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Staffer told by official it would be inappropriate for him to give evidence to review of scandal-hit benefitThe Department for Work and Pensions has been accused of blocking a whistleblower who repeatedly raised the alarm about carer's allowance from giving evidence to an independent review of the scandal-hit benefit.The DWP staffer was told by a senior official it was inappropriate to share with the review their knowledge of the inner workings of a system that has become notorious for its often cruel treatment of unpaid carers. Continue reading...

An unusual ceremony paid tribute to and raised money for those affected by the California wildfires while giving Beyonce her first album of the year

Alder Hey children's hospital opens its vaping cessation service for nicotine-dependent 11- to 15-year-oldsThe NHS has set up a stop-vaping clinic for teenagers in an attempt to curb the rise in e-cigarette use among young people.Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool saw the first teenage patients at its new vaping cessation service in January. Continue reading...

BoM says weather system weakening, but flood waters continue to rise and Ingham is cut off after bridge at Ollera Creek collapses

No potential breaches found by independent inquiry into former Coalition government's handling of Abdul Nacer Benbrika case

Court grants apprehended violence order against Kirralie Smith, one of the signatories demanding a federal inquiry into trans healthcare for minorsA high-profile anti-trans campaigner who signed a letter last week calling for a federal inquiry into trans healthcare for children and a pause on gender affirming treatment until the inquiry is complete has had an apprehended violence order taken out against her by a trans woman.In a December appeal ruling published last week, the NSW district court granted an AVO against Kirralie Smith, the spokesperson for anti-trans group Binary. The court ordered her not to assault, threaten, stalk, harass, intimidate, approach or contact the woman until December 2026. Smith also must not approach two mid-north coast football clubs for the same period. Continue reading...

Thinktank suggests ministers' failure to raise LHA will push 90,000 more families into hardship in the next yearNearly 1 million children in the UK are at risk of falling into poverty or will face financial hardship as a result of rising rents, shortfalls in government housing support and underinvestment in new social housing, according to a new report.The study by the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank suggests the government's failure to commit to raising the local housing allowance (LHA) will push 90,000 more families into financial hardship or poverty over the next year. It estimates 925,000 children are expected to be affected by shortfalls in government housing support by March 2026. Continue reading...

Andy Shovel, who worked at McDonald's and co-founded THISTM, says A Bit Weird aims to disarm people through fun'Andy Shovel's career to date has been, you might say, a journey. A little over a decade ago he was working on the chicken station in a branch of McDonald's. He then set up a burger delivery business in west London, which he and a cofounder would go on to sell for seven figures.A celebratory holiday in the Maldives and a period of research later, in 2019 they launched THISTM, the range of meat-alternative packaged foods, which boomed from zero to more than 20m of revenue, becoming the UK's fastest-growing food brand in 2023. Continue reading...

Schools shut as precautionary measure and people told to avoid shoreline after hundreds of seismic tremorsGreek authorities have dispatched special forces, rescue teams, tents and drones to the island of Santorini after hundreds of seismic tremors were recorded in the area.Amid fears of a bigger earthquake that could cause a tsunami, people were advised to avoid the shoreline and derelict buildings, to empty swimming pools and to refrain from gathering in large numbers in enclosed spaces. The civil protection ministry said schools would be shut as a precautionary measure on Monday. Continue reading...

Kristi Noem instead says government will use all available facilities under law for detention center expansion plansThe head of the US Department of Homeland Security on Sunday declined to say whether migrant women, children or families would be included in Trump administration expansion plans for the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention center, saying instead the federal government would utilize all available facilities under the law.Donald Trump last week said he was expanding a detention facility at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold 30,000 people. His White House border czar, Tom Homan, has said he hopes to start moving migrants there within 30 days. Continue reading...

Home secretary says PM stands for respect and hard work' after claims Morgan McSweeney questioned his leadershipOne of Keir Starmer's cabinet ministers has said he stands for respect and hard work", after a new book claimed his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, described him as an HR manager" rather than a leader.Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said Starmer's plan for change was clear and defended him, after the book by two journalists, Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund, suggested some of those in his inner circle are not entirely convinced by his leadership qualities. Continue reading...

Case sparked nationwide public debate about whether his actions were proportionateTony Martin, who rose to prominence when he shot dead a teenage burglar in his home more than 25 years ago, has died aged 80.Martin served three years in jail after he interrupted Fred Barras, 16, and Brendan Fearon, 29, when they were burgling his home in Emneth Hungate, Norfolk, in 1999. The farmer shot at them - killing Barras. Continue reading...

Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on trip that highlights reset of regional alliances after end of Iran-backed Assad regimeSyria's transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, met the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in Riyadh on Sunday in his first foreign trip as Syrian leader, in a sign of the major shifts under way in regional alliances.Sharaa assumed power as transitional president last week, after leading a rebel campaign that ousted the longtime Iran-backed leader Bashar al-Assad, whose ties with the rest of the Arab world were strained throughout the nearly 14-year Syrian war. Continue reading...

