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Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick is planning to stack the incoming White House staff with Trump loyalistsScrambling to construct an administration in the wake of his shock victory eight years ago, Donald Trump looked far beyond his inner circle, and those who ardently embraced his agenda. Not this time.The president-elect has charged Howard Lutnick, a longtime friend, and one of the few high-profile figures in corporate America to vocally endorse his campaign, with recruiting officials who will deliver, rather than dilute, his agenda.A masculinity researcher on the Democrats' fatal miscalculation'Election deniers use Trump victory to sow more doubt over 2020 resultWhat a second Trump presidency means for big US tech firmsWho could be in Trump's new administration Continue reading...

Director sets out to unmask the secret underwater agent known as Hvaldimir in new documentaryWhen a white whale, mysteriously kitted out with covert surveillance equipment, was first spotted in icy waters around Norway five years ago it seemed like an improbable chapter from a spy thriller. But working out the true identity and secret objectives of this beluga, nicknamed Hvaldimir by the Norwegians, quickly became a real-life puzzle that has continued to fascinate the public and trouble western intelligence analysts.Now missing clues have surfaced that finally begin to make sense of the underwater enigma. The makers of a new BBC documentary, Secrets of the Spy Whale, believe they have traced the beluga's probable path and identified its likely mission. Continue reading...

Calls for UK to work more closely with the EU on everything from defence and trade to immigration grow following Trump's re-electionKeir Starmer's government is coming under fire for having failed over more than four months to appoint new MPs and peers to a key EU-UK inter-parliamentary forum, as pressure grows for closer co-operation with the European Union after Donald's Trump re-election to the White House.Today in an article for the Observer online the MEP and former Italian government minister Sandro Gozi, recently elected as the new chair of the 70-strong UK-EU parliamentary partnership assembly (PPA), and the chair of the Labour Movement for Europe Stella Creasy MP say failure to reconstitute the PPA since the July general election is an issue that urgently" needs to be addressed. Continue reading...

Prince and Princess of Wales will join the king and senior politicians to remember those who have died in conflictKing Charles will lay wreaths at the Cenotaph and lead the nation in a two-minute silence at 11am to remember the dead who gave their lives in two world wars as well as those who have died in other conflicts involving British and Commonwealth forces.The Prince and Princess of Wales will join the king and senior politicians for the national service of remembrance at the Cenotaph to honour all those killed. Continue reading...

A proposal to protect part of rural Wales has sparked a furious debate over who the countryside is forPlans to create a new Welsh national park stretching from the dunes of north-east Wales to the wild Berwyn mountains and the peaceful, wooded slopes of Lake Vyrnwy further south have captured the imagination of many ramblers, cyclists and other outdoor lovers.But the Welsh government's proposals to improve access to nature have been dismissed by an opposition group as creating a play area for townies", sparking a furious debate about who the countryside is for. Continue reading...

Terra Verde's contract demonstrates the huge competitive interest' from global construction companies, Jacinta Allan says

Premier says misinformation' and fake news' should not interfere with efforts to improve society, after opposition MP suggests talks being held in secret'

Sydney has a high chance of thunderstorms this week, while Melbourne can look forward to 30C weather on Saturday

New support service managed 339 cases of workplace wrongdoing in its first nine months, report shows

Alexta Francis, 26, was arrested two days ago after MP Asot Michael found dead at his home on Caribbean islandAntigua police have charged a man over the fatal stabbing of a member of parliament in his seaside home.Police on the Caribbean island charged Alexta Francis, 26, two days after the landscaper was arrested and questioned about the killing of Asot Michael. Francis was due to make his first appearance in court on Monday. Continue reading...

Billy and the Epic Escape to be withdrawn worldwide after First Nations groups say fantasy novel trivialises complex and painful histories

Olympians and Paralympians attended a Buckingham Palace reception, but only the former were asked to a following event hosted by the luxury food retailerFortnum & Mason has apologised for a failure of communication" to Paralympians who were not invited to a party which Olympians attended, after the Paris medallists met the king at Buckingham Palace.Team GB and ParalympicsGB athletes were hosted at a reception at the royal residence on Thursday 7 November to celebrate Britain's success this summer. Continue reading...

