World news | The Guardian

McClelland, who served in the Rudd government, named as boss of National Anti-Corruption Commission after Paul Brereton quit in MayFormer Labor attorney general and federal court judge Robert McClelland has been named as the new boss of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.McClelland was the country's top law officer in the Rudd government, serving from 2007 until 2011. He has served as the deputy chief justice of the federal circuit and family court of Australia since 2018, and was appointed to the court by the Coalition in 2015. Continue reading...

Independent MP Monique Ryan throws her support behind fellow crossbencher after Pauline Hanson's Please Explain episode

Amid police brutality allegations, inquiry hears protesters against visit of Israeli president were largely peaceful'

Of the dozens of countries approached to water down their laws, Australia appears to be the only one considering it, publishers' group says

Premier Ben Carroll says two-year limited cap will start on 1 January if re-elected, while Greens say there should be no fares

Meta owes us an explanation,' group says as organizers fear censorship after account goes dark for several hoursThe coalition leaders behind nationwide pro-democracy protests that have drawn millions of Americans to the streets in recent years were frustrated when its Instagram account was temporarily shut down during its latest demonstration on Saturday.The No Kings movement's account went dark for several hours while protests focused on increasing early voter turnout were underway, sparking censorship fears. Continue reading...

Prime minister Mark Carney describes blaze as one of the worst tragedies for the forces on Canadian soil in peacetime'Four people have been killed and dozens more seriously injured after a violent, fast-moving" fire tore through one of Canada's busiest military training bases in Alberta, the country's prime minister said on Sunday.Mark Carney called the incident one of the worst tragedies for the forces on Canadian soil in peacetime". Continue reading...

Ex-president urges Americans to defend congresswoman, saying there's no reason to believe it will stop with her'Former US president Barack Obama condemned comments by Donald Trump's border czar" that the Republican presidential administration could of course" strip Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar of her citizenship and deport her.Obama wrote Sunday morning, on X, that the full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president." Continue reading...

Passengers urged to share the carriage, not the noise' as guidance sets out 100 penalties for nuisance behaviourAndy Burnham has announced a crackdown on headphone dodgers" who play loud music on public transport, as he extends his promise to give voters breathing space" in the confines of a train carriage.The prime minister will unveil a campaign against nuisance behaviour on public transport on Monday, alongside guidance allowing local transport authorities to levy fines of up to 100 for non-compliance. Continue reading...

Premium paid over French counterparts has risen to almost 30 a megawatt hour, analysis by lobby group findsBritish steelmakers have been pushed further behind European rivals on electricity costs after the US-Israeli war on Iran caused a surge in global gas prices.The premium paid by the British industry over its French counterpart has risen to almost 30 a megawatt hour (MWh), its highest level in three years, according to analysis by the lobby group UK Steel. Continue reading...

Agency changes wording on website as Texas-based firm continues manufacture of plastic container barriersThe Environmental Protection Agency has quietly backtracked on a claim that the US has phased out two of the most dangerous Pfas compounds - Pfoa and Pfos.The EPA has found that virtually no level of exposure to either in drinking water is safe, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies Pfoa as carcinogenic to humans" and Pfos as possibly carcinogenic". Still, the EPA is allowing Houston-based Inhance to produce containers from which Pfoa has been found to leach at high levels into the containers' contents. The company makes up to 200m barriers annually for plastic containers used across the US economy.This article was amended on 18 October 2026 to correct Patricia van Ee's title, and the story previously stated that Inhance manufactures plastic containers. They make the containers' barriers. Continue reading...

Family post emotional statements to Instagram a month after their son and brother died at a rehab facilityCindy Crawford and Rande Gerber have said they are beyond heartbroken" in a tribute to their sweet beautiful" son, Presley.Their eldest child died aged 27 at a rehab facility on 20 September, according to Los Angeles county medical examiner records. The cause of his death has not been disclosed. Continue reading...

