Man dies after getting caught in flood water in Shropshire; Brampton area of Chesterfield evacuated
Here are some of the latest images from Brechin, where flood water reached window-sill height this morning and emergency services are rescuing people stuck in their homes.
Aberdeenshire council has confirmed that supplies of sandbags have been “depleted” and will not be replenished.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed. For latest reporting on Jim Jordan and the House speaker race, you can read our latest report:
The number of Republicans who show up for today’s vote will also be a factor in determining whether Jordan wins or loses.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that the GOP congressman Derrick Van Orden will not be in attendance, as he’s on a trip to Israel:
Continue reading...Russian forces have committed ‘indiscriminate attacks’ and war crimes in Ukraine, says UN committee of inquiry
Russian forces launched 12 missiles, 60 airstrikes and 53 shellings yesterday, and engaged Ukrainian troops in 90 combat engagements, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in its morning briefing.
Russian forces also deployed the wing rocket Iskander-K at a civilian object in Mykolaiv and launched Iranian kamikaze Shahed drones across southern Ukraine, most of which were destroyed by anti-aircraft defence.
Continue reading...White House says US president was only commenting on whether he wanted to see more hostages released. This blog is now closed
Biden says, “We’re pursuing every avenue to bring hostages home”. He says there is no higher priority.
“We’re facing an inflection point in history,” Biden says as he opens his speech. What we do today will determine outcomes for decades to come, he says.
Continue reading...Violations have soared but legislative effort to strengthen protection for young workers have received little support
Child labor violations have been soaring in the US, but efforts to render solutions through legislation have received little support, and Republicans at the state level continue pushing bills that would roll back current child labor protections.
In most recent fiscal year, the US Department of Labor wage and hour division reported 835 cases of child labor violations affecting 3,876 minors, and 688 minors employed in violation of hazardous occupation, a 283% increase since 2015. Civil penalties against employers totaled just under $4.3m.
Continue reading...Seat used during state opening of parliament takes centre stage in exhibition about royal power
The Dutch throne has been moved for the first time from the 13th-century Ridderzaal in The Hague to be displayed in an exhibition, as the Netherlands’ monarchy seeks to further open up to the public amid growing republican sentiment.
The wooden chair, upholstered in red velvet, takes centre stage in the Power of the Throne exhibition at Paleis Het Loo, a summer retreat for the House of Orange-Nassau that continued to be used deep into the 20th century.
Continue reading...TV journalist Andrea Giambruno was recorded making suggestive comments towards a female colleague
Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has split from her partner, Andrea Giambruno, a television journalist who has made several embarrassing, sexist comments.
“My relationship with Andrea Giambruno, which lasted almost 10 years, ends here,” Meloni wrote on social media, two days after two off-air recordings emerged of Giambruno, a presenter on Mediaset’s news talkshow Diario Del Giorno, making foul remarks and suggestive comments towards a female colleague.
Continue reading...Ten Nepali students died at kibbutz, leaving families for whom they were breadwinners bereft
Dhanbahadur Chaudhari now dreams of rivers of blood. Although he returned home to Nepal this week, flashes of the scenes he left behind in Israel won’t leave him alone, and for days he has barely been able to sleep.
Chaudhari, 25, was among almost 50 students from Nepal who were staying on a kibbutz in Alumim, the border area between Israel and Gaza, when it came under attack from Hamas militants on 7 October. Since the current conflict broke out that day, at least 4,200 people have died in Israel and Palestine.
Continue reading...Escape attempt failed and ‘main actors’ have been arrested, says regime spokesperson on state TV
Niger’s military rulers say they have foiled an attempt by Mohamed Bazoum, the former president they ousted in a coup in July, to escape custody.
“At around three in the morning, the ousted president Mohamed Bazoum and his family, his two cooks and two security elements, tried to escape from his place of detention,” the regime’s spokesperson, Amadou Abdramane, said on state television.
Continue reading...Senior official vows assault will ‘eliminate Hamas from the roots … everything should go away’
Israel security officials have signalled their readiness to embark on a ground offensive into Gaza that they say will be far more comprehensive and ferocious than any previous conflict with Hamas.
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, visited troops on the Gaza border on Thursday, telling them: “You see Gaza now from a distance, you will soon see it from inside. The command will come.”
Continue reading...Czech president calls on western capitals not to fall for Russian leader’s tactic to break European unity
European leaders must not “fall” for the tactics of Vladimir Putin, the Czech president, Petr Pavel, has said, two days after Hungary’s prime minister shook hands with Russia’s leader.
Viktor Orbán, in a rare move for the leader of a country that belongs to the EU and Nato, met Putin in Beijing on Tuesday for what the Hungarian leader’s office described as a discussion on energy cooperation and peace.
Continue reading...Fighting intensifies in South Kordofan state and also threatens Gezira state, to where hundreds of thousands of people have fled
Fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has spread south of Khartoum towards Gezira state, endangering the lives of thousands of people who have fled there from the capital.
The conflict is also intensifying in South Kordofan state, where a large rebel force, the SPLMN, that mobilised in June, has been relentlessly attacking army barracks, and in Darfur, where Arab militias backed by or affiliated to the RSF have been accused of conducting a brutal campaign of ethnic violence.
Continue reading...Country forced to reduce diplomatic presence amid tensions over Sikh separatist killing and says it will not take retaliatory steps
Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India amid a dispute over the murder of a Sikh separatist, announced foreign minister Melanie Joly, adding that Ottawa would not take retaliatory steps.
New Delhi last month asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence after prime minister Justin Trudeau said there was credible evidence of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder in June of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, who was shot outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia.
Continue reading...Jim Jordan says he plans to speak with the 20 Republicans who did not vote for him
With Sidney Powell pleading guilty, Thursday’s developments mark a significant win for Fulton county district Fani Willis who delivered a 41-count indictment against ex-president Donald Trump and his operatives earlier this year.
Here are the six counts Powell pleaded guilty to:
Continue reading...Relatives suspect Leonard Cure, 53, resisted traffic-stop arrest because of toll of 16 years in prison for crime he did not commit
The relatives of Leonard Cure, a Black man fatally shot earlier this week at point-blank range by a Georgia deputy during a traffic stop, said they suspect he resisted arrest because of psychological trauma from spending 16 years imprisoned in Florida for an armed robbery he did not commit.
A video was released on Wednesday by a sheriff that showed Cure, who had been released and exonerated in 2020, being shot after grabbing the officer by the neck and forcing his head backward during the traffic stop on Monday.
Continue reading...British PM flew to Saudi Arabia after Netanyahu stressed Israel’s need for ‘continuous’ UK support in war with Hamas
Rishi Sunak has urged Saudi Arabia to use its influence to support stability in the Middle East after flying there following talks in Israel with Benjamin Netanyahu, who told him his country was counting on the UK’s “continuous support” in what will be a long war with Hamas.
Britain wanted Israel “to win”, the prime minister told his Israeli counterpart during a joint press conference in Jerusalem following talks that were part of diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and prevent a wider regional conflict.
Continue reading...Police Scotland say 57-year-old’s body recovered from River Esk after reports of someone being swept away
The body of a 57-year-old woman has been recovered from a river in Angus, Police Scotland have said, as hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate their homes in a town in the east of the country because of fears that the River Esk will burst its banks during Storm Babet.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 1.45pm on Thursday October 19, officers attended a report of a person having been swept into the Water of Lee, Glen Esk.
Continue reading...Sayeeda Warsi criticises party for strongly advising its councillors not to attend pro-Palestine-related demonstrations
A senior Conservative peer has warned the Labour party not to join a race to the bottom over Israel-Hamas war protests as a council leader urged Keir Starmer to show “sympathy to the plight of Palestinians”.
Sayeeda Warsi criticised Labour for strongly advising its councillors not to attend pro-Palestine demonstrations last weekend, “despite having spent months before the recess fighting the government to protect the right to protest in the public order act”.
Continue reading...Israel defence minister tells troops they will soon see Gaza ‘from the inside’; UK PM stresses importance of allowing aid into Gaza
Continue reading...Protesters oppose mayor’s plan to move their trade to purpose-built ‘erotic centre’ away from city centre
Sex workers in Amsterdam have protested against the planned transfer of their famed red light district to an out-of-town “erotic centre”, in what is seen as part of a battle for the city’s soul.
Dozens of people, many wearing masks to shield their identity, marched through the streets towards City Hall, one carrying a banner saying: “If sex workers are not to blame then why are we being punished?”
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