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Arguments via videoconference come day after unsealing of 2009 Epstein settlement as judge promises ‘a decision pretty soon’Lawyers for Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre, who has long accused the royal of sexual abuse, faced off in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, in his attempt to dismiss her civil lawsuit.The arguments via videoconference came a day after the unsealing of a 2009 settlement between Giuffre and the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading...

Israeli officials attack actor’s message, and are accused of ‘cynical weaponisation’ of termEmma Watson has been accused of antisemitism by Israel’s former ambassador to the United Nations after she posted a message of support for the Palestinian cause.Watson, best known for playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, posted an image on Instagram showing a photograph of a pro-Palestinian protest with the banner “Solidarity is a Verb” written across it. It was accompanied with a quote about the meaning of solidarity from the intersectional feminist scholar Sara Ahmed. Continue reading...

Rise comes amid ongoing concern about intentions of Russia as supplies flow east for 15th day in rowEuropean gas prices have risen by more than 30% on Tuesday, adding to mounting concerns about the cost of heating a home, as supplies that usually come into Europe from Siberia continued to flow eastwards for the 15th day in a row.The Kremlin has repeatedly denied using Russia’s vast gas resources to turn the screw on Europe, after gas coming through the Yamal-Europe pipeline reversed direction three days before Christmas. Continue reading...

Closed circuit cameras captured the attack by the deer which was a donation to the presidential residenceA Paraguayan military officer has died after being attacked by a deer that ran an antler through his chest while he was serving in a security detail at the presidential residence in the capital, Asunción.Infantry assistant sergeant Víctor Isasi Flecha, 42, died on Monday night as a result of “piercing injuries” caused by the animal, said a statement from the military forces of the South American country. Continue reading...

Birgitte Bonnesen accused of fraud and market manipulation in relation to high-risk transactions in BalticsThe former chief executive of Swedbank has been charged with fraud, market manipulation and the unauthorised disclosure of inside information, following an investigation into a large-scale money laundering scandal in the Baltics.Birgitte Bonnesen, who was sacked as chief executive two years ago when the scandal came to light, “repeatedly spread misleading information” that the bank did not have any issues with its anti-money laundering (AML) processes in Estonia, according to Sweden’s Economic Crime Authority. Continue reading...

Twelve people died when the Lake Illawarra bulk carrier struck the bridge connecting Hobart across the Derwent River in 1975

Accused man, 49, pleads not guilty of causing blaze that burned down parts of the Cape Town complexA fire that devastated South Africa’s parliament has been contained after a two-day battle, firefighters said, as a man appeared in court to face charges of starting the blaze.Flames broke out in the Cape Town complex before dawn on Sunday, spreading to the National Assembly, the roof of which collapsed, threatening artworks and artefacts housed in an older section. Continue reading...

Teenager appears in court charged with murder of Zaian Aimable-Lina in Croydon last weekA scream was heard before the body of a teenage boy was found in a park in south London, a court has been told.Zaian Aimable-Lina, 15, was stabbed in Ashburton Park, Croydon, on Thursday 30 December. A 15-year-old boy has been charged with his murder and appeared at Bromley magistrates court on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Josep Borrell’s trip comes as west steps up diplomatic efforts in response to Russian troop buildup on borderThe European Union’s top diplomat is visiting the frontline of Ukraine’s war with Moscow-backed separatists, amid intensifying diplomatic activity in response to Russia’s buildup of troops on the country’s border.Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, began a two-day trip to Ukraine on Tuesday, before US-Russia talks in Geneva on 10 January and Nato-Russia talks on 12 January. Borrell is meeting Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, during a trip intended to show solidarity with Kyiv, which aspires to join Nato and the EU. Continue reading...

Morecambe Bay and Blackpool trusts join at least six others that have recently issued alerts

State-owned Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor steps in after row between Vilnius and BeijingTaiwan’s government is sharing cocktail recipes with the public after it reportedly bought 20,400 bottles of Lithuanian rum bound for China amid a row between Vilnius and Beijing.The state-owned Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor (TTL) said it made the purchase in December to support Lithuania after learning the shipment was going to be blocked by Chinese authorities. Continue reading...

