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The Jackdaw field will start supplying gas to homes and businesses from the end of the month, the government saidHere is an explainer by Jill Ambrose about the Jackdaw decision.But environmental groups have condemned the decision. Ami McCarthy, head of politics for Greenpeace UK, said:Approving Jackdaw shows the toxic grip fossil fuel lobbyists still hold over our energy policy. Andy Burnham promised pragmatism [see 8.40am], but there is nothing pragmatic about rubber-stamping a project that won't lower energy bills, won't boost energy security and will create just 27 full-time jobs ...True pragmatism means severing our reliance on expensive oil and gas that leaves British households broke, supercharges extreme weather, and leaves our energy security at the mercy of petrostates.Is the prime minister living in a parallel universe? One where we haven't just endured our hottest summer on record, with droughts, wildfires and, in all likelihood, the most heat-related deaths on record? And where the UN hasn't warned that we're on the brink of breaching the all-important 1.5 degree warming limit?Shell will be cheering this decision but it won't knock a penny off our energy bills, which is what's keeping people up at night, or make a meaningful difference to our gas supply.

Against a backdrop of rising Islamophobia, Michigan Senate hopeful has challenged premise of repeated questions on Muslim Brotherhood, Israel and faithAs a candidate positioned at the center of what researchers say are the worst Islamophobic attacks seen since the aftermath of 9/11, many would expect Abdul El-Sayed to simply defend himself and move on.Instead, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Michigan has repeatedly demanded those who question his positions on Israel, the Muslim Brotherhood, and his faith, explain the premise of their enquiry. Rather than let others put his loyalties on trial, he has tried to put their assumptions on trial. Continue reading...

At a gathering in Texas, near where floods killed 136 people last year, survivors are united on the need for urgent actionIt may be a club none of its members actually want to be in, but the growing number of people in the US affected by extreme weather disasters are starting to organize into a political force.Severe wildfires, floods storms and other calamities now touch the lives of huge numbers of Americans - about half of all people in the US by one estimate - as the climate crisis supercharges extreme events. Some survivors are now coalescing to push for improved disaster response and even action on the politically contentious issue of global heating. Continue reading...

Government decision is about how much oil and gas is sensible for UK to produce on the way to net zero

Increase in annual price growth in September comes amid fears rate will breach 4% next year

The meeting comes after the US official held constructive' talks with Zelenskyy in NorwayDuring their initial exchange, relayed via the Russian state news agency Tass, Putin reportedly said that he was interested in restoring ties and economic cooperation with the US, as he praised the diesel deal with Trump.He also recalled Trump's comments on the need to end the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine to stop the loss of human life, and asked about the talks in Oslo. Continue reading...

Hamstrung governments seem to have no answer to the public's furious demands, making further discontent likely

Unorthodox campaign is challenging the ruling party's 12-year reign with a bold democratic experimentOn a cool autumn evening, a team of Serbian student volunteers went canvassing in the housing estates of Krnjaa, a Belgrade suburb. They were equipped with lanyards emblazoned with the word victory", a stock list of questions and a mobile app that mapped visited homes and the level of support in each.The volunteers were part of a mass student movement, Student List, that has rocked Serbia with two years of constant protests. On Sunday, the group will represent the most serious challenge Aleksandar Vui has faced in his 12 increasingly authoritarian years in power, by putting forward their own candidates in parliamentary elections. Continue reading...

AFP commissioner says MPs are generally concerned about growing volume of abuse and intimidation

Haines is in stable condition. Surgeons tried to save her right leg but both have now been amputated due to injuries

Court of appeal decision prevents woman from suing police and CPS for disclosing her address to violent ex-partnerThe Labour MP Jess Phillips has said she hopes the UK's highest court sees sense" and overturns a ruling preventing a domestic abuse survivor from suing Sussex police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for disclosing her address to her violent ex-partner.Phillips said that if the supreme court upheld the court of appeal's decision when it hears the case on Wednesday and Thursday, it would prevent police from being held accountable for failures in cases of violence against women and girls. Continue reading...

Friend of accused double murderer tells supreme court that van had lemony smell and blue tarp in back before Bunnings stop

Children as young as 12 among dozens subject to federal police operations since 2020, parliamentary inquiry hears

UK defence secretary had been due to unveil proposals on Thursday until concerns were raised at 11th hourWes Streeting has been forced to delay the publication of a plan to get more young people into defence industry jobs after pushback from trade unions, the Guardian understands.The defence secretary had been due to announce the proposals on Thursday, but some unions in the sector are understood to have reacted angrily to the plans, accusing the government of bypassing their members and minimising their roles in job creation. Continue reading...

