World news | The Guardian

Duchess's then spokesperson recalls disgraced financier's Hannibal Lecter-style' phone call after she disowned himThe Duchess of York allegedly sent an email apologising to disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein after he threatened to destroy her" in a Hannibal Lecter-style" phone call, according to reports.Sarah Ferguson sent the message in April 2011, describing Epstein as a supreme friend", after she had publicly disowned him in the media. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer urged to take action over US president's inflammatory speech to the UNKeir Starmer is facing demands from Labour MPs to reprimand Donald Trump's administration after the US president falsely claimed London wanted to go to sharia law" under its terrible mayor", Sadiq Khan.In an address to the UN general assembly, Trump said: I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor, and it's been changed, it's been so changed. Now they want to go to sharia law. But you are in a different country, you can't do that." Continue reading...

Medical experts and regulators say US president should not be questioning established scienceGlobal health agencies and regulators have dismissed unscientific advice from Donald Trump that made an unproven link between autism and the use of everyday painkillers and vaccines.In a sign of how worried foreign governments are about the US president's comments, the health secretary of the UK, which is one the US's closest allies, told the British public they should not pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine". Continue reading...

Errol Musk, rarely mentioned by his tech billionaire son, dismissed New York Times report as nonsense' and false'Errol Musk, the 79-year-old father of tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been accused of sexually abusing five of his children and stepchildren since 1993, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.The outlet said those allegations could be why the entrepreneur, who temporarily served as an adviser to the second Trump administration, rarely mentions his father - and that family members of Elon Musk have reached out for help, prompting him to sometimes take action to intercede. Continue reading...

South American leftist Lula takes indirect swipes at Trump in speech and warns that global threat of anti-democratic forces' persistsLuiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president, has launched an impassioned defence of his country's democracy, claiming the recent conviction of his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, had shown the world how would-be autocrats" could be brought to heel.Speaking at the opening of the United Nations general assembly in New York, Lula hailed Brazil's successful effort to repel an unprecedented attack" from Bolsonaro's extreme right movement. On 11 September, the former paratrooper was sentenced to 27 years in jail for trying to stage a military coup after he lost the 2022 election to Lula. Continue reading...

Police opened fire within seconds after responding to a report of masked teens, according to a residentThe head of Quebec's police watchdog said it will investigate the death of a 15-year-old boy who was shot dead by officers, revealing that the only weapon recovered from the scene of the fatal shooting belonged to the police.At a rare news conference on Tuesday, Brigitte Bishop, director of the province's office of independent investigations, said her unit would conduct an impartial" investigation into the death of Nooran Rezayi. Continue reading...

Speaking at the UN, US president said Europe was going to hell'Meanwhile, Russia denied that it was connected to the drone flights that forced Copenhagen airport to close its airspace for hours overnight, after Denmark's prime minister said she could not rule out Russian involvement, AFP reported.We hear unfounded accusations from there every time. Perhaps a party that takes a serious, responsible position shouldn't make such unfounded accusations time and again," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing call. Continue reading...

Russia denies involvement after Copenhagen and Oslo airports forced to close after drone sightingsThe Danish prime minister has said the country was subjected to the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date" after a drone incursion shut Copenhagen airport for several hours.Mette Frederiksen said authorities were still investigating who was behind the suspected hybrid attack, but she said she could not rule out Russia. Continue reading...

Chuck Schumer says Trump is running from negotiating table' after president wrote meeting wouldn't be productive

Republican Brad Raffensperger, who Trump called looking for votes, and Geoff Duncan announced their candidaciesThe entrance into the Georgia governor's race of two prominent figures on the right who stood up to Donald Trump's effort to steal the 2020 election shows how the election interference crisis continues to reverberate in the state's politics.On Wednesday, Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, announced his candidacy. Raffensperger was the recipient of the perfect phone call" by Trump in 2020 in the wake of his electoral loss in Georgia, pressuring Raffensperger to find 11,780 votes" and overturn the results. Continue reading...

Three judges block Colin Campbell's attempt to overturn his murder convictions at the supreme courtA nurse convicted of murdering four patients and trying to kill a fifth will not be allowed to appeal to the supreme court, judges have ruled.Colin Campbell, 49, was jailed for life in 2008 for killing Doris Ludlam, Bridget Bourke, Irene Crookes and Ethel Hall on orthopaedic wards in hospitals in Leeds. Continue reading...

