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Police use facial recognition to scan one million faces in WA trial leading to 122 arrests

Deployments of surveillance vans over five months result in nine false alerts and led officers to engage with 146 registered sex offenders Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast More than a million people have had their faces scanned in a trial of real-time facial recognition technology in Western Australia, resulting in 122 arrests and nine incorrect alerts. WA police said under the five-month trial, which concluded on Saturday, the technology scanned 1,380,882 faces afte

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Trump launches racist diatribe against Abdul El-Sayed at Iowa rally

President again took aim at progressive Senate candidate and lauded Haley Stevens for endorsing Mike Rogers Donald Trump railed against Democratic US senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed at a campaign event in Iowa Sunday, repeatedly referring to the Michigan progressive as a “jihadist”. Trump’s comments aimed to influence a neck-and-neck race that will play an outsized role in determining which party controls the senate after Tuesday’s midterm elections. Continue reading...

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Spain train crash: US, Japan and Canada citizens among dead, authorities say

The train disaster, one of Europe’s deadliest rail incidents this century, killed 69 people, including 54 Spaniards Four US citizens and one each from Canada, Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Tunisia and the Czech Republic were among the 69 killed in last week’s high-speed train collision in Spain, authorities said. Wednesday’s disaster – one of Europe’s deadliest rail accidents this century – has seen victims’ relatives endure an agonising wait as forensics teams identify the dead, sometimes from indi

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Democrat Haley Stevens endorses Abdul El-Sayed’s Republican rival Mike Rogers

Endorsement was met with backlash from the party, condemning Stevens for her ‘betrayal’ Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who lost the Michigan Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed his Republican rival, Mike Rogers, in an extraordinary rebuke of her party’s nominee on the eve of the midterm elections. Her endorsement came in a video posted to X after she attended an event with Rogers at the predominantly Black Perfecting church in Detroit on Sunday. Stevens’s endorsement was the culm

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Pauline Hanson and James Ashby rule out running against Nationals leader Matt Canavan in Capricornia

‘My political career may die,’ senator says after Michelle Landry announced she will not recontest her Queensland seat of Capricornia Get our daily political email, free app or daily news podcast The Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, will run for a lower house Queensland seat at the next federal election but will avoid having to face off against a key One Nation figure. Canavan confirmed his bid following the announcement that Capricornia MP Michelle Landry will retire, leading to speculation it

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Parents of woman who died of seizure after ChatGPT misguidance sue OpenAI

Bowen Wan was on anti-seizure medication, and chatbot provided her with a tapering schedule to reduce dosage A woman’s death from an epileptic seizure after she received dangerous advice from a chatbot has prompted her parents to sue OpenAI earlier this week. The legal action is the latest lawsuit that in which plaintiffs allege that a bot provided counsel to a user that ultimately led to their death. Continue reading...

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UK was ‘vehement’ slavery reparations should not be on Commonwealth summit agenda

British prime minister has now agreed to structured dialogue on reparatory justice but issue remains off formal Chogm agenda British officials reportedly insisted that discussions of reparations for slavery should not be on the agenda of the Commonwealth leaders’ summit in Antigua and Barbuda – and even warned that Andy Burnham would not attend the meeting if the subject was formally included, according to a leading Caribbean political figure. Ralph Gonsalves, a former prime minister of St Vinc

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All nine people aboard business jet that crashed in Florida have died

Aircraft had departed Austin-Bergstrom international airport and was headed to the Bahamas when it crashed All nine people have died who were aboard a business jet that crashed in a Florida neighborhood on Sunday, Sean Duffy, the US transportation secretary, said. The aircraft erupted in a massive fireball that appeared to just miss homes before crashing near a busy roadway. Duffy posted on X on Sunday that the Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach county at 12.50pm and called it a “horrific tragedy

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Teenage violinist wins BBC Young Musician 2026, after first all-female final

Judges hail Sofia Demetriades’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto as full of insights, poetry and maturity A teenage violinist has won the BBC Young Musician competition 2026, in the first all-female final in the competition’s 48-year history. The judges, Joanna MacGregor, Ben Gernon and Errollyn Wallen, hailed Sofia Demetriades’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto as full of insights, poetry and maturity. Continue reading...

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Judge dismisses Trump attempt to block Alaska Senate race results if Republican loses

Incumbent Dan Sullivan says he will accept election results after ‘unprecedented intervention’ by Trump’s DoJ A judge has dismissed the Donald Trump-backed lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s US Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses. Trump said on 23 October that he had ordered the justice department to file the lawsuit in a move that voting rights experts called an “unprecedented intervention” by the federal government with control of Congress in the balance. Co

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Northern Territory water plan condemned as ‘blatant and shameless’ attack on nature

Exclusive: Move to scrap legal requirement to set aside water for environment is ‘extreme even for the NT CLP government’, green group says Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Northern Territory government has been accused of making a “blatant and shameless” attack on nature by planning to delete a legal requirement that water must be allocated to the environment. In what has been described as the latest in a series of attacks on the environment by the NT’s Country

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Home secretary to make some migrants wait 10 years or more for right to settle in UK

MPs say Shabana Mahmood’s new rules risk staff shortages in health and social care and second Windrush scandal Shabana Mahmood will announce sweeping new rules on Monday on how long legal migrants must wait for settlement in the UK, with most likely to wait a decade and some up to 15 years. Ministers – including the housing secretary, Angela Rayner – had raised concerns about the effect the rules would have on care workers already in the UK who would be likely to face a 15-year wait for settleme

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Tributes paid to ‘inspiring’ Cambridge scientist who died in Spain train crash

