World news | The Guardian

Bureau has predicted 50mm-100mm of falls for communities already suffering flooding after many months of drenching rain

Minister Clare O’Neil says health insurer was right not to pay ransom, even as hackers threatened to release more customer data to dark web

Union says voting papers going out to workers in frontline patient care and essential services in England and WalesUnite has announced that almost 10,000 of its NHS members are to be balloted in the coming days over strikes, in addition to thousands of other healthcare staff who have already been voting.The union, which represents 100,000 workers across the NHS, said voting papers were going out across 36 NHS trusts and organisations in England and Wales. Continue reading...

Two boys were trapped in the carpark gate – one died at the scene, while another was taken to hospital with serious injuries

Analysis shows former PM was responsible for half of the Treasury’s £60bn fiscal hole as chancellor prepares to announce cuts in Thursday’s budgetLiz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget cost the country a staggering £30bn – doubling the sum that the Treasury says will have to be raised by Jeremy Hunt this week in a huge programme of tax rises and spending cuts.The independent Resolution Foundation calculates that the Truss government was responsible for about £30bn of the fiscal hole which the Treasury puts at £60bn, and which Hunt will have to tackle in the autumn statement on Thursday. Continue reading...

Minister also reiterates Australia’s expectation that China use its influence with Vladimir Putin to end Russian invasion of Ukraine

Exclusive: Whistleblower’s recordings capture multiple offensive discussions between officers at Brisbane watch house

The first reporter to reach Mylove hears how special forces swept in and Russian troops blew up the local school before leavingAt 5am on Wednesday Serhii Melnikov heard a noise outside. The Russian soldiers who were living in the house opposite – number six, Shevchenko street – were packing up to leave. They had occupied the village of Mylove in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region for eight long months. Now they were off, as part of a humiliating pull-out from the right-bank of the Dnipro river and the city of Kherson.“Vladimir Putin said Russia would be here for ever. In the end they left in five minutes and ran away like goats,” Melnikov told the Observer, the first newspaper to reach Mylove since its liberation late on Thursday. He added: “Putin wanted to kill us. He’s ended up destroying his own country. Russia’s retreat from Kherson is an enormous failure.” Continue reading...

Subjects that attract fewer pupils at GCSE and A-level are in danger of being axedSubjects including German, French, art, drama and design technology could soon be shut off to many state school students as heads say they are being forced into cutting expensive and less popular lessons to address crippling deficits.The vast majority of English state schools expect to be in the red by the next school year, pushed under by enormous energy bills and an unfunded pay rise for teachers. Continue reading...

Member of influential British space-rock band also played in Sphynx, Inner City Unit and Space RitualNik Turner, the co-founder of the British space-rock band Hawkwind, has died aged 82.A statement on the saxophonist’s Facebook page said: “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Nik Turner – the Mighty Thunder Rider, who passed away peacefully at home on Thursday evening. Continue reading...

Colonial Egyptologists assumed the mummification process was to preserve the body after death. But new evidence asserts it was to steer the body towards divinityEgyptian mummies, long an object of modern fascination, seem to link us with the ancient past by preserving distinct human form. But this was not the true reason for the intricate process, a major new British exhibition will argue.The technique was instead a way of transforming dead dignitaries into a shape that the gods would accept. So, far from ensuring the survival of individual features, mummification aimed to make the occupant of a tomb match a divine formula. Continue reading...

Council had warned family of Freya Hunter, who has cerebral palsy and relies on oxygen, about high bills to comeThe actor Kate Winslet has donated £17,000 to a woman facing a sky-high energy bill to operate her daughter’s life support equipment.Carolynne Hunter was warned by Clackmannanshire council, in Scotland, that her bill could hit the high sum next year. Continue reading...

Comedian extends standup tour to late 2024 as hundreds of thousands queue online to secure seatsHundreds of thousands of Britons have been queuing online to try to buy Peter Kay tickets, with the comedian having put on more than 20 extra dates to meet the demand.After thousands of pre-sale tickets for Peter Kay Live sold on Thursday and Friday, the Manchester Evening News reported that up to 2 million people had queued on Saturday. Continue reading...

