World news | The Guardian

Bumi Thomas, whose sister got citizenship, wins appeal against removal from UKTwo Windrush sisters who describe themselves as inseparable are celebrating after a judge ruled that one of them should not be sent back to Nigeria.Bumi Thomas, 36, was at risk of removal from the UK and at one point was given 14 days to leave, while her sister Kemi, 38, was not because of their different dates of birth. Continue reading...

Prime minister will have to decide whether to carry through with call for election if EU offers lengthy extension

Paramilitary network allegedly targeted members of MEK in AlbaniaAlbanian police say they have discovered an Iranian paramilitary network that allegedly planned attacks in Albania against exiled members of an Iranian group that is seeking to overthrow the government in Tehran.The country’s police chief, Ardi Veliu, said the foreign wing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards operated an “active terrorist cell” targeting members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK, in Albania. Continue reading...

Putin’s deal with Turkey is the latest in a smart power-broking strategy that will soon be tested to its limitsRecent events in Syria suggest that Russia isn’t just taking Washington’s place as the Middle East’s power broker – it seems to be doing a more effective job of it, too.The latest evidence came yesterday, when Vladimir Putin held a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. As a US-brokered ceasefire in Syria’s north-east expired, they struck a deal to evacuate the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish-led militia, from a buffer zone near Turkey’s border. Russian and Turkish troops will begin patrols of that area, giving them joint control. But while Russian diplomatic skill is to be commended, America’s loss may yet prove Russia’s headache. Continue reading...

Man, 25, from Northern Ireland, named locally as Mo Robinson, held on suspicion of murderA murder investigation has been launched after 39 bodies were found inside a Bulgarian-registered lorry on an industrial estate in Essex.A 25-year-old driver from Northern Ireland was arrested on suspicion of murder. Continue reading...

From the route’s first driver to the passenger on a train that hit a wild boar: unforgettable memories from the first quarter-century of the cross-channel service

Explosion at Pascal Blasio’s furniture shop in New Ferry, Wirral, injured 81 peopleA furniture shop owner has been jailed for 20 years for causing a “colossal” explosion that injured 81 people in an attempt to claim insurance.Pascal Blasio, 57, of Gillingham in Kent, caused the blast at his furniture store in New Ferry, Wirral, Liverpool crown court heard on Wednesday. Sentencing him, the judge, Thomas Teague QC, said: “You have exhibited human selfishness in an almost chemically pure state.” Continue reading...

A murder investigation has been launched after 39 bodies were found inside a lorry from Bulgaria on an industrial estate in Essex. Boris Johnson said it was ‘truly heartbreaking’ and MPs also spoke about the incident and paid tribute in the House of Commons.A 25-year-old driver, from Northern Ireland, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. The victims, found at the Waterglade industrial park in Grays, were all adults apart from one teenager, Essex police said

Survey of EU citizens reveals overwhelming belief in importance of helping people in poorer countriesThe British public remains firmly behind efforts to support people in poorer countries, with almost two-thirds of people canvassed in a survey of EU citizens believing that maintaining overseas aid at its current level should be “a major priority”.The results from Eurobarometer, the EU’s polling organisation, also found that almost 90% of people thought helping people in developing countries should be a priority of the EU and national governments. Continue reading...

Ex-military chief expected to have 28 days to forge coalition and avoid third election in yearIsrael’s president is expected to task the former military chief Benny Gantz with forming a government after Benjamin Netanyahu failed to do so following an inconclusive election last month.Neither Gantz’s Blue and White coalition nor the incumbent prime minister’s Likud party came out with a clear win, and few expect the opposition leader to form a coalition through deals with disparate political parties with ease. Continue reading...

Academics and student leaders accuse equalities watchdog of drawing a false equivalenceProminent academics and student leaders have criticised the government’s equalities watchdog for including anti-white harassment in its inquiry into racism in UK universities.They accused the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) of drawing a false equivalence between what it described as racial harassment against white British students and staff and the racism suffered by their black and minority ethnic peers. Continue reading...

PM and Labour leader meet but do not agree way forward for withdrawal agreement bill

Shane O’Brien spent more than three years on the run after stabbing Josh Hanson in 2015One of Britain’s most wanted fugitives who evaded justice for three-and-a-half years has been jailed for life.Shane O’Brien, 31, slashed the neck of 21-year-old Josh Hanson in an act of “pitiless savagery” at a west London bar in October 2015 before fleeing the UK in a private plane. Continue reading...

