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Russian leader's rejection of latest peace proposal was predictable and shows the Kremlin continues to hold the trump cardBefore the harsh white glare of the Kremlin reception room came a telling prologue: Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's self-described deal guys", being led by Kremlin officials through the sparkling streets of a festive Moscow.Wasn't it lovely, Vladimir Putin asked later, as both sides sat down to a five-hour negotiation that seems to have led right back to where they started. It's a magnificent city," Witkoff replied. Then the cameras cut out. Continue reading...

Inquiry into British Army Training Unit in Kenya by Kenyan parliament says it faced institutional resistance and non-cooperation'A report by the Kenyan parliament into the conduct of troops stationed at a British military base close to the town of Nanyuki in Kenya has alleged human rights violations, environmental destruction and sexual abuse by British soldiers.The inquiry into the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (Batuk) was carried out by Kenya's departmental committee on defenc, intelligence and foreign relations.The establishment of a survivor liaison unit to offer legal aid to victims of crimes linked to Batuk personnel.For the British and Kenyan governments to negotiate mechanisms to hold Batuk soldiers accountable for child support".The creation of a military-linked crimes taskforce to oversee investigation and prosecution of offences committed by foreign military personnel. Continue reading...

More than third of party's Senedd members write to PM in move seen as further evidence of Labour decline in WalesMore than a third of Labour members of the Welsh parliament have launched an extraordinary attack on Keir Starmer's government, accusing it of rolling back devolution.Eleven Labour Senedd members (MSs) wrote to the prime minister and Labour leader claiming his administration had been either deeply insensitive" to Wales or guilty of constitutional outrage". Continue reading...

This week it was announced that three more former Tory MPs have gone over to Nigel Farage's partyThis is from Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, on Nigel Farage's denial of the FT story. (See 9.33am.)A handy reminder that in 2019 Farage did a deal to put Boris Johnson in No10 and push through his disastrous Brexit deal.But instead of taking responsibility, of course Farage plays the victim. Continue reading...

Journalist, broadcaster and author, 67, will take over from Melvyn Bragg when series resumes next monthMisha Glenny, the award-winning journalist, broadcaster and author, will become the new presenter of In Our Time when the series resumes next month, BBC Radio 4 has announced.He takes over from Melvyn Bragg, who stepped down in September after more than 27 years and over 1,000 episodes at the helm of the show, which offers an insight into humanity's cultural achievements. Continue reading...

Charity director warns more deaths will follow' unless government changes tack and closes women's prisonsOver the past decade 97 women have died in prisons in England and Wales, as incidents of self-harm among female prisoners reach the highest level on record, a new report has found.Inquest, the charity that produced the report, collated Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures since 2015 to arrive at a total number of deaths. It said the numbers were evidence for its case that all women's prisons should be closed. Continue reading...

ICO reprimands company over accidental publishing of data about people caught up in Horizon IT scandal

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereEuropean Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is now briefing the media after the commission's weekly meeting, presenting the bloc's plan to help fund Ukraine's continuing fight against Russia.I will bring you the key lines here. Continue reading...

What are the legal implications, and why does Belgium fear being left alone with the bill?The European Commission has proposed providing Ukraine with 90bn in funding over two years, which it says will meet two-thirds of Kyiv's financing needs for 2026 and 2027 and allow it to engage in peace talks from a position of strength".There are two options for generating the money. It could be a reparations loan" based on Russian assets frozen in the bloc, the option favoured by the commission but strongly resisted by Belgium, which hosts most of the assets. Continue reading...

The accused, including Syrian refugee Sarah Mardini and Irishman Sean Binder, were among those providing humanitarian assistance in Europe's migration crisisTwenty four former aid workers accused of facilitating the illegal entrance of migrants into Greece, and other crimes that carry lengthy prison terms, are set to appear in court on Lesbos in a trial being closely watched internationally.Human rights defenders from around the world, including Sarah Mardini, the Syrian refugee immortalised in the Netflix movie, The Swimmers, are slated to take the stand when proceedings before a court of appeals begin in the island's capital, Mytilene, on Thursday. Continue reading...

