World news | The Guardian

Investigation now indicates a total of five complaints directly to BBC, broadcaster saysTwo further complainants have come forward to the BBC since it launched a review into the behaviour of Russell Brand, the corporation has said.The nature of the allegations made by two further complainants are not specified in an update on the BBC review into Russell Brand's conduct. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Repeated delays to scrapping of section 21 evictions leave thousands of private renters at riskMore than 35,000 households will have been thrown out of their homes by bailiffs using no-fault" evictions by the time the practice is banned in England, after years of government delays.Since Theresa May was prime minister, successive governments have pledged to end the right of landlords to reclaim possession of their property without rent arrears or bad behaviour by tenants. Continue reading...

Greens and David Pocock accused the government of doing the bidding of fossil fuel companies to allow new and expanded polluting projects

Elizabeth Debicki has spoken about filming car chase through Paris that led to Diana's death for final season of royal dramaThe actor who played Diana in The Crown said the moments leading up to her death must have been completely unbearable" after the cast reenacted the car chase through Paris that led to her death for the final season of the divisive royal drama.The sixth season of The Crown deals with the weeks preceding Diana's death, as well as the fallout, after a car crash in Paris in August 1997. The first instalment of the season is released on 16 November. Continue reading...

Transparency group says donating companies should be banned from government contracts but constitutional expert disagrees

Exclusive: Voluntary organisations struggling as grants for local government and NHS contracts fail to cover costsCharities in England are on the brink of insolvency after subsidising heavily underfunded local authority and NHS contracts to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds donated to them by the public, voluntary sector leaders have warned.Donations, will legacies and charity shop profits are being used to prop up thousands of state-funded services in danger of closure, including care homes, homeless shelters, addiction projects and physical rehabilitation support schemes.The vast majority were subsidising the cost of providing public services. Nearly half had not received an uplift in the value of the contract in the past two years, despite increasing demand and rising wage and energy costs.Contracts were often only viable by freezing or cutting staff pay and conditions. One charity made a senior member of staff redundant, then took them back on as a volunteer to do their old job to keep vital services afloat.A social care charity started a public fundraising campaign, and sold a building it owned, to raise the cash to maintain a service the council would only part fund. [We are] not sure we can carry on unless something changes," it said. Continue reading...

Based on the prize-winning book by Fernanda Melchor, film depicts brutality stemming from war on drugs' that began in 2006A group of children find a body in the river: the village witch, her throat slit, writhing with snakes.The opening scene of Hurricane Season, a new Netflix movie based on Mexican novelist Fernanda Melchor's book, plunges the viewer straight into a tropical, lawless, superstitious version of rural Veracruz, Melchor's home state. Continue reading...

Prison guard cleared of murder and manslaughter after shooting escaping inmate Dwayne Johnstone who was shackled at the time

Owners sell to offset losses from tax changes and rate hikes, meaning fewer homes to rent and thus higher rentsThe great property sell-off by landlords has continued across Great Britain this year, in particular in Scotland, where the buy-to-let bubble appears to have burst.As the property website Rightmove reported that new seller asking prices dropped by 1.7% or 6,088 last month to an average of 362,143, Hamptons revealed that landlords were on target to have bought the fewest number of homes since 2010 - once the period of the first Covid lockdown is discounted from the data. Continue reading...

Recently elected leader Stefanos Kasselakis accused of Trumpian practices' and rightwing populism'A leftwing faction of Greece's main opposition party has announced that it is breaking away, accusing Syriza's recently elected leader of abandoning its core ideology for a sort of rightwing populism."Umbrella, a faction led by Euclid Tsakalotos, a former finance minister during Syriza's government of 2015-19, announced its departure with a blistering statement that accused Stefanos Kasselakis of Trumpian practices (and) right-leaning populism". Continue reading...

People of Grindavik, where eruption could happen within hours, permitted five minutes to collect pets and essentialsSome of the more than 3,000 residents evacuated from an Icelandic fishing town have been allowed to return briefly to their homes to collect pets and essential belongings, as experts warned that a volcano could erupt within days or even hours.One resident from each household in one district of Grindavik was permitted to enter their home for five minutes on Sunday in what Iceland's civil defence force called a planned and controlled operation under the orders of the police". Continue reading...

Prime minister's beleaguered home secretary, Suella Braverman, also attends ceremony led by King CharlesRishi Sunak was joined by all living previous prime ministers and his beleaguered home secretary, Suella Braverman, for this year's Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London.King Charles led thousands of veterans, senior politicians and members of the public in a service commemorating British military service people who died in the world wars and later conflicts. Continue reading...

