Author: News Desk

A murky mild start in the south with strong winds, strongest being across the Pennines and exposed western coasts with rain spreading eastwards later. Turning colder in the north and west with blustery showers turning wintry over high ground. Tonight: Heavy rain spreads across the south through the night. Clears into the North Sea by dawn. Cold in the north under clear skies which can lead to a ground frost.

Summary of The Guardian Newspaper The Guardian page this morning – summarised  Latest News updated every hour

Police missed clues about dangers of far right before summer riots in England Intelligence gaps, especially around social media analysis, led to failures, report findsPolice intelligence missed clues about the dangers posed by the far right before the summer riots across England, a police chief has said.Andy Cooke, the chief inspector of constabulary, also said police were too slow to mobilise after disorder broke out, meaning some violence wasworse than it would otherwise have been, with the chance to thwart some of it missed. Continue reading… Police missed clues about dangers of far right before summer riots in England https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/dec/18/police-missed-clues-dangers-of-far-right-summer-riots-england

Ongoing British scandals dominate Wednesday’s front pages with the Waspi women and the second post office scandal leading the way. The government’s decision not to pay compensation to millions of women born in the 1950s, affected by changes to the state pension, has drawn a strong reaction across the UK newspapers regardless of political leanings. The papers express their anger at what they roundly call a betrayal from the government.

The sentencing of the father and stepmother of Sara Sharif also makes several front pages. The pair were jailed for life for the 10-year-old’s murder.

On the international front, a handful of British newspapers lead with the death of a Russian general accused of using chemical weapons in Ukraine. Lt Gen Igor Krillov and his assistant were killed in an explosion caused by a bomb hidden on a scooter.

Elon Musk is reportedly ready to ‘bankroll’ Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Farage met with Musk in the US and said there were “ongoing negotiations” about Musk making a financial contribution.