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Ex-tropical Cyclone Ellie brings once-in-a-century flooding, forcing evacuations and road closures

Retailer reports much better than expected data in December but remains ‘cautious’ about 2023Next has upped profit forecasts for the year by £20m after better sales than expected in the run-up to Christmas, but said it remained “cautious” about the year ahead.The fashion and home retailer said sales had risen by 4.8% in the nine weeks to 30 December, well above predictions of a 2% fall, delivering £66m more sales than expected. Continue reading...

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Governing body of women’s tennis says it wants to meet Peng in person before it resumes tournaments in ChinaThe return of WTA tournaments to China in 2023 will hinge on a resolution to the Peng Shuai issue, with the governing body of the women’s game telling Reuters on Wednesday it had still not personally met with the Chinese former doubles world number one personally since she briefly disappeared last year.Peng accused Chinese former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault in 2021 in a post on social media which was soon removed from the country’s internet. She later said the post was “an enormous misunderstanding” and that she was retiring from tennis. Continue reading...

CEOs pass milestone nine working hours earlier than last year, with pay up 39% on January 2022The bosses of Britain’s biggest companies will have made more money in 2023 by Thursday afternoon than the average UK worker will earn in the entire year, according to analysis of vast pay gaps amid strike action and the cost of living crisis.The High Pay Centre, a thinktank that campaigns for fairer pay for workers, said that by 2pm on the third working day of the year, a FTSE 100 chief executive will have been paid more on an hourly basis than a UK worker’s annual salary, based on median average remuneration figures for both groups. Continue reading...

Removing sculptures from Greece was like ‘removing Eiffel Tower from Paris’, says actorThe removal of the Parthenon sculptures from Athens was akin to removing the Eiffel Tower from Paris or Stonehenge from Salisbury, Stephen Fry has said, as he called for the return of the classic Greek sculptures to their country of origin.The actor and writer, who has been advocating for the return of the sculptures held at the British Museum in London, said there was a “win-win” solution to the centuries-old debate over ownership of the Parthenon marbles. He called for a cultural partnership under which other incredible Greek artefacts would be exhibited in the UK for the first time. Continue reading...

Overworked staff allocated extremely short care calls by local authority struggling to meet users’ needsCare workers are taking as little as three minutes to help vulnerable people in their own homes, the social care ombudsman has found, after discovering a council was allocating extremely short visits to hundreds of people.Amid chronic staff shortages and rising unmet care needs nationwide, a homecare worker commissioned by Warrington metropolitan borough council sometimes stayed for just three minutes, despite the family paying for the full visit. The council was found to have allocated 15-minute care calls to more than 300 people in the region, despite national guidance stressing these were “not usually appropriate”. Continue reading...

Band may have been snubbed by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but Royal Mail pays tribute to ‘bona fide rock legends’Iron Maiden may have been snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, but Royal Mail at least has given its stamp of approval to the heavy metal band.Twelve stamps will pay tribute to the “bona fide rock legends” – making Iron Maiden the fifth music group to feature in a dedicated stamp issue, following the Beatles in 2007, Pink Floyd in 2016, Queen in 2020, and the Rolling Stones in 2022. Continue reading...

Industrial action by Aslef members will stop services on major national rail lines, halting commuter servicesAlmost no trains will run in most parts of England on Thursday as train drivers at 15 operating companies go on strike.The 24-hour strike by members of the Aslef union will stop services entirely across major national rail lines, halting most commuter services in the south-east, Midlands and north of England. Continue reading...

Mark Butler signals measure could be lifted if China provides ‘real-time uploading’ of genomic sequencing of cases

Anne Jakrajutatip, boss of JKN Global, recently made headlines by buying the firm behind the contest for $20mAnne Jakrajutatip, 43, has a story unlike many of the world’s media moguls. Growing up in Bangkok, the child of shop owners, she felt that she was trapped in the wrong body. At school, she faced constant bullying and stigma. She tried to carefully manage her identity, showing what she believed to be her true self in front of friends, and acting as a good son in front of her parents. She experienced sexual harassment while still a child.It was reading a local newspaper article about Oprah Winfrey, a survivor of child abuse, that led Jakrajutatip to want a career in the media and to become a TV chatshow host. A microphone seemed like a powerful weapon. Continue reading...

