Petty crimes forgiven ahead of ceremony that completes ascension after father’s abdication in MayNaruhito has proclaimed himself Japan’s new emperor and vowed to “stand with the people” after performing a series of ancient rituals that culminated in his appearance on the imperial throne alongside his wife, Empress Masako.Naruhito, who ascended the Chrysanthemum throne in May, following the abdication of his father, Akihito, marked his official enthronement on Tuesday in front of around 2,000 guests, including heads of state and other royals from more than 180 countries. Continue reading...

A quarter of Johannesburg’s population live in this modern and sophisticated township that is also blighted by poverty, drug addiction and crimeMy mother tells me the house where I was born in the Chiawelo section of Soweto in 1973 didn’t have windows, doors or a paved floor when they moved in. My father earned very little as a cleaner at the post office and had no money to fix it.So my mother and her friends would go to a nearby farm to steal cow dung to make the floor. One day she got bitten by the farmer’s dog. That scar of poverty is still engraved on her hand like an ugly tattoo. Continue reading...

Our two-year study shows the lake has been stable since the 1990s. Costly ‘solutions’ shift focus from the complex causes of the region’s deadly crisisLake Chad is a hydrological miracle – a life-giving, freshwater lake in the Sahara desert. But the region around the lake has been engulfed in a violent crisis for more than a decade, which has left nearly 10 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.Military crackdowns on insurgent groups such as Boko Haram have failed to end the violence. Bringing durable peace to the region requires unpicking a Gordian knot of many interlinked factors: poverty, sectarian mistrust, political marginalisation and corruption. The risks posed by the climate crisis to the rainfall-dependent livelihoods of the people of Lake Chad are an important strand of this challenge. Continue reading...

The fire started just after 1pm on the roof of the SkyCity convention centreThousands of people were evacuated from central Auckland on Tuesday as a massive fire burned in the heart of New Zealand’s largest city.The fire started just after 1pm on the roof of the SkyCity convention centre, which is still under construction. Continue reading...

Aki Ra was a child soldier for Pol Pot, laying mines around Siem Reap. Now he is using his expertise to clear land in rural Cambodia and make it safe againThe rusty tailfin of the mortar round can be seen poking through the roots and mud of a small dirt patch, next to a skull and crossbones sign.Aki Ra thinks the bomb could have been lying in rural Siem Reap, Cambodia, for 40 years. If it hadn’t been found, it may have added another death to the approximately 20,000 people killed by explosives laid in the country from the late 1960s to the 1990s. Continue reading...

Caroline Cornélis draws on everyday life to make elegant shows for young audiences. In 10:10, three dancers and a drummer recreate break timeShows for young audiences are frequently set in fantasy and fairytale worlds, but the school playground is children’s daily domain of make-believe. A stretch of tarmac and a knackered climbing frame will host dozens of overlapping adventures, either continued next playtime or forgotten forever.These mini playground dramas are the inspiration for a wonderfully assured dance production for over-sixes, created by Belgian choreographer Caroline Cornélis. It’s called 10:10, named after a popular time for morning break in European schools. The show begins with a musician sweeping sand to the edges of the stage before resting the brush against a drum kit, picking up a pair of sticks and pounding out a blistering solo. Three dancers appear at the wings, itching to rush on, as if anticipating the school bell. As the drumming accelerates, they storm a stage suddenly flooded with light. Break time begins. Continue reading...

The first southern hemisphere city to host the world’s biggest LGBTQI event plans to shine a light on Indigenous culture and the Asia Pacific regionAdrian Phoon, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras’ newest board director, was tired yet excited as he nervously awaited the results of Sydney’s mammoth bid to host WorldPride 2023.Widely described as the “gay Olympics”, reflecting its sheer scale, he knew WorldPride, which has run every two years since 2000, is a juggernaut – now the world’s biggest LGBTQI event. It unites Gay Prides and their communities across the globe – attracting, at a conservative estimate, a million visitors and world-class talent. At this year’s WorldPride in New York, Madonna performed hits including Vogue and songs from her new album Madame X. Continue reading...

