Swedish climate academic says he has been ‘kept in the dark’ over Home Office decision to revoke his travel authorisation

The Swedish climate academic Andreas Malm has condemned a travel ban imposed on him by the UK government as a “drift into authoritarianism” amid criticism of the move.

Malm, the author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline, said he had been “kept in the dark” by the UK’s immigration authorities over the reasons for his electronic travel authorisation (ETA) being revoked.

Force says it has received ‘information’ on pair’s stay at royal estate as reported guests of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

Detectives in Scotland are investigating Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s stay at Balmoral castle as reported guests of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor amid allegations that women were trafficked to the royal estate.

Police Scotland said it had received “information” and inquiries were at a “very early stage” into the time the disgraced royal spent with the child sex offender at Balmoral.

Swedish author was due to speak alongside Palestine Action co-founder at event discussing ban on the group

Andreas Malm, the climate academic and author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline, has been blocked from entering the UK before he was due to speak alongside a co-founder of the banned group Palestine Action.

Malm was told by immigration officials his presence in the UK “may not be considered to be conducive to the public good”. He said the decision was “scandalous” and urged the government to reconsider.

Comedian told jurors he now believed it was wrong to have used his fame for sex and said his life had been consumed by the allegations

Russell Brand was in the witness box for more than four hours on Wednesday at his trial at Southwark crown court. He denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one charge of attempted indecent assault.

Six alleged victims say the comedian switched suddenly after appearing charming and forced them into sexual activity in a toilet, a hotel room, workplace corridors and his bedroom, acting as if nothing had happened after the attacks.

Owner and mechanics fear for their health and future of the Herne Hill shop with no date for fixing problem

The leafy south London neighbourhood of Herne Hill is a haven for cyclists who can often be seen lapping the local parks and refuelling at the many cafes that line the suburban streets. But there is something foul in the air of this corner of the capital – and for once it’s not the traffic fumes hitting bicycle riders.

A toxic stench thought to be caused by untreated sewage stuck in Thames Water drains has been emanating from the subterranean depths for months, most likely caused by the summer’s lack of rain.

Exclusive: Weapon is one of hundreds of items to be sold as part of the influential late director’s personal archive

A special effects axe wielded by Jack Nicholson as he delivered his chillingly manic line “Here’s Johnny!” in the 1980 horror movie The Shining is to go on sale.

Nicholson’s character, Jack Torrance, uses an axe to hack out an opening in a locked door protecting his terrified wife Wendy, played by Shelley Duvall. It is also the murder weapon in the killing of Scatman Crothers’ character, Dick Hallorann. One of cinema’s most famous axes could be yours for a list price of between £30,000 and £50,000.

Bodhana Sivanandan’s father taught her to play age five and soon she was beating ex-champions. Now she is lighting up the Chess Olympiad

Over the weekend, 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan became the youngest ever holder of the title of woman grandmaster at the Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan – while playing on a car booster seat so she could reach the board. By Tuesday morning she was back at school in north London for a design and technology lesson.

Bodhana has to juggle the competing pressures of being an international chess sensation with the more ordinary challenges of childhood and her first term at secondary school.

Superhero, who was joined by others dressed as comic book characters, retrieved stolen bag after scaling wall

A scene from the fictional comic metropolis of Gotham City played out for real in Norwich last weekend when a man dressed as Batman chased a suspected thief and recovered a woman’s stolen handbag.

Sonni Mason, 25, was attending a friend’s fancy dress party on Saturday night in a Batman costume when he witnessed a handbag being snatched after a row in a queue for a nightclub in the city.

CPS says charges relate to alleged sexual misconduct by the actor towards five women between 2007 and 2016

The actor and film-maker Noel Clarke has been ⁠charged ​with six sexual offences, including two counts of sexual assault, after allegations made by five women.

The charges against the former Doctor Who actor also include three counts of voyeurism and one count of exposure.

Experts say fires caused by wrongly discarded lithium batteries, such as those in vapes, are putting lives at risk

Fires at recycling centres caused by wrongly discarded lithium batteries such as those found in vapes are occurring at the rate of more than 10 a week, according to new figures.

