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Germany yet to make a decision on supply of Leopard tanks; Gen Mark Milley says not to expect Russian forces to be ejected this year. This live blog is now closed

Checkpoints have sprung up and armed police flood the streets in the restive city where dozens of civilians were killed last yearProtesters say they fear Iran’s security services may be planning an assault in the city of Zahedan – the site of a deadly attack on civilians last year – as reports emerge that there are thousands of armed police on the streets.Fifteen checkpoints have been put up in the past week across the city, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province, and several people have been detained by security forces. Continue reading...

An international court found that Brisa De Angulo, who was abused at 15, had her rights violated during the judicial processIn a historic verdict, Brisa De Angulo, a rape survivor and campaigner for child victims of sexual abuse, has won a groundbreaking case against the state of Bolivia.The inter-American court of human rights ruling found the Bolivian government to be “internationally responsible” for violating De Angulo’s rights when she was unable to find justice in the country’s courts when, aged 15, she was repeatedly raped over a period of months by a relative. It had failed to prevent, address, punish, and redress the sexual and institutional violence which she suffered, it said. Continue reading...

Archbishop of Canterbury’s position differs from that of archbishop of York, who says he will offer personal blessingsThe archbishop of Canterbury will not personally bless same-sex civil marriages despite the Church of England’s historic change of position.Justin Welby said he was “extremely joyful” at proposals to allow clergy to offer God’s blessing to same sex couples who have legally married, but said he would impose a “self-denying ordinance” for the sake of unity in the global Anglican church that he heads. Continue reading...

Surprise December drop a result of cost of living crisis forcing people to cut budgets in run-up to ChristmasRetail sales in Great Britain fell unexpectedly in December as cost-conscious consumers cut back on spending in the run-up to Christmas in response to higher prices, surging bills and a weak economic backdrop.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the surprise 1% decline in sales volumes – economists had forecast a rise of 0.5% – was down to factors including rampant increases in food prices and a fall in online purchases as consumers worried about a wave of postal strikes affecting Christmas deliveries. Continue reading...

Jim Auld, 72, was one of 14 ‘hooded men’ subjected to interrogation methods since ruled as tortureJim Auld was so tortured by British army interrogators during the Troubles that he tried to kill himself. He survived but has never seen a counsellor or psychologist or psychiatrist, and never will.“I don’t trust them that it wouldn’t end up in a paper somewhere. I don’t want the torturers learning from me so they can improve their techniques,” he said last week. Continue reading...

‘Chilling’ new criminal law penalizing internationally funded journalism comes as repression in the country is on the riseSince graduating from the University of Havana’s faculty of journalism in 2021, Pedro Sosa, 24, has photographed families of political prisoners and written about the chronic lack of medicine and syringes in Cuba’s fraying medical system.It was risky work on an island that brooks little dissent, but in September things came to a head: he was interrogated by state security and told that if he didn’t renounce his work for the independent media outlets El Toque (the Touch) and El Estornudo (the Sneeze) he could face jail. Continue reading...

Full list of site closures, which will start in April and carry on through into June this yearLloyds and Halifax have become the latest high street banks to announce a series of branch closures across England and Wales.Lloyds Banking Group, which owns both banks, is to close 18 Halifax sites and 22 Lloyds branches, starting in April and through into June this year. Continue reading...

AML Tax (UK) Ltd, which ran payment programmes, was ‘part of Doug Barrowman’s Isle of Man-based Knox Group’Three payment programmes operated by a company linked to the husband of the Conservative peer Michelle Mone have been named as tax avoidance schemes by HM Revenue and Customs.Douglas Barrowman, Lady Mone’s husband since they married on the Isle of Man in November 2020, is the founder and chairman of the Knox Group, a financial services and wealth management firm based on the island, which is widely considered to be a tax haven. HMRC said a Manchester-based company, AML Tax (UK) Ltd, which ran the three newly named tax avoidance schemes was “a part of Doug Barrowman’s Isle of Man-based Knox Group”. Continue reading...

