Chinese president is behind patriarchal turn in politics with activists silenced for ‘promoting gender antagonism’

Addressing dignitaries gathered in Beijing on Monday, Xi Jinping praised the “historic achievements” of women’s rights in China. In the past 30 years, the Chinese president said, maternal mortality rates had dropped by nearly 80%, and women were now participating in the project of national governance with “unprecedented confidence and vigour”.

Xi was speaking at the global women’s summit, an event on Monday and Tuesday to mark the 30th anniversary of the historic UN’s world conference on women, which took place in Beijing. It was there in 1995 that Hillary Clinton, the then US first lady, delivered her “women’s rights are human rights” speech, lines now often quoted by people in China advocating for women’s rights.

Radoslaw Sikorski, speaking in London, urges drone wall and three-year plan to back Ukraine; Odesa mayor’s ‘citizenship suspended’. What we know on day 1,330

Indonesia’s Prabowo is the latest world leader to fall foul of the ‘hot mic’ – diplomatic snafus that have caused embarrassment to leaders around the globe

Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto thought he was having a private word with US president Donald Trump at the Gaza peace summit in Egypt this week.

Instead what unfolded was a hot-mic slip up, with Prabowo heard asking Trump to line up a call with his son Eric, or his son Don Jr, who both serve as executives at the Trump organisation.

• USMNT host Socceroos in Commerce City, Colorado

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1 min: We are underway!

After the Australian national anthem and an, uh, interesting rendition of the US counterpart, we are all set to go.

State department says it has ‘no obligation’ to host foreign nationals who ‘celebrate heinous’ death of far-right activist

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Donald Trump’s US state department said on Tuesday it had revoked the visas of six foreigners over social media comments made about the assassination of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk.

“The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans,” the state department said in a statement posted on X. “The State Department continues to identify visa holders who celebrated the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk.”

Mike Johnson says he won’t negotiate with Democrats as government shutdown enters second week. Key US politics stories from 14 October 2025

Donald Trump has said his administration is planning to produce a list on Friday of “Democrat programs” that will be closed as a result of the ongoing federal government shutdown, after the Senate failed in its eighth attempt to pass legislation that would end the impasse.

He did not specify the programs but indicated to reporters at the White House on Tuesday that the closures would be permanent.

Rise in births to non-Japanese comes as politicians keep dodging the choice between economic decline and a more diverse population

This week brought encouraging news for Japan’s long battle to defuse its demographic timebomb: in 2024, the number of babies born to one sector of the population rose to a record of more than 22,000 – that’s about 3,000 more than the previous year and a 50% increase on a decade ago.

But none of the women who answered calls – invariably issued by conservative male politicians – to have more children were Japanese.

President presented award to Kirk’s widow, Erika, on what would have been the far-right commentator’s 32nd birthday

Donald Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, to the assassinated far-right commentator Charlie Kirk at the White House on Tuesday.

Kirk, who was shot at an event at Utah Valley University in September, was among the most significant rightwing activists in the modern political era, galvanizing a younger generation of conservatives to engage in politics and support Trump’s candidacy ahead of the 2024 election.

New version will allow users to customize AI assistant’s personality in what firm calls ‘treat adults users like adults’ policy

OpenAI announced plans on Tuesday to relax restrictions on its ChatGPT chatbot, including allowing erotic content for verified adult users as part of what the company calls a “treat adult users like adults” principle.

OpenAI’s plan includes the release of an updated version of ChatGPT that will allow users to customize their AI assistant’s personality, including options for more human-like responses, heavy emoji use, or friend-like behavior. The most significant change will come in December, when OpenAI plans to roll out more comprehensive age-gating that would permit erotic content for adults who have verified their ages. OpenAI did not immediately provide details on its age verification methods or additional safeguards planned for adult content.

It started in Scotland and it still has not finished. That night at Hampden was only Luis de le Fuente’s second as Spain coach; it also felt like it might be his last. Two Scott McTominay goals defeated the Seleccion but while just about everyone else thought his spell would be brief, he was talking about a pathway opening and here’s the thing: the man accused of living in Disneyland back then was right. Three years and four days later, Spain moved to within touching distance of the World Cup finals tournament by racking up their 29th consecutive competitive game unbeaten*, equalling their record.