In interview in Spain, businessman says he is in fear of contract killing and that he has new plan to topple President SisiThe Egyptian whistleblower who prompted rare street protests against President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi from exile in Spain has said he is in a “state of shock” and feels a deep sense of personal responsibility for those jailed for answering his call to demonstrate. But he insisted his fight to topple Sisi will enter a new phase, claiming many junior officers in the army support his call for an end to corruption.In an interview with the Guardian in Barcelona, where he says he lives in fear of a contract killing, Mohamed Ali, called for the US Congress to investigate how decades of US economic and military aid amounting to more than $70bn had been spent by the Egyptian state. “Trump has let Sisi steal as much of America’s money as he wants,” Ali said. “It is like a comedy film.” Continue reading...

Dictator’s tomb to be opened and coffin taken to cemetery near Madrid on ThursdaySpain’s socialist government is finally to fulfil one of its key promises when the remains of General Franco are exhumed from the austere splendour of the Valley of the Fallen and transferred to his family mausoleum outside Madrid.If all goes to plan, the 1.5-tonne slab that has covered the dictator’s tomb will be lifted at 10.30am on Thursday and the coffin removed and flown by helicopter or taken by road to Mingorrubio-El Pardo municipal cemetery. Continue reading...

The Indian Ocean beachfront, the restaurant strip of Florida Road and the market at Warwick offer three very different models for the future of South Africa’s third largest cityTell us: how have South African cities changed in the 25 years after apartheid?It’s an early start on Durban’s beachfront Golden Mile. By 6am the surfers have arrived, followed by the runners and their dogs, then executives-cum-cyclists, speed walkers and yoga instructors. By 7am the cafes are open for breakfast and children, on holiday from inland schools, are already in the water.Where fellow oceanside metropolis Cape Town has marketed itself to the world, Durban has positioned itself as South Africa’s playground. Beachfront theme parks and twirling public waterslides attract families from around the country, and all walks of life. This accessibility and affordability have made this eight-kilometre strip arguably one of South Africa’s most inclusive public spaces. Continue reading...

Unite tries to oust Edinburgh South candidate after accusing him of attacking party leadersIan Murray, the Labour MP with the largest majority in Scotland, faces a battle to remain as its candidate for Edinburgh South after Unite members triggered a reselection contest.One of Labour’s most vocal anti-Brexit campaigners, Murray is thought to be the only one of its seven MPs in Scotland to face a selection contest after Unite accused him of systematically undermining party leaders and attacking the union directly. Continue reading...

She was still a teenager when she was sold into sexual slavery and sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. Now Cyntoia Brown-Long hopes her new memoir will highlight the flaws in the US justice system that failed her so badlyCyntoia Brown-Long was just 16 when she was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a man she claims bought her for sex. The homeless runaway had been in and out of the juvenile justice system, survived multiple rapes and assaults and was forced into sex slavery by her then-boyfriend, a pimp known as Kut Throat, who regularly sold her for drug money.Yet few details of Brown-Long’s troubled childhood were heard by the Tennessee court in 2004, which instead repeatedly described her as a “teen prostitute” and tried her as an adult. Today, 15 years on and just months after her life sentence was commuted by the state governor, Brown-Long has rewritten the narrative behind her incarceration – and her past – in a memoir she began while still in prison. Continue reading...

Sebastián Piñera announces plans after riot police use teargas to disperse protestersThe Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera, has called for modest rises to low incomes and increased taxes on the rich after the fifth night of anger on the streets raised the death toll in the unrest to 15.Rioting, arson attacks and violent clashes wracked Chile on Tuesday night. About half of the normally stable country’s 16 regions remained under an emergency decree and some were subject to a military curfew, the first since Chile returned to democracy in 1990, barring natural disasters. Continue reading...

Exclusive: story published in Daily Telegraph was based on false figures for travel expenditure purporting to be from council’s annual reportAngus Taylor baselessly accused Sydney’s lord mayor of driving up carbon emissions by spending $15m on travel, a claim that was later backed up with a doctored council document provided to the Daily Telegraph, which reported the figure.On 30 September, the Telegraph reported on page three that the “City of Sydney Council’s outlay on flights outstrips that of Australia’s foreign ministers”. Continue reading...

