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...
Blogger argued he had ‘merely shared’ an article without changing content or adding commentsThe Singapore high court has ordered a blogger to pay S$133,000 (US$98,825) in damages in a defamation case to the prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong.Lee sued Leong Sze Hian, a financial adviser, after he shared on Facebook an online news article . Continue reading...
Call for independent investigation into death of Barkindji man Anzac Sullivan, 37, during police pursuit in Broken HillLegal advocates say they are “devastated and furious” at the news there has been a fourth Aboriginal death in custody in three weeks and are calling for urgent action form state and federal governments.A 37-year-old Barkindji man, Anzac Sullivan, died during a police pursuit in Broken Hill on Thursday 18 March. Continue reading...
by Lanre Bakare Arts and culture correspondent on (#5FRM6)
Sculpture depicting king of African nation was looted from Benin city in 1897 in ‘extremely immoral’ mannerThe University of Aberdeen is to return a controversial Benin bronze after a review found the item had been acquired in an “extremely immoral” manner, as the Nigerian government calls on other British museums to reassess their collections.The bronze, which depicts the Oba, or king of Benin, was part of a haul of thousands of items taken when British forces looted Benin city in southeastern Nigeria in 1897, and will be sent back “within weeks”, according to the university. Continue reading...
Boris Johnson has told the EU that Europe would be the loser if it imposed a Covid vaccine blockade on Britain, as Brussels empowered officials to prohibit shipments to countries with a better record in vaccinating their population. The prime minister also discussed whether pubs should be allowed to set rules on vaccine passports as a condition of entry
Report says recognising role in transatlantic slave trade is important in fight against racism todayEurope’s top human rights body has called on Portugal to do more to confront its colonial past and its role in the transatlantic slave trade in order to help fight racism and discrimination in the country today.The comments by the Council of Europe come amid an escalating debate in Portugal over how to remember its history as the country prepares to unveil its first memorial to victims of slavery. Continue reading...
Thursday: NSW Nationals MP Michael Johnsen takes leave after parliament hears allegation sex worker raped. Plus: how a megaship blocked the Suez canalGood morning. The sexual misconduct crisis engulfing Canberra shows no sign of abating as the prime minister ponders cabinet changes, a NSW state government member faces sexual assault allegations, and the US vice-president makes an impassioned plea to stop gun crimes.The NSW Nationals MP Michael Johnsen has taken leave “effective immediately” amid allegations he sexually assaulted a sex worker. The Nationals member for Upper Hunter categorically denied the claim, saying he was “an innocent party” and that he was “devastated by these allegations”. An allegation of rape was aired in state parliament on Wednesday by the Labor MP Trish Doyle, who did not name the MP but said the alleged assault took place at a “secluded lockout” in the Blue Mountains in September 2019. Continue reading...
PC Amarjit Dhallu’s former partner alleged officer had strangled her and hit her with a beltA police officer who was abusive and violent towards a former partner has been sacked for gross misconduct.PC Amarjit Dhallu, who worked with vulnerable children, was dismissed from Kent police following a hearing in which it was alleged he had strangled the woman, who was referred to only as Miss A, and hit her with a belt. Continue reading...
Aviva Investors cites lack of basic workers’ rights as ‘investment risk’ ahead of flotationOne of the UK’s top fund managers is to boycott the stock market float of the meal delivery firm Deliveroo next month, amid growing disquiet in the City over the company’s treatment of delivery workers.Aviva Investors said on Wednesday it had turned down the chance to invest in Deliveroo’s £9bn initial public offering. Aberdeen Standard, another of the UK’s biggest investors, has also expressed concerns about Deliveroo’s employment practices, the Guardian understands. Continue reading...
More than 100 cargo ships waiting to pass through channel after 400-metre Ever Given ran agroundMore than 100 ships laden with cargo including oil, automotive parts and consumer goods remain jammed at the Suez canal as tugboats and dredgers raced to free a stricken container ship blocking one of the world’s key trade arteries.The 220,000-ton, 400-metre-long Ever Given, one of a class of enormous new vessels labelled “megaships”, became stuck near the southern end of the canal on Tuesday morning. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said it lost the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm. Continue reading...
