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The acclaimed author of novels including Possession and The Children's Book, has died, her publisher has confirmedThe writer and critic AS Byatt, who explored family, myth and narrative in a career spanning six decades, has died aged 87. Her publisher Chatto & Windus confirmed that she died peacefully at home surrounded by close family.Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, who wrote under the name AS Byatt, authored complex and critically acclaimed novels, including the Booker prize-winning Possession and her examination of artistic creation, The Children's Book. Over her career, she won a swathe of literary awards, from the Booker to a Chevalier of France's Order of Arts and Letters. Continue reading...

La Nina, invasive grass and land management practices are all factors in the larger-than-average bushfires that have burned an area bigger than Spain. This interactive map shows the total area burned, overlaid on different capital citiesHuge bushfires have burned a significant amount of northern Australia in recent months, with the collective area burned larger than many countries, including Spain.Experts say the massive fires are primarily due to a higher-than-average fuel load built up over the recent wet La Nina years, with an invasive grass species also contributing to more intense burns. Continue reading...

People in Calais and Dunkirk may die due to lack of shelter and sanitation, NGOs tell government officialsTwelve organisations working with asylum seekers in northern France have warned French government officials of a catastrophic situation" as large numbers of people try to survive in insanitary conditions while they wait for a change in the weather so they can try to cross the Channel to the UK.The warning is contained in a letter to French government officials signed by NGOs including L'Auberge des Migrants, Calais Food Collective, Medecins du Monde Nord Littoral, Utopia 56 and Le Secours Catholique delegation du Pas de Calais. Continue reading...

Hamas says three fighters died, while Israeli military says it killed at least five, as tensions rise

David McBride claimed leak of classified material detailing alleged war crimes in Afghanistan was in public interestAn Australian military whistleblower who leaked classified material detailing alleged war crimes committed by special forces soldiers has pleaded guilty to stealing and sharing secret information.David McBride gave a trove of military documents to journalists at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) because, prosecutors said, he was concerned about what he believed was the over-investigation" of troops over alleged war crimes. Continue reading...

Building society benefits from high interest rates, with half-year profits increasing to 1.3bnNationwide has warned that mortgage arrears are rising as the building society reported increased profits on the back of higher interest rates.Higher borrowing costs after the Bank of England raised interest rates 14 times since the end of 2021 have caused financial pain for some mortgage holders while benefiting savers. Continue reading...

Chancellor considering move after fall in inflation and being told he will have more money to spend

Damian Green says call for legislation to override legal obstacles is most unconservative proposal I've ever heard'

Directive punishes most serious cases of environmental damage, including habitat loss and illegal loggingThe European Union has become the first international body to criminalise widescale environmental damage comparable to ecocide".Late on Thursday, lawmakers agreed an update to the bloc's environmental crime directive punishing the most serious cases of ecosystem destruction, including habitat loss and illegal logging, with tougher penalties. Continue reading...

Hundreds of school students marched their way to Tanya Plibersek's office with thousands protesting in Melbourne

The jab, given every two months, has been offered on a non-profit basis, but it can't compete with a cheap daily HIV-prevention pillThe South African health department says the reduced cost of a new anti-HIV injection is still three times more than it can afford to pay.The UK-based drug company ViiV Healthcare has lowered the price from 729 rand per shot (32) to between 540 and 570 rand (23.66-24.97). Continue reading...

Port Phillip council received large volume of complaints' over figures painted in Carlisle Street in Balaclava

New South Wales roads minister has accused said a Sydney council of taking the rest of us for mugs'

Shameful' class pay gap is even worse for women from poorer upbringings, according to analysis by Social Mobility FoundationPeople from working-class backgrounds employed in professional careers earn 6,000 less compared to those from other backgrounds in the same jobs, findings from the Social Mobility Foundation show, underscoring the UK's shameful" class pay gap.Professionals from poorer upbringings face an average salary of 45,437 - 12% lower than the 51,728 for people from more affluent origins - in research based on quarterly Labour Force Surveys from 2014 to 2022. Continue reading...

ACT supreme court upholds commonwealth's claim that release of some documents could jeopardise security and defence of Australia'Whistleblower David McBride has pleaded guilty to three charges after an ACT supreme court upheld a commonwealth intervention to withhold key evidence it deemed as having the potential to jeopardise the security and defence of Australia" if released.Originally facing five charges, the former military lawyer pleaded guilty in the ACT supreme court on Friday afternoon to three offences, including stealing commonwealth information and passing that on to journalists at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Continue reading...

Body of Ismael Villagomez found in a car as the Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the killing to be investigatedA photographer for a newspaper in the notoriously violent Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez was found shot dead in the driver's seat of a car, prosecutors said, in the fifth killing of a journalist in the country so far in 2023.The body of Ismael Villagomez was found just after midnight Thursday. The newspaper he worked for, the Heraldo de Juarez, said the news photographer was found dead in a car that he had registered to use for work for a ride-hailing app. In Mexico, many journalists take work outside the profession to pay the bills. Continue reading...

