Before the 2022 Winter Olympic games began, two athletes had already made history - Australia’s first Olympic curling team. With no dedicated curling rink in Australia, the team’s unlikely Olympic debut took a series of series of dramatic turns once they reached Beijing.

Documents obtained under freedom of information show how worried Australian officials were over economic impact of Beijing’s actions

Analysis: psychologists suggest how ‘parasitic’ killer was capable of murdering two women and getting away with it for yearsIan Stewart’s ability to murder his first wife and resume a normal existence, going on to murder another partner, is beyond the comprehension of most.The cold duplicity of his actions would lead many to ask how was he capable of such deceit. Continue reading...

Women on Mauritian-chartered vessel bound for Chagos Islands recall how life there was ‘paradise’Rosemonde Bertin was only 17 when British officials arrived on Salomon Atoll in 1972. Everyone was ordered to gather at the manager’s office on the coconut plantation. She does not remember any advance warning.The commissioner of the British Indian Ocean territory (BIOT) told them they had to leave their homes because Americans were coming to the Chagos archipelago to set up a military base. Continue reading...

Unrest triggered when Karnataka state came down in favour of rightwing Hindu demands for headscarf banThe Indian state of Karnataka has shut its schools for three days after the regional government backed schools imposing a ban on hijabs, leading to widespread protests and violence.The issue began in January, when six female Muslim students staged a weeks-long protest after they were told to either remove their headscarves or stop attending class at a government college in the district of Udupi. Continue reading...

Decision to avoid word in exhibition on Indonesian independence led to accusations of genocide denialThe director of the Rijksmuseum said he was “happy” as Dutch prosecutors announced they would not proceed with an investigation into complaints over a newly opened exhibition on Indonesian independence, the first of its kind in Europe.The exhibition, Revolusi! Indonesia Independent, at the Netherlands’ national museum, has been a source a controversy since one of its curators, Bonnie Triyana, said the term “bersiap”, or stand by, would not be used in reference to the violent upheaval that followed a declaration of independence from the Dutch state. Continue reading...

Satellite imagery shows much Russian hardware has been moved to locations close to Ukraine borderRussia and Belarus will begin 10 days of joint military drills on Thursday, setting in train one of the most overtly threatening elements of the Kremlin’s buildup of forces around Ukraine’s borders.Valery Gerasimov, the head of the Russian general staff, arrived in Belarus on Wednesday to oversee the drills. Continue reading...

In August 2020, the Guardian spoke to workers in the live music industry who had their livelihoods destroyed by Covid. How are they faring in 2022?Eighteen months ago, Tre Stead was in hospital; now she’s on Coronation Street. As Frank Turner’s tour manager, back then she was one of six people the Guardian spoke to about how the shutdown of the live music industry had affected their lives. But now, with Covid restrictions relaxed and gigs allowed to happen as if the pandemic doesn’t exist, have they all returned to work? Yes, but not necessarily in ways anyone expected.Live music is back and bigger than ever. Artists such as the Weeknd and Harry Styles, who were originally going to play arenas, have rebooked their tours for stadiums, while major names such as Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish are beginning their delayed runs. There’s more work than ever before. But some tours – including Frank Turner’s – have been postponed in recent weeks, and new Covid variants mean that live music remains a horribly uncertain industry. Aerosmith cancelled their summer European tour last week, citing “uncertainty around travel logistics and the continued presence of Covid restrictions”, and Doja Cat cancelled her Brit awards performance due to a member of her team contracting the virus. Continue reading...

It is radical to love a body that the world says is wrong – and I love mine completelyThis body is a genetic mistake, a pitiable stare, the scan on a mundane Tuesday lunchtime with a doctor speaking in hushed tones by the bed.It is glorious too, thanks. It is deep-in-the-bones laughter at 2am with people who love you; only strangers care that it is sitting in a wheelchair while doing so (“Have you got a licence for that thing, sweetheart?”). It is straight-As, promotions and beating expectations as much as the odds. It is being buckled over from the pain, clutching a public toilet bowl, pills and dignity rattling at the bottom of a handbag. It is sex, fevered goosebumps and kisses to the skin like magic. It is warm summers with friends, sunshine on bare legs and 90s dance music ricocheting through the air. It is fucking knackered. Continue reading...

Lindsay de Feliz was found dead near her home two years ago; her husband and three other men deny murderThe family of a British author who was found dead close to her home in the Dominican Republic are hoping that a long-awaited trial will finally bring them answers.The body of Lindsay de Feliz, 64, was found in a shallow grave in the north-west of the country more than two years ago. Continue reading...

