by Eleni Courea Political correspondent on (#71943)
Justice minister promises digital overhaul of archaic' paper system partly blamed for average of 22 people being wrongly freed each monthPrison governors in England have been summoned to an urgent meeting with ministers as the government comes under pressure over the wrongful release of two more prisoners, including a convicted foreign sex offender.Alex Davies-Jones, a justice minister, told broadcasters she was furious" about the unacceptable" situation where an average of 22 people are wrongly released from prisons each month in England and Wales. Continue reading...
Peru's government has severed diplomatic relations with Mexico over the asylum claim of former Peruvian prime minister Betssy ChavezPeru's government has announced the country is severing diplomatic relations with Mexico over the asylum claim of the former Peruvian prime minister Betssy Chavez, who is under investigation for rebellion.The Peruvian foreign minister, Hugo de Zela, told reporters Mexico's decision to grant Chavez asylum at its embassy in Peru's capital, Lima, constituted an unfriendly act" that added to the existing tensions between the two countries. The office of Peru's president, Jose Jeri, issued a statement accusing Mexico's government of repeated interference in his country's internal affairs. Continue reading...
Department store chain banks on nostalgia to get customers into festive mood with Where Love LivesJohn Lewis is hoping that a dash of nostalgia will get consumers into the festive mood this year as it officially kickstarts the countdown to Christmas with the launch of its 2025 advert to the tune of the 1990s club classic Where Love Lives.The department store chain is appealing to ageing clubbers - and their teenage kids - with this year's ad focused on a middle-aged dad transported back to his clubbing days after receiving a vinyl record from his son. Continue reading...
None hurt after train travelling at about 80mph hits landslide on west coast mainline in stormy conditionsPassengers have described the panic and distress" when a train travelling at about 80mph partly derailed after hitting a landslide in Cumbria, north-west England.Emergency services declared a major incident after the high-speed Avanti West Coast service crashed in stormy conditions at 6.15am on Monday. Continue reading...
Four-month-old bird managed to fly away from Paradise Park on Sunday despite having feathers clippedFrankie the flamingo may have been tickled pink when she escaped her wildlife sanctuary in Cornwall but her keepers are worried by her disappearance.The four-month-old female flamingo managed to take flight on Sunday, despite having her feathers clipped, from the walled garden at Paradise Park near Hayle. Continue reading...
Authorities are investigating the incident as an attempted homicide and suspect was placed in restricted housingTwo California prison officers were hospitalized after an alleged attack by an incarcerated man, and authorities are investigating it as an attempted homicide, officials said Sunday.The incident happened Saturday at the California state prison in Sacramento as the suspect was being escorted from his cell to allow staff to conduct a search, according to the state department of corrections and rehabilitation. Continue reading...
Critics believe cut would mostly benefit better-off people with larger homes and increase carbon emissionsProposals being considered by Rachel Reeves to cut tax on electricity bills will backfire, experts have warned, resulting in a giveaway to richer homeowners and undermining the UK's climate commitments.The chancellor is understood to be looking at plans to eliminate the 5% VAT charge on electricity bills as a fast and simple way to reduce bills for consumers and ease the cost of living pressures that have aided the rise of Reform UK. Continue reading...
The Catalan star's epic new single is delighting and dividing classical music fans in equal measureThe Top 10 of today's Spotify Global Top 50 looks like business as usual: two Taylor Swift songs; Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' Die With a Smile hanging around for an eighth month; the eminently normal male pop stars Sombr and Alex Warren doing brisk business.But nestled among the crowd-pleasers is something of an outlier: a gothic, baroque assault powered by Vivaldi-style strings and operatic singing in German and Spanish. Continue reading...
Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces captured the city from the army after an 18-month siege - but who are they and what do they want?Another devastating chapter in Sudan's brutal civil war has taken place as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces captured El Fasher from the army after an 18-month siege that trapped tens of thousands of civilians in the city in Darfur. The RSF now controls all major urban centres in Darfur, a development that raises the possibility the country could face partition. Continue reading...
As a radicalised generation presses its calls for political change, a debate has opened up over whether to join battle by the ballot boxMidway through a 16-day, 250-mile (400km) march from Novi Pazar to Novi Sad, Inas Hodi was still remarkably energetic. Like thousands of other Serbian students, he was making his way to the city which, last autumn, become the scene of national tragedy.Sixteen people were killed when the newly renovated canopy of Novi Sad's main railway station collapsed on 1 November 2024, a disaster that critics say exposed much more than faulty construction and sparked Serbia's largest youth-led protest movement since the fall of Slobodan Miloevi. Continue reading...
