Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Vladimir Putin on Thursday and discussed the war in Ukraine, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The US president-elect advised the Russian president not to escalate the war in Ukraine and reminded him of “Washington’s sizeable military presence in Europe”, the Post reported.

It added that Trump expressed interest in follow-up conversations on “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon”.

During the election campaign, Trump said he would find a solution to end the war “within a day”, but did not explain how he would do so.

According to one former US official who was familiar with the call and spoke to the Washington Post, Trump likely does not want to begin his second presidential term with an escalation in the Ukraine war, “giving him incentive to want to keep the war from worsening”.

In a statement to the outlet, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said: “President Trump won a historic election decisively and leaders from around the world know America will return to prominence on the world stage. That is why leaders have begun the process of developing stronger relationships with the 45th and 47th president because he represents global peace and stability.”

Trump had also spoken to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, according to media reports.

Biden has invited Trump to come to the Oval Office on Wednesday, and on Sunday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Biden’s top message will be his commitment to ensure a peaceful transfer of power. He will also talk to Trump about what’s happening in Europe, in Asia and the Middle East.

“President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe,” Sullivan told CBS.

Washington has provided tens of billions of dollars worth of US military and economic aid to Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia in February 2022, funding that Trump has repeatedly criticised and rallied against with other Republican lawmakers.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry disputed a claim in the Washington Post article that Kyiv was informed of the call and did not object to the conversation taking place. “Reports that the Ukrainian side was informed in advance of the alleged call are false. Subsequently, Ukraine could not have endorsed or opposed the call,” foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told Reuters.

On Friday, the Kremlin said Putin was ready to discuss Ukraine with Trump but that it did not mean that he was willing to alter Moscow’s demands.

On 14 June, Putin set out his terms for an end to the war: Ukraine would have to drop its Nato ambitions and withdraw all its troops from all the territory of four regions claimed by Russia.

Ukraine rejected that, saying it would be tantamount to capitulation, and that Zelenskyy has put forward a “victory plan” that includes requests for additional military support from the west.

Also on Sunday, Trump spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “The chancellor emphasised the German government’s willingness to continue the decades of successful cooperation between the two countries’ governments. They also agreed to work together towards a return to peace in Europe,” a German government spokesperson said.

In a call last week with South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol, Trump said the US was interested in working with Seoul in the shipbuilding industry, particularly in naval shipbuilding, as well as “promoting genuine peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region,”, the South Korean leader said.

Trump’s call with Putin comes just a day after Bryan Lanza, a senior political adviser to Trump, told the BBC that Ukraine should focus on achieving peace instead of “a vision for winning”.

“When Zelenskyy says we will only stop this fighting, there will only be peace, once Crimea is returned, we’ve got news for President Zelenskyy: Crimea is gone,” Lanza told the BBC.

After his comments, a Trump spokesperson said Lanza “was a contractor for the campaign” and that he “does not work for President Trump and does not speak for him”.

Donald Trump was declared the winner in Arizona early on Sunday, completing the Republicans’ clean sweep of the so-called swing states and rubbing salt in Democrats’ wounds as it was announced that the president-elect is scheduled to meet with Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the presidential handover.

In a national campaign that was projected as being extremely close but he ended up winning handily, the result in Arizona gives Trump 312 electoral college votes, compared with Kamala Harris’s 226. The state joins the other Sun belt swing states – Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina – and the three Rust belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in voting Republican. All were expected to be extremely competitive but all went for Trump, though by fairly close margins.

Republicans also regained control of the Senate – they hold 53 seats to the Democrats’ 46 – and look likely to keep control of the House of Representatives, where 21 races remain uncalled but Republicans currently have a 212-202 advantage, giving them a “trifecta” – both houses of Congress as well as the presidency – that will allow them to govern largely unfettered for at least the next two years.

The political realignment comes after a bruising election that has set the stage for the Democratic party to re-evaluate a platform that appeared to have been rejected by a majority of US voters. Trump also won the popular vote, the first time a Republican has done so since George W Bush in 2004 following the 9/11 attacks a few years before.

At Biden’s request, Trump will visit the Oval Office on Wednesday, a formality that Trump himself did not honor in 2020 when he lost the presidency to Biden but refused to accept the results.

In a speech last week, Biden said he would “direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition”.

But as president-elect, Trump has reportedly yet to submit a series of transition agreements with the Biden administration, including ethics pledges to avoid conflicts of interest. The agreements are required in order to unlock briefings from the outgoing administration before the handover of power in 72 days’ time.

The national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said Biden will brief Trump on foreign policy on Wednesday, telling CBS Face the Nation: “The president will have the chance to explain to President Trump how he sees things.”

Asked if Biden will ask legislators to pass additional aid for Ukraine before he leaves office, Sullivan said the president “will make the case that we do need ongoing resources for Ukraine beyond the end of his term”. Trump allies have said the incoming administration’s focus would be on peace not territory.

Sullivan also said that the international community needs “to increase pressure on Hamas to come to the table to do a deal in Gaza, because the Israeli government said it’s prepared to take a temporary step in that direction” because the group had told mediators, he said, it “will not do a cease-fire and hostage deal at this time”.

The political fallout from Trump’s win continues to reverberate, not least in the Democratic camp. The Harris-Walz campaign is estimated to have spent $1bn in three months but is now reportedly $20m in debt.

The Republican pollster Frank Luntz told ABC News’s This Week that whoever “told” Harris to focus on Trump during her presidential campaign had “committed political malpractice”.

“We all know what Trump is,” Luntz said. “We experienced him for four years.”

Progressive senator Bernie Sanders, who votes with Democrats, defended Harris’s campaign and refused to be drawn into further analysis on whether Biden should have stepped away from his re-election bid sooner.

“I don’t want to get involved,” he told CNN. “We got to look forward and not in the back. Kamala did her very best. She came in, she won the debate with Trump. She worked as hard as she possibly could.”

“Here is the reality: the working class of this country is angry, and they have reason to be angry,” he added. “We are living in an economy today where people on top are doing phenomenally well while 60% of our people are living paycheck-to-paycheck.”

Republicans, meanwhile, have not explained why Trump and many in the party argue last week’s election was free and fair but maintain the 2020 one was somehow rigged, despite every single lawsuit alleging fraud being rejected.

Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the the house judiciary committee, called Trump’s victory last week the “greatest political comeback”.

On Friday, Jordan and fellow Republican representative Barry Loudermilk sent a letter to special counsel Jack Smith to demand that his office preserve records of the justice department’s prosecutions of Trump.

Asked by CNN whether Trump would go after his political opponents, Jordan said: “He didn’t do it in his first term. The Democrats went after him and everyone understands what they did.”

“I don’t think any of that will happen,” Jordan reiterated. “We are the party who is against political prosecution. We’re the party who is against going after your opponents using lawfare.”

Byron Donalds, a Republican congressman from Florida, told Fox News that claims of a list were “lies from the Democratic left”.

