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Elmedin and Nass are grateful not to be stuck at home like so many others, but they can’t wait to get back to some normality

The push will prioritise 30 regions across the country and tackle hesitancy and misinformation with a media campaignA plan to fast-track vaccinations in dozens of Indigenous communities has been unveiled by the Australian government’s Covid vaccine taskforce, with an extra $7.7m in funding to help boost take-up rates and address hesitancy and misinformation.It comes as health authorities were on Monday forced to correct official figures that had incorrectly doubled vaccination rates for Indigenous Victorians. Continue reading...

Man allegedly caught 74-year-old who had died while spearfishing in his net but failed to report itA fisherman in Greece has been arrested after allegedly catching a dead spearfisherman in his net and throwing the body back into the sea.The alleged incident happened on Sunday, the same day that a 74-year-old man who had been out spearfishing in shallow waters was reported missing near the coast of Pelion. Continue reading...

Éric Zemmour is about to begin a book tour, but has not yet announced his candidacy for presidentThe French far-right journalist and commentator Éric Zemmour has stepped down from his nightly TV show, heightening speculation that he could make an outsider bid to run in next year’s French presidential election.The 63-year-old, who was a political journalist for Le Figaro, holds convictions for inciting hatred and is best known for his TV diatribes against immigration and Islam. Continue reading...

Cressida Dick calls for more action to stop online radicalisation and questions push towards end-to-end encryptionThe UK most senior police officer has accused technology firms of failing to identify, monitor and report the activity of terrorists, in a plea for improved access to social media platforms.Dame Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police commissioner, also questioned the push to expand end-to-end encryption in a speech to law enforcement officials on Monday. Continue reading...

An extra hour on Saturday and Sunday may be no substitute for a regular good night’s sleep – but according to new research it may help stave off depressionName: The weekend lie-in.Age: As old as the weekend. Continue reading...

Insulate Britain protesters call for overhaul of home insulation as demonstration causes delaysDozens of environmental protesters have been arrested after they blocked junctions off London’s orbital motorway during the morning rush hour causing long delays.Members of the protest group Insulate Britain, which calls for the UK government to fully fund an overhaul of insulation of all homes in Britain by 2030, blocked the M25 at a number of junctions, clashing with motorists. Continue reading...

Written assurances also say aid agencies will be able to operate independently of government and will be free to employ womenThe Taliban have given the UN written assurances on the safe passage and freedom of movement for humanitarian workers operating in Afghanistan, the UN under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths, has told a UN fundraising conference in Geneva.Reading extracts from the Taliban undertakings, Griffiths said he had also received the assurances that aid agencies would be able to operate independently of the government, and would be free to employ women. Continue reading...

Canadian music star says in new documentary: ‘I would always say I was consenting, and then I’d be reminded … you’re not consenting at 15’Speaking in a new documentary, Alanis Morissette has said she was the victim of multiple statutory rapes as a teenager.The documentary, Jagged, is screening at the Toronto film festival this week. The Washington Post has reported that Morissette describes the attacks during the film. “It took me years in therapy to even admit there had been any kind of victimisation on my part,” she says. “I would always say I was consenting, and then I’d be reminded like ‘Hey, you were 15, you’re not consenting at 15.’ Now I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, they’re all paedophiles. It’s all statutory rape.’” Continue reading...

The 18-year-old’s US Open victory puts her among a super-successful group of under-20sEmma Raducanu’s remarkable victory in the US Open was, among other things, a victory for the fearlessness of youth. The Guardian has picked out six teenagers, including Raducanu, who despite their tender years have already had a huge impact. Continue reading...

Liverpool man was mistaken for fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro and arrested in a restaurant in The HagueThe lawyer for a man from Liverpool mistakenly apprehended in the Netherlands on suspicion of being a notorious Sicilian mafia boss and the world’s most-wanted fugitive mobster, is calling for the Italian authorities to withdraw the execution of an arrest warrant against him.Last Wednesday, around 5pm, a 54-year-old British man, identified by his lawyer as Mark L, was cuffed while he was having a meal in a restaurant in The Hague by heavily armed police who pulled a hood over his head and dragged him out in front of dozens of terrified customers, according to media reports. Continue reading...

UK’s four chief medical officers decide to set aside view of vaccine watchdog that benefits of jabs were too minimal to justify them

Survey of investors finds possibility of new Covid-19 variants poses biggest risk to stabilityMore than two-thirds of investors are anticipating a stock market pullback before the end of the year, research suggests, amid concerns over growth prospects and the Covid-19 Delta variant.According to a poll of over 550 global investors by Deutsche Bank, an equity correction sometime before the end of the year is “an overwhelming consensus now”, with 58% forecasting a drop of 5% to 10%. Continue reading...

