Newborn baby girl was heard crying after being buried alive in clay pot in Uttar PradeshA man digging a grave in northern India found a newborn girl buried alive, police have said, in the latest case to shine a spotlight on female infanticide in the country.Hitesh Sirohi had gone to bury his own daughter, who died a few minutes after birth on Wednesday, when his spade hit an earthen pot, local police in Uttar Pradesh state told AFP. Continue reading...

City-wide Met police operation begins to clear Trafalgar Square and other protest sitesPolice have banned Extinction Rebellion protests from continuing anywhere in London, as they moved in almost without warning to clear protesters who remained at the movement’s camp in Trafalgar Square.The Metropolitan police issued a revised section 14 order on Monday night that said “any assembly linked to the Extinction Rebellion ‘Autumn Uprising’ ... must now cease their protests within London (MPS and City of London Police Areas)” by 9pm. Continue reading...

Coalition MP accused of hypocrisy for disparaging Australian Extinction Rebellion protestersGovernment backbencher Tim Wilson has defended his decision to join pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and said environmental protests in Australia have a right to operate “so long as they stick within the law”.Wilson joined protesters in Hong Kong last week but was accused of hypocrisy because of previous comments disparaging protests in Australia. Continue reading...

With the US gone, the implications of their departure is beginning to sink in across the Middle EastThe moment that changed the Middle East arrived with a sudden silence. Just before 7pm on Sunday, the internet was cut across north-eastern Syria where, for half an hour, the Kurds of the region had been digesting a news flash. The Syrian government was returning to two towns, Manbij and Kobane. The implication quickly sunk in.The regional capital, Qamishli, soon emptied; streets that had bustled with minibuses and shoppers became eerie and still. With the internet down phones were no help and nor were officials who had vanished along with the traffic. Air seemed to be suddenly vacuumed from the city, and the few people still around knew exactly what it meant: this was the moment power changed hands. It was a time to be scared. Continue reading...

Eurosceptics and Labour MPs indicate they could back prime minister if he clinches agreement in BrusselsBoris Johnson is edging towards the parliamentary numbers needed to pass a Brexit deal after more hardline Eurosceptics and pro-deal Labour MPs indicated they could back a new agreement made with the EU.The prime minister will need to win over almost all the 28 Tory “Spartans” who held out against Theresa May’s deal if he manages to bring an agreement back from Brussels, as well as either the Democratic Unionist party or a chunk of Labour backbenchers. Continue reading...

Christian Porter suggests claim the bill could harm Victorian ban on conversion therapy is either ‘inept’ or ‘malicious’The attorney general Christian Porter has emphatically rejected the Victorian government’s claim the religious discrimination bill could harm its proposed ban on gay conversion therapy.In comments to Guardian Australia, Porter accused the Andrews Labor government of a “clear lack of understanding” of the bill which he said preserves states’ rights to pass their own laws, suggesting the criticism was either inept or malicious. Continue reading...

Margaret Owen says the UK is complicit in Erdoğan’s offensive into north-eastern Syria and as guilty as Trump in allowing this invasion, Andy Brown suggests kicking Turkey out of Nato, Anthony Bradley asks what can be done to help the victims. Plus letters from David Bricknell and Sibyl GrundbergThis betrayal of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) is sickening (Turkey launches Syria strikes as Trump scorns America’s Kurdish allies, 10 October).It is they who have been fighting Isis as the most reliable local forces on the ground, who liberated Kobane and Raqqa, who host the many refugees of all ethnicities and religions in their autonomous administration, Rojava, and hold many Isis members captive. Continue reading...

Concerns raised over law change advocates say will reduce obstacles to trans rightsSenior Scottish National party MPs, MSPs and councillors have expressed concerns about its proposed changes to gender recognition laws, as they launched a pledge calling for women to have the right to discuss such policies.Several women at the launch for the SNP Women’s pledge said they were close to quitting the party because of what they considered to be a refusal by officials to address concerns that women and girls could fall victim to predatory men or lose access to single-sex services. Continue reading...

The children are believed to have been taken to safety following mass fleeing of camp holding Islamic State affiliates in north-east SyriaThree orphans believed to be British citizens have been evacuated from an area in northern Syria that was the focus of recent attacks by Turkish troops and their allies.The Guardian understands that the three children, Amira, 10, her sister, Hiba, eight, and their brother, Hamza, were evacuated from a camp for people associated with Islamic State in Ain Issa on Sunday. They were part of a group of 28 children taken to safety by the UN refugee organisation. Continue reading...