Dr Marta Shahbazi was travelling to a conference to receive award for scientific excellence in developmental biology An “inspiring” University of Cambridge scientist died in the Spanish train collision on Wednesday that killed at least 69 people. Dr Marta Shahbazi, 41, an affiliate associate professor at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and a group leader at the city’s Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), was travelling on one of the trains involved in the crash near

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National Grid to site biggest substation in UK near planned Teesside datacentre

New electricity generating capacity would enable north-east to attract investment for large-scale AI infrastructure National Grid has taken a step towards building Britain’s biggest electricity substation on Teesside, which could supply power to a vast neighbouring datacentre as the UK races to expand its AI infrastructure. Last week, the company agreed to purchase 29.5 hectares (73 acres) of land at Dorman Point on a site owned by Teesworks, a local private-public partnership. The deal was firs

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Negotiators ‘braced for worst’ over US-Iran talks to reopen strait of Hormuz

Third day of indirect talks as Qatar tries to negotiate release of $6bn in Iranian assets that could lead to waterway’s reopening Officials from the Gulf states are “braced for the worst” as they wait for Washington’s response to an Iranian proposal that could reopen the strait of Hormuz before the US midterm elections on Tuesday. Indirect talks in Doha ran into a third day on Sunday with Qatar trying to negotiate the release of more than $6bn in Iranian assets, which could lead to the reopening

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How Rachel Reeves has mapped out the economic agenda for Andy Burnham’s government

On Brexit, devolution and investment, the former chancellor is eerily in tune with the man who sacked her Reeves says UK’s future is in the EU Which senior politician has argued that “Brexit did deep damage” and that the government seeks “not to turn back the clock but to look toward a new and stable, future relationship?” It was not Andy Burnham, who has been the torchbearer for thinking the unthinkable on Brexit since he became prime minister. Instead, these are the words of the former chanc

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Police detain 325 people at pro-Palestine Action protest at US embassy in London

Arrests come ahead of Wednesday’s supreme court challenge to the ban on the direct action group Police have said they arrested 325 people on Saturday at a demonstration outside the US embassy in London against the proscription of Palestine Action. In updated arrest figures released on Sunday, the Metropolitan police said 320 people were detained outside the building in Battersea, south London, for allegedly expressing support for an organisation banned under the Terrorism Act. Continue reading.

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Ukraine defies Trump to resume attacks on Russian oil refineries

Kremlin says Kyiv is ‘simply ignoring’ US wishes days before midterm elections after reported strikes on two oil sites Ukraine has resumed its attacks on Russian oil refineries in defiance of pressure from Donald Trump ahead of the US midterm elections, as a ceasefire in the occupied town of Oleshky ended on Sunday night. Russian state media said on Sunday Ukrainian long-range drones had set fire to the Kstovo refinery in Nizhny Novgorod oblast overnight, soon after a major strike against anothe

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UK willing to spend £450m a year on EU students if it can join Made in Europe scheme

Exclusive: Plan to allow students from bloc pay same fees as Britons contingent on entry to industrial programme, officials say Ministers are prepared to spend as much as £450m a year to give students from the EU discounted university fees, the Guardian has learned, but only if Brussels allows the UK access to its Made in Europe industrial programme. The UK government has drawn up plans to allow students arriving from the continent pay the same fees as British students, sources say, and is willi

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Attempted murder probe after petrol bomb thrown at French riot police

Youth-led protests end with street violence in cities across France, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal and Albania French officials have opened an investigation into the attempted murder of a police officer and Germany’s interior minister has called for harsh penalties after peaceful and mainly youth-led protests across Europe ended in violence. In Portugal, police – some with dogs – cleared protest camps with baton charges, while security forces in Switzerland were attacked with paving stones. C

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Tens of thousands protest against Narendra Modi regime in Delhi

Led by Congress party, India’s opposition alliance channels anger over removal of 130 million names from voter roll Thousands of opposition supporters have gathered in Delhi as protests against the Narendra Modi government continue to gather momentum. Led by the Congress party, India’s opposition alliance has brought together supporters from across the country, amid growing anger over a large-scale revision of the country’s voter roll that has seen 130 million names erased. Continue reading...

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House prices fall for seventh consecutive month as interest rates dent demand

Centre of downturn shifts away from Sydney and Melbourne, but after such strong growth most homeowners still sit on sizeable gains Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australian home values have dropped for a seventh consecutive month, with prices in the capital cities now falling at the fastest pace in 40 years as rising mortgage rates scare off buyers. Cotality data shows the centre of the downturn is also shifting away from Sydney and Melbourne towards the mid-sized

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Former NSW Liberal leads overhaul of One Nation candidate selection process

Exclusive: Mark Jones, once on track for one of the Liberal party’s most powerful roles, is now instrumental in One Nation’s expansion Get our daily political email, free app or daily news podcast In 2023, a young and ambitious Liberal moderate was on the brink of securing one of the most powerful roles in the party: state director of the New South Wales branch. Three years later, he is playing a key role in selecting and vetting One Nation candidates determined to beat his former colleagues.

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The US-China trade war seems to have subsided – but the sense of calm is misleading

A truce has cooled the trade conflict, but neither country has done anything to limit the outbreak of new hostilities Donald Trump’s trade wars have largely fallen off the headlines. Fears of new tariffs flare up from time to time when the US president goes off the rails – for instance, threatening to end US trade with countries with which it has a deficit unless the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates. But the sense that the world’s two largest economies are plowing ahead into an overt economic

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Binance resumes customer withdrawals after record $6.3bn hack

Cryptocurrency exchange says 90% of losses covered as FBI blames North Korean state-sponsored group TraderTraitor The cryptocurrency exchange Binance has started to allow its customers to withdraw their funds from the platform, as it recovers from a record $6.3bn (£4.7bn) hack. The exchange was hit by the theft on Thursday, which has since been described as the biggest heist in history, with experts identifying North Korea as the likely culprit. Continue reading...

