World news | The Guardian

Statistician Andrew Dilnot says that putting social care on the same footing as health care would cost well in excess of 18bn'Lisa O'Carroll is a senior Guardian correspondent.The head of the SDLP, Claire Hanna, has called for an international mediator to resolve the continuing crisis over a unionist parade in a nationalist area close to Drumcree, the site of some of the worst violence of the troubles almost 30 years ago.The truth is everybody has got to want to seek mediation and seek compromise and that's what I'm trying to find, whether there's that little chink on both sides that we can use to get to a decent compromise that means everybody can walk away with their head held high and their sense of honour.

Member of the public who contacted police after seeing group of hooded and masked men' near RAF base says she thinks someone dropped the ball' over incidentIn Fairford, police have imposed a 400m cordon around the air base and evacuated about residents from 85 homes while the investigation into the major incident continues.Here are some of the latest images being sent to us over the newswires from the scene: Continue reading...

Jeweller reports flat sales and fall in underlying operating profit as retailers anticipate October budget

Local authorities have closed the beach for several kilometres and multiple sharks have been spotted in the area

Wes Streeting indicates farmer who alerted police and said security forces had dropped the ball' only had a partial picture'UK security services were aware in advance about a group of men arrested in connection to a bomb plot against an RAF base used by the US military, Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, has indicated.Five men were arrested on terrorism charges after armed officers found explosives in three vans parked minutes from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, which hosts US air force missions against Iran. Continue reading...

Capital city submerged in waist-high flood water, while elsewhere Hurricane Nolo threatens Hawaii's Big IslandBangkok was declared a disaster zone by its city officials towards the end of last week, after streets in Thailand's capital city were submerged in up to waist-high flood water. The flooding stemmed from an active cell of low pressure across central Thailand that brought continuous heavy rainfall and thunderstorms to Bangkok and surrounding regions.The heavy rain began early on Thursday when the weak area of low pressure travelled north-westwards up the gulf of Thailand before then sitting over central Thailand by Friday morning. For most of the following two days this low pressure remained roughly in situ, which allowed unrelenting downpours over Bangkok and nearby areas. One weather station near Prachin Buri, just north-east of the capital, recorded 213.5mm within a 24-hour period between Friday and Saturday evening local time - for comparison, London receives an average 585mm a year). Fortunately, the centre of the low-pressure cell shifted north-westwards on Sunday and brought an end to the torrential rainfall. Continue reading...

The 81-year-old singer will wrap up a touring career that stretches back to his mid-teens in the early 1960s, with dates planned for UK and EuropeRod Stewart has announced that his next tour will be his last.The 81-year-old singer has been touring since the early 1960s, when he set out across Europe with a harmonica - and ended up getting deported from Spain for vagrancy - in a duo with folk singer Wizz Jones. Continue reading...

Company behind Claude chatbot expected to attend separate Australian government hearing on AI next week

Rail operator linking London to Birmingham, the north-west and Glasgow had highest number of cancellations across networkAvanti West Coast will be renationalised in spring, as Andy Burnham declares enough is enough" for passengers who have put up with a rail service that has failed them time and time again".The rail operator, which is one of the worst in the country for train delays and cancellations, will come under public ownership from March when its contract ends. Continue reading...

Renewed fighting between Iran-aligned Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni forces has shattered four years of relative calmIn the mornings, 13-year-old Muneer Farie went to school, and in the afternoons he helped his father feed the livestock. He took his studies seriously, dreaming of becoming the first teacher in his family of farmers.As fighting approached his village in al-Wazeyah district in Taiz, Yemen, two weeks ago, Muneer's focus started to drift from his lessons. The classroom echoed with the distant sounds of explosions and gunfire. His home was suddenly on the frontline of renewed fighting between the Iran-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government. Continue reading...

Inquest into 2023 death shown footage of John Makai struggling to stand after suffering serious head injury from being punched in head by son

Former police officer has pleaded not guilty to murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in early 2024 - nine months after discussion with friend Georgia Cook

Five men arrested on terrorism charges after explosives found near RAF Fairford in GloucestershireCounter-terrorism police are investigating whether Iran is behind a suspected bomb plot after armed officers found explosives on three vans parked minutes from an RAF base used by the US military.The Guardian understands that after five men were arrested on terrorism charges, investigators were examining materials found in the vans, with an initial view being they were consistent with improvised explosive devices. Continue reading...

