The shooting and stabbing of a teenager in broad daylight on a street in Canning Town is just the latest chapter of what has become Britain’s most violent gangland feudRachid has no idea what the future holds, apart from the certainty that he’ll never visit east London’s Canning Town. “If I set foot there, I’ll get stabbed.” He has just turned 19, and two of his friends have already been murdered on the streets.A trip to the nearest corner shop has become a daunting ordeal. “You’re constantly looking around, at the same time making sure you avoid looking at people. You don’t know what can happen. Anything can,” says the teenager, a former well-known gang affiliate who lives a seven-minute walk from Canning Town. Continue reading...
by Toby Helm, Robyn Vinter and Michael Savage on (#5HARH)
Stories of Conservative sleaze appear to be having an impact as Keir Starmer faces his first electoral test as Labour leader on 6 MayLabour has slashed the Tories’ poll lead in half as more voters conclude that Boris Johnson is corrupt and dishonest ahead of this week’s bumper set of local and devolved elections.The latest Opinium poll for the Observer shows the Conservative lead has fallen from 11 points to five points after a week in which the prime minister was at the centre of allegations over the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat, and criticised for reportedly saying he would rather see “bodies pile high” than order another Covid-19 lockdown. Continue reading...
Critics say the new police, crime, sentencing and courts bill will give police powers to curb protestsThousands of protesters have marched through central London against the new police, crime, sentencing and courts bill, in the biggest protest under the “kill the bill” banner to have taken place so far.After gathering in Trafalgar Square from midday, protesters marched past Buckingham Palace then through Victoria, past the Department for Education and the Home Office, and finally across the river to Vauxhall Gardens. Continue reading...
Partial list records 45 deaths at ultra-Orthodox event as identification of bodies continuesAt least 10 children and teenagers were among 45 ultra-Orthodox Jews killed in a crush at a religious festival in northern Israel, according to a partial list of names published on Saturday as the identification of victims in Israel’s deadliest civilian disaster continued.Four Americans, a Canadian and a man from Argentina were also among those killed. Two families each lost two children. The youngest victim was nine years old. Continue reading...
Italy’s former prime minister, who left hospital on Friday, was allegedly admitted due to long-term effects of CovidItaly’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi left hospital on Friday after spending 24 days under medical supervision due to alleged long-term effects of Covid-19.Berlusconi, who is 84, was seriously ill with Covid-19 last year, an experience described by the media billionaire as the “worst of his life”. Continue reading...
Detectives considering ‘all possible’ motives for daytime murder in woods near Dover in Kent on TuesdayThe investigation into the murder of PCSO Julia James is continuing with police considering “all possible” motives.James, 53, died from serious head injuries while out walking her dog. She was not in uniform. Continue reading...
Stella Creasy launches campaign to change law after a boy took pictures of her feeding her baby on a trainAn MP has described her “horror” after she was photographed while breastfeeding on public transport, as she and a fellow MP launch a campaign to criminalise the taking of such pictures.Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, said she was breastfeeding her then four-month-old on a overground train near Highbury and Islington in north London when she noticed a teenage boy laughing and taking pictures. Continue reading...
Hundreds took part in XR ‘rebellion of one’ acts on Saturday to protest lack of action on climate emergencyA man has been arrested after gluing himself to Westminster Bridge in London in protest at a lack of government action two years after parliament declared a climate emergency.It was among a wave of “rebellion of one” protests on Saturday, organised by Extinction Rebellion (XR), in which hundreds of activists blocked roads by sitting alone wearing signs expressing their fears about the future. Continue reading...
Counter-terrorist police detain three men, one woman and a teenage boy in planned raidsPolice have arrested five people in areas across West Yorkshire, Wiltshire and north Wales as part of a counter-terrorism operation.The “pre-planned” arrests were part of an investigation into far-right terrorism led by Counter Terrorism Policing North East, police said. Continue reading...
Police said they received report of allegations of sexual offences but did not confirm identity of the person implicatedThe Metropolitan police say they are assessing a “third-party” report relating to claims of sexual offences committed by a male, after allegations were made against the actor Noel Clarke.The Met police did not confirm the identity of the person implicated, but said they had received the third-party report last week. Continue reading...
The New York-based photographer’s series In Spirit explores the gaps between where we are, where we want to be and who we want to seeIn the bedroom of her apartment in Brooklyn, Alison Luntz has a large landscape photograph she took in 2018 on the Isle of Skye. A road snakes through dramatic, iridescent green hills. Last April, experiencing mild cabin fever from the Covid lockdown, the 34-year-old photographer decided to have some fun with the image. Positioning herself in front of the photograph, wearing a woollen beanie, she had her husband direct a fan so her red hair looked believably windswept and clicked a self-portrait. Two self-portraits actually: the first, a tighter crop, where it looked like she was in Scotland, posing with a spectacular view behind her; and a second, which showed she was really in Bushwick. Luntz then posted both on Instagram.“I didn’t have any serious intentions with this picture in the beginning,” says Luntz, on a video call from the same bedroom. “It was really just out of bleak humour at the situation and wanting to poke fun at it in some way. But instantly, it was clear that so many people loved this idea that I started thinking, maybe there’s another way to use the same format in a more substantive way to express the loneliness and alienation we’re all feeling right now.” Continue reading...
