World news | The Guardian

The humpback whales, which were caught in a net 245km north of Brisbane, were among nine whale entanglements in past nine days

Debt sentences' rose by a third in six months, finds Royal London after FoI request to Student Loans CompanyMore than 150,000 people in the UK now have student loan debts of more than 100,000, with one borrower owing 298,000, data shows.The company that obtained the figures says these debt sentences" hanging over people are damaging graduates' ability to save for the future and get on the property ladder. Continue reading...

Ukrainian officials among those concerned Russia is manufacturing crisis to keep hold of frontline plantExternal power to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been cut for more than three days, a record outage that has prompted safety concerns over the six-reactor site on the frontline of the Ukraine war.Emergency generators are being used to power cooling and safety systems after the final power line into the plant was cut on the Russian side at 4.56pm on Tuesday and there is no immediate sign that the line will be reconnected. Continue reading...

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the past seven days Continue reading...

Leader needs to draw a line under the chaos and offer hope - to his party and to the nationIn the imposing marble rooms of the Methodist Central Hall in the heart of Westminster on Friday, the great and the good of the progressive movement gathered at what many fear is an existential moment for their brand of centre-left politics.Keir Starmer was on punchier form than usual, telling the summit audience that he was up for the fight against the populist right's industrialised infrastructure of grievance". Continue reading...

Home affairs to reconsider application after review finds man could be subject to physical harm, conversion practices and prosecution under sharia law

Attorney general says mining magnate is not a foreign investor' and is not entitled to any benefits under Australia's free trade and investment agreements'

Sellers of fresh orecchiette in southern Italy are fighting back after being accused of tricking tourists with bought waresNunzia Caputo was five years old when her grandmother put a stop to her playing on the street outside their home in Bari and summoned her to help make orecchiette, the ear-shaped pasta believed to have originated in the southern Italian port city, to be sold to passersby.I used to go out to play every afternoon with my friend Giulia," said Caputo, now 67. But then, on a whim, my grandmother said I wasn't allowed to do that any more. She told me: From now on, you must learn how to make orecchiette.' I started to cry."Tourists watch Nunzia Caputo make fresh pasta outside her house in Bari Continue reading...

King and Queen Camilla to join pontiff in late October amid jubilee year celebrations, says Buckingham PalaceKing Charles III and Queen Camilla will make a state visit to meet Pope Leo XIV for the first time at the Vatican next month, Buckingham Palace has said.The trip in late October will come about six months after the royal couple visited Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, shortly before his death in April. Continue reading...

Tasmania police say four Chinese nationals were found by another group of walkers on Friday but one woman tragically died

Hunt for suspected Porepunkah shooter cannot go on for infinitum', one retired detective says. It has to have a line in the sand somewhere'

After meeting Keir Starmer in London, Australian PM says governments must seek solutions, not seek to divide people'

Fellow educators express shock at detention of beacon of light' Ian Roberts as DHS claims he had no work authorization'The superintendent of Iowa's largest school district was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents on Friday, prompting shock among fellow educators.Ian Roberts, the superintendent of Des Moines public schools (DMPS), was apprehended on Friday morning, according to the district's board chair. Roberts appears to be held at the Pottawattamie county jail, about two hours west of Des Moines, according to the Ice online detainee database. The database lists Roberts's country of birth as Guyana.This article was amended on 26 September 2025. An earlier version said Ian Roberts was born in Brooklyn, based on past interviews. However, a 2023 statement from the district says he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana, and spent most of his formative years in Brooklyn". Continue reading...

Prince Andrew and Steve Bannon also referenced in six-page batch of documents made public with redactionsDemocratic lawmakers on Friday released documents from the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein that may show interactions between the disgraced financier and prominent conservatives, including Elon Musk, Steve Bannon and Peter Thiel.The six pages of documents made public with redactions come from a batch provided by the justice department to the House oversight committee, which is investigating how the sex-trafficking charges against Epstein, who died in 2019 in federal custody, were handled.This article was amended on 26 September 2025. The seat won by Adelita Grijalva is in Arizona, not New Mexico, as we originally said. Continue reading...

The two station owners' preemption of the late-night show left about 25% of TV viewers in the US unable to watch itLocal TV conglomerate Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group said their ABC-affiliate stations will start airing Jimmy Kimmy Live! again on Friday night, ending their preempting of the show.Sinclair and fellow station owner Nexstar had continued to preempt Kimmel's late-night talkshow even after ABC had put Kimmel back on air. Continue reading...

