As a child in Afghanistan, she pretended to be a boy in order to get an education, before starting her own women’s news agency. Now living in Britain, her fight continuesJust over a month ago, Zahra Joya left her house in Kabul to walk to her office, as she had been doing every day. From this small office, Joya, a journalist, ran Rukhshana Media, the news agency she founded last year to report on the stories of women and girls across Afghanistan. By the time she returned home in the afternoon, however, men with guns were on street corners and her sisters were shut inside their house, shaking with fear. In just a few hours, normal life had been obliterated.“Right to the end, on that afternoon of 15 August, I couldn’t believe what was happening,” she says. “It was like a bad dream. Even on that day, it just seemed impossible that the Taliban could come to power so quickly, wipe away 20 years and drag us all back to the past.” Continue reading...

Mariama Sonko is an unstoppable force who continued her work even when she was ostracised by her community in SenegalOutside Mariama Sonko’s home in the Casamance region of southern Senegal pink shells hang on improvised nets that will be placed in mangroves to provide a breeding spot for oysters.Normally, women collecting oysters chop at the branches – a method that can harm the mangroves. But these nets allow them to harvest sustainably, says Sonko, who is trying to revolutionise agriculture in west Africa. Continue reading...

Few view their own country as a direct participant but larger proportion feel EU is part of conflictA majority of Europeans believe a new cold war is under way between the US and its chief geopolitical rivals, China and Russia, according to a report – but few view their own country as a direct participant.Based on polling in 12 member states, the study by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) found, however, that more Europeans believed the EU leadership in Brussels was a party to the new international conflict. Continue reading...

Education minister James Merlino says all school and childcare staff will need to have their first jab or a booking by 18 October

Embattled Chinese property giant allays some market concerns despite lack of guidance over $83.5m due on a separate offshore debtChinese property developer Evergrande has said it would pay some of the bond interest due on Thursday, allaying fears of an imminent and messy collapse that had spooked investors.Markets in Taiwan and China reopened lower after a two-day break, catching up with a sharp sell-off around the world triggered by concern over Evergrande’s predicament. Continue reading...

Climate crisis, conflict and Covid stunting progress on nutrition, UN says on eve of food security summitOnly a third of children under two in many developing countries are fed what they need for healthy growth and no progress has been made on improving their nutrition over the past decade.Unicef, the UN’s children’s agency, said in a report published on Wednesday that a combination of crises from Covid-19 to conflict and the climate breakdown had stunted progress on children’s nutrition in 91 countries. Continue reading...

Defence ministry says certain Xiaomi phones have built-in ability to censor sensitive phrasesLithuania’s Defence Ministry has recommended that consumers avoid buying Chinese mobile phones and advised people to throw away the ones they have now, after a government report found the devices had built-in censorship capabilities.Flagship phones sold in Europe by China’s smartphone giant Xiaomi Corp have a built-in ability to detect and censor terms such as “free Tibet”, “long live Taiwan independence” or “democracy movement”, Lithuania’s state-run cybersecurity body said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Earthquake near Mansfield has shaken buildings across Melbourne, with some reports of damage – follow updates live

Elimination still the strategy but PM is relying on luck and people doing the right thing in easing measures while there are still new cases, say experts

Stars pay tribute to ‘dear, funny, kind man’ who played Carrie Bradshaw’s friend Stanford in the popular HBO TV seriesWillie Garson, the actor best known for his role as Stanford Blatch in the original series of Sex and the City, has died at the age of 57.Garson won the hearts of fans of the popular HBO series, which first aired in 1998 and ran for six seasons, playing Carrie Bradshaw’s closest male friend, the talent agent Stanford. Garson also appeared in the follow-up films, Sex and the City, and Sex and the City 2. He was recently reprising the role in a reboot of the TV series, And Just Like That, which is currently in production. Continue reading...

Attitudes towards transphobia also hardening, but viewers more tolerant of swearing if justifiedBritons are increasingly concerned by the use of racist and transphobic language on television but much more tolerant of swearing, according to the media regulator’s latest investigation into changing social attitudes.Ofcom found that attitudes to racist language have hardened, with Britons wanting a very strong justification for its inclusion in programmes. Last summer the BBC had to apologise after broadcasting the N-word during a news report on an allegedly racist attack on a young man. Continue reading...

Average deaths per day day have climbed 40% over the past two weeks in United States; UK figures show 203 further deaths have been reported

Wednesday: Biden hails alliance while Paris fumes after Aukus deal. Plus: exhibition showcases isolation around the nationGood morning. Protesters in Melbourne have been warned to stay away today after a second day of violent clashes between police and construction workers rallying against mask mandates. Labor’s pick for the federal seat of Hunter is under fire for inappropriate social media behaviour. And lockdown is lifting in Ballarat, just in time for an exhibition featuring photographs documenting the pandemic.“The United States has no closer or more reliable ally than Australia,” Joe Biden has said, speaking before a bilateral meeting with Scott Morrison on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York. Biden and Morrison welcomed their new security ties after last week’s announcement that Washington would provide Canberra with advanced technology for nuclear-powered submarines. The deal has infuriated Paris but the federal trade minister, Dan Tehan, insists Australia’s free-trade agreement negotiations with the EU are “business as usual”. Continue reading...

