World news | The Guardian

President downplays unfavorable polling as he travels to Nebraska to support Republicans ahead of the US midterm elections

The war with Iran is reshaping America ahead of the midterms - how will it affect US voters at the polls? Join us for a live conversation on 6 October at 12pm ET with political and global correspondents

Lord Archer died peacefully at home between writing sessions, his publisher saidThe author and former politician Jeffrey Archer has died aged 86.Archer, who was a Conservative MP for five years before serving as the party's deputy chairman, died suddenly and peacefully" at his home between writing sessions" on Monday, his publisher Harper Collins said. Continue reading...

Sources say the opposition's target will be below Labor's but won't match One Nation's goal to limit net arrivals to 130,000

President says I'm doing great' despite polls showing 32% approval rating and loss of support from 2024 votersDonald Trump's approval ratings reached a record low on Monday, according to new opinion polls.A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Trump's approval rating at a record-low 32%. That polling included the president losing support among independent voters and Latinos, who had backed him in 2024. The dip could prove dire for the Republican party a month ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. Continue reading...

Shavdon Gayden killed Eddimar Hernandez-Chacon in broad daylight while walking with her older sisterA woman has been charged with murder after allegedly stabbing a seven-year-old girl, with police describing it as an unprovoked attack on a sidewalk in Chicago.Shavon Gayden, 48, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder, Chicago police said in a statement on Sunday. The killing happened just before noon on Saturday in the Chatham neighborhood. The victim has been identified by local media and the medical examiner's office as Eddimar Hernandez-Chacon. Continue reading...

Neighboring states are also reporting hundreds of cases, with over 3,800 recorded across the countryPennsylvania has surpassed 1,000 measles cases this year, state health officials calculate, making it the largest state outbreak in more than three decades. The benchmark comes as neighboring New York declared a state of emergency about measles rates there.Pennsylvania's health department said Monday 1,004 cases of measles had been confirmed. Five Pennsylvania residents have died after contracting the disease, with 198 hospitalizations. Continue reading...

Party to unveil plans for one of UK's most significant military programmes since the cold war'The Conservatives will announce plans to build a 10bn British Iron Dome" similar to Israel's air and missile defence system, which the party will christen Britannia Shield" in an announcement at conference on Tuesday.The shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, will say Britain needs to be ready to defend itself from potential aerial attacks and that new investment was needed in advanced radar and interceptor missiles. Continue reading...

British Airways Boeing abruptly lost altitude over Ireland due to technical issue' and returned to HeathrowA flight from London to Chicago declared an emergency after a sudden and steep descent of 28,000 feet over Ireland and was forced to turn back to Britain.British Airways flight BA295 was bound for Chicago's O'Hare airport but after a technical issue" during which oxygen masks were deployed from the ceiling, the plane landed safely back at London Heathrow. Continue reading...

Progressive voters and supporters of incumbent president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva left reeling after far-right surgeFlavio Bolsonaro is in pole position to win Brazil's presidential election, after a far-right tsunami propelled him to a shock first-round victory over the incumbent, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, leaving progressive voters reeling.The 45-year-old rightwing candidate received 56.1m votes to Lula's 53.8m - 47.03% to 45.16% - meaning the 80-year-old leftwinger has a mountain to climb if he is to bounce back in the second round on 25 October. Never, since the return of democracy to Brazil in 1985, has the first-round runner-up managed to turn the game around and win the second ballot. Continue reading...

Former MP and Greens Institute head says proposal for publicly owned supermarket chain will ease grocery prices

European Green party says motion goes against its policy, with German Green co-leader calling it intolerable and unacceptable'

Party has common enemy in defectors, while Nigel Farage's woes have given some insiders reason to hopeDuring a quick-fire Q&A at the Conservative party conference this weekend, Kemi Badenoch was asked who she would pick between Robert Jenrick or Suella Braverman.Why do you keep offering me these? It's like asking if I'd rather be shot or drowned," the Tory leader responded with her trademark directness. Continue reading...

Experts say strength of evangelical church and perception that Lula is too old also helped propel Jair Bolsonaro's son to first-round election winOn Sunday night, as the scale of the far-right triumph in Brazil sank in, an adapted football chant rang out in one of Rio's most leftwing areas.Let's turn this around, Lu-laaaaa! Let's turn this around, Lu-laaaaa! Let's turn this around, Lu-laaaaa!" crestfallen progressives bellowed while drowning their sorrows after witnessing an excruciating election setback for their leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Continue reading...

Former prince to challenge whether Thames Valley force and central criminal court of England and Wales acted lawfully over searches relating to his arrestAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor is taking action against Thames Valley police and the central criminal court to challenge the legality of search warrants that led to his arrest this year, a judicial spokesperson has said.A private high court hearing is scheduled to take place before Mr Justice Hilliard on Thursday to determine whether documents related to the former Duke of York's call for a judicial review can be made public, with Thames Valley police and the central criminal court of England and Wales in opposition. Continue reading...

