As film starring Lady Gaga enters cinemas, a former police officer recounts the moment he arrested Patrizia ReggianiEven when she was being escorted to prison, Patrizia Reggiani was determined to go in style, wearing dark sunglasses and a fur coat. “I told her: ‘Look, you’re going to prison and this fur coat is hugely expensive’,” said the former police officer Carmine Gallo. “And so we left the coat with her mother and I lent her my green jacket, which she promised to give back.”Gallo never saw his jacket again, but he does not hold a grudge. He was the police officer who called at Reggiani’s opulent central Milan home at about 5am on a frosty morning in January 1997 to arrest her on suspicion of orchestrating the murder of her ex-husband and fashion house heir, Maurizio Gucci. Gucci was gunned down outside his office on Via Palestro almost two years earlier, aged 46. The case captivated Italy, and now the story is being retold in Ridley Scott’s film about the fashion dynasty, House of Gucci. Continue reading...

Fans and celebrities contribute after singer says he wants to get his Rolls-Royce cleared from portThe multimillionaire Afrobeats star Davido has said fans and friends paid him more than £300,000 after he asked people on Twitter to send money.The Nigerian-American singer, whose real name is David Adeleke, posted on Wednesday: “If u know I’ve given you a hit song … send me money,” and gave details of a new Nigerian bank account. Continue reading...

Whether you’re looking to feed the kids, getting over a cold or just using up a few leftovers, we’ve got you coveredRisotto is perfect food. Warm, starchy and comforting, it is one of the most versatile dishes the home cook can learn. It is an ideal first food for young children who don’t quite have it in them to chew yet and it’s perfect for anyone under the weather. My mother always taught me, in a manner that would have purists running for the hills, that risotto was basically a dustbin for any scraps you happen to have lying around. That isn’t necessarily the case, but there is still plenty you can do with it, as these 10 recipes attest. Continue reading...

Artists in the favela are starting to compete again after the Covid-19 pandemic curtailed public gatherings, a show that signals a return to normality for music lovers Continue reading...

In Linz, jab willingness is rising as police check Covid passports – but confusion remains on what is essential travel

Bertie Ahern’s comments about loyalists criticised by DUP MP as ‘demeaning and degrading’The former prime minister of Ireland and one of the architects of the 1998 peace accord in Northern Ireland has been urged to apologise after claiming loyalists in “ghettoes” did not have a clue about the Brexit protocol.Bertie Ahern said people in “east Belfast and the ghettoes and the areas where you are likely to get trouble” had mischaracterised the special arrangements in the Brexit deal and saw it as pathway to a united Ireland. Continue reading...

He was a techno-classical genius loved by pop stars from U2 to Britney. Then he was sectioned in his 60s after a drug-induced breakdown. The superproducer explains how he came back aroundThere was a point in the early 00s when William Orbit was poised to go interstellar. He was one of the great pop architects of the Y2K era, the Mark Ronson or Jack Antonoff of his day. He produced Madonna’s Grammy-sweeping Ray of Light, with its magnetic techno-lite, in 1998; Blur’s 13 a year later; and made hits for some of the biggest films around the new millennium: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, The Next Best Thing and The Beach.The latter’s lead track, Pure Shores, recorded by the British pop group All Saints, was the second most successful UK single of 2000. Echoes of its breathy acoustica and bleepy-bloopy electronica can still be heard in the charts; it was recently championed by Lorde, who said the song was an inspiration for this year’s much anticipated album Solar Power. Continue reading...

PM comments after Animal Justice MP Andy Meddick says daughter attacked; Indian PM repeals controversial agricultural laws; rapid antigen Covid testing for NSW primary schools; Victoria records 1,273 new cases and eight deaths; NSW records 216 new cases and three deaths; rain set to hamper search for remains of William Tyrrell. This blog is now closed

In post-USSR Russia and neighbouring states, places now abandoned offer reminders of the region’s turbulent history, from the grandeur of a ruined Orthodox church, to the frescos that still adorn the crumbling walls of former barracks, schools and factories Continue reading...

