World news | The Guardian

Exclusive: GMB union's report also finds pay disparity for women and disabled, trans, non-binary and gay staffers working for MPs and peersA race and gender pay gap among parliamentary staff means people of colour earn on average 2,000 less each year than their white counterparts, research seen by the Guardian suggests.A study due to be released this week will say that parliamentary employees who have a range of protected characteristics under equality legislation are more likely to suffer disparities in pay. Continue reading...

A message of neighbourly solidarity is thriving in Birmingham against a backdrop of racist intimidationWhen Mus unfurled the leaflet lying on her driveway, she was left shocked, angry and upset. White Britons are already a minority in London ... it is clear that if these trends continue white people will become a minority in Britain," it read.The leaflet, written by a far-right group, was distributed along her street three years ago in Moseley, a leafy suburb of Birmingham. It went on to blame NHS waiting lists, a shortage of social housing and even traffic on the rising population". Continue reading...

The public display of artefacts looted by British colonial forces at the new Museum of West African Art was supposed to be the crowning glory of a decades-long restitution effort. What went wrong?In a corner of the new Museum of West African Art, visitors can marvel at a sample display of the cultural treasures that adorned the royal palace that once stood in its place: a proud cockerel, a plaque with three mighty warriors, a bust of a king with a glorious beaded collar.The artefacts, collectively known as the Benin bronzes, were looted by British colonial forces who went on to burn down the palace in a punitive expedition in 1897. In the decades that followed they were scattered across collections in Europe and America. Continue reading...

Netherlands and Hungary move towards designation as draft resolution reportedly backed by 79 MEPs in 20 countriesWhere Donald Trump leads, Europe's nationalists and far right follow. After a Truth Social post last month, when Trump announced the US would designate antifa, the decentralised anti-fascist movement, a major terrorist organisation", his international allies swung into action.That same day, the Dutch parliament, where the largest party is Geert Wilders' far-right PVV, passed a resolution, noting the US decision and calling on the government to declare antifa a terrorist organisation in the Netherlands. Continue reading...

Paul Biya, in power since 1982, has brushed off calls to retire but is rarely seen in publicCameroon goes to the polls on Sunday for a presidential election with Paul Biya, already the world's oldest head of state at the age of 92, the favourite to win an eighth term in power in the central African country.A fractured opposition of 11 candidates is standing against Biya, who, despite his advanced age and declining health, has dismissed calls for him to retire. Continue reading...

Witnesses call arrest of video editor Debbie Brockman, a US citizen, by masked federal agents absolutely horrifying'A video editor and producer for Chicago's WGN television station was arrested by masked federal agents on Friday morning, and later released, during an Ice raid on the city's North Side, as shown in videos shared widely on social media.Videos show Debbie Brockman being violently forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a van. A local resident filming the incident asks her name while she is face down on the street being handcuffed. Continue reading...

More than 500,000 Palestinians return to destruction in Gaza City as 20 world leaders, including Trump, prepare for talks. This blog is now closed.Malak A Tantesh, a young reporter who has contributed to the Guardian's coverage, has written about a harrowing two years in besieged Gaza. You can read her account here:The Trump plan calls for Israel to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza. The US would lead a large internationally funded reconstruction effort, reports the Associated Press (AP).

Nigerian-American author tells Cheltenham literature festival audience having boys made her worry more'Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has said she is terrified that her young boys will join the manosphere".Speaking at Cheltenham literature festival on Saturday, the Nigerian-American author of works including Americanah told an audience that having two sons has made her worry more" about men and boys. Continue reading...

Four people were killed in an attack in Leland, while two were killed in Heidelberg, amid a third attack in Rolling ForkSix people were killed and 18 others injured in three separate shootings at high school football homecoming celebrations in Mississippi, according to a number of local officials on Saturday.The most fatal incident took place around midnight on Friday in Leland, where four people died, John Lee, the mayor of the small city in Washington county, western Mississippi, said on Saturday morning. At least 16 were wounded in that incident, with four in critical condition airlifted to the state capital of Jackson and 12 others treated at local hospitals. Continue reading...

Initial toll after explosions at plant near McEwen on Friday was believed to be 19 people but later revised to 18.There were no survivors in the blast that obliterated part of an explosives factory in rural Tennessee, authorities said on Saturday.The families of 18 people had been waiting anxiously on Saturday as their loved ones had been feared dead since explosions ripped through the plant near McEwen in western Tennessee early on Friday. The initial toll had been believed to be 19 people but that figure was later revised. Continue reading...