Tit-for-tat expulsions expected after relations deteriorate as a result of UK ban on goods from illegal settlementsThe UK has threatened to expel one Israeli diplomat for every British diplomat forced to leave Israel as a result of Israel's decision to close the UK consulate in East Jerusalem later this week.This could means as many as 27 Israeli diplomats being expelled from the UK, a step that would arguably mark the lowest point in British-Israeli diplomatic relations since the formation of the state of Israel. Continue reading...

A researcher at a climate change think tank says the Conservative policy would be a disaster for first time buyers'Yesterday, as a gimmick, the Tories were handing out Bottler Burnham" bottles of water (0% strength") to make a point about Burnham supposedly cancelling plans for an early election under pressure from the Tories. It is a version of a stunt they pulled in 2008 when they gave journalists bottles of a Bottler Brown" beer. (Gordon Brown did pull plans for an early election at the last minute; this time the jibe is unfair, because there were no Burnham plans for an early election.)The new bottles feature the image of Burnham produced by the Manchester artist Stan Chow.The SNP's effective ban on new nuclear energy in Scotland flies in the face of common-sense.No part of Great Britain should be missing out on plans for new nuclear renewal. Continue reading...

Camera-enabled Meta spectacles are already restricted in UK and US because of fears about covert recordingNorway is planning a temporary ban on smart glasses in some public places, amid rising global concern at the spread of the AI-enabled recording devices.The Oslo government is planning a bill to prevent the use of the camera-enabled spectacles in parks, beaches, museums, shopping centres, schools, daycare centres, healthcare facilities, gyms and public events, although private use would still be allowed. Continue reading...

Strong and fair' proposal to be taken to members' ballot after previous offer led Unison to walk out of negotiationsGlasgow city council has reached an agreement with the trade union Unison over pay and grading, averting one of the UK's biggest ever fire-and-rehire exercises.Talks between the council and the GMB, Unite and Unison unions previously broke down when Unison refused to ballot its members on a new pay and grading system, designed to resolve historical equal pay issues. Continue reading...

Hundreds of schools in France remain closed amid planned demonstrations across the countryThe conservative People's Party is very pleased with the announcement.At last," they say on their X, with a slick election video - set to the EU's anthem Ode to Joy" - to go along with it.Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has called a snap election for 29 November, just days after rightwing parties blocked his minority government's emergency measures on housing amid widespread protests (9:10).The election will take place on Sunday, 29 November, the earliest possible date procedurally.In a fierce address, Sanchez framed the election as choice between regressing" under a far-right coalition" or keeping moving forward" with his progressive administration (9:04, 9:09, 9:17).He said the election will be about who will guide Spain through a period of disruption amid high political tensions, global instability, climate emergency, and uncertainty posed by the rise of AI (9:13). Continue reading...

Party in England and Wales ditches commitment to phase out nuclear in major shift in its energy policyGreen party members have voted to end the party's opposition to nuclear power, dropping a commitment to phase out the technology in a major shift in its energy policy.The motion, adopted at conference, removes a blanket opposition to nuclear fission" and instead commits the Green party of England and Wales to assessing nuclear projects alongside other low-carbon technologies. Continue reading...

Departure comes amid large drop in oil receipts, rampant inflation and shrinking economyIran's oil minister has resigned days after allegations that an intermediary trust selling Iranian oil abroad owed millions of dollars' worth of export receipts to the state.Mohsen Paknejad's departure comes as Iran grapples with a dire economic situation, including inflation running at 85%. An overall drop in oil receipts has led to a massive shortfall in foreign exchange earnings and one of the biggest drops in the value of the rial since the Iranian revolution in 1979. Continue reading...

Public figures back commissioner's call for government commitment to funding legal support for those affectedThe singer and television personality Mel B has said she is heartbroken" by the Windrush scandal victims' fight for justice, as the Windrush commissioner urged ministers to commit to providing funding for legal support for those affected by the end of October.In April, the Guardian revealed that the Home Office had refused to pay compensation in more than half the claims made by victims of the scandal, in which mainly Black Britons who came legally to postwar Britain were wrongly stripped of citizenship and settlement rights. Continue reading...

Election called after rightwing parties voted down emergency legislation aimed at tackling housing crisis

Exclusive: Guardian Australia investigation reveals state governments use shared graves to bury those deemed too poor to pay for funerals. It's unspeakable,' one relative says

Prime minister orders ministers to tackle students' five major demands, including organising replacement teachers and school repairsHundreds of schools in France remained fully or partially closed on Monday as teenagers continued to blockade buildings and the government struggled to contain the biggest youth protest movement in years.A 15-year-old protesting against what the demonstrators say are France's dilapidated and understaffed schools had his hand blown off on Monday in the northern town of Lens, the local prefect Francois-Xavier Lauch said. Continue reading...

