The International Seabed Authority has two years to finalise regulations governing the controversial industryDeep-sea mining has been given the go-ahead to commence in two years, after the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru notified the UN body governing the nascent industry of plans to start mining.Triggering the so-called “two-year rule”, which some have called the nuclear option, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) now has two years to finalise regulations governing the controversial industry. Continue reading...
Many women have lost children, been separated from newborns or are unable to breastfeed and bond with their babies because of the warIn the last month of her pregnancy, May al-Masri was preparing dinner when a rocket landed outside her home in northern Gaza, killing her one-year-old son, Yasser.Masri had felt the explosion’s shockwave when the attack happened last month, but was largely unharmed. Running outside once the air had cleared, she found her husband severely wounded and her child’s body covered in blood. Continue reading...
by Richard Partington Economics correspondent on (#5KPGZ)
Business leaders also warn of renewed threat to jobs and growth as Delta variant drives up infectionsBritain’s economic recovery from Covid-19 is coming under pressure amid worker shortages and lengthier pandemic restrictions, as the Delta variant of coronavirus drives up infection rates.As the government begins to wind down the furlough scheme on Thursday – despite delaying its roadmap out of lockdown by four weeks until 19 July – the Guardian’s monthly snapshot of economic developments suggests the pace of recovery has plateaued. Continue reading...
by Lisa O'Carroll Brexit correspondent on (#5KP94)
High political stakes in NI protocol shown in research released hours before unveiling of new UK-EU dealVoters in Northern Ireland are evenly split over the need for Brexit checks on goods coming in from Great Britain, a new survey has shown just hours before a new deal between the EU and the UK is revealed.The EU will on Wednesday say it is retreating from the threat of a trade war and confirm a “package” of arrangements to take the heat out of the bitter dispute over the sales of British sausages, secondhand cars and potted plants in Northern Ireland. Continue reading...
$324m deal to buy 20m doses of Indian jab has become a headache for Bolsonaro after sleaze allegationsBrazil will suspend a $324m Indian Covid-19 vaccine contract that has mired President Jair Bolsonaro in accusations of irregularities, health minister Marcelo Queiroga announced on Tuesday.The deal to buy 20m doses of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin shot has become a headache for Bolsonaro after whistleblowers went public with alleged irregularities. Continue reading...
Wednesday: under 40s are being refused AstraZeneca jabs by some GPs. Plus: teachers share impact of staff shortagesGood morning. Queensland is in lockdown and confusion continues for Australians seeking Covid vaccinations following the government’s backflip on AstraZeneca advice. Plus more than 200 teachers have shared their concerns with us about the state of the industry. In happier news, Australia’s Ash Barty has had success in the opening round of Wimbledon.Some doctors who were blindsided by the government’s change in AstraZeneca recommendations are telling eager under 40s to cancel their Covid vaccination appointments because Scott Morrison’s comments on Monday do not accord with expert medical advice. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said it was given “no warning” of the announcement and was “scrambling” to work out what it meant for patients, while the Australian Medical Association said it would continue to endorse the advice that Pfizer was the preferred vaccine for under-60s. State premiers have also queried the AstraZeneca backflip and have demanded the Morrison government lower the cap on international arrivals for the next three months. Continue reading...
Renowned documentary-maker Ken Burns turns his attention to perhaps the most famous American writer in history, via cameos from the likes of Meryl Streep. What a treatThose familiar with the Ken Burns style – memorably put to use to unpick such varied topics as the Vietnam war, jazz and baseball – will expect a certain standard from the renowned documentary-maker’s take on Ernest Hemingway (BBC Four). With his regular partner, Lynn Novick, Burns offers a meaty and impeccably researched look at perhaps the most famous American writer in literary history. Over six episodes, it examines the author’s life in chronological order, recruiting top-flight actors – Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels and, later, Meryl Streep as his third wife, the foreign correspondent Martha Gellhorn – to read his work and his letters, as well as letters sent to him by friends and family. It also circles the themes that came to define his work and the myths around the man that have led him to be considered, in more recent times, a controversial figure.“He made himself the most celebrated American writer since Mark Twain,” says the narrator, just as the story begins. That “made himself” makes it plain that this is not a hagiography. This is as much about the creation of the Hemingway myth, by him and others around him, as it is the myth itself. Though as one contributor, the writer Michael Katakis, puts it, “the man is much more interesting than the myth”. Continue reading...
