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An elegant Rat Pack theme and constant clatter of shaking ice cubes proves a winning combination for Maybe Sammy

Party leader's comment prompted by predecessor refusing to say if Hamas are terrorists on Piers Morgan TV showKeir Starmer has said Jeremy Corbyn's days as a Labour MP are over" after the former party leader repeatedly refused to call Hamas a terrorist organisation.Starmer said his predecessor, who lost the party whip in 2020, would not stand as a Labour MP at the next election or any election". Continue reading...

Police search for suspect after shooting outside Islamic Center of Rhode Island in Providence, state's capital cityA man reportedly selling Muslim goods outside a mosque in Rhode Island's capital city was shot and wounded late on Friday morning, the local police chief said, prompting authorities to increase patrols in the area as they look for a suspect and a motive in the attack.The shooting at the Islamic Center of Rhode Island in Providence occurred amid reported increases in Islamophobia and antisemitism across the US after war between Israel and Hamas erupted last month. But police would not immediately discuss whether they were focusing on any specific, possible reasons for the shooting. Continue reading...

MP Brandon Lewis will be paid 250,000 a year by LetterOne, investment group 49% owned by two oligarchsThe former Conservative party chair, Brandon Lewis, will be paid 250,000 a year to advise a company part-owned by two Russian oligarchs with sanctions placed against them.The job at LetterOne, an investment group 49% owned by Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, is Lewis's fifth on top of his role as an MP, and his total earnings will come to almost 500,000 a year. Continue reading...

Dale Houghton taunted Sunderland fans with picture on his phone of young supporter who died in 2017A football supporter who mocked Sunderland fans with a photograph of mascot Bradley Lowery, who died from cancer aged six, has been given a suspended sentence as the judge described his actions as utterly appalling" and disgraceful".Dale Houghton, 32, taunted Sunderland fans with a picture of Lowery on his phone during a match against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough Stadium in September. Continue reading...

Education secretary wants children's absence from lessons treated with utmost seriousness'

Sofia Tereshchenko, Anastasiia Feskova, and Anastasiia Demchenko awarded 2023 International Children's Peace prizeThree Ukrainian teenagers who developed apps for children who have fled war have been awarded this year's International Children's Peace prize at a ceremony in London.Sofia Tereshchenko, 18, Anastasiia Feskova, 17, and Anastasiia Demchenko, 17, were awarded the prize for developing a pair of apps for refugee children. Continue reading...

Labour condemns vile abuse' against MPs and staff after criticism of party's stance on Israel-Hamas war Israel-Hamas war - live updatesLabour MPs have voiced concern about their safety and condemned the vile abuse" against them and their staff as pro-Palestine protesters targeted their offices after criticism of the party's stance on the Israel-Hamas war.More than 100 pro-Palestine events are due to take place across the UK this weekend, but there will be no large-scale national march in London. Continue reading...

Military says troops have conducted a series of operations having established positions on left bank

Births to older mothers have increased in recent years as average ages for childbirth and IVF treatment also riseIt is an age when many are starting to enjoy the freedom of having older children - or their childfree choices - and using their spare time to get back to the gym, go on date nights and worry about their pensions. But, according to the Office for National Statistics, a growing number of women and their partners are choosing to enter the fray of newborn parenting in midlife.According to Guardian analysis of the figures, there was a 15% rise in the number of women giving birth in England after hitting 50 between 2016- 2018 and 2019-2021. The figures reveal that in the 2019-2021 period seven women over the age of 60 gave birth - with two of them over the age of 65. Continue reading...