Travel guide company says ‘timeless treasures’, seaside and historic buildings put country in second place, behind BhutanEngland has been named the world’s second best tourist destination in 2020 due to its “timeless treasures” by the guide book firm, Lonely Planet, behind Bhutan.The list, featured in the Best in Travel 2020 book, was compiled based on “topicality, unique experiences and wow factor”. Continue reading...

Nine suicides have been linked to the wave of unrest as young people grow frustrated and exhausted by the intense, months-long standoffNiko Cheng was ready to die in August. The 22-year-old nursing student and her fellow protesters known as “fighters” for their willingness to confront police in Hong Kong, had decided to make their last stand on 31 August.Exhausted and weary after months of protesting, she had floated the idea of throwing herself at police and forcing them to fire on her. The other protesters talked her out of it. Still, she expected to be arrested or badly hurt. Continue reading...

Equality campaigners were celebrating before the midnight deadline for law to take effectNorthern Ireland is to legalise abortion and same-sex marriage after an 11th-hour attempt by the region’s assembly to block change collapsed into farce.Equality campaigners celebrated on Monday as the clock ticked towards midnight when laws extending abortion and marriage rights came into force, ushering in momentous social change as Northern Ireland aligned with the rest of the UK. Continue reading...

Sentencing Council consulting on raising sentences for the most serious terror offencesTougher punishments for those convicted of expressing support for banned organisations or viewing terrorist material online are being proposed by the Sentencing Council.Following changes to legislation brought in by the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, the official body, which publishes guidelines for judges, has circulated a fresh consultation on raising sentences for the most serious offences. Continue reading...

A dark cabaret use First Nations flair to reveal the shocking stories and striking talents behind ‘the greatest showman’ PT Barnum’s circuses. Curated by Sydney Opera House’s Rhoda Roberts and directed by Chelsea McGuffin, the hectic, heady production fuses burlesque, cabaret, vaudeville and circus. Natives Go Wild stars First Nations dancers, performance artists and musicians from all over the Asia-Pacific region and aims to rework history with satirical humour and gravity-defying feats• Natives Go Wild opens at Sydney Opera House on 22 October and runs until 27 October• Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star translated and sung in Noongar – music video Continue reading...

PM will seek to win two crucial votes on Tuesday in bid to leave EU by 31 October deadlineBoris Johnson will make a final bid on Tuesday to force Brexit through by the 31 October “do or die” deadline, amid growing signs he will make a renewed push for a general election whether his deal passes or not.Johnson has already requested a delay to Brexit, by sending the letter to Brussels required by the backbench Benn act after MPs declined to support his deal on Saturday – something he said he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than do. Continue reading...

Here’s everything you need to know about the legal framework for the PM’s proposed Brexit dealIt is here – the legislation setting out the legal framework for Boris Johnson’s proposed Brexit deal. The withdrawal agreement bill, or WAB, is 115 pages long, with an extra 126 pages of explanatory notes. It was published at 8pm on Monday, giving MPs 12 hours to digest details of the most notable constitutional change to the UK’s status in decades before the Commons resumes and they must cast their first votes on it. But what does it say? Continue reading...

Japanese media say professor from Hokkaido University was detained in SeptemberChinese authorities have detained a Japanese man in Beijing following media reports that a university professor was being held on suspicion of spying.“The Japanese embassy in China confirmed that a Japanese man in his 40s was detained by Chinese authorities in Beijing in September for allegedly violating Chinese laws,” Japan’s top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, told reporters. Continue reading...

The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, announces move in light of British teenager’s deathThe foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has commissioned a review into immunity arrangements for US personnel and their families at an RAF base following the death of Harry Dunn.He claimed there were “no barriers to justice being done” in the case of the road crash victim, telling MPs the UK government believed diplomatic immunity “clearly ended” for suspect Anne Sacoolas, 42, when she left the country for the US shortly after the crash outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire. Continue reading...

Tuesday: Speaker John Bercow blocks second Brexit vote saying it would be ‘repetitive and disorderly’. Plus: plan for new Galilee Basin mineGood morning, this is Stephen Smiley bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 22 October. Continue reading...