New advice issued in partnership with Natural Resources Wales designed to help people enjoy countrysideAsk trespassers if they are lost, install gates rather than stiles and only shoot dogs as a last resort.These are some of the guidelines issued to farmers and land managers by the government conservation agency Natural England, in partnership with Natural Resources Wales. The advice is designed to help people enjoy the countryside and covers protecting livestock and keeping rights of way usable. Continue reading...

King Umberto II descendants take legal action over treasure kept in Bank of Italy deposit box for 76 yearsThe descendants of Italy’s last king are suing the Italian state in their fight to reclaim the crown jewels, which for almost 76 years have been stashed in a treasure chest in a safety deposit box at the Bank of Italy amid a long-running mystery over their ownership.The legal action comes after the offspring of King Umberto II failed to reach an agreement with the bank to return the jewels, which comprise more than 6,000 diamonds and 2,000 pearls mounted on brooches, necklaces and tiaras worn by various princesses and queens during the monarchy’s 85-year existence. Continue reading...

Initial investigation is said to have found NSO Group’s Pegasus tool was used against three of 26 alleged targetsAn initial investigation into allegations that Israeli police targeted citizens with spyware has confirmed that the application was indeed used against three people, according to claims by a local news station.The Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 said a police investigation ordered by Israel’s public security minister, Omer Barlev, had concluded that of 26 individuals named in recent reports as having been targeted using NSO Group’s Pegasus software, three named individuals were targeted, with the police successfully hacking only one of the phones. Continue reading...

Formerly an anti-war poet, Maung Saungkha has endured a harsh training regime to prepare for armed struggle against Myanmar’s military junta

With an all-star cast led by Deepika Padukone, Gehraiyaan aims to bring a fresh realism to its love story. She and director Shakun Batra assess the risks they’re taking“I think it’s pretty fresh for an Indian audience,” says Deepika Padukone of her new movie, Gehraiyaan (“Depths”). “The way this story has been told, and the way in which it explores infidelity is certainly very new.” Gehraiyaan’s promotional material isn’t hiding anything, with clips showing Padukone’s character Alisha losing herself in clinches with her illicit lover Zain (Siddhant Chaturvedi), her cousin’s fiance. If that wasn’t messy enough, Alisha also has a perfectly nice boyfriend of six years, Karan (Dhairya Karwa), who’s done nothing to deserve this betrayal.“She feels stuck,” is how Padukone explains her behaviour. A 30-year-old yoga teacher in Mumbai, Alisha seems like an otherwise likable and pleasant human being, and the film dwells closely on how conflicted she is. “She feels like she’s been with this one person for so many years. And now, you know, she is at a stage in her life where she feels stuck.” Continue reading...

Mayor of London ‘disgusted’ by recent scandals and suggests he is prepared to try to oust commissionerThe mayor of London has signalled he is prepared to try to oust the Metropolitan police commissioner in days or weeks over a series of scandals.Sadiq Khan said he was “disgusted and angry” by recent failings and that he thought Cressida Dick lacked a plan to boost confidence in the police force, which had been “knocked and shattered”. Continue reading...

Growing up in Afghanistan I was taught to hide my body. Now I see it as a symbol of rebellion against those who would try to control meAs a child, I never rode bicycles or played sports such as gymnastics and karate because it was “not good for girls”. I later understood it was to avoid the risk of breaking my hymen and “losing” my virginity, but I only understood the magnitude of this “loss” when my cousin and best friend got married. She had been abused by a mullah – a religious cleric – as a baby. Her mother was less worried about the trauma caused to her daughter by the abuse than she was about her daughter’s hymen having been broken as a result.These fears were not misplaced. When my cousin did not bleed on her wedding night, she was sent back to her mother’s home the next morning beaten black and blue. Nobody questioned or blamed the husband. Continue reading...

Appearance of traditional dress denounced as further attempt by China to appropriate Korean cultureChina and South Korea have become embroiled in a cultural appropriation row after a woman appeared at the opening ceremony of the Beijing winter Olympics wearing traditional Korean dress.The Chinese embassy in Seoul defended the decision to include a participant wearing hanbok, describing her as a representative of the country’s dozens of ethnic groups. Continue reading...

Thousands of people celebrated at the Amani festival for peace in Goma, an area hit by escalating violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The weekend of music and culture had been postponed due to Covid Continue reading...

The 2021 Australian of the Year says the intimidating behaviour felt familiar to her as a survivor of grooming and abuse

Two celebrity deaths this week prompt petition to the president calling for tougher punishments for those who post abuse onlineSouth Korea’s government is under mounting pressure to crack down on cyberbullying after the apparent suicides of an athlete and YouTube influencer who were relentlessly abused online.Kim In-hyeok, a professional volleyball player, was found dead at his home in Suwon, last week, a day before the death of Cho Jang-mi, a popular live streamer better known as BJ Jammi. Continue reading...

