World news | The Guardian

PM says he will not speculate over policy as he grapples with how to fund tax cuts demanded by Tory MPsRishi Sunak has refused to commit to keeping the pensions triple lock in the next Conservative manifesto, as he grapples with how to fund tax cuts demanded by his own MPs.The prime minister told reporters during the G20 summit in Delhi that the triple lock - which guarantees that pensions will rise by at least 2.5%, and by either inflation or earnings if they are higher - remains government policy. Continue reading...

The Arizona capital reached 55th day above 110F this year, but forecast says that cooler temps - even rain - are on the horizonResidents in Phoenix, Arizona, are set to experience some relief from the blistering heatwave following the city's record of the most days at or above 110F (43.3C) this year despite reaching 112F (44.4C) on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).On Sunday, the NWS announced that temperatures in Arizona's largest city will finally begin to retreat closer to the seasonal normal" with highs expected to range between 102F (38.9C) and 104F (40C) between Monday and Friday. Sunday's temperature broke the daily high record of 111F (43.9C) set in 1990. Continue reading...

Man is known to have had unescorted access to large parts of the Westminster estateMPs have reacted with alarm after it emerged that a parliamentary researcher with links to senior Conservatives and potential access to sensitive information had been arrested over allegations of spying for China.The man, who is in his 20s and was arrested in March along with another person, is known to have held a parliamentary pass, allowing him unescorted access to large parts of the Westminster estate. Continue reading...

Attack comes in the week that Daniel Khalife escaped from the jail in south-west LondonAn inmate at HMP Wandsworth is in a critical condition in hospital after being stabbed inside the prison.The Metropolitan police and London ambulance service were called at about 3.20pm on Sunday to reports of an assault inside the facility in south-west London after an incident" between prisoners. Continue reading...

Trade union body says British government move is in breach of international law'The Trades Union Congress has lodged a complaint with the UN's labour standards body claiming the UK government flouted the watchdog's orders over its newly enforced undemocratic" anti-strike law.Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the organising body for trade unions in England and Wales, said it had taken its case to the International Labour Organization (ILO) because the strike act was in breach of international law. Continue reading...

Khalife, 21, will appear at Westminster magistrates court on MondayDaniel Khalife has been charged with escaping from custody at HMP Wandsworth, the Metropolitan police have said.The former soldier, 21, was arrested on a canal towpath in west London at 10.41am on Saturday after being pulled off a push bike by a plainclothes counter-terrorism officer. Continue reading...

Ulma family including unborn child all beatified for their actions to help Jews during second world warThe Vatican has beatified a Polish family of nine - a married couple and their small children - who were executed by the Nazis during the second world war for sheltering Jews.During a ceremonious mass in the village of Markowa, in south-east Poland, the papal envoy Cardinal Marcello Semeraro read out the Latin formula of the beatification of the Ulma family signed last month by Pope Francis. Continue reading...

Help has yet to arrive in the village of Moulay Brahim in the Atlas mountains where many homes have been reduced to rubbleIn a narrow passage in the village of Moulay Brahim, in Morocco's Atlas mountains, a house had spilled across the lane in a drift of sandy ruins. It was largely unrecognisable from what it once was, save for the unlikely survival of a solitary room left beached atop the rubble, the blue paint of its walls still visible.Abderahim Imni, with his hand bandaged from where he was injured by falling masonry during Friday's devastating earthquake, was directing the cleanup in the street where his home once stood. Continue reading...

The week until Sunday was the first-ever time such a protracted heatwave had occurred in September, the Met Office saidThe UK had an unprecedented seventh consecutive day of 30C heat on Sunday but it will be replaced, the Met Office said, by heavy, thundery showers and possible hailstones up to 2cm in diameter.Forecasters said there had never been a September heatwave on record as long-lived as the one which lasted until the weekend. Sunday became the seventh consecutive day of 30 degree weather in the UK with 32.5C recorded in Cambridge. Continue reading...

