World news | The Guardian

Nitrous oxide linked to more than 60 fatal crashes in the country in less than three yearsThe Dutch government will ban laughing gas from next year, amid growing concern about the risks it poses to health and road safety.From 1 January 2023, the sale, import and possession of laughing gas, formally known as nitrous oxide, will be banned in the Netherlands, with a few exceptions for medical use and the food industry. Continue reading...

Pair attack Death and Life painting in Leopold Museum in protest against fossil fuel ‘death sentence’Climate activists in Austria have attacked a painting by Gustav Klimt, with one throwing a black, oily liquid at it and another gluing himself to the glass covering the painting.Members of Letzte Generation Österreich (Last Generation Austria) tweeted that they had targeted the 1915 painting Death and Life at the Leopold Museum in Vienna to protest against their government’s use of fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Voucher aims to rekindle interest in live arts and boost industry after pandemicYoung Germans are to join other Europeans in being offered a voucher to spend on their choice of cultural offerings under a scheme launched by the government.The €200 Kulturpass, which will be made available to all 18-year-olds, has twin aims: to encourage young adults to experience live culture and drop stay-at-home pandemic habits; and give a financial boost to the arts scene, which has yet to recover from repeated lockdowns. Continue reading...

Exclusive: government will introduce new laws to make ‘immediate improvements’ ahead of fuller review in 2023, attorney general reveals

Pair of red triangular Phryges meant to represent floppy conical hats linked to French RevolutionFrance’s mascots for the 2024 Olympic Games have been likened to a giant “clitoris in trainers”, with the French newspaper Libération hailing it as a revolutionary departure from the traditional phallic symbol of the Eiffel Tower.When the two triangular red mascots, the Phryges, were unveiled last week for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, they were presented as the shape of Phrygian caps, the floppy, conical hats associated with the French Revolution. Continue reading...

British-Egyptian political prisoner had been on a partial hunger strike of 100 calories or less a day for six monthsAlaa Abd el-Fattah, the British-Egyptian democracy activist jailed in Egypt, has told his family in a letter that he has ended his six-month-long hunger strike, which he began in protest against his detention conditions.“I’ve broken my strike. I’ll explain everything on Thursday,” he told them, in reference to his monthly family prison visits to the Wadi el-Natrun desert prison where he is being held. The democracy activist was sentenced to a further five years in prison last year for sharing a social media post about torture, shortly after gaining British citizenship through his mother. Continue reading...

Chief executive hits back in row over future of opera and call for shows to be held away from grand venues

Chancellor plans levy on companies’ ‘excess returns’ to ease cost of living crisis, according to reportJeremy Hunt is reportedly preparing to hit electricity generation companies with a 40% windfall tax on their “excess returns” as he attempts to fund measures to ease the cost of living crisis.The chancellor is considering a levy on the extra profits made by generators above a certain price per megawatt hour, which has yet to be decided. Continue reading...

Landsec says retailers are shutting shops to focus on ‘fewer but bigger’ storesLandsec has said property values are falling and new developments are drying up because of rising interest rates, as some retailers shut shops to focus on fewer but bigger stores in the best locations.The company, which owns the Trinity Leeds shopping centre and Bluewater in Kent, said higher construction costs and, more recently, a sharp rise in development finance costs would lead to a slump in new developments in London. Continue reading...

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Despite the damage residents say they’re proud of the resilience and community spirit in the small NSW town

People break barriers and argue with workers in hazmat suits in Guangzhou amid zero-Covid policyCrowds of people in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou crashed through Covid barriers and marched down streets in chaotic scenes on Monday night, according to videos posted online, in a show of public resentment over government restrictions.Among the latest outbreaks in China, Guangzhou has the biggest caseload, with new daily infections of Covid-19 exceeding 5,000 for the first time and fuelling speculation that localised lockdowns could widen. Continue reading...

South Australian regulatory board considering whether it should continue to allow access to the writing assistance program

World leaders meet in Bali with a packed agenda of events, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to overshadow the summit

PM’s remarks at G20 summit suggest shift away from Liz Truss pledge to redesignate Beijing as a ‘threat’Rishi Sunak has rowed back from officially recategorising China as a “threat”, saying he views the country as a “systemic challenge”, despite concerted pressure from Conservative MPs.The prime minister’s remarks are likely to draw ire from the large group of China sceptics on the Conservative backbenches, including former leader Iain Duncan Smith and others such as Alicia Kearns, who chairs the foreign affairs select committee. Continue reading...

Human rights commissioners say urgent action is needed after program shows images of forcibly restrained children in Perth facility

The NT inquest into Kumanjayi Walker’s death is conducting informal sittings in Yuendumu so coroner can hear from community members

Industrial action to begin within weeks unless deals can be reached on unions’ demands for pay awards well above inflationUnions representing hundreds of thousands of health workers are to meet the health secretary for talks aimed at averting the wave of strikes set to hit the NHS in coming weeks.Steve Barclay on Monday invited six unions to the “round table” at 10 o’clock the following day at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), near the Houses of Parliament in central London, “to discuss workforce issues”. Continue reading...

