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Colom beat Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith after race was called eight days after midterm election day

Members of Congress seek to bring sanity' to system but decline to give details on plans to reform or abolish agencyA group of congressional Democrats on Wednesday pushed for immediate efforts to rein in the Trump administration's sweeping immigration enforcement operation and bring sanity" to an immigration system that Donald Trump said, after his party's midterm drubbing, had been too tough" in certain aspects.Just over a week after the midterm elections in which the US president's harsh crackdown on immigration fueled a voter backlash against Republicans, some sitting and newly elected Democrats gathered outside the US Capitol in Washington to advocate for a bipartisan approach to reforms - even as they gear up to take control of both legislative chambers next year. Continue reading...

With year 12 exams under way, VCAA says there is no evidence any have leaked and hacker is attempting to exploit anxious students'

Colom takes victory by razor-thin margin in state that hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982Democrat Scott Colom defeated Cindy Hyde-Smith, the incumbent Republican senator, to become the first Black senator in Mississippi elected since reconstruction, in a stunning upset after more than a week of vote counting in one of the country's most reliably red states.Colom opened up a narrow lead over Hyde-Smith late on election night. His lead widened as election officials counted provisional ballots. Hyde-Smith was not able to close the gap. Continue reading...

Black women and girls represent an outsized share of LA homicide victims - frustrated with police and legislators' failures, they're stepping up and speaking out to stop the violenceAs a child, Tioni Theus was a ball of energy. After school she liked to play golf and dance. On weekends, she'd go to the movies and the mall with her older cousin. Driving back home at the end of the day to her family's apartment in South Los Angeles, California, she'd ask: What are we doing next?"Everything changed when Tioni was 13. Her mother was hit by a car and critically injured, leaving her unable to take care of her daughter. While her mom recovered, Tioni lived with other family members. But the accident left Tioni angry, her older cousin Nafeesah Kincy said, and she struggled to understand that her life had permanently changed. Continue reading...

Group attending Veterans Day ceremony sharply reminded by sentinel to maintain silence and respect' at sacred siteA US army sentinel guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier loudly reprimanded the embattled US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and his top staffers on Wednesday, after some in the group were heard laughing and talking near the memorial following a Veterans Day ceremony.According to video captured by the TV network pool, Hegseth was with his wife, Jennifer, chief of staff Ricky Buria, deputy chief of staff Patrick Weaver and senior adviser and deputy assistant Tami Radabaugh walking up the steps in front of the memorial after posing for pictures. A laugh is audible, prompting the guard to yell: All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times." Hegseth looked over his shoulder in the direction of the soldier as he continued walking up the steps. Continue reading...

Police called to Lane Cove North on Wednesday after sofa found containing human torso believed to be that of adult man

Remains believed to have belonged to Africans or Afro-Brazilians repatriated after being flown back by diplomatsTwo skulls, including that of a man believed to have taken part in Brazil's greatest slave revolt but whose remains were taken to the United States and used in racist eugenics studies at Harvard University, were repatriated on Wednesday.The remains had been outside Brazil since the 19th century. One was taken about 190 years ago from Salvador, the capital of the state of Bahia; the other, about 160 years ago, from Rio de Janeiro - and were welcomed back in moving, subdued ceremonies in both cities. Continue reading...

Driver, 61, faces DUI and murder charges after Tuesday crash critically injuring two others in North HollywoodA driver who reportedly crashed into pedestrians on a Los Angeles corner during Tuesday rush hour, killing three people and critically injuring two more, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and three counts of murder, police said on Wednesday.The fatal crash took place near a North Hollywood metro station. Continue reading...

Death of Javits Frimpong, who moved to the US from Ghana a year ago, has affected close-knit Ghanaian communityA 17-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Javits Frimpong in the Bronx.The teenager was taken from his Bronx home for questioning Wednesday morning and brought to the New York City police department (NYPD)'s 42nd precinct. The suspect, whose identity has not been released, faces several charges, including murder, manslaughter, criminal possession of a weapon and other firearm-related offenses. Continue reading...

Once a Dallas school teacher, Hall became a star in later life with roles in Soul Food and CollateralActor Irma P Hall, star of Soul Food and the Coen brothers' The Ladykillers, has died at the age of 91.Hall died on Tuesday, her family confirmed alongside a statement that described her as a beloved actress, author, poet, educator and public speaker whose contributions touched countless lives throughout her remarkable career". Continue reading...

