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The prime minister needs to ask tough questions and stare down opponents to achieve real action in the wake of the terror attack in Sydney

Jobs market slowdown likely to become policy focus and will also have impact on interest rates decision

Dashcam footage shows the moment Boris Gurman tackles shooter Sajid Akram and wrestles a gun from himDramatic footage has emerged of two victims who tried to stop a gunman during the early stages of the Bondi beach terror attack on Sunday.The couple have been identified as Boris Gurman, 69, and Sofia Gurman, 61, after their family gave a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald. Continue reading...

Nour AbuShammala has returned to her partly destroyed apartment in Gaza City. This is her story of multiple displacements, injury and devastation over the last two yearsWhen 26-year-old Nour AbuShammala stepped back into her family's apartment in Gaza City in October the rooms were gutted, the walls were damaged by bombing, and there was no water or electricity, but it was still home.Since the outbreak of war in October 2023 she has been forced to flee six times. This is her story of relentless displacement, survival and loss, told using photography and videos provided by AbuShammala and satellite imagery of a ruined Gaza. Continue reading...

Chris Minns and Mal Lanyon questioned about police resources at Hanukah event and response time after Naveed Akram and father Sajid allegedly started shooting

The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, claimed this isn't a gun problem, it's an ideology problem'

Demands for oversight grow after inquiry calls sector an unregulated free for all' and families seek stronger safeguardsMinisters are expected to back calls to regulate England's funeral industry for the first time, after a series of scandals over the handling of remains.Bereaved families have called for a new investigatory body and rules governing professional qualifications after an official inquiry declared the sector an unregulated free for all". Continue reading...

It is hoped the institution can help foster new bonds in a fractured nation, but such optimism will be a stretch for someIt was a night at the museum like no other. As the staccato sound of firecrackers and explosions rang out across Martyr's Square in the heart of Tripoli, for once it was not Libya's militias battling it out for a larger stake in the country's oil economy, but a huge firework display celebrating the reopening of one of the finest museums in the Mediterranean.The National Museum of Libya - housing Africa's greatest collection of classical antiquities in Tripoli's historic Red Castle complex - had been closed for nearly 14 years due to the civil war that followed the former dictator Muammar Gaddafi's downfall. Its ceremonial reopening came at the climax of a lavish show compressing Libya's rich history and attended by diplomats and Arab celebrities, with a full-size Italian orchestra, acrobats, dancers, arches of fire and lights projected on to the fort. It did not lack for circus drama or cost, peaking with a billowing Ottoman sailing ship arriving high above the port on wires to be greeted by an angelic-appearing Libyan woman. Continue reading...

Youth Endowment Fund survey finds a quarter of 13- to 17-year-olds are enticed or scared into committing crimesOne in nine teenagers have been approached by criminals to sell, move or store drugs, weapons or money, research reveals.More than a quarter of those approached accepted the offer, representing about 120,000 teenagers across England and Wales, according to the results of a survey by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), an anti-youth violence charity. Continue reading...

More than 100,000 customers were charged a fee despite cancelling their subscription before the specified cut-off time, watchdog allegesMore than 100,000 customers of a popular meal-kit delivery provider were allegedly misled and caught in so-called subscription traps".The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has taken HelloFresh and Youfoodz, both owned by the German-based parent company HelloFresh SE, to the federal court in separate proceedings. Continue reading...

Police investigating claims Sajid and Naveed Akram received training' overseas before Sunday's attackThe father and son duo allegedly behind the Bondi attacked appear to have been inspired by Islamic State, the Australian prime minister says, as police confirmed they were investigating why the pair travelled to the Philippines last month.The New South Wales police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, on Tuesday alleged Naveed Akram, 24, and his 50-year-old father, Sajid, had recently travelled to the Philippines. Continue reading...

Sheina Gutnick identified her father as the second heroic bystander in widely circulated footage of Ahmed al-Ahmed disarming one of the gunmen

US president says he feels so badly' about Lai's conviction and has spoken to the Chinese leader about itDonald Trump has said he wants Chinese leader Xi Jinping to release Jimmy Lai as he voiced sadness over the Hong Kong media mogul's conviction on national security charges.I feel so badly. I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release," Trump told reporters on Monday, without specifying when he asked Xi. Continue reading...