Government serves notice to terminate contract over allegations of a ‘breach of obligations’

Gladys Berejiklian has revealed a roadmap out of lockdown for the state, and an easing of restrictions for some parts of regional NSW. Here’s the full list of what you can and can’t do in NSW and the ACT

US says weapon, claimed to have flown 1,500km, poses ‘threats’ to country’s neighbours and beyondNorth Korea has carried out successful tests of a new long-range cruise missile over the weekend, its state media outlet KCNA said, sparking fresh criticism from the US amid a protracted standoff over denuclearisation.The missiles are “a strategic weapon of great significance” and flew 1,500km (930 miles) before hitting their targets and falling into the country’s territorial waters during the tests on Saturday and Sunday, KCNA said. The missiles travelled for 126 minutes along “oval and pattern-8 flight orbits”, it reported. Continue reading...

Cordelia Dvorák’s intimate documentary about Marceline Loridan-Ivens – writer, director, and Holocaust survivor – captures her irresistible personalityWhile still little-known outside France, the inimitable Marceline Loridan-Ivens was a formidable force of nature. A Holocaust survivor, her awe-inspiring resilience is deeply felt in her works as a writer and director. Finishing shooting mere weeks before her death in 2018 at the age of 90, Cordelia Dvorák’s intimate documentary is as vibrant as the signature auburn shade of Loridan-Ivens’ short, unruly hair.Loridan-Ivens’ harrowing experience as a teenager at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she befriended Simone Veil, undoubtedly informed the ceaseless energy with which Loridan-Ivens embraced life and arts. In her brief period as an actor in Jean Rouch’s 1960s cinéma vérité films, she sparkles with a lively curiosity and an irresistible charm. Equally arresting is her romantic and creative partnership with her husband, leftist documentary film-maker Joris Ivens. At the height of the Vietnam war, at the invitation of Ho Chi Minh, the pair travelled to Vietnam and made the resolutely anti-imperialist 17th Parallel: Vietnam in War, which documented the devastating effects of American bombing. Continue reading...

Expert’s clever analogies and frank messages to public have won him respect – and millions of followersEarly last year, as Covid-19 began to disrupt livelihoods in Shanghai, local media struggled to persuade the public to stay at home. Then they turned to an infectious diseases expert, Dr Zhang Wenhong, who also heads up Shanghai’s expert panel on Covid-19.“You’re bored to death at home, so the virus will be bored to death, too,” Zhang said in rapid-fire mandarin mixed with a distinctive Shanghainese accent. “Stay at home for two weeks … then we’ll be an inch closer to success.” Continue reading...

Gladys Berejiklian fronts press conference to announce seven further deaths despite saying daily event would be abandoned

I was kicked out of corporate America after the economic crisis – but I learned to find joy and meaning in a life on the road“Happy birthday,” my boyfriend said, sheepishly handing me a brown paper sack.We were standing in “the kitchen” of our van, meaning in front of the mini-fridge and tiny stove situated between the platform bed and the two captain’s chairs. Continue reading...

Women have long been taught to be ashamed of their vulvas, with increasing numbers turning to cosmetic surgery in pursuit of genital ‘perfection’. But a new generation is fighting backWhen Florence Schechter opened the Vagina Museum – the world’s first museum dedicated to gynaecological anatomy – in London in 2019, it was partly a response to a dramatic rise in labiaplasty surgery. Instances of such surgery more than doubled in the first decade of this century, then carried on climbing. Zoe Williams, the spokesperson for the museum (who shares my name), says part of the problem is that most women have not seen other vulvas. “Quite a lot of people have never even seen their own, so it’s hard to have a concept of what’s normal. Certainly, throughout art history, the pictures of nude women very seldom had any protruding labia; you just had a neat little cleft.”Labiaplasty is surgery to alter the appearance of the vulva – generally by trying to reduce the size of the labia minora, the inner genital lips, so that they don’t hang below the labia majora, the outer ones. The reasons for such surgery are not solely cosmetic – they could be related to childbirth, or chafing during sport – yet the rise is staggering. The number of labiaplasty surgeries in 2016 was up 45% on 2015 – the biggest growth of any cosmetic surgery procedure, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Continue reading...

