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Agency hopes tens of thousands of people will log details of their flatulence on an app to help researchers better understand gut health

Robert Jenrick and Oliver Dowden were on committee that supported paying 15m for asbestos-ridden former prisonLeading Tories Robert Jenrick and Oliver Dowden were on the committee that backed plans for the rushed and misjudged" 15m purchase of an asbestos-ridden site for asylum accommodation, Whitehall's spending watchdog has disclosed.The then immigration minister and the former chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster were members of the small ministerial group that oversaw the purchase of the Northeye site in Bexhill, East Sussex, as the government attempted to move asylum seekers from hotels. Continue reading...

Higher education regulator says sector needs to take take bold action' and consider mergers or cost sharingEngland's universities face financial turmoil with nearly three in four expected to be in the red next year, according to gloomy forecasts from the higher education regulator.The Office for Students (OfS) said the sector would have to take bold and transformative action" to compensate for a 3.4bn drop in income forecast for 2025-26, with universities needing to consider mergers or cost sharing. Continue reading...

New analysis on the cost of decarbonising Australia's power grid runs closely to the national market operator's own - but you wouldn't know it from the headlines

Jewish and Muslim communities speak of heightened fears as questions linger about events around football matchCarrying white signs scrawled with messages urging unity, they took turns laying white roses at the statue of Anne Frank, steps away from the home where she, her family and four other people had hidden from Nazi persecution.Days after Amsterdam was gripped by what officials described as a toxic cocktail" of hooliganism, antisemitism and anger over the war in Palestine and Israel, the handful of imams and rabbis from European organisations had travelled to the city in an attempt to calm tensions. Continue reading...

Victorian premier furious' as unveiling of festive season attraction in Melbourne's Bourke Street mall scrapped

Paul Brereton says blame culture' deters people from owning mistakes as he insists watchdog will not be influenced by public pressure

Dennis Richardson claims an effort to make Rudd's life untenable' is at play, despite others also criticising Donald Trump in the past

Billionaire mining executive made headlines earlier this year when he said of workers I want to hold them captive all day long' in office

Andrew Bailey callls for relations with EU to be rebuilt as Trump plans US tariffsThe Bank of England governor has urged ministers to rebuild relations" with the EU, warning that Brexit has undermined the UK's economy.Speaking at the Mansion House dinner in the City of London on Thursday evening, Andrew Bailey said he took no position on Brexit per se", but added: I do have to point out consequences." Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. You can read all our coverage of the Israel-Gaza war here and all our coverage of Israel's war on Lebanon hereOvernight the IDF announced that six soldiers had been killed in clashes with Hezbollah inside southern Lebanon.The Times of Israel reports it was one of the heaviest single-day losses in the operation that began in late September," and that according to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire with at least four Hezbollah operatives inside a building in a village in southern Lebanon." Continue reading...

Skirmish quickly quashed by security guards at stadium as riot police is deployed at high-risk' gameA skirmish involving Israel fans broke out in the stands of the Stade de France during a tense match between Israel and France's men's football teams, but a heavy police presence ensured a repeat of the serious violence in Amsterdam was avoided.The game had been designated as high risk" after the hooliganism and antisemitism witnessed in the Netherlands before and after a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv last week. Continue reading...

Tens of thousands deported from Caribbean states, as Dominican Republic pledges to return 10,000 people a weekActivists have called on Caribbean governments to halt the mass deportation of Haitians fleeing escalating gang violence that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.In the past month, tens of thousands of people have been deported to Haiti, including 61,000 from the neighbouring Dominican Republic, whose president recently pledged to deport 10,000 migrants a week. Continue reading...

Law banning puberty blockers and hormones for treating transgender children upheld by appeals courtA federal appeals court has upheld an Indiana law banning the use of puberty blockers and hormones for transgender children under the age of 18, one of numerous such laws passed by Republican-controlled states.The 2-1 decision from the seventh US circuit court of appeals on Wednesday comes as the US supreme court prepares to hear a challenge to a similar law in Tennessee, which may ultimately determine whether all such state laws around the country can be enforced. Continue reading...

Police say family of 17-year-old have asked for privacy after she was fatally struck by car on motorway in SomersetA teenage girl who fled a stationary police vehicle on the M5 and was fatally struck by a car has been named as Tamzin Hall.The 17-year-old from Wellington, Somerset, died after being struck by a vehicle travelling southbound on the motorway between Bridgwater and Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday. Continue reading...

Naccom report says gaps in state support have led to more than 1,940 refugees having no accommodationHomelessness among refugees has doubled in the last year to reach record levels as charities hand out tents and sleeping bags to those forced to live on the streets for the first time, according to research.The No Accommodation Network (Naccom), an umbrella organisation for 140 frontline organisations working with asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants across the UK, has collated the data and shared it with the Guardian. Continue reading...

Report reflects persistence of inequity, with strong disparities across ethnicity, geography and socioeconomic backgroundInfant mortality has risen for the third year in the row, with the risk of death for babies born in deprived areas almost three times higher than those from wealthier postcodes, new figures show.The rate of deaths for children under one year old increased from 3.8 to 3.9 per 1,000 births last year, although the overall number of infant deaths has decreased by 2%, due to a lower birthrate. Continue reading...