Class, race, politics and power are at the heart of modern nanny novels that explore the complex relationship between working mothers and the women they pay to look after their childrenThere’s a line at the opening of Kiley Reid’s hit debut, Such a Fun Age, that encapsulates the drama at the heart of the recent spate of nanny novels. Emira, a young black woman dressed for a night out, is stopped by a security guard in an upscale supermarket with Briar, the white child she looks after. It’s late, the guard wants to know where Briar’s parents are. He won’t let Emira leave with her. “But she’s my child right now,” she tells the guard. “I’m her sitter. I’m technically her nanny …”Emira isn’t strictly a nanny. She doesn’t get the perks of a full-time job – health insurance, holidays. Later, she reflects that, “more than the racial bias, the night at Market Depot came back to her with a nauseating surge and a resounding declaration that hissed, You don’t have a real job.” But in many ways, Briar is her child. Emira is the one who spends time with Briar, who understands her. Alix, a blogger and influencer, relies on her daughter’s nanny completely, but she is also desperate to befriend “the quiet, thoughtful person she paid to love [Briar]”. In pursuing a friendship with Emira at the expense of her own children, Alix only succeeds in putting further distance between them. As Emira reflects, Briar is “this awesome, serious child who loves information and answers, and how could her own mother not appreciate the shit out of this?” Continue reading...
Bianco accuses musician of sexual, physical and emotional abuse after bringing her to US under false pretencesThe Game of Thrones actor Esme Bianco is suing Marilyn Manson, alleging sexual, physical and emotional abuse.In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles, Bianco says Manson violated human trafficking laws by bringing her to California from England under the false pretences of roles in music videos and movies that never materialised. Continue reading...
Wales has gone from ‘indy curious’ to ‘indy plausible’, and nationalists should look to Ireland for inspirationNext year is the centenary of the founding of the Irish Free State and the path to full independence. It is just conceivable that Scotland could celebrate by striking out alone too. But Wales? Surely not.The Welsh Senedd elections on 6 May seem likely to confirm Labour’s Mark Drakeford in office in Cardiff. But he may have to rely on Welsh nationalist backing from Plaid Cymru. That party’s polling is following a very similar trajectory to Scotland’s nationalists a decade before gaining power in Edinburgh in 2007. After long languishing in single figures, Plaid polls steadily around 20%, running close with the Welsh Tories. At one point in 2019, YouGov briefly gave Plaid the lead. Continue reading...
Metropolitan PC Benjamin Kemp used CS spray and baton on 17-year-old with learning disabilitiesA police officer has been dismissed after hitting a vulnerable teenage girl with a baton “at least 30 times”, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has said.Metropolitan Police officer Benjamin Kemp, based at north-east command, was dismissed without notice following a disciplinary hearing by the IOPC. Continue reading...
Comedian Bella Younger thought wellness Instagrammers were ripe for parody. Soon she was drawn in herself. Could Deliciously Stella find her way back to reality?I have always wanted to be a comedian or television presenter, but never knew how I’d make it happen. After years of working in TV production, pestering executives to put me in a show, I conceded that I might have to demonstrate to them what I could do in order to prove my worth. This is how I ended up spending a Friday afternoon in April 2015 secretly writing a standup show at my desk, hoping to one day take it to the Edinburgh fringe.“Bella,” said my boss, Faye, over the top of her computer, “can you do some research on wellness, please? Someone called Deliciously Ella’s got the fastest-selling cookbook in the country and I want to know if we should put her on the telly.” I had been blissfully unaware of wellness until that point. As far as I was concerned, it was just the opposite of illness, like not having a cold. The idea that you could be more well had never crossed my mind. Continue reading...
The former PM isn’t just echoing the mullet trend, he is following the trend of men who love their lockdown locksTony Blair’s appearance on ITN News this week, with a slightly matted mane of slate grey hair styled into a mullet, may have prompted many to mistake the former PM for Peter Stringfellow, Paul Smith or an older version of Steve Coogan’s Portuguese crooner Tony Ferrino (it was less ‘former Labour leader’ and more ‘dude from Ugly Rumours’, indeed he told the Evening Standard: “it’s not been this long since I was in a rock band”). But Blair wasn’t just echoing the mullet trend which has increased in popularity during the pandemic. He was also an example of men who’ve let their hair grow during lockdown since December and, despite barbers and hairdressers re-opening, want to keep it that length (see also: Brad Pitt with tiny ponytail and Sound of Metal’s Paul Raci at Sunday’s Oscars). Continue reading...
