Til, the remotest of three villages in the Limi valley on the Tibetan border, was already wrestling with a dwindling population but a series of natural disasters has led many to consider where their future should be On the night of 15 May this year, the usual quiet of the Himalayan village of Til in the far north-west of Nepal was broken by a strange rumbling. Pemba Thundup came out of his house, barefoot, to see a deluge of earth, water and rocks coming down the mountainside towards the flat-roofed mud houses. The whole village was soon awake and, carrying the elderly people on their backs, members of 21 families scrambled to safety in a nearby field. After two weeks of sheltering in tents, with no sign of any government help to rebuild or resettle, they reluctantly moved back into their broken homes, but unanimously agreed to leave the centuries-old settlement for a safer location by the end of the year. Continue reading...

Communications undersecretary Claire Castro says claims from the president’s sister may be an attempt to distract from investigations into a corruption scandal Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr has denied accusations made by his estranged sister that he is longtime drug addict, whose alleged cocaine dependence has led to governance issues, including corruption, a spokesperson for the president has said. Communications undersecretary Claire Castro described the comments by the president’s sister, senator Imee Marcos’, as baseless, and suggested they may have been a desperate attempt to distract ongoing investigations into a corruption scandal involving flood control projects that may implicate her allies in the Senate. Continue reading...

Former treasury secretary steps away to ‘rebuild trust’ after severe backlash but will continue teaching Harvard classes The Harvard professor and economist Larry Summers said he would be stepping back from public life after documents released by the House oversight committee revealed email exchanges between Summers and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who called himself Summers’ “wing man”. Politico reported on Monday that Summers, a former treasury secretary, expressed deep regret for past messages with Epstein. Continue reading...

Zelenskyy hails ‘a historic deal’; families of Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia on Monday sounded the alarm about their fate. What we know on day 1,364 See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage Ukraine on Monday signed a letter of intent to buy up to 100 Rafale warplanes, drones, air defence systems and other key equipment from France over the next 10 years, as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s long-term security. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who signed the document with French president Emmanuel Macron, called it “a historic deal” at a joint news conference at the Elysée presidential palace. The letter is a preliminary commitment of Ukraine stating its interest in buying a series of French defence equipment. Several families of Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia on Monday sounded the alarm about their fate, saying all contact had been cut off, as they called for international support. During a rare news conference in Paris, Darina Repina, the legal guardian of two children who were forcibly taken to Russia after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, said Russian authorities were ignoring all requests to facilitate the return of the children. A drone struck a Turkish-flagged tanker and set it ablaze on Monday in southern Ukraine’s Odesa region, officials said, a day after Zelenskyy signed a deal to import US liquefied natural gas through the area. The MT Orinda was hit during the offloading of liquefied petroleum gas at Izmail port, Turkey’s Directorate for Maritime Affairs said. All 16 crew on board evacuated and no one was hurt, it said. Romanian authorities said Monday they had evacuated two villages near the Ukrainian border after the drone attack on the MT Orinda. Since invading Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian ports in the Danube region, triggering alerts in neighbouring Romania. US president Donald Trump is willing to sign legislation to impose sanctions on Russia as long as he retains ultimate decision-making authority over any such measures, a senior White House official said on Monday. Trump told reporters late on Sunday that it was “OK with me” that Republicans were working on legislation to impose sanctions on countries doing business with Russia over Moscow’s failure to negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine. Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has described an explosion along a section of railway line used for deliveries to Ukraine as an “unprecedented act of sabotage” that could have led to disaster. It came as a statement from public prosecutors on Monday evening said an investigation had opened “regarding acts of sabotage of a terrorist nature […] committed on behalf of a foreign intelligence service against the Republic of Poland.” China is ready to deepen cooperation with Russia in energy, agriculture and other investments, Premier Li Qiang said during a meeting with Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow on Monday. Li told Mishustin that China welcomes more agricultural and food products from Russia, according to the official news agency Xinhua. China also hopes Russia will make it easier for Chinese enterprises to invest and operate there, Xinhua said in its report, citing Li. Mishustin told Li that the cooperation between the two sides has repeatedly proven its resilience to external challenges. Continue reading...

Dentists also saw improvements in patients’ cholesterol and fatty acid levels, both associated with heart health If a looming root canal treatment is putting a dampener on the week, take heart: having the procedure can drive health benefits that are felt throughout the body, according to research. Patients who were successfully treated for root canal infections saw their blood sugar levels fall significantly over two years, suggesting that ridding the body of the problematic bacteria could help protect against type 2 diabetes. Continue reading...

Ockham Book Awards dropped two titles from contention after new guidelines introduced on artificial intelligence use The books of two award-winning New Zealand authors have been disqualified from consideration for the country’s top literature prize because artificial intelligence was used in the creation of their cover designs. Stephanie Johnson’s collection of short stories Obligate Carnivore and Elizabeth Smither’s collection of novellas Angel Train were submitted to the 2026 Ockham book awards’ NZ$65,000 fiction prize in October, but were ruled out of the competition the following month in light of new guidelines around AI use. Continue reading...

