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James Atkinson, 23, who died in 2020, described by parents as having a gift of making others happy'A 23-year-old man with a peanut allergy who died after eating a slice of takeaway pizza ordered through Deliveroo has been described by his parents as someone who brightened everyone's day and lived life to the full.An inquest opened on Monday into the death of James Atkinson, a Newcastle University computer science graduate who had found his dream job" as a computer programmer in the city. Continue reading...

When a computer system installed by the Post Office malfunctioned, it led to the convictions of scores of subpostmasters for theft and false accounting. Lives were wrecked. After an ITV dramatisation brought new attention to the case, the Metropolitan police said they had commenced a criminal fraud investigation in relation to the Post Office. Today we re-run our episodes from 2021 on the scandal in fullThis episode was originally published on 10 May 2021.When the Post Office installed a new accounting system called Horizon across its branches in 1999, it hoped to bring a lumbering and much-loved institution into the 21st century. What happened next resulted in one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in English legal history. Continue reading...

Inquest opens into death of 13-year-old black boy allegedly pushed into river in Ferndale in summer 2019The mother of a boy who died after allegedly being pushed into a river in Wales has told his inquest her family was the victim of a string of racist attacks in the years beforehand and claimed the police failed to protect them.Christopher Kapessa, 13, an unconfident swimmer, died after plunging about 2.5 metres (8ft) from a ledge at a bridge over the River Cynon in the town of Ferndale, south Wales, in summer 2019. Continue reading...

Nino Frassica is under investigation after local people said they were accused of involvement in the disappearance of his pet HiroAn Italian actor is being investigated by prosecutors for defamation, stalking and incitement to criminal activity after allegedly implicating his neighbours in the disappearance of his cat, amid a widespread search for the feline which has caused turbulence" among the people of a small hilltop town.The curious case of the missing cat began in September, when Nino Frassica, who lives in the Umbrian town of Spoleto when filming Don Matteo, a Rai TV series, announced the disappearance of Hiro in a post on Instagram. Continue reading...

Ousman Sonko is accused of supporting repressive policies and was arrested in Bern in 2017 after applying for asylum

Farmers join railway staff and lorry drivers in threatening strike action in protests over issues including pay and cuts to agricultural subsidies. This live blog is closed

UK at risk of falling behind' in its military support for Ukraine, former defence minister warns; Russia can be reined in under international law - Zelenskiy

High-explosive warhead, dropped from plane, did not cause injuries, head of the region's Moscow-appointed government saysUkrainian forces destroyed 18 out of 51 missiles launched during a wave of Russian air strikes on Monday, Ukraine's air force said.It said Russia had launched 32 cruise missiles overnight as well as eight Shahed" drones, and that all the drones had been downed. Continue reading...

Amber cold health alerts in place across England, while some regions continue to grapple with flooding after heavy rainMillions more Britons have been advised to brace themselves for a cold snap after forecasters issued fresh ice warnings.The Met Office issued a yellow warning for ice across southern England and south Wales, which will last from 3pm on Monday to 3am on Tuesday. Continue reading...

In an interview, the actor says he was stunned after jury found him guilty of assaulting and harassing a former girlfriendThe actor Jonathan Majors has said he was shocked and afraid" after a jury found him guilty of assaulting and harassing a former girlfriend and has complained about Marvel dropping him from future movies.In his first interview since the guilty verdict against him, Majors told ABC News on Monday's episode of Good Morning America that he plans to appeal the jury's decision in December to find him guilty of third-degree assault and second-degree harassment of Grace Jabbari. The actor was acquitted of two other counts of assault and aggravated harassment in the split verdict. Continue reading...

Peak body says farmers aren't getting fair value' as Steven Miles demands answers from supermarkets on overcharging claims

Pilot scheme beginning in Scotland will involve engineers retrofitting cabinets originally used for cables

The new president's rightwing supporters are targeting journalists and women's rights activists - but the fight goes onFemale journalists who write about gender issues say they are having to deal with a toxic wave of threats against them in Argentina. Some are fighting back, others are lying low and one has gone into self-imposed exile for her safety.We are facing a witch-hunt from the ultra-right," said the author, journalist and activist Luciana Peker, who recently left Argentina for an undisclosed location due to the weight of threats against her. Continue reading...

Latest bumper payout for Denise Coates comes despite a 60m loss for 2022-23The billionaire boss of Bet365 pocketed more than 270m last year in another huge payday for the founder of the Stoke-on-Trent-based gambling company.Denise Coates, who set up Bet365 in a portable building in the Staffordshire city in 2000, received the bumper payout despite the firm making a 60m loss. Continue reading...

