Carlos Mazón resists calls to step down, saying floods that killed 216 in his area were unprecedented and ‘apocalyptic’

The regional president of Valencia, who is under mounting pressure over his handling of the catastrophic floods that killed 216 people in the area, has conceded mistakes were made but refused to step down, claiming the unprecedented and “apocalyptic” scale of the disaster simply overwhelmed the system.

A total of 224 people lost their lives – all but eight of them in Valencia – when torrential rains and floods hit eastern, central and southern parts of Spain on Tuesday 29 October, drowning people in their homes and cars and sending torrents of water through cities, towns and villages.

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Bank of England governor says Brexit has weighed on UK economy, while Donald Trump will also complicate matters

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The Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, used his Mansion House speech on Thursday to say Brexit had undermined the UK’s economy and to urge the government to improve relations with the EU , for the sake of growth.

Could Labour pull the UK closer to the trading bloc – and would it make much difference to economic growth?

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At least 100 white-clawed crayfish, the UK’s only native species, have been found dead since the end of September

A “rescue mission” for native crayfish is under way in Northumberland after a population were found dead with mysterious patches on their shells.

The Environment Agency is working to save the internationally important species of native white-clawed crayfish in the River Wansbeck by searching for females with eggs to be taken and reared in a hatchery.

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From animal onesies to colourful lights to ride-on cars, children share ideas from their own wish lists of top toys

Asking a five- to eight-year-old what they want for Christmas can be dangerous. With no concept of money, they’re as likely to ask for something that costs a fiver as a Lego set in the hundreds. They could have seen something fleetingly on an advert but not quite know what it is, leaving you Googling “blue flashing monkey toy with wings” for days. And they’re old enough to be very insistent – and remember what they asked for come Christmas Day. No pressure.

So, we bypassed all the “top toys of 2024” lists created by marketing departments and went to the source for you, asking 21 kids what they really want for Christmas, from slime to a load of Lego.

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Facing threats to their rights and their safety, people rush to protect themselves amid discrimination and scapegoating

This weekend, Atticus Sparks plans to attend a six-hour concealed weapons permit class. He’s not a gun person, but as an 18-year-old trans man, he’s concerned he might someday need to own one, “just in case”. Since Donald Trump’s election, Sparks has faced online threats of violence and sexual assault from the president-elect’s supporters.

“Hopefully I won’t ever need a gun,” Sparks, who lives in South Carolina, said. “But everyone here is so pro-gun. I work across from a gun store, and I always see people carrying around loaded rifles.”

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After rare accord with Biden White House on climate, China may now be more wary of adopting robust policy measures

China is facing crucial decisions on its climate policies as its hard-won relationship with the US on tackling the crisis looks set to founder during Donald Trump’s second presidential term.

World leaders and heads of delegations from many countries gathered at the Cop29 UN climate summit are trying to salvage commitments that China has made during Joe Biden’s term, which ends in January.

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Jordan Tannahill has turned his novel, The Listeners, into a tense, timely BBC drama inspired by cults and conspiracy theories. He talks Brexit, banging raves and exploring kinks with closeted junior Tory ministers

When the Canadian playwright Jordan Tannahill moved to London in 2016, it was the week after the EU referendum. “For my partner at the time, who was British, it was a devastating kind of discombobulation,” Tannahill says. “It shattered not just his conception of his country, but his job prospects. And there was such tension within his family around Brexit – seeing how it drove a wedge between them was really quite stark.”

Tannahill and his partner were living in a flat by London City Airport, where the planes taking off would create “this low, reverberant sound that was just ever present”. The writer was also starting to chafe against the confines of his relationship. “It was loving but very staid. I felt like I was living the life of a middle-aged man,” Tannahill says – he’s now 36. “I had so many desires: I wanted to be out all night dancing with others in this kind of libidinal state of release at a rave.” He also had an urge to explore London’s fetish scene. “I think Claire’s journey is one that mirrored my own,” Tannahill says. “She’s seeking the collective ecstatic.”

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CAA called suspension of 30 arms exports to Israel ‘obscene’ and said UK’s decisions were ‘hostile to Jewish state’

The Charity Commission is assessing a statement by the Campaign Against Antisemitism in which it called the government’s decision to suspend 30 arms export licences to Israel “obscene”.

The review follows a complaint by the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who wrote to the commission asking how the blogpost was consistent with the CAA’s stated charitable objectives, amid allegations that it represents improper political activity.

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Exclusive: Person who complained tells Guardian that columnist’s ‘Jew haters’ post was inflammatory

Daily Telegraph readers have woken up this week to successive front-page headlines alleging a grave threat to free speech, triggered by a star columnist’s “Kafkaesque” encounter with police.

The rightwing broadsheet described how Essex police had told Allison Pearson on her doorstep last weekend that she was under investigation for allegedly stirring up racial hatred in a tweet last year.

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