World news | The Guardian

Russian foreign minister says final declaration not adopted because of attempts by US, Japan, South Korea, Australia and NZ to turn it into a purely political statement'Russia and China blocked a proposed consensus statement for the East Asia Summit drafted by south-east Asian countries, mainly over objections to language on the contested South China Sea, a US official said on Saturday.A draft statement arrived at by consensus by the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations was put to the 18-nation East Asia Summit meeting in Laos on Thursday evening, the official said. Continue reading...

Biggest obstacle to improving immunisation rates are practical difficulties families face, according to national vaccination survey

Rights group in Caracas says at least 40 people affected, as Maduro government continues clampdown on oppositionThe Venezuelan government has cancelled the passports of dozens of journalists and activists since President Nicolas Maduro claimed a re-election victory, part of what rights groups said is an intensifying campaign of repression against the authoritarian president's opponents, the Financial Times has reported.At least 40 people, mostly journalists and human rights activists, have had their passports annulled without explanation, the newspaper reported on Saturday, citing Caracas-based rights group Laboratorio de Paz. Continue reading...

Royal family had pledged to declare all presents received in an annual list, after several controversiesKing Charles and his family have failed to reveal their official gifts for the past four years, despite previously promising to publish an annual list.Palace officials have blamed the pandemic, the change of reign, and then planning for last year's coronation for their inability to publish details of the gifts received by members of the royal family. Continue reading...

Ahead of opening of inquiry into death of Dawn Sturgess, former PM says attackers showed utter recklessness'Theresa May has said justice is highly unlikely" to come for the victims of the novichok attacks in Wiltshire, in an interview broadcast days before an inquiry opens into the Russian state poisonings.The former prime minister said she hoped that the family and friends of Dawn Sturgess, who was killed in 2018 after she was exposed to the nerve agent, would find comfort from the inquiry into her death and feel that it had got to the truth" of what happened. Continue reading...

Conflicting reports include house arrest of Esmail Ghaani, who was in Beirut at time of Hassan Nasrallah's killing

TRG says both candidates have used rhetoric and focused on issues which are far and away from ... the values we cherish and uphold'Robert Jenrick, one of the final two Tory leadership candidates, is delivering a speech in London. There is a live feed on his X account.Jenrick started by promising a complete break with Labour's failing agenda". He said:The real choice this country faces is between Labour's failing agenda and the new approach I want us to take, the new approach we need as a country.Because if I am chosen as the next leader of this party we will stand to offer a complete break with Labour's failing agenda. Continue reading...

Police say couple assisting with investigations' after Dani Cuesta posted photo of himself with Lim go home' signA Spanish couple have been detained after the man held a banner to protest against Peter Lim, the billionaire Singaporean owner of Valencia football club.Dani Cuesta had shared photos on social media of himself holding a sign that said Lim go home" at various locations in Singapore, including the residences where Lim reportedly lives and the tourist landmark Merlion Park. Continue reading...

Communications minister Michelle Rowland says likely' changes to Online Safety Act will place onus on platforms, not parents or young people'

Hate crimes against Jewish people more than doubled while there was a 13% rise in hate crimes against MuslimsReligious hate crimes in England and Wales have soared by 25% to record levels, coinciding with the Israel-Hamas conflict, government statistics show.The increase, from 8,370 to 10,484 offences reported to police forces in the year to March, was driven by a rise in offences against Jewish people and to a lesser extent Muslims, the Home Office said. The overall number of hate crimes dropped. Continue reading...

Deputy prime minister calls Jo Tarnawsky a wonderful' person after her claim she was effectively sacked without warning

Greens say revelations a damning indictment' that speak to a broken governance culture' at prestigious universities

James Cleverly asks Yvette Cooper if she intervened to ensure popstar's London concerts went aheadMinisters are facing questions over whether they intervened to grant Taylor Swift VIP police protection in order to stop her cancelling her London concerts.James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary, wrote to his opposite number, Yvette Cooper, on Wednesday to ask whether she had personally made representations. Continue reading...