NSW leader says counterparts will back moves to fix national health system, after raising issues with access to bulk-billing GPs

Exclusive: Harry writes in new autobiography Spare that William ‘knocked me to the floor’ during confrontation in London in 2019In his highly anticipated autobiography, Spare, Prince Harry recounts what he says was a physical attack by his brother, William, now Prince of Wales, as their relationship fell apart over the younger prince’s marriage to the actor Meghan Markle.Describing a confrontation at his London home in 2019, Harry says William called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”, which Harry calls a “parrot[ing of] the press narrative” about his American wife. Continue reading...

After Bolsonaro’s defeat and Duterte’s departure, 1.7bn people are now living under populist rule, report saysThe number of populist leaders around the world has fallen to a 20-year low after a series of victories for progressives and centrists over the past year, according to analysis from the Tony Blair Institute showing the number of people living under populist rule has fallen by 800,000 in two years.The research claims 2023 could be an equally decisive year for populism, with critical elections in Turkey and Poland. Those two elections could see two of the most influential populist governments in the world fall, though that may yet require divided opposition parties in both countries to form clearer coalition programmes than they have managed so far. Continue reading...

Analysis of Chinese data finds no new variants of concern emerging, but world health body says it still does not have ‘complete data’The World Health Organisation has criticised China’s “very narrow” definition of Covid-19 deaths, warning that official statistics are not showing the true impact of the outbreak.There is growing concern over the steep rise in Covid infections since Beijing last month abruptly lifted years of hardline restrictions, with hospitals and crematoriums quickly overwhelmed. Continue reading...

Passenger taps pilot’s shoulder shortly before collision that left four dead in video shot by survivor

Pharmacy leaders cite ministers’ ‘lack of planning’ amid problems obtaining common productsA shortage of cough and cold medicines in the UK is a result of ministers’ “lack of planning”, according to pharmacy leaders.Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives were accused of “being in denial” as supply chain problems worsen, with pharmacists reporting shortages of once-common cold and flu medicines. Continue reading...

Party leader’s new year speech to promise ‘national renewal’ if elected but stress role of private sector tooLabour will not open the “big government chequebook” in an attempt to repair Britain’s faltering public services if it wins the next election, Keir Starmer will warn.In a new year speech in London on Thursday, setting out his principles for government, the Labour leader will promise a “decade of national renewal” if the party returns to government. But he will deny that the country’s problems can be fixed by more spending, even as doctors say the NHS is in crisis and strikes bring a number of public services to their knees. Continue reading...

With one horrific viral post, a young woman set off a domino run that derailed lives, damaged community relations and created fear among the Asian community in BarrowIt was around the halfway mark in Eleanor Williams’s trial for perverting the course of justice when Mohammed Ramzan found himself at Preston crown court, waiting to give evidence.A number of young women were there too, summonsed after Williams told police that they, like her, had been trafficked by an Asian grooming gang and made to have sex with men at “parties” across the north-west of England as well as abroad. Continue reading...

Prime minister urges public to judge him on whether he delivers on new pledges but Labour says most ‘were happening anyway’. This blog is now closed

PM plans a ‘no tricks’ reset but with an inflation fall already expected this is more about hanging on at an election

Exclusive: DHSC alleges gowns were not sterile, could not be used within NHS ‘for any purpose’, and technical labelling was ‘invalid’

Kyrylo Budanov says he expects fighting to be ‘hottest’ in March, with a Ukraine counter attack in the spring. This blog is now closed

Trial of Romario Henry and Oludewa Okorosobo on charges of robbing star cyclist told full gang not yet apprehendedTwo of the suspects wanted for a knifepoint raid at the home of the Olympic silver medallist Mark Cavendish have not been tracked down by police, a court heard.The cyclist and his wife, Peta, were robbed by a masked gang, while one of their children was hidden under bed covers, Chelmsford crown court was told earlier in the trial. Continue reading...

Former Daily Mail boss reunited with Lord Lebedev as news outlet faces tough financial challengesThe former Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig has been appointed editor-in-chief of the Independent, as the news outlet faces tough financial challenges and deals with a round of redundancies.Greig has been given the task of growing the Independent’s audience in the US after the company recently made about 30 staff redundant, including several of its UK political reporters. Continue reading...

