Bill does not include a number of conservative policy demands, though Republicans won concessions on DEI training in militaryCongress passed a US defense policy bill on Thursday that authorizes the biggest pay rise for troops in more than two decades, while leaving behind many of the policy priorities that social conservatives were clamoring for.Lawmakers have been negotiating a final bill for months. Some of the priorities championed by social conservatives were a no-go for Democrats, so negotiators dropped them from the final product to get it over the finish line. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#6H4Y0)
Use of ecstasy and nitrous oxide fall overall and drug use of all kinds falls among younger peopleOne in 100 people in England and Wales took hallucinogenic drugs in the last year, as magic mushroom" use increased by tens of thousands of people, while use of ecstasy and nitrous oxide fell.Increasing use by older adults was behind the rise in psychedelic tripping, according to annual figures about drug use among 16 to 59-year-olds from the Office for National Statistics. Continue reading...
High-level negotiations in St Vincent will discuss Venezuelan president's claim for two-thirds of neighbour's oil-rich territoryVenezuela risks becoming an international pariah if President Nicolas Maduro does not de-escalate growing tensions with Guyana, the neighbouring nation's foreign minister told the Guardian ahead of a high-level meeting between the two countries.We've seen throughout history what happens to nation states who decide to go it alone ... it usually sets the country back decades," Hugh Todd said ahead of the summit in St Vincent on Thursday. Continue reading...
Experts say crumbling concrete and other issues threaten catastrophic failures or major disruption to clinical services'The NHS in England has a record repairs bill of almost 12bn, new figures show, with ministers needing to find more than 2bn for urgent maintenance to prevent catastrophic failure.The annual report into the condition of the health service's estate said on Thursday that the cost of improving rundown buildings and decrepit equipment is two and a half times larger than in 2011-2012, when it stood at 4.7bn. Continue reading...
by Luke Harding near Avdiivka. Pictures by Alessio Ma on (#6H4T0)
After almost a decade on the frontline, the city is a wreck, with just 1,200 people left, but it remains of huge symbolic valueFor two months, the Russian army has been trying to seize the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka. First, it launched a massive frontal assault. Dozens of pieces of equipment were destroyed. Then it dispatched armoured columns in different directions. Now, in a third wave, small groups of infantry are being sent to penetrate Ukrainian positions.There are dozens of bodies. They try to advance. We kill them. They send more," said Ivan Smaga, the deputy commander of Ukraine's 25th storm battalion, which is defending Avdiivka. To begin with it was groups of 10 men. Now it's one or two or three without support. Their commander uses them like live meat." Continue reading...
by Philip Oltermann European culture editor on (#6H4QZ)
Emmanuelle Debever died on same day the allegations were re-aired on TV, according to French mediaEmmanuelle Debever, a French actor who was among the first to accuse Gerard Depardieu of sexual assault, died earlier this month, the same day her allegations against her former co-star were re-aired on television, French media reported.Debever, who in 2019 accused Depardieu of assaulting her on the set of the 1982 film Danton, died on 7 December, Liberation newspaper reported on Thursday. Continue reading...
Singer suffers sudden illness while on tour and cancels remainder of datesPatti Smith has been briefly hospitalised following an illness while on tour in Italy.The 76-year-old singer had been due to perform in Bologna but she cancelled the concert after suffering what the city's Teatro Duse venue described as a sudden illness". Continue reading...
Seyyed Farshchi, 50, worked refugee relentlessly' for little pay and threatened to have him sent back to his home countryA Melbourne chiropractor who subjected a vulnerable refugee to forced labour for his own financial gain has urged a judge not to send him to prison.A county court jury in October found Seyyed Farshchi, 50, guilty of causing a person to remain in forced labour and conducting a business involving forced labour.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...
Broadcaster also hits back during defamation trial at suggestion she was captured' by Brittany Higgins and had no desire to check or scrutinise anything she said'
Kathleen Folbigg was considered country's worst female serial killer and spent two decades in jail. Now she is free and has cleared her nameKathleen Folbigg was reviled as a baby killer and Australia's most hated woman" when she was convicted in 2003 of murdering three of her children and for the manslaughter of another.But on Thursday, Folbigg's convictions were quashed by an appeals court following an inquiry that examined new scientific evidence and found there was reasonable doubt of her guilt. Continue reading...