Teenager, now 17, was convicted after inflicting 36 injuries with kitchen knife on Holly Newton, then 15, in alleywayA teenager who stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death in the street has been named after a judge lifted reporting restrictions that prevented his identity from being disclosed.Logan MacPhail, now 17, was convicted of murdering Holly Newton in Hexham, Northumberland. He attacked her because he was jealous that she was with someone else, and could not accept that their relationship was over. Continue reading...

Owner of Nomad restaurant group in Surry Hills arrested after pro-Palestine protest at weekend

Karvelas will continue to host Q&A and present politics on the broadcaster's news channel

Agency had been investigating Kazakh company for suspected corruption and fraud over 12 yearsThe UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Kazakh mining company Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation have agreed a settlement to end one part of a years-long legal battle.The agency had been investigating ENRC for suspected bribery and fraud in Africa and Kazakhstan, which the mining company denied. But the SFO dropped its decade-long investigation last year without bringing charges, citing insufficient admissible evidence. Continue reading...

Alexander Darwall, owner of Blachford estate in national park, is challenging the right to wild campingPicnicking on Dartmoor is trespassing, according to the lawyers for a landowner who is challenging the right to wild camping on the moors.The public should have no right to undertake any activities other than walking or horse riding in the Dartmoor national park without landowner permission, Timothy Morshead KC told a supreme court hearing on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Fast-fashion retailer presents real challenge for Boohoo and Asos' as it considers 50bn IPO, says analyst

Thai conglomerate Central Group to co-own high-profile retailer with Saudi Public Investment Fund

British climber Fay Manners, who was stuck for three days, says: There was a big, big, long sense of silence between us'A British mountaineer and her American companion who were stranded in the Himalayas for three days without food have described the long silence between them after the bulk of their equipment plunged into a ravine.Fay Manners, 37, and Michelle Dvorak, 31, had been climbing the Chaukhamba mountain in northern India, when they issued an SOS message on Thursday, with nothing further being heard from them. Continue reading...

Louise Haigh's remarks follow departures of PM's chief of staff Sue Gray and MP Rosie Duffield

Union leaders criticise NSW premier's comments advocating police power to prohibit rallies deemed too expensive to patrol

Research by herEthical AI reveals attitude of disbelief and stereotypical assumptions' about survivors in England and WalesJudges in the family courts are using victim-blaming and gender-biased language towards domestic abuse survivors, AI analysis of judgments and appeals in England and Wales reveals.The findings are the result of a project called herEthical AI, which trains computers to identify attitudes among judges that it warns is resulting in the retraumatisation of domestic abuse survivors in the family courts. Continue reading...

Twenty-five-year-old pleaded not guilty to performing gesture about six days after state outlawed it

Pope and UN secretary general call for end to fighting as governments and individuals commemorate attack by Hamas

Ex-officer faces five counts of indecent assault, two of rape and one of sexual assault against two womenThe former Metropolitan police officer David Carrick has been charged with eight sexual offences against two women.Prosecutors announced on Monday that Carrick, 49, would face charges of rape, indecent assault and coercive control concerning two women, dating back to more than three decades ago when he was a teenager. Continue reading...

Military says 100 aircraft used in attack on targets in south of country as Israeli operations expand on multiple fronts

Obstetricians, midwives and obstetric anaesthetists will take part in pilots after damning report by health regulatorNHS maternity staff will take part in a mandatory training programme to improve patient safety after a damning report by the health regulator said that poor care and harm in childbirth was in danger of becoming normalised".Obstetricians, midwives and obstetric anaesthetists at nine maternity units across England will all have to do extra training from Monday under government plans to raise care standards for women and babies. The scheme will be rolled out to every maternity unit in the country if the pilots are successful. Continue reading...

Campaigners say key reason for rising hardship is two-child benefit cap, which PM and chancellor have refused to axeAt least 10,000 more children have fallen into poverty since Keir Starmer took office, thanks to the two-child benefit cap, according to new analysis.The policy, which was introduced by George Osborne when he was chancellor, means low-income parents are denied key benefits, including universal credit, for their third and any subsequent children born from April 2017. Continue reading...