Analysis finds value of moved pensions savings could raise similar revenue by 2029 as a year's air passenger duty

Lib Dem leader's conference speech takes aim at Reform by predicting it would bring Trump-style policies to UK

Men were sent on from Ghana despite risk of torture, persecution or inhumane treatment'A lawyer for 11 west Africans deported by the US to Ghana said they had been returned to their home countries despite many fearing for their safety.Under Donald Trump's drive to ramp up expulsions, the US has sent migrants to third countries, including Rwanda, Uganda and El Salvador, prompting accusations that deportee rights have been violated. Continue reading...

The public took a shine to 800kg Emil, despite his escapades halting traffic and almost endangering motoristsA footloose moose called Emil, whose summer wanderings caused havoc on Austrian roads and railways, has been captured, sedated and released in a verdant nature reserve, leaving his legions of fans wishing him well on social media.The approximately three-year-old male, believed to have come originally from Poland or the Czech Republic, rose to online fame in August with his chaotic odyssey through parts of Austria where moose sightings are rare. Continue reading...

Government insiders say move would be a serious blow to prospect of a two-state solution

Exhibition by African American artist to focus on architecture, art under fascism and her own links to the UKThe Royal Academy will in 2027 host the first major UK exhibition by Simone Leigh, four years after she became the first African American woman to represent the US at the Venice Biennale.

Kingfisher says garden accessories, outdoor paint and plants sold well because of good weather in the UK

Breakthroughs in forensic technology resulted in Glenn Gary Cameron's arrest more than three decades after he terrorised women in Sydney

Misty Hunt, a local school board member, said her one down, hundreds to go' post was about gardening, not KirkA member of a Pennsylvania school board says she is stepping back from her duties - and has been grappling with threats to her safety - after a one down, hundreds to go" social media post about windblown milkweed seeds was misconstrued as celebrating the killing of far-right pundit Charlie Kirk.Homer-Center school district board member Misty Hunt uploaded the post in question on 10 September, the same day Kirk was shot to death by a sniper while speaking at Utah Valley University (UVU). Continue reading...

Original image shot by Brian Duffy estimated to fetch 300,000 when it goes under the hammer in OctoberThe original image for David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album could become the most expensive album artwork ever sold when it goes under the hammer with an estimate of 300,000.The famous picture of Bowie with a lightning bolt across his face could beat the record set by Led Zeppelin's debut album artwork, which sold for $325,000 in 2020. Continue reading...

Bloc urged to end unethical double standard' of allowing sale of products deemed too dangerous for EU farmsEuropean chemical corporations have issued plans to export increasing quantities of toxic" pesticides deemed too dangerous to spray on EU farms, an investigation has found, despite a pledge to end the practice.Planned exports of domestically banned pesticides rose from 81,600 tons in 2018 to 122,000 tons in 2024, according to export notifications obtained via freedom of information requests by Unearthed, the investigative newsroom of Greenpeace, and the Swiss nonprofit Public Eye. Continue reading...

Prime minister expected to warn UK is at a crossroads' as he sets out plan to counter Nigel Farage and ReformKeir Starmer will make a major intervention this week, pledging a progressive fightback and promising the UK will reject the division and hate fuelled by the far right.The move comes ahead of Labour's conference amid increasing pressure on the prime minister from within his own party, where even senior loyalists have voiced fears that he has not mounted a passionate enough attack on Reform UK and rising racism in Britain. Continue reading...

Foreign minister says getting energy supplies elsewhere is a nice dream' while describing western European officials as fanatics'Hungary will not wean itself off Russian energy supplies, the country's foreign minister has told the Guardian, despite the White House's demand for Nato allies to stop buying Russian oil.Donald Trump has demanded that Europe halt Russian oil imports, but in an interview on the sidelines of the 80th annual session of the UN general assembly, Peter Szijjarto said: We can't ensure the safe supply [of energy products] for our country without Russian oil or gas sources," while adding that he understood" Trump's approach. Continue reading...

Study says US president seeks to interfere in elections and move the ideological centre of gravity' in European politicsThe Trump administration is waging a culture war on Europe by aggressively promoting the Maga movement's political and ideological allies on the continent and publicly humiliating the EU on the world stage, a joint report by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and European Cultural Foundation has concluded.The study argues that the US president is actively seeking to interfere in European elections, transform the transatlantic relationship toward conservative values and rally Europe's rightwing populists around the theme of free speech. Continue reading...

