Exhausted doctors warn sceptical patients that Covid is real as Port Moresby general reaches capacityThe emergency department of the largest hospital in the capital of Papua New Guinea is hot, stuffy and full. People sit lined up outside the front counter, waiting to be seen.It has been divided into two sections: the front continues to operate as a traditional emergency room, while the back is now a Covid-19 isolation ward, treating the most serious cases of the virus. Continue reading...
Joe Biden is holding his first press conference as president, appearing in the White House’s East Room to take questions from reporters.Biden began his press conference by announcing his administration’s new goal for the distribution of coronavirus vaccines.The president is now aiming to have 200m vaccine doses administered by the time he hits the 100-day mark of his presidency late next month.
‘Rascal’ or ‘Nickel’ who ended up in station after straying from a nearby marsh was captured and released safelyLost and confused passengers are a common sight on the Toronto metro system, but a puzzled, fare-evading beaver wandering a subway station is probably a first for the city.An underground station in Canada’s largest city was shut down on Thursday after a beaver unwittingly ended up on its terrazzo tile floors after straying from a nearby marsh. Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday, Maya Wolfe-Robinson and Dan Sabbagh on (#5FSRS)
Sources say authority at centre of corruption allegations lost millions through questionable transactionsAs much as £100m of public money is believed to have been squandered by a “dysfunctional” council at the centre of corruption allegations.Multiple sources said Liverpool city council was thought to have lost out on tens of millions of pounds “at a conservative estimate” through questionable transactions over several years. Continue reading...
The director was a prolific and legendary figure, making films in a dizzying range of genres from crime to sci-fi, satire to jazzIf any film-maker was a living, breathing, flesh-and-blood icon of French cinema, it was Bertrand Tavernier, the legendary, prolific director and a proud son of Lyon – which was itself arguably the historical epicentre of cinema, as the city where Auguste and Louis Lumière set up business. In 2017, I went to the Lumière festival in that city, and was briefly introduced to him there. Tavernier’s presence was indispensable: I have a photograph of a raucous dinner hosted by Thierry Frémaux with Benicio del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón, and Tavernier is an impish, grinning figure to be glimpsed in the mirror, loved by everyone there, a sprightly tutelary deity.Related: Bertrand Tavernier, veteran French director of Round Midnight, dies aged 79 Continue reading...
Maj Gen Nick Welch believed to be the most senior officer to face court martial since 1815A senior army officer has been found guilty of dishonestly claiming almost £50,000 in allowances to pay for his children’s boarding school fees.Maj Gen Nick Welch, who is believed to be the most senior officer to face court martial since 1815, was convicted of fraud following a four-week trial at Bulford military court in Wiltshire. He is due to be sentenced on Friday. Continue reading...
by Hosted by Gabrielle Jackson with Lenore Taylor and on (#5FSJ1)
What will it take for Scott Morrison to grasp the moment and use his influence to create cultural change in the Liberal party and parliament? Gabrielle Jackson talks to Lenore Taylor and Katharine Murphy about the week in politics and what immediate steps the prime minister could takeRead more on this issue: Continue reading...
Tributes paid to ‘one of the greatest foreign correspondents’ of a generationTributes have been paid to Martin Woollacott, the Guardian’s former foreign correspondent and foreign editor, who has died at the age of 81.Sir Max Hastings, the author, journalist and broadcaster, was among those who praised Woollacott’s record and reputation. “Martin was one of the greatest foreign correspondents of my generation, a man we all looked up to for his wit, shrewdness, companionship, literary fluency, judgment – and courage,” he said. Continue reading...
Avon and Somerset force said in press release officers had broken bones and one had a punctured lungAvon and Somerset police have retracted widely reported claims that officers suffered broken bones and a punctured lung during attempts to disperse a protest on Sunday night.There was widespread outrage when the force made the claims in a press release on Monday that “a total of 20 officers were assaulted or injured and two of them were taken to hospital after suffering broken bones. One of them also suffered a punctured lung,” the force had said. Continue reading...
