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...

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...

Scuffles broke out between anti-hunting protesters and supporters at the Avon Vale Hunt on 27 DecemberPolice have released images of three men wanted in connection with violent clashes at an annual hunt in Wiltshire.Scuffles broke out between anti-hunting protesters and supporters at the Boxing Day meet of the Avon Vale Hunt in the village of Lacock, which this year was held on 27 December. Continue reading...

Offer could be on table in upcoming trade talks in Delhi in bid to access to country’s growing economyMinisters are keen to ease immigration restrictions in a bid to make it easier for thousands of Indian citizens to live and work in the UK as part of forthcoming trade talks.The potential offer will be under discussion when the international trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, travels to Delhi this month, reports the Times. Relaxing immigration rules for Indian citizens is a key demand from Delhi. Continue reading...

In the charity’s storeroom sit the cremated remains of seven former visitors – unclaimed, contested or forgotten. Lifestyle editor Alyx Gorman introduces an intimate story about three of themYou can read the original article here: The unclaimed: the ashes left waiting in Sydney’s Wayside Chapel. Continue reading...

Police say body spotted along seafront at Corton, near Lowestoft, on Saturday at about 10.30amA man’s body has been found in the sea off Suffolk. Police said the body was spotted along the seafront at Corton, near Lowestoft, on Saturday at about 10.30am.Emergency services were called but no further details are available. Continue reading...

As Beijing pursues its solitary path, observers are asking whether the policy is about protecting public health – or social order

Along the eastern shore, seaside attractions are being demolished and millions of homes are at risk as rising sea levels speed erosionFrom a distance, the beach at Winterton-on-sea in Norfolk looks like the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, with hundreds of grey bodies lying motionless across the sand. On closer inspection, it becomes clear they are not fallen soldiers but a huge colony of seals taken to the land for pupping season.It’s an amazing annual sight that draws tourists and nature-lovers from across the country, but another process is taking place that is pushing people back – the growing threat of coastal erosion. Just along from where the armies of grey seals lay with their white pups, there used to stand the Dunes Cafe, a much-loved beach facility with a large and loyal clientele. Continue reading...

Three former refuseniks reveal their misgivings about having the vaccination and what finally convinced them to take the plungeThe UK’s vaccine rollout has largely been a success: more than 90% of the population aged 12 and over has now had at least one dose, with just over half having had a second dose and the booster.However, there are thousands of people who still haven’t had a jab, despite estimates suggesting that 90% of the most severely ill Covid patients in hospital at the moment are unvaccinated. Continue reading...

Several more injured in separate incidents despite Germany introducing ban this year on sale of fireworks for personal useExploding fireworks killed two men on New Year’s Eve, one in Germany and the other in Austria, according to local media.A 37-year-old man died in Hennef, near Germany’s western city of Bonn. A 39-year-old was severely injured in the same incident and taken to hospital. Continue reading...

Artefacts from hideout of family sent to Auschwitz death camp with Anne Frank and her family are put on display in NetherlandsA clock that is the sole surviving object from a second world war Jewish hideout will go on display at Amsterdam’s Dutch Resistance Museum this year.The round mantelpiece clock may have been one of the last things people saw as they were seized by the Nazis and sent to death camps. Continue reading...

Three years after it ended, scandal surrounds the show, but its familiarity and formula provided a comfort blanket. I really hope they bring it backIt sounds troublingly shallow, but when I saw the tweet that said “Holy shit, ANTM [America’s Next Top Model] is on Amazon Prime” my heart soared. I am not one who can pretend the pandemic isn’t still raging but, in that fleeting moment, I felt a spiritual lightness I hadn’t experienced since 2019.I dropped everything to binge the episodes, then fell deep into a rabbit hole of detective work: where are the contestants now? Are they on Instagram? I found a whole subsection of TikTok dedicated to calling out where the show was problematic, and YouTuber Oliver Twixt has a highly viewed series of interviews with ANTM contestants levelling accusations of maltreatment at the show’s producers. Whatever the reason, ANTM is back in the cultural sphere. Continue reading...

St James’s Park in central London has provisionally beaten record with a temperature of 16.2CBritain has enjoyed the warmest new year on record as temperatures rose above 16C.St James’s Park in central London has provisionally beaten the record with a temperature of 16.2C, the Met Office said. Continue reading...

Mina Smallman says she ‘can’t wait’ to meet Deniz Jaffer, one of the officers who shared pictures of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa HenryThe mother of two sisters murdered in a London park said she wants to meet one of the police officers who took selfies at the scene and shared the images.The Ven Mina Smallman, the first black woman to become an archdeacon in the Church of England, who was guest editing BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, also spoke of the pain of losing her daughters Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, in June 2020. Continue reading...

