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Exclusive: Government to grant nature groups a licence for release of rodent species after earlier setbacksThe release of beavers into English waterways is to be allowed for the first time in centuries, the Guardian can reveal.The environment secretary, Steve Reed, is to announce that nature groups will be able to get a licence for the release. The first releases could happen this autumn. Continue reading...

City of Portraits, a decade in the making, celebrates tightknit community in tiny Welsh city. But joyful project had sad beginningsFrom a distance, they look like vivid pieces of abstract art - but move a little closer and dozens of small, characterful portraits shine out of the work.The ambitious idea of the City of Portraits (Dinas Portreadau) project, a decade in the making and nowhere near complete, is to record the faces of all 1,800 people who live in Britain's smallest city, St Davids in south-west Wales. Continue reading...

Titanic and Avatar director says America doesn't stand for anything if it doesn't stand for what it has historically stood for' - and that he prefers New Zealand to CanadaJames Cameron has voiced his relief that he is becoming a New Zealand citizen in the aftermath of Donald Trump's re-election as US president, saying that America under Trump is a turn away from everything decent".Asked how worried he was about Trump's second term, the 70-year-old film-maker told New Zealand outlet Stuff: I think it's horrific, I think it's horrifying ... I see it as a turn away from everything decent. America doesn't stand for anything if it doesn't stand for what it has historically stood for. It becomes a hollow idea, and I think they're hollowing it out as fast as they can for their own benefit." Continue reading...

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Damning National Audit Office report says action is needed to address deficit accumulated under Tory-era policyAlmost half of councils in England risk falling into bankruptcy without action to address a 4.6bn deficit amassed under a Conservative-era policy, the government's spending watchdog has warned.In a damning report, the National Audit Office said that rising pressure on public services and repeated delays to reform the funding of local government meant town halls were in an unsustainable" financial position. Continue reading...

Unlawful termination hearing is examining how and why ABC removed journalist from the Radio Sydney Mornings show in December 2023Ian Neil SC, for the ABC, said it is important for Justice Darryl Rangiah to get to the truth of why Antoinette Lattouf was taken off air.Key to this, Neil says, is an understanding of a Microsoft Teams meeting between ABC managers and executives, including Lattouf's line manager at Radio Sydney, Elizabeth Green, and the chief content officer, Chris Oliver-Taylor.That's a powerful consideration to weigh against Ms Green's recollection, leading to the conclusion that it's an unresolvable factual issue.We do reiterate, what earthly reason would he have for lying, misrepresenting, what he had been told ... two minutes before, to his superior. Continue reading...

ARC chief Prof Peter Shergold defends decision at estimates hearing but is accused of bowing to allegations in racist' media

Xiao Qian says exercises in Tasman Sea posed no threat' to Australia as previously unreported communications between pilots and air traffic controllers show confusion over drills

Adrian Collette sends all-staff email denying that he and the chair of Creative Australia's board had quit amid calls for resignations

Alfred is creating hazardous weather conditions from Townsville south to K'Gari, with gale force winds forecast on the Great Barrier Reef and dangerous surf between Yeppoon and Hervey Bay

US president was questioned about defence deal during meeting with UK prime minister Keir Starmer

The company - which has been looking for a white knight investor - fails to lodge financial accounts as scheduled

Trump calls Starmer meeting tremendously productive' and says we have a very good chance at arriving at a very good deal'

This week, Donald Trump continued to dominate the world stage, welcoming a procession of global leaders to Washington, including Keir Starmer. But while the special relationship' is front and centre in the UK, attention in the US is very much elsewhere. As the president goes full steam ahead with his domestic agenda, there are warning signs for Trump in the polls. So, could he be in trouble at home? And how could the Democrats take advantage?Jonathan Freedland speaks to Stanley Greenberg, the bestselling author, Democratic pollster and political strategist who played a crucial role in the elections of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair Continue reading...

Independent review to explore making of documentary that featured son of a Hamas official, after BBC board discussionThe BBC's board has apologised for the significant and damaging" mistakes made in producing its documentary on Gaza.The corporation's board met on Thursday after it emerged that the son of a Hamas official featured on its programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. Continue reading...

Removal comes after court decision pausing Joe Biden's Save program, leaving millions of Americans in the lurch

Gossip Girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor, 39, died this week after being found unresponsive at her apartment

Education department allows Sheikh Wesam Charkawi to return to Granville Boys high school, lawyer says, adding case highlights ambiguity in what is required of public servants'

After the announcement of a follow-up festival in Mexico, tourism and local officials have denied any knowledge of its existenceWhen tickets to the second Fyre festival went on sale this week, there was just one concrete detail: it would take place on Isla Mujeres, a tropical island off Cancun, Mexico.But the festival seems to be repeating its own history as an improvised disaster after the local government in Isla Mujeres denied knowing anything about it. Continue reading...

