Defence firm Thales faces bribery and corruption investigation

UK Serious Fraud Office and French equivalent ‘will pursue every avenue’ in allegations against Paris-based company

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating suspected bribery and corruption at Thales Group, a multinational aerospace and defence electronics contractor.

The company, which is headquartered in Paris and has a UK subsidiary employing more than 7,000 staff, is known in defence circles for its varied businesses, which include making missiles and launchers, supplying sonar systems for the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines and designing the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.

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British lawyer among six to die in suspected methanol poisoning in Laos

As well as Simone White, two Danes, an American and two Australians have died after incident in town popular with backpackers

A British lawyer is among six people to have died in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said it was “supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Laos, and we are in contact with the local authorities”.

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JD Sports shares slump 14% after profit warning

Lower sales in UK and North America after mild weather and discounting by rivals offset by 3.5% rise in Europe

Mild weather and discounting by rivals hit sales at JD Sports in October, as the trainers and fashion retailer said profits will be at the lower end of expectations.

The gloomy update sparked a sell-off among investors, sending shares down 14% and wiping about £800m off the value of the FTSE 100 company, which owns the JD chain as well as outdoor wear retailers Millets and Blacks in the UK and chains in the US and mainland Europe. Shares in its rival, the Sports Direct owner Frasers Group, also fell, by 2.5%.

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Widow of gambling addict lambasts watchdog’s failure to investigate suicides

Exclusive: Annie Ashton, whose husband killed himself, says more people will die because of Gambling Commission inaction

The widow of a man who took his own life after becoming addicted to gambling says more people will die because the regulator is refusing to investigate suicides linked to the addiction.

Annie Ashton is planning legal action against the Gambling Commission after it said it would not investigate or penalise Betfair over the death of her husband, Luke – despite concerns raised about the company at his inquest.

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Starmer condemns Badenoch for abandoning cross-party consensus on climate crisis policy – UK politics live

Prime minister says Tory leader’s attacks on climate targets diminishes government ability to tackle central issue

British prime minister Keir Starmer says he is “deeply saddened” to hear that Prescott has died, and called him a “true giant of Labour”.

In a statement on X, he said, “I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of John Prescott. John was a true giant of the Labour movement. On behalf of the Labour Party, I send my condolences to Pauline and his family, to the city of Hull, and to all those who knew and loved him. May he rest in peace.”

He possessed an inherent ability to connect with people about the issues that mattered to them – a talent that others spend years studying and cultivating, but that was second nature to him.

He fought like hell to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol and was an unwavering champion of climate action for decades to come. I’m forever grateful to John for that commitment to solving the climate crisis and will miss him as a dear friend.”

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UK environment secretary vows to ensure farmers are paid fairly for produce

Steve Reed says he may not agree on inheritance tax changes but government will listen to rural Britain

The UK environment secretary has promised to reform the food system to ensure farmers are paid fairly for the food they produce, after many filled the streets of Westminster to campaign against inheritance tax changes.

Speaking at the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) conference, Steve Reed said: “I heard the anguish of the countryside on the streets of London earlier this week. We may not agree over the inheritance tax changes, but this government is determined to listen to rural Britain and end its long decline.”

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British mining executives held in Mali released after $160m deal to settle tax dispute

Resolute Mining chief executive Terence Holohan and two other employees had been detained since 9 November

Three British mining executives who had been detained by the government of Mali have been released and are “safe and well”, days after agreeing to pay $160m to settle a tax dispute.

Resolute Mining, an Australian company, said on Thursday its chief executive, Terence Holohan, and two other employees, who had been held in the country since 9 November, have been released.

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Son of woman killed by IRA condemns ‘cruel’ Disney series

Say Nothing, about 1972 abduction and murder of Jean McConville, is horrendous, says Michael McConville

The son of Jean McConville, a woman who was murdered and buried in secret by the IRA, has condemned a new Disney series on her death as “horrendous” and “cruel”.

The series is based on the acclaimed book Say Nothing, about McConville and the wider role of the IRA during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, written by the US journalist Patrick Radden Keefe.

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Regulator stops customers from being billed for ‘undeserved’ bonuses

Ofwat uses new powers to ensure investors pay at Thames, Yorkshire, and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water

Investors at Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water will be forced to pick up the tab for executive bonuses after the regulator determined that the sector had awarded “undeserved” extra payments, worth £6.8m.

Ofwat said on Thursday it had used new powers to ensure that shareholders and bondholders at the three companies paid for bonuses because they had not “adequately reflected overall company performance issues”.

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Captain Tom’s family personally benefited from charity they founded, report finds

Watchdog’s highly critical inquiry finds Hannah and Colin Ingram-Moore culpable of ‘serious and repeated’ misconduct

The family of the NHS charities fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore personally benefited from the charity set up in his name through a series of lucrative deals worth more than £1m, the charities watchdog has ruled in a highly critical report.

A Charity Commission inquiry concluded the late Captain Tom’s daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband, Colin Ingram-Moore, were culpable of “serious and repeated” instances of misconduct, mismanagement and failures of integrity.

Hannah Ingram-Moore “initiated the process to secure her appointment as chief executive” of the charity, suggesting she should be paid a salary of £150,000. The charity proposed paying her £100,000 but this was blocked by the commission and she was eventually hired on £85,000.

