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Fiery speeches, LED hats and infighting: inside an Alberta separatist conference

The debate began with a simple question in a dark Calgary hotel ballroom: does Alberta need Canada? By the time the audience was asked to vote at the end, more than three-quarters had answered no – a decisive measure of the convictions of a room packed with some of Alberta’s most ardent independence supporters, some of whom had paid C$900 (£480) for a “visionary” weekend pass. But outside the comfort of the ballroom, the debate is far from settled. Across the province, the forthcoming 19 October referendum on separatism has divided communities, prompting accusations of treason and grift and, at times, bitter feuds between former allies. One recent poll shows support for independence at only 14%. You wouldn’t know it from the WeUnify’s Reclaiming Alberta conference though. “This is a matter of survival,” conservative activist and broadcaster Faytene Grasseschi told the crowd, which erupted into applause after she said Alberta’s oil resources had been “usurped” by the federal government and the Canada she had been born into “doesn’t exist any more”. In the main halls outside the ballroom, attendees milled around the vendor stalls. A handful donned a $6,500 (£4,925) helmet that resembles white colanders hastily attached to a bike helmet, bathing the user’s head in red LED light supposedly for treatment of “Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, dementia, traumatic brain injury, [and] brain fog”. Others took in sales pitches about the need for gold and silver as paper money “fails”. But the busiest stall belonged to the group Let’s Talk Alberta. It says it is neither a political party nor a campaign organisation but its five bound pamphlets include a 52-page volume titled Every Argument to Stay is a Reason to Leave. The pamphlets were written by its founder, Chris Scott, a cafe owner who attracted widespread attention during the Covid-19 pandemic after he was arrested for violating public health orders. After a lengthy legal battle, he was acquitted. On stage, Scott told the crowd the push for independence would be a “wake-up call” for the rest of the country and reflected a fight against what many in the movement see as an entrenched political elite – a fight that needed to happen “come hell or high water”. After initial efforts to bring a referendum question on independence were derailed by First Nations groups, Albertans will now be voting on the question of whether Alberta should remain part of Canada or whether the provincial government should begin the legal process to hold a second, binding referendum on separation. With just days to go, the foot soldiers and the faithful of the independence movement have begun their final pitches for what they envision will one day be a wealthy, “anti-woke” nation – one unshackled from the control of the federal government, or even a vassal of the United States. The conference, which was organised by the WeUnify movement, brought together Alberta separatists, veterans of the pandemic-era “freedom movement” and conservatives united by a distrust of established institutions. Speakers reserved their harshest words for Justin Trudeau, who, despite resigning as prime minister more than a year ago, remains a bugbear for the separatist movement. Sheane Meikle, a volunteer with Let’s Talk Alberta, said the independence movement was gaining support. “We’re getting far fewer Trudeau salutes when we wave flags on the side of the road,” he said – a reference to the raised middle finger. Meikle, 58, has spent months travelling the province with Scott, adding more than 32,000 miles to his van as part of a quest to convince sceptical Albertans of the benefits of separation. The referendum had been “longtime coming” for the movement, he said. “Even if the results don’t go our way, it doesn’t mean we’re done. This is a movement now that’s sustained.” Not everyone agreed the conference was the best idea, though. Keith Wilson, one of the principal intellectual and legal architects of Alberta’s modern separatist movement, admitted in an interview that he regretted participating. “It’s just an echo chamber in there – I’m not changing any minds that are already made up for separatism. I shouldn’t be here. I should be out campaigning.” In September Wilson brought together 45 unnamed contributors to publish the Alberta Transition Plan, a 214-page blueprint for turning Alberta from a province into an independent country. “We have everything. Alberta is an economic powerhouse. But we’re also on the ground with our face in our dirt and our arms tied behind our backs because of Ottawa,” he said, referring to a longstanding belief that the federal government continues to exert unfair influence over the oil-rich province. “That’s how many Albertans feel, and that’s why they want change.” His blueprint, however, has drawn criticism for leaving major questions about the costs and practicalities of independence unresolved. The University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy recently estimated that the costs associated with separation could cost Alberta between C$50bn and C$170bn over its first five years and warned substantial annual deficits were possible. Nor have the secessionists built the political machinery that could bring it about. The campaign has no official leader, nor an organised movement under the guise of a political party. No elected officials have campaigned for independence. Unlike Quebec, where independence parties have run explicitly on the idea and won, Alberta has only ever elected a separatist candidate once, and he lost his seat months later. In previous elections, separatist parties have won an average popular vote of 1%. In the absence of coherent leadership, prominent figures have been thrust into the limelight, often with chaotic results. Jeff Rath, a bombastic lawyer linked to the Alberta Prosperity Project, is embroiled in legal battles over allegations that millions of dollars in disputed First Nations trust funds were mishandled. Mitch Sylvestre, head of the Alberta Prosperity Project and owner of a sporting goods store, told the Toronto Star he fears King Charles will have him assassinated. David Parker, a longtime rightwing political organizer, was at the centre of a voter-data scandal that exposed the personal information of nearly 3 million Albertans and remains under investigation. But for Meikle and others, the movement is “grassroots” and would only be damaged by the presence of elected officials. “We just need our politicians to get out of the way and stop being so biased towards this movement,” he said. “They shouldn’t be using taxpayer money to campaign against us.” For many here, the coronavirus pandemic remains an animating force. Some of the panellists and speakers were prominent lawyers who challenged and in some cases won cases against the government for overreach in shutdown laws. It was the pandemic – and the political atmosphere that followed it – that got Betty Field, a retiree who worked in the oil sector, interested in the independence movement. Her husband, Gord Pick, chimed