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Move to arm all 2,375 estimated troops marks significant shift in rules of engagement for domestic military deployments

Much improved response systems are struggling to cope with ever more powerful and destructive storms

Ditching Rachel Reeves would put spotlight back on real context for decision to drop idea of breaching manifestoWhen Keir Starmer was mounting the case for the prosecution against Boris Johnson for his Partygate antics, it took almost two months and a police investigation for him to formally call for the prime minister to resign. He was of the view there was no point calling for things until they were likely to happen.This is not the philosophy of the current leader of the opposition. Since October, Kemi Badenoch has called on Starmer to sack his chancellor three times, once over a mishap with her rental licence, then for considering raising income tax, and finally because she did not in fact raise income tax. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president announces departure of Andriy Yermak, who was leading peace talks with USVolodymyr Zelenskyy's powerful chief of staff and closest ally, Andriy Yermak, has resigned after Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies conducted searches at his apartment earlier today.The abrupt departure of the aide, who had been leading the latest round of the delicate peace negotiations with the US, was announced by the Ukrainian president in a late-afternoon social media video on Friday. Continue reading...

Whistleblower tells Afghan leak inquiry those affected were told to move and change phone numbers to protect themselvesThe UK left behind sensitive technology allowing the Taliban to track down Afghans who worked with western forces, a whistleblower has told the Afghan leak inquiry.The woman, known as Person A, said that Afghans affected by the data leak were told to move homes and change their phone numbers to protect themselves from the Taliban because it had the resources to track them down. Continue reading...

Frank-Walter Steinmeier travels to Basque town for remembrance ceremony marking terrible crimes' of 1937Eighty-eight years after Luftwaffe pilots took part in the most infamous atrocity of the Spanish civil war, Germany's president has visited the Basque town of Guernica to honour the victims of the Nazi bombing and to urge that the terrible crimes" committed there are never forgotten.Hundreds of civilians were killed and hundreds more injured on 26 April 1937 when planes from the German Condor Legion, operating alongside aircraft from fascist Italy, spent hours bombing Guernica on market day. Adolf Hitler had loaned the Luftwaffe unit to Gen Francisco Franco's nationalist forces to help them in their coup against the republican government, and to allow Nazi Germany's pilots to practise the blitzkrieg tactics they would later use in the second world war. Continue reading...

Benedict Bryant convicted of dangerous driving occasioning death after placing police car in path of 16-year-old's trail bike in Sydney in 2022

Kiara Ferguson died after Adam Winmar's daughter, four, found loaded weapon in family's couch in 2023

Monsoon rains cause devastation on Indonesian island, sparking landslides and flash floodingFlash floods and landslides on Indonesia's Sumatra island have killed 69 people, with 59 missing as emergency workers search in rivers and the rubble of villages for bodies and possible survivors.Monsoon rains over the past week caused rivers to burst their banks in North Sumatra province on Tuesday. The deluge tore through mountainside villages, swept away people and submerged more than 2,000 houses and buildings, the National Disaster Management Agency said. Nearly 5,000 residents fled to government shelters. Continue reading...

Three construction employees arrested as firefighters battle to reach trapped people, with many still missing

EU's foreign policy chief says there's one aggressor and one victim' in conflict amid US push to end the warIn case you missed it, US president Donald Trump defended his peace envoy Steve Witkoff overnight after Bloomberg reported that he allegedly advised Putin's aide Ushakov on how to speak with Trump and conduct the talks.Trump did not appear too bothered by it, though. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak's temporary' 5p-a-litre cut to be reversed in stages from next September in effort to keep EVs attractive

Coalition accuses government of breaking its promise not to cut the public sector as treasurer confirms reductions

The president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, said all 24 of the girls kidnapped last week had been rescuedAll 24 schoolgirls held by assailants after a mass abduction last week from a school in north-western Nigeria have been rescued, the country's president announced on Tuesday.A total of 25 girls were abducted on 17 November from the Government Girls Comprehensive secondary school in Kebbi state's Maga town, but one of them was able to escape the same day, the school's principal said. The remaining 24 were all saved, according to a statement from the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu, though no details were released about the rescue. Continue reading...

Betting companies made 12.6bn in 12 months to March, with 15% rise in takings from online casino players

Scheme includes plan to move the M25 and could mean up to 760 more planes in the skies around London every day

Ultimatums sent to publications appear to intensify as Nigel Farage's party rises in pollsIt was Trumpian," said Mark Mansfield, editor and CEO of Nation.Cymru, a small English-language Welsh news service. It has perhaps given us a flavour of how a Reform UK government would behave towards the media."Mansfield is referring to what he described as an attempt by a figure at Nigel Farage's Reform UK party to bully" his publication, but he believes a wider lesson might be learned. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak hands health secretary open letter calling for testing for men at the highest riskMore than 100 MPs, including Rishi Sunak, have urged Wes Streeting to introduce screening for prostate cancer.The UK National Screening Committee, a government agency that advises ministers and the NHS about all aspects of screening, will recommend whether men at higher risk of the disease should be offered checks. It is due to write to the health secretary later this week, the Telegraph reported. Continue reading...

