Charity Commission investigating claims donations intended for Prince’s Foundation went instead to Mahfouz FoundationThe Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry into allegations that donations intended for the Prince of Wales’ Prince’s Foundation went instead to the Mahfouz Foundation.The investigation – which the watchdog revealed was formally begun at the beginning of November, will examine dealings at the Mahfouz Foundation – which was founded by the Saudi billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz. Continue reading...

He played gigs to a young Elvis, got high with the Grateful Dead and made an enemy in Miles Davis. And, at 83, the saxophonist who collided jazz and rock still has his spirit of adventure“We played the Royal Albert Hall in 1964,” says Charles Lloyd, recollecting his first ever UK performance. “Packed it to the rafters.” He was 26, playing tenor saxophone in Cannonball Adderley’s majestic band and getting his first taste of a world beyond US jazz and blues clubs. “I’m looking forward to returning,” says Lloyd of this weekend’s appearance at the EFG London jazz festival.Now 83, he speaks in a drawl that mixes jazz argot and spiritual entreaties – he says he spent the pandemic “building steps”, meaning to a higher plane rather than a DIY project – and is raring to re-engage with an audience. “I’ve been playing in front of audiences since I was nine. Been a professional musician since I was 12. It’s what I do.” Continue reading...

Worker found ‘questionable vials’ while cleaning out freezer, but CDC says no one was exposed to the deadly diseaseA lab worker at a Merck facility outside Philadelphia found 15 “questionable vials” labeled “smallpox” and “vaccinia” while cleaning out a freezer earlier this week, raising harrowing security concerns.The FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the discovery, which involves a disease that is believed to have killed over 300 million people since the dawn of the 20th century. Continue reading...

The 19-year-old is in hospital after being treated for serious injuries, as police urge public to come forwardTwo teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a man was stabbed at a halls of residence at Warwick University.The man and woman, both 18, were taken into custody after the 19-year-old victim was found, with policeurging members of the public to come forward. Continue reading...

Demonstrations against military coup expected to continue after 15 protesters reportedly killed in a dayPro-democracy protesters and Sudan’s military appeared set for a cycle of escalation on both sides after a day in which at least 15 demonstrators were killed by security forces.Despite a heavy-handed crackdown by the military in the capital, Khartoum, and other cities, activists called on Thursday for an escalation of protests against last month’s military coup, a day after the deadliest security crackdown to date on demonstrators demanding the restoration of a civilian government. Continue reading...

Country facing ‘extremely dismal days’ as it set ninth consecutive record for daily case numbers

Politicians express outrage over routine that discusses country’s contradictions women’s safety, religion, Covid and politicsAn Indian comedian is facing an onslaught of criticism and calls for police to investigate over a comedy monologue that spoke of the country’s contradictions on women’s safety, religion, Covid and politics.The routine performed on a US tour by Vir Das, one of India’s most popular comedians, went viral in India this week after it spoke of “two Indias” - conflicting elements of his own country that, he felt, had an element of the absurd. Continue reading...

Analysis: Anyone who relies on northern railways will agree huge investment is needed to improve reliability and journey timesFor many people in the north of England, the Integrated Rail Review heralds less of a rail revolution than a rail betrayal. There will be relief among those whose houses were due to be bulldozed to make way for HS2’s eastern spur, as well as those who always viewed that project as an unforgivable waste of money that would primarily benefit London.But good luck finding many people who welcome the government’s downgrading of Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), which should have been a new east-west line connecting the north’s key cities. Continue reading...

Anger in northern England and Midlands, with high-speed Leeds-Manchester line also not going ahead

Answering Guardian readers’ questions, the singer discusses his epic railway modelling, his admiration of the Sex Pistols and the secrets of his hair regimeDid you have any heroes in the beginning of your career that you wanted to move or look like? JoeHillI didn’t look at singers and think: “That’s how I want to move,” but I sorta wanted to sound like ’em. I started off with Eddie Cochran – that rough-edged voice – and moved on to Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Bobby Womack and David Ruffin. I went from being a beatnik to a mod with long hair. Continue reading...

As the great romcom queen turns 60, we select her best roles from the low-budget indies to the Tom Hanks big-hittersBy 2007, Meg Ryan was already well into a wilderness period that still hasn’t ended. Indeed, it has been more than five years since she was in a film at all (Ithaca, her harmless but forgettable directorial debut). If highlights of this era have been few, her restrained, affecting turn as an unhappily married, cancer-stricken housewife in this uneven indie soap opera was a reminder that the industry did her dirty. At the very least, more little films like this could use her wattage. Continue reading...

