Freedom of information request reveals 21 of 24 marches banned in last 30 years were proposed by far-right groupsThe bar is said to be appropriately high, but there have been 24 marches banned by a home secretary following a police request in the past 30 years under section 13 of the 1986 Public Order Act.Two of those prohibited had been organised by anti-capitalist groups" and one was recorded by the Home Office as being a religious march" planned by an unnamed group in Luton. But of those 24 banned marches, 21 were proposed by far-right groups: the BNP, National Front, English Defence League and the White Nationalist party, a now-defunct neo-Nazi outfit. Continue reading...
The singer said his daughter came into his life five years ago, and said she wanted to keep her family life privateJimmy Barnes has publicly acknowledged the existence of an eighth child, his adult daughter Katy Lee Carroll, for the first time.Christmas is all about family," the singer wrote in a statement on Instagram on Monday night, and we would like to introduce my daughter Katy Lee, who has been in our lives for the past five years. Katy is a wonderful woman and since discovering that I was her biological father, our family and extended family have loved getting to know her."Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Continue reading...
by Richard Partington Economics correspondent on (#6T4HW)
Resolution Foundation says higher prices and cold weather will hit poorer households hardestMillions of vulnerable UK households on prepayment meters could see their energy bills consume almost a third of their incomes this winter.As temperatures drop across the country, the Resolution Foundation said a combination of higher gas and electricity prices and the typical seasonal increase in energy usage over the colder months would hit poorer families most. Continue reading...
by Rachel Savage Southern Africa correspondent on (#6T4HH)
Activists alarmed at emirati companies' poor record on labour rights and fear projects may fail to address environmental concernsThe United Arab Emirates has become the largest backer of new business projects in Africa, raising hopes of a rush of much-needed money for green energy, but also concerns that the investments could compromise the rights of workers and environmental protections.Between 2019 and 2023, Emirati companies announced $110bn (88bn) of projects, $72bn of them in renewable energy, according to FT Locations, a data company owned by the Financial Times. Continue reading...
The new leader was chosen by secret ballot two weeks after the previous premier resigned abruptly amid a power struggle with the Pacific nation's royal familyTonga's government elected a new leader on Tuesday, two weeks after the previous premier resigned abruptly after a power struggle with the Pacific nation's royal family.Veteran politician 'Aisake Valu Eke was voted prime minister by secret ballot in parliament, securing 16 votes to his opponent Viliami Latu's eight. Continue reading...
Frank-Walter Steinmeier seeks to convey message of healing four days after the brutal attack in Magdeburg killed five people and injured more than 200A deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in Germany has cast a dark shadow" over this year's celebrations, the nation's president said on Tuesday, as he urged people not to be driven apart by extremists.In his traditional Christmas address German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, sought to issue a message of healing four days after the brutal attack in the eastern city of Magdeburg killed five people and left more than 200 wounded. Continue reading...
Actor filed sexual harassment complaint against director amid allegation he launched smear campaign against herBlake Lively is picking up broad support in her battle against her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni, days after the US actor filed a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint against him on Friday in what was rapidly becoming the most dynamic #MeToo event of the dying year.Never change. Never wilt," Colleen Hoover, author of the book that inspired and shares a title with the film, posted on Instagram. Hoover later added, Blake's ability to refuse to sit down and be buried' has been nothing short of inspiring." Continue reading...
Man, 56, died at scene and one-year-old boy was taken to hospital after collision on Sunday morningA man died and a toddler was critically injured in a collision involving a car in Barnsley, police said.Officers are appealing for information and witnesses to the crash, which occurred in the Worsbrough area at about 11.40am on Sunday. Continue reading...
by Rachel Savage Southern Africa correspondent on (#6T47R)
Opposition claimed ruling Frelimo party rigged 9 October vote, leading to months of civil unrestMozambique's top court has confirmed the ruling party's victory in October's presidential elections, potentially triggering more protests after more than two months of unrest over allegations that the results were rigged.Daniel Chapo, of the ruling Frelimo party, won the 9 October presidential election with 65.2% of the vote, Lucia Ribeiro, the chair of Mozambique's constitutional council, told a press conference on Monday. Continue reading...
