New cabinet is designed to bring down the temperature in the party – but dangers lie ahead

Influencers Christopher Richwhite and Bridget Thackwray had disappeared after entering Iran in July and had been prevented from leavingTwo New Zealand social media influencers who were detained in Iran for almost four months have been released and have now left the country.Social media influencers Christopher “Topher” Richwhite and Bridget Thackwray were undertaking a trip called Expedition Earth in which they aimed to travel across 90 countries in a Jeep. The two recorded their travels with near-daily vlogs and Instagram posts, and documented their border crossing into Iran from Turkey in early July. Continue reading...

Judges commend Clémentine Schneidermann for simple series capturing neighbour in WalesA series of portraits documenting the mundane, daily chores of life in lockdown have won one of the world’s most prestigious photography prizes.The National Portrait Gallery has named French photographer Clémentine Schneidermann as winner of the 2022 Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize for her series Laundry Day. The photographer, who lives and works between Paris and south Wales, wins £15,000. Continue reading...

While new Tory leader’s rise reflects positive progress, reality of life in UK for ethnic minorities remains complex pictureIn 1969, the late Queen’s chief financial manager, Lord Tryon, told a Home Office civil servant that “it was not, in fact, the practice to appoint coloured immigrants or foreigners” to certain roles within the royal household. People from ethnic minority backgrounds were, however, allowed to work as domestic servants.The note was sent two months before Queen Elizabeth II invested her son Charles as the Prince of Wales. The UK’s rapid social and political change in the half-century that followed is best described with the official pronouncement made on Tuesday: Charles, now king, received the Tory leader, Rishi Sunak, a British South Asian and practising Hindu, to form a government and become Britain’s 57th prime minister. Continue reading...

Italy’s infrastructure minister says plan is one of his goals, despite cost, impracticability and seismic riskJust days after being nominated Italian infrastructure minister, Matteo Salvini has revived the ancient and controversial dream to build a gigantic, multi-billion-euro bridge linking Sicily to the mainland, in one of the areas with the highest seismic risk in Europe.On Monday, Salvini, the leader of the League, a junior partner in a far-right coalition that won September’s general election, told the Italian state broadcaster Rai he would put in motion the long-discussed plan of linking Messina to Reggio Calabria, despite the fact that the project was repeatedly rejected by previous governments because of high costs, engineering impracticability and environmental impact. Continue reading...

Third British PM in less than two months vows to prioritise economic stability after Liz Truss’s departure

Incident outside National Museum in Doha comes less than a month before start of men’s football World CupThe human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has been stopped by police in Qatar while staging a protest against the Gulf state’s criminalisation of LGBTQ+ people.Tatchell’s protest outside the National Museum of Qatar in the capital, Doha, comes less than a month before the start of the Fifa World Cup, which is expected to attract 1.2 million visitors from around the world. Continue reading...

World leaders laud the significance of Sunak’s victory as the UK’s first prime minister of colour

Labour leader says shadow cabinet should stick to tried and tested criticism of the new PM

Service says the move is aimed at encourage the return of borrowers who stopped using the library during the Covid pandemicLibraries in Peterborough are holding a fine amnesty to try to recover 22,000 missing books.The service, which runs 10 libraries across the area, will not fine anyone for returning overdue books and will clear accounts of debt. Continue reading...

Show portrays adventures of agent who wakes from cryogenic sleep to find himself in modern SpainThree years after the remains of Francisco Franco were finally removed from the granite chambers of the Valley of the Fallen, another relic of the dictatorial regime is stirring from a long slumber deep inside the monument’s damp and bone-stacked caverns.Fortunately, the relic in question is not a long-dead falangista but rather a fictional Francoist secret agent whose adventures in contemporary Spain have moved from the pages of three graphic novels to the small screen. Continue reading...

Sunak says UK is in ‘economic crisis’ and warns of ‘difficult decisions to come’ while heading off calls for general election

Remarks come as appointment prompts varying reactions in Indian media, with one channel calling it a ‘miracle’

Vyacheslav Boguslaev allegedly said he ‘completely understands’ why factory was bombed by Russia

Russian strikes in Donetsk kill seven civilians; car explodes near office of Kremlin propaganda channel; German president arrives in Kyiv

Third man still critically ill in hospital after reports of fatal fight in IlfordPolice are investigating a triple shooting in east London in which two men died and a third was critically injured.The Metropolitan police said the shots were fired in Ilford shortly after midnight on Tuesday. Police say they were called to reports of a fight in Henley Road, with the London ambulance service telling officers that they had also heard gunfire. Continue reading...

