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Politics
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Andy Burnham vows UK will hit net zero target despite Jackdaw gasfield approval
Prime minister pledges his government’s commitment to address climate crisis saying ‘our determination is unwavering’ We will make the net-zero transition work for Britain – approving the Jackdaw gasfield is part of the plan | Andy Burnham Andy Burnham has said he will not “abandon the responsibility” tofight the climate crisis after the government approved the Jackdaw gasfield, saying he would not approve any new North Sea licences and that he would hit the net zero 2050 target. The comments are the prime minister’s most forthright yet on net zero, after many MPs have privately cast doubt on the authenticity of his commitment to tackling the climate crisis. Continue reading...
Dollar General agrees to a nearly $1.9m settlement for overcharging New York customers
Government inspections showed overcharges as high as 39% on some items. The discount store giant was the subject of a 2025 investigation by the Guardian Dollar General, the nation’s largest dollar-store chain, has agreed to a $1.875m deal to settle allegations that it “repeatedly and persistently” overcharged customers across New York state. The New York attorney general’s office found that Dollar General often charged customers higher prices at checkout than the prices it promised on shelf labels, signs, advertising circulars and its mobile app. The state agency said one check of 114 items across multiple stores revealed overcharges on individual items as high as 26%, 38% and 39%. Continue reading...
Haiti move Nations League home clash with USA to Miami amid gang violence crisis
Concacaf approves exceptional hosting arrangement Haiti to face US in South Florida on 14 November Miami’s Haitian community offers home advantage On Thursday, Concacaf announced that it had approved Haiti’s request to relocate their Nations League quarter-final first leg on 14 November from Kingston, Jamaica, to Miami in an “exceptional hosting arrangement”. Haiti have been unable to play nominal “home” games within their borders since July 2021, with the United Nations estimating that 90% of Port-au-Prince – including the national stadium – is controlled by violent gangs. Initially, Haiti’s match, the first leg of a home-and-away series against the United States, had been booked in Kingston. The Grenadiers had previously played their World Cup qualifiers in Curaçao, Aruba and Barbados. However, the Nations League format slated Curaçao and Jamaica to host their matches on the same night as Haiti’s, shunting Haiti to Sabina Park, the home of the Jamaica national team until their current venue opened in 1962. Now a cricket ground, Sabina Park hosted two of Haiti’s Nations League qualifiers. Continue reading...
We will make the net-zero transition work for Britain – approving the Jackdaw gasfield is part of the plan | Andy Burnham
Protecting jobs and strengthening energy security in the short term does not mean wavering on Labour’s deep commitment to a cleaner, greener future On Wednesday, the energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, gave the go-ahead for gas production to begin at the Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea. This has been the subject of fierce debate for many years, with strong views on both sides. I want to explain what the decision means and how it fits with Britain’s climate commitments. At a time of acute global instability, it makes sense to responsibly use our resources here at home. Gas from this field will begin heating our homes and powering our businesses this winter. In the longer term, it will significantly strengthen our energy security by increasing domestic gas production by about 6% and support the UK’s energy supply for more than a decade. Wednesday’s decision will also protect hundreds of jobs in Scotland and add almost £3bn to the UK economy over the lifetime of the project. Andy Burnham is prime minister of the United Kingdom Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here . Continue reading...
Russell Brand raped woman even though she screamed in pain, court hears
Alleged victim told her parents and others about attack and was encouraged to go to police but she feared she would not be believed A woman told her mother that Russell Brand had raped her and “didn’t stop even when she screamed out in pain”, a court has heard. She also told a colleague she was “bleeding everywhere” and Brand shouted at her, saying: “Look what you’ve done to my fucking sheets.” Continue reading...
