World news | The Guardian

Exclusive: Union-commissioned poll shows slight bump in support for Labor after leadership change

Governor sacked and a review of conditions launched at HMP Lowdham Grange near NottinghamMinisters have taken over a private prison in England after a series of suspected suicides, the ready availability" of illegal drugs, high levels of self-harm and significant staffing issues".The prisons minister has sacked the governor of HMP Lowdham Grange, a category B men's prison near Nottingham that was taken over by Sodexo in February this year. Continue reading...

Universities Scotland says 48.5m cuts will lead to hard choices' next yearMinisters in Edinburgh have cut spending on free university places for Scottish students, forcing universities to pare back on loss-making courses and cut spending.Universities Scotland, the umbrella body for the sector, said the proposed cuts of 48.5m in funding for teaching Scottish students would lead to inescapably hard choices" next year, likely to include leaving teaching vacancies unfilled. Continue reading...

After a hiker is rescued by helicopter, police say route approaching site of eruption is not for everyone'Icelandic police have warned tourists to think four times" before attempting to get close to the site of a spectacular volcanic eruption, after they had to rescue an exhausted hiker by helicopter.Within hours of Monday night's eruption, which came after weeks of earthquake activity, the site near the south-western town of Grindavik had become an attraction for inquisitive volcano enthusiasts. Continue reading...

Council of EU says, however, that new rules will lighten load on those member states where most migrants arrive'The European Parliament and the Spanish presidency of the Council reached an agreement today on the core political elements of five key regulations that will thoroughly overhaul the EU's legal framework on asylum and migration," the Council said in a statement.It noted that following today's provisional agreement, work will continue at technical level in the coming weeks to flesh out the details of the new regulations." Continue reading...

Palestinian national claims British intelligence services asked CIA to put questions to him while he was being tortured in black sites'A Guantanamo Bay prisoner can sue the UK government in England and Wales over allegations that British intelligence services asked the CIA to put questions to him while he was being tortured in black sites", the UK's highest court has ruled.The supreme court said MI5 and MI6 were subject to the law of England and Wales and not - as the government had attempted to argue - the six different countries where Abu Zubaydah was held.There was no suggestion that the UK intelligence services were aware or ever took steps to find out where Abu Zubaydah was.He was rendered to and held in each of the six countries by the CIA without any reference - or access - to the laws of those countries.The number of black sites in which the claimant was held diminishes the significance of the law of any one of them".Abu Zubaydah's captors and those who administered the ill-treatment were not agents of any of the six countries (save possibly in relation to Guantanamo Bay).The alleged torts were committed by UK intelligence services in England and Wales.MI5 and MI6 were acting in their official capacity in the purported exercise of powers conferred under the law of England and Wales". Continue reading...

Lawrence Bierton was on licence for 1995 murder of two elderly sisters when he killed Pauline Quinn in 2021A triple killer has been given a whole-life order for murdering his neighbour after being wrongly housed next to her while on licence.Lawrence Bierton will spend the rest of his life in prison after beating 73-year-old Pauline Quinn to death with her coffee table at her home in Rayton Spur, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, on 9 November 2021. Continue reading...

