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More than 300 earthquakes recorded in UK this year, study finds

More than 300 earthquakes have been recorded in the UK this year, according to the British Geological Survey (BGS). Among the most active regions to experience quakes were Perthshire and the western Highlands in Scotland, southern parts of Wales, and Yorkshire and Lancashire in England, the BGS data shows. Perth and Kinross experienced the two most powerful onshore earthquakes, which occurred hours apart on 20 October near Loch Lyon: a 3.7-magnitude tremor followed by a 3.6-magnitude event. One person described it as feeling “like an underground subway under my house”, while another said “the house shook and all the windows rattled”. After the event, the BGS received 198 “felt reports” from people describing their experience of the quake, some more than 37 miles from the epicentre. The BGS reported that 34 out of the 309 recorded earthquakes occurred near Loch Lyon between October and December. The third-largest onshore earthquake recorded was a magnitude-3.2 event at Silverdale, Lancashire, on 3 December, with 700 people reporting the tremor. The Dogger Bank earthquake of 1931 remains the strongest earthquake recorded in the UK since measurements began, with a magnitude of 6.1. Dr Brian Baptie, a seismologist at the BGS, said: “The data shows that earthquakes occurred in many parts of Great Britain over the past 12 months, with numerous events in Scotland, England and Wales that were each significant enough to be widely felt by many nearby.” Baptie added that while significant quakes are rare, the UK experienced one virtually every day this year. “It is a reminder that small earthquakes happen all the time and it remains of critical importance that they are studied to help us understand the possible impact of the rare large earthquakes on major energy and infrastructure projects around the country,” he said. The BGS use a network of 80 monitoring stations around the UK to record seismic activity. Baptie said it was no surprise that Perth and Kinross topped the list. “The west of Scotland is one of the more active parts of the UK. Some of this activity can be attributed to well-known geological faults like the Great Glen fault and the Highland Boundary fault.” He added: “Earthquakes can happen in other parts of the UK where there are geological faults. The earth under our feet has got lots of what we call geological faults in it, and those are caused by our turbulent geological history, and because there’s still ongoing deformation around the UK. “Sometimes those faults are activated by present day stresses, and when they are, you get these small earthquakes.” The BGS has received 1,320 reports from members of the public who felt earthquakes this year. The magnitude of many of these quakes was too low to be felt by humans, but larger seismic tremors, which have occurred in the UK in the past with magnitudes of 5 to 6, can pose safety risks. A magnitude-4 event in the UK and surrounding areas is typically recorded every three to four years, a magnitude-5 every few decades and a magnitude-6 every few hundred years, the BGS said.

Search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 expected to resume on Tuesday

The search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is expected to resume on 30 December, more than a decade after the plane disappeared with 239 people onboard in one of aviation’s greatest mysteries. A renewed search by Ocean Infinity, a UK and US-based marine robotics company, had begun earlier this year but was called off in April because of bad weather. The Malaysian transport ministry announced this month that the search of the seabed would be conducted intermittently over 55 days from 30 December. Ocean Infinity has agreed a “no find, no fee” contract with Malaysia, under which the company will search a new 5,800-sq-mile (15,000-sq-km) site in the ocean and be paid $70m (£52m) only if wreckage is discovered. The company has declined to comment on the latest search. Flight MH370 veered off course and vanished from air traffic radar during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March 2014. It was carrying 12 Malaysian crew and 227 passengers, most of whom were Chinese citizens. Thirty-eight Malaysian passengers were also on board, along with seven Australian nationals and residents, plus citizens from Indonesia, India, France, the US, Iran, Ukraine, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Russia and Taiwan. The flight’s disappearance led to one of the world’s biggest underwater search operations. Australia led the multinational effort, along with Malaysia and China, that covered more than 46,330 sq miles of the seafloor in a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean. The search ended in January 2017. in a report later that year, Australian investigators the inability to bring closure for victims’ families was a great tragedy and almost inconceivable in the modern age. In 2018, Ocean Infinity conducted a three-month search, though this also proved fruitless. Debris, some confirmed to be from the plane, has washed up over the years along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean. This has been used in drift-pattern analysis to help narrow down the plane’s possible location. Details on the location of Ocean Infinity’s latest search has not been given, and the Malaysian transport ministry has said only that it would be in “a targeted area assessed to have the highest probability of locating the aircraft”. In 2018, an official investigation by Malaysia concluded the plane was manually turned around midair, rather than being under the control of autopilot, and that “unlawful interference by a third party” could not be ruled out. However, the report dismissed theories that had suggested the pilot and first officer brought the flight MH370 down in a suicide mission, and ruled out mechanical failure as a cause. The relatives of those onboard have long said answers are needed to prevent another tragedy. They have welcomed the renewed search effort. Danica Weeks, whose husband, Paul, an Australian citizen who was a passenger, said this month her family have “never stopped wishing for answers”. “I truly hope this next phase gives us the clarity and peace we’ve been so desperately longing for, for us and our loved ones, since March 8th 2014,” she said.

