auction with an estimated price of £30,000.Omega Auctions said the lyrics sheet – which includes edits and additions by Bowie – is being sold by someone who acquired them in the 1980s. The lyrics were previously on display at the V&A’s David Bowie Is exhibition. Continue reading...

Letter from 768 firms lends support as broadcaster hopes government won’t relish divisive debate on issueAlmost every UK television production company has urged the next prime minister to abandon the sale of Channel 4, arguing ministers should focus on the cost of living crisis rather than the “unpopular” privatisation.An open letter, signed by 768 independent television and film producers, warns that a sale will damage their businesses, damage levelling up efforts, and cause a distraction for the country at an uncertain economic time. Continue reading...

Industrial action on 15 and 17 September will shut down rail network, says unionBritain’s railways will be brought to a standstill later this month after the RMT union announced two more 24-hour rail strikes in the long-running dispute over pay and working conditions.About 40,000 workers at Network Rail and 14 train operating companies will strike on 15 and 17 September. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can find more on this story hereSpeaking from Sizewell in east Suffolk, Boris Johnson begins by talking about a “much-thumbed” Ladybird book he owned as a child, which was called The Story of Nuclear Power.He says he was “enthralled” to read how UK scientists split the atom for the first time at the Cavendish laboratories in Cambridge. He said he noted how the world’s first civilian nuclear power station was built in Cumbria.I look back at the optimism in the pages of that book and I look at what has happened since and at the short-termism of successive British governments and their failure to do justice to our pioneering nuclear history … and I feel like one of those beautifully drawn illustrations of that Ladybird book of what happens in a nuclear pile.The graphite rods are taken out at the wrong moments and my blood starts to boil and steam starts coming out of my ears and I think I’m going to meltdown. I ask myself the question: ‘What happened to us?’. Continue reading...

Men aged 43 and 55 facing charges of gross negligence manslaughter over death of three teenagers in 2019Two men are to be prosecuted in connection with a crush outside a disco in Northern Ireland that killed three teenagers in 2019.Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service said on Thursday that the men, aged 43 and 55, would each be charged with three counts of gross negligence manslaughter. Continue reading...

Merseyside police reveal detail as CCTV is released of the gunman running from the sceneTwo guns were used in the Liverpool shooting that killed nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Merseyside police said as they released new CCTV footage of the gunman responsible.Olivia was fatally shot at her home in the Dovecot area of Liverpool as her mother, Cheryl, tried to stop the gunman forcing his way through her front door. Continue reading...

Disasters and Emergency Committee urges British public to give whatever they canAn urgent appeal has been launched by the Disasters Emergency Committee for donations in Pakistan, where at least 1,000 people have been killed by floods described as the worst in the country’s history.“The scale of these floods has caused a shocking level of destruction – crops have been swept away and livestock killed across huge swathes of the country,” said the DEC’s chief executive, Saleh Saeed. Continue reading...

Michelle Bachelet issues report minutes before her term ends, detailing ‘credible’ reports of torture, forced sterilization and internmentThe outgoing UN human rights commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, has said that China had committed “serious human rights violations” against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province which may amount to crimes against humanity.Bachelet’s damning report was published with only 11 minutes to go before her term came to an end at midnight Geneva time. Publication was delayed by the eleventh-hour delivery of an official Chinese response that contained names and pictures of individuals that had to be blacked out by the UN commissioner’s office for privacy and safety reasons. Continue reading...

Meta urged to act after sacking of Guillermo Camacho, union leader who protested against working conditions at London officesThe Facebook owner Meta has come under fire after one of its contractors was accused of sacking a union leader in retaliation for leading protests against the company’s poor working conditions and excessive workload for its London-based cleaners.Guillermo Camacho had worked as a contracted cleaner for the company for almost seven years until he organised the protests outside Facebook’s Brock Street offices in the summer of 2021. He was suspended from his job within months, and fired in October for inadequate performance. Continue reading...

Initiative running to end of year will also benefit leisure travellers and touristsA scheme allowing free travel on suburban and middle-distance trains has begun in Spain, the latest in a series of European public transport initiatives intended to address increasing fuel costs.German rail fares returned to normal on Thursday after a three-month experiment with €9 (£7.75) tickets for a month’s unlimited travel on local and regional public transport networks. Continue reading...