The singer and former f(x) member, who was the victim of online bullying, had severe depression, according to policeThe K-pop star and actor Sulli has been found dead at the age of 25. Police said that the celebrity, born Choi Jin-ri, was discovered unconscious at her Seongnam residence on 14 October.“Her manager visited her home after failing to reach her since their last call the night before,” Seongnam police said, adding that Sulli had been experiencing severe depression. “It seems that she took her own life but we are also looking into other possibilities.” Continue reading...

Parents of teenager killed in road accident say they will only meet US diplomat’s wife if she commits to UK returnThe parents of Harry Dunn have given their first US TV interview, recounting the death of their son in a road accident as part of a campaign to pressure a US diplomat’s wife involved in the collision to return to the UK and face police questioning.Anne Sacoolas, 42, left the UK shortly after the collision between Dunn’s motorbike and a car outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on 27 August. She is believed to have been driving the car and met Northamptonshire police afterwards. But no investigation followed after the force was advised by the UK government that she had the protective status granted to foreign diplomats. Continue reading...

Labour’s Dan Jarvis and Tory David Davis go to high court over abandoned promiseA Labour and a Conservative MP have joined with a human rights charity to mount a legal challenge against a decision to abandon a promise to hold a judge-led inquiry into torture and rendition involving British intelligence agencies after 9/11.Dan Jarvis and David Davis have submitted an application for a judicial review in the high court in conjunction with Reprieve to try to reverse a decision made in the last days of Theresa May’s government, which contradicted a promise originally made by David Cameron. Continue reading...

Demonstrators take to streets in Barcelona and elsewhere in Spain after verdicts

Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Michael Kremer ‘dramatically improved’ practical solutionsAcademics who have pioneered on-the-ground experiments to discover the most effective ways to tackle poverty in the developing world were awarded the Nobel prize for economics on Monday.Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology secured the 9m Swedish krona (£720,000) prize with Harvard professor Michael Kremer. Continue reading...

President cancels austerity package that sparked weeks of violent street demonstrationsEcuador’s president, Lenín Moreno, has struck a deal with indigenous leaders to cancel a disputed austerity package and end nearly two weeks of protests that have paralysed the economy and left seven dead.Under the agreement, Moreno will withdraw the International Monetary Fund-backed package, known as Decree 883, that included a sharp rise in fuel costs. Indigenous leaders, in turn, will call on their followers to end protests and street blockades. Continue reading...

Despite earlier briefings that 40 were taken, only ‘Beatles’ duo are said to be under US controlUS forces in north-east Syria were able to seize only two British Islamic State prisoners, leaving behind a cluster of others despite previous briefings that about 40 had been forcibly taken from Kurdish custody.Kurdish military guarding the prisoners – supposedly among the most dangerous of several thousand Isis fighters in the region – refused to allow US special forces to take individuals other than Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh. Continue reading...

Seventy‑one‑year‑old Owen Tydd is one of the last windmill repairmen in Australia. He has been called upon by thousands of farmers across New South Wales and beyond to repair and install windmills for the past 30 years. He calls himself a windmill mechanic and estimates he has climbed more than 10,000 windmills during his career. Windmills were originally used to mill grain or pump groundwater and have become an iconic part of the Australian rural landscape. But with the use of new technologies they are fast becoming obsolete. ‘They are all becoming fairly old, with new windmills available but not a lot being put up,’ Tydd said. ‘The thought pattern at present is if you want to put something new in to pump water, you either put in an electric submersible pump or a solar pump. And because I am just about to retire, I am not going to argue about that. I’m going to convince people to put in solar pumps to save me from being asked to climb their windmills’ Continue reading...

Legend has it that Faroto tribesmen once defended their community in north Colombia by dressing as women to lure Spanish conquistadors into an ambush. In a country ravaged by civil conflict, the annual ‘danza de las Foratas’ keeps the indigenous tradition alive and contributes to dialogue and peace-buildingAll photographs by Louise Norton for Cafod Continue reading...

Japan’s Typhoon Hagibis made landfall south of Tokyo on Saturday evening with heavy rain, which flooded the city and surrounding areas. The death toll has reached 36 and many people are still missing. Emergency workers swung into action, with helicopters plucking people from flooded buildings and police swimming through waters looking for missing people Continue reading...

