French car designer who helped create three of Citroën’s most popular vehiclesFrom the 1930s to the 1970s, Citroën cars featured distinctive designs that always seemed typically French, usually quirky, often innovative, sometimes ugly, but at their best very elegant. One of their creators was Robert Opron, who has died aged 89 from Covid-19 complications.Opron was Citroën’s chief designer from 1964 to 1974. During that time he and his team were responsible for three landmark cars: the SM coupé and the GS small family car, both introduced in 1970, and the larger CX saloon of 1974. All three demonstrated a preoccupation with good aerodynamics. The GS and the CX were, respectively, chosen as the European Car of the Year in 1971 and 1975. Continue reading...
Council of Europe and human rights groups demand answers after footage shows man being pinned to the groundHuman rights organisations are leading calls for an urgent investigation into the death of a Czech man who died after being restrained by police, after footage of the incident went viral on social media.The neck restraint technique used during the arrest of a Romany man was “reckless, unnecessary and disproportionate, and therefore unlawful”, according to Amnesty International, who also called on the local authorities for an immediate, impartial investigation and a ban on coercive techniques that severely restrict breathing. Continue reading...
Critics say EU is building ‘fortress Europe’ that rides roughshod over rights of asylum seekersA proposal for the EU to fund controls at Turkey’s eastern border is “really problematic” and could lead to refugees being forced back into Syria, Iran and Iraq, critics have warned.According to a leaked plan seen by the Guardian, the European Commission wants to fund “border control” at Turkey’s eastern frontier as part of efforts to deter refugees and migrants from coming to Europe. Continue reading...
Rebecca Price terminated pregnancy after being mistakenly told foetus had fatal abnormalityA couple in Ireland are to be awarded damages for being mistakenly told their unborn baby had a fatal foetal abnormality, which led them to terminate the pregnancy.The high court in Dublin will consider the damages to be paid to Rebecca Price and Patrick Kiely on Wednesday after medical personnel and institutions involved in the case admitted liability. Continue reading...
Hungarian PM pulls out of attending match in Germany as Uefa criticised over ban on stadium illuminationThe Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has cancelled a trip to Munich for the Euro 2020 football match between Hungary and Germany in response to widespread criticism of his government over anti-LGBTQ+ legislation it passed last week.Orbán made his announcement hours after the European football governing body, Uefa, turned down a request from Munich city council to illuminate the Allianz Arena in rainbow colours in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, in particular in Hungary. Continue reading...
by Vincent Ni China affairs correspondent on (#5KE33)
Analysis: A palpable chill has run through the Hong Kong media, amid warnings about ‘fake news’The fate of Apple Daily, one of Hong Kong’s bestselling tabloids, should not come as a surprise. On the day Jimmy Lai, its founder, was sentenced to 14 months in prison in April, a commentary in the pro-Beijing newspaper Ta Kung Pao called for a ban on Apple Daily in order to “close national security loopholes”.The 72-year-old media tycoon and his 26-year-old newspaper have been among the most high-profile critics of Beijing and the controversial national security law (NSL), which they deem “draconian”, but which the authorities say is “necessary”. The law bars secession, subversion and foreign collusion. Continue reading...
Rijksmuseum reproduces Dutch master’s work in all its glory, 300 years after it was cut to fit between doorsThe Night Watch by Rembrandt has enraptured millions visiting Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum and its previous homes over the centuries, dazzling with its scale and fine detail.But it is only from today, thanks to the use of artificial intelligence to recapture some of the Dutch master’s genius, including the sweep of his brush strokes and perspective of his eye, that it can for the first time in 300 years be enjoyed in its complete form. Continue reading...
Recent French regional elections suggest next year’s contest won’t simply be Macron versus the far rightOn Sunday, France held the first round of this year’s regional elections – and two-thirds of eligible voters chose to stay home. As the country slowly emerges from lockdown, politics is clearly not a priority for most people. While it may be a fool’s errand to try to interpret the voice of the people when the vast majority preferred to remain silent, Sunday’s voting has changed the conversation about what lies ahead.Voters were asked to choose the representatives who will govern France’s 18 regions (13 domestic and five overseas). In their current form, the regions are only five years old, the product of the most recent of many efforts to add a modicum of decentralisation to France’s traditionally top-down administrative setup. Continue reading...
Los Angeles police were called to San Fernando Valley residence where a woman alleges the R&B star hit herR&B singer Chris Brown is being investigated for the alleged battery of a woman in Los Angeles.A police spokesperson told NBC News that Brown is accused of hitting the unnamed woman during an argument. Officers had been called to a residence in the city’s San Fernando Valley area on Friday 18 June. Continue reading...
