The craft store had acquired the 3,600-year-old artefact for its Bible museum, but court says it had been smuggled and should be returned to IraqA rare and ancient tablet showing part of the epic of Gilgamesh, which had been acquired by Christian arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby for display in its museum of biblical artefacts, has been seized by the US government.The Department of Justice (DoJ) alleges that the 3,600-year-old “Gilgamesh Dream Tablet”, which originated in a region that is now part of Iraq, was acquired in 2003 by an American antiquities dealer, “encrusted with dirt and unreadable”, from the family member of a London coin dealer. Once it had arrived in the US, and been cleaned, experts realised that it showed a portion of the Gilgamesh epic, one of the world’s oldest works of literature, in the Akkadian language. Continue reading...
by Severin Carrell, Rob Evans, Amy Hughes, and David on (#5MPEM)
Extent of arcane practice known as crown consent in Scotland has until now been unknown to the publicThe Scottish government has given the Queen advanced access to at least 67 parliamentary bills deemed to affect her public powers, private property or personal interests under an arcane custom inherited from Westminster.The Queen’s consent procedure, which critics have called anti-democratic, has been used repeatedly by the monarch in recent decades to secretly lobby for changes to proposed UK legislation before it is passed by parliament. Continue reading...
Luchino Visconti emerges badly from this desperately sad documentary about the exploitation of his Death in Venice child star Björn AndrésenThis documentary tells us how the most beautiful boy in the world became its saddest man, his life damaged by the exploitative abuse that the movie business incidentally hands out to all those beautiful girls in the world without anyone caring or making documentaries about them.Related: ‘Death in Venice screwed up my life’ – the tragic story of Visconti’s ‘beautiful boy’ Continue reading...
Photographer unhappy about model railway version of viral picture she took at Berlin lakesideA woman whose photograph of a naked man in pursuit of a wild boar at a Berlin lakeside went viral has said she might take legal action against a company that has immortalised the spectacle for model railway enthusiasts.Adele Landauer, an actor and charisma coach, told German media she resented the fact that others were making money from her snapshot, which went around the world last August. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#5MPA2)
Author accused of repeating ‘lazy inaccuracies’ about businessman’s role in Russian politics and societyRoman Abramovich’s lawyer said it was defamatory to describe the businessman as having “a corrupt relationship” with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and that he had acted “covertly at his direction” in key business deals such as the purchase of Chelsea football club.Speaking on the first morning of a preliminary hearing of a high court libel claim against a bestselling book about the modern Kremlin, Hugh Tomlinson QC said the 54-year-old billionaire said he did not “bring this claim lightly” and understood it could be characterised as “an attack on public interest journalism”. Continue reading...
In a dense new docuseries, the personal and political journey of Barack Obama is explored along with the difficult tightrope he was forced to walkThe date was 10 February 2007 and the air was cold. Barack Obama, a US senator without deep political experience, stood before the old state capitol in Springfield, Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln began his career, and announced his daring candidacy for president of the United States.But on that same day, a State of the Black Union conference was taking place in Virginia. Al Sharpton, a civil rights leader and former presidential candidate, told the gathering: “I wish Obama had announced here ’cos Lincoln did not free us. The abolitionist movement freed us. We’ve got to quit giving the wrong people credit for our history.” Continue reading...
Activists say Lifta, abandoned during the 1948 war, must be preserved in the face of Israeli construction plansThe ancient Palestinian village of Lifta sits on a quiet hillside minutes from Jerusalem’s bustling modern centre. Abandoned when its residents fled during the 1948 war, it has been left unchanged – frozen in time – ever since.Today, however, its overgrown domed stone houses with arched windows, built during the early Ottoman Empire and resting on even older ruins dating back to the Iron Age, are at risk of being demolished to make way for a luxurious resort of villas, hotels and shops. Continue reading...