Days after nurses vote to strike, Sir Mark Rowley warns of officers being distracted by health-related callsPolice will be forced to provide crucial care and health assistance which will hamper efforts to fight crime during public sector strikes, Britain’s most senior officer has warned.The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, claimed officers were having to spend more time keeping an eye on mentally ill and vulnerable patients in A&E departments instead of catching criminals. Continue reading...

Town halls and finance firms say they support LGBT rights but send money to World Cup host where homosexuality is illegalThe rainbow flag flew above the Bourne Corn Exchange as South Kesteven council embraced LGBT history month.A year after voting against such a gesture the Lincolnshire local authority declared itself pleased “to celebrate and recognise the […] rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people”, hoisting the flag outside its headquarters in 2019. Continue reading...

Health authorities working with Home Office to provide vaccinations and antibiotics at Kent facilityPeople at the Manston asylum centre will be vaccinated against diphtheria after dozens of cases of the highly contagious disease were confirmed in England, health authorities have said.The minister for immigration, Robert Jenrick, said on 1 November that four cases had been identified at the site in Kent, but insisted those involved had arrived at Manston already infected. Continue reading...

Graffiti artist appears to confirm presence in war-torn country after unveiling latest work on InstagramBanksy appears to have confirmed he is in Ukraine after revealing his latest artwork on Instagram.Speculation had been mounting that the anonymous graffiti artist was in the war-torn country after a series of murals appeared in the town of Borodianka, near Kyiv. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Report reveals two sides of 2019 coalition are starkly divided over economy and cost of living policiesRishi Sunak will struggle to retain the support of both wings of the Conservative party’s 2019 coalition after next week’s autumn statement, with “red wall” and “blue wall” voters starkly divided over what they want on the economy and the cost of living.A report by the thinktank More in Common reveals the prime minister is winning back blue wall voters who had abandoned the Tories under Boris Johnson over Brexit and Partygate, with the same proportion (45%) as in 2019 now saying they would back the party, despite a 16-point swing against the Tories among the wider public. Continue reading...

Crucial hours wasted debating who should rescue dinghy carrying 34 passengers, ITV documentary revealsUK and French emergency coastguard services spent crucial hours passing the buck about which of them should rescue a stricken small boat trying to cross the Channel last November, instead of dispatching a crew to save the 34 people onboard, a documentary reveals.Most of the migrants subsequently drowned in the worst maritime disaster in the Channel for 30 years.The Crossing airs on Monday 14 November on ITV at 10.45pm. Continue reading...

Australian prime minister commits to 30 more Bushmasters as Dmytro Kuleba asks for help with energy needsUkraine’s foreign affairs minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has declared his country will prevail in the war with Russia, and he has told the Australian prime minister “when victory comes, it will be our joint success”.Having landed in Phnom Penh on Friday night, Anthony Albanese opened his summit season program in Cambodia on Saturday with a meeting with Kuleba on the sidelines of the Asean-Australia summit. Continue reading...

Officials drawn from AFP and the Australian Signals Directorate to form ‘joint standing operation’ against cybercriminal syndicates

Labour said Jack McKenna was leaving of his own accord and with ‘clean record’A former senior aide to Angela Rayner is believed to have been given a significant payout by Labour after the party acknowledged there had been “misleading and unauthorised leaks” about him to the media.Labour said Jack McKenna, the former communications chief to the party’s deputy leader, was leaving of his own accord and with a “clean record” and that Keir Starmer wishes him well for the future. Continue reading...

Video apparently shows crowds marching in Zahedan to condemn 30 September massacre of activistsThousands of Iranians protested in the restive south-east to mark a 30 September crackdown by security forces known as “Bloody Friday” as the country’s rulers faced persistent nationwide unrest.Amnesty International said security forces unlawfully killed at least 66 people in September after firing at protesters in Zahedan, capital of flashpoint Sistan and Baluchistan province. Authorities said dissidents had provoked the clashes. Continue reading...

Deputy ambassador summoned after Met police warns of credible threats to journalists reporting on Iran protestsThe Foreign Office has summoned the Iranian deputy ambassador over allegations that two London-based journalists have faced death threats from Tehran-backed agents over the reporting of the country’s protests.The news channel Iran International took precautionary steps to protect its reporters after being informed by the Metropolitan police earlier this week that it believes there were credible threats to the journalists’ lives. The two reporters have not been named nor the precise threats detailed. Continue reading...

