Visit Essex makes light of television narrative to focus on nature reserves and seal watchingThink Essex. Think white stilettos, boy racers, fake tans, tracksuits? Now Essex, weary of this stereotypical image, is putting the record straight – with tongue firmly in cheek.A new promotional ThisisEssex film aims to recast the narrative spawned in popular culture through the reality show The Only Way is Essex (Towie), Harry Enfield’s “Loadsamoney”, Birds of a Feather sitcom characters Sharon and Tracey and Ian Dury’s hit Billericay Dickie. Continue reading...
Leaders of violent far-right group, including former MPs, shown no leniency by judgesThe neo-Nazi leaders of Golden Dawn have been sentenced to 13 years in prison by a court in Athens, at the end of a historic hearing likened to the Nuremberg trials after the second world war.The violent Greek neo-fascist group was officially laid to rest as its disgraced former MPs were shown almost no remorse by a three-member panel of judges. Continue reading...
World leaders call for halt to fighting that has killed more than 500 people in 17 daysRussia has made a fresh appeal to Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect a badly fraying ceasefire in the breakaway South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh with both sides blaming each other for new attacks, including on civilians.The truce was supposed to come into force last Saturday but appears to be failing, with the defence ministry in Nagorno-Karabakh – a territory inside Azerbaijan but governed by ethnic Armenians – accusing Azeri forces of launching artillery and rocket attacks in several areas, and claiming to have shot down an Azeri Su-25 fighter jet, though Azerbaijan denies this. Continue reading...
Alexandra Greenway, 23, died because she was unable to access treatment in time, says motherThe mother of a transgender woman found dead at her flat in Bristol has told an inquest that her daughter and other people with mental health issues had died because they are unable to access the talking therapy they needed.A month before she apparently took her own life, Alexandra Greenway, 23, was escorted to a psychiatric hospital for her own safety by police after what they believed was a suicide attempt. Continue reading...
Once-uncool rubber shoe’s comeback strategy includes Justin Bieber collaborationFrom collaborations with Justin Bieber to Bad Bunny and Post Malone, the frequently mocked Crocs may finally be cool.“I wear Crocs all the time, so designing my own pair came naturally,” Bieber told WWD about his much-hyped collaboration with the brand, which was released on Tuesday. “With these Crocs, I just focused on making something cool that I wanted to wear.” Continue reading...
Casting misses chance to give north African actors a higher profile, prolonging the debate over Hollywood’s colonisation of ethnicityCleopatra is once again getting the big screen treatment, this time courtesy of Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins and the DC heroine herself, Gal Gadot. But even with a female director, and female screenwriter in Laeta Kalogridis on board, the casting of an Israeli actor with Ashkenazi Jewish heritage as the legendary Queen of Egypt has led to a not unfounded debate about Hollywood whitewashing.In recent years historians, such as Hilke Thuer of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, have questioned the long-held belief that Cleopatra VII was white. Scholars agree that there’s no doubt that Cleo was Macedonian-Greek on her father Ptolemy XII’s side, potentially Persian or Syrian too, but because the ethnic origin of her mother remains unverified it has strengthened the idea that the Egyptian ruler was of mixed heritage. “The mother of Cleopatra has been suggested to have been from the family of the priests of Memphis,” Betsy M Bryan, Alexander Badawy professor of Egyptian art and archaeology at Johns Hopkins University, told Newsweek. “If this were the case, then Cleopatra could have been at least 50% Egyptian in origin.” Continue reading...
Professor Simon Rice, whose students are working on reforming protest laws, pushed to the ground by police and fined $1,000 as students protest against job lossesA University of Sydney law professor, who was observing a student protest on Wednesday as part of research into protest law, was thrown to the ground by police, then arrested and fined.Prof Simon Rice said he was not participating in the protest and was trying to move past it when he was pushed to the ground by police with “disproportionate force”. Continue reading...
Shadow treasurer says Labor has not reached a view on the government’s third round of income tax cutsThe shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has declared it is “unnerving” that Scott Morrison is barnstorming Queensland upbraiding Labor for policy positions the party took to the election in 2019 in the middle of Australia’s first recession in 30 years.With the prime minister limbering up for a fresh partisan fight over income tax cuts, blasting Labor in Queensland electorates that swung to the Coalition in the 2019 campaign, Chalmers said Morrison was the “most political prime minister that I have seen and the circumstances demand something better”. Continue reading...
