Three guest panellists give their verdict on how the parties performed in the opening week of the campaign

Police watchdog says it has launched two investigations into the Civil Nuclear Constabulary officersNine police officers are being investigated for the alleged use of discriminatory language while on duty, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has said.In a statement on Friday, the IOPC said it has launched two investigations into the officers – who belong to the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) – for allegedly engaging in conversations of a racist, misogynistic, ableist and offensive nature. Continue reading...

Wisdom of cabinet return called into question after former chief whip ‘complains’ about conductGavin Williamson is facing a complaint that he sent “vile” and “threatening” messages to former chief whip Wendy Morton, raising questions over Rishi Sunak’s decision to reappoint the twice-sacked Tory.Morton is believed to have made a formal complaint to the Conservative party over claims of Williamson’s behaviour to her in the final days of Liz Truss’s government. Continue reading...

Stakes raised on Friday as clashes erupt between police and protesters in cities across PakistanHundreds of police officers equipped with teargas hurriedly took positions near a junction connecting Islamabad with its twin city of Rawalpindi as a group of protesters burned wood and chanted slogans on Friday.The two groups edged towards each other, and then the protesters hurled stones at the police, who responded with teargas rounds. Not long afterwards, the protesters dispersed, and police reopened the junction to traffic. Continue reading...

Indian firm from which Rishi Sunak’s wife collects £11.5m in annual dividends retains staffed Moscow office

Detained students could face death penalty, human rights groups report, with at least 277 people killed as protests enter eighth weekIran’s security forces have launched a series of attacks on university students at campuses across the country with dozens of students being arrested, according to the Students’ Union of Iran.According to student organisations and human rights groups, the attacks on universities intensified this week as young people gathered to mark 40 days since Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iran’s morality police in September. The death of the 22-year-old woman sparked eight weeks of nationwide protests against the regime. The highly symbolic 40th day traditionally marks the end of mourning. Continue reading...

The multi-hyphenate was known for directing 1996’s Emma, co-writing Bullets Over Broadway and writing the book for Beautiful: The Carole King MusicalWriter, director and actor Douglas McGrath has died at the age of 64.The Tony and Oscar nominee had been recently starring in the autobiographical off-Broadway show Everything’s Fine that he had also written. His death on 3 November was announced by the show’s producers Daryl Roth, Tom Werner and John Lithgow, who was also directing. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more on this story hereThe Downing Street lobby briefing is over, and the prime minister’s spokesperson has just shot down reports that the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power plant could be shelved.This morning the BBC was leading the news with a story saying this was an option. A government official told Simon Jack, the BBC’s business editor: “We are reviewing every major project – including Sizewell C.”I’ve seen some reporting on that, but it is not accurate to say we are scrapping it. Our position on Sizewell C has not changed. It remains crucial to ending our reliance on fossil fuels, increasing our energy security and meeting our net zero ambitions.We hope to get a deal over the line as soon as possible. There are negotiations are ongoing. Negotiations have been constructive. Continue reading...

Planned Parenthood struggles to keep up with demand from patients crossing state lines to access legal abortionsThe supreme court’s reversal of Roe v Wade has “broken” the abortion ecosystem in the US, according to executives of a Kansas clinic that opened just days after the landmark ruling in June.The warning comes four days ahead of the pivotal midterm elections, in which Democrats have sought to make abortion rights a central issue. Continue reading...

Move comes after Canada’s most populous province fast-tracked bill that fines striking workers C$4,000 a dayMore than 55,000 education workers in Ontario have walked off the job, pledging to strike for “as long as it takes” in defiance a “draconian” new law amid a bitter fight with the provincial government over pay.The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents custodial staff, early childhood education and education support workers, launched the strike on Friday, despite legislation fast-tracked by the Ontario premier, Doug Ford, that bars it from striking and unilaterally imposes a contract on employees. Continue reading...

Xi Jinping tells Olaf Scholz of the need for greater cooperation during ‘times of change and turmoil’

Figures show 13 alcohol-induced deaths per 100,000 Americans in 2020 – highest rate recorded in at least 40 yearsThe rate of deaths that can be directly attributed to alcohol rose nearly 30% in the US during the first year of the Covid pandemic, according to new government data.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had already said the overall number of such deaths rose in 2020 and 2021. Continue reading...

