Assad is attending summit in Saudi Arabia after 12 years outside bloc over Syrian civil warA smiling Bashar al-Assad has been brought in from the diplomatic cold in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, receiving a warm welcome to a summit of the Arab League.Arriving on a Syrian Airlines jet, Assad took his place at the summit for the first time since the 22-member bloc suspended his country in 2011 after a violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators that led to civil war. Continue reading...
A surprise speaker at the Pen America gala, the author said ‘if it had not been for these people, I most certainly would not be standing here’Salman Rushdie has made his first public appearance since he was stabbed and lost sight in one eye after being attacked at a literary event, joking that it was “nice to be back – as opposed to not being back, which was also an option”.Rushdie was a surprise attendee at the Pen America gala on Thursday night in New York. The author was greeted with a standing ovation according to the New York Times. After his remarks about being back, he said he was “pretty glad the dice rolled this way”. Continue reading...
Conceived by the artistic director of Birmingham Rep, Sean Foley, the award will be open to all with the winner receiving £25,000A new playwriting prize dedicated to comedy has been launched in honour of Victoria Wood on what would have been the standup and writer’s 70th birthday.The Victoria Wood playwriting prize for comedy is the brainchild of Sean Foley, the artistic director of Birmingham Rep. Foley called comedy “perhaps the most difficult genre of all” and said the new award is “the first major playwriting prize for narrative stage comedy in the world”. The competition is open to all, with submissions accepted from September. The winner will receive £25,000. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Unions say move will diminish national security, with temporary staff unable to detain suspected terroristsHundreds of soldiers and sailors are to be trained from Monday to cover striking Border Force guards, as ministers prepare for a potential summer of chaos at ports and airports, the Guardian can reveal.In a move which unions say will diminish security at points of entry to the UK, members of the armed forces will be given five days’ training before checking passports at Heathrow, Gatwick and Dover. Continue reading...
Company has clashed with governor over anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, prompting state to strip its self-governing powerDisney has scrapped plans to build a near $1bn (£804m) corporate campus for 2,000 employees in Florida, amid an increasingly bitter political and legal battle with the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, over the future of the entertainment giant’s theme parks.Walt Disney, which has also announced the closure of its $2,500-a-night “Star Wars” Galactic Starcruiser Hotel in Orlando, said it would no longer relocate California-based employees including theme park ride designers to the new campus about 18 miles (30km) east of Walt Disney World. Continue reading...
UNHCR says Myanmar government has refused to allow it to distribute health supplies in Sittwe, where an estimated 90% of Rohingya homes have been destroyedUN staff say they have been denied access to help thousands of Rohingya living in displacement camps in Myanmar who are in urgent need of food, medicine and shelter in the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha, which struck the west of the country on Sunday.People living in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, said they estimated that about 90% of homes of Rohingya people had been destroyed and more than 100 people killed when winds of more than 150 miles an hour hit the region. However, the refugee agency UNHCR said the Myanmar government has refused access to the camps in Sittwe, home to about 100,000 people. “As yet, UNHCR has not been granted access to carry out needs assessments.” Continue reading...
Acclaimed actor in European art cinema also secured a prominent role in US soap opera DynastyAustrian actor Helmut Berger, who became a star of 60s and 70s art cinema with roles in films such as Luchino Visconti’s The Damned, and Ludwig and Joseph Losey’s The Romantic Englishwoman, has died aged 78. His death was announced by his management agency, which posted a statement on its website saying Berger had “passed away peacefully but unexpectedly” in Salzburg, the city where he grew up.Born Helmut Steinberger in the Austrian spa town of Bad Ischl in 1944, Berger studied acting in London before moving to Italy, where he met and began a relationship with acclaimed director Luchino Visconti, nearly 40 years his senior. Visconti gave him his first acting role, a small part in the comic anthology The Witches, and subsequently cast him in a spectacular role in his landmark 1969 epic The Damned. Berger played Martin von Essenbeck, a scion of a wealthy industrial family who struggle for control over the business in interwar Germany as the Nazis rise to power; for the film, Berger famously performed in drag as Marlene Dietrich and was subsequently nominated for a Golden Globe for most promising male newcomer. Continue reading...
