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Senior Tory MP confident ‘wise heads in No 10’ will lead PM to avoid protracted parliamentary battleDominic Raab’s controversial bill of rights may be axed again, as a senior Tory MP said they were confident “wise heads in No 10” would lead the government to perform yet another U-turn.After a series of climbdowns by Rishi Sunak this week over planning and long-promised pieces of legislation, the former justice secretary Robert Buckland urged him to avoid a protracted parliamentary battle that could take up hundreds of hours of time. Continue reading...

Companies hoping, but not expecting, Albanese government can implement price caps on gas and coal

‘We have had to rethink the ways we do things’, says farmer who dusted off his 1973 petrol-powered truck

RSV and norovirus also on rise, while charity says patient care at risk with 7.2m awaiting treatment in EnglandViruses including flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the winter vomiting bug are putting extra pressure on the NHS in England in the first week of winter while waiting lists reached another record high in October.With 7.2 million patients awaiting treatment, the Health Foundation charity said the health and care systems were “gridlocked” and put the safety and quality of patient care at risk. Continue reading...

Telecom giant moves to increase collateral to limit risk amid mini-budget falloutBT may be forced to stump up more cash to support its £47bn pensions scheme after the government’s disastrous mini-budget, which prompted a market meltdown and forced pension fund managers to tighten hedging strategies.The fund’s managers, who run one of the largest corporate pensions schemes in the UK with about 269,000 members, told MPs that they had become “more cautious” and increased the amount of collateral they held, in order to avoid another fire sale of assets. Continue reading...

Education secretary Gillian Keegan suggests NHS staff could be put on same footing as police officers and military

Johnson was a bomb-aimer in squadron that destroyed German dams during second world warThe last survivor of the Dambuster bouncing bomb raids of 1943 has died at the age of 101.George Leonard “Johnny” Johnson was a bomb-aimer in the 617 squadron which destroyed vital dams in Germany’s industrial Ruhr valley during the second world war. Continue reading...

ACT prosecutor complained in a letter to police chief he was under pressure from officers not to prosecute the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins

As temperatures plunge, fears grow for households struggling to pay for heating, food and warm clothingMore than 3 million low-income UK households cannot afford to heat their homes, according to research, as a “dangerously cold” weather front arrived from the Arctic.The UK Health Security Agency has issued a cold weather alert recommending vulnerable people warm their homes to at least 18C, wear extra layers and eat hot food to protect themselves from plummeting temperatures. Continue reading...

Emma Vulin wins newly created seat in Melbourne’s south-east to equal party’s previous election result

The 17-year-old boy allegedly threw a concrete block through the open window of a car killing Diane Miller and her unborn child

Prime minister Fumio Kishida has seen approval ratings plummet since ties between LDP and the church were exposedJapan’s lower house of parliament has passed a law that will make it a crime for religious and other organisations to “maliciously” secure donations from members – a move seen as an attempt by the ruling party to defuse the controversy over its ties to the Unification church.The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has seen his approval ratings plummet since widespread ties between his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the church were exposed in the wake of the assassination this summer of Japan’s former leader, Shinzo Abe. Continue reading...

George Aghajanian has told a court there ‘wasn’t a cover up’ and Brian Houston was ‘shocked’ when told of allegations

State’s energy minister, Matt Kean, says ‘It’s not about royalties, it’s all about consumers’, putting pressure on Queensland counterpart

Asylum seekers beaten and sexually assaulted before being illegally removed, says Border Violence Monitoring NetworkThousands of migrants and asylum seekers are facing “an unprecedented rise in violence” at the EU’s border, including beatings, forced undressing and sexual assaults, according to a report exposing thousands of alleged illegal expulsions in harrowing detail.Activists interviewed 733 individuals trying to reach Europe in 2021 and 2022, who provided grim testimony of group pushbacks that affected more than 16,000 others. The work updates the 2020 edition of The Black Book of Pushbacks, offering a total compilation of 1,633 individuals telling of illegal expulsions affecting nearly 25,000 people since 2017. Continue reading...

