Fund will support feasibility study for potential bid to host Games in the 2040s, backed by northern mayors and top athletesJohn Healey is to announce a 7m fund to examine a potential future bid to host the Olympics in northern England in his first budget as chancellor.The fund will be used to carry out a full feasibility study for a northern Games, which, if successful, would be held in the north of England in the 2040s. Continue reading...
by Marina Dunbar (now); Frances Mao and Emily Mackay on (#7996F)
French police have made 135 arrests, while Italian officers have raided homes in Milan, with protests also taking place in Spain and AlbaniaJesse, 40, a charity worker from the north of Paris, had turned out for the street march.She said: I'm so angry. I'm here to support schoolchildren's demands for better conditions. I'm so proud of them and we have to stand together." Continue reading...
About 200 firefighters deployed to tackle blaze at former Nazi mountain retreat in remote part of southern GermanyPolice have arrested a 33-year-old German citizen after a fire ripped through Adolf Hitler's former mountain retreat in Bavaria, leaving the historic Nazi meeting place - known as the Eagle's Nest - largely destroyed.About 200 firefighters were deployed on Friday night to tackle the blaze at the Nazi dictator's remote, purpose-built Kehlsteinhaus residence, a protected building on the peak of Obersalzberg in southern Germany. Continue reading...
Footage broadcast on state TV shows three attackers approaching Greek Orthodox church and firing shotsNine people have been killed after gunmen opened fire at a funeral at a church in Jordan in a rare attack on the country's Christian minority.Authorities described the attack on Friday as a terrorist act by extremists. Continue reading...
Scotland Yard says it shared letter about Thomas Markle Sr allegations in 2019 but did not pass claims to other agenciesThe Metropolitan police have confirmed they gave a letter to the Duchess of Sussex in 2019 concerning alleged offending" involving her father, after accusations arose on Friday about Thomas Markle Sr having child sexual abuse images.Scotland Yard said it had received a letter in January 2019 making a number of allegations about offending outside Britain. Continue reading...
North Korean leader travels over New Yalu River Bridge to meet senior Communist party memberKim Jong-un has visited China, inaugurating a bridge that connects the two countries and saying he hopes to expand cooperation with his neighbour.The North Korean leader arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday after crossing the New Yalu River Bridge, according to South Korea's unification ministry, which handles affairs related to North Korea, and China's official Xinhua news agency. Continue reading...
Second named storm will hit northern parts of UK as thousands remain without power after Friday's Storm AustenThe UK is bracing for a second storm this weekend, as strong winds and heavy rain are expected to disrupt travel and cause further power cuts in the north.Storm Boelo, the second named storm of the season, is expected to bring heavy, frequent showers and winds potentially exceeding 80mph to northern parts of the UK. Continue reading...
PM Benjamin Netanyahu vows to destroy this place' in retaliation for militant attack on army checkpointIsraeli troops have levelled a neighbourhood in Hebron, driving out hundreds of families in collective punishment for a militant attack on an army checkpoint outside the West Bank city, local Palestinian authorities said.The Hebron municipality estimated that 35 hectares (86 acres) had been destroyed or marked for destruction and about 1,500 people had been evicted from their homes by Saturday afternoon in the district of Ein Deir Baha. The whole city of 250,000 people was sealed off by checkpoints on every point of entry. Continue reading...
Leading restaurateur says Gulf countries actively help businesses set up, while east Asia has a better work ethicSome of London's top restaurants are opening branches in Dubai because of a tax tsunami" in the UK and better work ethic abroad, according to a leading restaurateur.James Robson, a co-owner of Fallow in St James's Market, regarded as the capital's hottest restaurant, serving 1,000 people a day, has just signed a deal to open an outpost in the Gulf. Continue reading...
by Kalyeena Makortoff Banking correspondent on (#7998Q)
Lobby group's figures, shared with John Healey, are misleading as they do not include major rival Paris, say campaignersA banking lobby group has been accused of cherrypicking data and trying to mislead the British government by claiming a tax rise for banks at next week's budget would leave London less competitive than rival financial hubs.UK Finance, which represents banks including Lloyds, JP Morgan and Revolut, commissions an annual report tallying up all the taxes shouldered by a large bank, including corporation tax, social security, VAT and bank-specific levies. Continue reading...
