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As a gruelling 2025-26 schedule begins with a T20 series, both tourists and hosts stress the importance of enjoyment England’s white-ball team have played 24 times this year, most recently a little more than three weeks ago. New Zealand’s have played 28 games, the latest was this month. These are groups who spend a lot of time together, but before the start of their Twenty20 series on Saturday both chiselled some space out of their schedule to do something surprisingly unusual with each other: nothing very much. Brendon McCullum took his team to Queenstown in New Zealand’s Southern Alps where, in Harry Brook’s words, they were “just left to our own devices”. There was some hiking, a bit of go-karting and, inevitably, a lot of golf. “We had an amazing time,” Brook said. “They’ve got some amazing golf courses down there and we were lucky enough to get on a couple of them. A couple of lads managed to get out and explore Queenstown. We had a few drinks here and there and team meals. “We had a lot of fun – it was about trying to spend a bit of time together because we don’t really get that in the white-ball [team]. If you’re having a lot of fun off the field and enjoying spending time with the lads, then it’s going to be even better on the field. So I encourage everybody under mine and Baz’s leadership to just enjoy themselves.” The Black Caps, meanwhile, were in the spa town of Hanmer Springs, attempting something very similar with the aid of thermal pools and water slides. “It was the first time in a very long time we had everyone in the room, everyone who’s involved in the Black Caps touring party and all the contracted players,” said Rachin Ravindra. “We’ve got a new coach [Rob Walter] and trying to understand our environment and go back to what we’ve been doing really well for the last few years and getting together is special. It’s more than your performances on the field, it’s also getting on well as mates and getting to know the coaches and support staff. The more we can understand and care for each other, the better.” Matt Henry, the New Zealand seamer, said: “When you have a small window to get guys together and work on the environment it’s always important. In the moving landscape of international cricket there’s people coming from all around the world and it’s important that when you get together you make sure you enjoy it. “It’s probably always been our strength, the people we have. It’s amazing to play for New Zealand, but to be able to share a dressing room with mates is pretty special too. It’s always good to acknowledge that and come to a series refreshed.” That feeling of being refreshed may be hard to maintain when some England players left home last Friday knowing they will not return for three months, with these three T20s to be followed by the same number of one-day internationals and then the short flight to Australia for the Ashes. There is an awareness that these extended periods away should not come to be seen as a grind. “Touring’s awesome,” Brook said. “I get to see some of the best places in the world, experience some of the greatest things with a load of my mates. I love touring. Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s action “It’s nice to see family when they come out – I’ll get my family out at the end of December, so I’ll be with them over Christmas and new year and then fly back with them. I don’t see it as a chore at all. I absolutely love touring. Putting an England shirt on is a great day.” England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (c), Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Jordan Cox, Brydon Carse, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood. New Zealand (possible): Tim Seifert (wk), Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Jimmy Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy. Brook has already chosen the team who will be putting on shirts on Saturday, making two changes to the side that thrashed South Africa at Old Trafford in his most recent appearance – he sat out the subsequent trip to Ireland – with Jordan Cox replacing the injured Will Jacks and Brydon Carse coming in for the rested Jofra Archer. “We’ve got a great opportunity against a very strong side to go out and try to capitalise on the momentum we’ve got,” Brook said. “The last game we played together as a full group we got 300 in a T20, so if we can carry that forward it would be awesome. “With the bigger picture being the T20 World Cup at the start of next year there’s a lot of areas we can improve on and a lot we can keep on getting better at. It’s just about being together as a group and heading in the same direction.”

Readers defend courses that Kemi Badenoch has deemed not worthy of government funding Further to Francesca Simon’s excellent rebuttal of Kemi Badenoch’s promise to scrap “rip‑off” degrees (Kemi Badenoch wants to end ‘rip-off degrees’ – but I wouldn’t have created Horrid Henry without mine, 15 October), I’d like to point out that studying Old and Middle English brings vital contextual understanding of modern British life, from the crusader origins of trust law to the complex politics of regional devolution today. My own degrees in the subject also taught me transferable professional skills including transcribing near-illegible handwriting, the considerable importance of version control in work documentation, and the ability to read between the lines when dissent must be expressed obliquely because doing otherwise carries a high penalty. Perhaps this last is what makes the humanities so threatening in certain quarters.Leon CraigBerlin, Germany I was reminded while reading Francesca Simon’s opinion piece of the old graffito regarding the social sciences: “Sociology degrees. Please take one” (scrawled above a toilet-roll holder). The social sciences cover a broad span. They include, and inform, our understanding of health, housing, education, taxation and more. Some graduates end up in such worthwhile endeavours as advertising or political polling. Others in such misunderstood endeavours as the civil service and local government. Badenoch’s campaign against “rip-off degrees” does two things. First, it fails to understand that the economy actually benefits from people studying travel and tourism, event planning, drama and golf course management. Second, it works against individual desires to study for study’s sake – a stance inimical to a party that espouses individualism.Polly LlwynfedwenBrecon, Powys Francesca Simon is right to challenge the narrow-minded focus on degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) subjects proposed by Kemi Bademoch. As a newly arrived undergraduate in 1976, I asked the Zimbabwean (but at that point still Rhodesian) student in the next-door room what he was studying, expecting him to say physics or engineering, or something else technical that he could use to help build his country’s future. Instead he replied, “Philosophy.” Why, I asked, not a practical subject? He replied, “Because you need people who can think clearly to stop people like Idi Amin taking over.” He was right, of course, though sadly Robert Mugabe still inflicted terrible damage on Zimbabwe. Now, more than ever, critical thinking skills and the perspective of history are needed to understand the multiple challenges and tragedies of our world.Rev Tim EvansLancaster Dr Jan Udris and his lessons on basic political concepts (Letters, 14 October) have much in common with the “rip-off” degrees belittled by the leader of the Conservative party. They all aim to teach students to read critically, to discuss, to evaluate and, ultimately, to call out bullshit. Which is why those on the right find them so dangerous.Eleanor JardineHertford 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.

Taxpayers have been footing bill for loss-making company since April as minister acknowledges threat of EU tariffs The cost of taking control of British Steel has risen to £235m, the UK government has said, as it acknowledged concern over the threat of EU tariffs that could significantly harm the business. The government passed emergency legislation in April to take control of British Steel amid fears that its Chinese owner, Jingye Steel, was planning to walk away from its Scunthorpe steelworks. The takeover preserved the jobs of 3,500 workers at British Steel but it has left the government footing the bill for the loss-making company. The industry minister, Chris McDonald, said the government had paid for “working capital, covering items such as raw materials, salaries, and addressing unpaid bills, including for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) in the supply chain”, in a written statement to parliament published this week. The latest costs add to the £604m spent on keeping the Scunthorpe plant going in 2019 and 2020, when it collapsed into insolvency under its previous owner, the private equity fund Greybull Capital. Jingye bought it in early 2020. The government’s strategy has been to try to increase British Steel’s output in order to raise profitability, after Jingye claimed the Scunthorpe operation was losing £700,000 a day because of a global glut. The government’s official receiver is also temporarily in control of Liberty Steel after it collapsed into administration. Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, a national officer at GMB, a union representing workers, said: “This investment in our steel communities is exactly what taxpayers’ money should be used for. Under the previous government, £500m was given to Tata to make more than 2,000 people redundant. The people of Port Talbot will not forget. “In contrast, British Steel has taken on more than 50 apprentices this year, supported a further 180 people into employment and has continued to produce world-beating steel. This is clearly money well spent.” However, the problems facing British Steel and the rest of the UK steel industry could be compounded if the EU carries out a threat to raise tariffs on steel imports to 50%. UK Steel, a lobby group, said it was an “existential threat” to the sector, because 78% of all steel exports from Britain went to the EU. McDonald, himself a former steel executive, said the EU tariff threat “will be highly concerning for many of our steel producers and their workers”. Government ministers and officials have held talks with their EU counterparts in the hope of agreeing a quota for UK exports that would allow products to keep flowing. The EU tariffs were largely aimed at protecting its own producers from the global glut of steel that originated in China. Over the last three decades China has transformed from a minor player to the world’s largest producer, responsible for more than half of global output in 2024. Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning A slowing home economy and a crisis in its property sector have hit demand, prompting Chinese steelmakers to look abroad to sell its products. That has sent shock waves through global steel markets, causing crises across the developed world. The UK was also represented at a ministerial meeting this week on global excess capacity, which may eventually aim to combat Chinese dumping. However, that would probably require coordination between the EU and US, an unlikely prospect while Donald Trump is president.

Spa-like health centres scour every inch of our bodies in an attempt to extend life. But is this just another way of delaying the inevitable? A few months ago, I was invited to get a full-body scan in east London. Neko Health is one of several diagnostic clinics that, for a price, uses electrocardiograms, blood tests and a talking skin-scanner to examine you. The company claims it can detect various underlying cardiovascular and metabolic issues, assess your risk of developing pre-diabetes and identify suspect moles. From the outside, the centre looks like a vast glass mausoleum. Inside, it’s more of a curve-walled spa with pleasant changing areas, private examination rooms and pot plants. Sadly, there’s no swimming pool. The whole process takes less than an hour, and includes (among other things) a mostly nude scan, various blood draws, a test for grip strength and, at the end, through some swift data-crunching, a GP consultation. Most patients (me included) leave with a relatively clean bill of health but an eye on future issues. In its first year of operation, Neko says that 1% of its patients received potentially life-saving intel, which is not nothing. The idea is that this data can then be used to inform the NHS (or other healthcare providers), point people towards necessary treatment and, ultimately, extend life. Welcome to the age of preventive healthcare? Compared with some of the private clinics on the market, Neko, which was set up by Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek and has two outposts in London, is not wildly expensive – £299, as compared with the Kardashian-approved Prenuvo, which is coming to London, and costs almost £2,000. Although your money is useless unless you can find a way to skip Neko’s 100,000-person waiting list in the UK or in Sweden, where it’s from. Among those queue-jumpers have been some influencers (and less influential members of the press, like me). You may have seen them on social media, where playing God feels a lot more plausible if you’re wearing a butter-yellow dressing gown while bathed in the glow of a ring flash. My Neko experience was perfectly pleasant. It doesn’t hurt. I enjoyed wafting through their pastel-walled rooms wearing their Nike sliders. And I also appreciated the unhurried experience, though that’s perhaps more of a reflection on the state of the NHS after years of underfunding. On the whole, 10 out 10 for the experience. The real question is whether it’s worth it, which is harder to parse. Partly because there is no control group, and because a glowing review from me would depend on whether it found anything – at which point I’d probably be less concerned with giving it five stars on Yelp. It’s also worth pointing out that it doesn’t perform X-rays, MRIs or CT scans, so can only detect blood abnormalities and skin cancers. People in my family tree have been riddled with tumours, and while I was reassured that none of my moles look untoward, all I can do now is live my life waiting for an unwanted growth – assuming I don’t drown in a flood first. The trouble with a two-tier system that begins with a private triage service is that the burden then lies with you, and the NHS, which is potentially left to do the difficult work of treatment. Prof Azeem Majeed, a GP and expert on primary care and public health at Imperial, told the Guardian last year that Neko’s scans were more technologically advanced, and included additional testing, compared with the NHS Health Check programme, which screens people aged between 40 and 74. Preventive beauty is rooted in the ambient terror that one day we will look as old as we actually are. However, Majeed said that “dealing with the rapid developments in private medical assessments will be challenging for the NHS and it is essential that these assessments add value to people’s health and do not create additional work – or anxiety for customers – without clear benefits”. Though I imagine some of Neko’s customers will have other private healthcare options tucked into their wallets. Early diagnosis is vital to treat serious diseases such as cancer, so the appeal of testing is obvious. But these scans tap into something deeper, an iteration of something you see among dictators and Silicon Valley types, that vainglorious cohort who honestly believe they can live for ever – or, in the case of Palantir founder and Trump ally, Peter Thiel, aren’t sure humanity should last at all. Neko did not invent our preoccupation with longevity, just as it’s not news that rich people live longer. Some of them even look younger, too. The beauty industry had been resisting the passage of time for centuries before I first slapped Nivea on to my face as a teenager. Prevention is just a new way of phrasing it, and paid-for preventive healthcare is a natural evolution of these preventive beauty products. Style, with substance: what's really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved Along with beauty buzzwords such as “slow-ageing” (big in 2025, according to the trend forecasters WGSN), and “prejuvenation” (big in my inbox), the goal of prevention is not stopping or reversing time, words with which the Advertising Standards Agency has taken issue. It’s about delaying it. It’s symptomatic of the lengths we’ll go to conform to impossible standards – another stick that women used to beat ourselves with, as if the responsibility is ours. The business of preventive beauty presents as almost sceptical of anti-ageing – particularly facelifts and tweakments, which seem undignified compared with a night cream. Yet both are rooted in the ambient terror that one day we will look as old as we actually are. I’ve tried a lot of these creams. I enjoy the process. And I dare say some of them make me glow. But they aren’t better than a good night’s sleep, good genes or generally being more chill. Even still, these are solutions to something out of your hands. However much you buy Susan Sontag’s reading that ageing is “a crisis of the imagination rather than of ‘real life’”, society – and the beauty industry – will still have you believe that you are old as soon as you are not young. On paper, Neko and its like are not about cheating death – that would be absurd. And the benefits of early intervention on your health is obviously a very different matter than early intervention on your wrinkles. But in the end – scans, creams, whatever – it is all a battle with nature, just tackled in slightly different ways. Having explored and exploited every inch of our planet, we are now trying to colonise ourselves, to overcome mortality. Or at the very least, iron out its wrinkles. To read the complete version of this newsletter – complete with this week’s trending topics in The Measure and your wardrobe dilemmas solved – subscribe to receive Fashion Statement in your inbox every Thursday.

