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Condemnation of system that allows officers to simply walk away, retiring without consequence'

Justice secretary expected to pull back from plans to reserve jury trials from only the most serious casesThe former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner will lay an amendment on Wednesday to speed up the workers rights' bill, after considerable anger" that unelected Lords forced the watering down of day-one rights, Jessica Elgot and Pippa Crerar report.Twelve more prisoners have been mistakenly freed in the past month and two are still at large, David Lammy has said.I'm not going to give details of those cases, because these are operational decisions made by the police, and you'll understand if they're about to arrest somebody they don't want me to blow the cover. Continue reading...

Whistleblower says senior managers did not forbid intimate relationships and advised him to use condomsSenior managers running a covert unit permitted undercover police officers to deceive women into sexual relations, the spycops public inquiry has heard.Peter Francis, a former undercover officer who has become a whistleblower, said the sexual relations were a routine feature of the covert operations for years. He said they were an ordinary part of the undercover role ... it was regarded by officers and management alike as part of the work". Continue reading...

Janet's wishlist that ran in Leeds Mercury and letter from a girl in Hampshire in 1898 unearthed in newspaper archivesThe toys on the Christmas wishlist may have evolved in more than 140 years but children, it seems, do not change. That, at least, is the suggestion of a newly uncovered letter to Father Christmas dating from 1883, believed to be one of the earliest known such messages in the UK.The letter, addressed to DeAR SAnTA CLAus", was written by a six-year-old girl called Janet and preserves her idiosyncratic spelling and capitalisation. PLeAs BRIng a Doll to Me with a cRADEL, AND a TRuMPtet to JiMMie, AND SoMe OTHer THing to MA AND PA," wrote Janet, demonstrating both a touching concern for her family members and a canny nose for publicity. Continue reading...

Putin's comments appeared aimed at driving a wedge between Washington and European capitalsIn parallel to Witkoff's meeting in Moscow, we will also follow Volodymyr Zelenskyy's first visit to Ireland.He has arrived in Dublin last night, and has a busy schedule today, paying a brief visit to the country's new president Catherine Connolly, before meeting with key government figures including the taisoeach, Micheal Martin, and addressing both chambers of the Irish parliament in the afternoon. Continue reading...

Defense secretary gave order for strikes but did not say to kill everybody', according to White House spokespersonJoseph Gedeon is a politics breaking news reporter based in WashingtonThe FBI director, Kash Patel, is in over his head" and leading a chronically under-performing" agency paralyzed by fear and plummeting morale, according to a scathing 115-page report compiled by a national alliance of retired and active-duty FBI special agents and analysts. Continue reading...

Apple among big tech companies reportedly refusing to install Sanchar Saathi cybersecurity app on their devicesA political outcry has erupted in India after the government mandated large technology companies to install a state-owned app on smartphones that has led to surveillance fears among opposition MPs and activists.Manufacturers including Apple, Samsung and Xiomi now have 90 days to comply with the order to preload the government's Sanchar Saathi, or Communication Partner, on every phone in India. Continue reading...

Billionaires aim to provide incentive for families to claim new investment accounts for children created as part of Trump legislationBillionaires Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25bn Tuesday to provide 25 million American children under 10 an incentive to claim the new investment accounts for children created as part of Donald Trump's tax and spending legislation.The historic gift has little precedent, with few single charitable commitments in the past 25 years exceeding $1bn, much less multiple billions. Announced on GivingTuesday, the Dells believe it's the largest single private commitment made to US children. Continue reading...

No sign of an end to rancour among 14 parties elected to the Belgian capital's 89-seat parliament after 542 daysIt is a city that prides itself on the art of political compromise. But recently that quality has been sorely lacking in Brussels, which has gone a record-breaking 542 days without a government.The Brussels Capital Region, which governs the Belgian capital of 1.25m people, has has not had a government since elections in June 2024. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Staff were told of major changes to the way NDIS funding and support plans will be made during a recent internal briefing

Exclusive: Report finds ban on credit card use for online wagering results in most gamblers switching to transaction account payments

As US-Venezuela tensions have long simmered, Trump's alleged ultimatum may tip relations to boiling point

Ashley Jenkinson, who died in the crash on 2 January 2023, was seen inhaling a white powder at a New Year's Eve partyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA helicopter pilot involved in one of Australia's worst air disasters had a mental breakdown" and used cocaine the day before making tourist joy flights, a coroner has heard.Ashley Jenkinson, 40, was among four people who died when his Sea World chopper collided midair with another outside the Gold Coast theme park on 2 January 2023. Continue reading...

