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MP Steve Brine accused of lobbying NHS and ministers on behalf of recruitment firm that employed him

Family criticise boat’s skipper Michael Lawrence and company owner Michael Howley over crash that killed teenagerThe family of a 15-year-old girl who was killed in a speedboat crash have described the moment her life support system was turned off and criticised the skipper as a “coward” as he was given a suspended jail sentence.Emily Lewis suffered fatal injuries after the rigid inflatable boat (Rib) collided with a 4.5-metre buoy at 42mph in Southampton Water, with a number of other passengers left seriously injured. Continue reading...

Ukraine’s capital trying to return to new normal after Russian invasion, with latest move hoped to boost business

MPs were informed of the decision, which comes after similar moves by western allies, by parliamentary service on FridayNew Zealand’s parliament will ban TikTok from all parliamentary devices, amid mounting international security concerns surrounding the app.The country’s MPs were informed by parliamentary service on Friday that the Chinese-owned video-sharing app would be blocked from all parliamentary devices at the end of the month, and were told via email that “the Service has determined that the risks are not acceptable in the current New Zealand parliament environment”. Continue reading...

Perfect storm of Covid, Brexit, energy prices and cost of living crisis blamed for disappointing figuresVisitor numbers at the UK’s leading attractions are still almost a quarter lower than before the pandemic, thanks to a perfect storm of Covid, Brexit, energy prices and the wider financial crisis, according to the sector’s trade body.Figures published on Friday by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions show that while the number of visits to its sites rose by 69% in 2022 compared with the year before, this was still 23% lower than in 2019. Continue reading...

Officers on horseback deployed to reduce use of phones by motorist; driver faces £200 fine and six points on licenceTwo mounted police officers have chased down a man spotted holding his mobile phone while driving.Officers on horses have been deployed across the UK in order to reduce the number of people using a phone while at the wheel. Avon and Somerset police are involved in the enforcement operation led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) over the next three weeks. Continue reading...

‘I’m really, really sorry,’ the actor said, a year after she was suspended from show for saying the Holocaust ‘isn’t about race’Whoopi Goldberg has issued an apology following her use of a racial slur during an episode of ABC’s The View.On Wednesday, Goldberg used a derogatory term associated with Romani people while discussing former president Donald Trump, saying that his supporters are “people who still believe that he got gypped somehow in the election”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: findings of official review due out on Tuesday described as ‘horrible’ and ‘atrocious’ for forceThe Metropolitan police service is riddled with deep-seated racism, sexism and homophobia and has failed to change despite numerous official reviews urging it to do so, an official report will say.The report from Louise Casey, which is due to be published on Tuesday, will excoriate Britain’s biggest police force, the Guardian has been told. Senior government and policing figures are aware of its contents, with one describing it as “horrible” and another as “atrocious”. One source with knowledge of the findings said the report would make clear that the Met was in the “last-chance saloon”. Continue reading...

Party leader hopes letter campaign in commuter belt areas can tempt voters to switch in order to beat ToriesThe Liberal Democrats will directly court Labour voters in “blue wall” swing seats to try to build a critical mass of tactical voting in advance of the next election, Ed Davey has said before the party’s first in-person conference since 2019.The planned campaign of letters in Conservative-held commuter belt constituencies where the Lib Dems are the main challengers will be intended to persuade Labour supporters to lend their vote – not just as a means to change the government but because “they feel an affinity with us”, Davey said. Continue reading...

At 6ft 4in, Jack Andrews towers over his fellow jockeys and has to watch his chocolate biscuit intakeAt 6ft 4in (1.93 metres), Jack Andrews is used to towering over his fellow jockeys, who tend to be at least a foot shorter than him.But as he competes for his first Cheltenham festival win this week, the man who has been described as the tallest jockey in the world is determined not to let his unconventional stature slow him down. Continue reading...

While some feel ending £1m cap on savings gives them more options, others say it is not enough to make them work until 67NHS staff nearing the end of their careers are reconsidering whether they have to retire early to avoid “punitive” pension taxation rules after the chancellor’s surprise decision in the budget to scrap the £1m cap on tax-free savings.Jeremy Hunt unveiled the plans on Wednesday in an attempt to stop highly paid older workers, including lots of experienced NHS staff, leaving their jobs early. They will also benefit from the increase in the current £40,000 annual limit for tax-free pension contributions to £60,000. Continue reading...

Nine are said to members of Russian spy ring that monitored railway lines and made plans to disrupt deliveriesPolish authorities say they have detained nine members of a Russian spy ring who they say were gathering intelligence on weapons supplies to Ukraine and making plans to sabotage the deliveries.Six people have been charged with preparing acts of sabotage and espionage, and charges are being prepared against the other three. Continue reading...

Covid and other illnesses main reasons for attendance drop compared with pre-pandemic, according to DfE figuresOne in five pupils in England were reported as persistently absent during the last school year, with Covid and other illnesses the biggest contributors to soaring classroom absence rates compared with pre-pandemic years.The figures from the Department for Education (DfE) showed the aftermath of the pandemic continued to significantly affect state school attendance into the summer of 2022. The national absence rate of 7.6% was well above the rates of 4%-5% before Covid. Continue reading...

