The nation’s Delta outbreak continues to grow, with Auckland likely to remain in lockdown for at least another fortnightNew Zealand’s Covid-19 outbreak continues to spread, with 83 cases announced on Sunday – a new daily high for this outbreak.All but one of the new cases were found in Auckland, with the other in Wellington. Continue reading...
Alar Karis is the only candidate on the ballot after current president Kersti Kaljulaid lost favour with lawmakersEstonia is gearing up for an unusual presidential election in parliament. There will be only one candidate in Monday’s vote, a situation unprecedented since the Baltic state regained its independence 30 years ago.President Kersti Kaljulaid’s five-year term expires on 10 October, and lawmakers in the 101-seat Riigikogu parliament must elect a new head of state to replace her in the largely ceremonial post. Continue reading...
The delays and opposition to the long-awaited Harbour Bridge ramp are emblematic of a city still not at peace with cyclistsOne of the world’s most feted pieces of transport infrastructure currently lets down an increasingly popular mode of transport: the bicycle.Currently, the 2,000 cyclists who cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge’s dedicated cycleway daily must dismount and battle 55 steps on the north side. The number of cyclists struggling on the stairs looks only set to grow: cycling in Sydney’s inner city has doubled in the last two years. Continue reading...
Switching from waging an insurgency to administering an entire country again is a daunting challenge the group must urgently addressBy Wednesday morning the last US troops will have left Kabul and the day will break on a country entirely controlled by the Taliban, the last shadow of American threat banished.It is still uncertain what this second iteration of the caliphate will look like, but with foreigners finally gone, the shape of the new Afghanistan will come into sharper focus. Continue reading...
by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and media correspondent on (#5NWHS)
Stones post montage of clips from drummer’s almost 60-year career with bandHe thought it would last a year at most, but Charlie Watts’s run as drummer with the Rolling Stones lasted nearly six decades. This weekend surviving band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood united to bid a public farewell to the man whose rhythms powered their many hits, who died last Tuesday aged 80.After commenting individually on the loss last week, the Stones have released a video tribute featuring key moments of Watts’s career. The two-minute clip, posted on social media, includes an interview in which the drummer, a lorry driver’s son from Wembley, revealed that when he joined the band in 1963, he thought it might last a year. Continue reading...
by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and media correspondent on (#5NWQ6)
Many shops plan to open early for the arrival of Sally Rooney’s latest novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You next monthWhen they were children they lined the streets in their witch hats and capes, keen to pick up the latest Harry Potter title as bookshops opened their doors at midnight. Now they are a little older, the prospect of a tussle with some millennial emotions could see them queuing around the block again on 7 September, as dozens of bookshops plan to open early for the arrival of Sally Rooney’s latest novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You.In a nationwide promotional push, prompted by signs of big public demand, freshly printed copies of the Irish author’s third novel are to be served to customers with special commemorative merchandise as they enjoy a coffee and pastry. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Political correspondent on (#5NWNR)
Chaotic airlift ends after taking around 14,000 people out of Taliban-controlled countryThe final UK evacuation flight purely for Afghan nationals has left Kabul airport, ending an often chaotic process in which about 14,000 people were airlifted out of Afghanistan by British forces in less than two weeks, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.Any further flights to leave Kabul under the UK’s evacuation operation will also have UK diplomatic and military personnel onboard. It is thought any further flights would be able to transport those still needing evacuation, but would now also include personnel travelling back to the UK. Continue reading...
Student and English teacher Mursal Rasa Jamili, 23, was evacuated to the UK from Kabul with her two sistersMursal Rasa Jamili, a 23-year-old final-year university student and English teacher in Kabul, was evacuated to the UK with her two sisters. Here she explains what happened during her last days in Afghanistan.Sunday 22 August Continue reading...
Passenger boat carrying more than 100 people reportedly sank after being hit by two cargo vesselsMore than 20 people have died and about 50 remain missing in Bangladesh after a passenger boat carrying more than 100 people sank in a large pond.The accident occurred in the Bijoynagar area in the Brahmanbaria district on Friday evening, local police official Imranul Islam said. He said rescuers recovered at least 21 bodies by late Friday. Local news reports, quoting the area’s top government administrator, Hayat-Ud-Dola, said about 50 people were missing. Continue reading...
Greg Epstein, unanimously elected by his fellow university chaplains, says: ‘I want to be a positive force’Harvard University, originally founded with a mission to educate clergymen in order to minister to New England’s early Puritan colonists, has a new chief chaplain. His name is Greg Epstein – and he is an atheist.Epstein, author of Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe, has been the university’s humanist chaplain since 2005 before being unanimously elected by his fellow campus chaplains as the university chaplains organization’s new president, the New York Times reported. Continue reading...