Opposition claims SIR process being used to disenfranchise minority groups to benefit Narendra Modi's governmentIndia's political opposition has warned that democracy is under threat amid a controversial exercise to revise the voter register across the country, which critics say will disenfranchise minority voters and entrench the power of the ruling Narendra Modi government.An debate erupted in India's parliament last week over the special intensive revision (SIR) process, which is taking place in nine states and three union territories, in one of the biggest revisions of the country's electoral roll in decades. Continue reading...

Report to highlight uncomfortable truths' and could recommend radical change', former health secretary saysA major review into rising inactivity among Britain's young people has been launched by the former health secretary Alan Milburn, with a promise not to shy away from uncomfortable truths" or radical" policy solutions.A panel of health, business and policy experts, including the former John Lewis boss Charlie Mayfield, ex-Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane and social welfare expert Dame Louise Casey, will help draw up recommendations. Continue reading...

British Dental Association says government's plan has no new money behind it' and further changes neededDentists in England will be paid more to ensure patients have easier access to emergency appointments under government plans, but experts have expressed doubt that it will improve care.The changes, which will be introduced from April next year, will include dentists being incentivised to provide emergency and complex treatments through the introduction of a standardised payment package, ministers said. Continue reading...

Supermarket price survey ranks Woolworths second-cheapest followed by Coles and IGA

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Attorneys who eventually quit tell LA Times they were pushed to conclude university system had violated lawAttorneys with the US Department of Justice have reportedly said they felt pressured to accuse the University of California of discriminating against Jewish students and faculty, at the urging of the Trump administration, in what one lawyer described as a hit job".Nine attorneys, some of whom requested anonymity, shared insider accounts with the Los Angeles Times of the federal government's investigation into California's research university system. The attorneys said they felt pushed to conclude the UC had violated the law before they had determined the facts. All of the attorneys eventually resigned. Continue reading...

Wes Streeting and BMA urged to seek mediation as hospitals in England struggle amid flu outbreakHospitals are cancelling tens of thousands of appointments and operations after resident doctors voted overwhelmingly to reject a last-ditch government offer to avoid this week's strike.The health secretary, Wes Streeting, and the British Medical Association (BMA) are being urged to agree to see if an independent mediator can break the deadlock in the almost three-year-old pay and jobs dispute in England. Continue reading...

Maduro regime accuses Caribbean nation of participating in theft of Venezuelan oil' as tensions mount in regionVenezuela has accused the government of Trinidad and Tobago of taking part in the US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela's coast last week, as Donald Trump's four-month pressure campaign against Nicolas Maduro continues to reverberate across the region.In a statement on Monday, the Maduro regime accused Trinidad and Tobago of participating in the theft of Venezuelan oil, committed by the US administration on 10 December with the assault on a vessel transporting this strategic Venezuelan product". Continue reading...

Campaign groups warn prolonged inquiries are retraumatising survivorsA super-complaint has been filed against police forces in England and Wales over years-long delays in investigating sexual offences.More than 37,000 sexual offence investigations have taken longer than three years to conclude over the past decade, campaigners said. Continue reading...

UK, EU and Australia say guilty verdict against 78-year-old is further blow to democracy and press freedom in territoryGovernments, institutions and rights groups across the world have condemned the conviction of the former pro-democracy media tycoon and British citizen Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong on national security charges.The 78-year-old was found guilty in West Kowloon district court on Monday of one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and two counts of conspiracy to foreign collusion. The charges were brought under the city's punitive national security law , introduced in 2020, and a British colonial-era sedition law that has been used in recent years by authorities. Continue reading...

Nick Reiner arrested on suspicion of murder after Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner found dead at their home

Tories accuse Vince of morally repugnant statement' after he says Israeli government is partly responsible for rising antisemitism

Bus and train initiative comes as government struggles to survive corruption and sexual harassment allegationsSpain's socialist-led government is to launch a national public transport pass that will allow people to travel anywhere in the country by bus or train for a flat monthly fee of 60 (52.70).The prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, unveiled the initiative on Monday, saying it would come into effect in the second half of January and was intended to change the way Spaniards understand and use public transport for ever". Continue reading...

Blaise Metreweli warns the world is more dangerous and contested now than for decades' as AI and new technologies emergeBritain is caught in a space between peace and war" complicated by the rise of artificial intelligence and other technologies dominated by powerful individuals and corporations, according to the new head of MI6.Blaise Metreweli, giving her first speech in the job, also accused Russia of being insincere about Ukraine peace negotiations but made minimal reference to China as the prime minister, Keir Starmer, seeks to arrange a visit to Beijing. Continue reading...

