Israeli military says jets struck rocket launch sites, in a marked escalation of hostilitiesIsrael escalated its response to rocket attacks this week by launching airstrikes on Lebanon, the Israeli military has said.The military said in a statement that jets struck the launch sites from which rockets had been fired over the previous day, as well as an additional target used to attack Israel in the past. Several militant groups operate in Lebanon but none claimed responsibility. Continue reading...
Experts say so-called breakthrough cases remain rare, and deaths among vaccinated people are ‘effectively zero’The Delta variant caused an inflection point in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States. So-called “breakthrough” cases, or Covid-19 infections in people who have already been vaccinated, upended the understanding of whether people in America needed to continue wearing masks to prevent spreading the coronavirus.But breakthrough cases remain rare, and hospitalization and death for vaccinated people is “effectively zero” in many US states reporting this data. Continue reading...
The release of Paris Hilton’s Netflix series where she semi-cooks semi-dishes is the latest in an increasing trend of stars spending more time in the kitchenTo state the obvious, nobody is going to watch Cooking With Paris to sharpen their culinary skills. The new Netflix series piggybacks on last year’s bizarre, almost Lynchian YouTube video where Paris Hilton cooked what can only be described an anti-lasagne, and stretches it out to a painful degree. In episode one, Hilton attempts to make marshmallows for Kim Kardashian and grunts with disgust when they make a mess of her lace gloves. In episode two, Hilton takes time out from making a funfetti flan to pose in the photo booth she installed in her living room. If you hang around long enough to find out what happens in episode three, you’re a braver soul than me.Related: Cooking With Paris review – Hilton in the kitchen? Prepare to have your mind blown Continue reading...
Charges laid over the death of five-year-old Logan Mwangi, who was found dead in a river in Bridgend last weekPolice have charged two adults and a 13-year-old boy over the death of five-year-old Logan Mwangi, who was found dead in a river in south Wales last week.John Cole, 39, of Sarn, Bridgend, has been charged with murder, South Wales police said. Continue reading...
Mutant strain may emerge amid vaccine hesitancy, experts say, as even medics reject jabs in DR CongoDr Christian Mayala and Dr Rodin Nzembuni Nduku sit together on a bench outside the Covid ward at Kinshasa’s Mama Yemo hospital.They are discussing the health of their father, Noel Kalouda, who contracted coronavirus weeks before, and is now lying in a hospital bed, breathing through an oxygen mask. Continue reading...
New Zealand researchers seeking to protect the at-risk species from a warming world have made a surprising discoveryTuatara – the ancient, slow-moving, “living fossil” reptiles unique to New Zealand – have surprised researchers with their fast-moving sperm.The discovery came amid a new effort by scientists to gather and preserve the sperm of the protected at-risk species, to try to ensure it survives new threats and a warming planet. Continue reading...
As cases of blood condition pancytopenia persist, investigators suggest food fungi could be to blameCats are still dying in significant numbers from a mystery illness that investigators believe may be linked to widely sold cat food brands, prompting concern that not enough is being done to warn owners about a nationwide product recall.Vets around the UK are understood to have been swamped by cases of pancytopenia, a condition in which the number of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets decreases rapidly, causing serious illness. Continue reading...
As violence causes a fresh wave of desperate journeys, populist politicians claim their country has become a ‘dumping ground’It was a journey that had taken weeks, and there were times when the 65-year-old Afghan widow, who walks with the aid of a stick, had to be carried by her son.Their trek, across 15 canyons she says, left Durdana with badly scarred feet. “I have not had a day of peace in over 40 years. I had to come to Turkey, there was no choice.” Continue reading...
by Nazia Parveen Community affairs correspondent on (#5MZP0)
Community Security Trust recorded 639 incidents in May, 49% of the total for the first half of 2021A charity that monitors antisemitism and provides security for British Jewish groups has said the Gaza conflict that broke out in May resulted in its highest recording of anti-Jewish hate incidents.The Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 1,308 such incidents nationwide between January and June 2021, a 49% increase on the same period in 2020 and the highest recorded in the first half of a year. Continue reading...
