World news | The Guardian

Government has announced first steps' of policy shift but given little detail on how it will measure its success. What else needs to happen?In his pitch to voters in March last year, Keir Starmer said he wanted to imagine a society where violence against women is stamped out everywhere". His government would, he pledged, halve violence against women and girls in a decade. It was a bold, simple statement, widely welcomed for its ambition.That something has to change is not in doubt. The first national analysis of the scale of violence against women and girls (VAWG) released in July by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) estimated that 2 million women were victims of male violence every year - an epidemic so serious it amounts to a national emergency". VAWG crimes account for 20% of all police-recorded crime.Embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms.A pilot of new domestic abuse protection orders to force more domestic abusers to stay away from their victims or face tougher sanctions.Powers given to six police forces to charge domestic abuse suspects without first going to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).Specialist advisers for victims in domestic abuse, rape and sexual assault cases.Plans to tackle sexism in schools, including training young male influencers to combat the toxic messages from people such as Andrew Tate. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Some authorities say they are being set up to fail' when fault often lies with developers sitting on sitesCouncils have raised the alarm over what they describe as unrealistic government targets for new housing, saying these penalise local authorities when the fault often lies with developers sitting on sites that already have planning permission.Local authorities have also complained that targets under the proposed new national planning policy framework (NPPF) for England are sometimes totally unrealistic, both in terms of what can be built and, in some cases, the amount of homes needed. Continue reading...

Jonathan Reynolds continues damage limitation effort after colleague Louise Haigh called firm a rogue operator'P&O Ferries is not a rogue operator, the business secretary has said, as the government attempted to draw a line under the damaging row that has engulfed the buildup to its international investment summit on Monday.Jonathan Reynolds told the BBC on Sunday that he did not regard the company as rogue", despite his cabinet colleague Louise Haigh having described it in that way earlier this week. Continue reading...

Guardia Civil report on Piia Hokkanen indicates Spanish detectives believe cause of death was suicideThe family and friends of a British IT executive who fell to her death from an apartment block in Spain on the evening of her 50th birthday have called on the Metropolitan police to intervene in a Spanish police investigation into the fatality.Piia Hokkanen, who at the time of her death had borrowed her sister's holiday home for a three-day mini-break in Torrevieja, near Alicante, was found lifeless after falling from a communal window on to a neighbour's patio shortly after midnight on 4 September. Continue reading...

Michael Fakhri, special rapporteur on right to food, warns Israeli military attack risks repeat of starvation seen in GazaHunger and malnutrition rates could rise exponentially" in Lebanon, if Israel follows through with threats to escalate the current military operation which has so far killed more than 2,000 and displaced as many as a million people, according to a leading UN expert.Israel has the ability to starve Lebanon - like it has starved Palestinians in Gaza," said Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food. If you look at the geography of Lebanon, Israel has the power to absolutely put a stranglehold on the food system. There is a huge risk of hunger and malnutrition rates skyrocketing very quickly in Lebanon." Continue reading...

Exclusive: United Utilities and Severn Trent had four-star environment ranking but discharges breached permits, campaign group says Ankle deep in sewage': English spring water village suffers supected unlawful spillsTwo of England's biggest water firms dumped raw sewage into rivers across the country in suspected illegal breaches of their permits, despite being given the highest possible rating by the regulator for their environmental performance, the Observer can reveal.Severn Trent Water and United Utilities were responsible for 1,374 raw sewage spills from sewage treatment works in apparent breaches of permits over a two-year period in more than 80 watercourses, according to an analysis of previously unpublished operational data. It is alleged the suspected illegal discharges were during dry weather or at times when the plants were not at operating capacity. Continue reading...

Excavation of famous site solves 200-year mystery and sheds light on history of the growing cityFor more than 200 years, the creation of Edinburgh's famous Mound has remained something of a mystery.Built on the boggy bed of a drained loch in the late 18th and early 19th century, the artificial mound connected the city's medieval Old Town with the burgeoning prosperity of the New Town, transforming the Scottish capital. Continue reading...

