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Apparent glitch allows younger people to book vaccinations before they were expected to qualify

There’s good news for salmon lovers hoping to reduce the environmental impact of their food

The cooperation fostered by Jacinda Ardern is in stark contrast to Australia’s political disunity and dysfunctional federationPre-Covid, when international travel was still common, many Kiwi travellers received a similar question wherever they happened to be around the globe: Jacinda Ardern, is she the real deal?The New Zealand prime minister’s devotion to a new breed of politics, one rooted in “kindness”, “compassion” and “cooperation” often seemed too saccharine to be true, especially at a time when a series of notorious bullies were voted into positions of power around the globe. Continue reading...

Kentucky was hardest hit as four tornadoes, including a massive storm, devastated a town and collapsed a factory buildingSeven central and southern US states were picking up the pieces Saturday after a series of powerful tornadoes intensified by severe storms ripped across the region, leaving an estimated 70 to 100 people dead.Kentucky was hardest hit as four tornadoes, including a massive storm, devastated Mayfield, a small town 134 miles (215 km) north-west of Nashville, Tennessee. A candle factory partially collapsed when the tornado struck on Friday evening. Continue reading...

Officers were called after man with a gun was seen entering a bank and bookmakers in west LondonA man has died after sustaining gunshot wounds in an incident involving armed officers, close to Kensington Palace in London, the Metropolitan police has said.Officers were called to reports of a man with a firearm seen to enter a bank and bookmakers in Marloes Road, west London, shortly after 3pm on Saturday, Scotland Yard said. Continue reading...

MPs’ inquiry given further details of Britain’s mismanagement of Afghanistan exit with ‘people left to die at the hands of the Taliban’Further evidence alleging that the government seriously mishandled the withdrawal from Afghanistan has been handed to a parliamentary inquiry examining the operation, the Observer has been told.Details from several government departments and agencies are understood to back damning testimony from a Foreign Office whistleblower, who has claimed that bureaucratic chaos, ministerial intervention, and a lack of planning and resources led to “people being left to die at the hands of the Taliban”. Continue reading...

After the comfort food and rituals, Britons are embracing more traditions, such as the festival of Santa LuciaFrom Ikea to meatballs, hygge to Nordic noir, Scandinavia’s influence on the UK has been rising steadily for decades. But this Christmas, amid the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit, enthusiasm for the region and its traditions is hitting new heights.Scandinavian goods distributor ScandiKitchen closed online Christmas orders early this year after unprecedented demand for festive products including meatballs, glögg (mulled wine), pepparkakor (ginger biscuits), chocolate, ham and cheese. Continue reading...

Crowds in Vienna demonstrate against mandatory vaccines and confinement orders for unvaccinated

Harriet Harman launches appeal for information on 32-year-old Czech national who was last seen on 28 NovemberA missing children’s hospital worker is believed to have disappeared on her way home from work, police said on Saturday, as Labour MP Harriet Harman launched an appeal for information on her constituent.Petra Srncova, 32, a senior nurse assistant at Evelina London children’s hospital in Westminster, was reported missing on 3 December by a concerned colleague, and officers are intensifying their efforts to try to find her. Continue reading...

The writer and actor puts the ghoul into yule with screen and stage roles reprising haunting classics from Charles Dickens and MR JamesClose the curtains. Light the fire. Then prepare to be terrified; it’s Christmas. For although the word “cosy” may be closely tied to festivities at this time of year, so it seems is the word “ghost”.In northern Europe people understandably cope with the shorter days and darker evenings by drawing in around a roaring hearth, metaphorical or otherwise. Light and warmth: it makes sense. But what kind of stories are told while friends and families gather together? The answer, of course, is the spookier, the better. Continue reading...

British government says move agreed during talks before Friday midnight deadline set by BrusselsThe UK and Jersey governments have issued further licences to French fishing boats to trawl British waters in an apparent attempt to ease cross-Channel tensions.The Brussels-imposed deadline of midnight on Friday for solving the post-Brexit fishing row passed without an agreement being announced. Continue reading...

