Central bank forced to defend currency as traders respond to interest rate cut with sharp selloffFears that Turkey is on course for a full-scale financial crisis have intensified after the lira plunged to fresh lows against the US dollar.Turkey’s central bank was forced to step in to defend the ailing currency – selling US dollars for lira – after the latest sharp selloff. Continue reading...

Health experts issue dire warning as staff go unpaid and medical facilities lack basic items to treat patientsLarge parts of Afghanistan’s health system are on the brink of collapse because of western sanctions against the Taliban, international experts have warned, as the country faces outbreaks of disease and an escalating malnutrition crisis.With the country experiencing a deepening humanitarian crisis since the Taliban’s seizure of power in August amid mounting levels of famine and economic collapse, many medical staff have not been paid for months and health facilities lack even the most basic items to treat patients. Continue reading...

Met has not formally identified woman’s body found in park but has informed family of south London hospital workerOfficers searching for the missing hospital worker Petra Srncova are not treating her disappearance as suspicious, they have said, after a body was found in a park in south London.Police have not formally identified the body, which was discovered close to where the 32-year-old was last seen, but they have informed the senior nurse assistant’s relatives. Continue reading...

Mayor of Amazonian town of Borba and ex-councillor settle differences in bout livestreamed on the internetTwo feuding Amazonian politicians have settled their differences with an ultimate fighting-style rumble in the jungle that has fuelled fears over the increasingly antagonistic nature of Brazilian democracy.Simão Peixoto, the mayor of Borba, a town 90 miles south of Manaus, was publicly challenged to the fistfight in September by a former councillor called Erineu da Silva. Continue reading...

Interior minister begins legal action to dissolve Zouaves group after brawl at rally for far-right presidential candidateFrance’s interior minister is seeking to dissolve an “ultra right” group suspected of attacking anti-racism protesters who entered a campaign rally held by the far-right presidential candidate Éric Zemmour.The Zouaves, who support Zemmour’s anti-immigration and anti-Islam ideology, are thought to be behind the brawl, which happened eight days ago. Continue reading...

Amanda, 39, and Alex, 42, met on a forum for railway enthusiasts. After a long online friendship, they started dating in 2007. They now live in New York with their two childrenAlex was studying transport management in Boston when he first came across Amanda in 2001. They belonged to the same internet forum for railway enthusiasts. “At the time it was a hobby dominated by men and a lot of women who did join disguised themselves,” says Alex. “I remember seeing Amanda’s name and thinking it was great that she could be herself.”There was an AOL chatroom within the message board, and they began to talk. A New Yorker, Amanda had always been interested in transport systems. For several years they chatted online, but neither expected it to turn into more. “She was dating a subway operator and I told her to be careful because the railroad life can be really tough,” he says.Want to share your story? Tell us a little about yourself, your partner and how you got together by filling in the form here. Continue reading...

Move by EU’s smallest member state likely to be followed by reform across rest of continent in 2022Malta will this week become the first European country to legalise the cultivation and possession of cannabis for personal use, pipping Luxembourg to the post, as the continent undergoes a wave of change to its drug laws.Possession of up to seven grams of the drug will be legal for those aged 18 and above, and it will permissible to grow up to four cannabis plants at home. Continue reading...

Lai and seven other democracy campaigners handed prison sentences for commemorating victims of massacreThe Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and seven other pro-democracy activists have been sentenced to up to 14 months in prison for organising, taking part in and inciting participation in a banned vigil last year for victims of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.The former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise of wide-ranging freedoms, traditionally holds the largest 4 June vigil in the world, but police have rejected applications for the past two events, citing coronavirus restrictions. Continue reading...

