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December figures show biggest monthly fall since shops were forced to close during pandemic in 2021

Changes to imprisonment for public protection scheme in England and Wales do not tackle the cases of nearly 1,250 prisoners'A UN torture expert has said changes to the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) scheme in England and Wales do not go far enough and repeated her call for prisoners jailed under the indefinite sentencing regime to be granted release dates.The changes, announced by the government in November, will mean that IPP prisoners, who can be recalled at any time when released on licence, can apply to the Parole Board to have their sentence terminated three years after leaving jail, rather than the current 10 years. Continue reading...

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Mayor pledges 123m to keep prices down as opponents accuse him of trying to buy re-election votesLondoners will not pay anything more for single tube and bus fares until at least March 2025 after the mayor, Sadiq Khan, announced a fare freeze.Transport costs will however continue to rise for people making multiple journeys, as travelcards and daily and weekly fare caps for contactless pay-as-you-go journeys will rise in line with national fares, which are due to go up by 4.9% in the spring. Continue reading...

Exclusive: FoI request reveals Home Office paid 133,000 to charity for support for frontline staff amid surge in agency's absences

It was unfortunate this discovery was over a holiday period,' Howard Collins says while warning of further traffic delays at Rozelle interchangeThe head of Transport for New South Wales has admitted it wasn't good enough that it took a week for the department to respond to reports of potential asbestos in mulch at the Rozelle parklands.The TfNSW coordinator general, Howard Collins, said the department was so grateful" to the member of the public who alerted the agency to the asbestos contamination on 2 January.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Several people lucky to escape North Bondi blaze that has prompted a warning about lithium-ion batteries

Storm brewing in the Coral Sea could develop into a cyclone and hit the coast mid-next week, BoM weather update says

South Korea says backgrounds of recent defectors including some elite class' indicate growing discontent with regime of Kim Jong-unThe number of North Koreans who defected to South Korea tripled last year, as the easing of border closures imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic encouraged students, women and diplomats to make the perilous journey.At 196, the number was still well below the pre-pandemic average, but South Korean authorities said the backgrounds of many recent defectors pointed to growing discontent with the regime of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. Continue reading...

Businesses close, and water supply, internet and fuel affected as outback town swelters in temperatures forecast to hit 40C

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, is seeking class action status for attenders of all other Celebration tour shows in the US that started lateTwo Madonna fans in New York City are suing the pop star for starting her concert late, claiming that they had to get up early to go to work" the next morning.In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden say they bought tickets to a 13 December show at Barclays Center as part of Madonna's Celebration tour. Continue reading...

Executives of Woolworths, Coles and Aldi have agreed to appear at hearings, Steven Miles said, amid concerns from farmers and consumers

Houthis launch new attack on the Chem Ranger ship in the Gulf of Aden; US officials say the missiles hit the water causing no damageWhile Iran has taken low-level action against Balochistan in the past, Tuesday's strikes were unusually heavy-handed and Thursday's retaliatory bombings were the first time that Pakistan has responded with comprehensive military action against its neighbour.Sources in Islamabad said the decision was taken after heavy political and military pressure on the top army leadership to show strength against Tehran. Continue reading...

Company sought arrest warrant for Keith Keef' Leech after he allegedly posted links to confidential documents on social media in defiance of court order

Victoria police confiscate more than 70 boxes of Lego as 45-year-old man arrested following searches across Melbourne

Anthony Albanese tells national broadcaster country singer sort of lives in' 14.5-metre bus during segment commemorating her 78th birthday

Sister of headteacher who killed herself welcomes new direction but says single-word judgments impede real reformOfsted is to urge schools to pause" inspections that appear to be damaging the mental health of their staff, as part of its formal response to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry.The schools inspectorate for England is also pledging to hold a public consultation with families and teachers where nothing is off the table", and will consider overhauling how it inspects and grades safeguarding. Continue reading...

Defiant Houthi leader mocks US president and calls for boycott of Israeli goods as Biden tells reporters attacks are going to continue'

Thick smoke rises above strategic neighbourhood of Solino as frantic residents call into radio stations for help

Mongkol Thirakot receives record sentence under kingdom's strict lese-majesty laws for posts on personal Facebook accountA Thai man has been given a 50-year prison sentence for criticising the monarchy - the longest jail term handed down under the kingdom's strict lese-majesty laws - a legal rights group said.The record-breaking sentence comes after several years in which Thailand has ramped up use of the legislation against pro-democracy protesters in what critics say is a tactic to silence dissent. Continue reading...

Co-defendant Michael Roman requests DA be stood down over claims of improper romantic relationship with special prosecutorThe Georgia judge overseeing the racketeering case charging Donald Trump and allies with attempting to overturn the 2020 election results in the state has scheduled a hearing for February to weigh whether the Fulton county district attorney should be disqualified from prosecuting the charges.In a one-page order, the Fulton county superior judge Scott McAfee set an evidentiary hearing for 15 February to address allegations raised by Trump's co-defendant Michael Roman that the district attorney Fani Willis had an improper romantic relationship with one of her prosecutors. Continue reading...

