World news | The Guardian

Red Gibson ES-355, damaged on night of 2009 Rock en Seine fight, being sold alongside acoustic used in WonderwallThe Gallagher brothers might have reconciled to embark on a record-breaking world tour, but one artefact that recalls the more fractious times in their relationship is about to come back into the public eye.A guitar that Noel says was smashed up" by Liam on the night Oasis broke up after a backstage brawl at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris in 2009 is going to auction. The 1960s red Gibson ES-355 guitar is estimated to fetch up to 500,000. Continue reading...

Asbestos and faeces flooding cells also among problems contributing to huge backlog in cases, Law Society findsAsbestos, mould, rotten seagulls and cells flooding with excrement are among the problems experienced in crumbling courts in England and Wales, the Law Society has found.The professional body for solicitors said deteriorating buildings and unreliable technology were contributing to the record backlog in crown courts and undermining confidence and trust in the justice system. Continue reading...

We're here to invest,' says Darius Hughes as he calls comments by other pharma companies a little harsh'The UK boss of the US drugmaker Moderna, which shot to prominence with its Covid vaccine during the pandemic, has defended the country after it was labelled the worst in Europe" for drug pricing.Darius Hughes spoke as he opened a 150m vaccine site in Oxfordshire, just days after MSD, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly announced that they would ditch or pause planned UK investments amid a row over pricing between the pharmaceutical industry and the government. Continue reading...

French president said Trump assured him that would also mean end of Abraham accords' on Arab-Israeli relationsAny attempt by Israel to annex parts of the West Bank would be a red line for the US - and would represent the end of Arab-Israeli diplomatic normalisation, Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday, claiming that he had been given that assurance by Donald Trump.Macron also revealed that he had presented the US leader with a three-page plan on the future of Palestine, based on the New York Declaration, the document endorsed by more than 143 states that proposes to exclude Hamas from future rule in Gaza and the West Bank. Continue reading...

Former Labour leader announces November conference after week of turmoil, without mention of Zarah SultanaJeremy Corbyn has apologised to his leftwing party's supporters for a week of turmoil and division, in a video that failed to mention its co-founder Zarah Sultana.The former Labour leader said membership was now officially open and that the new party would have its founding conference in Liverpool at the end of November. Continue reading...

Party says aide's campaign work did not need to be declared as a Labour Together donation amid new Tory attacks

As the government explores options to support suppliers it should ensure that the carmaker foots the eventual billHere are a few principles for the government to bear in mind as it contemplates intervening to support car component suppliers hit by the fallout from the cyber-attack on Jaguar Land Rover.First, JLR is a large and rich company that should support its direct suppliers itself - indeed, it will often have a contractual obligation to do so. Second, any intervention should be aimed at firms that are more exposed because their relationship with JLR is indirect - the suppliers to the suppliers, as it were. Third, even in the latter case, there is a fair argument that ministers should try to strong-arm JLR into picking up the eventual bill. One aim, after all, is to ensure that JLR's eventual return to production is as smooth as possible. Continue reading...

US state department spokesperson says officials unable to shop while Iranian people endure poverty'Iranian officials at the UN summit this week won't be able to shop in New York after the US government barred them from purchasing everything from bulk household goods to expensive watches.The restrictions on the visiting Iranians were described by a state department spokesman as maximum pressure." Continue reading...

From immigrants eating the king's waterfowl to sharia law in London, it's all there in our Nige's relativist world

Roughy 170 physicians and other medical workers claim Trump administration has weakened veterans' health system. Trump officials deny their policies are hurting veteransNearly 100 doctors who have practiced at the US Department of Veterans of Affairs (VA) issued a mass letter on Wednesday raising urgent concerns" about Trump administration policies that they said will negatively affect the lives of all veterans".The letter sent to congressional leaders, VA secretary Doug Collins and the agency's inspector general marks the first time VA physicians have spoken collectively about staffing cuts and aggressive privatization moves at the nation's largest integrated healthcare system. Continue reading...