After Guardian investigation uncovered drone strike that killed 12 civilians and injured many more, seven-year-old Abdiqadir Salah underwent vital operation in MogadishuOn the rickshaw ride to the hospital, Marian Haji Abdi Guled felt a mixture of joy and apprehension: the day they had been waiting for had finally arrived.Almost a year earlier, her then seven-year-old son, Abdiqadir Salah, had been seriously injured, alongside his two siblings, in what a Guardian investigation found was a US drone strike on the village of Jamaame in Somalia that killed at least 12 civilians, including eight children. Continue reading...

Culture of silence and fears of exclusion means aviation workers less likely to seek help for mental health issuesPilots and air traffic controllers in the US could soon have an easier time achieving a healthy mental altitude - a move with implications for the safety of air travel in America.The US Senate recently approved bills aimed at encouraging aviation professionals struggling with a mental health condition get treatment. Continue reading...

Flavio Bolsonaro is favorite to win 25 October runoff against 80-year-old incumbent leftwing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Plus the pawsome' new recruit to Mexico's national guardGood morning. Brazil's presidential race will go to a second round after the far-right candidate, Flavio Bolsonaro, beat the incumbent leftwing president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, but failed to secure the outright majority he needed to avoid a runoff.The 45-year-old son of the disgraced former president Jair Bolsonaro will go into the second round as strong favourite, likely to pick up votes from the election's other rightwing candidates, including Ronaldo Caiado, who secured 2.1%, and Renan Santos, who won 2.2%. The second round will take place on 25 October.How have Bolsonarista politicians taken a grip on Brazil? Brazil's far right put in an even stronger than expected showing, with a succession of Bolsonarista politicians winning congressional or gubernatorial races. They included Jair Bolsonaro's second son, Carlos Bolsonaro, and his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, who both won seats in the senate. Bolsonaro's youngest son, Jair Renan Bolsonaro, was elected to the lower house of congress.What has been the latest response from Cornell University? In a video message, the Cornell University president, Michael Kotlikoff, said the school would take a serious look at the role of fraternities and sororities in campus life", adding: At their best, these organisations can provide students with friendship, belonging, mentorship and a powerful sense of community. But being part of a group can never diminish individual responsibility." Continue reading...

Precautions in place in several hospitals in eastern Russia amid uncertainty over death of Darya ShipilovaSeveral hospitals in Siberia have been placed under quarantine after the death of a woman who worked at an anti-plague institute.Darya Shipilova, an employee at an institute in the eastern city of Irkutsk, died on the night of 2 October at a regional hospital in the nearby town of Shelekhov two days after falling ill. Continue reading...

German-owned supermarket beats Morrisons to become fifth largest grocer in Great Britain

Virgin Media O2 complains of stitch-up' over rival provider, which has 1.5m customers

Three scientists to share 12m Swedish kronor prize for their work on light-gated ion channels and optogenetics'The Nobel prize in physiology or medicine 2026 has been awarded to three scientists for their work on investigating the mysteries of the brain.Karl Deisseroth of both Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, Peter Hegemann of the Humboldt University of Berlin, and Georg Nagel of the University of Wurzburg have been awarded the prize for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.". Continue reading...

Musician who had hit albums with Racine and Rats later became a judge on six seasons of Canadian IdolSass Jordan, the singer-songwriter who became a significant success in Canada's rock scene in the 1990s before starring as a judge on Canadian Idol, has died aged 65.No cause of death has been given. A statement on social media said she died on 2 October surrounded by her loving family ... She remains in our hearts, an inimitable force of nature. An irreplaceable being of light and joy!" Continue reading...

Rising fuel costs are pushing hundreds of firms out of business, threatening school transport, firms say

Vivien Lichtenstein says she believes motion is unhelpful as anger grows over Zack Polanski's absence for vote

Demonstrators gather in south coast town as nearly 150 people trying to reach UK by small boat brought ashoreAnti-migrant protesters have scuffled with police in Gosport, Hampshire, as they opposed the rescuing of nearly 150 people trying to reach the UK by small boat.The demonstrators gathered in the south coast town as news of the vessel's expected arrival spread. It was the second time protesters had targeted the town amid rumours of rescued people disembarking there. Continue reading...

Percentage who feel very emotionally attached to Israel' rose to 51% in June 2025, up 13 points from before Gaza warBritish Jews have become more likely to identify as Zionist, consider emigrating to Israel, and feel a close attachment to the country since the 7 October attacks, research has found.A study from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) titled October 8 Jews: The Impact of October 7 on British Jewish Identity", by Dr David Graham, found the percentage of British Jews who identified as Zionist rose seven points to 66%, between 2022 and 2025. By June 2025, the numbers who felt antisemitism in the UK was a very big problem" had tripled to 50%. Continue reading...

