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Campaigners decry plan to reduce requirement for improved standards from 100% down to 40% of new homesGovernment plans to make huge cuts to targets for accessible new-build homes in England have been labelled a monumental reversal" by campaigners, who say disabled people have been left feeling betrayed and excluded".In its proposals for changes to the country's planning system, the government said a minimum of 40% of new-build homes would be built to improved accessibility standards - M4(2) - which include step-free access and wider doorways and corridors. Continue reading...

Ukrainian leader welcomes move as Donald Tusk says it could be better' after Russian frozen assets left out of deal

Reportedly critical drone strike is first in Mediterranean since full-scale invasion began as maritime conflict grows

Mixed picture for the big day with some capitals tipped for a hot, dry celebration while others will be cool or rainy

Under changes revealed by regulator, banks and card providers encouraged to set their own maximumsThe 100 limit on contactless card payments will be scrapped next year and consumers could get the ability to spend as much as they want without inputting their pin under changes announced by the UK financial regulator.Currently contactless payments by cards are limited, while payments using mobile phones are not, but the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that from 19 March banks and card providers could set their own maximums. Continue reading...

Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, 30, was arrested in 2020 for taking part in nationwide democracy protests, and has been tortured in prisonA boxing champion in prison in Iran is thought to be at imminent risk of execution after his request for a retrial was rejected by the country's supreme court.Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, 30, from Mashhad in north-east Iran was arrested in 2020 for taking part in nationwide democracy protests in 2019 and accused of supporting an opposition group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK). He has spent five years in prison, where he has been tortured and put in solitary confinement. Continue reading...

Home affairs minister would not say whether specific phrases such as globalise the intifada' would be banned under proposed laws

Chris Minns says state can't risk another mass demonstration on that scale in NSW [because] the implications can be seen, in my view, on Sunday'

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Exclusive: Labour says Nigel Farage's party should swiftly condemn Chris Parry after further comments emergeA Reform UK mayoral candidate who said David Lammy should go home to the Caribbean" has suggested that at least eight other politicians from minority ethnic backgrounds do not have a primary loyalty towards the UK.Nigel Farage's party has so far refused to condemn Chris Parry, a retired naval rear admiral who has been picked to contest the now-postponed Hampshire and the Solent mayoral election for the party, over his comment about Lammy, the deputy prime minister. Continue reading...

Drone footage shows huge circle of swimmers and surfers in the ocean in latest outpouring of grief

Productivity Commission recommends waiting three years to establish review into technology after furious response from creative industries

House of Lords report says tools such as raising pension age and increasing immigration will not be adequateYoung people will suffer most from the government's failure to take seriously the unsustainable pressure on public finances and living standards created by the UK's ageing population, according to the findings of a House of Lords inquiry.The report, Preparing for an Ageing Society, by the economic affairs committee, also found successive governments' inaction on adult social care remains a scandal". Continue reading...

Heavily armed officers in camouflage gear intercepted two cars with photographs from the scene showing suspects cable-tied on roadside

Opposition parties say Labour is scared of voters' but government says merging authorities have voiced concernsLocal elections could be delayed again as merging councils lack the capacity for reorganisation, the government has announced, triggering claims from opposition parties that Labour is scared of the voters".Sixty-three council areas could opt to postpone elections until 2027 after some were already delayed until May 2026 as two-tier authorities are being combined into single unitary councils. Continue reading...

Current ambassador to UN to replace Peter Mandelson, who was forced to quit over Epstein linkKeir Starmer has appointed the career diplomat Christian Turner as the UK's ambassador to Washington, replacing Peter Mandelson who was forced to quit over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.Turner, the who was appointed ambassador to the UN in May, had previously been political director at the Foreign Office and had brokered a close relationship with the new Labour administration before taking up his UN role in New York. Continue reading...

Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, spoke candidly about Trump's inner circle and the piece made even bigger waves with its unsparing photos

PPE Medpro owes government 148m for supplying unusable personal protective equipment during Covid-19 pandemicThe company linked to the former Conservative peer Michelle Mone, which owes the government almost 150m for supplying unusable personal protective equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic, has been put into liquidation.The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) applied for PPE Medpro to be wound up at a high court hearing on Thursday, arguing that the company was hopelessly insolvent" and should not continue in administration. Continue reading...

Report on Kamala Harris's loss to Trump would be a distraction' as party is putting our learnings into motion'The Democratic National Committee won't release a review of its election loss in 2024, saying it would be a distraction" from helping the party win going forward.The party has been working on a so-called autopsy of 2024 since Kamala Harris lost the presidential election to Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says case for transfer of assets to fund war effort is morally clear and just'Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz confirms his support for the EU's reparations loan, saying he sees no better option."He diplomatically acknowledges Belgium's concerns, and says he hopes we can address them together" to send a signal of strength and resolve ... towards Russia." Continue reading...