The 36-year-old died after two boys reportedly swept away by strong current near Bimini, police sayA British woman has died in the Bahamas while trying to rescue her two sons after a current swept them away as they were snorkelling.The Royal Bahamas police force said it had launched an investigation after the death of a 36-year-old woman on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Government campaign recommends three days' worth of stores for emergencies, but some are ahead of the gameDried foods, bottled water, medicine stocks and backup power banks: it could be the props cupboard on a disaster movie, but instead it is precisely what some UK residents are stockpiling amid official warnings about Russian state-sponsored terrorism" and the impact of the climate crisis.The government launched a campaign on Thursday advising people to set aside three days' worth of stores to deal with a whole range of eventualities, and some are already well under way. Continue reading...
Founding member of Planxty, Lunny went on to play for bands such as Moving Hearts, the Bothy Band and CoolfinThe Irish traditional musician Donal Lunny has died at the age of 79 from cancer.Lunny rose to prominence in the trio Rakes of Kildare alongside his brother Frank and Christy Moore. He went on to play in bands such as Planxty, Moving Hearts, the Bothy Band and Coolfin among others and toured the world. Continue reading...
Tim and Geli Harris have spent more than a decade fighting to protect Catfield Fen, a rare wetland in the Norfolk BroadsPolluters and regulators who fail to stop pollution must quake in their boots when they receive a letter from the lawyers for Tim and Geli Harris. The couple, who farm 460 acres in the Norfolk Broads, have now scored a hat-trick of landmark legal victories to save an internationally important wetland after they won again in the high court this month.Lady Justice Lieven found that Natural England failed in its statutory duty to protect Catfield Fen from pollution after nitrates and phosphates washed from arable fields into one of the finest examples of calcareous fen in western Europe, home to 2,500 species including rarities such as the fen orchid, crested buckler fern, breeding bittern and swallowtail butterflies. Continue reading...
by Presented by Aditya Chakrabortty, produced by Fran on (#7996H)
Are we doomscrolling our way into a democratic crisis? That's what the playwright James Graham fears may be happening, as he suggests that our algorithms have led us into a massive crisis of the new' and are preventing us from imagining a different futureWatch the full episode with James Graham here.
by Michael Goodier and Richard Partington on (#79955)
Data released under freedom of information laws reveals hundreds of projects unfinished despite Tory promises on regional equality Can a 5.8bn scheme help revive Grimsby and other town centres?Most levelling up projects are not finished, years after funds were allocated, highlighting how ambitious Conservative promises of quick progress on regional equality have faltered.Data released under freedom of information laws and manually reviewed by the Guardian found 821 levelling up projects out of 1,347 were yet to be finalised as of May this year. Across the UK, 73 council areas that had a bid for a project accepted were yet to see a single one fully completed. The Guardian has identified 59 projects that were completed since the data was collected. Continue reading...
Closures within chain formerly under the WH Smith brand raise fears of high streets becoming postal deserts'Towns and even city centres face being left as postal deserts" after it emerged that more than a third of post offices within the troubled TG Jones chain are closing.So far this year 36 branches within the high street chain formerly known as WH Smith have closed and a further 34 are set to close by early 2027, according to Post Office records analysed by the Guardian. Continue reading...
Established under the Franco dictatorship, the lunchtime ritual is in decline but all is not lostA little before lunchtime each working day across Spain, evidence of one of the lingering, if less notorious, legacies of the Franco dictatorship is carefully traced in chalk, marker pen and printer ink.Beckoning to hungry workers from blackboards, whiteboards and pieces of paper hastily taped to windows, the competitively priced menu del dia, or daily set-price lunch, has been part of everyday Spanish life for more than half a century. But while 4m menus are still served each weekday, Spain is slowly losing its appetite for the familiar ritual. Continue reading...
Security forces to include elite units usually used for counter-terrorism after worst street violence in yearsFrance will deploy about 70,000 police around the country on Saturday as the government seeks to prevent more civil unrest after some of the worst street violence in years erupted on the fringes of cost-of-living protests last weekend.The interior minister, Laurent Nunez, said on Friday the security forces would include elite units usually used for counter-terrorism operations and hostage rescues, adding that there had been social media calls for violence from ultra-left" groups. Continue reading...
