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Musical theatre company, which runs eight venues in London, said healthy boost in revenues was offset

Explosives brought in from Poland and the Czech Republic are combined with household items for a bigger bangGerman officials have called for a clampdown on illegally imported and homemade firework bombs" after pyrotechnics for personal use killed at least five people across the country on New Year's Eve.The use of personal firecrackers is widespread and only lightly regulated in Germany, leading to hundreds of injuries and massive deployments of police and first responders in cities at the end of every year. Continue reading...

Arlene Holmes-Henderson wants all children in UK to have equal access to classical educationMy business school colleagues tell me that it's not called levelling up any more, it's rebalancing," says Arlene Holmes-Henderson, a Durham University professor. I think it's just doing the right thing."Holmes-Henderson is discussing her mission to help fix a problem many people don't know or think about, though she thinks they should. She wants people to care about the classics, and for all children in the UK to have equal access to classical education, whether that's the gladiators of Rome, or knowing your khaos from your chiasmus. Continue reading...

Alan Thorpe is Britain's last certified fixer of the Perkins brailler, a machine vital for teaching blind children to read and writeAlan Thorpe runs his fingers over the braille note attached to the latest repair job to arrive at his doorstep in Sheffield. Reading from the tactile note, he says: The paper won't wind in and the keys are jammed. Good luck."Thorpe, 60, is the only certified repairer in the UK of Perkins braille typewriters, the world's most widely used braille machines. Despite advances in digital technology, these 6kg analogue machines are still a vital communication tool for blind users and are especially crucial for teaching blind children to read and write. Continue reading...

Rapper banned from driving for nine months after pleading guilty to using mobile behind wheel of car in LondonStormzy has been banned from driving for nine months after an undercover police officer caught him using a mobile phone while behind the wheel of a Rolls-Royce in west London.The rapper, named Michael Ebenazer Owuo Junior, 31, pleaded guilty via a letter to driving the Rolls-Royce Wraith while using his device on Addison Road, west Kensington, shortly after 3.30pm on 7 March last year. Continue reading...

Finnish real estate company says deal for sports and entertainment venue will restore it to its former gloryHelsinki's main sports and entertainment arena is expected to reopen in the spring after getting caught in a Russian sanctions drama that left it disused, without power and starting to smell.Helsinki arena, also known as Helsinki Ice Hall, has been closed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, when its Russian oligarch owners were subjected to sanctions from the EU and US, which meant they were boycotted by the entertainment industry, and banks and insurance companies refused to provide essential services. The last events to be held at the 14,000-capacity venue were an ice hockey game and the televised Finnish sport gala in January 2022. Continue reading...

Hungarian gymnast survived persecution of Jews in second world war and won five golds across two GamesThe Hungarian five-time Olympic champion gymnast Agnes Keleti, the world's oldest living Olympic gold medallist and a survivor of the persecution of Jews in the second world war, has died at the age of 103, the Hungarian Olympic Committee (HOC) said.Born as Agnes Klein in Budapest on 9 January 1921, Keleti joined the National Gymnastics Association in 1938 and won her first Hungarian championship in 1940, only to be banned from all sports activities that year because of her Jewish heritage. Continue reading...

Police identify attacker as 45-year-old Aleksandar Martinovi, who they say opened fire in a bar after a fightTwelve people, including two children, have been killed and four others seriously injured in southern Montenegro, authorities have said, in shootings that began in a restaurant and ended when the gunman shot himself in the head.The shooter, identified as Aleksandar Martinovi, 45, turned his weapon on himself after being cornered by police near his home in Cetinje, a small town about 40km (25 miles) west of the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, the interior minister, Danilo aranovi, said. Continue reading...

Pressure builds on authorities to establish cause of crash which killed 179 peoplePolice in South Korea have raided Muan international airport, the scene of Sunday's plane crash, in which 179 people died, as well as the office of the airline that operated the flight, media reports said.Jeju Air flight 2216 was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it issued a mayday call and belly-landed on the runaway, before crashing into a barrier and bursting into flames. Two flight attendants survived the crash, the worst aviation disaster on the country's soil. Continue reading...

