General news

• Met officer who killed Jean Charles de Menezes on tube defends his actions

  08-11-2024 22:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Retired officer says he feared he was about to die when he shot innocent man he mistook for terrorist in 2005The Metropolitan police officer who shot dead an innocent man in 2005 after mistaking him for a terrorist says he was justified to open fire as he feared he would die.Jean Charles de Menezes was held down and shot repeatedly in the head by firearms officers on an underground train at Stockwell station on 22 July 2005. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• From Chalamet to Mescal: why are celebrity lookalike competitions everywhere?

  12-11-2024 10:05 via theguardian.com
  
  All of a sudden, in cities across the world, A-list lookalikes are coming together for reasons not quite known or at least understoodSomething strange is happening. All around the world, in areas large enough for people to congregate in their masses, we are being overtaken. The spread is fast and insistent, and cannot be explained by logic or science. Which is to say: where the hell did all these lookalike competitions come from?Barely two weeks have passed since a Timothée Chalamet looka
  
  Read more

• Young adult books roundup – reviews

  12-11-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  A dark fantasy in the vein of Alan Garner, a raw but hopeful tale of teenage alcoholism, and a cosy romcom with a neurodivergent angle are among this month’s selectionLiz Hyder won the older readers’ category in the Waterstones children’s book prize for her memorable debut Bearmouth. Now, in The Twelve (Pushkin), Kit and her friend Story must travel back in time to find Kit’s sister, who goes missing close to an ancient stone circle on the eve of the winter solstice. Chan
  
  Read more

• Propaganda: 100 years of fear, manipulation and persuasion – in pictures

  12-11-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Drugs, war, apartheid and the environment are some of the themes covered in the book Propagandopolis, which charts a century of efforts to influence and control Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Piper review – Elizabeth Hurley dances a merry tune in cheesy rat-based folk horror

  12-11-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Hurley arrives in Pied Piper territory with her daughter to take a teaching job at a creepy private school. Soon enough the town’s infamous rodent problem starts being an issueThe premise for this horror exercise is a potent notion, one that might have yielded a chilling work of Mitteleuropean folk horror: the Pied Piper of Hamelin is a supernatural being still kicking around the German town, luring children to their deaths as punishment for parents’ sins. Unfortunately, the film-mak
  
  Read more

• Our flat’s rising ground rent is going to ruin our move

  12-11-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Our buyer’s lender has pulled out because the charge rises with the property’s rising value. Now the delay risks collapsing the whole chainWe found a buyer for our leasehold flat, but on the day of exchange their lender declined to offer a mortgage, despite having previously agreed in principle. The reason was a provision in the lease for the ground rent, currently £200 per annum, to be amended every 25 years according to the market value of the property. We had no trouble secu
  
  Read more

• UK jobs market in spotlight after Reeves’s tax rises on employers

  12-11-2024 09:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Labour market is in pretty good shape, but signs of cooling could be a headache for the chancellorUK unemployment rises as pay growth slowsBusiness live – latest updatesFor the past few years only cursory attention has been paid to the unemployment figures because the jobless rate has been low and there have been plenty of unfilled vacancies for those seeking work. But, thanks to a slowing economy and decisions made by Rachel Reeves in last month’s budget, that could be about to chan
  
  Read more

• UK can strike Trump trade deal and rebuild EU relations, says top economist

  12-11-2024 09:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Keir Starmer can show UK is ‘open for business’, says former Bank of England chief economist Andy HaldaneBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK can strike a US trade deal with Donald Trump while also rebuilding EU relations after Brexit to cement its status as a “beacon of stability” in an increasingly volatile world, a leading economist has said.Andy Haldane, the former Bank of England chief economist, said Keir Starmer’s government could show the UK was &ldquo
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Middle East crisis live: New Israeli defence minister dismisses talk of ceasefire in Lebanon

  12-11-2024 09:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Comments from Israel Katz follow remarks from fellow minister yesterday that ‘certain progress’ had been madePalestinian medical officials say two Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 14 people, including two children and a woman. Associated Press reports that most of the victims of one of the strikes were in an Israeli-declared “humanitarian zone”.AP reports that one strike late Monday hit a makeshift cafeteria used by displaced people in Muwasi, the centre of the Isr
  
  Read more

• UK unemployment rises as pay growth slows

  12-11-2024 09:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Figures suggest cooling of job market amid concerns over increase in employers’ national insurance contributionsUK jobs market in spotlight after tax risesBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK’s jobs market has shown further signs of cooling after a rise in unemployment in September while pay growth slowed.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the rate of unemployment rose to 4.3% in the three months to September, up from 4% the previous quarter. Continue re
  
  Read more

• The great danger is that this time, Trumpism starts making sense | Randeep Ramesh