Fewer than 400 Eriskay ponies remain. One of the rarest native breeds in the world, their plight is unique because the community living on their tiny Hebridean island are fighting for them. The ponies wander the village and townsfolk care for them togetherOn the slopes of Beinn Sciathan, a rocky outcrop in the Outer Hebrides, white and grey ponies roam freely. Eriskay ponies, one of the rarest native breeds in the world, are critically endangered.They have often been mixed with the Highland pony and other breeds, giving the false impression of higher population numbers. Only about 300 to 400 true Eriskay ponies are thought to remain. Continue reading...

Researcher says sightings of the endangered moth have increased over the last two years but this year has blown them out of the water'

Minns government to spend $47.1m to recommission part of Silverwater jail while PSA says prison alone will not end violent behaviour

Kylie Ellina Truswell-Mobbs, 52, walks out of court after receiving suspended sentence over 2023 death of David Ronald Mobbs

Savers face a dilemma: lock down the deals now or wait, with offers tipped to get even better'Returns on the top fixed-rate savings accounts are at their highest level in years and still climbing, with some now paying up to 5.25%.It leaves those with money to put away facing a choice: lock into some of the best interest rates on offer in several years or hold your nerve in the hope they get even better? Continue reading...

Foreign secretary will tell party's conference we are not here to accept the status quo but to change it'Ed Miliband will tell campaigners and party members who raised the plight of Palestinians they were right that Labour's approach had not been enough, saying he was heeding the calls of millions of people by imposing sanctions on Israeli settlements.The foreign secretary will tell the Labour party conference that the government will take more explicitly progressive foreign policy positions under Andy Burnham, and that the UK will be a leader among like-minded countries in a new age of diplomacy. Continue reading...

Show at Kin Museum in Kiruna marks handover of long-awaited report on abuses committed by the state against the Indigenous peopleFrom a detailed multi-perspectival drawing of reindeer to written accounts of belief systems and childbirth, Johan Turi's work offers unparalleled insight into his life as a Sami person living in northern Sweden at the start of the 20th century.In the face of racist discrimination, land disputes and the spectre of encroaching industry, Turi wanted his 1910 book Muitalus samiid birra (An Account of the Sami) to set the record straight about the lives of Europe's only recognised Indigenous people. Continue reading...

Marine Le Pen hails historic victory' as her party and allies win enough seats to form caucus just months ahead of presidential pollFrance's far-right National Rally (RN) party and its allies have secured a record 14 seats in the rightwing-dominated Senate in elections, effectively quadrupling its number in the 348-seat chamber just months before a presidential poll.RN presidential candidate Marine Le Pen called the results an historic victory" after they were announced on Sunday. The results have exceeded our expectations," she said. Continue reading...

David Perdue's remarks come after a Taiwanese minister spoke of the severe' military threat posed by Beijing to the self-ruled islandDonald Trump offered to sell weapons to China while hosting its leader, Xi Jinping, last week, the US ambassador to China said on Sunday.David Perdue told Fox News on Sunday: President Trump continues to say, hey, we sell arms to other people around the world. He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some at one point." Continue reading...

Talks expected on Monday after Sinn Fein leaders join those on streets opposing decision to allow Orange Order parade for first time since 1998Hundreds of protesters spent the day blocking the route of a hugely contentious parade in Northern Ireland after a court gave late-night clearance for the Orange Order to march on a historically significant road for the first time in nearly 30 years.The loyalist Drumcree parade along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown was given the go-ahead by the Parades Commission for the first time since 1998, a decision denounced by Sinn Fein as madness". Continue reading...

Slinger Francisco, who performed as the Mighty Sparrow, died on Sunday surrounded by family in New YorkSlinger Francisco, known on stage as the Mighty Sparrow and dubbed the calypso king of the world", has died aged 91.Francisco, who got his breakthrough in calypso music with his 1956 hit song Jean and Dinah, died peacefully surrounded by his family in New York on Sunday, his family said in a statement. Continue reading...

Polling for rights group shows issue is concern for voters and many feel recent policies have had negative effectFree speech will be a big concern for voters at the next general election, with the government's current approach on the issue perceived by many to be bad for Britain, polling suggests.Three in five people said a political party's position on free speech would affect how they voted at a general election. The human rights organisation Liberty, which commissioned the polling from More in Common, claimed the results showed that Labour's failure to protect free speech could cost it votes. Continue reading...