Former chancellor and PM faces questions on the economic response to the pandemicSunak said speed was paramount" as one thing that was crystal clear that this was happening very quickly" and was to have an extraordinary impact" on millions of people across the country.A damning official report on the handling of the pandemic found the UK's response to Covid was too little, too late". It said the introduction of a lockdown even a week earlier than happened could have saved more than 20,000 lives.As it turned out, that was really the one of the easier things I had to do, given what then unfolded over the next few days, weeks, months, and at that moment things were moving very quickly. So even during the budget preparations, it was clear that what was happening with the pandemic was escalating. Continue reading...

Opposition leader and Nobel peace prize laureate's injury was reportedly sustained during high-risk sea crossingVenezuelan opposition leader and Nobel peace prize laureate Maria Corina Machado suffered a vertebra fracture during her secret journey from Venezuela to Norway last week, her spokesperson has confirmed.Machado previously said she feared for her life during the perilous voyage to receive her award in Oslo. Continue reading...

Four passengers died at the scene, police said, with three children seriously injuredA minivan carrying nine passengers has crashed into a tree, killing four people and leaving three children in hospital.Police say the vehicle was travelling along Chapel Road in Muckatah, in northern Victoria near the NSW border, when it crashed about 5pm on Monday. Continue reading...

Paul Thomas Anderson's counter-culture thriller scores nine nods, ahead of Hamnet and Ryan Coogler's Sinners, with Leonardo DiCaprio in contention for actor of the yearOne Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, has consolidated its place as the awards-season leader in emerging with the most nominations from the London Critics' Circle film awards.One Battle After Another, a counter-culture thriller loosely based on Thomas Pynchon's novel Vineland, picked up nine nominations, including film of the year, director and screenwriter of the year for Anderson, and actor of the year for DiCaprio. Co-stars Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn were nominated in the supporting categories while Chase Infiniti was nominated for breakthrough performer. Continue reading...

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Crisis-hit Paris institution still reeling from jewel heist is in dispute over staffing, renovations and ticket price risesThe crisis-hit Louvre museum in Paris was closed on Monday as workers began a strike to demand urgent renovations and staffing increases, and protested against a rise in ticket prices for most non-EU visitors, including British and American tourists.The world's most-visited museum - which has had a difficult few months after a jewel heist, a damaging water leak and safety fears over a gallery ceiling - could face days of partial or total closure at one of its busiest times of the year if many of its 2,100-strong workforce vote to continue striking this week. Continue reading...

Independent review into Dr Halima Begum's conduct was prompted by at least 100 staff writing to trusteesOxfam GB's chief executive has been forced out by the charity's trustees after an investigation into her leadership found serious issues", according to reports.The independent review was reportedly commissioned over concerns raised about the leadership, conduct and approach" of Dr Halima Begum, and was prompted by more than 100 current and former staff writing to trustees. Continue reading...

US-listed company, whose profits have been in decline since the pandemic, will be taken over by Picea

Gun owners face limits on the number of weapons they can own and only Australian citizens would be able to hold a licence, prime minister says

Former House speaker, 85, expects woman to assume Oval Office this generation but concedes she may not live to see itNancy Pelosi, the outgoing congresswoman and former House speaker, has conceded that she may not see a woman be elected US president in her lifetime.The California Democrat said as much in a USA Today interview published on Sunday with her retirement looming after four decades in Congress - and invoked a turn of phrase referring to a metaphorical barrier impeding advancement in a profession that often confronts women and racial minorities. Continue reading...

City watchdog the FCA announces plans to help first-time buyers and self-employed get on the property ladder

Family of Ahmed al-Ahmed say he doesn't discriminate' and would have done anything to save lives during the attack

Singer, 85, says disease has gone at the moment' and hopes to join forces with King Charles to raise awarenessCliff Richard has revealed he has been treated for prostate cancer for the past year. The 85-year-old singer said his cancer had gone at the moment" and backed calls for a national screening test for men.In an interview with Good Morning Britain, he said: I don't know whether it's going to come back. We can't tell those sort of things but we need to - absolutely. I'm convinced: get there, get tested, get checked." Continue reading...