Show at Milan fashion week saw use of adjustable elastics and pull-tapes to unexpectedly sophisticated effectAt Fendi, where Silvia Venturini Fendi is leading the house founded by her grandparents through its centenary year, family is as much part of the sales pitch as the Baguette bag. I have been thinking about childrenswear, because I have a big family, and my daughter is pregnant with twins," she said backstage. Two grandsons made a cameo appearance on the catwalk earlier this year while her 18-year-old granddaughter is her fiercest critic", the 64-year-old creative director says. (When she calls after my show, I tremble.")This season, Fendi adapted the adjustable elastics that feature in clothes made for growing bodies, making a feature of elegant grosgrain pull-tapes to add gentle definition at the hem of the jacket or the waist of a dress. The result was unexpectedly sophisticated. The casting, featuring men and women of all ages and sizes, was a triumphant showcase for how beautifully the shapes worked on different bodies. Continue reading...

Millions of Italian workers expected to get day off every 4 October in honour of Saint Francis of AssisiGiorgia Meloni's far-right government in Italy has revived a national holiday in honour of the country's popular patron saint, Francis of Assisi, in a nod to the very core of our nation's identity".Millions of Italian workers are expected to get a day off each 4 October, the feast day of Saint Francis, after the lower house of parliament approved overwhelmingly a bill making it a public holiday. The measure will pass to the senate for the final nod. Continue reading...

Company says Disney+, Hulu and ESPN price rises were planned before uproar over Kimmel's suspension prompted calls to cancelThe Walt Disney Company, which has been recently making headlines since its 17 September decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel's late night show on ABC, said Tuesday that it would be raising the price of its streaming services - including Disney+ and bundles that include Hulu and ESPN.On 21 October, the cost of a Disney+ and Hulu package will increase from $10.99 to $12.99 while an ad-free plan with both will still cost $19.99. Plans with Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, with ads, were previously $16.99 and are soon to be $19.99, per Disney's website. Continue reading...

Pope names James Checchio to succeed Gregory Aymond two weeks after archdiocese agreed to settle with survivorsPope Leo XIV on Wednesday named an eventual successor to New Orleans' embattled Catholic archbishop, Gregory Aymond, two weeks after his archdiocese agreed to settle with survivors of clergy sexual abuse for $230m.Leo, history's first US pope, named bishop James Checchio of Metuchen, New Jersey, as the coadjutor bishop of New Orleans. The role positions Checchio to assist Aymond initially and then succeed him when he retires. Continue reading...

US president calls for countries to close their borders and expel foreigners. Plus, Kimmel says silencing comedians anti-American' in return to airGood morning.Donald Trump took the stage at the United Nations general assembly hall for the first time in six years to launch a full-on assault on the world body, which he described as a feckless, corrupt and pernicious global force that should follow the example of his own leadership.What did Trump say? He appealed to European leaders to embrace a blood-and-soil nationalism and follow his example. It's time to end the failed experiment of open borders," he urged. You have to end it now ... Your countries are going to hell."What is the significance of the address? Those who support the values of the UN must realize the degree to which the world's superpower seems bent on the destruction of everything they believe", writes Patrick Wintour, the Guardian's diplomatic editor. The speech urgently prompts the question of how the world will operate in the absence of reliable American leadership".What is the latest in the Russia-Ukraine war? Russia is launching long-range drones into Nato countries' airspace to test the military alliance's air defences and search for weak points, Zelenskyy said Tuesday.How serious is the risk of escalation? The first step of any further escalation would be new Russian incursions. That could happen if the Russians think it may cause disruption or sow discord in Nato", says David Jordan, of the Freeman Air and Space Institute at King's College London. Continue reading...

Grijalva will be state's first Latina in Congress, shrinking Republicans' House majority even furtherAdelita Grijalva, the daughter of the late progressive congressman Raul Grijalva, won a special election on Tuesday to fill the seat left open when her father died earlier this year.Grijalva faced Republican challenger Daniel Butierez in the heavily blue seventh district in Arizona, which covers the southern parts of the state and the borderland areas. Continue reading...

Leisurewear firm reports 13.5% decline in profits in six months to 2 August, with sales drop worst in North AmericaJD Sports has said consumers' wallets are strained" as sales struggled on either side of the Atlantic and the retailer reported a fall in profits.The company, which sells a range of sports brands including Nike and Adidas, reported a 13.5% fall in adjusted profits to 351m in the six months to 2 August and warned that annual comparable sales will be down compared with its last financial year. Continue reading...

