World news | The Guardian

Observers struck by Charles’s composure, pen incidents aside, as he completes exhausting round of official duties

Train operators are understood to have been notified of two 24-hour walkouts on 1 and 5 OctoberDisruption to rail services across Britain will resume after the Queen’s funeral, with drivers at 12 train operating companies staging further coordinated strikes at the start of October.Operators are understood to have been notified of two 24-hour walkouts on 1 and 5 October, which would affect services across the country and bring rail chaos at the beginning and end of the Conservative party conference in Birmingham. Continue reading...

With large numbers expected for funeral, there will be ‘welfare trains’ on platforms for vulnerable people

Artist and activist tells event in London he is not clear in own mind about whether struggles for freedom were ‘worth it’The Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has said his desire to be reunited with his 90-year-old mother could lead him to return to China, but that she has implored him not to give up his British exile.The sculptor and activist, who divides his time between Cambridge and Portugal, spent 81 days in custody in Beijing in 2011 and fled his home country four years later on the return of his passport. Continue reading...

Mass burial site with 440 bodies found in recaptured Izium; Ukraine strikes occupied Kherson, damaging pro-Russian administration buildings; Prosecutor general of separatist LPR killed by bomb in officeSee all our Ukraine coverage Continue reading...

Ascension of King Charles III has prompted renewed questioning of a British monarch as head of stateIn a crisp black suit, white shirt and black tie, Daniel Pryce reached the end of a mile-long driveway flanked by palm trees and clipped lawns. He had come to King’s House to perform his duty, as he put it, by signing a book of condolence for the Queen, whom he served as equerry on her final visit to Jamaica in 2002.“The very last moment of that visit, as she was about to alight the aircraft, she turned around and she shook my hand and she said ‘Thank you, Daniel’,” the 58-year-old recalled on Tuesday as flags flew at half mast in serene sunshine. “It was the first time she referred to me by my first name and that was special for me.” Continue reading...

William and Harry to be in uniform, accompanied by other grandchildren in morning suits and formal dresses

Commons Speaker moves after sanctions imposed on British MPs, but Chinese vice-president may be allowed

Ex-officer was head of army base in Iguala when students were abducted in what a report called a ‘state crime’Mexican authorities have arrested a retired general and two other members of the army for alleged links to the disappearance of 43 students in the south of the country in 2014.The assistant public safety secretary, Ricardo Mejia, said that among those arrested was the former officer who commanded the army base in the Guerrero state city of Iguala in September 2014, when the students from a radical teachers’ college were abducted. Continue reading...

Boyle took unprecedented step of invoking Australia’s whistleblower protections after exposing tax agency’s aggressive debt collecting practices in 2018

More than a dozen people rescued from flood waters in NSW while severe weather warning issued in western Victoria

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announces 200 new crisis accommodation units as prelude to upcoming housing summit

Interstate ticketholders for Saturday’s AFL preliminary final in Sydney had to think outside the box to get there

Newcastle parent April Long says it was shocking to discover 2021 census asked where their child’s ‘mother and father’ were bornThe Australian Bureau of Statistics and Michael Sukkar, a former Morrison government minister, have been accused of breaching discrimination laws in their handling of the 2021 census.In a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission, Newcastle parent April Long says they felt excluded when answering the 2021 survey with partner Kelly given there was no question about sexual orientation. Continue reading...

In an ‘act of reconciliation’ Moreland council, in the city’s inner-north, will soon be known officially as Merri-bek

Video after the arrest shows the boy drifting out of consciousness, he was later taken to hospital ‘for treatment to a laceration to his head’

WA Department of Justice reports one person treated for smoke inhalation but concerns remain about conditions inside Casuarina detention facility

UK-based correspondents assess how Britons will deal with political turmoil, Brexit, recession and the loss of the Queen“The days we are living through mark a new beginning. Only time will tell what the post-Elizabethan era will bring. For the moment, what it does feel like is a juggernaut of one too many challenges coming at the same time, a surreal wave. The aftermath of the pandemic, which has left the UK with a lot of scars; Brexit finally being felt in real life, whether on the M2 towards Dover, in my local Sainsbury’s, or in the port of Larne; Russia’s war on Ukraine; a fourth prime minister in six years. And now the death of Elizabeth II, who seemed to many immortal. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Frankston hospital doctor Kate Lardner in similar place to ‘teal’ MPs Zoe Daniel and Monique Ryan at same time in their campaigns

