Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the move was ‘an opportunity to reimagine a more meaningful and fulfilling partnership’
The Māori party of New Zealand has called for a “divorce” from the crown and removal of the British royal family as New Zealand’s head of state.
The call came on the 182nd anniversary of the signing of the treaty of Waitangi, or Te Tiriti o Waitangi, New Zealand’s foundational legal document.
Continue reading...Accord signed by Alberto Fernández and Xi Jinping at Winter Olympics also supports Chinese claim to Taiwan
Liz Truss has defended the Falklands as “part of the British family” after China backed Argentina’s claim over the South American islands.
The foreign secretary tweeted that “China must respect the Falklands’ sovereignty” after the Argentinian president, Alberto Fernández, met China’s President Xi on the fringes of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Continue reading...Prime minister may still face more letters of no confidence and revelations from Dominic Cummings
Allies of Boris Johnson have insisted that “grownups” are now in charge of his operation as he heads into critical week for his beleaguered premiership that could see him face a confidence vote and the threat of further damaging revelations.
Tory MPs said Johnson may have bought some time by bringing a new team into No 10. One major Conservative donor, Alexander Temerko, told the Guardian that the prime minister should now take the opportunity to “purge” the cabinet of disloyal leadership rivals.
Continue reading...City in Guangxi, with population of 3.7 million, reportedly under lockdown; James Marape tests positive on arrival at Winter Olympics
Fascinating dispatch from Costa Rica by CNN’s Latin American affairs editor, Rafael Romo, who reports of the fallout of the country’s decision last November to became the first country in the world to mandate Covid-19 vaccines for minors, with all children five and older required to get vaccinated, barring medical exemptions.
It started as a heated discussion between a father and his son’s doctor. But it quickly escalated to a multi-person fist-fight that shocked the nation.
Inside the St Vincent de Paul hospital in Costa Rica’s Heredia province, not far from the capital San Jose, the argument – over the country’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate – came to blows last week, leading to the arrests of seven people.But this fight proved more consequential than for just the people involved: The incident forced authorities to temporarily close the hospital’s doors, marking a dark moment in the country’s fight against the pandemic and highlighting the debate around its mandatory vaccination policy.
In 2019, 16.1 per cent of private school pupils had their A-levels graded A*. In 2021 — when teachers decided what marks to award their pupils — the proportion jumped to 39.5 per cent.
Research by The Sunday Times shows for the first time the extent of the grade inflation in individual schools. At North London Collegiate School, a girls’ school in Edgware whose senior fees are more than £21,000 a year, the proportion of A* grades soared from 33.8 per cent in 2019 to 90.2 per cent last summer. The 56.4 percentage point increase is the highest recorded in the investigation.
Continue reading...Kristina O’Connor says detective who was investigating after men tried to steal her phone asked her out
A woman is taking legal action against the Metropolitan police after a detective who told her she was “amazingly hot” while investigating her attack kept his job.
Kristina O’Connor, now 33, said she was sent inappropriate messages by DCI James Mason after he responded to her report of an attempted robbery in October 2011.
Continue reading...Serial killer reportedly wrote letter detailing 1996 murders of mother and daughter in Kent
The serial killer Levi Bellfield has reportedly penned a letter confessing to the murders of mother and daughter Lin and Megan Russell in 1996.
The Sun revealed that lawyers acting for Michael Stone, who has twice been found guilty of the murders of Lin and Megan in Kent, have claimed to have received a statement written by Bellfield detailing the killings.
Continue reading...First in line to throne thanks Duchess of Cornwall for support as royal family paves way for her to take title of queen
The Prince of Wales has paid tribute to his “darling wife” the Duchess of Cornwall for her “steadfast support” after the Queen announced that Camilla will be known as “Queen Consort” when Charles becomes king.
In a statement released on Sunday, Charles heralded the Queen for the way her “devotion to the welfare of all her people inspires still greater admiration with each passing year”.
Continue reading...An exhibition of vivid photographs and a restored documentary give fresh insight into the Antarctic explorer, who died a century ago
One hundred years ago, the leader of the last great expedition of the heroic age of polar exploration died from a heart attack as his ship, Quest, headed for Antarctica. The announcement of the death of Ernest Shackleton on 30 January 1922 was greeted with an outpouring of national grief.
