The Guardian

Richard Tice claims that allegations against Farage are ‘nonsense’ from people with ‘a political axe to grind’ Good morning. Nigel Farage , the Reform UK leader, has given different responses, at different times, to the accounts of him being racist and antisemitic when he was a teenager given by some of his contempories at Dulwich College in south London. They have ranged from saying he may have …

Global Witness says plan to upgrade railway line from DRC to Angola puts up to 1,200 buildings at risk of demolition Up to 6,500 people are at risk of being displaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project funded by the EU and the US, amid a global race to secure supplies of copper, cobalt and other “critical minerals”, according to a report by ca…

Intervention from Merz comes as Putin says peace talks are ‘difficult work’ but Trump insists Russian president does want a deal Russian president Vladimir Putin has described this week’s Ukraine peace talks as “necessary,” “useful,” and “difficult work,” stressing that some of the proposals were unacceptable to Moscow. He also continued his attacks on Europeans, saying they should get involved t…

As leaders try to break smugglers’ business model, research suggests strategy so far has had opposite effect Hardline migration policies adopted by governments across the globe have been a boon for people smugglers, fuelling demand and allowing them to raise their prices, according to a report. The findings, released on Thursday by the Mixed Migration Centre of the Danish Refugee Council, and bas…

AVS Group, which runs 18 websites, has 72 hours to make changes required by UK’s Online Safety Act A pornography company that runs 18 adult websites has been fined £1m by the watchdog Ofcom for not having strong enough age checks. AVS Group Ltd has been hit with the fine, plus a further £50,000 for failing to respond to information requests. Continue reading...

Administrative review tribunal no longer authorised to alter a person’s plan or reinstate funding, agency confirmed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme will in most cases no longer be able to appeal their total amount of funding support to any external review body, executives have confirmed, after revelations about …

Plan to improve gas networks and rewire electricity systems across Great Britain likely to add £30 to average annual bill Energy companies have been given the green light to spend £28bn on Great Britain’s gas and electricity grids, raising fears of higher household bills. The energy watchdog, Ofgem , approved more than £17.8bn of spending plans to upgrade gas transmission and distribution network…

Resort to be located on the banks of Penrith’s Nepean River, 15km from Western Sydney airport, with plans for a 300-metre Olympic-class ski run Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A $700m project to build Australia’s first indoor ski resort has secured the backing of a leading Chinese operator. Winter Sports World’s m…

The Russian president’s Delhi visit gives him a chance to reduce Moscow’s isolation but both countries need each other to negotiate Trump’s America and a powerful China When Vladimir Putin last set foot in India almost exactly four years ago, the world order looked materially different. That visit – lasting just five hours due to the covid pandemic – saw Putin and Indian prime minister Narendra M…

Government once seen as progressive on migration says aid cuts to blame for excluding countries ‘not experiencing war’ The Ugandan government has stopped granting asylum and refugee status to people from Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia, citing severe funding shortfalls for the significant policy shift. Hillary Onek, Uganda’s minister for refugees, announced that the government would no longer grant…

Passengers welcome climbdown and say plan to turn Avanti West Coast service into ‘ghost train’ made no sense “I don’t think I’ve seen it this busy in years,” said Liam, a customer service specialist struggling to deal with a growing line of tired customers onboard the 7am Avanti West Coast service from Manchester to London. They were made more agitated by the news that the microwave was broken an…

After an earlier closure on Thursday the M4 tunnel reopened one westbound lane between Haberfield and North Strathfield on Thursday Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Drivers have been left stranded for up to four hours in Sydney’s M4 motorway tunnel within the WestConnex, after fears of a concrete roof collapse whic…

Lawyers for Fouad Masri say the case will have important ramifications for freedom of speech in Australia Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A man has pleaded not guilty after being charged over allegedly projecting pro-Palestine messages on to the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House, in a case his lawyers say has si…

Pesticide Action Network Europe study finds average concentrations 100 times higher than in tap water High levels of a toxic “forever chemical” have been found in cereal products across Europe because of its presence in pesticides. The most contaminated food is breakfast cereal, according to a study by Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN), with average concentrations 100 times higher than in tap…

Police say number of dead may still be revised as ‘suspected human bones’ found during search require forensic testing The death toll in Hong Kong’s apartment complex fire has risen to 159 as officials ordered all scaffolding mesh in the city to be removed by Saturday. The blaze that last week engulfed Wang Fuk Court in the city’s northern Tai Po district has become the world’s deadliest resident…