Police responding to reports of an alleged stolen car in Dulwich Hill were told a man was armed with a firearm

Antibody patterns in the blood may help doctors identify people at risk so they can be treated earlier, research showsPatterns of antibodies in people's blood could predict the onset of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) a decade before diagnosis, according to research that raises hopes for catching the condition early.Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, the two main forms of IBD, are typically treated only after symptoms appear, when the gut has already been damaged. But scientists found that the immune system sends warning signals up to a decade before diagnosis, paving the way for potentially earlier detection and even prevention. Continue reading...

Wichita police awaiting toxicology results and mechanical exam of pickup truck driven by the 34-year-old womanA woman who was arrested on Saturday after she drove a truck through a youth soccer game in Wichita, Kansas - killing a boy and a man - has been released from custody without charges pending further investigation, according to authorities.In a statement on Sunday, the Wichita police department said investigators were awaiting the results of toxicology testing on the driver, whom the agency would only describe as a 34-year-old woman. Police said they were also waiting for a mechanical examination" of the pickup truck that the woman was driving at the time she struck and killed six-year-old Cole Adrian and Nicholas Schafer, 35. Continue reading...

Ministers, officials and police under pressure over response to protests as government holds crisis talks amid colossal failure of the state'The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has criticised unbridled violence" after one of the most violent days of unrest in years left public buildings burned, hundreds of shops destroyed and looted and more than 2,000 people arrested in cities across the country.Watching these images, we have all asked ourselves how could French people do this to France?" he said in a televised address. Continue reading...

New video footage of Israeli settler assault on European delegation as Netanyahu attempts to raise doubtHours after Israeli militants attacked a delegation of European diplomats, French clerics and a visiting mayor in the occupied West Bank, Israel's leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, responded by questioning the delegation's account of the assault.Serious accusations require serious evidence" was the all-caps headline of a social media post from the office of the prime minister. As news of the attack spread globally there was no pledge to find those accountable and bring them to justice. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Former health secretary says upfront investment in support is needed if we are going to end the Neet crisis'Ministers should cut welfare spending to fund more employment support if it wants to end the youth Neet crisis, the author of a government-led review has said.Alan Milburn, the Tony Blair-era health secretary, told the Guardian he believed ministers should reduce benefits payments to help pay for more employment support, opening a potentially contentious debate within the Labour party over welfare cuts. Continue reading...

UK home secretary's meeting comes after PM said he wanted to rejoin European law enforcement databasesThe UK home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, will meet the EU's home affairs commissioner on Monday for further talks just days after Andy Burnham said he wanted to rejoin European law enforcement databases from which the UK has been locked out of since Brexit.According to the European Commission, they will discuss migration, border management, law enforcement cooperation and counter-terrorism", with the latest Frontex data published on Monday showing a 43% decline in small boats crossing the Channel. Continue reading...

Green leader in England and Wales calls debates about words' unhelpful and denies recent motion was controversialZack Polanski has said Zionism in its current form is racist, that no country has a right to exist, and that the Green party motion on the issue was not controversial.The leader of the Green party in England and Wales gave an unapologetic interview to the BBC on Sunday two weeks after his party approved a motion equating Zionism with racism. Continue reading...

Capt Smit Machchhar said he screamed for help as he reached to open the cockpit door on flight FZ1073The captain of a flydubai flight who was attacked by a co-pilot who intended to crash the plane has described blocking axe blows to his head and screaming for help as he reached to open the cockpit door.Capt Smit Machchhar has been hailed as a hero for his role in averting disaster on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv last month, helping to thwart what the UAE attorney general has said was an attempted suicide attack by the co-pilot who had intended to crash the plane into Ben Gurion airport. Continue reading...

Female colleague says she was forced out shortly after incident with Luke Campbell, Hull and East Yorkshire mayorA Reform UK mayor is under police investigation for allegedly showing naked and sexualised" images of himself to a female member of staff.Luke Campbell, a former Olympic boxing champion and the mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire, is understood to have been questioned under caution by Humberside police earlier this month. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Play anonymously published in 1596 was collaboration between Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, according to computer analysisDramatic new evidence concludes that the play Edward III should be added to William Shakespeare's canon, and also that it was a major collaboration with his contemporary rival Christopher Marlowe.The history was published anonymously in 1596, and it has long been thought that Shakespeare wrote at least a few scenes. However, Dr Rory Loughnane, a leading scholar and co-author of the research, told the Guardian that computerised textual analysis pushed the case beyond any reasonable doubt" that the Stratford-born playwright was the principal writer. Continue reading...

