World news | The Guardian

Analysis of ONS data shows black African women earn 26% less than men; Bangladeshi women 28% and Pakistani women 31%Most UK women from ethnic minority backgrounds have already stopped earning two months before Equal Pay Day, a new analysis by the Labour party shows, renewing calls for the government to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reports.Last year, 18 November was marked by Fawcett Society as Equal Pay Day, the last day in the year where the average woman stopped earning relative to the average male worker because of the gender pay gap. Continue reading...

Retailer to open 104 Simply Food outlets as high street chain speeds up turnaround plan amid rising costsMarks & Spencer is planning to close 25% of its bigger stores selling clothing and homeware while opening more than 100 new Simply Food outlets, as it speeds up its turnaround plan in the face of a “difficult economic backdrop” and rising costs.The retailer told investors it aims to have 180 “full-line” shops – selling its full range of food, clothing and homeware products – by early 2028, down from 247 at present, and said it would get rid of “lower productivity” outlets. Continue reading...

BDO understood to have told club it won’t do work on its accounts, which sources say is related to Farhad Moshiri’s ownershipEverton football club’s auditor is considering walking away from its role signing off the club’s accounts, raising questions over its financing and ownership, according to sources.The Guardian understands that the accounting firm BDO has told Everton it will not be conducting the work, a decision which sources said was related to Farhad Moshiri’s ownership of the Premier League team. The firm had audited the club’s financial accounts for the previous two years, but the Merseyside club is now believed to be searching for a replacement. Continue reading...

Campaigners say emergency response to fuel poverty risks shifting focus away from government responsibilityScotland’s leading anti-poverty campaigners are urging councils and communities “not to repeat past mistakes” by allowing “warm banks” – for those unable to afford heating their homes over the winter months – to become as entrenched as food banks.The plea was made in a joint statement from the Poverty Alliance, Trussell Trust Scotland and the Cyrenians that cautions that emergency responses to escalating fuel poverty, however well-intentioned, risk shifting the focus away from government responsibility to ensure all citizens are able to heat their homes. Continue reading...

Shares slide after developer warns of ‘less certain’ outlook as housing market hit by jump in borrowing costsBarratt Developments has reported a slump in reservations of new homes in recent weeks, as the housing market is hit by economic uncertainty and rising mortgage rates.Shares in Britain’s largest housebuilder tumbled by as much as 8% in early trading on Wednesday, the biggest faller on the FTSE 100, and dragged down the share prices of its housebuilding rivals after it warned of a “less certain” outlook. Continue reading...

Committee report says government approach on guiding people in tackling climate crisis is muddled and inadequateA third of the UK’s emissions reductions must come from people’s behaviour changing, a House of Lords committee has said.A report published on Wednesday by the upper house’s environment and climate change committee urged ministers to lead a public campaign and use regulations and taxation to guide public behaviour change in order to stop the decline of nature and reach legally binding net zero targets. Continue reading...

The money saving expert has teamed up with the UK’s library and information association to offer tips and guidanceMoney saving expert Martin Lewis has teamed up with the UK’s library and information association to offer advice to libraries considering becoming “warm banks”.Warm banks or warm spaces are places where vulnerable people and those hit hard by the cost of living can spend time. Continue reading...

High temperatures, rain and mosquitos make life unbearable for those still affected by the longest blackout in US historyAlexis Robles has slept a mere three hours a night since Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico on 18 September, causing a total blackout across the Caribbean island.Robles, 52, a systems analyst in the seaside town of Cabo Rojo in south-west Puerto Rico, has been living without power for 24 days. Continue reading...

Move comes only days after manufacturer reportedly asked government for financial supportBritish Steel’s auditor has resigned, days after the manufacturer reportedly asked the government for financial support to save its operations, including the Scunthorpe steelworks.The accounting firm Mazars said the troubled Chinese-owned steelmaker had balked at the fees it quoted to sign off the company’s books for this year and was refusing to compensate it for difficulties with the previous year’s audit. Continue reading...

