World news | The Guardian

Yorta Yorta man says voice referendum skit written by Jenna Owen and Victoria Zerbst has now been viewed more than 5m times

Michael Shanks wins contest Labour considered a crucial test of apparent turnaround of its fortunes in ScotlandScottish Labour's Michael Shanks has won the Rutherglen and Hamilton West byelection in an overwhelming victory over the SNP that his party leadership declared seismic", and a clear demonstration that Scotland could lead the way in delivering a Labour government at Westminster at the coming general election.In a result that exceeded Scottish Labour expectation, Shanks beat his closest rival, the SNP's Katy Loudon, by 17,845 votes to 8,399 - a majority of 9,446 and a resounding swing of more than 20%. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed

Exclusive: About 30 deaths in two months being examined for the involvement of heroin substitutes called nitazenes and xylazineSynthetic opioids that have killed thousands of drug users in the US may be behind a rise of dozens of fatal overdoses in the West Midlands.About 30 deaths over two months this summer are being examined for the involvement of the heroin substitutes called nitazenes and xylazine, which are up to 100 times more powerful, Birmingham city council's director of public health, Justin Varney, told the Guardian. Continue reading...

British Chambers of Commerce survey finds EU trade barriers and high rates have flattened' investmentUK businesses are reluctant to make large investments in machinery and new technology while barriers to trade with the EU remain in place and interest rates are high, according to a survey by the British Chambers of Commerce.The business lobby group said the vast majority of respondents to its quarterly economic survey had frozen or cut investment plans while only 23% said they were considering fresh injections of cash to improve the way they operated. Continue reading...

Telegram post says group would target department after Australia announced it would send Slinger anti-drone technology to Ukraine

Betr chairman says he is grateful for media company's initial and ongoing support' but that it is no longer an investor

Costs of lawsuit against five staff accused of leaking a 2020 report said to have apparently soared to 1.4mLabour is seeking to delay until after the general election a court case against five former staff alleging they leaked a report concerned with the party's handling of antisemitism complaints, as its costs were said to have apparently soared to 1.4m.The lawsuit concerns the 2020 leak of an 860-page document that claimed factional hostility towards Jeremy Corbyn contributed to the party's ineffective handling of such complaints. Continue reading...

Inquiry into Wayne Gregory Astill's offending hears up to 500 cameras should be installed in area he worked

White House blames Moscow for killing dozens of innocent people, while British PM speaks of depravity' of Russian forcesThe White House has condemned the attack on a cafe and grocery store in Ukraine's Hroza village that killed 51 people, as horrifying", while British prime minister Rishi Sunak said the strike demonstrated the depths of depravity Russian forces are willing to sink to", according to a Downing Street spokesperson.In a briefing before the death toll rose, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: Let's stop and think about what we're seeing: 49 innocent people who were killed by a Russian airstrike while they were shopping for food at a supermarket. That's what they were doing. Continue reading...

Final referendum push from Australian National Imam's Council comes with Anthony Albanese expected to attend Lakemba Mosque on Friday

Kids are using it right across the country. We're playing catch-up,' federal education minister says as states back national framework

At least 51 killed in missile strike during village wake service; European leaders rally around Zelenskiy amid US funding uncertaintyAt least 51 people including a six-year-old boy were killed during a missile attack on a cafe during a wake service in a village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said. According to preliminary findings, Russian targeted the cafe with an Iskander ballistic missile, Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, Ihor Klymenko, said.Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, accused Russia of genocidal aggression" after the attack. He described it as a demonstrably brutal Russian crime - a rocket attack on an ordinary grocery store, a completely deliberate act of terrorism", later saying it was no blind strike".European leaders rallied around the Ukrainian president in the face of US jitters over defence funding. The gathering at the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Granada, Spain, gave leaders including the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, a chance to restate their commitment to Ukraine after political turbulence in the US and Europe raised questions about continued support.Germany will do everything possible" so that Ukraine can protect itself from Russian missiles, foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Thursday after Moscow's latest deadly strike in Ukraine. More than 50 people dead in Hrosa," she posted on X, formerly Twitter. As long as bombs hail on supermarkets and cafes, we do everything for Ukraine to protect itself from Putin's missile terror."The Biden administration is considering using a US State Department grant program to send additional military aid to Ukraine, Politico reported on Thursday citing two US officials with knowledge of the discussions.Slovakia will not send more military aid to Ukraine for now, prime minister udovit Odor said. Instead, the decision will be delayed until a new government is formed following last week's election, which saw a victory for Robert Fico, a populist, pro-Russian three-time former prime minister who campaigned on a promise to end military aid to Ukraine.The US president, Joe Biden, wants to give a major" speech on support for Ukraine, the White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, without specifying when that would happen. She described the Hroza missile attack as horrifying".Vladimir Putin ramped up his nuclear rhetoric, saying his country had successfully tested the nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable Burevestnik strategic cruise missile, as he suggested Russia could resume nuclear testing for the first time in more than three decades.Putin also suggested that the plane crash that killed Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in August was caused by hand grenades detonating inside the aircraft, not by a missile attack. Fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of those killed in the crash. There was no external impact on the plane - this is already an established fact," he said. Continue reading...

