World news | The Guardian

The Housemaid actor received backlash in September when she left a comment on Instagram after the rightwing activist was killedThe Housemaid star Amanda Seyfried has said she is not fucking apologising" for describing Charlie Kirk as hateful" after the latter was shot dead in September.Seyfried was speaking to Who What Wear when she was asked about her social media activity, including the backlash around her Kirk comment. I'm not fucking apologising for that. I mean, for fuck's sake, I commented on one thing. I said something that was based on actual reality and actual footage and actual quotes. What I said was pretty damn factual, and I'm free to have an opinion, of course." Continue reading...

Emergency warning issued for parts of Kenwick, Wattle Grove, Maddington and Beckenham in Perth's south-east

An official report lays out different scenarios for the cost of transitioning away from fossil fuels to net zero by 2050Britain's official energy system operator has attempted to work out what achieving net zero carbon emissions will cost, with its figures showing surging spending in the coming years.The scale and speed of the shift to a low-carbon economy, and how to fund it, are hotly debated by political parties. Continue reading...

Health secretary admitted to being frustrated' with approach to governing in interviewSeema Malhotra, a Foreign Office minister, is responding to the urgent question about President Trump's national security strategy (even though it was addressed to the Cabinet Office - see 10.12am.)The Trump document was published at the end of last week. Peter Beaumont has an analysis of it here. Continue reading...

US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in a major escalation of Donald Trump's campaign against the country's president, Nicolas Maduro, whose government called the seizure an act of international piracy.The Trump administration is facing increasing scrutiny over a series of attacks on boats off the Venezuelan coast. At least 87 people have been killed in 22 known strikes since early September.Lucy Hough talks to the Guardian's deputy head of international news, Devika Bhat - Watch on YouTube. Continue reading...

Law passes despite fears it will normalise Islamophobia' and fact it could be struck down by constitutional courtLawmakers in Austria have voted overwhelmingly to ban headscarves in schools for girls under the age of 14, despite concerns the legislation will deepen societal divisions and marginalise Muslims. The law could also be struck down by the country's constitutional court.The ban was proposed earlier this year by Austria's conservative-led government, which took office in March after a far-right party came first in the elections but failed to form a government. Continue reading...

Case involves allegedly allowing state funds for Indigenous projects to be transferred to government officials' accountsBolivia's former president Luis Arce was detained on Wednesday on charges that he enabled illicit enrichment" by allegedly allowing state funds earmarked for Indigenous communities to be transferred into the personal accounts of government officials.Arce served as Bolivia's president until last month, when he handed over the sash to the centre-right former senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira, who won the runoff in an election that ended nearly 20 years of dominance by the leftwing Movement for Socialism, or Movimiento al Socialismo (Mas). Continue reading...

NSW housing policy states higher density developments must allocate some affordable' units - but in some suburbs these can still fetch up to $1,000 a week

With 53-day wait time for aged care assessment, advocate says some doctors are advising elderly to be admitted to hospital to speed up referral

Greens MP condemns pathetic' level of funding to deal with lead contamination in state's far west

Sarah Mullally accused of mishandling abuse complaint against priest in London, where she serves as bishopThe Church of England is reviewing a complaint against the incoming archbishop of Canterbury over her handling of an abuse allegation.Dame Sarah Mullally is due to take up the role next month after Justin Welby was forced to resign over the way he dealt with a safeguarding scandal. Continue reading...

Lullaby features Palestinian singer, lyrics written by Peter Gabriel and artists including Eno and CelesteThe Together for Palestine fund is trying to get a Palestinian lullaby to Christmas No 1 in the UK charts in an effort to help provide aid to the people of Gaza, but also showcase their culture and creativity.The musician Brian Eno, who performs on the track, said Lullaby, which will be released on Friday, is a chance to support Palestinians over Christmas and potentially stage an unlikely coup by getting to No 1. Continue reading...

Maria Corina Machado thanks those who risked their lives to help her travel to Oslo and says she is hopeful Venezuela will be free'

The mashup Satisfaction Skank was unofficial for years but band allow Norman Cook to remake it using original stems of their 1965 hitA classic bootleg recording by Fatboy Slim which samples the Rolling Stones' (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction has finally been released, as the band give it their blessing after 25 years.Satisfaction Skank was a familiar track on turn-of-the-century dancefloors, as Fatboy Slim mashed up his own 1999 hit The Rockafeller Skank with the Stones' 1965 classic, hurling Keith Richards' iconic guitar riff into the big beat" sound of the late 90s. Continue reading...

