World news | The Guardian

Kaja Kallas says Moscow is trying to divert attention from its aggression by raising issue of European security

Kaja Kallas warns against agreeing to Russia's proposed sequence of events on talks on UkraineHungary's Peter Magyar is also here, looking very elegant as always...... but it looks like he took a slight detour on the way back to hotel last night to try and pour a perfect pint of Guinness. Continue reading...

United front is short-lived as Zia Yusuf and Chris Philp bicker in front of residents and camerasHere is footage of the extraordinary scenes as Reform's Zia Yusuf and the Tories' Chris Philip descended into bickering with one another, during a news conference in which they were suppose to be putting on a united front:Earlier today, Downing Street said the government was seeking to establish the full picture" of Microsoft outages as it urged people to follow advice on alternative ways to get in touch" where services are disrupted. Continue reading...

Siberian rubythroat was thousands of miles off course from its route to winter in south or south-east AsiaA bird that flies south from its breeding grounds in Siberia to winter in south and south-east Asia has been found thousands of miles off course in Cumbria. Regrettably, it was found by a cat.Chris Hind, Cumbria's county recorder for birds, said it was extraordinary" that a Siberian rubythroat was found on his patch, albeit dead. There have been only 17 recorded instances of the bird in the UK, 15 of those in the northern Scottish isles. Continue reading...

Senator Van Hollen says midterm results show Americans want change in Washington, and Democrats need new leadership to deliver that

First direct attack on US military installations for months was in response to US airstrike on communications towerIran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it has targeted and destroyed a US early-warning radar in Bahrain in response to a US airstrike on a communications tower in Sirik overlooking the strait of Hormuz. It is Iran's first direct attack on US military installations for months.This is a serious warning to the aggressor enemy to end its aerial mischief and oil smuggling in the strait of Hormuz," the IRGC said. In the event of repeated violations and aggression, the IRGC aerospace force is on full alert to confront the enemy without constraint." Continue reading...

Singer, 76, was in Manchester with his band for penultimate UK show of his Songs in the Key of Life anniversary tourWhen Stevie Wonder's team just called to say: Can we all come to your restaurant in Stalybridge at 11pm on a Sunday?" Ryan Robinson, of course, said yes.First the band turned up, and then - at 12.30am - the man himself arrived. Hours later, staff at the Cafe Continental were sharing a 1,000 tip. Continue reading...

Increase reported by Aviva after Hastings Direct said claims were up 140% in August and Axa said it had been a surge year'The UK's largest insurer has been hit by a rise in subsidence claims after an extremely hot summer left households across the country grappling with the fallout from the growing climate crisis.Aviva said on Friday it had experienced the jump amid an industry-wide surge in households filing subsidence claims with their insurers to cover repairs, which typically are needed to address cracks, sloping floors, and off-kilter doors and windows. Continue reading...

Young people are being found with hard drives full of what can only be described as gore', one expert says

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says speed restrictions on Starshield system made it harder for Ukraine to shoot down drones

Police called to Huddersfield University on Tuesday after women reported being approached and grabbed'A 29-year-old man has been charged after seven women reported being sexually assaulted on the Huddersfield University campus over a 30 minute period.West Yorkshire police said Sophan Akbash had been charged with nine counts of sexual assault and would appear at Leeds magistrates court on Friday. Security staff called officers to Huddersfield University on Tuesday evening after reports of a man approaching and sexually touching women on and near the campus, police said. Continue reading...