Shadow treasurer Daniel Mookhey says those responsible must lose their jobs after ‘the most severe lashing of any government I’ve ever read’

Five Pakistani soldiers killed as Taliban-led Afghanistan resists cooperation with IslamabadThe Pakistani-Afghan border, running along Britain’s colonial-era Durand Line, is a centre of the increasing tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban, with a rise in attacks since the group came to power in Kabul.Five Pakistani soldiers were killed on Sunday at a north-western border post in Khurram district by militants inside Afghanistan in an attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, Tehreek-e-Taliban-Pakistan (TTP). Continue reading...

L’Equipe reporter Marc Ventouillac, who spoke to Peng this week, says it is ‘impossible to say’ if the Chinese tennis star is safeOne of the journalists who conducted the first sit-down interview with Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai said that the carefully controlled conversation did not answer questions about whether she can speak her mind or move freely.A Chinese Olympic official was in the room and translated the conversation with Peng, who disappeared from public view for weeks last year after she made public allegations that a former top-ranked Communist party official pressured her into having sex. Continue reading...

Euthanasia was legalised in November, following years of campaigning by advocates and a referendumAt least 32 people have taken up New Zealand’s euthanasia services since the country legalised the practice three months ago, according to the Ministry of Health.The country’s End of Life Choice Act came into force in November, after years of activism by euthanasia campaigners and being ratified by referendum. Sixty-five per cent of voting-age New Zealanders voted in favour of legalising assisted dying, joining just a handful of countries that allow it.This story has been updated to reflect the most recent data from New Zealand’s Ministry of Health, as of 7 February. A previous version stated at least 28 people had taken advantage of the assisted dying laws – the lower number was due to a lag in ministry reporting. Continue reading...

Scandal erupted after logo selected in contest to mark entry into eurozone looked like a copy of British photographer’s workCroatia’s national bank announced a new tender for the country’s one-euro coin design after a plagiarism scandal led to the withdrawal of an earlier submission.Croatia is preparing to adopt the euro currency in 2023 and last week unveiled the winners of a contest whose designs were set to be struck into the Balkan country’s new coins. Continue reading...

Border checks said to have increased business costs and ‘suppressed’ trade, and the situation could worsenBrexit red tape has damaged Britain’s trade with the EU and the situation could worsen unless the government works with Brussels to reduce hold-ups at UK ports, parliament’s spending watchdog has said.Only hours after Jacob Rees-Mogg was appointed minister for Brexit opportunities, a report by the cross-party public accounts committee (PAC) said border checks in place since the beginning of the year had increased business costs and “suppressed” trade with the EU. Continue reading...

In the first Brits ceremony to do away with gendered categories, women or female-fronted acts won 10 out of 15 overall awardsAdele was the runaway winner at this year’s female-dominated Brit awards, taking home the prizes for artist of the year, album of the year for her fourth record, 30, and British song of the year for its lead single, Easy on Me. “I can’t believe that a piano ballad won against that many bangers,” she said when collecting the single award, her first prize of the night.It brings her Brit awards haul to 12, and reflects her predictable yet still staggering commercial successes in recent months. Her album 30 became the biggest-seller of 2021 after just six weeks on sale, and was heralded with reviving the CD as well as causing backlogs in vinyl production plants. Continue reading...

Raquel Rosario Sánchez launches civil action claiming University of Bristol failed to stop ‘bullying’A PhD student has expressed her sadness in court over what she claims was “intimidation” from transgender rights activists at her university.Raquel Rosario Sánchez has launched civil action claiming the University of Bristol failed to protect her from harassment and bullying over her involvement with the campaign group Woman’s Place UK. Continue reading...

William Coleshill, head of conspiracy theory group Resistance GB, at fracas as experts warn of rise of extremismA former Conservative councillor who was thrown out of the party and now heads an anti-vax group peddling a range of conspiracy theories was among a mob that harangued Keir Starmer before the Labour leader was whisked away by police.As experts warned of a dangerous risk of extremism from a radicalised hard core as the pandemic wanes, the incident has focused attention on the rise of a plethora of protest groups. Continue reading...

Speaker and senior cabinet minister urge PM draw line under matter after protesters shout abuse at Keir StarmerBoris Johnson is under growing pressure to apologise for remarks falsely linking Keir Starmer to the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile after a senior cabinet minister and the Commons Speaker urged him to draw a line under the matter.No 10 made clear the prime minister would not apologise for the remarks, which provoked renewed anger when protesters shouted abuse at the Labour leader on Monday. Surrounded near parliament, Starmer was branded a “paedophile protector” and one demonstrator carried a noose. He and his Labour colleague David Lammy were bundled into a police car. Continue reading...

