World news | The Guardian

Campaigners criticise tokenistic' initiative started after polling showed almost all students experience bouts of lonelinessMillions of teenagers across Britain will arrive at university for the first time on Monday as freshers' week begins.Almost all will experience bouts of loneliness with nearly half being worried they will be judged if they admit to it, according to a sample of 1,000 students, collected by YouGov for the government.Spend time helping other people, such as volunteering with student groups or by offering a regular conversation to someone feeling isolatedKeep in touch with friends and family over the phoneArrange something fun to do with your current friendsJoin a club or society at university to connect with others who have similar interestsDo things you enjoy, such as playing sport, reading or listening to musicBe open to everyone, as university is a great place to meet people from all different backgroundsRemember some people only share the good things happening to them on social media so try and avoid comparisonTalk to someone you trust about how you feelGet in touch with the university's student services about the welfare and support it can provideRemember that others may be feeling similar, so you are not alone Continue reading...

Students tell of secret acts of defiance ahead of the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death in police custodyYoung Iranians have taken their protests against the authoritarian regime underground one year on from the death in custody of a 22-year-old woman detained for allegedly wearing the Islamic headscarf incorrectly.The death of Mahsa Amini on 16 September last year led to the largest wave of popular unrest for years in Iran and a brutal crackdown by security services in response, with hundreds of men, women and children killed and thousands more injured, according to human rights groups.At the beginning of the uprising, one of these two women, both 25, was arrested at a protest gathering and spent 16 days in prison. One of her fellow inmates was Yalda Aghafazli, a 19-year-old protester who died under suspicious circumstances after her release Continue reading...

More than 36% of properties have had asking price cut at least once - the highest figure since 2011UK house sellers are cutting their asking prices at the fastest rate in more than a decade, after high interest rates dampened demand for property this summer.The proportion of homes on the market which have had at least one price reduction is at its highest level since January 2011, the property website Rightmove has reported. Continue reading...

Consultants and junior doctors will take joint action this week for the first time in escalating pay disputeNHS officials have warned that doctors' strikes this week are likely to cause disruption to patient care unlike anything before", as Wednesday will see consultants and junior doctors taking joint strike action for the first time in the escalating dispute over pay.Junior doctors, who have already staged five days of industrial action this year, will now strike again from 20 to 22 September - the first day of which coincides with action by consultants. Continue reading...

Louise Beaston says their lives were shattered when her husband was charged after speaking out about the tax office's pursuit of tax debts from small businesses

Taiwan's defence ministry said that since Sunday it had spotted 103 Chinese military aircraft over the sea, a number it called a recent high'Taiwan's defence ministry has urged China to stop destructive, unilateral action" after reporting a sharp rise in Chinese military activities near the island, warning such behaviour could lead to an increase in tensions.China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has in recent years regularly carried out military drills around the island as it seeks to assert its sovereignty claims and pressure Taipei. Continue reading...

A senior party source says Mundine made it very difficult for himself' in race to succeed retiring NSW senator Marise Payne

Actor's manager says the Daytime Emmy-winning star was struggling with manic depression' when he died in Austin, TexasBilly Miller, a Daytime Emmy-winning actor best known for his roles on US soaps The Young and the Restless and General Hospital, has died aged 43.In a statement to Variety, his manager, Marnie Sparer, said Miller was struggling with manic depression when he died". Continue reading...

Fire engulfs Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company tower amid clashes around army headquarters in capital while fighting also reported in city of El-ObeidFlames gripped the Sudanese capital on Sunday and paramilitary forces attacked the army headquarters for the second day in a row, witnesses reported, as fighting raged into its six month.Clashes are now happening around the army headquarters with various types of weapons," said a Khartoum resident, who declined to be named. Continue reading...

The only person in danger when the police broke into our mother's home was our mother,' family of Krista Kach say after she was Tasered and shot with bean bag rounds in Newcastle

Police do not list charges against arrested workers but urge public to report any suspected fraudPolice in China have arrested several employees at a subsidiary of Evergrande, the troubled property giant that is struggling under debts running into the hundreds of billions of dollars.Employees at Evergrande's financial subsidiary, Evergrande Wealth Management, were arrested, police in the southern city of Shenzhen said in a statement, without specifying the number of employees or the charges against them. Continue reading...

Emergency services unable to save man in his 40s who died when a wall reportedly collapsed at a property near FallowfieldAn investigation has been launched into a man's death in a workplace accident after a wall reportedly collapsed during a Manchester house renovation.Police, paramedics and the fire service were called to a property near Fallowfield just before 3pm on Saturday, and an air ambulance also attended. But the man, in his 40s, died at the scene. Continue reading...

BBC, Channel 4 and Amnesty gathering evidence on claims of harassment and rape between 2006 and 2013Broadcasters have launched urgent investigations into the historical conduct of Russell Brand while the Metropolitan police has appealed for any potential victims to come forward after the comedian was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse.The BBC said it was urgently looking into the issues raised" by the publication of allegations over the weekend that Brand harmed four women, including claims that he raped a woman in Los Angeles and sexually assaulted a British schoolgirl aged 16. Channel 4 has also pulled all of Brand's content from its streaming service while it investigates. Continue reading...

Worlds Beneath the Waves at the National Museum of the Royal Navy marks 150 years since ship's remarkable circumnavigationFrom the early days of deepwater exploration when it took a crew of 250 to keep the ship steady enough to collect samples, to the modern-day era of hi-tech minisubs, a century and a half of oceanographic missions is being celebrated.An exhibition at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth has been launched to mark 150 years since HMS Challenger's remarkable circumnavigation of the world in search of the mysteries of the deep - a mission that led to the discovery of thousands of new species of sea creature and the Mariana Trench. Continue reading...

Jens Stoltenberg says we must prepare ourselves for a long war'There are reports from Russia about two further drone attacks in addition to the ones reported earlier near the capital.Another drone was downed in Russia's Voronezh region, local governor Aleksandr Gusev and the ministry of defence said. According to Gusev, there were no casualties or damage. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Number of under-18s waiting for frequently time-critical' paediatric care is at a record highSick children's health problems are getting worse as record numbers wait up to 18 months for NHS care, doctors treating them have warned.The number of under-18s on the waiting list for paediatric care in England has soared to 423,500, the highest on record. Of those, 23,396 have been forced to wait over a year for their appointment. Continue reading...

Virginia McCullough, 35, from Chelmsford, to appear before magistrates on MondayA 35-year-old woman has been charged with the murder of two people as police continue an investigation into their disappearance.Essex police launched the inquiry after receiving reports of concern for the wellbeing of the two people aged in their 70s. Continue reading...

Minister for Indigenous Australians told Melbourne crowd she was almost crying when she saw the turnout for the rallies

Parents of young men facing conduct panels over assaults are raising the stakes by bringing barristers to them, academics say

Knighted in 2022, Trinidad-born Ove directed the first black British feature and documented the arrival of reggae to the UKHorace Ove, regarded as the pioneer of black British film-making, died on Saturday at the age of 86, his son has announced.Ove directed the first black British feature, Pressure, in 1976 and was also the first to document the arrival of reggae music to the UK with 1971's Reggae. Continue reading...

WHO says aid to help 250,000 people has arrived in Benghazi as death toll estimated at more than 11,000International aid is arriving in Libya from the UN, Europe and Middle Eastern countries, offering some relief to thousands after flooding submerged the port city of Derna.The World Health Organization said the bodies of 3,958 people have been recovered and identified", with 9,000 more still missing, as it announced 29 tonnes of aid had arrived in the eastern city of Benghazi, enough to help 250,000 people. Continue reading...

Original drawings and paintings from 60s and 70s comics such as Hotspur and Commando will feature in an exhibition in OxfordshireWhen the war comic was at the height of its popularity, titles included Battle, Warlord, Valiant, the Hotspur and the pocket-sized Commando, which is still published today.Many of the stories published in the 1950s and 1960s relayed the gung-ho heroics of plucky British troops, often up against the odds, fighting two-dimensional German foes who routinely barked phrases such as Schnell!" or Gott in Himmel!" from their limited vocabulary. Continue reading...

Survey reveals Labour more likely than Lib Dems to overturn Conservatives' 25,000 majority in Nadine Dorries's former seat Read more: byelection duel could gift Mid Beds to ToriesLabour and the Conservatives are neck and neck in the battle for the previously safe Tory seat of Mid Bedfordshire, according to a poll that suggests a split progressive" vote could allow Rishi Sunak's party to retain the constituency.Labour and the Liberal Democrats are making a full-tilt effort to win the seat from the Conservatives after the resignation of Nadine Dorries, a close ally of Boris Johnson, who eventually quit after being denied a place on the former prime minister's resignation honours list. Continue reading...

Weather divides country between warm south and possible sub-zero north before full arrival of autumnThunderstorms are forecast for much of the UK this weekend before the arrival of autumn weather, the Met Office has said.Some areas, particularly in the south, could get a final dose of summer heat, however, as temperatures remain high. Continue reading...

