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National Crime Agency calls for tougher sentencing and a new offence of running abuse websitesEight out of 10 people in the UK caught with images of children being sexually abused avoid going to jail, the head of the National Crime Agency has revealed.Graeme Biggar, the director general of the NCA, said some had been caught with thousands of images but avoided imprisonment, and others had been given rehabilitation orders and suspended sentences and then reoffended. Continue reading...

More than 36,000 homes without power but BoM downgrades storm to tropical low despite warning of more rain and high winds

Commission says Hungary has fulfilled set of judiciary reforms while critics say funds could have been unlocked to persuade Orban to stop blocking Ukraine-related decisionsThe leaders of major political groups in the European parliament have sent a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, outlining their objections to unfreezing EU funds for Hungary.In the letter, seen by the Guardian, the political group presidents wrote:We would like to express our deep concern as regards the imminent positive assessment of the Hungarian judicial reforms and their fulfilment of the four judicial milestones set out in the horizontal enabling condition under the Common Provisions Regulation.In our view, the horizontal enabling condition referring to the independence of the judiciary has not been fulfilled.We are most concerned about the implementation requirement regarding the strengthening of the National Judicial Council.We need to live up to our commitments on Ukraine and continue to be a reliable and strong partner. We must provide Ukraine with continued and sustainable political, financial and military support and, in particular, come to an agreement on providing 50bn for its long term stability.We also have to agree to open accession negotiations with Ukraine, thereby giving it a necessary signal and bringing it yet closer to our European family.A pivotal European Council lies ahead of us. Now is the time for decision-making. I call on you all to come equipped with a spirit of compromise, a sense of collective responsibility, with the union's interests and values at the forefront of your minds. Continue reading...

Yao Hui Charles Yeo, a lawyer and opposition politician, fears for health after recent death on bargeA prominent human rights activist who has been warned that he may be moved to the Bibby Stockholm barge has said he would prefer to die on the streets than go there after it was suspected someone killed themselves on the barge.Yao Hui Charles Yeo, 33 - a lawyer, activist and opposition politician in Singapore - claimed asylum in the UK after being persecuted and imprisoned in his home country. He has a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome and a degenerative disc condition, which causes moderate to severe" back pain, according to medical reports seen by the Guardian. He is also suffering from trauma as a result of a previous near drowning incident. Continue reading...

The prime minister faced PMQs for the final time before the Christmas recessRishi Sunak is about to take PMQs. It will be the last of 2023.Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question. Continue reading...

Wales's departing first minister won admiration in the crisis but problems in health and education blighted his record

Justices to rule on scope of obstruction of an official proceeding' charge after lower-court judge dismissed three casesThe supreme court on Wednesday said it will hear an appeal that could upend hundreds of charges stemming from the Capitol riot, including against former president Donald Trump.The justices will review an appellate ruling that revived a charge against three defendants accused of obstruction of an official proceeding. The charge refers to the disruption of Congress's certification of Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election victory over Trump. Continue reading...

A petition demanding that station outside of Paris does not use singer's name has received 4,000 signaturesHe was a poet-provocateur whose songs transformed French music and whose often outrageous behaviour on TV was shrugged off with a smile.But plans to name a new Metro station east of Paris after the singer Serge Gainsbourg have created a row and petition, as campaigners said he was a misogynist whose songs glorified child abuse and should not be celebrated. Continue reading...

Boat from Philippines with gifts for fishers, troops and coastguard in South China Sea slipped past vessels that intercepted festive flotillaIt looked, for a time, as if Christmas had been cancelled. A Philippine mission by volunteers to bring the festive spirit to the fishers, troops and coastguard crew in the disputed South China Sea was forced to turn back on Sunday after organisers said they had been shadowed and intercepted by Chinese vessels.But it later emerged that a smaller supply boat had managed to slip past the Chinese vessels. Continue reading...

