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...
Consumer group Which? says fraudsters are operating on ‘industrial scale’Fake delivery scams have soared during the pandemic with more than 60% of Britons reporting receiving at least one such text in the past year, research from the consumer rights group Which? has revealed.The scams are so prevalent that even entirely new mobile numbers, which have not been shared, are receiving fraudulent texts within days of new accounts being created. Continue reading...
Gould’s mouse found on several small islands off coast of WA after population collapse on mainlandScientists have discovered that an extinct native mouse thought to have been wiped out more than 150 years ago is thriving on islands off Western Australia.Researchers compared DNA samples from eight extinct native rodents and 42 of their living relatives to study the decline of native species since the arrival of Europeans in Australia. Continue reading...
by Emmanuel Akinwotu West Africa correspondent on (#5KMZT)
Government could determine code of conduct for journalists under plans criticised as ‘deeply disturbing’Media organisations in Nigeria have expressed alarm as the government prepares to follow its controversial ban on Twitter with wider regulations reining in the press and social media companies.A new amendment proposed by lawmakers in President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressive Congress party would allow the government to determine a code of conduct for Nigerian media agencies and journalists, who could be liable to be fined and prosecuted for “fake news” and other breaches of the code. Continue reading...
Professional and amateur photographers worldwide were invited to enter the inaugural International Portrait Photographer of the Year competition for a chance to share in the prize pool of US$10,000 cash and make it into the top 101 images to be included in the awards book
Majority of country’s 168 million people will be confined to their homes by Thursday, with authorities readying military to enforce strict measuresBangladesh authorities are preparing to enforce a sweeping national lockdown to combat a deadly resurgence of Covid-19 infections, with public transport networks closing and soldiers ready to patrol the streets.Thousands of people were stranded in the capital, Dhaka, as authorities halted almost all public transport, leaving commuters to walk, sometimes for hours, in the sweltering summer heat. Continue reading...
Adults will be able to apply for permits to grow and consume cannabis after decision that moves country toward legalisationMexico’s supreme court has struck down laws prohibiting the use of recreational marijuana, moving the country toward cannabis legalisation even as the country’s congress drags its feet on a legalisation bill.In an 8-3 decision on Monday, the court ruled that sections of the country’s general health law prohibiting personal consumption and home cultivation of marijuana were unconstitutional. Continue reading...
by Nick Ames at the National Arena Bucharest on (#5KMRE)
Kylian Mbappé was France’s sure thing. That is why he was fifth in their list of penalty takers and is why, when he stepped up to keep them in Euro 2020, the thought he might miss felt like too heady a twist in the narrative. Things like that have simply not happened to Mbappé during a young career of rare accomplishment, but here came the kind of horror that exposes even the preternaturally gifted as flesh-and-blood mortals: Yann Sommer, Switzerland’s exceptional goalkeeper, smelled weakness and read his intentions correctly, diving right and clawing the spot-kick away. France were out; their delirious opponents had made their own slice of history and a tournament of unstinting drama took its least plausible turn yet.Related: ‘He is very affected by it’: Deschamps defends Mbappé as France crash out Continue reading...
Exclusive: Animal rights activists say laws stopping them filming in slaughterhouses breach their right to freedom of political communicationAnimal rights activists have launched a landmark high court bid to overturn laws suppressing secretly recorded vision of cruelty and abuse in slaughterhouses, arguing that they breach Australia’s implied right to freedom of political communication.The case will champion openness and transparency in the agriculture sector and push back against so-called “ag-gag laws” stopping activists using hidden cameras to highlight mistreatment. Continue reading...
by Nicola Slawson (now); Kaamil Ahmed, Rhi Storer, Ma on (#5KKMT)
Hong Kong to ban flights from the UK from Thursday; small study suggests third Oxford/AstraZeneca dose after six months could act as booster; British travellers to Portugal face 14-day quarantine
Spokesperson for Tigray People’s Liberation Front says Mekelle is ‘under our control’The interim government of Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region has fled as rebel fighters advanced into the region’s capital and the national government announced a “unilateral ceasefire”.Witnesses said federal soldiers and police were also abandoning Mekelle late on Monday, and fireworks and celebratory gunfire could be heard as Tigrayan fighters took the city’s airport and other key positions. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#5KMFG)
Eight months before fire, blogpost said: ‘Only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude of our landlord’The chief executive of Grenfell Tower’s landlord body told colleagues to ignore a resident who warned eight months before the fire that “only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord”.Robert Black, who led the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, told a colleague with responsibility for fire safety “we should do nothing” after Ed Daffarn, a 16th-floor resident, posted on a blog in November 2016 a prediction that: “Only an incident that results in serious loss of life ... will shine a light on the practices that characterise the malign governance of this non-functioning organisation.” Continue reading...
