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Dartford representative James Buchan says devastating' immigration plans had created a lot of fear and anxietyA Reform UK councillor has defected to the Conservatives, saying he became uncomfortable in Nigel Farage's party.James Buchan, who sits in the south-east London borough of Dartford, said he had struggled with the idea of facing his relatives while a member of a party whose anti-immigration policies spread fear. Continue reading...

Education secretary says mandatory test needed to tackle shocking outcomes' for many working-class childrenBridget Phillipson has said she is ready to take on the unions in a battle over compulsory reading tests for 13-year-olds and more extracurricular activities for all children to prevent them becoming stuck in a doom loop of detachment" from school.The education secretary said that teaching unions, who have argued the tests were unnecessary and distracting", should really think carefully" about whether they could justify standing in the way of tackling the shocking outcomes" that exist for many working-class children. Continue reading...

Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi has been imprisoned in the UAE for almost a year for criticising Emirati, Egyptian and Saudi governmentsThe UN special rapporteur on torture is being urged to investigate Lebanon's role in the treatment of the Egyptian-Turkish poet and activist Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi, a dissident who has been imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates for more than 10 months over a post he made on social media.Legal counsel representing Qaradawi filed a complaint to the UN rapporteur on Thursday, asking it to examine the situation. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Behaviour of Robert Albon, or Joe Donor', described as compulsive by judge who said he targeted vulnerable womenA prolific unregulated donor is still attempting to sell his sperm despite warnings from two family court judges, a Guardian investigation has found.Robert Albon, who calls himself Joe Donor", has appealed to the courts to gain access to at least four of his biological children against their mothers' wishes. In a rare move, a judge named him in 2023 to warn women of the risks of using his services, which he promotes on social media. Continue reading...

Rising prices and uncertainty over Rachel Reeves's tax plans means this year many superyacht buyers are just browsingWhat would happen if red wine got on that?" It is a common enough question when perusing a carpet store. But, as it happens, the same query crops up when shopping for a yacht. Oh, you'd never get it off that decking," the other half of a young couple replies as they size up one of the 2m triple-decker yachts moored at the recent Southampton international boat show.Top boat manufacturers descended on the port city from across Europe to show off bigger, better and bolder yachts than ever before, as well as lines of smaller sailing and motor boats. But the show, once a must-attend of the season alongside exhibitions in Cannes and Monaco, has shrunk by about 30% this year, according to some vendors' estimates. Continue reading...

The result hands Hassan, who took power in 2021, a five-year term following opposition repressionTanzania's president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, has been declared the winner of the country's disputed election with more than 97% of the vote following violent protests across the country earlier in the week.The landslide result announced by Tanzania's electoral commission hands Hassan, who took power in 2021 after the death in office of her predecessor, a five-year term to govern the east African country of 68 million people. Continue reading...

Fitzwilliam Museum has uncovered student's work from 1977 that revealed Cambridgeshire location of child's burial placeAn A-level pupil found the lost grave of the Black abolitionist Olaudah Equiano's daughter, revealing a story of love and solidarity in 18th-century rural England.Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797), also known as Gustavus Vassa, escaped enslavement to become a celebrated author and campaigner in Georgian England. His memoir, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, was a bestseller. Continue reading...

How did a former Mormon bishop end up pleading guilty to taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia in the European parliament?The first thing most people recall about Nathan Gill is his imposing height.At 193cm (6ft 4in), the one-time Reform UK leader in Wales towered over colleagues and opponents - and he was taller still in his favourite cowboy boots. Continue reading...

Bureau of Meteorology says band of severe thunderstorms bearing down on Australia's east coast

Policy position diverging from senior Coalition partner expected to be formalised at Nationals partyroom meeting on Sunday morning

Ofir Birenbaum is suing for defamation after deleted and retracted social media posts by Cairo Takeaway inferred he visited the restaurant with reporters to stir up controversy'

Five hours after the Coral Adventurer left Lizard Island without the 80-year-old, it turned back. Her body was found the next day, and her family want answersThe appeal of Lizard Island is its remoteness. The Great Barrier Reef island, 250km from Cairns in Queensland's tropical north, is known for its impressive snorkelling, with giant clams nestled among the coral. It also has a scientific research station.Tourists are mostly kept at bay by its inaccessibility and eye-wateringly high accommodation prices. Continue reading...

Move is strongest endorsement yet for retained rule over disputed territory, despite fierce opposition from AlgeriaThe UN security council has approved a US-backed resolution supporting Morocco's claim to the disputed Western Sahara, despite fierce opposition from Algeria.Although Friday's vote was divided, the resolution offers the strongest endorsement yet for Morocco's plan to keep sovereignty over the territory, which also has backing from most European Union members and a growing number of African allies. Continue reading...

