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Although booster exploded, company caught upper stage for first time in campaign to make megarocket reusableSpaceX's megarocket Starship returned to its Texas launch tower on Saturday, a milestone in the company's efforts to make the craft suitable for human spaceflight.The 171ft (52-meter) bullet-shaped upper stage descended into the clutch of the tower's mechanical arms, ending a 22hr mission where the craft orbited Earth 14 times. Continue reading...

Peoria officials said a bomb was found at BioUrja Renewables and later defused; FBI said it is investigatingResidents were ordered to evacuate parts of an Illinois community on Friday after the mayor there said authorities found a bomb at a local ethanol- and alcohol-production plant.The discovery reported at BioUrja Renewables in Peoria triggered a mandatory evacuation over a one-mile evacuation zone encompassing sections of that city as well as the adjacent municipality of East Peoria. Officials ultimately lifted the evacuation zone at about 1.25pm local time on Saturday - but only after making it clear there had genuinely been a bomb found and ruling out the presence of any other explosives. Continue reading...

Filipino entry, pop and rap song Sobra-Sobra, takes 19-year-old to victory at grand final in BangkokCarmelle Collado has won the first Eurovision song contest Asia, taking the Philippines' entry, Sobra-Sobra, to victory in Bangkok on Saturday night, at the first regional edition of the contest to be staged outside Europe.Eleven countries competed at the One Bangkok Forum in central Bangkok, and the show ran for two and a half hours including advertising. Continue reading...

MPs across factional lines share concerns about policy that legal expert says paints the imprisonment of children as therapeutic'

Andrew McLachlan says he chooses real forests over virtual ones' as he urges Labor government to consider AI's impact on artists and environment

Appeal for information comes after Brenda Raymond, 80, was set on fire outside her flat on MondayThe family of an elderly woman who was set on fire outside a block of flats in Watford have said they are desperate for answers".Brenda Raymond, 80, was found set alight outside her flat on Caractacus Cottage View on Monday. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she is in critical condition. Continue reading...

Thousands of flights still canceled as officials blamed ageing air control system for nationwide groundingThe Trump administration says Friday's four-hour nationwide Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ground stop that delayed or canceled thousands of flight stemmed from routine maintenance.At a news briefing on Saturday, the US transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, said that the issues began when a contractor was performing routine maintenance" at a remote FAA facility to switch telecommunications lines" from copper wire to fiber optic cable. Continue reading...

Exclusive: 2,850 more patients a month would need to be treated within 62 days to meet March 2027 goal, as experts warn of failure of leadershipNearly 10,000 more cancer patients in England will not be treated on time because the government will fail to meet its targets, amid a failure of leadership, focus and resource, experts have warned.The NHS set an interim target to treat 80% of cancer patients within 62 days of urgent referral or consultant upgrade by March 2027. But with little more than 100 days to go, the proportion of patients starting treatment on time in September was 70.7%, down from 71.9% in August, NHS figures show. Continue reading...

UKHSA warns of threat to vulnerable people from frosty conditions expected to last until ThursdayMore cold health alerts have been issued for parts of the UK on Sunday night and next week.The alerts were issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) for the north-west, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber, and will be in place from 9pm on Sunday until 9am on Thursday. Continue reading...

Raising borrowing costs too far risks laying waste to whatever growth there is in the economyA head of steam is building up behind the Bank of England raising interest rates again. With the latest forecasts by the central bank showing inflation rising to 5% next spring, another increase in the cost of borrowing seems inevitable, and may come as soon as next month.A growing number of analysts predict the Bank's policymakers will don Scrooge masks when they meet on 17 December to deliver a message of austerity and sacrifice. Continue reading...

PM accuses Tories of burning all our bridges' and says deal he is pursuing with EU will get food prices down'Andy Burnham has said the UK has lost more than we gained" since leaving the EU, the prime minister's latest in a string of comments criticising Brexit.Outlining his desire to form closer ties with Brussels, Burnham accused the Conservative party of having burned all our bridges" with the bloc after Brexit and said a new deal he hopes to secure with the EU next week will get food prices down" and put more money in the pockets of British exporters. Continue reading...

We have further to go,' says Huw Pill after increase to 4% this month as Bank seeks to tackle rising inflationThe Bank of England will probably need to raise interest rates next month and again in early 2027 to combat rising inflation, its chief economist has said.Signalling a sharp rise in mortgage payments for an estimated 2.3 million homeowners who will have to refinance their loans next year, Huw Pill said that while the decision to nudge interest rates from 3.75% to 4% earlier this month was a significant step" towards getting monetary policy into a better place, we have further to go". Continue reading...

