World news | The Guardian

Singer has surpassed Drake, who had held the previous record with nine of the top songs for a week last yearTaylor Swift scored a 10 out of 10 to become the first artist in history to claim the top 10 slots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, with tracks from her latest album, Midnights.Billboard reported on Monday that Swift has surpassed Drake, who had held the previous record with nine of the top 10 songs for a week in September 2021. Continue reading...

Race-conscious admission programs, twice upheld by highest court, now under scrutiny by skeptical conservative supermajorityThe survival of affirmative action in higher education appeared to be in serious trouble on Monday at a conservative-dominated US supreme court after hours of debate over difficult questions of race.The court is weighing challenges to admissions programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University that use race among many factors in seeking a diverse student body. Continue reading...

Home secretary says she never blocked hotels for refugees and was not to blame for overcrowding at refugee centreSuella Braverman has insisted she was not to blame for the crisis at Manston refugee centre, as she attempted to shore up her precarious political position by aggressively ramping up her rhetoric over immigration.The embattled home secretary claimed she had “never blocked” the use of hotels to ease pressure on the asylum processing centre in Kent or ignored legal advice on the matter – despite multiple sources insisting that she had been warned over the conditions. Continue reading...

Attempt to accelerate results risks diminishing confidence in investigation into 2014 disappearance, international group saysA group of international experts investigating the 2014 disappearance of 43 students in southern Mexico has warned that an attempt by the government to accelerate the results has created a “crisis” for the investigation and risks diminishing confidence in the outcome.The special prosecutor who has led the government’s investigation since 2019 resigned in September over apparent interference by the attorney general and the government replaced him with someone unfamiliar with the case. A government Truth Commission report in August muddied the waters by presenting questionable screen captures of message exchanges as evidence, according to the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts. Continue reading...

Labour leader sets out industrial plan including £28bn-a-year investment strategy at SME4Labour dinnerWinning the battle against the climate crisis provides the biggest opportunity in decades to make the economy deliver for working people, Keir Starmer has said.Speaking at a business leaders’ dinner in London, the Labour leader said there was no cause for gloom despite the need for radical and immediate action to protect the planet from global heating. Continue reading...

UK’s James Cleverly says Russian president taking things out ‘on the poorest people in the world by threatening their food supplies’

Sir Roger Gale says overcrowding at Manston centre is result of home secretary’s strategy

Child C, who was born prematurely, was the second of the seven babies Letby is accused of killing at Countess of Chester hospitalA nurse accused of murdering seven babies would not leave alone the parents of a newborn boy she allegedly killed until she was ordered to do so by her supervisor, a court has heard.Lucy Letby is accused of murdering the infant days after he was born prematurely, weighing 800 grams, at the Countess of Chester hospital, on 10 June 2015. Child C is the second of the seven babies she is alleged to have killed at the hospital’s neo-natal unit. Continue reading...

Home secretary criticised by charities for using ‘inflammatory’ language a day after petrol bomb attack on immigration centrePriti Patel signed off on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers whenever it was required, her allies have told PA Media. Echoing a briefing given to Danny Shaw earlier (see 9.41am), PA Media says:A source close to Patel told the PA news agency: “There was never any overcrowding [at the Manston centre] when she was there. What would happen was if it got to the point where people were getting worried about conditions we would sign off on more hotels.”Despite the political difficulties, the cost to the taxpayer and the potential for a media backlash, Patel agreed to hotels because “it was the right thing to do”. Continue reading...

Revealed: UPS workers tell the Guardian that intense quota pressures, injuries, an unclean and unsafe environment and understaffing take a heavy tollThe article includes details surrounding a suicide.The gargantuan UPS Worldport is the largest automated packaging sorting facility in the world. Covering 5.2m sq ft in Louisville, Kentucky, with 70 aircraft docks and 155 miles of conveyor belts, the site is larger than the Mall of America, employs about 11,000 workers and is capable of handling 115 packages a second. Continue reading...

His bombs may not break Ukrainian resolve, but Vladimir Putin knows their damage will drive up the west’s costs• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesRussia’s cynical decision to target Ukraine’s network of hydroelectric power stations on Monday represents a further, dispiriting, escalation in its efforts to destroy the country’s power supply.The electricity network is reeling from three weeks of attacks focused on coal- and gas-fired power stations and, above all, the electricity substations that link up different parts of the grid. Power cuts are the new normal as winter looms. Continue reading...