The director and the rock star composer have now collaborated on four films and discuss their work on the overwhelming Oscar favourite, plus why Bird Box made no sense and whether Fight Club could come to BroadwayOne of the US’s greatest living directors is keeping his camera switched off for our Zoom call, but he sounds so cheerful – “Hey! It’s Fincher!” – that he might as well be communicating in smiley-face emojis. Perhaps it is the effect of the 10 Oscar nominations announced a few days earlier for Mank, his acclaimed, affectionate film about the writing of Citizen Kane. Meanwhile, Trent Reznor – who, with his musical partner in Nine Inch Nails, Atticus Ross, has composed the scores for all the director’s movies since 2010 – joins the call a moment later, and proves less camera-shy. He pops up in a brown tracksuit, seated beside a keyboard in a bright, cluttered room. Fincher gives him a chipper greeting: “Trent-O!”They are here to discuss a partnership that has spanned four pictures: the Facebook origin story The Social Network, the thrillers The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl, and now Mank. It has also brought awards nominations for each of them, as well as an Oscar in 2011 for the baleful, festering music composed by Reznor and Ross for The Social Network, their first film score. I congratulate both men on their most recent nominations. Reznor has received two this year for his scores with Ross: one for Mank, the other for the Pixar fantasy Soul. “It’s brought the ratio down a bit,” he says softly. “It was always nice being able to say: ‘One film, one win.’” Continue reading...
As he prepares to release Dinosaur Jr’s 12th studio album, the slacker icon discusses his conflicted attitude towards hippies and his unlikely affection for Harold and Maude and All My ChildrenI live a mile from the house I grew up in in Amherst, Massachusetts. Our dad was a dentist, but like a cobbler’s son has no shoes, he didn’t like to treat us because work was his own space. So my mom would make appointments to see him under a fake name. As a teenager, I was kind of a dick. I had opinions on everything. Continue reading...
Mural discovered last year is thought to depict a zoomorphic, knife-wielding spider god associated with rain and fertilityArchaeologists in northern Peru have identified a 3,200-year-old mural painted on the side of an ancient adobe temple that is thought to depict a zoomorphic, knife-wielding spider god associated with rain and fertility.The mural – applied in ochre, yellow, grey and white paint to the wall of the 15m by 5m mud brick structure in the Virú province of Peru’s La Libertad region – was discovered last year after much of the site was destroyed by local farmers trying to extend their avocado and sugarcane plantations. Continue reading...
by Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington on (#5FS7H)
Awwad al-Awwad, former aide of crown prince, denies threatening to ‘take care of’ Agnès CallamardThe Saudi official who is alleged to have twice issued threats against the independent UN investigator Agnès Callamard is the head of the kingdom’s human rights commission, and formerly served as an aide to the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.Awwad al-Awwad is alleged by a person familiar with the matter to have twice threatened to “take care of” Callamard at a January 2020 meeting with senior human rights officials in Geneva. Continue reading...
Masterpiece painted in 1432 in St Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent reopens in new home described as ‘perfect’One of the world’s greatest masterpieces, and surely the most stolen piece of art of all time, Hubert and Jan van Eyck’s Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, also known as the Ghent Altarpiece, has a new €30m (£26m) glass-case home.While remaining within St Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, for which it was painted in 1432 by the Van Eyck brothers, the 12-panelled polyptych will be located in the Sacrament chapel, the cathedral’s largest and most easterly chapel, within a bullet-proof display case measuring 6-metres high by 100 metres. Continue reading...
Workers freshening up markings in beach town of Sabaudia painted ‘Sotp’ instead of ‘Stop’ in bold lettersA typo in a road marking has caused amusement among residents of a town near Rome, helping to break the monotony of the coronavirus lockdown.Workers freshening up markings earlier this week at an intersection on Via Regina Margherita in the beach town of Sabaudia painted “Sotp” instead of “Stop” in bold letters. Continue reading...
Judges reject appeal by Jonathan Beere and Daniel Payne, who said radar showed convictions were unsafeTwo members of the Freshwater Five convicted more than a decade ago of attempting to smuggle £53m of cocaine into the UK have lost an appeal against their convictions.Jonathan Beere, 51, and Daniel Payne, 46, who were jailed for 24 and 18 years respectively for conspiracy to import 250kg of cocaine, had presented new evidence to the court said to show it was “simply impossible” for the men to have collected the drugs. Continue reading...