Stephen Parkinson called on to give ‘fuller explanation’ as MI5 expresses frustration over charges being dropped The director of public prosecutions has come under intense cross-party pressure to explain why the China spy trial collapsed as MI5 expressed frustration at the decision and MPs launched a series of inquiries into how it was taken. The chairs of the home affairs, foreign affairs, justice and national security committees wrote together to Stephen Parkinson, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), on Thursday calling on him to give “a fuller explanation for the dropping of charges”. They asked Parkinson “what steps did you take to make ministers aware” that the case was at risk of collapse because of a change in the case law that required China to be designated a “threat to the national security of the UK”. The committee chairs also asked if a key government witness, one of the UK’s deputy national security advisers, Matthew Collins, was warned his evidence may be insufficient and “what consideration was given to seeking evidence from other sources” as to the level of security threats posed by China. Parkinson is expected to be brought before MPs to explain why the CPS dropped charges against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, in September, a month before a trial had been due to take place. Earlier on Thursday, MI5’s director general, Ken McCallum, said he was frustrated at the decision and revealed security services had disrupted a threat from Beijing within the last week, though it was not related to parliament. “Of course I am frustrated when opportunities to prosecute national security threatening activity are not followed through for what ever reason,” the spy chief said, emphasising he would “never back off from confronting threats to the UK”. Chinese state actors, McCallum added, posed a national security threat “every day” and he warned that the number of all individuals under investigation by the spy agency over state-based threats from all countries had risen by 35% in the past year. Keir Starmer, the prime minister, reiterated his disappointment that the case was dropped and stressed there was no government involvement in the decision. Downing Street argued that it would have been “frankly absurd” for the prime minister to intervene when he was told a few days in advance that the case was on the brink of collapse. Chris Philp, the Conservative shadow home secretary, also wrote to Parkinson demanding he release all the correspondence the CPS exchanged with the government about its evidence. The row concerns the decision to abandon a prosecution under the 1911 Official Secrets Act against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher for the Conservative MPs Alicia Kearns and Tom Tugendhat, and Christopher Berry, a teacher, on 15 September. The CPS said previously it had dropped the case because the government had not provided sufficient evidence that China represented a “threat to the national security of the UK”, a definition required by the espionage legislation, which has since been repealed. On Wednesday, Starmer published the three witness statements submitted by Collins in an attempt to dispel claims that the government had a hand in disrupting the trial. But the prime minister still faces questions over why he did not step in to stop the case from being dropped over the contents of the government’s evidence. Parkinson told committee chairs at a private meeting on Wednesday that the evidence was just 5% off what was required, having said earlier that prosecutors tried for “many months” to obtain what was needed. Ministers have also faced questions over why the final statement submitted by Collins echoed the Labour government’s policy towards China, despite Starmer’s insistence throughout that the collapsed case relied upon the previous Tory government’s stance. Downing Street said Collins had included the line at his own initiative to provide context about the current government policy. The joint committee on the national security strategy (JCNSS) and the intelligence and security committee (ISC) will both hold inquiries into the matter, which will have the power to compel ministers, prosecutors and government and intelligence officials to give evidence. Unlike select committees, the ISC has statutory powers to compel witnesses. Its chair, Lord Beamish, said it had “received the intelligence background behind the case” and now planned to “investigate how that classified material was then used”. The government is still pushing ahead with its reset in UK-China relations, with several high-level trips planned this year including another by the national security adviser, Jonathan Powell. Plans are being drawn up for Starmer to make a bilateral visit to China next year. China said spying allegations contained in the evidence from Collins were false and that it never interferes in other countries’ internal affairs. An embassy spokesperson added: “The so-called ‘witness statements’ released after the CPS dropped the case are rife with unfounded accusations against China. They are nothing but sheer fabrications made out of thin air.” A crunch decision over whether to approve controversial proposals for a huge Chinese embassy in east London was delayed for the second time, and will now be taken on or before 10 December. The head of MI5 signalled he was relatively relaxed about the embassy proposal, which could clear the way for ministers to approve it despite vehement opposition from critics. “MI5 has more than a century of experience of dealing with the national security risks, which do flow from the presence of foreign embassies on British soil,” McCallum said. He said MI5 and sister agency GCHQ had the available counter-espionage expertise and were advising ministers on how to handle the development. “You would expect us to give our best professional security advice to government and you would expect us to keep that advice private,” he said. However, Matt Western, the chair of the JCNSS, wrote to the government on Monday warning that approving the embassy was “not in the UK’s long-term interest”. In a letter to Steve Reed, the housing secretary, who is responsible for taking the decision, Western said the proposed location of the outpost posed “eavesdropping risks in peacetime and sabotage risks in a crisis” owing to its proximity to fibre-optic cables, datacentres and telecoms exchanges serving Canary Wharf and the City. The Guardian revealed last year that China was blocking the much-needed redevelopment of Britain’s embassy in Beijing while the fate of its own proposed embassy was being decided. The refurbishment of Britain’s embassy is increasingly a pressing concern in parts of government.

Luxembourg — one of the world’s smallest nations — has positioned itself at the forefront of asteroid mining. But extracting minerals and precious metals from space throws up all sorts of ethical and legal questions, such as who can lay claim to an asteroid and all of its extractive wealth, and should space benefit “all of humankind”, as the international treaties signed in the 60s intended? Nevertheless, Luxembourg has lured a multinational cast of space entrepreneurs with the potential to invest in the promise of an untapped trillion dollar industry. Josh Toussaint-Strauss finds out how Luxembourg became a global hub for space mining, and whether it’s promised ‘gold rush’ will ever materialize

Family fears for 66-year-old’s life after assault while he was being transferred between prisons Palestine’s most popular leader, Marwan Barghouti, was beaten unconscious by Israeli prison guards and his family fears for his life, his son has said, citing evidence given by former Palestinian detainees released this week as part of the ceasefire deal. Arab Barghouti said his 66-year-old father was assaulted by eight guards on 14 September as he was being transferred between Ganot and Megiddo prisons. Barghouti said that five of the Palestinian prisoners released and deported to Egypt by the Israeli authorities on Monday had heard the Palestinian leader’s account of his treatment when he arrived in Megiddo prison. “What we know is that while they were transferring my father, they stopped along the way and eight security guards within the prison authority that worked for the prison authority started beating my father up in different ways, by kicking him, by [throwing] him on the ground, by punching him, focusing on the head area, chest area and legs as well,” he said, adding that his father later told fellow prisoners he lost consciousness as a result of the attack. “The released detainees say that when he came to Megiddo he could barely walk for days.” Barghouti said it was the fourth time his father had been beaten over the past two years. The Palestinian leader has been held in solitary confinement since the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, which ignited the Gaza war. Barghouti is a member of the Fatah party, a bitter rival of Hamas. The Asra Media Office, which covers Palestinian prisoner issues, said Barghouti “lost consciousness and suffered fractures in four ribs as a result of the beating”. The alleged beating followed a prison visit to Marwan Barghouti by the Israeli national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir in August. Ben Gvir, a member of an extreme right party who has past convictions from Israeli courts for incitement to racism and support for a terrorist organisation, taunted Barghouti in a video clip published at the time. According to Arab Barghouti, Ben Gvir also showed the 66-year-old prisoner a picture of an electric chair, and told him he deserved to be executed. In a statement quoted in Maariv newspaper on Wednesday, Ben Gvir denied the assault allegations, but added that he was “proud that [Barghouti’s] situation has changed radically during my tenure – play time is over, holiday camps are over. “The murderer Barghouti knows that terrorists like him are treated harshly today, so he invents fake news to incite his despicable terrorist comrades who left him behind as part of the [ceasefire] deal,” Ben Gvir said, adding he gave his full support to the “fighters of the prison service”, who he said were performing “sacred work”. Barghouti consistently tops polls as the most popular leader among Palestinians. He has been in prison for more than 20 years after being convicted of planning attacks that led to five civilians being killed, and sentenced to five life sentences plus 40 years. The trial was criticised as deeply flawed by the Inter-Parliamentary Union. As part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal that took effect over the weekend, 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences were released, and most of them deported to Egypt. The Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu vetoed Barghouti’s inclusion on the list of prisoners to be freed as part of the deal. “My father represents the voice of reason,” Arab Barghouti said. “He is the most popular Palestinian leader, but at the same time, he has a political vision that is accepted by the international community that can contribute to the stability of the region, which is a two-state solution. “He’s been a vocal supporter of the two-state solution for more than three decades. I think the fact that the Israeli government insisted that he’s not part of the deal is a clear declaration that they’re not looking for a credible, legitimate Palestinian leader. They want us to stay divided.” Additional reporting by Quique Kierszenbaum in Jerusalem

Thirty years ago, Northern Lights introduced the world to Lyra Belacqua. Now, Pullman completes her story in The Rose Field – plus listen to an audiobook extract read by Michael Sheen Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen $https://uploads.guim.co.uk/2025/10/15/The_Guardian_Extract.mp3 She washed herself as well as she could in the little basin with its lukewarm water, and looked in the mirror dispassionately. The bruises on her face were fading, but she was tanned by the sun, and her cheeks and the bridge of her nose not far off from being actually burnt, so she must find some cream or ointment to deal with that. A broad-brimmed hat would help too. She spread a very little of the rose salve on her nose and lips, her cheekbones and forehead. Then she sat down and thought about Ionides. He’d been very helpful so far, but could she trust him any further? This part of the world was completely new to her, whereas Ionides was at home with the languages here, and the customs, and the modes of travel. Could she manage without his guidance? She could probably afford it. She still had most of the gold that Farder Coram had given her. Ionides hadn’t let her down yet, and besides, she liked him. The man at Marletto’s, this Mustafa Bey whom Bud Schlesinger had recommended. She didn’t know what to do. The alethiometer would have helped her decide, of course; even without the books, and without risking the sickness and disorientation of the new method, she’d have gained something from it; her knowledge of the symbols was much greater than it had been, and just to hold it would have given her thoughts something to focus on. And now it was gone. But she still had the glass, and the needle. If she didn’t find something safe to keep them in, though, she might not have them for long. The glass was merely a glass (she supposed), but the needle . . . She took it very carefully out of the pocket it was in, and laid it in the centre of a piece of scrap paper, which she folded over and over till the needle couldn’t slip out, and put it in a compartment of her rucksack. Then she thought of the old gentleman on the train, and the cards he’d given her. She took out the pack and shuffled it and spread the cards face down on the bed beside her. Now what could she do? The alethiometer worked by blending the meanings of three symbols. Should she pick three cards? Or just one? Or what? She chose one and turned it over. It showed a man behind a barricade trying to defend it from a group of soldiers, against a background of gunfire and bursting shells. She looked at it despondently for a minute or so, and gathered the cards together again. Ionides sprang to his feet as soon as he saw her come downstairs. ‘Miss Silver! Now I am your guide and guardian for the journey to Marletto’s Café. May I ask if you are hoping to see the well-known and respected Mustafa Bey?’ ‘It was a guess purely and entirely. A traveller of your consequence would of course wish to pay her respects to such an important gentleman, and Marletto’s is where he is to be found. It is as good as a headquarters for his multitude of enterprises.’ He held open the hotel door and walked along beside her with the air of a senior courtier accompanying a princess. He looked no different from the ragged and none-too-clean individual who had first appeared outside her hotel room in Seleukeia, but he bore himself with such confidence and brio that Lyra felt herself to be acting a part too, and enjoying the attention of other passersby. Most of those who looked at her were disconcerted, of course, by her lack of a dæmon, but she remembered the woman she’d seen in Amsterdam, strolling along magnificently indifferent to the hostile stares of other people, and she remembered Farder Coram’s advice too, to bear herself like a queen. ‘From now on my name is Tatiana Iorekova. I am a queen of the witches of Novaya Zemlya. You are a magician from Prague, and you are in my service.’ ‘Ah! I completely understand. This is how I shall present you to Mustafa Bey, no?’ ‘Parathanasius. A fine name, which I shall strive to deserve. How should I address you, Queen Tatiana?’ ‘Like that. Say Queen Tatiana, may I present His Excellency Mustafa Bey?’ ‘No. We witches live plainly and without ceremony. Ah! – Wait here.’ She had noticed something in the window of a dress shop, and went inside. After a minute she came out with a length of narrow scarlet ribbon. ‘That for me or for you?’ said Ionides. She smiled, which surprised him, and it occurred to her that she couldn’t remember the last time a smile had come to her face. She tied the ribbon around her head, across the middle of her brow, and let the ends fall in front of her right ear. Ionides watched critically, and said, ‘You permit?’ She nodded, and he adjusted the ribbon slightly. ‘There. Very royal. What my name again?’ ‘Parathanasius. Magister. Like Maestro. Master Parathanasius.’ He looked around. The street was busy; it was a late morning in a prosperous cosmopolitan city, and no one knew they were in the presence of a queen and a magician. ‘All right, Queen Tatiana Iorekova,’ he said seriously. ‘You wanted me to guide you to Aleppo. Here we are, and you will soon pay me forty dollars–’ ‘As you say. When I take you to Mustafa Bey our contract will expire, not so?’ ‘And what then? The whole of Asia is open to you. What is your destination? Will you require a guide to accompany you there?’ She had already made her mind up, but there were formalities and customs to observe. ‘Master Parathanasius, this is not the right place nor the right time. A queen of the witches does not bargain in the street. When I have concluded my business with Mustafa Bey, you and I shall go to another smaller café and discuss the matters you raise over a glass of tea.’ He nodded slowly. His expression was serious, his clothing ragged and dirty, the scar across his face white against the brown skin and the greying stubble. He looked like a beggar. But he stood upright, his body was lean and tense, and his eyes were alive with complicity and, deep inside, amusement. ‘All right, we go to find Mustafa Bey,’ he said. ‘You come with me, Queen Tatiana, and my magic powers find the way.’ He strode along beside her for all the world as if he really was a magician in the service of a queen. Lyra was pleased with her own bearing too. Like panthers, that was the way Farder Coram had described the way witches bore themselves. She found herself thinking something unexpected: she wanted Abdel Ionides to feel proud of her. He swept imperiously into the entrance of Marletto’s, stopping in mock astonishment only when a white-aproned waiter said a few words in French, sharply, and barred his way. ‘Vous nous prenez pour des MENDIANTS?’ Ionides said in high indignation. ‘Écoutez, espèce d’imbécile. Voici sa majesté la reine Tatiana Iorekova, qui gouverne le royaume entier de Novaya Zemlya, et moi qui suis son sorcier particulier, le gardien de ses finances, le président de conseil de ses affaires d’état, le Maître Parathanasius! Queen Tatiana,’ he went on, turning to Lyra and switching in a moment from arrogant to emollient. ‘I apologise for the ignorance of this low-born rascal. Please forgive him, because now he knows who you are, he will hasten to bring you everything you desire, and conduct us without delay to a corner of this establishment which is fit to receive us. ‘And,’ he added to the waiter, ‘take word to His Excellency Mustafa Bey that Queen Tatiana Iorekova will receive him at once.’ The waiter looked from Ionides to Lyra, from Queen Tatiana to Master Parathanasius. Ionides was bursting with angry pride, and Lyra held herself still and faced down the waiter with a gaze that came from the coldest fastnesses of the northern ice. Privately she was delighted. The waiter bowed nervously and led the way to a corner shaded by a potted palm whose leaves waved delicately in the breeze from a fan on the ceiling. Ionides held out a chair for her while the waiter hastened away. ‘When you’ve presented him to me, you can go,’ Lyra said quietly. ‘I saw a fountain in the square as we came through. I’ll meet you there in about an hour.’ ‘I’m sure I can manage. Here he comes.’ Mustafa Bey was a large man in a physical sense, and an imposing one. His wealth was visible in the exquisitely cut cream linen suit, the hand-made shoes, the massive gold watch on his wrist, the golden signet ring on his little finger, the immaculately groomed grey hair; his power was manifest in the way he seemed to carry a field of magnetic force around him, compelling attention, demanding respect, knowing with utter certainty that his every wish would be not only fulfilled, but anticipated. His dæmon was a cheetah. If Lyra had not been a queen, she might even have been intimidated. Ionides inclined his head briefly and said, ‘Queen Tatiana, may I present His Excellency Mustafa Bey?’ Lyra extended her right hand. The great merchant bent to kiss it, and Lyra responded with a smile. ‘Please join me, Mustafa Bey,’ she said. ‘I know how busy you are. I would be grateful for a few minutes of your time.’ She indicated a chair, and Mustafa Bey sat down. Ionides was giving an order to the waiter, who hurried away, and then Master Parathanasius bowed deeply to Lyra and withdrew. Mustafa Bey still had not said a word. ‘I was advised to consult you,’ Queen Tatiana said, ‘by a learned scholar in Oxford, Doctor Sebastian Makepeace.’ The merchant’s large and profoundly dark eyes widened a fraction of a millimetre. His expression changed from one unreadability to another. ‘And there was a friend I last saw in Smyrna,’ she went on, ‘who said that the one source of all the information I would ever need on my journey was Mustafa Bey, whom I would find in this café. One such recommendation would have been enough to make me come here – two, and I had no choice. Mustafa Bey, I am glad to meet you. Will you take tea with me?’ She could see the waiter hastening to her table with a loaded tray. ‘I would be honoured,’ said the merchant. His voice was unexpectedly light and gentle. The tea was poured, the pastries were set out, the waiter bowed and left. Mustafa Bey was not going to start this conversation. He was a busy man, but he was clearly curious, and Lyra was aware that they were being watched by many eyes that were equally interested. She was glad she had not come to him as a petitioner, having to wait to be seen: this table gave her a little enclave in the middle of his territory, like an embassy, where she could command things, to which she could summon him, from which she could dictate the course of their encounter. It also meant that the initiative belonged to her: she must get on with it. ‘As I mentioned, Mustafa Bey,’ she said, ‘I’m on a journey. I want to travel to the desert of Karamakan, and I would like to ask the advice of someone who knows the Silk Roads as well as anyone alive.’ ‘My advice would be a single word: Don’t.’ ‘I shall bear that in mind, but I won’t take it. I’m determined to go.’ ‘What do you think you will find there?’ ‘A red building that contains something of immense value.’ ‘And what is that? Do you know what is in this red building?’ ‘And you still want to go there, and put your life in danger, and risk not being able to return?’ He sipped the hot tea. Despite his bulk, all his movements were delicate and graceful. ‘I have never been to the red building myself,’ he said, ‘but I know the conditions under which it must be approached. The traveller by land, the dæmon by water. Do you?’ ‘The witches of the Arctic have the power of separation. At the moment, my dæmon is attending to an important piece of business somewhere else.’ He nodded, and set a calming hand on the head of his cheetah-dæmon. ‘And what do you need to know about the journey between here and Karamakan?’ ‘How long does it take for a camel-train to go that far?’ ‘Bandits on the ground. And even more from birds in the air. There are no zeppelin routes across these lands for that reason. The birds are immense and ferocious. They command the air almost entirely. Do your people ever fly across Central Asia?’ ‘With good reason. But, Queen Tatiana, you are not telling me the truth.’ Lyra was aware of a deep soft growl, almost too quiet to hear. It was the merchant’s dæmon, whose black-rimmed eyes were staring at her throat. ‘In what way?’ said Lyra. Her skin was prickling. ‘You are not a witch. I have dealt with many witches – please do not interrupt me – and you are not one.’ ‘No. I had to listen to you first. Now I am certain. Your name is Lyra Silvertongue.’ The Rose Field: The Book of Dust Volume Three will be published in hardback, trade paperback, ebook and audiobook – narrated by Michael Sheen – on 23 October by David Fickling Books in association with Penguin Random House in the UK, featuring illustrations from Chris Wormell. To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply

Bird migrations rank as one of nature’s greatest spectacles. Thanks to GPS tracking, scientists are uncovering extraordinary insights into ancient and mysterious journeys – and new threats that are reshaping them. Bird migrations rank as one of nature’s greatest spectacles. Thanks to GPS tracking, scientists are uncovering extraordinary insights into ancient and mysterious journeys – and new threats that are reshaping them. As storm-chasing seabirds, Desertas petrels seek out hurricanes that draw deep-sea creatures to the surface. Only about 200 pairs remain, although the population is stable. Each bird is no bigger than a pigeon and they all breed on a single deserted island off the west coast of north Africa, fanning out across the Atlantic Ocean to forage. Among the 35 birds that have been tracked by GPS is “Marlo”, which was born on Bugio Island and tagged after returning there in 2019. Males and females are virtually indistinguishable, so researchers do not know the sex of Marlo but we will refer to him as “he”. Marlo is part of a pair bonded for life, and he and his partner reunite with a flurry of excitement after months apart, preening and calling to each other. The parents raise one chick as a tag team, doing long shifts at sea for up to three weeks at a time, covering distances of up to 7,400 miles (12,000km). They gorge on seafood and regurgitate it as oil for their chick. Francesco Ventura, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, says: “The routes they take are some of the longest collected for any animal during breeding season. It’s like travelling to the other side of the Atlantic for a food shop.” Once his chick successfully fledged, Marlo departed Bugio on 2 November 2019, and did not touch land until June of the following year. Like all Desertas petrels, Marlo spends the majority of his life soaring above international waters. Typically, the young spend the first few years of their life out at sea without touching land. No one knows where they go. If they survive these early years, they typically live for decades. In September 2019, Marlo flew out over the Atlantic Ocean and came across the cyclone that was developing into Tropical Storm Gabrielle. Researchers tracing their migrations have discovered that petrels actively steer into storms, perhaps reading changes in air pressure, cloud patterns and the swell of waves to find them. “To me, this looks like intentionality,” says Ventura, who was part of the first team of researchers to track this behaviour in Desertas petrels. For 19 days, Marlo chased the tropical storm’s wake, covering nearly 7,000 miles and reaching speeds of 41mph (66km/h). Hurricanes churn up cold, nutrient-rich water, which draws deep-sea squid and crustaceans to the surface where birds can catch them. Climate change threatens the prey these seabirds depend on because the marine creatures are so sensitive to changing temperatures, sometimes shifting northwards and deeper as the ocean warms. Marlo covers as much ground as possible to maximise his chance of catching something, hunting at night and using smell to locate prey in the darkness. “They don’t flap,” says Ventura. “They surf the wind.” Weighing no more than a large strawberry, the nightingale manages to cross the Sahara twice a year as part of a 6,000-mile round-trip between its spring breeding grounds in England and overwintering ground in west Africa. But their journey is becoming increasingly fraught and their destination less welcoming. “Berkeley” is a one-year-old nightingale tagged near Alton Water, a nature reserve a few miles south of Ipswich in the UK. He was caught on the 31 May 2023 in a dense patch of bramble and blackthorn, and fitted with a GPS tag the weight of a paperclip. During the summer Berkeley would have tirelessly gathered beetles, ants, flies and caterpillars to feed his young. Once his family had flown the nest, he was ready to migrate south. Berkeley waited for the perfect night in late August before leaving: mild, clear and still. He crossed the Channel and flew down the west coast of France to Spain where he spent three weeks recuperating and putting on fat before tackling the Atlantic Ocean and Sahara. Some nightingales may make this crossing in a couple of days straight; others will stop during the day, resting at a desert oasis if they pass one. Climate crisis-driven droughts and wildfires in southern Europe, however, mean more birds are dying over the Sahara as they are forced to continue their migration without getting into prime flying condition. Bad weather can also throw them off course, and they are hunted by the giant noctule bat over the mountains of the Iberian peninsula. Berkeley flew high over the desert at about 5,000 metres to stay cool, and managed to dodge all these threats. On 26 September, five weeks after leaving Alton Water, he arrived in Senegal. “Before leaving they should have a nice chunky body and rounded chest. By the end, it’s an emaciated thing,” says Chris Hewson, who tracks these birds for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). After a gruelling journey, the vast majority of nightingales winter in Senegal, the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, but this area has become increasingly threatened since the 1960s due to severe droughts, less rainfall and a bigger human population, collecting firewood and grazing livestock. This has led to irreversible changes and reduced the quality of their habitat. The birds’ habitat in Britain has also been very degraded, with increased numbers of deer, reduced scrub and woodlands. The nightingale population documented in Britain has fallen by 91% over the past 50 years, and the loss of suitable habitat at both ends of their migration is driving that decline. Understanding exactly where the birds are by using more precise GPS tags will help ecologists do more focused conservation work in the areas of highest importance. Bewick’s swans are one of the heaviest long-distance migratory birds. Their migration of nearly 2,200 miles takes so much energy they have to refuel every few hundred miles. They were once dependent on aquatic plants but since the 1960s – when agriculture intensified across northwestern Europe – they have switched to feeding on grass and crops, and can eat throughout north-west Europe. “Mary” was caught and tagged on 20 December 2016 in North Brabant province in the Netherlands. She was at least four years old and caring for a cygnet. By the following spring, she had embarked on a long journey north, arriving in the breeding grounds in the remote and wind-swept Malozemelskaya tundra, an area of the Arctic in northern Russia dominated by bogs and wetlands. In September, she set out from the tundra on her autumn migration south, flying to western Latvia, then to Lower Saxony in northern Germany for the winter. As Europe warms, Bewick’s swans are making much shorter journeys to ice-free wetlands and agricultural areas in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Poland – known as short-stopping. Britain has lost an estimated 43% of its Bewick’s swans in five years. About 60 swans are carrying GPS collars on their necks. Tracking data shows that swans adjust their autumn journeys on a daily basis. On colder days, the birds travel bigger distances but if it is warm, they sometimes do not move at all. Hans Linssen, a doctoral student from the University of Amsterdam, has done modelling on the same birds over several years and showed that if winter was 1C (1.8F) colder, the birds would spend it on average 75 miles farther south-west. Short-stopping means the birds can adapt their wintering season to a changing climate. Although it is a loss for people in the Netherlands and the UK – which used to be the winter capitals for Bewick’s swans – this ability to adapt to the seasons is likely to be an advantage for the birds. “If they spend their winter closer to the breeding range, the distance that they have to go for the next spring is also shorter, which also enables them to migrate faster,” says Linssen. The Bewick’s swan population is rapidly declining, but this might have more to do with illegal hunting than climate change, says Linssen. Up to a third of Bewick’s swans in the UK have lead pellets from shotgun shells or fishing weights embedded in their bodies. Other potential pressures include competition with other species such as whooper and mute swans on spring migration stopovers, and predation of eggs and hatchlings in the Arctic as predators such as red foxes shift farther north. Illustrations by Tina Zellmer, graphics by Heidi Wilson and Harvey Symons Find more age of extinction coverage here, which is supported by Guardian.org Global temperature data came from CHELSA’s daily mean air temperatures measured from hourly ERA5 data, spanning from 1981 to 2010. Global vegetation data came from Nasa’s Terra/Modis monthly vegetation index, NDVI 2024. The world map borders, relief, and land-use colours are from Natural Earth. For the flight paths in the Americas, we used the migrations of 30 of the 118 species tracked in this study. European flight-path tracks were from this 2016 GPS tracking dataset in northern and eastern Europe. Desertas petrel migratory flight paths were part of this study, while the detailed hurricane-hunting flight path was plotted from data provided by Francesco Ventura and his colleagues. Wind and speed direction data was taken from the Copernicus ERA5 dataset, and the hurricane track comes from NOAA. The audio was recorded by Ben Metzger. The nightingale’s journey was built from the GPS tracking of two birds in 2023. The tracks and suitability map data was supplied by the BTO’s Chris Hewson and Máire Kirkland from their study on migratory connectivity. The audio was recorded by Grzegorz Michalski. The Bewick’s swans’ migratory paths were provided by Hans Linssen and used in this study on how migratory swans adjust to a warming climate. The audio was recorded by David Darrell-Lambert. With thanks to Joanne Morten from BirdLife International for her guidance on seabird migration data and paths, and to Jon Carter from the BTO for sourcing information at the start of the project. Bird facts about the nightingale and Bewick’s swans came from the RSPB; information about the Desertas petrel was from the Madeira birds website. Climatologies at high resolution for the Earth land surface areas DN Karger; O Conrad; J Böhner; T Kawohl; H Kreft; RW Soria-Auza; NE Zimmermann; P Linder; M Kessler; 2017 Convergence of broad-scale migration strategies in terrestrial birds FA La Sorte; D Fink; WM Hochachka; and S Kelling; 2016 GPS tracking of Storks, Cranes and birds of prey, breeding in Northern and Eastern Europe K Adojaan; U Sellis; Ü Väli; I Ojaste; K Denac; A Lõhmus; J Ķuze; BirdMap Data – GPS tracking of Storks, Cranes and birds of prey, breeding in Northern and Eastern Europe. Data accessed via GBIF.org Oceanic seabirds chase tropical cyclones Francesco Ventura; Neele Sander; Paulo Catry; Ewan Wakefield; Federico De Pascalis; Philip L Richardson; José Pedro Granadeiro; Mónica C Silva; Caroline C Ummenhofer; 2024 Extreme migratory connectivity and apparent mirroring of non-breeding grounds conditions in a severely declining breeding population of an afro-palearctic migratory bird Máire Kirkland; Nathaniel ND Annorbah; Lee Barber; John Black; Jeremy Blackburn; Michael Colley; Gary Clewley; Colin Cross; Mike Drew; Oliver JL Fox; Vicky Gilson; Steffen Hahn; Chas Holt; Mark F Hulme; John Jarjou; Dembo Jatta; Emmanuel Jatta; Kevin Leighton; Ernestina Mensah-Pebi; Chris Orsman; Naffie Sarr; Roger Walsh; Leo Zwarts; Robert J Fuller; Chris M Hewson; 2025 Migratory swans individually adjust their autumn migration and winter range to a warming climate Hans Linssen; E Emiel van Loon; Judy Z Shamoun-Baranes; Rascha JM Nuijten; Bart A Nolet; 2023

