World news | The Guardian

In an excruciating BBC interview, the transport minister sticks resolutely to the party line on rail link ... and fails to answer the questionMark Harper is not the first cabinet minister to suffer a difficult early-morning interview, but the transport secretary seemed oddly blindsided by a quizzing about the future of HS2. No fewer than 12 times he dismissed the issue as speculation". If only there were a senior figure from the Department for Transport to clear things up? Here is an edited version of his awkward interview with the BBC Today Programme's Mishal Husain:Husain Has something changed on HS2 plans since the last update to parliament in June? Continue reading...

UK intelligence says Andrei Troshev's meeting with the Russian president will not be viewed positively by Wagner fightersVolodymyr Zelenskiy announced today the creation of the Defence Industries Alliance at Kyiv's first Defence Industries Forum.Right now, the most powerful military-industrial complexes are being determined, as are their priorities and the global standard of defence. All of this is being determined in Ukraine," Zelenskiy said on Telegram. Continue reading...

Northern Research Group manifesto calls for tax devolution, a rail line from Liverpool to Hull and 500,000 new homesRishi Sunak has been urged to appoint a cabinet minister for the north of England by a group of Conservative MPs representing the region, amid nervousness about the Conservatives' chances of retaining the red wall" at the next election.A manifesto released by a caucus of Tory backbenchers, known as the Northern Research Group, called for more tax responsibilities to be devolved from Westminster and the prioritisation of an east-west rail line, linking Liverpool and Hull. Continue reading...

An Observer investigation finds DfE tried to cancel conference with unsuitable' speakers - and experts who criticised state education policy had online posts monitored It felt like a dictatorship': UK teaching experts hit out at government attempt to cancel themThe Department for Education (DfE) is keeping files monitoring the social media activity of some of the country's leading educational experts, the Observer can reveal.At least nine experts have uncovered files held on them, some as long as 60 pages. One individual even discovered the department had compiled an Excel spreadsheet in which officials had detailed who she interacted with. Continue reading...

Specialists critical of official policy claim secret files are being kept on them by the Department for Education Revealed: UK government monitoring education critics' social media accountsIt was a Tuesday night in March, two days before Ruth Swailes, an expert on early years education, was due to travel to Manchester to speak at a conference. Nothing about the event - launching a government-funded hub to improve the education of children under five - had struck her as controversial. But that evening she opened a message from her co- presenter, Dr Aaron Bradbury, saying the government was blocking them both from attending.Moreover, the multi-academy trust organising the event said because these two unsuitable" experts were to be given a platform, the Department for Education (DfE) wanted to pull the plug on the whole conference. Continue reading...

Lord Justice Clive Lewis, whose manner amounted to judicial bullying' in court, has apologised for behaviourOne of the most senior judges in England and Wales has received a formal warning for misconduct after an investigation found he had behaved in a rude and hostile way" amounting to judicial bullying" in court.Lord Justice Clive Lewis, one of the two judges who ruled in the high court that the home secretary had acted lawfully in her decision to send asylum seekers to Rwanda - a decision later overturned in the court of appeal by a majority of two to one, and due to be further considered by the supreme court in October - has apologised for his behaviour. Continue reading...

The five-year rule, which puts time limit on reporting sex assaults and rape, allows doctors who may be guilty to continue practisingMore than one in 10 sexual harassment complaints against doctors are not investigated by the General Medical Council because of an arbitary" rule, the Observer can reveal.According to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, 13% of sexual misconduct complaints made between the years 2017-18 and 2021-22 were closed without investigation because the GMC is prevented from considering alleged incidents more than five years after the event. Continue reading...

Stephen Pennington, who was jailed in 2009 for the rape of a child, wanted by police after being recalled to prisonPolice have appealed for information on the whereabouts of a sex offender who presents a real risk to children and women".Stephen Pennington, 35, is wanted by Lancashire constabulary after failing to comply with licence conditions and being recalled to prison, the force said. Continue reading...

The explorer is widely thought of as an exploiter today, and didn't know east from west. But a version of his boastful missive is expected to fetch up to 1.2m at auctionIn 1493, Christopher Columbus wrote a letter that would change the landscape of the modern world. I sailed to the Indies with the fleet that the illustrious King and Queen, our sovereigns, gave me, where I discovered a great many islands, inhabited by numberless people," he wrote after his return to Europe to royal treasurer Luis de Santangel. Of all, I have taken possession for their Highnesses."The events relayed in the letter were the first report of a voyage that really did change the world", says Columbus biographer Professor Felipe Fernandez-Armesto. Continue reading...