Landscape surrounding Snowdonia in Gwynedd is 32nd site in UK to get prestigious global statusThe slate landscape of north-west Wales, said to have “roofed the 19th century world” as its quarries exported slate across the globe, has become the UK’s newest Unesco world heritage site.The landscape surrounding Snowdonia in the county of Gwynedd was awarded the prestigious global status – already enjoyed by sites such as the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu in Peru, and the Grand Canyon in the US – by the World Heritage Committee meeting in China. Continue reading...
Many of us are holidaying close to home this year and opting for camping, having never tried it before. Readers recall the cold, wet, wild and wonderful experiences they have had under canvasAfter 18 months of lockdown and seeing nothing but buildings and city life, I needed to get away. I’d dreamed of visiting the Outer Hebrides for years and decided to take the plunge in May 2021, walking and camping solo along the Hebridean Way – my first time camping as an adult. I woke up to stunning beach views and I loved the freedom. But it wasn’t always easy: some nights I had to hold my tent up against the winds at 3am, and carrying all my kit on my back was horrendous at times. But I wouldn’t change a thing. My aim for the trip was to get back in touch with my homeland and endure the camping – but it turns out I love camping! It won’t be long before I’m on my way back to the Outer Hebrides – but with a lighter rucksack and a better inflatable mat this time. Bev Mackenzie, freelance copywriter, Bristol Continue reading...
Female member wins appeal to be allowed to take part in traditional Bavarian summer eventA German court has ruled that women cannot be excluded from a traditional event in which fishermen compete to catch the biggest fish in a stream that runs through a Bavarian town.The state court in Memmingen said the group that organises the town’s Fischertag, or fishermen’s day, must allow female members to participate in the climax of the annual summer event, which features people jumping into a stream with nets to catch trout. Whoever catches the biggest fish is crowned the “fishermen’s king”. Continue reading...
Submarine robot takes photos of vessel and cargo of amphorae dating back to second century BCAn ancient Roman vessel dating back to the second century BC has been discovered in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Palermo.The ship lies 92 metres (302ft) deep in the ocean, near Isola delle Femmine, and from the first images taken by a submarine robot it was carrying a copious cargo of wine amphorae. Continue reading...
Guardian newspaper rated highest by readers for accuracy, trustworthiness and depth of analysisThe Guardian continues to be the UK’s most widely used newspaper website and app for news, according to the communications watchdog, which shows it has increased its audience share over the past year.The research by Ofcom, based on audience surveys, found that 23% of consumers who used websites or apps for news turned to the Guardian for their updates, one percentage point higher than the Daily Mail’s online products, and a one-point increase on the previous year. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#5MNZ7)
Defence secretary says Britannia replacement would cost up to £250m at event to launch projectBritain’s new royal yacht could cost the taxpayer an initial £50m more than previously indicated at a total cost of £250m, the defence secretary said at an industry event to launch the project.The replacement for the long-scrapped Britannia, a brainchild of the prime minister, Boris Johnson, would be commissioned at “between £200m and £250m at a firm price”, Ben Wallace told a specially convened conference at Greenwich. Continue reading...
by Reporting by Kaamil Ahmed, Joe Dyke and Anas Baba on (#5MNVX)
First comes the warning call – then the race to evacuate. Residents of a Gaza apartment block recall the frantic minutes before their homes to were turned to rubble
Our photojournalist explores the famed outdoor venue in Cornwall as it welcomes back full houses“I knew of it from pictures I’d seen online and I thought it looked pretty, but when you arrive and see it yourself, it’s like, ‘Oh wow, this is insane,’” says actor Guido Garcia Lueches about the Minack Theatre. “It’s probably the best theatre I’ve ever performed in.”Carved largely by hand into a craggy, granite cliff-face, the dizzying outdoor venue on the south coast of Cornwall looks magnificent in the summer sunshine. Tiers of subtropical foliage splash colour throughout the landscape and weathered concrete seats bearing the titles of past shows rise abruptly from the stage. The ocean, 100ft below, looks an enticing shade of turquoise. Continue reading...