The unacknowledged debt Potter owed to the Brer Rabbit stories told by enslaved Africans deserves to be recognised, says scholarThink of Beatrix Potter and you will probably call to mind her tales of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and Mrs Tiggy-Winkle. These popular stories, with their English country garden settings and precise illustrations, have been stalwarts of British children’s bookshelves over the past century. Yet the stories may not be as British as most of us assume.Dr Emily Zobel Marshall, in a new essay for The Conversation, has called for wider acknowledgment of the debt Potter owed to the Brer Rabbit stories told by enslaved Africans working on American plantations. Continue reading...
Incentive from Jeremy Hunt comes only days after three carmakers issued Brexit rules warningThe government has offered Jaguar Land Rover £500m in subsidies in an effort to persuade the carmaker to build a new electric battery plant in the UK.The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has offered a package of incentives to entice JLR, days after three global carmakers warned that Brexit rules on where parts were sourced threatened the future of the British automotive industry. Continue reading...
Poster showed Renaissance sculpture holding slice of pizza with phrase ‘It doesn’t get more Italian’They love a macaroni cheese pie but, according to advertising giants, the vision of Michelangelo’s David in the buff is too much to stomach for Glasgwegians.An Italian restaurant in Scotland’s biggest city has been forced to change its adverts featuring the world-renowned sculpture after the ad business Global Media Group blocked them because of David’s nudity. Continue reading...
Human rights groups condemn executions following anti-regime protests that swept country last yearIran has executed three men it said were implicated in the deaths of three members of the security forces during anti-government protests, drawing condemnation from rights groups and risking further international isolation.Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaqoubi were killed on Friday morning, the Tasnim agency reported. Crowds had gathered outside the prison where they were being held on Thursday night as rumours of their imminent execution grew. Continue reading...
by Helen Davidson in Taipei and Chi Hui Lin on (#6BT26)
Comic Li Haoshi made joke about soldiers that Beijing authorities deemed insultingChinese police detained a woman for posting online in support of the comedian who was punished for making a joke that authorities said insulted the Chinese military.According to state media, the 34-year-old woman, reportedly surnamed Shi, admitted to police that she had posted “inappropriate” comments about Chinese soldiers. Continue reading...
Timothy Schofield, 54, sentenced to 12 years for offences committed while a civilian police workerThe brother of the television presenter Phillip Schofield has been jailed for 12 years after being convicted of sexually abusing a vulnerable teenage boy over a three-year period.Timothy Schofield, 54, who was a civilian police worker with the Avon and Somerset force at the time of the abuse, was found guilty of 11 sexual offences involving a child. Continue reading...
Belief in afterlife higher among gen Z and millennials than in baby boomers, despite being less religious generallyYou may think the idea of hellfire belongs to an age when people’s lives were shaped by the threat of eternal damnation.Wrong, it seems: generation Z and millennials in the UK are significantly more likely to believe in hell than baby boomers, according to a new study by the Policy Institute at King’s College London. Continue reading...
Fall in value of Infosys, in which PM’s wife Akshata Murty holds a stake, drives drop in couple’s wealthRishi Sunak has seen his personal family fortune fall by more than £200m over the last year.Sunak, a former hedge fund manager and reputedly the UK’s wealthiest ever prime minister, and his heiress wife, Akshata Murty, have an estimated worth of about £529m in the latest Sunday Times rich list, a fall from £730m in 2022. Continue reading...
by Kalyeena Makortoff Banking correspondent on (#6BT0M)
The first comes as jump in deposits and interest rates drives earnings up 40% to record highsNationwide will pay £340m directly into customer accounts for the first time, after a jump in deposits and higher interest rates drove annual profits up 40% to record highs.Britain’s biggest building society has tended to use profits to offer better rates on savings, loans and mortgages for its members but on Friday it launched an inaugural programme that will distribute funds directly to customers, akin to shareholder payouts made by banks. Continue reading...
