The Guardian

Three construction industry employees arrested after police allege unsafe scaffolding materials may have been behind fire’s rapid spreadHong Kong fire – latest updatesHow the Hong Kong fire unfolded – visual guideHong Kong police have alleged unsafe scaffolding and foam materials used during maintenance work may have been behind the rapid spread of a devastating fire at a group of residential tower blocks that has killed at least 55 people and left almost 300 missing.Firefighters were still battling to reach residents who may be trapped on the upper floors of the Wang Fuk Court housing complex on Thursday due to the

Vatican says ‘demanding’ six-day mission will be packed with meetings with political and religious leadersPope Leo will make his debut overseas trip as leader of the Catholic church on Thursday, travelling on a six-day mission of peace and unity to Turkey and Lebanon in what the Vatican said was expected to be a “demanding” schedule packed with meetings with political and religious leaders amid heightened Middle East tensions.In Turkey, a country with a Muslim majority and home to an estimated 36,000 Catholics, the Chicago-born pontiff, who was elected in May, will first meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara. Continue

Law enforcement officials tell AP and other outlets the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the US in 2021; two guardsmen remain in critical conditionTwo West Virginia national guard members shot in Washington DCBloomberg’s scoop showing how Trump aide Steve Witkoff coached the Kremlin on the best way to get into Trump’s good graces is extraordinary for what it tells us about Witkoff’s dubious loyalties, and the Kremlin’s potential influence over US negotiation efforts. But equally interesting is the leaked material itself and where it may have come from.The story covers two intercepted phone calls: one between Witkoff and top Kremlin aide

At least 44 killed and hundreds missing after huge blaze at the Wang Fuk Court residential apartment complex in Tai Po district on Wednesday. Follow the latest updates liveFull report: Death toll in Hong Kong tower block fire rises to 44 with hundreds still missingBamboo scaffolding may be to blame for spread of Hong Kong tower block fireThe death toll has risen again to 44, fire officials say.Officials said they are still having difficulties proceeding into the upper floors in some of the buildings in the residential complex as the fire continues. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/nov/27/hong-kong-fire-arrests-dead-killed-hundreds-missing-housing-complex-blaze Author :

Anthony Albanese announces Greens have agreed to support Labor’s rewrite of the EPBC Act. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast‘We are very close’ on environment bill, Hanson-Young saysHanson-Young says she’s feeling more positive about a deal on the environment bill than she was at the start of the week.I don’t expect that we will get everything we want. We’re just trying one last time to get some final started this process on the basis that I wanted more protections for our forests, and protections for climate of course.If we can get movement

A record 39,000 birds are overwintering on Wallasea island wetlands thanks to soil transported from London tunnelsAlmost 40,000 birds have made their home on a nature reserve created using soil from tunnel excavations for the Elizabeth line.Three million tonnes of earth were transported from London to Wallasea island in Essex and used to lift the ground level and make wetlands. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/26/elizabeth-line-soil-wallasea-island-essex-bird-haven Author : Helena Horton Environment reporter Publish date : 2025-11-26 19:00:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Republicans and Democrats warn Witkoff ‘cannot be trusted’ after reportedly advising officials on peace planA handful of US representatives have reacted furiously to a leaked recording in which the special envoy to Ukraine reportedly coached Moscow on how to handle Donald Trump, but most have so far remained mute on the revelation that American officials were advising a US adversary.Don Bacon, a Republican representative, called for Steve Witkoff’s immediate dismissal. “For those who oppose the Russian invasion and want to see Ukraine prevail as a sovereign & democratic country, it is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians,” the Nebraska

Witkoff also offered tactical guidance on how Putin should raise subject with Trump, audio recording suggests. Plus, the female pilots on Ukraine’s frontlineGood morning.Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told a senior Kremlin official last month that achieving peace in Ukraine would require Russia gaining control of Donetsk and potentially a separate territorial exchange, according to a recording of their conversation.What did Witkoff say? “Now, me to you, I know what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere,” Witkoff told Ushakov during the five-minute conversation, according to a transcript of