Bill Shorten says $126m earmarked in Labor’s October budget will help protect national disability insurance scheme ‘from crooks’

Outgoing PM tells successor he should continue cutting taxes and keep planned rise in defence spending

Albanese government unveils big boost to Pacific aid partly offset by axing Coalition’s agriculture visa while sparing defence from major cuts

As Rishi Sunak warns of a ‘profound economic challenge’, struggling departments face reduced budgetsAfter being named as Tory party leader and the next prime minister, Rishi Sunak warned MPs that the UK faced “a profound economic challenge”. Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, at least for now, has previously said no option is off the table when it comes to filling the £40bn black hole in the public finances identified by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). We look at how government departments would cope with spending cuts. Continue reading...

Former Home Office minister Victoria Atkins says levelling up, NHS and crime will be focus

Vitali Klitschko hopes to follow Poland and Hungary on path to greater prosperity and European integration

Colleagues pay tribute to 55-year-old GenX Radio Suffolk DJ, who died suddenly at home studioA radio presenter who died while presenting on air has been described as a “dear friend” and “all round lovely man” by those who worked with him.Tim Gough, 55, died suddenly while hosting the GenX Radio Suffolk breakfast show on Monday. Gough was thought to have been broadcasting from a studio at his home at the time. Continue reading...

Ex-chancellor to become third Tory prime minister in less than two months and fifth in six years

Multimillion-dollar study led by Dr Paul McCrory led to ‘confusion’ among player participants over tests and procedures, review says

‘Historic’ accord includes state and federal funding commitments for 20,000 new affordable dwellings

Farmers for Climate Action say the state government’s scheme could speed up the switch to renewables

Renaissance artist’s famous marble to form part of V&A exhibition exploring his cultural impactDonatello’s most famous marble sculpture, David, is to go on display in the UK for the first time as part of the country’s first exhibition of the Renaissance master’s work.Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance, which will be staged at the Victoria and Albert Museum, will feature other previously unseen works in Britain, offering a fresh vision of the artist and his impact on the the cultural and artistic development of 15th-century Italy. Continue reading...

Firms such as Apple, Google and Amazon could harm competition in UK’s sector, Financial Conduct Authority saysThe UK’s City watchdog is to examine how to regulate “big tech” companies such as Apple, Google and Amazon over fears they could harm competition in Britain’s financial services sector.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that big tech companies could provide innovations in financial services and drive down costs, but also expressed concerns that they could build dominant positions leading to the “potential exploitation of market power”, according to analysis published on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Despite public displays of loyalty by former opponents, the new PM’s honeymoon period is likely to be briefWhen Conservative MPs are asked privately if the party will pull itself out of a seemingly never-ending spiral of disunity now Rishi Sunak is at the helm, rather than reply with the affirmative, most instead say that “it can” or “it has to”.The new prime minister will expect to get a reprieve from colleagues’ acidic briefings as those who tried everything to keep him out of Downing Street slink away to lick their wounds and the more moderate doubters magnanimously fall into line. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Guardian analysis of hospital trust accounts found 101 owe about £50bn in future unitary PFI paymentsNHS trusts spent close to a half a billion pounds on interest charges from private companies for private finance initiative (PFI) contracts last year – equivalent to the salaries of 15,000 newly qualified nurses.Hospital groups spent £2.3bn on legacy PFI projects in 2020-21, of which just under £1bn went on costs for essential services such as cleaning and maintenance. A third of the remaining PFI spend – £457m – went purely on paying off interest charges. Continue reading...

Judge urges jury to make ‘a further attempt’ after ACT supreme court receives note indicating members ‘unable’ to agree

Kallista Mutten permitted to spend sentence in community for 2021 Blue Mountains robbery

Observers wonder whether there is anyone left in CCP to stop Chinese president making a rash moveXi Jinping’s purging of political rivals and elevation of loyalists to the top ranks of the Chinese Communist party has raised fears that his now unfettered and unquestionable power could increase the risk of an attack on Taiwan.Beijing has pledged to annex Taiwan under a disputed claim that it is a Chinese province, and in recent years has increased its military activity and other forms of harassment and coercion. No timeline has been set, but senior defence figures have said China could be capable of invasion as early as 2027. Others point to Xi’s pledge of “national rejuvenation” by 2047 – the centenary of the People’s Republic of China – as a potential goal. Continue reading...

Disgraced Hollywood producer denies accusations from five women who say he abused them between 2004 and 2013As Harvey Weinstein faces a new trial on multiple rape and sexual assault charges in Los Angeles, a prosecutor alleged a series of graphic rapes in hotel rooms across the city, and a group of women who were left terrified by Weinstein’s power within Hollywood.Opening statements began on Monday, with prosecutors in Los Angeles saying that eight women would testify about Weinstein’s alleged crimes, including Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary film-maker and actor who is now married to the governor of California, Gavin Newsom. Siebel Newsom alleges that Weinstein raped her during what she thought would be a business meeting in 2005, when she was a young actor trying to build her career. Continue reading...

