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Reports used by industry to evaluate customers often missing claims or had incorrect figures and could take as long as a month to obtain

Vaccine mandates will remain in place for now in Victoria as authorities work with individual industries

Education secretary says wife has used ‘light smack’ as he rejects calls for ban in EnglandThe education secretary has rejected calls for a ban on ​parents ​smacking children in England, ​revealing that his wife has occasionally given their daughter a “light smack on the arm”.Nadhim Zahawi said he ​did not ​want to “end up in a world where the state is nannying people about how they bring up their children​”, but senior Conservative MPs called for ​a​ parliamentary debate on the issue after ​the children’s commissioner​ for England​, Dame Rachel de Souza, supported a ban. Continue reading...

Downing Street withdrew move aimed at delaying investigation as two more Tory MPs call for PM to quit from floor of Commons

Guardian research finds cluster munitions, widely banned across the world, used in populated areas

No explanation given for change, with royals due to begin platinum jubilee tour of Caribbean on FridayA planned visit by the Earl and Countess of Wessex to Grenada has been postponed at the 11th hour, just one day before the couple embark on their six-day platinum jubilee tour of the Caribbean and weeks after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s controversial visit to the region.No explanation for the late postponement was given by Buckingham Palace, which followed a consultation with the government of Grenada and on the advice of the governor general. Continue reading...

Online shopping group says it has dismissed ‘multiple’ attempts to buy companyOnline shopping group THG has dismissed “numerous” takeover approaches as “unacceptable”, saying they undervalued the company.Manchester-based THG (formerly known as The Hut Group), which runs beauty and nutrition websites including Lookfantastic, Cult Beauty and Myprotein, confirmed there had been interest from third parties, but said the company was not currently involved in any talks. Continue reading...

PM’s overnight rethink on MPs’ standards adds to long list of very public second thoughts

Putin orders forces not to storm last stronghold in Mariupol as west warns of Russian cyberattacks against Ukraine’s allies

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war in our new live blogUkraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk has announced on Telegram that a humanitarian corridor has been agreed to evacuate women, children and the elderly from the besieged southern port city of Mariupol. She posted:Given the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Mariupol, it is in this direction that we will focus our efforts today. We managed to agree in advance on a humanitarian corridor for women, children and the elderly.Due to the very difficult security situation, changes may occur during the corridor. So, please follow the relevant official announcements. We will do our best to make everything work properly.Do not believe in any words from Russia. It would be good if they allowed civilians to leave the Azovstal, but they didn’t allow this for 50 days, why should they allow this now? Continue reading...

Victory gives 72-year-old his second term as president of south-east Asia’s youngest countryThe Nobel prize winner José Ramos-Horta has scored a landslide victory in Timor-Leste’s presidential election, according to preliminary results published by the election secretariat.The 72-year-old secured 397,145 votes, or 62.09%, against incumbent Francisco “Lu-Olo” Guterres’ 242,440, or 37.91%, the secretariat’s website showed on Wednesday after all ballots were counted. Continue reading...

Charity launches Mayday Mile fundraiser and reveals it saved 408 people from drowning in 2021Lifeboat crews and lifeguards around the UK and Ireland saved more than a person a day from drowning in 2021, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has said.The charity saved 408 people last year, an increase of 59 on 2020. Lifeboats were launched 8,868 times, and crews helped a total of 12,903 people – the equivalent of 35 a day. Continue reading...

National Audit Office reveals losses in report on how UK managed cross-border travel during Covid pandemicQuarantine hotels for inbound travellers to the UK during Covid have cost the taxpayer more than £400m, a National Audit Office (NAO) investigation has found, including almost £100m in unpaid room bills and fraud.While the government expected the hotels’ costs would be covered by the occupants, it has emerged that the taxpayer has been left responsible for more than half of the £757m bill. The rooms were for those travelling to the UK from high-risk “red list” countries during the pandemic. Continue reading...

Actor continues testimony on his life and marriage with Amber Heard, including events that marked the end of their relationshipJohnny Depp’s courtroom exploration of his life and marriage with Amber Heard continued in the US on Wednesday, with the court viewing a photograph of the actor’s partially severed finger.Depp testified that Heard had become enraged when he had started drinking in Australia during the filming of one of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise films and had thrown a bottle of vodka at him, severing the top of his finger. Continue reading...

