The 26-year-old swimmer and father-of-one swept all before him at the Tokyo Olympics… but his exit from Strictly, he admits, was humbling

UN agency says world must support urgent rollout of new vaccine as it reveals new figures for malaria deathsThe World Health Organization has called for a “massive, urgent” effort to get the new malaria vaccine into the arms of African children, as it warned that about 180,000 more people were dying annually from the disease than had previously been thought.Dr Pedro Alonso, director of the WHO’s global malaria programme, said the RTS,S vaccine, recommended for widespread rollout in October, represented a historic opportunity to save tens of thousands of lives, mostly those of under-fives in sub-Saharan Africa. Continue reading...

With $82.5m repayment due, property developer appears to be heading for restructuringShares in the struggling Chinese property developer Evergrande hit a record low on Monday after strong indications that it is on the verge of a potentially disastrous default and could be forced into a full-blown restructuring.The company has lurched from one crisis to another in recent months as it faced a series of repayments on debts – three times waiting until the last possible moment to stump up the cash needed to stay afloat. Continue reading...

Exclusive: at least 16 notices issued to prevent future deaths after inquests highlight care failures

Peter Jackson spent four years editing down 60 hours of unseen footage into the new three-part documentary series. Was it worth the wait?As a younger Beatles fan who grew up with the idea that the band were falling apart in January 1969, Get Back was a joy. My immediate thought was how bright and vibrant everything looked, compared with the graininess of the original Let It Be film. It could have been shot yesterday – apart from the outfits and hairstyles. While not exactly a big revelation for those of us who never believed that Yoko Ono broke up the Beatles, it’s great to see that her presence here didn’t upset Paul, George and Ringo nearly as much as it seemed to upset commentators. We see absolutely no evidence of her “interfering”, as has been claimed over the years, and I loved McCartney’s prescient remark that in 50 years’ time people would be saying the Beatles broke up “because Yoko sat on an amp”. Continue reading...

Amelie Osborn-Smith says she feels ‘very lucky’ in first interview after incident while rafting in ZambiaA British teenager who was mauled by a crocodile in southern Africa feared she would need to have her foot amputated, and said she felt “very lucky” during an interview from her hospital bed.Amelie Osborn-Smith, 18, was left with her right foot “hanging loose” and a dislocated hip after the attack in the Zambezi River in Zambia while she was taking a break during a white water rafting expedition. Continue reading...

Scotland’s unique scheme offers young arrivals ongoing support from navigating bureaucracy to grasping local slangJoseph was just 16 years old when he arrived completely alone in Scotland – a country he had never heard of – seeking safety, after travelling across the world for six months from Vietnam to the UK, living in forests and being smuggled across the Channel.On his journey, Joseph had learned not to trust people, so when he first met his guardian – an “on your side” adult allocated to every unaccompanied young arrival – he had doubts. “She was saying nice things but I wasn’t sure she was going to help me,” he says. Continue reading...

The far-right French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour appeared to be put in a headlock by a protester at his first campaign, days after he formally declared his candidacy in a video highlighting his anti-migrant and anti-Islam views.Videos online appeared to show Zemmour being grabbed by a man at the heated rally near Paris on Sunday, during which anti-racism activists were also reportedly attacked. He was later reported to have suffered slight injuries

Continuing our series looking behind the headlines of 2021, the former Royal Marine on his perilous evacuation of hundreds of dogs and cats during the fall of Kabul – and how he answers the sceptics

Commission claims provider’s litany of alleged failures left the safety of Merna Aprem – who had autism and epilepsy – at ‘real and significant risk’

The recent coup dashed hopes raised by the end of the military regime but newly liberated artists refuse to submit quietlyIn the new dawn of a heady post-revolutionary era, Suzannah Mirghani returned in 2019 to the country of her birth for the first time in years. Her mission was to shoot a short film on Sudanese soil. It proved unexpectedly straightforward.“When the revolution happened, there was this exuberance,” she says, from her Qatari home. “When we came to make our film, we were given the green light. We were told: ‘Anything you want’. Continue reading...

Search to resume when ‘a bit safer’, rescuer says, while some residents reported to have returned home after weekend eruption to check belongingsIndonesia’s Mount Semeru spewed more ash on Monday, forcing rescuers to suspend the search for survivors as aerial images showed the extent of the devastation unleashed by the volcano’s deadly weekend eruption.People living near the volcano were earlier on Monday warned to remain vigilant after the eruption, as heavy wind and rain brought search-and-rescue efforts to a halt. Continue reading...