Quarantine periods shortened by two days but Beijing government ‘will not waver’ from strict zero-Covid policyChina has eased some of its strict Covid rules in an apparent attempt to alleviate economic pressures and cool escalating discontent, though authorities insist their “war” against the pandemic remains unchanged.The changes include shortening quarantine periods by two days for close contacts of infected people and for travellers arriving in the country, as well as scrapping a rule that penalises airlines for bringing in too many cases. Continue reading...

Those living in the south-west, north-west and London most likely to have care disrupted, research also suggestsUp to 3 million patients in England could have their surgery delayed because of the looming NHS-wide strikes by nurses, new research shows.A total of 2.99 million people are waiting to have an operation at the dozens of hospitals in England where members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will start striking next month. Continue reading...

Widespread showers and storms forecast for Sunday could cause rapid river rises and flash flooding in parts of NSW and Victoria

UN calls for international action as regime announces public trials for protesters and Iranian lawmakers seek harsh punishmentThree weeks after he was violently arrested at his home by Iran’s security forces, Saman Yasin, a young Kurdish artist and rapper, is facing execution. He has been charged with waging war against God after posting his support for anti-regime protesters on social media.His fate, which will be decided in the coming days by the Iranian courts, could be shared by thousands of other young protesters being held in detention as human rights organisations warn that the regime may unleash a bloody campaign of revenge in an attempt to quash continuing protests. Continue reading...

Tehran’s supply of drones to Moscow deepens a collaboration between two unlikely alliesWhen a Russian plane arrived in Iran with €140m in cash and a booty of captured western weapons, an exchange for Iranian drones, it marked a new phase in a seven-year alliance between two unlikely bedfellows.The delivery of cash and weapons was reportedly made in August, after Russia received its first deliveries of drones to support its war in Ukraine. It was Iran’s first known contribution to the Russian offensive in Europe. But the bond between the two countries had been forged on another continent ravaged by war, the Middle East. Continue reading...

Mother of murdered sisters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry says unless Mark Rowley makes changes in force she is ‘coming for him’Women’s safety campaigner Mina Smallman has warned the new Metropolitan police commissioner that she is giving him 100 days to address sexism and racism in the police force and “unless things have changed I’ll be coming for him”.Smallman was thrust into the public eye after criticising the Met for failings in handling the case of the murder of her two daughters, Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, in a satanic ritual during the pandemic. Continue reading...

Exclusive: John Gomperts returned ancient objects worth up to £80,000 he had inherited from his grandmotherAn American man has returned 19 antiquities to the four countries they came from after reading reports in the Guardian about the repatriation of looted antiquities.John Gomperts, who lives in Washington, realised that the ancient pieces worth up to £80,000 – including two 7th- and 8th-century Cypriot vases – that he had inherited from his grandmother could have come from illicit excavations because they have no collecting history. Continue reading...

Protesters have thrown soup and glued themselves to famous artworks around the world, prompting response by high-profile galleries including Moma and the LouvreClimate activists targeting masterpieces around the world are not fully aware of how delicate the artworks are, the directors of almost 100 galleries have warned, saying they have been “deeply shaken” by the attacks.This year, famous artworks have been attacked by protesters from various activist groups demanding action on the climate crisis. The incidents include a German environmental group throwing mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting in a Potsdam museum, activists from Just Stop Oil throwing tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London, a group splashing pea soup on a van Gogh masterpiece in Rome, Extinction Rebellion campaigners targeting a Picasso painting in Melbourne, and activists gluing themselves to artworks by Botticelli, Boccioni, Van Gogh and other old masters. Continue reading...

No one else was involved, ACT police say, with complex investigation ongoing

Commissioner Reece Kershaw says AFP has ‘significant runs on the scoreboard when it comes to bringing overseas offenders back to face justice’

Former NSW premier tells parliamentary committee of ‘limited discussion’ about sight lines at 2015 meeting

Appointment of veteran energy executive was announced during radio interview on Friday before minister Matt Kean had been informed

Three guest panellists give their verdict on how the parties performed in the second week of the 2022 state election campaign

Gatto had vowed to fight ‘tooth and nail all the way’ after losing defamation battle over report he says falsely implied he was a hitman and murderer

The AirDrop function was being used to anonymously share digital leaflets with strangers, but has now been restricted on iPhones in ChinaApple has limited filesharing features on iPhones in China, a month after reports that anti-government protesters were using the function to share digital leaflets with strangers.Under the update to the AirDrop function released on Thursday, iPhone users in China can only opt in to receive files from non contacts during a 10-minute window before it automatically shuts off. The feature did not previously have a time limit. Continue reading...