Analysis: Proof of vaccination is nothing new and any requirement that people use a ‘health pass’ will involve balancing various rightsWith greater numbers of people being vaccinated and countries looking to reopen borders safely, the introduction of some form of vaccine passport seems increasingly likely.For New Zealand, where the elimination strategy has been largely successful but which remains vulnerable to border breaches, proof of vaccination may well be a condition of entry. Continue reading...
It’s true farmers are facing a lot of regulation but only after decades of fighting off smaller reforms – we need them to changeIn July, an estimated 60,000, mostly rural New Zealanders took to the streets to protest environmental regulations farmers say are unworkable. Angry and frustrated, they rolled into 57 towns and cities on tractors and trucks to form the country’s biggest farmer protest.I grew up in rural New Zealand, and many of my family work in and around the dairy industry – so I have experienced a lot of this frustration first hand. Continue reading...
A statement said the 80-year-old drummer accepted he needed more time to recuperate from unspecified medical issueRolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts appears likely to miss the band’s upcoming US tour to allow him to recover from an unspecified medical procedure.A spokesperson for the musician said on Wednesday night that the procedure was “completely successful” but that the 80-year-old drummer needed time to recuperate. Continue reading...
by Luke Halpin, Rohan Clarke and Rowan Mott for the C on (#5MZKA)
Phillip Island centipedes devour up to 3,700 black-winged petrel chicks each year, trapping nutrients brought from the ocean by the seabirds and distributing them around the islandGiant bird-eating centipedes may sound like something out of a science-fiction film – but they’re not. On tiny Phillip Island, part of the South Pacific’s Norfolk Island group, the Phillip Island centipede (Cormocephalus coynei) population can kill and eat up to 3,700 seabird chicks each year.And this is entirely natural. This unique creature endemic to Phillip Island has a diet consisting of an unusually large proportion of vertebrate animals, including seabird chicks. Continue reading...
Billionaire reportedly made trip after his child fell ill in Fiji and needed hospital treatment in New ZealandThe billionaire co-founder of Google Larry Page was reportedly granted entry into New Zealand, despite the border being closed to non-residents.Stuff reported that Page, who is the sixth-richest person in the world, visited the country after his child fell ill in Fiji and required hospital treatment in New Zealand. Continue reading...
by Presented by Rachel Humphreys with Andrew Roth; pr on (#5MZKC)
The Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya flew out of Tokyo on Wednesday to begin a life in exile after refusing to return home. Andrew Roth describes a growing threat to internal critics of the regimeWhen the Belarus sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya criticised her coaches for entering her ‘behind [her] back’ in the 4x400m relay event at the Tokyo Olympics, she set off a chain of events that quickly went beyond her control. On Sunday, she was removed from the team and driven to the airport by officials. But Tsimanouskaya refused to board the flight back to Minsk and sought Japanese police protection.The Guardian’s Andrew Roth tells Rachel Humphreys that this sporting disagreement quickly became political and Tsimanouskaya had little option but to seek refuge outside of Belarus. Now she has flown from Tokyo to Vienna after being granted humanitarian assistance by Poland. Her husband, Arseniy Zdanevich, fled Belarus for Ukraine on Sunday. Continue reading...
Patsy Reddy says couple said they could ‘imagine living in a place like this’ during their visitThe Queen’s representative in New Zealand has said Prince Harry and Meghan discussed moving to the South Pacific country during their 2018 visit, more than a year before the couple stepped back from royal duties and moved to the US.Governor general Patsy Reddy said: “I remember they’d just been down to the Abel Tasman national park when we sat down and had a drink, and they said that they could imagine living in a place like this and wondered whether we thought it would be theoretically possible. Even possible for them to have a place in New Zealand. Continue reading...
Queensland deputy premier Steven Miles has announced there were 16 new local coronavirus cases but are all linked to known clusters. ’It’s good, encouraging that all of the new cases can be directly linked,’ Miles said. Today’s results are ‘very encouraging’, Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said during the daily Covid news update.► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube
Kyaw Moe Tun, who has defied regime attempts to sack him, tells UN it must take action over killings in remote Sagaing areaMyanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, who has refused to leave his post despite being fired by the junta after the February coup, has alerted the world body to a “reported massacre” by the military.Kyaw Moe Tun sent a letter to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Tuesday saying 40 bodies had been found in July in the Sagaing area of north-western Myanmar. Continue reading...
