Tony Wilson, director of the Institute for Employment Studies, on whether the huge rise in vacancies in the UK offers an incentive to look for another jobWith the pandemic, workers have been saying “I quit!” in their droves. In the US, employees packed in their jobs at such pace that a new term was coined – the Great Resignation – and alongside it, countless newspaper articles appeared about career-switching. But in the UK, are as many people quitting as we think? And would the greatest new year’s resolution be to join in? I asked Tony Wilson, director of the Institute for Employment Studies.Is the Great British Resignation under way?
Man arrested on suspicion of affray after disorder between Avon Vale hunt members and protestersA man has been arrested on suspicion of affray after disorder at a Boxing Day hunt, according to police.Anti-hunt protesters and members of the Avon Vale Hunt clashed in the village of Lacock in Wiltshire on the morning of 27 December. Continue reading...
With his odd symbols and signs, the East German painter created a ‘democratic’ style in defiance of the state. A new exhibition shows how his vision was inspired by the trauma of conflict and the cold warIn 1979, the Stasi entered Ralf Winkler’s Dresden studio and trashed the place. It was the culmination of a harassment campaign against the artist, who found fame under the pseudonym AR Penck, for refusing to make social-realist propaganda.Instead, his paintings featured oft-repeated hieroglyphs, odd symbols and signs, seemingly child-like naive scrawls and simple stick men (often with outsized penises). The authorities were right to be suspicious of this new painterly style: Penck sought the construction of a new language, one that mixed the linguistic and pictorial, that was both “universal” and “democratic”. It was a wish born of the trauma of the second world war, particularly witnessing the destruction of Dresden as a child, and the ensuing dystopia of the German Democratic Republic. Continue reading...
Country celebrates new year amid record rise in Covid cases and sweltering temperaturesAustralia has welcomed in the new year more cautiously than usual, with far fewer people attending firework displays and other events.But after a tumultuous 2021 the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said Australians had much to be thankful for. “Despite the pandemic, despite the floods, the fires, continuing drought in some areas, the cyclones, the lockdowns, even mice plagues, Australia is stronger today than we were a year ago. And we’re safer,” he said in a New Year’s Eve message. Continue reading...
Remember being inundated with invitations and parties? If the last two years have taught me anything, it’s that you don’t have to go to any of themIt was never my intention to hide in the toilet. There was lots going on outside: highbrow small talk and top-tier networking; free drinks, air kisses, and cold canapés that – I’d quickly discovered, following glances – were very much, like my fellow attenders, there only for show. The gallery was filled, I’d been assured, with fashion figures and media leaders. I was lucky to have been invited to this salon, one of the hosts had informed me, generously. Exactly what a “salon” is, I’m still unsure.Deep down, I just didn’t want to be there. Only 90 minutes previously I’d been watching Gogglebox and scoffing Pringles in bed. But I went along out of some sense of duty. Perhaps a desire to broaden my horizons, or a compulsion to step outside my comfort zone, where I had become too safe and snug. Now here I was, sitting in a locked cubicle counting down the minutes before I could leave without seeming rude. Continue reading...
Germany and UK are big exporters of plastic, much of which lies rotting in ports in Turkey, Vietnam and other countries141 containers filled with rotting plastic waste have been on a journey for more than a year. Scattered between Turkey, Greece and Vietnam, far from their origins in Germany, the containers’ voyage sheds light on the hidden global trade in plastic waste.Arriving in Turkey in late 2020, shortly before a ban on mixed plastic waste imports came into force, the containers quickly became the centre of a battle between traders, a shipping line, multiple governments and environmental campaigners demanding their return. Continue reading...
Analysis: expect more daunting challenges, from an arms race in space and possible war in Ukraine to increasing populism … not to mention the pandemicOn the brink of a new year, the world faces a daunting array of challenges: the Covid pandemic, the climate emergency, the epic struggle between democracy and authoritarianism, humanitarian crises, mass migration, and trans-national terrorism. There is also the danger of new inter-state conflicts, exacerbated by the breakdown of the rules-based international order and the unregulated spread of lethal autonomous weapons employing artificial intelligence. All in all, for most people on Earth – and a handful in space – 2022 will be another year of living dangerously. Continue reading...
