World news | The Guardian

Beijing security agency accuses international journalists of disregarding facts and smearing governmentBeijing's security agency in Hong Kong has summoned international journalists to inform them it will not tolerate trouble-making", following critical coverage of the deadly apartment complex fire that has left the territory reeling.Senior reporters from several media outlets operating in the city were called to the Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS), which was set up by Beijing in 2020. Continue reading...

Malcolm Offord was unveiled as Reform UK's latest recruit by party leader Nigel Farage in FalkirkNigel Farage has addressed Reform UK's largest rally in Scotland to date but refused to engage with local journalists - leaving newly defected peer Malcolm Offord to field questions about ongoing allegations about past racism and anti-semetism.Farage introduced former Conservative peer and millionaire donor Offord at a sold-out rally of around 700 at a hotel conference centre near Falkirk. Continue reading...

Four people arrested after civil-resistance group Take Back Power protest against inequality in the UKPart of the Tower of London was temporarily closed to visitors on Saturday after food was thrown at a display case containing the crown jewels in a protest against inequality in the UK.Four people were arrested after the action, which was claimed by Take Back Power - a self-described, non-violent civil-resistance group. It said custard and apple crumble was flung at the case, which contained the imperial state crown. Continue reading...

Drag queen, environmentalist, diversity and inclusion advocate and social media star arrives in San FranciscoPattie Gonia, the drag queen and environmentalist, arrived in San Francisco on Friday afternoon and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge with $1m more than when she set out on her journey last week.The diversity and inclusion advocate completed the 100-mile trek from Point Reyes national seashore to San Francisco in full drag with her voluminous red wig and smokey eye. The effort was part of a campaign she launched to raise $1m for eight non-profits that aim to expand access and make the outdoors a more equitable place". Continue reading...

Police launch manhunt' after 25 people are shot in early morning in township attack west of PretoriaGunmen have stormed into a hostel in South Africa's capital and killed at least 11 people, including a three-year-old child, and injured more than a dozen others.Police said they had launched a manhunt" for three people and were investigating whether the killings were linked to a bar within the hostel that may have been selling alcohol illegally. Continue reading...

Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz will also be present for talks on guaranteeing Ukraine's postwar securityVolodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Downing Street on Monday for an in-person meeting with Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz in a show of support for Ukraine.Starmer will use the meeting with the leaders from Ukraine, France and Germany to discuss the ongoing talks between US and Ukrainian officials aimed at finding an agreement on guaranteeing Ukraine's postwar security. Continue reading...

He made buildings that looked like slouching drunks and quarrelling couples but it was the Spanish museum that secured his starchitect' status - a creation that became something of a curseFrank Gehry once had a cameo in The Simpsons in which he designed buildings by scrunching up pieces of paper. There was a bit more to it than that, but from Prague to Panama City, his scrunched contours were instantly recognisable, expressed in an exuberant parade of buildings that cranked and slumped as if hit by a wrecking ball, or crashed and whirled like dervishes, defying laws of gravity and structural logic. Though Gehry, who has died aged 96, came of age in the era of modernism, it was as if he were physically incapable of drawing a straight line.In his prime, Gehry's architecture was a rebuff to modernist imperators such as Mies van der Rohe and his po-faced injunction, less is more". The American postmodern theorist and architect Robert Venturi turned it on its head, quipping less is a bore". It summed up the maximalist Gehry perfectly. Continue reading...

The US president has seized on the dehumanizing tactic since an Afghan man shot two national guard troopsDonald Trump and senior members of his administration have dramatically escalated their hostile language towards immigrants in the US after anAfghan man was named a suspect in last week's shooting of two national guard members in Washington DC.In recent days, the US president has made sweeping statements, claiming that there were a lot of problems with Afghans", and went on a tirade against Somali immigrants, calling them garbage" whose country of origin stinks". Continue reading...

SuperLiz reboots herself inside a utility room, delivering nonsense so pure even her guests look trappedWe happy few. We unlucky few. In years to come when we are all still recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder, we will be able to say we were there. That we have seen things that cannot be unseen. The 8,000 of us who, through a mixture of curiosity and comedy, chose to watch Liz Truss commit a drive-by on herself. Though only a very few will have made it to the end.Some won't have even made it to the start. The show started an hour late because Liz forgot to put her watch back in October. Still, this was an award-winning YouTube TV show. Though not the awards anyone would want to collect. Continue reading...