The resolution, which includes references to an independent Palestine, was passed by a vote of 13-0 with China and Russia abstaining The UN security council has endorsed proposals put forward by Donald Trump for a lasting peace in Gaza, including the deployment of an international stabilisation force and a possible path to a sovereign Palestinian state. The resolution, passed by a vote of 13-0 with abstentions by China and Russia, charted “a new course in the Middle East for Israelis and Palestinians and all the people of the region alike”, the US envoy to the UN, Mike Waltz, told the council chamber. Continue reading...

Increase of more than 40% from current figure of £85,000 will give more cover if financial firm goes bust The amount of a customer’s money protected if a UK bank or building society goes bust will rise to £120,000 next month, providing a boost to the nation’s savers. The new deposit protection limit, a 41% rise from the current limit of £85,000, is higher than expected and takes effect on 1 December. Continue reading...

Information such as age and nationality will generally not constitute contempt of court under proposed laws More information could be published when people are arrested under recommendations put forward in a review of contempt of court laws. The Law Commission of England and Wales said publishing details such as a suspect’s name, age, nationality, ethnicity, religion or immigration status “will generally not create risk”, however, what can be published depends on the circumstances in any individual case. Continue reading...

Survey reveals crisis of distress, consent issues and physical harm caused by strangulation during sex ‘I think it’s natural’: why has sexual choking become so prevalent among young people? More than two in five sexually active under-18s in the UK have either been strangled or strangled someone during sex, research has found, despite the serious dangers of the practice. “Choking”, as it is commonly known, has become normalised in young people’s sexual habits, the study by the Institute for Addressing Strangulation (Ifas) showed, with 43% of sexually active 16- and 17-year-olds having experienced it. Continue reading...

Party claims its policies would eliminate ‘black hole’ Rachel Reeves faces in the budget – but Labour says the ‘fantasy numbers don’t add up’ A Reform UK government would block EU nationals from receiving universal credit, a move that would rip up the post-Brexit trade deal with Europe and risk potential retaliation from Brussels. It is among several proposals that will be announced by Nigel Farage at a press conference on Tuesday. The party claims its measures would save £25bn a year in total – enough to cover the supposed shortfall faced by Rachel Reeves in next week’s budget. Continue reading...

Campaigners say the company is contributing to rising rates of childhood obesity, while the firm says it is helping to combat malnutrition Nestlé is still adding sugar to most baby cereals sold across Africa, according to an investigation by campaigners who have accused the company of “putting the health of African babies at risk for profit”. The food firm was accused of “double standards” over the researchers’ findings, which come at a time when rates of childhood obesity are rising on the continent, prompting calls for Nestlé to remove all added sugar from baby-food products. Continue reading...

Mortified documentarian James Blake meets young men who have drifted towards misogynist influencers – and finds them lonely, heartbreaking and on ‘semen retention journeys’ to control their sex drives Just as you can accurately measure the quality of a documentary about pornography by the number of examples of its subject that it does not show, so too you can judge a programme about “incel” culture/the manosphere/toxic masculinity by the amount of time it does not devote to the noxious leaders of the subculture. Porn documentary makers often seem to use their commission to indulge their own murky fascinations, or at the very least fill the screen with naked women as an easier way to hook viewers than constructing a decent programme. Similarly, stuffing any programme with footage of the poster boys’ diatribes, generally about pussies (female, metonymically; males metaphorically), power and the need for men to wield one over the other is a titillating opportunity and an easy shortcut to engagement. Belfast broadcaster James Blake admirably avoids this trap in his hour-long film Men of the Manosphere. It has snippets of the loudest, vilest voices, doing their loudest, vilest thing, telling young, disaffected, vulnerable men what they want to hear: that the problems in their lives are the fault of women, feminism, woke society, beta men and anyone who is not full of ambition, independent spirit and willing to subscribe to the influencer’s latest course on how to be a successful man. If you have spotted any inconsistencies here, you are probably a blue-pilled cuck and not the target market, so please move along. Continue reading...

Plan aims to restrict ‘over-policing’ of looked-after young people and ensure challenging behaviour is met with support rather than criminalisation Vulnerable young people in care who assault staff or damage property will not automatically be arrested by police or charged, under proposals intended to reduce the excessive criminalisation of looked-after children. A government review will examine how children in state care who exhibit challenging behaviour can be offered targeted support such as trauma counselling rather than being punished through the criminal justice system. Continue reading...

Security minister Dan Jarvis says scrapping immunity scheme would give relatives a renewed chance for answers The families of more than 70 people killed by the IRA and other paramilitaries in unsolved attacks on English soil can once again hope for justice under the new Northern Ireland Troubles bill, the UK government has claimed. As MPs in the House of Commons prepared to debate the bill for the first time on Tuesday, the Home Office said there remained 77 unsolved killings, including 39 British armed forces personnel in English towns and cities, from the time of the Troubles. It said more than 1,000 people were injured in the attacks. Continue reading...

