Ressa has been subject to sustained campaign of gendered online abuse and has been targeted by Philippine leader Rodrigo DuterteThe UN’s cultural agency has awarded its annual press freedom prize to Philippine journalist Maria Ressa whose reporting has made her a target of her country’s judiciary and online hate campaigns.Ressa, a former Asia lead investigative reporter for US network CNN and head of domestic network ABS-CBN News, now manages the news website Rappler whose reporting has attracted the wrath of Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte. Continue reading...

Grieving relatives of the dead forced to wait hours for a funeral pyre amid an explosion of new Covid casesCrematoriums in Delhi are being inundated with so many bodies that they have been forced to build makeshift funeral pyres on spare patches of land as the Covid crisis sweeping India led to an explosion of new cases.Crematoriums across the capital are struggling to cope, with grieving relatives forced to wait up to 20 hours for a funeral pyre for their loved ones. Continue reading...

Slowing down relaxation of coronavirus restrictions also among measures suggested by Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

Digital health certificates could show whether tourists have been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from the virus

Singer rarely takes part in hearings but has asked to speak directly to court, lawyer saysBritney Spears will personally address the Los Angeles court dealing with her long-running conservatorship in June, a judge agreed on Tuesday.Spears, 39, has been under a conservatorship since 2008 but rarely takes part in hearings. Her lawyer said on Tuesday that she had asked to speak to the court directly, but he did not say what matters she wished to raise. Continue reading...

KCTMO censored blog by Grenfell Action Group which warned of a potentially disastrous fire, inquiry hearsGrenfell Tower’s landlord blocked staff computers from accessing a residents’ blog which raised concerns about the building’s refurbishment and warned of a potentially disastrous fire, the inquiry into the 14 June 2017 blaze has heard.The Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) considered the Grenfell Action Group blog “scaremongering and potentially frightening to the residents”. It blocked access to it on its servers so staff working on the project could not view posts from around 2013 onwards. Continue reading...

Former chancellor cited concerns about the potential for donors to expect political favoursThe former chancellor Alistair Darling turned down an offer to chair a trust to refurbish No 10 and No 11 Downing Street, citing grave concerns about the potential for donors to expect political favours, the Guardian understands.The former chancellor, one of only three living Labour politicians to have lived in Downing Street, is understood to have been approached because of this connection to the building while there was a desire within the Cabinet Office for the trust to be established on a cross-party basis. Continue reading...

Former minister Lady Sugg also accuses Foreign Office of cutting key sexual health programmes

Fresh picture is emerging of government infighting as Covid-19 cases ticked upwards in the autumn

A catastrophe is unfolding in India as hospitals run out of oxygen, the Guardian’s south Asia correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, reports from Delhi. And the country – the world’s foremost vaccine producer – is now constrained in how much it can export while it deals with the disasterWhen India emerged relatively unscathed from its first wave of Covid-19, there was a sense in the country that somehow it was an exception. The prime minister, Narendra Modi, had brought in a strict lockdown and it seemed to have worked: victory against the coronavirus was proclaimed.The Guardian’s south Asia correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, tells Anushka Asthana that the situation now couldn’t be further from a victory against the virus. With a second wave spreading out of control across India, its healthcare system is unable to cope. Shortages of staff, beds and oxygen are compounding the catastrophe. Continue reading...

Opponents hope investigation will torpedo chances of re-election for far-right president

Airport may have to turn to shareholders for cash after Civil Aviation Authority decision

Tories say university has failed to swiftly address allegations that a professor used offensive tropes

Former leader of neo-Nazi party convicted in absentia in 2020 faces extradition to AthensWhen the authorities caught up with Ioannis Lagos, they caught up with him fast. The MEP, once a feared leader of Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, has been arrested hours after he was stripped of his immunity as an elected member of the European parliament and told he would be extradited to Athens.Seized in his Brussels home on Tuesday, the convicted lawmaker had been sentenced to 13 years after a Greek court determined at the end of a landmark trial in 2020 that Golden Dawn was a criminal organisation masquerading as a political party. Continue reading...

After a year of delays, the next 12 months offers a wealth of big, awards-aiming movies from intimate dramas to historical epicsIt’s not often that the word unusual gets attached to the Oscars, one of the most staid and predictable nights of the year, as sober as the Golden Globes is drunk. But after an unusual year, the awards season followed suit, extended by two months, films dropping in and out of the race and some that might otherwise have been ignored instead taking centre stage.Related: And this year’s Oscar for inclusivity goes to … the Academy! Continue reading...

Clashes flare in capital city over military takeover after death of President Idriss DébyProtests have erupted across Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, and its second largest city, Moundou, as people demanded a return to civilian rule after the military took control following President Idriss Déby’s death on the battlefield last week.Protesters backed by opposition groups defied a ban on demonstrations on Tuesday morning, starting fires and marching in different parts of the city before being dispersed by security forces firing teargas and live ammunition. Continue reading...

It’s good for the environment and your wallet – so it’s no surprise that repairing is all the rage. From vacuum cleaners to microwaves, here’s what to fix and what to forget

Human Rights Watch calls on international criminal court to investigate ‘systematic discrimination’ against Palestinians

Exclusive: Torture survivors and lone children stuck in Greece and Italy after Home Office ‘deliberately’ ends cooperation on family reunionsThe Home Office has been accused of failing to reunite vulnerable refugees who have the right to join family in the UK under EU law, leaving lone children and torture survivors stranded.The government faced widespread criticism when it announced that family reunion law would no longer apply after the UK left the EU, and it promised that cases under way on that date would be allowed to proceed. Continue reading...

Exclusive: almost 150 religious heads say ‘every person is precious’ as they demand end to vaccine nationalism

Vladislav Ivanov says he regretted his decision to join Produce Camp 2021 but fans refused to vote him outThe reality TV ordeal of a Russian who joined a Chinese boy band show by accident – and made it to the final despite urging fans to vote him off – has finally ended after nearly three months.Vladislav Ivanov, a 27-year-old from Vladivostok, was kicked out of the Produce Camp 2021 on Saturday after viewers ignored his pleas to leave and backed him all the way to the final. Continue reading...

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