The self-taught assouf star broke out of the underground with a stunningly adventurous album that fused psychedelia, introspection and rock-star flair

After suffering bereavements and a dark period in her 50s, Siobhan Daniels, 62, decided to embrace adventure. So she swapped her flat for life on the roadSiobhan Daniels is giving a virtual tour of her home. “I’ve got my gin bar,” she says, flicking on decorative lights, “an oven big enough for Christmas lunch ... and a full-size shower and toilet.” The moment she walked in, she knew it was the home for her. She gave up her flat in Kent, disposed of most possessions – and moved into this two-berth Auto-Trail Tribute motorhome.Daniels, 62, is speaking from a farm in Dorset, where she volunteers in exchange for free electric hook-up. She has recently travelled south from Scotland, where she arrived via Sussex, Herefordshire and the Brecon Beacons. Of course, everywhere now is both an arrival and a departure. “I lie here and look at the map and think: ‘Where am I? Where do I want to go?’ It’s as random as that.”Tell us: has your life taken a new direction after the age of 60? Continue reading...

The creation of the modern, interconnected world is generally credited to European pioneers. But Africa was the wellspring for almost everything they achieved – and African lives were the terrible cost. By Howard W French Continue reading...

Researchers say Beijing used cloud-seeding to create artificial rain and lower pollution in July, in latest example of ‘blueskying’ effortsChinese weather authorities successfully controlled the weather ahead of a major political celebration earlier this year, according to a Beijing university study.On 1 July the Chinese Communist party marked its centenary with major celebrations including tens of thousands of people at a ceremony in Tiananmen Square, and a research paper from Tsinghua University has said an extensive cloud-seeding operation in the hours prior ensured clear skies and low air pollution. Continue reading...

Commuters are being urged to plan ahead as bus and train drivers stage walkouts over pay equality while teachers protest ‘unmanageable’ workloads

Successor Christopher Luxon said Collins had a ‘real passion’ for new portfolio of science and innovationNew Zealand’s former opposition leader Judith Collins has been demoted from the National party’s frontbench and tumbled 18 places in its ranks, nearly two weeks after being ousted following her attempt to crush a rival.New leader Christopher Luxon announced the party’s caucus reshuffle on Monday. Collins, who copped the biggest demotion in the party, will take on a single portfolio – research, science and innovation – but will remain in the shadow cabinet. Continue reading...

Gemstones worth €300,000 shared between Mont Blanc climber and authorities as man praised for handing discovery to police in 2013A treasure trove of emeralds, rubies and sapphires buried for decades on a glacier off France’s Mont Blanc has finally been shared between the climber who discovered them and local authorities, eight years after they were found.The mountaineer stumbled across the precious stones in 2013. They had remained hidden in a metal box that was onboard an Indian plane that crashed in the desolate landscape some 50 years earlier. Continue reading...

High commissioner says a large number of cases of the new Covid variant have been detected on other continents

Hospitals already struggling to cope as they enter winter, says president of Royal College of Emergency Medicine; people march in Brussels against latest restrictions

Incumbent president Adama Barrow wins by significant margin in test of democratic stability after decades of Yahya Jammeh’s ruleGambian opposition candidates have rejected the results of Saturday’s historic vote in the West African nation that suggest the incumbent president, Adama Barrow, had easily won re-election.According to official results announced by the electoral commission, Barrow received about 53% of Saturday’s vote, far outstripping his nearest rival, political veteran Ousainou Darboe, who won about 28%. In 2016 Barrow unseated the former president Yahya Jammeh, who is accused of human rights abuses and corruption. Continue reading...

Military calls in air and ground support to force attackers to retreat after being overwhelmed by their numbers, government saysAt least 12 soldiers and “dozens of terrorists” have been killed in a battle in western Niger, the defence ministry says, in the conflict-wracked “three borders” zone.Another eight soldiers were wounded in the clash with “hundreds of armed terrorists” 5km (three miles) from Fantio, the ministry statement on Sunday said. Continue reading...

An amendment to the Armed Forces Bill recommends rapes cases should not be heard under courts martialA serving member of the Royal Navy, who took legal action against the Ministry of Defence after her rape case collapsed, has backed calls for serious offences to be investigated and tried through the civilian courts rather than the military system.The woman, known as Servicewoman A, has called on the government to accept an amendment to the Armed Forces Bill, which she says will “encourage more women to come forward” and protect them from the “appalling consequences” of reporting rape within their unit. Continue reading...

Covid vaccine rollout must reach developing world to prevent further variants, experts say

No indication of terrorism, say Derbyshire police, nor of when residents will be allowed back homeA man has been arrested on suspicion of making or possessing an explosive substance in Derby, as more than 50 houses were evacuated in the area.The man remains in police custody, but there is no indication it is a terror-related incident, Derbyshire police said. The military is at the scene after officers carried out a warrant in King Alfred Street, Normanton, at about 11.30am on Sunday. Continue reading...