As the conflict intensifies amid the withdrawal of US-led forces, a new wave of families are being forced to flee via perilous routes to Iran and TurkeyA weary Zebah Gul and her eight children are gathered quietly in a small room at a transit centre in Herat, north-eastern Afghanistan. Their six-month attempt to escape the war and find safety has failed.They have just spent a week in Iranian police detention after being caught trying to cross the border into Turkey, and are beginning to make their way back to their besieged home province of Takhar, on the opposite side of the sprawling country. Continue reading...
Sitting in a small dinghy in darkness as it took on water was frightening enough in a sea survival exercise let alone for realAs I paddled through crashing waves in the darkness, stomach churning, I watched our small dinghy starting to fill up with water with a sinking feeling – it wouldn’t be long before we went overboard, and I was worried that at least one person in my boat was paddling in the wrong direction. But, then again, it might have been me: I was wielding an oar twice my size and it was impossible to tell in the frenzy.
Ineos has been accused of using sports to ‘greenwash’ its reputationNew Zealand Rugby’s decision to sign a six-year deal with global petrochemical company Ineos has been criticised by Greenpeace, who said it fundamentally goes against the country’s “clean, green” values.NZ Rugby announced the company will become the official performance partner for its seven teams from 2022. Ineos is a UK oil, gas and petrochemical conglomerate – the third largest company of its kind in the world. Its main shareholder is billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, and the company has lobbied to weaken green taxes and reduce restrictions on fracking. Continue reading...
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has announced new financial assistance measures after New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian extended greater Sydney's lockdown by four weeks. One of the measures includes an extra $200 payment for welfare recipients in NSW who have lost more than eight hours' work per week. Other disaster payments will be increased from $600 to $750 as a maximum and for people who have lost less than 20 hours' work, from $375 to $450 per week
Covid restrictions extended for greater Sydney, with a hard lockdown expanded to Parramatta, Georges River and Campbelltown LGAs. Some restrictions have been eased with some construction to resume and a singles bubble introduced, while lockdown lifts in Orange. Here’s the full list of what you can and can’t do in NSW
Six years after deadly Fundao dam rupture, lawsuit against Anglo-Australian mining giant proclaimed as ‘an opportunity for real justice’London’s court of appeal made a U-turn on Tuesday by agreeing to reopen a US$7bn lawsuit by 200,000 claimants against Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP, reviving a case over a dam rupture behind Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.Lawyers for one of the largest group claims in English legal history have been pushing to resurrect the £5bn ($6.9bn) lawsuit against BHP since a lower court struck out the lawsuit as an abuse of process last year – and a court of appeal judge upheld that decision in March. Continue reading...
Chankillo in Peru features 13 stone towers built in 250 to 200 BC that functioned as a calendar by marking the rising and setting arcs of the sunThe oldest solar observatory in the Americas has been awarded Unesco world heritage status and dubbed “a masterpiece of human creative genius”.The 2,300-year-old archaeological ruin Chankillo which lies in a desert valley in northern Peru was one of 13 new global sites added to the list of cultural monuments. Continue reading...
Supporters fear Yidiresi Aishan will be extradited and say arrest is politically drivenMoroccan authorities have arrested a Uyghur activist in exile because of a Chinese terrorism warrant distributed by Interpol, according to information from Moroccan police and a rights group that tracks people detained by China.Activists fear Yidiresi Aishan will be extradited to China and say the arrest is politically driven as part of a broader Chinese campaign to hunt down perceived dissidents outside its borders. Continue reading...
Lifeboat charity says it is its moral and legal duty to rescue people at risk of dying as they cross ChannelThe Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has hit out at accusations it is operating a “migrant taxi service” by rescuing people at risk of dying in the water as they cross the Channel in small boats, which the charity says is its moral and legal duty.Responding to accusations from Nigel Farage that it is facilitating illegal immigration, the volunteer lifeboat charity said it was “very proud” of its humanitarian work and it would continue to respond to coastguard callouts to rescue at-risk Channel migrants in line with its legal duty under international maritime law. Continue reading...
