Groups that have been fighting military for decades have voiced support for anti-coup protestersA prominent ethnic armed group in Myanmar says it has captured a military base near the Thai border, as clashes escalated days after the junta chief committed to immediately end violence in the country.The junta has launched brutal crackdowns against civilians in an attempt to suppress the opposition it faces from the public. Some of Myanmar’s ethnic armed groups, which have spent decades fighting the military for greater autonomy, have voiced support for anti-coup protesters. Continue reading...

Committee says regulations are muddled and discriminatory while large fines ‘criminalise the poor’

Charities and human rights campaigners say restarting evictions during pandemic is ‘inhumane’ and could cause rise in Covid cases

Witnesses will be asked to respond to claims the ’Ndrangheta has laundered billions of euros in City of LondonIn a high-security, 1,000-capacity courtroom converted from a call centre, Italy’s largest mafia trial in three decades is under way in Lamezia Terme, Calabria. About 900 witnesses are set to testify against more than 350 defendants, including politicians and officials charged with being members of the ’Ndrangheta, Italy’s most powerful criminal group.Several of the defendants will be asked to respond to charges of money laundering over establishing companies in the UK with the alleged purpose of simulating legitimate economic activity. Continue reading...

From Quito to Kathmandu, millions will be endangered by cuts affecting planning for floods, earthquakes and fires, experts say

Else Knutsdatter, one of 91, mainly women, executed, was burned to death in fishing community of VardøExactly 400 years ago, a violent storm proved deadly to a woman who did not even witness it. This was the outcome of one of the biggest witch trials in Scandinavian history, in the Norwegian fishing community of Vardø.A sudden storm in December 1617 sank many boats and drowned 40 men. Previously, a famous trial had been held of people accused of raising a storm to sink King James I’s ship, and there was a growing belief that witches could cause storms. Continue reading...

Guardian Australia picture editor Carly Earl explains the dos and don’ts of photographing the celestial spectacle

Pezzullo says countries such as Australia must brace ‘for the curse of war’The home affairs department secretary, Michael Pezzullo, has been urged to “tone down” his language after a speech in which he warned of an increasing drumbeat to war and argued Australia should not avoid conflict at the price of liberty.The comments come just days after the new defence minister, Peter Dutton, warned of possible war with China over Taiwan, part of an escalation of rhetoric that Australia could be drawn in to a war over China’s territorial disputes with regional allies. Continue reading...

Police have condemned the brutal attack on the women accused of witchcraft in the capital of Port MoresbyTwo women have been brutally attacked in Port Moresby by up to 20 men after being accused of witchcraft, in the latest instance of sorcery-related violence in Papua New Guinea.The women were tortured and burnt with hot irons for hours on Sunday in a settlement at 5 Mile in the capital. Continue reading...

Video shows some of the 53-strong crew singing Sampai Jumpa, an Indonesian hit whose title translates as GoodbyeA poignant video has emerged showing the crew of a sunken Indonesian submarine singing happily together on board their vessel.The video, filmed a few weeks before the KRI Nanggala 402 went down with all hands lost, shows some of the 53-strong crew singing Sampai Jumpa, an Indonesian hit whose title means Goodbye. Continue reading...

Opposition leader says he is not commenting on the prime minister’s faith but believes in a separation between church and state

Slow vaccine rollout cited as the difference between the two countries, both of which have virtually no community coronavirus cases

Over 6,000 Covid patients in French ICUs for first time since April 2020; US to share AstraZeneca vaccines it has not authorised for its own use

Appeals judges expressed concern about guards shining light into the British socialite’s cell every 15 minutesAppeals judges hearing bail arguments seemed sympathetic on Monday to claims that the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell is unjustly kept awake at night by guards ensuring she doesn’t die in jail in New York – in the way that Jeffrey Epstein did in 2019 while awaiting his sex trafficking trial.Two of three judges on a second US circuit court of appeals panel in Manhattan expressed concern about light shone in her cell every 15 minutes at night as Federal Bureau of Prisons (BoP) guards make sure she is breathing. Continue reading...

Analysis: Tory sources say PM’s aides are too inexperienced to handle toxic briefing wars in No 10

Tory sources have lent weight to claim PM said he’d prefer thousands of deaths to another lockdown

Two people injured and staff and students evacuated from the scene in West SussexPolice have arrested an 18-year-old man near Crawley college and are investigating his background after an incident in which two people were injured and students and staff evacuated.Scores of officers rushed to the scene in West Sussex after reports of gunshots on Monday afternoon, which are as yet unverified. Police scoured the college campus for any suspect amid chaos and confusion as to what caused the alert. Continue reading...

Jamal Hijazi was attacked in a Huddersfield playground and had to flee town after ‘anti-Muslim’ claims about him by far-right activistA Syrian teenager who is suing Tommy Robinson for libel is seeking between £150,000 and £190,000 in damages from him.A lawyer for Jamal Hijazi, who was filmed being attacked in a Huddersfield playground and had to flee the town after the far-right activist aired “entirely distorted anti-Muslim” claims about him, also said Robinson had continued during the libel trial to exacerbate distress caused to the family. Continue reading...

