Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday praised the ‘courage, commitment and selfless dedication to duty’ of frontline healthcare and public service workers across the Commonwealth in their response to the pandemic. The broadcast replaces the annual service at Westminster Abbey, which was cancelled due to Covid restrictions, and comes hours before the airing of a two-hour special hosted by Oprah Winfrey in which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are set to tell the story behind their tumultuous departure from royal duties
My friend Stan Shaw, who has died aged 94, was Sheffield’s pre-eminent pocket-knife maker, and his career spanned almost 80 years.Born in Worrall, near Sheffield, Stan was the son of Walter Shaw, a ganister miner, and his wife, Amelia (nee Coldwell). His father died aged 45 from silicosis, leaving his mother to raise a family of nine. Stan’s childhood and education were further blighted by illness, which kept him in hospital for several years. Continue reading...
Thousands of people filled a sports stadium in the northern Kurdish-Iraqi city of Irbil for an open-air mass held by Pope Francis. An estimated 10,000 people erupted in cheers when he arrived and did a lap around the track in his open-sided popemobile, the first and only time he has used it on this trip due to security concerns. During the mass, which was the final event of the Pope’s visit to Iraq, the pontiff declared that the church in the country was ‘alive’.
YouTuber pranksters tricked experts into being filmed reviewing Oprah Winfrey special with the SussexesLeading royal commentators have come under fire after they were filmed giving their views about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s performance in their eagerly awaited interview with Oprah Winfrey for an undisclosed fee, days before they had seen it.Four commentators, including the Queen’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter and CNN’s royal commentator Victoria Arbiter, gave interviews to a fake news company created by YouTuber pranksters Josh Pieters and Archie Manners on Friday, two days before the interview was aired. They had been told it would be shown immediately after the CBS programme was broadcast. Continue reading...
Pontiff travels to Mosul, Qaraqosh and Erbil to pray for war victims on last day of historic visitFlanked by four ruined churches in the wrecked centre of Mosul, Pope Francis on Sunday urged Christians to forgive injustices that drove them into exile and restore a historical heartland on the rubble of Islamic State’s barbarous rule.The pope concluded his two-day trip to Iraq with two highly symbolic stops in areas long integral to the Christian presence in the country: Mosul, where Isis’s so-called caliphate was declared nearly seven years ago; and Qaraqosh, an ancient town on the Nineveh plains that bore the brunt of the group’s genocidal onslaught. Continue reading...
Geography and development makes the city’s western expanse far hotter than the east, but there’s little agreement on the solutionAnyone who’s lived in western Sydney in summer will tell you the days of searing heat and burning bitumen feel very different from the rest of the city.No matter what time of year, it’s generally hotter in the west. Over the past 30 years, the average yearly maximum temperature recorded at Parramatta was 23.7C, compared with 22.8C at Observatory Hill, just across from the Harbour Bridge. But those figures hide the extent of the disparity in the summer months. In January, the average daily maximum in Penrith – Sydney’s western limit at the foot of the Blue Mountains – is 31.2C, compared with 27C in the city centre. Continue reading...
Three British women say royal controversy points to UK’s failure to confront its racist attitudesChanel Ambrose was swept up by the sea of excitement around Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. The 30-year-old loved how much Meghan tapped into her culture and heritage for the event: from the choir, the preacher, to her mum, with her natural hair, standing by her side.She hoped the wedding and what it would symbolise might lead to a greater acceptance of black women across all sectors of society. Continue reading...
Muslim groups criticise move, which they say will further stigmatise and marginalise their communitySwitzerland will follow France, Belgium and Austria after narrowly voting in a referendum to ban women from wearing the burqa or niqab in public spaces.Just over 51% of Swiss voters cast their ballots in favour of the initiative to ban people from covering their face completely on the street, in shops and restaurants. Continue reading...
