In Northern Ireland, the Leavers’ folly is now manifest. How can the opposition stay silent about the root cause of the crisis?‘He did not want to die until Brexit was reversed.” These words were spoken at the funeral last week of my dear friend and former Observer colleague Dick Leonard.Dick died a month ago at the ripe old age of 90. The speaker was his widow, Irène Heidelberger-Leonard, before a group of mourners who included the Labour leader Keir Starmer, to whom Dick had been something of a political mentor. Continue reading...
A new failed state in the Middle East would spell chaos for us allAmid so much trouble around the world, the crisis in Lebanon has received relatively little attention, especially from British politicians and media. This is a serious oversight. It’s not inconceivable Lebanon could soon become a “failed state” on a par with Libya or Yemen. That would be a disaster for its people, but also, as recent history shows, for the region, Europe and the UK.The crisis has many aspects. The most pressing is the mounting human cost. The chronic devaluation of the Lebanese pound – it has lost about 90% of its value in the past 18 months – is taking a terrible toll on ordinary families. About 30% of Lebanese children go to bed hungry, the UN says. Most households are short of food. At least half the population has slipped into poverty. Continue reading...
Allow yourself some fallow time so new ways of thinking have time to formThe question I have recently taken six weeks off work due to burn-out, diagnosed by my GP. In the past 10 years I have only ever taken half of all my annual leave and have never been off sick even though there are days I probably should have stayed at home. I am extremely committed to my job in the NHS.My dilemma is how to avoid getting burnt out again. I love my job and get an enormous amount of satisfaction, kudos, legitimacy and engaged interest. I gain not wholly but a large part of my identity from it. Continue reading...
We are losing the race to keep our planet coolReminders that our planet is wilting under the impact of human-driven climate change have been hard to avoid this month. Catastrophic floods have killed 160 in Germany while more than 50 died after massive inundations swept through the central Chinese province of Henan when a year’s worth of rain fell in three days last week. At the same time, forest fires have ripped through one of the world’s coldest places, Siberia, after unusually hot, dry weather gripped the region. Canada and the US have also been afflicted by conflagrations that have destroyed communities and vast areas of woodland. One blaze in the US state of Oregon has spread over an area 25 times the size of Manhattan and has raged out of control for weeks. Global warming, triggered by rising levels of greenhouse gases, has been implicated in every case.Nor will things get better. Indeed, they can only get worse. Every year, factories, power plants and vehicles pump tens of billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, trapping solar radiation that will further increase temperatures round the globe. Even if all greenhouse gas emissions were halted tomorrow the carbon dioxide already in our atmosphere will hang around for decades and continue to heat the planet, turning vegetation to tinder and allowing air to retain more moisture before releasing it with sudden and devastating consequences. Continue reading...
One person has died as officials struggle to provide adequate Covid-safe emergency shelter for nearly 15,000 residentsThousands of residents have fled flooded communities and swollen rivers in the Philippine capital, Manila, and outlying provinces after days of torrential monsoon rains that left at least one villager dead.Officials say they are struggling to open more emergency shelters in order to allow social distancing among the displaced residents and prevent evacuation camps from turning into epicentres of Covid-19 infections. In the hard-hit city of Marikina in the capital region, nearly 15,000 residents were evacuated to safety overnight as waters rose alarmingly in a major river. Continue reading...
Although profits may be down this week, the airline’s shares – and its chief executive’s optimism – are defying gravityWho’s afraid of the Delta variant? Not Michael O’Leary. Over the last 16 months of sickness, death and lockdown, the billionaire Ryanair boss has rediscovered his controversy button and has lately been loudly telling governments to stick their “scariants” and let everyone fly again.Much of his ire has been reserved for Ireland, whose scientific and medical leaders must envy the UK’s Chris Whitty for only getting accosted in the park. Continue reading...