When her partner left her with a newborn one dark Finnish winter, Anna Härmälä didn’t crumble. Inspired by Fleabag, she turned her pain into raw, funny cartoons“It’s Finnish winter in complete darkness, and it’s raining ice. And then you can’t sleep, and the baby is screaming, and you’re too tired to get up, but if you don’t get up, there is no one else there.” Anna Härmälä is describing February 2015, when her partner walked out on her and their five-week-old baby. In order to remember, she has to inhabit the “brutal darkness” of that time. “There was extreme tiredness, a deep sadness, moments of despair – but also moments of great love and purpose. That first year was a crazy rollercoaster. It was absolutely… ” She pauses, and breathes in, searching for the right word. What is the word for how it feels when your partner has an affair and abandons you with a newborn? How do you explain it? Härmälä, a Finnish art teacher and children’s book author, started drawing comics.The comics are raw and funny and painful, thrusting the reader straight into the moment of crisis: Härmälä, ravaged with tiredness, contemplating the droopiness of her breasts and eyebags; intimate conversations with friends; snapshots of the messy loneliness of life stranded with a newborn. The drawings feel so immediate that it’s easy to believe you are reading the story in real time – yeah right, as if a newly single mother, desperately trying to survive, would be likely to sit down each day and create beautiful narrative art about it. Continue reading...
Researchers say the tiny island in Greenland – roughly 30 metres across – was exposed by shifting pack iceScientists have discovered a new island off the coast of Greenland, which they say is the world’s northernmost point of land and was revealed by shifting pack ice.“It was not our intention to discover a new island,” polar explorer and head of the Arctic station research facility in Greenland, Morten Rasch, said of the find last month. “We just went there to collect samples.” Continue reading...
by Helen Sullivan (now and earlier); Nadeem Badshah , on (#5NW6C)
UK foreign secretary ‘deeply saddened’ by UK deaths; US officials warned over ‘specific’ threats; US military believes there was only one suicide bomber
The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, underlined Joe Biden's comments on Thursday's attack on Kabul airport, saying: 'I think he made it clear he doesn't want them to live on planet Earth any more.'Biden’s national security team has warned him that US troops remain under threat of another terrorist attack just 24 hours after the devastating suicide bomb at Kabul airport that killed 13 US service members and at least 90 Afghans.
The Portuguese wanted a new challenge and Manchester City’s reluctance to pay Juventus a fee let in his former clubIt was on Thursday afternoon that Jorge Mendes decided to call Manchester United to see if they may be interested in the offer of a lifetime. After three days of negotiations between the Portuguese super agent and officials from Manchester City and Juventus as he scrambled to find a new home for his most famous client before next week’s transfer deadline, Cristiano Ronaldo’s future was finally settled in a matter of hours.Related: ‘Welcome back’: Manchester United agree €20m deal for Cristiano Ronaldo Continue reading...
Lee Peacock arrested over deaths of Sharon Pickles and Clinton Ashmore in WestminsterA 49-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murders of Sharon Pickles, 45, and Clinton Ashmore, 59, who were found fatally stabbed at two addresses in Westminster last week.The Metropolitan police said he was arrested at a London hospital on Thursday afternoon. Continue reading...
Copper, coffee and beer come together in a cumulative effort to keep pests out of your patchAnyone who has ever had a tree get in the way of a breathtaking view or pending development approval will know the consequence of a copper coin – come on, we’re all aware of this nasty poisoning tactic! But did you know that copper can be used to kill other stuff too, like pesky snails and slugs? Continue reading...
The New Zealand star has a dedicated fanbase – some of whom were thrown by her latest album’s aesthetic shift. How devoted are you? Take our quiz• New to Guardian Australia’s Saturday quiz series? Catch up hereNew Zealand-born pop star Lorde has inspired such fierce devotion since her debut in 2013 that on the very first song of her third album, Solar Power, she asks fans to just, please, let it go: “If you’re looking for a saviour, that’s not me.”Still, it’s not hard to see why the musician born Ella Yelich-O’Connor has sparked such dedication: her music is littered with vivid literary references, and the accompanying visuals run the gamut from ghoulish to romantic to deviously camp. She’s also become one of pop history’s great interview subjects, name-checking writers like Jia Tolentino and Jenny Odell, dissing fellow pop stars, and speaking frankly about her experiences as a young woman in the music industry. Continue reading...
A satellite tag which unexpectedly kept working for a year has followed one whale’s 15,000km journey across three oceansA loud bang shatters the winter calm of Port Ross, in New Zealand’s remote Auckland Islands, and the small inflatable boat is rocked by the swirl of a 40-ton whale being swallowed up by the cold, dark water.When it resurfaces, the team of scientists are happy to see their US$3,200 satellite tag securely fixed to his side. The whale, whom they have nicknamed “Bill”, slips away into the ocean, the tag transmitting his movements. A few days later, researchers watch as he starts heading west towards Australia. Continue reading...
