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More than 1,000 train services expected to be cancelled by end of Wednesday with warnings industrial action could cause further chaos on Thursday

George Brewster, youngest to get plaque, died aged 11 in 1875 after getting stuck in flue, leading to law banning climbing boys'An 11-year-old chimney sweep whose death after getting stuck in a flue led to a change in Victorian child labour laws is to become the youngest British person to be honoured with an official blue plaque.George Brewster, a climbing boy", died in 1875 after getting jammed while cleaning the inside of a chimney at the County Pauper Lunatic Asylum in Fulbourn near Cambridge. Continue reading...

Child, whose death is being treated as unexplained, died at nursery in Bootle on Tuesday, police saidPolice are investigating after a two-year-old boy died at a nursery.The child had a fatal medical episode" at the nursery in Bootle, Merseyside police said. Continue reading...

World Economic Forum says responses from experts in business, politics and academia also highlight climate crisisGlobal leaders have said that escalating armed conflict is the most urgent threat in 2025 but the climate emergency is expected to cause the greatest concern over the next decade, according to the World Economic Forum.Ahead of its yearly gathering in the Swiss ski resort of Davos next week, the WEF asked more than 900 leaders from business, politics and academia about the risks that most concern them. Continue reading...

UK firm in vanguard of companies arguing SMRs are quicker and cheaper option than large Hinkley-sized nuclear plantsThe Hinkley Point C power plant in Somerset is gargantuan. The 176-hectare (435-acre) plant will provide 3.2 gigawatts of power, enough for 6m homes. It is not just the project that is huge: the cost is as well. With a price tag that has ballooned to a reported 48bn, and delayed by at least five years, it has become a symbol of the pitfalls of nuclear power.But a clutch of companies argue they have a quicker, cheaper option than large Hinkley-sized plants in the form of small modular reactors (SMRs), which can be built in a factory and then slotted together on site. Continue reading...

One expert says women's bodies and attire has long been a source for public debate in a way that doesn't happen with menA council in Greater Sydney has announced it is banning g-string bikinis at its public pools without providing further details about how the rule will be policed, sparking debate about gender standards.Earlier this month, Blue Mountains Leisure Centres (BMLC) posted on Facebook that it had noticed some confusion" about appropriate swimwear" when visiting one of their pools. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: With reports of a breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations, a look at what the detail includes - and what its obstacles areGood morning. After months of false starts, Israel and Hamas are close to agreeing a ceasefire that would involve the release of hostages and a major influx of aid into Gaza. Last night, both sides appeared to have accepted the outlines of a deal, with Reuters reporting that once Israel delivers maps showing how its forces will withdraw from Gaza, Hamas will give its response.It's closer than it's ever been before," US secretary of state Antony Blinken said yesterday. But, right now, as we sit here, we await final word from Hamas on its acceptance, and until we get that word, we'll remain on the brink."Economy | UK inflation unexpectedly fell in December, handing some breathing space to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, after a week of turbulence in financial markets. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the consumer prices index eased to 2.5%, below a reading of 2.6% in November.UK politics | Tulip Siddiq has resigned as a Treasury minister after accepting the furore over her close ties to her aunt, the ousted prime minister of Bangladesh now accused of corruption, had become a distraction. An investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing but said a lack of records meant that it was not possible to obtain comprehensive comfort" over properties linked to Sheikh Hasina.South Korea | South Korea's impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has been arrested and is being questioned over his ill-fated declaration of martial law last month, anti-corruption investigators said on Wednesday, bringing to an end an early-morning standoff outside his official residence in Seoul.Health | Doctors are proposing a radical overhaul" of how obesity is diagnosed worldwide amid concerns that a reliance on body mass index may be causing millions of people to be misdiagnosed. Relying only on BMI is ineffective" because it is not a direct measure of fat and does not provide information about a person's health, a report by the Lancet commission said.Comedy | The comedian and actor Tony Slattery has died aged 65 after a heart attack, his partner has announced. Slattery was known for his improvisations on the popular comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, as well as his appearances on Just a Minute and Have I Got News for You. Continue reading...