“I will tell you, this is not something that Donald Trump has ever spoken to, or he’s committed to, whatsoever. There’s no enemies list,” Donalds said. Trump has regularly referred to his political opponents as “the enemy within”.

Donald Trump was declared the winner in Arizona early on Sunday, completing the Republicans’ clean sweep of the so-called swing states and rubbing salt in Democrats’ wounds as it was announced that the president-elect is scheduled to meet with Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the presidential handover.

In a national campaign that was projected as being extremely close but he ended up winning handily, the result in Arizona gives Trump 312 electoral college votes, compared with Kamala Harris’s 226. The state joins the other Sun belt swing states – Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina – and the three Rust belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in voting Republican. All were expected to be extremely competitive but all went for Trump, though by fairly close margins.

Republicans also regained control of the Senate – they hold 53 seats to the Democrats’ 46 – and look likely to keep control of the House of Representatives, where 21 races remain uncalled but Republicans currently have a 212-202 advantage, giving them a “trifecta” – both houses of Congress as well as the presidency – that will allow them to govern largely unfettered for at least the next two years.

The political realignment comes after a bruising election that has set the stage for the Democratic party to re-evaluate a platform that appeared to have been rejected by a majority of US voters. Trump also won the popular vote, the first time a Republican has done so since George W Bush in 2004 following the 9/11 attacks a few years before.

At Biden’s request, Trump will visit the Oval Office on Wednesday, a formality that Trump himself did not honor in 2020 when he lost the presidency to Biden but refused to accept the results.

In a speech last week, Biden said he would “direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition”.

But as president-elect, Trump has reportedly yet to submit a series of transition agreements with the Biden administration, including ethics pledges to avoid conflicts of interest. The agreements are required in order to unlock briefings from the outgoing administration before the handover of power in 72 days’ time.

The national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said Biden will brief Trump on foreign policy on Wednesday, telling CBS Face the Nation: “The president will have the chance to explain to President Trump how he sees things.”

Asked if Biden will ask legislators to pass additional aid for Ukraine before he leaves office, Sullivan said the president “will make the case that we do need ongoing resources for Ukraine beyond the end of his term”. Trump allies have said the incoming administration’s focus would be on peace not territory.

Sullivan also said that the international community needs “to increase pressure on Hamas to come to the table to do a deal in Gaza, because the Israeli government said it’s prepared to take a temporary step in that direction” because the group had told mediators, he said, it “will not do a cease-fire and hostage deal at this time”.

The political fallout from Trump’s win continues to reverberate, not least in the Democratic camp. The Harris-Walz campaign is estimated to have spent $1bn in three months but is now reportedly $20m in debt.

The Republican pollster Frank Luntz told ABC News’s This Week that whoever “told” Harris to focus on Trump during her presidential campaign had “committed political malpractice”.

“We all know what Trump is,” Luntz said. “We experienced him for four years.”

Progressive senator Bernie Sanders, who votes with Democrats, defended Harris’s campaign and refused to be drawn into further analysis on whether Biden should have stepped away from his re-election bid sooner.

“I don’t want to get involved,” he told CNN. “We got to look forward and not in the back. Kamala did her very best. She came in, she won the debate with Trump. She worked as hard as she possibly could.”

“Here is the reality: the working class of this country is angry, and they have reason to be angry,” he added. “We are living in an economy today where people on top are doing phenomenally well while 60% of our people are living paycheck-to-paycheck.”

Republicans, meanwhile, have not explained why Trump and many in the party argue last week’s election was free and fair but maintain the 2020 one was somehow rigged, despite every single lawsuit alleging fraud being rejected.

Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the the house judiciary committee, called Trump’s victory last week the “greatest political comeback”.

On Friday, Jordan and fellow Republican representative Barry Loudermilk sent a letter to special counsel Jack Smith to demand that his office preserve records of the justice department’s prosecutions of Trump.

Asked by CNN whether Trump would go after his political opponents, Jordan said: “He didn’t do it in his first term. The Democrats went after him and everyone understands what they did.”

“I don’t think any of that will happen,” Jordan reiterated. “We are the party who is against political prosecution. We’re the party who is against going after your opponents using lawfare.”

Byron Donalds, a Republican congressman from Florida, told Fox News that claims of a list were “lies from the Democratic left”.

“I will tell you, this is not something that Donald Trump has ever spoken to, or he’s committed to, whatsoever. There’s no enemies list,” Donalds said. Trump has regularly referred to his political opponents as “the enemy within”.

Violent weather cost the world $2tn over the past decade, a report has found, as diplomats descend on the Cop29 climate summit for a tense fight over finance.

The analysis of 4,000 climate-related extreme weather events, from flash floods that wash away homes in an instant to slow-burning droughts that ruin farms over years, found economic damages hit $451bn across the past two years alone.

The figures reflect the full cost of extreme weather rather than the share scientists can attribute to climate breakdown. They come as world leaders argue over how much rich countries should pay to help poor countries clean up their economies, adapt to a hotter world and deal with the damage done by increasingly violent weather.

“The data from the past decade shows definitively that climate change is not a future problem,” said John Denton, secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), which commissioned the report. “Major productivity losses from extreme weather events are being felt in the here and now by the real economy.”

The report found a gradual upward trend in the cost of extreme weather events between 2014 and 2023, with a spike in 2017 when an active hurricane season battered North America. The US suffered the greatest economic losses over the 10-year period, at $935bn, followed by China at $268bn and India at $112bn. Germany, Australia, France and Brazil all made the top 10.

When measured a person, small islands such as Saint Martin and the Bahamas saw the greatest losses.

Fire, water, wind and heat have wiped more and more dollars off government balance sheets as the world has grown richer, people have settled in disaster-prone regions, and fossil fuel pollution has baked the planet.

But until recent years, scientists struggled to estimate the extent of the role that humans played by warping extreme weather events with planet-heating gas.

Climate breakdown was responsible for more than half of the 68,000 heat deaths during the scorching European summer of 2022, a study found last month, and doubled the chance of the extreme levels of rainfall that hammered central Europe this September, an early attribution study found. In some other cases, researchers found only mild effects or did not observe a climate link at all.

Ilan Noy, a disaster economist at Victoria University of Wellington, who was not involved in the ICC study, said its numbers align with previous research he had done but cautioned that the underlying data did not capture the full picture. “The main caveat is that these numbers actually miss the impact where it truly matters, in poor communities and in vulnerable countries.”

A study Noy co-wrote last year estimated the costs of extreme weather attributable to climate breakdown at $143bn a year, mostly due to loss of human life, but was limited by data gaps, particularly in Africa.

“Most of the impact that is counted is in high-income countries – that’s where asset values are much higher, and where mortality from heatwaves is counted to be much larger,” said Noy. “Clearly, the losses of homes and livelihoods in a poor community in poor countries are more devastating in the longer term than losses in wealthy countries where the state is able and willing to assist in recovery.”

