Private jet, which carried seven passengers and two crew members, was headed towards Orlando, FloridaNine people died in a jet crash on Wednesday in the Dominican Republic, including acclaimed Puerto Rican music producer Flow La Movie.The private jet, which carried seven passengers and two crew members, took off from La Isabela international airport in El Higüero and was headed towards Orlando, Florida. However, the pilots quickly declared an emergency and attempted to divert the flight to the nearby Las Américas international airport, crashing the plane in an attempted emergency landing. Continue reading...

As ban takes effect from midnight, UK travel operators say news is ‘devastating for ski industry’

Olaf Scholz faces calls from some EU leaders to threaten Moscow with termination of Nord Stream 2Germany’s new chancellor faced pressure from fellow leaders at his first EU summit to include the future of Nord Stream 2 as part of the “massive price” to be paid in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.Arriving in Brussels, Olaf Scholz, who replaced Angela Merkel last week, said his government was committed to protecting Europe’s borders, as Nato warned the number of Russian troops being mobilised by the Kremlin was continuing to grow. Continue reading...

The Gruffalo creators are back with Superworm, their ninth festive special – that’s one more than Eric and Ernie. The Christmas TV royalty talk tinkering with Olivia Colman’s script … and the perils of mega successMeeting Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is a little like meeting the royal family. To learn anything about them is to be bombarded with an avalanche of statistics. In this country alone, a Julia Donaldson book sells every 11 seconds. In 2014 it was reported that 40p in every pound spent on children’s picture books went on a Donaldson title. And her work with Scheffler has taken on a rabid life outside of literature, too. Go to the woods and you’re likely to discover a Gruffalo trail. Chessington World of Adventures theme park is essentially a Donaldson/Scheffler temple, brimming with themed rides and marauding characters.And, let’s not forget, they are also the reigning king and queen of Christmas Day. Starting with The Gruffalo in 2009, one of their books has been sumptuously animated and proudly placed in every BBC One Christmas schedule. This year, Superworm – about an earthworm superhero captured by a wizard lizard – has received the treatment, narrated by none other than Olivia Colman and with Matt Smith as the titular creepy crawly. In grand Donaldson/Scheffler tradition the animation is bright and tactile, and the storyline has been augmented with a rich seam of festive melancholy. On a Christmas day dripping with repeats, this will not only go down as the BBC’s stand-out offering, but is also their ninth Christmas special. If you’re counting, Morecambe and Wise only managed eight. Continue reading...

Latest Brexit red tape will come into force alongside a series of further checks at Dover and other portsVan drivers will be required to get new international operating licences if they want to travel back and forth to the EU from May next year, the government has announced.The new red tape will come into force next year alongside a series of further checks at Dover and other ports that were delayed three times in 2021 because of lack of preparation for Brexit in Great Britain. Continue reading...

Pattern of criminal behaviour seems to be emerging, says judge as another sailor is jailed for raping a colleagueA judge has called for a ban on parties in the armed forces involving excessive drinking after a Royal Navy sailor was jailed for raping a female colleague following a party at a hotel.The judge said a pattern of criminal behaviour seemed to be emerging and asked military chiefs to consider finding a way of clamping down on drink-fuelled parties that end with colleagues bunking down together. Continue reading...

From contracts for mates to flat makeovers and illicit parties, barely a day passes without a crisis at No 10. But using the tabloid language of the 90s doesn’t scratch the surface of this government’s sins

The activist and acclaimed author of Ain’t I a Woman and All About Love has died. Here, leading contemporaries pay tribute to her• A life in quotes: bell hooks• bell hooks, author and activist, dies aged 69British journalist and author of the bestselling Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race Continue reading...

Both have experienced being treated as outsiders in the UK, but can they broach one of Britain’s most divisive topics?

Garage worker Koci Selamaj, 36, accepts responsibility for death but pleads not guilty to murderKoci Selamaj, 36, has accepted responsibility for the death of the schoolteacher Sabina Nessa in London in September 2021, but has pleaded not guilty to her murder during a pre-trial hearing at the Old Bailey.Nessa, 28, was found dead in Cator park, Kidbrooke, south-east London. Continue reading...

