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Pope Leo warns against AI creating ‘paradise of machines’ in first visit to France – Europe live

European community affairs correspondent Meanwhile, the Italian government has been accused of ramping up divisive rhetoric to try to court far-right voters ahead of next year’s general election after it passed a decree aimed at capping the number of newly arrived migrants in classrooms and banning the burqa and niqab in schools. The prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who leads the far-right Brothers of Italy party, said her government had approved what she called “commonsense measures that do not divide but genuinely help to integrate”. Writing on social media, she said the measures included: “A limit of 30% in classrooms for students who do not adequately know Italian, plus tools to learn our language and a halt to burqas and niqabs in school.” The announcement was a toned-down version of comments she had made earlier in the week at an event organised by Brothers of Italy’s youth division. “It cannot be that in the classroom it is Italian children who feel left out because they’ve become the minority,” Meloni said as she vowed to “legally set the number of foreign students per class”. Thursday’s decree also sets out that in cases where students show persistent problems with integrating or struggling to learn the language, their parents will be referred to social services and will have to take free literacy and Italian language classes. Parents’ failure to comply could result in fines of up to €1,000. The education minister, Giuseppe Valditara, said the measures, set to take effect in the 2027-28 school year, would affect about 1,000 classrooms, or about 0.3% of the total nationwide. Rights campaigners were swift to link the measures to next year’s election, in which Meloni’s premiership is facing an unexpected challenger on the right. “She’s creating an emergency that is not a real emergency at all,” said Daniela Ionita, of the campaign group Italians Without Citizenship, pointing out that an estimated 60% of the pupils who could be described as foreign were born in Italy but faced a myriad of hurdles when it came to accessing citizenship. “Because there are now new parties pushing from the right, I think Meloni is scared,” she said.

Meloni accused of ‘running scared’ with cap on foreign children in classrooms

The Italian government has been accused of ramping up divisive rhetoric to try to court far-right voters ahead of next year’s general election after it passed a decree aimed at capping the number of newly arrived migrants in classrooms and banning the burqa and niqab in schools. The prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who leads the far-right Brothers of Italy party, said her government had approved what she called “commonsense measures that do not divide but genuinely help to integrate”. Writing on social media, she said the measures included: “A limit of 30% in classrooms for students who do not adequately know Italian, plus tools to learn our language and a halt to burqas and niqabs in school.” The announcement was a toned-down version of comments she had made earlier in the week at an event organised by Brothers of Italy’s youth division. “It cannot be that in the classroom it is Italian children who feel left out because they’ve become the minority,” Meloni said as she vowed to “legally set the number of foreign students per class”. Thursday’s decree also sets out that in cases where students show persistent problems with integrating or struggling to learn the language, their parents will be referred to social services and will have to take free literacy and Italian language classes. Parents’ failure to comply could result in fines of up to €1,000. The education minister, Giuseppe Valditara, said the measures, set to take effect in the 2027-28 school year, would affect about 1,000 classrooms, or about 0.3% of the total nationwide. Rights campaigners were swift to link the measures to next year’s election, in which Meloni’s premiership is facing an unexpected challenger on the right. “She’s creating an emergency that is not a real emergency at all,” said Daniela Ionita, of the campaign group Italians Without Citizenship, pointing out that an estimated 60% of the pupils who could be described as foreign were born in Italy but faced a myriad of hurdles when it came to accessing citizenship. “Because there are now new parties pushing from the right, I think Meloni is scared,” she said. The government said students born and raised in Italy or who had attended at least two years of nursery school or completed three years of schooling in Italy would be exempt from the measures. Ionita said the ramped-up rhetoric was an attempt by the government to mask how little it had accomplished during its time in power. “If you remove every decree linked to security or to migrants, the government’s political and economic programme will fall apart, and very little concrete remains of one of the longest-serving governments of the last years in Italy,” she said. Marco Tarchi, a political scientist who focuses on the extreme right and teaches at the University of Florence, said the measures were “undoubtedly” driven by fears of a new political challenge on the right. Since February, a new party, Futuro Nazionale (FN), has galvanised the extreme right, with polls suggesting it could capture about 8% of the vote in an election expected as early as spring 2027. Led by Roberto Vannacci, a former army general best known for self-publishing a book rife with racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and antisemitism, the party’s popularity in polls has eclipsed that of Brothers of Italy’s two coalition partners, the League and the conservative Forza Italia. Those who have shifted allegiances include some who had enthusiastically lined up behind Meloni years ago as she spoke of “ethnic substitution” and vowed to install an all-out naval blockade to prevent migrant arrivals from north