UK house prices rise at fastest rate since January 2025 07. November 2025 (09:33) Halifax says October increase pushes average cost of home to £300k despite uncertainty over possible budget tax changesBusiness live – updatesUK house prices rose at their fastest pace since January, a leading property index shows, with demand improving despite ongoing market uncertainty over likely tax changes in this month’s budget.Prices increased by 0.6% month-on-month in October, pushing the average cost of a UK home to a record high of £299,862, according to Halifax. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Kemi Badenoch to relaunch exclusive ‘advisory board’ for high-value donors 07. November 2025 (08:00) Exclusive: Tory leader has plans to reinstate group that provided top donors with direct access to senior ministersKemi Badenoch is relaunching the Conservative party’s “advisory board” for high-value donors in a different guise, the Guardian has learned.The Tory leader has drawn up plans to reinstate the exclusive group, which provided top donors with regular direct access to senior ministers, according to two people briefed on the plans. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Close Starmer ally Ben Nunn appointed as Rachel Reeves’s chief of staff 07. November 2025 (08:00) Exclusive: Nunn, one of PM’s most trusted advisers, will play key role linking No 10 and No 11 operationsOne of Keir Starmer’s closest allies has been appointed as Rachel Reeves’s chief of staff in an effort to further strengthen ties between Downing Street and the Treasury, the Guardian understands.Ben Nunn, who worked with the prime minister in opposition and is one of his most trusted advisers, will begin his new role with immediate effect. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Qantas business lounge passenger set on fire after power bank explodes in his pocket 07. November 2025 (07:57) About 150 people evacuated from Melbourne airport lounge after device overheats and ignites, burning the man’s leg and fingersGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastQantas says it has reopened its business class lounge at Melbourne airport after it was evacuated due to a passenger being set on fire by an exploding power bank in his pocket.The man was in the lounge in the airport’s international terminal on Thursday morning when the overheated power bank ignited, burning his leg and fingers and creating smoke in the room. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
NHS to take over state-of-the-art hospital from private health group in ‘windfall’ 07. November 2025 (07:00) Nuffield Health to close London hospital after anticipated demand for private care fails to materialiseAn NHS trust is taking over a state-of-the-art hospital from a leading private healthcare group after it failed to attract enough paying patients to use it.Barts Health trust in London will turn Nuffield Health’s facility into a dedicated NHS breast cancer diagnosis and treatment centre when it gains control next month. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK rejected atrocity prevention plans for Sudan despite warning of possible genocide 07. November 2025 (07:00) Exclusive: British government adopted ‘least ambitious’ option months before RSF’s massacres in El FasherBritain rejected atrocity prevention plans for Sudan despite intelligence warnings that the city of El Fasher would fall amid a wave of ethnic cleansing and possible genocide, according to a report seen by the Guardian.Government officials turned down the plans six months into the 18-month siege of El Fasher in favour of the “least ambitious” option of four presented. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Parents appeal to Home Office after daughter left homeless in Jamaica by Hurricane Melissa 07. November 2025 (07:00) Lati-Yana Brown’s parents, who have been saving to pay for UK visa application, say situation is now an emergencyA distraught couple are appealing to the Home Office to expedite a visa decision and speedily grant permission for their eight-year-old daughter to join them in the UK after Hurricane Melissa left her homeless and destitute in Jamaica.Lati-Yana Stephanie Brown is being cared for by her grandmother in Cash Hill, Hanover, a part of the island that was badly damaged by the storm. Her Jamaican mother, Kerrian Bigby, came to the UK to join her British father, Jerome Hardy, in April 2023. The couple married earlier this year. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Orbán to visit White House to try to broker Trump-Putin summit for peace in Ukraine 07. November 2025 (06:05) Hungary’s prime minister also seeking an exemption on US sanctions on Russian oil after Trump’s Kremlin frustrationsViktor Orbán will visit the White House on Friday as Hungary’s far-right prime minister tries to broker another summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that Orbán’s advisers claim could help end the war between Russia and Ukraine.Orbán, who has proposed hosting the summit in Budapest, will also seek an exemption from US sanctions against Russian energy in what will be a major test of Trump’s tougher line on the Kremlin after he accused Putin of slow-rolling negotiations to end the conflict. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US strikes another alleged drug boat bringing death toll from campaign in Latin America to 70 07. November 2025 (05:25) US strikes have destroyed at least 18 vessels, but Washington has yet to make public any concrete evidence that its targets posed a threat to AmericaUS forces struck another alleged drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean, killing three people, defense secretary Pete Hegseth has said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s controversial campaign to at least 70.The US began carrying out such strikes – which some experts say amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers – in early September, taking aim at vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Long on talk and short on action’: Papua New Guinea leader criticises Cop climate summits ahead of Brazil meeting 07. November 2025 (04:00) James Marape skipped the meeting last year in protest but will attend Cop30 due to ‘encouraging signs’ on climate financePapua New Guinea’s prime minister, James Marape, has criticised Cop climate summits as “long on talk and short on action” but will attend the upcoming meeting of world leaders in Brazil, after pulling out last year in frustration with big emitters.The leader of the Pacific nation of about 10 million people skipped the meeting in 2024 in “protest at the big nations” for failing to support to the victims of climate change. Marape will take part in the annual UN climate summit, which officially beings in Belém, Brazil on 10 November, due to “encouraging signs” emerging from developed nations on climate finance. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