During a summer fire that destroyed homes in Stourbridge, low pressure meant filling a water carrier took 40 minutesConcerns have been raised about how drought affects the UK's ability to cope with wildfires after MPs were told firefighters struggled for water supplies during this year's record summer.The government has been urged to set out water companies' statutory responsibilities during major fire incidents to improve the country's preparedness for the years ahead. Continue reading...

Rights groups say the planned 1.4km route, which ends at compound run by far-right settler group Elad, will displace Palestinians and reshape the cultural landscapeA fifth foreign company has pulled out of a plan to build a cable car from West to East Jerusalem that threatens to involve the seizure of land and property rights from dozens of Palestinian families along its route, but local authorities insist the scheme is proceeding as planned.The project appeared to have stalled for four years until late September, just weeks before Israel's 27 October elections, when the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA) issued a notice of intent to award a contract without a public tender to ROPES, a cable car engineering consultancy based in South Tyrol, Italy. Continue reading...

Ghanda and Windsor Smith are among lowest-rated in Baptist World Aid ethical fashion report based on metrics such as wages and sustainability

Andrew Hauser says central bank faces hard choices' as it looks to balance risks of entrenched inflation with desire to protect labour market

Morgan Carey sued his sister over claims in her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, which he said falsely portrayed him as a violent drug dealerA judge has dismissed a lawsuit from Mariah Carey's brother, five years after he accused her of defaming him in her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey.In the memoir, Carey described Morgan as a sometimes drug dealing, been-in-the-system, drunk-ass brother" and called him her ex-brother". Continue reading...

Case in Africa's most populous country was detected in a woman who had travelled from UgandaNigeria has confirmed an Ebola case in its capital, Abuja, after a woman who arrived from Uganda tested positive for the virus, the health ministry said.The woman began showing symptoms on 7 October and was admitted to a hospital in Abuja four days later, where she was later diagnosed with Ebola. It is unclear when she arrived in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. Continue reading...

After being contacted by officers, politician says, he has paid bill and is grateful for the team at the servo for their understanding'

Study identifies circadian depression' as affecting nearly a quarter of more than 11,000 participants

Government planning tougher security measures as France also says military forces will be deployed

The hit Elizabeth Holmes documentary led to increased interest in the award-winning narrative series on Hulu as well as Bad Blood, a 2018 book on the scandal

President makes suggestion while announcing new program to reward tipsters who submit fraud allegationsDonald Trump suggested on Tuesday that he would serve as the arbitrator" of decisions in the justice department's new anti-fraud program that awards compensation to those who submit tips resulting in conviction or significant federal enforcement.While announcing the new program alongside JD Vance, the vice-president, who leads the White House's taskforce to eliminate fraud, the president told reporters he had a solution for situations where multiple people submit a tip for the same alleged fraud. Continue reading...

Scott Kirby says wealth inequality is a danger to society' and calls for inheritance tax in recent interviewScott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, is under scrutiny from conservative politicians and commentators for saying wealth inequality is a danger to society" and calling for a national wealth and inheritance tax in a recent interview.Talking to the New York Times, Kirby was asked about the growing public distrust of CEOs and whether he felt any responsibility to quell that distrust. Continue reading...

Advance warnings of missile attacks were seemingly suspended last week by the White House, but Ukraine's president says: Now it works'The US has resumed sharing intelligence with Kyiv about Russian missile strikes, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday after a meeting with the US envoy Steve Witkoff in Norway.He said Ukraine was again receiving advance warnings of ballistic missile attacks, which were seemingly suspended last week by the White House. Now it works. It's great," he said, saying the US move would save lives. Continue reading...

Police seize doses of hepatitis B vaccine from people at center of dispute over research on African newbornsControversial vaccine researchers who have been praised by Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, had their offices in Guinea-Bissau raided by judicial police, who seized doses of hepatitis B vaccines, officials said on Facebook.The researchers have been at the heart of an ongoing dispute over research on African newborns, supported by $1.6m from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and matched by the Pershing Square Foundation and the Bluebell Foundation for a total of $3.2m. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Admission from James Orr to undercover reporter came three months before party was given 72mA senior Reform UK official raised questions about whether major donations from billionaire backers Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo would be legal under the proposed new foreign donors cap three months before they gave 72m to the party.James Orr, who was then Reform UK's head of policy and a Cambridge professor, discussed potential difficulties around future donations from Harborne and Delo in undercover footage captured by the investigative reporting group Verbatim. Continue reading...

