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Career public servant and former chief of staff to Malcolm Turnbull to represent Australia's interests with Trump administration from April, including progression of Aukus agreement

Police said group breached HMP Wormwood Scrubs grounds where Umer Khalid is being heldA group of protesters supporting a Palestine Action prisoner on hunger strike have been arrested after they breached prison grounds, the Metropolitan police has said.The force said on Saturday evening that it had detained a group of protesters outside HMP Wormwood Scrubs, in west London, and was in the process of making a number of arrests. Continue reading...

Winter storm system brings emergency declarations as snow and ice create unsafe driving conditions and power shortages. This blog is now closed.

Greater Manchester mayor has applied to stand for Labour in Gorton and Denton, setting up potential fight for PM's political futureKeir Starmer's allies are urging him to block Andy Burnham from running in the Gorton and Denton byelection, after the Greater Manchester mayor declared his intention to stand, setting up a potential fight for the prime minister's political future.Burnham said on Saturday he wanted to contest the seat after the sitting MP, Andrew Gwynne, said he intended to stand down. Continue reading...

Yellow warnings for heavy rain remain in place across parts of Northern Ireland, Scotland and south-west England and WalesDownpours and high winds are likely to continue after Storm Ingrid wreaked havoc in the south-west and washed away part of a historic pier in Devon, the Met Office said on Saturday.It has been a wet weekend for many, with yellow weather warnings for heavy rain in place across parts of Northern Ireland, Scotland and south-west England and Wales. Continue reading...

Starmerites argue Burnham's return to Westminster would undermine the government, but he has the support of powerful party figuresWhen Lucy Powell, Labour's deputy leader and a close ally of Andy Burnham, took to the stage at the Fabian conference in London on Saturday, she had a blunt message for her party.I want to make sure that we're putting out the best team on the pitch, week after week, so we can win those important matches," she told the audience. Continue reading...

Teachers who attended compulsory' creationist conference run by US-based fundamentalist group told radiometric dating techniques were flawed

Exclusive: Experts say AI is likely to create more news deserts, fewer independent voices and threaten the viability of Australian journalism

Full text of the Manchester mayor's letter seeking selection for Gorton and Denton byelection

Jacob Frey's full response after federal agents shoot and kill 37-year-old US citizen on 24 January

After criticism over allegation Nato troops stayed off front lines' in conflict, US president says UK forces were great and very brave'Donald Trump has said UK soldiers who fought in Afghanistan were among the greatest of all warriors" after previously drawing criticism for his claims Nato troops stayed away from the frontlines during the conflict.In a post on social media on Saturday, the US president said: The great and very brave soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America. Continue reading...

Police say two men and a woman shouted abuse and struck vehicle outside Crowborough military site in East SussexThree people have been arrested after two occurrences of disorder outside Crowborough training camp, which is being used to house asylum seekers.A 36-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman from Crowborough, and a 54-year-old man from Newhaven were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of an offence under the Public Order Act and are now in police custody. Continue reading...

President also claimed US refineries will process seized Venezuelan oil, saying we take the oil'Donald Trump on Saturday said he would impose a 100% tariff on all Canadian imports if the North American country makes a trade deal with China.Beside that tariff threat, another Trump foreign policy maneuver to make news on Saturday involved the president announcing the US had taken the oil that was on recently seized Venezuelan tankers. Continue reading...

Kyiv says Moscow used 396 drones and missiles in another night of Russian terror' on second day of talks in UAERussia launched a major drone and missile attack targeting Ukraine's two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, early on Saturday, as US, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met in the United Arab Emirates for a second day of tripartite peace talks.Peace efforts? Trilateral meeting in the UAE? Diplomacy? For Ukrainians, this was another night of Russian terror," the country's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said after the latest Russian assault on critical infrastructure. Continue reading...

Change being considered amid global glut driven by supplies from China along with a rise in protectionismThe UK is expected to reduce the amount of foreign steel it allows in tariff-free, as the government looks to protect its domestic industry amid a global glut and a rise in protectionism.Ministers are considering changing the quota system that allows a quantity of the metal to be imported before imposing a 25% levy on anything above that level. Continue reading...

Fire department was responding to report of gas odor in Bronx building when explosion occurred during frigid nightA gas explosion sent fire racing through the top floors of a high-rise apartment building in New York City early on Saturday, killing one person and injuring 14 others as temperatures plunged into the single digits overnight, authorities said.Firefighters responded shortly before 12.30am to the 17-story New York City housing authority (Nycha) building in the Bronx, where people were seen leaning out of windows calling for help as flames engulfed parts of the top floors, officials said. Continue reading...