The prime minister has defined and dominated his country's politics for three decades and is putting his rivals on the defensive before Tuesday's general electionThey chant his name, they cheer and clap - and yet he is not the most dominant person in the room. Looming over the crowd that has gathered to hear Gadi Eisenkot, the former general who is the lead opposition challenger in Tuesday's Israeli election, is a man who is not there. It is the man Eisenkot seeks to replace as prime minister, the man who first served in that role three decades ago and who has held it, on and off, for 19 of the past 30 years. It is Benjamin Netanyahu.Naturally, the warm-up speakers at this evening rally in the modest city of Modi'in, halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, stress the virtues of Eisenkot, a son of working-class Moroccan Jews who rose through the ranks to become chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and entered politics only four years ago. But every sentence might as well end with two words that go unspoken: unlike Bibi. Continue reading...
Humble breakfast staple at heart of trend stirred up by health concerns and hearty spoonfuls of nostalgiaThe clocks may be going back in the UK this weekend, but the biggest sign winter is coming is a steaming bowl of porridge on a breakfast table.A staple for centuries, porridge is traditionally made with oats, water and a pinch of salt or sugar. However, the humble dish is now experiencing its own renaissance, with the latest iterations transforming it from drab to decadent. The trend is being driven by a growing fibre-centric movement as well as by nostalgia. Continue reading...
Super typhoon weakening but large parts of Taiwan, including Taipei, still mostly closed and flights cancelledTyphoon Champi swept past Taiwan on Saturday killing one person, injuring more than 500, and uprooting trees and severing power as it weakened and headed north toward the Chinese coast.Earlier classified as a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, Champi was still packing gusts of about 126km per hour (78 miles per hour) near its centre, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration (CWA). Continue reading...
Campaigners call lack of progress staggering' as online regulator issues review of first nine months of new regimeLandmark online safety measures have failed to limit the proportion of children suffering harm from social media, the UK's online regulator has admitted, in an assessment branded staggering" by campaigners.The proportion of children being fed unsafe content that often left them frightened, confused and upset, was almost unchanged, according to an Ofcom review of the first nine months of supposedly strict requirements on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Continue reading...
by Jamie Grierson and Yassin El-Moudden on (#798J0)
Dozens of schools in Cornwall also affected as Storm Boelo heads for Scotland, Northern Ireland and north of EnglandThousands of homes are without power and schools were closed as the first named storm of the year hit UK shores.Storm Austen brought severe conditions to parts of the south-west, with a gust of 76mph recorded at St Mary's airport on the Isles of Scilly on Friday morning. By 3pm, more than 31,000 homes in the south-west were without power, according to National Grid. Continue reading...
Republican senator faces critical re-election battle in state where president's trade war has outraged votersDonald Trump dropped some of the US's tariffs on Canada on Friday to better serve the public interest" the White House said, handing a win to Susan Collins, the embattled Republican senator for Maine, as she faces a tight re-election campaign that will help determine whether Democrats can flip control of Congress.Collins announced that the exemptions would apply to nine agricultural products, including blueberries, potatoes, apples and seaweed. She added that many of the state's farmers rely on specialized equipment and materials from across the border that are unavailable from American suppliers or cannot be replaced without incurring significant expense". Continue reading...
Justin Craig charged with official misconduct and fraud, after searching plates of wife and previous acquaintance'An Indiana police officer has been arrested on allegations that he misused Flock cameras hundreds of times in a case involving his wife and a previous acquaintance of hers.Georgetown police department officer Justin Craig was charged with official misconduct and two counts of fraud. Documents show that he searched his wife's license plate more than 80 times and that of a previous acquaintance" of hers nearly 250 times, the news outlet WLKY reported. Continue reading...
by Yassin El-Moudden, Lucy Campbell, Frances Mao and on (#798DD)
Residents in Oleshky have been enduring a worsening humanitarian crisis due to the lack of food, electricity and other resourcesThe French prime minister Sebastien Lecornu has just issued a statement on a shooting in a town west of Paris this morning where one person was killed and four others injured.Police said a gunman had opened fire in Trappes, in the Yvelines, and neighbouring La Verriere. The gunman was later arrested in nearby Coignieres. Continue reading...
Gunman opens fire from car in Trappes and Verriere, killing one and injuring five others, including a 12-year-old girlEmmanuel Macron has condemned racism in French society after a gunman opened fire from a car west of Paris on Friday, killing one person, wounding a 12-year-old girl and injuring four others in what the president called a racist terrorist attack".Macron arrived at the scene of the drive-by shooting in Trappes, a town west of Paris, on Friday night, saying he was deeply saddened by what he called the premeditated" attack. The 12-year-old girl, who was shot eight times, is being treated in hospital. Continue reading...