A lifetime of hating my body has got me nowhere. If I can’t love it, can I at least respect it?Every January, the same old battle cry: this will be the year that I get thin. Last January, I did a week-long juice cleanse, and the year before that, I fasted for three days. It wasn’t quite nil by mouth, but almost. At the time, I told myself the science interested me (the fervour with which fasting evangelists assure you that a few days without food can reset your microbiome or stave off cellular ageing is compelling enough to make you ignore the health warnings). Really, though, what I wanted was rapid weight loss, minimum one dress size.I made it to 81 hours. Practically levitating with hunger, I ignored the advice to reintroduce food slowly (soups and juices before solids) by bingeing on a cheese sandwich, which I promptly threw up. Happy new year to me. Continue reading...

Whether it’s taking fruit to work (and to the bedroom!), being polite to rude strangers or taking up skinny-dipping, here’s a century of ways to make life better, with little effort involved …1 Exercise on a Monday night (nothing fun happens on a Monday night).2 On the fence about a purchase? Wait 72 hours before you buy it. Continue reading...

From hiking the Highlands to vintage train journeys, our travel writers pick the breaks on their wishlistsDisconnect on the impeccably green island of Eigg Continue reading...

While women remain under-represented at the very top, the Business desk casts its eye over the biggest hittersLuck plays a big part in politics and the shadow chancellor took full advantage of her good fortune when Keir Starmer tested positive for Covid just before the October 2021 budget. According to parliamentary tradition, the leader of the opposition responds to the chancellor’s budget speech, but Starmer’s absence meant Reeves stepped in and, by general consent, delivered a polished reply to Rishi Sunak. Continue reading...

Each week, our critics choose the best music, film, theatre, art and games – so who better to ask to help us through a whole month?Film

Five Paris museums to display fashion designer’s creations with artwork that inspired themSimultaneous exhibitions to mark the 60th anniversary of Yves Saint Laurent’s first collection are to be held by six leading Paris museums in an unprecedented tribute from the art world to the late French fashion designer.The events at museums, among them the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, will reveal how the celebrated couturier was inspired by some of the 20th century’s greatest artists including Picasso, Matisse and Mondrian. Continue reading...

Night-time tragedy at revered site in Indian-administered Kashmir happened as thousands of pilgrims massed to offer prayersAt least 12 people have died and 13 were injured in a stampede at a religious shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir as thousands of pilgrims massed to offer prayers.The disaster happened around 3am on New Year’s Day while it was still dark on the route to the Vaishno Devi shrine, one of the area’s most revered Hindu sites. Continue reading...

New York tradition brings some normalcy as coronavirus pandemic leads to cancellation of shows around the worldA Miley Cyrus wardrobe malfunction, a celebrity rant about outgoing New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, and the traditional dropping of a six-tonne ball in Times Square were among the highlights as America welcomed the new year, and bid good riddance to the old one.The New Year’s Eve tradition of crowds at Times Square returned this year, though with only 15,000 of the usual 60,000 spectators there to watch the ball, encrusted with nearly 2,700 Waterford crystals, descend as couples embraced, some still wearing their masks. Continue reading...

NSW records 22,577 new cases and four deaths, Victoria 7,442 cases and nine deaths, Queensland 2,266 cases, South Australia 2,100, Tasmania 428, Northern Territory 54 and the ACT 448; Queensland makes masks mandatory indoors; SA clinic sends wrong test result to 11 people. This blog is now closed

Max, 28, learning and development director, meets Joe, 26, PhD studentMax on JoeWhat were you hoping for?

Police had mounted a search operation after the young boy went missing in a community south-west of Alice SpringsA young boy has died after going missing from his home in a remote community south-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.The boy’s family reported his absence to police after they had searched for several hours. Continue reading...

Residents of Pontedeume form patrol after brushes with man they suspect is escaped murder convict Alfredo Sánchez ChacónResidents of a town in north-west Spain have banded together to try to track down a convicted murderer – nicknamed the “Galician Rambo” for his multiple jailbreaks and extensive knowledge of survival techniques – who is believed to be living in a nearby wooded area.Alfredo Sánchez Chacón has been on the run since March when he failed to return to prison after being allowed out on a day pass. News that the 63-year-old was missing probably surprised few: Sánchez Chacón, who is due to be in prison until 2025 for a murder in 1996, was already notorious across Spain for slipping out of prison twice. Continue reading...