Advocates say Empire Energy’s fracking works may put endangered or undiscovered animals in the ‘little-explored’ area at risk

Find out who is leading the polling to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor of GermanyGermans will vote on Sunday 26 September to elect a new Bundestag, or federal parliament. The result – after coalition negotiations likely to involve two or three parties – will decide who will succeed Angela Merkel, who is standing down after 16 years as chancellor.A two-way coalition between the conservative CDU and the German Greens had long looked the most likely outcome. However, neither party fared well in their response to the devastating floods that hit Germany in July, giving a boost to the confidence of smaller parties. Continue reading...

Twenty years on, cinema is littered with failed attempts at helping people understand the aftermath of 9/11, from American Sniper to WIn November 2001, George W Bush’s White House met studio bosses to discuss how the entertainment industry could help in the “war on terror”. Twenty years on, Hollywood’s role in portraying the conflict remains unclear. Cinema ought to have been central to how we perceived the aftermath of 9/11 but, in retrospect, the bad films outweigh the good.Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips Continue reading...

Find out who is leading the polling to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor of GermanyGermans will vote on Sunday 26 September to elect a new Bundestag, or federal parliament. The result – after coalition negotiations likely to involve two or three parties – will decide who will succeed Angela Merkel, who is standing down after 16 years as chancellor.A two-way coalition between the conservative CDU and the German Greens had long looked the most likely outcome. However, neither party fared well in their response to the devastating floods that hit Germany in July, giving a boost to the confidence of smaller parties. Continue reading...

Deposed Myanmar leader was experiencing motion sickness and could not take the stand, says lawyerThe deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been unable to appear at a court hearing for health reasons, a member of her legal team has said, describing her condition as dizziness caused by motion sickness.Aung San Suu Kyi, 76, who has been detained on various charges since her overthrow in a military coup on 1 February, did not have coronavirus but felt ill having not travelled in a vehicle for a long time, Min Min Soe, a lawyer, said. Continue reading...

State projected to hit target in time for crowds to attend The Everest in Sydney, and organisers of Victoria’s Caulfield Cup hope to follow suit

Analysts say massively indebted China property group likely to be dismantled to avoid triggering market-wide panicThe troubled Chinese property group Evergrande has edged closer to a government-engineered restructuring which could see bondholders take huge losses as Beijing’s price for saving millions of homeowners from financial ruin.With the likelihood increasing every day that the massively indebted group will be dismantled to avoid triggering a market-wide panic, trade in one of its bonds was suspended in Shanghai on Monday after it plunged 25%. Continue reading...

Frustration mounts as Rodrigo Duterte rejects a pilot reopening of schools for fear children could pass coronavirus to elderly relatives

More than 600 health, social work and education professionals write to home secretary over ‘oppressive’ billA new policing bill that will be debated this week risks deepening racial and gender disparities in the justice system while forcing professionals to betray the trust of vulnerable people, hundreds of experts and a report have warned.In a letter to the home secretary, 665 GPs, nurses, social, youth and outreach workers and teachers have warned that the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill is “oppressive” and would force frontline professionals to betray the trust of vulnerable people and become complicit in surveillance, ahead of a debate in the House of Lords this week. Continue reading...

For more than 20 years the designer and presenter has shown viewers what it really costs to build a dream home. He talks about the frayed emotions, failure and why the UK needs radical land reformThe first couple of episodes of the current series of Grand Designs have already aired, but – as if it was itself an over-running building project – Kevin McCloud is still filming. When we speak over Zoom, from the small studio he set up “in a cupboard”, he has only just got home from filming; and as soon as we finish, he will be recording a line or two of his famously lyrical thoughts for an episode that goes out this week. It sounds stressful and I feel every bit as on edge as I do watching one of his couples race to finish a house before the weather closes in, or the woman gives birth, or the money runs out, but McCloud looks relaxed. He has, after all, been doing this for more than 20 years.The current series of Grand Designs is the 22nd. McCloud says he is always coming up with new reasons for its popularity. “The oldest explanation is I think it’s the last great big adventure that we can all go on and, therefore, we all connect to the idea of that,” he says, of the huge task that is building a house. “Also, we connect to the idea of home, because the notion of home is not simply a concept, it’s a place of psychological dependency.” Watching someone else create a home “strikes at something very primal within us”, he reasons. The characters are fascinating, of course – how do they have so much money? Why does this man (it’s almost always a man) think it’s a good idea to turn a nuclear power station or a sewage plant into a family home? And there is something deeply satisfying in the end result – an imposition of order on a quagmire of a building site, overcoming supply issues and dwindling funds. Finally, despite McCloud’s scepticism early on in the episode and the occasional barbed comment, his climactic monologue will be celebratory. At the very least, he will find something to praise. It is not a cynical show. Continue reading...

