The home secretary has been urged not to “play into the hands of those seeking to build division” by more than 200 community groups across the UK who have described Shabana Mahmood’s plans to overhaul the asylum system as “cruel” and “ruthless”. The changes would also formally end the automatic right to family reunion for refugees before it was suspended in September. In an open letter seen by the Guardian, 225 organisations, including charities, businesses, sports, faith and arts groups have told Mahmood they reject the plans. The responsibility to end the divisive politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past lies with all political leaders. “People who have fled the horror of war and persecution, suffering terrible trauma, need support to heal and rebuild their lives.

19m ago 14.08 CET Pentagon announces another boat strike amid heightened scrutinyHello and thank you for joining us on the US politics live blog. The US military conducted another deadly strike on a boat suspected of carrying illegal narcotics on Thursday, the Pentagon said, killing four men in the eastern Pacific as questions continue to mount over the legality such attacks. In other developments:The supreme court ruled on Thursday to allow Texas to use a redrawn that adds as many as five Republican-friendly congressional districts. James has been one of Trump’s top political foes ever since she successfully brought a fraud lawsuit against him in New York. A man was arrested for planting pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic party headquarters on the eve of the January 6 insurrection.

The UK’s data protection watchdog has asked the Home Office for “urgent clarity” over racial bias in police facial recognition technology before considering its next steps. Keaney said: “Last week we were made aware of historical bias in the algorithm used by forces across the UK for retrospective facial recognition within the police national database. Facial recognition technology scans people’s faces and cross-references the images against watchlists of known or wanted criminals. “The FPIR for black male subjects (0.4%) is lower than that for black female subjects (9.9%),” the report said. “Given the importance of this issue, we have also asked the police inspectorate, alongside the forensic science regulator, to review law enforcement’s use of facial recognition.

Ministers want to secure a youth mobility scheme with the EU by the end of 2026, as part of a broader reset of Britain’s relationship with Europe six years after leaving the bloc. The government views the youth mobility scheme as one of a number of agreements it can finalise in the coming months that would deliver tangible benefits to the British public. Thomas-Symonds has previously said that any youth mobility agreement would be modelled on the UK’s existing schemes with countries including Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. One priority for the EU is ensuring that Britons who participate in the youth mobility scheme are committed to living and working in one European country for the duration of their participation, rather than moving around. More than 60 Labour MPs publicly endorsed a youth mobility scheme with Europe earlier this year, and are supportive of the government’s drive for closer ties with the EU.

Now, a brewing legal battle between Texas hard-line Republican governor Greg Abbott and Cair represents a new chapter in the state’s long struggles with Islamophobia. Two days later, the governor directed his state’s department of public safety to investigate the civil liberties group. In response, Cair’s Texas chapters are suing Abbott and the state attorney general, Ken Paxton, in federal court. “In terms of the specific people mentioned, some of these people have no connection to Cair whatsoever,” Mitchell said. “Throughout Governor Abbott’s tenure, Islamophobia has become increasingly normalized and instrumentalized in Texas politics,” Suleiman said.

The Reserve Bank of India logo outside its headquarters in Mumbai on Feb. 7, 2025. India's central bank cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%, matching forecasts from economists polled by Reuters. Still, industrial activity in October fell to a 14-month low, and indicators such as HSBC's manufacturing PMI fell to a nine-month low in November, suggesting an economic slowdown. To offset the impact of the tariffs, New Delhi cut goods and services tax rates in September ahead of a month-long festive season to lift domestic demand. Despite a policy rate cut earlier this year, there has not been a "major pick up in bank lending," said Sanjay Mathur, ANZ's Chief Economist for India and Southeast Asia.

French leader Macron says he was ‘very touched’ by Xi’s gesture to accompany him to Chengdu – a departure from protocol. Xi hosted Macron on Friday in the southwestern city of Chengdu, state media said, in a rare instance of the head of the world’s second-largest economy accompanying a guest beyond the capital, Beijing. No monetary amounts were disclosed, though Macron is being accompanied for his fourth state visit to China by the heads of some of France’s most prominent companies. On Friday, the two nations signed an agreement on the sanitary and phytosanitary requirements for exports of French alfalfa to China, state broadcaster CCTV said. Meanwhile, in Chengdu, China’s fourth-largest city with 21 million inhabitants and considered one of the most culturally and socially open in China, Macron will meet with students.