All delegates will be able to attend fringe programme as party tries to find compromise while complying with supreme court ruling on genderTrans women will be barred from the main part of Labour's women's conference next year, the party has said, with entrance to the main conference hall and voting rights denied.All delegates will be allowed to attend a fringe programme, under the party's plans as Labour seeks to find a compromise position it believes will comply with the supreme court's ruling on gender - while also being inclusive to trans delegates. Continue reading...

Sankeys will return in January 2026 in a city centre venue - and no phones will be allowed on the dancefloorQueues ran down the street outside, condensation dripped off the walls inside, memories were made - and lost - and it all unfolded without a smartphone in sight. For those who remember the Manchester nightclub Sankeys in its heyday 30 years ago, the venue was a clubbing mecca.Sweat was dripping off the walls," said Lee Spence, a promoter and resident DJ at the club from 2002 to 2012, who remembers once double booking Chase & Status and Carl Cox on the same night. It was an atmosphere like nothing else I'd really seen." Continue reading...

Farage is responsible for dangerous' culture shift, says broadcaster subject to alleged posts from Reform councillorNigel Farage is emboldening attacks on people of colour, according to a journalist allegedly subjected to racial slurs by a Reform UK council leader who the party has been forced to expel.The broadcaster Sangita Myska, whose long career in British journalism has included presenting shows for the BBC and LBC Radio, said she was told by the former Staffordshire council leader Ian Cooper that she was English only in your dreams", because of her south Asian heritage. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more of our European news coverage hereOvernight Russian missile and drone strikes left parts of Ukraine without power on Saturday morning, Ukraine's energy ministry said.The Russian defense ministry confirmed that Russian forces attacked energy facilities that supported the Ukrainian military and port infrastructure used by Ukrainian forces, saying that the strike was in response to what it called Ukrainian attacks on civilian targets.The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant temporarily lost all off-site power overnight, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Saturday, marking the 11th time the facility temporarily lost power during the war.Ukraine peace plan talks continue between Trump advisers and Ukrainian officials, with the parties involved saying on Friday that they will meet for a third day of talks.EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas responded to the US National Security Strategy, a policy paper released by the Trump administration on Friday that made explicit Washington's support for Europe's nationalist far-right parties. US is still our biggest ally," Kallas said Saturday.Keir Starmer is scheduled to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street on Monday, the Press Association reports. Continue reading...

More than 650 drones target locations across Ukraine including western regions with sirens sounding in eastern PolandRussia launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine in the early hours of Saturday as US and Ukrainian officials continued talks in Miami which the White House hopes will bring an end to the conflict.Russia used more than 650 drones and 51 missiles overnight, Ukraine's armed forces said, with drones targeting locations across the country, including in western regions hundreds of miles from the frontline. Warning sirens also sounded in parts of eastern Poland, close to the Ukrainian border. Continue reading...

Husam Zomlot says protest by activists waving Israeli flags and union jacks was flagrant breach of diplomatic law'The Palestinian ambassador to the UK has called for comprehensive protection" after his embassy was targeted by masked men waving Israeli flags and union jacks.Husam Zomlot made the call after the group posed at the entrance to the embassy, in Hammersmith, west London, last Saturday. The building was defaced with stickers such as I love the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]", according to images captured by security cameras. Continue reading...

The South American country facing a huge US military buildup has almost a fifth of known global reserves

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, promised everyone' would win by combining the storied Hollywood studios with his reality TV giant. Instead, many lostIt's less than five years since David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, negotiated what looked like the deal of his career. Now as Netflix plans a landscape-changing takeover of Warner Bros, he's in the middle of an even bigger one.Zaslav, or Zaz, is a hard-charging, well-connected executive who cut his teeth inside NBC, and ascended into New York's media elite as he transformed Discovery Inc from a nature- and science-focused cable broadcaster into a reality TV giant. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Research prompts warning that authorities rely on companies to carry out basic functionsThe scale of the reliance of London councils on private consultancy and outsourcing firms is laid bare in a report that shows the local authorities paid them more than half a billion pounds last year.The report by the Autonomy Institute and the CADA Network has prompted warnings that councils have a sustained reliance" on such companies to carry out basic functions. Continue reading...