Parish council of Piddington, which symbolically voted to leave UK over plan, says it will absolutely' take legal action

Tech company seeing positive results' with efforts and says no indication problem was caused by cyber-attack

NHS suffering serious' and widespread disruption, while people are told of possible delays in receiving prescriptions

Heavy rain and strong winds have also caused disruption across British Columbia, Canada, over the last weekStorm Charles has brought destructive weather to the Iberian peninusla this week, particularly in Portugal and the far south of Spain. Heavy rain and strong south-westerly winds arrived first in the Portuguese island of Madeira, before the system headed towards the mainland on 11 November. A wind gust of 84.5mph (136 km/h) was recorded at Funchal airport, alongside rainfall totals reaching 355mm in 12 hours. Lisbon saw 183 flights cancelled on Wednesday, around a third of its normal daily traffic, while Madrid Barajas airport had 155 cancellations.After causing widespread flooding in Spain and Portugal, the system moved on a north-easterly track through southern France and then towards northern Italy. This resulted in significant flooding in parts of Cannes, some of which caused rock falls and led to the closure of roads along the French Riviera. The Italian weather service issued a red rainfall warning, its highest level, for the area extending from Tuscany to Venezia. Further heavy rain is expected to fall in Italy and the Balkans over the next few days, with the latest forecast models indicating an additional 100mm could accumulate widely, while totals close to 200mm are likely in more mountainous areas. Continue reading...

Suspect held in New York jail has been linked to handler behind Iran-linked operations in BritainWhen the US took custody of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi in May, investigators hoped the string of terrorist and arson attacks he was accused of promoting and directing against American and Jewish targets in the UK and Europe on behalf of Iran would stop. They were wrong.An updated indictment, released on Tuesday by the US Department of Justice, describes some of what happened next. It reveals that al-Saadi has two allies, believed to be in Iran, also trying to provoke fear and chaos in the UK, one of whom is accused of orchestrating the September incident at RAF Fairford. Continue reading...

Few solid clues have emerged as to the true nature of Megaspeed, whose former director Alice Huang has been accused of being a Chinese spy

This live blog is now closed - you can read our latest report hereCan the AI economy survive without its central bank"? What does Jensen Huang's fall mean for the world's second-most valuable company, and what might a tremor in its fortunes mean for the world?Nvidia's sky-high valuation is based on the fact that it designs and sells the advanced AI chips, called graphics processing units (GPUs), that underpin the AI economy. Without these, AI models such as ChatGPT and Claude could not be trained and would not run. Continue reading...

Greens say they will not direct preferences to Labor in 15 seats after party's unforgivable' decision earlier in week

Research finds highest levels of cancer-related PAH pollutants in cities that have widespread wood heatingChildren's exposure to home wood-burning could be as significant as exposure to traffic exhaust, suggests new research across six European towns and cities.Scientists measured the air in buildings where children spend much of their time; in schools, sports centres and homes. Specifically, they looked at polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), a family of pollutants that are given off when fuels are burned. Continue reading...

Political prisoner Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, one of seven athletes at risk of execution in Iran, given prestigious Magnitsky humanitarian awardA boxer and political prisoner on death row in Iran said he will never surrender" as he accepted a prestigious human rights prize on behalf of the generation that is paying the price of freedom with their lives".Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, an Iranian boxing champion, coach and political prisoner, has been sentenced to death three times and is one of seven athletes at risk of execution in Iran. He was given the Magnitsky award for outstanding human rights activist at a ceremony in London on Thursday night. Continue reading...

Former police officer tells court it was never a plan to murder anybody' as prosecution repeatedly suggests to him he planned to kill Jesse Baird

Defence minister says extent of sexual misconduct found by study is unacceptable', as military tries to attract more recruitsGermany's defence minister has promised a zero tolerance" approach to sexual abuse in the armed forces after a study found soldiers, particularly women, faced extensive harassment within the ranks.The first comprehensive study of its kind into the Bundeswehr, conducted by the Centre for Military History and Social Sciences in Potsdam and released this week, comes as the military is trying to attract new recruits in response to global threats. Continue reading...

