Russia’s defence ministry said that its forces had captured the settlement of Novodmytrivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region
Continue reading...Storm Bert live: Met Office warns of ‘multiple hazard event’ with snow, ice and flood warnings for UK
Met Office says UK will see as much as 20 to 40cm of snow over hills, accompanied by strong winds
New national severe weather warnings have been issued for the weekend by the Met Office as Storm Bert has begun to make an impact with snow closing roads and strong rains and winds expected to cause further travel disruption and potential flooding.
Weather warnings and 16 flood alerts have come into effect across the UK, as the Met Office described the forecasted weather as a “multiple hazard event” due to Storm Bert binging with it snow, ice, heavy rain and gale force winds.
We’ll see two to four hours of heavy snow across parts of northern England and Scotland during Saturday morning. This snow will accumulate thick and fast, with five to 10cm at lower levels and as much as 20 to 40cm over hills accompanied by strong winds.
You can expect blizzards over hills across northern England and Scotland, atrocious conditions for travelling and going over the hills and also the risk of power interruptions because of snow build up on power lines.
The melting snow and the heavy rain could lead to localised flooding in places but the wettest spots would be Wales, in the south-west, particularly over south-facing hills, that’s where we’re likely to see gales and certainly the risk of impacts from wind as well as from rain.”
Continue reading...Snow closes roads and railway lines as Storm Bert hits UK
Weather warnings for wind, rain and snow cover much of country, with 16 flood alerts in place
Storm Bert has hit the UK, with snow closing roads and strong rains and winds expected to cause further travel disruption and potential flooding.
Weather warnings and 13 flood alerts have come into effect across much of the country.
Continue reading...Will the Ukraine missile crisis change the course of the war?
While Putin conducts his missile diplomacy, restrictions around the use of long-range weapons may help Kyiv
In Kyiv, as autumn turns fast turns to winter, Ukrainians in the government describe a vacuum before the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House on 20 January that will be filled by more war as both sides jockey for advantage. “Trump has said he wants to end the war within 24 hours. Nobody is more interested in this topic than Ukraine,” a senior official told the Guardian.
“But the problem is, for the moment, everything is just speculation. Will it be the first peace plan, the second plan, the first variant, the 10th variant?” they said. Ukraine is in “a difficult but not catastrophic position” and has little choice but to fight on and perhaps show Trump that backing Kyiv is not a losing bet.
Continue reading...Man’s leg amputated in near 20-hour effort to free him from rocks in Tasmania’s Franklin River
International visitor aged in his 60s fighting for life in hospital after accident on rafting trip on Friday
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A man has had his leg amputated and is fighting for life after a complex 20-hour rescue in south-west Tasmania, after he fell into a rock crevice during a rafting trip with friends.
The international visitor, aged in his 60s, was pack rafting along the Franklin River when he slipped and became trapped between rocks in rapids on Friday afternoon, acting assistant police commissioner Doug Oosterloo said.
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Continue reading...Children’s development ‘put back by years’ due to failure of special educational needs system
Local government ombudsman report into SEND in England offers damning assessment
England’s special education system is failing, causing thousands of children to have their development put back by months or even years, according to a damning report by the local government ombudsman.
Amerdeep Somal, the local government and social care ombudsman, said her caseload was now dominated by complaints from families involving special educational needs (Sen) provision and schools, with more than 90% of complaints being upheld.
Continue reading...UK bank fraud victims could face £100 excess on refund claims
Despite new rules, many lenders have decided to implement the optional exemption
Some victims of bank transfer scams will not get a penny back despite beefed-up rules designed to better protect consumers from fraudsters, because several big banks have introduced an excess on refund claims.
New rules requiring banks and other payment companies to reimburse fraud victims who have been tricked into sending money to scammers took effect last month, and included an optional £100 excess that firms can apply to a claim.
Continue reading...Energy bills, mortgages, food: will cost of living surge again under Labour?
The government claims to be fixing the economy but households may face more pressure in the months ahead
Labour swept to power in the wake of a cost of living crisis that hit households hard, with the price of food and energy rocketing alongside the impact of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget on mortgage rates.
At 2.3%, inflation is nowhere the 10% peak after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it is creeping up, and could hit 3% in 2025, say forecasters.
Continue reading...Glicked double bill may not match Barbenheimer buzz, experts say
Gladiator II and Wicked filling up theatres but unlikely to replicate phenomenon of Barbie-Oppenheimer release
The great Barbenheimer clash of summer 2023 – when Barbie came out on the same day as Oppenheimer – will for ever be a part of cinema history for capturing the public imagination and bringing audiences back to cinemas in droves after years of Covid-induced antipathy.
So it’s unsurprising, that in an attempt to recapture some of the excitement, fans have come up with a new portmanteau: Glicked, used to refer to the face-off between Gladiator II and Wicked this week.
