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Exclusive: Albanese government flags it will seek leave to appeal in high court

Graham Kent, who investigated the 1987 shooting, says national register stalled because of ‘competitions between jurisdictions’

Study of people born in 1921 shows happiness is linked to independence, with many using ‘subversive tactics’ to maintain thisIt is the age of rebellion. They may be frail, but 95-year-olds engage in miniature campaigns of “resistance and subversion” to foster a sense of control over their lives, a study has confirmed.From refusing to wear emergency call buttons to casting aside walking sticks, many members of a cohort born in 1921 studied by health scientists at the Universities of York and Newcastle used “subversive tactics to maintain a level of independence,”, often laced with humour and secrecy aimed at their offspring. Continue reading...

£8.8m to fund hundreds of supported housing places for ex-armed forces in England that had faced closureUK ministers have pledged to end rough sleeping among military veterans next year after announcing more than £8.8m to fund hundreds of supported housing places that had faced closure.Johnny Mercer, the minister for veterans affairs, and Rishi Sunak will host homeless former members of the armed forces, as well as charities at Downing Street on Wednesday to mark the launch of a scheme called Operation Fortitude. The scheme will enable veterans at risk of homelessness to access supported housing and wraparound specialist care in health, accommodation and education. Continue reading...

Appeal for information about fatal shooting of Ashley Dale comes on what would have been her 29th birthdayThe family of Ashley Dale, who was shot dead in her garden in Liverpool in August, have issued a fresh appeal to find her killer on what would have been her 29th birthday.In a statement released by Merseyside police, the family of Dale, one of three people to be shot dead in Liverpool in one week, said life had become a “living nightmare” since she was killed. Continue reading...

Survey finds as many as 40% may forgo the fish, which is traditionally the centrepiece of the festive feastFor most Poles, no Christmas would be complete without carp for dinner. But with prices rising and shopping budgets already stretched by surging inflation, consumers are having to fork out more for their favourite festive fish.Polish people hold their main celebration on Christmas Eve, with carp the centrepiece of a 12-dish feast that is traditionally meat-free. Continue reading...

Warraber Island man was found clinging to debris on Wednesday after stormy conditions hampered search on Tuesday night

Government borrowed £13.9bn more in month than year earlier, a level not seen since records began in 1993Government support for households and businesses with energy bills and higher interest payments pushed UK public borrowing to a record £22bn in November, the highest level for the month since records began.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the state spent more than it received in taxes and other income, meaning it had to borrow £13.9bn more in November than a year earlier, taking borrowing to its highest level for the period since monthly data started being issued in 1993. Continue reading...

Gaby Hutchinson, who was on duty during Asake show, ‘protected those they loved fiercely’, say relativesThe family of a security guard who died after the crowd crush at O2 Academy Brixton have paid tribute to their “selfless” relative.Gaby Hutchinson, 23, was on duty during a show by the Afrobeats artist Asake when ticketless fans tried to force entry to the south London venue last Thursday. Continue reading...

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Deal to connect Snowy 2.0 and renewable zones was struck in return for support for coal price cap

Kevin Lygo says presenter should apologise for column about Duchess of Sussex that attracted record number of complaintsJeremy Clarkson will remain host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? “at the moment”, ITV’s boss has said, as the presenter’s comments about the Duchess of Sussex attracted a record number of press regulator complaints.Kevin Lygo said ITV had “no control” over what Clarkson said in his Sun newspaper column but that “he should apologise” for his comments. Continue reading...

Arnold to meet Football Australia chiefs in early January as L’Equipe puts him in top spot following last-16 achievementGraham Arnold will sit down with Football Australia chiefs in early January to thrash out a new deal that is expected to see him remain in charge of the Socceroos, with the coach’s bargaining power having received a fillip after he was named the best coach of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.Highly regarded sports newspaper L’Equipe put the out-of-contract Australian in top spot on its rankings, above the likes of Lionel Scaloni of Argentina and France’s Didier Deschamps. Continue reading...