She started a youth strike in Uganda – then just kept going. She discusses climate justice, reparations, imperialism and why the global north must take responsibilityIn February 2020, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Vanessa Nakate had her point made for her in the most vivid and “frustrating and heartbreaking” way. The Ugandan climate crisis activist, who turned 25 last month, had gone to Switzerland to introduce some perspective to its cosy consensus. “One of the things that I wanted to emphasise was the importance of listening to activists and people from the most affected areas,” she says. “How can we have climate justice if the people who are suffering the worst impacts of the climate crisis are not being listened to, not being platformed, not being amplified and are left out of the conversation? It’s not possible.”To this end, she appeared at a press conference with Greta Thunberg and three other white, European youth climate strikers. When the Associated Press published a photo of the meeting, it cropped out Nakate. It was, she said at the time, her first encounter with direct and blatant racism – and only reinforced her point and made her campaign more urgent. AP later expressed “regret” for its “error in judgment”. Continue reading...

Here’s what you need to do before travelling to Western Australia and while in the state, which is to open its borders next yearWestern Australia’s premier, Mark McGowan, has announced the state’s border will reopen on 5 February when double-dose vaccination is predicted to hit 90%, allowing for quarantine-free travel to the state.Here’s what you need to know before you book travel into WA. Continue reading...

Pyongyang has made end to US hostility a precondition for peace talks after almost 70 years of conflictSouth and North Korea, China and the US have agreed “in principle” to declare a formal end to the Korean war, almost 70 years after the conflict ended in a shaky truce, the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, has said.But Moon conceded that talks on the 1950-53 war were being held back by North Korean objections to present-day “US hostility”. Continue reading...

Up to seven people reportedly injured after blast at convent outside MoscowAn 18-year-old graduate of a Russian Orthodox school tried to blow himself up at a convent outside Moscow on Monday, wounding at least one teenager, the interior ministry said on Monday.“An 18-year-old graduate of this educational institution entered the premises of the Orthodox gymnasium of the Vvedenskiy Vladychniy convent and blew himself up,” the ministry said in a statement. Continue reading...

Police allege Sudesh Kumar tried to pass victim’s body off as his own to avoid being tried for another alleged murderAn Indian man who tried to fake his death by murdering a builder and passing the body off as his own has been arrested, police said.He did it to avoid being tried for another alleged murder, they added – Sudesh Kumar was charged with but not convicted of the 2018 killing of his daughter, who had eloped. Continue reading...

22 March 1930 – 26 November 2021

Raymond McClure’s will, leaving Dr Peter Alexakis 90% of his estate, being challenged in NSW supreme courtOne of Australia’s most experienced geriatric specialists has told a Sydney court there was a “highly irregular” power imbalance between a GP and his wealthy patient who left him tens of millions of dollars.Raymond McClure, who died aged 84 in 2017, left his GP, Dr Peter Alexakis, 90% of his estate worth more than $30m. Continue reading...

Premier Mark McGowan says fully vaccinated interstate and international travellers will be able to enter the state with some Covid testing requirements

An army of riders ferry food around the South African city, their lives and travails largely unseen by the people they serve. Photojournalist James Oatway has spent several months documenting their challengesIt’s a Friday night in Johannesburg. Lockdown has just been eased as Covid infection rates have plateaued. The restive city is slowly springing back to life, with cars once again careering along the city’s recently empty arterial roads.At the scene of a crash, the blue and red lights of emergency vehicles bathe the street in an eerie glow. Two motorbike food couriers have been knocked down by a car. The driver tried to flee but was apprehended by another motorist. One of the bikes has been flattened. Next to it lies a black canvas carrier bag bearing the Uber Eats logo.A Congolese driver was seriously injured in a crash in Sandton. Footage showed a car going through a red light and hitting the rider. The vehicle did not stop and the driver has never been apprehended. Continue reading...

A study has shown that by the age of seven they can grasp the lessons they need to learn to avoid financial problems in the futureThe early experiences children have with money can shape their financial behaviour as adults, according to a study published by the UK government’s MoneyHelper service. By the age of seven, the University of Cambridge study found, most children are capable of grasping the value of money, delaying gratification and understanding that some choices are irreversible or will cause them problems in the future. The research suggests children who are allowed to make age-appropriate financial decisions and experience spending or saving dilemmas can form positive “habits of the mind” when it comes to money. This could lead to a lifelong improvement in their ability to plan ahead and be reflective in their thinking about money, or they may learn how to regulate their impulses and emotions in a way that promotes positive financial behaviour later in life. Continue reading...