The actor will perform famous TV sketches - as well as new material created with Richard Curtis, Ben Elton and Howard Goodall - in Rowan Live, which opens in FebruaryRowan Atkinson will return to the stage next year to play Blackadder, Mr Bean and other comic characters from across his career in a West End show, Rowan Live. The production, which will have a short run of 30 performances, is to feature new routines as well as his famous sketches from TV shows including Not the Nine O'Clock News.It is 40 years since I last did a comedy sketch show in the West End," said Atkinson. I thought it would be fun to perform again the sketches that began it all for myself and [writer] Richard Curtis, and in which my most well-known characters originated, alongside some surprise new material written especially for this show." He and Curtis will be collaborating once more with Blackadder writer Ben Elton and its composer Howard Goodall. Continue reading...

RMIT confirms co-pilot was a student as Australian authorities examine his time in country between 2015 and 2017An Australian university has confirmed a flydubai co-pilot who allegedly tried to hijack an Israel-bound flight studied at its Melbourne campus, but left before completing his qualification.Disaster was narrowly averted on 30 September when passengers and crew intervened to stop the alleged attempt of the co-pilot, identified by media outlets as Hammam al-Hammami, to take control of a flight to Tel Aviv with 182 people onboard. Continue reading...

The FBI arrested Wanying Zhang, also known as Heather, at Los Angeles International Airport before she left for China, the agency saidUS authorities arrested a California woman on Sunday, accusing her of spying on the son of Taiwan's president at the behest of Chinese officials, the FBI said.The FBI arrested Wanying Zhang, also known as Heather, at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday before her planned departure to China, the agency said in a statement. Authorities charged Zhang, 34, of Irvine, California, with acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Continue reading...

Juvenile humpback was spotted near Bundjalung national park in what experts say is a rare but not unprecedented event

Plans to shed as many as 2,000 employees have been announced in stages, and staff fear further cuts in 2027Morale at the BBC has been severely dented by a gradual bloodletting" that has seen plans to shed as many as 2,000 staff slowly announced over several weeks, members of the corporation's staff have warned.More internal meetings have been called for this week to discuss further details of the cuts, which aim to save 500m. Some staff already fear that further waves of cuts will follow soon after in the new year. Continue reading...

Natural History Museum and British Museum among cultural institutions leveraging collections and exhibitionsThey are often free to visit but museums are bolstering their finances by putting their stamp on everything from upmarket hotel suites to trendy jumpsuits and virtual reality experiences.Forget buying a T-shirt. If you can afford the from 724" price tag, you can spend the night in the Natural History Museum family suite at the Park Plaza London Riverbank hotel, which has an interior inspired by the museum's founder, Sir Richard Owen, complete with Tyrannosaurus rex bunk beds. Continue reading...

Police arrested 46-year-old in Noosa and charged him with assault occasioning bodily harm and strangulation in a domestic setting

Study of remains taken from royal cemetery at Umm el-Qa'ab appears to confirm early Egyptologist's theoryCourt officials and craftspeople serving early Egyptian kings may have been sacrificed when their ruler died, according to research that found fractures in several ancient skulls.The royal cemetery of Umm el-Qa'ab near Abydos features the tombs and enclosures of the First Dynasty rulers of Egypt, and dates as far back as 3,000BC. Continue reading...

Experts say country does not have plan to feed people in a crisis and is unprepared for future shortagesBritain does not have a plan for how to feed people in a crisis and is unprepared for potential future food shortages, according to a warning from more than 150 experts delivered to Andy Burnham.The climate crisis, geopolitical shocks, cyber-attacks and energy outages are among the threats to food chain security, according to the open letter, which claims the government is complacent about food as a national security matter".Establish a new system of local food resilience committees under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.Audit the UK's reliance on a few very large food companies and food imports.Realign national food production around nutritional needs.Create national, regional, local and community food storage schemes.Support the decentralisation of the UK's food supply. Continue reading...

Nine years on from a failed independence push, former president Carles Puigdemont will find times have changedAfter years of legal wrangling, Spain's constitutional court is expected to remove the last obstacle to the return of the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont after nearly nine years in exile this week.Puigdemont fled in 2017 to avoid being jailed for his part in the failed and illegal independence push for which nine of his colleagues were imprisoned on sentences of up to 13 years, although all were released within three years. Continue reading...

Barnaby Joyce defends move, saying party will lease space from mining billionaire's company at commercial rates

Officers were responding to reports a car had driven into a tree 84km north of Yass on Sunday