Gen Mark Milley, head of the US military, says offensive has gone slower than anticipated' but battle isn't doneA Spanish aid worker was killed when a missile hit the vehicle in which she was travelling in Ukraine, the Spanish foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said on Sunday.Unfortunately, I can confirm a missile hit a vehicle in which this Spanish worker was travelling who was working for a humanitarian NGO in Ukraine. We have verbal confirmation of her death," Albares told reporters in India, where he attended the G20 meeting.That offensive kicked off about 90 days ago. It has gone slower than the planners anticipated. But that is a difference between what Clausewitz called war on paper and real war.So these are real people in real vehicles that are fighting through real minefields, and there's real death and destruction, and there's real friction. And there's still a reasonable amount of time, probably about 30 to 45 days, worth of fighting weather left. Continue reading...

Father of dead 10-year-old understood to be negotiating trio's safe transfer to UK authorities as local police pressure relativesThe family of Urfan Sharif, who is on the run in Pakistan with his wife and brother after his 10-year-old daughter Sara was found dead in Surrey, are negotiating with local politicians for the fugitives to hand themselves in to the authorities.It has been a month since Sharif arrived in Pakistan and called 999 in the UK to report that his daughter was dead at his home in Horsell, near Woking. Continue reading...

Four-day search for Daniel Khalife was coordinated at new Counter Terrorism Operations Centre in LondonThe capture of escaped terrorism suspect Daniel Khalife is being hailed as a vindication of a decision to bring together police and the intelligence agencies into a new 412m surveillance centre.The four-day search for Khalife was coordinated at the Counter Terrorism Operations Centre (CTOC) in West Brompton, central London, where for the first time in a manhunt counter-terror police worked alongside members of MI5 and MI6. Continue reading...

Villagers bury their dead while Red Cross warns recovery may take years and other countries offer aidRescuers in Morocco were trying to find survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings as the country began three days of mourning for victims of a disaster that killed more than 2,000 people and left many more injured and homeless.Friday's 6.8-magnitude quake, Morocco's deadliest in more than six decades, had an epicentre below a remote cluster of mountainous villages 45 miles south of Marrakech, and shook infrastructure as far away as the country's northern coast. Continue reading...

Language on invasion of Ukraine noticeably softened compared with statement after last year's summitRussia's foreign minister has hailed the G20 summit in Delhi as a success, after Moscow was shielded from criticism over the Ukraine war in a joint declaration.We were able to prevent the west's attempts to Ukrainise the summit agenda," Sergei Lavrov said as the two-day meeting drew to a close. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Respect for law being undermined by disparagement of lawyers and judges', says Helena KennedyA leading British lawyer has compared UK government attacks on the profession to the tactics used by authoritarian regimes.Helena Kennedy KC, one of the UK's most renowned criminal lawyers and a Labour peer, said ministers were deliberately creating scapegoats. Continue reading...

One of Britain's longest serving newsreaders says he has been diagnosed with early onset vascular dementiaAlastair Stewart, one of Britain's longest serving and most familiar newsreaders, has revealed he has been diagnosed with dementia.The 71-year-old was one of ITV's flagship newsreaders for more than three decades and most recently presented programmes for the rightwing TV channel GB News. Continue reading...

Brazil's president, now the group's leader, says his Russian counterpart is welcome at 2024 eventVladimir Putin can attend next year's G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro without fear of arrest, the Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has said as he took leadership of the forum.Speaking at this year's meeting in Delhi, Lula - who has controversially tried to position himself as a peacemaker between Moscow and Kyiv - said the Russian president would be welcome to attend the November 2024 event. Continue reading...

Justice minister dodges question as he confirms full complement of staff were on duty when Daniel Khalife abscondedThe UK justice secretary, Alex Chalk, has refused to express confidence in the governor of Wandsworth prison, as he said a full complement of staff were on duty when a former soldier was able to escape by strapping himself to the underside of a delivery van.Daniel Abed Khalife, 21, is in custody after he was arrested as he cycled along a canal towpath in Northolt, west London, on Saturday morning, four days after he got away from the prison, about a dozen miles away. Continue reading...

