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Several dozen demonstrators were required to wear numbered lanyards, as police monitored their march against a proposed land reclamationHong Kong police have permitted a small protest march under tight restrictions, in one of the first demonstrations to be approved since the enactment of a sweeping national security law in 2020.Several dozen demonstrators were required to wear numbered lanyards and were barred from wearing masks, as police monitored their march against a proposed land reclamation and rubbish processing project. Continue reading...

TUC and charity call for better support and legal right to reasonable adjustments at work for sufferers

Dismissal of Yoav Gallant, a senior figure in the ruling Likud party, brings tens of thousands on to streets of Tel Aviv

Report says black children over-represented in strip-searches by police between 2018 and 2022An official report accuses police of the widespread abuse of their power to strip-search children, with black children 11 times more likely than their white peers to be selected by officers for the ordeal.Data collected by the children’s commissioner found there were at least 2,847 recorded strip-searches of children pre-arrest across England and Wales between 2018 and 2022 under stop and search powers.About one-third of all strip-searches took place in London, which means children in London were more than twice as likely to be strip-searched compared with what the share of children in the capital would indicate.Black children were 6.4 times more likely to be strip-searched compared with what their share of the population would indicate. For Asian children, it was 1.1 times/10% more likely.White children were 44% less likely to be strip-searched compared with what their share of the population would indicate. Based on their respective shares of the population, black children were 11 times more likely to be strip-searched compared with white children. It is worth noting that all results are based on police reports (ie police-attributed ethnicity), that’s why there were so few mixed-race children in the sample.51% of strip-searches led to no further action, which implies a fairly high rate of failure, which is disturbing given the drastic nature of the police action.Less than a third of the cases (31%) led to arrest. Continue reading...

Police will also have greater drug testing powers as part of crackdown on antisocial behaviourThe sale of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, to the public will be banned and the police will be given enhanced drug-testing powers as part of Rishi Sunak’s attempt to crack down on antisocial behaviour “with urgency”.The levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, said the proposals would stop parks being turned into drug-taking arenas, and would help ministers stamp out antisocial behaviour. Continue reading...

Unions, regulators and NHS England all say staff shortages are affecting health of medics and patients“There’s a gap today that no locum filled, so I am carrying both bleeps and doing the work of two people.” That recent tweet, by a children’s doctor, is one of many examples posted on social media by medics illustrating how NHS staff shortages affect them, patients, the smooth running of important services – and, sometimes, the safety of those who are receiving care.It is a concern shared by every organisation that represents frontline staff, by regulators such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and by NHS England, the body that oversees the service. Just as one example, in January the CQC reported that an inspection it had undertaken of Colchester hospital in Essex found patients were missing out on meals because there were too few staff on duty to feed them. Some patients were wearing dirty dressings, and others did not have their call bells answered promptly, for the same reason. Continue reading...

Exclusive: workplace plan sent to ministers says deficit will rise rapidly from current 154,000 if current trends continueThe NHS in England needs a massive injection of homegrown doctors, nurses, GPs and dentists to avert a recruitment crisis that could leave it short of 571,000 staff, according to an internal document seen by the Guardian.A long-awaited workforce plan produced by NHS England says the health service is already operating with 154,000 fewer full-time staff than it needs, and that number could balloon to 571,000 staff by 2036 on current trends. Continue reading...

Yacht impounded over alleged breach of far-right government’s new rules for rescue vesselsItalian authorities have detained a migrant rescue boat financed by the British street artist Banksy after it responded to a distress call in the central Mediterranean.The vessel, painted in bright pink and named Louise Michel after a French feminist anarchist, was impounded in the port of Lampedusa on Sunday in relation to an alleged breach of new Italian rules for rescue boats operated by non-governmental organisations. Continue reading...

Ukraine accuses Kremlin of holding Minsk as ‘nuclear hostage’ after Russia strikes deal to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

The winner out of Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes or Ash Regan will face immediate and longer-term challengesOn Monday afternoon, the Scottish National party will unveil its new leader and Scotland’s first minister-elect, after the most bruising and tumultuous contest in the party’s history. The SNP’s first leadership election in nearly 20 years was triggered in February by Nicola Sturgeon’s shock decision to resign.The contest has been an at times vicious ideological battle between the continuity candidate, Humza Yousaf, the flag carrier for Sturgeon’s socially liberal agenda; Kate Forbes, a vocal, centre-right critic of many of Sturgeon’s policies; and Ash Regan, an ill-experienced outlier who tried to appeal to the SNP’s independence hardliners. Continue reading...

