Prospect says proposals to make payouts less generous would damage public finances rather than save moneyReform UK's plans to make public-sector pensions less generous could cost billions extra a year and cause a ticking timebomb in the public finances, a leading trade union has warned.Prospect said the plans unveiled by the party's deputy leader, Richard Tice, would damage the public finances rather than save money and end up costing taxpayers tens of billions of pounds in the years to come". Continue reading...
PPE Medpro breached 2020 contract to health department to supply sterile surgical gownsThe firm linked to former Conservative peer Michelle Mone, which was found last month to have supplied unusable personal protective equipment during the pandemic, owes 39m in unpaid taxes, according to company documents.PPE Medpro - owned by Mone's husband, the Isle of Man-based businessman Doug Barrowman - was put into administration on 30 September, the day before the high court judgment was made public. Mrs Justice Cockerill ruled that the company had breached its contract with the Department of Health and Social Care, awarded in June 2020, to supply 25m sterile surgical gowns, and must repay the full 122m it received. Continue reading...
Singer-songwriter says curriculum changes reflect points raised in open letter to PM organised by his foundationEd Sheeran has taken partial credit for the government's move to overhaul the teaching of music in England's state schools shortly after being mentioned by the education secretary in parliament.The Department for Education (DfE) said it wanted to broaden the appeal of music education to give every child a strong start in the subject" and boost the creative subjects taken at GCSE as part of its wider changes to England's national curriculum. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#718Q7)
Resident doctors in England to strike for five days next week, saying health secretary's latest offer is too limitedWes Streeting has failed in an attempt to end the long-running resident doctors' dispute with a new offer to them, which means their five-day strike next week is expected to go ahead.The health secretary tabled a new offer to resident doctors - formerly junior doctors - in England on Wednesday in a move intended to avoid the strike, their 13th. Continue reading...
The individual, identified as Abdoulaye N, is one of four suspects being held for the theft of jewels worth tens of millions of poundsOne of the men arrested on suspicion of stealing 88m (77m) of crown jewels from the Louvre museum is a minor social media star with a passion for motorbikes who has worked as a security guard at the Pompidou centre, French media have reported.Identified by justice officials as Abdoulaye N, the 39-year-old man was arrested at his home in Aubervilliers, the suburb north of Paris where he was born, six days after the 19 October heist. He faces charges of organised theft and criminal conspiracy. Continue reading...
by Sam Wolfson, Alaina Demopoulos and Saam Niami on (#71874)
In the bodegas, bars and clubs of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, the mood was joyous - it was an emotional nightInside an election watch party hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in Fort Greene, under the din of pet-nat wines being cracked open, there was a sense of nervous anticipation. I'm not sure if this is an accurate recreation of Solomon's Temple," said one supporter in a Zohran Mamdani T-shirt. This is like a who's who of everyone I've slept with," said another.The suspense didn't last long. Just after 9.30pm, someone jumped on the mic to announce that news outlets had called it: a record number of New Yorkers had cast ballots in this electric - and often ugly - race between Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, ultimately choosing the 34-year-old democratic socialist of seemingly boundless energy who had shocked party establishment in the primary by winning on a clear-eyed affordability agenda. The DJ immediately started playing I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas. And, indeed, tonight was a good, good night for those in the room, who erupted in tears, hugs and twerking. Continue reading...
Captured on the New York Post cover, Maga allies respond to Democrats' election sweep with accusations and furyHopes of a composed and level-headed rightwing reaction to the Democrats' across-the-board electoral success were unceremoniously dashed as leading Maga figures spewed unrestrained vitriol at their victorious opponents.Particular Republican fury was reserved for Zohran Mamdani's emphatic election as mayor of New York, a result that provoked a luridly provocative front page on the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post. Continue reading...
Police say Brahim Kaddour-Cherif is believed to have links to Tower Hamlets and is also known to frequent the Westminster areaDavid Lammy starts by saying the PM is in Brazil.He says the thoughts of all MPs are still with the victims of the appalling attacks in Huntingdon and Peterborough, where, he says, he was at school for seven years. Continue reading...