Prime minister says he will do whatever it takes' as senior Tory criticises former home secretary's hardline proposalsDowning Street has not ruled out asking MPs to spend some of what is meant to be their Christmas break dealing with the PM's emergency legislation" on Rwanda.This is one proposal made by Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, in her Telegraph article this morning. (See 10.01am.)I think we are prepared to do whatever is necessary to ensure that we can get this in place and get flights off the ground.I wouldn't speculate on parliamentary process but I cannot impress [enough] the importance that the prime minister places on this necessary legislation to deliver for the public on the important priority of stopping the boats.Sunak suggested he would blame Labour if the Lords refuses to pass his emergency legislation" on Rwanda (see 11.40am) quickly. Asked if he would call an early election if the Lords block the law, he replied:It doesn't have to take a long time to get legislation through - and that is a question for the Labour party.We're determined to get this through as quickly as possible. So the real question is: is the Labour party going to stand in the way and stop this from happening, or are they going to work with us and support this bill so we can get it through as quickly as possible?Sunak declined to say whether favoured holding an early election on the issue of Rwanda deportations if his bill got held up. Earlier today Sir Simon Clarke suggested this. (See 10.56am.) But, for obvious reasons, the prospect might not appeal.Sunak claimed he was making real progress" on stopping small boats. He said:I think people just want the problem fixed. That's what I'm here to do, and this year, we've already got the numbers down by a third.That's because I've got new deals with the French, a new deal with Albania. We're working with Turkey and Bulgaria, multiple other countries. We're tackling the criminal gangs, we're cutting through the backlog.Sunak said he would take on" people trying to stop Rwanda flights taking over, whether it was Labour or the House of Lords. He said:We can pass these laws in parliament that will give us the powers and the tools we need. Then we can get the flights off and whether it's the House of Lords or the Labour party standing in our way I will take them on because I want to get this thing done and I want to stop the boats.He said his patience was wearing thin" with this issue. He said:People are sick of this merry-go-round. I want to end it - my patience is wearing thin like everyone else's. Continue reading...

FCA censures former FTSE 100 company but stops short of a fine as no funds are expected to be leftThe financial watchdog has found that collapsed hospital operator NMC Health committed market abuse by understating its debts by as much as $4bn (3.2bn).The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) censured the former FTSE 100 company on Friday for misleading the market but stopped short of fining it as no funds are expected to be left at the business once outstanding debts to creditors are paid out. Continue reading...

The acclaimed author of novels including Possession and The Children's Book, has died, her publisher has confirmedThe writer and critic AS Byatt, who explored family, myth and narrative in a career spanning six decades, has died aged 87. Her publisher Chatto & Windus confirmed that she died peacefully at home surrounded by close family.Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, who wrote under the name AS Byatt, authored complex and critically acclaimed novels, including the Booker prize-winning Possession and her examination of artistic creation, The Children's Book. Over her career, she won a swathe of literary awards, from the Booker to a Chevalier of France's Order of Arts and Letters. Continue reading...

La Nina, invasive grass and land management practices are all factors in the larger-than-average bushfires that have burned an area bigger than Spain. This interactive map shows the total area burned, overlaid on different capital citiesHuge bushfires have burned a significant amount of northern Australia in recent months, with the collective area burned larger than many countries, including Spain.Experts say the massive fires are primarily due to a higher-than-average fuel load built up over the recent wet La Nina years, with an invasive grass species also contributing to more intense burns. Continue reading...

People in Calais and Dunkirk may die due to lack of shelter and sanitation, NGOs tell government officialsTwelve organisations working with asylum seekers in northern France have warned French government officials of a catastrophic situation" as large numbers of people try to survive in insanitary conditions while they wait for a change in the weather so they can try to cross the Channel to the UK.The warning is contained in a letter to French government officials signed by NGOs including L'Auberge des Migrants, Calais Food Collective, Medecins du Monde Nord Littoral, Utopia 56 and Le Secours Catholique delegation du Pas de Calais. Continue reading...

Hamas says three fighters died, while Israeli military says it killed at least five, as tensions rise

David McBride claimed leak of classified material detailing alleged war crimes in Afghanistan was in public interestAn Australian military whistleblower who leaked classified material detailing alleged war crimes committed by special forces soldiers has pleaded guilty to stealing and sharing secret information.David McBride gave a trove of military documents to journalists at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) because, prosecutors said, he was concerned about what he believed was the over-investigation" of troops over alleged war crimes. Continue reading...

Building society benefits from high interest rates, with half-year profits increasing to 1.3bnNationwide has warned that mortgage arrears are rising as the building society reported increased profits on the back of higher interest rates.Higher borrowing costs after the Bank of England raised interest rates 14 times since the end of 2021 have caused financial pain for some mortgage holders while benefiting savers. Continue reading...