Demonstrators in several cities denounce president for alleged corruption and Covid mismanagementProtesters took to the streets in several Brazilian cities on Saturday to demand the impeachment of Jair Bolsonaro, the country’s far right president whose popularity has fallen in recent weeks amid corruption scandals against the backdrop of the pandemic.This week, news broke that Brazil’s defence ministry told congressional leadership that next year’s elections would not take place without amending the country’s electronic voting system to include a paper trail of each vote. Continue reading...
We need the self-belief that comes from honest appraisal, not an ad-man’s optimism based on false confidenceWhen we started writing this piece, Brisbane was in lockdown. By the time we finished, Sydney, Victoria and South Australia were as well. Millions of Australians have already spent chunks of the last 18 months concerned for their jobs or their business, navigating the new world of remote learning and wearing the emotional strain of being cut off from the comfort of loved ones and familiar routines.Amid all this, optimism might not seem thick on the ground. Continue reading...
30-year-old Manchester man in custody on suspicion of attempted murder after group of pedestrians hit in early hoursA man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a car struck a number of pedestrians on Blackpool promenade.Police were called at 5.25am on Saturday to reports a red Peugeot had driven at a small group of people near to the North Pier. Continue reading...
Greater Manchester police say 31-year-old taken from East Street address to hospital but died short time laterThree men have been arrested after a woman died in hospital after suffering severe burns at an address in Bury, Greater Manchester police have said.A Greater Manchester police statement said: “Police were called just after 7.30pm on Friday 23 July to reports a woman had been badly burned at an address on East Street in Bury. Continue reading...
The French-Moroccan author on why she writes, the complexity of identity, and the first book of a trilogy based on her family historyAuthor Leïla Slimani, 39, grew up in Rabat, Morocco, and moved to Paris when she was 17. Her first novel, Adèle, a melancholy story about a nymphomaniac mother in her 30s, was published in France in 2014. In 2016, she was the first Moroccan woman to win France’s most prestigious literary award, the Prix Goncourt, for her second novel, Lullaby, about a nanny who kills the baby and toddler in her care. In 2017, President Emmanuel Macron appointed her as his personal representative for promoting French language and culture.Last year, Slimani published a nonfiction book, Sex and Lies, a collection of intimate testimonies from Moroccan women about their secret lives. Her latest book, The Country of Others, is the first novel in a planned trilogy based on her family history. Set in the late 1940s and 50s, it centres on her maternal grandparents during Morocco’s period of decolonisation. Slimani lives with her husband and two children in Paris. Continue reading...
Nearly 3,000 hauliers are proposing a ‘stay at home’ day, prompting fears over already creaking food supply chainsLorry drivers are planning a nationwide strike over their working conditions, prompting warnings that this would magnify food shortages and cripple the country’s already creaking supply chains.Hauliers are proposing a “stay at home” day next month in response to low pay and working terms, an event designed to compound the effect of the UK’s lorry-driver shortage , which last week led to widespread stock shortages. However the Road Haulage Association, which represents commercial road haulage companies and has more than 7,000 members, warned drivers against taking action saying it would make a “bad situation worse” and severely disrupt automated chains. Continue reading...
Research increasingly suggests that extracts from the plant are effective in treating pain, anxiety, epilepsy and more, but experts still preach caution around recreational useIn 2017, Mikael Sodergren, a liver and pancreatic cancer surgeon at Imperial College healthcare NHS trust, was finding himself becoming increasingly interested in the potential role of medical cannabis in treating pain, especially the discomfort experienced by patients after complex operations.“I hope that I do a lot of good, but unfortunately in the short term, I inflict a lot of pain with cancer surgery,” says Sodergren. “So we’re reliant on pretty nasty painkillers, such as high-strength intravenous opioids, which we’re trying to move away from. They slow patients down and they cause complications.” Continue reading...
Demonstrators say law that bans teaching of issue in schools is causing division in HungaryThousands of Hungarians have joined the annual Budapest Pride march to support LGBTQ people and protest against a law that limits teaching about homosexuality and transgender issues in schools.Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, in power since 2010, has introduced social policies that he says aim to safeguard traditional Christian values from western liberalism, stoking tensions with the EU. Continue reading...