Gavin Morris, a former NRL referee, found guilty of putting pupils in choke holds and twisting their ears

Attorney general Deb Frecklington says ban was a financial gerrymander' because it didn't apply to trade unions

Former chancellor also says Johnson was least well briefed' of the PMs he had servedSajid Javid told Boris Johnson he was a puppet" of Dominic Cummings before he resigned as chancellor rather than accept a Cummings-led takeover of his Treasury, he has said in an interview about his experiences as a minister.Speaking to the Institute for Government (IfG), Javid also said that his other departure from Johnson's government, shortly before it collapsed in 2022, was because he had lost confidence in the prime minister after being assured that allegations about lockdown-breaking parties in No 10 were bullshit". Continue reading...

Some businesses still waiting for final EHRC guidance while firms that moved early to exclude trans people show no sign of backtrackingOn Monday, a Dundee employment tribunal ruled a narrow win for Sandie Peggie, the nurse who complained about sharing a changing room with a transgender doctor. But the lengthy judgment also takes on the pivotal question that has been challenging employers, lawyers and campaign groups since April - does a supreme court judgment mean that transgender people must now be excluded from same-sex facilities that align with their chosen gender? Does it amount to a bathroom ban or not?The supreme court ruled earlier this year that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex. Interim advice released by the Equality and Human Rights Commission soon after the judgment in effect banned trans people from using facilities according to their lived gender, and its official guidance is expected to closely reflect that advice. Continue reading...

John Harris speaks to Yinka Bankole about his treatment as a nine-year-old at Dulwich college when Nigel Farage was a prefect. Plus, Kiran Stacey and John discuss whether Reform UK supporters will start to feel uneasy about the allegations of racism against Farage Continue reading...

Visitors will have to reveal at the border all social media activity over the past five years

Exclusive: Letters with deepfake images of Carmen Lau in UK and targeting of Ted Hui in Australia part of growing harassmentSexually explicit letters and lonely housewife" posters about high-profile pro-democracy Hong Kong exiles have been sent to people in the UK and Australia, marking a ratcheting up in the transnational harassment faced by critics of the Chinese Communist party's rule in the former British colony.Letters purporting to be from Carmen Lau, an exiled pro-democracy activist and former district councillor, showing digitally faked images of her as a sex worker were sent to her former neighbours in Maidenhead in the UK in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Labor and Coalition cut deal which unions argue will deny income support to people who can't work

Dean Sanderson died of head and chest injuries and his wife, Shannon, suffered broken ribs and a fractured scapula after falling 20-25 metres to the ground

Former Jetstar pilot will face a new trial after his conviction over the 2020 killing of camper Carol Clay was overturnedFormer pilot Greg Lynn has had his conviction for murdering an elderly camper in the Victorian high country overturned in a stunning decision made by the state's highest court.Lynn, 59, was found guilty in June last year of murdering 73-year-old grandmother Carol Clay in 2020, but was acquitted of murdering her fellow camper and lover Russell Hill, 74. The former Jetstar pilot was sentenced to a minimum of 24 years in prison for murdering Clay. Continue reading...

Commercial in Netherlands depicting festival-season chaos at most terrible time of year' prompted flurry of criticism onlineMcDonald's says it has removed an AI-generated Christmas advertisement in the Netherlands after it was criticised online.The ad, titled the most terrible time of the year", depicts scenes of Christmas chaos, with Santa caught in a traffic jam and a gift-laden Dutch cyclist slipping in the snow. And the message? Retreat to a McDonald's restaurant until January and ride out the festive season. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Alison McGovern makes target for end of this parliament, but figures show homelessness has jumpedThe homelessness minister has pledged to end the use of bed and breakfasts as emergency housing, even as new figures show that the country's homelessness problem has worsened since Labour came into government.Alison McGovern said she would consider it a personal failing if people were still being placed in B&Bs by the end of this parliament as she launched the government's three-year homelessness strategy. Continue reading...

Previously sceptical MPs now want to modernise ECHR to prevent an overreach of the law and losing to the far rightThe sight of David Lammy and the attorney general, Richard Hermer, arriving in Strasbourg together to demand new constraints on human rights law would have been unthinkable a year ago. But as one ally says, quoting Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's seminal 1860s novel The Leopard: If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change."It was that sentiment that convinced Lammy's predecessor, Shabana Mahmood, now home secretary, that the UK should join the push to seek a declaration to change how the European convention of human rights should be interpreted. Continue reading...