Isabella Walsh has contacted embassies and consulates to repatriate 10 objects that her father wanted to be returnedAn Irish woman has been inspired by the Guardian to return her late father's collection of 19th-century African and Aboriginal objects to their countries of origin.Isabella Walsh, 39, from Limerick, has contacted embassies and consulates in Dublin and London to repatriate 10 objects, including spears, harpoon heads and a shield, after she read about other cases in the newspaper. Continue reading...

Tens of thousands of people rally against government offer of clemency to those who made illegal push for independence in 2017Tens of thousands of people have gathered across Spain to protest against the acting government's plans to secure another term in office by offering an amnesty to those who took part in the illegal and failed push for Catalan independence six years ago.The proposed amnesty law, which would apply to hundreds of people who participated in the unilateral effort to secede from Spain, has already led to a series of violent protests outside the Madrid headquarters of the governing Spanish Socialist Workers' party (PSOE). Continue reading...

Travel site Trivago says UK destinations are dominating Britons' hotel bookings in the latter half of 2024Blackpool is more popular than Benidorm for British holidaymakers booking trips away next year as soaring air fares lead people to opt for stayactions, according to accommodation search website Trivago.The group's chief executive, Johannes Thomas, said UK hotel bookings in the third and fourth quarters of 2024 are dominated by domestic destinations. Continue reading...

Macron will not attend event but criticises rise of unbridled antisemitism', as Marine Le Pen says she will participateTens of thousands of people, including many senior politicians, are expected to march in Paris against antisemitism amid a dramatic surge in anti-Jewish incidents across France and bitter political rows over whether - and how - to take part.I will be marching for the values of the Republic and against antisemitism," wrote Elisabeth Borne, the French prime minister whose Jewish father was deported during the second world war, on X, formerly Twitter. This combat is vital for our national cohesion." Continue reading...

Government begins apparent defence of home secretary after claims her rhetoric led to far-right counterprotestGrant Shapps has accused Labour of trying to play politics" over far-right protests in London, blamed in part on Suella Braverman's rhetoric, as ministers began an apparent defence of the beleaguered home secretary.Following the violent scenes around the Cenotaph on Saturday, where far-right groups fought officers in what was billed a counterprotest to a much larger pro-Palestine demonstration, Labour said Braverman had intentionally inflamed tensions and undermined the police. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester police say Perseverance Ncube died in hospital after being attacked at her homeA man has been charged with murder after a loving and devoted" mother was stabbed in front of her two children.Perseverance Ncube, 35, known to her friends as Percy, was fatally stabbed at her home in Salford, Greater Manchester, in the early hours of Friday morning. Continue reading...

Jon Lansman, a key figure behind the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, says he has come to feel alienated by pro-Palestinian campaign

Attack comes as US secretary of state laments Palestinian death toll and Netanyahu says Israel does not seek to govern territory

Susan and John Cooper from Burnley fell ill after hotel room next door was treated for bed bug infestationA British couple who fell ill in their hotel room at a resort in Egypt died from carbon monoxide poisoning after the room next door was sprayed with pesticide to kill bed bugs, a coroner has ruled.John Cooper, 69, and his wife, Susan, 63, from Burnley, Lancashire, had been enjoying a brilliant" holiday while staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada, the inquest into their deaths heard. Continue reading...

Associated Press, Reuters, New York Times and CNN say suggestions are untrue, outrageous and reckless

Distressing cases of families being split up prompt criticism officials are not doing enough to keep them together

Socialist party wins separatist support with offer that has provoked furious opposition, protests and questions from Brussels

Advisory Committee on Business Appointments tells MP Lanistar role must not make use of contacts within governmentThe former cabinet minister Gavin Williamson has taken a job at a firm launching a payment card built for the influencer lifestyle", which was previously hit with a consumer warning by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and currently only offers its product in Brazil.Williamson has gained permission to join the advisory board of Lanistar, whose website says it wants to roll out its virtual payment card and crypto services to the UK and EU. Continue reading...

Israeli PM said to have turned down proposal in early talks and to have continued to take tough line

Despite concession from PM, Suella Braverman criticises police for being harder on rightwing groups than pro-Palestinian mobs'

The final report from an inquiry into the deaths of Folbigg's children found there was as an identifiable cause' for three of the deaths

Rishi Sunak signalled changes in the king's speech that create a policy divide with LabourThe government has confirmed its plans to grant new North Sea oil and gas licences every year at the opening of parliament, deepening a political fault line between the Conservatives and Labour, and angering environmental campaigners who argue it undermines efforts to reach net zero. Here, we examine the move. Continue reading...

