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Keir Starmer's party wins seat for first time since bellwether byelection in 1996Historic:' Labour takes Dorries' former seat in Mid Bedfordshire byelectionLabour has overturned a near 20,000-vote Conservative majority in Tamworth, winning the area for the first time since a bellwether byelection in 1996.Labour's Sarah Edwards received 11,719 votes ahead of Andrew Cooper, the Tory candidate, who received 10,403 - a majority of 1,316 for Labour. It was a 23.89% swing to Keir Starmer's party. Voter turnout was low at 35.87%, little more than half the 2019 figure. Thursday night proved to be a signal occasion for Labour which also swept away a huge Tory majority to win Mid Bedfordshire, the former seat of Nadine Dorries. Continue reading...

Alistair Strathern overturns huge Tory majority to win seat vacated by former culture secretaryLabour have won the Mid Bedfordshire byelection, overturning a huge majority and delivering a significant blow to Rishi Sunak's hopes of holding on to power at the next general election - expected to be in 2024.Alistair Strathern takes the parliamentary seat vacated by the former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, beating the candidate hoping to hold it for the Conservatives, Festus Akinbusoye. Strathern overturned a majority of 24,664 - believed to be the greatest such result at a byelection since at least 1945. Continue reading...

More than 100 community Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations say safety of Indigenous children should not be politicised'

Gaza officials have said at least 471 people were killed in the explosion, with more than 300 wounded

Multiple aircraft and boats looking for man who was allegedly seeking to evade police when he jumped into Fitzroy River near Rockhampton

Department says teenager died at Perth's Sir Charles Gairdner hospital shortly after 10pm on Thursday

Church has been granted special leave to appeal Victorian judgment that found Ballarat diocese was vicariously liable for abuse of child

US-Russian journalist detained in Russia; Ukrainian parliament votes to ban Ukrainian Orthodox ChurchUkraine's parliament has voted overwhelmingly to advance legislation seen as effectively banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church over its ties to Moscow, despite the church's insistence that it is fully independent and supportive of Ukraine's fight against Russian invaders.A Russian-American journalist has been detained in Russia on charges of violating its foreign agents law, reportedly due to her coverage of Russia's military mobilisation for its invasion of Ukraine. Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor with Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty's (RFE-RL) Tatar-Bashkir service, was detained on Wednesday.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he wants to build a forward-looking" relationship with Russia as he met with foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, state media reported. The veteran envoy's two-day visit is expected to lay the groundwork for a trip to the country by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was invited by Kim last month at a high-profile summit in Russia's far east.US President Joe Biden was set to deliver only the second Oval Office address of his term on Thursday night to make the case for US backing of Ukraine and Israel. The administration plans to request billions of dollars for additional military assistance for Ukraine and Israel.Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy held a telephone conversation before Biden's address, in which the Ukrainian president thanked Biden and Congress for supplying long-range ATACMS missiles and said on the Telegram messaging app that Ukrainian soldiers are successfully using them on the battlefield".Ukraine claimed to make a small incremental gain of 400 metres to the south-west of Verbove in the Zaporizhzhia region. Military spokesperson Oleksandr Stupun said the southern advance was still difficult because of Russian minefields and heavily fortified defences.Kazakhstan has banned exports to Russia of 106 goods that could be used in the Ukraine war after the ex-Soviet state vowed not to help its ally circumvent western sanctions, local media said Thursday. On a visit to Berlin last month, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said his country will follow the sanctions regime", amid suspicions Moscow is still receiving vital goods via Kazakhstan.The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said the EU must collectively continue to financially support Ukraine in future. We have a clear stance here: This aid for Ukraine, for the financial stability of the country, we will have to provide this jointly as Europeans," Scholz told lawmakers, while adding that this cannot all be solved with additional funds".Ukraine's parliament gave initial approval for the 2024 budget, which will increase funding for the army and national defence. Finance minister Serhiy Marchenko said the government's priorities next year included accumulating funds for defence and security, and securing social payments for the population to bring Ukraine's victory closer".Nato is stepping up patrols in the Baltic Sea after recent damage to undersea infrastructure. The increased measures include additional surveillance and reconnaissance flights. A fleet of four Nato minehunters is also being dispatched to the area," Nato said in a statement.Finland's Ministry of Defence said on Thursday it had blocked three planned property transactions involving Russian buyers on grounds that allowing the acquisitions to take place could hamper the defence of Finnish territory. Continue reading...