Africa. Tarchi said: “Many of the FN’s potential voters are former supporters of Giorgia Meloni’s party who are disappointed that, once in power, the leader softened many of her previous stances regarding the European Union, which she had harshly criticised; immigration, on which she had made radical proposals that were later abandoned; and other issues.” He said Vannacci had capitalised on this, capturing voters with an extreme manifesto that promised “remigration” and limits on the number of foreigners in the country, as well as curtailing LGBTQ+ rights and negating the right to abortion. He said that in order to win back this support, Meloni may have to adopt positions closer to those she held in opposition. A glimpse of what this could look like came this summer when Meloni seized on the sudden entry of tens of thousands of people into the tiny Spanish territory of Ceuta in north Africa, said Elisa De Pieri, a researcher at Amnesty International. “Meloni immediately exploited the situation in Ceuta, which had absolutely nothing to do with Italy and nothing to do with the Schengen space, but she made it into a supposed crisis for Italy,” she said. “And so that’s the mode that I think we’re going to see in the next months.” De Pieri predicted that Meloni “won’t be talking too much” about Italy’s offshore detention agreement with Albania on the grounds that it had not been as successful as she would have hoped. “It’s been very costly, and it’s been struck down repeatedly by national and international courts,” she said. Instead, she expects Meloni will adopt a more aggressive tone on migration more generally, leading to a polarising electoral campaign that would have a disproportionate impact on migrant communities. The view was echoed by critics of the new measures who pointed out the rarity of burqas or niqabs in Italian classrooms and said the government was simply repackaging previous, unenforced policies, given that the 30% threshold was previously floated by the education ministry in 2010. Save the Children said the overall impact would be to “create ‘first-class’ and ‘second-class’ students”. The leader of the Democratic party, Elly Schlein, described the decree as “shameful” and accused the government of “living on a different planet”. She said Italian parents were grappling with a very different set of issues, citing crumbling school buildings, the high costs of textbooks and low teacher salaries. “Faced with all this, the government’s response is to kick foreign children out of the classroom,” Schlein said. “Who do they think they’re kidding? After four years of cuts and no serious investment in school buildings, they’re inventing a witch-hunt that targets the youngest children.”

Tall, dark and hated: plan to renovate ‘Paris’s ugliest building’ put on hold

It has been called a carbuncle on the Paris skyline, a sombre skyscraper where visitors to its viewing platform often joke that the city looks better when you can’t see the building itself. The much-maligned Tour Montparnasse, a lone, dark monolith with tinted windows rising above a historic neighbourhood in the south of the city, is once again at the centre of controversy after its long-awaited renovation was halted this week because of disagreements between its many private co-owners. The tower, which opened in 1973, is the tallest skyscraper in inner-city Paris and is also considered its ugliest building. For more than a decade, plans have been thrashed out to overhaul the building and brighten its looming presence and modernise the area around it. Architects had planned to entirely refit the 210-metre structure with a new glass exterior, adding vegetation throughout, with a garden terrace on the 16th floor and an agricultural greenhouse at the top. The plans included a hotel on three floors of the 59-storey building, as well as new office and leisure spaces. But alongside a significant operation to remove asbestos, the estimated price of the project more than doubled to €800m (£688m). The building’s private co-owners, which include French investment funds and insurers, met this week for a final vote on the start of a first phase of renovation, with asbestos removal, interior stripping and a partial facade removal. After clashes over plans and pricing, more than three-quarters of the co-owners voted against the project. It was the last opportunity to launch the project before the building permit granted for the tower’s renovation expires at the end of November. There are now concerns that the building, which has been emptied and closed for renovation, will loom deserted. This summer, fire officers intervened after bits of glass fell off the building and landed on the street below, although no one was hurt. “Everyone needs to come to their senses,” said Philippe Goujon, the rightwing mayor of Paris’s 15th district where the tower is located. He told Agence France-Presse: “I cannot accept seeing a project that took 10 years to develop thrown away, or allowing this world-renowned landmark to fall into neglect.” Four of the co-owners who still want a renovation, including the tycoon Xavier Niel, said in a joint statement: “We would like all the co-owners, financial partners and public authorities to meet soon to examine all the solutions to transform the Montparnasse Tower.” Some co-owners hope that a new, scaled-down project could be agreed upon. Separately, the architect Renzo Piano has been tasked with overhauling the shopping centre beneath the tower and other buildings nearby, opening up new pedestrian spaces and moving from grey concrete to a greener, planted space. Local officials want to avoid delays to that project if the tower’s renovation stalls. The office of the Socialist mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, said it wanted “an alternative solution to be proposed” so the site does not stay at a standstill. Opposition councillors on the left have suggested the “obsolete” tower should instead come down and be replaced by a park that would have a cooling effect during summer heatwaves.