Tears were inevitable when Hadley Freeman finally met the man behind her favourite film, and his son, who has made a belated second sequel. But few expected them to flow quite so freelyIt’s not always easy for a famous parent to pass the baton to the next generation. Kirk Douglas bristled when he realised the young women approaching him no longer wanted to flirt with him, but to ask for his son Michael’s phone number. When her daughter Christina was cast in a soap opera but then hospitalised for an ovarian cyst, Joan Crawford snatched the role for herself. The narcissism that underlies the need for fame is not usually conducive to happy parenting.Ivan Reitman – director and producer of many of the most beloved mainstream comedies of the 70s, 80s and 90s, including Animal House, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Twins and Dave – is a different kind of famous parent. Continue reading...

Right wing poses twice the threat of radicalisation than Islamic extremists according to governmentRightwing extremists are using Covid controversies and online gaming as a way of recruiting young people, as data shows half of the most serious cases of suspected radicalisation reported by schools and colleges now involve far-right activity.Figures published by the Home Office show twice as many young people in education in England and Wales last year were thought to be at risk of radicalisation by the extreme right-wing, compared with those at risk from Islamic extremists. Continue reading...

The back down is a huge victory for the farmers who have fought hard to see off the ‘black laws’ designed to modernise the archaic agricultural sectorNarendra Modi has announced he will repeal three contentious farm laws that prompted a year of protests and unrest in India, in one of the most significant concessions made by his government.In a huge victory for India’s farmers, who had fought hard for the repeal of what they called the “black laws’, the prime minister announced in an address on Friday morning that “we have taken the laws back”. Continue reading...

The New York Times and FX special Malfunction revisits the ‘Nipplegate’ scandal of 2004 but adds little new understandingIn January, the New York Times documentary team released Framing Britney Spears, a succinct and bruising retrospective on the pop star’s career and the shadowy legal arrangement that governed her affairs. The 75-minute documentary, which included virtually no new information but offered a cohesive, damning portrait of her treatment by the press, launched a grenade in pop culture. It triggered widespread calls to end her conservatorship, which Spears, 39, later championed (a judge terminated the 13-year arrangement last week); as well as meditations on punishing cultural commentary, callous treatment of mental health, or the hollow, deceptive empowerment proffered by Spears’s sexy teenage image; and a queasy wave of Britney Spears content (including an NYT follow-up, Controlling Britney Spears, that was part retrospective and part, uncomfortably, true crime.Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson, the latest New York Times documentary for FX on Hulu, aims for the same type of cathartic reframing through an infamous episode of early 2000s pop culture: the baring of Janet Jackson’s breast for nine-sixteenths of a second at the 2004 Super Bowl, and the subsequent cultural firestorm. The 70-minute film follows a similar format to its predecessors – archival footage (including plenty of gag-worthy early 2000s fashion) synthesized with first-person interviews and commentary from cultural critics. Continue reading...

Concerns are growing for the athlete, who has not been seen since she released a statement claiming she had been sexually assaultedPeng Shuai, 35, is one of China’s most recognisable sporting stars. The former tennis doubles World No 1, she also reached No 14 in the singles rankings, and won two women’s doubles grand slams at Wimbledon in 2013 and the 2014 French Open. She also competed in multiple Olympics.“The news in that [WTA press] release, including the allegation of sexual assault, is not true. I’m not missing, nor I am unsafe. I’ve just been resting at home and everything is fine. Thank you again for caring about me.” Continue reading...

Former Japanese PM welcomed the creation of Aukus in the midst of an ‘increasingly severe’ security environmentJapan should seek to work with Aukus members on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, long-serving former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has said.Japan was excluded when the leaders of Australia, the US and the UK announced their new security partnership with much fanfare in mid-September, but Abe believes it is “extremely important” for Tokyo to find ways to collaborate with its friends. Continue reading...