This follow-up to the 2016 flop makes a scattershot attempt at fusing celebrity satire with a riotous musical plot“Fans are fickle. You never know when taste might change. It’s a numbers game, and I’m going to play it,” says Bodi, the guitar-hero hound from the village of Snow Mountain. While Rock Dog 2 nominally denounces selling out, perhaps mindful of how the 2016 original – one of the most expensive Chinese-produced animations ever – bombed, it hectically plays the numbers game itself. Half modern entertainment-biz trawl, half nostalgic Asian rural fable, this messy sequel tries to cover both western and Chinese angles – and toss around enough scattershot energy to keep everyone happy.Bodi’s power-pop trio True Blue are the hottest new act on the block, their music radiating cyan energy waves out to their following. But they have popped up on the radar of Lang, a music-impresario sheep with a fluffy pompadour and British Invasion accent, who has multiple agendas: not just to separate Bodi from his bandmates by teaming him up with starlet Lil’ Foxy, but to shut down Rock’n’Roll Park where the city’s diehard guitar warriors keep the flame burning. Meanwhile in Snow Mountain’s Tibet-style fastness, Bodi’s family are fretting about his sudden fame – though, making a killing selling keychains to True Blue-mad locals, possibly succumbing to the mania themselves. Continue reading...
In what city did Bond almost come a cropper, and which country ditched the Queen? See how much you remember from the world of travel in 2021 Continue reading...
Maseray Sei, 21, was found dead after undergoing the procedure in a centuries-old ritual carried out by a secret society for womenThe death of a young woman in Sierra Leone, almost immediately after undergoing female genital mutilation, has sparked outrage and revived calls to end the practice.The body of 21-year-old Maseray Sei was found on 20 December at Nyandeni village in Bonthe district, southern Sierra Leone, a day after the FGM took place. Sei’s family said that after the procedure the mother of two boys complained of a migraine and was in pain, with complications from FGM thought to be the cause, according to activists working on the case. Continue reading...
Cases have dropped nearly 30% in a week, say authorities, as Israel approves fourth booster shot and New Year’s Eve gatherings around the world are restricted
When I woke up alone, I was terrified he was in an alley somewhere, animals feeding on his face. I am forever grateful for what I learned that nightIt was New Year’s Eve, and we were in an unheated stone hut. Adam and I had hit it off at a silent meditation retreat in Minneapolis, and I’d invited him to spend Christmas break with me in India. At the time, ringing in 2018 in a little village framed by the granite formations and snow-streaked peaks of the Himalayas had seemed like a fairytale. But that night the mercury dipped so low that my vital organs muttered “system failure” and powered down. I buried myself under quilts with concrete-level cotton padding.“It’s 7pm,” Adam protested. Continue reading...
Staff and students say the recent destruction of massacre monuments is a manifestation of a new and uneasy culture on campusSophie Mak, a recent graduate of law and literature, had walked past the fiery orange monument between classes for five years. A month after her graduation ceremony at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), two nights before Christmas, workers erected barricades around the statue. Under the cover of darkness, they cut it down.“It’s an absolute disgrace that HKU removed the Pillar of Shame so callously and so furtively,” Mak says. Continue reading...
Authorities also tell inked players to remove or cover up their designs to set ‘a good example for society’Chinese authorities have banned footballers from getting tattoos and instructed national team players who have been inked to remove them or cover them up to set a “good example for society”.A growing number of high-profile Chinese players have tattoos, including the international defender Zhang Linpeng, who has previously been told to cover up while appearing for the national team and his club Guangzhou FC. Continue reading...
Leona Peach found at address in Lincolnshire as 34-year-old man arrested on suspicion of kidnapA 12-year-old girl who vanished from her home in Devon 10 days ago has been found safe and well almost 300 miles away in Boston, Lincolnshire.Leona Peach, from Newton Abbot in south Devon, was last seen wearing flip-flops and a fur coat. Police were working on the theory that she might have travelled to north Devon where she has family connections. Continue reading...
Coroner will investigate if Kim Sampson, 29, and Samantha Mulcahy, 32, contracted virus from surgeon during C-sectionsA coroner will investigate the deaths of two women from herpes following childbirth, amid fears they contracted the virus from their surgeon.Kim Sampson, 29, and Samantha Mulcahy, 32, died weeks apart after their babies were delivered by caesarean section at different hospitals in Kent. Continue reading...