in that even supporters of federalism should vote against unity “to put a little fear of God into Ottawa”. But the lack of a leader has led to divergence over messaging and strategy. In early October, the Globe and Mail reported on ties between the Alberta separatists movement and Republican operatives, and meetings between those unelected Albertans and White House staff. Among items allegedly discussed were oil revenues that could be directed to the US in exchange for assistance establishing a new country, as well as Alberta’s fresh water resources. “We wouldn’t want to be part of the US,” said Pick. “Why trade one overlord in Ottawa for another in Washington?” Outside, fresh off their weekly dinner of liver and onions – “just the best in Calgary, hands down!” – friends Vera Patten and Lisette Bourget stand in the waning sun, smoking a cigarette. When a conference attender offers to hold the door for them, Patten says politely: “Oh we’re not with you.” “I hope they lose,” she adds after a small crowd, also out for a smoke, returns back inside. “It’s just disgusting. I can’t believe how they’re trying to break up this country.” A veteran of the oil industry, Patten has lived in Calgary for decades and says only damage can come from separation. “This needs to stop, and I’m hopeful that after the vote – that they lose.” Wilson said the movement had other plans. “The separatist movement in Alberta started before my parents were born – and they’re dead,” he said. “Because if you’re a separatist, you see a better opportunity for your friends, neighbours and your grandkids. And you never give up on that. Even if the vote goes poorly, it will not end. In the same way that winters won’t end and springs won’t end, this movement won’t end either. It’s here to stay.”

‘Clean air is not a favour’: Indonesia’s neighbours fed up with acrid haze as Singapore threatens to prosecute

Singapore is threatening to prosecute companies responsible for some of the worst fires in years in neighbouring Indonesia, as the region grows increasingly frustrated with a persistent, acrid haze that could result in diplomatic relations fraying. Lawrence Wong, the Singaporean prime minister, said his government was distributing masks to vulnerable citizens and working with countries in the region to deal with the smoke. “At the same time, we are looking into which companies may be responsible for the fires,” he said in a Facebook post on Thursday, adding that he was exploring the idea of “joint action with other countries”. Singapore has no plantations or forests of its own, but several companies with concessions in Indonesia are reportedly based in the city-state. Haze is a persistent problem in Indonesia, but drier-than-usual conditions mean the thick smoke has been drifting into nearby Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Timor-Leste, and as far afield as the Philippines and Vietnam. Millions are affected, with school closures, respiratory illness spiking and air pollution indexes reaching unhealthy levels. Malaysians and Singaporeans have been sharing images online of their cities, with skyscrapers disappearing into the smog, and frustration with the region’s most populous country is boiling over. “Year after year, the haze comes back. It affects our health, closes schools, hurts businesses, and costs us billions,” a veteran Malaysian social activist and former politician wrote in a public letter this week. Lee Lam Thye said that real enforcement and “not just polite words” were needed. “Those responsible must be named, investigated, and punished. Clean air is not a favour. It is a basic right.” While Indonesia regularly battles wildfires in the dry season, these blazes are the most intense in more than a decade and exacerbated by slash-and-burn practices to clear land for agriculture, including palm oil, of which Indonesia is the world’s largest producer. Regional diplomats have offered to help Indonesia, but their offers have not always been immediately accepted. On Monday, an Indonesian official said the country was “still capable of handling it”. By the end of the week, Jakarta said it would accept assistance. Such delicate diplomacy is routine among the region’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which is built on quiet engagement and non-interference. A meeting of regional foreign ministers in the Philippines is due next month, but that might be too late. Nerves are fraying. In remarks that went viral on social media, Syahganda Nainggolan, the head of Indonesia’s government communication agency, hit back at the criticism on Saturday. “We don’t only send haze,” he said, “the oxygen in Singapore and Malaysia comes from our forests.” Rare strong words came earlier this month from Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian prime minister. He said he had been in contact with Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto, “who agreed to take the necessary steps, and this commitment must be followed by immediate and effective action from the Indonesian side to tackle the root causes of the haze”. At the same time, pressure is growing on Jakarta to declare a national disaster, first from civil society groups but now also from Indonesian politicians and neighbours. According to the Jakarta Post, Indonesian students have been holding protests across Kalimantan and Sumatra, demanding accountability and government action. In one video posted online, a child in a mask stands outside under a dark orange sky and calls on the local and national government to help. He holds a sign that says: “Save our little lungs”. The country has dispatched firefighters and announced a crackdown on arsonists, but declaring a disaster would unlock funds and help thousands with medical expenses. On Friday, the Indonesian forestry ministry said four firefighters were killed in a national park in Java. Longtime onlookers say the issue is not just firefighting, but targeting the companies involved. In recent years, several attempts to take legal action against the companies exacerbating “transboundary haze” have failed, both locally and internationally, and posed a diplomatic minefield. Haze is complex for Singapore and Malaysia, as they host companies working in Indonesia. A Greenpeace report published this month identified businesses based in Singapore and Malaysia that it claimed were linked to burning land in Indonesia. Ultimately, Indonesians bear the brunt of the blazes. The health ministry has reported nearly 280,000 people in the country with respiratory infections linked to the fires, with children under five accounting for more than 60,000. Michelle Dyonisius, a campaigner at Amnesty International Indonesia, said rights groups and civil society organisations were ramping up pressure on the government to declare a national disaster emergency. “It has been going on for months, affecting millions and millions of people, including abroad,” she said. “I think there is a refusal to acknowledge the gravity of the issue at hand and also the belief that it is under control. But considering the gravity of the issue and all of the people affected, it seems quite naive to remain in that position.”