After Baku's success in Nagorno-Karabakh, it could attempt to encroach farther, locals believeThe beehives were in no man's land. After the border clash near his village in April, Geram drove down to the fields where his family has been farming for decades and kept a small apiary.But when he got near, he heard gunshots. The Azerbaijanis were firing at him from their new positions on the surrounding hilltops. He ran back to his car and never returned. Continue reading...

Foreign Office says groups are saving lives as X owner questions role of German NGOs in MediterraneanThe German government has rebuked Elon Musk after he criticised the work of rescue ships being operated by German humanitarian groups in the Mediterranean Sea.The owner of X, formerly Twitter, retweeted a video on Friday that showed refugees and aid workers on a boat. The rightwing account that first put the content on the social media platform used the post to praise the populist far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party, which has taken a hard line on migration issues. Continue reading...

Armenian government says 100,000 people have fled since Azerbaijan took control of breakaway regionAlmost all ethnic Armenians have left Nagorno-Karabakh since Azerbaijan attacked and ordered the breakaway region's militants to disarm, the Armenian government said on Saturday.Nazeli Baghdasaryan, the press secretary to Armenia's prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, said 100,417 people had arrived in Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, which had a population of about 120,000 before Azerbaijan reclaimed the region in a offensive last week. Continue reading...

Harriet Bolland offers reward and Nottinghamshire police appeal for information over incident at Grade II-listed Mucky DuckThe owner of a Grade II-listed restaurant that was damaged by a stolen digger has offered a reward for information about the incident.The Mucky Duck in Drakeholes, Nottinghamshire, was rammed repeatedly by a digger at about 11.50pm on Wednesday, police said. Continue reading...

Tory former leader criticises Rishi Sunak's potential plans to scrap Manchester leg and change London terminusTheresa May has become the third Conservative former prime minister to criticise Rishi Sunak's potential plans to scale back HS2.As Tory MPs head to Manchester for their annual conference with the fate of the northern leg of the high-speed rail line hanging in the balance, May said it was vital to boost capacity on the west coast mainline. Continue reading...

Stephen Shrimpton, 40, and Jessica Baker, 15, were killed in M53 crash that left several children in hospitalThe family of the driver who died after a school coach crashed on a motorway in Cheshire have paid tribute to him as a loving husband and father".Stephen Shrimpton, 40, was one of two fatalities after the coach overturned on the northbound M53 near junction five at Hooton at about 8am on Friday. Continue reading...

Lubov Chernukhin's amusement centre, which received money from levelling up fund, shuts doors after less than a yearA neon-lit family fun factory" in Hastings might seem an odd place to pop up for a wealthy Tory donor who once paid 160,000 at a party fundraiser to play tennis with David Cameron and Boris Johnson.But earlier this year Lubov Chernukhin, the prominent donor to the Conservatives, was revealed as the owner of an amusement centre on the south coast full of arcades, mini golf, and interactive games. Continue reading...

Chris Heaton-Harris says package of proposals being formed with aim to restore power sharingTalks between the UK government and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist party over its concerns regarding the Windsor framework have entered their final stages, the Northern Ireland secretary has said.Further changes as part of the framework will come into effect on Sunday, including the green/red lane system for the movement of goods. Continue reading...

At 2am on Sunday the clocks roll forward an hour in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT. So why aren't Queensland, WA and the NT onboard?

Chancellor says system has to be mix of carrot and stick' with more assistance to help people find jobsThe UK's welfare budget could be cut to pave the way for Tory tax cuts, the chancellor has said ahead of the party's annual conference in Manchester.Though Jeremy Hunt said the government was not in a position" to contemplate a decrease in tax immediately, he warned that the welfare budget could be hit further down the line to foot the bill. Continue reading...

Music Venue Trust says 127 grassroots sites have closed or stopped offering music since last summerSmall local music venues are warning that new bands will be left without a place to perform without government help after 127 grassroots sites closed or stopped offering music since last summer.The Music Venue Trust (MVT), which is backing a crowdfunded scheme to take at least nine venues into community ownership, says surging costs and punters reining in spending during the cost of living crisis have combined with pressure from property developers to force closures. Continue reading...

