Alieu Kosiah is also accused of being involved in killing of 18 civilians, rape and recruiting child soldierA former rebel commander accused of involvement in killing civilians, rape and eating pieces of a schoolteacher’s heart during Liberia’s civil war has decried his long pre-trial detention as proceedings began in Switzerland on Thursday.The trial is one of a handful of cases brought to international courts in connection with the west African country’s 1989-2003 civil war, in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Continue reading...
Portraits of presidents’ wives have evolved with the role, and although it remains highly gendered, a new exhibition aims to celebrate their contribution and to ‘rectify the absences of women in US history’Bess Truman, US first lady from 1945 until 1953, has not become the sort of historical figure people quote on Instagram. “A woman’s public role is to sit beside her husband, be silent, and be sure her hat is on straight,” she said, even though, behind the scenes, she was nicknamed “the Boss” and wrote many of President Truman’s speeches. Continue reading...
With All I Want for Christmas Is You on the cusp of claiming the UK No 1 for the first time in 26 years, what better time to celebrate one of the great R&B repertoires?Written and recorded in 2011, but – in Carey’s own words – “left in a holding pattern for a special reason”, this eventually came out this summer, by which time its lyrics, not least the line “we’re all in this together”, sounded weirdly appropriate. Lauryn Hill’s guest appearance turned out to be in sampled form, but never mind: the real power is in Carey’s heartfelt vocal. Continue reading...
Rising violence by militants raises fears for press freedom after US troops withdraw in MayThe Taliban have denied they are deliberately targeting journalists in attacks amid the surge in violence throughout Afghanistan.The US watchdog Sigar (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction) says Taliban violence has risen by 50% since September, with media workers saying they don’t feel safe doing their jobs. Continue reading...
Peter Dutton says Australia’s crime agencies need more powers to reach the darkest recesses of the online world. Here’s how they’ll work if passedFor months, the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, has been calling for new powers to police the dark web.In August, the government’s cybersecurity strategy promised legislative powers and technical capabilities to “deter, disrupt and defeat the criminal exploitation of anonymising technology”. Continue reading...
Investigation follows revelation of pictures which show soldiers drinking from leg and carrying it on the battlefieldAustralia’s defence department says an investigation has been launched into photos showing senior special forces soldiers drinking out of a dead Taliban fighter’s prosthetic limb and carrying it on the battlefield.The move comes after the Guardian obtained images showing a trooper carrying the leg attached to a backpack with other photos showing soldiers drinking beer from the prosthetic at an unofficial bar – the Fat Lady’s Arms – that was set up at their special forces base in Afghanistan in 2009.
A new book explores Ibiza’s halycon days – from open-air superclubs to daytime beach raves. Photographer Dave Swindells talks us through the highs and highs ... Continue reading...
Lai, whose newspaper Apple daily was raided by police this year, is denied bail until April amid accusations of improper use of his office spaceJimmy Lai, the Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activist whose Apple Daily newspaper was raided by police earlier this year, has been denied bail after being charged with fraud. Lai – the owner of Hong Kong tabloid and founder of Next Digital Media – will be held on remand until his next court date in April next year.Lai has been one of the loudest pro-democracy voices in Hong Kong, amid a worsening crackdown on dissent. On Wednesday Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam were jailed for their activism. Continue reading...
Bill could exclude big companies such as Alibaba from markets, as US also widens ban on cotton imports from XinjiangThe US House of Representatives has passed a law to kick Chinese companies off American stock exchanges unless they fully comply with the country’s auditing rules, giving President Donald Trump one more tool to threaten Beijing with before leaving office.The measure passed the House by unanimous voice vote, after passing the Senate unanimously in May, sending it to Trump, who the White House said is expected to sign it into law. Continue reading...
Investors have two weeks to decide whether to accept final offer of 235p a share in cashA Canadian security firm has increased its takeover offer for the UK outsourcing group G4S to £3.68bn in a final bid for its larger rival.GardaWorld said it would pay 235p a share in cash, up 24% from its previous 190p-a-share offer, which would value G4S at £3bn. The Canadian firm has also reached a deal with G4S pension trustees on a £770m funding package for the pension scheme. Continue reading...
Lawyer earns the UK’s Blueprint for Free Speech whistleblowing prize for his efforts exposing Australia’s spy operation in Timor-LesteThe Australian lawyer Bernard Collaery has won a prestigious British free speech prize for his efforts exposing a secret Australian operation to bug Timor-Leste’s fledgling government during sensitive oil and gas negotiations.Collaery is still being pursued by the Australian government through the criminal courts and, if convicted, the barrister and former ACT attorney general faces jail for allegedly sharing protected intelligence information. Continue reading...