A festive collection from our archive of favourite starters, main courses and puddingsA decadent starter – and a godsend for cooks who like to get ahead. Continue reading...

Fifteen questions on general knowledge and topical trivia plus a few jokes every Thursday – how will you fare?The quiz master is already enjoying his Christmas break, but before he left he deposited 15 sealed envelopes in mysterious locations around London which have since been collated into the quiz you see before you. Fifteen questions to test your topical and general knowledge, featuring some of your favourite Thursday friends: Ron from Sparks, Kate Bush, and that Doctor Who reference to spot. Let us know how you get on in the commentsThe Thursday quiz, No 34If you do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers, please feel free to email martin.belam@theguardian.com but remember, the quiz master’s word is always final, and you don’t want him breaking in and stealing all your presents. Continue reading...

Government says travel will be limited to ‘essential purposes’ for vaccinated and unvaccinated

As election run-off looms, José Antonio Kast’s opponents sound the alarmMaría Irene Campos was a woman on a mission.“I want to send the message that Chile will never again be communist,” the 74-year-old retiree proclaimed as she hit the streets last Friday to catch a glimpse of the man she believes can save her South American homeland from such a fate. Continue reading...

The recorded incidence of autism has increased 787% in 20 years. For many parents, getting help for an autistic child alerted them to their own traitsWhen John Purnell’s 10-year-old son was diagnosed as autistic, he knew exactly how to respond. “I’ve always been fascinated by research, by detail, by finding out everything there is to find out about something,” he says. “So I did a really deep dive.”As he pored over academic papers and delved into medical science – including how many autistic people have a propensity and appetite for copious research – an unexpected realisation crept into his mind. “I was reading about the traits of an autistic person, the difficulties they often have in social situations, the need for order and planning: and suddenly I thought: this person they’re describing isn’t just my son – it’s me.” Continue reading...

Police say children fell about 10 metres after wind lifted a bouncy castle into the air at Hillcrest primary school in DevonportA fifth child has died and three remain critically injured after they fell about 10 metres from a jumping castle that was blown into the air in north-west Tasmania.Police confirmed two girls and two boys, in year 5 and 6, died in the tragedy at Hillcrest primary school in Devonport on Thursday morning. In a statement on Thursday evening police confirmed a fifth child died in hospital. Continue reading...

Research shows the vaccine-evasive new Covid variant may mean ongoing booster shots are required

Hu Xijin became leading voice of strident nationalism with millions of social media followersA Chinese state tabloid editor who became a leading voice of strident nationalism with millions of social media followers has announced his retirement.A self-described former pro-democracy protester turned outspoken newspaper editor, Hu Xijin helped usher in a new era of brash, assertive nationalism under the president, Xi Jinping. Continue reading...

Climate experts warn that plans to repurpose waste gas is not a solution, but more like placing a Band-Aid over a gaping woundIn January of 2019, Chase Lochmiller and Cully Cavness, recently reunited prep school pals from Denver, drove out to the snow-covered plains of Wyoming to bring a piece of tech culture to the American heartland. Trembling in -20F (-29C) temperatures, they wired up a prototype of their brainchild: a machine that harnesses the “waste gas” from oil rigs to power mining for cryptocurrency.Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, the most-popular decentralized digital currency, have a notoriously large carbon footprint (bitcoin mining alone consumes about half as much electricity in a year as all of the UK). So to leverage a cheap source of energy to run their bitcoin mining operations, Lochmiller and Cavness found themselves partnering with oil companies to repurpose a byproduct, primarily methane, that’s typically vented or burnt off in flares. Continue reading...

