The doctor told me I’d be lucky to see uterine transplants happen in my lifetime. But I never gave up hopeWhen I was 17, my periods still hadn’t started. Blood tests and ultrasound scans confirmed the devastating news: I had Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome – I had been born without a uterus. One in 5,000 women have the condition. I had functioning ovaries, which could help me make a baby, but without a womb, I couldn’t carry one.I stared at the medical drapes in front of me and tried to keep breathing. “Couldn’t I have a uterus transplant?” I asked the doctor, only to be told that I’d be lucky to see the procedure developed in my lifetime. Continue reading...
by Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent on (#5QR3J)
Jesus College will give sculpture of a cockerel back to Nigeria, which could spark a wave of repatriationsA Cambridge college is to become the first British institution to return one of the Benin bronzes to Nigeria later this month in what has been described as “a historic moment”.Jesus College, University of Cambridge, will return the bronze cockerel to Nigerian delegates on 27 October, in a handover ceremony that Nigerian officials say offers “hope for amicable resolutions” to the ongoing disputes over the ownership of cultural properties. Continue reading...
In our series in which readers ask the questions, the film-maker behind Friends with Money and The Last Duel on popping Valium in a snowstorm on a flight to her first premiere – and Scorsese nodding off during her student filmA lot of your films have, I think, been autobiographical. How much of yourself were you able to put into The Last Duel [Holofcener focused on the section from the point of view of Jodie Comer’s Marguerite]? Is the “concept” of your third to debunk the ways in which male narratives distort women’s stories? Did that feel apiece with your previous work? And if this was a big break from the norm for you – in terms of period, location etc – how did that feel? Refreshing or unnerving? bumble1
The Queen has criticised world leaders’ inaction on addressing the climate crisis, saying she was 'irritated' by individuals who 'talk but don’t do'. She made the remarks, which were picked up on a livestream, at the opening of the Welsh parliament in Cardiff on Thursday during a conversation with the Duchess of Cornwall and Elin Jones, the parliament’s presiding officer. The Queen also referred to the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow starting on 31 October, saying: 'I’ve been hearing all about Cop ... still don’t know who is coming. No idea'
Plan announced to temporarily change ‘cabotage’ rules to prevent shortages in run-up to ChristmasForeign lorry drivers will be able to make an unlimited number of pick-ups and drop-offs in a fixed period in the UK under changes to rules proposed by the government to prevent shortages of products in the run-up to Christmas and into the new year.On Thursday, ministers announced a consultation on a plan to increase deliveries in the UK by temporarily changing so-called “cabotage” rules, which govern how many trips foreign transport firms can make within another country. Continue reading...
Activists highlight the poverty, stigma and abuse faced by women deserted by spouses living abroadKamala Reddy*, 33, a software engineer from Andhra Pradesh, married Vijay Kumar* in a traditional Hindu wedding in 2012. Kumar, who was working in the UK, was chosen by Reddy’s family. “But he didn’t take me to the UK after our marriage. He made excuses such as problems with the visa and so on,” says Reddy.In 2016, Reddy became pregnant. Under pressure from the family, Kumar brought her to England. On arrival, she was shocked to discover Kumar’s secret. He had a British partner, two children and a stepchild. Neither Kumar’s nor Reddy’s families knew about the other family. Kumar threatened to leave Reddy if she told anyone. Continue reading...
by Caitlin Cassidy (now) and Matilda Boseley (earlier on (#5QQNA)
PM to attend Glasgow summit; Hobart to enter three-day lockdown; NSW to end hotel quarantine, 6,000 weekly seats into Sydney to come online in next two days; Victoria to receive NSW travellers as state records 2,179 local cases and six deaths; NSW records 399 local cases and four deaths – follow the latest news
Conviction of Claudia Webbe could lead to byelection in seat where Tories have been gaining groundThe constituents of Leicester East have become accustomed to seeing their local MP in the news. Often for all the wrong reasons.The former Labour MP Keith Vaz, who held the seat for 32 years, stepped down after he was caught offering to buy class A drugs for sex workers, and has subsequently been found to have bullied a parliamentary staffer. Continue reading...
