No 10 believes it has done its homework for a Trump presidency

Keir Starmer’s team expected a Trump win and has long been building bridges despite political differences

While Kemi Badenoch was the first politician since the US presidential election result to publicly challenge Keir Starmer over Labour’s previously tense relationship with Donald Trump, she is unlikely to be the last.

Yet the UK prime minister, according to government sources, is less anxious about the return of the divisive populist to the White House than the new Tory leader, and many in his own party, might have assumed.

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UK asylum system retraumatises women fleeing sexual abuse, says report

Women have had to share bedrooms with unrelated men and some have faced further sexual violence, charities say

The UK asylum system is retraumatising women and girls who have fled rape and sexual abuse and putting them at risk of further harm, leading charities have said.

Sexual violence and abuse is often a major driver for women to leave their country of origin, as well as a common experience on their journey to the UK, but when they get here they are failed, according to Rape Crisis England and Wales (RCEW) and Imkaan.

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Adding five minutes exercise a day can help lower blood pressure, study says

Researchers say choosing to climb stairs or cycle to the shops is enough to have a positive effect

Doing just five extra minutes of exercise a day could help lower blood pressure, a study suggests.

High blood pressure affects 1.28 billion adults worldwide and is one of the biggest causes of premature death. It can lead to strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, kidney damage and many other health problems, and is often described as a silent killer due to its lack of symptoms.

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City analysts overwhelmingly predict Bank of England interest rate cut

Rare agreement among forecasters gives 96% chance of today’s MPC meeting cutting borrowing costs to 4.75%

The Bank of England policymakers are widely expected to cut borrowing costs for businesses and homeowners by reducing official interest rates from 5% to 4.75% when they meet later today.

Financial markets are overwhelmingly forecasting that the Bank’s nine-strong monetary policy committee (MPC) will reduce rates for a second time when it announces its latest decision at noon.

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Lancashire memorial to first world war hero given Grade II-listed status

Stone memorial at church in Withnell tells story of Pte James Miller who was killed at Battle of Somme in 1916

A granite stone cross in the boundary wall of an otherwise ordinary English churchyard has been given listed status because of the “extraordinary” story it reveals of first world war heroism.

Most war memorials are dedicated to numbers of people, but the memorial at St Paul’s church in Withnell, Lancashire, is dedicated to just one.

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More than 50 people rescued from Channel, says French coastguard

Several bodies pulled from sea after boat got into difficulty off coast of Audresselles on Monday night

More than 50 people have been rescued after attempting to cross the Channel and the bodies of several others were found floating at sea.

The French coastguard said 51 people were rescued on Monday night after a boat got into difficulty when its engine failed off the coast of Audresselles in northern France. Those rescued were met by emergency services at Boulogne-sur-Mer quayside and taken to safety.

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Post-Brexit border scheme to simplify trade put on pause again

Single Trade Window designed to reduce friction on imports and exports will be halted until at least 2026 amid cost fears

A key part of the UK’s post-Brexit border strategy has been put on pause for more than a year amid government concerns over the cost of implementing the scheme.

The introduction of the Single Trade Window (STW), which is designed to reduce friction for traders moving goods in and out of Britain, had already been delayed from late October to January next year, but will now be halted until at least 2026.

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Starmer and Badenoch congratulate Trump on ‘historic election victory’ – UK politics live

Both PM and leader of the opposition offer congratulations with more full-throated support from Tory rightwingers such as Truss and Braverman

Another Labour politician who has criticised Donald Trump strongly in the past is Emily Thornberry, shadow foreign secretary when Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader and now chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee. In an interview on the Today programme this morning she said Trump’s victory (or apparent victory – he still has not officially hit 270 electoral college votes) was “disappointing”, and that it made the world “unpredictable”.

When it was put to her that she described him as a “racist, sexual predator” when he visited the UK during his first term as president, she replied:

Well, he is. But he is the president of the United States, and we need to work with him.

I know that many Londoners will be anxious about the outcome of the US presidential election. Many will be fearful about what it will mean for democracy and for women’s rights, or how the result impacts the situation in the Middle East or the fate of Ukraine. Others will be worried about the future of NATO or tackling the climate crisis …

The lesson of today is that progress is not inevitable. But asserting our progressive values is more important than ever - re-committing to building a world where racism and hatred is rejected, the fundamental rights of women and girls are upheld, and where we continue to tackle the crisis of climate change head on.

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‘Stranger than fiction’: Sunderland doctor Thomas Kwan’s plan for murder

GP in inheritance row aimed to kill his mother’s partner by wearing disguise to administer a fake Covid booster jab

“Sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction,” said the prosecuting barrister, Peter Makepeace KC, as he outlined a case which reads like the plot of an airport thriller. Think of an Agatha Christie-inspired Columbo episode with a splash of Breaking Bad.

The story of the outwardly respectable GP Thomas Kwan and his plot to kill a man he greedily saw as standing in the way of his inheritance is a wild one.

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Nature campaigners urge UK taxpayers to take stakes in forest projects

Land reform charities call for better regulation of UK’s carbon market so profits can be shared with public

Nature campaigners have called for taxpayers to take stakes in forest and peatland projects designed to store carbon, to avoid all the profits from carbon credits going to private investors.

