World news | The Guardian

Negotiations with leftist guerrillas in Caracas are part of President Gustavo Petro’s promise to bring ‘total peace’Negotiators from the Colombian government and the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group have begun fresh peace talks, the first major step in President Gustavo Petro’s efforts to end nearly 60 years of war.Petro, a former member of the M-19 insurgency who took office in August, has promised to bring “total peace” to Colombia by negotiating with rebels and crime factions involved in drug trafficking and illegal mining. Continue reading...

New Earth Theatre said ‘damaging tropes, misogyny and racism’ in show contradict its valuesA touring theatre company has pulled a play from the Sheffield Crucible because of the venue’s decision to also stage Miss Saigon, a musical often criticised for its portrayal of the Vietnam war and Vietnamese people.In a statement, New Earth Theatre, a company of British east and south-east Asian (BESEA) artists and co-producers Storyhouse said: “Miss Saigon remains a very contentious musical since its release over 30 years ago … The damaging tropes, misogyny and racism inherent in the show completely contradict [our] values and beliefs.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Source says MoJ permanent secretary made move to prevent incident from escalating into formal complaintDominic Raab behaved so badly in a meeting with the Home Office during his first stint as justice secretary that his department’s top official had to personally apologise to counterparts afterwards, the Guardian has been told.Whitehall sources said the deputy prime minister, who is facing two official complaints over alleged bullying, had acted “so badly and inappropriately” at a high-level meeting earlier this year that the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) was forced to call senior officials of the then home secretary, Priti Patel, to express regret. Continue reading...

Move comes amid fears war damage to infrastructure too severe for civilians in newly liberated areas to survive

Ukrainian president makes appeal to Nato members; Russia’s state-run atomic energy agency warns of risk of nuclear accident. This live blog is now closed

Campaigners say poorest people will suffer most as NHS is ‘neglected and private practice becomes the norm’Rishi Sunak is registered with a private GP practice that guarantees that all patients with urgent concerns about their health will be seen “on the day”.The west London clinic used by the prime minister charges £250 for a half-hour consultation and, unlike most NHS GPs across the country, offers appointments in the evenings and at weekends, as well as consultations by email or phone that cost up to £150. Continue reading...

Move comes after lawyers and MPs raised concerns about charitable status of Global Warming Policy FoundationThe Charity Commission has confirmed that it is reviewing a complaint about the Global Warming Policy Foundation after lawyers and MPs formally raised concerns about its charitable status.GWPF exists to question policy around the climate crisis, and was set up by former Conservative chancellor Nigel Lawson, who has said that climate change is not a threat, but “happening very gently at a fraction of a degree per decade, which is something we can perfectly well live with”. Continue reading...

Revelations that vast majority were instead given written warnings will raise fresh concerns about the forceScotland Yard has sacked only 10 of the 412 police officers investigated for their allegedly abusive use of WhatsApp or social media sites such as Facebook in the past five years.The vast majority of the officers disciplined for their conduct were instead given written warnings while others were put on “reflective learning practice” or given “management advice”. Continue reading...

Coroner says delay ‘significantly reduced’ Tony Reedman’s chances of survival after strokeA coroner has concluded that a two-and-a-half-hour wait for an ambulance significantly reduced the chances of a holidaymaker in Cornwall surviving a stroke, and blamed the social care crisis for a series of similar cases in the far south-west of Britain.If the ambulance had reached Tony Reedman, 54, within the target time of 18 minutes, he would have had had a much better chance of responding to treatment, the assistant coroner for Cornwall, Guy Davies, said on Monday. Continue reading...

Janusz Waluś murdered head of communist party in 1993, risking outbreak of political violence before first multiracial electionsSouth Africa’s top court has ordered the release on parole of the man convicted of assassinating anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani, a murder that threatened to plunge the country into political violence before its transition to democracy.Janusz Waluś, 69, killed Hani, a hugely popular leader of the Communist party, a year before South Africa’s first multiracial elections. He was sentenced to life in prison and his applications to be released on parole have been rejected by several justice ministers. Continue reading...

Snowstorm, worst since 2014, closed schools and forced Buffalo Bills to relocate game due to massive 77in lake-effect snowfallJoe Biden is sending federal aid to western New York to help state and local authorities clean up from the massive storm that dumped as much as six feet of snow in western and northern parts of the state, the White House announced on Monday.The emergency declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief in 11 counties hit by the lake-effect snowstorm on Friday and Saturday. Continue reading...