Woman, 36, dies after stabbing in East Dulwich and man dies following separate incident in DagenhamTwo separate murder investigations have been launched in London after emergency crews were called to addresses in the east and south of the capital on Friday night.The Metropolitan police said they were called to reports of a stabbing at a residential address on Lordship Lane in East Dulwich shortly after 10pm. A 36-year-old woman was found with stab injuries and died in hospital later that night. Officers are working to locate and inform her next of kin. Continue reading...
The singer, 71, on enjoying her grandchildren, missing her mum, giving everything on stage and her need for an Ego RoomMy mouth is my weapon. I can destroy somebody with a flick of my tongue. I’ve got a sharp wit and a sharp way of talking. I’m not a hitter, but when I’m mad, I’m mad. I scream it out, then I’m done.Nobody could believe it when I once used the men’s toilet at a petrol station. I was on tour. Our bus had stopped for us to get snacks and use the loo, but there was a huge line for the ladies’ and my impatience is really bad, so I refused to wait. I walked right past everybody, into the men’s, used a stall and came out. Continue reading...
It’s a serious drink for serious times – which is why the former insiders’ tipple is now absolutely everywhereA decade ago, ordering a negroni was “a secret handshake, a sign to bartenders that you knew what you liked, and how to order it”, according to Bon Appétit magazine. In 2013, GQ magazine wrote that “a negroni, like black coffee or Texas, is an acquired taste”. A negroni is made up of equal parts gin, vermouth and Campari, the herbaceous scarlet liqueur that, according to Italian bar wisdom, begins to taste good the third time you drink it. Its botanical bitterness seemed destined to keep the negroni forever pigeonholed as an insider’s drink.Fast-forward to summer 2021, and it has gone from arthouse to blockbuster. At the smart new rooftop gin terrace of the St Pancras hotel in London, the negroni gets headline billing on the drinks menu, ahead of the gin and tonic. You can buy negroni ready-mixed in a can for a train journey, or send a letterbox cocktail as a gift. You can mix a snowgroni (a frozen, slushy-style negroni) or order a pineapple negroni at happy hour. Head to the menswear department of Marks & Spencer and you can even pick up a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan “Negroni” above a cheery illustration of a tumbler full to the brim with cherry-red liquid. Continue reading...
Participants celebrate with selfies and champagne as running club gets back on its feet after Covid hiatusThe return of parkrun was met with scenes of jubilation on Saturday as the weekly running club took place in England for the first time since the start of the Covid pandemic.After 16 months without the weekly ritual, thousands of runners took part in 5km runs across the country, from Cliffe Castle in West Yorkshire to Bushy Park in south-west London. Continue reading...
Spain may be famous for its love of meat – but sanctuaries across the country are coming to the rescue of its doomed cows, bulls, pigs, sheep and geeseIn the north-east Spanish region of Catalonia, an enormous bull called Pedro is poking his head over a barn door to look at some sheep. He’ll stay there for two hours if the sanctuary volunteers let him; he’ll have to be tempted away with treats so that the sheep can be let out to graze. Pedro knows the routine; he’s been here since he was a calf, when he was bottle-fed by volunteers. He lives a charmed life – he is fed, he roams, he watches sheep, he sleeps; and when he dies, it will be of natural causes.“He’s enormous!” I say to Olivia Gómez de Zamora, a veterinary assistant from Madrid who spends a lot of time coaxing Pedro from the barn. Continue reading...
Yellow weather warning issued for southern England and Wales with risk of difficult driving conditionsA 70-year-old woman has escaped unharmed after two homes were partially destroyed by a lightning strike in Hampshire, with thunderstorms and heavy rain expected across the south of the UK this weekend.After several days of sunny skies and scorching temperatures, the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning in southern England and Wales for Saturday and Sunday, advising that frequent lightning, thundery rain and strong winds are expected. Continue reading...
Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah’s new book The Sex Lives of African Women examines self-discovery, freedom and healing. She talks about everything she has learned
Season now has a health warning and people may lose associations of joy, relaxation and celebrationBeware summer! The season we used to anticipate as the lightest, brightest, balmiest time of the year now comes with a health warning.For the first time in the UK, the Met Office issued an extreme heat advisory this week. The warning was very staid, very British, but a clear shift away from the ethos of Keep Calm and Carry On. The amber alert urged precautions against adverse health effects for vulnerable populations, pressure on water resources, potential power cuts and increased likelihood of transport delays. Given the temperatures were only a little over 30C for a few days, this might seem risible to people living in far hotter parts of the world, but it is part of a growing global conversation that is fundamentally challenging how we think about summer in a climate-disrupted world. Continue reading...
The Whip Smart author explores consent, bodies and boundaries in a poignant and frank collection of essays that celebrates the power to say ‘no’Several years ago, the New York writer Melissa Febos went to a cuddle party, in which people pay money to engage in non-sexual intimacy with strangers. The events are designed to meet the needs of those suffering from what psychologists call “skin hunger”, or a lack of human touch. Attendees in pyjamas sit amid pillows, duvets and blankets stroking and hugging each other or holding hands. Sessions typically begin with a short workshop about boundaries and consent. Touching around “bikini” areas is forbidden; participants must seek permission and receive a clear “yes” before any physical contact; everyone gets to practise saying “no”.But, despite the clear messaging, Febos is uneasy. When a man asks to spoon her, she is reluctant but allows him to do it anyway. Another requests a cuddle; rather than say no, she suggests they hold hands, prompting him to look annoyed and ask if he can massage her instead. Afterwards, Febos is unnerved. It wasn’t just the air of entitlement among the men that disturbed her. “It was how powerful my instinct was to give them what they wanted, as if I didn’t have a choice.” Continue reading...
PM wants to echo Blair’s promise of an ‘opportunity society’ and energise those who feel left behindBoris Johnson intends to mimic aspects of Tony Blair’s political project in the hope of winning over more voters in former Labour heartlands, Downing Street sources have revealed.While the Conservatives’ 2019-intake MPs are more likely to model themselves on Margaret Thatcher than the former Labour prime minister, No 10 insiders said Johnson had been studying Blair’s approach. Continue reading...
Move by international body set up to implement post-war peace deal follows attempts to downplay 1995 Srebrenica massacreThe top international official in Bosnia has outlawed denial of genocide in the Balkan country to counter attempts by Bosnia’s Serbs to deny the scope of the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica, Europe’s only post-second world war genocide.Valentin Inzko, the outgoing head of Bosnia’s Office of the High Representative, or OHR, introduced the changes to the country’s criminal code on Friday, bringing in prison sentences of up to five years for genocide denial and for the glorification of war criminals, including naming of streets or public institutions after them. Continue reading...
Tokelau, one of the most inaccessible atolls in the world, can only be reached by small boat, but received boxes of vaccine this weekThe elders of Nukunonu atoll in Tokelau at the wharf on Monday morning, dressed in white and singing songs, held a banner that said: “Welcome”.In the distance, a small inflatable boat made its way to them carrying a New Zealand defence officer dressed in full protective gear and 12 precious boxes. Inside the boxes were just over 700 doses of Pfizer vaccine, enough to cover the 346 residents of Nukunono who are eligible for the vaccine. Continue reading...
This agonising, intimate programme gives family and friends’ side of the singer’s complicated story, as a riposte to Asif Kapadia’s 2015 documentary AmyIt is now 10 years since Amy Winehouse’s death at the age of 27, and Reclaiming Amy (BBC Two) is a short, sad, sweet film that sees her family and friends give their side of the singer’s complicated story. It is narrated by her mother Janis, and does not attempt to hide its position as a riposte to Asif Kapadia’s 2015 documentary Amy, which, Janis says, “claimed to tell the real story about our daughter”. The implication is that it did not, and certainly her father, Mitch, has reason to address some of the criticisms it levelled at him. Here, he claims he had a nervous breakdown after its release.“The way Amy turned out wasn’t because she wasn’t raised right,” insists her lifelong friend, Michael, and we see plenty of clips of how she was raised. There are home videos and photographs of her on the day she was born, at three, at five. There is footage of her playing Rizzo in a school production of Grease, and her star power is plain to see even then. She practically blows the other Pink Ladies off the stage. Continue reading...
