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Liverpool gathering lays bare bitter divisions within new party founded by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah SultanaThe new leftwing party founded by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana will be called Your Party after a vote by members, but its weekend conference laid bare bitter divisions.Just over 37% of members voted for the name Your Party, provisionally adopted when it was launched earlier this year, to become permanent. The votes for others on the shortlist were 25.23% to be called For The Many, 25.23% for Popular Alliance and 14.19% for Our Party. Continue reading...

Officials in Indonesia say more than 442 people have died, while Sri Lanka suffers worst natural disaster since 2004 tsunamiAuthorities in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand are racing to clear debris and find hundreds of missing people after more than 900 died in devastating floods and landslides across the south of Asia.In the latest example of the impact of the climate crisis on storm patterns and extreme weather, heavy monsoon rains, exacerbated by a tropical storm, have overwhelmed parts of south-east Asia in recent days, leaving thousands of people stranded without shelter or critical supplies. Continue reading...

Former Labour leader announces official name at conference in Liverpool after vote by membersKemi Badenoch has reiterated her calls for the chancellor to resign on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, after accusing Rachel Reeves of breaking promises not to raise taxes.In this year's budget, Reeves froze tax thresholds for three years longer than previously planned, meaning that as wages rise more people will have to start paying income tax.The chancellor called an emergency press conference telling everyone about how terrible the state of the finances were and now we have seen that the OBR had told her the complete opposite. She was raising taxes to pay for welfare.The only thing that was unfunded was the welfare payments which she has made and she's doing it on the backs of a lot of people out there who are working very hard and getting poorer. And because of that, I believe she should resign.The shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, has written to the FCA (the Financial Conduct Authority). Hopefully there will be an investigation, because it looks like what she was doing was trying to pitch-roll her budget - tell everyone how awful it would be and then they wouldn't be as upset when she finally announced it - and still sneak in those tax rises to pay for welfare. That's not how we should be running this process. Continue reading...

Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner meet Kyiv delegation amid more deadly Russian attacks in UkraineUkrainian negotiators have met US officials in Florida to thrash out details of Washington's proposed framework to end Russia's war in Ukraine, as Kyiv faces pressure on military and political fronts.The secretary of state, Marco Rubio; the special envoy, Steve Witkoff; and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law; sat down with a Ukrainian delegation on Sunday before planned US talks this week in Moscow with Vladimir Putin. Continue reading...

Pontiff tells politicians and religious heads they must persevere with peace efforts despite facing highly complex, conflictual' situationPope Leo has urged political leaders in Lebanon to make peace their highest priority in a forceful appeal as he is visiting the country, which remains a target of Israeli airstrikes, on the second leg of his first overseas trip as Catholic leader.Leo, the first US pope, arrived in Beirut on Sunday from a four-day visit to Turkey where he said that humanity's future was at risk because of the world's unusual number of bloody conflicts, and condemned violence in the name of religion. Continue reading...

Plane skidded off runway and 45 cars were piled up as 53 million were under winter weather alerts over ThanksgivingA Thanksgiving weekend storm system brought over a foot of snow and strong winds across the US midwest and thunderstorms across the south, as 53 million people from South Dakota to New York were under winter weather alerts.Over the weekend, ahead of one of the busiest travel days of the year on Sunday, a 45-car pile-up occurred on interstate 78 in Indiana and a Delta Air Lines plane skidded off the runway in Des Moines, Iowa, during landing. Continue reading...

Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who played Sam in Richard Curtis's film, thinks streaming ushered in genre's declineIf modern romcoms aren't sweeping you off your feet any more, you're not the only one wondering where the magic went.Romantic comedies are just not as good as they used to be, according to one of the stars of Love Actually. Continue reading...

River Action says use of issuance tied to environmental benefits is corporate greenwash on steroids'Water companies have issued a fifth of the UK's green bonds" since 2017, despite a consistently poor record of sewage pollution during that time, research has shown.Privately owned water companies in England have together issued 10.5bn in bonds tied to projects that offer environmental benefits", according to analysis of financial market data by Unearthed, which is part of Greenpeace UK. Continue reading...

Kernewek submitted by government for part III status under European charter for regional or minority languagesThe Cornish language is due to be given the same status as Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic after the government submitted it for greater protections under a European charter.Kernewek, spoken as a first language by 563 people according to the last census, has been recommended by the government for part III status under the European charter for regional or minority languages, the highest level of protection available. Continue reading...

Ludwig Minelli, whose work had lasting influence on Swiss law, dies just days before his 93rd birthdayThe head of the Swiss right-to-die organisation Dignitas has ended his life through an assisted death, the group has said.Ludwig Minelli, who founded the group in 1998, died on Saturday, days before his 93rd birthday, Dignitas said. It added: Right up to the end of his life, he continued to search for further ways to help people to exercise their right to freedom of choice and self-determination in their final matters' - and he often found them." Continue reading...

