#Crisis

Halfords targets retirees in recruitment drive for 1,000 roles

Retailer, which has reported halving of interim profits, also wants more women in technician jobsHalfords has launched a drive to fill 1,000 technician roles over the next 12 months by targeting more female and retired recruits, as the UK’s tight labour market pushes employers to think up new hiri...

UK retailer AO World reports bigger losses amid living costs crisis

Online electrical store is cutting costs but faces ‘tough environment’ and supply chain problemsThe online electrical goods retailer AO World has reported bigger half year losses as it has been hammered by the cost of living crisis and supply chain problems.AO, which sells kitchen appliances, mo...

UK to be second weakest performer of world’s big economies next year – OECD

Most countries’ forecasts cut as Ukraine war prompts ‘largest energy crisis since the 1970s’The UK will be the second weakest performer of the world’s big economies next year as the global economy continues to suffer the knock-on effects of the biggest energy shock in four decades, a leading...

Charity Commission reviews complaint against climate sceptic thinktank

Move comes after lawyers and MPs raised concerns about charitable status of Global Warming Policy Foundation The Charity Commission has confirmed that it is reviewing a complaint about the Global Warming Policy Foundation after lawyers and MPs formally raised concerns about its charitable status.GWP...

No ice rinks, fewer lights: Christmas markets across Europe scaled back as energy costs soar

Cities are trying hard to keep the festive spirit amid the cost of living crisis and war in UkraineEuropean Christmas markets and illuminations are scaling back due to the energy crisis and climate breakdown – ditching seasonal ice rinks for rollerskating and switching on lights for less time.When...

Raising council tax to fund social care will deepen inequality in UK, experts warn

Jeremy Hunt’s plans criticised for delay to reform, shifting burden to local authorities and ‘skewing the system’Jeremy Hunt’s decision to fund more social care through increases in council tax will deepen inequality and undermine the cause of “levelling up”, the architect of the governm...

Jacinda Ardern raises Taiwan with Xi Jinping at Apec meeting

New Zealand government statement says PM also asked president of China to help address North Korea tensions and Ukraine crisisJacinda Ardern has spoken with Xi Jinping about cooperation between New Zealand and China, while also raising areas of tension and warning that international norms that had b...

Ukrainian official says scale of torture in Kherson is ‘horrific’ and claims people have been electrocuted – as it happened

Authorities claim to have found ‘torture chambers’ in liberated southern Ukrainian city. This live blog is now closedAt a glance: what we know on day 267 of the invasionUkraine’s infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov has said that the Black Sea grain initiative will be prolonged for 120...

International troops quit Mali as violence and Moscow’s influence grow

Germany latest to end peacekeeping mission as operations prove unable to stop Islamic extremist insurgencyThousands of international troops are withdrawing from Mali amid surging violence, growing Russian influence and an acute humanitarian crisis.On Wednesday Germany became the latest country to en...

Benefits rise brings relief but stark warning from poverty campaigners

Analysts say millions still face winter crisis despite Hunt’s decision to increase benefits in line with inflationAutumn statement 2022: key points at a glancePolitics live: latest news and reaction on UK budget plansAnti-poverty campaigners expressed relief at the chancellor’s decision to incre...

Hunt’s modest environmental goals show party is out of tune with voters

Autumn statement backs nuclear power and offshore wind, but says nothing on onshore wind and solarAutumn statement 2022: key points at a glanceChancellor extends energy windfall tax to ‘low carbon’ generatorsRamping up energy efficiency is a no-brainer when it comes to cutting energy bills, ensu...

Hunt unveils tax rises and spending cuts as OBR says eight years of growth to be wiped out

Labour describes autumn statement measures as ‘invoice for the economic carnage’ of disastrous mini-budget under Liz TrussAutumn statement 2022: key points at a glancePolitics live: latest news and reaction on UK budget plansJeremy Hunt has announced a series of tax rises and spending curbs, as...

Majority of Britons say UK should pay for climate action in poor countries

Exclusive: Funding from rich countries is critical issue at Cop27 and poll shows many think UK has duty to provide itA significant majority of people in the UK think the country has a responsibility to pay for climate action in poorer and vulnerable countries, an opinion poll shows.The issue of rich...