Previously, we made the most of our time together, and both enjoyed having an open relationship – but now we have moved in together, I feel my partner is no longer physically attracted to me

Legal team will claim in critical New York hearing that case brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre is baselessA US judge is to hear arguments by the Duke of York’s legal representatives to have the sexual assault civil lawsuit brought against him dismissed without trial in a crucial New York hearing.Prince Andrew, 61, is being sued by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, 38, for alleged sexual assault that she claims took place when she was aged 17 and had been trafficked by the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading...

Man’s decision raises questions about treatment of defectors in South Korea with many said to face discriminationA North Korean defector who made a daring return to his home country at the weekend had reportedly struggled to build a new life in South Korea since his arrival just over a year ago.The man, who has not been named, crossed the heavily armed demilitarised zone [DMZ] that has divided North and South since the end of the 1950 to 1953 Korean war, on Saturday. Continue reading...

Two years on from the start of the pandemic, families across the world tell of their loss as they pay tribute

A key figure in South Australia’s response to Covid has tested positive to the virus this morning.Police commissioner Grant Stevens is the state’s emergency coordinator during the pandemic. After waking up yesterday with a sore throat he is now isolating at home. Continue reading...

June will see four-day celebrations but Prince Andrew’s court case is cloud on horizonAs the Queen, the longest-serving British monarch in history, attains 70 years on the throne, 2022 is expected to be a year of mixed blessings – with national celebrations as well as the possibility of yet more unwelcome headlines.The monarch joins an extremely exclusive club in February when she marks her platinum jubilee, also achieved by Louis XIV of France, Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein, and, most recently King Bhumibol of Thailand. Continue reading...

As I embark on a third year of general practice under Covid, I am more conscious than ever that recovery is different for every illness and every patient

The Blk Art Group – whose once-shunned work is now coveted by galleries – were radical young artists who tackled shootings, racism and uprisings in the 1980s. So where are they now?Shortly after Margaret Thatcher became prime minister in May 1979, Eddie Chambers made an artwork called Destruction of the National Front. Then a 19-year-old student in Wolverhampton, Chambers reconfigured the union jack as a swastika, before tearing it into fragments across four panels. The image stands as a defiant rebuke to a resurgent far right, evoking the anger many Black Britons felt at the time.The work was emblematic of the Blk Art Group, a radical association of young Black artists founded by Chambers in 1979. The group, stylised as Blk and pronounced “Black”, aimed to combat racism with work that focused on the experience of being Black in Thatchers’ Britain, while promoting a distinctly Black British political identity. Although short-lived – it only lasted for five years – the group casts a long shadow over British art, through its influence on subsequent generations of Black artists and its impact on contemporaries such as Lubaina Himid and Sonia Boyce. Continue reading...

US university puts Australianism in the linguistic naughty corner, but is it all a cultural misunderstanding?

Ontario closes down schools and shops to operate at 50% capacity; Scottish parliament to again be recalled as Covid hits record levels

Civil lawsuit was filed against Iran and other officials the family members believe were to blame for the incidentA court in Ontario, Canada, has awarded C$107m ($83.94m), plus interest, to the families of six people who died when the Iranian Revolutionary Guards downed a Ukraine International Airlines plane near Tehran two years ago.Iran shot down the airliner in January 2020. All 176 people on board were killed, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents. Continue reading...

Wildlife officials in Yellowstone national park captured the unusual sight of a cheeky grizzly bear tagging along with a pack of hunting wolves, then making off with their kill.The enthralling video, posted to the National Parks Service Facebook page, shows the October incident in which the wolves from the Junction Butte pack in northern Yellowstone were joined by a lumbering grizzly as they hunted a herd of elk

New year trading pushed Apple shares to a new high of $182.80 after tripling in value in under four yearsApple became the first US company to be valued at over $3tn on Monday as the tech company continued its phenomenal share price growth, tripling in value in under four years.A pandemic-era surge in tech stocks has driven the major US tech companies to new highs, pulling US stock markets with them. Apple became the world’s first trillion dollar company in August 2018, passed $2tn in 2020 and hit its new high as trading began after the holidays and its shares passed $182.80 a piece before dipping lower to end the day valued at over $2.9tn. Continue reading...