Lawyers for accused Bruce Lehrmann, who is pleading not guilty, indicate plans to subpoena police for document as judge warns against ‘chasing’ minor cross-examination points

Ratu Meli Bainimarama has been charged with assault, stalking, choking and other charges in Windsor local court

Accident in Beverly Hills comes just over a week after a fatal crash in Buxton

The late actor opens up about her relationship with DeGeneres in Call Me Anne, a memoir finished shortly before her death, to be released in JanuaryIn a memoir Anne Heche worked on over the past year, the late actor shared candid thoughts on her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres in the late 1990s, when they were among Hollywood’s first openly gay couples.“I was labeled [sic] outrageous because I fell in love with a woman. I had never been with a woman before I dated Ellen,” Heche wrote in Call Me Anne, which Start Publishing will release in January. Continue reading...

Detainees report feeling humiliated sitting in handcuffs in waiting rooms during medical appointments

Crown prince will reportedly head Saudi delegation but attendance at Queen’s funeral unconfirmedMohammed bin Salman will deliver his country’s condolences to the royal family after the death of the Queen, a source has told the Guardian, but there has been no confirmation about whether he will attend the funeral service at Westminster Abbey.It will be the Saudi crown prince’s first visit to the UK since the murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 and the subsequent British imposition of sanctions. These included travel bans on a group of courtiers close to the crown prince due to their alleged involvement in the killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Continue reading...

Former PM endorses Anthony Albanese’s view to wait on debate, saying ‘no rush’ on moving away from British head of state

On the first full day of lying in state, huge queues have formed in LondonThe first mourners to see the Queen lying in state have told how they were overcome with emotion as they paid their respects.Some doffed their hats, others said prayers and shed tears, while one woman said she wanted to sing Ave Maria. Continue reading...

Westminster Abbey ceremony to be attended by 2,000 guests and end with two-minute silence

Unite leader deplores prospect of post-Brexit deregulation drive ‘when millions are struggling’Unions have reacted with fury to the prospect of the government scrapping a cap on bankers’ bonuses, as ministers geared up for a return to near-normal politics next week, topped by an emergency mini-budget on Friday.Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor, who will set out plans for tax cuts and give more details about the government’s plans to limit rising energy bills, is also considering whether to shed the legacy of an EU-wide cap on bonuses of twice an employee’s salary, imposed after the 2008 financial crash. Continue reading...

Queues form at Bank of England to swap old £20s and £50s before they stop being legal tenderConsumers are racing to exchange their old paper banknotes for new plastic versions, just over a fortnight before they cease to be legal tender at the end of September.The Bank of England has warned people to expect long queues at its headquarters at Threadneedle Street in the City of London as they try to swap paper £20 and £50 notes. Continue reading...

Line nears 5-mile maximum length on first full day of monarch’s flag-draped coffin resting in Westminster Hall• Death of the Queen and King Charles’s accession – latest updatesThe ever-expanding, endlessly patient queue to pay final respects to the Queen was nearing its 5-mile maximum length on Thursday, as yet more people arrived from around the country to join what has become perhaps the defining image of the mourning period.The culture department said the line to file past the flag-draped coffin in Westminster Hall was taking in new entrants in Bermondsey, on the south side of the River Thames, almost at its final capacity point at nearby Southwark Park. Continue reading...

Turmoil continues at businessman’s empire as King & King is investigated by accounting regulatorThe auditor of many of the companies in Sanjeev Gupta’s network of metals companies has resigned from at least five of them, amid an investigation of its work by UK regulators.London-based King & King has resigned as auditor of the companies in Gupta’s GFG Alliance, a sprawling group of firms under his control. Continue reading...

Court case over organisation’s charitable status brought by trans rights group is adjourned after exchangeA co-founder of LGB Alliance was reduced to tears during cross-examination on the definition of the word lesbian on Thursday, prompting the court to adjourn, during a legal challenge to the Charity Commission’s decision to award charitable status to the gay rights organisation.The meaning of the word lesbian has been analysed on several occasions during five days of court hearings triggered by a challenge brought by the children’s trans rights charity Mermaids. Continue reading...