To do it, they place a piece of metal on the soil, hit it with a hammer and measure the waves. The soil ecologist Prof Simon Jeffery, another co-founder, said: “Soil is one of our most precious resources. It is difficult for farmers to address soil problems due to a lack of fine-tuned mapping. Peter Mosongo, a soil scientist based in Kenya, said this could be life-changing for farmers in the region. “If we are going to address soil fertility we can address the food crisis.

Austria has said it will continue with plans to host next year’s Eurovision, in spite of its budget being hit by four countries boycotting the song contest over Israel’s participation and the war in Gaza. Even though Spain is among the “big five” nations in terms of financial contributions to Eurovision, the Austrian broadcaster ORF said the 2026 event would go ahead in May as planned. Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, said he welcomed the decision, saying the Israel “traditionally” belonged in the song contest. View image in fullscreen Voting result on voting reform to Eurovision song contest at EBU general assembly 4 December 2025. Ireland’s prime minister, Micheál Martin, said on Friday he “fully understands” his country’s withdrawal from the song contest, describing it as an “act of solidarity”.

Attendees will also hear from governor-general Sam Mostyn, attorney-general Michelle Rowland, Australian Sports Commission chair Kate Jenkins and others. “During the review, the department consulted extensively with the US inter-agency as well as Australia and the United Kingdom,” he said. “Consistent with President Trump’s guidance that Aukus should move ‘full steam ahead’, the review identified opportunities to put Aukus on the strongest possible footing. The union says most of the company’s 130 skydivers have seen little to no base wage increases in decades. “Skydive Australia is effectively a small business that proudly employs mostly young people in regional Australia,” CEO John O’Sullivan said.

South Australia’s opposition leader, Vincent Tarzia, has stepped down three months out from the state election, triggering the fourth Liberal leadership change nationally in less than four weeks. Liberal sources said the 34-year-old shadow health minister, Ashton Hurn, was the frontrunner to replace him. after newsletter promotion“No, no colleague has pushed me,” he told a press conferences at state parliament on Friday. He declined to nominate his preferred successor but said he was “committed to helping the next leader of the party”. Asked if he would support Hurn if she won the leadership, Tarzia said: “Whether it’s Ashton or someone else, we’ve got great talent in the party room.

Bring out your cheese rolling, your niche crafts, steel drumming or Burns Night suppers for these are part of the UK’s intangible cultural heritage, and could be in line for official United Nations recognition. Eighteen months after the UK finally signed up to a UN list of recognised cultural traditions from around the world, ministers have launched public callout for ideas about which domestic variants should be submitted to the organisation. The intangible cultural heritage list, curated by Unesco, the UN’s cultural and educational body, already cites many hundreds of examples of events, crafts, cuisines and other phenomena from the 180-plus nations signed up, covering everything from the couscous dishes of north Africa to Costa Rican ox-herding and avalanche management techniques in the Alps. The list was created under a UN convention in 2003, but the UK ratified this only in June last year, and thus far has no heritage items on the register. “These crafts, customs and celebrations are often what makes people feel proud of who they are, where they come from and where they live.

“The homeland is the homeland, and my army is my army,” says David Oropeza, a 52-year-old farmer and merchant who sells frozen strawberries and blackberries he harvests himself. For some in Venezuela, this US pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is good for the country. A vendor selling chocolates and sweets, she says that with US pressure, “Venezuela is going to be free”. Most Venezuelans are far more worried about daily survival, low salaries and inflation, rather than geopolitics – and they do not support US pressure or an attack on their country. When it came to a foreign military attack, 55 percent of Venezuelans opposed it, while 23 percent said they would support it.

But Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, has in fact been trying for months to persuade the Sudanese army and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, to back a ceasefire, to little end. View image in fullscreen Massad Boulos, left, has been trying for months to persuade the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to back a ceasefire. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have broadly supported the army, while the RSF has been backed by the United Arab Emirates. So far US sanctions have been confined to the RSF and army leaderships, a small group of Sudanese Islamists linked to the army, and some UAE-based firms. Norway’s deputy foreign minister, Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik, was in Port Sudan last week meeting the army leadership.

A group of Holocaust survivors have demanded Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for the antisemitic comments that fellow pupils of Dulwich College allege he made toward Jewish pupils. But in a letter to Farage seen by the Guardian, the 11 survivors said: “As Holocaust survivors, we understand the danger of hateful words – because we have seen where such words lead. Did you subject your classmates to antisemitic abuse?”The survivors include Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family in the Holocaust. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers say they witnessed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him at Dulwich College in south London. The survivors have asked Farage whether – since he has denied abusing Ettedgui – he was saying that Ettedgui and the others were lying.

One Labour MP found the answer in a few packets of M&S biscuits. But in the parliamentary Labour party McKee is a pioneer, and the only backbencher known to have hired a digital content creator. The decision has paid off, with a series of professional-grade videos using grabby analogies designed to go viral. Keir Starmer emailed Labour MPs on 21 November announcing a “significant investment” from the party in “new comprehensive training programme” in digital campaigning. Jeevun Sandher, the MP for Loughborough and an economist, made a James Bond-themed video during budget week explaining the various factors that affect government bond rates.

Charities welcome 'invaluable' changes but say it's just the first step2m ago 11.05 CET Charities welcome 'invaluable' changes but say it's just the first stepPoverty charities have reacted positively to the plan, which was originally intended for spring but then delayed as the government wrestled with the fiscal and political repercussions of removing the two-child limit. The abolition of that cap will cost the government £3bn but lift 450,000 children out of poverty. The suite of other new measures will help 80,000 more. The government “has put its money where its mouth is on the manifesto commitment to reducing child poverty”, said Katie Schmuecker of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, saying that the removal of the two-child limit was “the single most effective policy decision” ministers could have made in tackling child poverty. Under the limit, introduced by the Conservative government in 2017, 1.7 million children lived in households affected by the restriction – menaing one in nine kids missed out on help worth £3,514 a year.

But will a new SAARC without India find takers across South Asia? AdvertisementBut will most other South Asian nations — SAARC consists of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan — agree to a new regional grouping that appears aimed at cutting India out, or at least limiting its influence? Its seven founding members were Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. As of 2025, SAARC countries make up more than two billion of the world’s population, making South Asia the world’s most densely populated region. BIMSTEC includes India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Head coach Ghalenoei is part of the delegation attending the draw despite saying they would boycott it over visa issues. Iranian football team’s head coach Ardeshir Amir Ghalenoei has arrived in Washington, DC, with a delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation, before the draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026. While Iran had applied for nine visas for their delegation, Iranian football federation (FFIRI) spokesman Amir Mehdi Alavi was quoted as saying the US had granted four visas, including coach Ghalenoei. “We have informed FIFA that the decisions taken have nothing to do with sports, and the members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw,” he told state television last week. “FIFA has welcomed the arrival of the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation delegation to Washington, DC, including head coach Ardeshir Ghalenoei, to attend the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Draw and the team seminar,” the global body said in a statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin smiles while visiting the We Are Together Fourm and Awards Ceremony, on December 3, 2025 in Moscow, Russia. The comments, published by Russian state-controlled media, were translated by news agency Reuters and made in reference to Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. The war in the region first began in 2014, when Russia invaded and annexed Crimea — a peninsular in southern Ukraine. Under occupation, so-called referendums have shown up to 99% of residents in parts of the Donbas region voted to join the Russian Federation. It was redrafted following talks between the U.S. and Ukraine, whose president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly stated that any peace deal must honor Ukrainian sovereignty.