In wake of Atlanta shooting, ex-late-night host and comedian addresses jokes that prompted calls for NBC to cut tiesJay Leno has made an apology for a history of making anti-Asian jokes.The comedian and former host of The Tonight Show has found himself under fire for over a decade for making offensive jokes that provoked the organisations Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (Manaa) to call for NBC to sever ties. Continue reading...
by Oliver Holmes and Quique Kierszenbaum in Tel Aviv on (#5FQCR)
With close to 90% of votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party leads but will struggle to form governmentNear-complete results from Israel’s fourth snap election suggested yet another stalemate, with Benjamin Netanyahu scrambling to cobble together a coalition by partnering with extreme nationalist, hardline religious and far-right parties.With close to 90% of votes counted by Wednesday evening, the prime minister’s Likud party was clearly leading with about 30 seats. The opposition head, Yair Lapid, had roughly 18. Continue reading...
‘He was called Hvaldimir and he would play in front of crowds at Hammerfest harbour in Norway. One woman dropped her phone and he fetched it for her’In April 2019, a beluga whale appeared alongside fishing boats off the coast of Norway. He was wearing a harness. A fisherman called Joar Hesten freed him, and saw the harness had stamped on it “equipment of St Petersburg”. The media went crazy, with talk of a “spy whale”, and the creature was named Hvaldimir, a combination of hval, the Norwegian word for whale, and Vladimir, a nod to Russia’s President Putin.The whale became famous. There were Instagram videos of him playing in Hammerfest harbour in front of crowds. One woman dropped her phone in the water and the whale fetched it for her. He would bring up bones from the depths to show people, almost like little gifts. It became this huge moment on social media: everyone in the country fell in love with the whale. Even the hardcore fishing villages melted for Hvaldimir. Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday North of England correspondent on (#5FQZY)
Unprecedented move comes after inspectors found ‘serious breakdown of governance’Liverpool city council should be brought under the joint control of government commissioners in an unprecedented move after inspectors found multiple failures and a “serious breakdown of governance” at the local authority, the communities secretary has said.Robert Jenrick said an emergency inspection had painted a “deeply concerning picture of mismanagement”, an “environment of intimidation” and a “dysfunctional culture” at one of the biggest councils in Britain. Continue reading...
System of a Down’s political activism helped change the course of Armenian history. But – facing censorship, assassination threats and a divided band – at what price for its frontman?Of all the nights Serj Tankian has stood on stage surveying a crowd of 50,000 faces roaring his own words back at him, there is one that the System of a Down frontman will never forget. On 23 April 2015, the metal band gave a two-and-half hour, 37-song set to a rapturous audience in Republic Square, in the heart of the Armenian capital Yerevan. For a band formed in the diaspora community of Los Angeles’ Little Armenia in 1994, the occasion could not have been more significant: they had been invited to perform in the country for the first time as part of events marking the centenary of the Armenian genocide, in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed between 1915 and 1922. “The overwhelming feeling was of belonging,” says Tankian, 53, speaking from his airy home studio in Los Angeles. “It felt like we were created 21 years earlier so we could be there that night.”For Tankian, whose outspoken political activism often animates his songwriting, seeking international recognition of the Armenian genocide has been a lifelong and personal campaign. On stage that night in Yerevan he told the story of his grandfather Stepan Haytayan, who was just five years old when he saw his father murdered in the atrocities; he later went blind from hunger. Between songs, Tankian railed against Barack Obama’s resistance to using the term “genocide” to describe the atrocities after taking office, before turning his ire on Armenia’s authoritarian president, Serzh Sargsyan. “We’ve come a long way, Armenia, but there’s still a lot of fucking work to do,” Tankian told the audience, before calling out the “institutional injustice” of Sargsyan’s administration and demanding the introduction of an “egalitarian civil society”. Continue reading...
Early results suggest far-right alliance will take more seats than predictedAfter another muddied election result, Benjamin Netanyahu is betting on a partnership with a group so extreme that even the prime minister’s usually unflinching backers from the pro-Israel US lobby cannot stomach it.The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) has called Jewish Power, a party of ultranationalist extremists, “racist and reprehensible”. But on Wednesday, although votes are still being counted and success is by no means guaranteed, those same people are being courted by Israel’s longest-serving leader to join an assortment of other parties. Continue reading...
UK-led action ramps up scrutiny of the regime against a backdrop of worsening human rights abusesCivil rights groups have welcomed a UK-led UN resolution on Sri Lanka as a “crucial turning point for justice” for victims of the country’s nearly 30-year-long conflict.The resolution, which ramps up international monitoring and scrutiny of the country, was passed on Tuesday by the human rights council after the UN high commissioner for human rights warned Sri Lanka could rapidly descend into violence unless decisive international action was taken. Michelle Bachelet expressed alarm over “worrying trends” in the country since President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office in 2019 and last month told the human rights council the country had “closed the door” on ending impunity for past abuses. Continue reading...
