Whether to pay homage to the Queen amid the party dresses has divided participantsThere was only one show in town in London this weekend, and that was the Queue. But the catwalks of London fashion week soldiered on.“It felt important to keep going, because this is a time when London needs to stick together, and right now some of this city’s young designers are at risk of losing their businesses,” said the designer Jonathan Anderson after his JW Anderson show. Continue reading...
A growing minority want an elected head of state – and some feel ‘shaken’ by treatment of anti-monarchistsTimothy Parker feels ambivalent about the events of the last week. “On the one hand,” the 21-year-old says, “someone of unquestionable importance has died.” On the other, the blanket coverage of royal affairs – “royals with flowers, royals with pens, royals with letters” – has left him frustrated.While he is respectful of those in mourning and understands that the death of the Queen is a historic event, he finds the pomp and ceremony during a cost of living crisis “infuriating”. “I’m aware that part of it is symbolic, but don’t those symbolic acts just reinforce the underlying class hierarchies that are so plain to see?” he says. Continue reading...
Demand for leases of land for renewable energy projects is set to generate hundreds of millions for the crown estateThe royal family stands to benefit from a huge windfall from the boom in offshore energy, potentially sparking a debate about funding the monarchy.The Treasury has confirmed that an official review of the sovereign grant, which stands at £86.3m a year, is ongoing and is expected to come into effect from April next year. Officials say they want to ensure the funding is at “appropriate” levels. Continue reading...
Chancellor thought to be delaying full budget until next year, preventing spending watchdog from assessing his plansKwasi Kwarteng is paving the way to delay his first full budget until next year, amid growing concerns that he is avoiding scrutiny of a huge programme of tax cuts likely to break the government’s existing fiscal rules.The chancellor will unveil his plans for £30bn in tax cuts and more details of the energy price cap announced by Liz Truss as part of a “mini-budget” on Friday. It is likely to frame the political debate for some time. However, he is preparing to overhaul existing fiscal rules in the months ahead to ensure the programme can satisfy them. Continue reading...
The renowned British artist found inspiration in his own features after the pandemic left him without sittersWhat do you do when you are a portrait painter but can’t get anyone to sit for you? Frank Auerbach, once described by the Tate as “one of the greatest painters alive today”, has come up with an answer he didn’t expect to find. At 91, he has painted himself – and it’s all thanks to Covid.For decades, the painter and draughtsman has had friends and family sit for his portraits every week – until the lockdowns left him without any sitters. Instead, he found inspiration in his own features for a major series of self-portraits. He told the Observer that, while he had previously been uninterested in his own face, ageing has made it much more compelling. Continue reading...
MPs in talks with Taiwan to help phase out Confucius Institutes as relations between the countries worsenA group of cross-party MPs is in talks with Taiwan to provide Mandarin teachers to the UK as the government seeks to phase out Chinese state-linked Confucius Institutes, the Observer has learned.There are currently 30 branches of the Confucius Institute operating across the UK. Although controversies have existed for many years, they have continued to teach Britons Chinese language, culture and business etiquette. These schools are effectively joint ventures between a host university in Britain, a partner university in China, and the Chinese International Education Foundation (CIEF), a Beijing-based organisation. Continue reading...
‘It’s a nonsense’: government facing claims of manipulating questions to get desired result from survey on ‘Brexit bonus’It was meant to be one of the sure-fire wins for Brexit, but plans to bring back imperial measurements face criticism over claims of a biased government review.Ministers were keen to launch a review to revive imperial measurements – such as pounds and ounces – and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), now overseen by Jacob Rees-Mogg, conducted a government consultation over the summer. However, the questions appeared to have something missing. Continue reading...
Meeting rearranged for Wednesday in New York as Bidens travel to UK for Queen’s funeralLiz Truss’s planned meeting with Joe Biden in Downing Street, which was to be her first major diplomatic event as prime minister, has been rescheduled for Wednesday at the UN.Officials from both countries said that a meeting in the margins of the UN general assembly would allow “fuller” bilateral discussion and was not the result of friction. But, whenever the two leaders meet, they face disagreements over Northern Ireland. Continue reading...