Pamela Marking, suffering severe stomach issues, diagnosed in hospital with nosebleed and sent home by PAA coroner has issued a warning about the role of physician associates in NHS hospitals after a woman with severe abdominal problems was wrongly diagnosed as having a nosebleed and died four days later.The family of Pamela Marking, 77, were under the mistaken impression she had been seen by a doctor when she was examined in an emergency department, rather than a physician associate (PA) with far less training. Continue reading...

I think we'll be inclined to go along with your country,' president says of plan to hand sovereignty to Mauritius

Isaiah Adekunle Olugosi's wife drove for two hours to try to alert prison after phone calls to raise alarm were unansweredA woman who drove 60 miles to Wormwood Scrubs to prevent her husband from taking his own life in prison was unable to alert staff in time because the telephone line and the intercom were both broken, a coroner has ruled.Isaiah Adekunle Olugosi took his life in his cell at HMP Wormwood Scrubs in March 2022. His death was ruled by a jury as suicide.

Two people arrested and dog put down after incident at property in Hartcliffe area on WednesdayA 19-year-old woman has died after she was attacked by a dog, thought to be an XL bully, inside a flat in Bristol.Two people were arrested after the attack in the Hartcliffe area of south Bristol on Wednesday on suspicion of offences including having a prohibited breed of dog. The dog was later destroyed, police said. Continue reading...

Company's plans to introduce declared age range' technology for apps later this year could play a role in Australian social media ban

About 112 migrants held in immigration center deep in the jungle are unable to communicate with their attorneysLawyers for immigrants from around the world who were deported from the United States and moved to a remote jungle camp in Panama say they have been unable to communicate with their clients since they arrived there.About 112 deported migrants are being held in the San Vicente" immigration center deep in the dense jungle that separates Panama from Colombia, according to Panamanian authorities. Their future is uncertain as they wait to see if they will be granted asylum in Panama or elsewhere. Continue reading...

Institution blames increasing costs and changing visitor behaviours' as numbers have failed to recover since CovidThe Royal Academy of Arts (RA) could axe 60 roles as part of a cost-cutting exercise, with leaders admitting it is facing a serious financial challenge" after visitor numbers failed to recover to pre-pandemic levels.The institution blamed increasing costs and changing visitor behaviours" for the move, which could lead to about 18% of the RA workforce losing their jobs. Continue reading...

A memo from the Trump administration gives federal officials until 13 March to submit plans for additional firings

Abdullah Ocalan's message, which follows four decades of guerrilla warfare, will have far-reaching implicationsThe ageing leader of a Kurdish militant group imprisoned on a remote Turkish island has called on the group to disarm and dissolve itself, signalling the start of a fragile peace with Turkey after four decades of guerrilla warfare, attacks and reprisals.Abdullah Ocalan, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK), a group long regarded as a terrorist organisation in Turkey as well as in Britain and the US, issued the message in a letter read out by allies in Istanbul. Continue reading...

Dream of going from LA to San Francisco in three hours is past deadline, over budget, and after 16 years, incompleteCalifornians know their state is a punching bag for Donald Trump's administration, a paradise lost" that the president intends to wrest back from the radical left lunatics". But when Trump took aim at the state's much-delayed high-speed rail project earlier this month, saying it was the worst managed project" he'd ever seen, some of those leftwingers - and more moderate voters - found themselves in the unusual position of conceding he might have a point.California's beautiful dream of a bullet train whisking passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than three hours has been more than 16 years in the making, approved by voters but dogged by so many delays, broken deadlines and cost overruns that it has only just reached the initial stages of laying down track. Continue reading...

Russian president claims to FSB security service that some western elites will try to undermine our dialogue'Speaking at a press conference in Vienna, the Austrian People's Party's leader Christian Stocker hailed the success of probably the most difficult government negotiations in history," as the country seems to be on course to get its new government after five months since the general election in September.He praised the value of consensus and compromise," taking a swipe at other parties to have refused to cooperate and evaded responsibility" for governing the country.There should be nothing about Europe without Europe.Together with our EU partners, Ireland, will continue to build global support for comprehensive, just and lasting peace on Ukraine's terms, which upholds Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and which is based on respect for the principles of the UN charter and international law. Continue reading...

A crowd of thousands were present for the rally in one of two key cities captured by rebel groupSeveral people have been killed and dozens more injured after blasts at a mass rally held by the M23 group in Bukavu, the city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo captured by the rebels earlier this month.Footage posted on social media showed people fleeing the scene. In another, bloodied bodies lay on the ground, and injured people were being carried away. Continue reading...