China launches live-fire drills encircling Taiwan

China has launched live-fire military drills around Taiwan, in what it calls a warning to “separatist” forces in Taiwan and “external interference” by foreign parties. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) – the military wing of the ruling Communist party in China – said it had sent naval, air force and rocket forces to surround Taiwan on Monday morning. Chinese coast guard vessels were also sent out to conduct “law enforcement inspections” at sea around Taiwan. The exercise, named Justice Mission 2025, was a “a stern warning against ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and external interference forces”, said a spokesperson for the PLA’s eastern theatre command, Col Shi Yi. “It is a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity.” On Monday morning Taiwan’s defence ministry accused Beijing of escalating tensions and undermining regional peace. It “strongly condemned” the activity, saying it dispatched “appropriate forces” to respond and conduct counter combat-readiness exercises of its own. “Defending democracy and freedom is no provocation, and the existence of the Republic of China [Taiwan’s formal name] is not an excuse for aggressors to disrupt the status quo,” the ministry said. Taiwan’s coast guard said the scope of the drill “poses a significant threat to the navigational safety of vessels in Taiwan’s waters and to the operational rights of fishermen”. Beijing claims Taiwan is a Chinese province and is preparing to annex it. It is undergoing a massive military modernisation and expansion drive, with the aim of being capable of invasion by 2027, according to US intelligence from several years ago. The Chinese Communist party (CCP) and its leader, Xi Jinping, have urged Taiwan to accept “peaceful reunification”, deploying a range of encouragements but mostly threats and coercive actions that have intensified in recent years. However, the vast majority of Taiwan’s parliament and people reject the prospect of CCP rule, and Taiwan is boosting its own military defences in resistance. The PLA’s drills – its first targeting Taiwan since April – come amid weeks of spiralling relations with Japan after its prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said her country would likely become militarily involved if China attacked Taiwan. It also follows an approval by the US government for $11bn in weapons sales to Taiwan, and recent speeches by Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, vowing to boost Taiwan’s defences and achieve a “high level of combat preparedness” by 2027. All drew furious reaction from Beijing. In a statement announcing the drills, China’s eastern theatre command said: “The vessels and aircraft will approach the Taiwan Island in close proximity from different directions to test the capabilities of the troops to conduct rapid manoeuvres, form all-dimensional posture, and execute systemic blockade and control.” The announcement included stylised propaganda videos, and maps indicating air and maritime areas to avoid, in three large zones around the southern point of Taiwan, and two to its north and north-west. The PLA said it had deployed destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers, drones, and long range missiles, testing “capabilities of sea-air coordination and of precise target hunting and neutralisation”, including attacks on submarines and other maritime targets. The scale of the drills likely won’t be clear until they are over, but analysts noted the designated areas were larger and closer to Taiwan’s main island than usual. It was also thought to be the first time the PLA had explicitly said they were practising deterring international involvement. Also unusually, a number of PLA aircraft remained visible on radar platforms. “That is a signal that the PLA is building up their anti-access/area denial capabilities, and publicly declaring it,” said William Yang, senior north-east Asia analyst for the International Crisis Group. Justice Mission 2025 is the sixth major PLA military exercise targeting Taiwan since it launched major exercises in 2022 in retaliation for the then US speaker Nancy Pelosi visiting the island. In April it held a two-day operation dubbed Strait Thunder-2025A, prompting speculation there would be a “B” before year’s end. Taiwanese national security officials have been warning of the likelihood of large-scale drills as part of its pressure campaign against Tokyo following Takaichi’s remarks, said Yang. Yang also noted it was the second major exercise during the second term of the US president, Donald Trump, who met with Xi in October but didn’t discuss Taiwan. Yang said: “Beijing will likely take into account the response from the US [to these drills] and carefully determine how it should formulate and plan the PLA’s military operation.”

Passengers on cruise ship that ran aground off PNG to be flown home after refloat efforts fail