Two officers and four protesters hospitalised, and 20 people arrested, after clashes in BrusselsBelgian police have fired water cannon and used teargas to disperse protesters opposed to compulsory health measures against the coronavirus pandemic.About 8,000 people marched through Brussels towards the headquarters of the EU, chanting “freedom” and letting off fireworks. Continue reading...

Exclusive: failure to prevent children seeing online porn puts them at risk of abuse and lifelong trauma, say children’s safety groupThe UK data watchdog must introduce age verification for commercial pornography sites or face a high court challenge over any failure to act, children’s safety groups have warned.The demand in a letter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) states that the government’s failure to stop children seeing porn is causing lifelong trauma and putting children at risk of abuse and exploitation. It urges the ICO to use the powers under the recently introduced age appropriate design code (AADC) to introduce rigorous age-checking procedures for publicly accessible porn sites. Continue reading...

Éric Zemmour formally declared his candidacy on Tuesday, highlighting his anti-migrant and anti-Islam viewsThe far-right French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour appeared to be put in a headlock by a protester at his first campaign, a few days after he formally declared his candidacy in a video highlighting his anti-migrant and anti-Islam views.Videos online appeared to show Zemmour being grabbed by a man at the heated rally near Paris on Sunday, during which anti-racism activists were also reportedly attacked. Continue reading...

Monday: A terminally ill patient has his funding slashed. Plus: Guardian Australia’s top music picks this monthGood morning. More NDIS participants are speaking up about funding cuts putting them in positions that would reduce their quality of life, and Australia’s diplomatic influence in Asia has waned.A terminally ill NDIS patient is facing re-hospitalisation after his funding for a 24-hour nurse was cut. Ian Haywood is the latest NDIS participant to speak out about what the federal Labor party and disability advocates say are “stealth cuts”. Haywood, who lives with motor neurone disease, had his plan cut to cover just six hours of nursing care each day, far less than the round-the-clock care he has previously been approved for. “They don’t think it is ‘reasonable and necessary’ for Ian to have nursing funding,” said his partner, Bianca*. “We think it is reasonable for him to stay home and it is necessary in order for him to live. It’s cheaper for them if he dies.” Continue reading...

Candidate for Les Républicains seeks rightwing votes on weekend Éric Zemmour launches new partyEmmanuel Macron came under fire from the French right at the weekend as Valérie Pécresse was chosen as the presidential candidate for Les Républicains, while the far-right TV pundit Éric Zemmour launched a new party and Marine Le Pen travelled to Poland for a show of force with the Polish prime minister and other European populist parties.Pécresse said her “mission” was to stop Macron. She called him a “zigzagging” president who had “run France into the wall with debt and taxes, a society where there is no more respect or authority”. In her first interview, with the Journal du Dimanche, she said Macron had saddled future generations with a wealth of problems including “debt, commercial deficit, taxes, struggling public services [and] a chronic crisis of authority”. She added: “France is damaged and divided, everything has to be repaired.” Continue reading...

The Australian actor on creating his character Armond, the magic of Tales of the City and that meme-inspiring suitcase scene

Artist would sell stencil used to paint mural depicting what was thought to be Oscar Wilde on listed buildingBanksy has offered to raise millions of pounds towards buying Reading prison, where Oscar Wilde was once held, so that it can be turned into an arts centre.The street artist has promised to match the jail’s £10m asking price by selling the stencil he used to paint on the Grade II-listed building in March, a move campaigners hope will prevent it from being sold to housing developers. Continue reading...

Letter from detainees urges MPs not to back nationality and borders bill to be debated in parliament this week

Her supporters call her Emmanuel Macron’s worst nightmare, but she faces a tough task to unseat himWhen Valérie Pécresse crossed rural France this summer, visiting farms and villages to escape what she called her grotesquely unfair image as a “blond bourgeoise” from Versailles, she promised to smash the French Republic’s glass ceiling. “I will be the first female president of France,” she told meeting halls to cheers.Since Emmanuel Macron won the presidency in 2017 as a shock outsider with no election experience and a party put together in a few months, French politics has thrived on novelty. Pécresse’s supporters say her status as a woman is refreshingly new and makes her Macron’s worst nightmare. Continue reading...

Francis says fear, indifference and cynical disregard continue to condemn people to death at seaPope Francis has returned to Lesbos, the Greek island long at the centre of Europe’s refugee crisis, to offer comfort to asylum seekers and harsh words for a continent that has all too often rejected them.Five years after his last visit, the pontiff admonished the west for its handling of the humanitarian crisis. Instead of welcoming people fleeing poverty and war, its indifference and cynical disregard had continued to condemn people to death, he said. Continue reading...