BMA puts health secretary's offer, which includes pledge to double number of extra training places, to resident doctorsWes Streeting has made an improved offer to end the long-running dispute with resident doctors before their strike next week that threatens to bring chaos to the NHS as it battles a flu surge.The health secretary has pledged to double the number of extra places that early career doctors in England can apply for in order to train in the area of medicine they have chosen to specialise in. Continue reading...

Labour says appointments needed to balance upper house and chooses former advisers to No 10 and the chancellorKeir Starmer has appointed 25 Labour peers including a number of former senior government and party aides in a move to strengthen his hand in the House of Lords.Matthew Doyle, a former No 10 director of communications, and Katie Martin, a former chief of staff to Rachel Reeves, will be among those appointed to the upper house in a move first reported by the Guardian. Continue reading...

European leaders confirm that they spoke with the US president earlier today about the state of talks'Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, is now delivering his opening speech.It's a damning verdict on Maduro's authoritarian rule in Venezuela, as he talks about a number of figures facing repression and torture from the regime.As we sit here in Oslo City Hall, innocent people are locked away in dark cells in Venezuela. They cannot hear the speeches given today - only the screams of prisoners being tortured."Venezuela has evolved into a brutal, authoritarian state facing a deep humanitarian and economic crisis. Meanwhile, a small elite at the top - shielded by political power, weapons and legal impunity - enriches itself.A quarter of the population has already fled the country - one of the world's largest refugee crises.Those who remain live under a regime that systematically silences, harasses and attacks the opposition."Venezuela is not alone in this darkness. The world is on the wrong track. The authoritarians are gaining.We must ask the inconvenient question:Authoritarian regimes learn from each other. They share technology and propaganda systems. Behind Maduro stand Cuba, Russia, Iran, China and Hezbollah - providing weapons, surveillance and economic lifelines. They make the regime more robust, and more brutal." Continue reading...

Proposed plan would apply to tourists of countries not currently required to get a visa to visit the US, including Britain and FranceTourists to the United States would have to reveal their social media activity from the last five years, under new Trump administration plans.The mandatory new disclosures would apply to the 42 countries whose nationals are currently permitted to enter the US without a visa, including longtime US allies Britain, France, Australia, Germany and Japan. Continue reading...

Cross-party group of MSPs says bill going through Holyrood could attract people from elsewhere in UKSenior Scottish politicians fear there could be a risk of death tourism" from terminally ill people travelling from other parts of the UK to end their lives in Scotland.A cross-party group of MSPs, including the deputy first minister, Kate Forbes, said the looser controls on eligibility written into an assisted dying bill for Scotland could attract people who are unhappy with stricter rules planned for England and Wales. Continue reading...

The festival says goodbye to both founder Robert Redford and its longtime home of Park City, Utah, with a selection of provocative documentaries and starry new filmsNew films starring Charli xcx, Natalie Portman and Salman Rushdie will all receive their world premieres at next month's Sundance film festival.The festival will be held for the last time in Park City, Utah, before it moves to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027. Over the years, it has been home to the first screenings of films including Get Out, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Blair Witch Project, Past Lives, Napoleon Dynamite, Precious and Little Miss Sunshine. Continue reading...

Craig Guildford told to provide more documents and not mislead parliament' after fans were banned from Europa Cup gameA parliamentary committee has said it expects to recall the chief constable of West Midlands police to explain why his evidence on the reasons behind a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans was wrong.In a letter to Craig Guildford, the home affairs committee of MPs warned him of the seriousness of misleading parliament and demanded more documents be handed over. Continue reading...

Haley Stevens accuses health secretary of undermining public health, but Republican-run House is unlikely to act

Continent's other nationalist parties wary of echoing sentiments of US president due to his unpopularity

Research by Cambridge University and Met calls for better neurodivergence screening for vulnerable peopleHalf of people arrested recently in London were found to potentially have undiagnosed ADHD, according to a study calling for better neurodivergence screening for vulnerable individuals.Research by the University of Cambridge found that one in two individuals arrested and detained over an eight-week period in London in 2024 may have undiagnosed attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and one in 20 may have undiagnosed autism. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Prime minister defends Anika Wells as controversy over use of taxpayer-funded travel entitlements continuesExpenses rules for federal politicians are so broad that ministers and senior politicians have unlimited" travel entitlements for their spouse, according to guidelines governing spending.Despite days of controversy around spending by the communications minister, Anika Wells, and growing calls for reform of the rules, Anthony Albanese did not indicate there would be changes to entitlements. Continue reading...

