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Voters cast ballots until 9pm in elections that could set country on different course after Mark Rutte's four consecutive governments

Independent reviewer says change could harm freedom of speech and further strain overtaxed security servicesNo 10 should not implement plans to amend the law on glorifying terrorism after the pro-Palestine marches as it would do no favours" to police, MI5 or the probation service, a government adviser has said.In a 15-page report submitted to the Home Office, Jonathan Hall KC, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said there was no need to respond to the marches with new terrorism legislation, adding that there was good reason for caution" given both the risk of unintended consequences and the drain on limited state resources. Continue reading...

April De Angelis comedy, to be premiered in Hampstead, explores life of actor at a time when married women were legally dead'She was known as the Queen of Drury Lane and the first truly respected female actor in theatre, achieving an astonishing level of celebrity at the end of the 18th century.But despite her notoriety there are no contemporary biographies about Sarah Siddons, who was labelled by her contemporaries as tragedy personified". Continue reading...

Fifty-eight others rescued, with many suffering from hypothermia after dinghy capsizes less than a kilometre from French shoreA man and a woman are reported to have drowned on Wednesday trying to cross the Channel to the UK in a small boat.Fifty-eight others were rescued, with many of the survivors understood to have been suffering from hypothermia. Continue reading...

Increasing pressure from the US and from the families of Israeli hostages were vital in securing agreement for the four-day truceThe hostage deal that was finally agreed by the Israeli cabinet in the early hours of Wednesday was very similar in outline to what was on the table a month ago, according to sources familiar with the discussions.In the intervening weeks, a lot has happened to turn the proposal to exchange women and children prisoners during a ceasefire into a near-reality. Continue reading...

Group announces 2024 arena tour in celebration of Sarah', who died from breast cancerGirls Aloud are to reunite for an arena tour in 2024 in memory of their late bandmate Sarah Harding.Nadine Coyle, Cheryl, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh shared the same video on social media to announce the news on Wednesday. The post read: Announcing The Girls Aloud Show arena tour next May/June 2024. Continue reading...

New questions raised over appointment of foreign secretary as a result of his remuneration from lender that collapsed in scandalLabour has demanded that the prime minister answer questions over David Cameron's tax affairs when he worked for the collapsed lender Greensill Capital.Pat McFadden, the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, has written to Rishi Sunak after the Guardian revealed HMRC was examining perks and payments received by Lord Cameron, the new foreign secretary, while he lobbied for Greensill, the finance firm that collapsed amid scandal in 2021. Continue reading...

Politicians and union say assessment of grant applications should no longer be outsourced to private companies

Presence of officers can increase distress, according to a study in which people with lived experience suggest they could be talked down

British government still owns 38.6% of the high street bank it bailed out in the 2008 financial crisis

Classmates and colleagues spoke warmly of Wilf Fitchett, Jevon Hirst, Hugo Morris and Harvey OwenFour lit candles, representing each of the teenagers killed in a car crash at the weekend, could be seen in the windows of many homes and businesses in their home town of Shrewsbury.Wilf Fitchett, Jevon Hirst, Hugo Morris and Harvey Owen were college students with a love of the outdoors who died when their car came off the road while they were driving through Snowdonia to go camping. Continue reading...

Thinktank attacks chancellor's giveaways as OBR warns of challenges' for councils and services

Lib Dems call for 1bn support package to improve help for carers through access to respite care and increased carer's allowanceA third of carers with poor mental health have considered suicide or self-harm, data shows.Figures given to the Liberal Democrats by Carers UK reveal that many of the UK's millions of carers who look after relatives have bad mental health, with some at breaking point". Continue reading...

Coroner finds medical professionals' neglect contributed to death of William Gray at hospital in SouthendThe death of 10-year-old boy after a severe asthma attack was avoidable and was contributed to by the neglect of healthcare professionals, a coroner has concluded.William Gray died at Southend University hospital on the 29 May 2021 following a cardiorespiratory arrest due to an acute and severe asthma attack. Continue reading...

Former deputy chief medical officer said police advised they move out of their home at one point in pandemic

Alex Cunningham, MP for Stockton North, claims James Cleverly made comment during Wednesday's PMQs

Francesco Lollobrigida accused of treating Italy's rail service as his personal luxury car'Italy's agriculture minister has been accused of treating Italy's rail service as his personal luxury car" after he allegedly forced a high-speed train to make an unscheduled stop near Rome so that he could get off and continue on his way.Francesco Lollobrigida, the rightwing brother-in-law of the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, was reportedly heading to Caivano, on the outskirts of Naples, to inaugurate an urban park when the train he was travelling on suffered a series of delays. Continue reading...