Zephaniah McLeod, who has paranoid schizophrenia, killed one and injured seven in knife attacks last yearA man diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia who killed a 23-year-old man and injured seven others in a violent stabbing spree in Birmingham last year has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years.Zephaniah McLeod, 29, carried out a series of seemingly random and motiveless knife attacks in the early hours of 6 September 2020, killing Jacob Billington, a university worker who was on his way back to his hotel with friends after a night out. Continue reading...

Philippine journalist and peace prize laureate says sites are biased against facts and in need of overhaulSocial media platforms are biased against facts and creating “a virus of lies” that threatens all democracies, the Nobel peace prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa has said.Ressa, one of the Philippines’ most prominent journalists, said social media platforms were “manipulating our minds insidiously, creating alternate realities, making it impossible for us to think slow.” Continue reading...

Charity says unknown number of immunocompromised people have been left without proper protection

Exclusive: Seduced by salary promises, workers at Fifa-endorsed hotels allege they have been exploited and abusedWhen Fifa executives step on to the asphalt in Doha next November for the start of the 2022 World Cup, their next stop is likely to be the check-in at one of Qatar’s glittering array of opulent hotels, built to provide the most luxurious possible backdrop to the biggest sporting event on earth.Now, with a year to go before the first match, fans who want to emulate the lifestyle of the sporting elite can head to Fifa’s hospitality website to plan their stay in the host nation. There they can scroll through a catalogue of exclusive, Fifa-endorsed accommodation, from boutique hotels to five-star resorts. Continue reading...

Madrid council orders removal of street art featuring left and rightwing heroes as Socialist-led government proposes prosecution of Franco-era crimesFor the past 11 months, the two walls that make up a street corner in east Madrid have engaged in a mute but bitter debate that mirrors the faultlines, fights and ferocities of Spanish politics.On the left wall are 24 street signs commemorating poets and writers including Federico García Lorca, Miguel Hernández, Victoria Kent and Carmen Laforet. Continue reading...

As Peter Jackson’s TV series Get Back recasts the Fab Four’s final days in a more positive light, the ex-Beatle remembers the responses to their historic gig above the streets of LondonIt’s lunchtime on a cold Thursday in January 1969. After weeks of sometimes difficult rehearsals and recordings, the Beatles and their new songs finally – and spectacularly – collide with the outside world. The occasion is now fixed in their iconography. On 30 January on the roof of 3 Savile Row, the London HQ of their company Apple, the four – joined by the US keyboard player Billy Preston – performed five songs: Get Back (three times), Don’t Let Me Down (twice), I’ve Got a Feeling (ditto), Dig a Pony and One After 909. They played with a tightness and confidence that belied the last-minute nature of events, while a sense of urgency and drama was provided by two police officers, determined to shut everything down.This magical performance forms the finale of Get Back, Peter Jackson’s new three-part documentary series about the Beatles. Neither the band nor the people watching on the rooftop and down below are aware that this will be their last ever live performance. But for the viewer, that knowledge makes everything more compelling. Continue reading...

We would like to hear from people in British Columbia and Washington State in particular on their experiencesTens of thousands of people in Canada and the US have been left without power after a large storm hit the Pacific north-west. British Columbia and Washington State in particular have been affected by flooding and landslides.Whether you live or work in the area, or are helping with search and rescue efforts with the emergency services, we would like to hear from you. Continue reading...

Eighteen months after she lost her son to opioid addiction, the singer-songwriter has released a new album. She talks about her troubled childhood, the happiness she has found with her wife – and her refusal to grieve‘Helloooooh! How are you? I’m good, I’m good.” It takes me about three seconds to warm to Melissa Etheridge. The American singer-songwriter has been through hell in the past few years, but you won’t find her moaning. For someone who has endured so much – Etheridge lost her 21-year-old son, Beckett, to opioid addiction last year – she has a remarkable ability to accentuate the positive. And over the next hour and a half, she does just that.There is a swaggering self-confidence and a soulfulness to Etheridge – she would make a great existential cowboy. She has had hit records across the world (with the notable exception of the UK), won Grammys for her singles Ain’t It Heavy and Come to My Window, and in 2007 secured an Oscar for I Need to Wake Up, a song she wrote for Al Gore’s climate crisis documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Continue reading...

Emmanuel Macron and the far-right hopeful Marine Le Pen look set to be joined by numerous other candidates in the French presidential election. We look at the latest polling, and introduce some of the most likely candidatesFrance will vote to elect a new president in April, and the jostling for position among potential candidates is well under way. The current president, Emmanuel Macron, has yet to declare his candidacy but is expected to run again. His second-round opponent from 2017, the far-right populist Marine Le Pen, has already launched her campaign. Alongside them on the ballot will be Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist candidate, Yannick Jadot, representing the Green movement, and a candidate from the centre-right, to be chosen by Les Républicains, on 4 December. The far-right TV pundit Éric Zemmour, who has no political party, could declare an outsider bid. Continue reading...