Money raised after wave of Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities on Monday will be used to support army

Nationals MP said he was concerned about the government wanting to ‘reinsert racial distinctions’ into the constitution

Operators reject class action claims it was ‘negligent’ for ship to sail as it had insufficient medical supplies to combat an outbreak

Mark Dreyfus says most anti-corruption hearings will be private and only public in exceptional circumstances. This blog is now closed

Mark Ryan says he is appalled by ‘disgraceful’ evidence heard at inquiry and calls for changes to system

Exclusive: Company owned by Hinduja family refuses to offer workers inflation-matching pay riseThe UK’s richest family has been accused of “playing Scrooge” after allegations that they refused to pay all UK workers the “real living wage” while their own personal wealth swelled by £11.5bn in a single year.A company majority-owned by the Hinduja family, which was named by the Sunday Times earlier this year as the wealthiest people in Britain, is refusing to offer its workers – who help run a crucial government service – an inflation-matching pay rise. Continue reading...

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says people should not reveal to funeral providers they are eligible for payments from government scheme

Court controlled by junta adds a further three years in jail to raft of other sentences handed to the former leader

Thirty-four officers travel to China as part of effort to improve cooperation between the two forcesA delegation of more than 30 Solomon Islands police officers has travelled to China to undergo training for the first time, in a sign of deepening ties between the two countries, which signed a controversial security deal earlier this year.The group of 34 officers, including a deputy and an assistant commissioner, will be in China for a month, during which time they will receive training, visit police stations and departments and learn from the expertise of Chinese police, according to a statement issued by Solomon Islands government. Continue reading...

US president tells CNN he believes Putin’s objectives in Ukraine invasion were irrational but that he would not use a nuclear weapon

All-party group report on menopause also calls for more workplace support and training for health workersMillions of women across the UK should be invited for an NHS health check at the age of 45 to discuss the menopause and HRT prescriptions should be free, MPs have said.The all-party parliamentary group on menopause (APPG) said on Tuesday that more needs to be done urgently to help women, including boosting support in the workplace, introducing fresh training on symptoms for health workers, and improving access to treatment. Continue reading...

Streaming service’s decision to sign up to independent ratings agency is world first and will give insight into its cultural powerNetflix will finally reveal exactly how many people watch its programmes in the UK, giving an insight to the true cultural power of the streaming service and its impact on British viewing habits.Until now it has been possible to know that 13 million people tuned in for the finale of the BBC’s Line of Duty or that 31 million viewers watched England in the Euro 2020 final – but Netflix has closely guarded the numbers of people who stream its hit shows such as Squid Game or Heartstopper. Continue reading...

Christopher Backhouse falsely portrayed Erica Smith as a sex worker and signed her up for far-right groups and fetish websitesA former academic at University College London must pay almost £50,000 in damages to a former colleague after falsely portraying her as a sex worker on social media as part of a months-long campaign of harassment.Christopher Backhouse, a former research fellow at the department of physics and astronomy at UCL, has settled to pay £49,975 to Erica Smith, a physicist and a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University in the US. Continue reading...

Four women say BBC failed to act until high-profile man became Alex Belfield target, and still refuses independent inquiryThe BBC has been accused by senior female employees of failing to help them during a 10-year campaign of harassment against them by a former local radio presenter, Alex Belfield, who is now in jail for stalking.The women – who include the corporation’s outgoing director of BBC England, Helen Thomas – are furious that the BBC wouldn’t commission an independent investigation into how it “ignored” their suffering until a high-profile man, Jeremy Vine, became a Belfield target. Continue reading...

Experts are sceptical about the chance of Belaurusian troops fighting against Ukraine, even if Putin is pushing for itAlexander Lukashenko, the dictatorial leader of Belarus, has executed a careful balancing act during the war in Ukraine.On 24 February, Russian troops that had massed on Belarusian territory surged across the border into Ukraine, using his country as a staging ground in the largest invasion in Europe since the second world war. Continue reading...

