Marketing executive Jeff Hahn, 59, credits three miracles' for his survival in extreme heat in Big Bend Ranch state parkA Texas marketing executive who got lost for more than a day and fell prey to heat exhaustion while on a hike through a state park desert under a searing sun in mid-June drank from a puddle and ate tadpoles to survive, according to a compelling report of his ordeal.Jeff Hahn's tale, as told to the publication Texas Highways, defied the deadly outcomes that other hikers in peril have met in recent months, when the climate crisis fueled the US's summer of record-breaking heat. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: Attack on alleged Hamas command centre beneath hospital is a key test for Israel's military and its ability to protect civilians Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. In the last few hours, Israeli soldiers have stormed Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital. Israel says that the raid, which is still underway, is a precise and targeted operation against Hamas", which it accuses of operating a command centre beneath the medical facility, a claim Hamas denies.The attack at al-Shifa is militarily significant - but it is also taking place in the arena of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe that has drawn huge global attention, with conditions rapidly deteriorating on the site since the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) surrounded it last week. And so whether Israel is able to carry out the pinpoint attack it has promised is likely to be a critical test of the international community's view of its conduct of the war.Conservatives | Suella Braverman has launched an astonishing attack on Rishi Sunak the day after he sacked her as home secretary, claiming he had betrayed" the country by failing to deliver on secret promises he made her last year. Braverman indicated she will spearhead a Tory rebellion over the government's Rwanda asylum plan, which faces a crucial legal test on Wednesday.Cyprus confidential | Chelsea FC is facing questions over how its former owner Roman Abramovich funded the club's success, after leaked files revealed a string of secret payments that may have breached football's strict financial fair play" rules. The disclosures are part of an international investigation into a cache of 3.6m leaked offshore records in Cyprus.Cost of living | The UK inflation rate has dropped to 4.6%, down from 6.7% in September, it has just been announced. That is an even larger fall than was expected. Head to the business live blog for more.Ukraine | The Ukrainian president's chief of staff has said for the first time that Ukraine's forces in the Kherson region have a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro river, potentially opening a new line of attack towards Crimea. Andriy Yermak claimed that the advance was part of a developing counteroffensive.Health | A vaccine to protect against chickenpox should become a routine childhood jab in the UK, government advisers have said, adding that it would not only reduce the number of children who become sick from the virus, but also cut the number of cases that can become fatal. Continue reading...
Announcement after Central's Austrian partner Signa Group was placed in hands of restructuring expertThailand's largest department store owner, Central Group, has announced it has taken control of Selfridges department stores.Central Group and Rene Benko's Austrian real estate company Signa Group bought Selfridges in 2021 in a deal worth $5bn. Continue reading...
Presence of Ukrainian troops on Russian-held side of Dnipro river is acknowledged for first time and opens up potential route to CrimeaThe Ukrainian president's chief of staff has acknowledged for the first time that Ukraine's forces in the Kherson region have a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro river, potentially opening a new line of attack towards Crimea.Russian troops abandoned the western bank of the river a year ago and took up positions on the eastern side from which they have been regularly shelling towns and villages opposite. Continue reading...
Former military lawyer has pleaded not guilty to five charges in ACT supreme court over decision to leak material that was used as basis for ABC series on war crimes
Strikeforce Tromperie targeted syndicate allegedly linked to movement of $1bn through firearm, drug, tobacco and money laundering offencesAustralian police say they have disrupted if not eliminated what they allege is the biggest criminal network or enterprise in Australia" following 43 raids that resulted in 28 arrests.A year-long investigation involving New South Wales police, the NSW Crime Commission and Australian Border Force targeted the activities of the syndicate hailing from Lebanon. Continue reading...