Republic movement hopes to reignite conversation, but monarchist league says current constitution best protects our democracy'

Opposition home affairs spokesman says ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza can only happen when Hezbollah and Hamas are degraded'

About 70 colleagues have written to chancellor ahead of budget pleading for her to commit to rewriting fiscal rules How Labour promises have left Rachel Reeves with a giant budget headacheScores of Labour MPs are pleading with Rachel Reeves to embrace spending tens of billions more on ailing public services as part of an increasingly wide-ranging budget that could raise tax on employers and the wealthy.In a huge gamble that comes after a rocky first 100 days in office and a Downing Street reset, the chancellor is closely examining an increase in employer national insurance contributions that could significantly fill a black hole in public spending. Continue reading...

Frustration grows with chancellor locked away in Treasury and facing competing challenges for her historic speech Labour MPs urge Reeves to spend tens of billions more on ailing public servicesOn Saturday Keir Starmer and his government had been in office for 100 difficult days. Far-right riots, rows between top officials in No 10, a furore over freebies in an administration claiming to be in the service of the nation. Starmer now refers to them as choppy days", and the latter two as side winds" he insists will not push him off course.For cabinet ministers in big spending departments, another frustration has mounted since they celebrated winning a landslide on 4 July. Waiting for the budget. New governments - Labour's in 1997, and the Tory/Lib Dem coalition in 2010 - have tended to hold their first budgets in double-quick time to set direction and establish a clear sense of purpose. Continue reading...

This blog has now closed. You can read all our coverage of the Israel-Gaza war here and Israel's invasion of Lebanon here.Images on the newswires show Palestinians fleeing areas in the northern Gaza Strip after a fresh Israeli evacuation order:In a separate post on X to the one we reported on earlier (see 9.38am BST), Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee reiterated an earlier call for health workers and medical teams in southern Lebanon to avoid using ambulances, claiming they are being used by Hezbollah fighters. Continue reading...

Sculpture often divides opinion but it's rare for a work to carry the claim it may save lives

Renters in some cities forced to spend on average nearly $15,000 more a year on rent since the Covid pandemic, analysis reveals

The PM has backed transport secretary Louise Haigh after she called ferry firm a rogue operator', threatening investment summitKeir Starmer expressed his full confidence on Saturday in the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, after an explosive cabinet row cast fresh doubt over his Downing Street operation and threatened to overshadow a key international investment summit in London.Government sources said the prime minister and Haigh had spoken and made up on Saturday after Starmer appeared to rebuke her on Friday for branding P&O Ferries a rogue operator" in a statement and then calling for customers to boycott the company in a subsequent media interview. Continue reading...

Ex-leader of the SNP, who has died at 69, described by Keir Starmer as a monumental figure of Scottish and UK politics'

Family announce DJ's death in Ibiza after complications arising from accidental head injuryThe Scottish DJ and producer Jack Revill, known to many as Jackmaster, has died aged 38, his family has announced.Revill died in Ibiza on Saturday morning after complications arising from an accidental head injury", his family said. Continue reading...

High-profile politician reported to have collapsed after delivering speech in North Macedonia on SaturdayAlex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland who led Scotland to the brink of independence, has died at the age of 69.Salmond served as first minister of Scotland from 2007. He stood down from the role after failing to secure independence in the 2014 referendum, handing over to his deputy, Nicola Sturgeon. Continue reading...

Roughly 400,000 people trapped in latest offensive with most of territory under evacuation ordersAt least 22 people have been killed in airstrikes in northern Gaza, with Israeli forces stepping up their campaign on the besieged Palestinian territory even as fighting in the new war in Lebanon escalates.On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) renewed its evacuation orders for Palestinians still living in the decimated northern half of Gaza, although many residents say the fighting and Israeli sniper fire make it impossible to leave. Continue reading...