CDC denies approval for high volume measles test, ‘prioritizing emerging technologies’
A letter signed by health officials in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, asks the CDC to reconsider California and Washington asked the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in May to validate a new way to test for measles – but after waiting two months, the CDC denied the request, citing “other competing priorities”, according to a letter from the West Coast Health Alliance to CDC director Erica Schwartz. The letter, signed by health officials in California , Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington, asks Schwartz to reconsider and validate a rapid, high-volume measles test in preparation for major outbreaks. The alliance also asked the CDC to create protocols to test for other high-priority pathogens to prepare for future outbreaks. Continue reading...
Revealed: billionaire Reform donor was in business with foundation linked to Iranian regime
Exclusive: Sasan Ghandehari’s partnership with religious foundation raises questions about past dealings with republic criticised by Nigel Farage Nigel Farage’s newest billionaire donor was in business with a powerful Iranian religious foundation under the authority of the country’s supreme leader, raising questions about his past dealings with the hardline republic. Hossein Ghandehari, also called Sasan, was little known in the UK until he pledged to give millions to Reform UK this summer and donated £50,000 to Farage to cover the cost of two passes for the Davos World Economic Forum. Continue reading...
Downing Street rejects Witkoff’s description of Putin as a ‘humanitarian’
No 10 says Russian president ‘has killed thousands of people, both innocent Ukrainians and his own people’ Downing Street has rejected the description of Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian” made by Donald Trump’s chief negotiator on the Ukraine war. Steve Witkoff met the Russian president in St Petersburg on Wednesday as he sought to make a new push to end the invasion of Ukraine, with the US putting pressure on Kyiv to agree to a settlement. Continue reading...
Rookie Lendeborg jaws at ‘weak ass’ Dončić and admits he didn’t watch much NBA
Lendeborg takes issue with appeals for foul calls Forward says he had limited exposure to league Golden State Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg had an extraordinary NBA debut as he jawed with Luka Dončić and admitted he had largely been exposed to the league through highlights before turning professional. Lendeborg was given the task of guarding the Los Angeles Lakers star for large parts of Wednesday’s game, which Dončić’s team won 127-105. Continue reading...
US judge orders Trump to sit for deposition in $10bn lawsuit against BBC
Judge threatens to dismiss Trump’s BBC lawsuit unless he cooperates with discovery process and sits for deposition Donald Trump has been ordered by a US judge to cooperate with the discovery process mandated for his lawsuit against the BBC and to sit for a deposition by 11 December – or else he could be subject to sanctions, including the possible dismissal of the $10bn lawsuit. The lawsuit stems from a Panorama documentary aired by the BBC that spliced together comments made by Trump during a rally on 6 January 2021, before the US Capitol riot. While the broadcast was not readily available to view in Florida, Trump’s team has argued that he was personally damaged by the broadcast under Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Continue reading...
Macron bans ‘illegitimate‘ protests in France as he tries to get a grip on unrest
French president will decide on concrete ‘next steps’ regarding demonstrations on Friday as part of tough security response to recent rioting Angry lawyers and bewildered defendants: the fallout from fast-tracking French rioting cases Emmanuel Macron has said “illegitimate” demonstrations will be banned over the coming days as France seeks to get a grip on civil unrest after some of its worst street violence in years erupted on the fringes of cost of living protests at the weekend. Speaking after a meeting with intelligence chiefs and senior ministers, the French president said on Thursday that demonstrations organised by recognised groups would be allowed to go ahead, although their routes could be changed. Continue reading...
Pete Hegseth has reportedly given DHS permission to test ‘heat ray’ for use at US-Mexico border
The Pentagon’s Active Denial System shoots energy beam that causes ‘sensation of intense heat on surface of skin’ Pete Hegseth , the US secretary of defense, reportedly signed a memo last month permitting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to test a non-lethal “heat ray” for potential use at the US southern border. The “heat ray”, known as the Active Denial System , is a military-grade weapon that shoots an energy beam causing “a sensation of intense heat on the surface of the skin”, according to a 2009 National Defense University case study on the weapon. Continue reading...
