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...
by Harriet Sherwood Arts and culture correspondent on (#5TKMP)
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...
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...
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...
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...
by Michael McGowan (now) and Cait Kelly and Tory Shep on (#5TK1K)
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...
UKMTO advises mariners to exercise extreme caution in the area following the incident in the Red SeaThe Royal Navy’s maritime information service has received reports of an attack on a vessel near Yemen’s port of Ras Isa and an investigation was being conducted.In an advisory issued at 2150 GMT on Sunday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) – part of Britain’s Royal Navy – advised mariners to exercise extreme caution in the area. Continue reading...
Until 1984, the prison on the island of Gorgona off Colombia’s Pacific coast was a place where political prisoners and dangerous criminals served their sentences. Now it is a national natural park of coral reefs, dense jungle and exuberant fauna Continue reading...
After two disastrous winter seasons for the £30m Scottish ski industry, the country’s five resorts are opening up again. We take to the powder at GlensheeArriving alone in early-morning darkness at Glenshee ski centre in Ballater, Aberdeenshire, I am greeted by friendly voices in the tiny ticket queue and eagerly join the small posse. The forecast is good and the centre has brought forward limited opening of the facility in response to a fresh dream topping of snow suddenly coating the glen down as far as the car park. We plan to make the most of it.But today’s enthusiasm has to be set against harder realities. The pandemic has significantly restricted the past two winter seasons. The coming months are pivotal to the recovery and future of the industry after its long forced hibernation.The ghost resort of Glenshee, locked down and half-buried in snow in February 2021. Continue reading...
From building up a nest egg by earning interest on small change, to using an app for budgetingThere is no point trying to save if you are burdened by costly debts. Continue reading...
The singer loves a bit of disco on the dancefloor and Prince in the bedroom, but when it comes to karaoke, she keeps faith with George MichaelThe first single that I ever bought
Attacks such as the one in which two Save the Children staff died are a harsh fact of life under the junta, say humanitarian workers“The events of last week are just par for the army’s inhumanity and immorality.”So says Michael Isherwood, chair of the Burma Humanitarian Mission and program director of Backpack Medics, after Myanmar’s junta massacred more than 35 people, including two Save the Children workers, on Christmas Eve. At the time, the attack garnered international headlines, with the children’s charity calling it “absolutely horrifying”, and the UN urging an investigation. Continue reading...
Officials plan workshop to persuade more women to stand – but some say ‘it doesn’t look like a safe space’An appeal has been issued for women to stand as councillors in the Western Isles in 2022 in an effort to end the Hebridean islands’ unwelcome status as the only Scottish authority with an all-male council.Islanders and equality campaigners were stunned in 2017 when none of the seven women who stood were elected for the Western Isles. Only one, an incumbent, came close to winning a seat in the 31-member authority. Continue reading...
Kane Tanaka has set her sights on becoming 120 next year, as figures show the number of young adults in Japan in steep declineThe world’s oldest person has celebrated her 119th birthday in Japan, saying she is determined to extend the record by another year.Kane Tanaka, who has a weakness for fizzy drinks and chocolate, marked the milestone on Sunday with staff at the nursing home where she lives in Fukuoka prefecture, south-west Japan, according to media reports. Continue reading...
Independent online news portal to cease operations amid ‘worsening environment for media’ in cityThe Hong Kong independent news outlet Citizen News has said it will cease operations from Tuesday in the face of what it described as a deteriorating media environment in the Chinese-ruled city and to ensure the safety of its staff.“Regrettably, the rapid changes in society and worsening environment for media make us unable to achieve our goal fearlessly. Amid this crisis, we have to first make sure everyone on the boat is safe,” Citizen News, which was established in 2017, said in a statement. Continue reading...
by Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent on (#5TK93)
Twenty years after being elected, leftwinger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is gearing up for an electrifying bid to regain powerFormer Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is set to make a globe-trotting start to 2022 as he ramps up his campaign to defeat Brazil’s far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro, with a series of international trips to the US, China, Russia and Mexico.Twenty years after being elected Brazil’s first working-class president, in 2002, the veteran leftwinger is gearing up for an electrifying bid to reclaim power in next October’s presidential election. Continue reading...
Robert Etheridge, aka DJ Dimension, apologises for ‘my misunderstandings’ in breaking isolation rules and visiting Auckland venues before testing Covid-positive
Union says it is ‘common sense’ that Britain’s 1,100 steel businesses should be ‘paramount’ in procurementThe Unite union is demanding the government sets clear targets for the use of UK-produced steel in the HS2 rail project, after it emerged that the Department for Transport currently has none in place.Responding to two written questions in parliament posted by Labour MPs in December, the transport minister Andrew Stephenson admitted there is “no formal target” for the use of UK steel in its construction. Continue reading...