Local people say members of WhatsApp group noticed suspicious activity around vans in Whelford overnightIn the early hours of Sunday morning, a resident of the village of Whelford was driving home from a party when she saw three white vans parked on a country road. She was immediately suspicious, she said, and all the more so when she spotted a large group of hooded and balaclavaed" men. She called 999 and police arrived on the scene 15 minutes later.The resident, who asked not to be named but reportedly is a local farmer, told the Press Association: It would appear that by doing so I just derailed whatever they [the men] were planning. A plucky amateur shouldn't be spotting an unusual bit of activity at 1am when the airbase is on high alert. I think it's absolutely astonishing." Continue reading...

Exclusive: Dedicated service to support sexual assault victim-survivors as they navigate legal system to open in NSW

Vui not allowed to seek third presidential term and election will test his grip on rule after widespread protestsSerbia's populist president, Aleksandar Vui, has resigned to pursue an attempt to become prime minister in an early parliamentary election that will test his firm rule in the Balkan country after nearly two years of protests.Vui's second presidential term would otherwise end in May next year. He is banned by the constitution from seeking a third term and said he was resigning to lead his rightwing Serbian Progressive party (SNS) in the 25 October ballot. Continue reading...

PM says he is willing to expend political capital to bring in universal service for England funded by everybody'

Thom Tillis says Trump's decision to back Paxton over John Cornyn has put the Senate seat at risk for RepublicansUS senator Thom Tillis on Sunday criticized Donald Trump, his fellow Republican, for the president's support of Ken Paxton over incumbent John Cornyn in the Texas Senate Republican primary.He made a colossal mistake," Tillis, a frequent Trump critic from North Carolina, said during an interview on CNN's State of the Union in reference to the president's support of Paxton who defeated Cornyn in the May primary. Continue reading...

Conference delegates grateful ousting Starmer has paid off, but relief tempered by fiscal headwinds ahead

Exclusive: Move by Shabana Mahmood comes after closure of Afghan scheme last year but experts say numbers too small to deter Channel crossings

Work and pensions secretary says the current system is flawed because it consigns too many people to a life on benefits when they would be better off workingI can deliver': Burnham pledges radical change on eve of Labour conferenceKuenssberg puts it to Burnham that, according to the Health Foundation, a system offering adult social care free at the point of delivery (like healthcare delivered by the NHS) would cost 18bn.Burnham says the cost is not that high" (ie, not as high as 18bn).Not that high.But can I directly deal with this issue of the costs?Louise Casey is still doing an official review for us, so I will set out the vision, if you like, on Tuesday [in his speech to the conference].Louise will then help us with the how. How do we make this happen? When can we make it happen? Continue reading...

Governments will be hoping row over the contentious Orange Order march down Garvaghy Road can be defused

Pat McFadden urges Labour MPs to back overhauls, amid signs party looking to cut payments for some 16- to 24-year-olds

Keys crops such as cereals, potatoes, sugar and oils grown in areas with moderate to very high riskThe vast majority of the UK's essential foods, including cereals, potatoes, sugar and oil, are grown in areas of England rated as having a moderate to very high risk of drought.A very high proportion - 81% - of England's fresh produce is concentrated in parts of the country that are already experiencing water stress, according to the analysis by the nature-focused investment fund Rebalance Earth. Continue reading...

Airport chiefs say 2035 operations deadline unachievable as critics say new delay makes case for project even more dubious'Plans for a third runway at Heathrow are once again up in the air after the prime minister refused to say whether he backs the contested" project which is delayed by up to four years.Over the weekend it emerged that Heathrow no longer expects to meet the original 2035 deadline. Instead, the airport hopes to secure planning permission by 2029 and then open the runway within a decade", meaning it would not be operational until 2039. Continue reading...

Pontiff also uses visit to Catholic shrine at Lourdes to criticise assisted dying as false compassion'The pope has called on the Catholic church to heal deep wounds" and painful errors", before a meeting with survivors of child sexual abuse as he continues his four-day visit to France.Addressing a crowd in a large field near the Catholic shrine of Lourdes on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV called on the church to reckon with its past, without directly referencing sexual abuse scandals in France that affected at least 330,000 children over seven decades. Continue reading...