Hurricane Polo barrels towards Baja California region of Mexico

Hurricane Polo is barreling towards the Baja California region of Mexico, the latest system in a Pacific hurricane season that has been notably active in recent months. On 22 September, a measurement of 892 millibars was registered for Hurricane Polo, making it the second-most intense hurricane on record in the east Pacific. It is fuelled by exceptionally warm waters across the Pacific Ocean, providing favourable conditions for the system to maintain its considerable strength. Polo is expected to turn towards the west-north-west, before taking a more north-westerly trajectory on Saturday. It has maximum sustained winds of around 150mph, with even stronger gusts occurring within the most intense parts of the hurricane. Hurricane-force winds extend outward for approximately 40 miles from the centre, while tropical storm-force winds reach as far as 125 miles. These powerful winds, combined with torrential rainfall and dangerous seas, could have significant impacts. Although some fluctuations in intensity are possible over the coming days, Polo is expected to remain powerful as it tracks north-westwards. In India, a deep 988-millibar low-pressure system – a tropical storm in this case – is centred along the east coast, bringing widespread and potentially disruptive weather conditions to Odisha and surrounding areas. The system is producing heavy rainfall across the region, with the latest forecast models suggesting totals could exceed 200mm in some locations over a 24-hour period. Rainfall rates are expected to be particularly intense at times, with hourly totals potentially exceeding 30mm in the heaviest downpours. Such intense rainfall could cause significant surface water and localised flooding, particularly in low-lying areas and places with poor drainage. Strong and gusty winds are also affecting coastal parts of Odisha. Winds are forecast to reach around 50-60mph, creating hazardous conditions in exposed areas and potentially causing disruption to travel, infrastructure and power supplies. Authorities have closed numerous schools across the affected districts for safety reasons. Meanwhile, in Iberia, the relentless heat of summer is extending into meteorological autumn, with temperatures rising into the high 30s celsius on 23 September. Alvega, in Portugal, recorded a maximum temperature of 41.7C, smashing many July records from previous decades.