The ICC urged world leaders to act faster to get money to countries that needed help to cut their pollution and to develop in ways that can withstand the shocks of violent weather.

“Financing climate action in the developing world shouldn’t be seen as an act of generosity by the leaders of the world’s richest economies,” said Denton. “Every dollar spent is, ultimately, an investment in a stronger and more resilient global economy from which we all benefit.”

Ukraine has carried out its biggest drone strike on Moscow since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Russian media said on Sunday, as the Kremlin launched its own record air attack over Ukraine.

Three airports in the Russian capital were temporarily closed and flights were diverted. At least one person was injured. Russia said its air defences shot down 70 drones, nearly half of them in the skies above Moscow and the rest in western Russia.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said it successfully targeted an ammunition dump near the Russian city of Bryansk. Video showed multiple explosions coming from warehouses on the military site. Fires could be seen burning in the night sky.

Other footage posted on Russian Telegram channels recorded drones buzzing above urban areas including suburbs of multistorey buildings and a lorry park.

Ukrainian commentators said the strike on Moscow was in response to a massive Russian drone barrage directed at Kyiv on Thursday, soon after Donald Trump was elected as US president.

On Saturday and Sunday, Moscow sent over another wave of 145 drones, the largest number yet. There was damage to the Black Sea port of Odesa. Ukrainian officials said 62 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were downed and others lost en route.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had thwarted a “terrorist attack” on its territory using “airplane-type drones”. At least 36 planes were diverted, the country’s air transport agency said.

Both sides have developed innovative and increasingly sophisticated UAV programmes. Ukraine has established its own drone command and has improved the range of its systems, with attacks hundreds of kilometres into Russia. It has hit weapons storage units, oil processing facilities and enemy airstrips near the Arctic Circle, as well as naval vessels in the Caspian Sea.

Russia has begun using drones steered by fibre-optic cables in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops control a salient around the Russian town of Sudzha. The new drones cannot be jammed with regular electronic countermeasures.

The air attacks happened as Russia reportedly massed 50,000 soldiers to launch a major assault aimed at recapturing Ukrainian-held territory in Kursk oblast.

The force, which includes North Korean reinforcements, is likely to attack in the coming days, according to a US assessment cited on Sunday by the New York Times. Pyongyang has sent 11,000 troops to take part in Russia’s war against Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week.

Russia has seized a dozen or so villages and has shrunk the area controlled by Ukraine. But despite carrying out numerous attacks – using guided bombs, kamikaze drones, and infantry groups – it has been unable to dislodge dug-in Ukrainian combat units.

Trump’s victory has fuelled speculation that Russia’s 10-year-old war against its smaller neighbour may be coming to a close. Zelenskyy spoke to Trump last week and also chatted to Elon Musk, after Trump passed the phone to the billionaire.

The president-elect famously boasted he could fix the war in Ukraine in “24 hours”. Vladimir Putin has indicated he is ready to listen to what Trump has to say, with a pre-condition that the US cease military assistance to Ukraine before bilateral relations can be improved.

Zelenskyy is ready to fly to the US this week and hold substantive talks with Trump, sources in Kyiv indicated. Their most recent phone call was “very positive”, they added. The two met last month in Trump Tower when Zelenskyy flew to New York for the UN general assembly meeting.

Trump’s aides have previously sketched the outlines of a Russia-friendly “peace plan”. It would involve current frontlines being frozen, with the de facto loss by Ukraine of Crimea and much of the east of the country, plus a veto or a long-term pause on Kyiv’s Nato application. What Trump will actually propose in office remains unclear.

Musk’s views on Ukraine are wildly contradictory. He has provided Ukraine with Starlink satellite internet, which is used extensively on the frontline and is a crucial tool for Ukraine’s military. Zelenskyy thanked Musk for Starlink during their conversation. At the same time, Musk has echoed Kremlin talking points, calling for Crimea to be made part of Russia and for Ukraine to remain neutral. He has held secret talks with Putin, the Wall Street Journal recently reported.

There was no sign of panic on Moscow’s boulevards after the drone attack, agencies reported on Sunday. Muscovites walked their dogs, and the bells of the onion-domed Russian Orthodox churches rang out across the capital.

• Joe Biden has invited Donald Trump to come to the Oval Office on Wednesday, and is expected to discuss with the president-elect why “the United States should not walk away from Ukraine”. Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, said on Sunday that the two would talk about what’s happening in Europe, in Asia and the Middle East. He told Face the Nation on CBS: “President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe.” Sullivan has said the White House aims to spend its remaining $6bn of funding for Ukraine before Trump takes office. Trump will not be inaugurated until January. Sullivan said the White House aims “to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position on the battlefield so that it is ultimately in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table”.

• Ukraine has launched its biggest ever drone attack on Moscow, Luke Harding reports, while Russia targeted Ukraine with more Shahed suicide UAVs than it has ever used in one night. “Last night, Russia launched a record 145 Shaheds and other strike drones against Ukraine,” said the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Sunday.

• Russia said 34 Ukrainian attack drones targeted Moscow on Sunday, in the largest such attack on the capital since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Andrei Vorobyov, the Moscow region governor, called it a “massive” attack. It forced the temporary closure of three airports, wounded a 52-year-old woman and set two homes on fire in the village of Stanovoye in the Moscow region, officials said. Russia said that in all its air defences shot down 70 drones, nearly half of them in the skies above Moscow and the rest in western Russia.

• The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said it successfully targeted an ammunition dump near the Russian city of Bryansk. Video showed multiple explosions coming from warehouses on the military site. Fires could be seen burning in the night sky.

• A report in the Washington Post said Donald Trump, the next US president, had a phone call with Vladimir Putin where he told the Russian president not to escalate his war against Ukraine. Ukraine’s foreign ministry said it was not informed in advance of the call between Trump and Putin and subsequently could neither endorse nor object to it. Trump has boasted that he can broker a quick end to the war.

• Ukrainian politicians are expressing tentative hopes that the return of Trump will not necessarily lead to a rapid and humiliating forced peace, Dan Sabbagh writes from Kyiv. Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian opposition MP, said: “I don’t think that Trump’s victory is a catastrophe. Ukraine is now his business and if negotiations lead to a disaster it will be his, like Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. This is a person who loves to win.”

• The UK is examining all possible options when it comes to Trump’s approach to Ukraine, the chief secretary to the Treasury has said, Jessica Elgot writes. Darren Jones told Sky News: “We don’t want any countenance of the idea that we’re stepping back from that [British commitments to Ukraine]. That’s why we’re offering them £3bn a year, which you know, in the fiscal context here in the UK, is difficult but the right decision for us.”

• Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, the UK’s chief of the defence staff, Adm Sir Tony Radakin, said Russia was paying an “extraordinary price” for Putin’s war, and October was its worst month for losses since the conflict began in February 2022. “Russia is about to suffer 700,000 people killed or wounded – the enormous pain and suffering that the Russian nation is having to bear because of Putin’s ambition,” he said, adding that the only gains were “tiny increments of land”. The cost of the war, which he put at more than 40% of public expenditure on defence and security, was also “an enormous drain” on Russia.

• Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, will join the French president, Emmanual Macron, in Paris for the French Armistice Day service in a pointed show of European solidarity after Trump’s re-election, with Ukraine and defence on the agenda for private talks between the two leaders, writes Jessica Elgot.

A British man has been killed while fighting in Ukraine for the country’s foreign volunteer platoon.

Callum Tindal-Draper, 22, had travelled to the country to join the fight against Russia despite his family’s pleas for him not to. His father, Steven Draper, paid tribute to his son, a former NHS worker from Gunnislake in Cornwall, in an interview with BBC News.

“We begged and begged and begged him not to go,” he said. “But Callum said: ‘Dad, I’m not frightened of bullies and what’s going on in Ukraine is awful and someone needs to stand up for these people.’”

His mother, Caroline Tindal, said she had visited him in September and that he seemed as if he had found “who he was meant to be”. “It was such a transformation and he said to me: ‘Mum, coming out here was the best thing that ever happened to me, I’ve found who I was meant to be,’” she said.

“He found who he was meant to be, he became that person and he lived it.”

In a tribute post on Facebook, his mother wrote: “He fought till he could no longer hold them off any more and his platoon are calling him a ‘hero’ and ‘as brave as they come’.

“Twenty-two is a young age. But you lived and died following your heart, soul and morals. May you rest in peace and help watch over those who have passed.”

Tindal-Draper was a former student of Duchy college, in Stoke Climsland, Cornwall. The college’s Military and Protective Services Academy said he was a “model student” with a “strong moral compass” in a tribute on Facebook.

“He was a passionate, articulate and bright student, who was keen to learn, with a strong moral compass,” the post said. “He was very proud of his family history in the services.

“He was well liked and respected by his peers, and was not one to shy away from causes he believed in and was instrumental in collecting the three minibus loads of humanitarian equipment for civilians that the learners gathered when the war in Ukraine initially kicked off.”

The post added that Tindal-Draper worked for the NHS after finishing the course.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are aware that a British national has reportedly died in Ukraine and stand ready to assist the family in the UK.”

A night-time cycling trend that started with four Chinese students riding 50km for dumplings blew out to a reported 100,000 people on Friday, jamming major roads, overwhelming a small tourist city and drawing the attention of authorities.

The pack of students, mostly on public share bikes, rode several hours through Henan province from their campuses in Zhengzhou to the ancient city of Kaifeng.

“People sang together and cheered for each other while climbing uphill together,” Liu Lulu, a student at Henan University, told China Daily. “I could feel the passion of the young people. And it was much more than a bike ride.”

But Kaifeng quickly reached capacity, with accommodation, restaurants and public spaces packed to bursting, officials said. Video circulating online shows tens of thousands of cyclists filling the six-lane Zhengkai avenue, the expressway between Zhengzhou and the streets of the much smaller Kaifeng, as police used loudhailers to ask students to leave, by bike or on a free bus.

To prevent a repeat of Friday’s event, authorities announced temporary restrictions on roads and cycle paths for the weekend, and bike share apps warned they would remotely lock any bikes taken out of designated zoned in Zhengzhou.

Some Zhengzhou universities also enacted measures including banning bicycles on campuses and requiring students to apply for passes to leave the grounds.

The trend started in June when four Zhengzhou university students decided to ride several hours to Kaifeng on share bikes in search of the city’s famous oversized soup dumplings, guan tang bao. Posts from their journey gained attention on social media, launching a hashtag “youth is priceless, night ride to Kaifeng has it”.

The trend caught on, with more and more students making the journey. The wholesome and non-political activity was initially welcomed by authorities. Kaifeng, which is one of many Chinese cities trying to attract more domestic tourists, offered incentives including free entry to attractions. Official state media outlet, the People’s Daily, celebrated the “surge of young travellers” to Kaifeng, which it prematurely predicted had peaked at about 2,000 last weekend.

“Upon arriving in Kaifeng, many students took the opportunity to explore the city’s cultural and historical attractions, bringing a fresh sense of excitement and energy to the ancient city,” the paper wrote on Thursday. “These youthful adventures embody a vibrant spirit—full of curiosity, determination, and a zest for discovery—that adds new dimensions to the tourism industry.”

But that evening the number of students riding rose to a reported 17,000, and then on Friday increased as much as ten-fold, with estimates of between 100,000 and 200,000 students jamming the road.

The huge number sparked complaints, particularly from residents of Kaifeng, who said their city was overrun, and that bikes and garbage were left behind. Online many students were apologetic for the mess but defended the ride. There was strong debate over the actions of the students, the reaction of universities, and whether authorities and media had encouraged the activity without putting in place appropriate support and infrastructure.

“At the beginning, it was hyped up, but in the end it all ended in collapse and failure,” said one commenter on Weibo. “You media should reflect on yourselves. At the beginning, you all encouraged and praised this behaviour.”

The night cycling trend appears to be gaining popularity in several major Chinese cities, but none have reported crowds the size of those seen in Henan.

On Saturday some students who were still able to leave their dorms appeared determined to try again – despite the bike ban – and set off on foot.

“I followed my boyfriend on a night ride to Kaifeng, now the traffic police don’t let people go to Kaifeng by bike any more,” said one student on social media on Saturday. “There are so many bikes parked on the side of the road, and so students have started walking. It’s so good to be young, this is youth!”

Additional reporting by Chi-hui Lin

A night-time cycling trend that started with four Chinese students riding 50km for dumplings blew out to a reported 100,000 people on Friday, jamming major roads, overwhelming a small tourist city and drawing the attention of authorities.

The pack of students, mostly on public share bikes, rode several hours through Henan province from their campuses in Zhengzhou to the ancient city of Kaifeng.

“People sang together and cheered for each other while climbing uphill together,” Liu Lulu, a student at Henan University, told China Daily. “I could feel the passion of the young people. And it was much more than a bike ride.”

But Kaifeng quickly reached capacity, with accommodation, restaurants and public spaces packed to bursting, officials said. Video circulating online shows tens of thousands of cyclists filling the six-lane Zhengkai avenue, the expressway between Zhengzhou and the streets of the much smaller Kaifeng, as police used loudhailers to ask students to leave, by bike or on a free bus.

To prevent a repeat of Friday’s event, authorities announced temporary restrictions on roads and cycle paths for the weekend, and bike share apps warned they would remotely lock any bikes taken out of designated zoned in Zhengzhou.

Some Zhengzhou universities also enacted measures including banning bicycles on campuses and requiring students to apply for passes to leave the grounds.

The trend started in June when four Zhengzhou university students decided to ride several hours to Kaifeng on share bikes in search of the city’s famous oversized soup dumplings, guan tang bao. Posts from their journey gained attention on social media, launching a hashtag “youth is priceless, night ride to Kaifeng has it”.