Big names including Majestic and Laithwaites hope to head off price rises whereby drinks will be taxed on ABVAs a rule, retailers tend to trumpet price cuts and keep quiet about increases but wine sellers are breaking ranks to warn customers of looming rises due to a shake-up of the way wine is taxed.The big names behind the campaign include Majestic Wine, Laithwaites, Cambridge Wine Merchants and the Wine Society, who are trying to head off a new alcohol duty system before it's too late". The industry has previously said the price of 75% of red wines would increase on the back of the new rules. Continue reading...

Campaigners say groups' online channels contain white nationalism, fascist imagery and misogynistic languageConcerns about the growth of self-styled fitness clubs organised by the far right have prompted calls for action to counter misogynistic messaging targeted at young men and boys.Campaigners want the UK government to recognise the danger presented by so-called active clubs" - a loose movement imported from the US - and use moments such as a review of the school curriculum to challenge their ideology. Continue reading...

Suspect arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm as 14-year-old girl left with potentially life-changing injuriesA 35-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm after what is believed to have been an acid attack outside a school in west London earlier this week.Detectives said a 14-year-old girl has been left with potentially life-changing injuries after the incident at Westminster academy on Monday afternoon, while a 16-year-old boy and a teacher were hospitalised then discharged, having suffered less severe injuries. Continue reading...

Hopes occasionally soared only to be dashed as legal challenges came and went until a critical judgment in 2019The view from the decaying jetty on the atoll of Peros Banhos takes in a vast lagoon surrounded by palm trees and sun-bleached beaches. From there, more than 50 years ago, some of the last Chagos Islanders were forcibly deported by British colonial administrators.Their pet dogs, several of which swam out to departing boats, were rounded up; the animals were shot or gassed. Clearance of about 2,000 people from the remote but strategically important archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean was complete by 1973. Continue reading...

Disability charity says Labour plan must not become punitive measure exacerbating culture of mistrust and fear'

Venezuela's president attempts to move on from bitterly disputed election result by declaring Christmas in October'Twas 85 nights before Christmas when the decorations went up - at least in Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro has decided festivities should start early in an apparent attempt to lift spirits and distract minds after the recent election scandal.A month after Maduro announced that Christmas 2024 would begin in October, residents of Caracas left home on Tuesday to find the capital's boulevards and plazas decked with LED light strings and sculptures declaring: Feliz Navidad." Continue reading...

Announcement that PM is returning gifts comes after news Labour peer Lord Alli is under investigation by Lords commissionerRichard Fuller, the Tory chair, is on the conference platform now introducing the morning session.He starts with thanks to various people who have helped with the conference.After a frenetic Conference for Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat and Robert Jenrick the tiredness will be kicking in, but also for the teams of advisers who want, and maybe need, their principal to take another go at delivering the twenty-minute speech of their career.It's a four hoarse race.The problem for the party, and for me, is that none of this gossipy chatter has taken the conference attendees much further forward - nor has any of the four taken conference by storm. Continue reading...

By the end of the four candidates' conference speeches, the audience was screaming to be let out. Even before the national anthemWelcome, my friends, to the Show That Never Ends. At least, that's the way it feels. Hard to believe, after weeks of nonsense and four days of the Fearless Four saying the same thing minute after minute, that we've still got a month of the Tory leadership election to go. I guess we just need to be thankful for small mercies: we may not be at the beginning of the end, but we are at the end of the beginning.God it's been one hell of a slog. People have died, long service medals have been won and my therapy bills have gone through the roof. Spare a thought for those who have had to listen to all this doggybollox. Continue reading...

Lord Alli is under investigation by commissioner over alleged non-registration of interests'The Labour peer Waheed Alli is under investigation by the Lords' commissioner over alleged non-registration of interests", leading to a possible finding of breach of the members' code of conduct.According to an update published on parliament's website on Wednesday, Lord Alli is being investigated by the Lords' commissioner for alleged non-registration of interests leading to potential breaches of paragraphs 14(a) and 17 of the thirteenth edition of the code of conduct". Continue reading...

Figure of 21.8 million international visitors to Spain is 7.3% rise on 2023, says national statistics instituteSpain logged a record 21.8 million international visitors this summer, official data has revealed, during a period when anti-tourism protests also took place across the country.The figure is a 7.3% rise on 2023, the national statistics institute (INE) said. Continue reading...