Han Hak-ja, aged 82, is detained after Seoul court hearing over claims she told church officials to bribe wife of then president Yoon Suk YeolThe 82-year-old leader of the Unification Church was arrested in South Korea early Tuesday as investigators probe allegations that the church bribed the wife of jailed former president Yoon Suk Yeol and a conservative lawmaker.Han Hak-ja, the widow of the church's South Korean founder, Sun Myung Moon, has denied allegations that she directed church officials to bribe Yoon's wife, Kim Keon Hee, and the lawmaker. Continue reading...

Resolution Foundation says move could raise additional 6bn a year and level the playing field' on income taxRachel Reeves has been urged to take 2p off the rate of employee national insurance and add it to income tax in her autumn budget, to raise billions of pounds while protecting workers' pay packets.Putting forward plans to raise up to 30bn, the influential Resolution Foundation thinktank called on the chancellor to level the playing field" on how different forms of income are taxed. Continue reading...

Lib Dem leader to use conference speech to urge extra funding for mRNA research and accuse Nigel Farage of cheering US funding reductionsThe UK should import US scientists whose cancer research projects have been cut by Donald Trump, Ed Davey will argue at a Liberal Democrat conference that has focused heavily on how the party can respond to hard-right populism.In his closing speech, Davey will also criticise Nigel Farage, saying the Reform UK conference applauded the Trump administration's decision to slash funding for mRNA vaccines, which are being trialled as a way to offer personalised immunotherapy treatment for some cancers. Continue reading...

Late-night host reinstated after brief suspension related to comments on Maga and Charlie Kirk that Disney called insensitive'Jimmy Kimmel is headed back to air.Disney announced on Monday that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would return to broadcast this Tuesday, after a brief but highly criticized suspension that sparked a national debate on free speech and the muzzling tactics of the Trump administration. Continue reading...

Israeli PM has threatened bilateral action and annexation of occupied Palestinian land but there are risks in eitherBenjamin Netanyahu was quick to denounce the recognition of a Palestinian state by many of Israel's historic allies, but the prime minister may be struggling to decide how to turn rhetoric into a concrete response.His options are perhaps more constrained than he would have his supporters believe. He has variously threatened annexation of occupied Palestinian land and bilateral action against countries that joined the tide of recognition. Continue reading...

Cocker spaniel was being kept full-time in Magilligan prison but is now in family home after free Bailey' campaignThe six words that Northern Ireland's dog-lovers were waiting to hear came on Monday: Bailey is now out of prison."A vocal campaign to free the cocker spaniel who committed no crime culminated in his release from Magilligan prison and transfer to an undisclosed location to begin a new life. Continue reading...

First 34 students, who have full scholarships, welcomed after months of campaigning by academics and others

Nigel Farage claims his party would save 234bn by scrapping indefinite leave to remain

Community worker said Leonard Farruku, from Albania, was told he was being taken to a hotel in SwindonAn asylum seeker who died onboard the Bibby Stockholm was tricked" into going to the barge after point blank" refusing, an inquest has heard.Leonard Farruku, 27, from Albania, was found unresponsive in a shower cubicle onboard the accommodation vessel at Portland Port, Dorset, on 12 December 2023. Continue reading...

Experts say move by nations including UK and Australia won't change government policy and could strengthen its grip on power

Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White team up for first movie in Star Wars universe since 2019The Star Wars universe is returning to the big screen with our first look at The Mandalorian and Grogu, next summer's big bet from Disney.The film follows the hit Disney+ show The Mandalorian and was born out of the delay insisted on the fourth season by the Hollywood strikes of 2023. In that time, the strategy for the franchise was re-evaluated and a film was prioritised over the fourth season. Continue reading...

Anthony Olubunmi George, who arrived in 1986 and has no criminal convictions, given right to remainA disabled Nigerian man who has lived in the UK for almost 40 years has won an appeal to stay in the country despite the Home Office wanting to deport him.Anthony Olubunmi George, 63, came to the UK at the age of 24 in 1986. He has not left the UK since and has no criminal convictions. He had two strokes in 2019 that left him with speech and mobility issues. Continue reading...

