World news | The Guardian

From Scott Morrison's on-water matters' to the Albanese government's MOU with Nauru, successive governments' attitude to legitimate scrutiny has been one of hostility

US president says Thursday is an appropriate time' in radio interview as Ukrainian leader weighs up US proposalGerman Bild tabloid is also reporting that Merz is expected to hold a phone call not only with Zelenskyy, but also with the US president, Donald Trump.Mind you: there's been no official confirmation yet. Continue reading...

PM says Reform UK leader also has questions to answer' about alleged racist comments and chants when at schoolNigel Farage has been accused of being spineless" by the prime minister and a coward" by Dulwich college contemporaries over his response to allegations of racism.Keir Starmer said the Reform UK leader had questions to answer" about alleged comments and chants as a teenager that include songs about the Holocaust, and accusations of bullying towards minority ethnic schoolboys. Continue reading...

Online fashion retailer says action to cut discounts and deter serial returners' contributed to fall in sales

Opening in Alicante airport is the chain's first move outside UK

Supermarket still losing market share despite effort under Allan Leighton to win over customers with price cutsAsda is selling off 24 stores and a distribution centre - and leasing them back - to raise 568m in what has been called a sign of weakness" as sales continue to fall.The Leeds-based supermarket group, which is expected to release its quarterly results next week, has continued to lose market share to rivals as sales have gone backwards, despite an effort to win over shoppers with price cuts and improved stores. Continue reading...

Beijing still trying to recruit British sources in parliament through LinkedIn regardless of provocationAn unexpected connection on LinkedIn. An offer of work from a headhunter, most likely a young woman, based in China. The chance to earn perhaps 20,000 part-time writing a handful of geopolitical reports for a Chinese company peppered with non-public" or insider" insights. Payment in cryptocurrency or cash preferred.It may seem obvious, on this telling, that something about this approach would be amiss. Nevertheless, China's powerful Ministry of State Security (MSS) still considers it worthwhile to deploy recruitment consultants to try it - leading MI5 to warn repeatedly about their activity online. Continue reading...

European Commission seeks to ease rules on cross-border movements to create military Schengen' zone

Defence secretary reveals details of recent incursions as he warns UK is facing new era of threat' from hostile countriesA Russian spy ship has entered British waters and shone lasers at military pilots, the defence secretary has said, as he warned the UK was facing a new era of threat" from hostile countries.John Healey said on Wednesday that the Yantar surveillance ship had crossed in and out of the UK's exclusive economic zone multiple times in recent weeks, not for the first time this year. Continue reading...

Facebook and Instagram users under 16 will be sent email, SMS and in-app messages in anticipation of 10 December when ban will begin

Officers accused of using violence and threats to make Peter Sullivan confess to 1987 murder of 21-year-old Diane SindallA man wrongly jailed for 38 years has spoken of being beaten by police and bullied into making a false murder confession.Peter Sullivan, 68, the subject of one of the longest miscarriages of justice in British history, said he had lost everything and wanted an apology from Merseyside police. Continue reading...

PM Mette Frederiksen's centre-left party loses control of Copenhagen for first time in more than 100 yearsMette Frederiksen has admitted that a fall in support for the Social Democrats was greater than we had expected" after her party suffered sweeping defeats across Denmark and lost control of Copenhagen for the first time in more than 100 years.While the Social Democrats remain the largest municipal party in Denmark, the prime minister's centre-left party lost more than 5 percentage points across the country in Tuesday night's municipal and regional elections, dropping from 28.4% in 2021 to 23.2%. Support for the far right Danish People's party, meanwhile, rose slightly from 4.09% to 5.9%. Continue reading...

After MI5 issues China espionage alert to parliament, Luke Pollard says message should be heeded by all citizens

Public should be told nature of threat posed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, says defence committee chairThe UK lacks a plan to defend itself from a military attack, MPs have warned as the government promised to boost readiness with new arms factories.The challenges facing the government and defence industry were laid bare in a stark report from the Commons defence committee about the UK's ability to fight a war and meet its Nato obligations in light of Russia's war in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Masked robbers forced their way into a car, seized valuables and forced victim to transfer bitcoinMasked robbers stole a 450,000 watch and 1.1m in cryptocurrency after forcing their way into a car in Oxford.Two men and three women were driving from the city to London on the afternoon of 4 November when the raiders struck, Thames Valley police said. Continue reading...