Charlie Cornish says departure from EU has harmed UK aviation sector’s ability to recruit workers

Rescue operation under way after magnitude-5.6 quake triggers landslides and causes buildings to collapseAt least 162 people have been killed after a magnitude-5.6 earthquake struck Indonesia’s main island of Java, triggering landslides and causing buildings to collapse.The US Geological Survey said the quake, which struck late in the afternoon, was centred in the Cianjur region of West Java province at a depth of 6.2 miles (10km). Continue reading...

Trust that runs historic building falls into liquidation citing ‘unpredictable and below-forecasts’ visitor numbersNottingham Castle has closed its doors to the public after the trust that runs it fell into liquidation, a year after a £33m revamp of the site failed to bring in expected visitor numbers.In a statement published on Monday morning, Nottingham Castle Trust said it was “saddened and hugely disappointed” to be closing. It added that visitors were “significantly below” the 300,000 a year projected after a three-year renovation. Continue reading...

World Cup footballers did not sing before match against England in apparent show of support for protesters back home

Nearly 200 jobs at risk as Iceland Seafood says Grimsby no longer ‘a strategic fit’A fish processing facility in Grimsby employing almost 200 workers is under threat of closure after its owner said Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic had made it too challenging to operate.Iceland Seafood said the site at Grimsby was no longer “a strategic fit” after buying the facility in 2018, and that it would focus on its other European facilities for processing. Continue reading...

In high court case that could set precedent for millions, Tanya O’Carroll alleges owner Meta is breaking UK data lawsA human rights campaigner is suing Facebook’s owner in the high court, claiming the company is disregarding her right to object against the collection of her personal data.Tanya O’Carroll has launched a lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta alleging it has breached UK data laws by failing to respect her right to demand Facebook stop collecting and processing her data. Facebook generates revenue from building profiles of users and matching them with advertisers who direct ads at people targeting their specific interests and backgrounds. Continue reading...

Lawyers for 23-year-old who left UK to join Islamic State in 2015 challenge ‘hasty’ decision to revoke citizenshipShamima Begum, who left Britain as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State (IS) in Syria, was likely to have been the victim of child trafficking and sexual exploitation, a court has heard.Lawyers acting for the 23-year-old began a new appeal on Monday against the removal of her British citizenship at a hearing of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac). Continue reading...

Cristina Scuccia, who wowed judges in 2014 contest, explains decision to leave nunhood on talkshowA nun who became a singing sensation after winning Italy’s version of The Voice has stunned TV viewers again after announcing that she has kicked the habit and is now a waiter in Spain.Sister Cristina Scuccia, from Sicily, shocked judges, including the late Raffaella Carrà, during her blind audition for the show in 2014, giving a rapturous performance of the Alicia Keys’ hit song No One. After realising the incredible voice belonged to a nun, Carrà, who died last year, said: “I couldn’t speak for several minutes.” Continue reading...

Campaigners hit out after teams including England and Wales say players will not wear armband at World Cup in Qatar

Church issues guidance saying it ‘may be best’ to avoid planning Christmas services on Sunday 18 DecemberIn an effort to avoid a potential clash between the Three Lions and the three kings, the Church of England is advising vicars to reschedule Christmas carol services due to be held on World Cup final day.The guidance to clergy, under the heading “Making the most of the World Cup final”, warns of the possible difficulties of holding a carol service on Sunday 18 December. The Sunday before Christmas is a traditional time for afternoon or evening festive services. Continue reading...

Major security operation continuing in Northern Irish city after hijacking on Sunday nightA group of masked and armed men forced a delivery driver to transport a suspicious device to a police station in Derry in Northern Ireland, triggering a security alert and evacuations.The hijackers commandeered a grey Ford Mondeo in the Currynierin area of the city on Sunday night and ordered the driver to drive 2.5 miles to Waterside police station, where he abandoned the car and raised the alarm. Continue reading...

Together with his wife Daniele Huillet, Straub was responsible for a string of challenging political filmsAnti-conformist French film-maker Jean-Marie Straub died peacefully at his home in Switzerland on Sunday, the Swiss National Film Archive announced. He was 89.Straub was a peer of many greats from the French New Wave and received the Locarno film festival’s lifetime achievement award in 2017. Continue reading...

Airline chief Shai Weiss attacks airport’s proposal to increase landing charges by 120%Virgin Atlantic has withdrawn its support for Heathrow’s third runway plans amid an ongoing row over the cost of flying from Britain’s biggest airport.The carrier had been one of the most prominent airline backers of expansion before the pandemic. But on Monday its chief executive, Shai Weiss, hit out at Heathrow’s proposal to increase landing charges by 120% and called on the aviation regulator, the CAA, to reform a “broken” system and “pay closer attention to the abuse of power by a de facto monopolistic airport”. Continue reading...