Tuesday: Asymptomatic nurses are being recalled to work in NSW. Plus: films about the end of the world are on the riseGood morning. Covid-positive nurses are being recalled to work in NSW hospitals. Scott Morrison is resisting calls to make rapid antigen tests free. And Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre’s legal deal with Jeffrey Epstein has been released.Covid-positive nurses are being ordered to work in breach of NSW health protocols as hospital managers resort to desperate measures to staff their facilities that are buckling under the Omicron outbreak. As 2,500 health workers are in isolation across the state, Guardian Australia has been contacted by multiple nurses working across several hospitals who are alarmed at finding themselves working alongside Covid-positive colleagues. All of the nurses say they had received unofficial, verbal advice from their hospitals that Covid-positive nurses could leave their mandated isolation to work, provided they were asymptomatic and wore personal protective equipment. Continue reading...

US, Russia, China, the UK and France who are permanent members of the UN security council agree ‘nuclear war cannot be won’Five of the world’s most powerful nations have agreed that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought” in a rare joint pledge to reduce the risk of such a conflict ever starting.The pledge was signed by the US, Russia, China, the UK and France, the five nuclear weapons states recognised by the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) who are also the five permanent members of the UN security council. They are known as the P5 or the N5. Continue reading...

South African firefighters are struggling to extinguish another fire at the complex housing the country’s parliament in Cape Town, a day after a blaze swept through the buildings. Police have charged a 49-year-old man with arson and other offences including theft. The speaker of the national assembly said arson, if confirmed, would represent an attack on South Africa’s democracy

Ariel Henry’s office says ‘bandits and terrorists’ made attempt on his life, prompting shootout in which one person diedHaiti has welcomed the new year with violence as Prime Minister Ariel Henry was forced to flee the northern city of Gonaïves after a shootout between his security forces and an armed group that had warned the leader not to set foot in the city.One person died and two were injured in the gunfire, which forced Henry and others to duck and seek shelter as they walked out of a cathedral Saturday after attending a mass to celebrate Haiti’s independence from France. Continue reading...

Statue of Elena Cornaro Piscopia could go up in square in Padua that contains 78 statues all dedicated to menA proposal to insert a statue of the first woman in the world to earn a PhD among the 78 dedicated to notable male figures on a prominent square in northern Italy has stirred controversy.Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia received her doctorate degree in philosophy from the University of Padua in 1678. But she was not included when Padua officials devised a project in the late 18th century to erect statues in Prato della Valle – the largest square in Italy – dedicated to illustrious historical figures who were either from the city or had links to it. Continue reading...

NGO report draws direct link between rise in fatalities and efforts to curb migration in MediterraneanAn estimated 12 people a day died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain in 2021, more than double the total for the previous year.The 4,404 refugees who perished included 205 children, according to Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders). In a report published on Monday, the NGO noted that the number of deaths was more than twice the 2,170 deaths and disappearances recorded in 2020. Continue reading...

Inspired by Kourtney Kardashian and Megan Fox, searches for ‘gothcore’ grow as people look to express darker emotionsIt’s been 20 years since pallid faces, dark eyes and black clothes haunted UK secondary schools and shopping centres. While some might argue that they never left, merely retreating into the shadows, the consensus for 2022 is that goth style is returning to mainstream culture with a vengeance.There are some differences this time. The modern goth is more likely to take inspiration from ultra-glam “hot goth girlfriends” such as Kourtney Kardashian and Megan Fox and the fashion world darlings Rick Owens and Yohji Yamamoto than the Marilyn Manson-loving self-proclaimed outsiders of the early 2000s. Continue reading...

Coalition says vessel was carrying medical supplies but Houthis claim they have seized ‘military cargo ship’Yemeni rebels have seized an Emirati-flagged vessel in the Red Sea, with the insurgents and the Saudi-led coalition giving contrasting explanations for the latest escalation in a seven-year war.The coalition, fighting in support of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said on Monday that the vessel was carrying medical supplies but the rebels said they had seized “a military cargo ship with military equipment”. Continue reading...