Protesters oppose mayor's plan to move their trade to purpose-built erotic centre' away from city centreSex workers in Amsterdam have protested against the planned transfer of their famed red light district to an out-of-town erotic centre", in what is seen as part of a battle for the city's soul.Dozens of people, many wearing masks to shield their identity, marched through the streets towards City Hall, one carrying a banner saying: If sex workers are not to blame then why are we being punished?" Continue reading...

Top MEP says Iranian woman's death in police custody last year triggered a movement that is making history'Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman who died in police custody in Iran last year, sparking worldwide protests against the country's conservative Islamic theocracy, has been awarded the EU's top human rights prize.The award, named for the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honour individuals or groups who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms. Sakharov, a Nobel peace prize laureate, died in 1989. Continue reading...

Alsu Kurmasheva reportedly detained due to Radio Free Europe coverage of Russia's military mobilisation for Ukraine invasion

Italian former PM estimated to have spent 20m on artworks, often buying through TV auctionsThe heirs of Silvio Berlusconi inherited billions from his empire but now they are faced with a dilemma: what to do with his vast collection of mostly worthless artwork, including paintings of nude women and the Madonna, stored in a warehouse opposite his home near Milan.The former prime minister, who died in June at the age of 86, reportedly amassed the 25,000 works during the final years of his life, buying the majority from late-night shopping channels in his quest to become a top collector. Continue reading...

Four businesses linked to Akshata Murty revealed to have received investment from much-criticised Future Fund

Document reveals James Slack's messages about article prompted concern from Matt HancockBoris Johnson's top media official said the Daily Mail's eagerness to get people working in offices during the first Covid lockdown came from being desperate" to sell newspapers, according to documents released to the official inquiry.James Slack said a Mail headline in April 2020 predicting masks could allow people to return to work was spurred by a desire to revive their circulation figures. He had previously been the paper's political editor before working for Johnson in No 10. Continue reading...

Prime minister to include draft bill banning conversion practices in king's speech, sources confirmRishi Sunak will push ahead with long-delayed plans to ban gay and trans conversion practices after Conservative whips warned MPs could rebel if they failed to do so.The prime minister will include a draft bill banning conversion practices in the king's speech, government sources confirmed, after the move was first revealed by the Times. Continue reading...

Deutsche Bahn offloads company to I Squared in deal worth 1.4bn, three years after putting it up for sale

PCS union warns there may be serious delays' as it announces action to coincide with king's speech

Country waiting to see who Andrzej Duda will task with forming a cabinet after ruling nationalists lost majorityPoland's president will meet parliamentary party leaders next week, his office said, as the country waits to see who he will task with forming a government after the ruling nationalists lost their majority in the general election.Pro-EU opposition parties secured a majority in Sunday's ballot, a huge shift for Poland after eight years of feuding with Brussels over issues ranging from judicial independence to LGBTQ+ rights. It also represents a setback for rightwing populism in the EU. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Serious concerns' raised about decision not to put man on trial over death of Darren Poole in 2015Two undercover police officers have raised serious concerns" about a decision not to prosecute a potential murder suspect they secretly recorded making an alleged confession, according to confidential documents seen by the Guardian.The target of the surveillance operation was at the time considered a suspect in the death of Darren Poole, a 38-year-old painter and decorator who was found dead in his flat in Birkenhead, Wirral, in August 2015. A coroner ruled Poole had been unlawfully killed. Continue reading...

Finnish telecoms group aims to cut costs as demand for mobile network equipment slumps

PM left London on Wednesday evening and plans to visit other countries in the region for further discussions

The 44-year-old Samoan died in Townsville Women's Correctional Centre after being restrained in handcuffs and placed in a spit hood

Court hears the woman fell asleep and awoke to find Mathieson sucking on her breast in March 2022

Chris Minns says he believes protesters do not want hate speech within their march' but final decision on event is up to NSW police

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People's Republic is granted immunity from paying cleaning, rubbish removal and key cutting tab after diplomat vacated Wellington houseA landlord in New Zealand has run up against an unusual problem while trying to make his tenant pay $900 for rubbish removal: diplomatic immunity.Chandler Investments Limited claimed its tenant, the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, left a rented mews house in the capital, Wellington, without covering costs for cleaning, rubbish removal and key cutting. Continue reading...