Justin Welby says too many people face ‘real hardship and pain’ as temperatures fall and bills riseA surge of Arctic air causing sub-zero temperatures across the UK is poised to send demand for warm spaces surging, and the archbishop of Canterbury has urged people not to despair in the face of “real hardship and pain”.The weather system moving quickly south from Norway, nicknamed the Troll of Trondheim, will result in colder weather for at least a week, the Met Office has forecast, as a network of “warm hubs” said it had seen 80,000 people use its facilities in the last week. Continue reading...

Adoptees sent to Europe and the US say they were wrongly removed from their families as government in Seoul actively promoted adoptionSouth Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission will investigate the cases of dozens of South Korean adoptees in Europe and the US who suspect their origins were falsified or obscured during a child export frenzy in the mid-to late 20th century.Thursday’s decision opens what could be South Korea’s most far-reaching inquiry into foreign adoptions, as frustration over broken family connections grows, and now grown up children demand government attention. Continue reading...

Exclusive: letter from Shane Drumgold to ACT police chief, obtained under FOI, calls for inquiry into ‘political and police conduct’ during investigation of Brittany Higgins claims

Despite repeated reviews of John Bradfield’s idea to use flood waters to irrigate central Australia, the scheme has not been shown to be feasible

Conservationists have already raised concerns about Thursday’s auction at Sotheby’s of development rights to coral atoll networkIndonesia’s plan to auction the development rights to an entire archipelago of more than 100 tropical islands has descended into chaos, with a fisheries ministry official joining conservationists in criticising the sale.Sotheby’s has described the uninhabited pristine Widi Reserve as “one of the most intact coral atoll ecosystems left on Earth”, and is due to open bidding on Thursday. No sale price has been stated, but prospective buyers will need to provide a US$100,000 deposit. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Experts will look into healthcare offered for menstruation, menopause and conditions such as heart disease, autism and cancer

Daylong action comes as union and management clash over wages and remote workThe New York Times is bracing for a 24-hour walkout on Thursday by hundreds of journalists and other employees, in what would be the first strike of its kind at the newspaper in more than 40 years.Newsroom employees and other members of the NewsGuild of New York say they are fed up with bargaining that has dragged on since their last contract expired in March 2021. The union announced last week that more than 1,100 employees would stage a 24-hour work stoppage starting at 12.01am on Thursday unless the two sides reached a contract deal. Continue reading...

Pedro Castillo arrested for ‘breaching constitutional order’, says prosecutor, as new president Dina Boluarte sworn inPeru’s president, Pedro Castillo, has been removed from office and detained on charges of “rebellion” after he announced he would shutter congress and install a “government of exception” – just hours before he was due to face an impeachment vote.The public prosecutor’s office confirmed late on Wednesday that Castillo had been arrested and charged with allegedly “breaching constitutional order”, after he was accused of an attempted coup and seen fleeing the presidential palace. Continue reading...

New Zealand parents say they will focus on supporting their son, now in the guardianship of his doctors, through life-saving operationThe family of a baby who has been placed in his doctors’ care because his parents refused to consent to a transfusion of “vaccinated blood” in a life-saving operation have said they will prioritise time with their son before the surgery.The parents’ lawyer, Sue Grey, said in a Facebook post on Thursday morning that the family would be prioritising “a peaceful time with their baby until the operation, and to support him through the operation”. Continue reading...

Pesutto will now seek to rebuild Coalition fortunes after three straight election losses to Daniel Andrews’ Labor government

Nearly 5m 50p coins will enter circulation across 9,452 Post Office branches throughout DecemberThe first coinage featuring King Charles III will appear on the 50p coin in circulation in post offices around the UK from Thursday.Created by sculptor Martin Jennings and personally approved by Charles, the king’s portrait faces to the left, in the opposite direction to the late Queen. Continue reading...

Treasurer says it is not a ‘performance review’ but will ‘feed into our thinking’ about RBA leadership

TUC and Unison say government is not negotiating in good faith, while PM accuses union leaders of being ‘unreasonable’Union leaders have told ministers to stop “hiding behind” pay review bodies in winter strike talks amid warnings that industrial action on the railways could continue for six months.As a rolling wave of industrial action looms, Frances O’Grady, secretary general of the Trades Union Congress, and Christina McAnea, the general secretary of healthcare union Unison, accused the government of refusing to negotiate in good faith and told the chancellor: “Now is not the time for smoke and mirrors. Now is the time for genuine negotiations.” Continue reading...

