First observed in Sydney in 1860, the ‘magical’ phenomenon has become more common in Australia’s warming waters since the 1990s

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Beachgoers in Melbourne have been treated to the “cosmic and magical” sight of bioluminescent algae off St Kilda beach this week.

Richard Pensak, a marine biologist at local environment group Earthcare St Kilda, spotted the bright pink-coloured cloud in the water on Sunday, and immediately knew what it was.

Fernando Fontoura, who moved to the UK aged 12, detained in drive to find people ‘illegally working’ as delivery drivers

A motorcycle rider out on a shopping trip was arrested and detained for a month as part of a high-profile government crackdown on undocumented migrants working for food delivery apps.

Fernando Fontoura, 33, who moved from Portugal to the UK when he was 12, was arrested by immigration enforcement officers after he parked his motorbike near a grocery store in south-east London on 22 July. He was taken to a detention centre near Gatwick airport where he was held for 29 days.

The UK’s first dedicated space for Somali heritage has built its collection from 15 years of donations. Culture House’s founders explain the power of giving a permanent home to a community’s heritage and hopes

You could probably walk right past Culture House without noticing it. Tucked away, just off the bustle of London’s Uxbridge Road, the building’s muted colours, simple sign and arched doorway give little away. Step inside, though, and you’ll soon be enticed by what is the UK’s first permanent exhibition and cultural space dedicated to Somali heritage.

Officially opened last May, Culture House features a collection of over 150 artefacts, a rotating exhibition, poetry workshops and a digital archive. It has quickly developed a reputation as a hub for the UK’s Somali community, while drawing in curious visitors from outside the diaspora too. Non-profit group the Anti-Tribalism Movement, who lead the project, say the aim is to “celebrate, preserve and connect” Somali culture and communities.

Taxing the ultra-rich may be a vote winner, but it’s just as important to shift the conversation away from Reform’s immigration doom loop

The long, hot summer of discontent is finally over. Parliament returned this week if not exactly with a rush of back to school energy, then at least with the sense that the government is now back to fill what was becoming an increasingly dangerous August vacuum.

When exhausted ministers retreated to lick their wounds over the summer, Nigel Farage saw his chance and took it, filling the slow news days with encouragement of protesters over asylum seeker accommodation. He was rewarded by polling showing voters now see immigration – the terrain on which Reform UK is palpably desperate to fight an election, because it’s terrain on which Labour can never go far enough to please some supporters without horrifying half the rest – and not a broken economy as Britain’s biggest problem, an impression arguably only reinforced when the government’s first announcement on returning from recess was a crackdown on refugees bringing their families to Britain.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

Fresh cherries are a late-summer joy, but this taste of Spain can be enjoyed year-round

Cherries are a big deal in Extremadura, where I’m from, especially in the Valle del Jerte to the north, where the picotas are some of the best in all of Spain: sweet, dark, no stalk and full of flavour. At home, we usually just eat them by the handful, fresh and cold, so when I started cooking with them, my family looked at me as if I’d gone mad. But they always end up saying yes after the first spoonful. This chilled cherry and tempranillo soup is one of those dishes: a bit unexpected, but it always gets a smile.

Veganism is still on the rise, but many popular venues and chains are shutting down. Are they victims of a terrible era for hospitality or part of a growing shift in cultural values?

When London’s Unity Diner wrapped up 2024 with the announcement that it would soon be shutting its doors for good, it expected some sadness from its customers. After all, the not-for-profit restaurant had been an innovator in the city’s vegan scene, serving up 3D-printed “vegan steak” (made of plant protein with the fibrous feel of the real thing) and disarmingly realistic “tofish” (tofu fish) alongside the classic burgers and chips. Throw in its animal sanctuary fundraising, and the restaurant had been faithfully embraced by vegans.

But, from the reaction it received, you would think its supporters were genuinely grieving. “We had people coming in and crying and hugging the staff,” says its co-founder, Andy Crumpton, his surprise audible. There was another element to the devastation, he says. For its plant-based punters, Unity Diner was yet another meat-free establishment that had outwardly appeared to be prospering, only to suddenly shut down.

Exclusive: Open letter says politicians are exploiting violence against women ‘to fuel hate and division’

Prominent women including cultural figures, politicians and campaigners have signed a letter criticising rightwing attempts to link sexual violence in Britain to asylum seekers.

Signatories include the musicians Paloma Faith, Charlotte Church and Anoushka Shankar as well as Labour, Green and independent MPs including Kim Johnson, Ellie Chowns, Diane Abbott and Zarah Sultana.

