Defying all odds, Portugal's centre-left Socialists have won an outright parliamentary majority in the country’s snap general election. The result has secured a strong new mandate for the prime minister, António Costa, a champion of balanced public accounts. The result, boosted by a higher than expected turnout despite the coronavirus pandemic, comes as a surprise after the Socialists had lost most of their advantage in recent opinion polls, and means Portugal will have a stable government to oversee the application of EU pandemic recovery funds
Seller whose passports have been used by those who illegally crossed Syrian border says: ‘it is not my job to see who is bad’A booming online industry specialising in fake passports with official visas and travel stamps is offering people with links to Islamic State the opportunity to leave Syria and travel onwards to the UK, EU, Canada and the US, a Guardian investigation has found.One such network, run by an Uzbek with extremist links living in Turkey, is now selling high-quality fake passports for up to $15,000 (£11,132) purporting to be from various countries. In at least 10 cases the Guardian is aware of, people who illegally crossed the Syrian border into Turkey have used his products to depart through Istanbul airport. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#5VKMX)
Making more sustainable choices easier could be a more acceptable approach than meat taxes, say researchersTilting menus towards plant-based meals significantly cuts the amount of meat eaten, according to new research.The experiments in work and university cafeterias showed making it easier to choose meat-free food can be effective and could be a more acceptable approach than other proposals, such as taxing meat or banning it on certain days. Continue reading...
Monday: Rafael Nadal defeats Daniil Medvedev in five-hour epic to win Australian Open. Plus: how can the school system offer world-class education for all?Good morning. For many families and teachers in New South Wales and Victoria, this week is off to an anxious start as children return to school amid the ongoing Omicron outbreak, which over the weekend saw NSW recorded its deadliest day, with 52 deaths, and four confirmed cases of the Omicron subvariant “son of Omicron”. There were also plenty of celebrations over the weekend ahead of the luna new year.Rafael Nadal has made history and claimed his record-breaking 21st-grand-slam titles at the Australia Open after an epic five-and-a-half-hour battle against Daniil Medvedev. From two sets down, Nadal somehow recovered to defeat Medvedev 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. Nadal now takes sole ownership of the all-time record, breaking his tie of 20 with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. “Without a doubt it’s been one of the most emotional moments in my tennis career … One month and a half ago I said maybe there was a chance that’s going to be my last Australian Open ... but now that’s plenty of energy to keep going,” Nadal said post-match. Nadal’s win follows Australian Ash Barty’s historic defeat of Danielle Collins 6-3 7-6 (2) – the first Australian to win an Australian Open singles title since Chris O’Neil in 1978, and her third grand-slam win. Continue reading...
Kyriakos Mitsotakis stays in post despite public outrage after thousands became stranded on motorwayThe Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has won a confidence vote called by the main opposition over his government’s handling of a snowstorm last week that stranded thousands of people on a motorway and drew public outrage.The conservative government, which has a comfortable majority in the 300-seat parliament, won with 156 votes, meeting the 151-vote threshold required. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh and Luke Harding in Kyiv on (#5VK91)
Analysis: Kyiv’s interpretation of Russian buildup diverges from UK and US leaders, who in recent days have ratcheted up invasion warningsBritain’s politicians and intelligence chiefs have stepped up warnings about the likelihood of a Russian invasion of Ukraine over the past week, yet it is not clear, despite a drumbeat of activity, that a military attack is any more certain.That drumbeat has been matched in Washington, but, significantly, the concern is not shared in Kyiv. As Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Friday, high tensions with Russia are not new “We have been in the situation for eight years,” he said. Continue reading...
by Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent on (#5VK4M)
Pianist who has played for five US presidents says great composer taught her to incorporate colour in musicThe greatest lesson Ruth Slenczynska learned from the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov was that sounds have colour.Nearly 90 years ago, the nine year-old Slenczynska was practising one of Rachmaninov’s preludes when he asked her to join him at the window. It was springtime in Paris, and the avenues were lined with mimosa trees laden with fluffy, golden blossoms. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#5VK39)
Plans for community to care for ‘clootie’ well after offerings cleared away by well-meaning strangerAt the end of a steep woodland trail, surrounded by sturdy beech and ash trees, a freshwater spring bubbles into a basic stone well, rippling in the low winter sunlight.On nearby branches and around the mouth of the well colourful cloth rags – or cloots – have been hung by visitors, as an offering to a water spirit or local saint and an entreaty to be healed. Continue reading...