Exclusive: palace and government refuse to say why exemption from 2017 law was deemed necessaryPolice have been barred from searching the Queen’s private estates for stolen or looted artefacts after ministers granted her a personal exemption from a law that protects the world’s cultural property, the Guardian can reveal.Buckingham Palace and the government are refusing to say why it was deemed necessary in 2017 to give the Queen an exemption that prevents police from searching Balmoral and Sandringham. Continue reading...
As the world awaits the monstrous thrills of the new blockbuster Godzilla vs Kong, the genre’s big-hitters slug it out for top place Continue reading...
More of us turn our noses up at mass-produced pet food and prepare our own, which must follow strict nutritional advice. Felicity tries out some recipes on Wilf“We trust people to leave the hospital with a baby and keep it alive,” Debora Robertson, journalist and author of Dogs’ Dinners and Cooking for Cats, sighs down the phone. “We trust them to feed their children, but not their pets. Isn’t that mad?” Dog behaviourist Louise Glazebrook agrees: “The constant explanation that we could not possibly be relied upon to feed a dog without one of three multinational corporations putting it in a bag and flogging it to us at a ridiculous price really does make my blood boil.”Put like that, it does seem strange. Yet, like many pet owners who cook for other humans without a second thought, I’m oddly nervous of admitting I sometimes also prepare food for my terrier. Robertson recalls when she first wrote about it: “I felt like I was coming out of a very strange closet … but it was clearly a big one, because so many people got in touch to say they did it too. It all went a bit nuts to be honest.” Continue reading...
Signoret straddled the classic era of French cinema, 1960s Hollywood and British kitchen-sink drama in a series of brilliant performances. On the 100th anniversary of her birth, we look back at the highlights Continue reading...
Singer has requested change of ‘care manager’ but father Jamie will retain role in her financesBritney Spears has petitioned for her father to be permanently removed from overseeing her personal affairs in the conservatorship that has governed her life since 2008.Spears’ conservatorship consists of two parts: her finances and her personal life. Jamie Spears temporarily stepped back from managing the latter in September 2019 owing to health issues, but retained control over her finances. Continue reading...
Have you been bingeing on the biggest shows and boxset hits of the past year? As our series on pandemic viewing continues, test your telly chops with forty fiendish questionsThe Undoing, starring Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman, was based on a novel by Jean Hanff Korelitz. What was its name?Why Didn’t You Know?You Should Have KnownHow Could You Have Known?Does Anyone Know?In Schitt’s Creek, why did Johnny purchase the town?It came with a lifetime supply of ice-creamTo create a nature reserveAs a birthday gift for DavidFor tax purposesIn the TV adaptation of David Nicholls’s Us, Douglas compared the family’s European voyage to a tour by which band?ColdplayU2Guns N' RosesLittle MixWhat was the name of Arabella’s drug dealer turned boyfriend in I May Destroy You?BaldoBaccoBiagioBorisWhat unorthodox method did the makers of The Crown adopt initially to try to make Gillian Anderson resemble Margaret Thatcher?Putting Blu Tack on her gumsPutting two wigs on her head at the same timeGetting her to frown for six hours a dayTaking her to a psychic to try to connect with the former prime ministerLooking For LaToya was a true-crime parody set in the universe of which series?Pen15Gangs of LondonInsecureTed LassoIn the banking drama Industry, what advice did Yasmin’s mum give to her daughter's friend who was looking to get into publishing?Do an unpaid internshipAsk your dad for contactsDo a PhDMarry richJoe Exotic of Tiger King infamy once ran for governor. In which state and which year did he run?Ohio, 2001Oklahoma, 2018Kansas, 2017Texas, 2020Steph McGovern began hosting a chatshow in 2020, broadcasting from her …GardenAtticGarageCellarTo what did Charlie Brooker compare the UK government's chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, in his lockdown special Antiviral Wipe?Tintin, prematurely aged after watching his dog drownAn overcooked boiled eggA Victorian ventriloquist’s dummyStewie from Family Guy after his sixth divorceSteve McQueen’s film Small Axe: Mangrove was based on a real court case in 1970. How many protesters