World news | The Guardian

Weather warnings in place for areas of Wales, the north-west and south of England and west ScotlandHundreds of homes and businesses have been hit by power cuts, and roads and a railway line have been blocked, as heavy rain and high winds battered parts of the UK.Yellow weather warnings were in place on Wednesday for areas of Wales, the north-west and south of England and west Scotland, with travel disruption predicted in some parts into the early hours of Thursday. Continue reading...

Prime minister says Italy under incredible pressure' from large number of arrivals from north Africa

Halt to so-called anti-terrorist operation in disputed region was due to take effect at 1pm local timeRussia's defence ministry said today that the newly-announced ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh will be coordinated with its troops.A ceasefire agreement between the Azerbaijani side and representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh has been reached through the mediation of the command for Russia's peacekeeping mission," the ministry said, according to the TASS news agency. Continue reading...

James Cleverly says some in south feel they only hear Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine' from western leadersThe west has so far failed to convince the global south that its concern for Ukraine does not come at the expense of issues such as the climate crisis, the UK foreign secretary has admitted.Speaking on the margins of the UN general assembly in New York, James Cleverly said the west will be in trouble unless it learns to listen better to the global south" and conceded that despite his efforts, foreign ministers whom he respects feel they only hear the words Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine" from figures like him. Continue reading...

Matt Broomfield, who has worked in Kurdish-controlled north-east Syria, had his phone and laptop seized when he was questioned last monthA British freelance journalist who previously worked in the Kurdish-controlled part of Syria was held by counter-terrorism police at Luton airport for five hours without being arrested last month under controversial powers of detention.Matt Broomfield, 29, said he was met by police as he got off a plane from Belgrade with his girlfriend on 24 August and was taken aside for questioning, where he was asked do you consider your reporting objective" and his opinions of the British state. Police told Broomfield they were engaged in a mopping up operation". They seized his phone and laptop and have since refused to return them. After the questioning ended, he was allowed to proceed and no police action has followed. Continue reading...

CPS says officer who shot Chris Kaba in south London in September last year has been chargedThe police officer who shot Chris Kaba in south London in September last year has been charged with murder, the Crown Prosecution Service said.More details soon ...

Expanded presence to showcase original journalism and highlight issues that matter to European readersThe Guardian has launched a digital Europe edition with an expanded presence across the continent in an attempt to focus a European lens on world issues", its editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, has announced.The fifth digital edition of the Guardian, which launches on Wednesday, follows its UK, US, Australia and international editions. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak accused of disgusting betrayal of vulnerable people' over net zero U-turn as he misses UN climate ambition summitThe UK was notable by its absence on Wednesday from a key statement pledging ambitious action on the climate crisis, from a group of countries of which it is normally a leading member.The high ambition coalition" of countries, which aims to push the world to swifter cuts on greenhouse gas emissions, issued a call for faster stronger" action on the climate, to cause emissions to peak by 2025, and a plan to put the world on course to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement. Continue reading...

The CLC executive - 90 elected members who represent 75 communities across nine regions - said comments insult survivors of 1927 Coniston massacre. Follow the day's news live

State visit by British monarch to Versailles and Bordeaux offers chance to further reset UK-French relationsEmmanuel Macron and King Charles will dine on lobster at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday night in a three-day state visit by the British monarch, marking a crucial reset of the UK-French relationship after the near-total collapse in trust of the Boris Johnson years.At a one-to-one discussion at the Elysee Palace, the king and the French president will discuss the war in Ukraine, military coups in the Sahel region of Africa and the challenges of artificial intelligence. Continue reading...

More than 11,000 people have landed on the island in recent days - a decade on from when hundreds were killed in a shipwreckVito Fiorino and his friends were preparing to go fishing after sleeping the night on his boat docked off Lampedusa when one of them, Alessandro, heard piercing screams. It was about 6am on 3 October 2013. The group often ventured out to sea on the abandoned boat that Fiorino had brought back to life after moving to the tiny Sicilian island a few years earlier. But rarely would they spend the night.It was a dark night with lots of stars, no wind and a beautiful sea, and so we decided to sleep on the boat, something we hadn't done in years," Fiorino said. Alessandro got the boat going as dawn broke and after a few metres stopped the engine and asked: Did you hear that noise?' He used a Sicilian word which means cries of anguish'. There was a huge flock of seagulls so I was convinced that the noise was coming from them." Continue reading...