Turkey's defence ministry says the device did not belong to the country's armed forcesThe US has shot down an armed Turkish drone that was operating near its troops in Syria, the first time Washington has brought down an aircraft of its Nato ally.A Turkish defence ministry official said the drone did not belong to the Turkish armed forces, but did not say whose property it was. Continue reading...

Emily Hunt says rape myths perpetuated at highest levels of civil service and she has no confidence in reporting crimeA government adviser on rape has said she is leaving the role due to a lack of will to continue to change" in the criminal justice system, citing myths about the crime perpetuated at the highest levels of the civil service.Emily Hunt said she was leaving the UK to return to America because she does not feel safe. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. You can read the latest Ukraine coverage here.

Officials say can of bear spray was emptied before attack in Banff national park in which Doug Inglis and Jenny Gusse, both 62, diedThe final text message contained just three words: Bear attack bad."Sent from a satellite device to family and rescue teams, it signalled that an autumn camping trip in Banff national park had gone terribly wrong. Continue reading...

Yevgeny Prigozhin died on 23 August while travelling on private jet from Moscow to St Petersburg

Spectator journalist, 87, is found guilty of attacking woman on ski weekend at his Swiss chalet in 2009The journalist Taki Theodoracopulos has been handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence by a judge in Switzerland for an attempted rape in 2009.

Rob Behrens writes to head of Norfolk and Suffolk trust over claim to committee that questioned him about patient deaths reportThe NHS ombudsman has told a health trust chief to withdraw not accurate" remarks about him amid an alleged attempt to play down up to 1,000 avoidable patient deaths.Rob Behrens wrote to Stuart Richardson, the head of the Norfolk and Suffolk mental health NHS trust, over remarks he made about him to Norfolk county council's health scrutiny committee. Continue reading...

Labour leader's pledge - part of a wider dental plan - derided as window dressing' by union chiefSchool leaders have accused Labour of window dressing" after Keir Starmer pledged to introduce supervised toothbrushing for young children in England's primary schools.While the policy has long been supported by the dentistry profession as a way of curbing decay, headteachers said it was not appropriate for their staff to check whether pupils had cleaned their teeth. Continue reading...

Ben Wilson, who decorates discarded gum, has been told most of his art will be removed during engineering workAn artist who paints tiny pictures on discarded chewing gum has pleaded for his works to be saved after being told most of them will be removed from the Millennium Bridge in London as part of engineering work.Ben Wilson, nicknamed the chewing gum man", has been painting on pieces of chewing gum across the bridge since 2013. Continue reading...

Campi Flegrei area near Naples has been jolted by more than 1,100 earthquakes in a monthThe Italian government is planning for a possible mass evacuation of tens of thousands of people who live around the Campi Flegrei supervolcano near Naples.The new measures, which include a scheme to check on the strength of buildings in the area after months of repeated earthquakes, will be discussed at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, a government statement said. Continue reading...

General secretary of Scotland's Alba party said PM acted in contempt of court by commenting on Operation BranchformRishi Sunak has been reported to police in Scotland over a joke he made about Nicola Sturgeon in his Conservative party conference speech.Sunak attempted to make fun of the former SNP leader and first minister after she was arrested and questioned as part of Police Scotland's Operation Branchform investigation into her party's finances. Sturgeon was released without charge after her arrest in June. She has denied any wrongdoing. Continue reading...

Catherine Hudson, 54, faces jail after drugging patients in 2017 and 2018 amid culture of abuse' on unitA nurse is facing jail after being found guilty of mistreating patients on a hospital stroke unit by giving them sedatives to keep them quiet and compliant" for an easy life".Catherine Hudson, 54, drugged two patients during shifts at Blackpool Victoria hospital in April 2017 and November 2018. Jurors at Preston crown court also convicted her of conspiring with a junior colleague, Charlotte Wilmot, 48, to administer a sedative to a third patient. Continue reading...