Ukraine's capital comes under attack, with mayor saying children's hospital damagedNorway will donate 3bn crowns (220m) to Ukraine, the prime minister, Jonas Gahr Store, told a joint press conference with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

Appeals court upholds a federal judge's decision to deny Trump's claim of immunity, dealing him another legal setbackDonald Trump cannot assert presidential immunity from a defamation lawsuit by E Jean Carroll, the writer who accused him of rape, a US appeals court ruled on Wednesday, dealing him another setback in litigation she has pursued.The second US circuit court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld a federal judge's decision to reject Trump's claim of immunity. Continue reading...

Climate change minister says deal is not perfect but transition away' from oil and gas sends clear message to investors

Australian health department spokesperson says it is exploring options for viable cost-recovery'

Exclusive: Freedom of information documents reveal which cab companies have received most complaints, with one getting more than 300 in six monthsMore than 520 taxi drivers in New South Wales have been disciplined for refusing to use their meters or overcharging, with authorities progressing more than 300 cases against just one operator in six months.As the New South Wales taxi watchdog warns of an expected uptick in rogue behaviour from new taxi drivers entering the workforce, Guardian Australia can reveal the new taxi fare hotline has been flooded with hundreds of complaints in its first six months. Continue reading...

The double Tony-winning director staged acclaimed productions by Michael Frayn, Peter Nichols and many others in the West End and BroadwayMichael Blakemore, the actor turned theatre director who staged plays by Michael Frayn, Peter Nichols and many others over a lengthy career, has died at the age of 95. His death on Sunday, after a short illness, was announced on Tuesday by the talent agency United Agents.Blakemore directed acclaimed productions in the UK and the US over six decades. He was born and educated in Sydney, married the English actor Shirley Bush and arrived in London to train as an actor at Rada, where he graduated in 1952. He performed in rep around the UK but after a dozen years or so decided to concentrate on directing and staged work at the Citizens theatre in Glasgow where he had also been an actor. Continue reading...

The movie will be based on Racism from the Eyes of a Child - the pop mogul's book about his early life in pre-civil rights AlabamaA memoir by Beyonce Knowles' father Mathew Knowles is to become a feature film, detailing his early years as a student activist.According to a report in Variety, Knowles' 2017 book Racism from the Eyes of a Child is in active development as a film, with plans for a TV series as well. The book covers Knowles' childhood in pre-civil rights Alabama, during which he has said he attended all-white" high schools and universities: I had been beaten, I've been electrically prodded, I've been spit on, I've been humiliated, all sorts of trauma." Knowles graduated from Fisk University in Nashville, an HBCU (historically black college or university). Continue reading...

Senior officer from Golani Brigade dies after failed attempt to rescue injured troops in Shejaiya area

Rapper reportedly denies antisemitism on new album Vultures, a collaboration with vocalist Ty Dolla SignKanye West has worn a Ku Klux Klan-style hood at a listening party for his upcoming album Vultures, which is expected to be released on Friday.West wore the garment, a pointed black hood with eyeholes, on stage at the event in Miami, which also featured music stars including Chris Brown, Kodak Black, Offset and more, plus West's children North, Saint and Chicago. Continue reading...

Cutting down of dozens of trees on seafront of English riviera' town in Devon provokes public outcryPalm trees that have welcomed visitors to the English riviera" for a century have been cut down without warning in an act that residents have described as pure vandalism".The felling of 40 trees in Torquay, Devon, has provoked a furious public outcry and accusations that the council has wrought a soul-destroying", total destruction" of a world-famous seaside front. Continue reading...

Yung, a senior pediatrician, died in hospital after allegedly being attacked in his Gilberton home early on Monday

Environmental activists claim success after partial overturn of state laws that criminalised protest actions near major hubs

BoM issues warnings as radar forecasts intense rain, destructive winds and possible flash flooding in parts of Queensland

Lehrmann has sued Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson for defamation in the federal court of Australia. Follow the latest news and updates from the trial today

Most states and territories to ban product on 1 July, with Commonwealth flagging an import prohibitionAustralia will ban engineered stone from 1 July 2024, following a meeting of state and federal workplace ministers.According to Queensland and Victorian governments, ministers on Wednesday agreed to ban the material, which is commonly used in kitchen and bathroom benchtops. Continue reading...

