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Trustees working with legal and financial advisers as artists claim repeated emails have been ignoredManchester Pride has said it is determining the best way forward" with legal and financial advisers after allegations that its performers have not been paid.One of Europe's biggest LGBTQ+ Pride events issued a statement after performers who took part in this year's three-day festival claimed they are owed thousands in unpaid fees. Continue reading...

National security adviser, education secretary and science minister to visit before end of year as part of policy to reset relationsMinisters are pushing ahead with their reset of relations with China, including several planned high-level visits before the end of the year, despite the furore triggered by the collapse of a high-profile espionage trial.Plans have been drawn up for Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, to travel to Beijing in November for talks before an anticipated trip by Keir Starmer next year. Continue reading...

In excerpts from posthumously published text, Giuffre warns more women will suffer if people continue to believe Jeffrey Epstein was an anomaly'Virginia Giuffre's latest revelations are a mirror held up to a system" that still enables powerful men to groom, abuse and exploit women with impunity, women's rights campaigners have said.Excerpts from Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, which were released ahead of the book's publication next week, lay bare how Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell took advantage of their position of power to manipulate and groom Giuffre.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Prime minister also announces 10m funding to provide security for Jewish amenities, including synagogues and schools

Digital timepiece is UK rail's first national clock in more than 50 years and will be seen at stations across the countryCommuters rushing through London Bridge station may have missed it, but on Thursday morning a new era in railway timekeeping and design was looming above them: a 1.8-metre-high digital timepiece, hanging above the concourse, the first physical manifestation of the Great British Railways' signature station clock.The design, the first such for more than 50 years, will appear in digital form on electronic information boards at stations across Britain. Continue reading...

European court of justice asked to intervene after dog was lost on journey from Buenos Aires to BarcelonaPets on flights can be classified as baggage, the European court of justice (ECJ) has ruled, meaning airlines are not required to pay higher compensation if the animal is lost.Europe's highest court was asked to intervene after a dog was lost during a journey from Buenos Aires to Barcelona, triggering a claim for losses from the owner. Continue reading...

Still Life with Guitar, worth 600,000, noticed missing after van arrives in Granada from MadridPolice in Spain are investigating the disappearance of a tiny Picasso painting, worth 600,000 (520,000), which vanished en route from Madrid to an exhibition in the southern city of Granada.The gouache and pencil work, Naturaleza muerta con guitarra (Still Life with Guitar), was due to go on show at a new exhibition at the CajaGranada foundation, which opened last week. Continue reading...

Strikes cause outages in eight regions before Washington talks to discuss US providing Kyiv with cruise missilesA massive Russian drone and missile attack has hit gas facilities in eastern Ukraine as the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, flew to Washington for a meeting with Donald Trump to discuss the US providing Kyiv with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles, as well as glide bombs early on Thursday, sparking outages in eight regions in another large-scale bombardment targeting Ukraine's energy network. Continue reading...

The facts had changed so MPs simply amended their conspiracy theories to fit the new evidenceIt's all as clear as mud. If Keir Starmer thought that releasing the three witness statements of the deputy national security adviser (DNSA) Matthew Collins late on Wednesday night was going to make the China spy case row go away, then he was in for a big disappointment.There was no way MPs were going to let a story like this out of their clutches. This was their moment to take centre stage. When they could bathe in their own importance. When they could believe that they and national security were one and the same thing.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 Continue reading...

Labour MP and chair of security committee Matt Western says there are a lot of questions still to be asked'

Sussex police commend bravery of the victim' after arrest of Iranian national and two Eqyptian nationalsThree men have been charged in connection with the rape of a woman on Brighton beach, Sussex police have said.Officers received a report that a woman had been raped on the lower esplanade in Brighton at about 5am on 4 October. Continue reading...

Sebastien Lecornu and his government secure narrow backing from lawmakers after pension concessionsThe vote on the first no-confidence motion put forward by the left's La France Insoumise is now under way.It will take around 30 minutes. Even if Sebastien Lecornu survives the vote, there are difficult times ahead as parliament will begin to debate the 2026 budget. Continue reading...

Whistleblower testified that man known as HN86 gathered information to undermine Lawrence family campaignA former senior police officer at the centre of the controversy over the surveillance of the campaign to expose the killers of teenager Stephen Lawrence is taking legal action that would prevent him being questioned at a public inquiry.The officer, who is facing allegations that he called black campaigners monkeys", is intending to resist an order by the undercover policing inquiry that would require him to give oral evidence. Continue reading...