How to make sense of some of the key passages from long-delayed guidanceThe UK government finally published its long-delayed guidance for England's schools on youth transition. The document promises a clear set of principles for teachers and staff as they wrestle with the needs of children who are questioning their gender identity. According to the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, the guidance puts the best interests of all children first".But while the guidance has been broadly welcomed by those who believe that it is too easy for young people to socially transition" at school, there are others who disagree vehemently. They see the government's approach as informed by an underlying hostility to trans people, and scepticism about whether they even exist. And although the guidance does not include an outright ban on allowing social transition (said to have been under consideration until it was found to be unlawful), it clearly creates new barriers for teenagers who want to talk to teachers about their gender without fear of being outed at home.In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in the number of children questioning the way they feel about being a boy or a girl ... This has been linked to gender identity ideology, the belief that a person can have a gender' that is different to their biological sex.We have not used the term transgender to describe children. Under UK law children cannot obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate and therefore cannot change their legal sex.As part of testing whether this is a sustained request, schools and colleges should seek to understand societal or other factors that may have influenced the child, for example:Has the child been influenced by peers or social media?Parents should not be excluded from decisions taken by a school or college relating to requests for a child to socially transition'.Schools and colleges should engage parents as a matter of priority, and encourage the child to speak to their parents, other than in the exceptionally rare circumstances where involving parents would constitute a significant risk of harm to the child.[Schools] may conclude that the impact on the school and college community is such that it may not be possible to agree to support a request [for a change in how a pupil is treated at school].Schools and colleges should only agree to a change of pronouns if they are confident that the benefit to the individual child outweighs the impact on the school community. It is expected that there will be very few occasions in which a school or college will be able to agree to a change of pronouns.This is non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education. Its focus is to provide practical advice, which we expect schools and colleges to follow. Continue reading...

Fyles quite after it was uncovered she owned undisclosed shares in a mining company with interests in the territory

Electronics firm taken private in 11bn deal by consortium led by Japan Industrial PartnersToshiba, the Japanese company synonymous with the country's 20th century dominance of electronics, has delisted from the Tokyo stock exchange after 74 years.The manufacturer, associated in the UK with its 1980s Ello Tosh, got a Toshiba" advertising campaign, was taken private on Wednesday in an 11bn deal by a consortium of investors led by the private equity investor Japan Industrial Partners. Continue reading...

SA police say a 30-year-old man was arrested at the scene and he is expected to be charged with murderA woman has been killed and another taken to hospital after they were allegedly stabbed by a stranger at an Adelaide business.The two women were allegedly stabbed by a man they did not know at a Plympton business in the city's inner south-west on Wednesday afternoon, South Australian police said.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Expense report, which previously included itemised spending, now has almost zero detail on how money actually spent in each category

The reason Anthony Albanese cited for declining sounds very familiar. Almost like the Coalition said the much the same thing

Attorney general says Ley needs to take a long hard look at herself' after she criticised him for not attempting to keep Benbrika behind bars

Trials are under way for a treatment for newborns and infants, who are often wrongly assumed to have immunity through their mothersWhen Rose Akinyi's baby, Jayla Joy, would not eat or stop crying one night, she thought her newborn had a stomach upset. She gave her some mild pain medication, but her condition grew worse.She was burning hot, so I removed her clothes and gave her [more pain medication]," said 30-year-old Akinyi, from Kisumu, a port city in western Kenya on Lake Victoria. Continue reading...

Family of Avtar Singh Khanda, 35, say Home Office decision could allay fears of Sikhs in UK of being targeted by IndiaThe family of the late Sikh activist Avtar Singh Khanda have called on the Home Office to appoint a police force to conduct a full and independent investigation into his sudden death last June, which coincided with a murder and an attempted murder of Sikh separatists in Canada and the US.Khanda's family lawyer, Michael Polak, said that a decision by the Home Office to launch an investigation would alleviate concerns among the Sikh community that they could be targeted by India and that their safety and rights were being sacrificed for political expediency". Continue reading...

Two women and a man in their 20s die after vehicle crashes on Kamilaroi highway south of Gunnedah

Temesgen Tsegay Gebreyonas was among those released after high court ruling and is accused of breaching curfew

Hospital boss says fresh strikes in England over festive season will heighten risk of patients dyingStrikes by junior doctors have fractured" their relationship with consultants and increased the risk of patients dying during action, hospital bosses claim.The 28 days of industrial action junior doctors have staged this year and the nine days of fresh strikes starting on Wednesday have led to tensions with more senior colleagues who are worn out" from having to cover for striking junior doctors as well as doing their usual shifts. Continue reading...