FA says it can’t sell tickets domestically for Saturday owing to Italy’s five-day quarantine periodEnglish expatriates will be called upon to roar Gareth Southgate’s side to success in their Euro 2020 quarter-final on Saturday after Covid restrictions stopped domestic fans from travelling to Rome.The Football Association has confirmed it will not be selling tickets to the England Supporters Travel Club, the official arm of England’s away support, after the requirement by the Italian government that all British citizens quarantine for five days on arrival in the country. Continue reading...
British national Nnamdi Kanu has been wanted since 2015 when he was charged with terrorism and incitementThe fugitive leader of a prominent Biafra secessionist group has been arrested and extradited to Nigeria to face trial, in a move likely to inflame separatist unrest in south-east Nigeria.Nnamdi Kanu, a British national who has lived in south London, had been wanted by Nigerian authorities since 2015, when he was charged with terrorism offences and incitement, after broadcasts aired on Radio Biafra, a digital station he founded and ran from his home in Peckham. Continue reading...
British national Nnamdi Kanu has been wanted since 2015 when he was charged with terrorism and incitementThe fugitive leader of a prominent Biafra secessionist group has been arrested and extradited to Nigeria to face trial, in a move likely to inflame separatist unrest in south-east Nigeria.Nnamdi Kanu, a British national who has lived in south London, had been wanted by Nigerian authorities since 2015, when he was charged with terrorism offences and incitement, after broadcasts aired on Radio Biafra, a digital station he founded and ran from his home in Peckham. Continue reading...
Even with England’s poor record against Germany the mood in the Trafalgar Square fan zone was confidentThey say anything can happen in football. But England’s repeated defeats against the well-oiled German machine through the years belied that particular adage. For England, however, this was the day – a 2-0 result sending Gareth Southgate’s side into the quarter-finals.The prevailing mood as fans gathered to watch the last-16 match in the Trafalgar Square fan zone on an overcast Tuesday afternoon had ranged from quiet confidence to bold optimism, with a consensus that even with their poor record against Germany, the stars were aligning and this was England’s time to shine. Continue reading...
Warehouse worker who became ‘Yang Million’ – China’s first retail investor in government bondsIn February 1988, Yang Huaiding, who has died aged 71 of diabetes, saw the opportunity that enabled him to give up being a warehouseman at a ferroalloys factory in Shanghai to become a retail investor – China’s first. Eventually his success led to him being popularly referred to as Yang Bai Wan (Yang Million).His example served as an inspiration to ordinary Chinese people looking for ways to change their livelihoods after years of the communist planned economy. With his immediately recognisable buzzcut and endless insights into the city’s stock market in his awkward yet distinctive Shanghainese-accented Mandarin, Yang represented a rags-to-riches tale that paralleled the country’s transition from pure communism to semi-capitalism. Continue reading...
Works by 20th-century masters recovered nearly a decade after audacious burglaryA Picasso gifted to the Greek people by the artist in honour of their resistance to Nazi rule has been found in a gorge after a builder admitted to stealing the masterpiece and two other artworks in an audacious theft from the National Gallery in Athens nearly a decade ago.For nine years, Head of a Woman had lain hidden in the home of the self-described art lover alongside Stammer Windmill, a work by the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, also stolen during the overnight raid on 9 January 2012. Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#5KNFG)
Statement pays tribute to the ‘struggles of black British communities’, after PC Benjamin Monk jailed for eight yearsDalian Atkinson’s brothers and sisters called for justice for other black families who lost loved ones “at the hands of the police”, after they saw an officer jailed for eight years for the manslaughter of the former footballer.The Atkinson family watched on Tuesday as PC Benjamin Monk was sentenced after a jury found his use of a stun gun for 33 seconds, and at least two kicks to the former football star’s head while he was on the ground, had killed him. Continue reading...
Under current law only heterosexal couples can access medically assisted reproduction methodsFrench gay rights campaigners are celebrating a milestone for equal rights after parliament finalised adoption of a bill giving lesbian couples and single women access to fertility treatment for the first time.Under current French law, only heterosexual couples have the right to access medically assisted procreation methods such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Continue reading...
Teachers tell us the stresses on the system are creating huge workloads and leading many to consider leaving the profession, to the detriment of a generation of schoolchildrenMore than 200 people responded within three days to our callout on the effects of teacher shortages in Australia. Current and former teachers, and some parents, expressed their anguish at what unbearable workloads were doing to staff and students. Many referred to the casualisation of the workforce and the increase in administrative tasks asked of teachers.Some also said they were routinely expected to deal with a rising number of behavioural problems of students, and others cited aggressive and unrealistic demands of parents as factors that contributed to burnout. Continue reading...