Discussions had reached an impasse over the use of geographical indicators for products such as prosecco and feta

Style featuring pastel makeup and modest clothing has taken off, but many are objecting to the ethos behind itA social media debate has erupted in China over a trend among some women to dress and behave in a way that's good for marriage", with detractors saying it discourages independence.China, like much of east Asia, is battling with a demographic crisis and young people increasingly choose to forgo marriage and children. Last year China officially recorded its first decline in population for more than 60 years. Continue reading...

The former PM blames lack of support for Conservative ideas as part of her downfall during her 49-day premiershipLiz Truss is writing a book about her 49 days as prime minister, which will argue the main cause of her downfall was a lack of support for Conservative ideas" - and too much support for the global left".The former prime minister wants to see a Conservative movement revival" and has decided to share the lessons" from her time in government, where she was often the only conservative in the room". Continue reading...

After sightings in the area, teams descended to search gardens with dogs and check vehicles, while helicopters whirred overhead. Now picnics and sunbathing can resumeThe Saturday morning news that Daniel Khalife, the terror suspect who escaped from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday morning, had been spotted in Chiswick caused predictable intrigue in the leafy west London district. Police swiftly mustered in the area. Some drivers were being stopped and others reportedly asked for identification.A police helicopter had been whirring overhead for much of the night and some residents said they had awoken to find officers sweeping through gardens. Police dog handlers and armed officers were all spotted along one of the area's main roads by early morning. Continue reading...

Former soldier, who escaped Wandsworth prison on Wednesday, recaptured in west LondonLike much of the prison estate, there is no question that Wandsworth is a troubled institution.Independent inspections have also made the point that conditions improved when prisoner numbers were reduced. Continue reading...

Earthquake measuring at least 6.8 magnitude and centred in High Atlas mountains leaves more than 1,000 dead and 1,200 injured

Storm not forecast to make landfall but is expected to strengthen again on Sunday and Monday and turn northLarge swells battered the north-east Caribbean on Saturday as Hurricane Lee churned nearby through open waters as a category 3 storm.The storm, which is not forecast to make landfall, was located about 350 miles (565km) east and north-east of the northern Leeward Islands. It had winds of up to 115mph (185kph) and was moving west and north-west at 12mph (19kph). Continue reading...

Damaged historic buildings are allegedly among those developers wish to demolish for profit in complicity with the authoritiesAbout an hour after air raid sirens sounded in the early hours of 10 August, residents on Yaroslavska Street in the heart of Kyiv's hip Podil district heard the crash of a building coming down.Some looked out of their windows, expecting to see the smoking remains of a Russian missile. Instead, in the dawn light, two excavators were tearing apart an elegant 200-year-old mansion. Continue reading...

Recapture in Chiswick marks end of 21-year-old's time on the run while waiting for trial on terror charges

The Public Enemy frontman talks about why he returned to his first love of art to create a book about the violence dividing his countryThey were the rabble-rousing rappers that brought the 1980s racially charged streets of New York to the masses and turned hip-hop into a potent political force. Public Enemy's lyrics were born of the violence of prejudice in America, turbulent anthems such as Fight the Power and Don't Believe the Hype captured the zeitgeist and planted political hip-hop into the heart of American culture.Their subsequent catalogue of socially raging songs made them one of the most influential bands of the modern era, and culminated in the prestigious Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. Continue reading...

Somerset city scores five stars for attractiveness and tourist attractions as it tops Which? survey of inland towns and villagesA small medieval city that has featured in a host of TV and Hollywood films has been named the UK's top destination.Wells in Somerset, one of the UK's smallest cities, topped the survey of inland towns and villages by Which?. Continue reading...

Police insist city is tremendously safe' following Friday night crash at same Bourke Street mall where six people were killed in 2017

Victoria police believe a shooting in the city's north-west that left a man dead and another injured was targetedPolice in Melbourne have launched an investigation after a fatal shooting in the suburb of Keilor in the city's north-west.The man killed is yet to be formally identified.Officers say the shooting appears to have been targeted. Continue reading...