From the frontline of Covid to inspirational sports personalities, our worldwide audience name their choicesGuardian readers were asked to offer suggestions of who they would choose as their person of the year. Dozens of names were put forward – from scientists to sports personalities, from healthcare workers to climate activists.And in a sign of the ongoing debate overgender issues, many readers also nominated the author JK Rowling, and online content creator Ranboo. Continue reading...
Pair notice man jumping from platform and alert driver of a train moments before its departureA paramedic who was spending his day off trainspotting with his nine-year-old son saved the life of a young man who lay down in front of a train moments before its departure.Andy Nickolls, 57, and his son Jacob were the only ones who saw the man jumping from the platform at Taunton station in Somerset and lying on the rails.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...
Firework sales prohibited in Germany for second year in a row owing to Covid, resulting in growing stockpileGermans seeking to defy a government ban on the domestic selling of fireworks before new year celebrations are heading in their droves across the border to Polish shops and factories.A ban was announced this month for a second year in a row in an attempt to prevent large gatherings during the pandemic and to ease the burden on hospitals, which regularly have to treat serious injuries such as burns and lacerated limbs resulting from pyrotechnic accidents. Continue reading...
by Hosted by Jane Lee, recommended by Gabrielle Jacks on (#5TG9J)
Traditional owners are standing together to protect the Fitzroy – a ‘beautiful, living water system’. This story by Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam is one of our best episodes of the Guardian Australia Reads podcast in 2021You can read the original article here: A journey down WA’s mighty Martuwarra, raging river and sacred ancestorYou can find every episode of Guardian Australia Reads here, or subscribe by searching for Guardian Australia Reads wherever you get your podcasts Continue reading...
by Hosted by Jane Lee. Recommended by Rosemary Bolger on (#5TGCM)
There is a growing effort to reconnect swimmers with city waterways once thought permanently lost to pollution. Assistant news editor Rosemary Bolger recommends a story about alternatives to ocean swims
MoD reportedly warns of ‘mass damage and potential loss of life’ if ordnance on SS Richard Montgomery triggeredAn operation to remove the masts from a sunken cargo ship in the River Thames, containing 1,400 tonnes of unstable explosives onboard, will involve Royal Navy specialists.It is believed that if the unexploded ordnance on the SS Richard Montgomery were triggered it could lead to the nearby oil and gas facilities in Sheerness being damaged, the Daily Telegraph reports.This story was amended on 30 December to clarify the SS Richard Montgomery was a cargo ship. Continue reading...
In first interview since fleeing Kabul in August, former president says US ‘erased’ Afghans in years of peace talks with militantsThe former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has broken his silence with his first interview since fleeing Kabul four months ago, in effect blaming the international community and in particular the Americans for the fall of the republic.Ghani told the BBC he was rushed into fleeing Kabul on a helicopter by his “terrified” national security adviser, Hamdullah Mohib, and the commander of the collapsing presidential security detail. Continue reading...
Actor couple Pyay Ti Oo and Eaindra Kyaw Zin and actor-director Lu Min given three years with hard labourA court in military-ruled Myanmar has jailed three prominent showbusiness figures for three years each for their part in protests against February’s coup, media reported.The military overthrew the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 February. In the early days of the protests that ensued, huge crowds gathered in cities and towns, and many actors and singers used social media to voice their support, with some speaking at rallies. Continue reading...
Temperatures on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day have good chance of reaching record levelsRevellers will be celebrating on the beaches, in the hills, on rooftops, pub terraces and in back gardens as temperatures on New Year’s Eve soar towards record-breaking levels.Tens of thousands of people who will not or cannot throw a party indoors because of Covid concerns, restrictions or a lack of tests are expected to opt to see in the new year alfresco thanks to balmy weather. Continue reading...
It comes as US secretary of state calls for release of Stand News editors, saying ‘journalism is not sedition’A Hong Kong court has denied bail to two former senior editors charged with conspiring to publish seditious materials, a day after police raided Stand News, a pro-democracy media outlet, prompting its closure.About 200 officers raided the office of the online publication on Wednesday, froze its assets and arrested seven current and former senior editors and former board members, in the latest crackdown on the city’s press. Continue reading...