The trend caught on, with more and more students making the journey. The wholesome and non-political activity was initially welcomed by authorities. Kaifeng, which is one of many Chinese cities trying to attract more domestic tourists, offered incentives including free entry to attractions. Official state media outlet, the People’s Daily, celebrated the “surge of young travellers” to Kaifeng, which it prematurely predicted had peaked at about 2,000 last weekend.

“Upon arriving in Kaifeng, many students took the opportunity to explore the city’s cultural and historical attractions, bringing a fresh sense of excitement and energy to the ancient city,” the paper wrote on Thursday. “These youthful adventures embody a vibrant spirit—full of curiosity, determination, and a zest for discovery—that adds new dimensions to the tourism industry.”

But that evening the number of students riding rose to a reported 17,000, and then on Friday increased as much as ten-fold, with estimates of between 100,000 and 200,000 students jamming the road.

The huge number sparked complaints, particularly from residents of Kaifeng, who said their city was overrun, and that bikes and garbage were left behind. Online many students were apologetic for the mess but defended the ride. There was strong debate over the actions of the students, the reaction of universities, and whether authorities and media had encouraged the activity without putting in place appropriate support and infrastructure.

“At the beginning, it was hyped up, but in the end it all ended in collapse and failure,” said one commenter on Weibo. “You media should reflect on yourselves. At the beginning, you all encouraged and praised this behaviour.”

The night cycling trend appears to be gaining popularity in several major Chinese cities, but none have reported crowds the size of those seen in Henan.

On Saturday some students who were still able to leave their dorms appeared determined to try again – despite the bike ban – and set off on foot.

“I followed my boyfriend on a night ride to Kaifeng, now the traffic police don’t let people go to Kaifeng by bike any more,” said one student on social media on Saturday. “There are so many bikes parked on the side of the road, and so students have started walking. It’s so good to be young, this is youth!”

Additional reporting by Chi-hui Lin

Authorities have released details of the 62 people arrested after violent attacks took place around the football match between Amsterdam’s Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday night.

Violence after the game – described by the Amsterdam mayor, Femke Halsema, as “hit and run attacks” on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters by “boys on scooters” – provoked international horror.

The Dutch prime minister, Dick Schoof, was among those who condemned what he called “antisemitic violence against Israelis”, while the US president, Joe Biden, called the attacks “despicable” and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, compared the incident to Kristallnacht, the state-sanctioned pogrom in Nazi Germany in 1938 in which an estimated 91 Jews were murdered.

Amsterdam’s police chief, Peter Holla, said there had been “incidents on both sides”, starting on Wednesday night when Maccabi fans tore down a Palestinian flag from the facade of a building in the city centre, shouted “fuck you Palestine” and destroyed a taxi.

The Dutch public prosecution has confirmed that 62 people were arrested on Thursday. These arrests were made before and during the Ajax game, which began at 8pm local time. Geert Wilders, the head of the far-right Party for Freedom, whose party is part of the Dutch government coalition, said he was “speechless” that no arrests appeared to have been made after the match.

Israel’s national security council has warned its citizens against travelling to the UK and Europe for cultural and sporting events in the wake of the attacks.

“In the past few days, there have been calls among pro-Palestinian/terrorist-supporter groups to harm Israelis and Jews under the pretense of demonstrations and protests,” the council said.

“In addition, preparations to harm Israelis have been identified in several European cities, including Brussels (Belgium), major cities in the UK, Amsterdam (Netherlands), and Paris (France – around the upcoming match of the Israeli team on 14 November).”

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, will attend the Nations League match against Israel in a gesture of solidarity, his office said.

Halsema and the heads of the Dutch police and prosecution said at a press conference on Friday that violence by “rioters and criminals” aimed at some of the 2,600 “Jewish Israeli visitors” had left five people in hospital and 20 to 30 with minor injuries. There were reports of fireworks set off, people being thrown into canals and some Maccabi supporters being asked for identity documents in order to be allowed back to their hotels.

According to the prosecution service, there are four suspects still in custody, including two under-18s, “suspected of having used open violence during the riots last Thursday” and due before the magistrate this week.

Of the 62 arrested, “around 40” are suspected of public disorder and were fined and released. Ten were suspected of insult, vandalism or possession of illegal fireworks and have been released but are still suspects. Of another 10, four have been fined for minor offences including insult, resisting police, not showing ID and two charges were dismissed owing to lack of evidence.

On Saturday, a 26-year-old man, identified from video images, was arrested on suspicion of assault at the major Spui crossroads on Thursday. Police have meanwhile made a public call for images and called anyone involved to turn themselves in.

The Dutch capital and nearby suburb of Amstelveen are in an official state of emergency. Demonstrations are banned, security has been stepped up at Jewish buildings and the police have extra rights to stop and search.

A pro-Palestinian march was broken up because of the ban on Sunday. Hundreds of demonstrators defied the prohibition to gather in the Dutch capital’s Dam square, chanting demands for an end to violence in Gaza and “Free Palestine”, before police moved in.

The local police chief Olivier Dutilh told the court on Sunday that the ban was still needed as antisemitic incidents were also said to be taking place on Saturday night, local TV station AT5 reported.Police said they took away more than 300 pro-Palestinian protesters who ignored the ban on Sunday and detained 50 more following the clashes.

Protest organisers said in a message on Instagram that they were outraged by the “framing” of unrest around the match as antisemitic and called the protest ban draconian. “We refuse to let the charge of antisemitism be weaponised to suppress Palestinian resistance,” they said.

On Friday and Saturday, a large police presence was evident, with riot police vans riding in convoy and parked by hotels and on Dam square – a site often used for demonstrations. Extra flights took Israeli visitors home, with some saying that they had employed local networks for lifts instead of taxis.

The swift and fierce condemnation from the Dutch government comes amid increased scrutiny about the role of the country’s authorities during the second world war. Three-quarters of the Netherlands’ Jewish population – many from Amsterdam – were murdered by the Nazis: the worst record in western Europe. The city tram and Dutch train services charged the Nazis for transports of Jewish people on the way to death camps. An official research project into the complicity of Amsterdam authorities during the occupation is expected to be published shortly.

On Saturday evening, the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Jewish anti-Zionist organisation Erev Rav and the Platform Stop Racisme en Fascisme organised a press conference at a memorial to the resistance of Jewish citizens killed from 1940 to 1945. There, the chair of Erev Rav, Yuval Gal, alleged that the Maccabi fans’ aggression had not been taken seriously enough by Dutch police.

In the press conference on Friday, Holla said that events on Wednesday night preceded the violence on Thursday. “Maccabi supporters took a flag from a building and destroyed a taxi, and on Dam square, the Palestinian flag was set alight,” he said. He said a confrontation with taxi drivers, who appeared to have been called online to mobilise and gathered at the Holland Casino, where there were 400 Israeli supporters, was defused.

A social media video verified by Reuters showed Maccabi fans setting off flares and chanting “olé, olé, let the IDF win, we will fuck the Arabs,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces. The police chief said a large crowd of Maccabi supporters had then gathered on Dam square on Thursday lunchtime and there had been “fights on both sides”.