Drivers have to use more costly post office or postal options because of online identity verification problemMotorists who try to renew their driving licences using recently issued passports face being forced to go to a post office and pay fees that are 54% higher than the online price. It is because of a glitch on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) website, and those with passports issued since 2016 are affected.The DVLA charges 14 for online renewals by UK passport holders who use the document to verify their identity. Continue reading...

Journalist says worst part of experience was trying to explain politician's dehumanising' remarks to fatherThe journalist Ava Evans has described the on-air comments made about her by Laurence Fox on GB News as unforgivable".Fox was suspended by the channel after the actor-turned-politician made a series of comments about the political correspondent on Tuesday, including suggesting no one would want to shag" her. Continue reading...

Data shows black people are 16 times more likely than white people to be prosecuted under the doctrine, according to CPS figuresMore than half of people prosecuted under joint enterprise are from minority ethnic backgrounds and black people are 16 times more likely than white people to be prosecuted, according to data from the Crown Prosecution Service.Under the joint enterprise doctrine, an individual can be jointly charged with the crime of another if the court decides they foresaw the other person was likely to commit that crime and intended to encourage or assist them. This has resulted in bystanders, or people involved in much lesser criminal offences, being convicted of murder or manslaughter. Continue reading...

Tensions bubble beneath the surface as free-market ultras, culture warriors and northern Tories gather in ManchesterAs the Conservative party conference gets under way this weekend, there is a pause in the seemingly relentless civil wars of recent years, as the Tory tribes gather in Manchester.But tensions continue to bubble beneath the surface; the presence of Liz Truss and enduring popularity of Boris Johnson among sections of the membership serve as reminders of dividing lines. Continue reading...

Any rollback of' levelling up commitments in north could anger red wall' voters who swung to ConservativesAs Tories flock to Manchester for their annual conference, they are looking at an even frostier welcome than usual in the northern city.Once, Manchester was at the heart of George Osborne's promised northern powerhouse" project and the end destination of the HS2 rail line. Northern voters continued to be wooed by Boris Johnson with a promise of levelling up as he sought to retain the so-called red wall" seats he won from Labour in 2019. Continue reading...

UK-based charter firm launches ludicrous' 8,166 Dubai-London route for clients who want to fly with petsEnvironmentalists have condemned a ludicrous" private jet service that transports wealthy people's dogs, which this week ran its first flight from Dubai to London.For 8,166, one way, customers were able to sit with their dogs on their laps and sip champagne as they travelled from Al Maktoum international airport to Farnborough in a Gulfstream IV-SP jet. Continue reading...

Russia's invasion has had a major impact on the bloc's security and energy policies - and even its very raison d'etreThe EU has changed. There is no turning back. We have turned out the lights behind us and there is basically only one way."The words of the Danish politician and EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager at a conference in May neatly reflect the mood among the Brussels elite, taken aback at their own ability to shed EU bureaucratic torpor, defend Ukraine, embrace enlargement and move closer to fulfilling Ursula von der Leyen's ambition for the EU to become a geopolitical force". Continue reading...

Election could decide whether country sticks with liberal, pro-western line or begins to lean more towards RussiaVoting has started in a knife-edge election in Slovakia that could decide whether the country sticks with its liberal, pro-western line or abandons its staunch support for neighbouring Ukraine to lean more towards Moscow.After a virulent campaign that has included physical brawls and amid a wave of online disinformation, the populist, nationalist three-time prime minister Robert Fico and his Smer-SD party were neck and neck with the newcomers Progressive Slovakia heading into the vote, with PS just ahead in two of the final four opinion polls. Continue reading...

Saturday train services halted as Aslef drivers begin industrial action in long-running pay disputeRail passengers are facing another day of disruption as a strike by train drivers halts virtually all national rail services in England.Members of the Aslef union have started a 24-hour walkout in the long-running pay dispute, targeting the start of the Conservative party conference in Manchester. Continue reading...