Leaked document raises questions over amount of government control behind MP Kim Leadbeater's bill

Giant biomass plant reveals burning of wood pellets made 9% of UK's electricity in July, its largest ever monthly shareBritain's reliance on burning wood to generate electricity has reached record highs, even as the government moves to curb the controversial use of biomass power.The latest figures supplied by the owner of the huge Drax biomass plant in North Yorkshire have revealed that power generated from burning biomass wood pellets provided 9% of the UK's electricity in July, its largest ever monthly share. Continue reading...

Debt-ridden utility company warns of material uncertainty' despite seeing profits rise to more than 400mThames Water has said crisis talks to secure its future with lenders are taking longer than expected" and will drag into 2026 as it faces the prospect of a collapse into government control.Britain's biggest water company on Wednesday said it had swung to a profit of 414m for the six months to September helped by bills rising by nearly a third, after losing 149m in the same period in 2024. Continue reading...

Gustavo Petro responded to intimations by US president of military strikes on Colombian soil to fight drug traffickingColombia's president has warned Donald Trump that he risked waking the jaguar" after the US leader suggested that any country he believed was making illegal drugs destined for the US was liable to a military attack.During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the US president said that military strikes on land targets inside Venezuela would start very soon". Trump also warned that any country producing narcotics was a potential target, singling out Colombia, which has long been a close ally in Washington's war on drugs". Continue reading...

Acclaimed author sick about' 171-year-old institution's proposed restructure as hundreds of writers sign open letter in protest

Global arm of Alliance Defending Freedom, which advances a Christian view' of sexuality, supports proposed legal action over classroom material

Pontiff says Italy specifically could play role of mediator in talks between Russia, US and UkrainePope Leo stressed the importance of Europe's involvement in US efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine, while suggesting that Italy specifically could play the role of mediator.Russia and the US failed to make progress towards a peace deal for Ukraine during talks on Tuesday, with Vladimir Putin accusing Europe of preventing the US administration from achieving peace on Ukraine". Continue reading...

Prosecutors say two others also indicted in investigation into funding for school training young diplomats

Trust announces major grant to exhibit 4m Chew Valley Hoard, which was found by metal detectorists in 2019The coins were buried in a valley in the English West Country almost 1,000 years ago at a time of huge political and social turmoil.A millennium on, plans have been announced to bring the Chew Valley Hoard, 2,584 silver coins hidden shortly after the Norman conquest, back to the south-west of England. Continue reading...

Cleta Mitchell was compelled to testify in North Carolina over a recent law that hiked up requirementsDuring a federal trial in North Carolina over whether a new voter registration law discriminates against college students, a prominent rightwing election integrity activist previewed Republicans' long-range plans to end same-day registration.Judge Thomas Schroeder is deliberating over the future of provisions in Senate bill 747, which increased registration requirements for voters who cast ballots on the same day they register to vote during North Carolina's early voting period. Schroeder called for briefs at the end of November after a week-long trial in Winston-Salem. Continue reading...

City of London corporation names Albert Island near City airport in Docklands for meat and fish marketsA former industrial site in London's Docklands has been named as the new home for the capital's ancient Smithfield meat market and Billingsgate fish market, under plans unveiled by their owner.The proposal by the City of London Corporation - the governing body that runs London's Square Mile and also operates the markets - would relocate both to Albert Island. Continue reading...

Exclusive: CEO says decision taken with utmost regret and sadness' after supreme court ruling on definition of a womanThe Women's Institute will no longer accept transgender women as members from April following the UK supreme court ruling on the legal definition of a woman, the Guardian can reveal.Melissa Green, the chief executive of the National Federation of Women's Institutes, said the organisation had taken the decision with the utmost regret and sadness", adding it had no choice" but to exclude trans women from its membership. Continue reading...