Newton Carey gives his view after draft guidance was issued by the UK government

Temperatures are as low as -16C in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, where the magnitude-6.2 quake struck on MondayThe death toll from China's earthquake has risen to 131, with almost 1,000 people injured, as rescuers dig through rubble in below freezing conditions.The magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck just before midnight on Monday, in Jishishan county near the border of Gansu and Qinghai provinces, destroying or damaging more than 150,000 homes, according to state media. The quake, which was followed by several strong aftershocks, caused mud and landslides, and damaged power lines and other local infrastructure to varying degrees". Continue reading...

Temperatures around 27C-28C are forecast for Sydney over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, while Melbourne can expect temperatures in the low 20s

Injures presenting to Royal Melbourne hospital jumped from five in February 2022 to 40 in December last year after Victoria's e-scooter trial began

Sosthene Munyemana is sixth person to be tried and convicted in France over involvement in slaughter of Tutsi minorityFormer Rwandan doctor Sosthene Munyemana has been jailed for 24 years by a French court for his involvement in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis.The 68-year-old former gynaecologist was on Wednesday found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and participation in a conspiracy to prepare these crimes. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. See all our Israel-Gaza war coverage hereThe US defence secretary has invited dozens of countries to take steps to address Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping as he spoke at a defence ministerial to tout a new military operation to secure commerce in the waterway.We're all here because many countries can directly contribute to our common efforts to keep strategic waterways safe," Lloyd Austin said, according to prepared remarks. Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy insists US and European support for war will continue; Vladimir Putin says Moscow will not give up what is ours'

Work continues on UN security council text of resolution that the US could at least abstain on, as Qatar says hostage talks have been positive'A vote on a Gaza ceasefire resolution was postponed for a second time at the UN security council on Tuesday, amid reported policy differences inside the Biden administration.While diplomatic efforts struggled in New York in the pursuit of a formalised truce, there was a renewed push for a new hostage deal that would involve a short humanitarian pause in the fight to allow an exchange with Palestinian prisoners. Continue reading...

Attorneys of Duane Keith Keffe D' Davis, whose trial is set for 2024, says the 60-year-old is not getting proper medical attentionA former Los Angeles-area gang leader charged with murder in the killing of hip-hop music icon Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas is deriding the case against him as the product of speculation and second-hand testimony as he asks a judge to put him on house arrest ahead of his trial.A 2 January hearing date was set Tuesday on Duane Keffe D" Davis's bid to be released on no more than $100,000 bail. His court-appointed attorneys wrote that the health of their 60-year-old client has deteriorated in jail and that he is not getting proper medical attention following a bout with colon cancer that they said is in remission. Continue reading...

Strict new law contains so many hardline measures that the far-right Marine Le Pen has claimed it as an ideological victory'The French government is facing a political crisis after the health minister Aurelien Rousseau offered his resignation in protest over a hardline immigration bill.Emmanuel Macron's ruling centrist party was divided and soul-searching on Wednesday after a strict new immigration law was approved by parliament but contained so many hardline measures that the far-right Marine Le Pen claimed it as an ideological victory" for her own anti-immigration platform. Continue reading...

Company hails battery another significant milestone in AGL's decarbonisation pathway and the transition of its energy portfolio'

MP tells Covid inquiry that then prime minister's chief of staff ignored repeated attempts to discuss matterPenny Mordaunt has told the Covid inquiry that a series of WhatsApp messages with Boris Johnson mysteriously disappeared from her phone, and that Johnson's then chief of staff ignored 14 attempts by her to arrange a meeting to discuss the matter.In a further twist to the saga of 5,000 WhatsApp messages lost by Johnson, Mordaunt said she was told by Cabinet Office officials it would cost about 40,000 to examine her phone to determine what had happened. Continue reading...

Twenty-year-old British student killed by Michel Fourniret, Monique Olivier's ex-husband, in 1990The ex-wife of the French serial killer Michel Fourniret has been found guilty of complicity in the murder of British student Joanna Parrish and two other French victims.Monique Olivier, 75, had admitted the accusations, but a panel of three judges and six jurors still took more than 10 hours to find her guilty after a three-week trial. Continue reading...