Federal judge rules proof-of-citizenship directive an unconstitutional violation of separation of powersDonald Trump's request to add a documentary proof of citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form cannot be enforced, a federal judge ruled on Friday.US district judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington DC, sided with Democratic and civil rights groups that sued the Trump administration over his executive order to overhaul US elections. Continue reading...

Four men given prison terms for desecration that was possibly orchestrated by Russian intelligence services'A French court on Friday jailed four Bulgarians for desecrating a Jewish memorial with red handprints last year, in what prosecutors think may have been foreign interference linked to Russia.The Paris criminal court gave two-year sentences to Georgi Filipov and Kiril Milushev, described as the perpetrators, and four years and three years respectively to Nikolay Ivanov and Mircho Angelov, considered the operation's masterminds". Angelov is still at large. Continue reading...

Northern spotted owls are being squeezed out by the westward migration of the larger barred owlsThe US Senate rejected an effort on Wednesday to halt a contentious US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) plan to kill nearly half a million barred owls in order to save their cousin, the northern spotted owl.John Kennedy, the Republican senator from Louisiana, had hoped to block the proposal by bringing the matter to a vote with a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act. The effort failed with 25 votes to 72 votes. Continue reading...

Retailer says underwear that could become male equivalent of push-up bra is intended to help men feel their most confident'For men who lament the decline of the codpiece, or who lack confidence at the office when their pants are not pushing up their genitals all day, Marks & Spencer is riding to the rescue.The retailer, the UK market leader in selling underwear, has launched what could be considered the male equivalent of the push-up bra. Continue reading...

Women's rights groups say announcement sends important message to survivors of abuseThe historic statement from Buckingham Palace stripping Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his title is an acknowledgment" that something happened to the late Virginia Giuffre, her family has told the Guardian.In its announcement on Thursday, the palace said Andrew Mountbatten Windsor - as he is now known - will also leave his mansion in Windsor, Royal Lodge, as his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continue to cause controversy. Continue reading...

People of Jamaican coastal town described as storm's ground zero are traumatised and desperate for helpIt is a treacherous journey to Black River, a coastal town in Jamaica's southwestern parish of St Elizabeth, which this week bore the brunt of Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.Uprooted trees and lamp-posts, rubble from landslides, huge potholes and miles of thick, slippery silt from severe flooding have turned the route into a dangerous obstacle course. Continue reading...

New analysis prompts letter to Trump from Elizabeth Warren: Your administration has no answers for families hit by high energy costs'Donald Trump promised to slash US electricity bills, but they have increased by 11% since he retook the White House, new data shows.Democratic lawmakers highlighted the figures in a letter sent to Trump on Friday. Your administration has no explanations for its failures and no answers for American families that are hit hard by high energy costs, and it continues to actively pursue policies to make this cost crisis worse," reads the missive, led by Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator. Continue reading...

Bank says it alerted US of suspicious' transactions just weeks after paedophile was found dead in New York jail cellJP Morgan warned the US government about more than $1bn in transactions linked to Jeffrey Epstein that were possibly related to reports of human trafficking, new documents confirm.The largest bank in the US filed a suspicious activity report (SAR) in 2019, just weeks after Epstein was found dead in a New York jail cell, about transactions linked to the paedophile financier and prominent business figures. It also flagged wire transfers made by Epstein to Russian banks. Continue reading...

Reports of indiscriminate violence and ethnic targeting in El Fasher have led to growing global outrageSudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces claim to have arrested several of their fighters after outrage over the extent of killing in the city of El Fasher continues to build.But the paramilitary group's move has been greeted with scepticism from human rights campaigners and Sudanese people, who see it as an attempt to temper criticism over the violence. Continue reading...

YouGov poll say only 26% of people say immigration is an issue locally but more than half believe it to be a national issueThere were six council byelections yesterday. Here are the results, from Election Maps UK.Reform gained two seats, from Labour and from an independent group. Continue reading...

Exclusive: No cyber-attack assistance cash has gone into carmaker's accounts or to struggling suppliersJaguar Land Rover has not drawn down any of a 1.5bn loan facility guaranteed by the government, with suppliers expressing anger over ministers' claims to have supported the carmaker's supply chain after a crippling hack.Britain's biggest automotive employer was forced to shut down all of its wholly owned factories from 1 September for more than a month, after cyber-attackers compromised key computer systems. Continue reading...