Caitlin McNamara’s lawyers say she is taking the step after the CPS refused to prosecute Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al NahyanA British woman who accused a senior United Arab Emirates royal of sexually assaulting her has issued a formal claim for damages.Caitlin McNamara is claiming damages for multiple sexual

Experts welcome new regime but call on UK government to strengthen domestic anti-corruption measures

Sean Doyle confident the airlines investment in refurbishing premium cabins, seat and lounges will pay offWealthy holidaymakers buying premium seats will cushion airlines from the decline in business flying, according to the boss of British Airways.The company’s chief executive, Sean Doyle, said that contrary to research suggesting the airline industry will lose much of its most lucrative clientele, he believed corporate travel would return after the coronavirus pandemic, “but exactly what shape that takes we’re not sure”. Continue reading...

As the force struggles with rising case numbers, under-funded non-government agencies are left to do heavy liftingThe Queensland police service employs fewer than 90 officers as specialists in domestic and family violence, despite case numbers rising to more than 100,000 a year across the state.As the QPS attempts to understand its own “failures” to protect murdered Gold Coast mother Kelly Wilkinson, support services and victims’ advocates have spoken out about the chronic under-resourcing of programs designed to intervene to prevent harm to women. Continue reading...

Chloé Zhao, Anthony Hopkins, Daniel Kaluuya ... diversity has truly taken root at the Oscars – with women, older characters and people of colour being recognisedEven before the curtain fell, this year’s Oscars attracted a lot of labels. Oddest Oscars ever! That seemed fair: no hosts, no songs, just 170 guests clapping in a train station. Most sombre Oscars ever? Also true. A global pandemic and a lot of films inspired by police brutality don’t make for the frothiest few hours.Most boring Oscars ever? That, too, has some validity: the meticulous stage-managing dictated by Covid protocols made for a remarkably smooth – and platitudinous – ceremony, with none of the slips that can help keep viewers from snoozing. Continue reading...

Current and former HDP members may face life sentences in what critics call a ‘revenge trial’Turkey has put 108 Kurdish politicians on trial in what critics say is politically motivated “revenge” for their alleged roles in deadly protests in 2014 sparked by the Isis takeover of the Syrian border town of Kobani.Proceedings on Monday got off to a tense start when defence lawyers walked out of the Ankara courtroom, alleging that some of their colleagues had not been allowed in for “arbitrary and unlawful” reasons. Continue reading...

IOPC to consider complaints by his mother, Evidence Joel, and explore whether race played roleThe police watchdog is investigating complaints made by Richard Okorogheye’s mother and considering whether race played a role in the way the Metropolitan police handled reports of her son’s disappearance.The 19-year-old, who was a first-year business and IT undergraduate at Oxford Brookes University, was reported missing from Ladbroke Grove, west London, by his mother, Evidence Joel, on 23 March. She made further calls to the Met the following day. Continue reading...

A video released by the Indonesian military shows the crew of the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine singing the song Sampai Jumpa ('Goodbye') together, weeks before the vessel sank in the Bali Sea. None of the 53 crew members survived. The submarine was found broken in three parts on the seabed

That’s what one German billionaire says. But it’s not why the Aztecs and the hippies were such fans

Vaccinated Americans could be let into Europe this summer, while UK talking to member states such as Greece

Laura Booth became malnourished after she was admitted to Sheffield hospital for eye operation in 2016The death of a young disabled woman following a routine eye operation was partly caused by malnutrition as a result of neglect, a coroner has ruled.Laura Booth, 21, was admitted to the Royal Hallamshire hospital in Sheffield in September 2016 for a routine eye operation. She died the next month, on 19 October. Continue reading...

Continuing UK’s nuclear deterrent would probably require help of an allied country, defence expert says

Bereaved families call PM’s alleged comment ‘a punch in the stomach to all those grieving’

Dozens of high-profile actors feature on website making fun of Germany’s coronavirus restrictions

With $55 toothpaste and whitening treatments road-tested on TikTok, looking after your teeth is becoming fashionable. It’s even been rebranded as ‘oralcare’

Overblown musical pomposity to some, the guitar solo is seen as a benchmark of brilliance to many. But which is best?

Move by prosecutor comes ahead of expected ruling to outlaw opposition movement as ‘extremist’

Filled with product placement and advertising, the band’s newly reissued 1967 album put the pop in pop art, by showing how closely music was entwined with capitalThese days, we think of the period between 1965 and 1967 as one of white-hot musical progress, a dizzying three-year period during which innovation followed innovation, a succession of totemic albums and singles were released and pop music changed irrevocably. But, as Jon Savage’s superb book 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded made clear, not everyone at the time was impressed with how things were going. Savage’s research revealed a succession of contemporary naysayers, devoted to “ringing the death knell” as he put it: 1966 – The Year Pop Went Flat was noted music journalist Maureen Cleave’s assessment of 12 months that had seen the release of Revolver, Blonde on Blonde, Reach Out (I’ll Be There), Eight Miles High, It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World and 19th Nervous Breakdown.The most striking contemporary quote of all might be one that didn’t appear in Savage’s book. “People aren’t jiving in the listening boxes in record shops any more, like we did to a Cliff Richard ‘newie’,” it lamented, before qualifying: “I like some of the new sounds, purely as sound, that are coming out of pop music.” Continue reading...

