The Egyptian birds are one of a number of foreign visitors, but why have these continental drifters fled north?Boats have been chartered. Weekend arrangements cancelled. And hundreds of twitchers – whose aim is to see very rare birds in Britain – have been praying the latest arrival stays long enough for them to see it in the flesh.The bird in question is an Egyptian vulture. This is the smallest member of its family in Europe, yet still sports a 1.7-metre wingspan, not much smaller than a golden eagle. The reason for all the excitement is because this is only the third Egyptian vulture ever seen in the wild in Britain; and, incredibly, the first since 1868. That one, found in Essex, was shot by a farm worker who saw “a strange bird” amongst some geese. Continue reading...
Nine other people were injured when the Antwerp school, which was still under construction, collapsedFive building workers have been confirmed dead after a school construction site partially collapsed in the Belgian city of Antwerp.The last two bodies were pulled out the rubble on Saturday afternoon, Antwerp’s fire department said, meaning that all the missing victims were now accounted for. Continue reading...
How often you have sex is not what counts, what really matters is the attention that you pay to each otherThe question I have been with my husband for 10 years. We have two children and are very happy and enjoy being together. But one area does bother me: our sex life has dwindled, particularly since we had children. We used to have sex daily and it was great. But, as time went on and our children arrived, I find that we’re just too tired to have sex as often.Our first child was born prematurely and spent time in neonatal intensive care. We both found that difficult and I think that I am still traumatised by it. My husband says it’s the past and that we should not dwell on that trauma. He’s right, but I can’t seem to help it. Continue reading...
We all had our ways to cope with isolation. For me, it was music from Evita, Hamilton, and more. Now as UK venues reopen, a flood of diverse, fresh shows and revivals are due on stage and screenHamilton was the perfect peppy soundtrack to a gloomy mid-February weekend spent painting the hall, Evita injected drama into wet Tuesdays, Jesus Christ Superstar became a balm in anxious times, and walks around wintry Hackney marshes were spent with Willy Russell’s ill-fated Blood Brothers.In a discombobulating, locked-down year when, if you were very lucky, days melded into one, musical soundtracks conjured harmonious, air-punching highs and fictional, finite lows. They felt cathartic and comforting. Continue reading...
Planning an interstate trip during the school holidays or a weekend away? Check our state-by-state guide to travel restrictions in place before you leave home
Elections this week could give PM even greater power, despite a regional conflict and a ‘man-made’ humanitarian crisisTens of millions of Ethiopians are expected to vote on Monday in crucial elections that could provide a launchpad for controversial prime minister Abiy Ahmed to consolidate his increasingly authoritarian rule.Abiy, who won the Nobel peace prize two years ago after concluding a peace deal with neighbouring Eritrea, will face voters at the ballot box for the first time in Africa’s second most populous nation. Continue reading...
Man arrested after body of former US marine is discovered in woods near Nizhny NovgorodRussian investigators have detained a man on suspicion of murder after finding the body of a foreign woman identified by media as a missing American student.Russian news agencies identified the woman as 34-year-old US citizen Catherine Serou. Continue reading...
Authorities accuse partygoers of throwing Molotov cocktails, metal balls and bits of breeze blocks at officers, who fired teargas to break up partyFrench police clashed for hours with partygoers at a 1,500-strong illegal rave over the weekend, with one partygoer losing a hand and five officers injured.Local official Emmanuel Berthier said partygoers threw “Molotov cocktails, metal balls and bits of breeze blocks” at officers during “very violent clashes” in western France. Continue reading...
Former Speaker says party has become reactionary and xenophobic under its current leadership• The blue wall: what next for the Tories after shock defeat?John Bercow, the former Tory MP and Speaker of the House of Commons, has delivered an extraordinary broadside against Boris Johnson and the Conservative party as he announces he has switched his political allegiance to Labour.In an explosive interview with the Observer, Bercow says he regards today’s Conservative party as “reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic”. Continue reading...
by Sid Lowe at Stadium La Cartuja Sevilla on (#5K9C9)
At the final whistle Poland’s players headed towards the stands and celebrated renewed opportunity while Spain departed to whistles, wondering how they had failed to win again and why this keeps happening to them. Even Álvaro Morata scoring the opening goal he so badly needed was not enough, a tense evening instead finishing with a draw that leaves la selección edgy and this group wide open. Robert Lewandowski scoring a second-half equaliser, Gerard Moreno hitting a penalty against the post and Wojciech Szczesny making a desperate late save summed it all up. That was how close it had been, how close it is in Group E.After all the whistles and criticisms, the finger of blame pointing his way, Morata gave Spain the lead here, but his redemption would remain incomplete because while he scored one, he didn’t score two, three, or more when he might have done. No one else did either, nerves frayed as Spain again discovered there was no way through and Poland resisted the late pressure to take these two teams, Slovakia and Sweden into next Wednesday when anything can happen. Continue reading...
