World news | The Guardian

Hundreds are dead after a surprise attack by Hamas, prompting Israel to declare a state of war and launch retaliatory strikes

JP Morgan also approached as Metro reportedly tries to thrash out rescue package with investorsThe Bank of England's regulatory arm is understood to have approached a number of big lenders in the past few days, including NatWest and JP Morgan Chase, to see if they had any interest in the embattled high street rival Metro Bank.JP Morgan Chase examined a potential bid to take over the whole of Metro after speaking to the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) but decided on Saturday night not to go ahead with it, a source said. Continue reading...

Magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck near Herat on Saturday, with hundreds of houses reported destroyedThe death toll from a series of earthquakes in western Afghanistan has risen sharply to more than 2,000 people, according to a Taliban spokesperson, as rescuers searched for survivors among the ruins of razed villages.More than 2,060 people are dead and over 10,000 are injured," he told the Guardian. Many more people are still under the rubble." Continue reading...

Keir Starmer says Labour will challenge planning laws and review rules on building on green belt

Whereabouts and fate of captives is one of the most pressing issues for military planners

Team behind festival want to make opera relevant to people of the city as well as find and train talent of the futureExplain!" says Count Almaviva to Figaro in the Barber of Seville. Tha what?" says the count in next month's Yorkshire version of Rossini's comic opera.Rosina's wrath if crossed will be less viper and more a whippet's bite"... A hundred traps ah lay / Until I get mi way / Get thissen set / Get thissen set" the soprano will intone as she sings the thrilling, showstopper aria una voce poca fa'. The opera will be heard like never before thanks to a full translation into Yorkshire dialect by the poet, writer and broadcaster Ian McMillan. Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Israel has unquestionable' right to defence, draws parallels with the war in Ukraine

Home secretary says officers should use full force of law', after apparent celebration of raids into Israel

Crime novelist has been forced to deny claims that she tricked readers into buying books she didn't write herselfIt is a gripping detective story typical of the queen of Nordic noir, leaving fans pondering the ethics of relationships and the dirty secrets of people with power and influence.But for once, bestselling crime novelist Camilla Lackberg is not the author of this particular literary whodunnit, but its protagonist. Continue reading...

A new exhibition aims to highlight a huge but often ignored contribution to style in the Swinging 60sWhen the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, wanted to create a new image for the band in the 1960s, the go-to tailor of the day was Cecil Gee on Shaftesbury Avenue in London.So he dragged all four members of the band into the shop for a fitting. Continue reading...

Three men say their visas will expire before they receive their degrees from Coventry universityThree international students are facing deportation after an alleged technical glitch at their university meant they did not get a final grade.The students claim they had all tried to submit their exams ahead of the deadline given by Coventry university, but they received an error message and were unable to upload their assessments. The university claims there is no evidence of a technical problem with its system. Continue reading...

Scheme aims to target poorer regions with concentrations of monuments, buildings and protected landscapesApplying some common sense can sometimes be a radical move. From 9 October an oddly simple new 200m scheme will, for the first time, focus on clusters of heritage sites, including ancient monuments, protected landscapes, museums and an abbey, in specifically targeted, poorer areas of Britain.The new 10-year plan will be unveiled by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which has been supported by lottery players for nearly 30 years. It means the fund can spend its cash on preserving and improving a group of significant landmarks inside a concentrated development area, rather than only spending its money on individual projects. Continue reading...

Demonstration planned in Liverpool to call for return of London MP who was ousted after a racism rowKeir Starmer will come under fresh pressure on Sunday to restore the whip to Diane Abbott, as MPs and party activists stage protests demanding her return at the Labour conference.A solidarity demonstration will be held in Liverpool by Labour Black Socialists and Momentum's black caucus calling for the 70-year-old to be welcomed back after a six-month racism row. Continue reading...

Athlete's total of 34 world and Olympic medals surpasses any other gymnast, making her most decorated in historySimone Biles fell short of further burnishing her status as the greatest gymnast of all time last night, coming fifth in the uneven bars finals at the World Gymnastics Championships.The result was immaterial to most fans, following as it did her all-around gold win on Friday which capped an astonishing comeback after a two-year career hiatus to protect her mental health. Her total haul of 34 world and Olympic medals eclipses any other gymnast, male or female, making her the most decorated in history. Continue reading...