The romcom player – who has died at 87 – appeared opposite everyone from Barbra Streisand to Glenda Jackson before almost disappearing from screens. But a late-career turn on TV brought new admirersGeorge Segal was the handsome, easy-going, romantic comedy player of the 1970s, pretty much the male equivalent of Goldie Hawn, with whom he starred in the 1976 western romp The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox. His A-list Hollywood career began and ended with the decade itself and, in a way, defined the 1970s, or at least a part of it. He had a string of leading-man roles opposite top leading ladies, including Glenda Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda, Goldie Hawn, Jacqueline Bisset and Natalie Wood – before he got embroiled in a nasty legal dispute with producer-director Blake Edwards over dropping out of his comedy 10. This briefly soured his reputation in the film business, ended his hot streak and ushered in another shooting star of Hollywood romantic comedy, Dudley Moore.Related: George Segal, TV star and Oscar nominee, dies aged 87 Continue reading...
The sturdy pots are great for roasting meat, but they can also be used to bake bread, steam shellfish and make a beautiful blackberry cakeMy American mother would have called it a Dutch oven, although a lot of people in the US call a Dutch oven a French oven, while the French call it a casserole. I think a true Dutch oven is a piece of camping equipment, with a hanging handle and stubby little legs, but that is not what my mother meant. My mother did not camp.What I am trying to describe is a pot, round or oval, with fairly high sides and a snug-fitting lid. They are usually enamelled cast-iron and they can be ruinously expensive, although you sometimes see good secondhand ones at car boot sales. My wife once got two giant Le Creuset casseroles from a market stall for £20 because the guy selling them had put one inside the other and couldn’t get them apart. I was prepared to deploy any number of drastic separation strategies, but a screwdriver wedged between the handles did the trick. Continue reading...
Home secretary says migrants who arrive in UK by illegal routes will be indefinitely liable for removalThe UK home secretary, Priti Patel, is misrepresenting international law to push her hardline agenda against asylum seekers as she unveils a sweeping set of punishing proposals, the UN’s refugee agency has suggested.In what has been billed as the biggest overhaul of the UK’s asylum system in decades, Patel has pledged to remove people who enter the UK illegally having travelled through a “safe country” in which they could and should have claimed asylum. Continue reading...
Women live about six years less in most deprived parts of Wales than those in least deprived areasThe gap in life expectancy between the most and least deprived parts of Wales has increased, particularly for women, new research has found.Women in the most deprived parts of Wales can expect to live approximately six years less (life expectancy 79 years) than those in the least deprived areas (85). For men, there was a seven-year gap between the most and least deprived areas (74 v 81 years). Continue reading...
Sarm Heslop was last seen on 7 March on board catamaran owned by American boyfriend off St John coastFriends of a British woman who has been missing in the US Virgin Islands for more than two weeks have called for authorities there to “prioritise the investigation” into her disappearance.The US Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) said Sarm Heslop, 41, a Southampton resident, was last seen on 7 March off the coast of St John on the Siren Song, a catamaran her friends say is owned and operated by her American boyfriend, Ryan Bane. Continue reading...
Analysis: The Biden administration is expected to take a cooler approach to President Hernández than Donald Trump didFor the US, this is a painfully embarrassing fortnight to count Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández as a key ally in Central America.On Monday he was named in a New York federal courtroom as a co-conspirator in the conviction of his associate, Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez, for smuggling tons of cocaine into the US, and receiving a $250,000 bribe from Fuentes, an alleged drug kingpin. Continue reading...
by Katharine Murphy, Amy Remeikis and Adam Morton on (#5FQFP)
Tasmanian speaker Sue Hickey alleged in state parliament the veteran Liberal senator made comments ‘slut shaming’ the former Liberal stafferTasmanian Liberal MP Eric Abetz has categorically denied an allegation he made highly offensive comments about the former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins.In a statement made under parliamentary privilege, the speaker of the Tasmanian parliament, Sue Hickey, accused Abetz of “slut shaming” Higgins, who has alleged she was raped by a former colleague in Parliament House, Canberra, in 2019. Continue reading...
Image-makers of African heritage from the worlds of fashion, design and photography – including Tyler Mitchell, Namsa Leuba and Nadine Ijewere – are celebrated in a new show for Qatar’s festival of visual culture Continue reading...
The pandemic, climate crisis and conflict combining to drive ‘alarming’ levels of global hunger, says reportCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAcute hunger is likely to soar in more than 20 countries in the next few months, the UN has warned.Families in pockets of Yemen and South Sudan are already in the grip of starvation, according to a report on hunger hotspots published by the agency’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP). Continue reading...