After politics in Vice and finance in The Big Short, director McKay is taking on the climate crisis in his star-studded ‘freakout’ satire Don’t Look UpAdam McKay calls it his “freakout trilogy”. Having tackled the 2008 financial crash and warmongering US vice president Dick Cheney in his previous two movies, The Big Short and Vice, McKay goes even bigger and bleaker with his latest, Don’t Look Up, in which two astronomers (Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio) discover a giant comet headed for Earth, but struggle to get anyone to listen. It is an absurd but depressingly plausible disaster satire, somewhere between Dr Strangelove, Network, Deep Impact and Idiocracy, with an unbelievably stellar cast; also on board are Meryl Streep (as the US president), Cate Blanchett, Timothée Chalamet, Tyler Perry, Mark Rylance, Jonah Hill and Ariana Grande. It has been quite the career trajectory for McKay, who started out in live improv and writing for Saturday Night Live, followed by a run of hit Will Ferrell comedies such as Anchorman, Step Brothers and The Other Guys. “The goal was to capture this moment,” says McKay of Don’t Look Up. “And this moment is a lot.”Was there a particular event that inspired Don’t Look Up?

The Italian director’s new, semi-autobiographical film reveals a charming and rarely seen side of his home city‘This, for me, is the most beautiful place on Earth,” Paolo Sorrentino told Filippo Scotti, the actor playing the director’s younger self in his latest film, as their 1980s Riva speedboat chopped the waves of the Bay of Naples. Their view stretched from the precipitous peninsula of Sorrento all the way west towards Posillipo. The two promontories flank the sprawling port city, offering a warm embrace to all those who disembark there. Sorrentino’s new film, the Hand of God, opens with that same view: the sun-mottled bay, whose peace is disturbed by the sound of four Rivas as they speed towards the shore. The film is both a love letter to, and a portal into, Paolo Sorrentino’s Naples.In cinemas now and on Netflix this week, The Hand of God sees the Academy award-winning director return to his home city for the first time since One Man Up, his 2001 debut. Sorrentino tells the story of his own coming of age, up to the moment when his life is shattered by the death of his parents in a tragic accident. Sorrentino’s story is a tale of great grief, loss and perseverance, set in a middle-class part of Naples, a far cry from the impoverished neighbourhoods shown in the city’s other recent portraits: Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend or the mafia-focused Gomorrah series. Continue reading...

I get to wear a natty white jacket, insectoid mask and hold an épée like a pistol – my inner child could not be happier. En garde!Ever since childhood, I have wanted to be trained in the sword. But I have always believed one had to be born a musketeer for this to happen, or have a death to avenge, plus access to castle steps. But here I am at the London Fencing Club in Old Street, which is easier.It’s a few weeks before omicron takes off, and the government is pooh-poohing any talk of tightening Covid restrictions. I’m learning épée, the thin, pointy blade that most resembles a classic swashbuckling sword. My Russian-born coach, Anna Anstal, loves fencing épée. The opponent’s entire body is a target, and there are no “right of way” rules governing who can score at a given moment. “You must think about the zombie apocalypse,” she says. “Rules are no use with a zombie. The ability to strike first is all that matters.” It’s unexpected advice, her heavy accent giving it even more edge. I’m quite scared. Continue reading...

Voter turnout in the Pacific territory’s referendum on independence from France at the weekend was staggeringly low, after pro-independence groups called for boycotts. Those who did cast ballots voted overwhelmingly for New Caledonia to remain part of France Continue reading...

City’s education board seeks to distance itself from incident in which young students at one school watched video of corpses and executionsA primary school in Hong Kong has apologised after students as young as six were left in tears last week after teachers showed them unsettling video footage of the Nanjing massacre ahead of its 84th anniversary on Monday.The incident came after the Education Bureau called on local schools to run activities commemorating the massacre in a directive last month. Continue reading...

