Keyword – NO KEYWORD FOUND
Trefwoorden – NO KEYWORD FOUND
Title – Ben Jennings on the far-right disturbances in Dover and Portsmouth – cartoon | Ben Jennings | The Guardian
Author – Ben Jennings
Link – Ben Jennings on the far-right disturbances in Dover and Portsmouth – cartoon | Ben Jennings | The Guardian
Publish date – Mon 7 Sep 2026 19.11 CESTLast modified on Tue 8 Sep 2026 11.37 CEST
Category – Opinion
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2026/sep/07/ben-jennings-on-the-far-right-disturbances-in-dover-and-portsmouth-cartoon

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Keyword – Culture
Trefwoorden – Georgia O’Keeffe, Art, Painting, Art and design, Culture, Exhibitions, Detroit, Michigan
Title – Skyscrapers and smokestacks: the grittier side of Georgia O’Keeffe | Georgia O'Keeffe | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/veronica-esposito
Link – Skyscrapers and smokestacks: the grittier side of Georgia O’Keeffe | Georgia O'Keeffe | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-09-08T10:00:01.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/sep/08/georgia-okeeffe-architecture-exhibit

G eorgia O’Keeffe is celebrated for her ethereal depictions of flowers, sunlight, landscapes and animal bones, their gracefully swooping forms dripping with organic curves and seemingly on the verge of melting before our eyes. Such an approach would seem to be quite at odds with the firm, straight lines of farmhouses and barns, to say nothing of the electrified skyscrapers of New York City – and yet that is exactly what is centered in the Detroit Institute of Arts’s new show Georgia O’Keeffe: Architecture .

“I wanted to tell a new story about an artist who is so familiar,” said Dia curator Ben Coleman, who oversaw this collection of close to 40 works from the famed artist. “We can take a fresh look at works that O’Keeffe always considered essential and celebrate them in the way she wanted to.”

The idea for the show emerged from O’Keeffe’s 1932 work Stables, which is the only piece on exhibition that is in the Dia’s collection. It’s a charmingly tranquil side view of the titular construct, dominated by bright green, rich burgundy and subtly textured eggshell white, made by O’Keeffe during one of her many travels through the rurals of upstate New York and far-out parts of eastern Quebec. The artist regularly adventured through these rough and remote lands before deciding to leave New York City and live full-time in New Mexico in 1949.

Coleman explained that Stables gave him the inspiration to look at O’Keeffe’s work with fresh eyes and seek out other ways of exploring her subtle textures and studies in pure color. “Stables is very precise in its use of geometry, and for many people who know O’Keeffe also a bit unexpected,” said Coleman.

With his eyes attuned to the geometries of Stables, Coleman began to seek out more and more of O’Keeffe’s architectural works. Among other things, this search let him put fresh eyes onto the artist’s New York City pieces, many of which she made from the vantage of her apartment window; she and her husband Alfred Steiglitz started on the 11th floor of the Shelton Hotel in 1926, then moved up to the 28th, and finally the 30th floor out of 31. “It was likely the tallest residential building in the world at the time,” said Coleman.

This high vantage let O’Keeffe create unprecedented cityscapes, among them a series of works depicting the gritty urban industrial life surrounding the East River. With smokestacks billowing out pollution and endless rows of nondescript urban buildings, it’s quite far from the works O’Keeffe is famous for, but according to Coleman, in these pieces she’s honing her ability to represent the feeling of a place by the buildings that fill it, a talent that she would famously apply to New Mexico’s adobes in subsequent years.

“She tried very hard to represent the spirit and character of these places,” said Coleman. “So in my mind it connects an adobe church in New Mexico with a skyscraper in midtown Manhattan.”

Georgia O’Keeffe: Architecture also offers viewers a most remarkable depiction of the Brooklyn Bridge; verging on religious in its adoration of a beloved icon, it was made by the artist in 1949 as a sort of swan song as she was on her way out of New York. The piece is dominated by a flattened view of the bridge’s famous arches, bringing to mind the shapes of stained glass windows, framing gracefully swooping renditions of the bridge’s suspending cables. It neatly defamiliarizes the bridge, toying with abstraction while offering much to anchor the eye in reality.

“It’s a deeply personal painting,” said Coleman, “documenting a moment of transition for O’Keeffe. It places our point of view into a moment of departure, and there’s a beautiful, poetic quality to how she uses light and variations of color, almost like looking through a stained glass window.”

Another noteworthy aspect of Georgia O’Keeffe: Architecture is that it brings together multiple depictions of a humble patio door, a beloved part of the artist’s home in Abiquiu, New Mexico. O’Keeffe bought the house in 1945, taking four whole years to restore it from the ruined state that she found it in. It became her permanent home in 1949, and she resided there until 1984, just two years before her death.

The patio door paintings are a part of a suite of nearly abstract works centered around doors that O’Keeffe made during the 1940s and 50s, remarkable for the variety of colors that she brings to these simple, repeating forms. “Once she saw this patio door,” said Coleman, “O’Keeffe decided that it was something that she needed to live with. She was inspired to paint it dozens of times, and it’s part of an extraordinary series of works, some of the most abstract in her career, but also so precisely anchored and placed.”

Placing her alongside contemporaries such as Agnes Martin and Mark Rothko, these pieces are color studies formed out of minimistic geometries, generally showing rectangles of color with minimal, if any, perspective. After viewing one of the patio door paintings, Martin wrote to O’Keeffe: “It was a joyous experience and afterwards I knew more about the possibility of human response.”

Immersive digital experiences offered at the exhibition let audiences actually feel what it’s like to be in some of the places that O’Keeffe inhabited while painting – the upper floors of the Shelton Hotel and her beloved patio in Abiquiu. They offer a chance to slow down and let one’s senses take charge, as museumgoers take their shot at attending to the subtle details of place that O’Keeffe drank in as she attempted to capture the pure essence of a location.