Democrats and legal experts say indictment is latest sign Trump is turning justice system into weapon to silence criticsFor Donald Trump, the indictment of former FBI director and longtime foe James Comey was,justice in America". Legal observers and lawmakers see something far more troubling.A former Republican appointed to lead the bureau by Barack Obama and kept on by Trump until he fired him in 2017, Comey was indicted Thursday on charges related to allegedly lying to Congress five years ago during a hearing on the FBI's investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. Continue reading...

A grand jury indicted James Comey for obstructing a congressional proceeding in a culmination of a years-long conflictThe relationship between Donald Trump and James Comey has spanned a turbulent decade, beginning during the 2016 presidential campaign and continuing into Trump's second presidency with a grand jury indicting the former FBI director on Thursday..Comey oversaw inquiries that directly intersected with Trump's political goals, first into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, and later into possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump alternately criticized and praised Comey's actions during the 2016 race, but once in office their exchanges grew increasingly tense, leading up to Comey's dismissal in May 2017. Continue reading...

John McDonnell and Apsana Begum were among last still suspended for July 2024 rebellionLabour has restored the party whip John McDonnell and Apsana Begum 14 months after they lost it for rebelling over the two-child benefit cap, the Guardian understands.The pair had the whip reinstated after a conversation on Friday with Jonathan Reynolds, who became Labour's chief whip in a reshuffle earlier this month. Continue reading...

Shakur spent decades exiled after she was convicted of killing a state trooper in 1977 and escaped from prisonOn 25 September, Assata Shakur, a former member of the Black Liberation Army, died aged 78 in Havana, Cuba, according to Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Cuban officials cited the reason for her death as old age and health conditions. Shakur, a longstanding symbol of resistance and Black liberation, spent several decades exiled in Cuba after she was convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper in 1977 and escaped from prison.At approximately 1:15pm on September 25th, my mother, Assata Shakur, took her last earthly breath," her daughter Kakuya Shakur wrote on Facebook. Words cannot describe the depth of loss that I'm feeling at this time." Continue reading...

Starmer's proposal has been criticised by rivals and civil liberties groups and campaigners worry about people without smartphones

New York meeting of Hague Group warns of shared responsibility to prevent genocide and proposes steps to isolate IsraelThe international community has a legal and moral duty to deny Israel the tools of genocide", the Malaysian foreign minister, Mohamad Hasan, said at a meeting in New York of the Hague Group, the growing alliance of countries dedicated to coordinating practical economic and legal steps to isolate Israel over the war in Gaza.The group, co-chaired by South Africa and Columbia, has become a central exchange for practical steps to try to pressure Israel, including stepping up collective action at ports and airports to prevent the transfer of weapons and goods to Israel, including dual-use heavy machinery. Continue reading...

Cyber security expert offers warning as tech companies prepare to bid for potentially multi-billion pound contracts

General assembly backs new targets on cancer, diabetes and heart disease but Robert F Kennedy Jr objectsA new vision for tackling the global noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) crisis has failed to reach consensus at the UN after the US refused to give its support, forcing member states to a vote.After months of negotiations, the fourth political declaration on NCDs and mental health received overwhelming backing from governments at the UN general assembly on Thursday but was rejected by the US during a speech by Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health secretary. Continue reading...

Under Mark Zuckerberg's publicity video for Vibes, one Instagram user commented: Bros posting ai slop on his own app'

Ministers aim to bolster defences after spate of airspace violations, amid rising momentum for 140bn loan to UkraineThe EU has agreed to move forward with plans for a drone wall at the heart of its eastern defences as momentum grows for a 140bn loan to Ukraine based on Russian frozen assets.After a meeting with ministers from 10 mostly central and eastern European member states plus Ukraine, the EU's defence commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, said a drone wall to protect against incursions from the skies was an immediate priority and core element of the bloc's eastern flank defences. Continue reading...

Union says it's outraged and appalled' by government's order of sweeping changes to the national servicePostal workers in Canada have gone on strike after the government warned of an existential crisis" and ordered sweeping changes to the national service - including an end to door-to-door delivery within the decade.The union representing Canada Post employees described the proposed changes as an attack" on its workers who have struggled to compete with a surge in private courier services. Continue reading...

Israeli PM rebuked Western nations for embracing Palestinian statehood after scores of delegates left the hall in protest. This live blog is closed

Hungary have since accused Ukraine of pursuing anti-Hungarian policies' following the move. This live blog has closedPolish prime minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia has ill intentions towards the whole world" as he spoke about the need for European allies to remain united and vigilant in the face of Moscow's increasingly aggressive stance.European allies have never been so united... we need to be vigilant. Russia has ill intentions towards the whole world, and those who border with it are the first to feel it," Tusk told reporters when asked about recent drone incidents, Reuters reported. Continue reading...

