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Wes Streeting, Dan Jarvis and Yvette Cooper received donations from MPM Connect, which has no obvious line of businessLabour MPs have defended taking money from a little-known company that has emerged as one of Westminster’s biggest political donors.Wes Streeting, Dan Jarvis and Yvette Cooper have all said they did nothing wrong by accepting tens of thousands of pounds from MPM Connect, which is part-owned by Peter Hearn, a Labour donor, but does not have any obvious line of business. Continue reading...

Chinese envoy in Canberra largely positive about enhancing ties between countries while stepping up criticism of Aukus security deal

Pharmacists are having to convert tablets into liquid alternatives needed for small children

Premier says he believes best practice allows for passengers to use their own ‘handheld devices’

The British citizen is awaiting trial on national security charges in Hong Kong that could see him jailed for life if convictedLawyers for the Hong Kong activist and media mogul Jimmy Lai have reportedly requested a meeting with the British prime minister to discuss his case.Lai, a dual Hong Kong and British citizen, is awaiting trial on national security charges in one of the most high-profile cases brought by Hong Kong authorities against the pro-democracy movement. If convicted he could face life in prison. Continue reading...

Trent Wayne Lawson, 38, pleaded guilty to common assault, wilful damage, stealing and torture for 2021 attack and can apply for parole

New cricket documentary The Test reveals former PM added Cummins to messaging group not long after he became captain

The rapper rejected the use of Still DRE by the ‘divisive’ Republican in a video posted to TwitterThe rapper Dr Dre has spoken out against the use of his song Still DRE in a self-promotional video by the Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene to celebrate her role in electing fellow GOP lawmaker Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House.“I don’t license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one,” the rapper and producer told TMZ on Monday morning. Continue reading...

Total sales for the month increased by 6.9% compared with a year earlier despite cost of living crisisBritain’s retailers benefited from a sales boost in December fuelled by Christmas shopping and the World Cup, despite growing concerns over the impact of the cost of living crisis on the high street.The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said sales growth picked up over the pivotal festive buying period, with a sharp rise on the same month in 2021, as consumers braved cold weather and strikes to ensure friends and family received the gifts they wanted. Continue reading...

Charles, Camilla and the press all come under attack, but the charge sheet against William is longHarry’s wrath. Harry’s revenge. Harry’s truth. The Duke of Sussex’s memoir Spare is finally hitting bookshops and its pages are dripping with accusation, anger and sorrow.Harry’s brother, the Prince of Wales, the “heir” to Harry’s “spare”, is portrayed as taking sibling competitiveness to “Olympiad” levels, throwing tantrums over Harry encroaching on his territory: Africa. Continue reading...

Cross-party committee agrees with findings of Kathryn Stone that Conservative MP breached rules on multiple occasionsThe Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has been suspended from the House of Commons for five days after being found to have breached rules on paid lobbying and declaring interests.The MP for north-west Leicestershire was found to have repeatedly broken the MPs’ code of conduct by a cross-party committee, which endorsed findings from Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards. Continue reading...

Nineteen-year-old man charged after drivers on M1 at Ourimbah and Somersby reported nail gun shots from white Mitsubishi

Some suggest political naivety played a role as No 10 admits it is taking a ‘new approach’ by discussing payAt the end of talks over next year’s pay deal for NHS workers, which broke up without resolution on Monday, union negotiators told Steve Barclay: “You know we’re going ahead with strikes?” One of those in the room said the health secretary shrugged his shoulders in resignation. “I accept that,” he told them.But the fact ministers sat down with unions to discuss pay at all is, in itself, a breakthrough. For weeks the government has been indicating that, while it would meet unions to avert further strikes, reopening this year’s pay deal was not an option. Continue reading...

Masked men broke into Olympian’s house and stole two expensive watches, trial hearsThe Olympic cyclist Mark Cavendish described in court how a knife was held to his face before masked intruders took two high-value watches belonging to him and his wife from their home.The masked men broke in as Cavendish was asleep upstairs with his wife, Peta, on 27 November 2021, Chelmsford crown court heard. Continue reading...

