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Security organisation’s latest threat report says foreign agents targeted government officials, bank workers, doctors, police and journalists

Monique Ryan, a paediatric neurologist before entering parliament, says Patrick Folbigg’s death could be linked to epileptic seizures

Senior Brexiter Maria Caulfield says PM must be given ‘time and space’ to conclude talks with EUA senior Brexiter minister has urged colleagues to give Rishi Sunak “time and space” to finish negotiations with the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol, as warnings grew of potential ministerial resignations.Sunak has been told he is facing the possibility ministers may quit if his deal does not significantly rewrite the protocol or remove any powers for the European court of justice. Continue reading...

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Opposition set to move for an investigation into how prepared Victoria was for last year’s flooding crisis

The Merchant of Venice 1936 among four plays to feature at RSC’s reopened Swan theatre this summerA new take on Shakespeare’s controversial play The Merchant of Venice, set in London’s East End in the 1930s as the threat of fascism looms, will be among four plays to feature at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s reopened Swan theatre this summer.The Merchant of Venice 1936 is “breathtakingly honest about the antisemitism described in [Shakespeare’s] play, and its new setting in 1930s Cable Street reveals a shameful slice of our history,” said Erica Whyman, the RSC’s acting artistic director. Continue reading...

Opening weekend of Australia’s biggest arts festival largely ignored by hometown paper which says it’s covering event on its merits

In-store betting company looks to take on foreign-owned bookies by prioritising recently launched digital gambling app

Rwanda is the only other country to have had a visit cancelled, with Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner calling decision ‘disappointing’

Former prime minister likens covert operations to famous scene in Casablanca and warns influence register should be more than ‘box ticking’

Police minister Mark Ryan says the government accepts that its new laws ‘are incompatible with human rights’

Administrative inquest hearing told WorkSafe Tasmania wouldn’t pass over expert reports as it could prejudice ongoing investigations

Family of British antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford, who died in 2020 while awaiting trial for art trafficking, returns 77 Khmer artefactsDozens of pieces of Angkorian crown jewellery stolen from Cambodia, many never seen by the public, have been returned after resurfacing in London, the Cambodian culture ministry said on Monday.The trove includes crowns, necklaces, amulets and other treasures from the Angkor period, which ran from the ninth to the 14th century AD, when the Khmer empire was a dominant force in south-east Asia. Continue reading...

The supermarket chain says inflation is starting to ease and food costs may start to come come down

Conflict came on top of our over-reliance on gas, says Energy and Climate Intelligence UnitThe UK’s over-reliance on gas has been blamed for pushing up bills as it emerged that the energy crisis stemming from the war in Ukraine had cost the equivalent of £1,000 for every adult.A study by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) estimated that high wholesale gas prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago had cost UK energy suppliers an additional £50bn to 60bn, on top of the £10bn to £20bn spent in a normal year. Continue reading...

Former PMs stressed weapons should be sent urgently to Kyiv during debate in House of CommonsBoris Johnson and Liz Truss have urged Rishi Sunak to send fighter jets to Ukraine during a debate in the House of Commons.Truss said she “could not wait to see fighter jets over Ukraine” during her first contribution as a backbench MP since her resignation in October, while Johnson, her immediate predecessor who resigned in July, urged the government to “cut to the chase” and “give them the planes”. Continue reading...

Statement read by police after ‘worst fears’ confirmed, critical of press and members of public who accused partner of wrongdoingThe family of Nicola Bulley have said they would never comprehend “what Nikki had gone through in her last moments”, but excoriated the media and members of the public for vilifying her family and friends, after a body found in a river was identified as hers.Her body was discovered on Sunday morning in the River Wyre in Lancashire, more than three weeks on from when she disappeared while walking her dog on 27 January. Continue reading...

First time a US president visited a ‘country at war where US military does not control critical infrastructure’, says national security adviser

First sign of cabinet tensions emerges as Downing Street plays down hopes that deal with EU will be clinched on TuesdayRishi Sunak has been urged not to drop potential powers to unilaterally override the Northern Ireland protocol, as the first sign of cabinet tensions emerged over the prime minister’s proposed deal with the EU.The call from Suella Braverman not to abandon the bill echoes the same message from Boris Johnson. Sources close to the former prime minister over the weekend urged Sunak to keep the legislation as leverage. Continue reading...

Supermarkets say they are working with farmers to ensure wide range of produce is availableSupermarkets are facing shortages of salad crops, including tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and cucumbers, as well as broccoli and citrus fruits amid cold weather in producing countries such as Spain and Morocco.Shoppers complained on social media about low stocks, particularly of peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers, as importers said supplies had been affected by a mixture of unseasonable weather and storms in the Mediterranean combined with a reduction in the amount of crops planted in heated glass houses in the Netherlands as energy bills have soared. Continue reading...