Muğla’s population evacuated by sea amid fears fire could spread to coal inside Kemerköy plantA coal-fired power station in south-west Turkey and nearby town on the Aegean Sea were evacuated late on Wednesday as a deadly wildfire reached inside the plant.Firefighters and police fled the 35-year-old Kemerköy plant in the hillside Aegean province of Muğla, and sirens could be heard wailing. Continue reading...
Lawyers for Meng Wanzhou, whose detention has thrown US-China feud into focus, urge judge to throw out extradition requestLawyers for Meng Wanzhou say American prosecutors acted in “bad faith” and abused the Canadian justice system when they pursued the Huawei chief financial officer, in final arguments of the telecoms executive’s closely watched extradition proceedings.In a Vancouver courtroom on Wednesday, Meng’s legal team argued that American prosecutors misled the Canadian justice system in their legal summary of the allegations against Meng. Her team says this abuse of process obliges the judge overseeing the case to toss out the extradition request against Meng and set her free. Continue reading...
Crackdown continues as vice-presidential hopeful Berenice Quezada accused of ‘terrorism’ for criticising lack of freedomNicaraguan authorities have detained a candidate in the November presidential elections, her party has said, as the government of President Daniel Ortega shows no sign of ending a sweeping crackdown against the opposition.For months Ortega’s government has been detaining political adversaries, including presidential hopefuls, ahead of an election in which the former Marxist guerrilla and cold war antagonist of Washington will be running for a fourth consecutive term. Continue reading...
Sudesh Amman, 20, was shot dead by police after injuring two people in stabbing rampage in south LondonA convicted terrorist who went on a knife rampage in south London that ended with him being shot dead by police told a mentor just days before that he had changed his ways, an inquest has heard.Sudesh Amman, 20, was shot dead by police after he ran up Streatham High Road on 2 February 2020 randomly stabbing members of the public and injuring two people. Continue reading...
by Presented by Laura Murphy-Oates, reported by Chris on (#5MZ94)
A Covid-19 cluster in a Sydney aged care facility has highlighted the sluggish vaccination rollout for aged care workers, with recent figures showing only one in four are fully vaccinated. Many in the sector say the federal government’s plans to vaccinate workers have been confusing and beset by delays. But the government has put the onus back on staff – telling them to get at least one jab by mid-September or be barred from work.Reporter Christopher Knaus explores what went wrong with the rollout and the dangers of having a largely unvaccinated aged care workforceRead more on this issue:
Since 1999 the rate of women aged 40–44 giving birth has almost doubledOne-quarter of Australian women giving birth are aged 35 or over, with 29% of those being first-time mothers.The number of babies born to older mothers has been increasing over time, data published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on Thursday shows. The latest data, from 2019, shows there were more than 76,000 babies born to mothers aged 35 or over, compared with almost 69,000 in 2009, and 42,000 in 1999.
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#5MZ5V)
Thinktank says longer wait for treatment since Covid pandemic is main reason, in study of 11 countriesThe NHS has lost its prestigious ranking as the best health system in a study of 11 rich countries by an influential US thinktank.The UK has fallen from first to fourth in the Commonwealth Fund’s latest analysis of the performance of the healthcare systems in the nations it studied. Continue reading...
Fees for ‘Wagatha Christie’ legal fight between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney to top £1mLeicester City footballer Jamie Vardy has been dragged into his wife’s “Wagatha Christie” legal battle with Coleen Rooney, after a high court judged ruled his phone and computer could be searched for relevant material.The long-running legal case centres on allegations that Rebekah Vardy leaked stories about fellow footballer’s wife Rooney to journalists at the Sun. The court heard details of the enormous costs that have been run up by both sides in the case, which are already on track to top more than £1m. Continue reading...
Umbrella singer’s estimated $1.7bn fortune owed largely to success of Fenty BeautyRihanna, the singer of hits such as Umbrella and We Found Love, is officially a billionaire and the world’s richest female musician.However, most of her fortune, estimated on Wednesday by Forbes magazine to be $1.7bn (£1.2bn), does not come from chart-topping singles, but from the success of her cosmetics empire. Continue reading...
