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Politics
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Teen boy from Ghana chased and fatally shot on way to school in New York City
Javits Frimpong, 15, was being bullied at school before he was shot and killed in the Bronx on Thursday, his father says A teenage boy from Ghana was chased down and fatally shot Thursday morning on his way to school in the Bronx. The New York City police department (NYPD) received a report on Thursday morning about a shooting near Corona Park in the Bronx, a police spokesperson said on Friday. At about 9.24am, responding officers found Javits Frimpong, 15, with a gunshot wound to his stomach. Continue reading...
British people can’t be made to pay for the wrongs of slavery – but we must confront our complicated history | Andy Burnham
Financial reparations are not the answer. Working together with our Commonwealth family is the best way to ensure prosperity for us all • Andy Burnham open to calls for formal apology for Britain’s role in slave trade On 28 October 1787, Thomas Clarkson pushed through the crowds to reach the pulpit of Manchester Cathedral. A campaigner for abolishing slavery, he spoke urgently about the horrors of the slave trade and the humanity of enslaved people. “He drinks the cup of sorrow,” Clarkson said. “And he drinks it at our hands.” During Black History Month , these are the stories it is important to remember. They show us the complicated truth of our history. Thousands of people in Manchester signed a petition against slavery after Clarkson’s sermon. And yet Manchester’s cotton industry was built on the labour of enslaved people. There are similar stories up and down the nation. We are a country where brave people led the way in abolishing slavery, but we are also a country that participated in the trade in human lives. Andy Burnham is prime minister of the United Kingdom Continue reading...
Andy Burnham open to calls for formal apology for Britain’s role in slave trade
Exclusive: UK PM to launch drive to restructure debt of poorest Commonwealth countries but rejects demands for reparations • British people can’t be made to pay for the wrongs of slavery – but we must confront our complicated history | Andy Burnham Andy Burnham has gone further than any previous prime minister towards offering a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, in a Guardian article ahead of a Commonwealth leaders’ summit where the subject is expected to dominate. As he prepares to fly to the Caribbean next week, the prime minister said he was open to calls for an official apology on behalf of the state and offered formal talks to those affected, including individual countries and campaign groups at home and abroad. Continue reading...
I read Anthropic's 92-page risk factor document, so you don't have to – video explainer
Anthropic, the creator of Claude, filed to go public on the US stock market on 26 October. The company's filing statement contains a 92-page risk factor document in which it acknowledges the dangers that AI poses to society and human beings, and factors that could negatively affect Anthropic's business. Johana Bhuiyan, senior tech reporter for the Guardian, breaks down the document and explains why Anthropic's IPO could be a real test to the AI boom Anthropic files for potentially record-breaking stock market valuation in key test for AI industry Continue reading...
FBI arrests North Carolina man for allegedly posting classified information on social media
Authorities say army contractor James Thomas Ashbacher shared top-secret data online and stole night-vision goggles The FBI has arrested a former North Carolina government contractor for allegedly leaking classified national defense information on social media. James Thomas Ashbacher, 37, of Spring Lake, was taken into custody after charges that he shared top-secret safety data online, unlawfully stored national defense materials at his residence and stole night-vision equipment from the US army special operations command. Continue reading...
‘Deepest possible partnership’: Canada and EU announce new alliance
Alliance for the Future, unveiled at Montreal summit and open to other countries, conceived for world ‘shaken by new storms’ Canada and Europe have announced a new alliance of like-minded nations to serve as both a “protective canopy under which our citizens can thrive” and a powerful hedge against the unpredictable nature of geopolitics, while welcoming other countries to join. Speaking to reporters on Friday from Montreal, the prime minister, Mark Carney, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, called the new partnership the Alliance for the Future and said the “deepest possible partnership between Canada and the 27-member bloc had the potential to offer unprecedented stability and opportunity”. Continue reading...
Florida prosecutors drop felony charge against Rick Ross in domestic violence case
Miami-Dade officials drop charge of battery by strangulation against rapper due to ‘insufficient evidence’ Florida prosecutors on Thursday dropped a felony charge against rapper Rick Ross nearly a month after he was arrested in Miami Beach when a woman he was living with told police he hit her, court records said. The Miami-Dade state attorney’s office filed paperwork on Thursday to drop a felony charge of battery by strangulation because of “insufficient evidence”. Ross, whose legal name is William Roberts II, still faces a misdemeanor charge of battery domestic violence. Continue reading...
Tech sell-off drives US markets down by nearly $1tn after subpar earnings reports
Big tech stocks falter as investors question whether billions being poured into AI can generate returns quickly enough A sell-off of tech stocks that began earlier this month and gained steam with disappointing earnings from leading tech companies drove US markets down by hundreds of billions of dollars Friday. In total, the decline has knocked nearly $1tn in value off the tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange in one week and erased about $2tn in a month. The S&P 500, the index of the 500 most valuable companies in the US, fell by more than 1% Friday, losing hundreds of billions of dollars in market value. It was on track to erase its gain for October, even though it set its all-time high during the same month. The weakness for technology stocks dragged the Nasdaq composite down even further, more than 3%, also erasing hundreds of billions in value. The Down Jones Industrial Average fell less. Continue reading...