were placed on trial?SixSevenNineThirtyThe Inside No 9 episode Death Be Not Proud was a crossover with which other series?The League of GentlemenPsychovilleNighty NightEastEndersWhat was the name of the character played by Hayley Squires in the pornography drama Adult Material?Jojo MoneyJolene DollarJosie RichJolene, Please Don't Take My ManIn which country would you find the city of Ushuaia, the endpoint of the second series of Race Across the World?MexicoPeruArgentinaUruguayWhich of the following is not a name associated with a fuzzy, green protagonist in The Mandalorian?Baby YodaThe ChildGroguKuiilIn Lovecraft Country, what was George Freeman’s favourite book?Wuthering HeightsThe Picture of Dorian GreyDraculaFrankensteinWho is this actor, who starred in Des?David TennantJames TaylorJason WatkinsJeremy NorthamUnorthodox was the first Netflix original series to be made primarily in what language?DutchArabicSpanishYiddishHow did Beth learn to play chess in The Queen’s Gambit?The orphanage janitor gave her lessonsShe visualised a chess board that she has seen in a dreamHer parents took her to a chess clubWikipediaUzo Aduba starred in Mrs America – but whom did she play in Orange Is the New Black?Crazy EyesCrazy LegsCrazy FrogJanetLouis Theroux revisited his career highlights in 2020 for a new series, Life on the Edge. What else did he do last year?Moved to CanadaStarted a podcastMade a documentary about Melania TrumpAsked fans to stop making memes of himTo which country did Marianne move for her Erasmus year in Normal People?NorwaySwedenDenmarkPolandIn Quiz, Diana schooled Charles on which singer?Cliff RichardCraig DavidCarly SimonCandi StatonIn the reality hit Selling Sunset, what company-branded product is never in short supply at the Oppenheim office?WineBiscuitsSunglassesToothpasteIn I Hate Suzie, Billie Piper’s title character was scared that a series of leaked nude images would lead her to lose a contract with which company?NestleScrewfixHeinzDisneyOn which lockdown reality TV hit would you find these people?Married at First Sight AustraliaLove Island AustraliaThe CircleToo Hot to HandleThe Sopranos was a huge hit with lockdown rewatchers – but from where in Italy did the family hail?NaplesRomePisaMilanFollowing the success of The Masked Singer, which masked-up reality contest will air next on ITV?The Masked ArtistThe Masked DancerThe Masked DaterThe Masked ShowjumperRenamed to avoid a clash with another show, what was the original title of Russell T Davies’s Aids drama It’s a Sin?MenLadsChapsBoysAlthough it has not aired since 2019, Succession has continued to be much discussed. In keeping with his quirky role, what footwear did Nicholas Braun (Greg Hirsch) wear to last year’s Emmys?Ugg bootsFlip-flopsCrocsOrthopedic sandalsLupin – a recent hit for Netflix – has been described as the French equivalent of which British literary character?MoriartyRafflesPaddington BearRobin HoodWhere did I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here take place in 2020?A castle in WalesA fort in IrelandA forest in ScotlandHyde Park, LondonDisney+ launched last year amid lockdown – approximately how many subscribers does it have?50 million100 million150 millionIn the 12-hour livestream event The Third Day: Autumn, what did Jude Law spend 30 minutes doing?CryingDigging a holeSinging a songEmbroideringWhich of the following is not a real critique of Emily In Paris from French media and viewers?It showed Paris as the city of “baguettes and Ratatouille"It was “all about fashion, romance and croissants”It showed French people as “mean and lazy”That Emily “did virtually no work to become an influencer”What was the name of Kim’s workplace in the fifth season of Better Call Saul?Salsa VerdeMesa VerdeBank of AmericaLos Pollos HermanosDuring their interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex introduced her to rescue animals of which variety?DonkeysCowsDogsChickensIn The Last Dance – Netflix's series focused on Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls – what is the name of the team coach?Michael JacksonJerry JacksonPhil JacksonJerry KrausPeter Sawkins became the youngest-ever person to win The Great British Bake Off in 2020. How old was he?17192023To which comedy series did this title card in WandaVision pay homage?Malcolm in the MiddleModern FamilyFrasierFriends40 and above.You really made the most of the whole staying-indoors-with-nothing-to-do thing – and for that we applaud you39 and above.You really made the most of the whole staying-indoors-with-nothing-to-do thing – and for that we applaud you38 and above.You