Dismayed senior Tories predict second contest for head of party will be needed amid chaos after centrist's shock ejection from race Paul Goodman: No matter who Tory members choose, the party has a mountain to climb in 2029James Cleverly launched a last-minute and doomed attempt to stop supportive MPs from trying to manipulate the Tory leadership contest in his favour, after fearing the tactics could accidentally knock him out of the race.The shadow home secretary's narrow departure from the contest last week came as a huge shock across the party, coming just a day after he had topped a poll of MPs. As the one remaining centrist candidate, he seemed certain to pick up votes from supporters of one nation Conservative Tom Tugendhat, who had just been knocked out. Continue reading...

Shooting incident in Kurram district between rival tribes follows attack on coalmine in south-west PakistanAt least 11 people have been killed in tribal clashes in the north-west of Pakistan, a local official has said.Tensions rose in Kurram district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, after two people were critically injured in a shooting incident between rival tribes. It was not immediately clear what caused the shooting. Continue reading...

The 40-year-old walker and her two dogs died at the scene, while a 20-year-old male driver was uninjuredA woman and two dogs she was walking have died after a road traffic accident in the Scottish Highlands.Emergency services were called to the scene on the B9152 near the Granish junction, close to Aviemore, at about 9.45pm on Friday. Continue reading...

Italian PM Giorgia Meloni among those admiring Berlinguer as new film and exhibitions celebrate his role as a unifierEnrico Berlinguer was a giant of the Italian left in the 1970s and 80s, coming close to leading the Communist party into government through a historic compromise" with the country's Christian Democrats, and championing Eurocommunism", a liberal, anti-Stalinist version of Marxism that briefly swept the continent.But his death 40 years ago, and the collapse of Europe's communist parties in the late 1980s, eclipsed Berlinguer's legacy, and Italy has since moved across the political spectrum, electing the far-right Giorgia Meloni as prime minister in 2022. Continue reading...

Ribbons, by Pippa Hale and initiated by Labour's Rachel Reeves, bears names of Leeds women past and presentA public sculpture celebrating nearly 400 inspirational women has been unveiled in Leeds.The work by the artist Pippa Hale, titled Ribbons, features the names of women voted for by the public. It stemmed from this idea of celebrating lots of women, and also naming them," Hale said. Continue reading...

French navy helicopter winched woman from the sea, but she was later pronounced deadA woman has died after going overboard from a passenger ship off the Channel Islands.The French coastguard said it received a distress message saying a woman in her 20s had gone overboard north of Les Casquets rocks, west of Alderney, shortly after midnight on Saturday. The woman went overboard from the Maltese-flagged cruise ship MSC Virtuosa. Continue reading...

In secret journal, Putin's fiercest critic writes: If your convictions mean something, you must be prepared to stand up for them'The late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny believed he would die in prison, excerpts from his memoir reveal.Navalny was the most prominent foe of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and relentlessly campaigned against official corruption in Russia. He died in a remote Arctic prison in February while serving a 19-year sentence on several charges, including running an extremist group, which he said were politically motivated. Continue reading...

VAT-registered schools will be able to claim refunds for tax paid on capital projects over past 10 yearsThe UK's biggest and richest private schools are in line for substantial financial windfalls as a consequence of the government's plan to impose VAT on their fees, according to official new guidance issued by tax authorities.A document issued by HMRC on Thursday made clear that, once registered for VAT, independent schools will be able to claim back the tax they have paid on capital projects such as buildings and land acquisition completed over the past 10 years. Continue reading...

Migrant workers accuse Home Office of targeting the victims of labour exploitation rather than companies profiting from themMigrant workers living in a caravan encampment raided by immigration enforcement officers have accused the Home Office of targeting the victims of labour exploitation rather than companies profiting from the hidden economy.The Observer reported in August that about 30 mainly Brazilian delivery riders working for large companies such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats were living in dilapidated caravans in the centre of Bristol. Many claimed they were, in effect, earning below the minimum wage and could not afford to rent in the city. Continue reading...

With the budget and Starmer's investment summit approaching, the industry's lobbyists are in full cry over carried interest'When the future deputy prime minister Angela Rayner walked the floor of a bespoke kitchen outfitter's warehouse in October 2022, she was doing more than gladhanding local workers in her Greater Manchesterconstituency.The real reason Rayner had been invited to tour Goyt Kitchen Fabrications in Ashton-under-Lyne was not to see how the firm had fared through the Covid pandemic, but to be sold the benefits of private equity. Goyt's bosses had taken a 200,000 investment from Welsh-government-backed FW Capital. Continue reading...