Tory MPs who have championed net zero policies furious at PM's plans to delay or water down green measuresRishi Sunak's determination to roll back some of the UK's key climate policies risks opening up rifts within his own party, as senior Conservatives expressed their deep unease at the move.Proposals to delay or water down green measures, such as pushing back the dates for ending sales of petrol and diesel cars, and gas boilers, are likely to be fleshed out later this week. Continue reading...

Ralph Babet and Clive Palmer lose case against AEC, which is following precedent by counting ticks but disregarding crosses in upcoming vote

Mortality rate grows as animals roam long distances and clash with local people in desperate search for waterThe climate crisis is pushing elephants on a forced migration across borders in southern Africa in search of water, creating problems for national parks and conservation efforts.In recent weeks, Zimbabwe's elephants have been crossing the country's borders into Botswana, officials said on Tuesday. Exactly how many elephants are affected is not yet known. The development comes as a survey this month revealed that elephants are dying of heat stress. Continue reading...

Hundreds of mussel farm sites in Gulf of Thailand affected by regular blooms that scientists believe are exacerbated by climate crisisAn unusually dense plankton bloom off the eastern coast of Thailand is creating an aquatic dead zone", threatening the livelihood of local fishers who farm mussels in the waters.Marine scientists say some areas in the Gulf of Thailand have more than 10 times the normal amount of plankton, turning the water a bright green and killing off marine life. Continue reading...

Daniel Andrews also announces redevelopment of 44 public housing towers and more renter protections

Four in five young people aged 10 to 17 have significant concerns about impact of cost of living crisis on their familiesChildren and young people have become significantly more concerned about rising prices and their family having enough money than about the environment or crime, research has found.One in 10 children aged 10 to 17 are unhappy with their lives, according to a study by the Children's Society. Continue reading...

Vanessa Hudson and Transport Workers' Union national secretary Michael Kaine to attend proceedings as penalties expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars

Supreme court says there's reasonable possibility the child, then aged 13, didn't know his conduct was seriously wrong'A Victorian judge has ruled a boy, who was aged 13 when Melbourne teenager Declan Cutler was killed, is too young to be held criminally responsible for his murder.The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faced a judge-alone trial in July after he was identified as one of eight boys who attacked and killed 16-year-old Declan as he left a birthday party last year. Continue reading...

Dozens of blazes in NSW, Queensland and Tasmania as extreme heatwave moves north

Assistant competition minister highlights risk of deepfake videos and voice clones in speech

Forms have been sent out requiring names, positions, residential addresses and identity document numbers of locally employed staffChina has given foreign consulates in Hong Kong a month to submit the names, home addresses and job descriptions of their local staff, according to diplomatic sources and documents seen by several media outlets on Tuesday.The documents include a letter in English and Chinese bearing Monday's date from Beijing's Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (OCMFA), as well as two forms for consulates to fill in with their local staff details. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Some companies say restrictions have been placed to stop customers exploiting' offers

A fetus will now be referred to as an unborn child' on a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitutionIn this year's only opportunity for US voters to directly weigh in on the right to abortion, an upcoming ballot referendum in Ohio will include language that describes a fetus as an unborn child", in a disappointing loss for abortion rights activists in the state who had sued to stop voters from seeing language they say is misleading.Ohioans are set to vote on 7 November on a referendum to enshrine abortion rights into the state's constitution. The outcome of the vote could not only determine the future of Ohio's six-week abortion ban, which is currently frozen pending litigation, but also for the midwest writ large. The state has become one of the few in the region to still permit abortions since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade last year. Continue reading...

Researchers say discovery of trigger' that caused diamonds to rise closer to earth's surface could help efforts to find more of the rare and valuable stonesScientists said on Tuesday they have found the missing ingredient" for pink diamonds - some of the world's most expensive stones due their rarity and beauty - and the discovery could help find more.More than 90% of all the pink diamonds ever found were discovered at the recently closed Argyle mine in the remote north-west of Australia. Continue reading...