Drugmaker makes $37bn in vaccine sales and predicts bumper year ahead from Covid jabs and pill

Like Nomadland, Jane Campion’s western speaks to the American heartland, while Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast is suffering from awards season backlashWith an almighty clang, Jane Campion has hit that tipping point at which the awards-season groupthink clusters around one particular movie. Her western psychodrama The Power of the Dog leads the tally list with a whopping 12 nominations. It is about a toxically dysfunctional confrontation between a rancher played by Benedict Cumberbatch in 1920s Montana and his sister-in-law, played by Kirsten Dunst, brother played by Jesse Plemons and his brother’s sensitive stepson played by Kodi Smit-McPhee.Clearly, the Academy has responded to the classic quality of The Power of the Dog: the way it speaks to US culture and history and positions itself unambiguously in the heartland, but a heartland coloured and contorted by anger and sadness, rather like Chloé Zhao’s much-garlanded Nomadland did last year. It’s a movie that reminded me more than a little of the work of George Stevens, though with a 21st-century twist. It is interesting that the director comes from outside the US, and so does its leading man: those tokens of Americanness are being imagined and fabricated by outsiders. Continue reading...

Report was to examine needs of care and support workforce for aged, disability, veteran and mental health care

As One Ocean event in Brest aims to deliver action in areas from pollution to overfishing, activists warn against ‘bluewashing’Up to 40 world leaders are due to make “ambitious and concrete commitments” towards combating illegal fishing, decarbonising shipping and reducing plastic pollution at what is billed as the first high-level summit dedicated to the ocean.One Ocean summit, which opens on Wednesday in the French port of Brest, aims to mobilise “unprecedented international political engagement” for a wide range of pressing maritime issues, said its chief organiser, Olivier Poivre d’Arvor. Continue reading...

Popularity of Bing Dwen Dwen leads to long queues outside shops, as lunar new year factory closures exacerbate problem

Gregory Au fails in bid to impose ‘extraordinary’ restrictions on neighbours’ use of easement providing only access to ‘completely landlocked’ propertyA dispute between neighbours involving the use of leaf blowers, 17 CCTV cameras and an easement quickly grew “out of all proportion” and has ended up in a New South Wales court.“For most people, to live in a well-appointed home on a large block amid the semi-tropical vegetation of the Central Coast hinterland would be a formula for a tranquil and idyllic lifestyle,” NSW supreme court justice Francois Kunc said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Ingrida Šimonytė says threats from Moscow and Beijing mean west cannot be mired by self-doubt and divisionThe security landscape of the Baltic states and eastern Europe may be changed permanently if Russian troops amassed on the Ukraine border start to integrate with Belarusian troops, Lithuania’s prime minister has said.“This is a 1938 moment for our generation,” Ingrida Šimonytė said in an interview. “Neutrality helps the oppressor and never the victim.” Continue reading...

Ali Issa Ahmad given leave to pursue legal action against Maj Gen Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi of UAEA British football fan who claims he was tortured and falsely imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates in 2019 while on holiday there to watch Asian Cup matches is suing the new head of Interpol.Ali Issa Ahmad was granted permission by the high court in London for legal action against Maj Gen Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi,, who has been accused of complicity in torture and was appointed as head of Interpol last November. Continue reading...

Scott Morrison corrals Coalition party room to support amendments that only partially protect gay students but Bridget Archer remains opposed; Labor moves to suspend standing orders to debate aged care crisis during question time; apology for staff and politicians who have experienced sexual harassment, assault and bullying at Parliament House; nation records at least 55 Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s news

Created by two friends in 2018, the female collective ImillaSkate wear the traditional Bolivia polleras dress associated with the indigenous women of the highland regions as a symbol of resistanceThe Bolivian “polleras”, bulky skirts commonly associated with the indigenous women from the highlands, were for decades a symbol of uniqueness but also an object of discrimination. Now, a new generation of women skateboarders in Cochabamba, the country’s third largest city, wear them as a piece of resistance. The voluminous attire has its origins in the Spanish conquest, in the 16th century. It was imposed on the native population, but through the subsequent centuries the garment became part of the local identity.Since it symbolises authenticity and stigmatisation, dusting off the polleras that once belonged to aunts and grandmothers seemed the obvious choice for Dani Santiváñez, 26, a young Bolivian skater who wanted to reclaim her roots. In 2018, she and two friends formed the female collective ImillaSkate “as a cry for inclusion”. Imilla means “young girl”’ in Aymara and Quechua, the two most widely spoken languages in Bolivia, a country where more than half of the population has indigenous roots. Continue reading...