Details of incident near Tehran remain scarce as media reports say there were no casualties or damageAuthorities in Iran claim to have thwarted a “sabotage attack” targeting a civilian nuclear facility near the country’s capital, Iranian media have reported, as details about the incident remained scarce.A website believed to be close to Iran’s supreme national security council, Nournews, said the move was foiled “before causing any casualties or damage” to the sprawling centre located in Karaj city, 25 miles west of Tehran. Continue reading...
Planning a trip across state borders during the school holidays or a weekend away? Before you leave home, check our state-by-state guide to coronavirus travel restrictions to see if you can travel into our out of Sydney city suburbs, from NSW to Qld, between Victoria and South Australia or to NZ.
The Creed and Black Panther actor has agreed to scrap the brand name J’Ouvert after criticism from Nicki Minaj and the government of Trinidad and TobagoMichael B Jordan has issued an apology, in the fallout from his announcement over the weekend that he was launching a line of rums called J’Ouvert.The term signals the start of carnival in the Caribbean and is a cornerstone of tradition in Trinidad and Tobago; Jordan’s use of the word was felt by many to be cultural appropriation. Continue reading...
More than 200 UK acts including the Chemical Brothers, Kano and Wolf Alice back Let the Music Move initiative, calling for financial help and cutting red tape for EU toursBritish music acts including Radiohead, the Chemical Brothers, Biffy Clyro and Annie Lennox are calling on the UK government to offer financial support to help artists tour the EU post-Brexit.The terms of the Brexit agreement mean that performing artists of all kinds must now have work permits to earn money from gigs in EU countries, and have a “carnet” that allows the transport of goods such as musical instruments across borders. Continue reading...
Defamation trial hears allegations Victoria Cross recipient confessed to wife he was behind anonymous threats – a claim he denies.Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith has been accused in court, by newspapers defending a defamation claim, of writing an anonymous threat letter to another SAS soldier, warning him he would “go down” for murder if he did not recant his evidence to a military inquiry into war crimes allegations. Continue reading...
Icai review cites lack of access to officials and papers to assess aid budget since Foreign Office-DfID mergerUK aid cuts have been imposed with inadequate transparency, according to an independent watchdog, which said it was becoming increasingly difficult to interact with the government.The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (Icai), a public body that reports to parliament, said the lack of cooperation, partly due to the disruption of aid cuts, has meant it was unable even to assess whether recommendations it had previously made had been followed. Continue reading...
Judicial review hears Grant Shapps did not properly consider damage to ancient sites and artefactsThe transport secretary’s decision to allow a road tunnel to be built near Stonehenge was unlawful because it did not properly consider damage that would be done to a string of prehistoric sites and many thousands of ancient artefacts, the high court has been told.Campaigners including archaeologists, environmental groups and the druids who regard the great Wiltshire stone circle as a sacred site have launched a judicial review calling for the decision by Grant Shapps to allow the £1.7bn road scheme, including the two-mile tunnel, to be quashed. Continue reading...
Successful legal bid to trademark Love is in the Air and Girl with Balloon comes after a similar move in Europe failedThe street artist Banksy has successfully trademarked two of his most famous artworks in Australia, in an attempt to stop them being copied and sold.The secretive artist applied for the trademarks via a law firm based in Perth, and although the tactic ultimately failed in Europe, the Australian applications were successful and will be registered next week. Continue reading...
by Elias Visontay (now) and Amy Remeikis (earlier) on (#5KD6F)
NSW urgently investigating four mystery cases overnight as premier Gladys Berejiklian announces Sydney restrictions. Follow all the latest updates, live
Human rights groups call for bar on junior entry, which accounts for quarter of intake to armyMinisters have been urged to stop the practice of recruiting children to Britain’s military by a coalition of 20 human rights organisation as MPs debate the armed forces bill.The pressure to end the practice also comes as figures showed that girls aged under 18 in the armed forces made at least 16 formal complaints of sexual assault to military police in the last six years – equivalent to one for every 75 girls in the military. Continue reading...
The singer will today make a bid to take back control of her life. After a glut of speculative documentaries and conspiracy theories, her own voice can finally be heardBritney Spears never used to be an enigma. In the early years of her career, she did interviews for print, TV and radio. She held press conferences and endured day-long junkets. She shot behind the scenes videos, documentaries, TV specials. Britney was candid and trusting. “I’m from the south,” she told the Observer in 2001, “so I’m a very open person and I’ve had to teach myself not to open up to too many people.”These days however, if Britney interviews are granted, they are conducted under such strict terms that few publications have bothered. Even the radio and TV appearances when she has a record to sell are strictly surface level. Her music gives few clues to her state of mind. Her last four albums offer up sexy party tunes that don’t reflect the artist’s lived reality: now 39, by her own account she doesn’t drink, keeps a small circle of friends, only went out clubbing twice in the four years she spent in residence in Las Vegas, and prior to meeting current boyfriend Sam Asghari in 2016, was “over” dating. Continue reading...