Chancellor uses Mansion House speech to suggest it is time to loosen some constraints brought in after 2007-08 crashRachel Reeves has told City bankers attending her Mansion House speech that regulations put in place to protect the economy after the global financial crisis had gone too far".Speaking at the glitzy annual gathering in the Square Mile on Thursday, the chancellor called the financial services sector the crown jewel" of the UK economy. Continue reading...

Ally of Boris Johnson gave Reform UK leader a 8,000 trip to tour his JCB site, raising eyebrows among ToriesA firm run by the major Conservative donor Anthony Bamford has funded a 8,000 helicopter trip for the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage.Lord Bamford, who sat as a Conservative peer until his retirement from the House of Lords this year, has given millions of pounds to the Tories and been a close ally of Boris Johnson - funding the former prime minister's accommodation after he left office. Continue reading...

IDF hits Lebanon, Gaza and Syria, with analysts saying air raids could be aimed at piling on pressure for ceasefire

Satirical news outlet purchases media platform run by Alex Jones at a court-ordered auctionThe satirical news outlet the Onion has purchased Infowars, the rightwing media platform run by the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, at a court-ordered auction.The news was confirmed on Thursday morning in a video by Jones himself, as well as the head of the Onion's parent company. Continue reading...

Judge considering complaint by fishing firm Samherji rules artist Odee unlikely to be able to defend work as parodyThe property rights of Iceland's largest fishing company prevail over the right to artistic expression of an artist who spoofed the firm's website to draw attention to a high-profile corruption scandal, London's high court has ruled.For his 2023 work We're Sorry, the Icelandic artist Oddur Eysteinn Fririksson, who goes by the moniker Odee, copied the corporate identity of Samherji, a major supplier to Britain's fish and chips industry, and uploaded on to the spoof website a statement titled Samherji Apologizes, Pledges Restitution and Cooperation with Authorities". Continue reading...

Group says it has identified the Galix defence system on armoured vehicles imported from the UAE and calls for government to investigateFrance must investigate the use of its military systems by Sudan's paramilitary forces, which could be in breach of an arms embargo, Amnesty International has said.The group said it had identified the French-made Galix defence system being used in Sudan on armoured vehicles manufactured in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - considered a key supplier of weapons to the Rapid Support Force (RSF). Continue reading...

Exclusive: Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail, told he must wait months to learn if he is even eligible for compensationAndrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail for a crime he did not commit, says the Ministry of Justice has left him to rot" after telling him he is likely to have to wait months before learning if he is even eligible for compensation.Malkinson was freed last year after being treated by the state as a sex offender after he was wrongly convicted of a 2003 rape in Greater Manchester. Continue reading...

Margaret Hodge, the ex-Labour minister who now sits in the Lords, has criticised Wes Streeting while appearing on the BBCA minister has criticised her Tory shadow for talking about joy" in the health sector about the funding it received.Karin Smyth, a health minister, said it was a strange word to use given the state of NHS finances left by the last government.Many in the health sector would have been pleased to hear the announcement of the extra funding going into the NHS [in the budget], only for the joy to be struck down by the realisation of a broken manifesto promise not to raise national insurance contributions.This was only compounded further on the discovery that a raft of frontline care providers - care homes, hospices, care charities, pharmacies, GPS, to name but a few - found themselves not exempt from the NI rises, leaving them with crippling staff bills and the threat of closure and redundancies.He talks about joy. There was no joy when we inherited the mess that they left back in July.The chancellor took into account the impact of changes to national insurance when she allocated an extra 26bn to the Department of Health and Social Care.There are well established processes for agreeing funding allocations across the system, we are going through those processes now with this issue in mind.The British government needs to start now indicating for them what they believe is the tipping point at which they believe a referendum would be called. Continue reading...

Police name 59-year-old with explosive devices said to have killed himself after trying to enter court in BrasiliaA man killed himself with a bomb outside Brazil's supreme court in Brasilia after trying to enter the building on Wednesday, officials have said, stirring security concerns before the country hosts global leaders from the group of 20 major economies.The blasts come five days before the G20 heads of state meet in Rio de Janeiro, followed by a state visit to Brasilia, the capital, by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. Continue reading...

Gazprom could stop flow of gas into continent as result of their legal battle with Austrian company OMVEurope's gas market rose by as much as 5% on Thursday to its highest price in a year after one of the continent's biggest gas traders said that there could be a halt on gas supplies from Russia.Austrian gas trader OMV has said that a court decision awarding the company compensation after its dispute with a subsidiary of Russia's Gazprom could lead the state-owned gas giant to halt supplies. Continue reading...

Celebrated authors discuss the somewhat connected stories of their shared surname at literary event in RioBorn more than 5,500 miles apart, the Booker prize winner Bernardine Evaristo, 65, and Brazil's most celebrated living Black author, Conceicao Evaristo, 77, share the same surname, though they are - as far as is known - unrelated.But their surnames' stories are somewhat connected, and shed light on aspects of the history of Brazil, the country that received the largest number of enslaved Africans during the transatlantic slave trade. Continue reading...

