World news | The Guardian

A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriter

Independent MP Zali Steggall says it's not always clear who is behind disorderly behaviour - and sometimes it can be a whole section of a political party

Exclusive: Health department data shows spending on the 2004 extended safety net has nearly tripled, from $324.9m in 2010 to $850.4m in 2024

Exclusive: Experts raise concern as Queensland's Domestic and Family Violence Death Review and Advisory Board turns focus to historical, rather than recent, data

Rightwing activist claimed Commons deputy speaker Nusrat Ghani should be barred because she was born in PakistanGB News is facing calls to cut ties with a regular contributor who has been accused of racism after claiming that the House of Commons deputy speaker, Nusrat Ghani, should not be allowed in the house because she was born in Pakistan.The comments by Lucy White, a rightwing activist, have drawn criticism from across the political spectrum amid warnings that explicitly racist language is becoming increasingly normalised in British life. Continue reading...

Sultana skips Saturday's proceeding in solidarity with delegates expelled over links to other partiesZarah Sultana has boycotted the first day of Your Party's inaugural conference, throwing the party's first official gathering into chaos amid disagreements with co-founder Jeremy Corbyn over how the party should be run.Corbyn confirmed to journalists on Saturday that he preferred a single leader and is likely to stand for the role but Sultana said she would vote for collective leadership and that she did not believe parties should be run by sole personalities". Continue reading...

Exit of Zelenskyy's most powerful aide could also have impact on Kyiv's negotiating position in talks over ending warUkraine's political system is bracing for a mini-revolution" as the county's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is forced to adapt to life without his closest adviser, chief enforcer and most loyal associate, Andriy Yermak, who resigned on Friday after his apartment was searched as part of a widening anti-corruption probe.Yermak's resignation could have tremendous consequences for domestic governance, as well as for Ukraine's negotiating position in talks over ending the war with Russia, where he had served as the head of Ukraine's delegation to peace talks with the White House. Continue reading...

Committee highlights allegations including dog attacks and sexual violence, raising concern about impunity for war crimesIsrael has a de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture", according to a UN report covering the past two years, which also raised concerns about the impunity of Israeli security forces for war crimes.The UN committee on torture expressed deep concern over allegations of repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, waterboarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence". Continue reading...

Staff at human rights body said to be desperate for regime change' over inertia after court's legal definition of a womanThe ongoing impasse over guidance from the UK's human rights watchdog on access to single-sex spaces is distracting from other pressing issues, including the rise of the far right, insiders have told the Guardian.Some members of staff at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) are described as desperate for regime change" ahead of the new chair, Mary-Ann Stephenson, taking up her post in December. Continue reading...

Venues promoting destruction as stress relief are appearing around the UK but experts - and our correspondent - are unsureIf you find it hard to count to 10 when anger bubbles up, a new trend offers a more hands-on approach. Rage rooms are cropping up across the UK, allowing punters to smash seven bells out of old TVs, plates and furniture.Such pay-to-destroy ventures are thought to have originated in Japan in 2008, but have since gone global. In the UK alone venues can be found in locations from Birmingham to Brighton, with many promoting destruction as a stress-relieving experience. Continue reading...

Move, which is part of crackdown on costs, comes after it emerged Home Office spends 15.8m a year on serviceAsylum seekers will be banned from taking taxis to medical appointments after it was revealed the Home Office spends about 15.8m a year on the service.From February they will have to use alternative transport such as buses, no matter how urgent their medical needs. Continue reading...

Account of visit to Gaza by French professor describes Israeli military attacks on security personnel protecting convoysA historian who spent more than a month in Gaza at the turn of the year says he saw utterly convincing" evidence that Israel supported looters who attacked aid convoys during the conflict.Jean-Pierre Filiu, a professor of Middle East studies at France's prestigious Sciences Po university, entered Gaza in December where he was hosted by an international humanitarian organisation in the southern coastal zone of al-Mawasi. Continue reading...

