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Supermarket giant sought to use Baby Bellies' designs for its own commercial advantage', judge says

Rain eases in state's southeast after teen rescued in Mareeba, while firefighters battle blazes in Victoria

Average bill will rise by 157 over five years to 597 after regulator agrees to increases in amount firms can charge Thames Water to pay 18m penalty after breaking dividend rulesHousehold water bills in England and Wales will rise by an average of 31 a year for the next five years from April, as suppliers pay to fix leaky pipes and cut pollution.The industry regulator Ofwat said on Thursday it would allow companies to raise average bills will rise by 157 over five years to 597 by 2030 to help pay for investment. That represents a 36% increase before inflation, which will be added on top. Continue reading...

Investigation launched over claims Brisbane woman's complaints about childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith were dismissed

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Ethical beauty chain books 2m profit in first three months after rescue from administration in SeptemberThe new boss of the Body Shop has told staff the struggling ethical beauty retailer is back for good" after it booked a profit in its first 100 days under new ownership.The retailer was bought out of administration in September by a consortium led by the British cosmetics tycoon Mike Jatania. Continue reading...

Law around illegal wood burning in smoke-control areas is not being enforced, campaigners sayOnly four fines out of 5,600 complaints have been issued for illegal burning of wood in smoke-control areas from September 2023 to August 2024 in England, data has revealed.The new data, from freedom of information requests submitted by the campaign group Mums for Lungs, shows that the law around illegal wood burning is not being enforced in England, campaigners said. Continue reading...

Federal court dismisses NSW government's attempt to stop action - including work stoppages that could lead to a train strike

Human Rights Watch says Israeli forces have acted deliberately to cut availability of clean waterIsrael's restriction of Gaza's water supply to levels below minimum needs amounts to an act of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity, a human rights report has alleged.Human Rights Watch (HRW) investigated Israeli attacks on the water supply infrastructure in Gaza over the course of its 14-month war there. Continue reading...

The Manchester boy who joined United aged seven holds a special place in the heart of many fans, though others accept his time to leave has comeAlthough Marcus Rashford had moved closer to the exit at Manchester United, there was still a buzz around Button Lane primary school.The noise of the children coming in was louder," sports coach Chris Walker said. Some don't want to come into school, but this morning it was: What did you get from Marcus?'" Continue reading...

John Harris is joined by the Guardian's Politics Weekly Westminster hosts, political editor Pippa Crerar and correspondent Kiran Stacey, to look back at 2024 and ahead to what 2025 might bringWith thanks to ITV News and The Bath Philharmonia Young Carers' Choir. Continue reading...

The latest is deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley who's been caught by surprise when sprinklers went off during a live TV cross on Wednesday

Daniel Billings is charged with murdering former partner in Forbes in April 2024The man accused of the domestic violence murder of Molly Ticehurst is facing fresh sexual assault charges and will be mentally assessed before he goes to trial.Daniel Billings, 29, is charged with murdering Ticehurst, 28, whose body was found in her home at Forbes in central-western New South Wales in the early hours of 22 April. Continue reading...

BoM meteorologist says Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and NSW will be generally dry and fingers crossed it stays like this'

Offences alleged to have taken place in 1990s while ex-constables, now in their 50s and 60s, were on dutyTwo former police officers have been arrested as part of an investigation into child sexual offences in Rotherham dating back to the 1990s.South Yorkshire police said a retired constable, now in his 60s, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office, attempted rape and three counts of indecent assault. Continue reading...

Lib Dems may force vote on refusal to compensate women, which has angered many backbenchersUp to 100 Labour MPs could vote against the government's decision to rule out spending 10bn compensating Waspi women if a vote is held, encapsulating the fury on Keir Starmer's own benches, the Guardian has been told.The work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, announced on Tuesday there would be no compensation for women born in the 1950s who were not aware of changes to the state pension age, despite a recommendation from the parliamentary ombudsman in March that 1,000 to 2,950 should be paid out to each of the more than 3 million women affected. Continue reading...

Sophie Harvey and Elliot Benham denied using the pills and said their child had been stillbornA man and woman who were accused of buying pills to induce an illegal abortion have been sentenced to community orders.Sophie Harvey, 25, had previously stood trial accused of procuring her own miscarriage when she was 19. Continue reading...

Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong says ambassador to Ukraine to return to Kyiv in January and Russia war affects security of Indo-Pacific

Her election is first action in moves to form new coalition government after no party won majority in general electionVerona Murphy has become the first female speaker of the Irish parliament as part of attempts to form a coalition government.Murphy, an independent TD for Wexford, defeated two Fianna Fail candidates and one from Sinn Fein to win the 255,000 (210,000) a year position of Ceann Comhairle. Continue reading...

Residents in parts of central Gaza told to move towards overcrowded humanitarian zone' that has already been hit by strikesHere are some of the latest images coming through from Gaza:Palestinian medics say an Israeli airstrike has killed at least 10 people in a house in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, where army forces have operated since October. Continue reading...

Council lifts suspension with immediate effect provided the club complies with new licence conditionsThe Groucho Club will be allowed to reopen after an emotional council meeting at which its licence was reinstated, providing that the 39-year-old institution follows strict police-proposed rules on members' guests and the monitoring of toilets.The London private members' club's licence had been temporarily suspended after allegations that a woman was raped inside the venue on 13 November. A 34-year-old man was arrested in Hertfordshire on suspicion of rape and has been bailed. Continue reading...

Activists say ombudsman's findings based on rigorous evidence 60% had no idea' of changesScottish ministers are to set up a pilot project to test the automatic enrolment of young people on the electoral register, as part of a modernisation of Holyrood's election laws.The trial is expected to involve universities, colleges and high schools (over-16s can vote in Scottish parliament and council elections), to improve participation by young people.Some schools trialled these sorts of initiatives ahead of the 2014 independence referendum, with huge success and incredibly high turnout amongst young people. There is also plenty of international evidence that automatic registration boosts participation in elections and should be supported by every democrat. Continue reading...

Dominique Pelicot likely to be given 20 years for drugging his ex-wife and inviting strangers to rape her over a decadeThe mass rape trial that has sent shockwaves through France and horrified the world is expected to end on Thursday with the conviction of Dominique Pelicot, who has admitted drugging his ex-wife, Gisele, and inviting strangers into their bedroom to rape her.Pelicot, a 72-year-old retired electrician and estate agent, is expected to be given the maximum 20-year jail term the public prosecutor has demanded at the three and a half-month trial in Avignon. Continue reading...

Advocate Health plans to replace 115-year-old hospital in area with one of the largest life expectancy gaps in the USThe third largest non-profit hospital system in the nation, Advocate Health, said it plans to spend $1bn in Chicago's South Side neighborhood, and replace an aging hospital with a smaller facility and more primary care appointments.Chicago has one of the largest life expectancy gaps in the nation. Racial segregation is thought to be at the heart of a roughly 30-year life expectancy gap between the North and South Side neighborhoods. Continue reading...

Report is expected to be made public after the committee's final votes of the year later this weekThe US House of Representatives ethics committee has reportedly voted to release a report on sexual misconduct allegations against Matt Gaetz, the former Republican representative who was forced to drop his bid to become Donald Trump's attorney general amid fallout over the accusations.According to CNN, the House ethics committee voted earlier this month to release the report, which is expected to be made public after the chamber's final votes of the year later this week. Continue reading...

Nasen Saadi, who studied criminology, killed Amie Gray as she picnicked with a friend on the beach

The 29-year-old had been recruited by Ukrainian special services, Moscow saysRussian chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov said on Wednesday that arms control was now a thing of the past due to the lack of trust between Russia and the West.Gerasimov said Russia had seen increased activity by the US-led Nato military alliance near Russia's borders. Continue reading...

How women born in the 1950s have lost out in changes to the UK state pension age - and what happens nextThe UK government has stirred up a hornet's nest with its decision to deny compensation to what could be millions of Waspi women".They are said to have lost out because of government failings in the way changes to the state pension age were communicated. Continue reading...