A man has been charged over the Blacktown incident that has left a 15-year-old in a serious condition

Here are four of the most graphic British public health TV ads of recent years

Health campaigners call for hard-hitting messages about risks of drinking and of being overweight

Terms ranged up to life in prison and included high-profile culprits Salah Abdeslam and Mohamed AbriniA Belgian court has handed out sentences of up to life in jail to eight men for the 2016 jihadist bombing attacks in Brussels, bringing to an end the country's largest-ever criminal trial.The suicide bombings on 22 March 2016 at Brussels' main airport and on the metro system killed 32 people and were claimed by the Islamic State group. Continue reading...

Diplomatic and media blitz for Labour leader will include appearances on Sunday morning political showsKeir Starmer has arrived in Canada to set out his doctrine for tackling international threats at a gathering of world leaders, the latest step in the Labour leader's move to flesh out policy in politically turbulent areas such as immigration.Amid continued efforts by Starmer and his team to push back against the nonsense" that closer cooperation with the EU would involve the UK having to accept 100,000 asylum-seekers a year, the Labour leader was in Montreal for the Global Progress Action Summit of centre-left politicians. Continue reading...

The annual pilgrimage brings both prayers and partying to Uman. Many have been undeterred by official pleas to stay away this yearUnfazed by the bombs, undeterred by the warnings, and in the face of the raging conflict, more than 35,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews from across the world have journeyed to Uman, Ukraine, to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.Going to celebrate in a war zone en masse is crazy," said Azoulay Ruben, a 22-year-old trainee dentist from Paris. But at the same time, it's a beautiful thing." Continue reading...

No extra money for childcare revolution as policies on areas from green economy to immigration are set outLabour has put stable public finances and prudent spending" at the heart of its offer for the 2024 manifesto, pledging iron discipline on how new policies are funded.The party's new national policy forum document suggests there may be no additional money for sweeping childcare reforms and that there could be a delay to returning to the 0.7% aid target. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Bletchley Park event, to be attended by world leaders, is taking place as concerns grow about Beijing spying on the westRishi Sunak is considering banning Chinese officials from half of his artificial intelligence safety summit in November, amid growing concern over widespread spying by Beijing on western governments.Downing Street has already invited China to attend the summit, which will be held in early November at Bletchley Park and is set to shape the international community's approach to AI for years to come. Continue reading...

Coroner says there are questions to be asked about how this incident happened' after Jack Piper-Sheach diedA coroner has said there are questions to be asked over the death of a 10-year-old boy who was electrocuted at a Blackpool hotel while on a family holiday.Jack Piper-Sheach of Grimsby suffered serious injuries as a result of an incident in the lobby of Tiffany's Hotel on 3 September. Continue reading...

Manchester extends own measures to prevent women from being harassed after legislation delaysManchester city council has decided to extend its own measures for preventing women from being harassed when visiting abortion clinics due to delays in government legislation on buffer zones coming into effect.The Public Order Act, which received royal assent in May, included an amendment which makes it a criminal offence across England and Wales to harass, obstruct or interfere with any woman attending an abortion clinic. Continue reading...

Presenter Joe Lycett and retired graphic designer Helen Lycett will show their work in London with proceeds to go to charityTake a comedian and his somewhat unwilling parent, send them on a roadtrip, throw the pair in amusing situations, and you have a winning TV format. Unless you are Joe Lycett.Lycett and his mum, Helen Lycett, decided against a sheep-herding, cheerleading-filled travel documentary series, and announced instead their second collaborative exhibition, aptly named Lycett and Mummy. Continue reading...

Travel and tour operators are getting involved in the country's relief effort, knowing how vital tourism is to its economyMy family is safe," our tour guide Sara Chakir said as we huddled in the streets outside Fez's medina, waiting for aftershocks until the early hours. Morocco's 6.8 magnitude earthquake had struck last Friday, 350 miles away in the Al Haouz region of the High Atlas mountains at just after 11pm. It was enough to send our riad swaying, but there was no apparent damage to people or place. It was only in the morning that the scale of destruction elsewhere was clear. Another tour guide, Hossain ait Mhand, said: My family is fine, but others in their town are not so lucky - homes have been flattened."I was on my way to a conference in Marrakech, about 40 miles north of where the earthquake was centred, but detoured home. Those already in the city saw blood bank queues snaking around the streets after a government call out. Marrakech's medina experienced damage, and 50 people were reported to have died there. Tourists trickled out of the city. Continue reading...

Works by Austrian expressionist were formerly owned by entertainer who died in concentration campThree artworks believed stolen during the Holocaust from a Jewish art collector and entertainer have been seized from museums in three different states by New York law enforcement authorities.The artworks by the Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele were previously owned by Fritz Grunbaum, a cabaret performer and songwriter who died at the Dachau concentration camp in 1941. Continue reading...