Retailer's management to seek two-week extension of legal protection from creditors in high courtMPs have accused the owner of Poundland of extracting millions of pounds from the budget retailer when it was on a knife-edge" as it seeks extra time to secure a rescue deal.The management of Poundland, which employs 12,000 people and operates 600 stores in the UK and Ireland, will seek a two-week extension of legal protection from creditors from the high court on Thursday morning. Continue reading...

Paralympian Richard Whitehead gobsmacked' at Tory leader's speech over proposed 36bn welfare cutsThe double amputee marathon runner Richard Whitehead has criticised Kemi Badenoch for weaponising his sporting success" to justify her proposed 36bn welfare cuts.The Conservative leader used the example of double amputees running marathons" in a speech this week to explain the reasoning behind her proposed cuts to disability benefits, which she said were enabling people to live a life of dependency". Continue reading...

L/Cpl Nicholas Horne, from 4th Battalion of Royal Regiment of Scotland, charged with one count of rape on 23 OctoberA British soldier has been charged with the alleged rape of a UK army servicewoman in Cyprus.L/Cpl Nicholas Horne, who serves in the 4th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, also known as The Highlanders, was charged with one count of rape on 23 October, the Defence Serious Crime Command (DSCC) said. Continue reading...

74-year-old Leonardo Bertulazzi, awaiting extradition to Italy, reportedly used harness to flee custodyA 74-year-old former member of Italy's radical Marxist group the Red Brigades has escaped from house arrest in Argentina, the country's security ministry confirmed on Wednesday, after he reportedly hid his ankle monitor inside a tube of pork and lowered himself from a fifth-floor balcony.Authorities placed Leonardo Bertulazzi under house arrest in Buenos Aires in 2024, prior to his extradition to Italy to serve a 27-year prison sentence. He had received the sentence in 1987 for joining a subversive association and belonging to an armed group. Continue reading...

Marshall Islands president warns of worsening floods as UN chief calls for a windfall tax on oil and gas firmsFailure to provide an overwhelming response to the climate crisis means the world we know is over", the president of the embattled Marshall Islands has warned, as dozens of leaders gathered in Turkey for the Cop31 climate summit.Hilda Heine, one of a handful of Pacific Island leaders to make an impassioned speech at Cop31 on Wednesday, told other heads of state that overshooting the 1.5C Paris temperature target would mean waves eating away their shores and floods that destroy towns, schools and hospitals. Continue reading...

Action on 25 and 26 November suspended to allow for formal negotations with the government

Man, 30, is in custody in Florida and awaiting extradition to New York for alleged rapes at park in 2021, 2023 and this yearAuthorities have arrested a man in Miami who is wanted in connection with three alleged rapes in New York's Central Park, including one reported last month.On Tuesday, authorities including the US Marshals took 30-year-old Dereck Rivera-Deleon into custody while he was working at a Burger King in Miami, New York City police said. Continue reading...

PM wrote to transport commissioner to oppose monster' warehouse in Astley shortly before he entered No 10Andy Burnham raised safety concerns about dozens of lorries leaving a monster" warehouse near a primary school because there was no safe crossing" for children, a public inquiry has heard.Concerns about the 18-metre-high megashed" in the village of Astley, Greater Manchester, are being examined by Britain's office of the transport commissioner. Continue reading...

Nearly 5m households relying on heating oil could see 70% increases, as advocates call on Congress to provide reliefAmericans are likely to face higher heating bills this winter amid a growing affordability crisis, with costs projected to climb more than 7% nationwide and some households facing increases of up to 70%, according to a new report.The National Energy Assistance Directors Association (Neada), which represents state officials seeking federal funding, warns that disruptions stemming from the war with Iran are pushing heating costs higher as millions of families already struggle to pay utility bills. Continue reading...

Bogus threats also made to thousands of schools in Italy as police assure parents and teachers there is no dangerHundreds of schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland were hit by a fresh wave of hoax bomb threats on Wednesday, with some sites evacuated as a precaution.Police in Scotland said that about 1,000 schools, from Dumfries in the south of Scotland to Aberdeenshire and Orkney in the north, had received the hoax warnings. At least 300 schools were affected in Northern Ireland. Similar claims were sent in a generic communication" to schools in the Republic of Ireland. Continue reading...