Fears Indonesian fishers could be buried on Imperieus reef in Rowley Shoals marine park after nine went missing in a cyclone earlier this year

Chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin faced grilling at Senate inquiry on Friday over last week's network outage

The former partner is accused of receiving more than $700,000 in unauthorised payments from clients, letter says

Police say driver was parked outside the private school's aquatic centre when he reversed into the building

At least 38 injured in the blaze at Yongju coal mine company in Lyuliang City, north China's Shanxi province.A fire that erupted in the office of a coal company in northern China has killed 26 people, state media said on Thursday, the latest in a series of deadly accidents in the coal industry.At least 38 people were injured in the blaze, which broke out at the four-storey Yongju Coal Industry Joint Building in the country's top coal-producing hub of Shanxi. Calls to the company by the Reuters news agency were not answered. Continue reading...

Man allegedly scammed renters out of more than $60,000 in bonds for properties in Bondi and western Sydney

The opposition leader cannot create an island free from the constitution of Australia', Human Rights Law Centre says

A male suspect was shot by officers and sustained life-threatening injuries, police sayA police officer has died after being shot during a violent confrontation in South Australia.Brevet Sgt Jason Doig and his colleagues Michael Hutchinson and Rebekah Cass went to a property in the rural community of Senior near the Victorian border about 11.20pm on Thursday. They were confronted by an armed man and Doig was shot, police said. His colleagues and paramedics tried to save him but he died at the scene.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Colonel Medel Aguilar says the Philippines will not stop resupply missions to a grounded warship that have developed into a potential flashpoint with BeijingThe Philippines has accused China of seeking to bully smaller countries into submission and vowed it will continue its missions to deliver supplies to a grounded derelict warship that serves as an outpost in the South China Sea.The Philippines deliberately grounded BRP Sierra Madre at Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands, in 1999 to guard against expansion by China, and the ship has become a growing flashpoint in the fiercely disputed water. Continue reading...

Inappropriate' for 12-year-old girl accused of murdering 37-year-old woman to remain in detention due to intellectual disabilities, court hears

Leo Fransen's crew from Diamond Beach, on mid-north coast, was fighting 21,370 hectare bushfire when he was struck

Four people allegedly fled the Surry Hills scene on foot after driving car from Sunshine Coast

Evidence review by Nice found that cognitive behavioural therapy should be considered alongside or as an alternative to HRT'Women experiencing hot flushes, night sweats, depression and sleep problems could be offered therapy to help reduce their menopause symptoms, under new guidelines.But menopause champions warned on Thursday that those suffering with symptoms could have long waits for mental health support and stressed that the new draft guidance to GPs from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) must not distract from ongoing challenges" of getting HRT. Continue reading...

Shannon Fentiman's announcement comes after Guardian Australia revealed an alleged teenage rape victim was left suicidal after her treatment in hospital

Fast-track bill, after supreme court ruling barring deportation flights, would be wildly unpopular legislation' says Tory peerRishi Sunak's target of flying out asylum seekers to Rwanda by next spring is in doubt, with opposition parties and some Conservative peers having pledged to try to block emergency legislation intended to rescue the plan.In another blow to the prime minister, Suella Braverman, the home secretary he sacked on Monday, dismissed his ideas as magical thinking", setting out her own rival plan to make sure removals begin swiftly. Continue reading...

Shawn Seesahai was found stabbed on playing fieldsTwo boys aged 12 have been charged with the murder of a 19-year-old man in Wolverhampton.Ambulance crews were called to land off Laburnum Road, East Park, on Monday, but Shawn Seesahai was pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading...

Israeli military also claims to have uncovered a vehicle with weapons belonging to the group

Divisive Brexiter will be tasked with helping fellow contestants 2,000 miles away on Gold CoastNigel Farage will be stranded in the middle of the Australian outback when I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! gets under way.He will be one of three unsuspecting stars who will be dropped in the red desert in the scorching heat and tasked with helping his campmates thousands of miles away. Continue reading...

Michael Matheson apologises after initially charging bill to Holyrood and failing to say parliamentary tablet was used as data hotspot by sonsMichael Matheson, Scotland's embattled health secretary, has apologised unreservedly" after admitting he failed to properly disclose that his sons had largely run up an 11,000 iPad bill which he had initially charged in full to taxpayers.In a personal statement to MSPs on Thursday, Matheson said he had referred himself for possible investigation by parliament for breaching its code of conduct, as he fought against mounting calls to resign from opposition leaders. Continue reading...

Luis Kyburg was alleged commander of Argentinian navy unit believed responsible for deaths of at least 150 peopleAn Argentinian former military officer has died of natural causes in Berlin just weeks before he was charged over the murder of 23 members of leftwing groups during the country's military dictatorship.The 75-year-old ex-navy officer was suspected in the abduction, disappearance, torture and murder of 23 young people in 1976 and 1977, Berlin prosecutors said. Continue reading...