On a night when Pedri played and Mikel Merino made the difference, Spain beat Bulgaria 4-0 to take them to 12 points from 12 in qualifying, close now. The Arsenal midfielder and sometime striker scored the first two and might even have got his second hat-trick in three Spain games but when he was fouled in the last minute he handed the penalty to Mikel Oyarzabal instead. And so it was the Real Sociedad striker, scorer of the winner at the final of Euro 2024, who kept the sequence going, equalling what Vicente del Bosque’s golden generation did between 2010 and 2013.

• US president says games could be moved due to safety

• Boston street takeovers, LA wildfires are blamed

Donald Trump has again said he’d pressure Fifa to remove 2026 World Cup games from a host city on the basis of that city’s politics, with Boston becoming the third such city to come in for threats from the US president. Trump also said he would consider similar action against Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics on account of potential safety issues.

Trump has no legal authority to directly take either action, but he can apply pressure to each competition’s governing body to move host cities.

It was the night when England confirmed the inevitable. Thomas Tuchel and his players are going to the World Cup finals tournament next summer as the winners of qualifying Group K, their progress serene, their record – with two ties still to tick off next month – without blemish.

The serious business awaits, the only frisson of jeopardy here provided by the England fans, who sought to make a few points to Tuchel during the first half after his criticism of the Wembley crowd in the 3-0 friendly victory against Wales last Thursday. He had complained about them being too quiet.

• Bucks star says he wants finish career in Greece

• Antekokounmpo plans NBA exit before age 40

After reaffirming his commitment to the Milwaukee Bucks in the offseason, All- Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo went on Greek television and said he would like to finish his playing career in his native Greece.

A two-time MVP, Antetokounmpo is under contract with the Bucks for his 13th and 14th seasons through 2026-27 before he can enter free agency.

US president says ‘we will not be generous’ if leader fails to win key midterms after promising $20bn to prop up struggling economy

Donald Trump has warned he could cut financial aid to Argentina if his ally Javier Milei loses crucial legislative elections later this month.

“If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina,” the US president said as Milei visited the White House to seek the Republican’s political and economic support. “I’m with this man because his philosophy is correct. And he may win and he may not win – I think he’s going to win. And if he wins we are staying with him, and if he doesn’t win we are gone.”

Eighth Senate vote fails on 49-45 tally as Congress remains deadlocked on legislation amid now two-week shutdown

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Congress remained deadlocked on legislation to reopen the federal government, as the US Senate on Tuesday again rejected a Republican plan to end the government shutdown that began two weeks ago.

The eighth Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would fund government operations through 21 November failed on a 49-45 tally – far short of the 60 needed for advancement in the chamber. In a sign that that there has been little if any progress toward ending the stalemate, no senators changed their votes from the last time the measure was brought to the floor, though there were a handful of absences.

Men who were held in Nafha prison say they were brutally beaten, bound at the hands and feet, verbally abused, allowed to contract fungal and skin diseases, and assaulted with loud music for up to two days straight

Before releasing him, Israeli prison guards decided to give Naseem al-Radee a farewell gift. They bound his hands, placed him on the ground and beat him without mercy, saying goodbye the same way they had said hello: with their fists.

Radee’s first sight of Gaza in nearly two years was blurry; a boot to the eye left him with blurred vision two days later. Vision problems added to the laundry list of ailments he gained during his 22-month stay in an Israeli prison.

The late singer may have suffered from setbacks and only released three studio albums, but the range he displayed in this perfect catalogue was astonishing

• D’Angelo, Grammy-winning neo-soul pioneer, dies aged 51

• D’Angelo – a life in pictures

In the mid-90s, the Roots’ drummer Questlove was approached to work on the first album by a new soul singer. He turned the offer down out of hand: “I was like, ehhh, soul singers in the 90s – whatever,” he later remembered. “I’m not doing this. Nothing about soul singing had moved me, from any 90s offering, the same way it did with Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Lou Rawls.”