This blog is now closedHere are some more comments on the report for the Casey commission released today looking at how social care is run in England. (See 9.56am.)This is from Natasha Curry, deputy director of research at the Nuffield Trust and one of the report's authors.Compared to the other countries we looked at, the governance of England's social care system is confused and complex. Overlapping and unclear roles leave dangerous uncertainty around who is responsible for important decisions, contributing to the inertia around reform England has struggled with for decades. The serious consequences of this were laid bare during the Covid pandemic.The system for governing adult social care in England has evolved haphazardly and with little clear planning. That has been exacerbated by successive governments ducking politically unpalatable decisions for decades. That has scattered responsibility for the sector across and outside government in a way that few would design from scratch.This report makes for sober reading of how adult social care and those who rely on it have been systematically failed. The fragmentation we see today is what happens when there is a total absence of political leadership to ensure the sector is well-funded and provides equitable access to care.[Burnham] struggled to dampen splits among cabinet ministers, which were first revealed by The i Paper, who used the meeting to express differing views on the future relationship with Brussels.One source with knowledge of the cabinet discussion said there was a clear divide between those who want to go further and those who don't want to push the issue too far". Continue reading...

Alexander Darchiev, who previously served as ambassador to Canada, died suddenly', said Russian foreign ministryRussia's ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, has died suddenly" at the age of 66 after just one and a half years in the job, Moscow's foreign ministry announced on Wednesday.The ministry called Darchiev an outstanding diplomat, an experienced leader and a kind colleague". He was appointed to the position in March 2025. Continue reading...

Ethics watchdogs question necessity of the US secretary of state flying between DC and Gainesville so oftenMarco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has emerged as a superfan of the University of Florida's football team, spending more than $1.2m of taxpayers' money on frequent personal trips to watch them play, a report published Wednesday claims.Ethics watchdogs have questioned the necessity of the country's top diplomat shuttling so often between Washington DC and Gainesville, where his son Anthony has a walk-on role as a running back for the team known as the Gators. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer's former chief of staff also says the thicket of rules' about how PMs operate should be cleared awayKeir Starmer's former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, has called for a rethink of quasi-judicial" powers given to cabinet ministers such as the energy secretary's ability to approve future oil and gas fields.McSweeney, who helped propel Starmer to power and served as his chief of staff until February this year, said he believed quasi-judicial processes" were stopping wider cabinet discussions and input from the prime minister on issues of national importance. Continue reading...

This blog is now closedSeparately, I am also keeping an eye on Italy, with reports that several schools are being evacuated after receiving bomb threats by emails.According to Rai and Sky TG24, the email was signed by Mikhail Andropov" - the same name used in several hoax bomb alarms against European flights last week. Continue reading...

Lawyer says Britain wrong to believe in historic doctrine that crown has sovereignty over parts of oceansBritain should not be permitted to act as a 17th-century colonial power treating the waters around the Falkland Islands as a Dominium maris Britannici, Argentina has told an international tribunal.Marcelo Kohen, representing Argentina at a hearing in Hamburg, mocked Britain for apparently believing in the historic doctrine that the British crown has sovereignty over expansive parts of the oceans. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Cutting 2030 goal would be a step backwards', say MPs, as ministers clash over proposed reductions

Broadcaster plans to make 30m in temporary' savings before inquiry into takeover by Sky

PM welcomes cross-party push to reject ethnic basis for Englishness promoted by Reform UK politicians

Prime minister tells Kemi Badenoch at PMQs that flagship strategy will be revealed before Commons Christmas recess

Manufacturer says shift to new energy vehicles is happening faster than expected' and market is harshThe Japanese carmaker Nissan has said it has been caught out by accelerating sales of electric and hybrid cars in China amid a brutal price war in the world's biggest automotive market.The manufacturer slashed its sales forecasts for China and said it would cut back on petrol car manufacturing while increasing production of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, which combine a smaller battery with a petrol engine. Continue reading...

Rights groups oppose law that will let police forcibly enter homes to remove refused asylum seekersBelgium could see ICE-style home raids that echo the US crackdown on immigration, rights campaigners have warned, after MPs approved a law that allows police to forcibly enter properties to remove undocumented people.For months, intense debate has swirled across Belgium over measures introduced by the ruling right-leaning coalition to ramp up expulsions of people who have been denied the right to stay in the country. Continue reading...

The post-election wish list is about to run into harsh fiscal reality: there is no money'Is this an opportunity for a new America? As the Reagan revolution four decades ago launched US society down the path to low taxes and meager solidarity, perhaps the Republican bloodbath last week could turn US politics toward building a new social contract anchored on an aspiration to equitable prosperity.One can sense the ambition of the bumper new crop of Democrats ushered to power last week, calling for support for programs for children and their parents; emphatically endorsing the long-held dream of Medicare for All. The project includes rolling back Donald Trump's cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, and restoring subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act that Republicans allowed to expire. And that's just the start. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Chris Moore, running for the party in Greenvale, made derogatory social media comments between 2010 and 2012

The film, which details Israel's surveillance of Palestinian civilians, has been seen by more than 1.5m people in less than two monthsNAZA, the award-winning documentary that details Israel's mass killing of civilians in Gaza, has been seen by more than 1.5 million people since being released in cinemas across the world last month.The film, which is directed by the Oscar-winning Israeli film-makers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor and produced by the Guardian, has reached a worldwide audience of 1,547,033 as of Friday 6 November, making it one of the most-watched documentary films with a theatrical release in 2026. Continue reading...

