News 26/11/25

Two military personnel have been shot near the White House in Washington DC.

Police confirmed a suspect has been taken into custody and the area secured. The White House was placed into lockdown while US President Donald Trump was in Florida. Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform saying the two National Guard members had been critically wounded. He added that the “animal” who shot them is also severely wounded but, regardless, will pay a very steep price as authorities continue to assess the situation and gather verified information.

Britain’s top military chiefs held a very difficult meeting this week amid tensions over funding plans to rebuild the armed forces or face further cuts, defence sources have said.

Reports suggested that the top brass, led by Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton, the chief of the defence staff, were considering an extraordinary joint letter to Defence Secretary John Healey warning that the defence review published in June could not be delivered without additional funding. The Ministry of Defence, however, played down those reports. A source said there was no letter, nor was one expected to be sent, as officials continue discussions on military spending priorities and long-term planning.

Following a joint investigation by Thames Valley Police and the Metropolitan Police, Adam Bench, aged 47, of Stanwell, Staines Upon Thames, has been sentenced for rape and multiple child sexual offences in Windsor and West Drayton.

At Reading Crown Court on 21 November, Bench received an 18-year prison sentence with an extended four-year licence. Between 2010 and 2022, he committed multiple sexual offences in West Drayton and was arrested on 17 December 2022. Later, between September and December 2024, he sexually assaulted a child in Windsor and was arrested on 6 December 2024 and charged the following day.

Two National Guard members have been shot near the White House in Washington DC.

Their condition has not been confirmed, and emergency vehicles were seen responding in the area shortly after the incident. The Joint DC Task Force said it was attending an event in the vicinity of the White House, though no further details have been released. The US president, Donald Trump, described the gunman as an animal and said they would pay a very steep price, signalling a strong response once the situation becomes clearer and more information is confirmed by officials.

Analysis of today’s Budget shows that more than half of the planned tax rises will be used to meet a welfare bill that is now forecast to be sixteen billion pounds higher in 2030 than previously expected.

Over half of that additional cost will be absorbed by policy reversals, including changes to winter fuel payments and the removal of the two child cap on benefits. More than three billion pounds is linked to a larger than anticipated rise in annual benefit rates for both pensioners and working age households. The remaining pressures are attributed to increased disability caseloads, alongside higher unemployment which economists say was influenced in part by last year’s tax rises.

Soldiers in Guinea Bissau have appeared on state television to announce that the country’s military has seized power, accusing the president of interfering in Sunday’s election and claiming he had been deposed.

Military spokesperson Dinis N’Tchama said they had acted immediately to remove the president and suspend all government institutions. He said the move followed what they described as the discovery of an ongoing plan designed to destabilise the country by attempting to manipulate electoral results, prompting the military to take control.

At least 36 people have died after a fire tore through several buildings at a high-rise residential complex in Hong Kong, officials have said.

The city’s leader, John Lee, added that another 279 people are reported missing and 29 remain in hospital following the blaze. Around 700 residents have been evacuated to temporary shelters after the fire broke out at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Tai Po district. Among the dead was one firefighter, authorities confirmed, as emergency services continue to search the area for survivors.

All charges against Donald Trump and 14 others in a Georgia election interference case have been dismissed.

Pete Skandalakis, the new prosecutor in the case, said in court papers that he would take no further action. While it was unlikely legal proceedings could have advanced while Trump remained in office, the decision also applies to his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor, and ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who had all faced charges linked to the case.

Farmers drove a convoy of tractors into Westminster on budget day to protest proposed inheritance tax changes.

The demonstration went ahead despite restrictions from the Metropolitan Police banning agricultural machinery from the area. One tractor, parked outside Parliament on Abingdon Street, bore the slogan “Fools vote Labour,” while others were seen moving through Westminster during Wednesday morning, drawing attention from passersby and commuters.

Rachel Reeves has outlined the details of her second Budget since taking office as chancellor, setting out measures that form the core of the government’s latest tax and spending plan.

Several of the proposals had already been released in the days before the statement, offering early indications of priorities and planned reforms. Other elements emerged unintentionally when the UK’s budgetary watchdog published its official forecast earlier than expected, prompting questions about how the government would respond once the details became public.