really made the most of the whole staying-indoors-with-nothing-to-do thing – and for that we applaud you37 and above.You really made the most of the whole staying-indoors-with-nothing-to-do thing – and for that we applaud you36 and above.You really made the most of the whole staying-indoors-with-nothing-to-do thing – and for that we applaud you35 and above.You really made the most of the whole staying-indoors-with-nothing-to-do thing – and for that we applaud you34 and above.You really made the most of the whole staying-indoors-with-nothing-to-do thing – and for that we applaud you33 and above.You really made the most of the whole staying-indoors-with-nothing-to-do thing – and for that we applaud you32 and above.You really made the most of the whole staying-indoors-with-nothing-to-do thing – and for that we applaud you31 and above.You really made the most of the whole staying-indoors-with-nothing-to-do thing – and for that we applaud you30 and above.You really made the most of the whole staying-indoors-with-nothing-to-do thing – and for that we applaud you29 and above.Not bad at all. You weren’t glued to your sofa, but you clearly watched most of the big hits in between Zoom calls28 and above.Not bad at all. You weren’t glued to your sofa, but you clearly watched most of the big hits in between Zoom calls27 and above.Not bad at all. You weren’t glued to your sofa, but you clearly watched most of the big hits in between Zoom calls26 and above.Not bad at all. You weren’t glued to your sofa, but you clearly watched most of the big hits in between Zoom calls25 and above.Not bad at all. You weren’t glued to your sofa, but you clearly watched most of the big hits in between Zoom calls24 and above.Not bad at all. You weren’t glued to your sofa, but you clearly watched most of the big hits in between Zoom calls23 and above.Not bad at all. You weren’t glued to your sofa, but you clearly watched most of the big hits in between Zoom calls22 and above.Not bad at all. You weren’t glued to your sofa, but you clearly watched most of the big hits in between Zoom calls21 and above.Not bad at all. You weren’t glued to your sofa, but you clearly watched most of the big hits in between Zoom calls20 and above.Not bad at all. You weren’t glued to your sofa, but you clearly watched most of the big hits in between Zoom calls19 and above.A decent enough result - but you’ve clearly been getting out of the house more than the rest of us18 and above.A decent enough result - but you’ve clearly been getting out of the house more than the rest of us17 and above.A decent enough result - but you’ve clearly been getting out of the house more than the rest of us16 and above.A decent enough result - but you’ve clearly been getting out of the house more than the rest of us15 and above.A decent enough result - but you’ve clearly been getting out of the house more than the rest of us14 and above.A decent enough result - but you’ve clearly been getting out of the house more than the rest of us13 and above.A decent enough result - but you’ve clearly been getting out of the house more than the rest of us12 and above.A decent enough result - but you’ve clearly been getting out of the house more than the rest of us11 and above.A decent enough result - but you’ve clearly been getting out of the house more than the rest of us10 and above.A decent enough result - but you’ve clearly been getting out of the house more than the rest of us9 and above.You didn’t watch any TV this year, and that’s ok. Perhaps you did something more useful in lockdown ...8 and above.You didn’t watch any TV this year, and that’s ok. Perhaps you did something more useful in lockdown ...7 and above.You didn’t watch any TV this year, and that’s ok. Perhaps you did something more useful in lockdown ...6 and above.You didn’t watch any TV this year, and that’s ok. Perhaps you did something more useful in lockdown ...5 and above.You didn’t watch any TV this year, and that’s ok. Perhaps you did something more useful in lockdown ...4 and above.You didn’t watch any TV this year, and that’s ok. Perhaps you did something more useful in lockdown ...3 and above.You didn’t watch any TV this year, and that’s ok. Perhaps you did something more useful in lockdown ...2 and above.You didn’t watch any TV this year, and that’s ok. Perhaps you did something more useful in lockdown ...0 and above.You didn’t watch any TV this year, and that’s ok. Perhaps you did something more useful in lockdown ...1 and above.You didn’t watch any TV this year, and that’s ok. Perhaps you did something more useful in lockdown ... Continue reading...