Sharaz Ali, 40, was motivated by jealousy and fuelled by drugs and alcohol when he set fire to house, jury heardA man who set fire to a house killing a woman and her three children aged nine, five and 22 months has been found guilty of murder.Sharaz Ali, 40, was motivated by jealousy and fuelled by drugs and alcohol when he set fire to the house in Bradford at 2am on 21 August last year, a jury heard. Continue reading...

Mark Jenner began five-year relationship with Alison, a leftwing activist, while undercover spying on political campaignersAn undercover police officer deceived two women at the same time over many years in a sustained betrayal of both of them, the spycops public inquiry has heard.Mark Jenner had a relationship with a leftwing activist, known as Alison, for five years without disclosing to her that he was in reality an undercover officer who was spying on political campaigners. Continue reading...

Hooley, 28, of the Parachute regiment was killed on TuesdayA British soldier killed on duty in Ukraine has been named by the Ministry of Defence as 28-year-old L/Cpl George Hooley of the Parachute regiment.More details soon ...

Legal action alleges Irish broadcaster defamed group by claiming they led antisemitic chants at festival in JuneThe British punk-rap duo Bob Vylan have launched defamation proceedings against the Irish broadcaster RTE over its coverage of their performance at Glastonbury.The legal action alleges Ireland's national broadcaster defamed the group by claiming they led antisemitic chants at the festival last June. Continue reading...

Value of heavily indebted company has plummeted more than 90% since it bought chain of 1,400 bookmakers

From a live blog on the BBC to cautious reaction in the New York Times, here's how the world's media covered the banThe BBC blogged about it, News Corp boasted about it and the New York Times questioned its effectiveness.Australia's world-first laws stopping children accessing social media until they turn 16 turned heads globally, with mixed and nuanced results. Continue reading...

Visitor numbers to UK's 10 most-visited services have settled at a lower level' than before 25 July, report findsTraffic to pornography websites in the UK has fallen in the wake of age checks being introduced this year while use of specialist software to dodge viewing restrictions has increased, according to the communications watchdog.Ofcom said the enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate fall in visits to popular online porn publishers, including the most visited provider in the UK, Pornhub. Continue reading...

Exclusive: System more likely to suggest incorrect matches for images of women and Black peoplePolice forces successfully lobbied to use a facial recognition system known to be biased against women, young people, and members of ethnic minority groups, after complaining that another version produced fewer potential suspects.UK forces use the police national database (PND) to conduct retrospective facial recognition searches, whereby a probe image" of a suspect is compared to a database of more than 19 million custody photos for potential matches. Continue reading...

Stacey Warnecke, 30, died after giving birth to a son at her Melbourne home accompanied by an unregulated doula

If Amelia Vanderhorst is found guilty and penalised for allegedly sticking googly eyes on Mount Gambier landmark, it might be the first time such an act has been punishedOn Mount Gambier's Bay Road, the Blue Blob" stands like a proud but paunchy echidna, its seamless coating restored to perfection after an alleged googly eye stunt that captured the world's attention.Amelia Vanderhorst, 20, from Mount Gambier in South Australia, was charged with damaging the town's $136,000 Cast in Blue sculpture by sticking large novelty eyes on it on 13 September. Continue reading...

Ministry says Briton, who has not publicly been named, was injured while observing a test, away from the frontlineA member of the UK armed forces was killed in an accident in Ukraine on Tuesday morning, believed to be the first time a serving member of the British military has been killed in the country since the full-scale Russian invasion.The victim was not immediately named, though the Ministry of Defence said their family had been notified, after an incident that appears to have taken place during a weapons test at a site away from the frontlines. Continue reading...

US treasury accuses Colombian nationals and companies of aiding the RSF, which has committed horrific war crimesThe United States has sanctioned four people and four companies accused of enlisting Colombian mercenaries to fight for and train a Sudanese paramilitary group accused by Washington of committing genocide.Announcing the sanctions on Tuesday, the US treasury said the network was largely composed of Colombian nationals and companies. Continue reading...