World news | The Guardian

Figures for UK from first year of lockdown significantly higher than for 2022, when there were 15% fewer visitsThe health benefits gained from adults in the UK spending more time in nature during the first year of lockdown was equivalent to 356 an adult, new figures show.However, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found the amount of time Britons visited or spent time in nature fell dramatically last year compared with 2020, with 15% fewer visits recorded in 2022 compared with 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading...

Bad faith' on part of Boris Johnson's government meant ministers missed out on vital knowledge early in crisis, mayor tells inquiry

Actor and Reform party founder says he was horrified' when he saw he had been called a racist onlineThe actor Laurence Fox has told a libel trial at London's high court that his life was destroyed" by hurtful" racism allegations and he was left unable to get a mortgage.The Reclaim party founder was giving evidence in a case brought over an exchange on Twitter, now known as X, about a decision by the supermarket Sainsbury's to provide a safe space for black employees during Black History Month. Continue reading...

Painting on copper by Flemish artist is up for auction having been in private hands for nearly a centuryA lustrous painting of a basket of flowers by an early 17th-century female artist who was written out of art history for centuries is to be sold at auction in December.The untitled still life by the Flemish painter Clara Peeters has not been seen in public for almost 100 years and has never appeared in any books. Little is known about Peeters' life. Continue reading...

Anne Hidalgo, whose opponents have used the platform to criticise her, citied disinformation and antisemitism as reasons for leavingThe mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has announced she is quitting X, formerly Twitter, calling it a gigantic global sewer" that is destroying our democracies" by spreading abuse and misinformation.After buying Twitter in 2022, the billionaire Elon Musk laid off thousands of employees, including many who moderated content on the platform. Rebranded as X, it has lost several major advertisers and has been criticised, including by the White House, for not doing enough to curtail antisemitism. Continue reading...

Activist who was told to go back to Bahrain' says he has received police notice of Beckenham MP's intentionBob Stewart, the MP found guilty of racially abusing an activist, is to appeal against his conviction, the Guardian has learned.Stewart was found guilty this month of a racially aggravated public order offence after a confrontation last year with Sayed Alwadaei, the director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, outside the Bahraini embassy in London. Continue reading...

Snow expected on North Sea coast and temperatures as low as -8C in Scotland and -5C in eastern EnglandSnow is likely to fall on parts of the UK this week, the Met Office has said. Snow showers are expected on the North Sea coast, including in Scotland and the north-east of England, from Wednesday and heading into the weekend.However, what falls from the sky may not necessarily lie on the ground. There will be snow showers but we are not likely to see significant accumulation on the ground," said the Met Office's Oli Claydon. Continue reading...

Seoul condemns provocative acts' as tensions rise after launch of spy satellite in defiance of UN sanctionsNorth Korea has started rebuilding guard posts and stationing heavy weapons along its border with South Korea, the defence ministry in Seoul has said, following the countries' withdrawal from a key confidence-building agreement designed to prevent an inter-Korean war.Media reports cited the South Korean military as saying it had detected troops from the North repairing camouflaged guard posts the regime had destroyed as part of a comprehensive military agreement in 2018 designed to lower the risk of a confrontation along the heavily armed demilitarised zone [DMZ]. Continue reading...

Labor releases terms of reference for review into incident which will report back by the end of February 2024

New Orleans singer reached No 2 in the US with 1971 hit, and was nominated for a GrammyJean Knight, whose irrepressibly funky and disdainful song Mr Big Stuff was a major hit in 1971, has died aged 80. Her publicist confirmed she died from natural causes, with her friend Bernie Cyrus, executive director of the Louisiana Music Commission, also confirming the news to Rolling Stone.Knight was born Jean Caliste in New Orleans in 1943, and cut her first demo recording in 1965, a cover of Jackie Wilson's Stop Doggin' Me Around. She recorded a series of singles but her popularity initially didn't reach further than her local area, and she offset music with work as a baker. But sessions with producer Wardell Quezergue in 1970 yielded Mr Big Stuff, which turned around her fortunes. Continue reading...

Purported agreement included raising minimum salary and ending extended visas for graduates

London-based Christian Legal Centre behind a number of end-of-life court cases prolonging suffering', doctors sayMedics treating critically ill babies are quitting their jobs owing to considerable moral distress" caused by a rightwing Christian group behind a series of end-of-life court cases, the Guardian has been told.Senior doctors claimed the behaviour of some evangelical campaigners was prolonging the suffering" of seriously ill infants. They accused them of selling falsehoods and lies" to families and of using legal tactics condemned by judges. Continue reading...

