Long-anticipated federal trial over allegations that R&B singer sexually abused women and girls

Former federal attorney general seeks declaration that media outlets never publish ABC’s unredacted defence without judicial permissionChristian Porter has revived an element of his defamation proceedings, by seeking a declaration that three media outlets never publish the ABC’s unredacted defence without judicial permission.But Nine, its subsidiary, Fairfax, and News Corp say such relief isn’t possible as the former federal attorney general does not own the 37-page document. Continue reading...

The oil firms have fled and an Isis-affiliated insurgency has engulfed the region. As foreign troops begin to arrive, hundreds of thousands face desperate journeys to try to find safety

Huge tapestry initially toured Scotland but now it has permanent home in purpose-built Galashiels galleryBeginning at the glacial formation of mountains and glens more than 420m years ago, spanning from the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 to the reconvening of the Holyrood parliament in 1999, up to Andy Murray’s Wimbledon victory of 2013, the Great Tapestry of Scotland – an ambitious project to render the nation’s story from pre-history to modern times – can be viewed for the first time in its new and permanent home from next week.Comprising 160 panels – finely stitched, vividly colourful and animated with detail – it is thought to be one of the longest tapestries in the world, at 143 metres – 70 metres longer than the Bayeux Tapestry in Normandy. Now hung in a purpose-built gallery in Galashiels, in the Scottish Borders, the panel were created by 1,000 volunteer stitchers from across the country working with more than 300 miles of wool over two years. Continue reading...

Whether it’s online or on the streets, women have defined London’s huge celebration of Caribbean culture. We talk steel pans and skimpy costumes with the pioneers who set the toneSitting in a neat little cafe at the back of the Tabernacle, a Grade II-listed pub and arts venue in London’s Notting Hill, Sister Monica Tywang is reflecting on how much has changed since her association with the carnival began in 1975. “We’d call it the annual pilgrimage,” she says. “We didn’t have the ways of communicating then that we have today, so everybody looked forward to coming to Notting Hill, to meet other Caribbean people and to celebrate our culture.”Today, Notting Hill carnival is an indelible part of the British cultural calendar. It dominates the August bank holiday weekend, as around a million people descend on west London for Europe’s largest street festival. Lining the white walls of the cafe are photos from carnival’s past, and Tywang can’t help but reminisce about the days they capture. “We brought colour to this country. After the war everything was black and grey and drab, smog was billowing out of the chimneys that everyone had in those days.” Continue reading...

Strengthening legislation ‘not ruled out’ claims chair of inquiry into menopause discrimination, Caroline NokesChanging equality legislation to protect women going through the menopause should “not be ruled” out, according to the chair of a group of MPs leading an inquiry into discrimination on the issue.Caroline Nokes, chair of the women and equalities committee, said the inquiry had heard from women who have suffered discrimination in the workplace and have been forced to use disability legislation to seek redress in the courts. Continue reading...

Frontline staff must be inoculated by 15 November, with remainder of staff given until 31 March

OAS review of violence that followed 2019 election stops short of calling Jeanine Áñez’s ascent to power a coup but finds ‘irregularities’Bolivia’s recent interim government came to power by sidestepping constitutional rules for presidential succession and persecuted opponents with “systematic torture” and “summary executions” by security forces in the tumultuous aftermath of Evo Morales’s resignation in 2019, according to a new report by independent human rights experts.The scathing 471-page report is the most comprehensive yet to examine the events surrounding the disputed 2019 presidential vote, when Morales’s narrow election to an unprecedented fourth term triggered widespread protests spurred by strong international allegations of voting fraud – claims later questioned by foreign electoral experts. Continue reading...

The Taliban said they wanted peaceful relations with other countries and would respect the rights of women 'within the limits of Islam', as they held their first press conference since seizing Kabul. During their rule between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban implemented their own strict interpretation of sharia law, preventing women from working and girls from going to school.

People already displaced by Saturday's earthquake in Haiti evacuated temporary shelters on Monday night due to a tropical storm.Tropical Storm Grace was projected to hit some of the areas worst affected by the earthquake with up to 38cm (15in) of rain, bringing the risk of flash floods and landslides.