Demonstrators march alongside regiment, who earlier in the day said they would not fire on the crowdsMadagascar's prime minister called for calm after an elite group of soldiers joined thousands of protesters against the country's president on the streets of the capital on Saturday afternoon.Protesters marched alongside soldiers from the Capsat unit, who drove armoured vehicles, some waving Madagascar flags, from their base in Soanierana in the south of Antananarivo. Continue reading...

Forty-eight-year-old was serving 29-year prison sentence after admitting multiple child sex offencesThe convicted child sexual abuser and former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has died after being attacked in prison.He was attacked with a knife by another inmate on Saturday morning, sources confirmed to the PA news agency. Continue reading...

Members overwhelmingly endorse leadership motion that majority at next Holyrood election is only route to second voteSNP members have overwhelmingly backed leader John Swinney's clear and unambiguous" independence strategy that a majority election win is the only route to another referendum.On the first day of the party's annual conference in Aberdeen, the vast majority of members backed the leadership's motion that next May's Holyrood elections should be fought on a clear platform of national independence" and that winning a majority in the Scottish parliament - by securing 65 seats or more - would be the only uncontested way to deliver a new vote on Scotland's future". Continue reading...

Unicef says humanitarian crisis continues' and expects to scale up aid deliveries on Sunday

Drone and artillery strikes by RSF paramilitaries hit Dar al-Arqam shelter in western city, says resistance committeeMilitia drone and artillery strikes have killed at least 60 people at a displacement shelter in the besieged city of El Fasher in western Sudan, a local activist group has said.The resistance committee for El Fasher said the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group hit the Dar al-Arqam displacement centre, which is in the grounds of a university. Continue reading...

Exclusive: London council created an arm's-length body to manage some of its housing stockA Labour-run council is using a legal loophole to issue dozens of families with no-fault evictions, despite Keir Starmer's manifesto pledge to outlaw the practice.Scrapping no-fault evictions immediately" was one of Labour's main manifesto pledges before its 2024 election win, but more than a year on, the party's flagship renters' rights bill has not been made law. Continue reading...

Robert Dewar's widow, Susan, is a leading campaigner over multimillion-pound Norton Motorcycles fraudThe family of a deceased man, who was conned out of his retirement savings after investing in the Norton Motorcycles pension scam, is to lose almost half the subsequent compensation award because of a little-known tax rule.A long-running battle to win an award from the Fraud Compensation Fund (FCF) meant that Robert Dewar's pension was not reimbursed until 2024, five years after his death at the age of 64. Continue reading...

UK broadcasters used to rely on big audiences at 9pm, but as viewing habits change, figures are falling below the 1m markLast month something unusual happened in the television world. At 9pm, traditionally a crucial time slot for Britain's main broadcasters, none of their shows were able to attract an average audience of 1 million viewers.An ITV documentary about Madeleine McCann was the most popular in the slot, drawing a broadcast audience of less than 900,000 viewers. It happened again less than a week later when ITV's thriller Coldwater narrowly beat Channel 5's Fare Dodgers: At War With the Law. The unwelcome phenomenon has since happened for a third time. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. You can read our latest reporting here:

Reform deputy leader's trip, worth 1,400, to Lubov Chernukhin's property was for discussing gas power in UK'Reform UK's deputy leader, Richard Tice, accepted a 1,400 stay at the French Riviera home of Lubov Chernukhin, a Conservative donor and the wife of Russia's former deputy finance minister, new filings show.Tice enjoyed accommodation valued at 1,000 and meals worth 400 between 4 and 6 August at the Chernukhins' property on the Mediterranean coast, listing the purpose as discussing gas power in the UK", according to the register of MPs' interests. Continue reading...

Fayaz Khan, 26, made the threat in a TikTok video that Reform UK leader told the court was pretty chilling'A man who came to the UK on a small boat has been found guilty of making a threat to kill Nigel Farage in a TikTok video.Fayaz Khan, 26, an Afghan national, was found guilty by a majority of 10 jurors to two after almost 12 hours of deliberation at Southwark court court. He had made the threat to kill the Reform UK leader in October last year in a video that Farage told the court was pretty chilling". Continue reading...

Al Murray and Matt Forde say action over portrayal as foul-mouthed drug addict is attack on freedom of expressionA decision to sue the makers of Spitting Image over a depiction of Paddington Bear as a foul-mouthed drug addict is an attack on comedy and freedom of expression, the comedians behind the comic reinvention have said.StudioCanal, the production company that made the recent Paddington movies, is taking legal action against the team behind Spitting Image over the character's reimagining as the co-host of a satirical podcast, The Rest is Bulls*!t. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage hereHowever, it wasn't such a great night for the Lib Dems (or Labour or the Conservatives either) in the election for the Skelton East ward for Redcar and Cleveland council, where Reform UK set a new vote record with 65.3%, significantly ahead of Labour at 19.2% of the vote and the Conservative party (13.9%). The Lib Dems trailed, with only 1.5% of the vote.Reform's biggest byelection win means they've gained a seat from the Tories. Continue reading...