Chancellor to deliver fiscal statement, billed as decisive moment for fate of Starmer government, at 12.30pmTax, pensions, savings: what to expect in the budgetReeves’s high-stakes budget in five key chartsCould you do better than Reeves? Play our gamePaul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, has rejected the concerns raised by the Resolution Foundation (see 9.54am) about the rise in the minimum wage rates. Asked about the thinktank’s comments, Nowak told Times Radio:I don’t accept those concerns ...First of all, that recommendation is based on the Low Pay Commission, which brings together employers, unions, independent experts, they’re tasked with making a recommendation

European Commission president says Russia still sees Europe ‘in terms of spheres of influence’, just as it did in conference to reorganise continent after second world warMeanwhile, in some rather confusing comments coming from Russia, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said, in comments reported by Reuters, that Russian and Ukrainian representatives met in Abu Dhabi earlier this week, but the peace plan … was not discussed there.“No, the peace plan was not discussed in Abu Dhabi. The peace plan has not yet been discussed in detail with anyone,” he told a Russian state TV reporter. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/nov/26/russia-ukraine-war-peace-plan-europe-latest-news-updates

Steve Witkoff spoke to Yuri Ushakov on territorial control and suggested congratulating Donald Trump and framing talks more optimistically, audio recording suggestsDonald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told a senior Kremlin official last month that achieving peace in Ukraine would require Russia gaining control of Donetsk and potentially a separate territorial exchange, according to a recording of their conversation obtained by Bloomberg.In the 14 October phone call with Yuri Ushakov, the top foreign policy aide to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Witkoff said he believed the land concessions were necessary all while advising Ushakov to congratulate Trump and frame discussions

Another boy, 15, charged on Monday after 17-year-old boy died from wounds to thigh in Rouse HillFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA second teenage boy arrested in his home over his alleged “active role” in the stabbing murder of a 17-year-old in a suburban park will spend months in custody.The alleged victim died from a knife wound to his thigh after a confrontation at a park behind a school in north-west Sydney on Monday afternoon. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/nov/26/second-teenage-boy-charged-murder-alleged-stabbing-rouse-hill-sydney-nsw-ntwnfb Author : Australian Associated Press Publish

Interior department, which has defunded conservation organizations, claims fee hike is for conservationThe interior department announced today new “America-first” entrance fees for national parks, commemorative annual passes featuring Donald Trump and “resident-only patriotic fee-free days for 2026” including Trump’s birthday.Starting next year, entrance fees for international visitors will more than triple. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/25/national-park-fee-non-residents Author : Cecilia Nowell Publish date : 2025-11-26 01:31:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Catastrophic conditions forecast in lower central west plains district and total fire bans for millions across state, with elevated fire danger in southern QueenslandFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastForecasts of soaring temperatures and damaging wind gusts have prompted authorities in New South Wales to raise bushfire alerts to their highest levels in more than two years.More than 20 public schools across central NSW were to be closed on Wednesday after the state’s Rural Fire Service issued a warning for catastrophic fire danger. Continue reading... Source link :

Albanese government hopeful of reaching agreement over EPBC reform; first top level fire warning in the state for two years. Follow latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCabinet minister Clare O’Neil has defended the government’s move to find savings in departments, following reporting yesterday that the minister for the public service, Katy Gallagher, has instructed all departments to find savings of 5%.In the Senate, Gallagher said yesterday the reporting was “incorrect” but suggested Labor’s attempts to rein in spending was an example of “fiscal discipline”, and that there would be no reductions to the average

Ukrainian leader says that talks should also include European alliesIn other EU related news, a top European court on Tuesday ruled that an EU nation had to recognise a gay marriage recorded in another member state, after a complaint by two Poles married in Germany.The couple, one of whom also has German nationality, were living there and married in Berlin in 2018, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).The spouses in question, as EU citizens, enjoy the freedom to move and reside within the territory of the member states and the right to lead a normal family life when exercising that freedom and

Oliver Hutchings accused of threatening to disrupt UK shows and campaign against venues that booked HopkinsA man who objected to comments by Katie Hopkins on gay and transgender people launched a blackmail campaign against venues that had booked her to appear, a jury has heard.Oliver Hutchings, 31, told venues in Hampshire and Lancashire that he would make sure the media personality and commenter’s shows were disrupted, and would campaign against the theatres to try to shut them down if they did not cancel her appearances, the court heard. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/25/venues-cancelled-katie-hopkins-shows-after-man-blackmailed-them-court-told Author : Steven Morris Publish date