A masterful header from Robert Lewandowski kept Poland in the tournament after Alvaro Morata had given Spain the lead in Seville9.55pm BSTRobert Lewandowski’s masterful header has kept Poland in the tournament. They deserved a point against a Spain side who again flattered to deceive and looked a bit rudderless. Alvaro Morata had given them the lead, and Gerard Moreno hit the post with a penalty straight after Lewandowski’s goal, but that aside they struggled to create clear chances. If they don’t beat Slovakia on Wednesday, they could go out at the group stage.9.53pm BSTPeep peep! Continue reading...
Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals cereals spiked by 40% in March 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 outbreakWhen the panic set in at the start of the pandemic, Australians rushed out and bought a whole lot of carbs, new food sales data reveals.Sales of cereals – which include pasta, rice and flour – spiked by 40% in March 2020 compared with the month prior as people stocked up for the first of the Covid-19 lockdowns, the figures show. Continue reading...
Teachers say plans by Australian universities to boost in-person classes while keeping online options will greatly increase their workloadStaff at Australian universities say plans to “ramp up” in-person learning next semester while continuing to offer the majority of online classes means they will do twice the amount of work for the same pay.While staff and students have both welcomed the gradual return to face-to-face classes, teachers say that job cuts and pay cuts, combined with new demands for online classes, are “not sustainable”. Continue reading...
A European court judgment this week could reverse laws that protect the vulnerable and abusedA case to be heard in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg this week could have disastrous consequences for those campaigning to eradicate prostitution.The hearing is the first step in determining whether France’s laws on prostitution – which criminalise paying for sex – are constitutional, or whether they contravene the human rights of self-titled “sex workers”. Continue reading...
As much as 20mm of rain could fall in an hour, with 12 flood alerts in place across EnglandThere is more heavy rain on the way, the Met Office has warned – bringing with it a risk of flash flooding in some areas.The weekend has proved to be a washout so far, with England and Scotland fans watching Friday night’s game on screens in Leicester Square, London getting a soaking. Continue reading...
by Harriet Sherwood Religion correspondent on (#5K98D)
US bishops vote to stop pro-choice Catholics receiving eucharistRoman Catholic bishops in the US have voted to press ahead with moves that could result in Joe Biden being banned from receiving communion because of his stance on abortion, and that risks increasing tensions in a divided church.After three days of online debate, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted by three to one to draft new guidance on the eucharist. The unexpected strength of support for the move among the bishops was a rebuff to the Vatican, which had signalled its opposition. Continue reading...
Pope Francis gives ‘venerable’ status to post-war French statesman and supporter of European unityRobert Schuman, a French statesman who was an early advocate for the bloc that evolved into the European Union, has moved ahead on the Catholic church’s path toward possible sainthood.The Vatican said Pope Francis on Saturday approved a decree declaring the “heroic virtues″ of Schuman, a former prime minister and finance minister after the second world war. In 1950, as foreign minister, he developed a plan to promote European economic unity in hopes of furthering peace. Continue reading...
Once they were only seen as breadwinners and disciplinarians. A leading anthropologist highlights 10 ways in which the role of fathers has been transformedThe role of dads in the UK has changed beyond all recognition in the past 50 years. Today, fathers no longer want to be limited to the role of family breadwinner and disciplinarian; they want to be true co-parents, providing nurture and care to their children. This change is due in part to the rise of two-earner households, reductions in hospital-based post-birth care and an absence of geographically close extended family, requiring dad to step in. But as we in the research community have learned more about who dad is biologically and psychologically, and the unique role he plays in the family, fathers have felt empowered to get involved, safe in the knowledge that they are as important to their kids and family as mum is. Continue reading...
DUP tells newly appointed Stormont leader he is expected to stand down when party chooses new leadershipNewly appointed Stormont first minister Paul Givan has been told he will be expected to resign as part of the DUP leadership transition.Party officers do not want to see Givan leave his post as joint head of the devolved executive before the next leader is in place and ready to appoint a successor. Continue reading...
Three main rivals congratulate candidate whose election is likely to unlock talks on reviving nuclear dealEbrahim Raisi, the hardline head of Iran’s judiciary, has been hailed the country’s new president after his three main rivals congratulated him on his victory and preliminary results showed he had secured 17.8m votes, a huge 14.5m more than his nearest rival.With 90% of the votes counted, Iranian officials said 28.6 million people had cast their ballots. More than 41 million did so in 2017. Continue reading...