British-Iranian woman’s five-year sentence in Iran is complete, but her lawyer says she will have to go to court to face new chargesNazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been released from house arrest in Iran on the completion of her five-year sentence, but the British-Iranian dual national will have to go to court to face a second set of charges on 14 March, according to her lawyer.The second set of charges, long threatened by the Iranians, include involvement in propaganda activity against the Islamic Republic by attending a demonstration outside the Iranian embassy in London in 2009 and speaking to BBC Persian. Continue reading...
Foreign minister Wang Yi calls for cooperation and signals that Beijing will stand firm against criticismChina’s top diplomat has called on the US to drop the sanctions and restrictions introduced by Donald Trump and warned against international “hegemony and bullying” and interference in what Beijing considers internal affairs, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the South China Sea.On day three of China’s annual National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, signalled that Beijing intended to hold firm against growing international criticism of its perceived expansionist and hostile activity and domestic human rights abuses. Continue reading...
Former Israeli spy says generals have been ‘misunderstood’ as police continue to fire on protestersAccused of crimes against humanity, an illegal government takeover and gunning down protesters, Myanmar’s military is seeking to rebrand itself in foreign capitals, recruiting a former Israeli military intelligence official turned lobbyist with a record defending controversial clients.Ari Ben-Menashe, a Tehran-born, Israeli-Canadian lobbyist, was hired by the Tatmadaw this week to “assist in explaining the real situation in the country”, according to a consultancy agreement reported by Foreign Lobby, an outlet that tracks foreign government influence operations in Washington. Continue reading...
For Clara Amfo, success is nothing without honesty, integrity – and a pinch of impostor syndrome. Here, the broadcaster talks about race, relationships and becoming a Barbie dollClara Amfo makes me want to join in with life. When she talks about the new series of Drag Race UK, I itch to go and watch it. When she’s dancing on Strictly, I want to tune into a show that doesn’t usually hold my attention. And when she’s describing the party scene in her parents’ home country of Ghana, “fast becoming the Ibiza of West Africa – honestly I was last there in December 2019 and everyone was out there”, I find myself wondering about flights. Which is quite something, a year into a pandemic, when spirits are flagging and the will is so weak it might give up entirely. But she knows all about that too, which is why her daytime Radio 1 show, every weekday, works so well.People text in saying they live alone, they work from home, they just needed to hear that tune she played, that friendly voice. Amfo physically gets up and goes in to work at Broadcasting House, speaking to the nation and meeting the skeleton crew who are still in the building, under endless Covid-testing regulations, “but I do live alone, and I get it,” she says. “I know I have definitely experienced loneliness in this thing. At the risk of sounding trite, well it’s been a time of gratitude, hasn’t it? – but I also believe that everybody, no matter what your life or what you do for a living, should be allowed to have a moan. I’m single and happily single but there have been a few nights where I’ve been like, you know what? Be nice to have a sofa buddy,” she explains, over video chat from the one-bedroom flat in Hackney that she got in a part-buy, part-rent housing scheme seven years ago and that she has grown out of, but not yet managed to leave. (It hasn’t always been thus – “Many memories were made in this flat, that’s for sure,” she says, with a dirty laugh.) Continue reading...
Raccoon attacks on residents are up 62% as some people act ‘foolish’ but others are enjoying seeing their furry neighboursDisrupted sleeping schedules, noisy neighbours and a world that looks unrecognizable: the coronavirus pandemic has been tough for Toronto’s raccoons.And with a lockdown keeping human residents at home in Canada’s largest city, dangerous interactions with Toronto’s infamous urban critters are also increasing. Continue reading...