Nathan Law says moral obligation' to Hongkongers should extend to anyone fleeing from political persecutionAn exiled leader of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong has said the UK government risks reneging on a commitment to people from its former colony in its shake-up of legal immigration routes.Nathan Law, a former Hong Kong politician who arrived in the UK in 2020 and has a bounty on his head, said that the government should reflect on its moral obligations when enacting its increase of the standard qualifying period for permanent residence to a decade. Continue reading...

E3G thinktank warns retrofit sector could shed 10,000 skilled jobs as small firms struggle to surviveCuts to a scheme for insulation and heatpumps for low-income households will leave homes damp, draughty and unsafe over winter, experts have said.Housing have asked for a one-year extension to the scheme to ensure continuity and prevent small retrofit firms going bust. Companies say funding for solar panels and insulation is already being withdrawn, leaving homes cold and draughty as winter sets in. Continue reading...

Welsh government grants used to fund football club even though it is owned by wealthy movie starsWrexham AFC has risen meteorically through the English football leagues thanks to the deep pockets of Hollywood movie star owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Yet the club has also had 18m in help from other, unwitting backers: Welsh taxpayers.The club has received almost 18m in nonrepayable grants from the Welsh government via the local council, according to UK government state aid disclosures - far in excess of the direct aid listed for any other football club in Britain. Continue reading...

The PM becomes the first Australian leader to celebrate a wedding while in office with a private ceremony followed by a reception at his official residence, the Lodge

Locked away in prison for decades, Marwan Barghouti is a longstanding advocate for a two-state solutionA global campaign is being launched to secure the release of Marwan Barghouti, the Palestinian prisoner seen by many as the best hope of leading a future Palestinian state, as negotiations continue in the context of the current Gaza ceasefire.The campaign, being led by Barghouti's West Bank-based family with UK civil society support, is seeking to put the 66-year-old's fate at the centre of the next stage of the ceasefire. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Rail regulator pulls Avanti service from timetable from mid-December but it is needed for staff travelThe good news for rail travel between Manchester and London is that a morning train will continue to link England's biggest cities in under two hours. The bad news: passengers will no longer be able to get onboard.The rail regulator has axed one of Britain's fastest and most lucrative intercity services, the 7am Avanti West Coast from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston, as part of a timetable shake-up that will take effect in mid-December. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Concerns over impact on health and environment, as well as 1.63bn in avoided landfill taxThe UK is estimated to have at least 8,000 illegal waste sites, containing approximately 13m tonnes of rubbish, research has revealed.The scale of the criminal dumping means at least 1.63bn of landfill taxes have been avoided, according to an analysis of data from the satellite company Air & Space Evidence, shared with the Guardian and Watershed Investigations. Continue reading...

Woman cancels all benefits including disability living allowance for daughter after policy change announcementA low-paid carer from Ghana has cancelled all the benefits she is legally entitled to, including the disability allowance one of her children receives, owing to fears about her immigration status after the policy changes announced by the home secretary.The radical changes to legal migration announced by Shabana Mahmood on 20 November will penalise those who are living and working legally in the UK, but who claim benefits. Continue reading...

Councils consult on removing former prince's name as residents report embarrassment' and smirks' when giving their addressesStreets named after Andrew, formerly known as Prince but now plain Mountbatten-Windsor, can be found from Broadstairs to Belfast to Birmingham. Roads, avenues, terraces, lanes, crescents, closes, drives and ways are all afflicted - to the dismay of some residents.In Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, Prince Andrew Way, celebrating Mountbatten-Windsor's 1986 marriage to Sarah Ferguson, will be purged after Mid and East Antrim council passed a motion, described by one councillor as sad but necessary", to rename. A public consultation is under way. Continue reading...