Detectives say Keith Simms, who died earlier this year, was behind 31 attacks between 1985 and 2001 with DNA used to track the predatorAlmost 40 years after his first attack, New South Wales police have identified a serial rapist who terrorised women in Sydney’s eastern suburbs for decades.DNA testing has revealed the culprit to be a 66-year-old man who died from kidney failure in February and who has been named in media reports as Keith Simms from Sydney’s La Perouse. Continue reading...

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk backs the beleaguered police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, to keep her job and implement reforms

As with officers who engaged in serious sexism or racism, the force’s entire leadership have been told to do better in the future

Billboard operator says it captured ‘imagery of individuals’ and passed it to Queensland police, who are now investigating

With sales predicted to be £500m above last year’s total, consumers are warned not to fall for the hypeShoppers have been warned to check they are getting a “genuine bargain” before handing over their cash on Black Friday as research suggests that an extra £500m will be spent during this year’s discount bonanza.Black Friday, a US import that has become popular in the UK, falls on 25 November this year and is followed by Cyber Monday. Continue reading...

Three people died in the capital over the weekend and officials have called for residents to avoid ‘non-imperative’ travelChina reported the deaths of three people in Beijing over the weekend as its first fatalities from Covid-19 in six months, with cases rising despite a stringent zero-Covid policy.China is the last major economy still welded to a no-tolerance policy on the virus and has enforced snap lockdowns, mass testing and quarantines even as the rest of the world adjusts to living with Covid. Continue reading...

Prominent Iranians in film and sport have been condemned for expressing solidarity with the protest movementIran has arrested two prominent actors who expressed solidarity with the country’s protest movement and removed their headscarves in public, according to state media.Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi were both detained after being summoned by prosecutors looking into their “provocative” social media posts, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said. Continue reading...

Minister rubbishes reports of ‘Chequers’-style plan, as businesses expected to call for more ‘practical’ immigration rulesRishi Sunak is facing a new row on two fronts over Brexit, as he sought to quell a backlash from hardline Eurosceptics given suggestions the UK could seek a Swiss-style deal with Brussels, while businesses are expected to call for a more “practical” immigration stance.Ahead of the prime minister’s address to business leaders in Birmingham on Monday morning, Downing Street tried to dampen down speculation that a deal similar to Theresa May’s “Chequers” plan could be adopted, claiming it was “categorically untrue”. Continue reading...

Thirty-one-year-old from Clifton area of the city is being questioned by detectivesA man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after two children died following a fire at a flat in Nottingham.The 31-year-old from the Clifton area of the city is being held after the blaze in a first-floor flat in Clifton, at about 3am on Sunday. He remains in police custody for questioning. Continue reading...

Cause of death wasn’t immediately released, though multiple reports indicated Frank died by suicideThe actor and mixed martial artist Jason David Frank, who starred on the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, has died, his representatives confirmed to the entertain news outlet Geek Ireland. He was 49 years old.Frank attained fame in the early 1990s as the green power ranger, Tommy Oliver, who then becomes the white power ranger on a children’s television show about superheroes who are particularly skilled in martial arts. The show generated spin-off movies, action figures and other toys.The Associated Press contributed reportingIn the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org. Continue reading...

Capital budget of £12bn a year to shrink to £11.7bn, putting Tories’ claim 40 hospitals in England will be built or renovated in doubtPlans by the government to construct and renovate 40 hospitals in England could be delayed because of new analysis suggesting the health and social care department’s capital spending budget faces a real-terms cut of £700m next year, according to the Liberal Democrats.With some hospitals said to be in dire need of repair, the health secretary twice refused to say on Sunday that the NHS was functioning properly and instead admitted it was under “severe pressure”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: after UK networks rake in £15.8bn, Sharon Graham says they are holding the public to ransomThe companies responsible for bringing electricity to UK homes have been accused of “rampant profiteering” by a leading union that is calling for the energy regulator to cap their earnings.Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, has written to Ofgem to ask it to clamp down on “excessive” profits generated by regional electricity distribution network operators (DNOs), which raked in £15.8bn in profits last year and have paid out £3.6bn in dividends between 2017 and 2021. Continue reading...

Mark Drakeford insists people of Wales would want nation’s leader to attend despite controversiesThe Welsh first minister has defended his decision to travel to Qatar for the World Cup, saying he feels that the citizens of Wales want their country’s leader there despite concerns about human rights and working conditions.Speaking in Doha on Sunday, Mark Drakeford admitted that the decision to attend was finely balanced but he said he believed it would have been wrong to leave seats allocated to the Welsh government at the opening ceremony and matches unoccupied. Continue reading...

