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SNP condemns Sunak's 1,000 Rwanda bet as grotesque, callous and downright cruel'When the Democratic Unionist party held the first minister post it smirked at Sinn Fein references to Michelle O'Neill, then the deputy first minister, being joint first minister".The posts are indeed joint, with equal authority, but the DUP brandished first minister" as a talisman and reminder that it was the bigger party. Secure in supremacy, it rejected an offer to rename the posts joint first minister. Continue reading...

Whitney Wright, who is known for her criticism of Israel, posed at defunct American embassy in Tehran observing Islamic dress codeAn American pornography actor has faced accusations of promoting propaganda for Iran's government after boasting on social media about a trip to the Islamic republic.Iranian authorities have denied being behind the visit by Whitney Wright, saying she was issued a visa like any other foreign citizen and they had not been aware of her obscene" profession. Continue reading...

Minnesota congressman says president in a terrible position', citing his poor polling performance on a number of topicsDemocratic presidential challenger Dean Phillips defended continuing his longshot campaign despite a disappointing third-place finish in Saturday's South Carolina primary, saying it was a mission of principle".Phillips also argued that Joe Biden remains in a terrible position" in his pursuit of a second term in the White House despite his dominance in the Democratic presidential primary, citing his poor polling performance with the general public on a number of topics. Continue reading...

Artillery fire reported to have hit Kherson at noon; under martial law Ukrainian men between 18 and 60 not allowed to leave countryUkraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has submitted a proposal to the Ukrainian parliament to extend martial law and general mobilisation for another 90 days.The Kyiv Independent reports:The president first declared martial law and general mobilisation on 24 February 2022, when Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The measure has been repeatedly extended since then.Ukraine's parliament previously extended martial law and mobilisation from November 2023 until Feb. 14, 2024. Continue reading...

Relatives describe 22-year-old, who died on 26 January, as a very strong young woman'The family of a woman who was stabbed to death in the street more than a week ago have paid tribute to their warm-hearted" daughter.Claudia Kambanza, 22, was stabbed on Hinderwell Street in Hull on 26 January at about 3am. She died a short time after being taken to hospital. Continue reading...

Six members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have reportedly been killed at a base which also houses US forces

Labor to create legal pathway for council de-mergers after forced amalgamations by former Coalition government

Insurance prices are up 16.2% over 12 months, as experts warn of fundamental change' in market

Magistrate says orders would have robbed' the nine-month-old girl, who has complex needs, of being raised by her family

With no government count, Guardian Australia decided to investigate as many fatalities as it could identify. Here's what we learned

Education secretary only rated the administration good' when LBC asked her to grade it in style of OfstedRishi Sunak's government does not merit a top performance rating, in the view of a senior Cabinet minister.Asked during an LBC phone-in to rate her own administration's performance in the style of a schools inspection report, education secretary Gillian Keegan rated the government as good". Continue reading...

Andrew Mitchell warns of humanitarian catastrophe' triggered by El Nino-driven drought and conflictThe risk of a humanitarian catastrophe in northern Ethiopia is growing, Andrew Mitchell the UK's Africa minister, said on his return from a two-day trip to the region.

More than half a million people made treacherous, weeklong trek in 2023, facing horrors including mass rapes by armed banditsA sevenfold increase in sexual attacks against people crossing the Darien Gap is compounding the misery for people trekking one of the world's most dangerous and underreported border crossings, said Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).Complete impunity for armed gangs in the lawless stretch of jungle that links South and Central America meant one person became a victim of sexual violence every three and a half hours in December, the overstretched medical organisation said. Continue reading...

Business lobby group says Danker was not responsible for historic allegations unrelated to his personal conductOne of the UK's most prominent business lobby groups, the Confederation of British Industry, has settled a legal dispute with its former leader, Tony Danker.Danker was dismissed by the CBI last year, after allegations related to his conduct while director general. In March 2023, the Guardian revealed that formal and informal complaints had been made against him by junior staff at the lobby group.

Comments come as speculation continues president is preparing to fire commander of armed forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi

Target was one of prime minister's key commitments but more than 7.6 million still due for treatment in EnglandRishi Sunak has acknowledged that he has failed to keep his promise to cut healthcare waiting lists.The prime minister made doing so one of the key commitments on which his own competence would be judged when taking office. But, with the situation in England actually worsening by many measures, the grand pledge was downgraded late last year, before Sunak then acknowledged failure on Monday. Continue reading...

Academy for Medical Sciences report highlights rising infant mortality, obesity and tooth decayChildren are being betrayed" as the UK fails to give them a healthy start to life, academics have said.Experts said there had been an appalling decline" in the health of children under the age of five in the UK - with soaring rates of obesity and tooth decay.More than a fifth of children aged five are overweight or obese.Nearly a quarter of five-year-olds in England are affected by tooth decay.Between 2014 and 2017 there was a rise in infant mortality in England - disproportionately affecting the poorest parts of the country. The UK ranks 30th out of 49 OECD countries for infant mortality.A decrease in the proportion of children having vaccinations.A rise in demand for children's mental health services. Continue reading...

