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Road, rail and air services affected in protest over plans to raise pension age from 62 to 64France faced street protests and heavy disruption on Tuesday as transport workers and refinery staff began rolling strikes over Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the pension age to 64.For the sixth time since the start of the year, unions called a nationwide day of strikes and demonstrations, aiming to repeat the large turnout seen on the first major protest, on 19 January, when more than a million people marched against the pension changes. Continue reading...

If adopted, shake-up of 1967 Abortion Act would scrap rule that two doctors must approve terminationNurses and midwives should be able to approve abortions, MPs have been told, in what would be one of the biggest shake-ups of regulations in more than 55 years.If adopted, the “two-doctor rule”, which stipulates that abortions have to be authorised by two GPs, would be scrapped. Continue reading...

No details given about suspects as regime cracks down on criticism of its response to alleged school attacksIran has announced the first arrests connected to a spate of suspected poisonings of schoolgirls that has gripped the country.“Based on the intelligence and research measures of the intelligence agencies, a number of people have been arrested in five provinces and the relevant agencies are conducting a full investigation,” the deputy interior minister, Majid Mirahmadi, told state television. Mirahmadi did not provide details on the detained individuals. Continue reading...

Police say death not being treated as suspicious, after Albina Yevko found unconscious on Dawlish BeachThe mother of a Ukrainian teenager who died after being found unconscious on a beach in South Devon has said “nothing can ever replace her”.Devon and Cornwall police named the 14-year-old refugee as Albina Yevko, a Ukrainian national who was living near Dawlish on the south coast. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak says bill will ‘take back control of our borders’ but critics argue the proposals are unworkable

Mada Masr, Egypt’s only remaining independent news outlet, reported alleged corruption among supporters of President SisiThree journalists from Egypt’s last remaining independent news outlet have gone on trial in Cairo on charges of misusing social media and offending members of parliament.Rana Mamdouh, Sara Seif Eddin and Beesan Kassab, who work for the Mada Masr news platform, face up to two years in prison and fines of 300,000 EGP (£8,100) if the court convicts them. Continue reading...

Warnings issued for snow and ice across all four nations with temperature forecast to plunge to -15From Tyneside to Buckinghamshire, snow fell across the much of the country on Tuesday as forecasters warned temperatures could plunge to a 2023 record low of -15C in some parts.The Met Office says the mercury could dip to the lowest of the year so far in some sheltered Scottish glens, especially where there is fresh snow cover. Continue reading...

London employment tribunal finds Ubah Jama received less favourable treatment than white counterpartsA senior NHS scientist has won a race claim after her colleague recorded her name as “Paininarse” on a work spreadsheet.

Growing numbers including from elite air force squadron say they are unwilling to serve ‘dictatorial regime’Growing numbers of Israel’s military reservists, including members of its most important air force squadron, are refusing to attend for service, an unprecedented step that comes as part of the protest movement against the country’s new far-right government.In an announcement on Sunday, all but three of the 40 reservist pilots in Israel’s elite 69 Squadron said they would not take part in a training exercise later this week, and instead participate in the widespread public protests, claiming they were not prepared to serve a “dictatorial regime”. Continue reading...

Trudeau resists calls for public inquiry as leaks spark fierce debate and threaten to dent country’s reputation with alliesA flurry of leaked intelligence reports has reignited allegations that China interfered in Canada’s recent federal elections, kicking off a fierce debate over possible responses to Beijing’s meddling.But the leaks also run the risk of harming Canada’s reputation among its allies, experts warn, as the country’s spy agency struggles to respond to mounting public concern. Continue reading...

Exclusive: One of UK’s biggest ad deals for 15 years is expected to be signed this week but may yet fall throughThe Japanese marketing giant Dentsu is understood to have struck a £533m (€600m) deal to buy Tag, the British-headquartered global content production group, in one of the largest UK ad deals of the last 15 years.The move by Dentsu – which became a global force in advertising with its £3.2bn takeover of the UK media group Aegis in 2012, the largest-ever deal for a British-based ad group – marks its latest push to challenge rivals including WPP, IPG and Omnicom in the US and France’s Publicis Groupe. Continue reading...

Bank apologises after error results in elderly woman having account closed and phone and energy cut offAn elderly widow was cut off from her money for three months and lost her phone line and energy supply when a banking error by Barclays marked her as deceased.Ninety-one-year-old Marjorie Roper* discovered that her pension and benefits payments had been stopped and her direct debits cancelled after a Barclays agent recorded that she had died and closed her account. Continue reading...

