World news | The Guardian

Victim pronounced dead at scene about 40 minutes after police were called to reports of stabbing in Poland StreetA man has been stabbed to death in a side road near London’s Oxford Street. The Metropolitan police said officers were called at around 11.40am on Monday to reports of a stabbing in Poland Street.Both London ambulance service and the air ambulance attended, but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene 40 minutes later. A man has been arrested. Continue reading...

Electoral commission chair declares deputy president winner of tight race as other senior officials disown resultsWilliam Ruto has been declared the winner of Kenya’s presidential election, amid last-minute chaos as four senior election officials denounced the week-long count and disowned the result.Official results showed that Ruto, the current deputy president, won 50.5% of the vote, beating the longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga and narrowly avoiding a run-off. Continue reading...

Loss-making airport says restricting numbers to 100,000 a day is reducing last-minute cancellationsHeathrow airport has extended its 100,000 passenger a day cap for another six weeks as the aviation sector continues to struggle to meet increased demand for travel amid staffing shortages.The capacity limit was initially meant to last until 11 September, but that date was pushed back on Monday to 29 October, overlapping with the autumn half-term break for most schools. Continue reading...

Deal for 16,000 workers including cabin crew, engineers and baggage handlers follows strike threatAbout 16,000 workers at British Airways are to receive a pay rise worth as much as 13%, reversing cuts imposed during the Covid pandemic.Union leaders said the deal arose after the threat of strike action earlier this summer by check-in staff, which resulted in a pay agreement that was being extended across the workforce. Continue reading...

Hugh Laidlaw, 50, posted offensive image and comments aimed at black footballers who missed penalties in England’s defeatA man has been fined and given a suspended prison sentence after sending a “hateful and racist” post aimed at the black footballers who missed penalties in England’s Euro 2020 final defeat.Hugh Laidlaw, 50, posted an offensive image and comments soon after the July 2021 shootout on the Metal Detecting UK Facebook page. Other online users were so offended that they alerted police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said. Continue reading...

Russian attack in eastern region also leaves 13 injured, Ukrainian officials say; Vitali Klitschko talks about ‘harsh realities’ facing residents

Nursing bodies say that increasing the role of nurses – not the Medicare rebate – is the solution to Australia’s bulk-billing crisis

PM alleged to have ‘predetermined’ application after project was blocked despite recommendation to the contrary by national petroleum administrator

Analysis: As questions are asked of Labor, David Elliott and Matt Kean were busy criticising each otherA week ago, the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, was publicly calling on two of his most senior MPs – the treasurer, Matt Kean, and the transport minister, David Elliott – to stop taking public shots at one another.Perrottet had, he said, counselled both MPs on the “importance of unity” in the wake of an ugly buildup to the election of a new deputy leader. Continue reading...

Foreign ministry spokesperson blames author and supporters after stabbing that left him with ‘life-changing’ injuriesIran has denied having any role in the attack on Salman Rushdie but claimed the author had only himself to blame for crossing a “red line” over Islam in his writings.Rushdie’s life was reported to be out of danger but he was said to have sustained “life-changing” injuries after being stabbed 10 times when he was speaking at an event on Friday in Chautauqua, New York. Continue reading...

Analysis: Although the fatwa against Rushdie was issued more than 30 years ago, the threat never went awaySalman Rushdie spent nine years in hiding following the issue of a notorious fatwa authorising his killing.Though he will be loth to return to that kind of existence, the attack on him last week will most likely lead to a drastic rethink of his security.

Manchester City player and alleged ‘fixer’ accused of ‘callous indifference’ to 13 young women they allegedly attackedThe Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy raped women in locked “panic rooms” in his isolated mansion from which they believed they could not escape, a court has heard.The 28-year-old French international defender abused his wealth and fame to lure women back to his gated Cheshire home and rape them when they either said no or were too drunk to consent, a jury at Chester crown court heard on Monday. Continue reading...

Dan Harrison, who beat Kim Harrison to death, had suffered from paranoid schizophrenia for 15 yearsThe family of a man who beat his father to death an hour after absconding from a psychiatric ward has claimed the killer was not given the help he needed for his mental health problems in the years before he launched the fatal attack.Dan Harrison, 37, punched, kicked and stamped on Kim Harrison, 68, a retired chest specialist, at his home in Clydach, Swansea, after becoming increasingly paranoid and believing that his mother, Jane Harrison, was in danger from her husband. Continue reading...

