The Guardian

Party leader Ashton Hurn confirms Carston Woodhouse will not run for Liberals in SA’s state election, but says ‘people are entitled to have their views’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A Liberal candidate in South Australia’s upcoming state election has been dumped after his “shocking and extreme” views on abortio…

The final report into the Centrelink debt recovery process that wreaked havoc on the vulnerable is not the full-stop many wanted. It has not restored the trust that was so fundamentally broken Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The whistleblower’s message landed just before Christmas. It was 2016, now a distant memor…

Hail Creek is responsible for about 20% of Australia’s coalmine methane, while only producing 1% of the country’s coal Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Environmental groups have called on the federal government to intervene after Australia’s most methane-polluting open-cut coalmine was approved for extension. A pro…

In today’s newsletter: Robert Malley, who led talks for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, helps make sense of the war Good morning, and apologies for the interruption to your usual programming. Stepping out from behind the editing desk to write today’s newsletter feels somewhat like a player-manager throwing himself on to the pitch, but I’ll try not to destabilise your morning routine too much. Lord kn…

Payment of 2% at employee-owned partnership follows sales increase to £13.4bn The owner of John Lewis and Waitrose has paid an annual bonus to workers for the first time in four years after underlying profits rose by 6%. The retail group’s employees – which it calls partners – will receive a 2% bonus after it recorded an increase in sales and profits. Continue reading...

Health justice charity Medact says data-sharing potential could be used for UK version of US immigration raids Palantir’s NHS contract opens the door to the Big Brother-style data-sharing that Reform UK would use for a version of US immigration raids, health bosses have been told. Palantir Technologies – the data analytics company founded by Peter Thiel and Alex Karp – won a £330m NHS England con…

Health minister Zubir Ahmed says new definition of anti-Muslim hostility could be a turning point as he tells of Islamophobic abuse Zubir Ahmed, a health minister, tries not to read the comments under his social media feeds, but sometimes curiosity gets the better of him. After performing a transplant on Christmas Day, the vascular surgeon scanned a post about the operation. Continue reading...

Countries across the continent have spent more than $2bn on Chinese tracking technology that is not ‘necessary or proportionate’, new report finds The rapid expansion of AI-powered mass-surveillance systems across Africa is violating citizens’ right to privacy and having a chilling effect on society, according to experts on human rights and emerging technologies. At least $2bn (£1.5bn) has been s…

Police discovered the bodies of the mother and daughter after reports of an injured man, covered in blood, in Logan, in Brisbane’s south Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A mother and her baby daughter have been found dead in their Queensland home, while a man covered in blood was hit by a car close to the grisly cr…

Former PM says schools ‘deserve same moral status as hospitals’ after 168 schoolgirls killed in US-Israel war on Iran Gordon Brown: ‘Children killed, a school turned into a graveyard: even in wartime, we can’t accept this’ A school turned into a graveyard Minab school bombing: a visual guide Gordon Brown has called for the creation of an international criminal court for crimes against children, s…

Home Office targets 150 families whose asylum claims were refused and offers them up to £40,000 to leave or face forcible removal Families who received notices asking them to agree to return to their home countries are begging the Home Office to give them more time to make a decision that will significantly affect their children’s futures. The Home Office has targeted 150 families whose asylum cl…

Irish artists, British indie legends and US stars such as Tom Waits also contribute, with Springsteen writing essay about the ‘bottomless humanity’ of the late Pogues frontman Bruce Springsteen has written an essay celebrating the “flashing, alive and historically rich” songwriting of the late Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan , as an all-star covers album is announced featuring Springsteen, Kate Mo…

Viral video of girl being shoved by fellow pedestrian has reignited debate over butsukari – with experts blaming stress and gender dynamics It starts out as a heartwarming clip. A young girl, clearly delighted to be in Tokyo, beams as she makes a peace sign to the camera. Seconds later, she is shoved to the ground from behind by a woman wearing a surgical mask. The assailant doesn’t skip a beat, …

Exclusive: Oil at $100 a barrel means higher prices in the EU and UK, making savings for those with electric vehicles even greater, analysts say European drivers face paying an extra €220 (£190) a year at the pumps because of the surge in oil prices caused by the war in Iran, analysts have warned. In the UK, a separate estimate puts the cost at an extra £140. A sustained oil price of $100 a barre…

Iran has set ablaze two tankers in Iraqi waters as it increased attacks on oil and transport facilities across the Middle East Iran escalates attacks on infrastructure and transport across the Gulf How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events? An attack on Iraq’s Basra port early Thursday killed at least one person and forced authorities to halt operations at all the country’s oil …