Claire Perry O’Neill, who was part of Theresa May’s cabinet, lauds Labour leader’s ‘sober’ and ‘competent’ leadershipA former Conservative minister has quit the party, claiming it is dominated by “ideology and self-obsession”, and has instead thrown her support behind Keir Starmer.Claire Perry O’Neill, who was part of Theresa May’s cabinet and was briefly retained by Boris Johnson to help run preparations for the Cop26 summit, praised the Labour leader’s “sober, fact-driven, competent political leadership”. Continue reading...

Ex-film mogul faces up to 18 additional years in prison after being convicted of forcibly raping a woman in CaliforniaHarvey Weinstein’s sentencing on his second rape and sexual assault conviction in Los Angeles has been delayed until February, as his lawyers ask for a new trial.Winstein, 70, faces up to 18 additional years in prison after being convicted of forcibly raping a woman in California in 2013. He is already serving a 23-year prison sentence after being convicted of rape and sexual assault charges in New York in 2020. Continue reading...

PM changes tack to allow negotiations on wages but unions remain frustrated at lack of clear offer

Bakhmut and Soledar under intense attack after Russian forces regroup and change tactics, Ukraine deputy defence minister says. This live blog is now closed

Defendant pleads guilty at the Old Bailey to the murder of Jermaine Cools in Croydon in 2021A teenager has admitted fatally stabbing a 14-year-old boy in south London. Jermaine Cools was injured in London Road, Croydon, near West Croydon railway station, after a fight involving a number of people on 18 November 2021.Police said that at 6.41pm, a member of the public reported the incident outside a chicken shop. The defendant, then aged 16, was caught on CCTV walking towards the fight and drawing a large knife from his coat, police said. Continue reading...

James Watt says bungled promotion in which cans were only gold plated looked ‘dishonest and disingenuous’The chief executive of BrewDog has paid out almost £500,000 from his own pocket to winners of a bungled “solid gold” beer can promotion which he has admitted made the controversial brewer look “dishonest and disingenuous”.James Watt said he got so personally carried away with the Willy Wonka-inspired promotion, which hid 50 gold cans in cases of beer, that he made some “costly mistakes” that misled treasure hunters. Continue reading...

David Price, who taught at Ashdown House in East Sussex and in Cape Town, is due in court next monthA retired teacher has been arrested in South Africa after a BBC radio programme about alleged paedophilia in British schools prompted more individuals to come forward.David Price, 76, who taught Boris Johnson at the now-closed Ashdown House school in East Sussex, has been charged with three counts of indecent assault in the 1980s and is due in court in South Africa next month. He denies all charges. Continue reading...

New scheme promises £5.5bn of ‘transitional’ help for businesses over 12 months from 1 April 2023Businesses will receive reduced support for their energy bills from the end of March as the Treasury attempts to cut the cost of compensating for soaring gas and electricity prices, the UK government has confirmed.James Cartlidge, the exchequer secretary to the Treasury, said on Monday that the government would provide £5.5bn of “transitional support” for businesses over 12 months from 1 April 2023. Continue reading...

Emanuela Orlandi case has triggered several theories but never yielded any concrete answersThe Vatican has reopened an investigation into the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, a case that has gripped Italy for almost 40 years and embroiled the powerful Holy See.Emanuela was 15 when she vanished on 22 June 1983 while making her way home from a flute lesson in Rome. The Orlandi family lived in Vatican City, where her father was a lay employee in the papal household. Continue reading...

‘No concrete progress’ towards avoiding action affecting English schools at education secretary’s meeting with unionsThe threat of strike action still hangs over schools in England after talks between teaching unions and the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, ended with “no concrete progress”, though the door remains open for further discussions.Union leaders described the meeting as constructive, but with no extra money for teachers on the table, strikes could be just weeks away. Ballots for strike action among hundreds of thousands of union members are due to close this week. Continue reading...

Nurses’ and ambulance strikes to go ahead after latest round of talks failed to make substantial progress. This live blog is now closedRishi Sunak also insisted in his pooled TV interview that the government was focused on “the people’s priorities”. Referring to the promises he announced last week, heWhat the government is getting on with is delivering on the people’s priorities. I set out five priorities, five promises I wanted to make to the country – that’s to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, reduce waiting lists, and stop the boats. That’s squarely what everyone in government is focused on. Continue reading...