Interior minister says the Republic will not yield' to France's worst protests in yearsA dispatch here from Sam Jones, our reporter in Madrid, as protests have spread to Italy and PortugalThe angry protests that have convulsed Spain and France in recent weeks have spilled over to Italy and Portugal, with rioters clashing with police and setting property on fire in Milan, and a tent encampment springing up in Lisbon over the weekend. Continue reading...

Scrutiny committee looks into financing of Manchester Life project as PM promises full transparency'A 55m loan to Manchester City's Abu Dhabi owner will be investigated as part of a review into a fund for housing projects while Andy Burnham was mayor.The prime minister has faced weeks of scrutiny over his links to Manchester City's super-rich owners after the club was found guilty of boosting its income by 900m in a nine-year breach of financial rules. Continue reading...

ONS data for England and Wales shows 26% of heterosexual divorces in 2025 followed 20 years or more of marriageMost couples are aware of the dreaded seven-year itch", when the honeymoon period wears off and real life starts to bite.Now official data has shown that couples in England and Wales are more likely to split after 20 years. According to Office for National Statistics figures, more than a quarter of all divorces between opposite-sex couples happened after 20 years or longer of marriage. Continue reading...

Development by UK firm Nscale heralded by ministers as largest of its kind in country loses anchor tenantThe development of a huge AI datacentre hailed by the UK government has received a fresh setback after Microsoft pulled out of the project over concerns about power supplies.The development by the British company Nscale, heralded by ministers as the country's largest AI datacentre when it was announced in 2025, was planned to open at Loughton in Essex next year. Continue reading...

Amid financial pressures on household and school budgets, the theatre company is expanding access with free playsSix young actors step into the spotlight as a reverent silence descends on the hall at City Academy in Bristol. A boy steps forward to pose a central question: What does it mean to be young in Britain in 2026?"Union jack flags flash across the backdrop as three girls excitedly debate a Spice Girls reunion concert, before the focus swings back to the young boy wrestling with modern British identity. He rattles off a list of familiar cultural touchstones - fish and chips, cups of tea, Butlin's, David Attenborough, Gogglebox and the England football team, naming heroes such as Jordan Pickford and Jude Bellingham. Continue reading...

Exclusive: rules on same-sex wards could lead to delays in care, discrimination and animosity between groups, finds internal assessmentTrans people could face delays and a greater risk of corridor care" under new NHS England guidance that means they will no longer be able to use same-sex wards, according to an internal report.An NHS England impact assessment, seen by the Guardian, stated that trans people may also potentially experience discrimination and this could lead to them avoiding accessing healthcare at all". Continue reading...

Large cordon in place around Angel Row area of city centre after shocking incident' in the early hours of SundayA police officer is in hospital after being shot in the foot in Nottingham in the early hours of Sunday.Nottinghamshire police said the officer had approached two suspects in the city centre when he was struck by a bullet. The force said the two suspects, a woman and a man, had fled the scene and were being sought by police. Continue reading...

Hundreds at Lisbon tent camp demand action, as Giorgia Meloni says march in Italy was exploited by hooligans'The angry protests that have convulsed Spain and France in recent weeks have spilled over to Italy and Portugal, with rioters clashing with police and setting property on fire in Milan, and a tent encampment springing up in Lisbon over the weekend.A march in central Milan on Saturday to protest against rising living costs began peacefully but ended with masked rioters throwing stones, paving blocks and other objects at riot police and setting fire to barricades made from bar tables. Continue reading...

Lengthy meeting heard grumbles about blue wall' policies and Ming vase' tactics but no real rancourAs political showdowns go, this week's gathering of Liberal Democrat MPs, billed by some as a crunch moment for Ed Davey, was a touch underwhelming. I had expected a damp squib," one attender put it. It was damper than I thought."Far from generating a mass of opposition to Davey's leadership, let alone a formal challenge to his position, the lengthy gathering in a Commons committee room on Tuesday evening brought a few minor grumbles, but little else. Continue reading...