Exclusive: First minister mounts robust defence of diversity as SNP prepares campaign for Holyrood election in MayScotland needs immigration to bolster the size of its working-age population, the country's first minister has said, mounting a forceful defence of diversity in the face of rising support for Reform ahead of next May's Holyrood elections.John Swinney was speaking at the end of a year marked by a significant shift in Scottish public sentiment, with Nigel Farage's party securing 26% of the vote in its first Holyrood byelection test. Continue reading...

Millions of real trees are sold each year, and costs vary widely - we ask experts how to find good dealsFor many Britons, putting up their tree is the ritual that marks the official start of Christmas, with the second week of December a popular time to deck the halls.While surveys suggest that about two-thirds of the population will opt for an artificial tree, millions of real ones will be sold this month. As usual, the competition is fierce on the high street, with some supermarkets selling the most popular tree - the Nordmann fir - for under 15. Continue reading...

Text signed by president seems to echo great replacement' theory, saying Europe faces civilisational erasure'Donald Trump's administration has said Europe faces civilisational erasure" within the next two decades as a result of migration and EU integration, arguing in a policy document that the US must cultivate resistance" within the continent to Europe's current trajectory".Billed as a roadmap to ensure America remains the greatest and most successful nation in human history and the home of freedom on earth", the US National Security Strategy makes explicit Washington's support for Europe's nationalist far-right parties. Continue reading...

Judge seems skeptical of administration's case and whether any crisis justifying deployment still exists in Los AngelesThe judge presiding over California's lawsuit against the Trump administration challenged the federal government's authority and rationale for continuing to maintain command over the national guard troops it deployed to Los Angeles earlier this year.The Trump administration federalized the state's national guard in June, dispatching about 4,000 troops in response to protests in the city over immigration raids, despite opposition from the state's governor, Gavin Newsom. The state quickly filed a lawsuit, with Newsom calling the move unprecedented and illegal, and the case has been unfolding in the courts for months. Continue reading...

Hundreds driven into Rwanda as M23 militia battles Congolese army and Burundian soldiers for border town of KamanyolaFresh fighting in eastern DR Congo has forced hundreds to flee across the border into Rwanda, a day after a peace deal was signed in Washington DC.Thursday's agreement was meant to stabilise the resource-rich east but it has had little visible effect on the ground so far, in an area plagued by conflict for 30 years. Continue reading...

Brian Cole Jr makes first court appearance charged with planting two devices on 5 January 2021 in WashingtonThe man suspected of planting pipe bombs in Washington DC the night before the 6 January 2021 deadly attack on the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump trying to overturn his election defeat made his first appearance in federal court on Friday.Brian Cole Jr, 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia, appeared before Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya Friday afternoon in Washington DC to face two explosives-related charges on the day after his arrest. Cole was accused of placing pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties not far from the US Capitol and the White House on the evening of 5 January 2021. Upadhyaya set a detention hearing for 15 December, with prosecutors expected to ask to detain Cole before trial. Continue reading...

Memo says the policy shift, which advocates call reckless', was designed to align with one of Trump's anti-trans ordersThe US Department of Justice has moved to eliminate rules protecting LGBTQ+ people from sexual abuse in prisons, a shift advocates say is reckless and dangerous" and will lead to increased assaults behind bars.A justice department memo issued on Tuesday said effective immediately", prisons and jails will no longer be held responsible for violations of standards meant to shield LGBTQ+ people from harassment, abuse and rape. It also directed inspectors to stop auditing facilities for compliance with those protections. The justice department is in the process of seeking formal updates to the rules, the memo said. Continue reading...

Home security videos shows Jacelynn Guzman, 23, telling masked federal agents following her to leave me alone'A US citizen who was seen on home security video being chased by masked federal agents outside New Orleans amid the Trump administration's sweeping immigration crackdown says she surmises that she was pursued because I'm brown".I have no idea why they targeted me," Jacelynn Guzman told the Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana on Thursday, a day after the video in question was taken and subsequently went viral online. Continue reading...