Russian attack on Ukrainian police building kills one and wounds dozens; Zelenskiy says Putin killed Prigozhin'; British military to monitor Black Sea

Case would be the first major abortion dispute decided by the supreme court since it overturned Roe v Wade last yearThe supreme court is being asked to reverse an appellate ruling that would cut off mail-order access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the United States.The case would be the first major abortion dispute decided by the supreme court since it overturned Roe v Wade last year. That ruling has led to bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy in 15 states, with some exceptions, and once cardiac activity can be detected, which is around six weeks, in two others. Continue reading...

Labour MP says cut would be catastrophic for families' amid reports chancellor mulling move to make space for tax reductionsThe prospect of real-terms cuts to benefits in the government's autumn statement has been described as catastrophic" for families, after it was suggested that Jeremy Hunt was considering the move to make space for pre-election tax reductions.Sources close to the chancellor declined to deny a report by Bloomberg that he was considering breaking with the tradition of lifting working benefits in line with inflation. Continue reading...

Havana is ally of Moscow but foreign ministry states: Cuba is not part of the war in Ukraine'Cuban authorities have arrested 17 people in connection with what they described as a network to recruit Cuban nationals to fight for Russia in Ukraine.The head of criminal investigations for Cuba's interior ministry, Cesar Rodriguez, told state media that at least three of the 17 people arrested were part of recruitment efforts inside the island country. Continue reading...

Sighting of terrorism suspect near Wandsworth Roundabout could be very significant', Met commander saysPolice are investigating the first reported sighting of the escaped terrorism suspect Daniel Khalife and offering a 20,000 reward for any information that might lead to his arrest.As the search for Khalife threatened to extend into a fourth day, the reported sighting offered a glimmer of light for officers still struggling for a breakthrough after a search of Richmond Park failed to yield results. Continue reading...

Government faces calls to consider extending booster programme this autumn to include 50-64 age groupMinisters are facing urgent calls to consider widening the availability of Covid vaccines amid concerns that a new variant of the virus could put pressure on the NHS and cause more sickness in the workforce this winter.As new data appeared to show the Pirola variant spreading, Rishi Sunak and Steve Barclay, the health secretary, were urged to rethink their decision to restrict vaccines to people aged 65 and over and vulnerable groups. Continue reading...

Tory MP William Wragg calls decision not to prevent super-spads' being made non-executive directors disappointing'No 10 has rejected proposals to prevent ministers bringing in personal and political friends on to the boards of Whitehall departments in a move branded disappointing for governance standards by a senior Conservative MP.Ministers ruled out a series of recommendations from the House of Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee, led by the Tory MP William Wragg, which were aimed at making sure non-executive directors of civil service boards were truly independent and the best candidates. Continue reading...

Prime minister hails deal as sign of restored trust and raises electric car tariffs as area for further agreementThe deal to readmit the UK into the 85bn Horizon science programme shows the country has good enough relations with the EU to resolve a range of other issues, Rishi Sunak has said, including one on electric vehicle tariffs.The prime minister announced on Thursday that Britain would re-enter the scientific research scheme after three years of exclusion and months of negotiation. Continue reading...

Buildings now being monitored as concrete that recently closed hundreds of schools detected at UK's two biggest airportsThe crumbling concrete that recently closed hundreds of UK schools has also been found within two of Britain's biggest airports, it has been revealed.Both London Heathrow and Gatwick confirmed that some of their buildings contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) and were being monitored. Continue reading...

Motion at TUC congress rejecting minimum service levels likely to be a political headache for Labour leaderUnions are expected to back a policy of defiance over a recently passed law aimed at restricting strikes in public services, in a move that could cause a political headache for the Labour leader, Keir Starmer.A motion calling for non-compliance and non-cooperation to requirements for minimum service levels is predicted to pass at the TUC's annual congress in Liverpool on Monday, after it was waved through a composite meeting on Thursday. Continue reading...