Many local authorities facing bankruptcy as government criticised for lack of urgencyThe crisis in special educational needs and disabilities (Send) in England risks creating a lost generation" of children, while putting almost half" of all councils with an education remit in danger of bankruptcy within 15 months, parliament's spending watchdog has warned.MPs on the public accounts committee (PAC) expressed frustration with the government's lack of progress in resolving the crisis, and complained their inquiry had found no sense of urgency" among officials. Continue reading...

Margaret Thatcher's 1980s policy turbocharged the sale of council homes, contributing to worst housing crisis in living memory'Margaret Thatcher's right-to-buy scheme has left Britain with the legacy of a social housing shortfall that would cost the government 50bn to return the number of affordable homes back to 2010 levels.In a report issued as Labour pushes to reform the Conservative policy introduced in the 1980s, the Resolution Foundation said Keir Starmer's government faced a huge task to replenish the UK's affordable housing stock. Continue reading...

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Exclusive: Sampling results show extremely concerning' concentrations of PFOS and PFOA at sites across UK

British arm of Heartland, which has taken oil and Republican funding, to be led by ex-Ukip head Lois PerryClimate science deniers are lining up a political offensive in Britain after a US lobby group opened a UK branch which is already working with Nigel Farage.The Reform UK leader was the guest of honour at the launch of Heartland UK/Europe, which is to be headed by a former leader of Ukip and climate denier. Continue reading...

Latest SunLife study shows average total funeral cost at 9,797 with many selling off possessions to help payThe cost of dying" has hit a record high, prompting growing numbers of grieving UK families to turn to crowdfunding or sell possessions to help pay for a funeral, according to a report.The average cost of a basic funeral has increased by 3.5% in a year to hit an all-time high" of 4,285, according to the insurer SunLife, which has been monitoring UK funeral costs for two decades. Continue reading...

Public service cuts and stark impact of poverty' are causing worse outcomes for children, according to surveyPoor parental mental health has overtaken domestic violence as the most commonly reported factor in social worker assessments into whether a child is at risk of serious harm or neglect, according to new research.Growing rates of mental illness - in both parents and children - were an increasingly important driver of child safeguarding interventions in England, the latest comprehensive survey of children's social care pressures found.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...

Labor MP says parties must not squabble over discrimination' as Jillian Segal urges prime minister to convene meeting

Urgent reform called for as patient care, hospital infrastructure and cybersecurity worsens

Portelli and his company will contest charges over giveaways of properties from The Block TV show as well as other prizes

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Former journalist, who became a household name with Wonder World in the 1980s, died surrounded by writers, actors, activists and Italians'

Lancet commission's report calls for global shake-up and suggests looking at measures such as waist-to-height ratios and ill-health symptoms

First phase of agreement likely to involve release of 33 Israeli hostages and up to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners

Former Labour minister's family background is indelibly bound up with BangladeshWhen Keir Starmer became the Labour leader in 2020, Tulip Siddiq described him in her local paper as a good friend through thick and thin".On Tuesday, she found out where the limits of that friendship lay after the prime minister accepted her resignation from the government after weeks of revelations about Siddiq's closeness to her aunt, the former prime minister of Bangladesh. Continue reading...

Hamas and Israel in final stages' of agreement, with Gazans still reeling from fresh deadly airstrikes

Some in No 10 wish they had thought a bit more about how it looked before giving job to niece of ousted Bangladesh PMThe warning signs were always there. When a photo of Tulip Siddiq standing alongside Vladimir Putin and her aunt, the now ousted leader of Bangladesh, emerged in 2015, alarm bells rang within the Labour party.At the time, Siddiq was the Labour candidate for the marginal seat of Hampstead and Kilburn. Yet she brushed aside concerns over her presence at the signing of a billion-dollar arms deal and nuclear power project at the Kremlin two years earlier. Continue reading...

Helen Pitcher resigned from the CCRC saying she had been scapegoated' over Malkinson's caseAndrew Malkinson has called the former head of the miscarriage of justice watchdog shameless" as she resigned from the job saying she had been scapegoated for entirely legitimate decisions" taken over his case.Helen Pitcher handed in her resignation as chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) on Tuesday afternoon after learning that an independent panel had concluded by a majority of two to one that she was no longer fit to be chair. Continue reading...

Media organisations are challenging ruling that they cannot name three judges involved in proceedings relating to 10-year-old who was later murderedA unprecedented ban on naming judges who oversaw proceedings related to the care of Sara Sharif before she was murdered is likely to have a corrosive impact" on public confidence in the justice system, the court of appeal has been told.

