World news | The Guardian

Geordie singer-songwriter's album reached No 1 on the UK album chart and led to a series of stadium-sized concerts this summerSam Fender is the winner of the 2025 Mercury prize, for his chart-topping album People Watching.Announcing the award, Sian Eleri, BBC radio DJ and one of the judges on the judging panel, said the album was characterised by cohesion, character and ambition. It felt like a classic album, one that will take pride of place in record collections for years to come." Continue reading...

Presiding bishop Olav Fykse Tveit says discrimination and harassment should never have happened'Against a backdrop of red stage curtains at one of Oslo's most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Church of Norway apologised for the discrimination and harm it had inflicted.The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain," the presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, said on Thursday. This should never have happened and that is why I apologise today." Continue reading...

In an interview, Salvador Illa tells of pragmatic approach' as he seeks to persuade voters about benefits of coexistence with MadridCatalonia's Socialist president has said his party's focus on tackling inequality can win over voters who are tempted by pro-independence and far-right voices as he seeks to persuade Catalans of the benefits of coexistence with the central government in Madrid after years of turmoil.Salvador Illa, a close ally of Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has been in the post since August 2024 and leads the first Catalan parliament in 44 years without a pro-independence majority. Continue reading...

Thousands gather in Nairobi to pay respects to veteran opposition leader, prompting chaotic scenes at stadiumFour people have been killed in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, after security forces fired shots and teargas to disperse huge crowds at a stadium where the body of the opposition leader Raila Odinga was lying in state.Odinga, a major figure in Kenyan politics for decades who was once a political prisoner and ran unsuccessfully for president five times, died on Wednesday aged 80 in India, where he had been receiving medical treatment. Continue reading...

Downing Street says had Starmer intervened he would have been interfering in a case related to a previous governmentWard says that no minister or special adviser played any role in the provision of evidence" under this government. He says he cannot say if that was the case under the last government.There is a lot of jeering at this. The Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, reprimands Tom Tugendhat for his interruption. Continue reading...

After years of openly coveting role as most senior prosecutor in England and Wales, Parkinson now finds himself in firing line over collapsed caseStephen Parkinson dreamed of being the most senior prosecutor in England and Wales before he even qualified as a barrister, but now finds himself in a situation more akin to a nightmare.As the director of public prosecutions (DPP), Parkinson is facing questions over why he felt he could not proceed with the trial of two men accused of spying for China. He said the case was dropped because prosecutors had tried and failed to obtain a witness statement from the government stating that China posed a current threat to the national security of the UK". Continue reading...

Kanchha Sherpa was part of expedition that put Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary atop world's highest peak in 1953Kanchha Sherpa, the last surviving member of the mountaineering expedition team that first conquered Mount Everest, has died at the age of 92, according to the Nepal Mountaineering Association.Kanchha died early on Thursday at his home in Kapan, Kathmandu district, said Phur Gelje Sherpa, the association's president. Continue reading...

Louise Shackleton says she faced excruciating pressure' after CPS decides prosecution not in public interestA woman who accompanied her husband to an assisted dying clinic in Switzerland has been told she will not face charges.Louise Shackleton, 59, handed herself in to police on return from Dignitas after her husband's death last December. North Yorkshire police said this week that although the Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was evidence of assisted suicide, it was not in the public interest to prosecute her. Continue reading...

Lib Dems accuse Reform leader of wanting to water down women's rights after reports of help from advocacy groupNigel Farage has been urged to explain why a US anti-abortion advocacy group helped arrange a meeting in London with Trump administration officials and diplomats.The meeting, first reported by the New York Times, took place in March between Farage and a delegation from Trump's state department, which it said was overseen by the US embassy and brokered by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) group. The meeting was said to have discussed abortion rights, free speech and online safety laws. Continue reading...

Sue Rizzello is among thousands in UK suing the firm, which denies selling baby powder containing asbestos

Party tries to reassure MPs over build and function of the scheme and gather ideas for how it could improve public services

Proposed timeframe leaves 12 days to scrutinise most significant changes to national environmental protection regime since 1999

Stories Matter strategy responds to urgent pressures such as declining reading rates and growing impact of digital media on publishing, minister says

Chancellor adds she wants to get the balance right' and not deter wealthy people from making the UK their homeRachel Reeves has said those with the broadest shoulders" should pay their fair share" into the exchequer, as she prepares to raise taxes in next month's budget.The chancellor is expected to deliver a package of tax increases and spending cuts on 26 November to meet her fiscal rules in the face of deteriorating forecasts from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Continue reading...

Martin Hewitt tells MPs political instability' is factor in failure to roll out more interventionist tactics

Rule would require adopted children born abroad to prove substantial connection' to Canada to pass on citizenshipCanadian parents of children adopted abroad say a proposed citizenship bill represents a shocking and unconscionable" erosion of their children's rights by the governing Liberals.The federal government is in the midst of overhauling the Citizenship Act so Canadians born abroad can pass citizenship to further generations born abroad. The bill would also restore or grant citizenship descendants who were excluded under older citizenship laws. Continue reading...