Force apologised for incident where boy was handcuffed and which his mother said left him brokenThe Metropolitan police have admitted that a 13-year-old boy playing with a water pistol was rammed off his bike by armed police, knocked to the ground and officers pointed their submachine guns at him.The Met has apologised for the incident, in which the boy was also handcuffed, which happened in broad daylight in Hackney, east London, in July. Continue reading...

Singer, whose music has been linked to crime gangs, and his wife are among 27 held in police raids targeting the Di Lauro clanBefore announcing his retirement from singing in 2020, Antonio Tony" Colombo was arguably the most acclaimed singer of neomelodico, an Italian pop genre that resonates strongly within mafia strongholds in the southern regions of Italy.His songs were so highly praised among the underworld that when he married Tina Rispoli, the widow of the slain Neapolitan mafia boss Gaetano Marino, in 2019, dozens of members of the Camorra attended their wedding. Continue reading...

Australian Human Rights Commission says preventive detention regime is now harder to justify

Best known as Rocky Balboa's friend Paulie Pennino, Young mainly played Italian-Americans in hundreds of roles spanning film and televisionBurt Young, the veteran character actor best known and Oscar-nominated for his role as Rocky Balboa's best friend, Paulie, in the Rocky films, has died aged 83.Young passed away on 8 October in Los Angeles, his daughter, Anne Morea Steingieser, told the New York Times on Wednesday. No cause of death was given. Continue reading...

City of Bissau, which has a population of more than 490,000, had no electricity for one-and-a-half daysPower returned to Guinea-Bissau's capital on Wednesday afternoon after the west African country's government resumed payments to Turkish company Karpowership, which had plunged the city into darkness due to an unpaid debt of $17m.Karpowership said it cut off electricity supplies to the city of Bissau - which has a population of more than 490,000 - for one and a half days when fuel suppliers paused work after a protracted period of non-payment. Continue reading...

Unemployment rate was 3.6% in September compared with reported 3.7% in August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics saysAustralia's jobless rate fell last month even as employers shed almost 40,000 full-time positions, sending mixed signals as to the need for another Reserve Bank interest rate rise to cool the economy.The unemployment rate was 3.6% in September compared with a reported 3.7% in August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. Economists had forecast the jobless level would remain unchanged at 3.7%. Continue reading...

Putin calls delivery of ATACMS long-range missiles another mistake' by US; Russian foreign minister arrives in North Korea ahead of expected Putin trip

Ed Husic backed by fellow Labor frontbencher Anne Aly who says Israel could be investigated' for alleged war crimes

Education and high income not always a recipe for yes vote as social tribes' have influence, analysis shows

David and Celia Barlow were married in South Africa on Saturday and were killed by a group linked to Islamic StateTributes have been paid to a couple who were killed on their honeymoon in Uganda in a cowardly terrorist attack".A British businessman, David Barlow, his wife Celia, a South African-born hotel executive, and their Ugandan guide were driving through the Queen Elizabeth national park on Tuesday when they were attacked and killed by a group linked to Islamic State. Continue reading...

Tolerance never more vital than at times of international turmoil', king saysKing Charles has stressed the importance of mutual understanding in religious faiths and the space to think and speak freely, saying it is never more vital than at times of international turmoil and heartbreaking loss of life".In a speech at Mansion House in the City of London, against the backdrop of the Hamas-Israel conflict, Charles stressed that tolerance and civility were among the virtues that Britain could draw on. Continue reading...

President compares situation to 9/11 as Benjamin Netanyahu promises to allow aid into Gaza via Egypt

Protesters call for removal of president Mahmoud Abbas after Palestinian Authority's lacklustre response to Israel conflict

Appeal court rules that distress displayed by complainers to witnesses can be used to corroborate rape claimsScotland's most senior law officer has hailed as transformative" a decision by appeal court judges about the way sexual assaults are prosecuted in the country.The lord advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, spoke on Wednesday after seven appeal judges ruled that the distress displayed by a complainer to a witness can be used to corroborate whether a rape took place. Continue reading...