One expert says she is starting to visualise the point where all we have left of corals and reefs is memories'

Vladimir Putin authorises the guarding of fuel sites by reservists, internet blackouts and tighter sentencing for acts of sabotageRussia has passed sweeping laws to bolster its defences at home against Ukrainian drone strikes and sabotage operations, reflecting the Kremlin's expectation of a protracted war with Ukraine.Almost four years into Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine - a full-scale invasion he expected to last only weeks - Moscow is being targeted almost daily by Ukrainian drones striking energy facilities, while Ukrainian operatives have assassinated a number of high-profile Russian military figures deep inside the country. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: Despite the risks, many young people now see choking during intimacy as acceptable or even expected, which experts put down to the proliferation of increasingly violent online pornographyGood morning. Yesterday, I was shocked to read that nearly half of sexually active under-18s have either been strangled or strangled someone during sex.Choking", as it is known, has become normalised in young people's sexual habits. A study by the Institute for Addressing Strangulation, part of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians, published on Tuesday, found that 43% of under-18s had experienced the practice, despite much evidence of the dangers it can cause.Politics | Nigel Farage is facing fresh claims of racism and antisemitism while he was at school, with a Bafta-winning director among those making accusations against him. The Reform UK leader denies the allegations.Technology | A key piece of the internet's usually hidden infrastructure suffered a global outage on Tuesday. Cloudflare, whose services include defending millions of websites against malicious attacks, experienced an unidentified problem that meant internet users could not access some websites.Health | The NHS has failed to cut waiting times as promised in its recovery plan despite billions of pounds in investment, the public accounts committee has warned.Home Office | Shabana Mahmood is facing demands for compassion and clarity after it emerged that only a few hundred" asylum seekers would initially be permitted to come to the UK under three new schemes for refugees.Espionage | MI5 has issued an espionage alert to MPs and peers warning that two people linked to the Chinese intelligence service are actively seeking to recruit parliamentarians through LinkedIn. Continue reading...

Husic, who oversaw CSIRO cuts as the former science minister, said some in government see scientific agency funding as a cost' not an investment'

John Howard, billionaire Lindsay Fox and Dawn Fraser among mourners at service for broadcaster known as the Golden Tonsils'

ABC managing director tells National Press Club comparisons between BBC program edit and Four Corners episode are not legitimate

UN committee to consider claim by prominent Mori leader Tureiti Moxon that alleges government policies have harmed Indigenous peopleThe United Nations has agreed to hear an urgent complaint against New Zealand's coalition government alleging it is responsible for significant and persistent discrimination against Mori.Prominent Mori leader, Lady Tureiti Moxon, has filed the complaint to the UN's committee for the convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (CERD). Continue reading...

Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, which was looted by the Nazis and nearly destroyed in a fire during the second world war, sells at Sotheby's auctionA painting by Gustav Klimt has sold for a record-breaking $236.4m (179.7m, A$364m) with fees, making it the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction and the most expensive work of modern art sold at auction.The six-foot-tall painting, titled Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, was painted by the Austrian painter between 1914 and 1916 and shows Lederer, a young heiress and daughter of Klimt's patrons, draped in a Chinese robe. Continue reading...

Nearly two-thirds of prevention of future deaths' reports by coroners are not acted upon, say researchers at King's College LondonThe advice given by coroners in England and Wales to help prevent maternal deaths is not being acted upon, research suggests.Academics at King's College London looked at prevention of future deaths (PFD) reports issued by coroners in cases of pregnant women and new mothers who died between 2013 and 2023. They found these reports were not being systematically used nationally". Continue reading...

Public accounts committee finds Labour's progress appears to have stalled' despite billions of pounds in investmentThe NHS has failed to cut waiting times as promised in its recovery plan despite billions of pounds in investment, the public accounts committee (PAC) has warned.The influential parliamentary committee's verdict raises serious doubts over whether Labour can fulfil its key pledge to voters to fix the NHS" by ensuring that patients can once again get hospital care within 18 weeks by 2029.Key NHS targets to improve access to both planned care and diagnostic tests by last spring were missed".NHS England had spent 3.24bn setting up community diagnostic centres and surgical hubs but had not achieved the aim of reducing delays.In July, 192,000 people had been waiting at least a year for care, despite a pledge to eradicate that practice altogether by March 2025.22% of patients were having to wait more than six weeks for a diagnostic test, even though that was due to be cut to 5% by March. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer accused of failing to adequately strategise while in opposition, leading to uncoordinated policymakingKeir Starmer is failing to make major improvements to public services partly because he did not plan properly while in opposition, according to a report from the Institute for Government (IfG).The prime minister went into government without a clear idea about how to achieve his targets, the IfG found, resulting in haphazard attempts to reform various sectors, from the health service to the courts. Continue reading...

Four people also rescued alive at popular Torres del Paine reserve in Patagonia amid heavy snowfall and strong windsA British woman and four other foreign tourists have been killed in a blizzard at a nature reserve in southern Chile.Nine people went missing on Monday in the Torres del Paine reserve in Patagonia, a popular tourist destination, amid heavy snowfall and winds reaching up to 120mph. Continue reading...