Paul Doyle has pleaded guilty to all 31 charges he faced, including dangerous driving and affray.

He also admitted nine counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, seventeen counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and three counts of wounding with intent. The judge told Doyle he could sit as he entered the pleas through tears, with his voice at times barely audible while the charges were read out and confirmed in court.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov has been pressed on whether Moscow has agreed to any concessions after the United States revised its peace plan in consultation with Ukraine.

As American efforts intensify to find a negotiated route out of the conflict, Ryabkov said Russia was prepared to work with the documents currently on the table. However, he insisted there could be no discussion of concessions or any dilution of Russia’s position on what he described as key issues linked to the Special Military Operation, despite Donald Trump suggesting earlier that Russia was making concessions.

OpenAI says a teenager who died after months of conversations with ChatGPT had misused the system and the company is not liable for his death.

Sixteen-year-old Adam Raine died in April, leading his parents to file a wrongful death lawsuit. They say he initially used the chatbot for schoolwork but soon treated it as a confidant, sharing his anxiety and distress. According to the legal claim, the bot provided information on hiding evidence of a failed suicide attempt and appeared to validate his thoughts.

Australia’s new social media ban for children is facing a challenge in the country’s highest court, with two teenagers arguing the law is unconstitutional because it restricts their right to communicate.

From 10 December, platforms including Meta, TikTok and YouTube must stop Australians under 16 from holding accounts. Supporters say the measure protects young people from harmful content and algorithms, but fifteen-year-olds Noah Jones and Macy Neyland, backed by a rights group, argue it fails to respect children’s online rights and has global implications for digital policy.

A Jewish former classmate of Nigel Farage has told the BBC the Reform UK leader is being “fundamentally dishonest” by suggesting former pupils who claim to have witnessed his racism are not telling the truth.

Peter Ettedgui said Farage, now 61, repeatedly told him “Hitler was right” and “gas them” when they were teenagers at Dulwich College in London. On Monday, Farage said he had “never directly racially abused anybody” after allegations first reported in The Guardian. Mr Ettedgui said Farage’s comments denying the claims left him “really angry”.

Sir Richard Branson has said he is “heartbroken” over the death of his wife Joan, aged 80.

The couple, married in 1989, had three children and five grandchildren. In an Instagram post, the Virgin Group founder described Joan as his “best friend” and “guiding light”, adding she was “the most wonderful mum and grandmum our kids and grandkids could have ever wished for”.

The chancellor says she is prepared to take what she calls fair and necessary choices in today’s budget as she aims to grow the economy while keeping the public finances under control.

Rachel Reeves has insisted she will not take Britain back to austerity and has promised to take action to support families who are still struggling with the cost of living. She says the government will push ahead with what she describes as the biggest drive for growth in a generation, with planned investment across infrastructure, housing, security, defence, education and skills. But after a downgrade to productivity forecasts, and following recent U-turns on the winter fuel allowance and proposed benefits cuts, the chancellor is expected to announce a set of tax rises to help address what is estimated to be a thirty billion pound gap in the public finances. That gap, she says, comes against a backdrop of heightened global uncertainty which continues to influence domestic economic decisions.

Donald Trump says Russia is making concessions in talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine and claims Kyiv is content with the direction of negotiations.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he headed to Florida for Thanksgiving, the president said progress was being made and repeated that he would be willing to meet both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy when an agreement is close. He also confirmed that his earlier deadline of Thanksgiving is no longer in place and described the White House’s initial twenty eight point plan, which caused alarm in Kyiv, as simply a map. When asked whether Ukraine was being pressed to give up too much territory, he suggested Russia might gain parts of it in the coming months.

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has told supporters in Caracas that he will resist any US attempt to remove him from power.

Holding a sword and dressed in camouflage, he said failure was not an option and urged crowds to be ready to defend what he called every inch of the country from any threat or act of aggression.

Britain’s first police virtual assistant has been launched by Thames Valley Police and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary.

The tool, named Bobbi, uses artificial intelligence to answer common questions and is intended to support existing contact routes. The forces stress it cannot be used to report crimes or as an alternative to the emergency nine nine nine line.