Water firms push for higher shareholder returns as Ofwat considers bills increase

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Companies say higher returns are needed to ensure record infrastructure investment across industry is delivered

Water companies want to see higher returns for shareholders to ensure record investment into sewage infrastructure, pipes and treatment plants is delivered.

As Ofwat, the water regulator for England and Wales, prepares to announce its decision on how much customer bills will be allowed to rise by to fund tens of billions of pounds in investment across the industry, water companies said higher returns were needed.

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Experts create controllable gastric balloon to aid weight loss

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Device inflates before eating and contracts afterwards, simulating the effects of having a meal, say scientists

From weight loss jabs to vibrating pills, the obesity crisis has spawned myriad innovations to help people shed pounds.

Now scientists have overhauled the humble gastric balloon – producing a device that both inflates and deflates to keep it effective for longer.

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Trump team signs agreement on background checks for nominees; lawyers push for hush-money case dismissal – as it happened

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This blog has now closed. You can read our Trump hush-money story here

Notre Dame Cathedral will reopen in Paris on Saturday with incoming US president Donald Trump set to attend the ceremony marking the resurrection of the Gothic masterpiece five years after a devastating fire.

The Republican confirmed Monday he had accepted an invitation from French president Emmanuel Macron to attend the grand re-opening of the 850-year-old edifice which was nearly lost to flames in April 2019.

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Missing Hawaii woman seen crossing into Mexico, police say

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Hannah Kobayashi disappeared voluntarily as she sought to ‘step away from modern connectivity’, LA police say

A Hawaii woman who vanished after landing in Los Angeles three weeks ago disappeared voluntarily as she sought to “step away from modern connectivity” and was last seen crossing into Mexico, police said at a news conference.

Hannah Kobayashi, 30, appeared unharmed as she walked alone with her luggage into a tunnel at the San Ysidro crossing about 125 miles (201km) south-east of Los Angeles around noon on 12 November the day after her family reported her missing, LA police said Monday. Authorities made the discovery after reviewing surveillance video from the US Customs and Border Protection late on Sunday.

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South Korean MPs defy president’s declaration of martial law as crowds gather

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Yoon Suk Yeol says in late-night address that opposition parties have taken parliamentary process hostage

South Korea’s National Assembly has voted to block an attempt by the president, Yoon Suk Yeol, to declare martial law, leaving the future of his emergency measure unclear as protesters and armed forces gathered in Seoul.

There was jubilation outside the National Assembly building late on Tuesday night where hundreds of people had gathered to witness armed forces enter the building as lawmakers sat in the legislature to hold an emergency session to block Yoon’s sudden declaration.

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South Western Railway to become first train operator nationalised under Labour

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As part of a comprehensive programme of renationalisation, the service will come under public ownership in May

South Western Railway will be the first train operator nationalised under the Labour government, ministers have announced.

One of the UK’s biggest commuter services, which operates out of London Waterloo, it will be taken into public hands in May.

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MPs back proportional representation system for UK elections in symbolic vote

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Lib Dem proposal is passed by 137 votes to 135 with some Labour backbench support but is unlikely to become law

MPs have voted narrowly in favour of introducing a proportional representation electoral system, in a move that will almost certainly not change the law but is nonetheless a symbolically significant moment for UK politics.

The vote on a Liberal Democrat bill calling for a PR system for UK parliamentary elections and for local elections in England was passed by 137 votes to 135. It is believed to be the first time the Westminster parliament has backed such a plan.

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Humbled pie thieves ditch Yorkshire chef’s food-laden van in Middlesbrough

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Tommy Banks says £25,000 of stock, which included 2,500 pies bearing his name, was ‘not really very saleable’

A van that which was stolen containing 2,500 pies has been found abandoned, although inquiries are continuing into the fate of its contents.

The Michelin-starred chef Tommy Banks had appealed to thieves to “do the right thing” and give the van’s contents, which also included custard and gravy, to people in need.

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Man has ‘finely tuned’ plan to find £500m bitcoin thrown in tip, Cardiff court told

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James Howells seeking go-ahead to search for hard drive that was accidentally thrown into landfill in 2013

For more than a decade, a computer expert from Newport in south Wales has doggedly fought to recover £500m of bitcoin he says was accidentally thrown into a council tip.

James Howells’ bid to become extremely rich reached a judge on Tuesday with a team of lawyers arguing that it was still possible to launch a hunt for his missing hard drive containing the bitcoin.