Social media platform launches experiment in US, South Korea and Australia as part of plan to crack down on misleading content

CCTV footage obtained exclusively by the Guardian shows Jake Davison pacing around a local corner shop on the day before he shot dead five people and then turned his weapon on himself

British ties with a historic European city deserve to be more widely exploredMany countries contain a city, sometimes more than one, that has acquired world fame while at the same time being an overlooked destination for busy visitors. In Europe, these cities are often places with long histories that morphed into industrial, commercial or trading hubs. Cities like Hamburg, Lyon and Turin can perhaps be seen in this way.In Belgium, Antwerp is one of the most striking examples of this phenomenon of simultaneous fame and neglect. Antwerp is one of the great historic cities of Europe. In a highly readable new book, Michael Pye argues that, during Europe’s ages of discovery, it became one of the earliest genuinely global cities too. For much of the 16th century, it was what Paris, New York or London would become in later times, a place of restless wealth and vigour where, as Mr Pye puts it, anything could happen or at least anything could be believed. Continue reading...

Analysis: The stunning US defeat has left Afghans and Americans distraught and confused but some gains may not be easily erasedOn 1 October 2001, three weeks after the 9/11 attacks and six days before the bombing of Afghanistan began, there was a small protest march in Washington.The marchers wore badges saying “Don’t Turn Tragedy into War” and “Our Grief Is Not a Cry for War”, and argued that war was not the inevitable response to the terrorist outrage. Continue reading...

Demonstrators demand prime minister resigns over handling of pandemic; latest UK Covid data shows week-on-week rise in cases

The resurgence of the virus highlights low vaccination rates among aged care workers who were initially due to be vaccinated by EasterThirty-four aged care facilities in New South Wales are currently in the grips of a Covid-19 outbreak or are under close surveillance due to recent cases, new data shows.The resurgence of the virus across the eastern states has again put dozens of aged care facilities at risk and highlighted low vaccination rates among aged care workers, who the government once promised would receive the jab by Easter. Continue reading...

The NSW government continues to enforce stricter lockdown measures in 12 local government areas at the centre of Sydney’s Delta outbreak. Operation Stay at Home, launched this week, increases police and ADF numbers and imposes larger fines of $5,000 for breaching public health orders. However, some residents question whether tougher enforcement is the answer.Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to reporter Mostafa Rachwani and NSW Labor MP Jihad Dib about policing, financial support and how this lockdown has left some residents on the verge of a breakdown

Republic and other EU exporters benefit from the UK’s phased 12-month transition for border checksExports from Ireland to Great Britain soared in the first six month after Brexit as imports sent in the opposite direction declined, according to Irish government figures.In a sign of post-Brexit imbalances in trade, the Irish Central Statistics Office (CSO) said goods exports to Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) rose by 20% to €6.7bn (£5.7bn) in the first six months of 2021, an increase of more than €1.1bn compared with the same period in 2020. Continue reading...

Almost a million women have left their jobs because of menopausal symptoms. Countless others are discriminated against, denied support and openly mocked. Do they need new legal protections?In 2019, Mara’s weekly performance review meetings grew intolerable; she would sit in a cramped conference room with her supervisors only to be told that she wasn’t performing well enough. “I felt like a child,” says Mara, who is 48, lives in Hampshire and works and works as a public servant. “They would tell me off. They’d say: ‘You won’t meet this deadline, will you? You didn’t put a paragraph in this document.’”A year earlier, Mara had had a hysterectomy, to alleviate her endometriosis. Afterwards, in surgically induced menopause, she began to experience debilitating brain fog, anxiety and depression. “I was drowning,” she says. “I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t see or think.” Doctors prescribed antidepressants and oestrogen gel, but nothing helped. Mara could barely function at work. “I couldn’t retain anything,” she says. “I had no memory. I couldn’t see or think clearly enough to do my work. I had no confidence at all. I thought I was useless.” Continue reading...

In 1961, as a very raw third secretary at the British embassy in Dakar, Senegal, I looked after the first four VSO volunteers sent outside the Commonwealth or colonies. Edward Mortimer was the first, and I took him to St Louis du Senegal, the oldest French settlement in Africa. Situated on the boundary between the Sahel and Sahara regions, it had a rich mixture of French, Creole and Wolof cultures.Mortimer, with his intellectual curiosity and natural warmth, took full advantage of the experience. His fascination with Africa, Islam and France would remain. Continue reading...