The architect, whose work included the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, died after a brief illnessFrank Gehry, one of the most influential and distinctive talents in American architecture, died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles following a brief respiratory illness, his chief of staff confirmed. He was 96.Gehry, the most recognizable American architect since Frank Lloyd Wright, was one of the first to embrace the potential of computer design, and pioneered a distinctively exuberant style of bravura power, whimsical and arresting collisions of form. His most famous work remains the Guggenheim Museumin Bilbao, a fantastical, titanium-clad composition on the Nervion River which received international acclaim upon its opening in 1997, heralding a new era of emotive architecture. Continue reading...

At a gaudy and gauche World Cup draw, Gianni Infantino went all out to flatter the world's most precious egoIt had about as much drama and suspense as reading a dictionary or watching election results come in from North Korea.To the surprise of no one, Donald Trump won the inaugural Fifa peace prize on Friday at a cheesy, gaudy and gauche World Cup draw expertly designed to flatter the world's most precious ego. Continue reading...

US politicians and Hollywood guilds have voiced concerns against the proposed $83bn purchase of the studioThe news that Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros in an $83bn deal has led to backlash among figures in and out of the entertainment industry.Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator, called it an anti-monopoly nightmare" in a statement released soon after the announcement. Continue reading...

Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden says more must be done to lift people out of hardship and help people into work What is in the UK government's child poverty strategy?The UK welfare system is not helping enough people into work and has significantly rising costs, and no one should think the government is backing away from reforming it, the work and pensions secretary has said.Pat McFadden made the comments as the government published its new child poverty strategy on Friday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Yinka Bankole felt compelled to speak out after Reform leader's attempts to dismiss hurt of alleged targets

Several elements had already been announced, including lifting the two-child benefit cap and increasing free school mealsKeir Starmer has hailed his government's plan to tackle child poverty as a moral mission", with a promise to lift half a million children out of hardship.It is the first such document in more than a decade and was described by the Resolution Foundation thinktank as a sea change" in the government's approach to children in poverty. Continue reading...

Several countries are boycotting Eurovision after Israel was cleared to compete in the 2026 song contest despite calls for it to be excluded over the war in Gaza. Lucy Hough speaks to our European culture editor, Philip Oltermann - Watch on YouTube Continue reading...

Exclusive: Billionaire is claimed to be anonymous figure behind $70m of wins in US legal case. He denies betting on his own teamsTony Bloom, the billionaire owner of Brighton & Hove Albion FC, is facing questions over claims he was an anonymous gambler behind $70m (52m) in winnings - which allegedly included bets on his football teams.Bloom - one of the world's most successful professional gamblers - is claimed to be the John Doe" referred to in a US legal case that tried to unmask who has benefited from the lucrative winning streak. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, youcan read more of our UK political coverage hereReaders may be aware, going into the weekend, that Edinburgh airport had to temporarily suspend flights this morning due to technical issues.The delays lasted about an hour. A report here: Continue reading...

Decision by four countries to pull out over Israel's inclusion is significant for the contest but crisis may not be existentialThe decision by four European broadcasters to boycott next year's Eurovision over Israel's inclusion is undoubtedly a watershed moment in the 70-year history of the song contest.One of the few genuinely popular, non-elitist and pan-European cultural events will be without Spain, one of the big five" nations in terms of financial contributions; Ireland, which has won the contest more times than any other country bar Sweden; 1956 founding member the Netherlands; and Slovenia, symbolic of the EU's eastward enlargement. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Plans to offset increase in minimum fair pay' set by Living Wage Foundation will affect 5,400 employeesBP is ditching paid rest breaks and most bank holiday bonuses for 5,400 workers in its petrol forecourts as it attempts to offset a planned rise in the independent living wage.The company has told workers in its 310 company-run forecourts that it will be changing their benefits in February. Workers at a further 850 BP-branded forecourts run by partners are on different pay deals. Continue reading...