Son of late authoritarian ruler arrested over damage worth £10,000The eldest son of Robert Mugabe, the late authoritarian ruler of Zimbabwe, has been arrested for damaging cars and other property worth $12,000 (£10,000) at a party in an upmarket neighbourhood of Harare over the weekend.The 31-year-old – also called Robert Mugabe – spent a night in a local police station and then briefly appeared at a court in Harare, the capital, on Monday. Continue reading...

Extinction Rebellion co-founder among four charged after throwing paint over charity buildings in 2020The Extinction Rebellion co-founder Roger Hallam has been acquitted of conspiracy to damage property after taking part in a protest that involved throwing pink paint over several charity buildings.The 56-year-old was cleared of the count along with three other protesters involved in demonstrations at the headquarters of Christian Aid, Amnesty International, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth on 21 July 2020. Continue reading...

Even as Nicola Bulley’s body was pulled from the river, ghoulish day-trippers were taking selfiesAfter three weeks under the glare of intense publicity, a stillness descended on the tiny Lancashire village of St Michael’s on Wyre on Monday. Children played in the primary school, the church bells rang every hour, and dog walkers took their usual route past the holly bush dotted with robins and thrushes to the bench where Nicola Bulley was last seen alive.For 23 days, St Michael’s on Wyre has been a community under siege. Even as Bulley’s body was pulled from the River Wyre on Sunday afternoon, ghoulish day-trippers were seen smiling and taking selfies at the riverside bench where the mystery began on Friday 27 January. A video of officers recovering her remains was viewed more than 2m times on TikTok. Continue reading...

Advertisement for assistant headteacher said candidates must be ‘on alert from 7am through until 6pm’A job advertisement for an assistant headteacher has attracted widespread criticism after it warned candidates they would have to work “ridiculously hard”, be “wedded” to their job and that “we cannot carry anyone”.The candidate for the role at Mercia school, a Sheffield secondary that has been described as “Britain’s strictest school”, is expected to supervise detentions on Saturdays and to attend meetings during the holidays. They must also be “highly talented”, “ooze leadership” and be “a great orator”. Continue reading...

The academic, who was conducting studies in the highlands, was taken hostage along with three other researchers

Judge-led inquiry rules Scotland Yard unit acted in a sexist and racist way and intrusions were not justifiedA judge-led public inquiry has found that an undercover police unit that infiltrated leftwing political groups caused “outrage and pain” to the public and acted in a sexist and racist way.The inquiry ruled that the Scotland Yard unit was not justified in intruding deeply into the private lives of campaigners, including their sexual relationships, and suggested it should have been disbanded early in its existence. Continue reading...

Israeli PM vows to press ahead with legislation to restrict judicial powers as upwards of 100,000 protesters take to streetsThe Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has accused protesters of “trampling democracy”, vowing that his far-right coalition will move ahead with controversial legislation to restrict the power of the judiciary.Upwards of 100,000 people gathered outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday in protest against an initial plenum vote on bills that would give politicians control over appointments to Israel’s supreme court, and limit its ability to overturn laws. Protesters blocked major roads across the country, and prevented some politicians from leaving their homes. Continue reading...

Suppliers are expected to feel empowered by an easing in prices this year to hunt for customersSwitching between energy suppliers is expected to return later this year after a two-year pause due to lack of competition amid high bills.The energy consultancy Cornwall Insight said on Monday that easing costs later this year would present consumers with the chance to “take back some control” over their bills, as suppliers compete for customers again. Continue reading...

Supermarket’s third pay increase in a year puts it slightly ahead of Aldi and Sainsbury’sTesco is to increase hourly pay for shopfloor staff by 7% to a minimum of £11.02 an hour, its third pay rise in a year amid heavy competition for workers.The increase, which comes in from April, puts the UK’s biggest supermarket slightly ahead of the current best-paying grocers – Aldi and Sainsbury’s – which pay £11 an hour, and on track to beat rival Asda, which will raise pay to at least £11 an hour from the same month. Continue reading...

Man says he was instructed to falsely claim he was cousin of Nigerian politician’s daughterAn alleged victim of organ trafficking was instructed to falsely tell a London doctor that he was cousins with the daughter of a Nigerian politician before a meeting about donating his kidney, the Old Bailey has heard.Appearing in court for the first time, the man, who cannot be named, said he did not know why he had been taken to see the doctor until he mentioned a kidney transplant. “I was shocked because this was first time I heard about it,” he told the jury. Continue reading...