Man rejected for official relocation scheme because he was not directly employed by British governmentAn Afghan guard who helped provide security for the British embassy in Kabul has said he fears for his life after being rejected for the official relocation scheme to the UK because he was a contracted employee rather than a direct member of staff.The man, whose name the Guardian is not printing to avoid exposing him to further risk, has been working for more than a year for GardaWorld, which provides security services to the British embassy. His role was to guard the accommodation where the British embassy bodyguards were housed. Continue reading...

The role of DJ Jason Mendoza catapulted the 33-year-old to fame. Now he’s starring with Kidman in Nine Perfect Strangers – and being entranced by Cruise in the Top Gun rebootOn YouTube, you can see Manny Jacinto getting the surprise of his life. During a break from filming, the stars of The Good Place are informed of the smash-hit comedy’s mind-boggling plot twist. Castmate Jameela Jamil covers her face with her hands. William Jackson Harper shouts out loud. Jacinto jerks his head around frantically, as if trying to make sense of this astonishing development purely through the power of repetitive neck movement.“I wish I could bottle up that feeling and have everybody experience it,” says Jacinto wistfully, five years later. “It was incredible.” Fans of the heaven-set sitcom will know what he means: the revelation was up there with the best plot twists of all time (spoiling it would be a crime). Yet for Jacinto the show did far more than pull the rug from under him. Winning the role of nice-but-ridiculously-dim DJ Jason Mendoza sent shockwaves through his entire life, catapulting the 33-year-old from relative obscurity to the kind of stardom that invariably accompanies a Netflix success story. Continue reading...

Dawn Elrick set up an Instagram account for women to share their stories of workplace abuse and bullying in TV and film – and she has been inundatedDawn Elrick had only been working as a runner in the TV industry for a few months when two male assistant producers told her they’d like to spit roast her. She was 22. She didn’t know what spit roasting meant so, that evening, she Googled it. “When I realised what they had said,” says Elrick, who is now 43, and works as a producer in Glasgow, “I felt so horrible.” She dreaded having to go back to work the next day.A few years later, Elrick was working on an entertainment show. A presenter would pull her in for bear hugs, grabbing her buttocks as he did. At the wrap party, he cornered her. “He said that he wanted to come on my face,” Elrick remembers. She did not feel that she could complain to her supervisors. “It was such a busy production,” she says. “Everyone was trying so hard to get through it … No one had the space to deal with it.” Continue reading...

Princess Beatrice is the latest public figure to use new terminology, which many prefer to words such as ‘stepfamily’The wicked stepmother of fairytales and bad films is no more: welcome, instead, to the “bonus” mum, dad and children of the blended families of the 21st century.Princess Beatrice, the Queen’s granddaughter, spoke this week of her “bonus son” after her marriage last year to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Continue reading...

Yes, the pandemic has made it harder to connect with strangers. But, from fitness classes to social media, there are plenty of ways to meet people in a new area – especially if you assume you’re naturally likableFreed from the shackles of the office and the misery of the commute, and with a newfound appreciation for space and air, it may suddenly have seemed as if a new kind of life was possible. Last summer, a few months after the first lockdown, data from Rightmove found searches by city residents looking for village properties had risen by 126%. But for those who took the plunge, leaving behind everything and everyone they know in return for a garden and a spare room, the pandemic has not made it easy to meet people in a new area. With this in mind, here’s some expert advice on how to build a new community. Continue reading...

Shepherd Giannis Tsiboukas, 36, confronts the ‘total destruction’ caused after a wildfire ravaged his land on the island of Evia in Greece. Tsiboukas lost more than 40 animals to the fire that destroyed more than 50,000 hectares. Peoples homes and livelihoods have been decimated.Hundreds of wildfires have torn through Greece this month on the heels of its most severe heatwave in decades, which left its forests tinder dry. Other Mediterranean countries – Turkey, Italy, Algeria and Spain among them – have suffered similar problems.Scientists say there is little doubt that climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is driving more extreme weather events. Continue reading...

Martin Tugwell says UK government must look at whether to make car use pricier and public transport cheaperThere needs to be an “honest conversation” about making driving more expensive in order to subsidise public transport, according to the new head of the north of England’s strategic transport body.Martin Tugwell, who took over as chief executive of Transport for the North (TfN) earlier this month, is trying to persuade the government to pay at least £30bn to build a transpennine rail line called Northern Powerhouse Rail, as well as HS2 spurs to Manchester and Leeds. Continue reading...

