World news | The Guardian

Lab that developed Russian jab says decision ‘not based on science’; UK adviser says measures need to be in place now to get transmission rates down

Housing secretary’s intervention follows speculation that the building would be demolished because of structural fearsMichael Gove has signalled he will explore “retention” options to preserve Grenfell Tower as a memorial to the 72 people killed in the 2017 fire, a move that has been welcomed by relatives of the dead.The new housing secretary’s intervention, weeks into his latest post, follows speculation that Grenfell would be demolished because of safety concerns. It is understood his predecessor, Robert Jenrick, had been briefed that the tower posed a risk to the local west London community with government-appointed structural engineers indicating it should be razed. Continue reading...

Councils consulted over support for measures such as vaccine passports amid warnings by senior doctors that NHS faces winter illness ‘triple whammy’• Coronavirus – latest updates• See all our coronavirus coverageNew evidence has emerged that the government is paving the way to implement “plan B” measures in England to combat the spread of Covid-19, amid warnings from health chiefs that a “vortex of pressures” is encircling the NHS.In the clearest sign to date that Whitehall is actively considering additional measures, the Observer has learnt that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) contacted local authorities on Friday to canvass their level of support for the “immediate rollout of the winter plan – plan B”. Continue reading...

Text message warning of ‘super-unsafe’ conditions was later followed by a walkout by camera operatorsA picture of chaos and concern on the set of Alec Baldwin’s new western, Rust, has emerged from fresh accounts of the lead-up to the fatal shooting during filming on Thursday.Only days into the three-week production schedule, new reports suggest that a worker had been so worried about weapon safety he had sent a text message to his manager warning of “super-unsafe” conditions. Continue reading...

With the majority of students due to return to classrooms full-time, outbreaks raise concerns that schools are unprepared

Attack on Brig Gen Abedin Khorram in East Azerbaijan province an unusual breach of security in Islamic RepublicThe new governor of a north-western Iranian province was slapped in the face by an angry man during his inauguration on Saturday in an unusual breach of security in the Islamic Republic.A motive for the attack in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province remained unclear, though it targeted a new provincial governor who once served in the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and reportedly had been kidnapped at one point by rebel forces in Syria. One report referred to it as a personal dispute. Continue reading...

President Erdoğan says ambassadors from US, Europe and elsewhere are not welcome after call for freeing of Osman KavalaThe Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said he has ordered the foreign ministry to declare 10 ambassadors from western countries persona non grata for calling for the release of philanthropist Osman Kavala.Kavala has been in prison for four years, charged with financing nationwide protests in 2013 and with involvement in a failed coup in 2016. He denies the charges. Continue reading...

The actor’s turbulent life has rarely been out of the headlines. Now he faces a new crisis after a tragic accident on setAlec Baldwin was the tough screen face of blue-collar America in the 1990s. And it suited him. His best early roles were gritty ones in brutal films such as Miami Blues, or the screen adaptation of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, where he gave a showstopping performance that won him many fans. Baldwin had the manner and look of an ordinary man who wanted to survive at all costs.Now, in the saddest of media storms, following the accidental shooting of a colleague on the set of his latest movie, the actor will need every ounce of the self-preserving grit he once accessed so easily on film. Continue reading...

Chair of the UK’s Climate Change Committee condemns New Zealand and Australia agreements as unworkableThe chairman of the government’s climate change advisory board has condemned trade deals with Australia and New Zealand as “totally offensive” as he warned they would undermine attempts to tackle emissions.Lord Deben, the former Tory cabinet minister who chairs the Climate Change Committee, said that the agreements were “entirely unacceptable for climate change purposes”. He warned they would damage efforts to ask UK farmers to help consumers shift to eating less meat, but of higher quality. Continue reading...

ASMR, the euphoric tingling certain sounds provoke, has created online superstars with millions of followers. Is it just a weird fad, or could it help people with anxiety and depression?When I was five years old something strange happened. After a busy afternoon finger-painting and running around, we were gathered by our teacher on the classroom carpet to listen to a story. I can’t remember which book she read – only that she began to do so in a soft voice, pitched somewherejust above a whisper.Suddenly, a euphoric, tingling sensation started at the crown of my head and then travelled down my neck and back in waves. The more she read, the stronger the feeling became. I glanced at my friends, expecting to see them in a similar state of rapture, but they weren’t. So I kept the feeling a secret and soon forgot all about it. Continue reading...