Bamford family has contributed almost £50k to ex-PM’s lifestyle since July, register of MPs’ interests shows

Russia digs in against expected attempt by Ukraine to take key southern city, setting scene for possible ferocious battle

Scottish first minister defends decision to give £97m contract in 2016 to financier Jim McCollNicola Sturgeon has “utterly” refuted allegations that a decision to award a major ferries contract to an ally of the Scottish government was “jobs for the boys”.The first minister told MSPs there was nothing improper about her government’s decision to give a £97m contract to build two ferries in 2016 to Jim McColl, a financier who had advised Scottish ministers on the economy and was a political ally of her predecessor, Alex Salmond. Continue reading...

Band’s track Food for Thought highlights poverty crisis with concertgoers asked to bring items for Trussell TrustFor years he was in his own “bubble of success”, blissfully unaware of the impact of politics on average people.Now, the Squeeze singer Glenn Tilbrook and his band are drawing attention to the poverty crisis blighting the lives of millions across the UK. Continue reading...

English National Opera to create new base, possibly in Manchester, but will still manage ColiseumThe English National Opera, one of the country’s cultural flagships, is to relocate outside London. It announced the move as the main funding body for the arts in England unveiled a new three-year settlement diverting cash away from the capital.The opera house will be given a grant of £17m by Arts Council England (ACE) to develop a new business model in its new home after its general funding was cut to zero in the grants announced on Friday. Continue reading...

Sebastián Lelio’s drama The Wonder also scores a host of nods, with Paul Mescal and Florence Pugh both up for acting awardsThe father-daughter drama Aftersun has emerged as a leading contender at this year’s British independent film awards (Bifas). Charlotte Wells’s film has been nominated in 16 categories, while the 80s-set homophobia drama Blue Jean and Sebastián Lelio’s period tale The Wonder are up for 12 and 13 awards respectively.Although both are yet to be released in cinemas, Aftersun and Blue Jean (directed by Georgia Oakley) have already made a considerable impression on the festival circuit. Aftersun featured at Cannes, where the Guardian’s chief film critic Peter Bradshaw gave it five stars and described it as “a rather amazing feature debut”. Bradshaw called Blue Jean “watchable and engaged with the issues” after its debut at the Venice film festival. Continue reading...

Official inquiry finds 'no reason to suspect PM of unlawful conduct or of neglect of her official duties’The Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, has been cleared of misconduct following an official inquiry after a leaked video showed the 36-year-old partying last August.Dozens of complaints were filed to Finland’s chancellor of justice after the premier was shown dancing and partying with friends and celebrities, driving global headlines. Continue reading...

Sir Graham Brady says ex-PM hit threshold of nominations to secure place on final ballot in Tory leadership raceThe chair of the committee of Conservative backbenchers has suggested the former prime minister Boris Johnson had the backing of enough MPs to mount a challenge to Rishi Sunak in last month’s leadership contest.Johnson dropped out of the race, claiming he had the nominations needed to make it on to the ballot paper but could not unite the party. Continue reading...

Fair Work Commission announces 15% increase after accepting sector’s workers are underpaid. This blog is now closed

Fair Work Commission accepts that ‘feminised industries’ such as care work have been ‘historically undervalued’

Outgoing coalition suffers poor election result as some parties of the left lose voice in Knesset altogetherIsrael’s leftwing and pro-Arab-rights parties have been left licking their wounds in the aftermath of this week’s election. When vote-counting finished on Thursday, the former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right partners had won by a comfortable majority.Last summer a broad coalition succeeded in their mutual desire to kick Netanyahu, leader of Likud, out of office. He is currently standing trial on corruption charges. Continue reading...

Prime minister says the millions of dollars that would pay for the campaign could be used by companies to ‘pay workers better’

Volodymyr Zelenskiy says findings are ‘clear and irrefutable’ after IAEA finds no evidence of undeclared nuclear activities and materialsThe UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed it found no sign of undeclared nuclear activity after inspecting three sites at Ukraine’s request in response to Russian allegations that work was being done on a “dirty bomb”.Moscow has accused Ukraine of planning to use such a bomb – a conventional explosive device laced with radioactive material – and said institutes linked to the nuclear industry were involved in preparations, without presenting evidence. Ukraine’s government denies the accusation. Continue reading...