Hannah Ingram-Moore received £18,000 from Virgin Media in September 2021 to judge its Local Legends awards when she was chief executive of the foundation. This was unauthorised and a conflict of interest, and there was no evidence it was undertaken, as she claimed, in a personal capacity.

The Ingram-Moores used the charity’s name inappropriately and for their private benefit in a planning application to build a private spa pool in the grounds of their family home. The building was subsequently demolished.

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Mental health patients harmed by being sent to units far from home, report finds

Distant placements found to have led to anxiety, PTSD and suicide in some cases, as use of them increases in England

Mental health patients in England are being harmed by the increase in placements in psychiatric units far from their homes and families, a new report indicates.

Patients have had anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while some have died by suicide as a result of their distant placements, according to a Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) report, which drew on interviews with patients and their loved ones. The participants spoke of how their experiences had resulted in feelings of anger, frustration and a loss of trust in the mental health system.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Captain Tom Foundation inquiry: three key failings

A book deal, personal appearance and plans for a swimming pool were all criticised by the Charity Commission

The Charity Commission’s report on the Captain Tom Foundation is highly critical of the conduct and actions of its founders, Hannah and Colin Ingram-Moore, who it said had directly and inappropriately benefited financially from their links to the foundation.

Here are three examples of how the Ingram-Moores’ failure to manage conflicts of interest – not least between the foundation and their private company – constituted misconduct, mismanagement and what the commission called failures of governance and integrity.

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Women who have lost a baby prefer the term ‘pregnancy loss’ over ‘miscarriage’

Exclusive: New research finds ‘clinical, cruel’ language used by medics is unacceptable to many

Women who have lost a baby often dislike the language used by medical professionals and would prefer the term “pregnancy loss” over “miscarriage”, research has found.

More than six in 10 women (61%) who had lost a baby between 18 and 23 weeks of pregnancy said it was unacceptable for doctors, midwives and nurses to use the word “miscarriage”.

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Survival rates in UK for two lethal cancers lower than in comparable countries, research shows

Experts say UK ‘lags behind’ as OECD finds poor outcomes for many diagnosed with colon and lung cancers

People in the UK who are diagnosed with the two most lethal forms of cancer die sooner than those in many other comparable countries, a new study has found.

Research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed the UK ranked a lowly 31st out of 43 countries for how many people survive at least five years after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

UK spending on cancer will rise from £14.4bn to more than £23bn by 2050 because the ageing population will lead to more people being diagnosed.

Cancer will cause one in four deaths of people under the age of 75 between now and 2050.

170,000 people at any one time cannot work because they have cancer.

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British 18-year-old arrested in Dubai for sex with 17-year-old

Marcus Fakana could face two decades in jail for having sex with girl, also from London, while on holiday in UAE

An 18-year-old man from London could be jailed in the United Arab Emirates after having sex with a 17-year-old girl.

Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham, was on a family holiday in Dubai when he met the British girl, who is also from London and has since turned 18.

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Three men arrested after bomb squad called to bus station in Glasgow

Bus station closed after report of ‘potential suspicious item’ but Police Scotland say ‘nothing suspicious found’ after controlled explosion

Three men have been arrested and a controlled explosion was carried out after a bus station was closed for several hours after reports of a “potential suspicious item” found in the area.

Police Scotland said at about 9.40pm on Wednesday that nothing suspicious was found, despite the controlled explosion at Buchanan bus station.

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Ukraine fires UK-made missiles into Russia for first time

Storm Shadow missile attack comes day after Kyiv used US-supplied long-range weapons to strike within Russia

Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, multiple sources have told the Guardian.

The decision to approve the strikes was made in response to the deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine, which UK and US officials warned was a significant escalation of the near three-year conflict.

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How might Russia respond to UK and US letting Ukraine hit it with their missiles?

Moscow has rattled its nuclear sabres, but experts say an increase in hybrid, ‘grey zone’ warfare is more likely

Moscow has threatened to retaliate for the decision taken by the US and the UK to allow their long-range missiles to be used in strikes inside Russian territory, and warned that nothing is off the table. Earlier this week, the Kremlin announced a formal change in its nuclear doctrine which specifically envisages a possible nuclear response to Nato-assisted strikes on Russian soil. So, how far is Vladimir Putin prepared to go?

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Lidl returns to profit on sales of £9bn after slowing expansion

UK business says it has gained 300,000 new shoppers and plans 40 branch openings next year

Lidl’s UK business has bounced back into profit after it slowed expansion in favour of improving existing stores, spurring a jump in sales to above £9bn.

The German-owned discounter, which is close to overtaking Morrisons to become the UK’s fifth-largest supermarket, said it had gained more than 300,000 new shoppers and 60% of Britons visited the chain at least once year.

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Man charged with 1967 rape and murder of Bristol woman

Ryland Headley, 92, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with killing of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne

A 92-year-old man has been charged with murder and rape after a woman was found strangled to death in her own home 57 years ago.

Ryland Headley, of Ipswich, was arrested on Tuesday morning in connection with the killing of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne, who was found dead by a neighbour in the Easton area of Bristol in 1967.

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