Trump calls Ukraine’s renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries ‘a disgrace’

Donald Trump has called Ukraine’s renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries “a disgrace” and criticised Volodymyr ⁠Zelenskyy after an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine failed to take hold. Ukraine resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries ⁠after Zelenskyy said Kyiv was abandoning a ceasefire unilaterally declared by Trump on Sunday, having briefly halted its attacks to demonstrate its readiness for peace talks. Russia had continued its strikes on Ukrainian power plants. In an interview with Newsmax aired on Thursday, the US president said: “All he’s doing is making the world oil price higher. Well, I think that’s a disgrace. “There are a lot ‌of targets you can ‌hit, but when you shoot at diesel refineries where you make, you know, ‌diesel oil, and we need that, and the world needs that, then he’s not doing a good service for the world.” Relations between Kyiv and Washington have soured since Trump announced an easing sanctions on Russia in exchange for Moscow releasing large amounts of diesel on to global markets. Zelenskyy criticised the agreement, which was widely interpreted as an attempt to curb high fuel prices before the US midterm elections, saying it would allow Russia to press on with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began more than four and a half years ago. US efforts under Trump to end the war have made no progress. Trump repeated to Newsmax his views of the two leaders involved in the conflict. “I’m not a big fan of Zelenskyy,” Trump said. “I think they actually both would like to see it ⁠end, but I think I find Zelenskyy to be more difficult to deal with than Putin.” Arriving in Brussels to meet EU leaders on Friday, Zelenskyy did not comment on Trump’s latest remarks. He said he was “so thankful that we have such huge support from the EU” and its leaders, whom he described as “real leaders”. He went on to say that Ukraine wanted to end the war as quickly as possible, but “we don’t see now signals from [the] Russian side that they are ready for this”. Kyiv’s relationship with Washington was strained further this week when Ukraine said Starlink services had been restricted, in effect hobbling Ukrainian drone strike missions and crucial air defences with a flick of the switch. During a visit to London this week, the Ukrainian president said the sudden restriction of Starlink had left him feeling personally betrayed by Trump and lamented losing a partner. The British defence secretary, Wes Streeting, said on Thursday that his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, had assured him in a face-to-face meeting that the vital satellite communications system had been restored. In an interview with the BBC, he said it was unclear what had caused the disruption, but added: “This is not the first time we’ve seen a falling out between Washington and Kyiv.” Amid growing doubts about long-term US commitment to Ukraine, European leaders declared their support for Zelenskyy. Standing alongside the Ukrainian leader in Brussels, the European Council president, António Costa, said Ukraine could “count on us not only to support you in war” but also in the path to negotiating EU membership. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU had supported Trump’s energy ceasefire, “but we have seen that Russia did not respect it, not a single minute” and instead had escalated its attacks. She said the EU intended to increase pressure on Russia, promising a 22nd round of sanctions, adding: “We will not lift any sanctions unless Russia stops the war.” The promise of further European sanctions against Russia comes weeks after the EU lifted sanctions against two prominent Russian oligarchs at the request of France and Luxembourg. After meeting Zelenskyy, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said it was “crucial” that Ukraine received “all the means necessary to protect itself”. The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, posted online: “I can reassure you, dear Ukrainian friends and President Zelenskyy: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.” As Zelenskyy met Macron in Brussels, he said that the Kremlin had “launched yet another vile drone strike on Ukrainian energy infrastructure” in the city of Lutsk, which caused blackouts. The Kremlin, meanwhile, accused Ukraine of derailing US peace efforts by resuming its strikes on refineries.