Scrapping A-levels and making English and Maths compulsory to 18 said to be unworkable due to recruitment crisis in subject areasHeads, teaching experts and unions have slammed Rishi Sunak's plans to scrap A-levels and make Maths and English compulsory to 18 as a misdirected fantasy" that won't work because so many schools can't recruit teachers in these subjects.Sunak, who argued in his speech to the Conservative party conference last week that reforming education was one of the biggest levers we have to change the direction of our country", plans to replace both A-levels and the government's new T-levels with a merged baccalaureate-style qualification called the Advanced British Standard. Continue reading...

Labour is now 13 points ahead of the Conservatives despite the prime minister's efforts to present himself as the change candidate at the next general electionRishi Sunak's has achieved no positive conference bounce after trying to relaunch the Tories as the party of change" at their annual gathering in Manchester last week.Instead Labour, ahead of their gathering in Liverpool which starts this weekend, is up three points since last weekend and now stands on 42%, stretching its lead to 13 points. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed.

Assault is designed to give militant group control over the Palestinian narrative as regional relationships changeThere are two key questions in the immediate aftermath of Hamas's surprise assault on Israel: what was the attack designed to achieve, and why now?Even as the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel was at war with Hamas and the other Gaza factions, it is important to understand what Hamas's military aims did not include. Hamas fights its periodic conflicts for political reasons, to shore up support in Gaza and elsewhere and to ensure its continuing relevance. Continue reading...

Peter Nally was flying light plane that vanished from radar 16 minutes after taking off from Canberra airport

Images from Israel and Gaza fill the front pages of newspapers around the world after Palestinian militants launch unexpected and sweeping attack

If Australians vote no, I don't believe it would be appropriate to then go and legislate anyway,' prime minister says a week out from vote

UN says estimate of 320 fatalities is being verified, although local authorities put the death toll at 100, with 500 injuredHundreds of people are feared dead after a series of powerful earthquakes hit western Afghanistan.The United Nations said more than 320 had lost their lives before later saying the figure was still being verified. A local Taliban official told the Guardian the death toll is much higher than that". Continue reading...

Joe Biden says US will offer rock solid and unwavering' support to Israeli government as Tel Aviv mounts counterattackThe White House and other US politicians voiced their support for Israel on Saturday after attacks from Hamas stunned the world.Joe Biden said he spoke to Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Saturday, assuring him that the American government is ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the government and people of Israel". Continue reading...

Australian Medical Association and Uluru Dialogue say patients and medical staff could be disenfranchised after AEC continues Covid-era policy

Stefanos Kasselakis says he wanted to open up the subject of same-sex couples having childrenGreece's first openly gay political party leader says he was deliberately trying to stir stagnant waters" and tackle the taboo subject of same-sex couples having children when he announced he and his partner planned to become parents through surrogacy.Weeks after his unexpected election to the helm of the main opposition left-wing Syriza, Stefanos Kasselakis insisted his comments had aimed to give the issue visibility in a nation where LGBT rights were rarely publicly discussed. Continue reading...

Amy Kavanagh was seeking urgent care for daughter at West Middlesex University hospital when incident occurredAn NHS trust has apologised to a blind woman after a security guard tried to prevent her entering a hospital with her sick daughter because she was with her guide dog.Historian Dr Amy Kavanagh, 34, said the incident occurred as she tried to enter the West Middlesex University hospital, which is run by the Chelsea and Westminster hospital NHS foundation trust. Continue reading...

Majid Tavakoli, taken from his family in handcuffs, urges dissidents to frankly analyse' why opposition to the regime has successively failedOne of Iran's foremost public intellectuals and critics of the Iranian regime was taken to prison in handcuffs on Saturday to start serving a five-year sentence.Majid Tavakoli, who has a three-year-old child, was found guilty of spreading propaganda against the state. His dispatch to jail had been deferred for three weeks, but security officials came to take him away on Saturday, the day after another jailed Iranian human rights activist, Narges Mohammadi, was given the Nobel peace prize. Continue reading...

Corporation says decision will be made in due course' after show's staff reportedly told to look for other work after Andrew Flintoff crashThe BBC has denied Top Gear has reached the end of the road amid reports the show had been axed.The Sun reported on Friday that the broadcaster had told production staff on the long-running show to look for other work after the presenter and former cricketer Andrew Flintoff was injured during filming last December. Continue reading...

