Top World News
Three more Farage bloc MEPs alleged to have followed Russian asset’s script
At least eight MEPs elected for Ukip or Brexit party now known to have been focus of efforts by jailed Nathan GillThree more British MEPs from Nigel Farage’s bloc are alleged to have “followed the script” given to a colleague who was being bribed by an alleged Russian asset, according to prosecutors, as a police investigation into the affair continues.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has named Jonathan Bullock, Julia Reid and Steven Woolfe, saying they followed the script provided to Nathan Gill by Oleg Voloshyn when giving interviews to 112 Ukraine, a pro-Russian TV channel in March 2019. Continue reading...
US Rolls Out $5,000 Penalty For Migrants Caught After Illegal Entry
The penalty is approved under US President Donald Trumps One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Active travel groups call for clear targets on walking and cycling in England
Exclusive: Groups including British Cycling call for active travel strategy to be put on equal footing with road and railMore than 50 groups connected to transport and public health have urged the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, to set specific targets for levels of walking and cycling in England, warning that plans as they stand are too vague.A letter from groups including British Cycling, Cycling UK, the National Trust and the British Medical Association says the government’s proposals for active travel must “move from good intentions to a clear, long-term, fully deliverable national plan comparable to other strategic transport programmes”. Continue reading...
Louisiana officials continue search for last of three escaped inmates
Three men fled Opelousas jail after removing concrete blocks from wall in state’s second inmate escape of yearAuthorities on Sunday were hunting for the last of three inmates who escaped from a Louisiana jail after removing concrete blocks from a deteriorating wall.“We would prefer that he surrender himself peaceably,” St Landry parish sheriff Bobby J Guidroz said in a statement, “but we will not rest until he is captured.” Continue reading...
Senior DWP civil servant blames victims for carer’s allowance scandal
Neil Couling said failings by individual claimants ‘at the heart’ of crisis, despite a report finding DWP shortcomings ‘unacceptable’ One of the most senior civil servants in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has placed the blame for the carer’s allowance benefits crisis on victims, many of whom have been left with life-changing debts.In an internal blogpost written for Whitehall colleagues, Neil Couling, the director general of DWP services, said individual failings by carers were “at the heart” of the issue that has been likened to the Post Office Horizon scandal. Continue reading...
First phase of Gaza ceasefire plan nearly complete, says Netanyahu
Israeli PM to discuss next steps with Donald Trump this month but timetable for lasting peace remains unclearBenjamin Netanyahu has said that the first phase of the UN-endorsed Gaza ceasefire plan is close to completion, and that the second phase must involve the disarmament of Hamas.The Israeli prime minister said he would discuss the next steps later this month in Washington with Donald Trump, whose Gaza proposals were codified in a UN security council resolution on 17 November. Continue reading...
Martin Parr, photographer acclaimed for observations of British life, dies aged 73
From sunbathers to Conservative clubs, Parr’s images were often in vivid colour with more than a dash of humourMartin Parr: the photographer’s career in pictures‘There’s something very interesting about boring’: Martin Parr on his life in picturesMartin Parr, the British documentary photographer who captured the peculiarities of the nation with clarity and hilarity, has died aged 73. He had been diagnosed with cancer in May 2021.A statement from the Martin Parr Foundation on Sunday said: “It is with great sadness that we announce that Martin Parr died yesterday at home in Bristol. Continue reading...
Two marathon organisers arrested in Iran over women running without hijabs
Judiciary says a criminal case has been opened after online images showed a number of unveiled female competitors Judicial authorities in Iran have arrested two organisers of a marathon held on an island off the country’s southern coast after images emerged showing women taking part in the race without hijabs.The arrests on Saturday come as the authorities face increasing criticism from ultraconservatives who accuse them of inadequate efforts to enforce a mandatory headscarf law for women amid fears of growing western influence on the Islamic republic. Continue reading...
No, New York City’s wealthiest are not fleeing the city after Mamdani’s win
Conservatives warned of a mass exodus if the democratic socialist won, but experts, and property data, paint a very different pictureThe warnings were stark. If Zohran Mamdani were to win the New York City mayoral election, his plans to raise taxes – slightly – on the city’s wealthiest residents would cause millionaires to bolt en masse, decamping to lower-tax states such as Florida and Texas.The New York Post, a conservative tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, told readers on an almost daily basis through October that New York would effectively become a ghost town under Mamdani’s mayoralty, a propaganda campaign that concluded the day before the election with the bombastic claim that “nearly a million” people were planning to “flee”. Continue reading...
African swine fever outbreak in Spain may have leaked from research lab, officials say
Authorities say strain of virus that has killed wild boars in Catalonia is one often used for experiments in secure facilities Spanish authorities investigating the African swine fever outbreak in Catalonia are looking into the possibility that the disease may have leaked from a research facility and are focusing on five nearby laboratories as potential sources.Thirteen cases of the fever have been confirmed in wild boars in the countryside outside Barcelona since 28 November, prompting Spain to scramble to contain the outbreak before it becomes a serious threat to its pork export industry, which is worth €8.8bn (£7.7bn) a year. Continue reading...
UK politics: Your Party’s Sultana suggests ‘electoral alliances’ could help stop Farage – as it happened
Sultana says Labour party has ‘left the scene’ as she says she ‘gets on really well’ with Greens’ PolanskiRounding up his interview, Trevor Phillips asked Helen Whately about the Guardian’s investigation into Nigel Farage’s alleged racist and antisemitic behaviour as a teenager towards fellow Dulwich college pupils. She suggested that the Reform leader appears not to be giving “straight answers” when asked about his past behaviour, and ruled out any pact with Farage’s party at the next general election.“He needs to give people a straight answer,” Whately said.The number one reason why people, young people, are becoming Neet – not in employment, education or training – is because they’re moving on to sickness benefits. Yet we just saw a few months ago where Labour was attempting to make some reforms to this problem (people going on to sickness benefits). They u-turned, they abandoned their reforms. Continue reading...
Trump To Ban Visas For Fact-Checkers, Censors: How It Will Affect Indians
The Donald Trump administration has directed US embassy officials to reject visa applicants who have worked in roles related to fact-checking, content moderation, compliance, or online safety, according to a State Department memo.