All parties except National Rally and La France Insoumise called on by president to show collective responsibility'

Exclusive: Leaked files offer a glimpse of the ex-prime minister's relationship with Christopher HarborneAs he boarded the night train to Ukraine, Boris Johnson had the usual entourage of aides and bodyguards - plus the man who had given him 1m.Less than a year had passed since Johnson accepted what is thought to be the largest donation ever to an individual MP. It was from Christopher Harborne, one of the UK's biggest and most private political donors. Continue reading...

Firms led by deputy Reform UK leader since 2011 have shown commitment to saving energy and cutting CO emissions

Campaigners say lessons not being learned as three-year-old's mother is asked to prove right to free NHS treatmentThe UK has failed to learn lessons since the Windrush scandal, campaigners say, after a UK-born toddler was denied a British passport and asked to prove she has the right to free NHS treatment.Three-year-old Zharia-Rae's mother, Tracy Ann Dunkley, has been a British citizen since 2024 and the child's older brother, born to the same parents in 2020, was given a British passport in 2022. Continue reading...

At least 20 injured after hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles target energy infrastructure in KyivA massive" Russian drone and missile strike has wounded at least 20 people in Kyiv, plunging Ukraine's capital into darkness early on Friday in what Volodomyr Zelenskyy condemned as a cynical and calculated" attack.Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said Russian forces had targeted critical infrastructure", and fragments from downed drones struck several parts of the city. Images posted online showed firefighters working to tackle burning blocks of flats. Continue reading...

US president had been conducting campaign to influence prize committee. This live blog is closed

This blog is now closed.We're still talking about superannuation tax concessions?We can't seem to stop hearing about the government's plan to increase tax on superannuation balances over $3m ... yes that's right, we're still talking about it.There have been some conversations with the prime minister's office ... It's probably not unusual for that to occur from time to time.This is too often what happens when you get a government that has such a large majority that they don't take people along on key policy issues.People have been planning for decades for how they save for retirement and structure those investments. So any changes that are made to super need to be considered and provide people looking to retire with plenty of warning.I don't think there are high risks to this first phase. The ceasefire, the release of the living hostages, the rapid identification and turnover of those bodies that can be found, and the introduction of humanitarian assistance, coupled with that, first of all steps, the Israeli withdrawal to the agreed initial line. I think that will happen. The problematic and hard to negotiate issues are what follows. This phase one is, if you will, the opening of the door.An armed Hamas is a Hamas which will retain the ability to assert, albeit clandestinely, effective governance. Disarmament must be in parallel to the process of shifting Hamas out of that effective governance role. And so the question that has to be raised here is what pressures can be brought to bear upon Hamas in order to affect that goal. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Senator accused of bringing social club into disrepute after raising concerns about its association with betting lobby

Albanese reiterates policy despite reports his government was reconsidering changes to address criticisms of taxing unrealised gains'

Severe weather warnings have also been issued for Victoria, southern New South Wales and parts of South Australia

Victoria police say pedestrian died at the scene after the crash on High Street at 8.30am Friday

Arrests have been made over alleged involvement in group of contract criminals that uses network of staged vehicles

This live blog is now closed, you can read our latest report here.Families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza gathered in what has come to be known as Hostage Square in Tel Aviv after the announcement.President Trump, thank you very much. We thank him, our children will not have returned home without him," said Hatan Angrest, whose son Matan is among the hostages. Continue reading...

Panel of 800 experts places Melbourne's Caretaker's Cottage and Sydney's Maybe Sammy in World's 50 Best Bar list once again, with Melbourne's Byrdi placing in top 100

Much-anticipated judgment centers on efforts by Trump administration to use troops to aid immigration crackdownA judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from federalizing or deploying the national guard in Illinois after Donald Trump ordered hundreds of troops to Chicago to help with immigration enforcement and to battle what the White House says are high crime rates in the city.US district judge April Perry issued her decision from the bench after more than two hours of arguments from lawyers for the federal government and the state of Illinois, which sued the Trump administration over the deployment. The order took effect on Thursday and will remain in place for two weeks. Continue reading...

Four people have so far been arrested as part of police investigation into attack in East Sussex, which caused significant damage'Police have made further arrests over an arson attack on a mosque in East Sussex.The building in Phyllis Avenue, Peacehaven was badly damaged by the fire at about 9.50pm on Saturday. Nobody was injured, but police said significant damage" was caused to the front of the building and a nearby vehicle. Continue reading...