Unidentified object vanished suddenly and silently, anonymous senior military observers claimTwo senior military observers say they watched a mysterious black triangular object flying at an extraordinarily high speed over a sensitive site in the western US earlier this year, in the latest tranche of reported UFO sightings released on Friday by the Trump administration.The unidentified object showed none of the characteristics of a conventional military aircraft, their report to the defense department said, and it vanished suddenly and silently within seconds, leaving no exhaust trail or other evidence of its existence. Continue reading...
The board change is the latest development for the renowned New York hospital plagued by revelations related to Jeffrey EpsteinHedge fund billionaire Glenn Dubin, one of several Wall Street figures whose relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is facing scrutiny, has stepped down from the board of Mount Sinai hospital, according to sources close to the renowned New York institution.The revelation follows news earlier this year that Mount Sinai, which has long ranked as a top medical provider in New York City, had reportedly formed a committee to review its longstanding ties to the late accused sex trafficker. The hospital features prominently in the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice, including an incident in which a Mount Sinai doctor appears to have operated on a young Russian woman inside Epstein's Upper East Side townhouse after she got hurt during a stay on his Caribbean island. Continue reading...
At least one injured after flooding in Four Corners region - which includes Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and UtahSevere flooding in the Four Corners region on Friday led to water rescues - some from rooftops - and impassable roads, with some residents being told to evacuate low-lying areas of Colorado and New Mexico and others advised to shelter in place until water levels go down.It followed several busy days of flooding in the region that swamped dozens of homes in Utah. Earlier in the week, tornadoes blew off roofs, knocked trees on to houses and downed power lines in Arizona. At least one person was injured. Continue reading...
by Hannah Al-Othman North of England correspondent on (#798W4)
Houses being targeted because they are thought to hold immigrants, with dozens of properties affected in recent weeksCriminals are recruiting vulnerable people, including children, to damage houses suspected of being HMOs, police in Manchester believe.In recent weeks, dozens of properties have been targeted across Greater Manchester, mostly in Salford, but also in Stockport and Tameside. Continue reading...
by Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem and Lorenzo Tond on (#798MY)
Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers promise demolitions and forced displacement after deadly gunfightIsrael has launched a campaign of collective punishment against Palestinians in Hebron after gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and injured three near a checkpoint outside the city.Benjamin Netanyahu announced a siege on Hebron and neighbouring Halhul and said residents of the gunmen's home neighbourhoods would all be forced out. He promised mass demolitions of homes. Continue reading...
Multinational anti-war bloc' uses Istanbul summit to call for a diplomatic solution to Middle East crisisForeign ministers at a summit of eight European and Middle Eastern countries have urged the US and Israel not to renews their attacks on Iran, warning a fresh outbreak of fighting would spread conflict and push oil prices even higher.The development of a new multinational anti-war bloc" represents a challenge to the increasingly open plans by the US and Israel to relaunch strikes on Iran while talks on Tehran's nuclear programme remain deadlocked. Continue reading...
Prosecution says Robinson guilty of harassment of Daily Mail journalists because we do not live in a vigilante world'Tommy Robinson is guilty of harassing two journalists because we do not live in a vigilante world", jurors have been told, as the prosecution sought to use the far-right activist's words against him.Robinson had posted a video in which he told Daily Mail journalists he would find them after they wrote about his alleged role influencing England's 2024 riots. He told them he had obtained details of where they and their families lived and warned them to abide by men's rules". Continue reading...
Meghan reveals she was made aware of disturbing allegations' against him in 2018 by Met policeThe Duchess of Sussex has said she is deeply distressed" over accusations involving child sexual abuse images against her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr, and revealed she was made aware of disturbing allegations" against him in 2018 by the Metropolitan police.Meghan issued a statement after the Sun newspaper published claims that her half-brother Thomas Markle Jr alleged he had found a stash of images belonging to their father at his former home in the Philippines. Continue reading...