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Police clash with masked rioters after largely peaceful protests across France

Demonstrations also taking place in Germany, where officers fire teargas to disperse crowds as evening falls Clashes erupted in Paris, Marseille and other cities on Saturday after tens of thousands of demonstrators, some in Halloween fancy dress, marched across France in a third wave of protests over the cost of living and deteriorating public services. The interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said about 150 planned demonstrations around the country had passed off peacefully, but police had encount

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Tusk defends overhaul of Poland’s constitutional court despite protests

Prime minister says shake-up is vital to restore tribunal crippled by years of political disputes Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has vowed to see through a contested overhaul of the country’s constitutional court, declaring that “in certain matters, there can be no compromise”. In a prime-time television address on Saturday night, Tusk was defiant, despite overnight protests that saw riot police drafted to protect the court’s building, saying the shake-up was vital to restore a tribunal c

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Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign disinvites Haley Stevens from events to limit ‘distractions’

A public spat has cast Democratic tensions in the spotlight as the close US Senate race draws to a head Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s tightly fought US Senate race, has asked Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens to stay away from his campaign events. “I don’t want any distractions,” El-Sayed told reporters after a campaign rally, according to the New York Times. “It seems as though other folks are more interested in making this race about things that it’s not about.” C

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Man in Belfast charged with possessing explosives and firearms

The 35-year-old was charged after police searched properties in Shankill Road and Edwina Street areas A man has been charged under the Explosives Act and Firearms Order after police searched properties in Belfast. The 35-year-old was charged with offences including two counts of possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances, and possession of a prohibited weapon (discharge of electricity or noxious gas). Continue reading...

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Oleshky evacuees reunite with families after truce allows crossing back into Ukraine

Residents of nearby villages line highway waving flags to greet the evacuees’ convoy from the Russian-occupied city Evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky have been reunited with their families after crossing into Ukrainian-held territory on Saturday. The major rescue operation began on Friday and was carried out under the most significant truce since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine four and a half years ago. Continue reading...

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Disquiet grows in Albanese’s back yard as Grayndler artists unite against ‘insane’ AI proposal

Inner west Sydney seat has long been safely held by the PM – but potential changes to copyright laws are angering its large creative community Get our daily political email, free app or daily news podcast The prime minister is facing growing discontent within his own electorate as creatives push back against the federal government’s proposal to allow AI companies to scrape everything Australians create online. Anthony Albanese’s seat of Grayndler in Sydney’s inner west is home to more than 3,0

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Protests under way in Germany and France as minister warns against use of Halloween masks – as it happened

France’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, has warned protesters that covering their faces with Halloween costumes could result in fines Full report: Police clash with masked rioters after largely peaceful protests across France Protesters in Paris have begun marching from Porte de Bagnolet, with demonstrations also taking place in Lille and Lyon. Crowds of people have gathered in Paris for the protests, where two French student unions have called for a blockade of schools and universities on

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Almost 140 arrested at protest against Palestine Action ban outside US embassy in London

Met alleges demonstrators ‘meeting to purposefully commit a crime’ in largest such gathering under Burnham Almost 140 people have been arrested at the largest mass demonstrations under Andy Burnham’s premiership opposing the proscription of Palestine Action. Hundreds of people gathered outside the US embassy in Battersea, south London, holding signs that read: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” Demonstrators also held a vigil in support of the group outside the US consulate in Edin

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Virginia and DC sue to stop Trump’s arch as government looks to start construction

Legal challenges to Donald Trump’s proposed memorial arch are mounting even as its construction is imminent The legal challenges to Donald Trump’s proposed memorial arch are mounting, with the District of Columbia and Virginia suing in federal court on Saturday as the administration says construction could begin as early as next week. There are now three lawsuits calling for a halt to potential work on a monument that would rise 250ft (76 meters) on a patch of grass off the bridge that spans the

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More than 50m Americans cast ballots in early voting with three days to go before midterms

Record number of early votes cast, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans in states which collect that information There has been a surge of early voting for the US midterm elections, with millions more Americans going to the polls compared with the last such election amid a series of tight contests that will determine control of Congress. More than 50.5m early votes have been cast across the US as of Saturday morning, according to an analysis by the University of Florida. This is already nearl

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UK charity shop profits plummet amid shift in secondhand clothes market

British Heart Foundation describes ‘exceptionally challenging’ trading after Oxfam’s retail profit reportedly fell 23% amid rise of platforms such as Vinted Profits at some of the UK’s best-known charity shops have plummeted as they face a number of pressures, including from online secondhand clothes platforms, prompting claims that a key part of the sector’s fundraising model could be under threat. According to unpublished accounts seen by the Financial Times, Oxfam’s retail profit fell 23% to

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A world-first focus on long-term outcomes could transform UK government – or create new spending fights

Tucked away in John Healey’s budget is decision to ringfence preventative projects where future savings outweigh initial cost It merited the briefest of mentions in John Healey’s speech and just one paragraph in the 166-page budget document, but some believe it could revolutionise not just public spending but the very process of government itself: a new focus on long-term outcomes. The idea in the broad sense is very simple. Any spending deemed to be “preventative” – that is, the initial outlay

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Ads accusing Republican candidates of protecting Epstein fill airwaves in final midterm push

But select Democrats, too, are being accused of having ties to the late sex offender as country prepares to vote In races across the country, Democratic candidates or groups that support them have released ads accusing Republicans of protecting pedophiles by voting against legislation to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein. The ads appear intended to evoke an emotional response by accusing candidates of “protecting” Epstein, a notorious pedophile accused of running a sex-trafficking ring in

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Maurene Comey ruling offers hope of check on Trump’s assault on rule of law

Legal experts welcome judge’s rejection of firing of James Comey’s daughter prosecutor but warn an appeal is likely A recent legal ruling against an effort to fire the star-prosecutor daughter of a former FBI chief targeted by Donald Trump could send a strong message about politicized firings – and influence other judges weighing similar cases, legal veterans said. Judge Jesse Furman ruled this week that the Department of Justice’s firing of assistant US attorney Maurene Comey without cause was

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Starmer says UK must get closer to Europe as US relationship changes

Shift in dealings with Washington not likely to reset once Trump leaves Oval Office, former PM says The UK and other European nations must draw closer together as the US becomes a less-reliable partner, Keir Starmer has said in his first significant political intervention since leaving No 10. The former prime minister warned European leaders of the threat posed by Russia, among others, and said the shift in relations with Washington during Donald Trump’s presidency was not likely to reset once h

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UK police should not have let US force take over airbase trial, MoD documents show

According to documents obtained by the Guardian, officials accused Cambridgeshire force of breaching US-UK deal by handing over case of woman strangled by US pilot Ministry of Defence officials have privately accused a UK police force of wrongly handing over the investigation of an American fighter pilot who strangled a British woman to the US military, according to documents obtained by the Guardian. Cambridgeshire police allowed the US military police to quickly take control of the investigati

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Storm warnings for Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane as cold front ‘packs a punch’

BoM predicts hail, damaging winds and possible flash flooding across Victoria, NSW and parts of Queensland into Sunday Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Storm warnings are in place for multiple capital cities across Australia’s east and south-east as a severe weather front sweeps across the country. Heavy rain, winds and thunderstorms are forecast to hit Melbourne and eastern Victoria throughout Saturday afternoon as a cold front meets warm, humid air. Continue read

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Albanese looks for reset on world stage as ‘spot fires burn’ domestically and likely interest rate hike looms

The prime minister will speak with King Charles and others at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Antigua and Barbuda Get our daily political email, free app or daily news podcast As “summit season” begins, reaffirming ties with fellow leaders on the world stage could be a circuit breaker for Anthony Albanese amid domestic and economic woes, analysts have said. But a likely interest rate hike, triggered by higher-than-expected inflation, while the prime minister is overseas will ma

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US cancels G20 ‘family photo’ after Australia, UK and others refuse to appear with Russia

Marco Rubio pulls plug on traditional photo op at meeting of foreign ministers after about one-third of countries threaten boycott The traditional “family photo” to open the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting has been abruptly cancelled in the US after a host of nations – including Australia and the UK – refused to appear beside the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, pulled the plug after several European officials, the UK and Australia made it known the

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A top-secret spy mission, a decades-old scandal – and the Austin Powers-esque saga to lift the lid

Rex Patrick’s latest transparency fight is over what he calls ‘most open secret in the history of Australian spying’ – maybe even the world Get our daily political email, free app or daily news podcast A campaign to uncover any documents relating to whether Australian spies bugged Timor-Leste to gain the upper hand in sensitive oil and gas negotiations will be a little less secret after a critical win by the former senator Rex Patrick. The politician turned transparency advocate is trying to f

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Canada and EU announce new alliance open to like-minded countries

Alliance for the Future, unveiled at Montreal summit and open to other countries, conceived for world ‘shaken by new storms’ Canada and Europe have announced a new alliance of like-minded nations to serve as both a “protective canopy under which our citizens can thrive” and a powerful hedge against the unpredictable nature of geopolitics, while welcoming other countries to join. Speaking to reporters on Friday from Montreal, the prime minister, Mark Carney, and the European Commission president,

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How crypto hacking funds isolated North Korea’s nuclear programme

Cryptocurrency theft is estimated to generate half of the country’s foreign currency income North Korea plays by its own rules. The isolated, secretive and autocratic country is largely cut off from the world’s economic system – but when it comes to generating foreign earnings it relies on some of the world’s most sophisticated hacking. Experts, such as TRM Labs, quickly attributed the extraordinary $6.3bn (£4.7bn) Binance cryptocurrency theft to TraderTraitor, an elite North Korean hacking unit

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‘Amateur morons’: Flávio Bolsonaro’s short-lived ‘president-elect’ claim met with mockery

Brazilian media ridicule defeated candidate over ‘shameful’ absconsion to US and bizarre letter with wrong coat of arms Flávio Bolsonaro had hoped that by Sunday night people would be calling him the next president of Brazil. Instead, the far-right politician’s decision to flee to the US after losing the election and – for 58 minutes – to declare himself “Brazil’s true president-elect”, has made him a laughing stock, with Brazilian newspapers and commentators raining a barrage of scornful adject

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Gulf states must rethink trillion-dollar defence in light of US-Iran war, says report

IISS study questions overreliance on American support and ‘overdependence on expensive, high-end systems’ Gulf states are going to have to reconfigure their trillion-dollar defences given the damage inflicted on their economies and the questionable continued value of US bases in the face of Iranian attack, according to a study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The report says that in the weeks before the 8 April ceasefire, 12 regional states, overwhelmingly in the Gulf, faced

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Beijing Queer film festival cancelled after harassment from authorities

Forums for discussion of feminist and LGBTQ+ views face growing intolerance from Chinese state, say experts Beijing’s annual independent queer film festival has been cancelled after what is understood to have been a campaign of sustained harassment from authorities. Beijing Queer film festival, which was due to begin on Friday in China’s capital, is one of the country’s oldest independent film festivals. Continue reading...

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Severe rainfall and flood warnings issued for central Greece and western Turkey

Turkey has been hit by powerful thunderstorms and a fatal tornado this week with more heavy rain expected Heavy rain and strong winds will continue to affect parts of south-eastern Europe and Turkey over the next few days, as an area of low pressure in the region has allowed for the formation of powerful thunderstorms. During a particularly intense thunderstorm in Antalya, a coastal city in the south-west of Turkey, the formation of a tornado resulted in the deaths of four construction workers o

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Houthis sending Taiz ‘back to the stone age’, governor of besieged Yemen city says

Oxygen, food and water supplies running low and massacres taking place, says Nabil Shamsan The Houthis are trying to send the city of Taiz back to the stone age, the city’s governor said in a briefing designed to urge the international community to do more to lift the month-long siege. Nabil Shamsan said massacres were taking place in Yemen’s third city, that oxygen and water supplies were running out and that rubbish was piling up in the streets due to landfill sites being either full or inacce

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Friday briefing: Israel has a dilemma - can its opposition govern with Palestinian parties?

In today’s newsletter: Benjamin Netanyahu has been left without a majority, now it is up to the coalition to find out whether the desire for change will prove to be a defining political moment Good morning. It was described by many Israelis as the most consequential election in their country’s history. And, as the final votes were tallied, it has delivered a result that presents Israel with a significant dilemma. Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition has lost its mandate while the opposition

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Sinkholes, scarred land and scapegoats: the scourge of illegal gold mining in Johannesburg

There is no end in sight for the drivers of illegal mining, while police action appears ineffective Cora Bailey has been encountering illegal miners ever since she first started treating injured animals in the townships around Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, in 1991. But as the price of gold has soared, so too has activity in the abandoned mine shafts that mark the area. In late September, dozens of zama zamas – the name given to illegal miners in South Africa, meaning roughly “to take a chanc

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Sudanese diaspora and human rights groups denounce UAE nominee for UN top job

Critics cite Lana Nusseibeh’s denial of accusations the UAE is fuelling Sudan war by supporting paramilitary RSF Members of the Sudanese diaspora and international human rights monitors have denounced the candidature of an Emirati diplomat for the top job at the UN, citing her denial of accusations that the United Arab Emirates is fuelling the war in Sudan by supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The UAE nominated Lana Nusseibeh last week to replace the UN secretary general, António

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China expels a record number from Communist party amid Xi’s intensified purges of top officials

The unprecedented number of empty seats at the fifth plenum – a symbol of expulsions – serve as a symbol for the scale of the purges under Xi Jinping China expelled a record number of officials from the Chinese Communist party (CCP) as it concluded a major political gathering, which saw an unprecedented number of empty seats indicating the scale of the purges under Xi Jinping. A record 33 members were expelled at this week’s fifth plenum, a gathering of top officials that takes place roughly onc

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El Niño-driven drought in Papua New Guinea a ‘national crisis’ as rivers dry up and local farms fail

As many as 8 million people have been affected by food shortages, electricity blackouts and health clinic closures Extreme drought driven by an historic El Niño is affecting as many as 8 million people in Papua New Guinea, causing a cascade of issues from shortages of food and water, to electricity scarcity and schooling disruption. An influential coalition that includes churches, trade unions and business groups has said the Pacific nation is in the midst of a “national crisis”, but there appea

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Netanyahu accused of smearing Arab voters to hold on to power

Prime minister claims Arab Israeli parties used foreign backing to steal elections, in which his coalition lost its majority Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of using smear tactics to cling to power, after he claimed that Arab Israeli parties had used foreign backing to “steal” Tuesday’s election, in which the prime minister’s coalition lost its parliamentary majority. Netanyahu and his allies called on the internal security service, Shin Bet, to investigate alleged vote buying and other irr

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JD Vance letter may offer last chance to avert fresh conflict between US and Iran

US vice-president writes to top Iranian security official in sign Washington has not abandoned diplomacy Hopes of averting a major new conflagration between Iran and the US soon after Tuesday’s midterm elections could rest on Iran’s response to a personal letter from the US vice-president, JD Vance, offering to restart diplomacy. The letter, written after predominantly Qatari mediation, was sent to the secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council, Mohsen Rezaei on Sunday. It requires Te

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Hong Kong’s leader apologises for residential fire that killed 168 people

Blaze was world’s deadliest residential fire since 1980, but some survivors and bereaved families say justice has yet to be served Hong Kong’s leader has apologised for government shortcomings that contributed to a fire that killed 168 people in the city last year, a rare sign of public contrition that nevertheless failed to impress some victims’ families. The chief executive, John Lee, and seven other officials bowed in apology at the release of a report that pointed to “decades of failure” by

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Cuts like a knife: Canadian rocker Bryan Adams trolls Trump with new song

Musician wrote a ‘love letter’ to Canada with a new album – and some pointed commentary about the US president Lake Ontario, the vast body of water that straddles the US-Canada border, has gone by many names over the centuries: Lac Saint-Louis, Lacus Ontarius, Skaniadorio, Cataraqui Lake. But one thing it will never be called, says the Canadian rock star Bryan Adams, is Lake America. In his new song Lake Ontario, Adams takes aim at the US president, Donald Trump, accusing him of “breaking the pe

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Brazil’s victory for the planet and democracy: seven lessons from Lula’s win

The trouncing of the far right provides a playbook for social and environmental movements in other countries facing elections, including the US, Spain and France Thank you, Brazil, for demonstrating how the far right can be trounced while protection for the Amazon is strengthened. In a world where nature and democracy appeared to be bleeding out in tandem, voters and forest defenders in this global south powerhouse have shown it is possible to staunch the flow. This should provide much needed i

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Egypt fines prominent editor Lina Attalah and shuts independent news outlet Mada Masr

Warnings of escalating clampdown on press freedom come after Cairo court convicts Attalah of managing an unlicensed website Lina Attalah, a prominent Egyptian journalist and the editor-in-chief of the news outlet Mada Masr, has been released from detention by Egypt’s authorities and had her website ordered to be shut down by a court amid an intensifying crackdown on independent media in the country. Attalah was taken briefly into custody after a Cairo court convicted her of managing an unlicense

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Africa’s ‘unprecedented’ Ebola outbreak could reach UK, says top health official

Jean Kaseya, of the Africa CDC, warns of the illness spreading like Covid unless more funding is secured to increase preparedness and possible treatment The “unprecedented” spread of the Ebola outbreak means it could reach the UK and other countries, according to one of Africa’s top health officials. As the current outbreak reached 10,000 cases, with almost 5,000 deaths, Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), compared the outbreak to the

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What Marco Rubio’s sidestepping of New Delhi says about the US’s stance on India

Rubio’s decision not to meet Narendra Modi last week was seen by some as a snub – but by focusing on business leaders and oil, the secretary of state made American priorities clear. Plus: the artist bringing a female perspective to men’s clothing • Don’t get This is India delivered to your inbox? Sign up here When the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, visited India for the second time this year, headlines concentrated on who he met and where he went. The fact that Rubio bypassed New Delhi and

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UK sanctions Sudanese military leaders implicated in El Fasher ‘campaign of rape’

Commanders suspected of sexual violence during the largest and fastest slaughter of civilians in more than 30 years have been subjected to travel ban and asset freeze Senior Sudanese commanders implicated in a “campaign of rape” have been targeted by the UK on the first anniversary of a mass atrocity that saw tens of thousands of civilians killed over several days. A year after the fall of El Fasher, the British government said it had sanctioned military leaders from both sides in the country’s

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Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi ‘sounds strong’ but is isolated, son says

Kim Aris tells the Guardian chance to speak with detained Nobel laureate was ‘public relations’ move from military leaders Myanmar’s former democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi appears to be in good physical and mental health but is living in near-complete isolation, her son has said after the first call with his 81-year-old mother in more than five years. “She still sounds certainly all there mentally, and physically she sounds strong,” Kim Aris said. “I don’t think she has anybody outside of the

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India slashes cost of cancer drugs after court rules mark-ups are ‘extortion’

Case filed in 2022 by patient unable to afford medicine leads to cap on drug prices for millions who face ruin if diagnosed The Indian government has moved to reduce the price of cancer drugs after a retired bank clerk took her case to the supreme court. From next month, 137 cancer drugs in India will be cheaper as the government tries to tackle the tragedy of poorer patients either forgoing treatment, selling land or falling into debt to meet the high cost of some medicines, which are making la

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Aung San Suu Kyi’s son speaks to detained former Myanmar leader for first time in five years

Kim Aris says ‘hearing her voice again means more than words can express’ amid loosening of detention restrictions The son of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi has been allowed to speak to the detained former democratic leader for the first time in more than five years. “Today, I was finally able to speak with my mother, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, after more than five years. Hearing her voice again means more than words can express,” Kim Aris said in a post on Facebook on Thursday. Continue reading...

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Indian court orders release of two leaders of Cockroach movement

Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka spent a week in jail after defying restrictions on protests in Delhi amid government crackdown An Indian court has ordered the release of two leaders of India’s Cockroach movement who were jailed last week amid a mounting state crackdown on youth-led protests. The two leaders of the Cockroach Janta party (CJP) movement, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, had spent a week in Delhi’s Tihar jail after being arrested by Delhi police last week. Continue reading...

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Helen Haines live updates: MP critical but stable as AFP look into charges carrying up to 10 years’ imprisonment

A joint counter-terrorism taskforce is investigating the incident, which Anthony Albanese alleged ‘wasn’t an accident’ ‘Deeply appalled’: politicians condemn alleged attack after Helen Haines critically injured Helen Haines, the principled MP respected across parliament ‘It’s very clear that this was a deliberate act’, PM says The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Haines’ alleged attacker “did a U-turn in order to get back to where Helen Haines was” after passing her on the road. It woul

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Trump attacks ‘migrants and communists’ as he tries to exploit France unrest

President at Kansas rally tries to turn protests into cautionary tale for US as Republicans face midterm losses Explainer: why are people protesting across Europe? As Republicans confront mounting political headwinds ahead of November’s midterm elections, Donald Trump is attempting to turn unrest in France into a cautionary tale for American voters, recasting the demonstrations that began as student protests against crumbling schools and the soaring cost of living as evidence of the dangers of

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Why terrorism laws stopped Sally Rooney selling books in the UK – podcast

The bestselling author says her books will no longer be supplied to UK bookshops over fears of prosecution. Zoe Williams and Haroon Siddique report For now there might be a copy or two of Intermezzo left kicking around in your local bookshop – snap it up if you haven’t already, because soon that will be it. Last year, Sally Rooney said she would be using her royalties to support Palestine Action, a group that is proscribed as a terrorist organisation under UK law. Since then, thousands of people

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Kumanjayi Little Baby: damning report finds ‘heartbreaking’ child protection failures before five-year-old’s death

Northern Territory government announced sweeping reforms of child protection sector in May, just days after the Warlpiri girl was found dead • Warning: This article contains images of and references to Indigenous Australians who have died Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A report into the Northern Territory’s child protection sector has detailed “confronting” and “heartbreaking” failures in the lead-up to the alleged murder of Warlpiri girl Kumanjayi Little Baby. The

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Car allegedly did U-turn and struck Helen Haines twice, in what some believe was targeted attack against MP

Independent MP is in critical yet stable condition, as police interview alleged attacker in Wangaratta incident Follow our Helen Haines live blog for latest updates Who is Helen Haines, the MP allegedly attacked in Victoria? Get our new political email, free app or daily news podcast The man accused of attacking Helen Haines allegedly made a U-turn before ramming the independent MP twice in what some believed may be a targeted attack near her electorate office, according to eyewitnesses. The

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‘I don’t want to be known as a hero’: barber who rushed to help Helen Haines praised by PM

Ricky Jefferies says he had just finished cutting hair when he grabbed and held the driver who allegedly deliberately struck the Indi MP Follow our Helen Haines live blog for latest updates Who is Helen Haines, the MP allegedly attacked in Victoria? Get our new political email, free app or daily news podcast The Australian prime minister has hailed him a hero for rushing out of his shop to help independent MP Helen Haines after she was allegedly run down in a deliberate attack – but barber R

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Beau Lamarre-Condon had surgery after alleged double murder but before disposing of bodies, court told

Police officer had operation at St Vincent’s hospital two days after Jesse Baird and Luke Davies were shot dead in Paddington terrace in early 2024 Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Beau Lamarre-Condon’s alleged attempt to dispose of two bodies was briefly interrupted so he could undergo surgery, a Sydney court has been told. Lamarre-Condon, 31, has been accused of fatally shooting couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies with his police service weapon in Baird’s Paddington

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Milan luxury shops close as Italy prepares to deploy troops in the city after days of protests

Demonstrations over poor public services and rising costs spiralled over the weekend, with shops looted and property vandalised Why are people protesting across Europe? Italy’s government will dispatch 500 army troops to “defend Milan” after two days ⁠of unrest that saw demonstrators ⁠clash with police, ​loot shops and vandalise property, deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini said on Monday. The deployment is expected to be included in a package of security measures to be approved at ⁠a cabinet

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Colorado wildlife overpass cut vehicle-animal collisions by 91%, report finds

Elk, bear, frogs and other animals have used the overpass, which connects 39,000 acres of habitat, since its completion Colorado officials have tracked herds of elk, bears, pronghorn and even northern leopard frogs ambling across its new wildlife overpass. According to a newly released report, the overpass, which acts as a bridge over a busy stretch of interstate, has helped cut wildlife-vehicle collisions by 91% since its completion 10 months ago. The overpass is the centerpiece of a larger sys

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US grants deportation reprieve to migrants from Ukraine and Sudan

DHS says migrants ‘retain protections’ after temporary protected status was set to expire on Monday Send us your questions about immigration and the midterms More than 100,000 people from Ukraine and Sudan can stay in the United States without immediate risk of deportation, the Department of Homeland Security said, in what amounts to a temporary reprieve after their right to stay in the country was set to expire on Monday. Temporary protected status was set to end on Monday for about 101,000 U

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New AI tool can predict cancer survival by a single patient selfie, study suggests

System can estimate a person’s biological age and predict chances of cancer survival from a single photograph Doctors have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can predict a cancer patient’s chances of survival from a single photograph of their face. The AI system was custom-built by experts at Mass General Brigham, a nonprofit, integrated academic healthcare system in Massachusetts, to estimate biological age and directly predict survival outcomes in patients diagnosed with cancer. C

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California to receive $6m settlement after 23andMe data breach

Millions of customers’ genetic and personal information exposed in 2023, including more than 855,000 Californians California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, on Monday announced the state will receive a $6m settlement payment in 23andMe’s bankruptcy, resolving California’s legal claims related to a 2023 data breach that exposed 6.9 million customers’ ⁠genetic and other ⁠personal information. California had ​unsuccessfully tried to block the $305m sale of 23andMe assets to TTAM Research Institute,

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Oregon man who killed school shooter reportedly took part in military drills with Iraq veterans

New details emerge about Kaylub Giamanco, who went on to elementary school campus and shot Bend suspect dead New details are emerging about the parent who fatally shot the 16-year-old shooter who killed three children and a teacher in Oregon last week. In a 2018 Facebook post, Kaylub Giamanco, the 36-year-old carpenter who shot and killed the shooter, said he had gone through “military shooting drills” with veterans who fought in Iraq. Continue reading...

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Andy Burnham outlines new rules to outlaw ‘rip-off’ private parking fines

Drivers to get five minutes to decide whether to park and 10 minutes to leave after their session ends Drivers will get a guaranteed five minutes to decide whether to park and 10 minutes to leave after their parking session ends before they face a fine under new rules for private car parks that Andy Burnham said were designed to outlaw “rip-off” charges. In the latest in a series of “everyday fixes” to ease the cost of living and give consumers a “fairer” deal, the prime minister said a new offi

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French authorities announce partial curfews as PM blames ‘ultra-left’ for exploiting protests – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. Macron criticises ‘unbridled violence’ after 2,400 arrests across France French PM Lecornu says he has asked prefects to implement “a number of partial curfews” in certain “localised” urban areas to stop further disorder, which he attributes to “the extreme-left” and some criminal elements. We will no doubt hear more on this from local authorities, as in the example of Marseille (10:32). Continue reading...