As the harvest season begins, attacks on Palestinian farmers and their land are spiralling. The words of peace following the Gaza ceasefire ring hollow Last Monday, when the US president, Donald Trump, addressed the Knesset alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, my compatriot lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling them to “Recognise Palestine”. We were brutally expelled by force from the parliament’s plenum, revealing the fragile state of the supposed “only democracy in the Middle East”. How can Trump and Netanyahu speak of peace in the Middle East without recognition of the people deprived for decades of their basic liberties and rights under vicious occupation? Nowhere is the deceit more clear than in the occupied West Bank. There, the words of peace are but a weak and distant voice, but the horrifying sounds of settler violence and terror still echo loudly. More than 30 occurrences of settler violence against Palestinians have been documented since the announcement of Trump’s 20-point plan at the end of September, including physical assaults, theft of agricultural produce and torching of vehicles and property. The rise of settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period marks the start of the harvest seasons. More than a vital economic event, it is an important social and national moment that exhibits endurance under occupation. Precisely for these reasons, year after year settlers target Palestinians during this precious time. During the 2024 harvest period, Yesh Din (an Israeli human rights group that collects and disseminates information regarding violations of Palestinians’ human rights in the West Bank) documented 113 separate incidents of violence, harassment, harvest-thwarting or damage to olive trees and crops involving Israeli civilians and soldiers, which took place on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian villages, towns and communities. Yesh Din also found that “Israeli security forces appeared to have played a greater role in obstructing the olive harvest”. In about 70% of forceful prevention of access to lands, soldiers, border police officers and settlement civilian security coordinators (CSCs) were actually present. They either personally prevented Palestinians from accessing and harvesting in their own lands, or failed to stop settlers who harassed or assaulted them. This comes as no surprise, as the leader of the settlers’ political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional minister in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT). In Umm al-Khair, for example, a special COGAT unit uprooted private olive trees of Palestinians, citing lack of permits, but ignored violations of an illegal nearby settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to halt all building work in the outpost, which was built on lands seized by Israel and unlawfully transferred to settlers. In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a tool by the government to pursue de-facto annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a march of thousands of settlers in support of annexation of the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, “We are continuing to take hold with our feet of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, many heroes, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who live in this part of the land … we need to normalise it and make it eternal.” The settlers and their supporters in the Knesset are clear on their motives and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the west refrain from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in June, but the effect of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be able to travel to the UK and tour the West End, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to grab lands in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of sanctions, the UK highlighted they take place “in his personal capacity” solely. Guardian columnists and writers on what they’ve been debating, thinking about, reading, and more If the UK government acknowledges the reality of settler violence and its grave implications on Palestinian life, why does it still allow settlement produce to be sold in markets and shops in Britain? If Starmer is serious about recognition of Palestine as a state, how come it allows the Israeli government to violate its sovereignty with such violent means? Or was the recognition an empty ploy to shut down dissenting voices in the UK, a hollow act only to be realised in the rebranding of some maps? A just peace must respect the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, sovereignty and liberty from military occupation and siege. Only when every human being’s dignity between the river and sea is respected can we truly say peace has been achieved. True peace requires an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel: this is the sole formula that enjoys consensus among the international community, the Palestinian national movement and the Israeli peace camp. Trump may have inflicted pressure on Netanyahu to halt the genocide, but he probably only did so because the burden of his relationship with the pariah regime of Netanyahu had become too great. The mass protests across the globe for the liberation of Palestine, and the unwavering anti-government demonstrations inside Israel, are the real forces behind this pressure. It is thanks to this enormous civil movement that a ceasefire has been signed, the hostages released and the people of Gaza can enjoy safeguard from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is vital to keep applying this pressure. The world has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in Gaza for too long; it must not repeat the same mistake in the West Bank. Dr Ofer Cassif is a member of the Knesset, representing the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) since 2019

President says plans will lead to ‘many more beautiful American children’ but unclear if companies will sign up The Trump administration announced Thursday that it is urging US employers to create new fertility benefit options to cover in vitro fertilization and other infertility treatments. In an announcement from the Oval Office, Donald Trump also said his administration had cut a deal with the drug manufacturer EMD Serono to lower the cost of one of its fertility drugs and list the drug on the government website TrumpRx. These moves, Trump said, would lead to “many more beautiful American children”. “In the Trump administration, we want to make it easier for all couple to have babies, raise children and have the families they’ve always dreamed about,” Trump said. Employers are encouraged to offer the fertility benefit option separately from their medical coverage, similar to how dental and vision coverage is usually offered to employees. The labor department, the treasury and the health department will on Thursday also release guidance on how employers can legally create the option. However, Republicans at the press conference framed the benefit as a “recommendation”, indicating that employers will not be required to offer the coverage nor receive government subsidies for doing so. Without new incentives to offer IVF coverage, it is unclear how many employers will ultimately support it. Trump, who has called himself the “fertilization president”, made support for infertility treatments a major part of his re-election campaign, especially after the nation erupted in outrage when the Alabama supreme court deemed embryos “extrauterine children”. Because IVF can lead to the creation of unused or discarded embryos, that decision temporarily forced many Alabama IVF providers to stop working. Yet in the months since taking office, the Trump administration has remained quiet on the issue. In February, he signed an executive order directing the administration’s domestic policy council to make recommendations to “aggressively” reduce the price tag of IVF, which often costs tens of thousands of dollars and is frequently not covered by insurance. A detailed report on the recommendations was supposed to be made public by May. No report ever emerged. While IVF is extremely popular among Americans, the GOP’s deep ties to the anti-abortion movement have made it something of a political landmine among elected Republicans. The movement has long opposed IVF, as advocates believe that embryos are people. White House officials have in recent months discussed the possibility of supporting restorative reproductive medicine (RRM), a constellation of therapies that purport to restore people’s “natural” fertility. Although RRM is popular among anti-abortion advocates and adherents of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, several major medical organizations say there is little quality evidence that RRM is more effective at helping people have babies than mainstream fertility medicine. Trump did not mention RRM in his Thursday address.

Presiding bishop Olav Fykse Tveit says discrimination and harassment should ‘never have happened’ Against a backdrop of red stage curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Church of Norway apologised for the discrimination and harm it had inflicted. “The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, said on Thursday. “This should never have happened and that is why I apologise today.” The “discrimination, unequal treatment and harassment” had caused some to lose their faith, Tveit acknowledged. A church service at Oslo Cathedral was scheduled to follow his apology. The apology took place at the London Pub, one of two bars targeted in the 2022 shooting that killed two people and left nine seriously injured during Oslo’s Pride celebrations. A Norwegian of Iranian origin, who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for the killings. Like many religions around the world, the Church of Norway – an evangelical Lutheran church that is Norway’s largest faith community – had long marginalised LGBTQ+ people, refusing to allow them to become pastors or to marry in church. In the 1950s, the church’s bishops described gay people as a “social danger of global proportions”. But as Norwegian society became increasingly liberal, becoming the second in the world to allow same-sex registered partnerships in 1993 and in 2009 the first Scandinavian country to allow same-sex marriage, the church slowly followed. In 2007, the Church of Norway began ordaining gay pastors, and same-sex couples have been able to marry in church since 2017. In 2023, Tveit participated in Oslo’s Pride parade in what was described as a first for the church. Thursday’s apology was met with a mixed reaction. The head of a network of Christian lesbians in Norway, Hanne Marie Pedersen-Eriksen, herself a gay pastor, described it as “an important reparation” and a moment that “finally marked the end of a dark chapter in the church’s history”. For Stephen Adom, the head of Norway’s Association for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the apology was “strong and important” but had come “too late for those among us who died of Aids … with hearts filled with anguish because the church considered the epidemic to be God’s punishment”. Globally, a handful of religious institutions have sought to make amends for their actions towards LGBTQ+ people. In 2023, the Church of England apologised for what it described as its “shameful” treatment, though it continues to refuse to allow same-sex marriages in church. Similarly, the Methodist Church in Ireland last year apologised for its “failures in pastoral support and care” to LGBTQ+ people and their families, but remained staunch in its belief that marriage could only be a union between a man and a woman. Earlier this year, the United Church of Canada offered an apology to two spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, describing it as a reaffirmation of the church’s “commitment to radical hospitality and full inclusion” in all aspects of church life. “We have failed to celebrate and delight in all of your beautiful creation,” Rev Michael Blair, the general secretary of the church, said. “We have wounded people instead of seeking wholeness. We are sorry.” With contributions from Agence France-Presse and Reuters

In this week’s newsletter: The series is known for its massive multiplayer shootouts, but there’s a missed opportunity to tell a meaningful story about war And so Battlefield is back. The long-running military shooter series, which specialises in gigantic online multiplayer conflicts involving dozens of ground troops, tanks and aircraft, has returned for its sixth main instalment – and it’s thrilling, epic and compulsive. Apart from the single-player campaign mode, which I absolutely hated. It’s another oh-so-familiar tale of preternaturally talented soldiers just doing their jobs to defend the free world in the face of evil private military companies, terror organisations or double-crossing CIA operatives. It could be almost any military shooter of the last decade or any straight-to-streaming war film starring one of the Hemsworths. But it’s not. It’s a seven-hour cliche bombardment that you have to take an active part in. The thing is, nobody buys Battlefield for the campaign mode. In fact, most games in the series haven’t had one. So this was a chance for the developers to experiment a little, try something new or even subversive. The mainstream movie biz may have been equally guilty of dressing up jingoistic celebrations of the military-industrial complex as thrilling action flicks, but it has also produced Paths of Glory, M*A*S*H and The Deer Hunter. While Battlefield 6 does make the occasional nod towards the less-than-ideal circumstances of modern hybrid warfare, you don’t care much because the characters are cardboard cut-outs with no backstories who speak in nonstop military jargon. There have been a few big games that have challenged the narrative of the moral warrior acting in the world’s best interests on behalf of largely benign military divisions. Metal Gear Solid is clearly a pacifist text on the horror of nuclear war, while Ubisoft’s Valiant Hearts is a beautiful meditation on war and love. The key example, though, remains Yager Development’s fascinating 2012 adventure Spec Ops: The Line, in which you play the commander of a covert delta team sent into a disaster-hit Dubai to discover the whereabouts of a rogue US military unit. As the narrative progresses, your character descends into exhaustion and trauma, experiencing increasingly nightmarish hallucinations. The aim was to show the damaging psychological impact of war, while also providing a gripping and exciting experience. The mission was successful. In the rapidly consolidating games industry, where gigantic mega-corps are willing to invest the equivalent of a small country’s GDP into capturing tens of millions of players, it seems that narrative innovation is unlikely. As is making any kind of political statement. But contemporary audiences are spoiled for choice when it comes to shooters – as the success of oddities such as Atomfall and Megabonk have shown – there’s money to be made in straying off piste. Could the Battlefield 6 campaign have been a tense claustrophobic single-set thriller like Alex Garland’s Warfare? Could it have plunged our hero into a series of survival dramas like Until Dawn? Could it have been a sandbox adventure with various tasks, items and enemy units to discover? Over the past two years we’ve seen several multimillion dollar projects axed and staff made redundant because the “pick-me” approach of green-lighting only titles that will compete directly with the always on nature of Fortnite, Call of Duty or Marvel Rivals is a zero sum game – you win or you die. Call me naive, but that doesn’t seem sustainable (not even for those mega-titles) – and considering the human cost of mass layoffs, it’s also repugnant. Games cannot live on cliche alone. The modern world, with its shifting allegiances, its climate instability and its displaced populations, is a horrifyingly fascinating place for brand-new war narratives that actually mean something. If only someone had the guts to tell them. First released in 2023 on PC, VideoVerse is a love letter to the age of instant messaging and a clever and involving story about love and friendship among the users of a dying social media platform. You play as Emmett, a young video game fan who spends his time chatting to online pals – until a newcomer arrives and deeper feelings are aroused. It’s coming to PS5, Switch and Xbox on 14 November, complete with all the post-release additions and refinements that have been added since launch. If you didn’t play it first time round and harbour nostalgic feelings about the days of MSN Messenger, this is unmissable. Available on: PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox Estimated playtime: 10+ hours It seems that Microsoft and Sony are planning to release the next generation of consoles in 2027. VGC has compiled the latest rumours into one enticing story which involves those hotbeds of hardware speculation – NeoGaf discussion threads and tech news gossip sites. An industry initiative named Palestinian Voices in Games has been helping developers in the region, with volunteer artists, coders and designers bringing their experience to forthcoming projects. GIbiz has a great feature on the subject with quotes from some of the developers. The tired, emaciated corpse of the harassment group gamergate has managed to reanimate itself yet again. This time, the little lads are cross about acclaimed historical adventure Ghost of Yōtei, because the lead character is a woman and the narrative has quietly progressive elements. Slate has the full unedifying story. Keza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gaming Space Harrier at 40: how Sega’s surreal classic brought total immersion to arcades in the 80s Meet Anamanaguchi, the band behind the last Scott Pilgrim video game’s soundtrack – and the next one The non-profit helping people from all over the world to become successful game developers Hack of age verification firm may have exposed 70,000 Discord users’ ID photos A question from Peter via email this week: “My four-year-old daughter is starting to show an interest in video games, and I want to get her a cheap handheld console to mess about on rather than going down the iPad route. What do you recommend?” There are lots of options here. The children’s electronic toy manufacturer Leap Frog has a range of Leapster handhelds, which can be picked up second hand for around £20-30 usually with a couple of cartridges. They’re chunky and safe, and the games are OK. However, I’d rather go for a Nintendo DS or the newer and more hardy 2DS, both of which go on eBay for around £10-£50 depending on condition. There are hundreds of children’s games available for these systems (original DS games can be played on both systems, but the 2DS will also play newer 3DS games – though not in 3D) and games can be picked up for as little as 50p in charity shops or at your local CeX store. With the original DS, the hinge that connects the two screens is the most vulnerable point, but it depends on how rough your daughter is with it. Also, both systems come with a stylus, which is a potential choke hazard so you need to be around when she uses it. Also, my sons lost dozens of them. Luckily a lot of games don’t need them. As for games, anything with Mario, Wario or Kirby, and any Animal Crossing, Pokémon or Lego title will be go down well. If you’ve got a question for Question Block – or anything else to say about the newsletter – hit reply or email us on [email protected].

In response to pledge, company has claimed in a statement that its policies ‘prohibit discrimination of any kind’ Warner Bros Discovery has rebuked a pledge signed by more than 4,000 film industry figures to not work with Israeli film institutions “implicated in the genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”, saying that such a pledge would likely violate its internal policies. In a statement to Variety, a spokesperson said the company “is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful environment for its employees, collaborators, and other stakeholders”. It continues: “Our policies prohibit discrimination of any kind, including discrimination based on race, religion, national origin or ancestry. We believe a boycott of Israeli film institutions violates our policies. While we respect the rights of individuals and groups to express their views and advocate for causes, we will continue to align our business practices with the requirements of our policies and the law.” Industry luminaries including Javier Bardem, Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo signed the pledge, organized and published last month by the group Film Workers for Palestine, that commits signatories not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with what it considers complicit institutions – including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies. According to the pledge, complicity includes “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government committing them”. An FAQ section specified that the pledge, inspired by a boycott of cultural institutions that contributed to the end of apartheid in South Africa, didn’t prohibit signees from working with Israeli individuals, but targeted national institutions. “The call is for film workers to refuse to work with Israeli institutions that are complicit in Israel’s human rights abuses against the Palestinian people,” read a statement announcing the pledge. “This refusal takes aim at institutional complicity, not identity. There are also 2 million Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, and Palestinian civil society has developed context sensitive guidelines for that community.” “We answer the call of Palestinian film-makers, who have urged the international film industry to refuse silence, racism, and dehumanisation, as well as to ‘do everything humanly possible’ to end complicity in their oppression,” it added. Days after publication, Paramount became the first studio to respond to the boycott, when Melissa Zukerman, the chief communications officer, said the company did “not agree with recent efforts to boycott Israeli filmmakers”. In a statement, the company, which was recently acquired by the family of billionaire Larry Ellison and private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, said that “the global entertainment industry should be encouraging artists to tell their stories and share their ideas with audiences throughout the world” and that “silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace”. In their own statement, Film Workers for Palestine pointed out Ellison’s close relationship with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and said that the pledge does not target individuals based on their identity, but rather boycotts “complicit Israeli film institutions and companies”. “We sincerely hope that Paramount, in its statement today, isn’t intentionally misrepresenting the pledge in an attempt to silence our colleagues in the film industry,” the organization added. “Such a move would only shield a genocidal regime from criticism at a time when global outrage is exponentially growing and while meaningful steps towards accountability are being taken by many.” Warners Bros Discovery’s rejection of the boycott comes after Variety reported that the group UK Lawyers for Israel sent a legal letter to the UK offices of Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery and others warning that such a pledge would violate the country’s 2010 Equality Act, making it “highly likely to be a litigation risk”. Separately, 1,200 entertainment figures, including Liev Schreiber, Debra Messing and Mayim Bialik, signed an open letter rejecting the boycott as a “document of misinformation” from artists “misled into amplifying antisemitic propaganda”. Last week, Israel and Hamas agreed to the initial phase of a ceasefire, pausing two years of violence in which Israel destroyed more than 90% of homes in Gaza and killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,139 people and taking another 240 hostage. On Monday, Hamas released the remaining 20 living hostages in Gaza as part of a swap where Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees, while world leaders met in hopes to maintain a fragile peace.

Omid Djalili responds to criticism of his decision to perform at a comedy festival in Saudi Arabia What the critics of the Riyadh comedy festival may have missed (Letters, 13 October) is the fact that performing comedy or any live event in Saudi Arabia was illegal until recently. Performers and organisers would run the very real risk of imprisonment by the authorities. Now those same authorities are paying comedians to come over. I’m of the view that allowing comedians now, after banning them before, is progress. I could also make a robust argument that opposing this festival is unsupportive of progress. However, nuance is the hallmark of a mature approach to discourse, and while the festival could easily be seen as cosmetic, it was also a huge development. Any kind of opening up is welcome and needs supporting. To deny Saudi audiences this chance is ill-informed and cloaked in the language of self-righteousness and indignation. For further exploration of this endlessly complex subject, I would recommend a 22-minute response on YouTube by Trevor Noah, the South African comedian and former host of The Daily Show on US TV.Omid DjaliliComedian and actor 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.

Soft leeks topped with halved boiled eggs and smothered in a blanket of cheesy bechamel: what’s not to like? While sorting out some books the other day, as well as gathering a pile to give away or sell, I spent a large part of two hours looking for books I know I once had, and trying to remember if I had loaned or lost them. And then, in the case of one particular book, ordering another copy. Ten out, one in: not terrible. The book I (re)ordered was Beaneaters and Bread Soup, by Lori de Mori and the photographer Jason Lowe. Gathered over decades of living just outside Florence, the book is a collection of wonderful, practical Tuscan recipes, and also tells a story of Tuscan food through portraits of photogenic local artisans: a chestnut grower, a bee keeper, a man who makes knives … I would mention more if I could find the book, which I suspect was borrowed and never returned – you know who you are! (Unless I have got this wrong and it is behind the bookcase.) One recipe I don’t need to wait for, though, is Lori’s sformato, which I have been making on and off for years. The word sformato means something taken out of a form, and it’s an umbrella term used to describe a great number of bakes. Lori’s consists of a layer of well-seasoned spinach covered with a duvet of besciamella (bechamel) seasoned with parmesan, and it inspired this week’s recipe, which is another good example of how so much cooking is simply repetitive behaviour seasoned with fresh thoughts. The fresh thoughts here are from a summer meal at a restaurant near Arezzo, where, as a vegetarian option, they baked leeks in individual terracotta dishes, poured over bechamel enriched with lots of cheese, then flashed the dishes under a grill. When I complimented the owner on the good idea, she mentioned that it works with spinach, too, and that you could also snuggle a few hard-boiled eggs into the vegetables for a more complete meal. One thing to note about this dish is that you want to cut the leeks into long lengths, then arrange them in a buttered dish – the effect is a bit like a cluster of standing logs or tree stumps. The leeks are then roasted alone to begin with, until very tender, and then the hard-boiled egg are added. If the bechamel is freshly made, the whole thing will need only five or so minutes in a hot oven, or under a grill. This is a dish that demands a salad, I think, with a vinegary dressing. 4 large leeks 6 eggs 50g butter, plus extra for greasing Olive oil 50g plain flour500ml whole milk Salt and black pepper Nutmeg, freshly grated, to taste 50g parmesan, or cheddar or gruyere Trim the roots of the leeks, pull away and discard any damaged, tough or wayward leaves, then rinse the leeks in cold water as best you can without splitting them. Cut the leeks into 4cm-long logs and rinse again if any have dirt hidden in the exposed layers (again, make sure they don’t fall apart). Hard boil the eggs (I do this for eight minutes), then drain and peel. Arrange the leeks like standing logs in a buttered, roughly 25cm baking dish, packing them in quite closely. Spoon over five tablespoons of olive oil and six teaspoons of water, then cover the dish with foil and bake at 200C (180C)/390F/gas 6 for 30 minutes. Lift off the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, by which time the leeks should be tender and just a little golden. Pull the dish from the oven and keep warm. Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan, then, as soon as it starts to foam, whisk in the flour until it forms a paste and pull off the heat. Add a little of the milk, whisk to a smooth paste, then return the pan to the heat and add the remaining milk in a steady stream, whisking continuously, until it almost boils Season with salt, nutmeg and black pepper to taste, then lower the heat and simmer, stirring and whisking often, for about 10 minutes, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the cheese until melted and incorporated. Cut the hard-boiled eggs in half, then nestle them in between the baked leeks. Pour the bechamel over the top, then finish in a hot oven or under the grill until the top bubbles.

Gould and Keaton made three movies together. He recalls a co-star who was professional, original, and remarkably down to earth I was shocked when I heard about Diane’s passing. I loved her. There was nobody like her. Bright, talented, generous, and very smart and witty. She had more than just a sense of humour; she was hysterical. Whatever it was, she just had it. The first time I saw her was in a deodorant commercial where she bit somebody’s ear. Everything about her was original. I’d be interested in anything she was involved in because she was so keen and so smart and so witty. And anybody who got to work with her was in for a treat – as I later found. We first met when she came in to audition for a picture that I was preparing called A Glimpse of Tiger. She didn’t get the part, and I wound up not doing the picture, but I remember even back then how unique she seemed, as well as very down to earth and extremely normal. I then did three pictures with her – I Will, I Will … For Now; Harry and Walter Go to New York and The Lemon Sisters – and we became friends. She sang and danced in that final one and was fabulous at both. She was perfect to work with: always prepared, always present. She was beautiful, she was sexy, and she was nice! What more can you ask for? She became a legitimate superstar class American artist, yet she stayed exactly the same person regardless of her fame. She was such a complete professional. Even when the pictures didn’t all quite work, she always worked. I’d always remember when we were making our first picture together, in a little town called Ojai in California. After dinner, we snuck away into the bush together and she said to me: “This is called making out.” She was brilliantly talented and funny, but she was also plain-speaking and really nice. It’s a beautiful thing in a way, that all of us come and all of us must go. But I didn’t expect Diane to go, even though I knew she wasn’t well. I’m so happy to have known her.

Party tries to reassure its MPs about proposed scheme and gather ideas on how it could improve public services Ministers have launched a charm offensive to win over sceptical Labour MPs to back the digital ID scheme, asking MPs to offer ideas about how it could improve public services. The outreach is part of a broader loyalty and delivery drive to soothe tensions after a fractious few months for the government. Several cabinet ministers have said the government needs to make the case for a wider digital identity system. The aim is for the ID cards to be rolled out before the next election and initially used to prove people’s right to work, before being expanded to store health and benefits data to streamline access to public services and tackle fraud. Ministers have told MPs there is a firm commitment to build the digital ID within the public sector and not contract it out to private companies. MPs who met ministers and officials on Tuesday were told it would be a federated system – akin to one built for the NHS – which means that data is distributed across multiple independent but connecting systems. It would make it harder in theory to hack the entire dataset because there is no single point of failure, though it would not be immune. About 50 MPs attended the session with the technology minister Ian Murray and Cabinet office minister Josh Simons. “The main thing everyone in the room wanted to know was the cost,” one MP said. “And no one can even give us a ballpark.” Some close to the process said ministers were aware of the political risk of the scheme, estimating that about 50 MPs could rebel if a vote were held now, and that the number could double once details are ironed out. “They’re being cautious and want to get it right this time,” an MP said. MPs who had read the original Labour Together proposal for a BritCard – which has formed the basis of the government’s policy – said the cost calculations in that were “laughably low” at £150m. But several said they were pleased to see the degree of MP engagement. “Look, everyone felt this was sprung on us,” one MP said. “And it did feel like this would be welfare all over again but in fact they are engaging us quite a lot. And MPs do have a lot of expertise from surgeries about systemic problems whether that’s immigration or benefits. So I am cautiously optimistic.” Key backers in the room for the scheme included a number of the “red wall” MPs. . Emily Darlington, the Milton Keynes Central MP, is also said to have been doing significant outreach to MPs. Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters “It’s a smart move to make Ian Murray the face of this,” said one MP. “Everyone likes him and was cross about him being demoted as Scottish secretary.” But several raised concerns in the meeting about the possibility of data leaks and hacks, to be told that data was likely safer in the hands of the state. One MP retorted: “My data been hacked in the DWP several times.” One MP opposed to the changes said: “The obvious idea is to paint those against it as luddites.” Ministers said they hoped the digital ID scheme would allow quicker identification of gang leaders or bosses employing illegal workers, citing nail bars and car washes as examples. But MPs in the room suggested it would be most helpful if used for the benefits system – such as preventing the Department for Work and Pensions from making overpayments which cause a huge amount of stress for claimants who have the money taken back. Murray is said to have ruled out digital IDs being used to hold data from the NHS and said police would not be allowed to demand to see them. A government source said the intention was for MPs to offer ideas for the system and to inform the consultation, the story that the government could tell and how to “bust the myths” about digital ID, which is facing intense opposition from across the political spectrum. The charm offensive is understood to include two or three themed round tables a week – covering digital ID and also special education needs and disabilities reform – another flashpoint in the coming year. “It’s about rebuilding trust and making sure people feel heard,” one said. “They obviously don’t want another welfare rebellion style surprise.” No 10’s new political director, Amy Richards, has also been tasked with reaching out to groups of MPs and those outside Westminster to help shape the consultation, including to those who might instinctively oppose the scheme. They include Black, Asian and minority ethnic MPs, those with rural constituencies, select committee chairs, Scottish MPs and groups campaigning on digital inclusion and public service reform.

This week’s partisan blame game is the wrong response to the collapse of the alleged Chinese spying case. The failure of governance runs deeper The China spying row has revealed disturbing weaknesses in the processes of the UK state. It cannot be in the national interest for a case involving national security to get so close to the courts and then for it to be abandoned in what remain mysterious circumstances. Public confidence, as well as security itself, are inevitably placed at risk. But this genuinely important issue now risks being blanketed by the fog of the party-political battle at Westminster. For the third time this week, MPs spent Thursday trading accusations about whether the Conservatives or Labour are more to blame for the fiasco of last month’s collapsed prosecution. To be fair, the latest exchanges did not descend to the abject “did-didn’t” level that was reached at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday. Politicians from Sir Keir Starmer down are fond of saying that the national interest comes before the party interest. But there has been too little evidence of that principle in the current dispute. The main issue is not, in fact, whether China is a security threat to the UK. That is a no-brainer. Many countries, including Britain, spy on their foes – and perhaps on some of their friends too. But the threat posed by China reflects its size, wealth and values. Delivering his annual threat update on Thursday, the head of MI5, Sir Ken McCallum, said that he encountered that threat on a daily basis. “Do Chinese state actors present a UK national security threat?” he asked. “The answer is, of course, yes.” What is in doubt is whether the processes of the British state are as well honed as they should be to cope with such cases in modern circumstances. The collapse of an alleged spying case involving one of the three countries identified by Sir Ken as the chief threats to the UK – Iran and Russia are the others – provides its own answer. Very obviously, this was a case of state failure. The governance problem is on two levels. The first is that the law has not kept pace. The two defendants (who denied any wrongoing) were charged and faced trial under the Official Secrets Act 1911, which was still in force when they were first arrested. Yet the security world of 2025 is radically different from that of 1911. Hence the changes brought in by the National Security Act in 2023. Hence, also, the pressure at a late stage to strengthen the witness statements by civil servants that were published this week. But the law should, and could, have been reformed years ago. The second problem is with decisions to prosecute in national security cases. This necessarily involves a sensitive balance between the government, as the primary custodian of the national interest, and the independent Crown Prosecution Service, headed by the director of public prosecutions. Ministers insist that, like the head of MI5, they wanted the China trial to go ahead. But the collapse of the case suggests that this government and these law officers have got that balance wrong. That must change. Fairly or unfairly, the China case collapse damages trust. It makes Sir Keir’s government look hesitant where national security is concerned. Labour’s struggle to get its story straight has not helped. This even has distant echoes of the very first Labour government, which fell after Ramsay Macdonald’s decision not to proceed with the Campbell incitement to mutiny case in 1924. Labour now has a big majority, while Mr Macdonald had none at all, but Sir Keir should not underestimate the stakes.

Sharon Osbourne has said it "would be amazing" if Birmingham Airport was renamed in honour of her late husband, rock legend Ozzy Osbourne. The TV personality has given her support to a campaign to call the airport Ozzy Osbourne International, which was launched by podcaster and comedian Dan Hudson after the Black Sabbath singer died at the age of 76 in July. More than 70,000 people have signed a petition backing the idea, which Hudson said was inspired by airports being named after famous figures such as John Lennon. "It would be amazing," Osbourne said of a potential rebrand. "The world loved Ozzy. It's just a dream right now, but sometimes dreams come true." Hudson said: "It's amazing to see that Sharon is backing the idea. "The campaign is growing and growing and there's even more momentum now with Sharon on board." Edward Fitter, one of the campaign's supporters and a member of Birmingham City Council, said: "Ozzy's legacy deserves to be remembered here in the West Midlands. "We already have Ozzy the bull at Grand Central, which is fantastic, and with his family's support we should continue to celebrate his contribution to music and to Birmingham's global identity." Brand expert Andy Barr said renaming the airport would "work on every level" and give a "feel-good boost" to the region. He said that changing an airport's official name and code would come with costs and logistical challenges, but it could be achieved "through a public and private partnership". Birmingham Airport said it was "currently progressing an exciting homage to Ozzy Osbourne" and was "committed to honouring his legacy" in its terminal. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Followers of the Israeli club will not be allowed to attend the Europa League game over safety concerns. The iconic awards ceremony is being held outside London for the first time in its 33-year history. Flowers and cards have been left by the bandstand in West Park in the One Direction star's home city A court has heard Gavin Parry was killed by the "lethal weapon" in Western Road on 13 April 2021. Birmingham City Council has begun the process of compulsory redundancies for a number of bin workers, the BBC understands.

Villa won their opening home Europa League game against Bologna last month No Maccabi Tel Aviv fans will be allowed to attend their Europa League match away to Aston Villa because of safety concerns. West Midlands Police has concerns about its ability to deal with any potential protests when the Israeli side play at Villa Park on Thursday, 6 November. The Safety Advisory Group - the body responsible for issuing safety certificates for matches - informed Villa no travelling fans will be permitted at the match in Birmingham. Villa said: "The club are in continuous dialogue with Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local authorities throughout this ongoing process. "The safety of supporters attending the match and the safety of local residents is at the forefront of any decision." West Midlands Police said the upcoming game has been classified as "high risk" following a "thorough assessment". A spokesperson said: "This decision is based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam. "Based on our professional judgement, we believe this measure will help mitigate risks to public safety. "While the safety certificate is issued by Birmingham City Council, West Midlands Police supports the decision to prohibit away supporters from attending." Football's European governing body Uefa said it wanted fans to be able to travel and support their team in a "safe, secure and welcoming environment". Uefa told Reuters: "In all cases, the competent local authorities remain responsible for decisions related to the safety and security of matches taking place on their territory." Arrests were made after violence broke out before the match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in November last year. Amsterdam officials described the violence as a "toxic combination of antisemitism, hooliganism, and anger" over the war in Gaza, Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East. A ceasefire in Gaza came into effect on 10 October. Nigel Huddleston, MP for Droitwich and Evesham, criticised the decision and says he has asked culture secretary Lisa Nandy to investigate. He wrote on social media:, external "Football and sport has enormous power to unite. This decision gives in to the forces of hatred and division. "Are we seriously saying that in modern Britain we cannot guarantee the safety of Jewish people on our streets and in our sports grounds? I'm not OK with that. "Every effort should be made by all stakeholders to overturn this decision." There have been protests at various sporting events over the war in Gaza, including when Israel's national team played Norway and Italy in recent World Cup qualifiers. Thirty-nine people were arrested after violence broke out in the build-up to Villa's game with Legia Warsaw in 2023. Latest Aston Villa news, analysis and fan views Ask about Aston Villa - what do you want to know?

Ms. Machado’s efforts to reclaim a stolen election by any available means, including military intervention, has long galvanized her supporters. Her opponents say these hard-line policies have a political cost.

Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK. As Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to make his latest pitch to Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, the US is yet to announce a decision on the delivery of long range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Could Washington have given the green light behind the scenes already? Are Ukrainian claims of frontline counteroffensives being exaggerated? And which side is coming out on top when it comes to drone technology? To answer your questions, Lucy is joined by BBC Verify’s Olga Robinson and Mikey Kay from The Security Brief on the BBC news channel. The team also discuss Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, Nato military exercises and Halloween celebrations in Ukraine. Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings. The producers were Laurie Kalus and Julia Webster. The technical producer was Jonny Baker. The social producer was Joe Wilkinson. The series producer is Chris Flynn. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Email [email protected] with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480 You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

Killing of Lola Daviet three years ago led to outcry after far right was accused of exploiting her death for political gain A woman who allegedly abused and tortured a 12-year-old girl before leaving her to suffocate will go on trial for murder on Friday in a case that has shocked France and caused political waves. Lola Daviet’s body was found stuffed into a plastic trunk that had been dumped on the street near her home. Dahbia Benkired, 27, is accused of the murder of a minor, aggravated rape, torture and an act of barbarity in a case that provoked widespread horror in France three years ago. The far right also attempted to make political capital from the killing after it was discovered Benkired, who was born in Algeria, had no right to remain in France and had been issued with an order to leave the country two months previously. Daviet had walked a few hundred yards from school and arrived at her home in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, where her parents were the building’s concierges, just after 3pm on Friday 14 October 2022. The building’s video surveillance records Benkired, who was homeless and unemployed but staying at her sister’s flat in the building, meeting Lola just after 3pm in front of the building. Daviet’s parents raised the alarm when their daughter did not arrive home. An hour and a half later, Benkired was filmed in the entrance hallway of the building surrounded by suitcases including a large trunk. Benkired, who was said to have given confused accounts of events, was examined by several psychiatrists and psychologists but judged able to stand trial. She has been held in Fresnes prison, south of Paris, for the last three years. Shortly after the killing, Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National attempted to make political capital out of the alleged murderer’s irregular migration status. Éric Pauget, of the rightwing Les Républicains, said in parliament that Lola had been killed as a result of France’s purported weakness on immigration. However, MPs were urged by ministers of the centrist government to “show a little decency”. A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day The then justice minister, Éric Dupond-Moretti, accused them of playing “petty politics” and using “the coffin of a 12-year-old girl” to advance their political narrative. In France, any act of sexual penetration of any kind, committed on another person by violence, coercion, threats or surprise, is rape. Benkired faces a life sentence if convicted. The trial will run until next Friday when a verdict is expected.

Blocking Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending an Aston Villa match is the "wrong decision", the prime minister has said. Followers of the Israeli team will not be allowed to attend the Europa League match on 6 November because of safety concerns, the body responsible for issuing safety certificates for matches said on Thursday. Sir Keir Starmer criticised the move, saying "we will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets" and that the role of police was "to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation". Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded the decision a "national disgrace" and suggested Sir Keir should act to reverse it. She wrote on X that Starmer should "guarantee that Jewish fans can walk into any football stadium in this country". "If not, it sends a horrendous and shameful message: there are parts of Britain where Jews simply cannot go." West Midlands Police said the game had been classified as high risk based on current intelligence and previous incidents, including "violent clashes and hate crime offences" between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans before a match in Amsterdam in November 2024. The force said it had concerns about its ability to deal with potential protests at the match at Villa Park. The Safety Advisory Group, which issues safety certificates for matches, told Aston Villa that no travelling fans would be permitted at the match in Birmingham. Ayoub Khan, the Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, welcomed the decision. He said: "From the moment that the match was announced, it was clear that there were latent safety risks that even our capable security and police authorities would not be able to fully manage. "With so much hostility and uncertainty around the match, it was only right to take drastic measures."

The US president claimed Modi had assured him of deal, but Indian officials insist no such conversation took place India has cast doubt on claims by Donald Trump that its prime minister, Narendra Modi, had agreed to stop buying Russian oil. On Wednesday, Trump claimed that Modi had assured him “today” that India would put an end to its purchase of Russian oil. “I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he [Modi] has assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. You know, you can’t do it immediately. It’s a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over with soon,” Trump told reporters, before claiming he would soon convince China of the same thing. However, in a press briefing on Thursday Indian officials appeared to undermine the US president’s account, stating that there was “no telephonic conversation between PM Modi and US President Trump yesterday”. India, which maintains a strong relationship with the Kremlin, has become one of the biggest purchasers of Russian oil since the invasion of Ukraine. It has been a significant source of contention with Washington in recent months since Trump failed to secure a peace deal with Russia. In August, the US president imposed some of his highest tariffs on India to penalise its purchase of Russian oil as he accused Delhi of helping to finance Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. India is subject to additional 25% import tariffs, on top of a base of 25%. India has publicly stood firm, claiming it would not let the US dictate its energy needs or interfere in its relationship with Russia, which dates back to the cold war. Russia remains the largest supplier of arms to India. Earlier on Wednesday, the Indian government said discussions with the US over trade and tariffs were ongoing. A statement by the Indian ministry of external affairs said the priority was to “safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario” and that all policies were dictated by the imperative to diversify and secure India’s energy sources. India has reaped significant benefit from its purchase of cut-price Russian oil since the Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, becoming one of its top purchasers globally, second only to China. However, it has led to a severe deterioration in US-India relations. The White House has increasingly sought to accuse Delhi of bankrolling the Russian president, Vladimir Putin’s actions against Ukraine, describing the conflict as “Modi’s war”. However, on Wednesday the US president spoke glowingly of Modi. “Modi is a great man. He loves Trump,” he said.

Wilder Fernández has caught four good-sized fish in the murky waters of a small bay north of Lake Maracaibo. The contents of his net will serve as dinner for his small team before they set out to go fishing again in the evening. But this daily task is a job he has recently become scared of doing. After 13 years as a fisherman, Mr Fernández confesses that he now fears his job could turn lethal. He is afraid he could die in these waters not at the hands of a night-time attacker - a threat fishermen like him encountered in the past - but rather, killed in a strike launched by a foreign power. "It's crazy, man," he says of the deployment of US warships, fighter jets, a submarine and thousands of US troops in waters north of Venezuela's coast. The US force patrolling in the Caribbean is part of a military operation targeting suspected "narco-terrorists", which according to the White House have links to the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro. Since 2 September, the US has carried out a number of strikes against what it labelled "narco-boats", in which at least 27 people have been killed. The US has accused those killed of smuggling drugs but has so far not presented any evidence. Experts have suggested the strikes could be illegal under international law. Tensions between the US and Venezuela escalated further on Wednesday when US President Donald Trump said that he was considering strikes on Venezuelan soil. He also confirmed that he had authorised the CIA to carry out covert operations inside Venezuela. Even though the strikes are said by the US to have happened thousands of kilometres from where he fishes, his wife has been trying to convince him to leave Lake Maracaibo. Every day she begs him to leave his fishing job. "She tells me to look for another job, but there's nowhere to go," he explains. He does not rule out that his boat could be hit "by mistake". "Of course it worries me, you never know. I think about it every day, man," the father of three says. One day after BBC Mundo spoke to Mr Fernández, Trump announced that "six narco-terrorists" had been killed in the latest US strike in international waters off the Venezuelan coast. Trump added that "intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks". The Trump administration accuses Maduro of leading the Cartel of the Suns drug trafficking gang and is offering a $50m (£37m) reward for information leading to his capture. Maduro, whose legitimacy as Venezuela's president is internationally contested after disputed elections last year, has denied the cartel accusations. He has dismissed them as an attempt by the White House to oust him from office. In his most recent statement, he appealed on TV for peace with the US. Meanwhile, Venezuela's Defence Minister General Vladimir Padrino has warned Venezuelans to prepare "for the worst". Speaking after the incursion on 2 October of five F-35 fighter jets in Venezuelan airspace, Gen Padrino said that his nation was facing a "serious threat" which he warned could involve "aerial bombings, naval blockades, undercover commandos landing on Venezuelan beaches or in the Venezuelan jungle, swarms of drones, sabotage, and targeted killings of leaders". Venezuela also denounced the "mounting threats" from the US at the United Nations Security Council last week. In response, the US representative at the UN meeting, John Kelley, stressed that his country "will not waver in our action to protect our nation from narcoterrorists". Meanwhile, the attacks in the Caribbean have undermined the security of the fishermen in Venezuela, laments Jennifer Nava, spokeswoman for the Council of Fishermen in El Bajo, in Venezuela's Zulia state. Ms Nava tells BBC Mundo that people employed in the fishing industry fear being hit in the crossfire between US forces and alleged drug traffickers. Ms Nava argues that the added risks fishermen are facing could drive some of them into the arms of drug and arms smugglers looking to recruit people to transport their illicit shipments. "Some of these guys are approached by traffickers," she explains, adding that a downturn in the fishing industry could leave fishermen more vulnerable to those approaches. There is certainly a sense of nervousness among the fishermen of Lake Maracaibo. Most of the crew of two small fishing boats owned by Usbaldo Albornoz refused to work when news of the US strikes broke. Mr Albornoz, who has been in the fishing business for 32 years, describes the situation as "worrying". "The guys didn't want to go out to sea to fish," he told BBC Mundo on the beach in San Francisco de Zulia, which sits at the northern shore of Lake Maracaibo where it meets the Gulf of Venezuela. The fear of being hit by a US strike is the the latest of a long list of risks he and his men face, including pirates, oil spills and a decline in earnings in recent years, Mr Albornoz explains. In a leaked memo recently sent to US lawmakers, the Trump administration said it had determined it was involved in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug-trafficking organisations. The White House described the attacks on the boats in the Caribbean as "self-defence" in response to criticism by legal experts who said they were illegal. But beyond the fear many are experiencing, there is also a feeling of defiance. At the end of September, hundreds of fishermen on dozens of boats took to Lake Maracaibo in a show of support for the Maduro government and in protest at the US military deployment. José Luzardo was one of them. A spokesman for the fishermen of El Bajo, he has been fishing for almost 40 years and accuses the US of "pointing its cannons towards our Venezuela". He says he is not afraid and would give his life to defend his homeland. "The Trump administration has us cornered. If we have to lay down our lives to defend the government, then we'll do it, so that this whole shebang is over," he says. He insists that what the fishermen want is "peace and work", not war, but gets visibly angry when he refers to the "military barrier" he says the US has deployed in the Caribbean. Last month, the Venezuelan government mobilised members of the militia and called on those who had not signed up to the civilian force to do so. More than 16,000 fishermen followed his call, according to fisheries minister Juan Carlos Loyo. Luzardo, who has been fishing since he was 11 years old says he will "be ready for battle, wherever needed". "If they [the US] want to kill us, then so be it, but we're not afraid." Bolton's indictment makes him the third of the US president's political opponents to face criminal charges in recent weeks. The Trump-Putin phone call came a day before Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky visits the White House. The Paris-inspired proposed monument in Washington DC is meant to commemorate the US 250th anniversary. Local officials reported that there were no injuries after a silo filled with soybeans collapsed in Martinton, 80 miles south of Chicago. The project would have given the UK a strategic foothold in the rare earths industry.

The controversial US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has confirmed it suspended operations in Gaza after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect on 10 October. Despite being funded until November, the organisation said its final delivery was on Friday. The GHF has been heavily criticised after hundreds of Palestinians were killed while collecting food near its distribution sites. Witnesses say most were killed by Israeli forces. Israel has regularly denied that its troops fired on civilians at or near the sites and the GHF has maintained that aid distribution at its sites has been carried out "without incident". The group's northernmost aid distribution site, known as SDS4, was shut down because it was no longer in IDF-controlled territory, said a spokesman. Satellite imagery revealed it was dismantled shortly after the 10 October ceasefire came into effect. Images show tyre tracks, disturbed earth and detritus strewn across the former compound. "Right now we're paused," the GHF spokesman said. "We feel like there's still a need, a surge for as much aid as possible. Our goal is to resume aid distribution." Despite the group's apparent desire to continue there has been speculation the final terms of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel would exclude them. Meanwhile, analysis of UN-supplied data shows little change in aid collected from crossings after the ceasefire deal came into effect last Friday. The average amount of aid "collected" - defined by the UN as when it leaves an Israeli-controlled crossing - each day has increased slightly compared with the previous week, but it remains in line with September figures. UN data shows about 20% of aid leaving a crossing has made it to its intended destination since 19 May. More than 7,000 aid trucks have been "intercepted" either "peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors", according to UN data. Aid sources told the BBC they hoped looting would subside in coming weeks as law and order is re-established and the populace is given assurances the ceasefire would hold. A spokesperson from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said while it was critical for the ceasefire to allow for an increase in aid and other essential supplies, it was important to reach vulnerable Gazans, including in areas that were inaccessible until recently. OCHA has hundreds of community and household service points involved in distributing aid. It lost access to many, sometimes due to conflict and sometimes due to Israel denying it access. "We need to re-establish our service points, we need looting to reduce, we need roads to be cleared of unexploded ordnance and we need safety assurances," the OCHA spokesperson said. The Israeli prime minister's comments come after Hamas said it could not access the bodies of 19 hostages in Gaza. Israel's defence minister says he "died of wounds" sustained in an Israeli air strike in the Yemeni capital in late August. The alleged attack on the 66-year-old is said to have left him unconscious. Israel's prison service called the claim "fake". The Israeli military says 20 living hostages have been released by Hamas and have returned to Israel. About 2,000 people are likely to be charged, meaning 400 trials could need to be held.

US President Donald Trump says "great progress" was made during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, with the pair agreeing to face-to-face talks in Hungary. He said the call, the first with Putin since mid-August, was "very productive", adding that teams from Washington and Moscow will meet next week. Trump did not confirm a date for his meeting with Putin in Budapest. The Kremlin said work on the summit would begin "immediately" after the "extremely frank and trustful" call. The talks came a day before Ukraine's President Zelensky was to visit the White House, and with Trump weighing whether to arm Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles capable of striking deep into Russia. As he arrived in the US, Zelensky said Moscow was "rushing to resume dialogue as soon as it hears about Tomahawks". Writing on his Truth Social platform after the call concluded, Trump said he and Putin "spent a great deal of time talking about Trade between Russia and the United States when the War with Ukraine is over". He said "high level advisors" from both countries would meet at an unspecified location next week, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading the American delegation. Trump also said he would update Zelensky on his talks with Putin on Friday, adding: "I believe great progress was made with today's telephone conversation." He later told reporters he expected to meet Putin "within two weeks". Asked about the prospect of giving the missiles to Ukraine after his call with Putin, Trump said "we can't deplete" the US stockpile of Tomahawks, adding "we need them too... so I don't know what we can do about that". Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishyna, said Russia launching overnight strikes on Ukraine "hours before" Putin's call with Trump "exposes Moscow's real attitude toward peace". In a statement to the BBC's US partner CBS, she added: "These assaults show that Moscow's strategy is one of terror and exhaustion. The only effective response is pressure - through tougher sanctions, reinforced air defense, and the supply of long-range capabilities." Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on X the planned Budapest meeting was "great news for the peace-loving people of the world". Earlier, he also said: "Peace requires patience, strength, and humility. Europe must shift its stance. Instead of arrogance and fanning the flames of endless war, we need negotiations with Russia. Only dialogue can bring peace to our continent." Trump has taken a much tougher line towards Putin over the Ukraine war since a face-to-face summit in Alaska in August failed to produce a decisive breakthrough in attempts to broker a peace deal. The pair met on US soil on 15 August for a summit which the US president hoped would help convince the Russian president to enter comprehensive peace talks to end the Ukraine war. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They spoke again days later when Trump interrupted a meeting with Zelensky and European leaders to call Putin. Since then, neither the White House or Kremlin have public confirmed any communications between the two. During his presidential election campaign, Trump claimed he would be able to end the war in Ukraine within days but has since admitted resolving the conflict has been more challenging than any he has been involved in since returning to power. Trump had been seen as more sympathetic to Russia than his predecessor Joe Biden, and strained relations with Zelensky came to a head on 28 February when he and Vice-President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office on live television. But public relations with Zelensky have vastly improved in recent months. In September, Trump signalled a major shift in his view of the conflict, saying he believed Kyiv could "win all of Ukraine back in its original form", a far cry from his public calls for Kyiv to cede territory occupied by Russia. During Zelensky's upcoming visit to Washington on Friday, his third since January, the subject of Tomahawk missiles is likely to be high on the agenda. Zelensky has called on the US to provide Ukraine with the advanced missiles, which have a range of 2,500 km (1,500 miles). Asked earlier this week if he was considering giving Ukraine the missiles, he said: "We'll see... I may." In late July, Trump set Putin a deadline of less than a fortnight to agree to a ceasefire or face sweeping sanctions, including measures against countries which still trade with Russia. But he did not follow through the threat after Putin agreed to meet Trump in Alaska, which the US president hailed as a significant diplomatic success at the time, despite it not producing any tangible outcome. Earlier on Thursday, India's foreign ministry cast doubt on a claim made by Trump a day earlier saying Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop purchasing Russian oil. An Indian government spokesman said he was "not aware of any conversation between the two leaders" taking place the previous day, after Trump said Modi had assured him purchases would stop "within a short period of time". The US has pushed for countries - in particular India, China and Nato members - to stop buying Russian energy in an effort to increase economic pressure on the Kremlin. Zelensky has also repeatedly echoed those calls. Bolton's indictment makes him the third of the US president's political opponents to face criminal charges in recent weeks. The Paris-inspired proposed monument in Washington DC is meant to commemorate the US 250th anniversary. At least 27 people have been killed in US strikes on alleged "narco-boats" in the Caribbean. The Canadian government was reacting after the company said it would move start producing its Jeep Compass model in Illinois. The State Department shared screenshots of posts it said were examples of foreign visa holders welcoming Kirk's death.

Decision follows safety advisory group instruction Keir Starmer hits out: ‘this is the wrong decision’ Fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv will not be allowed to attend the Europa League match at Aston Villa on 6 November owing to safety concerns. West Midlands police said they had classified the fixture as “high risk” based on “current intelligence and previous incidents, ­including ­violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Uefa Europa League match between Ajax and ­Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam”. The police said they believed the measure would “help mitigate risks to public safety” and that they remained “steadfast in our support of all affected communities, and reaffirm our zero-tolerance stance on hate crime in all its forms”. The move was condemned by Keir Starmer who said: “This is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. “The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.” Villa said the local safety advisory group had instructed the club that “no away fans will be permitted”. “The club are in continuous ­dialogue with Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local authorities throughout this ongoing process, with the safety of supporters attending the match and the safety of local residents at the forefront of any decision,” Villa said. There was significant unrest when Maccabi played Ajax on 7 ­November. A report by Dutch police into the ­disorder, which lasted two days, found that Maccabi fans had torn a Palestinian flag down from the facade of a local building and burned it, shouted “Fuck you, Palestine” and vandalised a taxi, among a series of incidents before the fixture. After the match what were described by Amsterdam’s mayor as a series of “hit-and-run” assaults on Maccabi fans led to five people being taken to hospital and a further 20 to 30 being slightly injured. Sixty-two people were arrested, mainly for ­public order offences. The Jewish Leadership Council criticised the decision not to allow Maccabi supporters to attend the Villa game, posting on X that it was “perverse that away fans should be banned from a football match because West Midlands police can’t guarantee their safety”. The group said: “Aston Villa should face the consequences of this decision and the match should be played behind closed doors.” The Palestine Solidarity Campaign said the match should be cancelled, writing on X: “Israeli football teams shouldn’t play in international tournaments whilst it commits genocide and apartheid.” The Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, Ayoub Khan, said: “I welcome the Safety Advisory Group’s decision. With so much hostility and uncertainty around the match, it was only right to take drastic measures.” Ajax were prevented last month from having fans at a Champions League match in Marseille after the French interior ministry banned “anyone claiming to be an Ajax Amsterdam supporter” from travelling between the French border and the southern city. Ajax said they had been informed the decision had been taken “on grounds of public safety and security”. The same week, the prefecture of Naples prevented the selling of tickets to Eintracht Frankfurt fans hoping to travel to their Champions League match against Napoli.

Kevin Muscat is four games away from retaining the Chinese title with Shanghai Port Rangers are close to agreeing a deal to secure Kevin Muscat as their new head coach with personal terms and details still to be finalised. The 52-year-old former Ibrox defender is currently in charge of Chinese league leaders Shanghai Port, who have four games left in their season. One of the key issues holding up an announcement is Shanghai's match against Quingdao Hainiu, which takes place at 11:00 BST on Friday. It is understood Rangers and Muscat are sensitive about upsetting plans for that match by formally agreeing a deal between both clubs before kick-off. Rohl drops out of Rangers head coach search Muscat begins contract talks with Rangers - gossip Rangers are also working to secure Muscat's backroom team and tie up all the relevant paperwork needed for the Australian to coach in Scotland. Youth coach Stevie Smith will take charge of the side for Saturday's league match against Dundee United at Ibrox, but it is yet unclear who will be in the dug-out for the Europa League game away Brann Bergen on Thursday. Muscat emerged as favourite for the job after former manager Steven Gerrard withdrew his candidature at the weekend saying the timing was not right for him to return to Ibrox. Former Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl was also under consideration, but the German also pulled out the race on Wednesday. Crawley-born Muscat, who spent a season as a Rangers player, started his coaching career with Melbourne Victory, with whom he won the A-League title. After a less successful spell with Sint-Truiden in Belgium, he led Yokohama F Marinos to the J-League title before taking charge of Shanghai in 2023, won the title last season and is four games away from retaining it this term. Rangers were left seeking a new head coach after sacking former Southampton boss Russell Martin just 17 games into the ex-Ibrox defender's reign. The Glasgow side head into Saturday's game against United sitting eighth in the Scottish Premiership, nine points behind city rivals and reigning champions Celtic - and two more adrift of leaders Heart of Midlothian. They also failed to qualify for the Champions League and have lost both their Europa League games so far. Visit our Rangers page for all the latest news, analysis and fan views Get Rangers news notifications in the BBC Sport app

Trustees working with legal and financial advisers as artists claim repeated emails have been ignored Manchester Pride has said it is “determining the best way forward” with legal and financial advisers after allegations that its performers have not been paid. One of Europe’s biggest LGBTQ+ Pride events issued a statement after performers who took part in this year’s three-day festival claimed they are owed thousands in unpaid fees. In the statement posted on Instagram on Thursday, its board of trustees said: “Manchester Pride is currently in the process of determining the best way forward with our legal and financial advisers. “The aim is to provide additional communications by Wednesday 22 October. We will provide further information to our communities and stakeholders as well.” It added that it wanted to ensure that “our staff, intent, artists, contractors and suppliers, who are all a part of our community, are heard and considered”. Zahirah Zapanta, who appeared in season six of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, has claimed they haven’t been paid for their appearance, saying in an Instagram story: “It is deeply disappointing to share that Manchester Pride has failed to pay me, along with many other artists who performed at the events. Zapanta added that “repeated emails and requests regarding outstanding payments have been ignored”. The event, which took place at the end of August, came under fire in 2021 for ending its funding of two community charities while giving its chief executive a £20,000 pay rise. The BBC reported that Saki Yew, who was on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2024, is also among those who say they haven’t been paid. Yew told the BBC: “As performers, we’re used to waiting for money but there’s no communication and no answer. A lot of performers are starting to give up hope of being paid.” Manchester city council has been approached for comment.

Thousands gather in Nairobi to pay respects to veteran opposition leader, prompting chaotic scenes at stadium Four people have been killed in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, after security forces fired shots and teargas to disperse huge crowds at a stadium where the body of the opposition leader Raila Odinga was lying in state. Odinga, a major figure in Kenyan politics for decades who was once a political prisoner and ran unsuccessfully for president five times, died on Wednesday aged 80 in India, where he had been receiving medical treatment. With thousands of his supporters on the streets from early morning, chaos erupted when a huge crowd breached a gate at Nairobi’s main stadium, prompting soldiers to fire in the air, a Reuters witness said. A police source told Reuters that two people were shot dead at the stadium. KTN News and Citizen TV later said the death toll had increased to four, with scores injured. After security forces fired shots, police used teargas to disperse thousands of mourners, the two broadcasters reported, leaving the stadium deserted. Earlier in the day, thousands of mourners briefly stormed Nairobi’s international airport, interrupting a ceremony for the president, William Ruto, and other officials to receive Odinga’s body with military honours. The incident prompted a two-hour suspension of airport operations. Crowds also flooded nearby roads and tried to breach parliament, where the government had originally scheduled the public viewing. Though mainly known as an opposition figure, Odinga became prime minister in 2008 and also struck a political pact with Ruto last year in a career marked by shifting alliances. He commanded passionate devotion among supporters, especially in his Luo community based in western Kenya, many of whom believe he was denied the presidency by electoral fraud. Nesrine Malik and Jason Okundaye deliver your weekly dose of Black life and culture from around the world Many of Odinga’s mourners, who were not yet born in 1991 when Kenya became a multi-party democracy, paid tribute to Odinga’s efforts as an activist. Felix Ambani Uneck, a university student, said at the stadium: “He fought tirelessly for multi-party democracy, and we are enjoying those freedoms today because of his struggle.”

US president has repeatedly hinted at supplying Kyiv with Tomahawks, but some in Moscow say Kremlin sees it as negotiating gambit Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to head to the White House for a crucial meeting with Donald Trump, with the possible supply of US Tomahawk cruise missiles expected to top the agenda. The US president has repeatedly hinted in recent weeks that he may deliver Tomahawks, which would give Kyiv its longest-range weapon yet that would be capable of striking Moscow with accurate, destructive munitions. “If this war doesn’t get settled, I may send Tomahawks,” Trump told reporters on Sunday. “A Tomahawk is an incredible weapon. And Russia does not need that. If the war is not settled, we may do it. We may not. But we may do it.” The missile has a range of up to 1,500 miles. Trump, fresh from brokering a peace deal in Gaza, has signalled he is eager to build on the momentum of that diplomatic victory by increasing pressure on Moscow to end Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth year. On the eve of Zelenskyy’s visit, Trump said he was planning to meet Putin in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, on a date still to be determined in an effort to end the war. They previously met in Alaska in August, which did not produce a diplomatic breakthrough. The announcement of another Trump-Putin summit followed a phone call with the Russian president. “I believe great progress was made,” Trump said on social media of the call. In the past, Trump has set deadlines for Moscow and vowed to impose crippling sanctions on Russia’s economy, only to back down. He has frequently softened his stance after speaking to or meeting Putin. While supplying Tomahawks, the idea of which has already annoyed the Kremlin, would be symbolically significant, they are only available in relatively small numbers, estimated by some experts at 20 to 50 missiles. Twice over the weekend, Trump and Zelenskyy spoke by phone in what the Ukrainian president described as “productive” talks – a stunning reversal from February’s White House dressing-down that had laid bare the rift between the two leaders. “He [Zelenskyy] would like to have Tomahawks,” Trump said on Tuesday. We have a lot of Tomahawks.” Tomahawks were first used in combat in 1991 and are normally launched from ships and submarines, which Ukraine does not have. They cost an estimated $1.3m (£1m) each and have a range that puts Moscow well within reach, as well as offering far greater destructive power than long-range drones. There is also a relatively new land-launched variant, the Typhon, more obviously suitable for Ukraine, but the launchers are in short supply. The US army is known only to have two, although another launcher, the X-Mav, which is considered more mobile than the Typhon, was demonstrated this week. Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said: “My understanding is that US doesn’t have a lot of Tomahawks. There are launchers that can launch them from the ground, but the military doesn’t have many of them.” Pavel Luzin, an independent Russian military analyst, said: “The Typhon system itself is new, still being produced for the US military. And it’s not just a launcher – it includes transport and reloading vehicles as well as a dedicated command post.” In recent weeks, the Trump administration also authorised the sharing of US intelligence to help Ukraine carry out precision strikes on Russia’s oil refineries using domestically produced drones and US-supplied Atacms missiles. These attacks have led to fuel shortages and a sharp rise in gasoline prices across Russia. Politicians and experts believe the cruise missiles could reinforce that strategy, though the missiles are generally considered most effective if launched in salvos, which would be difficult with limited numbers. The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment On Tuesday, Radek Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, argued they could be particularly effective because Russia’s size makes air defence coverage difficult. The Institute for the Study of War estimates that there are 1,900 Russian military targets within range of the longer 1,500-mile plus Tomahawk variant. The key question, however, is whether Trump is dangling the prospect of supplying Tomahawks to pressure Putin, while remaining unwilling to take a step that could bring the US closer to direct confrontation with a leader he still calls a “close friend”. The Kremlin hassaid Ukraine’s reliance on Washington for training, logistics and targeting intelligence to operate Tomahawks would draw the US into the war on a scale not seen before, undoing the progress Moscow claims to have made with the Trump administration. Some in Moscow said the Kremlin saw Trump’s talk of Tomahawks as little more than a negotiating gambit to pressure Putin – a move they said was unlikely to faze the Russian president. “Russia sees it as bluff from a bullshit artist in chief … the threat is not credible as there are no practical ways to do it in meaningful numbers. Russia will shrug it off,” said Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat. Still, the Kremlin has in recent days issued its strongest warnings to Trump since he assumed office – a striking shift in tone for Moscow, where many had expected Washington to help secure a Ukraine settlement favourable towards Russia. Putin last week warned the US against supplying Tomahawks, saying their transfer would mark a “qualitatively new stage of escalation”. On Thursday, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov struck a similar note, telling the state-run Radio Mayak that the delivery of the cruise missiles to Ukraine “could lead to a qualitatively new level of escalation in the conflict”, adding: “It would be a very serious new step in that direction.” A former senior Russian defence official said Moscow was less worried about the impact of Tomahawks on the battlefield than about what delivery of the weapons would symbolise. “Moscow doesn’t believe Tomahawks will dramatically change the situation on the ground,” they said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “But it would be the clearest sign yet that Putin is losing Trump – and that is deeply concerning for them. Their delivery would cross a red line, after which Trump could feel emboldened to expand US arms supplies to Ukraine.”

Hume: Ley describing Melbourne as Australia’s ‘crime capital’ just ‘explaining what every Victorian already knows’ The federal Liberal senator for Victoria, Jane Hume, was on ABC Radio National a short time ago speaking about crime in the state. She was asked if it was appropriate for Liberal leader Sussan Ley to refer to Melbourne as the “the crime capital of Australia”. Hume responded it was “explaining what every Victorian already knows”. She was then asked what the federal opposition’s policy is to address crime in Victoria is after, Hume responded: Sussan and the shadow ministry team are putting together our policy agenda as we speak. It is only five months since the last election, but I don’t agree that there is nothing that a federal government cannot do. In fact, there are plenty of things that a federal government can get involved in to help states tackle crime, whether it be working for consistent bail laws across the country. Hume also mentioned the need to stop threats against retail workers, and that the federal government has a role to play to tackle the “illicit tobacco space”. My colleague, Benita Kolovos, wrote an analysis on this issue yesterday, saying there’s no question Victoria has a crime problem – but the federal Coalition parachuting in with talking points and a scare campaign is not the answer. Read more here: ‘Conflicts of interest’ behind Australian parliamentary official’s $315k retirement payment, report finds An independent “fact-finding mission” into a $315,126 retirement payment to a senior parliamentary department official has found “multiple procedural failures” including overpayment, a disregard for specialist advice and “excessive pressure” applied in the payment’s timing. The report by Sydney barrister Fiona Roughley SC, released Thursday, found there were “conflicts of interest” and “conflicted persons” within the Department of Parliamentary Services involved in the decision-making process. Looming social media ban on docket for education parley The government leaders responsible for enforcing a world-first ban on social media for teenagers will gather to hear how the initiative will work. Education ministers from across the nation, whose armies of school teachers will help police the restrictions, will assemble for the high-level meeting on Friday. Less than two months from the ban kicking in, the federal communication minister, Anika Wells, and eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, are set to speak to state education ministers on Friday. The duo will unveil a resource package for both educators and parents to help them understand the laws and how to engage with kids on them. From 10 December, platforms must take reasonable steps to find underage users and stop under-16s accessing the platforms, as well as provide an accessible complaints process for users. Melbourne pro-Palestine rallies to pause after ceasefire Melbourne’s weekly pro-Palestine rallies will be paused following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the activist group behind the demonstrations says. In a social media post on Instagram, Free Palestine Coalition Naarm and The Sit-Intifada said the weekly Sunday rallies outside the State Library would be halted after the ceasefire agreement last week: We will be pausing the weekly protest initiative in response to the cessation of the Zionist offensive. Melbourne’s pro-Palestine protests – which at its peak attracted more than 10,000 people – began shortly after Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack and were held almost every Sunday. This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Good morning, and happy Friday. I’m Jordyn Beazley and I’ll be taking you through our rolling news coverage this morning. If you see anything you’d like to draw my attention to, you can reach me on [email protected]. First Peoples’ Assembly says not too late for Victorian Liberals to back treaty Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly says it’s not too late for the opposition to back the state’s Indigenous treaty bill as it passed parliament’s lower house on Thursday. The Coalition this week announced it would repeal the agreement – Australia’s first formal treaty with First Nations people – if elected next year. The opposition already withdrew its support for the treaty process after the failure of the 2023 referendum to change Australia’s constitution to create a federal voice to parliament. The bill passed the lower house with the support of Labor and Greens MPs. Opposition MPs voted against it. Assembly co-chair and Gunditjmara man Rueben Berg urged the opposition to support the bill in the upper house: Aboriginal voices from across the state have been clear that Treaty is the change we need to create a better future for our people. As the Bill moves to the upper house, my message to Liberal and National representatives is it’s not too late to again walk with us. Parliament’s upper house will debate the bill at the end of the month. Once the bill passes parliament, as expected with the support of the Greens and other progressive crossbenchers, the government and the assembly will formally sign the treaty agreement. The independent senator Jacqui Lambie has accused a parliamentary committee of conducting a “stealth hearing” on controversial changes to freedom of information legislation. The Senate referred the bill to an inquiry last month, which has now received submissions, will hold its first public hearing today and will make recommendations for the bill, which is due by 3 December. But notably absent from the list of submissions and list of witnesses is former senator and self-proclaimed “transparency warrior” Rex Patrick, who looks like he’s been “censored” says Lambie. The Tasmania senator also claims the committee did not provide advance notice to her office of the upcoming public hearing, despite her “strong interest” on the issue. “I have moved amendments on this legislation ... but I wasn’t notified of the hearing in a timely way. There’s something unusual going on here – it’s like they’re trying for a stealth hearing on changes to legislation that is about secrecy and transparency. What really blows me away is that the witness list has been published without consultation and it looks like Rex Patrick and [former ABC investigative journalist and barrister] Paul Farrell – two of the most experienced FOIers in the country – haven’t been invited to give evidence. It looks like Mr Patrick’s very comprehensive submission on the bill, has been censored. Mr Patrick did accuse the prime minister of hypocrisy in his submission, but his accusation is grounded in fact. Guardian Australia has contacted the committee secretary for comment. Hail and storms forecast for Sydney this afternoon Sydneysiders: batten down the hatches. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, a storm is coming. While the city is forecast to hit a high of 32C, it’ll get cloudier during the day and thunderstorms are likely in the afternoon and evening, possibly severe, with damaging winds and large hail. For those outside the NSW capital, Perth will be sunny and 28C, Adelaide partly cloudy and 21, Melbourne cloudy and 20, Hobart showery and 16, Canberra windy and 27, and Brisbane sunny and 28. The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has challenged Anthony Albanese to extract “concrete outcomes” on Aukus, trade and tariffs from his meeting with President Donald Trump next week. The prime minister heads to Washington DC on Sunday ahead of a White House meeting on Monday. It will be the first formal face-to-face meeting between Albanese and Trump, after a series of phone calls, a cancelled meeting in Canada and a brief chat in New York last month. The Labor government is downplaying prospects of any immediate outcomes on the Pentagon’s Aukus review, tariffs on Australia, or a mooted critical minerals deal coming during Albanese’s trip. But Ley has continued the opposition’s criticism that Albanese hasn’t met Trump before now. She said she’d written to Albanese saying she hoped to see an assurance on the American review of Aukus, “real commitment” on pillar two of the Aukus agreement on future technologies, a “deal” on Trump’s trade tariffs and progress on Australia becoming a supplier of advanced weapons systems. Ley wished Albanese well, but yet again noted “this meeting could have, and should have, occurred sooner.” When it comes to the prime minister stepping into the Oval Office, there is only Team Australia. But this must be more than a photo opportunity, Australians are relying on the PM to deliver. Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories but then Nick Visser will be along to take you through the day. The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has challenged Anthony Albanese to extract “concrete outcomes” on Aukus, trade and tariffs from his meeting with President Donald Trump next week. The independent senator Jacqui Lambie has accused a parliamentary committee of conducting a “stealth hearing” on controversial changes to the freedom of information legislation. And there’s an afternoon storm forecast for Sydney, with strong winds and large hail on the cards.

Alvin Holsey just took over the US southern command late last year for a position that normally lasts three years Amid escalating tensions with Venezuela and US military strikes on suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean, the US admiral who commands military forces in Latin America will step down at the end of this year, defense secretary Pete Hegseth announced on social media. The admiral, Alvin Holsey, just took over the US military’s southern command late last year for a position that normally lasts three years. A source told Reuters that there had been tension between him and Hegseth as well as questions about whether he would be fired in the days leading up to the announcement. The New York Times reports that an unnamed US official said that Holsey “had raised concerns about the mission and the attacks on the alleged drug boats”. Hegseth, in his social media post, did not disclose the reason for Holsey’s plan “to retire at year’s end”. The post noted that Holsey began his career “through the NROTC program at Morehouse College in 1988”. Morehouse is a private, historically Black college in Atlanta. In February, Donald Trump abruptly fired the air force general CQ Brown Jr as chair of the joint chiefs of staff, sidelining a history-making Black fighter pilot and respected officer as part of a campaign to purge the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks. Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning In 2021, Holsey recorded a public service announcement urging Black Americans to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

The number of people killed by bears in Japan this year has reached a record high, the country's environment ministry has said. Seven people have died since April - the highest since 2006 when data was first recorded - with fatalities mostly in north-eastern regions and the northern prefecture of Hokkaido. A 60-year-old man cleaning an outdoor hot spring bath has gone missing what is suspected to be the latest incident. Attacks by bears tend to surge in autumn before bears hibernate, with experts saying low yields of beech nuts because of climate change could be driving hungry animals into residential areas. Depopulation has also been cited as a factor. The environmental ministry figures show the seven fatalities this year surpassed the five recorded in the year to April 2024. About 100 other people have also been injured so far this year, up from 85 injuries and three fatalities, in the previous 12 months. Investigators found human blood and bear fur at the scene of the latest suspected bear attack in the city of Kitakami in Iwate prefecture on Thursday. It comes after it was confirmed that a man found dead last week in Iwate was killed by a bear. Another recent incident took place in Numata, Gunma, north of Tokyo, when a 1.4m (4.5ft) adult bear entered a supermarket, lightly injuring two men, one in his 70s and another in his 60s. The store is close to mountainous areas, but has never had bears come close before. According to local media, the store's manager said about 30 to 40 customers were inside, and the bear became agitated as it struggled to find the exit. The same day a farmer in Iwate region was scratched and bitten by a bear, accompanied by a cub, outside his house. And earlier this month a Spanish tourist was attacked by a bear at a bus stop in the village of Shirakawa-go in central Japan. Two types of bear are found in Japan - Asian black bears, and bigger brown bears which are found on the island of Hokkaido. How much attention did you pay to what happened in the world over the past seven days? As the trade war continues to escalate, China has hit back at Trump by suspending exports of rare earth minerals. The iconic French department store will open its first flagship outlet in the historic Fort area of Mumbai city. US has become India's most severely affected market since the tariff war began. The high court has struck down an order for Chey Tae-won to pay a record divorce settlement to his ex-wife.

The number of people killed by bears in Japan this year has reached a record high, the country's environment ministry has said. Seven people have died since April - the highest since 2006 when data was first recorded - with fatalities mostly in north-eastern regions and the northern prefecture of Hokkaido. A 60-year-old man cleaning an outdoor hot spring bath has gone missing what is suspected to be the latest incident. Attacks by bears tend to surge in autumn before bears hibernate, with experts saying low yields of beech nuts because of climate change could be driving hungry animals into residential areas. Depopulation has also been cited as a factor. The environmental ministry figures show the seven fatalities this year surpassed the five recorded in the year to April 2024. About 100 other people have also been injured so far this year, up from 85 injuries and three fatalities, in the previous 12 months. Investigators found human blood and bear fur at the scene of the latest suspected bear attack in the city of Kitakami in Iwate prefecture on Thursday. It comes after it was confirmed that a man found dead last week in Iwate was killed by a bear. Another recent incident took place in Numata, Gunma, north of Tokyo, when a 1.4m (4.5ft) adult bear entered a supermarket, lightly injuring two men, one in his 70s and another in his 60s. The store is close to mountainous areas, but has never had bears come close before. According to local media, the store's manager said about 30 to 40 customers were inside, and the bear became agitated as it struggled to find the exit. The same day a farmer in Iwate region was scratched and bitten by a bear, accompanied by a cub, outside his house. And earlier this month a Spanish tourist was attacked by a bear at a bus stop in the village of Shirakawa-go in central Japan. Two types of bear are found in Japan - Asian black bears, and bigger brown bears which are found on the island of Hokkaido. How much attention did you pay to what happened in the world over the past seven days? As the trade war continues to escalate, China has hit back at Trump by suspending exports of rare earth minerals. The iconic French department store will open its first flagship outlet in the historic Fort area of Mumbai city. US has become India's most severely affected market since the tariff war began. The high court has struck down an order for Chey Tae-won to pay a record divorce settlement to his ex-wife.