Akeela Ahmed, of British Muslim Trust, says experience is part of a wider rise in anti-Muslim hatredThe chief executive of the government's new official partner in tackling Islamophobia has spoken about being refused service in a shop for being Muslim, amid concerns about a rise in insidious anti-Muslim microaggressions".The British Muslim Trust (BMT) is launching a government-backed telephone and online reporting service for hate crimes. In July, the trust was selected as a recipient of the government's combating hate against Muslims fund", and in the months since its chief executive, Akeela Ahmed, has been meeting members of Muslim communities, including in Bradford in West Yorkshire, East Sussex, Greater London and Greater Manchester. Continue reading...
by Hannah Al-Othman North of England correspondent on (#714AS)
National Folklore Survey, the first in over 60 years, found people aged 25-34 most likely to believe in the paranormalIt is the time of the year when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest, and spirits walk the earth once more.But it appears you are more likely to be visited by a ghost if you are under 35 years old, while spiritual creatures tend to avoid those who live in the East Midlands. Continue reading...
by Hannah Al-Othman North of England correspondent on (#714AT)
Status of pilot and potential passengers unknown as emergency crews attend incident near DoncasterA helicopter has crashed in a field in South Yorkshire, police have said.Emergency services were called to Ings Lane, Bentley, near Doncaster, at 10.15am on Thursday. Continue reading...
New EV models are offsetting a slump in demand but Europe's carmakers are bracing for shutdownsVolkswagen has signalled that its annual profit targets are at risk without sufficient computer chips, in the latest sign that an expected shortage of semiconductors from China could hit carmakers across Europe.The struggling German automotive giant said a series of cost cuts and new model launches are helping to offset a slump in Chinese demand but added that forecasts are based on the adequate availability of semiconductors". Continue reading...
New data ranks every area of England against a set of metrics for deprivation. Find out where yours figures in the statisticsThe English Indices of Deprivation are government figures that rank every neighbourhood from the most to the least deprived. Released roughly once every five years, the ranking is based around small areas known as lower layer super output areas" (or LSOAs) - each usually home to between 1,000 and 3,000 people.
Review launched after firm struggles to stem exodus of clients and compete with AI and data capabilities of rivalsJobs at WPP could be at risk as its new chief executive launched a review designed to revive the advertising group's fortunes after a fresh profit warning.Cindy Rose announced the review on Thursday, saying she was taking action to address unacceptable" performance at the company, which has struggled to stem a growing exodus of clients and compete with the AI and data capabilities of its rivals. Continue reading...
Guardian analysis finds ICE increasingly keeps people in holding rooms with little oversight, as some facilities see a 600% rise in detention lengthImmigration officials have been increasingly detaining people in small, secretive holding facilities for days or even weeks at a time in violation of federal policy, a Guardian investigation has found.These holding facilities - located at ICE offices, in federal buildings, and other locations around the country - are typically used to detain people after they have been arrested but before they are transferred or released. In many cases, they consist of small concrete rooms with no beds and are designed to only be used for a few hours.ICE has used at least 170 ICE holding facilities nationwide, including at 25 ICE field offices.The Trump administration and its campaign of mass deportation has led to a near across the board increase in the time people are forced to spend in detention in holding rooms. After Donald Trump's inauguration, the average time that people spend in detention increased at 127 hold rooms across the country.Despite ICE's rule change in June, the agency is continuing to violate its own policy by detaining people at these sites for multiple days at a time.In some cases, such as a New York City holding facility located on the 10th floor of a federal building in downtown Manhattan, time in detention increased by nearly 600% on average after the June rule change.In one case the Guardian discovered by looking through agency data, ICE documented that a 62-year-old man was held inside that same New York City holding facility for two-and-a-half months.The Guardian also found an additional 63 people at the site who were held there for longer than one week, between Trump's inauguration and late July. Continue reading...
Service scheduled to launch in 2026 will be first in Britain to use Starlink's satellites to connect to handsetsVirgin Media O2 has announced a landmark" partnership with Elon Musk's satellite company aimed at improving rural mobile network coverage.The deal with Starlink Direct to Cell is said to be the first of its kind to utilise the billionaire's company position as the world's largest satellite-to-mobile constellation. Continue reading...
Soumaya Hamdi says she has barely spoken to Sami Hamdi since he was taken over his pro-Palestinian advocacyThe wife of a British political commentator who was detained by immigration authorities while on a speaking tour of the US said she had only been able to speak with him for 30 seconds" since he was taken into custody on Sunday over his pro-Palestinian advocacy.Soumaya Hamdi told the Guardian she first learned her husband, Sami Hamdi, was detained at San Francisco international airport when a friend asked her to confirm rumors he had been abducted by ICE". When he was finally able to briefly call her, Hamdi only had enough time to say he had been taken to an immigration detention center in McFarland, California, where he remains. Continue reading...
Arts professionals complain of cruel' bureaucratic process since grant processing platform crashed in JulyArts organisations and artists have said they are still in funding limbo" with mounting bills and uncertain futures after this summer's crash of Arts Council England's grant processing platform.ACE's online portal, Grantium, was used by artists to submit and manage funding applications. But when it crashed in July, it left thousands of applications for vital funding in doubt - a situation that persisted for several months until applications reopened in late September. Continue reading...
