World news | The Guardian

Exclusive: vulnerable residents forced to visit GPs as vaccine deliveries in top-priority phase run behind scheduleFailures with the federal government’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout are forcing residential disability care providers to circumvent the system and approach general practitioners directly to secure supplies for vulnerable residents, rather than waiting for deliveries to arrive at their facilities.Disability care residents and their support workers were included in the highest priority stage for the commonwealth’s vaccine rollout, phase 1a, and were to be serviced by in-reach teams who would visit disability accomodation to administer the vaccine. Continue reading...

Body found in Epping Forest pond matches description of missing Oxford Brookes student, police tell motherThe mother of the missing student Richard Okorogheye has spoken of her devastation after being told by police that a body found in Epping Forest matched her son’s description.Okorogheye, 19, has not been seen since leaving the home he shared with his mother, Evidence Joel, in Ladbroke Grove, west London, on the evening of 22 March. Continue reading...

João Vale de Almeida said the protocol is ‘the solution for the problems created by Brexit’Political leaders who want the Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland dumped have failed to come up with any better ideas, the EU ambassador to the UK has said, as police confirmed 41 officers were injured during violence on the streets over the weekend.João Vale de Almeida called on unionist leaders to focus on making the protocol work rather than fighting against it, pledging the EU’s commitment to flexibility on its implementation if the British government demonstrated good faith. Continue reading...

Ownership of the Ogopogo legend has renewed discussions over the appropriation of traditions and the challenges Indigenous nations face to reclaim their culturePeople living on the shores of Okanagan Lake have long said that dark, curling waves signal the presence of Ogopogo, a monstrous serpent lurking beneath the surface.A handful claim to have seen the long green body and horse-like head of Canada’s own Loch Ness monster. They tell stories of a creature that once nearly killed a settler when it dragged his horse into the depths. And every few years, new video footage renews excitement that Ogopogo has been found. Continue reading...

The British Palestinian is up for an Oscar with her debut, filmed at a notorious Israeli flashpoint called Checkpoint 300. The London-based director talks about her shocking visits to the Middle EastFarah Nabulsi was at home in west London when she found outher film The Present had been nominated for the Oscar for best live action short. She’d persuaded her teenage sons to stay home and watch the announcement. When she heard her name, she jumped up on the table. Her eldest looked at her as if she’d gone mad. He’d got it into his head that this was the actual ceremony and she had lost. “He was like, ‘Why are you so happy? They didn’t pick you.’ He killed the moment.”The film is Nabulsi’s directing debut, a powerful 20-minute piece of humanist cinema about a Palestinian man, Yusef (Saleh Bakri), who wants to surprise his wife with a fridge as an anniversary gift. He takes the couple’s young daughter, Yasmine (Mariam Kanj), shopping. But their big day out is ruined by two encounters with Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint. Yasmine is a witness to her dad’s humiliation – she tugs on his sleeve, reminding him to bite his tongue, to swallow the soldiers’ insults. It is a study of injustice that – like the best shorts – doesn’t try to cram too much in. Continue reading...

Exclusive: equality campaigners say review downplays discrimination faced by minority communitiesBoris Johnson has been urged to repudiate and withdraw last week’s much maligned race disparity report, which provoked a huge backlash from critics who accused it of downplaying racism in the UK.An open letter, whose signatories include the race equality thinktank Runnymede Trust, civil rights campaign group Liberty, African diaspora social enterprise Ubele Initiative and Black Lives Matter UK, says the report “whitewashes” daily challenges faced by minority communities and that its claims have prompted “public incredulity and national indignation”. Continue reading...

Mexico currently has the highest Covid death rate in the world and its hospitals are at breaking point, writes Prof Charles Posner. It is time for the UK government to add it to the travel red listAs someone who worked in and with the Mexican government for many years, I wish to congratulate you for your timely article highlighting the fact that Mexico is being devastated by the Covid pandemic (A Mexican tragedy: country’s crippling Covid crisis comes into sharp focus, 3 April).The death rate is now the highest in the world. The rollout of the vaccination programme, with its reliance on the Sputnik vaccine, has been chaotic. Hospitals have reached breaking point. The mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, and other entities cannot rely on the federal government led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador to allow her and colleagues to institute a coherent and sustainable policy. Continue reading...