Russian president says decision to supply army tactical missile systems shows US is wading deeper into the conflictSpeaking at a televised news conference in Beijing, Vladimir Putin said that US deliveries of long-range Atacms missiles to Ukraine were a mistake" that would create additional threats to Russian forces.The Russian president said, however, that they would not significantly change the situation on the front. Continue reading...

Singer tells fans at Vegas residency she misses alcohol so much' after giving up drinking a few months agoAdele has quit drinking, she told fans in attendance at her Vegas residency, having been a borderline alcoholic" in her 20s.Performing at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Saturday (14 October), Adele, 35, said: I stopped drinking maybe like three-and-a-half months ago. It's boring. I mean, I was literally borderline alcoholic for quite a lot of my 20s, but I miss it so much." Continue reading...

Simon Parry followed the former education secretary on two days this year but was cleared of impersonating a police officerA man has been found guilty of stalking the former education secretary Gavin Williamson.The Conservative MP, who has also served as defence secretary, said he felt incredibly threatened" by Simon Parry who persistently followed" him on 24 May and 14 June. Continue reading...

Germany's chancellor expresses outrage after two molotov cocktails hurled at buildingGermany's chancellor has vowed to step up the fight against antisemitism after assailants hurled two molotov cocktails at a Jewish synagogue in central Berlin.Speaking in Egypt on Wednesday, Olaf Scholz said he was outraged" by what police called a suspected serious attempted arson" that took place in the early hours of Wednesday in the Mitte district of the city. Continue reading...

Letter from Labour leader stresses his concern for international law and sympathy with the plight of the Palestinian peopleRishi Sunak will be taking PMQs shortly. It will be his first exchange with Keir Starmer since the party conferences.Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.We were the victims of an inside job by someone, we believe, who over a long period of time was stealing from the museum and the museum put trust in.There are lots of lessons to be learnt as a result of that, the member of staff has been dismissed by us. The objects have started to be recovered ... We have changed our whistleblowing code, changed our policy on thefts ... tightened up security on thefts.If someone is entrusted by an organisation to look after something and they are the person removing those objects, that is hard for any organisation, and it was hard for the museum, where there is a trusting culture.If that trust is completely abused and as I think will become clear in the coming months quite a lot of steps were taken to conceal that, it wasn't just that things were taken, records were altered and the like, it's hard to spot.We are intending to put on display the objects we have recovered, there is a lot of public interest in these objects.350 have now been recovered and titles have been transferred to us so we have the makings of a good exhibition that was not previously planned. Continue reading...

Several Arab states condemn Israel for explosion, which it blames on failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Intelligence summit told terror groups or hostile states may seek to use AI to build bombs or disrupt electionsArtificial intelligence could be harnessed by terrorists or hostile states seeking to build bombs, spread propaganda or disrupt elections, according to the heads of MI5 and the FBI.Ken McCallum, the director general of MI5, and Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, said their organisations were monitoring developments and needed to cooperate with experts in the private sector to tackle emerging threats. Continue reading...

Former butcher Andrew Miller claimed he acted in a motherly way' but later admitted sexual assaultA former butcher who sexually abused a primary school pupil over 27 hours in a nauseating" attack has been jailed for 20 years.Andrew Miller, who also uses the name Amy George, was dressed as a woman when he offered the girl - whom he had never seen before - a lift in February. Continue reading...

IOPC says 11 current or former officers and one staff member being investigated over handling of allegations against CarrickTwelve police employees, including serving officers, are under investigation for misconduct over the handling of allegations against the serial rapist and former Metropolitan police officer David Carrick.Carrick, 48, a former armed officer, pleaded guilty in January to 85 serious offences including 48 rapes between 2003 and 2020, making him one of the worst sexual offenders in modern British criminal history. Continue reading...

Just Stop Oil says its cofounders Indigo Rumbelow and Roger Hallam were also arrested on WednesdayGreta Thunberg has been charged with a public order offence after she was arrested while taking part in a protest against a conference in London described as the Oscars of oil".The Swedish environmental campaigner, 20, was one of 29 arrested during a protest trying to stop delegates entering the Energy Intelligence Forum at the InterContinental London Park Lane in Mayfair. Continue reading...