Francois Bayrou said France must look global powers face on' in reference to Donald Trump's return to officeThe French prime minister, Francois Bayrou, has said France must stand firm in the face of figures such as the tech billionaire Elon Musk, who represents a new world disorder".In his first policy speech to the French parliament on Tuesday, Bayrou, a veteran centrist, said there was a new world order, or rather a new world disorder, that threatens all equilibrium and all rules of defence. There are a certain number of people who embody this without complex, such as Elon Musk." Continue reading...

Instead of evaluating chancellor's performance, her shadow apes rightwing press and calls for her sackingYou can only conclude that Conservative MPs are just too trusting for their own good. Either that or they are catatonically dim. The rest of us know enough to not always believe what we read on the front page of the rightwing papers, but Tory MPs seem to take everything at face value. If it's in the paper, it must be true. It's almost touching.Tuesday's front pages of the Mail and the Telegraph insisted Rachel Reeves's time was up. Going to China while the international bond markets crept upwards was the last straw. The chancellor should resign. What's more, the prime minister had expressed his full confidence" in Reeves, which could only mean that he was about to sack her. Let's just say that Monday had been a slow news day in Westminster and some hacks had decided to make mischief. Continue reading...

Siddiq says in resignation letter that staying would be a distraction' amid ongoing controversy over her links to her aunt, the former Bangladeshi PMStephen Doughty, a Foreign Office minister, has told MPs that the future of Greenland is a matter for the people who live there. And he said that he made this clear in a meeting with Greenland's foreign minister.But he did not explicitly criticise Donald Trump for threatening to use military force to seize the island for the US.Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and the future of their constitutional arrangements is a matter for the people and government of Greenland and indeed the Kingdom of Denmark. It would be wrong to speculate on any policy decisions the incoming administration of President-elect Trump may make.Those are messages I delivered in a meeting with the Greenlandic foreign minister yesterday, but there are rightly important concerns about security in the Arctic, which is why I was proud to be one of the first British ministers in 10 years to attend the Arctic Circle Assembly and meet partners to discuss these issues just a few months ago. Continue reading...

Slattery, who rose to fame in 1980s, appeared on shows such as Have I Got News for You and Whose Line Is It Anyway? Tony Slattery: I had a very happy time until I went slightly barmy'

Authorities in England and Wales say they want to help house refugees, amid concern about local tensionsCouncils across England and Wales have said they are keen to help accommodate asylum seekers as the government attempts to move as many as possible out of hotels, in part to try to ease community tensions.Angela Rayner's housing and communities department is in talks with the Home Office about the possibility of exercising a 2026 break clause in contracts with three private companies that provide hotels for those waiting for asylum claims to be processed. Continue reading...

Siddiq was under pressure over her occupancy of properties linked to her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh's ousted leaderTulip Siddiq has resigned as a Treasury minister after repeated questions about her financial links to the ousted Bangladeshi government run by her aunt.Siddiq, who was the City and anti-corruption minister, was not found to have broken any rules by Laurie Magnus, the adviser on ministerial standards. Continue reading...

Company thrives as Amazon develops TV series and it gains licensing income from video games

Roman Haque, 37, accused of attack on nurse in hospital's acute medical unit on Saturday nightA man has appeared in court charged with the attempted murder of a nurse at Royal Oldham hospital.Roman Haque, 37, was charged with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article, after an incident in the hospital's acute medical unit on Saturday night. Continue reading...

Rent has increased by 36% nationally since Covid, CoreLogic finds, which equates to an extra $171 a week on average

Australian College of Theology is the third theological institution to get university status since 2020, demonstrating growing power of religious providers

Angela Rayner amends renters' rights bill to limit rent that can be charged in advance, as MPs prepare to debate billLandlords in England and Wales would be banned from charging more than a month's rent upfront under changes MPs are due to vote on on Tuesday.Angela Rayner, the housing secretary, has amended her renters' rights bill to limit the amount of money property owners can demand before a tenant moves in, as part of a package of new protections for those in rented accommodation. Continue reading...

