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Fears Maduro government is trying to shut down scrutiny after lawyer is arrested and UN human rights office shut downHuman rights groups are calling for the Venezuelan government to halt a crackdown on civil society after it jailed a prominent lawyer and then banished a UN human rights office from Caracas for criticising her arrest.The arrest of the 57-year-old lawyer and military expert Rocio San Miguel has shocked observers, who say Venezuela is entering a darker phase of state oppression intended to crush government opposition in the lead-up to elections expected later this year. Continue reading...

Standon Calling among events scheduled for 2024 to call time amid fears of impact on new talentWhen Standon Calling - the summer music festival during which 17,000 people descend on the Hertfordshire countryside to see headliners such as Bloc Party and Wolf Alice - announced this year would be its last, it became the ninth festival for 2024 to cancel or call time for good.The Association of Independent Festivals' (AIF) CEO, John Rostron, has called for urgent government intervention" to assist events hit by rising supply chain costs, debts incurred during the Covid pandemic and slower ticket sales, stymied further by the cost of living crisis. Continue reading...

Bank's profits rise 57% but it says there is significant uncertainty' over liability amid FCA investigation

Engine-maker says it has made 150m of its 400m to 500m savings target, with up to 2,500 jobs to go

William Shawcross says Home Office ignored key recommendations and more attention should be paid to Islamist extremismThe author of a controversial review of Britain's counter-terrorism strategy claims the public have been left at risk" because many of his key recommendations have been ignored.In a heavily criticised review of Prevent for the Home Office last year, William Shawcross concluded that it had concentrated too much on the far-right and not enough on Islamist extremism. Continue reading...

Health minister Maria Caulfield disappointed and surprised' by Lindsay Hoyle's actions but refrains from calling for his resignation

Britain joins France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands in withdrawing from charter it says penalises' shift to net zeroThe UK is pulling out of a treaty that lets fossil fuel firms sue governments over their climate policies.The government said the UK was withdrawing from the energy charter treaty after efforts to modernise it ended in stalemate. Continue reading...

An emergency warning has been issued for 28 communities west of Ballarat, with conditions not expected to ease until about midnight

NSW police searching for former Channel 10 presenter, 26, and Qantas flight attendant, 29, after blood discovered at Paddington property and on personal possessions in Cronulla bin

Research from the Royal Agricultural University suggests possible big cat presence in the UK, but others say evidence is flimsyWhen you think of four-legged British wildlife, the first animal that comes to mind may not be a black leopard.Yet that is exactly what Sharon Larkin-Snowden insists she has seen roaming the Cumbrian countryside over the past few months. The 52-year-old part-time construction worker was first told about alleged sightings of the so-called Beast of Cumbria in November, when local farmers noticed unusual activity" on their land. But it wasn't until later in the month that she claims to have had her own sighting. Continue reading...

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The airline is flush with enough cash for a $400m share buy-back, a great transfer of wealth from customers to shareholdersIt may be slightly less profitable and boast a friendlier CEO who says she does a lot more listening than talking", but Qantas remains an airline making serious money that could do much more to win back Australians' hearts.The $1.25bn pre-tax half yearly profit unveiled on Thursday, while down 13% on the same period last year, was still 40% higher than the last half-year trading period before the pandemic upended travel.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Critics of treasurer Jim Chalmers' proposed reforms say the Reserve Bank is independent enough

Officials held online meeting with business leaders despite flight of ethnic Armenians after military takeover of Nagorno-KarabakhThe UK government faces criticism after officials appeared to urge British businesses to help rebuild disputed areas of Azerbaijan just weeks after the state's military takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh led more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee the region.Officials from the UK Foreign Office and the business department held an online meeting with British business leaders in November to encourage companies to take advantage of the great opportunity" to support Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev's rebuilding agenda. Continue reading...