Adult infected with highly contagious virus that claimed life of unvaccinated child earlier this weekThe first confirmed case of measles has been reported in Kentucky, health authorities have announced, opening a new front in the US spread of the disease.The Kentucky department for public health (KDPH) said that an adult who had recently traveled to another country had contracted the disease. The person had been at a Planet Fitness gym while infectious, potentially exposing others. Continue reading...

One initiative, Better Australia, claims in a draft flyer to have helped reduce Greens support in NSW local and Queensland state campaigns that focused on the party's stance on Israel

Ex-Labour MP was originally jailed for 10 weeks for assaulting a man in the streetThe former Labour MP Mike Amesbury has had his 10-week prison sentence for assault suspended for two years, after an appeal at Chester crown court.Amesbury, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, was jailed on Monday for drunkenly punching a constituent in the street after an argument. Continue reading...

Rights experts say group who have been detained for more than 10 years face high risk of torture and imprisonmentDozens of Uyghurs have been deported from Thailand to China in the face of warnings from human rights experts that they will face a high risk of torture, enforced disappearance and imprisonment.Local media reported that several trucks with their windows covered were seen in the early hours of Thursday leaving the Bangkok immigration centre where 48 Uyghurs had been held during their more than 10 years in Thai detention. Continue reading...

An arrest warrant had been issued for Paul Flowers after he failed to turn up to a hearing earlier this monthA disgraced former church minister and banking group boss who acquired the nickname Crystal Methodist has been jailed for three years by a judge in Manchester.Paul Flowers, 74, had pleaded guilty to 18 fraud charges amounting to 100,000 after abusing his position as the executor of the will and holder of power of attorney for a woman named Margaret Jarvis. Continue reading...

Doge's work allows Musk to keep control of companies with billions in federal contracts as he guts government agenciesAs Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk work zealously to slash tens of billions in federal spending by axing thousands of jobs and gutting some government agencies, Musk faces mounting claims he has conflicts of interest and no oversight, legal and ethics experts say.Trump's largest campaign donor and the world's wealthiest man, Musk was tapped by the president to lead the so-called department of government efficiency" (Doge) in a radical and opaque cost-cutting drive that allows him to keep control of SpaceX, Tesla and other huge companies with billions of dollars in federal contracts. Continue reading...

Self-styled misogynist influencer' and brother Tristan had been banned from leaving Romania since December 2023

Premier Doug Ford called for the early vote, arguing he needs strong mandate' in case of US-Canada trade warVoters in Canada's most populous province head to the polls on Thursday to elect a new premier who may have to face the task of preserving Ontario's economy in the face of punishing US trade tariffs.Doug Ford, the Progressive Conservative party leader who has been the province's premier since 2018, called the snap election last month, arguing that he needs a strong mandate" to steer the province through any trade war with the US. Continue reading...

Independent review also calls for ban on other legal, but harmful' material that is degrading, violent or misogynistic

Gaza ceasefire appears to hold after four-day breach, as Israel says three of four bodies identified as of Thursday morning

The Oscar-winning star of The French Connection, The Conversation, Superman and The Poseidon Adventure has died, along with his classical musician wife, according to a Santa Fe sheriffOscar-winning actor Gene Hackman has died at the age of 95. In a statement to the Santa Fe New Mexican, County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Hackman and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead on Wednesday afternoon in their home in the Santa Fe Summit community northeast of the city.It quoted the police department saying: We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday." The Press Association confirmed there is an active investigation'' into the deaths. Sheriff Mendoza said there was no immediate indication of foul play. He did not provide a cause of death or say when the couple might have died. Continue reading...

Report also criticises compensation system for people wrongly convicted of crimes in England and WalesMore potential wrongful convictions could be sent back to the appeal court under proposals to change the way the miscarriages of justice watchdog decides cases.Suggestions by the Law Commission, which reviews legislation in England and Wales, for reform of the criminal appeals system include making it easier for those cleared of crimes to receive compensation and enabling investigation into allegations of jury misconduct. Continue reading...

British jet engine maker's underlying operating profits rose 55% to 2.5bn in 2024 as it bounces back from Covid crisis

City of Moreton Bay CEO says change that will see homeless face threat of fines is needed for health and safety

Focusing foreign aid on infectious diseases has allowed a rise in cancer and diabetes that African governments don't have resources to fight, says Dr Githinji GitahiHealth services in Africa are at risk of collapse in the next few years" due to soaring chronic diseases, a senior public health leader has warned.Foreign aid to Africa has been focused on infectious diseases, leaving conditions such as cancer and diabetes to escalate, said Dr Githinji Gitahi, group CEO of Amref Health Africa. Continue reading...

Jury hears 24-year-old wanted to leave her boyfriend before she was found fatally stabbed and buried on a beach north of Cairns

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Court hears how journalist's social media post on Gaza was seized upon as a pretext' to get rid of her in an utterly abnormal' fashion