Zhang Zhan’s former lawyer says authorities are sending message, as calls grow for release on medical groundsThe detention of Zhang Zhan, the Chinese journalist jailed after reporting on the Covid pandemic in Wuhan, is intended as a “warning to others”, her former lawyer has said, as calls grow for her emergency release on medical grounds.Hundreds of Chinese human rights lawyers and citizens have put their names to an open letter calling for immediate medical care for Zhang, who her family fear is close to death. Zhang has been on a hunger strike for more than a year in protest at her persecution for reporting on the Wuhan lockdown in early 2020. Continue reading...

Mark McGowan closes electorate office and condemns ‘deranged’ behaviour of anti-vaxxers; Victorian pandemic powers bill debate postponed; search for remains of missing NSW boy William Tyrrell enters fourth day; no new Covid cases in Northern Territory as cluster stands at 19; Victoria records 1,007 new cases and 12 deaths; NSW records 262 new cases. This blog is now closed

In a definitive new documentary, a deeper look at the much-loved movie star provides more insight into ‘one of the greatest rags-to-riches stories ever told’When a normal person ascends to the firmament of fame, their sense of identity is split in two. The self-perception they’ve developed over their life up to that point – the ‘true’ self, allowed to emerge in intimate moments – must contend with an outward-facing image over which they can exert unsettlingly minimal control. The more canny-minded celebrities seize the reins of their own PR by cultivating a persona they can get out in front of, caricaturing themselves before someone else gets the chance.Charlie Chaplin, perhaps the first A-lister to contend with this existential quandary of exposure, went one step further by inventing a character he could plaster over himself. The Real Charlie Chaplin, a new documentary in cinemas this week, posits his Little Tramp alter ego as a shield and veil. If audiences were looking at the bowler hat, toothbrush mustache, and rubbery cane, they’d never see the man wearing them. Continue reading...

As he begins a West End run in the musical Cabaret, the It’s a Sin star talks about his part in breaking down racial and sexual barriers in theatre and TVOmari Douglas is a natural performer in the truest sense. We meet in the rehearsal space, where he’s preparing for a new production of Cabaret alongside Jessie Buckley and Eddie Redmayne at London’s Playhouse theatre. Although we’re cutting into his lunch break, the 27-year-old actor – and current favourite to be the next star of Doctor Who – gesticulates enthusiastically as if he’s used to being permanently on stage. “I’ve always admired how television and film can bring audiences together,” he beams.The Playhouse’s Cabaret is the latest in a long line: the 1966 musical by John Kander and Fred Ebb was inspired by John Van Druten’s classic 1951 play I Am a Camera, which was itself an adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin. These facts are relayed to me by Douglas at breakneck speed; the actor has seen Cabaret three or four times. He is now stepping into the leading role of Clifford Bradshaw, a lost American novelist who arrives at Berlin’s seedy Kit Kat Club. “I’d never envisioned myself as a Cliff,” he says. “But we’re being given the space to find something new.” Continue reading...

Matthew Heineman’s gruelling new film The First Wave takes us back the terrifying early stages of a world-changing virusIt is tempting to suggest that the Covid deniers, the hoaxers, the hucksters, the anti-vaxxers, the flat earthers, the merchants of disinformation and the crackpot conspiracy theorists be strapped into a chair and force fed The First Wave, a harrowing documentary about the early toll of the coronavirus pandemic.Covid-19 has never been a “media-friendly” story: death and suffering happen in intimate spaces behind closed doors, where few cameras or reporters are permitted. It is therefore less spectacular news than the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, even though the current loss of life is still equivalent to a 9/11 every three days. Continue reading...

British Columbia premier declares a state of emergency amid the flooding which has killed one person with more deaths expected

High court ruled in secret hearing in September that Philip’s will should be hidden from public for 90 yearsLegal action against the attorney general and the Queen’s private lawyers has been initiated over a decision to ban media organisations from a court hearing about the Duke of Edinburgh’s will.The Guardian is seeking permission to argue that the high court’s failure to properly consider whether the press should be allowed to attend the hearing or make representations constitutes such a serious interference with the principle of open justice that the case should be reheard. Continue reading...