Driver was taken into custody after car crashed through airport entrance and struck Delta ticket counterA car crashed through the entrance of Detroit's metropolitan Wayne county airport on Friday evening, striking a ticket counter and injuring six people, airport officials said.The driver was taken into custody, the Wayne county airport authority (WCAA) said in a statement. The cause of the crash was not yet known, and airport police were investigating. Continue reading...

Groups say EPA did not adequately consider adverse health effects to children when it approved the pesticidePublic health groups are suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its approval of a Pfas forever chemical" insecticide that industry research found likely reduces testicle size, lowers sperm count and harms the liver in rats.The pesticide, isocycloseram, is used on food crops and could especially threaten children and developing fetuses, but the EPA did not factor those risks into its safety assessment, said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director with the Center for Biological Diversity, a plaintiff in the suit. Continue reading...

Many of those moved into an asylum return centre have held jobs for years and can speak the languageSweden did this for us," said Sofiye*, making a supportive scooping up gesture with her hands. And then, bam." She dropped them to the ground.Sofiye, who has three children, arrived in Sweden from Uzbekistan as an asylum seeker in 2008, and for much of that time she was able to build a life in the Scandinavian country. The family lived in a flat in a Stockholm suburb and Sofiye worked for the municipality in the home help department. She learned Swedish and her children went through the Swedish school system. Her youngest son was born in Sweden and her 18-year-old son, Hamza, who is studying in college to be a technician, doesn't know life anywhere else. Continue reading...

Crime minister says reforms will improve standards, but Federation says unsafe workloads must be tackled firstThe government must stop burdening police officers with unsafe workloads and improve police pay and training if they want professional" policing, the Police Federation has said, in response to sweeping Home Office changes to improve standards in the police.Under the new plans, to be unveiled in a white paper on Monday, police officers in England and Wales will be required to hold and renew a licence to practise" throughout their career in the future. Continue reading...

this blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereIndia and Europe hope to strike the mother of all deals" when EU chiefs meet prime minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi next week, as the two economic behemoths seek to forge closer ties, AFP reports.Facing challenges from China and the United States, India and the European Union have been negotiating a massive free trade pact - and talks, first launched about two decades ago, are nearing the finishing line. Continue reading...

Ceasefire to be extended for one month to allow transfer of suspected Islamic State members from Syria to IraqThe Syrian government and Kurdish forces agreed to extend a ceasefire on Saturday, according to Syrian diplomatic sources, temporarily staving off a looming war between the two sides in Syria's northeast.Diplomatic sources told Agence France-Presse the ceasefire would be extended for a period of up to one month at most," citing the need to facilitate the transfer of suspected members of Islamic State from Syria to Iraq. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Eluned Morgan says it is not time for protest votes when the economy and public services are at stakeThe Labour first minister of Wales has urged voters not to treat the May elections as a referendum on Keir Starmer, calling on them to focus on the country's future instead, with the party on course for a fight for third place.Eluned Morgan said it was not the time to send a protest vote to the prime minister when two pro-independence parties - Plaid Cymru and the Greens - could end up in power and so much was at stake for the economy and public services. Continue reading...

Prosecutors say cuts to funding and training limits their ability to bring child predators to justiceThe US Department of Justice has slashed funding and training resources for law enforcement working on investigations and prosecutions of sex crimes against children under the Trump administration, which limits their ability to carry out this work.Major cuts include the cancelation of 2025 National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation, due to be held in Washington DC in June. The conference is an annual event that provides technical training to prosecutors, state and federal law enforcement officers on investigating online crimes against children. Continue reading...

Umer Khalid, 22, has stopped drinking water as well as food in protest against charges against himThe last Palestine Action prisoner still on hunger strike has now stopped drinking water, which a doctor has warned could kill him.Umer Khalid, 22, has been on a hunger strike since November. His action was briefly paused at Christmas when he became unwell. Continue reading...

Korey LaVergne was jailed on three counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile and was released after posting bailThe arrest of a Roman Catholic priest in south-west Louisiana occurred after local authorities were told that the clergyman had inappropriately touched a child" over the course of a year, according to investigators' initial report on the case.The Guardian obtained the report Friday through a public records request, a week after the sheriff's office of Acadia parish, Louisiana, booked Korey LaVergne with three counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile. Continue reading...