PM faces crossbench questions in parliament about whether government is doing enough to address violence against women

Rare appointment of outsider Andrew Hauser to senior position comes after review found bank should encourage diverse viewpoints'

Angela Pucci Love says she believes police failed to understand the level of risk' her sister, 28-year-old Bridget Flack, faced

Weldborough hotel, desperate' for staff, is swamped with applicants after unusual advertisement on its Facebook page

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Former Liberal staffer's varying accounts in wake of after-hours visit to Parliament House in 2019 come under intense scrutiny under cross examination at defamation trial

Premier Chris Minns rules out introducing a toll-free period for those adjusting to the new spaghetti junction'

This blog is now closed.Collins has suggested to Lehrmann that he avoided discussions with his chief of staff Fiona Brown because he feared that Ms Higgins had told Ms Brown that you had sexually assaulted her".Lehrmann did not agree. Continue reading...

London venue's online collection of performances dating back to 1956 will be free to use for writers, directors and the publicThe Royal Court has launched a free digital archive of every play performed at the London theatre since 1956 as a resource for writers, directors and members of the public.Almost 2,000 plays by more than 1,000 writers are accessible on the theatre's Living Archive, along with lists of their casts and directors. Continue reading...

Dozens of labourers have been trapped in the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in the mountainous state of Uttarakhand for more than two weeksThe fate of 41 Indian workers trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel hung in the balance on Monday as rescuers began a risky" attempt to drill vertically down to try to pull them out.The labourers have been trapped in the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in the mountainous state of Uttarakhand for more than two weeks after a landslide caused the entrance of the tunnel to collapse and become blocked with a wall of concrete rubble, debris and metal. Continue reading...

Diogo De Oliveira, 40, was charged with domestic violence murder and denied bail after police found woman's body in Chiswick unit

Crossbench calls on Labor to adopt findings of electoral reform report that says territories should gain an extra two upper house seats

Poor housing in rural NSW making it harder to recruit paramedics as nurses grapple with workplace culture issues

Palantir, the US spy-tech firm co-founded by the billionaire Peter Thiel, has won a contract to handle NHS data. It's a deal that has left privacy advocates such as Cori Crider with serious questionsThe NHS does not have a happy history with big IT projects. In the past, hugely ambitious schemes have run aground, costing taxpayers billions of pounds. But its systems for managing the vast amounts of data generated on a daily basis are creaking. In some cases it can be easier for patients to physically transport their own paper documents between NHS providers than to rely on the health service's computer systems.That is the backdrop for the recent NHS announcement that a deal has been done with the US spy-tech company Palantir to manage data in its hospitals, connecting up information held by different trusts and allowing the health service to draw conclusions about population health. Continue reading...

Termination comes days after salary umpire quietly revokes requirement that secretaries receive payout if they're sacked for breaching rules

Health experts say axing plan to block sales of tobacco products to next generation will cost thousands of livesNew Zealand's new government will scrap the country's world-leading law to ban smoking for future generations to help pay for tax cuts - a move that public health officials believe will cost thousands of lives and be catastrophic" for Mori communities.In 2022 the country passed pioneering legislation which introduced a steadily rising smoking age to stop those born after January 2009 from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes. The law was designed to prevent thousands of smoking-related deaths and save the health system billions of dollars. Continue reading...

Largest 350 listed firms making glacial progress' to remove barriers to women at work, says Pipeline gender parity studyWomen hold just one in five commercial roles on the boards of Britain's 350 largest listed companies, according to research that suggests firms have blind spots and operate at various levels of consciousness" when it comes to senior female staff.Many are failing to address important barriers that women face in the workplace, the report found, including operating a woman tax", whereby women are given additional tasks alongside their day jobs without placing the same expectation on their male peers. Continue reading...