Interest rates will likely continue to rise to subdue inflation, bank’s quarterly statement says

Advocates concerned for the elderly, ill and dying renew calls for an urgent reset, streamlining processes while maintaining sensitivity

Andrei Kelin says Britain ‘too deep in this conflict’ as speculation grows over Russian withdrawal from Kherson regionThe Russian ambassador to the UK has claimed UK special forces were involved in a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow’s Black Sea fleet.Andrei Kelin told Sky News: “We perfectly know about [the] participation of British specialists in [the] training, preparation and execution of violence against the Russian infrastructure and the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. We know that it has been done.” Continue reading...

Video footage showed Robert Browne, 56, hurling abuse at man on a street in CheadleA former soldier has pleaded guilty to a racist assault on a man of Asian heritage after chasing him down the street with two umbrellas and using a racial slur.Robert Browne, 56, pleaded guilty on Thursday at Tameside magistrates court to racially/religiously aggravated common assault/beating on 26 July this year after a video showed him hurling racist abuse at a man and striking him with umbrellas. A second charge was withdrawn. Continue reading...

Officials are also looking at incorporating cut in tax-free allowance for dividends into autumn statementTreasury officials are examining whether the autumn statement could include changes to non-dom status and moves to raise taxes on dividends by cutting tax-free allowances.No final decisions have been taken but Whitehall sources said options were being examined by the Treasury’s high net worth individuals policy team. Continue reading...

Miner hit with largest ever UK legal penalty for a company over ‘endemic’ corruption at African oil trading deskThe mining and commodities giant Glencore will be forced to pay £281m in fines, confiscated profits and costs as punishment for “sustained criminality”, the largest ever payment imposed on a company in a UK court.A judge at Southwark crown court in London on Thursday said offences by a UK subsidiary of Glencore showed high culpability for the “highly corrosive” offence of bribery. Continue reading...

Yellow warnings issued for parts of south Wales and England after downpours disrupt travel on ThursdayFurther disruption is expected as parts of Britain face thunderstorms after torrential downpours led to rush-hour flooding.New weather warnings have been issued for heavy showers and thunderstorms on Thursday evening, which the Met Office said are likely to bring some disruption. Continue reading...

Exclusive: CT Group, co-owned by Lynton Crosby, planned secretive African campaign on behalf of Canadian mining giantA lobbying firm with deep ties to the Conservative party planned a secretive campaign to influence elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in exchange for millions of pounds from a mining company.Leaked documents suggest the influential firm co-owned by the veteran Tory strategist Sir Lynton Crosby agreed to help the mining company swing a presidential election in the central African country. Continue reading...

‘Systemic’ failures at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys trust found to have contributed to self-inflicted deaths

‘Treated him to the old illegal shoulder charge,’ Northern Territory police officer wrote in text message, inquiry hears

Former inmate, who claimed to be only man to escape from Strangeways, joined paper at 60 and worked to expose cruelty of prison systemEric Allison, who became the Guardian’s prison correspondent aged 60 after spending much of his life in jail, has died. He had been recently diagnosed with secondary bone cancer and was 79.Allison, who claimed to be the only man to ever escape from Strangeways prison in Manchester, joined the Guardian in 2003 after serving multiple jail terms for fraud, theft and burglary. Continue reading...

Siswo Pramono said the two countries remained in close talks on ensuring the safety of Australia’s plans to acquire nuclear-powered submarines

There was a stark contrast between Daniel Andrews and Matthew Guy when they hit the hustings

Household earnings are taking a hit with many reporting a real pay cut despite working more hours

Forces reportedly told parents of Ghazaleh Chalabi, who died after being shot, they would withhold her body ‘if they made a noise’The parents of an Iranian woman who died six days after being shot while filming protests in her home town have been subjected to a sustained harassment campaign by security forces, a relative and a friend of the family have told the Guardian.Ghazaleh Chalabi, 33, was shot in the head in Amol on 21 September. A commemoration to mark the 40th day since her death – the end of the traditional mourning period in Islam – will be held on Thursday. Continue reading...