Human rights body calls on Met not to bow to political pressure' over planned protest on Armistice Day

Tyres of Sindisiwe Chikunga's car punctured by spikes on highway south of Johannesburg, say policeA South African government minister has been robbed and her bodyguards have had their guns stolen, say police, in what authorities in the country described as an unprecedented incident".The attack took place on Monday as the transport minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga, was travelling on a highway south of Johannesburg, police said. Continue reading...

Speech outlines tough approach to criminal justice and green agenda but little legislation on public services

EU wants to discuss implications of deal after Italy announces new migration policySwedish ministers sent a letter today to EU institutions calling for strengthening security cooperation and implementing an effective migration returns policy.Gunnar Strommer, Sweden's minister for justice, together with minister for migration Maria Malmer Stenergard, said it is of utmost importance for the over-arching future security of the EU zone that the EU reaches an agreement on the EU pact on migration and asylum.".This entails both making more effective work within our own countries and in relation to our cooperation with third countries. More can be done realistically within the legal framework we have today. More discussions on cooperation on returns are necessary. Continue reading...

Bomb in birthday present kills Ukrainian major who advised commander-in-chief; Russian attack damages Odesa museum; Ukraine grain exports fall

Prime minister rules out general ceasefire as Israel marks a month since Hamas attack

Garment workers in Bangladesh making clothes for UK brands say plans to increase their pay to 76 a month is not enough to surviveGarment workers making clothes in Bangladesh for UK high-street brands say they are facing starvation and are having to steal and scavenge food from fields and bins to feed their children, as protests continue over a new minimum wage for the garment workforce of 4 million people.Over the past week, tens of thousands of workers have taken to the streets in increasingly violent protests that, according to unions and news reports, have left one young garment worker, Rasel Hawlader, dead. Continue reading...

Customer dissatisfaction with service thought to be reason for expanding remit to Evri and DPDRoyal Mail is to lose its 360-year-old monopoly on delivering parcels from Post Office branches, after concerns about poor quality of service persuaded the postal service to sign deals with rivals Evri and DPD in the run-up to Christmas.The two couriers would be added to the options available at the counter from later this month, the Post Office said, with customers given a choice for the first time. Continue reading...

Some countdown-to-Christmas offerings from stores and brands now cost hundreds, and even thousands, of poundsIt started with small chocolates and quickly graduated to Lego, socks and gin miniatures but the once-humble Advent calendar has lurched upmarket with this year's windows filled with skin-plumping creams, fine bone china trinkets, jewellery and rare whiskies.When calendars were first popularised in the mid-1950s they cost two shillings (about 2.50 in today's money). These days, the luxury takes of department stores and brands cost hundreds of pounds and instead of a picture of the nativity the big reveal is a luxury scented candle, gold necklace or much-hyped beauty serum. Continue reading...

Aspirational website and Instagram feed joins firms laying off workers as market slowdown hitsIts website specialising in architecturally striking properties has long provided inspiration for well-heeled househunters, and escapism for many more who could never afford to live the dream it is peddling.The Modern House is a go-to site for people who want to browse, or just gawp at, beautiful homes - from spacious apartments in former factories to futuristic Grand Designs-style new-builds. But now, the realities of the UK's property market slowdown appear to have caught up with the company. Continue reading...

Arriving in Adelaide the father of two has thanked everyone who felt their pain' and praised compassionate' Dfat staff

Higher interest rates and move away from cash isas means hundreds of thousands more people may be hitHigher interest rates look set to land hundreds of thousands more people with an unwelcome tax bill for their savings, a financial advice firm warned this week.A couple of years ago it was typically only the wealthiest with very big nest eggs who had to pay tax on their savings interest - but now someone with an emergency savings pot of about 8,000 could find themselves falling foul of this little-known tax trap. Continue reading...