Sea of rainbow flags in the capital as campaigners warn against rising tide of homophobiaThousands marched through central Warsaw on Saturday in an “equality parade”, amid what campaigners say has been a rising tide of homophobia in Poland in recent years.LGBT rights have become a central part of a wider struggle in the country between liberals, who stress the need for a more tolerant and inclusive society, and religious conservatives, who denounce what they say is an attempt to subvert traditional values in the predominantly Catholic nation. Continue reading...
Passerby who recognised signs of stroke thought to be a blond-haired health worker from OceaniaA woman whose husband collapsed outside a central London coffee shop after suffering a stroke is now hoping to find the “guardian angel” who saved his life.Mathew O’Toole, 47, was working in London when he collapsed outside Ole & Steen on Wigmore Street at about 8.30am on 10 June. Continue reading...
The hardline head of the Iranian judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, has been congratulated by his three main rivals on his victory in the country's presidential election after preliminary results showed he had secured 17.8m votes, a huge 14.5m more than his nearest rival
Resurgence of virus in west Africa infected 16 people and killed 12 since outbreak in FebruaryAn Ebola outbreak in Guinea that started in February, infecting 16 people and killing 12, has been declared over, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.Health authorities were able to move swiftly to tackle the resurgence of the virus, which causes severe bleeding and organ failure and is spread through contact with body fluids, after lessons learned from previous outbreaks in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Continue reading...
Kilt-wearing fans helped tidy up Leicester Square, where many gathered to cheer on Scottish teamScottish football fans who had descended on the British capital were photographed helping to clear the streets of London before Friday night’s much-anticipated Euro 2020 game between Scotland and England at Wembley stadium.Fans wearing kilts and draped in Scotland flags were seen picking up rubbish in Leicester Square, where many had gathered to celebrate and cheer on the Scottish team before the fixture, which ended in a scoreless draw. Continue reading...
John Stevens reveals he questioned the prince as a witness in 2005 about a note his then wife had writtenThe former Metropolitan police chief John Stevens has disclosed that he questioned Prince Charles over allegations that he had plotted to kill Diana, Princess of Wales.Charles was interviewed as a witness in 2005, during a three-year investigation into Diana’s death in a Paris car crash in 1997, the Daily Mail reported. Continue reading...
More showers expected in south of England, northern Scotland and Northern Ireland but rest of UK expected to be largely dryFlood warnings are in place across England this weekend after parts of the south-east endured a month’s worth of rainfall in 24 hours.The Met Office has forecast outbreaks of rain to hit the south late on Saturday afternoon into Saturday night. The Environment Agency has issued 39 flood alerts in London and surrounding areas, Kent, parts of the home counties, the West Midlands and Wiltshire. Continue reading...
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were sent to the electric chair for being Soviet spies, but their sons have spent decades trying to clear their mother’s name. Are they close to a breakthrough?“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs…… ” So goes the opening sentence of Sylvia Plath’s 1963 novel The Bell Jar, referring to the Jewish American couple, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage and sent to the electric chair exactly 68 years ago today. Their execution casts a morbid shadow over Plath’s book, just as it did over the United States, and it is seen by many as the nadir of America’s engagement with the cold war. The Rosenbergs are still the only Americans ever put to death in peacetime for espionage, and Ethel is the only American woman killed by the US government for a crime other than murder.During their trial, Ethel in particular was vilified for prioritising communism over her children, and the prosecution insisted she had been the dominant half of the couple, purely because she was three years older. “She was the mastermind of this whole conspiracy,” assistant prosecutor Roy Cohn told the judge. But questions about whether she was guilty at all have been growing louder in recent years, and a new biography presents her in a different light. “Ethel was killed for being a wife. She was guilty of supporting her husband,” Anne Sebba, author of Ethel Rosenberg: A Cold War Tragedy, tells me. And for that, the 37-year-old mother of two young children had five massive jolts of electricity pumped through her body. Her death was so brutal that eyewitnesses reported that smoke rose out of her head. Continue reading...
Newspaper staff gather outside court ahead of appearance of editor-in-chief Ryan Law and chief executive Cheung Kim-hungTwo executives from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Apple Daily have appeared in court, charged with collusion after authorities deployed a sweeping national security law to target the newspaper critical of Beijing.Editor-in-chief Ryan Law and chief executive Cheung Kim-hung are accused of colluding with foreign forces to undermine China’s national security over a series of articles that police said called for international sanctions. Continue reading...
