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Urgent appeal lodged to stop the broadcast of cartoons calling on New Caledonians to vote against independence from France in this weekend’s referendumCartoons urging New Caledonians to vote no to independence from France in this weekend’s referendum have been accused of “profound racism and ridicule towards Pacific Islanders, especially the [indigenous] Kanak people”, in a legal submission lodged with France’s highest judicial body.An urgent appeal has been lodged against the broadcast of the animations, which have been running on television in New Caledonia and online, with the Council of State in France. Continue reading...

Former journalist Gwyneth Ho and rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung also found guilty of unlawful assembly chargesJailed Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was among three democracy campaigners convicted of taking part in a banned Tiananmen vigil as the prosecution of multiple activists came to a conclusion.Lai, the 74-year-old owner of the now-closed pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty of unlawful assembly charges on Thursday alongside former journalist Gwyneth Ho and prominent rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung. Continue reading...

Outrage spreads on social media over alleged massacre of people rounded up by government troops in Sagaing regionMyanmar soldiers rounded up and killed 11 people in a village, shooting and then setting them on fire, according to people in the area and local media reports.Photos and a video purporting to show charred corpses in Don Taw village in the Sagaing region of Myanmar’s north-west circulated on Tuesday while outrage spread on social media. Continue reading...

Defence ministry says competition between US and China a ‘major driver’ of increased insecurity in the Pacific regionNew Zealand faces “a substantially more challenging and complex strategic environment”, in large part because of China’s rise and “increasingly strong nationalist narrative”, according to a stark report released by the country’s defence ministry.The remarkably explicit warning on Wednesday included a detailed discussion of China’s military modernisation and emphasised the importance of New Zealand’s deep security relationships with Anglosphere countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Continue reading...

Trial could lead to a longer school day being introduced permanentlyA number of schools in Wales are extending their day by an hour to try to help youngsters catch up after Covid lockdowns.The Welsh government will invest up to £2m on the trial, allowing 14 primaries and secondaries across south Wales to open for groups of children for an extra five hours a week. Continue reading...

The Jamaican Grammy-winning bassist was part of the duo with Sly Dunbar and worked with such artists as Mick Jagger and Grace JonesRobbie Shakespeare, acclaimed bassist and record producer, has died at the age of 68. The Jamaican artist was part of the duo Sly and Robbie with Sly Dunbar.According to The Jamaica Gleaner, Shakespeare had recently undergone surgery related to his kidneys. He had been in hospital in Florida. Continue reading...

Solicitors tell hearing they sent a letter to Raymond McClure less than six weeks before he died stating he should consider revising his will

Actor tells high court about her view of how details were discovered, which the publisher deniesSienna Miller believes details of her 2005 pregnancy were obtained by the then editor of the Sun, Rebekah Brooks, using “blatantly unlawful means”, a court has heard. Miller also believes phone hacking was practised by journalists at Rupert Murdoch’s daily tabloid newspaper.“I was told at the end of July 2005, by my friend and publicist, that Rebekah Brooks had found out that I was pregnant,” said Miller, in an excerpt from a draft statement read out by her lawyer at the high court. Continue reading...

Force cites policy of not investigating past alleged breaches of Covid rules and lack of evidenceThe Metropolitan police has said it will not investigate the Downing Street Christmas party widely reported to have been held last year.In a much awaited statement, the force said it had a policy of not retrospectively investigating alleged breaches of coronavirus laws. Continue reading...

Marazion, opposite St Michael’s Mount, faces stiff opposition from larger areas in contest for city statusIt may not boast a cathedral, a university or a major sports team – the sort of features often associated with a typical British metropolis. But the town of Marazion (population 1,440), perched prettily on the south coast of Cornwall, has nevertheless launched a bold campaign for city status.Marazion, which does have a couple of churches, a primary school and rowing and sailing clubs, would become the smallest and most southerly city if its proposal is accepted. Continue reading...

President warns about ‘manipulation’ of history after Éric Zemmour claims Vichy regime protected French Jews from NazisEmmanuel Macron has warned against the “manipulation” of history in a clear message to the far-right presidential candidate, Éric Zemmour, on a symbolic visit to Vichy.After the German occupation in 1940, the spa town was chosen for Marshal Philippe Pétain’s puppet regime, which collaborated with the Nazis and ensured the deportation of Jews to death camps. Zemmour has angered historians by claiming, instead, that Pétain saved French Jews. Continue reading...