Immediate software update ordered by Airbus after US mid-air incident causes airport disruption across Australia and New Zealand

Washington's Putin-appeasing plan for peace in Ukraine has failed, but many heard death knell sounded for European reliance on US protectionKaja Kallas, the European Union foreign policy chief, asked her officials this week to dig up the number of times Russia had - in its various guises - invaded other states in the 20th and 21st centuries. The answer that came back was 19 states, on 33 occasions. Kallas, the former Estonian prime minister, was not just indulging in some form of historical mathematics. She was seeking to make a point that lies at the heart of the dispute between the US and Europe over Ukraine's future, a dispute that has again revealed the chasm across the Atlantic about the true nature of the Russian regime.Kallas reads history books as a leisure activity and - drawing on her own country's history of Soviet occupation - has long maintained that the Soviet Union fell, but its imperialism never did. Russia has never truly had to come to terms with its brutal past or bear the consequences of its actions," she has said, arguing that the nature of the Russian regime means rewarding aggression will bring more war, not less": Putin will come back for more. Continue reading...

Families are combing hospitals hoping to find their loved ones as about 200 people still listed as missing, and at least 128 killedAn outpouring of grief was set to sweep Hong Kong on Saturday as an official, three-day mourning period began with a moment of silence for the 128 people killed in one of the city's deadliest fires.City leader John Lee, along with senior ministers and dozens of top civil servants, stood in silence for three minutes on Saturday morning outside the government headquarters, where the flags of China and Hong Kong were flown at half-mast. Continue reading...

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea says it is checking whether data taken contained residents' detailsA London council has urged thousands of residents to be extra vigilant" when receiving calls, emails or text messages after confirming that data had been taken in a cyber-attack.The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), which has 147,500 residents, said some data had been copied from its systems in an attack this week. Continue reading...

Leftwing party asks members to pick between Your Party, Our Party, Popular Alliance and For The ManyThe leftwing party formed by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana has revealed a shortlist of names for its members to pick from: Your Party, Our Party, Popular Alliance and For The Many.Ahead of its first conference in Liverpool this weekend, the party is asking its 50,000 members to choose what it should be called, with the result to be announced by Corbyn on Sunday. Continue reading...

Move marks shift in how the guard are used in the US capital, days after two members were shotNational guard troops are to be paired with local law enforcement on patrols in Washington DC, according to a report in the Washington Post on Friday, 48 hours after two guard members were shot.Officers will conduct high-visibility patrols with the national guard and provide assistance as needed," according to an email to the district's leadership obtained by the Post. Continue reading...

Trump baselessly claims his predecessor didn't sign off on directives himself due to use of autopen machineDonald Trump has declared he intends to cancel most of the executive orders signed by Joe Biden, his predecessor as president of the United States.In a post on social media, Trump claimed baselessly that Biden had not signed off on the orders himself, saying that the radical left lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him" by signing his name using an autopen - a signature machine that has commonly been used by US presidents since the device's invention. Continue reading...

David Coburn, who was leader of Ukip in Scotland, denies involvement after Nathan Gill jailed for taking bribesA former leading member of the group of MEPs headed by Nigel Farage has denied taking money as part of a campaign to promote Russian interests.David Coburn, who was leader of Ukip in Scotland for four years, was responding after the jailing of his former colleague, Nathan Gill, on charges of being bribed by an alleged pro-Russian asset. Continue reading...

Tracey Smith sent the government minister and MP Ellie Reeves 22 emails and 10 voicemailsA woman who tried to summon her MP, the solicitor general Ellie Reeves, to court has been jailed for harassment in London.Tracey Smith sent Reeves 22 emails and 10 voicemails calling her transphobic" and accusing her older sister - the chancellor, Rachel Reeves - of physically assaulting her at a buffet bar. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Chancellor says she made fair and necessary choices' in budget, and was unwilling to make cutsBritain's wealthy must shoulder the burden of paying to rebuild the UK's creaky" public services, Rachel Reeves has said, as she warned Labour MPs that leadership speculation was bad for the country.The chancellor said she had opted to increase taxes by 26bn in this week's budget to improve schools, hospitals and infrastructure, rejecting calls to cut our cloth accordingly" after a downgrade in productivity forecasts. Continue reading...