Coleman is excited to be bringing O’Keeffe’s architectural works to light, a part of her career that is built on an entire social network of architects and designers that she had deep personal and creative relationships with. In his telling, it’s a story that has long resided in the archives, and now is the time to give it greater prominence in a celebrated artist’s career. “It’s a really exciting story,” he said, “to see these rich connections that inspired her to engage with the built environment for many years. I think visitors will be surprised that these works exist at all.”

Georgia O’Keeffe: Architecture is on view from 11 September to 3 January at Detroit Institute of Arts

Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – Europe, Ukraine, Russia, World news, Germany, France, Hungary
Title – Russia says it will give a ‘harsh and painful’ response after Hungary expels 10 diplomats – Europe live | Europe | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jakub-krupa,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/yohannes-lowe
Link – Russia says it will give a ‘harsh and painful’ response after Hungary expels 10 diplomats – Europe live | Europe | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-09-08T13:11:53.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/sep/08/ukraine-russia-war-zelesnkyy-putin-ruslan-kravchenko-prosecutor-general-germany-france-europe-latest-news-updates

Moscow says it will have a ‘harsh and painful’ response to Hungarian move to expel 10 diplomats

We are getting a bit more on that Russian response to Hungary , and it’s clear that Moscow is not happy.

The foreign ministry said it would proceed with a “harsh and painful” response, AFP reported.

“ The response to the Russophobic lobby in Budapest will be harsh and painful, ” foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told the TASS state news agency.

European countries say they would support restrictions on trades with West Bank settlements

The foreign ministers of Canada , Denmark , Finland , France , Iceland , Ireland , Norway , Poland , Portugal , Spain , Sweden and the UK , have issued a statement saying they ⁠would support or consider restrictions ​on trade in goods with Israeli ⁠settlements in the West Bank that are illegal ⁠under international law.

The countries confirmed “their intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law, or that they are actively considering these and other measures, in accordance with their national procedures,” the nations’ foreign ministers said in a statement .

“ The government of Israel must immediately halt the expansion of settlements and civilian administrative powers, ensure accountability for settler violence, and investigate allegations against Israeli forces,” it added.

The (relatively new) UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband , has been speaking in the House of Commons, setting out the government’s position.

Taking a much stronger stance than his predecessor, Yvette Cooper , Miliband said the government would now take the official stance that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank was unlawful in its entirety, while announcing an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories, among a number of other policies.

You can read more in our UK politics live blog here:

Ukraine can buy Patriot air defence system parts from EU’s support loan, von der Leyen says

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has said that Ukraine will ⁠be able to buy crucial ⁠parts for ⁠Patriot ​air defense systems through the ⁠next €3.2bn (£2.7bn; $3.7bn) disbursement ⁠from the EU’s support ​loan.

“Together with Nato secretary general Rutte, I welcome the agreement ‌by Member States on the ​derogation for Ukraine to purchase crucial products for Patriot ⁠air defence systems,” she ​said in ​a statement.

Ukraine heavily relies on advanced air defence systems, mainly US Patriot interceptors, to protect its skies from Russian ballistic missile attacks. But this year, supplies of Patriot missiles have run out, leaving Ukraine vulnerable to strikes.

After a brutal summer of deadly Russian missile and drone attacks, Ukraine last week requested an exemption from Buy European procurement rules to acquire US-made Patriot interceptors using the EU’s €90bn support loan.

Ukraine has been asking western allies for air defence equipment amid fears Russia will dramatically intensify its missile attacks this winter.

My colleagues Jamie Grierson and Dan Sabbagh have written a story about the UK committing to £100m to boost Ukraine’s air defences ahead of the anticipated attacks.

We already mentioned the pledge in this post , but their story contains more detail.

Here is an extract:

“The air defence interceptors plus large-calibre artillery rounds and other drones will be supplied to Ukraine through a contribution to a Nato scheme to buy American weapons.

Ukraine is currently unable to prevent Russian ballistic missile attacks due to a shortage of Patriot interceptors, leading to attacks that have killed civilians and destroyed food and logistics warehouses over the summer.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he wants to obtain 300 Patriot missiles, costing about $3m (£2.6m) each, to help Kyiv protect its electricity, heating and water systems through the normally hard winter.

The UK did not say how many Patriots it would be able to buy, but the number is likely to be only a fraction of the number sought, though other western allies are also examining how they can help Kyiv defend itself.”

40-year-old Russian man questioned over Romanian sabotage allegations

A 40-year-old Russian man suspected of being involved in the operation is being questioned by Romanian prosecutors on Tuesday, a statement from Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism said .

Authorities are seeking court approval to detain him for 30 days pending inquiries into his encrypted communications, which reportedly included photos of several Romanian and multinational military bases.

Romanian intelligence service says it prevented Russian sabotage operation targeting defence, critical infrastructure

Romanian intelligence service said it “prevented the commission of a sabotage on national territory,” involving a Russian citizen in Romania and a number of defence and critical infrastructure targets.

In a statement , the SRI service said that the Russian man, who was being monitored as part of an extensive investigation, attempted to take photo and video documentation of “some communications centres and national military bases used by Nato allies,” as well as other defence institutions and critical infrastructure.

“The data obtained indicate a similar action pattern to that used on the territory of European states by networks of saboteurs coordinated by entities from the Russian Federation, including in the cases thwarted in Romania in 2024 and 2025: the Russian citizen was instructed by an intermediary to make photo-video materials with targets of strategic military interest, including a Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft during their presence on the national territory.”

It added that “the specific actions taken by the SRI, as well as the measures taken with the Romanian authorities and external partners, led to the prevention of an act of sabotage on national territory.”

The service did not offer more detail on whether it involved any arrests.