Hundreds of events lined up for October, with focus on role black women have played in shaping British historyBlack History Month launches with hundreds of events planned across the UK in October, with celebrations focusing on the contributions of black women and the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush.First celebrated in the UK in October 1987, Black History Month has since morphed into a big cultural and political event to highlight the historical and contemporary contribution of black Britons. Continue reading...

Russian attack hits Ukrainian infrastructure in west; Putin reaffirms referendums in illegally annexed regions

Several people received minor injuries after the heritage train was involved in a shunting' incident, according to policeSeveral people were injured after two trains, one of which was the famous Flying Scotsman, collided at slow speed" in the Highlands of Scotland, police said.The crash happened at Aviemore railway station in the Cairngorms at 7.10pm on Friday. The station is home to Strathspey Railway, a heritage line that takes visitors on steam trains in northern Scotland. Continue reading...

Duane Keffe D' Davis, a former Los Angeles drug dealer, was indicted Friday for one count of murder with a deadly weaponLas Vegas police have arrested a man for the 1996 drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur, a long-awaited break for one of the most infamous unsolved murders in hip-hop history.Duane Keffe D" Davis, who has described himself as one of the last living witnesses of the shooting, was taken into custody early Friday morning after he was indicted by a grand jury for one count of murder with a deadly weapon in affiliation with a criminal gang, Marc DiGiacomo, the Clark county prosecutor, said in court on Friday. The 60-year-old was arrested while on a walk near his home in Henderson, a Las Vegas suburb. Continue reading...

NSW water police respond after reports of the incident off Cape Banks at La Perouse

Woman treated with antibiotics and hyperbaric oxygen therapy to survive infection by pathogen that causes blackleg disease in cattle and sheep

Pret a Manger's posh' cheese and pickle sandwich grabbed headlines for its 7.15 price tag, but it's not all gloomIt's not often that a cheese and pickle sandwich turns heads, but this week Pret a Manger's posh" version grabbed headlines after a tweet decrying its 7.15 price tag went viral.Although that included VAT for eating in, the social media post shone a spotlight on the rising cost of lunch on the go, as the soaring cost of ingredients has been passed on to consumers. Continue reading...

Schoolgirl and driver died after vehicle overturned on M53A 15-year-old schoolgirl and a bus driver have died after a motorway crash in Cheshire that left several other children in hospital.On Friday night the girl was named as Jessica Baker by Merseyside police. Earlier they said 58 people were involved in the incident, including the two fatalities. Continue reading...

Campaigners had warned against cutting back allowance amid reports PM was considering its removal for those not on pension creditNo 10 has denied Rishi Sunak will scrap the winter fuel allowance for most elderly people, after reports that he was looking at means testing the allowance.The prime minister was said to be considering cutting back on the allowances of 250 to 600 each winter in order to maintain the triple lock for pensions. Continue reading...

Speaker's proposed measure tanked by hard-right Republicans with less than 48 hours before government funding lapsesThe House Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, suffered another embarrassing defeat on Friday, after hard-right lawmakers tanked his stopgap funding bill that would have averted a federal shutdown on Sunday morning.McCarthy's proposed stopgap measure, which would have funded the government for another month while enacting severe spending cuts on most federal agencies, failed in a vote of 198 to 232, as 21 Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the legislation. Continue reading...

News follows earlier arrest of boy, 16A man in his 60s has been arrested by officers investigating the felling of the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland, police have said.The tree, next to Hadrian's Wall, was cut down overnight between Wednesday and Thursday in what detectives have called a deliberate act of vandalism".

Retiring chair of joint chiefs of staff says We take an oath to the constitution' not to a wannabe dictator' in farewell ceremonyRetiring as chair of the US joint chiefs of staff, the army general Mark Milley directed a parting shot at Donald Trump, the president he served but who he seemed to call a wannabe dictator".Speaking at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, Milley said of the US armed forces: We don't take an oath to a country. We don't take an oath to a tribe. We don't take an oath to a religion. Continue reading...

