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The actor, who made a cameo in the Radio 4 drama in 1989, has signed a letter urging BBC not to move studio elsewhereThe cast and crew behind The Archers, including the one-time guest star Judi Dench, have written to the BBC director general urging him to keep the recording of the Radio 4 drama in Birmingham.It emerged this week that the corporation was planning to stop recording the rural community soap opera in the city for the first time in the show's 75-year history, after it scrapped plans for a radio drama studio. Continue reading...

Woman says she wrenched' herself free of assault that allegedly took place when she was working at MTV in 2001Russell Brand transformed into a wild-eyed maniac" when he tried to drag a woman into the men's toilets for a sexual encounter before she wrenched" herself free, a court has heard.The 51-year-old comedian is accused of indecently assaulting the woman who told Southwark crown court: I emerged relatively unscathed. He didn't manage to rape me." Continue reading...

This blog is now closedBurnham spoke of Ravenscraig, once the pride of Scotland's steel industry that employed tens of thousands of people before it closed in 1992.He said:When it closed, it wasn't just a works that shut, it was a whole community which saw the pillars underneath it just taken away, collapsed beneath it.That was a decision taken hundreds of miles away without any real consequences for what that would mean for people here, taken by people who would never have to live with those consequences, or see those consequences.I was the MP there for 16 years from the early 2000s, just after the pits had shut in the 1990s. It broke my heart to see the old miners shuffling into my surgery, carrying oxygen bottles, still struggling to get compensation for the damage that was done to their lungs.It pained me to drive past the wasteland around Bickershaw Colliery, one of the last pits to close in Leigh. Nobody asked Leigh what was going to come next either.I care about Scotland a lot, and I am coming today with a big offer and in search of common ground.When I walked into Downing Street in July, I said I wanted to do politics differently. Place first, not party first. Honestly, I meant it, and I arrive here in that spirit because people in Scotland, in my view, deserve better from politicians and politics. Continue reading...

Schools closed after one teacher and three children killed, and child and teacher hospitalized with critical injuriesPolice are investigating a deadly shooting at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, where a 16-year-old opened fire on Thursday, killing three children and a teacher, before being shot dead by an armed bystander.Authorities in Oregon said that the three children killed at Silver Rail elementary school were aged five, eight and 11, and that a seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were also hospitalized with critical injuries. Continue reading...

Trump's new and already under fire press secretary was asked on Fox News if she still had the confidence of the president, to which she said I'm standing here'

Ukraine president also says Starlink speeds not fully restored and Kyiv working with France on other optionsSeveral leaders offered Zelenskyy very friendly welcome or, in some cases, simply a big hug as he walked into the room before the formal part of the meeting got under way.Speaking to Newsmax last night, Donald Trump repeated his views of the two leaders involved in the conflict. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Devon and Cornwall police formally apologise to nine women and settle claim without admitting liabilityA police force alleged to have promoted and protected male officers despite knowing they were accused of attacking women has formally apologised and paid compensation to nine female victims, the Guardian has learned.The women allege they were subjected to a range of abuse including rape, assault, threats, harassment and coercive control while in relationships with male officers from Devon and Cornwall police. Continue reading...

Guillaume Faury writes to Andy Burnham warning him against choosing US firm Lockheed Martin to build Skynet satellitesThe boss of Airbus has told Andy Burnham that choosing its US rival Lockheed Martin to manufacture military satellites could cost the UK a key role in the European space industry, intensifying a last-minute lobbying effort for the 2.4bn contract.It is understood that Guillaume Faury, the chief executive of France-headquartered Airbus, has written to the prime minister suggesting that the choice of provider of the Skynet system could have effects for decades to come on the UK's strength in military satellites in Europe, in an effort to tip the contract away from its US rival. Continue reading...

Initiatives to address youth employment crisis and offer training are being launched in towns such as TelfordSmaller cities and towns across England have higher rates of young people not in employment, education or training than the nine largest cities, analysis shows.The Centre for Cities, an independent thinktank dedicated to improving the economies of the UK, used 2021 census data to work out the rates across 41 cities and towns in England. Continue reading...

Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, was arrested in Huddersfield with two guns and live ammunitionA teenage hitman who travelled from Norway to the UK with the intention of carrying out a murder on behalf of an Iran-backed international crime gang has been jailed for 20 years.Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, a talented footballer, had agreed to shoot an unknown target in return for 25,000 (21,500). Continue reading...

NFU analysis of official data shows falls in exports to UK's largest trading partner since 2019 include 70% for sugar and 74% for egg productsExports of British food and drink to the EU have collapsed by more than a third since Brexit with eggs, chicken and potato producers badly hit, new figures show.Analysis by the National Farmers' Union (NFU) of HMRC data shows a sharp fall in exports in the year to July compared with the same period in 2019, with sugar dropping the most, down 70%. Continue reading...

Two people critical in hospital as officials in Bend say 16-year-old suspect shot dead by bystander

Landslide blocks river and triggers downstream flooding, while summer temperatures persist in PortugalFlash floods have swept through Nepal's central Gorkha district after a pre-dawn landslide on 11 October blocked the Budhi Gandaki River, triggering severe downstream flooding. Two villages in the worst-affected Chumanubri rural municipality were reportedly destroyed, with homes, roads and bridges washed away. Part of a hydropower station was also damaged.After river levels surged from 2 metres to nearly 8.5 metres within hours, the national disaster risk reduction and management authority reported that 204 homes were damaged, and more than 650 people had been affected. More than 100 foreign trekkers were stranded in the popular hiking region. The floods come just two months after catastrophic flooding and landslides devastated parts of the country on the border with Tibet, leaving thousands dead or missing. Continue reading...

Images from New Zealand aerial survey of Nikumaroro in 1938 offer new clues over aviator's disappearanceA New Zealand museum has released nearly 50 photos from a 1938 aerial survey of the island where Amelia Earhart is believed to have crash-landed, offering amateur sleuths new evidence to scour for traces of the pioneering aviator and her plane.The black-and-white images were published by the Air Force Museum of New Zealand after renewed interest in one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century, spurred by a US expedition to the Pacific atoll of Nikumaroro in search of new clues. Continue reading...

Joshua Foster pleaded guilty over death of toddler who fell from fourth-floor window of hotel during family holidayA British man has been handed a 3,000 (2,500) fine after his two-year-old son fell nearly 12 metres (40ft) to his death from the fourth floor window of a hotel in Cyprus.Joshua Foster thought the window was closed when he placed the boy on a sill to show him the view of a waterpark and lost control" of him, the court previously heard. Continue reading...

US president says Zelenskyy more difficult to deal with than Putin' after energy ceasefire' collapses

As violent spirits are unleashed in Sky's Possession, observers see confident creatives reclaiming the island's narratives in a form of cultural reparation'A woman opens a 300yearold box, unleashing a violent spirit - it is the spirit of colonialism and oppression roaring back to life. It is a pivotal scene in Sky's supernatural series Possession and symbolises a wider shift in Jamaica's film industry, where directors are increasingly using the landscape to tell Jamaican stories - including those that confront enslavement, trauma and historical memory.The series is about a biracial British lawyer who travels to Jamaica to investigate a multimillion-pound inheritance dispute, only to uncover a dark, vengeful spirit tied to the plantation's brutal colonial past. Continue reading...

David Shoebridge says 47-page document not made by, used by, or seen by' his office as matter referred to parliamentary standards commission

Regulator for Great Britain weighs up reintroducing market stabilisation charge to prevent firms going bustEnergy suppliers could be forced to pay a charge to rivals if they lure customers with cheaper deals, as the industry regulator for Great Britain attempts to prevent suppliers going bust this winter.Ofgem has published a consultation on a proposal to reintroduce the market stabilisation charge (MSC), which aims to prevent suppliers failing if there is customer exodus, as it frets over the impact of sharp swings in energy prices linked to the conflict in the Middle East. Continue reading...