Dutch foreign minister calls for ‘accountability, reconciliation, education’ after Serbia’s ‘hero’ funeral for Mladić

Dutch foreign minister Tom Berendsen also joined in calls for “accountability, reconciliation and education about the past” as he criticised Serbia for holding a “hero” funeral for Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladić ( 12:48 ).

In a statement, Berendsen said :

“Ratko Mladić was convicted of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The honour bestowed upon him in Belgrade by the state is incompatible with European values and deeply hurtful to victims and their families.

The Netherlands supports voices in Serbia and across the region calling for accountability, reconciliation and education about the past.”

German police detain suspect after sabotage attacks on power grid

Elsewhere, we are getting a line from Germany that German police have detained a man suspected ⁠of carrying ⁠out ​a series of sabotage attacks on the country’s ⁠electricity grid, as reported by local media and Reuters.

The suspect, identified as Daniel V. by German media, was detained in Weisweiler about 50 kilometres (30 miles) west ‌of Cologne, where he allegedly carried out one of his ​attempted attacks, Reuters said.

German police have been searching for the 48-year-old since they obtained letters ⁠claiming responsibility for a series ​of sabotage ​attacks on the ​power grid, in which ​the suspect ‌cited opposition to ​fossil ​fuels as a motive.

German news agency DPA said that the suspect’s “motive was reportedly climate-related, with the letters criticising electricity production from fossil fuels.”

EU backs Hungary’s decision to expel 10 Russian diplomats

Separately, the commission was also asked about Hungary’s decision to expel 10 Russian diplomats this morning.

The commission’s foreign affairs spokesperson Christian Wigand said:

“ We take note of Hungary’s legitimate decision.

This is an expected reaction [given] Russia’s persistent campaign in using hybrid attacks against the EU and its member states.

The European Union expresses its full solidarity with Hungary and reaffirms its support for the diplomatic and consular activities of all member states conducted in accordance with international law.

The European Union will continue to closely coordinate with Hungary and other member states, and remains committed to protecting the interests and the rights of EU citizens.”

Bosnia withdraws diplomatic staff from Serbia in protest at Mladić’s ‘hero’ funeral

It’s worth noting that Bosnia and Herzegovina withdrew all staff from its Belgrade embassy yesterday, and transferred consular services to its embassies in Zagreb and Podgorica in protest against Mladić’s ‘hero’ funeral in Belgrade.

The ministry said the move intended to “reduce communication with Serbia to the lowest possible level,” while intensifying its dialogue about the situation with the EU, US, and the UK.

It’s also probably safe to say that the Bosnian foreign ministry was not impressed with the commission’s bland holding position yesterday.

Responding to questions from reporters yesterday, the EU’s lead spokesperson Paula Pinho insisted that “there is no place for glorification of war criminals,” but did not really engage with repeated questions about the apparent state and military honours involved.

In a late afternoon post directed at Pinho, the ministry said: “are you even aware of what you are saying?”

It continued:

“Five ministers from the Serbian Government were seated in the front row at the funeral, a convicted war criminal was given military honours, and his body was flown in on a Serbian Government aircraft.

What are you afraid of? Why are you unwilling to call this what it is?

Your position on the funeral of a convicted war criminal is a disgrace to the entire European Union!”

Difficult not to see a link between their furious reaction and this morning’s hasty statement from von der Leyen and Pinho’s notably different tone at today’s midday briefing.

EU ‘looking into’ its response to Serbia’s ‘hero’ funeral for Mladić

Not surprisingly, the issue of the EU’s muddled response to yesterday’s “hero” funeral for Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladić comes up again during today’s midday briefing held by the European Commission.

A commission spokesperson said the commission was “looking into” any potential consequences for Serbia.

She also repeated commission president von der Leyen’s criticism from this morning ( 9:41 ) , saying the images from the funeral were “shocking” and “speak for themselves.”

“They demonstrate a failure to confront a dark chapter in Europe’s recent history and contradict the values underpinning Serbia’s path towards the European Union,” Paula Pinho said.

She declined to say if von der Leyen would visit Belgrade on her annual trip to western Balkans, stressing the programme is still being worked on.

Moscow says it will have a ‘harsh and painful’ response to Hungarian move to expel 10 diplomats

We are getting a bit more on that Russian response to Hungary , and it’s clear that Moscow is not happy.

The foreign ministry said it would proceed with a “harsh and painful” response, AFP reported.

“ The response to the Russophobic lobby in Budapest will be harsh and painful, ” foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told the TASS state news agency.

Russia to respond to Hungary’s decision to expel 10 Russian diplomats

Meanwhile, the Russian foreign ministry told RIA Novosti news agency that it would respond to Hungary’s decision to expel ten Russian spies diplomats from Budapest ( 11:09 ).

Keyword – Politics
Trefwoorden – Politics, UK news, Labour, Ed Miliband, West Bank, Israel, Gaza, Palestine, Foreign policy, Conservatives, Mike Huckabee, Florida, Education
Title – UK sanctions on Israeli settlements in West Bank to take up to nine months to come into force – UK politics live | Politics | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/andrewsparrow,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/peterwalker,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/richardadams
Link – UK sanctions on Israeli settlements in West Bank to take up to nine months to come into force – UK politics live | Politics | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-09-08T13:04:13.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/sep/08/uk-us-trade-israel-sanctions-labour-ed-miliband-farage-latest-news-updates

Ban will take six to nine months to come into force, Miliband says

Miliband said the legislation he was announcing today would take six to nine months to come into effect.

Here is Miliband’s peroration.

My parents came here as Jewish refugees and found sanctuary and a country that stood up for the rule of law, freedom and self-determination.

Those are the values this government is standing up for today.

And I truly believe that the vast majority of the British people, including in our communities with ties to the region, are united in their desire to see humanitarian suffering end, and all sides commit to a durable peace process.

