More than 9,000 Australians remain trapped in India by the Coalition’s Covid travel ban. Many travelled before the crisis to visit sick and dying relatives, and say they are angry at their treatment. Here are six of their storiesThe backlash has been fierce in the days since the Australian government moved to make it a criminal offence for its citizens to return from Covid-ravaged India.Members of the Morrison government have denounced their own policy, while medical experts and international human rights groups, including the United Nations, have called for an immediate reversal of the Biosecurity Act determination. Continue reading...

Sinn Féin, Labour, SDLP and Alliance accused Downing Street of betraying victims of violencePoliticians in Northern Ireland have condemned reports that the UK government is to ban prosecutions of British army veterans for alleged crimes during the Troubles.Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the Alliance party and Labour accused Downing Street of betraying victims of violence and making a shameful attempt to protect security force personnel at the expense of justice. Continue reading...

Ombudsman says police were at fault when four people were killed in Divis and Ardoyne areas in 1969Police blundered at the dawn of Northern Ireland’s Troubles by using vehicle-mounted machine guns in residential areas and not effectively investigating the ensuing deaths, including that of the first child killed in the conflict, according to a new report.The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) committed “significant operational and investigative failures” during the killing of four people in Belfast on 14 and 15 August 1969, the police ombudsman said in a report published on Thursday. Continue reading...

First research of its kind shows power of vaccines to stem pandemic, cutting hospitalisation, death and infection rates

Thursday: Contact tracers scramble to contain Sydney coronavirus outbreak. Plus: Queensland police blocked research into domestic violence cases and officer attitudesGood morning. Contact tracers in NSW are scrambling to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the community, Queensland police face scrutiny over domestic violence inaction, and the Guardian marks its 200th birthday. That, and more aplenty in Thursday’s morning mail.NSW is bracing for more cases of community transmission after a man who tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday has health authorities concerned due to his level of activity while potentially infectious. The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said the man, aged in his 50s, had been “very active in the inner east” areas of Sydney prior to being tested on Tuesday. As contact tracers scramble to identify people who may have been exposed to the virus, Berejiklian praised the man for using venue QR codes, making it easier for them to issue a list of venues of concern. Continue reading...

I had never imagined how horribly the company my father works for was entangled with the story of my West Papuan partner​They make great trucks. That’s what my father says whenever I ask him: “What do they make? Who do they sell them to?” “Only to the good guys,”​​​​ is his standard answer, and the topic changes quickly. But what he calls “trucks”, most people call “tanks”. And ​I am always led to wonder, “What kind of ‘good guy’ drives a tank?”My father works for Thales, one of the richest weapons corporations in the world. Before heading up security for Thales he worked for Asio, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson dispatches two gunboats to protect island from feared blockade

Publication represents close of ‘fruitless 18-year legal war’ between estates of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and wife ConsueloIt was a romance that helped inspire one of the great works of 20th-century fiction and a bitter conflict between his heirs, but a new book of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s love letters to be published on Thursday suggests a reconciliation may finally have been achieved.The Little Prince, by the French aviator, poet and war hero Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is said to have sold more than 200m copies in 450 different translations since it was first published in 1943. Continue reading...

Molly Forbes, who has died aged 96, will be remembered by many as the Scottish woman who stood up to Donald Trump.When Trump tried to buy the Forbes’ farm for his Aberdeenshire golfing resort, the family resisted. He attempted to have compulsory purchase orders taken out, saying at a press conference in 2010 that the farm was “a pigsty”, “slumlike” and “disgusting”. Molly responded with a banner across her hen shed reading: “TRUMP THE GREATEST LIAR”. Trump did not succeed in buying the farm. The golf course was opened on 10 July 2012 but the luxury hotel was never built. Continue reading...

Halima Cisse was expected to have septuplets but gave birth to nonuplets at a hospital in MoroccoA Malian woman has given birth to nine babies – all “doing well so far” – in what is thought to be a world record for the most children in a single birth to survive.Halima Cisse had been expected to give birth to seven babies, according to ultrasounds conducted in Morocco and Mali that missed two of the siblings. The nonuplets – five girls and four boys – were all were delivered by caesarean section. Continue reading...

Expert witness tells inquiry of 20 serious fires that meant danger of panels was well known in industry

Brexit has settled the UK’s relationship with the EU for years to come. Labour’s duty now is to help improve leavers’ livesTraditionally, Europe is the issue that afflicts the Conservative party. Margaret Thatcher, John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May were all – in different ways – booted out of Downing Street as a result of Britain’s troubled relationship with Europe.The political pattern has now been turned on its head. It will be five years next month since the UK voted narrowly to leave the European Union, and the Tories have accepted the result and moved on. Labour now says that it is reconciled to a post-Brexit future, but its predicted defeat in the Hartlepool byelection suggests the new approach has failed to convince. Continue reading...