Halsema added: “Our commissioner described what happened on Thursday, Wednesday night, before everything erupted. But I want to make clear. We are [aware] in Amsterdam that there can be tensions. There are many demonstrations and protests … And, of course, they are related to the situation in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Israel and Palestine. But what happened [on Thursday] night is not a protest. It has nothing to do with protest or demonstration. It was crime.”

On Sunday, Israeli authorities urged fans not to attend Thursday’s France-Israel football match in Paris after the violence in Amsterdam.

The national security council called on Israelis to “avoid attending sports games/cultural events involving Israelis, with an emphasis on the upcoming match of the Israeli national team in Paris,” a statement said.

Reuters contributed to this report

A transitional council created to restore democratic order in Haiti has fired its interim prime minister Garry Conille and is set to replace him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, in a further sign of escalating turmoil in the Caribbean nation.

The decision, outlined in a decree by the council that was seen by the Associated Press, is expected to be published on Monday in the official gazette.

Haiti hasn’t held democratic elections in years, in large part due to soaring levels of gang violence. The shake-up is the latest blow to political stability in the country, which has seen armed gangs gain control of most of capital Port-au-Prince and expand to nearby regions, fuelling hunger and forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes.

Promised international support still lags and nearby nations have deported Haitian migrants back to the country.

Didier Fils-Aimé is the son of well-known Haitian activist, Alix Fils-Aime, who was jailed under the regime of dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier.

Conille, a longtime civil servant who has worked with the United Nations, has been prime minister for about six months. He was appointed to the role in May by Haiti’s transition council to return to the role as the Caribbean nation works to restore stability.

The transitional council was established in April, tasked with choosing Haiti’s next prime minister and Cabinet with the hope that it would help quell turmoil, but it has been plagued with politics and infighting, and has long been at odds with Conille.

Groups such as the Organization of American States tried and failed last week to mediate disagreements in an attempt to save the fragile transition, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

The process suffered another blow in October when three members of the council faced corruption accusations, from anti-corruption investigators alleging they demanded $750,000 in bribes from a government bank director to secure his job.

The same members accused of bribery were among those to sign the decree. Only one member, Edgard Leblanc Fils, did not sign the order.

A spokesperson for the prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

With Reuters and Associated Press

Keir Starmer will join Emmanual Macron in Paris for the French Armistice Day service in a pointed show of European solidarity days after Donald Trump’s re-election, with Ukraine and defence on the agenda for private talks between the two leaders.

The visit will have a symbolic element with Starmer becoming the first UK leader to attend France’s national commemoration event since Winston Churchill in 1944.

No 10 and the Élysée are said to be hoping it would be a significant European moment for France and the UK, two leading Nato powers, amid fears on the continent of the future of the alliance after Trump’s re-election.

The prime minister will fly to Paris early on Monday to attend the event with French and British veterans to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the liberation of France.

No 10 said talks between the two leaders would “reflect on the close bonds between the two countries, many forged and cemented by the sacrifice of British and French soldiers on the frontline”.

Though Trump’s election was not a formal part of the pre-agenda for discussion, No 10 said they would discuss Ukraine and Gaza.

Whitehall officials have been tasked with examining how Trump’s victory will affect the final shape of the strategic defence review (SDR) due to be reported in the spring. Starmer and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, are understood to be planning to set out a path in advance of that deadline on how the UK can reach the 2.5% of GDP defence spending target for Nato member states.

Starmer and the foreign secretary, David Lammy, have cited the defence target as an area of common ground with Trump, who has repeatedly called for Nato countries to provide more funds and to reduce their reliance on US spending.

Trump has previously urged Nato allies to spend 3%, a marked increase from the current UK level. Speaking at a campaign in August, he said: “I’ll insist that every Nato nation must spend at least 3%. You have to go up to 3% – 2% is the steal of the century, especially as we’re paying for it.”

During the US election campaign, he said he would find a solution to end Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine “within a day”, but did not explain how he would do so. His vice-president nominee, JD Vance, has been vociferously opposed to providing more funds to support Ukraine.

The Wall Street Journal reported that among Trump’s plans to bring about an end to the conflict was the establishment of an 800-mile demilitarised zone between the Russian and Ukrainian armies, policed by European troops.

Bryan Lanza, a political adviser to Trump since his 2016 presidential campaign, suggested on the BBC this weekend that Trump would force territorial concessions from Ukraine.

“When [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy says we will only stop this fighting, there will only be peace, once Crimea is returned, we’ve got news for President Zelenskyy: Crimea is gone.” But a spokesperson for Trump’s presidential transition team said later on Saturday that Lanza had not been speaking on behalf of the president-elect.

On Sunday, a UK cabinet minister said the government was examining all possible options in terms of a potential change of approach to Ukraine by the US.

Whitehall officials were “considering and planning lots of different scenarios”, Darren Jones told Sky News on Sunday. Jones said the UK would not be stepping back from its own commitments. “We don’t want any countenance of the idea that we’re stepping back from that. That’s why we’re offering them £3bn a year, which you know, in the fiscal context here in the UK, is difficult but the right decision for us,” he said.

“Officials will be considering and planning lots of different scenarios – as they would do under any administration – to make sure that the UK is in the strongest possible position.”

However, Jones said he would not specifically commit to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence by the end of the current parliament, saying security and defence were a priority but that meant “trade-offs” in other areas.

Military experts have said the incoming Trump administration has given new impetus to the need for Nato allies to “mend fences”.

Dr Karin von Hippel, the director of the Royal United Services Institute thinktank, said it was a symbolic moment to have the French president and Starmer stand united.

“It’s important for the United Kingdom and the EU to mend fences and forge a stronger relationship now that Trump has won. The same applies to UK bilateral relations with European countries.

“America will no longer be a reliable partner for any European country, including the UK. So as much bridge building and scenario planning that can be done now is critical, including deciding where they will push back on the United States when they disagree.”

In Paris on Monday, Starmer will also meet the new French prime minister, Michel Barnier, the former Brexit negotiator whom Starmer met several times as shadow Brexit secretary.

He will lay a wreath at war memorials close to the Champ-Élysées and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe.

“I am honoured to be in Paris to stand united with President Macron in tribute to the fallen of the first world war who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we enjoy today,” Starmer said. “These events are vital in ensuring the memory of millions of young soldiers, sailors, and aviators live on for generations to come.”

Announcing the visit, Starmer promised £10m of government funds for the 80th anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day on 8 May and 15 August next year, promising events to involve tens of thousands of military personnel.

The prime minister has repeatedly said the UK’s commitment to Ukraine would be “ironclad” no matter the US president’s approach – though officials in Kyiv have told the Guardian they are frustrated over Britain’s failure to supply additional long-range missiles.

On Sunday, the UK’s chief of the defence staff said approximately 1,500 Russian troops were being killed and injured every day. Adm Sir Tony Radakin said Russia was still paying an “extraordinary price” for Putin’s invasion and October was the worst month for losses since the conflict began in February 2022.