Arif Ahmed will face a balancing act when his position - that legal speech gets protected - runs into messy realityEngland's newly appointed university free speech tsar, Arif Ahmed, finds himself in the same position as the leaders of three of the US's elite universities: having to nurture free speech on campus but struggling to explain those principles in real-life cases.Last week the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were at the centre of compelling political theatre as they were grilled by the Republican representative Elise Stefanik on the tension between free speech and antisemitism. Continue reading...
Arif Ahmed of OfS says universities that infringe rights to expression will face fines under new systemUniversity staff and students can make provocative statements on subjects such as Israel and Gaza as long as they do not break laws on incitement or harassment, under proposals by the government's campus free speech tsar.Arif Ahmed, the newly appointed director for academic freedom of speech at the Office for Students (OfS), said universities and colleges in England that infringed the rights to expression of individuals would face fines under the new complaints process. Continue reading...
by Adam Fulton (now and earlier); Richard Luscombe an on (#6H3NR)
This blog is now closed. See all our Israel-Gaza war coverage hereThe Times of Israel is reporting a little more detail on the incident in the Red Sea earlier, which caused the UK maritime trade operations (UKMTO) agency to issue a warning. [See 7.46 GMT]Citing US officials, it reports that two missiles fired from Yemen missed a commercial tanker near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It also reports that a US navy vessel shot down a drone that was heading towards it. Continue reading...
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International claim that authorities failed to mobilise appropriate resources', while Greece says the ship's crew refused assistanceHuman rights groups have deplored the lack of progress made by Greek authorities in their investigation into the controversial circumstances in which a migrant ship sank off the Peloponnese - leaving more than 500 dead - in one of the Mediterranean's worst ever boat disasters.Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International claim there are credible allegations that the Hellenic Coast Guard's actions and omissions" contributed to the 14 June shipwreck. Continue reading...
League announces penalty less than 24 hours after Green hit Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurki and received foul and ejectionGolden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after he hit Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurki in the face and received a Flagrant 2 foul and ejection.The league announced the penalty handed down by operations chief Joe Dumars and said the suspension begins immediately. It's already Green's second suspension this season. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#6H4E4)
Research by Shelter finds 309,000 people set to spend festive season in a tiny hostel room or freezing doorway' after rise in rough sleepingNearly 40,000 more people than last year are expected to spend this Christmas homeless, in a sign that England's housing emergency is out of control, according to the charity Shelter.The 14% increase in people spending the festive season in hotels, B&Bs and other temporary accommodation emerged from official figures and freedom of information requests. Continue reading...
SAS veteran Davis describes very vicious' clash outside parliamentThe Conservative MP David Davis has spoken of how he fought off an attack near parliament as he intervened to help a rough sleeper who was being beaten up.Davis, a former cabinet minister and leadership contender, said he aggressively stood between the attackers and the homeless man, and dodged two punches. Continue reading...
Concerns raised over security, food and lack of information after resident's suicide as cost of vessel revealed to be more than 22mAsylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm barge are becoming increasingly desperate about their living conditions as the Home Office admitted that the vessel has cost taxpayers more than 22m so far.After the suicide of an unidentified resident on Tuesday, asylum seekers said that conditions had deteriorated since up to 300 people were moved on to the barge. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Key sectors of capital's economy worth billions to exchequer could be left understaffed, mayor warnsSadiq Khan has said ministers' plans to cut legal migration will lead to a full-blown recruitment crisis" in London, with vacancies in hospitality alone still higher than they were pre-pandemic.Net migration to the UK boosted the UK population by 672,000 in the year ending June 2023, and about half (48%) of the country's foreign-born population live in London or the south-east of England. Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#6H460)
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...
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...
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...
by Rebecca Ratcliffe South-east Asia correspondent on (#6H3Z2)
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...
by Caroline Davies (now) and Jessica Murray (earlier) on (#6H3QA)
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...
by Elias Visontay Transport and urban affairs reporte on (#6H3WQ)
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...
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