  12-11-2024 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  So far, the president-elect’s rhetoric has been at odds with reality. If that changes, it would redraw the US electoral mapDonald Trump’s unpredictable style and electoral success reflect a turbulent era when neither progressives nor authoritarians have secured control. Far from signalling an autocratic takeover, his rise shows a political landscape in flux. The 2008 crash and its uneven recovery marked the decline of the old economic order. But in 2016, the rise of Trump on the righ
  
  Read more

• Explosion of interest in sticker albums shows huge potential for women’s football | Suzanne Wrack

  12-11-2024 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fans of the women’s game have had to wait for merchandise such as collectable stickers and demand is intense as a resultGripped in the pocket of my Adidas joggers was a little stack of stickers with an elastic band around it. Flicking down the edge of the bundle with my finger I would glance at the huddle of boys trading the hottest commodity in the playground with a nervousness that was enough to hold me back from even trying to join in.I could play football, sure, that was the easy part,
  
  Read more

• ‘A proud father’: Gil Gomes on his son Angel and a remarkable family story

  12-11-2024 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  An Under-20 World Cup winner with Portugal, Angel Gomes’s father recalls his unique journey in footballWhere do you begin with the extraordinary football heritage of Angel Gomes? Perhaps in Lille, where he is thriving in the Champions League, having left Manchester United in 2020. Alternatively you could go back to Lisbon, where his father, Gil, arrived as a 15-year-old to make his way in the world with Benfica, trained with Eusébio and won an Under-20 World Cup with Portugal.Or, yo
  
  Read more

• Trump expected to appoint China critics Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz

  12-11-2024 08:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Rubio reportedly in line for secretary of state, while Waltz expected to be made national security adviserPresident-elect Donald Trump has reportedly decided to appoint the prominent China hawks Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz as his respective secretary of state and national security adviser.Rubio was arguably the most hawkish option on Trump’s shortlist for secretary of state, and he has in past years advocated for a muscular foreign policy with respect to America’s geopolitical foes, i
  
  Read more

• Shell wins appeal against court ruling ordering cut in carbon emissions

  12-11-2024 08:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Oil and gas company had challenged 2021 ruling that it must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030Shell has won its appeal against a landmark climate ruling in the Netherlands, which in 2021 ordered the oil and gas company to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Shell had appealed against a lower court ruling in 2021 that it must cut its global carbon emissions by 45% by the end of 2030 compared with 2019 levels. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Airlines halt flights to Haiti after plane hit by gunfire

  12-11-2024 08:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Spirit Airlines flight heading from Florida to Port-au-Prince diverted to Dominican Republic after flight attendant was grazed by bullet, amid broader violence in Haiti’s capitalHaiti’s international airport shut down on Monday after gangs opened fire at a commercial flight landing in Port-Au-Prince, prompting some airlines to suspend operations as the country swore in a new interim prime minister who promised to restore peace.The Spirit Airlines flight headed from Fort Lauderdale, F
  
  Read more

• Man who ‘discarded’ wife after tricking her into leaving Australia jailed for exit trafficking

  12-11-2024 08:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Victorian sentenced to more than four years in prison after leaving wife ‘grief-stricken and traumatised’ in SudanFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA Victorian man who tricked his wife into travelling to Sudan before taking her children and passport back to Australia has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison.After a county court trial, the 52-year-old man in April became the first Victorian con
  
  Read more

• What should Biden do with his remaining time? Get a peace deal done in Ukraine | Simon Jenkins

  12-11-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The end to this bloody stalemate must come with negotiation, and Putin should not wait until Trump is in the White HouseFirst the good news. The US is talking to Russia. Then the bad. Vladimir Putin has been phoned not by the current US president, but by a known admirer and sceptic of the US’s support for Ukraine, the president-elect, Donald Trump. Could these two facts offer a path to peace?Two years ago, Putin made a terrible mistake. He thought he could invade Ukraine and topple its lea
  
  Read more

• Unseen desire: the radical gaze of Rotimi Fani-Kayode – in pictures

  12-11-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  After escaping civil war in Nigeria, the ‘outsider’ photographer moved to the UK to capture Black queer self-expression. A new exhibition explores his legacy Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• The Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe review – a blue murder mystery

  12-11-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Set during Liz Truss’s premiership, Coe’s multilayered novel is a mixture of whodunnit and political chronicle with a villain hiding in plain sightMy favourite joke in Jonathan Coe’s new novel is hardly a side-splitter, more what someone of my acquaintance would label “Radio 4 funny, not funny-funny”. In fact, it might not even be intended as a joke at all, though longtime fans of the author of What a Carve Up! will have their suspicions. A memoirist called Brian is
  
  Read more

• The Last Dance review – Chinese funeral business is backdrop for arresting, life-affirming drama

  12-11-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  An irascible priest loses his patience with a newcomer to Hong Kong’s funeral traditions in punchy melodrama of a filmStarting out as a prickly comedy in which wedding planner Dominic (Hong Kong standup icon Dayo Wong) switches to the funeral business, The Last Dance takes a sudden sombre turn. Dominic lands a seemingly unhinged client, turned down by all his competitors, who wants him to embalm her young son. As a string of putrefied matter hangs from the boy’s back while he is dres
  
  Read more

• ‘It should not taste marine-like’: Would you eat a burger made from processed sea squirts?