by Kate Connolly in Berlin and Diane Taylor on (#6T47S)
Riyadh warned Germany many times about danger posed by Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, source saysA source close to the Saudi government has told Agence France-Presse that Saudi authorities previously requested the extradition of the main suspect in Friday's Christmas market attack in Germany, as multiple agencies admitted they had received warnings about him.Echoing reporting from over the weekend, the source said Saudi Arabia warned Germany many times" about Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a Saudi citizen with a history of spreading anti-Islamic propaganda on social media. The source did not explain in what way he was considered potentially dangerous. Continue reading...
by Robyn Vinter North of England correspondent on (#6T47T)
Station overlooking Liverpool hosted most pop stars coming through the city - except those with a fear of heightsIt is known across Liverpool as the Radio City tower but that moniker may not be around much longer as the structure hosts its final live broadcast on Christmas Eve.Microphone cables are being bundled up and heaving contacts books packed into boxes, leaving empty what is arguably the most famous building of the city's skyline - St Johns Beacon, to use its proper name. Continue reading...
Presenter who taught nation to love pigs in blankets says she is excited to put her feet upDelia Smith, the doyenne of Christmas dinners, is taking a year off from cooking the festive feast for the first time in more than 50 years.The 83-year-old has been dishing out Christmas dinners and advice on how to prepare them for more than half a century. Continue reading...
Hasina fled to India after student-led protests that ended her 15 years in powerBangladesh has submitted a formal request to India to extradite its former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to New Delhi in August amid student-led protests that ended her 15 years in power, according to the country's foreign affairs adviser.Ties between the south Asian neighbours, who have strong trade and cultural links, have become fraught since Hasina was ousted after violent protests against her rule, and she took refuge across the border. Continue reading...
by Justin McCurry in Osaka and agencies on (#6T3WV)
Claims underline risks posed to North's untested armed forces amid reports regime could send reinforcementsMore than 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded since they were sent to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, according to South Korean military officials.In a statement released on Monday, the South's joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said: We assess that North Korean troops, who have recently engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces, have suffered around 1,100 casualties." Continue reading...
Cardholders offered 10% off entire shop, as shoppers fear for Christmas food and drink ordersMorrisons shoppers have been left unsure whether their Christmas orders will arrive on time after the supermarket chain was hit by IT problems, prompting the retailer to offer discounts.The supermarket chain is giving loyalty card holders 10% off an entire shop on Monday and on Christmas Eve after a glitch hit the promotional scheme, and it discounted prices on some items for all shoppers. Continue reading...
Monarch, who is undergoing cancer treatment, sought venue with strong health connections and community presenceThe king's Christmas message will focus on the efforts of healthcare workers after a year in which Charles and the Princess of Wales were treated for cancer.Charles will also use his annual address to the nation to hail communities who came together in solidarity in the aftermath of rioting, following the fatal Southport stabbings of three young girls. Continue reading...
Victims reported to include six people escorting aid convoy, and eight in tent encampment in humanitarian zoneHealth authorities in Gaza said on Monday that 58 people had been killed in the Palestinian territory in the previous 24 hours, including a strike on a tent encampment in al-Mawasi, an Israel-declared humanitarian zone, that left eight dead.Two children were among the dead in the al-Mawasi strike, according to doctors at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, which received the bodies. Continue reading...
DIY brand will be used online and in some departments of new superstores opened from JanuaryHomebase is to live on as a brand online and within up to 70 former stores reopened next year as branches of the Range, its new owner has announced.CDS said it would open the first three converted outlets from the collapsed DIY retailer in January under the Range Superstores name, and then 10 a month from February. Continue reading...
Steinbeck's book removed after some pupils felt distressed during discussions about its racial slursDuring the Conservative leadership contest Kemi Badenoch wrote an article for the Sunday Telegraph about immigration in which she suggested the UK should not be admitting migrants who do not accept British values. She said:We cannot be naive and assume immigrants will automatically abandon ancestral ethnichostilities at the border, or that all cultures are equally valid. They are not. I am struck for example, by the number of recent immigrants to the UK who hate Israel. That sentiment has no place here ...Our country is not a dormitory for people to come here and make money. It is our home. Those we chose to welcome, we expect to share our values and contribute to our society.People assume that I'm always talking about Islam, but I'm not really. It's one of many variations of culture which we have in the country because of immigration, especially the more recent immigration which has been too high.To understand what I'm saying, you have to look at where I grew up [Nigeria], where there are 300 different languages and cultures, everybody looks the same, and people don't get on unless there is a unifying thing.One of the things that profoundly affected my view on the world was what happened 10 years ago when those 300 schoolgirls were abducted from their school by Boko Haram, a terrorist group in northern Nigeria. It has a lot of parallels with what happened on October 7.And this group had been indulged - you know, It's just Islam, they're just people who are poor and they're fighting for their rights', and then it moved into something really hideous and terrible, and it's now just a depraved group of people who assault Christians, women, destroy families.Remember, that steel plant was one I was helping to manage [when she was business secretary]. I didn't nationalise it then, did I?It depends. With many of these things, it depends.Aren't you tired of people who just tell you what you want to hear? I will not do that.And that's why I don't answer those questions, because the answer is always, and should always be, it depends. Continue reading...