PM rebuts White House by saying all territory west of Jordan River would be under Israeli security control

Removing biggest serving would not affect total profits, research suggests, but customers might complainIt may cause sour grapes among those halfway through dry January, salivating over the thought of that sauvignon blanc in a fortnight's time.But experts at Cambridge University have found that taking the biggest serving of wine off bar menus could benefit the nation's health without hurting pubs' profits. Continue reading...

UK's biggest Rolex and Omega seller becomes latest luxury retailer to be hit by switch in spending by aspirational shoppersThe share price of Watches of Switzerland has dived by more than a third in one day - wiping 516m off its value - as the UK's biggest seller of Rolex and Omega timepieces became the latest luxury retailer to experience a reining in of spending by aspirational shoppers.The plunge on Thursday came after the company said full-year revenues would be 100m below expectations because well-heeled customers were switching their purchasing power to other categories such as fashion, beauty, hospitality and travel. Continue reading...

MPs questioned freeholder groups in committee hearing over leasehold reform billMPs have laid into freeholders for creating a rentier structure" in England and Wales in recent years, charging exorbitant" ground rents of 8,000 a year in some cases, as a freeholder group pushed back against proposed changes to leasehold laws.The government's long-awaited leasehold reform bill, which would make it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to extend their lease and buy the freehold, and will ban leaseholds on newly built houses - but not flats - in England and Wales, is at the committee scrutiny stage. Continue reading...

US rapper scheduled to appear in court on Thursday and is being held in a Santo Domingo jailAuthorities in the Dominican Republic have arrested US rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, who is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday on charges of domestic violence.The rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, is being held at a jail in the capital of Santo Domingo, where he was arrested Wednesday, officials said. Continue reading...

Many schools in Scotland remain shut amid lows of -13.6C with the Met Office indicating the temperature fell to -11C in EnglandHundreds of schools in Scotland have been closed, some for a fourth day, due to heavy snow amid weather warnings across many parts of the UK.Much of Britain endured temperatures below freezing overnight on Wednesday, with preliminary data from the Met Office indicating the mercury fell to -13.6C at Tulloch Bridge in the Highlands, and as low as -11C in England. Continue reading...

Prime minister says he wants first flight to leave as soon as practicably possible' but will not give date. This live blog is closedQ: When you said you would stop the boats, people thought that meant reducing them to negligble numbers. That is not going to happen, is it?Sunak says he is proud of the progress he has made. He always said it would be difficult. Continue reading...

Dalton Clark Stewart, 22, accused of lighting Canada's Barrington Lake fire, which burned for one month in 2023A Nova Scotia man has been charged for allegedly starting the eastern Canadian province's largest-ever wildfire.The charges against Dalton Clark Stewart, 22, come only days after a Quebec man, inspired by conspiracy theories, pleaded guilty to 14 charges of arson after deliberately lighting forest fires. Continue reading...

The freezing temperatures in Iowa - fuelled by global heating - has not dampened Republican enthusiasm for oil and gasIn the wake of an Iowa primary election chilled in a record blast of cold weather - which scientists say may, counterintuitively, have been worsened by global heating - Republican presidential candidates are embracing the fossil fuel industry tighter than ever, with little to say about the growing toll the climate crisis is taking upon Americans.The remaining contenders for the US presidential nomination - frontrunner Donald Trump, along with Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis - all used the Iowa caucus to promise surging levels of oil and gas drilling if elected, along with the wholesale abolition of Joe Biden's climate change policies. Continue reading...

Aslef responds to operator's threat to impose minimum service levels at London-Scotland serviceThe train drivers' union Aslef has called an extra five days of strikes at LNER in response to the threatened imposition of minimum service levels at the state-run London-Scotland service.The controversial legislation, brought in by the government in late 2023, is likely to be trialled for the first time in the latest round of rail strikes. Continue reading...

Polling expert says similarity between two main parties and clear Labour lead also likely to suppress voting numbersThe polling expert Prof John Curtice has warned of low turnout at this year's general election, in part because voters regard Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to be as dull as dishwater".Speaking at an event for the Citizens Advice charity, Curtice cited boring leaders as one of three reasons why the voting numbers would be down. Continue reading...

Firm rejects union plan leaving UK on course to become only major economy unable to make steel from scratchThe owners of Port Talbot steelworks have rejected a trade union plan designed to keep its blast furnaces running, putting nearly 3,000 jobs at risk and leaving the UK on course to become the only major economy unable to make steel from scratch.In what one union said would be a crushing blow" to workers and UK steelmaking, Port Talbot's parent company, the Indian-owned Tata Steel, told workers' representatives that it could no longer afford to continue production at the loss-making plant in south Wales while it completed a four-year transition plan to greener production. Continue reading...

Drone and missile attacks in Sistan and Balochistan province come after Iran struck sites inside Pakistan

Combined action by about 150,000 nurses, teachers, cleaners and other sector workers is biggest in living memoryThousands of public sector workers have staged pickets and marches across Northern Ireland in the biggest strike in living memory.The combined action by nurses, teachers, bus drivers, carers, cleaners, civil servants and other sectors brought parts of the region to a standstill on Thursday and raised the stakes in a political crisis that has paralysed devolved government. Continue reading...

