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Dean of St Mary’s Cathedral alleged to have invited worshippers to his living quarters during lockdownThe Vatican is investigating rumours of a “sex party” at a British cathedral which is alleged to have happened during lockdown.As part of an investigation into the circumstances of Robert Byrne’s resignation as the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, the Catholic church is looking into claims one of his priests invited worshippers to a private party at his lodgings. Continue reading...

Foreign secretary also says he has no idea whether BBC chair helped Boris Johnson arrange guarantee on loanJames Cleverly has said he does not know whether Nadhim Zahawi was investigated over his taxes when chancellor, or when Rishi Sunak knew about the issue, as the government attempted to defend the embattled Tory party chair.In an interview with Sky News, Cleverly, the foreign secretary, also said he had no idea if Richard Sharp, the BBC chair, helped Boris Johnson arrange a guarantee on a loan of up to £800,000, weeks before the then PM recommended Sharp for the BBC role. Continue reading...

Exclusive: small business and hospitality groups urge rethink to let firms renegotiate fairer contracts and stave off closureGroups representing more than 100,000 UK firms have accused ministers of taking a “scattergun” approach to supporting businesses with their gas and electricity costs, amid fears many will be forced to close this year by unaffordable bills.Earlier this month, the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, confirmed that the scheme designed to soften the blow of soaring monthly payments for energy would become significantly less generous from April. Continue reading...

Extensive fox hunting investigation as 22 dogs seized in southern counties raids pursuing suspected wildlife offences by terrier menSix men have been arrested and 22 dogs seized in police raids over suspected illegal fox hunts across several English counties.The men were arrested in dawn raids on Wednesday by police from Kent, Norfolk, Sussex, and Thames Valley, in one of the UK’s largest ever fox hunting investigations. Continue reading...

Former UK PM Boris Johnson makes surprise visit to Ukraine; Russia claims to have made advances in Zaporizhzhia region

Images of violent clashes went round the world, and there are fears a crucial inquiry will leave ‘unfinished business’It has been four months since wide unrest broke out on the streets of east Leicester, and although calm has been restored on the streets, a sense of unease remains.“I don’t think we can ever go back to normal,” said the community worker Rukhsana Hussain. “It reminds me of Covid when everyone was talking about the ‘new normal’. I think we’ve got a new normal in Leicester now, because we’ve had quite a significant change in what the community perceives safety to be.” Continue reading...

Yellow weather warning for parts of England on Monday with freezing fog expected to bring travel delaysTemperatures plummeted to almost -10C in parts of the UK on Saturday night, as forecasters warned that the cold spell will continue into next week.RAF Benson in Oxfordshire had the coldest temperatures in Britain overnight, recording -9.7C, while in Scotland, thermometers remained above zero. Continue reading...

People with severe disabilities and chronic conditions struggling in cost of living crisis, research showsSoaring energy bills are forcing people with severe disabilities and chronic health conditions to choose in extreme cases between “eating or breathing” as they struggle to navigate the cost of living crisis, new research shows.According to a survey by the charity Euan’s Guide, people are either opting to reduce their use of vital, energy-intensive electrical medical aids and equipment – putting their health in jeopardy – or where this is impossible, cutting back drastically on food, heating and travel. Continue reading...

Families who relocate under federal scheme would not have access to Medicare, or relocation or housing costs, making move unviable for many, experts warn

Exclusive: eSafety commission investigating nearly 1,700 complaints and has asked social media companies to remove offensive content 500 times in a year

Russians have replaced Ukrainians since the war began and at least 14 have been arrested in Italy, NGOs claimPeople-smugglers are recruiting dozens of Russian citizens to replace Ukrainian sailors captaining boats carrying migrants from Turkey to Italy, NGOs have claimed.Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine at least 14 Russian nationals have been arrested by the Italian police on charges of illegally transporting asylum seekers.

In wake of David Carrick verdict, women from England and Wales come forward to report mental, physical and professional tollDespite having been a police officer and also married to one, Helen (not her real name) says she now “wouldn’t ring the police for anything”.When Helen separated from her husband, he subjected her to emotional and financial abuse and harassment. Continue reading...

Grant Shapps tells firms to stop pushing consumers on to pre-paid tariffs amid threat to ‘name and shame’ worst offendersThe business secretary has urged energy suppliers to stop forcibly switching households struggling with energy bills to prepayment meters, after calls for government action amid a surge in cases.Grant Shapps has written to companies saying he wants them to voluntarily end the practice of moving households on to more expensive prepaid energy tariffs against their will and promising to “name and shame” the worst offenders. Continue reading...

