The UK signed an arms deal with pre-revolutionary Iran that it never fully delivered on. Will it finally pay the refund it owes?The former UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that practicalities, not principles, are holding back the payment of a £400m British debt to Iran, seen as a precondition of the release of British-Iranian dual nationals held in Tehran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Continue reading...
Fused from jungle, rave and soul, trip-hop filled the coffee tables of the 90s, and is now inspiring Billie Eilish’s generation. So why is the term so despised by many?Nobody really wanted to be trip-hop. The stoner beats of Nightmares on Wax’s 1995 Smokers Delight album were era defining, but it carried the prominent legend: “THIS IS NOT TRIP HOP”. James Lavelle’s Mo’ Wax label flirted with the term after it was coined by Mixmag in 1994, but quickly switched to displaying it ostentatiously crossed out on their sleeves. Ninja Tune did print the phrase “triphoptimism” on a king size rolling paper packet in 1996, but only as a joke about escaping categories.“I always disliked the term,” says Lou Rhodes of Lamb, “and I would always make a point in interviews of challenging its use in regard to Lamb.” Mark Rae of Rae & Christian similarly says: “I would give a score of 9/10 on the lazy journalist scale to anyone who placed us in the trip-hop camp.” And Geoff Barrow’s ferocious hatred of the term – let alone its application to Portishead – has become the stuff of social media legend. Continue reading...
Americans and Britons among those detained as part of sweeping arrests critics say are based on ethnicityAmerican and British citizens have been swept up in Ethiopia’s mass detentions of ethnic Tigrayans under a new state of emergency in the country’s escalating war.Thousands of Tigrayans in the capital, Addis Ababa, and across Africa’s second most populous country have already been detained and fears of more such detentions soared on Thursday as authorities ordered landlords to register tenants’ identities with police. Men armed with sticks were seen on some streets as volunteer groups sought out Tigrayans to report them. Continue reading...
Before his turn as a conflicted survivor of the first world war in Mothering Sunday, the star of God’s Own Country, The Durrells and The Crown answers your questionsIf you weren’t an actor and you had to work in the film industry, what would you like to do? avishagfinkI would like to be a ceramicist. I still want to be a ceramicist while also being an actor. A functional ceramicist. My grandmother was a sculptural ceramicist and she was very brilliant, but I’d like to make plates and pots and mugs. I’m a big fan of Ian Godfrey and I’m very fortunate to have a couple of his pieces. Lucie Rie and Hans Coper I really like; Richard Batterham, very much. Continue reading...
A British Museum show on ancient Andean civilisations is revealing new insights into their views of time, society and warThe British Museum’s landmark show Peru: A Journey in Time has been a decade in the making and enables the museum to foreground objects from its own collections and present them alongside treasures from Peru seen for the first time in the UK. Its opening coincides with the 200th anniversary of Peru declaring its independence from Spain, with the UK being one of the first countries to recognise the new nation’s sovereignty. But the neatness of this chronology is perhaps, to a western audience, almost the only familiar aspect of a show that consistently challenges the most basic notions of how the world works and how it can, and should, be lived in. Not the least of these challenges is to the concept of time itself.The subtitle of the exhibition is both a prosaic description of a chronological examination of many different cultures over 3,500 years, but also an introduction to how Andean time was experienced. “We generally think that we’re in the present, the past is behind us and the future is ahead of us,” explains its co-curator Jago Cooper. “Whereas in Andean societies, the past, present and future are parallel lines happening contemporaneously. So the past isn’t dead, it’s happening at the same time as the present, which can therefore change it. And it is by accepting the interrelationship between the past and present that you can best plan for the future.” Continue reading...
Police pursuing several theories about identity of man believed to have died between 1970s and early 1990sPolice in Sicily are investigating whether human remains found in a secluded cave on Mount Etna are those of a journalist who disappeared more than 50 years ago.The remains found on Tuesday night are of a man believed to have died between the 1970s and early 1990s. Police said the man was believed to have been at least 50, was 1.7 metres (5ft 7ins) tall and had “congenital malformations to his nose and mouth”. Continue reading...
As they release two live albums to benefit abortion support groups, we rate the best of the New York band who collided alt-rock with the avant garde in a thrilling noiseGiven short shrift on release, the reputation of the dense, chaotic, beat poetry-infused NYC Ghosts & Flowers has been burnished at least a little by time. The title track, which slowly builds over seven minutes from hushed intro to cacophonous climax, is the perfect example of the dark, bad-dream power the album wields at its best. Continue reading...