On the 5th anniversary of Brexit, commentators reflect on the EU’s success at rallying together after Britain’s exitOn the night of 23 June 2016 a storm broke out over Brussels. Rain poured, thunder rolled and lightning flashed over the headquarters of the European Union’s institutions.Then in the small hours came a political thunderbolt almost no one had forecast: the UK had voted to leave the union. Five years on, the Brexit tempest has subsided – in Brussels, if not in London. Continue reading...
by Rebecca Ratcliffe South-east Asia correspondent on (#5KDH0)
Posts ranging from wanted posters to death threats remain online for months, breaching platform’s own standardsFacebook is promoting content that incites violence against Myanmar’s anti-coup protesters and amplifies junta misinformation, despite promising to clamp down on the misuse of its platform, according to a study.An investigation by the rights group Global Witness found that Facebook’s recommendation algorithm continues to invite users to view content that breaches its own policies. After liking a Myanmar military fan page, which did not contain recent posts violating Facebook’s policies, the rights group found that Facebook suggested several pro-military pages that contained abusive content. Continue reading...
Thierry Breton, who is also single market commissioner, believes downsides of leaving bloc are exposed by pandemicBrexit has proved an “aberration that has weakened and isolated the UK”, the EU’s single market commissioner, Thierry Breton, has said, with any concrete benefits for Britain “hard to see” and multiple downsides cruelly exposed by the pandemic.Breton, a former French finance minister in charge of the bloc’s Covid vaccination programme, now outpacing Britain’s, said that five years after the referendum, Brexit’s promised outcomes were “far from reality”. Continue reading...
Judge says Gaiyathiri Murugayan was mentally ill but understood what she was doing in abusing Piang Ngaih Don from MyanmarSingapore’s high court has sentenced a woman to 30 years in prison for killing her Burmese maid after more than a year of abuse that included starving, torture and beatings.Singaporean Gaiyathiri Murugayan pleaded guilty in February to culpable homicide among 28 charges related to her abuse of Piang Ngaih Don, who was 24 and subjected to 14 months of beating that culminated in her death in 2016. Continue reading...
Notices appear on Iran-affiliated sites saying they had been seized as part of law enforcement actionUS authorities have seized a range of Iran’s state-linked news websites, which they accused of spreading “disinformation” on Tuesday, a US official said, a move that appeared to be a far-reaching crackdown on Iranian media amid heightened tensions between the two countries.The US government official, who spoke on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the case had not yet been officially announced, said the US had effectively taken down roughly three dozen websites, the majority linked to Iranian disinformation efforts. Continue reading...
More than anything, it was a night when Gareth Southgate needed his attacking talents to express themselves. Safe passage to the last 16 at Euro 2020 had been guaranteed but could England show something to generate a bit of excitement, to fire the feeling that they might be able to cut through teams – a quality that had been wholly absent last Friday in the 0-0 draw with Scotland? Thanks in large part to Jack Grealish and Bukayo Saka, who both came into the starting lineup for the first time at these finals, they did so during an enjoyable first half when England asked questions of the Czech Republic with their movement and interplay.Related: Bukayo Saka’s versatility has Czechs flailing and England flying | Jonathan Liew Continue reading...
South African soprano Pretty Yende, due to star in Bellini opera, given French visa after strip searchThe South African opera star Pretty Yende has accused French immigration authorities of “outrageous racial discrimination” after being detained, strip searched and held in a dark room at Paris’ main airport.“Police brutality is real for someone who looks like me,” Yende, who is black, said in a social media post on Tuesday, a day after the encounter at the Charles de Gaulle airport. Continue reading...
• Carlos Fernando Chamorro: ‘They won’t silence journalism’• Chamorro’s sister among 19 jailed in pre-election crackdownNicaragua’s most prominent journalist has fled the country for a second time after police raided his house during a widening crackdown on opposition figures by the country’s Sandinista rulers.Carlos Fernando Chamorro, the editor of the Confidencial website and a member of one of the country’s most influential political families, said on Tuesday he had left the Central American country to “safeguard his freedom”. Continue reading...