Chancellor’s changes have been criticised as a multibillion-pound handout to Britain’s wealthiestJeremy Hunt’s multibillion-pound tax giveaway to Britain’s wealthiest pension savers is coming under fire from various quarters, with Labour vowing to reverse the move andothers saying it is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.Financial firms have said the changes to pension allowances could let high earners who can afford it build up pension pots worth as much as £9m while enjoying the full tax benefits. Continue reading...

Albanese government hopes to progress two bills in the coming parliamentary fortnight as working group advice is finalisedThe Albanese government plans to progress two bills to set up the Indigenous voice referendum in the coming parliamentary fortnight, remaining confident the process remains on track despite its expert group of Aboriginal leaders still finalising its crucial advice to cabinet.The referendum working group was expected to confirm its advice to government on the exact wording of the question and the constitutional amendment on Thursday. But a communique from its meeting in Adelaide, issued by Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney’s office, said the process was still ongoing. Continue reading...

Another key industry player suggested government should shut down the work-for-the-dole scheme

Unions and business worry ‘a nuclear submarine parking lot’ will displace offshore wind and container terminal jobs

Offer to unions involved in strikes in England expected to include one-off payment of up to 6% for this year

Success of Farmer-Citizen Movement in provincial vote is heavy blow to Mark Rutte’s four-party coalitionA new populist party surfing a wave of rural anger at government environmental policies has emerged as the big winner in Dutch provincial elections, dealing a heavy blow to the four-party coalition of the prime minister, Mark Rutte.The success of the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) in Wednesday’s vote, which will determine the makeup of the senate, casts doubt over the government’s ability to pass key legislation, including its plans to slash nitrogen emissions. Continue reading...

President Gabriel Boric promised a feminist movement but conservative values remain strong in the countryOne tumultuous year has now passed since Latin America’s first self-declared feminist government installed itself in La Moneda, Chile’s presidential palace, vowing to bring progressive, gender-equal politics to a quiet corner of South America.Standing beside the country’s youngest ever president Gabriel Boric at his inauguration was Izkia Siches, the first woman to be named Chile’s interior minister and one of 14 women in Boric’s 24-person cabinet – the highest proportion of female ministers in Latin America and one of the highest anywhere in the world. Continue reading...

Police department says it has returned almost ¥3bn to owners, while ¥480m has gone to findersThe honest citizens of Tokyo handed in a record ¥3.99bn (£24.5m) in lost cash to police last year – an average of more than £67,000 a day.Japan’s national police agency said the amount was up ¥600m from the previous year, and beat the previous high of ¥3.84bn declared at police stations across the capital in 2019. Continue reading...

Former PM appointed Michelle Landry and Ben Morton to administer departments in moves not widely known at the time

Choice says flight credits should work like gift cards with customers able to split them over a number of transactions

Experts say data points to early signs of a new wave but, given level of immunity, is not expected to be as severe as in the past

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New laws include the overriding of the Human Rights Act to allow children to be charged for breaching bail

Multiple sources present confirm the remark was made, but it is unclear if it was made sarcastically

Lehrmann tells court a text saying ‘I’m up for millions’ was to placate his girlfriend, not due to a plan to sue

Taiwan foreign ministry warns of China debt trap, as US says Beijing ‘makes many promises that are unfulfilled’Taiwan has urged Honduras not to “quench your thirst with poison and fall into China’s debt trap”, adding it would not compete monetarily with China to keep its formal allies after its decision to switch diplomatic ties from Taipei to Beijing this week.Honduran president Xiomara Castro announced on Tuesday that her country would begin to establish an official relationship with Beijing, in effect severing its ties with Taipei. Continue reading...

Government looking at limiting mental health claims to just PTSD cases after $1.1bn shortfall

Exclusive: Union decries failure to publish statistics as Labour claims ministers ‘burying their heads in the sand’ over attacksNHS staff have accused Steve Barclay of breaking a pledge to publish details of how many of them are abused and assaulted in the course of their work.In 2018, when Barclay was a junior minister in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), he promised he would resume publication of those statistics in the following year. Continue reading...

New UN report says there has been a 35% spike in 2020-21 in the production of coca, the drug’s base ingredientSouth American drug cartels have capitalised on the retreat of the Covid-19 pandemic to produce and smuggle record amounts of cocaine around the world.Production of coca, the drug’s base ingredient, spiked 35% in 2020-21, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Continue reading...

Exclusive: Coalition has denied Labor’s claims that privatisation was being sought

Train operators turn to contingency staff but fewer than half of services are expected to runAnother day of blighted rail services has begun in Britain as RMT members at 14 train operating companies take part in the first in a wave of four 24-hour strikes.Commuters across England are broadly the hardest hit by the latest action. Passengers have been urged to check before travel and in some places to take a train only if absolutely necessary, with most affected operators running final services by early evening. Continue reading...