US president also claims Mohammed bin Salman knew nothing' about murder of journalistDonald Trump has shrugged off the Saudi regime's 2018 murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, saying the journalist was extremely controversial" and unpopular, dismissing the killing by observing things happen".The US president made the remarks at the White House on Tuesday while welcoming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the first time since Khashoggi's murder and dismemberment in Istanbul by Saudi state operatives. Continue reading...

US House today voted on the release of government files relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Find out how your representative voted

As the government imposes stricter rules for families of asylum seekers coming to the UK, one mother tells how her son is growing up without herMy son says I miss you, when am I seeing you?' Sometimes I lie to give him false hope. There's a growing detachment there, because he knows I have lied to him."Kim is an asylum seeker based in Yorkshire, England. The 35-year-old, who has asked to use only a pseudonym out of fears for her safety, is among those in the UK who do not know when - or if - they will be able to see their children again, as the Labour government cracks down on the asylum system. Continue reading...

On first official visit to UK, leaders say aim is not to break the British Treasury' but to find solution to help clean up mess' left by colonialismThe Caribbean's slavery reparations body has decried misleading press reports that suggest their aim is to break the British Treasury" by demanding trillions of pounds, as they mutually beneficial restorative justice programme.Prof Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC), which was set up to progress the Caribbean's pursuit of justice for centuries of enslavement and colonisation by European nations, made the comments during the body's first official visit to the UK. Continue reading...

Politically realistic' for UK to make financial contribution so it can access European single market, Irish minister saysThe UK must pay into the EU budget for future participation in the European single market, it has been confirmed, in what could become a major test for the post-Brexit reset.Ireland's Europe minister, Thomas Byrne, said EU member states had decided the UK should make a financial contribution for closer ties: Ireland wants to see Britain getting the benefit of closer engagement with the European Union. Continue reading...

Donald Tusk warns Polish parliament of an escalation' of Russian intelligence activities across the whole of Europe'. This live blog is closedPoland's prime minister Donald Tusk has just told lawmakers that the authorities investigating the rail sabotage incidents over the weekend identified two main suspects.He says the suspects are Ukrainian men, who crossed into Poland from Belarus this autumn, and are believed to have been working for Russian intelligence services. Continue reading...

Donald Tusk says two saboteurs crossed border from Belarus hoping to cause divisive catastrophe'Polish authorities have identified two Ukrainian men, allegedly working for the Russian intelligence services, as the key suspects in two cases of rail sabotage, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, has said.The men are alleged to have planted a military-grade explosive device and attached a steel clamp to rail tracks in two incidents on a strategic rail route used for aid deliveries for Ukraine. Continue reading...

Spy agency says Amanda Qui and Shirly Shen have been using LinkedIn to obtain non-public and insider insights'MI5 has issued an espionage alert to MPs and peers warning that two people linked to the Chinese intelligence service are actively seeking to recruit parliamentarians.The two people operate as headhunters on the LinkedIn professional networking website aiming to obtain non-public and insider insights", MI5 said. They are said to also be targeting economists, thinktank staff and others with access to politicians. Continue reading...

German pop duo who last year said their wish was to leave together' had joint assisted death at their home in GrunwaldAlice and Ellen Kessler, the pop singing sisters who were famous in Europe in the 1960s, especially in Italy where they were credited for bringing glamour to the country's TV network, have died aged 89.The identical twins had chosen to have a joint assisted death at their home in Grunwald, close to Munich, on Monday, said Wega Wetzel, a spokesperson for Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Humanes Sterben (DGHS), a Berlin-based assisted dying association. Continue reading...

Dan Jarvis, the security minister, says China is trying to contact MPs and peers to get sensitive information about parliamentBack at the Reform UK press conference, Zia Yusuf, the party's head of policy, has just finished outlining his plan to cut spending on foreignersAs he finished, Yusuf claimed this was treachery".Labour is making the conscious and deliberate decision to continue funding extortionate amounts to foreign nationals, to the detriment of British citizens.And I don't know what to call that. Frankly, in my view, it's treachery. I think it's appalling. British people are sick and tired of it.Just a few months ago, Rachel Reeves was saying she couldn't afford to scrap the two-child benefit cap. Now it looks like becoming her latest U-turn.This isn't because the economic circumstances have improved. Quite the opposite. Continue reading...

US oil firm blames UK government policy and supply costs for closure of site near Cowdenbeath in ScotlandExxonMobil is to close a chemicals plant in Scotland that employs hundreds of workers within months, blaming the decision on the UK government's economic and policy environment".Workers at Fife Ethylene Plant were told on Tuesday that the oil company would shut the 40-year-old facility near Cowdenbeath by February next year owing to the difficult policy and market conditions in the UK. Continue reading...