Friday briefing: How Manchester City’s financial scandal could upend the whole football league

Good morning. It’s a sporting scandal of colossal proportions, with the juiciest details still to come. Manchester City’s ascent from mediocre to majestic changed the landscape of British football. Now, that pace looks set to be matched by a sudden, plummeting fall. The club has been found guilty of breaching football finance rules to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds, with ramifications poised to spill far beyond Manchester (the club denies the allegations, and says it will appeal). Foreign state ownership makes this an international relations issue, not just a sporting one. The prime minister has been dragged into the sleaze-fest, and the stream of stories shows no sign of slowing. Meanwhile, the Mancunian club has the chutzpah to sit at the top of the Premier League, much to the repulsion of my Manchester United-supporting boyfriend. With the help of Guardian football writer Jonathan Wilson, today’s First Edition delivers everything you need to know about the crisis engulfing the beautiful game, and believe me, this one’s not just for the footie fans. That’s after the headlines. Five big stories Ukraine | Wes Streeting urged the US to stand by Ukraine on his visit to the American capital and sought to cool tensions between the two countries in the wake of the Starlink row that is threatening to set back Kyiv’s war effort. UK news | Jeffrey Donaldson has been sentenced to 15 years for sexual offences against two women who were children when he abused them, completing what was described as a “catastrophic descent into disgrace”. Hacking | An Israeli advertising agency has been serving millions of online adverts that allow “zero-click” spyware to be used against targets, researchers at a Canadian university have said. UK news | A woman has alleged Russell Brand told her “it’s just fun” as he raped her in a hotel room at the 1999 Labour party conference, a court has heard. US news | Donald Trump has shelved a widely condemned plan to livestream the execution of a disabled man by firing squad. In depth: ‘There was a sense that the panel felt lied to by City’ To some (Manchester City fans, mostly), it was a sporting success story for the ages. After decades of underachievement, a middle-of-the-road club transformed into England’s best performing – and top title-winning – team. Others grumbled that City’s success was a sad indictment of the state of modern football. The club’s change in fortunes came shortly after they were bought by the Abu Dhabi United Group, a private equity group owned by the Gulf state’s vice president. Billionaires had already gutted the topflight of its heart, now governments with entire GDPs to burn had descended. Except, of course, the cash injection at Manchester City breached strict Premier League limits. Financial fair play rules, introduced by the league in 2013, aimed to keep a lid on spending so that clubs – financed by, say, a fossil-fuel rich state – couldn’t simply spend billions for immediate dominance. Only, that’s precisely what Manchester City did. According to an independent panel, they secretly boosted their income by a staggering £900m between 2009 and 2018. When he first flicked through the panel’s 40-page verdict summary, Wilson was surprised by the “incredibly strong language it used for a dry legal document”. The word “sham” is repeated eight times. “There was a clear sense that the panel felt systematically lied to by City,” says Wilson. The real spice is likely to come in the yet-to-be-published appendices to the verdict, which will probably contain names, companies and detailed figures. These recent revelations didn’t come out of nowhere. Back in November 2018, German newspaper Der Spiegel published a four-part series on Manchester City (“Bending the Rules to the Tune of Millions” was the first headline). The paper’s bombshell reporting was based on data released in The Football Leaks, a website containing millions of documents on allegedly murky financial transactions in the sport, made public by Portuguese whistleblower (and convicted hacker) Rui Pinto. UEFA conducted an investigation, and in 2020 found the club guilty, though the punishments (a two-year ban from European competitions and a €30m fine) were watered down on appeal. Meanwhile, Manchester City kept on winning. “There was wide recognition that Manchester City had gotten away with it by dragging out the process,” Wilson tells me – the Court of Arbitration for Sport found the club showed a “blatant disregard” to Uefa’s investigation. “There was a sense then that football could not really handle situations like these,” Wilson says. Then, last month, the Premier League announcement came: Manchester City was guilty of 114 charges. It’s understood these offences correlate to information already in the public domain: that Manchester City inflated the value of sponsorship deals to channel extra cash into the club; that secret payments were made to senior club figures and player agents. These were a contravention of financial rules, and the club “made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate” Premier League investigations. The club has maintained its innocence, and intends to appeal. *** A sizeable punishment? Even allowing time for Manchester City to appeal, a sanction decision is expected around Christmas. Fines, point-docking, transfer bans, suspension and expulsion are all being discussed, though Premier League rules dictate there’s no limit to the penalties that could be dished out. The sheer scale of the rule-breaking means there’s little precedent for comparison. Everton were docked six points for a £20 million rule breach. Apply the same metrics, and Manchester City would lose hundreds. Knocking that much off their tally in a single season is “functionally identical” to a much softer sentence, says Wilson. (Points reset every season, and last year, league-toppers Arsenal finished on just 85.) “It leads to the conclusion that expulsion from the Premier League might be the only logical outcome,” says Wilson. He’d also like them stripped of their titles, and to see an investigation launched immediately into the club’s finances from 2018 until now. Expulsion would be complicated. The complex structure of English football means if Manchester City did get booted out of the Premier League, there’s no guarantee the club would find a place in a lower league. And, even if it’s recommended by the panel, Premier League clubs would need to vote it through on a two-thirds majority. “That vote is unpredictable, as some club owners have business ties in Abu Dhabi or fear setting a precedent where clubs can vote out rivals,” says Wilson. *** How worried should Man City be? Off the pitch, there’s the prospect of civil litigation lingering too: Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur each submitted formal legal notices before a September 2024 deadline, which reserves them the right to claim compensation for losses caused by City’s rule breaches. When Everton breached financial rules in the 2021/22 season Burnley successfully claimed close to £40m from the Merseyside club. The sums at stake in this instance could be eye-watering. Plus there’s the prospect of possible criminal proceedings. Tom Forster KC, a financial crime barrister, suggested that Manchester City “has a great deal to be worried about on this front”. Then there’s the political fallout, which is still taking shape. Andy Burnham was mayor