World news | The Guardian

Lack of US sanctions on crown prince led to harsher sentences for critics of regime, Grant Liberty reportsThe Biden administration’s failure to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has led to a increase in severe sentences for political prisoners in the kingdom, the Guardian can reveal.The UK-based human rights organisation Grant Liberty found that twice as many harsh sentences had been meted out to Saudi prisoners of conscience in April than in the first three months of this year combined. It followed the Biden administration’s decision on 26 February to publish an intelligence report that showed the crown prince, “approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi”. Continue reading...

Rights groups say government and UN inaction has left people lacking food and medicine for weeksTens of thousands of Cambodians are going hungry under the country’s strict lockdown as Covid cases continue to rise amid criticism from human rights groups that the government and the UN are being too slow to act.The south-east Asian country had recorded one of the world’s smallest coronavirus caseloads, but infections have climbed from about 500 in late February to 20,695 this week, with 136 deaths. Continue reading...

A giant cod that was once a fishing staple is now so rare it has become the preserve of a few fine dinersIt was no ordinary cod that Teitur Christensen was preparing. The head chef at Barbara Fish House, one of four restaurants located in tiny wooden houses in Tórshavn, the Faroe Islands’ capital, Christensen was hosting what has become known as a “Bank evening”, because of the main dish. In the small cosy rooms of these ancient houses – one of which was built more than 500 years ago – his team was getting ready to serve what has become an almost mythical fish: the Faroe Bank cod.The Faroe Bank cod’s reputation is partly built on its size. It is huge: a three-year-old specimen is already twice as large, on average, as the Atlantic cod. But it is also legendary because of its rarity. A genetically distinctive member of the cod family, it was once plentiful before being nearly fished to extinction. In 2008, all commercial fishing of Faroe Bank cod was banned. Only the Faroe Marine Research Institute (Famri) is now allowed to catch them, when its researchers survey the fish population twice a year. Continue reading...

Parent of stabbing victim Tai O’Donnell finds London venues restricting numbers despite 17 May lockdown easing

The Bereaved Families for Justice group say the fight for a public inquiry has left a legacy of mistrust

Taken on a 25,000-mile trip across 16 countries, these images capture cities, landscapes and people along the trading route – and the pre-Covid freedom of cross-border travelI set off on my dream journey from London to Beijing in the halcyon days of 2019. It’s a trip that seems unimaginable today. Travelling overland, I wanted to experience the transitions between cultures, to understand more about what connects us. I was also interested to see the legacy of exchange along the Silk Road trade routes that once connected China with the west.My first major stop was Venice. The city is full of influences brought there by its many and varied visitors, especially those from the east. You can see these in the domes of Saint Mark’s Cathedral, which evoke the medieval minarets of Cairo, and in Renaissance masterpieces with their brilliant blue pigments – produced from lapis lazuli mined 4,000 miles away in northern Afghanistan and brought to Venice along the Silk Road. Continue reading...

The author, who became a literary sensation at the age of 21 with The End of Eddy, is appearing in a show exploring acting in theatre and in everyday lifeSome people give their bodies to medical science. Édouard Louis has given his to art. That, at any rate, is the view of a fan the novelist met and it seems to hit the mark. Louis is the French literary sensation who was celebrated at 21 for The End of Eddy, an autobiographical account of growing up gay in a working-class village in the north of France. So frank were his descriptions of bullying, repression and deprivation that readers wanted to believe they were fiction. But Louis wrote from first-hand experience.He was back as the subject of his next novel, History of Violence, in which he described the emotional impact of being raped. Fearless in its evocation of his circular thought processes, obsessive behaviour and dark depression, the book was also an attempt to reclaim a story for himself. “For me, writing is always a fight against invisibility,” he tells me over Zoom. Continue reading...

As she starts to rebuild her life after surgery, the artist shares her unflinchingly honest cancer self-portraits, talks about seeing dead people in hospital walls, and explains why she’s buying herself a punchbag – and kittens

A growing nationalistic fervour is fuelling a torrent of vitriol against anyone speaking out against the state, especially women’s rights activistsLate last month, an “unknown hill in the Chinese desert” was blanketed in scores of large red and white banners, flapping vitriol in the breeze. “I hope you die, bitch,” said one. “Little bitch, screw the feminists,” said others.They were all actual messages sent to women, a direct act of harassment anonymised by social media. They were sent during weeks of intense debate about the treatment of women on platforms such as Weibo, sparked by the abuse of Xiao Meili who posted video of a man who threw hot liquid at her after she asked him to stop smoking. Continue reading...