Released under investigation' leads to uncertainty and distress for both victim and accused, say campaignersHundreds of suspected rapists in England and Wales are spending years released under investigation, under a system that the government has been urged to scrap as it doesn't serve anyone's interests apart from the police".Introduced under the Policing & Crime Act 2017, released under investigation (RUI) allows police an alternative to bail, without the set timeframes or conditions attached to police bail. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: On Sunday evening local time, two gunmen opened fire on a gathering at Sydney's famous beach - here's what we know so farGood morning. As you receive this email it is Monday evening in Sydney, where the Jewish community, the city and the country are grappling with grief after the deadliest terrorist attack in Australia in modern times.On Sunday evening, at least 15 people, including one child, were killed after two men, said by police to be a father and son armed with guns, opened fire on a Hanukah celebration at Bondi beach in Sydney. Dozens more were injured in what police have declared a targeted antisemitic terrorist attack. The older of the two men was shot by police and is dead.UK news | British police forces are stepping up security in Jewish communities after the antisemitic terror attack at Bondi beach in Australia.Jimmy Lai | The Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon is facing life in prison after being found guilty of national security and sedition offences, in one of the most closely watched rulings since the city's return to Chinese rule in 1997.Immigration | Human rights and refugee campaigners are calling on the Home Office to be transparent about the numbers of asylum seekers who die in its care by publishing quarterly data as other government departments do.Security | Assassination plots, sabotage, cyber-attacks and the manipulation of information by Russia and other hostile states mean that the frontline is everywhere", the new head of MI6 will warn on Monday.US news | A JetBlue flight from the small Caribbean nation of Curacao halted its ascent to avoid colliding with a US air force refuelling tanker on Friday, and the pilot blamed the military plane for crossing his path. Continue reading...

Resolution Foundation report comes in week when data is expected to show October unemployment riseYoung people are bearing the brunt of Britain's jobs downturn, according to a report, before official figures this week that are expected to show the UK unemployment rate rising to 5.1%.The Resolution Foundation thinktank said a jobs deficit" was pushing a growing number of graduates and non-graduates into unemployment as employers reduced hiring. Continue reading...

Emergency help should be available, but some being forced to travel 100 miles or go private, says Healthwatch EnglandPeople needing emergency dental care in England are being denied help from the NHS despite guidance saying that it should be available, in some cases resorting to risky self-treatment such as pulling out their own teeth, the patient watchdog has found.Patients who experience a sudden dental crisis such as a broken tooth, abscess or severe tooth pain are meant to be able to get help from their dentist or by calling NHS 111. Continue reading...

Authorities investigating apparent homicide' after 78-year-old director of Stand By Me and The Princess Bride was discovered dead at LA home with wife

Shooting at world-famous beach in which 15 people, plus one alleged gunman, were killed reverberated around the world, with many headlines noting the actions of a hero bystander

Two Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor gags make top 10 of public vote, along with jokes about Oasis and Nigel FarageIt's safe to say it's been a very bad year for the former Prince Andrew. Already stripped of his title and privileges, he is rounding off the year by becoming the punchline of the year's most popular Christmas cracker joke.The annual competition is commissioned by the comedy channel U&Gold (formerly Comedy Gold) and decided by the British public. It usually produces a topical winner that sends up one of the biggest stories of the year. Continue reading...

People able to buy homes previously beyond budget, aided by rising wages and looser affordability testsFirst-time buyers are taking out larger mortgages than ever before as rising wages and looser affordability tests allow them to buy properties that were previously beyond their budget.The average first-time buyer borrowed 210,800 in the year to September, a record high, according to analysis by Savills, the property agent. Continue reading...

Blaise Metreweli expected to say UK faces new age of uncertainty' in speech identifying Kremlin as key threatAssassination plots, sabotage, cyber-attacks and the manipulation of information by Russia and other hostile states mean that the frontline is everywhere", the new head of MI6 will warn on Monday.Blaise Metreweli, giving her first speech in the job, is expected to say the UK faces a new age of uncertainty" where the rules of conflict are being rewritten, particularly in light of wider Kremlin aggression after the invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

The son of a Nazi party member and an admirer of Pinochet, Kast built his campaign on a promise to expel tens of thousands of undocumented migrantsThe ultra-conservative former congressman Jose Antonio Kast has been elected as Chile's next president.With more than 99% of polling stations counted, Kast took 58.17% of the vote, against 41.83% for the leftist Jeannette Jara, a former labour minister under the current president, Gabriel Boric. Continue reading...