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International Distribution Services’ says it will take £134m hit from budget but shows improved underlying financial performance The company that owns Royal Mail has blamed a £134m hit from Labour’s first budget in 14 years for preventing a return to profit, as its underlying financial performance improved.International Distribution Services’ half-year results illustrate the difficulties it is facing during one of the most turbulent periods...

This blog is now closedSydney train strike: chaotic shutdown averted after 11th-hour crisis talks with unionGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNew South Wales MPs condemned for ‘part-time’ parliamentary yearScores of NSW MPs will earn the equivalent of more than $10,000 per sitting week in 2025 after a bid to increase the year’s 16-week calendar was rejected, AAP reports.To do...

Wars have spread and intensified, with far-reaching impacts on global economic growth and food security, according to latest Conflict Intensity IndexThe proportion of the world engulfed by conflict has grown 65% – equivalent to nearly double the size of India – over the past three years, according to a new report.Ukraine, Myanmar, the Middle East and a “conflict corridor” around Africa’s Sahel region have...

Perth businessman tells AGM he made ‘error in judgment’ as company’s executive pay plans are voted downFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastEmbattled mining billionaire Chris Ellison has told shareholders he can’t stress enough “how much I hate what I’ve done” after a series of scandals engulfed the company he leads, Mineral...

NSW government caves to rail union demands to prevent workers strikingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA chaotic two-day shutdown of Sydney’s train network has been averted at the 11th hour after the state government caved to rail union demands to run 24-hour services to prevent workers striking.However, the New South Wales...

Extreme heat expected to hit much of South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and inland NSW as central Queensland braces for flooding Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMuch of Australia’s east coast will swelter through heatwave conditions this weekend with temperatures set to soar to up to 12C above average, while central Queensland...

Israeli move follows Guardian report that 12-year-old girl’s evacuation for treatment had been repeatedly blocked The Israeli authorities have permitted Mazyouna Damoo, a 12-year-old Palestinian girl whose face was “ripped off” when an Israeli missile struck her home in June, to leave Gaza for medical treatment, five days after the Guardian reported that repeated requests for her urgent medical evacuation had been denied.Last Friday,...

Justice department urges court to force Google to share data with rivals as part of wide-ranging changes to end online giant’s monopoly on web searchingAlphabet’s Google must sell its Chrome browser, share data and search results with competitors and take a range of other measures to end its monopoly on searching the internet, US prosecutors have argued to a judge.Such changes would essentially result...

Greens and legal advocates say bill will make it harder to hold authorities accountable for conditions in detention facilitiesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLabor has introduced a bill that would allow drugs and mobile phones to be confiscated from non-citizens in immigration detention, despite opposing a phone ban when attempted by...

Everett’s novel, James, which focuses on Twain's enslaved character Jim, won the $10,000 prizePercival Everett has won the $10,000 National Book Award for fiction, one of the US’s most prestigious literary prizes, for James, his acclaimed reimagining of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.The 67-year-old author was also shortlisted for this year’s Booker prize for James, which focuses on Huckleberry Finn’s enslaved character...

Moves to advance three resolutions, which would have halted recent sale of $20bn in US weapons to Israel, all failedThe US Senate has blocked legislation that would have halted the sale of some US weapons to Israel, which had been introduced out of concern about the human rights catastrophe faced by Palestinians in Gaza.Senator Bernie Sanders had introduced what are called joint resolutions of...

At least two people killed as major storm batters region, closing schools, downing trees and knocking out powerA major storm swept across the US north-west, battering the region with strong winds and rain, causing widespread power outages, closing schools and downing trees that killed at least two people.The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday, and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect...

This live coverage has ended. Read the latest at the links below: House ethics committee deadlocked on releasing Matt Gaetz reportUS Senate rejects Bernie Sanders effort to block sales of tank rounds to IsraelThe Federal Reserve must not remove Wells Fargo’s $1.95tn asset cap until the bank has fixed its risk management and compliance issues, top Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren told the US central...

Thinktank’s report says Beijing has emerged from Covid-induced lull with a ‘more competitive, politically targeted model’ of engagement in the regionChina has renewed efforts to curry favour in Pacific island nations, a new report has found, after charting a “resurgence” in Beijing-backed aid and infrastructure funding.Over the past decade, China has lavished billions of dollars on Pacific island nations, part of ongoing efforts to...

Brandon Durham was killed last week after reporting home break-in and trying to wrestle knife from hands of womanThe family of Brandon Durham, a Las Vegas man shot and killed in his home by Las Vegas police after contacting 911 report to a break-in, are calling for the officer’s arrest.Durham, a 43-year-old realtor and father, called police after midnight on 12 November and said...

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

European Commission should take office on 1 December after centre-right EPP and Socialists forge compromiseEuropean parliament leaders have reached a deal to approve Ursula von der Leyen’s top team, paving the way for the new European Commission to take office on 1 December.Leaders of the centre-right European People’s party (EPP), the Socialists and the centrist Renew group – who between them have 56% of...

Randy Boissonnault to ‘step away from cabinet’ after being accused of ‘pretendianism’ and improper business dealingsCanada’s employment minister has resigned from the cabinet after weeks of scrutiny over his business dealings and his shifting claims of Indigenous ancestry.Moments before question period on Wednesday, Justin Trudeau’s office said Randy Boissonnault would “step away from cabinet effective immediately” and will “focus on clearing the allegations made...

Storm Shadow missile attack comes day after Kyiv used US-supplied long-range weapons to strike within RussiaRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesUkraine 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...

Investigators gather evidence at two Baltic sites while Danish navy is shadowing Chinese cargo shipSwedish police investigating the believed sabotage of two fibre-optic undersea cables in the Baltic Sea have said a Chinese ship off the coast of Denmark was “of interest” as Danish officials said its navy was shadowing a Chinese-registered cargo ship.The ship, identified by Denmark as the Yi Peng 3, passed...

Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn is accused of swindling thousands from victims before killing themA Thai woman alleged to be among the worst serial killers in the kingdom’s history has been convicted and sentenced to death for poisoning a friend with cyanide, in the first of 14 murder trials.Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, 36, described as an online gambling addict, is accused of swindling thousands of dollars from her victims...

Council in Yukon territory deadlocked, citing the crown’s tarnished relations with Indigenous peoples in the regionThe council of a town in Canada’s Yukon territory has been locked for weeks in bureaucratic standstill after its members refused to swear a mandatory oath of allegiance to King Charles, citing the crown’s tarnished relations with Indigenous peoples in the region.The standoff, which threatens to cost them their...

Woman says French-Algerian writer’s prize-winning Houris uses her story as she told it to therapist Aicha DehdouhTwo complaints have been filed in Algeria against the French-Algerian author Kamel Daoud, the winner of France’s most prestigious literary award, and his wife, a therapist, alleging that they used a patient’s life story as the basis for his prize-winning novel.The writer, the first Algerian novelist to be...

Amos Hochstein to meet Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday after Beirut discussions over deal to end fightingThe US envoy Amos Hochstein has said there is “positive progress” towards a ceasefire in Lebanon after talks in Beirut aimed at ending 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.Hochstein has met Lebanese officials over the past two days after Hezbollah indicated it had agreed to the text...