Salome Zourabichvili opts not to advance bans on same-sex marriages and on adoptions by same-sex couplesGeorgia's president has refused to sign into law a bill aimed at severely curtailing LGBTQ+ rights, weeks after the controversial legislation was passed by the country's parliament.Last month Georgia's parliament was heavily criticised after it approved the legislation, which sets out sweeping bans on same-sex marriages, adoptions by same-sex couples and curbs on gender-affirming treatments. Continue reading...

Case left in March after the Guardian published names of senior public figures who were in the then men-only clubSimon Case, the head of the civil service, has returned to the Garrick six months after his high-profile departure, and is understood to be among a number of members whose resignations have been withdrawn by the club's management.Case quit the Garrick in March after the Guardian published the names of about 80 senior politicians, lawyers, leaders of arts organisations and actors who were members of the then men-only club, which until this year was notorious for rejecting proposals to admit women. Continue reading...

Jury at teenager's trial hears about playground attack in April at school in Ammanford, CamarthanshireTwo teachers who were stabbed repeatedly by a 13-year-old girl in a school playground in south Wales believed they were going to be killed in the attack, a jury has heard.Fiona Elias, an assistant headteacher, said when the teenager began stabbing her during the morning breaktime at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, she thought: I'm going to die." Continue reading...

Almost $10m of cryptocurrency was seized from Jay Je Yoon Jung, who faces charges including dealing with suspected proceeds of crime

Two waves of missiles pass over Jerusalem towards coastal cities with some being intercepted en route

Exclusive: departments asked to model cuts of up to 10% despite Rachel Reeves' vow to invest in growthMinisters are being asked to draw up billions of pounds in cuts to infrastructure projects over the next 18 months despite Rachel Reeves pledging to invest more to grow the economy, the Guardian has learned.Members of the cabinet have been asked to model cuts to their investment plans of up to 10% of their annual capital spending as part of this month's spending review, government sources said. Continue reading...

If Hezbollah is substantially diminished, there could be an opportunity to rebalance power in the countryTo drive away from Beirut's Mediterranean coastline is to climb, up into the rugged, unrelenting ridges of Mount Lebanon. The limestone mountain range that traverses huge lengths of Lebanon lent the country not just its name but beauty, diversity - and a combustible political culture that risks being inflamed again as Israeli forces invade.For centuries before modern Lebanon was established, its mountains were a natural barrier to invading armies. For the region's religious minorities - especially Christians and Druze - they became a sanctuary. Ensconced in remote mountain villages, the kaleidoscope of communities that would eventually form the Lebanese nation developed distinct identities, histories and anxieties over their own survival. Lebanon, wrote one of it great historians, Kamal Salibi, was a house of many mansions". Continue reading...

Leadership candidate tells Conservative conference he thought it was good way to remind her of a great PMThe audience at Conservative conferences is not generally easy to surprise, but Robert Jenrick's revelation drew some audible gasps: yes, he said, his daughter's middle name was really Thatcher.The unexpected diversion took place on the main conference stage, where Jenrick was the third of four candidates for the party leadership to face an hour-long interview with Christopher Hope of GB News in front of 4,000 delegates in Birmingham. Continue reading...

Actor, who appeared in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Waitress, Hair and Hello, Dolly!, has died of a rare form of cancerGavin Creel, a Broadway musical theater veteran who won a Tony award for Hello, Dolly! opposite Bette Midler and earned nominations for Hair and Thoroughly Modern Millie, died Monday of a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He was 48.Publicist Matt Polk said Creel died at his home in Manhattan of metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma. He was diagnosed in July of this year. Continue reading...

Closures will affect 465 jobs and retailer will also try to reduce its rent bill at nine sites if creditors approve its strategyDobbies is planning to shut 17 of its 77 stores affecting 465 jobs as its new owners try to return the garden centre group to profitability.The company, which employs 3,600 workers, said it was seeking the approval of creditors for a restructuring plan that would reduce its rent bill. Continue reading...