Brazil has long had countercultural music, but Jair Bolsonaro’s repressive presidency has made this community more determined than ever‘When he got stabbed I just thought, we’re fucked. If he is alive, there is nothing we can do.” Brazilian journalist Amauri Gonzo is recalling the moment that he knew Jair Bolsonaro would be elected his country’s president. The stabbing of the far-right candidate seemed to confirm the picture of Brazil that Bolsonaro had been painting to voters: lawless, unsafe, and in need of a leader unafraid to meet violence with violence. Just two months later, in protest at five years dogged by economic crisis, corruption scandals and political turmoil, Brazil chose the openly racist, misogynistic, homophobic and anti-environmentalist former paratrooper as its leader. The underground musical community, which had come out in force against the extreme right candidate, was stunned. “It all went quiet,” says Gonzo, “like, ‘Oh, what do we do now?’”Brazilian music might bring to mind the warm breeze of bossa nova, or a sound humid with the sweat of carnival, but a group of loosely connected São Paulo artists are making much harsher music to reflect, and resist, the Bolsonaro era, underlining values of community and artistic freedom. Continue reading...

‘I suggest dyeing cafe owner black and white,’ says one critic over stunt in ChengduA cafe in China featuring chow chow dogs painted as panda cubs has prompted widespread criticism over the treatment of the pets.The Cute Pet Games cafe opened last month in Chengdu in the south-west Sichuan province, home to a large proportion of the endangered bear species, featuring six fluffy chow chows dyed white and black. Continue reading...

Justin Trudeau defied worst expectations to keep his job as prime minister. His Liberals are again the largest party, but have lost their majority. Find out where the parties are strongest and who were the winners and losers on the night.

Speculation over Hong Kong chief executive’s future comes as man whose murder case prompted the extradition bill is released from prisonChina reportedly has plans to replace Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, with an “interim” chief executive once protests have settled down.The news emerged as the murder suspect whose case prompted the original extradition bill that in turn sparked the protest movement in June was released from prison on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Malaysia and Indonesia are home to the oldest jungles in the world and produce more than 85% of the world’s palm oil. However, cultivation and production of the oil have caused deforestation, pollution, land degradation and human-wildlife conflict.Deforestation in Malaysia and Indonesia has endangered the Borneo elephant, which depends on forest connectivity to survive, by isolating it from large foraging grounds. Now, some plantations are working with WWF-Malaysia to create ecological corridors to enable the animals to travel between forest patches Continue reading...

Farmers fear development of Cape Town’s Philippi urban farmlands could cost them their livelihoods and worsen the city’s already extreme food inequalityTell us: how have South African cities changed in the 25 years after apartheid?“Losing the Philippi Horticultural Area to development would be catastrophic,” says farmer Nazeer Sonday who has been fighting to protect this farmland in the heart of Cape Town for nearly a decade.“The area is key to the city’s climate resilience and resolution of its food crisis.”The coming months are critical. Last week, a court battle began which Sonday fears may determine not only his own future, but that of the most fertile agricultural land in South Africa. Continue reading...

Fire authorities warn residents to use advance notice of risk to prepare their survival plansEastern parts of Australia will experience their hottest October day in years on Thursday as forecasters warn temperatures could hit 16C above average in some areas as the risk of bushfires increases.The Bureau of Meteorology says southern parts of South Australia, west and central parts of New South Wales and much of Victoria and Tasmania will see temperatures peak well above average on Thursday. Continue reading...

It was a subculture shaped by communism, inspired by the west – and watched by the KGB. Now, a new documentary charts the movement’s charismatic leaders, conflicts and futureIn 1968, Aksel Lampmann was a teenager growing up in Soviet Estonia. That summer, he went to an international camp, where he met students from Czechoslovakia and began listening to the Beatles. He didn’t understand the lyrics (“No one spoke English back then”), but loved the sound. “We had no clue what they were singing about. What a strange vibration!”He learned guitar and grew his hair. By 1969, Lampmann had become a full-blown Soviet hippy. The iron curtain made a road trip to the US impossible, so he hitchhiked from his home in the Baltics to Crimea. “Our lives were more colourful, more alive,” he says. “Other people didn’t have the same encounters or emotions.” Continue reading...

General who has been accused of abuses is named in cabinet of Joko Widodo, against whom he ran for presidentThe Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, has appointed as his defence minister his former bitter election rival Prabowo Subianto – an ex-army general accused of human rights abuses.Widodo announced his cabinet line-up on Wednesday having beaten Subianto in April’s general election. At least nine people died and more than 200 were injured due to riots in Jakarta following the fraught campaign, during which Subianto accused Widodo’s government of hosting a “massive, systematic and fraudulent” election. Continue reading...