Models, influencers and Kardashians are embracing the consciously ill-fitting way to make your swimsuit last longer. Hopefully the look won’t catch on

Heart of Invictus will follow athletes who will compete in games for injured veterans in The Hague in 2022Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have announced the first show of their multimillion dollar deal with Netflix – a documentary covering the behind-the-scenes story of the Invictus Games.Heart of Invictus will follow the journeys of individuals who are competing at the Prince Harry-backed sporting event for injured former members of armed forces. Harry will appear on camera and be credited as an executive producer on the series, which will cover the run-up to the 2022 Invictus Games in The Hague. Continue reading...

Young, which releases music by the xx, FKA twigs and more, acknowledges ‘hurt and confusion’ caused by previous nameThe record label Young Turks, home to the xx, FKA twigs, Sampha and more, has changed its name to Young to avoid connotations with genocide.The Young Turks were a diverse group of intellectuals and revolutionaries who formed amid tensions in the Ottoman empire in the early 20th century. They helped usher in the 1908 revolution that deposed ruler Sultan Abdulhamid II and brought democracy. Continue reading...

Search continues for Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring and Two Laughing Boys, stolen last year

First autobiography from Foo Fighters and Nirvana musician will chart ‘all the experiences I’ve had in my life – incredible, difficult, funny and emotional’Dave Grohl has announced the publication of his first memoir, entitled The Storyteller.The Foo Fighters frontman and Nirvana drummer wrote the book during the pandemic when his band were unable to tour, and after he began posting short stories from his career on Instagram. “I soon found that the reward I felt every time I posted a story was the same as the feeling I get when playing a song to an audience, so I kept on writing,” he says. “The response from readers was as soul-filling as any applause in an arena. So, I took stock of all the experiences I’ve had in my life – incredible, difficult, funny and emotional – and decided it was time to finally put them into words.” Continue reading...

If re-elected, Sadiq Khan wants to set up a commission to look at decriminalising the drug

Blizzard and high wind warnings in place for parts of Scotland amid unseasonably cold weatherAny hedgehogs, dormice or badgers thinking of emerging from hibernation probably took one look at the thermometer on Tuesday morning and snuggled right back into their beds.Shiveringly cold temperatures, as low as -4.2C, put the “brrr” into spring overnight, with parts of the country blanketed by up to 11cm (4.3in) of snow. Continue reading...

President says, however, that there is little chance of him achieving a majority coalitionIsrael’s president has nominated Benjamin Netanyahu to try to form a government after the latest inconclusive election, but voiced doubt that any lawmaker could forge a parliamentary majority.The 23 March election, Israel’s fourth in under two years, did not produce a clear path for any candidate to form a coalition capable of commanding a majority in the 120-member parliament, prolonging an unprecedented phase of political gridlock. Continue reading...

European drug regulator is to update its recommendation on the shot having previously said it was safe

Communities call for protection after string of killings linked to rush for land to grow coca, under cover of the pandemic“We’re looking for you, dead or alive,” is one of the daily threats that Herlín Odicio receives on his mobile phone.The leader of the indigenous Cacataibo people in Peru’s central Amazon has been forced into hiding for standing up to drug traffickers trying to steal his land. “We’ve reported coca plantations on our land so many times and nothing has been done,” Odicio said. Continue reading...

Aishwarya Aswath died at Perth Children’s hospital after waiting in emergency department which was ‘down a few doctors’An investigation will examine whether staff shortages contributed to the death of a young girl forced to wait for care at a Perth hospital’s emergency department on the weekend.Seven-year-old Aishwarya Aswath died at Perth Children’s hospital on Saturday after spending two hours waiting for treatment in the emergency department. She had been rushed to hospital with a fever. Continue reading...

Ritter, who also appeared in films including Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, died at home alongside his wife and two sons

Owners say taking four-legged friends to work helps tackle loneliness and livens up Zoom calls

Copying the approach of Baudelaire’s quizzical stroller can help us escape lockdown – even if he needs a little updatingCharles Baudelaire, whose 200th birthday on 9 April will be celebrated with stamp issues, new editions of his poetry and virtual events, is arguably more famous for his concept of the flâneur – an aimless stroller or ambler – than for his writing. That’s partly because reading his volumes Les Fleurs du Mal or Le Spleen de Paris requires a degree of application, but also because the idea of an individual moving through the city streets and finding aesthetic pleasure in the teeming crowds, appeals to us and continues to chime. At least, it did until spring 2020, when the crowds were told to stay at home. Continue reading...