Acting prime minister says ‘if other people have agendas that is a matter for them’ as speculation Barnaby Joyce is lining up for top jobAs leadership speculation erupts once again in his party, the Nationals leader Michael McCormack says he is going about his business in an orderly fashion “but if other people have agendas, that’s a matter for them”.The junior Coalition partner has convulsed this week about climate change policy, with McCormack and the resources minister, Keith Pitt, publicly warning prime minister Scott Morrison against pushing forward with any concrete commitment on net zero emissions by 2050. Continue reading...
The storm struck the suburb of Papatoetoe, causing extensive damage to homesOne person has died and two people have been injured after a suspected tornado hit a shipping container site in the New Zealand city of Auckland on Saturday morning.Fire crews were also attending about 100 calls after the tornado ripped through the suburb of Papatoetoe, bringing down trees, tearing off roofs and smashing windows, Stuff reported. Continue reading...
Understanding the connection between humans, animals and the environment is key to planning for future pandemics, experts warnIn late 2019, Kirby Institute virologist Prof Stuart Turville was looking for another job.“The funding rates were too low to survive,” he says. Continue reading...
Michael McCormack has a few things to say about nibbling mice, coffee drinkers and inner-city activistsIt’s always an interesting ride when Michael McCormack serves as acting prime minister.The last time the Nationals leader stepped into the role was January, when Scott Morrison took a quick holiday. Continue reading...
Aggrieved tenants forced to pay fees as real estate agents outsource rent collecting feel little choice but to pay upWhen Max* moved into a new rental property in Queensland earlier this year, one of his first questions, naturally, was how to pay the rent.So he called his new real estate agency, Harcourts Chermside, a Brisbane firm which boasts of its “high ideals and standards”. The agent sent Max an email explaining that a third-party company called RentPay was its “primary and preferred” method of collecting rent. Continue reading...
One firm’s attempt to regain control of illegal cultivation shows Wellington’s lack of leverage over its largest trade partnerIt is the story of a global superpower, a smuggling operation, pestilence and a small hairy fruit.Ubiquitous on supermarket shelves and in lunchboxes, the humble kiwi is New Zealand’s most valuable horticultural export. Recent battles for control of the fruit, however, have shone a light on tensions in New Zealand’s relationship with China. Continue reading...
Clearly the death of Liberal England has been prematurely foretold, but more will be needed to turn a stunning byelection win into a successful revivalIt is often hard to try to derive a national message from a single byelection. The effect on party morale usually dwarfs that felt on government policy. The election of Liberal Democrat Sarah Green as the MP for Chesham and Amersham, a commuter-belt seat north-west of London, stuns on both counts. The result will make Conservative MPs in relatively liberal and educated constituencies very jumpy. But it will also slow the progress of Boris Johnson’s planning reforms. Voters in bucolic Buckinghamshire plainly feared that these would make it easier for developers to concrete over the countryside.What the result shows is that the Liberal Democrat cause is not a hopeless one. With just 11 parliamentarians and languishing at 7% in national polls, Sir Ed Davey appeared to be taking his depleted ranks and marching them towards the sound of gunfire. Chesham and Amersham has been held by the Conservatives since its creation in 1974. Yet Ms Green overturned a 16,000-strong Tory majority to take the seat by just over 8,000 votes, a swing of 25%, and upset the odds. The energy of the Tories’ vaccine bounce seems dissipated. Clearly the death of Liberal England has been prematurely foretold. Continue reading...
Georgia Laurie gives interview about attack that left her sister Melissa recovering in hospitalA British woman has described beating a crocodile on its snout while it grabbed her other hand as she fought to save her twin sister from the reptile.Georgia Laurie, 28, said she feared her sister, Melissa, was dead when she saw the crocodile drag her underwater after they went for a swim in a lagoon in Mexico. Continue reading...
NSW premier has started dating leading Sydney lawyer Arthur Moses SC who last year represented her at an Icac hearing into her ex-loverThe NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has begun dating a prominent barrister who represented her during an anti-corruption inquiry into her former lover, the disgraced ex-MP Daryl Maguire.The premier’s sister, Mary, posted a photo to Instagram on Friday night of Berejiklian and Arthur Moses SC with the caption: “After work Friday feels with these two … Glad and her boo.” Continue reading...
Witness Change, a project for the Open Society Foundation, photographed 1,000 people who left their homes for a new life, and found a common thread of humanity in the dreams that sustain them
Union’s former legal adviser throws weight behind fellow leftwinger and frontrunner Steve TurnerThe leftwinger Howard Beckett has pulled out of the race to succeed Len McCluskey as general secretary of the Unite union at the last minute to throw his weight behind the frontrunner Steve Turner.Beckett announced the decision on Friday as ballot papers were about to be printed. It followed failed talks earlier in the week to select a leftwing unity candidate to take on Gerard Coyne. Continue reading...