Climate experts lament a lack of boldness in Jeremy Hunt's measures, which made no mention of energy efficiency

Questions over loss of UK refining capacity as owner Petroineos plans to convert facility into gas import terminal as soon as 2025Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland is to cease operations and could do so as early as 2025 under plans announced by its owner, Petroineos, part of the petrochemicals empire owned by Monaco-based British billionaire Sir James Ratcliffe.Trade unions raised concerns about the job security of the 500 people directly employed at the facility, near Falkirk, and on the UK's fuel supply from the closure of one of the country's six large oil refineries. Continue reading...

Streaming giant says tweaks will bring more revenue to artists and away from fraudsters, but some musicians are worried about further creeping changeSpotify has confirmed there will be long-rumoured changes to their royalty payments from early 2024, which include a controversial policy requiring tracks to get a minimum of 1,000 listens every year to receive royalties.Certain styles of noise" tracks such as white noise and sleep sounds must now be at least two minutes long, and Spotify will levy a new fee on labels or distributors who they deem to be generating artificial streams - where bots or click-farms are used to fraudulently inflate an artist's streaming figures, and siphon off royalty payments from Spotify. Continue reading...

Fears South Korean court will impose harsh penalty on Kwon Pyong to appease BeijingThe father of a Chinese dissident detained in South Korea said his son will die if he is sent back to China, a country he escaped from on a jetski in a life-threatening journey in August.A court in South Korea will decide on Thursday the fate of Kwon Pyong, who is charged with violating the immigration control act. Kwon, 35, pleaded guilty and appealed for leniency as prosecutors requested a sentence of two-and-a-half years, which experts say is unusually harsh. Continue reading...

Israeli military and intelligence services are reported to have backed deal but are clearly committed to continuing efforts to crush' Hamas

James Witham, 41, Joseph Peers, 29, Niall Barry, 26, and Sean Zeisz, 28, sentenced to life in prisonFour men have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Ashley Dale, who was shot dead in her Liverpool home last August.James Witham, 41, Joseph Peers, 29, Niall Barry, 26, and Sean Zeisz, 28, were found guilty on Monday at Liverpool crown court of the murder of the 28-year-old council worker. Continue reading...

Chief medical officer for England says ministers caused confusion by even debating the idea

Widspread escalation in violence across number of states poses greatest challenge yet to military ruleMyanmar is gripped by the worst escalation in violence since the military seized power in a coup almost three years ago, the UN has warned, with intense clashes taking place across a number of states and regions.The UN said an escalation in the fighting that began late in October was the largest in scale and most extensive geographically" since the military coup, and has affected vast swathes of the country. Continue reading...

MPs Nadia Whittome and Kim Johnson, plus figures including Shami Chakrabarti and Annie Mac, support Art Not Evidence campaign against contentious use of lyricsBaroness Shami Chakrabarti, DJ Annie Mac and Labour MPs Nadia Whittome and Kim Johnson are among the figures lending support to a new campaign to change how rap lyrics are used as evidence in UK criminal hearings.According to research by the University of Manchester, at least 240 people in the UK have had rap music used against them as criminal evidence in court in the last three years, including allegations of gang membership and alleged confessions of criminal activity within lyrics. High-profile recent examples include chart-topper Digga D being given a criminal behaviour order with terms that stop him from using certain names, locations and themes in his lyrics, and prosecutors attempting to use drill lyrics in a murder case against rapper Unknown T, who was later acquitted. Continue reading...

Second such announcement in three months from Kingfisher, which cuts forecast from 590m to 560mThe owner of B&Q and Screwfix has issued its second profit warning in three months as sales fell almost 4% in its financial third quarter.Kingfisher, which also owns Castorama and Brico Depot in France and also operates in Poland, Iberia and Romania, reduced its profit forecast from 590m to 560m for its financial year to the end of January. Continue reading...