Since then, large epidemiological studies on various vaccines have found no relationship between vaccines and autism. Then, when Kennedy pledged to create a national autism database to find the causes of autism, advocates pushed back with a Change.org petition that garnered nearly 50,000 signatures. In the Greater New Orleans area, patients on Medicaid must wait two years for an autism diagnosis, since there are few providers who take Medicaid and offer the test, Tibbetts said. Without a diagnosis, autistic people can’t access developmental disability services, including in-home professional support, child care or respite care. To reassure Cassidy, Kennedy made several concessions – including leaving intact the CDC webpage that states vaccines do not cause autism.

The initial response from Reform was a flat denial of the claims of alleged racism in Farage’s schooldays. However, Farage allies have continued to give outright denials, such as the deputy Reform leader, Richard Tice. As Farage has continued to face more questions over the racism allegations, he and Tice have attacked the integrity of Farage’s main accusers. Farage’s press conference on Thursday night was the starkest example of the Reform leader trying to turn defence into attack by targeting the media. It’s just the same approach that Trump had.”McGregor said Farage put caveats on his denials, unlike Trump’s more brazen approach.

Tony Bloom, the billionaire owner of Brighton & Hove Albion FC, is facing questions over claims he was an anonymous gambler behind $70m (£52m) in winnings – which allegedly included bets on his football teams. Bloom denied betting on his own teams or competitions that involve them, and a source close to him described the allegations as “entirely false”. MPs, including the former shadow sports minister Clive Efford, called on the Football Association (FA) to investigate the allegations. Frontmen include “footballers, sportsmen and businessmen”, as well as Farage backer Cottrell, the UK court document alleges. His gambling collective, the Starlizard Betting Syndicate, is alleged to make about £600m each year, according to the UK court filing.

Donald Trump has been named the first winner of the newly created Fifa peace prize, claiming “the world is a safer place now” as he received the award at the draw for the 2026 World Cup in Washington DC. “This is your prize, this is your peace prize,” Infantino said, after Trump took the stage to accept the trophy, a medal and certificate. View image in fullscreen Donald Trump speaks to the attendees at the World Cup draw. Infantino’s relationship with Trump has grown increasingly visible ahead of the expanded 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Earlier this year, the organisation appointed Trump’s daughter Ivanka to the board of a $100m education initiative funded in part by 2026 World Cup ticket revenues.

To the surprise of no one, Donald Trump won the inaugural Fifa peace prize on Friday at a cheesy, gaudy and gauche World Cup draw expertly designed to flatter the world’s most precious ego. “This is your prize – this is your peace prize!” gushed Gianni Infantino, the bald-headed Fifa president, after Trump took the stage at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in snowy Washington. Now, thanks to Infantino, Trump was centre-stage at world sport’s greatest spectacle. Benito Mussolini used the 1934 World Cup in Italy to promote a resurgent Roman empire. Il Duce even created a special trophy, the “Coppa del Duce”, which was six times bigger than the official Jules Rimet World Cup trophy.

From 28m ago 11.12 CET Global websites down as Cloudflare investigates fresh issues Technical problems at internet infrastructure provider Cloudflare today have taken a host of websites offline this morning. Last month, an outage at Cloudflare made many websites inaccessible for about three hours. Read more Sharenow 11.41 CET Cloudflare: this was not an attack Cloudflare’s System Status page shows that the problem that knocked many websites offline has been resolved. Last month, an outage at Cloudflare made many websites inaccessible for about three hours. Share1h ago 10.29 CET World food prices fall for third month in a row Global food prices have fallen for the third month running.

In his statement, Putin made it clear that Russia did not intend to back down faced with US pressure over its energy cooperation with India. “Russia is a reliable supplier of energy resources and everything necessary for the development of India’s energy sector,” Putin said. Before his arrival in Delhi, Putin had vowed to increase cooperation with India and China, in defiance of economic sanctions on Russia from the US and EU. The two leaders also agreed to reshape their defence ties. Russia remains India’s biggest supplier of weapons, though this has diminished in recent years as Delhi has worked to diversify.