William, 17, says nights were pretty cold' and he honestly didn't think' he'd surviveA teenage boy who survived almost a week lost in dense Australian bushland sang John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads as he held out hope of rescue on long nights alone in the wilderness.William, whose surname has been withheld, was dropped off by his mother for the weekend to camp with his friend in Victoria's east last Friday. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed

Exclusive: Former Labor foreign affairs minister says $368bn deal has been reduced to a diplomatic joke

Hidden bunker, entered via a hatch in a field, controlled a gun battery used to attack German ships in ChannelIt has been kept secret for decades, buried four metres deep into the white cliffs of Dover. But from Friday, members of the public will finally be able to visit a pioneering command bunker that was ordered by Winston Churchill and proved a vital defence during the second world war.The Fan Bay plotting room, which is encased in concrete, housed the first land-based computer-aided targeting system. This acted as a brain" for a gun battery that was used to defend Dover and attack German ships in the Channel, according to Jon Stewart, who led the excavation project for the National Trust. Continue reading...

Allegations of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour made against ex-comedian who was jailed on MondayRussell Brand has been accused of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour by a further six women, according to a report.The comedian, 51, is accused of having sex with a woman without her consent and then apologising afterwards, an investigation by the Times and the Sunday Times said. Continue reading...

Russian president says he would target any foreign troops sent to Ukraine and refuses to soften territorial demandsVladimir Putin warned US negotiators that Russia would target any foreign troops deployed to Ukraine, in a series of hardline remarks that came as the Ukrainian military faced renewed disruptions to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite service.During the talks at the Kremlin with the US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on Thursday, the Russian president refused to soften his territorial demands, insisting on full control over four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed. Continue reading...

Chris Minns's move to address the threat of undeclared lobbying falls well short of what the commission recommended five years ago

Home Office sign-off also needed for site that would house 1,200 asylum seekers near Oxfordshire village that voted to leave UKThe communities secretary, Angela Rayner, has approved full planning permission for an asylum centre at a Ministry of Defence site near the village of Piddington in Oxfordshire.The decision approves plans to go ahead with the refurbishment and redevelopment of the former barracks. The Home Office insists that final approval is still to be determined. Continue reading...

Figures highlight spread of virus, officially declared eliminated in US in 2000, but CDC does not identify which states accounted for deathsThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported six measles-related deaths in the US this year, according to figures published on its website on Thursday, as the country faces its most severe resurgence of the disease in decades.The newly reported total is twice the number of deaths recorded in 2025, highlighting the spread of the highly infectious virus, which was officially declared eliminated in the US in 2000. Continue reading...

Nvidia's value slumps by $888bn this week as scandal over longtime CEO's two affairs, including with a suspected Chinese spy, engulfs chip maker

New York City officials have confirmed at least eight casualties - six adults and two children - in the collapseFlatbush Ave in Flatbush, New York, stood still and in shock after a three-storey apartment building collapsed on Wednesday afternoon near a construction site.The last time I saw something like this was when I went to work at 9/11," Prudence Foster said. Continue reading...

Mostafa Sepahvand and Farhad Javadi Manesh carried out surveillance in an effort to inflict violence on targetsTwo men of Iranian origin who were hired through social media as part of a plan to eliminate" journalists in the UK have been found guilty of assisting Tehran's intelligence services.Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, carried out surveillance and reconnaissance between August 2024 and March last year in an attempt to inflict violence on subjects" in the UK. Continue reading...

Government considers further curbs on non-disclosure agreements after Guardian investigation of TV personalityMinisters are looking at ways to change the law quickly to expand protections that stop non-disclosure agreements being used to cover up harassment or discrimination in the wake of the allegations about David Walliams.This could involve extending measures that mean an NDA cannot be used this way to silence an employee so that it also applies to others, such as freelancers or volunteers. Continue reading...

Many hemp companies are shipping their remaining inventory to Wisconsin, Minnesota and Tennessee, which have different regulationsAt midnight this morning in Illinois, hemp-derived THC drinks transformed from grocery store commodities into illegal narcotics, and manufacturers have been rushing to sell their inventory or ship it out of state.Republicans tacked a last-minute provision on to last year's spending bill that ended the government shutdown, banning all hemp-derived THC products, including the THC-infused alcohol alternatives sold at liquor stores and grocery stores. Under the new law, no container can have more than 0.4mg THC total. Continue reading...