Labour given chance to win back seat after Tory MP found to have subjected staff member to bullying and sexual misconductLabour will get a chance to win back Wellingborough after voters there chose to trigger a byelection after the suspension of their MP, Peter Bone.The recall petition was opened when the former minister was suspended from parliament for six weeks after a watchdog found he had bullied a staff member and exposed his genitals near their face. Continue reading...

Ruth Baza, 51, said previous allegations against Depardieu provoked flashes' of memory of alleged 30-year-old assaultA Spanish journalist and author has filed a criminal complaint in Spain against Gerard Depardieu, claiming that the film star raped her nearly 30 years ago in Paris.Ruth Baza, 51, told AFP she filed the complaint with Spanish police on Thursday, saying the alleged rape happened when she interviewed the actor in Paris on 12 October 1995, for the magazine Cinemania. Continue reading...

John Joel Joseph, an opponent of the late president's party, is third of 11 suspects charged for plotting to assassinate Jovenel MoiseA former Haitian senator has been sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to kill Haiti's President Jovenel Moise in 2021, an assassination which caused unprecedented turmoil in the Caribbean nation.John Joel Joseph is the third of 11 suspects detained and charged in Miami to be sentenced in what US prosecutors have described as a plot hatched in Haiti and Florida to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill Moise, who was 53 when he was shot dead at his private home near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on 7 July 2021. Continue reading...

In liaison committee appearance, PM also says he cannot say when he will deliver on stop the boats' pledgeRishi Sunak has refused to disclose whether any airline would be willing to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda, amid concerns they could face reputational damage if the deportation plan gets off the ground.The prime minister said he was confident that the UK government would be able to send asylum seekers to the African state but did not reveal whether any airlines had agreed to participate, citing commercial confidentiality. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Significant' number of staff sacked from digger firm after drug and alcohol testsJCB, one of the UK's biggest manufacturers, is investigating a spate of drug use among workers based at its headquarters and has sacked a significant" number of staff, the Guardian can reveal.A message sent to UK employees last week by the digger-maker's group human resources director, Max Jeffery, seen by the Guardian, said it had been conducting a series of investigations into substance misuse" over the past two months. This had resulted in a small but significant number of people leaving JCB". Continue reading...

Ukraine president seeks to boost morale after difficult year as Russian opponent claims to hold initiativeThe leaders of Ukraine and Russia have struck a defiant tone and vowed to reach their military goals as the war heads toward its third year.Speaking in Kyiv during his end-of-year press conference, Volodymyr Zelenskiy sought to boost the domestic mood and maintain western support that has been stuttering in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Ukraine's president is speaking to the world's media at an end-of-year press conferenceRussian air defences downed a hostile drone near Moscow on Tuesday, the city mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, has said. No casualties were reported.Two Moscow airports, Vnukovo and Domodedovo, had restricted flights, a measure often taken during drone attacks. Continue reading...

Grindavik residents had been preparing to spend Christmas back at home after being evacuatedUntil just after 10pm on Monday, when the earth opened up and spat out an otherworldly 4km-long wall of lava, Sigrun Isdal had been planning to spend Christmas at home in Grindavik with her family. Like many residents of the fishing town on Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula, who were all evacuated on 10 November, she had been preparing to move back after more than a month spent in the limbo of temporary accommodation.Isdal, who works at Grindavik sports centre, had even been in the town briefly on Monday evening to pick up a few possessions, as residents have recently been allowed to do. There was just good weather and I didn't see anything," she said. Continue reading...

Jonathan Coad, who represented former Tory peer, says sorry for unwittingly misleading the mediaA lawyer who represented Michelle Mone has offered an unqualified apology" for incorrectly claiming she was not connected to a firm that received PPE contracts worth 200m during the coronavirus pandemic.Two other lawyers who acted for the former Conservative peer, telling the media she was not connected to or involved in the company, PPE Medpro, said client confidentiality limited what they could say about the matter. Continue reading...