This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereAt least nine people were injured, the mayor of Dolus-d'Oleron, Thibault Brechkoff, said in a post on Facebook.He stressed the deliberate" nature of the incident, and said that local authorities were setting up a crisis centre to coordinate their response. Continue reading...
by Pippa Crerar, Peter Walker and Rajeev Syal on (#718GJ)
Algerian man, 24, released in error' from HMP Wandsworth two days after stronger checks for jails were brought inPolice have launched an urgent search for a second foreign prisoner freed mistakenly, two days after the UK justice secretary, David Lammy, brought in stronger checks for jails.The 24-year-old Algerian man was wrongly released from Wandsworth prison in south London last Wednesday, with the Metropolitan police informed only this week. Continue reading...
The fast-fashion retailer has faced a backlash after the childlike dolls were discovered for sale on its websiteThe French government has said it will suspend the fast-fashion shopping website Shein amid controversy over its sale of childlike sex dolls.The announcement came as Shein opened its first brick-and-mortar store in the world in Paris amid a heavy police presence. Continue reading...
Plan to cut journey times between major cities could reduce Berlin-Copenhagen trip from seven to four hoursBreakfast in Berlin, lunch in Copenhagen, with a fast and easy train journey to pass the morning? Or a midday meal in Sofia, then taking the high-speed line to arrive in Athens just in time for an evening aperitif? Both could be possible if a vision for European high-speed rail travel ever becomes a reality.A faster, truly European" high-speed rail network could be possible by 2040, the EU executive said on Wednesday, as it revealed plans to dramatically cut journey times between major cities. Continue reading...
Jordan Schwarzenberger says BBC is becoming irrelevant to gen Z and risks crashing unless it attracts younger viewersThe BBC risks becoming the Titanic of the media world and culturally irrelevant to gen Z unless it embraces a radical shift" towards reaching young audiences, the manager of one of the most successful YouTube collectives has warned.Jordan Schwarzenberger, the manager of the Sidemen, who have well over 100 million subscribers between them, said he believed the corporation produced great entertainment" and wanted it to succeed. Continue reading...
Ukraine's general staff denies claims its troops have been encircled but military analysts say situation has deteriorated sharply in recent daysMoscow's forces appear to be tightening their grip on Pokrovsk, as street fighting continues in the strategic eastern Ukrainian city, much of which now lies in ruins.Ukraine's general staff on Wednesday denied Russian claims that its troops had been encircled, saying efforts were under way to reinforce the flanks around Pokrovsk and the nearby town of Myrnohrad. Continue reading...
Pontiff says authorities must address the spiritual rights of those held in custody amid immigration crackdownPope Leo has called for deep reflection" in the US about the treatment of migrants held in detention, saying that many people who have lived for years and years and years, never causing problems, have been deeply affected by what is going on right now".The Chicago-born pope was responding late on Tuesday to a range of geopolitical questions from reporters outside the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, including what kind of spiritual rights migrants in US custody should have, US military attacks on suspected drug traffickers off Venezuela and the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East. Continue reading...
Two people in intensive care and a driver arrested after incident on Ile d'Oleron on Wednesday, say authoritiesA driver rammed into pedestrians and cyclists on France's tourist-frequented Ile d'Oleron off the Atlantic coast on Wednesday, injuring several people including four seriously, authorities said.The 35-year-old driver was arrested by police and an investigation has been opened, the interior minister, Laurent Nunez, said in a post on X. Continue reading...
by Amy Sedghi (now); Nick Visser,Lauren Gambino and F on (#71833)
This live blog is now closed, our new live blog is hereat the Ziegfeld Ballroom in midtown ManhattanThere's a couple of hundred Cuomo supporters at his watch party now. I just saw a man down a bottle of Stella Artois. No sign of Cuomo yet. Among the attenders is Suzanne Miller, a realtor who volunteered for the Cuomo campaign. She said she is 50-50" about his chances of winning. Miller said she was nervous because of Zohran Mamdani's energetic closing few days of the campaign. Continue reading...
Regulator also considers forcing companies to report pay received from parent firms after Guardian investigationWater company bosses were blocked from receiving 4m in bonuses for the last financial year - and the industry regulator is considering forcing companies to report pay received from parent companies after a Guardian investigation.Ofwat, the regulator for English and Welsh water firms, said six companies had complied with the new rules governing the sector and did not pay out bonuses to bosses. However, it is consulting on further rules to force the disclosure of payments by other companies after the revelation that Yorkshire Water's chief executive, Nicola Shaw, had received 1.3m in secret payments via an offshore parent company. Continue reading...