The city’s picturesque past and vibrant present have made it a magnet for high-end productionsAn adrenaline-pumping knife chase through graffiti-sprayed lanes takes place in the comedy-thriller The Outlaws, while class tensions simmer at a lavish student ball in the legal drama Showtrial. The city providing the backdrop and inspiration for both these series is Bristol – a location now so popular with film and TV makers that crews are actually falling over themselves in the streets.The city council has been inundated with requests to film in the city’s dank alleys, high-rises and grand Georgian squares since the beginning of the year, according to Bristol Film Office, which is part of the city council. It has seen a 225% increase in drama production on pre-pandemic levels. In the first quarter of 2019/20 there were four major drama productions under way in Bristol – but this more than tripled to 13 in the first quarter of 2020/21. Since January, 15 high-end TV dramas have been filmed in the city. Continue reading...

State governor says dozens at factory thought to have been killed, with other incidents reported in Arkansas and IllinoisUp to 100 people are feared to have been killed after a devastating outbreak of tornadoes ripped through Kentucky and other US states on Friday night and early Saturday morning.The governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, said the state had “experienced some of the worst tornado damage we’ve seen in a long time”. There were reports of at least six fatalities, with officials warning this could rise be much higher as at least 30 tornadoes were reported across six states. Continue reading...

Store pulls dress from website and apologises ‘for upset caused’ after Twitter users connect name to child abuse novelJohn Lewis has pulled a child’s party dress named “Lollita” from its shelves after receiving criticism for stocking it. The Chi Chi London “Lollita” dress was on sale for children aged three to 11 years old on the retailer’s website for £50.The name is similar to Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel Lolita, which details child sexual abuse. It outlines how a middle-aged professor abuses a 12-year-old girl. Continue reading...

The celebrity chef, 56, shares his secrets for a happy relationship and the best sausage rollsLiving with my grandmother is probably my earliest memory, realising my mother had died and not really understanding it. Then, discovering food with my grandmother and learning to cook by her side. The most vivid memories are of standing in the kitchen and the smell of food. That stayed with me, the comfort of it.I’ve still got the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car my mother gave me for my fourth birthday. It was the last birthday present she gave me. That means a lot. It sits on my shelf. She was 31 when she died. They don’t really know what it was, whether it was heart disease of some type. People say to me: “Does it make you a different person?” I have no idea. Continue reading...

Former Tory Councillor David Turtle has been sentenced to 14 years in jail after driving into his wife outside their home in FranceA former Tory councillor has been convicted of killing his wife by deliberately running over her in his Mercedes at their home in France.David Turtle, 67, was found guilty of murder by a French court and sentenced to 14 years in jail. Continue reading...

Frances-Rose Thomas, 15, died at home after accessing content involving suicide on a school iPadThe parents of a 15-year-old autistic girl who died by suicide after her school did not monitor her online activity have described the circumstances of her death as a “catastrophic failure” as they warned the Department for Education (DfE) against complacency.Frances-Rose Thomas, known as Frankie, took her own life at home in Witley, Surrey, on 25 September 2018 after reading a story which involved suicide on a school iPad, which had no safety features.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...

Staff celebrated chancellor’s autumn spending review with wine and beer during lockdown, while pubs and bars were shuttered

A 104-year-old woman has fulfilled her dream to learn to read. After starting in April, Kuttiyamma achieved 89% in literacy and 100% in mathematics in the Kerala state primary literacy exam last month, the oldest woman to do so.Kuttiyamma had been curious about reading and would often try to make out the alphabet herself, but when she was born in a village to a low-caste rural family, there was no education. Her neighbour Rehana John, a 34-year-old literacy trainer, persuaded her to start to learn to read. Previously, John’s oldest student had been 85

The writer who shot to fame when Joe Biden was sworn in as president has published her response to Covid-19• Scroll down to read Fugue, a poem from Gorman’s new collectionAmanda Gorman, who became the youngest inauguration poet in US history when Joe Biden was sworn in as president, says she is attempting to “preserve the public memory of a pandemic” in a new collection published this week.Gorman shot into the public eye when she recited her poem The Hill We Climb at the inauguration in January, speaking of how “there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it, / If only we’re brave enough to be it.” Continue reading...