Keir Starmer will join Emmanual Macron in Paris for the French Armistice Day service in a pointed show of European solidarity days after Donald Trump’s re-election, with Ukraine and defence on the agenda for private talks between the two leaders.

The visit will have a symbolic element with Starmer becoming the first UK leader to attend France’s national commemoration event since Winston Churchill in 1944.

No 10 and the Élysée are said to be hoping it would be a significant European moment for France and the UK, two leading Nato powers, amid fears on the continent of the future of the alliance after Trump’s re-election.

The prime minister will fly to Paris early on Monday to attend the event with French and British veterans to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the liberation of France.

No 10 said talks between the two leaders would “reflect on the close bonds between the two countries, many forged and cemented by the sacrifice of British and French soldiers on the frontline”.

Though Trump’s election was not a formal part of the pre-agenda for discussion, No 10 said they would discuss Ukraine and Gaza.

Whitehall officials have been tasked with examining how Trump’s victory will affect the final shape of the strategic defence review (SDR) due to be reported in the spring. Starmer and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, are understood to be planning to set out a path in advance of that deadline on how the UK can reach the 2.5% of GDP defence spending target for Nato member states.

Starmer and the foreign secretary, David Lammy, have cited the defence target as an area of common ground with Trump, who has repeatedly called for Nato countries to provide more funds and to reduce their reliance on US spending.

Trump has previously urged Nato allies to spend 3%, a marked increase from the current UK level. Speaking at a campaign in August, he said: “I’ll insist that every Nato nation must spend at least 3%. You have to go up to 3% – 2% is the steal of the century, especially as we’re paying for it.”

During the US election campaign, he said he would find a solution to end Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine “within a day”, but did not explain how he would do so. His vice-president nominee, JD Vance, has been vociferously opposed to providing more funds to support Ukraine.

The Wall Street Journal reported that among Trump’s plans to bring about an end to the conflict was the establishment of an 800-mile demilitarised zone between the Russian and Ukrainian armies, policed by European troops.

Bryan Lanza, a political adviser to Trump since his 2016 presidential campaign, suggested on the BBC this weekend that Trump would force territorial concessions from Ukraine.

“When [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy says we will only stop this fighting, there will only be peace, once Crimea is returned, we’ve got news for President Zelenskyy: Crimea is gone.” But a spokesperson for Trump’s presidential transition team said later on Saturday that Lanza had not been speaking on behalf of the president-elect.

On Sunday, a UK cabinet minister said the government was examining all possible options in terms of a potential change of approach to Ukraine by the US.

Whitehall officials were “considering and planning lots of different scenarios”, Darren Jones told Sky News on Sunday. Jones said the UK would not be stepping back from its own commitments. “We don’t want any countenance of the idea that we’re stepping back from that. That’s why we’re offering them £3bn a year, which you know, in the fiscal context here in the UK, is difficult but the right decision for us,” he said.

“Officials will be considering and planning lots of different scenarios – as they would do under any administration – to make sure that the UK is in the strongest possible position.”

However, Jones said he would not specifically commit to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence by the end of the current parliament, saying security and defence were a priority but that meant “trade-offs” in other areas.

Military experts have said the incoming Trump administration has given new impetus to the need for Nato allies to “mend fences”.

Dr Karin von Hippel, the director of the Royal United Services Institute thinktank, said it was a symbolic moment to have the French president and Starmer stand united.

“It’s important for the United Kingdom and the EU to mend fences and forge a stronger relationship now that Trump has won. The same applies to UK bilateral relations with European countries.

“America will no longer be a reliable partner for any European country, including the UK. So as much bridge building and scenario planning that can be done now is critical, including deciding where they will push back on the United States when they disagree.”

In Paris on Monday, Starmer will also meet the new French prime minister, Michel Barnier, the former Brexit negotiator whom Starmer met several times as shadow Brexit secretary.

He will lay a wreath at war memorials close to the Champ-Élysées and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe.

“I am honoured to be in Paris to stand united with President Macron in tribute to the fallen of the first world war who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we enjoy today,” Starmer said. “These events are vital in ensuring the memory of millions of young soldiers, sailors, and aviators live on for generations to come.”

Announcing the visit, Starmer promised £10m of government funds for the 80th anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day on 8 May and 15 August next year, promising events to involve tens of thousands of military personnel.

The prime minister has repeatedly said the UK’s commitment to Ukraine would be “ironclad” no matter the US president’s approach – though officials in Kyiv have told the Guardian they are frustrated over Britain’s failure to supply additional long-range missiles.

On Sunday, the UK’s chief of the defence staff said approximately 1,500 Russian troops were being killed and injured every day. Adm Sir Tony Radakin said Russia was still paying an “extraordinary price” for Putin’s invasion and October was the worst month for losses since the conflict began in February 2022.

One person was killed and 16 others were injured when gunfire erupted at Tuskegee University in Alabama on Sunday, the fourth reported shooting at homecoming events across the US within the last three weeks.

The Tuskegee shooting occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning. The person who was killed was not affiliated with the university, and their parents have been notified, according to the university.

No arrests were immediately announced.

Twelve people were wounded by gunfire, and four others sustained injuries not related to the gunshots, the Alabama law enforcement agency said in a Sunday afternoon update.

“The parents of this individual have been notified. Several others including Tuskegee University students were injured and are receiving treatment at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika and Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery,” the university said in a statement.

An autopsy on the person killed, who is male, was planned at the state’s forensic center in Montgomery, the Macon county coroner Hal Bentley told the Associated Press on Sunday. The city’s police chief, Patrick Mardis, said the injured included a female student who was shot in the stomach and a male student who was shot in the arm.

University officials added that several other students were injured and are currently receiving treatment at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika and Baptist South Hospital in Montgomery.

The Alabama bureau of investigations said it is conducting an investigation into the shooting.

“The university is in the process of completing student accountability and notifying parents. Further updates will be provided as more information becomes available,” the statement from Tuskegee University said.

On 19 October one person was killed and four were injured by by gunfire at Albany State University in Georgia during its homecoming weekend festivities. A suspect has since been arrested, according to the Georgia bureau of investigation.

That same day, three people were killed and eight were injured in a shooting at a homecoming event on the outskirts of Lexington, Mississippi.

On 12 October, a mass shooting during a Tennessee State University homecoming parade in Nashville left one person dead and nine injured. Two suspects were arrested days later on murder charges, ABC reports.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

There was something different about the announcements on the Manchester tram network this week. Instead of the usual voice calling out Deansgate-Castlefield and St Peter’s Square, passengers have been listening to Rita Ora warning: “Make sure you plan your journey – it’s gonna be busy!”

The pop star was in Manchester on Sunday to host the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs), one of the highlights of the global music calendar, at the city’s Co-op Live Arena.