Eight loyalist attacks in the 1990s were investigated, including the murders at Sean Graham bookmakersEvidence of “collusive behaviour” between police and loyalist paramilitary groups related to murders during the Troubles have been uncovered by a watchdog investigation.Marie Anderson, the police ombudsman for Northern Ireland, said she was “deeply concerned” by the “significant failures” she had uncovered in her investigation into murders and attempted murders carried out by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in south Belfast in the 1990s.Intelligence and surveillance failings, which led to loyalist paramilitaries obtaining military grade weaponry in a 1987 arms importation.A failure to warn two men of threats to their lives.A failure to retain records and the deliberate destruction of files relating to the attack at Sean Graham bookmakers.The failure to maintain records about the deactivation of weapons, “indicating a desire to avoid accountability for these sensitive and contentious activities”.The failure of police to exploit all evidential opportunities.Failures by special branch to disseminate intelligence to murder investigation teams.An absence of control and oversight in the recruitment and management of informants.Unjustifiable and continued use by special branch of informants involved in serious criminality, including murder and “turning a blind eye” to such activities. Continue reading...

Most families want masks in schools – so why did Virginia’s new governor make them optional?Emily Paterson was finally feeling able to relax. Her two sons were now fully vaccinated, and with mask policies in place at their school in northern Virginia she felt safe sending them every day, even as the Omicron variant surged.Then Virginia’s new governor, Glenn Youngkin, took office on 15 January of this year – and, with his second executive action, he made masks in schools optional. Continue reading...

9 February 1952: The new Queen’s accession declaration is made, two days after the death of her father, King George VIQueen Elizabeth II made her accession declaration to the privy council at St James’s Palace yesterday morning. She said:“Your Royal Highnesses, my lords, ladies, and gentlemen: By the sudden death of my dear father I am called to assume the duties and responsibility of sovereignty. At this time of deep sorrow it is a profound consolation to me to be assured of the sympathy which you and all my peoples feel towards me, to my mother and my sister, and to the other members of my family. My father was our revered and beloved head, as he was of the wider family of his subjects: the grief which his loss brings is shared among us all. My heart is too full for me to say more to you to-day than that I shall always work, as my father did throughout his reign, to uphold constitutional government and to advance the happiness and prosperity of my peoples, spread as they are all the world over. I know that in my resolve to follow his shining example of service and devotion I shall be inspired by the loyalty and affection of those whose Queen I have been called to be, and by the counsel of their elected Parliaments. I pray that God will help me to discharge worthily this heavy task that has been laid upon me so early in my life.” Continue reading...

Discovery of containers allegedly used by drug gang should serve as a reminder to casual users, says prosecutorThe discovery of a soundproofed torture chamber believed to have been used by a narcotics gang should remind recreational cocaine users of the consequences of their habits, a Dutch public prosecutor has said.Koos Plooij told a court in Amsterdam that the violence of the drug trade was a “repulsive, but apparently unavoidable” result of the widespread use of illegal drugs in the Netherlands and its neighbouring countries. Continue reading...

Emmanuel Macron says he does not ‘believe in spontaneous miracles’ as he arrives for talks with Vladimir Putin

Protesters occupying Canada’s capital city say they will not leave until all vaccine requirements and mandates have been abolishedFor more than a week, the centre of Canada’s capital city has been paralysed by protestors who have blockaded the downtown area with trucks and cars. City police have described the protest as a “siege” and on Sunday the mayor of Ottawa declared a state of emergency. Continue reading...

For those looking for inflight fun, without having to squash into a tiny toilet, a new Las Vegas venture has the answer. But will the idea take off?Name: The mile-high club.Appearance: Sexy, up in the air. Continue reading...

Facebook data shows Nationals MP spent thousands calling for an end to vaccine discrimination and ‘medical apartheid’

One of India’s most famous playback singers hailed as ‘the nightingale of Bollywood’ who had a four-octave vocal rangeLata Mangeshkar, “the nightingale of Bollywood”, who has died aged 92 after contracting Covid-19, was a much-loved Indian national and international figure, whose songs provided the backdrop to the lives of millions for seven decades.Music sung by her was heard constantly across India, in shops, restaurants, taxis or on the radio, and she became known as “Didi”, or sister, because so many people identified with her often emotional songs. And yet she was best known as a playback singer, a vocalist who does not appear onscreen but provides the soundtrack for films in which actors lip sync to her singing. Continue reading...