Discount retailer also rejigs leadership team, replacing relative of founder as chairThe discount retailer Wilko has borrowed £40m from restructuring specialist Hilco and rejigged its leadership team as it faces a cash squeeze after falling to a loss and struggling to pay suppliers.Lisa Wilkinson, a member of the family which controls the 400-plus store chain, is stepping down as chair to be replaced by the former Bensons for Beds chair Chris Howell. Another former Bensons executive, Mark Jackson, stepped in as chief executive before Christmas, the group’s third in three years. The managing director, Alison Hands, will also leave the company this month about 18 months after taking the job. Continue reading...

Desmond Maddix, 36, died after another patient smuggled into ward and injected him with lethal dose of drugA patient in a secure mental health unit died after another patient injected him with heroin smuggled in as a result of staff failing to identify the risk he posed, an inquest has ruled.Desmond Maddix, 36, died on 1 July 2017 after another patient smuggled 10 syringes and heroin into the ward and injected him with an overdose. Continue reading...

Ten-year-old who fell into a narrow open shaft on New Year’s Eve at construction site confirmed deadA 10-year-old Vietnamese boy who fell into the narrow open shaft of a concrete pillar at a construction site on New Year’s Eve has been confirmed dead, state media said on Wednesday.Rescuers spent nearly 100 hours trying to free Ly Hao Nam from the 35-metre-long support pillar driven into the ground, but without success, online newspaper VnExpress cited a local government official as saying. Continue reading...

Bernard Squarcini and 10 others await magistrates’ decision on hearing charges including influence peddling and forgeryFrench prosecutors have called for the former head of the country’s internal intelligence agency to stand trial on charges of influence peddling and forgery.Bernard Squarcini, who was head of the DCRI agency – the French equivalent of MI5 – until 2012, is also accused of complicity in breaches of professional and judicial secrecy. Continue reading...

Ukrainian shelling that killed 89 recruits aided by mobiles switched on near frontlines, claims Russia defence ministry

Alidoosti was arrested for support of women’s movement in Iran, including posing on Instagram without hijabThe celebrated Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti has been released from prison by the authorities after her friends and family provided bail. Pictures of her outside jail with campaigners holding flowers and without a hijab were shown on Iranian social media.She had been arrested for issuing statements of support for the women’s movement in Iran, including by posing on Instagram without a hijab, the compulsory hair covering in the country. Continue reading...

Legal challenge comes as police confirm investigations into allegations of assaults by guardsLawyers and human rights campaigners are calling for a public inquiry into abuse and other mistreatment at Manston, the controversial Kent processing centre for small boat arrivals, after it emerged that police were investigating allegations of assault.A legal challenge calling for a public inquiry has been launched by Duncan Lewis solicitors amid claims from asylum seekers that ill treatment was “systemic”, that staff were involved in abuse and that there were significant failures of planning and management at Manston. Continue reading...

Unique case may set precedent as family alleges church’s failings caused man’s violence in later life

Few of the country’s previous World Cup winners traveled to pay homage to the football legendSome of Brazil’s best-known footballers have faced a furious backlash as fans and pundits questioned why they had failed to attend ceremonies bidding farewell to Pelé.Hundreds of thousands of people waited for hours under a burning sun on Monday to file past the recently deceased soccer legend’s coffin at Santos’ Vila Belmiro ground. Continue reading...

In what NHS calls ‘never events’, items including swabs, blades and drill bits left in patients 291 times in England in 2021-22A rising number of medical foreign objects, including wire cutters, scalpel blades and drill bits, have been left inside hospital patients after surgery in England, new figures reveal.Blunders involving a “foreign object accidentally left in body during surgical and medical care” led to 291 “finished consultant episodes” in 2021-2022, official data shows. Continue reading...

Gaelic origins of Icelandic words and landmarks challenge orthodox view of Viking heritage, says authorAccording to folklore, a Gaelic-speaking warrior queen called Aud was among Iceland’s earliest settlers. Her story is central to an emerging theory that Scottish and Irish Celts played a far bigger role in Iceland’s history than realised.A book by Thorvaldur Fridriksson, an Icelandic archaeologist and journalist, argues that Gaelic-speaking Celtic settlers from Ireland and western Scotland had a profound impact on the Icelandic language, landscape and early literature. Continue reading...