Prof Philip Banfield says profession was traumatised' after events of pandemic, as he criticises government responseDoctors started writing their wills and making sure their life insurance was up to date when the pandemic began in 2020 because they understood what was coming," the UK Covid inquiry heard on Thursday.Giving evidence to the inquiry, Prof Philip Banfield, from the British Medical Association, said: We had no doubt that we were facing something that was completely unprecedented."Their failure to include an official, strong, independent public health presence on the public stage.Their slowness in introducing face masks. Policies like face masks were based on a political narrative rather than a public health narrative: specifically economic and other factors that lay outside public health," he said.The decision to shift away from contact-tracing on 12 March 2020, which failed to control the population for a further 11 days.The consequences of eat out to help out", which drove up new Covid-19 infections by between 8% and 17%.The chopping and changing" of the three-tier structure, which limited people to restrictions including staying overnight only with those in one's household or support bubble and working from home where possible. Continue reading...

Man entered 28-year-old woman's house intending to kill', murder trial of five alleged gangsters hearsA 28-year-old woman was shot deliberately and mercilessly by a man who entered her home intending to kill", the murder trial of five alleged gangsters has heard.Ashley Dale was shot dead in the early hours of Sunday 21 August last year by a gangster who had a dispute with her boyfriend, Lee Harrison, Liverpool crown court heard. Continue reading...

Vikas Ranvir Oberoi named as suspect after Swiss couple die in collision between Lamborghini and FerrariAn Indian billionaire is under investigation in Italy after his Lamborghini collided with a Ferrari during a supercar tour in Sardinia, leaving two people dead.Vikas Oberoi was driving the car accompanied by his wife, Gayatri Joshi, a model and actor, when the collision occurred on Monday in southern Sardinia, an official from the carabinieri told AFP. Continue reading...

Yatama party, which has previously clashed with president, says it has been disqualified from all future pollsNicaraguan electoral authorities have barred an Indigenous party that has in the past clashed with President Daniel Ortega, leaving the ruling Sandinistas with no opposition in upcoming local elections in two regions.The Yatama party has been disqualified from participating in all future elections, including a local vote scheduled for March, according to a Facebook post by Sammy Allen Cubero, a Yatama youth leader. Continue reading...

Video of Rishi Sunak announcing the axing of the HS2 Manchester leg was filmed in No 10 before he travelled to conference

The critically acclaimed author is the first ever laureate in the prize's history to write in Nynorsk and his win marks a further step in the Nordic state's rise as a cultural powerhouse Jon Fosse wins the 2023 Nobel prize in literatureThis year's winner of the Nobel prize in literature, Norwegian author Jon Fosse, was one of the bookies' frontrunners and has been considered a serious contender for a good decade.Yet when the Nobel Committee's permanent secretary Mats Malm read out Fosse's name, it still came as a surprise. A day beforehand Swedish critic Agri Ismail said the possibility of a win for the Norwegian playwright and novelist would be: Too obvious". The Swedish academy had defied bookies' predictions and wrongfooted critics too many times in the past, and if there was one consensus in the run-up, it was that the prize would not go to Europe, where six of the last ten winners had come from. Continue reading...

Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, climbed into the grounds of the castle on Christmas Day in 2021A man who broke into Windsor Castle with a loaded crossbow to kill the late Queen has been sentenced to nine years in jail with a further five years on extended licence.Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, climbed into the castle grounds with the weapon on Christmas Day in 2021 and later declared: I'm here to kill the Queen.". Continue reading...

The playwright and actor's debut drama about life on an eating disorder unit will have its world premiere at the Arcola theatre in London next summerThe Papatango new writing prize has been awarded to Hull playwright Laura Waldren for a drama about life in an eating disorder unit.Waldren said that Some Demon, her first full-length script, was a very difficult, personal but important play to write" about what she described as still deeply misunderstood illnesses".In the UK, Beat can be contacted on 0808-801-0677. In the US, the National Eating Disorders Association is on 800-931-2237. In Australia, the Butterfly Foundation is at 1800 33 4673. Other international helplines can be found at Eating Disorder Hope. Continue reading...

Administration's first use of executive power often used by Trump alarms environmental advocates and fellow DemocratsJoe Biden faced intense criticism from environmental advocates, political opponents and his fellow Democrats after the president's administration waived 26 federal laws to allow border wall construction in south Texas, its first use of a sweeping executive power that was often employed under Donald Trump.A border wall is a 14th-century solution to a 21st-century problem," the Democratic Texas congressman Henry Cuellar said. It will not bolster border security in Starr county. Continue reading...