Delay means new licence will start six months later than plannedThe competition to win a 10-year licence to run the National Lottery has been postponed for a second time, signalling a potential £42m windfall for the incumbent operator Camelot, which is already under scrutiny over the amount of profit it makes.The Gambling Commission said it had extended the timeline after “representations” from the bidders, which include Camelot, the media tycoon Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell, Czech-owned Sazka Group and Italian firm Sisal, which is working with BT. Continue reading...
Dr Peninah Murage says the unjust traffic light system penalises poor countries even though some have relatively low numbers of cases. Plus Dot Mornington-West on being under house arrest after returning from FranceCan the Guardian please investigate the rationale behind the Covid travel restrictions relating to “red list” countries? Some of the countries on the red list, such as Kenya, have very low Covid cases and deaths, but are among the world’s poorest and with little influence on government policy.Essentially, the UK government is using this list to appease the public who need to see the government doing something – but at the same time the government is assured that the backlash will be minimal because these countries have very little voice. Continue reading...
Aziah ‘Zola’ Wells’s viral story of her crazily dangerous 2015 trip to Florida in search of pole-dancing money is brought to the screen with seductive comedyIn 2015, a part-time dancer from Detroit called Aziah “Zola” Wells went viral with a cheeky Twitter thread purporting to tell the pulp-factual tale of her recent, crazily dangerous road trip to Florida with someone called Jessica, whom she’d only just met. This woman had persuaded Zola there was big money in pole-dancing for rich clients in Tampa, but Zola had to share the car with Jessica’s creepy boyfriend and even creepier pimp, and soon it was clear that Zola was going to have to do much more than dance. She was in way over her head.Or was she? Followers of Zola’s posts loved them at least partly for how outrageously unreliable they were: Zola was clearly embellishing, or pre-emptively giving her side of the story before Jessica did the same. Now this has been turned into a very entertaining lowlife crime comedy from director and co-writer Janicza Bravo, a film that preserves the fishy flavour of the online original – if perhaps only semi-intentionally – and has interesting things to say about the exhaustingly performative and self-promotional world of social media. Continue reading...
UGTT union body urges president, Kais Saied, to form government, nearly two weeks after he sacked PMTunisia’s powerful UGTT trade union body has urged the country’s president, Kais Saied, to form a new government, nearly two weeks after he assumed executive power and sacked the prime minister.Saied also suspended parliament for 30 days on 25 July, and has since dismissed four ministers and other top officials. Continue reading...
Islamist group escalate insurgency with assault on Green Zone in Afghan capitalA suicide-bomb and gun attack in Kabul’s Green Zone that targeted Afghanistan’s acting defence minister and killed eight people on Tuesday was claimed by the Taliban, as the hardline Islamist group continued to escalate violence across the country.The suicide bombing, which targeted the house used by Bismillah Mohammadi, was one of the most significant in the Afghan capital in recent months. It came amid heavy fighting in the south and west of the country as the Taliban has sought to take three key cities. Continue reading...
A year on from the devastating explosion, people are struggling to sleep and PTSD is widespread – amid economic chaosRayan Khatoun has been dreading 4 August. She has been constantly on edge as the anniversary of the port explosion in Beirut approached.The blast threw Khatoun into a wall as she came home from work and left her with a head injury, a fractured cheekbone and torn tendons. Since then, she has suffered from recurring nightmares, insomnia and anxiety attacks. Continue reading...
There are many quick, easy and delicious ways to eat an aubergine. Here are some of the best options, including salads and shakshukaThe aubergine hasn’t always had the most pristine reputation. There was a time when eating one required a complicated dance of slicing and salting and draining to remove its unpleasant bitterness. Luckily, though, most mass-market aubergines available in the UK have now had the bitterness bred out of them, so aubergine dishes are no longer so frustratingly time-consuming.Once society has managed to find an alternative sexting emoji, the aubergine’s rehabilitation will be complete. In the meantime, let’s look at the ways aubergine can be utilised in all manner of global dishes. Continue reading...