Proposals include the creation of a libraries minister and a high-profile libraries laureate to be the sector's public championAn independent review of libraries in England has found a lack of recognition" across government and a lack of awareness" among the general public of what libraries have to offer.The review proposes the creation of a libraries minister, the establishment of a libraries laureate and a branding campaign to raise awareness of the role of libraries, among other recommendations. Continue reading...

Company says there was briefly' a problem with inappropriate Arabic translations'

Costs listed in new report include optional items such as music instruments and outside tuition and are really inflated', expert says

Exclusive: Legal observer for volunteer group, Action Ready, says police were recording number plates of cars displaying Palestinian flags

Missed repayments on credit cards and loans will increase by more than any quarter since 2009, lenders forecastBusiness live - latest updatesBritain's biggest high street lenders expect the sharpest rise in defaults on unsecured lending since 2009, according to a Bank of England survey, as households come under growing pressure amid the cost of living crisis.The figures from Threadneedle Street show banks expect a marked rise in the number of people who fail to meet repayments on credit cards, loans and other forms of unsecured borrowing over the next three months. Continue reading...

Delivery company says nearly all festive deliveries arrived on time and its revenues roseRoyal Mail has said it had its best Christmas for four years, with nearly all festive deliveries arriving on time - despite missing a target that would have handed postal workers a 500 bonus.The delivery company's owner, International Distributions Services (IDS), on Thursday reported group revenues rose nearly 10% to 3.6bn in the final three months of 2023. Continue reading...

Ed Sheeran and Little Mix fans among those targeted by firm that resold on Viagogo and StubHubTicket touts acting out of greed and dishonesty" sold tickets worth 6.5m to music fans, a court has heard, as a woman known as the Ticket Queen" pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading nearly seven years after being named in an Observer investigation.TQ Tickets Ltd, owned by Maria Chenery-Woods of Norfolk, used fake identities to hoover up large numbers of tickets for acts such as Ed Sheeran and Little Mix, prosecutors for National Trading Standards said. Continue reading...

All the films and actors up for awards at the 77th edition of the British Academy film awards Oppenheimer beats Barbie as Bafta nominations announcedAnatomy of a Fall

Death row prisoner Kenneth Smith, 58, to be killed via nitrogen-gas procedure animal scientists have ruled out for ethical reasonsAlabama is preparing to execute a death row inmate using nitrogen gas, an experimental method that veterinarians in the US and across Europe have deemed unacceptable as a form of euthanasia for most animals.Barring last-minute appeals, Kenneth Smith, 58, is scheduled to be judicially killed on 25 January using a previously untested technique. Alabama's department of corrections is proposing to strap him to a gurney, apply a respirator mask to his face, then force him to breathe pure nitrogen which would cause oxygen deprivation and death. Continue reading...

Isaac Herzog also tells Davos that Gaza's population is entrenched in network of terror'. Plus, Greenland losing 30m tonnes of ice every hour

Exclusive: Sadiq Khan calls refusal to extend three-day pause horrifying' as local authority cold weather protocols continueThe Home Office has been urged to reintroduce a pause on asylum hotel evictions after resuming the practice in recent days, leaving refugees out on the streets in subzero temperatures.In December the Home Office said in a letter seen by the Guardian that it would halt evictions from asylum accommodation for up to three days while severe weather emergency protocol (SWEP) was activated by a local authority. SWEP is activated when the Met Office forecasts a temperature of below 0C for a minimum of three nights. Continue reading...

Company exploring options as it plans to shift focus back to food and retail, rather than servicesSainsbury's Bank has opened the door to fresh takeover offers, after the supermarket group announced it would exit the banking business nearly 27 years after its launch.The company is exploring a number of options for its bank - which offers savings accounts, credit cards, travel money and insurance - after a strategic review suggested it could be a distraction from a years-long overhaul, meant to bring the supermarket's focus back to its core food and retail operations. Continue reading...

Unions call for bonuses and childcare provision after suggestion all officers will be mobilised during GamesPolice in France are holding a Black Thursday" of work stoppages and demonstrations to demand better pay and conditions during this summer's Olympic Games.Several police unions, led by the two largest, Alliance and Unsa Police, said there should be bonuses of up to 2,000 (1,720) as well as guarantees of holiday leave and childcare support for police this summer. Continue reading...

Kobe the husky becomes internet hero for video of him digging hole in concrete - leading his owner to detect presence of gasSome dogs earn the affectionate title of good boy" for obeying their owners' commands to sit or fetch. Others earn it by saving their neighborhoods from grappling with a potentially explosive gas leak days before Christmas.Philadelphia's Kobe the husky belongs in the latter category, according to a viral Instagram video published by his owner that has vaulted him to the status of internet hero. Continue reading...

Leading barrister signals House of Lords plans to revise bill, saying government is elevating itself above the law'