UK inflation accelerated at the start of this year, eating into workers’ wages and putting pressure on employers to boost monthly pay packets. The consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation rose to 3% in January, the Office for National Statistics reported, up from 2.5% in December. City economists had expected inflation to rise to…

Three people have died in north-east Japan in an accident that authorities suspect is linked to the inhalation of deadly gas found in the country’s famed hot spring resorts. Japanese media said the three men, who all worked at a nearby hotel, were found in a mountainous area near the city of Fukushima on Tuesday.…

A judge has delivered a frank assessment of the man who threatened Brittany Higgins, her husband and her pet dog, saying he might just be an “awful person”. In Sydney’s Downing Centre court on Wednesday, David William Wonnocott was sentenced to three years and two months’ jail. He must serve a minimum of 16 months.…

A woman will face court charged over allegedly Islamophobic attacks on two women at a shopping centre, as one of the victims says she remains terrified. The 31-year-old Pascoe Vale woman is accused of assaulting a pregnant 30-year-old Muslim woman inside an Epping shopping complex in Melbourne’s north on Thursday, before allegedly attacking 26-year-old Ealaf…

A couple allegedly named on a police warrant as part of an investigation into a caravan laden with explosives has been charged in relation to a separate alleged arson and graffiti attack in Sydney’s east. New South Wales police on Tuesday charged Scott Marshall, 36, over an incident in Woollahra on 11 December last year…