Helping Darling to relax has been vital – but unlike a human, she isn’t dealing with the ethical and cognitive issues often involved in post-traumatic stress

In early November, fruit pickers on Australian farms were granted a minimum wage, in a historic decision handed down by the fair work commission. However, unfair pay is just one example of the shocking conditions plaguing this sector, where it’s alleged that workers – many from the Pacific islands – are routinely exploited.Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to reporter Cait Kelly about the dark side of Australian farm workYou can also read: Continue reading...

Only six industry professionals among intake for Teach.Maths NOW scholarship in 2020 and all but one dropped out of program

Frontline workers warn how children as young as seven are being bombarded with harmful online sexual material

As concern grows among experts about the impact on children of seeing pornographic images, how can access be restricted?

Open letter condemning Harriet’s treatment has been signed by hundreds of students and supportersStudents at an Oxford University college have accused staff of disregarding their welfare after a postgrad who alleged she was sexually assaulted said she was treated with hostility after making a complaint.Harriet, a PhD student at Balliol, who has multiple disabilities, alleged she was repeatedly sexually assaulted in 2019 by a fellow student. The college has announced an independent inquiry into its handling of her complaint after she said staff made inappropriate comments about her appearance and behaviour and concluded no further action should be taken without interviewing or accepting evidence from her.The chaplain, Bruce Kinsey, asked her if she was aware of the effect she had on men, called her very physically attractive and said she should be wary of the impact on her alleged attacker.Kinsey told her: “You don’t want to piss people off who you might meet again downstream.”When she reapplied for disability access accommodation she received an email from the praefectus, Tom Melham, implying that her behaviour was a problem, including drinking. Continue reading...

Dozens more injured as highest volcano on densely populated Java island spews huge ash cloud into airRescuers have been sifting through smouldering debris and thick mud in search of survivors a day after the highest volcano on Java island erupted, killing at least 14 people with searing gas and ash.Mount Semeru in the Lumajang district in East Java province spewed thick columns of ash more than 12,000 metres (40,000 feet) into the sky in a sudden eruption on Saturday, triggered by heavy rains. Villages and nearby towns were blanketed and several hamlets were buried under tons of mud from volcanic debris. Continue reading...

Iran’s natural allies are said to have been surprised by how much it had gone back on its own compromisesThe US is hoping pressure from Russia, China and some Arab Gulf states may yet persuade Iran to moderate its negotiating stance in regards to the steps the Biden administration must take before both sides return to the 2015 nuclear deal.Talks in Vienna faltered badly last week, when the new hardline Iranian administration increased its levels of uranium enrichment and tabled proposals that US officials said at the weekend were “not serious”since they had gone back on all the progress made in the previous round of talks. Continue reading...

Her silver win with a lift of 161kg was the first ever medal for the UK in women’s weightlifting – a thrill made all the sweeter, she says, by Team GB camaraderie

A 'formal party' in Downing Street in December 2020 would have been contrary to guidance, the justice secretary has admitted, saying it would have been 'the wrong thing to do'. Dominic Raab told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, however, that Boris Johnson had assured him no rules had been broken, despite reports from various sources in several newspapers

Government review to seek answers regarding circumstances that led to Arthur’s deathThe government is launching a national review into the killing of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes to protect other children from harm and identify improvements needed in the agencies that came into contact with him before his death.Announcing the review on Sunday, the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, said the government would “not rest until we have the answers we need”. Continue reading...

Local media and witnesses say dozens injured and at least 15 arrested in incident in YangonFive people were killed and at least 15 arrested after Myanmar security forces rammed into an anti-coup protest in a car in Yangon on Sunday, according to local media.Witnesses on the scene said dozens had been injured. Photos and videos on social media show a vehicle that had crashed through the protesters and bodies lying on the road. Continue reading...

Skunks, iguanas, terrapins, big cats… Britain has more invasive and exotic animals than you imagine. Meet the search and rescue enthusiasts dedicated to capturing them and keeping them safeSometime in 2016, Chris Mullins received a message about a missing skunk. Mullins, 70, who lives in Leicestershire, had founded a Facebook group, Beastwatch UK, in 2001 as a place to document exotic animal sightings in the British countryside, so it was natural for news of this sort to trickle his way. In that time there had been a piranha in the Thames and a chinchilla in a post box, so a skunk on the loose in a local village seemed a relatively manageable misadventure. He loaded up some traps and headed to Barrow upon Soar to see if he could help locate the wayward creature.Mullins, who has a white beard, smiling eyes and maintains a steady, gentle rhythm when he speaks, had always nurtured a passion for wildlife – chasing it down, catching it. The interest took hold amid a challenging childhood. Aged five, Mullins was victim of a hit and run that left him with amnesia and he spent two years in hospital before his parents sent him to a special school to catch up with his education. Continue reading...