Pressure is mounting in the west African country – recovering from 14 years of conflict – for a war-crimes tribunal to bring ‘closure’As a child in Liberia’s first civil war, Rustonlyn Dennis remembers seeing dead bodies in the street. In 1991, her immediate family managed to get out of the shattered capital, Monrovia, and survived, but a dozen relatives starved to death.Civilians were attacked, child soldiers recruited and ethnic groups were targeted in that war, setting a pattern for many of the wars that were to follow on the African continent. Hundreds of thousands of people died. Continue reading...

North Korean ruler demands makeover of joint resort, saying South Korean facilities are like ‘temporary buildings at construction sites’Kim Jong-un has ordered the demolition of “unpleasant-looking” South Korean facilities at the Mount Kumgang resort – a rare symbol of inter-Korean collaboration – and called for them to be replaced with “modern” buildings constructed by the North.The North’s ruler said it was a “mistake” for the resort, on the east coast, to be regarded as the common property of two Koreas given its location on North Korean soil, according to the state news agency KCNA. Continue reading...

Psychologists say crackdown has led to a rise in people seeking help for anxiety, stress and other issuesIt had been six weeks since Syed Ruhi, 19, saw her boyfriend, Ashfaq Ahmad, 25. They last met in his shop in the bustling town market in Pulwama. The atmosphere was tense: extra troops had just been deployed to Kashmir, and everyone suspected something might be about to happen. Continue reading...

Fire at convention centre that is still under construction sends thick smoke across New Zealand’s largest cityA massive fire at a convention centre building sitein Auckland was still spewing thick smoke across New Zealand’s largest city on Wednesday, 24 hours after it started.The fire had prompted an evacuation of SkyCity Entertainment Group’s entire complex, including hotels, casinos and restaurants when it erupted around lunchtime on Tuesday. “We’re hopeful the fire will be contained by tonight,” Graeme Stephens, SkyCity’s chief executive, told a news conference. Continue reading...

A woman was also injured when the pair fell from the flying fox at Cape TribulationA South Australian man has died and a woman is in hospital after they fell about 10 metres from a zipline in Queensland’s far north.The pair were believed to have been harnessed together when they fell from the flying fox run by Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours at Cape Tribulation about 2pm on Tuesday. Continue reading...

UNHCR says children arriving in UK whose age is disputed likely to be denied servicesAge disputes are having a “devastating impact” on unaccompanied and separated refugee or asylum seeker children arriving in the UK, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned.Evidence from an assessment conducted by the UNHCR found disputes over a refugee or asylum seeker’s age impeded and delayed access to services and environments that can assist integration. Continue reading...

Bishop of Liverpool says he regrets that Archbishop Glenn Davies ‘seems to want to exclude people rather than to engage with them’A senior Church of England bishop has expressed regret at comments by the Archbishop of Sydney that supporters of marriage equality should leave the Anglican church.Reflecting sharp divisions within the global Anglican communion over LGBT+ issues, the Bishop of Liverpool, Paul Bayes, said: “I regret that the archbishop [of Sydney] seems to want to exclude people rather than to engage with them within the wider Anglican family.” Continue reading...

Parliament votes to reject government’s timetable for passage of bill that would implement Brexit deal

Exclusive: Property developer, who is being pursued for $140m by tax office, says allegations of political donations and being ‘agent of influence’ are fictionThe Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo has called the tax office a “despicable tool for political persecution” over its pursuit of an alleged unpaid $140m tax bill, saying “unknown dark forces” and an Australian “deep state” were conspiring against him.In a swingeing attack, the normally reclusive property developer – whose Australian permanent residency was cancelled on advice from Asio in December over fears of foreign political interference – condemned Australian politicians, government agencies and the media for what he described as their “amazingly synergized collaboration” in attacks on him. Continue reading...

PM fails to restrict scrutiny of bill to just three days in effort to meet 31 October deadlineBoris Johnson’s plan to fast-track his Brexit deal through parliament in time for next week’s 31 October deadline was blocked by MPs on Tuesday night, even after he threatened to pull it and press for a general election.The prime minister said he would speak to EU leaders and urge them not to agree to a prolonged Brexit extension after former Tory cabinet ministers Philip Hammond and Rory Stewart joined with Labour to inflict a humiliating defeat on the government. Continue reading...