Mass bleaching events triggered by record-breaking water temperatures have the most impact on coral depletionCorals on the Great Barrier Reef have more than halved over the past 25 years, according to a study that prompted scientists to again warn the world-famous landmark will become unrecognisable without a sharp reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.Researchers from the Townsville-based ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies assessed coral communities and size between 1995 and 2017 and found the number of small, medium and large corals had fallen more than 50%. Continue reading...
Vote in state’s upper house defeated on casting vote of John Ajaka, the Liberal presidentA no-confidence motion against Gladys Berejiklian in the state’s upper house has been defeated on the casting vote of the president, giving the New South Wales premier an important symbolic victory in her battle to hang on to the Liberal leadership.The initial vote was 20-20 but John Ajaka, the Liberal president, used his vote to defeat the motion. Continue reading...
The government is being urged to dispel myths and ensure drugs are available – and take responsibility for the millions of stray dogsBy the time the patient, a young man, reached Dr Ramesh Masthi at a Bengaluru hospital, it was too late to save him. After being bitten by a pack of stray dogs as he went out to buy some milk, his family had applied a paste of green chillis, then lime juice and finally, when the wound looked gruesome, turmeric.“He came about a week after he was bitten. The wound was serious, and we couldn’t save him. There is so much ignorance about dog bites and myths. A rabies shot in time would have saved him,” Masthi says. Continue reading...
by Florian Witulski, Navaon Siradapuvadol, Kyri Evang on (#593AR)
The Guardian follows Parit Chiwarak, known as Penguin, one of Thailand's prominent protest leaders as he helps organise one of the biggest anti-government rallies in years. He and many other young people are risking prison to demand a significant democratic overhaul: they want the power and wealth of the monarchy curbed. Parit said he already faced 18 charges, including sedition, for his involvement in previous demonstrations. More rallies are expected in Bangkok on Wednesday
Former Wagga MP admits to corruption hearing that he received payments from cash-for-visa scheme at his Parliament House office. Watch and follow the live stream• Berejiklian faces questions about meeting with convicted criminals
A British bomb left over from the second world war has been detonated in Poland. The 5,400kg Tallboy bomb was dropped by the RAF in 1945 during an attack on a German cruiser. It was rediscovered in September 2019 during works to deepen a waterway near the port of Szczecin. Navy divers from Poland had rigged a small explosion to disarm the bomb but instead it went off. There were no injuries. Continue reading...
The Carabineros face 8,500 allegations of human rights abuses in the past yearDamning allegations of human rights abuses, cover-ups and impunity have prompted growing calls for a root-and-branch reform of Chile’s national police force, known as the Carabineros.The force has been accused of a string of abuses since the outbreak of widespread protests a year ago – most recently when an officer was caught on camera bundling a 16-year-old demonstrator over the railings of a bridge in Santiago. Continue reading...
by Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington on (#5932T)
The New Zealand opposition leader has pulled no punches after being thrust into the role just a few months before the election“I’m very aware that I’m not going to be able to come out and ‘out-Jacinda’ Jacinda Ardern,” says New Zealand’s opposition leader of her rival. “But I can be Judith Collins.”On Saturday, New Zealanders will be given the choice not only between parties but also between two very different women vying for the prime ministership. Continue reading...
Museum in Nantes pulls show after intervention by Beijing, which comes as Communist party hardens discrimination against ethnic MongolsA French museum has postponed an exhibit about the Mongol emperor Genghis Khan citing interference by the Chinese government, which it accuses of trying to rewrite history.The Château des ducs de Bretagne history museum in the western city of Nantes said it was putting the show about the fearsome 13th century leader on hold for over three years. Continue reading...
Shepparton residents urged to get tested after three cases linked to Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne on Tuesday, meanwhile NSW restrictions on outdoor venues and concerts are being eased. Follow liveFollow our global coronavirus live blogFull Australian Covid stats; Covid restrictions state by stateNSW cases map; Vic cases mapNSW hotspots list; Vic hotspots listSign up for Guardian Australia’s coronavirus email12.46am BSTIn other news, Victorian Labor MP Will Fowles, who you probably remember from this incident, appears to have drawn some inspiration from the West Wing in his speech opposing a no-confidence motion against premier Daniel Andrews last night. You can listen to a clip of it here, but these were the quotes:Martin Sheen as Jed Bartlet in the West Wing:We did not expect nor did we invite a confrontation with evil
The country’s MMP electoral system was designed to give more diverse voices entry to parliamentCoalition governments – regarded with horror in many other democracies – have become the norm in New Zealand since the country shifted to the MMP electoral system in 1996, ditching the British “first past the post” system.MMP – mixed-member proportional – was designed to allow more diverse voices entry to parliament, and award more power to smaller parties in an attempt to dilute the hold that the Labour and National parties had on government. Continue reading...