Pressure grows on Pedro Sanchez amid series of claims involving his family, party and administrationTens of thousands of people have attended an anti-government demonstration in Madrid to demand a snap general election as the country's socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, tries to weather a series of corruption allegations involving his family, his party and his administration.Sunday's protest, called by Spain's conservative People's party (PP) under the slogan, This is it: mafia or democracy?", was held three days after one of Sanchez's closest erstwhile allies, the former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos, was remanded in custody by a judge investigating an alleged kickbacks-for-contracts scheme. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Long waiting times affected 386,849 patients in England during September, data analysis showsHundreds of thousands of people in England are not getting tests for killer diseases because of widespread delays that doctors fear will harm patients.A total of 386,849 people in September had been waiting more than six weeks for a diagnostic test for cancer, heart problems and other serious conditions, according to an analysis of NHS waiting time data by the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR). Continue reading...

US president favours Nasry Tito' Asfura of rightwing National party, as polls show three candidates are neck-and-neckHondurans have begun voting in an election held amid threats by Donald Trump to cut aid to the country if his preferred candidate loses.Honduras could be the next country in Latin America, after Argentina and Bolivia, to swing right after years of leftwing rule. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Separate research also shows number of young children having suicidal thoughts has risen at alarming' rate

Documents reveal comments by Det Insp Mark Thompson were attempt to flush out killer's supporters

More than 100 lawyers have accused the Ministry of Justice of ignoring the legal profession's objectionsMore than 100 lawyers who wrote to the Ministry of Justice expressing significant concerns about plans to severely restrict jury trials say representations by the legal profession are being ignored.The government is expected to formally announce the changes, which have caused deep division among the judiciary and senior lawyers, as soon as next week. Continue reading...

Request is submitted weeks after Donald Trump called on Isaac Herzog to pardon Israeli prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu has asked Israel's president for a pardon for bribery and fraud charges and an end to a five-year corruption trial, arguing that it would be in the public interest".Isaac Herzog's office acknowledged receipt of the 111-page submission from the prime minister's lawyer, and said it had been passed on to the pardons department in the ministry of justice. The president's legal adviser would also formulate an opinion before Herzog made a decision, it added. Continue reading...

MPs warn axing FCDO's migration and conflict directorate amid staff cuts risks undermining peace work and expertiseThe Foreign Office has been warned that a plan to axe its dedicated unit on emerging conflicts and refugee crises is a real error" that undermines UK security" as the department grapples with swingeing cuts.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) migration and conflict directorate, which employs about 100 civil servants, is being abolished at the end of this year and its work subsumed by the rest of the department. Continue reading...

Use of 8m pounds of antibiotics and antifungals a year leads to superbugs and damages human health, lawsuit claimsA new legal petition filed by a dozen public health and farm worker groups demands the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stop allowing farms to spray antibiotics on food crops in the US because they are probably causing superbugs to flourish and sickening farm workers.The agricultural industry sprays about 8m pounds of antibiotic and antifungal pesticides on US food crops annually, many of which are banned in other countries. Continue reading...

Competition intensifies as former chief of Domino's says days of massive growth' are overPizza has become ubiquitous on British dinner plates, with chains such as Pizza Express, Franco Manca, Domino's and Goodfella's dominating the market - but is its popularity starting to cool?Domino's Pizza Group announced this week that its chief executive of two years had stepped down with immediate effect, less than two weeks after he appeared to suggest the UK may be approaching peak pizza". Continue reading...

The building was once home to the UK's first US-style multiplex. Now developers are seeking to demolish it for a new housing schemeForty years ago this month, British cinema-going changed for ever with the opening of The Point in Milton Keynes, the UK's first US-style multiplex. Looming over Midsummer Boulevard, the Point's mirrored glass ziggurat and red pyramidal frame audaciously synthesised Maya and Egyptian motifs in a futuristic, hi-tech temple of pleasure. As well as 10 screens (Back to the Future, The Goonies, and My Beautiful Laundrette opened proceedings), there were bars, restaurants, nightclub and even cup holders on seats, an unimaginable novelty for the time.Today, with its cinemas long closed, this now-languishing 1980s superstar is under threat of demolition, caught in a row between local campaigners, politicians and heritage groups trying to preserve it, and developers seeking to demolish it for a much-criticised new housing scheme. Continue reading...