Friday briefing: How a grassroots film is turning climate anxiety into action

Good morning. Here we are, stumbling into an oddly warm autumn and with the aftermath of a ceaselessly dry summer all around us in our parched parks and fire-ravaged forests. With the change in season, the headlines are no less gruelling. At the start of the week, more than 450,000 people are predicted to die from an unprecedented El Niño over the next six months. At the end of the week, a report by UK intelligence chiefs reveals the extent to which the collapse of natural systems threatens security and defence around the world – a report which, as the Guardian revealed, was suppressed under former prime minister Keir Starmer’s leadership. Meanwhile, as Hettie has written about in a previous newsletter, right-leaning climate sceptics continue to seed doubt about the glaring reality wherever they may. Overload, silencing and misinformation can generate fear, suspicion, grief, helplessness, a compulsion to look away or to focus on paying the next bill. But this summer, I’ve been hearing about another climate briefing – in film form – that aims to engage all of those emotions. It’s as much about giving people the information they deserve as it is about helping them deal with it once they have it. You won’t see it on Netflix, but your neighbour might be screening it at the local scout hall this weekend: for today’s newsletter, I spoke to Nick Oldridge, co-founder of the People’s Emergency Briefing, about how a film about the end of the world became a grassroots movement. First, the headlines. Five big stories UN general assembly | Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an inflammatory address to the United Nations, decrying what he said was a global anti-Jewish conspiracy and swatting aside criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza. UK news | Far-right agitator and anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas has been arrested after he filmed himself appearing to slash the side of a dinghy while a rescuer was onboard. Iran | Iran says it has told Trump it is willing to open the strait of Hormuz in six days, and to start talks on its nuclear program the day after, so long as the US lifts sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, ends the war on all fronts – including in Lebanon – and releases some frozen assets. Ukraine | Ukrainian refugees fear they could be left homeless after the government quietly axed 70% of funding for hosts of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, reducing monthly “thank you” payments. World news | Xi Jinping has called for extensive cooperation with Washington to avoid the “Thucydides trap” that could put the US and China on a military collision course amid rising tensions over AI, trade and Taiwan. In depth: ‘It’s clear evidence that this model works for engaging politicians’ Have you seen that climate film yet? You know, the one you read about on the Guardian website and then a friend of a friend emailed you about it, but other things got in the way until your best pal watched it and said you absolutely had to see it and then you looked it up and realised there were screenings happening all around you. That was my experience, at least. The People’s Emergency Briefing began life, in real life. Last November, nine climate experts delivered a “first-of-its-kind national emergency briefing” to an audience of MPs, civic and business leaders in Westminster. It was, by all reports, a galvanising event. The organising team – including pioneer in carbon footprinting Prof Mike Berners-Lee and TV environmentalist Chris Packham – then crowdfunded to turn the in-person briefing into a film, which anyone can register to screen in their local village hall, faith centre, workplace or wherever else they can get bums on seats. I watched the briefing myself at an arts centre in Paisley on a sunny Friday evening last month. The 50-minute film felt like 15, as the roster of experts set out in plain language how global heating is affecting all aspects of life in the UK: the economy, food, healthcare, nature, national security. It’s a hard watch. The alarming – but never alarmist – message is that the climate is changing much faster than expected, and that we are woefully unprepared for it. The grinding frustration of these experts – who have been repeating these stark facts to a sclerotic government and a sceptical public for years – is evident, but there is also hope. The aim is to demand that the prime minister convenes a Covid-style primetime emergency briefing on the climate and nature crisis, led by independent experts. As Packham says as he introduces the film: “I understand it’s human nature to prefer not to know, to try to bury our heads in the sand. But if we all take a breath and watch this together, well first of all that’s a huge relief and second we can figure out what to do about it.” *** Do it like Gogglebox What’s unique about the film is both how it’s framed and how it’s watched. “We knew you can’t just film people talking at podiums,” Oldridge explains, “so we decided: ‘We’ll do it like Gogglebox’.” Spliced between the expert commentary, members of the public sit on a sofa across from Packham and talk about what they’ve just watched. “This is the nub of it,” says Oldridge. “This film has got to be watched in groups, people who