The American debut novelist on the lessons she learned from teaching art, her mixed feelings about Virginia and her experience of white supremacistsBorn and raised in Virginia, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson was an art teacher for 20 years before she published her debut novella, My Monticello, aged 50. Set in the near future as American society is unravelling, it tells the story of a young black student and her neighbours fleeing Charlottesville, Virginia, pursued by violent white supremacists and taking refuge in Monticello, home of US president Thomas Jefferson. The book, which the New York Times called “a masterly feat”, is now being turned into a film for Netflix. Johnson lives in Charlottesville with her husband and son.The apocalyptic scenario you create in the book has clear roots in the American present – there are terrible storms, power failures and racial violence. Was it hard to imagine or unnervingly easy?

Police body says figure is ‘very concerning’ amid calls for ‘Girls Night In’ nightclub boycottsAlmost 200 drink spiking incidents have been reported to police forces across the UK over the past two months, the National Police Chiefs’ Council said on Friday.The NPCC said there have been 198 confirmed reports of drink spiking in September and October across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus 24 reports of some form of injection. Continue reading...

Rescue centres say they are seeing more and more pets their owners are now too busy to look afterPeople are pretending that dogs they acquired during lockdown are strays so that rescue centres take them in, after failing to sell them online, animal rescue charities and shelters have warned.Figures from March revealed that more than 3.2m pets were bought by UK households during lockdown. Since Covid restrictions were lifted and people have started to return to the office, charities have reported a growing trend of people abandoning their pandemic pets as they no longer have as much time for them. Continue reading...

Unconfirmed reports say nearly 1,000 inmates escaped from correctional facility in south-west of countryGunmen have attacked a prison in south-west Nigeria, freeing about 575 inmates, officials said.The third jailbreak in Africa’s most populous country this year raises more concerns about how safe detention facilities are in the west African country where authorities have struggled to stem rising violence. Continue reading...

Local councils face a shortage of refuse collectors who can earn tens of thousands more driving for supermarkets or food hauliersHouseholds are being warned of a “Christmas crisis” in bin collections as drivers quit their jobs for better pay working for supermarkets and food hauliers.Bin lorry drivers are being offered pay deals worth as much as £40,000 a year to switch to jobs in the food industry. One council in Lancashire said last week it had lost almost half of its drivers in the last three months. Continue reading...

Customer-facing workers in all sectors report greater hostility, research showsPeople in public-facing jobs are facing rising hostility and verbal abuse since the end of the Covid lockdowns, according to organisations which represent them. Half of all shop, transport, restaurant and hotel workers and others dealing regularly with the public have experienced abuse in the past six months, figures from the Institute for Customer Service (ICS) show. This is a 6% rise over May’s 44%. Of those who had been abused, 27% had been physically attacked, it found.The research comes as trades unions and industry bodies warn of growing public hostility towards workers since Covid’s second wave. Continue reading...

Speaking at the event in Riyadh on Saturday, Prince Charles said there was a 'dangerously narrow window' to accelerate climate action. In a video message to the Saudi Green Initiative Forum, and just a week before the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, the Prince of Wales said world leaders must ‘consider the kind of future existence that we are bequeathing to our grandchildren and their children's children’. He also welcomed Saudi Arabia’s target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2060.

Law makes local authorities and parents responsible for ensuring children are spared stress of overworkChina has passed a law to reduce the “twin pressures” of homework and off-site tutoring on children.The official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday the new law, which has not been published in full, makes local governments responsible for ensuring that the twin pressures are reduced and asks parents to arrange their children’s time to account for reasonable rest and exercise, thereby reducing pressure and avoiding internet overuse. Continue reading...

Flights mark first military relocation of Afghans and British nationals since end of Kabul evacuationThe RAF has airlifted more than 100 people who had left Afghanistan and were in a neighbouring third country to the UK.The Ministry of Defence said the two flights had landed safely in the UK carrying 102 people who would receive support to begin their lives in Britain. Continue reading...

Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg says those who have not had jab could be barred from hotels and restaurants

Boy of 14 among four arrested on suspicion of murder after ‘verbal dispute’ in Royal British LegionA man has died after three people were stabbed outside a Royal British Legion in Lymington, Hampshire police said.Officers were called to reports of an assault on the town’s high street shortly before midnight on Friday and arrived to find two men and a woman with stab wounds. Continue reading...

