Lib Dems say ECHR protects our elderly and most vulnerable...the very people who need it most'Mark Sedwill, the former cabinet secretary and former national security adviser, goes next. He is now a peer, and a member of the committee.He says the deputy national security adviser, Matthew Collins, thought there was enough evidence for the case to go ahead. But the CPS did not agree. Who was right?In 2017, the Law Commission flagged that the term enemy [in the legislation] was deeply problematic and it would give rise to difficulties in future prosecutions.And I think what has played out, during this prosecution exemplifies and highlights the difficulties with that. Continue reading...
The Times deletes article after its reporter was duped by impostor pretending to be former New York mayorThe Times has apologized and deleted an article after discovering its reporter had been duped by someone pretending to be Bill de Blasio, the former mayor of New York City.The UK newspaper removed the article from its website after the real De Blasio released a statement calling the quotes attributed to him entirely false and fabricated" and lambasted the Times for its absolute violation of journalistic ethics". Continue reading...
After staff realized suspect had been freed, officers began search and confirmed he was no longer in the area'A manhunt is underway in California after a murder suspect was accidentally released from jail last week.The Contra Costa sheriff's office said that it was investigating the release of 20-year-old Isaiah Jamon Andrews of Kent, Washington. Andrews was released on 22 October from the Martinez detention facility in northern California. Continue reading...
John Ashby, 32, did not enter a plea and was remanded to appear in Birmingham crown courtA man charged with the rape and sexual assault of a Sikh woman in Walsall has been remanded in custody after entering no plea at Birmingham magistrates court.This comes after a woman in her 20s was attacked in the Park Hall area of Walsall on 25 October 2025, West Midlands police said on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Government critics abducted, killed or arrested in run-up to vote as global monitor records internet blackoutViolent demonstrations broke out in Tanzania's largest city, Dar es Salaam, as the country held an election on Wednesday.Samia Suluhu Hassan, the president, is expected to strengthen her grip on the country against the backdrop of rapidly intensifying repression and the exclusion of opponents from the presidential contest. Continue reading...
by Eleni Courea Political correspondent on (#713B1)
Richard Hermer says failure by Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly to describe China as a threat would have been seized on in trialDefence lawyers would have used Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly's statements about China to dismiss a case against two men charged with spying for Beijing, the attorney general has argued.Richard Hermer told parliament that there would have been plenty of reference" by Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry's lawyers to Conservative ministers' policy positions had the trial gone ahead. Continue reading...
Steve Reed writes to South Cambridgeshire council raising concerns over performance and value for moneyThe local government secretary, Steve Reed, is seeking to clamp down on councils introducing four-day working weeks after writing to South Cambridgeshire warning that the policy has damaged performance.Reed told the council, which is the only local authority to formally trial a four-day week for staff, that the move risked worsening public services and value for money. Continue reading...
Sales benefited from warm summer, M&S online shutdown after cyber-attack and supply improvementsNext has raised hopes that UK consumers are still willing to spend despite pressures on household budgets, as it revealed sales and profit growth materially above" expectations.The clothing and homeware retailer said it benefited from sunny weather over the summer, the online shutdown of the rival Marks & Spencer for several weeks after an Easter cyber-attack and an improvement in clothing supplies from countries such as Bangladesh compared with last year. Continue reading...
Big win leaves many wondering if result reflects genuine support for president or corrosive US influenceOpposition posters scattered across Buenos Aires before Sunday's midterms showed president Javier Milei's name plastered over a US flag, in a bid to tap into anti-American sentiment over Donald Trump's alleged interference in Argentina's election.Days before the vote, the US president announced a $40bn bailout for his Argentinian counterpart but warned that if Milei did not win he would withdraw his support. Continue reading...
Major parties rule out coalition with rightwinger, giving his party little chance of being part of governmentVoting is under way in a knife-edge parliamentary election in the Netherlands that polls suggest could again be won by the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of Geert Wilders, although there is little chance of it being part of the next government.The PVV, which finished a shock first in the last election and formed a short-lived, four-party rightwing coalition, has seen its once sizeable lead fade fast. With nearly half the electorate undecided, analysts say the race is too tight to call. Continue reading...
