Prime minister says EU must change its approach to talks if deal to be reached

NOS takes unprecedented step amid far-right risk, saying journalism is ‘under attack’

First minister says countrywide restrictions are top option being considered

As France imposes curfews, even countries that previously managed well are struggling badly

Alice Bordon says she is still shocked co-worker drugged her to make her underperformAn Italian woman has described how a bitter workplace rivalry resulted in a colleague spiking her morning cappuccino with a sedative as job cuts loomed.Alice Bordon, the target of the plot, told the newspaper La Stampa that she had always trusted the colleague and was still incredulous that she had tried to “eliminate” her by slipping a tranquilliser into her coffee so that she would feel sleepy and underperform at work. Continue reading...

Farmers accuse plant-based food producers of ‘cultural hijacking’ before key parliament voteThe terms “veggie burger” and “veggie sausage” could be banned by the EU next week when the European parliament votes on proposals that would also outlaw descriptions such as “yoghurt-style” and “cheese-like” for plant-based alternatives to dairy products.Sales of these products are growing fast but farming and meat lobbyists say the terms mislead people and amount to a “cultural hijacking” of the meat industry. Opponents, backed by major food companies including Unilever and Nestle, say the claims of consumer confusion are ridiculous. They say a ban would also contradict the EU’s drive to help consumers choose more sustainable food and cut climate-heating emissions. Continue reading...

Lockdown all’italiana, a low-budget film about adultery during coronavirus, dismays viewers

Last friends visits are bittersweet as I ready to spend the next few months surrounded by my potsA follow-up to the auction of the Leonard and Alison Shurz ceramics collection I mentioned last week. As you may remember, their three bedroomed home near Welwyn Garden City had been so full of pots that the auctioneer could barely make his way round the house without breaking anything, and after I bought what I thought were a few very reasonably priced pots, my wife suggested that our own home could soon resemble theirs. Which was a bit of a cheek as she had successfully bid on a few pots herself. What we really need is more shelf space. In any case, I certainly did not suffer any buyer’s remorse. Quite the reverse in fact. My only regrets were over the lots I did not buy. Non-buyer’s remorse if you like. There were several Lucie Ries that seemed to go quite cheaply and I would happily have snapped one up if I had had several thousand pounds to spare. But the lot that bugged me the most was one on which I had put an internet bid at several times higher than the guide price – I couldn’t follow the auction live all day as I had to work – and it had never occurred to me that I wasn’t going to get it. Yet when I checked the results later, I discovered that the pot had gone for over 10 times the guide price. Curiously, though, rather than thinking I had dodged a bullet by not paying a price that would have caused me to gulp nervously, my main feeling was that I must have missed out on something very special. That I hadn’t been the only person to have fallen in love with this pot and seen something in it that the valuers had clearly missed. I was also left with the sinking feeling the pot had gone to a gallery and that in a year or so’s time I will see it on sale for twice the price it sold for. Continue reading...

Far-right harassment of asylum seekers and refugees in emergency accommodation comes as Home Office gears up for mass evictionsThousands of asylum seekers and refugees temporarily housed in emergency accommodation across the UK are being “unfairly and inaccurately” blamed for the national housing crisis, according to a coalition of more than 100 housing organisations.Charities including Shelter, Homeless Link and the Big Issue say the housing emergency is the fault of the government, not those who have fled trafficking, violence and conflict. Continue reading...

A campaign by Quebec separatists culminated in two kidnappings, a killing and the suspension of civil libertiesTanks rumbled down Montreal streets. Soldiers stood guard in Quebec City. After the declaration of martial law, police conducted warrantless raids, detaining nearly 500 people. Two high-profile kidnappings – of a British diplomat and a senior politician – ended with a grisly murder.For a brief period in October 1970, Canada was gripped by fear as separatists in the province of Quebec dramatically escalated their battle for independence. Continue reading...

As the game enjoys a boom online, players ranging from grandmasters to preteens are getting caught ‘computer doping’In one chess tournament, five of the top six were disqualified for cheating. In another, the doting parents of 10-year-old competitors furiously rejected evidence that their darlings were playing at the level of the world No 1. And in a third, an Armenian grandmaster booted out for suspicious play accused his opponent of “doing pipi in his Pampers”.These incidents may sound extreme but they are not isolated – and they have all taken place online since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading...