Iranian-Austrian Kamran Ghaderi is serving a 10-year sentence for spying and his family are still waiting for answersSix years ago on New Year’s Day, an Iranian-Austrian IT businessman said goodbye to his wife and three children and boarded a flight from Vienna to Tehran via Istanbul. Kamran Ghaderi was due to return five to six days later, but instead, on 2 January 2016, he was arrested and has now spent six years in Evin prison in Tehran.In October 2016, he was sentenced to 10 years for spying for a foreign country at a trial in which neither he nor his lawyer were able to say more than two words. His sentencing was based on a confession he gave under what his wife, Harika, says was torture, in the belief she might be in danger. No written judgment has ever been given to his family. Continue reading...

France takes over EU presidency, with Macron announcing an ambitious agenda while eyeing domestic re-electionEmmanuel Macron has declared “the year 2022 must be a turning point for Europe” as France took over the rotating presidency of the European Union.In a New Year’s Eve national address, the French president hailed the EU’s role during the Covid-19 crisis and announced an ambitious agenda for the bloc that could also serve his domestic campaign for re-election. Continue reading...

Kim’s focus on food and factories rather than nuclear weapons or US underscores country’s economic crisisThe North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has capped off his 10th year in power with a speech that made more mention of tractor factories and school uniforms than nuclear weapons or the United States.North Korea’s main goals for 2022 will be jump-starting economic development and improving people’s lives as it faces a “great life-and-death struggle”, Kim told a meeting of the ruling party’s central committee on Friday. Continue reading...

A 27-year-old man is in police custody after the incident at the West Kentish Road campgrounds in state’s north-westA man has allegedly driven a car through a tent at a campground in Tasmania in the early hours of New Year’s Day, injuring two adults and three children.They were taken to the Northwest Regional Hospital with injuries ranging from minor lacerations to suspected internal injuries. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson accused of ‘wrong priorities’ after David Winton Harding given award for services to philanthropy• New year honours feature Covid experts alongside actors and OlympiansA billionaire hedge fund founder who has given nearly £1.5m to the Conservatives has been knighted in the new year honours list, prompting accusations that Boris Johnson has “the wrong priorities”.David Winton Harding, who has been funding the Tories since 2006, was given the award for services to philanthropy. Continue reading...

Paul Daley talks to Tony Birch about finding affection on the so-called margins of the inner city, the injustice of climate change and blak humour. Birch also describes why he doesn’t view his fiction as having a political messageYou can hear other episodes of Book It In hereDark as Last Night by Tony Birch was one of Guardian Australia critics and staff’s best Australian books for 2021 Continue reading...

The Dressmaker author says literary events in country Australia are all about ‘discussing, catching up and laughing’. Here are some planned for 2022

Fun-seekers criticise Welsh restrictions on New Year’s Eve celebrations but say they’ll be carefulThey arrived at Bristol Temple Meads train station clutching cans of booze, a change of clothes and this year’s most essential New Year’s Eve accessory – a negative lateral flow test.The closure of nightclubs and restrictions in bars and pubs in Wales was not going to stop a determined band of Welsh fun-seekers hopping across the border for a big night out on the English side of the Severn. Continue reading...

Statistics on gender-based violence broadened beyond cases involving partners or exesOfficial statistics on gender-based violence in Spain will be broadened to include killings of women and children by men regardless of whether there was a prior relationship between victim and killer, in what is being described as a first in Europe.“What is not named does not exist,” said Spain’s equality minister, Irene Montero. “We have to recognise all of the victims and make visible all forms of violence – all machista [sexist] killings – so that we can put in place policies for prevention, early detection and eradication.” Continue reading...

Naples authorities refuse a public send-off for the convicted murderer known as Lady CamorraNo crowds attended the cortege for Assunta Maresca, better known as Pupetta Maresca, who died at home this week in Castellammare di Stabia aged 86. Maresca, a convicted murderer and mafia boss also known as Lady Camorra, had been the centre of such frenzied media attention in her life that Naples authorities declared she would not have a public send-off.“We are seeing on social media a glorification of this woman who is a symbol of the Camorra in our neighbourhood,” Francesco Emilio Borrelli, a regional councillor for the Europa Verde party, said in a letter to the Naples police. “The mythologising of bosses is to be avoided at all costs.” Continue reading...

Royal’s legal team say some of the disclosure requests in Virginia Giuffre lawsuit are ‘overbroad and oppressive’Lawyers representing a woman who has accused Prince Andrew of sexual abuse are demanding that he hand over documents explaining why he does not sweat.Virginia Giuffre’s legal team have requested a wealth of information from Andrew’s lawyers in response to his BBC Newsnight interview in 2019 when he said he visited a Pizza Express on the day of the claimed sexual encounter. Continue reading...