16 September 1971: Through a haze of rose countless geometric webs of spiders bridge darkling gaps, glittering and opalescentNORFOLK: Sunrise over the fen on these autumn mornings brings transient splendour to a realm of dew-wet reeds and a lingering cloak of mist. Through a haze of rose which turns to gold countless geometric webs of spiders bridge darkling gaps, glittering and opalescent. Spear-leaves and drooping purple reed-plumes are beaded with silver and the pincushion umbels of angelica are pricked out with a million diamond points of light. Tassels of hemp-agrimony and magenta spires of loosestrife achieve a brightness and perfection which beautifies them, while white bellbines shine with the pallor of fading stars through the morning vapours. There is a scent of water mint distilled from the night. The air is so still that even the gossamer does not tremble. The reed-warblers have gone; there is no chorus of chattering and husky music to greet the new day; but presently a wren trills, a woodpecker’s “chipping” breaks the silence of the nearby woods, and bullfinches utter plaintive whistles in the sallow bushes. A pheasant wakes in a sedgy jungle roost and rises like a rocket, scattering the dew in its rude progress and raising a general alarm.Related: An exuberance of life on the undrained fen Continue reading...

She took tea with Sigmund Freud, had an affair with Stephen Spender, risked her life in the Austrian resistance – and inspired an Oscar-winning film. Can a new show about Muriel Gardiner capture her extraordinary life?In 1978 the novelist Mary McCarthy ignited one of the fiercest feuds in literary history by claiming on a TV chatshow that every word of Lillian Hellman’s memoir was a lie, “including ‘and’ and ‘the’”. Hellman, a screenwriter and playwright, immediately launched a $2.5m defamation suit. McCarthy’s charge centred on Hellman’s claim to have been close friends with a heroic American member of the resistance in 1930s Vienna. So captivating was the story of their relationship that it had been made into an Oscar-winning film, starring Jane Fonda as Hellman and Vanessa Redgrave as the eponymous Julia.At her home in the US, psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Muriel Gardiner had become aware of the memoir, Pentimento, when it was published in 1973, after friends began to call, suggesting that Julia must be her. “I have never met Lillian Hellman,” she later wrote, “but I read the story and was indeed struck by the many similarities between my life and her heroine’s.” When the film came out, the calls became more regular. A consultation with the director of Austria’s resistance archives confirmed that there had only ever been one American heiress in the country’s anti-Nazi underground: Muriel Gardiner, whose code name was Mary. Continue reading...

The two stars took home the night’s top awards, along with Justin Bieber, at an MTV ceremony that mostly stuck to music and away from pandemic and politicsIt was a night of triumph for teen stars current (Olivia Rodrigo) and former (Justin Bieber) at the MTV Video Music Awards, in a show that strayed from the pandemic markers and political gestures that have defined most award ceremonies since early 2020.Bieber, the teenage pop phenom of the early 2010s coming off a several year hiatus from touring, kicked off the night with a duet with 18-year-old Aussie rap phenom the Kid Laroi. Now 27 and appearing at the VMAs for the first time since 2015, Bieber took home two of the night’s top awards: artist of the year and best pop video, for Peaches, featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon. Nominated in every category beside him, and taking home best new artist, was 18-year-old Olivia Rodrigo, whose single – and best song winner – Drivers License became the most streamed song ever in January. Continue reading...

Both sides have applied for role, raising fears military leadership could be emboldened if chosenThe United Nations will face a dilemma when its general assembly convenes next week, after both Myanmar’s military junta and the country’s shadow national unity government (NUG) launched rival bids to fill the country’s seat.Myanmar’s military, which seized power in February, has sought to replace the current representative, Kyaw Moe Tun, an outspoken critic of the coup. Both the junta and the NUG, which was set up partly by ousted politicians, are believed to have submitted applications to the UN’s credentials committee. Continue reading...

New Delhi faces problem of greater Pakistani influence on Afghanistan and implications for Kashmir insurgencyAs the Taliban last week announced the cabinet set to now govern Afghanistan, 600 miles away in Delhi, the mood was sombre. Of the 33 men who were given key posts, almost all have been with the Taliban since the group emerged in the 1990s, and – aside from five who had been held in Guantanamo Bay until last year – all had spent the past 20 years in hiding in Pakistan.The Haqqanis, a faction of the Taliban known for their close ties to Pakistan and hardline belief in global jihad, were particularly well represented in the cabinet. Continue reading...