Supermarket says it protects personal data incredibly carefully' and move makes ads more relevant'The chief executive of Sainsbury's has defended its decision to sell data on the shopping habits of his customers to TV and consumer goods manufacturers looking to target their advertising.Simon Roberts has said the supermarket group protects personal data incredibly carefully" and that its strategy had made adverts more relevant" for shoppers. Continue reading...

Exclusive: survey finds 57% of people have never heard of physician associates even though they are widely usedMany people are deeply confused about the growing number of physician associates" in the NHS and wrongly assume they are doctors, research suggests.Around 4,000 physician associates work in the NHS in England. Ministers and health chiefs plan to increase the figure to 10,000 to help plug widespread gaps in the NHS workforce. Continue reading...

Historic England highlights remarkable gems' among 227 places added to national list in 2023An intact second world war radar station and a 1960s church that resembles an upturned boat have joined some of England's grandest buildings on the national heritage list.Historic England singled out 16 remarkable historic gems" that had been added to the list or had their entries updated in 2023. They include a 400-year-old structure regarded as England's earliest known modern-day car wash", an unusually long railway footbridge, an iron age cave and a Manchester primary school that still has its flashy art nouveau tiling from more than a century ago. Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff warns the Europe puzzle' cannot come together without UkraineKyiv has increased pressure on the EU to open accession talks at a crucial summit this week, with Volodymyr Zelenskiy's most senior adviser warning that without his country the Europe puzzle' cannot come together".After the European Commission's recommendation last month that formal membership talks begin, the EU's 27 heads of government are due to discuss the proposal at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. Continue reading...

Independent body to review plans for Olympic and Paralympic games as new premier and deputy distance themselves from Palaszcuzuk-era policies

This blog is now closed. See all our Israel-Gaza war coverage hereReports are coming in from the Reuters news agency that three Palestinians were killed on Tuesday during an Israeli raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin - that's according to the Palestinian health ministry.An Israeli drone attack killed the three Palestinians and injured others, medical sources say, adding that the Israeli raid included the city of Jenin and its refugee camp.Between the afternoons of 10 and 11 December, 208 Palestinians were killed and another 416 were injured, according to the [Hamas run] Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza. Heavy Israeli bombardments from air, land, and sea across Gaza continued, especially in the central part, including Al Maghazi and An Nuseirat Refugee Camps, as well as in parts of northern Gaza. Meanwhile, intense ground operations and fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continued, especially in Khan Younis, Jabalya, and the northern parts of Gaza Strip. Additionally, air strikes have reportedly targeted residential homes in the western and central parts of Rafah, areas designated as safe for displaced Palestinians by the Israeli army. The firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups into Israel also continued.Limited aid distributions are taking place in Rafah governorate. In the rest of the Gaza Strip, aid distribution has largely stopped over the past few days, due to the intensity of hostilities and restrictions of movement along the main roads, except for limited fuel deliveries to key service providers and a one-off high-risk mission on 9 December to Al Ahli hospital.On 11 December, as of 22:00, 100 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Egypt, the same volume recorded on most days since the resumption of hostilities on 1 December. This is well below the daily average of 500 truckloads (including fuel) that entered every working day prior to 7 October. The ability of the UN to receive incoming aid has been significantly impaired over the past few days by several factors. These include a shortage of trucks within Gaza; the continuing lack of fuel; telecommunications blackouts; and the increasing number of staff who were unable to travel to the Rafah crossing due to the intensity of hostilities. Continue reading...