One donor tells FT that Reform leader described an agreement as inevitable', despite denials from both sidesNigel Farage has told donors he expects a deal or merger between his Reform UK party and the Conservatives before the next general election.Reform donors told the Financial Times that the leader expected his party to join with or make a deal with the Tories. Continue reading...

The proposed changes, which the government claims are needed to combat AI-generated requests, would also reduce what documents can be released

In today's newsletter: With US pressure mounting and Ukraine signalling cautious openness, Moscow continues to project military momentumGood morning. On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin welcomed Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow for talks on ending the war on Ukraine, nearly four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.The summit came amid intense diplomatic activity. Two weeks ago the US presented a 28-point peace plan to Kyiv that was widely seen as favourable to Moscow. Since then US and Ukrainian officials have met in Geneva and in Florida to rehash the plan. That revised offer was to form the basis of discussions at the summit.UK news | The families of those who died in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster have said it is a bitter injustice" that no police officer will ever be held accountable for failings set out in the final report of the police watchdog after a 14-year investigation. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found that 12 officers would have faced proceedings if they had not since retired.Royal family | The public accounts committee is to launch an inquiry into the crown estate and its leases on properties to members of the royal family after questions over the letting of Royal Lodge to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.Justice | David Lammy has been accused of making a massive mistake" by Labour MPs and peers after announcing radical plans to cut thousands of jury trials across England and Wales.Policing | A quarter of police forces in England and Wales are yet to implement basic policies for investigating sexual offences", an official report has found.Gender | Trans girls will no longer be able to join Girlguiding, the organisation has announced, saying it has made the decision after seeking legal advice as a result of the supreme court ruling on gender earlier this year. Continue reading...

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Exclusive: Allan government acknowledges more must be done' and will introduce new offence despite insisting laws already protect against it

Analysts say national accounts figures show how far the economy has come, with annual GDP growth hitting 2.1% compared to 0.8% this time last yearSurging investment in data centres to fuel the AI tech boom and rising household spending on essentials like electricity and rents buoyed economic growth through the three months to September.National accounts figures showed real GDP expanded by 2.1% in the year, accelerating from 2% in June. Continue reading...

Government also reveals it spent nearly $100,000 sending minister Anika Wells and two others to US during UN general assembly

Kremlin aide says Ukraine crisis is no closer to resolution after Witkoff talks, as Russian president accuses European powers of sabotaging peaceRussia and the US did not make progress toward a peace deal for Ukraine during their talks, a senior aide to Vladimir Putin has said, hours after the Russian president issued threats that Russia was ready for war with Europe.In remarks to Russian media, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said that after a five-hour meeting with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the two sides were neither further nor closer to resolving the crisis in Ukraine. There is a lot of work to be done." Continue reading...

Former political staffer was seeking to overturn 2024 ruling by federal court judge which found on the balance of probabilities he raped colleague Brittany Higgins

Court lifts order preventing details of former pilot's dealings with Victoria police before his former partner died in 1999

Report says systemic failures' led to collapse of trial, but found no evidence of UK government interferenceParliament's security committee has criticised prosecutors for pulling their charges against two men accused of spying for Beijing, in a damning report that concluded the handling of the case was shambolic".MPs said that a process beset by confusion and misaligned expectations" and inadequate" communication between the government and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had contributed to the collapse of the trial, while several opportunities to correct course were missed".It was unclear" why the CPS had concluded that a July 2024 ruling concerning a Bulgarian spy ring altered the legal landscape so significantly" that they had to change their approach.It was surprised" the CPS had deemed the government's evidence insufficient to put to a jury when it had set out how China posed a range of threats to the United Kingdom's national security" that amounted to a more general active threat".The government did not have sufficiently clear processes for escalating issues where there was a lack of clarity" and the level of senior oversight" from cabinet ministers and national security advisers was insufficiently robust". Continue reading...

