Month: December 2025

Justice secretary expected to announce plans to tackle backlog of cases as he says system has been pushed to brink of collapse A “courts emergency” that will surpass 100,000 outstanding cases without radical reforms is leaving victims waiting years for justice, David Lammy has said as he prepares to face MPs over plans to drop thousands of jury trials.The justice secretary proposed last week to reduce the 78,000 outstanding cases […]

Residents claim raw sewage and poorly treated effluent as result of Thames Water’s failings are threat to healthCommunities across south-east England are filing the first coordinated legal complaints that sewage pollution by Thames Water negatively affects their lives.Thames Water failed to complete upgrades to 98 treatment plants and pumping stations which have the worst records for sewage pollution into the environment, despite a promise to invest in them over the […]

Research shows perpetrators use methods such as stopping mothers accessing bank accounts and child benefitsAlmost 4 million children in the UK are suffering the impact of economic abuse in their families, with some having pocket or birthday money stolen by the perpetrators, a charity has found.Data from charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) showed that over the past year 27% of mothers with children under 18 had experienced behaviour considered to […]

Many uncertain about the future after losing everything in the country’s deadliest natural disaster for yearsWhen the rains began, Layani Rasika Niroshani was not worried. The 36-year-old mother of two was used to the heavy monsoon showers that drench Sri Lanka’s hilly central region of Badulla every year. But as it kept pounding down without stopping, the family started to feel jittery.Some relocated to a relative’s house, but her brother […]

University releases updated implementation plan for arts and social sciences college after initial proposal was widely criticised. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNSW RFS urges holidaymakers to have a fire plan while travelingWith 36 fires burning across NSW at 6pm yesterday, the NSW Rural Fire Service told Guardian Australia it’s important for anyone living or travelling in a fire-prone area to have […]

Senior US official tells Reuters that Oval Office meeting included senior members of Trump’s national security team. No details of talks were immediately availableTrump reportedly gave Maduro ultimatum to relinquish power in VenezuelaThe president has picked up where he left off before Thanksgiving, when it comes to his anger at the six Democratic lawmakers who took part in a video urging service members to “refuse illegal orders”.A reminder, that Trump […]