Cost of average home in December reaches 269,426, with value increasing over year by almost 12,000House prices rose for a fourth consecutive month in December, ending 2024 on a strong footing", Nationwide said, with the cost of an average home hitting 269,426.The building society's monthly tracker found prices in December rose 0.7% on the previous month and were up 4.7% on an annual basis. Continue reading...

Discount grocer records 7% increase in four weeks leading up to Christmas EveLidl made more than 1bn in sales in the run-up to Christmas for the first time in the three decades the discount grocer has been operating in the UK as cash-strapped shoppers cut costs.The German-owned discounter, which is close to overtaking Morrisons to become the UK's fifth biggest supermarket chain, said it made more than 1bn in sales in the four weeks leading up to Christmas Eve. Continue reading...

Electric Vehicles UK says hybrids without a plug should be banned or else confidence in electric cars will be damagedBritain needs to press ahead with a ban on the sale of new hybrid cars with no plug from 2030 or risk taking a catastrophic misstep" on the road to net zero, ministers have been warned.Cars such as the Toyota Prius, which charge a battery from an internal combustion engine, need to be excluded from the list of vehicles sold in the UK from 2030 or there will be a profound" fall in confidence in the government's commitment to electric motoring, according to the representative body Electric Vehicles UK (EVUK). Continue reading...

Yoon issues letter to supporters as he faces arrest over declaration of martial law and alleged insurrectionSouth Korea's impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has rallied his supporters in a letter saying he will fight until the end" as he faces an attempt by authorities to arrest him over his short-lived declaration of martial law, a lawyer said.I am watching on YouTube live all the hard work you are doing," Yoon wrote late on Wednesday to the hundreds of supporters who had gathered near his official residence to protest against the investigation into him. Continue reading...

Multiple calls made to triple zero before 39-year-old found critically injured outside high-rise unit block on River Road in Parramatta

Previous government spent almost 1m trying to prevent release of documents in 56 legal casesMore than 50,000 of taxpayers' money was spent on lawyers to try to prevent the release of a safeguarding review ordered after a disabled man starved to death in his own home.The costs were part of a bill of nearly 1m spent under the last government to prevent the release of various documents under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act. Continue reading...

Man believed to be in his 30s fatally shot by officers outside Manning hospital in Taree on the mid-north coast

Airline sends support staff to Nadi after reports of assault during a night out in the early hours of 1 January

Exclusive: Family doctors say they are so worn out by their jobs that they struggle to empathise with their patientsSeven in 10 GPs suffer from compassion fatigue and struggle to empathise with patients because they are worn out from caring for them, a survey has found.Family doctors say they are so emotionally and physically exhausted from hearing about patients' problems and circumstances that it is compromising the quality of care they provide.21% of medics had thought about self-harm or suicide at least once.85% of GPs who had had suicidal feelings blamed that on the impact of their job.84% of GPs experienced verbal abuse and 24% physical abuse by patients during 2024.Long waits for care (79%) and complaints about care (51%) were the most common reasons. Continue reading...

Record number of deaths in 2024 leads to call for safe and legal routes for people to travel to UK to stop them resorting to smugglersThe Home Office is facing calls to introduce 10,000 refugee visas in an effort to reduce the death toll from people crossing the Channel in small boats, after a record number of lives were lost in 2024.The groundbreaking proposal aimed at stopping migrants from resorting to using smugglers is contained in a report published on Thursday by the Refugee Council, titled Deaths in the Channel - what needs to change. Continue reading...

Experts' group employs new technologies and techniques to help relatives of those missing in the migration crisisFour years ago, the remains of a toddler encased in a lifejacket and a navy snowsuit washed up on a beach in southern Norway, having spent the previous two months being carried on North Sea currents. Though his face was barely recognisable, publicity about the sinking of the migrant boat he had been travelling on, and suspicions about his identity, enabled Norwegian police to locate a relative to whom his DNA could be matched, providing this lonely corpse with a name: Artin Iran Nezhad.Others remain nameless. Of the tens of thousands who die trying to reach Europe, only about a fifth are ever formally identified. For their relatives, this lack of closure is a continuing trauma. However, a recently established network of forensic scientists is trying to change this, through the development of new technologies and processes to aid identification efforts. Continue reading...