Labour describes plan as ‘smokescreen for the Conservatives’ failure to deliver’ in the pastHundreds of thousands of families are to receive extra support as part of a £500m package from the government that will include the creation of a network of “family hubs” across England, but concerns have been raised that the measures do not go far enough.The government describes the centres, which will launch in 75 local authorities, as “one-stop shops” for advice and guidance. They are similar in some respects to the Sure Start centres introduced under Tony Blair, although ministers believe they will provide a more comprehensive service. Continue reading...

Matt Gibberd, founder of high-end architectural estate agency The Modern House, shares his top tipsFor the past 16 years, I have spent my days nosing round other people’s homes like a design-obsessed basset hound. I have been granted access through hundreds of locked doors, perched on wobbly Windsor chairs, and taken tea in stylish studio flats, cleverly converted factories and even a working barge.Throughout all this, I’ve learned a lot. As The Modern House has grown, I’ve discovered that these homes – from studio flats to listed architectural masterpieces – have the same design principles in common: clever layouts, masterly manipulation of natural light, tactile materials, a connection to nature, sheer exuberance and personality in decoration – and much more. Continue reading...

The Taliban has whitewashed Kabul’s political murals – and those who created them have fled into exileNegina Azimi felt shock and fear like never before when she heard that Taliban fighters had entered Kabul on 15 August. As an outspoken female artist in Afghanistan, she knew they would come for her.“We heard reports that the Taliban might raid houses. I was scared because I live in a very central neighbourhood and every room in my house is adorned with the kind of art the Taliban won’t approve of,” she says, referring to paintings that feature messages about women’s empowerment and are critical of the Taliban’s atrocities.Negina Azimi, who is now in a refugee camp in Albania with others of the ArtLords collective. They are now planning an exhibition Continue reading...

These sustainable stays offer the chance to share mountain views with bears, sleep easy in a low-carbon hotel and wellness experiencesThe Holenberg forest is the gateway to the Maashorst nature reserve, a rewilding pioneer in North Brabant, home to roaming bison and Tauros – a project to revive the aurochs, an ancient European ox. Tucked away in the forest, among a rusty palette of trees, heather and wetlands, sits off-grid and self-sufficient Cabin Anna. From the linen to the recycled waste-product tableware, the emphasis is on reducing your environmental impact. The cabin sleeps two and has a vast glass atrium for enjoying the natural surroundings in all weathers, and a sunken bathtub. There are safaris, cycling and hikes on the doorstep.

Claudia Marschal’s documentary about two sisters leaving the Balkans is short on the intimacy that film can deliverFeaturing Indira and Mehdina, two Bosnian sisters who try to escape their life of poverty in their homeland, Claudia Marschal’s documentary observes the xenophobia and financial insecurity faced by immigrants from the Balkans, an area already troubled by a history of political turbulence. The “paradise” hinted at in the title, however, is a mirage, as the women and their families struggle to settle down in France and Germany.Indira and her young children are placed in an immigration centre in Germany where they apply for asylum – which is ultimately denied. As Indira is turned away from what she hoped to be a brighter future, Mehdina is arguably more fortunate, as she was able to emigrate to France – though, at the time, she was only 14 and already married. While people at home presume she has a better life in her new country, she faces constant money worries, forced even to sell her jewellery. Amid such hardships, the film’s most moving sequences involve the sisters’ children, most of whom are oblivious to the adults’ turmoil: Indira’s children, for example, can still enjoy a game of hide and seek in the cramped conditions in the immigration centre. Continue reading...

Analysts question if Dublin’s reputation as a leading tech hub could be undermined by new 15% tax rate Continue reading...

The historian and author on the lessons of Covid, taking people for granted and looking grumpy in photosBorn in Israel, Harari, 45, gained his PhD at the University of Oxford. His bestselling books are Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind; Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow; and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. Next week he publishes Sapiens: A Graphic History Volume 2 – The Pillars of Civilisation. He lives with his husband near Tel Aviv, and lectures in history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.When were you happiest?