Navy document, obtained by the Intercept, lists political philosophy alongside anarchists and neo-NazisA US military training document has described the political philosophy of socialism – a relatively mainstream term in politics around the world – as a “terrorist ideology” akin to neo-Nazism.The document, which was obtained by The Intercept news website, was used in the US navy. It was entitled: Introduction to Terrorism/Terrorist Operations, and aimed at some members of the navy’s internal police, the outlet reported. Continue reading...
The UK’s chief negotiator with the EU did his best to prove why he isn’t really up to the jobYou win some, you lose some. We’re still nowhere near finding out if the government has a coherent plan for tackling social care – only late on Monday the prime minister cancelled a meeting with Rishi Sunak and Matt Hancock due to take place on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the issue. So we can probably assume not. But we are a little better informed as to why the negotiations with the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol have started to unravel badly. And that’s because every time he speaks, the UK’s lead Brexit negotiator, David Frost, doesn’t seem to be quite as bright as he would like us all to believe.Tuesday’s appearance before the foreign affairs select committee was a case in point. Having established his credentials as being rather more important than a minister for Europe, Lord Frost then did his best to prove why he wasn’t really up to the job. He got off to a bad start by saying that the decision not to fully accredit the EU ambassador to the UK had been “over-interpreted” and that petty point scoring had been the last thing on the government’s mind. For some reason, the EU had seen it differently and taken offence. Continue reading...
Five years on from the referendum, few voters have seen the benefits of leaving the EU. What if they become impatient?Doesn’t time fly? Five years ago we were going to the ballot box to cast our votes in the EU referendum. Now we are approaching 18 months since the UK ceased to be a member state. The transition period ended six months ago, yet, as the latest Ipsos Mori survey indicates, most of the British public still don’t think Brexit is over.Overall, more than two in five think there are still “many important issues to finalise” and “lots more negotiations” to come, with a further one in four saying there are still “some important areas left to decide”. Even among leave voters, only one in five think the future relationship is “mostly decided and will hardly change”. They have a point. The full implications of the decision to leave the European Union have yet to be felt. Continue reading...
Scott Morrison’s free trade agreement with the UK is a win for the Nationals, but the return of coal-loving Barnaby presents a new challenge for the PMOn Monday morning, we saw one of those organic redirections that sometimes happen in politics. If the Nationals hadn’t lunged to take out their leader Michael McCormack, another story about Scott Morrison and an undeclared pilgrimage in Cornwall to engage with his convict ancestry would have dominated the day.If you missed this story in the melee, a quick recap. On Monday, the London correspondent for Nine newspapers, Bevan Shields, reported that Morrison had last week embarked on an undeclared pilgrimage to St Keverne, a small village 45 minutes south of the G7 summit site in Cornwall, to explore his family’s convict past. This ancestry dot com sortie was undertaken minus the travelling press. Continue reading...
Dominic Raab due to hold talks with Prak Sokhonn as part of efforts to expand diplomatic and trade ties in south-east AsiaHuman rights groups have called on the British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, to intervene over the detention of three young environmental activists when he meets Cambodian leaders on Wednesday in efforts to build trade ties between the two countries.The activists, who were arrested at the weekend, face up to 10 years in jail for insulting the Cambodian king. Their case has been raised by environmental activist Greta Thunberg and NGO groups in the country. Continue reading...
Allowing processed animal protein feed for pigs and poultry, barred since BSE crisis, will address non-EU competition, says CommissionA ban on farm feed made of animal remains introduced during the BSE crisis is to be lifted in the EU to allow cheap pig protein to be fed to chickens over fears that European farmers are being undercut by lower standards elsewhere.The change to the regulations come into force in August following a last-ditch attempt by a coalition of MEPs, led by the Greens, which failed on Tuesday to kill the policy. The EU’s member states have already endorsed the regulation, with only France and Ireland abstaining. Continue reading...
Carmarker claims Switzerland’s Nebula Project did not pay customer deposits for orders of sports carAston Martin Lagonda is suing Swiss car dealer Nebula Project and its board members, accusing it of failing to pay customer deposits it had accepted for orders of its £2.5m Valkyrie sports car.The luxury carmarker, best known for making James Bond’s vehicles, said it was filing criminal and civil proceedings in Switzerland, where it is asking the prosecutor to investigate. Continue reading...