Continue reading...Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s deputy vows to have him assassinated if she is killed
Vice-president Sara Duterte tells press conference she has given an assassin the instructions, prompting referral from Marcos’s office over ‘active threat’
The Philippines’ vice-president, Sara Duterte, said on Saturday she would have someone assassinate the president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, if she herself were killed, leading Marcos’s office to vow “immediate proper action”.
In a dramatic sign of a widening rift between the country’s two most powerful political families, Duterte told a press conference that she had spoken to an assassin and instructed him to kill Marcos, his wife and the speaker of the Philippine house of representatives if she were to be killed.
Continue reading...Slovenian girl, 12, saves project aiming to reintroduce cicadas to New Forest
Conservationists failed to capture elusive insects this summer, so Kristina Kenda offered to step in
When British conservationists flew to Slovenia this summer hoping to catch enough singing cicadas to reintroduce the species to the New Forest, the grasshopper-sized insects proved impossible to locate, flying elusively at great height between trees.
Now a 12-year-old girl has offered to save the Species Recovery Trust’s reintroduction project. Kristina Kenda, the daughter of the Airbnb hosts who accommodated the trust’s director, Dom Price, and conservation officer Holly Stanworth in the summer summer, will put out special nets to hopefully catch enough cicadas to re-establish a British population.
Continue reading...Teammates tie ribbons as community mourns Melbourne teens after suspected methanol poisoning
Players heard news of Holly Bowles’ death as they gathered to remember her friend Bianca Jones, Beaumaris Football Club says
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Tributes have continued to flow for two Melbourne teenagers who died while holidaying in southeast Asia, after the death toll from a suspected methanol poisoning in Laos rose to six.
Holly Bowles, 19, died on Friday in a Bangkok hospital, one day after her best friend, Bianca Jones, also 19, died in another Thai hospital.
Continue reading...How big is Donald Trump’s mandate?
The US president-elect has emphasised the scale of his win – but data shows that most voters picked someone else.
Pelicot rape trial: ‘It is Gisèle’s name that will be remembered’
Woman who has become a feminist hero says she is ‘determined to change society’, as trial approaches its end
More than a hundred women formed a line and applauded as Gisèle Pelicot left the courtroom of the French mass rape trial this week. Pelicot, whose husband has admitted drugging her and inviting dozens of strangers into her bedroom to rape her for a decade, thanked supporters, putting a hand to her heart.
She would, she told the court, now go for walk. “I heal by hours and hours of walking – it’s a way to protect myself. That and my psychologist, music and chocolate … Everyone has their own therapy for suffering.”
Continue reading...‘Protect the climate for whom?’: Palestinians highlight Gaza at Cop29
Advocates and officials argue that consequences of Israeli siege are inextricably linked to tackling the climate crisis
As countries negotiate over climate finance, Palestinian officials and advocates have come to Cop29 in Baku to highlight global heating’s intersection with another crisis: Israel’s siege on Gaza.
“The Cop [meetings] are very keen to protect the environment, but for whom?” said Ahmed Abu Thaher, director of projects and international relations at Palestine’s Environment Quality Authority, who had travelled to Cop29 from Ramallah. “If you are killing the people there, for whom are you keen to protect the environment and to minimise the effects of climate change?”
Continue reading...Spain’s floods force some UK sellers to buy oranges from southern hemisphere
British suppliers source from South Africa and South America as Spanish farmers struggle to harvest and ship
Some British retailers and wholesalers have been forced to switch to sourcing oranges from South Africa and South America early after last month’s catastrophic floods in eastern Spain left farmers struggling to harvest and ship their crops.
Companies in the UK have moved to buying fruit from the southern hemisphere several weeks earlier than in a typical year to prevent gaps emerging on supermarket shelves and amid fears over the quality of Spanish produce.
Continue reading...Deadly air strike on central Beirut after Israel hits Lebanon in north and south
Israel targets Hezbollah in Lebanese capital while hospital director and six colleagues reportedly killed in north, with more medics and UN peacekeepers among other casualties
A powerful airstrike targeted central Beirut on Saturday, security sources said, shaking the Lebanese capital as Israel pressed its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
At least four people were killed and 33 wounded in the attack in Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, Hezbollah’s al-Manar broadcaster reported, citing the health ministry. Lebanon’s National News Agency said early on Saturday that the attack resulted in a large number of fatalities and injuries and destroyed an eight-storey building. Footage broadcast by Lebanon’s Al Jadeed station showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it.
Continue reading...Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,003
These were the key developments on the 1,003rd day of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump makes flurry of choices including labor secretary and CDC chief
President-elect picks Fox News personalities and key loyalists as he looks to fill crucial agency and advisory roles
In a flurry of announcements late Friday evening, Donald Trump released his picks for some of the most important agency and advisory roles in the country, further revealing his preference for Fox News personalities and those that are loyal to him.
Continue reading...Children shot dead after joining pot-banging protests in Mozambique
The southern African state has been a shaken by a wave of protests and killings since disputed elections.