Unhappy MPs will push for stronger protections in other areas, such as bogus self-employment arrangementsLabour MPs are preparing to demand further concessions on workers' rights as the price of accepting ministers' decision to ditch plans for day-one protection against unfair dismissal.MPs who are unhappy about the move will push for stronger protections in other areas, such as bogus self-employment arrangements, as part of Labour's make work pay" agenda. Continue reading...

I want there to be no rumours and speculation,' Zelenskyy says as Andriy Yermak resignsThe Commission also totally rejected dismissed Russia's criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as illegitimate" leader of Ukraine, after Vladimir Putin suggested yesterday that was a technical reason he couldn't agree a peace deal with Zelenskyy.President Zelensky is the democratically elected president, by the Ukrainian people, of Ukraine," a commission spokesperson said in response, somewhat mockingly adding that Putin seems to have some difficulties in recognising the democratically elected president of his neighbour country, Ukraine."Let me stress the fight against corruption is a key element for a country to join the EU, it requires continuous efforts and a strong capacity to fight corruption. This is a key element that we also address in our enlargement report that was published a couple of weeks ago, so we will continue to follow the situation very closely." Continue reading...

Bill 9 would outlaw prayer and face coverings in public institutions, sparking fears it targets Muslims in CanadaQuebec says it will intensify its crackdown on public displays of religion in a sweeping new law that critics say pushes Canadian provinces into private spaces and disproportionately affects Muslims.Bill 9, introduced by the governing Coalition Avenir Quebec on Thursday, bans prayer in public institutions, including in colleges and universities. It also bans communal prayer on public roads and in parks, with the threat of fines of C$1,125 for groups in contravention of the prohibition. Short public events with prior approval are exempt. Continue reading...

Trio given leave to stay in their abandoned convent near Salzburg until further notice, church officials sayThree octogenarian nuns who gained a global following after breaking out of their care home and moving back to their abandoned convent near Salzburg have been given leave to stay in the nunnery until further notice" - on condition they stay off social media, church officials have said.The rebel sisters - Bernadette, 88, Regina, 86, and Rita, 82, all former teachers at the school adjacent to their convent - broke back into their old home of Goldenstein Castle in Elsbethen in September in defiance of their spiritual superiors. Continue reading...

UK had been pushing to join 150bn Safe fund, a loan scheme that is part of bloc's drive to rearm EuropeKeir Starmer's attempt to reset relations with the EU have suffered a major blow, after negotiations for the UK to join the EU's flagship 150bn (131bn) defence fund collapsed.The UK had been pushing to join the EU's Security Action for Europe (Safe) fund, a low-interest loan scheme that is part of the EU's drive to boost defence spending by 800bn and rearm the continent, in response to the growing threat from Russia and cooling relations between Donald Trump's US and the EU. Continue reading...

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla quits as MP after being accused of recruiting 17 men who are trapped in war-torn UkraineA daughter of the former South African president Jacob Zuma has resigned as an MP, after being accused of tricking 17 South African men into fighting for Russia in Ukraine by telling them they were travelling to Russia to train as bodyguards for the Zumas' uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, 43, the most visible and active in politics of her siblings, volunteered to resign and step back from public roles while cooperating with a police investigation and working to bring the men home, the MK chair, Nkosinathi Nhleko, said at a press conference in Durban. Continue reading...

The Canadian PM's breakthrough oil deal with Alberta cost him a cabinet minister and will still face stiff oppositionWhen the people of the Haida nation won a decades-long battle for recognition that an archipelago off the coast of British Columbia in Canada was rightfully theirs, it was a long overdue victory.The unprecedented deal with the provincial and the federal governments meant the Haida no longer had to prove that they had Aboriginal title to the land of Xhaaidlagha Gwaayaai, the islands at the boundary of the world" Continue reading...