Allowing three-storey townhouses and apartments to be built across all residential land would unlock more than 1m homes in Sydney alone, according to modelling
Google search results displayed false information from an AI website about drivers risking a $250 fine for not keeping their headlights on at all times
Blikk, a tabloid with about 3 million online monthly readers, bought by pro-Orban media group IndamediaJournalists at Hungary's most-read newspaper have expressed shock after a media group seen as close to nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban's party, Fidesz, bought the tabloid from its previous Swiss owners.The purchase, which comes as Hungary gears up for crucial elections next year in which Orban faces an unprecedented opposition challenge, is widely seen as another attempt to increase government influence on the media. Continue reading...
Shutdown beats record set during Trump's first term as succession of Senate votes fails to yield breakthroughThe US government shutdown became the longest in history on Wednesday, crossing the 36-day mark with no end in sight as Republican and Democratic senators remained at loggerheads over restarting funding to shuttered federal departments.The shutdown beat the previous 35-day record set in December 2018 and January 2019 during Donald Trump's first term, when government funding legislation was held up over his insistence on including money to build a wall along the border with Mexico. Continue reading...
Aircraft erupted into fireball after takeoff at Louisville international airport, and officials say fatalities could riseA UPS cargo plane crashed shortly after take off, erupting into a massive fireball near the Louisville Muhammad Ali international airport in Kentucky, leaving at least seven dead and 11 injured, the state's governor, Andy Beshear, said. Beshear said he expects those numbers to grow.Flames from the crash ignited a string of fires on the ground in an industrial corridor adjacent to the international airport, apparently accounting for one of the confirmed fatalities and the injuries of 11 people, who according to airport officials were taken to hospital. Continue reading...
Six people were killed in a separate incident when a Philippine air force helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del SurTyphoon Kalmaegi has left at least 52 people dead with 13 others missing in the central Philippines, mostly in widespread flooding that trapped people on their roofs and swept away scores of cars in a hard-hit province still recovering from a deadly earthquake, officials said on Wednesday.Six people were killed in a separate incident when a Philippine air force helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del Sur on Tuesday while en route to help provide humanitarian help to provinces battered by Kalmaegi, the military said without providing other details, including what could have caused the crash. Continue reading...
Pentagon secretary says two people killed in attack on boat in eastern Pacific, bringing total killed to 66 in 16 strikesDefense secretary Pete Hegseth announced yet another deadly strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, coming the same day an aircraft carrier began heading to the region in a new expansion of military firepower.The attack Tuesday killed two people aboard the vessel, Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration's campaign in South American waters up to at least 66 people in at least 16 strikes. Continue reading...
Six of biggest providers to roll out new technology over next 12 months in effort to prevent fraud by foreign call centresSix of the biggest phone companies have said they will work together and upgrade their systems to stop fraudsters being able to spoof" UK phone numbers and commit fraud.New technology is expected to be rolled out over the next year that will stop criminals impersonating legitimate bodies and subsequently duping people into believing they are talking to real companies, banks and government departments. Continue reading...
Answers demanded after 23,500 families wrongly suspected of fraud when incorrect data showed they had left UKMPs are demanding answers from HMRC over a child benefit error in which payments to 23,500 families were stopped as part of an anti-fraud crackdown.Meg Hillier, a Labour MP and chair of the House of Commons Treasury select committee, has written to the permanent secretary of HMRC asking who made the decisions, why they were made and whether compensation would be offered to the victims. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#717W2)
Exclusive: Health secretary and NHS England chief warn of winter pressures and rising levels of abuseAn ugly" racism reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s has become worryingly commonplace again in modern Britain and NHS staff are bearing the brunt of it, Wes Streeting has warned.Incidents of verbal and physical abuse based on people's skin colour now happen so often that it has become socially acceptable to be racist", the health secretary said. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#717RG)
Agreement that will increase drivers' pay to nearly 80,000 by 2027 comes after strike action in SeptemberThe RMT union has accepted a three-year inflation-plus pay deal for London Underground workers, ending the dispute that led to travel chaos in London in September and increasing drivers' pay to nearly 80,000 by 2027.The deal, with an initial 3.4% increase backdated to this April, means London Underground staff pay will rise in line with RPI inflation - higher than the CPI rate normally used for index-linked pay rises - with guaranteed minimum rates if inflation falls, making the total deal worth at least 9.2%. Continue reading...
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