Undercover ITV report also shows inadequate welfare checks at ex-military base run by firm of asylum camp billionaire Graham KingAsylum seekers accommodated at a controversial military base in East Sussex have been subjected to inadequate welfare checks, and torture survivors may have been placed there unlawfully, an undercover documentary for ITV has revealed.Mass accommodation sites are central to the government's plan to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers. For the documentary, Inside The Asylum Camp, ITV's undercover reporter got a job as a welfare officer at Crowborough and covertly filmed inside the former military training camp. The documentary claims that poor screening and welfare checks are having serious consequences for some of the asylum seekers. Continue reading...

Questions remain about reason for leak, safety of drinking water and where salt can be sourced for roads during winterWhen water last month began gushing through a crack in the ceiling of a Morton Salt mine in Ohio, the company had only one option: shut the mine down for good.For locals in and around Fairport Harbor, it means the loss of 77 jobs; but for the wider region, which depends on its salt reserves to keep roads ice- and snow-free every winter, it could mean travel chaos. Continue reading...

People around the world have contended with unprecedented weather events and their fatal effects caused by the climate catastropheAfter the world's hottest summer since records began in 1850, the death toll from extreme weather in 2026 is already in the high tens of thousands. That is a conservative estimate and is certain to rise much higher.As Cop31 continues and scientists warn that climate breakdown may be accelerating, the Guardian looks back at a year of droughts, fires and floods as a reminder that, unless the world takes urgent action to cut emissions, this disastrous year will be one of the best of the rest of our lives. Continue reading...

Experts warn of risks of platforms hosting bets tied to US public health - including vaccine mandates and drug trialsThe sign was pasted on a construction fence next to an elementary school in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Vaccines," it proclaimed in bold capital letters against a blue star-spangled background - appearing, at first glance, to be like any other public health message on the importance of getting vaccinated.But at the bottom of the sign, in smaller letters, it read: Will any state end vaccine markets?" It was accompanied by the logo for Polymarket, an online prediction market where users can log in to wager on the outcomes of nearly any event - including, now, public health. Continue reading...

Prime ministerial hopeful calls Arab minority an integral part of the Israeli story' as he seeks to form governmentIsraeli prime ministerial hopeful Gadi Eisenkot condemned a racist and aggressive campaign of delegitimisation" against the country's Arab citizens, after the caretaker prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, accused Arab parties of electoral fraud without evidence.Netanyahu has repeatedly targeted Arab parties and Palestinian citizens of Israel after his party received a disappointing electoral showing, accusing them of manipulating the election and being linked to Hamas. Israeli electoral authorities have rejected these claims as not being backed by evidence. Continue reading...

Throttling of Elon Musk's military-grade satellite system affecting whole frontline, says Ukraine's presidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy has accused SpaceX of not telling the truth over restrictions to Ukraine's Starshield satellite system, saying the decision to impose speed limits appears to be political" rather than technical".Speaking on Friday, Ukraine's president said the restrictions affecting Ukrainian drones had been in place for five days. They could no longer fly at speeds of more than 161km/h (100mph), he said, with connections at higher speeds lost. Continue reading...

Activists dumped rocks off Norfolk coast on site of Burnham-backed project in protest against seabed trawlingThe giant offshore windfarms backed by Andy Burnham this week may face unexpected stumbling blocks after Greenpeace activists unwittingly dumped about 15 tonnes of boulders on to the site as part of a campaign against seabed trawling in the North Sea.Greenpeace created the boulder barrier" to safeguard harbour porpoises off the Norfolk coast by dropping giant stone blocks, each weighing up to 2 tonnes, on to the sea floor to prevent a method of fishing known as bottom trawling. Continue reading...

Comedian regrets inappropriate' jokes he made with Brand during work pair did together in the 2000sThe Great British Bake Off presenter Noel Fielding has said he was horrified and deeply disturbed to learn of Russell Brand's crimes" and has had no contact with his fellow comedian for many years".In the early 2000s, Fielding often worked with Brand, who was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison on Monday for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. Continue reading...

How long will it take? What challenges will they face? Series to shine light on one of biggest crises facing UK

Charles marks 78th birthday and 50th anniversary of King's Trust charity with a playlist for special episode of podcastKing Charles marked his 78th birthday on Saturday joking with Elton John that they were still standing" as he appeared on the singer-songwriter's Rocket Hour for a shared musical journey.In a special recorded episode of the Apple Radio show to mark the 50th anniversary of the monarch's charity the King's Trust, Charles's playlist included John's I'm Still Standing. Continue reading...