The Rural Fire Service warned Tambaroora residents ‘do not be caught in the open in the path of the fire’

Prospect says Cabinet Office not engaging over dispute that could lead to 150,000 public sector workers going on strikeA leading civil servants union has accused the government of ignoring its offer of talks to avert strikes and failing to even acknowledge its decision to take strike action.Tens of thousands of public sector members of the Prospect union will strike on 15 March and work to rule indefinitely after voting overwhelmingly for industrial action. Continue reading...

Ministers promised legislation forcing venues to draw up plans to prevent attacks, in wake of Manchester Arena deaths, in DecemberA draft bill known as “Martyn’s law”, aimed at forcing all venues to draw up plans to prevent terrorist attacks and ensure public safety, is on track to be published this spring, the home secretary told MPs on Monday.Suella Braverman’s commitment came as MPs debated the critical third and final public report of the Manchester Arena terrorism inquiry, released last week, in response to a question from her Labour counterpart. Continue reading...

PM welcomes endorsement of liberal values and support for Ukraine as far-right rival loses assembly seatsEstonia’s popular centre-right prime minister, Kaja Kallas, has begun weighing options for a new governing coalition after a sweeping election victory in which she received more personal votes than any politician in the country’s history.The centre-right leader, one of Europe’s strongest pro-Kyiv voices, said on Monday she felt “humble and grateful” for a result that showed Estonians “overwhelmingly value liberal values, security founded on EU and Nato, and firm support to Ukraine”. Continue reading...

Party has launched consultation process to decide whether to back Rishi Sunak’s Windsor frameworkThe Democratic Unionist party is unlikely to make a decision on whether to support Rishi Sunak’s deal with the EU to revise the Northern Ireland protocol until April.The party has just launched a consultation process with an eight-person panel including former party leaders, Lady Arlene Foster and Peter Robinson. Continue reading...

Met police were told of flashing incident days before officer abducted and murdered EverardSarah Everard’s life “could have been saved” if police had acted on reports of Wayne Couzens exposing himself, one of his victims has said.Couzens, a Metropolitan police firearms officer, flashed the woman at a fast food drive-through restaurant just four days before he abducted, raped and murdered Everard on 3 March 2021. Continue reading...

One of UK’s longest serving and most notorious prisoners says he is now a ‘man of peace’Charles Bronson, one of the UK’s longest serving and most notorious prisoners, has told a parole hearing that he is now a “man of peace” and just wants to “go out and do my art”.Bronson, 70, who has been in jail for 48 years, almost continuously, much of it in solitary confinement, said he had deserved “a good 35 years” of that stretch because he had been “naughty” but he is now reformed. Continue reading...

Head of UN nuclear watchdog had said Tehran agreed to restore equipment and hand over dataThe head of the UN nuclear weapons inspectorate was forced to qualify some of the claims he made about commitments he had extracted from Iran at the weekend about increasing access to UN inspectors.At his first press conference on his return from Tehran on Saturday, Rafael Grossi said “yes” when asked if Iran had pledged to restore all the cameras and other surveillance equipment that it had removed from its nuclear-related sites. But at Monday’s press conference he qualified this, saying it required further discussion. Continue reading...

Andrey Guryev, who has been put under UK government sanctions, claims he is not owner of Alfa NeroAn $81m (£67m) superyacht said to be owned by the sanctioned Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev is to be auctioned off by the government of Antigua and Barbuda, which claims the vessel has been abandoned in the Caribbean since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.The government of Antigua and Barbuda on Monday warned the owner of theAlfa Nero superyacht that they had 10 days to claim the vessel or it would be sold to the highest bidder. Continue reading...

UFC welterweight world champion Leon Edwards says to fight crime more money is needed for facilitiesA champion mixed martial artist has urged Rishi Sunak to accelerate funding for youth clubs, end years of cuts and “just help the kids”.Leon Edwards, 31, welterweight world champion who affiliated with gangs in his teens in Birmingham after his father was murdered, said the reason for rising violent crime in his region was clear: “There is nothing for the kids to do apart from being on your phone or on the street.” Continue reading...

Regulator says Mark Steyn’s use of data to draw misleading conclusions breached impartiality guidelinesGB News breached impartiality rules when the presenter Mark Steyn used official health data to draw misleading conclusions about the Covid-19 booster that “materially misled” the audience, the media regulator has found.Ofcom said Steyn used UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data in a broadcast on 21 April last year to wrongly claim the figures provided evidence that a third booster was causing higher infection, hospitalisation and deaths. Continue reading...