In US interview to promote book, Duke of Sussex also points finger at Camilla but says she is not an ‘evil stepmother’Prince Harry has described how he “can’t ever get out” of the royal family, but he does not believe it will ever be possible for him and the Duchess of Sussex to return to the UK as working royals.In his latest TV interview to promote his autobiography Spare, the Duke of Sussex continued to point the finger at Camilla, the Queen Consort over allegations he had been “sacrificed on her personal PR altar”. Continue reading...

PM aims to further restrict right to demonstrate by giving police powers to tackle fuel protesters’ latest tacticRishi Sunak is drawing up powers for the police to stop “go-slow” protests in a further crackdown on people’s right to demonstrate.The prime minister said the proposals would be set out in the coming weeks to prevent “a small minority” from disrupting the lives of the “hard-working majority”. Continue reading...

One of the world’s top eateries with three Michelin stars says it wants to reinvent itself as a food laboratoryThe Copenhagen restaurant Noma, one of the world’s top eateries, with three Michelin stars, has said it will close at the end of 2024 to reinvent itself as a food laboratory.“To continue being Noma, we must change … Winter 2024 will be the last season of Noma as we know it,” the restaurant, wrote in a post on Instagram. Continue reading...

Two deaths on Monday come amid a deadly summer in the water across Australia

Court rejects NSO claim it could not be sued because it was acting as agent for unidentified foreign governmentsThe US supreme court has let Meta Platforms Inc’s WhatsApp pursue a lawsuit accusing Israel’s NSO Group of exploiting a bug in its WhatsApp messaging app to install spy software allowing the surveillance of 1,400 people, including journalists, human rights activists and dissidents.The justices turned away NSO’s appeal over a lower court’s decision that the lawsuit could move forward. NSO has argued that it is immune to being sued because it was acting as an agent for unidentified foreign governments when it installed the Pegasus spyware. Continue reading...

Hoda Muthana, currently detained by Kurdish forces, says she is prepared to serve prison time and advocate against extremismA woman who ran away from home in Alabama at the age of 20, joined the Islamic State group and had a child with one of its fighters says she still hopes to return to the United States, serve prison time if necessary, and advocate against extremism.Speaking from the Roj detention camp in Syria, where she is detained by US-allied Kurdish forces, Hoda Muthana said she was brainwashed by online traffickers into joining the group in 2014 and regrets everything except her young son. Continue reading...

First minister says Scotland’s hospitals are ‘almost completely full’ as she announces measures to ease pressure

Organisers say they are seeking 30% monthly cut and that more than 150 people have signed upHundreds of students in halls of residence at the University of Manchester are withholding their rent payments this month over the cost of living crisis.The students are seeking to pressure their university into offering a 30% cut on monthly rent payments, including a rebate for fees already paid, which they claim have become unaffordable. Continue reading...

Pre-action letter says talks between UK and Mauritius ‘being held without consulting Chagossian people’A legal attempt has been launched to halt negotiations between the UK and Mauritius over the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, Britain’s last African colony, claiming Chagossian people’s views are being ignored.Bernadette Dugasse, who was born on Diego Garcia, an island within what is known today as the British Indian Ocean Territory, is seeking judicial review of the government’s approach to the talks. Continue reading...

Fitzroy River Bridge among those apparently collapsed after record flooding in state’s north destroys roads and isolates communities

Experts say Labor’s stamp duty exemptions and Coalition’s land tax policy will likely benefit sellers most

Westwood’s family say they are ‘deeply disappointed’ WikiLeaks founder was not given temporary release from prisonJulian Assange has been denied permission to leave prison to attend the funeral of Dame Vivienne Westwood, according to her family.Westwood’s family said they were “deeply disappointed that we were unable to fulfil Vivienne’s wishes but are unsurprised by the decision, which is unjust and in keeping with the inhumane treatment [Assange] has received from the UK authorities up to this point”. Continue reading...

Russell Group says more hard-up students in England will drop out if loans fail to keep up with rising costs

Alarm raised after two men found guilty of running over police officer are moved to solitary confinementProtesters gathered outside a prison near the Iranian capital on Sunday night in an attempt to prevent the rumoured imminent execution of two young detainees found guilty of running over a police officer in a car during protests in November.Footage posted on social media showed the mother of one of the men, 22-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou, pleading for her son outside Rajaei-Shahr prison in Karaj, a satellite city west of Tehran. She said it had been established that her son had not been at the scene when the police officer died. Continue reading...