Amy Acton's brother calls campaigning on his sister's sexual abuse from their mother's husband a despicable low'The family of Amy Acton, the Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio, is criticizing her Republican opponent Vivek Ramaswamy for using Acton's estranged mother in a recently released campaign ad.In the ad, which has circulated among conservatives on social media, her mother, Donna Arthur, said: She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She's lied her entire life." Continue reading...

RAF Typhoon fighters to fly defensive missions over cities and infrastructure in extension of UK support for RiyadhRAF Typhoon fighters are to be used in efforts to protect Saudi Arabia from attack by Yemen's Houthis, flying protective missions over the country's cities and critical infrastructure as western allies increase their intervention in the escalating conflict.The operation - the most significant military mission signed off by Andy Burnham as prime minister - will involve RAF pilots attempting to shoot down Houthi missiles and drones, which attacked Saudi airports and oil facilities. Continue reading...

Mounting anxiety as Russia's war on Ukraine reaches Nato's borders with targeting of vessels transporting agricultural cargoNato is deploying additional military assets to the Black Sea amid the recent deadly escalation of Russian attacks on merchant shipping, as five more vessels were attacked on Tuesday.Russia's military said it struck three cargo vessels in Ukraine's port of Reni and two other cargo vessels en route to Odesa. Continue reading...

The Ukrainian leader says talks with US envoys covered security guarantees and he hopes to hear Russia's response tomorrowNordic correspondentAs well as Steve Witkoff, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also meet the Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Store and the Finnish president Alexander Stubb and Norway's new King Haakon during his visit to Oslo. Continue reading...

Five-month-old Esta High died at Leeds General Infirmary in November 2023 after doctors put her symptoms down to Covid-19A baby girl who died from meningitis may have been saved if doctors had tested her for the infection sooner, rather than putting her symptoms down to Covid, an inquest jury has found.Five-month-old Esta High died at Leeds General Infirmary in November 2023, days after she was taken into the emergency department with a high temperature and vomiting. Continue reading...

The ex-student writes she wants to share information that may be relevant' to vote of no confidenceThe former Cornell University student who accused seven men of sexually assaulting her at a fraternity house in 2024 recently wrote a letter to campus faculty leaders saying that she felt unsupported and disbelieved" by the Ivy League institution's president.The letter addressed to the Cornell faculty senate was obtained and published by the New York Times on Tuesday - and in it the former student said she wanted to share information that she believed may be relevant" as the panel considers a vote of no confidence in the school's administration. Continue reading...

Jurors in harassment trial told reporters who had written about far-right activist feared vigilante attack'Tommy Robinson told the Daily Mail's editor he would make the paper's journalists and their families famous", the harassment trial of the far-right activist has been told.The threat was made in a voicemail message left on the phone of Ted Verity as Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, allegedly waged a campaign of harassment against journalists from the newspaper. Continue reading...

Latest report paints a painful picture of the care sector during the pandemic. But timid recommendations and a lack of accountability threaten to undermine itOf all 10 reports due to be published by the long-running Covid-19 inquiry, this week's findings on adult social care were especially anticipated.The impact of Covid-19 on the care sector was calamitous: tens of thousands of people died, staff were forced to wear bin bags due to a lack of protective clothing and relatives were banned from seeing their loved ones in their dying days. Continue reading...

Duke of Sussex says there's enough drama in the world' without continuing to have issues with familyThe Duke of Sussex wants to repair his difficult relationship with his father and brother, he has said.Speaking to GQ magazine in New York, Prince Harry said of his complicated relationship with William and King Charles that from a family perspective it was a massively relatable issue for so many people". Continue reading...

Result is a victory for prime minister Mark Carney and supporters of Canadian unityVoters in Canada's Alberta have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to begin the process of independence, delivering a decisive victory for supporters of Canadian unity and deepening divisions within the separatist movement.With nearly 1.9m votes counted, roughly 76% people supported remaining in Canada, while 24% backed beginning a process toward separation, according to unofficial results from Elections Alberta. Continue reading...