This blog is now closedOn the Today programme this morning, the Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, a prominent leftwinger, indicated she might vote against legislation to implement the Alan Milburn proposals. She said she was concerned by the idea that the cuts would apply to people already getting sickness and disability benefits, and she said it appeared to be a breach of a promise given last year that people already getting Pip (the personal independence payment) would not lose it.She said:I just don't think that you get a disabled young person into work by taking away the money that helps them to get into work.The cuts seem to land on young disabled people, and many of them are in college already or already in work. So I don't see how you fix the first by punishing the second.Milburn said he concluded fundamental change was needed. He said:The whole system needs to be changed, because the system is geared to keeping people inactive when, for young people in particular, it's all about how can you make them active, get them earning, learning, so that they can rely on a wage rather than on a benefit. So, this is not about cutting one benefit, it's about rebuilding the system from scratch.He said that he decided existing claimants should be covered by the changes, not just new changes.It's a big rewriting of the welfare system. And obviously one of the conundrums was, Should this apply to only new claimants?'I came to the conclusion that wouldn't be right, not least because you've got hundreds of thousands of young people stuck in a benefit system that is trapping them in poverty, giving them no prospect of prosperity or a job.Milburn admitted this meant the plans would not be pain-free".I'm not saying that any of this will be easy or that it will be pain-free because it won't. You know, candidly, it could mean that some people will get less financial support at the beginning of their benefit claim than under the current system.He said he wanted the system to prioritise improving people's life chances in the long term over easing their financial hardship in the short term.Actually for young people there's a different debate that we've got to resolve, which is whether the priority is their longer-term life chances or just their immediate shorter-term finances.I think what the current system does, it prioritises the latter over the former. I believe that's the wrong choice and it needs to be the other way around.He said, alongside the cuts to benefits he is proposing (see 11.56am), he wanted to improve employment support for young people.We need to make sure people have the opportunities to get an apprenticeship, a job, a work placement, a pre-apprenticeship, a college place.The menu of opportunities has got to increase. They'll have a personal adviser, they'll be coached all the way through. The adviser will stick with them until they have found a job or an apprenticeship or college place.He also confirmed he wants to let young people do some work before they start losing benefits.They will get immediate access to support if that's what they need, if that's the thing that is holding them back from being in education or training.He admitted that offering better employment support and mental health support would mean his plans would initially cost money. According to the Times, he did not did not deny claims the whole package could cost 6bn. But, in the long run, there would be savings, he said.Obviously this costs money. And frankly it's a better use of money, both from the point of view of the young person and the taxpayer, to spend that money getting them into work rather than spending that money keeping them on benefits.This is the sort of fatuous thing about this debate. You've got to invest upfront in order to get savings out of the back end. Cost-free is fatuous. So we've got to be candid about that. It will need significant investment.To get a return on investment will take time ... the only way of cutting the benefits bill sustainably is by getting young people into work, paying their taxes and being less reliant on benefits. Unless you are prepared to put the investment upfront it will never be possible.He said he was confident" that Andy Burnham was full-square behind the changes that are needed." Continue reading...

Exclusive: Former health secretary says he wants to tear up the old approach', with under-25s to lose personal independence payments

And a politics editor, freshly returned to work after parental leave, can relate

US envoy Steve Witkoff's announcement come after his talks with Putin in MoscowLuxembourg's PM Luc Frieden looks to be absolutely chuffed to be representing all three Benelux countries at today's summit, as his Belgian and Dutch colleagues are too busy to attend as they face domestic crises.I have the privilege of representing 30 millions citizens today," he said on arrival to Dublin, with a massive smile on his face. Continue reading...