Trump’s Fifa peace prize was a sham. A reimagined award can still have meaning | Leander Schaerlaeckens
The first awarding marked the apex of Gianni Infantino’s hubris. A new version could highlight the good in the world of soccer Sign up for our free newsletter here Poor Fifa peace prize. Unloved, unliked, mocked, tainted by association with its first winner. And now demoted, too, after Fifa president Gianni Infantino dumped the thing on the global governing body’s “social responsibility committee” to look after. To redeem it, rather than to ditch it, to spare Infantino the embarrassment of acknowledging that his fake prize was really just a fake prize all along. Here is where we should probably acknowledge that, as fake prizes go, and in the context of what it was intended to accomplish, the first awarding of the Fifa peace prize was an unqualified success. It achieved exactly what it was meant to, made by Infantino to flatter Donald Trump, the man he needed to keep on his side to safeguard the riches to be extracted from the North American market in order to consolidate his power base within Fifa. Trump, the gullible buffoon, was pleased as punch – handed a big, golden bauble and a medal he placed around his own neck – and briefly forgot about the Nobel peace prize he desperately covets . Leander Schaerlaeckens is the author of The Long Game: US Men’s Soccer and Its Savage, Four-Decade Journey to the Top, or Thereabouts, which is out now . He teaches at Marist University. Continue reading...
Burnham to become first PM to appear on Gogglebox in episode filmed at No 10
The PM is heard having a long discussion about crisps in the trailer to the show, which is in aid of Stand Up To Cancer From ranking his favourite crisps in the pub to complaining about people watching TikToks out loud on the train, Andy Burnham has made efforts to show he has the common touch. Now he will become the first prime minister to appear on the popular TV show Gogglebox, in a special charity episode on Friday. Continue reading...
‘Looksmaxxing’ influencer Clavicular pleads not guilty to raping teen
The social media personality denies allegations he gave a girl alcohol until she was drunk and sexually assaulted her The “looksmaxxing” livestreamer Braden Peters, better known by his stage name Clavicular , pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he raped a 17-year-old girl at his family’s Massachusetts home. A social media personality known for promoting extreme devotion to male beauty, Peters, 20, is accused of giving the girl alcohol until she was drunk and then sexually assaulting her when she visited him in Chatham, on Cape Cod, in May 2025. Continue reading...
Virginia Democrat indicted on federal drug and money laundering charges
Federal authorities allege state senator L Louise Lucas, a vocal Trump critic, led a ‘criminal marijuana enterprise’ Virginia state senator L Louise Lucas, one of the state’s most powerful Democrats, was charged on Thursday in connection with what federal authorities alleged was a role leading a criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds. An indictment unsealed on Thursday charged Lucas and six other defendants, including several of her relatives, the Department of Justice said in a statement. Lucas surrendered on Thursday, a justice department spokesperson said. Continue reading...
Zadie Smith among authors letting public bid to name new characters for charity auction
Other prizes at Freedom from Torture event include rare Mary Wollstonecraft book illustrated by William Blake Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan are among a number of literary stars auctioning off the chance for readers to name characters in their next novels to raise money for survivors of torture. The auction is part of Freedom from Torture’s 10th anniversary literary festival, which brings together leading authors and survivors for a celebration of storytelling, featuring a poetry competition and live readings at the London Library on 11 November. Continue reading...
Republican leader embarrassed by Ali G film says he plans to sue Sacha Baron Cohen: ‘A liar and a pervert’
Exclusive: Michael Aboud, whose actions in what he believed to be a documentary are likely to come under considerable scrutiny, has expressed anger at the film-maker • This article contains spoilers for Ali G: Who Iz I? The chair of the El Paso County Republican Party has said he intends to sue Sacha Baron Cohen over footage of the local politician used in new satircal comedy Ali G: Who Iz I? In the film, Michael Aboud is shown taking part in a training programme with another Cohen character, ex-Mossad terrorist expert Col Erran Morad, who instructs Aboud and fellow Maga sympathisers in self-defence techniques including the wearing, over clothes, of protective plastic buttocks. He also schools them in how to fire bullets from the middle of these buttocks by the repeated up and down manipulation of a rubber penis. Continue reading...