Czech Republic calls for ‘special international tribunal’ after Izium mass grave found; Turkish and Indian leaders urge end to war at Asia summitThe Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU presidency, have called for a “special international tribunal” after a mass grave was discovered in Izium, a town in north-eastern Ukraine. “In the 21st century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and abhorrent,” said Jan Lipavský, foreign minister of the Czech Republic. More than 440 bodies have been discovered by Ukrainian officials, with some found with their hands tied behind their backs.Satellite imagery has emerged of the recently discovered mass grave site near Izium. The images, released by Maxar Technologies, show the “Forest Cemetery” entrance from March to August of this year.One of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant’s four main power lines has been repaired and is supplying the plant with electricity from the Ukrainian grid two weeks after it went down, the UN nuclear watchdog has said. Even though the six reactors at Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, have been shut down, the plant needs electricity to keep them cool.US president Joe Biden urged Russian president Vladimir Putin to not use tactical nuclear or chemical weapons in the wake of setbacks in Ukraine. Asked by CBS what he would say to Putin if he was considering using such weapons, Biden said: “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. It would change the face of war unlike anything since world war two.” Biden said the US response would be “consequential,” but declined to give detail.Indian prime minister Narendra Modi told Putin on Saturday that “today’s time is not a time for war” when the pair met during a regional Asia summit in Uzbekistan. Putin told Modi he knew of India’s “concerns” about the conflict, echoing language he had used with Chinese president Xi Jinping the day before. “We will do our best to end this as soon as possible,” Putin said, while accusing Kyiv of rejecting negotiations.Speaking to reporters later, Putin vowed to continue his attack on Ukraine despite Kyiv’s latest counteroffensive and warned that Moscow could ramp up its strikes on the country’s vital infrastructure if Ukrainian forces target facilities in Russia. Associated Press reported that the Russian president said the “liberation” of Ukraine’s entire eastern Donbas region remained Russia’s main military goal and that he saw no need to revise it. “We aren’t in a rush,” he said after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Samarkand.Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told leaders at the summit that efforts were being made “to finalise the conflict in Ukraine through diplomacy as soon as possible”. Putin told Erdogan, who has been a key broker in limited deals between Russia and Ukraine, that Moscow was keen to build closer ties with Turkey and was ready to “significantly increase” all exports to the country.Activists from environmental group Greenpeace on Saturday blocked a shipment of Russian gas from unloading at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in northern Finland, the terminal owner and Greenpeace said. The activists demanded Helsinki stop importing Russian gas after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.The security service of Ukraine said that Russia’s federal security service (FSU) officers tortured residents in Kupiansk, a city in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. The Kyiv Independent reports that when FSU officers were in then-occupied Kupiansk, they tortured residents and threatened to send them to minefields and kill their families. Continue reading...
Queen Consort’s address on Sunday will praise mother-in-law for forging role as woman in male worldThe Queen Consort is to pay a televised tribute to the Queen on Sunday, praising her for carving out her own role for many years while being in the “difficult position” of being a “solitary woman” in a male-dominated world.In prerecorded words, she will also recall the late monarch’s “wonderful blue eyes” and say: “I will always remember her smile.” Continue reading...
Police arrest two men and woman after death of Callum Riley in Heywood, RochdaleThree people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death of a 17-year-old boy in Greater Manchester.Callum Riley was found with serious injuries in Heywood, Rochdale, on Saturday morning and died a short time later, a spokesperson for Greater Manchester police (GMP) said. Continue reading...
Residents warned of heavy rain, potential landslides, severe flooding and power outagesTropical Storm Fiona was expected to become a hurricane as it neared Puerto Rico on Saturday, threatening to dump up to 20 inches (51cm) of rain as people braced for potential landslides, severe flooding and power outages.The storm previously battered various eastern Caribbean islands, with one death reported in the French territory of Guadeloupe. Regional prefect Alexandre Rochatte told reporters on Saturday that the body was found on the side of a road after floods washed away a home in the capital of Basse-Terre. Continue reading...
Although the reactors at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant have been shut down, the fuel in them still needs cooling to avoid a meltdownOne of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant’s four main power lines has been repaired and is supplying the plant with electricity from the Ukrainian grid two weeks after it went down, the UN nuclear watchdog has said.Even though the six reactors at Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, have been shut down, the fuel in them still needs cooling to avoid a potentially catastrophic meltdown. The plant therefore needs electricity to pump water through the reactors’ core. Continue reading...