On Tuesday, President Guillermo Lasso announced a curfew under a new state of emergency in Guayas and Esmeralda regionsThe week began with the discovery of two headless bodies, left dangling from a pedestrian bridge. Then prison guards were taken hostage by inmates, nine car bombs detonated in two coastal cities and five police officers were shot dead.The string of horrifying attacks across Ecuador this week would once have been unthinkable, but this kind of bloodletting is now becoming almost routine in the Andean country, as gang violence escalates to levels never seen before. Continue reading...

Handover ceremony comes after turbulent year when Pacific country signed controversial security agreement with ChinaAustralia has announced the donation of police vehicles and 60 MK18 rifles to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) in a move described as a “game changer” for Australia’s relationship with Solomon Islands police.The announcement comes after a turbulent year in the relationship between Australia and Solomon Islands, particularly on the question of security, after the Pacific country signed a controversial and secretive security agreement with China. Continue reading...

Pesticide Action Network calls for urgent action after analysis shows 50% increase in pesticide cocktailsHalf of bread sold in the UK contains at least two different pesticides, government data has revealed.According to analysis by Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN), this is a rise of 50% from last year, and a major increase over the past decade when, on average, roughly 25% of bread has been found to contain pesticide cocktails. Continue reading...

Girl became separated from parents and disembarked on island of Lampedusa after 26 hours at seaA four-year-old girl who was separated from her parents as they tried to board a migrant boat from Tunisia to Italy was forced to make the journey across the Mediterranean without them.The girl, referred to as Linda by Italian authorities, disembarked on the island of Lampedusa on 17 October after 26 hours at sea on a crowded wooden boat carrying a further 70 asylum seekers from Tunisia. Continue reading...

One missile landed close to South Korean territorial waters, south of the Northern Limit Line, military chiefs in Seoul say

Agent general to the UK tells inquiry of ‘open and frank’ discussion about salary and the London role with the then deputy premierThe New South Wales agent general to the UK, Stephen Cartwright, has refuted claims that his appointment was a case of “jobs for mates”, after being encouraged to apply by the then deputy premier, John Barilaro.Speaking from London before a long-running parliamentary probe into the appointment of senior trade positions, Cartwright said he had been approached by Barilaro about the job in February 2021 and encouraged to “throw [his] hat in the ring”. Continue reading...

Mette Frederiksen, the incumbent PM, can form government though may face dilemma over picking leftwingers or moderates as partnersDenmark’s left-leaning bloc will maintain a slim majority in parliament after all votes in a general election were counted, paving the way for another term for the incumbent prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, and her Social Democratic party.The Social Democrats again became the biggest force in parliament with 27.5% of votes, the party’s best election in more than two decades. Continue reading...

Food blogger was played by Amy Adams in the film inspired by her memoir, about attempting to cook more than 500 Julia Child recipes in a yearJulie Powell, the food blogger best known for her cooking memoir, Julie & Julia, which inspired a film starring Meryl Streep, has died at the age of 49.Her husband, Eric Powell, confirmed to the New York Times that she died of cardiac arrest caused by heart arrhythmia at their home in Olivebridge in upstate New York on 26 October. Continue reading...

People with unhealthy sleep patterns have increased risk of developing eye diseaseSleeping too little or too much, snoring, daytime sleepiness and insomnia may all increase the risk of glaucoma, a common eye condition that affects millions of people and can lead to blindness, according to a decade-long study.It is well known that sleeping badly can affect judgment, mood, ability to learn and retain information, and may increase the risk of serious accidents and injury. Continue reading...

Duchess of Sussex says the exam ‘is so hard’ on new episode of her podcast ArchetypesThe Duchess of Sussex has said Prince Harry was unable to answer questions on the British citizenship exam because they were too hard.The duchess said she began studying for the exam while living in Britain after the couple got engaged in November 2017, with the intention of applying for indefinite leave to remain and then citizenship. Continue reading...