Woman who won a rare victory at a tribunal says people are afraid to report harassmentThe recent tribunal case brought by banker Stacey Macken shows that sexual discrimination remains a problem in London’s financial district, despite the shockwaves from the #MeToo movement.Macken was handed a rare victory at a London employment tribunal last month, after claiming she was discriminated against due to her gender, and paid hundreds of thousands of pounds less than a male co-worker with the same job title at BNP Paribas. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Zelda Perkins and Rosanna Arquette predict more revelations about high-profile men to comeTwo women whose accounts of sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein kick-started the #MeToo movement have warned that the allegations against the film mogul are “only the tip of the iceberg”.Speaking two years after press reports first detailed abuse by Weinstein, his former assistant and theatre producer, Zelda Perkins, and Bafta-award-winning actor Rosanna Arquette, hailed a “profound transformation” but told the Guardian there were likely more revelations to come about high-profile men abusing their positions. Continue reading...

Two women are at centre of trial exposing role of female jihadists in French terrorism

Gergely Karácsony’s victory is one of many defeats across Hungary for Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz partyHungary’s nationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán has suffered his first electoral blow since coming to power in 2010, with an opposition candidate scoring a shock win in the Budapest mayoral race.The victory was “historic”, said the pro-European centre-left challenger Gergely Karácsony, 44, who was backed by a wide range of opposition parties from across the political spectrum. Continue reading...

Military called in after worst storm in six decades causes widespread damageAt least 25 people have died and 15 others are missing after one of the most powerful typhoons in decades struck wide areas of Japan’s main island on Saturday night.Media reports said thousands of troops, firefighters and other emergency workers had been dispatched to rescue people trapped by floodwater in the worst-hit areas, as utilities raced to restore power to hundreds of thousands of homes. Continue reading...

Agreement to hand over border towns comes after more than 700 Isis affiliates escape campKurdish-led forces in control of north-east Syria have reached a deal with the Assad regime to stave off a bloody five-day-old Turkish assault, as more than 700 people with links to Islamic State have escaped from a detention camp in the area.Kurdish fighters controlling the region would surrender the border towns of Manbij and Kobane to Damascus in a deal brokered by Russia, officials said on Sunday night. Continue reading...

The 14 carvings will hang from the ceiling in arts venue The Box, due to open in the springA collection of 19th-century wooden figureheads from British naval warships has been lovingly restored from the ravages of years at sea and will form a striking display at a new heritage and arts complex in Plymouth.The 14 figureheads, some of which were so badly water-damaged that their insides had turned into a soggy mulch, are to be suspended from the ceiling of The Box gallery and museum, which is due to open in the spring. Continue reading...

Heavier sentences for violent criminals among policies aimed at wooing Labour votersViolent and sexual criminals as well as foreign national offenders who return to the UK will face drastically heavier penalties under measures that will form the centrepiece of a Queen’s speech aimed at wresting the agenda away from the delicate Brexit negotiations.With just days to go before the deadline for Boris Johnson to clinch a last-ditch Brexit deal in Brussels, the Queen will on Monday set out his government’s priorities for a new session of parliament, including 22 new bills. Continue reading...

Conservative ruling party took 43.6% of vote according to Ipsos poll which also shows return of leftwing parties and seats for far-rightPoland’s ruling rightwing Law and Justice party is set to win a majority in the country’s parliament and secure another four-year term, according to an exit poll published at the close of voting on Sunday night.The poll, conducted by Ipsos for private broadcaster TVN, gave Law and Justice 43.6% of the vote, which if correct would give the party 239 out of 460 seats in the Polish Sejm. Continue reading...

Monday: Hundreds linked to Islamic State flee amid Turkish offensive. Plus, Labor senator calls Scott Morrison’s rhetoric ‘disturbingly lightweight’Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Monday 14 October. Continue reading...

Barnier warns negotiations may have to continue as UK’s Irish border plans are an ‘untested’ riskA breakthrough in the Brexit talks has failed to materialise after a weekend of intensive negotiations, with European Union capitals concluding that it may now be impossible for the UK to leave the EU by 31 October with a deal.In a briefing to EU ambassadors on Sunday evening, the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, raised the prospect of the talks having to continue after the forthcoming leaders’ summit on Thursday, such was the lack of progress. Continue reading...

Exit poll points to victory for low-profile law professor Kais Saied over fellow outsider Nabil KarouiTunisians are voting on Sunday in a runoff presidential election between a low-profile law professor and a charismatic media magnate who was released from prison earlier this week.The Maghreb country, often held up as the lone success story of the Arab spring, appears set to successfully carry out its second-ever presidential elections, with an earlier round of voting winnowing the field from 26 candidates to the two self-styled outsiders, the lawyer Kais Saied and the businessman Nabil Karoui. Continue reading...