A treaty reimburses Indigenous communities for wealth extracted from their lands but payment has remained at C$4 a year since 1874Canada could face compensation payments to Indigenous communities worth billions, after a court found it had willfully deprived First Nations of the immense wealth extracted from their lands.The Crown has made payments to 23 First Nations of the Robinson-Huron Treaty territory since 1850, in exchange for a territory roughly the size of France. Continue reading...
Multibillion-dollar M+ struggles to find a balance between artistic expression and political censorshipA senior Hong Kong cultural official said freedom of expression was not above a China-imposed national security law, on the eve of the opening of a contemporary art museum intended to put the city on the global cultural map.The multibillion-dollar M+, featuring contemporary artwork from leading Chinese, Asian and western artists, is Hong Kong’s attempt to match museums such as Tate Modern in London, New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Continue reading...
Baluch, 46, evaded police for more than two weeks before he was found hiding in a Mercedes in a shipping containerAccused drug lord Mostafa Baluch has landed back in Sydney after he was recaptured by NSW police and extradited from the Gold Coast shackled and under police guard.Baluch’s desperate bid for freedom ended when he was found hiding in a grey Mercedes concealed in a shipping container being transported on the back of a truck. Continue reading...
From extreme weather obliterating homes to rising sea levels ruining crops, climate breakdown is a terrifying daily reality for manyThroughout the 2021 United Nations climate change conference, the Guardian will be publishing the stories of the people whose lives have been upended – sometimes devastated – by the climate breakdown. Continue reading...
Chinese leader urges countries in region to work together amid growing pressure from US over TaiwanXi Jinping has warned against a return to cold war-era tensions in the Asia-Pacific, urging greater cooperation on pandemic recovery and the climate crisis.Amid growing tensions with the US over Taiwan, the Chinese president said all countries in the region must work together on joint challenges. Continue reading...
Yacine Mihoub sentenced for ‘savage’ antisemitic murder of 85-year-old in her apartmentA French court has sentenced the killer of an elderly Jewish woman to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for 22 years, in a case which caused an outcry over antisemitism in France.Yacine Mihoub was convicted of the murder of Mireille Knoll, 85, who was stabbed 11 times and whose body was partly burned after her Paris apartment was set alight on 23 March 2018. Continue reading...
Agnes Wanjiru’s family instruct law firm to demand answers over her deathThe family of a young Kenyan woman allegedly murdered by a British soldier almost a decade ago plans to sue the Ministry of Defence to demand answers over her death.The body of Agnes Wanjiru, 21, was found in 2012 after she reportedly went out partying with British soldiers at the Lions Court hotel in the central town of Nanyuki, where the UK army has a permanent garrison. Continue reading...
From extreme weather obliterating homes to rising sea levels ruining crops, climate breakdown is a terrifying daily reality for manyThroughout the 2021 United Nations climate change conference, the Guardian will be publishing the stories of the people whose lives have been upended – sometimes devastated – by the climate breakdown. Continue reading...
Xie Zhenhua claims country has concrete plans rather than ‘paying lip service’ to commitmentsChina has detailed and concrete plans on how to meet its climate commitments, and is pushing those plans forward vigorously, unlike some countries that are “paying lip service” to their climate targets, the head of delegation for China at the Cop26 climate talks has said.Xie Zhenhua, China’s veteran chief official, said: “President Xi [Jinping] announced recently on many multilateral occasions China’s specific targets and concrete policies, measures and actions. We have a policy framework to ensure that we can achieve our climate target.” Continue reading...
For me, the TikTok app never added up. It made more sense to go back to where I’d first started watching TikToks – other people’s Instagram storiesDuring Melbourne’s first lockdown, Jeanette Nkrumah started spending a lot of time on TikTok.At first the videos she saw on her “For You” page – the personalised home screen that appears whenever a user opens the app – weren’t particularly compelling. But as she started spending more time there, the recommendations improved. Continue reading...
