World news | The Guardian

Fewer shoppers visited high streets, retail parks and shopping centres last week, figures showFootfall at retail outlets in the UK fell by 2.3% last week as economic turmoil continues to squeeze household budgets, figures show.Research by the retail analysts Springboard found high streets, retail parks, and shopping centres had fewer visits than in the week before. Continue reading...

Jim Chalmers’ first budget to reveal $42bn improvement to bottom line across forward estimates but conditions will deteriorate after two years

The lawsuit relates to a song from the pair’s album 18 which shares lines with a poem documented from an inmate in Missouri State PenitentiaryJohnny Depp and Jeff Beck are suing the professor and folklorist Bruce Jackson over his allegations that the duo’s song Sad Motherfuckin’ Parade on their collaborative album 18 plagiarises a poem written by an incarcerated man.In August, Jackson accused Depp and Beck of taking lines from the poem which he documented in his 1974 book Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me. Various lines appear in both works: “I’m raggedy, I know, but I have no stink / God bless the lady that’ll buy me a drink” and “What that funky motherfucker really needs, child, is a bath.” Continue reading...

Having stood in for Marlon Brando to refuse his Oscar, the actor and activist championed Native American rightsSacheen Littlefeather, the activist who famously stood in for Marlon Brando to refuse the best actor Oscar in 1973, faked Native American ancestry, her family have said.In an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Littlefeather’s sisters Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi said that their sister’s claim to have Apache and Yaqui ancestry through her father was “a lie” and “a fantasy”. Continue reading...

Concerns far-right government could try to justify homophobia or tamper with civil unions lawHolding a rainbow flag, Marco Marras walked on stage at the start of a rally being held by Giorgia Meloni in Sardinia during her election campaign to confront her about gay rights. As security men moved to shoo him away, the student told the Brothers of Italy leader, now Italy’s first female prime minister, he wanted to be able to get married and raise a family in his own country. Meloni replied: “You want a lot of things … everyone wants things; you already have civil unions.”If gay people in Italy, a country that regularly ranks in reports as being among the worst in western Europe for LGBTQ+ rights, had already understood that privileges so far gained were threadbare, Meloni made it explicitly clear they would not get any better under her government. Continue reading...

Former chancellor is leading the race after Boris Johnson’s withdrawal from contention

Australia joins Azerbaijan, Rwanda and Ukraine among nations to fail to provide full access after ratifying agreement

Country’s third PM in a year could be announced on Monday but process could run until Friday

Laws that could disappear include ban on animal testing, workers’ rights and environmental protectionsLeading lawyers have sounded the alarm over Jacob Rees-Mogg’s proposals for post-Brexit legislation that could result in 2,400 laws disappearing overnight – including a ban on animal testing for cosmetics, workers’ rights and environmental protections.Lawyers including one former UK government legal official who designed the concept of EU-retained law for Theresa May branded the move as “anti-democratic” and “completely barking”. Continue reading...

October is the third month this year to see Sydney rain records tumble, with more falls forecast across eastern Australia this week

RWA claims state’s racing industry will suffer after corporate wagers deprioritise Queensland races to mitigate widened tax

Campaign celebrates nursing as varied and fulfilling, but union says only higher pay will make lasting differenceThe NHS is launching an effort to recruit tens of thousands of nurses to help fill the record number of vacancies that low pay, Covid and heavy workloads have created across the service.A multimedia blitz will try to raise nursing’s profile as a worthwhile career by featuring patients who benefited from nurses’ skills and dedication. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Linda Burney’s office suggested basketballer might mention ‘amazing hospitality’ of Indigenous Australians in August press conference

Exclusive: Guardian hears of ordeal in first major interview given by any of the women freed in last week’s prisoner swapIt was like something from the cold war. After five months in the most notorious jail in occupied Ukraine, Alina Panina, 25, had found herself, without explanation, at the foot of a bridge over a river in no man’s land with 107 fellow female Ukrainian prisoners of war.Behind Panina lay Russian-occupied territory and her experiences of the siege of Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks, the subsequent surrender and then captivity in Olenivka prison in Donetsk. There she was witness to the aftermath of an explosion that killed 53 male prisoners, a blast said by Kyiv to have been engineered by Moscow to silence the victims of torture. Continue reading...

Greens senator’s move heads off hostile referral by Coalition over possible perceived conflict of interest due to former role on law enforcement committee

Antony Blinken joins Ukraine and UK in dismissing Moscow’s claim, saying the world will ‘see through’ any attempt to escalate conflict

The UK newspaper front pages cover the latest in twist in the Tory leadership battleBoris Johnson’s sudden exit from the Tory leadership race fills the UK front pages on Monday.The Guardian goes with, “‘Not the right time’: Johnson out of race to lead the Tories”. The paper writes that the “Former PM struggled for backing” and that his “withdrawal leaves Sunak as frontrunner in battle for No 10”. Continue reading...