The 15-year-old's body was found in bushland in Wilton early Saturday morning

The incident happened in Banstead and was attended by police, the fire brigade and the London ambulance serviceA child has died after being struck by a branch that fell from a tree in Surrey.Emergency services were called to Grove Place near the junction with Carshalton Road, Banstead, shortly after 4pm on Saturday, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

About 130,000 Spaniards protest against perceived failings by Carlos Mazon's regional governmentSpaniards have taken to the streets of Valencia to demand the resignation of the regional president who led the emergency response to the recent catastrophic floods that killed more than 200 people.Floods that began on the night of 29 October have left 220 dead and nearly 80 people still missing. Continue reading...

Military regime considering move after capital punishment abolished in west African country in 2018Burkina Faso's military regime wants to reinstate the death penalty after the west African country abolished it in 2018, a government source told Agence France-Presse on Saturday.

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Former general election candidate will oversee party's administration and sit on governing executive committeeAnas Sarwar's chief of staff has been named as Scottish Labour's new general secretary.Kate Watson will be in charge of the party's administration and sit on the governing Scottish executive committee. Continue reading...

Gulf state's government is stopping mediation efforts until warring parties show a sincere willingness' to reach a dealThe Qatari government is planning to close Hamas's political office in Doha and has informed the US and Israel it will stop mediation efforts to halt the conflict in Gaza because it no longer thinks the parties are negotiating in good faith.The Gulf state has concluded that talks have become a political football, and its efforts to facilitate them were generating criticism towards it, according to a diplomatic source briefed on the situation. Continue reading...

Posters line 4km stretch of former wall in Germany's capital, while musicians perform and visitors sing alongTens of thousands of people have gathered to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall 35 years ago in Germany's capital.It was a lucky day for which we Germans are still grateful today", the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said on Saturday. Continue reading...

Trump's win in the state gives him 301 electoral votes, even as Democratic incumbent is re-elected to Senate

Harris still won with 68% of the city's vote, but it was still a steep drop from Biden's 53-point margin of victory in 2020Donald Trump's win was ultimately determined by voters in swing states, but a shift towards the Republican was seen across the country - even in the deeply Democratic stronghold of New York City.While Kamala Harris still won by a handy margin in New York, with 68% of the vote to Trump's 30%, that was a marked drop from Joe Biden's performance in the city in 2020. That year, Biden won by a 53-point margin in the city as he won the presidency. Continue reading...

The president-elect tapped into a fierce anti-establishment sentiment - and the Democrats didn't have enough to sayThe party was buzzing, the confidence was surging and Kenneth Stewart was riding the Trump train. He's masculine," explained Stewart, an African American man from Chicago. He brings a lot of energy. He talks about things that we can understand. He talks about building. He talks about the auto industry. He talks about a lot of stuff that people in the Rust Belt care about."Stewart was a guest at Donald Trump's election watch event in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday night and celebrated his victory over Democratic vice-president Kamala Harris. The result said much about gender, race and the new media landscape. It also represented a populist backlash against America's perceived elites. Continue reading...

Tickets to visit ruins buried by Mount Vesuvius, seen by 4 million this summer, to be capped at 20,000 a dayPompeii is to limit visitor numbers to 20,000 a day and introduce personalised tickets from next week in an effort to cope with overtourism and protect the world heritage site, officials said.This summer, a record 4 million people visited the remains of the ancient Roman city, which was buried under ash and rock after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79. Continue reading...

Doctors advise queen not to attend Remembrance Day activities to ensure full recovery from seasonal illnessQueen Camilla will not attend Remembrance Day events this weekend as she recovers from a chest infection, Buckingham Palace has said.Camilla was due to attend the Royal British Legion festival of remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday evening, and to honour the war dead at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony on Whitehall. Continue reading...

Milburn set to take senior health department role and says crisis is million times worse' than when he was in officeThe NHS is drinking in the last-chance saloon" and needs to change, the former health secretary Alan Milburn has said as he prepares to take up a senior role in the Department of Health.Milburn, who brought about radical changes, such as the introduction of NHS foundation trusts, when he was a minister for Tony Blair, called for cultural change" in the health service and said big reforms will be needed to make it fit for the future". Continue reading...