Chancellor considering move after fall in inflation and being told he will have more money to spend

Damian Green says call for legislation to override legal obstacles is most unconservative proposal I've ever heard'

Directive punishes most serious cases of environmental damage, including habitat loss and illegal loggingThe European Union has become the first international body to criminalise widescale environmental damage comparable to ecocide".Late on Thursday, lawmakers agreed an update to the bloc's environmental crime directive punishing the most serious cases of ecosystem destruction, including habitat loss and illegal logging, with tougher penalties. Continue reading...

Hundreds of school students marched their way to Tanya Plibersek's office with thousands protesting in Melbourne

The jab, given every two months, has been offered on a non-profit basis, but it can't compete with a cheap daily HIV-prevention pillThe South African health department says the reduced cost of a new anti-HIV injection is still three times more than it can afford to pay.The UK-based drug company ViiV Healthcare has lowered the price from 729 rand per shot (32) to between 540 and 570 rand (23.66-24.97). Continue reading...

Port Phillip council received large volume of complaints' over figures painted in Carlisle Street in Balaclava

New South Wales roads minister has accused said a Sydney council of taking the rest of us for mugs'

Shameful' class pay gap is even worse for women from poorer upbringings, according to analysis by Social Mobility FoundationPeople from working-class backgrounds employed in professional careers earn 6,000 less compared to those from other backgrounds in the same jobs, findings from the Social Mobility Foundation show, underscoring the UK's shameful" class pay gap.Professionals from poorer upbringings face an average salary of 45,437 - 12% lower than the 51,728 for people from more affluent origins - in research based on quarterly Labour Force Surveys from 2014 to 2022. Continue reading...

ACT supreme court upholds commonwealth's claim that release of some documents could jeopardise security and defence of Australia'Whistleblower David McBride has pleaded guilty to three charges after an ACT supreme court upheld a commonwealth intervention to withhold key evidence it deemed as having the potential to jeopardise the security and defence of Australia" if released.Originally facing five charges, the former military lawyer pleaded guilty in the ACT supreme court on Friday afternoon to three offences, including stealing commonwealth information and passing that on to journalists at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Continue reading...

Body of Ismael Villagomez found in a car as the Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the killing to be investigatedA photographer for a newspaper in the notoriously violent Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez was found shot dead in the driver's seat of a car, prosecutors said, in the fifth killing of a journalist in the country so far in 2023.The body of Ismael Villagomez was found just after midnight Thursday. The newspaper he worked for, the Heraldo de Juarez, said the news photographer was found dead in a car that he had registered to use for work for a ride-hailing app. In Mexico, many journalists take work outside the profession to pay the bills. Continue reading...

Fears Indonesian fishers could be buried on Imperieus reef in Rowley Shoals marine park after nine went missing in a cyclone earlier this year

Chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin faced grilling at Senate inquiry on Friday over last week's network outage

The former partner is accused of receiving more than $700,000 in unauthorised payments from clients, letter says

Police say driver was parked outside the private school's aquatic centre when he reversed into the building

At least 38 injured in the blaze at Yongju coal mine company in Lyuliang City, north China's Shanxi province.A fire that erupted in the office of a coal company in northern China has killed 26 people, state media said on Thursday, the latest in a series of deadly accidents in the coal industry.At least 38 people were injured in the blaze, which broke out at the four-storey Yongju Coal Industry Joint Building in the country's top coal-producing hub of Shanxi. Calls to the company by the Reuters news agency were not answered. Continue reading...