We’re back in the tent for more cake-based mayhem! But who will rise to the occasion – and who will bottom out?9.09pm BSTThere’s going to be a collapse, isn’t there? And I don’t just mean our mental states.9.07pm BSTAh, Jairzeno is going to try to fix the problem with a Bake Off classic – putting it in the fridge and ignoring it. Continue reading...

Masks will no longer be required outdoors as government says country could be at ‘end of pandemic’

Canadian prime minister will stay in power but will be forced to navigate a parliament that he needs to woo in order to survive

Australian Retirement Holdings launched legal action in a bid to stop a woman taking possession of her deceased grandparents’ land

Trade minister says Australia has a strong relationship with Europe and it is sometimes necessary to have ‘difficult conversations’• Get our free news app; get our morning email briefingThe federal trade minister, Dan Tehan, insists Australia’s free-trade agreement negotiations with the European Union are “business as usual”, despite growing unease over Australia’s treatment of France during the finalisation of the Aukus deal.Tehan’s trip to Europe early next month will now be partly spent trying to smooth over tensions with the European Commission which has asked for a “please explain” over Australia’s dealings with its key member state France, in both cancelling a $90bn submarine contract, and entering into a strategic Indo-Pacific agreement which excludes Europe. Continue reading...

If Chinese property company Evergrande sinks under its $300bn debt its failure would resound across the global economyEvergrande Real Estate – or Heng Da Group in Chinese – owns more than 1,300 building projects in more than 280 cities across China. Continue reading...

Canadian prime minister will stay in power but has not won the majority he hoped for after calling a snap election

Boasting the shark from Jaws, the robe from the Big Lebowski, and the slippers from Oz, the Academy museum is finally open. But the real story is its exposé of Hollywood’s racist, sexist pastIn 1939, the Academy of Motion Pictures published its first “players directory”, which grouped actors into categories such as “leading women” and “comediennes”, but set aside separate sections for “coloured” and “oriental” performers. The Academy removed the segregated categories a few years later, but many of the actors of colour weren’t integrated into other sections. They were eliminated.These racist directories are on display at the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, which celebrates some of the most important film-makers in history while also attempting to confront head-on the dark legacy of exclusion and discrimination in the industry. The hope is to tell a much more complicated, and accurate, story of Hollywood through the years. Continue reading...

From subtle riffs on traditional script-based decoration to a late father’s letters to his lover, the artists vying for the Jameel prize generate deep emotion from meticulousnessWords have had outsize importance in Muslim culture since the beginning. The Qur’an, which literally means “recitation”, was of course revered as the word of God. But, crucially, images of human beings and animals were disapproved of because they could distract people from prayer; as a result, artists poured all their creativity and imagination into calligraphy. Facing the same restriction, craftsmen and architects created dazzling geometric forms into which words were often incorporated. The discipline imposed by not being able to depict living things gave rise to some of the most beguiling decoration on the planet. Continue reading...

World leaders gather for the UN general assembly in New York, with Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro taking stand against Covid vaccine mandates

Michael Gandolfini is goosebump-inducing as the young Tony Soprano, amid race riots and antagonism towards rival African American gangsMaybe it was inevitable that the greatest TV show in history should spawn a feature-length prequel that is somehow disappointing: it is watchable but weirdly obtuse with a tricksy narrative reveal that doesn’t add much. The Many Saints of Newark, co-written by the Sopranos’ legendary creator David Chase and directed by Alan Taylor, gives us the childhood of a leader: the teenage Tony Soprano, growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, specifically the time of the 1967 Newark riots, which caused the “white flight” racism that explains the older Tony having that palatial home way out there in the suburbs that he drives up to in the opening credits each episode.Young Tony is portrayed with goosebump-inducing deja vu by Michael Gandolfini, son of the late James Gandolfini, who played the role on TV. Tony’s sleepy-eyed sensitivity, his melancholy, his glowering resentment and dangerous hurt feelings are there in embryo. His father, Johnny, is played by Jon Bernthal, and his terrifying mother Livia by Vera Farmiga who gives a superb rendering of Livia’s own haughty mannerisms. But you could spend this entire movie hanging on for the first sign of those all-important petit mal fainting fits that the TV show said originated in Tony’s dad. Is history being rewritten, or misrememberings corrected? Continue reading...