of Greater Manchester through this period, a time during which Abu Dhabi made serious investments in the city. “That can be viewed either as benevolent community building or as a calculated investment, expecting returns and local influence,” says Wilson. Either way, it’s not ideal for the new prime minister. Plus, Burnham’s initial response to the judgment raised eyebrows, saying he’d be “really concerned” if the owners were forced to sell. “His skepticism of the charges sounded like comments from a fan on a message board rather than a measured politician,” says Wilson. Clarifications from Number 10 soon followed, and Burnham committed to publishing details of his dealings with Manchester City. Yesterday, he requested a “manual trawl” of records from his time as Greater Manchester Mayor, after two hospitality dinners with Manchester City’s chair were found to be absent from the combined authority’s digital register. *** What does this mean for English football? The ramifications for English football are clear. The Premier League faces a massive problem: the success of its top side is built on foul play. And not just between 2009 and 2018, Wilson reckons. “Even if we assume City complied cleanly after the leaks emerged, their success since remains predicated on that unfair advantage. That’s a lot of titles – and a lot of prize money – won under compromised conditions. As it stands, this is “hugely damaging” to the Premier League’s reputation and fan trust, Wilson says. Football is the UK’s most popular sport, and is worth billions to the economy. If faith is lost in the sport, that’s a real problem. On the other hand, football is just a ballgame without the drama, spectacle and narrative – to which this debacle adds plenty. Especially, Wilson says, “if the outcome demonstrates that the Premier League is willing to enforce its regulations against even its most dominant team.” But there’s a story much bigger than football here. Manchester City (and Saudi Arabia’s Newcastle United for that matter) aren’t the only British institutions quasi-owned by foreign governments. Qatar, Saudi and China own the bulk of Heathrow Airport; through state-owned EDF, France claims significant chunks of UK energy infrastructure. Royal Mail, meanwhile, is owned by a Czech billionaire; more than 70% of the English water industry is in foreign ownership. “This case illustrates the extent of foreign state influence over major British institutions,” says Wilson, “tracing back to New Labour policies that encouraged foreign state investment without sufficient safeguards against geopolitical manipulation.” But, if the Premier League holds course, its response could be just as symbolic. “In a broader societal landscape where massive wealth often overrides accountability, this would represent a major British institution taking a stand to enforce rule of law and regulatory compliance.” What else we’ve been enjoying I enjoyed Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett’s column on the return of Girls, and what it could look like now its protagonists are more women than girls them. Poppy Noor, newsletters team I don’t get a chance to dance these days. So I found Lyndsey Winship’s piece on which music is the best to get down to both absolutely fascinating and a potent reminder to get myself ‘out out’. Lucinda Everett, newsletters team If you’ve used the term “greedflation” you’re borrowing a term from Isabella Weber, who is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after economists of her generation. Our own Michael Segalov interviewed her, and the piece out this morning provides a rare bit of hope. Poppy Maya Yang’s report about a loophole that lets private firms catch protected sand tiger sharks in the US and sell them to foreign aquariums is a shocking but important read. Lucinda I thought Zoe Williams was superb on Sally Rooney’s courage and humanity. Poppy Sport Football | Brazilians Evanilson and Rayan scored as Bournemouth eased to a 3-0 win over Sturm Graz of Austria in their first-ever home European tie; Sunderland came from behind to beat Torreense 2-1; Crystal Palace and Celtic both defeated. Rugby league | Jack Bostock almost single-handedly stole the Rugby League World Cup opener, with three tries and a crucial assist in a 24-22 victory over New Zealand. Football | European football leaders are increasingly confident they will find a candidate to stand against Gianni Infantino in next year’s Fifa presidential election. Something for the weekend Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now Film NAZA (in cinemas now) | ★★★★☆ Under the cover of night, anonymous Israeli intelligence officers and personnel discuss the secret systems used in the war on Gaza, in a documentary produced by the Guardian. Read Peter Bradshaw’s full review. TV The Diplomat (Netflix) | ★★★★★ Keri Russell is still trying to stop a sea of berks who are one bad hair day away from starting a nuclear war – only this time, the cortisol levels and the sauciness have been ramped up even further. Read Sarah Dempster’s full review. Music Fontaines DC: Dopamine Chamber | ★★★★★ This is a beguiling, endlessly inventive and frequently astonishing fifth LP from a group at increasing ease with being the best band of their generation. Read Laura Snapes’s full review. Art and design Tarek Atoui’s Turbine Hall (Tate Modern, London) | ★★★★★ The Lebanese artist has turned trumpets, drums, cones and voices into an ingenious, interconnected sonic beast with funny, sad and mystical results. Prepare to feel the earth move! Read Jonathan Jones’s full review. The front pages The Guardian splashes on “Revealed: chancellor poised to raise taxes on banks in budget”. The Telegraph says “Healey plans tax raid on banks”, the Times runs “Hospitals to place trans women on male wards” and the i Paper headlines on “Energy bills set for double rise in the new year”. The Mail has “Dumb and dumber”, in reference to Labour’s education policy, and the Financial Times says “Merz stands by welfare reform overhaul as he vows to fight on”. Elsewhere, the Sun and the Mirror focus on the Russell Brand trial, running the same headline, based on witness testimony: “Brand made me take pic … then he raped me”. Brand denies all the charges and has pleaded not guilty. The Latest ‘I couldn’t breathe’: Russell Brand trial hears from first alleged victim Former comedian Russell Brand is on trial facing multiple charges of rape and sexual assault against six women, spanning a decade from 1999 to 2009. On Thursday the court heard evidence from a woman who alleged Russell Brand told her “it’s just fun” as he raped her at the 1999 Labour party conference. He denies all the allegations against him. Lucy Hough speaks to senior national news editor Aaron Sharp. Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad They say everyone’s got a book in them … but most of us have no idea how to even begin putting pen to paper. Helpfully, in this piece Madeleine Aggeler asks the experts on how to get started – and keep going. From setting timelines to taking classes and writing even just a page at a time, it’s filled with great guidance, including this from novelist Christopher Moore on how to restart your abandoned opus: “Think about why it’s important to you to finish it. What would it mean for you to complete this project?” 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 tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

Pope Leo lung cancer surgery: what kind of operation did he have and what happens next?