Black activists say they are alarmed by powers contained in the police, crime, sentencing and courts billTens of thousands of people are expected to join more than 40 protests against the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill on Saturday, with black activists playing lead roles in the “kill the bill” coalition.Protests against the bill, which would grant the police a range of new discretionary powers to shut down protests, are expected in cities from Edinburgh to Exeter on May Day, with the main focus of dissent expected in London. Continue reading...
Turning vegan ... a series of investigations, presented with humour and humility, into our contradictory relationships with pets, livestock and wildlife
The pair became trapped in a former lead mine at High Skears near Barnard castle before being freed by a specialist cave rescue teamTwo men have been rescued unharmed after they became trapped 800 metres underground in a disused mine near Barnard Castle.Six fire and rescue crews were called to High Skears, Middleton-in-Teesdale, on Friday, County Durham and Darlington fire and rescue service said in a statement. Continue reading...
Labor blames number of stranded Australians on failure to establish federal quarantine facilitiesScott Morrison’s government has been condemned for its “outrageous” decision to introduce fines of up to $66,600 or five years in prison, or both, for anyone defying a travel ban preventing Australians returning home from India.The travel ban officially begins on Monday, in what is believed to be the first time Australia has banned its own citizens from returning home. Continue reading...
Scores also injured in the blast in southern city of Pul-e-Alam the day before Pentagon begins to pull out its remaining forcesAt least 21 people have been killed and nearly 100 wounded after a car bomb exploded in an Afghan city south of the capital that president Ashraf Ghani has blamed on the Taliban.Friday’s blast occurred in a residential area of Pul-e-Alam, capital of Logar province, as people were breaking their Ramadan fast, and came on the eve of the formal start of the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Continue reading...
As Magnus Carlsen prepares for a two-day final with his old rival Hikaru Nakamura, Wada’s ban on Russia has reached chessIan Nepomniachtchi’s feat in qualifying as Magnus Carlsen’s official challenger in a €2m, 14-game world title series at Dubai in November was subsequently hit on two fronts. First, having won the Candidates with a round to spare, Nepomniachtchi lost Tuesday’s dead rubber in Ekaterinburg. A more significant blow came on Friday, however, when he learned that he is not allowed to play with the Russian flag beside him in Dubai, owing to his country’s ban imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency.Following Tuesday’s defeat by China’s Ding Liren, the 30-year-old Muscovite said that he lacked motivation for the game, a strange comment when a win would have raised his Fide world rating close to 2800, the super-elite level, while as it was Ding’s victory regained the No 3 spot in the ratings that he had briefly let slip a few days earlier. Continue reading...
Several thousand people went clubbing in Liverpool without Covid measures as part of a pilot to see whether social distancing measures can be eased without triggering new coronavirus outbreaks.The afternoon-admission gig was part of a series of pilot events sponsored by the UK government at which attendees, all Liverpool residents, were expected to be tested before and after the event, while researchers studied air quality in the venue Continue reading...
by Hosted by Katharine Murphy, with guests Shane Wrig on (#5H9QN)
This week, Katharine Murphy sits down with economics writers Shane Wright and Greg Jericho to discuss the Australian economy. With house prices soaring, stimulus payments being reduced and a budget on the way, what can people expect financially over the coming months? Continue reading...
In this extract from her new memoir, the New Zealand writer explains why children need to read about people like themIn 1987 I presented a paper at the Fourth Early Childhood Convention in Wellington. I titled the paper “Books Are Dangerous”. Always in my mind were the experiences of teaching reading in the small country schools, and what a difference it made to children’s learning, their self-confidence, their joy, when there were stories about them. Not only about them, but by them. This didn’t mean that they did not like the stories and books about others, because they did, but in writing their own stories and sharing them, they were able to see themselves as worthy protagonists too.In preparation for the paper, I thought about my own childhood reading. Though I had always liked books, any books, any written-down words or expressions, the ones I read as a child were always exotic. I never found myself in a book. Continue reading...
The chess grandmaster on speaking out against Vladimir Putin and why he cannot choose the best player ever“I haven’t stopped my fight against the regime,” says Garry Kasparov, his words bristling with defiance and quiet rage. “I’m not lowering my voice. Putin is not just a Russian imperialist. He has a much bigger agenda. He is an existential threat to the free world.”It would have been easy for the greatest chess player in history to stay quiet after fleeing Russia in 2013 amid a crackdown on prominent opposition figures. Kasparov, after all, is a successful businessman, an expert on artificial intelligence and cyber security, and has just launched a new website, Kasparovchess.com. But that has never been his style. Not now. Not ever. Continue reading...