  12-11-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Odd-looking creatures called ciona are naturally rich in protein and one company aims to farm and process them for the tableAt a seaside restaurant near the docks in Fredrikstad, Norway, there’s a selection of delicious looking entrees sitting in front of me. There is a cheesy lasagne, a savoury Mexican casserole, and a spicy chilli con carne. Biting in to each one in turn, I savour the familiar taste of ground beef. Or is it?The dishes come from Pronofa Asa, a Scandinavian company whose p
  
  Read more

• Is the party over for Belgrade’s club scene on the Danube?

  12-11-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Raft houses, known as ‘splavs’, became synonymous with the hedonistic nightclub scene in Serbia’s capital. Now they are being cleared from the river to make way for luxury flats, bars and shopsFor 20 years, the raft bar Zappa Barka sat on a bend of the River Danube in central Belgrade. Revellers walked a gangplank to board the boat, then danced to live music and DJs on wooden floors, or stayed on deck all night to see the sun rise over the water. But in June 2024 the raft&rsquo
  
  Read more

• Voters around the world wish a plague on all incumbents. Labour can avoid that fate | Polly Toynbee

  12-11-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Trump’s shock election win has the government feeling nervous. It must remember: bold, fair policies are exactly what the public wantsThose panic alarms in MPs’ welcome-to-Westminster packs may have been eyed nervously by some on the Labour benches in the past week. The shock of Donald Trump’s victory makes many uneasier about the next election, even if they are not exactly panicking. It’s five years before voters pass judgment on Labour’s successes and failures, bu
  
  Read more

• TV tonight: the powerful story of a defiant Russian artist

  12-11-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Storyville profiles Gena Marvin, who is challenging anti-gay and pro-war sentiment. Plus: Bake Off goes 1970s. Here’s what to watch this evening10pm, BBC Four Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Government proposes testing bathing waters in England and Wales all year round

  12-11-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Sites currently only tested for dangerous pollution during ‘bathing season’ from May to SeptemberBathing waters in England and Wales could be tested all year round in a government shake-up to water pollution rules.At the moment, designated bathing sites are only tested for dangerous pollution that could make swimmers sick during the “bathing season”, which runs from May to September. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• South Korean president practising golf to prepare for future meetings with Donald Trump

  12-11-2024 06:40 via theguardian.com
  
  It is estimated that Trump played hundreds of rounds of golf during his first term as president of the United StatesSouth Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is practising golf – for the first time in eight years – in preparation for future meetings with US president-elect Donald Trump, Yoon’s office has confirmed.South Korean media said Yoon had visited a golf course on Saturday for a sport his office said he had last played in 2016. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• UK has ‘huge opportunity’ to lead on green investment, Starmer says

  12-11-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  PM says Britain can ‘win the race’ as Trump’s election casts doubt on global efforts to tackle climate changeBritain has a “huge opportunity” to get ahead of other countries in the race for green investment after the election of Donald Trump as US president, Keir Starmer has said, as he arrives in Azerbaijan for the Cop29 summit.Trump’s election victory last week has cast doubt on global efforts to tackle climate change, which the president-elect has called a
  
  Read more

• The play that changed my life: ‘Enda Walsh’s Disco Pigs burned like magnesium’

  12-11-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Cillian Murphy and Eileen Walsh were intoxicating as Pig and Runt – two characters at war with a world that didn’t care about them‘It’s a play about two pigs who go to a disco.” These intriguing words were spoken by Mike Bradwell , the mischievous, Falstaffian artistic director of the Bush theatre in the late 90s. I was a teenager whose predominant experience of theatre up to that point had been pantos and West End musicals. Mike had come to speak to the Barnes Thea
  
  Read more

• Seeds of hope: how do you defend a precious food source in a famine?

  12-11-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  During the siege of Leningrad, botanists in charge of the world’s first seed bank had to protect the vast collection from fire, rodents – and hungerSomewhere in the sky above, the mosquito drone of a plane’s propeller neared. Since Abram Kameraz had begun to commute by train from Leningrad (now St Petersburg) to the suburban town of Pavlovsk earlier in the summer of 1941, attacks by enemy planes had become a frequent cause of delay. Through the carriage window, Kameraz saw the
  
  Read more

Follow @generalnews_UK on Twitter!