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National Audit Office finds 415m overspend as more children travel farther to schools that meet their needsHome-to-school transport costs in England have risen to 2.3bn a year, as increasing numbers of children with special educational needs and disabilities travel farther afield to schools that can meet their requirements, according to a report.More than half a million children and young people up to the age of 25 now get council-funded transport from their home to school or college, triggering a 415m overspend by local authorities last year, the National Audit Office (NAO) found. Continue reading...

Regulator is urging anyone who has moved in recent years to check whether they are owed a refundAlmost 2 million energy bill payers could be owed a share of 240m from old accounts that were closed while still in credit, according to the regulator.The latest figures from Ofgem show that about 1.9m energy accounts were closed over the past five years, with outstanding credit balances totalling 240m left unclaimed. Continue reading...

Grand Egyptian Museum next to pyramids of Giza billed as world's largest archaeological facility for single civilisationA vast $1bn museum billed as the world's largest archaeological facility dedicated to a single civilisation will open outside Cairo on Saturday, after countless delays over the course of its two-decade construction.The Grand Egyptian Museum, located a mile away from the pyramids of Giza, covers an area of 470,000 sq metres. The complex was announced in 1992 but it was not until 2005 that construction began. Some areas of the museum opened in a soft launch in 2024. Continue reading...

Dilnoor Kang exchanged up to 5,000 messages and calls with vulnerable young patient over just one year

Step towards reconciliation hailed as a historic moment' with premier Jacinta Allan saying it gives Aboriginal Australians the power to shape policies that affect their livesThe Australian state of Victoria has taken a historic step towards reconciliation, passing the nation's first formal treaty with Indigenous traditional owners.After two days of debate, the upper house of Victoria's parliament passed the statewide treaty bill without amendment by 21 votes to 16, just before 9pm on Thursday. Continue reading...

Older people left in their own excrement and wet beds for hours and forced to watch others die, Age UK report findsAlmost 150,000 people aged 90 and over in England are forced to wait longer than 12 hours in A&E every year, with some experiencing truly shocking" waits of several days stuck in corridors, a report warns.Older people are also being left in their own excrement and wet beds for hours, denied pain relief and forced to watch and hear other patients die next to them because they end up waiting so long for care, according to Age UK. Continue reading...

Agency says staff member offered to apply for licence to allow chancellor to rent out family home, but failed to do soKeir Starmer appears to have escaped the huge political damage of potentially losing his chancellor weeks before the budget, after 24 hours of intense scrutiny over whether Rachel Reeves broke the law when she rented out her family home.The Conservatives said Reeves must be sacked if she committed an offence by not obtaining a council licence before letting out her four-bedroom house in south London when the family moved into 11 Downing Street. No 10 was initially unable to explain why Starmer believed an apology from the chancellor was sufficient. Continue reading...

Remains of Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch returned to Israel for burial after identification process, Israeli military saidHamas handed over two bodies of deceased Israeli hostages on Thursday, a day after the tenuous Gaza ceasefire was shaken by deadly Israeli strikes across the strip.The bodies of the hostages Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch were returned to Israel for burial after an identification process was completed, the Israeli military said late on Thursday. Continue reading...

King's brother will become known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, Buckingham Palace says, in latest fallout from Epstein scandal

Jettisoning of ex-prince became unavoidable when king's loyalty to his brother collided with task of keeping public on side

Despite pledges to run a squeaky clean administration the prime minister and some in his cabinet have been caught outThere is a theory in British politics, often attributed to Tony Blair, that you need to be careful about throwing a boomerang in opposition, because when you make it to power it could come back and hit you in the face.As opposition leader, Keir Starmer became adept at landing blows on the Conservatives. Over the Partygate scandal in particular, he called for Boris Johnson to quit over his rule-breaking. You cannot be a lawmaker and a lawbreaker and it's time to pack his bags," he said. Continue reading...

Latest deprivation index shows how geography and housing costs shape inequality more than policy ever has

A few weeks before she delivers budget, timing of revelation chancellor failed to buy rental licence could not be worse

No 10 releases redacted emails between Reeves' husband and letting agentRachel Reeves' rental error: standards adviser looking at new informationRobert Peston, ITV's political editor, says he thinks it is a mistake for the Conservatives to be saying Rachel Reeves should have to resign over the rental licence error. He explains why in a post on social media. Here is an extract.Kemi Badenoch's call for Starmer to sack Reeves, for failing to register her family home when she rented it on moving to Downing Street, lowers the bar quite significantly for sackable offences by ministers. I am not certain all her shadow cabinet colleagues will thank her.The point is that there is a clear distinction between Rayner's failure to take stamp duty advice and Reeves's failure to register her home with the council for rent. Continue reading...