New Human Rights Watch head Tirana Hassan says UK’s plan to deport asylum seekers is ‘cheap politics’The UK’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda would “completely erode” Britain’s standing on the world stage, the new head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.Tirana Hassan, who takes over as HRW’s executive director on Monday, also said other conservative governments in Europe were considering following Britain’s lead and looking at African states as an offshore dumping ground for asylum seekers, potentially dealing further blows to established refugee protections. Continue reading...

Latest tragedy comes as authorities in north African country crack down on undocumented peopleAt least 29 people from sub-Saharan Africa have died while trying to reach Italy after two boats carrying them across the Mediterranean sank off the coast of Tunisia.The deaths, which occurred early on Sunday, are the latest tragedies involving people departing from the north African country, where the authorities have launched a crackdown on undocumented people from sub-Saharan Africa. Continue reading...

Lee Stevenson, 27, was a passenger on motorbike that crashed in Peterlee in early hours of Saturday morningA man has died and another is in a critical condition after a motorbike crashed following a police pursuit.Lee Stevenson, 27, was a pillion passenger on the motorbike that crashed in Peterlee, County Durham, at about 2.30am on Saturday. Continue reading...

Ukraine says Putin’s deal to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus destabilises neighbour

Progressive shift in upper house possible while vote for minor parties and independents reaches record levels in election more definitive than expected

Women escaping violence are staying in refuges for years due to a lack of alternative social housing, providers say

Thinktank calls on UK government to provide stronger regulation to protect workers from intrusive monitoring“Dystopian” worker surveillance techniques are more likely likely to disproportionately affect young people, women and ethnic minorities, a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank warns.Worker surveillance practices have increasingly become the new normal, with a rise in remote work leading to an escalation in workplace monitoring, according to the report. But it says regulation has not kept up with the reality. Continue reading...

Government’s post-Brexit funding U-turn comes too late for councils to allocate money to keep them runningBack-to-work schemes across England previously paid for by the EU are being forced to close and lay off staff, despite a last-minute rule change by the government aimed at allowing councils to fund them.Michael Gove’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) wrote to local authorities last week giving them the green light to spend their shared prosperity fund (SPF) allocations on job schemes, from April. Continue reading...

Minority shareholder Ken Lui leads campaign seeking to split bank’s Asian and western businessesHong Kong investors have forced HSBC into a shareholder vote on its structure and strategy, including a potential spin-off of its Asian arm.An investor group, led by the minority shareholder Ken Lui, said the bank’s Asian activities were “effectively subsidising the western businesses, to the detriment of HSBC’s global shareholders” in a way that undermines efforts to increase the bank’s value and growth. Continue reading...

Government’s last-minute decision to delay clocks going forward caused confusion and deepened religious divisionThe Lebanese government’s last-minute decision to delay the start of daylight savings time by a month until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has resulted in mass confusion.With some institutions implementing the change while others refused, many Lebanese have found themselves in the position of juggling work and school schedules in different time zones – in the same small country. Continue reading...

Levelling up secretary says it is right to outlaw use of nitrous oxide because it fuels antisocial behaviourMichael Gove has defended the prime minister’s focus on banning the sale of laughing gas, saying the proposals will stop parks being turned into drug-taking arenas.The ban is part of the UK government’s antisocial behaviour plans to be unveiled on Monday and will also include victims of crimes and communities being given a say over the type of penalties that offenders should face. Continue reading...

Han Dong’s departure escalates row over allegations that Beijing meddled in Canada’s elections as friction between countries growsThe abrupt resignation of a Canadian lawmaker over allegations he secretly met with a Chinese diplomat has escalated a row over allegations that Beijing meddled in Canadian elections – and highlighted the complex and often fraught relationship between the two countries.Han Dong, a member of the governing Liberal party, was reported to have met with Han Tao, China’s consul general in February 2021, to suggest that Chinese authorities delay freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who were detained in China at the time. Continue reading...

Why did Brighton bomber Patrick Magee risk all by checking into the Grand hotel under the pseudonym of a fellow IRA member?Shortly after noon on 15 September 1984, a young, smartly dressed man walked into the Grand hotel at Brighton and asked for a room facing the sea. The receptionist offered number 629, on the sixth floor. The guest paid £180 cash for three nights. On the registration card, he gave his nationality as English, his address as Braxfield Road, London, and his name as Roy Walsh. Thus was born one of the great riddles of the Troubles.Nearly four weeks later, at 2.54am on 12 October, the guest’s purpose was revealed when a bomb in room 629 exploded. It obliterated adjoining rooms and unleashed a blast wave that shredded the roof. A five-tonne chimney stack crashed down into the rooms below, sweeping all away in its path. Continue reading...