Storms cause several deaths in Alabama and Georgia, while parts of eastern Europe also hit record highsAlthough temperatures have plummeted in the UK since last weekend, it has been warmer across the Atlantic in southern parts of the US. Dallas Fort Worth airport broke daily maximum records on consecutive days last week, reaching 29C (85F) on 11 January.The warmth also affected areas further east, with a moist, southerly air mass helping to fuel severe thunderstorms that produced a preliminary count of 60 tornadoes in the south-east on the 12th. The tornadoes resulted in several fatalities in Alabama and Georgia, with one tornado tracking over a path 76 miles long. It has been a very active start to the year across the US, with more than 700 severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings issued already. As of 18 January there had been 135 tornadoes, well above the average of 30 expected up to this point. Continue reading...

ASCL says grades such as ‘requires improvement’ should be replaced by descriptions of strengths and flawsHeadteachers are calling for a radical overhaul of school inspection in England, including the scrapping of ratings such as “good” or “requires improvement”, which they describe as a “woefully blunt” measure of a school’s performance.The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) says the current system, which labels a school either “outstanding”, “good”, “requires improvement” or “inadequate”, fails to reflect the vastly different circumstances in which schools operate, while Ofsted’s inspection regime is “punitive” rather than constructive. Continue reading...

Greg Lynn’s lawyer, Dermot Dann KC, says reporting on interview contents could prejudice future proceedings against his client

Northern Territory police minister warns businesses to self-regulate or authorities will toughen laws to help curb rising street crime and family violence

Tasmanian state branch chief executive says the move is about protecting veterans from gambling harm

Brodie Lee Palmer, Mitchell Colin Forth and Aleesha Louise Gilmore were charged with murder on Wednesday

Canterbury Bankstown mayor had recently been cleared of allegations made by a former Labor MP in parliamentThe New South Wales Labor candidate Khal Asfour has withdrawn from the upcoming election after media reports detailing expenses he claimed while on an overseas trip for a Sydney council.Asfour, the Canterbury Bankstown mayor who was to run for the upper house, said through a spokesperson he had been subjected to a “vicious smear campaign” and would pull out from the race with two months until polling day.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

‘The difference you have made is immeasurable,’ says Canadian prime minister Justin TrudeauThe US president, together with the prime ministers of Canada and Australia, have paid tribute to their New Zealand counterpart, who shocked the world by announcing she would be resigning as her country’s leader.Joe Biden applauded Ardern’s “stewardship in advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific” and credited her leadership for making the US-New Zealand partnership “stronger than ever”. Continue reading...

Polish prime minister says key issue is to get military aid to Ukraine urgently, as US unveils fresh $2.5bn aid package including fighting vehicles but not tanks

Corrections minister Enver Erdogan to confirm transition to public services, in move welcomed by Indigenous advocates

Government says Acma will be able to impose a compulsory code of conduct against disinformation on digital platforms

Singer, songwriter and guitarist co-founded the Byrds and supergroup Crosby, Stills & NashLegendary US musician David Crosby has died aged 81, after a “long illness”.The singer, guitarist and songwriter was part of the original lineup of the Byrds and appeared on their first five albums, including the 1965 hit cover of Bob Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man. Continue reading...

The artist is known for his drawings for the Bash Street Kids and Dennis the MenaceBeano cartoonist David Sutherland, who drew some of the UK’s most loved comic strips, has died aged 89.The artist is known for his drawings for the Bash Street Kids and Dennis the Menace. Continue reading...

Prosecution argue state of room and Kaylea’s physical deterioration reveal serious breach of parental dutiesA 16-year-old girl who died from complications of obesity was surrounded by food wrappers and had a dirty deep-fat fryer in her bedroom when her body was found, a court has heard.Kaylea Titford, from Newtown in Powys, Wales, was 146kg (22st 13lbs) when she died on 9 or 10 October 2020. She was born with spina bifida, a spine condition that meant she could not use her legs, and had hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain. Continue reading...

No 10 says PM ‘fully accepts mistake’ as Lancashire Constabulary say they are making inquiriesPolice are looking into Rishi Sunak’s admission that he failed to wear a seatbelt while filming a video for his Instagram account in the back of a moving vehicle – an apparent breach of the law.A spokesperson for Lancashire constabulary said on Thursday evening they were aware of matter and were making inquiries. According to his government’s own safety campaign, any driver or passenger not wearing a seatbelt is breaking the law and is liable to be fined up to £500. Continue reading...

Group says move due to ‘changing market conditions’ as industry warns of insufficient government fundingLloyds Pharmacy is closing all 237 of its outlets in Sainsbury’s supermarkets amid fears of insufficient government funding for the industry.The group said it was making the closures – which are thought to affect about 2,000 jobs – “in response to changing market conditions”, adding it was “currently exploring options for each individual branch”. Continue reading...