Holland Park school governors launch investigation after 26 former teachers’ claimsGovernors at Holland Park school, a top London academy, have launched an independent investigation into allegations about the school’s “toxic” working environment under one of England’s most highly paid headteachers, and the incendiary claim that critical staff questionnaires were hidden from Ofsted inspectors.Twenty-six of the school’s recently departed teachers have written to the chair of the governing body at Holland Park, whose recent parents include the cabinet minister Michael Gove and the former Commons speaker John Bercow, and separately to the government’s academy regulator, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), setting out detailed examples of what they describe as abuses of power by the headteacher, Colin Hall, and his senior team. Continue reading...
Confirmation comes as British navy says armed group has left Panama-registered Asphalt PrincessOman has confirmed that a tanker boarded off the coast of the United Arab Emirates by a group of armed men was the target of a “hijacking incident”.The incident, involving eight or nine armed men, ended after the group left the ship on Wednesday morning, according to a statement from the British navy. Continue reading...
Replica of iceberg that sank ship collapsed at Tennessee visitor attraction on MondayThe curse of the RMS Titanic has struck again – this time not in the middle of the North Atlantic, but at the Titanic Museum Attraction in Tennessee. An ice wall, representing the iceberg that caused the unsinkable ship to sink in 1912, collapsed on Monday at the museum in Pigeon Forge.In a message posted to social media, the owners of the Titanic attraction said: “Our iceberg wall collapsed and injured three guests, who were taken to the hospital. At this time, we do not know the extent of their injuries, and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all who were affected, including the first-responders.” Continue reading...
Strong public support for change in law not shared by MPs, with only 35% agreeing, YouGov survey findsThree-quarters of Britons support doctor-assisted dying for people who are terminally ill, compared with one in three MPs, according to a poll.The fresh evidence of overwhelming public backing for a change in the law comes as a private member’s bill on assisted dying is awaiting its second reading in the House of Lords. Continue reading...
Rising Covid cases across greater Sydney means plan for 16 August return to face-to-face teaching all but abandonedThe New South Wales government’s plans to have year 12 back to face-to-face teaching by 16 August appear to be in tatters, amid rising Covid case numbers among younger people and resistance from all parts of the school system.The government is now urgently working on an alternative plan that is likely to involve different approaches for different parts of the greater Sydney region. Continue reading...
A romantic surprise has unexpected consequences in a gentle comedy channelling Éric Rohmer crossed with Carry on CampingHere is a terrifically fresh, funny and gentle film from director and co-writer Guillaume Brac, which takes quite seriously something that’s always getting dismissed or patronised in pop culture: the holiday romance. The French title is À L’Abordage!, more properly translated as “Attack!” and the film is about seizing the day, going on the offensive and fortune favouring the bold.Newcomer Eric Nantchouang plays Félix, an easygoing young guy in Paris with a naturally smiley open face; he has a moment with Alma (Asma Messaoudene) and when she says she’s going on holiday with her parents and sister in the beautiful valley of Die in south-eastern France, Félix secretly resolves to go there himself and give her what he is confident will be a wonderful romantic surprise. But he brings along his buddy Chérif (Salif Cissé) for moral support and using a ride-sharing app, they bamboozle nervy young Édouard (Édouard Sulpice) into driving them there in his mum’s car. Soon it becomes clear that Alma has rather complicated feelings about seeing Félix again quite so unexpectedly; meanwhile, Félix and Chérif become mates with uptight Édouard and it seems like self-effacing Chérif has feelings for Héléna (Ana Blagojevic), a single mum he meets at their campsite. Continue reading...
This man was well endowed, highly sexed and lasted longer than me. Is our relationship doomed?I have been with my partner for three years, and a month ago she cheated on me. We discussed the matter and from that I discovered that this guy she cheated with is well endowed, lasted longer than me and has a huge sex drive. She now wants us to fix things, but I am uncomfortable knowing all of this. I am afraid that I will not satisfy her and she may end up going back to this person and that I’ll be hurt. What can I possibly do to overcome all of this?Don’t believe your partner’s description of the other guy. It sounds spiteful. Is there a reason why she would try to hurt you? Is she angry or resentful of you for some reason? It’s time for a calm talk to try to understand each other far better and to have a chance to express your true feelings without resorting to blaming or name-calling. Tell her honestly that you feel uncomfortable and afraid and say: “Please help me to understand your feelings too.” After a breach of trust it takes time to repair a damaged relationship and the hazy spectre of a rival’s dimensions is really the least of your worries. Continue reading...