Sweet and savoury treats for the big night: black lime gummy worms, a deep-fried noodle snack with fried peanuts and curry leaves, and pumpkin spice cookiesFor anyone doing the sweet-sweep rounds next weekend, Halloween can feel more like trick and treat, rather than trick or treat. No sooner have our kids been plied with sweets than we try to trick them out of eating them. Or did Scrooge just come early to our house this year? Anyway, for 2021, I’m going to lean into making Halloween snacks instead: black lime gummy worms, pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies and something savoury to offset the night’s sugar excesses. All treats, no tricks.UK readers: click to buy these ingredients from OcadoUK readers: click to buy these ingredients from Ocado Continue reading...

Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen discuss their dads, their unlikely friendship, and second careers – as podcast hostsPresident Barack Obama

Forensic officers scour the outside of the four-year-old’s Carnarvon house for fingerprints

Sometimes the only way to get attention is to break the rules. Fifty years after my first arrest, I’ve embraced being locked up in the name of the planet. As Cop26 nears, here’s why it’s time to rise up• The good fight: the climate activists risking everythingThe first time I was ever arrested, I was picked up for smuggling drugs into the US from Canada. They were vitamin pills, but that didn’t seem to matter to the police officer in Cleveland, who mentioned that his orders had come from the Nixon White House. It was 1970. I had just started a campus speaking tour protesting against the Vietnam war, and was under surveillance by the National Security Agency. I raised my fist for the mugshot, and after a night in jail, they let me go.I think the idea was to discredit my opposition to the war, and maybe get my speeches cancelled. Instead, students turned up in their thousands. My first arrest wasn’t for an act of civil disobedience, exactly, but the lesson I took away from that surreal experience was just how powerful it can be to set your ideals against the machinery of the state. Half a century later, it still works. And, as the extraordinary activists who tell their stories here attest, it remains an indispensable means of being heard by those who would prefer to ignore us. Continue reading...

Set of six copies of portraits first produced in 1579 in Venice are going up for auction in London next weekThey were powerful rulers of perhaps the mightiest empire the world has ever seen, and their portraits oiled the wheels of diplomacy. Six sultans of the Ottoman empire, which spanned more than six centuries and dominated a great swathe of the world, gaze out beneath magnificent, bulbous turbans, a symbol of their wealth and status.An original set of 14 portraits was produced in Venice in 1579, and copies were made later. The only surviving intact set is in Munich, but a set of six goes on display at Christie’s in London this weekend before being sold at auction on 28 October. Continue reading...

Millionaire stockpicker Terry Smith is battling his former partner of 13 years in the courts of MauritiusHe is one of the City of London’s most successful investors, with a fortune estimated at £300m, a luxury yacht and a collection of beautiful homes. But the star fund manager Terry Smith has hit heavy weather in the tropical paradise of Mauritius, from where he runs his business.Since February, Smith has been locked in an acrimonious public legal battle with his former partner of 13 years. He has launched a barrage of court cases and complaints against Teresa de Freitas, covering at least eight separate matters ranging from alleged embezzlement from a joint account, to disputes over cars and household items. She has retaliated with at least four claims of her own. Continue reading...

Rebecca, 36, researcher, meets James, 28, primary school teacherRebecca on JamesWhat were you hoping for?

Known for his wild parties and proud queerness, he went to church, met the pope and prayed daily with his motherHe is celebrated for his Marilyn Monroe and Campbell’s Soup prints, legendary parties, proud queerness and worship of celebrity.But Andy Warhol was raised by a devout Catholic mother with whom he prayed daily throughout the two decades in which they shared a New York home. The wild prince of pop art went to church, met the pope and financed his nephew’s studies to become a priest. Continue reading...

The two women killed and three tourists injured were believed to have been caught in crossfire of clash between drug gangsA Californian travel blogger was one of two foreign tourists killed at a restaurant in Mexico’s Caribbean beach resort of Tulum during a shootout between suspected gang members.The two women killed were identified as Anjali Ryot, an Indian national who lived in San Jose, and German national Jennifer Henzold, though no hometown was immediately available for her. Two German men and a Dutch woman were also injured during the shootout late on Wednesday, the district attorney’s office in Quintana Roo state said. Continue reading...