Those who qualify can receive a $250 grant from the Dells' commitment or a one-time $1,000 initial deposit from the government to seed the so-called Trump accounts. Here's what families need to know about how the program works:What are Trump accounts? Trump accounts are not yet available; however, families who want to open a Trump account can start that process now. lisegagne | E+ | Getty ImagesHow do you claim the Trump account free money? Trump account investments are restricted to "broad U.S. equity index funds," according to the Treasury, such as mutual or exchange-traded funds.

The Trump administration has moved to formalize a crackdown on the issuance of visas for people who it deems to have engaged in censoring the free speech of US citizens. Many H1-B visa applicants, especially from India, work in the field of technology. “I’m alarmed that trust and safety work is being conflated with ‘censorship’,” Alice Goguen Hunsberger, vice-president of trust and safety at PartnerHero, told NPR. “Having global workers at tech companies in [trust and safety] absolutely keeps Americans safer.”The Guardian contacted the White House for comment. “In the past, the President himself was the victim of this kind of abuse when social media companies locked his accounts.

The National Security Strategy (NNS), released on Friday, also called for balancing trade with China and deterring it from seizing Taiwan. Switching focus from the Middle EastThe NSS stresses that the Middle East is no longer the top strategic priority for the US. With the US ramping up its own energy production, “America’s historic reason for focusing on the Middle East will recede,” the strategy says. But in reality, the Middle East continues to be beset by crises and violence. AdvertisementThe NSS acknowledges that the US continues to have key interests in the Middle East, including ensuring “that Israel remains secure” and protecting energy supplies and shipping lanes.

But then, miracle of miracles, The Liz Truss Show finally appeared. Presumably because Liz Truss still hasn’t worked out how to change her clocks back from British Summer Time. I don’t know if you’ve ever spent 40 seconds looking at Liz Truss wordlessly blinking and gulping, but it’s a genuinely disturbing sight. Episode 2 of The Liz Truss Show will be aired next Friday at 6pm. That is, assuming that Liz Truss has figured out how clocks work before then.

The Trump administration has repeatedly sought to foster closer ties with Europe’s nationalist parties, including Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland. On immigration, the strategy document appears to endorse the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which claims ethnic white European populations are deliberately being replaced by people of colour. As Trump seeks an end to the Ukraine war that would most likely favour Russia gaining territory, the document accuses Europeans of showing weakness. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The strategy claims to take a realist worldview, but it fundamentally ignores the threat posed by Russia and China.”

An illustration photo shows Moore Threads logo in a smartphone in Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China on October 30, 2025. Shares of Moore Threads, a Beijing-based graphics processing unit (GPU) manufacturer often referred to as "China's Nvidia," soared by more than 400% on its debut in Shanghai following its $1.1 billion listing. The stock is currently trading at 584.98 yuan, over five times its IPO price of 114.28 yuan. Moore Threads' IPO was led by CITIC Securities, which served as the lead underwriter for the offering. The joint book runners on the deal were BOC International Securities, China Merchants Securities, and GF Securities.

One can’t but recall Timothy Mellon, one of Trump’s big backers who donated $130m to help the government pay troops during the shutdown, earning himself the presidential title of “patriot”. There’s also the gaggle of techies who contributed a cool $1m a piece toward Trump’s inauguration shindig. The study was titled Tax-Exempt Lobbying: Corporate Philanthropy as a Tool for Political Influence. (A much better idea would be to amend the child tax credit to ensure America’s poorest families could benefit.) But the multi-billion-dollar gift from this one-time advisor to president Trump and his wife (“two special people”, in Trump’s words) will probably mostly benefit the donor.

But for bitcoin, the digital gold narrative is undermined whenever it trades like a risk asset during equity selloffs. After two distinct periods of volatility in 2025, bitcoin hasn't been able to provide a clear answer to the digital gold question. He pointed to the "tariff tantrum" period of stock selling in April after President Trump announced sweeping global tariffs, a period of market volatility during which bitcoin performed very well. But more recently, as weakness in technology stocks led the market down, most cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, also sold off. Bitcoin, in particular, sold off considerably more than the stock market, he noted.