Trump plans to speak directly with Nicolás Maduro, Axios reports, even though the US designated the Venezuelan president as the head of a foreign terrorist organizationRachel Leingang is a Midwest political correspondent for Guardian USIn the days since the president said he would be ending a legal immigration status program for Somalis in Minnesota, local elected officials and community members said they will fight back. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/nov/25/us-politics-pam-bondi-appeal-james-comey-letitia-james-cases-donald-trump-venezuela-latest-updates Author : Yohannes Lowe Publish date : 2025-11-25 12:44:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Farage says he will not carry out a wider investigation after last week’s sentencing of former Reform UK leader in Wales, Nathan GillAt health questions today Wes Streeting is also likely to confirm a £300m capital investment for neighbourhood health centres in England. In a news release, the Department of Health and Social Care says the money – to be confirmed in tomorrow’s budget – will help establish a neighbourhood health service. It says:The chancellor will double down on the government’s commitment of continuing to slash NHS waiting times in this week’s budget - today confirming the investment for hundreds

Militant group Antifa Ost said to be behind assaults on rightwing extremists in Germany and HungarySeven alleged members of the German far-left militant group Antifa Ost go on trial on Tuesday accused of attacks targeting rightwing extremists that earned them the nickname “Hammer Gang”.The US this month designated Antifa Ost as a terrorist group along with several other European far-left and anarchist groups. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/25/germany-antifa-ost-hammer-gang-seven-alleged-members-trial Author : Agence France-Presse in Berlin Publish date : 2025-11-25 07:38:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Shields told SMH staff in an email that working in the role had been the honour of his lifeFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, Bevan Shields, has resigned after four years and will be replaced in the role at Nine’s Sydney masthead by Jordan Baker, the chief reporter.Shields told staff in an email the job had been the “honour of my life” and he would return as a senior writer after a break. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/nov/25/bevan-shields-steps-down-sydney-morning-herald-smh-editor-chief Author :

Research shows 70% disapprove of job US president – who won backing of nearly half of Latino voters in 2024 – is doingA majority of Latinos disapprove of Donald Trump and his economic and immigration policies, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.After receiving support from nearly half of Latino voters in the 2024 election, Trump had lost the backing of a majority surveyed in October. Pew found that 70% of Latinos “disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job as president”, while 65% disapprove of his administration’s approach to immigration and 61% believe his economic

Claimants forced to pay back thousands of pounds tell of ‘horrendous’ court ordeals and of desire for official apologyDWP to reassess hundreds of thousands of cases in carer’s allowance scandalThe carer’s allowance scandal – a timelineVivienne Groom had never been inside the dock of a criminal court when she stood, sobbing and shaking, before a judge last year.She was accused by the government of unlawfully claiming nearly £17,000 in carer’s allowance while she juggled a minimum wage supermarket job with being the sole carer for her dying mother. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/25/its-like-the-post-office-scandal-victims-of-carers-allowance-crisis-speak-out Author : Josh Halliday North of

Meanwhile Tanya Plibersek calls on governments and services to do more to protect victims of domestic violence. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastDomestic violence among under-18s increasing, Plibersek saysViolence in relationships among young people under 18 is increasing, says Tanya Plibersek, who has announced a major funding boost for the 1800 Respect phone helpline this morning.It’s a mixed picture. We’re seeing some areas, like intimate partner violence, slightly decreasing, but we’re seeing big increases in, for example, young relationships, under-18s. We’re seeing big increases in violence there. So we need to keep

Investigation of Mark Kelly comes after Trump accused the Democrats in the video of ‘seditious behavior, punishable by death’The Pentagon says it is investigating Arizona senator Mark Kelly for possible breaches of military law after the federal lawmaker joined a handful of other Democrats in a video calling for US troops to refuse unlawful orders.It is extraordinary for the Pentagon to directly threaten a sitting member of Congress with investigation. Until Donald Trump’s second presidency, the institution in charge of the US military had usually strived to appear apolitical. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/24/pentagon-investigation-mark-kelly-arizona Author : Associated Press and