Man allegedly scammed renters out of more than $60,000 in bonds for properties in Bondi and western Sydney

The opposition leader cannot create an island free from the constitution of Australia', Human Rights Law Centre says

A male suspect was shot by officers and sustained life-threatening injuries, police sayA police officer has died after being shot during a violent confrontation in South Australia.Brevet Sgt Jason Doig and his colleagues Michael Hutchinson and Rebekah Cass went to a property in the rural community of Senior near the Victorian border about 11.20pm on Thursday. They were confronted by an armed man and Doig was shot, police said. His colleagues and paramedics tried to save him but he died at the scene.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Colonel Medel Aguilar says the Philippines will not stop resupply missions to a grounded warship that have developed into a potential flashpoint with BeijingThe Philippines has accused China of seeking to bully smaller countries into submission and vowed it will continue its missions to deliver supplies to a grounded derelict warship that serves as an outpost in the South China Sea.The Philippines deliberately grounded BRP Sierra Madre at Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands, in 1999 to guard against expansion by China, and the ship has become a growing flashpoint in the fiercely disputed water. Continue reading...

Inappropriate' for 12-year-old girl accused of murdering 37-year-old woman to remain in detention due to intellectual disabilities, court hears

Leo Fransen's crew from Diamond Beach, on mid-north coast, was fighting 21,370 hectare bushfire when he was struck

Four people allegedly fled the Surry Hills scene on foot after driving car from Sunshine Coast

Evidence review by Nice found that cognitive behavioural therapy should be considered alongside or as an alternative to HRT'Women experiencing hot flushes, night sweats, depression and sleep problems could be offered therapy to help reduce their menopause symptoms, under new guidelines.But menopause champions warned on Thursday that those suffering with symptoms could have long waits for mental health support and stressed that the new draft guidance to GPs from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) must not distract from ongoing challenges" of getting HRT. Continue reading...

Shannon Fentiman's announcement comes after Guardian Australia revealed an alleged teenage rape victim was left suicidal after her treatment in hospital

Fast-track bill, after supreme court ruling barring deportation flights, would be wildly unpopular legislation' says Tory peerRishi Sunak's target of flying out asylum seekers to Rwanda by next spring is in doubt, with opposition parties and some Conservative peers having pledged to try to block emergency legislation intended to rescue the plan.In another blow to the prime minister, Suella Braverman, the home secretary he sacked on Monday, dismissed his ideas as magical thinking", setting out her own rival plan to make sure removals begin swiftly. Continue reading...

Shawn Seesahai was found stabbed on playing fieldsTwo boys aged 12 have been charged with the murder of a 19-year-old man in Wolverhampton.Ambulance crews were called to land off Laburnum Road, East Park, on Monday, but Shawn Seesahai was pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading...

Israeli military also claims to have uncovered a vehicle with weapons belonging to the group

Divisive Brexiter will be tasked with helping fellow contestants 2,000 miles away on Gold CoastNigel Farage will be stranded in the middle of the Australian outback when I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! gets under way.He will be one of three unsuspecting stars who will be dropped in the red desert in the scorching heat and tasked with helping his campmates thousands of miles away. Continue reading...

Michael Matheson apologises after initially charging bill to Holyrood and failing to say parliamentary tablet was used as data hotspot by sonsMichael Matheson, Scotland's embattled health secretary, has apologised unreservedly" after admitting he failed to properly disclose that his sons had largely run up an 11,000 iPad bill which he had initially charged in full to taxpayers.In a personal statement to MSPs on Thursday, Matheson said he had referred himself for possible investigation by parliament for breaching its code of conduct, as he fought against mounting calls to resign from opposition leaders. Continue reading...

Luis Kyburg was alleged commander of Argentinian navy unit believed responsible for deaths of at least 150 peopleAn Argentinian former military officer has died of natural causes in Berlin just weeks before he was charged over the murder of 23 members of leftwing groups during the country's military dictatorship.The 75-year-old ex-navy officer was suspected in the abduction, disappearance, torture and murder of 23 young people in 1976 and 1977, Berlin prosecutors said. Continue reading...

Decision to table primary legislation in parliament puts in doubt Rishi Sunak's aim for flights to begin leaving for Rwanda by springRishi Sunak's government will present a full law to parliament to set aside the supreme court's ban on sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, setting up a probable battle with MPs and peers and putting in doubt the aim for flights to begin leaving by spring.The law could be published within a fortnight, after next week's autumn statement, and it will be primary legislation, meaning it will have to pass through all the normal stages of the Commons and Lords, Downing Street has said. Continue reading...

Josep Borrell says one horror does not justify another' and calls for unconditional release of hostages