Abdalla Hamdok quits on same day at least two protesters killed by security forces during unrest in Khartoum and other citiesSudan’s prime minister has announced his resignation amid political deadlock and widespread pro-democracy protests following a military coup that derailed the country’s fragile transition to democratic rule.Abdalla Hamdok, a former UN official seen as the civilian face of Sudan’s transitional government, had been reinstated as prime minister in November as part of an agreement with the military following the October coup. In that time he had failed to name a cabinet and his resignation on Sunday throws Sudan into political uncertainty. Continue reading...
Rider in Tameside died on scene after colliding with two parked cars on New Year’s DayA 74-year-old man has died after his electric scooter collided with two parked cars on New Year’s Day.Greater Manchester police (GMP) said officers were called to reports of the crash on Springfield Road in Tameside, just east of Manchester, at about 1.40pm on Saturday. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#5TJY9)
Prince Andrew’s lawyers believe 2009 agreement could shield him from Giuffre’s civil sexual assault lawsuitA crunch week in Prince Andrew’s fight to avoid a public trial over claims he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old trafficked by the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein begins on Monday, when a New York court unseals a confidential 2009 deal between Epstein and the alleged victim.Lawyers for the Duke of York, who “unequivocally denies” the claims made by Virginia Giuffre, believe her agreement with Epstein could shield him from her civil lawsuit accusing him of sexual abuse in 2001. Continue reading...
Historian Laurence Westgaph responds to a letter suggesting that there was a purpose-built ‘slave pen’ in the cityLiverpool is undoubtedly the most fitting place for a permanent national memorial to the victims of slavery, as a city shaped by the slave trade more than any other in the country. However, I have not seen any evidence to suggest that there were any purpose-built “slave pens” in the town (Letters, 13 December).An advert for the sale of “One Negro Man and Two Boys” in Liverpool that took place in 1767 refers to the individuals being “brought up to the place of sale to be viewed”, possibly indicating that they were being kept in a cellar, but currently we can only speculate as to how these people were confined while waiting to be sold as human chattel. Continue reading...
As more people turn to faecal transplants for their health benefits, researchers in Adelaide are harnessing the power of high-quality poo in new treatments that can simply be swallowedGood poo donors are so hard to find they’re sometimes called “unicorns”. These elusive, healthy creatures service a market for faecal transplants that is growing rapidly as evidence of its benefits mounts.Emerging science shows that a human’s microbiome – their constellation of gut microbes – has a far greater effect on health than anyone previously imagined. This enormous ecosystem we host in our bodies includes bacteria, fungi, viruses and more. Continue reading...
Boy, 15, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held at a south London police stationA second teenager has been arrested on suspicion of murdering 15-year-old Zaian Aimable-Lina, who was stabbed to death in a park in south London on Thursday.A 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of murder late on Saturday and is being held at a south London police station, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...
Yellow weather warning in place, with potential for flooding, power cuts and transport disruptionAfter the UK’s warmest New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day on record, the Met Office has issued a warning for heavy storms in parts of southern England and Wales.Forecasters said the fast-moving thunderstorms could result in sudden flooding, lightning strikes and disruption. Road closures, power cuts and damage to trees and buildings are possible. Continue reading...
Firefighters still battling to contain blaze that broke out in the historic buildingA major fire in the South African parliament in Cape Town is continuing to burn after more than six hours, causing the roof of the old National Assembly building to collapse and with authorities fearing significant damage.Images broadcast on television showed flames leaping from the roof of one large building, while several others in the parliament precinct including the National Assembly were enveloped in a thick cloud of black smoke. Continue reading...
Government has banned Mother Teresa charity and many other NGOs from receiving donations from abroadOxfam India has said its work in the country will be imperilled by the government’s refusal to renew a licence that permits it to receive funds from abroad.Oxfam is on a list of thousands of NGOs, according to local media reports, whose licence has not been renewed. Without the licence, these organisations can only use donations and contributions from within India. Continue reading...
Official in the French presidency says removal of flag was in line with planned scheduleFrench authorities have removed the EU flag from the Arc de Triomphe after rightwing opponents of the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, accused him of erasing French identity.The giant flag was raised in place of the French tricolour on New Year’s Eve to mark France’s turn at the rotating EU presidency, which it will hold for the next six months. Continue reading...
