While war raged against Hitler, people in places such as India were brutalised – despite their own sacrifices to the cause

With Remembrance Day coming, arguments about whether poppies should be worn are in full flow. Yet there is one issue that never seems to be heard in the annual debate that now marks this solemn occasion: while Britain fought the second world war to defeat Nazi Germany, putting its own existence as a free country at stake, it denied freedom to its colonies.

Winston Churchill made no secret of his belief that “coloured” people had no right to be free. In August 1941, in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, he signed with the US president Franklin D Roosevelt the Atlantic charter which asserted “the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live”. This was hailed as a great war aim of the allies. Yet on his return, Churchill told the House of Commons that this was not “applicable to coloured races in colonial empire” but only to the states and nations of Europe.

Mihir Bose is the author of Thank You Mr Crombie: Lessons in Guilt and Gratitude to the British

Accusations and recriminations abound as Democrats try to figure out what went wrong after an electoral trouncing

Joe Biden stood before the American people, millions of whom were still reeling from the news of Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential race, and reassured them: “We’re going to be OK.”

In his first remarks since his vice-president and chosen successor, Kamala Harris , lost the presidential election, Biden delivered a pep talk from the White House Rose Garden on a sunny Thursday that clashed with Democrats ’ black mood in the wake of their devastating electoral losses. Biden pledged a smooth transfer of power to Trump and expressed faith in the endurance of the American experiment.

Voters across the world have backed any alternative to the people in charge

What do the British Conservatives , the New Zealand Labour party , the LDP of Japan and the ANC of South Africa have in common? Defeat. All four led governments that have been pummelled at the polls recently as part of the greatest wave of anti-incumbent voting ever seen. Governments of left and right, radicals and moderates, liberals and nationalists: all are falling.

This week the US Democratic party joined the electoral casualty list, bested by the man they ousted four years ago, the past and now future president, Donald Trump. Critics and cheerleaders alike see Trump as an extraordinary figure with a unique appeal. But his triumph is the rule, not the exception. Defeated vice-president Kamala Harris ran ahead of the global trend, even more so in the crucial swing states. But she was swept away nonetheless.

President-elect said to be considering immigration and foreign policy hardliners – plus the controversial RFK Jr

Donald Trump’s second administration has begun to take shape amid fears over extremist appointments and how far right the US will go while Republicans control the White House and probably both chambers of Congress.

The range of names being put forward varies from members of Trump’s inner circle to the world’s richest man, tech mogul Elon Musk. Alongside plutocrats and technocrats are hardline ideologues on immigration and foreign policy and the controversial figure of Robert F Kennedy Jr, a leading vaccine conspiracy theorist.

For years, Lloyd Griffith had been worried about going bald. Finally, he took the plunge and had a hair transplant. Here, he describes the unexpectedly empowering result of tackling his fears

On a Saturday, while my mum was working at the local Wimpy, my auntie’s boyfriend would take me to watch Grimsby Town. After one game, I bolted through the door to tell my mum that I’d learned some new songs. There was “Who’s the wanker in the black?” to the referee, and “Shut up baldy” to the opposing team’s manager. My mum explained the referee was probably doing his best and that the manager couldn’t help being bald.

Twenty-five years later and I was sitting in hair and makeup on the set of Soccer AM while the makeup artist covered up the bags under my eyes. I’d got home at 2am after doing a comedy gig in Manchester and then got up again at 6am. After touching up my face, she reached for a pot and started sprinkling black powder generously on my hair. “It’s for the cameras,” she said, “so the lights don’t bounce off your bald patches.” It felt as if I’d been heckled, but had no comeback prepared. My stomach dropped. It was the first time that I’d been described as “bald”.

A strictly bodyguarded Santa is hijacked in this oddly pitched, CGI-heavy action-adventure

As synthetically festive as an eggnog-flavoured plug-in air freshener, Red One is a cynical, soulless action-adventure that imagines Santa (JK Simmons), codenamed Red One, as a quasi-militaristic elite operative with his own security detail, headed by stony-faced tough guy Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson). When Santa is kidnapped, Callum is forced to partner with “level 4 naughty lister” Jack (Chris Evans), a hacker and general miscreant who sells his dubious skills to the highest bidder – in this case, a shady individual who has nefarious plans that threaten the very future of Christmas.

A charmless, CGI-heavy spectacle, Red One falls into an ill-considered audience no man’s land: it’s too intense for little kids (we get to visit Krampus in what appears to be a yuletide S&M dungeon) and too bland to attract teens and genre fans.

In UK and Irish cinemas

Annual bird survey suggests ‘particularly bad’ autumn on key migration route through city’s brightly lit skyscrapers

As fall bird migration nears its end in New York City, a troubling trend may be emerging: preliminary evidence suggest that more avians collided with buildings this season compared with last autumn.

NYC Bird Alliance surveys suggest that collisions are up citywide and that it has proved to be a “particularly bad” autumn for collisions. While spring 2024 showed fewer collisions than in 2023, about 60-75% of such accidents occur during fall migration , which peaks from early September to October.

Crucial question for summit will be how to help developing countries cope with extreme weather caused by high temperatures

Cop29 officially opens on Monday 11 November in Baku, Azerbaijan, and the conference is scheduled to end on 22 November, although it is likely to run later. World leaders – about 100 have said they will turn up – are expected in the first three days, and after that the crunch negotiations will be carried on by their representatives, mostly environment ministers or other high-ranking officials.

The crucial question for the summit is climate finance . Developing countries want assurances that trillions will flow to them in the next decade to help them cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with the rapidly receding hope of limiting global heating to 1.5C above preindustrial levels, and to enable them to cope with the increasingly evident extreme weather that rising temperatures are driving.

• WSL updates from the 12.30pm GMT kick-off in St Helens
• Johanna Rytting Kaneryd interview | And email Emillia

Liverpool starting XI: Rachael Laws; Jenna Clark, Gemma Bonner, Gemma Evans; Taylor Hinds (C), Grace Fisk, Jasmine Matthews, Ceri Holland, Marie Höbinger; Olivia Smith, Leanne Kiernan. Substitutes: Teagan Micah, Eva Spencer, Niamh Fahey, Cornelia Kapocs, Mia Enderby, Yana Daniëls, Hannah Silcock, Zara Shaw.

Chelsea starting XI: Hannah Hampton; Lucy Bronze, Millie Bright (C), Kadeisha Buchanan, Sandy Baltimore; Sjoeke Nüsken, Erin Cuthbert, Guro Reiten; Maika Hamano, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Mayra Ramírez. Substitutes: Zećira Mušović, Aggie Beever-Jones, Maelys Mpome, Wieke Kaptein, Ève Périsset, Ashley Lawrence, Oriane Jean-François, Catarina Macario, Nathalie Björn.