A safety risk in Port Macquarie, an inappropriately spiky star and a literal coat rack are among the nation’s least-accomplished examples of festive spirit

People with Covid who have mild or no symptoms can now quarantine at home, but PCR tests are still required to enter many placesIn the strongest sign so far that China is rolling back on its long-running zero-Covid policy, the national health commission said that people with Covid-19 who have mild or no symptoms can quarantine at home. The directive also instructed officials to halt temporary lockdowns and ended testing and health code requirements for people entering Beijing. Continue reading...

Gas company Cadent distributed electric heaters, but residents were told to stop using them after grid breachSheffield residents say their entire households are sleeping in the same room with a single electric heater or have moved out altogether as they face a fifth day without gas as temperatures plummet.A major incident was declared and 2,000 homes affected in Stannington, a suburb of Sheffield, after 600,000 litres of water entered a gas main on Friday evening. Nearby Hillsborough is also affected. Olivia Blake, the MP for Sheffield Hallam, has called on the government to provide emergency support on the ground. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Complaint lodged against senior party figure under Labour’s independent processThe senior Labour MP Conor McGinn has had the whip suspended after a complaint was lodged against him under the party’s independent complaints process, the Guardian has been told.The MP for St Helens North, who had previously played a key role in getting Labour ready for the next general election, is now under investigation. Continue reading...

Mustafa Nadeem is believed to have been riding a Voi e-scooter and was pronounced dead at the sceneA 12-year-old boy who was killed riding an e-scooter that collided with a bus in Birmingham has been named as Mustafa Nadeem.He is believed to have been riding a Voi e-scooter when the incident occurred on Tuesday morning, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine coverage hereMore now on Europe’s energy crisis, via AFP:Sky-high energy prices have caused numerous factories, particularly in Germany’s chemicals sector, which was highly dependent upon cheap Russian gas, to halt operations. But European nations were able to fill their gas reservoirs and no one has been cut off yet. Continue reading...

Outrage continues over police shooting of teenage boy, with clashes erupting in major urban centresRomany leaders in Greece have appealed for calm following a second day of violent protests triggered by the police shooting of a teenage boy who is in intensive care.Outrage over the incident, which took place in Thessaloniki when the 16-year old reportedly sped out of a petrol station without paying a €20 fuel bill, has resulted in thousands spilling on to the streets and clashes erupting in major urban centres. Continue reading...

Announcement by Pedro Castillo prompted mass resignations and accusations of a coup d’étatPeru’s president Pedro Castillo has announced the immediate dissolution of congress and the installation of a “government of exception” to rule by decree until new legislative elections – just hours before he was due to face an impeachment vote in a dramatic escalation of his fight with the opposition-led chamber.The announcement on Tuesday was the latest dramatic twist in Castillo’s tumultuous 17 months in power which has already seen five cabinets, six criminal investigations and two failed attempts to impeach him. Continue reading...

Despite description of alleged plotters by prosecutors as a ‘motley crew’, the threat was considered very realAt 6am on Wednesday, German special forces stormed a house in the Berlin lakeside villa quarter of Wannsee and arrested a former MP of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), Birgit Malsack-Winkemann. Three minutes later, they entered the Waidmannsheil hunting lodge in Bad Lobenstein in Thuringia. Simultaneous raids took place in 30 other locations, including a car repair shop and a carpenters’ studio, as well as in the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel and the Italian city of Perugia.Twenty-five people were arrested, and by lunchtime eight of them were in police custody, among them a serving soldier of the elite KSK unit, a lawyer, a pilot, a gourmet chef and a prince, the alleged ringleader who had led the plans to overthrow the German state and replace it with a “monarchistic order”. Continue reading...