Power blackouts after wholesale prices soar as a result of Russia’s invasion of UkraineSoaring international energy prices have brought power blackouts to Europe as Kosovo said it could no longer afford to import electricity, adding to fears that tensions with Russia will plunge the continent into crisis this winter.Consumers in the Balkan state have been told they will be allowed six hours of power at a time, punctuated by two-hour breaks, according to a spokesperson for its energy distribution company, KEDS. Continue reading...

Impact of ‘traumatic period’ still lingers with those now based in UK – and their families – 75 years onAfter living in Britain for nearly half a century, Pabitra Ghosh is still gripped by a rootlessness borne after being displaced from modern-day Bangladesh as a child.When a communal riot broke out in 1950, Ghosh, then five, fled with his family across the newly carved Indian border from East Pakistan. The train journey was both “bedlam” and “traumatic” as they abandoned their home to start afresh in Kolkata. Continue reading...

London-based Portuguese sprinter says he feared for his safety during the stop – his third in last two yearsThe police watchdog is to review how an athlete who has been repeatedly pulled over was stopped again, this time by seven armed officers.Ricardo dos Santos, a Portuguese sprinter based in London, said he released video of the incident in central London on Sunday morning to show that young black people continued to face “over-policing”. He said he feared for his safety during the stop – his third in the last two years. Continue reading...

MoD sources accuse other parts of Whitehall of failing to do enough to help Afghans who worked with British forcesTwo RAF flights carrying as many as 500 Afghans who worked with British forces and their relatives are landing in the UK each month from Pakistan but there is deep frustration within the Ministry of Defence about how the rest of government is struggling to accommodate arrivals.It comes as the Taliban and western allies mark the first anniversary of Nato’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Continue reading...

Comedian says his show ‘is what it is, for those who enjoy it,’ after complaints at Edinburgh fringeThe comedian Jerry Sadowitz has hit back at Edinburgh fringe promoters who cancelled one of his shows, accusing them of “cheapening and simplifying” his act.The Pleasance theatre cancelled Sadowitz’s second show of two on Saturday because it said the content was “extreme in its racism, sexism, homophobia and misogyny.” Continue reading...

Michael Rowell, 34, from Hampshire is thought to have slipped on to rocks in Alps while skiing with friendAn experienced British skier fell to his death while attempting to traverse an off-piste slope with a friend in the French Alps, an inquest heard.Michael Rowell, 34, from Farnborough, Hampshire, who had skied since he was five, is thought to have slipped and fallen 24 metres (80ft) from an edge on to rocks. Continue reading...

Firms need to find smarter ways of working that will fit in with how people want to live, says consultancyThe typical UK worker is going into the office less than 1.5 days a week – with Friday the most popular day to work from home, according to a global survey.The consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA) surveyed 43 offices in the UK, covering nearly 50,000 workers, in June and July. Continue reading...

Emma Greville tells jurors she was trying to pull Giggs away from her sister when his elbow hit her in faceRyan Giggs assaulted his then girlfriend “with lots of force” before turning to her younger sister and saying: “I’ll head-butt you next,” a court has heard.Emma Greville, the sister of Giggs’s former girlfriend Kate Greville, told jurors he was “extremely angry” during an altercation at his home on 1 November 2020. She said the former footballer became angry as he tried to retrieve a mobile phone from her sister’s hand, leading to a “scuffle” on the floor. Continue reading...

Hollywood actor plans to run for senator with Eurosceptic party ISP, saying she is ‘fed up with quarrelling politicians’The Italian screen legend Gina Lollobrigida has said she is running in general elections next month because she is “fed up with quarrelling politicians”.Lollobrigida, who turned 95 in July, is endeavouring to become a senator with the Sovereign and Popular Italy party (ISP), a new Eurosceptic, anti-Mario-Draghi political alliance that opposes sending arms to Ukraine and “warmongering Atlanticism”. Continue reading...

PM believed to be in Greece on second summer break in three weeks amid ‘zombie’ government accusations

Those without a male relative to act as a mahram are in legal limbo and unable to travel long distancesHasina* cannot send her two daughters to school, because they are teenagers and high school is banned for girls in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.But she cannot take them out of the country to finish their education because she is a divorced single mother, and women are barred from long-distance travel without a male “guardian” to escort them. Continue reading...