And just as we want Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side, so we have to live out those values in Britain.

Jews in Britain, Muslims in Britain, people of all faiths and none, have a right to live without prejudice or fear.

A Britain that upholds its values at home and around the world. A Britain that fights against oppression and suffering wherever it occurs. A Britain that stands up for what is right.

Miliband says France and Canada also announcing bans on trade with illegal settlements today

Miliband said France and Canada were also banning trade with the illegal settlements today

We act in concert with others in a broad international coalition.

I can tell the house that today France and Canada are announcing alongside Britain that they will also ban the import of goods from illegal settlements, joining the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain and Norway.

Other countries were also planning further action, he said.

This is what Britain can achieve, leading with others and this is in our fundamental national interest.

Miliband said the government would do all it could to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza .

I pledge we will continue to do everything we can to provide all the humanitarian support possible to help the people of Gaza.

UK-supported hospitals in Gaza will enable around 800,000 medical consultations this year, and essential health service health services for patients.

UK expertise will deliver care to over 1,000 child amputees, and we recently welcomed another wave of students from Gaza coming to study in Britain. And we will welcome more.

But in truth, unless Israel changes course, the situation will remain dire.

So we are taking further steps both ourselves and with others, our extension of the global human rights sanctions regime will enable us to target those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law, whether in Gaza or anywhere else in the world. And we will let the UN general assembly in New York later this month shine the clearest and harshest spotlight on what is happening and what must change.

Miliband turned to claims of genocide.

On the question of genocide, the UK has always supported full, robust and fair judicial processes to consider allegations, with final determinations made by competent courts before the British government reaches a conclusion.

This has been the case for all of the genocides since the 1948 Genocide Convention – Rwanda, Srebrenica, Cambodia and acts against the Uyghur people. That will remain our policy.

It is right this issue has been brought before the ICJ, and I want to I want to make it clear that we support the court in coming to its determination.

Miliband says there’s ‘increasing evidence’ war crimes have been committed in Gaza

Turning to Gaza , Miliband said the 7 October attack could not justify what had happened since.

Over 70,000 people have been killed, at least 20,000 of them children.

The vast majority of the population is now displaced. Nearly 2 million people, who are now penned into just one third of the territory. Life-saving humanitarian aid and access has been routinely blocked. Hospitals and clinics have been destroyed. Over 60% of homes are in ruins …

International humanitarian law imposes clear rules for states fighting wars, including to ensure access to food and medical supplies to avoid mass displacement of civilians, and to avoid the targeting of civilians.

Serious and international violations of this law, if proven, amount to war crimes.

What has occurred, including the actions of the IDF, have been examined in depth by a number of organisations, including the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry.

The conclusions of these reports represent increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed, and we support legal processes to determine this.

Miliband says UK arms exports to Israel that contribute to occupation will be banned

Miliband said some measure were being introduced now.

We are sanctioning a further set of extremist settlers who have supported or incited acts of violence against Palestinian communities.

And I can also announce that we are extending the existing global human rights regime such that it will enable swifter action to deter settlement expansion, including, crucially, seeking to prevent the development of E1.

I also want to address the question of arms sales. We’ve already suspended over 30 arms licences used by the IDF in Gaza. That suspension remains fully in place.

We will now also refuse all licence applications for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation – in effect, a double lock against arms sales. This means the ban on such exports will now remain in place as long as the occupation persists.

Ban will take six to nine months to come into force, Miliband says

Miliband said the legislation he was announcing today would take six to nine months to come into effect.

Miliband says he ‘wholeheatedly’ opposes boycotting all Israeli goods because of his backing for two-state solution

Miliband said the new measures would “target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel”.

He said:

We will continue to support important and valued trade with green line Israel [Israel within the pre-1967 borders] precisely because we support the two-state solution, including security and prosperity for Israel.

For this reason, I wholeheartedly oppose the boycott, divestment, sanctions or BDS campaign.

Miliband also said adverts for land in illegal settlements would be banned

Earlier this year, shamefully just a few miles from here, we saw an expo advertising illegal settlement land. We must and we will ensure this never happens again.

So we so we will ban the advertising in the UK of illegal settlements.

Miliband confirms ban on goods from illegal settlements, and sanctions against firms backing settlements

Miliband confirmed the government is banning trade with the illegal settlements.

He said:

I do not believe the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets, so I can announce today that we will introduce an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.

To do so, we will introduce a new comprehensive sanctions regime … with appropriate religious exemptions.

And as part of this regime, we will go further. We will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure financing or real estate for settlement expansion.

So to those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this. You will face the full force of UK sanctions. Settlements are illegal. They should not be promoted in our country.

Miliband says UK government now recognising UK’s occupation of West Bank as unlawful

Miliband defends using the term ethnic cleansing.

I recognise the gravity of saying this, but the truth is it is the least the people who face such such suffering deserve.

And it should be the prelude to justice.

He goes on:

Now, for a long time the British government has rightly said settlements are illegal, but we have remained silent on the question of the legality of the occupation as a whole, which in 2024 the International Court of Justice concluded was unlawful.

Today I announced that the official view of the British government is that the occupation is unlawful because because of Israel’s entrenchment of its control, its intention to extend permanent sovereignty and its expansionist agenda via illegal settlements.

Our position is not just an overdue statement of reality. The government believes the UN lawfulness of the occupation should be reflected in the economic relationships we choose to have with the occupied territories.

Miliband says ethnic cleansing happening in West Bank

Miliband says ethnic cleansing is happening in the West Bank .

Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, has described what is happening as, I quote, “a violent and criminal effort to ethnically cleanse territories in the West Bank”.

The former minister of health and retired brigadier general from the IDF, Ephraim Sneh, has said, and I quote again, “this is ethnic cleansing”.