Antoni Gaudi's masterwork is still under construction but now stands taller than Ulm Minster in southern GermanyBarcelona's Sagrada Familia basilica became the world's tallest church on Thursday after a part of its central tower was lifted into place.The masterwork of the architect Antoni Gaudi now rises to 162.91 metres (534ft 8in) above the city, the church said in a statement. That beats the spire of Ulm Minster in Germany, which tops out at 161.53 metres. Continue reading...

Rules on quotas to ensure fair representation of women changed on legal advice in light of supreme court rulingLiberal Democrat members have reacted angrily to an unexpected change in rules governing the party's internal elections to reflect the supreme court's ruling on biological sex.The party's LGBT+ group described the move as explicitly trans-exclusionary" while Young Liberals said the changes were unacceptable and untenable". Some Lib Dem MPs are understood to be perplexed at the sudden turnaround. Continue reading...

PC Marie Thompson sentenced to 40 months after posing as anonymous paedophile hunter' to extort 3,500A police officer who blackmailed a suspect she had arrested in an indecent images case to fund her gambling addiction has been jailed for more than three years.PC Marie Thompson was sentenced to 40 months in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty in September to blackmail and perverting the course of justice. Continue reading...

Ministers suggest independent commission set up to investigate deaths related to Troubles could look into 1974 attackMinisters have ruled out establishing a public inquiry into the IRA's 1974 Birmingham pub bombings.On 21 November 1974, 21 people were killed and 220 injured when bombs were detonated at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs in Birmingham, in an attack widely believed to have been orchestrated by the Provisional IRA. Continue reading...

Rob Jetten's party now leading by 15,122 votes, putting it back in the pole position to lead the talks on forming the next governmentIn terms of managing our expectations as to when the new Dutch government could be formed, Joost Eerdmans of the right-wing JA21 party - a potential coalition partner in the new administration - has offered a bit of guidance on timing.Speaking to reporters earlier today, he confirmed the party can definitely do business" with other parties, but insisted that he would rather have a stable cabinet in a few months than a messy cabinet before Christmas." Continue reading...

US president makes threat after Russian nuclear-powered weapons tests and shortly before meeting with Chinese leader

A failed two-year experiment has lessons for the rest of Europe about the appeal - and the limits - of populism Don't get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereWhat happens when you put far-right populists in charge? Entrusted with ministerial responsibilities, can they deliver the radical solutions that they often preach? Or do they, sooner or later, when faced with complex policy dilemmas, end up self-destructing, leaving an even bigger mess in their wake?That is the question Dutch voters had to weigh on Wednesday after a tumultuous two-year experiment in which Geert Wilders' far-right Freedom Party (PVV) entered a rightwing coalition to run the Netherlands for the first time. Continue reading...

Donald Trump hails amazing' trade talks with Chinese counterpart, with no roadblock at all on rare earth'

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Exclusive: HMRC told Lisa Morris-Almond there was no record of her return to UK, but she did not take the tripA woman who booked a flight from London to Oslo but never checked in or travelled has had her child benefit stopped by the UK government. Tax authorities told her their records showed she had emigrated.Lisa Morris-Almond is one of thousands of people who have had their child benefit frozen as part of a botched crackdown on benefit fraud. Continue reading...

Open letter signed by more than 100 leaders comes after local government secretary criticised a council for switching to shorter week

Mother-of-four brought legal case against government after customs seized her contraceptives package from UKTributes have poured in from across Ireland after the death of Mary McGee, a woman credited with sparking a social revolution" that paved the way for the legalisation of contraceptives in the country.McGee, who went by May, and her husband, Seamus, burst into the headlines in 1972, after the couple lodged a landmark legal challenge against a decades-old law that banned the sale or importation of contraceptives in Ireland. Continue reading...

Safi Dawood to appear in court charged with murder of one man and attempted murder of another man and a 14-year-old boyA man has been charged with murder after a triple stabbing in Uxbridge, west London, police have said.Safi Dawood, 22, was charged with the murder of a 49-year-old man and the attempted murders of another man, 45, and a 14-year-old boy. Continue reading...