The first community case in the south was reported in Blenheim, but officials play down risk of further contagionNew Zealand has reported 104 new coronavirus infections, including the first community case of the virus in the country’s South Island in nearly a year, health officials said.Most of the new infections reportedon Saturday were in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city that has been under a strict lockdown for more than two months. Looser restrictions are in place in most of the rest of the country of 5 million. Continue reading...

The progeny of animals brought illegally to Colombia and kept in the drug lord’s private zoo must now be put on birth controlWhen Gina Paola Serna studied to become a biologist and veterinarian in Colombia, she never expected to one day be tasked with neutering an invasive herd of hippos that once belonged to Pablo Escobar.When they were smuggled into the drug lord’s private zoo in the 1980s, there were just four hippos. But in the 26 years since Escobar’s death, their numbers have steadily grown : the herd now includes about 80 animals – threatening to disrupt ecosystems in Colombia. So now, Serna spends her days tracking and sterilizing the hulking riverine mammals. Continue reading...

Human Rights Watch has logged illegal seizures of land and homes then given to Taliban supportersThousands of people have been forced from their homes and land by Taliban officials in the north and south of Afghanistan, in what amounted to collective punishment, illegal under international law, Human Rights Watch has warned.Many of the evictions targeted members of the Shia Hazara community, while others were of people connected to the former Afghan government. Land and homes seized this way have often been redistributed to Taliban supporters, HRW said. Continue reading...

Offshoot of Delta designated a variant under investigation in UK; Pfizer says child-size doses effective at stopping infections in five- to 11-year-olds

Australian cartoonists cast a satirical and sceptical eye over politicians. The results are informative, insightful, cutting, acidic and hilarious. Russ Radcliffe created the annual Best Australian Political Cartoons series in 2003 to highlight and record the year’s top offerings. Here, Guardian Australia’s photographer-at-large Mike Bowers picks out some of his favourites from this year’s edition• The 2021 edition is published on 1 November and can be pre-ordered at Scribe Publications Continue reading...

European Commission president commits to keeping up pressure on Lukashenko regime after migrant deathsThe EU will not fund “barbed wire or walls”, the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said, in defiance of calls from some governments to build protective defences against migrants seeking to enter the bloc.A number of EU leaders have voiced concerns in recent weeks over a rise in numbers of people seeking to cross the bloc’s borders, with eight having died at the Polish border with Belarus in recent months. Continue reading...

Analysis: China recently tested a nuclear-capable manoeuvrable missile and Russia and the US have their own programmesA new focus on hypersonic glider weapons, after a reportedly successful Chinese test, is helping drive an arms race that is eclipsing hopes of a return to disarmament by the world’s major powers.The Chinese test on 27 July, first reported by the Financial Times, involved putting into orbit a nuclear-capable glider, travelling at five times the speed of sound, which then re-entered the atmosphere and performed some turns on its way to a target. Continue reading...

Secret audio reveals League leader swearing and hitting out at Giorgia Meloni of the Brothers of ItalyMatteo Salvini, the leader of the League party, was left red-faced after a secret recording revealed him swearing and implying his far-right challenger, Giorgia Meloni, was a “pain in the ass”.The recording, taken during a closed-door meeting with politicians from his party and published by Il Foglio newspaper, further exposes the friction in what was once a tight-knit coalition between the League, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia. Continue reading...

Ortega has detained 39 opponents ahead of November electionDaniel Ortega’s pre-election crackdown on the Nicaraguan opposition has claimed another prominent scalp with the arrest of one of the Central American country’s top business leaders.Michael Healy, the president of Nicaragua’s leading business federation, the council for private enterprise (Cosep), was detained in the capital, Managua, on Thursday, in what opposition activists called an illegal “kidnapping”. The group’s vice-president, Álvaro Vargas, was also arrested. Continue reading...

Chancellor given paperweight as parting gift but she may not be done yet if German coalition talks falterAfter nearly 16 years and 107 EU summits, Angela Merkel, the outgoing chancellor of Germany, might have expected more from her fellow leaders than a glass paperweight and praise for being a “monument”.But at what was expected to be Merkel’s final meeting in Brussels, touching on issues ranging from energy prices to Poland’s laissez faire attitude to EU law, the former US president Barack Obama at least offered a little glamour to proceedings in a surprise appearance in a farewell video. Continue reading...

Sage minutes show warning that earlier intervention would reduce need for more stringent and longer-lasting measures