Not enough of anything', says surgeon, as Israel's assault forces injured, sick and hungry people to leave Gaza CityThe few remaining hospitals and clinics in central and southern Gaza are being overwhelmed by a tsunami" of injured and sick patients fleeing a new Israeli offensive in the north of the devastated territory, medics say.At both Nasser medical complex, in the southern city of Khan Younis, and field hospitals in al-Muwasi, the coastal humanitarian zone" designated by Israel, staff are struggling to cope with large numbers of new arrivals forced out of Gaza City in the north of the devastated Palestinian territory. Continue reading...

Lego Play and Steam among the unexpected additions to the list that includes Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X

US president's speech made a mockery of UN values and highlights the need for strong anti-Trumpian alliancesSuch is the gravitational pull cast by Donald Trump and the US economy that the politics of the other 192 countries that make up the United Nations are rapidly being reduced to one long discussion about how to relate to, and challenge this ever darker and weirder presidency.Before Trump's extraordinary 58 minute speech on the supposed threats posed by open borders, sharia law, the UN's failings and the climate hoax", the supporters of the UN's values already knew they faced a challenge. Now they realise the degree to which the world's superpower seems bent on the destruction of everything they believe. Continue reading...

The Global Sumud Flotilla said they would not be intimidated', after third report of drone attacks this monthOrganisers of a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists have reported explosions and multiple drones that targeted some of their boats, currently situated near Greece.Multiple drones, unidentified objects dropped, communications jammed and explosions heard from a number of boats," the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) said in a statement. We are witnessing these psychological operations first-hand, right now, but we will not be intimidated." Continue reading...

Starmer's chief of staff used false excuse' for failing to declare donations to his former thinktank, Conservatives claimThe Conservatives have called for an investigation into Keir Starmer's beleaguered chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, after allegations he tried to mislead the elections watchdog over donations to a Labour thinktank he ran while in opposition.The organisation, Labour Together, was fined 14,250 by the Electoral Commission in 2021 over its handling of almost 740,000 of donations. The Tories have claimed that it used a false excuse" of administrative errors. Continue reading...

Convicted killer Daniel Bannister showed up at singer's home for fourth time, leaving her stunned'A convicted killer who stalked Cheryl Tweedy has been jailed after turning up at the singer's home for a fourth time.Daniel Bannister, 50, who breached a restraining order after showing up at Tweedy's rural home in June, had already spent time in prison for the same offence. At Reading crown court on Tuesday, a judge sentenced him to 12 months in jail after he admitted a single charge of breaching a restraining order. He was also handed a fresh restraining order not to contact Tweedy. Continue reading...

Organisers of event urge fathers to push for more equal parental rights in face of Britain's current poor offeringWho's in your team?" asked Elliott Rae, pumping up the crowd in central London at what he billed as the world's first Working Dads' summit. Who's your goalkeeper, your defender, your striker? Do you have a full 11? Do you have subs on the bench?."Football analogies are generally rare at events about parenting, particularly those that seek to tackle gender equality. But then, so are men. At the Working Dads' summit - almost certainly the first in the UK - both were in plentiful supply, as fathers were urged to create a new idea of masculinity". Continue reading...

Duchess's then spokesperson recalls disgraced financier's Hannibal Lecter-style' phone call after she disowned himThe Duchess of York allegedly sent an email apologising to disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein after he threatened to destroy her" in a Hannibal Lecter-style" phone call, according to reports.Sarah Ferguson sent the message in April 2011, describing Epstein as a supreme friend", after she had publicly disowned him in the media. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer urged to take action over US president's inflammatory speech to the UNKeir Starmer is facing demands from Labour MPs to reprimand Donald Trump's administration after the US president falsely claimed London wanted to go to sharia law" under its terrible mayor", Sadiq Khan.In an address to the UN general assembly, Trump said: I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor, and it's been changed, it's been so changed. Now they want to go to sharia law. But you are in a different country, you can't do that." Continue reading...

