Excessive pride in my UK document has given way to a yearning for one from my mother’s country – but I may have left it too lateThroughout my life I have spent a fair amount of time in Croatia and, before that, Yugoslavia. Back in the day, one of my favourite things was to leave my British passport lying around when I was with friends over there. This was the one with the hard cover. It looked and felt substantial, especially to the Croats and Serbs I knew, who handled it in admiration. I specifically recall a friend of mine called Tomislav getting his passport out to show me. This would have been in the late 90s, when nearly all the people I knew there were looking for a way out to some place else. “What good is this rubbish?” demanded Tomislav, flapping his Croatian passport in my direction. “Where will it get me? Nowhere!” and with that he tossed it on to the floor.Twenty years on, how things have changed. Now whose passport is more substantial? Ever since the referendum, my Croatian mum has been badgering me to sort out a Croatian passport. I’ve always felt half-Croatian and always wanted to formalise that with the passport, but now it felt a bit opportunistic so I’ve ended up leaving it until what might be, for all we know, the very last minute. Because I once had a Yugoslavian passport, I thought it would be relatively straightforward. But it turns out I need to locate a piece of paper proving that I was registered somewhere, in Zagreb. That piece of paper should have made its way to my mum’s place of birth from the Yugoslav embassy in London, but may now be somewhere in Belgrade, not Zagreb. Which may mean a Croatian passport is a long way off yet. Continue reading...

Driver held on suspicion of murder as investigation is launched into possible role of organised crime groupsPolice have searched two addresses in Northern Ireland overnight in relation to the discovery of 39 bodies inside a refrigerated lorry trailer in Essex. Work is continuing to identify those who died as part of a wide-ranging murder investigation into the UK’s worst such tragedy in almost 20 years.The two searches on Wednesday night are believed to be linked to the arrest of the driver, named locally as 25-year-old Mo Robinson, from Portadown, who is being held and questioned on suspicion of murder by Essex police. Continue reading...

Millions of ounces of unmined gold are still believed to lie below the surface, fuelling a booming – but frequently deadly – illicit industryAs he prepares to descend an abandoned mineshaft in the Johannesburg suburb of Roodepoort, Fix, a sinewy informal goldminer from Lesotho, recounts stories of subterranean gun battles and unearthing the scattered bones of those who came before him.“This is very dangerous work,” he says, draining a quart of beer for courage. “But there’s a lot of money down there.” Continue reading...

Psychologists increasingly think PTSD can be passed down – what does that mean for regions hit by conflict?Saleem says he can still see the faces of the young men he shot. More than a decade after sniper duty in the Lebanon-Israel war of 2006, he still has nightmares.“In this region we have a saying that a young man is like a rose …” He breaks off for a moment and then does not finish the sentence. Continue reading...

After communism fell, the promises of western liberalism to transform central and eastern Europe were never fully realised – and now we are seeing the backlash.

A group of women in Noumea who swim and snorkel up to 3km five days a week have uncovered a large population of venomous sea snakes in the Baie des Citrons where scientists once believed they were rare. The citizen scientists, aged in their 60s and 70s, call themselves 'the fantastic grandmothers’. They swim with the 1.5-long lethal greater sea snakes, documenting the local population with cameras to take note of their breeding habits and share them with experts Continue reading...

Band reveal details of double album Sunrise and Sunset among ads for bales of hay and whitegoodsColdplay has revealed the tracks of its new album by placing ads in the classified sections of newspapers around the world.They started close to home with local papers in north Wales and Devon but also included Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald, the Otago Daily Times in New Zealand and Le Monde in France. Continue reading...

Hundreds of firefighters brought in to tackle blaze as Jacinda Ardern promises to restore venueA fire in Auckland’s city centre continues to smoulder 48 hours after thousands of people were evacuated from the heart of New Zealand’s largest city.Hundreds of firefighters have been working in shifts to put out the blaze on the roof of the SkyCity convention centre, with reinforcements called in from towns as far away as Hamilton, two hours to the south, which provided 30 firetrucks. Continue reading...

Parliamentary report says Nilantha Jayawardena had information on attacks 17 days before they happened

Royal household bureau members including a nurse and vet sacked for breaching ‘disciplinary conduct’Thailand’s king has fired six senior palace officials for their “evil actions”, the palace announced Wednesday, days after the monarch stripped his consort of all her titles for “disloyalty”.In a week of palace intrigue which has gripped the country, King Maha Vajiralongkorn fired six high-ranking officials from the royal household bureau, including “a nurse at the bedroom guard service” and a veterinarian, according to two separate announcements released by palace mouthpiece the Royal Gazette. Continue reading...

A new Senate bill would give a federally mandated boost to America’s growing school surveillance industrySenate Republicans have a new plan for preventing mass shootings: require public schools to use surveillance technology to monitor students’ online behavior for signs of violence or self-harm.A new Republican bill that claims “to help prevent mass shootings” includes no new gun control measures. Instead, Republican lawmakers are supporting a huge, federally mandated boost to America’s growing school surveillance industry. Continue reading...