Observers expect Germany’s hesitant chancellor will soon say yes to allowing supply of Leopards to war effortLess than a year ago it would have seemed barely imaginable that the German state would be supplying arms in a conflict. Yet now the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, finds himself under mounting international pressure to give an unconditional green light for German-made tanks to be sent to Ukraine – having tentatively signalled his readiness to do so, but only if the US agrees to do the same.Even though Germany is often reluctant to spread the message itself, it is among Ukraine’s leading supporters in terms of defence aid and humanitarian and economic help. It has given refuge to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, a very underreported aspect of its support. Continue reading...

Priory hospital Cheadle Royal provided ‘inadequate care’ for Beth Matthews, who killed herself last yearA private psychiatric hospital provided “inadequate care” for a woman who killed herself by swallowing a poisonous substance, a jury has found.Beth Matthews, a mental health blogger, was being treated as an NHS patient for a personality disorder at the Priory hospital Cheadle Royal in Stockport. Continue reading...

Kremlin appears to prepare for strikes on Russian capital by installing interception systems

Exclusive: council leaders accuse Rishi Sunak of offering ‘pre-election bribes’ as many deprived areas miss outTory seats have been awarded significantly more money per person from the government’s £4bn levelling up fund than areas with similar levels of deprivation, a Guardian analysis has found.The disclosure is bound to provoke further fury from some regional leaders, who on Thursday accused Rishi Sunak of offering “pre election bribes”. Councils discovered that wealthy areas, including the prime minister’s Richmond constituency, will benefit from the new £2.1bn pot of funding while many deprived areas will miss out. Continue reading...

Labour leader likens scale of change needed to policing reforms in Northern Ireland after Good Friday agreementKeir Starmer has indicated the Metropolitan police might need to change its name as part of a much-needed “root and branch” review in the wake of the David Carrick case.The Labour leader likened the scale of change needed within the force to the policing reforms in Northern Ireland which took place after the Good Friday agreement. The Royal Ulster Constabulary was eventually replaced by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Continue reading...

Cancellations far higher than official data suggests, says ORR, driven by use of unrecorded ‘pre-cancellations’The rail regulator has ordered train companies to stop abusing a loophole which means that any train they cancel the night before does not count in their official cancellation statistics.The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said train cancellations were at “record levels”, far worse than official figures suggest, driven by an increased number of unrecorded “pre-cancellations”, known as “p-coding”. Continue reading...

Lithuanian defence minister says formal announcement will be made on FridayUkraine’s state broadcaster Suspilne is reporting that eleven people are still considered missing after Saturday’s attack on a high-rise building in Dnipro.Yesterday it reported that, according to deputy mayor of Dnipro, Mykhailo Lysenko, “municipal workers are still finding remains of bodies while sorting through the debris”, and the remains are being handed over to forensic experts for DNA testing.How can you escalate against a guy who is doing all out war against a civilian population? Continue reading...

Wrestlers including Olympic medallists stage sit-in demanding federation is disbandedTwo Olympic medal-winning wrestlers in India have accused the head of their sport’s governing body and its coaches of sexually harassing female players and have vowed to protest until the federation is disbanded and its leader investigated.Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, who have Olympic bronzes, Vinesh Phogat, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, and other athletes began a sit-in protest in the capital, Delhi, on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Devon and Cornwall force say they did not have enough staff to deal with number of licensing applicationsA police force that took the “high risk” decision to return a shotgun licence to a man who went on to kill five people in Plymouth has admitted it did not have enough staff to deal with the number of licensing applications it was receiving.Devon and Cornwall police also told an inquest on Jake Davison’s victims that there were no records of audits being undertaken to check decision-making in the firearms licensing department at the time. Continue reading...

Woman conceived through rape campaigned for law change after facing difficulties pursuing justice against her birth fatherA woman conceived through rape, who has campaigned for a change in the law to recognise people like herself as victims, is celebrating after achieving her goal.The government has announced that the victims’ bill will extend the definition of a “victim” to include people who are born as a result of rape. It means England and Wales will be among the first in the world to officially confer victim status to children born of rape. Continue reading...