Swedish PM says Russia must be forced to the negotiating table' as European leaders meet in Angola to discuss Geneva talks

OBR has reportedly downgraded predictions after review that blames lack of investment under Tories

Ike Ekweremadu serving prison sentence after being found guilty of conspiring to exploit a man for his kidneyThe UK government has rejected a request by Nigeria to deport a former senior Nigerian politician convicted of organ trafficking.Ike Ekweremadu, 63, a former deputy president of the Nigerian senate and ally of the former president Goodluck Jonathan, is serving a sentence of nine years and eight months after being found guilty in 2023 of conspiring to exploit a man for his kidney. Continue reading...

IOPC said four officers may potentially have breached standards in handling abuse claims by Brella, 24, found dead last yearFour Northamptonshire police officers are facing misconduct hearings due to their handling of abuse claims by Harshita Brella, who was found dead last year.Brella, a 24-year-old from Corby, was found dead in a car boot in Ilford, east London, on 14 November 2024. It is suspected she was strangled in Corby, Northamptonshire on 10 November. Continue reading...

Providers report a median operating loss of nearly 4% in the last financial year - with losses totalling about 12% over five years

Research by Choice suggests 53% of people either regretted a purchase or had a negative experience during the sales, as other experts warn against overspending and scams

Jon M Chu's sequel, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, is the second biggest US opening of the year and the biggest international opening for a stage musical adaptationThe extraordinary promotional juggernaut for Wicked: For Good, Jon M Chu's sequel to the 2024 first instalment of his Broadway adaptation, appears to have paid off, with the film this weekend smashing box office records held by its predecessor.Its global total at the end of the weekend stands at $226m, considerably up on the $164.2m earned by its predecessor. The major change was in the domestic takings: while last year's film took more than double its initial take in the US - $114m to $50.2m overseas - this concluding instalment has corrected that overindexing, with $76m banked from international territories. Continue reading...

Late singer's personal effects up for sale including a trunk gifted to her by Carrie Fisher, and artworks by Anita Pallenberg and Marlene DumasDiaries and a gift from actor Carrie Fisher are among the personal items from Marianne Faithfull that are going up for auction in London.The musician died in January aged 78, leaving behind a cache of fascinating portraits, photographs and ephemera from a glamorous, sometimes troubled life. Each piece tells a story and reflects her spirit and inimitable taste," her son Nicholas Dunbar said. It is time now for these belongings to find new homes and I hope that they will bring as much joy to their new owners as they did Marianne." Continue reading...

Embassy's employment of Gila Ben-Yakov Phillips is potentially violation of UK sanctions law, say expertsThe British embassy in Tel Aviv may have broken both UK sanctions law and UK government security policies by employing an Israeli citizen who owns a home in an illegal settlement in occupied Palestine, legal experts have said.The embassy's deputy head of corporate services and HR, Gila Ben-Yakov Phillips, moved to Kerem Reim in 2022. She listed a house she bought there as her home address on financial documents at the time. Continue reading...

Bureau of Meteorology warns damaging to destructive winds' possible as thunderstorms track across state

Survivor tells how she was trapped under hot machinery' in the wreckage after the choppers crashed over the Gold Coast

Blow to leftist coalition government of PM Pedro Sanchez, who appointed Alvaro Garcia Ortiz in 2022Spain's chief prosecutor has announced his resignation after the supreme court found him guilty last week of leaking confidential information in a case involving a leading opposition figure's partner.The unprecedented case is a blow to the leftist coalition government of the prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, who appointed Alvaro Garcia Ortiz in 2022 and has defended his innocence repeatedly. Continue reading...

Sydney band, as well as Ninajirachi and rapper Barkaa, win new state government awards aiming to support local musicians against international competition

FTSE 100-listed miner forces Australian company to walk away from takeover after rebuffing second approachBHP has walked away from another attempt to take over rival miner Anglo American after it was again rebuffed, failing in a last-minute effort to disrupt the planned merger with Canadian mining business Teck Resources.The Australian mining company reportedly became interested in making another offer for FTSE 100-listed Anglo last week, more than a year after abandoning a 39bn attempt to buy the business. Continue reading...

Nationals senator Matt Canavan says One Nation leader debased' parliament while independent Fatima Payman says she is disrespecting Muslim Australians'

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University leaders says planned levy on international student fees will leave many institutions even worse offUniversity students in England get just two-thirds of the funding they would have received a decade ago, after inflation and government cuts have reduced the resources available for teaching, according to vice-chancellors.University leaders said the situation was likely to get worse if the government went ahead with a new levy on international student fees in Wednesday's budget. Continue reading...