Next up for Guardian Australia’s new Saturday quiz series, sports writer Geoff Lemon tests your grasp of the GamesThat special time has come around again: Olympic time. Like Christmas but more expensive, even when the quadrennial is sliced up pro rata. Speaking of slicing up, anyone get the feeling that the IOC boss, Thomas Bach, would make a good Bond villain? As Tokyo’s Games are held with a modern pentathlon pistol held to the city’s head, hearing Brisbane’s name announced for 2032 sounded less like congratulations and more like handing down a carceral sentence. An Olympic Games costs the venue billions, but the IOC always sucks out a fat profit. Maybe that’s why the terminology is “host cities”.But running! Jumping! Competitively pretending that we know a lot about taekwondo or solo kayaking! Ben Johnson going faster than the speed of sound! Or was that the sound of speed! Equestrian showjumping departure parties with all the trimmings! Exciting new young persons’ sports, like climbing and skateboarding! The Olympics are hip, they’re cool, they have a battery-powered boombox on their shoulder. Continue reading...
New Zealand has long fought to have indigenous remains held overseas returned – now it’s reckoning with its own colonial legacyIn 2009, Āwhina Twomey received a phone call from a friend and member of her Rangitāne o Wairau iwi (tribe), asking if she could be in the South Island by 4am the following Saturday. She baulked at the early start, but then she heard the reason: Canterbury Museum had agreed to repatriate her tūpuna (ancestors), or kōiwi tangata (ancestral remains) to her iwi.It had taken the iwi 70 years of battling the museum, and now their ancestors were coming home. Continue reading...
Champion of social justice and women’s rights in Egypt before and after the assassination of her husband, President Anwar SadatJehan Sadat, who has died aged 88 of cancer, spent most of her life promoting social justice and women’s rights in Egypt. She continued to campaign decades after her husband, President Anwar Sadat, was assassinated, on 6 October 1981, by militants in the army avenging the imprisonment of fellow Islamists and condemning the 1978 Camp David accords that he had signed with Israel.As a girl in Cairo, Jehan had explored the streets of her neighbourhood of Al-Manial, attributing her self-confidence to her supportive parents. She said that her fight against gender inequality started during her schooldays, when she was encouraged to focus on subjects such as sewing and cooking in preparation for marriage rather than the sciences that would lead to a university career. “I have always regretted that decision. I would never allow my daughters to close off their futures that way,” she wrote in her autobiography, A Woman of Egypt (1987). Continue reading...
by Emmanuel Akinwotu West Africa correspondent on (#5MH5X)
Bill could mean 10 years in prison for LGBTQ+ people and those who support their rightsDraft anti-gay legislation submitted to Ghana’s parliament could propose up to 10 years in jail for LGBTQ+ people as well as groups and individuals who advocate for their rights, express sympathy or offer social or medical support, in one of the most draconian and sweeping anti-gay laws proposed around the world.Support for intersex people would also be criminalised and the government could direct intersex people to receive “gender realignment” surgery, said the draft legislation. Continue reading...
Former Manchester United player is accused of controlling and coercive behaviour against Kate GrevilleFormer Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs allegedly kicked his ex-girlfriend in the back and threw her out of a hotel bedroom while she was naked, a court has heard.The former Wales player, 47, is accused of controlling and coercive behaviour against Kate Greville, 36, between August 2017 and November 2020. Giggs appeared at Manchester crown court, where he entered a not guilty plea. Continue reading...