Hancock says facility is modern necessity' but opponents argue the noise would disrupt local businessesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGina Rinehart's company has claimed helicopter pads are a necessity of modern business as it fights to install one at its new headquarters in West Perth.The City of Perth on Tuesday recommended councillors block the request from Hancock Iron Ore to install a helipad as it redevelops its offices. Continue reading...

Official report says forces in England and Wales yet to implement policies for investigationA quarter of police forces in England and Wales are yet to implement basic policies for investigating sexual offences", an official report has found, with women still being failed despite promises of change after the murder of Sarah Everard four years ago.The report by Dame Elish Angiolini follows an inquiry set up after Everard was murdered by a serving police officer, Wayne Couzens, in March 2021. She was abducted off a London street while walking home. Continue reading...

Watchdog says trend of care homes being registered in cheap areas, not where need is greatest, is national scandal'The number of registered children's homes in England has risen to a record high, but providers are increasingly prioritising profit over care needs, Ofsted has warned.The watchdog said new children's homes were proliferating in areas of the country where housing was cheapest, suggesting the rise was driven mostly by profit and this was bending the system out of shape". Continue reading...

Elderly people unable to reach water stations set up by South East Water after treatment site closedThousands of homes have been without water for four days in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, after South East Water accidentally added the wrong chemicals to the tap water supply.Schools across the area have been shut for two days, and residents have been filling buckets with rainwater to flush toilets. Cats, dogs and guinea pigs have been given Evian to drink as the people of Tunbridge Wells wait for their water to be switched back on. Currently, 18,000 homes are without water. Continue reading...

Tom Dolphin, who applied to be Labour candidate in 2024, says political career not relevant as he defends strikesThe head of the doctors' union has denied he is pursuing further strike action to progress his own political career after the Labour party overlooked him as a prospective candidate for parliament.The British Medical Association has announced that resident doctors - formerly known as junior doctors - in England will stage another five-day strike from 7am on 17 December until 7am on 22 December. Continue reading...

UK economy will grow faster than France, Germany and Italy but slower than US next year, report predicts

Justice secretary suggests he will stick to Levesen's recommended three-year sentence threshold, after cabinet feedback'David Lammy is expected to back down from removing jury trials for all but the most serious charges of murder, manslaughter and rape, but trial by jury will still be radically reduced for more minor offences.The justice secretary said there had been cabinet feedback" on the plans and suggested on Tuesday he was minded to follow the recommendation in a report by the retired senior judge Sir Brian Leveson that either-way" offences likely to result in a sentence of three years or less should be dealt with by the magistrates courts or a new judge-only division. Continue reading...

Independent inquiry into fire and media questions to leader would not happen in mainland China, but crackdown on dissent has begunAs Hong Kong mourns the victims of its worst fire in decades, the response to the disaster reveals the ways in which the semi-autonomous city retains differences from mainland China - and how some of those differences are being eroded.Hong Kong's leader, John Lee, announced on Tuesday the creation of an independent committee" to investigate the blaze, which killed 151 people at the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in Hong Kong's New Territories. Continue reading...

US has said it hopes other countries will follow as health policy experts say the agreement signals a shift away from value-for-money assessment

Many uncertain about the future after losing everything in the country's deadliest natural disaster for yearsWhen the rains began, Layani Rasika Niroshani was not worried. The 36-year-old mother of two was used to the heavy monsoon showers that drench Sri Lanka's hilly central region of Badulla every year. But as it kept pounding down without stopping, the family started to feel jittery.Some relocated to a relative's house, but her brother and his wife decided to stay behind to collect the valuables. As they were inside, a landslide hit the family home. Continue reading...

Former SBS newsreader defends sharing two X posts about a speech by the late Hezbollah leader as fair comment on a matter of public interest

Mansion tax' announced by Rachel Reeves will have limited impact on property market, building society says

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Exclusive: wide-ranging police powers used to conduct non-compliant searches that resulted in 33 people being charged or fined

Discounts started earlier than usual as competition for customers hit fever pitch', says British Retail ConsortiumCompetition between retailers seeking to entice customers with early Black Friday deals led to a slowdown in shop price rises during November, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).The trade association for retailers said prices in shops rose by 0.6% last month compared with November 2024. This was down from a 1% rise in October and below the three-month average of 1%. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Letter says L&Q appears to have systematically failed in its duty to provide adequate standard of livingUN experts have said that one of England's biggest social landlords appears to have systematically failed to ensure the habitability of its rental properties.In a letter to the UK government, they cite the case of a disabled tenant, Sanjay Ramburn, 55, who they say lived with his family of five in an L&Q group property in Forest Gate, east London, for several years with no electricity. They experienced four ceiling collapses, as well as severe damp and mould that affected their health. Continue reading...