Closeness of first vote highlights difficulties Sebastien Lecornu faces

Sheinbaum says she has no information' about Trump administration claim as experts also deeply skepticalMexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has said her government has no information" regarding claims by the Trump administration that Mexican cartels are offering bounties for US immigration officials.We are requesting information but there is none," Sheinbaum said during her morning press conference on Wednesday. We learned of this, just like you, via [the Department of Homeland Security's] publication." Continue reading...

Exclusive: External consultancy report found discrimination baked into HR systems' at London forceA review of anti-Black racism within the Metropolitan police has been buried" by the force, despite finding discrimination baked into its HR systems", the Guardian can reveal.The internal review, commissioned by the Met from the consultancy HR Rewired, concluded that bias, racial stereotyping and inequity were woven through the force's recruitment, promotion and grievance processes, affecting Black staff specifically. Continue reading...

Provisional cause of death for former boxing world champion given at opening of inquest in StockportRicky Hatton, the former world champion boxer who died in September, is believed to have killed himself, according to a provisional cause of death given at the opening of his inquest at Stockport coroner's court.Hatton, 46, was found dead in his home on 14 September. News of his death caused an outpouring of grief across the world and thousands of people lined the streets for his funeral. Continue reading...

Survey by Internet Matters finds children being left worried and upset by content showing shootings, stabbings and warMore than half of children who get news from social media are left worried and upset after seeing content that involves war, violence and death, according to new research that found social media companies are pushing" distressing news to children who are not seeking it.Videos of the murder of Charlie Kirk, the Liverpool parade car-ramming attack, scenes from wars, shootings, stabbings and car crashes have recently been pushed into children's feeds, research by Internet Matters, an online safety organisation, has found. As a result, 39% of those who saw distressing content described themselves as very or extremely upset and worried by it. Continue reading...

In a Knesset speech, Trump urged Israel to reconcile with its longtime foe Iran. Both governments dismissed the ideaAmid the fanfare accompanying Donald Trump's trip to the Middle East and Israel's ceasefire with Hamas, one aspect of the US president's pitch as a peacemaker went relatively unscrutinised.In the highly unlikely setting of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, Trump proffered an olive branch to an even less likely recipient: the Jewish state's arch enemy, Iran. Continue reading...

At almost every opportunity, the NSW premier chooses a conservative path: get the cops on side and let nobody fault Labor's toughness on crime. It's not working

Parliamentary inquiry into Containers for Change recycling program reveals allegations of bullying and conflicts of interest

Almost 6% of global workforce will be cut over next two years, including 12,000 white-collar professionals

The awards also included a lifetime achievement honour for Sir Thomas Allen and two gongs for Spanish violinist Maria DuenasThe Gramophone classical music awards 2025 were announced last night at a ceremony in central London in which Sir Simon Rattle made history as the first musician ever to win artist of the year for a second time, having first been awarded the title in 1993.The award recognises Rattle's recent work with the London Symphony Orchestra (where he is conductor emeritus), the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Czech Philharmonic and a string of acclaimed recordings spanning the baroque to contemporary repertoire. In a video acceptance speech, the conductor said: I was 10 years old when I started spending my pocket money on Gramophone magazine ... this is an extraordinary honour." Video tributes to Rattle from fellow musicians included Barbara Hannigan, Peter Hoare, Thomas Quasthoff, and composer John Adams, who said: How can someone be one of the great conductors of our time and also just a plain wonderful mensch, a good guy who cares deeply ... To have worked with him, to have heard him do my music with the intensity and passion that he's given it - it's been one of the great pleasures of my life." Continue reading...

Paramedics treated three military personnel at scene of single-vehicle incident near Townsville on Wednesday night

Investigations into Australia's past and present have been recognised in the excellence in journalism awards

Singer disputes account in ex-husband's memoir You Thought You Knew, in which he says she behaved erratically around their sonsBritney Spears has responded to her ex-husband Kevin Federline's claims in his upcoming memoir about their marriage, calling his depiction of her extremely hurtful and exhausting".In You Thought You Knew, Federline details his two-year marriage with Spears and their divorce in 2007, which was followed by a protracted battle over custody of their two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James. Continue reading...

