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Zelenskyy says Nataliia Khodemchuk is victim of new tragedy caused by Kremlin', four decades after disasterThe widow of the first Soviet engineer to die in the Chornobyl nuclear power plant explosion was killed on Friday in Russia's massive drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Nataliia Khodemchuk as the victim of a new tragedy caused by the Kremlin", nearly four decades after her husband, Valerii, was killed inside Chornobyl's nuclear reactor number four. Continue reading...

Less expensive and time consuming' model helps with fast and accurate predictions, possibly saving lives and propertyWhen then Tropical Storm Melissa was churning south of Haiti, Philippe Papin, a National Hurricane Center (NHC) meteorologist, had confidence it was about to grow into a monster hurricane.As the lead forecaster on duty, he predicted that in just 24 hours the storm would become a category 4 hurricane and begin a turn towards the coast of Jamaica. No NHC forecaster had ever issued such a bold forecast for rapid strengthening. Continue reading...

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood calls past week of leadership speculation deeply mortifying'Angela Rayner has condemned the arrogant tittle-tattle" and Labour infighting dominating the past week in her first major interview since her resignation.The former deputy prime minister, often considered as a potential successor to Keir Starmer, declined to rule out running for the job or returning to frontline politics, saying she had not gone away". Continue reading...

Marketing or celebrity-led treatments for toddlers and upwards described as ridiculous' and lacking in skin benefitDermatologists have criticised an actor's new skincare brand, calling it dystopian" for creating face masks for four-year-olds, warning that the beauty industry is now expanding its reach from teenagers to toddlers.It comes as a growing number of brands are moving into the children's, teenage and young adult skincare market. In October, the first skincare brand developed for under-14s, Ever-eden, launched in the US. Superdrug has just created a range for those aged between 13 and 28. Continue reading...

Navigation aid from 16th century was on seabed for centuries before being bought and sold in US and AustraliaIt spent hundreds of years languishing on the seabed off the Isles of Scilly in the far south-west of Britain before being hauled back to the surface by divers and setting off a circumnavigation of the world.Finally the Pednathise Head astrolabe - a rare example of a 16th-century navigational instrument once used by sailors to determine latitude - is back on Scilly after being rediscovered on the other side of the Atlantic. Continue reading...

Experts say air traffic controllers quickly returning to work, with promise of full back pay, and even $10,000 bonusFears that it would take weeks or even months for flight schedules in the US to return to normal in the wake of the US federal government shutdown do not appear to be coming true and the busy upcoming holiday season should be normal for travel, experts say.That is at least in part because air traffic controllers are quickly returning to work, according to the Department of Transportation. Continue reading...

Voters face seemingly extreme choice between communist and rightwing frontrunners, who both promise to fight foreign gangsChileans began voting for a new president and parliament on Sunday, in a contest expected to favour the hard right as candidates play on popular fears over organised crime and immigration.It is the first of an expected two rounds of presidential elections, as polls show none of the candidates clearing the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff scheduled for 14 December. Continue reading...

Home secretary says it is moral mission' for her to tackle asylum system. This live blog is closed

Approach modelled on Denmark's controversial system forms part of home secretary's changes to asylum systemRefugees who have established lives with homes and families in the UK - including Ukrainians - will still face having to return if their home countries become safe, the home secretary has said.Shabana Mahmood said the asylum system was out of control and putting huge pressure on communities" as she announced plans to end the permanent status of refugees, who will need to reapply to remain in Britain every two and a half years. Continue reading...

Paul Nowak says OBR should be modernised to ditch hardwired' support for austerity economicsBritain's budget watchdog is in danger of strangling growth and should be modernised to ditch its hardwired" support for austerity economics, the Trades Union Congress has warned.Less than two weeks before Rachel Reeves's autumn budget, the trade union umbrella group said the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was at risk of being a straitjacket" on growth in living standards. Continue reading...

Move would secure future of steel production at Scunthorpe but raise questions over future of blast furnacesThe business secretary, Peter Kyle, has backed a shift to cleaner electric arc technology at the state-controlled British Steel plant, raising questions about the future of the UK's last remaining blast furnaces.Kyle said the government was keen to see that transition happen", as he works on a new steel strategy, which is expected to be published in December. Continue reading...

Resignations, suspensions and infighting lead to party losing crown of highest number of seats in the countyI know whenever I come back here next," Nigel Farage told a jubilant crowd of hundreds in a leisure centre in Redruth, Reform UK will become a dominant force, not just in Cornwall politics, but in British politics."That was in February and when the local elections arrived three months later it appeared Farage's prophecy was in part coming true - Reform took 28 seats on Cornwall council, the highest number of any party. Continue reading...