Kebatu, who was wrongly freed from Essex prison, was put on a flight to Ethiopia and arrived on WednesdayA convicted child sex offender who arrived in the UK in a small boat and was mistakenly released from prison has been deported, the Home Office says.Hadush Kebatu arrived in Ethiopia in the early hours after being removed from the UK on a flight with no right to return, a statement said. Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#712SM)
Dog walker was reportedly walking past Uxbridge house where man and child were stabbedMurder detectives are investigating after a man believed to have been walking a dog past a house where a row had broken out was stabbed to death.The 49-year-old man, named locally as Wayne Broadhurst, died in Midhurst Gardens, Uxbridge, west London, in an incident when a man and a child were also stabbed. Continue reading...
Parents say they were treated as fraudsters because Home Office travel records failed to show their return to UKThe UK tax authorities have announced they will no longer cut off parents' child benefit payments after a new crackdown on overseas fraud backfired due to incomplete Home Office travel data.The flawed data led to HMRC suspending 23,500 payments in recent weeks, including for many families who had simply gone on holiday without the Home Office recording their return. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: Meteorologists have called it a dire situation unfolding in slow motion' - what will it leave behind?Good morning. Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to hit Jamaica since records began in 1851, made landfall at about midday local time on Tuesday. With winds reaching 185mph and torrential rains, it knocked out power lines, cut off the internet, and demolished buildings; the death toll and extent of the damage are still unknown.The storm has already hit Haiti and the Dominican Republic; though it was at one stage downgraded to a tropical storm, now it has strengthened again and is expected to arrive imminently in Cuba, where more than 700,000 people have been evacuated. The reports that are coming in are catastrophic," Jamaican energy and transport minister Daryl Vaz told Sky News. Not very much survives a Category 5 hurricane, in terms of infrastructure."Economy | Rachel Reeves has said Britain can defy gloomy economic forecasts after the fiscal watchdog infuriated ministers by predicting a productivity downgrade would leave her with a 20bn gap to fill in her forthcoming budget.Sudan | Ethnically motivated mass killings and other atrocities are being reported from El Fasher after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces took control of the city in Sudan's western Darfur region over the weekend.UK news | Downing Street has defended the prospect of paying more to house asylum seekers in disused barracks instead of hotels, arguing that quelling public disquiet was worth the extra cost. No 10 said that communities don't want asylum seekers housed in hotels, and neither does the government".Middle East | Israeli warplanes struck Gaza on Tuesday night, shortly after Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered the military to carry out powerful strikes" in Gaza, in the most serious test of the increasingly shaky US-brokered ceasefire.Television | Prunella Scales, the actor best known for playing Sybil Fawlty in the classic comedy series Fawlty Towers, has died aged 93. Scales, who was married to fellow actor Timothy West, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2013. Continue reading...
US president to be presented with replica royal gold crown before meeting his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jae Myung, but expectations of a breakthrough on tariffs are lowDonald Trump landed in South Korea on Wednesday to meet President Lee Jae Myung, with deadlocked talks over a $350bn trade deal between the two countries threatening to cast a shadow over the event.After arriving on a flight from Tokyo, where he signed a rare earths deal with Japan's new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, the US president addressed a summit of CEOs ahead of a meeting with Lee in the town of Gyeongju, a historical city playing host to the annual Apec summit. Continue reading...
by Eleni Courea Political correspondent on (#71342)
Exclusive: Former PM gave consent while foreign secretary for Royal Mint Court complex, a project still in limbo seven years laterBoris Johnson approved the China's super-embassy proposal in 2018 and welcomed the fact it would represent China's largest overseas diplomatic investment" anywhere in the world, the Guardian can disclose.In a letter to Wang Yi, China's top diplomat, Johnson gave his consent for Royal Mint Court to house a sprawling diplomatic complex in May 2018. The Chinese government bought the 20,000 sq metres site for 255m that same month. Continue reading...
NSW police say an investigation is under way following the death of a man at Sutherland hospital' while Vanessa Moulton, 42, has denied sabotage charges
by Tobi Thomas Health and inequalities correspondent on (#7130B)
Those in need of free emergency contraception no longer have to see their GP or attend a sexual health clinicThe NHS has made the morning-after pill available for free across pharmacies in England in an effort to reduce a postcode lottery" of access to emergency contraception.Almost 10,000 pharmacies are now able to offer the pill without charge, saving those in need of free emergency contraception from having to visit their GP or to get an appointment at a sexual health clinic. Continue reading...