Students experience harassment and intimidation from classmates for criticising China’s government, Human Rights Watch revealsWu Lebao, 38, recounts receiving a string of insulting messages and calls from a fellow student calling him stupid and a traitor to China.The alleged harassment experienced by Wu – who is studying mathematics at the Australian National University in Canberra – recently took a disturbing turn. Continue reading...
by Aubrey Allegretti Political correspondent on (#5KNVK)
Tory MP backs police protection for England’s chief medical officer after he was targeted twice over weekendChris Whitty has been harassed four times in recent months, including by anti-lockdown protesters, prompting growing concerns for his safety.There are calls for England’s chief medical officer to get police protection, following the latest incidents over the weekend when he was targeted in a Westminster park on Sunday, a day after demonstrators gathered outside what they thought was his house and shouted “murderer”. Continue reading...
Transport Action Network says £27bn programme does not take account of Paris climate agreementThe government’s plans for a multibillion pound road-building scheme would breach the UK’s legal commitments to tackle the climate crisis and critically undermine the country’s standing ahead of a key summit later this year, the high court has heard.Lawyers acting for the Transport Action Network (TAN) argued that plans for the UK’s huge £27bn road building programme – set out in its Road Investment Strategy 2 (RIS2) last year – did not take into account the government’s obligations to reach net zero emissions by 2050 or its commitments under the Paris climate agreement. Continue reading...
Great fun is had in giving us the backstory to the assassin’s place in the Marvel Cinematic UniverseThe sensuous cough-syrup purr of Scarlett Johansson’s voice is something I’ve missed in lockdown; now it’s back with a throaty vengeance in the highly enjoyable standalone episode for which her character Black Widow was well overdue. It is co-written by WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer and directed with gusto by Cate Shortland, with touches of Terminator 2 and Mission: Impossible but undoubtedly keeping the tonal consistency of a typical MCU melodrama.This movie gives us the backstory to Black Widow’s presence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, involving an origin-myth tale of family trauma, identity crisis and sibling rivalry with a pugnacious kid sister, Yelena, entertainingly played by Florence Pugh. Yelena can’t help mocking – but also maybe envying – Black Widow’s balletic fight stance which involves absurd posing and resembles the mane-tossing antics of a woman in a shampoo advert. Continue reading...
Teargas used against protesters in African kingdom with an overnight curfew imposedGovernment forces in the southern African kingdom of Eswatini fired gunshots and teargas on Tuesday to break up protests calling for reforms to its system of absolute monarchy, witnesses said. A dusk-till-dawn curfew was also imposed.The acting prime minister, Themba Masuku, denied media reports that King Mswati III had fled the violence to neighbouring South Africa. Continue reading...
Catalan city is hosting new show looking at relationships between men who spend their lives at seaA new exhibition at the Maritime Museum of Barcelona seeks to tell the story of the romantic and sexual reality of men who spend their lives at sea.El desig és tan fluid com la mar (Desire Flows Like the Sea) aims to evoke the lives of men living in isolation but at close quarters and whose intimate lives were once clandestine out of necessity because homosexuality was and, and in many places still is, considered both a sin and a capital offence. Continue reading...
Sergeant used N-word and homophobic slur in messages to colleague with whom he was having affairA former police sergeant who used racist and homophobic language in messages to a fellow officer with whom he was having an affair has been found guilty of gross misconduct.The male sergeant used the N-word and a homophobic slur in phone messages with the female colleague, a misconduct hearing was told on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Alan and Wes, a recently introduced African American character, sing ‘Your eyes tell the story of your family’ in Proud of Your EyesWith anti-Asian hate crimes rising across the US, Sesame Street has offered its support to any Asian American children struggling with being bullied with a new song: Proud of Your Eyes.In the video released by the beloved 51-year-old show, Alan, the Japanese American owner of Hooper’s Store on Sesame Street, and Wes, a recently introduced African American character, talk to their friend Analyn about how a boy bullied her at a nearby park. Continue reading...
by Vincent Ni China affairs correspondent on (#5KNF3)
Beijing lodges diplomatic protest with Japan after defence minister calls island a ‘democratic country’China and Japan are once again embroiled in a diplomatic row over Taiwan, in the latest example of Beijing’s extreme sensitivity over the status of the self-ruled island and Tokyo’s changing attitude towards Beijing.Speaking to the US conservative thinktank Hudson Institute on Monday, Japan’s state minister of defence, Yasuhide Nakayama, spoke of a growing threat posed by Chinese and Russian collaboration, and said it was necessary to “wake up” to Beijing’s pressure on Taiwan and protect the island “as a democratic country”. Continue reading...