As Paris prepares to commemorate the 150th anniversary, the communards’ vision of a new form of radical democracy is once again dividing FranceA couple of years ago, as railway workers demonstrated in Paris against proposed government reforms, a banner in the crowd offered a blast from France’s revolutionary past: “We don’t care about May ’68,” read its slogan. “We want 1871.”It was a message that the protesters meant business. These days, the students’ revolt of 1968, and its injunctions to “Be realistic … demand the impossible”, are remembered with fond nostalgia. But in the annals of French revolutionary upheavals, the memory of the Paris Commune of 1871 and its bloody barricades has a darker, edgier status. “Unlike 1789, the Commune was never truly integrated into the national story,” says Mathilde Larrère, a historian specialising in the radical movements of 19th-century France. Wild, anarchic and dominated by the Parisian poor, the Commune was loathed by the liberal bourgeoisie as well as by the conservatives and monarchists of the right. Its savage suppression by the French army, and its own acts of brutal violence, created wounds that never healed. “The Commune of 1871 didn’t become part of a consensual collective memory,” says Larrère. In respectable society, it was viewed as beyond the pale. Continue reading...
by Toby Helm, Robyn Vinter and Michael Savage on (#5F1G4)
Grants to ministers’ seats and plans to axe spending and lift taxes marred the chancellor’s post-Covid packageRichmond’s cobbled market square is quiet compared to the bustling Saturday mornings of pre-lockdown times, though there is a hubbub of well-heeled retirees bumping into people they know and stopping for a chat.“The jewel in the heart of North Yorkshire, the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales,” is how the town proudly brands itself. Tourism is important here. But even when visitor numbers are badly down, as they are now, there is an air of rural affluence about the place that suggests Richmond will survive hard times far better than most. Continue reading...
by Richard Partington Economics correspondent on (#5F1F1)
Slashed budgets since 2010 outweigh the help announced for 45 local authoritiesIt was supposed to redraw the economic map of Britain. But funding announced by Rishi Sunak last week for 45 struggling towns across England is worth less than half the amount cut from their local budgets under the Conservatives, according to an Observer analysis.Using the budget to restart the government’s levelling-up agenda after dealing with the Covid pandemic, the chancellor announced £1bn of funding from the flagship “towns fund” for communities including Castleford, Rochdale and Wolverhampton. Continue reading...
Covid recession hit women hardest, but women also began the crisis on an uneven footing, the Grattan Institute reportsAustralian women were hit by a “triple whammy” during the Covid-19 induced recession, with a new report from the Grattan Institute finding women were more likely to lose their jobs and do a lot more unpaid work, and less likely to get government support.The report notes during the peak of the economic shock last April, almost 8% of Australian women lost their jobs, and the total hours worked by women went down by 12%. Male employment went down 4% and hours worked by 7%. Continue reading...
Joining the workforce in Cornwall’s flower fields, I struggled to keep up in the rush to bring in a fragile crop post-BrexitIt’s the kind of day when the cloud is so thick that a heavy greyness hangs in the air. But not in the fields of Fentongollan Farm in Cornwall, where swathes of yellow roll down the hillside, brightening the dull sky with spring cheer. Fentongollan is one of the world’s leading daffodil farms, growing globally renowned varieties that are a dazzling sight in full bloom.“Yes, they do look nice, the yellow fields,” says Frances Hosking, 22, showing me around the land her family has farmed for generations. “But yellow fields are not good for us growers – they are a sign the crop hasn’t been picked. The flowers should be harvested before they have opened up – we want the fields to stay green.” Continue reading...
As the deadline for US withdrawal looms, the Taliban are seizing their chance and the death toll rises dailyGhazaal Habibyar’s trembling hand hovered over her mobile phone, unable to type the numbers. “I was afraid to hear bad news,” she recalls of that morning in Kabul when she heard there’d been an explosion close to her young son’s school.“Why should we have to choose between educating or protecting our children?” asks the 38-year-old mother of two – a former Afghan deputy minister of mines and petroleum. That day, her six-year-old son was sitting safely in class. Continue reading...