Reform MP defends leader after ITV footage shows official warning Farage he is protecting' candidate over racist David Lammy commentsThe Reform UK MP Robert Jenrick sought to defend the party against fresh allegations that it hosts extremists by claiming that Nigel Farage had probably done more than almost anybody to stand against racism and the far right."The remarks came after Farage was berated by a Reform official for protecting" a mayoral candidate who was accused of making racist remarks against the former Labour deputy prime minister, David Lammy. Continue reading...

Eight-year-old Queensland girl died in 2022 after being denied insulin by her religious parents

Announcement comes a day after Liberal and Labor parties say they will cover out-of-pocket costs for abortion care

Mines in supply chains of western carmakers linked to widespread deforestation of primary rainforest in nickel-rich lands inhabited by Tolaki people in IndonesiaVolkswagen, Ford and Tesla are among the electric carmakers whose batteries may contain nickel mined in indigenous woodlands plagued by deforestation, an analysis has found, highlighting the struggle to make vehicles that are free from environmental destruction.Corporate disclosures and trade flows from the last two years show mines in the battery supply chains of automotive giants are linked to the loss of trees in Sulawesi, a wildlife hotspot in Indonesia that houses the world's largest nickel deposits. The metal is widely used in cathodes in car batteries because it boosts energy density and increases range. Continue reading...

Labour says idea is tin-eared' as report says fixing rate will cost low-paid workers almost 9,000 over five yearsA shadow minister has called for the government to freeze the minimum wage for five years, a move that could cost low-paid workers almost 9,000.The call came in a report from the Prosperity Institute thinktank, which carries an endorsement from Andrew Sharpe, the shadow business minister. Sharpe said in his endorsement that it was time to take action to address the low rate of young people in work. Continue reading...

Shevaun Haviland argues PM is right to revisit Labour's EU red lines as current trading relationship is bad for businessRepairing the economic damage of Brexit should be the top priority for Andy Burnham as he reconsiders Labour's red lines on EU membership, the head of one of Britain's leading business groups has said.Shevaun Haviland, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said she welcomed the prime minister reopening the Brexit battle lines despite the uncertainty it could create, arguing that the UK's current trading relationship with the EU was bad for business. Continue reading...

Rights group says Youssef al-Manasif was tortured and first met his lawyer five years after arrest for non-violent crimesA young man faces imminent execution in Saudi Arabia for attending protests and funerals when he was aged 15 to 17, say human rights groups, in the latest example of the kingdom's surging use of the death penalty for non-violent crimes.Youssef al-Manasif was arrested in 2017 and accused of crimes including joining demonstrations for religious freedom by the Shia minority and attending funerals that the Saudi authorities deem to be protests. He was convicted and sentenced to death by the specialised criminal court, a secretive tribunal set up for terrorism-related cases. Continue reading...

Accused war criminal announces venture with video on Instagram of him walking along beach and working out

The US vice-president is following the Donald Trump playbook, attacking the Democrats, attempting to make jokes and even swearing more. Jonathan Freedland talks to Arwa Mahdawi about why Vance is making such an effort to court votersBuy your tickets to the Guardian's post-midterm live event, hosted by Jonathan FreedlandWatch Jonathan Freedland on our new Politics Weekly YouTube channelSend your questions and feedback to politicsweeklyamerica@theguardian.comWatch Today in Focus' episode on the Trump administration investigation into Rep. Ilhan OmarRead David Smith's piece on Katie Zacharia's first press conference Continue reading...

More than 11,400 drivers last year were fined for offences they did not recognise as RAC says system needs reformThe number of reported cloned" vehicles involved in offences on UK roads has reached a record high, official data shows.More than 11,400 drivers contacted the DVLA last year after being issued with fines for offences they said they did not recognise or accept responsibility for - most of which are believed to be down to cloning, where a number plate is copied fraudulently on similar vehicles to avoid enforcement cameras. Continue reading...

Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed says Iran-backed militia's use of drones represents new era of radical terrorism'The future of western security is being fought out in the mountains and hills surrounding the south-western Yemeni city of Taiz, the country's former prime minster has said.Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, now an adviser to Yemen's president, said it would be catastrophic if the city fell to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, since control of the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait in the Red Sea and the road to Aden - the site of the UN-recognised government - would be lost. Continue reading...

Four children allegedly mutilated' by explosive weapons and lawyers say unprecedented number held in custodyFrench lawyers and rights groups have said that several teenagers have suffered war-like injuries from police weapons used during school protests, and an unprecedented number of children have been held in police custody, some of whom reported being hit or racially insulted.France is in the fourth week of its biggest youth protest movement in decades, during which hundreds of high schools across the country have been blockaded as students demand the replacement of absent teachers and repairs to decrepit buildings. Continue reading...

Widespread manhunt in city's inner west after man reportedly seen carrying longarm weapon

Jeff Bacon, managing director of Oceania Precision, has been described by the NSW party's leader as my go-to man on the firearms industry'

The remains of Edward Lelburian Jackson were first discovered in 2022, and an initial autopsy revealed he was killed decades agoAfter four years, a piece of the haunting mystery uncovered in the waning waters of drought-stricken Lake Mead has been solved.Since the remains of an unknown homicide victim were discovered stuffed inside a barrel in 2022, Las Vegas investigators have been searching not for his killer - but for his identity. At a press conference on Thursday, Clark county coroner Melanie Rouse shared his name publicly for the first time: Edward Lelburian Jackson. Continue reading...

Attack was the first on Aden's Al-Maashiq palace in the latest fighting between the Iran-aligned Houthis and Saudi ArabiaYemen's Houthis fired missiles at the presidential palace complex in the southern city of Aden on Thursday, killing five people, the government said, as the Saudi-led coalition listed dozens of Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure in recent weeks.The attack was the first on Aden's Al-Maashiq palace in the current conflict between the Iran-aligned Houthis and Saudi Arabia. The palace is the seat of Yemen's Saudi-backed and internationally recognised government. Continue reading...

Moscow sends swarms of drones to attack infrastructure in central Ukraine as Zelenskyy says Kyiv will restart strikes on Russian oil refineriesThe White House's unilateral effort to negotiate an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine has collapsed as Moscow sent a record swarm of drones overnight to attack infrastructure in central Ukraine and Kyiv appeared to resume strikes on Russian oil refineries despite warnings from Donald Trump.Moscow accused Ukraine of launching a strike against a Russian oil refinery in the Ryazan region, its first since Trump abruptly declared an energy ceasefire" that neither Russia nor Ukraine said they had agreed to. Continue reading...

UK defence secretary says he has been reassured directly' counterpart Pete Hegseth that Starlink system has been restored as he seeks to cool tensionsWes Streeting urged the US to stand by Ukraine on his visit to the American capital and sought to cool tensions between the two countries in the wake of the Starlink row that is threatening to set back Kyiv's war effort.The British defence secretary, giving a speech before a meeting with his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, argued that supporting Ukraine was in the long-term interests of Washington, and a business opportunity. Continue reading...

Two people critically hurt when vehicle carrying HGV drivers hit stationary train in Calais, say French authoritiesNineteen people have been injured after a minibus collided with a stationary freight train at the loading platform of the Eurotunnel near Calais, French authorities have said.Pas-de-Calais underprefect Agathe Cury said 18 passengers and the bus driver were injured in the incident. Continue reading...

Exclusive: ITV investigation shows leader stood by mayoral candidate who said Labour MP should go home to the Caribbean'Nigel Farage was told by a senior Reform official that he was protecting" a high-profile mayoral candidate accused of making racist comments about David Lammy, an undercover investigation has revealed.The latest footage from an undercover investigation by ITV also shows Sarah Pochin, one of two female MPs for Reform, complaining that other party officials are so fucking chauvinistic" and that they just exclude you if you are a woman". Continue reading...