Amanda Hopkinson on the Austrian parliament unanimously approving a substantive change in its nationality lawOn 13 September the Guardian published a letter from me under the headline “Fight for the right to Austrian citizenship”. Within days I had been contacted by over 40 people seeking dual Austrian nationality, disqualified either through having an Austrian mother (not father), or being a second or third descendant of this paternal line. Within a week, on 19 September, the Austrian parliament unanimously approved a substantive change. While my grandchildren consider this to be the direct consequence of my letter appearing in the Guardian, it may be more surprising that the Austrian embassy in London had no idea that any such radical amendment was in train. In summary:Eligibility

Contrary to popular belief, the Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci has little to do with the name of the modern-day continent, writes Colin Moffat. Plus Patrick Billingham says Donald Trump has brought the US into disreputeI fear Thomas Eaton (Weekend Quiz, 12 October) is giving further credence to “fake news” from 1507, when a German cartographer was seeking the derivation of “America” and hit upon the name of Amerigo Vespucci, an obscure Florentine navigator. Derived from this single source, this made-up derivation has been copied ever after.The fact is that Christopher Columbus visited Iceland in 1477-78, and learned of a western landmass named “Markland”. Seeking funds from King Ferdinand of Spain, he told the king that the western continent really did exist, it even had a name – and Columbus adapted “Markland” into the Spanish way of speaking, which requires an initial vowel “A-”, and dropped “-land” substituting “-ia”. Continue reading...

More than two inches of rain could fall within 12 hours on Monday in parts of the countryParts of England could face flooding as heavy rain sweeps across the country, the Met Office has said.Forecasters warned that more than two inches of rain (50mm) could fall within 12 hours on Monday in some parts of the country. Continue reading...

• 25-year-old Kenyan ran 2:14:04 at the Chicago Marathon

‘Blossom everywhere’ tactic is a reaction to politicisation of MTR subway systemHong Kong protesters have deployed a new strategy of popping up in small groups in multiple locations across the city in an effort to avoid arrest, during their ongoing campaign against police and the local government.Small flashmobs of protesters demonstrated across a dozen districts after a call for protesters to “blossom everywhere” on Sunday, with many staying closer to home where they could evade police on foot or by bus. Continue reading...

A drama competition for 200 naked people in a giant sauna? Our writer gets a sweaty taste of ‘aufgass’ in the NetherlandsI am standing behind a partition rope, waiting for the theatre to open. An excited hum rises off the crowd, and there is jostling when the stewards throw open the doors. As a theatre critic, I have stood in countless such queues. I should not feel the fear that I do, but there is one vital difference here: audience members are wearing nothing more than bath robes and flip-flops.And then they’re not even wearing those. All clothes are discarded as they race to claim a seat on the tiered wooden benches inside the auditorium and lay down towels to mark their spot. In a matter of minutes, there is a neatly arranged room of almost 200 naked people sitting in a heated amphitheatre, waiting for the show to begin. I am as disrobed as the rest of them. Continue reading...

Kurdish-led administration in north Syria says riot broke out in camp holding women and childrenAt least 750 people with suspected links to Islamic State have reportedly fled a displacement camp in north-east Syria, local officials have said, raising fears that the Turkish offensive against Kurdish forces in the area could lead Isis to regain strength amid the chaos.The 249 women and 700 children of the “caliphate” held in a secure annex at the Ain Issa camp began to panic and riot and scared away the guards after Turkish shelling struck close to the area on Sunday, said Abdulkader Mwahed, the joint president for humanitarian affairs in the Kurdish-held part of Syria, in a statement. Continue reading...

SNP leader says there is rising support for independence at start of party conferenceThe Scottish National party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, has said she will request another independence referendum from the prime minister in “a matter of weeks”.Speaking at the start of the SNP’s autumn conference in Aberdeen on Sunday, Sturgeon set out imminent plans to formally ask the British government for another section 30 order of the Scotland Act 1998 which, if granted, would make way for “indyref2”. Continue reading...

Labour leader says he would prefer to fight election before any second referendum is heldJeremy Corbyn has poured cold water on the idea that Labour could support a bid to attach a referendum to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal at next Saturday’s emergency sitting of parliament.The prime minister is expected to convene the House of Commons for a rare Saturday session, either to ask for support for his Brexit deal, if he succeeds in striking one at this week’s European council – or to request that MPs back a no-deal exit at the end of this month. Continue reading...