Merkel ally Peter Altmaier says ‘it goes without saying’ Brexit extension would be granted

Both left and right have refused to deal with the conflict as an administrative issue, leaving it to be consumed by dog-whistle nationalismAll last week, Barcelona went to sleep to the sound of police helicopters hovering overhead, as smoke rose in columns from burning barricades in the city centre. Each day brought new images of riot police firing foam and rubber bullets into large crowds and swatting stragglers with batons. Each day, too, brought news of angry young people in hooded hordes sowing chaos in the streets. Helmeted television journalists scrambled behind them, broadcasting a shaky live stream. The background noise evoked war films and video games.Things have become messy in Catalonia. The harsh sentencing of pro-independence politicians and civic leaders has unleashed a tidal wave of indignation. On the day it was announced, thousands of protesters shut down the Barcelona-El Prat airport, the action called via an anonymous, highly centralised app called Tsunami Democràtic. Over the next several days, roads were blocked, railways sabotaged and demonstrations held, and pro-independence mayors announced they would march into the capital to protest. Continue reading...

Opposition leader Benny Gantz will have 28 days to build coalition or risk fresh electionBenjamin Netanyahu has informed Israel’s president he has been unable to form a coalition government after talks with his political rival and former army chief Benny Gantz broke down.In a video statement published on Monday evening – the day of his 70th birthday – Netanyahu said he and his Likud party had worked “incessantly” to forge a “broad national unity government” with Gantz’s Blue and White party, but ultimately failed. Continue reading...

Dozens of celebrities join Prince Harry in new cases against Sun and Mirror publishersPrincess Diana’s former lover James Hewitt and her butler Paul Burrell are among dozens of individuals who have joined Prince Harry in the latest round of phone-hacking claims against tabloid newspaper publishers.Hewitt and Burrell recently filed their cases against the publisher of the Daily Mirror at the high court, according to court filings seen by the Guardian, joining the Duke of Sussex in alleging the publisher intercepted their voicemails. Their claims will focus attention on the extent to which British newspapers targeted the royal family and those around them in the hunt for stories during the 2000s. Continue reading...

More clashes likely after Piñera expands state of emergency following ‘weekend of rage’Latin America’s most prosperous country is braced for fresh upheaval after Chile’s president expanded a state of emergency beyond the capital and the death toll from three days of violence rose to 11.“We are at war with a powerful and uncompromising enemy that respects nothing and no one,” Sebastián Piñera declared in an unyielding late-night address on Sunday. Continue reading...

Columnist, editor and author hailed as ‘fearless’, after her death at the age of 57Friends and colleagues have responded to the death of the journalist and author Deborah Orr with a flood of tributes, describing the longtime Guardian columnist as fearless, hilarious, and “a lioness in a world full of mogs”.Orr, who died from cancer at the age of 57, had a long and varied journalistic career at the Guardian, the Independent, and the i newspaper, among others. Her memoir about her upbringing in Scotland, Motherwell: a Girlhood, is due to be published next year. Continue reading...

Rolling updates on latest political developments, including Speaker saying withdrawal bill motion is ‘in substance the same’ as the one on Saturday

Jean Nouvel’s lawyers say sums demanded from him are ‘totally disproportionate’The star architect behind the Philharmonie de Paris, one of the world’s most expensive concert halls, is suing the body that manages it over fines issued against him when the building opened over budget and behind schedule.The cost of the concert hall rose from €173m when the project was announced in 2006 to €386m by the time it opened two years late on 14 January 2015. Continue reading...

George King taken to court by skyscraper’s manager, which wants to ‘deter other climbers’A climber who scaled the Shard building, in central London, without ropes or suction pads has been jailed for breaching an injunction imposed by its owners.George King, 20, was sentenced to 24 weeks imprisonment by the Royal Courts of Justice, in London, on Monday. Continue reading...

Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, 34, was accused of breaching code of conduct for courtiersKing Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand has stripped his royal consort of her titles and military ranks, according to palace officials, who said that Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, 34, had breached a code of conduct for courtiers and was disloyal to the monarch.The announcement came only months after the former army nurse was appointed the royal noble consort by the king on his 67th birthday in July. She was the first woman to receive the noble rank in nearly a century. Continue reading...

Prosecutor files charges over 2018 killing of Ján Kuciak and fiancee that led to mass protestsSlovak authorities have charged a high-profile businessman and three others with murder over the killing of a journalist and his fiancee last year, a case that is still sending shockwaves through the country’s political landscape more than a year after it brought down the prime minister, Robert Fico.The politically well-connected entrepreneur Márian Kočner and two alleged accomplices have pleaded not guilty to the murder of the journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kušnírová. The fourth suspect has confessed to the shooting. Continue reading...

