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Sexual assault and indecent exposure are among the crimes alleged to have been committed by people with diplomatic immunity last year.The Foreign Office has revealed that, in 2023, nine serious and significant offences were allegedly carried out by overseas officials who are exempt from being prosecuted. Politics live: PM 'may have heeded warning' from Trump win with impromptu statementA "serious offence" has been defined as something that could carry a penalty of 12 months' imprisonment or more, according to government minister Catherine West, who confirmed the data in a Written Ministerial Statement.Under diplomatic conventions enshrined in international law, officials with a diplomatic service based in a foreign country are granted various immunities. The extent to which they, or their ...

Hamas says it is ready to secure a Gaza ceasefire deal "immediately" but claims it has not had any "serious proposals" from Israel in months, an official for the group has told Sky News.Dr Basem Naim also suggested Hamas has no regrets about the 7 October attacks which killed 1,200 Israelis last year, despite the ensuing war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.He accused Israel of "big massacres" in Gaza and said Hamas has not received any "serious proposals" for a ceasefire since the assassination of its leader Ismail Haniyeh.Appearing on The World With Yalda Hakim, he said the last "well-defined, brokered deal" was on 2 July."It was discussed in all details and I think we were near to a ceasefire... which can end this war, offer a permanent ceasefire and total withd...

A body has been recovered from a South African mine after police cut off basic supplies in an effort to force around 4,000 illegal miners to resurface.The body has emerged from the closed gold mine in the northwest town of Stilfontein a day after South Africa's government said it would not help the illegal miners. Around 20 people have surfaced from the mineshaft this week as police wait nearby to arrest all those appearing from underground.It comes a day after a cabinet minister said the government was trying to "smoke them [the miners] out".The move is part of the police's "Close the Hole" operation, whereby officers cut off supplies of food, water and other basic necessities to get those who have entered illegally to come out. Local reports suggest the supply routes were cut off at the ...

A weather warning has been issued for parts of Spain, as the country counts the cost of recent flooding.The orange warnings are in place for parts of southwestern Spain - the area around Seville down towards Gibraltar. Up to 8cm (3ins) of rain could fall within 12 hours, but the weekend looks much more settled in the country.The latest warnings come just two weeks after flash flooding in Valencia and other parts of the country killed more than 200 people.Malaga saw 14.2cm (5.6ins) of rainfall on Wednesday - Spain's highest of the day - most of which fell in six hours. All train services were halted in Malaga. Some flights have now resumed after the initial disruption. Image: Pic: Jamie Marchant Emergency services in the provi...

A man accused of being a major supplier of the boats and engines used by cross-Channel people smugglers to bring migrants to the UK has been arrested.The Turkish national, 44, was held at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Wednesday and faces extradition to Belgium to face human smuggling charges, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said. He is suspected of supplying the engines and boats used by traffickers to bring migrants across the Channel.The equipment was shipped from Turkey and stored in Germany before being brought to northern France when needed.NCA director general Rob Jones hailed the arrest as an "important milestone" in one of its most "significant investigations into organised immigration crime". "We suspect that this individual is a major supplier of boats and engines to the smuggl...