Prime minister tells cabinet budget leaks and infighting are distracting from priorities and delivering change

The actor will appear opposite British film star Noah Jupe in a production directed by Robert Icke opening in MarchStranger Things' Sadie Sink is to make her West End debut next year in Romeo and Juliet, opposite British film star Noah Jupe, in a production directed by Olivier award-winner Robert Icke.Sink, who plays Max in the Netflix sci-fi hit, started her career on stage. She was cast in the lead role in the musical Annie when she was 10, and remained in it for 18 months in New York. I was a Broadway kid, so I've always dreamed about doing a show in the West End," she said. To get to do that in one of Shakespeares's most famous plays under Rob's direction with Noah will be such an exciting challenge. London theatre has this incredible energy, and I can't wait to be a part of it." Sink becomes the latest in a line of US stars who have made their West End debuts in recent years, including Sigourney Weaver (The Tempest), Brie Larson (Elektra) and Susan Sarandon (Mary Page Marlowe). Continue reading...

Senior aide to Mohammed bin Salman allegedly led campaign to identify users who were posting critically about Saudi regimeA senior official in Mohammed bin Salman's entourage, who is understood to be accompanying the crown prince on his first trip back to the US in over a decade, has previously been accused by US prosecutors of playing a central role in a conspiracy to infiltrate Twitter and identify users who were posting critically about the Saudi regime.Bader al-Asaker, who has headed Prince Mohammed's private office since before he became crown prince, has never been formally charged by the US government for his role in the 2014-15 scheme, but was named in court in 2022 by a US government lawyer as having led the campaign to find a mole" who would be able to extract sensitive information from the social media company, which is now known as X. Continue reading...

Lib Dem MP says way figures were compiled on non-British-sounding' surnames in court was frankly racist'GB News has been accused of risking inflaming tensions over crime committed by migrants after presenting unscientific research that counted the number of defendants with foreign-sounding names".Ofcom, the UK's media regulator, has received complaints about a segment on the rightwing news channel last week that drew a link between non-British" names and those in court charged with sex offences. Continue reading...

Men aged 20 to 23 convicted at trial that showed pattern of far-right activists getting together in gymsFour men in Sweden have been found guilty of racially motivated assaults and sentenced to jail after a trial that revealed a growing pattern of far-right activists banding together in fitness clubs.The four men, aged 20 to 23, were members of an active club". Such clubs are loosely structured groups that meet in gyms and aim to promote white nationalist, misogynist and hyper-masculine ideology. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Experts urge water companies to update plants to avoid another catastrophe, as analysis reveals scale of useAt least 15 sewage plants on England's south coast use the same contaminated plastic beads that were spilled in an environmental disaster in Camber Sands, Guardian analysis can reveal.Environmental experts have urged water companies to update these old treatment plants to avoid another catastrophic spill, which can lead to plastic beads being permanently embedded in the environment and killing marine wildlife. Continue reading...

It is the second-largest tropical forest on Earth, and one of the most vital carbon sinks, but is losing out when it comes to climate policy and fundingIn October 2023, leaders, scientists and policymakers from three of the world's great rainforest regions - the Amazon, the Congo, and the Borneo-Mekong basins - assembled in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. They were there to discuss one urgent question: how to save the planet's last great tropical forests from accelerating destruction.For those present, the question was existential. But to their dismay, almost no one noticed. There was very little acknowledgment that this was happening, outside of the Congo basin region," says Prof Simon Lewis, a lecturer at the University of Leeds and University College London, and co-chair of the Congo Basin Science Initiative (CBSI). Continue reading...

Dubs, who was a child refugee, says Shabana Mahmood's shabby' plans will increase community tensions

Competition watchdog examines StubHub, Viagogo, AA Driving School and BSM Driving School and others

Chinese airlines offer free cancellations and film releases postponed after Japanese PM's comments on TaiwanChinese travellers are estimated to have cancelled hundreds of thousands of tickets to fly to Japan amid reports of suspended visa processing and cultural exchanges as a diplomatic dispute over Japan's stance on Taiwan continues.Under pressure from business groups, Japan has sent a senior diplomat to Beijing in an attempt to calm tensions after Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said her country could get involved militarily if China attempted to invade Taiwan. Her comments prompted fury from China's government, which issued warnings against Chinese travellers and students going to Japan. Continue reading...

Australia's national scientific agency announces more research job losses as it looks for budgetary savings

The Coalition is preparing to thrash out the design of a policy to significantly reduce immigration places