A decades-long policy of criminalising asylum seekers is filling prisons with innocent men, according to analysis by rights groupsItalian police have arrested more than 2,500 migrants for smuggling or aiding illegal immigration since 2013, often using anti-mafia laws to bring charges, according to the first comprehensive analysis of official data on the criminalisation of refugees and asylum seekers in Italy.The report by three migrant rights groups has collected police data and analysed more than 1,000 criminal cases brought by prosecutors against refugees accused of driving vessels carrying asylum seekers across the Mediterranean. Continue reading...
Diving with tiger sharks off Fuvahmulah brought a tourist boom that has led to a destructive tide of plastic waste. But now locals are pushing back“People used to think I was crazy,” says Lonu Ahmed. “Even my mum thought I was insane. Fishermen used to beg me not to dive with sharks.”Ahmed lives on the island of Fuvahmulah in the Maldives, an island surrounded by tiger sharks. The islanders have traditionally been terrified of the creatures: fishermen would regularly kill them. Ten years ago, however, believing the sharks were misunderstood, Ahmed jumped into the water, to the horror of onlookers. He says he saw something they didn’t. Continue reading...
Chris Ayres was a climber and mountain guide, who first sailed in his 50s. He hadn’t planned to make his six-year voyage alone, but it was the adventure of a lifetimeChris Ayres was 66 when he moved aboard his yacht “with a circumnavigation in mind”. He had read about people setting off on adventures. “I thought, let’s try it. I liked the idea that you could just get on a boat and head off.”He was ready to sail when the friend who was to join him as crew backed out. “I’d sailed solo before, but only for a day or so. Not like heading into the ocean, where you’re sailing for 24 hours,” he says from his home in Sheffield. A map of the world hangs on the wall beside him.Tell us: has your life taken a new direction after the age of 60?
As she plays Laurie Strode for the sixth time in Halloween Kills, she discusses sisterhood, survival – and the parallels between Michael Myers and Donald TrumpJamie Lee Curtis is describing herself to me. “I’m in a black hole wearing an orange suit,” she says. “It’s early morning in Los Angeles and I’m feeling really good. Fit as a fiddle.” The visual pointers are unnecessary, since we are talking via a video call and that suit could be seen from space: she looks like a human Tic Tac. It is almost as dazzling as the raspberry ensemble she wore, offset by her trademark silver crop, in the whodunit Knives Out.“I have a very close friend who’s a fashion girl, and she posted a picture of herself in that top and pants, so I sent it to our wardrobe designer and said: ‘That’s my character!’” Curtis has told the story before, but no matter: when she talks, it is as though she is linking her arm through yours. She takes you along for the ride. Continue reading...
Khin Maung Zaw has been the only source of information on the ousted Myanmar leader’s trial and wellbeingThe head lawyer representing Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said that authorities in the military-ruled country have imposed a gag order on him because they said his communications could cause instability.Myanmar’s state media has not reported developments in Aung San Suu Kyi’s multiple legal cases, filed after she was ousted in a February coup, and her lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, has been the only source of public information on her trial and her wellbeing. Continue reading...
Attracting more than half a million views within an hour of the song being uploaded, the emotional ballad is the singer’s first release in six yearsAdele has finally released a much-anticipated new single, Easy on Me – with a film clip that attracted more than half a million views within an hour of being uploaded to YouTube.After a six-year hiatus for the 15-time Grammy-winning singer, the song is the first track from her fourth album, 30, due out on 19 November, which reflects the “inner turmoil” she experienced after her divorce from Simon Konecki in 2019. Continue reading...
The controversial film’s first Tasmanian screening was described as ‘like going to a funeral’. How will it be received in a town that won’t speak the killer’s name?There were no posters advertising the Tasmanian premiere of Nitram at the independent State Cinema, which took place on Thursday night.Justin Kurzel’s new film dramatising the lead-up to 1996’s Port Arthur massacre, opened to a quiet, small crowd in the mass shooter’s home town of Hobart. Its trailers were not included in any other scheduling, and the film’s opening lagged two weeks behind its national release. Continue reading...
by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent on (#5QQT1)
Security experts say technology on iPhones could open door to mass surveillance and be misusedTechnology like that proposed by Apple to search iPhones for child sexual abuse images would open the door to mass surveillance and be vulnerable to exploitation, world-leading security and cryptography experts have said.Client-side scanning (CSS) gives access to data on users’ devices, including stored data, which “brings surveillance to a new level”, according to analysis from academics at Harvard Kennedy school, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Cambridge, among others. Continue reading...