German airline classifies lithium-charged devices such as Apple AirTags as similar to laptops and phones and won’t allow them to be checked in with luggage

Attorney general says bill, which will create a separate offence, could be ‘difference between life and death’

It’s estimated 3-5% of people infected with coronavirus will develop long Covid – that could amount to 500,000 people in Australia

Hanson-Young says Lidia Thorpe has also been very clear she will not back the no campaign

NSW chief health officer urged people to continue registering positive RATs voluntarily, saying it informs the state’s public health response

ACT chief justice Lucy McCallum tells jury former government staffer is due before the court on Friday

Former NSW deputy premier’s lawyer pleads not guilty on his client’s behalf over altercation with freelance cameraman

PM conveys condolences for Russia’s ‘horrific’ targeting of civilians in call to Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Rapper deals in antisemitic tropes in interview after he wore ‘white lives matter’ T-shirtUnaired segments of an interview between Kanye West and the Fox News host Tucker Carlson document the American rapper airing a series of comments based on racist conspiracy theories, adding to the growing controversy over the interview.In the segments, first reported by the tech news outlet Motherboard, West, who has changed his legal name to Ye, detailed his belief in an unfounded and antisemitic conspiracy theory that Planned Parenthood was founded “to control the Jew population”. Continue reading...

Despite his age and a health scare this year, Mahathir will defend his parliamentary seat in upcoming electionsMalaysia’s 97-year-old former leader Mahathir Mohamad has announced he will defend his seat in the general elections expected next month, though he wouldn’t say whether he would be prime minister a third time if his political alliance wins.“We have not decided who will be prime minister because the prime minister candidate is only relevant if we win,” Mahathir told a news conference on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Dame Rachel de Souza says No 10’s focus on carer-to-child ratios is ‘depressing’ and now is the time to redefine childcareThe children’s commissioner for England has poured cold water on Liz Truss’s proposal to scrap regulations governing child-to-staff ratios in nurseries, describing it as tinkering around the edges and calling instead for ambitious and transformative reform of the childcare sector.In an interview with the Guardian, Dame Rachel de Souza said children’s safety and wellbeing must be “paramount” in any plans to reform childcare and she said she thought it was “really depressing” if the current conversation about childcare focused purely on ratios. Continue reading...

Biggest tour in orchestra’s history reflects boom in interest in Ukrainian culture since Russian invasion

Research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows impact of increasing benefits in line with earnings, not inflationAt least one in five working-age families in most UK constituencies – including in Liz Truss’s seat – would lose out by hundreds of pounds on average if real-terms benefit cuts go ahead, a study has found.The scale of the impact of a below-inflation rise on already struggling households and by extension, local shops and businesses, is revealed in a study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). It would amount to the biggest-ever real terms cut to benefits in a single year. Continue reading...

Commons committee warns there are still shortages of staff to deal with UK’s new status as a third countryUK regulators are struggling to cope with the post-Brexit trading environment because of “poor preparation and planning”, a House of Commons committee investigation has found.Almost two years after the UK quit the EU, there are still shortages of vets, toxicologists, lawyers and economists to deal with the UK’s new status as a “third country”, found the public accounts committee report, Regulating After EU Exit. Continue reading...

Graham Bonham-Carter was arrested after being accused of funding properties purchased by Oleg Deripaska and expatriating his artworkA British businessman has been charged with conspiring to violate sanctions imposed by the US government on a Russian oligarch.The US Department of Justice (DoJ) said Graham Bonham-Carter was arrested on Tuesday after being accused of funding properties purchased by Oleg Deripaska and expatriating his artwork, which Bonham-Carter denies. Continue reading...

Then-Prince of Wales filmed bringing vintage royal clock and pottery to show’s craftspeople for repairKing Charles will star in a special episode of The Repair Shop later this month as part of events to mark 100 years since the BBC was established.Charles will meet the show’s host and furniture restorer, Jay Blades, and his team of craftspeople to talk about their interest in bringing new life to objects. Continue reading...