Research in 21 countries suggests a growing a la carte' approach where states mix and match' partners on different issuesAs the US and Chinese presidents meet on Wednesday in high-stakes diplomacy intended to reduce tensions between the world's two superpowers, a survey of 21 countries shows that geopolitical alliances no longer fit a west v the rest" frame.Many in the west think it is in decline, many outside it want China to be more active in their economies and believe Russia will win its war against Ukraine, and many beyond Europe reckon the EU will not last another 20 years, according to the research, which concludes that global relations are becoming increasingly a la carte". Continue reading...
by Tom Ambrose (now) and Andrew Sparrow (earlier) on (#6GBXG)
Former home secretary tells PM he broke promises he made to gain her support during party leadership contestRishi Sunak took something of a risk when he decided to sack Suella Braverman. Her hardline, anti-immigration rhetoric was popular, not just with rightwing MPs, but with most of the Tory press (particularly the Daily Mail), and this morning those papers might have come out in her defence.But, judging by their editorials, they are broadly supportive of Sunak. They have not turned on him - at least today.Moving the impressive James Cleverly to Home Secretary is smart, as is appointing Esther McVey as Common Sense Tsar' to oversee the anti-woke agenda.Will this be enough to placate the Tory Right? Only time will tell, but any MP who thinks salvation lies in yet more no- confidence letters - and trying to unseat another leader - needs their head testing.The seeds of his downfall were planted that year when his promise of an EU referendum was included in the Tory manifesto, not least to see off a populist threat from Ukip. Mr Sunak is facing something similar in that the country is increasingly alarmed by high levels of immigration, both legal and illegal, and extremism. The recent pro-Palestinian marches and the rise of anti-Semitic hatred have brought much of this to a head.Mrs Braverman articulated many of these concerns, and those who agree with her will be angry that she has been dropped, seeing it as appeasing the Left and deepening Tory divisions.[Cameron's] central achievement in 11 years as party leader, often overlooked after the Brexit debacle, was to give the Conservative party a much broader base. In his time, great strides were made in making sure a fiscally conservative party was also socially liberal and internationalist: advancing the careers of women in politics, championing same-sex marriage, expanding development aid and becoming the natural home of ethnically diverse British leadership, of whom Rishi Sunak himself is the outstanding embodiment.Cameron's renewed prominence is a reminder that the cabinet in which he will be sitting is mainstream and centre-right, looking to reduce taxation but only in a financially responsible way, controlling migration effectively but without divisive language, improving the UK's relations with Europe while eschewing nationalistic rhetoric. That is what Sunak has been doing but against the backdrop of mixed messages from former PMs and some of his own cabinet. The Conservatives after this reshuffle are more unmistakably the party that some of its disenchanted former voters will recognise as their own. Continue reading...
Sacked home secretary pulls no punches in letter to Rishi Sunak but some of them may miss the mark UK politics live - latest updatesSuella Braverman's parting shot to Rishi Sunak after he sacked her is a stinging letter in which she makes a series of attacks on his policies and style of government. Here we analyse her key points.Braverman wrote:As you know, I accepted your offer to serve as home secretary in October 2022 on certain conditions. Despite you having been rejected by a majority of party members during the summer leadership contest and thus having no personal mandate to be prime minister, I agreed to support you because of the firm assurances you gave me on key policy priorities ... This was a document with clear terms.Include specific notwithstanding clauses" into new legislation to stop the boats, ie exclude the operation of the European convention on human rights, Human Rights Act and other international law that had thus far obstructed progress on this issue.You have manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver on every single one of these key policies. Either your distinctive style of government means you are incapable of doing so. Or, as I must surely conclude now, you had no intention of keeping your promises ... These are not just pet interests of mine. They are what we promised the British people which led to our landslide victory. They are what people voted for in the 2016 referendum.I have become hoarse urging you to consider legislation to ban the hate marches and help stem the rising tide of racism, intimidation and terrorist glorification threatening community cohesion.In October of last year you were given an opportunity to lead our country. It is a privilege to serve and one we should not take for granted. Service requires bravery and thinking of the common good. It is not about occupying the office as an end in itself. Continue reading...
New foreign secretary faces pressure to provide evidence against suspects in one of his first bilateral meetingsThe UK is being pressed to help provide more evidence against suspects involved in protests outside the Indian high commission in London in March.The pressure came as the new UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, met the Indian external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, in one of his first bilateral meetings. Jaishankar is backing demands from the Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) for further cooperation over those involved in the violence. Continue reading...
Council declares major incident at 65-year-old Barton House after survey finds three flats pose structural riskHundreds of people have been evacuated from a 65-year-old tower block in Bristol after a major structural risk was discovered, with some families being put up in emergency shelters.About 400 people - roughly 100 of them children - were told to leave Barton House in Barton Hill on the edge of the city centre. The city council declared a major incident, a mechanism that makes it easier to get help from outside organisations, and emergency services were put on alert as a precaution. Continue reading...