Featuring performances from Shawn Mendes, Raye and the South African singer Tyla, this year was the first time the EMAs was held in Manchester – arguably England’s music capital – having previously travelled to Glasgow, Liverpool, Belfast and Edinburgh, as well as three visits to London since it began in 1994.

During the show Ora gave an emotional tribute to the One Direction singer Liam Payne, saying: “Liam Payne was one of the kindest people that I knew. He had the biggest heart and was always the first person to offer help in any way that he could.

“He brought so much joy to every room he walked into and he left such a mark on the world.”

Taylor Swift led the nominations, making an appearance in seven categories and coming away with four awards, including best artist and best video for Fortnight, her duet with Post Malone. She has become the first musician to win best artist three times, ahead of two-time best artist winner Mendes, who picked up an award this year for best Canadian artist.

Swift, whose Eras tour has been the most lucrative in music history, also saw off other top female artists in a female-dominated lineup, also featuring Charli XCX and Billie Eilish.

Homegrown artists triumphed too, with Raye winning best UK artist, Liam Gallagher picking up best rock artist and Calvin Harris winning best electronic artist.

Best song predictably went to the song of the summer, Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter, beating Eilish’s Birds of a Feather, Beyoncé’s Texas Hold ’Em, Beautiful Things by Benson Boone, Chappell Roan’s Good Luck, Babe! and We Can’t Be Friends by Ariana Grande.

Pet Shop Boys, who picked up the Pop Pioneer award for their 40 years in the music industry, also performed, alongside a local orchestra, the Manchester Camerata.

The duo are the most successful in UK music history with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe listed in the Guinness Book of Records, achieving 44 UK Top 30 singles, including 22 Top 10 hits and four No 1s, 15 UK Top 10 studio albums and sold-out shows in 63 countries.

The hip-hop legend Busta Rhymes – with an unlikely connection to the north-west of England – took home a lifetime achievement award. The musician previously spoke of spending two summers with his Aunt Velma in Morecambe.

“That’s a fact,” he told the BBC last year. “I’d never seen a white and a black person go [to school] together until I came here.”

Accepting the award, which was presented by the British rapper Little Simz, Rhymes said: “This is my first time here. I’ve never got an award from MTV before. Thirty-four years of professionally recording, this is the first time I’m getting an award from MTV. It feels fucking incredible.”

The 12-time Grammy nominee thanked his mother, who he described as his best friend and hero. Rhymes also performed a medley of his greatest hits to the crowd of 23,500, at the UK’s largest indoor music venue.

Broadcast live to more than 150 countries across the world, the EMAs are watched closely by the music industry as they often give a hint of which artists are lined up for success at the Grammys.

The EMAs were the last in a week-long series of events in Manchester under the umbrella of MTV music week.

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “For a long time we’ve been saying that Manchester is the UK’s capital of music, with a rich musical heritage stretching back decades that has helped build a vibrant, diverse music scene that continues to flourish today.

“Having the MTV EMAs, music week and some of the biggest names in pop music like Rita Ora in Manchester not only helps to strengthen our claim, but it also provides a huge boost to our music industry and the wider economy.”

Red wine was once heralded as a boon for health that could protect the heart and even extend life expectancy. But while scientists have debunked this claim, they believe that at least one red wine ingredient – a compound called resveratrol – may hold genuine health benefits.

A trial launched this week will assess whether a low dose of the chemical, also found in red grapes, blueberries and peanuts, could help keep bowel cancer at bay. The study, one of the largest to date testing drugs for cancer prevention, will recruit patients who are at risk of the disease.

“With the Colo-Prevent trial, we are embarking on a unique experiment to see how drugs could stop bowel polyps from growing,” said Prof Karen Brown, a cancer researcher at the University of Leicester and the trial’s lead investigator. “This trial could have big implications for how we prevent bowel cancer in people who are most likely to develop the disease as they get older.”

The trial builds on more than a decade of work by Brown’s lab, which previously found that purified resveratrol can slow tumour growth in mice and can reach the bowel undigested.

The trial is recruiting people aged between 50 and 73 who have taken part in the NHS bowel screening programme and been found to have bowel polyps, small growths that are usually not serious but can develop into cancer if left untreated. Patients will have their polyps removed and will be given either aspirin by itself or a combination of aspirin and metformin (a diabetes drug) daily for three years, for the main trial.

Others will take purified resveratrol or a placebo for one year as part of a sub-study. Drinking red wine does not prevent cancer and alcohol is a known cause of cancer.

All patients will then be given a colonoscopy to determine if the polyps have started growing again. If the trial is successful, any of the treatments tested could be offered to people eligible for the NHS bowel screening programme to reduce the risk of bowel polyps forming, and with that reduce the risk of bowel cancer in the future.

David Trusler, 66, from Market Harborough in Leicestershire is one of the first patients to take part in the Colo-Prevent trial and said he was participating for his father, who died with bowel cancer when Trusler was a teenager.

Trusler was successfully treated for prostate cancer 11 years ago and has since been taking part in the bowel cancer monitoring programme. In June, he had an abnormal result.

“My first thought was ‘Oh no, not again,’” he said. “I was really nervous about what they might find.”

Doctors did not find cancer but discovered two polyps, which could become cancer in the future. “I’m taking part in this trial for my dad, to give future generations the kind of treatments he never had,” said Trusler.

Brown said there were effective ways to reduce bowel cancer by changes to lifestyle, including stopping smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing alcohol consumption and reducing red and processed meat consumption. She added: “Screening has made huge progress in picking up bowel cancers in those most at risk. But to improve outcomes further, we need to prevent more bowel cancers emerging in the first place.”

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with an estimated 44,000 people each year receiving the diagnosis, and it is the second most common cause of cancer death.

Dr Iain Foulkes, the executive director of research and innovation at Cancer Research UK, said: “This trial opens the door to a new era of cancer research, where cancer becomes much more preventable through cutting-edge science. The insights gained from the trial will change how we think about cancer prevention and give more people the chance of longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.”

The toy company Mattel says it is taking “immediate action” after mistakenly printing a pornographic website address on the packaging for dolls released to tie in with the upcoming Wicked film.

Over the weekend, individuals began sharing photos online of the dolls’ packaging, which showed a link to wicked.com, instead of wickedmovie.com. The address was printed on boxes for Glinda and Elphaba dolls, the main characters in Wicked, played in the film adaptation by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo respectively.

Mattel released a statement on Sunday addressing the error.

“Mattel was made aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked collection dolls, primarily sold in the US, which intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page,” the statement read.

“We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to remedy this. Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not appropriate for children. Consumers who already have the product are advised to discard the product packaging or obscure the link and may contact Mattel customer service for further information.”

It appears the misprint has affected dolls sold at Target, Kohls and Amazon, the film’s official retail partners, but not other stores. The dolls are now listed as “currently unavailable” on Amazon’s US website, while the Hollywood Reporter said that by Sunday afternoon the dolls were no longer available for sale at Target.

Wicked, an adaptation of the hugely successful stage musical, will be released later this month around the world.