An Australian cruise ship remains stuck on a reef off Papua New Guinea despite efforts to free it, with passengers set to be flown home early. The Coral Adventurer, which ran aground on Saturday morning, was already under investigation as a result of an unrelated incident in October, in which a passenger died after being allegedly left behind on an island. It was on its first voyage since the passenger’s death when it ran aground. The vessel, which had been carrying 80 passengers and 44 crew when it ran aground, remained on reef off the coast of Papua New Guinea, about 30km from PNG’s second-largest city, Lae, on Monday. No one was injured in the accident and all passengers were later taken to PNG. Sign up: AU Breaking News email A tug was dispatched to the area on Sunday to help pull the ship off the reef. The Guardian understands that efforts were made to free it but were unsuccessful. A spokesperson for the vessel’s operator, Coral Expeditions, said on Monday that the company had decided to cancel the voyage. “Acknowledging that we have not been able to deliver the exceptional experience expected by our guests on this occasion, Coral Expeditions has decided to end the tour,” the spokesperson said. “All passengers will be flown out on a charter flight.” The spokesperson said the company “continues to work with local authorities to refloat the Coral Adventurer”. “To date, initial inspections indicate no damage to the vessel, with further comprehensive inspections of the hull and marine environment to be conducted as standard procedure once the vessel is refloated. “There have been no injuries to any passengers or crew members.” Passengers are expected to be flown to Cairns, where the ship departed on its voyage on 18 December, as early as Tuesday. In a statement released over the weekend, the PNG’s National Maritime Safety Authority said it was first alerted to the ship running aground on Saturday, at about 6.57am local time. “At the time of grounding, the vessel sat on a coral reef with a 6-degree least to the port side,” it said. It said no damage appeared to have occurred and that a tug boat would attempt to pull the ship from the reef. “Should the refloat attempt be unsuccessful, the vessel’s operating company is already engaging in discussions with authorities for the next course of action.” October death The Coral Adventurer is currently part of a separate and unrelated investigation after the death of passenger Suzanne Rees in October. The 80-year-old from Sydney was allegedly left behind by the vessel on Lizard Island during an excursion. The crew reportedly realised she was not on board when she did not show up for dinner. Her body was found on the island on Sunday 26 October, after a land and sea search. The cruise company ended that tour early with all passengers flown home from the Torres Strait islands.

Trump and Zelenskyy meet in Florida – as it happened

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Polls close in first phase of Myanmar elections widely condemned as a sham

Polls have closed in conflict-racked Myanmar, ending the first phase of an election that has been widely condemned as a sham designed to legitimise the military junta’s rule. The military has touted the vote as a return to democracy almost five years after it seized power in a coup, ousting the country’s then de-facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, detaining her and sparking a spiralling civil war. But analysts say most candidates are seen as military allies, and the UN has said the vote is being conducted in an environment of “violence and repression”, with one official describing it as a “theatre of the absurd”. The election is being carried out in three stages, with the second and third phases scheduled for January. Large areas of the country are excluded from the voting because they are under the control of anti-junta groups or in the grip of fierce fighting. The Union Solidarity and Development party (USDP), a military proxy, is fielding the largest number of candidates and expected to emerge as the largest bloc. In locations where the election is taking place, campaigning has been muted – lacking the vibrant, packed rallies that marked past votes. The red flags and signs associated with Aung San Suu Kyi, still the country’s most popular politician, and her party, the National League for Democracy, have been absent. The 80-year-old has been detained since she was ousted, and her party has been banned. The election has been condemned by western governments, but has support from China, which is the military’s most important ally. China, Russia, India and Vietnam have sent election observers, according to military-controlled media. The military has rejected criticism of the election, saying it was being conducted with public support. The head of the junta told reporters on Sunday the vote was guaranteed to be a “free and fair” election. “It’s organised by the military; we can’t let our name be tarnished,” said Min Aung Hlaing, who led the coup. “People should vote,” he added. “If they don’t vote, I will have to say they don’t completely understand what democracy really is.” Turnout in Yangon appeared lower than in previous elections. At polling stations, most residents were reluctant to be interviewed, with some saying the election was too sensitive to be discussed publicly. There was little choice on the ballot paper, said a 28-year-old man, who did not give his full name. “We already know about the election, what will happen,” he said of the vote before a relative urged him to stop speaking, warning him police were nearby. Others only shrugged or smiled when asked how they felt about the vote. A 22-year-old, who also spoke anonymously, said young men were anxious about being conscripted into the military, and were anxious not to find themselves on the radar of the authorities during the election period. He added: “Living in Myanmar is a constant worry. Whether we vote or not, the worry is there. The worry is about business, personal lives, everything is very restricted, there is no freedom … There is problem in everything in daily life.” Preliminary results of the first phase of the election will be announced on Sunday, after polling booths closed at 4pm local time, Min Aung Hlaing told reporters. In total, 57 parties are competing, though only six are doing so nationwide. “On paper, voters see a long list of party logos; in reality, meaningful opposition has been banned, jailed, or forced underground,” analysis by the Asian Network for Free Elections, an NGO, said of the vote. Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in Myanmar for expressing political views since the coup, and in July the military introduced a new election protection law that prohibits disruption or criticism of the vote. People have been arrested for putting up anti-election stickers, or for sending private Facebook messages criticising the election. Those prosecuted under the law face a sentence of at least three years in prison, or even the death penalty. In September, a man in Shan state was sentenced to seven years with hard labour under the law for criticising the election in a Facebook post. “I fear the nation is falling deeper and deeper into darkness,” said a resident in Yangon, who spoke anonymously before the election. She was not voting, and nor was her family, as they did not want to give the election credibility. Others may do so, she added, but only out of fear. “Some people are so afraid that if they don’t show up, the military will come to their homes and arrest them.” The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, said the elections were “clearly taking place in an environment of violence and repression”. The UN rights office said it had received reports from displaced people in several areas of the country, including Mandalay region, who had been warned they would be attacked or their homes seized if they did not return to vote. The military has presented the vote as a return to normality, and on Saturday lifted a long-standing curfew in Yangon. However, intense conflict continues to rage across large areas of the country. In Sagaing region, air and artillery strikes by junta forces continued even as polling stations opened, while attacks were also carried by anti-junta groups, according to the independent outlet Myanmar Now. Myanmar has been gripped by conflict since the coup, which abruptly ended the country’s 10-year democratic transition. The coup initially prompted huge mass protests, which the military responded to with deadly force. In response, people took up arms and joined “people’s defence forces” to fight against the junta, at times in coordination with ethnic armed groups that have long fought for greater autonomy. The conflict has plunged the country into economic turmoil, with half the population now living below the poverty line, and led to “one of the world’s most dire and yet underfunded” humanitarian crises, according to the UN. Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights for Myanmar, described Sunday’s vote as a “theatre of the absurd”. He warned there was a risk it could further entrench the junta’s rule, and represent a “significant step backward for the people of Myanmar”. Campaigners have called on governments to reject the vote. Yadanar Maung, a Justice For Myanmar spokesperson, said the election was an attempt by the military to “manufacture legitimacy while it slaughters civilians with total impunity”. The military has carried out relentless airstrikes as it attempts to regain ground lost to opposition groups since the coup, and has repeatedly been accused of indiscriminately attacking civilians. It has previously denied atrocities and has said any military operations are carried out against terrorists. The second phase of the vote will take place on 11 January, with a final round on 25 January.

