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The Associated Press projects Democrat Abigail Spanberger has won the Virginia governor's race, defeating Republican Winsome Earle-Sears

Pentagon secretary says two people killed in attack on boat in eastern Pacific, bringing total killed to 66 in 16 strikesDefense secretary Pete Hegseth announced yet another deadly strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, coming the same day an aircraft carrier began heading to the region in a new expansion of military firepower.The attack Tuesday killed two people aboard the vessel, Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration's campaign in South American waters up to at least 66 people in at least 16 strikes. Continue reading...

Secrecy around public release of 2023 review findings has angered crossbenchers in parliament, leading to Senate question time revolt

Popular platform added to list of companies required to restrict access for children, along with video streaming site Kick

Six of biggest providers to roll out new technology over next 12 months in effort to prevent fraud by foreign call centresSix of the biggest phone companies have said they will work together and upgrade their systems to stop fraudsters being able to spoof" UK phone numbers and commit fraud.New technology is expected to be rolled out over the next year that will stop criminals impersonating legitimate bodies and subsequently duping people into believing they are talking to real companies, banks and government departments. Continue reading...

Answers demanded after 23,500 families wrongly suspected of fraud when incorrect data showed they had left UKMPs are demanding answers from HMRC over a child benefit error in which payments to 23,500 families were stopped as part of an anti-fraud crackdown.Meg Hillier, a Labour MP and chair of the House of Commons Treasury select committee, has written to the permanent secretary of HMRC asking who made the decisions, why they were made and whether compensation would be offered to the victims. Continue reading...

Proposals include shortening length of GCSE exams, a new diagnostic test in maths and English, and expanding RE

From The Bends to A Moon Shaped Pool, nearly the whole album discography was accounted for at the art-rockers' first gig since 2018Let Down

Exclusive: Health secretary and NHS England chief warn of winter pressures and rising levels of abuseAn ugly" racism reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s has become worryingly commonplace again in modern Britain and NHS staff are bearing the brunt of it, Wes Streeting has warned.Incidents of verbal and physical abuse based on people's skin colour now happen so often that it has become socially acceptable to be racist", the health secretary said. Continue reading...

The ironies of Cheney's parting of ways with Donald Trump and modern day Republicans are numerous

Agreement that will increase drivers' pay to nearly 80,000 by 2027 comes after strike action in SeptemberThe RMT union has accepted a three-year inflation-plus pay deal for London Underground workers, ending the dispute that led to travel chaos in London in September and increasing drivers' pay to nearly 80,000 by 2027.The deal, with an initial 3.4% increase backdated to this April, means London Underground staff pay will rise in line with RPI inflation - higher than the CPI rate normally used for index-linked pay rises - with guaranteed minimum rates if inflation falls, making the total deal worth at least 9.2%. Continue reading...

Former US vice-president seen as a key figure in expanding White House's power and corrupting the intelligence-policy relationship'

Antonio Guterres calls for the violence to end but there appears little appetite for ceasefire proposed by USThe UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres has said the war in Sudan is spiralling out of control as he called for a halt to the fighting and an end to the violence.The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which are reportedly backed by the United Arab Emirates, seized El Fasher in Darfur last week after a near 18-month siege. Some of its soldiers have posted videos of civilians being shot, including in the town's maternity hospital. Continue reading...

Discovery of new information leads to decision for specialist officers to take over investigation into Peacehaven fireCounter-terrorism police are to take over the investigation into an arson attack on a mosque in an English seaside town, police have said.The attack in Peacehaven, East Sussex, took place on 4 October. Two people who were inside the mosque when the fire was started had to flee for their lives. Continue reading...

The chancellor appears to believe voters will forgive a broken promise in return for meaningful investment

Brazilian president Lula called police assault on two of Rio's largest clusters of favelas disastrous' and a massacre'Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has said his government will seek an independent investigation into what he called a disastrous" police massacre" that left at least 121 people dead.Four officers and at least 117 others were killed when police launched a major assault on two of Rio's largest clusters of favelas, the Complexo do Alemao and the Complexo da Penha, early last Tuesday to execute 100 arrest warrants. Continue reading...

Former footballer on trial over offensive' social media posts about broadcastersBroadcaster and former footballer Lucy Ward was left intimidated" and physically scared" by social media posts made by Joey Barton, a jury has heard.Ward, 51, was giving evidence to Liverpool crown court on Tuesday in a case against former footballer and manager Barton, 43, who is accused of 12 counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety. Continue reading...