Arts administrator targets Liberal-held South Australian seat, now the third most marginal in the country

Officers called to Brunswick Park in Camberwell, south London, on Sunday morningPolice have found the body of a woman in Camberwell on Sunday, after days of appeals for information to trace missing NHS worker Petra Srncova who was last seen in the area on 28 November.At about 11.40am on Sunday police were called by a member of the public to reports that the body of a woman had been found in Brunswick Park in south-east London. Continue reading...

Analysis: next few weeks will be tough for anyone who relies on the health service as well as those who work in it

20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021

Metropolitan police say child’s death in Shadwell is being treated as unexplainedAn 11-year-old girl has died and several other people have fallen ill after apparent pest control chemicals were found at a block of flats in east London.Paramedics called in police on Saturday afternoon after reports of a girl unresponsive in a flat in Shadwell. She was taken to hospital and died a short time later. Continue reading...

Analysis: distinct camps have emerged in Westminster, from hardline lockdown sceptics to selective rebels

Talk of trade war dropped after UK and Channel Islands governments agree to issue more licences

Kremlin would ‘face massive consequences’ in event of invasion, says UK foreign secretary at Liverpool talksForeign ministers of the G7 group of rich democracies have warned Russia of “massive consequences” if it invades Ukraine and urged it to de-escalate its military buildup on its border.A communique from the meeting in Liverpool said the group reaffirmed its “unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the right of any sovereign state to determine its own future” and praised what it called Ukraine’s “restraint” as tensions grew. Continue reading...

Attacker’s mental health said to have deteriorated when he was moved to hotel with 320 other asylum seekersTwo asylum seekers caught up in a mass stabbing attack at a Glasgow hotel have issued a high court claim against the Home Office and their accommodation provider, the Guardian has learned.The men, one of whom said he reported concerns about the attacker to hotel management the night before the stabbings, are also calling for an independent investigation. Continue reading...

In a sparse gym in one Sydney’s most disadvantaged areas, Mayor Chagai is not only teaching basketball but also transforming AustraliaBoys are running in rows of three down the court. Legs, shouts, the smack of bouncing balls. As one boy passes to another, the third fans out to take the next pass, then he leaps and dunks. Some boys are already in flight and soaring towards the basket when they take the ball, almost delicately, then slam it through the hoop.On the side a man in a blue tracksuit watches intently, but not so much that he fails to see a boy trying to slip unnoticed into the gym, a hard thing to do when you are 200cm tall.The boys training at the Police Citizens Youth Club in the Blacktown suburb of Shalvey Continue reading...

Exclusive: high-level talks underway as race adviser promises radical reform and anti-racist policingBritain’s most senior police leaders are considering making a public admission that their forces are institutionally racist, the Guardian has learned.High-level discussions began on Thursday and come as their special adviser on race says the declaration is needed if promises of radical reform are to be believed by black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. More discussions will be held in January with a decision from police chiefs expected in February. Continue reading...

Independent Office for Police Conduct says non-police issue firearm found at scene in KensingtonA gun has been recovered from the scene in west London where a man was shot and killed.The Metropolitan police said officers received reports that a man with a firearm had been seen in a bank and bookmakers near Marloes Road in Kensington before the shooting on Saturday. Continue reading...

Turnout of just 40% after pro-independence campaigners urged indigenous people not to participateResidents of the Pacific territory of New Caledonia have voted overwhelmingly to remain part of France in a referendum boycotted by pro-independence groups.In the third referendum on the matter, the decision to stay within the French republic was carried by 96.49% to 3.51%, but a turnout of just over 40% suggested the indigenous Kanak people have not given up on dreams of independence. Continue reading...

Dozens remain unaccounted for after tornado leaves trail of destruction from Arkansas to KentuckyDozens remained unaccounted for on Sunday as rescuers worked overnight searching for survivors after what could be the longest tornado in US history left a trail of destruction from Arkansas to Kentucky, part of a vast storm front that it is feared may have killed at least 100 people.Kentucky governor Andy Beshear said the path of devastation was about 227 miles (365km) long, which, if confirmed, would surpass the 218-mile Tri-State tornado in 1925, which killed at least 695 people and destroyed 15,000 homes across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Continue reading...