Populist politics are creating a generational crisis in compassion, says the Labour leader-that-never-was, now head of a global refugee charityPolitical life is full of “sliding doors” moments, but few what-ifs are as resonant as David Miliband’s. A little more than a decade ago, for a report in the Observer, I went out on the road with him and his brother – up to Gateshead and Glasgow – as they campaigned against each other for the Labour leadership. If you’d have asked me at the end of that fortnight who would be prime minister in March 2021, I’d have given you short odds that Miliband, D, would just be entering his second term. That alternative history would have avoided not only bacon-sarnie etiquette and the Ed Stone, but also Jeremy Corbyn and Brexit. Historians will no doubt come to argue that the first decades of the 21st century in Britain were shaped by the EU referendum, but they might also pay close attention to that previous 51-49 contest when, having won every round of the election, with big majorities among Labour MPs and members, David – long the opposition politician most feared by David Cameron’s Tories – was squeezed out at the last by the affiliate votes of Len McCluskey’s Unite union, intent on revenge against Blairites.In person, Miliband, whip thin, hardly greying, has changed not much at all in that decade – on the surface at least. Grinning on my laptop screen from New York, where he has been based for the past seven years as CEO of the International Rescue Committee, the global refugee charity, he maintains the same geeky charisma – Alastair Campbell used to call him “Brains” as much for the Thunderbirds puppet as his intellect – that made him foreign secretary and Gordon Brown’s heir apparent at 42. Three years younger than Keir Starmer, the eternal centrist “king across the water” has the grown-up policy focus of the Labour leader, with an edge more wattage and wit. Continue reading...
As the rumour and disinformation mills go into overdrive, GPs are having to drum up patients to use up their allocation of jabsThere’s a joke doing the rounds in France: how do you get a Frenchman to have the Covid vaccine? Tell him he can’t have it.My dentist – who is French – recounted this and found it hilarious. My doctor – who is not French – was not so amused. Like other GPs she has been trying, and not always succeeding, to persuade her patients to have the AstraZeneca jab. Yes, you read that right, trying to persuade. Continue reading...
Missing friends, learning new skills, playing online in lessons. On the eve of returning to school, we talk to children and teens and ask how they’ve fared during the pandemicI’m a very overthinking person. When I first heard about a virus it made me really shaky. It set my anxiety to a nine or a 10. When they shut school, I thought it might be five or six weeks at the most. I didn’t think it would span months. Continue reading...
The chancellor appeared to have learned from the austerity disaster, but a glance beyond the short term shows he has notChancellor Sunak made much of his attachment to fiscal prudence in the run-up to last Wednesday’s budget – so much so that balancing the books seemed to become a moral crusade.This worried a lot of people. As that great Treasury permanent secretary of yesteryear, Sir Douglas Allen (Lord Croham) once observed: what matters is not balancing the budget, but balancing the economy. Continue reading...
Director Julie Taymor tells how her new film depicts women’s rights pioneer Gloria Steinem, minus the stereotypesThe film industry has long been criticised for its stereotypical depictions of women, from damsels in distress to the love interest of a male protagonist. But the drive for equality in acting roles has led to screen portrayals of female characters who are empowered by physical toughness rather than intellectual prowess, according to a leading director.“Women’s equality in film recently has been about women kicking ass,” said Julie Taymor, whose award-winning productions include The Lion King. “It’s about women in skimpy clothes, but being able to fight, to do karate, use weapons, to be a superhero. Continue reading...
Musicians recall the thrill of playing live – and what we can expect when gigs returnThe stage is an outlet for me, emotionally, physically – it’s a catharsis I need. I picture the live performance right away: it’s in the writing of the record itself. Before I was a musician I wanted to be a stage director, and the main thing in theatre is sharing a present moment with people gathered in a room. The audience is the last writer of the show – they finish it with their imagination. Continue reading...
Denise Fergus reveals how a TV documentary on her son’s 1993 murder has exposed the hidden impact on his brothersDenise Fergus has always spoken about her son James to his three younger brothers, telling them what the toddler was like before he was murdered. But hearing them describe in a new television documentary the effect of his death on them and their family left her lost for words.“It really did touch me,” she said. “Seeing my lads – they’ve never spoken like that before. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard them say how they actually felt about James’s death, his murder. It did take me aback quite a bit, hearing how protective they were of me.” Continue reading...