Former French president sentenced to five years for criminal conspiracy over election campaign funds scheme with Gaddafi regimeLawyers for the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy have said they will try to ensure he serves as little time in prison as possible, after he was sentenced to five years for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to get election campaign funds from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.We're going to make sure that his incarceration will be as short as possible," Sarkozy's lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, told the BFMTV news channel on Friday after he became the first French president to go to jail. Continue reading...

ID cards have become an essential part of life for many across the bloc, with digital versions already launched in many member statesOn the continent, the debate currently raging in the UK over national ID cards has long been settled. Across Europe, physical identity cards have existed for decades, and digital versions have either already been successfully launched or are being trialled.In all bar two of the EU's 27 member states, physical ID cards, in a standard, machine-readable EU format introduced in 2021, serve both as identity documents in citizens' home countries, and for travel within the passport-free Schengen zone. Continue reading...

Oscar-winning actor says she's terrified' over Israel's deadly war and spoke about fears over erosion of free speech in USJennifer Lawrence has spoken up about Israel's war in Gaza and censorship in the US.Speaking at a press conference for her new film Die, My Love at the San Sebastian film festival, Lawrence responded to several journalists' questions about fraught political topics, despite a festival moderator attempting to shut them down, according to Deadline. Continue reading...

Plan by Bolzano authorities to charge 1.50 a night for dogs visiting province criticised as pure madness'A measure that would result in dogs being charged a tourist tax" in a northern Italian province has been criticised by an animal rights group as pure madness".Authorities in Bolzano, located in the mountainous Trentino-Alto Adige region, have proposed charging 1.50 a night for dogs visiting the province and 100 a year per dog for resident dog owners. Continue reading...

The broadcaster said the decision to stream the punk duo broke guidelines in relation to harm and offence but the set was cleared of being likely to encourage or incite crimeThe BBC has partly upheld complaints over its decision to stream the punk duo Bob Vylan's performance at this year's Glastonbury festival.The broadcaster's executive complaints unit (ECU) said that doing so broke editorial guidelines in relation to harm and offence owing to frontman Bobby Vylan's chant of death, death to the IDF", their use of the slogans from the river to the sea" and free, free Palestine", as well as referring to record company executives in the most abusive terms" as fucking Zionists". Continue reading...

Charity's board accused of failing to listen ahead of decision expected this weekend on future-proofing' plansSamaritans has been warned that thousands of its helpline volunteers could quit if controversial proposals to close half of its 200 local branches over the next decade go ahead.The mental health charity, sometimes regarded as the fourth emergency service, has about 22,000 volunteers answering calls and messages from people in crisis in the UK and Ireland. Continue reading...

The use of markings on ammunition is a new trend of shooters trying to ensure their messages are disseminated publicly, experts sayIn the past month, the US has had to reckon with three deadly, high-profile shootings, and in each one, investigators have dealt with a seldom-seen piece of evidence in shooting cases, high-profile and otherwise: messages the shooter left on shell casings and firearm magazines.The suspect in the 27 August shooting at Annunciation Catholic school in Minneapolis allegedly left several firearm magazines with messages like suck on this" written in white marker. Tyler Robinson, the man who's accused of killing Charlie Kirk, allegedly engraved his bullet casings with Hey fascist! Catch!" and Bella ciao." Authorities say the man who's suspected of opening fire at an US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facility in Texas this week wrote Anti-Ice" on his bullet casings. Continue reading...

German factories to halt work for one week next month in blow to EV switchoverVolkswagen is to pause production at two of its plants in Germany because of weak demand for fully electric cars.The carmaker will suspend work for one week next month in Dresden as well as at its EV plant in Zwickau, which produces six EV models for VW, Audi and Cupra. Continue reading...

Watchdog deeply concerned' that firms have ramped up petrol and diesel prices at expense of consumers

Watchdog says it has found no evidence of any other potential offences' at thinktank when led by Morgan McSweeneyMorgan McSweeney, the prime minister's chief of staff, will not face another investigation into undeclared donations to the Labour Together thinktank, the elections watchdog has said.The Electoral Commission said it had found no evidence of any other potential offences" by the thinktank formerly led by McSweeney, which was previously fined in 2021. Continue reading...