To put it simply, ethnic cleansing is defined by the UN as a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove, by violent and terror inspiring means, the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.

The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank perpetrated by settler terrorists.

And all too often, the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this, and worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians.

Miliband says backing two-state solution is ‘north star’ of government’s Israel policy

Miliband says many British Jews “live in fear in the face of rising antisemitism”.

He goes on:

When I went to school in the 1980s, I did so without fear. Today we need to face the truth. That is not the case for thousands of Jewish children across the UK. Children who have to go to school with security guards outside their school. No child should have to go to school facing this. And no teacher should face antisemitism either.

Whether it happens in our schools, universities or workplaces, or online or on our streets, antisemitism is a scourge and an evil.

Miliband says the government has spent £250m on measures to protect the Jewish community, but it must do more, he says.

I will in October hosted representatives of the G7, the countries with the largest Jewish populations from across the world. We will meet in the UK to discuss the different ways we can work across borders to tackle antisemitism, including tackling online hate.

And he says there is no contradiction between supporting Israel and supporting the state of Palestine .

I’m proud of my Jewishness and unwavering in my support for the state of Israel. And there is absolutely no contradiction between this and my support for the state of Palestine.

Indeed, quite the opposite.

The two-state solution is based on an explicit belief that the only route to security for both peoples is to live side by side in peaceful coexistence with freedom, security and self-determination.

Securing the two-state solution in its fullest form is the north star of this government’s policy, and indeed of successive British governments over decades.

Miliband says security cooperation with Israel will continue.

Tackling these threats [from Iran] is just one of the most one of the important shared national security interests we have with Israel, on which we will continue to cooperate.

Miliband condemns Iran as threat to ‘Israel and Jews across the world’

Miliband goes on to condemn the 7 October “Hamas terrorist atrocity”.

It was a murderous act by a murderous terrorist organisation designed to massacre and instil fear across the whole population.

October 7 makes plain the grave threats the Israel faces, and it has every right to defend itself. We should not only condemn those threats, but act against those who carry them out.

Miliband says Iran “continues to threaten Israel and Jews across the world”. He goes on:

We have already designated Iran’s IRGC, and we will do more today on Iran’s proxy groups. So today I can also announce we are sanctioning Lebanese Hezbollah’s financing arm, al-Jihad al-Hassan.

Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. So we are also acting this week to report Iran to the UN security council for its nuclear violations alongside our allies.

And I can announce today that we are also reimposing major economic sanctions on Iran, in line with the European Union and the United States.

Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), Germany, The far right, Friedrich Merz, Europe
Title – Anti-AfD protests sweep Germany as far right closes in on two more states | Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/deborah-cole
Link – Anti-AfD protests sweep Germany as far right closes in on two more states | Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-09-08T12:54:24.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/08/anti-afd-protests-germany-far-right-berlin-mecklenburg-western-pomerania

Thousands of Germans have staged protests against the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) after the party’s watershed victory in a state election, warning it posed a danger in two more polls this month.

Demonstrators at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate held a peaceful pro-democracy rally denouncing the anti-immigrant, pro-Russian AfD, which has called for mass deportations of asylum seekers and a rollback of state support for renewable energy and public broadcasting.

The party captured its best-ever state result in the former communist eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, with clear momentum heading into regional elections in the capital and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, on the Baltic coast, on 20 September.

Police reported 5,000 protesters, while organisers said they drew more than 14,000 people in a campaign to mobilise voters against the AfD. Posters in the crowd read “Fascism is no alternative”, “Stop the Nazi AfD: end racism and cuts to social services” and “History has its eyes on us”.

With less than two weeks to election day, demonstrators at the Berlin rally cautioned against resignation and cynicism after Sunday’s shock result.

The AfD’s nearly 44% vote in Saxony-Anhalt, the best for a nativist party since the Nazi period , is a “disgrace that makes you furious and stunned”, Jens-Christian Wagner, the director of the memorial at the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald, said from the stage.

Wagner sounded the alarm that the AfD, although it fell just short of an absolute majority, was on the brink of taking power in Saxony-Anhalt, a first for the far right since the second world war. That “should not be accepted in silence”, he said.

Max Schneller, 17, a member of the far-left Linke, from Saxony-Anhalt, said activists in the state would fight any attempts by an AfD government to target minorities. “We will not start categorising our neighbours according to their origin, religion or skin colour – we are too humane to hate,” he said to loud applause.

The AfD is three votes short of the support necessary to form a government under its candidate, the media-savvy firebrand Ulrich Siegmund, who hopes to peel off dissenters from the remaining parties willing to play kingmaker.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has since 2023 listed the state chapter of the party as right-wing extremist, saying it poses a threat to democratic norms.

Hundreds of anti-AfD protesters also gathered in Potsdam, near Berlin, with rallies also organised in Münster, Göttingen, Dresden, Aachen, Bamberg, Darmstadt, and Halberstadt, in Saxony-Anhalt, where the AfD captured nearly half the votes, local media reported.

In Halle, the region’s second largest city, leftist groups and civil society organisations have been staging a protest camp since election day.

The AfD is leading in voter intent polls in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , with about 35%. However, the centre-left Social Democratic party (SPD) of the state premier, Manuela Schwesig, mounted a remarkable comeback over the summer and is now scoring above 30%.

In Berlin, one of Germany’s 16 federal states, the picture is more mixed, with several parties jockeying for first place . It is governed by a coalition of conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the SPD.

The CDU, the party of chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose record unpopularity is reported to have weighed heavily with voters in Saxony-Anhalt , holds a wafer-thin lead in the capital, with about 20%.

Hot on its heels is the Linke, which has focused on soaring housing costs in its campaign, and the AfD, followed by the SPD and the ecologist Greens, both polling in the mid-teens.