Ten samples from Britain were suspected of containing cheap sugar syrupAdulteration of honey with cheap sugar syrup has been exposed in a new investigation by the European Commission, which found 46% of sampled products were suspected to be fraudulent. Ten honey samples from the UK all failed the tests. They may have been blended or packaged in Britain, but the honey probably originated overseas.This is not the first time tests have suggested that UK shoppers may be being cheated on their honey, though supermarkets say they regularly test honey and audit supply lines. Continue reading...

Health service managers in south-west England say new restrictions are needed because of a huge rise in waiting listsNHS managers in south-west England have imposed new rules that could deny autism assessments to thousands of children in a move that parents say “puts children at genuine risk”.At the start of this month, NHS commissioners in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire announced new referral criteria for children’s autism assessments, effective immediately with no notice or consultation. Continue reading...

Two-thirds of people who have used social care report bad experiences, as problems of low pay and poor training growDissatisfaction at social care services among those who have had to deal with them has spiralled to “unbelievably distressing” levels, according to Britain’s most comprehensive study of the public’s experiences.Two-thirds of people who have used or had contact with social care – for themselves or someone else – were dissatisfied, an analysis of the British Social Attitudes survey has revealed. Continue reading...

Labor win marks Coalition’s declining power around the country. This blog is now closed

The Victorian premier will leave on Monday night for the first visit to China by an Australian state or national leader since the pandemic began

Offenders to clean up damage within 48 hours, wearing jumpsuits or hi-viz jackets, in government bid to claim crime as priorityOffenders guilty of crimes such as vandalism will be ordered to start repairing the damage they caused within two days of receiving their punishment, under a government pledge to tackle antisocial behaviour.Victims of crimes will also be given a say over the type of punishment that offenders should face, as will communities, under an “immediate justice” scheme to be unveiled by Rishi Sunak on Monday. Continue reading...

Russia’s president says deal struck to station weapons on ally’s territory, according to Tass news agency

Comic, real name Xavier López, fronted children’s TV show that ran from 1967 to 2015The Mexican children’s entertainer Xavier López, better known by his stage name Chabelo, has died at 88, Mexico’s president has said.Andrés Manuel López Obrador tweeted that his eldest son “woke up early to see him [on television] more than 40 years ago”. Continue reading...

Queensland Human Rights Commission disagrees with assertion complaint is ‘lacking in substance’ and refers matter to tribunal over jurisdiction

Duggan is fighting a US extradition request from prison, over allegations he trained Chinese aviators

SA attorney general Kyam Maher says Australia’s first state-based Indigenous voice to parliament will demonstrate there is ‘nothing to fear or lose’

Ex-PM has reportedly nominated at least four new members of Lords despite only lasting 49 days in No 10Liz Truss has been accused of showing a “stunning lack of humility” following reports that she plans in effect to create a peer for every 10 days she spent in office.The former prime minister is reported to have nominated at least four new members of the House of Lords, despite being forced from office after only 49 days, following a disastrous mini-budget. Continue reading...

Sixteen police and two protesters seriously hurt in western rural district of Sainte-SolineSeveral people have been injured after clashes between French police and protesters opposed to a large water reservoir for farm irrigation, despite a ban on gatherings in the area.Police fired teargas to repel some protesters who threw fireworks and other projectiles as they crossed fields to approach the construction area in the western rural district of Sainte-Soline. At least three police vehicles were set alight, television footage showed. Continue reading...

Washington insists it is not seeking conflict with Tehran after responding to drone attack on coalition baseThe death toll from retaliatory US strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria after a deadly drone attack has risen to 19, a war monitor said, as Washington insisted that it was not seeking conflict with Tehran.Further rocket attacks by Iran-backed militias took place late on Friday, prompting more strikes by coalition warplanes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. Continue reading...

Manchester mayor ordered to pay £1,984 after admitting doing 78mph in section where limit had been cut to 40mphAndy Burnham has been ordered to pay nearly £2,000 in fines, charges and costs and given six penalty points for speeding on the M62.The Greater Manchester mayor, who was elected in 2017 before being re-elected for a second term in May 2021, admitted driving at 78mph on a section of motorway where the limit had been reduced to 40mph. Continue reading...

UK Statistics Authority says PM used inaccurate figures when comparing current backlog with situation under LabourThe statistics watchdog has found that the prime minister used incorrect figures when comparing the current asylum backlog to when Labour was in power.Sir Robert Chote, the chair of the UK Statistics Authority, has written to the immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, to point out the inaccuracy. Continue reading...

Observer investigation finds case of Met officer and serial rapist David Carrick among dozens removed from police websitesPolice forces in England and Wales have been accused of trying to “evade public scrutiny” after an Observer investigation found that the outcomes of dozens of officer misconduct cases have been deleted from their websites.They include some of the most serious cases of criminality, including that of the serial rapist David Carrick. Continue reading...