Paintings by one of country's most important artists have been animated and set to music at National Library of WalesThe paintings of artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne and David Hockney have been brought to life in all-singing, all-dancing immersive shows in recent years.Now one of Wales's most important artists, Sir Kyffin Williams, known for capturing the spectacular landscapes of his homeland with layers of paint thickly applied with a palette knife, has been given the same treatment. Continue reading...

Artists and industry figures call for culture secretary to shut down the touts' by outlawing resale for profitOne tout is advertising 1m of tickets for U2's long-awaited 2027 tour through StubHub, raising questions about the website's condemnation of professional ticket traders who use bot" software to scoop up tickets and exploit genuine fans.Seats for the four-night London leg of the Irish band's The Greatest Show on Earth tour sold out last week, shortly after going on sale. Continue reading...

Exclusive: investigation finds prescriptions for children under 12, as experts stress need for specialist supervision and long-term monitoringHundreds of children in England are receiving prescriptions for GLP-1 medications, including some younger than 12, the Guardian can reveal.GLP-1 medications were initially developed to help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar levels, but have since become a popular slimming aid, with products such as Wegovy and Mounjaro becoming household names. Continue reading...

Eurotunnel owner Getlink wants to replicate airport experience' at Folkestone and Calais, without making people get out of carsAirport-style passport and fingerprinting controls are to be introduced at Eurotunnel in an attempt to prevent short-term and long-term chaos" in Folkestone and Calais.In a breakthrough for travellers, the European Commission has agreed to a new system in which an eagle eye" camera system, already used in Rome and Paris airports to supervise fingerprinting and facial imaging, will be used at the border between the UK and France. Continue reading...

Five-year project will create wildlife corridors by building wetlands and increase access to green and blue spacesBristol could become home to the UK's first wetland city" thanks to a charity's efforts to create vast wildlife corridors that will reduce flood risk and give people more access to green and blue spaces.The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) said the five-year initiative would include more than 200 projects to restore and create wetlands across the city. These will range from small household rainwater ponds and street-level rain gardens to restoring river habitats, reconnecting rivers with their floodplains, and creating new wetlands. Continue reading...

Experts say disruption exposes Australia's reliance on foreign technology' as software giant says services being restored

Woman who has lived in UK for 26 years refused indefinite leave to remain under Home Office's new settlement rulesA blind Nigerian pensioner who has lived in the UK for 26 years has been told by the Home Office she can safely go to India, a country she has never visited, for medical treatment.Comfort*, 67, arrived in the UK in 2000, and shortly after suddenly went blind due to acute glaucoma. Continue reading...

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Prospect of partial return to Budapest by Central European University suggests confidence in Hungary's futureA university that Viktor Orban tried to chase out of Hungary is open to expanding its presence in Budapest, in a mark of confidence in the country's democratic future.Carsten Q Schneider, the interim president and rector of Central European University (CEU), said it was interested in increasing its programmes in Budapest, as long as this did not damage the student experience. Continue reading...

Sydney and Melbourne airports say flights were affected by now-lifted ban on departures in US

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The former coalminer's claim Australians are being demographically replaced' sparked wide criticism, but his party has shown no signs of dumping him

Flight 15 expected to orbit Earth about 14 times over 22 hours, before company catches it at Starbase, TexasSpaceX's Starship megarocket blasted off from Texas on Friday afternoon as the aerospace company sought to make history with a double catch of its reusable rocket, but ultimately fell short.Starship, the world's largest rocket, standing at 407ft, is expected to orbit Earth about 14 times over the course of 22 hours, before the company catches the rocket at its launchpad at Starbase in south Texas. Continue reading...

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for all planes due to take off in the US, delaying and canceling thousands of flights

No personnel, aircraft or infrastructure at Suffolk site affected, says US militaryThe US Air Force has said it responded to suspected unauthorised drone activity" on Friday night at an RAF airbase in the east of England.No personnel, aircraft or infrastructure were affected, the air force said. Continue reading...