Two people may have serious injuries after the crash on Friday morning involving a bus carrying 45 passengers

Minns government ditches half-price fares after eight journeys in a week, saying Friday discount will benefit more people

Fee for consumers using short-term accommodation across the state could raise $42m for government

Details of thousands of officers may have been taken in ransomware attack on third-party supplierThe personal details of tens of thousands of public sector workers could have been breached in a cyber-attack that has hit two of Britain's biggest police forces, an expert has said.More than 12,500 Greater Manchester police (GMP) officers and staff were put on alert on Thursday that their private data had been compromised in a hack that also hit the Metropolitan police last month. Continue reading...

Florida six-week ban punishes anyone who actively participates' in termination but governor says only doctors criminally liableRon DeSantis has contradicted the wording of the six-week abortion ban that he himself signed into law in April, insisting that women who terminate their pregnancies will not be criminalized under the prohibition.The Florida governor and Republican White House hopeful told CBS Evening News that women would not be liable for fines and imprisonment under the ban. Only doctors who perform abortions would be targeted. Continue reading...

Actor, 82, said her new role as an alien in the sci-fi series has made an old woman very happy'Miriam Margolyes will feature in one of the 60th-anniversary episodes of Doctor Who that will air this November, the BBC has announced.Margolyes, 82, who has appeared in Blackadder, Babe and the Harry Potter films, will be the voice behind the Meep - or Beep the Meep - the furry and seemingly adorable alien adapted from the Star Beast comic strip in a special for the series. The creature will feature in an episode with the same name. Continue reading...

Israeli PM reportedly to meet X owner on Monday to discuss antisemitic content on platform formerly known as TwitterThe Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is reportedly to fly to Silicon Valley on Monday to meet the X owner, Elon Musk, to help ease a crisis over antisemitism on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.The meeting, which will include other tech leaders and was first reported by the Washington Post, follows Musk threatening to sue the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a US-based civil rights group that campaigns against antisemitism and bigotry. Continue reading...

It is a warning sign that the hospital's safety policies haven't worked, says a consultant anaesthetistThis week the health secretary, Steve Barclay, announced that the government would introduce Martha's rule in England, giving patients and their families the power to obtain a second opinion from senior medics in the same hospital if they are deteriorating rapidly and feel their concerns are being dismissed.It follows the campaign by the parents of Martha Mills, who died in 2021 after hospital doctors failed to admit her to intensive care. Martha, 13, died after developing sepsis at King's College hospital in south London. Continue reading...

Royal spin doctors imposed extraordinary restrictions' on covering King Charles III's accession, according to ex-head of Sky NewsBritish television channels agreed to let Buckingham Palace censor television coverage of King Charles's coronation, according to the former boss of Sky News.John Ryley, who stepped down in May after 17 years, said the monarchy imposed extraordinary restrictions" on channels covering this year's ceremony, including demanding the Orwellian" right to retrospectively ban footage after it had been broadcast. Continue reading...

Figures show that lenders flagged nearly 1.7bn of government-backed loans for potential fraud at end of JuneUK taxpayers have been forced to cover a larger bill for Covid support to companies than expected, after fresh government data showed the amount of pandemic business loans flagged for fraud had jumped by 43%.Figures released by the Department for Business and Trade showed that high street banks and other private lenders - which were responsible for distributing government-backed loans during the Covid crisis - had flagged nearly 1.7bn worth of loans for potential fraud at the end of June. That marks a 43% rise from the 1.1bn flagged three months earlier. Continue reading...

Labour leader says Tory response to his small boats plan shows they've nothing sensible to say on issue'. This live blog is closedRishi Sunak has claimed that 100,000 EU migrants could come to the UK every year under the approach outlined by Labour today. Keir Starmer says he would negotiate a returns deal with the EU, and he has not ruled out this involving the UK having to agree to take in a proportion of refugees.Speaking to reporters in Devon, Sunak said:Keir Starmer spent all of this year voting against our stop the boats bill, the toughest legislation that any government has passed to tackle illegal migration.I think he spent most of last year voting against a previous bill which has since then led to almost 700 arrests related to organised immigration crime, so I don't think it's credible that he really wants to grip this problem.The NHS has been looking at the issue of Raac since 2019 and was funded with almost 700m to mitigate Raac that it was finding in hospitals.There are now seven hospitals that are in the new hospital programme; as new evidence came to light about the scale of Raac it was important to prioritise those hospitals. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Transparency advocates condemn arrangement as appalling' while health department refuses to say how much consultancy was paid

Memberships of the heads of the Reserve Bank and the Productivity Commission further evidence of airline's soft power among political decision-makers