Some cases from the Metro theatre on Friday likely to be Omicron and at least 600 people who attended are now isolating

Jim Chalmers has responded to the mid-year budget update; six injured in Melbourne crash; Qantas forecasts loss exceeding $1.1 billion; Queensland reports 22 new coronavirus cases, 24 in South Australia, NSW records 1,742, Victoria records 1,622; first Omicron case in New Zealand – follow all the day’s news

Shortfall of 16p a day leaves children living on just rice as suppliers to Nike, Zara and H&M in Karnataka underpay by estimated £41mGarment workers making clothes for international brands in Karnataka, a major clothing production hub in India, say their children are going hungry as factories refuse to pay the legal minimum wage in what is claimed to be the biggest wage theft to ever hit the fashion industry.More than 400,000 garment workers in Karnataka have not been paid the state’s legal minimum wage since April 2020, according to an international labour rights organisation that monitors working conditions in factories. Continue reading...

The peatlands of Soomaa national park are host to a stunning variety of birds and beasts – and even the odd white-thighed bog swimmerAhead, the jellied earth sways. As I approach a natural pool at the edge of a wide, wild expanse in central Estonia, the bog feels untrustworthy, if not quite menacing. This far into the Soomaa national park, the ground is so unsure of itself that even trees have given up. My guide, Aivar Ruukel, tells me that it’s not the same animals – wolves and bears are among the creatures that patrol these lands, hoping to find a meal trapped in the mire.Elsewhere in this wilderness there are elk and raccoon dogs. Recently, wolverines from the north have been spotted, too. “People have been seeing golden jackals,” says Aivar, “and normally they are in Turkey.” The reason for this extraordinary menagerie is, perhaps inevitably, linked to Estonia’s low human population. Despite being slightly larger than the Netherlands, Estonia has about 7.5% of its population, making it one of the most sparsely populated nations in Europe. In Soomaa, it’s easy to believe these stats. Continue reading...

Human Rights Watch says armed separatists in anglophone regions have made schools a battleground, with hundreds of school pupils and teachers attacked, kidnapped or threatenedArmed separatists in Cameroon’s anglophone regions have attacked, kidnapped and threatened hundreds of school pupils in nearly five years of violence that has forced more than 230,000 children to flee their homes, a report has found.In a detailed analysis of the conflict that has gripped the English-speaking regions since 2017, dozens of students and teachers speak of brutal attacks by armed groups who have made education a battleground in their fight to form their own state. Continue reading...

Red light … Green light! The Top 10 whittles down the competition with a South Korean smash and a riotously delightful comedy

Hwang Dong-hyuk’s South Korean satire chimed with a massive global audience facing calamitous times

How does it feel to go back on stage night after night in a play that’s been mauled by critics and deserted by audiences? Richard Eyre and other directors and actors relive their traumaMovies, TV shows and books can all get terrible reviews and small audiences, but the difference when this happens in theatre is that the actors have to go back on stage and remake the work just after critics have declared it disastrous. “It is so crushing for actors to have to go on night after night bearing the weight of failure,” says Richard Eyre, artistic director of the Royal National Theatre from 1987 to 1997. “And that’s one of the reasons actors are such stoics. For directors and writers, there’s a sense of disembowelment you carry round if you’ve had a major failure – but they can just fuck off to Tenerife, and some do. Actors are obliged to soak it up.”Actor Michael Simkins, who wrote the theatrical memoir What’s My Motivation?, says: “If I had to articulate what it feels like to be in the middle of a play you feel is dying on its arse, it’s a cold sense of dread, like battery acid in your stomach. After terrible reviews, a sort of numbness sets in that is still there for the second night. You haven’t yet fully processed it. The first thing you do is tell all your friends who have booked tickets to cancel.” Continue reading...

We were told coronavirus didn’t discriminate, but it didn’t need to – society had already done that for us. But there is a path to a fairer future if we want itIn June 2020, I attended a Black Lives Matter demonstration in north London, not far from my house. My wife had found out about it from friends who’d found out about it on Facebook. We took the kids. Well over 1,000 people went; beyond my immediate circle, I only recognised a few there. The soundsystem was poor and I couldn’t hear what was being said from the stage. We took a knee like Colin Kaepernick while raising a fist like the Black Panthers and held the pose for eight minutes – the length of time Derek Chauvin kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck. Then we clapped, chatted and made our way back to our locked-down homes. I have no idea who called the demonstration. It just happened and then it was gone.In the weeks before and after, institutions made statements; reviews were announced; social media avatars changed; museums reconsidered their inventory; Labour-led town halls went purple; curricula were revised; statues came down. Overnight, bestseller booklists were filled with anti-racist manuals and explorations of whiteness. This was the virus within the virus: a strain of anti-racist consciousness that spread through the globe with great speed, prompted by a video that had gone viral. Not everybody caught it, but everybody was aware of it, and most were, in some way, affected by it. Continue reading...