Putin ‘can’t outlast us’ says PM, who will use Hiroshima summit to push countries like Brazil and India to do more for UkraineRishi Sunak has warned Vladimir Putin that western leaders are “not going away” as they gathered at the G7 summit in Japan, with the Ukranian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, preparing to fly in to meet them.At a teahouse in Shukkeien garden in Hiroshima on Friday, the prime minister told Sky News: “Russia needs to know that we and other countries remain steadfast in our resolve to support Ukraine, not just in the here and now with the resources it needs to protect itself, but for the long term as well.” Continue reading...
Torrential rain submerged the dried-out landscape of the Emilia-Romagna region, forcing thousands to evacuateAt the start of this week an area of low pressure moved off the coast of north Africa, deepening as it travelled northwards across the Mediterranean before situating itself over Italy. Consequentially, much of the country received persistent heavy rain from Monday to Wednesday with the largest quantity falling over the north-eastern Emilia-Romagna region.Within a 36-hour period this region received an average 200mm of rainfall, although some areas recorded at least 500mm during the same period. Given Emilia-Romagna receives an average of 1,000mm a year, 50% of the annual mean rainfall falling in a short timeframe in a localised area has led to substantial flooding as rivers burst their banks. Continue reading...
Musician described as ‘supremely gifted’ by bandmate Johnny Marr had suffered long illness with pancreatic cancerAndy Rourke, the bassist for indie legends the Smiths, has died aged 59.The news was announced by guitarist Johnny Marr on social media, who wrote:It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer. Andy will be remembered as a kind and beautiful soul by those who knew him and as a supremely gifted musician by music fans. We request privacy at this sad time. Continue reading...
Voters as young as 16 will play a pivotal role as country goes to the polls on SundayGreek politicians are courting an estimated 430,000 generation Z voters, some as young as 16, as the country braces for a general election, taking to TikTok and YouTube to woo what could be a key demographic.A smile crosses Stefanos Tsiandis’s face when talk turns to a poll that has been as low-key as it is unpredictable. As a first-time voter, the 19-year-old knows exactly which party he’ll be rooting for when he casts his ballot on Sunday. But that, he adds, is rare. “Our vote counts, and mine will go to Pasok,” says the economics student, proudly posing with the flag of the centre-left party he has just waved vigorously at a campaign rally beneath the Acropolis. “It’s disgusting how they’re making all these promises to win our support. It says so much about our political system. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Guy Singh-Watson says he will continue to be involved in the business and will pay full tax on dividendThe organic vegetable box company Riverford is to become 100% owned by its staff after its founder, Guy Singh-Watson, agreed to sell his remaining 23% stake for almost £10m.Singh-Watson, who sold nearly three-quarters of the company to employees in 2018, will take a £9.8m payment over five years and immediately hand full control to a trust on behalf of its 900 staff who each receive an annual profit share and participate in the running of the business. Continue reading...
Spirit Airlines agent refused to let Puerto Rican family board plane from Los Angeles, even though passport is not requiredSpirit Airlines refused to allow a Puerto Rican family to board a flight from Los Angeles to Puerto Rico because they did not have a passport for their two-year old child.Speaking to CBS, Marivi Roman Torres, who was traveling with her husband, Luís, and son, Alejandro, said the problem occurred at the ticket counter. Continue reading...
Greens MP says letters tabled in parliament allege young people ‘enduring worse conditions than … farm animals’ at Banksia Hill and Casuarina facilities
Police said the officer’s duty status was under review, as civil liberties groups demanded an independent investigation into incident that left Clare Nowland in critical condition
by Presented by Michael Safi with Peter Walker; produ on (#6BSYQ)
A conference run by a rightwing American thinktank attracted Tory MPs and influencers this week. Is its Trumpish populist philosophy a taste of where the Conservative party is heading?Voters deserted Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party in droves in local elections this month. The party lost more than 1,000 seats and with it control of dozens of councils. It was just the latest evidence of a party haemorrhaging support after a series of mishaps and scandals. With a general election looming, Tory MPs are desperate for a route back to winning popular support and many appeared at a conference this week hosted by an American thinktank.As Peter Walker tells Michael Safi, it was a freewheeling and eccentric affair. Speakers variously railed against “neo-Marxism”, “globalists” and told the (overwhelmingly male) audience of the need to increase the country’s sagging birthrate. But do UK voters respond well to culture war politics? For Michael Gove, who spoke on Tuesday, the Conservative party must not become sidetracked into ignoring the central economic questions that decide elections. Is the rest of his party listening? Continue reading...
by Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspon on (#6BSXZ)
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons wants Labor to send a ‘message to the region’ and sign and ratify a treaty to impose a ban on atomic weapons
Shakur lived in Oakland in the early 1990s and has other connections to the city, including filming a video thereA northern California street may soon bear the name of late rapper Tupac Shakur.On Tuesday, Oakland’s city council unanimously agreed to name a part of a city street after the rapper, who called the city home in the early 1990s. Continue reading...
Gendarmes shoot at tyres of vehicle and arrest driver, who is believed to have psychiatric problemsA car driven by a man apparently suffering from psychiatric problems has rammed through a Vatican gate, speeding past Swiss Guards into a palace courtyard before the driver was apprehended by police.Vatican gendarmes fired a shot at the speeding car’s front tyres after it rushed the gate on Thursday night, but the vehicle managed to continue on its way, the Vatican press office said. Continue reading...
by Ben Lynfield and Quique Kierszenbaum in Jerusalem on (#6BSVP)
‘Death to Arabs’ chanted by some of the thousands celebrating capture of Old City in 1967 as three journalists woundedThousands of Israeli nationalists, some of them chanting racist slogans, have paraded through Jerusalem’s Old City in an annual celebratory day for Israelis that became one of humiliation for Palestinians living under occupation.The marchers, mostly male Orthodox teens and young men, were celebrating Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in 1967. The crowd waved blue and white Israeli flags and chanted slogans such as “Death to Arabs” and “We will burn your village”. Continue reading...
Samantha Lee tells hearing she could not have prevented kidnap and murder of Sarah EverardThe former Met police officer accused of botching the Wayne Couzens flashing case has admitted she made some mistakes, but said nothing she could have done would have changed the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard.Samantha Lee has been accused of conducting an “extremely poor” investigation after Couzens, 50, exposed himself to female staff at a drive-through McDonald’s in Kent on 14 and 27 February 2021, a police disciplinary hearing was told. Continue reading...
Supermarket is consulting about removing a 60p an hour supplement at 39 stores outside M25 despite the cost of living crisisAsda is planning to cut pay for about 7,000 workers in stores close to London by about 5% despite the surge in the cost of living in Britain.The UK’s third biggest supermarket, which was bought by the billionaire Issa brothers and private equity firm TDR Capital in 2020, said it was in consultation about removing a 60p an hour supplement from workers at 39 stores sited outside the M25 but near to the capital. Continue reading...
Claudia Iacono, who was married to son of the late boss Moreno Gallo, was shot dead in her car outside the spa she ownedThe brazen daylight shooting death of a Montreal mob boss’s daughter-in-law suggests “no one is untouchable”, said an organized crime expert, as the city braces for potential retaliation.A woman’s body with several gunshot wounds was found in car on Tuesday. Local reports named the victim as Claudia Iacono, 39. Continue reading...
Study of risks and threats shared to all forces by National Police Chiefs’ Council gives offences the same status as terrorismPolice chiefs have issued the first official assessment of violence against women and girls in the UK, placing such offences on the same footing as terrorism and serious organised crime.The 230-page intelligence document outlining the crimes that pose the biggest threats to women and girls has been shared with all forces by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).Domestic abuse.Rape and serious sexual offences.Child sexual abuse and exploitation.Tech-enabled VAWG such as online stalking and harassment. Continue reading...
by Damien Gayle Environment correspondent on (#6BSS7)
This week’s floods are latest weather disaster to hit country, as policymakers finally begin to respond to crescendoThis week, parts of northern Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region received half their average annual rainfall in just 36 hours. Rivers burst their banks and thousands of acres of farmland lie submerged. By Thursday evening, an estimated 20,000 people had been left homeless and 13 were confirmed dead.It is just the latest weather disaster to hit the country. Six months ago, 12 people died on the southern island of Ischia in a landslide triggered by torrential rain. Eleven more were killed last September by flash floods in the central region of Marche. Continue reading...
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