Classical, jazz, cabaret and even circus tricks are being laid on by restaurants and pubs to win back clientele in an ever-tougher marketPuccini with the prawn cocktail starter tonight? A little Lloyd Webber with the linguine? A growing number of London pubs and cafes are putting live music and performance on the menu to tempt reluctant patrons to dine out.The trend, also mirrored in other British cities as the cost of living crisis threatens to keep customers at home, now encompasses classical music and musical theatre. It is no longer only jazz musicians who play regularly to diners at London venues such as Soho’s Pizza Express or Toulouse Lautrec in Elephant and Castle. Even circus performers are taking to the small stages being set up in some restaurants. Continue reading...

Madelyn Train talks publicly for the first time about their ‘evil’ final act and the last message she got from them

Images found in attic taken by Polish firefighter who risked life to record how Jewish Poles fought the Nazis despite impossible oddsThe photographs are blurry, composed hastily and taken surreptitiously, sometimes with heads or objects in the foreground obscuring part of the view.But Holocaust historians say the imperfect pictures, discovered last month in a Polish attic decades after their creator died, are nonetheless priceless. They are the only known photographs from inside the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising not to be taken by Germans. Continue reading...

The identity of the muse for Für Elise has long puzzled experts. A new book suggests it was named by someone else, after the composer’s deathIt is one of classical music’s most famous compositions and also one of its most intriguing mysteries. Ludwig van Beethoven’s enchanting Für Elise has been played by generations of children learning the piano but musicologists have struggled in vain to find the “Elise” who inspired it.Now a leading Beethoven expert has come to the conclusion that there never was an Elise – or at least not one that Beethoven knew. Continue reading...

The searing memories of this winter will endure and any action ministers take now will come too late to improve their standing at the next electionCrisis, conflict and collapse have driven the NHS to the top of the political agenda. Every day brings new horror stories from the frontlines of a health service on its knees. Yet there is no evidence of urgency from the government, which seems determined to weather the winter struggle while handing out as little cash as possible to hospitals and staff. They may come to regret this. An unprecedented healthcare crisis poses unprecedented electoral risks on a broad front.The first of these is already obvious in the daily news rounds, which are now dominated by NHS stories, none of them good for the government. Polling shows rapid rises in the share of voters rating healthcare as an urgent priority. The dangers from this rise in salience are magnified because much of it will be driven by direct experience of a collapsing health system. Changing the focus of the media narrative won’t do much good when hundreds of thousands of voters are seeing the crisis for themselves every day. Continue reading...

The very first Factory club night was advertised with this poster. Now its designer wants it back to complete a major archiveThe hunt is on to locate an object that truly qualifies as “a sign of the times”. In 1977, the first Factory club night in Manchester was advertised with a poster using the now-famous symbol of a health and safety warning, urging workers to protect their ears from loud noise. But the original sign used in the artwork is missing.The acclaimed designer Peter Saville was a young student at Manchester Polytechnic when Tony Wilson, the TV presenter and promoter behind the city’s burgeoning music scene, asked him to create an advert for the event. Luckily, inspiration was near at hand. Continue reading...

Party to switch focus from economy after polling shows voters in southern Conservative seats put health service as No 1 issueA “blue wall” offensive focusing on the NHS is being plotted by the Liberal Democrats this weekend, amid mounting evidence that the Conservative brand has been significantly damaged among crucial voters in traditional Tory seats.Lib Dem campaigners charged with securing a breakthrough in seats in the south-east are gathering in a Staffordshire hotel this weekend, as all the parties begin to sketch out their early general election planning. The group will be told that the usual tactic of targeting liberal Tory voters in affluent areas with messages about the economy will be dialled down, after the NHS crisis was found to be resonating significantly in these areas. Continue reading...

Paul Nowak says prime minister faces general condemnation if he does not prioritise resolving public sector disputesRishi Sunak will provoke a public uproar should he prioritise pre-election tax cuts over better pay for nurses, ambulance workers and teachers, Britain’s most senior union figure has warned.With the prime minister already under pressure from Tory MPs to sanction tax cuts in the spring budget, Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, warned that the public would condemn any such move while a series of public sector pay disputes remained unresolved. Continue reading...

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As schools struggle to find staff for key roles, heads tell families to demand action from their MPs and to back strikersParents are being called on to help teachers in their fight for a pay rise as unions try to win the public relations battle against the government over next month’s strikes.With thousands of schools across England and Wales set to close in February after teachers voted to strike, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) union has told the Observer that it is working with Parentkind, the umbrella group for parent-teacher associations in schools, and with school governors to get parents to lobby backbench Conservative MPs on the crisis in recruiting and retaining teachers. Continue reading...