Company cites ‘challenging operating environment’ in announcing site will be replaced with jobs app without social networking featuresMicrosoft says it will shut down LinkedIn in China, citing a “challenging operating environment” as Beijing tightens control over tech firms.The US-based company will replace the career-oriented social network in China with an application dedicated to applying for jobs but without the networking features, according to the senior vice-president of engineering, Mohak Shroff. Continue reading...
Overheard comment suggests anger at possible no-shows at Cop26 by leaders of countries with worst CO2 emissionsThe Queen has criticised world leaders’ inaction on addressing the climate crisis, admitting she is “irritated” by individuals who “talk but don’t do”.She made the remarks, which were picked up on a livestream, at the opening of the Welsh parliament in Cardiff on Thursday. Continue reading...
Decision follows hours of deliberation over whether it is fair for four Egyptian security officials to be tried in absentiaA court in Rome has suspended trial proceedings against four Egyptian security officials accused of kidnapping, torturing and murdering the Italian student Giulio Regeni in Cairo, following hours of deliberation over whether it is fair for the men to be tried in absentia.The trial was returned to a preliminary court, after judges debated for seven hours about whether hearings could continue amid any doubt they were aware of proceedings against them. Continue reading...
Transport secretary under pressure to resolve ongoing dispute with 54,000 HGV licences awaiting processingStaff at the DVLA have been promised payments worth £735 as the government seeks to avoid strike action that risks exacerbating the backlog of tens of thousands of licences awaiting renewal.It is understood the money will come in two payments, and has been offered as though unrelated to the fact the PCS trade union is currently balloting staff over renewed strike action. Continue reading...
Friday: teachers fear schools are not ready to return amid ongoing Covid outbreak. Plus: the fashion side hustle promoting city prideGood morning. Schools in New South Wales and Victoria may open their doors next week, but teachers are concerned not enough has been done to welcome them back safely. Restaurants and bars are also slowly reopening as restrictions ease, but many found a lucrative side-hustle during lockdown – fashion.Teachers are warning that some students will be left out in the cold – literally – when schools go back next week, as plans to make classrooms Covid-safe will not be ready. Concerns have been raised over poor ventilation, a lack of air filters and no guidance on how to safely manage class sizes. Principals say they will not be able to fit every student in classrooms if they adhere to the NSW government’s ventilation report, which says how many students should be in each room. “We have situations where room capacity leaves eight to 10 students out in the cold, literally,” the senior vice-president of the NSW Teachers Federation, Amber Flohm, said. Schools in NSW and Victoria have been promised air purifiers and ventilators, but do not currently have them. Continue reading...
After disastrous City presentation now is moment for senior independent director Zillah Byng-Thorne to earn her feeShares in THG, or The Hut Group, finally bounced on Thursday, but, given how far they’re fallen, even a 10% move doesn’t repair the damage. At 306p, the price is still only modestly above its level on Tuesday after the disastrous City presentation where founder Matthew Moulding tried to display the wonders within the Ingenuity subsidiary but drew a collective gasp of: “Is that it?”In a blistering research note, Numis analyst Simon Bowler ascribed a value of precisely zero, or “option value”, to Ingenuity, the bit that provides “end-to-end technology services” – web-hosting, marketing and logistics – for brands, include THG’s own. “Ingenuity is critical in many ways, but feels increasingly nascent, opaque and lacking sufficient proof points to justify a significant valuation,” he wrote. He values the whole company at 230p, or less than half last year’s float price. Continue reading...
Group of 17 organisations including the Guardian win inaugural Daphne Caruana Galizia prize for journalismThe European parliament has jointly awarded a major journalism prize to a consortium of 17 media outlets including the Guardian for the Pegasus spyware scandal revelations.A series of stories over the summer revealed evidence that global clients of the Israeli surveillance company NSO Group had identified human rights activists, journalists, lawyers and leading political figures, including the French president, Emmanuel Macron, as potential targets for phone-hacking software. Continue reading...