Offences were committed in months before former Met police officer kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah EverardWayne Couzens has been sentenced to 19 months in prison for flashing at women in the months before he kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard.The former Metropolitan police officer was supposed to be on duty and working from home when he exposed himself to a female cyclist in a country lane in Kent in November 2020. Continue reading...

Calls for ministers to help industry cut emissions from items including washing-up liquid and laundry tabletsChemicals used in everyday household items from washing-up liquid to laundry tablets are a huge hidden source of carbon emissions, according to a report.The thinktank Green Alliance is calling on UK ministers to lead a green revolution in chemical manufacturing to cut the carbon footprint of everyday consumer products. Continue reading...

Registrations hit 74,400 in seventh successive month of growth, with electric cars accounting for 16.5%The number of cars sold in the UK increased by 26% year on year in February, the seventh successive month of growth as the industry recovers from the depths of the global computer chips shortage.UK new car registrations rose by 26.2% in February to 74,400, according to data published on Monday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a lobby group. Continue reading...

More than 1,000 girls appear to have suffered ‘mild poison’ attacks since November

Exclusive: Leading no campaigner has called on government to quickly approve status but his organisation is yet to formally apply

Lawyers condemn EU asylum policies and demand freedom for young Afghans jailed for 2020 blaze at ‘hellish’ Lesbos campA new investigation has casts doubt on evidence used to imprison six Afghan teenagers over a fire that destroyed much of a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.Four were sentenced to 10 years in jail for “arson with risk to endanger life” and two were given five years by a youth court. The fire reduced much of the infamous “hell on earth” Moria refugee camp to ashes in September 2020. Continue reading...

NT Australian of the Year Leanne Liddle describes consultations to develop an Aboriginal justice agreement as ‘devastating’

GMB union calls findings based on views of more than 1,200 NHS ambulance workers in England and Wales ‘utterly terrifying’More than half of ambulance workers have seen a patient die because of a delay in reaching them after a 999 call or overcrowding in A&E, a new survey has found.The findings, from a survey of frontline paramedics and other ambulance staff, are another stark illustration of the patient safety risks created by the crisis in NHS urgent and emergency care. Continue reading...

Thomas Cashman also charged with attempted murder of Olivia’s mother, Cheryl, and Joseph Nee in Liverpool last yearThe trial of Thomas Cashman, the man accused of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Liverpool last August, is to begin on Monday.Cashman, 34, is due to stand trial for murder at Manchester crown court in a case that is expected to last four weeks, after he pleaded not guilty in December. Continue reading...

Only £200m of £520m allocated and bidders complain ‘low-bureaucracy’ process is frustrating

Victims groups criticise compensation deal which aims to resolve a disagreement that has long frustrated ties between Seoul and TokyoSouth Korea said that its companies would compensate people forced to work under Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation of Korea, in a bid to improve poor relations that have impeded trade and cooperation between the two countries for generations.The disagreements over labour and women forced into Japanese military brothels have bedevilled ties between the two pivotal US allies for years, but South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol has made a push to repair the relationship. Continue reading...

Passengers in some parts of the network face far higher mark-ups to travel at busy times

Duke and Duchess of Sussex yet to confirm attendance at crowning of King Charles III in MayPrince Harry and his wife, Meghan, have received an invitation to King Charles’s coronation, a spokesperson for the couple indicated on Sunday, but will not yet confirm publicly whether they will attend.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s attendance at his father’s coronation has been the subject of much speculation after the fallout from Harry’s explosive memoir, Spare. Continue reading...

Move comes ‘after further assurances over the weekend’ from the government with regard to pay talks

Alison McGuinness has applied for regulator’s approval of Bolton facility using new company with different nameThe mother of a disgraced children’s home operator is attempting to reopen a home shut down by inspectors last year for “serious and widespread failures”, using a new company with a different name.Ofsted is deciding whether to allow the home in Bolton to reopen after the local council, which cannot legally block the move, raised concerns with the inspectorate. Continue reading...

Humza Yousaf warns fellow frontrunners to replace Sturgeon in Scotland not to abandon her progressive agendaThe frontrunners fighting to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland’s first minister have clashed over whether to defend or abandon her centre-left, socially inclusive policies.In a further sign of the divisions opening up within the SNP, Humza Yousaf warned his rivals that support for the party and independence would be badly damaged if they abandoned her “progressive agenda”. Continue reading...