On Tuesday, surgeons in Rome removed the lower part of Pope Leo’s right lung, after a routine health check found a small growth that tests have since confirmed as lung cancer. The operation, called a lobectomy, is the standard treatment for lung cancer caught early, and for many patients it is the only treatment they will ever need. So what exactly did his doctors do, and what happens next? What was removed? The lungs are divided into five sections called lobes, three on the right and two on the left. Removing the whole lobe containing the tumour, rather than just the lump, gives surgeons the best chance of taking every cancer cell along with a healthy margin around it. People live full, active lives with four lobes, and the remaining lung adapts over time. Surgeons also remove nearby lymph nodes, the small glands that drain the lung, to check whether the cancer has begun to spread. If they are clear, surgery alone is often curative. The Vatican has not yet said what these tests showed. How did they diagnose so quickly? Most patients wait two to three weeks after surgery for their results. In this case, the Vatican said a diagnosis suspected from earlier scans was confirmed during the operation itself. A possible way this was done is using a technique called frozen section, in which a sample of the removed lung is sent to a pathologist while the patient is still asleep. The tissue is rapidly frozen, sliced and examined under a microscope, giving an answer within minutes. This helps surgeons decide how much lung to remove, sparing healthy tissue if a growth turns out not to be cancer. A fuller analysis follows in the days after. What kind of cancer is it? Lung cancers fall into two broad groups depending on how the cells look under the microscope: small cell and non-small cell. Non-small cell accounts for about 85% of cases, and adenocarcinoma, the type the pope has, is the most common of these. It tends to grow in the outer parts of the lung. This is the most common form of lung cancer in people who have never smoked, although total numbers are higher among smokers. How are these growths found? As with Pope Leo’s, many small lung cancers are spotted by chance, on a scan or X-ray done for another reason or during a routine health check. A detailed CT scan then shows the size and position of the nodule, and a PET scan looks for any sign of spread. When a small nodule looks very likely to be cancer, doctors have a choice to go straight to surgery rather than taking a biopsy first. How is the operation done? Lobectomies were once performed through a large cut between the ribs. Today, most are done by keyhole surgery, using a camera and a few small incisions, or with a robot that the surgeon controls from a nearby console. The Vatican said the pope’s operation used a video-assisted technique, the most common form of keyhole lung surgery. Keyhole methods, with or without a robot, generally mean less pain, smaller scars and a quicker recovery than open surgery. What happens next? After the operation, a tube called a chest drain is left in place to let air and fluid escape while the lung settles. Patients are helped out of bed the next day, because moving early lowers the risk of clots and chest infections. The pontiff is expected to spend about a week in hospital. The final pathology report will guide whether he needs any further treatment. Adenocarcinomas are now routinely tested for genetic changes that specific drugs can target, and some patients are offered immunotherapy or chemotherapy to reduce the chance of the cancer coming back. As for travel, guidance varies, but most patients are advised to wait two to three weeks before flying, provided the lung has fully healed. That leaves the pope with a narrow but realistic window for getting ready for his planned trip overseas in November.