Artist chose study to appear in first big retrospective in 1971. Dyer was found dead in couple's hotel room 36 hours before show's openingIt is one of the most intimate and psychologically charged portraits that the artist Francis Bacon painted of his great love, George Dyer. So special was it to him that he personally selected it to appear at his first major retrospective at Paris's Grand Palais in 1971.But what should have been a monumental occasion celebrating Bacon's stellar career was marred by tragedy when barely 36 hours before the opening, Dyer was found dead from an overdose of sleeping pills, exacerbated by alcohol abuse, in the couple's shared hotel room. Continue reading...

Jean Huang, who operated the Medi Beauty Clinic in Chippendale, died after the procedure performed by Jie Shao

Exclusive: GMC truly sorry' for investigations and sanctions even after homophobic laws were repealedThe UK medical regulator is to apologise to gay doctors struck off because of their sexuality, the Guardian can reveal.The General Medical Council will issue a formal apology to medics it investigated, sanctioned, issued warnings to or banned from practising due to convictions they had under now-repealed legislation outlawing male homosexuality. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Time is ripe for challenge to growing far-right support, says former Bundestag presidentA former president of the German Bundestag has urged the country's political leaders to seize on the momentum of recent nationwide demonstrations against far-right populism to build an alliance of democrats", comparing the outpouring of anger to the protests that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.Wolfgang Thierse, a veteran social democrat considered by many to be a moral authority in contemporary Germany, said he was shocked by the rise of the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), which has struggled to distance itself from revelations that party members attended a meeting at which plans for the mass deportation of foreigners were discussed. Continue reading...

Aid workers being held at gunpoint and having communications monitored, Council of Europe's human rights commissioner saysPeople and groups who assist asylum seekers are reporting a disturbing trend of escalating intimidation, with aid workers facing direct threats including being held at gunpoint and having their phone communications monitored by government authorities, according to a report from the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights.Dunja Mijatovi has warned of increasing harassment and in some cases criminalisation of people and groups who assist refugees, especially in Hungary, Greece, Lithuania, Italy, Croatia and Poland. Continue reading...

Exclusive: footage of semi-naked men is evidence of increasing abuse during illegal pushbacks on Europe's borders, say rights groupsVideos appearing to show groups of men stripped of their clothing in near-freezing temperatures and being forced back from the Serbian border into North Macedonia are evidence of escalating mistreatment of migrants at European borders, according to human rights groups.Two videos shown to the Guardian by Legis, a North Macedonian NGO, show a line of semi-naked men on a stretch of road near the Serbian-North Macedonian border. Continue reading...

Takeshi Ebisawa is being charged over a conspiracy to traffic uranium and plutonium from Myanmar, believing Iran would use it to make weaponsA leader of a Japan-based crime syndicate conspired to traffic uranium and plutonium from Myanmar in the belief that Iran would use it to make nuclear weapons, US prosecutors have alleged.Federal officials said Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, and others showed samples of nuclear materials that had been transported from Myanmar to Thailand to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was posing as a narcotics and weapons trafficker that had access to an Iranian general. Continue reading...

Study found 235 local routes across Sydney failed to meet minimum service standards' when it came to frequency as well as night and weekend operation

Police investigating fires in Thomastown and Thornbury, where former Mongols bikie Sam The Punisher' Abdulrahim was to fight

Kwang Kyung Yoo, 49, charged with murdering family in western Sydney on Monday night

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington he didn't know there was such a thing as a Russian luxury car'A US spokesperson has mocked president Vladimir Putin's gift of a Russian car to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as he accused Moscow of violating UN resolutions.North Korean state media said on Tuesday that Kim was presented with a car made in Russia for his personal use by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation." Continue reading...

Medecins Sans Frontieres logistics expert calls for immediate ceasefire and fears catastrophic' Israeli ground offensive

Exclusive: Low maximum stake, set to be announced on Friday, will apply to players under 25, the Guardian understandsThe government is set to impose new limits of as little as 2 a spin for online slot machines, the Guardian understands, in a move that could cost casino companies hundreds of millions of pounds.Ministers have been consulting on imposing a maximum stake for the digital casino-style games since publishing a white paper on gambling reform last year. Continue reading...