Members vote narrowly in favour at founding conference overshadowed by Sultana's rift with Jeremy Corbyn

Chancellor accused of misleading public about reasons for tax rises, with opposition MPs calling for her to resign

Rescue teams find more bodies in burnt-out buildings of Wang Fuk Court complex after Wednesday's fireThe death toll in Hong Kong's apartment complex fire has risen to 146 after investigators discovered more bodies in the burnt-out buildings. A steady stream of people placed bouquets of flowers at an ever-growing makeshift memorial at the scene of the disaster, among the worst in the city's history.The Hong Kong police's disaster victim identification unit has been going through the buildings of the Wang Fuk Court complex meticulously and has found bodies both in apartment units and on the roofs, the officer in charge, Cheng Ka-chun, said on Sunday. Continue reading...

Eldonian village was a forerunner in neighbourhood regeneration. Thirty years on it is fighting for survivalIt was the utopian housing dream, a community project designed to support its residents from cradle to grave - 400 redbrick homes built around a village hall, leisure centre and playing fields, all of it owned and managed by the people who lived there.The Eldonian village in Liverpool was heralded at the time of its completion by the then Prince Charles as a leading example of a successful, community-led, bottom-up approach to neighbourhood regeneration". Continue reading...

Hundreds of people still missing after heavy rain and mudslides in country's deadliest natural disaster for yearsEntire areas of Sri Lanka's capital are flooded after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, with authorities reporting nearly 200 dead and dozens more missing.Officials said the extent of the damage in the country's worst-affected central region was slowly becoming clear on Sunday as relief workers cleared roads blocked by fallen trees and mudslides. Continue reading...

Exclusive: French artist planning to cover bridge over Seine in tribute to Christo and Jeanne-ClaudeThe enigmatic French artist JR will undertake what he says is his biggest ever challenge next year when he wraps" Pont Neuf, the oldest standing bridge across the Seine River in Paris, in a tribute to a monumental art project by Christo and Jeanne-Claude.For three weeks next June, the 232-metre (761ft) long bridge will be wrapped in fabric, 40 years after the married artists known for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations did the same thing. Continue reading...

Axing of Maki Otsuki performance in Shanghai the latest in spate of cancelled cultural events involving Asia's two biggest economiesJapanese One Piece" singer Maki Otsuki was forced to halt her performance on stage in Shanghai, her management said, one of the latest events hit by a diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing.Otsuki, known for the theme song of the popular anime, had been slated to perform for two days from Friday at the Bandai Namco Festival 2025 in the Chinese city. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Shot as he barricaded the synagogue, Yoni Finlay describes the assault - and the climate that allowed it to happenIt was just after 6am and Yoni Finlay woke early with nerves. It was Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, and the 39-year-old Mancunian was due to sing the dawn prayer, Shacharis, before hundreds of worshippers later that morning.After practising his verse, Finlay buttoned up his white robes and headed to Heaton Park shul in north Manchester. He greeted familiar faces - exchanging a cheery hello with Bernard Agyemang, the security guard - then took a seat on the stage, the bimah, and said prayers. Continue reading...

Men represent 50% of all infertility cases but poor understanding among GPs means it is often untreatedCouples are needlessly going through IVF because male infertility is under-researched, with the NHS too often failing to diagnose treatable causes, leading experts have said.Poor understanding among GPs and a lack of specialists and NHS testing means male infertility is often left untreated in couples struggling to conceive, despite men accounting for 50% of all infertility cases. Continue reading...

Pay mistake is latest setback to image of exclusive Qatar-owned London retailer after a series of crisesHarrods warehouse staff have been underpaid thousands of pounds after the temporary recruitment agency employing the workers failed to award them the correct levels of holiday pay.The error, which possibly equates to a six-figure debt owed to hundreds of lower-paid personnel, marks the latest setback to the image of the exclusive Knightsbridge retailer, which is owned by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund and has spent the past 12 months firefighting a series of crises. Continue reading...

Family saddened' by minister's response to London coroner's concerns over police database access

Two new books analyse what makes the perfect pub' and both come to a sobering conclusion: Irish pubs are in troubleLike triple-distilled whiskey, Irish pubs appear to have timeless appeal. They are staple setting in films, books and plays, draw tourists to Ireland, replicate themselves around the world and induce social media quests for the perfect snug and the perfect pint.Scholars have now bestowed academic imprimatur on this cultural treasure status by examining - and celebrating - pubs through the lens of history, sociology, architecture, psychology, design, art and literature. Continue reading...

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Police on Saturday detained one person who was part of a group that launched a petition demanding accountabilityAnger over a deadly blaze at a Hong Kong high-rise apartment complex simmered on Sunday as Beijing warned against attempts to use the disaster to disrupt the city, while people across the financial hub continued to mourn for the more than 128 victims.Police on Saturday detained one person who was part of a group that launched a petition demanding government accountability, an independent probe into possible corruption, proper resettlement for residents, and a review of construction oversight, two sources familiar with the matter said. Continue reading...