Japanese investor SoftBank thought to favour New York for computer chip designer’s IPORishi Sunak has reportedly restarted efforts to persuade the Japanese investor SoftBank to list the computer chip designer Arm in London.SoftBank has been considering listing Arm, which has its headquarters in Cambridge, for months, with New York thought to be the lead candidate. Continue reading...

Egyptian authority says vessel was towed away for repairs after briefly disrupting traffic in vital waterway

Discount supermarket’s sales rise by a quarter year on year in four weeks to 25 DecemberLidl gained 1.3 million British shoppers in the Christmas period compared with a year earlier as the supermarket benefited from people cutting back on spending.The German-owned chain said the Friday before Christmas was its busiest ever day as sales rose by a quarter compared with the previous year as shoppers switched from other supermarkets in greater numbers. Continue reading...

Image believed to be of Constance Marten, who went missing last week with her baby and Mark GordonA couple and their newborn baby who went missing last week are thought to have been seen after travelling inland from an Essex port, police have said.Constance Marten and Mark Gordon abandoned their vehicle when it broke down on the M61, near Bolton, on Thursday evening. Continue reading...

Former party chairman referred SG Recruitment to ‘VIP lane’ after introduction by peer who owned shares in parent companyA Conservative peer advising the government during the coronavirus pandemic helped a company secure PPE contracts worth £50m after a fellow Tory peer introduced him to the firm, documents obtained by the Guardian show.Andrew Feldman, a former Conservative party chair, referred the company, SG Recruitment, to the “VIP lane” that gave priority to politically connected firms, after the introduction by Lord Chadlington, a Tory peer for 26 years. Continue reading...

Director, whose new film is a love letter to cinema, says many of his past hits would have been for streamingThe “great era” of going to the cinema is dying, Sir Sam Mendes has said, adding that he thinks his most famous films would go to streaming services if made now.The British director, known for his James Bond movies and critically acclaimed hits such as American Beauty and 1917, said: “The 20th century, the great era of movies, the great entertainment form – which was going out to the movies – that is dying. Continue reading...

Properties worth up to $800,000 will incur no tax and a concession rate will apply to those up to $1m if opposition wins election, Chris Minns says

Riad Malki says permit rescinded, after hardline government announced series of punitive measures against PalestiniansThe Palestinian foreign minister says Israel has revoked his travel permit, after the hardline Israeli government announced a series of punitive steps against the Palestinians days ago.Riad Malki said in a statement that he was returning from the Brazilian president’s inauguration when he was informed that Israel had rescinded his travel permit, which allows top Palestinian officials to travel easily in and out of the occupied West Bank, unlike ordinary Palestinians. Continue reading...

Cross-party committee has also accused Sport England of not knowing the destination of millions of pounds in grantsIt was supposed to “inspire a generation” and leave a legacy of a healthier, more active population. Yet the promises that the 2012 London Olympics would boost sporting participation have not been kept, according to a new parliamentary report.A lasting legacy of participation was a key part of the government’s pitch for the £8.8bn Olympic and Paralympic Games, including pledges to increase the number of adults participating in sporting activities. However, the cross-party public accounts committee said the promised benefits had failed to occur, with the proportion of adults participating in sport at least once a week actually falling in the first three years after the Games. Continue reading...

Volker Türk says investigation launched by government into deaths in mainly Fulani and Muslim area should be rapid and openThe head of the United Nations human rights office has called for a prompt, transparent investigation into the deaths of at least 28 people whose bodies were found in north-west Burkina Faso last month.Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said it was encouraging that authorities had announced an investigation into the incident in Nouna town, a predominately ethnic Fulani and Muslim community. Continue reading...

Internal messages reveal proposals described as potentially ‘the biggest attack on workers’ rights and freedoms’ for generationsRishi Sunak considered banning thousands of workers from joining a union, according to leaked government emails detailing proposals described as potentially the “biggest attack on workers’ rights and freedoms” for decades.The messages, shared between senior civil servants and seen by the Observer, reveal that the prime minister contemplated banning Border Force (BF) staff from trade union membership under its anti-strike legislation announced last Thursday. Continue reading...