Collection of 453 items including swords and bracelets will be at docklands museumAn astonishing late bronze age collection of swords, axes, spearheads and bracelets discovered in east London is to go on show in the capital next year.Dubbed the “Havering hoard” after it was discovered in Rainham last year, the collection is composed of 453 items, together weighing more than 45kg, which date to between 800 and 900 BC. It is the third largest hoard unearthed in the UK – and the largest in London. Continue reading...

Members behind decision to award Austrian writer the prize in literature say he will be seen as an ‘obvious choice’ in 50 yearsThe Swedish Academy has defended its controversial choice of Peter Handke as this year’s Nobel literature laureate, saying that it had “obviously not intended to reward a war criminal and denier of war crimes or genocide. But that’s the impression you get in the media right now.”Writing in the Swedish paper Dagens Nyheter, academy members Mats Malm and Erik M Runesson admitted that Handke had “definitely made provocative, inappropriate and unclear statements on political issues”, according to a translation by the BBC. But they said that they had “found nothing in what he has written that involves attacks on civil society or respect for the equal value of all people”, and asked: “What we wonder is what sources the critics used and why Handke’s own statements are ignored.” Continue reading...

Aircraft carriers Akagi and Kaga were sunk by US forces during second world war confrontationMarine archaeologists believe they have identified the wreck of the Japanese aircraft carrier the Akagi, which was sunk during the second world war’s battle of Midway, regarded by some historians as one of the most consequential naval engagements in history.In the space of a week naval historians with the research vessel Petrel announced that they had discovered the remains of two of the four Japanese carriers that were sunk during the battle. The team’s efforts had concentrated on identifying all of the vessels sunk during the June 1942 engagement that cost the lives of 2,000 Japanese and 300 Americans. Continue reading...

Reading branch of US chain to close after protests over stance on same-sex relationshipsA US fast food chain is to close its first branch in the UK after protests and boycott calls by LGBT campaigners.Chick-fil-A faced demands to “cluck off” when the fried chicken outlet opened in a shopping mall in Reading this month. Continue reading...

Christian Porter calls for the activist group to be classified as a related body of LaborChristian Porter has called for GetUp to be classified as a related body of Labor and blasted it for allegedly misleading voters throughout the election campaign.The attorney general has joined Liberal MPs including Kevin Andrews in complaining about GetUp’s conduct to the parliamentary inquiry examining the 2019 election. Continue reading...

Awami League’s Tamanna Nusrat is accused of paying impersonators in at least 13 testsA Bangladeshi politician has been expelled from university after allegedly hiring as many as eight lookalikes to take her place in exams.Tamanna Nusrat, from the ruling Awami League party, is accused of paying the lookalikes to pretend to be her in at least 13 tests. The scandal emerged after the private broadcaster Nagorik TV entered a test hall and confronted one of the women posing as Nusrat, in a video that went viral. Continue reading...

Rights team argues preferential tariffs promote goods produced by hundreds of thousands of unpaid labourers in UzbekistanThe government is facing legal action to try and stop the importation of cotton harvested with state-sponsored forced labour from Uzbekistan into the UK.The Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights and the Global Legal Action Network (Glan), a team of human rights lawyers, are launching a judicial review of preferential tariffs applied to Uzbek cotton, arguing that it is promoting the importation of goods tainted with modern slavery. The country has faced sustained criticism over the mass enforced mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of Uzbeks to work as unpaid labourers during harvest and planting seasons. Continue reading...

Northern Rail urged to compensate people forced to use outdated ‘buses-on-rails’Leading politicians in northern England have demanded a cut in fares on routes that still use the much-derided Pacer trains.In a letter to Northern Rail, the leaders said passengers deserved “financial compensation” for having to use the “buses-on-rails” that were due to be retired by the end of the year. Continue reading...

We would like to speak to people about their views and experiences of city life in the country since the demise of the brutal political regimeThis year marks 25 years since the end of apartheid in South Africa, a brutal political system that enforced the segregation of people of different races.From 1948 to 1994 the division was formalised by law, ensuring the minority white population controlled wealth and power, while black people were oppressed and stripped of basic rights, such as the right to vote. Continue reading...