Woman, 36, and her husband, 44, arrested at Barangaroo and charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage

Kyiv tries to pile pressure on Russia with attack on empty vessels on way to load up with oil for foreign marketsUkrainian naval drones hit two tankers operating under sanctions in the Black Sea as they headed to a Russian port to load up with oil destined for foreign markets, an official said on Saturday, as Kyiv tries to pile pressure on Russia's vast oil industry.The two oil tankers, identified as the Kairos and Virat, were empty and sailing to Novorossiysk, a major Russian Black Sea oil terminal, the official at the security service of Ukraine told Reuters. Continue reading...

Strike on Kyiv cuts power to half of city amid Moscow's campaign to break civil resistance by attacking energy gridSix people were killed and dozens were wounded by a Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine.Nearly 600 drones and 36 rockets were fired into the country in an attack that its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said highlighted Ukraine's need for western help with air defence, as well as other financial and political support. Continue reading...

Authorities have undertaken one of the largest and most intensive searches for a missing person in South Australia

Two Palestinian children reportedly killed on Saturday as Israel continues its strikes after latest ceasefireThe Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Gaza war began, Gaza's health ministry said on Saturday, while a hospital reported Israeli fire killed two Palestinian children in the territory's south.The toll has continued to rise after the latest ceasefire took effect on 10 October. Israel still carries out strikes in response to what it has called violations of the truce, and bodies from earlier in the war are being recovered from the rubble. Continue reading...

Differences between Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn and over admitting Socialist Workers members mean rows look likely to continueWhen the idea of a new leftwing party spearheaded by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana was first mooted in the summer, it was so popular that hundreds of thousands of people expressed an interest in joining.Although it was quickly beset by arguments - its co-founders rowed bitterly over its initial leadership and funding model - many hoped this weekend's inaugural conference would signal a fresh start. Continue reading...

A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriter

Independent MP Zali Steggall says it's not always clear who is behind disorderly behaviour - and sometimes it can be a whole section of a political party

Exclusive: Health department data shows spending on the 2004 extended safety net has nearly tripled, from $324.9m in 2010 to $850.4m in 2024

Exclusive: Experts raise concern as Queensland's Domestic and Family Violence Death Review and Advisory Board turns focus to historical, rather than recent, data

Rightwing activist claimed Commons deputy speaker Nusrat Ghani should be barred because she was born in PakistanGB News is facing calls to cut ties with a regular contributor who has been accused of racism after claiming that the House of Commons deputy speaker, Nusrat Ghani, should not be allowed in the house because she was born in Pakistan.The comments by Lucy White, a rightwing activist, have drawn criticism from across the political spectrum amid warnings that explicitly racist language is becoming increasingly normalised in British life. Continue reading...

Sultana skips Saturday's proceeding in solidarity with delegates expelled over links to other partiesZarah Sultana has boycotted the first day of Your Party's inaugural conference, throwing the party's first official gathering into chaos amid disagreements with co-founder Jeremy Corbyn over how the party should be run.Corbyn confirmed to journalists on Saturday that he preferred a single leader and is likely to stand for the role but Sultana said she would vote for collective leadership and that she did not believe parties should be run by sole personalities". Continue reading...

Exit of Zelenskyy's most powerful aide could also have impact on Kyiv's negotiating position in talks over ending warUkraine's political system is bracing for a mini-revolution" as the county's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is forced to adapt to life without his closest adviser, chief enforcer and most loyal associate, Andriy Yermak, who resigned on Friday after his apartment was searched as part of a widening anti-corruption probe.Yermak's resignation could have tremendous consequences for domestic governance, as well as for Ukraine's negotiating position in talks over ending the war with Russia, where he had served as the head of Ukraine's delegation to peace talks with the White House. Continue reading...

Committee highlights allegations including dog attacks and sexual violence, raising concern about impunity for war crimesIsrael has a de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture", according to a UN report covering the past two years, which also raised concerns about the impunity of Israeli security forces for war crimes.The UN committee on torture expressed deep concern over allegations of repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, waterboarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence". Continue reading...

Staff at human rights body said to be desperate for regime change' over inertia after court's legal definition of a womanThe ongoing impasse over guidance from the UK's human rights watchdog on access to single-sex spaces is distracting from other pressing issues, including the rise of the far right, insiders have told the Guardian.Some members of staff at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) are described as desperate for regime change" ahead of the new chair, Mary-Ann Stephenson, taking up her post in December. Continue reading...