Top doctor says leaks continue to happen because federal experts ‘deny’ virus is airborne; Facebook removes MP Craig Kelly’s page, saying he repeatedly breached its misinformation policy. Follow the latest updates, live

The mobile library services are an education lifeline for students in Balochistan, where schools have closed during the pandemic

The Coliseo Gallistico de Santo Domingo returns to hosting rooster fights after a year of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic with an audience capacity of 20 percent. Continue reading...

Angie Thomas talks about exploring violence and black fatherhood in her latest young adult novel – and why she’s hoping it won’t be bannedAngie Thomas does not hesitate when I ask whether her new novel will be banned somewhere. “Absolutely, I’m expecting it,” she replies. “Adults don’t like talking about teenage sex, they don’t want to get uncomfortable.” She has good reason to think so: The Hate U Give, her bestselling debut, was pulled from schools in the city of Katy, Texas. “The initial objection focused on swearing and the discussion of sexual acts and drugs. In her new young adult novel, Concrete Rose, drugs and violence are more than discussed: the book follows 17-year-old Maverick Carter, a self-described “drug-dealing, gangbanging, high school flunkout … who got two kids by two different girls”.Readers of The Hate U Give will recognise Maverick as Starr Carter’s father, and Concrete Rose – Thomas’s third novel – is effectively its prequel. Once again, the reader is transported to the fictional US city of Garden Heights and the pacey, highly readable story of “Mav”, whose world is turned upside down when he becomes a father. How can he escape the gang he’s affiliated with, when the only routes out are prison or death? Continue reading...

An impromptu dance masterclass became an instant highlight, but Steven Soderbergh’s directorial shakeup delivered a ceremony with few highs and frequent depressionsIn a skewiff ceremony of overlong speeches, quiet applause and a downsized red carpet, one moment effortlessly stole the show: Glenn Close doing the dance to the 1988 funk hit Da Butt. Continue reading...

29 April 1946 Carrion crows often to blame for the killing of weaker lambsCumberland

Overshadowed by Syria, the lessons of Libya from the past decade have barely been cross examinedThe last days of Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi 10 years ago conjure up competing images of defiance, defeat and death.In March 2011, in one of his last public appearances and with rebellion against his regime gathering around him, the soon-to-be-deposed leader arrived at the People’s Congress in Tripoli riding an electric golf cart. Continue reading...

Mauro Morandi has lived alone on Budelli since 1989 but will relocate after several eviction threats

Chloé Zhao made history as the first woman of colour to win best director with her drama about van-dwellers as Hopkins and Frances McDormand won top acting honoursDuring an unusual Oscars ceremony, on-the-road drama Nomadland triumphed with a win for best picture, best actress and a historic victory for Chloé Zhao, becoming the first woman of colour to be named best director and only the second woman ever.The film, starring Frances McDormand as a woman living out of her van and interacting with real-life nomads, took home the top trophy near the end of a delayed night and a delayed season amid the pandemic. The ceremony played out in person but with safety precautions and a modest guest list. Continue reading...

At the 93rd Academy Awards, Anthony Hopkins wins best actor, Frances McDormand wins best actress – and Glenn Close does ‘the butt’Oscar winners 2021: the full list – updating live!Oscars 2021: predictions, timetable and what to expect4.21am BSTI’m really not sure what to make of that ceremony at all. On one hand, the Oscars obviously needed to be shaken up, and this year presented a perfect opportunity. But on the other, all the changes were bad and I didn’t enjoy any of it.Briefly, I missed the suffocating heft of the Oscars proper. I missed presenters doing bits, instead of just genuflecting aimlessly at the nominees. I missed having best picture at the end. I missed clips of the films. I missed a lot. But, hey, at least it was relatively short. That’s a big plus.4.16am BSTFor The Father. But he isn’t there, so there’s no speech and then it ends. Abruptly. A bit too abruptly? It’s finished now, and it ended with no dramatic flourish whatsoever. What a weird, weird night this is. Continue reading...

McDormand wins third best actress Academy award for her role in Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland

The new government led by the son of late president Idriss Déby says it is pursuing rebels into Niger, but capital may still face assaultChad’s military transitional government has said it will not negotiate with the rebels blamed for killing the country’s president of three decades, raising the possibility that the armed fighters might press ahead with their threats to attack the capital N’djamena.A spokesman for the rebel group known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (Fact) said on Sunday that it was now joining forces with other armed groups who oppose the Mahmat Idriss Déby taking control of the country following the death of his father. Continue reading...