Companies have made a ‘final offer’ to union including pay rise of 9% over two years

Kennedy School dean initially refused ex-Human Rights Watch head Kenneth Roth a fellowship over criticisms of IsraelFollowing a storm of protest, Harvard’s Kennedy School has reversed its decision to deny a fellowship to the former head of Human Rights Watch (HRW), Kenneth Roth, over criticisms of Israel.The decision by the Kennedy School dean, Douglas Elmendorf, to refuse Roth a position at the school’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy drew widespread condemnation, including from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other free speech advocates, and hundreds of Harvard faculty and students. Continue reading...

PM suggests public understands what is affordable, but his stance could trigger fresh backlash from Tory MPs

Coffin is accompanied into church by estranged son, grandson and ex-husband who are embroiled in inheritance feudFans of the Italian screen legend Gina Lollobrigida shouted “goodbye, Queen of Rome” as they gathered for her funeral in the city while defending her against relatives embroiled in a bitter inheritance feud.Lollobrigida, one of the most glamorous actors of Hollywood’s golden age, died on Monday at the age of 95. Continue reading...

Labour says inflation may force more students to drop out, as those in England get just £200 more on averageStudents from Wales will get £1,000 more to help with the cost of living crisis while those in England get just £200 on average, as Labour MPs said inflation may force more students to drop out of university.The Welsh government said maintenance loans and grants for its students would rise by 9.4% from September, with support for full-time students increasing from £10,710 to £11,720 on average. Students in England will get a rise of just 2.8% in the next academic year after the Westminster government’s announcement last week, with the average maintenance loan increasing by about £200. Continue reading...

Chris Skidmore, who this week launched report on how to reach emissions target, says party must take climate targets seriously

Volunteers mourning student doctor shot dead among those calling for Dina Boluarte to resign and hold fresh electionsPeru’s capital city is bracing for further unrest as thousands of protesters from across the country pour into Lima to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, after nearly six weeks of turmoil that has claimed close to 50 lives.Two more people were killed late on Wednesday and another seriously injured in Macusani, a city in the southern region of Puno. After the deaths, protesters torched a police station, forcing officers to flee in a helicopter. In Lima, police fired teargas after clashes broke out with protesters. Continue reading...

Family run business has traded in Louth, Lincolnshire, since 1781 but is closing due to ‘challenging times’One of the UK’s oldest department stores has announced it is closing its doors because of “challenging times” after trading for more than 240 years.Eve & Ranshaw, in the market town of Louth, Lincolnshire, has traded continuously since 1781 and is one of the oldest independent, family run department stores in the country. Continue reading...

A National win in New Zealand could bring minor changes to the relationship but the neighbours are expected to remain close no matter who the prime ministers are

Expert says difference in nations’ advice reflects contrasting risk appetite rather than failure to keep up with evidence

South Australian senator says party will work to get all elements of the Uluru statement delivered, including treaty and truth-telling

Exclusive: Peak medical body claims Australia could collect $814m annually through a sugar tax, which it says 85 other countries have already implemented

Opposition says Tory chair must explain why he paid millions of pounds in backdated tax to HMRCLabour has called for an inquiry into whether Nadhim Zahawi broke the ministerial code or misled the public over his tax affairs during his time as chancellor.Anneliese Dodds, the chair of the Labour party, wrote to Rishi Sunak on Wednesday saying there should be an inquiry if Zahawi, the Conservative party chair, does not fully explain why he paid millions of pounds in tax to HMRC. Continue reading...

Ministers under pressure to ban IRGC in Europe but there are concerns it could lead to collapse of nuclear talksThe European parliament has called for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) to be blacklisted in Europe, a move some western politicians fear could provoke Iran to walk out of talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.The parliament has only an advisory role, but EU foreign ministers are due to meet on Monday to discuss further sanctions, and the Iranian diaspora is making the proscription of the IRGC its key demand. Continue reading...

Rights groups say Javad Rouhi, who was sentenced on charges including apostasy, was tortured so badly he can no longer speakA 35-year-old man from a small village in northern Iran has been sentenced to death on charges including apostasy for allegedly burning a Qur’an and “insulting holy things” during the early phase of the protests triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.Javad Rouhi has not been entitled to a lawyer of his choice in court and suffers from a severe mental illness. Human rights groups say he was tortured so terribly in a detention centre run by the feared Revolutionary Guards that he lost his ability to speak and walk, and became incontinent. Continue reading...