• Reconstruction after Covid: a new series of long readsIt’s easy to despair at the climate crisis, or to decide it’s already too late – but it’s not. Here’s how to keep the fight aliveThe world as we knew it is coming to an end, and it’s up to us how it ends and what comes after. It’s the end of the age of fossil fuel, but if the fossil-fuel corporations have their way the ending will be delayed as long as possible, with as much carbon burned as possible. If the rest of us prevail, we will radically reduce our use of those fuels by 2030, and almost entirely by 2050. We will meet climate change with real change, and defeat the fossil-fuel industry in the next nine years.If we succeed, those who come after will look back on the age of fossil fuel as an age of corruption and poison. The grandchildren of those who are young now will hear horror stories about how people once burned great mountains of poisonous stuff dug up from deep underground that made children sick and birds die and the air filthy and the planet heat up. Continue reading...

The pandemic has sparked a surge in people leaving their jobs. But if you aren’t one of them, how do you survive the tumult – and even flourish? Here is the expert advice on how those left behind can prosperIn the US, they are calling it the great resignation or (my preference) the big quit. In the UK, the language is less portentous, but the reality is similar: there are more vacancies than jobseekers. Nearly 1.2m jobs were open in the UK in the most recent quarter, with 15 of 18 sectors reporting record numbers.People cite all kinds of reasons for quitting – they want a better work-life balance, they want more challenges, better conditions, more meaning. But what about those left behind? How do you stop your own career getting trampled as your colleagues race out the door? What’s the best way to deal with the void left by your familiar co-workers, not to mention the workload? How do you manage your Fomo and quarry some advantage out of the situation? Continue reading...

The North Carolina novelist has won the National Book Foundation’s award for fiction for his dark absurdist novelThe North Carolina writer Jason Mott has won the National Book Foundation’s 2021 prize for fiction, for his novel Hell of a Book.The US foundation’s 72nd annual awards, presented online only due to Covid-19, were announced on Wednesday night. Continue reading...

How the humanitarian crisis playing out on the border of Poland and Belarus became the latest front in the battle between President Lukashenko and the European UnionThousands of men, women and children seeking asylum are trapped in freezing conditions between hostile forces in the borderlands that separate Belarus from Poland and the European Union. They have come mainly from the Middle East, fleeing poverty and conflict in places such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. But rather than being welcomed they face destitution and even death in the freezing November conditions.Polish riot police have fired water cannon and teargas at people forcibly attempting to cross into Poland. The clashes came after EU governments approved sanctions against the Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, for allegedly engineering the crisis by allowing thousands of asylum-seekers from the Middle East to travel through Belarus to the border with Poland. Continue reading...

Philippines voices its ‘outrage and condemnation’, saying actions by coastguard in South China Sea were illegalChinese coastguard vessels have blocked and used water cannon on two Philippine supply boats heading to a disputed shoal occupied by Filipino marines in the South China Sea, drawing an angry protest from Manila.The Philippines’ foreign secretary warned on Thursday that its vessels are covered under a mutual defence treaty with the United States. Continue reading...

Angela Merkel calls for an extra push on vaccinations; Belgium tightens restrictions as cases rise in fourth wave

Maternal grandparents in Israel have appealed in latest round of custody battle with paternal relativesIsrael’s supreme court has ordered a freeze on returning a six-year-old boy who survived a cable car crash in Italy to his relatives there until it decides whether to hear an appeal by family members in Israel.Eitan Biran’s parents and younger sibling were among 14 people killed in May when a cable car slammed into a mountainside in northern Italy. His maternal grandparents in Israel and his paternal relatives in Italy are locked in a bitter custody battle over him. Continue reading...

Function in London cancelled over ‘due diligence’ of Zemmour, who has convictions for inciting racial hatredLondon’s prestigious Royal Institution has cancelled an event at which the far-right French TV pundit Éric Zemmour was due to speak on Friday.Zemmour, who has convictions for inciting racial hatred, is due to arrive in London on Thursday as he ponders a potential run in France’s presidential elections next year. Continue reading...

Senior judges said deporting Polly Gordon, 75, would disproportionately interfere with her human rightsA 75-year-old American woman who uses a Zimmer frame and is unable to digest solid food, has won her appeal to remain in the UK after living here for 53 years.The Home Office attempted to deport Polly Gordon after she served a 12-month sentence for supply of a controlled drug. She was convicted of the offence in July 2019 at Edinburgh sheriff’s court. According to a judgment in the immigration tribunal she has a past history of substance abuse and addiction to alcohol. Continue reading...