The actor who played the deadpan Captain Raymond Holt and starred in Homicide: Life on the Street, has died after a brief illnessAndre Braugher, who starred as Captain Raymond Holt in the hit comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine and as Detective Frank Pembleton in Homicide: Life on the Street, has died aged 61.The actor died on Monday after a brief illness, his publicist confirmed. Continue reading...

High court dismisses application to appeal conviction, despite minority of judges raising possibility he is innocent

Kit plane clipped power lines before crashing and bursting into flames near Grafton on Tuesday morning, authorities say

Attacks on vessels close to Yemen have led to a rise in the cost of shipping with fears that supply chains could be disruptedA senior official from Yemen's Houthis has warned cargo ships in the Red Sea to avoid travelling toward Israel and the occupied territories, after the Iran-aligned group claimed an attack on a commercial tanker earlier in the day.Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of Yemen's Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, said that ships should avoid heading toward Israel and that any that pass Yemen should keep radios turned on, and quickly respond to Houthi attempts at communication. Continue reading...

Artistic director of the Kiln theatre will take over from Rufus Norris in spring 2025Indhu Rubasingham has been announced as the next director of the National Theatre, marking the first time that a woman and a person of colour has taken on the biggest role in British theatre.Rubasingham, who has been artistic director of the Kiln theatre since 2012, will take over from Rufus Norris in spring 2025, when his second term ends. She and Kate Varah will also become joint chief executives in a co-leadership model. Continue reading...

Study says societal factors play more of a role rather than the views of individual officersPolice are far more likely to use a Taser electrical weapon against black people due to structural and institutional racism rather than the views of individual officers, a new report says.It follows the biggest ever academic study of the police's use of the weapon, which found officers increasingly see it as a tool that can get suspects to comply, rather than a potentially lethal item. Continue reading...

Australia joins 152 nations to vote for resolution that expresses grave concern over catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza'

Rishi Sunak's Rwanda bill passes its first Commons vote but only after rebellion by a collection of rightwing Tory MPsLord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, a former lord chief justice of England and Wales, has said the government should not try to ignore the jurisdiction of the European court of human rights. In an interview for a podcast called the Judges, he said:If you have subjected yourself to a court, and it was our voluntary decision to do so, then you have to take the rough with the smooth and if they've decided [the court] have this jurisdiction then you ought to follow it.You can't expect others to respect the law if you say you won't respect the law of someone else.You ought to actually be able, within a set period of time, say a fortnight, to investigate, decide, give him one right of appeal - why you should have more than one right of appeal I simply don't understand - and remove them." But, he concedes, it costs money.Britain is a practical nation - always has been. People can't afford Christmas. If they call an ambulance this winter - they don't know if it will come. 6,000 crimes go unpunished - every day. Common sense is rolling your sleeves up and solving these problems practically, not indulging in some kind of political performance art.This goes for stopping the boats as well. It's not about wave machines, or armoured jet skis, or schemes like Rwanda you know will never work. Continue reading...

Callum Griffiths, 19, Jesse Owen, 18, and Morgan Smith, 18, declared dead at scene while two others suffer life-threatening injuriesThe families of three teenagers who died after a road traffic collision in a small village in south Wales have paid tribute to the young men.Callum Griffiths, 19, from Porth, and Jesse Owen, 18, and Morgan Smith, 18, both from Tonypandy, were killed in a collision between a bus and an Audi A1 on Ely Valley Road in Coedely, in the borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, at about 7pm on Monday. Continue reading...

Bill passes with a majority of 44 but prime minister faces further peril in the new year

The immigration legislation has cleared its first hurdle but the PM still faces a bumpy road if it is to become law

Prime minister's focus on small boats looks tragically misdirected and the storm clouds are still gatheringAs the storm clouds gathered over Westminster on Tuesday afternoon, one of Rishi Sunak's cabinet ministers looked up at the heavy grey sky and sighed: It's pathetic fallacy."Yet despite the dark mood among the prime minister's allies - and grim warnings to the contrary - the first stage of his flagship Rwanda bill passed easily through the House of Commons. Continue reading...