UK rail regulator approves Richard Branson firm's application to use Temple Mills site in LondonRichard Branson's train company is a step closer to challenging Eurostar's monopoly on transporting passengers across the Channel after the UK rail regulator approved Virgin Train's application to use a key depot in east London.The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) approved Virgin's application to use the Temple Mills depot in Leyton - which is used for maintaining and storing trains. It said the move would unlock 700m of investment in new services and create 400 jobs. Continue reading...
Public prosecutor says arrests were made in and around Paris but suspects did not help us find the stolen goods'Five new suspects have been arrested in connection with the Louvre robbery in Paris, in which thieves stole crown jewels worth an estimated 88m (76m), the city's public prosecutor has said, but the gems remain missing.Laure Beccuau told RTL radio on Thursday the arrests had been made on Wednesday night in the French capital and the surrounding area, particularly the neighbouring Seine-Saint-Denis department. But they did not help us find the stolen goods", she added. Continue reading...
by Jon Henley Europe correspondent and Senay Boztas i on (#7140Z)
Result opens a path for D66 leader Rob Jetten to form a government as the youngest ever prime minister of the NetherlandsThe centrist D66 party made huge gains in Dutch elections, likely giving it the lead in government formation as the party of far-right leader Geert Wilders lost support.With 90% of the votes counted early on Thursday, D66 and Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) were both projected to take 26 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament. Continue reading...
by Patrick Butler Social policy editor on (#713WT)
Half-measures would have little or no meaningful impact on child poverty rates, Resolution Foundation analysis findsFailure to abolish the two-child benefit limit would wreck the government's child poverty ambitions and risk creating levels of hardship not seen under a Labour government for more than half a century, an analysis warns.The Resolution Foundation said political courage was required for ministers to show they are serious about reversing trends that, if not addressed, would push the rate of child poverty to a historic high by the end of the decade. Continue reading...
Chancellor is backed by prime minister after saying she inadvertently' failed to pay fee required by London councilRachel Reeves has admitted to inadvertently" breaking housing rules by renting out her south London home without the specific 945 licence required by the local council.The chancellor admitted the error to the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and to parliamentary ethics officers, after it was first disclosed by the Daily Mail. Continue reading...
Media group's own paper publishes photograph of RedBird Capital chair with alleged spy ring chiefThe sale of the Telegraph Media Group has been thrown into fresh turmoil after the company's own newspaper linked its presumed new owner to the suspected ringleader of the alleged Chinese spy ring in Westminster.Wednesday's edition of the Daily Telegraph published a 2024 photograph of the financier John Thornton shaking hands with Cai Qi, a senior member of the Chinese Communist party's ruling politburo, raising questions as to whether the British title is being weighed as a means for China to exert foreign influence. Continue reading...
Frans Timmermans resigns as GreenLeft-Labour leader as exit poll suggests Geert Wilders' far-right PVV could finish secondThe Anne Frank House is not the only unusual place where voters can cast their votes today.The Dutch Vogue has a list of 11 special locations, including a children's zoo in Amsterdam, the marine museum in Rotterdam, the miniature park in The Hague. Continue reading...
Strong demand for ads and cloud services powered tech giant's growth as it makes multibillion-dollar AI investmentGoogle's parent company, Alphabet, displayed steady growth in its core advertising business and cloud computing division as it reported third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, beating Wall Street estimates as it reported its first quarter of $100bn in revenue.The company thrilled Wall Street - shares rose in after-hours trading - even as it announced that it would spend billions more than previously predicted. Alphabet raised its capital expenditure guidance in financial filings, declaring it would spend between $91bn and $93bn in the upcoming year, nearly all of it on infrastructure like datacenters to support artificial intelligence products, which are becoming an integral part of the company's business. That estimate is up from an original declaration of $75bn in February and a revised figure of $85bn announced in July. Continue reading...
Government still struggling to win the agenda from Reform, leaving planners trusting voters will sour on what they seeAfter Nigel Farage dominated the summer headlines with weekly press conferences while his rivals were on their sunloungers and the news agenda was light, Labour strategists swore they would never let it happen again.Labour MPs had returned to Westminster after recess, fuming that the government had vacated the public arena and allowed Reform UK to shape the narrative to the extent that the mood hardened against Keir Starmer. Continue reading...
Starmer signs agreement with visiting Vietnamese leader after surge in clandestine arrivals from countryVietnamese people who arrive in the UK by irregular means will be fast-tracked for deportation under a new agreement, Downing Street has said.After a surge in clandestine arrivals from the south-east Asian country last year via small boats and in the back of lorries, the deal is supposed to cut red tape and make it faster and easier to return those with no right to be in the UK. Continue reading...
Committee asks for rationale behind spending public money in relation to Andrew after recent controversyPoliticians are demanding clarity over Prince Andrew's peppercorn" rent at Royal Lodge, as the parliamentary spending watchdog writes to the Treasury and crown estate asking for an explanation.Keir Starmer had indicated that he was open to MPs questioning Andrew in person about his home in Windsor Great Park, where he has lived for more than 20 years. Continue reading...
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