What should we be scoffing if we want to help fight the climate crisis from our kitchens? The question has never been more important or confusing – here is a guide to help you get startedWas ever a word so misused as “sustainable”? “Healthy” comes close, and indeed the two are often bandied around together, in trite “good for you, good for the planet” taglines that often appear on foods which are anything but. The question of what we should eat to help combat climate change and environmental degradation has never been more important – nor so confusing. In July, the government will publish its National Food Strategy, based on a year-long independent review, which should shed some light on the matter. In the meantime, there are some foods which, with caveats, you can scoff with a clear conscience.“Good eating starts at home, and one of the most important things we can do for the future of the planet is to minimise food miles – so our staples should be foods that can grow perfectly well in this country,” advises Patrick Holden, chief executive of the Sustainable Food Trust. Another basic principle is to do your best to understand the story behind what you’re eating – be it plant or animal: “If you know who produced your food, they are accountable to you, and more likely to care.” Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday North of England correspondent on (#5KNCN)
Chief constable Stephen Watson has not ruled out scrapping computer system after officers claim it is still failing victimsThe new chief constable of Greater Manchester police has not ruled out scrapping the beleaguered force’s £27m crime recording system as it faced fresh accusations of failing victims.The second largest police force in England and Wales launched the computer system only two years ago but it remains beset by problems, according to serving officers. Continue reading...
The former president of South Africa Jacob Zuma has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court after he failed to appear before a corruption inquiry earlier this year. The inquiry is examining allegations of high-level graft during Zuma’s period in power. Judge Sisi Khampepe said: 'I am left with no option but to commit Mr Zuma to imprisonment, with the hope that doing so sends an unequivocal message … the rule of law and the administration of justice prevails'
Zuma found to have been in contempt of court when he defied an order to appear at corruption inquiryJacob Zuma, the former president of South Africa, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court after failing to appear before a corruption inquiry earlier this year.Zuma, 79, who was the president for nearly nine years until 2018, was not present to hear the South African constitutional court deliver its ruling and sentence. Continue reading...
Proekt website editors raided as they prepared to publish allegations against Putin’s interior minister Vladimir KolokoltsevRussian police have raided the apartments of several investigative journalists as they prepared to publish a report alleging that one of Vladimir Putin’s top ministers had secretly amassed a corrupt fortune.Police detained a senior editor of the Proekt investigative website and questioned two others, including the editor-in-chief, Roman Badanin, shortly before they released a damning report on the interior minister, Vladimir Kolokoltsev. In the report, they claimed his family had amassed a real estate fortune worth nearly £18m. Continue reading...
by Lina Lyte Plioplyte, Tom Silverstone and Katie Lam on (#5KNAD)
Can technology improve the way we meditate? At the University of Arizona, Dr Jay Sanguinetti and master meditator Shinzen Young are using ultrasound to improve our ability to achieve mindfulness – as well as enhance our cognition and wellbeing. They believe it could revolutionise the way we treat those with depression and trauma. But as investors from Silicon Valley become interested in the technology, the pair are fighting to make sure the device is used in the right way and for the right reasons. Continue reading...
by Emmanuel Akinwotu West Africa correspondent on (#5KNAH)
Government forces invaded Tigray in November sparking condemnation of prime ministerDissident leaders of Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray have dismissed a government ceasefire declaration and vowed to drive out “enemies” from the region, after rebel fighters advanced on the Tigrayan capital.In a dramatic development in the nearly eight-month-old conflict, which has been marked by large-scale atrocities, federal security forces and officials from the Addis-appointed interim government fled Mekelle on Monday night. Residents took to the streets in jubilation, firing celebratory gunfire and fireworks into the sky. Continue reading...
He’s worked with Solange, Frank Ocean, Harry Styles and more – and his own music is wondrously fun and spiritual. The LA artist explains why it sounds like butterflies and mountain lionsAmid the swirling sounds and scenes intersected by Los Angeles’ sprawling freeways, John Carroll Kirby is somewhere at the centre of it all, shirt open, hair slicked back. He circles the city’s buzzing jazz movement with his soul-dappled instrumentals and is a keysman, composer and producer who’s been enlisted by some of the most exciting names in contemporary pop: Frank Ocean, Mark Ronson, Harry Styles, Blood Orange, and Solange Knowles, whose incendiary past two albums, A Seat at the Table and When I Get Home, were shaped in part by Kirby.He laughs as he describes his own work as “French cat burglar music”: it blends jazz with new age, funk and exotica, flutes often taking centre stage. Tracks are inspired by paintings of ayahuasca visions or stories about dolphins that turn into lost boys. Kirby is of a spiritual persuasion, but he has a sense of humour about it, too. Continue reading...