Liberal party senator calls Department of Parliamentary Services email incredibly concerning'

Actor who appeared in My Own Private Idaho, Blade, Armageddon and Dogville, as well as Madonna music videos and video games, died on SundayUdo Kier, the German actor who appeared in 275 roles across Hollywood and European cinema, including multiple films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Gus Van Sant and Lars von Trier, has died aged 81.Kier died on Sunday morning, his partner Delbert McBride told Variety. The actor died in hospital in Palm Springs, California, his friend the photographer Michael Childers announced on social media. No cause of death was given. Continue reading...

MPs will examine Michael Prescott's claims of liberal bias in coverage of Gaza, racial diversity and trans issuesThe BBC has been plunged into crisis by the sudden resignation of its director general, Tim Davie, and the head of news, Deborah Turness. Their departure followed a disagreement over how to respond to a memo from its former external adviser Michael Prescott, in which he claimed there were serious and systemic problems" at the corporation. He alleged liberal bias in its coverage of the US election, Gaza and racial diversity and transgender issues.Their decision shocked many in New Broadcasting House, but what emerged in the hours after their departure was talk of a rightwing coup", board splits and crippling delays. Continue reading...

Former PM to examine issue of trust in politics and Oscar-winning actor's show will discuss AIThe former prime minister Theresa May is to guest edit Radio 4's Today programme and use it to explore the issue of dwindling trust in politics.May, who resigned in 2019 with a tearful statement about the honour she felt in holding the office, will edit Today on New Year's Eve. Continue reading...

Musicologist Peter Wollny chanced upon the manuscripts in 1992 and authenticating them took half of his lifetimeThe best fictional detectives are famed for their intuition, an ability to spot some seemingly ineffable discrepancy. Peter Wollny, the musicologist behind last week's world sensational" revelation of two previously unknown works by Johann Sebastian Bach, had a funny feeling when he chanced upon two intriguing sheets of music in a dusty library in 1992.His equivalent of the Columbo turn, from mere hunch to unravelling a secret, would take up half his life. Continue reading...

Competition-winning apartment building plans should be approved twice as quickly by NSW councils, and will be three to six storeys high

Australian foreign minister echoes European call for sovereignty to be respected and for end to Russia's illegal and immoral war'

Charities say vulnerable young people are being failed by local authorities, the police and central governmentMore than 2,000 children who have been trafficked or who arrived in the UK alone to claim asylum disappeared from social services' care last year, according to freedom of information data shared with the Guardian.The authors of a report, Until Harm Ends, submitted FoI requests to children's services departments in councils across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland asking for information about trafficked children and those who arrived alone in the UK and claimed asylum, who then went missing after being taken into care. Continue reading...

In-app notifications go out this week to users believed to be aged under 16 ahead of 10 December social media ban

Move aims to bring in extra 1.2bn of savings as government seeks to head off criticism over welfare spending

US-Ukraine statement comes hours after European countries propose their own alternative peaceThe US and Ukraine said they had created an updated and refined peace framework" to end the war with Russia, hours after European countries proposed their own radical alternative that omitted some of the pro-Russia points made in an original US-backed document that was leaked last week.The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, emerged from a meeting in Switzerland late on Sunday with a Ukrainian delegation led by Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, saying he was very optimistic" about the progress of the talks. A joint statement between the two countries said that any eventual deal would fully uphold" Ukraine's sovereignty. Continue reading...

Tributes paid to culinary visionary' who was early celebrity proponent of using local and seasonal ingredientsTributes have been paid to the pioneering chef and restaurant proprietor Skye Gyngell, who has died aged 62.The Australian was an early celebrity proponent of using local and seasonal ingredients and built a garden restaurant from scratch, the Petersham Nurseries Cafe in Richmond, south-west London, which went on to win a Michelin star. Continue reading...

Re:State report says role hospitals play needs fundamental reinvention' to deliver better care for patientsHospitals need to become smaller, with fewer beds, to help save the NHS from its permacrisis", a thinktank has said.The role hospitals play needs to undergo a fundamental reinvention" to help them escape the overcrowding that has become widespread over the last decade, according to the thinktank Re:State. Continue reading...

Planned overhaul of editorial guidelines committee would dilute influence of Tory board appointment Robbie GibbThe BBC is planning to overhaul the way it investigates editorial concerns, in a move that will dilute the influence of a Conservative figure accused of trying to sway its political impartiality.A new deputy director general post is also expected to be created to aid Tim Davie's successor as director general, after concerns that the task of overseeing the corporation has become too big for one person. Continue reading...