Dictator’s remains will be reinterred in mausoleum near Madrid with those of his widowThe remains of Francisco Franco will finally be exhumed from the Valley of the Fallen and reinterred with those of his widow in the family mausoleum near Madrid on Thursday, the Spanish government has announced.Gen Franco’s body has been in the huge state monument 40 miles (64km) from the Spanish capital since his death in 1975. Many Spaniards feel his pride of place in the basilica, which is surmounted by a towering 150-metre (490ft) cross, glorifies the man and his dictatorship rather than serving to commemorate the 500,000 people who died during the Spanish civil war. Continue reading...

Forty days of campaigning may have knocked the shine off Justin Trudeau but no party appears likely to capture a majorityAs Canadians head to the polls on Monday, Justin Trudeau is bracing for the possibility of an electoral loss, marking a stunning turn of fortunes for the charismatic Liberal leader who had pledged to reshape the country’s politics.With the the prime minister’s weakness exposed, smaller parties are fighting to emerge as power brokers in a general election that experts believe may produce no clear winner. Continue reading...

Many of the stranded children are under five years old, figures compiled by UK charity suggestAt least 60 British children are trapped in north-east Syria after fleeing areas held by Islamic State during the recent escalation in fighting, according to Save the Children –twice the number initially feared.Figures compiled by the UK-based charity suggest many of the children are under five years old and are enduring dire conditions in desolate camps. All were born to British parents suspected of joining Isis. Continue reading...

Penny Wong says the PM should be ‘brave enough’ to say if he tried to get his mentor invited to the White HouseLabor’s Senate leader Penny Wong has blasted officials for stepping around questions about whether Scott Morrison’s office attempted to have the Hillsong pastor Brian Houston attend a state dinner at the White House.Officials from the prime minister’s department and the finance minister, Mathias Cormann, stonewalled during a Senate estimates hearing on Monday, declining to answer questions about Houston and the dinner on the basis the answers could be prejudicial to international relations. A series of questions were taken on notice. Continue reading...

Seven dead as protesters loot supermarkets day after Piñera suspends price rises that sparked unrestProtests and violence continued in Chile overnight despite the president cancelling a rise in subway fares that has prompted violent demonstrations.Officials in the Santiago region said three people had died in fires at two looted supermarkets early on Sunday. Sixty Walmart-owned outlets were vandalised, and the company said many stores did not open during the day. Five more people later were found dead in the basement of a burned warehouse and were not employees, authorities said. Continue reading...

Treasury secretary calls on Speaker to grant government second Commons vote

Japanese clothing company pulls advertisement from South Korean TV after outcryThe Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo has pulled an ad from South Korean TV after it was accused of mocking victims of wartime sexual slavery.The company said it had stopped airing the 15-second ad after critics pointed out that the Korean-language subtitles appeared to question the testimony of women who said they were forced to work in Japanese military brothels across Asia before and during the second world war. Continue reading...

A lesbian activist in a rural town has developed a new strategy to reach those most at risk of HIV

In alleged breach of search powers, a girl was forced to appear naked before an officer without parents or carer present

The Duchess of Sussex said her British friends warned her against marrying Prince Harry because the British tabloids would ‘destroy’ her life. In n an interview for the ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, she said the last year had been hard and that, as an American, she had ‘no idea’

ALP requests documents about Barr investigation into the Mueller report. Plus, new AFP commissioner faces Senate estimates, and media companies unite against secrecy laws. All the day’s events, live7.59am BSTAsking about the prime minister’s Lowy institute speech - the “negative globalism” one, Penny Wong asks for the difference between positive and negative globalism.It doesn’t look like anyone can.7.50am BSTPenny Wong is asking PM&C officials about “BurnedSpy” (a name she laughs as she says out loud) and whether the department has taken any investigations as a consequence of the claims made in the story (that he regularly posts on conspiracy QAnon conspiracy sites and their partner works on the prime minister’s staff).Mathias Cormann takes everything on notice. Continue reading...

Players walked off in 64th minute of tie at Haringey’s Coles Park ground on Saturday