Head of the military regime that briefly ruled Egypt after the 2011 uprising and the fall of Hosni MubarakField Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, who has died aged 85, took charge of Egypt from the ousting of its president, Hosni Mubarak, in February 2011 until a return to democracy with the election of Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in June 2012.Despite being a pillar of the former regime – “Mubarak’s poodle” to some – Tantawi was given the job in response to the demands of a huge protest movement. He was respected for his decency and clean human rights record, though he became the focus of anger in his own right when demonstrators returned to the streets to protest against the army’s handling of the transition. Continue reading...

About 6,000 Canary islanders evacuated so far as fears rise over possibility of toxic gasFive hundred more people have been forced to flee their homes on the Canary island of La Palma as the ongoing volcanic eruption pushed streams of lava towards inhabited coastal areas and raised fears over the formation of clouds of toxic gas.The eruption, which began on Sunday afternoon on the Cumbre Vieja ridge, one of the most active volcanic regions in the archipelago, has destroyed at least 183 homes and led to the evacuation of about 6,000 people to date. Continue reading...

Ageing population is putting strain on system that is a point of national pride for manyThe churned-up garden of the clubhouse for pensioners is preoccupying Peter Klotsche. “It’s the raccoons,” he says. “They come at night and toss up the earth looking for worms and we really don’t know how best to stop it.”The clubhouse, Stille Strasse, in northern Berlin, is abuzz with members wanting to put questions to local politicians before Sunday’s elections. The raccoons are a central talking point, as well as affordable housing and, not least, the future of the club itself, which remains at the centre of a struggle over attempts to turn it into luxury homes. A decade ago, its members squatted in it for more than 100 days to save it from developers. Continue reading...

Officer was travelling with CIA director William Burns when he experienced symptoms consistent with being exposed to directed energyA US intelligence officer suffered symptoms linked to a series of suspected directed-energy attacks known as “Havana syndrome” while traveling with the CIA director, William Burns, in India this month.Experts are in the process of verifying the officer’s symptoms, which are consistent with the scores of other cases in recent years linked to Havana syndrome, according to James Giordano, a scientist briefed on the case and others. CNN first reported the incident. Continue reading...

Production to resume after work paused because of gas price surge

Charity says Covid policy is having ‘devastating consequences’ for sector already in crisis

Officials and military sources say a group of officers had tried to occupy state media buildingSudan’s fragile political transition has been plunged into uncertainty following a reported coup attempt by soldiers loyal to former autocrat Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019.As Sudan woke up to the government’s claims of the alleged coup, details – including the individuals behind it – remained murky. Bashir himself came to power following a military coup in 1989. Continue reading...

Delicious, versatile and good for you – there’s so much you can do with this ruby-coloured root vegetable apart from pickling it. Here are some of the best recipes to get you startedThe beetroot has a long and storied history. Assyrian texts from 800BC describe beetroots growing in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The ancient Romans considered them an aphrodisiac and used them to treat everything from fever to constipation. In 1653, Nicholas Culpeper said they embodied the energy of Saturn. The Victorians used them to dye their hair. Even now beetroot is heralded as an incredible source of folate, manganese, iron and vitamin C. And to think I spent my childhood flicking it off my plate because I didn’t want it turning my potato salad pink. Here are 10 excellent beetroot recipes for your perusal. Continue reading...

The 3,600-year-old tablet that shows parts of a Sumerian poem will be returned by the US to the country it was taken from in 1991A 3,600-year-old tablet showing part of the Epic of Gilgamesh will be formally handed back to Iraq by the US on Thursday.The tablet, known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, shows parts of a Sumerian poem from the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the world’s oldest known religious texts. It is believed to have been looted from a museum in Iraq in 1991, and “fraudulently” entered the US in 2007, according to Unesco, the United Nations’ cultural body. It was acquired by Christian arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby for display in its museum of biblical artefacts in 2014, and seized by the US Department of Justice in 2019. Continue reading...

Drone footage captures the moment boiling lava seeps into a swimming pool on the Canary island of La Palma, as volcanic eruptions continue on the Spanish island forcing thousands to be evacuated.The island had been on high alert after more than 22,000 tremors were reported within a week in Cumbre Vieja, one of the most active volcanic regions in the archipelago

Man using the name Sergey Fedotov alleged to have been working with Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov

Government urged to give sanctuary to hundreds of female judges and lawyers living under the TalibanBaroness Helena Kennedy QC has launched an urgent appeal to provide support to judges along with lawyers, women’s rights activists, human rights defenders, and their families at risk in Afghanistan and in need of a safe haven abroad.As part of the #EvacuateHer” campaign, Kennedy has also launched a petition, calling on the UK government to provide sanctuary to Afghan judges and lawyers at risk. The Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (Arap) initially stated judges were eligible under the scheme but no longer includes this group. Continue reading...