Federal study on math and reading scores offers an early glimpse of the sheer magnitude of the learning setbacksMath and reading scores for America’s nine-year-olds fell dramatically during the first two years of the Covid pandemic, according to a new federal study – offering an early glimpse of the sheer magnitude of the learning setbacks dealt to children.Reading scores saw their largest decrease in 30 years, while math scores had their first decrease in the history of the testing regimen behind the study, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the US education department. Continue reading...

Damning report cites human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims in north-west Chinese provinceChina has committed “serious human rights violations” against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province which may amount to crimes against humanity, the outgoing UN human rights commissioner has said in a long-awaited and damning report. Continue reading...

Inspectors on site after Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of trying to sabotage visit

Town councillor Ken Walker was left with life-threatening injuries after incident in his and wife Freda’s homeA town councillor has died seven months after an attack at his home in which his 86-year-old wife was fatally wounded.Ken Walker was left with life-threatening injuries after the incident at the couple’s Derbyshire home on 14 January. Continue reading...

Multiverse, founded by son of former PM, is first apprenticeship provider allowed to award degreesTony Blair was the prime minister who met his aim of enrolling more than half of all young people in university by this century. Now his son is pioneering a way of awarding degrees with no need for a university at all.Euan Blair’s company, Multiverse, has become the first apprenticeship provider granted a licence to award degrees on the job. Continue reading...

UK chancellor says more help will be provided to heat homes this winter but does not explain howThe chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, has said households should not be cut off if they cannot afford their energy bills, as the Treasury examines a range of options to help consumers cope with the cost of living crisis.Zahawi promised that the government would expand on the £37bn package of aid announced earlier this year to help households tackle soaring energy costs. He told Sky News: “No one should be cut off because they can’t afford their bills. Continue reading...

Labour leader defends proposals for freeze on bills part-funded by expanded windfall tax on oil and gas profits

PPF in line to acquire shares in Allwyn Entertainment, whose UK arm won lottery licence from Camelot

What can be done on rising prices – and would nationalising gas and electricity firms help?Governments across Europe have been funding pain relief measures to help with energy and petrol bills. The UK announced a £15bn package in May, largely in the form of cash payments to households, while EU member states are estimated to have spent €280bn (£243m) over the past year on everything from subsidies and price caps to one-off payments. But bills for households and businesses are reaching unsustainable levels, with further increases expected next year, sharpening the debate over whether ministers should be intervening directly in energy markets to help bring prices down.As Russia threatens to further reduce gas supplies, politicians in Italy, Spain, Greece and the Czech Republic are among those pushing for coordinated action. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Monday Brussels was considering a measures to be adopted by the 27 member states. What are the options? Continue reading...

Laxman Narasimhan surprises investors by saying he will leave for US halfway through turnaround planThe boss of the Dettol disinfectant maker Reckitt Benckiser has abruptly resigned in order to take a new job in the US, surprising investors after a relatively brief three-year stint at the top of the FTSE 100 company.Laxman Narasimhan will step down as chief executive on 30 September, despite being partway through a turnaround plan he launched after joining in September 2019. Continue reading...

Truss has rejected idea but Gove says priority should be to ensure there is enough energy for households

The scale of the crisis in several European countries, and what governments are doing about itGovernments across Europe are scrambling to cushion citizens from soaring energy prices and have so far allocated a total of about €280bn (£240bn) to helping reduce the impact of the crisis, according to the thinktank Bruegel.Pressure is mounting for joint action beyond a voluntary 15% cut in consumption agreed in July, and the EU will hold an emergency summit on 9 September to discuss measures including a bloc-wide price cap. Continue reading...

Price of gas for delivery on Friday drops 21% from last night’s price of 405p per therm to 320pWholesale gas prices have tumbled amid signs that European leaders’ plans to avert a winter energy crisis are taking shape.The price of gas for delivery on Friday dropped 21% from last night’s price of 405p per therm to 320p, as the European Commission confirmed it is working on “emergency measures” and the German government said it is “prepared” for the winter. Continue reading...

Heavy reliance on gas is behind price surge, with the impact on poorest households also the worst in EuropeThe energy crisis is hitting UK household budgets harder than any country in western Europe, according to analysis by the International Monetary Fund. The difference between the cost burden on poor and rich households is also far more unequal in the UK compared with other countries.The reason is the UK’s heavy reliance on gas to heat homes and produce electricity at a time when Russia’s war in Ukraine has sent gas prices soaring. In addition, the UK has the least energy efficient homes in western Europe. Continue reading...

Royal commission found bank and blank cheques had been exchanged for chips at Crown in Melbourne in breach of restrictions