The PM oozes confidence and easy-going charm as he tells Laura Kuenssberg the hill he'll die on is fixing social care

70% vote against tightening centuries-old neutrality, which far right said was being eroded by sanctions against RussiaSwiss voters have decisively rejected a proposal for a strict definition of neutrality that would have required Switzerland to curb cooperation with Nato and abandon sanctions against Russia.All cantons and about 70% of voters rejected the proposal for a strictly defined version of neutrality to be written into the Swiss constitution, final results from the Federal Statistical Office showed. The motion had been promoted by the far-right Swiss People's party (SVP). Continue reading...

Exclusive: Documents seen by Guardian Australia show that Kelvin Morton has also clashed with party HQ staff and Brisbane volunteers

US-owned firm says average monthly users at its UK arm surged to 700,000 with sales up by a thirdLove them or hate them, Lime ebikes are an increasingly common sight on England's roads with new figures showing annual profits more than doubling thanks to a surge in riders.Lime's average number of monthly users jumped 31% to approaching 700,000 as it added more than 4,500 ebikes and scooters to its fleet, taking the total to almost 38,000, the company's UK arm said in accounts filed at Companies House. Continue reading...

Family doctors' professional body finds the majority have no time to discuss preventative measuresA friendly chat with your GP about your life, health and happiness was once a key part of the UK's family doctor service.But most GPs no longer have time to have pastoral conversations, because they are too busy dealing with the country's rising tide of illness, research reveals. Continue reading...

Research draws upon reporting and witness testimony, while a permanent memorial is planned for LondonThe complex and unsettling" story of what Britain knew during the Holocaust is being explored amid plans to create a new permanent national memorial.An exhibition highlighting how news of the atrocity reached Britain much earlier than is commonly understood will tour the country after being viewed privately by MPs at Portcullis House on the parliamentary estate at Westminster in September. Continue reading...

Seventeen people killed near Johannesburg in suspected illegal goldmining turf war', as 10 killed in separate incident at barbecue venue near Cape TownTwo separate mass shootings near South Africa's two biggest cities killed at least 27 people, as the country grapples with one of the world's highest murder rates amid investigations into corruption and criminality within the police.The South African police service said on Sunday that 17 people were killed on Saturday night when eight suspects armed with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols opened fire at a bar in Wedela township, about 50 miles south-west of central Johannesburg. At least 15 other people sustained gunshot injuries in that attack, police said. Continue reading...

Various factors block sufferers of disease from receiving treatment that is effective and has widespread availabilitySickle cell patients are missing out on an effective treatment despite widespread US hospital access to the technology, new research has found.That treatment is called a red blood cell exchange, a procedure that discards a patient's damaged red blood cells while simultaneously mixing the patient's remaining plasma, platelets and white blood cells with red blood cells from a donor before returning them to the body. Continue reading...

Decision to allow development of 190 new homes in north Somerset sparks campaign for change in the lawHouses can be built on floodplains even if they fail a crucial safety test, according to a high court judgment that will be of immense interest" to developers across England and Wales.The ruling clears the way for a highly controversial development of 190 new homes on north Somerset's floodplains, despite the site being in flood zone 3a", the highest level of flood risk before land is considered a functional floodplain. Continue reading...

Homes evacuated after men arrested on suspicion of explosives offences near Gloucestershire airbase used in US attacks against IranCounter-terrorism police are leading the investigation in which several men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences near an RAF base used in American attacks against Iran.After the declaration of a major incident at RAF Fairford, a bomb squad was sent to the village of Whelford and extra security measures were put in place, including the fortification of entrances to the base. Roadblocks and armed police have been seen in the area over the weekend. Continue reading...

Supplies cut off from Ukrainian city where bodies are being left to be eaten by dogs because of deadly risk from dronesThe phone message sent out of Russian-occupied Oleshky was grimly matter of fact: food for the 2,000 or so civilians still remaining in the city and its surrounding villages had finally run out.We're in Oleshky [and] we can't get out. We're going hungry ... Right now, I've got absolutely nothing to eat," read the message, from a woman in the besieged city, who was waiting to be evacuated by the occupying forces. Continue reading...

PM says he will put proposals for NHS-style service funded by everybody into Labour's next general election manifesto