The mock classical actor created by Nigel Planer and Christopher Douglas scaled the heights at the RSC and the ‘Nash’. Now, he’s ready for a comebackIf you’ve ever marvelled at an actor “truthpumping”, “perf-quaking” or spraying their “actoplasm” across the front row then you’ll be familiar with the wisdom (and luvvie lexicography) of Nicholas Craig. The spoof thespian and self-styled sage of the stage, created by Nigel Planer and Christopher Douglas, shared his hard-won lessons on performing at theatrical bastions such as the RSC and “the Nash” in the memoir I, An Actor.Published in 1988, the book came complete with glossary (eg Berk off: “to go to Los Angeles”) and photographs of Planer, as Craig, brooding in rehearsals, brandishing weaponry amid billowing smoke as Coriolanus and clad in scuba gear for an underwater avantgarde production of The Winslow Boy. Hailed as “the Spinal Tap of actor biographies”, it spawned a series of TV and stage outings for Planer and was reprinted in 2016 with a foreword by Steve Coogan, thanking Craig for a one-to-one acting masterclass delivered atop Helvellyn. Continue reading...

A career woman is haunted by a teenager she could have saved from death in this masterful political thriller from ArgentinaGuilt and the return of the repressed are behind this elegant, disquieting and impressively acted political ghost story from Argentinian film-maker Francisco Márquez. Cecilia (Elisa Carricajo) is a sociology professor and single mother of a little boy, Juan (Ciro Coien Pardo); she is very successful, though on edge about her recent application for an academic promotion. Cecilia gets on well with her maid Nebe (Mecha Martinez) but is made very uncomfortable when Nebe brings round her teenage son Kevin (Eliot Otazo). Kevin seems dour, unsmiling, perhaps with learning difficulties.In the middle of a stormy night, Cecilia is awoken by a terrifying banging at the door, preceded by an eerie dreamlike voice murmuring “Cecilia” in her ear. Peering through the shutters, she can see it is Kevin and is too scared to open up. The next morning, she sees on the news that Kevin’s body has been found in the river, with protesters alleging he was chased down and killed by the police – one of the state’s “common crimes” directed at the poor. Cecilia can’t bring herself to confess to Nebe that she could have helped her son, or tell any of her colleagues. And so she begins to crack under the terrible strain of maintaining this secret along with the day-to-day tasks of her sophisticated and successful intellectual life, believing Kevin has come back to haunt her. Continue reading...

Information clampdown to keep investigation into king’s half-brother ‘secret’, says prosecutor generalThe prosecutor general in Jordan’s capital Amman has banned the publication of any information about an alleged plot said to involve the king’s half-brother, Prince Hamzah, state television said.“In order to keep the security services’ investigation into Prince Hamzah and the others secret, [it is decided] to ban the publication of anything related to this inquiry at this stage,” the prosecutor Hassan al-Abdallat said. Continue reading...

Directors’ bonuses scrapped as chief risk officer and investment bank chief exitCredit Suisse has cancelled the bonuses of its directors, slashed its dividend and announced the departure of two senior executives as the bank revealed £3.4bn in losses from the collapse of the Archegos investment fund.The Swiss bank is reeling from heavy exposure to Archegos and the business bank Greensill, which suffered successive but unrelated financial blow-ups. Continue reading...

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has announced details of a trans-Tasman travel bubble with Australia, meaning Australians will be able to travel to New Zealand without needing to quarantine. Though most Australian states have allowed quarantine-free visits from New Zealanders for months, New Zealand has continued with enforced isolation for arrivals from its neighbour, citing concern about small Covid-19 outbreaks. The move to allow cross-border travel is one of the first such agreements since the pandemic prompted countries to block foreign arrivals to stop the virus spreading

Celebrities targeted over support for anti-coup protestersWanted lists featuring the names and photographs of dozens of prominent figures, from actors to musicians, have been published in Myanmar’s military-controlled media, as the junta escalates its threats against anyone voicing support for anti-coup protesters.The military has killed 570 people, including at least 43 children, and detained 2,728 since it ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government and seized power on 1 February. A domestic advocacy group that tracks detentions has been unable to confirm the whereabouts of the vast majority of people taken by the military. Continue reading...