Submissions into 2022 election inquiry include calls for regulation of ‘electoral lies’ and stricter caps on political donations

Use of BNPL services to cover essential bills raises concerns as Albanese government prepares to consult on regulating the sector

As Queensland focuses on greenfield development to solve its housing crisis, critics say it won’t help the people most in need

Some members say the 100-year-old motto should be more ‘inclusive’ but others are opposed to change

Six men charged over deadly attack on girls, aged 15 and 17, of Dalit casteTwo sisters in Uttar Pradesh have been found raped, murdered and hanging from a tree in the latest incident of sexual violence to shock India.The bodies of the girls, aged 15 and 17, were found suspended from a tree by their shawls near their home in Lakhimpur district on Wednesday afternoon. They belonged to the Dalit caste, the lowest in India’s hierarchical and discriminatory Hindu caste system, which used to deem Dalits as “untouchables”. Continue reading...

Justices lift temporary hold on court order that requires Yeshiva University to recognize group, the YU Pride Alliance, as legal fight continuesThe US supreme court has cleared the way for an LGBTQ+ group to gain official recognition from a Jewish university in New York City, though that may not last.By a 5-4 vote on Wednesday, the justices lifted a temporary hold on a court order that requires Yeshiva University to recognize the group, the YU Pride Alliance, even as a legal fight continues. Continue reading...

Defence minister Richard Marles links the cutting-edge technology to Australia’s economic and trade success

Arch-provocateur’s collection split into three with looks for the daytime, the party and the after-partyTom Ford has closed New York fashion week with a collection that doubled down on the singular belief that has underpinned his entire career: few things sell clothes quite like sex.Nine months after cancelling his last show as a result of a Covid outbreak at his atelier, New York’s arch-provocateur turned a former trading floor just beyond the World Trade Center into a full-on disco assault. Hemlines were high, yet somehow the heels were even higher. Good news for fans of Ford glamorama; bad news for anyone hoping to wear the stuff. Continue reading...

Outlook ‘uniquely uncertain’, says Partnership as it announces cost of living support for staffThe John Lewis Partnership has warned its annual staff bonus is at risk this year after it slumped to a first half loss of £99m and said the outlook in the run-up to Christmas was “uniquely uncertain”.The group, which is staff-owned and includes the Waitrose supermarket chain, blamed soaring inflation for the loss in the 26 weeks to 30 July, which compared with a £29m loss before tax in the same period last year. Continue reading...

Inhulets River rises estimated 2.5 metres after cruise missiles strike dam, flooding streets of Kryvyi Rih

Senior constable says he has not heard officers use racist slurs but agrees unchecked frustration could lead to generalisations• Warning: This story contains offensive and racist slurs heard in court

As well as a sad occasion, the Westminster Abbey farewell will be a global spectacle, and a diplomatic opportunity for the UK

Position as counsellor of state under scrutiny as fresh reports about Jeffrey Epstein scandal emerge

Terms under discussion include increasing state’s holding to 50% as pressure on supplies continuesThe embattled gas importer Uniper has entered talks with the German government over a possible nationalisation, the company has said.The terms under discussion would increase the state’s holding in the faltering energy giant to 50%. Continue reading...

Families argued detention in Syria exposed the two women and their children to inhumane treatmentThe European court of human rights has condemned France over its refusal to repatriate French women who travelled to Syria with their partners to join Islamic State and are currently being held with their children at Kurdish-run prison camps.The ruling will be studied closely by other countries who still have citizens detained in camps in north-eastern Syria, including the UK. Continue reading...

Downing Street says companies will receive backdated payments if scheme is not in place by 1 OctoberBusinesses may face a delay of several weeks in accessing the financial support promised to them by Liz Truss to help ease the burden of spiralling energy bills this winter, Downing Street has admitted.Amid reports that the package for businesses would not be in place by 1 October, the prime minister’s spokesperson said there could be a “delay of weeks” but insisted companies would receive backdated payments. Continue reading...