Fifteen bodies brought to surface amid claims 109 are dead and between 400 and 800 people still alive and trappedFifteen bodies have been brought out of an illegal goldmine in South Africa and 44 people have been taken out alive since Monday, after police blocked supplies of food, water and medicine to the workers underground in October in an attempt to force them out.On Thursday, a letter brought up to the surface claimed there were 109 dead bodies underground. A video circulated by the NGO Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua) appeared to show more than 50 wrapped bodies laid out in a tunnel. Continue reading...

Campaigners argue the British government has concluded that parts for the jets must be supplied in all circumstances

MP accused of misusing her position to gain influence and illegally acquire land with her aunt Sheikh Hasina

Family of Jeremi Sensky, from Pittsburgh, suggests wheelchair may have acted as boulder' to help stop attackThe family of a man who was left paralyzed from the waist down by a 1999 car accident before being hit and badly wounded in the deadly New Year's Day truck attack in New Orleans are reportedly wondering whether the 300lb wheelchair he uses may have had a role in helping halt the terror.Jeremi Sensky of the suburban Pittsburgh community of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, was in New Orleans to ring in 2025 with relatives at the time the attack occurred, he told KDKA's The Marty Griffin Show. Sensky was on Bourbon Street when he was hit by a US army veteran inspired by Islamic State in an intentional ramming that killed 14 people and wounded about 30 others. Continue reading...

Tory leader says new inquiry should look at background of perpetrators as well as why some in authority did not actKemi Badenoch has said peasants" from sub-communities" from some countries are the ones in grooming and rape gangs, saying a national inquiry would seek to identify those in authority who did not act.There are some places where, when people behave in that way, a mob turns up and burns their homes down, and then they know that they can't do that sort of thing," the Conservative leader told GB News. Continue reading...

Stores beat online arm, in contrast to other listed fashion retailers, such as Marks & Spencer and Next

Australian government holds grave concerns' for welfare of Oscar Jenkins, a 32-year-old teacher from Melbourne

Report by Jack Smith says evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction' had Trump not won re-election in 2024

Coffee chain reverses policy introduced in North America in 2018 that let anyone use its facilities

Council worker hospitalised after jumping from second storey of home as it collapsed on Penny Lane in McCrae south-east of Melbourne

Industrial action to resume on Wednesday after NSW government reveals improved pay offer

In today's newsletter: Kyiv's interrogation footage of captured North Korean soldiers leads to questions about what it might do with the soldiers - and what the PoWs might do for themGood morning. In a grinding war where significant changes at the front are hard to discern, a video released by Ukraine on Sunday is a rare point of focus: it featured two North Korean soldiers, answering questions from their Ukrainian captors, and weighing the circumstances of their presence in a conflict thousands of miles from home.The video is, perhaps, not militarily significant. But it is a unique insight into one of the more extraordinary aspects of a conflict that has drawn in actors from all over the world, and is a crucible in which every participant is learning how modern wars are fought.Economy | Rachel Reeves will remain as chancellor until the next general election, Keir Starmer has insisted, as he warned the Treasury would be ruthless" over public spending cuts to help meet the government's fiscal rules.Gaza | Joe Biden has said his administration is on the brink of sealing a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that could pause the war after more than 14 months of fighting. Biden administration officials have said they believe the deal may be concluded before Donald Trump's inauguration next week.US politics | Donald Trump would have been convicted of crimes over his failed attempt to cling to power in 2020 if he had not won the presidential election in 2024, according to the special counsel who investigated him. Jack Smith's report detailing his team's findings about Trump's efforts to subvert democracy was released early on Tuesday.UK news | A man accused of driving a young mother to suicide through domestic violence has been found guilty of assault and prolonged controlling behaviour but cleared of her manslaughter. Ryan Wellings, 30, was blamed from beyond the grave" for the death of his partner, Kiena Dawes. Read more about the case.Forever chemicals' | The cost of cleaning up toxic forever chemical pollution could reach more than 1.6tn across the UK and Europe over a 20-year period, an annual bill of 84bn, research has found. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are used in everything from cosmetics to nonstick pans but are almost indestructible without human intervention.[It is] unclear if North Korea will even claim the two captured soldiers as their own, given Moscow and Pyongyang's refusal to officially admit that North Korean forces have been deployed to Russia. At the same time, Russia could claim them as their own and hand them over to North Korea after they are traded with Ukrainian PoWs. Continue reading...

Grey ball-shaped debris found washed up along shore will be tested by Environment Protection Authority, local council says