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern warns that further Covid-19 outbreaks could mean border closures return

In a new set of photos, environmental degradation in the Amazon is explored to shine light on ‘a hideously complex story’In his 20s, Irish photographer Richard Mosse made his first foray into photojournalism by capturing postwar Balkan nations. This experience led to a realisation that the medium was inadequately suited to capture complex, layered narratives. “You have to put the thing in front of the camera, and when that thing is an abstraction, far bigger than a human figure, it’s very difficult to do,” he explained in a recent podcast with Monocle.The subjects he found himself covering over the next two decades were equally abstract and complex as the first, ranging from conflict in DR Congo to the refugee crisis in Europe. However, in his search for ways to subvert the medium and bend it to his will, he eventually managed to create his own unique brand of photography, characterised by the use of infra-red film and other technology rooted in military reconnaissance. Continue reading...

My parents were determined to avoid heroic medical interventions in their dying days, even before the pandemic. Why wasn’t anybody listening?Almost as soon as the word Covid is coined, my parents update their “advance decision” documents. They’re constantly adjusting them, fine-tuning their wishes for future medical treatment. “Like a dowager with an elaborate will,” I tease them, blowing the ink dry on yet another signature.When they first completed their advance decision document, 20 years ago, they were mostly concerned with not being resuscitated should they have a stroke, perhaps while shopping in the market or cycling home. Now, aged 84 and 82 and debilitated by multiple illnesses, they’ve had to give up their bikes and those hopes of a dramatic end. “We look like the old people road sign,” says my mum, bent over her walking aid, handing my dad his stick. And they do. Frail as leaves, they totter down the road to the vegetarian cafe: the wind could blow them away. Continue reading...

Teachers highlight toxic culture of sexual harassment and abuse they face in school“I’ve had threats of rape. I’ve had someone say: ‘I’m going to seek out your daughter and rape her.’ You’re called a slag and a slut. Sometimes it’s banter and they all think it’s funny. Sometimes it’s anger directed at you.”Anne, who doesn’t want to give her real name, worked in a pupil referral unit with excluded pupils in south-west England until she quit her job because of post-traumatic stress disorder, and is one of many teachers to bear witness to the toxic culture of sexual harassment and abuse within schools. Continue reading...

People encouraged to set fundraising goal that echoes Moore’s 100 garden laps on his 101st birthday weekendCaptain Sir Tom Moore made it his mission to raise money for the NHS by doing 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday.Now, one year and nearly £39m later, his family are asking people to follow in his footsteps and come up with their own challenge based around the number 100 that they can complete over what would have been his 101st birthday weekend. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson and European envoy say Kiev has their ‘unwavering support’, while Moscow denies threatening behaviourThe European Union and UK have pledged “unwavering” support for Ukraine’s government amid concerns of a military escalation in the east of the country or a possible new offensive against the Nato ally after recent Russian troop movements.Ukraine has accused Russia of massing thousands of military personnel on its northern and eastern borders as well as on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014. Online researchers have identified troops being transferred to Ukraine’s borders from western and central Russia, including artillery from as far away as Siberia. Continue reading...

When it comes to mental health, New Zealand’s government has lost sight of what’s important

Emergency management minister calls on other women to get smear tests as she begins ‘fight of my life’Kiri Allan, the minister who guided New Zealand through recent tsunami and earthquake warnings, has been diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer.Allan won praise for her calm handling of last month’s earthquakes and tsunami warning. A series of earthquakes ranging from 7.1 to 8.1 magnitude hit off the East Cape and Kermadec Islands in the early hours of 5 March, prompting an evacuation of some towns and cities on the coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Continue reading...

Oh Tae-yang was spurred to run for mayor by the deaths of high-profile LGBT figures, and has upset some in conservative South KoreaOne morning in late March, Oh Tae-yang awoke to news that his campaign banners, which feature rainbow flags and pledges to work toward same-sex marriage, had been vandalised, torn down and strewn across the ground.After he got over the initial surprise, he noticed a particular detail in the destruction. “The banners had been ripped horizontally just below my neck, as if the person who did it was thinking of cutting my head off,” Oh said. Continue reading...

Incidents reported on Monday in Carrickfergus and in Derry where a car was been set alightViolence has broken out once more on the streets of Northern Ireland, despite appeals for calm.A car was set alight in Sperrin Park in the Waterside area of Derry, while there were also reports of violent incidents in Carrickfergus, near Belfast. Both locations have been the scene of violence and unrest among the loyalist community in recent days. Continue reading...

