The foreign affairs minister has released the government’s new humanitarian policy, with an announcement of $9m in humanitarian relief for Yemen. Follow today’s news live
Queensland leaders to lock horns again in election debate
After their deputies traded blows, the Queensland premier and opposition leader are set to face off again ahead of the state election, AAP reports.
Continue reading...US state department confirms reports that secretary of state and defense secretary warned Israel
Israeli military strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave on Tuesday, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters.
Palestinian health officials said at least 11 people were killed by Israeli fire near Al-Falouja in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, while 10 others were killed in Bani Suhaila in eastern Khan Younis in the south when an Israeli missile struck a house.
Continue reading...Travis Gienger, a horticulture teacher, retained his title, though he fell short of the world record he set last year
A Minnesota horticulture teacher remained the reigning champion on Monday of an annual pumpkin-weighing contest in northern California, where his massive gourds have won the top prize four years in a row.
Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minnesota, beat his closest competitor by 6lbs (2.7kgs) to clinch the victory at the 51st World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.
Continue reading...Deaths occurred on consecutive days in Tennessee and Minnesota as children were struck by vehicles
Two boys recently died at separate Halloween-themed haunted hayride attractions in tractor accidents, authorities said.
The first boy died about 10.45 pm on 11 October at the Haunted Hilltop Halloween event in Hamilton county, Tennessee. A group of children at the event were playing near a path through which hay ride tractors drove, the Hamilton county sheriff’s department said.
Continue reading...The 3,800-seat Bradford Live to be part of city of culture 2025 activities but NEC Group backed out of deal to run it
Bradford council’s leadership has seen off a vote of no confidence amid growing criticism over its handling of Bradford Live, a £50.5m publicly funded venue that has been completed with no operator in place to run it.
The 3,800-seat Bradford Live building was due to open in November but performances were cancelled when NEC Group, which runs a number of large venues in and around Birmingham, pulled out of the deal.
Continue reading...Snake appears in top of fifth inning of Dodger v New York Mets game before being wrapped in towel and removed
A snake slithered through the Los Angeles Dodgers’ dugout during game two of the National League Championship Series on Monday.
The reptile appeared in the top of the fifth inning of the Dodgers’ 7-3 loss to the New York Mets. It wasn’t big enough to put a scare into anyone.
Continue reading...US policy in effect from 1994-2011 removed thousands of LGBTQ+ service members, many less than honorably
Nearly all US service members who were forcibly separated from the military when the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was in place have now been honorably discharged, defense department officials announced on Tuesday.
The “don’t ask, don’t tell policy, which went into effect on 28 February 1994 during then president Bill Clinton’s administration, barred service members from being openly gay, lesbian or bisexual – otherwise legally defined as those with “a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts”. Under the policy, other service members were also not allowed to ask each other about their sexual orientation.
Continue reading...Beachgoers warned not to touch the material, which may be tar balls formed from oil spills or seepage at sea
Sydney’s Coogee beach has been ordered closed until further notice after “mysterious black, ball-shaped debris” washed up along its length.
Lifeguards discovered the debris on Tuesday afternoon at the popular eastern suburbs beach. Randwick city council environmental officers collected samples and have sent them for testing. In the meantime, beachgoers were advised not to touch or go near them.
Continue reading...Source says backstage ‘brush-by’ did not include discussion of VIP protection given to star, a decision made by Scotland Yard
Keir Starmer met Taylor Swift at one of her London concerts days after a decision was taken to grant her a “blue light” police escort, No 10 sources have confirmed.
The prime minister and his family had a 10-minute meeting with the pop megastar and her mother, Andrea, backstage at Wembley on 20 August, with the conversation covering the Southport murders, which took place at a Swift-themed holiday club.
Continue reading...A private letter from Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin to Benjamin Netanyahu gives Israel 30 days to act
The Biden administration has warned Israel that it faces possible punishment, including the potential stopping of US weapons transfers, if it does not take immediate action to let more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
A letter written jointly by Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, and Lloyd Austin, the defence secretary, exhorts Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to ease humanitarian suffering in the territory by lifting restrictions on the entry of assistance within 30 days or face unspecified policy “implications”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: overhaul of system that imposed draconian penalties for innocent and minor errors in benefit claims is expected
Draconian penalties levied on unpaid carers who unwittingly rack up “overpayments” running into thousands of pounds after falling foul of benefit rules are to be overhauled, the Guardian understands.
The move comes six months after a Guardian investigation revealed tens of thousands of vulnerable unpaid carers were being ordered to repay hefty overpayments – and even threatened with criminal prosecution – over minor breaches of earnings rules.
Continue reading...Chancellor’s words will be interpreted as signal she will not give in to ministers over cuts she imposes in budget
Rachel Reeves has told the cabinet that the UK still faces a £100bn black hole in the public finances over the next five years amid concerns that ministers are yet to grasp the full scale of the fiscal deficit ahead.
At a meeting of the political cabinet, the chancellor said the £22bn gap this year – which the government has blamed on their poor economic inheritance from the Tories – would be a recurring cost each year of this parliament.
Continue reading...Move reignites row over Labour figures with private interests having access to government
Wes Streeting is to hand Alan Milburn a lead role in the running of his health ministry, in a move that has reignited the row over Labour figures with private interests having access to government.
The health secretary is preparing to appoint Milburn, who was a radical reformer of the NHS in his time in that post under Tony Blair, as the lead non-executive director of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Continue reading...The PM is surrounded by Blairites, from Pat McFadden and Liz Kendall to Jacqui Smith and Jonathan Powell
In the run-up to the general election, Keir Starmer was regularly compared to Tony Blair. When the parallels were highlighted by the left, they were often intended as insults. When they came from the Labour right, particularly after the landslide result, they were compliments.
Starmer has mirrored Blair so far in his ruthlessness towards his own party, his efforts to build relationships with business and his pursuit of public service reform. But he is also more cautious, less seduced by glitz and more to the soft-left in his own views.
Continue reading...European Commission president cites Italy-Albania deal as possible model for reducing irregular arrivals to Europe
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has called for an exploration of “return hubs” outside the EU in a letter to the bloc’s national leaders on irregular migration, citing a deal between Italy and Albania as a possible model.
EU leaders are to meet on Thursday and Friday for a summit on migration as the commission has said it will propose new measures.
Continue reading...Date for official opening still not announced for $1bn-plus mega-project more than a decade in the making
Egypt’s vast and much-delayed antiquities museum will partly open its main galleries on Wednesday, including 12 halls that exhibit aspects of ancient Egypt.
The Grand Egyptian Museum, a mega-project near the famed Giza pyramids that has cost considerably more than $1bn (£765m) so far, will open its halls to 4,000 visitors as a trial run until the official opening date, which is yet to be announced, according to Al-Tayeb Abbas, assistant to the minister of antiquities.
Continue reading...Comments from PM’s office come amid continued attacks on Lebanon and Gaza and after reports of assurances to US
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has said that Israel will decide alone on the form of any retaliation to Iran’s barrage of 180 missiles fired at the country earlier this month, although it would listen to advice from Washington.
The comments came after US media reported that the Israeli prime minister had given an assurance to the US president, Joe Biden, that Israel would not attack sites associated with Iran’s nuclear programme or oilfields before the US presidential election.
Continue reading...Mikhail Pichugin survived but the ordeal claimed the lives of his brother and teenage nephew
A Russian man survived more than two months drifting in icy seas on an inflatable boat in an ordeal that claimed the lives of his brother and teenage nephew, officials and reports said.
Mikhail Pichugin may have survived because of his 100kg (220lb) build, according to his wife. Media reports said he weighed just 50kg when found on Monday.
Continue reading...Classic ballad was played during bizarre campaign event in which Trump told audience: ‘Let’s just listen to music’
The estate of Leonard Cohen has issued a cease and desist order to Donald Trump, after a recording of Rufus Wainwright singing Cohen’s song Hallelujah was played at a bizarre campaign event.
Wainwright has also condemned Trump’s use of the song at the town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania. The singer characterised Hallelujah as “an anthem dedicated to peace, love and acceptance of the truth. I’ve been supremely honoured over the years to be connected with this ode to tolerance. Witnessing Trump and his supporters commune with this music last night was the height of blasphemy. Of course, I in no way condone this and was mortified, but the good in me hopes that perhaps in inhabiting and really listening to the lyrics of Cohen’s masterpiece, Donald Trump just might experience a hint of remorse over what he’s caused. I’m not holding my breath.”
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Continue reading...Abrupt landing comes a day after flight from Mumbai to New York was diverted to Delhi after a false bomb threat
An Air India plane bound for Chicago has made an abrupt landing in the Arctic city of Iqaluit, after a false bomb threat. The emergency stop before sunrise on Tuesday, came less than a day after Canada and India expelled senior diplomats in a widening feud between the two countries.
The flight’s 211 crew and passengers disembarked at the Iqaluit airport some 300km (186 miles) north of the Arctic circle, the Royal Canadian Mounted police said in a news release. According to local media in Iqaluit, an “unspecified bomb threat from a person in India to Air India” was relayed to the flight’s captain.
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