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Good morning.<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October<\/strong>, according to trade minister Chris Bryant.<\/p>\n Details of the hack emerged on Friday in a report by the Sun that claimed a Chinese hacker group was behind the cyber-attack.<\/p>\n The Sun named Storm 1849 as the Chinese cyber gang responsible for the breach, which it said was understood to possibly include tens of thousands of visa details.<\/p>\n The group has been \u201caccused of targeting politicians and groups critical of the Chinese government\u201d, the newspaper said.<\/p>\n However, when asked if China was behind the attack, Bryant said: \u201cThat\u2019s not entirely clear.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere certainly has been a hack at the FCDO and we\u2019ve been aware of that since October,\u201d Bryant told Sky News.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the reporting has, I think, been a bit more speculation than accurate.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cWe\u2019re fairly confident that there\u2019s a low risk of any individual actually being affected by this.\u201d<\/p>\n A government spokesperson told the Guardian: \u201cWe have been working to investigate a cyber incident. We take the security of our systems and data extremely seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n <\/span>Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Russian president Vladimir Putin<\/strong> told his annual end-of-year press conference on Friday that US president Donald Trump<\/strong> was right to sue the BBC over edited clips of his speech.<\/p>\n Trump sued Britain\u2019s publicly owned broadcaster for at least $10bn in damages over edited clips of a speech that made it appear he directed supporters to storm the US Capitol.<\/p>\n The BBC apologised to him last month, but rejected his demands for compensation and disagreed there was a \u201cbasis for a defamation claim\u201d.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s legal team accused the BBC of defaming him by \u201cintentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech\u201d.<\/p>\n A BBC spokesperson said: \u201cAs we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case.\u201d<\/p>\n They added: \u201cWe are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n The UK government imposed sanctions on Friday on individuals and organisations it said were \u201clinked to violence perpetrated against civilians in Syria\u201d, including some who financially supported former president Bashar al-Assad\u2019s government.<\/p>\n The government measures were targeted at individuals involved in coastal violence in Syria in March, as well as historic violence committed during the country\u2019s civil war, the statement said.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n WH Smith will try to take back as much as \u00a37m in bonuses from former executives after it said the UK\u2019s financial watchdog had launched a formal investigation<\/strong> into a devastating accounting error linked to its US business.<\/p>\n Almost \u00a3600m was wiped off the books to paperclips retailer\u2019s stock market value overnight in August after it identified errors with accounting for supplier income and provision for lost stock going back to 2023 in its North American arm.<\/p>\n Last month its chief executive, Carl Cowling, stepped down in the wake of the scandal.<\/p>\n On Friday the company said it would be \u201capplying malus and clawback to recover overpaid bonuses\u201d from Cowling, and its former finance director Robert Moorhead, after the restatement of profits in its 2023 and 2024 financial year.<\/p>\n It confirmed the UK\u2019s Financial Conduct Authority had launched a formal investigation into the company\u2019s compliance with UK listing, disclosure and transparency rules.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.15 EST<\/p>\n Responding to news of the FCDO hack, Conservative shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel<\/strong> shared a Telegraph report that said the hack was Chinese and wrote on X:<\/p>\n \u201cChina undermines our security, institutions and democracy but Labour is failing to protect Britain from China\u2019s foreign interference in our country.<\/p>\n \u201cStarmer kowtows to China at every opportunity and cannot be trusted to protect our national interest.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.00 EST<\/p>\n Reform-run Kent council has been accused of trying to block scrutiny after it refused, for more than five months, to produce evidence that it had saved more than \u00a340m by cancelling two environmental projects that did not exist yet.<\/p>\n Polly Billington, a Labour MP in Kent, first requested background to the claim via a freedom of information (FoI) request in July. She said the subsequent delay had not been explained and seemed to show the council was embarrassed at what the documents would show.<\/p>\n Kent county council said it rejected any suggestion of a cover-up, and that it planned to release the information to Billington, the East Thanet MP, later this week.