English winemakers expect ‘vintage year’ after record-breaking summer heat

• President Xi Jinping began a series of diplomatic meetings throughout September to redefine China's future role and influence in the world. • Xi met with leaders including Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi in Bishkek to demonstrate China's ability to manage both geopolitical partners and rivals.

• The United Nations trained nearly 200 community health officers in Rwanda to prepare the government for a potential Ebola outbreak. • Training focused on early detection, risk communication, and infection and prevention and control.

• UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the multilateral system is straining under fractured geopolitics during his opening address at the 81st UN General Assembly. • Guterres cited a combination of nuclear escalation risks, worsening climate chaos, and declining financial resources for humanitarian operations.

The Liberal MP and former SAS soldier is under attack from One Nation after complying with a subpoena to give evidence in the failed 2022 civil caseGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcast“I don’t dislike Mr Roberts-Smith at all. I pity Mr Roberts-Smith. I pity this whole process. I don’t want to be here.”Andrew Hastie was a reluctant witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case. Hastie appeared only under force of subpoena in 2022: compelled to attend court, obliged to swear an oath, and to tell “the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Politics, really newsletter here Continue reading...

Latest decision appears to set the stage for the state to use its old electoral maps this yearThe US supreme court again rejected a push backed by Donald Trump to overhaul Missouri’s congressional maps in a bid to hand Republicans an edge in November’s midterm elections.Its latest ruling, after days of confusion following conflicting decisions, appears to set the stage for the state to use its old electoral maps this year. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Analysis shows cost of chicken fillets, potatoes and donuts rose during supermarket giant’s three-month promotionGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastWoolworths raised prices for popular items – including a 33% mark up on chicken fillets – within days of promising to freeze prices on 300 “family staples” for three months to help customers with the cost of living.Pricing data, compiled by comparison website CW Scanner and provided to Guardian Australia, shows the supermarket chain increasing the prices of at least four key products after starting the three-month “Price Freeze” promotion on 1 May. Continue reading...

Critics call bid for Republican votes ‘bribery’ and point to potential $1.2tn cost added to existing national debtDonald Trump’s promise of a $5,000 “Trump dividend” for every US citizen if Republicans retain control of the US Congress in November’s midterm elections has sparked incredulity and accusations of bribery.“If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000,” Trump said during the unprecedented Republican midterm convention in Dallas. “It will be called the Trump dividend.” Continue reading...

Daniel Owen Conahan Jr’s sentence will make him the state’s 15th person executed this yearA Florida man was scheduled for execution on Thursday after being convicted of one of a series of suspected killings that became known as the Hog Trail Murders in the 1990s.Daniel Owen Conahan Jr, 72, was sentenced to die by lethal injection for the 1996 kidnapping and strangling of Richard Allen Montgomery. Authorities found Montgomery’s mutilated body in a wooded south-west Florida area where the remains of at least six people have been found over a three-year span. Continue reading...

Mike Rogers has also helped kill other bills that would have provided healthcare to responders and survivorsMike Rogers, a Michigan Republican US Senate candidate, has sought in recent weeks to create controversy over old tweets his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed posted about 9/11. He has for example, falsely suggested El-Sayed, who is Muslim, said the US deserved the attack.But, as critics have noted, Rogers has twice voted against healthcare and other benefits for 9/11 first responders and survivors, congressional records show. He has also helped kill other bills that would have provided benefits and healthcare to first responders nationwide. Rogers, a former member of Congress, is vying for Michigan’s open US Senate seat in a tight race that could decide control of Congress during the next session. Continue reading...

Despite its location, the island chain has avoided the worst effects, but Hurricanes Lowell and Lala left a trail of damage this yearHurricane Lowell surged near the Hawaiian Islands this week, leaving a trail of downed trees and power lines, crumbled roads, sunken boats and destroyed piers on the island of Kauai.Residents were left to grapple not only with the damage, but the rising risks to the tropical archipelago as sea surface temperatures climb. Continue reading...

Interview will air on YouTube instead of late-night talkshow after FCC ‘threatened’ show and ABCLate-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel has saidan upcoming interview with the Democratic Senate candidate from Texas James Talarico will not air on ABC, the US network that broadcasts his show, after the federal media regulator “threatened” his show, ABC and its local affiliates.“Tomorrow night I’ll be interviewing James Talarico under unusual circumstances,” Kimmel said during his opening monologue on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Wednesday. Continue reading...