A witness of a bow and arrow attack that killed five people in the town of Kongsberg recalled on Thursday seeing one of the victims walking on a street with an arrow in his back. Investigators named the suspect as Espen Andersen Braathen, a 37-year-old living in the municipality where the attacks took place. Police had been concerned about signs of radicalisation in the suspect before the attacks, carried out with a bow and arrow and other weapons, a senior officer said.
Everyone in the Pacific has stories of times the climate crisis hit our lives. For me, it is the birth of my daughter between cyclonesMy daughter was born between cyclones.It was January 2013, and as we drove to the hospital, we passed the wreckage left by Cyclone Evan which had devastated my home island weeks earlier. Evan had been the worst tropical cyclone to hit Samoa in over two decades. There were huge holes in the road. Debris where homes once stood. Continue reading...
Police say Danish suspect’s motives yet to be firmly established and he will undergo psychiatric evaluationA bow-and-arrow attack that left five people dead in Norway appears to have been an “act of terror”, but the motives of the Danish suspect will only be firmly established after a full investigation, the Norwegian security service has said.Police said the suspect, who they identified as 37-year-old Espen Andersen Bråthen, was a Muslim convert with previous criminal convictions who had previously been flagged as a possible Islamic extremist. Andersen Bråthen would be undergoing a psychiatric evaluation, police said. Continue reading...
Cancelled services likely as RMT and Unite unions plan action over wages at StagecoachServices on the UK bus network, already in “crisis” because of a shortage of thousands of drivers, are set to get worse as unions plan a series of strikes.The RMT is going ahead on Monday with a walk-out of bus workers at Stagecoach Southwest, and Unite is planning a strike for the first week of November in many of Stagecoach’s other franchises. Continue reading...
Armed clashes erupt at demonstrations demanding end to judge’s investigation of huge blast last yearAt least six people have died in Beirut’s worst street violence in 13 years, as hundreds of armed militia men took to the streets and much of the city was forced into lockdown by heavy fighting.The bloody violence took on a sectarian tone that invoked images of the Lebanese civil war and alarmed residents who had long feared that the multiple crises ravaging the country could spark a deadly conflagration. Continue reading...
25-year-old tourist was found handcuffed in an apartment after parents raised alarm with National Crime AgencyItalian police have freed a 25-year-old British man who was found barefooted and handcuffed in the room of an apartment where he had been held hostage for eight days.The man from London, whose name has not yet been released, had been on holiday in Italy when he was allegedly kidnapped by a group of four people and held captive in Monte San Giusto, a town in Macerata province in the central Marche region. Continue reading...
Anger erupts and gendarme lynched after schoolgirl is shot at checkpoint in anglophone regionAuthorities in English-speaking western Cameroon have appealed for calm after a police officer killed a five-year-old girl and was lynched by a mob.The incident took place in Buea, a hotspot city in a region where anglophone separatists and government forces in the French-majority nation have been locked in bitter four-year-old conflict. Continue reading...
Principal of college attended by Hazrat Wali, who was killed on Tuesday, says he had a bright futureAn Afghan refugee who was fatally stabbed yards from the west London college where he was studying had a “a bright future ahead of him”, its principal has said as a 16-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of murder.Students and staff at Richmond upon Thames College in Twickenham told of their shock and fear after the killing of Hazrat Wali, 18, who came to the UK two years ago and lived in Notting Hill. Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday North of England correspondent on (#5QQ8V)
Tory Philip Allott caused outrage in wake of the murder by saying women ‘need to be streetwise’A Conservative police commissioner accused of victim-blaming in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard has resigned after being told there was a “catastrophic lack of confidence” in his position.Philip Allott, who oversees North Yorkshire police and the region’s fire service, was criticised after he said women “need to be streetwise” about powers of arrest and should “just learn a bit about that legal process” in case they were approached by officers. Continue reading...