Cop27: Paris agreement architects demand deal for nature – live

The focus at the climate conference turns to biodiversity, and a draft cover text is expected to emergeCop watchers are still reeling from the dramatic and at times farcical scenes at last night’s Russian Federation Cop27 event. It was, Damian Carrington and Nina Lakhani report, and notable for tw...

English councils warn of ‘existential crisis’ caused by funding shortfall

Local Government Association says any attempt to patch up budgets by raising council tax is doomed to fail Local authorities have warned they face an “existential crisis” caused by massive funding shortfalls and any attempt by ministers to patch up budgets by allowing increased council tax is do...

UK vulnerable to major animal disease outbreaks, report finds

Inadequate management and underinvestment in main Animal and Plant Health Agency facility has left country at risk, MPs warnThe UK’s main animal disease facility has been left to deteriorate to an “alarming extent” leaving the country vulnerable to major outbreaks on the scale of the devastati...

A Parade of Tankers Has Eased Europe’s Energy Crisis

Chilled gas from the United States has helped replace fuel from Russia, upending European energy markets....

Poland crisis is unlikely to trigger direct conflict - but does show the risk of NATO being drawn into the war by accident

A deadly missile blast in Poland marks the first time Russia’s war in Ukraine has struck NATO soil in a serious test for the alliance....

Poland Calls a Crisis Meeting After Grain Plant Explosion Near Ukraine Border

The plant lies just a few miles from the border with Ukraine, and the explosion reported there came on the same day that Russia launched a widespread missile attack on Ukraine....

Poland Calls a Crisis Meeting After Grain Plant Explosion

G20’s dysfunctional family show little sign of working together in a crisis

Communique unlikely to stretch beyond usual platitudes despite the need for a global plan for recoveryThe Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, was struck down by Covid, the Argentinian prime minister, Alberto Fernández, had gastroenteritis and the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, either did o...

G20 summit 2022 live: Volodymyr Zelenskiy lays out ‘Ukrainian formula for peace’ – as it happened

World leaders meet in Bali with a packed agenda of events, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to overshadow the summitG20 explainer: everything you need to know about the summitSee all our G20 coverageBritain has announced it will spend $4.9bn on five new Navy ships to bolster security “...

‘Lives placed at serious risk’: Four Corners report sparks new calls for youth justice overhaul

Human rights commissioners say urgent action is needed after program shows images of forcibly restrained children in Perth facilityFollow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAustralian governments must address th...

Forbes flooding: hundreds of homes under threat as NSW floods crisis worsens

Emergency services say they are mounting one of the biggest-ever flood responses in New South Wales’ historyFollow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales town of Forbes was “worried but prepa...

Two Tory-run councils warn PM of possible bankruptcy

Leaders of Kent and Hampshire county councils say even ‘drastic cuts’ to services will not be enoughTwo of England’s largest Tory-run local authorities have warned the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, that they will be forced to declare bankruptcy within the next few months because of the unpreced...

Limit of 1.5C global heating is at risk, Alok Sharma warns at Cop27

Previous summit’s president tells ministers no ‘backsliding’ must be allowed over climate crisis ‘red line’Alok Sharma, the former UK cabinet minister who presided over the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow last year, has warned delegates at Cop27 that the possibility of limiting global heat...

Taiwan is a ‘red line’ not to be crossed, China says.

The future of the island remains the issue most likely to plunge U.S.-China relations into crisis, even war....

Home Office was told Rwanda policy was making asylum seekers feel suicidal

Accommodation providers told officials of increase in people threatening to harm themselves, minutes of meeting showThe Home Office was warned that its Rwanda policy was causing a rise in the number of asylum seekers reporting feeling suicidal and vanishing from hotel accommodation, an internal safe...

Ethiopian rivals agree on humanitarian access for war-ravaged Tigray

Region is in the grip of a severe crisis due to a lack of food and medicine after a two-year conflictEthiopia’s government and Tigrayan rebels have agreed to facilitate immediate humanitarian access to “all in need” in war-ravaged Tigray and neighbouring regions.The agreement followed talks in...

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX files for bankruptcy protection in US

Founder Sam Bankman-Fried resigns as CEO and tells of shock ‘to see things unravel the way they did’What happened to FTX and could the crisis harm the rest of crypto?How Binance played a key role as FTX collapse unfoldedOne of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX, has filed for ba...