EY partners grilled at inquiry over failure to disclose Santos contract while working on government's future of gas statement'

Under questioning from David Shoebridge, AFP deputy commissioner says police didn't intend to further radicalise boy known as Thomas Carrick

Joshua Kerr, 32, was visibly unresponsive' for 17 minutes before getting medical treatment, counsel assisting the coroner said

Penny Wong says Australia will not relent in their advocacy for justice' for Yang. This blog is now closed

The three men reportedly left their campsite at Little Bay 500km north of Perth in the middle of the night to go for a drive

Residents and activists say local settlers drafted into the IDF are enforcing a harsher regime in West Bank's economic hubShaadi Muqtasen worries most about his children, who are going crazy with boredom after nearly four months stuck at home without school; and his dogs, which are going wild with frustration after more than 100 days caged in a tiny yard.His family live in the centre of old Hebron, one of the most heavily contested, heavily militarised places in the West Bank. For Palestinian residents there, life all but stopped when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October. Continue reading...

Health campaigners will welcome new unit rate of 65p, which will push bottle of whisky to at least 18.20The minimum price of alcoholic drinks in Scotland is poised to rise by 30% under measures to control alcohol-related deaths and hospitalisations.Ministers in Edinburgh are expected to confirm that the minimum unit price for alcohol will increase from 50p to 65p from early May, six years after Scotland became the first part of the UK to introduce the policy. Continue reading...

Police allege motive behind fatal stabbing of 70-year-old Vyleen White in shopping centre car park was to steal a Hyundai Getz'

Former Wallaby has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting woman at Beach Road Hotel in December 2022

Swift makes history with record-breaking win, while Jay-Z calls out Grammys for never giving Beyonce album of the yearWomen ruled the Grammys this year with Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, SZA and Miley Cyrus taking home the night's major awards.Swift made history as the first person to win album of the year for the fourth time, taking home the award for Midnights. She went up on stage with fellow nominee Lana Del Rey. I would love to tell you this is the happiest moment of my life but I feel this happy when I've finished a song," she said. All I want to do is keep doing this." Continue reading...

Research on life expectancy and birthrates shows that ill health makes status quo unsustainable

The Australian star described it as the start of the next era' and thanked the LGBTQ+ community as she took out award for best pop dance recordingKylie Minogue has won the inaugural Grammy for best pop dance recording for her global hit Padam Padam, from her 2023 album Tension.A pounding Eurodance track named for the sound of a heartbeat, Padam Padam delivered the 55-year-old pop star's second ever Grammy award - and her first in two decades. She previously won best dance recording in 2004 for Come Into My World. Continue reading...

The 57-year-old allegedly threw a silkie bantam chook known as Betty White into alligator pen, shocking onlookers at Oakvale Farm and Fauna WorldA man accused of throwing a chicken known as Betty White into an alligator pen in front of shocked families at a popular NSW wildlife park has indicated he'll plead not guilty to animal cruelty.The case against Peter William Smith, 57, of Singleton, was briefly mentioned in Raymond Terrace local court on Monday. Continue reading...

Group of up to 50 protesters allegedly tried to stop police contingent from joining annual pride march in Melbourne

Former president has called for his home town, Mindanao, to split from the Philippines as his alliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr crumblesThe Philippine government is ready to use authority and forces" against attempts to divide the nation, a security official has said, after former president Rodrigo Duterte threatened to separate some southern islands from the rest of the archipelago.Duterte has called for the independence of his home town, Mindanao, from the Philippines as his alliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr disintegrated this week over disagreements around efforts to amend the constitution. Continue reading...

Move comes in protest at racist and vexatious' misconduct investigation into a leading officerThe National Black Police Association (NBPA) has called for ethnic minorities to boycott joining the Metropolitan police in protest at a racist and vexatious" misconduct investigation into a leading officer.In the first call for a boycott in 20 years, the association claims Charles Ehikioya, chair of the Met Black Police Association (Met BPA), has been targeted because he voiced concerns about the poor behaviour of senior officers - and the racism he and his colleagues are suffering. Continue reading...

The 66th annual Grammy awards saw pre-telecast wins from SZA, Victoria Monet, Chris Stapleton and Killer Mike6lack - Since I Have a Lover

More than 500 people forced to leave site, with some unsure of where to spend the nightThere were chaotic scenes on Sunday night as the Home Office carried out a mass evacuation of one of the largest hotels used to accommodate asylum seekers after a failure of the power and water supply.The hotel near Heathrow airport accommodates more than 500 asylum seekers - a mix of single adults, families, children and babies. The Guardian was sent video footage of adults and children walking around the darkened reception area asking what was happening. Continue reading...

Many participants struggled to afford basics, cutting back on food or rationing medication, survey suggests

People told to evacuate homes as quickly possible and curfews declared in most heavily affected citiesFirefighters are wrestling with huge forest fires that broke out in central Chile on Friday. Officials have extended curfews in cities most heavily affected by the blazes and said at least 99 people were killed.The fires have been burning with the highest intensity around the city of Vina del Mar, where a botanical garden founded in 1931 was destroyed by the flames. At least 1,600 people have been left without homes. Continue reading...