The Oscar-winning actor has previously spoken about his religious beliefs saying it's not talked about in this town but that doesn't mean people in Hollywood don't believe'Denzel Washington has become a minister after being baptised shortly before his 70th birthday, in a ceremony at a church in New York.The Oscar-winning actor, now appearing in Gladiator II, was baptised on Saturday at the Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ in Harlem, New York City, affiliated to the Pentecostal Church of God in Christ denomination. The service was livestreamed on Facebook, showing Washington, wearing a white robe, being immersed in the church's ritual pool and being presented with a certificate of baptism. Continue reading...
Cold snap of past few days to give way to notably high temperatures', with travel expected to be disruption freeForecasters are predicting one of the mildest Christmases on record with temperatures potentially peaking at 15C and no chance of snow anywhere in the UK.The unseasonably clement weather means no major travel disruption is expected despite possibly the busiest Christmas on the roads for three years. Continue reading...
by Tom Ambrose (now) and Vicky Graham (earlier) on (#6T3VV)
Troops and weapons, including suicide drones, to be shipped to Russia to support war against Ukraine, say Seoul's joint chiefs of staff Continue reading...
The vehicle was set alight and the blaze spread to flats above the premises, emergency services sayPolice are investigating a suspected arson attack in Birmingham that led to five people being evacuated in the early hours on Monday morning when a car was driven into the front of a shop and set on fire.Nobody was injured in the blaze, which police said began shortly before 4.50am on Stratford Road in Sparkhill in the south of the city. Continue reading...
by Philip Oltermann European culture editor on (#6T3SM)
Ras Desta Damtew's solid gold Imperial Order of the Star of Ethopia failed to sell on auction site this monthThe descendants of a hero of Ethiopia's resistance against European imperialism are seeking to retrieve a gold medal taken from him by Italian troops, after the artefact's current holder failed to sell it at an online auction earlier this month.The solid gold Imperial Order of the Star of Ethiopia used to be in the possession of Ras Desta Damtew, a son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie and a guerrilla army commander whose capture and execution in 1937 spelled the end of Ethiopia's resistance to fascist Italy's occupation. Continue reading...
by Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent on (#6T415)
Exclusive: Artwork offering fresh perspective on queen's relationship with courtier to go on display at Kenilworth CastleThe intimate relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and her courtier Robert Dudley, the 1st Earl of Leicester, has fascinated people for centuries.Though she never married (and famously declared herself the Virgin Queen"), the last Tudor monarch maintained a close bond with the earl for decades - one that has inspired a score of literary and screen depictions including Elizabeth (starring Cate Blanchett and Joseph Fiennes) and Elizabeth I (starring Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons). Continue reading...
by Miranda Bryant Nordic correspondent on (#6T403)
Foreign minister says China denied request for prosecutor to investigate onboard Yi Peng 3, which sailed over cablesSweden has accused China of denying a request for Swedish prosecutors to board a Chinese ship that has been linked to the cutting of two undersea cables in the Baltic despite Beijing pledging cooperation" with regional authorities.The Yi Peng 3 left the waters it had been anchored in since last month on Saturday - despite an ongoing investigation. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Efforts to eradicate American mink help boost population of river-residing mammal in 11 areas of countryWater voles continue to decline in their distribution across Britain but there are signs of recovery in some regions, with populations bouncing back in 11 key areas, according to a report.The river-residing mammal, which inspired Ratty in the Wind in the Willows, has revived in number in parts of Yorkshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and East Anglia thanks to targeted conservation work. Continue reading...