Kyiza Sandiford, 23, appeared before Wimbledon magistrates in connection with stabbing on TuesdayA man has been charged with murder after a 22-year-old man was stabbed to death in Brixton.Kyiza Sandiford, 23, has appeared at Wimbledon magistrates court on Saturday charged with the murder of Keelen Morris Wong and possession of an offensive weapon. Continue reading...

Dramatic findings point to Conservatives losing every red wall seat that they secured at the last electionLabour is currently on course to win a landslide victory on the scale of 1997, according to dramatic new modelling that points to the Conservatives losing every red wall seat secured at the last election.The Tories could also lose more than 20 constituencies in its southern blue wall strongholds and achieve a record-low number of seats, according to a constituency-by-constituency model seen by the Observer. Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, defence secretary Grant Shapps and leadership contender Penny Mordaunt are among those facing for defeat. Some 12 cabinet ministers face being unseated unless Rishi Sunak can close Labour's poll lead. Continue reading...

Twenty-two Israelis confirmed dead so far and 545 injured, with death toll likely to rise, after aerial and ground attack

How Steve Back has broken a number of exclusives by snapping the documents of unsuspecting politicians and officialsThere is a framed notice in the hallway of 10 Downing Street. It carries the message: Please remember. You may be photographed. Please cover any documents you may be holding."It is not a warning always heeded - as many prime ministers have come to rue. The latest victim was Rishi Sunak, whose government was left scrabbling after a secret document suggesting phase 2 of HS2 was in danger of being scrapped was photographed under the arm of a government official. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Levi Bellfield has twice confessed to 1996 murders despite Michael Stone spending 26 years in prison for the crimeThe conviction of Michael Stone, who has served 26 years in prison for the murders of Lin Russell and her daughter Megan, is being reviewed by the criminal cases review commission after a confession by the serial killer Levi Bellfield.In a reversal of a decision made three months ago in which the CCRC had said there was no realistic prospect of Stone's conviction being overturned at the court of appeal, the statutory body responsible for investigating alleged miscarriages of justice has said it will begin a fresh review. Continue reading...

Lagos police chief says unnamed nurse injected singer before his death last monthA nurse has been identified as the principal suspect" in the mysterious death of a Nigerian Afrobeats star, which triggered days of protests by thousands demanding justice.Investigations into the death of Ilerioluwa Aloba, better known as MohBad, in the commercial hub of Lagos have pointed to the nurse who treated the late singer before his death, the Lagos police chief, Idowu Owohunwa, told reporters on Friday. Continue reading...

Nikki and Russell Eatly's poem The Work Wife wins competition in Poetry in Motion collectionThroughout the ages, poems have been written to express profound love for fellow human beings, nature and God. Vans - not so much.But now Poetry in Motion (pdf), the world's first anthology of poems by van drivers about life on the road, has been published by Mercedes-Benz Vans with the support of George Mpanga, better known as George the Poet. Continue reading...

Government challenged to explain claim that UK will need 25% of energy to come from fossil fuels in 2050UK politics live - latest updatesThe UK government has misrepresented" the Climate Change Committee (CCC) by wrongly claiming it said we would need a quarter of our energy to come from fossil fuels by 2050, scientists have said.In order to justify signing off new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, ministers have said the country will still require a quarter of its energy to come from gas in 2050, the year the UK is supposed to meet net zero. Continue reading...

Cost of living crisis drives consumers to low-cost pub chain but company remains cautiousJD Wetherspoon has bounced back to profit for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic three years ago, as budget-conscious consumers flocked to the low-cost pub chain amid the cost of living crisis.Wetherspoon's, which runs about 830 pubs across the UK and Ireland, reported a pre-tax profit of almost 43m in the year to 30 July. Continue reading...

Officials tell AP process expected to begin shortly but decline to provide more details before announcement of government planThe Biden administration is going to resume deporting migrants to Venezuela, two US officials told the Associated Press on Thursday.The process is expected to begin shortly, the officials said, though they did not provide specific details on when the flights would begin taking off. The officials were not authorized to publicly disclose details of the government's plan ahead of an official announcement and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. Continue reading...