Group including Margaret Atwood, Ian McKellen and Richard Branson sign open letter to free Marwan BarghoutiMore than 200 leading cultural figures have come together to call for the release of Marwan Barghouti, the jailed Palestinian leader seen as capable of uniting factions and bringing the best hope to the stalled mission of creating a Palestinian state.The prestigious and diverse group calling for his release in an open letter includes a variety of prominent names, including the writers Margaret Atwood, Philip Pullman, Zadie Smith and Annie Ernaux; actors Sir Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Josh O'Connor and Mark Ruffalo, and the broadcaster and former footballer Gary Lineker. Continue reading...

Soaring demand has led to shocking' rise in untreated patients leaving NHS emergency departments in England, data showsThe number of people in England walking out of A&E without treatment has tripled in the past six years, new figures show.Analysis of NHS data by the Royal College of Nursing shows soaring demand for urgent hospital care and long waits has led to what it describes as a shocking" rise in the number of patients leaving emergency departments untreated. Continue reading...

Exclusive: New laws will also curb questioning and aim to stop complainants being discredited over previous reportsRape victims will no longer be depicted as serial liars in courtrooms in England and Wales as part of the biggest shake-up in a generation", the Guardian can reveal.New measures will stop the profound injustice" of victims being questioned, sometimes without warning, about past rapes that they have reported to the police, said David Lammy, the justice secretary. Continue reading...

Petition says Colombia citizen Alejandro Carranza Medina was illegally killed in US airstrike on 15 SeptemberA family in Colombia filed a petition on Tuesday with the Washington DC-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging that Colombia citizen Alejandro Carranza Medina was illegally killed in a US airstrike on 15 September.The petition marks the first formal complaint over the airstrikes by the Trump administration against suspected drug boats, attacks that the White House says are justified under a novel interpretation of law. 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...

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...

Paul Thomas Anderson's comedy thriller named best film by Gotham awards and New York Film Critics CirclePaul Thomas Anderson's acclaimed comedy thriller One Battle After Another has emerged as an early best picture frontrunner as the awards season kicks off.The Thomas Pynchon adaptation, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as an ex-revolutionary searching for his daughter, was named best feature at Monday's Gotham awards. I didn't expect this, actually," Anderson said on stage. I started to think I didn't know what was going on." Continue reading...

Approval of legislation to ban Pfas would be major win for advocates pushing for safer gear alternatives across USA new bill proposed in the New York city council would ban the use of toxic Pfas forever chemicals" in protective gear worn by the city's 11,000 firefighters.The New York fire department is the nation's largest firefighting force, and approval of the legislation would mark a major win for advocates who are pushing for safer turnout gear" alternatives across the US. Massachusetts and Connecticut last year became the first states to ban the use of Pfas in turnout gear, and Illinois enacted a ban this year. Continue reading...

Pop star calls out White House's inhumane agenda' after post that soundtracks immigration raids to her song JunoSabrina Carpenter has spoken out against Donald Trump's White House for using her song Juno to soundtrack videos of immigration raids.In response to a video posted on the official White House X account, which depicts Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officials arresting several people in what appears to be Chicago, the singer wrote: this video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda." Continue reading...

Two-day meeting under new, RFK Jr-appointed chair could see radical overhaul of US childhood immunizations policyA reversal of a decades-long program of childhood immunizations, including a recommendation to scrap hepatitis B shots for newborn babies, could come as early as this week in a vote by an advisory committee of allies convened by the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.Speaking to the Washington Post, Kirk Milhoan, the new chair of the federal advisory panel on immunization practices, said members would vote whether to push for the axing of the hepatitis B requirement during its two-day meeting ending Friday. Continue reading...

Relations between French company Dassault and the German unit of Airbus are reportedly very strained'The leaders of France and Germany have a strong willingness" to build a new fighter jet together despite bitter internal rivalries, according to the chief executive of engine manufacturer Safran.A row over who should lead between French aerospace company Dassault and the German unit of Airbus has threatened to break apart the countries' efforts to make a next-generation fighter jet. Continue reading...

Release of convicted cocaine trafficker Juan Orlando Hernandez is latest US interference in election and comes despite Trump's apparent war on drugs'

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

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereThe 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...

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...