Medical experts and regulators say US president should not be questioning established scienceGlobal health agencies and regulators have dismissed unscientific advice from Donald Trump that made an unproven link between autism and the use of everyday painkillers and vaccines.In a sign of how worried foreign governments are about the US president's comments, the health secretary of the UK, which is one the US's closest allies, told the British public they should not pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine". Continue reading...

Errol Musk, rarely mentioned by his tech billionaire son, dismissed New York Times report as nonsense' and false'Errol Musk, the 79-year-old father of tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been accused of sexually abusing five of his children and stepchildren since 1993, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.The outlet said those allegations could be why the entrepreneur, who temporarily served as an adviser to the second Trump administration, rarely mentions his father - and that family members of Elon Musk have reached out for help, prompting him to sometimes take action to intercede. Continue reading...

South American leftist Lula takes indirect swipes at Trump in speech and warns that global threat of anti-democratic forces' persistsLuiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president, has launched an impassioned defence of his country's democracy, claiming the recent conviction of his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, had shown the world how would-be autocrats" could be brought to heel.Speaking at the opening of the United Nations general assembly in New York, Lula hailed Brazil's successful effort to repel an unprecedented attack" from Bolsonaro's extreme right movement. On 11 September, the former paratrooper was sentenced to 27 years in jail for trying to stage a military coup after he lost the 2022 election to Lula. Continue reading...

Police opened fire within seconds after responding to a report of masked teens, according to a residentThe head of Quebec's police watchdog said it will investigate the death of a 15-year-old boy who was shot dead by officers, revealing that the only weapon recovered from the scene of the fatal shooting belonged to the police.At a rare news conference on Tuesday, Brigitte Bishop, director of the province's office of independent investigations, said her unit would conduct an impartial" investigation into the death of Nooran Rezayi. Continue reading...

Speaking at the UN, US president said Europe was going to hell'Meanwhile, Russia denied that it was connected to the drone flights that forced Copenhagen airport to close its airspace for hours overnight, after Denmark's prime minister said she could not rule out Russian involvement, AFP reported.We hear unfounded accusations from there every time. Perhaps a party that takes a serious, responsible position shouldn't make such unfounded accusations time and again," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing call. Continue reading...

Russia denies involvement after Copenhagen and Oslo airports forced to close after drone sightingsThe Danish prime minister has said the country was subjected to the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date" after a drone incursion shut Copenhagen airport for several hours.Mette Frederiksen said authorities were still investigating who was behind the suspected hybrid attack, but she said she could not rule out Russia. Continue reading...

Chuck Schumer says Trump is running from negotiating table' after president wrote meeting wouldn't be productive

Republican Brad Raffensperger, who Trump called looking for votes, and Geoff Duncan announced their candidaciesThe entrance into the Georgia governor's race of two prominent figures on the right who stood up to Donald Trump's effort to steal the 2020 election shows how the election interference crisis continues to reverberate in the state's politics.On Wednesday, Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, announced his candidacy. Raffensperger was the recipient of the perfect phone call" by Trump in 2020 in the wake of his electoral loss in Georgia, pressuring Raffensperger to find 11,780 votes" and overturn the results. Continue reading...

Three judges block Colin Campbell's attempt to overturn his murder convictions at the supreme courtA nurse convicted of murdering four patients and trying to kill a fifth will not be allowed to appeal to the supreme court, judges have ruled.Colin Campbell, 49, was jailed for life in 2008 for killing Doris Ludlam, Bridget Bourke, Irene Crookes and Ethel Hall on orthopaedic wards in hospitals in Leeds. Continue reading...

Analysis finds value of moved pensions savings could raise similar revenue by 2029 as a year's air passenger duty

Lib Dem leader's conference speech takes aim at Reform by predicting it would bring Trump-style policies to UK

Men were sent on from Ghana despite risk of torture, persecution or inhumane treatment'A lawyer for 11 west Africans deported by the US to Ghana said they had been returned to their home countries despite many fearing for their safety.Under Donald Trump's drive to ramp up expulsions, the US has sent migrants to third countries, including Rwanda, Uganda and El Salvador, prompting accusations that deportee rights have been violated. Continue reading...