No 10 says Trudy Harrison gave permission as an MP rather than in her capacity as aide to Boris JohnsonAllies of animal charity boss Pen Farthing and a Labour MP have cast doubt on Downing Street claims about a letter by Boris Johnson’s parliamentary aide Trudy Harrison giving him permission to be evacuated from Kabul in August.No 10 said Harrison was “acting in her capacity as a constituency MP” when she wrote the letter – as it continued to insist that Boris Johnson had not ordered the rescue of Farthing and his cats and dogs ahead of desperate Afghans. Continue reading...

Alleged offences of Paul Grayson include 13 relating to staff and patients at Royal Hallamshire hospital, SheffieldA theatre nurse was charged on Wednesday with a series of sexual offences against patients and staff at the Royal Hallamshire hospital, Sheffield.South Yorkshire police said Paul Grayson, 51, had been charged with 20 offences, including voyeurism and sexual assault, as well as with taking and making indecent photographs of children. Continue reading...

Friends of the Earth cites documents suggesting UK’s reputation could suffer if it pulled $1.15bn of promised supportThe UK was “embarrassed” into funding a huge gas project in Mozambique while considering ending overseas support for fossil fuels, a court has heard.During a three-day high court hearing, Friends of the Earth highlighted government documents that suggested there would be “obvious repercussions” if the government did not follow through on $1.15bn of support to an offshore pipeline and liquefied natural gas plant in Cabo Delgado province. Continue reading...

Sanna Marin says she should have checked guidance given to her after her foreign minister tested positive

Exclusive: political tensions prompt increase in numbers of French with negative view of Brits and vice versaA year of post-Brexit bickering has left the French and the British feeling significantly less well disposed towards each other, a poll shows.After ill-tempered exchanges over everything from fishing to submarines and Covid travel rules to the Northern Ireland protocol, the YouGov poll found that favourable opinions of the British had slid in France and other EU countries. Continue reading...

Allegra Stratton has stepped down as the government’s spokesperson for the Cop26 climate summit after footage of her emerged joking about a party at Downing Street during the peak of lockdown rules in December last year.At the time the video was shot, Stratton was Boris Johnson’s press secretary. Her exchanges about the party with other No 10 officials were filmed as part of rehearsals for a proposed daily televised Downing Street press briefing, which she was going to host

Greens MP Michael Berkman demands an inquiry into comments he says are dehumanisingThe Greens have called for an investigation into a number of “deeply concerning” social media posts allegedly made by Queensland prison officers, including calls for the use of violence against “maggot” inmates.Several of the comments cited in a complaint by the Queensland Greens MP Michael Berkman were made by individuals on the Facebook page of the Together Queensland Prison Officers’ Union. There is no suggestion the views were endorsed by the union, which has since changed its privacy settings and removed all comments.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

He managed the Bee Gees and created Saturday Night Fever but the closeted impressario ‘never felt that sense of success’ according to a new documentaryAccording to film director Joe Maggio, two types of executives run the entertainment industry – one far rarer than the other. “The vast majority of them don’t know what’s good, or what will be a hit, until ten other people tell them,” he said. “But a few can tell you right away. They’re the visionaries.”For an extended time, one of the most clairvoyant was Robert Stigwood. Yet no one had made a feature documentary about him until now. Mr Saturday Night lays out the rocket-like trajectory of this manager turned producer turned impresario who scored hits in the worlds of music, theater, concerts and film. Stigwood’s projects ranged from managing the Bee Gees to running a record label featuring artists like Eric Clapton to producing two of the biggest movies of all time – Saturday Night Fever and Grease, as well as the successful movie version of the Who’s Tommy – to bankrolling smash plays like Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. “For a time, he was the Wizard of Oz of entertainment,” said Maggio, who directed the film, to the Guardian. “Between 1970 and 1978, he could not not make a hit.” Continue reading...

V Adm Haydn Edmundson is the latest to be embroiled in a series of sexual misconduct scandals in the militaryThe former head of human resources at Canada’s military has been charged with sexual assault and committing indecent acts as the country grapples with a wave of misconduct and assault allegations levelled against senior officials.Military police announced the charges against V Adm Haydn Edmundson on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Officials say Saudi national has ‘nothing to do with the case’ and arrest was a case of mistaken identityA Saudi man arrested at a French airport on suspicion of involvement in the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been released, after the Paris prosecutor concluded it was a case of mistaken identity.“Extensive checks on the identity of this person have allowed us to establish that the warrant did not apply to him,” read a statement from the prosecutor general, Rémy Heitz. “He has been released.” Continue reading...