National security adviser refuses to rule out targeting Iran after 85 sites were attacked in Iraq and SyriaUS airstrikes on Iranian-backed militias in the Middle East were just the beginning of a sustained response, the White House national security adviser warned on Sunday, as he refused to rule out strikes on Iranian soil.Jake Sullivan said the strikes on Friday night against 85 targets in Iraq and Syria, designed as retaliation for the killing of three US soldiers, were the beginning, not the end of our response, and ... there will be more steps, some seen, some perhaps unseen, all in an effort to send a very clear message that when American forces are attacked, when Americans are killed, we will respond and we will respond forcefully". Continue reading...

PM hails fantastic cause for optimism' as he seeks to put his stamp on success of Stormont reconveningRishi Sunak has said there is fantastic cause for optimism" after arriving in Northern Ireland to meet the leaders of a new power-sharing executive that ended two years of political deadlock.The prime minister arrived in Belfast on Sunday evening in advance of a meeting on Monday with Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill, who has made history by becoming the first nationalist first minister at Stormont. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Radical changes in a draft race equality act would give same protections as women now receive

Voters will welcome announcement of what party's reforms will look like but structural inequalities run deep

Zuber Issa reportedly in talks to offload 22.5% share of supermarket in parting of ways with co-owner brotherThe ownership team behind the indebted supermarket Asda could be about to change again after one of the billionaire Issa brothers was reported to be exploring the sale of his stake in the business.Zuber Issa, 51, owns 22.5% of the grocer after a 6.8bn takeover alongside his older brother Mohsin and the private equity firm TDR Capital three years ago. Continue reading...

Boy, 17, due to appear at magistrates court on Monday over stabbing of Mason Rist and Max DixonA 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of two teenagers who were stabbed to death in Bristol.Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, died on 27 January after being attacked in the Knowle West area. Continue reading...

Jonathan Glazer's Auschwitz drama takes best film, director and technical achievement prizes at annual ceremony, while Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal amongst a trio of winners for All of Us StrangersHomegrown experimentalism reigned supreme at the London Critics' Circle awards, which gave its top honours to Jonathan Glazer's radical Holocaust film, The Zone of Interest - and an equal number to Andrew Haigh's devastating ghost romance, All of Us Strangers.The Zone of Interest, about the domestic idyll constructed by Helga and Rudolph Hoss next door to Auschwitz, where he was camp commandant, won best picture and best director. Continue reading...

Russia boasts of taking in 700,000 children and stands accused of trying to erase their Ukrainian identityDuring the 14 months that Veronika Vlasenko attended school in Russia, she was regularly told by teachers and fellow students that she would never be able to go home to Ukraine. Every day they said to me that I would be staying here for ever and would never leave Russia," she said. They told me that Ukraine doesn't exist, that it never existed, that we're all Russians ... At times the other kids would beat me for being pro-Ukrainian."Veronika was one of nearly 20,000 children documented by Ukrainian authorities as having been taken from Ukraine to Russia over the past two years. The authorities believe the real number is probably 10 times that, while Russian officials have even boasted of moving 700,000 Ukrainian children to Russia. Continue reading...

Officers from Hertfordshire constabulary were involved in the pursuit, which had been called off before the collisionThe police watchdog has launched an investigation after a van that had been pursued by officers was involved in a fatal crash on the M25 motorway. Officers from Hertfordshire constabulary were involved in the pursuit in the early hours of Sunday, before it was called off.The van was then involved in a fatal crash with three other vehicles between the junctions for Watford and St Albans on the M25. Continue reading...

Brazilian, 40, has been charged with the rape of a 23-year-old woman in a nightclubThe former Barcelona and Brazil footballer Dani Alves will appear in court on Monday charged with the rape of a 23-year-old woman in a Barcelona nightclub.Alves, 40, faces damning scientific and video evidence, as well as witness accounts. Continue reading...

Police still looking for Abdul Ezedi, who is alleged to have attacked woman and her daughters, and think people are hiding his locationThe woman left seriously injured in the Clapham chemical attack came to Britain for safety as an asylum seeker from Afghanistan, the Guardian has learned, as police offered a 20,000 reward for the capture of the suspected assailant.Abdul Ezedi remains the target of a huge manhunt after Wednesday's attack with the corrosive substance, after which he went on the run. Continue reading...

Dominic Johnson told firm owned by PM's wife's family he would do what he could' to help grow it in UKRishi Sunak is facing fresh scrutiny over his government's relationship with the IT firm Infosys, owned by his wife's family, after it emerged that a minister told company executives he would do what he could" to help grow its UK business.Dominic Johnson, a trade minister, discussed the UK operations of Infosys in a meeting at the company's offices in Bengaluru, India, details of which were obtained by the Sunday Mirror through freedom of information requests. Continue reading...