Merz has vowed to stay in office and fight for a signature package of painful reforms, arguing the only way to defeat the AfD is to get Europe’s top economy moving again and repair its creaking social welfare system.

However the SPD, his junior coalition partner, has indicated its willingness to backtrack on some of the most unpopular measures to shore up support for the embattled government.

Analysts say the dispute could further destabilise the shaky coalition.

Keyword – News
Trefwoorden – World news, UK news
Title – Back to school in Haiti and Nepal’s missing people: photos of the day – Tuesday | World news | The Guardian
Author –
Link – Back to school in Haiti and Nepal’s missing people: photos of the day – Tuesday | World news | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-09-08T12:48:04.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2026/sep/08/back-to-school-in-haiti-and-nepals-missing-people-photos-of-the-day-tuesday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Kyiv, Ukraine

São Paulo, Brazil

Nuwakot, Nepal

Kathmandu, Nepal

Kfar Rumman, Lebanon

Aqraba,

Beijing, China

Entre Rios, Argentina

Peshawar, Pakistan

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Glasgow, Scotland

Havana, Cuba

Madrid, Spain

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Spata, Greece

London, England

Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – Israel, Foreign policy, Ed Miliband, West Bank, Palestine, Middle East and north Africa, Politics, UK news, World news
Title – UK accuses Israeli ‘terrorists’ of ethnic cleansing in West Bank with government backing | Israel | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jessica-elgot
Link – UK accuses Israeli ‘terrorists’ of ethnic cleansing in West Bank with government backing | Israel | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-09-08T12:43:55.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/08/uk-accuses-israeli-terrorists-ethnic-cleansing-west-bank-government-backing

Israeli “terrorists” are conducting ethnic cleansing in the West Bank with the tacit backing of the government, the UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband , has said as he announced sweeping sanctions, alongside France and Canada, on trade with Israeli settlements.

In the strongest condemnation ever issued by the UK government, Miliband said the government would now take the official position that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank was unlawful in its entirety, saying such acknowledgment was “the least the people who face such suffering deserve. And it should be the prelude to justice.”

Miliband said that the government would now enact:

An import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.

A comprehensive sanctions regime against providing services such as construction or financing for Israeli settlements.

A ban on the advertising in the UK of illegal settlement properties.

Personal sanctions against key individuals accused of promoting settler violence.

A new ban for arms licences and other exports that “materially contribute to the occupation”.

Miliband said the action would show that “Britain is not silent in the face of deep injustice and nor is it powerless”. In an emotional statement, he described the agony he had heard from Palestinians in the West Bank whose homes had been destroyed and from doctors in Gaza who had seen children dying waiting for medical treatment.

The UK’s actions have been made increasingly urgent by Israel’s plans to expand the E1 settlement project east of Jerusalem, which could in effect cut off the north from the south of the West Bank, threatening the viability of any future Palestinian state.

Miliband said those who financed or facilitated illegal settlements would “face the full force of UK sanctions” and that he expected the legislation to enforce the trade ban and sanctions to be in place within nine months.

He stopped short of describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide, saying the UK would wait for the determination of the international courts.

Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, he said: “The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists.

“All too often the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians. I recognise the gravity of saying this, but the truth is the least the people who face such suffering deserve. And it should be the prelude to justice.”

He said the British government had previously described settlements as illegal but had not described the occupation itself as unlawful, and that would now change.

France and Canada were also announcing bans on settlement goods on Tuesday, joining the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain and Norway, which have either banned goods or were in the process of doing so.

Miliband said he was taking the action as foreign secretary but also as a “proud British Jew” with relatives who had found safety in Israel after the Holocaust.

“I am proud of my Jewishness and unwavering in my support for the state of Israel,” he said.

“And there is absolutely no contradiction between this and my support for the state of Palestine . Indeed, quite the opposite. The two-state solution is based on an explicit belief that the only route to security for both peoples is to live side by side in peaceful coexistence with freedom, security and self-determination.”

He said to respond to threats against Jews around the world, the UK would also impose sanctions on Lebanese Hezbollah’s financing arm, Al-Qard al-Hassan, and reimpose major economic sanctions on Iran in line with the EU and US.

Miliband said he felt a “deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the eyes of the international community” and said there had been “the most unimaginable trauma and suffering in the last three years – death, destruction and dehumanisation on an appalling scale”.

The foreign secretary said the action marked the beginning of a new approach towards Israel and Palestine; one that not only condemned but took action.

“Our argument is not with the people of Israel, with whom the UK has unshakeable bonds. Our argument is with the conduct of its government.”

Miliband said the actions of the Israeli government in the West Bank meant more settlements had been approved in the last four years than in the last 20 years combined.

He said he believed the majority of the British people would support the ban on trade with illegal settlements. “Settlements are illegal. They should not be promoted in our country,” he said.

The UK government knew there were also concerns about arm sales to Israel, he said. The UK had already suspended more than 30 arms licences used by the IDF in Gaza, but would now go further.

“We will now also refuse all licence applications for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation, in effect a double lock against arms sales. This means the ban on such exports will now remain as long as the occupation persists.”

He said the UK would support “full, robust and fair judicial processes” to determine if Israel had committed genocide and said the government would not pre-judge that process.

“This has been the case for all of the genocides since the 1948 genocide convention: Rwanda, Srebrenica, Cambodia, and acts against the Yazidi people. This will remain our policy. It is right that this issue has been brought before the ICJ [international court of justice] and I want to make it clear that we support the court in coming to its determination.”

However, he said that the most recent reports by international bodies found there was “increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed and we support legal processes to determine this”.

The UK would use the UN general assembly next week to “shine the clearest and harshest spotlight on what is happening and what must change”.