Treasury minister denies claims by Bangladesh that she helped broker corrupt deal with Russia to build nuclear plantThe Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has been questioned by the Cabinet Office's propriety and ethics team after Bangladesh's anti-corruption commission accused her and family members of embezzling billions for a nuclear power plant.The Labour MP, who denies allegations that she helped broker a deal with Russia to build the energy project, reportedly told a government official that she was the victim of a political hit job". Continue reading...
Pedro Sanchez has remained a rare bulwark of social democracy in an increasingly right-leaning continentAs Labour's electoral honeymoon slips into distant-memory territory and Keir Starmer attempts to reboot his premiership, the party and its leader might find a southward glance instructive.For the past six years, the Spanish Socialist Workers' party (PSOE), led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has defied expectations by remaining in power during some of the most turbulent times in recent Spanish and European history, making it a rare bulwark of social democracy in an increasingly right-leaning continent. Continue reading...
Home to vivid 16th-century frescoes, the Ermita de San Jorge is on the brink of being saved from centuries of decayA mysterious, dilapidated and exquisitely painted Spanish chapel into which knights on horseback may have ridden centuries ago to receive a wet and most unusual blessing could be on the verge of salvation after a decades-long campaign by local heritage groups.No one knows much about the crumbling and semi-subterranean Ermita de San Jorge, which sits in a hollow 7 miles (12km) from the city of Caceres in Extremadura, south-west Spain. Local experts believe it may have been built in the 14th century close to the defensive line erected to guard against possible Muslim incursions after the Christian reconquest, while the only definitively recorded date in its first centuries comes courtesy of Juan de Ribera who decorated the inside of the chapel with vivid biblical frescoes in 1565. Continue reading...
NGOs urge authorities to enforce child-protection measures, citing violence and alarming living conditionsGreece is facing a refugee children's emergency" as the number of unaccompanied minors reaching the country rises and concern grows over a lack of safe zones" to host them.Large numbers of children arrived in 2024 along a new trafficking route from Libya to Crete, prompting NGOs to urge Greek authorities to take emergency measures that would allow children to be transferred to protected shelters or other EU member states Continue reading...
Multiple allegations of sexual misconduct made against bosses of title billed as safe space for journalistsAs it nears its 20th anniversary next year, PinkNews should be celebrating a period that has seen remarkable progress for some but not all LGBTQ+ people in Britain.Instead, the future of the world's largest LGBTQ+ website looks uncertain after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct were made against Benjamin Cohen and Anthony James, the couple who run the outlet. Continue reading...
by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent on (#6T3TS)
Belfast-based Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey won landmark victory that PSNI's surveillance was unlawfulTwo investigative journalists who a tribunal ruled were unlawfully spied on by police have said that they are in no doubt" reporters continue to be targeted in the UK.In a landmark judgment, the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT) found last week that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Metropolitan police unlawfully carried out covert surveillance on Belfast-based journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey. Continue reading...
Daisy Cooper says party shocked and angry over Labour government's refusal to spend up to 10bn on payoutsThe Liberal Democrats could force a Commons vote on compensation for Waspi women, the party's deputy leader has said, capitalising on unease among Labour MPs over the government's decision to rule it out.Daisy Cooper suggested the Lib Dems were open to using one of their upcoming opposition day debates in the House of Commons to call for a vote on the issue, which could test the strength of feeling among Labour backbenchers. Continue reading...
Uncertainty over the disappeared is forcing many to confront the brutal reality of Assad's military prisonsThe last time Alaa Qasar saw her father, in 2013, he studied her face as if he was trying to memorise it. Moutaz Adnan Qasar had returned to her after his release by Bashar al-Assad's security forces, who had arrested and questioned him after he had led his family out of the besieged Damascus suburb of Ghouta. Back with his family, he lined up his three children and stared at them hard. The next day he was re-arrested and he was not seen again.They told us he would come back to us the next day but he didn't. They said he was talking to terrorists, but he wasn't talking to anyone. He would just go to work and then come home," said Qasar, 29, a secretary in Damascus and the eldest of her siblings. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Daniel Evans-Smith tells of transformative effect of operation using technology that could cut waiting listsSurgeons have performed a double-lung transplant using a novel machine which revives donor organs and keeps them alive and breathing outside the human body. The operation marked the first time the machine has been used in the UK.The pioneering device consists of a bubble-like chamber which contains a series of pumps and filters that repair, recondition and revitalise the lungs before they are transplanted into patients. Continue reading...
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