TV presenter says he was genuinely unaware' of pair's conduct despite joking about Walliams going home with 15-year-old girl in 2004

Rights groups condemn reported punishment of Kenyan migrant worker as an act of violence'A Kenyan mother in Saudi Arabia has reportedly been sentenced to 100 lashes after giving birth outside marriage.Under the Saudi sharia law system, sex outside marriage is a criminal offence. But it is women who are disproportionately targeted, say rights groups, which have condemned the punishment as an act of violence". Continue reading...

Supermarket's move labelled shortsighted' by worker who calls upper management woefully out of touch with reality'Aldi's UK business is cutting hundreds of head office roles as part of a global effort to trim costs at the budget grocer.The retailer is consulting with its technology team on the loss of up to 150 roles after 103 redundancies in its finance and administration team earlier this year and almost 20 more redundancies among buying directors. Continue reading...

Share of CBA customers struggling to repay their mortgages has climbed to 12-year high

Antonia Romeo pledges to rewire' civil service by incentivising and rewarding top performersWhitehall is too tame, reactive and risk-averse", the cabinet secretary has said, as she set out a completely new approach" to managing the performance of civil servants.With Andy Burnham and his deputy, Louise Haigh, in the audience, the UK's most senior civil servant, Antonia Romeo, gave a lecture saying she would bring radical change to Whitehall as it deals with uncertainty caused by AI and global political tensions. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Reindustrialisation Research Group to meet with Cabinet Office to discuss worries over PM's long-term strategyLabour MPs have sounded the alarm over Andy Burnham's 10-year plan for government, raising concerns that it will not be radical or detailed enough.MPs in the Reindustrialisation Research Group (ReRG), many of whom represent red wall" seats that helped Labour win the last election, are meeting Sally Jameson, the Cabinet Office minister, on Wednesday to share their concerns about the prime minister's long-term strategy. Continue reading...

Capture of man from Java follows reports that hundreds are being recruited from the south-east Asian country as Moscow seeks to boost its war effortUkraine says it has captured its first Indonesian prisoner of war, amid what it says is a spike in recruitment by Russia from the south-east Asian nation.The 49-year-old man from Java was taken to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region to take part in a Russian assault, but managed to reach Ukrainian-held territory after the group came under drone attack, according to Ukraine's state-run I Want to Live project. He was then captured by the Ukrainians. Continue reading...

Charities warn of lack of protection amid health fears for more than 940,000 displaced people living in flood-prone areasTens of thousands of Palestinians have been left in waterlogged and damaged tents after deadly storms at the weekend, while 150,000 new shelters are held outside Gaza awaiting Israeli approval to enter, aid agencies have said.At least four Palestinian children and woman were killed as heavy rains and wind battered fragile, leaky tents. Thousands have been left without shelter and sanitation infrastructure has been destroyed, with sewage spewing into people's tents. Continue reading...

Conservationists relocate 3,400 one-flowered wintergreens, a species estimated to have lost more than half its UK population in the past 50 yearsThousands of one of Britain's rarest wildflowers have been moved to safety from an eroding Scottish shoreline where they were at risk of falling into the sea.Conservationists rescued 3,400 one-flowered wintergreen plants at Culbin Forest in Moray, in an effort to protect a species estimated to have lost more than half its UK population in the past 50 years. Continue reading...

Independent Israeli professor says Hussam Abu Safiya's life will be at risk until he receives proper medical treatmentAn independent professor who reviewed the medical records of a prominent Gaza doctor held in an Israeli prison without charge for nearly 23 months has raised serious concerns about his health.Hussam Abu Safiya was detained at work on 27 December 2024 and later held in solitary confinement at Rakefet, a notorious underground prison. Continue reading...

Australia's oldest department store collapsed into voluntary administration last week after years of steep lossesDavid Jones is set to shutter half its department store network, triggering mass job losses under a sweeping restructure, receivers FTI Consulting said on Wednesday.David Jones employs more than 6,000 staff across 38 stores. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Jillian Segal suggested transferring' powers in updated report released a fortnight ago but government sources note media regulator already exists

Former CFMEU official Paul Tzimas tells inquiry he suffered fractured ankle and a colleague was left with major injuries and severe PTSD