Not only are little dogs more likely to lash out, they also tend to be less obedient and less well house-trainedName: Small dogs.Age: Human years x 7. Continue reading...

The UN has condemned the violent repression of protests in Colombia after clashes between police and demonstrators left at least 18 dead and 87 people missing. The demonstrations began with a general strike last Wednesday over an unpopular tax change but quickly escalated when protesters were met by riot police armed with teargas, bean-bag rounds and billy clubs. The now-axed policy would have hiked taxes on individuals and business during a coronavirus pandemic that continues to ravage public health and the economy

Kamen, who appeared in seminal 1985 Levi’s 501 advert, died on Tuesday after a long illness, it is understoodNick Kamen, who sprang to fame as a Levi’s model and later became a singer-songwriter, has died at the age of 59, a friend of his family has confirmed.Kamen died on Tuesday night after a long illness, it is understood. Continue reading...

PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X; Capcom

Move comes as France threatens to cut off electricity to island in row over post-Brexit licences for fishing boatsFrench fishers are threatening to blockade the ports in the Channel Islands in an escalation of a post-Brexit row in which the French maritime minister has backed calls to cut off Jersey’s electricity supply.French officials have also said they will close their offices in Jersey and stop products from the island entering France. Continue reading...

Reality TV star named in US court papers over relic bought in her name and sought by Italian authoritiesThe US government has named Kim Kardashian in a civil forfeiture claim for an ancient Roman statue seized at Los Angeles port in June 2016 that Italian officials think was originally looted from Italy.According to the court documents, the statue, known as Fragment of Myron’s Samian Athena, had been bought by Kardashian from a Belgian art dealer. It has been assessed to be an early to mid-Roman empire copy of a statue in the ancient Greek style. Continue reading...

Decision to allow expeditions to go ahead dealt blow after outbreak on world’s seventh highest mountain

They are versatile, forgiving and long lasting – but it’s easy to overlook carrots. Here are some inspiring new ways to use themCarrots are always with us. Even in the UK, the season is practically year round. Properly stored carrots can last for months. Improperly stored – which is the way I do it – they go a bit bendy after a couple of weeks. Their robustness also has a downside: we often use up more delicate purchases first, knowing the carrots will still be there in the fridge when the fun stuff has run out. Versatile though they may be, carrots don’t immediately inspire. And they certainly don’t get any more inspiring as they get bendier.It doesn’t have to be this way. Carrots come in an enticing variety of sizes – from giant to micro – and a rainbow of colours. Orange is not the only carrot: there is also purple and yellow and white. We also need to consider non-standard carrot shapes: the bent, knobbly and two-legged. Carrots are subject to more fussy aesthetic scrutiny than almost any other vegetable. It is estimated that between a quarter and a half of all carrots grown are discarded for cosmetic reasons before they reach the shelves. If you see an ugly carrot, buy it. Continue reading...

Sturgeon says SNP would wait until after Covid crisis, but new Alba party could be a disruptive influenceElections for the Scottish parliament are taking place on Thursday. We examine the possible results and their implications for a future independence referendum. Continue reading...

Prosecutors reviewing pending cases after two ex-soldiers acquitted of killing Official IRA commander Joe McCannThe prosecution of British army veterans accused of crimes during the Troubles in Northern Ireland hangs in the balance after the collapse of a murder trial of two former paratroopers.The region’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS) is preparing to review pending cases after the two ex-soldiers were acquitted in a closely-watched trial on Tuesday, setting a possible precedent. Continue reading...

In the pandemic, nightclubs have been turned into exhibition spaces, switching the craze for museums evoking clubs. It’s throwing fresh perspective on what dancing is even forThe ttttssshhhhhh of a smoke machine breaks the silence as a red spotlight blinks to life, illuminating social distancing markers on a dancefloor polished smooth by the shuffling of feet. The soundsystem kicks into gear with an anthem by techno star Dave Clarke. But the DJ booth is empty, and the only ravers here are the ones frozen in time, trapped behind glass as photo displays.This is Echoing Through Eternity, the pop-up museum exhibit currently showing at Fuse, a venue in the hip Marolles district of Brussels that has been serving its community for the last 100 years, first as a cinema and then a Latin discotheque before emerging as one of Belgium’s best techno clubs. The exhibition features slick posters, wacky flyers (rubber gloves, fake driving licences) and colourful photos from the club’s storied past. Most of the material has come from its own archive, but there are personal items here too, submitted by the club’s devoted community after an open call on social media. Starting with its LGBTQ roots, the exhibit winds through the main dancefloor, with a stop off at the DJ booth, and ends in a three-minute club simulation upstairs. Continue reading...