Final polls suggest deadlock, but if rightwing alliance keeps slowly gaining, scandal-plagued former PM may scrape inWith polls too close to call the day before Israel holds its fifth election in four years, even minute shifts in voter turnout could make or break the longtime prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comeback attempt, for which he has allied with rightwing extremists.Israeli politicians were busy making their final campaign pitches on Monday, after Friday’s final pre-election polls suggested that neither Netanyahu’s rightwing religious bloc, nor the opposing centre-left bloc, would win enough seats to form a government. Continue reading...

Statement to home affairs select committee appears to contradict letter to then PM Liz Truss

Proceedings against Bristol Rovers manager stayed as prosecutors decline to call Georgia Barton to give evidenceThe Bristol Rovers manager, Joey Barton, has been cleared of assaulting his wife after a judge ruled that he could not receive a fair trial because prosecutors would not call the alleged victim to give evidence.The former Premier League midfielder, 40, was accused of pushing Georgia Barton, 36, to the floor before kicking her during a row at their home in Kew, south-west London, on 2 June last year. Continue reading...

As winter looms, Moscow escalates missile attacks on vital utilities such as hydro plants, substations and dams

Three directors of Clearsprings Ready Homes share dividends of almost £28m, as profits rise sixfoldA company contracted by the UK Home Office to manage hotels and other accommodation for asylum seekers increased its profits more than sixfold last year, with its three directors sharing dividends of almost £28m.Clearsprings Ready Homes has a 10-year contract to manage asylum seeker accommodation in England and Wales, a mix of hotel accommodation that the Home Office says is costing it more than £5m a day, and shared housing. Continue reading...

Officials say they did not issue a certificate to the company in charge of Morbi bridge that it was fit for public use after repairsIndian police have arrested nine people, including ticketing clerks and contractors, as part of their investigation into the collapse of a footbridge in which at least 134 people, including many children, were killed.CCTV footage from just before the collapse showed a group of young men taking photos while others tried to rock the suspension bridge in Morbi from side to side, before they tumbled into the river below as the cables gave way. Continue reading...

Survey after Jim Chalmers’ first budget suggests people pessimistic about economic outlook amid cost-of-living pressures

Biden, Macron, Trudeau and Maduro were among those quick to share their congratulations

US-funded upgrade of Tindal airbase in Northern Territory will allow it to house up to six B-52s, as minister says Australia must remain ‘vigilant’

Director says it’s ‘time to tell new stories’ as people from south Asian diaspora contribute experiencesA museum with a dizzying, encyclopaedic collection that spans Egyptian mummies, dinosaur skeletons and live Costa Rican frogs is to reopen next year after a £15m revamp – with a promise to be more inclusive and imaginative.Manchester Museum has about 4.5m objects from around the world, a mix of exhibits from natural sciences and human cultures all under one roof. Continue reading...

Calls for GPS tagging to be abolished as report finds people left suicidal and stigmatised by the practiceLawyers and charities have called for controversial electronic tagging of migrants to be scrapped, describing it in a new report as a form of “psychological torture”.Tagging of people in the criminal justice system has been in place for years but it was only since August 2021 that a duty to monitor those on immigration bail facing deportation was introduced. GPS tagging, a more invasive form that can track people’s every move including where they shop, worship and who they spend time with, was introduced in January. Continue reading...

Dataset from communications platform ForceNet containing up to 40,000 records may be compromised after breach on external provider

Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Board’s 2022 annual report found Maeve* took her own life after protection order issued

Committee recommends removing three offences disproportionately affecting First Nations people

It’s a Sin actor Shaun Dooley plays former PM in cold war thriller The Ghost of Harold WilsonA new drama about Harold Wilson has become the first feature film to be shot inside the House of Commons chamber after producers appealed directly to the Speaker as well as MPs and peers who knew the former Labour prime minister.The Ghost of Harold Wilson is billed as a “tense political thriller” based on a meeting between Wilson and two journalists during the cold war. Continue reading...