Kimberly Hone previously posted on social media that ‘one way to avoid domestic violence is to marry well’

RMT to ballot more than 40,000 workers at Network Rail and train firms in dispute over jobs and payMore than 40,000 railway workers are to be balloted in a dispute over jobs and pay that a union says could result in Britain’s biggest rail strike in modern history.The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) said staff would be asked to vote on strike action over Network Rail’s plans to cut at least 2,500 maintenance jobs as part of a £2bn reduction in spending on the network. Continue reading...

Berlin will give Ukraine funds to buy weapons as army has run out of hardware, says Annalena Baerbock

Musician was one of the first people of African descent to have visual and written record in BritainHe is the most famous Black person from the Tudor era, a court trumpeter who performed at important regal celebrations and was highly rewarded for his skill by Henry VIII.Now the story of John Blanke, one of the first people of African descent to have both a visual and written record in Britain, will be told at a major exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. Continue reading...

John Robinson, whose wife, Pat, died from coronavirus in first wave, says PM should quit over rule-breaking

Analysis: Many believe it is only images that will ultimately prove whether Boris Johnson misled MPs over lockdown gatherings

The monarch will spend several days at Wood Farm, where Prince Philip spent retirementThe Queen will celebrate her 96th birthday in low-key fashion on her Norfolk estate, where she is expected to stay at the farmhouse where the Duke of Edinburgh spent much of his retirement.The monarch will fly from Windsor Castle to her Sandringham estate where she is likely to spend several days at Wood Farm, the home Prince Philip moved to after his retirement in August 2017. She visited him frequently until the Covid pandemic necessitated his moving to shield with her at Windsor Castle. Continue reading...

Court rules app for Muslims infringed trademark of Match Group, US company behind Tinder and OkCupidThe US dating giant behind Tinder and OkCupid has won a court battle with a British dating app for Muslims after accusing it of copying its product and services.Muzmatch, the world’s largest Muslim dating and marriage app, could lose the right to use its name following the legal battle with Match Group, which also owns Hinge and Match.com. Continue reading...

Sir Stephen House calls for change in sacking procedures at home affairs select committee appearanceThe acting head of the UK’s biggest police force has admitted that cultural problems in the force are “not a few bad apples” and called for a change in procedures to allow managers to speedily sack errant officers.Sir Stephen House, who has temporarily taken over as commissioner of the Metropolitan police, also disclosed that there had been a lack of supervision in the police unit where Sarah Everard’s murderer served. Continue reading...

Council elections will be contest between SNP’s national programme and Scottish Labour’s local recordClaire O’Byrne has been living at the sharp end of Scotland’s rural housing crisis. Owing to a chronic housing shortage on Arran, she had to declare herself homeless and leave the island, and for now gambles on its ailing ferry service for visits to the island with her five-year-old daughter, Alice.“Arran is an afterthought for everybody in terms of infrastructure and services,” she said. “It’s a nightmare. I have known so many people who have had to make a decision to move away.” Continue reading...

Scott Morrison accuses Anthony Albanese of siding with China as Labor leader wins support of 40% of undecided voter forum over PM’s 35%

Longtime collaborator Michael Feinstein has alleged that the manner of Minnelli’s appearance presenting best picture last month was largely against her wishesLiza Minnelli was “forced” to appear in a wheelchair against her will at last month’s Oscars, a longtime collaborator has claimed.Michael Feinstein, a singer and pianist and friend of Minnelli has said that her appearance at the end of the ceremony, in which she presented the best picture award alongside Lady Gaga, left her “very disappointed”. Continue reading...

Leaders lock horns on border protection and federal integrity commission as Anthony Albanese voted winner of ‘people’s forum’ debate on Sky News; Zed Seselja dismisses Barnaby Joyce comments on China-Solomon Islands pact after deputy prime minister breaks government ranks; at least 38 more people die of Covid around the country. This blog is now closed

Paul Bussetti from Croydon pleads guilty in retrial after not guilty verdict quashed by high courtA man has been sentenced to 10 weeks, suspended for two years, after admitting sending a “grossly offensive” viral video of a cardboard model of Grenfell Tower being burned on a bonfire.Paul Bussetti, 49, from Croydon, south London, pleaded guilty to one count when he appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Far-right challenger out to avoid repeat of 2017 ‘failure’ in two-and-a-half hour clash with incumbentEmmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will go head to head in a live TV debate on Wednesday night that could prove crucial in making up the minds of undecided voters four days before the French presidential runoff.The high-stakes, two-and-a-half-hour confrontation, the only direct clash between the two candidates, has been a tradition of French presidential campaigns since 1974, often confirming or dashing electoral ambitions. Continue reading...