The steps set out by Miliband fall short of the full demands made by Palestinian advocacy groups, but are a sign the UK is moving beyond traditional rhetorical support for a two-state solution towards active steps to forestall the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank.

The prime minister, Andy Burnham, spoke to Donald Trump and key Gulf allies, such as Qatar, on Monday to brief them on the government’s plans in the region.

Both the US and Israel have threatened retaliation against Britain for the sanctions. The US ambassador to Israel, Mick Huckabee, said the US was considering what action to take, warning it may prohibit the UK from trade with several US states that have anti-BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) laws.

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said it was “a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation” before the country’s elections in October.

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said: “If Britain acts against Israel, Israel will act against Britain,” and Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, called for the expulsion of the British ambassador.

Keyword – Television & radio
Trefwoorden – Factual TV, Television, Television & radio, UK news, BBC, Culture, Gardening advice
Title – Monty Don steps down from BBC’s Gardeners’ World after 23 years | Factual TV | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/rachel-hall
Link – Monty Don steps down from BBC’s Gardeners’ World after 23 years | Factual TV | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-09-08T12:39:46.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/sep/08/monty-don-steps-down-bbc-gardeners-world

Monty Don, the longest serving head gardener on the BBC’s Gardeners’ World programme, will step down at the end of the current series.

After 23 years leading the show, which he has hosted from his own garden in Herefordshire since 2011, Don said it was “the right time for a change”. He will continue working with the BBC on other programmes, as well as pursuing his own projects, such as writing books.

“Throughout that time – and around seven hundred programmes – I have had the privilege of sharing my own abiding passion for gardens and gardening with an equally passionate, and often equally knowledgeable audience,” Don said.

“That connection with millions, not just in Britain but across the world, who share a love of gardens, plants and the natural world is something I have always treasured and which I increasingly believe to be at the heart of a life well lived.”

The final series hosted by Don, with his beloved golden retrievers, will continue to be broadcast from Longmeadow until later this year.

Kate Phillips, the BBC’s chief content officer, said Don was “utterly unique, a wonderfully engaging broadcaster with a soothing, calm presence who has inspired so many with his passion for gardening”.

In reference to Don’s frankness around his experience with depression , she added: “I would like to thank Monty personally for his honesty and kindness, which has seen him open up about his own personal struggles and the power of the natural world to improve mental health. We will miss him on the show hugely.”

Sharon Fisher, BBC Studios series editor for Gardeners’ World, who has worked with Don for the last 20 years, described his contribution as extraordinary.

“Through his warmth, wisdom and deep love of gardening, he has inspired millions to discover the pleasure and purpose that getting your hands into the soil can bring,” she said. “I have seen first-hand the care, integrity and generosity he brings to everything he does. His departure marks the end of a remarkable chapter in the programme’s history.

“All of us on the Gardeners’ World team, will miss him enormously, but we celebrate everything he has given to the programme, the gardening community and the audience who have welcomed him into their homes every week for over two decades.”

Keyword – Television & radio
Trefwoorden – Factual TV, Television, Culture, Television & radio, Gardens
Title – Monty Don is quitting Gardeners’ World – and you’re right to be devastated about it | Factual TV | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/stuart-heritage
Link – Monty Don is quitting Gardeners’ World – and you’re right to be devastated about it | Factual TV | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-09-08T12:37:53.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/sep/08/monty-don-quitting-gardeners-world-be-devastated-about-it

After 23 years at the helm, Monty Don has announced that he is leaving Gardeners’ World at the end of the series. All said, you are right to be distraught about it.

Gardeners’ World is a show with a long history – it was commissioned by David Attenborough as a way to showcase the potential of colour television – but Don arguably did the show better than anyone. Under his watch, the show and the host managed to mesh perfectly. He became it and it became him.

Don’s strength was that he approached the show as a self-taught gardener. This meant that it suddenly became more welcoming to newcomers and outsiders who had possibly been a little intimidated by the show.

This was a masterstroke. Previously, watching an episode could be like trying to download a horticulture encyclopedia all in one go, but Don – who always primarily viewed himself as a writer – was able to talk about gardening in more emotional and philosophical terms. Under him, the “why” of gardening became more important than the “how”.

Nevertheless, it took a while for him to bed in. After a minor stroke took him out of action after five years in the job, he returned having made the decision to present from his own home, Longmeadow in Herefordshire. This changed everything. It meant that, instead of seeing gardening happen in the abstract, we watched it happen to him. Over the years, audiences saw Longmeadow develop season after season. Sometimes the garden flourished. Sometimes it failed. But whatever happened, it strengthened the bond between viewer and host immeasurably.

A lot of this is down to Don’s presence as a host. Much has been made about how handsome and charming he is – when I met him last year, during the recording of an AI Michael Parkinson podcast that bewildered us both , there was no denying that he was either – but as he grew older, it was Don’s vulnerability that appealed the most. He became more used to silence, and was unafraid to express his uncertainties. Under his watch, Gardeners’ World became a programme about patience and resilience. Little wonder it surged in popularity during the pandemic.

Needless to say, talk will soon turn to Don’s successor. This is a role that needs to be chosen carefully, because this is a job for as much of your life as you are willing to give it. Although some presenters have enjoyed shorter stints – the original host Ken Burras lasted one year, while Arthur Billett managed three in the 1970s – Gardeners’ World is a programme that is at its best when it is given the space to unfurl according to the sensibilities of the person in charge.

Nobody typifies this more than Don, who took a show that had subtly increased in pitch and frequency under Alan Titchmarsh and went about making it earthier and ever so slightly more romantic. Before Titchmarsh, of course, the show had been in the hands of Geoff Hamilton, who lasted almost as long as Don did.

Fortunately, Gardeners’ World isn’t Top Gear. The BBC will be keenly aware that the last thing it should do is hand the programme over to someone big and starry, who’ll get bored and drift away after a few months.

