The Independent - December 21, 2024

In this issue

December 21, 2024

Trump team set to 'lock out' UK after Mandelson picked to be ambassador to the US

Peter Mandelson’s nomination as Britain’s new ambassador to the United States has provoked fury within Donald Trump’s team, with one insider describing it as a “horrible, arrogant” choice and his campaign coordinator publicly calling the Labour peer a \"moron.\"

4 mins

Calls grow for the release of jailed former leader Suu Kyi

Calls are growing in the UK for Aung San Suu Kyi to be released from prison where she has been held for the last four years by Myanmar's military regime.

2 mins

Gray given peerage months after being sacked by PM

Sue Gray has been handed a peerage by Sir Keir Starmer, Downing Street confirmed yesterday.

2 mins

What will the House of Lords look like in future?

Another batch of life peerages is released and the House of Lords remains an exceptional parliamentary chamber.

3 mins

Older, wiser Mandy will be an artful 'Trump whisperer'

Peter Mandelson warned last month that the UK's handling of Donald Trump 2.0 will be a \"transactional rollercoaster ride\".

4 mins

NHS spent more than £2bn on private mental health hospitals last year

The NHS spent more than £2bn on sending patients to private psychiatric units last year, following decades of cuts to beds, new analysis reveals.

3 mins

Two brothers charged over airport brawl with police

Two men have been charged over a fight with police at Manchester airport which happened before an officer was filmed kicking and stamping on a suspect's head.

1 min

US faces shutdown as Musk didn't 'keep his mouth shut'

Politicians enraged by billionaire's influence over Trump

2 mins

Two dead after car ploughs into busy German market

Two people, including a toddler, have been killed after a car was driven into a crowd at a Christmas market in Germay, as local officials treating it as a deliberate attack said the suspect was a Saudi doctor.

2 mins

Store guard helped uncover abuse of Pelicot by husband

When Gisèle Pelicot was called to talk to police in November 2020, she believed it was to discuss upskirting allegations made against her husband of 50 years.

2 mins

Macron swears in heated exchanges with crowds in cyclone-battered Mayotte

French president Emmanuel Macron swore during an exchange as he was heckled by angry residents of a Mayotte neighbourhood ravaged by cyclone Chido, telling them: “If it wasn’t for France, you’d be 10,000 times deeper in shit.”

3 mins

Musk calls far-right AfD party saviours of Germany

Elon Musk has described the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as the country's saviour, sparking calls from Berlin for the US billionaire to \"stay out\" of their politics.

2 mins

Trump's war on the press is straight from Putin playbook

The pen may not be mightier than the sword, but it still has the power to wound. How else to explain the extraordinary remarks of the former Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, this week in which he revealed how stung he'd been by an editorial in The Times?

4 mins

Hope for economic growth dampened by uncertainty

Fun fact: the OECD still predicts that Britain's economy will be one of the stars of the G7 during 2025 with growth of 1.7 per cent, lagging only behind the US at 2.4 per cent.

3 mins

HS2 doesn't need a 'reset'...this line never made sense

Nobody knows how much it will cost or when it will be done. With our creaking transport system, the mounting billions would be better spent elsewhere, says Chris Blackhurst

5 mins

Sliding doors moment that saw Spurs embrace chaos

Tottenham fans will wonder what could have been tomorrow as Arne Slot brings league leaders Liverpool to north London

3 mins

O'Shea is loving the battles at the Republic of Ipswich

As a player who was clocked as the fourth fastest in the Premier League last season, Dara O'Shea relishes it \"when I'm up against a striker and it's me and him\".

6 mins

Will Usyk or Fury 'get old overnight' in their rematch?

In boxing we have an expression we use during a fight, if one of the boxers looks bad: \"He got old overnight.\"

3 mins

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The Independent has been at the frontline of journalism since 1986, with its mission to challenge and debate always ahead of its time. The Independent is free-thinking and free of bias in an increasingly fragmented world where communities locally, regionally and across continents are disenfranchised with traditional establishments. They want real facts and frank opinions delivered first-hand from a news source that is ready to stand for something, not everything.