Conservative Isabel Díaz Ayuso vows to continue combative approach to dealings with Spanish governmentIsabel Díaz Ayuso, the conservative president of the Madrid region who inflicted a stinging defeat on her leftwing opponents in Tuesday’s snap election, has vowed to carry on acting as a “counterweight” to Spain’s Socialist-led coalition government.Although her People’s party more than doubled its seat count and won more seats than the three leftwing parties combined, Ayuso fell just short of an absolute majority, meaning she will have to rely on the support of the far-right Vox party to form a new regional government. Continue reading...

The man in his 50s attended a Bondi Junction cinema and several stores, while the source of his coronavirus infection is unclear

Christopher Marinello has spent three decades finding missing masterpieces, recovering half a billion dollars’ worth of art. He talks about threats from mobsters, tricky negotiations – and bungling thievesOne summer morning in 2008, Christopher Marinello was waiting on 72nd Street in Manhattan, New York. The traffic was busy, but after a few minutes he saw what he was waiting for: a gold Mercedes with blacked-out windows drew near. As it pulled up to the kerb, a man in the passenger seat held a large bin-liner out of the window. “Here you go,” he said. Marinello took the bag and the car sped off. Inside was a rolled-up painting by the Belgian artist Paul Delvaux, Le Rendez-vous d’Ephèse. Its estimated worth was $6m, and at that point it had been missing for 40 years.Marinello is one of a handful of people who track down stolen masterpieces for a living. Operating in the grey area between wealthy collectors, private investigators, and high-value thieves, he has spent three decades going after lost works by the likes of Warhol, Picasso and Van Gogh. In that time, he says he has recovered art worth more than half a billion dollars. When I call him, he answers, then abruptly hangs up. “I was just on my way to a police station to recover a stolen sculpture,” he explains later, apologising. Continue reading...

On 5 May 1821, the paper reported on revolutions in Naples and Sardinia as well as events in Moldavia, Odessa and Portugal

To mark the Guardian's 200th birthday, an array of names from culture, science, politics and activism wish us a happy birthday and celebrate the impact we've had on their lives and careers Continue reading...

There is more to this rich and varied country than Gabriel García Márquez, coffee and its violent past. Novelist Julianne Pachico shares her favourite books about her childhood homeGrowing up in Colombia in the 1990s, I rarely saw any tourists. That has changed dramatically in the past decade, especially following a historic peace deal with the Farc in 2016. My novel The Anthill examines the transformation of Medellín from a war-torn city wracked by violence into a trendy, rapidly gentrifying destination for digital nomads, bitcoin investors and self-righteous religious groups. But the past is never easily shed.It’s wonderful that more people are interested in Colombia, but there’s so much more to it than Gabriel García Márquez, coffee, and its violent past. It’s unlikely that any of us are going on any international trips anytime soon, but in the meantime, here’s a list of my favourite books about the country, which will hopefully help keep the travel bug in check, and better acquaint readers with depictions of Colombia beyond the headlines. Continue reading...

Man jailed for contempt of court is suing judge Salvatore Vasta for loss and damages after allegedly being traumatised in Queensland jails

The singer spent hard years touring west Africa to pursue his dream of a music career, but a chance holiday meeting – and relocation to the Kent coast – sealed the dealTen years ago, Falle Nioke was sitting with only his bolon drum for company in a Gambian jail cell, some 3,000 miles from the Kent seaside town of Margate where he now lives and light years from his current world of domestic bliss and critical acclaim.Raised in Conakry, Guinea, the 33-year-old singer and percussionist spent most of his 20s as part of a touring group of musicians that played across west Africa, a pursuit often hamstrung by arrests pertaining to immigration permits. Nioke survived by whatever means necessary to hold on to his musical passion. “I used to make soap and go to the market to sell it to pay the rent,” he says today. “If someone was selling rice, we would sing for them and we would get some fees and some food.” His indelibly positive worldview was forged during these years. “Everywhere I have been, there are people who will be happy to help,” he says. Continue reading...

Services Australia tells Senate inquiry it continued accepting repayments from more than 123,500 people after November 2019Nearly 1,000 robodebt victims had their debts sent to an external debt collector even after the government had admitted in court that the program was unlawful, new figures show.A Commonwealth Ombudsman’s report released last month lashed Services Australia for failing to halt all debt recovery activities after November 2019, when the Morrison government accepted its method for raising debts was “legally insufficient”. Continue reading...