Despite comments he made in the past, the director’s production company Amblin has signed a multi-picture deal with the streaming giant. Should cinephiles be worried?Did another citadel just fall? Has another general just presented his sword in surrender? Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin has signed a deal to produce multiple features a year for the streaming behemoth Netflix – which is precisely that small-screen player that Spielberg seemed to be rebuking two years ago when he proclaimed the importance of the theatrical experience and implied digital streaming content should not be eligible for Oscars. (Spielberg has since disputed the way his words were reported and interpreted.)Well, now Spielberg has joined that other celluloid master, Martin Scorsese, in taking the Netflix dollar. Of course, this is not an exclusive deal: Amblin still has relationships with other studios, including Universal, and its own producing remit, after all, is for both film and television. It is also the case that Spielberg himself, though credited as a producer on them all, may not actually direct any of the films that are earmarked for Netflix. But it is still a mighty name for Netflix to have in the bag, and his prestige and the attendant coverage are still hugely important for the big streaming service, which is hyper-vigilant in its guarding against any slowing of momentum in subscription growth. We are, arguably, another step closer to the theatrical experience being just another aspect of the content rollout – a luxury loss-leader or promotional event, perhaps, while the main action involves consuming movies on laptops, tablets and even phones. Or are we approaching a postmodern cinema, which is a new version of its nickelodeon beginnings: watching flickering images once again on a tiny screen? Continue reading...
by Angela Giuffrida Rome correspondent on (#5KCMT)
Local police unit says influx of visitors has coincided with ‘signs of urban degradation’Venice has missed tourists – but not their bad habits. In an echo of the pre-pandemic era, authorities have been cracking down on uncouth behaviour as visitors flock back to the lagoon city. A French tourist was fined €150 (£128) after paddling along the Grand Canal on his standup paddleboard and two German women had to each pay €250 for sunbathing in bikinis by San Stae church.Venice’s local police unit said the return of tourists had coincided with “signs of urban degradation”. They also reprimanded two tourists from the Czech Republic – one for speeding through Campiello Selvatico on a bike and the other for whizzing past Palazzo Cavalli on an electric scooter. Each received fines of €100. Continue reading...
Lighting display planned for Germany’s Euro 2020 match with Hungary to protest at country’s discriminatory lawMunich’s mayor has attacked the “shameful” decision by Uefa to quash his city’s plans to illuminate its Allianz Arena in rainbow colours in support of LGBTQ+ rights for Germany’s Euro 2020 match against Hungary on Wednesday.European football’s governing body said the rainbow lights would contravene its rules about political and religious neutrality. Continue reading...
Radu Ciorniciuc directs a beautifully measured portrait of a Romanian family forcibly removed from their wilderness homeThere’s a strong streak of paradise-lost romanticism in this Romanian documentary, directed by undercover reporter Radu Ciorniciuc and filmed over several years. At first it looks like a straightforward parable about rebellious free spirits pushed out of their natural idyll by interfering bureaucrats and consigned to misery in the city, but as events progress things (perhaps inevitably) become more complex, with contending pressures and motivations that emerge as time passes. The ostensible subject is Gica Enache, a former lab assistant who, for reasons that are not entirely clear, moved his family into an overgrown wasteland on the edge of Bucharest, abandoned after the collapse of Ceaușescu’s government, an area that has since become the Văcărești nature park.Enache’s kids – nine of them seen here, though at one point someone says there are 20 – run wild: catching fish, chasing birds, messing about with dogs. (In some ways, it’s the dream off-grid lifestyle for device-addled western parenting.) But when the authorities finally take notice of the wilderness and send in the park rangers, the family is forcibly removed from their shack and sent to live in the big city next door. Gica, the paterfamilias, has a bolshie side that presents (at first) as a kind of admirably doomed anti-authoritarianism; but at night, it turns into sinister, booze-fuelled rantings. (Civil society also comes in helpful when he has to get treatment for his diabetes.) Adjustment to city life is painful: the children are basically illiterate, there are repeated brushes with the law (including a disturbing scene where one of the kids is basically assaulted on camera by a policeman), and much of the younger kids’ time appears to be spent dumpster diving for plastic bottles. Continue reading...
Sadiq Khan says work will begin soon on connecting busiest underground stations for end of next yearLondon underground passengers will soon be able to use their phones in the depths of every tube station and tunnel, the mayor has pledged, with mobile coverage throughout the network by the end of 2024.Transport for London (TfL) said work to prepare some of the capital’s busiest stations, including Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road and Bank, would begin soon, and they would be among the first fully connected stations by the end of next year. Continue reading...
Prime minister says controversial decision represents constitution’s ‘spirit of co-existence and harmony’Spain’s prime minister has called for a new “era of dialogue and understanding” as his Socialist-led government pardoned nine Catalan independence leaders for their roles in the illegal, failed push for regional secession four years ago that plunged the country into its gravest political crisis in decades.Announcing the partial, and bitterly controversial, pardons on Tuesday, Pedro Sánchez said the decision had been taken in the interests of national unity and social cohesion. Continue reading...
World news | The Guardian