Parts of Britain could experience a temperature drop of 10C as Met Office issues yellow alert for parts of ScotlandThe unusually warm spell of weather, which included record temperatures over the new year, will come to an abrupt end overnight, plunging by up to 10C (a drop of 18F) across parts of the UK.The forecast follows the hottest new year’s weekend on record when 16.5C (61.7F) was reached at Bala, Gwynedd, on 31 December 2021 – a New Year’s Eve record for the UK and Wales, when it is usually about 7C. Continue reading...

Hilary McGrady did not report culture war intimidation to police as it ‘comes with the territory’The head of the National Trust has said she received anonymous death threats during a “culture war” row over the organisation’s perceived “wokeness”.Hilary McGrady, the NT’s director general, said she did not report the intimidation to the police as “it comes with the territory”. Continue reading...

Li Jingwei still recalled key features of his home village 30 years later and made successful appeal for helpThirty years ago, when Li Jingwei was four years old, a neighbour abducted him from his home village in China’s Yunnan province and sold him to a child trafficking ring.Now he has been reunited with his mother after drawing a map of his home village from his memories of three decades ago and sharing it on a popular video-sharing app in the hope that someone might be able to identify it. Continue reading...

Request for problem to be taken more seriously comes as data shows sixfold rise in visits to incel forumsThe man who gunned down seven people, killing five, in a rampage in Plymouth is being lionised by an online “incel” community, with some ironically venerating him as a “saint” and celebrating the attack as an aid to their recruitment drive.Jake Davison, 22, killed his mother, Maxine, 51, after a row before going on to fatally shoot four others and then himself in August last year. Before his death, he expressed misogynistic and homophobic tendencies, as well as angrily lamenting his failure to find a girlfriend. Continue reading...

‘Forest Whitaker macheted his thumb, Tom Berenger knifed his foot, Willem Dafoe got medivacked – and Oliver Stone jumped up and down with joy’Charlie Sheen, played Chris TaylorMy brother Emilio Estevez and I were huge fans of Scarface and Midnight Express, which were both written by Oliver Stone. Emilio kept talking to me about Oliver’s new Vietnam film, which he was auditioning for. He got the lead part, Chris Taylor, but then couldn’t do it because of scheduling conflicts. When I auditioned, Oliver said I was “too mannered” and needed to do more work. So I did The Boys Next Door and Lucas – and I got the part, but only if Willem Dafoe approved. I didn’t meet Willem until we got to the Philippines. He ran past me in our hotel and gave me a hug. Later, Oliver came up to me and said: “Willem digs ya.” Continue reading...

Learn how to make food with care and attention, says Tim Adams, and the daily ritual of family cooking becomes a rewarding and meditative experienceI used to fancy myself as a special occasion cook, marinating and reducing for occasional wows, but since lockdown I’ve mostly taken over – with as little control freakery as I can muster – doing my full share of proper family meals, well. Does that count as a hobby? Of course not. But when you are writing and reading and wandering and watching for a living, it can feel that all of life is a form of solitary indulgence, so the distractions I crave are generally communal, and simply hands on.That feeling has become more urgent in the last two years. Having worked from home for a couple of decades, I was used to mostly being alone with the contents of the fridge. Now, there were four of us in the house, Zooming and essay-writing and being lectured online and the days seemed to demand different kinds of punctuation marks. Continue reading...

Alliance Healthcare took delivery on 24 December and then closed for four days, amid nationwide shortage

Lea Ypi says vocal minority of Albanians have sent torrent of online insults criticising her bestseller, FreeA memoir about growing up before and after the fall of communism in Albania has won rave reviews in the west but has prompted “vicious” abuse from a vocal minority of Albanians, its author says.Free by Lea Ypi, a Marxist Albanian professor of political theory at the London School of Economics, might seem an unlikely bestseller. Continue reading...