Former chancellor says he warned Truss she would be out in two months if she ‘carried on like this’Kwasi Kwarteng has revealed he told Liz Truss to “slow down” and warned her she would “have two months” if she continued at the same rate with her radical mini-budget measures.Kwarteng, who was sacked as chancellor last month by the then-prime minister after less than six weeks in the job, also criticised the “mad” decision to dismiss him for implementing her tax-cutting agenda. Continue reading...

Dive team discovered space vehicle ‘artifact’ from 1986 explosion that killed all seven astronauts onboard, including civilian teacherNasa has confirmed the recovery of debris from the Challenger spaceship that exploded less than two minutes after its launch and killed all seven members onboard in 1986.In Thursday’s announcement, the space agency said the “artifact” was discovered by a film crew that was in search of aircraft from the second world war off the east coast of Florida. Continue reading...

Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose party helped prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu back to power, praises Meir Kahane at memorialA far-right Israeli lawmaker, whose surging popularity helped propel former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu back to power in last week’s general election, has delivered a glowing tribute at a memorial event for an extremist rabbi assassinated in 1990.Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose ultra-nationalist Jewish Power party emerged as the second biggest group in Netanyahu’s bloc and the third largest in the country, praised the late racist rabbi Meir Kahane in a speech at the memorial in Jerusalem on Thursday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Business secretary acts after Elon Musk announces sudden job cuts including staff at British operationsThe business secretary, Grant Shapps, has written to Twitter to ensure it is complying with UK law after the US company’s new owner, Elon Musk, announced that hundreds of its British staff would be fired.Musk took control of the social media platform at the end of October, and within days launched deep job cuts, with as many as 3,700 redundancies expected worldwide. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Call for FSM income cap to be raised as children in England come to school with mouldy bread or even nothing​​• How families on the breadline are ineligible for FSMs

New analysis of weather data suggests potential for severe flash flooding has increased far beyond predictions

Firm messaged German customers to suggest they ‘commemorate’ Nazi atrocity by eating its foodKFC has apologised for a push notification sent out via its app inviting German customers to celebrate the anniversary of the Nazi Kristallnacht pogrom against Jews by ordering fried chicken and cheese.It sent the message to its customers on Wednesday, the 84thanniversary of the Night of Broken Glass in which Nazis led gangs in the torching, vandalising and ransacking of Jewish shops, businesses and synagogues across Germany. The event is seen as the beginning of the Nazis’ systematic attempt to annihilate Europe’s Jewish population. Continue reading...

Norbord Europe employee was asked to clear out hot ash from a gas duct over a wood dryerA chipboard firm has been fined more than £2m after a worker at its Scottish plant died from catastrophic burns sustained while cleaning hot ash from machinery.Norbord Europe, one of the world’s largest chipboard makers, was found guilty of two health and safety breaches at its plant in Cowie, Stirlingshire, in a unanimous verdict by a jury at Perth sheriff court in early November. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more on this story hereAccording to Pat Leahy, political editor of the Irish Times, the Irish government is doubtful about the prospect of a breakthrough in the coming weeks in the talks on the Northern Ireland protocol.In his Sky News interview Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, also suggested that large number of politicians in parliament are voting for Matt Hancock to perform “grim” tasks on I’m A Celebrity. My colleague Aubrey Allegretti has the story here. Continue reading...

Mother of teenager murdered in 1993 racist attack talks of rawness, guilt and resolve to fightDoreen Lawrence, who has campaigned tirelessly for justice and equality since her son was killed in an unprovoked racist attack in 1993, has spoken candidly for the first time about finding her inner strength after the brutal murder that seized Britain.In a BBC Maestro course released on Thursday, Lady Lawrence reflects on being thrust into the spotlight and having to publicly mourn her son Stephen, then 18, who was stabbed while waiting for a bus in Eltham, south London, nearly 30 years ago. Continue reading...

Criminal trials may not start before 2025 and government pledges have not yet been delivered