Paramount's interest spurred a formal sale process — bringing Comcast and Netflix into the mix — which ultimately doubled the value of Warner Bros. Discovery shares and culminated, at least for the moment, in Paramount losing out in the bidding war it started. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, WBD's executive team and its shareholders. Zaslav's shareZaslav currently owns more than 4.2 million shares of Warner Bros. Warner Bros.

The Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart has said artificial intelligence is an “unstoppable force”, and musicians and other artists should bow to the inevitable and license their music to generative AI platforms. He was speaking as he unveiled Rare Entity, a new venture hoping to be part of that disintegration. Stewart said artists tended to be “right at the bottom” in a corporate structure, and made to feel thankful for a deal that was “usually terrible”. Rare Entity does not seek to own the underlying intellectual property but instead to take a share in the earnings generated by the funded venture. “My favourite one is, ‘Thou shalt not know exactly what thou dost, but thou shalt do it’.”

Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor accused both platforms of being used ‘to organise and carry out terrorist acts’. Russian authorities have blocked access to Snapchat and Apple’s video calling service FaceTime in the latest move by Moscow clamping down on foreign tech platforms as it tightens control over the country’s internet and online communications. Russian authorities have engaged in deliberate and multipronged efforts to rein in the internet under President Vladimir Putin. Access to YouTube was also disrupted last year, with experts accusing authorities of deliberately throttling the widely popular site. Virtual private network (VPN) services, once effective in circumventing online restrictions, are increasingly blocked by Russian authorities.

Are you aware of it?” He sent over a link, which took her to a site called Mr DeepFakes. “I’d never heard of Mr DeepFakes – a porn site entirely dedicated to fake porn videos and photos. The origins of Mr Deepfakes stretch back to 2017-18 when AI porn was just beginning to build on social media sites such as Reddit. This is when Mr DeepFakes was created, with the early domain name dpfks.com. Pure hatred.”This April, investigators began to believe that they had found Mr DeepFakes and sent emails to their suspect.

Taiwan on Thursday announced an immediate one-year ban on the Chinese social media network Xiaohongshu, saying the app posed a risk of fraud. Taiwan's interior ministry said in a statement that it will block access to Xiaohongshu, also known in English as Rednote, calling it a potential "high-risk area for online shopping fraud." The app has over 3 million users on the island, the ministry said. The interior ministry said the app failed all 15 indicators in cybersecurity tests conducted by the National Security Bureau. That prompted TikTok users to flock to Xiaohongshu, adding roughly 700,000 new users to the platform, according to Reuters.

A host of websites including LinkedIn, Zoom and Downdetector went offline on Friday morning after fresh problems at Cloudflare. Cloudflare said shortly after 9am UK time that it was “investigating issues with Cloudflare Dashboard and related APIs”, referring to application programming interfaces. A number of websites and platforms were down, including the Downdetector site used to monitor online service issues. Users reported problems with other websites including Zoom, LinkedIn, Shopify and Canva, although many are back online. Cloudflare provides network and security services for many online businesses to help their websites and applications operate.

Texas can use a redrawn congressional map that adds as many as five Republican-friendly congressional districts, the supreme court ruled yesterday, handing Donald Trump a major win in his push to boost Republican seats ahead of next year’s midterm elections. “The district court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections,” the supreme court said in an order explaining its decision. “Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the eastern Pacific. Culture pick: Cover-Up review – atrocity exposer Seymour Hersh, journalism legend, gets a moment in the spotlightView image in fullscreen Seymour Hersh in 1975. Climate check: 60,000 African penguins starve to death after sardine numbers collapse – studyView image in fullscreen Black-footed penguins hunting sardines.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s hand-picked vaccine committee voted on Friday to do away with the long-standing, universal recommendation that all babies receive a hepatitis B shot at birth, issuing weaker guidance for certain infants. Meissner added that more children will be injured and will catch hepatitis B infections. Hepatitis B, which can be passed from mother to baby during childbirth, can lead to liver disease and early death. Infants are more vulnerable to developing chronic hepatitis B infections, which have no cure. A 2024 CDC study showed that the current vaccination schedule has helped prevent more than 6 million hepatitis B infections and nearly 1 million hepatitis B-related hospitalizations.