Oleksandr Tkachenko has complained to Netflix about the insulting ‘caricature’ of the character Petra in the much-derided hit show’s second seriesUkraine’s culture minister Oleksandr Tkachenko has issued a complaint to Netflix over its offensive stereotypical image of a Ukrainian character in its show Emily in Paris.In a Telegram post, Tkachenko wrote: “We have a caricature image of a Ukrainian woman that is unacceptable. It is also insulting. Is that how Ukrainians are seen abroad?” Continue reading...

As an archaeologist, I am hoping my new project will connect the continent’s people to the hidden history of their land

Nadhim Zahawi says supply of lateral flow tests increased to 300m a month and English schools to receive stock

From Stuart Little and Pet Sematary to new movie The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, cats can be scene-stealers. But how do you get such fickle and independent creatures to behave on camera?Cats have been effortlessly stealing scenes from their human co-stars for decades. Who could forget Audrey Hepburn’s adorable marmalade tabby in Breakfast at Tiffany’s? Or Jinx, the toilet-flushing Himalayan in Meet the Parents? Behind every famous film cat, there is a dedicated trainer patiently teaching them to obey a command, making sure they’re happy on set, and grooming them fastidiously to maintain their fluffy good looks.The film-makers behind The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, a British period biopic about the Edwardian artist and illustrator who became famous for his surreal portraits of cats, were adamant they didn’t want to use CGI for the shoot, so animal trainer Charlotte Wilde was brought in with 40 feisty felines. “It was organised chaos,” she says. “They had their own green room and were treated like royalty.” Continue reading...

In one of the world’s most dangerous regions for environmental and human rights activists, La Siguata offers a safe space for women suffering trauma as a result of their workA milky-white and sky-blue stone hangs from a red string around Ethels Correa’s neck, and every so often she rubs it between her fingers.“When I feel anger, I grab this stone and I begin to relax, because they taught me how to breathe, to relax the body and to relax the mind,” she says. “I carry it with me all the time.” Continue reading...

Police say three-year-old’s wounds were ‘consistent with an animal attack’

Armageddon once delivered thrills and megabucks spectacle. Now it’s the unnerving backdrop for satires and family dramaWhich films kept you entertained over the holidays? Was it Silent Night, the sweary festive Britcom starring Keira Knightley? The courtroom drama Naked Singularity, with John Boyega as a crusading lawyer? Or did you watch Leonardo DiCaprio as a dorky astronomer in Don’t Look Up, a slapstick political satire? Whichever it was, I hope you poured yourself a large one, because none of those films are quite as light as they seem. All take place in the shadow of imminent Armageddon.That’s right: the end of the world is nigh, and it’s no longer the preserve of megabudget disaster movies or bleak survivalist thrillers. These days the looming obliteration of our species can just as readily form the backdrop to some governmental mockery or a boozy country-house drama. Continue reading...

New book claims intercepted cables sent in second world war by Allen Dulles, later head of CIA, enabled disinformation campaignA US spymaster inadvertently helped the Nazis develop one of the most effective disinformation campaigns of the second world war by spreading rumours about Hitler’s plans for a Where Eagles Dare-style Alpine redoubt, a historian with access to classified US military records has found.The myth that the Nazis were amassing weapons and crack units of 100,000 fanatical soldiers in the spring of 1945 for a last stand in the Austro-Bavarian Alps was without any basis in fact but had a powerful hold on the imagination of American and British military leaders, who feared it could prolong the war for years. Continue reading...

Kerry Chant says NSW ‘well placed’ as Covid hospitalisations rise to 1,204; NSW records 20,794 new cases and Victoria 8,577, with seven deaths across both states; Queensland reports 4,249 cases, South Australia 2,552, ACT 514 and Tasmania 466; Martin Foley says states support free RATs. Follow all the day’s news

Liquor destroyed after barrels seized and three arrested in capital as Taliban government increases raids over alcohol and drugsA team of Afghan intelligence agents poured about 3,000 litres of liquor into a canal in Kabul, the country’s spy agency has said, as the new Taliban authorities crack down on the sale of alcohol.Video footage released by the General Directorate of Intelligence showed its agents pouring alcohol stored in barrels into the canal after seizing it during a raid in the capital. Continue reading...