experience it together and then talk about it, instead of the isolated way we usually consume media.” Since the first community screening on 7 April, the film has become a word-of-mouth phenomenon – so far 2,789 screenings have taken place, with a further 1,395 planned. Readers across the country, from the south of England to north-east Scotland, have contacted the Guardian’s Environment desk to tell us about their involvement. Anna Taylor, trustee of Wendover Climate Action, who organised a packed screening in the Buckinghamshire village after reading about the original Westminster event in the Guardian, told me: “It’s spurred me on so that, if nothing else, my kids will know I tried to make things better for them”. Any group can register to host a screening, and will receive a carefully scripted guide for steering the discussion afterwards as viewers process some difficult material. Organisers have told me how essential it felt for people to sit together and share their immediate reflections on what was a shocking film for many, even those who considered themselves familiar with climate science. That was my experience: the lump in my throat got smaller as I listened to other people talking about their visceral shock, anxiety and plans to take action. Groups are also encouraged to invite local politicians – not to put them on stage to shout at but so they can sit among the audience as another community member. (Eleven were invited to the Paisley screening, none came – you know who you are!). *** Will it burst through the eco-bubble? One of the threads we unravelled in the discussion after my screening was how to normalise climate conversations: “How do we reach people who don’t even believe climate change is happening?” asked one woman. (It’s worth interjecting here that tracker polling suggests this summer’s extreme weather has prompted a big jump in voters’ ranking of the environment as an issue.) But it’s a question that the People’s Emergency Briefing team have wrangled with extensively. Inevitably there’s an element of self-selection with community screenings, but there’s ongoing work to bring the film to wider audiences at Quaker meeting houses, churches and cathedrals, the Women’s Institute, hospitals, school staff rooms, the national lottery, the V&A, Channel 4, and even here at the Guardian. All the organisers I heard from had plans to run more screenings and diversify audiences, while viewers reported feeling more hopeful, better informed and more motivated to act. “We first realised something was happening when we watched the booming community screenings,” says Oldridge. “But now all these big brands are doing it too. You’re always trying to break beyond the eco-bubble and I think we’ve got a very good chance of doing that now”. *** What difference can it make? In recent years, the orthodoxy around climate communications has tended towards telling only hopeful stories, with a recognition that the public were beyond capacity for bad news. “But we felt quite strongly that we need to reset the baseline of understanding,” says Oldridge. “Most surveys show people are worried, but they see it as a far away problem. And they don’t have all the facts that relate to the UK and their own lives.” This is especially salient when the right weaponise net zero as a threat to the economy. Mindful of this context, the film is trenchant in its optimism. It avoids finger-wagging; there’s no scolding of those of us who still fly or eat cheese. There’s a recognition that – however helpful individual effort can be – climate change isn’t a problem that isolated action can solve. Rather, it calls for an emergency response equal to that rolled out during the pandemic, or a war. “Our effort is focused purely on change driven by government, helping the public understand that they are one of the pieces of the jigsaw that enable the government to be bold enough to make those changes,” says Oldridge. A major academic study of the film’s impact will be published next month and early findings suggest that every screening in a constituency makes its MP more likely to back a televised emergency briefing. “It’s clear evidence that this model works for engaging politicians.” There is engagement too at the top of government, according to our environment editor Fiona Harvey. She reported this week how Ed Miliband brought the national security warnings to global attention at the UN general assembly in New York, with the backing of Andy Burnham. It marks a growing openness from the prime minister towards climate action, she believes, encouraged by Miliband and that goes beyond campaigning pragmatism ahead of the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, where Labour is taking on Green leader Zack Polanski. Perhaps there is room for guarded optimism, as there is in this devastating film about the systemic collapse of society that is paradoxically hopeful. As one member of the public says on screen: “It’s not as if we need to go off and invent all the solutions. They’re right there. We just need to use them”. What else we’ve been enjoying Our politics and graphics desks teamed up on this exclusive report into how, as it stands, tactical voting could push Reform into fourth and leave Labour clinging to a thin majority at the next election. (And here’s a bonus read on the five progressive groups they will need to satisfy to