Restoration uncovers Dutch master’s original vision for 1642 painting for the first timeA hidden sketch by Rembrandt has been discovered beneath the thick paint of the Dutch master’s most famous work, The Night Watch, revealing for the first time the artist’s original vision for the vast canvas.The preparatory drawing, made with beige paint with a high chalk content, was found as a result of a two-and-a-half-year investigation by restorers, data experts and art historians at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Continue reading...

Jackie Green’s mother died from Covid on 18 December last year, after months of them both following the rules

Foot fetishes, armpit licking and credit card dramas abound in this funny, charming Channel 4 documentary about the adult streaming site. Plus, Alex Sims Wise as the fairy godmother of fetishThe problem with Channel 4 documentaries is, done right, they can be so utterly convincing they lead you to consider a fairly drastic lifestyle change. This is how I almost became a paedophile hunter in 2014, for instance. The long week in 2013 when I got on to the dogging forums. So it is fair to say I went into How to Make It on OnlyFans, the new documentary about the boom in British creators making their livelihoods with sex work online, with a healthy amount of trepidation. Who would I be at the end of this hour-long? Or rather: what fruit would I be mashing with my feet for a paying audience?Do I need to explain what OnlyFans is and what people do on it to you? Do we need to do this dance? Fine, fine: OnlyFans is a content subscription service where you can pay for premium access to certain creators. There might be a golf coach you follow, for instance, who offers putting tips. Perhaps a musical artist you like will give previews of upcoming work. But, realistically, 90% of the platform is sex workers selling nudes. Yes, you could follow the golf coach. Or you could follow the lad who does the piss content you like and takes custom requests. Right, I think we all get the concept now. Continue reading...

While Merkel has said she has no particular plans, doing nothing doesn’t seem a realistic prospect for the outgoing chancellorAfter 16 years of gruelling European summits, late-light coalition negotiations and back-to-back conference calls with heads of state, Angela Merkel has vowed to spend the foreseeable future kicking back her flat black shoes and reading a few good books.But newly emerged details of a new office in central Berlin and veiled hints in interviews suggests the world may not have seen the last of Germany’s outgoing chancellor yet. Continue reading...

Bureau of Meteorology issues severe weather warning and says flood impacts will be felt particularly on state’s south coast

TGA provisionally approves Moderna booster shots for over-18s; two cases of Omicron variant detected in Queensland and one in Victoria; George Christensen should go ‘quietly’ into retirement, Scott Morrison says; China blames Australia for tense relationship after Winter Olympics boycott; Victoria records 1,312 new Covid cases and five deaths; NSW reports 403 cases, one death; eight cases and one death in ACT. Follow all the day’s news

The asylum seekers on the Poland-Belarus border are not aggressors: they are desperate pawns in a disgusting political struggleOne thought is a constant in my head: “I have kids at home, I cannot go to jail, I cannot go to jail.” The politics are beyond my reach or that of the victims on the Poland-Belarus border. It involves outgoing German chancellor, Angela Merkel, getting through to Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus. It’s ironic that this border has more than 50 media crews gathered, yet Poland is the only place in the EU where journalists cannot freely report.Meanwhile, the harsh north European winter is closing in and my fingers are freezing in the dark snowy nights. Continue reading...

Aaron Sorkin’s Oscar-tipped drama shows behind the scenes of the much-loved sitcom I Love Lucy. Here those who knew her look back on her unusual career“She was very complicated, she was very loving and she was very mercurial. She was very generous but she came from the Depression and she was very guarded about money. She was a conundrum. She was a paradox of things. But she made me feel like I was the only person in the room, even in a crowd, and she made me feel authentic.”Lee Tannen, author and playwright, is in full flow as he reminisces about his intense decade-long friendship with Lucille Ball, once the funniest and most famous woman in America. Her 1950s sitcom, I Love Lucy, pulled in 60m viewers and became part of the country’s cultural DNA. Continue reading...