High court judge found in June Kent military accommodation failed to meet minimum standardThe Home Office is planning to use a controversial military barracks in Kent to house asylum seekers for four years longer than originally planned, it has been confirmed.Officials began using the dilapidated Napier barracks near Folkestone in September last year after the site was loaned to the Home Office from the Ministry of Defence. At times more than 400 asylum seekers have been accommodated in dormitories of 14. Continue reading...
Cumbrian resident John McCurrie says the national park is held back by shortages of infrastructure and imagination. And Michael O’Hara says it’s unfair to point the finger at mountain bikers for damage to the fellsRe Michael Reardon’s letter about his fears that “Lycra-clad mountain bikers” are damaging Lake District fells (Letters, 24 August), the Lake District is many things to many people. It’s home, business, a holiday destination and everything in between. It’s also inspiring, twee and exciting. It is a quiet place to reflect on life as much as it is a playground for adrenaline junkies and people exploring their personal boundaries.Folk have a right to voice their dismay at cyclists, 4x4 drivers and even horse riders. People also have a right to complain about 15mph tourist drivers, litter louts and sheep worriers. Similarly, we all have a right to voice opposition to second-home owners, expensive pubs and poor infrastructure. Continue reading...
More than a dozen independent media sign open letter calling for halt to ‘foreign agent’ designationsRussia’s leading independent media have appealed to Vladimir Putin and other top government officials to halt a crackdown on journalists under which some of the countries’ top outlets have been declared foreign agents or banned outright over the last year.More than a dozen media, including Meduza, TV Rain and Novaya Gazeta have signed an open letter to the government calling on it to remove individual journalists and their outlets from its blacklists and repeal laws on “foreign agents” and “undesirable organisations” altogether. Continue reading...
Leoaai Elghareeb, 37, charged with contaminating or interfering with goods at Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s storesA solicitor accused of using syringes to inject blood into food at three west London supermarkets appeared in court on Friday.Leoaai Elghareeb is charged with contaminating or interfering with goods with intent at three stores – a Tesco Express, Little Waitrose and Sainsbury’s Local – on Fulham Palace Road. Continue reading...
Analysis: Les Républicains face complex battle to find 2022 presidential candidate to rival Macron and Marine Le PenThis week’s declaration by Michel Barnier, the former EU chief negotiator on Brexit, that he aims to run for French president has added to the uncertainty of a crowded field of candidates competing to represent the traditional right in next spring’s election.The rightwing Les Républicains, the party of the former president Nicolas Sarkozy, is facing an increasingly complex battle to identify a 2022 presidential candidate to rival the centrist Emmanuel Macron and the far-right Marine Le Pen, who, polls currently show, could once again face one another in the final. Continue reading...
Mission: Impossible star’s belongings reportedly missing from his BMW X7 when recovered in SmethwickThe Hollywood actor Tom Cruise’s BMW was stolen while he was filming in Birmingham.The BMW X7 had been used to ferry around the star, who has been in the city filming scenes for the seventh instalment in the Mission: Impossible series. Continue reading...
Ask your GP to refer you to a specialist, says Annalisa Barbieri. It’s not surprising you haven’t been able to conquer it on your ownI am a 76-year-old married man and have had intense and ongoing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) since the age of 13.My father was killed in the second world war, just after I was conceived. When I was six, my mother remarried; the marriage soon became unhappy and tense. My mother was a strict disciplinarian and hit me frequently when she felt I had been naughty or cheeky. She often told me off; I don’t recall her showing me much affection or praising me. Continue reading...
Agency scientists say management silences and harasses them to appease chemical industryWhistleblowers say the US Environmental Protection Agency has been falsifying dangerous new chemicals’ risk assessments in an effort to make the compounds appear safe and quickly approve them for commercial use.Over the past five years, the EPA has not rejected any new chemicals submitted by industry despite agency scientists flagging dozens of compounds for high toxicity. Four EPA whistleblowers and industry watchdogs say a revolving door between the agency and chemical companies is to blame, and that the program’s management has been “captured by industry”. The charges are supported by emails, documents and additional records that were provided to the Guardian. Continue reading...
by Nick Evershed, Andy Ball and Josh Nicholas on (#5NV8S)
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
by Nick Evershed, Andy Ball and Josh Nicholas on (#5NV7B)
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
by Ashley Kirk, Cath Levett and Pablo Gutiérrez on (#5NRM8)
Flights stopped as the Taliban seized control, but numbers are back up and the vast majority of aircraft are now militaryKabul airport’s air traffic rebounded earlier this week due to an increase in military aircraft evacuating people, Guardian analysis has revealed.Fewer than 15 aircraft arrived or departed each day between 16 and 19 August, according to data from Flightradar24. Continue reading...