A bullying teacher almost made our classical music critic give up playing as a child but when she switched lessons for making music with friends she discovered true delightI had an uncle who, intermittently and not necessarily simultaneously, wore a kilt and played the violin. Each to me was exotic – twin roads to freedom from the dullness of a prosaic, southern English childhood. For a short time I took up highland dancing, with real swords and modest skill. I was seven when I begged to be allowed to join the new string class at school. Above all, I wanted the “equipment”: an eighth-sized violin and silk scarf to wrap it in, bow, spare strings, heavy wooden case with green felt lining (just as I’d wanted the kilt, jacket, sporran, jabot and special laced shoes for dancing).The other children soon dropped out, bored by playing long, slow notes on open strings. It was deadly indeed and sounded awful. There’s no quick path to becoming even a modestly accomplished violinist. Left on my own, things progressed. The nice teacher complimented me on my “good ear” as I sawed through Will Ye No Come Back Again. I won a place at the junior department of a London conservatoire, going by myself, aged 11 until I left school, every Saturday morning: negotiating public transport, having breakfast in cafes and spending the afternoon wandering up and down Charing Cross Road, wondering at the mysterious rubber “health” objects (health meaning sex) hidden at the back of seedier secondhand bookshops. It was an education. It was, too, a wonder I escaped unscathed. A few creepy flashers aside, I was left alone. Continue reading...
After a lifetime of loving exercise, Martin Love lost his motivation. But where had it gone? And could he get it back? Plus, five experts on how to maintain your mojoOn my parents’ mantelpiece, among the pictures of smiling grandchildren, lopsided graduation hats, old sports cars and a young soldier in smart uniform, is a picture of heroic athletic endeavour. In a little silver frame is a small blond boy in a white vest straining every sinew as he belts around the corner of a grassy athletic field, the parallel lines of the track marked out in white chalk stretching into the distance. He seems to be so far ahead of the pack that he’s almost on his own. He’s a champion in the making! Is the podium ready? Is that the music from Chariots of Fire you can hear?The sad truth is that the little boy is me and I was so far off the pace everyone else that my dad was able to step out on the track to take the picture. “You were miles behind. It was almost as if you were running in slow motion,” he says now, with a laugh. Continue reading...
As we greet a third calendar year of pandemic life, experts who helped us make sense of the past two years discuss lessons learned, and wisdom to carry forwardIf 2020 was a year of fear and isolation, 2021 marked one of return – a road toward something like “normal”, despite so many hairpin turns. The mass distribution of Covid-19 vaccines did not restore the norms of pre-pandemic life, as many had hoped, but it did change the rules of engagement. Time and again, people adapted.As we greet a third calendar year of pandemic life, the Guardian turned to experts across disciplines who have helped the rest of us make sense of the past two years for lessons learned, and wisdom to carry forward.Jessica Richards is the founder of the trend forecasting firm JMR Trend + Creative.Sydney Mintle is the founder of fashion marketing and public relations firm Gossip & Glamour.Thomas Plante is a professor of psychology at Santa Clara University.Kelly Hills is a bioethicist and co-founder of the bioethics consulting firm Rogue Bioethics.Barbara J Sahakian is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Cambridge.Saskia Popescu is an infectious disease epidemiologist and assistant professor at the George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government. Continue reading...
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has had ‘significant’ increase in annual donations after it went to the aid of asylum seekersThe Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is on course for the highest annual fundraising total in its near 200-year history. Donations swelled after the charity attracted huge public support following rightwing attacks for helping save the lives of asylum seekers at risk of drowning in the Channel.The RNLI said it has received a significant increase in support, with online donations rising by 50% this year. Continue reading...
Mark Bowden and Matthew Teague have produced an indispensable and alarming ground-level record of how Donald Trump’s attempt to steal the 2020 election played out in precincts and ballot-counting centers in key statesIn their terrific new book, the veteran reporters Mark Bowden and Matthew Teague argue that the mob that invaded the Capitol in Washington almost exactly a year ago “had no more chance of overthrowing the US government than hippies in 1967 had trying to levitate the Pentagon”.The “real insurrection” was the one “led by Trump and his coterie of sycophants” in Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona. It “was only slightly better organized than the mob but considerably more calculated and dangerous”. Continue reading...
by Edward Helmore in New York and Mark Townsend in Lo on (#5TJ5X)
Pressure grows on duke to settle alleged victim’s claim before key hearing this weekTwo of Prince Andrew’s efforts to prevent or stall the progression of Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s sex assault lawsuit against him were blocked on Saturday when a US federal judge ordered the prince’s lawyers to turn over key legal documents, increasing pressure to settle claims before a crucial court hearing this week.Judge Lewis A Kaplan, in a written order, told the prince’s lawyers they must turn over documents on the schedule that has been set in the lawsuit brought by Guiffre who claims she was abused – aged 17 – by the prince on multiple occasions in 2001 while she was being sexually abused by financier Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading...
Met Office says 16.3C reached in central London on Saturday ‘likely to be confirmed’ as record temperatureThe warmest New Year’s Eve on record has been followed by the hottest New Year’s Day, early figures show. Thanks to warm subtropical air flowing from the Azores, temperatures topped 16C at a time of the year when they usually reach about 7C.The Met Office said that 16.3C had been reached in St James’s Park, central London, meaning it is “likely to be confirmed” as a record maximum temperature for any New Year’s Day. Continue reading...
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