Chefs, waiters and hospitality professionals weigh in on the age-old conundrum: when is it OK to complain? And how can you do it nicely?Sometime before the last Sydney lockdown, I was in a local cafe, staring down a pretentious bowl of chickpea-centric vegetarian fare I’d had countless times before. But that day I took a bite and all I could taste was salt. This had never happened before. I had a few more mouthfuls, hoping the rest would be fine, but the whole meal was uncomfortably salty.I didn’t know what to do. I’m not one to complain about food unless it is genuinely inedible. On the other hand, I’m friendly with the owners of this cafe, and I thought maybe the kitchen should know, so it wouldn’t happen again. The whole thing got me thinking about the public dining social contract. When are paying customers justified in sending a meal back? How should they do it so nobody spits in their replacement meals? Continue reading...
by Lisa O'Carroll Brexit correspondent on (#5RPQ4)
Irish deputy PM says UK triggering article 16 would precipitate collapse in relations with EUIreland has begun making contingency plans for a possible trade war between the EU and the UK in the event that Boris Johnson walks away from the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol.Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Leo Varadkar, also confirmed that suspending the trade deal struck by Lord Frost last December was the EU’s likely response should the UK trigger article 16 of the protocol. Continue reading...
Reports that British soldier confessed to Kenyan woman’s murder in 2012 have deeply affected relatives in NanyukiA vibrant sisal plant in a public cemetery on the outskirts of Nanyuki in Kenya marks the grave of Agnes Wanjiru, the woman allegedly murdered by a British soldier in March 2012.It is easy to miss the grave due to heavy undergrowth in the unkempt cemetery. Continue reading...
Former president criticizes China and Russia for emissions failures, plus the optimal time for bed for heart healthGood morning.Barack Obama has called on world leaders to “step up and step up now” to avert climate breakdown, singling out China and Russia for being foremost among countries that are failing to cut planet-heating emissions quickly enough.What else did he say? He said that “there are times where I feel discouraged, there are times where the future seems somewhat bleak”, adding that “images of dystopia start creeping into my dreams”.What did Obama say to young activists and indigenous people who are disappointed by the promises made at Cop26? He said “imperfect compromises” will be required to address the climate emergency. “Gird yourself for a marathon, not a sprint.”Who has been subpoenaed? The legal scholar John Eastman, Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien, Trump’s adviser Jason Miller, the former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Trump’s campaign aide Angela McCallum, and the former New York police department commissioner Bernard Kerik. Continue reading...
Steve Thomas says injured man who spent two days trapped underground is ‘doing well … he’ll be good’One of the rescuers who extricated an injured man from a cavern deep beneath the Brecon Beacons has argued that sitting on a sofa watching television is more dangerous than caving.The injured man, who is in his 40s, is said to be doing well after being rescued from the cave, where he was trapped for more than two days at least 300 metres beneath the surface. Continue reading...
by Cait Kelly (now) and Matilda Boseley (earlier) on (#5RNPF)
NSW hit 90.12% double vaccinated against Covid on Monday; Prime Minister says EV strategy will be driven by technology and competition, not mandates; Pfizer approval for young children as soon as end of this year; Covid restrictions to ease in the ACT on Friday; Victoria records 1,069 new cases and 10 deaths; NSW records 224 cases and four deaths; masks to come off in Queensland this week – follow all the day’s news
It is known as the resource curse: assets that should bring wealth and stability but instead lead to corruption and poverty. And for Nigeria, oil is the culpritIn Nigeria, oil has been more of a curse than a blessing. Weak institutions of state and poor governance in managing the vast revenues have led the country to fail to realise its full potential in a textbook example of what academics know as the “resource curse”.First coined by Prof Richard Auty in 1994, the term refers to the inability of nations to use their windfall wealth to improve their population’s lot and bolster their economies. The rich natural resources bring corruption and poverty to a nation, rather than positive economic development and, counterintuitively, these countries end up with lower growth and development than those without natural resources. Continue reading...
From reclining, topless men to survivors of the war in Azerbaijan, here are the best images from the Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize 2021 Continue reading...
From extreme weather obliterating homes to rising sea levels ruining crops, climate breakdown is a terrifying daily reality for manyThroughout the 2021 United Nations climate change conference, the Guardian will be publishing the stories of the people whose lives have been upended – sometimes devastated – by the climate breakdown. Continue reading...
Deputy ambassador to UN draws comparison to 2017 genocide, as UN aid chief says more than 3 million people need life-saving aidBritain’s deputy UN ambassador has voiced concerns a military build-up in Myanmar’s north-west bears similarities to the Rohingya genocide of 2017.James Kariuki told reporters before heading into a closed-doors meeting with the UN security council on Monday: “We are concerned that this rather mirrors the activity we saw four years ago ahead of the atrocities that were committed in Rakhine against the Rohingya [Muslim minority]” Continue reading...