Experts say failures of latest benefit changes show need for major reforms to labyrinthine welfare system“It feels like a broken promise,” says Bella*, a thirtysomething Auckland mother of one for whom this month’s ostensible benefit increases have turned into something quite different – a $75 a week loss of income.On 1 July, New Zealand’s Labour government lifted weekly benefits by $20 per adult, the first instalment in a $32-55 increase in May’s budget that was the largest since the foundation of the modern welfare state in the 1930s. Continue reading...
PM’s attempt to grip agenda flounders amid criticism he has ignored evidence on stop-and-searchPolice chiefs have condemned Boris Johnson’s high-profile strategy to tackle crime as “weird and gimmicky”, while plans to increase stop-and-search were criticised for ignoring the evidence.The crime initiative was supposed to show the Johnson government gripping the agenda. But senior police officers, the rank and file, opposition politicians and even some in business rebuked it. Continue reading...
Air Force intelligence analyst gave military documents to journalist to ‘dispel the lie that our lives are worth more than theirs’A former air force intelligence analyst was sentenced to 45 months in prison on Tuesday for leaking top secret information about the US government’s drone strike program to a journalist.Daniel Hale of Nashville, Tennessee, has said he was motivated by guilt and a desire for transparency when he disclosed to an investigative reporter details of a military drone program that he believed was indiscriminately killing civilians in Afghanistan far from the battlefield. Continue reading...
Reece Kershaw will use National Press Club speech to focus on options for combatting transnational crime following Operation IronsideThe Australian federal police commissioner, Reece Kershaw, will use a speech on Wednesday to declare decriminalising drug use “will not stop organised crime” because the revenue stream from the trade will continue to fund criminal activities.Kershaw is expected to use an address to the National Press Club to toughen language around illicit drug use. Continue reading...
Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson are romancing riverboat adventurers in a ride-turned-film that quickly becomes blandThe Jungle Cruise theme-park ride is a riverboat trip that Disneyland visitors have been queuing up for since the 1950s: an old-timey craft travelling down an artificial jungle river, with a jolly captain pointing out animatronic animals lurching out of the artificial undergrowth. Now it’s been adapted into a blandly inoffensive piece of generic entertainment: screenwriters Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (who once gave us Bad Santa and I Love You Phillip Morris) have mashed up The African Queen with Raiders of the Lost Ark, and with what I admit is a surreal splash of Aguirre, Wrath of God.It’s lively enough for the first 20 minutes. The year is 1916, and Emily Blunt plays Lily Houghton, a haughty yet idealistic British scientist, much patronised by the male establishment in London. She imperiously hires a riverboat in Brazil to find the much-rumoured “Tree of Life” somewhere in the jungle. Its captain is a cynical-with-a-heart-of-gold rogue called Frank Wolff, man-mountainishly played by Dwayne Johnson. After the traditional meet-cute, their growing romance plays off the comedy turn provided by Jack Whitehall, playing the other passenger: Lily’s foppish, neurotic younger brother MacGregor. At one stage, Whitehall’s prissy, wussy Englishman explains to Dwayne Johnson that he is gay – or rather, he says something indirect about being not as other men, and the subject is never raised again, Edwardian reticence dovetailing nicely with Disney family values. It is a stereotype that Walt himself might have recognised, while also approving of the obvious heterosexuality of Frank with his muscles, boots and sailor’s cap. Continue reading...
by Associated Press in Canton, Georgia on (#5MMNS)
• Robert Aaron Long agrees plea deal but faces four more charges• Eight people, six women of Asian descent, died in shootingsA Georgia man charged in the shooting deaths of eight people at three Atlanta-area massage businesses was pleading guilty in Cherokee county on Tuesday, hoping for a sentence of life without parole to the first four cases.Related: Are police the biggest threat to massage parlor workers’ safety? Continue reading...
by Patrick Butler Social policy editor on (#5MMGC)
Inquiry into child sexual abuse says abuse occurred over several decades on a scale ‘hard to comprehend’Hundreds of vulnerable children in the care of Lambeth council in south London were subjected to horrendous cruelty and sexual abuse over several decades on a scale that was “hard to comprehend”, an independent inquiry report has found.The independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) found more than 700 allegations of sexual abuse against hundreds of staff and individuals connected with just three homes in the borough. The true scale of abuse was likely to be far higher, it said. Continue reading...
by Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington on (#5MMBJ)
Four Democrats in Congress tell Biden administration that such firms ‘should be sanctioned, and if necessary, shut down’Democratic lawmakers in Washington have called on the Biden administration to consider placing NSO Group on an export blacklist and said recent revelations of misuse reinforced their conviction that the “hacking-for-hire industry must be brought under control”.The statement by four members of Congress followed reports by the Pegasus project, a collaboration of 17 media organisations including the Guardian, which investigated NSO, the Israeli company that sells its powerful surveillance software to government clients around the world. Continue reading...
by Vincent Ni China affairs correspondent on (#5MMNV)
Washington keen to partner with other powers in the Indo-Pacific region to ensure stability, Lloyd Austin saysThe US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, has said that Washington does not seek conflict with Beijing but is eager to partner with other powers in the Indo-Pacific region to ensure the stability of it, amid a diplomatic standoff between the US and China.“We will not flinch when our interests are threatened. Yet we do not seek confrontation,” Austin said in speech in Singapore. Continue reading...
Tory who was a health minister in early days of infection controversy says it ‘hardly came across my desk’Ken Clarke said he was not responsible for blood products during the early days of the infected blood scandal despite being a health minister at the time, an inquiry has heard.Lord Clarke, who was a Conservative health minister from 1982 to 1985, said the emerging controversy surrounding the blood products was something that “hardly ever came across my desk” as he was dealing with policies such as closing “old Victorian asylums” or getting rid of “old geriatric hospitals”. Continue reading...
An explosion at an industrial park for chemical companies shook the German city of Leverkusen on Tuesday, sending a large black cloud into the air. Germany's federal office for civil protection and disaster assistance classified the explosion as 'an extreme threat' and asked residents to stay inside and keep windows and doors closed. The cause of the explosion was unclear
At least 57 died near Khoms, taking the total to 987 so far this year as European authorities decrease patrolsAt least 57 people have died after a boat carrying dozens of migrants capsized off the Libyan coast, with nearly 1,000 asylum seekers having perished so far in 2021 in the central Mediterranean, four times as many as in the same period last year, charities and the UN migration agency said.Flavio Di Giacomo, Italy’s spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said the shipwreck raised the death toll to 987. “Last year there were 272. We must no longer hesitate, and do everything to strengthen the system of patrols at sea,” he said. Continue reading...
One dead, four missing after blast at waste facility in Leverkusen sends large black cloud into airAn explosion at an industrial park for chemical companies in Germany has killed at least one person, with 16 injured and four missing.Fire officials who tested the air said there did not appear to be a danger to nearby residents after authorities initially urged people to shelter inside. Continue reading...
Police and city authorities agree that ‘pioneering’ model has reduced street dealing and consumptionBarcelona’s 200 cannabis clubs face closure after the supreme court shut a legal loophole that has seen the city become Spain’s marijuana capital.It is the latest in a series of setbacks for the asociaciónes, as they are popularly known. In 2017, the court overruled a law passed by the Catalan parliament which said “private consumption of cannabis by adults … is part of the exercise of the fundamental right to free personal development and freedom of conscience”. Continue reading...
Reporters from international outlets have suffered worsening intimidation while covering Henan floodsPress groups have expressed alarm at the worsening intimidation of foreign media in China, often driven by government officials and organisations.As recovery and rescue efforts continue in Henan province after last week’s deadly floods, groups including Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) have condemned recent harassment and threats towards journalists covering the disaster. Continue reading...
Covid restrictions for greater Sydney, including residents in the Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown, Liverpool, Cumberland and Blacktown LGAs, the Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Wollongong to be extended, with lockdown set to lift for Orange, Blayney and Cabonne local government areas in the state’s central west. Here’s the full list of what you can and can’t do in NSW