I was shaken out of my musical apathy by the rapper, whose video channel shows him listening to others’ tracks for the first timeThroughout the pandemic, I, like many others, found myself turning to familiar music I listened to as a teenager, seeking comfort in 2000s nostalgia playlists and the hollow, monotonous “landfill indie” of the 2010s. It wasn’t that I especially enjoyed listening to music that I’d last heard on student nights at bad nightclubs in York, or that they marked a particularly happy period of my life. Instead, I returned to these playlists because I found myself unable to listen to new music.Initially, I blamed this on Spotify. It’s well documented that the platform’s recommendation algorithms are less likely to introduce you to new, interesting genres of music than to recommend songs that sound similar to your favourites – producing an endless feedback loop, where music is not something to be enjoyed and shared, but rather a way to fill silences with constant background noise. I was listening to more music than ever, but appreciating barely any of it.
A startling 488,000 cases were reported Wednesday, but even that figure is likely an undercount of the true numberThe United States set a new record for daily infections of Covid-19 after reporting almost half a million positive cases as the surge of the Omicron variant spreads across the country.On Wednesday there were a startling 488,000 cases of the virus in the US, according to a New York Times database. However, even that figure is likely a serious undercount of the true numbers of positive cases due to the rising popularity of home tests and people who are infected but asymptomatic.The Associated Press contributed to this report Continue reading...
Analysis: Lack of affordability for first-time buyers means last year’s stellar price rises are unlikely to be repeatedIf Boris Johnson wants to know why the Conservative party struggles to win the support of young voters in London he could start by looking at the annual report on the housing market from the Nationwide.There is no single reason for the government’s unpopularity among people in their 20s and 30s in the capital, but housing is clearly a factor, and the current state of the market shows why. Without a top salary or generous parents, homeownership is all but impossible. Continue reading...
Eike Schmidt says it is also crucial to highlight issues of today rather than simply glorifying artistsThe world-famous Uffizi gallery in Florence displays an unrivalled collection of works by Renaissance greats including Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael. However, its director believes that is not enough, and says it is now crucial for museums to play a role in highlighting the issues of today and confront the “toxic social structures” of the past rather than simply glorifying its artists.Eike Schmidt, the director of Uffizi Galleries since 2015, has a reputation for modernisation and in a dramatic shift from the norm, he hosted an exhibition before Christmas aimed at reflecting the violence women have suffered at the hands of male perpetrators – beginning with one of the greatest sculptors of the 17th century, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Continue reading...
About 1,000 people, mostly Kurds, are waiting at a converted customs centre in Bruzgi for the chance to cross into EUThe giant warehouse towers over the Belarus countryside, less than a mile from the Polish border. In this 10,000 sq metre space patrolled by dozens of armed soldiers, 1,000 asylum seekers are crammed among countless industrial shelving units, held up on their way to Europe in the midst of a frigid winter.“We’re trapped in this building,” says Alima Skandar, 40. “We don’t want to go back to Iraq and we can’t cross the border. Please, help us.” Continue reading...
For 16 years, on and off, I was held at Her Majesty’s pleasure. It was the struggles and loss of a friend on the outside that made me realise how powerless I wasI am sure those who know my backstory of criminality imagine – reasonably – that the toughest times of my life were while I was a guest of Her Majesty, who kindly gave me full board and lodgings for 16 years, on and off, during the first six decades of my existence. And they are half right.My first taste of her hospitality came in 1957 when, at 14, I was ordered to spend three months in a detention centre. Then a relatively new concept, these were designed to give miscreants a “short, sharp shock” that would teach us to stay on the straight and narrow. Continue reading...
As the traditional dance is increasingly associated with nightclub culture, Amie Sultan seeks to change perceptions of the artform and those who perform itAs a trickle of tourists slowly returns to Egypt, the floating nightclubs along the Nile are back in business.And belly dancers are once again in high demand. The glitzy late-night shows attract visitors from all over the world, and especially from the Gulf’s Arab states, with dancers in revealing outfits performing with full traditional musical backing. Continue reading...
Egyptian singer Amr Diab uses camera installed in car to take photo of woman without consentThe French car manufacturer Citroën has withdrawn an advertisement featuring the Egyptian singer Amr Diab after it sparked widespread accusations of promoting the harassment of women.In the ad posted on Egyptian social media in early December, the 60-year-old pop star uses a camera installed in the car’s rearview mirror to secretly take a picture of a woman crossing in front of the vehicle. Continue reading...
Ride-hailing firm’s operating losses hit $6.3bn as Chinese regulators pursue customer-data inquiryThe Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Global has reported widening losses and a decline in third-quarter revenue, after its domestic business took a hit from a regulatory crackdown by Beijing.The company said operating losses hit $6.3bn (£4.68bn) in the nine months to the end of September, while revenue fell nearly 2% in its third quarter. Continue reading...