A year later, with D’Angelo’s debut album Brown Sugar on the shelves, Questlove had radically reconsidered his opinion: when he spotted the singer in the audience at a show the Roots were playing, he “thwarted and threw off the entire show” by suddenly playing “an obscure Prince drum roll” in a (successful) attempt to attract his attention. “The only person that mattered to me that night in the room was D’Angelo,” he admitted.

Longtime organizer and founder of House of gg earned reputation as champion for liberation of Black trans women

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a trailblazer of the transgender rights movement, longtime community organizer and veteran of the Stonewall riots, died on Monday, her representatives announced.

The acclaimed activist died at her home in Little Rock, Arkansas, surrounded by family, the House of gg (the final organization she founded and led) announced. She was 78, and the group’s statement did not give a cause of death.

Some questions that must be answered if Donald Trump’s approach is to avoid repeating the failure of the Oslo accords

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The release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel, and the extraordinary images of catharsis and relief that followed, were the best possible argument for the virtues of Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who helped broker the deal, boasted that “deal guys” like him had succeeded because they were prepared to leave the details for later; the Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, similarly said on Friday that “if we went for full-package negotiations, we wouldn’t have reached these results”.

But now the difficulties of that approach will start to come into focus – and the plan repeats a pattern seen in past attempts to engineer a lasting peace.

⚽ World Cup qualifying updates; kick-off 7.45pm BST
⚽ Live scores | Today’s Football Daily | And email Scott

2 min: What a start that nearly was. England’s fastest ever goal, incidentally, was a 12-second effort scored by Tommy Lawton in a 5-2 win over Belgium in Brussels in 1947.

England get the ball rolling. And within 37 seconds, they’ve put it into the net. However it won’t count, because Saka was miles offside when found down the right by Anderson, so rolling it across the face of goal for Kane to trundle home was an exercise in futility.

Investigating officer says he went against procedure to test Julia Wandelt, accused of campaign of harassment against McCann family

An alleged stalker’s claim to be Madeleine McCann was ruled out after a DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.

Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

• Potter had seven years in charge of club side Östersund

• ‘I love Swedish football. It would be a great opportunity’

Graham Potter has said he would be interested in taking over as Sweden’s new manager because he “loves” the country that gave him his first opportunity in coaching.

The former Blackburn manager Jon Dahl Tomasson was sacked on Tuesday after a disastrous start to their World Cup qualifying campaign, with a 1‑0 defeat at home by Kosovo leaving Sweden bottom of their group. It is less than a month since Potter left West Ham after winning six of his 23 Premier League games, with the former Chelsea manager having lasted just 31 games at Stamford Bridge.

UN has condemned US strikes on small boats it believes to be trafficking drugs as extrajudicial executions

• US politics live – latest updates

Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States has struck another small boat that he accuses of carrying drugs in waters off the coast of Venezuela, killing six people aboard.

“The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike,” Trump said in a statement on his Truth Social social media platform. “No U.S. Forces were harmed.”

Labour is misreading the economics – leaving it unable to deal with the G7’s worst inflation and flat living standard

Bloomberg’s headline said it all: “UK Faces Worst G-7 Inflation and Flat Living Standards, IMF Says”. The International Monetary Fund warns that inflation will be higher in the UK than in any other major advanced economy – including in the US, where Donald Trump’s tariffs are driving up costs for American consumers. This while GDP growth per head crawls at 0.4%, the weakest of any major economy. Real wages have stagnated for 11 months. Meanwhile, official figures show that unemployment has climbed to 4.8%, the highest since spring 2021. Forget talk of Britain’s “upgraded growth”; the economy, under Labour, is running hot only for those collecting profits.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) projects that by 2029 average disposable incomes will be £570 lower than today, a fall of 1.3% – the sharpest drop in living standards since records began in 1961. This isn’t a simple case of prices getting ahead of demand. What Britain faces is profit inflation: prices are rising while wages stand still. As Lord Keynes noted, this is a transfer from labour to capital – an increase in mark-ups, not in productivity.

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