Eight years after an awkward bad boys of Brexit' snap at Trump Tower's lift, Reform's leader is a Mar-a-Lago insiderAs a photo it is visually striking and politically resonant: Nigel Farage, the man who loudly proclaims he will be the UK's next prime minister, alongside two extremely rich supporters, all bathed in the golden glow of his hero Donald Trump.In terms of raw politics, the significance is what may follow from the talks involving the leader of Reform UK, the party's new treasurer, Nick Candy, and Elon Musk at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday, immortalised in a photo eagerly released by Farage's media team. Continue reading...

Despite fall in trade, LSE study says overall impact was more limited than OBR forecasters first estimated

More than 150 experts worked to save Ottavia Piana, who fell while charting Bueno Fonteno cave near BergamoAn injured woman trapped in a cave in northern Italy has been lifted to safety, ending her four-day ordeal.Ottavia Piana, a speleologist, was rescued in the early hours of Wednesday. She had been exploring an uncharted area of the Bueno Fonteno cave near Bergamo on Saturday afternoon when she fell five metres, fracturing her face, ribs and knees. Continue reading...

A chronicle of Jabaliya's destruction, using eyewitness accounts, satellite imagery and video footageOn the morning of 9 October 2023, the Trans area of the open market in Jabaliya refugee camp was bustling. Two days into the Gaza war triggered by Hamas's surprise attack in Israel, it had yet to be hit by Israeli jets.The camp, just north of the city of the same name, was established in 1948. Though technically still a refugee camp, in the ensuing decades it had become largely indistinguishable from the rest of northern Gaza's urban sprawl - densely populated, vibrant and busy. As well as the large open market at its centre, there were restaurants and schools, two football teams, bakeries and clinics. Continue reading...

Police can seize money from frozen accounts after straightforward cheat of the revenue', London magistrate rulesPolice can seize more than 2m from the influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan after they failed to pay a penny in tax on 21m of revenue from their online businesses, the chief magistrate has ruled.Devon and Cornwall police brought a legal case to seize the money, held in seven frozen bank accounts, from the brothers and a woman identified only as J. Continue reading...

Robert and Lee Firkins have convictions quashed after being jailed in 2006 for murders of Carol and Graham FisherTwo brothers who have spent almost 20 years in prison for a double murder at a remote Cornish garage have been cleared after their convictions were overturned and a planned retrial dropped.Robert and Lee Firkins were jailed in 2006 for the murders of Carol and Graham Fisher, who were killed in what appeared to be a bungled burglary at their home in Perch, near Wadebridge. Continue reading...

Marsden's death was confirmed in a letter from one of two schools he founded saying: He died at his desk in his home, doing what he loved, writing'

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has announced fresh elections to the Bundestag for February 2025, after the collapse of his SPD-led coalition. Find out which parties are polling best todayGermany is preparing for a general election to the Bundestag, the lower house of its parliament, on 23 February, after its traffic-light" coalition of social democrats, liberals and greens collapsed. The country's electoral system is highly proportional, so polls give a good indication of what shape of government might be possible after the election. Continue reading...

Chancellor says high cost of compensation cannot be justified because most of women affected had known pension changes were comingImproving public services is a higher priority than spending 10bn compensating Waspi women, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said, as MPs and campaigners criticised the decision to reject the watchdog's recommendation for a flat-rate compensation scheme.Her comments came after campaigners accused Labour of hypocrisy for having promised to compensate women hit by the rising state pension age. The parliamentary ombudsman had recommended paying out 1,000 to 2,950 to each of the more than 3 million women affected. Continue reading...

Yoon Suk Yeol was summoned for questioning over attempt to impose martial law earlier this monthSouth Korea's impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, failed to appear before the country's corruption watchdog on Wednesday, it said, after he was summoned for questioning over his attempt to impose martial law.Yoon was stripped of his duties by parliament over the weekend following his short-lived 3 December martial law declaration, which plunged the country into its worst political turmoil in decades. Continue reading...