Cheney, who served under presidents from Nixon to George W Bush, will be remembered for key role after 9/11Dick Cheney, the divisive US vice-president under George W Bush who helped lead the country into a disastrous invasion of Iraq, died on Monday, his family has said. He was 84.Cheney at various times held the roles of member of Congress, White House chief of staff and secretary of defense, but it was as one of the country's most powerful vice-presidents that he had the biggest impact, wielding great influence over the less experienced Bush. Continue reading...

Top lawyers call for change in rhetoric that has left minority ethnic Britons fearful as politicians target migrants

This live blog is now closedWe will formally get the EU's commentary on the enlargement ratings (9:26) in just over an hour - when EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and EU enlargment commissioner Marta Kos are due to speak to journalists - but we have just had a brief glimpse of what's coming during Kos's appearance in the European parliament.She said these have been significant advances on the EU path achieved so far by Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine," stressing that reforms pay off."I can say that these four candidates have matched their ambitions with concrete actions. Continue reading...

I made a mistake' says artist who included cloned archway on Halloween float for a Catholic schoolA Pennsylvania artist's efforts to create a Halloween float for a local Catholic school went awry when he inadvertently included a replica of the gateway arch from a Nazi concentration camp, prompting a hasty apology from the diocese of Harrisburg.In apologizing for the fiasco, Galen Shelly told PennLive that a lighted archway and lanterns he ordered to decorate a parade float he was building for Hanover's St Joseph's school did not arrive in time - so he searched the internet for images of cemetery gates to represent the idea that none of us get out of this life alive". Continue reading...

Boy had sought court order to force his return, after parents took him on trip to Ghana and returned without himA British teenager whose parents left him in Ghana, fearing he was at risk from gang culture" in the UK, should stay there until at least the end of his GCSE exams, a judge sitting at London's high court has ruled.The boy took legal action against his parents, seeking a court order that would force his return, after they enrolled him in a boarding school and arranged for him to live with extended family in Ghana without telling him. Continue reading...

Billionaire businessman's family owns Hinduja Group, which has interests across oil, banking and real estate

George Weston tells chancellor to tax rich folks instead' as ABF says it could split fashion chain from food arm

About 32,000 volunteered to fight Franco dictatorship, including 2,500 men and women from Britain and IrelandThe Spanish government has granted citizenship to 170 descendants of volunteers in the International Brigades in recognition of their fight against fascism during the Franco dictatorship that followed the civil war.An estimated 32,000 volunteers from around the world joined the anti-fascist brigades during the civil war, including approximately 2,500 men and women from Britain and Ireland, of whom 530 were killed. Continue reading...

Prisoners in police cells often have less access to healthcare and less chance of being visited by family and lawyers

We now know that the central bank doesn't think inflation will be back in its 2 to 3% target range until 2027

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners says doctors concerned at being 100% reliant on government funding decisions'

Exclusive: University says Elbit Systems, whose drones have been used extensively in Gaza, not on any controversial weapons list when shares bought and sold this year

Contractor was trapped for 11 hours under fallen masonry at medieval landmark near the ColosseumProsecutors have opened a manslaughter investigation over the death of a worker trapped when a medieval monument in central Rome partly collapsed.Octav Stroici, 66, was rescued on Monday night after 11 hours under fallen masonry but died of his injuries at the city's Umberto I hospital. Romanian foreign affairs officials, who said he came from their country, thanked rescuers for their efforts to save him during a long, complex and delicate operation. Continue reading...

Defence argued police engaged in fishing expedition' when they stopped far-right activist in Folkestone in July 2024Tommy Robinson has been cleared of a terror-related offence after being accused over a refusal to give police access to his phone during a border stop.A judge ruled that the stop was unlawful because it was based on what the far-right activist stood for" and his beliefs, rather than suspicions of a connection to terrorism. Continue reading...

Oil and gas company says it will review its portfolio and push to sell off assets faster

With polls showing signs of recovery after a popularity slump, Tuesday's results will test whether the party can rebuildOne year after Donald Trump won his way back into the White House, voters are going back to the ballot box in a test of the president's popularity and whether Democrats are able to rebound from their catastrophic losses of 2024.With governor's mansions, mayoral offices, statehouses and mid-cycle redistricting on the line in closely watched contests from Trenton, New Jersey and Richmond, Virginia to New York City and beyond, the party is pinning its hopes on locally rooted campaigns aiming to blunt a national conservative message that has surged in recent years. Continue reading...