Attempt to reclaim alleged unpaid debts comes months after 25-year relationship with cinema chain came to an endCoca-Cola is taking legal action against Vue after the cinema chain switched to its arch-rival PepsiCo to supply soft drinks in Europe.Vue, which operates more than 90 cinemas across the UK and Ireland, put the contract up for tender last year. Continue reading...

Dancing2 by Keli Holiday comes in second, with almost twice as many Australian songs making the count this year compared to last

Health secretary will describe plan to offer tax relief on private healthcare as tax cut for the wealthiest'Reform UK's policy of tax relief on private health insurance could cost the country 1.7bn, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, is expected to say on Saturday.Streeting will make the claim at a conference organised by the Fabian Society, a socialist thinktank aligned to the Labour party, and will describe the Reform proposal as a tax cut for the wealthiest". Continue reading...

Hobbycraft removes product from sale after parent sent samples to a lab for testing but declines to issue a recallBottles of children's play sand have been withdrawn from shelves by the craft retailer Hobbycraft after a parent discovered they were contaminated with asbestos.The parent, who did not wish to be named, raised the alarm after her children played with the sand at a party. Continue reading...

NHS England pays for private assessments under right to choose', but can reject diagnoses and is struggling to cope with demandSameer Modha knows the ADHD system all too well. He has been diagnosed himself, as have his two children, giving him a clear view of how the system works - and where it breaks down.While his own diagnosis was relatively straightforward, the experience with his daughter was very different. The diagnosis he obtained for his eldest child, after an assessment carried out privately by a very senior ex-Camhs [child and adolescent mental health service] director, someone who knows the system and has seen a huge amount of this", was later rejected by the NHS. He was told it was not compliant with guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), which sets healthcare standards nationally. Continue reading...

US policy document suggests South Korea take primary responsibility, as Pentagon prioritises defending US homelandThe Pentagon foresees a more limited" role in deterring North Korea, with South Korea taking primary responsibility for the task, a Pentagon policy document released on Friday said, in a move likely to raise concern in Seoul.South Korea hosts about 28,500 US troops in combined defence against North Korea's military threat and Seoul has raised its defence budget by 7.5% for this year. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Natalie Fleet says power balance is with criminals not victims as delays make hell of being raped' worseA Labour MP who became pregnant after being groomed and raped as a teenager has called on colleagues to back plans for judge-only trials or allow the power balance to remain in favour of criminals as opposed to the victims".Natalie Fleet, the MP for Bolsover, said she would not encourage survivors to seek justice through the courts because the hell of being raped is made worse by the hell of going through delays in the system". Continue reading...

Family confirms boy has died almost a week after the attack, describing him as possessing the most kind and generous spirit'

Rescue efforts at Mount Maunganui site switch to recovery operation that police say could take several daysEfforts to rescue six people buried by a landslide at a New Zealand holiday park ended on Saturday, with police shifting into a recovery operation.Police Supt Tim Anderson said human remains had been uncovered on Friday night beneath the mountains of dirt and debris that crashed into a campsite in Mount Maunganui on Thursday, adding that it could take several days to locate all of the victims due to the unstable ground. Continue reading...

US president says we have a lot of ships' going in that direction and that Washington is watching Iran closelyDonald Trump has said an American armada" is heading towards the Middle East and that the US is monitoring Iran closely, as activists put the death toll from Tehran's crackdown on protesters at 5,002.Speaking on Air Force One as he returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos overnight, he said: We have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case. I'd rather not see anything happen, but we're watching them very closely ... we have an armada ... heading in that direction, and maybe we won't have to use it." Continue reading...

Police reveal Julian Ingram reported to local officers as part of his bail conditions hours before the shootings

Home Office to set targets for response times and victim satisfaction as home secretary takes powers to intervene directlyPolice forces will face new targets for crime fighting and those performing poorly will be named and shamed under government plans to take sweeping powers over law enforcement.The new plans come as part of changes to policing in England and Wales to be announced on Monday by the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood. The Home Office claims the reforms are the biggest in two centuries. Continue reading...

PM joins veterans in condemning claim that troops avoided frontlines and suggests US president should apologiseKeir Starmer has issued an unprecedented rebuke to Donald Trump for his insulting and frankly appalling" remarks about British troops in Afghanistanand suggested he should apologise.After a week of fractious relations with the White House, Starmer said he was not surprised that relatives of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan were hurt by Trump claiming they avoided the frontline. Continue reading...