even have a chance). Charlie Lindlar, newsletters team This gallery of shots from French photographer Martine Barrat, of people in Harlem and the Bronx in the 70s and 80s, is beyond beautiful. Barrat had a deep love for these neighbourhoods, and their communities, and it radiates from every tender photograph. Lucinda Everett, newsletters team Fascinating piece for this week’s Moving the Goalposts newsletter by Elizabeth Payne on whether the time has come for separated home and away seating at women’s football. Charlie Before you write off this year’s Oscars battle as a one-(Trojan)-horse race, have a read of Benjamin Lee’s excellent run down of the contenders who might stop The Odyssey sweeping the boards. Lucinda For the Filter, Bay Garnett has an authoritative guide to secondhand shopping in 2026 – “Wear and tear isn’t necessarily a reason to put something back,” she rightly urges. Charlie Sport Football | Joao Felix scored the only goal as reigning Nations League champions Portugal opened their campaign with a 1-0 home win over Wales; and a stoppage-time equaliser rescued a 1-1 draw for the Netherlands against Germany. Cricket | Sri Lanka pulled off a dramatic 16-run win over England in the second one-day international at Headingley ⁠to level the three-match ⁠series despite a heroic effort from injured Jos Buttler. Rugby union | Harlequins, Northampton and Gloucester are attracting serious interest from overseas investors with Prem Rugby entering an expansionist phase before its first season as a closed league begins on Friday. Something for the weekend Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now TV The Great British Bake Off (Channel 4) | ★★★★★ The culinary competition’s newest judge, Nigella Lawson, is a soothing presence, bringing a streak of romance that perfectly complements Paul Hollywood’s ever-practical approach. Read Lucy Mangan’s full review. Music Gilla Band: Pugnello | ★★★★★ Your favourite band’s favourite band unleash a thrilling and relentless 42 minutes of monstrous noise whose precise instrumental source always remains discomfitingly unclear. Read Alexis Petridis’s full review. Film Remake (in cinemas now) | ★★★★★ Sherman’s March director Ross McElwee revisits footage of his late son for this magnificently affecting film and meditation on making art. Read Leslie Felperin’s full review. Art Amar Kanwar (Serpentine North) | ★★★★☆ Having made lyrical films for over 40 years, about everything from the end of empire to sexual brutality, the unflinching Indian artist’s new exhibition continues his focus on the parts of gruesome stories that are often missed. Read Ben Eastham’s full review. The front pages The Guardian splashes on “Two-year delay in assessments of autism due to pressures on NHS”. The FT leads with “Xi urges rivals to ‘coexist in peace’ as Trump hosts White House visit” and the Independent has “Trump and Xi clash over AI at tense state visit”. Top story at the Times is “Met chief: Stop putting offenders before victims”, the Daily Mail has “Labour’s army of migrants” and The i Paper leads on “NHS corridor care killing 550 people every week”. The Telegraph reports “Fiennes kept in care home illegally”, the Sun goes with “Fergie’s squeaky bum time for royals” and the Mirror has “I was sexually assaulted by celeb at home” – in relation to the former England striker Andy Carroll. The Latest Rogue AI hacks government system for first time A government database has been hacked for the first time by a rogue OpenAI agent, which infiltrated part of the Australian healthcare scheme in June. OpenAI became aware of the hack in August, but only informed the government in September. Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has expressed his “extreme concern” about the hack, which raises serious AI security concerns for governments around the world. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s UK technology editor Robert Booth. Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad It’s officially autumn, but you will have noticed that it’s also sometimes summer and sometimes winter. That can make it hard to figure out what to eat every day, but have no fear: for this week’s Feast newsletter, Honey and Co’s Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer scribbled down some ideas. From rice salads to red pepper orecchiette and roasted squash, dig in and find something comforting, no matter the weather. And for yet more inspiration, sign up here to get our free weekly food newsletter every Thursday. Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until Monday. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

Nepal’s PM says flash flood was ‘warning to world’ as he scolds leaders at UN over climate change