Family ‘heartbroken’ and angry by decision not to search landfill after four women were believed to have been killed by serial killerPolice in Canada have said they don’t have the resources to search a landfill to recover the bodies of two Indigenous women murdered by an alleged serial killer – a decision that has left the daughters of one victim “heartbroken” and angry.Last week, police in Winnipeg announced that four Indigenous women – Marcedes Myran, Morgan Harris, Rebecca Contois and a fourth woman who they had not identified – were believed to have been killed by an alleged serial killer. Winnipeg police have charged Jeremy Skibicki in their deaths. Continue reading...

The London venue known for nurturing Mike Leigh, Harold Pinter, Hanif Kureishi and Abi Morgan ‘can no longer continue solely as a new writing theatre’, says outgoing artistic director Roxana SilbertHampstead theatre, which has nurtured emerging playwrights including Harold Pinter, Mike Leigh and Hanif Kureishi over its 60-year history, is set to “change direction” after the Arts Council cut its funding to zero last month.Roxana Silbert has quit as the north London theatre’s artistic director because of the financial constraints it is facing after Arts Council England’s decision not to renew its £766,455 annual grant. Continue reading...

Man accused of stabbing another to death in 2017 was executed by his father before senior Taliban officialsThe Taliban put to death a man accused of murder in western Afghanistan, its spokesperson said on Wednesday, in the first officially confirmed public execution since the group took over the country last year.The execution in western Farah province was of a man accused of stabbing another man to death in 2017, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said, and was attended by senior officials of the group. Continue reading...

No 10 confirms Tory party has taken no action against Mone and she lost whip by taking leave of absence

Surrey force continues to investigate burglary at England star’s home after connection with another raid ruled outPolice officers continue to investigate a burglary at the home of the England footballer Raheem Sterling after a potential lead proved to be short-lived.Surrey police said they were questioning two men arrested on suspicion of a separate offence of attempted burglary on Tuesday in connection to the break-in at Sterling’s property in Oxshott, Surrey. Continue reading...

Anglicare says there are 15 applicants per position but many often stand little chance of success due to lack of experience, age and other barriers

Pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers lauds sales rise but warns of risks aheadThe All Bar One owner, Mitchells & Butlers, has lauded recent encouraging sales at the pub and restaurant group but warned that risks from rising food and energy costs lie ahead.The hospitality chain, which also owns Toby Carvery and Harvester, told shareholders on Wednesday that like-for-like sales have increased by 6.5% since the end of its latest financial year in late September. Continue reading...

Vitali Klitschko says capital taking no chances, working day and night readying for critical strike on power supplies

Albanian ambassador to UK calls for end to ‘campaign of discrimination’ amid debate over small boat arrivalsAlbanian children are being subjected to racist bullying in UK schools because of the debate surrounding arrivals by small boats, the country’s ambassador in London has said.Qirjako Qirko spoke out after Albanians were singled out by ministers and sections of the media during the recent rise in the number of his country’s citizens travelling across the Channel to claim asylum in the UK. Continue reading...

Unanimous judgment in UK’s highest court means Stormont assembly can proceed with abortion services bill

‘It was quite amusing, until it actually happened,’ says customer, after being left £75,000 overdrawnA family of four were told they owed nearly £1m to EDF for a year’s electricity and had £80,000 taken by direct debit, despite telling the company it was clearly incorrect.The payment, which put Richard Baron and his family more than £75,000 over their overdraft limit, was refunded by their bank’s fraud team before any serious damage was done. However, after cancelling their direct debit, they were put on a higher tariff with the energy provider. Continue reading...

The star formerly known as Cheryl Tweedy will play Jenny, who believes her new home is haunted, in the hit play by Danny RobinsThe former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl is to follow in the footsteps of pop star Lily Allen and make her West End acting debut in the thriller 2:22 – A Ghost Story.The star, formerly known as Cheryl Tweedy, will play Jenny, who believes her new home is haunted, in the hit play by Danny Robins. “I am really excited to be taking part in what is such a new challenge,” said Cheryl who described herself as “a big fan of theatre”. The star said that Robins’ style of writing “has an odd sense of familiarity to me, being a fellow Geordie” and Robins added: “We grew up very close to each other in Newcastle so I can’t wait to hear Jenny with a Geordie accent.” Continue reading...

Health secretary says it is not yet certain if staff in England and Wales will respond to calls from people who have had heart attacks