Guardian Australia brings together all the figures on Covid-19 cases, as well as stats, charts and state-by-state data from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, the ACT and NT. Here you can also find the numbers on the vaccine rollout and fourth dose booster vaccination rates.

Cheshire Cheese Company bought by Joseph Heler Cheese, which has maintained EU presenceA British cheesemaker has sold his business to a larger rival to regain access to customers in the European Union after Brexit left him with an estimated £600,000 black hole in lost EU sales.Simon Spurrell, who made headlines when he highlighted prohibitive export costs after the UK’s exit from the single market, will remain managing director of the Macclesfield-based Cheshire Cheese Company and retains a stake in the business. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Alina Khan, star of award-winning Joyland, speaks out as the movie’s licence for domestic release is revoked, putting its Oscar contention in doubtA transgender star of an award-winning Pakistan film that depicts a love affair between a man and a trans women has said she is very sad at the government’s decision to ban the film and hopes it will be reversed.Alina Khan, who stars in Joyland, the first major Pakistani film to feature a trans actor in a lead role, said: “I’ve been very sad. There’s nothing against Islam [in the film] and I don’t understand how Islam can get endangered by mere films.” Continue reading...

Minutes of November Reserve Bank of Australia meeting say board is ‘prepared to keep rates unchanged’ while it assesses state of economy and inflation

Victorian Electoral Commission says all boxes next to candidates’ names should be numbered on the cards

Katarina Carroll says she hopes to keep her position when report examining police culture is released

Health minister Mark Butler says a surge workforce is ready to step in for aged care sector if new variant wave hits

Leaders of Kent and Hampshire county councils say even ‘drastic cuts’ to services will not be enoughTwo of England’s largest Tory-run local authorities have warned the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, that they will be forced to declare bankruptcy within the next few months because of the unprecedented financial crisis enveloping both councils.The leaders of Kent and Hampshire county councils said even “drastic cuts” to current services would not be enough to patch up the huge holes in their budgets created by soaring inflation and rising pressures in adult and children’s social care. Continue reading...

Wife of California governor claims disgraced movie mogul raped her in 2005 when she was a struggling actor seeking career adviceJennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary film-maker and the wife of California governor Gavin Newsom, has taken the stand at the rape trial of Harvey Weinstein, becoming the most prominent woman so far to testify against the former Hollywood producer.More than 90 women have publicly accused Weinstein of rape, sexual assault or sexual misconduct, including powerful A-list actors such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. But none of the women who have previously testified in criminal trials against Weinstein in New York and Los Angeles have had anywhere near the prominence of Siebel Newsom, an accomplished film-maker whose partner recently sailed to a second term as governor of the nation’s most populous state and could eventually make a White House run. Continue reading...

Comedian taken to burn center but eye and ear are not severely damaged: ‘I am OK’Jay Leno is being treated for burns at a Los Angeles hospital after one of his cars burst into flames in his garage over the weekend and seriously injured the comedian’s face.Leno told Variety in a statement: “I got some serious burns from a gasoline fire. I am OK. Just need a week or two to get back on my feet.” Continue reading...

Prime minister says stopping people crossing Channel in small boats is his ‘most pressing priority’Rishi Sunak has restated his promise to cut overall migration to the UK, but suggested he would delay a cap on refugee numbers that was promised in his leadership campaign.Sunak also said he was fundamentally against any moves towards using ID cards to stop people working illegally in the UK, after Labour revived the prospect. Continue reading...

Man in his 30s also arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of third man found with stab wounds in Houghton RegisPolice have arrested a man suspected of the murder of two men and the attempted murder of a third.Officers were called to reports of a man being struck by a vehicle in Tithe Farm Road, in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, at 1.18am on Sunday. Continue reading...

Business Council of Australia chief Jennifer Westacott sees a chance to ‘start building relationships’ damaged by trade and human rights disputes

Manchester City boss tells court he does not know what player does with private life as he is ‘not his father’The Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has told jurors in the rape trial of Benjamin Mendy that the footballer is a “really good boy” but he does not know what the player does with his private life, adding: “I’m not his father.”The 28-year-old French international is accused of sexually assaulting women during parties at his Cheshire mansion or at an apartment in Manchester city centre. Continue reading...

PM keen to define policy towards Moscow after previously warning over financial impact of sanctions when chancellorRishi Sunak has called Russia a “pariah state” on the eve of his first meeting of the G20 in Indonesia, where he has vowed to confront Moscow’s representative in public and on the sidelines of the summit.The UK prime minister said he would take every opportunity during the summit to confront Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, attending in Vladimir Putin’s absence, and said that would be not only in the hall itself but at any opportunity if the two came face-to-face. Continue reading...

Unnamed person faces execution for alleged arson as part of crackdown on unrest triggered by death of Mahsa AminiIran has issued a first death sentence over protests that have mounted a fierce challenge to four decades of hardline clerical rule, as rights groups warn of a wave of executions may follow as leaders try to end nearly two months of sustained nationwide dissent.The execution was ordered for an unidentified person for allegedly setting fire to a government building. It followed 272 of Iran’s 290 lawmakers voting earlier this month to implement the death penalty for serious crimes against the state and repeated demands by some officials to take a harder line against unrest that shows little sign of abating. Continue reading...