Nepal’s prime minister scolded world leaders at the UN on Thursday, saying last month’s catastrophic deadly flood was a reminder that climate change keeps hurting people who didn’t cause the crisis. The disaster “was a warning to the world,” Balendra Shah told the general assembly. “And I ask you today: Have you really heard that warning?” International scientists have connected melting permafrost caused by changes in the climate – linked to burning coal, oil and gas – to the instability of the glacier, which partly collapsed and triggered a massive flood that killed at least 1,400 people. Shah said that Nepal contributed less than one-tenth of 1% of the heat-trapping gases behind climate change. “We did not create this crisis, yet we are paying a colossal price for it,” said Shah, 36, a former rapper and engineer, who wore a traditional Nepali hat and dark sunglasses, which he uses for medical reasons. Shah ⁠said that Nepal’s recovery and reconstruction needs were estimated at about 10% of gross domestic ⁠product following the flood that struck four weeks ago, and argued that vulnerable countries should not be ⁠forced to take on additional debt to rebuild from catastrophic climate events. “When a climate-driven disaster destroys ‌infrastructure of a poor ‌country, the answer cannot simply be another mega loan or ‌a patchwork of small grants,” he said. “We need adequate grant-based support from the world.” He urged closer cooperation between Nepal, India and China on climate resilience, calling for an urgent Himalayan mechanism to share satellite data, monitor glacial lakes, strengthen early-warning systems and coordinate disaster ‌responses across borders. Shah didn’t ask for a specific amount in international aid, but he called the financial aid system inadequate and too bureaucratic. The Nepalese leader said the flood had swept away roads, bridges, schools, homes and livelihoods, interrupting Nepal’s development progress. Weeks later, search and recovery operations were still under way, with more than 6,000 people remaining missing in the area. Shah ‌said many of them may never be found. The World Bank earlier this week made available up to $170m in emergency financing to help Nepal respond to the disaster and begin recovery efforts. Over the past 75 years, the US has emitted about 1,500 times more carbon into the air than Nepal, according to the Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists that track greenhouse gas emissions. The US this week announced $31m in aid to Nepal for flood recovery, which brings America’s total financial help up to $36m. Shisir Khanal, Nepal’s foreign minister, said Wednesday at the UN climate summit: “What happened in Nepal is not an isolated disaster but a preview of what awaits many vulnerable nations.” Speaking to the Guardian earlier this month, Khanal said Nepal had written a joint letter to the UN’s fund for responding to loss and damage – set up in 2022 in line with the Paris climate agreement – to request $20m in climate-related damages.

Lula says Trump wants to ‘colonise’ and capture Brazil’s resources by meddling in election

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidential campaign has accused Donald Trump of wanting to “colonise” Brazil in order to capture its natural resources by meddling in next month’s presidential election. The accusation came in a campaign advert that was published on social media on Thursday night by Lula’s team and will air on television on Friday amid growing fears over the impact alleged US interference could have on the vote. The TV spot claims the US president is trying to sway the election in favour of Lula’s far-right adversary in the election, Flávio Bolsonaro, in order to advance Trump’s interests in the South American nation. “Flávio Bolsonaro is Trump’s candidate and what Trump wants is to colonise Brazil, take our riches, steal our future and leave us in the dust,” the female narrator tells viewers in the minute-long video. The state department has denied claims the US is meddling in Brazil’s election. “Any insinuation of a ‘ploy’ to undermine a democratic nation’s election is a baseless lie,” it said last month in a statement. Writing on X, Lula accused Bolsonaro of wanting to “hand our natural resources over to the United States”. “If it’s up to him, Brazil will become a colony again,” the incumbent leftwing president added. With just over a week to go until the 4 October first round vote, Lula and Bolsonaro are neck and neck in the polls. A second round run-off will be held on 25 October if no candidate secures more than half of the votes. In recent weeks, there has been growing alarm – both in Brazil and overseas – about Washington’s apparent attempts to influence the result, with a campaign of diplomatic and economic pressure, including 25% tariffs on Brazilian imports. Speaking at the UN general assembly in New York this week, Lula indirectly criticised the US’ perceived meddling, telling delegates: “We will not allow the enemies of democracy – internal or external – to attack the will of the people. Brazilian democracy belongs to the Brazilians.” Earlier this week, dozens of Democratic party congresspeople wrote to secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to denounce the Trump administration’s “apparent effort to interfere with, and potentially undermine” Brazil’s elections through what they called a “sustained, multifaceted campaign of interference and destabilisation in Brazil”. The narrator of Lula’s campaign ad cited a series of recent media stories relating to alleged acts of US meddling. They include reports about the alleged interference of Big Tech companies as well as a confidential document sent to electoral authorities by Brazil’s intelligence agency warning of a “critical level” of risk of US interference. The campaign video also highlighted recent claims about links between Bolsonaro’s campaign and the conservative donor network Rockbridge, which was co-founded by Trump’s vice-president JD Vance. Éden