Tributes flow from across political spectrum for man known for high ideals but also remembered for controversially slashing welfare and health spendingFormer New Zealand prime minister Jim Bolger, whose political legacy was defined by his deep commitment to reconciliation with Mori as well as his brutal cuts to welfare and deregulation of the labour market, has died aged 90.Bolger died peacefully surrounded by his wife, Joan, nine children and 18 grandchildren, his family said in a statement on Wednesday. Bolger suffered kidney failure last year and had been undergoing dialysis. Continue reading...

Since Alina Sarnatska's first play premiered a year ago, she has documented wartime Ukraine with unflinching franknessEighteen months ago, Alina Sarnatska was serving as a combat medic on Ukraine's frontline - including in the hellish battle for Bakhmut - and had barely been to the theatre.Six months later, she was preparing to watch the premiere of her first play in Kyiv. Now Sarnatska, 38, has several dramas under her belt and is emerging as one of Ukraine's most powerful voices in the theatre. Continue reading...

Esther Njoki says family has seen big change' under Labour, after long fight for justice over aunt's 2012 death in KenyaThe niece of Agnes Wanjiru, who was killed in Kenya, said she hopes the former British soldier charged with her aunt's murder will be extradited while the Labour government is still in power.On her first trip outside Kenya, Esther Njoki travelled to London, where she was invited to parliament to meet the defence secretary, John Healey, whom she urged not to delay the potentially years-long extradition process. Continue reading...

PAG had challenged expanded police powers to restrict protests near places of worship

NTSB report finds OceanGate company did not adequately test submersible before 2023 voyage to wreck of TitanicThe deadly implosion of a submersible traveling to the wreck of the Titanic was the result of faulty engineering, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced on Wednesday.The NTSB's final report on the voyage that killed five people in June 2023 said that OceanGate, the private company that owned the Titan, did not adequately test its experimental submersible before the trip. The Washington state-based firm, which suspended operations after the catastrophic implosion, was unaware of the submersible's true durability, the report said. Continue reading...

British team sent to develop new ways of working with Frontex, the EU's border agencyBritish border security officers have been deployed to the Balkans for the first time in an effort to disrupt the networks smuggling migrants into the UK.Officers have been sent to develop new ways of working with Frontex, the EU's border agency, to track down and arrest people-smugglers operating along key routes into western Europe. Continue reading...

Sutton Trust's research reveals huge inequalities in how parents navigate Send system, with poorer children doubly disadvantaged'One in eight children in special schools have parents who spent 5,000 or more on their assessments, according to research that reveals huge inequalities in how parents navigate England's special educational needs system.The research comes as the government is planning to overhaul special educational needs and disabilities (Send) provision in schools. Despite earlier reports that education, health and care plans (EHCPs) that detail support for each child would be scrapped as part of the overhaul, sources have told the Guardian that the plans will now survive the reforms. Continue reading...

Analyst firm Tussell says department is more than two years behind on publishing receipts, weakening scrutiny around public moneyThe Ministry of Justice, the Whitehall department in charge of a 13bn annual budget for prisons, probation and courts across England and Wales, has failed to file spending receipts of nearly 11bn, a report has said.Tussell, the public spending analyst firm, said the government department was more than two years behind on publishing receipts for multimillion pound contracts, weakening scrutiny around public money. Continue reading...

Questions remain over trial collapse even as publication of key evidence scuppers Tory's main line of attackWhen Keir Starmer finally read the witness statement from his deputy national security adviser for the trial of two British men accused of spying for China, some of his frustration about the collapse of the case began to dissipate.His government had been besieged by the Tories for two weeks over its role, being accused of secretly sabotaging" the trial, blocking" key witnesses and hiding behind process", all to avoid having to tell a court that China was an enemy. Continue reading...

Officer, known as W80, shot Jermaine Baker during a foiled prison break in 2015The family of a man shot dead by a police officer during a foiled prison break have accused Scotland Yard of evading accountability after a case against the marksman was thrown out.The officer, known only as W80, shot Jermaine Baker as police stopped a plot to snatch two prisoners from a van near Wood Green crown court in 2015. Continue reading...

Reporters who declined to sign new set of Pentagon rules had to clear out of world's largest military headquartersPentagon reporters who declined to sign a new set of policies that press advocates and news organizations denounced as incompatible with the tenets of journalism were set to return their press badges by 5pm on Wednesday, ending decades of history of robust in-house coverage at the world's largest military headquarters.In the hours leading up to the deadline, journalists worked furiously to pack up their workspaces in two media rooms, with hallways filled to the brim with boxes and books and other souvenirs of decades of daily coverage. Continue reading...