Eleanor Williams, 21, charged in relation to her allegations she was sexually exploited by a grooming gang and raped by men she knewAn alleged “serial liar” has gone on trial accused of making false allegations about being trafficked and sexually exploited by a fictional Asian grooming gang, as well as being raped by other men she knew in real life.Eleanor Williams, 21, from Walney in Barrow-in-Furness, is accused of faking injuries to corroborate her false claims, including hitting herself in the face with a hammer, and posting photographs of her wounds in public social media posts, Preston crown court heard. Continue reading...

Redesignation will bring UK’s official position towards Beijing close to its stance on RussiaChina is to be formally designated a “threat” to Britain in a hasty rewrite of Boris Johnson’s defence and foreign policy that is being brought forward to end confusion among ministers about how to deal with Beijing.Under Johnson, China had been categorised as a “systemic competitor” but the new prime minister, Liz Truss, wants to take a more hawkish stance quickly, as she seeks to shore up support for her faltering premiership on her backbenches. Continue reading...

Josep Borrell criticises staff for not anticipating Ukraine invasion, and says he sometimes learns more ‘by reading newspapers’The EU’s foreign policy chief has accused his top diplomats of being slow, ineffective and patronising towards the countries they work in, also berating them for failing to anticipate Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“This is not a moment when we are going to send flowers to all of you saying that you are beautiful, you work very well and we are very happy,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign policy, told ambassadors who work for the EU’s external action service. Continue reading...

Anyone caught protesting or harassing visitors or staff could incur fixed penalty notice of £100An extensive buffer zone is being put in place around a clinic in Dorset in order to prevent anti-abortion campaigners harassing service users and staff.The zone will cover six streets around the British Pregnancy Advice Service clinic in Bournemouth and will be in force for 12 hours a day, five days a week for the next three years. Continue reading...

UK’s highest court asked to allow Scottish parliament to resolve ‘festering issue’ without Westminster approvalThe UK’s highest court has been asked to throw out a request to settle the “festering” issue of whether Holyrood can hold a referendum on Scottish independence without Westminster’s approval.The supreme court was told that the attempt by Scottish ministers to win the court’s approval for a referendum bill was “premature” and “theoretical” by Sir James Eadie KC, a senior lawyer acting for the UK government. Continue reading...

Mayor of western Ukrainian city urges local people to gather heaters and fire wood after Russia destroys two of its power plantsThere was scant attempt to sugarcoat the assessment. With the trams stilled, lights going down across the city and the mobile network intermittent, arguably there was little point in doing otherwise.“We have to brace ourselves for hard times,” said Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of Lviv, as he addressed local and international journalists in a building off the western Ukrainian city’s cobbled Rynov Square. Continue reading...

Service will retain elements of past ceremonies but takes place on a weekend and will ‘reflect monarch’s role today’The coronation of King Charles III will take place on Saturday 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey, with the ceremony reflecting the modern-day role of the monarchy, it has been announced.The King and Queen Consort will be crowned in a service that will retain some historical elements of past coronations but also recognise the spirit of the times. Continue reading...

Defendant accused of murdering seven babies allegedly said ‘trust me, I’m a nurse’ when interruptedA mother of twins walked in on a nurse attempting to murder one of her baby boys who then told her: “Trust me, I’m a nurse,” a court has heard.Lucy Letby, 32, was trying to kill the five-day-old boy when his mother arrived on the neonatal ward with his milk, jurors were told. Continue reading...

Relatives of Palestinian Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad, 78, say no settlement has been reached with Israeli defence ministryThe family of an elderly Palestinian-American man who died after being forcibly detained by Israeli soldiers has disputed a claim from Israel’s defence ministry that the parties have reached a compensation settlement.In a rare case of compensation for a Palestinian claim of wrongdoing by Israeli forces, on Sunday the defence ministry said in a statement that it had reached a settlement with the family of 78-year-old Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad. Continue reading...

Officials say new charges relate to offences allegedly committed in Portugal between 28 December 2000 and 11 June 2017German prosecutors said they have charged a 45-year-old German man, who is a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, with several sexual offences he allegedly committed in Portugal between 28 December 2000 and 11 June 2017.Police in Germany had announced in 2020 they were investigating Christian Brückner in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine, who went missing from her family’s Portuguese holiday flat in May 2007. Continue reading...