Novel by writer, who lived in Devon until fatal heart attack, was made into a film starring Robert RedfordNicholas Evans, the bestselling author of The Horse Whisperer, has died at the age of 72.In a statement, United Agents said the “much-loved” writer had died following a heart attack on Tuesday. “He lived a full and happy life, in his home on the banks of the River Dart in Devon,” it added. Continue reading...

James Chessell sends email to staff after both he and the Nine chairman were the subject of an email attack by James Packer

The actor, severely injured in a car crash on 5 August, had been legally declared dead, but had life support maintained to facilitate organ donationAnne Heche has been taken off life support, a family representative said, following the announcement of her death on Friday.Heche, 53, had been severely injured in a single-vehicle car crash on 5 August, and had suffered a “severe anoxic brain injury”, according to a statement to CNN by Heche’s family. Her “brain death” was confirmed on Friday, meeting a legal definition of death in California, but it is understood life support was maintained to facilitate organ donation. A family representative said she had been “peacefully taken off life support” on Sunday. Continue reading...

Japan PM Fumio Kishida sends offering but stays away from Yasukuni, which honours class-A war criminalsJapan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, sent a ritual offering to a controversial war shrine on Monday – the anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the second world war – as one of its wartime victims, South Korea, called for an end to historical tensions.Kishida apparently decided to stay away from the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo to avoid antagonising South Korea and China, but three of his ministers have made the pilgrimage in recent days. Continue reading...

Public advised to avoid Moss Side as police investigate death of young man found with serious injuriesPolice have launched an investigation into the death of a man after a firearm was discharged on Claremont Road in Manchester.Greater Manchester police responded to reports of a shooting in the early hours of Monday morning when they found a man aged between 18 and 25 with serious injuries. Continue reading...

Pacific country had recorded no community transmission of the virus until last week, and healthcare is struggling to copeAfter dodging the Covid-19 pandemic for two years, the Marshall Islands is grappling to control the spread of infections, which have tripled since the first community transmissions were detected a week ago.The number of positive cases in the north Pacific nation, which has a population of about 60,000 people, has skyrocketed to more than 3,000 cases with four Covid-linked deaths and seven hospital admissions. Continue reading...

Health Foundation finds stark health inequalities between people in worst-off and wealthiest parts of EnglandA 60-year-old woman in England’s poorest areas typically has the same level of illness as a woman 16 years older in the richest areas, a study into health inequalities has found.The Health Foundation found a similarly stark, though less wide, gap in men’s health. At 60 a man living in the most deprived 10% of the country typically has the burden of ill-health experienced by a counterpart in the wealthiest 10% at the age of 70. Continue reading...

Police say a NSW man, 63, will face court following Sunday shooting that led to evacuation of airport

Songwriter behind hits including 1998 Eurovision winner, and Quentin Tarantino’s father-in-law, dies at homeSvika Pick, a prolific songwriter and musician who was known as Israel’s “king of pop” and by the moniker the Maestro, has died at the age of 72.He died on Sunday in his home. The cause of death is yet to be announced. Continue reading...

Reports claim former prime minister’s senior cabinet colleagues were unaware he allegedly swore himself into three ministry positions

Ralph Henry Reese, co-founder of project that offers exiled writers refuge, says attack should serve as wake up call – and call to actionMoments before Salman Rushdie was nearly murdered at a public event in western New York on Friday, he had signed up to become a roving envoy for writers in mortal peril, agreeing to travel across the US to encourage cities to provide asylum and protection for artists in need.The bitter irony – that within minutes of having made this pledge Rushdie was himself stabbed 10 times on stage – was revealed by the event’s moderator, who was also injured in the assault. Continue reading...

Analysis by data experts finds the figure has increased from about 16,000 at this stage of admissions process in 2019About 28,000 students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who applied to go to university are without an offer just days before A-level results are due to be published, according to data experts.In what promises to be one of the most competitive university admission rounds in recent memory, analysis by DataHE found the total number of 18-year-olds not holding an offer has increased from about 16,000 at this stage in the admissions process in 2019 to 27,850 in 2022. Continue reading...

Covid-induced inflation, drought in Canada and global instability are putting the squeeze on key ingredients of a national staple• Get our free news app, morning email briefing or daily news podcastTakeaway businesses are feeling the pinch as prices surge for cooking oil and potatoes – two key ingredients of an Australian staple: fish and chips.Justin Quinton, the owner of Saltmine Fish and Chips in the New South Wales Hunter region, told Guardian Australia his Salamander Bay eatery previously used a blend of cottonseed, canola and sunflower oil. Continue reading...