Makyle Bayley, 22, Eva Darold-Tchikaya, 21, Anthony Hibbert, 24, and Daljang Wol died at scene on SaturdayFour Essex students who were killed when their car crashed into a building in Colchester in the early hours of Saturday morning have been named.Police said Makyle Bayley, 22, Eva Darold-Tchikaya, 21, Anthony Hibbert, 24, and Daljang Wol, 22, were inside the vehicle and died at the scene of the crash. All four were students at the University of Essex and three were keen basketball players. Continue reading...

Campaign for Better Transport says fair fares' are needed with walk-up single fare from London to Edinburgh likely to pass 200Transport campaigners have urged the government to cap walk-up rail fares after research showed almost half of British travellers avoid travelling by train because of the cost.The Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) said 44% of respondents said that train travel was too expensive - exceeding the number who said they found driving more convenient. Continue reading...

Experts say success of shows such as The Night Agent and Prime Target reflects growing public distrust of the stateIf television dramas are a reflection of society, then it is safe to say we are feeling extremely suspicious right now. It does not take an intelligence operative to spot the number of spy thrillers that have infiltrated TV streaming services, in what's been hailed as a golden age for the genre.This week, season two of The Night Agent climbed to the top of Netflix's chart, while Prime Target, an espionage thriller starring Leo Woodall, became Apple TV's most watched show. Other series such as Black Doves, The Diplomat (both Netflix), Slow Horses (Apple TV+), The Day of the Jackal (Sky Atlantic) and The Agency (Paramount Plus) have also been huge hits. Continue reading...

President Sheinbaum and politicians across the spectrum condemn accusation, which follows imposition of US tariffsMexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has hit back at Donald Trump's slanderous" claim that her government had joined forces with drug bosses, amid anger and incredulity at the US president's attack on the leaders of Latin America's second biggest economy.Trump made the claim on Saturday as he announced 25% tariffs against Mexico that the US said were a response to illegal immigration and the intolerable alliance" between drug trafficking organisations and Mexico's government, which had allegedly offered safe haven to dangerous cartels". Continue reading...

National Fire Chiefs Council says ability of firefighters to respond is at risk as it calls for urgent preventive actionThe UK is not prepared for the impact of climate breakdown, fire chiefs have warned, as they called on the government to take urgent action to protect communities.The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) said the ability of fire services to tackle weather-related emergencies was at risk, despite often being the primary frontline response to major weather events including flooding, fires caused by heatwaves, and storm-related emergencies, all of which are becoming more common. Continue reading...

Hadi Matar, 26, accused of stabbing author 10 times in case likely to draw world's media to tiny upstate New York townA man accused of attacking Salman Rushdie as he was being introduced at a literary lecture in New York state in 2022 is going on trial this week in a case likely to create global headlines.The trial could upend life in the tiny upstate New York village of Mayville, whose population of less than 1,500 is not accustomed to finding itself at the center of a media circus covering the attempted assassination of one of the world's most famous writers. Continue reading...

Last year saw far fewer deaths at the San Francisco landmark, following a years-long movement to construct a barrierOver the past 20 years, roughly 30 confirmed suicides have been recorded at the Golden Gate bridge each year, or two or three each month. Last year, that number was down to eight.Officials credit a suicide prevention net installed around the structure more than a year ago. Continue reading...

Data to be permanently deleted on 13 February after matrix' was found to be unlawfulCampaigners say deletion of an unlawful database known as the matrix" will destroy vital evidence of discriminatory policing and prevent miscarriages of justice being exposed.The gangs violence matrix (GVM) operated by the Metropolitan police, which linked individuals to alleged gang membership, is being permanently deleted on 13 February after it was found to be unlawful in 2022. Continue reading...

Fault caused major problems with payments for two days and reportedly disrupted house movesBarclays says it has fixed the IT glitch that left thousands of customers locked out of their accounts on Friday and Saturday, and promised to compensate them for any losses incurred.The bank said customers could use its payment apps and online services, although some still faced a wait on Sunday to check updated balances and whether payments had been processed. Continue reading...

Spanish football federation's former president is accused of sexual assault and coercion over incident in 2023Spain's former football chief Luis Rubiales will go on trial in Madrid on Monday over the unsolicited kiss he planted on the World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso, a gesture that stunned millions of TV viewers and unleashed a backlash against sexism in sport.Rubiales, 47, is accused of sexual assault as well as coercion after allegations that he tried to force Hermoso, 34, into publicly declaring that the kiss, which occurred as she celebrated her team's victory in the 2023 World Cup in Australia, was consensual. Continue reading...