Spy chief Mike Burgess says it's possible the unnamed regimes would try to hide their involvement' in any killings

Health minister Ryan Park promises the two closures are just the beginning' as NSW tries to stem sharp rise in illicit cigarettes and vapes

Spokesperson says company prepared to share names of those who bought dolls before they were removed from saleThe Asian e-commerce company Shein has pledged to cooperate with French prosecutors who have opened an investigation into the sale of childlike sex dolls on its platform.We will cooperate fully with the judicial authorities," Shein's spokesperson in France, Quentin Ruffat, told RMC radio, adding that the company was prepared to share names of those who had bought such dolls. Continue reading...

Thirteen arrested during demonstration with both police and protesters reporting injuries

Nasser Abu Srour says prisons became like another front' in Gaza war and tells of struggle to adjust to life outsideA celebrated Palestinian author who was freed last month after more than 32 years in Israeli prisons has said the use of torture increased dramatically during his last two years of captivity as Israel came to treat its jails as another front in the Gaza war.Nasser Abu Srour, whose prison memoir has been translated into seven languages and is tipped to win a major international literary prize this month, was among more than 150 Palestinians serving life sentences who were freed as part of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire and then immediately exile to Egypt, where most remain in limbo. Continue reading...

Reserve Bank's decision to leave cash rate on hold was widely expected and major banks predict no interest rates cut until 2026

This blog is now closed

Minister says obligations for school boards to give effect' to the treaty are unfair while critics argue the move will sideline Indigenous education

Minister responds to calls from watchdog's chair to approve new guidance on transgender rights as soon as possible'Bridget Phillipson has urged the equalities watchdog to focus more on helping ministers do their jobs and less on having public debates as a row continues about how long it will take to implement new rules on gender recognition.The comments by Phillipson, who is the equalities minister as well as the education secretary, come after the Equality and Human Rights Commission took the unusual step of urging the government to act with speed" in approving its statutory guidance on responding to a landmark supreme court ruling on transgender rights. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sources say a Sudanese national and another man were chartered to the former regional processing centre last week, joining one other person

Romanian worker was taken to hospital in serious condition' after being saved from Torre dei Conti rubble, but died soon afterA Romanian worker who was trapped for hours under rubble in Rome after the partial collapse of a medieval tower has died in hospital, just a short time after he was pulled free by emergency services.I express deep sorrow and condolences, on behalf of myself and the government, for the tragic loss of Octay Stroici, the worker who was killed in the collapse of the Torre dei Conti in Rome," Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement after midnight. We are close to his family and colleagues at this time of unspeakable suffering." Continue reading...

Sheffield Hallam University ordered professor to cease human rights study into Uyghurs forced labour in ChinaAn investigation into allegations that a British university was subjected to pressure from Beijing authorities to halt research about human rights abuses in China has been referred to counter-terrorism police.The Guardian reported on Monday morning that Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC) research institution, had ordered professor Laura Murphy to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in the country in February. Continue reading...

Scientists say almost all have weaknesses in at least one area that can undermine validity of resulting claims'Experts have found weaknesses, some serious, in hundreds of tests used to check the safety and effectiveness of new artificial intelligence models being released into the world.Computer scientists from the British government's AI Security Institute, and experts at universities including Stanford, Berkeley and Oxford, examined more than 440 benchmarks that provide an important safety net. Continue reading...

Chancellor to promise fairness and opportunity' but will not repeat manifesto pledge on tax, after PM's hint at breachRachel Reeves will lay the groundwork for a tax-raising budget that could break Labour's election promise on income tax, in a major speech in which she will be candid" about the tough choices ahead.The chancellor will give the speech as the markets open on Tuesday, when she will promise to make fair choices at this month's budget but decline to repeat her manifesto pledge of no rise in income tax, VAT or national insurance. Continue reading...

Lawyers lodge challenge to conviction of triple murderer who served relatives beef wellingtons laced with death cap mushrooms in regional Australia

The death of the three-time Oscar nominee, whose starred in films including Chinatown, was announced by her daughter Laura DernOscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd has died at the age of 89.The actor, whose credits included Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Chinatown and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, died at her home in Ojai, California. The news was announced in a statement shared by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern. Continue reading...