The titles that Dr Seuss Enterprises said it would cease printing contained racist stereotypes, English professor Philip Nel saysA leading expert on racism in children’s literature has said the decision by the Dr Seuss Foundation to withdraw six books should be viewed as a “product recall” and not, as many claim, an example of cancel culture.Related: No, Dr Seuss and Mr Potato Head haven't been 'cancelled'. Here's the difference | Akin Olla Continue reading...
Demonstrations held in more than half a dozen cities after soldiers and police moved in on several districts in YangonTens of thousands of people came out in Myanmar on Sunday in one of the biggest days of protest against the coup, despite overnight raids by security forces in the main city, Yangon, on campaign leaders and opposition activists.Police fired tear gas and stun grenades in Lashio town in the country’s northern Shan region, according to live video posted on Facebook. A witness said police opened fire to break up a protest in the historic temple town of Bagan, but it was not clear if they were using rubber bullets or live ammunition. Continue reading...
MPW was the first of the rock ’n’ roll chefs, and many followed in his flaming footstepsMatt Tebbutt remembers exactly where he got his copy. “I found it in Whiteleys in Bayswater,” the chef and TV presenter says. “I was 17 years old, and it just resonated. It was cool and sexy. It was all about the glamour and excess.” Sat Bains, of the eponymous Michelin two-star in Nottingham, found his in a charity shop in the mid-90s. “I read the whole book in an hour and my head exploded. Who was this guy? He had this rock’n’roll attitude.” Chef Marianne Lumb says it’s her “bible”; Tom Kerridge describes it as a huge influence. The message is clear. For legions of chefs White Heat by Marco Pierre White isn’t a cookbook, though it does contain recipes. It’s a sacred text, only with added knives, flame and caviar.For legions of chefs it’s a sacred text, only with added knives, flame and caviar Continue reading...
The vouchers, worth $200 each, will be available to Queensland residents and allocated by ballotThe Queensland government will hand out 15,000 travel vouchers worth up to $200 each in an attempt to stimulate domestic tourism and drive the state’s Covid-19 recovery.Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, announced the voucher scheme on Sunday, as the state again recorded no new locally acquired Covid-19 cases. Continue reading...
Kate Jenkins will consider whether ministers should have the power to hire and fire staff as part of a review prompted by Brittany Higgins’ allegationAustralia’s sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins says she believes Australia is now “at a turning point” in the public conversation about sexual harassment and assault, emphasising the need for “victim-centric” approaches and responses.Jenkins has been appointed by the Morrison government to lead a review into workplace culture in parliament, a review triggered by the rape allegation levelled by former government staffer Brittany Higgins against a co-worker. Continue reading...
Ministers considering ‘lighter touch’ regime to avoid disruption to supplies from blocMinisters are preparing to relax post-Brexit plans for border checks on food and other imports from the European Union because of fears that they will further damage trade and could lead to severe shortages in UK supermarkets.The Observer has been told by multiple industry sources that Boris Johnson’s new Brexit minister, Lord Frost, is considering allowing “lighter touch” controls on imports from 1 April than are currently planned, and scaling back plans for full customs checks, including physical inspections, which are due to begin on 1 July. Continue reading...
Officials say no new local cases on Sunday, though masks still required on public transportAuckland has come out of a weeklong lockdown imposed after a community cluster of the more contagious UK coronavirus variant.There were no new local Covid-19 cases recorded on Sunday, health officials said, allowing for the restrictions to ease. If no community cases are confirmed during the rest of Sunday it would make a full seven days since the last community case. Continue reading...
The defence minister, who has apologised for calling Higgins a ‘lying cow’, is being treated for a pre-existing medical conditionDefence minister Linda Reynolds has extended her sick leave and is not expected to return to work this week.Reynolds took a period of medical leave on 24 February, amid sustained pressure over her handling of the alleged rape of her former staffer, Brittany Higgins, in the minister’s office. Continue reading...