Reform UK plans to force non-citizens to apply for visas with high salary thresholds and no access to NHS services

Premier Group Recruitment went into administration with debts of 2.9m - including 647,000 owed in taxAn insolvent UK recruitment company, which owes the UK exchequer hundreds of thousands of pounds, has been acquired for an initial 10,000 by a venture created by the previous owner - despite him receiving millions from the business in its final three years.Premier Group Recruitment went into administration this month with debts of 2.9m - including 647,000 owed to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which had commenced enforcement proceedings against the company. The recruiter's assets were acquired three days later by a new company, PGGBR Ltd, founded by Andrew Woosnam, Premier's 99% shareholder. Continue reading...

Human rights group says hundreds of skeletons found exposed or buried just below ground during research into killings of civiliansHundreds of bodies could have been buried at a mass grave discovered in Egypt's Sinai province by human rights campaigners.Bodies lying on the surface and others buried barely 30cm below were found at a burial site near a military outpost by the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights. Continue reading...

The vice-president JD Vance used his speech to call Kirk a martyr for the Christian faith'. Plus, a behavioral scientist shares how she stays focused

Michael Bene is repaying 763 advance' despite evidence he did not attend face-to-face verification interviewA special needs teacher has spent almost a year trying to clear his name after a fraudulent universal credit claim was made using his identity, which has left him on the hook for hundreds of pounds in repayments.The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to acknowledge the fraud, even though Michael Bene has supplied evidence he was in the Scottish Highlands when the claimant attended a face-to-face verification interview in Cheshire. Continue reading...

Two-year-old boy dies and homes buried as remnants of Tropical Storm Mario bring downpours and thunderFlash flooding and landslides led to the death of a two-year-old boy in California in the US last week, after heavy rainfall followed on the heels of Tropical Storm Mario further south. The storm skirted the Pacific coast of Mexico with minimal disruption, eventually dissipating to the west of Baja California on Tuesday, but the remnants went on to cause havoc on Thursday. Residual moist air from the tropical storm was drawn north-east towards California, bringing heavy downpours and thunder to central and southern counties.The heaviest rainfall was in the mountains of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, where up to 68mm (2.67in) fell in a few hours. Further north, Death Valley - famously one of the driest places on Earth - received 15mm of rain, triple the average rainfall for September and a full quarter of the yearly average. Continue reading...

Small business owners told telecoms group of stress four years before 62 launched 120m high court claimVodafone franchisees warned the telecoms group of the massive impact" commission cuts were having on their mental health four years before a group of 62 launched a 120m high court claim against the company, it has emerged.Franchisees of the high street chain said they were feeling stressed and had suffered from anxiety" as a result of the decision to cut fees, in research that also indicated they had little trust in Vodafone's word. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Labour Together report, endorsed by Steve Reed, says devolving power can improve services while saving money

At least two groups supporting UK asylum seekers have closed their offices after credible threats to their safetyMore than 150 lawyers, human rights, refugee and environmental organisations have said they are being pressured into silence" after some received rape and death threats from far-right and anti-migrant protesters.At least two refugee NGOs that have been supporting asylum seekers who have received notices from the Home Office that they will be forcibly removed to France under Labour's controversial one in, one out" scheme have closed their offices after credible threats to their safety. Continue reading...

Essex-based John Brandler seeking final loan payments as well as three murals from exhibitions companyA bitter row has broken out between a British art dealer and an Italian exhibitions company over three enormous Banksy murals that were loaned three years ago and which the dealer insured for 15m.John Brandler, an Essex-based specialist in work by the graffiti artist, is pursuing legal action after losing patience with Metamorfosi in Rome, which stages temporary touring exhibitions. Continue reading...

Oscar winner's comments come days after suspension of Jimmy Kimmel by ABC and Disney, a decision heavily criticised by major stars including Pedro Pascal and Olivia RodrigoAngelina Jolie has said I don't recognise my country" amid the threats to free speech in the US, saying anything anywhere that divides or limits personal expressions and freedoms from anyone, I think, is very dangerous".At Spain's San Sebastian film festival on Sunday, the Oscar winning actor was asked by a journalist: What do you fear as an artist and an American?" Continue reading...

Communications minister Anika Wells says telco has no excuses here' after last week's outage linked to three deaths across two states

Washington Post says announcement imminent despite guidelines showing drug is safe for pregnant women to takeDonald Trump's administration is expected to tie pregnant women's use of the popular medicine known as Tylenol to a risk for autism, contrary to medical guidelines, the Washington Post has reported.Trump officials on Monday are also expected to announce an effort to explore how the drug leucovorin could purportedly and potentially treat autism, according to the Post report published Sunday, which cited four sources with knowledge of the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made. Continue reading...