Attacks shatter Palestinians' short-lived relief since start of ceasefire that now looks increasingly fragileIsrael carried out another strike in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing at least two people, after bombarding the territory overnight and killing at least 104 Palestinians, including children, in the gravest challenge yet to the increasingly fragile US-brokered ceasefire.The Israeli military said it struck military infrastructure where weapons were being stored for an imminent attack in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City said it received two bodies from the strike. Continue reading...

Three monkeys remain at large and are being searched for, officials said after initially reporting they were infectiousA group of monkeys being transported on a Mississippi highway that escaped captivity on Tuesday after the truck carrying them overturned did not carry a dangerous infectious disease, a university has said.The truck was carrying rhesus monkeys, which typically weigh around 16lb (7.7kg) and are among the most medically studied animals on the planet. Continue reading...

Measures are being taken at the harbours of Patras and Katakolo after demonstrations earlier this weekGreek authorities have stepped up security in two harbours in an attempt to keep protesters away from a cruise liner carrying Israeli tourists on an 11-day tour around the Mediterranean.The measures taken at Patras and Katakolo in the Peloponnese followed demonstrations when the MS Crown Iris docked at Kalamata earlier this week. In July passengers on the same ship were prevented from disembarking and the ship was forced to divert to Cyprus after local people staged a protest on the Cycladic isle of Syros. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Five women said Reform leader's comments that they were victims of other types of sexual abuse were degrading'Five women have asked for an apology from Nigel Farage after he suggested they were not victims of grooming gangs.Last week, they wrote to Keir Starmer saying they would only remain on a panel advising the government's inquiry into the issue if the safeguarding minister Jess Phillips stayed in post and anyone who believes their evidence should be included" could contribute. Continue reading...

Exclusive: George Mason University accused of censorship by citing IHRA definition to order anti-Israel post's removalPro-Palestinian students are threatening to sue George Mason University in Virginia after the school cited a contentious definition of antisemitism it recently adopted to demand the removal of a social media post in which they described Israel as a genocidal Zionist state" and the US as the belly of the beast".In a letter sent to the public university's administrators on Wednesday, and shared exclusively with the Guardian, the university's Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter argued that the video amounted to political expression on a matter of public concern, and thus the very speech the first amendment is meant to protect". Continue reading...

Shares jump on higher profits as Emma Walmsley is hopeful' standoff with NHS can be resolvedGSK's outgoing chief executive, Emma Walmsley, has said Britain will struggle to be a life sciences superpower" unless it overhauls drug pricing.As ministers draw up proposals to increase the amount the NHS spends on new medicines by up to 25%, Walmsley said she was hopeful and ambitious" that the standoff with the pharma industry could be resolved. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Proposed legislation removes EU-derived nature protections as government hopes to boost economic growthRipping up environmental protections will put at risk the UK's free trade agreement with the EU, Europe's ambassador has warned.The Guardian understands Pedro Serrano visited the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, this week and warned her that the planning and infrastructure bill going through the House of Lords could jeopardise the trade deal. Continue reading...

Lots include artworks by Matisse, Rodin, Kandinsky and the late actor's own paintings - as well as his watch, dartboard and Golden GlobesBusts by Rodin and works by Kandinksy and Matisse are among some 400 items belonging to the late actor going up for auction next month.Three Golden Globe statues, a variety of film memorabilia and annotated scripts, posters and an easel are also up for sale in the three-stage auction run by Bonhams. Continue reading...

Two people with false identities allegedly managed to fraudulently obtain loans, leading to liens on a fully paid homeTwo people armed with a number of false identities managed to fraudulently obtain a quarter of a million dollars' worth of loans in the name of Cam Ward, the quarterback of the National Football League's Tennessee Titans, according to authorities.Albert Weber, 42, and Cyntrelle Lash, 39, are facing charges of identity theft, bank fraud and forgery after their arrests in a case whose victims allegedly include the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, his father and the business that loaned out the money in question, said Capt Jason Rivarde of the sheriff's office in Jefferson parish, Louisiana, outside New Orleans. Continue reading...

Hadush Kebatu received discretionary payment as he threatened to disrupt his deportation to Ethiopia

Exclusive: Inside a Russian bid to free Horaiu Potra, a mercenary held in Dubai accused of conspiring to overthrow constitutional order' in RomaniaRussian figures close to the Kremlin are mounting a last-minute attempt to halt the extradition from Dubai of a Romanian-French mercenary wanted in Romania for plotting a coup, the Guardian can reveal.Horaiu Potra, a shadowy former French Foreign Legionnaire, was arrested at Dubai airport on 24 September alongside his son and nephew as they prepared to board a flight to Moscow. Romanian investigators had accused the men of conspiring with Potra's ally, the far-right politician Clin Georgescu, to overthrow the constitutional order". Continue reading...