The public took a shine to 800kg Emil, despite his escapades halting traffic and almost endangering motoristsA footloose moose called Emil, whose summer wanderings caused havoc on Austrian roads and railways, has been captured, sedated and released in a verdant nature reserve, leaving his legions of fans wishing him well on social media.The approximately three-year-old male, believed to have come originally from Poland or the Czech Republic, rose to online fame in August with his chaotic odyssey through parts of Austria where moose sightings are rare. Continue reading...

Government insiders say move would be a serious blow to prospect of a two-state solution

Exhibition by African American artist to focus on architecture, art under fascism and her own links to the UKThe Royal Academy will in 2027 host the first major UK exhibition by Simone Leigh, four years after she became the first African American woman to represent the US at the Venice Biennale.

Kingfisher says garden accessories, outdoor paint and plants sold well because of good weather in the UK

Breakthroughs in forensic technology resulted in Glenn Gary Cameron's arrest more than three decades after he terrorised women in Sydney

Misty Hunt, a local school board member, said her one down, hundreds to go' post was about gardening, not KirkA member of a Pennsylvania school board says she is stepping back from her duties - and has been grappling with threats to her safety - after a one down, hundreds to go" social media post about windblown milkweed seeds was misconstrued as celebrating the killing of far-right pundit Charlie Kirk.Homer-Center school district board member Misty Hunt uploaded the post in question on 10 September, the same day Kirk was shot to death by a sniper while speaking at Utah Valley University (UVU). Continue reading...

Original image shot by Brian Duffy estimated to fetch 300,000 when it goes under the hammer in OctoberThe original image for David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album could become the most expensive album artwork ever sold when it goes under the hammer with an estimate of 300,000.The famous picture of Bowie with a lightning bolt across his face could beat the record set by Led Zeppelin's debut album artwork, which sold for $325,000 in 2020. Continue reading...

Bloc urged to end unethical double standard' of allowing sale of products deemed too dangerous for EU farmsEuropean chemical corporations have issued plans to export increasing quantities of toxic" pesticides deemed too dangerous to spray on EU farms, an investigation has found, despite a pledge to end the practice.Planned exports of domestically banned pesticides rose from 81,600 tons in 2018 to 122,000 tons in 2024, according to export notifications obtained via freedom of information requests by Unearthed, the investigative newsroom of Greenpeace, and the Swiss nonprofit Public Eye. Continue reading...

Prime minister expected to warn UK is at a crossroads' as he sets out plan to counter Nigel Farage and ReformKeir Starmer will make a major intervention this week, pledging a progressive fightback and promising the UK will reject the division and hate fuelled by the far right.The move comes ahead of Labour's conference amid increasing pressure on the prime minister from within his own party, where even senior loyalists have voiced fears that he has not mounted a passionate enough attack on Reform UK and rising racism in Britain. Continue reading...

Foreign minister says getting energy supplies elsewhere is a nice dream' while describing western European officials as fanatics'Hungary will not wean itself off Russian energy supplies, the country's foreign minister has told the Guardian, despite the White House's demand for Nato allies to stop buying Russian oil.Donald Trump has demanded that Europe halt Russian oil imports, but in an interview on the sidelines of the 80th annual session of the UN general assembly, Peter Szijjarto said: We can't ensure the safe supply [of energy products] for our country without Russian oil or gas sources," while adding that he understood" Trump's approach. Continue reading...

Study says US president seeks to interfere in elections and move the ideological centre of gravity' in European politicsThe Trump administration is waging a culture war on Europe by aggressively promoting the Maga movement's political and ideological allies on the continent and publicly humiliating the EU on the world stage, a joint report by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and European Cultural Foundation has concluded.The study argues that the US president is actively seeking to interfere in European elections, transform the transatlantic relationship toward conservative values and rally Europe's rightwing populists around the theme of free speech. Continue reading...

Han Hak-ja, aged 82, is detained after Seoul court hearing over claims she told church officials to bribe wife of then president Yoon Suk YeolThe 82-year-old leader of the Unification Church was arrested in South Korea early Tuesday as investigators probe allegations that the church bribed the wife of jailed former president Yoon Suk Yeol and a conservative lawmaker.Han Hak-ja, the widow of the church's South Korean founder, Sun Myung Moon, has denied allegations that she directed church officials to bribe Yoon's wife, Kim Keon Hee, and the lawmaker. Continue reading...