Indulged by his mother and ignored for too long by his siblings, it is behaviour like Andrew's that could ultimately kill the monarchyIt started with a simple photograph, probably the most consequential ever taken of a member of the royal family.There was Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh and Knight of the Garter, with his arm around a young woman, while Ghislaine Maxwell stood wolfishly grinning in the background. Continue reading...

Regional authority is investing 1.5m in the project but has stipulations about featuring identifiable locations' on screen and the film premiering at an international film festivalThe Madrid regional government is hoping to harness the power of film tourism by investing 1.5m (1.3m) in a new Woody Allen movie that will be shot in and around the Spanish capital and which will be contractually obliged to feature the word Madrid" in its title.Regional authorities are confident the 89-year-old film-maker's next project could do for Madrid what Roman Holiday did for Rome tourism in the early 1950s, and what Sex and the City and Emily in Paris have more recently done to increase visitor numbers to New York and the French capital. Continue reading...

This blog has now closed. You can see the rest of our Europe coverage hereThe ANP news agency offered a bit more colour on how they reached their conclusion, via De Telegraaf.The agency looked at various scenarios of what could happen with the outstanding votes - in Venray and from overseas postal voters - and concluded that, accounting for historical patterns, the PVV could no longer catch up D66, which currently leads by just over 15,000 votes. Continue reading...

Party will take lead in first round of talks to form coalition government after securing majority of votesThe Dutch liberal-progressive party D66 won the most votes in Wednesday's general election, the news agency ANP has reported, putting its 38-year-old leader, Rob Jetten, on course to become the youngest prime minister in the Netherlands.While the last few thousand votes are still being counted, Dutch media reported on Friday that Geert Wilders' anti-immigration, anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) could no longer win. Continue reading...

From snapping up labels to growing its fanbase overseas, Next is dusting off its dull image while increasing profitsWhatever Next? One of the UK's largest clothing retailers is shrugging off its rather dull image and spreading its wings internationally, even as many high street rivals suffer.You may think of Next as a place to buy reliable work clothes, a nice cushion or to kit out the kids - it is the UK's biggest children's clothing seller. However, it has quietly been morphing into something much bigger. Continue reading...

Demonstrators took to streets after president's main challengers were excluded from ballotAbout 700 people have been killed during three days of election protests in Tanzania, the main opposition party has said.Protests erupted on election day on Wednesday over what demonstrators said was the stifling of the opposition after the exclusion of key candidates from the presidential ballot. Continue reading...

Michael Webber admitted attack on Jaysley Beck, then 19, which was not investigated properly by senior officersA former British army sergeant major has been sentenced to six months in prison for sexually assaulting Jaysley Beck, a teenage soldier who killed herself after senior officers failed to investigate the attack properly.Michael Webber, who has left the army, assaulted Gunner Beck during a training exercise in Hampshire in July 2021, when she was 19, the court martial centre in Bulford, Wiltshire, heard. Continue reading...

Leopard print and corduroy? Top Gun jumpsuits? Wossy's wardrobe reveals had as much drama as the round tableSpoiler alert: this article discusses Celebrity Traitors and reveals events contained in episodes one to six.The most exciting moment on each episode of the reality TV show Celebrity Traitors is when the ornate door of the breakfast room swings open to reveal which Faithful has survived another night of murder.This season however, there has been an extra element of anticipation for the contestants and viewers at home. What will Jonathan Ross be wearing? Continue reading...

Women need exclamation marks for good reason!! Plus, Andrew is losing everything he holds dear, including his house full of memoriesThe clocks have gone back. Which is to say, something happened overnight for reasons that I am no closer to understanding now than I was half a century ago as a newborn babe. Continue reading...

Majed al-Ansari calls for international force to be set up urgently to pave way for Israeli withdrawalGaza is sliding towards a deadly limbo where a ceasefire is nominally in place but killing continues, a top Qatari diplomat has warned, calling for rapid progress in setting up the international security force and administration to pave the way for full Israeli withdrawal.We don't want to reach a situation of no war, no peace," said Majed al-Ansari, adviser to Qatar's prime minister and spokesperson for the foreign ministry. Continue reading...

Business secretary calls IPO huge vote of confidence' but shares are launched at bottom end of target range

Robbery in Lyon left five employees slightly injured after explosion in latest high-profile incident to hit countrySix people armed with military-grade weapons have used explosives to break into a gold refining laboratory in Lyon, slightly injuring five employees in the latest high-profile daytime heist to hit France.The audacious raid took place on Thursday afternoon, with police quickly arresting the suspected perpetrators and recovering the loot estimated to be worth 12m (10.5m), officials said. Continue reading...