Shamonda virus detected in human for first time in France
Investigations under way to determine whether virus normally found in livestock contributed to man’s death A man in France has become the first human known to have contracted Shamonda virus, with investigations under way to explore whether it contributed to his death. Shamonda virus is a type of bunyavirus and is spread by bites from infected midges. According to the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety , in animals such as cattle, sheep and goats it can cause diarrhoea, lack of appetite and a decline in milk yield, “as well as abortions and congenital abnormalities in newborn calves, lambs and kids”. Continue reading...
Pete Hegseth’s staff break priceless historic globe he requested for office
Hegseth’s aides, who attempted to move 30in fragile globe themselves, dropped it during relocation, army officials say A priceless pre-second world war globe coveted by the US defence secretary Pete Hegseth for his office in the Pentagon was damaged by his staff in a botched attempt to relocate it, army officials have admitted. Photographs published by the Washington Post on Thursday show the shattered 30-inch Eisenhower globe, said to have been used by Dwight D Eisenhower, the 34th US president, as he plotted the D-day landings as allied supreme commander. Continue reading...
Alberta welcomed migrant workers. Now, it wants to restrict their rights
‘Scapegoating non-permanent residents is not going to lower the cost of living,’ Vanesa Ortiz says When Vanesa Ortiz came to Calgary from Mexico, she found herself in a city gripped by winter. Outside the airport, it was -15C (5F). “I would come to understand that this was not an extreme cold,” she said. “But in the moment it was terrifying. Continue reading...
Glee’s pro-LGBTQ+ vision captured 2010s hope. Can a reboot handle Trump’s America? | Alim Kheraj
The beloved high school TV show is returning in a different political climate. I’m skeptical that Ryan Murphy has the nuance this moment needs For months, Ryan Murphy has been discussing Glee . In July, he expressed his love for the musical comedy drama he created. In September, he said that he had finished writing a pilot for a potential reboot, adding that he had reached out to some of the cast about a reunion. And now it is official : Disney+ and Hulu have commissioned a Glee revival. Glee, which ran for six seasons between 2009 and 2015, was a cultural juggernaut during its initial tenure . The show won six Emmys, four Golden Globes and made stars of actors including Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff, Chris Colfer , Darren Criss and the late Cory Monteith and Naya Rivera. Centred on the trials of New Directions, a scrappy show choir at the fictional McKinley high school in Ohio, the show became known for its peppy covers of show tunes, 80s power pop hits such as Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ (a Glee signature), 2010s chart-toppers and some truly baffling mashups (the amalgamation of Scissor Sisters’ Let’s Have a Kiki and Turkey Lurkey Time from Promises, Promises remains … a choice). Continue reading...
Russia strikes Kyiv hours after agreeing to US-brokered peace talks – video
Russia has carried out a massive 'demonstrative' attack on Ukraine, bombarding Kyiv with ballistic missiles just hours after Vladimir Putin said he had agreed to resume trilateral negotiations after talks with the US envoy Steve Witkoff. Strikes on Kyiv killed at least two people and wounded 22, including four children. Twelve regions across the country were bombed. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the strikes proved Russia was not serious about peace Russia bombards Kyiv with missiles hours after agreeing to resume talks with Ukraine Continue reading...
The great moth revival: how bogongs have bounced back
This animated map shows the insect’s population exploding in Australia’s eastern states, with the endangered species coming back from the brink If you live anywhere on the eastern side of Australia, you’ve probably noticed that bogong moths are back in a big way . While we don’t yet have figures from ecologist-led surveys to compare with previous years, there is a wealth of data on the great moth revival being generated by citizen scientists across the eastern states. Continue reading...