Palace turmoil eases as former crown prince vows to remain ‘faithful to the legacy of my ancestors’

Russian opposition leader is suffering with symptoms of respiratory illness and has been tested for Covid

Two-week-old Ciaran Leigh Morris was being pushed along the pavement by his family when Sunday’s crash occurredA man has been charged with causing the death of a two-week-old baby boy who died when his pram was hit by a car in Brownhills, West Midlands.Ciaran Leigh Morris was being pushed along the pavement by his family when Sunday’s crash occurred and was taken to hospital with serious injuries, where he died. Continue reading...

Domestic vaccine passports could be used to help the UK economy reopen, but a broad coalition of MPs are opposed to the idea

If just one in two new Liberal-National MPs are women, it could take until next century, according to the McKell InstituteIt could take more than two decades for Australia’s House of Representatives to reach gender parity, even if women win two in every three seats gained by the Coalition in the next few elections, according to new modelling.The modelling by the McKell Institute, a progressive thinktank, indicates the growing momentum for quotas to increase the Liberal party’s share of female candidates won’t be a silver bullet for equal representation of women and men in the lower house. Continue reading...

Analysis: Brexit terms and handling of funeral seen as latest in a litany of perceived or real concessionsA Sinn Féin funeral was the spark but loyalists in Northern Ireland have been throwing petrol bombs and burning cars partly because they fear political marginalisation.The union flag no longer flutters daily over Belfast city hall, a trade border separates the region from the rest of the UK and the police are allegedly beholden to Sinn Féin. Add to this a criminal gang’s resentment at recent arrests and you have the context for three consecutive nights of rioting in several towns that have left dozens of police officers injured, including five on Sunday night. Continue reading...

Death toll may rise further after torrential rain swept Indonesian archipelago and neighbouring Timor-LesteAt least 97 people been killed and dozens are missing following tropical cyclone Seroja, which triggered devastating flash floods and landslides across eastern Indonesia and neighbouring Timor-Leste on Sunday.Strong winds and torrential overnight rains caused dams to overflow and submerged villages, forcing thousands of people to flee to evacuation shelters. Continue reading...

Frustration grows over patchwork arrangements across the country as infections rates continue to rise

He was hailed as the new Nick Drake, but addiction nearly destroyed him. Now he writes songs ‘in a state of joy’ and, after stacking shelves for minimum wage, has released his best work yetSpeaking on a video call from Massachusetts, Ryley Walker is obscured by a blaze of sunlight coming through a large open window as he filters out the air in his apartment. “I must give up smoking,” the singer-songwriter frowns, lighting up his third cigarette.Given how much Walker has had to give up over the last few years – emerging from the drug and alcohol dependency that shaped his adult life – it’s hard to begrudge him one last remaining vice. Walker, who attempted suicide as a consequence of his addictions, says that being here today is “a miracle”. His career-best new album – the proggy, unexpectedly pretty Course in Fable – is the sound of an artist treating his life as such. Continue reading...

Former head of local news website tells judges he was instructed to skew coverage to favour PM and his familyBenjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to remain in power face a double-pronged challenge, with Israel’s prime minister back in a Jerusalem courtroom for his corruption trial while at the same time critical talks on his political future were held following last month’s inconclusive election.The witness testimony and evidence stage of a case assessing whether the 71-year-old leader is guilty of bribery, fraud and breach of trust – repeatedly delayed by the pandemic – began on Monday morning. Continue reading...

Doctors say details on strategy are lacking – a lack of clarity that has characterized the authoritarian leader’s pandemic responseThe first person in Nicaragua to receive a coronavirus vaccine was Marco Antonio Aráuz, 62, who was given a dose of the Russian Sputnik V treatment at Managua’s Blue Cross hospital.Related: Nicaragua leaders face backlash after forming space agency amid human rights crisis Continue reading...

Rights groups warn that children across the world are being pushed into abusive situations, from early marriage to child labourAcross the world 800 million children are still not fully back in school, Unicef is warning, with many at risk of never returning to the classroom the longer closures go on. There are at least 90 countries where schools are either closed or offering a mix of remote and in-person learning.The UN agency’s chief of education, Robert Jenkins, told the Guardian that the closures are part of “unimaginable” disruption to children’s education. Continue reading...

Liberal senator asks for privacy as he undertakes further testing to confirm prognosis and commence treatmentThe Liberal senator Jim Molan has announced he has an “aggressive form of cancer” and will be taking leave from parliament immediately to begin treatment.In a message to colleagues and on his public Facebook page on Monday, Molan asked for privacy as he undertook further testing to confirm the prognosis and to commence treatment. Continue reading...