Temperatures could be 10-15C below seasonal average in some areas, with Calgary and Edmonton experiencing low of -30CArctic air will sweep across western Canada and parts of the US early this week, leading to a cold snap that will probably last through the rest of this week and possibly beyond.By Wednesday, temperatures in western Canada could be as much as 10-15C below the seasonal average. Minimum temperatures in Calgary and Edmonton could plummet as low as -30C by Friday, with some rural areas experiencing even lower temperatures. In contrast, temperatures on the east coast will be significantly above average, with Ottawa reaching highs of about 5C, almost 10C above the seasonal average. The cold spell will spread into northern and western parts of the US by Friday, with temperatures widely reaching 5-15C below average. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Broadcaster looks to hasten shake-up amid TV advertising slump with most job losses likely to affect London-based workersChannel 4's chief executive has confirmed to its 1,200 staff that a round of major job cuts is looming, as the broadcaster seeks to hasten its shift to streaming amid the worst TV advertising downturn in 15 years.Alex Mahon told the workforce in an internal email on Monday morning that the broadcaster needed to accelerate" plans to become a genuinely digital-first public service broadcaster" after the worst slump in traditional TV advertising since the financial crisis in 2008. Continue reading...

Calls to remove honour of Paula Vennells who oversaw organisation as it denied problems with Horizon IT systemA petition calling for the former Post Office chief executive, Paula Vennells, to lose her CBE over the Horizon scandal has attracted more than 1 million signatures.Demands for the honours forfeiture committee to remove her CBE have re-emerged after ITV aired a drama about the scandal, which has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history. Vennells oversaw the organisation while it routinely denied there were problems with its Horizon IT system. Continue reading...

No data on cockpit voice recorder, official says, because it had been overwritten after two hoursA chunk of fuselage that blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft during an Alaska Airlines flight has been found in a teacher's back yard, the US's transportation safety board (NTSB) has said.The plug door tore off the left side of the jet on Friday after takeoff from Portland, Oregon, en route to Ontario, California, depressurising the plane and forcing the pilots to turn back and land safely with all 171 passengers and six crew onboard. Continue reading...

From death tolls to destroyed buildings and lost hospital beds, these are the figures that cut through the fog of war

Cleanbill report reveals national rate of bulk billing dropped 11% last year to 23.6%, with 514 clinics removing the service

Fawcett Society says gap revealed in its analysis of pay data should be causing national outrage'Women of Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage in the UK are earning on average almost a third less an hour than white British men, a pay gap campaigners say should be causing national outrage".An analysis of pay data also reveals that mixed-race women and women of Black Caribbean heritage take home a quarter less money than their white male counterparts. Continue reading...

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Eight people were in induced comas after the Hardmission event at Flemington on Satuday

Animals have been popping up on golf courses and surfing contests in Dunedin as they reestablish a foothold on the South IslandA growing population of sea lions in the New Zealand city of Dunedin is provoking overlapping chaos" as their breeding season coincides with residents enjoying peak summer weather.Two sea lions gave birth on a golf course, another swam alongside competitors in a surfing contest. Others have been spotted crossing roads as Dunedin's sea lion silly season", which runs from mid-December to mid-January, is in full swing. Continue reading...

Tokyo district public prosecutors' office says it has arrested Yoshitaka Ikeda, a former vice-education ministerProsecutors in Japan have made their first arrest in a financial scandal that has engulfed the country's ruling party and sparked speculation about the future of the prime minister, Fumio Kishida.The Tokyo district public prosecutors' office said on Sunday it had arrested Yoshitaka Ikeda, a former vice-education minister, who is suspected of failing to report cash he received from fundraising events organised through his faction in Kishida's Liberal Democratic party [LDP]. Continue reading...

Snook wins best actress in a TV drama series for her performance as the ambitious Shiv Roy in Succession, which also won best TV drama

Explosive device made of jerry can, rags, disposable lighter and large bolts found on bonnet of vehicle in suburb of Botany

Andrew Wilczewski, 50, was shot in his yard in 2020 while holding a shovel, after an officer scaled his fence

Nearly 700 requests for assistance made to Victoria's SES in 24 hours to 6am Monday as BoM forecasts more wild weather

Teams of divers will make three-hour round trip to supply those trapped until they can be safely rescuedFive people have been trapped in a cave in central Slovenia since Saturday after heavy rains caused flooding, rescue workers have said.A family of three adults with two guides had on Saturday morning begun a tourist visit to the Krizna Jama (Cross Cave), 50km south of the capital, Ljubljana. Continue reading...

US secretary of state begins visit to region as fears grow Israel could expand Gaza conflict to Lebanon

Danny Kruger said his party would leave the country sadder, less united and less conservative' than they had found itThe Conservatives face obliteration" at the next election after leaving the country in a worse state than they inherited it in 2010, a senior Tory MP has said, in a stark assessment of the party's 13 years in government.Danny Kruger, a leading backbencher and founder of the increasingly influential New Conservatives group, said the Conservatives risked being ejected from power this year having left the country sadder, less united and less conservative" than they found it. Continue reading...

