Recruitment will get harder and it will be a very tough spring if UK ministers persist in facing down the unionsNo doubt nurses and teachers will be even more determined to strike later this week when they see how the pay gap between the public and private sectors persists in the latest official figures.The Office for National Statistics said private sector pay increased by 7.2%, before adjusting for inflation, while the equivalent figure for the public sector was a meagre rise of 3.3% in the three months to the end of November. Continue reading...
Police officer admitted 49 charges, including 24 counts of rape against 12 women over 18-year periodPC David Carrick has been sacked from the Metropolitan police for gross misconduct.Carrick, 48, who was suspended from the force and held in custody after he was arrested for rape in October 2021, did not attend the hearing in Earl’s Court, west London, which lasted an hour and 45 minutes. Continue reading...
Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ‘submitted resignation from assigned positions, quit job and retired’, say reportsVietnam’s president has resigned after days of rumours he was about to be sacked as part of an anti-corruption drive that has led to several ministers being fired, according to state media reports.Nguyen Xuan Phuc has “submitted his resignation from his assigned positions, quit his job and retired”, the VNA said. Continue reading...
Amiens mayor wants singer to lend Jérôme-Martin Langlois painting after it went missing in first world warWhat do the singer Madonna and Amiens in northern France have in common? Not a lot, says the city’s mayor, Brigitte Fouré, who admits the global star has probably never heard of the city until now.However, Fouré insists there is a “special link” between the two in the shape of an early 19th-century painting that once hung in the Amiens museum until it was lost without trace during the first world war. Continue reading...
Video purportedly shows 26-year-old editor, who accuses police of forcing her and friends to sign blank arrest warrantsA Chinese woman has accused police of forcing her and friends to sign blank arrest warrants and detaining them in secret locations over their attendance at a protest vigil in Beijing last year.A video, purported to be of Cao Zhixin, a 26-year-old editor at Peking University Press, began spreading online on Monday. In it, Cao said she and five friends attended a riverside vigil in Beijing on 27 November, to mourn the victims of a building fire in Urumqi. The fire had been linked to the enforcement of China’s strict zero-Covid policy and became a catalyst for vigils and protests. Continue reading...
by Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor on (#67X3S)
Gillian Keegan ‘extremely disappointed’ in decision to strike and stops short of promising pay reviewThe education secretary said she was willing to talk to teachers about money but stopped short of promising to review pay, as teachers in England and Wales announced seven days of strike action over February and March.Gillian Keegan, who will meet teaching unions on Tuesday, said she was “extremely disappointed” in the decision to strike but said the government was prepared to talk to teachers about the challenges faced by the profession. Continue reading...
The former airline pilot allegedly murdered Melbourne couple Russell Hill and Carol Clay before setting fire to their campsite, according to court documents
Alleged plotters planned to attack president during visit to north-east France in 2018, say prosecutorsMembers of a far-right group are to go on trial in Paris on Tuesday accused of plotting to assassinate Emmanuel Macron as part of an attempted coup.Prosecutors say members of a group called Les Barjols planned to attack the president with a knife during an official visit to north-east France in November 2018. Continue reading...
Assessment of risk ‘unacceptable’ and ‘critical opportunities’ to correct errors were missed, says reportA “psychopathic” and racist criminal murdered three children and his pregnant partner after a series of failings within the Probation Service, a damning report by a watchdog has found.The chief inspector of probation, Justin Russell, said the organisation’s assessment and supervision of Damien Bendall was of an “unacceptable standard” at every stage and “critical opportunities” to correct errors were missed. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#67X0Z)
Study finds significant differences between prices of cheapest food and those of items acceptable in real everyday livesThe first study to use real shopping lists to track the impact of the cost of living crisis on family budgets in Scotland has uncovered a “dignity gap” between the cheapest products and what families actually want to eat.Nourish Scotland’s report, which launches on Tuesday, tracks the affordability and accessibility of a weekly shop for different-sized families who are at highest risk of food insecurity, including a single-parent family and a larger family unit with three children. Continue reading...
Commander claims ‘trying and failing to democratise’ country can jeopardise national security, just over a month after hotly contested electionsFiji’s military chief has warned MPs against making “sweeping changes”, less than a month after contested elections that removed the government of Frank Bainimarama, who ruled the Pacific island for 16 years after taking power in a coup.Under Fiji’s constitution – adopted in 2013 – the military has wide powers to intervene in politics. The new government – under the control of prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka – has said that reviewing the constitution is one of its immediate priorities. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Charities and activists call on PM to follow through on pledge to allow families to resettle in UKMore than 100 charities and activists are calling on the prime minister to facilitate the resettlement of family members of thousands of Afghans who came to the UK under a government scheme.The government pledged to resettle family members in the UK but at the moment there is no mechanism for them to do this. Campaigners have accused the government of abandoning Afghans in danger who were promised the right to reunite with family members in the UK. Continue reading...
Justice system in England and Wales failing rising number of inmates locked up without conviction, says committeeThe criminal justice system is failing the ever rising number of remand prisoners in England and Wales, which is at its highest level for 50 years, MPs have warned.The House of Commons justice committee says the increase, and rise in length of time spent on remand, has been fuelled by the backlog in the courts and insufficient community provision for people with vulnerabilities. Continue reading...