ICE agent charged after ramming unmarked SUV into man in Texas
Agent Mario Alberto Morale charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon over incident in Houston A federal immigration agent who drove into and seriously injured a Texas man on 10 October after a botched traffic stop was indicted Friday on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Mario Alberto Morales, 33, an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), deliberately veered his SUV into Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, causing multiple leg fractures and a hip injury, journalists at a news conference in Houston were told. Continue reading...
Men accused of sexually assaulting woman drugged by husband describe being invited to couple’s home
Men say they made connection via online adverts and swinging website and had no idea Joanne Young had been drugged Men accused of sexually assaulting a woman whose then husband drugged her for years and allowed her to be abused have described being invited to the couple’s home via online adverts and a swinging website. One of those accused of assaulting Joanne Young, who has waived her legal right to anonymity, as she lay restrained and blindfolded said he was a young man “trying out things” and had no idea she was drugged. Continue reading...
Russell Brand trial: accusers have ‘nothing to gain’ and were not led by media, court told
In closing speech, prosecutor says six women had ‘bravely’ come forward after realising they were not alone Six women who have been “haunted” by their encounters with Russell Brand came forward to give evidence against him with nothing to gain and no appetite for fame, a court has heard. The prosecutor, Riel Karmy-Jones KC, said the women, who do not know one another, had not been compelled to make police complaints by the “magic force” of media reporting on Brand’s alleged misconduct. Continue reading...
The Guardian view on Labour’s fiscal devolution: the future of Burnhamism will play out in municipal England | Editorial
Replacing government grants with revenue streams from taxation will not in itself reduce regional inequalities. But the political implications are radical Following Wednesday’s budget, the Treasury minister, Torsten Bell, was challenged by the BBC’s Evan Davis on whether its modest series of “breathing space” measures could truly be said to have ended “40 years of neoliberalism”. This line of questioning is becoming a familiar one. Andy Burnham’s ringing declaration of long-term intent is now being regularly deployed by commentators to suggest an emerging gulf between rhetoric and action. Mr Bell’s response was a good one. Recalling how “Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s hugely hollowed out local government [and] tried to emasculate our big cities”, he called the fiscal devolution roadmap unveiled in the budget a step change and a really big deal.From 2028, mayoral strategic authorities will for the first time receive a share of income tax receipts, and from next year they will be allocated 20% of business rates revenue. That figure will potentially rise to 100% by the end of the decade, while a new overnight visitors levy will add another local income stream. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here . Continue reading...
Breeders’ Cup 2026: Folsom Blues set to go off as favourite in Juvenile Turf, day one – live
Updates from Keeneland. First race 6.55pm GMT (2.55pm ET) Full race card | Thoughts? Get in touch with Greg via email Hello racing fans wherever in the world you happen to be, and welcome to the Guardian’s liveblog coverage of the 2026 Breeders’ Cup meeting at Keeneland in Kentucky. As is now traditional at the self-styled “World Championships” of Flat racing, Friday is for the juveniles, with a total of $7m (£5.2m) up for grabs, while tomorrow’s nine-race card, worth $27m (£20.3m) will include the Turf and the Classic , featuring many of the best middle-distance runners in the game. Continue reading...
Local devolution decisions rest solely with Scotland and Wales, first ministers tell Burnham
John Swinney and Rhun ap Iorwerth say devolving power further is up to Holyrood and Senedd – not Westminster Scotland and Wales’s first ministers have told Andy Burnham that decisions on local devolution rest solely with their parliaments, in response to the prime minister’s push to extend English-style regional powers across the UK. After talks in Glasgow with John Swinney and Rhun ap Iorwerth about localised employment and reindustrialisation powers, Downing Street characterised the talks as constructive. Continue reading...
How crypto hacking funds isolated North Korea’s nuclear programme
Cryptocurrency theft is estimated to generate half of the country’s foreign currency income North Korea plays by its own rules. The isolated, secretive and autocratic country is largely cut off from the world’s economic system – but when it comes to generating foreign earnings it relies on some of the world’s most sophisticated hacking. Experts, such as TRM Labs, quickly attributed the extraordinary $6.3bn (£4.7bn) Binance cryptocurrency theft to TraderTraitor, an elite North Korean hacking unit that has also been known as the Lazarus Group. Though the link may not be proven yet, the pattern of behaviour is familiar. Continue reading...
Martin Rowson on the UK budget fallout – cartoon
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Charges dropped against man arrested in mass shooting at Ohio festival that wounded 12
Eljay Crisp-Carr, 20, spent five months behind bars before prosecutors asked to dismiss charges Ohio prosecutors on Friday dropped charges against a man arrested in connection with the 6 June shooting at Toledo’s Old West End festival that injured 12 people. Eljay Crisp-Carr, 20, had faced more than 50 felony charges stemming from the shooting, including 25 counts of attempted murder. He was released after spending about five months behind bars. Continue reading...
Evacuation of civilians begins in besieged Ukrainian city of Oleshky
Humanitarian convoy brings food and medicine to Russian-held city near Kherson where people have faced months of severe shortages People living in the besieged Russian-held city of Oleshky in southern Ukraine were evacuated on Friday as part of a joint relief operation, the first of its kind in four years and eight months of war. The city, which lies on the Russian-occupied side of the Dnipro River, opposite Kherson, has suffered months of serious food and medical shortages, leading to warnings of starvation for the few thousand people remaining there, including about 50 children. Continue reading...
How do you bounce back from Liz Truss-level public failure? Don’t be shameless; do show remorse | Gaby Hinsliff
From surgeons to senior civil servants, even the most decent people can make disastrous mistakes. But these gaffes require honesty Gabriel Weston made a mistake at work this summer. It doesn’t define her – she was and is a well-regarded NHS surgeon and author – but it was serious enough, as she explained in an extraordinarily candid series of Instagram and Substack posts this month, to prompt an investigation that left her feeling “ashamed and alone and really quite nervous” . Whatever went wrong in the operating theatre was bad enough to be classed a “never event” (something that should never be able to happen if the process is working properly) and triggered a nagging anxiety that she might somehow do it again, unless she figured out where she had unexpectedly gone wrong. It’s a fascinating insight into a process that most people never have the courage to talk about openly. But it also highlights why it’s so hard in practice for doctors and other professionals to acknowledge and learn from mistakes – as every public inquiry into every public scandal ends up recommending, only to repeat it all over again after the next one – rather than close ranks and cover up. Weston says she only spoke up out of frustration with what she saw as her employers’ failure to support her (she had asked to reduce what she considered an overloaded operating list to take some pressure off, which she says has now happened, leaving her full of praise for the hospital’s ultimate response). Judging by the responses to her posts, she’s not alone. Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org . In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...
FDA again bypasses advisers to remove black-box warnings from menopause treatments
Some experts express concern about ‘lack of transparency’ as agency removes warnings on three estrogen patches Three more patches for treating menopause will no longer carry black-box warnings about cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and dementia, officials at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Friday. The FDA did not convene an advisory committee and offered few details on the scientific basis for the decision in the press briefing. The news follows the removal of black-box warnings from six menopause treatments in February, as patients across the US struggle with shortages of the patches. Continue reading...
Pope Leo votes in US midterms in first known political ballot for any pontiff
US citizen Leo, who has clashed with Donald Trump over several issues, submitted his vote by post in Chicago Pope Leo has voted in the US midterm elections – the first time a pontiff is known to have cast a ballot in any political election at any time in history. Leo, who has clashed with the US president, Donald Trump, over several issues, submitted his vote by post in Chicago, where he was born, the Vatican said on Friday. Leo became the first American leader of the Catholic church last year after the death of Pope Francis. Continue reading...
A working-class Alaskan Native takes on a ‘multimillionaire’ Republican for seat in Congress
Independent candidate Bill Hill is threatening to unseat Trump ally Nick Begich with a message of affordability As Republicans fight to maintain their narrow majority in Congress , they face a unique challenge in Alaska – not from a Democrat, but from an independent commercial fisher and first-time candidate running to flip the state’s lone House seat. Bill Hill, who is an Alaska Native and has worked in education and construction, has positioned himself as a working-class candidate who will fight to make life more affordable for people like himself and his family. Continue reading...
Son in custody after Oberlin professor dad and stepmother shot dead in Ohio
Daniel Jones held on $3m bail after studio art chair Pipo Nguyen-Duy and Tran Thi Phong found dead at home Oberlin College was shaken on Friday after an award-winning professor of photography who had worked at the Ohio liberal arts college for nearly 30 years was found shot and killed on Wednesday, officials said. Pipo Nguyen-Duy, 64, and his wife, Tran Thi Phong, 56, were found shot to death in their home. Continue reading...
Trump reverses decision to cancel Kansas and Iowa rallies ahead of midterms
The president cancelled the events in favor of tele-rallies, as Republicans face a fight to retain control of Congress Donald Trump cancelled, and then promptly uncancelled, two in-person rallies in Kansas and Iowa this weekend as polls suggest US midterm election races in the previous Republican strongholds could go down to the wire. On Thursday, just five days before election day, the Republican National Committee (RNC) announced the president would no longer host the Kansas and Iowa rallies and instead participate in “a large number of tele-rallies”. The RNC claimed it felt it was in a “strong position” in Kansas and Iowa. Continue reading...