So-called five families deal blow to Rishi Sunak before vote on second reading of bill on Tuesday nightA collective of rightwing Conservative MPs have announced that they will not support the second reading of Rishi Sunak's bill which aims to overcome legal obstacles in deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.The so-called five families - a loose alliance of five different rightwing Tory groups, who claim to represent more than 100 MPs overall - announced their decision as the Commons continued to debate the bill, which will be voted on at about 7pm. The bulk are expected to abstain. Continue reading...

Rabbi says antisemitic attack, hours after new PM vowed to reform Poland, had galvanised support for Jewish communityA far-right Polish MP has extinguished candles on a menorah lit for Hanukah in Poland's parliament, disrupting proceedings before a planned vote of confidence in the new government.Grzegorz Braun, a fringe far-right MP, was shown on television spraying the menorah with a fire extinguisher. Smoke and haze filled the area. The parliament took a break in proceedings to deal with the incident and Braun was suspended for the rest of the day. Continue reading...

Washington-based development organisation providing $20m for citizens suffering multidimensional poverty'

Speaker of house tells reporters that a complaint will be filed with the prosecutor's office against Grzegorz Braun after incidentAs Poland moves to form a new government, the European court of human rights issued a new judgment today that the lack of any form of legal recognition and protection for same-sex couples in Poland breaches the European convention on human rights.The court considered that the Polish state had failed to comply with its duty to ensure that the applicants had a specific legal framework providing for the recognition and protection of their samesex unions.That failure had resulted in the applicants' inability to regulate fundamental aspects of their lives and amounted to a breach of their right to respect for their private and family life.I protest against the xenophobia introduced by the authorities into public debate.I protest against the hostile attitude of the authorities towards immigrants.I protest against the incapacitation of public television.We will have different views on many issues, but we want to be a community and the work of the future government will focus on this.We are so different, we are attached to different traditions. This is our wealth. The community is built by the rule of law and the constitution, and we should not argue about this just to be able to safely argue about other topics. Continue reading...

Fury as Graham Stuart returns to London as Caroline Lucas says UK has obliterated its moral authority'Tuesday morning at Cop28 and we're back in a waiting game. Heads of delegation met until the early hours, mostly expressing their deep unhappiness with the draft text produced by the summit presidency late Monday afternoon.The scheduled end of the two-week conference has come and gone - that was 11am local - and as yet there is no new text to replace the document from yesterday. Anybody who says they know when this will end is guessing. Continue reading...

Police say Kenneth Law, 58, sent at least 1,200 packages containing lethal substances to addresses in more than 40 countriesA Canadian man who allegedly helped more than a dozen young people across the province of Ontario kill themselves by mailing them poison has been charged with 14 counts of second-degree murder, police said on Tuesday.Kenneth Law, 58, had previously been charged with 14 counts of counseling or aiding suicide.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 counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

The 22-year-old's family blocked from coming to France from Iran to collect Sakharov prizeThe European parliament has presented a rights prize posthumously to Mahsa Amini, whose death in Iranian custody prompted mass protests, as her mother hailed her daughter's name as a secret code for freedom".The award is the latest international recognition for the women challenging Iran's religious government after Narges Mohammadi, the jailed activist, was given the Nobel peace prize. Continue reading...

Telegraph bidder RedBird IMI in talks to buy UK's largest independent TV production groupThe Abu Dhabi-backed investment group that has struck a deal to buy the Telegraph is close to securing a 1bn-plus takeover of another prize UK media asset - All3Media, the TV production group behind shows including Call the Midwife, Squid Game: The Challenge, Gogglebox and Midsomer Murders.RedBird IMI, a joint-venture between the US company RedBird Capital and International Media Investments (IMI) of Abu Dhabi, the investment vehicle for the UAE vice-president, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, is understood to be in advanced negotiations to buy the UK's largest independent TV production group. Continue reading...