Claudia Winkleman will host The Piano, which poses as a documentary to take undiscovered keyboard talent all the way to a London concert finaleThe gentle, soothing (though sometimes tear-inducing) art of creating fabulous cakes and biscuits has for many years drawn huge audiences to The Great British Bake Off. Now its creators hope to do the same with another calming and often genteel pastime: piano playing.This search for undiscovered ivory-tinkling talent will be documented weekly in The Piano, which will follow amateur pianists all the way to a finale concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall. It aims to tap into the “street piano” phenomenon, which has spawned viral videos of people playing in public, and is the brainchild of Richard McKerrow, co-founder and creative director of Love Productions, which also makes The Great Pottery Throw Down and The Great British Sewing Bee. Continue reading...
Next weekend will be crucial for party leader as he addresses divisive issues including the possible return of Jeremy CorbynLabour will come under pressure to support inflation-matching pay increases, joining picket lines, renationalisation and the return of Jeremy Corbyn as a party candidate, in a crucial annual conference for Keir Starmer.The Labour leader will use next weekend’s conference to set out key dividing lines after the government’s mini-budget on Friday, with announcements on tax cuts, bankers’ bonuses and borrowing set to dominate the political debate for months to come. Continue reading...
Local MP says firearms officer being investigated should have been suspended immediatelyHundreds of people have gathered outside New Scotland Yard as part of a series of protests across the country calling for justice for Chris Kaba, an unarmed black man who was shot dead by police in south London.The protest is one of many taking place in the UK, in areas such as Manchester, Coventry and Southampton, as part of a National Day of Action organised by the Justice for Chris Kaba campaign. Continue reading...
Psychiatrists in the city can now prescribe free visits to cultural venues to complement other treatmentsA tour of ancient sewers? An encounter with a masterpiece of 16th-century lace-making? These are two of the therapies on offer to people in Brussels suffering from depression, stress or anxiety.From this month, psychiatrists in one of the city’s largest hospitals have been able to offer patients “museum prescriptions”, a free visit with a few friends or family members to discover one or more of Brussels’ cultural institutions. Continue reading...
Chancellor expected on Friday to outline proposals to deal with cost of living crisis and boost growthKwasi Kwarteng is preparing to announce £30bn of tax cuts in an effort to ease the pressure of the cost of living crisis and boost economic growth, according to reports.It is thought the chancellor will outline plans to reverse the recent national insurance rise and freeze corporation tax in an emergency mini-budget on Friday. Continue reading...
A new film tells the story of the song, written over 10 years with 180 versionsHallelujah is one of the most famous songs ever written, yet a new film reveals it took Leonard Cohen 180 attempts over a decade to perfect – only for it to be rejected by his record company. Nearly 20 years went by before an animated ogre, Shrek, turned the song into a monster hit.The makers of the documentary, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, had unprecedented access to Cohen’s many notebooks, showing his scrawled handwriting and deletions. “We got Leonard’s ‘tacit blessing’ not long before he died in 2016,” says co-director Dan Geller. Continue reading...
Despite warnings, hundreds of people have reportedly gathered in Mahsa Amini’s home town of Saqqez for her burialA series of protests have broken out in Iran after the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, who died in hospital on 16 September, three days after she was arrested and reportedly beaten by morality police in Tehran.Demonstrators initially gathered outside Kasra hospital in Tehran, where Amini was being treated. Human rights groups reported that security forces deployed pepper spray against protesters and that several were arrested. Continue reading...
Broadway’s longest-running musical never fully recovered from the pandemic shutdown and will close next FebruaryThe Phantom of the Opera, Broadway’s longest-running show, is scheduled to close in February 2023.The musical – a fixture on Broadway since 1988, weathering recessions, war and cultural shifts – will play its final performance on Broadway on 18 February, a spokesperson said on Friday. The closure will come less than a month after its 35th anniversary. It will conclude with an eye-popping 13,925 performances. Continue reading...
Jefferson Bosela, family spokesperson, says IOPC’s timeline for homicide investigation too long“He was the life of the party, you know, everywhere he went, he didn’t shy away from showing the people he cared for that he cared for them,” says Jefferson Bosela, describing his cousin Chris Kaba. “He was a big brother, he was a fiance, he was a dad-to-be, so he had so much going for him, which makes this tragedy all the worse.”On 5 September, Kaba was driving through Streatham, south London, when the vehicle was flagged by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) before being pursued and intercepted by two Metropolitan police cars. Continue reading...