Fans at the New Year's Eve Wildlands festival, which cost up to $242 a ticket, were disappointed after the headline act was 25 minutes late for her 30-minute set

Known for his comedy songs such as The Sheik of Scrubby Creek and his toothy smile, Morgan died on 1 JanuaryAustralian country music singer Chad Morgan, known as the Sheik of Scrubby Creek" after one of his most famous songs, has died aged 91.Known for his humorous country songs and toothy smile - which inspired Barry Humphries' design for his character Sir Les Patterson - Morgan's music career spanned more than 70 years, releasing his first album in 1952. He was dubbed the clown prince of comedy" by country music legend Slim Dusty. Continue reading...

The green and purple southern lights show was so strong it appeared over Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and NSW

Almost 13,500 retail stores closed, a rise of 28% on previous year, according to Centre for Retail ResearchThe UK lost about 37 shops a day during 2024 in yet another brutal year for the high street, data suggests.Almost 13,500 retail stores closed for good in the last 12 months, a rise of 28% on 2023 - although the losses were below the levels seen each year between 2019 and 2022, according to provisional figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research. Continue reading...

Bigger Austudy and carer allowance payments, higher Medicare safety net thresholds and mandatory corporate reporting on climate also in 1 Jan changes

Rain, sleet, flooding and freezing temperatures could lead to hazardous travel conditions, says Met OfficeThe Met Office has issued a three-day heavy snow warning as thousands of households mop up after torrential new year rain led to flooded properties, travel chaos and power cuts.Temperatures could drop to well below freezing at the weekend with up to 30cm (1ft) of snow across England, Scotland and Wales - leading to rural areas being cut off, schools closing and to road, rail and flight problems, forecasters said. Continue reading...

Known as one of the jet set's most outrageous characters', Wildenstein died in Paris hotel aged 84The Swiss socialite and cosmetic surgery aficionado Jocelyne Wildenstein, sometimes known as Catwoman" due to her extensive plastic surgery, has died, her partner said on Wednesday.It is with heavy heart and with great sadness that Mr Lloyd Klein announces the unexpected death of his beloved fiancee and longtime companion, Jocelyne Wildenstein," the fashion designer said in an English-language statement sent to the Agence France-Presse news agency. Continue reading...

Man accused of traveling to offices in Florida with intention of killing, injuring, harassing and intimidating'FBI agents say they have foiled a possible attack on a US pro-Israel group apparently timed to take place on the first night of Hanukah.Officers arrested Forrest Kendall Pemberton after he allegedly travelled to the city of Plantation in Florida to scout the local offices of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) and tried to return later with concealed" firearms. Continue reading...

Veteran leaps metres into outfield to catch ball in one hand before throwing it back into field of playA stunning Glenn Maxwell catch in the outfield, an almost impossible take in mid-air on the wrong side of the boundary rope that he juggled back into play, has been hailed one of the best in Big Bash League history.It helped the Melbourne Stars break an eight-game BBL losing streak, thanks also to a Marcus Stoinis batting masterclass. Continue reading...

Mystery of Sheila Fox's disappearance at 16 solved after fresh police appealA woman who went missing 52 years ago has been found alive and well after police released a grainy photograph as part of an appeal, solving one of Britain's longest-running missing person cases.Sheila Fox, now 68, disappeared from Coventry in 1972 when she was 16. At the time, West Midlands police said she had been living with her parents and could have been in a relationship with a man. Officers said they were keeping an open mind, believing she may have moved out of the area. Continue reading...