Coroner's report finds Sarah McGreevy died after climbing on box on sixth floor balcony to unblock pipe repaired with tapeA woman who accidentally fell to her death from the sixth floor balcony of a Hackney council block was trying to fix a blocked drainpipe that had been repaired using heavy duty tape", a coroner has found.Sarah McGreevy, 37, died on 16 June after climbing on to a wooden box on the balcony to manually unblock the pipe, a common practice among residents of the fifth and sixth floors of the building after heavy rainfall, according to the coroner's report. Continue reading...

More than half of households cite rising living costs as reason for not heating homes, while quarter of pensioners blame loss of winter fuel paymentsMore than 1.7 million households say they will not turn on their heating this winter, according to research by comparison site Uswitch. This has risen sharply from the 972,000 who said they took this drastic step last year.The research reported that 55% of households cited rising living costs as the reason they would hold out on heating their homes, while a quarter of pensioners put it down to the loss of winter fuel payments, despite it being a potential health risk. Continue reading...

Cambridgeshire trial found workers' performance improved and staff turnover fell, while London Underground also plans to introduce four-day week optionCouncils will have the right to adopt a four-day working week after the government dropped concerns raised by the Conservatives when they were in power.For more than a year, South Cambridgeshire district council has defied Conservative opposition to its policy to introduce a four-day working week, after a controversial 15-month trial indicated in March that the performance of its workers mostly improved or remained the same, while the council simultaneously saved more than 370,000 in a year.Staff turnover fell by 39%, helping save 371,500 in a year, mostly on agency staff costs.Regular household planning applications were decided about a week and a half earlier.Approximately 15% more major planning application decisions were completed within the correct timescale.The time taken to process changes to housing benefit and council tax benefit claims fell. Continue reading...

Award given to next of kin of more than 30 public servants after campaign by fathers of murdered police officersMore than 30 former firefighters, police officers and other public servants who died in the line of duty have become the first recipients of an award in recognition of their service.The Elizabeth Emblem, named after the late queen, will be awarded to the next of kin of those who died in public service. Among those honoured are PCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, who were murdered by Dale Cregan in Greater Manchester in 2012. Continue reading...

IT issues and restrictions on access to information are leaving staff unaware of crucial background detailsCoroners in England and Wales have issued 35 warnings this year over inadequate sharing of NHS patient information, with some patients dying because clinicians couldn't access important details about their needs.Problems caused by conflicting IT systems, restricted access to medical records and obstacles to sharing information outside the NHS mean staff often struggle to access details about the patients they are treating. Continue reading...

Alyse Ogletree has helped nourished hundreds of thousands of babies as a means of giving to charityAlyse Ogletree would love it if she could donate immense amounts of money to all sorts of worthy causes, but as a mother raising three young children, that's not something realistic. So the 36-year-old from Flower Mound, Texas, has found another way to fulfill her philanthropic instinct: giving away a record amount of breastmilk that officials estimate has been enough to nourish hundreds of thousands of premature babies.I have a big heart, [but] at the end of the day, I'm not made of money and I can't give away money to good causes over and over because I have a family to support for," Ogletree said in an interview recently published on Guinness World Records' website. But donating milk was a way I could give back". Continue reading...

Smoked salmon, artisan cheese and fine wine among food and drink lost by European outletsSmall food producers are increasingly being targeted by organised crime gangs and rogue industry insiders looking to exploit national and global supply chain challenges , according to food crime experts.The warning comes after several food businesses in the UK and continental Europe revealed how they had lost hundreds of thousands of pounds in scams where thieves apparently posed as legitimate buyers. Continue reading...

Police say army personnel targeted in possible suicide bombing in country's south-west and many of more than 40 injured in critical conditionAt least 24 people have been killed and more than 40 injured in a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta in south-western Pakistan, police and other officials have said.The target was army personnel from the Infantry School", said the inspector general of police for Balochistan, Mouzzam Jah Ansari. Continue reading...

Echoes Within These Walls aims to dispel myths about the religion by telling story of temple at St Agnes PlaceThe headquarters of the Rastafarian faith in the UK is being brought back to life with an exhibition its organiser hopes will help to dispel myths about the religion, which continues to be a big influence in popular culture from music and food to fashion.Echoes Within These Walls will tell the story of the temple at St Agnes Place in south London, which was founded in 1972 after Rastafarians took control of the building. Continue reading...