Flood warnings still in place in England and Wales, as plunging temperatures forecast with possible snow and iceEmergency services are continuing to deal with severe flooding caused by Storm Claudia.A major incident was declared in Monmouth, south-east Wales, where people were rescued or evacuated from homes that were flooded during torrential rain on Friday. Continue reading...

CRC mission will seek to deepen public understanding of Britain's colonial legacy and its lasting impactA delegation from the body leading the Caribbean's slavery reparations movement will be in the UK next week for a historic" first official visit to advocate for former British colonies.The Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC) will be meeting with UK parliamentarians, Caribbean diplomats, academics and civil society groups from 17 to 20 November. Continue reading...

City council and regional authority collaborate to guarantee renewable mobile energy for next summer's festival seasonArtists including Billie Eilish and Neil Young and festivals across the world have taken action to make their concerts more sustainable by harnessing green power.The concept is being taken a step further in the south-west of England next summer when a clean power hub" is set up in Bristol that festivals, large gigs and film crews will be able to tap into. Continue reading...

Taylor Wimpey chief Jennie Daly calls for revival of help-to-buy equity loan scheme to revive property marketThe boss of one of Britain's biggest housebuilders has urged the government to announce more support for first-time buyers to revive a property market that has cooled in the very long shadow" of the looming budget.Jennie Daly, the chief executive of Taylor Wimpey, also warned against an accumulation of regulation", arguing that a perverse outcome" of green measures could be that it becomes unviable to build new homes in poorer areas of the country. Continue reading...

Change to crime and policing bill backed by fathers' rights groups seeking support in cross-border abduction casesMothers fleeing domestic violence who keep their children overseas without permission would be criminalised for the first time under a new law.The change is introduced in a proposed amendment to the crime and policing bill, backed by fathers' rights groups and the Reunite International charity. The amendment has not been debated in parliament, and is now before the House of Lords. Continue reading...

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Two in critical condition after driver crashes into crowd at Walcha Motorcycle Rally about 90km from Tamworth

Jackson's songs are back on charts and biopic trailer racked up 116m views in 24 hours, yet there is a certain hesitationMichael Jackson's voodoo classic Thriller was high on Billboard's Hot 100 in the week of 15 November, handing the 16-years-gone King of Pop a record for having a Top 10 hit across six different decades. Simultaneously, Jackson also broke records for receiving 116m views in 24 hours for the trailer of a new biopic, Michael, set for release in April.Millions of fans may be excited and primed for a Jackson biopic. For comparison, the trailer beat out Taylor Swift's Eras tour preview and it will join a procession of recent music biopics about Bruce Springsteen, Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and Elton John. The most successful of all - the Freddie Mercury and Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody - took in nearly a billion dollars at the box office. Continue reading...

An inquest has found a Cheshire prison guilty of neglect after Alex Davies, 25, was found dead inside a segregation cell after a lifetime of mental health strugglesThere is a gap or a space where Alex should be," Stacie Davies said. Wherever I am, she's not there."At just 25 years old, her daughter, Alex Davies, was found dead in her segregation cell at Styal prison in Cheshire on Christmas Eve last year. Continue reading...

100 police officers injured in Mexico City as demonstrators attack National Palace following death of Michoacan mayor who fought drug traffickingAt least 120 people, mostly police officers, were injured as thousands marched through Mexico City to protest against the government of Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum.The demonstration on Saturday was organised by members of generation Z, but ended with strong backing from older supporters of opposition parties. Continue reading...

Gwent police name victim as Lainie Williams and have charged Cameron Cheng, 18, a British nationalA teenager has been charged with murder after a 17-year-old girl was killed in South Wales.The girl, named as Lainie Williams, was pronounced dead at the scene, Gwent police said. Continue reading...

Home secretary expected to change system to deny help to those who can work or who have assetsShabana Mahmood is expected to announce changes to Britain's asylum system on Monday in an attempt to quell rising fears about immigration.The home secretary plans to amend laws that guarantee housing and financial support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. Continue reading...

LNER's Samir Zitouni, known as Sam, was seriously injured in mass stabbing and is credited with saving multiple livesA train crew member who was seriously injured while protecting passengers during a mass stabbing onboard a train in Cambridgeshire has been discharged from hospital, police have said.

Africa CDC says at least nine cases have been detected of Ebola-like illness, which kills up to 80% of those infectedEthiopia has confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the south of the country, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said.The Marburg virus is one of the deadliest known pathogens. Like Ebola, it causes severe bleeding, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea and has a 21-day incubation period. Continue reading...