Tory leader says Labour should focus on migrants from cultures that don't respect women' rather than tackling misogyny in schools

Lula acknowledges his decision to uphold 27-year sentence could be overridden by conservative lawmakersBrazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has promised to veto a bill passed by congress to reduce the prison term of Jair Bolsonaro, the former president who was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for masterminding an attempted coup to overturn the 2022 elections.Lawmakers passed the bill late on Wednesday after it was approved last week by the lower house. On Thursday, Brazil's leftist president - who, investigations showed, was the target of an assassination plan as part of the coup plot - acknowledged his veto could be overridden by the largely conservative congress. Continue reading...

The US-Ireland Alliance will give the actor the Oscar Wilde award at the event's 20th anniversary in Los Angeles in MarchAfter a varied career in which he has played a psychopath, a romcom heart-throb, an intergalactic warlord and a plucky newspaper editor among others, Domhnall Gleeson has won his first Hollywood award.The US-Ireland Alliance announced that Gleeson will receive the Oscar Wilde award at the event's 20th anniversary in Los Angeles in March in the run-up to the Oscars. It honours a body of work rather than a particular performance. Continue reading...

Fourth cut this year is good news for homebuyers and those due to remortgage, but returns on easy-access savings accounts could drop

Timing seen as reset moment after potential loss of hundreds of council seats in England and defeat in Wales and Scotland UK politics live - latest updatesKeir Starmer is planning for a new king's speech after the crunch May elections as a reset moment for the government amid speculation over the prime minister's future.Senior sources in parliament said planning was under way to end the parliamentary session the week after local elections in England and parliamentary elections in Wales and Scotland in May, making it a significantly longer session than normal, and nearly two years since Labour first set out its legislative agenda. Continue reading...

A country known for welcoming newcomers has reversed policy as immigration becomes increasingly a partisan issue

Sainsbury's, Barclays and University College London have all drawn on themes created by IWD site run by London business with no link to UNNobody owns International Women's Day, but if you asked the 193 countries, countless businesses and NGOs that mark it each year, they would probably agree it has been popularised, defined and formalised by the United Nations.The owner of the website internationalwomensday.com", a London-based marketing firm, disagrees. By selling merchandise, promoting a 160 lunch to awaken attenders' inner goddess" and creating a series of corporate partnerships, it has also seeded its annual themes with British brands and institutions that appear to have mistaken the site for the UN, the Guardian can reveal. Continue reading...

Southern Transitional Council, backed by UAE, told it could face airstrikes after its recent huge territorial gainsAs many as 20,000 Saudi-backed forces are gathering on the border of Yemen as the separatist Southern Transitional Council comes under pressure to withdraw from the huge territorial gains it has made in the last month in the vast, oil-rich governorate on Hadramaut in eastern Yemen.The STC is using its advance to raise its demand for Yemen to revert to two states, north and south, as it had been until 1990. Continue reading...

Drop is cause for public health concern, but news isn't all bad as acknowledging struggles is a good sign', experts sayA record low proportion of Americans rate their mental health as good" or excellent" according to a Gallup poll released on Thursday.The percentage of Americans polled who rated their mental health as excellent" dropped below 30% for the first time this year while the number who rated their mental health as either good" or excellent" also dropped to a record low 72%. Continue reading...

The Reiners' bodies were discovered on Sunday at their home in Los Angeles. Their son Nick was later arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and has since appeared in courtThe Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has released reports stating the cause of death of the film director Rob Reiner and his wife, the photographer Michele Singer Reiner.Both are listed on the organisation's website with the cause given as multiple sharp force injuries" and homicide" stated as the manner of death. The date of death, which had been the subject of some speculation, is given as Sunday 14 December. Continue reading...

Social mobility report highlights extreme regional differences' in terms of childhood, jobs, innovation and growthFormer industrial communities across Britain are facing entrenched disadvantages" stretching back decades, the latest social mobility research has said.It raises specific concern about the rising number of young people aged 16-24 not in education, employment or training (Neets), which was one in seven between 2022 and 2024. Continue reading...

O'Neill, who has led Woodside Energy since 2021, will be oil and gas company's first female chief executiveBP's board has appointed its first female chief executive in a move to revive the oil company's fortunes, after ousting Murray Auchincloss less than two years into his role.In an unexpected leadership shake-up, Auchincloss will step down as chief executive with immediate effect, but remain in an advisory role until the end of next year. Continue reading...

New South Wales has a gun problem that we must now confront. We have over 1.1m guns in this state', Greens MP says

As country prepares to host Africa Cup of Nations, families and rights groups tell of police brutality, with hundreds still heldThe arbitrary detention of hundreds of gen Z protesters in Morocco and alleged horrific" beatings have been condemned by human rights groups, as the country prepares to host the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.A wave of youth-led demonstrations swept across Morocco in late September and early October - the biggest since the 2011 Arab spring - in protest at underfunded healthcare and education. Continue reading...

