Titanic passenger’s pocket watch sold for record £1.78m at auction 23. November 2025 (12:57) The 18-carat Jules Jurgensen gold watch belonged to Isidor Straus, who along with his wife lost his life when ship sankA gold pocket watch that belonged to a man who died onboard the Titanic when it sank has sold for a record sum.The watch, which belonged to 67-year-old Isidor Straus, went for £1.78m at auction, the highest amount ever paid for Titanic memorabilia. He was given the watch – an engraved 18-carat Jules Jurgensen – as a gift on his 43rd birthday in 1888. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Rachel Reeves promises to ‘grip the cost of living’ in autumn budget 23. November 2025 (12:42) Chancellor admits economy ‘feels stuck’ for many as she signals intention to freeze income tax thresholdsYou be the chancellor: play our budget gameRachel Reeves has promised to “grip the cost of living” in the budget as she prepares to scrap the two-child welfare limit and freeze rail fares, while putting forward a multibillion-pound tax-raising package.The chancellor is preparing to give her second budget on Wednesday after weeks of uncertainty about the scale of the tax rises she will need to impose to plug a financial hole of about £20bn.Freezing income tax thresholds for an extra two years to 2030, bringing more people into higher tax bands as wages rise.Making salary sacrifice schemes less generous, including those for pension contributions.Bringing in higher tax on the most expensive properties, including a surcharge on the highest-value houses.A pay-per-mile scheme on electric cars to help fill the tax gap from petrol duty as more people opt for green vehicles. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Gaza hospitals running out of supplies as airstrikes continue, medics say 23. November 2025 (12:11) ‘Severe lack’ in territory where Israeli strikes have killed more than 50 people and injured over 100 in recent daysHospitals in Gaza are running out of essential supplies, with new waves of Israeli airstrikes killing more than 50 people and injuring more than 100 in recent days, medical and aid workers in the devastated Palestinian territory have said.Medics told the Guardian on Sunday that stocks of gauze, antiseptics, thermometers and antibiotics were running low. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
China has brought millions out of poverty. The US has not – by choice 23. November 2025 (12:00) Despite the US’s economic success, income inequality remains breathtaking. But this is no glitch – it’s the systemThe Chinese did rather well in the age of globalization. In 1990, 943 million people there lived on less than $3 a day measured in 2021 dollars – 83% of the population, according to the World Bank. By 2019, the number was brought down to zero. Unfortunately, the United States was not as successful. More than 4 million Americans – 1.25% of the population – must make ends meet with less than $3 a day, more than three times as many as 35 years ago.The data is not super consistent with the narrative of the US’s inexorable success. Sure, American productivity has zoomed ahead of that of its European peers. Only a handful of countries manage to produce more stuff per hour of work. And artificial intelligence now promises to put the United States that much further ahead. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Zelenskyy says ‘we must do everything’ against ‘wicked Russian attacks’ as Ukraine and US meet for emergency talks – live 23. November 2025 (11:43) Officials will discuss 28-point draft plan widely seen as favourable to Moscow, despite Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022Amid the diplomatic flurry, the war continues. According to Russian Telegram media channels, Ukraine struck a heat and power station in the Moscow region on Sunday with drones, triggering a major fire and cutting off heating for thousands of people.Ukrainian drones struck the Shatura Power Station about 120 km (75 miles) east of the Kremlin, Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump, war, absent media: five threats to climate progress that dogged Cop30 23. November 2025 (11:21) Did the talks succeed or fail? The verdict must take account of the geopolitical minefield they took place inCop30 in Belém wrapped up on Saturday night more than 24 hours later than planned, and with an Amazonian rainstorm thundering down on the conference centre. The United Nations structure just about held, as it has done these past three weeks despite fire, savage tropical heat and blistering political attacks on the multilateral system of global environmental governance.Dozens of agreements were gavelled through on the final day, as the most collective form of humanity worked to resolve the most complex and dangerous challenge that our species has ever faced. It was chaotic. The process very nearly collapsed and had to be rescued by last-ditch talks that lasted into the early morning. Veteran observers told me the Paris agreement was on life-support. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Add some whimsy to your life’: Wicked fans bring magic to Leicester Square 23. November 2025 (11:00) Shades of green, pink and glitter accompany sold out screenings as Wicked: For Good’s release prompts wave of themed dressing Outside one of Leicester Square’s main cinemas, small crowds gathered in shades of green, pink and glitter, a loose palette of fairies and witches.As Wicked: For Good lands in UK cinemas on Friday and this weekend, some fans have decided that simply watching the film isn’t enough. They want to wear it. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Safe haven to sanctions: how Jersey sheltered Roman Abramovich’s billions 23. November 2025 (11:00) Court papers show the island cautiously welcomed the oligarch – with London’s approval – before Russia’s invasion of UkraineFor decades the Channel Islands tax haven of Jersey has played a big role in moving fortunes made in some of the world’s most despotic countries into the west, attracting overseas oligarchs with a mix of low tax and high levels of financial secrecy.It is a secrecy that extends to Jersey’s relationship with the UK government. As a crown dependency, Jersey has its own parliament, but belongs to the king. The relationship between the two jurisdictions remains something of a black box, with very little public information on how the big decisions are made, or to what extent Westminster is consulted. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘We’ve got to find answers’: Corby families affected by cancer searching for truth about toxic waste sites 23. November 2025 (09:00) Alison Gaffney believes her son’s rare leukaemia was caused by dumped toxic waste from the town’s steelworksAlison Gaffney and Andy Hinde received the devastating news that their 17-month-old son, Fraser, had a rare type of leukaemia in 2018.Two years of gruelling treatment followed, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy, before a stem cell transplant. Fraser, then aged three, made a “miraculous recovery” from the surgery, before doctors declared the cancer in remission. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
How ambitious ‘forest city’ plan for England could become a reality 23. November 2025 (09:00) Cross-party coalition behind proposals hope eco-friendly scheme for million people could begin before end of decadeIn the next few years, spades could be in the ground for a city made of wood, in the middle of the largest new nature reserve created in England in decades, with four-bedroom homes on sale for £350,000.It sounds too good to be true, but a cross-party coalition of campaigners is trying to make a “forest city” to house a million people a reality, with construction commencing by the end of this parliament. It would be the first such project in England since the purpose-built new town of Milton Keynes in the 1960s. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