Turkish national accused of supplying engines and boats to cross-Channel smugglers in Belgium and northern FranceA suspected major supplier of small boats used by people smugglers to transport asylum seekers across the Channel has been arrested in Amsterdam, police said.A 44-year-old Turkish national was arrested on Wednesday after arriving at Schiphol airport, the European agency Eurojust said on Tuesday, adding that the suspect was due to be extradited to Belgium to face charges of being involved in human trafficking as part of a criminal organisation. Continue reading...

Sir Jamie Colman and his wife are said to have financially supported Smyth despite knowing of abuse allegationsThe heir to the Colman's mustard dynasty and his wife, a member of the clergy, have been asked by the Church of England to step back from their roles in a Hampshire church after being named in a damning report on a sadistic abuser.Sir Jamie Colman has been asked to cease his volunteering activities at St Leonard's church, Oakley, and the Rev Sue Colman has been asked to step back from all ministerial duties by the diocese of Winchester. Continue reading...

Amsterdam police say they are aware of footage that appears to show officers beating protesters after banned rallyDutch authorities have said they are investigating reports of police violence against pro-Palestinian protesters after a banned rally on Wednesday evening had been broken up.Amsterdam police said on X that they were aware of online footage, which seemed to show police officers beating protesters who had already been released after being taken away from the site of the protest. Continue reading...

The 98-year-old Mary Poppins star had previously endorsed Kamala Harris and Joe BidenMary Poppins star Dick Van Dyke has said he is glad he won't be around" to experience the full duration of Donald Trump's second term as president.In a video published by the Daily Mail, Van Dyke, 98, was stopped in a car park and asked: Does the future look bright for America?" The actor replied: I hope you're right." Continue reading...

Christian and Muslim groups say medics who refuse to help patients to die are not protected in England and Wales billA significant proportion of NHS medical staff in England and Wales are likely to exercise a conscience clause" if assisted dying is legalised by parliament.Labour MP Kim Leadbeater's private member's bill stipulates that no doctor would be under any obligation to participate in assisted dying. Continue reading...

Corruption watchdog rules out further investigation into racism within the force despite evidence of historical racial discriminationWARNING: This article contains offensive content

Candidates to receive $5 per vote from public funding, while parties and independents will receive $30,000 per MP and $15,000 per senator each

Louise Haigh says she hopes to ensure a repeat of the air traffic control failure of August 2023 never happens again

Shares in fashion brand jump as urgent' cost-cutting programme announced following half-year losses

Request in embezzlement trial threatens to undermine National Rally's efforts to polish image before 2027 pollsA Paris prosecutor has requested a five-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office for the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, at a trial in which she and 24 others are accused of embezzling EU funds.The trial, which comes almost a decade after initial investigations started, threatens to undermine her National Rally (RN) party's efforts to polish its image before the 2027 presidential election, which many believe she could win. Continue reading...

Voting temporarily suspended amid disruptions including a Mori party MP ripping up a copy of the billNew Zealand's parliament has erupted into fiery debate, personal attacks and a haka over a controversial bill that proposes to radically alter the way New Zealand's treaty between Mori and the crown is interpreted.The treaty principles bill was tabled by the libertarian Act party - a minor partner in New Zealand's coalition government - and passed its first reading on Thursday, amid scathing speeches and disruptions. Continue reading...

Asset manager Oaktree out of running as backer but businessman has high confidence' he will get finance

Union members hit out at LNP as deputy premier announces pause on pay and conditions policy

Royal Zoological Society of Scotland calls for tougher laws after three-month-old Roxie dies from Bonfire Night stressThe owner of Edinburgh zoo has linked the death of a baby red panda on Bonfire Night to fireworks and called for tighter regulations.The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) said vets blamed the death of three-month-old Roxie on 5 November on her reaction to fireworks in the area. Continue reading...

The move has been described as chilling' by activists and rights groups as arrests mount over dress code breachesThe Iranian state has said that it plans to open a treatment clinic for women who defy the mandatory hijab laws that require women to cover their heads in public.The opening of a hijab removal treatment clinic" was announced by Mehri Talebi Darestani, the head of the Women and Family Department of the Tehran Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. She said the clinic will offer scientific and psychological treatment for hijab removal". Continue reading...

Australia votes with 158 other countries to recognise permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory'

The Waanyi writer, who won the Miles Franklin award and Stella prize this year for her novel Praiseworthy, has been recognised for her body of work and contribution to Australian cultureAlexis Wright has been awarded the $60,000 Melbourne prize for literature, capping off an extraordinary year in which she has won more than $200,000 in prize money after the publication of her epic novel, Praiseworthy.The Melbourne prize for literature, awarded every three years, recognises a Victorian writer whose body of published work has made an outstanding contribution to Australian literature and to cultural and intellectual life". Past winners include Christos Tsiolkas, Alison Lester and Helen Garner.Sign up for our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...

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Paramedic witness tells Sen Const Kristian White's manslaughter trial that 95-year-old Nowland didn't appear to acknowledge' warnings or instructions

Major supermarkets' takeover strategy prevents smaller grocers from growing into stronger competitors, inquiry hears