In 1970, David Attie was sent to photograph the birth of the kids’ landmark TV show as part of a cold war propaganda drive by the US government. But these newly found images are just one part of the programme’s radical history“I’m still pinching myself that my dad, my own flesh and blood, had Ernie on one hand and Bert on the other,” Eli Attie says. “It is like he got to sit at Abbey Road studios and watch the Beatles record I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Attie’s father was the photographer David Attie who, in 1970, visited the set of Sesame Street in New York City during its first season. His images lay forgotten in a wardrobe for the next 50 years, until Eli recently discovered them. They are a glimpse behind the curtain of a cultural phenomenon waiting to happen. Here are not only Bert and Ernie but Kermit, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch with his original orange fur (he was green by season two). And here are the people who brought these characters to life, chiefly Jim Henson and Frank Oz, the Lennon and McCartney of Muppetdom. What also stands out in Attie’s images are the children visiting the set. As in the show itself, they are clearly so beguiled by the puppets, they completely ignore the humans controlling them.Eli himself was one of those visitors, although he has no memory of it. “I was in diapers, and as the story goes, I was loud and not to be quieted down, and was yanked off the set,” he says. His parents and older brother Oliver at least made it into the photos. Oliver was even in an episode of the show, in the background in Hooper’s Store, Eli explains, with just a hint of jealousy.Above: Bert and Ernie with puppeteers Daniel Seagren, Jim Henson and Frank OzLeft: Cast member Bob McGrath, an actor and musician, in a segment called The People in Your Neighborhood.Right: Henson (left) and Oz – the Lennon and McCartney of Muppetdom – operate puppets for a sketch titled Hunt for Happiness Continue reading...

Twenty years after first playing kick-ass hacker Trinity in The Matrix, Moss is returning to the role in The Matrix: Resurrections. Thankfully, she wasn’t asked to wear heels this time …When The Matrix asks us all to take the red pill again on 22 December, Carrie-Anne Moss, 54, will return to the role that made her famous. Moss first played Trinity, a motorbike-riding, badass, PVC-clad hacker, in 1999, and despite the character not surviving the original trilogy, she is back, along with her co-star Keanu Reeves, for the fourth instalment, The Matrix Resurrections, directed by Lana Wachowski, this time without her sister Lilly. Moss, who was born in Canada, started her career as a model and had several small parts on television and in films before The Matrix struck gold. She played Marvel’s first on-screen lesbian character, Jeri Hogarth, in the Netflix series Jessica Jones, and away from the acting world, she runs a “labour of love” lifestyle site called Annapurna Living. She lives with her husband and three children in the countryside in California, which means she does not see the current trend for Matrix-inspired fashion such as big stompy boots and tiny sunglasses out on the streets.Was returning to the world of The Matrix a tough decision?

She has been at the top of the industry for decades. Now she’s speaking out about the dark reality of life behind the scenesWhen Karen Elson was a young hopeful trying to make it in Paris, a model scout took her to a nightclub. After long days on the Métro trekking to castings that came to nothing, and evenings alone in a run-down apartment, she was excited to be out having fun. The music was good and the scout, to whom her agent had introduced her, kept the drinks coming. She started to feel tipsy. A friend of the scout’s arrived, and the pair started massaging her shoulders, making sexual suggestions. “I was 16 and I’d never kissed a boy,” she recalls. “It was my first experience of sexual – well, sexual anything, and this was sexual harassment. They both had their hands on me.”She told them she wanted to go home, and left to find a taxi, but they followed her into it, kissing her neck on the back seat. When they reached her street, she jumped out, slammed the taxi door and ran inside. The next day she told another model what had happened, and the scout found out. “His reaction was to corner me in the model agency and say: ‘I’ll fucking get you kicked out of Paris if you ever fucking say anything ever again.’” Continue reading...