Irish taoiseach Micheál Martin lays wreath at Bloody Sunday memorial as part of series of commemorative eventsHundreds of people have attended a commemoration event to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.Thirteen civil rights protesters were shot dead by British soldiers on 30 January 1972 in Derry. Another man shot by paratroopers on the day died four months later. While many consider him the 14th victim of Bloody Sunday, his death was formally attributed to an inoperable brain tumour. Continue reading...
Dancer Pilar Gil on where to eat, dance and take a sunset stroll in one of Europe’s oldest citiesThe Mercado Central de Abastos is the heart of Cádiz and where we locals go to buy our fresh fish, seafood, fruit and vegetables. It also has a lot of cafes where you can order anything from fried fish to an empanada. My favourites are Lady Papa’s, which serves traditional tapas dishes, and a vegan stall called Las Niñas Veganas – it’s not easy to find vegan or gluten-free food in Cádiz, so this is special. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#5VK01)
Foreign secretary announces legislation in bid to dissuade Putin from launching Ukraine invasionLegislation to allow Britain to hit banks, energy companies and “oligarchs close to the Kremlin” with economic sanctions will be introduced by the government this week, the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said.The scheme is the latest attempt by the UK to dissuade the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, from launching an invasion of Ukraine, and was announced hours after Britain said it was willing to deploy more forces to Estonia and other Nato allies in eastern Europe. Continue reading...
Sales of the drink soar as distillers target a whole new marketThe setting is unmistakably Japanese: a mountainous backdrop and, out of view but menacingly close, an active volcano. And nestling amid barren rice paddies seeing out the winter, a distillery producing a spirit whose roots lie far from rural Kagoshima.The administrative district on Japan’s southernmost main island of Kyushu is famed for shochu, a spirit, often made with sweet potatoes or barley, that has sustained family-run businesses here for centuries. Continue reading...
by Emma Graham-Harrison and Vincent Ni on (#5VJYR)
The Games will open on Friday in a country that hopes sport will be the talking point. But political twists or a resurgent virus could leave the event skating on thin iceHosting the Winter Olympics during a pandemic was always going to test the Chinese government, by putting its ever-growing ability to exercise political control and virus containment on a collision course with its enthusiasm for international prestige and status.The 2022 Winter Games, which open on Friday, are being held at a time of particularly intense western criticism of China over human rights abuses, from the mass persecution of Uyghurs in far western Xinjiang – labelled a genocide by the United States – and other groups including Tibetans, to the crushing of Hong Kong’s freedoms. Continue reading...
The director’s first cousin Martin Hamilton tells of family and the Troubles that went on to inspire an acclaimed memoirThere is one man with very personal reasons for finding the scenes of sectarian intimidation in Sir Kenneth Branagh’s film homage to his home city particularly haunting – his first cousin, Martin Hamilton.Hamilton, who grew up with Branagh and his family in inner-city north Belfast, says the images of Catholic families being forced out of the mainly Protestant district brought back painful memories of his own fractured friendships that were lost in the Troubles. Continue reading...
What to follow in Beijing, when – and why snowboard cross might be your new favourite sportHave the Winter Olympics caught you cold? Just like the Jamaican bobsleigh team (their first appearance since 1998) the Games are back as the biggest global stars on snow and ice descend on Beijing in pursuit of all things gold, silver and bronze. The timings are not the most sociable for viewers in the UK – with most days’ events starting about midnight and finishing about 3pm – but there is a lot to get excited about. Here’s our armchair guide on what to follow, when and why snowboard cross might be your new favourite sport. Continue reading...