Ritlecitinib, a pill taken once a day, approved by health watchdog for hair loss caused by autoimmune diseaseA medication to treat people with severe hair loss has been recommended for NHS use by a health watchdog for the first time.Ritlecitinib, a tablet manufactured by Pfizer that is taken once a day, has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) for NHS use when treating people with severe alopecia. Continue reading...

Carbon intensity of the country's economy remains high, despite rapid improvements in clean energy outputChina is off track on all of its core 2025 climate targets, despite the fact that clean energy is now the biggest driver of the country's economic growth, analysis has found.After years of extraordinarily rapid growth, China is now grappling with a slowdown that is causing ripples internally and internationally. The government has supercharged the growth of the renewable energy industry but it has imultaneously poured stimulus funds into construction and manufacturing, and continues to approve coal power. Continue reading...

Documents recognising loss and grief were part of women's health strategy in 2022People who have lost a baby to miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy will be able from Thursday to receive a certificate from the government recognising their grief.Baby loss charities welcomed the move, which they hope will help bereaved parents manage the pain and trauma of their loss. Continue reading...

Saunders, now 74, arrested and charged with 29 offences including indecently dealing with a child. The former bishop has previously denied wrongdoingThe former bishop of Broome, Christopher Saunders, has been charged over historical child sex abuse allegations.Western Australia police said the 74-year-old was arrested on Wednesday and charged with a number of historical offences. Continue reading...

Labour amendment calling for immediate Gaza ceasefire passes after government and SNP walkoutNew 20mph limits are helping cut speeds and will save lives, the Welsh government has insisted. PA Media says:Drivers are travelling on average 4mph slower on main roads in Wales since the rollout of a new lower speed limit for built-up areas, data collected by Transport for Wales (TfW) shows.The Welsh Labour government, which implemented the change in September last year, insists the lower speeds will lead to fewer collisions and people injured. Continue reading...

Government boycotts precedent-breaking vote that saved Labour mutiny, leaving Tory and SNP MPs to aim fury at Lindsay Hoyle

Questions about speaker's future after he causes uproar by breaking convention over Gaza motion

As situation in Gaza worsens, diplomatic pressure is mounting on UK to follow other countries and suspend arms sales to IsraelThe UK government will consider suspending arms export licences to Israel if Benjamin Netanyahu goes ahead with a potentially devastating ground offensive on the Palestinian city of Rafah in southern Gaza.As the humanitarian situation in Gaza has worsened, diplomatic pressure has been mounting on the UK to follow other countries and suspend arms exports to Israel. Continue reading...

Michael Tolbert, 44, of Flint becomes first person charged under Michigan's new law requiring safe storage of gunsA Michigan man whose two-year-old daughter shot herself in the head with his revolver last week pleaded not guilty after becoming the first person charged under the state's new law requiring safe storage of guns.Michael Tolbert, 44, of Flint, was arraigned on nine felony charges including single counts of first-degree child abuse and violation of Michigan's gun storage law, said John Potbury, Genesee county's deputy chief assistant prosecuting attorney. Continue reading...

Bank increases staff bonus pool by 12% despite hit from exposure to China real estate slump

Metropolitan police and Police Scotland decide to take no further action against broadcasterThe broadcaster Dan Wootton has been cleared of alleged criminal behaviour after the Metropolitan police decided to take no action following a six-month investigation.Last October, the Met said it was investigating a 40-year-old after the force was handed a 28-page dossier in June by journalists at Byline Times. Continue reading...

Specialist divers are continuing their third day of searches for Xielo MaruzivaA two-year-old boy believed to have fallen into the River Soar has been named as Xielo Maruziva, as police continued their search on Wednesday.Xielo's parents described their son as a cheeky, funny" boy and a bundle of joy" in a statement released by Leicestershire police. Continue reading...