Reform leader this week criticised the Labour party for cosying up to' and promoting' disgraced comedian

Government proposal aims to reduce number of children in custody in England and Wales and boost youth employmentChildren found guilty of robbery, dealing drugs to other children or violent disorder will no longer have to disclose their criminal records to prospective employers under sweeping government proposals to change the youth justice system.People in England and Wales will not have to share records of crimes committed when they were under 18 for the rest of their lives under the proposals, which ministers say will boost youth employment and make life fairer for people from disadvantaged backgrounds in particular. Continue reading...

Defeating Cindy Hyde-Smith makes the 43-year-old district attorney the first Black Mississippi senator elected since Reconstruction. Plus, the South Korean scarf vendor who has gone viral for telling people not to buyGood morning. In a stunning upset after more than a week of vote counting in one of the country's most reliably red states, the Democrat Scott Colom has defeated Cindy Hyde-Smith, the incumbent Republican senator, in Mississippi. He becomes the first Black senator elected in the state since Reconstruction.Colom's election capped a national wave of anger at Donald Trump's administration, sweeping away Republicans in places where Democrats had not been competitive in decades. With the addition of Colom, Democrats will hold at least 55 seats in the Senate, the party's largest midterm gain since 1986.What did Colom say about his victory? Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney, said there had been times when his long-shot campaign felt defeated but I had to have faith". He told supporters: My commitment to you, each and every one of you, is that first I'm going to treat your children like I want my children to be treated. I'm going to treat your parents the way I want my parents to be treated. I'm gonna treat your future the way I want my future to be."How have Democrats responded to a White House threat? Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the oversight committee in the House of Representatives said it appeared Donald Trump had something to hide" after the White House threatened criminal investigations over the party's planned scrutiny of the administration. Garcia said in a statement that Congress's authority came from article I of the constitution, not from the permission of the White House". Continue reading...

Authorities say the boy was in the care of Michael Comer's mother, but she left him with her son to run an errandAn 11-month-old South Carolina boy who authorities say was buried alive in a dog crate by his father was found by rescuers after about 24 hours, crying and covered in dirt, his grandfather said about the dramatic rescue.But soon after, little Koah Sharp stopped crying, John Comer told the Associated Press on Wednesday night as he recalled the events that played out the day before in the woods on his neighbor's property. The infant was put on the back of a truck and sat up, Comer said. Continue reading...

Former Radio 1 DJ accused of new offences against women in London and now faces trial in January for 17 chargesThe former radio DJ Tim Westwood has denied two additional sex offences dating back to 1991 and 2004.His latest not guilty pleas mean he now denies 17 charges against nine women between 1983 and 2016. Continue reading...

Thomas changes plea over slashing boat with knife after watching occupants being helped by rescue servicesThe far-right agitator Daniel Thomas has admitted criminal damage after slashing a dinghy with a knife in the Channel.The 37-year-old, who is also known as Danny Tommo, changed his plea to the single charge when he appeared via video link from prison at Portsmouth crown court on Thursday. Continue reading...

Patients awaiting surgery die in attack on one of few remaining medical facilities in the strip, doctor saysAn Israeli airstrike on Nasser hospital in southern Gaza killed six people, including a surgeon and a disabled man, and wounded more than 20 others, the Palestinian news agency reported.The Israeli military carried out the attack on the hospital, in Khan Younis, early on Thursday saying in a statement it had struck a Hamas commander and other fighters there, without providing evidence. Continue reading...

Unprecedented view of cosmos provided by Euclid mission throws up many more cases of gravitational lensingA mission to create the largest ever 3D map of the universe has revealed more than 900m galaxies in its first major data release together with about 15,000 potential cases of a phenomenon that could help unlock the secrets of the dark universe".Launched in July 2023, the European Space Agency's Euclid mission promised to create the largest cosmic map ever made, encompassing a third of the sky and more than 10bn years of cosmic history. Continue reading...