Australian prime minister unveils new measures to combat antisemitism as Coalition outlines own plan

Pressure is growing on member states to back a 90bn loan for Kyiv ahead of a Brussels summitEuropean leaders are being urged to decide whether to use Russia's frozen assets to fund Ukraine's defence at a time of unprecedented pressure from the US.At a critical summit in Brussels on Thursday, EU leaders will be asked to make good on a promise to find urgently needed cash for Ukraine, with Kyiv under pressure to cede territory as Russia ekes out advances on the battlefield. Continue reading...

John Harris, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey look back at the biggest political moments of 2025, and discuss what 2026 might bring Continue reading...

US alt-rock band announce they are finally parting ways, following fisticuffs, accusations and lawsuitsUS alt-rock band Jane's Addiction has announced they are parting ways after a tumultuous 15 months of fisticuffs, accusations and lawsuits.The veteran Californian group, who have a history of drama, dust-ups and bust-ups, prematurely terminated the US leg of their reunion tour in September last year after an onstage altercation in Boston between frontman Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro led to blows and, ultimately, a $10m lawsuit. Continue reading...

More than 32% of shareholder votes oppose executive pay report at heated Sydney AGM, after a year when bank was fined $240m by the financial regulator

From 1 January, contraceptives will be subject to a 13% VAT rate - part of a carrot-and-stick approach by the government to increase birthsChina is set to impose a value-added tax (VAT) on condoms and other contraceptives for the first time in three decades, as the country tries to boost its birthrate and modernise its tax laws.From 1 January, condoms and contraceptives will be subject to a 13% VAT rate - a tax from which the goods have been exempt since China introduced nationwide VAT in 1993. Continue reading...

Asio facing scrutiny over investigation of alleged attackers as Jewish community in Bondi prepares for a second round of funerals

Cuts, which affect projects focused on issues including early identification of autism, made without prior notice to AAPThe US department of health and human services (HHS) has terminated several multi-million-dollar grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics following the association's criticisms of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr's policies.The funding cuts, which affect projects focused on issues including fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and early identification of autism, were first reported by the Washington Post and made without prior notice to the AAP. Continue reading...

Actor rememberers late director of When Harry Met Sally and hopes something positive will come from impossible tragedy'Meg Ryan has posted a tribute to the late Rob Reiner, who directed her in hit romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally.Reiner was found dead with his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, at their Los Angeles home at the weekend. Continue reading...

Manchester, Bradford and outer London boroughs among those to receive increases ministers hope will restore pride'

Exclusive global rights to the year's biggest night in film will move to the video platform for a four year periodThe Oscars will be moving from broadcast to online as part of a multi-year new deal with YouTube.From 2019, the video platform will have exclusive global rights to Hollywood's biggest night, including the ceremony but also red carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes content and Governors Ball access. The deal will run until 2033. Continue reading...

Allowing entry on the basis of self-identification of gender rather than biological sex is unlawful, high court toldRules permitting trans women to share female changing facilities and swim in a women-only pond are discriminatory and unlawful, the high court has heard.The City of London Corporation is breaching equality legislation by allowing trans people to use the single-sex ponds on Hampstead Heath, according to a claim brought by the rights group Sex Matters. It is seeking permission to challenge the admission regulations. Continue reading...

Labour chair urges Electoral Commission to investigate claims Reform leader spent too much in Clacton campaignNigel Farage is facing a possible second investigation into allegations he overspent on his Clacton election battle by 9,000 after the official watchdog said it was assessing the claims.The Electoral Commission was asked by Labour to look into Reform UK's election expenses after a whistleblower told the Daily Telegraph that the party failed to declare spending on leaflets, banners, utility bills and refurbishment of a bar in its Clacton campaign office. Continue reading...

More than 300 women file complaint after video shows French first lady calling feminist protesters sales connes'Brigitte Macron is facing a legal complaint from several organisations, including women's rights groups, after she was filmed saying feminist protesters at a theatre show in Paris were stupid bitches".More than 300 women - specifically 343, a historically symbolic number in French feminism- this week filed the complaint against the French first lady for public insult. Continue reading...

The EU has unveiled its first-ever housing strategy, but is it enough to see off the far right and rescue a generation shut out of affordable living?

The $40m film - directed by Brett Ratner, who has been accused of sexual misconduct - follows Melania Trump in the days before the 2025 inaugurationAmazon has released the first trailer for next year's documentary on Melania Trump.The film will follow the first lady in the 20 days before the 2025 inauguration and has unprecedented access" with promises of exclusive footage capturing critical meetings, private conversations, and never-before-seen environments". Continue reading...