Owner of Fawley oil refinery near Southampton bounces back after losses of £379m in 2020The owner of Britain’s biggest oil refinery has bounced back into the black in a post-pandemic recovery, as the UK’s competition watchdog examines refining profits.Esso Petroleum Company (EPC), the owner of the Fawley refinery near Southampton, has posted pre-tax profits of £151m for 2021, up from losses of £379m a year earlier. Continue reading...

Exclusive: government lawyers sent claimants ‘bullying’ letters saying they will have to pay MoD’s legal costsArmy families suing the Ministry of Defence over the squalor of their living quarters are being issued with “bullying” ultimatums to drop the claims or face having their pay docked to cover the legal costs.Documents obtained by the Guardian suggest the threat of further financial pain amid a deepening cost of living crisis is being exploited by government lawyers to keep compensation cases out of court. Continue reading...

Charities say reduced donations to the Global Fund will lead to the preventable deaths of up to 1.5 million peopleCharities and MPs have criticised the UK for reducing the amount of money it gives to a major global health fund by almost a third, lambasting it as a “disastrous decision” that will cause preventable deaths and mean “a more dangerous world for us all”.Britain will provide £1bn over the next three years to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office said today, a cut of £400m on its previous pledge in 2019. Continue reading...

Campaigner highlighted health service failures after receiving a false negative cervical cancer result in 2011It was a death foretold but the news still hit Ireland hard: Vicky Phelan, a terminally ill campaigner who exposed a cervical cancer screening scandal, died on Monday. She was 48.President Michael D Higgins led an outpouring of tributes to Phelan’s courage and how she shone a light on health service failures that affected hundreds of other women. Continue reading...

Advocates say it’s disappointing church is spending funds trying to block compensation bids ‘rather than redirecting money to deserving survivors’

Half of Australians say Albanese government’s workplace bill is key to lifting wages, with majority support for all of bill’s individual measures, poll suggests

Research conducted jointly by IAG insurer and the US National Center for Atmospheric Research warns of ‘rapidly increasing risk’ from severe storms

Analysis reveals Australia’s biggest superannuation funds are investing huge volume of workers’ retirement savings in casinos and poker machines

Workers at Pladis site near Liverpool have been in dispute over ‘real-terms pay cut’ since SeptemberUK production of the snack favourites Jacob’s Cream Crackers and Twiglets is at risk after hundreds of workers went on strike at owner Pladis’s factory in Aintree, near Liverpool.More than 750 of about 800 workers at the plant, who help make 4,000 tons of crackers every year, say they will strike until bosses agree to negotiate on pay. Continue reading...

Six people died and 81 were injured when Istanbul’s popular pedestrian thoroughfare İstiklal Avenue was hit by a bomb attackTurkey’s interior minister has accused Kurdish militants in northern Syria of responsibility for a bombing in a busy Istanbul shopping thoroughfare that killed six people, and said that a suspect had been arrested.Six people died and 81 were injured when a bomb struck Istanbul’s popular pedestrian thoroughfare İstiklal Avenue, timed to strike when it was most crowded. Turkey’s justice minister, Bekir Bozdağ, said that “a woman sat on a bench there for 45 minutes”, and that the explosion occurred moments after she left. Continue reading...

Suitmaker dating back to 18th century was put up for sale after collapse of Hong Kong-based ownerMike Ashley’s retail empire is in advanced talks to take over Gieves & Hawkes, one of London’s oldest bespoke tailors on Savile Row.Frasers Group, of which Ashley is majority owner, is in talks to buy the brand, which was put up for sale earlier this year after the collapse of its Hong Kong-based owner. Continue reading...

As residents are helicoptered to safety from the isolated town, a community rallies to give hope

Children languishing in unsuitable settings owing to severe shortage of secure placementsCampaigners have warned of a “national child protection emergency” in England with vulnerable and disturbed children languishing for months in unsuitable placements while social workers attempt to find them secure homes.According to figures obtained from the Department for Education after a freedom of information request, the average time a child who has been deprived of their liberty for their own protection will spend waiting for a secure placement is currently 65 days. In the two years to 19 October, the longest time a child had to wait for a secure placement was 211 days. Continue reading...

Fashion retailer has about 130 stores and employs more than 1,600 peopleThe fashion retailer Joules has announced it attends to appoint administrators, putting at risk as many as 1,600 jobs after talks fell through to find new investors.The board of Joules on Monday said it had “regrettably” decided to appoint administrators from Interpath Advisory to Joules Group and three subsidiaries including the Garden Trading Company. Trading in Joules shares has been suspended. Continue reading...

Decision comes after internal agitation from Coalition MPs and opposition from independents

Peter Malinauskas says LIV Golf competition will boost state’s economy but critics say it is an attempt to ‘sports wash Saudi Arabia’s human rights record’