Go Back to Where You Came From has been criticised by charities for giving stage to extreme racist viewsThe producers behind a show about immigration have denied accusations it platforms racists, saying the voices you hear within the series are the voices we were hearing up and down the country as we were casting".Channel 4's immigration series Go Back to Where You Came From features six participants, some of whom hold anti-immigration views, following in the footsteps of refugees making the journey from Syria and Somalia to the UK. It has been referred to as Racists Across the World and criticised by Amnesty International and some charities. Continue reading...

Activists decry Cops TV-style content as deliberate strategy to desensitize' with calculated cruelty' on full blastJust days after being sworn in as Donald Trump's secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem, well coiffed and clad in tactical gear, popped up in New York City before dawn with a message for Americans - and her boss, the US president.Live this AM from NYC. I'm on it," Noem wrote on X, the first in a series of social media posts documenting her ride-along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents and officers from other federal agencies as they conducted a raid at a residential building in the Bronx on Tuesday. Hours later, in a piece-to-camera video, she declared the morning's mission a success: We are getting the dirtbags off the streets." Continue reading...

Silver W196 R Stromlinienwagen sold at Stuttgart auction for highest amount ever made by a grand prix carA streamlined Mercedes raced by the Formula One greats Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1955 set a record for a grand prix car on Saturday, selling at auction for 51.15m (42.7m).The sleek, silver W196 R Stromlinienwagen, one of only four complete examples in existence, was sold by RM Sotheby's at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, on behalf of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). Continue reading...

Home secretary rules out return to full union with bloc as Keir Starmer prepares for talks in Brussels this weekKeir Starmer will seek to improve customs arrangements with Europe without returning to a full union with the bloc, the home secretary has said.As the prime minister heads to Brussels as part of his attempted reset with the EU, Yvette Cooper said it was still a red line that the UK would not be part of a customs union or single market. Continue reading...

Samuel Jarrett-Coker says Home Office has not responded to requests to resolve his immigration status since 1980sA Windrush man who has lived in the UK since he was a child fears he could be deported to his home country despite spending most of his life here.Samuel Jarrett-Coker, 61, fears that he is not only at risk of being deported but also made homeless because he says the Home Office never responded to his requests dating back to the 1980s to resolve his immigration status. Continue reading...

A 61-year-old man is suspected of killing Lamduan Armitage, whose body was found by walkers at Sell GillA man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a Thai woman whose body was found in a stream in the Yorkshire Dales more than two decades ago.Lamduan Armitage, who would now be 55, became known as the Lady of the Hills when her then unidentified body was found by walkers at Sell Gill, on 20 September 2004. Continue reading...

Ukraine armed forces say 84 people were rescued or had medical help after strike in Russian territory that Kyiv holdsUkraine and Russia have traded blame for a deadly missile strike that killed at least four people in the dormitory of a boarding school situated in a part of Russia's Kursk region held by Ukrainian forces.Some of the war's fiercest battles in recent months have been taking place in the Kursk region that borders Ukraine, where Kyiv forces have held swathes of the land since staging a major cross-border incursion last August. Continue reading...

Analysis of a mega poll shows Keir Starmer would lose more seats than Tories amid voter discontent with main partiesLabour faces losing scores of seats to Reform UK across England and Wales as a widening section of voters lose faith in the mainstream parties, according to a new analysis seen by the Observer.With senior figures in the Labour party now privately talking about a change of era" in which more moderate voters are turning to Nigel Farage's party, new research on Reform's influence suggests itwill take far more seats from Labour thanfrom the Conservatives on current trends. Continue reading...

Transport minister Jo Haylen admits I made the wrong decision' after ministerial car booked out for 13 hours for Hunter Valley lunch at winery

Sunday's stoppage to be worsened by engineering works, as dispute threatens to affect every weekend until JuneRail passengers face severe disruption on Sunday as Avanti West Coast train staff resume strike action that threatens to affect every weekend until June.The strikes, which were suspended for two weeks to allow for intensive talks" between unions and the intercity rail operator, will be compounded by planned engineering works by Network Rail. Continue reading...

Herbert River predicted to reach record levels as north Queensland seaside town of Rollingstone records 999mm of rain in 48 hours

Federal opposition leader also doubles down on claim his nuclear plan would cut power bills by 44% despite Coalition's own modelling being silent on issue

Research shows in tough times people often let home and contents insurance lapse, which could lead to dangerous decision to stay

Rebels had captured the city in January in major escalation of 10-year-old conflictAt least 773 people were killed in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo's largest city of Goma and its vicinity this week amid fighting with Rwanda-backed rebels who captured the city in a major escalation of a decade-long conflict, Congolese authorities have said.The rebels' advance into other areas was slowed by a weakened military that recovered some villages from them. Continue reading...