End of zero-Covid policy allows family gatherings and largest festivities since pandemic beganPeople across China have rung in the lunar new year with family gatherings and crowds visiting temples after the government lifted its strict zero-Covid policy, marking the biggest festive celebration since the pandemic began three years ago.The lunar new year is the most important annual holiday in China. Each year is named after one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac in a repeating cycle, with this year being the year of the rabbit. For the past three years celebrations were muted in the shadow of the pandemic. Continue reading...

Sole nominee secures Labour endorsement for prime minister, with Carmel Sepuloni as deputy, and incumbent’s last engagements on TuesdayChris Hipkins will be New Zealand’s next prime minister following a formal vote that endorsed him as Jacinda Ardern’s successor after her shock resignation on Thursday.New Zealand will also swear in its first ever Pasifika deputy prime minister, with social development minister Carmel Sepuloni, who is of Tongan and Samoan descent, to take the role. Continue reading...

YouGov poll shows opposition would easily win a majority, with strong backing from young voters

Statement calls for Albanese government to join landmark UN treaty banning nuclear weapons

People are being encouraged to ‘support their local areas’ in a drive to mark the three-day celebration in MayBritons will be encouraged to spend a day volunteering in their communities to mark the King’s coronation. The Big Help Out will take place on Monday 8 May and is intended to create a “lasting legacy” of the coronation weekend.Buckingham Palace said it hoped to convince as many people as possible to “join the work being undertaken to support their local areas” on the day, which has been designated as an extra bank holiday. Continue reading...

Event in front of Turkish embassy will further inflame tensions between two countriesTurkey has condemned a demonstration involving the burning of Qur’ans in Sweden on Saturday, further inflaming tensions between the two countries amid Stockholm’s Nato bid.The protest in Stockholm, which took place under heavy police protection in front of Turkey’s embassy, gathered about 100 people and a crowd of reporters, Agence France-Presse reported. Continue reading...

Júlio Cesar de Arruda reportedly stopped police detaining suspected rioters who took refuge outside army headquartersThe head of the Brazilian army has been sacked by the country’s new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after claims the commander tried to shield rightwing rioters from arrest after the 8 January insurrection in Brasília.Gen Júlio Cesar de Arruda, who only took up the role in late December, was removed from his position on Saturday, nearly two weeks after supporters of the former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro brought havoc to Brazil’s capital in what Lula’s administration called a botched coup attempt. Continue reading...

Embattled Tory party chair reveals he made ‘careless but not deliberate’ error over multimillion-pound share saleNadhim Zahawi was battling to save his political career on Saturday night after he finally admitted reaching a tax settlement with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) following an “error” over a controversial multimillion-pound shareholding in the polling company YouGov.In a carefully worded statement, Zahawi appeared to confirm that HMRC had carried out an investigation into his financial affairs while he was serving as chancellor last summer. Zahawi, now the Tory party chairman, said that the tax authority had concluded that he had made a “careless but not deliberate” error. Continue reading...

NSW residents urged to be on the lookout for symptoms and guard against infection in period before children return to school

Sydney’s light rail network is among the slowest in the country, new analysis shows, and tram lines around the country share similar problems. Can anything be done to speed them up?

The prime minister promised integrity but critics have questioned this in light of some dubious decisionsRishi Sunak entered No 10 promising “integrity”, but was forced to apologise this week after failing to wear a seatbelt in a moving car.It is the latest in a series of gaffes that have prompted critics to accuse him of showing “the same disregard for the rules” as his predecessor as prime minister, Boris Johnson. Continue reading...

The soaring price of ingredients and rise of veganism have led to a ‘notable decline’ in dishes made with animal productsRestaurants are removing meat dishes from their menus due to the impact of inflation and the rising popularity of Veganuary, researchers say.Only 20% of all dishes served at restaurant chains last summer contained meat, according to the latest figures from Lumina Intelligence, a drop of four percentage points from last spring. Continue reading...

High-cost, low-quality housing market is pushing many from war-torn country to edge of homelessnessMaria, 22, came to the UK from Ukraine in March last year shortly after the war broke out. She and her mother travelled using the Ukraine family scheme visa to stay with her aunt. But when her aunt was evicted, they became homeless. For five months, Maria and her mother have been living in temporary accommodation in south London.“It’s horrible actually, the corridors are so old and so dirty,” Maria says. “The council haven’t been very helpful. The room is so small and it’s hard with two adults in one room.” Continue reading...

Dense fog that could reduce visibility to below 100 metres set to blanket UK after sharp overnight frostA yellow weather warning was issued on Friday, with a dangerous “freezing fog” set to blanket parts of the UK after a sharp frost overnight.By Saturday morning, the fog could be so dense that visibility drops to below 100 metres in some places, the Met Office said. Continue reading...

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