Sacked home secretary says PM agreed during leadership election to enact rightwing policies - but then failed to do soSuella Braverman's letter to Rishi Sunak in fullSuella Braverman has launched a devastating attack on Rishi Sunak the day after he sacked her as home secretary.The prime minister signed up to a secret pact to implement key rightwing policies to secure her backing during the Tory leadership contest in 2022 - but then betrayed" the country by failing to deliver, Braverman claimed on Tuesday evening. Continue reading...
Five people who died including three children are believed to have been members of the same familyTributes have been paid to victims of a fire in which five people from the same family died in west London at the weekend.Ten fire engines and about 70 firefighters were called to the blaze in Channel Close, Hounslow, at 10.26pm on Sunday, London fire brigade said. Continue reading...
In-development film comes after controversy around the re-creation of late stars' voices, such as Anthony BourdainSixty years after her death, Edith Piaf's voice will be re-created using AI to narrate her biopic.As reported by Variety, Warner Music Group (WMG) has partnered with the Piaf estate to produce the feature-length film Edith. Artificial intelligence has been trained to replicate Piaf's voice by feeding it hundreds of voice clips, with WMG promising the resultant re-creation will further enhance the authenticity and emotional impact of her story". Continue reading...
by Simon Goodley, Rob Davies, Kate Connolly, Helena S on (#6GC5P)
Biggest ever leak of financial data from Cyprus raises concerns over EU state's role in managing Russian fortunesCyprus has vowed to tighten controls on its financial sector as an investigation published by the Guardian and its reporting partners reveals oligarchs transferred hundreds of millions in assets while sanctions loomed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.The role of the blue-chip accountants PwC Cyprus and other advisers in managing transactions as Vladimir Putin's forces launched their assault has emerged from Cyprus Confidential, a cache of 3.6m files leaked by an anonymous source to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Germany's Paper Trail Media, which shared access with the Guardian and other reporting partners. Continue reading...
Rita Roberts identified through appeal seeking information on 22 women killed in Belgium, Netherlands and GermanyA woman's body found 31 years ago in Antwerp has been identified as that of a British national, Rita Roberts, after police appealed to the public for help in identifying 22 women murdered in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany over the past 50 years.Operation Identify Me was launched in May by the Belgian, Dutch and German police which, together with Interpol, the international policing organisation, released details of the cases that would normally only be available to law enforcement agencies. Continue reading...
Mohammad Javad Zarif says Israel wants to expand Gaza conflict in order to drag the US into the fightingThe former Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is urging his country not to become embroiled in a direct war with Israel or the US.The best way to defend the Palestinian people was to avoid giving the west a reason to claim they are acting as a proxy of Iran, Zarif said, adding that Israel was trying to lure Iran into such a battle. Continue reading...
by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#6GC0A)
British artist's 1947 painting Beach Scene, Lancashire to go to auction after 70 years in Canadian collectionIt is a beach painting full of cheerful hustle, bustle, play and paddling, though the jumpers and hats reveal it is a long way from Saint-Tropez.he 1947 work Beach Scene, Lancashire is a snapshot of an English summer's day, probably in Lytham, and is considered one of LS Lowry's finest seascape paintings. Continue reading...
Owner of Bluewater and Trinity Leeds also says brands are looking for fewer, bigger, better' storesOne of Britain's biggest property developers is shifting its London portfolio from the City of London to the West End as tenants want to be in vibrant locations with easy access to shopping and leisure activities.Landsec, which owns offices and shops around Victoria station and Piccadilly Circus in the heart of London, has sold 2.5bn of properties since 2020 - mostly single-let office buildings in the City, such as the Deutsche Bank and Deloitte headquarters, as well as the Harbour Exchange office block in Canary Wharf. More than three-quarters (76%) of the developer's portfolio is now in the West End and Southwark south of the Thames, up from 58% in 2020, while its City assets are down to 24%. Continue reading...
Masaya reportedly tortured and his body dumped on outskirts of Harare after being abducted while campaigningA Zimbabwe opposition activist has been found dead after he was abducted on Saturday during a political campaign just outside Harare, the Citizens Coalition for Change party has said. It was the second abduction in weeks of an opposition party member.Tapfumaneyi Masaya was reportedly bundled into a vehicle by unknown men while campaigning for the CCC's candidate ahead of byelections on 9 December, the party said. Continue reading...