Report by the European Council on Foreign Relations says that more people see bloc as a key partner than the USThe public do not share the UK government’s appetite for perpetual conflict with the EU and more people see the bloc as a key future partner than the US, according to a report on post-Brexit foreign policy.“The Johnson government seems to need the perennial fights of a permanent Brexit,” the report, by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) thinktank, said, warning that its approach was “eroding the UK’s capacity to cooperate with the EU”. Continue reading...

Nearly 90,000 Hong Kongers apply to resettle in the UK this year amid a crackdown on dissent in the territoryBeijing has claimed the UK wants to make Hong Kongers “second-class citizens” with its British national (overseas) (BNO) visa scheme, after new figures showed almost 90,000 people have applied from the former British colony to resettle in the UK.“[I]in flagrant violation of its international commitment, the UK tries to turn many Hong Kong residents into ‘second-class citizens’ in the UK and reap benefit from this,” foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in a weekly press conference on Wednesday. Continue reading...

The powerful weather system, driven by unseasonably high temperatures, closed highways, spawned tornadoes and caused outagesLess than a week after a swarm of powerful tornadoes devastated Kentucky and four other states, a freakish wind storm has brought “Dust Bowl” conditions and gusts of more than 100 mph to parts of the Great Plains and upper midwest, meteorologists said on Wednesday.The low pressure wind system, driven by unseasonably high temperatures, closed highways in western Kansas, spawned reported tornadoes in Nebraska and Iowa and raised concerns about fires because of the unusual heat. Continue reading...

As Russian soldiers continue to amass near the Ukrainian border shots are already being fired and there are fears that President Putin is planning an invasion, says Luke HardingUkrainian soldiers are digging themselves into trenches along their country’s border with Russia as tensions mount and fears of an invasion ordered by Moscow continue to grow.The Guardian’s senior foreign correspondent Luke Harding tells Michael Safi that the conditions on the ground would be familiar to soldiers more than a century ago in the first world war: mud, corrugated metal sheeting and barbed wire. But in the skies above, high-tech drones whiz around surveying the landscape and threatening those below. Continue reading...

King regrets holding 18th birthday bash that reportedly had 21 invitees at a time when Covid rules stipulate a maximum of four guests

French President Emmanuel Macron says Australia behaved badly after ending its submarine deal with France before opting for a nuclear powered arrangement in collaboration with the United States and United Kingdom. Macron previously accused the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, of lying to him over the abandoned $90bn submarine contract. Speaking in an interview with TF1 and LCI television stations, Macron said: "The Australians have treated us in a bad manner, industrially and strategically. We responded in the firmest manner, and it will be felt in time, believe me. The Australians behaved badly"► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube

Latest updates: unvaccinated arrivals must quarantine for five days; Poland reported 660 deaths in a day, the highest since April

Highest honours went to Naeem Rashid, who died while challenging the gunman, and Abdul Aziz who lured the attacker away from othersTen people who risked their lives to save others during the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacres have been honoured in New Zealand’s most prestigious bravery awards.“The courage demonstrated by these New Zealanders was selfless and extraordinary. They have our deepest respect and gratitude for their actions on that day,” said the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. “Each of them put their life on the line to save others. If not for their collective actions, the loss of life could have been even greater.” Continue reading...

The children’s commissioner for England is advising parents to broach such topics early to limit future risks

Inspectors and monitors say suicidal women and people with serious injuries not adequately supportedRape survivors who arrive in the UK on small boats across the Channel are being neglected by the authorities while others are being inadequately treated for life-changing injuries, a damning report has disclosed.Inspectors found that suicidal women who had been repeatedly raped by people smugglers were not adequately supported after arriving on UK soil. Continue reading...