Future of western security is at stake in Yemen civil war, says country’s former PM

The future of western security is being fought out in the mountains and hills surrounding the south-western Yemeni city of Taiz, the country’s former prime minster has said. Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, now an adviser to Yemen’s president, said it would be catastrophic if the city fell to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, since control of the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait in the Red Sea and the road to Aden – the site of the UN-recognised government – would be lost. Appealing for more western help, Saeed said he had no doubt that the Houthis intended to seize control of all of Yemen, and claimed their goal was “to help Iran to expand the chaos”. Saeed admitted the lack of coordination among government-backed troops, competition between Gulf states and a slowness to appreciate the implications of Yemen acquiring long-range drone technology had contributed to the pressure facing his government, and its chief backer Saudi Arabia. “We only have light weapons and Saudi Arabia did not plan at an early stage for this escalation, but it is never too late to regain our position,” he said. Saeed called on the west to think through the implications of allowing the Houthis to take control of Yemen, arguing the country would never be secure with Houthis on the land. Saeed is not only an adviser to the Yemeni president, Rashad al-Alimi, he was prime minister between 2018 and 2024 and a former negotiator with the Houthis. He said: “The battle around Taiz is not just a battle for Taiz, but a broader battle that involves the whole of the western world, and one of the most important maritime straits. The Houthis know controlling Taiz is controlling the straits and it’s the highlands before the straits and the coastal city of Mocha and the Gulf of Aden. If Taiz is lost, access to the strait will be lost. The rest of the country will come later. The Houthi plan is to control the whole of Yemen.” Taiz has become the new frontline in the war between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces after the Houthis launched a military campaign last month to take Yemen’s Red Sea coast, ending four years of relative calm in Yemen after a UN-brokered ceasefire froze the frontlines in 2022. He said existing intelligence showed the Houthis were already seeking to control parts of the south, including the former Soviet camp at al-Sabiha, in the Lahij governorate, and eventually Aden. “The Houthis bleed a lot,” he said, “they suffer a lot, but they always want quickly to use their gains or any collapse to gain more land.” With some Houthi leaders offering safe passage to armed groups to leave the city, he said for now the Houthis were allowing some fuel and commodities into the urban area of Taiz which houses more than 500,000 people, but in the meantime they were expanding their control of rural areas and smaller major cities. Saeed said: “In a matter of days there will be a full siege and they will try to enter the city. I know the Houthis. They will show some flexibility until they are ready to control. It will be much worse than the siege of 2015. It will be catastrophic.” He described Taiz as a modern democratic city untied to tribal culture, and predicted the Houthis would try to impose their Zaydi education, financial and tax systems very quickly, but the citizens would continue to resist. “The loss of Taiz would have a very significant symbolic impact on the idea of the modern state in Yemen and of resisting the Houthi project which relies on tribal networks and extremist religious education.” Saeed admitted Taiz only had light weapons and the government had not been prepared for the loss of the west coast, allowing the Houthis to attack Taiz from four different axes. “We have good troops,” he said, “but the problem is the coordination. We needed more communication between the National Shield Forces, National Resistance Forces and the Giants Brigades. It’s been a wake-up call inside the government and the army because not enough happened between the truce of 2022 and the restart of the fighting this year to reorganise the troops. The Houthi ideology solely is to fight.” He added: “I hope now that the knife has come to our neck, and the Houthis represent a critical threat, the priority would be to come together to defeat the Houthis, and then to discuss other demands and guarantees.” The exiled leader of the southern secessionist force, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, on Tuesday called for a mobilisation of southern troops against the Houthis, but coupled this with a demand for a referendum on secession within two years. He brought tens of thousands on to the streets in support on Wednesday, but his return would be a bitter pill for Riyadh to swallow. Saeed said it was not a coincidence that the Houthi attack along the Red Sea coast in September had come when Iran was under heavy pressure. “Its airplanes and airports cannot operate, 90% of the oil was coming out of Hormuz. That is why they attacked the Saudi east-to-west pipelines. The Houthis, by talking about a Saudi blockade, have found a reason to hit the Saudi oil installations, airports and they want to do it now because the only thing Iran can do is to keep expanding the consequences of the war for America.” He said Houthi military capability and negotiating power had been transformed over the last decade leading to its ability to target key sites in Saudi Arabia now. “In 2017, the Houthis had nothing but blind missiles to fire at us that missed their targets.” By 2020, he said intelligence existed that Iranian experts operating from the Houthi capital Sana’a were training Houthis and in December of that year, in a devastatingly effective attack, they fired ballistic missiles at Aden airport. The attack left 28 dead and 107 injured, including Saeed himself, newly installed as prime minister. The missile travelled 186 miles (299km). He explained: “We thought even then they did not have that many missiles, but since then the Iranians have expanded their manufacturing lines.” In January 2022, using missiles, the Houthis attacked Abu Dhabi oil tanker trucks more than 900 miles away. In October 2022, inside Yemen, they struck the Nushayma oil terminal and al-Dhabba port, severely damaging government finances. By the time the US attacked Yemen in March 2025, he said “it was clear the Houthis had dozens of targeted missiles, land sea missiles and drones. They had become a unified front with Iran, and developed their missile base.” He warned: “This is a new era of radical terrorism. It is not the old chaotic one of Isis and al-Qaida. It is semi-state actors and militias threatening powerful states with cheap technologies, and smuggled third-party components. The way Iran has invested in the Houthis could become a model for threatening navigation elsewhere. It is a new model of war, without traditional armies, needing different air defences. Gulf countries have to reshape and rethink their defences”.