Decision to table primary legislation in parliament puts in doubt Rishi Sunak's aim for flights to begin leaving for Rwanda by springRishi Sunak's government will present a full law to parliament to set aside the supreme court's ban on sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, setting up a probable battle with MPs and peers and putting in doubt the aim for flights to begin leaving by spring.The law could be published within a fortnight, after next week's autumn statement, and it will be primary legislation, meaning it will have to pass through all the normal stages of the Commons and Lords, Downing Street has said. Continue reading...

Josep Borrell says one horror does not justify another' and calls for unconditional release of hostages

Downing Street says legislation will make clear Rwanda is safe' and will address court's concerns after policy ruled unlawfulAt his Institute for Government Q&A Sir Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Metropolitan police, refused to say what he felt about Lee Anderson, the Conservative party deputy chair, declaring yesterday that ministers should just ignore the supreme court judgment saying the Rwanda police was unlawful. Asked to respond, Rowley just said:Politicians hold me to account, I don't hold them to account.Starmer travelled north of the border just hours after a revolt within his party over a ceasefire in Gaza resulted in the resignation of eight of his frontbenchers.The Labour leader highlighted what he described as the failure" of the UK government to negotiate a trade deal with India, a key exporter for Scotch whisky. Continue reading...

Home secretary says demonstration at Royal Artillery Memorial deeply disrespectful' and he is looking at giving police new powers

Michael Sellers, who killed 23-year-old, was categorised as low risk' by Derbyshire force, which admits failingsThe parents of Gracie Spinks have said the police response to their daughter's stalking case was diabolical" as they called for a national change and more funding for stalking advocates in forces to protect future victims.An inquest jury concluded on Thursday that Gracie was unlawfully killed by a man she had reported for stalking, after Derbyshire police admitted a number of failings in the handling of her case. Continue reading...

Aleksandra Skochilenko admits replacing supermarket price tags with pieces of paper urging shoppers to stop the war

Exclusive: Senior civil servants make serious allegations, including sexual assault, harassment and abuse, in leaked letter

Five serving and three former officers being investigated for possible gross misconduct over handling of investigationFive Metropolitan police officers and three former officers are being investigated for gross misconduct after the force's failings in the investigation of serial killer Stephen Port.Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor were murdered by Port, who drugged them with overdoses of GHB and dumped their bodies near his flat in Barking, east London, between June 2014 and September 2015. Continue reading...

MPs vote Sanchez in for second term by 179 votes to 171 but People's Party says result comes after huge assault on the rule of law'The conservative People's party (PP) is continuing its criticism of Pedro Sanchez inside and outside congress, hammering him for his deals with Junts and the ERC.This is what the PP's secretary general, Cuca Gamarra, just told the COPE radio station:The problem our country has is called Pedro Sanchez. Pedro Sanchez is the problem because we're talking about a politician who is capable of doing anything in his own interest and in order to remain in government in Spain. To get the seven votes he needed after losing the [general] election, he's gone as far as signing and saying he's going to deliver an impunity law in return for his investiture. There's no doubt whatsoever that the danger Spain and our coexistence is facing is called Pedro Sanchez. That's what we're talking about.The investiture isn't happening today or yesterday - it's already a done deal that was agreed outside Spain, in Waterloo. Continue reading...

Hollywood studio reported figure to a parliamentary committee investigation into how to support the British film industryThe Barbie movie directly contributed over 80m to the UK economy and created 685 jobs, its parent studio Warner Bros said, as part of its statement to a government inquiry.The Hollywood studio was one of scores of organisations that submitted written evidence to a parliamentary committee inquiry into the British film and high-end television industry, which is designed to investigate what needs to be done to maintain and enhance the UK as a global destination for production and how the independent film production sector can best be supported". Continue reading...

Majority of letters with no exposure to rising interest rates are demanding more money in new tenancy agreementsMore than two-thirds of mortgage-free landlords raised the cost of new rental agreements in the last year despite being unaffected by interest rate rises, according to research on alleged cashing in".The practice has triggered windfalls for hundreds of thousands of investors at a time when tenants are paying more despite shrinking amounts of space in flats and houses. Continue reading...

Broadcaster NDR launches investigation after Hubert Seipel admits receiving support for work on two books on Russian leaderA German publisher has announced a stop to the sale of books authored by a leading journalist and Russia expert after an investigation showed he had received at least 600,000 (522,000) in undisclosed offshore payments from companies linked to an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin.Hubert Seipel, an award-winning film-maker and author, admitted receiving support for his work on two books charting the Russian leader's rise to power and offering portrayals described as sympathetic to him. Continue reading...

Households can expect tough winter ahead' after jump in gas market prices, analyst predictsEnergy bills in Great Britain are expected to rise by 5% from January after analysts predicted that the government's price cap could rise to about 1,930 a year for a typical gas and electricity bill.Households can expect a tough winter ahead" after a jump in gas market prices that is likely to raise the cap on what suppliers can charge for energy by an average of 100 a year, according to Martin Young, an analyst at Investec. Continue reading...

The Albanese government has agreed to a raft of Coalition amendments, including criminal penalties for breaching restrictions