I had refused to accept my PTSD had returned. But on a flight to Budapest it became impossible to ignoreIt is hard to pinpoint the worst moment of your life. But when I think about my lowest ebb, a certain image begins to solidify: me, lying in the gangway of a plane, the cabin crew administering oxygen via a canister and a mask as we descend to Budapest airport and other passengers look on (bemused or horrified, I couldn’t say). A couple of minutes previously, a fog had descended on me as I sat in the seat next to my boyfriend; peculiar black clouds coalesced at the margins of my vision. I was passing out. “I need to lie down,” I said, with some urgency. “I need to lie down, now.”Why does this image stand out? I suppose it is because, ultimately, it is about denial – and the point at which that stops being possible. The thing I didn’t want to know was that I was ill. Again. I had no business being on a plane. I had only been able to get on the plane at all as a result of the large white wine and two co-codamol tablets I had necked at the airport. It was no doubt the chemical effects of these that led to me almost blacking out. That and the fact I had been hyperventilating for the duration of the flight. Continue reading...
We went for walks, marvelled at the views, saw baby eagles and had a lot of sex. But as the proprietor of the guest house could tell, not all was well between usBack in 2008, I lived in New York. I wasn’t a total stranger to North American winters – my stepmother is from Michigan, and the one and only time she persuaded me to go on a family sledging outing I was so cold I bailed and went back to sit in the car, like the moody teenager I most definitely was. But I’d never been on the continent for an entire winter. I bought a gigantic army surplus parka and resigned myself to months of wading through freezing slush, alternated with sitting in my studio apartment at night with the windows open because the ancient radiators had one setting: on. That was until I read an article in the New York Times travel section about upstate getaways. The mere mention of a charming B&B overlooking the Delaware River, where you could watch nesting eagles on a nearby bluff while sipping cognac, was all it took. Manhattan’s dreary ice-bound streets slipped away momentarily, and I imagined myself on that very deck. I was in a long-distance relationship at the time, and what, I reasoned, could be more romantic than such a weekend?It was February, the very worst part of winter, and any twinkle of New York City’s seasonal cheer had well and truly died. My boyfriend was due a visit, and I was ecstatic at the prospect of a trip out of the city. We would go somewhere a hundred times more romantic than my apartment (which housed the world’s smallest and most uncomfortable bed), a thousand times more interesting than the corner diner, and a million times more nurturing than the intersection of Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. I could see it all: the icy river threading its way below the B&B’s deck, the eagles soaring majestically above us, me and my boyfriend holding hands and laughing in the snow, pink-cheeked and very much in love. Continue reading...
by Kevin Rawlinson and Caroline Davies on (#5TFM7)
Tony Blair’s policy chief thought inquiry into police racism would raise unrealistic hopes for changeDowning Street initially opposed allowing the landmark Stephen Lawrence inquiry to examine police relations with minority ethnic communities, arguing that to do so would only raise unrealistic hopes for real change.The Macpherson inquiry eventually concluded that the Metropolitan police was institutionally racist, providing a watershed moment in race relations in the UK. But newly released Cabinet papers show Tony Blair wanted to treat the racist murder as an individual incident and to search for lessons to be learned for future investigations of racist killings. Continue reading...
by Rhoda Kwan in Taipei and Emma Graham-Harrison on (#5TEN9)
Reports say editors, board members and pop singer were held in early morning sweep as 200 officers raid officeThe most prominent pro-democracy media outlet still operating in Hong Kong, Stand News, said it will shut down after police raided its offices, froze its assets and arrested senior journalists and former board members including pop star Denise Ho.Authorities deployed an anti-sedition law in their crackdown that was drawn up under British colonial rule and had not been used for decades. A senior police officer accused the online site of “inciting hatred” against the Hong Kong government in news articles and interviews. Continue reading...
Analysis: the police raid and closure of the pro-democracy website has left journalists wondering who will be nextThe Christmas attack on Hong Kong website Stand News was no great surprise in a city where all forms of political opposition are being dismantled wholesale, but the scale, speed and nature of the operation to shutter this pro-democracy website were still shocking.Over 200 police officers swept into the newsroom, and others fanned out over the city making arrests under a harsh sedition law from the days of British colonial rule that had been gathering dust for decades. Continue reading...