Landmark penalty triggers US fury as Brussels enforces first digital transparency sanction. Click here to share on social mediaThe European Union has slapped a 120 million euro ($140m) penalty on Elon Musk’s social media platform X for breaching digital transparency rules, igniting a transatlantic clash over tech regulation. Brussels announced the fine on Friday in its first enforcement action under the Digital Services Act, legislation designed to rein in social media companies. The platform’s paid blue checkmark system, which Brussels said “deceives users” about account authenticity, drew a 45 million euro ($52.4m) penalty. Brussels continues to probe whether X has failed to combat illegal content and information manipulation, violations that could trigger substantially larger fines.

A top-level vaccine panel in the United States government has voted to peel back guidance that newborn babies should receive a vaccine to shield against hepatitis B, a virus that can cause chronic liver problems. “In voting to eliminate the universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, ACIP ignored decades of evidence confirming its strong safety profile and effectiveness. Hepatitis B is spread through contact with bodily fluids, and children could potentially acquire the virus through activities as simple as sharing a toothbrush. For most people, the hepatitis B vaccine confers lifelong protection against the virus. Despite the shake-up on the panel, its membership was nevertheless split over the issue of changing the recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine.

In this article WBDNFLX Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTLogos of Netlfix and Warner Bros. ReutersThe Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery deal came together quickly — but its path to regulatory approval may not be so speedy. Netflix reported 300 million global subscribers as of late 2024, the last time it reported the metric. Netflix said Friday it expects the transaction to close in 12 to 18 months, after Warner Bros. As part of the deal, Netflix has agreed to pay a $5.8 billion breakup fee to Warner Bros.

Australian skydivers in three states have gone on strike while pay negotiations drag on. Skydiving instructors employed by tourism giant Experience Co were due to walk off the job on Friday at eight sites in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria after refusing multiple pay offers. “Tandem skydiving instructors literally take people’s lives in their hands every time they go to work,” Australian Workers’ Union national organiser Jonathan Cook said. The union said it was the first time skydiving instructors had taken strike action in Australia. Customers affected by the strike were being contacted directly and will be offered alternative options or full refunds.

The number of overseas nurses and midwives coming to the UK is collapsing, figures reveal, with rising racism and changes to immigration rules blamed for the fall. At the same time, more international staff are leaving Britain, according to workforce data published by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). NHS staff groups said the rising tide of hostility towards migrants and hardline government changes to immigration rules were behind the apparent shunning of the UK as a destination. Over the same period, the number of nurses arriving in the UK from the Philippines fell by 68%, from Nigeria by 28% and from Ghana by 9%. Despite these trends, the total number of nurses, midwives and nursing associates on the register has grown to 860,801, the highest number ever.

GPs are failing to provide adequate support for people living with frailty, an independent watchdog has found. Frailty is a syndrome related to ageing and in which body systems gradually lose their in-built reserves. Symptoms include exhaustion and people living with frailty are more likely to be housebound. GPs are required to identify any registered patient aged 65 or over who is living with frailty, but only one in six were assessed for the condition in 2024/25, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report. GPs have said the failures are partly the result of their increasing workload and a shrinking workforce.

The UK’s new digital-only immigration system is creating stress, fear and exclusion for immigrants who rely on their status, a new report has found. This would make them the first migrants to experience a mandatory digital-only identification system. But, according to the study by Migrant Voice and the University of Warwick, the new system has caused people to experience high levels of stress while trying to digitalise their immigration status within tight deadlines. Employers, landlords, airline staff, and border officials often lacked understanding of digital immigration checks, leading to delays and confusion. Migrants with limited digital literacy, language barriers and disabilities are at high risk of becoming excluded from the process, the study said.