As their self-titled, third album and biggest hit turns 50, we pick their best workThe Carpenters’ greatest album remains the compilation Singles 1969-1973, on which the duo remixed, re-recorded and segued their hits into one glorious gush of sound, but 1972’s A Song for You runs it close, because the album tracks are as good as the singles, as on this gorgeous portrait of a tour-weary musician. Continue reading...

We asked you to name your pet peeves of the small screen. Here are the things that rile you up – from empty cups to far too easy parking

Old and new tensions between Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens have exploded into riots and attacksThe mob that rampaged along the seafront promenade in Bat Yam, a southern suburb of Tel Aviv, started by attacking businesses owned by Palestinian citizens of Israel.The young far-right Jews, some dressed in black and chanting “death to Arabs”, had gathered after a callout on social media that explicitly threatened violence. Continue reading...

Guardian readers in Colombia comment on scenes of violence while some say they can finally speak their minds as others believe the unrest has gone too farNearly two weeks after mass anti-government protests kicked off in Colombia at the end of April, President Iván Duque has promised a national dialogue over issues raised by young demonstrators, including free university tuition.“We know we must take urgent steps to generate hope and a future for our youth,” Duque said during a brief visit to Cali, a city of over 2 million that has beeen the setting for violent clashes. Continue reading...

Drafts being prepared for senior Israeli military figures and politicians to considerIsrael’s military is drafting a plan for a possible ground operation in Gaza, as it presses ahead with a fierce air offensive on the enclave and as Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, fires volleys of rockets deep into Israel.Meanwhile, racist mob attacks have continued to spread through Israel in the worst Arab-Jewish chaos for years. Overnight on Wednesday, far-right Jewish mobs took to the streets across the country searching for Arabs, while there were reports of attempted shootings as Palestinian citizens of Israel clashed with police. Continue reading...

From a conversation about an orchid to a telephone buddy scheme, Guardian readers share their friendship tales

Analysis: The Israeli PM seemed to be on the way out, until the eruption of conflict with the PalestiniansThe escalating conflict between Israel and Gaza has put efforts to form a coalition government that excludes Israel’s longest-serving prime minister on the back burner.Until violence erupted this week, Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be on the verge of losing his position at the helm of Israeli politics after 12 years as prime minister. Continue reading...

A decade after Istanbul convention was drawn up to end gender-based violence, activists report decline in women’s rights and safetyA decade after the launch of the Istanbul convention, the landmark human rights treaty to stop gender-based violence, women are facing a global assault on their rights and safety, according to campaigners.This week marked 10 years since the first 13 countries signed up to the convention, seen as a turning point in efforts to address violence against women. Continue reading...

Aishwarya Aswath’s parents say some emergency department staff were rude and ignored their concerns for sick seven-year-old

Northern Ireland secretary makes Commons apology, but families continue to insist PM should do soBoris Johnson is to write letters of apology to the families of 10 people killed during a British army operation in Ballymurphy in 1971 after his initial attempt to apologise backfired and angered them.The Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, made a public apology on behalf of the UK government in the House of Commons on Thursday, two days after the conclusion of an inquest into the shootings, and said the prime minister would write to the families. Continue reading...

Labor leader set to continue attack over sluggish wages growth; NSW Liberal minister Gareth Ward steps down over allegations which he denies. Follow latest updates

Social media celebrity Shakiro and friend given five-year sentences as rights groups fear crackdown on LGBT+ communityTwo transgender women in Cameroon have been convicted of “attempting homosexuality” and sentenced to five years in prison, in a case feared to be part of a growing campaign against sexual minorities, according to rights groups.Shakiro, a popular social media figure, and Patricia were convicted on Tuesday. The charges included public indecency and non-possession of a national ID card, an offence rarely prosecuted in Cameroon. Continue reading...

After referring to policy that actually governs Hong Kong, PM appears to again incorrectly describe Australia’s one-China policyThe Australian prime minister has denied he spoke in error when he answered a question about support for Taiwan by referencing “one country two systems” – a policy that actually governs Hong Kong.In an interview with SBS News on Wednesday, Scott Morrison also appeared to again incorrectly describe the formulation of Australia’s one-China policy. Continue reading...

Callum Wheeler appears via video link for short hearing and is given trial date in NovemberA 21-year-old man charged with the murder of the police community support officer Julia James has appeared before Maidstone crown court and was remanded in custody.Callum Wheeler, from Aylesham, Kent, is accused of inflicting significant head injuries on James, 53, while she was out walking her dog. Continue reading...

Research shows lack of trust in government as deadline to apply for settled status approachesOne in 10 EU nationals in the UK are considering leaving after 30 June, the deadline for applications to remain lawfully in the country post-Brexit, according to a survey.Common reasons cited in the research included a lack of trust in the government and a feeling that the UK is a less welcoming place as a result of Brexit, with 30% of respondents saying they had concerns that their rights would not be upheld by public bodies. Continue reading...

From running to the shops in Jamaica to wrapping himself in the Union Jack, the Olympian has had phenomenal highs and bruising lows. He looks back on an extraordinary life in athletics

Housewarmings banned and limits imposed on weddings and funerals in anti-corruption driveAuthorities in a Chinese county have banned public servants and Communist party members from having birthday parties, housewarmings and other banquet celebrations.Authorities in Funing county, in Yunnan province, also put caps on weddings and funerals, limiting guest numbers and food budgets. The measures, seemingly targeted at potential corruption, include bans on using official vehicles for business or collecting gifts and cash that are “obviously higher [value] than normal reciprocity”. Continue reading...

Investigations into leaders closed after judges find no grounds for the cases and describe the situation as an ‘illegal embarrassment’Human rights activists in Brazil have warned that the country’s authorities are targeting indigenous leaders after police launched investigations into two prominent critics of the government of Jair Bolsonaro.Sônia Guajajara, the head of Brazil’s largest indigenous organization, the Association of Indigenous Peoples (Apib), and Almir Suruí had been put under investigation last month over social media campaigns raising awareness of the threat that Covid-19 poses to Brazil’s indigenous population. Continue reading...

Mélanie Laurent is excellent as a woman who wakes up in a cryogenic pod with enough oxygen to last the length of the filmHere is a single-location mystery thriller from first-time feature screenwriter Christie LeBlanc which is more than a bit on the preposterous side. It requires some hefty levels of disbelief suspension and plausibility buy-in. But the excellent Mélanie Laurent (from Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds) sells it hard, and it’s a rather elegant contrivance, more restrained than usual from this director, the shlock-horror specialist Alexandre Aja.Laurent plays a woman who wakes up enclosed in a cryogenic hi-tech pod, slightly bigger than a coffin, surrounded by screens and readouts, hooked up to various life-support wires. She can’t remember who she is or why she is there, although she is almost immediately plagued with traumatised flashbacks of being rushed into hospital. Or is she rushing someone else into hospital? She can’t move. She can’t get out. And, increasingly, she can’t breathe. She realises that her oxygen levels will last only around a 100 minutes, the length of the film, in fact, which plays out in real time. And her only friend, the only one who can help her in this claustrophobic nightmare, is the velvety Hal-type voice of the controlling computer, drolly provided by Mathieu Amalric, which in time-honoured style is inscrutable, but with a hint that it knows more and could do more than it is letting on. Continue reading...

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...