David Miliband, Peter Mandelson and Cathy Ashton thought to be on shortlist for diplomatic role

A decision on a new US ambassador is likely to be taken within days, with David Miliband, Peter Mandelson and Cathy Ashton all on the shortlist, the Guardian understands.

Whitehall sources said Downing Street is determined to press ahead with the appointment of a new US ambassador now that Donald Trump has been confirmed as the next US president.

Continue reading...

• Live updates from the 8.10pm GMT kick-off in Dublin
• Sign up for The Breakdown newsletter | And mail Lee

Welcome to Dublin, where Ireland commence their Autumn International fixtures by welcoming New Zealand. This should be quite the Test match, and that’s before you consider the men in green are facing the team that splintered their collective souls into a million pieces with that defeat in the quarter-final of last year’s Rugby World Cup.

This could bring as much drama as the TV show that shares the timing and illumination status of this clash – Friday Night Lights. Indeed the Ireland team is not unlike the Dillon Panthers of that serial. A serious but inspiringly dark eyed coach who’s been married for ages and has kids miles apart in age; key players in the team giving more than a hint they might be too old for the role by this stage of the series; a key playmaker still in the shadow of his more talented predecessor; and a suited back office director or sport type bloke behind the scenes who has a record of not treating women in the employ of his company very well. (Yes, I bloody love the show Friday Night Lights, what of it?)

Continue reading...

The new president’s disruptive policies will challenge Sir Keir Starmer’s green goals. But with strong leadership he could enhance Britain’s global influence

Donald Trump ’s electoral earthquake in America will complicate Sir Keir Starmer’s plans. Nowhere will the shock of Mr Trump’s win be more intensely felt than in environmental policy. His stance on climate – advocating a US exit from the Paris climate agreement and rallying behind “ drill baby drill ” – is more disruptive than constructive. This should concentrate Sir Keir’s mind as he heads to Cop29, the UN’s annual climate summit, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

At last year’s conference, world leaders agreed to “ transition away ” from fossil fuels in a just and orderly manner for the first time. Mr Trump, however, dismisses the climate crisis as a hoax. With this year likely to be the hottest on record , the devastating effects of global heating are undeniable, as extreme weather batters the planet. Mr Trump may ignore the facts, but the trail of climate-related chaos and destruction speaks for itself.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here .

Continue reading...

A shift in priorities that emphasises pupil wellbeing not just exam results could improve attendance

The reasons for poor attendance at English schools, high rates of psychological distress and illness among young people, and a rising number of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (Send), are complicated. The pandemic and its after-effects, poverty and the many family difficulties it causes, are among them. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has made no bones about her determination to get more pupils back into classrooms. But in a striking speech to the Confederation of School Trusts on Thursday, she made the case that schools are part of the problem as well as the solution.

Headteachers must abandon the “tunnel vision” that leads them to focus too heavily on exam results, and not enough on belonging, she argued. Citing her own childhood experience of supportive teachers, she called for a “profound reform in what we value”. Given what has gone before, this new emphasis on relationships could even be called a revolution. Raising academic standards and removing schools from local, democratic control were the twin themes of Conservative schools policy. This achieved some success, with the UK making progress in international rankings , particularly in maths. But marks are not the be-all and end-all, and Ms Phillipson’s message was that even if they have been removed from council control, into academy trusts, schools are the hearts of their communities.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here .

Continue reading...

The US election, the aftermath of the floods in Valencia, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and the Maa festival in Kenya: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

Continue reading...

Trump campaign said US officials warned him in September about suspected Iranian assassination plot

The US justice department is bringing criminal charges over an Iranian plot to kill the president-elect, Donald Trump , that was thwarted by the FBI, the government said.

The federal government has unsealed criminal charges in what the justice department said was a murder-for-hire plan to take out Trump before this week’s presidential election , which he won decisively over his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris .

Continue reading...

• Captain admits fearing sack after T20 World Cup flop
• McCullum says main job is lifting ‘miserable’ Buttler

Jos Buttler feared he could be sacked as England captain after their T20 World Cup exit in June, but hopes that Brendon McCullum’s appointment as white-ball head coach will lead to the most “rewarding” time in his career.

Buttler is back leading England after a four-month absence due a recurring calf injury. Since his last match, the T20 World Cup semi-final defeat by India , Matthew Mott has been fired and McCullum appointed in his stead.

Continue reading...

Albert Beale and Paul Parker honour the pacifist movement, while other readers say public poppy pressure has gone too far

In Samira Shackle’s “Has poppy mania gone too far?” (The long read, 5 November ), she dwells on the increasing policing of those in public life over their wearing of red poppies at this time of year; she also mentions in passing the white poppies of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU).

But she fails to question the basic premise of the remembrance industry – namely that the military in particular, and even more particularly “our” military, deserve more consideration than do other victims of war.

Continue reading...

Helen Gourlay on why the numbers don’t add up for students or universities. And Yassin El-Moudden says turning students into consumers has warped tertiary education economics

Re university fees, the numbers don’t add up, and never did ( Editorial, 4 November ). Assumptions by George Osborne and colleagues of high graduate earnings, based on times when far fewer people went to university, were unrealistic. The current “solution” is no better. If fees have not changed since 2017 and inflation since 2017 is 29% then tuition fees rising by several hundred pounds next year still leaves universities with massive cuts in funding.

There are few (if any) angles from which it makes sense. Graduates who work as key workers, eg nurses, are unlikely to earn enough to pay off their loans. If fees are to be thought of as a graduate tax, why would a just society ask those doing a service to society (such as nurses) to pay more tax? And, if it’s a graduate tax, why are we not taxing all graduates, rather than only taxing young people – those who went to university after New Labour introduced fees?

Continue reading...