Subscribe to our Modern Outback newsletter to get the latest updates from the series delivered straight to your inbox when they’re published on the Guardian websiteGuardian Australia’s Modern Outback newsletter will let you know whenever a new piece is published in our Modern Outback series. The link will be sent straight to your inbox when it is published on the Guardian website. Continue reading...
by Hannah Summers and Emmanuelle Chaze on (#5H99G)
Unicef warns many child refugees and migrants picked up off the coast of Libya will be sent to ‘appalling’ detention centresFears are rising over the numbers of lone children risking their lives to reach Europe after 114 were pulled from the Mediterranean Sea in one day this week.The unaccompanied minors were among 125 children rescued off the Libyan coast on Tuesday by the authorities, aid agencies said. Continue reading...
Queen only assumed role a month ago after death of her husband King Goodwill ZwelithiniQueen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, the traditional ruler of South Africa’s Zulu nation, has died, only a month after the 65-year-old took the role following the death of her husband, King Goodwill Zwelithini.“It is with deepest shock and distress that the royal family announces the unexpected passing of Her Majesty Queen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, regent of the Zulu nation,” Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the founder of the Inkatha Freedom party and traditional prime minister to the Zulu monarch, said in a statement. Continue reading...
Heaviest clashes in years between the two countries over disputed border leave 40 dead and 175 injuredA ceasefire on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan appeared to be holding on Friday after a day of intense fighting between the two former Soviet Central Asian neighbours that has killed about 40 people and wounded about 175.More than 7,000 Kyrgyz people have been evacuated from the area engulfed by the fighting as troops from the two countries exchanged gunfire around a water supply facility near the village of Kok-Tash, in western Kyrgyzstan on the border with Tajikistan. Continue reading...
Former minister tells public inquiry of ‘staggering scale’ of covert monitoring of peaceful protestersThe former cabinet minister Peter Hain has accused undercover police officers of lying in their secret reports about the campaign he and others ran against apartheid and racism.The Labour politician told a public inquiry the officers “very rarely told the truth” and exaggerated the threat of violence posed by the campaigners in what he called “straight lies and pernicious smears”. Continue reading...
More than 140 rights groups call for repeal of 1973 Helms amendment widely misinterpreted as total ban on funding abortion services overseasJoe Biden is being urged to clarify a longstanding US law restricting overseas aid that has been misinterpreted by successive administrations as an outright ban on funding abortion for any reason.As the US president marked his first 100 days in office on Friday, more than 140 human rights and global health organisations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International US and the Global Justice Center, signed a letter asking him to confirm that US aid can be used for abortion care in cases of rape, incest and when the woman’s life is in danger. Continue reading...
Family say it has been ‘incredibly emotional’ marking what would have been his 101st birthdayCaptain Sir Tom Moore’s family said they felt “incredibly emotional” on what would have been the war veteran’s 101st birthday on Friday, but were pleased to see his legacy going strong as they launched a fundraising weekend in his honour.The family kicked off the Captain Tom 100 Challenge at Lord’s cricket ground on Friday morning, encouraging people to raise money for charity by attempting feats based on the number 100. Continue reading...
NI agriculture minister, a young Earth creationist, thought to have been key figure in toppling of FosterThe Northern Ireland agriculture minister, Edwin Poots, is expected to replace Arlene Foster as leader of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) after winning swift endorsements to his candidacy.The Stormont assembly member is so far the only candidate to declare and appeared to gain momentum on Friday. Continue reading...
In Enniskillen for a long time, the unionists kept winning. Now the feeling is of Britishness being lostCovered up and boxed in a storage vault in the town of Enniskillen, two historic oil paintings gathered dust. King William III commissioned the portraits of himself and Queen Mary after he routed Catholic forces in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, a turning point in Irish history that established Protestant ascendance.Unionists revere King Billy, also known as William of Orange, as a hero who saved their settler ancestors. The portraits used to gaze down from Enniskillen town hall, a reminder of their link to the crown, until the council voted to remove them in 2002. Continue reading...
by Aamna Mohdin Community affairs correspondent on (#5H8ZX)
Report was condemned for claiming ‘slave period’ was not just about ‘profit and suffering’The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities has amended a controversial line on the slave trade in the race report this week after widespread criticism.The report, published in March, was condemned after it claimed there was a new story to be told about the “slave period”, which was not just about “profit and suffering”. Continue reading...
American adventurer Garrett Fisher flies in a ramshackle antique plane, dangling his camera out of the window to capture the beauty of glaciers before they disappearSatellite images and the latest scientific studies may accurately inform us how quickly the world’s glaciers are melting. But Garrett Fisher’s mission is different: to reveal the “souls” of vanishing glaciers.This, the American adventurer believes, is best achieved by flying solo over each glacier in a ramshackle antique plane and dangling his camera out of the window to capture their varied forms, textures and beauty – before they disappear forever. Continue reading...
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