Ukrainian gives up undisputed heavyweight title status Wardley will become sixth Briton to hold WBO crown Fabio Wardley will be upgraded to WBO heavyweight champion after Oleksandr Usyk elected to relinquish the title – and his undisputed status – rather than defend it against the unbeaten Briton. Wardley wrested the interim title from Joseph Parker via a dramatic 11th-round stoppage last month and was mandated to face the Ukrainian before the end of September. Continue reading...

Jury said former NFL star was liable for Goldman’s death Goldman’s family unlikely to receive full amount OJ Simpson’s estate has accepted a $58m claim from the father of Ron Goldman, decades after a jury said the NFL star and actor was liable for the man’s fatal stabbing. However, the amount far exceeds the Simpson estate’s assets, and Goldman’s father, Fred, is unlikely to receive anywhere near the full amount. Continue reading...

US-drafted resolution also includes reference to a future Palestinian state as US president’s plan would include international security force deployment Now that the first phase of Trump’s plan – the return of hostages and exchange of prisoners – has been completed, this UN vote is crucial to the implementation of phase two. The resolution is “critical” to this phase is because it “gives legitimacy and a mandate” for the deployment of the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), says Urban Coningham, an analyst with the London-based Royal United Services Institute defence and security think tank. This gives the ISF legal precedent as well as a sense of security for countries that contribute to the ISF and to humanitarian assistance. Without the ISF, it is very difficult for aid to be delivered and distributed in the strip, as well as for reconstruction efforts by the Board of Peace to begin. So this is a necessary first step before that can begin. Continue reading...

Lisa Benn says she unfairly lost international status Steve Child ‘manhandled’ Benn at VAR training event A leading official has told a tribunal that a football referee coach “forcefully pushed her” and that his behaviour was influenced by her gender. Lisa Benn, 34, claims she was harassed and unfairly lost her position as an international referee after raising a complaint. The Women’s Super League official had complained that she was manhandled on a pitch in 2023 by Steve Child, a Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) coach and former Premier League assistant referee. Continue reading...

US president said ‘we’ll work something out’ in reference to meeting with the New York City mayor-elect Donald Trump has signaled that he may soon meet with New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, telling reporters that Mamdani “would like to meet with us”, adding, “we’ll work something out” despite being political polar opposites who have shared sharp words for each other previously. “He would like to come to Washington and meet, and we’ll work something out,” the US president said late on Sunday, referring to Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist and former state assemblymember who won the New York City mayoral election earlier this month. “We want to see everything work out well for New York.” Continue reading...

Beat Denmark and qualification for first time since 1998 is guaranteed. Is it in the stars? Wounding events in modern history mean Scotland can not be a football country that expects. It is, however, one on tenterhooks as the prospect of long‑awaited World Cup qualification looms so large. On paper, the task is simple: beat Denmark at Hampden Park on Tuesday and the Scots will take a place in next summer’s tournament. It is the significance of progress that matters far more than the fact the Danes are ranked 18 places higher in the world. Continue reading...

Suhas Subramanyam, a member of the oversight panel, had asked Mountbatten-Windsor to sit for deposition Epstein files latest – US politics live A congressperson investigating the Jeffrey Epstein case accused the former prince, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, of “hiding” from his committee’s request to sit for a deposition, as Congress moves closer to a key vote on forcing release of US government files related to the alleged sex trafficker. Suhas Subramanyam is among the Democratic members of the oversight committee in the House of Representatives who earlier this month asked Mountbatten-Windsor to sit for a deposition as part of its investigation into how the government handled the case against Epstein, who died while awaiting trial in 2019. Continue reading...

Scientists find tiny amounts can be a ‘fatal dose’ for marine life in the most comprehensive study of its kind Ingesting less than three sugar cubes worth of plastic is enough to kill a puffin, a new study has found. Scientists measured how much different kinds of plastic seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals have to ingest to have a 90% risk of it killing them, in the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Continue reading...

There is mounting disquiet among Labour MPs, while the vulnerable refugees at the heart of this story are living with a renewed sense of panic If the home secretary’s twin aims in making her controversial series of immigration reform announcements this week were to receive a ringing endorsement from the far right and to make migrants quake in their boots, she has succeeded – possibly even exceeded – her own expectations. The endorsement came on Saturday, courtesy of Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. In response to a post on X which predicted that Shabana Mahmood would announce that refugees will be granted only a temporary stay in the UK and deported if their home countries are later deemed safe, he posted: “The Overton window has been obliterated, well done patriots.” Meanwhile, asylum seekers and refugees I have spoken to are panicked, trembling and crying at the prospect of having to be uprooted once again after feeling safe in the UK, often after experiencing years of risk and danger. Diane Taylor writes on human rights, racism and civil liberties Continue reading...

Michelle Sparman, 48, died after staff at Queen Mary’s hospital in Roehampton failed to search her possessions adequately, inquest finds A woman killed herself after a south London psychiatric unit failed to search her possessions adequately, a coroner has concluded. Michelle Sparman, a personal trainer and call dispatcher for the Metropolitan police from Battersea, south-west London, died on 28 August 2021 at Kingston hospital, four days after trying to take her own life. Continue reading...