Twenty-three remain unaccounted for after the HTMS Sukhothai was knocked over by four-metre waves and strong winds late on SundayThailand’s navy has discovered the bodies of six marines after a small warship sank in the Gulf of Thailand. One marine was rescued alive on Monday as the military mobilised helicopters, warships and unmanned drones off its central coast.Twenty-three people remained unaccounted for after the HTMS Sukhothai was knocked over by four-metre waves and strong winds late on Sunday. Some were without life vests. Continue reading...

Media watchdog finds two breaches in documentary on 2020 US election but broadcaster says ruling will have ‘negative consequences’ for public interest journalism

Charity documents experiences of some of England’s 121,000 children housed in temporary accommodationChildren in temporary accommodation are living in cramped conditions and alongside former prisoners, in hostels up to 55 miles away from school, according to a leading housing charity.One 16-year-old from Manchester, who is sharing a single room in an emergency B&B with her mother and two sisters, described having to study sitting on the toilet, her textbook propped on her knees, to revise for GCSEs. “It’s so cold in there my legs go numb after 10 minutes,” she said. Continue reading...

Peak sports group tells parliamentary inquiry existing advertising restrictions are sufficient, despite rise in problem gambling

The suspects – ages 13 to 16 – were said to have met via social media before gathering downtown and allegedly ‘swarming’ victimEight teenage girls who appear to have met on social media have been charged with second-degree murder over the death of a 59-year-old man who was stabbed in downtown Toronto.Police allege that the girls assaulted and stabbed the man at a plaza near the main rail station in Canada’s largest city early on Sunday morning. Three of the girls are 13, three are 14 and two are 16, police said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Cut-back of cover for suppliers is latest in a series of headaches for founder of the troubled businessThe troubled online beauty retailer THG faces more pain after a leading credit insurer reduced cover to its suppliers.The Guardian can reveal that Allianz Trade, one of the UK’s largest credit insurers, cut back cover for suppliers to the beauty-to-nutrition retailer, formerly known as the Hut Group, in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Normally neutral Lindsay Hoyle could trigger row with Keir Starmer over one of party’s flagship policiesThe speaker of the House of Commons has criticised one of Keir Starmer’s flagship policies, saying he does not want to see the House of Lords replaced with an elected upper chamber.In an unusual policy intervention from the normally neutral speaker, Lindsay Hoyle told LBC radio he thought an elected Lords would threaten the supremacy of the Commons. Continue reading...

Conspiracists attempting to present an alternative reality of the Wieambilla attack that left two police officers and a neighbour dead

Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, brother of cartel boss ‘El Mencho’, is third member of family to be arrested by Mexican authoritiesThe brother of one of Mexico’s top drug lords has been arrested, the Mexican military said, marking another high-profile capture amid a wave of violence that has overwhelmed the country.Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, brother of the Jalisco New Generation cartel boss known as “El Mencho”, was arrested on Tuesday in the state of Jalisco by the Mexican army working with the national guard, the attorney general’s office and the national intelligence agency. Continue reading...

Welsh ambulance service apologises to Elizabeth Davies, whose care home and family made 10 calls for help after she fellThe Welsh ambulance service has apologised after a 93-year-old woman was left “screaming in pain” while lying on the floor with a broken hip during a 25-hour ambulance wait.Elizabeth Davies fell at her care home on Saturday and was finally picked up at 1.15pm on Sunday and admitted to Ysbyty Gwynedd hospital in Bangor on Monday, where she endured another 12-hour wait before being admitted to a ward. A hip fracture was later confirmed in surgery. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can find our latest Ukraine coverage hereThe Biden administration has crossed a new line in its support for Ukraine, by indicating its willingness to send Patriot air and missile defence systems to aid in the war against Russia.The system – which includes powerful missile interceptors and radar – is likely to prove highly effective for Ukraine, and marks a significant step forward in the scope and complexity of the US’s support. But the gift of such prestige systems will present longer-term challenges for Nato. Continue reading...

Ben Wallace says Putin regime will supply military technology in return for drones used to attack Ukraine

Finds at site west of Jerusalem named after woman said to have assisted at the birth of Jesus ChristArchaeologists have unveiled pilgrims’ lamps and other finds from the ”tomb of Salome”, a burial site named after a woman said to have assisted at the birth of Christ.The tomb was discovered by grave robbers in what is now Tel Lachish national park, west of Jerusalem, in the 1980s. Continue reading...