Daily life will vary depending on where you live, and how local officials decide to implement – or ignore – public health measuresFor many months, members of the public have equated a return to “normal life” with the phrase “herd immunity”: that threshold reached when the Covid-19 pandemic would be boxed in by immunization campaigns, find no new hosts and society would return to a 2019-style normal. Continue reading...

On the Guardian’s 200th anniversary, our editor-in-chief sets out how media can help rebuild a better world beyond CovidI remember the day, in late March 2020, when I first worried that we might not be able to publish a newspaper, for what would have been only the second time in the Guardian’s history. I had driven into the office – no one was taking the train any more. Classed as an essential worker, I was permitted to travel, but the streets were utterly silent, with every school, cafe and shop closed.I sat down with colleagues, spaced apart by yellow tape, to work out whether we could gather enough people to produce a print edition. We could publish the digital Guardian from anywhere, but to publish the newspaper, we needed a small number of people in the office. A handful of colleagues volunteered, but I wondered how we would be able to keep everything going. People were anxious for their families and friends and themselves – and frightened, too, for what kind of world we were entering, and what we would be left with. Continue reading...

Anyone who installs satellite dishes could face a one-year prison sentence or $320 fine, military-controlled media reportedMyanmar’s military junta has banned satellite dishes, threatening prison sentences for anyone who violates the measure, as it intensifies its crackdown on access to independent news outlets.The junta, which faces unanimous opposition from the public and has struggled to maintain order, has imposed increasingly tough restrictions on communication since seizing power on 1 February. Continue reading...

More than 300 objects relating to emperor are being sold by French auction house Osenat, marking the 200th anniversary of his death Continue reading...

A Guardian analysis finds EU countries used brutal tactics to stop nearly 40,000 asylum seekers crossing bordersEU member states have used illegal operations to push back at least 40,000 asylum seekers from Europe’s borders during the pandemic, linked to the death of more than 2,000 people, the Guardian can reveal.In one of the biggest mass expulsions in decades, European countries, supported by EU’s border agency Frontex, systematically pushed back refugees, including children fleeing from wars, in their thousands, using illegal tactics ranging from assault to brutality during detention or transportation. Continue reading...

Muhammadu Buhari under pressure from allies and opposition, as wave of violence leaves country on edgeNigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari has come under mounting pressure from critics and allies alike as the country reels from multiple security crises that have claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks.An alarming wave of violence has left millions in Africa’s most populous country in uproar at the collapse in security. Attacks by jihadist groups in the north-east have been compounded by a sharp rise in abductions targeting civilians in schools and at interstate links across Nigeria. Mass killings by bandit groups in rural towns, a reported rise in armed robberies in urban areas and increasingly daring attacks on security forces by pro-Biafran militants in the south-east have also all risen. Continue reading...

President to tread fine line as he lays a wreath to ‘commemorate rather than celebrate’ anniversary

Here are the current coronavirus hotspots in New South Wales and what to do if you’ve visited them

‘Nobody’s going to be jailed … at this time,’ deputy PM Michael McCormack says

This year’s Nikon surf photo of the year award goes to Stu Gibson for his shot Free Fall, featuring surfer Tyler Hollmer Cross taking on Shipsterns in south-east Tasmania. The winner has been selected by a panel of 13 high-profile judges from within the surfing world, including the seven-time world surfing champion Stephanie Gilmore

Country’s economy battered by more than a year of border restrictions imposed after the Covid outbreak

Opposition leader has denounced the decision but the prime minister has applauded it saying the next election was ‘up to the Lord’Samoa will be heading back to the polls after the most dramatic election in the country’s history left the country deadlocked, with threats of legal action and fears of “diversion” and “trickery”.The South Pacific nation will vote again on 21 May after the Samoan head of state – a separate position to the country’s prime minister – Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II announced on Tuesday he had revoked the results of the general election held on 9 April. Continue reading...

Former deputy prime minister says he led ‘a project that changed the history of our country’

India records 357,229 new daily cases; law that would lift curbs for those with all jabs discriminates against young people who won’t be able to get jabs for months

Recipients of certain Nobel prizes, Oscars and Brit awards can bypass existing immigration process under new rulesOscar winners, Nobel prize recipients and Brit award-garlanded overseas musicians are among foreign nationals who will be fast-tracked for UK visas under a tweak to immigration rules announced by the Home Office.The list of qualifying awards is hugely prestigious, meaning anyone who uses the new scheme would almost certainly have succeeded in getting a visa via the existing “global talent” route, introduced in 2020. For scientists, it covers Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry or medicine, and the Fyssen international prize, while for mathematics, just the Fields medal is listed. People from computing, engineering and social science have a handful of eligible gongs. Continue reading...

Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s conservatives take 65 of 136 seats and will need support of far-right Vox party