The 12-person jury asked if there were ‘time expectations’ on reaching a verdict but was told by the judge to take as long as they needed

Watchdog says phishing email enabled hackers to steal personal information of 113,000 employeesBritain’s data watchdog has fined the construction group Interserve £4.4m after a cyber-attack that enabled hackers to steal the personal and financial information of up to 113,000 employees.The attack occurred when Interserve ran an outsourcing business and was designated a “strategic supplier to the government with clients including the Ministry of Defence”. Bank account details, national insurance numbers, ethnic origin, sexual orientation and religion were among the personal information compromised. Continue reading...

Senior figures holding meetings with leaders of UK’s biggest firms as they strive to be party of government

Woman in her 50s found dead and woman in her 30s injured in NewhamPolice are hunting for a man after a double stabbing in east London left one woman dead and another injured.A woman in her 50s was found killed and a woman in her 30s was injured at a home in Newham, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

Police and locals help firefighters attempt to put out fire that was spread by strong winds overnightTanzanian authorities said on Sunday that a fire on Mount Kilimanjaro was mostly under control after flames burned Africa’s tallest mountain for more than 24 hours.The blaze began on Friday evening near the Karanga site used by climbers ascending the famous peak, at about 4,000 metres altitude on its south side. Continue reading...

Ex-chancellor announces candidacy for Tory leadership contest as allies of Boris Johnson say he is planning to run

Rubens Villar Coelho, suspected of ‘leading and financing’ armed group, to await trial under house arrestA man suspected of involvement in the killing of the British journalist Dom Phillips and the Brazilian Indigenous activist Bruno Pereira has been released from jail, according to reports from the Amazon region.Rubens Villar Coelho, known by the alias “Colombia”, was set free on Friday, although news of his release came 24 hours later. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Joint venture with Centrica is aimed ultimately at reducing carbon intensity at the siteHydrogen will be injected into an emergency gas-fired power station for the first time in a pilot backed by the owner of British Gas.Centrica has invested in an industry joint venture which will trial using hydrogen at an existing “peaking plant” at its Brigg station in Lincolnshire, the Guardian can reveal. Continue reading...

Country ‘fed up’ with leadership turmoil, says Starmer as he pitches Labour as party of ‘sound money’

Xi unveiled as general secretary of ruling Communist Party, tilting China back towards one-man rule after decades of power-sharing among elite

On Monday, 66-year-old is to be honoured in Athens for his actions on night both tragic and awe-inspiringMichalis Protopsaltis does not see himself as a hero. When the news of the shipwreck came through, he did, he says, what any man in his position would do. The construction company owner dispatched a crane to the Kythira clifftop and, one by one, began saving the 80 Afghan immigrants scrambling for dear life in the waters below.Three hours elapsed before the last refugee – originally bound for Italy on a yacht that had set sail from the Turkish town of İzmir – was winched to the top. Continue reading...

Survey finds pro-China sentiment has collapsed in many nations while positive opinion of US has reboundedChina’s reputation has deteriorated rapidly over the last four years, particularly in the west, and a large share of global opinion would back some form of international help for Taiwan if Beijing tries to take the island by force, according to a survey.It comes as Xi Jinping warned of “dangerous storms” on the horizon as he was confirmed on Sunday as Chinese leader for a precedent-breaking third term, and as Washington warns that Beijing is accelerating plans to annex the island. Continue reading...

Leading Eurosceptic Steve Baker backs Rishi Sunak for Tory leadership, saying Johnson was ‘bound to implode’

An introduction to the loyal Xi acolytes on the Politburo Standing Committee who will now shape Xi’s vision for ChinaChina’s leader, Xi Jinping, claimed his third term in power this weekend, and swept men from rival factions out of the Politburo Standing Committee, the seven-strong nucleus of political power in ChinaIt is now packed with men – there has never been a woman on the PSC – who are loyal Xi acolytes, in what one analyst described as “maximum Xi”. Continue reading...

Benjamin Netanyahu’s chances of returning to office in this week’s elections depend on alliance with far-rightEveryone in the small courtroom on the second floor of Jerusalem’s district court is tired of straining their necks to look at the decade-old receipts for whiskey, cognac and cigars displayed on a screen. Even the key witness in one of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s three corruption trials, is clearly bored with answering questions about how often her boss used to send expensive presents to Israel’s long-time leader.The 73-year-old’s absence hangs over the proceedings in much the same way his pugnacious brand of politics haunts Israeli public life. While the panel of judges peered at slide after slide of photocopied invoices on that warm day in September, the subject of their investigation was already out on the campaign trail, executing his comeback. Continue reading...

