General news in France and around the world: politics, society, international, major events.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz among key figures to speak as three-day security gathering opens Guardian staff: The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said he will have a chance to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy at this weekâs Munich Security Conference . Continue reading...
Thwaite given ÂŁ6.6m pay package for 2025, while Goodwin received ÂŁ7.7m when bank was known as RBS Business live â latest updates The NatWest boss Paul Thwaite has clinched the largest payout for a chief executive of the banking group since his disgraced predecessor Fred Goodwin took home ÂŁ7.7m in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis. Thwaite, who guided the once-bailed-out lender to full private ownership last year, was given a ÂŁ6.6m pay package for 2025, with the boardroom lifting his ov...
Councillors vote for 3.99% council tax increase while mounting âattack on the vulnerableâ, opposition says Reform UKâs showcase council in Kent faces âextreme riskâ and âinstabilityâ, opposition politicians have warned, after it passed its first budget. The partyâs councillors voted it through on Thursday night after their leaders announced a 3.99% council tax increase, one percentage point under the limit before a referendum is required, despite promising before their election win not to rai...
Union urges Leonard Blavatnik to scrap Channel 13 deal, saying it is part of Netanyahu plan âto capture the mediaâ Israeli journalists have appealed to a British billionaire not to proceed with the sale of a stake in an Israeli television channel, which they warn would represent a severe blow to the independence of the countryâs media. Sir Leonard Blavatnik, listed by the Sunday Times as the UKâs third richest person, is selling a nearly 15% share in Channel 13, a commercial channel that has ...
More than 500 deals now offer 95% loans as banks and building societies loosen their borrowing rules Would-be first-time buyers have the biggest choice of low-deposit mortgages for at least 18 years, new data shows, suggesting that 2026 is looking positive for those trying to get a foot on the property ladder. In recent months many banks and building societies have been loosening their affordability rules or launching deals that let people borrow 95% of the propertyâs value, and in some cases...
Choice could prove difficult for Thames Water, which is trying to push through a water recycling scheme nearby The first designated bathing water area on the River Thames in London has been proposed as one of 13 new monitored swimming areas across the country. The Thames at Ham, in south-west London, was shortlisted as a new river bathing water after campaigners gathered evidence to show thousands of people use the river for swimming throughout the year. Continue reading...
Number of males at RSPB Abernethy rises to 30, after âhuge amount of workâ by conservationists in Highlands forests After decades of decline, there are signs of hope for the capercaillie, one of Britainâs most endangered birds. Populations of the charismatic grouse, which is found only in the Caledonian pine forests of the Scottish Highlands, have increased by 50%, from 20 males in 2020 to 30 in 2025 at RSPB Abernethy. Continue reading...
European leaders divided over how far to accommodate Trumpâs âwrecking ballâ politics and foreign policy US Democrats will use a security summit this weekend to urge European leaders to stand up to Donald Trump, with the continent divided over how to keep the unpredictable US president on side. Democrats at the annual Munich Security Conference will include some of Trumpâs most outspoken critics, such as the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Co...
Videos have emerged of police appearing to punch protesters at rally against Israeli president on Monday.
The seizure of the trawler, which Japan said was sailing in its waters in the East China Sea, is likely to add to tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.
Conservationists estimate coal exported from expanded mine to release CO2 equivalent of about half Australiaâs annual carbon footprint Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Albanese government has approved the expansion of a Queensland coalmine that will clear habitat for threatened koalas and greater gliders and add further fuel to the climate crisis, conservationists say. The extension of the Middlemount mine ...
One represents Belgium and the other Brazil in skeleton, in which the racer slides near-blind down an ice track at well over 80 miles per hour.
Kremlinâs repeated targeting of infrastructure has left thousands without heating, reliant on shelters and desperate home hacks Natalya Pavlovna watched her two-year-old son, Danylo, play with Lego. âWe are taking a break from the cold,â she said as children made drawings inside a warm tent. Adults sipped tea and chatted while their phones charged. The emergency facility is located in Kyivâs Troieshchina district, on the left bank of the Dnipro River. Outside it was -18C. There was bright sun...
Destined to a perilous life with no right to an education or to vote, state recognition âgives them hopeâ, campaigners say Through the decades that the Daulatdia brothel in Bangladesh has existed, children born there have been invisible, unable to be registered because their mothers were sex workers and their fathers unknown. Now, for the first time, all 400 of them in the brothel village have their own birth certificates. That milestone was reached after a push by campaigners who have spent ...
A sign for the northern beaches Hop, Skip and Jump bus says âclothing must be worn over swimwearâ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Sydneyâs Northern Beaches council has banned bikini-clad and shirtless passengers from riding its free community bus service after receiving feedback from passengers. The Hop, Skip and Jump is a daily 30-seat shuttle bus that services the coastal suburbs of Manly, Fairlight and Balgowlah and is frequented by beachgoers. Continue reading...
Prime minister to meet mourners in mining town as families speak of their loss in one of Canadaâs deadliest mass shootings Canadian prime minister Mark Carney is to join mourners in Tumbler Ridge on Friday, as authorities and relatives released details of the five children and assistant teacher killed by a shooter in the remote mining townâs high school. Carney will attend a vigil in Tumbler Ridge in memory of the victims, and he invited leaders from all political parties to join him in the t...
Japanâs fisheries agency said the vessel failed to comply with an order to stop. The incident comes weeks after a row between China and Japan over Taiwan Authorities in Japan have seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its captain in a move that is likely to inflame an ongoing diplomatic row between Tokyo and Beijing. The seizure, which occurred on Thursday about 170km from the south-western port city of Nagasaki, came after the skipper refused an order to stop for an onboard inspection, ...
Donald Day discussed extreme conspiracies with Queensland family before they killed two police officers and a neighbour at rural property Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast An American man who spent a year discussing extreme conspiracies with the Queensland family behind the Wieambilla shootings has been sentenced to three yearsâ imprisonment. Donald Day, 58, was arrested in the US after a year-long investigation...
Deepak Kumar's confronting of Hindu vigilantes is being hailed as a rare act of heroism. It's also got him death threats.
The Liberal Party elected its first female leader at a time of crisis. She lasted less than a year.