Girlguiding survey finds girls and young women in the north of England are less likely to feel safe in their daily livesGirls and young women in the north of England feel less safe and less happy than their counterparts in London and the south, according to a survey by the Girlguiding charity, which is concerned about “stark” regional differences in attitudes.More than one in five (22%) girls and young women in the north aged 11-16 who took part in the survey published on Tuesday blamed fear of sexual harassment for holding them back at school. The figure was significantly lower at 16% in London and the south. Continue reading...

Man charged with murder of 15-year-old Cassius Turvey after police say alleged attacker approached a group of children as they were walking along the roadA man has been charged with the murder of a 15-year-old Aboriginal teenager in Perth, who police allege died from head injuries after being bashed with a metal pole.Police said teenager Cassius Turvey and a group of friends were approached by a 21-year-old man while walking home from school in Middle Swan on Perth’s outskirts on 13 October. Continue reading...

New prime minister likely to prioritise unity in offering ministerial jobs, although leading Trussites can expect the chopRishi Sunak has pledged to build a cabinet of all the talents but, given the swiftness of the leadership competition, relatively little has been briefed about his potential cabinet.His team say no roles have been promised to any backers and Sunak was in the enviable position as the frontrunner of not needing to promise roles to anyone. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak to meet monarch after Liz Truss chairs her final cabinet meeting at 9am

71-year-old member for Wakehurst on Sydney’s northern beaches says it’s time for a ‘new beginning’

Pair allegedly tried to bribe top US official as attorney general says DoJ ‘will not tolerate attempts to undermine the rule of law’Two Chinese intelligence officers tried to bribe a US law enforcement official as part of an effort to obtain inside information about a criminal case against the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, federal prosecutors alleged in an indictment unsealed on Monday.The announcement of charges against the two alleged agents came as attorney general Merrick Garland detailed two other cases in which Chinese intelligence operatives harassed dissidents inside the United States and pressured US academics to work for them. Continue reading...

New Tory leader says he will put an end to party’s psychodrama and focus on ‘policies not personalities’

Practicals may be sorted, yet Truss will face her most difficult task, carving out role on Tory backbench as former PM

Antisemitic comments from US rapper have led to the shelving of a finished documentary and major talent agency CAA cutting ties as ex-wife calls hate speech ‘never ok’A completed documentary about Kanye West, also known as Ye, has been scrapped amid concern and industry backlash over the rapper’s string of antisemitic statements in recent weeks.“This morning, after discussion with our film-makers and distribution partners, we made the decision not to proceed with any distribution for our recently completed documentary about Kanye West,” the co-leaders of film and television studio MRC – Modi Wiczyk, Asif Satchu and Scott Tenley – wrote in a statement on Monday. “We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform.” Continue reading...

US says Russia keeping lines of communication open after meeting between defense secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu. This live blog is now closed

Members at South Western Rail, Southeastern, West Midlands Trains, Northern and Great Western will strike starting from 3 NovemberA rail union has announced nearly a week of industrial action, including strikes in November in their ongoing dispute over pay, job security and conditions.Thousands of members of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association at Network Rail will strike on Thursday 3 November, Saturday 5 November and Monday 7 November, while members at individual train companies will take strike action and action short of strike on 3, 7 and 8 November. Continue reading...

Owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield argued right to free speech and expression of religion trumps anti-discrimination lawA California judge has ruled in favor of a bakery owner who refused to make wedding cakes for a same-sex couple because it violated her Christian beliefs.California’s department of fair housing and employment had sued Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, arguing that owner Cathy Miller intentionally discriminated against the couple in violation of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. Continue reading...

Death of Anthony Bird in 1980 had remained a mystery until John Paul gave himself up to police in 2021A man is facing life behind bars after walking into a police station and confessing to a murder from more than 40 years ago.Anthony Bird, a 42-year-old porter and part-time barman, was found naked with his wrists bound at his flat in Kensington Gardens Square, west London, on 6 June 1980. Continue reading...

Allies show evidence MP had almost 100 backers and blame Boris Johnson for thwarting her campaign

Reported attack by military comes days before Asean meeting to discuss widening violence in countryMyanmar’s military has killed 60 people, including musicians, in a devastating airstrike that targeted a concert held by a rebel faction of the country’s minority Kachin ethnic group, according to organisers and a rescue worker.The reported attack came three days before south-east Asian foreign ministers were due to attend a special meeting in Indonesia to discuss the widening violence in the country. Continue reading...