Recruits in pilot scheme have been taken from chains in charge of facilities deemed unsatisfactoryManagers from some of the largest private children’s home chains in the UK have been asked to carry out inspections for Ofsted, despite those groups owning numerous homes that are deemed unsatisfactory.The Observer has discovered that Ofsted, which oversees standards in children’s social care, has recruited staff from the Outcomes First Group and the Keys Group to inspect homes as part of a pilot. Analysis of inspection data in Ofsted’s latest annual review of social care reveals 20 homes run by both firms have been rated as less than good. Continue reading...

Government has not finalised process with the telco for passports to be replaced for free after 100,000 numbers were released

With the Conservative party bitterly divided, the leader of the Commons is seen as a unity candidate

Move comes ahead of expected advance by Ukrainian troops to recapture the city

Exclusive: over 220 unaccompanied children revealed as missing from hotels funded by the departmentMore than 220 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are missing from hotels funded by the Home Office, prompting claims that the chaos-stricken government department is presiding over a “catastrophic child protection failure”.Ministers have admitted that the Home Office has no idea of the whereabouts of 222 vulnerable children it was meant to be protecting. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson is said to be keen to succeed his successor, Liz Truss. Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt are also understood to be in the running. Here are the odds bookmakers are giving on each candidate Continue reading...

Move is another sign of kingdom’s aggressive crackdown on any whiff of dissent posted on social mediaAn American citizen has been sentenced to 16 years in prison in Saudi Arabia for tweeting critically about the Saudi regime, in another sign of the kingdom’s aggressive crackdown on any whiff of dissent posted on social media.Saad Ibrahim Almadi, 72, a dual US-Saudi national, was arrested in November 2021 upon landing in Riyadh for what was supposed to be a two-week stay in his native country for a work and personal trip. Continue reading...

Analysis: Should he succeed in making a comeback, the former prime minister will have few tools available to overcome Britain’s problemsIf Boris Johnson secures a place on the final ballot to be Tory leader and party members make him prime minister again, the recently suntanned MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip will find himself in a situation that is unrecognisable from the post-Brexit, pre-pandemic era that marked the high point of his three years and 44 days in No 10.In January 2020, Britain was poised to benefit from pent-up demand, especially from the business community, held back by four years of uncertainty about the UK’s relationship with the European Union. Continue reading...

People are already unplugging fridges, washing clothes by hand and skipping meals – with worse to come this winter, Citizens Advice warnsThe number of UK households in arrears on their energy bills soared to record levels in the second quarter of this year, with more than two million behind on their electricity payments.Data from the energy regulator Ofgem shows that at the end of June, 2,347,511 households were behind on their electricity bills and 1,858,585 on their gas bills. Both totals rose by about a quarter in just three months, and by almost two-thirds since the end of 2020. Continue reading...

Far-right Brothers of Italy leader is now in charge of navigating economic crisis – and she’s wasting no timeFrom humble beginnings in Rome, Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s first female prime minister, has spent three decades forging her path to the pinnacle of government, with a steely determination that has stirred admiration even in some of her detractors.But the leader of Brothers of Italy, a party with neofascist origins, is still a largely ambiguous figure now in charge of steering Italy through one of its most delicate periods, while keeping check on a cantankerous coalition. Continue reading...

A frail-looking Hu seemed reluctant to leave the front row in Beijing’s Great Hall, with no explanation given for his departure

Patel says Johnson has mandate to deliver manifesto and ‘proven track record getting the big decisions right’

Lyrics were in collection of artwork, posters and documents sold at auction for total of £354,567A sheet of handwritten lyrics by the Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon has sold at auction for more than £50,000 in a special sale of memorabilia from the infamous UK punk band.The page features original working lyrics to two of the band’s hit singles, Holidays in the Sun and Submission, which are believed to have been written by Lydon, known as Johnny Rotten, in 1977. Continue reading...

Actor had been appearing in a production of Nine Night at Nottingham PlayhouseJosephine Melville, the actor best known for her work on EastEnders, has died backstage at a theatre after a performance.Melville had been appearing as Aunt Maggie in a production of Nine Night at Nottingham Playhouse. Continue reading...

The updated security agreement aimed at sending a message to China will see Japanese troops train with their Australian counterparts

Move will help up to 150 patients a year whose condition has not responded positively to anti-seizure drugsUp to 150 people a year with epilepsy will have a potentially life-changing new form of surgery on the part of their brain that is causing their seizures, in an NHS initiative.NHS England is making available a “world-leading” fibre-optic laser beam surgery that would let epilepsy sufferers avoid having to undergo neurosurgery, which is much more invasive. Continue reading...

Flight victims’ relatives say it would be a ‘miracle’ if former separatist leader finally faced justice