Destruction or ongoing control by Israeli forces means roads to areas worst hit by hunger are virtually impassableEven if the Rafah crossing from Egypt to Gaza opens on Thursday, NGOs face big challenges distributing supplies to Gaza City and its surroundings in the north, the areas worst hit by hunger, experts say.Key roads are virtually impassable due to the massive destruction across the devastated territory - or are still controlled by Israeli forces. Any truck that breaks down is likely to be instantly looted. Continue reading...

Adani has strongly rejected the Australia Institute's findings, including that customers paid an average of $102 a tonne in 2022-23

Firm was ordered by high court to return sum paid by DHSC for unusable surgical gowns by 4pm on WednesdayA company linked to the former Conservative peer Michelle Mone has failed to pay the government any of the 122m ordered by a high court judgment for supplying unusable personal protective equipment during the Covid pandemic.Mrs Justice Cockerill ruled that PPE Medpro must, by a deadline of 4pm on 15 October, return the money it was paid by the Department of Health and Social Care for 25m sterile surgical gowns under a contract awarded in June 2020. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereLindsay Hoyle starts by telling MPs that speakers from the parliaments in Fiji and Ukraine are in the gallery. And he says it is four years to the day since David Amess was murdered.It's PMQs. Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question. Continue reading...

Aid agencies and UN officials call for more entry points to allow thousands of trucks' to enter devastated territory

Jean Laprade ordered to pay $3,500 in legal saga of hijacked planes', Interpol red alerts and inappropriate use' of AIA Quebec man has been ordered to pay C$5,000 (US$3,562) for submitting artificial intelligence hallucinations as part of his legal defense, a move the judge warned was highly reprehensible" and threatened to undermine integrity in the legal system.Quebec superior court justice Luc Morin levied the fine on Jean Laprade in a decision released on 1 October, capping a legal saga the judge said contains several elements worthy of a successful movie script", including a hijacked plane passing through several complacent airports", Interpol red alerts and the inappropriate use of artificial intelligence" by Laprade. Continue reading...

Consumers and corporates should welcome CMA proposals to overhaul regulations unchanged since the 1960sPoor Tiddles and Fido are too often getting a bad deal - or, rather, their owners are - from the large corporates that dominate the veterinary business these days. That, very roughly, is the conclusion of the Competition and Markets Authority, which was obviously barking up the right tree when it decided 18 months ago to look at a sector that can take an opaque approach to pricing its goods and services.Prices have been rising far faster than general inflation between 2016 and 2023, says the watchdog. The increases cannot be justified - at least, nothing like fully - by investment in better kit or superior services or higher salaries. And, critically, there is a big difference between the prices charged by the large chains and the independents that, pre-2013, used to represent the bulk of the industry. The CMA found that the average price charged by a practice owned by a large vet group for consultation, treatment and medicines was 16.6% higher than at an independent vet. Continue reading...

Statement by deputy national security adviser was central to CPS decision to withdraw spying charges against two men

Sebastien Lecornu may have lived to see another day, but this crise de regime could yet prove terminal for the Fifth Republic Don't get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereIn October 2022, when Rishi Sunak moved into 10 Downing St, he became the fifth British prime minister to take up the office in six years.Unleashed on the UK by Brexit, this was unprecedented political turmoil. So how might we describe what is happening in France, now on its fifth (or sixth, depending how you count) premier in two years - three of them in the past 10 months? Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more of our European news coverage hereSergiy Petrovich Lysak has been appointed as the head of the Odesa city military administration, as confirmed by an order on the website for the president of Ukraine on Wednesday, after the dismissal of the city's former mayor.Lysak was previously tasked with leading the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration.Odesa deserves greater protection and greater support.This can be done in the format of a military administration - too many security issues in Odesa have remained without an adequate response for far too long. Continue reading...

Robert Bush, 47, admits to 36 counts of fraud relating to misleading families of the deceasedA funeral director has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of fraud - including misleading the parents of unborn babies - after a stash of human remains were found at his premises in Hull.Robert Bush, 47, was charged this year with 64 offences, including 30 counts of preventing a lawful burial and a fraudulent trading charge in relation to the funeral plans of 172 people spanning almost 12 years to March 2024. Continue reading...

Parties blame each other after bill halted at last minute, as fears grow over voluntary service and lottery idea is vetoed