New Zealand police allege 32-year-old ingested the 18-karat gold egg - a James Bond Octopussy locket - and say the object has not yet been recovered'A New Zealand man has been charged with theft after allegedly swallowing a Faberge James Bond Octopussy egg pendant worth more than $33,500 (US$19,200).Police were called to a central Auckland jewellery store, Partridge Jewellers, on Friday afternoon after staff reported a man had allegedly picked up the pendant and swallowed it, said Grae Anderson, the city's central area commander. Continue reading...

Sanae Takaichi's not-so-catchy remarks about everyone working like a horse did not go down well in a country notorious for its demanding work cultureIt is not, perhaps, a word many people in Japan will want to hear as they prepare for the bonenkai office party season and some well-earned time off over the new year.But the promise made by Japan's new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, that she would work, work, work, work, and work" on behalf of her country has clearly struck a chord. Continue reading...

Man in his 60s was fighting large blaze near Ravensthorpe, about 500km south-east of Perth

Zelenskyy says redrafted peace plan looks better' but Kaja Kallas fears Moscow meeting will wrongfully put pressure on Kyiv rather than Kremlin. What we know on day 1,378An intensified diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year war has continued, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting Paris on Monday - a day after the Ukrainian president's team held talks with US officials - and Vladimir Putin due to meet with US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday.Zelenskyy, speaking in Paris, said the Kremlin's claims of battlefield advances were exaggerated. He said Ukraine's priorities remained security guarantees, sovereignty and territorial integrity, as he insisted that Russia must not get rewards for its aggression on Ukraine. He said he hoped to have talks with the US president, Donald Trump, to discuss next steps once Steve Witkoff is back from his talks in Russia.Ukraine's president said that after revisions the peace plan circulating between Ukraine, Russia and Washigton looks better" and the work will continue. The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, warned however that talks between the Putin and Witkoff will again pile pressure on Ukraine to make concessions, write Jennifer Rankin and Pjotr Sauer. Kallas said: In order to have peace, we shouldn't lose focus that it's actually Russia who has started this war and Russia that is continuing this war and Russia that is really targeting civilians, civilian infrastructure every single day to cause as much damage as possible."The White House said it was very optimistic" of a deal being reached to end the war. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters: Just yesterday [the White House team] had very good talks with the Ukrainians in Florida and now of course special envoy Witkoff is on his way to Russia." Witkoff has in the past returned to Washington conveying variations of Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands for Ukraine's total capitulation. His role has come under scrutiny following a report that he coached Putin's foreign affairs adviser on how to pitch to Trump.The Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said the Florida talks achieved significant progress" but that some issues remained unresolved. Zelenskyy, while trying carefully not to anger Trump, has refused US-backed calls for Ukraine to give up hard-fought territory that Russia has not been able to seize.Four people were killed and 40 wounded in a Russian missile attack on the eastern-central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Monday, Ukrainian officials said. Vladyslav Haivanenko, the acting governor of the surrounding Dnipropetrovsk region, said 11 of those injured were in a serious condition. Ukraine's emergency services said car service stations, other businesses, an office building and 49 cars were all damaged in the attack. Continue reading...

The king and queen's visit to the former colony is the first by members of the Dutch royal family in nearly five decadesThe Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, vowed on Monday that the topic of slavery would not be off-limits as he visits former colony Suriname, where the practice ended just over 150 years ago.The king arrived in the capital Paramaribo on Sunday with Queen Maxima, a week after the small South American country marked 50 years of independence from the Netherlands. Continue reading...

Research shows perpetrators use methods such as stopping mothers accessing bank accounts and child benefitsAlmost 4 million children in the UK are suffering the impact of economic abuse in their families, with some having pocket or birthday money stolen by the perpetrators, a charity has found.Data from charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) showed that over the past year 27% of mothers with children under 18 had experienced behaviour considered to be economic abuse, where a current or former partner has controlled the family's money. Continue reading...

Justice secretary expected to announce plans to tackle backlog of cases as he says system has been pushed to brink of collapseA courts emergency" that will surpass 100,000 outstanding cases without radical reforms is leaving victims waiting years for justice, David Lammy has said as he prepares to face MPs over plans to drop thousands of jury trials.The justice secretary proposed last week to reduce the 78,000 outstanding cases in England and Wales by allowing jury trials only for serious crimes such as murder, rape and manslaughter. Continue reading...