Prof Sir Roy Calne performed gamechanging operation in 1968, and was responsible for other surgical world firsts'Prof Sir Roy Calne, the pioneering surgeon who led a team which performed the first liver transplant in Europe, has died at the age of 93.On 2 May 1968 Calne performed the gamechanging operation at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge, a year after the US's first successful liver transplant. Continue reading...

Exclusive: As many as 200 roles could go as firm seeks to accelerate digital streaming strategy and limit cuts to content budgetChannel 4 is drawing up plans to cut potentially as many as 200 jobs in its biggest round of layoffs in more than 15 years, as it seeks to make savings to weather the worst TV advertising downturn since 2008.The broadcaster, which has undergone a rapid expansion in recent years with staff numbers swelling to a record level of more than 1,200, aims to dramatically reduce a wage bill that now stands at more than 108m a year. Continue reading...

NSW police allege a criminal group planned to sell more than $1m worth of reptiles in Hong Kong

Police say they are treating the 65-year-old woman's death as a domestic violence incident

Exclusive: software believed to have resulted in prosecutions even before full system rollout in 1999

Research also finds that more than half of people who join a gym do so to tackle an illnessMore than half of people who join a gym do so to tackle an illness and three-quarters find that keeping fit boosts their mental health, new research shows.The findings come as hundreds of thousands of people across the UK join or rejoin a gym, swimming pool or leisure centre as part of a new year resolution to improve their fitness. Continue reading...

BMA claims hospitals in England trying to manipulate' exemption requests to get junior doctors to returnHospitals are exaggerating how short-staffed they are to try to get junior doctors to break their strike and return to work, according to the British Medical Association.The doctors' union has accused NHS trusts of trying to manipulate" the agreed process for how hospitals can ask striking medics to work in order to protect patients' safety. Continue reading...

Helen Harrison will stand in Wellingborough byelection called after bullying and harassment revelations against BoneThe Conservatives have chosen Peter Bone's partner as their candidate to replace him as the MP for Wellingborough after he was found to have bullied and harassed a member of his staff.Helen Harrison will be the Tory candidate for the Northamptonshire seat, the party chair announced on Sunday, after a meeting of local Conservative members. Continue reading...

Comments from senior defence officials come during tour by US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, intended to defuse tensions

Jessica Daley rushed to the rescue after Curve theatre in Leicester put out a call for someone who knew the roleAn actor travelled more than 150 miles to ensure a performance of the musical Evita could go ahead after the lead and understudy became ill and could not perform.Jessica Daley stepped into the breach to perform the starring role of Eva Peron after the Curve theatre in Leicester put out an urgent call for a replacement. Continue reading...

RMT suspends action which threatened to halt virtually all tube services in the capital over next four daysA strike that threatened to halt all London Underground services for the next four days has been called off.The RMT union announced that it had suspended its planned action after talks with Transport for London (TfL), after the mayor of London apparently made new funds available. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak defends government response to floods after Keir Starmer accuses him of being asleep at the wheel'After the misery and chaos caused by torrential rain and flooding, authorities have warned people to be prepared for potentially dangerous cold temperatures and treacherous ice.New weather warnings for England were issued on Sunday as flood-hit communities continued to mop up from the effects of Storm Henk. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says Moscow aggression can be defeated', in address to conference in Sweden

Prime minister reveals government could also strip Post Office of its powers to prosecutePost office operators whose lives have been ruined by the Horizon scandal could be exonerated under plans being considered by the government, Rishi Sunak has said.The prime minister also confirmed that Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, could strip the Post Office of its powers to prosecute after more than 700 branch managers were wrongly handed criminal convictions. Continue reading...

President under fire after announcing he will run for election as MEP in June and will stand down if he winsThe president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has said he is running as an MEP in June's European elections and will stand down if elected, sparking a race to replace him or risk the role reverting to Hungary's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban.I have decided to run in the European elections in 2024," Michel told Belgian media late on Saturday. The former Belgian prime minister has served as chief of the EU Council, the group of government leaders of the 27 EU member states, since 2019. Continue reading...

PM sets up possibility of income tax coming down in March and says control of welfare is a priority

Liz Oliva Fernandez says the sanctions, imposed 60 years ago and upheld through Biden, have led to a desperate situation'A Cuban journalist is looking to spread awareness of the US trade embargo in two illuminating documentaries arriving in early 2024.Liz Oliva Fernandez says whenever she covered news or events on the island, be it the push for democratic reforms, or the private businesses springing up after the Castros loosened their grip on power, they always intersected with the sanctions. Continue reading...

World Snooker and PDC World Darts owner Matchroom weighs up India and south-east Asia amid feared over-reliance on ChinaThe owner of the Masters snooker tournament is plotting an expansion trail across Asia after the pandemic exposed the company's reliance on China, its chair has revealed.Steve Dawson, who chairs World Snooker, told the Guardian it was considering staging tournaments in India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand, after its business was held back by three years of Beijing-imposed Covid lockdowns. Continue reading...