Retailer will provide paid time off to attend medical appointments, including staff who use a surrogateStaff at the Co-op will be able to take paid time off for fertility treatments, under a new policy launched by the retailer.Co-op’s chief executive, Shirine Khoury-Haq, said she has gone through the process of fertility treatment herself and wants to create a supportive environment for her employees. Continue reading...

State education minister Grace Grace says review to look at regulation of non-state schools and measures to protect students

After four years of Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right rule, Lula da Silva says his first priority will be helping the 100 million Brazilians living in povertyThe euphoria of an election victory is fleeting and while many Brazilians will wake up with a hangover after celebrating the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro, president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will soon have his own headaches to deal with.Lula takes power on 1 January 2023 and will be charged with rebuilding and reuniting a nation that has been left damaged and bitterly divided after four years of Bolsonaro’s anarchic far-right policies. Continue reading...

Daniel Andrews says $15m government deal will encourage grassroots participation as well as promote tourism in the state

The Superior Electoral Court of Brazil has announced that Lula is elected president, after a nailbiting count that went to the wire. Find out how every state voted

Met police confirm fatalities following reports of gunshots in LambethTwo men have died after gunshots were heard on Sunday evening in Lambeth, south London, the Metropolitan police has said.Police officers were called at about 7.50pm following reports of gunshots on Railton Road, according to the statement. Firearms officers, the London ambulance service and London’s air ambulance responded to the incident. Continue reading...

Grattan Institute urges Albanese government to retain strict criteria and annual performance tests

Luxury store made profit of £51m in 2021-22 after Covid restrictions eased and tourists returnedHarrods more than doubled the pay of its managing director, Michael Ward, last year to £2.3m, even as the company collected almost £6m in government support under the furlough scheme.Ward, understood to be the highest-paid director at the upmarket department store in Knightsbridge, west London, increased his package from £1m the previous year after Harrods returned to profit as pandemic restrictions eased. Continue reading...

Darren Rodwell, Barking and Dagenham council leader, selected to stand despite comments at Black History Month eventA white council leader who once joked that he had “the worst tan possible for a black man” has been selected to stand as a Labour MP.Darren Rodwell, the leader of Barking and Dagenham London borough council, fought off selection competition from councillor Josie Channer, a black councillor who has previously run for selection near Bristol. Continue reading...

Raids on student campuses sparked protests despite threats made by chief of security force about response to further unrestThousands of Iranians have demonstrated in defiance of a final warning by the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that he would bring protests to an end with unprecedented force.Rallies were held on the streets on Sunday to protest against raids on student dormitories over the weekend in which students were taken away in buses to state detention. Some were sent text messages saying they were banned from campus indefinitely. Continue reading...

Rescue operation under way following incident at pedestrian suspension bridge in city of MorbiAt least 60 people were killed when a pedestrian bridge over a river in the western Indian state of Gujarat collapsed, plunging hundreds of people into the water, officials have said.Authorities said that more than 150 people were on the suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in the city of Morbi at the time of the collapse. Continue reading...

International condemnation after Russia suspends grain deal; Russia claims it has identified the drones used to attack its Black Sea fleet

Jeremy Vine, Basharat Peer and Katharine Viner join Guardian readers in honouring the former columnistFurther tributes have been paid to Ian Jack, the Guardian columnist and former editor of Granta and the Independent on Sunday who died on Friday at the age of 77.In his final piece for the Guardian, published last week, he reminisced on his memories of the BBC, which he described as “one of the world’s great cultural projects”, to mark its centenary. Continue reading...

Labour and women’s rights groups criticise ‘deeply troubling’ appointment of Maria CaulfieldMaria Caulfield, a Tory MP who supported cutting the abortion time limit and voted against buffer zones outside clinics, has been named as minister for women, prompting criticism from charities and women’s rights groups.Caulfield, the MP for Lewes, was previously an officer of the all-party parliamentary “pro-life” group and voted against legalising abortion in Northern Ireland. Continue reading...

Cities near to the Foxconn plant have drawn up plans to isolate migrant workers who are returning to homeCities in central China have hastily drawn up plans to isolate migrant workers fleeing to their home towns from the country’s largest iPhone factory, amid fears they will spread coronavirus after leaving the plant in Covid-hit Zhengzhou.Videos shared on Chinese social media showed people who are allegedly workers at the Foxconn plant climbing over fences and carrying their belongings along a road. It was previously reported that a number of workers had been placed under quarantine because of an outbreak of the disease. Continue reading...