Barrister finds multiple procedural failures' in payment to Cate Saunders, who had close' relationship with former DPS secretary

Melbourne man Zivan Radmanovic, 32, was fatally gunned down in a Bali villa in June

Watchdog says some business and practitioners are taking advantage of the compassionate release of superannuation process

This blog is now closed

A resilient labour market is the jewel in Labor's crown when it comes to its economic record. Is this month's data a blip, or the start of something bigger?

Exclusive: Articles about Sam and Brittany Groth failed to include key comments, documents filed in defamation and privacy case say

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent raises possibility of taking more direct stakes in companies to protect national security in wake of Beijing's curbs on rare earths exportsThe Trump administration has criticised China's increased restrictions on rare earth exports as a threat to global supply chains, and said it would seek to tighten control over strategic sectors by taking more stakes in key companies to counter Beijing.Treasury secretary Scott Bessent told an event on Wednesday that China's dramatic new restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets demonstrated the need for the US to be self-sufficient in critical materials or rely more on trusted allies. Continue reading...

GP services will end at the Collingwood, Fitzroy, and Kensington sites in December

An additional 60 South Koreans remain detained by Cambodian authorities after a crackdown on scam operationsSouth Korea has issued its most serious travel warning for parts of Cambodia, issuing a code black" ban that orders citizens to leave areas in which the government has identified surging employment scams and detention cases targeting its nationals.The travel prohibition covers the border towns of Poipet and Bavet, along with the Bokor Mountain region in Kampot province, 140km south-west of Phnom Penh, where a 22-year-old Korean student was allegedly tortured to death in August. Continue reading...

There's no question Victoria has a crime problem, but the federal Coalition parachuting in with little more than talking points is not the answer

Documents reveal messages between the accused pair warning: You're in spy territory now'The Crown Prosecution Service abandoned a case against two Britons accused of spying for China despite being told by the UK's deputy national security adviser that Beijing's intelligence agencies harm the interests and security of the UK".Three witness statements were released by Keir Starmer on Wednesday night in an effort to draw a line under a row over why the case was dropped against the two, one of whom also warned the other in a message: You're in spy territory now." Continue reading...

Netanyahu says Israeli military receive two bodies; Trump says as soon as I say the word' Israel would resume Gaza attacks

Outside the supreme court, protesters invoked the legacy of civil rights giants with a key Voting Rights Act plank at stakeWearing a T-shirt proclaiming We won't Black down", Wanda Mosley had made the trip from Atlanta. I had to be here because the Voting Rights Act is on life support," the 55-year-old explained. Today the court will synthesise the arguments and decide if they're going to kill it - or allow it to live."Mosley was among a few hundred protesters who gathered in warm October sunshine outside the supreme court on Wednesday. Inside the building, whose facade was obscured by scaffolding, justices were weighing arguments in a case involving Louisiana electoral districts and section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Continue reading...

Democrats and Republicans accused each other of inflexibility, while federal workers face disrupted paychecksThe government shutdown festered into its third week on Wednesday after lawmakers failed to advance legislation that would restore funding, with Republicans and Democrats still at odds over spending priorities and healthcare provisions.The ninth failed Senate vote came as the parties gathered separately at the Capitol to accuse one another of being inflexible, while military families - and federal workers more broadly - face the prospect of disrupted paychecks by month's end. Continue reading...

Army assumed power after parliament voted to impeach Andry Rajoelina following widespread protestsMadagascar's new military ruler will be sworn in as the country's president on Friday, the military said on Wednesday, as the African Union suspended the island nation after a coup that ousted President Andry Rajoelina.The Indian Ocean nation has been plunged into its worst political upheaval in years after the elite Capsat army unit assumed power on Tuesday, moments after parliament voted to impeach Rajoelina, who appeared to have fled the country as street protests escalated. Continue reading...

Campaigners say go-ahead for theme park' attraction in quarry could imperil area's Unesco world heritage statusPlans to create an underground zip wire experience in a 19th-century Lake District slate quarry have been given the go-ahead by a high court judge.On Wednesday, Mr Justice Mould delivered a ruling that could bring an end to a long-running battle that has generated discussion about how people can and should experience national parks. Continue reading...

Radosaw Sikorski says Putin consolidated western opinion against him with the incursion into PolandPoland's foreign minister has accused Russia of a tactically stupid and counterproductive" escalation of the war in Ukraine, saying its drone incursion into Poland last month appeared to be deliberate.Radosaw Sikorski, on a visit to London, said all Vladimir Putin had achieved with the incursion was a consolidation of western opinion against him. He also dismissed Russian concerns that supplying US Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine would be unnecessarily provocative. Continue reading...