In a new exhibition, three artists reckon with the history of slavery at the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum with a range of challenging piecesWhen people think of buildings in Manhattan, chances are they think big and brash, cloud-piercing skyscrapers for tourists to marvel at.But the borough is also home to the far more modest Dyckman Farmhouse, a white clapboard home built in 1765. It’s the oldest farmhouse in the city, and just off 204th Street in Inwood, once home to the Dutch farmer William Dyckman, his family and their slaves. Continue reading...
by Daniel Boffey in Brussels and Lisa O'Carroll on (#5B4D0)
Significant gap remains as two sides enter crucial 48 hours of talksBoris Johnson has lowered his Brexit demands by asking EU fishing fleets to hand over up to 60% of the value of stocks it takes from British waters, but the gap with Brussels remains wide, Michel Barnier has said ahead of what he described as a crucial 36 hours.In briefings to EU ambassadors and MEPs in Brussels, the bloc’s chief negotiator said Downing Street had revised its demand down from 80%, but that it was unclear whether the divide could be bridged in the time remaining, prompting member states to caution against rushing into a deal. Continue reading...
by Agence France-Presse in Johannesburg on (#5B4V2)
Surprising winning combination sparks accusations of fraud as 20 people win share of jackpotAn unusual sequence of numbers drawn by South Africa’s national lottery has left players dumbfounded and sparked accusations of fraud after 20 people won a share of the jackpot.The consecutive numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and a “PowerBall” number of 10 were the South African national lottery’s winning combination on Tuesday night. Continue reading...
by Presented by Sisonke Msimang with Ben Doherty. Pro on (#5B4V4)
In part three of the Temporary podcast we meet Elaheh, who had to suddenly flee Iran, not realising she might never see her family again. Now a recognised refugee in Australia with a young son, her visa’s restrictions dictate whether her son will ever meet the strong women who raised her
Large proportion of victims not placed in specialist safe housing, leaving them vulnerable to further exploitation, says charityFemale trafficking survivors in the UK who have the legal right to be placed in safe housing are being forced to live in “inappropriate and insecure” accommodation where they risk being re-trafficked and exploited, according to a new report.Anti-trafficking charity Hibiscus Initiatives says that 98% of modern slavery victims referred to it in the past two years were not given specialist safe housing as is their right under UK law, but were instead housed in unsafe asylum accommodation. Continue reading...
In a riotously gory inversion of the Christmas story, an older couple plan to channel the ghost of their dead grandson into an unborn childThere’s something deliciously subversive about the backstory to this offbeat horror film, which was made in Canada. Director Justin G Dyck and screenwriter Keith Cooper have collaborated on a long list of treacly, holiday-themed, made-for-TV movies with titles such as A Very Country Christmas, Christmas With a View and A Christmas Village. Anything for Jackson, however, is a riotously gory, impish inversion of all things yuletide, in that it stars sweet-featured elderly character actors Sheila McCarthy and Julian Richings as grieving grandparents Audrey and Henry Walsh, who kidnap pregnant Shannon (Konstantina Mantelos) in order to perform a satanic ritual on her. It’s as if Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer, the little old couple who lived next door in Rosemary’s Baby, got to be the stars of their own movie.Audrey and Henry’s goal is to channel the ghost of their dead grandson, Jackson, into Shannon’s unborn child; but, wouldn’t you know it, deals with the devil have a way of going wrong – or having nasty consequences in the fine print, such as bringing forth demons and ghosts with murderous instincts of their own. Plus, their main adviser on matters demonological is a bitter “incel”-type (Josh Cruddas) who lives with his mother and is prone to bitching about the leadership at their satanic church, an outfit quietly run out of the local community centre where members bring home-baked goods for breaktime. Continue reading...
If you want white gloves, a gavel, or a teddy bear in a masonic apron – or just fancy a glimpse inside the society’s London HQ – this could be the place to shopName: Freemasons.Age: Their origins can be traced back to the stoneworkers’ guilds, whose members built the great medieval gothic cathedrals. The first Grand Lodge was established in 1717, in London. Continue reading...