Rapper had claimed UMG helped to damage his reputation by distributing Kendrick Lamar's Not Like UsA federal judge has thrown out Drake's defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG), ruling that the company cannot be held responsible for promoting Kendrick Lamar's hit diss track Not Like Us.US district judge Jeannette Vargas decided Thursday that the song's lyrics express nonactionable opinion" and therefore cannot be considered defamatory. Continue reading...

Gustavo Petro demands US release names of victims: A new theatre of war has opened up: the Caribbean'Colombia's president has drawn Washington's ire after accusing the US of killing Colombian citizens during a recent boat strike in the Caribbean Sea.A new theatre of war has opened up: the Caribbean," Gustavo Petro wrote on his official X account on Wednesday night. Continue reading...

Commissioner's review found 87% of cases uncovered physical, psychological or sexual abuse of a family memberNearly 90% of cases before the family courts in England and Wales show evidence of domestic abuse, a watchdog has disclosed.Physical, psychological or sexual abuse of a member of the family or household was uncovered in 87% of cases, according to a review ordered by the domestic abuse commissioner, Nicole Jacobs. Continue reading...

Police arrest 30-year-old on suspicion of failing to disclose information about potential terrorist actsA 30-year-old man arrested over the Manchester synagogue attack has been rearrested at an airport shortly after being released.Counter-terror police detained the man at Manchester airport on Thursday on suspicion of failing to disclose information about potential terrorist acts. The arrest came within 24 hours of the man being released from custody, where he had been held since the attack at Heaton Park synagogue on Yom Kippur last Thursday. Continue reading...

Antwerp police recover an improvised explosive device and plans for terrorist attacks on political figuresPolice in Belgium have arrested three young adults for plotting a jihadist-inspired attack using drone-mounted explosives, with the Belgian prime minister reported to be among the politicians targeted.The arrests were made in the northern city of Antwerp as part of an investigation into attempted terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist group", the federal prosecutor Ann Fransen told a news conference. Continue reading...

Former UK prime minister told post-ministerial jobs watchdog roles would not involve lobbying or UK policy influenceRishi Sunak has been appointed as a senior adviser by the US technology companies Microsoft and Anthropic.The former British prime minister's pair of new jobs emerged on Thursday in letters published by Westminster's office of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba). They add to his roles as a senior adviser to Goldman Sachs International, the investment bank, and speechmaker to investment firms including Bain Capital and Makena Capital in the US, which have netted him over 150,000 a talk. Continue reading...

The film from disgraced director, Brett Ratner, will premiere in cinemas and follow the first lady in the 20 days prior to the 2025 inaugurationAmazon is set to release its Melania Trump documentary in cinemas January 2026.The film follows the first lady in the 20 days before the 2025 inauguration and comes from director Brett Ratner. It marks the film-maker's first feature since he was accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women in 2017. He had denied the claims. Continue reading...

Exclusive: education secretary tells the Guardian scrapping limit entirely in November's budget most cost-effective way to tackle child povertyBridget Phillipson is pushing the prime minister and chancellor to scrap the two-child benefit cap entirely in next month's budget, with the education secretary telling the Guardian the evidence is clear that it needs to be removed.Phillipson, who is finalising a report to Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves on child poverty, said abolishing the cap was the most cost effective way to make lives better for young disadvantaged people. Continue reading...

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey speak to the education secretary and Labour deputy leadership candidate Bridget Phillipson about the plan for a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as why she is pushing the prime minister and chancellor to get rid of the two-child limit on benefits.Plus, she explains why she believes she is the best candidate to become the next deputy leader of the Labour party. And, we hear her thoughts on Keir Starmer's leadership and how Labour should take on Nigel Farage and the rise of Reform Continue reading...

Exclusive: Reform UK leader's remarks at event for private US college criticised as grossly irresponsible' by NEU leaderNigel Farage has claimed teachers would go on strike within weeks of a Reform UK election win, and accused them of poisoning our kids" by telling them that black children are victims and white children oppressors.The Reform UK leader set out his view on British schools in an event for a private US Christian college in Michigan, claiming the Marxist left" was now in control of our education system". Continue reading...

From inside Gaza, Ansam Tantesh and Mai Elawawda react to the news of a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel and the prospect of finally ending the two-year warIn the early hours of Thursday morning, both Palestinians and Israelis were celebrating the news that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas had been reached. Though there are still many uncertainties ahead - and many points of disagreement to resolve - an end to Israel's two-year war in Gaza has never seemed nearer.As Ansam Tantesh, an English graduate and would-be teacher, explains from inside Gaza, it has been a brutal period for those living in the strip. The pain, she tells Annie Kelly, will never leave my heart'. Continue reading...