Over a few brutal days in March, as sectarian violence and revenge killings tore through parts of Syria, two friends from different communities tried to find a way to survive

On the night of 6 March, Munir, his wife and their two sons, both in their 20s, got no sleep. They huddled together in a small bedroom in their apartment as government troops and militiamen entered their neighbourhood of Qusour in the coastal city of Baniyas and went from house to house. The fighters seemed to be moving through the streets with little coordination. One house might get raided by five separate groups, while others were left untouched. “There was no plan,” Munir said, “just violence and looting.”

The first question the fighters were asking when they stormed into an apartment was: “Are you a Sunni or an Alawite?” The answer decided the fate of the residents. Sunnis were spared – although in some cases their apartments were looted. When the raiders found an Alawite home, some stole what they could carry and left; others had come for revenge and would steal first and then shoot. “If one didn’t kill you, the next one might,” Munir said.

The government is on the brink of collapse over planned austerity. Instead it must face up to the costs of its unnecessarily rigid labour market

As someone who has always been against austerity, I find France, with a national debt at 114% of GDP and a budget deficit of 5.8% of GDP, a conundrum. Despite years of denunciation from his left and far-right opponents that Macron has engaged in “ultraneoliberalism”, there hasn’t been any. Not on a macro level, anyway, where both French government spending (57.3% of GDP) and tax receipts (51.4% of GDP) are among the highest in the world, including social spending, which outpaces any of its European neighbours.

At the same time, it’s impossible to have spent the past decade in France without encountering the widely shared perception and accusation that public services are in decline. Doctors and nurses denounce a labour shortage in public hospitals; people who live in rural areas denounce the closing of rural train lines; students and academics denounce a lack of resources for public universities, many of which are dealing with outdated infrastructure, and for research.

Alexander Hurst is a Guardian Europe columnist

Anger at perks for politicians spilled over into wider protests after the death of a 21-year-old delivery driver in Jakarta

At least seven people have died, hundreds have been injured and public buildings have been burnt and looted after thousands of people took to the streets in anti-government protests across Indonesia over the past week.

The clashes between riot police and rock-throwing protesters that began in the capital and quickly spread beyond Jakarta have been seen as a major test for President Prabowo Subianto, a former general who has been in office for less than a year.

The landslide destroyed a village in the Marra Mountains area of western Sudan and left only one survivor

More than 1,000 people were killed in a landslide in western Sudan on Sunday, according to a rebel group that controls the area.

The landslide destroyed a village in the Marra Mountains area of western Sudan and left only one survivor, said the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM).

In the last continent to remain untouched by the virus, hopes are being pinned on immunisation as migration season approaches

It is easy to imagine how it could happen. A petrel, flying east from the Indian Ocean at the end of the Austral winter, makes landfall at New Zealand’s southern Codfish Island/Whenua Hou. Tired from its long journey, the petrel seeks refuge in the burrow of a green kākāpō: a critically endangered flightless species that is the world’s fattest parrot.

If the seabird intrudes when the kākāpō is primed to breed, the male parrot may attempt to mate with the smaller petrel, accidentally smothering it in the process.

• Australia captain to miss home white-ball series against India

• Mitchell Starc retires from T20Is as squad named to tour New Zealand

Australia still expect Pat Cummins to be available for the first Ashes Test, even as the captain deals with stress in his back.

The star quick will miss the upcoming T20 tour of New Zealand and back-to-back home white-ball series against India due to lumbar bone stress.

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The slow process to rebuild parliament, the Nitijela, begins as the Pacific nation confronts the loss of a vital cultural landmark

In Majuro, a day after fire ravaged the national parliament, the full devastation became clear. The building known as Nitijela had been reduced to a blackened shell, littered with debris. Among the objects lost to the fire were archive documents, original journal transcripts of daily sessions going back decades, and artworks that once adorned the walls.

Flames had engulfed the building by the time the only functioning fire engine in the Marshall Islands arrived to fight the blaze on 26 August. Firefighters were joined by residents and government officials, furiously trying to extinguish the flames and salvage any hard drives storing digital documents, including a copy of the country’s constitution.

Rescuers searched into the night for people trapped under the debris of simple mud and stone homes built into steep valleys after quake killed 800

The Taliban has called for international aid as Afghanistan reels from an earthquake that killed more than 800 people and left thousands injured.

