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Hundreds remain missing in Indonesia and Sri Lanka as rescue efforts continue after Cyclone Ditwah

Some foods can interact negatively with certain medication while medical moisturisers can make clothes more flammableChristmas might be a season of comfort and joy but health experts have warned of lurking dangers, ranging from the fire risk posed by skin creams to the possibility of festive foods interacting with certain medications.People using medical moisturisers known as emollient creams, often used for eczema and other dry skin conditions, should stay away from heat sources including candles and open flames because such creams can soak into fabrics and make them more flammable, according to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Continue reading...

Exclusive: Legislation would prohibit deferrable, irreversible procedures until child can give informed consent, bringing state in line with ACT

PM says he is very supportive' of spending watchdog but breach was a massive discourtesy' to parliament

Authorities face growing criticism for detaining at least two civilians who have called for accountabilityAuthorities in Hong Kong have arrested 13 people on suspicion of manslaughter in relation to last week's devastating fire, as they face growing criticism from residents over the arrests under national security laws of at least two civilians calling for accountability.Emergency services continued to search through the seven towers of the Wang Fuk Court estate in Tai Po on Monday, days after the city's deadliest fire in 75 years. The death toll rose to 151 and is expected to rise further as the search continues. About 40 people are still missing. Continue reading...

US president says he will look into reports US military was told to conduct follow-up attack on suspected drug vesselDonald Trump said on Sunday he would look into reports that the US military conducted a follow-up strike on a boat in the Caribbean that it believed to be ferrying drugs, killing survivors of an initial missile attack.The US president also said he wouldn't have wanted" a second strike on the vessel during the incident on 2 September - the first publicised operation in a series of attacks in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that Washington says are aimed at combatting the drug trade. Continue reading...

Existence of phrase - to describe content intended to make you angry - shows people are aware of manipulation tactics used online, says Oxford Dictionary publisherGood news for those who find their blood pressure rising as they scroll through their online news feeds: the Oxford English Dictionary's publisher has highlighted the term they might need to describe how they often feel, naming rage bait" as its word of the year.According to the Oxford University Press' analysis, use of the phrase has tripled in the past 12 months. Continue reading...

Consultancy's move to embrace artificial intelligence follows Disney's use of the term imagineers'

Company failed to protect thousands of people switching from analogue to digital landline, Ofcom rules

Yacht that Deirdre Sibly was sailing made distress call Wednesday evening and was later found with two deceased people on board

Exclusive: PM hits back at critics as he insists Rachel Reeves right to impose 26bn worth of tax rises at budget Keir Starmer: Labour is getting on with the job of economic renewalLabour's economic plan will take years to deliver in full, Keir Starmer has said as he tries to regain the narrative after a turbulent response to last week's budget.In an article for the Guardian, the prime minister hit back at his political opponents, insisting the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, was right to impose 26bn-worth of tax rises. Continue reading...

TGA issues a separate warning for Mounjaro about risk of reduced effectiveness of contraception

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Reports highlight devastating impact of slashed funding, especially in parts of Africa, that could lead to 3.3m new HIV infections by 2030In Mozambique, a teenage rape victim sought care at a health clinic only to find it closed. In Zimbabwe, Aids-related deaths have risen for the first time in five years. In Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), patients with suspected HIV went undiagnosed due to test-kit stocks running out.Stories of the devastating impact of US, British and wider European aid cuts on the fight against HIV - particularly in sub-Saharan Africa - continue to mount as 2025 comes to an end, and are set out in a series of reports released in the past week. Continue reading...

Residents in Batn al-Hawa have all but given up hope and blame the Gaza war which, they say, has created an atmosphere of hate' towards themThe dome of the al-Aqsa mosque gleamed in the late afternoon autumnal sun as Zohair Rajabi looked out from his balcony towards the skyline of Jerusalem's Old City. Christian pilgrims spilled out of buses, while observant Jewish worshippers gathered outside the gate to the Western Wall.New flags now fly a few metres from Rajabi's home. Blue and white and bearing the Star of David, they mark where residents were evicted recently from their homes by Israeli police. After more than 20 years of activism, Rajabi knows his days in Batn al-Hawa, a predominantly Palestinian neighbourhood less than a mile south of the Old City, are almost certainly numbered. Continue reading...

Refugee Council says Home Office figures show safe and legal pathways are disappearing when most needed'The number of refugees allowed to settle in the UK under UN-facilitated schemes has dropped by more than a quarter in a year, according to figures released by the Home Office.Just 7,271 people were granted protection through refugee resettlement programmes in the year ending September 2025, about half of whom were Afghans whose lives were at risk after an accidental data breach by a UK defence official. Continue reading...

Blue Wiggle Anthony Field and Tree of Wisdom' appeared in now-deleted video from singer Keli Holiday

Detectives claim to have uncovered Sydney-based network involving online distribution of child sexual abuse material involving ritualistic or satanic themes

Whistleblower says chain of command failed to stop extrajudicial shootings, including of children, after alarm was raisedThe former director of UK special forces and other senior military officers tried to cover up concerns that SAS units were carrying out unlawful killings in Afghanistan, an inquiry has heard.A senior special forces whistleblower said the chain of command failed to stop extrajudicial shootings, including of two small children, after the alarm was first raised in early 2011. That failure allegedly allowed them to continue until 2013. Continue reading...

The prime minister is keen to change the conversation after the Tories called his chancellor's ethics into questionThe political fates of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are intertwined. Allies say that if one goes, the other is likely to follow.This is why, in the wake of the budget, the Conservatives have attempted to focus their response on the chancellor's personal ethics, accusing Reeves of lying about the rationale behind her record-breaking tax rises. Continue reading...

Algerian foreign minister says African countries and peoples continue to pay a heavy price for colonialismAfrican leaders are pushing to have colonial-era crimes recognised, criminalised and addressed through reparations.At a conference in the Algerian capital, Algiers, diplomats and leaders convened to advance an African Union resolution passed at a meeting earlier this year calling for justice and reparations for victims of colonialism. Continue reading...

Journalist and editor also led British Board of Film Classification and served as senior lay member of the Church of EnglandAndreas Whittam Smith, the co-founder of the Independent newspaper and a former president of the British Board of Film Classification, has died aged 88.Whittam Smith was also the first editor of the Independent and served as first church estates commissioner, the senior lay member of the Church of England, from 2002 to 2017. Continue reading...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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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