Doug Oak, 35, was restrained while suffering an episode of acute behavioural disorderThe family of a company director who died after being restrained on a street by police while suffering acute behavioural disorder (ABD) have called for more training to be given on how to deal with people experiencing such a crisis.Doug Oak, 35, was restrained by officers with handcuffs and leg straps after being spotted behaving erratically and appearing terrified outside his parents’ home in Poole, Dorset. Continue reading...

Erdoğan hails agreement with Putin in which Kurdish fighters will be moved from border areaThe Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have agreed on the parameters of a proposed Turkish “safe zone” in Syria, a development that could bring an end to Ankara’s offensive against Kurdish forces over the border by severely curtailing their control of the area.The two leaders were locked in marathon talks for more than six hours in the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi, emerging just two hours before a five-day ceasefire brokered by the US expired at 10pm local time. Continue reading...

Footage passed to the Guardian by the freelance journalist Jonathan Franklin shows shots being fired at protesters on the streets of Chile's capital on Monday night. Armed men in masks fired at people defying a fourth night of curfew under martial law. The death toll on Tuesday morning stood at 15. The Chilean government claimed all those who died were looters, but there have been widespread allegations of brutality by the military.Chile is facing its worst unrest in three decades

PM faces landscape that will require skill to pass legislation – and rivals who could unseat his government on a whim

Couple’s interview about impact of press intrusion could ‘just feed media machine’The decision by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to agree to a highly emotional TV interview about their treatment at the hands of the press could open them up to further damaging headlines, according to PR experts and royal watchers.In the ITV documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Harry appeared to give credence to long-standing rumours of a rift with William when he admitted the brothers had “good days and bad days” and that they were following different paths. Continue reading...

The prime minister did himself more damage in this contest than his opponent. While Justin Trudeau’s defeat of the Conservatives is welcome, closer scrutiny of his record is overdueFour years ago, Justin Trudeau promised his country “sunny ways”. This time there was no euphoria; simply relief, as the Liberals lost the popular vote but hung on as a minority government, just ahead of their Conservative rivals. It was a victory, but no triumph. This election was Mr Trudeau’s to lose – and he almost did.He rose to power as a young, charismatic idealist, cloaked in the aura of his father Pierre, the long-serving prime minister. He appointed a gender-balanced and racially diverse cabinet. While his Conservative predecessor pulled the country out of the Kyoto protocol, he pledged decisive climate action. He welcomed tens of thousands of refugees as others shut their doors. The economy has boomed. His record looked even better when Donald Trump entered the White House. Continue reading...

Campaigners gather outside Vatican as church struggles with shortage of priestsCampaigners have gathered in Rome to call for the lifting of a ban on female priests that would “save the Catholic Church” where it is failing to ordain enough men.Activists from the Women’s Ordination Worldwide (Wow) group protested outside the Vatican on Tuesday as the church’s hierarchy pondered the idea of allowing married men in the Amazon to become priests in order to plug the shortage in the region. Continue reading...

PM faces down MPs pushing for concessions to prevent no deal before agreeing to timetable

Politicians from both sides have railed against the practice but there is no ban in the federal sphereMore than a decade ago, in the relatively benign setting of the ACT’s local parliament, a politician stood up to deliver a stirring speech on what he described as an “insidious undermining” of democracy.He spoke of a deep imbalance in the political process. One that allowed governments to misuse and weaponise their access to the vast public resources of the state to boost their own political prospects. Continue reading...

Government accused of not doing enough to help children whose parents joined IsisA Foreign Office minister said there was no official estimate of how many British children were trapped in Syria during a testing Commons debate in which politicians of all sides accused the government of not doing enough to help.Andrew Murrison told MPs the government was seeking to repatriate orphans and unaccompanied children, but was not in a position to confirm estimates released on Monday by Save the Children that at least 60 children needed assistance. Continue reading...

Protesters set fire to electoral offices in three cities across the country late on Monday amid fury over allegations of vote-riggingBolivians are bracing for further protests after the country’s electoral authorities said that Evo Morales was close to winning an outright victory in his bid for a historic fourth term as president.Amid widespread fury over allegations of vote-rigging, violent skirmishes broke out late on Monday, as protesters set fire to electoral offices in three cities across the country. Continue reading...