Suicide bombing in Islamabad kills 12, says Pakistan's interior minister
Mohsin Naqvi says the bomber tried to gain entry to a court complex but was unable to get inside.
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Iraqis Are Voting for a New Parliament. Here’s What to Know.
Iraq is caught in a power struggle between Washington and Tehran, with the Trump administration insisting that the next government disarm powerful Iran-backed militias.
UK grocery price inflation slows as retailers launch pre-Christmas promotions
Prices are rising fastest in markets such as chocolate confectionery, fresh meat and coffee, figures showBusiness live – latest updatesThe pace of grocery inflation in Britain slowed last month as retailers ramped up promotions before Christmas, providing a little relief for consumers bracing for further tax rises in this month’s budget.Grocery inflation stood at 4.7% in the four weeks to 2 November, easing from 5.2% in the previous four weeks, according to figures from Worldpanel by Numerator, formerly known as Kantar. Continue reading...
Tim Davie tells BBC staff ‘we have to fight for our journalism’ but does not address Trump’s $1bn lawsuit threat – live
Outgoing director general says freedom of press under pressure and that he sees ‘weaponisation’Here is a round-up of what various lawyers and commentators have been saying about Donald Trump’s legal case against the BBC.Joshua Rozenberg, the legal commentator and a former BBC journalist, has said in a post on his A Lawyer Writes Substack that the corporation should settle. He explains:Given what Brito is claiming, the lawyer is unlikely to be impressed with the BBC’s assertion that “the purpose of editing the clip was to convey the message of the speech made by President Trump so that Panorama’s audience could better understand how it had been received by President Trump’s supporters and what was happening on the ground at that time”.So the BBC would be well advised to draft a retraction and apology in terms that the president’s lawyer finds acceptable. Brito is also calling for this to be broadcast as prominently as the original programme. And the corporation will have to pay compensation.George Peretz KC, chair of the Society of Labour Lawyers, says on Bluesky, commenting on Rozenberg’s blog, that the BBC might be better off with a more robust approach.So at the moment, despite @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social’s piece, I wonder whether a better BBC response would be the Arkell v Pressdram one. proftomcrick.com/2014/04/29/a...(At least to the extent he’s seeking more than a formal apology limited to the obvious mistake and a very modest offer of compensation.)There is, after all, the risk of a dangerous precedent here. The BBC will often offend foreign leaders – some worse than Trump. Sometimes it will make factual mistakes in reporting on them. Yield to Trump now, and who next?Mark Stephens, a media lawyer, told BBC Breakfast that a court case could reflect badly on Trump. He said:Every damning quote that he’s ever uttered is going to be played back to him and picked over – not great PR.Trump risks turning what’s currently a PR skirmish with the BBC very much on the back foot into a global headline that the court finds Trump’s words were incendiary …George Freeman, executive director of the Media Law Resource Center in New York and a former lawyer for the New York Times, told the BBC that Trump “has a long record of unsuccessful libel suits – and an even longer record of letters like the one you received that don’t end up as lawsuits at all”.Christopher Steele, the former MI6 officer who is trying to recover costs from Trump after the president sued him unsuccessfully in the UK, says Trump’s latest threat is preposterous.Donald Trump’s threat to sue the BBC in London is preposterous. He remains in breach of English High Court orders in a case he brought and lost against Orbis 18 months ago. So any further abuse of the UK courts by him for such legal tourism and intimidation should be prohibited.Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, says the BBC has been told Trump does not have a case.The legal advice to the BBC I am told is that President Trump was not meaningfully damaged by Panorama’s manipulation of his 6 January speech, and that therefore there is no legal necessity to pay him compensation. The BBC board is therefore likely to resist and fight his demand to be “appropriately compensated” out of court, and will risk him carrying through on his threat to seek $1bn in damages by going to court.These times are difficult for the BBC but we will get through it. We will get through it and we will thrive. This narrative will not just be given by our enemies. It’s our narrative. We own things.I see the free press under pressure. I see the weaponisation. I think we have to fight for our journalism.We have made some mistakes that have cost us but we need to fight for that. Continue reading...
Trump-brokered ceasefire in trouble as landmine explosion derails Thailand-Cambodia peace deal
Thailand has paused a US-brokered ceasefire with Cambodia after a landmine explosion injured four of its soldiers.
'This animal spared my life': Biologist bitten in head by shark hopes to meet it again
Despite having worked with sharks for 30 years, Mexican Mauricio Hoyos never thought he would encounter one so close up.
Catherine Connolly sworn in as 10th president of Ireland and promises to be a ‘catalyst for change’ – Europe live
Independent leftwing politician inaugurated as president after landslide election winYou can watch the live stream of the Irish presidential inauguration here:Irish president-elect Catherine Connolly has just arrived at the Dublin Castle for her presidential inauguration. Continue reading...
Modi Vows Justice as Police Suspect Terrorism in Deadly New Delhi Blast
Those responsible for the explosion “will not be spared,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India said. The blast killed at least eight people near a subway station at evening rush hour.
Cop30 live: Ethiopia to host Cop32 – but fight to host Cop31 continues
Tuesday’s thematic day covers a gamut of topics ranging from adaptation and the bioeconomy to cities and infrastructure. But for the bigger topics of emissions and finance, nations are still setting out their positions.Hello, this is Ajit Niranjan taking over the blog for the next few hours. If you’re in Belém and have something to share - or if you’re a reader elsewhere with requests for what we should cover at Cop30 - just drop me an email on ajit.niranjan@theguardian.com.Climate campaigners last night confronted agribusiness lobbyists in a protest at the AgriZone, an area outside the Cop30 summit venue sponsored by Nestlé and Bayer. Continue reading...
Typhoon Fung-wong a “devastating blow” to the Philippines
"It's not just infrastructure that's been hit, it's really the people's ability to recover and rebuild their lives."