Journalist seeks to flip Long Island seat as a Democrat to build broadest possible coalition to defeat Donald Trump'The former Daily Beast editor and CNN anchor John Avlon announced his candidacy for US Congress in New York as a Democrat, seeking to flip a seat on Long Island, where Republicans saw surprising gains in the 2022 midterm elections.In a video announcement, Avlon said he was running to help Democrats win back the House from Donald Trump's Maga minions". Continue reading...

World Food Programme says territory is hanging by a thread' as food supplies run out and efforts to deliver aid are derailedNew fighting and a deepening breakdown in public order in northern Gaza have derailed a major humanitarian effort to avert a famine in parts of the battered territory, with senior aid officials describing an incredible level of desperation" as food supplies run out.A UN attempt to deliver 10 convoys of food aid to northern Gaza over seven days was suspended earlier this week after trucks were looted by crowds, a driver was beaten and gunfire reported amid chaotic scenes. Continue reading...

Research is based on interviews with officials and first responders, media reports and confidential sources'

Tino Chrupalla says it is unbearable' the extent to which Putin has been blamed, with similar comments from Italian deputy PM Matteo SalviniThe Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a key ally of Donald Trump, has been added to a list of terrorists and extremists" kept by Russia's state financial monitoring agency.Tass, the state-run news agency, first reported the move by Rosfinmonitoring, which allows authorities to freeze Russian bank accounts, though in Graham's case is likely to be chiefly symbolic. Continue reading...

99 of 120 lawmakers voted to support declaration passed earlier this week by cabinet and say any accord would have to be reached by direct negotiationsThe International Court of Justice in The Hague will be sitting again today to here oral arguments in the case legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem."The session is due to begin at 9am GMT. The proceedings are live streamed which you can watch here, and you can find all the documents here. Continue reading...

Johnny Mercer tells inquiry his time working under then defence secretary was very difficult'A minister has told an inquiry that he was angry with the former defence secretary Ben Wallace after discovering that UK special forces officers knew about Afghanistan death squad allegations before he described them as untrue in the House of Commons.Johnny Mercer wrote to Wallace in August 2020 shortly after emails surfaced in the Sunday Times that showed senior special forces officers expressed serious concerns about the killings of 33 people in 11 night raids in the war-torn nation in 2011. Continue reading...

Actor, who has accused two directors of raping her as a teenager, aims to break omerta' surrounding abuse in film industryJudith Godreche, an actor who has accused two high-profile directors of raping her as a teenager, will address France's most prestigious film awards ceremony on Friday in an unusual move aimed at breaking what she calls the omerta" surrounding the abuse of women and girls in the industry.Godreche, whose autobiographical hit TV show about the grooming of a 14-year-old girl has sparked a national debate, will take to the stage at the Cesar awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars, which is broadcast live on television. Continue reading...

MacIntosh, best known for playing Keith in the classic British comedy, was an absolute original', says Ricky GervaisThe actor Ewen MacIntosh, best known for playing Keith in the classic British comedy The Office, has died at the age of 50.A statement from his management company, Just Right Management, said: With great sadness we announce the peaceful passing of our beloved comedy genius Ewen MacIntosh. Continue reading...

Telecoms group agrees sale of Grade II-listed tower to US operator MCR Hotels

PM declines to say Henry Staunton lied about government's handling of payments for Horizon scandal victims

Archbishop said he could not meet Bethlehem Lutheran Munther Isaac if he shared platform with former Labour leader, Isaac saysThe archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, cancelled plans to meet the Bethlehem-based Lutheran pastor Munther Isaac, saying he could not meet him if he shared a platform with the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at a pro-Palestinian rally, the pastor has said.Isaac, the pastor of the Christmas Evangelical Lutheran church in Bethlehem, who has been highly critical of Israel in Gaza, saw his Christmas sermon go viral when he said if Jesus Christ was born today it would have been under the rubble. Continue reading...