Ricardo Audish, who was 38 at the time of the attack in 2016, was found guilty of three counts of aggravated sexual assault in companyA jury has taken two hours to find a Sydney pizza shop worker guilty of gang-raping a teenager in the back of his restaurant in 2016.Ricardo Audish was found guilty on Thursday of three counts of aggravated sexual assault in company by a NSW district court jury. Continue reading...
Halt to interviews in March last year due to Covid has had ‘devastating emotional impact’Children are emotionally and physically falling apart because the asylum system ground to a halt during the pandemic, according to social workers and charities.Young people who have arrived in the UK on their own have faced huge delays in receiving an asylum decision as the Home Office system for interviewing children largely ground to a halt last March, resulting in a “devastating emotional impact”. Continue reading...
High court ruling last year concluded Hollywood actor assaulted his ex-wife Amber HeardThe Hollywood actor Johnny Depp has lost a bid to overturn a damning high court ruling that concluded he assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard and left her in fear for her life.Following a three-week trial in July last year, Mr Justice Nicol dismissed the star’s libel claim against the publisher of the Sun, finding that a column published in April 2018 calling Depp a “wife beater” was “substantially true”. Continue reading...
We have a unique window to analyze how the virus overlaps with chronic illnesses – but medicine has a habit of dismissing women who suffer from themHelene Fox was recovering from surgery to remove endometriosis when she caught Covid-19. It had been six weeks since her laparoscopy and although she had been walking every day, following her surgeon’s instructions, she had only been on short 30 minute walks around her neighbourhood. Then a sunny March day presented itself and Helene took advantage of it. “It was the first time I’d done a long walk through the park and along the canal in East London, and I was really excited because I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got the energy for this. This is the beginning of my recovery.’”The day after her glorious long walk, still feeling better, Helene went to the pub with friends. Ten of those friends, including Helene, ended up with Covid-19. Continue reading...
by Fady Hossam, Noah Payne-Frank, Christopher Cherry on (#5FRZW)
The Covid vaccination programme has begun in the Gaza Strip amid daily power cuts, and supply and capacity problems in the health system. Dr Ayman Rahma is part of the team responsible for the distribution of vaccines. The territory has only received 62,000 doses so far for a population of more than 2 million. With Israel disputing that it bears responsibility for vaccinating Gazans or for letting vaccines enter Gaza, Rahma explains how the political situation is impacting the health sector Continue reading...
More sceptical member states hope ‘stick will never be used’ amid concerns over supply chainEU leaders are likely to shy away from supporting the use of new powers to block Covid vaccine shipments to countries such as the UK with better jab coverage than the bloc, according to a draft statement ahead of a meeting of EU leaders today.The European commission has increased its scope for blocking vaccine exports but disquiet among capitals is set to be reflected in a muted statement at the end of the virtual summit on Thursday evening. Continue reading...
Head of dredging company says Ever Given is stuck on the sand and containers may have to be unloaded, a process that could take weeksThe mission to unblock the Suez canal after a vast container ship became wedged has entered its third day, as pressure builds on authorities to get one of the world’s key trade arteries flowing again.Efforts to refloat the 220,000-ton, 400-metre-long Ever Given resumed on Thursday after a brief overnight suspension, amid fears the operation could potentially take weeks if the vessel needs to be unloaded. Continue reading...
by Naaman Zhou (now) and Amy Remeikis (earlier) on (#5FRG8)
Simon Birmingham says government working to ‘get to the bottom of these allegations’; Liberal MP Andrew Laming apologises over correspondence that ‘fell short’ of expectations; PM considers cabinet reshuffle. This blog is now closed
As country reaches 300,000 fatalities, doctors condemn ‘politics of death’ but pledge to fight onLike so many on Brazil’s left, Pedro Carvalho was certain Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency would prove a nightmare: for human rights, for the environment and for the national health system the 41-year-old doctor cherishes and serves.“I felt this profound sadness, just utter, personal sadness,” Carvalho remembered of the fateful moment in October 2018 that the far-right populist was confirmed as his country’s new leader. Continue reading...
by Kalyeena Makortoff Banking correspondent on (#5FRP6)
Lobbying registrar to look at ex-prime minister’s work on behalf of Greensill Capital, according to reportsA formal investigation has been launched into whether David Cameron breached lobbying laws through his work on behalf of Greensill Capital, according to reports.However, the Guardian understands the former prime minister will say he was acting as an employee for the firm. According to guidance by the register of consultant lobbyists, people who lobby on behalf of their own organisation do not need to declare themselves on the register. Continue reading...