1,190 alcohol-specific deaths in 2020 raise fears Covid has undermined progress with minimum pricing

Army says warships, anti-submarine aircraft and fighter planes sent to the south-west and south-east of islandChina has launched live-fire air and sea exercises near Taiwan in response to what it called “external interference and provocations by Taiwan independence forces”.According to a statement from Col Shi Yi, the spokesperson of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command, warships, anti-submarine aircraft and fighter planes were dispatched to the south-west and south-east of Taiwan on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Warsaw says it will shut down supreme court chamber that Brussels says is a breach of EU lawPoland has told the European Union it will shut down a chamber at its supreme court devoted to disciplining judges, an issue that has been at the heart of a dispute between Warsaw and Brussels.The Polish government said on Tuesday that it had sent a letter to the European Commission on Monday, the deadline for Warsaw to inform the EU’s executive branch of how it would proceed after the EU’s top court said the chamber undermined judicial independence and contravened EU law. Continue reading...

New Zealand will go into a national lockdown on Tuesday night after detecting one case of Covid-19, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced on Tuesday. ‘Delta has been called a gamechanger and it is,’ Ardern said, adding that her government had ‘planned for this eventuality’.

Jesse Vinaccia was jailed for more than eight years over the death of his girlfriend’s son in 2016A man found guilty of killing his girlfriend’s baby son will be allowed to appeal the conviction, after a Victorian court agreed to hear from forensic experts who he says contradict evidence given during his trial.Jesse Vinaccia was found guilty of child homicide and sentenced to eight and a half years’ jail in 2019, in part because of evidence about so-called “shaken baby syndrome”. Continue reading...

Understaffed and underpowered, a Brussels taskforce tries to fight a fake news tide that threatens to undermine the union itselfIn April 2020, near the start of the global pandemic, Felix Kartte was working 14-hour shifts as an EU policy officer, struggling to monitor a barrage of coronavirus-linked disinformation.Articles claiming that the pandemic was a hoax, that it was caused by 5G, that it could be cured by hydroxychloroquine or alternative medicine were going viral across the continent – part of a global phenomenon the World Health Organization warned was becoming an “infodemic.” Kartte and colleagues in StratCom, the EU diplomatic service’s strategic communications division, could detect what they say were patterns of Covid-denier and anti-vaxxer disinformation linked to Russia and to a lesser extent China, being disseminated in several languages across Europe. Continue reading...

Two women’s escape from the law takes on racial undertones in a thriller that veers boldly from humorous to harrowingSouth African masculinity does not come off at all well in this off-kilter drama, which pits an improbable number of gender, race and class tensions against each other but remains watchable throughout. Set in the striking, desolate landscape of the Karoo desert outside Cape Town, it’s a Thelma and Louise-like tale of two women on the run from predatory menfolk, although the cop pursuing them is another woman with her own man-related issues. Nobody’s hands are particularly clean.It’s clear from the opening wedding scene between poor, beautiful Natalie (Nicole Fortuin), who is Black, and awkward white cop Bakkies that this is not a match made in heaven. Things don’t improve on their wedding night, which ends in a rape and a killing, with Natalie fleeing the scene on horseback in her blood-stained wedding dress. She seeks sanctuary with her wayward white “sister” Poppie (Izel Bezuidenhout), who is eight months pregnant but still up for some outlaw high-jinks. They are not actually sisters: Natalie’s mother worked as a nanny for Poppie’s, so their relationship is strained from the outset. Continue reading...

The Broadway favourite, who died of complications from Covid last summer, is remembered by his wife and co-starWhen you’re on Broadway and suddenly find out that your show is closing, you feel this wave of sadness. As a cast member, there was nothing you could have done to save it. You didn’t write the script; you didn’t call the shots. You just had to show up, and smile, and dance, and perform, and give it your all every day. Your cast has become like your family, the theatre like your home, and your dressing room like your own personal bedroom in that house, your space filled with photos, cards, and memories. After your last show, you have to take that all down, pack everything into a box, and walk out of the theatre as it goes dark.Related: Nick Cordero: Broadway star dies aged 41 of coronavirus complications Continue reading...

Crescent-shaped landmass 50km south of Minami Ioto could disappear due to erosionThe 6,000-plus islands that make up the Japanese archipelago have a new addition, after scientists said an undersea volcanic eruption 1,200km (745 miles) south of Tokyo had created a new landmass.The island was formed in the Pacific Ocean about 50km south of Minami Ioto, the southernmost island of the Ogasawara group. Continue reading...