Historic England archaeologist says some inns' claims to date back 1,000 years are inaccurate and oldest is from 1430With their low ceilings, timber beams and roaring fires, many of England's inns lay claim to being the oldest in the land and to have been visited by Vikings and Saxons.But an archaeologist working for Historic England says not one of the more than two dozen pubs that make this claim is being accurate. Continue reading...
by Rokhaya Diallo, Alexander Hurst, Michael Hubbard a on (#796R3)
Guardian Europe columnists Rokhaya Diallo and Alexander Hurst answered your questions about the recent protests in France, the role of the French police, foreign influence and the upcoming presidential election.Michael Wolfcarius asks: I cannot understand why the Guardian is selecting dots instead of joining them. France may have developed into the big story for many reasons, many of which have yet to be discussed, but it is not the only place where seemingly small incidents grew into massive protests, some also quite violent; Spain, Italy, Serbia and Albania come to mind. The crystallising reason may be different but the conditions leading up to it are quite similar. Can you put all these events into perspective, context and relation? There are obviously underlying currents making it difficult for people to refrain from making themselves heard'.Rokhaya: I agree that these movements deserve to be considered together, while at the same time, recognising their different specific national contexts. Housing in Spain, living costs and public services in Italy and France, and corruption in Serbia and Albania are bringing people onto the streets. These concerns touch the foundations of a decent life and people's ability to shape their future.What connects them, in my view, is the widening gap between what people need and what political institutions seem willing to deliver. These incidents that have led to protests are not small ." Serbia's movement began after a deadly railway-station canopy collapse, which became a focus for anger over corruption and accountability. My reading is that these protests express a crisis of political responsiveness.Alexander: I think people in all these places - Albania, Spain, France - feel that the political systems that exist aren't capable of dealing with the sheer scale and nature of the crises facing us, and they're responding to a sense of loss of control' (the Brexit campaign really did strike upon a brilliant slogan) over where their societies are headed. There is a general social sense that has flipped from this is broken, but things can and will get better", which gives people a stake in the institutions around them, to this is broken and things can and will get worse".The impact of the arrival of AI has been understated. Not just on labour markets, or on the environment, but ontologically. The investment pitch of the most powerful companies in the world, the ones amassing trillion dollar valuations, isn't just that X-subset of jobs are replaceable, it's that human beings themselves are replaceable. That the things we do fundamentally don't matter, and that their goal is to bring this into being. I think that feeling is there even if we don't immediately put our finger on it in those terms. Continue reading...
After Brody called out the death and misery' in Palestine, the Netflix hit's Jewish creator said they don't see eye to eyeThe creator of the hit Netflix comedy Nobody Wants This has responded to star Adam Brody's recent support of Palestine amid the Israel-Gaza war.Everyone is entitled to a different opinion," Erin Foster said in an interview with the Not Skinny Not Fat podcast when asked about Brody calling for a free Palestine. Continue reading...
by Carlos Mureithi in Nairobi and agencies on (#798MZ)
Switzerland says patient is wife of Swiss diplomat and believed to have contracted virus while travelling in UgandaHealth officials across Africa are racing to determine how Nigeria's first Ebola patient in more than a decade became infected, amid fears the outbreak could spread further after reaching a fourth African country.The Swiss foreign ministry said on Friday the patient in Nigeria, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, had not travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the outbreak was first detected in mid-May before spreading to Uganda, Kenya and now Nigeria. The woman was believed to have contracted Ebola while travelling with her husband in Uganda, the ministry added. Continue reading...
The prime minister said the government is having conversation about emergency preparednessA DUP minister has said he is confident MP Carla Lockhart will stay in the party despite leaving its main decision-making body amid a row with party leadership over the future of Stormont.Lockhart is at odds with DUP leader, fellow MP Gavin Robinson, over whether the party should withdraw deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly from the power-sharing executive. Continue reading...
by Alexandra Topping Political correspondent on (#798HY)
New PM has prioritised small fixes to show voters Labour can make a real difference, and government insiders are delighted at the public's reactionIn the first episode of Armando Iannucci's political satire The Thick of It, the hapless minister Hugh Abbot is in the back of a taxi, frantically brainstorming for an on-the-hoof policy he can announce to the assembled national press.So you want something sexy and eye-catching, and that is free and universally popular and instantly applicable. No one can possibly object to it," says the addled junior adviser Ollie Reeder. Well, really, you should have said something before then, because I've got a file about that fucking thick of that back in the office." Continue reading...
World news | The Guardian