The toxicology reports for the seven affected people, including four Australians, are not yet finalised

In today's newsletter: Kyiv assassinated Igor Kirillov inside enemy territory, in its most audacious operation since the war began - how will Russia respond?Good morning.In the early hours of yesterday morning, Russian general Igor Kirillov and his deputy were killed when a bomb concealed in an e-scooter detonated as they left an apartment. Ukraine's SBU security service swiftly claimed responsibility for the attack, which stands as one of the most audacious assassinations of a senior Russian military figure since the war began almost three years ago. Russian authorities arrested a 29-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan early today, the news agency Tass reported, citing the FSB, the country's domestic spy agency.Police | Police intelligence missed clues about the dangers posed by the far right before the summer riots across England, a police chief has said. Andy Cooke, the chief inspector of constabulary, also said police were too slow to mobilise after disorder broke out, meaning some violence was worse than it would otherwise have been, with the chance to thwart some of it missed.UK news | Sara Sharif's mother, Olga Domin, called her daughter's murderers sadists and executioners" as they were jailed for life. Domin joined the Old Bailey hearing remotely as Urfan Sharif, 43, and Beinash Batool, 30, were sentenced for killing the schoolgirl.Business | Amazon is to settle a group claim from delivery drivers that it deprived them of thousands of pounds, the Guardian has learned, ending a suit that lawyers had said could cost the company 140m.Parliament | The Commons should consider a move to electronic voting, a group of more than 60 backbenchers have said, with the current system of filing physically through voting lobbies taking up to a fifth of their working day.Climate crisis | The world's coal use is expected to reach a fresh high of 8.7bn tonnes this year, and remain at near-record levels for years as a result of a global gas crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

Investigators say they have arrested a 29-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan over suspected involvement in explosion that killed Lt Gen Igor Kirillov

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The Israeli foreign affairs minister, Gideon Sa'ar, reportedly claimed Australia distanced itself from Israel in its most difficult year'

Larissa Rita Mae-Leigh Sant allegedly drove a four wheel drive with false licence plates into Kiesha Thompson in July, court hears

Intelligence gaps, especially around social media analysis, led to failures, report findsPolice intelligence missed clues about the dangers posed by the far right before the summer riots across England, a police chief has said.Andy Cooke, the chief inspector of constabulary, also said police were too slow to mobilise after disorder broke out, meaning some violence wasworse than it would otherwise have been, with the chance to thwart some of it missed. Continue reading...

Exclusive: UK lawyers said in tribunal self-employed drivers owed because retailer dictated their working conditionsAmazon is to settle a group claim from delivery drivers that it deprived them of thousands of pounds, the Guardian has learned, ending a suit that lawyers had said could cost the company 140m.Drivers who deliver for the internet marketplace through its delivery service partners" (DSPs) are classed as self-employed, meaning they are not entitled to benefits such as holiday pay and the minimum wage, while they also do not have an employment contract. Continue reading...

Domestic workers who fled abusive employers say their children are not eligible for birth certificates, medical care or education - yet cannot leaveA Guardian investigation has found women formerly employed as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia who appear to be trapped" in the country after being denied birth certificates for their children or visas in order to leave and return home.The Guardian has spoken to five Kenyan women who say they have been unable to register the birth of their children as they were born outside marriage. The women all fled abusive employers who then kept their identity documents. Continue reading...

Mother of Mary Jane Veloso urges Philippine president to act so family can be reunited for Christmas, as daughter lands in ManilaThe mother of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipino domestic helper who spent almost 15 years on death row in Indonesia, has urged President Ferdinand Marcosto grant her daughter a pardon as she arrived back in the Philippines on Wednesday, ending a long battle by her supporters to bring her home.We cannot explain the joy of my husband and her children," Veloso's mother, Celia Veloso, 65, told the Guardian late on Tuesday. We have been praying for my child to come home for a long time, and now she will be home." She hopes her family can be reunited for Christmas. Continue reading...

Witnesses recount the moment the earthquake hit in Port Vila, as rescue teams sift through the wreckage after disaster that has killed 14 and injured 200

Lanez, serving 10-year term for shooting Megan in feet in 2020, accused of waging harassment campaign from prisonMegan Thee Stallion asked a court on Tuesday to issue a restraining order against Tory Lanez, who she says is harassing her from prison through surrogates as he serves a 10-year sentence for shooting her in the feet.The petition filed by the hip-hop star in Los Angeles superior court asks the judge to prevent the Canadian rapper Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, from using third parties to continue the same online harassment of Megan, whose legal name is Megan Pete, that he engaged in and encouraged before his imprisonment. Continue reading...