Review of screenplay, novel, and comics suggests film-makers made late decision to make diminutive Jedi master greenYou must unlearn what you have learned," Jedi master Yoda instructed his stubborn apprentice, Luke Skywalker. And now Star Wars fans may have to do the same after confirmation that the beloved fictional alien was very nearly blue, or even purple.Reviews of archival sources - and new testimony from a special effects makeup artist who worked on the first Yoda puppets - suggest film-makers made a decision late in the development process to switch the character's skin colour to green. Continue reading...

Michael Moore, Lynn Nottage, Ava DuVernay and Amanda Palmer will take part in an event series to unite in defiance'Artists and artistic organisations around the US are set to take part in a series of protests and events to speak out against Donald Trump and his administration.According to the New York Times, the acts of creative resistance" will be known as the Fall of Freedom and will take place on 21 and 22 November. Continue reading...

EHRC writes to Bridget Phillipson over implementation of code on single-sex public spaces after supreme court rulingThe equalities watchdog has taken the unusual step of publicly urging ministers to act with speed" in implementing guidance on how institutions should respond to the landmark supreme court ruling on transgender people's rights.The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it had written to Bridget Phillipson, the equalities minister, pointing out it had sent the guidance six weeks ago, warning that as things stand, there is no legally accurate advice available. Continue reading...

Bank joins smaller competitors in changing interest-related restrictions on some accounts - despite RBA leaving interest rates unchanged in September

Villagers in Lustleigh ask council why it has taken filming of TV adaptation of JK Rowling books to secure street repairsResidents of cities, towns and villages across the UK complain their lives are blighted by the plague of potholes. But life in one small village on a moor in the English West Country is going a little more smoothly after some of its potholes were repaired as if by magic.Scenes for the new HBO adaptation of the Harry Potter books are due to be filmed in Lustleigh, Devon, and the film-makers have filled in at least some of the potholes in the area. Continue reading...

Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority reduce deferral period from eight years to four

Communications regulator finds millions of important letters are arriving late' and persistent failures'

Odinga, who ran five times for presidency and had profound influence on Kenyan politics, has died in IndiaThe veteran Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, who ran five times for the presidency and had a profound influence on the country's politics, has died aged 80 in India.An Indian police source told Agence France-Presse he was walking with his sister, daughter, a personal doctor and two security officers when he suddenly collapsed" and was taken to hospital where he was declared dead. Continue reading...

Habit of rising early for livestreams growing rapidly, suggesting Brazil is testing ground for religious influencersPsychologist Claudia Rodrigues de Oliveira Barbosa, 54, needs to be at work by 7.40am, but she wakes up at 3.40am - not because she has a lengthy commute, but to watch a dawn prayer" livestream on YouTube.She is one of the millions of Brazilians who tune in to the 4am sermons of Catholic friar Gilson da Silva Pupo Azevedo, 38, known as Frei Gilson, who has recently averaged an impressive 2m daily views for each video. Continue reading...

Search teams look for Daryl Fong in Mount Field national park, while Peter Willoughby has been missing for 10 days in Hollybank forest reserve

Active pension scheme expected to start in January is part of chancellor's autumn of reforms' to tackle economic stagnationGermans who continue in the labour market beyond retirement age will be able to earn up to 1,750 (2,000) a month tax-free on top of their pension under a scheme aimed at boosting economic growth and labour force participation rates.The Aktivrente", or active pension scheme, due to come into force in January, was promised on the campaign trail by the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, before he came into office five months ago. Continue reading...

Chinese president is behind patriarchal turn in politics with activists silenced for promoting gender antagonism'Addressing dignitaries gathered in Beijing on Monday, Xi Jinping praised the historic achievements" of women's rights in China. In the past 30 years, the Chinese president said, maternal mortality rates had dropped by nearly 80%, and women were now participating in the project of national governance with unprecedented confidence and vigour".Xi was speaking at the global women's summit, an event on Monday and Tuesday to mark the 30th anniversary of the historic UN's world conference on women, which took place in Beijing. It was there in 1995 that Hillary Clinton, the then US first lady, delivered her women's rights are human rights" speech, lines now often quoted by people in China advocating for women's rights. Continue reading...

Coroner decries profoundly distressing milestone' as state surpasses yearly record after only nine months, with expert saying tough on crime measures compounding problem

Study of female runners in Canada highlights shortcomings of footwear traditionally based on male anatomySports footwear manufacturers are being urged to ditch the shrink it and pink it" approach when it comes to women's running shoes.Over the past five decades, brands have invested billions of dollars into the development trainers that prevent injury, maximise comfort and boost performance. Continue reading...

Hamas accused of breaching agreement by withholding bodies of hostages but Palestinian militants say they face obstacles in retrieving themThe fragile ceasefire in Gaza faced its first test on Tuesday when Israel said the flow of aid into the devastated Palestinian territory would be cut by half and the crucial Rafah border crossing with Egypt would not open as planned, blaming Hamas for delays in the return of bodies of hostages.The militant group handed over the remains of four hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday night, bringing to eight the number of bodies transferred since the US-brokered ceasefire took hold, leaving 20 to be accounted for. Hamas said it was facing obstacles as not all the burial sites had been identified. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. You can read our latest coverage here: