International Newspapers
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Sunderland v Everton: Premier League – live
|
A fair result in the end. Both teams will feel they could have won; deep down both will know they could have lost. This is what it does to the Premier League table. Peep peep! 90+5 min Alcaraz is booked for a foul on someone. He’d had a helluva couple of minutes. 90+4 min: Great chance for Everton! With almost all his teammates ahead of the ball, Xhaka plays a casual pass that intercepted by Grealish, who releases Alcaraz on the far side. Everton have a two-on-one break, with Gueye to the left, but Alcaraz farts around inexplicably and loses the ball. He had to play it through to Gueye. 90+2 min Niall Mullen has saved the email of the night for injury time. “I do hope,” he writes, “that Brian Brobbery’s nickname is ‘daylight’.” Edit: Niall wrote in again to point his surname is Brobbey, not Brobbery. My fault, I’ve offered my resignation. 90 min Ballard and Gueye start wrestling as Mukiele lines up another long throw. It’s like watching a different sport, a couple of them in fact. Eventually the throw is headed down and lumped clear. There are six minutes of added time. 87 min Grealish beats Talbi through sleight of hip but crosses too close to Roefs. 85 min A loose pass from Xhaka is picked up by Mykolenko, who swishes a shot at goal from 25 yards. Roefs dives to his right to push it away, a fairly comfortably save. Apparently that was Everton’s first attempt at goal since Barry’s miss after 28 minutes. 85 min “Maybe the next innovation in set pieces will be for players to be ‘lifted’ to reach the throws or corners?” says Andy Flintoff. Oh lordy. I think/hope/pray that’s illegal. 84 min: Double substitution for Everton Carlos Alcaraz and Tim Iroegbunam come on for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jake O’Brien. 83 min: Double substitution for Sunderland Chemsdine Talbi and Brian Brobbery, the heroes at Chelsea last weekend, replace Wilson Isidor and Bertrand Traore. 81 min: Chance for Sunderland The corner is taken by Xhaka, then returned to him on the right. He whips a glorious first-time ball that is headed over by the stooping Mukiele, six yards out. That’s a pretty good chancee. Keane’s boot caught him as he maded contact with the ball – Mukiele thought it was in the face, apparently VAR has said it was the shoulder. 81 min Xhaka finds Sadiki on the left. He coaxes a nice inswinging cross that is headed towards goal by Hume and funbled behind for a corner by Pickford. The stop was routine but the ball slipped out of his grasp. 79 min Everton’s first long throw of the half – anyone else getting a bit bored by all these lineouts – leads to a corner on the right. McNeil swings it deep, Tarkowski heads it back and it doesn’t matter because the referee has given a free-kick to Sunderland. 77 min Mukiele’s early low cross from the right reaches Isidor, 12 yards out at the near post. He misses his kick and the ball hits hit standing leg. It was a tough chance anyway. 74 min Everton haven’t had a touch in the Sunderland box since half-time. The first half hour, when Everton were in complete control, seems a while ago. 73 min Sunderland are well on top now. Le Fee flicks the beat neatly to Reinildo, who beats McNeil and stands up a cross that is headed away. Moments later Sunderland have a stronger penalty appeal when Sadiki’s cross hits the hand of Keane. His arm was away from his body, but he was trying to pull it back in and he was only a couple of yards from Sadiki. VAR sticks with the on-field decision. 71 min A determined run from Isidor ends with an optimistic shot from a tight angle. Over the bar. 69 min Another long throw from Mukiele doesn’t beat the man at the near post. 67 min Everton repel a series of long throws from Sunderland. There are a couple of appeals for handball/a penalty; neither is worth a damn. 63 min Traore’s off-target snapshot hits Tarkowski and flies behind for a Sunderland corner. Nothing comes of it. 62 min: Everton substitution Dwight McNeil replaces theinjured goalscorer Iliman Ndiaye, who is able to walk off the field but has tweaked something. 60 min Sunderland are still on top but Everton are doing less defending on the seat of their pants. And they are starting to threaten on the break; as I type, the last man Ballard does well to stop a through ball reaching Beto. 58 min “By his standards, Enzo Le Fée had a quiet half, but that little pass to Isidor at the 39th minute was the kind of instinctive creativity that’s his hallmark,” writes Kári Tulinius. “There aren’t many like him in Premier League. Rayan Cherki’s assists for Haaland at the weekend were like that too. And to think that France were worried that the national side lacked creativity. They might have a good team next summer.” Their C team would have a puncher’s chance of making the semi-finals. 57 min: Everton substitution Beto replaces Thierno Barry, who shakes his head in disappointment as he runs off the field. He missed a glorious chance to put Everton 2-0 ahead. 55 min Grealish protects the ball from Hume and is fouled by Xhaka. Grealish bounces to his feet and he and Xhaka put their arms round each other’s shoulders in a gesture of mutual respect; that was rather sweet. 54 min Grealish isn’t impressed and has words with Hume when he gets to his feet. Granit Xhaka tries to play peacemaker. 53 min Hume is booked for an, ahem, agricultural tackle on Grealish. 52 min “Isn’t it nice after the past couple of seasons to see a promoted team thriving?” says Richard Warwick. “Even after the three-up-three-down of last season, any talk of Sunderland being involved in a relegation scrap was all finished by early September. A win today and after 10 games, they’ll be second on their own. Now just don’t do a Forest...” It’s dead refreshing, probably even more so because it’s such a big club. That said, I don’t think they are safe just yet – Phil Brown’s Hull team of 2008-09 had a similar start and were nearly relegated. Nearly. 49 min Almost another one for Sunderland! Le Fee belts a long-range drive that is going off target until it hits the back of Isidor and ricochets towards goal. Pickford, who had started to dive to his right, does well to slow his body down and slap the ball away. Le Fee’s low ball across the area was cleared as far as Xhaka, who swept a low shot from 20 yards that deflected in off Tarkowski. Pickford probably had it covered, but Tarkowski stuck out a leg and diverted it into the net via the underside of the crossbar.. Granit Xhaka equalises after 46 seconds of the second half! 46 min The second half is under way. And… Half-time reading Gary O’Neil was expected to return to Wolves after the sacking of Vitor Pereira, but an afternoon is a long time in football. Iliman Ndiaye’s thrilling solo goal separates the sides at the Stadium of Light. Everton were much the better team for half an hour – Jack Grealish hit the post, Thierno Barry missed a sitter – but Sunderland came on strong as half-time approached and are still in this game. 45 min Two minutes of added time. 44 min A big, swirling cross from the right is met at the far post by Ballard. His header hits the outstretched leg of his teammate Isidor, I think, and bounces up dangerously in front of goal. Keane sticks his head in first and gets the ball away. That was close. Everton need half-time, a phrase I didn’t think I’d be typing when they were in complete control earlier in the half. 43 min “If Xhaka doesn’t inspire the team to a win, then they’re taking a trip to the glue factory,” writes Matt Dony. “And he won’t get to come.”
|
[
"Rob Smyth",
"Louise Taylor"
] |
<strong>Minute-by-minute report:</strong> Join Rob Smyth for updates as David Moyes returns to Wearside
|
[
"Premier League",
"Sport",
"Football",
"Everton",
"Sunderland"
] |
Football
|
Premier League
|
2025-11-03T21:56:07.000Z
|
2025-11-03T21:56:07.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2025/nov/03/sunderland-v-everton-premier-league-live
|
|
Activists could be jailed for six months for protesting outside MPs’ homes
|
Activists could be jailed for up to six months for protesting outside MPs’ homes in England and Wales under a new law aimed at tackling harassment of politicians after a surge of intimidation complaints. The law would criminalise protests outside the homes of MPs, peers and councillors as well as others who have stood for public office – and is likely to draw further criticism that the government is squeezing the right to protest. The government is to amend the crime and policing bill on Tuesday to formally bar the protests and to impose criminal sanctions. Home Office sources described such protests as “toxic behaviour in UK politics” and said the amendment would introduce a criminal offence of protesting outside the home of someone in public office where their intention is to influence them in their role or an aspect of their private life. A survey by Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker of the House of Commons, found almost all MPs (96%) had experienced at least one instance of harassment or intimidation. Just Stop Oil, whose activists sang climate crisis-inspired Christmas carols outside Keir Starmer’s home, has previously defended the need to directly target MPs. It said it was a crucial tool to influence policy, though the group has since changed its tactics to stop high-profile stunts. Dan Jarvis, the security minister, said the level of abuse faced by politicians was “truly shocking – it’s a threat to our democracy. People should be able to participate in our politics without fearing for their own or their family’s safety. “When good people choose not to put themselves forward, communities lose out and the country is poorer for it.” Jarvis said the measure was “a serious but necessary and proportionate step. Targeting public office holders at their homes crosses a line – it’s intimidation, not protest, and we’re putting a stop to it.” The change has been backed by the Jo Cox Foundation, set up in the name of the murdered Labour MP who was attacked outside her constituency surgery by a far-right terrorist. “Protest and robust debate are important to our democracy, and there are many ways that people can make their voices heard without crossing the line into intimidation at someone’s home,” the organisation said. Starmer was understood to have been furious about Gaza protests outside his north London home by Youth Demand when he was leader of the opposition. The group placed children’s shoes outside his door while demanding further opposition from Labour to arms sales to Israel. Three people were charged under section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, which already covers harassment at a home address. Protesters were also arrested for targeting the constituency home of Rishi Sunak. Home Office sources said the amendment would expand the scope of police powers to cover a wider range of behaviours and to give clarity to officers. Some MPs have previously complained that police have taken a laxer approach to protests outside their family homes, including when children were present. The former chair of the defence select committee Tobias Ellwood was targeted by dozens of pro-Gaza protesters at his home in Bournemouth, calling him complicit in genocide. The former Conservative MP Mike Freer said last year he was stepping down as an MP because of the repeated targeting of his constituency office, including in an arson attack. The Labour MP Stella Creasy has also condemned the targeting of MPs at their homes, having been the target of anti-abortion protesters in her Walthamstow constituency. Youth Demand recently staged a protest with body bags outside the home of David Lammy, when he was the foreign secretary. They said the government was “allowing Israel to murder children en masse”. The amendment excludes official residences – so would allow protests outside Downing Street or grace-and-favour homes for the prime minister or other ministers such as Chequers or Dorneywood.
|
[
"Jessica Elgot"
] |
Law aimed at tackling harassment will criminalise protests outside homes of MPs in England and Wales amid rise in complaints
|
[
"Protest",
"Politics",
"UK news",
"England",
"Wales",
"Activism"
] |
World news
|
Wales
|
Protest
|
2025-11-03T20:10:11.000Z
|
2025-11-03T20:12:33.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//world/2025/nov/03/activists-could-be-jailed-for-six-months-for-protesting-outside-mps-homes
|
Slot insists Wirtz has ‘brought exactly what we expected’ before Real Madrid tie
|
Arne Slot has defended Florian Wirtz before Real Madrid’s visit in the Champions League and insisted the £116m signing has produced “exactly what we expected” at this stage of his Liverpool career. The playmaker was on the bench for the win against Aston Villa on Saturday and also omitted from Slot’s starting lineup against Manchester United, Chelsea and Everton having struggled to make an impact in the Premier League. Wirtz has started all three of Liverpool’s Champions League games, however, and could well return for the visit of Xabi Alonso’s side on Tuesday. The 22-year-old registered two assists in the 5-1 rout of Eintracht Frankfurt two weeks ago but is yet to score a goal or provide an assist in the Premier League. Slot attributed that barren run to bad luck and said the Germany international will justify Liverpool’s then-record investment once he adapts to the intensity of English football. “You can say he’s started one of the last four [two of the last four] but you can also say he’s started 10 already this season,” said the Liverpool head coach, who will again be without the injured Alexander Isak, Alisson and Jeremie Frimpong against Real. “I’ve said this quite a lot, not as an excuse but just how it is; many times we have to play three games in seven days with only two days’ rest in between. For a player who comes from a different league, which is a very good league by the way, nine out of 10 people would agree the Premier League is a bit more intense in all the games. If you look at that then he already played a lot. He has had his impact in a lot of games but has been unlucky with the end product either by himself or his teammates. “For me, he brought exactly what we expected, a player who created a lot for the team. He will have his goals but I don’t think it comes as a surprise to anyone that if you’re 22 or 23 and come to a different league that you might need some time to adjust to that intensity if you play every three days. Ryan Gravenberch was sitting here before and it took him a while to adjust to the intensity, maybe even longer than it is going to take Florian.” Wirtz earned his move to Anfield, for an initial £100m plus £16m in add-ons, having shone for Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen. Together they helped end Bayern Munich’s run of 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles in 2023-24 and Alonso credited Wirtz with his own rise to becoming Real coach. The former Liverpool midfielder echoed Slot’s belief that it is only a matter of time before the forward makes his mark at Anfield. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Alonso said: “I have no doubts. It is just a matter of time. It is a big change for him to come to Liverpool after so many years in Germany, he’s been there all his life. He is a really special player. He has quality and personality and he’s competitive. It has happened with great players in the Premier League before and I’ve no doubts with Flo. He is very special and probably one of the reasons I’m here now so I’m very grateful to Flo. Hopefully not tomorrow but I’ve no doubt he will show his quality and class.”
|
[
"Andy Hunter"
] |
Arne Slot has defended Florian Wirtz before Real Madrid’s visit in the Champions League and insisted the £116m signing has produced “exactly what we expected”
|
[
"Liverpool",
"Arne Slot",
"Real Madrid",
"Champions League",
"European club football",
"Football",
"Sport"
] |
Football
|
Liverpool
|
2025-11-03T19:47:31.000Z
|
2025-11-03T19:49:31.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//football/2025/nov/03/arne-slot-florian-wirtz-liverpool-real-madrid-champions-league
|
|
Trump approval rating falls to second-term low of 37%
|
Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to one of its lowest points, with only 37% of Americans expressing approval of his performance as president. The new CNN/SSRS survey released on Monday shows a sharp decline in Trump’s approval ratings compared with the early days after he began his second term in January, when his approval stood at 47% by mid-February. The latest survey, conducted among 1,245 adults from 27 to 30 October, shows a 63% disapproval rating, just a percentage point higher than his lowest mark ever recorded by CNN, which came in the week following the January 6 Capitol Hill riot in 2021. When asked how things are going in the US, today, a majority of Americans, 68%, said “pretty/very badly”, while 32% said “very/fairly well”. The survey, conducted as the federal government appears to enter what will be the longest shutdown in American history, also found that 47% of Americans view the economy and cost of living as the most important issue facing the country. Coming in second is the state of American democracy, indicated by 26% of Americans. By comparison, only 10% cited immigration as a top concern, even though the issue continues to be a major focus of Trump’s administration, marked by intensified ICE raids, steep cuts to refugee admissions and ongoing immigration battles in federal courts. Other issues lower on the list include crime and safety, cited as a concern by only 7% of Americans, despite Trump’s vow to rid major American cities – which he has called “hellhole” and “war-ravaged” – of “crime, bloodshed, bedlam”. Among those surveyed, only 27% said they believe Trump’s policies improved the nation’s economic conditions. In contrast, 61% think his policies made the economy worse while 12% believe they had no effect. The survey comes amid growing concern in rural Republican towns where Trump’s tariffs have driven factory layoffs and production slowdowns across various industries. In regards to foreign policy, 32% said they believe Trump’s decisions helped the US’s global standing. By contrast, 56% believe that he hurt the US’s standing in the world while 12% said he made no difference at all. These results follow repeated White House claims that Trump has ended eight wars in eight months of his presidency. Moreover, the survey found that a majority of Americans, 61%, believe Trump has gone too far in using his presidential powers. Meanwhile, 31% say his use of power has been about right, and 9% believe he has not gone far enough. Since taking office in January, Trump’s expansion of his presidential authority – through actions including authorizing international strikes without congressional approval, deploying national guard troops despite opposition from state officials, and issuing executive orders that make independent regulators answerable to the White House – has raised widespread concern. The survey’s findings on public attitudes toward Trump’s presidential power also come as experts warn that his investigations into political opponents risk turning the justice department into his “personal weapon”. With the midterm elections coming up next November, 41% of Americans said that if they were voting for Congress today, their vote would be a way to show opposition to Trump. Meanwhile, 21% said their vote would signal support for Trump and 38% said their vote would not be about sending any message to him. The Guardian has contacted the White House for comment.
|
[
"Maya Yang"
] |
New CNN/SSRS survey shows decline in president’s popularity as 68% of respondents say things going badly
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"US politics",
"US news"
] |
US news
|
US news
|
Donald Trump
|
2025-11-03T19:32:46.000Z
|
2025-11-03T20:00:46.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//us-news/2025/nov/03/trump-approval-rating
|
Say what you like about ‘Sadiq Khan’s no-go hellscape’ – Britain’s cities prove the rightwing agitators wrong | Jonathan Liew
|
I write these words to you from the jaws of hell. Here in my favourite north London cafe, among the bare lightbulbs and the £3.80 cinnamon buns, I take shelter from the screaming terrors of Sadiq Khan’s no-go hellscape. Toddlers in pushchairs scream for salvation. A Lime bike comes dangerously close to running a red light. Like the Roman, I see the Blackstock Road foaming with much blood, albeit from this distance it may actually be a discarded pastrami sandwich. “Welcome to London, don’t forget your stab vest,” reads a proposed tube billboard for a brand of vodka being promoted by the comedian Ricky Gervais. Gervais is furious that Transport for London has rejected his advertising slogan, and rightly so, because this is the sort of generational wit that deserves the widest possible audience. It is, of course, the most minor of inconveniences that the design was never actually submitted to TfL and only ever existed for the benefit of social media. Because when it comes to the nation’s metropole, you can say pretty much whatever you want and someone, somewhere will believe it. I have spent close to two decades travelling up and down the country covering football, and one of the most striking insights has been how openly disparaging people from outside London can be about it. London is perhaps the only place in England where you can tell people where you’re from, and instantly they feel empowered to inform you what a terrible place it is. Occasionally, your interlocutor will deploy the pre-emptive qualifying phrase “it’s a great city, but …”, before launching into a tirade about the traffic, or the cost of West End theatre tickets, or a dog turd their aunt once stepped in 1998. Allied to this is the misguided idea that to be from London is to partake of some sort of category privilege, a place where life is effortlessly gilded and indulged. I met a Newcastle fan who assured me that there were three motorways connecting the capital with Brighton. I have met multiple people labouring under the impression (“no, seriously, look it up”) that London buses are free. Here in Sadiq Khan’s no-go hellscape, everything is too expensive and yet everything is endlessly subsidised: a kind of practical joke at the expense of everyone else. And of course London condescension is a phenomenon as old as London itself. But in the social media age, where those with big platforms have long been able to create their own reality as they go along, this kind of myth-making has real-world consequences. It is why pollsters consistently find people saying London gets more than its fair share of public spending. It is why working-class Londoners, mostly clustered in safe Labour seats, are perhaps the most politically disenfranchised group of voters in Britain. And it is why Khan, one of the country’s mildest and most inoffensive politicians, is forced to travel with a similar level of 24-hour security to the king. Witness the sheer desperation among rightwing agitators and certain parts of the media to fold Saturday’s horrific train attack in Cambridgeshire into a wider narrative. “Multiple stabbings on train north of London,” read a headline in the Financial Times (that was later changed). “I’ve had enough, Sadiq Khan and Keir Starmer,” fumes a presenter on TalkTV in response to an incident that took place closer to Lincolnshire than London. In this respect, London seems to be part of a broader urban obsession among the global right, one in which the city itself is recast as a malign, seditious entity, a cesspit of violence and vice. The Trump administration’s deployment of federal forces in Democratic-run cities has been billed as a war against “invasion from within”. The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has made the Stadtbild (cityscape) a major plank of his strategy of mass deportations, an intentionally vague phrase designed to evoke fear of immigrants without referencing them directly. And of course to the rightwing demagogue, the demonisation of the city is often little more than a convenient vehicle for airing baser, more impolite grievances. When Nigel Farage referred to London, Birmingham and Manchester in 2022 as “minority-white cities” – wrongly, as it turned out – he was simply saying out loud the part that the right has long been content to leave as subtext. Anti-urbanism has long been a first cousin of white supremacy, each feeding into the other, the idea that there is an “authentic” homeland – the bits outside the city – of which the city itself is a kind of betrayal. This is not an argument that can really be won with facts and figures. It makes no odds to point out that, according to the Office for National Statistics, knife crime in London rose by only 1% in the last year, compared with 19% in Dorset, 31% in North Yorkshire and 51% in Suffolk. Or that violent crime in Washington DC was at a 30-year-low when Trump chose to unleash the national guard, or that there is only one motorway to Brighton. What the anti-urbanites find distasteful about cities – often while living in those very same cities – is so rarely a genuine concern for economic inequality or law and order. Rather, it helps to see rightwing populism as an attempt to process an increasingly complex world in increasingly simple terms. Cities, by contrast, are messy places: places of fluidity and freedom and possibility, places of chaos and collaboration and conflict. And sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t, but we embrace them nonetheless because in their forced intimacy, in their inexorable flow of ideas and influences and cuisines, they are the fullest expression of what it is to be human. Sign up to Matters of Opinion Guardian columnists and writers on what they’ve been debating, thinking about, reading, and more after newsletter promotion Despite the pandemic, the cost of living crisis and the best efforts of lads with flag bios on X, the percentage of the UK population living in urban areas is still growing at about 1% a year. And so to wish the city away, to dream of cleansing or restoring it to a fictional state of authenticity, is ultimately as futile as separating the cake back into its constituent ingredients. So get stuck in traffic. Date someone from a different race. Eat all the food. Lose yourself in Sadiq’s no-go hellscape. As it ever was, and always will be, the greatest advocate for the city will be the city itself. Jonathan Liew is a Guardian columnist
|
[
"Jonathan Liew"
] |
To rightwing populists, places of fluidity and freedom will always be the enemy, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew
|
[
"London",
"Cities",
"Politics",
"UK news",
"Sadiq Khan",
"Nigel Farage",
"Crime",
"England"
] |
Opinion
|
London
|
2025-11-03T19:26:38.000Z
|
2025-11-03T19:28:29.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//commentisfree/2025/nov/03/sadiq-khan-no-go-hellscape-britain-cities-rightwing-agitators
|
|
Chile to end Pinochet henchmen’s pampered prison life of tennis and barbecues
|
Inmates at an infamous high-security military prison in Chile, which houses the perpetrators of dictatorship-era human rights crimes, are set to lose their privileged conditions under plans to incorporate the prison into the public prison network. President Gabriel Boric announced on Monday that Punta Peuco is being transformed into a regular prison to help deal with overcrowding in the penitentiary system. A far cry from the cramped conditions in the majority of Chile’s prisons, inmates at Punta Peuco reportedly have access to ample common areas with tennis courts, barbecue facilities, a library and television room. It has long been viewed as a symbol of the preferential treatment afforded to those convicted of human rights abuses under Gen Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, who are often allowed to serve their terms away from common criminals in specially designated facilities. “The fact that Chile has a special prison like this has no justification,” said Boric. “From today forward, Chile will no longer have first and secondary category prisoners. Places will be decided according to security criteria, not privilege … this is a step further in the direction of a more democratic Chile, which is more respectful of human dignity.” According to Chile’s prison service, 141 men are held at Punta Peuco with an average age of about 80. Most are former members of Pinochet’s intelligence service and secret police. Among them is Miguel Krassnoff, who is serving a sentence of more than 1,000 years for human rights crimes. The prison service cited security concerns when declining to comment on whether current inmates will be moved away from Punta Peuco or integrated into a common prison population. The far-right presidential candidate José Antonio Kast, who has visited Krasnoff at Punta Peuco and previously refused to rule out freeing the prison’s human rights criminals, criticised Boric’s decision and accused the president of seeking to build a legacy in the final months of his mandate. The communist candidate Jeannette Jara, another frontrunner ahead of the 16 November election, praised the decision to turn Punta Peuco into a common jail, which she said it “should always have been”. The bespoke prison was opened in 1995 to house Gen Manuel Contreras, the head of Pinochet’s intelligence service, and Brig Pedro Espinoza, who alongside Contreras was convicted of the 1976 murder of former foreign minister Orlando Letelier in a car bomb attack in Washington DC. There have been several attempts to close Punta Peuco over the years. In the final hours of former president Michelle Bachelet’s second term in March 2018, she attempted to have an order signed for the prison to be closed, but as midnight ticked by, her justice minister decided against signing the order. In 2013, rightwing president Sebastián Piñera surprised many by closing Penal Cordillera, another comfortable prison which held former service members convicted of human rights abuses. It had an outdoor patio area and its 10 inmates lived quietly in five cabins. Boric confirmed that structural works were already under way inside Punta Peuco, and an office and surveillance post were being built on one of its former sports pitches. New inmates will be brought to Punta Peuco as early as the beginning of next year, when the facility will become known as Tiltil Penitentiary.
|
[
"John Bartlett"
] |
Punta Peuco – where military human rights offenders enjoy privileged conditions – set to join public prison network
|
[
"Chile",
"Augusto Pinochet",
"World news",
"Prisons",
"Americas"
] |
World news
|
Americas
|
Chile
|
2025-11-03T19:23:07.000Z
|
2025-11-03T19:48:30.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//world/2025/nov/03/chile-prison-punta-pueco-pinochet
|
‘Beyond ironic’: Reform-led council says flags must come down so Christmas lights can go up
|
A Reform-led council has ruled that union and St George’s flags must come down in order for a village’s traditional Christmas lights to go ahead, in a decision described as “beyond ironic”. Kent county council – whose leader once vowed not to remove flags put up “unilaterally by the people of Kent” – told Harrietsham parish council that flags must come down from street lights before festive lights could go up because of safety concerns. The parish council has appealed to those who put up the flags to take them down, saying it was not permitted to remove the flags itself and that unless they were removed funds already spent on hiring the light decorations would be lost. The flags in question, which the Guardian has been told are union and St George’s flags, are on the A20, which runs through the village. Harrietsham council said on its website: “This condition from Kent county council may result in the installation of the Christmas lights being unable to proceed as planned for 2025. Despite this, the parish council will still be liable for the hire cost, as the arrangements were in place before the permit was issued.” It said it would be “disappointing” if the lights could not be installed “but unfortunately this situation is beyond the parish council’s control”. In a statement to the Guardian, the parish council said: “It is not within the contractor’s remit to remove flags as part of the installation process. As the flags and street columns are not council property, the parish council is not permitted to use public funds to pay for their removal. “We are hoping that whoever installed the flags will be able to remove them in due course to allow for the festive lights to be installed as planned.” It said it would not be making any further comment. After Reform’s landslide election win in May, the new Reform leader of Kent county council, Linden Kemkaran, said:“The union jack, the flag of St George and the flag of Kent, they are the identity that we all share and it is that identity that we need to focus on.” In August it was reported that highways teams in Kent would not be removing St George’s flags unless they posed a safety risk, such as blocking the view of CCTV cameras, or anything affecting road signage and the safety of the public. Peter Osborne, Kent council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “The claim that Harrietsham parish council will face significant extra costs is simply wrong. The contractor they have already hired to install the Christmas lights can remove any obstructing flags as part of the same job – no additional significant expense should be expected. “We fully support communities coming together to celebrate Christmas with festive lights – it’s a valued tradition that brings people together. But safety must come first. Flags on streetlight columns pose a risk during installation, so they must be removed to ensure the lights go up safely and can be enjoyed by everyone.” Stuart Jeffrey, a Kent county councillor for the Greens and leader of Maidstone borough council, said the situation was “beyond ironic”. He said the A20 running through the middle of Harrietsham was “lined either side with these flags”. While the county council had removed flags when they were a danger, “they have been very clear that they are fundamentally supportive”, he said. The parish council could remove the flags, Jeffrey said, as they had not been put up with Kent’s permission and removing them “would not be breaking the law”. Alister Brady, a Labour Kent county councillor, said: “Putting up flags on lamp-posts, by the so called patriots, with the intention to intimate minorities is a disgraceful use of our flag. We are a proudly tolerant country which has a history of inclusion. “We now hear that through the actions of the few they have impacted the festive period for the many. Kent county council should now come out and be clear on this matter instead of being concerned about a negative reaction from the far right.
“The festive lights are a way to bring people together; those who put flags on lamp-posts are trying to do the opposite. Kent county council have a duty to keep the highways safe and street furniture clear, so instead of posturing and infighting they should get on with that job.”
|
[
"Caroline Davies"
] |
Kent county council says union flags and flags of St George must come off street lights because of safety concerns
|
[
"Kent",
"Reform UK",
"Local government",
"Politics",
"England",
"UK news"
] |
UK news
|
Kent
|
2025-11-03T19:12:19.000Z
|
2025-11-03T19:22:46.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//uk-news/2025/nov/03/beyond-ironic-reform-led-council-says-flags-must-come-down-so-christmas-lights-can-go-up
|
|
Headteachers’ union considers strikes after judge rejects case against Ofsted
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A headteachers’ union is to consult members about possible industrial action after a high court judge dismissed its attempt to challenge Ofsted’s new inspection regime for schools in England. The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) sought permission to apply for a judicial review, claiming the schools’ watchdog failed to adequately consult on the new framework or give proper consideration to the serious negative impact on teachers’ wellbeing. On Monday, however, Mr Justice Saini, sitting at the high court in London, refused the union permission to apply for a judicial review, ruling there was “no arguable error” in the consultation process. Ofsted made its decision in a “procedural and lawful way, and after a careful assessment of the various views expressed to it”, the judge concluded and ordered the claimants to pay £40,000 of Ofsted’s legal costs. The new inspection framework will launch on 10 November as planned. The NAHT had asked the judge to temporarily suspend the rollout of the new grading system, pending a full hearing of the challenge. Saini said he would have refused an interim injunction on public interest grounds “had the issue arisen”. The schools inspectorate has been embroiled in controversy since the 2023 death by suicide of the Reading headteacher Ruth Perry, with a coroner finding that an Ofsted inspection contributed to her death. It prompted the scrapping of controversial one-word overall judgments, such as “outstanding” or “inadequate”. After a lengthy consultation that drew 6,500 responses, Ofsted came up with a new colour-coded “report card”, which grades six inspection areas on a five-point scale. The NAHT’s general secretary, Paul Whiteman, said the union was considering an appeal. “It is disappointing that the decision today was made to decline our request for a judicial review, but this case was always being brought forward on a very narrow point of law relating to the validity of Ofsted’s consultation process for their new framework. He added: “The decision today doesn’t detract from our valid and reasonable concern about the damage to the mental health and wellbeing of school leaders and staff of the new report cards. “Both Ofsted and the government have failed to address the very real risk posed by the new framework to school leaders. It is a fundamental responsibility of a trade union to protect its members. We will now consider an appeal and will be consulting our members about the possibility of moving to industrial action.” Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The court heard that the NAHT and other education unions favoured a “narrative-only” approach to inspection due to concerns about the impact of high-stakes graded assessments on teacher wellbeing. Parents and carers, however, preferred some form of grading or scaling. Ofsted hopes to have combined both. Welcoming the judge’s decision, the chief inspector of schools, Martyn Oliver, said: “The changes will be better for parents, giving them more detailed and useful information about their child’s school, nursery or college. And, crucially, they will be better for children and older learners – helping to raise standards of education for all, particularly those who are disadvantaged or vulnerable. “I have every confidence that headteachers will recognise the changes are fair, that inspection takes staff wellbeing fully into account, and that the whole experience is collaborative and constructive. We will continue to engage constructively with all representative bodies as we roll out our reforms.”
|
[
"Sally Weale"
] |
Union had sought permission to apply for judicial review over watchdog’s new inspection framework
|
[
"Ofsted",
"Teaching",
"Education",
"Schools",
"UK news",
"England",
"Trade unions"
] |
Education
|
Ofsted
|
2025-11-03T19:08:56.000Z
|
2025-11-03T19:34:00.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//uk-news/2025/nov/03/head-teachers-union-considers-strikes-judge-dismisses-ofsted-case
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Frank calls for better support from Spurs crowd after Van de Ven and Spence apologise
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Thomas Frank has called for better support from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd after revealing that Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence had apologised to him for their reaction to the 1-0 home defeat against Chelsea on Saturday. Van de Ven and Spence were incensed when the full-time whistle went and the Spurs fans booed, as they had done at half-time with their team trailing to João Pedro’s 34th-minute goal. The defenders stormed past Frank towards the tunnel, ignoring their manager’s attempts to get them to acknowledge the supporters in the South Stand – a bad look at the end of another bad Premier League day at the stadium. Tottenham have won only once in five games there under Frank in the competition, losing three, which has continued a worrying trend. The team have three victories and 12 defeats in 19 home league matches and have lost 41 times at the stadium since it opened in 2019. It hurts the Spurs fanbase to realise that their fiercest rivals, Arsenal, have lost 48 league games at the Emirates Stadium – and that opened in 2006. Frank was happy to provide the detail of how Van de Ven and Spence had been to see him separately on Sunday to say sorry as they began the preparations for the Champions League match at home against Copenhagen on Tuesday night. Frank is acutely aware of how poor his team were against Chelsea – they offered nothing in attacking terms – and he accepted that the jeers could come after the final whistle. But he was also clear that there needed to be greater positivity from the stands during the game. There were boos, for example, towards the end against Chelsea when the goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario, played a sideways pass rather than something more forward-thinking. “I want to get the point across that the fans were fantastic in the first 30 minutes,” Frank said. “It seems there was a little bit of a turning point when we conceded the goal, where we all get a little bit frustrated, which is natural. “After the game, if we perform badly and on top of that we lose, it’s more than fair enough that they boo us. We are in the performance business and if we can’t deal with the pressure, the negativity or the criticism, we shouldn’t sit here. But during the game, we need a little bit of help. And especially when it’s not going the right way. “They [the fans] can be the turning point. We were 1-0 down in the last 15 minutes … imagine they carry us over the line and we got a little bit of an unfair 1-1. What a feeling! That point can be the difference in a long season.” Vicario was seen after the game pushing his young teammate Lucas Bergvall away from a confrontation with an irate supporter. The goalkeeper pointed at his own eyes and then at the fan as though to say he was watching him. “In every environment there are very good people and some bad people,” Vicario said. “Probably [Bergvall] got contact with one bad person. That doesn’t necessarily say that everyone are bad people. But there are some bad people in every environment and I had to protect him because he was a little bit emotional in that time. “Of course, we have spoken as players [about the home crowd]. In some moments during the game, probably when we are chasing, we need a little more cool heads and if we have a little bit more help in some situations coming from the stands it could be, of course, better.” Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion On the Van de Ven and Spence situation, Frank said: “They came into my office yesterday, unprompted, and just said: ‘Want to say sorry for the situation.’ They didn’t want it to look bad or disrespectful or all of the kind of perceptions you can get in this beautiful media world. That was not the intention at all towards me or the team or the club. They were just frustrated with the performance, the loss and the booing during the game. “Of course, I’m happy [they apologised] because I knew the question would come today and it means that they care. They care about the team, the club and, in this case, me.” Frank, who reported that Bergvall was observing the 12-day concussion protocol after his withdrawal against Chelsea and would miss the games against Copenhagen and Manchester United on Saturday, also made a gentle plea for perspective. Despite Spurs’ difficulties at home, they have been excellent on their travels to sit fifth in the league – a contrast to the domestic horrors of last season when they finished 17th. They are also unbeaten in their three Champions League ties. “If anyone would have said that we would have 17 points after 10 games, fifth place and unbeaten in the Champions League … everything’s definitely not perfect but there’s a decent foundation and it’s up to us to add layers,” Frank said. “I think everyone would have taken where we are now, in terms of 22 [league] defeats last season and finishing 17th. The Europa League [victory last season] was fantastic, wow. But the Champions League is different.”
|
[
"David Hytner"
] |
Thomas Frank has called for better support from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd as Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence apologised for their reaction
|
[
"Tottenham Hotspur",
"Thomas Frank",
"FC Copenhagen",
"Champions League",
"European club football",
"Chelsea",
"Football",
"Sport"
] |
Football
|
Tottenham Hotspur
|
2025-11-03T18:58:00.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:59:26.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//football/2025/nov/03/thomas-frank-tottenham-micky-van-de-ven-djed-spence-copenhagen-champions-league-chelsea
|
|
The Guardian view on the Huntingdon train stabbings: an immigration-fixated right is failing the public | Editorial
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Witnesses to Saturday evening’s stabbings on a train in Cambridgeshire at first wondered if reports of a knife-wielding attacker were a Halloween prank. As passengers fled through the carriages, some of them bleeding and shouting warnings, it became clear that this was one of those terrible moments when a nightmare comes true. LNER staff and the emergency services deserve credit for their swift response. By diverting the high‑speed service to Huntingdon, train driver Andrew Johnson averted a worse disaster. Another crew member, who remains in a critical condition, has been described by police as “heroic”. Five out of 10 people who were injured in the rampage have been discharged. A suspect, Anthony Williams, was arrested at the scene and has appeared in court. The contrast between frontline professionalism and the kneejerk cynicism of some rightwing politicians and commentators, in using these events to stoke fear and prejudice, could hardly be greater. Police announced at 10.30am on Sunday that two male suspects, both black British nationals, had been detained. Given that one of these men was later released and had nothing to do with the attack, his arrest and the decision to announce it must be reviewed promptly. But the conduct of senior politicians, as well as less significant public figures, over the weekend was an ugly reminder of why guidance was changed to enable suspects’ nationality or ethnicity to be made public in high-profile cases where there is a risk of misinformation. While Chris Philp, the Tory shadow home secretary, said that police ought to have released “identity details” even sooner, Reform UK’s former co-leader, Ben Habib, said it was “almost inconceivable” that this was not a terrorist attack. Such ill-judged remarks not only undermine the police – exposing the hypocrisy of rightwing politicians’ claims to champion law and order. They actively contribute to a climate of suspicion, in which social media rumours can easily create the false impression that facts are being hidden. The reality is that neither of the two highest-profile multiple stabbings involving strangers, in recent years, have been terrorist attacks. The inquiries into the killings carried out by Valdo Calocane in Nottingham in 2023, and Axel Rudakubana in Southport in 2024, are both focused on the men’s interactions with mental health and other public services. It will take time to reach an understanding of what happened on Saturday. But looking at previous knife attacks, we can be certain that public services including the NHS need to get better at identifying people who pose a threat. In the case of Rudakubana, a failure of information-sharing between police forces is expected to be highlighted, when the inquiry report is published next year. An NHS review of the care given to Calocane, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, pointed to treatment and risk assessment failures. Shortages of mental health beds and other resources have been found on many occasions to contribute to such lapses. Mental illness-related explanations for extreme violence, and terrorism, are of course not mutually exclusive. The debate is ongoing in policy circles about how attackers who are fixated on violence rather than a particular ideology or worldview should be dealt with. But the opportunistic use of such tragedies to foment antagonism towards asylum seekers, and racist prejudice more broadly, must cease. It drags our politics towards the gutter. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
|
[
"Editorial"
] |
<strong>Editorial:</strong> Kneejerk responses undermine the emergency services and contribute to a damaging climate of suspicion
|
[
"Knife crime",
"Crime",
"UK news",
"Politics",
"Reform UK",
"Chris Philp",
"Immigration and asylum",
"Rail transport",
"Conservatives"
] |
Opinion
|
Knife crime
|
2025-11-03T18:50:27.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:59:03.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//commentisfree/2025/nov/03/the-guardian-view-on-the-huntingdon-train-stabbings-an-immigration-fixated-right-is-failing-the-public
|
|
French taxi driver cleared of stealing from David Lammy after fare dispute
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A French taxi driver accused of stealing money and luggage from David Lammy has been acquitted due to lack of evidence, a prosecutor said. Nassim Mimun, 40, drove the deputy prime minister and his wife, Nicola Green, more than 600km (370 miles) from Forli, near Bologna in northern Italy, to the ski resort of Flaine in the French Alps on 11 April. But at the end of the journey the “tone escalated” over the cost of the fare, the Bonneville prosecutor Boris Duffau said in May. The driver, from the south-eastern city of Avignon, then left with his passengers’ bags in the boot of his car. “He dropped them off the next day at a municipal police station” but that was considered theft due to the length of time he had them in his possession, Duffau said. The driver accused Lammy in media interviews of refusing to pay for the journey and complained of violence. He was acquitted over the alleged theft because of a lack of proof, Duffau said on Monday. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said at the time that Lammy and his spouse were victims in the case and denied that the Labour MP for Tottenham had refused to pay the driver. Lammy and Mimun both filed complaints but only the justice secretary’s was deemed substantial and the Frenchman was charged with “theft of cash and personal belongings”. The driver had claimed to French media that Lammy became “aggressive” when asked to pay €700 (£590) of the €1,550 bill, the remainder of which was to be paid by the booking service. The fee was paid upfront to the transfer service but Mimun insisted he was owed money on arrival and that he needed to be paid in cash, a source said at the time. The MP and his wife had been in Italy to join King Charles on a state visit before heading to the French Alps for a private holiday. Lammy was foreign secretary at the time of the incident and was named justice secretary and deputy prime minister in September as part of Keir Starmer’s reshuffle.
|
[
"Nadeem Badshah"
] |
Nassim Mimun, who left with Lammy’s and his wife’s bags after ‘tone escalated’, acquitted due to lack of evidence
|
[
"David Lammy",
"France",
"Europe",
"Politics",
"World news"
] |
Politics
|
Europe
|
David Lammy
|
2025-11-03T18:49:52.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:51:26.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//politics/2025/nov/03/french-taxi-driver-david-lammy-fare-dispute
|
The Guardian view on Britain’s new class divide: the professional middle is being hollowed out | Editorial
|
In the US, the brightest are said to join AI firms. In Britain, they sign up to be quantitative analysts. The Financial Times reports that the City is becoming one of the world’s leading “quant” centres. An Oxford don in charge of mathematical finance told its reporters that almost all his students ended up working at quant trading firms, on salaries from £250,000 to £800,000. “If you get offered a salary less than £250K, you’re kind of the sad guy,” he said, adding that “nobody I know interviews for JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs … not once do I hear anybody entertain any of these traditional investment banking jobs.” The lure is obvious: 45-year-old billionaire trader Alex Gerko earned £682m from his City quant firm XTX Markets last year. Harder to grasp is that modest salaries in once respectable professions now function to deter people from the very graduate careers they once defined. On the FT’s front page, employers warned that graduate entrants to City bluechips earn a median yearly salary of £33,000, not much more than the new £26,400 minimum wage. Executives cautioned that university debt no longer yields a wage premium. To preserve profits, firms said they would look to using more AI or offshore roles. This ought to be warning for the professions that have provided the backbone of the British middle class. What is emerging is a world in which a tiny sliver at the top captures rents from financial capital, and a great many credentialed professionals earn a little above the legal salary floor. While London lags behind New York as the quant capital of global finance, the US is a larger and more variegated economy with other industries – notably AI – attracting top graduates. The war for “talent” across the pond is so ridiculous that Mr Gerko’s XTX New York office offers interns $35,000 a month in compensation. Both AI and quantitative investing need huge amounts of cash to build data centres. Intuitively it feels like machine learning will probably add something to society though few can say what exactly. Finance by comparison is useless. Its quantitative version adds no real value: it’s clever people betting against other clever people, shuffling wealth a little faster between them. The theory is that the best mathematical models put investors on the right side of trades. After the crash of 2008, the financial sector was fingered for being responsible for inequality rising faster in the UK than its rich world peers. But that knowledge did little to reorient the British economy and steer talent toward socially useful sectors. Today the UK’s exchange-rate and interest‑rate regimes still privilege financial assets over productive investment. The result is a misallocation of human capital: with a surplus in finance and a scarcity almost anywhere else. Financialised economies no longer translate innovation into productivity. The gains end up in concentrated ownership and shareholder payouts. Finance’s pull in the UK is so strong that it shapes cultural aspirations, pay norms and even the justification of education. Meanwhile minimum-wage workers approach the pay of young auditors, while quant traders approach that of chief executives. Britain’s professional class is quietly being proletarianised. Culturally privileged but economically precarious, white-collar workers risk souring on the system they were trained to serve. That should worry politicians. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
|
[
"Editorial"
] |
<strong>Editorial:</strong> A micro-elite in finance and tech hoovers up talent while-white collar jobs lose their lustre. A society that rewards proximity to capital over contribution risks rupture
|
[
"Class issues",
"Banking",
"Artificial intelligence (AI)",
"Money",
"Stock markets",
"Business",
"Technology",
"Economics",
"Interest rates",
"Politics",
"UK news"
] |
Opinion
|
Banking
|
Class issues
|
2025-11-03T18:49:36.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:57:22.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//commentisfree/2025/nov/03/the-guardian-view-on-britains-new-class-divide-the-professional-middle-is-being-hollowed-out
|
New York mayoral candidates campaign across city in final push before election
|
The candidates for New York City mayor spent a frantic final day campaigning across the city, as voters prepare to head to the polls on Tuesday in one of the most closely watched races in the city’s history. Zohran Mamdani, the race’s frontrunner, whose campaign has been centered on affordability, has maintained a commanding lead, with most polls showing him leading by double digits. The 34-year-old Democratic nominee, a state assembly member from Queens, began his Monday walking across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise. He was joined by the New York attorney general, Letitia James; the city comptroller, Brad Lander; as well as several city and state lawmakers and throngs of supporters. He finished the walk at city hall, where he told a news conference that “we stand on the verge of ushering in a new day for our city”, and was scheduled to join volunteers before they began a final day of canvassing in Astoria, Queens, later in the day. Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic governor running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in June’s primary, kicked off the last day of the campaign with an interview on the Spanish-language radio station La Mega before heading to a campaign stop in the Bronx. He reportedly planned to visit all five boroughs on Monday. Running a distant third has been Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate and founder of the Guardian Angels, a non-profit organization dedicated to “unarmed crime prevention”. According to social media, Sliwa spent part of Monday morning at Coney Island and was set to host a tele-rally in the evening. The weekend saw all three candidates racing across the city in a final push to energize supporters and win over undecided voters in a race that has drawn national and international attention – and could have significant implications for the future of the Democratic party and next year’s midterm elections. Mamdani was seen campaigning in Harlem, Queens and Brooklyn. On Saturday night, he made the rounds at several nightclubs, where videos show him dancing to Empire State of Mind and urging patrons to get out and vote. On Sunday, he cheered on runners at the New York City marathon, watched the Buffalo Bills game in a Queens bar alongside New York governor Kathy Hochul – who has endorsed him – and capped off the evening in nosebleed seats at Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks basketball game, where he mingled with fans. Cuomo, meanwhile, was seen at campaign events in the Bronx – where he spoke at two churches and met with voters at a cafe – as well as in Brooklyn and Queens, where he served as Grand Marshal in a community parade in Cambria Heights. Sliwa was seen meeting with supporters in the streets of Manhattan and campaigning in Queens, Staten Island and South Brooklyn. The race has already shattered early voting records, according to the board of elections, with more than 735,000 ballots cast ahead of election day – more than four times the number of ballots cast during early voting in the 2021 mayoral race, according to the New York Times. Donald Trump also loomed large over the race this weekend: in an interview with 60 Minutes, the US president suggested that he would prefer Cuomo to win. “It’s going to be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York. Because if you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there,” Trump said, falsely labelling Mamdani, who espouses democratic socialism. “So I don’t know that he’s won, and I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or the other, but if it’s going to be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you.” Mamdani’s campaign responded on social media with a post stating: “Trump endorses Cuomo!” and a caption that read: “Congratulations, Andrew Cuomo. I know how hard you worked for this.” Throughout the race, Mamdani and Cuomo have sparred and clashed over their records, qualifications, ideologies and visions for the city. Mamdani has accused Cuomo of being beholden to wealthy and corporate donors and of serving their interests, while Cuomo has dismissed Mamdani as inexperienced and unrealistic. In recent weeks, the rhetoric has intensified. Cuomo, who is seeking a political comeback after resigning as Governor of New York in 2021 after more than a dozen women accused him of sexual harassment – allegations which he has denied – has labelled Mamdani, who would be the city’s first Muslim mayor, an “extremist” and warned that New York “will not survive” under his leadership. Polls are closed on Monday but polling stations will reopen on Tuesday for election day from 6am to 9pm ET.
|
[
"Anna Betts"
] |
Zohran Mamdani walked across Brooklyn Bridge while Andrew Cuomo headed to the Bronx
|
[
"New York",
"Zohran Mamdani",
"Andrew Cuomo",
"US news"
] |
US news
|
US news
|
New York
|
2025-11-03T18:45:54.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:47:25.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//us-news/2025/nov/03/new-york-city-mayoral-race-mamdani-cuomo
|
It’s the Nigel Farage chameleon show – flashy, ever-changing pledges, but only one real policy: xenophobia | Polly Toynbee
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If you screw up your eyes and look four years into the future, can you imagine a Prime Minister Farage standing victorious on that No 10 doorstep? I’m afraid the answer is yes – just about. I can see that ghastly grin. If everything that can go wrong does go wrong, then it’s not inconceivable, and everyone had better believe it. The showman had on his serious face to talk about the economy in today’s speech. He had some pretty heavy lifting to do, heaving out impossible promises made only a short time ago. Gone was his £90bn tax cut bonanza. Public spending will be slashed instead: Reform has already put 100,000 civil servants “on notice”. Farage the chameleon now says his is both “the party of workers” and one that is “pro-business”. Reform had also briefly posed as the party of poor children with a suggestion that it would end the two-child benefit cap, but Farage rapidly cut back eligibility: now it’s only for couples, only when both work, and only for British nationals. He also promised spending cuts and big cuts to the benefits bill. His mercurial shapeshifting comes under a little more scrutiny now he tops the polls, but not much. His will be the greatest party of “risk-takers”, plunging the country into crypto like Donald Trump. (Might he, too, launch his own token?) With undisguised glee he predicts an economic collapse in 2027, forcing an election to sweep him to power. He mentions “a self-induced act of financial stupidity”. At last! Among all his backflips and reversions, is this the confession we deserve from the man who instigated the great Brexit calamity? No, of course not. He is talking about the non-dom tax he would remove to lure back wealthy expats, including some of the quarter of a million Britons now in Dubai. On Brexit, since the popular mood has turned against it, all we get is a grumble that others have “squandered” the opportunity it provided to reduce regulation. Expect nothing on the thousands of extra civil servants hired to replicate tasks done in Brussels. Nothing either on £80bn in tax revenues lost annually due to Brexit, a costly price for “sovereignty”. How absurdly he poses as the friend of Brexit-stricken business. Labour has, at last, taken off its self-imposed gag about Brexit. It needs to hammer home the damage this man did to the economy. The only reason we listen to Farage, and the only reason he tops the polls, is his prowess in pumping animosity towards immigrants to the top of the political agenda. This one-man band has only his xenophobic dog whistle to signal his party’s course into government, the same one sweeping the right in across the democratic world. Without that, who would care about his views on anything else? He has pledged “net zero migration”. In a deeply angry country, other sources of discontent may well fill his sails, but however hard he tried to promote other policies today, immigration is his only proven winner. As he takes up the mantle of the next popular issue, he buries his own perverse political predilections: his choice of Putin as his most admired leader, his fondness for Trump, and his frequent calls to replace the NHS with private health insurance. Despite all this, his only calling card with voters is a toxic loathing for foreigners. He may have reached his peak. The political scientist John Curtice tells me that having scooped up older, socially conservative voters, Farage is less popular among the young, especially female voters, who are “almost all socially liberal on diversity, graduates and non-graduates alike”. Nor will Reform’s record in its 10 county councils back up Farage’s national promises of vast efficiency. Farage answered every question after his speech, except one. The Guardian asked if he still adheres to his lifelong support for proportional representation. Silence. It’s become clear recently he has changed his mind, now that our wildly distorting first-past-the-post (FPTP) system is his only path to power. FPTP is becoming his “friend”, he recently told Sky News Australia. Shamefully, there is silence from Labour on this, too, despite majority support for electoral reform. If Farage should win, it will not be because of any image transformation, but because Labour’s failure to reform our electoral system would give Reform victory on just over a quarter of the vote. That, after all, is why PM Farage is in any way imaginable. Sign up to Matters of Opinion Guardian columnists and writers on what they’ve been debating, thinking about, reading, and more after newsletter promotion Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
|
[
"Polly Toynbee"
] |
The Reform leader’s speech was full of contradictions and damaging cuts. But if he makes it to No 10, Labour will be to blame, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee
|
[
"Reform UK",
"Nigel Farage",
"Electoral reform",
"Politics",
"Budget 2025",
"UK news"
] |
Opinion
|
Reform UK
|
2025-11-03T18:43:55.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:56:43.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//commentisfree/2025/nov/03/nigel-farage-chameleon-xenophobia-reform
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Joey Barton X posts ‘crossed the line between free speech and crime’, court told
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The former footballer Joey Barton “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” with social media posts aimed at female pundits, a jury has been told. Barton, 43, is accused of 12 counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety, related to posts he made between January and March in 2024 on X that targeted Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko as well as the broadcaster Jeremy Vine. Opening the prosecution case on Monday, Peter Wright KC told the jury at Liverpool crown court that Barton had a “sizeable following on X in excess of two million” and often posted things that “may well be characterised as cutting, caustic, controversial and forthright”. He said that “everyone is entitled to express views that are all of those”, including things which are “offensive, shocking or personally rude when considered against and applying the contemporary standards of an open, just, multi-racial; equal and diverse society”. But, Wright said, Barton had posted things that were “beyond the pale of what is tolerable in society” and had “crossed the line between free speech and a crime on 12 occasions”. Barton has denied all charges and pleaded not guilty. In one of the posts, made after an FA Cup tie between Crystal Palace and Everton on 17 January that Ward and Aluko had been pundits for, Barton said that the pair were the “Fred and Rose West of commentary”, adding that Aluko was present because of her race and was “only there to tick boxes”. Barton later posted an image on X with Ward and Aluko’s faces edited over those of the Wests. This led to Vine posting about his concern for Barton, which drew the ire of the former footballer, the court heard. Barton proceeded to ask Vine if he had “been to Epstein Island”, told him that he would “phone the police if I saw you near a primary school on ya bike,”, and posted an image of the Vine with the caption: “If you see this fella by a primary school call 999.” He also called Vine a “bike nonce”. Barton, who has gained a reputation for his criticism of female involvement in football and a supposed lack of quality in today’s game, made more than 400 career appearances for six clubs and made a single 11-minute appearance for the England national team in a friendly. The trial continues.
|
[
"Raphael Boyd"
] |
Former footballer on trial over social media posts about pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko and broadcaster Jeremy Vine
|
[
"UK news"
] |
UK news
|
UK news
|
2025-11-03T18:36:32.000Z
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2025-11-03T18:38:23.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//uk-news/2025/nov/03/joey-barton-x-posts-crossed-line-free-speech-and-crime-court-told
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Sunderland v Everton: Premier League – live
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Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. The Premier League table has been a table of the unexpected for the last couple of months, but now the usual top three – Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool – are in place and that’s the end of the that. Wrong! Okay, possibly wrong! Sunderland, the team of the season so far, will jump back up to second if they beat Everton at the Stadium of Light. More importantly, in the grand scheme, a win would take them to 20 points – halfway to reaching 40, though you don’t need that many to avoid relegation any more. In the last two seasons, 27 points would have been enough. Everton’s relegation battles feel like a thing of the past, even if they are only four points above 18th-placed West Ham. Their away form – a win at Wolves and three defeats – has yet to hit the dizzy heights achieved earlier in the year when David Moyes returned to the club. But two of those defeats were at Anfield and the Etihad, so we shouldn’t read too much into it. At least not yet. Kick off 8pm.
|
[
"Rob Smyth"
] |
<strong>Minute-by-minute report:</strong> Join Rob Smyth for updates as David Moyes returns to Wearside
|
[
"Premier League",
"Sport",
"Football",
"Everton",
"Sunderland"
] |
Football
|
Premier League
|
2025-11-03T18:30:06.000Z
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2025-11-03T18:32:23.000Z
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https://www.theguardian.com//football/live/2025/nov/03/sunderland-v-everton-premier-league-live
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David Gow, former Guardian Germany correspondent, dies aged 80
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David Gow, a former Germany correspondent and European business editor of the Guardian whose strong commitment to social justice and to the EU project continued long after he left the paper, has died of a heart attack aged 80. Gow joined the Scotsman as a graduate trainee in 1969 before becoming the paper’s first Europe correspondent, then labour correspondent and finally its London editor. After nearly 20 years there Gow moved to the Guardian in 1989. He was briefly education editor before going to Bonn to cover, for nearly six years, one of the most momentous periods in Germany’s postwar history, including its rebirth as a single nation with the reunification of east and west Germany in 1990. Gow, who studied modern languages at Oxford and spoke fluent French and German, then moved to the business and industry desk in London before heading to Brussels as European business correspondent, where he stayed until he retired in 2012. “David was an impressively professional journalist, the sort of versatile, reliable correspondent who never let you down and would get his teeth into a breaking story with speed and skill,” said Simon Tisdall, a former Guardian foreign editor. “He was very knowledgable indeed about European affairs. But it wasn’t just the politics. He was also expert on the history and culture of the countries and movements he wrote about – and as a colleague, a pleasure to work with.” A convinced – though never starry-eyed – European since before the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973, Gow took Brexit almost as a personal affront. He continued writing for numerous continental thinktanks and publications after leaving the Guardian. “We are incredibly saddened to learn of David Gow’s passing,” said Henning Meyer, the chief executive and editor-in-chief of the progressive debate platform Social Europe, for which Gow was for many years a contributor, editor and senior adviser. “Until his death, David was instrumental not only in shaping European intellectual debate but also in defining the direction of the Social Europe platform itself. He will be profoundly missed. Our deepest condolences go out to his wife and family.” Gow also worked as a consultant editor for the Jacques Delors Centre in Berlin, and was a leading light in the pressure group European Movement in Scotland (EMiS), where he settled – in the city of his birth, Edinburgh – with his second wife, Gayle, after retirement. EMiS said Gow had “a great hinterland of knowledge, the journalist’s ability to make the complex simple and to interpret with great clarity the political tides and eddies of our time. He was thoughtful, engaging and helpful to many.” It added that he was “an ever-dependable adviser and the best of company. We shall miss him as a friend, and as a man in the great Scottish tradition of the democratic intellect.” In 2023, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for his contribution to journalism and public understanding of European affairs. The RSE’s president, Anton Muscatelli, said Gow would be remembered “for his warmth, charm and commitment to open, informed dialogue”. He brought “real energy and insight to the society’s work”, including through his leadership of a Scotland-Europe initiative, Muscatelli said. “He was a friend and present in so many of the spaces for public debate in Scotland.” Gow was equally committed to the labour movement and to social justice. He served on the national executive council of the National Union of Journalists, whose general secretary, Laura Davison, said the union’s thoughts were with his family. “He adored them and they were justifiably proud of his record in journalism, and of his commitment to the labour movement – not least the NUJ,” Davison said. “David was an old-school journalist, insistent on maintaining the highest ethical standards. “He was forthright and firm in his views. But my memory of him will be his courtesy and respectful manner in debate. We have lost a good friend, and a loyal member.” Séamus Dooley, the NUJ’s assistant general secretary, said Gow “understood the difference between scepticism and cynicism. He was always ready to question and challenge the perceived wisdom or a political consensus, not least in economics.” Christine Buckley, the editor of the NUJ magazine the Journalist, who knew Gow from her time as business and industry correspondent at the Times, said he was “a class act: indefatigable, zero tolerance for nonsense – and a strong belief in fairness”. Knowledgeable – and witty – on a vast array of topics, Gow was also a passionate gardener, at his cottage in Aumelas in the south of France and then at the lodge he bought in St Fillans, Perthshire. He is survived by his wife, Gayle; by Gemma, his daughter with his first wife, Sue, who died of cancer in 2001; and by three grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and his brother, Rod.
|
[
"Jon Henley"
] |
‘Impressively professional journalist’ with a commitment to social justice was also European business editor
|
[
"The Guardian",
"Newspapers",
"National newspapers",
"Media",
"Newspapers & magazines",
"Europe"
] |
Media
|
Europe
|
The Guardian
|
2025-11-03T18:26:34.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:28:22.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//media/2025/nov/03/david-gow-former-guardian-germany-correspondent-dies
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Releasing a suspect’s nationality will do nothing to satisfy those who are not looking for the truth | Zoe Williams
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A thousand years ago, in 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales was killed in a car accident – you may have heard about this – and the country went absolutely crackers. It was pretty spooky to watch, as people filed towards London’s Kensington Palace, her former residence, weeping and hugging, but it also seemed like maybe it was a good thing. Pent-up grief about who knows what other losses was expressing itself collectively, the upper lip for which the nation was fabled had unstiffened, it was conceivable, just about, that we’d emerge a more cohesive society. And then – this is a deep dive – two Slovakians stole 11 soft toys that had been left among the flowers outside Westminster Abbey, and they each got a month-long prison sentence, though this was later reduced on appeal to a fine of £200. The original sentencing judge said he had a duty to “reflect the public sense of outrage”, which set off every tripwire: mate, no, you do not have to reflect the public sense of outrage. The public has gone wild and you are a judge. This case came rushing back to me on Saturday, when the horrific stabbings on the train from Doncaster to London started to be reported. Nothing was clear, nothing made sense: at that point, there were thought to be two assailants, and so it was reasonable to wonder what their relationship was, and whether the motive was terrorism. By the end of Sunday, it transpired that the older man had nothing to do with the attack, and they were charging just one 32-year-old suspect. The release of both men’s nationality (British), their skin colour and their heritage, was not reasonable, though. It was incredibly jarring to hear news reporters intone that one was Black and the other was of Caribbean descent, even before we knew that the second guy had nothing to do with it. Since when did we describe suspects by their citizenship status? Since when did we distinguish one British citizen from another by their skin colour? Since when has that been the country we are? People immediately justified the British Transport Police statement, on the grounds that where information was lacking, disinformation rushed in to fill the vacuum. Look at Southport, where apparently the riots could have been averted if people hadn’t “got the sense that something was being withheld or fudged”, in the words of Jonathan Hall KC, the UK’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation. But disinformation and insinuation rush in anyway. Matt Goodwin, the GB news presenter who has a history of expressing anti-immigrant sentiments, said on X that this was the result of “mass uncontrolled immigration”. Grok, Elon Musk’s handy far-right AI chatbot, was immediately spreading Islamophobic falsehoods (I’m not going to provide a link but just trust me). Reform’s Zia Yusuf threw in a random parallel to a knife attack committed by an asylum seeker while talking to Laura Kuenssberg. There is now a segment of British society that will use any violent crime as a stick to beat migrants with. It doesn’t matter whether an alleged suspect could be said to represent all immigrants or, indeed, whether they were an immigrant at all, some grifter will jump on a horrific scene, while it’s still fresh enough that society’s panic-brain is engaged, saying “mass uncontrolled immigration”. No information can be released fast enough for these people, because they’re not looking for the truth. No amount of transparency will appease them. “British born” means nothing to them. They’re always racing to a new low, blaming faith when nationality doesn’t support their generalisations, and race when religion doesn’t. Whatever the sea wall is between the anti-migrant faction and the rest of civilisation, you can’t expect it to be the British Transport Police, especially given the College of Policing released new interim guidance in August, advising that forces release the ethnicity or nationality of suspects where there was a risk of “misinformation or disinformation leading to community tension.” What we can expect from the authorities, though, is that they don’t roll over to demands just because they are stridently made.
|
[
"Zoe Williams"
] |
Grifters are always racing to a new low. Nothing can be done to appease them – they just want to find any way they can to denounce migrants, writes Zoe Williams
|
[
"Race",
"Cambridgeshire",
"UK news"
] |
Opinion
|
Race
|
2025-11-03T18:24:09.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:26:21.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//commentisfree/2025/nov/03/releasing-a-suspects-nationality-will-do-nothing-to-satisfy-those-who-are-not-looking-for-the-truth
|
|
Trump administration says it will partially fund Snap food aid benefits– live
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The Trump administration has said in a court filing that it plans to partially fund food aid for millions of Americans after two judges ruled last week that it must use contingency funds to pay for the benefits in November during the government shutdown. This is per a snap updated from the Reuters news agency and I’ll bring you more on this as we get it. Further to that, the Trump administration said $600m would be used to fund states’ administrative costs in administering Snap benefits, leaving $4.65bn that will be obligated to cover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments. The partial payments are unprecedented in the program’s history. A USDA official warned in a court filing that at least some states, which administer Snap benefits on a day-to-day basis, would need weeks to months to make system changes that would allow them to provide the reduced benefits. US district judge in Rhode Island John McConnell and another judge in Boston, US district judge Indira Talwani, said on Friday the administration had the discretion to also tap a separate fund holding about $23bn. Patrick Penn, deputy under secretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services at the USDA, said in a court filing the agency was carefully considering using those funds but determined they must remain available for child nutrition programs instead of Snap. Per my last post, the administration laid out the US Department of Agriculture’s plan in a filing in federal court in Rhode Island at the direction of a judge who had last week ordered it to use emergency funds to at least partially cover November’s Snap benefits. The justice department said the USDA is complying with US district judge John McConnell’s order and “will fulfill its obligation to expend the full amount of Snap contingency funds today”. But while the administration said it would fully deplete the $5.25bn in contingency funds, it would not use other funding that would allow it to fully fund Snap benefits for 42 million Americans, which cost $8bn to $9bn per month. The Trump administration has said in a court filing that it plans to partially fund food aid for millions of Americans after two judges ruled last week that it must use contingency funds to pay for the benefits in November during the government shutdown. This is per a snap updated from the Reuters news agency and I’ll bring you more on this as we get it. Per that last post, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer quipped on social media today. “Maybe I should file a complaint with the FCC against the Trump White House for editing his unhinged 60 Minutes interview,” the top Democrat wrote on X. “It will use the exact same language Trump lodged against Vice President Harris.” The CBS News program 60 Minutes heavily edited down an interview with Donald Trump that aired on Sunday night, his first sit-down with the show in five years. Trump sat down with correspondent Norah O’Donnell for 90 minutes, but only about 28 minutes were broadcast. A full transcript of the interview was later published, along with a 73-minute-long extended version online. The edits are notable because, exactly one year before Trump was interviewed by O’Donnell at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday he had sued CBS over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which he alleged had been deceptively edited to help her chances in the presidential election. While many legal experts widely dismissed the lawsuit as “meritless” and unlikely to hold up under the first amendment, CBS settled with Trump for $16m in July. As part of the settlement, the network had agreed that it would release transcripts of future interviews of presidential candidates. At the beginning of Sunday’s show, O’Donnell reminded viewers that Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit, but noted that “the settlement did not include an apology or admission of wrongdoing”. Ahead of election day across the country, my colleague Carter Sherman, has been covering how reproductive rights will be back on the ballot in this off-cycle year. Carter notes the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia could have sweeping consequences for abortion access in two states that have become havens for women fleeing abortion bans. In Pennsylvania, what should have been a relatively sleepy judicial-retention election has evolved into the most expensive race of its kind in nearly 50 years, largely due to heated fighting over abortion. With voters weighing whether to keep three Democratic justices on the state supreme court, advocates fear that liberals may lose control of the bench and, ultimately, lose abortion access in the purple state. Read more of her reporting here. When asked by reporters about the president’s insistence for lawmakers to abolish the filibuster, Mike Johnson said that he had spoken to Donald Trump over the weekend and shared his thoughts with him. “I hear my Senate Republican colleagues, some of the most conservative people in Congress, who say it’s an important safeguard. It prevents us, it holds us back from the Democrats’ worst impulses,” Johnson said. “What would the Democrats do if they had no filibuster impediment, no speed bump at all?” The House speaker added that he speaks “frankly and honestly” with the president and noted that he was very “passionate” about this issue. “I think what you see in this, this, this debate we’re having on our own side is a reflection of the anger that we feel, the real desperation that we feel, because we want the government to be reopened,” Johnson said. Mike Johnson has said that issuing payments to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) beneficiaries in the midst of the shutdown is “not as easy as hitting go send on a computer”. In recent days, two federal judges ordered the administration to use the program’s contingency funds to pay to Snap recipients. Today, Johnson said this was more complicated than it looked. “It costs over $9bn to fund Snap for a month, and we only have, I think it’s $5.2bn in the contingency fund. So you have a big shortfall,” he said. “You got to go through and recalculate partial payments to the 42 million recipients of the program.” Johnson noted that the president was not appealing against the rulings from the respective judges. “He wants that to be done,” Johnson said. “But he doesn’t see the mechanism to do it. So you have treasury, you have USDA, you have the other agencies involved that are working overtime, literally around the clock over the weekend, trying to figure out how to do this. But everybody needs to know, it’s not the full amount, assuming they could get this done and processed.” Throughout today’s press conference, Mike Johnson has continued to blame Senate Democrats for shuttering the government for 34 days. He, and many congressional Republicans, have claimed that the reason that lawmakers on the left have consistently rejected the House-passed funding bill is due to pressure from the progressive wing of the Democratic party. “They fear that personally for their own political future,” Johnson said today. “And they care more about that than they care about Snap benefits flow into hungry families, about air traffic controllers being paid so they can keep the skies safe, border patrol, troops and all the rest … It is extremism on the left that is the direct cause of American suffering right now.” In a short while, Republican House speaker Mike Johnson will hold a press conference, on the 34th day of the government shutdown. We’ll bring you the latest lines, particularly when it comes to reopening the lower chamber, as the shutdown is poised to be the longest on record (likely to beat the 35 days during Donald Trump’s first administration). In an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes, Trump said that he’s “not a fan of Cuomo one way or the other”, but he would rather see the former governor win against the progressive frontrunner and state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani to be the next mayor of New York City. “If it’s gonna be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you,” Trump said. Early voting in the closely watched mayoral race ended on Sunday. More than 735,000 New Yorkers cast their ballots ahead of Tuesday’s election.
|
[
"Yohannes Lowe",
"Shrai Popat",
"Lucy Campbell",
"Jeremy Barr"
] |
Trump administration says in court filing it plans to use emergency funds to partially cover November Snap benefits for millions of Americans
|
[
"Trump administration",
"US federal government shutdown 2025",
"US news",
"World news",
"Donald Trump",
"US politics"
] |
US news
|
US news
|
Trump administration
|
2025-11-03T18:22:39.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:22:39.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/nov/03/us-government-shutdown-donald-trump-latest-politics-news
|
UN resolution on international stabilisation force for Gaza could be ready within two weeks
|
A UN security council resolution mandating the introduction of an international stabilisation force into Gaza is likely to be ready within two weeks, but may be delayed if disputes cannot be resolved over the force’s mandate, including the question of US military leadership, its relationship with the Palestinian civil police force and a timetable for Israeli military withdrawal. At a meeting in Istanbul of Muslim countries considering offering troops on Monday, the Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, said: “The countries will shape their decisions based on the mission and authority of the International Stabilization Force. I believe that if the mission conflicts with the principles and policies of the countries that will send troops, it will be difficult for these countries to send troops.” Other issues under discussion include a leadership role for the US, a deconfliction mechanism for disputes with Israel, and whether a timetable for Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza should be scheduled, or contingent on the disarmament of Hamas. Fidan repeated that Turkey was willing to provide a troop contingent, something Israel has rejected because of Turkey’s support for Hamas. The meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, as well as representatives of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar. Egypt, often seen as a potential force leader, was absent. Jordan has said that while it will not provide troops, it is prepared to train a vetted Palestinian police force that would be responsible for maintaining law and order in Gaza, but questions remain over the interaction between the two forces , and their respective responsibilities. Meanwhile, continued violence in Gaza has raised fears for the fragile truce as 115 people were killed and 352 injured on Tuesday. It w the deadliest day the territory had seen since the ceasefire came into effect on 10 October. At the weekend the German foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, said: “We really have to speed up. My fear is that we are running out of time. The ceasefire is good. That was very necessary. We needed a surge of humanitarian aid. But we really need to fill the vacuum within the Gaza Strip for security, for administration.” Fidan complained that “Israel is regularly violating the ceasefire and preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid at the required level. We have now reached an extremely critical stage.” One western diplomat said he did not detect any resistance to the US being in the lead in the stabilisation force without needing boots on the ground. He said: “I don’t think any of the countries will participate unless the Americans are heavily involved in a leadership role because otherwise people will think there is no constraint on the Israelis, frankly.” Muslim leaders do not want their troops to be seen in a peace enforcement, as opposed to peace keeping, role, he said. It is expected the stabilisation force will ultimately be run separately from the new US civil military coordination centre that focuses on humanitarian work. The sources also suggest candidates to join a new committee of Palestinian technocrats to administer the territory had been selected, and were being vetted to ensure they are credible with civic society in Gaza. On the disarmament of Hamas the diplomat said there was still a lot to be worked out. “The only Hamas stipulation is they are not going to disarm in circumstances where they are going to be get killed by the Israelis.” The US has not agreed with Israel that Hamas is deliberately delaying the return of Israeli bodies, and it is expected that some will never be discovered in the rubble of Gaza. Pressure for progress is growing among Arab states concerned about a security vacuum. The Jordanian foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said: “It is imperative that we have a timeline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Israel cannot stay in 53% of Gaza and then expect security to be achieved.” Safadi said it was imperative to establish a deconfliction mechanism, adding: “You cannot have the International Stabilization Force doing the policing of the Palestinian community.” He added the apolitical “technocratic commission somehow has to be linked to the Palestinian Authority because this was the means to ensure that Gaza remains part of the occupied Palestinian territory”. Another western diplomat accepted that the failure to improve Palestinians’ lives since the ceasefire was deeply worrying, but denied there was a US plan to let Israel split Gaza. But they added: “Most people do not give this a huge chance of success to be honest, but things are moving along much better than anticipated. “What Gazans want is an international element being in support of a Palestinian government in Gaza, rather than it being taken over by internationals. On the other hand without an international element around security and governance then the Israelis will never treat the thing seriously and therefore Gaza will never get the space and capacity to be rebuilt as people want.”
|
[
"Patrick Wintour"
] |
Resolution may be delayed without agreement over the force’s mandate and a timetable for Israeli withdrawal
|
[
"Gaza",
"Israel",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"Turkey",
"Middle East and north Africa",
"Palestine"
] |
World news
|
Middle East
|
Gaza
|
2025-11-03T18:22:25.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:24:23.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//world/2025/nov/03/un-resolution-on-international-stabilisation-force-for-gaza-could-be-ready-within-two-weeks
|
Starmer was briefed on Mandelson’s Epstein links before appointing him, say civil servants
|
Keir Starmer was briefed on details of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein before he decided to make him US ambassador, senior civil servants have said. The prime minister received a Cabinet Office report that contained “a summary of reputational risks” to appointing Mandelson, including his “prior relationship with Jeffrey Epstein” and past resignations as a Labour minister. Chris Wormald, the cabinet secretary, told MPs that the report had contained “direct extracts from media reporting and notes a general reputational risk” to making the appointment. Speaking at the foreign affairs select committee, he said the “judgment about whether to make the appointment or not” had ultimately been one for Keir Starmer. Mandelson’s longstanding friendship with Epstein – which continued after the disgraced financier was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor – was a matter of public record before his appointment was made. It was public information that Mandelson had stayed at Epstein’s flat in Manhattan in 2009, the year after Epstein was sentenced to prison. The Mandelson briefing sent to Starmer also mentioned official records showing that Mandelson had facilitated a meeting between Epstein and Tony Blair in 2002. These have since been released by the National Archives after a delay. Wormald set out the due diligence process involved in Mandelson’s appointment, starting with the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics report, followed by a conflict of interest declaration and in-depth national security vetting carried out on behalf of the Foreign Office. The department has previously admitted that Mandelson’s appointment was announced before that developed vetting process was complete. Oliver Robbins, the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, said that Mandelson was no longer on the government payroll and that the process of terminating his civil service employment was complete. He declined to reveal whether Mandelson had received a severance package. Asked whether the Foreign Office had had a different preferred candidate for US ambassador before the appointment, Robbins said: “At the time we’re describing, it was clear that the prime minister wanted to make this appointment himself and therefore I understand that the FCDO was informed of his decision and acted upon it. “In this particular case the prime minister took advice and formed a view himself and we then acted on that view.” Mandelson was sacked last month over a tranche of leaked emails in which he expressed his love and support for Epstein and urged him to “fight for early release” in 2008 while the financier was facing charges for soliciting sex from minors. Wormald said it was the publication of the “new and previously unknown emails that led to the decision to withdraw the ambassador to Washington”. He said the emails were “gamechanging in terms of what was known”. But Wormald and Robbins admitted that Starmer had not been informed about the contents of Mandelson’s emails before the session of prime minister’s questions when he expressed his full support for him as ambassador. Robbins said that after being contacted by Bloomberg about the emails, officials asked Mandelson a series of questions as they sought to confirm their veracity without yet involving ministers. At that stage Starmer was told only that there was a media inquiry that was being looked into. Bloomberg published the full set of emails later on Wednesday, after he had given Mandelson his backing. Robbins argued that although it “may sound naive” with hindsight, Mandelson was in “an extremely exposed position” and was an employee to whom the department “owed a duty of care”. The government has set out new guidance for politically appointed ambassadors intended to avoid a repeat of the Mandelson scandal. The updated guidelines state that candidates directly appointed by ministers outside the civil service system should undergo a pre-appointment interview with a senior official and an informal “fireside chat” with the minister in charge.
|
[
"Eleni Courea"
] |
PM had been given ‘summary of reputational risks’ but did not know about contents of emails before PMQs, MPs told
|
[
"Peter Mandelson",
"Keir Starmer",
"Foreign",
" Commonwealth and Development Office",
"Civil service",
"Labour",
"Politics",
"UK news"
] |
Politics
|
UK politics
|
Peter Mandelson
|
2025-11-03T18:22:21.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:26:57.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//politics/2025/nov/03/starmer-briefed-on-peter-mandelson-jeffrey-epstein-links-before-appointing-him-say-civil-servants
|
BBC accused of selectively editing Trump clip about Capitol attack
|
The BBC has been accused of selectively editing a Donald Trump speech to make it appear clearer that he encouraged the US Capitol attack, according to a former external adviser to the corporation. An edition of Panorama, broadcast a week before the US election, spliced together clips of a Trump speech made on January 6. The spliced clip suggested that Trump told the crowd: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell.” The words were taken from sections of his speech almost an hour apart. It did not include a section in which Trump said he wanted supporters “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”. Concerns about the cut were raised in a memo by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC). He left the role in the summer. The dossier, first reported by the Telegraph, said the programme made Trump “‘say’ things [he] never actually said” by cutting together footage. The complaints relate to an hour-long Panorama special called Trump: A Second Chance? broadcast in October 2024. The memo also complained that footage of marchers that appeared to have been inspired by Trump were actually taken before the speech had been made. In a covering letter to the dossier, which he sent to the BBC’s board, Prescott reportedly said he was circulating the document out of “despair at inaction by the BBC Executive when issues come to light”. Prescott said in his report: “It was completely misleading to edit the clip in the way Panorama aired it. The fact that [Trump] did not explicitly exhort supporters to go down and fight at Capitol Hill was one of the reasons there were no federal charges for incitement to riot.” Prescott has been contacted for comment. A BBC spokesperson said: “While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully. Michael Prescott is a former adviser to a board committee where differing views and opinions of our coverage are routinely discussed and debated.” The incident risks inflaming the White House’s relationship with the BBC. The Trump administration has previously wrongly accusing the BBC of removing a story about a fatal attack near a US-backed food distribution site in Gaza. Senior BBC journalists said the White House was political point-scoring after Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, accused the corporation of taking “the word of Hamas with total truth”.
|
[
"Michael Savage"
] |
Panorama spliced together clips to make it appear clearer US president encouraged January 6 attack, former external adviser says
|
[
"BBC",
"Donald Trump",
"UK news",
"Media",
"The news on TV"
] |
Media
|
Media
|
BBC
|
2025-11-03T18:21:30.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:27:51.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//media/2025/nov/03/bbc-accused-selectively-editing-trump-clip-capitol-attack
|
Canada’s Liberal party says budget of ‘sacrifice’ needed to avoid recession
|
Canada’s ruling Liberal party has said a budget of “sacrifice” is required to confront both a trade war with the US and a protracted cost of living crisis that threatens to push the country into a recession. But with opposition parties signalling they won’t support the fiscal plans of the prime minister, Mark Carney, a failed parliamentary vote on the budget could plunge the country into another federal election in the coming weeks. The country’s finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne, will on Tuesday unveil a spending plan his government has signalled will include both steep deficits and spending cuts. Few details have leaked ahead of the announcement, which will mark the first substantive look at how Carney plans to avoid a recession while locked in a trade war with the US, Canada’s biggest economic partner. In recent months, aggressive protectionist measures from the White House have battered Canada’s automotive, metals and forestry industries. To blunt the effects, Ottawa has turned to tax cuts and larger defence and infrastructure spending to help struggling companies, pushing the country towards a more challenging fiscal position. In Canada, a federal budget is a confidence vote, meaning once it is tabled as legislation, a lost vote would probably trigger the collapse of the minority Liberal government and plunge the country into its second federal election in less than 12 months. The Liberals hold 169 seats and need to find another party, or at least three other lawmakers, to vote with them to pass the budget. Alternatively, six lawmakers could choose to abstain, lowering the threshold needed for the budget to pass. But those MPs would have to answer to constituents why there were voluntarily absent from a crucial vote over the country’s economic future. Opposition parties have expressed skepticism towards the budget, variously suggesting it goes too far in its spending, or falls short of the investment needed. In a speech to students at the University of Ottawa last month, Carney warned that “we won’t transform our economy overnight – it will take sacrifice and time,” adding his government would “work relentlessly to cut waste, improve efficiency, and make thoughtful, transparent decisions”. “We won’t play games. We won’t waste time. We’ll play to win – by betting on Canada and Canadians,” he said. The Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, pounced on the address, calling it a “sacrifice speech” and claiming that the Liberals were attempting to get Canadians to accept “a permanent reduction in our quality of life”. The Liberals have spent recent weeks accusing opposition parties of demanding fiscal and policy concessions and warning the party, which holds a strong parliamentary minority, will not support any ultimatums in exchange for votes. In late October, the government house leader, Steven MacKinnon, said Poilievre was trying to engineer a “Christmas election” in order to distract from questions within the Tories about Poilievre’s future. Carney, a former central banker of both Canada and the UK but a political novice, has met with the leaders of the Conservatives, Bloc Québécois, New Democratic and Green parties to lay out his government’s priorities and coax out support. None have issued any public support for the Liberals. In a post on social media on Monday, Carney said his “number one focus is to put Canadians back in control” by reducing reliance on the US and doubling exports to other nations – a move that will require citizens to make “difficult” and “responsible” choices. Champagne will introduce the budget in the House of Commons just after 4pm ET on Tuesday. Four days of debate will after the budget announcement, with a vote scheduled for 17 November.
|
[
"Leyland Cecco"
] |
Country set to unveil PM Mark Carney’s spending plan as it battles trade war with US and protracted cost of living crisis
|
[
"Canada",
"World news",
"Mark Carney",
"Trump tariffs",
"Tariffs",
"Americas",
"Business"
] |
World news
|
Americas
|
Canada
|
2025-11-03T18:16:39.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:36:22.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/03/canada-budget-sacrifice-recession
|
Canada’s Liberal party says budget of ‘sacrifice’ needed to avoid recession
|
Canada’s ruling Liberal party has said a budget of “sacrifice” is required to confront both a trade war with the US and a protracted cost of living crisis that threatens to push the country into a recession. But with opposition parties signalling they won’t support prime minister Mark Carney’s fiscal plans, a failed parliamentary vote on the budget could plunge the country into another federal election in the coming weeks. The country’s finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne, will on Tuesday unveil a spending plan his government has signalled will include both steep deficits and spending cuts. Few details have leaked ahead of the announcement which will mark the first substantive look at how Carney, a former central banker, plans to avoid a recession while locked in a trade war with the US, Canada’s biggest economic partner. In recent months, aggressive protectionist measures from the White House have battered Canada’s automotive, metals and forestry industries. To blunt the effects, Ottawa has turned to tax cuts and larger defence and infrastructure spending to help struggling companies, pushing the country towards a more challenging fiscal position. In Canada, a federal budget is a confidence vote, meaning once it is tabled as legislation, a lost vote would probably trigger the collapse of the minority Liberal government and plunge the country into its second federal election in less than 12 months. The Liberals hold 169 seats and need to find another party, or at least three other lawmakers, to vote with them to pass the budget. Alternatively, six lawmakers could choose to abstain, lowering the threshold needed for the budget to pass. But those MPs would have to answer to constituents why there were voluntarily absent from a crucial vote over the country’s economic future. Opposition parties have expressed skepticism towards the budget, variously suggesting it goes too far in its spending, or falls short of the investment needed. In a speech to students at the University of Ottawa last month, Carney warned that “we won’t transform our economy overnight – it will take sacrifice and time,” adding his government would “work relentlessly to cut waste, improve efficiency, and make thoughtful, transparent decisions.” “We won’t play games. We won’t waste time. We’ll play to win – by betting on Canada and Canadians,” he said. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre pounced on the address, calling it a “sacrifice speech” and claiming that the Liberals were attempting to get Canadians to accept “a permanent reduction in our quality of life.” The Liberals have spent recent weeks accusing opposition parties of demanding fiscal and policy concessions and warning the party, which holds a strong parliamentary minority, will not support any ultimatums in exchange for votes. In late October, government house leader Steven MacKinnon said Poilievre was trying to engineer a “Christmas election” in order to distract from questions within the Tories about Poilievre’s future. Carney, a former central banker of both Canada and the UK but a political novice, has met with the leaders of the Conservatives, Bloc Quebecois, New Democratic and Green parties to lay out his government’s priorities and coax out support. None have issued any public support for the Liberals. In a post on social media Monday, Carney said his “number one focus is to put Canadians back in control” by reducing reliance on the US and doubling exports to other nations – a move that will require citizens to make “difficult” and “responsible” choices. Champagne will introduce the budget in the House of Commons just after 4pm ET on Tuesday. Four days of debate will after the budget announcement, with a vote scheduled for 17 November.
|
[
"Leyland Cecco"
] |
Country set to unveil PM Mark Carney’s spending plan as it battles trade war with US and protracted cost of living crisis
|
[
"Canada",
"World news",
"Mark Carney",
"Trump tariffs",
"Tariffs",
"Americas",
"Business"
] |
World news
|
Americas
|
Canada
|
2025-11-03T18:16:39.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:18:20.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//world/2025/nov/03/canada-budget-sacrifice-recession
|
15 minutes of horror in train mass stabbing – Today in Focus Extra
|
On Saturday night, a train from Doncaster to London was packed with people heading out for the night when a horrifying mass stabbing attacked unfolded. Witnesses described “pure panic” as people tried to get away from the knifeman, with some hiding in the train’s toilets. Shortly after the attacks began, the train made an unscheduled emergency stop at Huntingdon station in Cambridgeshire, where police and paramedics were gathered. Anthony Williams, 32, has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder. He is also charged with one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of possession of a bladed article.
|
[
"Lucy Hough",
"Ben Quinn",
"Eli Block",
"Zoe Hitch",
"Phil Maynard"
] |
Guardian senior reporter Ben Quinn on the shocking knife attack on a train from Doncaster to London
|
[
"UK news"
] |
News
|
UK news
|
2025-11-03T18:13:54.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:27:34.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//news/audio/2025/nov/03/15-minutes-of-horror-in-train-mass-stabbing-today-in-focus-extra
|
|
OpenAI signs $38bn cloud computing deal with Amazon
|
OpenAI has signed a $38bn (£29bn) deal to use Amazon infrastructure to operate its artificial intelligence products, as part of a more than $1tn spending spree on computing power. The agreement with Amazon Web Services means OpenAI will be able to use AWS datacentres, and the Nvidia chips inside them, immediately. Last week, OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, said his company had committed to spending $1.4tn on AI infrastructure, amid concerns over the sustainability of the boom in using and building datacentres. These are the central nervous systems of AI tools such as ChatGPT. “Scaling frontier AI requires massive, reliable compute,” Altman said on Monday. “Our partnership with AWS strengthens the broad compute ecosystem that will power this next era and bring advanced AI to everyone.” OpenAI said the deal would give it access to hundreds of thousands of Nvidia graphics processors to train and run its AI models. Amazon plans to use the chips in data clusters that will power ChatGPT’s responses and train OpenAI’s next wave of models, the companies said. Matt Garman, the chief executive of AWS, said OpenAI continued to push the boundaries of what was possible and that Amazon’s infrastructure would serve as a backbone for its ambitions. OpenAI is committed to developing 30 gigawatts of computing resources – enough to power roughly 25 million US homes. Last week, OpenAI said it had converted its main business into a for-profit corporation as part of a reorganisation that valued the startup at $500bn. Its longtime backer Microsoft will have a roughly 27% stake in OpenAI’s new for-profit corporation. The race for computing power by AI companies has raised concerns among some market watchers about how it will be paid for. OpenAI’s annual revenue is about $13bn, according the Financial Times, a figure dwarfed by its $1.4tn infrastructure commitment. Other datacentre deals signed by OpenAI include a $300bn agreement with the US company Oracle. Altman hit back at the spending concerns during a podcast appearance with the Microsoft chief executive, Satya Nadella, saying “enough” to a question from the host, the US investor Brad Gerstner, about the gap between OpenAI’s revenue and its infrastructure commitments. Altman said OpenAI made “well more” revenue than the reported $13bn, without specifying a number. He added: “I just – enough … I think there’s are a lot of people who would love to buy OpenAI shares.” Analysts at the US investment bank Morgan Stanley estimate that global spending on datacentres will reach nearly $3tn between now and 2028. They said half of that spending would be covered by the big US tech companies and the rest would come from sources such as the private credit market, a growing part of the shadow banking sector that is raising concerns at the Bank of England and elsewhere.
|
[
"Dan Milmo"
] |
Agreement to use AWS datacentres, and Nvidia chips inside them, part of $1.4tn spending spree on AI infrastructure
|
[
"OpenAI",
"Amazon",
"Cloud computing",
"Artificial intelligence (AI)",
"ChatGPT",
"Computing",
"Technology",
"Technology sector",
"Business"
] |
Technology
|
Tech
|
OpenAI
|
2025-11-03T18:09:38.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:20:56.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//technology/2025/nov/03/openai-cloud-computing-deal-amazon-aws-datacentres-nvidia-chips
|
Car finance redress scheme shows City watchdog ‘nakedly’ siding with lenders, MPs say
|
The City regulator has “nakedly taken the side of lenders” in its planned compensation scheme for car loan victims, a group of cross-party MPs has claimed, adding that the watchdog had been “patently influenced” by concerns over profits. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fair Banking has joined a growing chorus of critics concerned about the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) proposed redress scheme, which is meant to compensate borrowers who were overcharged as a result of controversial commission arrangements between lenders and car dealers. The APPG’s latest report has accused the regulator of buying into “doom-mongering” by lenders, who claim that a large compensation bill risked spooking investors and causing lasting damage to the UK economy. That was at the expense of car loan victims who they said were due up to £15.6bn rather than the £8.2bn-£9.7bn currently forecast in the FCA’s scheme, which the APPG said was based on estimates produced by the regulator in 2019. It also warned that the scheme hinged on overly complex calculations that lenders could exploit, while acting as “judge and jury” on their former customer’s claims. “Rather than siding with consumers in deciding the levels of redress the regulator appears to have nakedly taken the side of lenders, working to protect their profit margins rather than the pockets of consumers,” the report said. “Time and again in its consultation document the FCA warns how ‘higher [redress] costs to firms could dent profit margins’ or ‘higher costs to lenders in this scenario could have knock-on impacts on lender profit margins’. These warnings all follow the same basic pattern, a warning about profits, caveated with the risk to the market of lenders withdrawing their products and hitting consumer choice.” Banks are due to pay out £700 per claim on average under the FCA’s proposals, which the APPG says is far less than the £1,500 average payout that some could receive by taking their cases to court. However, banks and the FCA have warned that borrowers who use claims firms to take their cases to court may end up losing up to 30% of their compensation in legal fees. Lenders and lobby groups have for months warned that a massive bill could deter investors, force some lenders to fold, or raise borrowing costs for consumers as they try to recoup their costs. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, attempted to intervene in a landmark supreme court hearing in January, when she urged judges to avoid handing “windfall” compensation to borrowers. At that point, lenders including Lloyds, Barclays, Close Brothers and the financial arms of manufacturers such as Ford were steeling themselves for a compensation bill worth up to £44bn bill. A landmark supreme court case in August brought further clarity and significantly brought down the regulator’s estimates of the potential compensation bill. However, lenders have continued to lobby against the £11bn bill – which accounts for administrative costs. Santander UK’s chief executive, Mike Regnier, last week called for further interventions by ministers, claiming the FCA’s current proposals could end up inflicting “significant” harm to consumers, jobs and the broader economy. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion The APPG member and Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh suggested that those lobbying efforts had seeped into the FCA’s proposals. “Our core finding is that the FCA has patently been influenced by the profit margins of the lenders when deciding upon levels of redress. “From proposing that lenders act as judge and jury on their own cases, to the extraordinarily low compensatory interest rate on offer, the scheme acts against the interests of the consumer and markedly favours sector interests,” McDonagh, who separately serves as a member of the Treasury committee, added. “Ultimately, this report comes to a clear and unambiguous conclusion – the redress scheme as proposed is not fit for purpose.” The FCA said in a statement: “We have proposed a scheme to fairly compensate motor finance customers in a timely and efficient way. “We recognise that there will be a wide range of views on the scheme and not everyone will get everything they would like. But we want to work together on the best possible scheme and draw a line under this issue quickly. That certainty is vital, so a trusted motor finance market can continue to serve millions of families every year.” The Financing and Leasing Association was contacted for comment.
|
[
"Kalyeena Makortoff"
] |
Cross-party group says Financial Conduct Authority had been ‘patently influenced’ by concerns over profits
|
[
"Motor finance",
"Financial Conduct Authority",
"Business",
"Regulators",
"Banking",
"UK news"
] |
Business
|
Banking
|
Motor finance
|
2025-11-03T18:00:06.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:02:19.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//business/2025/nov/03/car-finance-redress-scheme-shows-city-watchdog-nakedly-siding-with-lenders-mps-say
|
Steward injury could offer Smith the chance to start for England against Fiji
|
A hand injury to the full-back Freddie Steward could present Marcus Smith with a fresh chance to start for England when they face Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday. Steve Borthwick’s team will meet the Pacific Islanders in the second of four November internationals after a comfortable opening victory against Australia, but the No 15 jersey may become a significant problem for the England head coach. Steward, who started against the Wallabies, received treatment at pitchside in the second half at Twickenham and appeared to be in considerable pain but stayed on for 80 minutes. It is understood that he will not return to training until Thursday. With the full-backs George Furbank of Northampton and Elliot Daly of Saracens already ruled out, Steward’s setback may provide a chance for Smith. The Harlequins back shifted to No 15 last season to accommodate Fin Smith at fly-half but was left out against Australia. While he lacks the commanding aerial presence of Steward, he would offer more of a running threat against Fiji, who traditionally favour an offloading game. Henry Slade, Tom Roebuck or Henry Arundell could in theory play at full-back but Smith would be the natural choice. Tommy Freeman started at No 13 against Australia while the in-form centres Slade and Ollie Lawrence missed out, and Borthwick may look to experiment again before aiming to field a first-choice XV for the All Blacks a week on Saturday. The Saracens flanker Ben Earl, who raced under the posts for England’s first try against the Wallabies, is another player seen as capable of making a switch to midfield. Earl said he would love to play at No 12 and that there are several hybrid options available. “I am just trying to help the team any way I can,” he said. “We have got a lot of boys now who could do a good job anywhere. Henry [Pollock] could do a very good job on the wing, Ted Hill when he was involved was very, very fast. There are a few boys that could do it. It is going to be a strength of our team going forward.” Earl said of potentially being selected at No 12: “I would love it. Just playing for England is the best … I am buzzing to be involved.” Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion Reflecting on his try on Saturday, Earl described the careful preparation that goes into England’s attacking strategy for contestable kicks under Borthwick: “The aerial game certainly is, and will continue to be, a massive strength of our squad,” he said. “That’s why you prepare. It’s no coincidence that Sam [Underhill] and I were there in that position because we trained a lot, we focused a lot on that, and you sort of work out where the ball’s going to go.” Earl also revealed that England have taken inspiration from the Last Dance, the Netflix documentary about the rise of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. “Dennis Rodman talks about it coming off the rim,” Earl said. “We spend a lot of time working on watching the balls come out of the hands, not to that same extent, but we talk a lot about where we think the ball’s going to go and gambling. “It was no coincidence that Henry scored that try, and that we [Earl and Underhill] had an opportunity to score ourselves.”
|
[
"Luke McLaughlin"
] |
A hand injury to the full-back Freddie Steward could present Marcus Smith with a fresh chance to start for England when they face Fiji on Saturday
|
[
"England rugby union team",
"Fiji rugby union team",
"Rugby union",
"Sport"
] |
Sport
|
Rugby union
|
England rugby union team
|
2025-11-03T18:00:05.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:58:15.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//sport/2025/nov/03/marcus-smith-freddie-steward-no-15-full-back-england-fiji-rugby-union
|
Trump administration will provide half of usual funds to Snap recipients in November
|
The Trump administration said it would provide partial relief to recipients of food stamps on Monday as the federal government shutdown approached a record-breaking length. Amid mounting uncertainty among the nearly 42 million people on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), the Department of Agriculture said it would use contingency funds to keep benefits going, albeit just 50% of the usual funds recipients receive on their cards. The announcement, in a court filing by the government at the US district court in Rhode Island, came after Donald Trump said the administration would comply with a court order to provide emergency funding after previous refusals to do so on purported legal grounds. Before Monday’s announcement, Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, had suggested that emergency funding might not be available immediately and called for more court guidance on how to fund Snap legally. Money for the program officially ran out on Saturday as a result of the US government shutdown, now in its 34th day and showing no sign of ending as congressional Republican continued their standoff with the Democrats. Donald Trump said on Friday that he would be “honored” to provide emergency funding for the program after Judge John McConnell of the US district court in Rhode Island ruled that the administration could not deny the program funds because of the shutdown. “I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible … even if we get immediate guidance, it will unfortunately be delayed while States get the money out,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network on Friday. “If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding.” McConnell promptly issued an order the following day instructing the administration to start making contingency funds available by midday on Monday. The administration had previously argued that it was legally prohibited from tapping into the contingency fund to provide Snap benefits, arguing that it could only be used in the cases such as natural disasters. The judge rejected that position as “arbitrary”. “The court greatly appreciates the president’s quick and definitive response to this court’s order and his desire to provide the necessary Snap funding,” McConnell wrote in Saturday’s order. The pause in benefits from the program is unprecedented. Bessent told CNN that funds could start flowing by Wednesday, and said he wanted more guidance from the courts on how money could be legally switched around to fund Snap benefits. “There’s a process that has to be followed,” Bessent said. “So, we’ve got to figure out what the process is.” Some states have said it will take days and, in some cases, even weeks to give out benefits to low income recipients because the government did not disperse partial funds for it after the shutdown began on 1 October. Long queues have been reported at food banks across the country. In California and Texas, stadium car parks were converted into distribution sites amid uncertainty over the program’s continuation. Some states, including New York, Oregon and Virginia, declared states of emergency last week to provide funds that would keep benefits available. But the amounts provided were expected to amount to a fraction of normal federal government funding. The federal costs of Snap amounts to about $8bn a month across the US.
|
[
"Robert Tait"
] |
Contingency funds will keep benefits going for nearly 42 million people in the food assistance program, <br>Trump says
|
[
"Trump administration",
"US news",
"US politics",
"Donald Trump"
] |
US news
|
US news
|
Trump administration
|
2025-11-03T17:58:55.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:00:18.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//us-news/2025/nov/03/trump-partially-fund-food-stamps-snap
|
Stephen Colbert on cancellation of the Late Show: ‘So surprising and so shocking’
|
Stephen Colbert has opened up about the shock cancellation of The Late Show in a new interview, calling it: “The first number one show to ever get cancelled.” In a GQ interview, the 61-year-old host and comedian said the decision came as a surprise to him and one that didn’t have any preamble. Colbert said his “great relationship” with CBS was “one of the reasons why this was so surprising and so shocking”. “Listen, every show’s got to end at some time,” he said. “And I’ve been on a bunch of shows that have ended sometimes by our lights and sometimes by the decision of other people. That’s just the nature of show business. You can’t worry about that. You got to be a big boy about that. But I think we’re the first number one show to ever get cancelled.” In July, after Colbert criticised CBS’s parent company, Paramount, for making a $16m settlement with Donald Trump, he announced the show would be coming to an end in May 2026. The Late Show began in 1993. In August, the CBS chief, George Cheeks, blamed it on “economics”, with the advertising marketplace “in significant secular decline” before adding: “At the end of the day, it just wasn’t sustainable to continue.” Yet many believe it was a result of the network bowing to the president, who celebrated the news on social media, writing: “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.” The former Late Show host David Letterman called the decision one of “pure cowardice”, adding: “I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS who have manipulated and handled this are going to be embarrassed. This is gutless.” “I can understand why people would have that reaction because CBS or the parent corporation – I’m not going to say who made that decision, because I don’t know; no one’s ever going to tell us – decided to cut a check for $16m to the president of the United States over a lawsuit that their own lawyers, Paramount’s own lawyers, said is completely without merit,” Colbert said. “And it is self-evident that that is damaging to the reputation of the network, the corporation, and the news division. So it is unclear to me why anyone would do that other than to curry favor with a single individual.” Colbert also admitted feeling some relief that he will no longer need to “put on the snorkel and get into the sewer every day”. The star has not confirmed what his next move will be but said he loved “creating things” and wanted to continue working.
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[
"Benjamin Lee"
] |
In a new interview, the late-night host opened up about the end of his late-night series calling it ‘the first number one show to ever get cancelled’
|
[
"Stephen Colbert",
"US television",
"US news",
"TV comedy",
"CBS",
"Paramount Pictures",
"Comedy",
"Culture",
"Television & radio",
"Television",
"Media"
] |
Television & radio
|
TV & radio
|
Stephen Colbert
|
2025-11-03T17:57:07.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:26:28.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//tv-and-radio/2025/nov/03/stephen-colbert-late-show-cancellation-cbs
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Nige is no longer laughing at himself as he ‘performs’ yet another big speech | John Crace
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The scene: an old banking hall in the heart of the City. The music: first, Richard Clayderman plays Bach. Then Pachelbel’s Canon, followed by the Adagio from Mahler’s 5th. Death in Venice, Live in London. Not the usual venue or playlist for a Reform press conference. Could it …? Could it be? Surely not the latest defection? Step forward, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. It would all have made perfect sense. A grifter joins a party of grifters. After all, Nige had come to Andy’s rescue last week when he called on the country to stop being so beastly to the alleged sex offender formerly known as prince. Andy has time on his hands now. Plus he no longer has any royal titles, so he’s free to stand for parliament. Plus he could probably use the money. And don’t forget that Andy was once a trade ambassador. There’s probably no dodgy dictator or billionaire with whom he is not on first-name terms. Our next foreign secretary? Sadly that would have to wait for another day. Only a matter of time. Instead we were told that Nige would be “performing” a major speech on the economy. Not “giving” but “performing”. The mock grandeur was for Nige and Nige alone. As if being in the City had somehow bought him extra credibility. His ego is expanding by the day. Still, he had drawn a fair-sized crowd. Mostly young white men in shiny dark suits. Just the kind of audience of which Sarah Pochin would approve. There again, there was no sign of Sarah at all. Maybe she is still on Nige’s naughty step. She wasn’t at any of last week’s three press conferences, either. The only Reform MP to be absent throughout. That will teach her not to say out loud what she’s thinking. Instead we got the familiar crowd of Dicky Tice, Lee Anderson, David “Diddy” Bull and Danny Kruger applauding themselves as they took their seats in the front row, closely followed by Zia Yusuf, once he had fulfilled his role of Nige’s fluffer-in-chief and master of ceremonies. “Laydeez an’ gennulmen, I give you …” Nige bounced down the marble staircase looking every bit a dead ringer for Leslie Crowther on The Price is Right before taking his place at the lectern. Serious face for a serious moment. This was meant to be a BIG speech. If by BIG you mean BORING. Forty minutes of their lives that no one would ever get back. This was really all about Farage trying to position himself as a mainstream politician. A person with views and policies that demand attention. Except all Nige really had to offer was some of his greatest hits. It turns out that four press conferences inside a week is at least three too many. He just hasn’t got that much new or interesting to say. He increasingly sounds like a broken record. One that now takes himself deadly seriously. The old Nige who could laugh at himself has been axed. But a mainstream politician is as a mainstream politician does. And Nige is learning fast. Unafraid to contradict himself and gaslight his audience. If you had taken Reform’s manifesto pledges at the last election seriously, that was because you hadn’t been reading the small print. The bits where the promise to cut taxes were merely aspirations. Things he would quite like to do in a Panglossian world. If anyone had assumed he would do the things he said he would then they were mugs. It seems Farage is learning from Labour and the Tories. When things go wrong it is invariably the voters’ fault. Nige got under way. His main theme was that the country was basically fucked. Largely because of Brexit. Weirdly, he has no memory of being the main architect behind the Brexit vote. He seems to think it happened in a world in which he played no part. Because if he had been involved he would have done it all differently. Deregulated everything and never traded with the EU ever again. Who needed the largest trading partner on our doorstep? For a politician demanding personal and fiscal responsibility, this was the height of cheek. On we went. The current crop of Labour and Tory MPs were all know-nothings. Professional politicians, the lot of them. At which point you were dying for someone to point out that Farage has been a professional politician for more than a quarter of a century. He has literally done nothing more than be a gobshite. Only, Nige will always make an exception for Nige. He is the hypocrite’s hypocrite. Come to think of it, it’s hard to think of anything useful his MPs have done, either. Next, a paean to the rich. Would no one think of them? How they suffer? (A moment’s silence for Andrew.) They needed as many breaks as they could get. Unlike those on benefits or the minimum wage – which was far too high. And pensioners could get stuffed. Them and their unaffordable triple lock. Nige had never met a pensioner who wasn’t taking several holidays a year to Barbados. So there would be welfare cuts. Saving £9bn a year on a mental health budget that only amounted to £4.5bn in total. Go figure. Now we were on a road to nowhere, just to pad out time. It couldn’t be a major speech unless it was long. Time for some more pet hates. Immigrants could go. Everyone was too afraid to wear a watch on the streets of London. Mmm. Can’t say anyone has ever cast envious glances at my Casio. Come the end, Dicky, Diddy, Danny, Lee and Zia were all nodding along. Desperate to find out if they were still wanted on voyage. They had all been written off as has-beens by Nige. In the new world order, most cabinet posts would be going to Farage’s unelected cronies. People who, Nige assured us, would know what they were doing. But not the present crowd. Nige was invited to name his chancellor. Dicky and Zia looked up needily. Farage blanked them. To be decided. Keep them keen, treat them mean. A year in Westminster: John Crace, Marina Hyde and Pippa Crerar. On Tuesday 2 December, join Crace, Hyde and Crerar as they look back with special guests at another extraordinary year, live at the Barbican in London and livestreamed globally. Book tickets here. The Bonfire of the Insanities by John Crace (Guardian Faber Publishing, £16.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
|
[
"John Crace"
] |
Reform leader is trying to make it as a mainstream politician – which involves contradicting himself and gaslighting voters
|
[
"Nigel Farage",
"Reform UK",
"Politics",
"UK news"
] |
Politics
|
UK politics
|
Nigel Farage
|
2025-11-03T17:54:15.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:12:50.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//politics/2025/nov/03/nige-no-longer-laughing-at-himself-yet-another-big-speech
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Terrorism charges filed over alleged Halloween plot targeting Michigan LGBTQ+ bars
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Two men have been charged with terrorism-related crimes in the Detroit area after federal authorities recently made arrests and seized a cache of weapons in a storage unit and elsewhere, officials said on Monday. The men had scouted LGBTQ+ bars in Ferndale, a Detroit suburb, according to a 72-page criminal complaint unsealed in federal court. “Our American heroes prevented a terror attack,” the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, said on X. The FBI director, Kash Patel, had announced arrests on Friday, but no other details were released at the time while agents searched a home in Dearborn and a storage unit in nearby Inkster. The court filing says the two men who were charged, Momed Ali and Majed Mahmoud, and other co-conspirators were inspired by Islamic State extremism. Investigators say a minor was also involved in the discussions. The FBI said the men repeatedly referred to “pumpkins” in their conversations, a reference to a Halloween attack. Ali and Mahmoud were charged with receiving and transferring guns and ammunition for terrorism. They were scheduled to appear in court on Monday afternoon for their initial appearance. Mahmoud’s lawyer, William Swor, declined to comment. Messages seeking comment from Ali’s lawyer, Amir Makled, were not immediately answered. Over the weekend, Makled seemed to wave off the allegations, saying they were the result of “hysteria” and “fearmongering”.
|
[
"Guardian staff reporter"
] |
Authorities allege two men planned a Halloween-inspired attack motivated by Islamic State extremism
|
[
"US crime",
"Detroit",
"US news"
] |
US news
|
US news
|
US crime
|
2025-11-03T17:43:56.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:20:33.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/03/michigan-terrorism-charges-halloween-attack
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Outrage in Paris as Shein prepares to open its first permanent store
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The online fast-fashion retailer Shein will open its first permanent bricks-and-mortar store in the world in Paris this week amid political outrage, fury from workers and warnings from city hall that it will damage the French capital’s progressive image. The Singapore-based clothing company, which was founded in China, has built a massive online business despite criticism over its factory working conditions and the environmental impact of low-cost, throwaway fashion. Shein, which has previously trialled temporary pop-up stores, will on Wednesday open a permanent shop on the sixth floor of Paris’s prestigious BHV department store, a historic building that has stood opposite Paris’s city hall since 1856. There are about 23 million Shein customers in France, one of its biggest European markets. But with vast banners for Shein draped across the building, the brand’s arrival has sparked outrage over the promotion of fast fashion. The office of the French minister for small businesses said Shein’s Paris presence sent “a bad signal that should be avoided”. Several leading independent French fashion brands have pulled their products from the BHV store in protest. “There would be no sense being sold in the same shop as Shein,” Guillaume Alcan, a co-founder of the French ethical footwear brand Odaje, told Le Monde. Disneyland Paris abandoned plans to open a Christmas pop-up store in BHV and pulled out of creating themed window displays for the end-of-year holidays, saying “conditions were no longer in place” to “calmly hold Christmas events” at the location. After Shein’s arrival was announced, a French state-owned bank pulled out of talks with the operator of the department store to buy the building. Paris city hall blocked plans for a Paris rugby stadium to carry the BHV logo. BHV staff have staged strikes and street protests in recent weeks. Nicolas Bonnet-Oulaldj, Paris’s Communist deputy mayor in charge of commerce, said of Shein’s arrival: “We are totally against this. It is the complete opposite of Paris’s policy to develop independent shops and support products that are made in France.” Ian Brossat, a Communist party senator in Paris, said: “Shein coming to BHV is a real provocation, particularly since the national assembly and senate recently approved a law to restrict ultra-fast fashion.” Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion Shein, which has defended its labour and environmental policies, has said its presence in France will attract younger shoppers and boost other high street businesses. It will also open permanent shops in the French cities of Dijon, Reims, Grenoble, Angers and Limoges inside Galeries Lafayette department stores, which are operated by the same group that manages Paris’s BHV. The row intensified on Monday after the French finance minister, Roland Lescure, threatened to ban Shein in France if it resumed selling “childlike” sex dolls. France’s anti-fraud unit reported the presence of the dolls on Shein’s e-commerce site this weekend. “These horrible items are illegal,” Lescure told the BFM TV channel, promising a judicial investigation. Shein told Reuters: “The products in question were immediately removed from the platform as soon as we became aware of these major shortcomings.” France has already fined Shein three times in 2025 for a total of €191m (£167m). The biggest fine, of €150m, was imposed for failing to comply with online cookie legislation. The company is contesting this. Other fines were issued for false advertising, misleading information and not declaring the presence of plastic microfibres in its products. The European Commission is investigating Shein over risks linked to illegal products. Shein said at the start of the investigation earlier this year that it welcomed “efforts that enhance trust and safety for European consumers when shopping online”. In May, the company said it had “intensified its product safety and quality controls”.
|
[
"Angelique Chrisafis"
] |
Fast-fashion retailer faces political anger, fury from workers and warnings it will damage city’s progressive image
|
[
"Shein",
"France",
"Paris",
"Business",
"Fashion industry",
"Europe",
"Fashion",
"World news"
] |
Business
|
Europe
|
Shein
|
2025-11-03T17:39:47.000Z
|
2025-11-03T17:54:52.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//business/2025/nov/03/outrage-paris-shein-prepares-open-first-permanent-store
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A house for Andrew while thousands sleep rough | Letters
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As you say in your editorial (31 October), “Recent events point to the need for a wider reset of Britain’s relationship with its royal family.” Consider some facts. Between July and September 2025, 4,711 people were seen sleeping rough in London by outreach workers and 2,116 of these people were doing so for the first time. At last count, the king had seven palaces and 10 castles. Then there are the 4.5 million children living in relative poverty. But the monarchy has fabulous wealth. For the year 2025-26, the king is receiving a sovereign grant of £132.1m. The crown estate has assets of £15bn. The monarch holds the Duchy of Lancaster, which at the end of March was worth £679m and had made £24.4m in annual profits. Similarly, the Duchy of Cornwall had assets worth £1.1bn and annual profits of £22.9m.Rae StreetLittleborough, Greater Manchester I notice that the Sandringham estate is run as a business, with holiday lets and public access to parks and gardens (Andrew in line for six-figure payout and annual stipend from king, sources say, 31 October). Surely, rather than give Andrew a stipend to stay in a grace-and-favour house doing nothing, the king should offer him a wage to do something useful? I am sure the estate needs tour guides, cleaners, groundspersons, gardeners and rubbish collectors: good jobs on the national living wage for a commoner. Time was, disgraced aristocrats did penance through good works. It is probably just the sort of therapy this disgraced former prince needs, now that solutions such as banishment to the colonies are thoroughly out of fashion.John RobinsonDeal, Kent Since the word “folly” is derived from the Old French “folie”, meaning “madness” or “foolishness”, perhaps The Folly, of all the possible new homes on the Sandringham estate, is the most appropriate choice for Andrew Mountbatten Windsor (Which property on the Sandringham estate is fit for a former prince?, 31 October). The etymology is the basis for the original English meaning of “foolish behaviour”, which later expanded to include concepts of wickedness, and then later to the specific and modern use of “folly” as a large, extravagant, and often purposeless structure or building. Large, extravagant and purposeless? Yes, that just about sums it up.Paul GoodmanLoughborough, Leicestershire Your article about which house Andrew Windsor might live in could have been combined with your fantasy house hunt feature in the Money section: “Best Sandringham rental properties for a disgraced former prince.”Chris PackhamBirmingham According to the statement issued by the royal family, the last names of the commoner formerly known as Prince Andrew are not hyphenated, so surely Andrew Windsor is sufficient, or just plain Windsor. It would save time, ink and patience.Paulina ChurchManchester Surely the one title/honour which Andrew Mountbatten Windsor should be allowed to keep is the probably appropriate “vice-admiral” (Andrew to be stripped of naval title, says UK defence secretary, 2 November).Lydia WoolleyWeybridge, Surrey Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
|
[
"Guardian staff reporter"
] |
<strong>Letters: </strong>The contrast between the wealth of the royal family and the plight of the homeless is highlighted by <strong>Rae Street</strong>. Plus letters about the future of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor from <strong>John Robinson, Paul Goodman, Chris Packham, Paulina Church</strong> and <strong>Lydia Wooley</strong>
|
[
"Monarchy",
"Homelessness",
"Andrew Mountbatten Windsor",
"Poverty",
"King Charles III",
"UK news"
] |
UK news
|
Monarchy
|
2025-11-03T17:39:29.000Z
|
2025-11-03T17:41:17.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//uk-news/2025/nov/03/a-house-for-andrew-while-thousands-sleep-rough
|
|
It’s time to get serious about children’s play | Letters
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It is vital to a child’s early development that they are given ample time to experiment, be creative and learn through play in a purposeful way, rather than being confined to their desks (Do we really expect five-year-olds to sit at desks? I want a school that understands play is learning, 29 October). Time allocated for non-traditional learning such as outdoor learning in the school day has been eroded in recent years, while research shows that only one in three primary school pupils in the UK meet the in-school target of half an hour of physical activity every day. This is despite evidence which shows that pupils learn best through supported play experiences and outdoor exploration. Sufficient time needs to be built into the curriculum, as well as physical spaces within schools, to allow children and young people the time to play and socialise. This includes not only breaktimes, but concrete opportunities to play in a meaningful way. Socially interactive playfulness should be embedded into teaching and across all ages and stages, especially in primary education. The government must act to reverse this decline in play and give our children a school experience that nurtures both body and mind.Dr Helena BunnChair of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Education and Child Psychology Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is absolutely right. It is both tragic and absurd that state education in England has somehow reverted to the utilitarian sterility satirised by Dickens in Hard Times. Inflicting formal learning on five-year-olds is both cruel and counterproductive, as we see in the growing number of children who have learned to dislike reading. Countries with more successful education systems than ours nearly all delay formal learning until age seven. Bridget Phillipson has declared herself to have a special interest in early years education. We can only hope that she has the strength to bring about reform that is desperately needed after 15 years of Gradgrindery.Michael PykeCampaign for State Education Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
|
[
"Guardian staff reporter"
] |
<strong>Letters: </strong>Not enough time in primary schools is devoted to learning through play, writes <strong>Dr Helena Bunn</strong>. We should take a lesson from countries where formal education begins much later, thinks <strong>Michael Pyke</strong>
|
[
"Education",
"Primary schools",
"Schools",
"Early years education",
"Children",
"Society"
] |
Education
|
Education
|
2025-11-03T17:39:20.000Z
|
2025-11-03T17:41:16.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//education/2025/nov/03/its-time-to-get-serious-about-childrens-play
|
|
We need clarity on big pharma’s tax breaks | Letters
|
The outgoing chief executive of the pharmaceutical company GSK says the NHS should pay more for its drugs, in order to create “the right commercial environment” and ensure “patient access to innovation” (UK must reform drug pricing to become life sciences superpower, says GSK boss, 29 October). Our research shows that UK taxpayers are already paying handsomely for “patient access to innovation” through the £3.4bn in tax relief on profits of patented drugs that the UK has granted GSK via the UK’s “patent box” tax regime. This includes £486m in 2024 alone – larger than the entire budget of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the UK’s main bioscience innovation funder. HMRC even granted UK tax relief to GSK on profits of a lupus drug, which for several years was unavailable to UK lupus sufferers, due to the price that GSK demanded from the NHS (£769.50 per dose). With NHS budgets squeezed and tax rises on the horizon, it’s high time the government demanded more from drug companies in return for their “innovation” tax breaks – and high time that companies like GSK were honest about the extraordinary largesse they already receive from the UK tax system.Mike LewisDirector, TaxWatch Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
|
[
"Guardian staff reporter"
] |
<strong>Letters: </strong>Pharmaceutical giants like GSK should be more transparent about the generous tax breaks they get from the UK government, says <strong>Mike Lewis</strong>
|
[
"Pharmaceuticals industry",
"Business",
"HMRC",
"Politics"
] |
Business
|
Pharmaceuticals industry
|
2025-11-03T17:39:15.000Z
|
2025-11-03T17:41:16.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//business/2025/nov/03/we-need-clarity-on-big-pharmas-tax-breaks
|
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Time for Reeves to recognise reality: AstraZeneca has killed stamp duty on shares | Nils Pratley
|
It was one of those votes where the majority was always going to be huge. AstraZeneca’s proposal to list its shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange while retaining the quotes in London and Stockholm disadvantages nobody on the shareholder register. US investors get the chance to own AstraZeneca in full-fat form rather than via American depositary receipts (a wrapper provided by a handful of banks), a rejig that should widen the pool of potential investors and help the company with any future big deals in the US. Meanwhile, the pharma giant keeps its presence in the FTSE 100 index, upsetting no shareholders on the home front. “A global listing for global investors in a global company,” as Pascal Soriot, the chief executive, called it. Sure enough, the proposal sailed through on Monday with 99% in favour. But one non-shareholding party will suffer from this setup. It is HM Treasury, which will be out of pocket to the tune of about £200m a year from lost stamp duty on transactions in London. Buyers of AstraZeneca shares in the UK, you see, will be getting a depositary interest in the company in future. It will carry the same voting and ownership rights as before but, critically, stamp duty does not apply to such instruments. The arrangement drives a coach and horses through the UK’s stamp duty regime. It would only take a few other Footsie big beasts to copy the structure for the government’s £3bn-ish annual receipts from stamp duty on shares to collapse. What should Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, do? Step one should be to recognise that the tax is doomed in its current form. Stamp duty reserve tax, to give its full name, is the 0.5% levy on purchases of shares in UK companies, and virtually no other country sets the rate so high. The US, China and Germany don’t impose any equivalent tax at all and only Ireland, at 1%, has a higher rate. Worse, it is only a subset of investors who pay it – UK retail investors and UK pension funds – because everybody else has practical workarounds already. As an advert for popular share ownership, or just the competitiveness of the London market, stamp duty has become a very obvious own goal, as argued here regularly. In step two, Reeves should make a virtue of the necessity of cutting the tax. The endless months of pre-budget speculation have brought the strong suggestion that the chancellor is considering capping annual cash Isa contributions in the hope of encouraging a few cash obsessives into shares. If that is the stick then the carrot ought to be overdue reform of the costs of transacting in UK shares. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Outright abolition would be best. If that is deemed politically impossible in a tax-raising budget, at least chop the rate in half, which could encourage more trading. Suggested alternatives, such as granting a three-year stamp duty holiday to new listings on the London market, are too fiddly and too minor to make a difference. The timing is rotten for the chancellor, but the blunt truth is that the UK’s most valuable company has demonstrated the multiple flaws in the stamp duty regime for all the world to see. Time to recognise reality before the receipts leak away anyway.
|
[
"Nils Pratley"
] |
Shareholder-backed plans to upgrade US listing have exposed multiple flaws in tax that should be abolished or at least cut
|
[
"AstraZeneca",
"Stock markets",
"Rachel Reeves",
"Tax and spending",
"Shares",
"Budget",
"Business",
"Politics"
] |
Business
|
Markets
|
AstraZeneca
|
2025-11-03T17:39:12.000Z
|
2025-11-03T18:03:28.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2025/nov/03/reeves-recognise-reality-astrazeneca-killed-stamp-duty-shares
|
Equality commission’s guidance after sex ruling is fundamentally unworkable | Letter
|
Contrary to what Kishwer Falkner is suggesting (Letters, 28 October), MPs’ problem with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) guidance was not that it failed to address every conceivable scenario, but that it set out fundamentally unworkable instructions to businesses that go far beyond what the supreme court actually ruled, and which places them at risk of costly litigation. Take the question of using a gendered bathroom – hardly a niche issue, given it is something most of us do on a daily basis. The EHRC’s guidance places the onus on businesses to police whether people are using a bathroom that corresponds with their sex assigned at birth. However, there is no practical way for businesses to know whether someone is transgender – based solely on their appearance – and challenging people risks humiliation for trans people and others whose appearance doesn’t neatly fit with society’s expectations. I have already heard appalling stories of women being aggressively challenged while waiting in a queue for the bathroom. Policing this puts businesses at serious reputational and legal risk, but under Lady Falkner’s leadership the EHRC has chosen to ignore warnings about the contradiction between possibly being sued for challenging someone’s gender versus being sued for failing to. This makes even less sense when you consider that the supreme court said businesses could choose to exclude trans people from single-sex spaces when it is a “proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”, not that they must exclude them. Having questioned Lady Falkner as a witness on the Commons women and equalities committee, I have been concerned by her refusal to even acknowledge the difficult situation the supreme court judgment has placed transgender people in – many of whom have been using the toilet of their assumed gender and going about their lives without issue for decades until now. Under her leadership, the EHRC has adopted an ideological interpretation of the judgment which is not shared by many legal experts. That position risks marginalising transgender people, like the veteran I met recently who has been excluded from the women’s motorbike club she has enjoyed for years. It also leaves businesses and their staff caught in the crossfire of the increasingly bitter gender wars, while doing absolutely nothing to advance women’s rights or protect vulnerable women from abuse. I hope when Lady Falkner’s successor starts in post next month that she will take a far more balanced and consensual approach to tackling some of the very real and difficult issues that upholding all of our rights entails.Rachel Taylor MPLabour, North Warwickshire and Bedworth; member of the women and equalities select committee
|
[
"Guardian staff reporter"
] |
<strong>Letters: </strong>The EHRC has ignored warnings about the contradiction between possibly being sued for challenging someone’s gender versus being sued for failing to, says <strong>Rachel Taylor MP</strong>
|
[
"Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)",
"Equality Act 2010",
"Gender",
"Transgender",
"UK supreme court"
] |
Society
|
Society
|
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
|
2025-11-03T17:39:11.000Z
|
2025-11-03T17:41:16.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//society/2025/nov/03/equality-commission-guidance-after-sex-ruling-is-fundamentally-unworkable
|
Safety of train users and staff is paramount | Brief letters
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The new east-west train service between Oxford and Milton Keynes has been delayed due to the government and rail companies insisting on driver-only trains. We have just experienced a mass stabbing of passengers by a lone attacker on a busy train in Cambridgeshire, where a railway employee made a heroic attempt to protect them (Report, 2 November). Is this really the time for leaving the public and the train driver at the mercy of single manning?Jessica HolroydMilton Keynes Three cheers for the lost, lamented A-level history personal study. Some students undertook original research and some, like Cathy O’Neill in 1977, unearthed a real gem (Lost grave of daughter of Black abolitionist Olaudah Equiano found by A-level student, 1 November). Worth 25% of their final grade, it was the part of the course which students enjoyed most and from which they learned the most about history.James TurtleFormer archives education officer, Gloucestershire Archives Last Wednesday’s wordsearch puzzled me. As a former primary school teacher, I am aware that anything can be used as a girl’s name these days. But Bidet? Really?Linda WeirKirby Muxloe, Leicestershire Your report (2 November) says the recent theft from the Louvre in Paris took place “in broad daylight”. It set me to wondering what “narrow daylight” looks like.Dr Neil DenbyDenby Dale, West Yorkshire Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
|
[
"Guardian staff reporter"
] |
<strong>Brief letters: </strong>Problem with driver-only trains | A-level history | Unusual girl names | Theft in narrow daylight
|
[
"Rail industry",
"Knife crime",
"Crime",
"A-levels",
"History",
"Parents and parenting",
"Paris",
"France",
"UK news"
] |
Business
|
Rail industry
|
2025-11-03T17:39:07.000Z
|
2025-11-03T17:41:16.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//business/2025/nov/03/safety-of-train-users-and-staff-is-paramount
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Arsenal and Crystal Palace’s Carabao Cup tie moved to 23 December
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The Carabao Cup quarter-final between Arsenal and Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium will take place on 23 December, the EFL has confirmed, with the expanded European schedules blamed for “undermining” the reputation of the competition, with both clubs now having to play two matches in three days. The tie had originally been slated to take place on 16 December but Palace requested for it to be moved because they argued it would have left them with 24 hours less than Arsenal to prepare and leave them with the task of playing three games in five days. The Premier League leaders were in favour of playing the game in its original slot and had opposed the request for it to be pushed back. However, a statement from the EFL on Monday confirmed that the quarter-final will take place two days before Christmas, with the Football League stating it shared Palace’s and Arsenal’s frustrations with what it described as being an “unavoidable” situation. “The expansion of European cup competitions and number of exclusive match nights across Europe ahead of the 2024-25 season, implemented without adequate consultation with domestic leagues, means that such scheduling conflicts – for both the EFL Cup and other competitions – are now entirely unavoidable,” read the EFL’s statement. “With those teams competing in Europe already entering the EFL Cup in round three and having been forced to implement further draw conditions to avoid scheduling conflicts at that stage of the competition in the past two seasons, we have shown a willingness to compromise. “However, to continue making endless concessions only serves to undermine the reputation of the EFL Cup – a competition which delivers vital revenue to EFL Clubs and provides millions of supporters with the opportunity to back their team on the road to Wembley each season. “It also challenges the traditional scheduling of the English football calendar and strength of our domestic game, which relies upon teams having the necessary time for preparation and ability to field their strongest lineups, in order to entertain their supporters and progress through the competition.” Palace face Manchester City in the Premier League on 14 December and then have a Conference League game against KuPS on 18 December. Arsenal, meanwhile, take on Wolves in the Premier League on 13 December and do not play again until 21 December when they travel to Everton, also in the Premier League.
|
[
"Ed Aarons"
] |
Despite Arsenal opposing the move, the EFL has confirmed the club’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace will take place on 23 December
|
[
"Arsenal",
"Crystal Palace",
"Football",
"Sport"
] |
Football
|
Arsenal
|
2025-11-03T17:36:17.000Z
|
2025-11-03T17:42:25.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com//football/2025/nov/03/arsenal-and-crystal-palaces-carabao-cup-tie-moved-to-23-december
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WTA Finals tennis: Anisimova v Keys; Rybakina beats Swiatek – live
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Down 0-15, Anisimova nails a service winner and she’s the better player now, a further service winner taking her to within two points of a decider. Keys, though, monsters a forehand return for 30-all … only to net shortly afterwards; set point Anisimova, converted when a return hits the net. From a set and a break down, she’s fought back to earn a decider. A forehand cross, on to the line, earns Anisimova, down 4-6 4-3, 15-all, then a double donates 15-30. She can’t capitalise immediately, making a mess of a backhand return, but another error from Keys means break point, and when a second serve to the backhand gets the treatment, a cleanup forehand secures the break! At 4-6 5-3, Anisimova will now serve for the second set. Is Anisimova growing in confidence? She makes 30-0, then Keys whips a backhand winner down the line – is the standard of this match increasing? – eventually holding to 15. Gosh, at 15-0, Keys delivers one of the worst second serves I’ve ever seen, the ball barely reaching the net while, in comms, they note she’s not beaten a top-10 player since doing Sabalenka to win that Aussie Open. And she’s struggling here, a pair of doubles leaving her down 30-40 … so she finds a backhand winner down the line for deuce. Anisimova, though, spanks a forehand down the line to make advantage, and when Keys goes long, we’re back level in set two! Better from Anisimova, a booming forehand allowing a swing-volley, dispatched with prejudice for 40-15, and from there, she closes out to keep the match alive at 4-6 2-3. But can she put the Keys serve under pressure? Another forehand error from Anisimova – at least this one is long, not netted – means Keys is up 40-0, and a backhand return, lashed way long in response to an Edberg-style kick-serve, seals a comfortable hold. Keys leads 6-4 3-1 and there’s no sense a comeback is imminent. At 30-0, Keys cracks a decent forehand return that brings her into the game but Anismova is playing a better game, a big forehand then a big serve securing her hold. She’s into the second set but trails 4-6 1-2. Anisimova makes 0-15, only to net another backhand; she looks pained out there, and also exhausted. We move to 40-30, Keys closes out, and the consolidation puts her in almost total control of this match at 6-4 2-0. Keys makes 0-15 but then nets a forehand; no matter. Anisimova lets out a pained squeal when an error donates 15-30, before a forehand skips wide and she hangs head in resignation. She does, though save the first break point, only to net a backhand, swinging at it from too far from the ball; I’ve not seen her play this poorly for a while, and she trails 4-6 0-1. Anisimova, really struggling – as she did against Rybakina – swats a forehand return wide for 15-0 then, at 30-15, tamely nets an overhand backhand return. A service winner follows, and Keys takes a low-quality first set 6-4. My system crashes, returning in time for me to see that Keys has two break points at 15-40; she only needs one, and Anisimova is struggling now. At 5-4, the Aussie Open champ will shortly serve for the first set – a good test for her new action. Keys makes 30-15 then a rarity: a backhand error from Anisimova who, generally speaking, hands over points with errors on the opposite wing. But another, into the net, takes us to 4-4 and this match is not of the highest standard. Anisimova is serving well now, a love hold making 4-3, but it’s also fair to note that Keys’ returning wasn’t great in that game. Both players have another couple of levels to reach. Now it’s Keys with the hold and we’re level at 3-2. These two are really well matched, but I fancy Anisimova to get it done because she’s the more comfortable in her game, while her big backhand is more reliable than Oor Maddie’s fore. Up 40-0, Anisimova sends down a double, but a netted return gives her the first hold of the match and a 3-2 lead. Can Keys – and her new service-action – respond? I guess she’s had her injury issues, so as she nears her dotage it makes sense to limit stress on the body, but to change something so significant at her age is going to cause issues. Anisimova makes 15-30, larrups a forehand towards the sideline … and just over it. But a terrific return then clips the back edge of the whitewash so at 30-40 we again have break-back point, Keys tries a kick-serve, and it’s sent back with extreme prejudice, that mortally threatening backhand doing more than enough to level us up at 2-2. Gosh, neither player is quite at it yet, Keys making 0-30 before nailing a decent return on to the line; Anismova, though, responds superbly, an even better shot with that backhand of hers reducing her arrears before an inside-out forehand, also on to the paint, levels the game. Keys, though, then steps into a forehand winner to raise break point, a further violent forehand forces the error, and that’s a third break in three games. The Aussie Open champ leads 2-1. Though Anisimova’s errors were the principal reason for the break, Keys played a decent game, harnessing her power in a way she doesn’t always find easy. But she’s getting used to a new and shortened service action so it’s no great surprise to see her down 15-40, and a double hands over a break-back Anisimova had to do little to achieve. It’s 1-1 in the first. Keys makes 0-30 but is quickly hauled back, an ace levelling the game. But a forehand into the net cedes deuce, then Anisimova dumps a further forehand … then another, and that’s the immediate break. Anisimova to serve, ready … play. If Anisimova wins, Rybakina goes through as group winner, with the American facing Swiatek to see who goes with her. If Keys wins, Anisimova is out, with the other three fighting to see which two progress. Laura Robson just said that Anisimova’s backhand is the best on tour; I’d go further and say it’s up there with the best shots, any kind, in the game, men or women. Out come Keys and Anisimova… Rybakina was the last to qualify for this competition, which might say she’s had the least good season of all in the field, or that she arrives at it in form. It’s not often you see Swiatek beaten up like that, but I’d fancy her to rebound when she plays Anisimova in her final group match. So Rybakina is 2-0, Swiatek 1-1; coming up next, we’ve got Anisimova v Keys, both of them 0-1. It’s always tough to play Swiatek she says, and she was a little bit sluggish at the start. But she pushed herself, her serve improved, and she’s very happy with her performance. She’s glad she stayed focused and aggressive, following the tactics agreed with he coach, and once she got some confidence leading in set two – that is telling – she was able to go on. Shew’s been playing really well the last few weeks, improving every match, and she’s trying to follow the little details while hoping to bring the same intensity to her next match. It’s not often you see Swiatek ravaged like that; here’s Rybakina to explain how it happened. Rybakina makes 30-0 in short order, then a backhand return – of a second serve – swiped wide means three match points; Swiatek has gone. A second serve ace follows, meaning 12 of 13 games have gone to the Kazakh since the end of the first set, and that was a ludicrously fantastic performance; she can’t pay much better than that, and nor can anyone else. Beautiful stuff. It feels like women’s tennis is in a really good place at the moment. For quite some time, we had all sorts winning majors, but now we’ve got a coterie of brilliant players at the top: Swiatek, Sabalenka and Gauff, of course, but with Anisimova getting closer and Osaka good enough to hit the required level; if Rybakina is also ready to join that group, it’ll be even better. And she’s got a point for yet another break at 30-40, Swiatek swatting long, and this is an absolute tousing! Three breaks in the set, and at 3- 6-1 5-0, Rybakina has three breaks and will shortly serve for the match, her forehand just too much today. If she can hit this level regularly, she is a problem. Swiatek needs to target the backhand if she can, but in the time it takes me to type that, she’s down 40-0; this is the best I’ve seen Rybakina play against a top player in a long while. And have a look! Swiatek is well in the rally, moving her opponent around then, out of nowhere, a lazy forehand is dispatched with coruscating power on to the sideline, and that’s 4-0! I said at the start that Rybakina was mentally vulnerable but it’s Swiatek who’s struggling now, various errors forcing her to nail a first serve that saves break point and makes deuce. For all the good it does her, Rybakina making advantage then nailing a return which incites the error; her forehand it absolutely steaming at the moment and she’s won nine of 10 games since losing the first set, a double-break to the good at 3-0 in the third. Amazingly, this is nearly over. Further errors from Swiatek give Rybakina 30-0, but a forehand winner gives her a sniff … and only a sniff, a shanked forehand giving two consolidation points. And, though Rybakina then offers a double, an ace down the T seals the hold, and this is very good stuff indeed. The Kazakh leads 2-0 in the third. It’d be just like Swiatek to find a way of breaking immediately, just it’d be a little too much like Rybakina to fid a way of being broken. But before we think about that, the Wimbledon champ has to hold, and at 40-15, she’s in control, but shortly afterwards slaps a forehand long to cede deuce. So she puts a bit extra on her first serve, watching the return fly long … only to send an inside-out backhand wide. A decent return, landing close to the line, then incites her to net, and Rybakina has break point, opening shoulder on a forehand cross that forces Swiatek to net! That’s three breaks in four service games, Rybakina’s forehand now the dominant shot in the match; she leads 3-6 6-1 1-0. Seven straight errors now, as Rybakina makes 30-0, then raises three set points with a serve/overhead combo. She only needs one, and was as solid as Swiatek was dodgy. An ace gives Swiatek 30-15, but a shanked backhand puts her under a bit of pressure. Rybakina, who’s responding really well to losing the first set, can’t then take advantage of a second serve, but when a backhand goes into the net, she makes deuce. And have a look! Swiatek nets a forehand after Rybakina swings a flat one at her, butchers another backhand, this time long, and that was a dreadful game from the Wimbledon champ, five errors offering the Kazakh a chance to serve for the second set at 3-6 5-1. Swiatek has been returning from further back than usual, but down 40-30 and facing a second serve, she steps in a little … to make deuce. Rybakina, though, responds with a one-two of booming serve and forehand, then again, the latter shot coming off the back foot; her power is so natural and loose. Swiatek leads 6-3 1-4. Now Swiatek holds to love to get on the board in set two, but she can put Rybakina under pressure with her returns? Now then. Rybakina rushes through her first love hold of the match an exclamation mark affixed to it with the ace that seals the deal. Swiatek leads 6-3 0-3 and is currently second-best, outhit – in this set – from the baseline. Swiatek flaps a backhand long, but two well directed forehands take her to 30-15 … before a Rybakina mishit forces her into a moon-ball that drops long. Then, at 30-all, a double donates break point; these are big moments in the context of the match and when Swiatek tries a body-serve, the return is good enough to force her to net; she’s precisely as ecstatic as you’d expect her to be. Rybakina trails 3-6 2-0, and if she can consolidate, we’ll really be talking. Rybakina could really use a comfy hold here, to focus on trying for a break without the mental stress of having just fought off an attack. And from 15-30, three good points mean she’ll be receiving in decent heart, down 3-6 1-o but playing better than before. A wrong-footing backhand down the line gives Swiatek 15-0, but Rybakina responds with a winner of her own, another of those hooked forehands. But two errors then give Swiatek two sets points, and though she burns the first, a service winner secures the set. Rybakina’s forehand, when it works, is a helluva weapon; it’s not just the power, but her ability to hook it at the last second, so a ball that looks to be going line ends up leaping cross. She holds to 15, securing the game with an ace, and at 5-3, Swiatek will now serve for the first set. A big forehand earns Rybakina 15-all, then Swiatek nets a forehand and suddenly faces a bit of pressure following three love holds. But a forehand which drops fractionally long, then another which is more so, means it’s soon 40-30, a return then flies beyond the baseline, and at 5-2 Swiatek is a game away from the first set. Three service winners get Rybakina to 40-15, then a wrong-footing forehand secures the hold for 2-4. She’s playing a bit better now, but can she find anything on the Swiatek serve? And barely have I hit save than Swiatek holds to love. After facing a break point in the opening game of the match, she’s all over it and leads 4-1, sticking Rybakina on her bike so she can’t plant feet and thwack. Rybakina again finds herself behind on serve and, down 15-30, hits a decent forehand. But forced to come in and volley, she’s tentative, dumping into the net, and must now face two further break points. This time, though, she finds the booming deliveries she needs to make deuce, and from there she closes out for 3-1 Swiatek. Swiatek consolidates easily, sealing the deal with an ace, and you can feel her intensity assaulting you through the screen. She leads 3-0, and Rybakina needs to keep the head while finding some first serves. After putting Swiatek under pressure for no immediate gain, I’d not be surprised to see Rybakina broken immediately – the respective mentality of these two is perhaps the biggest difference between them. And sure enough, Swiatek makes 15-40, Rybakina errs on the forehand, and that’s 2-0. Rybakina starts well, hitting cleanly and through the ball, backhand winner earning her break point at 30-40; Swiatek, though, responds well, hooking a forehand winner for deuce before closing out for 1-0. Already, you can se the difference in how they move, Swiatek lithe, agile and flexible and Rybaklina a little laboured and flat-footed in comparison. …ready, play. Out come our players… So how does Rybakina win? Aside from playing well, she might want to target Swiatek’s sometimes-dicky forehand and deny her angle by hitting down the middle. Rybakina, meanwhile, needs to improve her consistency on the forehand, but also her ability to stay level through matches. She’s more than capable, but I’d back Swiatek to munch her today. Swiatek is up there with the most relentlessly, murderously focused competitors in all sport, and it’s great to see her back to her best. She’s not unbeatable because there are others with more power and bigger shots, able to hit through her, but her all-round game might be the most complete. Hello there and welcome to this Monday’s meeting of the Gleeful Hand-Rubbing Society. I mean, just look at what’s in store. We begin with the winners from the first round of matches, Iga Swiatek – back to her menacing, intimidating best – against Elena Rybakina, who’s not trained on as expected since winning Wimbledon in 2022, but when she’s at it has the easy, joyful power to ruin anyone. Likewise Amanda Anisimova – surely a future Grand Slam winner and this year’s runner-up at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadow. She takes on against Madison Keys, the Australian Open champ – words I’ll never tire of typing – with the loser eliminated. I’d not want to be a ball in that one, which is lucky, as I’m not, but even if I was, everyone else would be in for a treat. Play: 5pm local, 2pm GMT
|
[
"Daniel Harris"
] |
Join Daniel Harris for updates from the season-ending tournament in Saudi Arabia
|
[
"WTA Finals",
"Tennis",
"Sport"
] |
Sport
|
Tennis
|
WTA Finals
|
2025-11-03T17:28:17.000Z
|
2025-11-03T17:28:17.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2025/nov/03/wta-finals-swiatek-v-rybakina-anisimova-v-keys-live
|
Trump feels ‘very badly’ for British royal family after Prince Andrew was stripped of titles
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Donald Trump has said he feels “very badly” for the British royal family after King Charles stripped his brother, Andrew, of his titles over the former prince’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the late, convicted sex offender. The ex-Duke of York, now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, will also have to move out of his long-term residence at the Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday. The decision follows anxiety within the royal household about the damage caused by continual headlines concerning Mountbatten Windsor’s friendship with the paedophile financier. The former prince has also faced allegations of sexual assault against him by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre. Speaking to reporters onboard Air Force One on Sunday evening, Trump – who was friends with Epstein before winning his two US presidencies – was asked about King Charles’s decision to strip Andrew of his peerages and titles. “I feel very badly,” Trump said. “It’s a terrible thing that’s happened to the family. That’s been a tragic situation. It’s too bad. I feel badly for the family.” Trump has frequently spoken of his admiration for Britain’s royal family, including during his unprecedented second state visit to the UK in September. He hailed the so-called special relationship between the US and Britain as he paid a gushing tribute to King Charles. But Trump has faced his own political woes in recent months over his own alleged relationship with Epstein, who was found dead in a New York jail cell in 2019. Before Trump was greeted by King Charles during September’s visit, several images of the US president and Epstein were projected on to Windsor Castle, with an accompanying soundtrack questioning their relationship. Meanwhile, Mountbatten Windsor has been under renewed scrutiny over his ties to Epstein after the publication of newly released emails and a posthumous memoir by Giuffre, who died by suicide in April at the age of 41. In the book, she claimed she was forced to have sex with the former prince on three occasions, including when she was 17 and also during an orgy after being trafficked by Epstein. She claimed Mountbatten Windsor “believed that having sex with me was his birthright”. Mountbatten Windsor, 65, has always denied claims he had sex with Giuffre when she was 17. He settled a civil case with her for a reported £12m ($16m) with no admission of liability. In the latest fallout from the scandal, the UK defence secretary, John Healey, said on Sunday that Mountbatten Windsor would be stripped of his last remaining naval title, which he was given in 2015. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion He was stripped of his other honorary military titles by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022 after he was sued by Giuffre. On Friday, a Democratic congressman called for Mountbatten Windsor to testify before the US House of Representatives committee that is conducting an inquiry into the government’s handling of the Epstein case. Interest in the case flared in July, after the justice department announced a much-rumored list of Epstein’s sex-trafficking clients did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.
|
[
"Emine Sinmaz"
] |
King Charles stripped his brother of his titles over relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, a former friend of Trump’s
|
[
"Donald Trump",
"Andrew Mountbatten Windsor",
"US news",
"US politics",
"UK news"
] |
US news
|
US news
|
Donald Trump
|
2025-11-03T17:23:41.000Z
|
2025-11-03T20:48:36.000Z
|
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/03/trump-prince-andrew-title
|
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