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BBC deeply concerned' for journalist's wellbeing after Vietnamese police withhold their ID card and passportVietnamese authorities have barred a BBC journalist from leaving the country and subjected them to days of interrogation, in a press freedom case that comes to light during a high-profile visit by Vietnam's leader to the UK.The journalist, a Vietnamese citizen who lives and works in Thailand, had returned to their home country in August to renew their passport, according a source with knowledge of the situation. Continue reading...

Jean-Xavier de Lestrade defends decision to film mini-series inside Paris theatre where 130 people died in 2016The Oscar-winning director of a TV mini-series about survivors of the 2015 terrorist attack at the Bataclan in Paris has rejected accusations his decision to film inside the theatre was indecent".Jean-Xavier de Lestrade said the hostages on whose story the eight-part docudrama was based wanted their terrifying ordeal recreated inside the building and to film it elsewhere would have been trickery". Continue reading...

Children's commission report reveals mandatory reporting in sector up 32% while total across all sectors increased by 18% compared with 2023-2024

Prime minister accuses Hamas of clear violation' of truce as far-right ministers clamour to resume warIsraeli warplanes struck Gaza on Tuesday night, shortly after Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered the military to carry out powerful strikes" in Gaza, in the most serious test of the increasingly shaky US-brokered ceasefire.Witnesses reported seeing Israeli planes launch strikes on Gaza City, as well as explosions across the strip shortly after Netanyahu's announcement. At least seven people were killed in separate strikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis, including two children, medical sources said. Continue reading...

The RBA has long anticipated a rebound in the headline inflation rate, driven by the rolling expiry of generous household power bill subsidies

Developers flock to build affordable' housing - but are poised to reap benefits while tenants could pay 50% of post-tax income in rent

Union says staff shortages and confusion over early release schemes are driving a rise in mistakesFive other prisoners have also been released by mistake in the same week a convicted Ethiopian sex offender was allowed to walk free from an Essex jail, says the prison officers' union.The disclosure of further mistakes highlights the intense pressure on prison staff, according to the Prison Officers' Association (POA). Continue reading...

Richard Taylor calls for clearer rules around dramatic misrepresentation after suing over his portrayal in Steve Coogan's The Last KingA university executive who won damages over his portrayal in Steve Coogan's film The Lost King has urged Ofcom to strengthen regulation of fact-based drama, after what he described as a three-year anxious, stressful and hurtful" ordeal.Richard Taylor, formerly deputy registrar at the University of Leicester, sued Coogan; the film's production company, Baby Cow; and the distributor Pathe over his portrayal in the 2022 film about the discovery of Richard III's remains in a Leicester car park. Continue reading...

Slow-moving giant makes landfall and will linger over the island before slamming into Cuba

John Ashby, 32, from Birmingham, also charged with sexual assault, strangulation, actual bodily harm and robberyA man has been charged with rape after an alleged attack police have said they are treating as racially aggravated.Officers are investigating an attack on a woman in her 20s in Walsall, in the West Midlands, on Saturday evening. Continue reading...

A man with no experience of government is to prepare the party ... to govern. What could possibly go wrong?Nigel Farage too Marmite for you? Lee Anderson too Lee Andersony? Richard Tice too smooth? Sarah Pochin a bit too racisty? Don't worry. These things happen. But all will be well, because Reform have just the MP for you. Someone who can be passed off as a safeish pair of hands. Someone who won't frighten the horses. Too much. Step forward Danny Kruger. Just don't look too close into his eyes. Not even Danny knows quite who Danny really is. Sometimes you have to judge a man by the company he keeps.Kruger is the latest Reform recruit, having jumped ship from the Tories just over a month ago. Not necessarily a huge loss to Kemi Badenoch as Danny has proved time and again that his judgment is anything but infallible. But that hasn't put him off. Because even when he's wrong, Danny manages to convince himself that he's right. Put simply, he's not nearly as bright as he believes himself to be. Yet still somehow clever enough to convince Nige that he be admitted as one of the brains of the Reform operation.A year in Westminster: John Crace, Marina Hyde and Pippa Crerar. On Tuesday 2 December, join Crace, Hyde and Crerar as they look back with special guests at another extraordinary year, live at the Barbican in London and livestreamed globally. Book tickets here.The Bonfire of the Insanities by John Crace (Guardian Faber Publishing, 16.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply. Continue reading...