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Lenders could get up to a year to respond to growing flood of complaints after shock court ruling last month The City regulator plans to intervene in the growing car loan mis-selling scandal in a move that could give lenders up to a year to respond to a growing flood of customer complaints after a shock court ruling.The Financial Conduct Authority has been under pressure to take action after a court of appeal ruling in October which said it was unlawful for two lenders to have paid a “secret” commission to car dealers without borrowers’ knowledge. Continue reading...

Outcry after draft text contains only an ‘X’ instead of setting $1tn funding goal to support developing countriesCop29 climate summit – live updatesHopes of a breakthrough at the deadlocked UN climate talks have been dashed after a new draft of a possible deal was condemned by rich and poor countries.Faith in the ability of the Azerbaijan presidency to produce a deal ebbed on Thursday morning, as the draft texts were criticised as inadequate and providing no “landing ground” for a compromise. Continue reading...

Former trade union activist who had Alzheimer's died peacefully at care home, says familyJohn Prescott: a life in picturesUK politics live – latest updatesJohn Prescott, the former British deputy prime minister and stalwart of the New Labour movement, has died aged 86.Tony Blair and Gordon Brown led tributes on Thursday to Prescott, who had Alzheimer’s, after his family announced he had died peacefully at a care home. Continue reading...

Four-day exclusion zone an improper use of Marine Safety Act, judge rules, despite ‘skilful’ submission from transport minister Jo HaylenGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales supreme court has set aside a Minns government decision to cut off access to Newcastle harbour to try to prevent a four-day climate protest.The court found the notice was invalid after hearing an urgent application from climate activist organisation Rising Tide on Thursday.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Former publisher Jimmy Lai has denied that he asked a colleague to draft a list of potential sanction targets in testimony at his landmark national security trial in Hong Kong

Greens and legal advocates say bill will make it harder to hold authorities accountable for conditions in detention facilitiesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLabor has introduced a bill that would allow drugs and mobile phones to be confiscated from non-citizens in immigration detention, despite opposing a phone ban when attempted by Peter Dutton in 2020.The Albanese government is proposing greater safeguards than the Coalition’s attempts to ban phones, but the move has already outraged the Greens and legal advocates who warn it will make it harder to hold authorities accountable for conditions in detention.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Everett’s novel, James, which focuses on Twain's enslaved character Jim, won the $10,000 prizePercival Everett has won the $10,000 National Book Award for fiction, one of the US’s most prestigious literary prizes, for James, his acclaimed reimagining of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.The 67-year-old author was also shortlisted for this year’s Booker prize for James, which focuses on Huckleberry Finn’s enslaved character Jim. The Guardian’s Anthony Cummins called the book “gripping, painful, funny, horrifying” in his review. Continue reading...

Legislation for the world's first legal ban on children under 16 using social media has been introduced in Australia's Parliament