Leaders expected to use first summit since 2011 to address Japan’s use of Korean forced labour, as well as threats posed by North Korea and ChinaYoon Suk Yeol will be treated to his favourite dish – omelette rice – when he becomes the first South Korean president to visit Japan in more than a decade on Thursday, as hopes rise for an end to years of animosity between the north-east Asian neighbours.Given that the menu for official dinners has been a diplomatic flashpoint between the two countries, efforts by Yoon’s hosts to accommodate his palate are evidence of the recent thaw in relations, as regional tensions rise over North Korean missiles and Chinese military activity. Continue reading...

After largest shareholder was unable to provide backing, Europe’s 17th largest lender says it will use government help to become ‘simpler and more focused’Credit Suisse has announced that it will take a CHF50bn ($53.7bn) loan from the Swiss central bank, in an action it says will “pre-emptively strengthen its liquidity” as it moves to stem a crisis of confidence a day after its share price plummeted.This additional liquidity would support the bank in taking the “necessary steps to create a simpler and more focused bank built around client needs”, its statement said. The bank said it was also making buyback offers on about $3bn worth of debt. Continue reading...

Deal with Australian Hotels Association raises prospect of more sport betting promotions in pubs amid rising criticism of gambling operations

Reserve bank had taken steps to engineer a ‘shallow recession’ in response to high inflation but shrinkage arrives earlyNew Zealand’s economy is shrinking, with gross domestic product down 0.6% last quarter, amid speculation a recession may be approaching.Gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.6% in the last three months of 2022, after a 1.7% rise in the September 2022 quarter. The drop at the close of the year was larger than predicted by any of New Zealand’s major banks. Annually, GDP is still growing – up 2.4% year on year, and despite the shrinking economy, unemployment remains close to record lows, at about 3.3%. Continue reading...

South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol says North will pay a price for launch on eve of Tokyo summitNorth Korea has test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in a display of military might, just hours before the leaders of South Korea and Japan were to meet at a Tokyo summit that was expected to be overshadowed by Kim Jong-un’s nuclear threats.The launch on Thursday, the North’s first ICBM test in a month and third weapons test this week, also comes as South Korean and US troops continue joint military exercises that Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal to invade. Continue reading...

Economy adds almost 64,000 jobs, a figure that will be closely examined by the RBA as it decides whether to pause further interest rate increases

Ben Morton’s previously unknown appointment by governor general David Hurley revealed in documents published under FOI laws

Joshua Bowles, 29, will appear at Westminster magistrates court in London on ThursdayCounter-terrorism police have charged a man with attempted murder following the stabbing of a woman outside a leisure centre in Cheltenham.The incident took place at about 9.15pm in Tommy Taylors Lane last Thursday. Continue reading...

UN nuclear watchdog will check fuel usage in sealed power units to satisfy non-proliferation obligationsThe UN nuclear watchdog will insist on inspecting Australia’s future nuclear submarines before and after deployments as part of a “watertight” agreement to ensure no fissile material is diverted, the agency’s chief has said.Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the agency and the partners in the Aukus nuclear sharing agreement – the US, UK and Australia – will hold further negotiations on how to make sure it does not conflict with their non-proliferation obligations. Continue reading...

Audience in regional city of Ballarat were largely supportive of the voice to parliament but were keen to hear more detail

Protesters claim proposed increase in hours would risk health and fail to boost low birth rateSouth Korea’s government has been forced to rethink a planned rise in working hours after a backlash from younger people who said the move would destroy their work-life balance and put their health at risk.The government had intended to raise the maximum weekly working time to 69 hours after business groups complained that the current cap of 52 hours was making it difficult to meet deadlines. Continue reading...

Exclusive: sources close to ministers and health unions in England expect announcement as soon as ThursdayMinisters and health unions are on the verge of a breakthrough in talks to resolve their long-running pay dispute that has triggered a series of NHS strikes in England, with an announcement expected on Thursday, the Guardian has been told.Sources said positive progress had been made on discussions about the awards for ambulance workers and nurses for both 2022-23 and 2023-24, although uncertainty remained about whether union members would accept the terms when they are balloted. Continue reading...

Swiss bank’s shares fall to record low as top shareholder Saudi National Bank rules out more funding

Morning is Broken – showing boy opening corrugated iron curtains – appeared on building in Herne BayThe site of Banksy’s latest work, an outside wall of a derelict farmhouse in the seaside town of Herne Bay in Kent, has been demolished.The mural, titled Morning is Broken, depicted a silhouetted young boy – next to a silhouetted cat in a window – opening corrugated iron “curtains”. Continue reading...

US secretary of state Antony Blinken says collision of Russian fighter jet with US drone was ‘reckless and unsafe action’

Civilians are being killed by Russian weapons just like in Ukraine, says special rapporteur Tom Andrews in call for global actionMyanmar is a “failing state” and the crisis is getting exponentially worse, a UN special rapporteur for the country has warned, urging countries to adopt the same unified resolve that followed the invasion of Ukraine.“The same types of weapons that are killing Ukrainians are killing people in Myanmar,” Tom Andrews, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, told the Guardian in an interview, citing the supply of Russian weapons to the junta since the coup two years ago. The junta relies heavily on aircraft from China and Russia, and has increasingly resorted to airstrikes to attempt to quell determined resistance forces. Continue reading...