1 hour ago Iran crisis live: UN says ‘cycle of horrific violence’ in Iran must end as official says 2,000 killed in crackdown

UN rights chief says ‘killing of peaceful demonstrators must stop’ as Iranian official tells Reuters around 2,000 have diedTrump says countries doing business with Iran face 25% tariff on US tradePeople in Iran: share your views on the current situationNon-essential French embassy staff have left Iran, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Agence France-Presse. The personnel left on Sunday and Monday, the sources added, without saying how many people had departed. “The protection of our personnel and our citizens is a priority,” a French foreign ministry official told AFP.Commenting on the protests, the UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Türk said:This cycle of horrific violence cannot continue. The Iranian people and their demands for fairness, equality and justice must be heard. Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago Iran crisis live: UN says ‘cycle of horrific violence’ in Iran must end as Germany claims regime is in its ‘final weeks’

Friedrich Merz says government is ‘effectively at the end’ after hundreds of protesters reportedly killed in the ongoing crackdownTrump says countries doing business with Iran face 25% tariff on US tradePeople in Iran: share your views on the current situationNon-essential French embassy staff have left Iran, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Agence France-Presse. The personnel left on Sunday and Monday, the sources added, without saying how many people had departed. “The protection of our personnel and our citizens is a priority,” a French foreign ministry official told AFP.Commenting on the protests, the UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Türk said:This cycle of horrific violence cannot continue. The Iranian people and their demands for fairness, equality and justice must be heard. Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Keir Starmer tells MPs he is open to social media ban for young people

PM says he is alarmed at reports about children’s screen time and has shifted position on Australian-style policyUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has told MPs he is open to the idea of an Australian-style ban on social media for young people after becoming concerned about the amount of time children and teenagers are spending on their phones.The prime minister told Labour MPs on Monday evening he had become alarmed at reports about five-year-olds spending hours in front of screens each day, as well as increasingly worried about the damage social media is doing to under-16s. Continue reading...

Politics

16 h. ago Starmer tells Labour MPs his foreign trips can help fix cost of living crisis

Prime minister tells parliamentary party that ‘being in the room’ for trade and defence talks will boost UK economy Keir Starmer has defended his frequent trips out of the country to Labour MPs, attempting to draw a direct link with the cost of living at home, which he warned would not be solved by isolationism.The prime minister told the meeting of the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) on Monday night that it was essential for him to be “in the room” for international negotiations on trade and defence, which would then have an impact on the domestic economy. Continue reading...

Events

17 h. ago Heritage Of London Trust Acquires David Bowie's Childhood Home For Restoration And Creative Workshop Space

Heritage Of London Trust Acquires David Bowie's Childhood Home For Restoration And Creative Workshop Space  That Eric Alper

Society

52 h. ago Syrian forces expel Kurdish fighters as US strikes Islamic State targets

Three hundred Kurds detained and further 400 evacuated following clashes in AleppoSyrian government forces have detained 300 Kurds and evacuated more than 400 Kurdish fighters after clashes in Aleppo, the interior ministry has said, as US and allied forces carried out separate “large-scale” strikes against Islamic State targets.An interior ministry official told Agence France-Presse that about 360 Kurdish fighters and 60 wounded had been bussed to the Kurds’ de facto autonomous zone in the north-east from the Sheikh Maqsoud district, the last area of Aleppo to fall to the army. Continue reading...

Events

58 h. ago Scots firefighters warn lives will be lost if service hit with more cuts

The warning comes ahead of Tuesday's Scottish Budget where SNP Finance Secretary Shona Robison will set out the government's spending plans.

Events

2 d. ago David Lammy: JD Vance agrees that sexualised AI images on X are ‘unacceptable’

Exclusive: US vice-president ‘sympathetic’ to concerns over Grok-generated pornography, says deputy PMJD Vance, the US vice-president, has agreed that it is “entirely unacceptable” for platforms such as X to allow the proliferation of AI-generated sexualised images of women and children, David Lammy has told the Guardian.The deputy prime minister said Vance, usually known as an AI enthusiast, expressed concern about how the technology was being used to fuel “hyper-pornographied slop” online when they met in Washington on Thursday. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago No 10 defends military funding amid warnings of £28bn black hole

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton reportedly told the Prime Minister last year about a £28 billion shortfall between now and 2030.

Events

4 d. ago Economists warn SNP 'something will have to give' as capital projects set for axe over £1bn gap

Economists have warned the Scottish Government will have to set out cuts to capital projects when it publishes its draft Budget on Tuesday

Events

4 d. ago Tube fare dodgers should be hit with £2,500 fines, ministers told

Repeat fare dodgers on the Underground and rail network should face up to six months in jail, Parliament was told

Politics

5 d. ago Scots MPs urge Keir Starmer to stand up to Donald Trump on Greenland

The SNP’s Brendan O’Hara and Labour’s Brian Leishman have warned that not standing up to the USA would be “dangerous”.

Politics

5 d. ago US reportedly warns Maduro ally Diosdado Cabello he could be next

Interior minister told he must back acting president, while Marco Rubio lays out three-point plan for VenezuelaThe Trump administration has reportedly put Venezuela’s hardline interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, on notice that he could be next to fall if he does not support the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, who has been in power since Nicolás Maduro was seized on Saturday.Reuters reported that US officials were “especially concerned” that Cabello, long seen by many as the regime’s real No 2, could sabotage Washington’s plan to keep key figures from Maduro’s inner circle in place in the name of stability while pursuing a transition and unrestricted access to Venezuela’s oil. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Harry not expected to meet King when back in UK this month for High Court battle

The duke is expected to give evidence in his high profile trial against Associated Newspapers Limited, which is due to start in January.

Events

7 d. ago Starmer plea for Cabinet ministers to work as a 'team' as he fights to remain Prime Minister

He told his senior ministers that Labour would be judged on whether it had tackled the cost-of-living problems faced by many households

Politics

7 d. ago Dartmoor ponies helping to restore landscape at National Trust estate

The conservation charity hopes that the three mares and two geldings will help create the right conditions for wildflowers and grasses to thrive.

Politics

9 d. ago The truth about the ‘liquid gold’ supplement that claims to boost your immunity

While colostrum has undeniable benefits in early life, scientific evidence on its effectiveness in adults remains limited

Politics

1 week ago Swinney warned SNP Cabinet net zero would increase fuel poverty despite renewables bills vow

John Swinney made the admission while he was one of Alex Salmond’s cabinet secretaries and is revealed just weeks after he claimed the SNP could cut bills with independence

Events

1 week ago Israeli ban on aid agencies in Gaza will have ‘catastrophic’ consequences, experts say

Thirty-seven NGOs told they have to cease operations, putting Palestinian lives ‘at imminent risk’Israel’s new ban on dozens of aid organisations working in Gaza will have “catastrophic” consequences for the delivery of vital services in the devastated territory and will put Palestinian lives “at imminent risk”, diplomats, humanitarian workers and experts say.Thirty-seven NGOs active in Gaza were told by Israel’s ministry of diaspora affairs on Tuesday that they would have to cease all operations in the territory within 60 days unless they fulfilled stringent new regulations, which include the disclosure of personal details of their staff. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago SNP 'decay' blamed as 950 dentists choose to take early retirement with patients left in 'agony'

The Scottish Lib Dems warned "dentists are rushing for the door because countless SNP health secretaries have failed to properly support them".

Science