The Guardian

Agency warns shoppers to be vigilant online and on the high street, with counterfeit items often posing health risks More than 8m fake and harmful toys have been seized from shops and markets across the EU in a pre-Christmas crackdown, Europol has said. Hauls of fake dolls, building bricks, toy cars, colouring sets, cuddly toys that could pose fire hazards and educational games were removed acros…

Russian president says latest draft peace plan ‘can be basis for future agreements’ if Kyiv gives up unspecified areas Vladimir Putin has said that the outline of a draft peace plan discussed by the US and Ukraine could serve as a basis for future negotiations to end the war – but insisted Ukraine would have to surrender territory for any deal to be possible. “In general, we agree that this can b…

Bridget Phillipson has reassured MPs that Send costs will not fall on core schools funding but on government budget Ministers are to reduce the rising cost of funding special educational needs provision through their overhaul of the system, as they faced calls to explain how a £6bn funding hole would be paid for. The government is under pressure to clarify how it will pay for special educational …

Prime minister says deal ‘sets the state for an industrial transformation’, but project is likely to face wide opposition Mark Carney has agreed an energy deal with Alberta centred on plans for a new heavy oil pipeline reaching from the province’s oil sands to the Pacific coast – a politically volatile project that is expected to face stiff opposition. “It’s a great day for Alberta and a great da…

Leo welcomed by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as he begins six-day itinerary that will also include visit to Lebanon A new world war is being fought “piecemeal” and is endangering the future of humanity, Pope Leo has warned, as he arrived in Turkey for his first foreign trip since becoming head of the Catholic church. Speaking in Ankara, where he was welcomed on Thursday by the Turkish president, Recep Ta…

Flagship Labour plan to be replaced with six-month threshold after Peter Kyle vows to not let businesses ‘lose’ under new law The government is to ditch its flagship policy from the workers’ rights bill, removing the right to protection from unfair dismissal from the first day of employment and replacing it with a six-month threshold. The move comes after the business secretary, Peter Kyle, told …

Global Counsel signed $3m contract with WuXi AppTec in Europe months after it was named in US national security drive Global Counsel, the lobbying firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson , was brought in to advise the Chinese pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec in Europe months after it was targeted in a US national security crackdown. WuXi AppTec signed a $3m contract with Global Counsel last year to …

Richard Hughes, head of Office for Budget Responsibility, says he has apologised to chancellor for ‘letting people down’ How Rachel Reeves’s budget was leaked 40 minutes early Business live – latest updates UK politics live – latest updates The chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility has said he felt mortified by the early release of its budget forecasts as the watchdog launched a rapid inq…

State department has told employees and grant recipients to not publicly promote or make event on 1 December For the first time since 1988, the US government will no longer commemorate World Aids Day, according to reports. The state department has directed its employees and grant recipients not to use US government funds to mark the event – which falls annually on 1 December – and not to promote …

Charles Stanish surmised indentations were rudimentary market place and later adapted as accounting and storage system A Florida archaeologist’s decades-long persistence has helped solve one of Peru’s most puzzling geographical conundrums: the origin and purpose of the so-called Band of Holes in the country’s mountainous Pisco Valley. Charles Stanish, professor of archaeology at the University of…

Some think leader John Lee’s focus on blaming bamboo scaffolding deflects from actual cause The inferno that engulfed Wang Fuk Court residential compound in Hong Kong is still burning, but questions are already being asked about what the deadliest fire in more than 70 years means for Beijing’s grip on power in the city. The death toll from the blaze, which tore apart seven of the eight high-rise …

Macron says plan to introduce 10 months’ service among 18- and 19-year-olds will help France respond to ‘accelerating threats’ Europe live – latest updates France is to introduce voluntary military service of 10 months aimed mainly at young people aged 18 and 19, as concern grows in Europe about the threat from Russia. In a speech to troops in Varces-Allières-et-Risset in the French Alps, the Fre…

Israeli soldiers had taken Mohammed Ibrahim from his home in a night raid when he was only 15 years old A 16-year-old American citizen was freed on Thursday after spending nine months in an Israeli prison. Mohammed Ibrahim, a Palestinian-American teenager from Florida whose case was first exposed by the Guardian in July, was released following a guilty plea and suspended sentence, according to hi…

Raúl Rocha Cantú is under investigation for drug, gun and fuel trafficking while Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip is accused of fraud This year’s edition of Miss Universe, with its onstage injuries, dramatic walkouts and allegations of vote rigging , was already one for the ages. But it turns out the drama had barely begun: just days after Fátima Bosch was crowned Miss Universe in Thailand, the co-owners …

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, worked with agency-backed military units during US war in Afghanistan The suspected shooter of two national guard members in Washington DC on Wednesday worked with CIA-backed military units during the US war in Afghanistan, the agency has confirmed. The alleged gunman, identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, came to the US in September 2021 under an Operation Allies Welc…