The PM will hope for some credit for taking out the big bazooka, but there are fears it’s missing the target and may backfireBack in March, just a few weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Liz Truss’s future chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng became one of the first cabinet ministers to acknowledge bluntly the costs of the conflict for consumers at home.“People are willing to endure hardships in solidarity with the heroic efforts that the people of Ukraine are making,” he told MPs. “People understand this in this country, because we’re a generous and giving country.” Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#63QVS)
Some parent bodies helping with core costs, raising fears of growing gap between rich and poor areasDays into the new academic year, headteachers have raised the alarm about a looming funding crisis in schools, with some parents urged to make donations and parent-teacher associations on standby to plug funding gaps for classroom essentials.As energy bills and wage costs rise, school leaders say money from PTA fundraising efforts will be needed to cover core costs rather than “nice to have” extras. In affluent areas where PTAs are able to raise huge sums, it could even be used to save jobs and help pay bills. Continue reading...
PM Narendra Modi to welcome the eight animals amid fears that they may struggle with Kuno national park habitat or clash with leopardsEight Namibian cheetahs have been airlifted to India, part of an ambitious project to reintroduce the big cats after they were driven to extinction there decades ago, officials and vets said.The wild cheetahs were moved by road from a game park north of the Namibian capital of Windhoek on Friday to board a chartered Boeing 747 dubbed “Cat plane” for an 11-hour flight. Continue reading...
‘Intense battles’ in the contested region is the latest outbreak of violence to hit the former Soviet UnionFighting has erupted on the disputed border between Kyrgyzstan and its central Asian neighbour Tajikistan, leaving 24 people dead in the latest outbreak of violence to hit the former Soviet Union.Both of the impoverished landlocked nations have accused each other of restarting fighting in a disputed area, despite a ceasefire deal. Continue reading...
The bombings also targeted the countryside, according to Syrian state media, and reportedly killed two Iranians as wellAn Israeli airstrike near Damascus airport has killed five Syrian soldiers, according to state media in Syria.“The aggression led to the death of five soldiers and some material damage,” Syria’s official news agency Sana quoted a military source as saying on Saturday. Continue reading...
by Ben Morris (now); Harry Taylor, Léonie Chao-Fong, on (#63PHS)
King, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward watch over coffin for 15 minutesUK-based correspondents from European news outlets have written for the Guardian about how Britons will deal with political turmoil, Brexit, recession and the loss of the Queen.Here’s an excerpt from Stefanie Bolzen, UK and Ireland correspondent for Die Welt, Germany:The days we are living through mark a new beginning. Only time will tell what the post-Elizabethan era will bring. For the moment, what it does feel like is a juggernaut of one too many challenges coming at the same time, a surreal wave. The aftermath of the pandemic, which has left the UK with a lot of scars; Brexit finally being felt in real life, whether on the M2 towards Dover, in my local Sainsbury’s, or in the port of Larne; Russia’s war on Ukraine; a fourth prime minister in six years. And now the death of Elizabeth II, who seemed to many immortal.Reporting on the UK as a foreigner often makes it easier to take a step back, to see “the big picture”. Since last Thursday, though, this has become a challenge. The 24/7 coverage of the Queen’s death is all-consuming with layers of events, history and traditions to process. It would not be fair to suggest that these layers are somehow serving to sugarcoat the crisis in this country. Elizabeth II was a historic figure, she symbolises a century that transcended Europe’s borders. What I do notice, however, is that the foreign media cover this long period of ceremonial mourning with less servility. Hardly any British media, for example, dared comment on King Charles III’s rude gesture of impatience during the acclamation.The actress, known for her role in the BBC hit series Killing Eve, will participate in a procession of national honours as part of the service on Monday.
King Charles led second vigil with siblings as the public filed pastThree measured taps of the guard’s stick on the stone steps inside Westminster Hall signalled the start of the vigil of the princes as Queen Elizabeth II’s four children, led by the King, marched slowly down, stopping in front of the catafalque.Another triple tap, and they stepped on to it. King Charles, red-eyed and blinking, took up his place at the head of the coffin, the Princess Royal and Earl of Wessex to each side of it, and the Duke of York at its foot. Continue reading...
Sergiu Boianjiu raped and stamped on woman and left her for dead, 20 years after killing his girlfriendA Moldovan man has received a life sentence for the “evil and depraved” rape and attempted murder of a stranger whom he left to die in an alleyway.Sergiu Boianjiu, who came to Britain after serving 10 years for killing his girlfriend, was caught on CCTV in February as he raped and repeatedly stamped on the head of a woman in Northamptonshire. Continue reading...
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