Historic injustices' suffered by Indigenous people warrant a voice to parliament, open letter signed by more than 350 says

Exclusive: federal government coordinated letters to the women and Qatari officials when they formally rejected the request for extra routes

Kyiv has turned the region into a no-go zone for Moscow's bristling warships

European Political Community meet in Granada with migration, Ukraine, Kosovo and Nagorno-Karabakh on the agendaThe Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has insisted US support for Ukraine is not faltering as he arrived at the European Political Community summit in Granada.Joe Biden has given 100% support," he said. Continue reading...

Structure due to reopen by 5 November after replacement of layer under aluminium deckThe Millennium Bridge in London will be closed for three weeks for urgent maintenance work after parts of its underside started to degrade.The suspension bridge, also known colloquially as the wobbly" bridge, crosses the Thames and links St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London with the Tate Modern gallery on the South Bank. Continue reading...

Paris says it is unable to work with puschtists, leaving efforts to counter Islamists in Sahel in disarrayFrance will begin withdrawing troops from Niger this week following a coup in the west African country, in what marks a turning point in western nations' efforts to counter a decade-long Islamist insurgency in the Sahel region.We will begin our disengagement operation this week, in good order, safely and in coordination with the Nigeriens," the French military headquarters said. Continue reading...

Construction sector reports biggest contraction in September since early months of Covid pandemicA slump in the building of new homes across the UK in September triggered the biggest fall in construction activity since May 2020, early in the Covid pandemic, according to a closely watched survey.Engineering and infrastructure projects also suffered a sharp fall in activity that was partly blamed on the government pausing work on the HS2 rail link in the summer, before Rishi Sunak's decision at the Conservative party conference to cancel construction of the leg between Birmingham and Manchester. Continue reading...

Recent shutdown of obstetrics units not officially linked with falling birth rate - but online commentators speculateA number of hospital obstetrics units in China have closed, prompting discussion about the effects of China's dramatically falling birthrate.Several hospitals in Zhejiang province have reportedly closed or downsized their obstetrics units, along with hospitals in Jiangsu and Guangdong. Continue reading...

The Athens landmark was a symbol of confidence in 2004, but safety concerns have left officials thinking the unthinkableIt was a roof that symbolised Olympic glory: a giant white-ribbed steel dome cascading over a stadium that would not only be the centrepiece of the 2004 Athens Games but emblematic of the spectacular style in which the event would be held.For Greeks, who it was hoped would look back at the dream games" with pride, Santiago Calatrava's architectural landmark said it all. A construction that both defied the sceptics who questioned their ability to host the greatest show on Earth and expressed a new-born sense of confidence. Continue reading...

Denver is now among more than two dozen cities, states or counties that are either abolishing medical debt or in talks to do soTwo Denver, Colorado, city council members have a simple proposal to put more money in their constituents' pockets: pay off their medical debt.Council members Shontel Lewis and Sarah Parady want to use $3m in city funds to hopefully pay off $300m in medical debt, much of it accrued when residents got sick and visited a local hospital. Continue reading...

Prime minister defends revised transport plans after intense criticism from Tory predecessors

Group says party freed of the stain of antisemitism' can promote two-state solution and reverse Tory apathy to Middle EastAn incoming Labour government freed of the stain of antisemitism" can seek an Israeli settlement freeze, promote a two-state solution and call out democratic backsliding not only by the Palestinian Authority, but also by the Israeli government, according to a pamphlet from Labour Friends of Israel.The pamphlet is designed to mark a breakpoint from Labour's debilitating debates about antisemitism, and promote a detailed policy solution to the Israel-Palestine question around which the majority of people in the party can gather. Continue reading...

Ken Hasebe issues warning after 2022 Itaewon tragedy in Seoul, in which more than 150 people diedAuthorities in one of Tokyo's liveliest neighbourhoods are pleading with revellers to stay away during Halloween, fearing a repeat of last year's deadly crowd crush in the Itaewon district of Seoul.Ken Hasebe, the mayor of Shibuya - a popular destination for young Japanese and foreign tourists - said partygoers hoping to mark the celebration in the area on and around 31 October would be disappointed. Continue reading...

Towns given evacuation warnings on Wednesday night are told early on Thursday it is not yet safe to return

Magistrate imposed interim order stopping media from naming the man, saying she needed to weigh public interest and defendant's vulnerabilities

Mark Butler says those countries have responded to specific tactics of Big Tobacco' and Australia will monitor impact of the policies with interest'