Israel frees more prisoners in exchange but insists its military campaign in Gaza is far from over

Eli Cohen criticised Leo Varadkar's description of nine-year-old Emily Hand as being lost', not kidnapped'

Many expect pause to be extended if more hostages are released, but experts predict military campaign could run into next year

Public bodies involved including Ofsted will have costs paid for hearing at Berkshire coroner's courtThe family of the headteacher Ruth Perry, whose death after a critical Ofsted inspection will be the subject of a high-profile inquest this week, have been refused legal aid to fund their representation just days before the hearing is due to start.While other interested parties, including Ofsted, the local council and NHS trust, will - as public bodies - have their legal costs paid out of the public purse, the headteacher's family say they have had to resort to crowdfunding to pay their legal costs.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Richard Tice responds to claims by Conservative deputy chair Lee Anderson that he was offered a lot of money' to switchConservative MPs have not been offered money to defect to Reform UK, the party's leader, Richard Tice, has stressed, amid claims that Lee Anderson was offered a lot of money" last month.Anderson, the MP for Ashfield and one of the Conservative party's deputy chairs, was recorded telling Tory activists last month: A political party that begins with an R offered me a lot of money to join them. I mean a lot of money, I mean a lot of money." Continue reading...

Shares issued in Lismore store which also serves as bank, post office and social hub for 160 permanent residents on islandMost people appreciate a decent local shop - somewhere to buy a pint of milk, a newspaper and perhaps the odd chocolate bar. But if that shop is the only one on your island, it takes on a much greater significance.There were celebrations on the Scottish island of Lismore this week when its community saved its only shop - also its bank, post office and social hub - after funding a buyout. Continue reading...

Russia has conducted airstrikes in support of ground operations as it aims to surround city on outskirts of DonetskIt's just after 2.30pm in Kyiv. Here are the day's main developments so far:Russia has brought down at least 24 drones over the Moscow region and three other provinces to the south and west, the Russian defence ministry and the Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin have reported in a series of Telegram updates. One person was injured in Tula when an intercepted drone hit an apartment building, the region's governor, Alexei Dyumin, said.The spokesman for Ukraine's ground forces, Volodymyr Fitio, has told the United News telethon that Russian soldiers seek to reoccupy" the town of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region.Russia has placed the Meta spokesperson Andy Stone on a wanted list, according to the state-run TASS news agency. TASS said the Russian interior ministry had opened a criminal investigation against Stone but had not disclosed the details of the investigation or charges.The UK government has been urged to take immediate action to disrupt supply of technology used in electronic warfare. A dossier, compiled by Ukraine and circulated to the leading countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine, identifies key Russian companies involved in the development and production of electronic military equipment. It says the UK and other countries have not yet imposed sanctions on some of the firms involved.Indeed, Russian invaders have not abandoned their intentions to attack ... to advance toward the town of Kupiansk. They seek to reoccupy it. In this area, Ukrainian defenders repelled four enemy attacks. It was near Usenkivka and Ivanivka. The enemy intends to advance to the settlement of Sinkivka in order to develop their further success in the offensive on Kupiansk. Continue reading...

Officers were called to altercation between two audience members at touring hit show at Palace TheatrePolice are investigating after a fight broke out between theatregoers during a performance of Hamilton in Manchester.Officers were called to an altercation between two audience members on Friday night, just days after the hit musical opened at the Palace Theatre at the start of a nationwide tour. Continue reading...

Police are investigating operations at Royal Sussex County hospital over alleged negligence and cover-upsA hospital is being urged to suspend surgeons whose operations are being examined by police as part of a widening investigation into alleged medical negligence and cover-ups over dozens of deaths and harm to patients.Sussex police have yet to confirm the number of cases under investigation in the general surgery and neurosurgery departments at Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton. But since it was launched in June, Operation Bamber has widened to include more recent cases and is now believed to involve alleged mistakes in the treatment of more than 100 patients from 2015 and 2021, including at least 40 who died. Continue reading...

Eighteen months after action was announced, there is daylight for the RMT; but Aslef and the bosses still aren't talkingAnother week of rail misery beckons for British passengers from Friday, with that all-too-familiar disruption to services around the country: the latest wave in a national pay dispute in which the first strikes were announced 18 months ago.A nine-day overtime ban announced by Aslef for train drivers will shred timetables, while a concurrent series of rolling 24-hour strikes will halt all trains at different operators daily as December arrives. Continue reading...