Experts argue system lacks proper monitoring and effectively ‘disappears’ people, sometimes for decades

Some comedians at Edinburgh fringe express concern after promoter pulls Sadowitz’s second performanceJerry Sadowitz had his show cancelled at the Edinburgh fringe because its content was “extreme in its racism, sexism, homophobia and misogyny,” promoters have said.The comedian, whose material has for decades been provocatively and unashamedly offensive, had what was meant to be the second of two shows pulled because of an unprecedented number of complaints, the Pleasance theatre in Edinburgh said. Continue reading...

As farms look further afield for labour, investigation finds Kent pickers saying they struggle to pay fees charged by unlicensed brokersIndonesian labourers picking berries on a farm that supplies Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Tesco say they have been saddled with debts of up to £5,000 by unlicensed foreign brokers to work in Britain for a single season.Pickers at the farm in Kent were initially given zero-hours contracts, and at least one was paid less than £300 a week after the cost of using a caravan was deducted, according to payslips and other documents seen as part of a Guardian investigation. Continue reading...

Chance encounter on Facebook led Reena Verna, 90, to visit family home she was forced to abandon in 1947For decades, Reena Verna would return to her home in Rawalpindi in her dreams. She would wander down the narrow lane to the three-storey house and walk through the rooms where she had lived with her five siblings, parents and an aunt for the first 15 years of her life.But for 75 years, this was a home located across a seemingly impenetrable national border, one Verna could only visit as a painful memory. That was, until July this year. Now 90 years old but still sprightly, a chance encounter on a Facebook group helped her find and visit the family home she was forced to abandon 75 years ago, located in what is now Pakistan. Continue reading...

Drawn to the prospect of a job abroad, people such as Banyu signed up to a language course. From there, their debts to brokers grewSitting in a caravan in the hot Kent countryside, Banyu’s face is etched with worry. It is July and he is less than a month into a job picking fruit at Clock House farm near Maidstone, which supplies strawberries, raspberries and other soft fruit to leading supermarket chains.He says he arrived from Indonesia this summer £5,000 in debt to an unlicensed broker in Bali, handing over the deeds to his family home as surety. He only has a six-month visa for the picking season and is scared that the work is not as lucrative as he hoped. Continue reading...

At the same point in 2021 there had been just 11,300, as campaigners say forcible removal is not acting as deterrentMore than 20,000 people have been detected crossing the Channel in small boats so far this year, government figures show.Saturday marked the third time the total has topped 600 in a day since the start of 2022, with 607 people detecting crossing the Channel in 14 boats – the equivalent of about 43 people per vessel. Continue reading...

Author is off ventilator and able to talk after suffering stab wounds to his neck, stomach, eye, chest and thigh in New York attack

Ukraine president says soldiers firing from Zaporizhzhia facility will become a ‘special target’; main bridges to Russian-occupied territory in Kherson likely to be unusable, says British military intelligence

This week’s hustings show many members are unenthusiastic about Sunak or Truss – and might even prefer the current PMAs Conservative party members filed into the latest leadership hustings at a baking hot Cheltenham racecourse, very few among this important electorate seemed enthused by the two-way race.Neither of the runners – foreign secretary Liz Truss nor ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak – excited much Tory passion, nor seemed the subject of heavy betting. Some of those who attended, and who will decide the identity of the new prime minister, suggested they had come along out of duty, to choose the least worst option on offer. Continue reading...

Officers carrying out inquiries after message to author who voiced support for Rushdie following stabbingPolice are investigating a threat against JK Rowling that was made after she posted her reaction on social media to the attack on Salman Rushdie.Rowling tweeted on Friday: “Horrifying news. Feeling very sick right now. Let him be OK.” Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy vows troops based at Europe’s largest nuclear plant will become ‘special targets’

Documentary reveals how Britain was not only involved in rape and torture but tried to suppress evidenceA former police commissioner resigned after attempts to expose rape and torture by British colonial forces in Kenya during the Mau Mau uprising were covered up, a documentary shows.During the 1950s, Britain fought a war in Kenya against the Mau Mau, a movement that fought for independence from colonial rule. The movement was brutally suppressed through the use of widespread detention camps and systemic violence. Continue reading...