Valadares, the communications secretary for Lula’s Worker’s party (PT), said the campaign ad was part of efforts to “alert the Brazilian people” to the ideologically-driven US campaign. “We don’t believe it will work but nor will we sit back and do nothing,” Valadares said. “President Lula has instructed us … to mobilise Brazilian society … [and] to react in the streets,” added Valadares, who said a nationwide series of events were being planned for this Sunday. Fears over US meddling are not confined to the Brazilian left. This week, another of the right-wing candidates in Brazil’s election, Renan Santos, also denounced Trump’s behaviour and said he did not want Brazil to become a US vassal state. “They want to interfere in Brazil’s elections to secure satisfactory contracts involving rare earths,” Santos claimed in a social media video. Recalling the US invasion of Venezuela in January, Santos added: “I don’t want to see Latin America become an American protectorate.” In the letter sent to Rubio on Friday, the Democratic lawmakers wrote that “rather than helping defend Brazilian democracy”, the US was “acting as an agent of interference and destabilisation – using diplomatic, economic and political pressure in ways that risk weakening the country’s democratic institutions, undermining confidence in Brazil’s electoral process, and inflicting further damage on our relationship with a strategic US ally and trading partner”. They asked Rubio if Trump’s administration would commit to respecting Brazil’s electoral process and requested a response by 1 October. The state department has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Saudi Arabia intercepts wave of Houthi missiles as oil climbs to one-week high

Saudi Arabia says it intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, with the latest attacks pushing oil prices ⁠to a one-week high over fears of spiralling supply disruptions. The ⁠Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said the missiles were ⁠aimed at Taif in western Saudi Arabia and the Yanbu area on the Red Sea, with the Houthis claiming their attacks were aimed at “a sensitive target” in the capital Riyadh and on Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu. Oil prices climbed about 3%, but trade was volatile and prices came off session highs after reports the US and Iran discussed reopening the strait of Hormuz. The escalating attacks threaten Saudi Arabia’s ⁠ability to export oil through the Red Sea at a time when the strait of Hormuz is disrupted and the kingdom’s east-west pipeline is only now resuming operations after drone strikes earlier this month. The Houthis declared a naval blockade on the kingdom in July, opening a ‌second theatre in the US-Iran war. It was ‌not clear whether there was any damage or casualties in either Taif or Yanbu, the main alternative route for Saudi oil. The Houthis seized the whole Yemeni western coast in a lightning offensive nearly two weeks ago that brought them to the shores of the Red Sea’s strategic Bab el-Mandeb waterway. Yemen’s internationally recognised government pressed world leaders on Thursday for help defeating the militants, saying that their new perch along one of the world’s busiest waterways presents an international economic risk. While claiming that their blockade only applies to Saudi shipping and there remains no threat to commercial shipping on the Red Sea, the Houths have also warned other nations not to get involved. But the vice-president of the internationally recognised government council urged world leaders at the UN general assembly not to trust the Houthis’ assurances – and to see a bigger picture in the crisis around the strait. “The Houthi militias’ use of the safety of navigation as a tool for blackmail threatens not only Yemen. It is taking hostage the entire global economy,” said vice-president, Abdullah Abdulkader al Alimi-Bawzer. Arguing that protecting the strait “is the responsibility of every economy that depends on secure supply chains, energy security and freedom of navigation,” he urged the international community to keep weapons and technology from getting into the rebels’ hands. The Saudi-backed government’s forces had earlier repelled overnight attacks by the Houthis on a key supply route to Yemen’s third-biggest city Taiz from the southern port city of Aden where the internationally recognised administration is based, government sources said. The Houthis ⁠have kept up pressure along a steep, winding mountain pass known as Hejat al-Abd, a lifeline for government forces and the only route for goods and residents to reach Taiz and travel abroad. Seizing parts of the road could allow the Houthis to tighten their grip around the city and deal another blow to the government, which has struggled to regain the initiative since losing the western coast. Riyadh’s foreign ministry said on Friday that Saudi ⁠Arabia, Turkey and ⁠Pakistan would ⁠hold an urgent ⁠meeting of their chiefs ⁠of staff ‌to ‌discuss ways to ‌support repel the Houthi attacks under their joint ‌defence agreement. Under the defence pact, all three countries agreed that an armed attack on any one of them would be treated as an attack on all three. Officials in Pakistan are said to be deeply worried about being dragged into the never-ending war unfolding across the Middle East. With Reuters and the Associated Press