World news | The Guardian

Former work and pensions secretary Chloe Smith becomes latest to announce decision to stand down before deadline next month

Media Diversity Australia dismisses criticism over methodology from ABC as ‘disappointing’ and ‘flimsy’A report revealing the lack of diversity among presenters of Australia’s TV news and current affairs programs has been criticised as lacking balance.But non-profit group Media Diversity Australia defended the findings of its report – Who Gets to Tell Australian Stories? 2.0 – and said the criticisms made were “disappointing” and “flimsy.” Continue reading...

Man, 22, was charged with breach of peace over incident during Queen’s funeral procession in EdinburghA man charged with breach of the peace after the Duke of York was allegedly heckled as he walked behind the Queen’s coffin will not face court, prosecutors have said.The 22-year-old was arrested after the incident, which occurred as Andrew walked in the procession as it made its way from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh to St Giles’ Cathedral on 12 September. Continue reading...

Police launch triple murder inquiry following death of Fatoumatta Hydara, 28, on Tuesday morningThe mother of the two children killed in a house fire in Nottingham has died in hospital, two days after the blaze.Nottinghamshire police said they had launched a triple murder investigation after Fatoumatta Hydara, 28, died on Tuesday morning. Continue reading...

Death toll of Java quake rises to 268, with dozens of schools affected, as rescuers race against time to find survivorsThe death toll from the earthquake that struck Indonesia’s main island of Java on Monday has risen to 268, and many of the dead are schoolchildren, officials have said as rescuers raced against time to find survivors.The quake, centred in the Cianjur region of West Java province, struck at a shallow depth of 6.2 miles (10km), triggering landslides and damaging buildings, including tens of thousands of homes and dozens of schools. Continue reading...

Labour leader calls on business leaders to stop using ‘cheap labour’ to plug workforce shortages

Force says member of public discovered breach two weeks ago, but document was first released in 2019A police force that inadvertently published details of victims of sexual offences on its website has apologised for the “anxiety this unintentional disclosure of personal information will have caused”.Suffolk constabulary said the data breach was discovered by a member of the public on the evening of 7 November, but the document “was first published in 2019”. Continue reading...

Kimber Lee’s award-winning drama, untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play, will be staged at Manchester’s Royal Exchange while Miss Saigon opens at the Sheffield CrucibleThe Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester is to present an award-winning play that rails against the portrayal of Asian women in the musical Miss Saigon.The programming of Kimber Lee’s drama untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play was announced on Tuesday, following news that a touring theatre company of British east and south-east Asian (BESEA) artists has pulled a production from the Sheffield Crucible next summer because the venue is staging Miss Saigon. In a statement, New Earth Theatre said it would not present its play Worth alongside “a musical that perpetuates deeply held notions of Asian inferiority”. Continue reading...

More than 1,000 staff who deliver money to firms such as Barclays, Asda and Tesco to take actionMore than 1,000 security workers who deliver cash and coins to some of the UK’s biggest banks and supermarkets have voted to strike in December, raising the prospect of potential cash shortages in the run-up to Christmas.The 48-hour strike by 1,156 members of the GMB union who work for the security company G4S is due to take place from 3am on 5 December, after a 97% vote in favour of industrial action in a dispute over pay. However, only 665 workers voted in the ballot, a turnout of 58%. Continue reading...

Investigation will focus on church’s finance and organisation amid public dismay at extent of its links to ruling partyJapan’s government has launched an investigation into the Unification church, five months after the former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead, allegedly by a man with a longstanding grudge against the group.The probe, announced on Tuesday, will focus on the church’s finances and organisation, and could see it stripped of its legal status, media reports said. Continue reading...

Daniel Andrews’ election pledge would mean future parliament would require ‘super majority’ to privatise State Electricity Commission

Upper house MP Catherine Cumming did not commit offence during speech about state’s premier

Italian immigrant Otto Dal Zotto, who grew Australia’s first commercial vines, says EU push makes him ‘very sad and a bit angry’

Regional interests remain very much at stake in conflict neither isolated, nor solely Syrian – though often forgottenOver the plains of northern Syria, an approaching warplane usually makes a distinctive roar, allowing those on the ground to determine who it belongs to and whether there’s a need to hide.But the past few days have been more onerous than ever for plane-spotters as the air forces of three countries have crisscrossed Syrian skies, bombing targets from the Mediterranean coast to the deserts of the east in the most comprehensive airstrikes in the past three years. Continue reading...

Six men who had been held in Australia’s offshore processing facilities for more than eight years arrive in Auckland

Prime minister stresses ‘enormous benefits and opportunities’ of Brexit before business leaders

Penguin owner Bertelsmann will not appeal US judge’s ruling that merger would be illegal because it would hit authors’ payPenguin Random House, the world’s largest book publisher, and rival Simon & Schuster have scrapped a $2.2bn deal to merge, Penguin’s owner said in a statement on Monday.Bertelsmann, a German media group which owns Penguin, initially said it would appeal a US judge’s decision that said its purchase of Simon & Schuster would be illegal because it would hit authors’ pay. Continue reading...

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...