Between 15 and 80 Binjareb Noongar people were killed in the massacre which was led by the then WA governor, James StirlingWarning: This article contains historical records that use racist and offensive language, and descriptions of events that will be distressing to some readers. It also contains references to Indigenous Australians who have died
by Rajeev Syal, Aletha Adu and Libby Brooks on (#712TX)
Government defends prospect of paying more for barracks, saying people don't want asylum seekers in hotels'Downing Street has defended the prospect of paying more to house asylum seekers in disused barracks instead of hotels, arguing that quelling public disquiet was worth any extra cost.As refugee organisations and local politicians described plans to house tens of thousands of people in ex-military sites as fanciful" and too expensive", No 10 said that communities don't want asylum seekers housed in hotels, and neither does the government". Continue reading...
Governor says city at war' after gunfights between troops and Red Command drug traffickers who reportedly used weaponised dronesAt least 64 people have reportedly been killed in Rio's worst-ever day of violence as more than 2,500 officers and special forces stormed an area of favelas near Rio's international airport that is considered the headquarters of one of Brazil's most powerful organised crime groups.The predawn police raid - the deadliest in Rio's history - sparked intense gunfights in and around Alemao and Penha favelas, which are home to an estimated 300,000 people. Continue reading...
Wiltshire police leading investigation into allegations about enlistment examinations between the 1970s and 2016Hundreds of women have come forward to allege sexual abuse took place during British army medical examinations over five decades.Police are investigating claims of abuse at various army locations in the UK, and officers believe multiple alleged perpetrators may be involved. Continue reading...
by Rowena Mason, Whitehall correspondent on (#712TZ)
The department is once again the subject of debate about whether it is beyond repair after immigration and prison problemsIt's not that the Home Office is too big. It's that the brains of many of the people who run it are not big enough," says one former departmental insider.Unwieldy, dysfunctional and plagued by poor morale, the Home Office is once again the subject of debate about whether it is beyond repair and should simply be chopped up into two more manageable units. Continue reading...
Tiphaine Auziere spoke at trial of 10 people accused of harassment by posting claims that French first lady was born a manBrigitte Macron's daughter has told a Paris court that false claims online that the French first lady was born a man had damaged her mother's quality of life, leaving her worrying every day about the clothes she wears and how she stands.Tiphaine Auziere, 41, a lawyer, was called as a witness at the trial of 10 people accused of online harassment of Brigitte Macron by creating or reposting social media posts falsely claiming she was a man. Continue reading...
Former PM says a pact would destroy the Conservatives for good and urges them not to desert centre groundJohn Major has told the Conservatives that forming an alliance with Reform UK would for ever destroy" the party, which he said had already left traditional supporters politically homeless" by lurching too far to the right.The former prime minister dismissed a pact with Nigel Farage's party as beyond stupid", saying that any Tories tempted to defect to Reform should go now because his own party would be better off without them. Continue reading...
by Carlos Mureithi in Nairobi and agencies on (#712D5)
Rapid Support Forces accused of killing more than 2,000 unarmed civilians in El Fasher in recent daysReports of ethnically motivated mass killings and other atrocities are emerging from El Fasher after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces took control of the city in Sudan's western Darfur region over the weekend.Video released by local activists showed a fighter known for executing civilians in RSF-controlled areas shooting a group of unarmed civilians sitting on the ground at point-blank range. Continue reading...
The Ukrainian president stressed that this would not a plan to end the war' but one to begin diplomacy'EU's von der Leyen also gets asked about the balloons disrupting the Lithuanian airspace.She says she wants to express my full solidarity" with Lithuania, and calls it a provocation, a hybrid threat," which we cannot tolerate."We're in for the long haul. We are ready to cover the financing needs of Ukraine, so that we are standing by Ukraine for as long as it takes. Continue reading...
Dania Alafranji, 16, still waiting on visa from Home Office despite being offered school place in Berkshire 18 months agoA teenager from Gaza who has been denied an opportunity to attend school in Britain and be reunited with her mother has said she is stuck in hell", despite other European countries making exceptions for students from the region.Dania Alafranji, 16, was accepted on to the Nsouli Scholars Programme to attend Reddam House school in Berkshire more than 18 months ago, but has yet to receive a visa that would allow her to escape the war in Gaza, with her family saying that they feel helpless and have been going in circles" trying to get her to Britain. Continue reading...
by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#712HG)
Family of Bella Culley, 19, paid 138,000 in deal that could result in a two-year sentence in former Soviet republicThe family of a pregnant British teenager being held on drug smuggling charges in Georgia have paid 138,000 in a plea bargain deal that could result in a two-year jail sentence.It may mean that Bella Culley, a 19-year-old student nurse from Billingham, Teesside, will give birth while imprisoned in the former Soviet republic. Continue reading...