Alleged attacks took place in Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire against two prominent supporters of jailed former Pakistani prime minister Imran KhanThree men have been charged after a series of highly targeted" attacks against two Pakistani dissidents living in Britain.Police carried out a series of seven raids and arrests this week in London, Essex and the Midlands after four attacks, which began on Christmas Eve. Continue reading...

Organizers say ICE agents have been targeting African nationals amid surge focused in Portland and Lewiston

Judge described Nick Gratwick's crimes - which included plotting to rape children as young as six - as the stuff of nightmares'A dangerous" paedophile who had worked as a police informer spying on environmental and animal rights activists has been jailed for life.Nick Gratwick had been found guilty of 38 offences, including arranging to rape children as young as six in the UK and abroad. Continue reading...

Display at President's House site, residence to George Washington, had information on people enslaved by himPhiladelphia is taking legal action against the Trump administration following the National Park Service's decision to dismantle a long-established slavery-related exhibit at Independence National Historical park, which holds the former residence of George Washington.The city filed its lawsuit in federal court on Thursday, naming the US Department of Interior and its secretary, Doug Burgum, the National Park Service, and its acting director, Jessica Bowron, as defendants. The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the exhibits to be restored while the case proceeds. Continue reading...

Angela Rayner is expected to urge PM to let Greater Manchester mayor stand in Gorton and Denton byelectionKeir Starmer is facing mounting pressure not to block Andy Burnham from making a comeback to parliament, with Angela Rayner planning to urge No 10 to let him stand in a forthcoming byelection.The prime minister's allies have been trying to prevent Burnham's return as a candidate in the Greater Manchester seat of Gorton and Denton, amid fears he could challenge the leadership. Continue reading...

Much-anticipated trial scheduled in New York over killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian ThompsonLuigi Mangione's federal murder trial in the killing of the United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson is scheduled to start with jury selection on 8 September, a judge said on Friday, triggering one of the most eagerly anticipated criminal trials in recent US history.Judge Margaret Garnett announced the trial date to a packed Manhattan federal courtroom shortly before an evidence-related hearing in his case. Continue reading...

Preliminary report suggests fracture could have existed before high-speed train derailed in AndaluciaExperts investigating the deadly rail collision in southern Spain, which killed 45 people and left dozens more injured, believe the accident may have happened after one of the trains passed over a damaged section of rail.The disaster occurred near the Andalucian town of Adamuz on Sunday, when a high-speed train operated by Iryo, a private company, derailed and collided with an oncoming high-speed train operated by the state rail company, Renfe. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Blueprints describe a case study' community where residents submit biometric data to gain entryThe United Arab Emirates plans to fund Gaza's first planned community" on the ruined outskirts of Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city. Palestinian residents there will have access to basic services like education, healthcare and running water, as long as they submit to biometric data collection and security vetting, according to planning documents and people familiar with the latest round of talks at the US-led Civil Military Coordination Center in Israel.The planned city would mark the UAE's first investment in a post-war reconstruction project located in the part of Gaza currently held by Israel. The wealthy Gulf state has contributed more than $1.8bn of humanitarian assistance to Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to UAE state media, making it Gaza's largest humanitarian donor. Continue reading...

Trust says Reform UK leader was invited to WEF event by London-based venture capitalist as an honorary adviserNigel Farage's trip to Davos this week was hosted and paid for by the $10bn family trust of an Iranian-born billionaire, the Guardian has learned.The leader of Reform UK has been touring Davos this week, giving speeches in which he pledged to tax banks and fight the globalists". Continue reading...

Philip Young, who served on Swindon borough council, pleads guilty to offences against ex-spouse Joanne YoungA former Conservative councillor has admitted nearly 50 offences of drugging, raping and sexually assaulting his former wife over a period of 14 years.Philip Young, 49, pleaded guilty at Winchester crown court to 11 counts of rape and 11 counts of administering a substance with intent to stupefy his former spouse Joanne Young, 48, who can be named as she has waived her right to anonymity Continue reading...

President's assertion that Nato troops were not on the front line in Afghanistan has sparked widespread angerKeir Starmer's allies have launched a Stop Andy Burnham" campaign to prevent the Labour mayor from returning to parliament after the resignation of a Manchester MP triggered a byelection, Pippa Crerar, Jessica Elgot and Josh Halliday report in their overnight story.In a good analysis, Jess explains why, if Burnham does decide that he wants to return to the Commons as MP for Gorton and Denton in Manchester, he faces a colossal challenge. Continue reading...