Rising toll worries activists as mass detention in US increases after Trump returned to White House in JanuaryDeaths occurring in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) have reached at least 16 since January amid increasing mass detention across the country and growing concerns over conditions.On Sunday, Ismael Ayala-Uribe, a 39-year-old Mexican national and former Dreamer" - those given protections after being brought to the US as undocumented children in the past - died after being held at an Ice facility in Adelanto, California, according to a statement from the federal agency. Continue reading...

Brenda del Castillo, Morena Verdi and Lara Gutierrez were lured with a promise of a $300 payment for a sex party'

Toxic crowd-control chemicals used in Michigan and LA have caused long-lasting health effects, activists sayPeople exposed to teargas or other crowd-control chemicals during recent Gaza and immigration protests say the toxic substances have caused long-lasting health effects, including disrupting their menstrual cycles and inducing hormone imbalances, according to accounts collected by the Guardian and reports from protesters in Michigan and Los Angeles.More than a dozen people across three protests reported the health effects. Among other issues, they say they have experienced intense cramping and increased bleeding during menstruation, along with irregular menstrual cycles, weight gain and fatigue. Continue reading...

Rush to preempt' Kimmel's talkshow after FCC chair's threats comes as broadcasters seek merger approvalsIf the controversy behind Jimmy Kimmel's show is a series of dominoes that fell one after the other, from the late-night host making his comments on Charlie Kirk's killing to ABC halting production of his show, the first domino arguably fell this summer.Months before Kimmel was briefly pulled off the air, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) quietly announced it was seeking to make a huge change to broadcasting rules. Continue reading...

BBC's head of children's TV says YouTube's algorithm takes children to US-based content, rather than UK showsThe amount of American content children are consuming on YouTube risks weakening their connection to British culture and language, the BBC's head of children's television has warned.Patricia Hidalgo, the director of children and education at the BBC, said the algorithm of the all-conquering video-sharing site diverted British children on to US-based content, rather than nourishing" British programming that helps cement their cultural identity. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Author challenges assumption monks on Iona created manuscript, instead positing its origins are PictishThe Book of Kells was likely to have been created 1,200 years ago in Pictish eastern Scotland, rather than on the island of Iona, according to research that challenges long-held assumptions about one of the world's most famous medieval manuscripts.The Book of Kells is an intricate, illuminated account of the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that was long thought to have been started in the late eighth century at the monastery on Iona before being taken in the 9th century to the monastery of Kells in County Meath, Ireland, after a Viking raid. Continue reading...

Lanlan Yang has been accused of driving a $1.5m SUV that crashed into a car driven by George Plassaras, a driver for radio host Kyle Sandilands

European Broadcasting Union says vote required after several nations threaten potential boycottThe European Broadcasting Union has confirmed it will hold an online vote in November that could see the Israeli broadcaster Kan expelled from next year's Eurovision song contest.In a letter sent to participating broadcasters on Thursday, the EBU president, Delphine Ernotte Cunci, wrote there was an unprecedented diversity of views" on Israel's participation in Eurovision, and the issue required a broader democratic basis". Continue reading...

European ministers to hold talks on Friday on how to defend infrastructure after airports affected, including the closure of CopenhagenEuropean ministers are to meet for urgent talks on building a drone wall" to defend against incoming incursions from the skies after Denmark said it had been the victim of a hybrid attack" on four airports in the second such incident in days.Ministers from 10 European countries, including Ukraine, will hold talks on Friday to discuss plans for what the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has described as the bedrock of credible defence". Continue reading...

More than 1,200 industry figures claim the pledge is a document of misinformation' and that much of the Israeli film and TV industry are often the loudest critics of government policy'More than 1,200 entertainment industry figures have signed a new open letter rejecting the recent high-profile pledge by thousands of their peers to boycott Israeli films over the war in Gaza.Stars including Liev Schreiber, Mayim Bialik, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Debra Messing are among those who have lent their names to the letter, which says the previous pledge advocates" for the erasure of art". Continue reading...

The proud Yorkshireman is remembered as someone who knew how to hold a crowd - and a cricket match

While VAT is going up to finance the war and fuel is in short supply, few expect Putin to adjust his war plansRussia's economy is in deep peril, Donald Trump assured the world this week, in a dramatic change of tune on the war in Ukraine in which the US president claimed Kyiv now had a chance to win back all its territory.The reality, economists say, is more complicated. While Moscow is enduring its toughest period since the chaotic first days of the invasion, few analysts believe its economy is on the brink of a total collapse, and fewer still expect Vladimir Putin to adjust his war plans in the short term. Continue reading...