She became San Francisco mayor after an assassination but her last days in the Senate brought questions about age and infirmityDianne Feinstein was the oldest serving senator, and the longest-serving woman in the Senate at time of her death on Friday. At 90, she was a tenacious trailblazer, and a stalwart centrist - with a sweeping political career that arcs across immense transformations in Washington DC but also in her home state of California.It was a hard-won career that almost never was. In the late 70s, before she was senator, before she became San Francisco mayor, Feinstein's political ambitions had stagnated. After serving nine years on the board of supervisors, she had lost two bids for mayor. Her moderate agenda and centrism had isolated her from leftists and conservatives. By 1978, her husband had died of cancer, as had her father - and Feinstein, then 45, had told reporters she was ready to retire from politics. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage hereThe Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, said on Friday that very difficult questions" would need to be answered before the EU could start membership talks with Ukraine.EU countries are due to decide in December whether to allow Ukraine to begin accession negotiations, which would require the unanimous backing of all 27 members. Diplomats have said Hungary may be an obstacle. Continue reading...

Peace campaigner served 11 prison sentences over activism against nuclear disarmament and conflictPat Arrowsmith - the activist and co-founder of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) - has died at the age of 93.She was born to a middle-class family in Leamington Spa on 2 March 1930 and went on to study at Cheltenham Ladies College and the University of Cambridge. Her work as a peace campaigner began with protesting against the Vietnam war, before co-founding CND in 1958. Continue reading...

Escalating violence comes at a time when the economy is in tatters and the caretaker government powerlessThe scenes of horror pictured on Friday have become all too familiar in Pakistan. This time it was a twin attack. A procession to mark the birthday of the prophet Muhammad and a police station were both targeted by suicide bombers, killing almost 60 people and injuring hundreds more.No one has yet claimed responsibility, but suspicion among officials and analysts was directed towards Islamic State - Khorasan (IS-K), which has recently regrouped and revived its militant activities in Pakistan to devastating effect, and with little sign of being contained. Alongside a recent resurgence of its rival, the Pakistan Taliban, which has been behind dozens of deadly attacks over the past few months, the country's security situation continues to deteriorate to its worst in years. Continue reading...

Visitors caught trying to take pieces as crowd flock to site, while National Trust hope tree might regrow from stumpMembers of the public have been urged not to try to take branches from the felled Sycamore Gap tree as souvenirs. Some visitors have been caught by police attempting to take pieces of the tree, which belongs to the National Trust, from inside the police cordon.Visitors have flocked to the site to say goodbye to the landmark, which stood for more than 300 years in a small valley alongside Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland before being found chopped down on Thursday morning. Continue reading...

Sky reports Sunak is considering removing the winter fuel allowance - worth between 250 and 600 this winter - from most pensionersUK sanctions have been imposed on Russian officials involved in sham" elections in annexed Ukrainian territory, the Foreign Office has announced.Labour is currently on course to win a majority of 90 in a general election, according to polling published by the Times.Rishi Sunak's projected 196-seat tally would be the worst recorded by any Conservative leader since William Hague's 166 in 2001. Labour's 372 seats would give Sir Keir Starmer a comfortable working majority of 90, the party's biggest since 2001.Highlighting the Tories' vulnerabilities in their traditional southern heartlands, the Liberal Democrats would be returned with 36 seats and 10.8 per cent of the vote, a marked improvement on the 15 seats they hold at present. Continue reading...

Rights groups hope to bring end to discrimination they say has gone unaddressed by successive governmentsFrance must end the widespread racial profiling of people of black and north African heritage who are routinely stopped by police and asked to show their identity papers with no explanation, a lawyer for rights groups has argued at a historic court hearing in Paris.In the first class action of its kind against the French state, six French and international organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Justice Initiative, want French authorities to be found at fault for failing to prevent the widespread use of ethnic profiling. Continue reading...

Charity ADHD UK says NHS's failure to act before would be devastating for those living with the conditionDoctors in England have been told not to prescribe ADHD drugs to new patients because of a national shortage, with charities warning the supply problems are devastating for those living with the condition.According to a national patient safety alert from the Department of Health and Social Care, the shortages are down to a combination of manufacturing issues and an increased global demand, and could last until the end of the year. Continue reading...

Homes and land purchased to make way for line that now appears to be in doubt, as Rishi Sunak refuses to commit to itAlmost 600m of public money has already been spent buying up land and properties for HS2 in the north of England, despite uncertainty that the train line will ever get beyond Birmingham.Rishi Sunak repeatedly refused to commit to bringing HS2 to Manchester on Thursday, amid concerns that the project's cost could exceed 100bn, three times the original estimate. Continue reading...