Former Labour leader will make onscreen cameo as Wizard of Oz-lington' in drag production of Wicked WitchesHe has spent a whole career dealing with booing and hissing in the House of Commons. But now in the run-up to Christmas, the former Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn will bring that experience to bear as he appears in pantomime at a north London theatre.The Islington North MP, who sits as an independent, will perform as the Wizard of Oz-lington" in a drag production of Wicked Witches. The venue said he would make an onscreen cameo. Continue reading...
The 4,000-capacity Eutopia is independently owned and run by clubland veterans - and despite being on the city's eastern fringe, clubbers say they're prepared to trekBetween redevelopment, inflation, licensing and noise complaints, keeping a nightclub afloat in London can be tricky: earlier this month Corsica Studios in Elephant and Castle joined the more than 50% of UK clubs which have been lost since 2013.Given that context, this weekend's opening of Eutopia, a 4,000-person independently owned nightclub and cultural venue in a former haulage warehouse in Barking, feels worth celebrating. But music fans who have been burned by the recurrent loss of the capital's best dancefloors, from Plastic People to Printworks, might also be sceptical. Is Eutopia here to stay, or another false dawn? And are people really going to trek out to the very eastern edge of the city, 12 miles from the West End, to go to a club across a river from a sewage treatment works? Continue reading...
by Tobi Thomas Health and inequalities correspondent on (#712BM)
Exclusive: All-party parliamentary group on black health found 27% not offered any treatment after diagnosisBlack women in the UK who experience symptoms caused by fibroids are facing delays, poor care and dismissal by healthcare professionals according to a parliamentary report.Published by the all-party parliamentary group on black health, the report included a survey of more than 500 women regarding their experience of uterine fibroids, with more than 70% of respondents being Black British. Continue reading...
Barracks in Inverness and East Sussex will house about 900 men as government aims to end use of hotelsHundreds of people seeking asylum in the UK will be moved to military sites as the government aims to end the use of hotels to house them.The Home Office confirmed that two barracks - Cameron barracks in Inverness and Crowborough training camp in East Sussex - would be used to house about 900 men temporarily. Officials are working to identify more sites. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: Rising numbers of prisoners released by accident are laying bare systemic failings in England and Wales, from overworked staff to issues with probationGood morning. Maybe the most gobsmacking detail about the accidental release of Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford was this, from a delivery driver who was delivering equipment to the prison as he left: Kebatu, who was serving a sentence for sexual assault and was due to be deported, appeared baffled as he walked free, and lingered outside the gates for an hour and a half before heading away. They [the officers] were basically sending him away, saying, Go, you've been released, you go,'" the driver told Sky News. He kept scratching his head and saying, Where do I go, where do I go?'"On its face, that might look like incompetence. But the fiasco of Kebatu's release may point to much bigger issues in the prison system. Yesterday, the justice secretary, David Lammy blamed human error" - while the Prison Officers' Association (POA) called the suspension of a single officer unjust".Hurrican Melissa | Jamaicans have started to take shelter from Hurricane Melissa as the category 5 storm neared the coast amid warnings of catastrophic flooding, landslides and extensive infrastructure damage. The slow-moving giant is set to make landfall early on Tuesday.Climate crisis | Humanity has failed to limit global heating to 1.5C and must change course immediately, the secretary general of the UN has warned. In his only interview before next month's Cop30 climate summit, Antonio Guterres acknowledged it is now inevitable" that humanity will overshoot the target.Reform UK | Nigel Farage has defended remarks made by a Reform MP who said seeing adverts full of black and Asian people drives her mad". The Reform UK leader said if he felt Sarah Pochin's words were deliberately and genuinely racist", he would have taken action" against her.Sudan | Fears grew for hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in El Fasher after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said it had captured the city, which it has been besieging for more than a year in Sudan's civil war.Ministry of Defence | At least 49 family members and colleagues of Afghans affected by the MoD's mass data breach have been killed, according to research submitted to a parliamentary committee. Continue reading...
UK tax agency apologises after flagging people as having emigrated, often when they return via different routesParents who went from Liverpool to Amsterdam with their autistic children are among thousands who have had their child benefit wrongly stopped as part of a crackdown on benefit fraud, it has emerged.The error by HM Revenue and Customs emerged 48 hours after the Guardian and the Detail reported on hundreds of families in Northern Ireland who had child benefit stopped after they returned home from holiday via Dublin airport, leaving HMRC with the impression they had taken a one-way ticket out of the country and were fraudulently collecting child benefit. Continue reading...
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