In sobering year-end report, chief justice laments litany of threats judges face, which he says put the rule of law at riskViolence, intimidation, disinformation and threats to disobey lawful court rulings are putting the United States's revered principle of judicial independence in jeopardy, the chief justice of the US supreme court, John Roberts, has warned.In a sobering end of year report, Roberts - seen as the leading rightwinger on the court's current six-to-three pro-conservative majority - laments a litany of threats contemporary judges face in America's increasingly polarised political climate, which he says are putting the rule of law at risk. Continue reading...

President-elect hails Justin Caporale for Madison Square Garden rally and McDonald's shift'Donald Trump has appointed Justin Caporale, the man credited with some of his most eye-catching campaign gambits on the path to his second presidential election victory, to a White House role, signalling that high-profile publicity stunts are likely to be a key feature of his second presidential term.Posting on his Truth Social platform, the president-elect said Caparole would assume the role of executive producer for major events and public appearances" after he returns to the Oval Office on 20 January. Continue reading...

Residents celebrating new year recall scrambling for cover as scenes unimaginable unfolded in the French QuarterThe silence on Bourbon Street told much of the story.At the intersection that marks the centre of New Orleans's noisy tourist hub, lined with tall palm trees and towering hotels, the quiet on the morning of New Year's Day was broken only by yellow police tape fluttering in the light breeze and the occasional blare of sirens echoing on the road. Continue reading...

Small vessel tilted after taking in water, according to seven survivors who reached Italian island of LampedusaTwenty people are missing after falling into the sea from a tilting boat after it started to take in water in rough seas about 20 miles off the coast of Libya, according to survivors.Carrying 27 passengers, the six-metre boat had left Zuwara in Libya, about 571 nautical miles from Lampedusa, at 10pm on Monday. Continue reading...

Ukraine president hails one of Moscow's biggest defeats' as deal's end brings power cuts in breakaway Moldovan regionRussian gas has stopped flowing to Europe via Ukraine, ending a major energy route that goes back to Soviet times and had even survived three years of full-scale war between the two states.Ukraine cut off the transit route after an agreement signed in 2019 expired in the early hours of New Year's Day, marking a new milestone in Europe weaning itself off Russian gas supplies over the past few years, and prompting immediate power cuts for hundreds of thousand of people in a breakaway region of Moldova. Continue reading...

Experts say evidence from abroad shows AVR is effective - and it's one of several proposals to try to boost votingA healthy democracy depends on people participating in it. In the UK, the proportion of people doing so is falling. Voter turnout in general elections stayed above 70% from 1945 through to 1997, hitting more than 80% in 1950 and 1951. But it collapsed to 59.4% when Tony Blair won his second term in 2001, and though it rose again between 2010 and 2019, it has not reached the 70% mark since 1997. In the 2024 election, turnout fell to 59.7%.The decline has been acute enough to trigger concern among Labour officials. Before July, the Guardian revealed they were drawing up plans to introduce automatic voter registration (AVR). In the election, when it came around, just 52% of adults living in the UK exercised their right to vote - the lowest proportion since universal suffrage was introduced. Crucially, this statistic counts all adults eligible to vote in the UK, not just those registered on the electoral roll. Continue reading...

IPPR says elections could lose legitimacy because of falling turnout among groups such as renters and non-graduatesUK elections are close to a tipping point" where they lose legitimacy because of plummeting voter turnout among renters and non-graduates, an influential thinktank has said.Analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that the gap in turnout between those with and without university degrees grew to 11 percentage points in the 2024 general election - double that of 2019.Lowering the voting age to 16.Implementing automatic voter registration.Introducing a 100,000 annual cap on donations to political parties.Creating an election day service". Continue reading...

Ukraine ends agreement to allow gas to flow through its pipelines, with European supplies set to be tested as cold weather forecast later this weekUkraine has halted Russian gas supplies to European customers through its pipeline network, almost three years into Moscow's all-out invasion.

The number of listed companies fleeing can't be ignored, and cutting or abolishing the tax could revive the capital marketLast year was another depressing one for departures from the London stock market. Back in January, it was Flutter heading for the exit. The owner of Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet got itself a secondary listing in the US and said it would quickly convert it into the primary one, which it did in May.When December arrived, we were still on the same theme. Ashtead Group, the 27bn construction rental company that has been listed in London since 1986, announced plans to shift its primary listing to New York. Other escapers include Just Eat Takeaway, which is off to Amsterdam. Continue reading...