Woman claims comedian pranced around like an ostrich' before forcing himself on her in hotel room attackRussell Brand transformed into a monster" when he allegedly forced a woman to take half-naked photographs of him before raping her in a hotel room at the Labour party conference, a court has heard.The 51-year-old comedian has denied attacking the woman, who broke down in tears in the witness box at Southwark crown court as she told how she could not fight him off. Continue reading...

Experts say seeking alternatives that deliver the same dose of oestrogen by the same method is keyWomen in the UK are again facing shortages of some HRT products, with warnings they could persist for weeks. We take a look at the situation. Continue reading...

The high cost of living has Americans angrier than ever. Guardian reporters answered your questions about the US economy ahead of November

Demonstrators demand resignation of Edi Rama after three days of clashes in capital TiranaAlbania's prime minister has said he will not resign as a protest movement, initially prompted by a proposal to build a Trump family-backed resort in the Balkan state, turned violent with clashes convulsing the capital for a third consecutive day.Speaking on Thursday after calls by students who this week assumed control of the anti-government demonstrations that have rattled Tirana since June, Edi Rama said: Governments are changed through democratic elections. We had elections last year, not a revolution." Continue reading...

Nato source says drones came from Russia, while Romania's president says attacking commercial ships is unacceptable and has to stop'Seven sailors are missing after drones struck two tankers near Romania's Black Sea coast, setting them ablaze and raising fresh security concerns on a vital shipping route used by Ukraine.A Nato military source told Reuters the drones that had hit the Wine Trader and the Yara J came from Russia. The drones that caused the fires on board two tankers inside Romanian territorial waters were of Russian origin," the source said. Continue reading...

Elon Musk has spent $158m in a month to back Republicans in midterm races - with his efforts mostly focused on TexasTens of millions of dollars are pouring into Texas as Democrats stage an audacious bid to win a US Senate seat in the Republican stronghold.Elon Musk, the world's richest person, is among those wading into the closely watched race as November's midterm elections approach. Continue reading...

Move comes after east African country abruptly withdrew returns cooperation earlier this yearShabana Mahmood has been accused of launching a perfunctory political gimmick" by the Eritrean government in a row over the return of rejected asylum seekers and criminals.After the home secretary threatened to block all Eritreans from entering the UK unless a returns deal was agreed, the country's embassy claimed the UK had failed to engaged in meaningful and appropriate" dialogue. Continue reading...

Rewritten indictment accuses ex-Venezuela president and wife Cilia Flores of leading campaign of tortureNicolas Maduro insisted on Thursday during an appearance in a New York court that torture allegations in a rewritten drug trafficking indictment against the deposed Venezuelan president and his wife were false accusations".Maduro, shackled at the ankles, was brought to court to face the new charges accusing the couple of leading a state-sponsored campaign of repression that tortured scores of victims, including three Americans. Continue reading...

Family express concerns about William Chapman's contact with mental health services before his deathA man who was killed by a tiger at a South Yorkshire zoo had bouts of psychosis, his family told an inquest opening, as they expressed concerns about his contact with mental health services before his death.William Chapman was mauled to death by the animal at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster on Saturday, after climbing into its enclosure. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Chancellor to target sector in his first budget to help offset damage caused by Iran war on public financesJohn Healey is poised to tax Britain's banks in his 28 October budget to help offset the damage inflicted on the public finances by war in the Middle East, the Guardian understands.The chancellor is in Bangkok, where the International Monetary Fund has praised the UK's progress towards balancing the books, urging him to stay the course". Continue reading...

Water company tells creditors it will not survive long enough to agree refinancing deal without more moneyThames Water has asked its creditors for another 2.4bn as the embattled water company comes close to running out of cash.The UK's largest water company said on Thursday it needed another short-term cash injection because it would be unable to reach a longer-term deal to sort out its giant debt pile before running out of cash by the end of 2026 or the start of 2027". Continue reading...