People in need of water, food and shelter are fending for themselves as aid response complicated by heavy rain, gangs and distrust of international agenciesOn the morning a catastrophic earthquake struck southern Haiti, Jackson Mason, a barber, was picking up water and other shopping from Cavaillon’s bustling market.“The earth below me started to shake – people were thrown into the air, others yelled, praying to Jesus to save them,” Mason, 35, says. “Everything flew in the air, even the wallets in people’s hands.” Continue reading...
The great white swiped for my head, but missed, because another had got there firstIt was a warm winter’s day in South Africa and I planned to go surfing at Nahoon Reef. I was 15 and had just finished my first day back at school after the winter break. The reef is famous among surfers for its powerful waves and popularity with sharks. If you see lots of birds diving into the reef or notice a strong fishy smell in the air, you should not surf there.But on that day in July 2000, the waves were perfect, just over head high, and there was no wind. The water was warm for winter, too. The conditions were too good to resist. Continue reading...
Holidaymakers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland look to take advantage of late summer sunPeople seeking a bank holiday getaway in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are being warned to avoid major roads before 7pm as holidaymakers look to take advantage of good late summer weather forecast for much of the UK.The RAC estimates that 16.7m leisure trips are planned between Friday and Monday, with the south-west predicted to be especially packed. Continue reading...
The footballer-turned-movie hard man is back, starring in a new Footsoldier film. He talks about how his film and TV career exploded and refinding his dignityI am, obviously, scared of Vinnie Jones. Even though he is calling from New York, 3,000 miles and five hours away, I keep expecting him to click his neck three times and pull me into a breathless headlock. But instead, he is sleepy and then charming, and doesn’t threaten to kick my face in once.He is sleepy because he was up until 2.30am shooting Law & Order: Organized Crime, in which he appears in the recurring role of Albanian gangster Albi. “Going toe-to-toe with Christopher Meloni,” he smiles, “a legend in the acting world.” Continue reading...
Council advises shoppers to throw away anything bought from the three stores late on WednesdayA 37-year-old man has been charged with contaminating or interfering with goods with intent at three supermarkets in west London.Leoaai Elghareeb, of Crabtree Lane, Fulham, is due to appear before Westminster magistrates court on Friday. Continue reading...
Authorities increase regulation of fame and fan culture that they say will tackle online bullying and protect childrenChinese authorities have banned online lists ranking celebrities by popularity, as regulators continue a drive to “clean up” fame and fandom culture.According to regulations published in state media, all existing lists that rank Chinese stars must also be removed from the internet. Continue reading...
In her thirties, Anne Youngson wrote a book in her lunch breaks at work. It stayed in a drawer. Then she retired, wrote her debut and was shortlisted for a major awardWhen Anne Youngson’s agent told her a publisher had made an offer for her first novel, she was worried. “I said: ‘Don’t they want to meet me?’ I was convinced that when they discovered how old I was, their whole attitude to whether they wanted me would change,” she says.Youngson was 69 then and 70 when her debut – Meet Me at the Museum – was published. Her first instinct was to see her age as a commercial disadvantage. “I thought they would look at me and think: ’Oh God, how will we promote this?’” But then Meet Me at the Museum was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel award, and she had to think again. Her second novel, Three Women and a Boat, was published last year. Now 73, she is midway through writing her third. Continue reading...
They helped define the 60s, but were hopelessly uncool as the 70s began – and Brian Wilson was unravelling. The band discuss the masterpieces they made against the oddsIn the 1960s, the Beach Boys staked their claim as the US’s most popular band, as their dazzling, harmony-drenched songs about surfing, cars and California Girls epitomised the American dream. So, at the end of the decade, when leader and principal songwriter Brian Wilson – who had recently spent several months in a psychiatric hospital – suggested that the band were on the verge of bankruptcy, everyone thought it was a joke.“We arrived in London for a tour on the day that hit the headlines,” co-founder Al Jardine says over the phone from California. “The IRS [US tax collection agency] had closed our studio and our offices in Hollywood. The hotels wouldn’t accept our corporate credit cards. In the end, I had to use my personal American Express card to pay for our rooms.” Continue reading...
27 August 1936: Foreign secretary Anthony Eden remarked on Egypt placing her hand into that of a great and free England, thus opening a new era in relationsFleet Street, Wednesday
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#5NTCX)
Package also includes advice on how to discuss race and normalise diversity within lesson subjectsTeachers in Scotland have been asked to heed anti-racism guidance which will give detailed examples for decolonising the curriculum, as well as a toolkit to address their own discomfort when discussing race.The Scottish government hopes the package of support material, released on Thursday, would “embed anti-racism and race equality into all aspects of school life” – and includes new guidance from Education Scotland on normalising diversity within the curriculum. Continue reading...