But supermarket blames self-inflicted' IT problems that left gaps on shelves for 3.7% drop in salesAsda has criticised the government for killing confidence" among consumers but blamed self-inflicted" problems that left gaps on shelves for a big reverse in sales.Total sales at the UK's third-largest supermarket fell 3.8% to 5.1bn in the three months to the end of September compared with the same period a year before - diving back from 0.2% growth in the previous quarter. Comparable store sales fell 2.8%. Continue reading...

About 200 people still unaccounted for, say officials, as fire chief confirms no alarms went off in any of the eight towers

Liberal MP has declared conflict of interest with Port Bouvard Pistol and Small Bore Rifle Club, of which he is a patron

Exclusive: UNSW researchers found protection in products usually marketed as natural' is also contained in cheaper alternatives

Far-right minister defends killing of two men who appeared to have given themselves up, saying terrorists must die'Video of an Israeli military raid in the West Bank shows soldiers summarily executing two Palestinians they had detained seconds earlier.The shooting on Thursday evening, which was also witnessed by journalists close to the scene, is under justice ministry review, but has already been defended by Israel's far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who declared that terrorists must die". Continue reading...

Prime minister says proposal violates international law and would destabilise financial markets

Volunteers that emerged during the pro-democracy protests regroup to help those affected by the blazeHong Kong's grassroots community groups have sprung into action to help coordinate and deliver aid to the survivors of the Wang Fuk Court fire, a catastrophic blaze that is confirmed to have killed at least 128 people, with hundreds still missing.Restaurants, churches and gyms in the Tai Po area, where the Wang Fuk Court housing estate is located, have been turned into temporary shelters for people in need of clothes, food and information as a result of the tragedy. Continue reading...

Police raid at the home of Kyiv's main peace negotiator is causing shock waves across Ukraine's political sceneThe revelations that anti-corruption police are searching the property of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, could have huge repercussions for the Ukrainian political scene and possibly for peace negotiations as well.It is hard to overstate the significance of Yermak in the Ukrainian political system. He combines multiple roles for Zelenskyy: most trusted sounding board, domestic political enforcer, controller of access to the president, main point of contact for foreign politicians and chief peace negotiator. Yermak is such a powerful chief of staff that people who know how the president's office operates describe his relationship with Zelenskyy as symbiotic. Continue reading...

Robert Sullivan's self-imposed removal comes after accusations he provided financial support in exchange for arrangement which included sexA longtime Roman Catholic priest in Alabama has voluntarily left the clergy after a woman alleged to his superiors that he provided her financial support in exchange for private companionship" including sex beginning when she was 17.Robert Sullivan's self-imposed removal from the priesthood - known as laicization - was announced Wednesday, the day before the US holiday of Thanksgiving, in a public statement from Birmingham, Alabama, by Bishop Steven Raica. Continue reading...

Exclusive: It follows calls from US senator Elizabeth Warren to investigate bank executives including ex-Barclays boss Jes StaleyUS regulators say they are taking allegations that top banks may have facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's criminal activity very seriously", as they faced calls to investigate executives including the former Barclays boss Jes Staley.In correspondence seen by the Guardian, bosses from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said they had reviewed a letter from the Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren, which raised concerns over bankers' alleged support for the convicted child sex offender Epstein. Continue reading...

Former minister says ditching plan for day-one protection against unfair dismissal definitely is a manifesto breach'Keir Starmer is facing backbench anger after ministers abandoned plans to give workers day-one protection against unfair dismissal, a U-turn that breaches the Labour manifesto.MPs including a former minister who spearheaded the employment rights bill with the former deputy leader Angela Rayner have voiced concerns over the climbdown announced by the government. Continue reading...

New Democratic party victory is crushing defeat for Unity Labour, which has held power since 2001The New Democratic party (NDP) in the Caribbean country of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is celebrating a historic landslide victory taking 14 of 15 seats, according to preliminary results.The decisive vote was a crushing defeat for the Unity Labour party (ULP), which has been in power since 2001. Continue reading...