Suella Braverman will propose changes after arrests of reporters at a Just Stop Oil demonstrationJournalists are to get an extra protection from being arrested at protests after a campaign following the the detention of a reporter and photographers at a Just Stop Oil demonstration last year.Suella Braverman, the home secretary, will introduce an amendment to the public order bill, after peers had voted through a change to stop those reporting on protests from being subject to police action. Continue reading...

Wagner group oligarch warns entire frontline could collapse amid shortages of ammunition in battle for Ukrainian city

Organisation considered dropping payments after criticism by government ministers but board decided they were necessary to ‘incentivise’ senior staffAustralia Post considered scrapping controversial bonus payments to its executives last year, internal documents reveal, but the organisation’s board eventually decided they were needed to “incentivise” senior staff.The discussion came after long-running criticism of the multimillion dollar scheme by senior government ministers, who wrote to the board raising concerns the incentives were out-of-step with community expectations. Continue reading...

Ukrainian forces ‘hold off over 130 attacks’ in Bakhmut; woman and two children killed by Russian shelling in Kherson region

UK government also looking into allowing more hospitality staff to come from abroadMinisters are looking at bringing in annual health checks for workers and allowing more hospitality staff to come from abroad in a bid to deal with labour shortages.The plans could involve giving companies subsidies for occupational health services to prevent workers going off long-term sick, as part of the government’s review of the workforce to be unveiled alongside the budget this month. Continue reading...

Agency has ‘most of the blame’, says Andrew Roussos, whose eight-year-old daughter died in 2017 bombingThe father of the youngest victim of the Manchester Arena bombing has said he intends to sue MI5 as it has “most of the blame” for the attack.The security service’s director general, Ken McCallum, issued a public apology after the inquiry into the May 2017 atrocity found it might have been prevented if MI5 had acted on intelligence received in the months before. Continue reading...

The axe has fallen for three sitting Conservatives after the removal of three PMs in less than four yearsAre Conservative members in revolt against their own party? One sitting MP who has recently been warned he potentially faces being deposed by his local association before the next election fears it could be the case.“We’re not generally an activist bunch, deselecting people,” the MP lamented. “It’s just not the Tory way – we like to leave all that to Labour.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Local firms angry as debt-laden supermarket shifts to a single property maintenance providerMorrisons is planning to ditch at least 83 property maintenance suppliers, many based in its home city of Bradford, putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk as it shifts to a single provider for repairs.The debt-laden supermarket chain, which is battling to save costs after a takeover in October 2021 by the Americanprivate equity group Clayton Dubilier & Rice, is also likely to lay off up to 50 staff dealing with property maintenance at its Bradford head office and around the country. Continue reading...

Teachers condemn family support for trend in England and Wales that leads to school ‘stampedes’The TikTok videos show pupils throwing bins, tables and even urine. Across England and Wales, a handful of schools have been hit by protests against rules such as banning trips to the toilet during lessons or regulations against rolled up skirts.Schools admit they are extremely worried about the copycat protests that have erupted in the last two weeks, typically sparked by videos shared on TikTok with many thousands of views. But what has shocked many leaders most is the number of parents on social media applauding pupils taking part. Continue reading...

At the opening of the Communist party’s National People’s Congress, outgoing premier Li Keqiang confirmed a further rise in defence spending as wellChina has set a target of 5% GDP growth in 2023, its outgoing premier has said in a speech to the ruling party’s rubber-stamp parliament – a goal that is at the lower end of analysts’ expectations and follows a 2022 figure that came in far below target.The “work report” speech on Sunday also touched on foreign affairs and re-emphasised the Chinese Communist party’s (CCP’s) aim to annex Taiwan. Budget papers confirmed another consecutive rise in defence spending of 7.2%, slightly up on last year’s rise of 7.1%. Continue reading...

Latest batch of WhatsApp messages reveal discussions over when to ‘deploy’ details of new strainMatt Hancock told aides he wanted to “frighten the pants off everyone” to ensure compliance with Covid-19 restrictions, according to the latest batch of leaked messages which reveal discussions over when to “deploy” details of a new strain.The WhatsApp exchanges suggest the then health secretary and others discussed how to use an announcement about the Kent variant of the virus to scare the public into changing their behaviour. Continue reading...