PM says rises could make inflation worse and states politicians should not ‘cut across’ independent pay review processRishi Sunak has refused to budge on NHS pay, saying that rises could make soaring inflation worse as he comes under growing pressure to negotiate with striking health workers.The prime minister suggested that politicians should not “cut across” the independent pay review process to boost salaries for nurses and paramedics even if it meant further damaging strikes this winter. Continue reading...

The People’s Alliance leader will take over after he secured the backing of the Social Liberal Democratic party to oust longstanding rivalFrank Bainimarama’s reign as leader of Fiji has ended almost 16 years after he instigated a coup in 2006 and installed himself as prime minister the next year.Cheering, singing and car horns filled the streets on Tuesday outside the office of the man who will be crowned Fiji’s new prime minister. Continue reading...

Higher education ministry issues indefinite order three months after thousands sat entrance examsAfghanistan’s Taliban rulers have ordered an indefinite ban on university education for the country’s women, the ministry of higher education said in a letter issued to all government and private universities.“You all are informed to implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females until further notice,” said the letter signed by the minister for higher education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more about Wednesday’s ambulance workers’ strike hereIn his interviews this morning Will Quince, the health minister, said that the military personnel who are helping out when ambulance staff are on strike tomorrow will not be allowed to turn on blue lights when driving ambulances, or drive them through red lights. “They will be there to drive ambulances in a support capacity for individual trusts,” he said.At the health committee hearing Dr John Martin, president of the College of Paramedics, told MPs that ambulance staff are now having to deal with “a sicker population who are calling us more often” than they were in the past. But, despite that, ambulance staff were seeing fewer patients per shift, he said, because of the delays getting people into hospital because of delayed discharges. Continue reading...

Remarks highlight Moscow’s growing acknowledgement that invasion is not going to plan

Open letter signed by Emma Thompson, Mark Rylance and Steve McQueen expresses outrage at Oscar-winner’s arrestFilm stars, playwrights, novelists and directors from across the world have rallied to the defence of the Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti, calling for her immediate release from the infamous Evin prison in Tehran.The Oscar-winning actor was arrested at her home on Saturday and has since told her family she is being detained in Evin. She has been asked to explain Instagram posts in which she denounced the Iranian government for imposing the death penalty on protesters. She had posted a picture of herself in which she was not wearing the hijab and holding a piece of paper reading “women, life, freedom” – the slogan that has come to encapsulate a nationwide protest movement. Continue reading...

Scotland Yard to look into footage in which Beckenham MP tells activist Sayed Alwadaei ‘go back to Bahrain’Police will investigate an allegation of racial abuse after the Guardian revealed a confrontation with Tory MP Bob Stewart, who told an activist to “go back to Bahrain”.Scotland Yard have said they will investigate the video footage after a complaint from Sayed Alwadaei, the director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), who had an angry exchange with Stewart outside a reception hosted by the Bahraini embassy. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester police believe part of mill used as illegal cannabis factoryFour Vietnamese men who died in a mill fire were likely to have been the victims of modern slavery, police have said.The men’s bodies were discovered 10 weeks after a huge fire destroyed the derelict Bismark House Mill in Oldham, Greater Manchester, on 7 May. Continue reading...

Aslef action falls between two 48-hour strikes by RMT, knocking out most trains for five daysTrain drivers have called a fresh 24-hour strike on 5 January in the long-running dispute over pay and conditions on UK railways.The action at 15 train operators by members of the Aslef union falls between two 48-hour strikes by the RMT union on 3-4 and 6-7 January, meaning most trains will be wiped out for five consecutive days. Continue reading...

Conservative judges froze passage of measures meant to overhaul appointments to their courtSpain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has vowed to use “whatever measures are needed” to end to a long-running judicial deadlock after conservative judges at the country’s constitutional court took the unprecedented step of suspending the passage of legislation that would overhaul the way appointments to their court are made.Last week, Sánchez’s Socialist-led coalition government managed to get its changes to the penal code through congress, the lower house of Spain’s parliament. Continue reading...