His upbeat songs have won him legions of fans, but beneath his sunny lyrics George Ezra has a nihilistic streak that nearly ended his career. He talks about coping with OCD, walking the length of Britain – and his hopes of one day being a dadGeorge Ezra walks into the Old Barge, the Hertford pub that’s been his lifelong local, and within three minutes his song, Budapest is on the stereo. “They’re so supportive here,” he says, with shy gratitude, as he stoops under a curtain into a back room. Ezra first came here after school, searching for a loo. At 16, he started working behind the bar. When friends come home for Christmas, this is where they meet, “and where we would have always met”. It still smells the same. (Currently: of yesterday’s log fire, a comforting contrast to the January damp.) Over the next few hours, locals stick their heads in to wave hello to their friendly neighbourhood pop star, drinking lime cordial and soda in crisp double denim, and he greets them all back by name.This is the approachable figure Ezra, who is 28, cuts in most settings, whether playing a radiant set at Glastonbury or warmly chatting about mental health on his podcast. A music college dropout born George Ezra Barnett, he emerged in 2014 as part of a cohort of middle-class British boys with acoustic guitars. Unlike most of them, he wasn’t lachrymose or ambition-crazed. Instead he had a good-weird sense of humour and a big voice, cultivated after this ardent blues fan became obsessed with the US blues singer Lead Belly. Continue reading...
After a raft of prenatal check-ups were cancelled because of Covid staff shortages, one mother asked how other mums fared. The replies shocked herAlison, 38, gave birth to her son in June 2021 at a busy London hospital.“We had exemplary care during delivery, and the midwives looking after me during my antenatal care were likewise fantastic,” she recalls. Continue reading...
Is the man in the Kremlin’s pressure on Ukraine a masterstroke, or has it served only to rally the fractious west against him?Waiting for Russia to invade Ukraine feels a bit like Waiting for Godot. In this edgy reworking of Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece, Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, is cast, appropriately, as the restless Vladimir while the US president, Joe Biden, is the bowler-hatted Estragon, frequently dozing off.The play’s central conceit is that the mysterious Godot, expected at any moment, never actually arrives. After Russia agreed last week to keep talking, Ukraine’s citizens have reason to hope the crisis will turn out to be a comparably vacuous non-event – a peculiarly Putin-esque contribution to the theatre of the absurd. Continue reading...
Michael Gunner says lockdowns and lockouts no longer effective; At least 88 Covid deaths recorded around the country as Kerry Chant says Omicron sub-variant is circulating in NSW; Queensland reveals back-to-school plan. This blog is now closed
Michael Todd’s viral moment highlights pastors’ push to connect with an audience beyond the walls of the churchIt was meant to be a sermon on the importance of having faith in God’s vision, even when that task seems difficult. An object lesson from the book of Mark, in which Jesus heals a blind man by spitting on his eyes. But it’s how Pastor Michael Todd brought this message home that made the sermon unforgettable.Addressing congregants and a live-streaming audience, Todd placed one hand on the shoulder of a closed-eyed worshipper on stage before letting out a deep snort and twice hacking phlegm into his other hand. The audible gasps inside the Transformation Church, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based mega ministry rooted firmly in Black Baptist tradition, turned to full on outcry when Todd smeared said loogie on the worshipper’s face. Continue reading...
Test marks Pyongyang’s seventh weapons launch this month, highlighting expanding arsenal amid stalled denuclearisation talksNorth Korea fired what appeared to be the most powerful missile it has tested since the US president, Joe Biden, took office, possibly breaching a self-imposed suspension on the testing of longer-range weapons and sparking condemnation from the United States and its allies.The Japanese and South Korean militaries said the missile launched on Sunday travelled on a lofted trajectory, apparently to avoid the territorial spaces of neighbours, and reached a maximum altitude of 2,000km (1,242 miles) and traveled 800km (497 miles) before landing in the sea. Continue reading...