This was the man, after all, who had saved the entire crew of his ship Endurance – which had been crushed and sunk by ice in 1915 – by making a daring trip in a tiny open boat over 750 miles of polar sea to raise the alarm at a whaling station in South Georgia.
Continue reading...PM salutes Elizabeth II’s ‘unwavering dedication’ as she becomes first British monarch to celebrate platinum jubilee
Boris Johnson has paid tribute to the Queen’s “unwavering dedication to this nation” as she became the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum jubilee.
The Queen marks a historic 70 years on the throne on Sunday 6 February.
Continue reading...Monarch expresses ‘sincere wish’ in candid message marking 70th anniversary of her accession
The Queen has expressed her “sincere wish” that the Duchess of Cornwall becomes Queen Consort when Charles becomes king.
In a candid message marking the 70th anniversary of her accession, the monarch made clear her desire, unambiguously paving the way for Queen Camilla.
Continue reading...More MPs set to submit resignation demands as No 10 rejigs team
Boris Johnson’s desperate efforts to save his premiership were undermined on Saturday as one of his most loyal backbench supporters said it was now “inevitable” that Tory MPs would remove him from office over the “partygate” scandal.
In an interview with the Observer, Sir Charles Walker, a former vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs, implored the prime minister to go of his own accord in the national interest, and likened events in the Tory party to a Greek tragedy.
Continue reading...The prime minister was widely criticised for repeating the slur that is widespread online – but extremists were delighted
A network of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and antisemites has celebrated Boris Johnson’s false claim that Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.
Johnson was roundly criticised, including by some Tory MPs, after he made the accusation during an ill-tempered exchange in the Commons last Monday.
Continue reading...Hundreds still dying from Covid each day in the UK as fear of the virus wanes
The Covid booster campaign has stalled, and declining trust in the prime minister is part of the problem, say scientists.
Only 26,875 people in England had a third dose or booster on 1 February, the latest complete figures available, and 6 million people are at least six weeks overdue for their shot.
Continue reading...Culture secretary dismisses resignation calls over ‘partygate’ after another Tory says PM should go
The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, has rejected calls for Boris Johnson to resign in order to restore trust after the “partygate” scandal, claiming that the “vast majority” of the party were behind the prime minister.
It comes after the former schools minister, Nick Gibb, became the latest Conservative MP to publicly call for Johnson to go, citing constituents “furious about the double standards” and the prime minster’s “inaccurate” statements in the Commons.
Continue reading...Police issue ‘desperate’ appeal for information after burglary on Friday in Garretts Green
Police have appealed for help after a burglar stole an urn containing the ashes of a child.
West Midlands police said the urn was taken on Friday after someone broke into a home on Clopton Road in Garrett’s Green, Birmingham.
Continue reading...Andy Haldane says city’s crucible-like atmosphere created ‘combustion’ for economic prosperity
The government’s new levelling-up strategy should help Britain’s left-behind towns and cities emulate Renaissance Florence in cooking up the “secret sauce” of economic success, according to its co-author Andy Haldane.
The hefty report, published on Wednesday, was mocked by some for its frequent historical references – including to 15th-century Florence under the Medici – but Haldane, a former Bank of England chief economist, is deadly serious.
Continue reading...A roundup of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Mandalay to Montevideo
Continue reading...Some argue Boris Johnson’s wife is pulling the strings at No 10 but others note that claims contain more than a whiff of sexism
Boris Johnson’s inner circle imploded so spectacularly in recent days that only one close political confidante from the early days of No 10 remains: his wife, Carrie Johnson.
The most powerful prime ministerial spouse in recent memory, the 33-year-old Johnson has a job of her own for a wildlife charity, but multiple sources from Downing Street past and present say her influence on the prime minister’s operation is undeniable.
Continue reading...Marking 70 years on the throne will be a private occasion of mixed feelings for the monarch
Seventy years after becoming monarch far sooner than she could have anticipated, the Queen will mark the anniversary of her accession on Sunday at Sandringham, where her father George VI died aged 56 in 1952.
Though it has long been her custom to mark this milestone at the Norfolk estate, this year has added poignancy. The Duke of Edinburgh, her “strength and stay” during 73 years of marriage, and who broke news to her of the king’s death while they were thousands of miles away at a Kenyan game lodge, is no longer at her side.
Continue reading...As most UK countries start including reinfections in overall total, we look at why this is happening now
With reinfections now included in the daily Covid case numbers for most countries in the UK, we take a look at why the shift matters.
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