Animals arrive in Kent in spring 2022 and will create forest clearings – described as ‘jet fuel for biodiversity’“When you see them in the wild, there’s this tangible feeling of humility and respect,” says Tom Gibbs, one of the UK’s first two bison rangers. “The size of them instantly demands your respect, although they are quite docile. I wouldn’t say they are scary, but you’re aware of what they can do.”The rangers will manage the first wild bison to roam in the UK for thousands of years when four animals arrive in north Kent in the spring of 2022. The bison are Europe’s largest land animal – bulls can weigh a tonne – and were extinct in the wild a century ago, but are recovering through reintroduction projects across Europe. Continue reading...

Daily newspaper is new joy for Kuttiyamma, who began taking lessons from her neighbour a year agoFor almost a century, Kuttiyamma’s daily routine had been much the same. Rising early at home in the village of Thiruvanchoor in Kerala, the 104-year-old would begin her day’s work of cooking, cleaning and feeding the cows and chickens.But now, every morning, there’s something new to get up for. She eagerly awaits the paperboy to deliver Malayala Manorama, the local newspaper. Continue reading...

Sydney pub and club at centre of scare. Bushfire rages in Margaret River in Western Australia. This blog is now closed

April, 27, heritage project officer, meets Jake, 27, company directorApril on JakeWhat were you hoping for?

Anonymous artist says sales proceeds will go to the four people accused of Edward Colston statue damage ‘so they can go for a pint’Banksy says he has made T-shirts that he will be selling to support four people facing trial accused of criminal damage over the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston.The anonymous artist posted on Instagram pictures of limited-edition grey souvenir T-shirts, which will go on sale on Saturday in Bristol. Continue reading...

Antonio Stagliano was trying to focus on the story of Saint Nicholas when he told children Santa did not exist, says church in SicilyA Roman Catholic diocese in Sicily has publicly apologised to outraged parents after its bishop told a group of children that Santa Claus doesn’t exist.Bishop Antonio Stagliano didn’t mean the comments, and was trying to underline the true meaning of Christmas and the story of Saint Nicholas, a bishop who gave gifts to the poor and was persecuted by a Roman emperor, said the Rev Alessandro Paolino, the communications director for the diocese of Noto. Continue reading...

France threatens to push for legal action if there is no ‘sign of goodwill’ in granting its boats licences to fish in British watersAn EU deadline for the UK to grant licences to dozens of French boats in a post-Brexit fishing row has passed without an agreement being announced.There had been suggestions on Friday that negotiations over fishing licences for small French boats in British waters could lead to a breakthrough but sources said there was no announcement expected from the UK government as the midnight deadline came and went. Continue reading...

UK records 58,194 new cases of Covid-19 and a further 120 deaths; UK government shown ‘very challenging new information’ on Omicron

Foreign correspondent respected for his work in west Africa and the Middle East who went on to write books and poemsMark Huband, who has died aged 58 of pancreatitis and multiple organ failure, built a strong and lasting reputation over more than three decades as a foreign correspondent and business analyst, specialising in Africa and the Middle East.He and I met when he arrived in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in 1989 to take up the post of the Financial Times stringer and I was working for Reuters. He hit the ground running and, despite his youth, he soon became a well-known figure among the foreign journalists, diplomats and business representatives covering the west African region. He was sharp, engaged and committed to the story, and went on to work as Africa correspondent for the Guardian and the Observer before returning to London. He did not look at events from a distance but always saw something of himself in others. Continue reading...

Family say pop songwriter from chart-topping 1960s band died of natural causes at homeMichael Nesmith, who achieved global fame as a member of the pop group the Monkees, has died aged 78.“With infinite love we announce that Michael Nesmith has passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully and of natural causes,” his family said in a statement. “We ask that you respect our privacy at this time and we thank you for the love and light that all of you have shown him and us.” Continue reading...