The rapper delivered snippets of his new album to a confused stadium of attendees in Atlanta, teasing a possible return to form after recent controversiesThe circular ring of screens at the top of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta went dark at 9.42pm on Thursday. The crowd released a brief, approving cheer at the sign of progress, only to realise that the show had still not begun. “It’s Kanye West,” said Christopher Hicks, a music executive living in Atlanta who attended the listening party with his teenage son, before the music began to play. “You’ve got to expect chaos.”Related: ‘He’s a star, Gap is benefiting from that’: will Kanye West save the clothing giant? Continue reading...
by Guardian staff and agencies in Cap-Haitien on (#5MH31)
Mourners and officials dive for cover as teargas and black smoke spread into ceremonyMourners and dignitaries including a US delegation rushed for cover amid reports of gunfire and teargas outside the funeral on Friday of late Haitian president Jovenel Moïse.There were no immediate reports of injuries after hundreds of protesters clashed with police outside the private ceremony. Shots erupted and teargas and black smoke wafted into the event. Protesters’ cries carried over religious leaders speaking at the funeral. Continue reading...
Move by justice ministry against the Insider seen as revenge for helping reveal Kremlin’s role in assassination attemptsRussia has named a local partner of the Bellingcat investigative journalism collective as a “foreign agent” in an apparent act of revenge for helping reveal the Kremlin’s role in the Salisbury poisonings and assassination attempts by the security agencies.Russia’s justice ministry on Friday named the Insider, an investigative website, along with five journalists for other publications as “foreign agents”, a label that implies the news agencies and individual reporters are taking foreign money to influence Russian politics. Continue reading...
The country’s perilous waters have made or broken past leaders. The climate crisis will only make things worseThe footage of a torrent of muddy water engulfing the broad thoroughfares of Zhengzhou, China, may look like a scene from an apocalyptic sci-fi movie. But for China’s leaders, these images speak not only to a dystopian future but also to the struggles of the past – and to the issue of the Chinese Communist party’s mandate to rule.Related: China floods: thousands trapped without fresh water as rain moves north Continue reading...
Unesco expresses concern that ‘substantial harm’ would be caused by proposed cut-and-cover road tunnelUnesco has confirmed a warning that Stonehenge could be stripped of its world heritage site status, over its concern that a road tunnel, backed by the government, will irreversibly damage an area of “outstanding universal value”.A report to Unesco’s world heritage committee setting out concerns about the £1.7bn A303 road tunnel was approved unchanged on Thursday. Continue reading...
The Oscar-winning creator of Get Out and Us has released a mysterious new poster for a film called Nope, causing mass speculation onlineYesterday, seemingly out of the blue, Jordan Peele announced the name and poster of his third movie. The film is called Nope and the poster is a picture of an ominous-looking storm cloud hovering above a mountain village. Do we know what it’s about? Nope. Do we have any sort of insight into the film whatsoever? Nope. Would it be a good idea for us to attempt to extrapolate the premise for the film using nothing but a one-word title and a picture of a cloud? Nope. Are we going to do it anyway? Sure, why not.☁️ pic.twitter.com/iiDRwVLmbr Continue reading...
Information-gathering always was a speciality of President Paul Kagame. Modern technology has simply extended his remitIt was a silver BlackBerry, surprisingly heavy in the hand, belonging to a businessman who had flown from Kigali to South Africa to visit the exiled former Rwandan intelligence chief Patrick Karegeya. The businessman, Apollo Kiririsi Gafaranga, boasted that he had bought it in Qatar.“It cost me $10,000,” a friend of Karegeya’s remembers the businessman telling them. “It’s a model you can only buy in the Middle East, a phone you can’t be tracked on.” Karegeya picked it up, weighed it, and put it back down on the counter where it was charging. “You’ve been robbed,” the ex spy chief joked. Continue reading...
Businessman Barry Pring sustained fatal injuries when hit by car in Ukrainian capital in February 2008There was no conspiracy to kill a British businessman who died in a hit-and-run incident in Ukraine while celebrating his first wedding anniversary, a judge has concluded.Barry Pring, an IT consultant, sustained fatal injuries when he was hit by a car while waiting for a taxi on a carriageway outside a restaurant in Kyiv on 16 February 2008. Continue reading...