Lawyer for the accused did not reveal in Toowoomba court if he still plans to seek a suppression order ahead of Queensland law change

Research claims children whose fathers read and play with them see a small but significant' increase in their educational attainmentChildren whose fathers read, play, sing and draw with them show a small but significant" increase in their educational attainment at primary school, according to research that suggests just 10 minutes a day could make a difference.While it has long been recognised that parental engagement is critical for a child's education and development, a study led by the University of Leeds claims fathers have a unique and important effect" on children's educational outcomes. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president addresses UN summit; Biden warns against allowing Russia to brutalize' Ukraine without consequences

Moradian was shot dead in an underground carpark in Bondi Junction in June

Trump tell-all author returns with tale of Fox News strife which also includes prediction Ron DeSantis will be Republican nomineeIn winter 2022, at a hideaway in St Barts, Rupert Murdoch directed sudden fury" at Donald Trump, who he thought would lose the 2024 Republican presidential primary to Ron DeSantis, but who the media mogul also said was likely to cost him fifty million dollars", through a lawsuit regarding Trump's lies about the 2020 election.The lawsuit was filed by Dominion Voting Systems, over Fox News's broadcast of Trump's lies. Settled this April, it cost Murdoch considerably more than he predicted: $787.5m, to be precise. Continue reading...

BMA also offers to take non-pay investments into account to reach agreement - but No 10 insists pay talks will not be reopenedHospital consultants in England have offered to call off their strikes if they receive a pay rise of about 12% this year - double the increase that ministers insist is their final offer.Their proposal, and the disclosure of recent constructive" conversations with the government, appear to be a conciliatory move by the British Medical Association (BMA) to end their pay dispute. Continue reading...

Inspector reveals home secretary's decision as Brook House inquiry finds evidence of verbal and physical abuse

Campaigners reject justification that significant progress' has been made towards reform and describe news as insultingThe Home Office team that was tasked with transforming the department after the Windrush scandal has been formally disbanded, triggering disappointment from those affected and dismay from civil servants.The Home Office's annual report confirmed that the department's dedicated post-Windrush transformation" team had been wound down due to the significant progress we have made". Continue reading...

With 26 English local authorities at risk of following Birmingham in next two years, a longer-term view is neededIn Michael Gove's otherwise sombre speech to parliament on Tuesday announcing a team of commissioners to run the cash-strapped Labour-run Birmingham council, the communities secretary could not resist a swipe at his political opponents.I think it important for us to recognise that the intervention in Birmingham, and our [previous] interventions in Sandwell and Liverpool, have all been interventions in Labour-led local authorities in which comprehensive mismanagement extended back over years," he said. Continue reading...

MP says investigation sparked by a letter to the Observer seen as arguing there is a hierarchy of racism is being run out of party HQDiane Abbott has accused Labour of leading a fraudulent" investigation into her comments about racism that left her suspended from the party.Abbott, who became the UK's first black female MP in 1987, has claimed the party's whips office is no longer conducting a formal investigation. Instead, she claims the internal inquiry is now run entirely out of the Labour party HQ, which reports to Keir Starmer - and there is no investigation". Continue reading...

Letter, spearheaded by Reading Rainbow's LeVar Burton, includes 175 signatories calling on Hollywood to fight bans in US schoolsAriana Grande, Guillermo del Toro, Mark Ruffalo and Amanda Gorman are among the over 175 actors, entertainers, authors, activists and others who have signed an open letter calling on Hollywood to use their influence to oppose book bans.The letter, spearheaded by Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton and published via the political advocacy organization MoveOn Political Action, calls out books bans in US schools as restrictive behavior" that is antithetical to free speech and expression". It also emphasizes the chilling effect" the bans, often implemented at the local level, can have on the broader creative field". Continue reading...

Khalistani groups who want independence of Punjab accuse India of killings in UK and elsewhere

Full inquiry under way at broadcaster into comedian's time there as it removes all his shows from catch-up serviceThe BBC has pledged to investigate whether Russell Brand used the broadcaster's taxis to pick up a 16-year-old girl from school, as it removed all of the comedian's shows from its catch-up services.Brand, then 31, has been accused of using cars paid for by his then-employers at the BBC to drive his young girlfriend around London. Continue reading...