This based-on-fact story of a teenager who flees war in Somalia to become a crusading activist against FGM is earnest but effective dramaInspired by real events, this earnest but effective drama depicts how Ifrah Ahmed (played as a teenager by Malaika Herrador, and as an adult by Aja Naomi King) escaped Somalia during a war in 2006, made it to Ireland where she was eventually granted asylum, and then went on to become a crusading activist against female genital mutilation. It’s certainly a remarkable story, one full of tragedy, adventure, suspense and even moments of joy, especially in the latter half when Ahmed finds a community of friends and allies willing to help her quest. Continue reading...
Move follows pressure on Tehran to re-examine case of Swedish-Iranian researcher Ahmadreza DjalaliA Swedish-Iranian scientist facing execution in Iran for espionage on Wednesday has been granted a reprieve, his lawyer has said.Ahmadreza Djalali was not been transferred out of Evin prison in Tehran to Raja’i Shahr jail as expected on Tuesday night, his lawyer said, which would have been a prelude to his killing. Continue reading...
Parliament passes preliminary bill to dissolve itself in move seen as gambit by Benny Gantz to pass budgetIsrael’s parliament has passed a preliminary bill to dissolve itself, a move that threatens to break apart an already fractured coalition government and trigger a fourth election in less than two years.Wednesday’s vote, which is not final and requires several more readings, was largely seen as a gambit by Benny Gantz, the former head of the opposition who reluctantly joined Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition this year, to assert his authority. Continue reading...
Zineb Redouane, 80, was closing her shutters during gilets jaunes protest when she was fatally injuredA report into the death of an 80-year-old woman hit by a teargas grenade during a gilets jaunes demonstration in 2018 has suggested the police officer fired directly at her apartment.Zineb Redouane was closing the shutters of her fourth floor flat in central Marseille when she was struck by the canister. Ballistic experts say it would have been travelling at over 97 km/h when it smashed into her chest and face, causing devastating injuries. Continue reading...
People should be confident in the safety of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine, the chief executive of the UK regulator said. Dr June Raine, head of the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said the vaccine had been subjected to rigorous testing and had met strict standards of safety and quality
Pop’s mothers have told of guilt, loneliness and record-label prejudice – so do men face the same problems? Wayne Coyne, Tom Fletcher, Ghetts, Thurston Moore and others respondThis summer, two of the world’s biggest pop stars became parents for the first time. Katy Perry told an interviewer that after becoming pregnant, “a lot of people have asked me: are you going to go away?” Presumably, though, nobody has enquired if new dad Ed Sheeran will be exiting the music industry with immediate effect. Perhaps they should.In recent years, female artists such as Perry – but rarely their male counterparts – have been speaking with increasing candour about the anxiety, guilt, unrealistic expectations and logistical nightmares involved in balancing parenthood and pop stardom. Paloma Faith said the toil of touring with a young baby made her ill, and that her record company assumed her sales would divebomb because “people wouldn’t find a mother as appealing”. In 2018, Cardi B cancelled a tour due to begin six weeks after the birth of her daughter, saying she had “underestimated this whole mommy thing”. Continue reading...
Temur Akhmedov tells court in video link he is ‘stressed and scared’ about returning to LondonThe son of a billionaire Russian oligarch who is being sued by his mother over claims he helped hide hundreds of millions of pounds due to her in the UK’s biggest ever divorce settlement has fled to Russia.Temur Akhmedov is being pursued by his mother, Tatiana Akhmedova, in the high court over allegations he acted as his father Farkhad’s “lieutenant” in a scheme to hide up to £453m awarded to her in a 2016 divorce. Continue reading...
Band say they were offered a free lunch and ‘screen time’ for appearing on BBC’s spinoff It Takes TwoA group of professional musicians have said they were dropped by Strictly Come Dancing after they asked to be paid for performing on the programme’s spinoff show.Amaraterra, a band who perform traditional southern Italian music, said they were excited when they were approached by producers who were enthusiastic about them appearing on the BBC companion programme It Takes Two. Continue reading...
While the fourth series has come under fire for factual inaccuracy, it is just one of many series to reflect the royals long history of mythmaking‘Let’s get it over with,” sighs Prince Philip as he reluctantly prepares to venture towards a crowd of adoring subjects. On the one hand, this moment in The Crown has the ring of truth: realistically, why would members of the royal family be enthusiastic about meeting yet another mob of curtsying, awestruck plebs? It must be tremendously boring. And yet, on the other hand, how dare they? Who pays their wages?A few things have become clear during the fourth season of Peter Morgan’s Netflix epic. Firstly, it’s just as well The Crown isn’t on the BBC. Because if it was, the nation’s enraged rightwing culture warriors would have descended upon Broadcasting House and stormed it. Secondly, this is a portrait of managed decline. And finally, The Crown means The Queen. But Olivia Colman’s Elizabeth II is more Canute than Britannia – not ruling the waves but nobly, if eventually absurdly, trying to hold them back. Continue reading...