Producer Barbara Broccoli has not yet decided how Bond will return in the next film – but here are some ideas

40,000 people in one of the largest slums in the Kenyan capital have had their homes demolished to make way for works for a Chinese-backed toll road, with some asking: ‘this is development for who?’About 40,000 people have been made homeless by demolition works for a major Chinese-backed toll road in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.Amnesty International Kenya says it believes the roadworks have created a humanitarian crisis, as schools, businesses and 13,000 homes spread across nearly 40 hectares (100 acres) of the Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum have been demolished since October, clearing land for a link to the Nairobi expressway.A girl stands among the rubble of Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum, Nairobi, where 13,000 homes were razed to the ground Continue reading...

Sub-lineage described as Omicron ‘like’ was identified in an overseas arrival to the state from South Africa

Scott Morrison says athletes will compete in next year’s Games because sport and politics should not mix

Drone footage has captured some of the devastation following the eruption of Mount Semeru on the Indonesian island of Java. Dozens of people have been killed and thousands remain displaced. The volcano continues to spew hot gas and ash, hampering rescue efforts

Two of their generation’s greatest actors reach new heights in this immaculate retelling of real-life murderous couple Susan and Christopher EdwardsIt isn’t always the quiet ones. In fact, it’s hardly ever the quiet ones. Generally, it’s exactly the ones you expect who do exactly what they seem very likely to do. But it’s the quiet ones who draw us in, who demand closer attention, deeper digging.All of which makes the case of Susan and Christopher Edwards – a librarian and an accountant from Dagenham, convicted in 2014 of murdering her parents, burying their bodies in the back garden and concealing the deaths for the next 15 years – catnip to anyone, including another married couple, Olivia Colman and Ed Sinclair. Colman gives a career-best performance (in a career full of them – you keep thinking she must top out eventually, but not so far) as Susan in the three-part HBO drama Landscapers (Sky Atlantic), exquisitely, tenderly and comically written by Sinclair. The project would have been almost impossible to sabotage, no matter who was cast as Chris, but we have David Thewlis, and it’s a matchless combination. Imagine two of the greatest actors of their generation being even better together than they are separately. That’s Landscapers.Landscapers is available to stream on Stan in Australia Continue reading...

Wednesday: A taxpayer-funded staffer for federal MP Andrew Laming dressed as Kyle Rittenhouse for Halloween. Plus: Australia’s top Google searches for 2021Good morning. Before you Google Covid news, which was Australia’s top search in 2021, we have the latest on the Omicron variant in your morning mail today. Plus the details of a questionable Halloween outfit choice by an Andrew Lamming staffer and word on new music from former Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns.A staffer for federal MP Andrew Laming, Barclay McGain, has posed with a paintball-style toy assault rifle dressed as Kyle Rittenhouse for a delayed Halloween party. McGain posted the photo, in which he was dressed as the teenager who shot dead two Black Lives Matter protesters and was acquitted of all criminal charges, to social media with the caption: “Kyle Rittenhouse on neighbourhood watch duties in Brisbane’s south tonight.” McGain was sacked from his electorate officer position by Laming 18 months ago over a controversial schoolies video that denigrated Indigenous Australians. Six months later he was rehired by Laming. Continue reading...

Inquiry into events in 2017 hears how Brook House officers ‘radicalised’ into racistsA whistleblower guard who worked at the controversial immigration detention centre Brook House, has told a public inquiry into abuses there that staff were “radicalised” into being racist because of a toxic culture.The public inquiry was launched after a BBC Panorama programme in September 2017 used undercover filming to expose a culture of abuse and humiliation of immigration detainees at the Home Office removal centre near Gatwick, run by the contractor G4S. Continue reading...

Organisation also defends its handling case of Chinese tennis player, Peng Shuai, as ‘quiet diplomacy’The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said that it respects the United States’ decision to diplomatically boycott the forthcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, while defending its “quiet diplomacy” in handling the case of Chinese tennis player, Peng Shuai.“We always ask for as much respect as possible and least possible interference from the political world,” said Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, the IOC’s coordination commission chief for the Beijing Winter Olympics. “We have to be reciprocal. We respect the political decisions taken by political bodies.” Continue reading...

Stopping people flying won’t stop spread of variant, Europe official says, as archbishop denounces ‘travel apartheid’

Adm Tony Radakin rejects idea that encouraging gender, racial and religious diversity is ‘wokefulness’Britain’s military must embrace the country’s racial, gender and religious diversity after a string of controversies and scandals, the new head of the armed forces said as he rejected the idea this amounted to “wokefulness”.In his first speech, Adm Tony Radakin pointedly declared that the armed forces had to “strive to do better” in every “aspect of our leadership” in a speech to the Rusi thinktank. “That includes reflecting the diverse nation we serve. Because if we don’t, then quite simply, we risk looking ridiculous.” Continue reading...