Presenter says she is stepping down from hosting Channel Ten show after five years, saying the past six months have taken a toll on her and those close to her

Former home of the 18th-century master exhibits the lesser-known works of Cedric Morris, thanks to Maggi HamblingWhen the first visitors cross the threshold of the refurbished Gainsborough House, the childhood home of the artist Thomas Gainsborough in Sudbury, Suffolk, on Monday,the work of another, less famous, local artist and knight of the realm will be competing for attention.Cedric Morris, plant enthusiast, landscape painter and portraitist, is being celebrated for the first time in the museum, which has undergone a £10m revamp. An entire room has been filled with his paintings, some of them given by the renowned artist and sculptor Maggi Hambling. The new space, set up in the grand former home of one of Britain’s best known 18th-century artists, will boast 15 of Morris’s works. “People may already know his flower paintings, but there is so much more. And there has been such a renaissance in Cedric’s standing, and new interest, that we wanted to dedicate a permanent display,” said Mark Bills, director of the new museum and gallery. Continue reading...

Doctors are carrying out more consultations than before the pandemic, despite severe shortages in the professionGPs are struggling to cope with as many as 90 appointments and consultations a day – more than three times a recommended safety limit.General practices in England are carrying out more appointments than before the pandemic but face severe workforce shortages. More than 1.45 million patients waited at least 28 days to see a GP in September, according to the most recent NHS figures. Continue reading...

Residents in the newly liberated freezing city are gathering all the wood they can after the bombing devastated their power suppliesIf it were not for the war, Ukrainian children would have crowded the squares, parks and streets thisweek to play in the first snow of winter. If one of the most brutal conflicts of the last 50 years hadn’t been raging, Kateryna Sliusarchuk, 71, a resident of Kherson, would have taken advantage of the cold to prepare pyrizhky, typical baked, boat-shaped Ukrainian buns with a variety of fillings, and enjoyed them with her grandchildren.But this will not be a season like any other. The first snow to dust the streets of Kyiv, last Thursday, marked the beginning of what is expected to be the hardest winter in the country’s history. The Ukrainian cold is coming and with it a nightmare for millions as they face it without electricity, water or heating. Continue reading...

Labor attempting to link saga to NSW premier, who was treasurer at the time of Stephen Cartwright’s appointment to senior trade job

Some MPs would like Jeremy Hunt to revise tax rises, fearing impact on ‘squeezed middle’ and backlash from red wall areasTory MPs are desperately hoping that a surprise spring economic revival will allow Jeremy Hunt to alter his tax-raising plans, amid warnings that the chancellor’s “stealth tax” autumn statement will extinguish the party’s election hopes.While concerns have already been raised on the right of the party over the extent of the £25bn in tax rises announced by the chancellor last week, figures from across the party said that “emotional and mental exhaustion” had blunted a greater immediate backlash. Continue reading...

Leeds city council letter accepting responsibility believed to be the first of its kindCarrie* is no stranger to a legal challenge. In 2018, alongside other women, she won a landmark case against the Home Office when she challenged a requirement that prostitution offences, including those acquired below the age of 18, be disclosed under criminal record checks.While Carrie, now 49, was giving a detailed statement to her lawyer dealing with this case, she described her time in care. Her childhood was dominated by neglect, sexual abuse and exploitation. It became clear to her lawyers that there was a second case – against the body responsible for the child protection services that failed her so badly: Leeds city council. Continue reading...

Body thought to be that of Les Vugec, 85, who was last seen at his Eugowra home on Monday

Mystery surrounds embezzlement of tax revenues, which appears to have been facilitated by some of the highest offices in the countryIraqis have called it “the heist of the century” – a brazen multibillion-dollar plundering of state coffers that has gripped the country.The theft of $2.5bn was apparently facilitated by some of the highest offices in the land, according to sources and a series of government letters issued in the summer of 2021. The documents, signed by various government institutions including the then prime minister’s office, cancelled the audit of withdrawals from the Iraqi tax commission’s accounts. Continue reading...

Jeremy Hunt’s plans criticised for delay to reform, shifting burden to local authorities and ‘skewing the system’Jeremy Hunt’s decision to fund more social care through increases in council tax will deepen inequality and undermine the cause of “levelling up”, the architect of the government’s planned reforms said last night.The criticism from Andrew Dilnot, the economist whose blueprint for reform was delayed by another two years in Hunt’s first budget on Thursday, was echoed by senior figures in local government who said it would leave poorer areas at a disadvantage and was not the answer to the social care crisis. Continue reading...

Rich kids of Insta use strong dollar to fuel sales of high-end brands such as Burberry, Louis Vuitton and GucciThey’re young, rich and mortgage-free, and the scions of the 1% are having a roaring twenties.Despite the economic gloom currently shrouding the UK and many other western countries, sales of luxury brands have been booming and growing numbers of buyers are young adults. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed