U.S.

Russia’s apparent plan is to flatten then reoccupy the Ukrainian city, where the situation has become dramatically worse since the beginning of October Nina Marchenko was in her kitchen when a bomb fell on her cottage. It blew off the roof, demolished the concrete summer house in the garden, and killed her dog, Tulik. Bits of fence were tossed into the air. “There was smoke and that was it,” she said. “A woman died in another strike nearby. I can only curse Vladimir Putin. He’s driven us from our house.”Last week, Marchenko and her disabled husband, Misha, fled their home in Kupiansk, in the north-east of Ukraine. The Russian army seized the city in the early days of Putin’s 2022 invasion. Ukrainian soldiers took it back eight months later. For most of the last two years the frontline – across the Oskil River and a series of rustic hamlets – barely changed. Continue reading...

Harris and Trump’s policy priorities, polls and paths to victory: a complete guide to the White House raceThe 60th US presidential election will decide the 47th president – widely held to be the most powerful job in the world – and 50th vice-president. The candidates and their supporters are describing it as the most important election of their lifetimes, with democracy and the American way of life at stake. Record amounts of money have been raised and spent on campaign ads and ground games. Media coverage in print, on TV, online and on podcasts has never been more intense – or more polarised.All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs, along with 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate, which together will decide the membership of the 119th US Congress. Thirteen state and territorial governorships and numerous other state and local elections will take place. Continue reading...

Conservation summit agrees global levy on drugs from nature’s genetics and stronger indigenous representation, but developing nations furious at unmet funding promisesA global summit on halting the destruction of nature ended in disarray on Saturday, with some breakthroughs but key issues left unresolved.Governments have been meeting in Cali, Colombia, for the first time since a 2022 deal to stop the human-caused destruction of life on Earth. Countries hoped to make progress during the two-week summit on crucial targets such as protecting 30% of the Earth for nature and reforming parts of the global financial system that damage the environment. Continue reading...

Pro-EU president Maia Sandu faces Alexandr Stoianoglo in polls marred by accusations of Kremlin vote-buyingMoldovans will head to the polls on Sunday for a second-round vote to choose between the incumbent pro-EU president, Maia Sandu, and a Russia-friendly challenger.Despite securing 42% of the vote in the first round, Sandu faces a tough challenge in the runoff against an opposition bloc led by Alexandr Stoianoglo of the Socialist party, which aligns with Moscow. Continue reading...

In shocking result that could reshape the race, ex-president falls three points behind in a state he won in 2016 and 2020A poll in Iowa that has unexpectedly put Kamala Harris ahead of Donald Trump in what was previously expected to be a safe state for the Republicans has sent shockwaves through America’s poll-watchers.The Selzer poll carried out for the Des Moines Register newspaper showed Harris ahead of her Republican rival by three points. Continue reading...

Demonstrators from Texas to Connecticut and Washington DC carried signs and chanted: ‘We won’t go back!’Thousands of women rallied Saturday in the nation’s capital and elsewhere in support of abortion rights and other feminist causes ahead of Tuesday’s election.Demonstrators carried posters and signs through city streets, chanting slogans such as: “We won’t go back!” Some men joined with them. Speakers urged people to vote in the election – not only for president but also on down-ballot issues such as abortion-rights amendments that are going before voters in various states. Continue reading...

The historic allegations, which Brand has denied, date back to 2006-13 when he was a radio and TV presenterDetectives investigating historic allegations of sexual assault against Russell Brand have asked prosecutors to consider bringing charges against the actor and comedian.It follows a joint investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches and the Sunday Times, published in September 2023, in which four women accused Brand of offences including rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse. Continue reading...

Brooklyn detention center holding 1,200 has been under scrutiny since two fatal stabbings this summerFederal authorities have confirmed that they seized drugs, homemade weapons and electronic devices during a sweep of the jail where Sean “Diddy” Combs is being held on sex trafficking conspiracy charges ahead of a trial next year.The Bureau of Prisons, which headed up the interagency sweep of the Metropolitan detention center (MDC) in Brooklyn that began on Monday, said the action was not related to Combs’s detention but was “preplanned and coordinated to ensure the safety and security” of staff and inmates. Continue reading...

Mayor Eric Adams asks residents to take shorter showers as city agencies ordered to prepare conservation plansNew York’s mayor urged residents to take shorter showers, fix dripping faucets and otherwise conserve water, issuing a drought watch Saturday after a parched October in the city and in much of the United States.A drought watch is the first of three potential levels of water-saving directives, and Adams pitched it in a social media video as a step to try to ward off the possibility of a worse shortage in the United States’ most populous city. Continue reading...

Commandos land in northern Lebanon in highly unusual operation to capture supposed militant group memberMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe Israeli military abducted who it said was a senior Hezbollah official in an unprecedented operation on Saturday morning during which Israeli commandos landed on the shores of Batroun, northern Lebanon, captured the alleged official and escaped via speedboat.In a statement, an Israeli military official said its forces captured a “senior operative of Hezbollah” and transferred him to its territory to be investigated by military intelligence. The media outlet Axios cited Israeli sources as saying the captured man – Imad Amhaz – was responsible for Hezbollah’s naval operations. Continue reading...