Ahead of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, we look back at the significance of the EU’s adoption of Ode to Joy from his Ninth Symphony20 January 1972 Continue reading...
Bridget Archer says it is not backed up by evidence and has already caused harm to communitiesA federal Liberal MP has issued a scathing rebuke of her own government’s cashless debit card welfare program, saying it is a “punitive” scheme that causes harm and stigma and is not backed up by evidence.The Morrison government is seeking to pass legislation that will make trial sites in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland permanent, and transfer more than 20,000 people in the Northern Territory from the Basics card to the cashless debit card program. Continue reading...
Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam also sentenced over pro-democracy protest at police HQ last yearThe high-profile Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong will spend more than a year in jail over an unauthorised protest outside police headquarters in June last year, a Hong Kong court has ruled.Wong said last week he expected to be jailed after admitting organising the event early on in the city’s protest movement, which began with millions marching against an extradition bill before growing into a broader pro-democracy push. Continue reading...
New Zealand has declared a climate change emergency and committed to a carbon-neutral government by 2025, in what the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, called “one of the greatest challenges of our time”.Speaking in parliament after its introduction, Ardern said the country must “act with urgency”. Wednesday’s declaration also said the government would “demonstrate what is possible to other sectors of the economy by reducing the government’s own emissions and becoming a carbon-neutral government by 2025”.Thirty-two other nations have formally acknowledged the global crisis by declaring a climate emergency.
Quincy Fortier was once Nevada’s physician of the year. As unspooled in a new documentary, he had a dark secret: dozens of children fraudulently fathered through his fertility clinicAt 22, Cathy Holm was newly married, settling into a new home in Las Vegas, Nevada, and struggling to start a family. It was the early 1960s, and infertility was a largely taboo topic; devoid of options, she looked up a doctor listed as a “fertility specialist” in the phonebook. Dr Quincy Fortier, a respected obstetrician who opened Sin City’s first women’s hospital, had a record of helping couples achieve a viable pregnancy, and promised to inseminate Holm with a sample of her husband’s sperm.Related: 'They were not born evil': inside a troubling film on why people kill Continue reading...
by Nazia Parveen, north of England correspondent on (#5B44Y)
The British countryside remains a distinctly white and often intimidating place for BAME communities. We interview three outdoor enthusiasts seeking to address this lack of diversityThe British countryside being the preserve of the white middle classes is a perception that is backed by stark figures, with ethnic minorities often deterred from heading into the outdoors due to deep-rooted, complex barriers.At the time of the last census in 2011, 13% of the UK population, around 8.1 million people, identified themselves as black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME). Yet a 2017 study by Natural England found that just 26.2% of black people spent time in the countryside, comparedwith 44.2% of white people. Continue reading...
From winning an Oscar, starring opposite Rock Hudson – and coming out at 82, the theatre legend has done it all. But he came close to giving up acting to work on a hotdog stand
Scott Morrison’s public indignation has stirred more anti-Australian sentiment within ChinaWhen Wuheqilin – a Beijing-based CG-artist – disembarked his plane at Beijing Airport on Monday, he immediately found himself caught up in the latest round in the China-Australia diplomatic boxing match. His illustration Peace Division, which he published on the dominant Chinese microblogging site Weibo a week earlier, had been tweeted by China’s spokesperson Zhao Lijian, alongside a caption, in which Zhao condemns the alleged killing of Afghan civilians by Australian special forces soldiers. This digital illustration was quickly condemned by the Australian government and triggered a furious video response from Australian prime minister Scott Morrison.Related: China rejects Australian PM's call to apologise for 'repugnant' tweet Continue reading...
Actor takes aim at transphobic politicians and ‘those with a massive platform who continue to spew hostility’, saying they ‘have blood on [their] hands’
Wednesday: Afghan leaders outraged by picture of Australian soldier drinking from dead man’s prosthetic leg. Plus: Ottolenghi’s seasonal dishesGood morning, this is Tamara Howie bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 2 December. Continue reading...
World news | The Guardian