Thousands could lose up to 4,900 a year if the plan is retained in the forthcoming budgetRachel Reeves is coming under intense pressure to use the budget to abandon a 1.3bn cut to benefits for people with disabilities, first announced by the Tory government, amid warnings it will lead to hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable people losing almost 5,000 a year.The leading independent thinktank, the Resolution Foundation, has called on the chancellor to drop or delay changes to the work capability assessment (WCA), arguing that key aspects of the policy have not been thought through, and that around 420,000 people who are unable to work through disability or ill-health could lose up to 4,900 a year. Continue reading...

With the amount spent on refugees and asylum seekers this year on course to hit 3.6bn, the sum available for international projects must be cut again, warns thinktankMinisters have been warned that 900m will have to be raided from UK overseas aid projects to meet the costs of supporting asylum seekers in Britain this year.Projections seen by the Observer show that the amount of overseas aid set to be spent in the UK on refugees and asylum seekers this year is still on course to reach 3.6bn, despite a big fall in the costs of housing people from Ukraine. Continue reading...

Karen Conaghan brought 40 complaints to tribunal including for sexual harassment and victimisationA woman who sued her former employer over not being given a leaving card lost her case when it was revealed it had been hidden from her after only three people signed it.Karen Conaghan claimed that the failure to acknowledge her existence" at IAG, the parent company of British Airways, was a breach of equality law. Continue reading...

Charles said to be adopting anti-confrontational approach' to republican campaigners before visitKing Charles has said he will not stand in the way if Australia wishes to replace him as the country's head of state, it has been reported.Ahead of his visit later this month, the king is said to be adopting an anti-confrontational approach" to Australian republican campaigners, the Daily Mail reported. Continue reading...

The Guardian's 10-day polling average tracker showed vice-president with two-point nationwide lead, down from 4%Tightening poll figures have triggered nervousness and anxiety in Kamala Harris's presidential campaign, with Donald Trump making gains in the states where it matters most as the election race enters its climactic final phase.Amid a dramatic news cycle that has seen the US hit by two destructive hurricanes and rising fears of all-out war in the Middle East, the Guardian's 10-day polling average tracker showed the vice-president and Democratic nominee with a two-point nationwide lead, 48% to 46%, over her Republican opponent as of 10 October - tellingly, down from a 4% advantage she registered two weeks ago. Continue reading...

Surrey police still trying to find out cause of accident that led to six people entering the water at Sunbury LockThe search is continuing for a man missing after a rowing boat capsized on the River Thames.Emergency services were called to Sunbury Lock, Sunbury-on-Thames, at about 8.50am on Friday, Surrey police said. Continue reading...

Cardinal Vincent Nichols says proposed bill could change medical duty of care into duty to kill'The UK's highest-ranking Catholic bishop has urged churchgoers to lobby their MPs to oppose proposed changes in the law around assisted dying in England and Wales, warning people: be careful what you wish for".In a letter to be read out in the churches of his diocese, Cardinal Vincent Nichols said the proposed changes risk bringing about a slow change from a duty to care to a duty to kill" for medical professionals. Continue reading...

Parents force U-turn on hardline approach that included ban on absence for period pains without medical informationParents have forced three academies to abandon hardline attendance policies in which pupils were told to come in even when unwell and were banned from missing school for period pains without further medical information.The headteacher of Neale-Wade academy in the market town of March, Cambridgeshire, wrote to parents on Thursday apologising and retracting a previous letter that said that absence for period pain would be marked as unauthorised" - meaning parents could be liable for fines or prosecution - unless the school had medical information relating" to this. Continue reading...

Experts blame hateful soup' of social media content as MI5 boss points to threefold increase in under-18s being investigatedTeenagers as young as 13 are coming under suspicion of engaging in terrorism after being exposed to a toxic cocktail of easily accessible far-right extremism online, experts have warned.Insiders describe a horrible hateful soup" of social media content where children can pick and mix" terrorist narratives, including the Terrorgram network - recently banned in the UK - of white supremacist channels on Telegram. Continue reading...