Michele Bullock warns prices are rising strongly for the majority of the goods and services we all consume'

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Rolfe had applied for Elisabeth Armitage to recuse herself on the grounds of apprehended bias after she met Yuendumu community members

Chris Minns says NSW police acted responsibly' despite condemnation from protesters and civil rights groups

Working group pushes for independent ombudsman - but education ministers seek further consultation

Fijian leader anticipates collaboration' with Beijing on projects amid rising concern over China's ambitions in Pacific

Afghans waiting to be resettled in the UK and other western countries face steep charge in unprecedented' movePakistan's decision to impose hundreds of dollars in exit fees for every Afghan refugee who fled the persecution by the Taliban has been condemned as shocking and frustrating" by western diplomats and the UN.The unprecedented" move targets refugees who are waiting to leave Pakistan for western countries under resettlement schemes, and charges about $830 (660) for each person. Continue reading...

Cases in which body is found decomposed have been steadily increasing since 1980, researchers sayGrowing numbers of people in England and Wales are being found so long after they have died that their body has decomposed, in a shocking trend linked to austerity and social isolation, doctors have said.Such deaths have been rising steadily in England and Wales since 1980 and are a product of wider societal breakdown, although Covid may also have played a part, according to new research. Continue reading...

Slide estimated 450ft wide occurred near Wrangell, a small fishing community, and cut off power to about 75 homesA landslide that ripped down a sopping, heavily forested mountainside in south-east Alaska killed three people, injured a woman and left three other people missing as it smashed into three homes in a remote fishing community, authorities said Tuesday.Rescue crews found the body of a girl in an initial search and late Tuesday the bodies of two adults were found by a drone operator. Continue reading...

Jordan Shanks-Markovina is being provided with police protection due to suspected gang links to fire attacks

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Detective tells coronial hearing that investigation still in its infancy' and no charges have been laid

Psychologist noted risk factors' for possible reoffending including attitudes' stemming from his own childhood abuse, court documents reveal

New cyber security strategy cites business concerns at having to store large amounts of data for excessive periods of time, increasing breach risk

Report by Australian Transport Safety Bureau report also found the height from which 34-year-old Chris Wilson fell was likely not survivable'

Fifty hostages held in Gaza will be freed over four days in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners and a lull in Israeli military operations

Pyongyang claims success on third attempt - breaching a 2018 agreement meant to reduce tensions, says SouthSouth Korea has moved to partially suspend a 2018 military agreement with North Korea, which said it had successfully launched its first military spy satellite into orbit, the Yonhap news agency reported.North Korea is clearly demonstrating that it has no will to abide by the 19 September [2018] military agreement designed to reduce military tension on the Korean Peninsula and to build trust," the South's prime minister, Han Duck-soo, told an extraordinary cabinet meeting that approved suspending the deal. Continue reading...

Chief of Children and Young People with Disability Australia says families are simply seeking help for their children, with the NDIS the only place to turn'

Equal Pay Day report from Fawcett Society blames lack of flexible working in well-paid high-quality jobsUK women aged 40 and older will not experience the closure of the gender pay gap until after they reach state pension age, according to a report by the Fawcett Society.The Equal Pay Day 2023 report, Making flexible working the default", found that on average working women take home 574 a month less than men - or 6,888 a year.Forty per cent of unemployed women said access to flexible work would enable them to take on paid work. Almost a third of unemployed men said the same.Women were significantly more likely to report working part-time (27%) compared with men (14%).About 77% of women agreed that they would be more likely to apply for a job that advertised flexible working options. Continue reading...

In its submission to the Optus outage inquiry, telco says rival roaming would require massive changes and investment

After big night out, a NSW man got more than he bargained for when he hitched a ride underneath a semi-trailer, and ended up on the Gold Coast in Queensland

Planning committee votes unanimously against All England Club's proposals to triple size onto listed parkA London council has rejected plans to build a new 8,000-seat stadium and 38 further tennis courts on a Grade II*-listed park in Wimbledon.Wandsworth council's planning committee on Tuesday night voted unanimously to reject the All England Lawn Tennis Club's plans to almost triple the size of the tennis championship grounds from 17 hectares (42 acres) to 46 hectares. Continue reading...

HRW says other mosques altered, for example through removal of minarets, as part of sinicisation campaignChinese authorities have closed or altered hundreds of mosques in the northern regions of Ningxia and Gansu, homes to the highest Muslim populations in China after Xinjiang, as part of broader efforts to sinicise" China's religious minorities, according to a report.Researchers at Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Chinese government was significantly reducing the number of mosques in Ningxia autonomous region and Gansu province. Continue reading...