Nathaniel Spencer, from Birmingham, is accused of 45 offences, including some against children under 13A former doctor has been charged with carrying out sexual assaults against 38 people who were patients in his care.Nathaniel Spencer, from Birmingham, is accused of dozens of acts of sexual assault, some of them against children younger than 13, between 2017 and 2021. Continue reading...

Social media is driving a boom in the use of peptides to improve appearance and physical performance. Many are experimental and come with risk of serious side effects

The changed outlook is a result of unwelcome inflation data, but could slow down the hot property market

Major win for Trump as majority rejects lower-court ruling that found maps had been racially gerrymandered. Plus, the story of Mr DeepFakes, the world's most notorious AI porn siteGood morning.Texas can use a redrawn congressional map that adds as many as five Republican-friendly congressional districts, the supreme court ruled yesterday, handing Donald Trump a major win in his push to boost Republican seats ahead of next year's midterm elections.What did the lower court rule? The lower district court previously found that Texas had likely sorted voters based on their race - an unlawful practice called racial gerrymandering - when it adopted the new maps, and ordered the state to use the maps it had adopted after the 2020 census for next year's election.Why was the boat targeted? Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the eastern Pacific. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed," the statement said.What else is happening? Vladimir Putin is visiting Delhi for a summit with India's prime minister, Narendra Modi. It comes as Washington seeks to increase pressure on India to cut back trade with Russia. It is the first time Putin has visited India since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and marks another step for him on the international stage since starting a war that has turned Russia into a global pariah. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Group's open letter says Reform UK leader must take responsibility for behaviour as a schoolboyA group of Holocaust survivors have demanded Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for the antisemitic comments that fellow pupils of Dulwich College allege he made toward Jewish pupils.The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with intent but may have engaged in banter in a playground". Continue reading...

EasyJet, British Airways and Ryanair passengers among those caught up in cancellations caused by air traffic control problems

Exclusive: In open letter, 225 groups describe home secretary's plan to overhaul asylum system as cruel and ruthless'

Services had been grounded due to a technical issue with air traffic controlFlights are resuming at Edinburgh airport after it suspended operations on Friday morning because of an IT issue in air traffic control.Flights were beginning to take off around 10.40am, according to a statement posted by the airport on social media. Continue reading...

Snowfall moves south-east over Wyoming and Colorado and combines with dense fog in some areasA cold spell continued to grip parts of the US this week. After a winter storm brought 20-30cm of snow across Wisconsin, and even up to 35cm in places last weekend, the focus of the winter weather hazards shifted elsewhere early this week.A storm system moving south-east over Wyoming and Colorado brought a continuous period of snowfall until Thursday morning. Central Colorado and northern New Mexico bore the brunt of the snowfall with accumulations reaching 30cm in places. The heavy snowfall across the Denver region was its first of the winter and caused widespread disruption to flights into and out of Denver on Wednesday and Thursday. Almost 1,000 flights were delayed or cancelled as a result of the treacherous conditions. Continue reading...

Project will make the famously confusing London landmark easier to navigate and more accessibleEverything leaks," says Philippa Simpson, the director of buildings and renewal at the Barbican, who is standing outside the venue's lakeside area and inspecting the tired-looking tiles beneath her feet.Water seeps through the cracks into the building below and serves as a reminder of the job facing Simpson and the team who are overhauling the 43-year-old landmark. Continue reading...

Halifax says average price of house was a record 299,892 in November but that affordability is at its strongest since 2015

Up to 150,000 residents of El Fasher are missing since North Darfur capital fell to paramilitary Rapid Support ForcesThe Sudanese city of El Fasher resembles a massive crime scene", with large piles of bodies heaped throughout its streets as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) work to destroy evidence of the scale of their massacre.Six weeks after the RSF seized the city, corpses have been gathered together in scores of piles to await burial in mass graves or cremated in huge pits, analysis indicates. Continue reading...

Official data cannot show what impact ECHR has on asylum cases, says leading thinktank Migration ObservatoryGaps in official migration statistics are hampering public debate and policy decisions including on cases relating to human rights laws, according to a leading thinktank.The University of Oxford's Migration Observatory has identified 10 areas where information is lacking, including immigration enforcement and returns, and the size of the population living undocumented in the UK. Continue reading...