Health secretary says it is total disgrace' if staff looked up William Chapman, who died at Yorkshire Wildlife ParkNHS staff who inappropriately accessed the medical records of a man mauled to death by a tiger should be sacked, Yvette Cooper said.The health secretary said the incident - which followed reports earlier this year that staff had unnecessarily viewed details about the Southport attack victims and those murdered by Valdo Calocane in Nottingham in 2023 - was a total disgrace". Continue reading...

Style of emceeing based on high-octane, ad-libbed vocals has flourished thanks to its unique way of captivating crowdsFor the 2015 freshmen cohort of the history degree programme at the University of Lagos, their classmate's first-semester presentation was so captivating that they began calling him Toby Shang, after the 16th-century Chinese dynasty he had focused on.His crowd engagement that day had been harnessed from his high school days as a ginger-man (energiser) in a three-man band and as a private tutor. By his final year at university, his viral catchphrases and infectious energy had resulted in a hit song, Shedibalabala. Today, he is one of the self-acclaimed evangelists and pioneers" in the Afrobeats sub-genre some are now calling Afrohype or lamba. Continue reading...

Markus Zusak's novel The Book Thief secures second place, while Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe rounds out podium dominated by menCloudstreet, Tim Winton's sprawling Australian family epic, has been voted Australia's favourite book in a poll run by ABC Radio National.The broadcaster announced over the weekend the results of a nationwide poll to determine a list of readers' top 100 Australian books. Continue reading...

A girl called Aina was captured by an African king and later taken to England to become Sarah Forbes Bonetta, protege of the imperial monarchWhen she was seven years old, Bayo Randle's great-great-grandmother Sarah Forbes Bonetta was presented to Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle as a diplomatic gift" from an African king.Victoria would go on to pay for Bonetta's education, approve her marriage to one of west Africa's wealthiest men, and become godmother to her eldest daughter. Continue reading...

Magazine group points to restructuring bill but says it remains profitable in the UK for another year'Profits at Conde Nast's UK arm slumped by more than a third last year, according to figures published shortly after the billionaire family that owns the luxury magazine group and titles from Vogue to GQ ruled out a sale.The publisher, which enjoyed a bumper 2024 after booking 64m in proceeds from the sale of its UK headquarters Vogue House in London, saw pre-tax profits excluding exceptional items tumble 36% from 28m that year to nearly 18m last year. Continue reading...

For more than three decades, Michael Gove has been a leading figure in British Conservatism. As a journalist, government minister and now editor of the Tory bible the Spectator, he has helped shape the right even as it has moved further rightwards. In the latest episode of Radical Thinking, Gove joins Aditya Chakrabortty to discuss the future of the right, his record on Brexit and austerity, and the Spectator's position on IslamWatch the full episode with Michael Gove here.

Facing a slump in the polls, Argentina's president is making economic attacks on the islands' oil industry, and suggesting its key fisheries industry could be nextA dozen local people and a uniformed military police officer (Do you mind if I sit in?") took their seats at the back of the handsome wood-panelled courtroom that doubles as the Falkland Islands' legislative assembly. Outside, it was a typically blowy early evening. It may nominally be spring in the south Atlantic, but Stanley harbour, with its dark grey water speckled with historical shipwrecks, was a cauldron of swells and churn.Six of the assembly's eight members - five men, one woman - waited patiently at a row of desks and microphones. The heating had been turned up to just short of uncomfortable. Behind them, a portrait of King Charles. From the other walls, dusty photographs of governors, of varying popularity, gazed disinterestedly at the scene. Continue reading...