MPs with experience in mental health say lack of statutory regulation leaves people vulnerable to harm

Looming catastrophe' will dwarf anything we have seen so far' in Gaza since 7 October 2023, famine review committee saysThere is a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas" of the northern Gaza Strip, a committee of global food security experts warned on Friday, as Israel claims to be pursuing a military offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas in the area.Immediate action, within days not weeks, is required from all actors who are directly taking part in the conflict, or have influence on its conduct, to avert and alleviate this catastrophic situation," the independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) said in a rare alert. Continue reading...

Seoul's military says several vessels and dozens of civilian planes disrupted, a week after Pyongyang fired what it called its most powerful solid-fuel ICBM missileNorth Korea staged GPS jamming attacks on Friday and Saturday, Seoul's military said - an operation that was affecting several ships and dozens of civilian aircraft in South Korea.The jamming allegations come about a week after the North test-fired what it said was its most advanced and powerful solid-fuel ICBM missile, its first such launch since being accused of sending soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine. Continue reading...

Lewis Parkin, 23, was found with life-threatening injuries and taken to hospital after an incident at a unit complex in the CBD

BoM expects hot weather to continue across parts of Queensland, Western Australia and Northern Territory next week

Exclusive: Publisher takes responsibility for the failure to consult Indigenous groups, who say the fantasy novel trivialises complex and painful histories

Jonathan J Batt, assigned in Crystal City, Virginia, accused of three charges with 76 specifications of sexual abuseA US army major has been accused of raping or otherwise sexually assaulting at least 20 victims during a span of three years, according to the military branch's office of special trial counsel.On Thursday, the office of special trial counsel confirmed to the Army Times that it had accused Jonathan J Batt - a major assigned to the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center in Crystal City, Virginia - of three charges involving 76 specifications of sexual abuse. Continue reading...

William Hoesch, 71, is suing Columbia River fire and rescue department for $1m for injuries and medical expensesAn ambulance struck a cyclist in Oregon, brought him to a hospital for treatment - and then billed him more than $1,800, according to a lawsuit that the unwitting patient has since filed.William Hoesch, 71, was hit by the ambulance in question after its driver made a right turn, fracturing his nose and leaving him with scrapes as well as other injuries across his body. Continue reading...

Police say Anthony Nephew, 46, shot wife and son and ex-partner and their son dead in Duluth on ThursdayA Minnesota man shot and killed his wife and son, and his ex-partner and their son, before killing himself, authorities said on Friday.Duluth police have not determined a motive, but the police chief, Mike Ceynowa, said at a news conference that the shooter, named as 46-year-old Anthony Nephew, had a pattern of mental health issues".In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 988 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org Continue reading...

Police found woman's body at unit in South West Rocks, about 30km north of Kempsey, after they were called there at 8am on Friday

Yechiel Leiter, American-born rightwinger, has called for ultimate Israeli sovereignty' over West Bank territoriesBenjamin Netanyahu has appointed a hardline supporter of the war in Gaza and longtime backer of settlements in the West Bank as his ambassador to the US as Israel prepares for the incoming administration of Donald Trump.Yechiel Leiter, an American-born rightwing publicist and former government aide who immigrated to Israel four decades ago, was announced as Israel's next ambassador to Washington on Friday. His son, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, was killed in fighting in northern Gaza last year. Continue reading...

Had Biden left sooner, she noted, the party could have an open primary. Now they must live with what happened'Joe Biden's slowness in exiting the 2024 presidential election cost the Democrats dearly, the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said, days after Kamala Harris was beaten by Donald Trump.We live with what happened," Pelosi said.Trump wins the presidency - how did it happen?With Trump re-elected, this is what's at stakeAbortion ballot measure results by state Continue reading...

Complaints involve inquiries from 2008 and 2013, quality of force's response and how details leaked in later caseScotland Yard has referred two cases to the police watchdog after receiving complaints over the force's historical investigations into claims of sexual offences by Mohamed Al Fayed.The complaints involve investigations from 2008 and 2013 and regard the quality of the Metropolitan police's response and, in the latter case, how details leaked publicly. Continue reading...

Police say plans in place to deal with rise in border crossings as US president-elect pledges to remove 11m people