Essex police said a boy and a girl died at the scene and the car involved failed to stopTwo people have been arrested after two children died in a car collision in Essex, police have said.Officers were called to Walthams Place in Basildon at about 6.25pm on Saturday to reports of a crash and a car failing to stop. Continue reading...

Tens of thousands rally against government and in memory of railway station roof collapse that killed 15Serbia's powerful populist leader Aleksandar Vui was facing his biggest challenge yet as student-led demonstrations intensified at the weekend in what was being called the Balkan country's greatest ever protest movement.Three months to the day after a concrete canopy collapsed at the entrance of Novi Sad's railway station, tens of thousands of protesters converged on the northern city, blockading its three bridges in commemoration of the 15 people killed in the accident. The tragedy has been blamed squarely on government ineptitude and graft. Continue reading...

Judge condemns firm for use of customer's data after problem gambler was sent 1,300 emails over two years

Recruiting top graduates could stop other countries pulling ahead in artificial intelligence race, tech council says

Lord Foulkes believes rules must change after series of scandals involving Prince AndrewRules banning scrutiny of the royal family in parliament must be changed in light of the continuing scandals about Prince Andrew, a Labour peer has said. Lord Foulkes is seeking a meeting this week with the clerk of the parliaments Simon Burton, who is head of the House of Lords administration, to discuss what Foulkes says is a growing list of concerns about the activities of the royal family.Foulkes, a junior minister under Tony Blair, said he has been refused permission to table a question proposing a public register of royal interests. Continue reading...

Families have been informed of the incident, say Essex police, but no details of the deceased have been releasedFour people have died after a vehicle crashed into a building in Essex, police have said.Officers were called to Magdalen Street in Colchester at about 4.40am on Saturday to reports of a crash. Continue reading...

Last week Nigel Farage raised more than 1m at Oswald's - one of London's private members' clubs beloved of BrexitersIt's thirsty work bringing down the British establishment... and what better place to do it than a Mayfair gentlemen's club?Fortunately for Nigel Farage, there was plenty of Dom Perignon on hand last week as he tried to tempt billionaire outsiders to back Reform UK at a fundraiser at Oswald's, a private members' club next door to familiar names such as Boodles, Tiffany andCartier. Continue reading...

All six people onboard and one person on the ground are dead, with 19 others injured, says Philadelphia mayorSeven people were killed after a medical transport plane crashed into a north-east Philadelphia neighborhood on Friday.All six people on the flight and one person on the ground are dead. Nineteen others were injured, the Philadelphia mayor, Cherelle Parker, said. Continue reading...

Incident at Talbot Green police station in Rhondda Cynon Taf has led to arrest of a 27-year-old manSouth Wales police have appealed for calm after three officers were injured in a violent struggle" outside a police station.A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault, arson and criminal damage after the incident at Talbot Green police station in Rhondda Cynon Taf. Continue reading...

Animal rights group suggested replacing the famous marmot with vegan cake to forecast the end of winterPennsylvania's governor, Josh Shapiro, is claws out in a dispute with animal rights organization Peta over Groundhog Day, pushing back against activists who suggested that the world-famous marmot Punxsutawney Phil should be replaced with a cake.Punxsutawney Phil headlines the yearly Groundhog Day festival in this small Pennsylvania town. The mythos surrounding this event maintains that this woodchuck can predict whether spring will start early, depending on whether he sees his shadow when exiting his nest. Continue reading...

Assault by the Rapid Support Forces in city of Omdurman also leaves more than 150 people woundedFighters with the opposition Rapid Support Forces have attacked an open market in the Sudanese city of Omdurman, killing 54 people.

Secretary of defense gave information about the military aircraft that collided with the passenger plane, killing 67Top US officials have said the military helicopter that collided with a passenger jet over the Potomac River on Wednesday was on a training mission for evacuating members of government in the event of a catastrophe or attack.The US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, told Fox News that the helicopter was performing a continuity of government" drill designed to help pilots rehearse in ways that would reflect a real world scenario". Hegseth declined to go further, saying he didn't want to get into anything that's classified". Continue reading...

Meant to lend credibility to his nomination to head HHS, the letter is signed by some doctors disciplined for not following Covid guidelinesA letter submitted to the US Senate that states it was sent by physicians in support of Robert F Kennedy Jr's nomination as secretary of health and human services includes the names of doctors who have had their licenses revoked or suspended, or who have faced other disciplinary actions, the Associated Press has found.The letter was meant to lend credibility to Kennedy's nomination, which has faced strenuous opposition from medical experts due to his two decades of anti-vaccine activism. Republican senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a medical doctor who boasts on his official website of an effort he created to vaccinate 36,000 children against hepatitis B, expressed hesitancy about Kennedy's nomination and is seen as a key vote. Continue reading...