Dan Rosenfield watched England v India at Lord’s three days before Taliban forces entered capital, according to reportsBoris Johnson’s chief of staff spent the day watching cricket just days before Kabul fell to the Taliban last year, according to reports.Dan Rosenfield was at the first day of the England v India Test at Lord’s on 12 August, three days before Taliban forces entered the Afghan capital, the Sunday Telegraph has claimed. Continue reading...
Boris Johnson said the UK would send extra land, air and sea forces to support the defence of alliance nationsThe UK has offered to deploy land, air and sea forces to bolster the defence of Nato countries on their northern and eastern borders as tensions over Russia’s military ambitions in Ukraine deepen.Boris Johnson is expected to speak to the Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week, and travel to the region, despite intense domestic pressure over a possible leadership challenge in the wake of the “partygate” scandal. Continue reading...
Lisa Nandy slams claim of boost for 20 towns, saying ‘new’ fund for poorer areas is recycled pledgeThe government has been accused of trying to manipulate announcements on extra funding for poorer parts of the UK in a desperate attempt to save Boris Johnson’s premiership.An extraordinary row blew up after Michael Gove’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities released a press statement – before publication of a levelling up white paper this week – saying 20 towns and cities would benefit from a “new £1.5bn brownfield fund”. The release, which named only Sheffield and Wolverhampton as recipients, said the 20 areas “will benefit from developments combining housing, leisure and business in sustainable, walkable beautiful new neighbourhoods”. Continue reading...
Dozens of people have been on trial for more than four years over the killing of Michael Sharp and Zaida CatalánA military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has sentenced 51 people to death, several in absentia, in a mass trial over the 2017 murder of two UN experts in a troubled central region.Capital punishment is frequently pronounced in murder cases in the DRC but is routinely commuted to life imprisonment since the country declared a moratorium on executions in 2003. Continue reading...
80-year-old did not want a new term but was persuaded to stay on after failure to find successorSergio Mattarella has been reelected as Italy’s president, ending days of a farcical parliamentary voting process that has exposed deep divisions within the country’s governing coalition.Mattarella won a second seven-year mandate with 759 votes, far exceeding the threshold of 505, after being persuaded to stay on in the role after ruling party leaders failed to reach an agreement on a candidate who could secure broad support from the 1,009 parliamentarians and regional representatives electing the president. Continue reading...
UK regulators say the latest surge in interest-free credit does not offer enough protection for those who are slipping into debitFamilies hit by the cost-of-living crisis are being targeted by credit firms offering “buy now, pay later” deals on weekly groceries, pet food and hot drinks.Shoppers are urged to spread their payments for staple foods and treats to help cope with “these difficult times”. One promotion states: “Regardless of your credit rating, we will offer you a tonne of credit to do your shopping with.” Continue reading...
by Luke Henriques-Gomes Social affairs and inequality on (#5VJGM)
Amid staff shortages and rapid test requirements services say they feel frustrated by lack of government supportStephanie Oatley recalls a day in late December when she needed to get a whole unit of young people experiencing homelessness tested for Covid. “We had a young person who started showing symptoms, and a second young person got an itchy throat,” says Oatley.“In the van they hopped. There was only one place open … They got there at 9am, and waited for nine hours.” Continue reading...
Chau Van Kham’s family urges Australian government to intervene as 72-year-old remains in prison for his pro-democracy workThe Vietnamese New Year, Tet Nguyen Dan, is a time of family reunion and feasting, of wishes of good fortune and health.For three years now, Quynh Trang Truong has spent the Tet festival without her husband, Chau Van Kham, who languishes in a Vietnamese prison on terrorism charges, described by human rights groups as a “travesty of justice”. Continue reading...