As Liberals join Nationals in abandoning a 2050 emissions target, we unpick some of the opposition's talking points

Grenades filled with rubber pellets and other so-called less lethal' munitions have been increasingly deployed, despite being linked to serious injuries and even deaths

Australian companies have exported nearly $300m weapons over five years to the UAE, which has denied shipping weapons to a paramilitary group in Sudan

Major incident declared in Wales, with rescues and evacuations in Monmouth after river bursts its banksSnow could be on the way for parts of the UK with a cold snap set to arrive in the coming days in the wake of Storm Claudia, the Met Office said on Saturday.The storm had a significant impact in Wales where a major incident was declared, with dozens of people rescued from their homes or evacuated in the town of Monmouth following severe flooding when the River Monnow burst its banks. Continue reading...

Police believe device was deliberately planted near frontbench to disrupt proceedings, prompting heightened security in parliamentPolice have arrested two men in connection with a mobile phone hidden in the House of Commons that was reportedly planted there to play sex noises during prime minister's questions.The phone was found near the frontbench during a routine sweep of the chamber. It is believed to have been intended to interrupt the keynote weekly showdown between Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch in September. Continue reading...

Bangkok had earlier said it was suspending ceasefire, accusing Cambodia of laying landmines along the borderThe US has put pressure on Thailand to recommit to a ceasefire with Cambodia, warning trade talks could be halted as Washington seeks to keep a Donald Trump-brokered truce agreement from falling apart.Earlier this week, Thailand said that it was suspending the ceasefire deal, accusing Cambodia of laying fresh landmines along the border, including one it said wounded a Thai soldier on patrol, who lost a foot in the explosion. Continue reading...

Business secretary Peter Kyle says appeal of far-right parties like Reform due to their dogma of disruption, division and despair'Nigel Farage is today's incarnation of the politics of Enoch Powell", the business secretary, Peter Kyle, said at the Co-operative party conference.Kyle described Reform UK as far right", while stressing that boosting economic growth was needed to build an economy and a politics that people can trust to deliver for themselves, their families and their communities". Continue reading...

As party's rise fuels fears over future visa rules, people share how the lives they have built are in jeopardyAs Reform UK soars in the polls, Britain's migrant communities are facing an uncertain future.The party has announced a swathe of hardline immigration policies, including its plans to abolish indefinite leave to remain - the right to settle permanently in the UK after five years of residence. Continue reading...

Cooke, who worked for the Observer for 25 years and was described as its backbone', was diagnosed with cancer earlier this yearTributes have been paid to the journalist and critic Rachel Cooke after her death from cancer.Cooke, 56, was diagnosed with the illness earlier this year and died on Friday. She worked for the Observer for 25 years, where she was described as the backbone of the paper". Continue reading...

PM makes opposition to support for Ukraine central to Fidesz campaign as it loses ground over cost of living crisisHungary's prime minister has kicked off a weeks-long anti-war roadshow", turning criticism of European support for Ukraine into an early campaign message before next year's elections.Viktor Orban' is scheduled to stage an event in five cities before the end of the year, and started with an assembly on Saturday in the north-western city of Gyr. Continue reading...

Natalie Boucly says supplies are ready but only about half of what is needed is getting into territoryIsrael is breaching international law by continuing to impose restrictions on aid flows into Gaza, where the population remains critically short of food and life-saving goods as winter sets in, a senior official at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said.In an interview during a recent visit to Brussels, Natalie Boucly, an Unrwa deputy commissioner general, said the whole world - including the EU and US - needed to increase the pressure on Israel's government to ensure the unrestricted flow of aid into Gaza. Continue reading...

One possible alteration was thought to be tax-free cash drawdowns, but the chancellor may have turned to salary sacrifice schemesRumours about what Rachel Reeves may, or may not, do to pensions in the budget continue to swirl.One much-debated possible change - cutting the amount of tax-free cash that people can take from their pensions - is said by some to be off the table, but reports have emerged that the chancellor has salary sacrifice" pension schemes in her sights. Continue reading...

Exclusive: thinktank report finds health secretary has failed to improve productivity, with the health service unlikely to meet its targetsWes Streeting has been accused of taking a chaotic and incoherent approach" to reforming the NHS which makes it unlikely the government will hit its own targets, according to a damning report by the Institute for Government (IfG).The report praises elements of how the health secretary has managed the health service in his first year in office, including improving performance and staff retention in hospitals. Thepay settlement he reached with resident doctors last year avoided a winter plagued by NHS strikes Continue reading...

US president says he will sue the corporation for anywhere between a billion and $5bn'Donald Trump has said he still plans to sue the BBC despite receiving the apology he demanded over a misleading edit of one of his speeches.The row, over an episode of Panorama from last year about the Capitol riot in 2021, led to accusations of bias at the broadcaster and the resignation of two of the most senior executives at the BBC: the director general, Tim Davie; and Deborah Turness, the chief executive of news. Continue reading...