Exclusive: military veterans’ group RE:ACT gets £200,000 yearly contract to ensure welfare of lorry drivers gridlocked in KentThe government has signed a £200,000-a-year contract with a disaster response charity established by the former head of Britain’s armed forces to help drivers stuck in lorry queues in Kent.The Department for Transport has enlisted RE:ACT, which uses military veterans to distribute humanitarian aid in war zones and following natural disasters, amid concerns over driver welfare. Continue reading...

The 37-year-old man faces charges including three counts of acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm

About 200 people laid roses and wreaths in a central square in the city of Samara, where some vowed to ‘avenge’ the victims

Scientists express concern about potential links between pokies and veteran suicide as NSW RSL resists gambling reform

Former health secretary launched the Matt Hancock MP app in 2018 to ‘promote healthy, open, impartial debate’Matt Hancock has closed his personal app, five years after its launch made it a 24-hour social media hit.The Matt Hancock MP app was launched in 2018 when the West Suffolk MP was culture secretary as part of Theresa May’s government. He said he hoped it would keep his constituents up-to-date and “promote a healthy, open and impartial debate within its community”. Continue reading...

Plea comes after Vanessa Tadros died in the collision, and their son Nicholas remains in intensive care

Berlin insists all financial claims have been settled as Warsaw seeks £1.2tn for war lossesGermany has rebuffed the latest push by Poland’s nationalist government for vast reparations over the second world war, saying in response to a diplomatic note that the issue was closed, according to the foreign ministry in Warsaw.Poland estimates its losses in the second world war caused by Germany at 6.2tn złotys (£1.2tn) and has demanded reparations, but Berlin has repeatedly said all financial claims related to the war have been settled. Continue reading...

Paul Nowak says frontline workers need a ‘fair deal’ and urges PM to open pay negotiations with unions

Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting accuse studio of sexual exploitation in nude scene in Franco Zeffirelli adaptationThe two leads from the 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet are suing Paramount for child abuse over a nude scene in the film.According to Variety, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, who were teenagers when making the Oscar-winning film, filed a lawsuit on 30 December accusing the studio of sexual exploitation. Continue reading...

Nicholas Bunclark, 30, escaped from Liverpool crown court after being given jail sentence for assaultPolice are searching for a man after he leapt out of a crown court dock and fled after being sentenced for actual bodily harm.Nicholas Bunclark bolted from Liverpool crown court on Tuesday after a judge gave him a 16-month jail term. He had denied an assault in 2021. Continue reading...

Statement contradicts president’s announcement of six-month truce between country’s five largest armed groupsColombia’s largest remaining guerrilla group has contradicted government claims that they had agreed a national ceasefire, in a setback to plans to bring peace to the Andean nation after decades of violence.President Gustavo Petro had announced on New Year’s Eve that the country’s five largest armed groups had agreed to a six-month truce, but on Tuesday the National Liberation Army (ELN) rejected the claims, saying it had not been consulted on any such plan. Continue reading...

Anger and disbelief over claim service in England has money to cope with surge in winter illnessDoctors have accused Rishi Sunak of being “delusional” after he denied the NHS was in crisis and insisted it had the money it needed to cope with the surge in winter illness.Amid mounting anger over shortages and delays that could be causing unnecessary deaths, doctors and opposition parties reacted with scorn, anger and disbelief to comments made by the prime minister’s official spokesperson at a Downing Street briefing. Continue reading...

Coffin of Brazilian footballer, who died aged 82, taken to cemetery near stadium where he began careerThe Brazilian footballer Pelé has been buried in the port city where he began his career nearly 70 years ago, with the country’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, flying in to lament the “irreparable loss”.Pelé, who died last week age 82, scored most of his 1,283 goals for Santos football club and it was at a cemetery near the team’s Vila Belmiro stadium where he was laid to rest on Tuesday afternoon after an emotional three-hour procession through town. Continue reading...

Exclusive: PCS Union discusses industrial action to target major ports of entry in south-east EnglandBorder Force strikes over pay and conditions could be extended to ports including Dover within weeks, the Guardian can disclose.The Public and Commercial Services Union has recently discussed the possibility of targeting major ports of entry in south-east England after eight days of industrial action concentrated on airports. Continue reading...