<\/p>\n Read more of the exclusive report:<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Richard Partington<\/span><\/p>\n The UK government borrowed more than expected in November, official figures show, amid pressure on the economy before chancellor Rachel Reeves\u2019s autumn budget.<\/p>\n Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed public sector net borrowing \u2013 the difference between spending and income \u2013 was \u00a311.7bn last month, \u00a31.9bn less than in the same month a year earlier.<\/p>\n In the first snapshot since the November budget, the reading was above City predictions of a \u00a310bn deficit.<\/p>\n The figures come a day after the Bank of England cut interest rates for a sixth time since August last year, easing some of the pressure on borrowers, in a pre-Christmas boost for the UK\u2019s struggling economy.<\/p>\n Elliott Jordan-Doak, a senior UK economist at the consultancy Capital Economics, said the higher-than-expected November borrowing figure showed it was \u201conly a matter of time before fiscal worries begin to dominate the news flow again\u201d after Reeves\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n \u201cThe public finances remain weak. Reeves has staked much fiscal credibility on chunky tax increases in the back end of the forecast period. But we think today\u2019s figures further illustrate the shaky foundations of that gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n For all the latest updates on Business news, follow our liveblog:<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Jamie Grierson<\/span><\/p>\n Reform UK have held on to a seat on Cornwall council in a byelection after a turbulent time for the party in the county.<\/p>\n The result shows support remains for Nigel Farage\u2019s party in Cornwall despite a flurry of resignations and suspensions as well as public infighting that many said undermined Reform\u2019s authority in the county.<\/p>\n Reform\u2019s Heinz Wolfgang Glanville<\/strong> was elected as the new member for St Columb Minor and Colan with 408 votes, beating independent candidate John Fitter with 325 votes.<\/p>\n The byelection was called after Reform UK member for the division, Christine Parsonage, resigned for medical reasons. She had come under heavy criticism for living more than 40 miles away from the division.<\/p>\n After May\u2019s local elections, Reform had the most seats in the county but was unable to form an administration. However, following several resignations the party no longer holds that title and is now the second biggest party by seats on the council to the Liberal Democrats, who rule in a coalition with independents.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Good morning.<\/p>\n The UK\u2019s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October<\/strong>, according to trade minister Chris Bryant.<\/p>\n Details of the hack emerged on Friday in a report by the Sun that claimed a Chinese hacker group was behind the cyber-attack.<\/p>\n The Sun named Storm 1849 as the Chinese cyber gang responsible for the breach, which it said was understood to possibly include tens of thousands of visa details.<\/p>\n The group has been \u201caccused of targeting politicians and groups critical of the Chinese government\u201d, the newspaper said.<\/p>\n However, when asked if China was behind the attack, Bryant said: \u201cThat\u2019s not entirely clear.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere certainly has been a hack at the FCDO and we\u2019ve been aware of that since October,\u201d Bryant told Sky News.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the reporting has, I think, been a bit more speculation than accurate.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cWe\u2019re fairly confident that there\u2019s a low risk of any individual actually being affected by this.\u201d<\/p>\n A government spokesperson told the Guardian: \u201cWe have been working to investigate a cyber incident. We take the security of our systems and data extremely seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ‘Not clear’ who was behind cyber-attack Good morning. The UK\u2019s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October, according to trade minister Chris Bryant. Details of the hack emerged on Friday in a report by the Sun that claimed a Chinese hacker group was behind the cyber-attack. The Sun named Storm 1849 as the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[2153,10296,20982,2514,380,132,1354,124,4000],"class_list":{"0":"post-38230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics","8":"tag-china","9":"tag-clear","10":"tag-fcdo","11":"tag-hack","12":"tag-link","13":"tag-live","14":"tag-minister","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-reports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Putin says Trump is right to sue BBC over speech edit<\/h2>\n
UK imposes sanctions on perpetrators of violence against Syrian civilians<\/h2>\n
Reform accused of blocking scrutiny of claim it saved \u00a340m<\/h2>\n
UK borrowed more than expected in November amid pre-budget pressure<\/h2>\n
Reform holds on to seat in byelection<\/h2>\n
‘Not clear’ who was behind cyber-attack<\/h2>\n