A report from the Revive Coalition, an umbrella group for Scottish land reform and conservation charities, says carbon credits also need to be used much more effectively to bolster demand and help the UK meet its net zero targets.

Government-owned banks such as the Scottish National Investment Bank should invest in carbon projects, including on public land.

It becomes mandatory for all large and medium-sized companies to have audited carbon reduction targets to avoid green washing.

All carbon offsetting projects must register with the official schemes, the Woodland carbon code and the Peatland carbon code.

A new land tax is set up that is reduced if the land is managed to protect the climate and promote nature recovery.

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GP who poisoned mother’s partner while disguised as Covid nurse given 31 years

Thomas Kwan tried to murder Patrick O’Hara with fake jab while dressed as nurse in attempt to protect his inheritance

A “money obsessed” GP who poisoned his mother’s partner while disguised as a nurse administering a fake Covid booster jab has been jailed for 31 years and five months.

Thomas Kwan, 53, had denied attempting to murder Patrick O’Hara but changed his plea to guilty after one day of evidence at his trial at Newcastle crown court.

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Wetherspoon’s boss warns of pub price rises as result of Labour budget

Tim Martin blamed increases to the minimum wage and employers’ national insurance contributions

Pubgoers should expect prices to go up as a result of Labour’s first budget in 14 years, the politically outspoken boss of Wetherspoon’s, Tim Martin, has said.

Speaking as the hospitality chain announced record quarterly sales, Martin pinned the blame for an expected increase in pubs’ costs on the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, whose economic “pedigree” he has previously praised.

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Trump tariffs would halve UK growth and push up prices, says thinktank

NIESR warns British economy would be one of the worst affected by protectionist policies

UK growth is likely to be halved by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential race if goes on to impose the swingeing new tariffs he has threatened, a leading thinktank has warned.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the protectionist measures planned by the Republican challenger for the White House would result in weaker activity, rising inflation and higher interest rates from the Bank of England.

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Wall Street and bitcoin soar to record highs as Trump wins US election

Dollar up and renewable energy stocks down, while shares in president-elect’s media business rise by more than a third

Wall Street and bitcoin rallied to fresh record highs and the dollar soared after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, while renewable energy stocks fell.

Trump was declared the winner on Wednesday morning after securing the 270 electoral votes needed to take the presidency.

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Boots says it will ‘draw lessons’ from research into links to slavery

Report looked into donations to Nottingham universities by Jesse Boot, who expanded pharmacy chain

The high-street pharmacy Boots’s links to the transatlantic slave trade have been revealed in new research that shows how the proceeds of enslavement became entangled with British capitalism.

Jesse Boot, the son of the company’s founder, expanded the chemist with the help of banks and premises linked to slavery. He was not identified as involved in the enslavement of people, the trade of enslaved people or trade in goods made by enslaved people.

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XL bully dog put down after fatal attack on North Yorkshire girl, 10

Savannah Bentham, from the Malton area, killed by family pet in attack police said was out of character

An XL bully dog has been put down after fatally attacking a 10-year-old girl in North Yorkshire last week.

Savannah Bentham, from the Malton area, was fatally attacked by her family’s pet dog at home on Friday. On Tuesday, the dog was identified as an XL bully and was euthanised by a vet, North Yorkshire police said.

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Sara Sharif’s father says stepmother was ‘true villain’ as he denies murder

Jury heard that Urfan Sharif tried to call an ambulance for his daughter but was told to ‘leave it'

The father of Sara Sharif denied killing his daughter as he claimed the 10-year-old’s stepmother was the “true villain of the piece”, a court was told.

Urfan Sharif tried to save his “limp” daughter and begged for an ambulance, only to be told: “Leave it; she’s dead,” jurors heard.

Sharif wept as he described Sara as a “beautiful angel” and denied abusing her, saying: “I did slap her; I never beat her … I have lot of flaws. I’m not even an average father. I never beat her any of the time. Never.”

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Shetland man’s bond with otter becomes subject of award-winning film

Documentary about Billy Mail’s connection with orphaned pup Molly airs on National Geographic next week

National Geographic will be streaming a new documentary about an unlikely bond between a man and an otter in Shetland.

Billy Mail met Molly, a starving pup, in 2021 when he saw her jumping off a pontoon into the sea near his Shetland home. Mail wanted to see how close he could get to her before she fled. But it turned out that Molly had no intention of running away.

Billy and Molly: An Otter Love Story will be available from 14 November on Disney+, and will air on 15 November on National Geographic

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Senior Tories urge Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick to settle differences

Leader names rival in shadow cabinet but announcement marred by leaks suggesting Jenrick wanted bigger job

Senior Conservatives have urged Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick to rapidly settle any differences after the unveiling of the full shadow cabinet was marred by briefings and concern over lingering rivalries.

Badenoch, who became leader after defeating Jenrick in a vote of Tory members, held her first shadow cabinet meeting on Tuesday, having named a team including three rival candidates, Jenrick among them, and a series of party centrists.

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Barry Keoghan hits out at ‘disgusting’ online trolls using his son against him

Saltburn actor tells Louis Theroux podcast about his difficult childhood and decision to keep his child offline

Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan has hit back at “disgusting” online trolls who he claimed use his relationship with his son as “ammunition” against him.

The 32-year-old Irish actor, who is dating US singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter, has a two-year-old son, Brando, with his former partner.

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