Performers say Westminster council move to enforce licences and restrict acts' volume, staging and props threatens a centuries-old London traditionThe incongruously tropical sounds of The Girl From Ipanema float through the chill afternoon air in Covent Garden as shoppers pass a couple of buskers performing an inspired rendition of the bossa nova classic.In front of the young singer and the guitarist accompanying her is the guitar's case, holding a handful of coins. Little is added to it as they run through Misty, Fly Me to the Moon and a haunting Silent Night. But their efforts aren't unappreciated. Dancing around them are twins Hubert and Harold Pereira, connoisseurs of street performers. Hubert says London has good ones, but in New York and other US cities, they're better because they're bigger". Continue reading...

Two women aged 82 and 76 declared dead at the scene and three men aged 90, 79 and 78 taken to hospitalTwo women have died and three men have been left injured after a collision involving five vehicles in Wolverhampton.West Midlands police said the two women, aged 82 and 76, were found in a critical condition and were declared dead at the scene in Ettingshall in the south of the city at 3.37pm on Saturday. Continue reading...

Data has been supplied to World Health Organization and China says flu and other known pathogens are culpritsA surge in respiratory illnesses across China that has drawn the attention of the World Health Organization is caused by the flu and other known pathogens and not by a novel virus, the country's health ministry said on Sunday.Recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses such as the influenza virus, rhinoviruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and adenovirus, as well as bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae, which is a common culprit for respiratory tract infections, a National Health Commission spokesperson said. Continue reading...

A joint operation between the Australian federal police and Australian Border Force will monitor strict new conditions placed upon detainees

Wooden hut in Kent is Britain's oldest operating sauna and hugely important' piece of sporting historyA modest prefabricated hut that sat almost forgotten in suburban Kent for more than half a century is at the centre of an international preservation campaign, after it was recognised as a hugely important" piece of sporting history - and Britain's oldest operating sauna.Finland's ambassador to the UK is leading a campaign to gain listed status for the fragile wooden sauna, which is an extremely rare survivor of the 1948 austerity" Olympics, hosted on a shoestring in London three years after the end of the second world war. Continue reading...

Rates for shot against pneumococcal disease are also lagging, says Grattan Institute, urging government to increase take-up

Oleksandr Kamyshin aims to revive state sector and coordinate private enterprises to boost export of weapons

Attacks on US troops in Iraq have led to US airstrikes, highlighting the risk of spillover from the situation in GazaA salvo of machine gun fire, customary during funerals, illuminated the night sky as dozens of men converged in a dimly lit, unpaved alley on the edges of the sprawling slums of Sadr city to pay their respects. A giant picture of Ali Hassan al-Daraaji had been erected outside the family home in northeast Baghdad to announce his martyrdom" in this week's US airstrikes on Iraqi armed groups.The series of strikes left a total of nine fighters dead, including Daraaji, the first Iraqi fatalities linked to the Israel-Hamas war. Even as a tenuous truce takes hold in Gaza, the pace and intensity of clashes in Iraq has picked up, highlighting the risk of spillover in a country that has long been mired in conflict. Continue reading...

Exclusive: women tell study they were punished for breaking rules rather than supported when they reported incidentsWomen in the British military who report sexual assaults are being ostracised and punished for breaching minor rules, research shows.The forces' misogynistic and toxic" culture of laddish" behaviour shapes the way it deals with and understands sexual assaults, according to the study, which is published in the Royal United Services Institution Journal. Continue reading...

Aysen Dennis, who accused Southwark council of social cleansing', continues court challenge over Aylesbury estate plansThe bulldozers will soon be out for the south London council flat that was Aysen Dennis's home for 30 years. After leading a fierce battle against the council and developers, claiming their plans to fill much of her estate with private homes amounted to social cleansing", she has finally moved.Dennis, 65, has been relocated to a swanky new flat in a development bought back by Southwark council. She claims it paid 690,000 for her ninth-floor flat with panoramic views of the park - and is convinced it was an attempt to shut her up before a legal challenge. Continue reading...

Furious council leaders warn chancellor that austerity measures could force flagship blue counties' to go bankruptJeremy Hunt has been warned he will trigger a fire sale of public assets, reduce councils to an emergency service and put the vulnerable at greater risk after an autumn statement pointing to a new wave of austerity.There will be a significant increase in the number of councils in effect returning the town hall keys" to government because they are no longer sustainable, according to council leaders. In a furious response to the autumn statement, they said several flagship blue counties" could go bankrupt just as next year's election is called. Continue reading...