Actor plays ‘intimidating’ role of Coleen Rooney in Channel 4 adaptation of libel action brought by Rebekah VardyIt was one of the most closely followed high court trials in recent years, spawning gossip, memes and social commentary across newspapers, Twitter and the legal industry.But one person who didn’t keep up with the now infamous “Wagatha Christie” trial – the whodunnit of the digital-age – was Chanel Cresswell, the actor who will be stepping into the shoes of one of its key players. Continue reading...

Rong Shi, 18, says ‘it was really hard’ as he and four friends were swept across Phillip Bay on paddleboards after an end-of-school adventure went wrong

It is expected that only category 1 cases will be responded to during the strike in England and WalesAmbulances in some parts of England and Wales will be sent out only to patients at immediate risk of dying when staff strike on Wednesday – although ministers are spending Tuesday trying to persuade them to respond to more calls.Ambulance services in different areas are taking slightly different approaches to the 24-hour strike period, but there is a broad expectation that only the most urgent calls, known as category 1 emergencies, will be responded to. Continue reading...

Irmgard Furchner, 97, who worked at Stutthof concentration camp during the second world war, is given a two-year suspended sentenceA 97-year-old former secretary at a Nazi concentration camp has been found guilty of complicity in the murder of more than 10,500 people imprisoned there, and handed a two-year suspended sentence.Irmgard Furchner, who has been on trial in the northern German town of Itzehoe for more than a year, spoke to the court on one occasion earlier this month to say she was sorry for what had happened, but stopped short of admitting her guilt. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Tariq Stanley was smoking a cigarette in his car when he was approached by officersThe Metropolitan police have apologised more than two years after an insurance underwriter sitting in his car outside his home was handcuffed, injured, strip searched and detained in a cell by officers looking for cannabis.No drugs were found on Tariq Stanley, 30, who believes his race was the reason he was targeted. He said he was left traumatised and suffered injuries to his shoulder and left wrist, which was in a splint for two months. Continue reading...

Former Wimbledon champion tells German broadcaster he learned a hard lesson and experience was ‘worthwhile’Boris Becker has given his first interview since leaving prison in the UK and being deported back to Germany earlier this week, telling German viewers: “In prison I was a nobody.”The former Wimbledon champion, appearing slimmed down and sporting a new hair colour and style, told the broadcaster Sat 1 that as an inmate he was not called by his first name, and “no one gave a shit” about his champion status. Continue reading...

Holyrood bill introducing a system of self-declaration for gender recognition has polarised opinionScottish government plans to reform how a transgender person changes the sex on their birth certificate will reach their last legislative stage with week, with amendments to a bill being discussed on Tuesday and the final debate and vote on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Wednesday’s strike goes ahead as Royal College of Nursing highlights low payNurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland went on strike on Tuesday in an ongoing dispute with the government about pay and concerns about patient safety.Up to 100,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) took part after it balloted its members in October. It has said that low pay is the cause of chronic understaffing that is putting patients at risk and leaves NHS staff overworked. Continue reading...

Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander to offer mortgages on medium and high-rise properties from JanuarySix of the UK’s largest banks will start lending on medium and high-rise flats with cladding from January, in a move that could help thousands of people stuck in properties they have not been able to sell or remortgage.Lenders including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest and Santander, said they would consider fresh mortgage applications from 9 January, after receiving long-awaited guidance from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) on how to value affected properties. Continue reading...

Fellow Liberal new arrival Evan Mulholland calls for prison sentences to be scrapped for some drug offences

Cross-party group of MPs say column contributes to ‘unacceptable climate of hatred and violence’More than 60 cross-party MPs have written to the Sun’s editor, Victoria Newton, to demand an apology and “action taken” against Jeremy Clarkson for a column where he said the Duchess of Sussex should be paraded through the streets naked.In a letter, they said Meghan had received credible threats to her life and that columns such as Clarkson’s contributed to an “unacceptable climate of hatred and violence”. Continue reading...

Decision grants people on temporary protection visas rights to social security and reunion with family members

Albin Kurti warns rising tensions only benefit Putin as ethnic Serbs set up road blocks in north of country