Investigations are under way in the hope this is the first conflict in which a full reckoning is made of environmental crimes

Many tears have been shed during inquest into what happened when Jake Davison went on rampageAs is frequently the case in mass shootings, Jake Davison’s eight-minute burst of savagery began with a domestic attack on a woman.Davison, 22, thickset and strong thanks to a combination of gym work and steroids, argued violently with his mother, Maxine, 51, in the modest Plymouth home they shared. Continue reading...

Relatives at inquest say Jake Davison should not have been granted gun licence with known history of violenceThe families of four people including a three-year-old girl killed by the Plymouth gunman Jake Davison have accused the police of giving him a “licence to kill” by allowing him to have a shotgun despite a known history of violence and are calling for “radical change” to the licensing system.Speaking after an inquest jury concluded that Davison, 22, unlawfully killed five people, the bereaved relatives said the attacks were “pure evil” but argued it was facilitated by systemic failings and incompetence. Continue reading...

US president pledges $500m in help for Ukraine while west prepares next phase of sanctions against Russia

Cybersecurity company defends against criticism from hedge fund Quintessential and othersDarktrace has hired EY to conduct an independent review of its finances as it tries to defend itself against a hedge fund that alleges questionable marketing, sales and accounting practices at the cybersecurity company.The FTSE 250 company said the accountancy firm EY would provide “additional independent third-party review of its key financial processes and controls”, in a statement to the stock market on Monday. Continue reading...

No 10 says ‘we shouldn’t gobblefunk’ with words, as Philip Pullman suggests work be left to go out of printRishi Sunak has intervened in the row over the rewriting of parts of Roald Dahl’s books to remove language deemed inappropriate, portraying it as an attack on free speech.His comments came after the author Philip Pullman suggested Dahl’s work should be allowed to fade away and be replaced by more modern children’s writers. Continue reading...

The airline is seeking to overturn in the high court a finding that it illegally outsourced 1,700 ground handlers jobs

Majority believe government at least partially to blame for rises but don’t assume Coalition would manage them better

Exclusive: Amendment will ‘stop the cycle of higher rates of Aboriginal child removal’ says Aboriginal child care agency chief

Pressure on restaurant margins as customer behaviour shifts and inflation eats into costsUK households ordered 12% less takeaway food in January than a year before, while the sector also faced more competition from restaurants and cafes after the lifting of pandemic restrictions.Despite the fall in the number of items ordered as customers tried to rein in spending amid the cost of living crisis, spending fell by just 2% as inflation pushed up the cost of each dish, according to the Hospitality at Home spending tracker by analysts at CGA and NielsenQ. Continue reading...

Gloria Orwoba attended a senate meeting in a suit stained with red dye as part of her campaign for free access to menstrual productsA Kenyan politician has become the subject of a vicious online hate campaign after she protested against period poverty by sitting through a senate meeting in clothing stained with fake menstrual blood.Senator Gloria Orwoba was asked to leave halfway through the session after her fellow parliamentarians requested the speaker eject her for supposedly violating the house’s “dress code”. Continue reading...

US president rallies support for Ukraine days before first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion

The Cessna 340 with former Santos employees Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam lost contact on SaturdayTwo Australian men are feared dead after a plane lost contact in the Philippines with four people on board, as crews work to verify if a wreckage spotted near the crater of a restive volcano is the missing plane.The plane, which was bound for the capital Manila, lost contact with air traffic control on Saturday, three minutes after it departed Bicol international airport in Albay province, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said in a statement. Continue reading...

Bulley’s partner, Paul Ansell, says family trying to stay strong as private diving expert defends searchThe partner of the missing woman Nicola Bulley has described his family’s “agony” after a body was found more than three weeks after she disappeared.Paul Ansell told Sky News he had “no words right now, just agony” after walkers found a body in the River Wyre less than a mile from where the mother-of-two was last seen. He added: “We’re all together, we have to be strong.” Continue reading...

Andrew Gee says detractors will see voice to parliament is ‘uplifting moment’ after Linda Burney calls David Littleproud comments ‘scaremongering’

Two-thirds of local authorities did not prosecute anyone for disabled parking scheme fraud, data revealsFour councils are responsible for bringing more than half of the prosecutions in England for people abusing the use of disabled parking badges.Figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT) show that Lambeth, Birmingham, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Bromley carried out 54% of all legal cases for people misusing the blue badge system, for the year up to the end of March 2021. Continue reading...

Homes Victoria says ballot helps create ‘fair and transparent’ process but advocate fears those most in need may miss out

Most voyages carrying livestock out of Australia sailed without an observer, with half of those ships claiming they had insufficient space for an extra person