NAO says Cabinet Office failed to follow proper processes when taxpayers' money was used to fund legal billsThe Cabinet Office failed to follow proper processes when it allowed taxpayers' money to be used to fund Boris Johnson's Partygate legal bills, the UK's public spending watchdog has said.The government's justifications for the 265,000 spend were also deemed to be borderline" and not wholly persuasive" by the National Audit Office (NAO). Continue reading...

Lloyd Austin urges allies to donate whatever air defence munitions they can

Liberty warns decision to prosecute Trudi Warner, 68, for contempt of court after protest outside London court was concerning'Civil liberty campaigners have warned that the prosecution of a woman for holding up a placard about the rights of jurors outside a court is part of the government's increasing attacks on the right to protest.Liberty said the decision to prosecute Trudi Warner, 68, for contempt of court for sitting outside a London trial holding up a sign was concerning". Continue reading...

Lawsuit is the company's first legal pursuit against Bankman-Fried's parents for their role in the companyFTX is suing the parents of Sam Bankman-Fried, two longtime Stanford Law School professors, alleging that the couple inappropriately used company funds to enrich themselves through gifts and donations.The cryptocurrency company, now operating under CEO John Jay Ray III, an expert in helping companies recover after bankruptcy, claims Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried received funds from their son's company in the form of gifts and donations to specific causes. Continue reading...

An unattended pastry truck was irresistible to a bear mom and her cub, who gorged on doughnuts before being chased awayTwo bears on an Alaska military base raided a Krispy Kreme doughnut van that was stopped outside a convenience store during its delivery route.The driver usually left his doors open when he stopped at the store but this time a sow and one of her cubs that loitered nearby sauntered inside, where they stayed for probably 20 minutes on Tuesday morning, said Shelly Deano, the store manager for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson JMM Express. The bears chomped on doughnut holes and other pastries, ignoring the banging on the side of the van that was intended to shoo them away, Deano said. Continue reading...

US secretary of state announced the formation of an international coalition to address crisis that has an immeasurable cost'US diplomats at the UN general assembly in New York have unveiled steps aimed at tackling the proliferation of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs which the American secretary of state, Antony Blinken, described as a global threat".At a meeting on Monday, the most senior US diplomat announced the formation of an international coalition to address the crisis, saying that the US may have been to some extent a canary in the coalmine when it comes to fentanyl, but alas, we are not alone". Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak's government seen as less competent that Boris Johnson's administrationThe UK economy is set to witness the highest inflation rate of the world's G7 advanced economies this year, according to new forecasts, PA Media reports. PA says:The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also increased its predicted average UK inflation rate for 2023 compared with its previous estimate.Economists at the globally recognised organisation also reduced their UK growth forecast slightly for next year amid pressure from higher interest rates. Continue reading...

Rise in delivery and processing costs combined with increased use of free returns service has led to 1.99 chargeThe Swedish fast fashion chain H&M has become the latest in its sector to start charging shoppers to return unwanted items bought online.The group, the world's second-largest clothing retailer after Zara-owner Inditex, will charge 1.99 to take back items that are not damaged or faulty - either in stores or via the post. Continue reading...

DfE says number where reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete has been found has risen from 147 to 174

As Birmingham is placed in special measures the council reviews assets such as its library and stadiumAs government commissioners are sent to run Birmingham city council as it embarks on the challenge of pulling itself back from the financial brink, speculation is growing about which council assets could be at risk.Back in 2015 the local authority sold the NEC Group, which includes the National Exhibition Centre, International Convention Centre, Utilita and Resorts World Arena, for 307m to help fund its equal pay claim bill, which has only continued to rise since. Continue reading...

Evidence collected by New York Times suggests Russia may not have been responsible for strike

Virginia McCullough remanded in custody until plea hearing on 1 DecemberA woman has appeared in court accused of murdering her parents whose remains are believed to have been found at her house in Essex, police have said.Virginia McCullough, 35, appeared by prison video link at Basildon crown court charged with the murders of John and Lois McCullough, who were in their 70s. Continue reading...