Lowy Institute’s Pacific Aid Map charts thousands of projects and activities from 67 donor entities, including Australia and the USChina is funnelling aid to Kiribati and Solomon Islands, while its overall spending in the Pacific region is in decline, the latest Pacific Aid Map reveals.The Lowy Institute on Monday released its 2022 updated version of the map, an interactive analytical tool that enables users to track aid flow and development funding in the Pacific. Continue reading...

Levelling up secretary does not deny breach took place, as Labour says No 10 not taking national security seriously enoughMichael Gove has pointedly declined to deny a report that Liz Truss’s personal phone was potentially hacked by Russian agents, as Labour accused the government of “not taking national security seriously enough”.Gove, returned to the cabinet this week by Rishi Sunak as levelling up secretary, said he could not discuss any possible security breaches, while insisting there were “robust protocols” in place over such issues. Continue reading...

House of Lords watchdog has been examining Earl of Shrewsbury over his work for healthcare firmA Conservative hereditary peer appears to have misled the House of Lords standards watchdog during an investigation into his alleged misconduct.The House of Lords commissioners for standards have been investigating the Earl of Shrewsbury over claims he misused his parliamentary position to lobby for a healthcare firm that was paying him. Continue reading...

Police say 79-year-old man was known to victim and has been taken into custody for questioningA 79-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was killed in the latest fatal shooting on Merseyside.Police found the body of the woman, who was in her 50s, at 1.45am on Sunday after being called to an address in Moreton on the Wirral. Continue reading...

President Yoon Suk-yeol declares state of national mourning after fatal surge in Itaewon nightlife quarter of South Korean capitalSouth Korea was plunged into mourning as it attempted to make sense of the deaths of at least 153 people who were crushed and trampled to death in a narrow alley during Halloween celebrations in Itaewon, a packed nightlife area of Seoul.An estimated 100,000 people, many in costume, gathered in Itaewon on Saturday night as the lifting of social distancing, mask mandates and other anti-Covid measures cleared the way for the first Halloween party in three years. Continue reading...

Armed gangs have shut off access to Haiti’s main fuel terminal, decimating basic services amid a cholera and hunger crisisThe Haitian ambassador to Washington has appealed to the international community to accelerate talks on deploying an armed intervention, warning that criminal gangs were in danger of taking over the country.Bocchit Edmond made his appeal as efforts to agree to a UN resolution backing such a force appear to have stalled, and as the US and Canada have been holding urgent talks looking for ways to break the impasse. Continue reading...

The spat and injury inspired Bacon to paint his violent expressionist canvas Self-Portrait with Injured EyeFrancis Bacon feared for his sight in one eye and how it would affect his future as a painter after he was seriously injured in a drunken brawl with a lover in 1972, it has emerged.Part of the evidence comes from the previously unpublished diaries of the late Denis Wirth-Miller, who was Bacon’s friend for 45 years, although their relationship was famously turbulent. Continue reading...

Deleted chapter of book by British spy who supported Arab revolt reveals his true feelings about insincere pledge of self-governmentTE Lawrence was “continually and bitterly ashamed” of the betrayal of the Middle East following the Arab revolt in which he became a British national hero, according to a chapter in his book The Seven Pillars of Wisdom which he decided to remove before publication.He was persuaded to remove the chapter by his friend, the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, and it was never printed in any edition. However, for the first time, an extremely rare copy of the manuscript – including the expunged chapter – has come to the open market with a price tag of £65,000. Continue reading...

Former prime minister could be told to limit rewards for allies and friends after her disastrous seven-week tenureLiz Truss will be advised by Buckingham Palace not to present a long list of resignation honours after her short and disastrous premiership, according to senior figures with experience of the system.One source with close knowledge of honours protocol told the Observer that, given her time in No 10 lasted just seven weeks and was marred by economic crisis and U-turns, rewarding lots of allies and friends would be seen as inappropriate by the Palace, by cabinet secretary Simon Case and almost certainly by the new prime minister, Rishi Sunak. Continue reading...