The economy grew 3% in 2022, exceeding some forecasts, but still well below China’s official target for the yearChina’s GDP expanded at its slowest pace since the mid-1970s bar the Covid-hit 2020 year, as the world’s second-largest economy struggled under tight pandemic restrictions that were abruptly ditched late in 2022.The economy grew 3% last year, well shy of the 5.5% pace the government had targeted at the start of the year and the 8.1% recorded for 2021. The actual rate though, was better than the 2.7% predicted by the World Bank earlier this month. Continue reading...
by Helen Davidson in Taipei and agencies on (#67WWC)
Shift marks the start of a long period of population decline as China wrestles with demographic time bombChina has entered an “era of negative population growth”, after figures revealed a historic drop in the number of people for the first time since 1961.The country had 1.41175 billion people at the end of 2022, compared with 1.41260 billion a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday, a drop of 850,000. It marked the beginning of what is expected to be a long period of population decline, despite major government efforts to reverse the trend. Continue reading...
Anju Khatiwada joined Yeti Airlines in 2010, four years after her husband died while piloting a plane for the same airlineThe co-pilot of the Yeti Airlines flight that crashed on Sunday in Nepal was the widow of a pilot who flew for the same airline, and also died in a plane crash 16 years ago.In 2010, Anju Khatiwada joined Yeti Airlines, following in the footsteps of her husband. Dipak Pokhrel also flew for the Nepali airline, but died when a small passenger plane he was flying went down minutes before landing. Continue reading...
Charities and non-profit bodies urge Jeremy Hunt to introduce discount tariff from April 2024Jeremy Hunt is facing calls for a “social energy tariff” providing cheaper gas and electricity for low income households to be introduced when government support ends next year.In an open letter to the chancellor, 95 charities and non-profit organisations have urged the government to move quickly to legislate for a change in energy bills for “those in greatest need to ensure they are able to live in their homes comfortably”. Continue reading...
UK medicines watchdog advises GPs to ‘taper’ doses for patients who want to stop taking the drugsGPs whose patients want to stop taking antidepressants should reduce the dose of their medication in stages to lower the risk and severity of withdrawal symptoms, the medicines watchdog has said.About one in six (16%) adult Britons experience moderate to severe depression, according to the Office for National Statistics. In England alone, 21.4m antidepressant drugs were prescribed between July and September 2022, according to the NHS Business Services Authority. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#67WTB)
Census data analysis shows growth of ‘rainbow’ towns and cities, as more people live with neighbours of different backgroundsEthnic segregation in England and Wales is on the wane as more people live alongside neighbours of different backgrounds, creating “rainbow” towns and cities, research reveals.Neighbourhood diversity more than doubled nationally between 2001 and 2021, with huge transformations in some places. There was close to a tenfold increase in diversity in Boston, Lincolnshire, albeit from a low base; Barking and Dagenham recorded a ninefold increase, while diversity in Watford and Reading increased fourfold. Continue reading...
Almost half of the children surveyed by Oxford University Press chose ‘Queen’ as their top word, with ‘happy’ and ‘chaos’ in second and third place“Queen” has been chosen by young people as the Oxford children’s word of the year for 2022.Almost half of children surveyed by Oxford University Press (OUP) chose “Queen” as their word of the year. In second place was “happy”, chosen by 36% of children, with “chaos” coming in third with 14% of the vote. Continue reading...
Rebel Tories drop amendment after ministers agree to make managers criminally liable for persistent breaches of duty of careTech executives whose platforms persistently fail to protect children from online harm will face criminal charges after ministers reached a deal with Conservative backbenchers.Rishi Sunak was facing the prospect of defeat in a Commons vote on Tuesday after a rebel amendment to the online safety bill won opposition support. However, supporters have now withdrawn the amendment after the government agreed to change the legislation. Continue reading...
by Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor on (#67WMD)
Angela Rayner claims people in certain job categories could lose the right to withdraw their labour under Tory plansRishi Sunak’s new anti-strike laws would prevent certain job holders from ever being able to take industrial action, Labour’s deputy leader said during fiery exchanges in the House of Commons.Angela Rayner promised on Monday that Labour would repeal the government’s anti-strikes bill, saying it was one of the most “indefensible and foolish pieces of legislation to come before this House in modern times”. Continue reading...
More than 20 injured in incident involving a truck, after 40 died in two-bus collision in Kaffrine regionA collision between a truck and a bus in northern Senegal has killed 22 people, firefighters have said, a week after a crash between two buses left 40 people dead.More than 20 people were injured in the latest accident, which occurred on Monday near Sakal in the Louga region, Papa Ange Michel Diatta, a colonel with the national firefighting service, told AFP. Amadou Ba, the country’s prime minister, visited the site, pledging to enforce new rules of the road. Continue reading...
Producers argue Albanese government’s price cap intervention has ‘paralysed the market’Strains in the gas market have not been eased by the Albanese government’s price caps imposed late last year, with an industry group claiming supply shortages remain while the peak gas lobby is warning the sector has become “virtually paralysed”.One month on from the government’s rare intervention to limit domestic gas prices to $12 a gigajoule and black coal to $125 a tonne, big commercial gas users are hoping new compliance guidelines to be released soon by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will force suppliers to provide an adequate supply.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...
Nicola Sturgeon says Scottish government will defend its legislation ‘and stand up for Scotland’s parliament’This is what Keir Starmer said in his LBC interview about Scotland’s gender recognition reform bill, and the UK government’s reported intention to block it.Starmer suggested the SNP and the Tories were both exploiting the Scottish gender recognition bill for political advantage. He said:I am worried about the fact that I think this is being used by the SNP as a sort of devolution political football. And I think it’s being used by the government – or might be used – as a divisive football in relation to the particular issue.On this whole issue of trans rights, I think the government is looking to divide people rather than bring people together.He refused to say whether Labour would support the UK government if it did block the legislation. When it was put to him that, from what he was saying about his reservations about the bill that he was minded to support Rishi Sunak on this, he did not accept that. He said he would want to see exactly what the government said before deciding how to react. Blocking Scottish legislation would be “a big step for a government to take”, he said. But he also said No 10 was treading “very, very carefully” (which rather undermines the claim he made about the Tories potentially exploiting this for party political advantage).He said that he accepted the Gender Recognition Act needed to be modernised. But he confirmed that he thought people should not be able to self-certify their gender at the age of 16 (as they would be able to under the Scottish law). And he said he was worried about the potential impact of the Scottish bill on UK equality laws.He said that only a tiny proportion of people were likely to want to change gender. He said:I approach it on the basis that for 99.9-something percent of women, it is all about biology. Sex-based rights matter, and we must preserve all those wins that we’ve had for women over many years, and including safe spaces for women.Whilst I am sympathetic to the change that is made to make the rights of trans people in Scotland, I think we may have a clash between the position in the UK-wide legislation and the position in Scotland …[The legislation] may mean – even though I suspect political mischief on the part of the Conservative government and culture wars – they may have a point. It is arguable, at least, that what’s happened in Scotland has a potential impact on the legislation as it operates UK-wide. Continue reading...
by Harry Taylor, Jamie Grierson and Tom Ambrose on (#67WC3)
Duke and Duchess of Sussex respond to TV presenter’s message apologising for article he wroteThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex have accused Jeremy Clarkson of writing articles “that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny”, after the Grand Tour presenter apologised to the couple over a controversial article he wrote for the Sun.More than 20,000 complaints were made to Ipso, the independent regulator of most of the UK’s newspapers and magazines, about the column in December, in which Clarkson said of Meghan that he was “dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets”. Continue reading...
Joseph takes £25,000 prize for Sonnets for Albert, which weighs the impact of growing up with a largely absent fatherAnthony Joseph has won the TS Eliot prize for his collection Sonnets for Albert, described as “luminous” by the judges.Joseph takes the £25,000 poetry prize, which this year saw a record 201 submissions. Continue reading...
Thousands of schools set to close as NEU members plan mass strike on 1 February, followed by regional stoppagesThousands of schools in England and Wales are set to close in February after teachers voted to strike, union leaders have announced, as nurses also prepare for further stoppages.Action by members of the National Education Union will begin with a mass strike on 1 February, to coincide with the Trades Union Congress’s national “protect the right to strike” day of action, followed by six days of regional stoppages. Continue reading...
Alireza Akbari’s sister and daughter went to cemetery to collect his remains but were told he had already been interredThe Tehran-based family of the executed British-Iranian dual national Alireza Akbari have been prevented from seeing his body or burying him in the grave in which he had asked to be laid to rest in Shiraz, his birthplace, family members have told the Guardian.Akbari was executed for spying for M16, charges he vehemently denied and for which there is no substantive evidence, save a confession extracted under torture. Continue reading...
UK ministers to use provisions in Scotland Act to block legislation making it easier for transgender people to self-identifyRishi Sunak’s government has blocked legislation passed by the Scottish parliament that would make Scotland the first part of the UK to introduce a self-identification system for people who want to change gender.The Scottish secretary, Alister Jack, announced that he would use section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 for the first time to halt the gender recognition bill after a review by UK government lawyers. Continue reading...
Michael Holmes’s wife, Teresa, who was injured says ‘traumatic’ incident happened on regular pandemic strollA man died after being trampled by cows during a pandemic walk he had done many times before with his wife, an inquest has heard.Michael Holmes, 57 was crushed by cattle in a field near his home in the village of Netherton, West Yorkshire, in a “traumatic” incident that left his wife, Teresa, needing to use a wheelchair. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#67WGD)
But drivers’ union Aslef set to reject initial pay offer from train operators, meaning resolution is some way offTalks will continue this week between the rail industry and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) amid renewed optimism that a deal can be reached without further strikes.However, the drivers’ union Aslef was set to reject an initial offer from train operators, meaning a full resolution to the long-running pay dispute on the railway is likely to remain some time away. Continue reading...
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