A record-low turnout was bad news for Marine Le Pen, but should also be a cause for wider concernThe morning after the final round of France’s regional elections, the two most likely contenders for the Élysée in next year’s presidential elections were left licking their wounds. Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN) had the worst night, failing to win any of five regions it had targeted – some of them with high hopes of victory. President Emmanuel Macron’s party, La République En Marche, also failed to win anywhere and remains a phantasmagorical presence in the country at large. For a grassroots movement set up five years ago to renew politics, polling at around 7% is not a good look. The big winner of the night was the centre-right Republican, Xavier Bertrand, whose presidential ambitions have been considerably boosted by an impressive victory in the northern region of Hauts-de-France. A Macron-Le Pen run off next spring is not the foregone conclusion it once seemed.Perhaps the most eye-catching statistic of all, however, was the turnout figure. The overwhelming, runaway winner of these polls was the unofficial stay-at-home party. Less than 35% of those eligible to vote opted to do so – a record low and only a fraction above last week’s first-round vote (also a record). Among 18- to 24-year-olds, close to 90% may have ignored the elections, while a huge majority of under-35s also found something better to do. Continue reading...
One person taken to hospital and hundreds evacuated after fire and explosion near tube stationHundreds of residents were evacuated and one person was taken to hospital after a large blaze in south London, which sent a fireball and black smoke billowing into the air.Fifteen fire engines and about 100 firefighters were called to the incident, which began at a car repair garage below Elephant and Castle station shortly before 1.45pm on Monday. Continue reading...
France was only EU country that continued to allow ‘barbaric’ practiceFrance’s highest appeals court has ruled that the hunting of songbirds with glue traps is illegal, saying an exemption that had permitted the practice was in breach of European legislation.For generations, hunters mainly in the south of France have caught songbirds by coating branches of trees with glue, often using the singing of other caged birds to lure birds to land. Birds are caught for sport or food. Continue reading...
Löfven urges Sweden’s parliament to try to form new government instead of holding early general electionSweden’s prime minister Stefan Löfven has stepped down a week after losing a no confidence vote, deciding to ask the speaker of the country’s deadlocked parliament to find a new government rather than call a snap election.“I have requested the speaker to relieve me as prime minister,” Löfven said on Monday. “It is the most difficult political decision I have ever taken.” He added that he would stay on in a caretaker capacity because a snap election in mid-pandemic was “not what is best for Sweden”. Continue reading...
by Staff and agencies in Providenciales on (#5KM3K)
Officials say investigators ruled out foul play but were still trying to determine what happenedAuthorities in Turks and Caicos are investigating after a boat was found drifting about a mile off Grand Turk island with 20 dead people on board, including two children.Officials said investigators had ruled out foul play but were still trying to determine what happened. The identities and origin of the dead were also under investigation. Continue reading...
Evaristo Marinho jailed for killing Bruno Candé in case that has put racism in spotlightA Portuguese court has sentenced a white man who shot dead a black actor in a busy street last year to more than two decades in jail, in a case that has put racism and the country’s colonial past in the spotlight.Bruno Candé, 39, of Guinean origin, was shot several times by a white Portuguese man, Evaristo Marinho, 77, at Avenida de Moscavide, about six miles from Lisbon’s city centre, in July 2020. Continue reading...
US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, says detention of former fighters in camps is untenableThe continued detention of former Islamic State fighters in Iraqi and Syrian camps is untenable, and more of them must be repatriated to their home countries, the US secretary of state said at a summit of the international coalition against Isis, held in Rome.In remarks aimed primarily at France and the UK, Antony Blinken said: “This situation is simply untenable. It just can’t persist indefinitely. Continue reading...
With Perth and the Peel region going into a four-day lockdown, here are the current coronavirus hotspots and Covid-19 public exposure sites in Western Australia and what to do if you’ve visited them
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#5KKZ9)
Benjamin Monk previously found to have committed gross misconduct but kept job and was given stun gunThe police officer convicted of the manslaughter of Dalian Atkinson had been previously found by a police disciplinary hearing to have committed gross misconduct but was allowed to remain an officer and given a stun gun, it has been revealed. Continue reading...
Analysis: Could Marco Gobbetti be followed out of British luxury brand by creative director Riccardo Tisci?The departure of Marco Gobbetti as chief executive of Burberry raises the key question of whether Riccardo Tisci, whom Gobbetti appointed creative director soon after he joined, will remain at the luxury fashion brand.A desire to be closer to his family in Italy was given as the reason behind Gobbetti’s decision to quit Burberry, and Tisci too is thought to have found it difficult to be away from family in Italy for prolonged periods during the pandemic. The designer was a fashion student in London in his teens and has a deep affection for British culture and subculture, but the pull of his homeland remains strong. Italy has many deep-pocketed luxury brands and a shortage of exciting design talent, so opportunities are likely to present themselves. Continue reading...