Sale of a Holbrook property for $40m – which was $10m more than initial asking price – is indicative of record buyer demandFarmland prices are soaring at quadruple the rates of median growth in Australia’s capital cities – as 30-year price highs across agricultural commodities combine with low interest rates and generally good seasonal conditions.Experts are beginning to warn that the “exorbitant” price of farmland is prohibitive for those starting out, echoing city housing concerns. Continue reading...

Some franchises cannot endure, it turns out – but, happily, old box sets live foreverGood sex, like good comedy, relies on timing, and maybe, 17 years after the original show ended, 11 years after the second film departed cinemas, Sex and the City no longer has its finger on the clitoris when it comes to timing. “And Just Like That, It All Went Wrong” was the New York Times’s verdict on the wildly publicised, moderately anticipated SATC follow-up series, And Just Like That, which debuted its first two episodes this week. The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan described it as at times “excruciating”.Certainly the jokes are bad. Not “Lawrence of my labia” bad, as Samantha (Kim Cattrall) notoriously said in Sex and the City 2. But a far cry from the spit-out-your-wine-with-laughter-and-shock level of the original show, which ran from 1998 to 2004. And that’s the least of its problems. Continue reading...

UKHSA urges public to take up boosters because of lower level of protection against new variant than against Delta

Inquest heard about a series of police failings in the investigations that were to have ‘terrible consequences’The inquests into the deaths of the four victims of the serial killer Stephen Port have been told of a catalogue of failings, described as unique by the Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner, Stuart Cundy, which had “terrible consequences”.The coroner Sarah Munro QC said the jury had to consider if there were missed opportunities in each investigation to catch Port sooner and so prevent deaths. Continue reading...

Soldiers and residents living in the shadow of Russia’s military buildup describe the toll of the long, unresolved conflictFor Misha Novitskyi, the question of whether Russia will invade Ukraine is not theoretical. The enemy is just 50 metres away behind a concrete slab. From time to time Russian voices float eerily across a wintry no man’s land of ragged trees and scrub.“When they light their stoves you can see the smoke,” Novitskyi – a senior lieutenant in the Ukrainian army – said, speaking from what is in effect Europe’s eastern front with Russia. He added: “Every day they shoot at us.” Continue reading...

Though the lawsuit was originally dismissed in 2018, a successful appeal by the plaintiffs means the pop star will face a jury trialTaylor Swift will face a jury trial over accusations that she plagiarised lyrics for her 2014 hit Shake It Off from another song.A US judge refused Swift’s request for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that a jury could find that the song copied Playas Gon’ Play, a song released by girl group 3LW in 2001. Both songs feature variations on the lines “players gonna play” and “haters gonna hate”. Continue reading...

You can’t force him to get vaccinated – but equally, he can’t force you to spend time with him. Face this head on and explain how you feelI’m sure I’m not the only one who’s faced this difficulty this year. One of my family members, who’s in his 40s, has consistently refused to be vaccinated against Covid and will not be moved from his position. He will not explain his reasons for rejecting the vaccine, whether it is ideological or simply rebellion against the so-called “nanny state”.He has already been (politely but firmly) excluded from one family get-together as a result of his intransigence. We have explained that he is not being rejected personally, but there are concerns within the family about his vulnerability to catching the virus and transmitting the infection to the children and their grandparents. Continue reading...

Eton scholar Jasamrit Rahala, a Child Genius finalist at 10, is in the knockouts and already looking for his next testIf TV quiz fans think Jasamrit Rahala’s face looks familiar, they would be right.The 17-year-old from Slough has reached the knockout finals of Channel 4’s Countdown, having been a fan of the programme since primary school. But for Jasamrit, identified as a maths prodigy aged nine, Countdown is just the latest in a string of gameshow endeavours, having become the youngest finalist on Child Genius aged 10 and competed in Britain’s Brightest Family. Continue reading...