Westminster's famous bell will be heard live from next week after years of only occasional appearancesIt is one of the most recognisable sounds in the UK, and one that hasn't been heard on BBC Radio 4 since New Year's Eve last year, but from next week the famous bongs of Big Ben will be heard once again on the station.The most famous bell in the UK will be heard live once again on Monday 6 November, just before the 6pm news bulletin and again before midnight. Listeners will be able to hear the chimes again before Radio 4's Westminster Hour political discussion programme at 10pm on Sundays. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. Our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war continues hereOn Friday afternoon, the Hezbollah secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, is to make a highly anticipated speech. The head of the influential Iran-backed Shia militant group will break weeks of silence with a broadcast from Beirut, which comes in the wake of a rise in violence on Israel's northern border.Hezbollah said on Thursday it had simultaneously attacked 19 positions in Israel on Thursday evening. The clashes have so far been mostly contained to the frontier, and Hezbollah has used only a fraction of the firepower that Nasrallah has been threatening with Israel for years. Continue reading...

Polluted water supplies and salty groundwater are making people ill, with UN warning of threat of child deaths from dehydration

School leaders say parents should do their own homework to build an accurate picture of which is best for their child

Residents of Wooroloo told they could return to normal activity following earlier lockdown but urged to remain vigilant'

Mourners were gathered at the Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles to pay tribute to the actorActor Matthew Perry, who died on Saturday at age 54, was buried on Friday at a Los Angeles cemetery in a service attended by relatives and castmates from the hit 1990s television sitcom Friends, show business media reported, citing photographs.Mourners gathered at the Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, less than a mile from the Warner Bros studio where the show was filmed. It is also the final resting place of numerous Hollywood A-listers including Michael Jackson, Lucille Ball and Elizabeth Taylor. Continue reading...

US to provide $425m of additional military aid to Ukraine; Russia-appointed governor says nine dead in Ukraine missile attack in KhersonThe US will provide $425m worth of additional arms and equipment to Ukraine for its ongoing fight against Russia's invasion, the Biden administration announced on Friday. The package uses the last of the funds in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), a more than $18bn fund that allowed the Biden administration to buy weapons from industry, rather than pull from US weapons stocks.A Ukrainian missile attack on Friday on an employment centre in a Russian-occupied town in the southern region of Kherson killed nine people and injured nine, the region's Russia-appointed governor was quoted as saying.A handful of Ukrainian troops who have reached the occupied side of the Dnipro River are clinging to a foothold in Russian-controlled territory in the south of the country despite a fierce bombardment. The marines have secured a beachhead that could allow Ukraine to reclaim more of the Kherson region that lies between Ukrainian territory and Crimea, seized by Russia in 2014.Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is considering the pros and cons" of holding presidential elections next spring, his foreign minister said. We are not closing this page. The president of Ukraine is considering and weighing the different pros and cons," Dmytro Kuleba told a briefing, adding that holding elections during the war with Russia would entail unprecedented" challenges.Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine for weeks on Friday, hitting critical infrastructure in the west and south of Ukraine and destroying private houses and commercial buildings in Kharkiv.Russia intends to stick to a nuclear test ban moratorium despite withdrawing its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban treaty, the foreign ministry said.A Russian court sentenced Pyotr Verzilov, an activist linked to the Pussy Riot group, to eight and a half years in prison for breaching Russia's strict censorship laws. The 36-year-old was sentenced in absentia" as he has not lived in Russia since 2020, reported MediaZona, an opposition news site that he founded.The Kremlin has dismissed a new package of US sanctions, saying Russia had learned to overcome" such economic hurdles since the Ukraine conflict began. Washington yesterday sanctioned several Russian energy and finance companies it said were supporting Russia's offensive against Ukraine.The chief of Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has said the timing of a sale or spin-off of its extensive operations in Russia is largely out of his control. Russia made up 45% of RBI's profit in the first nine months of the year, though it reported a 30% decline in the volume of its loans in Russia in the third quarter from a year earlier.The Russian Orthodox church called for an apology from Alla Pugacheva, the country's most renowned pop singer who returned home this week, over her criticism of Russia's war in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Dominic Cummings and Michael Gove were key figures in group that controlled the Conservatives, says ex-culture secretaryNadine Dorries has claimed in her new book that the Conservatives have been controlled for 20 years by a cabal known as the movement", which orchestrated the end of Boris Johnson's tenure as prime minister.The former culture secretary has alleged the group consists of levelling up secretary Michael Gove, Johnson's former chief of staff Dominic Cummings and an adviser called Dougie Smith. Continue reading...

Transport secretary had given police power to stop protest at mainline station on public order groundsFive people have been arrested during a pro-Palestinian sit-in at King's Cross station in London after the demonstration was banned.The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said he had given an order to allow police to stop the demonstration on Friday evening under section 14a of the Public Order Act 1986. It was later announced that protesters would also be prevented from gathering outside the Israeli embassy in London over the weekend. Continue reading...