The female sergeant, a veteran of 40 years in the force, allegedly made banned gesture on Tuesday and Wednesday in front of colleagues

Police spotted alleged stabber in Murrumbidgee River but he swam to an island and climbed a tree, where he stayed for 12 hours

Exclusive: Caroline and Stan Sturgess hope investigation into daughter's death will look at how safe the UK is nowThe parents of the woman who died in the Wiltshire novichok poisonings have said they hope an inquiry into her death will answer far-reaching questions about how the tragedy unfolded and allow the family, finally, to grieve fully for her.Caroline and Stan Sturgess said they hoped the long-awaited inquiry, which begins in Salisbury on Monday, would scrutinise the actions of the UK and Russian governments and examine how safe the UK is from such attacks now. Continue reading...

A Dodge Ram 1500 is bigger than a Panzer I tank and campaigners say heavy trucks are lethal' in collisionsThe engines rev, the guitars thrum and a gruff narrator lays out why the vehicle occupying the driveway is more than just a machine. A truck is a tool," he says, but a Ram - a Ram is life."So begins an advert for the Ram 1500, a pickup truck slightly bigger than the Panzer I tanks of Nazi Germany and almost as heavy. It is growing in popularity in Europe, with the number of Rams arriving on the continent up 20% in 2023 from the year before, according to registration data from the European Environment Agency. Road safety and environmental campaigners in the UK and Europe are aghast as the latest, most extreme cases of North American car bloat - giant pickup trucks - are increasingly crossing the Atlantic. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Request to postpone Tsai Ing-wen's trip came before goodwill visit' to China by David Lammy next weekThe UK Foreign Office (FCDO) asked for a visit by the former Taiwanese president to be postponed so as not to anger China ahead of a trip by David Lammy, the Guardian has learned.Lammy is due to travel to China next week for high-level meetings in his first trip to the country as foreign secretary. Continue reading...

Palestinian women and children among dead after Israel reportedly targets schools and homes with quadcopters and airstrikesAt least 30 people have been killed by Israeli strikes throughout the day in northern Gaza's Jabalia town and refugee camp, Gaza's civil defence agency has said, a week after Israel launched an offensive there which it claims is aimed at stopping Hamas regrouping.The agency's spokesperson, Mahmud Bassal, said a strike that occurred before 9.40pm local time killed 12 people including women and children, while 14 were missing and likely trapped under the rubble. Continue reading...

Country's south will likely bask in temperatures up to 8C hotter than normal next week and the balmy weather could trigger thunderstorms, BoM says

About 40 assailants fired rockets and hurled grenades at mines and miners' quarters in country's south-west, days before regional summit in IslamabadDozens of attackers armed with guns, rockets and hand grenades have stormed a cluster of private coalmines in south-western Pakistan on Friday, shooting some miners in their sleep and others after lining them up, killing at least 21, police have said.The attack by about 40 armed men days before Pakistan hosts a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation grouping is the worst in weeks in the restive, mineral-rich province of Balochistan bordering Afghanistan and Iran. Continue reading...

Ex-Australia rugby captain has been sentenced in his absence to five years in prison by a French court for misuse of corporate assets, lawyer says

This blog is now closing. You can read our latest full report on Israel's invasion of Lebanon here and all our coverage of its war on Gaza here.Israel's Magen David Adom has reported that one person has been killed and another wounded at a kibbutz in northern Israel by anti-tank fire from Lebanon.Israel's emergency services said the person killed was a 27-year-old Thai national working at kibbutz Yiron. Continue reading...

Arctic air is on the way but southern England will be relatively unscathed as temperatures up to 16C are forecastThe UK is bracing itself for a frosty weekend accompanied by cold air from the Arctic, the Met Office has said.Forecasters have warned that more wintry conditions and chilly weather will mean most people in the UK will require a thick coat over the next couple of days. Saturday is expected to be the wettest day of the weekend, particularly for parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Continue reading...