Data released on Thursday shows too many children are still living in damp and mouldy homes, and with families who run out of foodNew Zealand is still struggling to make progress on child wellbeing and experience of poverty, despite Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s commitment to the issue.While data released earlier this year showed improvements in overall child poverty measures, new reports show that is not being felt in the lives of many vulnerable children, who are still living in unaffordable, damp and mouldy homes, and with families who run out of food. The reports on the child poverty related indicators and child and youth wellbeing strategy for 2019-20 were released on Thursday. Continue reading...

The dramatic rise in the re-sale value of the cards prompted a fight in Wisconsin during which a man pulled a gunUS retail giant Target will stop selling Pokémon playing cards out of an “abundance of caution” for its staff and other shoppers. The re-sale value of the cards has increased dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic, prompting chaos and threats to staff. Target will also stop selling MLB, NFL and NBA sports playing cards.The decision comes after man pulled a gun during a fight over trading cards in a Target parking lot in Brookfield, Wisconsin on 7 May. Police said the 35-year-old man produced the gun when he was assaulted by four men aged 23-35 as he left the store, ABC reported. Continue reading...

Israeli jets and Palestinian militants have traded airstrikes and rocket fire as the UN’s Middle East envoy warned of an escalation towards a full-scale war. High-rise buildings containing flats and offices in Gaza City have been targeted and the Israeli military has said it had killed four senior Hamas commanders. As airstrikes and rocket fire continued, towns with mixed Jewish and Arab populations have been struck by some of the worst communal violence that Israel has seen in years

Morrison government told it ‘must not neglect major human rights concerns’ as it considers increasing trade with IsraelAustralian and Palestinian human rights groups have urged the federal government to stop pursuing a potential free trade agreement with Israel and condemn its actions in Gaza and East Jerusalem.The Australian government is considering strengthening its trade relations with Israel, including through a possible FTA, hoping such a deal would boost defence, cybersecurity and innovation. Continue reading...

An Israeli airstrike struck a high-rise building in central Gaza City as journalist Youmna Al Sayed reported live for Al Jazeera from a neighbouring building. Al Sayed continued to provide commentary despite being forced to move away from the camera by the explosions. The targeted building housed businesses in addition to offices for Hamas’ Al-Aqsa satellite channel and is located in one of the busiest streets of Gaza’s Roman neighbourhood. The airstrike is part of continued violence between Israel and Palestinian militants that is the most serious conflict between the parties since 2014

Her winning short stories were a knockout but the longlist also makes a terrific reading listThere was a cool NZ$56,000 up for grabs for the winner of the 2021 Jann Medlicott Acorn prize for fiction. That’s a lot of dosh for any writer, so judging this prize felt like an immense responsibility.In judging this category of the Ockham New Zealand book awards, I was joined by Dunedin writer and former programme director of the Dunedin Writers & Readers festival, Claire Finlayson, and Hokianga-based writer and books editor, Paul Little. At the shortlisting stage we were joined by Tommy Orange, whose debut novel, the searing There There, was a finalist for a Pulitzer prize in 2019. Continue reading...

Far-right crowd in Tel Aviv pull man they thought to be an Arab from his car and beat him in the streetAs airstrikes and rocket fire continued across Israel and Gaza, towns with mixed Jewish and Arab populations have been struck by some of the worst communal violence that Israel has seen in years.Late on Wednesday a mob of far-right Israelis dragged a man they thought was an Arab from his car and beat him until he lay on the ground motionless and bloodied. Continue reading...

Modelling suggests countries struggling to immunise populations could adopt UK strategy

A turbulent year filled with reports of bullying and toxicity on the star’s daytime show has reached an inevitable conclusionAfter 17 years as a staple of daytime television, Ellen DeGeneres is ending her eponymous talkshow. The host, 63, revealed to the Hollywood Reporter that the show’s current 18th season, ending in 2022, will be its last. And while the comedian, whose 1997 Time Magazine cover coming out (“Yep, I’m Gay”) marked a watershed moment in LGBTQ representation in Hollywood, attributed the show’s conclusion to the hosting job “just not being a challenge anymore”, the end feels a long time coming, the foregone conclusion of challenges far beyond her satisfaction with the role as America’s daytime friend.Related: Ellen DeGeneres to end TV show next year Continue reading...

Although this result is unlikely to apply more than a temporary balm to Arsenal’s wounds, it could have major implications for Chelsea. The chasing pack will scent blood after this insipid performance from Thomas Tuchel’s side. They started with the wrong attitude and could not complain about their punishment, even if Arsenal’s goal was bizarre.Tuchel will hope that the complacency has been drummed out of his players by the time they face Leicester in the FA Cup final on Saturday. Yet that is far from his only concern. Although Chelsea remain in fourth place with two games left, they are still not certain of holding off West Ham and Liverpool. Continue reading...