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Wolves to lose protection, as EU lowers bar for shooting wildlife

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Downgrading species’ protection status for political gain puts decades of conservation efforts at risk, says WWF

Europe’s wolves will lose their “strict protection” status, alarming conservationists who fear for the survival of an animal brought back from the brink of local extinction.

A committee charged with saving wildlife took the wolf’s protection status down a notch on Tuesday after members voted through a proposal from the European Union that lowers the bar for shooting a wolf.

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Retired New Orleans priest pleads guilty to kidnapping and raping boy in 1970s

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Lawrence Hecker, 93, is set to receive a life sentence after admitting to attacking boy in church bell tower

Shortly before a jury was supposed to be chosen for his trial on criminal charges of kidnapping and raping a boy in the mid-1970s, the self-acknowledged serial child molester and retired Roman Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker pleaded guilty on Tuesday morning.

The 93-year-old is scheduled to receive a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment on 18 December in New Orleans’s state criminal courthouse, where it has been rare for a Catholic clergyman to be charged – much less convicted – in connection with the church’s decades-old clerical molestation scandal.

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Man jailed for life for murder of university student that horrified Italy

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Brutal killing of Giulia Cecchettin, 22, triggered protests across country and cast grim spotlight on femicide in Italy

Filippo Turetta has been sentenced to life in jail for the murder of Giulia Cecchettin, a university student whose brutal killing cast a grim spotlight on femicide in Italy.

Cecchettin, 22, was stabbed more than 70 times before her body was wrapped in black plastic bags and dumped in a ditch close to a lake north of Venice in November last year. Her murder triggered protests across the country.

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Hamas and Fatah agree to create committee to run postwar Gaza Strip

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Two main Palestinian factions agree during talks in Cairo that politically independent technocrats will run territory

Hamas and Fatah – the two main Palestinian factions which have been at odds for almost two decades – have agreed in talks in Cairo to create a committee that will jointly run the postwar Gaza Strip.

While Israel had refused to countenance a “day after” governing scenario involving Hamas or the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank, the move nonetheless signifies fresh willingness from Hamas to give up its rule of Gaza and could help advance internationally mediated ceasefire talks.

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Israel threatens to expand war if Hezbollah truce collapses – Reuters

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  1. Israel threatens to expand war if Hezbollah truce collapses  Reuters
  2. Israel threatens to ‘go deeper’ into Lebanon as strikes strain ceasefire  CNN
  3. Why Israel and Hezbollah Are Still Firing Amid a Lebanon Cease-Fire  The New York Times
  4. Israel-Gaza-Lebanon live updates: IDF launches fresh strikes into south Lebanon  ABC News
  5. Headlines for December 03, 2024  Democracy Now!
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Indiana man finds two missing babies in ditch outside his home in 27F weather

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The four- and five-month-year-old girls were in a car when it was stolen earlier that day and are now safe

A man was shocked to discover two babies abandoned in a ditch when he went outside to collect a package in front of his Indianapolis home.

Robert Deane had only walked a few steps outside the front door of his home when he noticed two car seats in a ditch. As he got closer to investigate, he found two baby girls who were kidnapped earlier on Monday morning while inside of a stolen vehicle.

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Defense head pick Pete Hegseth now dogged by questions over alcohol use

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Questions have also been raised over reports the embattled former Fox News host mismanaged two veterans groups

Questions continued to dog Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, on Monday following reports he was twice ousted from previous organisations he led over financial mismanagement and improper behavior, with reporters asking him directly if he had an alcohol problem.

Hegseth, 44, who was visiting Capitol Hill to drum up support for his troubled nomination, did not respond when a journalist asked “Do you have an alcohol problem?” as he arrived for a meeting with Republican senators.

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Trump says he will block Nippon Steel’s $14.9bn bid to acquire US Steel

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Acquisition of Pittsburgh-based steel producer by Japanese company has faced opposition from steelworkers and Biden

Donald Trump said on Monday that he intends to block Japan’s Nippon Steel’s $14.9bn bid to acquire US Steel in a move that will fuel further fears about a global trade war when the Republican returns to the White House next month.

“I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan” the US president-elect said in a statement on Monday, adding: “Through a series of Tax Incentives and Tariffs, we will make U.S. Steel Strong and Great Again, and it will happen FAST! As President, I will block this deal from happening. Buyer Beware!!!”

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