MP who left Labour in July to form leftwing grouping with Jeremy Corbyn, says party is not just one of protestThe MP Zarah Sultana has said she hopes her new political party will ultimately replace Labour as she revealed she was committed to winning power.Sultana left the Labour party in July to form the new group, operating under the temporary name Your Party. Continue reading...

Emergency security council session criticises killings of civilians in El Fasher and external supply of arms to RSFDiplomats and senior UN figures speaking at the UN security council have condemned mass killings by the Rapid Support Forces in El Fasher after the Sudanese city descended into an even darker hell" following the paramilitary group's takeover at the weekend.Widespread reports of ethnically targeted killings in recent days prompted the UK, as the UN penholder on Sudan, to call an emergency session of the security council in New York on Thursday. Continue reading...

Regional and metropolitan MPs at loggerheads as members warned not to verbal' each other over the issue

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Signatories of open letter include National Children's Bureau, Barnardo's and celebrities such as Emilia ClarkeCelebrities, MPs and children's charities are among dozens of signatories to an open letter ramping up pressure on the government to set targets for reducing child poverty in the UK.The actor Emilia Clarke, the broadcaster Chris Packham and the presenter George Clarke have put their names to the letter, coordinated by the Big Issue founder John Bird, stating that the government's reluctance to set binding child poverty reduction targets has rung alarm bells". Continue reading...

Ability to maintain control in prisons critically undermined' by scale of illicit drug use and trade, MPs sayDrone-jamming technology must be rolled out urgently across jails in England and Wales to help stem the endemic use and trade of drugs by organised gangs, MPs have concluded.The Commons justice select committee has found that the Prison Service's ability to maintain safety and control is being critically undermined by the scale of the trade and use of illicit drugs". Continue reading...

Haiti death toll reaches 30, and 19 in Jamaica, as Bermuda weathers tropical storm conditions on Thursday nightThe death toll from Hurricane Melissa has reached 49 as the storm continued to tear through the Caribbean, heading past Bermuda, and workers in Jamaica ramped up efforts to clear roads and reach people in isolated and cut-off areas.In Haiti, the death toll has risen to 30, with another 20 missing, the civil defence agency said on Thursday. A further 20 people were injured, it added. Continue reading...

National Audit Office finds 415m overspend as more children travel farther to schools that meet their needsHome-to-school transport costs in England have risen to 2.3bn a year, as increasing numbers of children with special educational needs and disabilities travel farther afield to schools that can meet their requirements, according to a report.More than half a million children and young people up to the age of 25 now get council-funded transport from their home to school or college, triggering a 415m overspend by local authorities last year, the National Audit Office (NAO) found. Continue reading...

Regulator is urging anyone who has moved in recent years to check whether they are owed a refundAlmost 2 million energy bill payers could be owed a share of 240m from old accounts that were closed while still in credit, according to the regulator.The latest figures from Ofgem show that about 1.9m energy accounts were closed over the past five years, with outstanding credit balances totalling 240m left unclaimed. Continue reading...

Grand Egyptian Museum next to pyramids of Giza billed as world's largest archaeological facility for single civilisationA vast $1bn museum billed as the world's largest archaeological facility dedicated to a single civilisation will open outside Cairo on Saturday, after countless delays over the course of its two-decade construction.The Grand Egyptian Museum, located a mile away from the pyramids of Giza, covers an area of 470,000 sq metres. The complex was announced in 1992 but it was not until 2005 that construction began. Some areas of the museum opened in a soft launch in 2024. Continue reading...

Dilnoor Kang exchanged up to 5,000 messages and calls with vulnerable young patient over just one year

Step towards reconciliation hailed as a historic moment' with premier Jacinta Allan saying it gives Aboriginal Australians the power to shape policies that affect their livesThe Australian state of Victoria has taken a historic step towards reconciliation, passing the nation's first formal treaty with Indigenous traditional owners.After two days of debate, the upper house of Victoria's parliament passed the statewide treaty bill without amendment by 21 votes to 16, just before 9pm on Thursday. Continue reading...

Older people left in their own excrement and wet beds for hours and forced to watch others die, Age UK report findsAlmost 150,000 people aged 90 and over in England are forced to wait longer than 12 hours in A&E every year, with some experiencing truly shocking" waits of several days stuck in corridors, a report warns.Older people are also being left in their own excrement and wet beds for hours, denied pain relief and forced to watch and hear other patients die next to them because they end up waiting so long for care, according to Age UK. Continue reading...