Saving Kyiv’s heritage: a city rebuilding itself in the shadow of war

Lesia Danylenko proudly showed off her new front door. Volunteers had nicknamed its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a nod to its curved shape. “I think it’s more of a peacock,” she said, admiring its branch-like details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who celebrated with two pavement parties. It was also an act of resistance against Russia, she explained: “We are trying to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way. We’re not afraid of staying in Ukraine. I could have left the country and moved away to Italy or Germany. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance shows our commitment to our homeland.” Saving Kyiv’s architectural heritage seems strange at a time when Russian missiles and drones routinely fall on the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the beginning of 2025, the Kremlin has dramatically stepped up its aerial raids. After each attack, workers board up shattered windows with plywood and try, where possible, to save residential buildings. Amid the bombs, a group of activists have been attempting to preserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was originally the home of a rich fur dealer. Its exterior is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers. “They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare nowadays,” Danylenko said. The Austrian-German architect Martin Klug designed the mansion. Several other buildings nearby display similar art nouveau features, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil. But Russia is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who knock down listed buildings, corrupt officials and a governing class indifferent or hostile to the city’s rich architectural history. The harsh winter climate adds another burden. “Kyiv is a city where money wins. We don’t have real political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist with the Heritage Kyiv group. He claimed the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, was friends with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. “Klitschko lives in an illegal building with a striptease club. His vision for the capital comes straight out of the 90s and Tony Soprano,” he alleged. Klitschko denies the claim, which he says comes from political rivals. Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once defended older properties were fighting on the frontline or had been killed. Russia’s almost four-year war meant that everyone was facing financial problems, he added, including judges who mysteriously ruled in favour of dubious new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see degradation of our society and governing institutions,” he argued. He took the Guardian to one of the most egregious demolition sites in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot agreed to preserve its attractive brick facade. A day after Russia’s 2022 invasion, diggers tore it down. Last week, a crane excavated foundations for a new shopping and business centre, watched by a surly security guard. Anatolii Pohorily, a Heritage Kyiv supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while claiming they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. The Soviet Union also inflicted immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its Khreshchatyk thoroughfare after the second world war so it could accommodate tanks and communist military parades. One of Kyiv’s most prominent champions of historic buildings, the tour guide and blogger Serhiy Mironov, was killed in 2022 while fighting in Bakhmut. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on Mironov’s important preservation work. There were originally 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s prosperous sugar barons. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said. “It wasn’t Russian rockets that got rid of them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now nothing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a characterful creeper-covered house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her True Kyiv organisation and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and authentic railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors. The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many Ukrainians not value the past? “Unfortunately they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to go to the west. But we are still some distance away from civilisation,” he said. Soviet ways of thinking lingered, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added. Some buildings are collapsing because of official neglect. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital, the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons nested among its broken windows; rubbish lay under a fairytale tower. “Often we don’t win,” she admitted. “Restoration is therapy for us. We are trying to save all this history and beauty.”