As his new show, Hairspray, leads the return to theatres, the singer talks about his mental health struggles, going back to his mining-town roots – and how the government has let down the performing artsIt is only an hour and a half before curtain-up, and if Michael Ball is feeling a rising panic at the idea of spending this time speaking to me through his iPad, rather than on his usual warmup, he is hiding it well. A trouper. It will be only the second performance of Hairspray, in which Ball plays the matriarch Edna Turnblad, and he is still on a high from opening night. “It was one of the most extraordinary nights I’ve ever had in the theatre,” he says. Despite an audience of only 1,000 – fewer than half the London Coliseum’s capacity – “they did twice the work,” Ball says. “I’ve never heard an ovation like it for the cast. They were up, and there was cheering and screaming. It’s just electric, and we needed to hear it. It’s been a long time.”The culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, was there; he was photographed with Ball – who was, in Edna’s pearls, handbag and wig, almost Thatcherite – looking delighted. “I had a nice chat with him,” says Ball, with a theatrical grimace. Theatres, and the whole ecosystem around them, have been devastated by the pandemic. “And so we’ve got to say our piece, and the most important thing I said for us would be Covid insurance for producers,” says Ball. “It’s all very well opening theatres, but if there’s nothing to put into them, what’s the point? Producers need to have confidence that they can put productions together knowing that, if they have to be cancelled, they’re covered. I was banging the gong, in a frock, so I don’t think he knew quite what hit him. But he listened.” Continue reading...
Vladimiro Montesinos, known as ‘Peru’s Rasputin’, demands votes be recounted in bid to prevent Pedro Castillo winning electionHe was known as the Peruvian Rasputin, the spymaster of one of the country’s most corrupt and brutal regimes.Vladimiro Montesinos masterminded a network of political espionage, mining state coffers to control the military top brass, the courts, and the media – until he was brought down by one of his own videotapes which showed him bribing politicians. Continue reading...
by Elias Visontay (now) and Matilda Boseley (earlier) on (#5KMRB)
Annastacia Palaszczuk says Queensland lockdown will begin at 6pm and last three days; Barnaby Joyce fined for not wearing a mask. Follow latest updates
From Netflix’s Fear Street to UK shocker Censor, a new wave of gory tales are being set in the recent past – but what can they tell us about the present?Netflix did not quite invent nostalgia, but you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise. The streamer certainly went to town on it with Stranger Things, which wore the 1980s like a badge of honour: the BMXs, the Dungeons & Dragons, the walkie-talkies. In its wake, a slew of scary tributes to the era appeared, ever-evolving variants seeping through a time-travel portal.Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips Continue reading...
Funny Bones director Peter Chelsom had given up on Hollywood and went to Italy to make a low-budget thriller. To his – and everyone else’s – surprise, it’s a worldwide hitI have to admit that Netflix terrified me. As a viewer, of course, I was hooked. As a film-maker, I was pretending to be cool about that fact that I had not been asked to join the party. I’d only directed films for cinemas, never anything for a streaming platform. I am aware of the endless debates. Is Netflix a force for good? Are you in favour of the motion or against? Vote yes or no.The thing is, there is no “yes” in movies. You might find a Y in your wet-weather gear pocket on day three when you’re already a full day behind schedule. Or an E under your pillow when you wake up the morning after the wrap party with a hangover, and the flu that’s been waiting to kick in. And there’s the S that sits prominently over the bad reviews on opening weekend. (Somehow, you only see the bad reviews.) The outcome never meets the expectation, possibly because the expectation is rooted in the blind faith necessary to keep hauling yourself out of bed every morning at 5am. There is no “yes” in movies. Your life is a series of disappointments. Continue reading...
Story of Palestinians who hid on Samos to escape deportation to Turkey appears to be ‘proof’ that pushbacks continue, claim rights groupsOn 26 April Dimitris Choulis, an immigration lawyer based on the Greek island of Samos, opened his office door to find a family of four on his doorstep. Aisha*, 31, and her three children, all from Palestine.“She said ‘pushback,’” said Choulis, “and I understood what had happened.” These were the only people left on the island out of a group of asylum seekers who had arrived from Turkey a few days before. Continue reading...
Lockdown hit LGBTQ+ communities hard but even as Pride events are called off there is hope and a promise that the parades will returnThis month, for the second year in a row, there will be no Pride parade in San Francisco, arguably the city most laden with history and symbolism for the LGBTQ+ community.It is a decision Fred Lopez, who took over as executive director of San Francisco Pride at the beginning of last year describes as “heartbreaking”. Continue reading...
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