Rescuers searched into the night for survivors on Monday after the 6.0 magnitude quake struck on Sunday, destroying entire villages across the country’s eastern Kunar province which borders Pakistan.

The trailblazing Canadian First Nations actor, who was nominated for an Academy Award, died in Toronto after a long illness

Graham Greene, the prolific Oscar-nominated Canadian First Nations actor and Hollywood trailblazer, has died aged 73 in a Toronto hospital after a long illness.

“He was a great man of morals, ethics and character and will be eternally missed,” Greene’s agent, Michael Greene (no relation), told Deadline. “You are finally free.”

New head coach Andrée Jeglertz will be expected to return City to Europe after they missed out on the Women’s Champions League last season

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 3rd (NB: this is not necessarily Tom Garry’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 4th

Those in UK aged 11-17 said seeing a celebrity gambling or advertising it made them want to emulate them, survey finds

Children as young as 11 feel tempted to try betting after being “flooded” by celebrities and sports stars promoting it, according to two reports that found nearly 90% of children aged 13-17 are exposed to gambling content online.

The UK’s leading gambling charity, GambleAware, which commissioned the reports, urged regulators and policymakers to address social media accounts and influencers producing betting content on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Twitch in light of the findings.

The Australian chef and award-winning cookbook author shares how to make her favourite sandwich. Don’t hold back on the mayo, Rosheen Kaul says

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Tuna melts are arguably my favourite sandwich, all melty, pickley and delicious. A general gripe I have is when there isn’t enough mayonnaise in the tuna mixture and it ends up tasting canned and metallic – so use lots and don’t be shy.

But tuna sambal is so packed with flavour already, you run very little risk of metallic canned fish flavours spoiling your toastie. The cheese does a marvellous job of tempering the spice from the sambal, leaving you with a far gentler meal.

After two decades in the spotlight, one of Australia’s most recognised faces reflects on the pressures of the fashion industry and what kept her grounded

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It’s pouring down in Sydney’s northern beaches when I arrive at Pilu, a chic waterfront restaurant, usually buzzing with diners. On an unusually cold and blustery morning, the swell and the rain are the only sounds to be heard. The white-linen tables are silent, the doors not yet open to the public.

Samantha Harris, one of Australia’s most recognisable faces, sweeps into the restaurant. She is casual, in activewear, her baby bump visible beneath her puffer jacket, her longtime modelling agent Kathy Ward by her side. Sipping her chai latte, Harris is smiling as she is congratulated on two fronts: her first child and her first book, Role Model: Taking Up Space in the Fashion World.

The Kenyan on the transformative experience of distance running, inspiring the next generation and a ‘beautiful and unique’ Sydney course

Eliud Kipchoge knows he has nothing left to prove. The Kenyan running great dominated marathons like no athlete before him after crossing the line first in his debut race in Hamburg in 2013. Kipchoge has since won 14 more marathons including at back-to-back Olympic Games, twice set a world record in the event, and is still the only person to run 42.195km in under two hours.

As he passes 40 years of age and his running powers begin to wane, Kipchoge is embarking on an even greater mission – to inspire more people to not only run, but to get themselves to the starting line for the most mentally and physically demanding of events.

Director of The Crow and I, Robot says technology will ‘streamline’ film industry workforce but will make projects easier and cheaper

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At a time when capitalist forces are driving much of the advancement in artificial intelligence, Alex Proyas sees the use of AI in film-making as a source of artistic liberation.

While many in the film sector see the emergence of artificial intelligence as a threat to their careers, livelihoods and even likenesses, the Australian film-maker behind The Crow, Dark City and I, Robot, believes the technology will make it much easier and cheaper to get projects off the ground.

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• Frank Bruno pays tribute and calls it ‘a sad day for boxing’

• Bugner was a British, Commonwealth and European champion

Tributes have been paid to Joe Bugner, the British heavyweight who took Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier the distance in a colourful career that spanned 32 years in the ring, after his death at the age of 75.

Bugner twice held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles and was a three-time European heavyweight champion during boxing’s golden age in the 1970s. However, a legitimate world title belt always eluded him.

Test detects memory problems linked to Alzheimer’s long before typical diagnosis, raising possibility of earlier drug intervention

A three-minute brainwave test can detect memory problems linked to Alzheimer’s disease long before people are typically diagnosed, raising hopes that the approach could help identify those most likely to benefit from new drugs for the condition.

In a small trial, the test flagged specific memory issues in people with mild cognitive impairment, highlighting who was at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Trials in larger groups are under way.