Winds of more than 100mph reported in parts of Scotland, with widespread disruption to travel and power suppliesTwo people have been killed by falling trees as Storm Malik battered northern parts of the UK on Saturday, cutting off power from thousands and causing widespread disruption.A nine-year-old boy died in hospital after a tree fell on him and a man in Winnothdale, near Stoke. Emergency services were called at 1pm on Saturday, and they were taken to the Royal Stoke university hospital. The man is still receiving treatment. Continue reading...
Norfolk police detain man in his 40s and woman in her 30s after incident in Vale Green area of cityTwo people have been arrested after a fatal stabbing in Norwich.Officers from Norfolk constabulary were called to Vale Green shortly before 7pm on Friday after reports that a man in his late teens had been stabbed. Continue reading...
Star who racked up almost 50m sales dies of coronavirus complications at age of 70The Mexican-Argentinian singer-songwriter Diego Verdaguer, whose romantic hits such as Corazón de Papel, Yo te Amo and Volveré sold almost 50m copies, has died of complications from Covid-19, his family said. He was 70.Verdaguer died on Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles, his daughter Ana Victoria said in a statement released by Diam Music, his record company. Continue reading...
Changes include a new hierarchy of road users, and expectation that drivers give way to pedestrians at junctionsCyclists and pedestrians are better protected as of Saturday as a revamp of the Highway Code comes into force, despite concerns that millions of drivers are confused by or unaware of the changes.An AA survey of more than 13,700 drivers carried out this month indicated that 33% were unaware of the changes, including 4% who had “no intention” of looking at the details.Hierarchy of road users
by John Harris, Kelefa Sanneh, AS Hamrah, Hadley Free on (#5VJ1P)
Is it 1965, with Dylan, the Stones and James Brown? 1984, with Eddie Murphy and Madonna? Or 1999, with The Sopranos and Britney v Christina? Writers and critics stake their claim for the most important ever Continue reading...
The Pentagon has already placed 8,500 troops on stand-by in response to Russia’s build-up near Ukraine’s borderJoe Biden said on Friday that he will be moving US troops to eastern European and Nato countries “in the near term” as tensions rise over Russia’s military buildup on the borders of Ukraine.The Pentagon has already placed about 8,500 US troops on stand-by for possible deployment to Europe amid Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine’s border. Continue reading...
by Hosted by Jane Lee. Written by Tom Slater, Michael on (#5VHN1)
We take you to the beach and get among the sand and saltwater. Hear four very different stories about memorable moments at the beach. Together they celebrate and remember the feeling of elation – both big and smallYou can read the original articles here:A day at the beach: ‘As our list of secret sex locations grew, so did our ambition’ Continue reading...
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy complains war talk causing panic in financial centres and depleting gold reservesUkraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has talked down the threat of an imminent Russian invasion and said the UK and US were wrong to pull out non-essential diplomatic staff from Kyiv, adding: “We don’t have a Titanic here”.Zelenskiy said on Friday he was acutely aware of the dangers posed by the 100,000 Russian troops gathered on Ukraine’s border. But he appeared to disagree with the Biden administration’s bleak assessment that a Russian attack was “distinctly possible” next month. Continue reading...
Bruno Kahl believes decision ‘has not been made’, as Biden warns Ukraine Russia may invade in FebruaryRussia has not yet decided whether to attack Ukraine but is prepared to do so, the head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service has said, amid soaring tensions about the Kremlin-ordered military buildup.“I believe that the decision to attack has not yet been made,” Bruno Kahl told Reuters. Continue reading...
Loyal Tory apologists told us Boris Johnson was ‘ambushed with cake’ and hadn’t robbed a bankFans of FC Magdeburg clearly have a sense of humour. Back in 2012 when their team was lying bottom of the fourth tier of German football and had gone five successive games without scoring, supporters gathered behind the goal with a banner saying “Don’t worry, we’ll show you where the goal is” and hundreds of large luminous arrows all pointing to the back of the net. Continue reading...