Police plead with parents to buy only safe, unmodified ebikes as Christmas presents

Home Office accused of putting criminality before dignity with rule seeking intelligence on people-smugglersChildren who arrive in the UK on small boats could be searched to check if they are concealing phone sim cards in their mouths under new Home Office rules.New measures will allow immigration enforcement officials to seize phones at the border if it is believed they contain useful intelligence about people-smugglers. Continue reading...

Survey also reveals Britons' favourite festive film, views on tear-jerkers and family cinema tripsWhen Macaulay Culkin recently said he didn't consider Die Hard to be a Christmas film - wading into one of pop culture's most heated holiday debates - he was booed by a live audience.But it looks like the British people are behind the actor, with a survey revealing that Home Alone is the UK's favourite festive film, while Die Hard has officially been voted not a Christmas movie. Continue reading...

Move by firm, owned by US group Avis Budget, will remove access to shared fleet across London at end of yearThe world's biggest car-sharing company, Zipcar, has said it will close its UK operation, removing access to its shared fleet across London at the end of this year.The company, owned by the US car rental group Avis Budget, said it would suspend new bookings through its app after 31 December, pending the outcome of a consultation on possible redundancies. The UK operating company had 71 staff last year, according to its latest accounts. Continue reading...

US president sent a blunt message' to his South American counterpart, sources say

Disgraced and incarcerated music mogul claims footage in docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning was stolenSean Diddy" Combs has taken issue with a splashy new Netflix docuseries on his life and many legal troubles, that is executive produced by his longtime rival 50 Cent.The former Bad Boy Records executive and hip-hop star, currently serving a four-year sentence for prostitution-related charges, blasted Sean Combs: The Reckoning as a shameful hit piece", and accused Netflix of incorporating stolen footage. Continue reading...

A report by Lynelle Briggs says placements look like nepotism' and are undermining confidence in government

Iranian film-maker won Cannes film festival's Palme D'Or prize earlier this year for It Was Just an AccidentIran has sentenced the Palme d'Or-winning film-maker Jafar Panahi in absentia to one year in prison and a travel ban over propaganda activities" against the country.The sentence includes a two-year ban on leaving Iran and prohibition of Panahi from membership of any political or social groups, his lawyer Mostafa Nili said, adding that they would file an appeal. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Richard Hermer, a senior Jewish minister, says Reform leader clearly deeply hurt' many people with his alleged behaviourThe UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish government ministers, has urged Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who claim the Reform UK leader racially abused them while at school.The attorney general, Richard Hermer, said Farage had clearly deeply hurt" many people with their descriptions of his behaviour, and that his constantly changing" denials had been unconvincing. Continue reading...

Five days of strike action over jobs and pay to take place from 17 to 22 DecemberThousands of doctors in England are to go on strike again this month, in a dispute over pay and job security.The British Medical Association has announced that resident doctors - formerly known as junior doctors - will begin a five-day strike action that will run from 7am on 17 December until 7am on 22 December. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says focus remains on security guarantees, maintaining sovereignty and territoryUK prime minister Keir Starmer is delivering a major economy speech this morning.You can follow all the key lines on our UK live blog with my colleague Andrew Sparrow, but there's a particular line of argument that will no doubt reasonate in Europe, too.Let me be crystal clear, there is no credible economic vision for Britain that does not position us as an open, trading economy.So we must all now confront the reality that the Brexit deal we have significantly hurt our economy and so for economic renewal, we have to keep reducing frictions. Continue reading...

An official confirmed nearly a dozen deaths, including a mother and her child, in Artibonite region over the weekendHeavily armed gangs attacked Haiti's central region over the weekend, killing men, women and children as they set fire to homes and forced survivors to flee into the darkness.Police made emergency calls for backup, asserting that 50% of the Artibonite region had fallen under gang control after the large-scale attacks targeting towns including Bercy and Pont-Sonde. Continue reading...

Millions of people affected by torrential rainfall in Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia's Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia

Undercover unit monitored Stephen Lawrence's family, as well as thousands of mainly leftwing political activistsTwo senior officers who supervised an undercover Scotland Yard unit spying on political campaigns were horribly and incredibly" racist, a whistleblower has told a public inquiry.Peter Francis, a former member of the unit, testified that one regularly used the N-word", while the other used a repertoire of explicit racist slurs. Continue reading...