Social media has been flooded with falsehoods about fertility, birth control and surveillance as nations struggle to administer enough dosesAs Papua New Guinea grappled with a monumental outbreak of Covid-19 last month, prime minister James Marape became the first person in the country to receive a dose of the vaccine, sent in an emergency shipment from Australia.Prior to receiving the jab he had told people he would be the vaccine’s PNG “guinea pig”; that if he died people didn’t have to take it, but if he didn’t, he hoped others would follow suit and receive the vaccination. Continue reading...

Analysis: delay all but guarantees that few conclusions will have been reached by 2023

Bereaved families and experts say lessons should be learned quickly before a potential third wave

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Kashif Mahmood awaits sentencing for patrol car robberies, directed by mastermind in DubaiA corrupt Metropolitan police officer wore his uniform to take part in heists staged by organised criminals on rival drug gangs and funded a lavish lifestyle involving Rolex watches and trips to Dubai, a court has heard.Former Pc Kashif Mahmood used his uniform and patrol car to stage the robberies on London streets, the gang’s activities being directed by a mastermind in Dubai who used an encrypted communication system to relay his orders. Continue reading...

The city’s reputation as a place to go to ignore the Israeli-Palestinian crisis changed when rockets landedFor children under the age of seven in Tel Aviv, this week was probably the first time their parents had to wake them in a panic, rush to a bomb shelter, and try to explain what was happening.Tal Morry, a lawyer and mother, pretended to her five-year-old son that there was a firework show. However, the ruse did not last long. “Other kids told him the truth,” she sighed. Continue reading...

Lord Frost and Brandon Lewis spoke with loyalist delegation this week about border check concernsThe Brexit minister, Lord Frost, and the Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, met representatives of loyalist paramilitaries on Monday during a visit to Northern Ireland, it has emerged.The Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), a body which includes representatives of the UVF, UDA and Red Hand Commando paramilitary groups, confirmed a “small delegation” of its members met the ministers on Monday to discuss continuing concerns over checks on goods coming into the region from Great Britain caused by Brexit. Continue reading...

Families demand names of soldiers and say PM’s apology to first minister and deputy is not enoughBoris Johnson has apologised for the British army operation that resulted in the death of 10 innocent civilians in the west Belfast neighbourhood of Ballymurphy in 1971.The prime minister made the apology on Wednesday, a day after an inquest in Northern Ireland found the use of force had been unjustified, implicating the army in a Troubles atrocity to rival Bloody Sunday. Continue reading...

Jordan Banks was ‘considerate, generous and so loving’ and had run 30 miles for charityThe family of a nine-year-old boy who died after being struck by lightning during a football coaching session have described him as their “brightest star” and “our everything”.Jordan Banks was injured on a playing field in the Common Edge Road area of Blackpool during a thunderstorm shortly after 5pm on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Ex-communications secretary for Sussexes alleged Meghan drove out two staff, which she deniedThe royal aide who made a bullying allegation against the Duchess of Sussex is to leave his senior role with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.Jason Knauf will leave his post as the chief executive of the Cambridges’ Royal Foundation at the end of the year. Continue reading...

Photographer Brad Wall’s creative use of drone photography in the series Water Geomaids showcases the unique patterns and shapes the swimmers create from above Continue reading...

Research shows that victims and survivors of domestic and family violence – especially Indigenous women – are being mistaken for perpetrators by police. This treatment can have serious and fatal consequences. Ben Smee explores concerns about the culture of the Queensland police, and Dr Hannah McGlade discusses how Indigenous women are being criminalised by this systemIf this episode raised any issues for you: Continue reading...

The pharmaceutical giant argues waiving intellectual property protections could see scarce inputs snapped up making it harder to produce vaccines

Unions and young people urge incoming education secretary to take immediate action over ‘ghost exams’Scotland’s incoming education secretary is being urged to take immediate action over so-called “ghost exams” – where pupils face high stakes testing up to three times a day with none of the usual support – as high school assessments fall into chaos for the second year running.With a post-election reshuffle expected by the end of the week, and current incumbent John Swinney expected to be moved on after a barrage of criticism, young people have described a looming mental health crisis after National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams were cancelled because Covid disruption had made it impossible to ensure consistency of learning, in particular for pupils from less advantaged backgrounds. Continue reading...

Palestinian Hamas militants and the Israeli army have traded fresh rocket fire and airstrikes in the worst violence since the 2014 conflict. Intense fighting continued overnight as the UN’s Middle East envoy warned the two sides were heading towards a full-scale war

Judgment overturns lower court’s decision to dismiss case of flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in which 228 died

The long-running daytime talkshow’s ratings have tanked recently following allegations of bullying and a toxic workplaceEllen, the long-running daytime television chatshow hosted by Ellen DeGeneres will end next year, it was reported on Wednesday, after allegations of bullying by employees and a toxic workplace environment caused ratings to tank.An official announcement by DeGeneres and Warner Brothers, which produces the show that has run for 18 seasons and more than 3,000 episodes, was expected on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Daily Mail website. The show was regarded, for many years, as a groundbreaking addition to daytime television as DeGeneres was one of only a handful of openly gay celebrities at the time. Continue reading...