Meet some of the elderly residents of Bolotana, in line to be the world's sixth blue zone' for its high number of female centenariansWhen Giovanna Marras opens the door to her home in Bolotana, a mountain village in central Sardinia, her eyes are bright with curiosity as she sizes up her visitors. Her sister, Mariangela, peeks out too, soon ushering her guests inside and handing out dishes of ice-cream. The sisters are full of life, talking animatedly. Giovanna is 101 and Mariangela is 99.Sitting in their living room, Giovanna swiftly recaps her life story: she excelled at school before moving to Cagliari, the capital of the Italian island, at 18 to train as a seamstress. The sisters went on to run a successful tailoring business in Bolotana before travelling the world after retirement. Neither married. Continue reading...

Birth happens days before Labor and Coalition block bill to ban barbaric practice' of shackling incarcerated women during childbirth

Police fire teargas in Paris and Limoges town hall largely lost' to fire - with officials blaming violence on ultra-left'More than 1,200 people were arrested in France on Saturday after protesters supporting high school students clashed with police, with some demonstrations later spiralling out of control as buildings were set ablaze and shops looted.Police fired teargas in confrontations with protesters, as demonstrations across France were boosted by other groups angry about high prices and the fraying of a social welfare system. While hundreds of thousands protested peacefully in street marches in scores of cities, violent fringe groups targeted public buildings, luxury boutiques and supermarkets and attacked police vehicles and officers. Continue reading...

Sydney teenager charged with offensive behaviour and sexual touching without consent in relation to incidents involving females aged 13 to 54

Hurricane warning in effect from Manzanillo to Cabo Corrientes as storm moves toward Pacific coastTrudy strengthened to a category 2 hurricane as it moved toward Mexico's south-western and west-central Pacific coast on Saturday, the US National Hurricane Center said.A hurricane warning was in effect from Manzanillo in Colima state to Cabo Corrientes in Jalisco. The latest NHC data showed Trudy with maximum sustained winds of 100mph (155km/h) and about 205 miles (330km) south/south-east of Cabo Corrientes and 115 miles (180km) south/south-west of Manzanillo, moving north-west at 10mph (17km/h). Continue reading...

Tweet by Sarah Helm, wife of national security adviser Jonathan Powell, does not meet criminal threshold'No further action will be taken against Sarah Helm, the wife of the prime minister's national security adviser, after she was accused of supporting the banned protest group Palestine Action.Helm, a journalist and author who is married to Jonathan Powell, posted on X on Thursday: God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action." Continue reading...

Would-be MP recorded telling undercover reporter in ITV investigation that Muslims could not be BritishA would-be Reform UK MP told an undercover reporter that Muslims could not be British and asylum seekers should be put in concentration camps".The comments were recorded as part of the undercover investigation by ITV that has already seen Reform accused of appalling behaviour" and extreme racism". Continue reading...

While masked lapwings have a reputation for swooping during nesting season, Windsor Park oval's resident plover just wants a good inningsAt Windsor Park in Riverside, just outside Launceston in northern Tasmania, a masked lapwing has claimed prime real estate in the middle of a community sports ground, showing complete indifference to the weekend cricket matches taking place around it.Warming a nest of eggs, the bird has been affectionately dubbed Faf Swoop Plessis" by locals - a play on former South African cricket captain Faf du Plessis. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Research confirms official advice about high-risk properties and warns worsening conditions will make more homes unsafe

French mayor and archbishop also attacked during violent attempt to stop Palestinians harvesting olivesIsraeli settler militants have attacked European diplomats, a French mayor and the archbishop of Cambrai in Taybeh, in the occupied West Bank, injuring three people and damaging a car, in the latest violent attempt to prevent Palestinians from harvesting olives on their own land.Bernard Baudoux, mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries, was wearing his red, white and blue sash of office and attempting to enter a vehicle with diplomatic plates when he was assaulted and knocked to the ground on Saturday. Continue reading...

Belgian foreign minister urges further EU sanctions and links attack to Israel's illegal settlement policy'Masked settlers attacked a group of European diplomats during a visit to the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Belgium's foreign minister said, on a second day of high-profile assaults on Palestinians and others during the sensitive olive harvest.At least four people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the harvest began earlier this month, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Activists say Israeli authorities do little to stop attacks that involve weapons ranging from slingshots to guns. An attack on Friday seriously injured a Washington Post photographer and others. Continue reading...