Officials say most of the victims were women and children as Israel's war against Hamas continues into the new yearIsraeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on New Year's Day, mostly women and children, officials said, as the nearly 15-month war ground on into the new year.One strike hit a home in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza, the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory, where Israel has waged a major operation since early October. Gaza's health ministry said seven people had been killed, including a woman and four children, and at least a dozen had been wounded. Continue reading...

Exclusive: tenfold increase in drone incidents since 2020 leads MPs to call for urgent action over security concernsPrisons will need more money to combat the rapid rise in drones delivering drugs, the head of an influential Commons committee has said, as figures showed the number of aerial incursions predicted to have tripled in two years.A freedom of information request by the Guardian found there were 1,296 drone incidents at prisons in England and Wales in the 10 months to the end of October 2024, a tenfold increase since 2020. Continue reading...

Emergency services receiving reports of damage, risk to life and stranded vehicles'2025's tempestuous start is also affecting Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.Both counties are seeing heavy rain and strong winds today with three danger to life" weather warnings in place. Continue reading...

Neville Lawrence says he is not satisfied with David Norris getting parole but could accept it if he has changedThe father of Stephen Lawrence has said he would accept one of the teenager's killers being released if he can show remorse.A parole hearing could take place this year in the case of David Norris, one of only two of the killers of the 18-year-old to have been brought to justice. Continue reading...

David Jonathan Thackray, who was jailed in New Zealand in 2014, is one of three Australians now subject to such sanctions

Leila de Lima enraged Rodrigo Duterte when she began investigating killings carried out during his war on drugs'Leila de Lima, one of fiercest critics of the former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs" who was jailed for more than six years on baseless charges, will try to return to politics in 2025.De Lima was one of the few politicians who criticised Duterte during his time in office, and enraged the former leader when she began investigating killings carried out during his anti-drugs crackdowns. She knew to expect retaliation, she said. I thought it would just be regular vilification, the slut-shaming, the verbal attacks," she said. She did not anticipate that she would spend more than six and a half years in prison. Continue reading...

Susan Evans not seen by specialist at the Queen Alexandra in Portsmouth despite complications and contracted sepsisFailings at a hospital contributed to the death of a 55-year-old woman who suffered abdominal sepsis after weight loss surgery at the time of a junior doctors' strike, a coroner has said.Susan Evans returned to Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire, with stomach pains two days after undergoing elective gastric bypass surgery. Continue reading...

Federal action comes hours after film's director sued New York Times for libel over story about Lively's accusationsThe actor Blake Lively has sued the director of It Ends With Us, Justin Baldoni, and several others associated with the film, alleging harassment and a coordinated campaign to attack her reputation for coming forward about her treatment on the set.The federal lawsuit was filed in New York on Tuesday, hours after Baldoni and many of the other defendants in Lively's suit sued the New York Times for libel for its story on her allegations, saying the newspaper and the star were the ones conducting a coordinated smear campaign. Continue reading...

Footballer who signed a seven-year AFL deal in October has been charged after 30 December incident in Riverina town of Mulwala

Concerned members of public alerted officers to vehicle being driven erratically in Knowsley on New Year's EvePolice on Merseyside have admitted they were surprised when they caught up with an erratically driven scrambler bike on a public road to find the rider was a seven-year-old boy.The budding Steve McQueen, who was by himself, explained to officers that he had been given the bike as a Christmas present. Continue reading...

Heritage groups call on Teignbridge district council to convert buildings in Newton Abbot rather than raze themThe wooded banks of the River Lemon, which tumbles through the town of Newton Abbot from the heights of Dartmoor, has long been a hive of activity, the site of corn and wool mills and tanneries that have employed thousands over the centuries.But demolition crews are about to move in to clear a collection of mill buildings and make way for housing despite an outcry from local people and from national conservation organisations, who argue the historic structures should be saved and re-purposed. Continue reading...