UK agrees to transfer of ex-Bosnian Serb leader convicted of genocide over 1995 massacre in SrebrenicaRadovan Karadžić, the former Bosnian Serb leader convicted of genocide over the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica, is to be transferred to a UK prison to serve the rest of his life sentence.The 75-year-old was found guilty in 2016 of 10 of the 11 charges he faced at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia over his role in the mass killings of civilians in the conflict that tore Bosnia apart more than a quarter of a century ago. In 2019, judges at The Hague in the Netherlands increased his sentence from 40 years to life following a failed appeal attempt. Continue reading...

Research finds figure fell by almost half between 2017-2019, backing claims of coercive fertility policiesBirthrates in Xinjiang fell by almost half in the two years after the Chinese government implemented policies to reduce the number of babies born to Uyghur and other minority Muslim families, new research has claimed.The figures show unprecedented declines which were more extreme than any global region at any time in the 71 years of UN fertility data collection, including during genocides in Rwanda and Cambodia, according to the authors of the report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (Aspi). Continue reading...

Officers recorded babysitting plans, births of campaigners’ children and movements of teenage activistsUndercover police officers who infiltrated political groups frequently spied on children as part of their covert deployments, a public inquiry has heard.They secretly recorded the political activities of children as well as details of their parents’ domestic lives. On one occasion, an undercover officer sent back to his supervisors the babysitting rota that had been organised by leftwing campaigners. Continue reading...

Heavy bombardment of Gaza City tower-block homes stirs memories of 2014 Israeli, Hamas warThe tower blocks of Gaza City’s Rimal district, one of its wealthier neighbourhoods, look towards the sea and over the beachside al-Shati refugee camp out of which Hamas, which rules Gaza, first emerged in the late 1980s.On Tuesday Israeli jets hit one of the towers, an eight-storey apartment block, where Hassan Abu al-Ata, deputy commander of Islamic Jihad’s Gaza Brigade, who is blamed for rocket attacks against Israel, was sheltering. Continue reading...

Defence minister rules out ceasefire as Israeli military says it has killed four senior Hamas commandersIsrael will not stop its military operation in Gaza until “complete quiet” has been achieved, the country’s defence minister has said, as airstrikes and rocket fire continued throughout Wednesday.The Israeli military said it had killed four senior Hamas commanders and a dozen more Hamas operatives in a series of strikes. It said it had undertaken a “complex and first-of-its-kind operation” jointly with the Shin Bet security service. Continue reading...

Tourism minister says Spain is opening up to holidaymakers ‘after worst year of our lives’

At least 90 more corpses wash up in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as virus continues spreading into poor rural areas

News raises hopes that the much delayed and over-budget project will open to customers within a yearTest train services have begun running under London on the Crossrail project, boosting confidence that the Elizabeth line should finally open to customers within a year.Four trains an hour are operating as part of rigorous safety testing, described as a “crucial milestone” in the development of the £19bn east-west rail link across the capital. Continue reading...

PM says it would be wrong to take up advisers’ and officials’ time if cases rise again this winter

PM says inquiry to begin in spring 2022 and will have power to compel evidence, and will take testimony from people in public under oath

We would like to hear from people living in Israel and those who are part of the diaspora on the situation in the regionIn the worst violence since the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, Palestinian militants and Israeli jets have exchanged airstrikes and rocket fire.We would like to hear from those living in Israel and who are part of the diaspora on how they have been affected. Continue reading...

The pandemic made dating a lot more complicated – but it didn’t stop it. Here, seven couples share their storiesJenny, 31, and Sophy, 29, Margate Continue reading...

An intricate tapestry of 17th-century political intrigue and family feuding is bolstered by fabulous costumes as Chinese invaders are dealt withThe Swordsman, a pacy, crisply choreographed South Korean action film set in the 17th century handicaps itself by opting for such a bland, generic title. It’s like naming a Hollywood action movie The Gunman or The Cop. Debutant writer-director Choi Jae-Hoon could have been a little more specific about the protagonist Tae-yul (played by boy-band-beautiful star and sometime rapper Jang Hyuk) by calling it The Blind Swordsman, given the character’s vision impairment. But then that title has already been used several times. Also, Tae-yul is not quite blind yet, although the threat to his vision and his need to access an expensive medicine hang over the plot throughout.As it happens, the intricate tapestry of action, family drama, political intrigue and period spectacle is anything but generic. Unfolding during a period when ruling dynasties in China and Korea were in major flux, the story springboards off the fall of the Joseon dynasty’s 15th king; a disgrace in combat sends Tae-yul, one of the finest swordsmen in the country, into exile with his baby daughter. Continue reading...