Juvenile crime crackdown will mean children can be arrested if they are caught carrying weapons or drugsThe Italian government has approved a law that will make it easier to arrest and imprison children as young as 14 as part of its crackdown on juvenile crime after a series of high-profile cases involving teen gangs.Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister, said juvenile crime is spreading like wildfire" after her cabinet approved the law, which also stipulates imprisonment of up to two years for the parents of school truants. Continue reading...

Legislation prompted infighting between Greens and Free Democrats, members of Olaf Scholz's coalitionGermany's parliament has approved legislation for the replacement of fossil-fuel heating systems, passing a major climate policy plan that prompted lengthy infighting in the governing coalition and helped push down its poll ratings.Parliament's lower house voted 399-275 for the bill, with five abstaining - months after an initial version of it was first approved by Olaf Scholz's cabinet. An ensuing fight over its details in the chancellor's ideologically diverse three-party coalition fostered an impression of disarray from which the government is struggling to recover. Continue reading...

Pirola variant has prompted concern among scientists because of high number of mutations it carriesCare home residents and people who are housebound will be offered Covid vaccines from Monday, with over-65s and other vulnerable groups to be called for their jabs from the week after.The NHS will kick off its autumn programme of Covid vaccines from next week, having moved the date forward by a month in response to the spread of a new variant nicknamed Pirola. Continue reading...

Talks include Europe and UAE as Joe Biden flies to Delhi with aim of rivalling China's Belt and RoadThe US, Saudi Arabia, India and other nations are discussing a possible infrastructure deal that could reconfigure trade between the Gulf and south Asia, linking Middle Eastern countries by railways and connecting to India by port, according to US officials aware of the conversations.The talks, which have also included the United Arab Emirates and Europe, may or may not yield a concrete result in time for an announcement on the sidelines of this week's G20 leaders' meeting, the officials said. Continue reading...

More than 200mm of rain recorded on Hong Kong's main island and there is also disruption in ShenzhenHong Kong's heaviest rain since records began 140 years ago has left two people dead and more than 100 injured, as unusually wet weather caused by typhoons brought more disruption to southern China.Videos showed water cascading down steep hillsides in the former British colony, causing waist-deep flooding in narrow streets and inundating malls, railway stations and tunnels. Continue reading...

Manufacturers face 10% levies under post-Brexit trade deal but German government supports postponementCarmakers could be in line for a reprieve after it emerged that Germany is backing calls to postpone tariffs on electric vehicle sales between the UK and the EU.Manufacturers in the UK and on the continent face the prospect of 10% levies on new electric vehicles that cross the Channel from January under the post-Brexit trade deal agreed between Britain and the bloc in 2020. Continue reading...

Driver shortages and lagging compensation have incited several strikes as huge school bus driver strike in New York City loomsThe US is facing a series of school bus strikes as the new school year begins.School bus driver shortages and lagging compensation have incited several strikes and raised the prospect of a huge school bus driver strike in New York City. Continue reading...

Documents show authorities bought Voyager Lab products which the company claims can use AI to map online human behaviorNew York law enforcement agencies have spent millions of dollars to expand their capabilities to track and analyze social media posts, new documents show, including by contracting with a surveillance firm accused of improperly scraping social media platforms for data.Documents obtained by the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (Stop), a privacy advocacy non-profit and shared with the Guardian, reveal the New York police department in 2018 entered a nearly $9m contract with Voyager Labs, a surveillance company that has been sued by Meta for using nearly 40,000 fake Facebook accounts to collect data on an estimated 600,000 users. Continue reading...

Airport, which had hoped to raise fees, loses appeal to UK competition watchdog in provisional rulingHeathrow will have to cut passenger charges by almost a fifth next year after losing an appeal to the UK competition watchdog.The London airport had hoped to raise the fees it charges to airlines to fund baggage handling, security and other costs, which are set by the aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Continue reading...