Man, 31, from the town arrested on suspicion of arson and murderOne person has died and two have been confirmed as missing after a fire in Reading, as police warned there were likely to be no more survivors.A 31-year-old man from Reading was arrested on Wednesday morning on suspicion of arson and murder. Continue reading...

Project for inmates due to be deported at end of sentences will expand Danish prison estateDenmark plans to rent 300 prison cells in Kosovo for inmates due to be deported at the end of their sentences, the Danish government announced.The project, which seeks to ease prison overcrowding, will also expand Denmark’s prison estate by 326 places between 2022 and 2025, the Danish justice ministry said in a statement. Continue reading...

Picture emerges showing Tory mayoral candidate, activists and a party donor crammed together during lockdown

Chief medical officer warns of ‘two epidemics on top of each other’ as UK records highest ever daily total of new cases

Defence says memorial to slave trader toppled last June was ‘indecent and threatening’ to city’s black communityThe statue of Edward Colston in Bristol was “a monument to racism”, a court has heard, as a defendant described the moment he gave the signal to topple the memorial to the slave trader.Rhian Graham, 30, Milo Ponsford, 26, and Sage Willoughby, 22, are accused of helping to tear down the statue of the slave trader during a Black Lives Matter protest on 7 June last year. They are on trial alongside Jake Skuse, 33, who is accused of helping to roll the bronze to Bristol harbour where it was thrown into the River Avon. Continue reading...

Florin Roman, the minister for innovation and digitalization, resigned after being on his post for less than a monthRomania’s minister of innovation and digitalization has resigned after an investigation by journalists who reported they found significant irregularities on his resume and evidence he plagiarized from an academic paper.Florin Roman, who had served in Romania’s new coalition government for less than a month, quit his post after Romania’s Libertatea newspaper published a third article calling his claimed educational credentials into question. Continue reading...

In acclaimed works Ain’t I a Woman and All About Love the writer shared her ideas about race, feminism and romance with flair and compassionGloria Jean Watkins, better known by her pen name bell hooks, has died aged 69.Her niece Ebony Motley tweeted: “The family of @bellhooks is sad to announce the passing of our sister, aunt, great aunt and great great aunt.” Continue reading...

Auction house credits younger, tech-savvy collectors for highest annual sales in its 277-year historySotheby’s has sold a record $7.3bn (£5.5bn) worth of art and other collectibles so far this year – the most in its 277-year history.The auction house said on Wednesday that an “influx of younger, tech-savvy collectors” buying luxury items such as handbags, jewellery, wine and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) during the pandemic had helped lift sales to the record high. Continue reading...

Controversy leads to parliamentary inquiry, calls for ‘must-be-won’ draw similar to UK’s – and Shergar jokesIt has been said that even the dead racehorse Shergar has a better chance of winning Ireland’s national lottery than a member of the public.For six months the jackpot has yet to be won, prompting calls for an investigation, a reduction in the number of balls to increase the chances of a win and on Wednesday, a parliamentary inquiry. Continue reading...

Russian leader defies western boycott and forms ‘new model of cooperation’ with Chinese leaderVladimir Putin has confirmed he will attend the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, an event that Boris Johnson and other western leaders have boycotted in protest at human rights abuses in China.Putin made the pledge during a video call with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, as he said that a “new model of cooperation has been formed between our countries, based on other matters of principles such as non-interference in [each other’s] internal affairs”. Continue reading...

Decision follows court ruling that Russia was behind 2019 murder of Chechen dissident in German capitalGermany has expelled two Russian diplomats and accused the Kremlin of infringing on its sovereignty after a German court ruled on Wednesday that the 2019 murder of a Chechen dissident in Berlin took place at the behest of the Russian authorities.Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili, 40, a Georgian citizen who fought against Russia during the second Chechen war in the early 2000s, was shot twice in the head at close range in the Kleiner Tiergarten, a park in central Berlin, in August 2019. Continue reading...