When restrictions were lifted, experts said a surge in Covid cases was inevitable. Instead, one month on, cases continue to fall

De facto embassy opening in Vilnius defies pressure from BeijingTaiwan has opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania in a diplomatic breakthrough for the island, brushing aside Beijing’s strong opposition to the move which again expressed its anger and warned of consequences.Taipei announced on Thursday it had formally opened an office in Lithuania using the name Taiwan, a significant diplomatic departure that defied a pressure campaign by Beijing. Continue reading...

PM calls suggestions from Labor that he failed to denounce violence ‘completely false’

Minsk now appears keen to defuse border crisis, which has claimed lives of 13 peopleBelarus has said the hastily constructed migrant camps on its border with Poland have been cleared of people in a sign that Minsk is keen to defuse the deadly crisis that its leader, Alexander Lukashenko, helped to create.On Thursday, that crisis claimed its 13th victim after an NGO reported that a one-year-old child had died after his family attempted the perilous journey through Belarus into the EU. Continue reading...

The ‘unspecified breach’ in Frankfurt led to 150 other employees being quarantined for three weeks under Hong Kong’s strict rules

Priti Patel says aligning policy on Palestinian group’s military and political wings will combat antisemitismSupporters of Hamas could face up to 10 years in jail under plans to be announced on Friday by Priti Patel.The home secretary said the organisation will be proscribed by the government under the Terrorism Act. It means anyone who expresses support for Hamas, flies their flag or arranges meetings for the organisation will be in breach of the law. Continue reading...

With Peng still missing, this must be a watershed moment in how the sport deals with countries that deny human rightsHuang Xueqin was only ever trying to make her world a better place. Over the years she has become well known as a bold Chinese feminist activist and journalist who has aided survivors of sexual assault and wrote detailed accounts of her experiences during the Hong Kong protests. In September, a day before Huang was due to travel to London to study at the University of Sussex, she and the labour activist Wang Jianbing vanished. They have not been heard from since and are believed to have been detained by the Chinese authorities.This is a familiar fate for those deemed to have stepped out of line in China. It was the type of incident that was impossible not to think of, not to worry about, on 2 November when Peng Shuai’s name was methodically erased from the internet in China after she posted a lengthy message on her Weibo account detailing her relations with the former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli, who she accused of sexually assaulting her. Continue reading...

Benny Gantz’s cleaner contacted Iran-linked hackers and offered to infect minister’s computer with malwareIsrael has charged the housekeeper for the country’s defence minister with espionage for offering to spy for hackers reportedly linked to Iran.The man, identified as Omri Goren, reportedly has a criminal record but worked at Benny Gantz’s home as a cleaner and caretaker. Continue reading...

US tennis star is latest to call for clarification amid doubts over veracity of email purportedly sent by Chinese playerSerena Williams has joined a chorus of concern over the wellbeing and whereabouts of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai amid doubts over the veracity of an email supposedly written by her retracting allegations of sexual assault against a senior politician.The former world No 1 and winner of 23 grand slam singles titles joined other sports stars by tweeting under the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai. Continue reading...

Friday: China’s acting ambassador accuses Australia of ‘sabre wielding’ with nuclear submarine deal. Plus: pressure to raise the Wyangala Dam after floodingGood morning!China’s acting ambassador to Australia, Wang Xining, has likened Australia to “a naughty guy” over the Aukus nuclear submarine deal, saying it jeopardises Australia’s peace-loving reputation and the Australian people “should be more worried”. In an interview with Guardian Australia, he also called on Australian politicians to “refrain from doing anything that’s destructive to our relationship” after the defence minister, Peter Dutton, signalled Australia would be likely to participate if the US came to Taiwan’s aid in a conflict with China. Continue reading...

Czech billionaire has also invested in Royal Mail, Sainsbury’s, a French newspaper and UK power plantsDaniel Křetínský has made a fortune snapping up leftovers from the old economy. The Czech billionaire owns a clutch of coal companies, and in recent years he has made waves with investments in pillars of the old economy such as high street retailers, supermarkets and newspapers.Křetínský holds his cards so close to his chest that he gained the moniker of the “Czech Sphinx” from a Polish magazine. The nickname has stuck, but the businessman’s profile outside his homeland has grown after a spree of acquisitions. Continue reading...