The Turner winning artist takes a break from his live tour to answer readers’ questions on everything from class and gender identity to whether he can still make controversial artGrayson Perry hasn’t, he reports apologetically, dressed up specifically for our Zoom call, but for an event he will be attending afterwards. “I wanted to look like a lady who lunched,” says Perry, who is wearing mauve silk, bright red lipstick, giant specs and Thatcherite hair. Since winning the Turner prize in 2003, Perry – with his alter ego Claire – has become one of the UK’s most recognisable and admired artists. He is known primarily for his ceramics, but his other work includes tapestries and a house in Essex. He is also a curator, writer and broadcaster – and his Channel 4 show Grayson’s Art Club, presented with his wife, the writer and psychotherapist Philippa Perry, was a lockdown highlight. Currently on tour with A Show for Normal People, Perry takes a break to answer Guardian readers’ questions on art, life and cats.How do you classify “normal” people? (Amy, London)
The bird has failed to complete the non-stop, 12,200km journey three times in the past yearA plucky migrating godwit that captured New Zealand’s attention after it was forced to make a dramatic U-turn back to Alaska after 33 hours of non-stop flight has finally touched down in the country.Every year, the Eastern bar-tailed godwits, or kuaka in Māori, make one of the longest avian migration flights in the world, travelling from their breeding ground in the Arctic, across the Pacific, to New Zealand. Continue reading...
Actor urges extra safety measure amid increased scrutiny of an often overlooked corner of the film industryAlec Baldwin has urged film and TV productions to hire police officers to monitor weapons and ensure guns used in filming are safe in the wake of the fatal shooting during filming of the western movie Rust.Baldwin accidentally shot and killed the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on 21 October after being told the gun he was rehearsing with on the film set in New Mexico was “cold”, or safe to use, according to the Santa Fe county sheriff’s office. Continue reading...
When it was built in 1972, it was the capital’s only example of the metabolism architectural movement – but time has caught up with the structureIt is an architectural curiosity that attracts admirers from around the world, an asymmetric stack of identical concrete boxes in a neighbourhood dominated by the gleaming glass edifices of corporate Japan.But after occupying a corner of Tokyo’s Ginza district for almost half a century, the Nakagin Capsule Tower faces an uncertain future.Stacks of asymmetric concrete cubes make up the Nakagin Capsule Tower exterior in Tokyo, Japan. Continue reading...
Jacinda Ardern says protests are ‘not representative’ of New Zealand as photographer harassed during Wellington protestNew Zealand’s parliament is on high alert after thousands of anti-vaccination mandate protesters, some threatening violence, gathered in Wellington and across the country.As of early Tuesday, about 2,000 people had gathered in central Wellington, and almost all the gates and entrance ways to parliament had been shut off. According to Stuff,the Speaker of the house, Trevor Mallard, said it was the biggest increase in parliamentary security he had seen since his election in 1984. Continue reading...
If ever a show needed a fresh start, it was Dexter. Thankfully, our antihero is back on thrilling form – despite making two of the stupidest choices a murderer couldWell, the good news is that he’s shaved. When we last saw Dexter Morgan, it was 2013 and he was busy suffering through the very worst major television finale in living memory. Having killed his sister in an act of mercy, he had survived an apparently unsurvivable hurricane and made it to Oregon, living under an assumed identity, with what appeared to be three clumps of orangutan pubic clippings taped to his face.But no more. The long awaited – if not exactly anticipated – reboot Dexter: New Blood (Sky Atlantic) is finally here, and our serial-killing antihero has a smooth face again. Better still, it has also given us a reason to look back on the Dexter finale with something approaching gratitude. If nothing else, it had the foresight to remove Dexter from the candy-coloured caricatures of Miami and hurl him somewhere new. This guaranteed any reboot a fresh start. And if ever any show needed a fresh start, it was Dexter. Continue reading...
Police confirm child killed at scene in Pentwyn, Penyrheol, south Wales, as dog destroyed by firearms officersA 10-year-old boy has died following reports of a dog attack near Caerphilly in south Wales.Gwent police said they were called to an address in Pentwyn, Penyrheol, at about 3.55pm on Monday and confirmed the child had died at the scene. Continue reading...