by Martin Chulov in Deir ez-Zor, Syria. Pictures by A on (#5QQ1S)
Those who fought the so-called caliphate fear a US withdrawal could help the terrorist group to rise againOn a blazing afternoon in Syria’s eastern desert this month, a Kurdish commander was hot under the collar. An American raid had just taken place against remnants of Islamic State (IS), and Lukman Khalil, the region’s most senior military leader, had known nothing about it.The US forces had flown across the wasteland of the terrorist group’s last redoubt. Three years ago it was teeming with diehard IS members, but when thousands of holdouts emerged from the decimated town of Baghuz, the war against the so-called caliphate was won, or so it seemed. Continue reading...
by Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent on (#5QQ1T)
Bond star says he dislikes the aggression of hetero spaces, and gay bars were a good place to meet womenFrom his portrayal of a more vulnerable Bond to his cerise suit jacket on the red carpet, Daniel Craig has worked hard to defy expectations of masculinity – so it came as little surprise when the actor revealed he likes to frequent gay bars to avoid the “aggressive dick swinging” of hetero spaces.“I’ve been going to gay bars for as long as I can remember,” Craig said on the podcast Lunch with Bruce. “One of the reasons: because I don’t get into fights in gay bars that often.” Continue reading...
Forty-one injured in ‘extremely fierce’ blaze at 13-storey building in city of KaohsiungA cross-departmental investigation has been launched in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung, after at least 46 people died and another 41 were injured in a fire in that engulfed a building overnight.The 13-storey building caught fire at about 3am local time (2000 BST) on Thursday, officials in the city of Kaohsiung said. An earlier fire department statement said the blaze was “extremely fierce” and destroyed many floors. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#5QPXV)
TfL says resumption on Central and Victoria lines will make journeys safer, particularly for womenLondon’s night tube service will partially resume next month, having been suspended throughout the pandemic.Trains will run through the night on Fridays and Saturdays on London Underground’s Central and Victoria lines from 27 November, in a move that should provide safer travel for many people and boost the recovery of bars and restaurants. Continue reading...
Details continue to emerge though the identity of the alleged attacker and any motive remain unknownLatest news story: suspect showed signs of radicalisation, say policeA Danish man in his 30s is in custody after five people were killed and two others injured in a series of attacks using a bow and arrows in Norway on Wednesday evening.The suspect is a Muslim convert who had previously been flagged as having been radicalised, according to police, but establishing motive would be “complicated … and will take time”.The suspect, who policy say has confessed, is being held on preliminary charges, one step short of being formally charged.He is believed to have acted alone.The attack took place at around 6.15pm local time in the suspect’s home town of Kongsberg, about 50 miles (80km) south-west of the capital, Oslo.Several of the victims were fired on in a Coop supermarket in the town, and the attacker used other weapons as well as a bow and arrows.The suspect was arrested after what police called a “confrontation” about 20 minutes after the attacks began.Police said there were several crime scenes spread across a large area of the town.Norway’s national police directorate said it had ordered officers nationwide to carry firearms.The acting prime minister, Erna Solberg, described reports of the attack as “horrifying”. The prime minister-designate, Jonas Gahr Støre, who is expected to take office on Thursday, called the assault “a cruel and brutal act”.The death toll was the worst of any attack in Norway since 2011, when the far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people, most of them teenagers at a youth camp. Continue reading...
by Harry Davies, Rowena Mason and Sam Jones in Madrid on (#5QPXW)
Marbella villa was lent to prime minister by Zac GoldsmithWith its two swimming pools, organic farm and private woodland, it may have seemed the ideal place to escape for a prime minister hoping to get away from it all.But the sprawling Marbella estate where Boris Johnson has been staying this week may be an awkward reminder of the questions he faced – and managed to avoid – in the wake of the Pandora papers revelations last week. Continue reading...
Five people seeking compensation say they were lured to country and then denied basic human rightsFive people who say they were lured to North Korea decades ago as part of a resettlement programme have told a court in Japan they were promised a “paradise on Earth” but were instead denied basic human rights.The plaintiffs – four ethnic Korean residents of Japan and a Japanese woman who went to the North with her Korean husband and their daughter – are seeking 100m yen (£644,000) in damages from the regime of Kim Jong-un. Continue reading...