Actor says she received ‘pushback’ from her management due to fears of the impact it could have on her careerRebel Wilson, one of Hollywood’s top comedy actors, has said her own team were opposed to her losing weight because she was “earning millions of dollars being the funny fat girl”.The Australian actor, 41, documented her physical transformation on social media after embarking on a health and fitness journey a couple of years ago. Continue reading...

British nationals and vulnerable Afghans stuck without help months after Taliban takeoverBritish nationals and vulnerable Afghans who have been approved for evacuation have spoken of their anguish and frustration as they remain trapped in Afghanistan months after it was taken over by the Taliban.After devastating testimony by a whistleblower in the Foreign Office, who claimed there was an incompetent and chaotic response to the fall of Kabul, those waiting to be evacuated have called for rapid action from the UK government. Continue reading...

Olaf Scholz takes over from Angela Merkel and brings with him a northern accent typical of HamburgGermany’s next coalition government, which will be sworn in on Wednesday, will come with a lineup of new faces, a new set of policy priorities and a new dose of energy. It will also speak with a distinctive accent.Olaf Scholz, the centre-left politician who will step into Angela Merkel’s shoes, is a man of the German north not only by upbringing but by voice. When the former mayor of Hamburg recently warned in parliament that Covid-19 had not yet been beaten, he leaned into the stretched out fricatives typical of Germany’s second-largest city: Scholz pronounces the word besiegt as besiecht. Continue reading...

Pro-independence groups have called for Indigenous voters not to take part in Sunday’s long-awaited ballot, saying proper campaigning has been preventedNew Caledonia is set to hold a referendum on independence from France this weekend, the third and final poll meant to conclude a decolonisation process initiated 30 years ago.For anyone who witnessed the first two referenda, the contrast with the vote set for 12 December is striking: instead of the countless Kanaky flags or the red, white and blue of the French tricolour that adorned houses, balconies, roadsides, pickups or even people in the run-up to the 2018 and 2020 votes, this year there is little to see. On the Place des Cocotiers, in the centre of Nouméa, the capital, the quiet is disturbed only by the incessant patrolling of police trucks, part of the increased security around the vote. Continue reading...

When they work, environmental or biodiversity offsets are supposed to prevent new roads, buildings and other major infrastructure from impacting negatively on the environment. But Guardian Australia has exposed serious concerns about the NSW offsets system, triggering multiple inquiries.Environment reporter Lisa Cox explains to Jane Lee how Australia’s environmental offsets policy, which was designed to protect Australian wildlife, ended up failing it.You can also read: Continue reading...

Officials refused Seyfu Jamaal’s asylum claim after he had waited more than three and a half yearsA runner from Ethiopia who dreams of representing Team GB is facing deportation back to his home country even though a state of emergency has been declared there.Seyfu Jamaal, 21, arrived in the UK aged 17 after travelling to the UK in the back of a lorry and claimed asylum. The Home Office accepts he was persecuted and trafficked before he arrived in the UK. But officials refused his asylum claim in May of this year after keeping him waiting for more than three and a half years for a decision, saying it would be safe for him to return home. Continue reading...

At least 56,000 homes and firms affected, with warning that storm could pose danger to life as it reaches UKMore than 56,000 homes and businesses in Ireland have been left without power after Storm Barra made landfall, with winds gusting up to 80mph (130km/h) as it moved east throughout the day.Heavy rain, sleet and snow fell on Tuesday over the north-west of Ireland and Scotland, threatening further disruption to areas only just recovering from lengthy power cuts in the wake of Storm Arwen. . Continue reading...

In Alex Gibney’s harrowing documentary, the tale of Abu Zubaydah, seen as patient zero for the CIA’s torture programme, is explored with horrifying new detailsFrom “a black site” in Thailand in 2002, CIA officers warned headquarters that their interrogation techniques might result in the death of a prisoner. If that happened, he would be cremated, leaving no trace. But if he survived, could the CIA offer assurance that he would be remain in isolation?It could. Abu Zubaydah, the agency said in a cable, “will never be placed in a situation where he has any significant contact with others” and “should remain incommunicado for the remainder of his life”. Continue reading...

Mass vaccination drive could cut risk of Covid surge in older relatives over holiday season, WHO says