A documentary series about Demi Lovato shows how brutally controlled the singer’s diet once was, and, as other pop performers attest, it’s control that underpins damaging behaviourFor eight years of her life, Demi Lovato was served a watermelon cake for her birthday. This wasn’t a watermelon-flavoured version of a proper cake with all the good stuff like butter, sugar and flour, but rather an actual watermelon with some icing on top.The reason for this was that her team at the time were “trying to keep her weight down”, according to Lovato’s best friend Matthew Scott Montgomery, who is interviewed as part of Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil, the YouTube documentary series premiering this week. Her team would police what she ate, he says, and those she was with were also required to eat only when Lovato ate, with no snacking outside of meals, in an attempt to “keep her well” and avoid triggering a relapse into the restrictive eating disorders she struggled with as a teenager. Continue reading...
Legislation allowing three days’ leave applies to parents, their partners, and parents planning to have a child through adoption or surrogacyNew Zealand’s parliament has voted unanimously to give mothers and their partners three days of bereavement leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth.Labour MP Ginny Andersen, who presented the bill, said it would allow parents to come to terms with their loss without being forced to use up their sick leave entitlements. “The grief that comes with miscarriage is not a sickness; it is a loss,” she said. “That loss takes time – time to recover physically and time to recover mentally; time to recover with a partner”. Continue reading...
Radical new plans to reduce traffic and limit our dependence on cars have sparked bitter conflict. As legal challenges escalate, will Britain’s great traffic experiment be shut down before we have time to see the benefits?
Chinese social media condemns statements by the companies as celebrities cancel contracts with brandsAnger with Nike has erupted on Chinese social media after the company issued a statement saying it was “concerned about reports of forced labour” in China’s Xinjiang province, and that it would not source textiles from the region.The backlash over the Nike statement was among the highest trending topics on China’s Twitter-like social media Weibo on Thursday. Continue reading...
The Olympic torch relay to the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games began its 120-day journey across Japan following a low-key ceremony at a football training complex in Fukushima. The ceremony was closed to the public as Japan maintains strict restrictions around the Covid-19 pandemic. Azusa Iwashimizu, a member of the Japanese team that won the women’s World Cup in 2011 was the first torchbearer, running through sparsely populated local streets. Large crowds have been discouraged from gathering, and the few who did attend were asked to wear masks, socially distance and refrain from cheering or shouting
Projectiles are believed to have landed in the sea outside Japan’s exclusive economic zoneNorth Korea test fired two ballistic missiles early on Thursday, in the biggest challenge so far to Joe Biden’s attempts to engage the regime over its nuclear weapons program.The projectiles were launched on North Korea’s east coast and are believed to have landed in the sea outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, officials in Tokyo said. Continue reading...
Efforts to free the giant container ship are continuing after the 400m-long vessel became stuck in the Suez canal. Local authorities attempted to dislodge the 220,000 ton vessel from the banks of the canal using tug boats, but the megaship remains stuck more than one day after it ran aground. The blockage has caused an extensive traffic jam, with more than 100 ships laden with cargo including oil, automotive parts and consumer goods waiting to get through one of the world’s key trade arteries
Publicists and studio executives have reportedly complained about logistics, costs and quarantine issuesThe “no Zoom” policy for this year’s Oscars ceremony is proving a headache for multiple nominees who live outside the United States and who are still under pandemic restrictions, according to Hollywood publications.Variety and Deadline Hollywood reported on Wednesday that publicists and some studio executives have complained to the film academy about logistics, costs and quarantine issues raised by the decision to bar nominees from taking part in the ceremony remotely. Continue reading...
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