Murder investigation launched into death of Wenjing Xu as family pays tribute to ‘a very gentle soul’The family of a 16-year-old girl killed in south Wales have paid tribute to “a very gentle soul” as police launched a murder investigation.South Wales police named Wenjing Xu as the victim of an attack in the town of Treorchy, which also left two men in their 30s with injuries. Continue reading...
Bennylyn Burke, 25, from Gloucestershire, and her daughter last seen on 17 FebruaryThe disappearances of Bennylyn Burke and her two-year-old daughter, Jellica, are now being treated as a murder investigation, Police Scotland said. A 50-year-old man from Dundee has been arrested and charged in connection with the deaths of Burke and her daughter. Officers are still searching for their bodies.The 25-year-old mother and her two children were reported missing from their south Gloucestershire home on Monday 1 March, having been last seen on 17 February. Burke’s other child has been found and is being supported, according to police. Continue reading...
Cabinet Office used ‘unverifiable data’ to rebut a Road Haulage Association survey showing export volumes dropped by 68%The Cabinet Office run by Michael Gove has been officially reprimanded by the UK Statistics Authority for using unpublished and unverifiable data in an attempt to deny that Brexit had caused a massive fall in volumes of trade through British ports.The criticism follows a story in the Observer on 7 February that cited a survey by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) of its international members showing export volumes had dropped by a staggering 68% in January through British ports and the Channel Tunnel. Continue reading...
Gavin Hillier died after being injured at Castlemartin Range in Pembrokeshire on Thursday eveningThe Ministry of Defence has named a soldier in the Welsh Guards who died after being injured in a live firing exercise as Sgt Gavin Hillier.A spokesperson for the MoD said: “It is with great sadness we can confirm Sgt Gavin Hillier from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards died on 4 March, 2021. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this tragic time. Continue reading...
A fatwa pronounces both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines as halal for MuslimsWhenever imam Alaa Alzokum comes across conspiracy theories – whether in person or online – he bridles at their poor sourcing.“It[’s] always from people who say ‘people say this, people say that’, but never from an actual expert,” he says. Continue reading...
Released from years of detention without explanation, dozens of asylum seekers have abruptly been left to fend for themselves in an unfamiliar landThe last time Ebrahim Obeiszadeh had a job was in 2013, when he was working at a sugar factory in southern Iran.It was the first and only job he had before he embarked on a dangerous journey to Australia, where he hoped to be granted protection from the political persecution he says he suffered in his homeland. Continue reading...
Orthodox Christians brandish crosses outside country’s state broadcaster over song called El DiabloDozens of Orthodox Christian faithful held wooden crosses and sang hymns outside Cyprus’ state broadcaster on Saturday to demand the withdrawal of the country’s controversial entry for the Eurovision song contest – titled El Diablo – that they say promotes satanic worship.Some of the protesters, including families, held placards reading in Greek, “We’re protesting peacefully, no to El Diablo,” “Repent and return to Christ” and “Christ saves, Diablo kills.” Continue reading...
The Pulitzer-winning author on difficult second novel syndrome, using humour to explore trauma, and the return to a ‘more efficient version of American imperialism’The Vietnamese-American author Viet Thanh Nguyen’s second novel, The Committed, is the sequel to his celebrated debut, The Sympathizer, a spy thriller set against the backdrop of the Vietnam war that was both a New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2016 Pulitzer prize for fiction. The Sympathizer established Nguyen as both a literary star and an advocate for displaced people around the world. In The Committed, his unnamed protagonist arrives, as a refugee, in 1970s Paris, looking to shore up his identity on a diet of drug-dealing gangsterism and poststructuralist theory. Nguyen is a professor of English, American studies and ethnicity, and comparative literature at the University of Southern California as well as a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times.You’ve written about the ease of writing your first novel. How was it sitting down to write your second with a Pulitzer under your belt?