In the powerful new documentary Simple As Water, the lives of families escaping war to be stranded across the globe are sharedI was a refugee as a child, towed along by family as we escaped war in Sri Lanka. My memory of the whole ordeal is vague. There were stops that lasted weeks and months, as we were left in limbo in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Vancouver, before finding home in Toronto.You meet a lot of people throughout such journeys, fellow migrants you live with for a time at refugee camps or shared apartments. They come in and out, leaving behind disjointed and scattered stories, memories of transit without a beginning or end. Simple As Water, a mosaic-like HBO documentary about Syrian refugees, affectively evokes that sensation. Continue reading...

Archbishop of Canterbury clears late bishop of Chichester despite CoE paying compensation over sexual abuse claims in 2015The archbishop of Canterbury has apologised for saying there was a “significant cloud” over the name of one of the most venerated figures in the Church of England who was accused of sexual abuse.In a move that may end a protracted and acrimonious battle within the C of E over the reputation of George Bell, a bishop of Chichester and a leading 20th-century figure, Justin Welby issued a personal statement admitting his earlier position had been wrong. Continue reading...

Sum sent back home from former residents of low-income countries surpasses overseas aid and rich nations’ direct investmentMigrants from low- and middle-income countries are expected to send almost £600bn to support friends and relatives by the end of the year, after global economic growth spurred a 7.3% rebound in remittance payments.The increase in cross-border payments, especially from migrants based in Europe and the US, reversed a 1.7% fall in remittance payments last year, the World Bank said. Continue reading...

Warning comes as police fire teargas and deploy water cannon against people trying to cross into PolandPoland’s defence minister has said the crisis on the Belarusian border could last for months, as Alexander Lukashenko claimed he had agreed to direct talks with the European Union on solving the crisis.The agreement was reported by Belarusian state media, which said that Lukashenko and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, spoke on Wednesday for the second time this week. Continue reading...

Monarch, 95, greets outgoing military chief in sitting room, after pulling out of Remembrance Sunday serviceThree days after a sprained back caused her to miss the Remembrance service at the Cenotaph, the Queen was back on her feet, albeit in danger of being upstaged by her beloved dog, Candy.As the 95-year-old monarch was filmed carrying out a face-to-face audience at Windsor Castle with Gen Sir Nick Carter, Candy waddled up to the chief of defence staff as he entered the castle’s Oak room. Continue reading...

Belarus’s engineered migrant crisis.

Official newspaper calls Truss ‘radical populist’ after her alleged row with Caroline Wilson over UK’s hard lineAn official Chinese newspaper has weighed in on an alleged spat between the British foreign secretary and the UK’s ambassador to China, suggesting Liz Truss was “a radical populist” and quoting Chinese internet users calling the UK “Little Britain”.The alleged row between Truss and Caroline Wilson, the British ambassador to China, was first reported by the Times early this month. Continue reading...

The pandemic may have separated us, but it has created alliances too. Five diverse pairings share their stories

MoD says pilot of jet from the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth ejected safelyA British F35 pilot flying from the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier was forced to eject during a routine operation over the Mediterranean, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed.The pilot was picked up but the £100m plane crashed into the sea during the incident, which took place at about 10am UK time. No other vessels or aircraft were involved, defence sources added. Continue reading...

Far-right TV pundit on trial for calling unaccompanied child migrants ‘thieves, killers and rapists’Éric Zemmour, the far-right TV pundit who is preparing to run for French president claiming that Islam and immigration are destroying France, has gone on trial in Paris on charges of incitement to racial hatred.The case relates to remarks the 63-year-old polemicist made on television last year when he called unaccompanied child migrants “thieves, killers and rapists”. Continue reading...

Pair spotted inside ancient Roman amphitheatre at 5.30am chatting over drinksTwo American tourists have been fined after breaking into the Colosseum, reportedly to experience the pleasure of having a beer inside the ancient Roman amphitheatre.The pair, aged 24 and 25, climbed on to the second tier of the monument in the early hours of Monday morning. They were spotted at about 5.30am, chatting over their drinks, by a passerby who alerted police. It is unclear how they managed to enter the monument, which closes to the public at 4.30pm. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Political clans in UK and elsewhere profess mutual loathing but often align on substance of debatesPeople are divided more deeply by identity than by issues, according to a survey that suggests culture wars are fuelled mostly by partisanship and that voters have more in common than many think.The YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project found that in particularly polarised countries including the US and UK, political clans that profess mutual loathing often align on the substance of debates, even in highly charged areas such as sexism and racism. Continue reading...

Specialist Met officers called in after rented vehicle left outside venue hosting Israeli ambassadorA car rented by Bedfordshire police was the subject of a bomb scare after it was parked outside an event in central London that was due to be attended by the Israeli ambassador.The vehicle had five of its windows smashed in by a specialist team from the Metropolitan police before officers realised it was being used by another force. Continue reading...