Report calls for higher age of criminal responsibility and warns of legal aid ‘deserts’Powers to control justice, policing and prisons should be devolved to the Welsh assembly as they are in Scotland and Northern Ireland, a commission led by the former lord chief justice of England and Wales has recommended.In a strongly worded report on the justice system in Wales, a review chaired by Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd calls for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised from 10 to at least 12 years, says “advice deserts” are appearing due to cuts in legal aid, and condemns high imprisonment rates as unsustainable. Continue reading...

Movie mogul engaged fixers, lawyers and spies to intimidate actor over her allegations of rape, she says in lawsuitThe actor Rose McGowan alleges in a new lawsuit that the film mogul Harvey Weinstein took “diabolical” actions when he learned she was going to write in a memoir that the producer had raped her decades prior, engaging a team of fixers, lawyers and an international spy agency to intimidate and silence her.“This case is about a diabolical and illegal effort by one of America’s most powerful men and his representatives to silence sexual-assault victims. And it is about the courageous women and journalists who persisted to reveal the truth,” the actor alleges in the lawsuit filed in a California federal court on Wednesday. Continue reading...

President said in a televised speech the right ‘prepared the coup’ with foreign powers amid growing tensions over the electionBolivia’s president, Evo Morales, has accused opposition leaders and foreign powers of attempting a “coup” against him amid growing tensions over the result of Sunday’s desperately tight election.In an angry televised speech on Wednesday, Morales said: “A coup d’etat is under way. The right wing prepared the coup with international support.” Continue reading...

Initiative, first used in South Africa, would give witnesses immunity from prosecutionMinisters are actively examining the possibility of introducing a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission for Northern Ireland whereby witnesses would get immunity from prosecution in an attempt to deal with the legacy of the Troubles.The idea was raised at the defence select committee and is partly aimed at reducing the number of criminal proceedings that British army soldiers are involved in that relate to the 30-year period of violence and disorder in which 3,600 people died. Continue reading...

The largest protests in Lebanon in 14 years have shut down the country as a revolt against a weak government, ailing services and a looming economic collapse continues to gain momentum. The demonstrations began last week amid anger over the government’s plan to impose new taxes, and have since widened into demands for resignations and a secular state Continue reading...

Thursday: Angus Taylor baselessly accused Clover Moore of driving up carbon emissions. Plus, former PM says government is damaging superannuationGood morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 24 October. Continue reading...

Prime minister awaits decision of EU27 over extension before next moveBoris Johnson’s cabinet is divided over how to proceed with Brexit, as the prime minister faces the stark choice of pressing ahead with his deal or gambling his premiership on a pre-Christmas general election.After an inconclusive meeting with Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday morning in an attempt to agree an acceptable timetable for parliament to consider the bill, the prime minister told MPs at Wednesday’s PMQs that he was awaiting the decision of the EU27 over whether to grant an extension before settling his next move. The EU’s decision is unlikely to come before Friday. Continue reading...

Residents and business owners of rural Lancashire district unsurprised by ONS findingsAsk the residents of the Ribble Valley whether they would swap their rural lives for a busy city one, and the answer is straightforward: “Definitely not. The thought of it horrifies me,” said Jonathan Gledhill, the landlord of the Red Pump Inn, a village dining pub in this quiet part of mid-Lancashire.Just north of the former mill towns of south Lancashire, this green and pleasant part of the north-west – which includes the vast and unspoilt Forest of Bowland – is officially the happiest place in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics. On a scale of 0 to 10, Ribble Valley residents scored an average of 8.30 when asked by government surveyors about how happy they felt. This compared with an average of 7.56 for the country at large. Continue reading...

Donald Tusk tells Boris Johnson he has recommended that the EU27 accept request for extensionBoris Johnson will be left waiting for the EU’s terms for a further Brexit extension until Friday, with signs of momentum building behind Donald Tusk’s plan for a delay up to 31 January.The French government has privately voiced its concerns about taking the pressure off MPs to vote for the deal, which they believe could be ratified in 15 days, but EU sources said the bloc was seeking a “solution that works for all” and avoids a no deal exit. Continue reading...

Will European leaders agree to a fresh delay – and if so, when will it be announced?

In trial of David Duckenfield, Trevor Hicks recalls retort from a police officer during disasterTrevor Hicks, whose two teenage daughters were killed in the crush at Hillsborough on 15 April 1989, was told to “shut your fucking prattle” when he called on a senior police officer to help as the disaster was unfolding, a court has heard.Hicks, who went to the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest with his then wife, Jenni, and their daughters Vicki, 15, and Sarah, 19, recalled the retort at the trial of the match commander, David Duckenfield, on a charge of manslaughter. Continue reading...

More than 14,000 people thought to have been tortured to death by regime during war

Exclusive: Prisoner advocate describes routine practice as ‘sexual assault by the state’ that could could wake up middle-class Australians to ‘police brutality’

More Russian troops arrive in border region as Donald Trump hails situation as a ‘big success’Russian troops have expanded their presence across north-eastern Syria, the result of an agreement between Ankara and Moscow that should end Turkey’s attack on Kurdish-led forces at the price of ending the Kurds’ dreams of local autonomy.Syrian and Russian media showed footage of Russian military police vehicles on the outskirts of the important towns of Manbij and Kobani on Wednesday, one day after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, met Vladimir Putin in Sochi. Continue reading...

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.