Following the Taliban’s military takeover of the country, westerners continue to leave. Afghans hoping to escape Taliban rule have gathered in Kabul, with many making desperate attempts to flee. There was chaos at the airport, where troops used guns and helicopters to clear the runways, and several people died in frantic last-minute attempts to escape by clinging to departing planes

Ministers are expected to announce a ‘bespoke’ scheme similar to that put in place for Syrians in 2014

PM Jacinda Ardern warns this is ‘only chance’ to stop spread of suspected Delta variant

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says assisting employees to get jab may protect wellbeing but was ‘not without some risk’

More Britons than ever are flocking to wild places – but you need more than a mobile phone to avoid dangerLast month, I spent five days walking across the Peak District during that wonderful week of searing heat. Along the way, I ran into one tired-looking older gentleman who had no map and a scrounged bottle of water, a group of “lads” with an insufficient tourist map and no plan, and a lady unable to read her map.

A new photo book documents Marvel Harris’s gender reassignment surgery, as well as confronting his struggles with autism and depression Continue reading...

Five years after Willie Kimani’s death, his father is still waiting for a resolution. But as killings continue, cases like his pile up within a crippled justice systemPaul Kinuthia will never forget the moment he saw his son’s body lying on the bank of the river he played in as a child. He threw his hands up in despair and begged God to intervene.It has been five years since Kinuthia’s son, Willie Kimani, a lawyer, was murdered along with his client, Josephat Mwenda and driver, Joseph Muiruri, in Nairobi in June 2016. At the time, Kimani was representing Mwenda in court, after Mwenda had been shot and injured by police. Continue reading...

Despite the risks, Anchana Heemmina wants justice for victims of the Malay Muslims’ decades-old insurgency – and for herselfMuch of Anchana Heemmina’s work involves listening to stories of immeasurable pain, all part of her campaign to stop the cycle of violence that has long haunted Thailand’s troubled southern provinces.Her work striving for human rights and to prevent torture by state authorities has put Heemmina’s life in danger. Continue reading...

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on the security council to 'use all tools at its disposal to suppress the global terrorist threat in Afghanistan' and guarantee that basic human rights will be respected. Ashraf Ghani left Afghanistan on Sunday as the Taliban took over the country 20 years after they were ousted by a US-led invasion. 'We are receiving chilling reports of severe restrictions on human rights throughout the country,' said Guterres. 'I am particularly concerned by accounts of mounting human rights violations against the women and girls of Afghanistan'.

The task facing the new head of state will be more challenging than 1996. But who is in the running for a governing role?Last time the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan – in 1996 – there was never any question of what form of government they would install and who would rule the country. They were filling a vacuum, and Mullah Mohammed Omar, the reclusive cleric who had led the movement since its beginnings two years earlier, took charge.Then, Kabul was a shattered husk, with a tiny hungry, scared population, almost no economic activity, no telephones and public transport provided by ancient Russian-made cars or 1970s buses once driven from Germany. The Taliban could impose whatever they wanted. Continue reading...

Analysis: Difficult to predict how China will deal with its volatile neighbour, but Uyghur issue could prove contentiousThe US’s hasty departure from Afghanistan has provided much material for China’s propaganda agencies to discredit Washington’s foreign policy. But Beijing is also treading a careful line in navigating an increasingly uncertain security situation in one of its most volatile neighbours.On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, said that while Beijing will “continue developing good-neighbourly, friendly and cooperative relations with Afghanistan”, it also urges the Taliban to “ensure that all kinds of terrorism and crimes can be curbed so that the Afghan people can stay away from war and rebuild their homeland”. Continue reading...

The puzzle enthusiast and publisher is credited with turning the grid-based maths problem into a worldwide phenomenonMaki Kaji, a Japanese publisher who popularised the numbers puzzle sudoku played daily by millions around the world, has died from cancer aged 69.A university dropout who worked in a printing company before founding Japan’s first puzzle magazine, Kaji took hints from an existing number puzzle to create what he later named “sudoku” – a contraction of the Japanese for “every number must be single” – sometime in the mid-80s. Continue reading...

New Zealand police are looking for the baby’s mother, saying they are worried she needs ‘urgent medical attention’The body of a baby has been discovered at a recycling facility in south Auckland, New Zealand police have said.The baby, believed to be a newborn, was discovered at the plant in the suburb of Onehunga on Monday evening, detective inspector Scott Beard said in a statement. Continue reading...