She’s been in some of the biggest blockbusters of recent years, yet has somehow always remained below the radar. But that’s all about to change. Alex Moshakis meets the star of the new Stephen King film, Doctor SleepRebecca Ferguson is almost entirely convinced the following ordeal is indicative of her true character, her deep down self, but she struggles with how.The story goes like this. Not long ago, Ferguson happened to see a woman collapse unconscious, and then she watched panic spread across the face of the woman’s husband and ripple on to the faces of the people around him. Though it was not her place, because she is a big-time Hollywood actor and is in no way a medical professional, she waded into the formed crowd, located the woman’s pulse (which she could not properly count) and began barking instructions. A stranger suggested water for the fallen woman, but Ferguson shouted, “No! Orange juice!” a tip she’d picked up watching ER. When the crowd edged closer, Ferguson yelled, “Some space, please!” The instructions tumbled out of her mouth before she could think to recover them, one after the other, an apparently natural act, until the woman came to and the crowd broke apart. As Ferguson walked away, someone asked, “Are you a nurse?” And she was forced to say no, she was an actor, that her actions had been formed in make-believe, a revelation she admits could have gone either way. Continue reading...

Influential British cardinal who died in 1890 is to be canonised before thousands including Prince Charles at Vatican ceremonyPrince Charles and several British MPs will join thousands of pilgrims in St Peter’s Square on Sunday for the canonisation of Cardinal John Henry Newman, a theologian and scholar regarded as one of the most influential figures of Victorian Britain.Newman, who was a Church of England priest before converting to Catholicism in 1845, is the first Briton to be made a saint since 1976. Continue reading...

City needed a protest song to unite it, says the anonymous writer behind the tune sweeping the barricadesThe orchestra wear hard hats and gas masks, the choir emerges from a swirl of tear gas-like smoke, and as the music swells, cutaway shots show crowds thousands-strong marching through the streets of Hong Kong.The video is for the song Glory to Hong Kong, which was written as a protester anthem but has become something even bigger for many residents – a kind of national anthem for a city that never had one. Continue reading...

PM said to want Merkel, Macron and Juncker to accept offer or agree to ‘friendly’ no dealBoris Johnson will speak to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, president Emmanuel Macron of France and the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, by the end of Monday to urge them to support his Brexit deal, the Sunday Times has reported.Johnson will offer the three leaders the option to either help him deliver a new deal this week or agree on a “friendly version” of a no-deal Brexit by 31 October, the newspaper said, citing a source familiar with the conversations. Continue reading...

Threat of widespread flooding and landslides compounded by earthquake in Chiba prefectureAt least seven people have been killed and 15 left missing after the most powerful typhoon to hit Japan in decades paralysed Tokyo, flooding rivers and putting millions under evacuation warning before it ploughed up the north-eastern coast.Authorities lifted rain and flood warnings for the Kanto region around a becalmed Tokyo before dawn on Sunday but imposed them on areas further north after super-typhoon Hagibis blasted through the capital. Continue reading...

Demonstrators in capital Quito attack television station and national government buildingsPresident Lenín Moreno ordered the army on to the streets of Ecuador’s capital Quito after a week and a half of protests over fuel prices devolved into violent incidents, with masked protesters attacking a television station, newspaper and the national auditor’s office.Moreno said the military enforced curfew would begin at 3pm local time in response to violence in areas previously untouched by the protests. Masked protesters broke into the national auditor’s office and set it ablaze, sending black smoke billowing across the central Quito park and cultural complex that have been the epicentre of the protests. Continue reading...

The deadly virus wreaking havoc in Asia has been detected in Timor-Leste, just 680km north of DarwinOne month ago a particularly virulent strain of African swine fever – which has been wreaking havoc in Asia since it was detected in China last year and could potentially kill up to 25% of the world’s pig population – landed on Australia’s doorstep.The disease was detected just 680km north of Darwin, in Timor-Leste. Australian biosecurity agencies which had been screening major airports and mail distributors for illegally imported pork products redoubled their efforts. Continue reading...

Is kangaroo harvesting an ethical meat trade or a monstrous violation of animal welfare? Science may be on the side of the shootersIn the drought-affected dustbowl of inland Australia, the kangaroos are starving. Just five years ago, the annual aerial survey of the four largest kangaroo species, conducted to assess their abundance for commercial harvest, put their combined population at almost 50m.But now the rain has gone, and so has the feed. The population, as of 2018, had dropped to 42m. Big kangaroos are boom-and-bust species, breeding up when times are good and dying in equally large numbers when they are not. As drought spreads across mainland Australia, those kangaroos that are able to are descending on farms and competing with cattle and sheep for water and scraps of remaining feed. Continue reading...