Exclusive: stark conclusion shared between London, Berlin and Paris in effect points finger at KremlinWestern security agencies have privately concluded that the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by the country’s FSB domestic spy agency, in effect pointing the finger at the Kremlin for ordering the attack.The stark conclusion has been shared between London, Berlin and Paris, among others, and underpins the decision this week by the UK and the EU to target the FSB chief, Alexander Bortnikov, with sanctions. Continue reading...

Abd al-Rahman Milad, known as Bija, is suspected of being behind the drowning of dozens of refugeesThe UN-backed government in Libya has arrested a coastguard commander alleged to be one of the world’s most ruthless human traffickers.On Wednesday, authorities in Tripoli said Abd al-Rahman Milad, known as Bija, and suspected of being behind the drowning of dozens of people, has been arrested in the Hay-al-Andalus district of the city and is now being detained by Rada special forces. Continue reading...

The former Wagga Wagga MP and the NSW premier have previously said it was 2015. This blog is now closed

Researcher says Xinjiang files reveal government strategy of long-term social control

Foreign secretary urges Greater Manchester mayor to relent in row over tier 3 Covid restrictions

German chancellor says EU will need to compromise as UK PM prepares to make statement

First international tourists in six months touch down today on three flights from New Zealand as the government works on plan to repatriate Australians stranded overseas. Follow liveFull Australian Covid stats; Covid restrictions state by state

Covid-19 has spread around the world, sending millions of people into lockdown as health services struggle to cope. From symptoms and long Covid to vaccines and treatments, the Guardian's health editor, Sarah Boseley, explains what we now know about the virus that we did not at the beginning of the crisis

Bloc’s stance apparently taken as challenge to Boris Johnson’s threat to walk out on talksDowning Street reacted in dismay as Emmanuel Macron led EU leaders in warning Boris Johnson that he must swallow the bloc’s conditions, in what appeared to be taken as a direct challenge to the British prime minister’s threat to walk out on the talks.At a summit in Brussels, the EU proposed a further “two to three weeks” of negotiations but Europe’s heads of state and government offered Johnson little succour, demanding that he alone needed to “make the necessary moves to make an agreement possible”. Continue reading...

International groups join calls for the release of Takudzwa Ngadziore, held for protesting against Mnangagwa’s regimeA campaign focusing on the detention of 22-year-old Takudzwa Ngadziore, who has been held for 30 days in a remand prison, is gaining momentum in Zimbabwe, putting pressure on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to release the student.Ngadziore, president of the Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu), was arrested and jailed last month for protesting outside a car hire company, Impala Car Rental. The company has been under pressure from campaigners to release details of the alleged use of one of their vehicles in the suspected abduction of another student activist, Tawanda Muchehiwa. Continue reading...

After just four years’ training in India and some fast crowd-funding, Kamal Singh joins English National Ballet SchoolKamal Singh did not even know what ballet was when he turned up nervously at the Imperial Fernando Ballet School, in Delhi, during the summer of 2016. But the 17-year-old, known as Noddy, whose father was a rickshaw driver in the west of the city, had been transfixed by ballet dancers in a Bollywood film, and wanted to try it for himself.Four years on Singh is now one of the first Indian students to be admitted to the English National Ballet school. He started this week. Continue reading...

Beijing’s ambassador warns Ottawa not to give asylum to Hong Kong ‘criminals’ amid diplomatic spat over crackdown in territory and Huawei caseChina’s ambassador to Canada has appeared to threaten Hong Kong-based Canadians if Ottawa offers asylum to protesters from the territory.Cong Peiwu made the comments at a news conference on Thursday where he also accused Canada of being an “accomplice” to the US in detaining Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou. Continue reading...

PM tours shopping malls in Auckland, while Collins takes final chance to attack Ardern’s recordPolitical leaders in New Zealand put in a frantic final day on the campaign trail before Saturday’s vote, with Jacinda Ardern, the Labour leader and prime minister, making a whistle-stop tour of shopping malls in the largest city, Auckland, where she was greeted by hundreds of fans who clamoured for selfies.It was a more muted day for Judith Collins, the leader of centre-right opposition party National, who opted for a handful of events with party volunteers and reporters as she made a last attempt to poke holes in Ardern’s track record. A final poll on Thursday showed Collins’s party languishing about 15 points behind Labour. Continue reading...