The prime minister has been facing questions on his government's performance from senior MPs on the Commons liaison committeeSocial care leaders felt blindsided" by recently announced changes to visa rules banning care workers from bringing their families to the UK and have grave concerns" it could drive people from the sector, the Commons health committee heard this morning. PA Media has filed this from the hearing.The head of Care England, which represents social care providers across the country, criticised a lack of consultation with the sector, saying it left them particularly concerned, annoyed and irritated".Prof Martin Green, its chief executive, told the committee the system is currently already creaking at the edges" due to a lack of funding, and spoke of the chronic workforce shortage" it faces.Today's guidance does not go far enough. During the many months we have been waiting for its publication, it has become increasingly clear that non-statutory guidance will provide insufficient protection and clarity, and that a change in the law of the land is required.That is why I am today asking the government to back my private member's bill which would change the law in this area to ensure children are fully protected. Continue reading...

Couple sold mask to dealer for 150 in 2021 before it was sold to unidentified buyer for 4.2mA French couple who sold an extremely rare" African mask for 150 only to discover it was worth millions have had a request to cancel the artefact's sale thrown out in court.The couple, in their 80s, sold the wooden mask in September 2021 to a secondhand goods dealer as part of the sale of a number of antiquities including African artefacts that they had kept in their secondary home in southern France. Continue reading...

Darren Hall, 36, given life sentence for killing Sarah Henshaw, 31, after argument at her Ilkeston homeA man who murdered his ex-partner during an argument and dumped her body near a motorway layby has been jailed for life with a minimum of 17 years.Darren Hall, 36, was jailed for killing Sarah Henshaw, 31, and driving her body 20 miles before leaving it in woodland outside Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Continue reading...

Nearly half of the 4,907 drug poisoning deaths in 2022 involved an opiate, ONS figures showDrug poisoning deaths in England and Wales have risen for the 10th consecutive year to the highest level since records began 30 years ago, with nearly half of deaths now involving an opiate.There were 4,907 deaths related to drug poisoning in 2022, equivalent to a rate of 84.4 deaths per million people, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Continue reading...

Campaigners criticise 50m tie-up with fossil fuel firm to help fund masterplan' redevelopment projectCampaigners have called the British Museum astonishingly out of touch" after it announced a 10-year, 50m partnership with BP to help fund one of the biggest redevelopments in its history.On Tuesday, the museum announced the energy company would be helping to fund its ambitious masterplan" project, a redevelopment estimated to cost 1bn. Continue reading...

Many users tried to switch after they faced price rises of more than 50% at the end of their broadband dealBroadband customers claim they are trapped in costly contracts with Virgin Media five months after the telecoms regulator launched an investigation into the company's cancellation procedures.Ofcom announced its inquiry in July after complaints that Virgin was placing unnecessary barriers" in the way of customers who wanted to switch to cheaper providers after their fixed-term contracts had expired. Continue reading...

US watchdog sues Dozy Mmobuosi for allegedly faking documents and making up companies out of thin air'A Nigerian businessman who appeared to be closing in on a takeover of the Premier League football club Sheffield United is being sued by the US financial watchdog for a fraud, in which he is alleged to have faked documents and made up companies out of thin air".The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Monday it had filed charges against Dozy Mmobuosi, claiming he inflated his companies' financial performance by hundreds of millions of dollars to defraud investors. Continue reading...

Chris Heaton-Harris says it is time to restore devolved government, in comments that appeared to surprise DUP leaderTalks with the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) over post-Brexit trading arrangements have ended and it is time to restore devolved government in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland secretary has said.The announcement by Chris Heaton-Harris on Tuesday appeared to surprise and discomfit the DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who said the party still had concerns and that talks would continue. Continue reading...

Government says lava appears to be flowing away from local town