Experts say the sheer volume of battery fires now occurring at waste facilities has reached a crisis that is putting lives at risk, costing £1bn a year and frustrating fire chiefs.

Police investigating after two cars set alight in attack caught on CCTV

Firebombs were thrown at supercars outside a wedding venue in Birmingham, setting two alight and prompting guests to sprint out of the building.

West Midlands police said they were investigating the incident, which happened in the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham at around 8.30pm on Wednesday.

‘Unprecedented’ weather pattern over Pacific Ocean to be felt worldwide, with severe droughts expected in some areas

The El Niño event developing over the Pacific Ocean is likely to be the strongest for more than a century and make 2027 another record-breaking year for heat, the UK’s Met Office has said.

Increased rainfall and storms are forecast to hit the UK this autumn as a result of the “unprecedented” weather pattern, while the pulse in heat it generates means the global temperature will temporarily exceed 1.5C above the preindustrial average, according to the national weather service.

Officers still investigating deaths of Zeina Alayn, Hassan El-Khawas and daughter Sara El-Khawas at Shoreham-by-Sea

A father, mother and their teenage daughter who died off the Sussex coast on Tuesday have been identified.

Sussex police named the victims as Hassan El-Khawas, 55, his partner, Zeina Alayn, 37, and their 14-year-old daughter, Sara El-Khawas. A younger girl who was also part of the family is in hospital in a critical condition. She has not been named.

Experts say putrid stench shows overhaul of sewers is needed – like the one prompted by the Great Stink of 1858

London was “reeking with ineffable and intolerable horrors” after weeks of temperatures exceeding 30C and minimal rainfall. This was Disraeli’s description of the Great Stink of 1858, but something similarly disgusting has been happening this summer.

Once again, an exceptionally hot and dry spell has exposed the putrid stench of untreated human waste.

Additional nine passengers sustain less serious injuries and major disruption to services reported

Two people have been seriously injured after a passenger train derailed between Haywards Heath and Lewes in East Sussex, prompting a rapid emergency response in the area.

Images of the aftermath appeared to show passengers standing on top of the toppled carriages while others could be seen in an area of heathland alongside emergency workers.

Former tube network cleaner says tribunal vindicated his health concerns, including about asbestos, that could affect public

A London Underground worker who was unfairly sacked after whistleblowing about his concerns over exposure to asbestos and other toxic dust has said he wants all tube passengers to know about the potential hazards his case has revealed.

Micky Steeds, a former professional boxer from Aveley in Essex, started working for London Underground in 2018 cleaning up decades of dust from vents, lift shafts and inverts – confined channels underneath station platforms for cabling.

Pilot took off from Liverpool and spent 20 minutes tracing out phrase that was captured on flight-tracking website

A mischievous airline pilot spelled out his tedium by skywriting “I’m bored” over an estuary on the border between England and Wales.

The message was captured on the airline tracking website Flightradar24.

Exclusive: Three men killed in incidents over past year allegedly involving G4S guards, who replaced in-house team after previous deaths

Bereaved families and politicians have raised alarm about continued killings on Del Monte’s pineapple farm in Kenya despite the company hiring a British security firm to replace its in-house security team after previous deaths were exposed by the Guardian.

The multinational food company appointed G4S to guard the farm, which is estimated to cover at least 40 sq km, the area of a small city, after the Guardian detailed allegations of brutal assaults and killings of people suspected of trespassing on its land. Kenyan police have been working with G4S to guard the site.

Disruption at Channel crossings expected to rise amid new fingerprint and facial recognition checks

France and the UK have agreed to increase staffing at border controls in response to warnings of travel chaos caused by new fingerprinting and facial recognition checks.

Disruption at Channel crossings is expected to rise sharply next weekend at the start of the summer holiday season, with MPs saying there would be “utter chaos and miles of tailbacks” unless the EU’s entry-exit system (EES) is fixed or checks are suspended.

Family of woman who died after being hit by a bullet as she observed rioting in Derry say justice system has failed her

Three men from Derry have been found not guilty of murdering the journalist Lyra McKee in 2019.

Her family said the verdict at Belfast crown court meant the justice system had “completely failed” them and McKee.