The better bet is to recruit from within. Adam Frost has already presented episodes by himself, and is now in the middle of creating a garden from a blank canvas on the show. Then there’s Frances Tophill, who could approach from a more explicitly conservation-based approach. There is also Jamie Butterworth, who last year got called “the Jamie Oliver of gardening” and “Monty Don’s protege” in the space of a single headline . All would be worthy replacements.

But that is all to come. For now, it is time to herald Don, and the hole he leaves. The good news is that in no way did Don’s announcement signal a full-blown retirement. “There are more books to write, more programmes to make,” he said.

This is heartening news. Outside Gardeners’ World, Don has made some fine gardening travelogues – taking him to Italy, Spain, Japan and the US, among others – which fits, since he got his TV break in the 1990s on holiday programmes. More of these would be most welcome, as would anything else he chooses to do, quite frankly. He remains the best to ever do it.

Keyword – Film
Trefwoorden – Film, Elon Musk, Documentary films, Alex Gibney, Donald Trump, Culture, Technology, Venice film festival
Title – Musk review – epic study of the world’s richest and most banal man | Film | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/peterbradshaw
Link – Musk review – epic study of the world’s richest and most banal man | Film | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-09-08T12:32:58.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/sep/08/musk-review-epic-study-worlds-richest-most-banal-man-elon-film

‘Elon is a nuke.” The speaker is Ashley St Clair, a former conservative Maga influencer and one of Elon Musk’s former girlfriends-slash-baby mommas

She is a fascinating expert witness in Alex Gibney’s four-hour epic study of the world’s richest and dullest man: the overgrown brattish South-African-born trillionaire plutocrat, ersatz visionary and Trump courtier who owns Tesla cars, SpaceX rocket ships, Starlink satellites on which nation states’ military capabilities are increasingly reliant, X (formerly Twitter) which shapes the collective “incel” id of billions and GrokAI whose vast server farms daily guzzle oceans of precious water.

As head of Trump’s incompetent cost-cutting Doge (Department of Government Efficiency) unit, Musk actually increased the US deficit by sacking thousands of revenue officers whose job was to rake in tax – while reportedly accessing and improperly sharing Americans’ sensitive social security data .

He does indeed look like a nuke, efficiently designed, destructive, seemingly unguided and uncontrolled.

Gibney’s excellent film covers a lot of ground in its extraordinary story, although we don’t get to hear about the mysterious process that changed a balding youngster into a follicularly unchallenged mature man.

Musk is a uniquely disquieting baseball-capped figure, grinning and giggling and smirking on a thousand sycophantic podcasts like a modern, hyper-evolved version of Anthony Trollope’s wealthy charlatan Augustus Melmotte in The Way We Live Now. But given Musk’s boyish love of space travel and sci-fi, Gibney wittily compares him to the hero of the 1936 film version of HG Wells’s The Man Who Could Work Miracles about godlike space aliens who capriciously confer supernatural powers on a banal, ordinary earthling.

Gibney doesn’t get to talk to Musk (or Trump) though in the spirit of Musk’s AI interests, he creates a photorealistic CG avatar who mouths all the things the man himself is reported as saying (a rather contrived visual joke, actually, which the film didn’t need). He speaks to many professional colleagues, and to Musk’s formidably opinionated father Errol Musk who fills us in on Elon’s formative years in the tense world of South Africa in which young Musk was bullied and beaten up.

Gibney speaks to Musk’s first wife Justine Musk (née Wilson), a passionate and intelligent woman who tells us about the tragedy of one of their infant children dying of Sids and then the hurt she felt when Elon felt the need to grandstand about this on social media, claiming the child had died in his arms (it was her arms, she says). And given that heart-wrenching death, how crass it was for him to announce later on social media that his trans daughter had “died” of “woke mind virus”. Much later, Musk showed a creepy enthusiasm for procreating many children with various women; Musk reportedly built compounds for his extended families like something from The Handmaid’s Tale.

Back in the 90s as a pushy, bright young tech innovator, Musk had started out by inventing and selling an online Yellow Pages-type site, got involved in Peter Thiel’s PayPal and cleaned up again when this was sold to eBay. He got involved in the electric automobile industry, giving us Teslas, while misleading the public about their range .

His SpaceX adventure and his preposterous and ignorant effusions about colonising Mars were spectacular advertisements for his personal brand – so important for inflating stock market valuation – especially when he did indeed invent rockets that could be landed and re-used. But the question of how and when these rockets will carry us to inhabitable planets remains unanswered. Both his cars and his rocket ships got him on the receiving end of millions of dollars of federal money and lines of credit.

And at the beginning of the 21st century he was still the darling of the liberal world and the Obama administration for an apparently compelling eco-vision for non-fossil-fuel cars.

All this changed when Joe Biden seemed to be casting a cold eye on Musk’s businesses, and Musk went all in on promoting Trump 2.0. In 2024 and was rewarded with that grotesque Doge sinecure, damaging American public finances – from which he had benefited so lavishly.

What is so absorbing about Gibney’s documentary is that it has the structure and rhetoric of a film that could be about, say, Elizabeth Holmes, disgraced inventor of the phoney blood-test, or Sam Bankman-Fried, the cryptocurrency fraudster, or Billy McFarland, promoter of the Fyre festival. All of these were media darlings in their day, supposed visionaries and feted disrupters, talking the talk in front of saucer-eyed believers.

Unlike these illusionists Musk does have actual palpable success, with Tesla being a long-standing profitable company and Space X, among other things inventing successful re-usable rockets, allied with a skill they don’t have in moving on from commodity to commodity, while controlling the means of production in social media and cultivating the presidency. Just as well because, if Musk were ever to fall, it would truly send shock waves through Wall Street, Washington and Silicon Valley.