Free & Just uses signs referring to Jessica and Celeste Burgess, who received prison sentences after procuring and using abortion pillsOver the last week, if Nebraskans on their commute looked up, they might have glimpsed a striking banner flying through the sky - a red, black and white flag that read: Extremist groups don't want you to know women are going to jail under Nebraska's abortion ban."The banner is the work of Free & Just, an abortion rights organization that, over the past few months, has launched a campaign that publicizes the case of Jessica Burgess and her teenage daughter Celeste Burgess, who were jailed last year after police accused Jessica of giving abortion pills to Celeste. Celeste Burgess was sentenced to 90 days in jail, while Jessica Burgess has been sentenced to two years in prison. Continue reading...

Prime minister's move criticised as salting the earth' so Birmingham-Crewe line cannot be builtA future Labour government would not be able to easily reverse Rishi Sunak's decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2 as he has spitefully" authorised the sale of properties that were subject to compulsory purchase orders on part of the route.Steve Rotheram, the mayor of the Liverpool city region, said the move killed HS2 stone dead" and would tie any future government's hands and make the delivery of HS2 for the north all but impossible". Continue reading...

Pristina claims Belgrade financed and supported last month's ambush by Serb paramilitaries on Kosovan policeKosovo will not re-enter talks to normalise relations with Serbia unless sanctions are imposed on Belgrade, the country's president has said, as she accused the Serbian government of pursuing a strategy straight from the book of [Slobodan] Miloevi."Speaking as she arrived at the summit of the European Political Community on Thursday, Vjosa Osmani ruled out more talks taking place until the US and EU put sanctions in place after a deadly gun battle last month in a northern Kosovo village. Continue reading...

Stock falls by 30% during trading as high street lender seeks to raise 350m to shore up its balance sheet

Among the dead is a brother of a lawmaker belonging to the same party as Marielle Franco, Rio politician shot dead in 2018Three doctors have been killed and another wounded in a beachside shooting in Rio de Janeiro, which Brazilian officials believe may have been a politically motivated attack.Security camera footage obtained by local newspaper O Globo showed a group of black-clad gunmen emerging from a car and running up to the victims' table in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood and opening fire. Continue reading...

Jessica Baker, 15, suffered instantaneous death after crash of coach driven by Stephen Shrimpton, who also diedA schoolgirl died after she was partially ejected from her school bus that landed on her after the driver suffered an event" at the wheel and the vehicle overturned on the motorway, a coroner's court has heard.Jessica Baker, 15, suffered instantaneous" death from catastrophic" injuries in the school-run coach crash on the northbound M53 near junction five at Hooton in Wirral on Friday. Continue reading...

Identities confirmed of 21 tourists killed when coach crashed through railings and fell 15 metres onto overpassThe identities of the 21 tourists who were killed in a coach crash near Venice, including nine Ukrainians, a toddler from Germany and a pregnant Croatian woman on honeymoon, have been confirmed, as controversy mounts over Italy's ageing road infrastructure.The coach crash - the second most deadly to have occurred in the country in the past decade - also cost the lives of a family of four from Romania, a couple in their mid-50s from Portugal, two Germans aged 28 and 32, a South African woman and the Italian driver. Continue reading...

Most company leaders also believe pay and promotions could become linked to workplace attendance

Policies did not ensure fair trial of postmasters accused of wrongdoing, says inquiry's prosecution leadThe Post Office did not provide adequate guidance and training to prosecutors who investigated branch operators accused of wrongdoing in the Horizon IT scandal, according to a criminal prosecutions expert.More than 700 post office operators were prosecuted in England and Wales between 1999 and 2015 for theft, fraud and false accounting because of faulty accounting software installed in the late 1990s. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak's promise depends on a substantial portion of the cost being met by third-party investment

Increase of 11% in year ending March 2023 may be due to comments in media and by politicians, says Home OfficeA record number of hate crimes were committed against transgender people last year in England and Wales, even as racist and homophobic hate crimes recorded by police fell for the first time on record.In the year ending March 2023, 4,732 hate crimes against transgender people were recorded - a rise of 11% on the previous year. The Home Office report said that comments by politicians and the media over the last year may have led to an increase in these offences. Continue reading...