French police accused over war-like injuries to teenagers in school protests

French lawyers and rights groups have said that several teenagers have suffered war-like injuries from police weapons used during school protests, and an unprecedented number of children have been held in police custody, some of whom reported being hit or racially insulted. France is in the fourth week of its biggest youth protest movement in decades, during which hundreds of high schools across the country have been blockaded as students demand the replacement of absent teachers and repairs to decrepit buildings. Police have opened internal investigations into 36 allegations of officer violence against demonstrators, including four children allegedly being “mutilated” by explosive weapons, and six sustaining “significant injuries”, as well as other complaints over physical blows, insults or alleged sexual assault, the interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, told the senate. Evan, a 15-year-old studying carpentry at a vocational high school, had a hand blown off in the explosion of a police stun grenade outside a school protest in Lens, northern France, on 5 October. His lawyer, Bertrand Wattez, said: “His injuries resemble war injuries.” Wattez said Evan had gone to school to attend class and discovered a protest under way. He said Evan had not taken part in violence and denied the Béthune state prosecutor’s assertion that the grenade had been picked up from the ground. When the grenade exploded, Evan lost his left hand, several fingers from his right hand and suffered injuries to other parts of his body. He remained in hospital “in a very difficult condition” and his family had filed a criminal complaint, Wattez said. Another boy, Eden, 14 – who had been near a school protest in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, north-west of Paris – suffered extensive facial injuries, including two fractures to his jaw, the loss of his bottom teeth and all his top teeth broken after he was allegedly hit by a shot from a grenade launcher. His lawyer, Elsa Marcel, said the shot from a grenade launcher was fired at close range, from a distance of 1.5 metres. “This is the equivalent of war weaponry,” she said. The family has filed a legal complaint for attempted murder. Eden’s parents said he had gone to school but found it blockaded and had wanted to go home. Video footage appeared to show him facing three riot police officers. One officer hit out in his direction with a truncheon and Eden kicked in the direction of the police before a grenade shot was fired. An officer has been suspended and placed under official investigation. This week, a police officer in the western city of Tours was charged with aggravated battery after Maël, a 16-year-old at a vocational high school, lost the use of his eye allegedly after a shot from a form of rubber-bullet launcher. The officer denies the charges. The family’s lawyer said Maël had not been involved in any violent confrontation with police but had simply been present at a school protest, and that the family felt a sense of “injustice”. For several years, France has faced scrutiny over police use of explosive weapons, particularly after serious injuries were reported during the 2018-2019 gilets jaunes (yellow vests) street demonstrations, including allegations that people had lost eyes and had their hands and feet mutilated. The current wave of protests has also led to lawyers raising concerns that an unprecedented number of children have been arrested and placed in police custody, with some lawyers reporting that teenagers said they were hit, humiliated or verbally abused during arrests. Since the school protests began in mid-September, a total of 6,773 under-18s have been taken into police custody after they were arrested, the justice ministry said. For more than 1,000 of those children, no charges were brought; 2,190 are facing legal action and almost 2,000 were handed an alternative to further legal action, such as a citizenship course, without their case being heard at trial and without a conviction. Lawyers said accusations against children included gathering with violent intent, violence against police and damage to property. Nathalie Tehio, a lawyer and the president of the French Human Rights League, said the fact that only a minority of children’s cases would end up before a judge raised concerns that arrests could be unfounded. She said: “There are a record number of arrests … Often, the legal dossiers are empty. In reality, this is more about stopping people from demonstrating. I think there is a sense of hitting hard to try to dissuade people and scare them.” Tehio said: “We have received accounts of racist comments made. Lawyers have told us that their clients say they have been humiliated or treated violently or pushed.” Romain Boulet, a co-president of France’s Association of Criminal Lawyers, said: “Criminal lawyers are worried and raising concerns about the potential misuse of police powers to dissuade citizens aged under 18 from demonstrating.” Mohamed Jaite, the president of the Paris branch of the leftwing union Syndicat des Avocats de France, has represented several teenagers stopped in Paris and its suburbs. “I have seen one youth limping in a police station,” he said. “Some have reported being humiliated or receiving racist and sexist insults.” Prisca Ancion, a lawyer from the leftwing lawyers’ group Collectif d’Action Judiciaire, which demonstrated this week in front of a high school in Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris, said: “There have been racist insults during arrests, as well as homophobic, sexist comments or sexual touching. We encourage families to file complaints.” Another lawyer from the collective, Romane Bartoli, who assisted several teenagers after their arrest, said: “Youngsters told us they were slapped, kicked or punched.” One 16-year-old from a high school in a suburb north of Paris described being arrested 100 metres from his school on the day of a blockade in late September. He plans to study medicine at university and said he had intended to go to class before he saw there was a protest. Answering questions from the Guardian with his lawyer, he said he had been held in police custody for more than 12 hours, mostly with two others in a police cell with two mattresses. “It was hard psychologically because I felt I hadn’t done anything wrong,” he said. “I was hit with a truncheon and punched.” He said a police officer told him to “shut his mouth” and said: “It’s always you lot,” which he understood to be a racist insult. He was released after a state prosecutor instructed him to carry out a citizenship course as an alternative to facing legal action. The justice ministry and the interior ministry, which oversees policing, did not comment on allegations of insults or violence in police custody. In parliament, Nuñez denied any form of excessive policing or police repression. He suspended the use of stun grenades at school demonstrations. Audrey Bailleul, a magistrate and national representative of the Union Syndicale des Magistrats, said it was hard to have a clear view of events at this stage. She said: “There is nothing to show that there has voluntarily been a massive intention to not respect [legal] procedure.”