It started with construction workers opposing compulsory vaccinations but grew into a broader ‘freedom’ rally which shut down freeways and bridges

Victoria police say 1,000-2,000 people attended second day of protests in Melbourne CBD; NSW cases back over 1,000 as kids allowed to meet in friend bubbles for school holidays; Tweed, Byron Bay and Kempsey LGAs to lockdown from 5pm; Qld records no new local cases; Victoria’s highest number of cases for this outbreak. Follow all the day’s news live

After years caught in the crossfire between the Taliban and security forces, farmers in Kandahar face a new threat, as water sources dry upThe war in Afghanistan might be over but farmers in Kandahar’s Arghandab valley face a new enemy: drought.It has hardly rained for two years, a drought so severe that some farmers are questioning how much longer they can live off the land. Continue reading...

Clément Beaune says Brexit fallout and secret defence pact have undermined Franco-British relationsThe British-French alliance lacks trust, France’s EU affairs minister has said, citing Downing Street’s approach to the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland and the secretly negotiated defence agreement with the US and Australia.Clément Beaune, a close ally of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said that while the two problematic issues should not be mixed, together they highlighted the flaw in the relationship. Continue reading...

New Jersey-born singer had a US No 1 hit with the R&B trio, and later worked with the Rolling StonesSarah Dash, member of R&B trio Labelle who had a US No 1 hit with Lady Marmalade, has died aged 76.No cause of death has been given, though she had reportedly told family she was feeling unwell in recent days. Continue reading...

Body of Sabina Nessa, 28, was found near community centre in Kidbrooke on SaturdayA south-east London primary school has been left “devastated” by the suspected murder of one of its teachers after her body was found near a community centre on Saturday.The Metropolitan police named the victim as Sabina Nessa, 28, from Kidbrooke, and said her death was being treated as murder. A man in his 40s who was arrested on suspicion of killing her has been released under further investigation. Continue reading...

Henry Vaughan and Fitzroy Maynard sue Home Office, saying delays have caused them years of stressTwo victims of the Windrush scandal have launched legal proceedings against the Home Office over protracted delays in issuing compensation, asking for clarity on how claims can be expedited.Both Henry Vaughan, 67, and Fitzroy Maynard, 55, are struggling financially while living in unsuitable bedsit accommodation. They say they are unable to begin rebuilding their lives after years of problems caused by the government’s mistaken decision to classify them as illegal immigrants. Continue reading...

With poverty deepening, state services are failing to cope with rising rates of addictionKola* was in secondary school in Nigeria when he started smoking cigarettes. He soon graduated to cannabis, heroin and eventually to crack cocaine. Access to drugs was easy and he felt the pressure of friends to participate.In 2002, when he was 39, he was introduced to a private drug rehabilitation centre in Ibadan, in the south-west of the country, where he spent 90 days weaning himself off his addiction. Continue reading...

The moderates are mobilising – and the prime minister’s office knows itAt 7.31am on Tuesday morning, Scott Morrison’s backbench liaison staffer sent out a WhatsApp blast to Liberal MPs asking them not to front the media without first checking with the prime minister’s press office.Obviously there is a lot happening. The prime minister was meant to fly straight to Washington, but has instead diverted to New York in an effort to quell the diplomatic storm from France and its European allies prompted by Australia’s decision to terminate the Naval Group’s $90bn submarine contract. Continue reading...

Record firm’s €40bn flotation is just beginning of new wave of music consumption, says Sir Lucian Grainge

They took RuPaul from obscurity to global fame – inventing The Adam and Joe Show along the way. As Drag Race UK returns to the BBC, we talk to Fenton Bailey and Randy BarbatoMore than 20 years before Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato launched RuPaul’s Drag Race under the banner of their World of Wonder production company, they spotted the future drag superstar in the lobby of the Marriott hotel in Times Square, New York. It was the mid-1980s, and the 6ft 4in RuPaul Charles was sporting football shoulder pads, thigh-high waders, a loincloth and a mohican.“We were, like: ‘Oh my God,’” says Bailey. “There was simply nowhere else you could look.” Continue reading...

Heroin production has boomed in Afghanistan in recent years and the country produces most of the world’s supply of the drugNearly three tonnes of heroin with a street value of $2.7bn (£2bn) from Afghanistan have been seized from a western Indian port in a major bust, officials said.Two Indians were arrested after the heroin, which was kept in two containers marked as carrying talc, was found by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Mundra Port in the western state of Gujarat, the government agency said. Continue reading...

Demand for MIQ spaces is vastly outstripping supply, with spots snapped up in just two hours

Thanks for following along – this blog is now closed. You can catch up with the latest coronavirus coverage here.12.16am BSTThanks for following along – this blog is now closed. You can catch up with the latest coronavirus coverage here.11.09pm BSTHere are the key developments in today’s Covid news: Continue reading...