Its insistence that customers need a police report to get a refund after goods fail to turn up could go against Consumer Rights ActAmazon has been accused of showing contempt for UK consumer law by insisting that customers whose orders fail to arrive submit a police report in order to qualify for a refund.Some buyers have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after the retail giant required them to report missing deliveries to police, then refused to accept their crime reference number. Continue reading...
Amnesty says heritage body has fallen short' in its responsibility to thousands of families thrown off the complex in CambodiaUnesco has fallen short of its responsibility to uphold and promote human rights" amid mass evictions at Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex, Amnesty International has claimed in a new investigation.The Cambodian government has used intimidation, harassment, threats and acts of violence" to remove about 10,000 families from the world heritage site, the report said. In an unusual move, Amnesty also named Unesco as a responsible actor", arguing that the UN body was made aware of alleged human rights abuses for months but did not investigate or acknowledge them.Additional reporting by Keat Soriththeavy Continue reading...
The barrister has been welcomed as a competent and intelligent choice by centrist ToriesVictoria Atkins might not have the public profile of cabinet peers, but her appointment as health secretary caps several years of steady, if unshowy, handling of briefs in junior ministerial roles.An MP since 2015 and a backer of Rishi Sunak in the 2022 Conservative leadership contest, her elevation has been warmly welcomed by colleagues in the centrist wing of the Conservative party, who also emphasised what they regarded as her competence. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: Why the former prime minister has returned to frontline politics as Rishi Sunak's foreign secretary Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. David Cameron really is the new foreign secretary. In a way, Rishi Sunak warned us: just over a year ago, he told Tory party conference that his mission was to break with a failed 30-year political consensus and usher in something genuinely different. All the same, I don't know if anyone could have predicted that he was planning to go back to a 60-year-old idea, instead. Even Cameron, truly the grown-up's grown-up, was barely out of nappies when Alec Douglas-Home, the last former prime minister to take over at the foreign office, got the job in 1970.On the other hand, it seems ... quite hard to break with a 30-year consensus by appointing one of its architects, even if doing so successfully drives the firing of home secretary Suella Braverman - who lost her job via an unceremonious phone call - from the front pages. He was the future once," the new cabinet minister once teased Tony Blair at prime minister's questions. We can now say that Cameron was the past once, a significantly more mind-bending proposition. The weirdest fact of the day: seven years after his resignation as prime minister, he's still four years younger than Keir Starmer.Israel-Hamas war | Israeli forces have reached the gates of Gaza's largest hospital as hundreds of patients, including dozens of babies, remained trapped inside. Thousands of people have fled al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, but health officials said the remaining patients were dying due to energy shortages amid intense fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas militants. For the latest, head to the live blog.Iceland volcano | Iceland's prime minister has sought to reassure the nation as it braces for a volcanic eruption. Between midnight and early afternoon on Monday, the Icelandic meteorological office detected about 900 earthquakes amid warnings of the significant likelihood of the Fagradalsfjall volcano erupting within days.Fertility | People who donate sperm, eggs and embryos to help others have children will lose the right to anonymity from the moment the child is born, under proposed changes to UK fertility law. The proposal, prompted by the ease with which people can sidestep formal routes to trace donors via private DNA testing and social media, is one of several proposals published by the regulator today.Environment | BP and Spotify were among companies who bought carbon credits at risk of being implicated in potential Uyghur forced labour, an investigation has found. A Guardian investigation found that provider South Pole was aware of the risk of forced labour linked to the scheme in 2021.Counter-terrorism | Downing Street's plan to ban the glorifying of terrorism risks criminalising supporters of the suffragettes, Nelson Mandela, or even the crowd at Murrayfield belting out Flower of Scotland", a former independent reviewer of terror legislation has warned. Continue reading...
by Patrick Butler Social policy editor on (#6GBSC)
Families resorting to desperate measures' and struggling with frightening' level of hardship amid cost of living crisisAbout 2m UK households have been forced to turn off their fridge or freezer to save money as they continue to struggle with what poverty campaigners called a frightening" level of hardship.Nearly half of those households said that since May they had to disconnect their fridge or freezer for the first time, a sign the cost of living crisis was still hurting low-income families, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) charity. Continue reading...
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