The ill-conceived scheme could do more harm than good to the economy in the north of England, sucking wealth to the south, writes Prof Paul SalvesonThe shelving of the eastern leg of HS2 (Report, 18 November) should lead to questions about the viability of the entire scheme, particularly the western leg to Manchester, but also the white elephant of the Curzon Street terminus in Birmingham, isolating HS2 from the rest of the network and badly connected with the city’s existing rail network. The north of England needs urgent investment in the regional and interregional networks, not this ill-conceived scheme that could well do more harm than good to the north’s economy, sucking wealth to the south-east. Contrary to what Labour and some “red wall” Tory MPs seem to think, HS2 is hugely unpopular in the north and its demise will be welcomed.What’s needed is further electrification, capacity improvements (which HS2 will not deliver, contrary to the hype) and selective reopenings of lines and stations across the north.

Boy is youngest known victim of crisis as medical workers say family had been living in forest for a monthA one-year-old child from Syria has died in a forest in Poland near the border with Belarus, according to Polish medical workers, becoming the youngest known victim of the crisis on the eastern edge of the European Union.Thousands of people attempting to reach the EU are still stranded in freezing conditions, amid a standoff between the bloc and Belarus, which has been accused of deliberately creating the crisis by flying in people from the Middle East and facilitating their travel to the border. Continue reading...

PM Edi Rama says he will ‘never receive refugees for richer countries’ after Raab said UK was exploring plansAlbania has strenuously denied it is willing to process people crossing the Channel to Britain, after the UK deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, confirmed that the government is exploring ways of processing asylum seekers abroad.Edi Rama, the prime minister, said he would “never receive refugees for richer countries”, after a report in the Times suggested Albania would be willing to host an offshore processing centre for people arriving in the UK from France in small boats. Continue reading...

Sean Binder and 24 aid workers are accused of espionage, forgery and intercepting radio frequenciesAn Irish defendant among 24 aid workers accused of espionage in Greece has said he has been left in a legal “limbo” after their trial was postponed, prolonging an ordeal that has highlighted growing hostility towards NGOs involved in migrant solidarity work.A three-member panel of judges on the Aegean island of Lesbos, where the alleged crimes are said to have occurred, referred the case to a court of appeals citing lack of jurisdiction. It is unclear when the higher tribunal will convene. Continue reading...

To fall just short? To never know how it feels to get close? To land between, avoiding either pole? Emma Kemp, deputy sport editor, recommends Geoff Lemon’s treatise on the losing team

Pharmacists and aged care providers tell MPs of tactics being employed to escape public health laws including ‘no jab, no job’

Despite the presence of an unusually menacing Benedict Cumberbatch unnerving all on set, it’s this young Australian actor’s otherworldly stillness that lights up Jane Campion’s western psychodramaJane Campion’s psycho-sexual western The Power of the Dog is a tremendous film but it is the power of Kodi Smit-McPhee that really adds bite to its bark. The 25-year-old Australian actor has been a fragile, hypnotic presence, with an eerie knack for stillness and intensity, ever since his earliest performances. At the age of 10, he played a boy coping with the desertion of one parent and the breakdown of the other in Romulus, My Father. At 12, he trudged through a post-apocalyptic hell-scape in The Road, then fell in love with a vampire at 13 in Let Me In, the US remake of the Swedish horror hit Let the Right One In. Even his multiplex movies, such as the X-Men outings (Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix) in which he played the blue-skinned Nightcrawler, have felt that bit stranger thanks to his delicate, androgynous features and those pool-sized anime eyes set far apart on his face.His uncanny quality is crucial to Campion’s movie, which is set in early 2oth-century Montana. Smit-McPhee plays the gangly, effeminate Peter, who spends his days crafting intricate paper flowers and sketching dead animals. His life is destabilised when his mother (Kirsten Dunst), a widowed innkeeper, takes up with a new partner. It is not this stepfather (Jesse Plemons) who poses a threat so much as his sadistic, bullying brother Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch), who taunts Peter and mocks the way he “creeps all over the place, big eyes goggling”. Continue reading...

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...