Anti-corruption agency carried out searches as part of investigation into Orban-era minister accused of taking bribesHungary's anti-corruption agency said on Friday it had seized cash worth $19.5m (14.8m) buried in forests and hidden elsewhere while investigating an ex-minister of nationalist former leader Viktor Orban's cabinet.Miklos Sesztak, Hungary's minister of national development between 2014 and 2018, is accused of taking bribes in a scheme involving the state transport company, purchasing secondhand buses at inflated prices. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Report says restricting cars and freeing up pavement space could be a cheap way to bring shoppers backThe long decline of the high street is a problem that has gripped British governments for years. But what if there was a solution no one had considered before - doing it all on the cheap?Spending less money is, admittedly, just one element of a report led by the urban thinktank Create Streets. But it does argue that rather than multimillion-pound revamps, a better answer could be smaller changes aimed at making town and city centres more appealing. Continue reading...

Move deals blow to government's plans to release thousands of prisoners early to tackle prison overcrowdingThe government's plans to release thousands of prisoners early were dealt a blow on Friday after probation officers across England and Wales voted to strike over pay and excessive workloads.Members of the union, Napo, backed overtime restrictions and other forms of action short of a strike, which is likely to start on 23 November. Plans are being made for strike action to follow at a later stage. Continue reading...

Kaja Kallas says Moscow is trying to divert attention from its aggression by raising issue of European securityThe EU's foreign policy chief has warned against walking into the traps that Russia is setting" as she said Moscow was trying to start a debate about European security in order to divert attention from its aggression.We have one aggressor and one victim, and the aggressor does not have security concerns," Kaja Kallas said on arrival at an EU leaders' summit in Dublin. Nobody has ever attacked them. They have attacked others. I mean, keep the focus, people." Continue reading...

President purchased up to $5m of stock before revoking Biden-era rule that limited Nvidia's ability to sell to ChinaDonald Trump bought Nvidia stock worth millions of dollars as he made decisions on America's China policy that would benefit the chipmaker, an analysis has found.In May 2025, Trump's administration rescinded a Biden-era rule designed to prevent the most advanced US AI chips from being exported to China. Continue reading...

Parents take action while independent bookshops say they had already stopped stocking his titlesIn Sarah's house, David Walliams has been a bedtime staple for years. Her children, aged eight, six and four, have dressed up as his characters for World Book Day - they love the over-the-top, unusual names and illustrations.Now, all the books are going. I'll probably take them away and replace them with other authors," says Sarah, a mother in west London. Sooner rather than later, so they don't realise." If any of her children ask why, she will tell them that his choices aren't great and that I think we should be reading other books". Continue reading...

Met police say allegations are separate from those made by multiple women in Guardian and ITV investigationThe Metropolitan police have launched a criminal investigation into David Walliams over alleged serious sexual offences.Walliams, 55, was accused in reports by ITV and the Guardian this week of using his power and celebrity status to prey on young women and teenagers for sex. He has denied any wrongdoing, being a sexual predator or breaking the law. Continue reading...

No 10 sources say PM wants party to refocus on Tories as electoral threat after prioritising Reform and GreensAndy Burnham has instructed the Labour party to re-arm" to fight the Conservatives at the next election amid concern inside government that they must take the prospect of a Kemi Badenoch-led recovery seriously.Downing Street sources said the prime minister wanted Labour headquarters to refocus on the Tories as an electoral threat after more than two years of prioritising Nigel Farage's Reform and, on their left flank, the Greens. Continue reading...

Anneliese Midgley surprises colleagues after Burnham said whips' office should not be something to be feared'If Andy Burnham has been accused of being a people pleaser by his critics, the same most certainly cannot be said of his chief whip.I'm not going to take any shit and I don't fuck about," said Anneliese Midgley, the Labour government's newest head of party discipline, shedding some light on her direct approach to keeping MPs in line. Continue reading...

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

Exclusive: Plans to replace key disability benefits for young people with work and training could affect adultsDowning Street is considering whether plans to replace key disability benefits for the under-25s with work and training should be expanded to older age groups, the Guardian has learned, in a move that risks reigniting Labour tensions over welfare changes.The prime minister and other cabinet ministers are looking at applying the idea of participation first" to all working ages, meaning spending billions more on support to enter the workplace while cutting or removing some disability benefits. Continue reading...

Tech firm says it is deeply sorry' for disruption and has now addressed the underlying issue

Mohammed Alfatih rearrested over alleged plot to target Israelis in Europe while detained for attack on bailiffA former Hamas bodyguard convicted of knife crime in the UK is wanted in Germany for allegedly plotting to murder Jewish people.Details of the alleged plot can now be reported after Mohammed Alfatih, also known as Mohammed Naim, was found guilty on Friday of a knife attack on a bailiff outside his home in Birmingham. Continue reading...