Peak law body says secrecy laws invoked in Timor-Leste bugging case come at ‘expense of the rights of the accused’The nation’s peak legal group has thrown its support behind Bernard Collaery as he defends the Timor-Leste spying case, warning that laws used to shroud proceedings are protecting “broadly defined national security at the expense of the rights of the accused”.Collaery, a barrister and former ACT attorney-general, is facing jail for allegedly helping his client, intelligence officer Witness K, reveal information about Australia’s bugging of Timor-Leste government offices to gain the upper hand during oil and gas negotiations in 2004. Continue reading...

PM’s management of pandemic and ‘politics of kindness’ place her well ahead for Saturday’s voteIt’s been called the Covid election, with stability the order of the day.But it has turned into the weirdest general election campaign New Zealanders have ever seen, with most of the country desperate for it to be over and some semblance of normality to resume in a deeply abnormal year. Continue reading...

With media outlets unable to publish anything that may influence voters, politicians get creative about how to get their face on TVOn election day in New Zealand there will be no billboards, no walkabouts or last-minute exit polls. That’s because the election act rules that all political parties must cease campaigning on polling day on Saturday and are not allowed to promote themselves or influence voters in any way. The act means political parties must pull down billboards and stop radio and TV advertising. Politicians driving in branded cars is also banned, as is wearing any item of clothing promoting their party.The law extends to traditional media and social media platforms, which are unable to publish or broadcast anything that may influence voters decisions. This includes the latest poll numbers, profiles of the leaders or analysis from pundits. Continue reading...

Tasters compile league table of items such as turkey, gravy and yule logs from 52 UK stockistsMarks & Spencer and Waitrose have swept the board in an independent taste test of this year’s Christmas food and drink, both clinching first place in three categories of the UK’s festive favourites.M&S was awarded top spot for its Christmas pudding, gravy and frozen turkey in the annual exercise by the Good Housekeeping Institute, while its rival, Waitrose, triumphed in the Christmas cake, champagne and yule log listings and was also rated for a vegan centrepiece. Continue reading...

Number of physicians yearning for a move has increased substantially since the Covid-19 pandemic, recruitment firms sayWhen Dalilah Restrepo, then a New York-based physician, clicked on an email in 2018 asking if she was “looking for experiencing something abroad”, she was sceptical. “And then I opened it, and I was like … New Zealand? Gosh, that’s a bit drastic.”Restrepo, who had been in private practice for “10 or 11 years”, was exhausted. Continue reading...

Ricardo Pimentel’s menagerie also included cats, rabbits, chicks, sheep and a hedgehog evacuated from his animal shelterAs Hurricane Delta closed in on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, Ricardo Pimentel opened his home – to about 300 dogs.Related: Tens of thousands flee as Hurricane Delta lashes Mexico's Yucatán peninsula Continue reading...

Friday: Kamala Harris abruptly cancels travel after staffer diagnosed with Covid. Plus: police find cash hidden between Bolsonaro ally’s buttocksGood morning, this is Imogen Dewey bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 16 October. Continue reading...

£800,000 of refurbishment savings agreed ‘offline’ with contractor Rydon, including cheaper claddingThe Grenfell Tower landlord held a secret meeting to cut refurbishment costs – including discussing the switch to cheaper cladding – despite being warned by lawyers that it would break procurement law and could void the main contract, the public inquiry into the disaster was told.David Gibson, head of capital investment at the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), which operated the council tower block for its owner, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, organised a “secret” and “offline” meeting with the contractor Rydon in which they agreed more than £800,000 in savings, he told the inquiry on Thursday. Continue reading...

Presenter says he has ‘never crossed the line’ as Anthea Turner and Diane Jordan give evidenceThe former Blue Peter presenter John Leslie has insisted at his sexual assault trial that he knows the line between being gregarious and criminal behaviour, and has “never crossed it”, as former colleagues spoke up for him in court.The 55-year-old, from Edinburgh, also rejected a suggestion that he had exaggerated to the jury how paranoid he felt when socialising around the time of the 2008 allegation. Continue reading...

A roundup of the measures affecting mask-wearing, schools and more across mainland Europe

Demonstrations reflect a longstanding appetite for democracy – but challenging the monarchy breaches a taboo

Palace says medical advice was sought before engagement at Porton Down defence labThe Queen has carried out her first public engagement outside a royal residence since lockdown but there was criticism over her decision not to wear a mask.She visited the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) at Porton Down near Salisbury with her grandson the Duke of Cambridge. Continue reading...