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‘Crucial opportunity to act’ as study finds most of Europe’s wild bee species in decline

As Cop17 kicks off, records since 1921 show more bee species declining than increasing in all parts of Europe except the Alps Most of Europe’s wild bee species and about half of its hover fly species have declined over the last century, a study has found, as a UN biodiversity summit begins in Armenia. Records since 1921 show more bee species are declining than increasing in all parts of Europe except the Alpine region. The richness of bee and hover fly species suffered a persistent drop in the

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Burnham urges officials to come up with more radical options for Thames Water

Exclusive: Utility seen as ‘litmus test’ of PM’s promise to bring ‘essentials of life’ under public control Andy Burnham has told officials to rip up their plans for how to fix Thames Water and present him with more radical options for what to do with the stricken company. In an early test of his promise to bring “the essentials of life” under public control, the prime minister is urging his advisers to go back to the drawing board and create a new list of policies for the utility. Continue rea

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France imposes partial curfews in several cities, including parts of Paris

Interior minister concedes police ‘lost control’ of weekend protests as PM vows to restore public order Partial curfews have been issued for a number of French cities, including parts of Paris, after the government admitted police had “lost control” during violent weekend protests around the country. Sébastien Lecornu, the French prime minister, said after an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday he was “fully resolved to restore public order” and had called for “local and partial” curfews if need

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Israeli police detain 10 people in rare raid against West Bank settlers

Move comes after US photojournalist and group of European diplomats and Palestinians were assaulted in separate attacks Israeli police have detained 10 people in a rare raid against settlers, after a weekend of extreme violence in the occupied West Bank including an attack on US photojournalist Heidi Levine, which she described as an “attempted lynching”. She was knocked down, kicked and beaten by a group of masked Israeli men as she covered the olive harvest in a Palestinian village on Friday.

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ITV’s exposé of racism and misogyny in Reform? Just a few (more) bad apples | John Crace

While the party’s MPs went into hiding, it was left to its failed byelection candidate Matt Goodwin to defend it It was the dog that didn’t bark in the night. After Sunday night’s ITV exposé of widespread racism and misogyny within Reform, you might have expected one of its MPs to have taken to the airwaves on Monday morning to defend the party’s honour. To try to persuade viewers that the real problem lay with the journalists who couldn’t stop themselves from investigating Reform rather than th

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North Sea strikes could severely disrupt UK fuel supplies, union warns

More than ⁠160 ​offshore rig workers plan walkout amid rising tensions between unions and oil companies North Sea workers are preparing to strike at oil rigs across the ageing basin over the coming weeks in a sign of growing tensions between trade unions and oil companies. The Unite union said on ⁠Monday that more than ⁠160 ​offshore rig workers would take part ⁠in a 24-hour ​strike from Wednesday that could “severely disrupt” UK fuel supplies. Continue reading...

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Houthi attack kills 53 in biggest single loss of life since Yemen civil war reignited

More than 200 mostly young people said to be injured after ballistic missile attack on training camp for government forces At least 53 people have been killed in a Houthi ballistic missile attack on a training camp for Yemeni government security forces, making it the largest single loss of life since the country’s civil war reignited in September. The attack on al-Alam camp in the southern Shabwa province was said to have injured more than 200 others, mostly young recruits, and was described as

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Kenyan starvation cult leader guilty of murder of 190 children and one adult

Paul Mackenzie and his church set up sect that ordered followers to starve themselves and their children, say prosecutors A Kenyan court has found the starvation cult leader Paul Mackenzie and about 30 others guilty of murder over the deaths of ⁠190 children and one adult in one of the world’s worst cult-related disasters in recent history. Mackenzie was arrested in 2023 after police received a tipoff, and weeks later authorities began uncovering bodies in shallow graves in the Shakahola forest

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People scour strait of Hormuz for spilt cargo after Iran attacks container ships

At least 15 vessels struck in waterway in past 10 days, with rumours that they were carrying valuable goods People have been scouring the strait of Hormuz for spilt cargo after Iran attacked at least 15 container ships passing through the crucial waterway in the past 10 days. Some ships have been hit by drones, others by mines. On Sunday, a ship was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade launched from a small boat 75 miles (120km) north-east of the Saudi port of Jubail. Continue reading...

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Ebola cases in Kenya highlight US failures amid Trump cuts to key services

Opposition to US-led quarantine center in Kenya follows sweeping funding cuts and withdrawal from WHO An eighth person in Kenya has tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the country’s first-ever cluster of cases of the virus, as the second-largest outbreak in history has killed more than 4,300 and sickened more than 9,000 people in the region. It highlights the diminished role the US has played in the worsening Ebola outbreak by building a controversial quarantine center in Kenya

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Hurricane Trudy menaces Mexico’s Pacific coast and Greece hit by deadly floods

Trudy weakens to tropical storm after warnings of strong winds and heavy rain, while one person killed in Greece In contrast to the quiet Atlantic hurricane season, there has been ongoing activity in the Pacific, with Trudy being the 22nd and latest named system. The category 2 hurricane remained roughly 100 miles (160km) south-west of the coast of Mexico, meaning the worst of the conditions stayed offshore. However, the US National Hurricane Center put coastal parts of the states of Jalisco, Mi

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Cuts force World Food Programme to end support for half a million Palestinians in Gaza

Two-thirds of population face crisis levels of food insecurity and 200,000 people are in danger of famine This winter is likely to deepen hunger for Palestinians in Gaza, after sweeping aid cuts forced the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) to end support for more than half a million people each month, the agency’s director for Palestine said. More than a year after a Trump-brokered ceasefire came into force, promised reconstruction has not begun, there are few jobs and the vast majority in Gaza st

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China’s economy grows faster than forecast after AI boom boosts exports

Third-quarter GDP up by 4.5% compared with last year as industrial output is buoyed by electronics demand Roaring exports lifted China’s economic growth in the third quarter of this year, with factory output growing much faster than consumer spending. China’s GDP grew by 4.5% year-on-year between July and September, the National Bureau of Statistics of China reported on Monday. The figures were better than economists had expected and up from the second quarter’s growth rate of 4.3%. Continue re