Katrin Jakobsdottir and her co-author want the 350,000 people who speak the language to fight for its futureIceland's former prime minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir, has said that the Icelandic language could be wiped out in as little as a generation due to the sweeping rise of AI and encroaching English language dominance.Katrin, who stood down as prime minister last year to run for president after seven years in office, said Iceland was undergoing radical" change when it came to language use. More people are reading and speaking English, and fewer are reading in Icelandic, a trend she says is being exacerbated by the way language models are trained. Continue reading...

Duncan Ivison, president of Manchester University, says government's 6% surcharge plan will hurt the sector'A levy on tuition fees paid by international students is wrong", will hurt the sector" and is not in the long-term interests" of the UK, according to the vice-chancellor of one of the country's leading universities.Duncan Ivison, who took over as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Manchester (UoM) last year, was speaking ahead of the budget later this month when the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is expected to flesh out her plans for the proposed 6% surcharge. Continue reading...

The accidental explosion comes days after a deadly car blast in New Delhi which killed at least eight people near the city's historic Red FortAt least nine people were killed and 32 injured after a cache of confiscated explosives detonated inside a police station in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police have announced.The blast occurred in the Nowgam area of Srinagar, the region's main city, late on Friday while a team of forensic experts and police were examining the explosive material, said Nalin Prabhat, the region's police director general. He ruled out any foul play, saying it was an accident. Continue reading...

Campaigners claim AI algorithms are behind hefty increases in renewal quotes for home and car coverShortly after her husband died, Kay Lawley* received renewal quotes from the couple's home and car insurance provider, Ageas. She told the company of his death and was stunned that the quotes then increased by up to 15%.Her car insurance quote went from 301 to 348, while her home and contents policy rose by almost 12% - from 1,039 to 1,161. Continue reading...

Anne Wood says algorithms bypass the responsibility of art' and have failed to support high-quality children's contentLots of programmes for children on YouTube are empty" and do nothing to encourage the imaginative life of children", the Teletubbies creator has cautioned parents.Anne Wood, the veteran children's producer who devised the popular TV show for preschool children, said children's television had long been undervalued and she feared we're losing a tremendous amount and nobody can see it because it's not considered important". Continue reading...

After Tim Davie's resignation, the next director general will face internal strife, external noise and looming talks over the corporation's existence and purposeAs BBC senior editors arrived at its New Broadcasting House headquarters in central London on Monday, the most pressing question was what had convinced Tim Davie, the corporation's director general, to quit suddenly. Like any good BBC drama, it was a plot twist no one had seen coming.As they assessed the brutal pressures that had finally proved too much for Davie, a second question soon arose. Was running the BBC now simply an impossible job? Continue reading...

Campaigners say train image of two wheelchair users does not reflect reality of single wheelchair space in standard classCampaigners have accused one of the UK's leading train companies of virtue signalling without the virtue" after it used images of wheelchair users that they say do not reflect the reality of travelling with a disability.Baraka Carberry, a digital artist, created a new livery for Avanti West Coast, which provides rail links between London and Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland, that shows scenes of people, culture, colours and joy". Titled Together We Roll, the images stretch across all seven carriages of the new Evero train, which the company says reduces carbon compared with the old fleet of trains. Continue reading...

Embattled Hungarian leader says he won an indefinite reprieve from sanctions on oil and gas from Russia, but the US has since disputed thisAs Viktor Orban would tell it, he had the perfect meeting with Donald Trump.After visiting the White House last week, the embattled Hungarian prime minister quickly declared victory, saying he had secured an indefinite exemption from US sanctions on oil and gas imported from Russia. The deal would shield Hungarians from skyrocketing energy prices ahead of parliamentary elections next year and potentially boost Orban's chances of extending his 15-year rule. Continue reading...

Ukrainian minister says more than 800 attacks recorded since start of year as Moscow seeks to destroy country's logistical capabilitiesUkraine has recorded a threefold increase in the number of attacks on its railway system since July, according to a senior minister, as Moscow seeks to scupper one of Kyiv's key logistical systems.Oleksii Kuleba, a deputy prime minister with responsibility for infrastructure, said attacks on the network since the start of 2025 had caused damage totalling $1bn (760m). Continue reading...

Advocates fear that other donors will follow Britain's reduction to the Global Fund for Aids, TB and malariaThe UK is undermining its legacy in fighting infectious diseases including Aids and malaria by cutting money pledged to a leading global health fund, campaigners claim.The 15% reduction in the contribution to the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced this week - in a year when the UK, alongside South Africa, is co-host of the fund's replenishment drive - risks encouraging other countries to cut back commitments as well, advocates fear.The Gates Foundation is a major private contributor to the Global Fund. The foundation also contributes to theguardian.org, which funds independent journalism at the Guardian Continue reading...