The prime minister endorses report that says the adult social care sector has been under-recognisedBadenoch says Britain needs tax cuts.We need to get out of the way of job creators who make our country richer. We need to encourage risk taking, wealth creation, enterprise.Britain's tax burden has never been higher. You are taxed on the heating in your home. You're taxed at the petrol pump filling up your car. You're taxed when you insure that car. You're taxed if you take the family away on holiday. You're taxed if you stay in the UK thanks to Andy Burnham's tourist tax. You're taxed to buy a home, taxed to live in a home, taxed to pass on your home. This is clearly not working. Britain does not feel better off.Andy Burnham wrote in The Times yesterday about the moral outrage of the current benefit system. But as far as I could work out, his answer is to spend even more on benefits. Continue reading...

Far-right presidential candidate's TV debate swipe at rival backfires as people take to social media to parody itTo Flavio Bolsonaro and his publicists, it must have seemed an ingenious idea that would expose his rival's supposed crookedness on the eve of Brazil's presidential election.But the far-right politician's decision to attend a primetime television debate against his leftwing opponent, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, with the word corrupto" (corrupt) written on the palm of his hand has backfired. Continue reading...

Conflict in Middle East is pushing jet fuel costs higher and many carriers are not hedged against such increases, Michael O'Leary saysRyanair's chief executive has predicted a record increase in European air fares next year, as airlines grapple with fuel bills pushed higher by the Middle East conflict.Many carriers are not hedged against rising jet fuel costs, Michael O'Leary said, which he predicted would lead to airline bankruptcies and takeovers. He forecast these pressures would result in the price of plane tickets rising by as much as 20%. Continue reading...

Andrew Young claims he received menacing' call from man who introduced himself as RobinsonThe far-right activist known as Tommy Robinson threatened to publish details about a journalist's family and warned him that they would have to move home, a court has been told.The alleged threats were said to have been made in a telephone call by Robinson to one of a number of journalists involved in reporting on his activities after the 2024 Southport killings, when he was accused of influencing the subsequent riots. Continue reading...

Flutter says one in 10 UK and Ireland workers at risk of redundancy because of a material increase in betting and gaming duties'

Yellow severe weather warning issued for first named storm of season with gusts of up to 60mph expectedThe first named storm of the season, Austen, is expected to bring gusts of up to 60mph to southern areas of the UK at the end of the week, forecasters said.While there would be spells of rain and showers for many on Tuesday and Wednesday, by Thursday, Storm Austen would be approaching the south-west of the UK, the Met Office said. Continue reading...

The Married ... with Children actor says the news is unnerving' and really confusing'

Researchers say almost 90% of participants in unconditional basic income scheme in Peru adopted environmentally beneficial practicesA pioneering project to provide Indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon with an unconditional basic income has contributed to the protection of the rainforest, according to a study.The analysis from the University of Bath is expected to contribute to a growing debate about the role of direct payments to communities that maintain globally important ecosystems. Continue reading...

Developers propose turning San Francisco Centre into not a server-based facility but a community-based AI exhibit'Downtown San Francisco has shown signs of revival since being battered by the Covid pandemic, which led to what many called a doom loop" of vacant buildings, a worsening homelessness crisis, and dwindling public transit. But one highly visible reminder of the city's struggle to recover remains: the San Francisco Centre mall, which sits at the heart of these urban renewal efforts and has been conspicuously boarded up since January of this year.A number of ideas have been floated for the mall's reopening, including a multi-level sports complex, housing, and more traditional retail uses. But now, another potential plan has emerged: the shuttered mall is being considered for an AI datacenter project, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Continue reading...

Inquiry chair says failure to advise care homes to isolate people discharged from hospital was significant oversight' UK politics live - latest updatesThe care sector was an afterthought" during the Covid-19 pandemic, and government failures caused the virus to spread like wildfire" among vulnerable and elderly people, a public inquiry has found.Heather Hallett, who is leading the Covid-19 inquiry, said it was a significant omission" that the government did not advise that patients discharged from hospitals into care homes should be isolated, causing the virus to spread rapidly among residents and staff. Continue reading...

Stricken UK water supplier lines up John Hutton as independent chair designate if takeover goes aheadThe group of Thames Water creditors pursuing a 10bn rescue deal for Britain's largest water supplier has lined up a former senior Labour minister to chair the company, as it tries to win over the government.The creditor consortium, called London & Valley Water, said on Tuesday that Lord John Hutton had been selected as independent chair designate of the Thames Water board, if the consortium's takeover of the utility goes ahead. Continue reading...