Government declares ‘severe’ state of emergency in Bangkok with protest leaders arrestedTens of thousands of people, including high-school students, gathered in Bangkok on Thursday, defying a ban announced as part of a crackdown on pro-democracy protests.Thailand’s prime minister declared a “severe” state of emergency in the capital overnight, as police arrested more than 20 people, including prominent student leaders who have called for monarchy reform. By Thursday afternoon, crowds ignored the ban to assemble at one of the city’s busiest intersections, Ratchaprasong, where they chanted “release our friends” and called police “slaves of dictatorship”. Continue reading...

UK records 18,980 more cases, with English hospital admissions up 15% in a day; Barrow-in-Furness, York, north-east Derbyshire, Erewash and Chesterfield move into tier 2 alongside London, Essex and Elmbridge

Charities such as the NSPCC should not accept money from the machinery firm, writes Annie O’Gara, while Nick Georges has witnessed the use of JCB equipment in the destruction of Palestinian infrastructureJCB is rightly under close scrutiny (JCB challenged over machinery used to demolish Palestinian homes, 12 October).You highlight JCB’s donations to the Conservative party. But JCB also donates to a leading children’s charity, the NSPCC, effectively sanitising the company’s reputation. Continue reading...

At least 10 are dead and dozens injured in street demonstrations demanding an end to widespread abuses by security forcesNigeria’s army has warned it could step in against “subversive elements and troublemakers” as the protests against police brutality that have erupted throughout the country over the past week continue.Thousands of mainly young people have taken to the streets to protest against the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad, commonly known as Sars, long accused of unlawful killings and abuse, and against wider police brutality. At least 10 people have died and dozens injured in the demonstrations, which have been met with force by police units. Continue reading...

Country was one of the last destinations that holidaymakers could visit without need to isolate on return

Security workers tell how they saw that Salman Abedi had ‘secreted himself away’ with rucksackWitnesses have described seeing the Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi loitering and praying, while in possession of a large rucksack, near the spot where he would later carry out the attack that killed 22 people and left hundreds injured.Two security workers employed to look out for bootleggers told the Manchester Arena inquiry that they saw him, while one said she unsuccessfully tried to alert police to his presence. Continue reading...

Suspended SNP MP took test before self-isolating law came into force, Scotland Yard says

Authorities’ attack on LGBT community sweeps in gay men and others thought to have turned to surrogate mothersSeveral gay men have fled Russia after officials said that they would arrest people “of non-traditional sexual orientation” who had had children through surrogacy. The announcement formed the authorities’ latest attack on the LGBT community.Surrogacy is legal in Russia but has increasingly been attacked by conservative lawmakers and the Orthodox church. Police arrested a number of top fertility doctors this year and have accused them of “child trafficking” in an ongoing case. Continue reading...

Four men have been charged over her killing – but the family believe the police investigation was sabotagedThe murder in Malta of the anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has been headline news since a bomb exploded under the driver’s seat of her car in October 2017. Continue reading...

The murder of the Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 plunged the country into turmoil. Guardian journalist Juliette Garside, who has been investigating Caruana Galizia's death, speaks with Matthew Caruana Galizia about his mother, his family's quest for justice, and how tragedy may be uniting the country over political divides Continue reading...

London mayor Sadiq Khan welcomes move but many of capital’s MPs criticise decision

First exchange, of 1,000 people, on flights to and from Saudi Arabia and inside Yemen, after two-year UN/ICRC negotiationsMore than 1,000 political prisoners captured during the Yemen civil war began to be released on Thursday in a massive prisoner swap negotiated over the past two years and largely overseen by the UN and International Committee of the Red Cross.The exchange led to scenes of celebration and triumph inside Yemen. UN diplomats said they hoped the bulk of the swap would be completed over the next two days. Continue reading...

Military run down after cold war but Russian activity in Baltic Sea forces hasty rearmamentSweden will increase military spending by about 40% in the next five years and double the number of people conscripted into its armed forces as it aims to strengthen its defence amid growing tensions with Russia, the government has said.The country, which is not a member of Nato but enjoys close ties with the alliance, ran down its military forces after the cold war to save money. Continue reading...

Brazilian senator Chico Rodrigues is caught with notes during a search of his homeJair Bolsonaro’s efforts to portray himself as an anti-corruption crusader have suffered another blow after police reportedly seized a wad of bank notes from between the clenched buttocks of one of his allies.Chico Rodrigues, the Brazilian president’s deputy leader in the senate, was reportedly caught with the concealed bundle on Wednesday during a police search of his home. The raid was part of an operation against the suspected misappropriation of public funds for fighting Covid-19. Continue reading...