The stories about Downing Street happenings that never happened are becoming increasingly surrealLast Christmas was probably the worst my wife and I had spent together in all the years we have been together. We had long since accepted there was no chance of our daughter coming over from the US but the final straw was when the Covid guidelines were changed and we were unable even to see our son and his girlfriend for the day. So we glumly ate a small chicken and watched TV before sneaking off to bed round about 9pm. Now it’s looking as if we were mugs for sticking to the rules as those inside No 10 were ignoring them by holding a series of after-work parties. So far the government has not tried to deny that these gatherings took place – other than to say whatever happened was not a party – and its lines of defence have become increasingly ropey. First we have had Boris Johnson saying no one cared what happened a year ago and that an investigation wasn’t in the public interest. This was a line pursued by Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, on the Marr programme when he said the police didn’t bother to investigate crimes that had happened in the past – news for watchers of Silent Witness and Unforgotten. Though possibly Raab is under the impression the only crimes worth solving are those that have yet to be committed. Then on today’s media round, we had Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, saying he had been assured that even if a party had taken place, – which he couldn’t confirm as he hadn’t been there – then it definitely took place within the guidelines because the music had been very quiet and someone had opened the windows. Or something. Despite the fact that any gatherings were banned. No 10 just doesn’t seem to get how angry everyone is about this. Nor how many will think twice about breaking the rules if they are changed again before Xmas. Continue reading...

Last winter’s gloom almost broke me, so here’s what I’ve learned about changing my mindset and embracing the long, cold, dark months

Most Covid doses are now dispensed at pharmacies and some are struggling to manage the workloadOfficials in the US are encouraging eligible adults to get boosters amid a new surge of the Covid-19 pandemic and the discovery of the Omicron variant, but some areas are facing shortages – not of the vaccines, but of pharmacy staff to administer them.More than two in three Covid vaccines are now given at pharmacies, the White House has said, but pharmacies are facing a double bind of increased workloads and staffing shortages and are struggling to keep up with demand for vaccination appointments. Continue reading...

Young woman says she was stalked, abused, punished and denied help by her chain of command until she became suicidal

Film about Carlos Marighella, released in Berlin in 2019, only arrived in Brazil last month after government cancellationsThe CIA considered him Che Guevara’s successor when it came to igniting new guerrilla movements in Latin America.Brazil’s military dictatorship, whose security agents ambushed and killed him in São Paulo in 1969, called him public enemy No 1. Continue reading...

The greatest tenor of his generation talks cancel culture, booing fans, and problematic roles

Ancient shrines, oral folklore and hip-hop cyphers are all part of a rich artistic heritage being ‘hollowed out’ in Xinjiang say Uyghur exiles and scholarsOn Thursday, the Uyghur Tribunal delivered its damning judgment on the human rights abuses allegedly committed by the Chinese state in Xinjiang. Over the past months this London-based people’s tribunal has heard testimony from international scholars as well as survivors of Chinese detention and “re-education camps”.While the ruling has no legal standing, the aim is to highlight the treatment of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Turkic Muslims in north-west China. Rachel Harris, a British ethnomusicologist and Uyghur specialist, has described the state’s strategy as an attempt “to hollow out a whole culture and terrorise a whole people”. Continue reading...

As they chase a wildly lucrative market with their new Christmas albums, Gary Barlow, Jamie Cullum, Leona Lewis and more explain the financial – and emotional – pull of a seasonal hitIn July 1968, the visionary US guitarist John Fahey – whose albums, with names such as Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes, hadn’t exactly been money-spinners – was out the back of a record store. “I saw all these cartons of Bing Crosby’s White Christmas,” he later recalled. “The clerk said it always sells out. So I got the idea to do a Christmas album.”The New Possibility: John Fahey’s Guitar Soli Christmas Album has not achieved the ubiquity of Merry Xmas Everybody or Last Christmas, but it served its role. Purists might sneer – Mojo magazine once dismissed the album as “Cliff-territory bland” – but The New Possibility has never been out of print, selling more than 100,000 copies. Fahey ended up making five Christmas albums, and they served as a financial bulwark in a career that had its share of vicissitudes. Continue reading...