Newly released data from the state government shows the vaccine rollout over time by area

Lil Nas X, Alicia Keys and Megan Fox among the stars to hit the red carpet at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards, marking the channel’s 40th anniversary. Justin Bieber won artist of the year and the show mixed moments from early stars like Cyndi Lauper and show opener Madonna with high-octane performances from newer figures such as Olivia Rodrigo, Camila Cabello and Chloe Bailey Continue reading...

How does Australia’s coronavirus vaccine rollout and schedule compare with other countries, and when will Australia reach 70% and 80% double dose vaccination? We bring together the latest numbers on the vaccination rate in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and other states, as well as stats, maps, live data and Indigenous vaccination rates.

Singer posts video of sparkling ring, days after father filed to end the conservatorship that controls her lifeBritney Spears has announced her engagement to her boyfriend Sam Asghari with an exuberant post displaying a diamond ring engraved with the word “lioness”.She wrote “I can’t fucking believe it!“ with an Instagram video post in which she winks, kisses a smiling Asghari on the cheek and answers “yes!” when he asks if she likes it. Continue reading...

Here are the current coronavirus hotspots and Tier 1, 2 and 3 Covid-19 public exposure site locations in Victoria and Melbourne, and what to do if you’ve visited them

Centre-left frontrunner Olaf Scholz gets another boost after second of three televised debates between would-be Merkel successorsCandidates representing the two parties that have governed Germany in a “grand coalition” for 12 out of the past 16 years tore into each other’s record on Sunday night, in a televised election debate that saw centre-left frontrunner Olaf Scholz declared winner despite swipes from his conservative rival.In the second of three televised debates, hosted by Germany’s two public broadcasters, conservative candidate Armin Laschet of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) tried to turn his fortunes around by attacking finance minister Scholz of the Social Democratic party (SPD) over his track-record on tackling money laundering and corruption. Continue reading...

Customs duties rose to record £2.2bn in first six months since trade deal came into effect on 1 JanuaryThe trade barriers that made the import of Marks & Spencer’s Percy Pig sweets one of the first casualties of Brexit has added an extra £600m in costs to British importers since January, it has emerged.Customs duties paid by UK businesses shot up from £1.6bn in the first half last year to a record £2.2bn in the same period this year, according to an analysis of HMRC data. Continue reading...

MP for Hunter, who is at odds with his party on climate policy, says he believes the ALP will win the next election if it remains ‘pragmatic’

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Victorian MP Peter Khalil says ALP needs to do better after sidelining of community candidate Tu Le sparks split within right faction

Stephen Karam’s Tony-winning play makes the leap to film with ease, an extraordinarily well-acted, uncomfortably intimate look at a family at ThanksgivingThere’s a surprising urgency to Stephen Karam’s adaptation of his Tony-winning play The Humans, a vitality one might not expect from a film that sounds like something we’ve seen many times before. Not only is the set-up of a dysfunctional multi-generational family descending on a Manhattan apartment for Thanksgiving as dilapidated as most Manhattan apartments themselves (the post-American Beauty world of indies was forever damaged by the increasingly cliched quirky family subgenre) but the decision to film a one-location, one-act play (especially by the person who originated it on stage) can often be the result of vanity rather than necessity.Related: The Guilty review – Jake Gyllenhaal’s tense 911 call thriller Continue reading...

Group’s 1977 disco hit Yes Sir, I Can Boogie has become the unofficial anthem of Scotland football fansMaria Mendiola, one of the members of Baccara, whose 1977 disco hit Yes Sir, I Can Boogie is the unofficial anthem of Scotland football fans, has died.Mendiola, who was one half of the Spanish duo, was best known for her rendition of the hit song. She died in Madrid surrounded by her family on Saturday morning at the age of 69. Cristina Sevilla, her partner in a later iteration of the group, expressed her gratitude on social media in a message written in Spanish. Continue reading...

Sajid Javid may be forced to revive unpopular policy in another U-turn if NHS comes under severe pressure in winter

In his first international trip since undergoing intestinal surgery in July, Pope Francis urged Hungary to 'extend its arms towards everyone'. His stance on immigration and refugees stands in stark contrast to Viktor Orbán, who was in in the front row as the pontiff spoke Continue reading...