Family of Roxy Phillips, who was found dead next to tracks in Weymouth, says her death was ‘tragic accident’A family has warned about the dangers of railway lines after a teenage girl was found dead near tracks in Dorset.Officers were called to train lines in Weymouth at 2.25am on Thursday, where they found 15-year-old Roxy Phillips unresponsive. Continue reading...

Campaigners hope bid to develop site of prison where famous poem was composed may finally succeedThe site of Reading’s former prison has a highly desirable location in the town’s centre and a celebrated history, not least as the setting of Oscar Wilde’s most famous poem, the Ballad of Reading Gaol.But almost a decade after HMP Reading was closed, the historic building where Wilde was incarcerated for homosexual acts remains locked and inaccessible, while its owners, the Ministry of Justice, have been unable to find a commercial buyer for the site. Continue reading...

Northern Beaches mayor Michael Regan secures a 27.5% swing to end decades of Liberal dominance

Grandeur of royal couple’s state visit amid protests would have been ‘bad idea’ and it was right to postpone it, Lord Ricketts saysKing Charles’ state visit to France and a banquet at the Palace of Versailles could have had “echoes” of the French Revolution, according to former British ambassador to France.Lord Ricketts, who was Britain’s man in France from 2012 to 2016, said that the dinner would have been poorly timed during widespread protests against the French president, Emmanuel Macron’s, plans to reform pensions and raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Continue reading...

Top opposition figure expelled from parliament after being convicted of defamation over Modi remarkThe top Indian opposition figure Rahul Gandhi has said he will keep fighting for democracy after blaming his expulsion from parliament on his demands for an investigation into a key business ally of the prime minister, Narendra Modi.Gandhi was stripped of his parliamentary seat on Friday, a day after he was convicted of defamation in Modi’s home state of Gujarat for a 2019 campaign-trail remark seen as an insult to the prime minister. Continue reading...

Gender equality campaigners celebrate rule change, which affects indoor and outdoor poolsWhen a lifeguard asked police to remove Lotte Mies for bathing topless at her local indoor swimming pool in Berlin it was a move that would inadvertently trigger a rule change allowing all women, including visiting female tourists, the freedom to go topless while swimming in the city.The decision to change clothing rules around swimming in the German capital was made after two women, including Mies, filed complaints about being thrown out or barred from the city’s pools for refusing to cover up, and demanded the same rights as their male counterparts when bathing “oben-ohne” (topless) at the city’s public pools. Continue reading...

As Russian observers hunt for clues of a spring offensive, Ukraine’s land forces chief suggests an unlikely strategySpring has arrived in Ukraine – with late March temperatures an unreasonably high 17C along much of the frontline in the east. It means it is possible to declare, definitively, that the Russian campaign to knock out Ukraine’s power grid has failed, and whatever happens next in the war, its people will not be frozen out of their homes, as was once feared when the cynical bombing campaign began on 10 October.The reality, of course, was the missile strikes on key infrastructure had been largely abandoned at the end of January, with Russian missile stocks at 10-15% of prewar levels, according to Ukrainian estimates. Moscow’s tactics are changing: Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Kyiv’s military intelligence, said in a TV interview that it appeared military fuel and “logistics systems” were now being targeted. Continue reading...

Council are paying large sums for elderly care homes that are inadequate, need improving and not safe, finds Guardian researchFive of the largest private care chains are taking £150m a year in taxpayers’ money for places in English elderly care homes rated inadequate or requiring improvement, including some that are “not safe”, the Guardian has estimated.The leading earner from public funds is HC-One, a chain of 285 care homes majority-owned by a US private equity company, according to analysis of council spending records. Continue reading...

British viewers are showing an interest in travelling to Canada after launch of reality show’s third seriesCanada’s tourism industry this week expressed hopes for a rise in UK visitors after the third series of BBC’s Race Across the World launched in the UK to rave reviews.The reality show, in which five couples travel 10,000 miles (16,000km) from one side of Canada to another on a shoestring and without flying, could be a boon to the country’s recovering tourism sector. Arrivals were down 40% in 2022 from their high in 2019, but there are hopes for an increase with UK viewers inspired by the epic scenery and charmed by helpful Canadians. Continue reading...

Non-binding commitments, paucity of scientific data and poor representation of global south left a lot to be desired at summitThe first global water conference in almost half a century has concluded with the creation of a new UN envoy for water and hundreds of non-binding pledges that if fulfilled would edge the world towards universal access to clean water and sanitation.The three-day summit in New York spurred almost 700 commitments from local and national governments, non-profits and some businesses to a new Water Action Agenda, and progress on the hotchpotch of voluntary pledges will be monitored at future UN gatherings. A new scientific panel on water will also be created by the UN. Continue reading...