Home secretary to decide whether WikiLeaks founder will be extradited to US on espionage chargesA court has formally approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the US on espionage charges, in what will ultimately be a decision for the UK home secretary, Priti Patel.The Wikileaks co-founder, who has the right of appeal, appeared by videolink during the Westminster magistrates court hearing, which one of his barristers described as a “brief but significant moment in the case”. Continue reading...

CTS apologises for panic caused by broadcast of mocked-up captions it says it created for security drillsA Taiwanese news channel has broadcast by mistake a fictional news alert that said Chinese armed forces had launched an invasion, firing missiles at cities and ports surrounding the capital, Taipei.Several news captions declaring a violent attack by China’s People’s Liberation Army had been mocked up for forthcoming security drills, but were accidentally broadcast to Taiwanese viewers at 7am on Wednesday.Additional reporting by Chi Hui Lin and Xiaoqian Zhu Continue reading...

Pavlo Makov was reluctant to leave Kharkiv but after sleeping in a bomb shelter for a week, he decided he had to represent Ukraine

Plan to give competition watchdog more powers to tackle rip-offs and poor business practicesFake reviews are to be outlawed and consumers will have more chances to get out of subscriptions they do not want under a package of measures proposed by the UK government to stop people being ripped off online.Under the measures, it will be illegal for businesses to pay someone to write or host a fake review for a product or service, and sites hosting consumer verdicts will have to take reasonable steps to check they are genuine. Continue reading...

One in six patients have had no contact with healthcare professionals since before pandemic, finds Diabetes UKThousands of lives are being put at risk due to delays and disruption in diabetes care, according to a damning report that warns patients have been “pushed to the back of the queue” during the Covid-19 pandemic.There are 4.9 million people living with diabetes in the UK, and almost half had difficulties managing their condition last year, according to a survey of 10,000 patients by the charity Diabetes UK. Continue reading...

No one was injured when the balloon, which was making its maiden voyage, landed in suburban Elwood

Prime minister defends Canberra’s ‘calibrated’ approach to Honiara and tries to turn criticism back on Labor

Charity says it is committed to remaining apolitical and has launched an investigation into endorsement from its CEO

Parts to be staged in Stoke, Doncaster, Trowbridge and Sunderland in 2023 using local writers and amateur casts before finale in LondonA retelling of The Odyssey, Homer’s epic story of endurance and hope, is to be the centrepiece of a landmark project next year by the National Theatre in partnership with local artists and communities.The production will be staged in episodes in Stoke-on-Trent, Doncaster, Trowbridge and Sunderland. Each of the four parts will be written by a local playwright, and performed by local people alongside professional actors. Continue reading...

Private hospital operators expect boom in self-pay to continue for at least next three to five yearsGrowing numbers of Britons are paying for private medical treatment because of the record delays people are facing trying to access NHS care, a report has revealed.They are using their own savings to pay for procedures that involve some of the longest waiting times in NHS hospital, such as diagnostic tests, cataract removals and joint replacements. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war in our new live blogThe US is reportedly seeking to seize a superyacht suspected of belonging to a Russian oligarch that is docked in the Pacific island nation of Fiji.A restraining order filed on Tuesday by Fiji’s director of public prosecutions and seen by Reuters showed the vessel arrived in Fiji a week ago after leaving Mexico 18 days earlier and crossing the Pacific. Continue reading...

Covid restrictions to ease further in both states from Friday, with Victoria confident it has reached peak of Omicron wave

Penny Wong accuses Coalition of mishandling situation, raising concerns of a potential Chinese military presence in South Pacific

AEU president backed funding announcement but criticised lack of timeline, while noting Coalition had offered ‘nothing at all’

Shadow defence minister Brendan O’Connor says cancellation of $1.3bn SkyGuardian program demands explanation

Moscow is luring mercenaries from Syria, Libya and elsewhere in effort to capture as much as possible of eastern UkraineRussia has deployed up to 20,000 mercenaries from Syria, Libya and elsewhere in its new offensive in Ukraine’s Donbas region, sent into battle with no heavy equipment or armoured vehicles, according to a European official.The official said the estimates of mercenary involvement on the ground in eastern Ukraine range from 10,000 to 20,000 and that it was hard to break down that figure between Syrians, Libyans and other fighters recruited by the Russian mercenary company, the Wagner Group. Continue reading...