Horror writers pay tribute after bestselling gothic novelist dies of complications from strokeAnne Rice, the bestselling author of Interview With the Vampire, has died at the age of 80.The gothic novelist’s son Christopher Rice said in a statement on Sunday morning that Rice had “passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke”, adding: “The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated.” Continue reading...

Xavier Novell i Gomà was Spain’s youngest bishop before abandoning clerical career to marry Silvia CaballolA controversial Spanish bishop has been formally stripped of his powers and prohibited from administering the sacraments four months after he abandoned his clerical career to marry a “dynamic and transgressive” erotic novelist.Xavier Novell i Gomà, who became Spain’s youngest bishop aged just 41 when he was appointed to the Catalan municipality of Solsona in 2010, is reported to have backed and participated in so-called conversion therapies for gay people, and has also been criticised for supporting regional independence. Continue reading...

5 June 1956 – 22 September 2021

Talks between PM and crown prince of Abu Dhabi come after full diplomatic links brokered last yearNaftali Bennett is to make the first official visit by an Israeli prime minister to the United Arab Emirates since the two countries established diplomatic ties last year.On Monday, Bennett will meet Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, to discuss “deepening the ties between Israel and the UAE, especially economic and regional issues,” his office said. Continue reading...

Strict rules lifted across most of country after three weeks as case numbers plummet

Firefighters say the blast in the southern town of Ravanusa was probably caused by a gas leakFour people have been killed and five are missing in Sicily after an explosion caused a four-storey apartment building to collapse.Two women were recovered alive from the rubble in the southern town of Ravanusa on Saturday night, and rescuers and sniffer dogs were searching for those still missing. Continue reading...

US ambassador says delay would put country at mercy of those who prefer ‘bullet power over ballot power’The chances of Libya staging its first presidential elections on the long planned date of 24 December appeared close to collapse on Sunday after the body overseeing the vote said it was unable to announce the the approved candidates because of continued legal doubts.With the elections less than a fortnight away and virtually no time for campaigning, a postponement would represent a bitter blow to the international community’s hopes of reuniting the deeply divided country. Continue reading...

A recent sighting of Putin’s notorious Buk missiles on their way to the frontline does not bode well for talksA flatbed rail wagon speeding through south-west Russia last week carried an ill omen for negotiations to avert a larger war with Ukraine.On board was a Buk-M1, the kind of medium-range surface-to-air missile system that became notorious in 2014 after a missile fired from territory controlled by Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine shot down a Malaysian airliner, killing all 298 people aboard. Continue reading...

Bond actor recalls past #MeToo incident and contrasts lack of censure with ‘immediate’ removal on recent projectThe Oscar-nominated actor Naomie Harris has said a #MeToo incident on one of her recent projects prompted the “immediate” removal of the perpetrator, as she recalled another occasion when she was groped by a “huge star” who faced no censure.Harris, who played Moneypenny in the last three Bond films and was up for an Oscar for her role in Moonlight in 2017, declined to name either of the men allegedly responsible. Continue reading...

Adam McKay’s star-studded climate change satire with Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence et al lands its gags with all the aplomb of a giant cometA comet is on a collision course with Earth. The targets in this shrill, desperately unfunny climate change satire directed by Adam McKay are more scattershot. According to stoner PhD student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and her professor, Dr Randall Mindy (a self-consciously tic-y Leonardo DiCaprio), the asteroid is the size of Mount Everest and due to hit in six months.The pair try to warn Meryl Streep’s President Orlean about the impending “extinction-level event”, only to find her preoccupied by the midterm elections. They attempt to raise awareness on breakfast TV, but anchors Jack and Brie (Tyler Perry and Cate Blanchett) can’t help but give their bad news a positive spin. The only person with enough money to intervene is tech entrepreneur Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance), who wants to mine the comet for its “$140tn worth of assets”. Party politics, celebrity gossip and social media memes are swiped at too. It feels cynical, then, when Timothée Chalamet shows up with no real narrative purpose other than to snog Lawrence.In cinemas now and on Netflix from 24 December Continue reading...