Lawyers say unsealing details related to Maxwell’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein will undermine her right to a fair trialA lawyer for Ghislaine Maxwell appeared remotely before three New York federal appeals court judges on Tuesday afternoon, in an attempt to keep under wraps a deposition from past civil litigation regarding her relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.The British socialite is urging the US second circuit court of appeals to overturn Manhattan federal court judge Loretta Preska’s July decision to unseal the 418-page deposition. Continue reading...
Ioannis Paraskakis found guilty of killing Suzanne Eaton on the Greek island in 2019A Greek court has sentenced a man to life in jail for raping and killing an American scientist on the island of Crete in 2019.Suzanne Eaton, 60, a molecular biologist at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany, was found dead in a disused military bunker in July of last year, around a week after she went missing after going out for a jog. Continue reading...
by Emmanuel Akinwotu, Nikhita Chulani, Elena Morresi on (#592NM)
After days of fierce protests against police brutality, Nigeria's government announced the dissolution of the infamous "Special Anti-Robbery Squad", commonly called Sars, a police unit plagued with allegations of extrajudicial killings, theft and abuse.The Guardian's west Africa correspondent, Emmanuel Akinwotu, explains what sparked the #EndSars demonstrations across the country, how the movement trended internationally on social media, and why demonstrators do not trust promises of reform
Result follows warnings from human rights groups that UN body’s credibility at stakeRussia and China have been elected to the UN human rights council for the next three years, but Saudi Arabia failed in its attempt to win a place on the 47-seat body.The result is a severe blow to the country’s efforts to improve its image in the wake of the admitted killing of the Saudi citizen and Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi. Continue reading...
Tony Lane responds to the government’s plan to use nets at sea to stop Channel crossingsIt would be interesting to know the substance of the presumed consultations by Dan O’Mahoney, the Home Office’s clandestine Channel threat commander, concerning his piratical proposal to lay the marine equivalent of snares and mantraps in the form of nets designed to foul outboard engines’ propellers (Home Office may use nets to stop migrant boats crossing Channel, 11 October).Presumably he’s taken advice from the International Maritime Organization, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the International Federation of Shipmasters’ Associations, the International Transport Workers’ Federation, Nautilus International, the RNLI, the Royal Yachting Association and Trinity House, to mention just a few of the organisations familiar with the practices of safety of life at sea. Continue reading...
Latest ruling could inflame trade tensions from long-standing Boeing-Airbus dispute over subsidiesThe EU has been given permission to levy tariffs on US products worth $4bn in retaliation for subsidies given to Boeing, in the latest salvo in a bitter 16-year battle between the US plane maker and its European arch rival, Airbus.The ruling by the World Trade Organization (WTO), delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, could increase trade tensions shortly before the US presidential election on 3 November, although it could also set the stage for tariff negotiations between the EU and the US, which has already imposed levies on European goods in parallel action against Airbus. Continue reading...
by Presented by Anushka Asthana with Stephanie Kirchg on (#592HV)
The confirmation process to appoint Amy Coney Barrett, a deeply conservative judge who is Donald Trump’s pick for supreme court judge, has begun. Guardian US investigative journalist Stephanie Kirchgaessner has been looking at her career and personal life, including membership to the secretive Catholic group People of Praise, and discusses what her appointment would mean for the USIf Donald Trump has his way then he will use the few weeks remaining before Americans go to the polls on 3 November to install his choice as the ninth supreme court justice. If successful, it would mean replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a ferocious campaigner for women’s rights whose work turned her into a liberal icon, with Amy Coney Barrett, a deeply conservative judge whose values push in the opposite direction. The move would shift the balance so starkly in America’s highest court that some fear it could lead to key rulings protecting civil rights being overturned – and possibly hamper the ability of Democrats to change laws for decades to come. Continue reading...
Foreign Office quango says some of NGO’s claims against machinery firm ‘merit further examination’The British heavy machinery firm JCB’s sale of equipment used in the destruction of Palestinian villages in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is being examined by a UK government body to determine whether its due diligence process complies with human rights guidelines set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.The case is likely to test the degree to which multinationals are responsible if their export goods are sold by local distributors in ways that infringe human rights. Continue reading...
Woman tells court that incident at 2008 Christmas party left her feeling shockedA woman was left stunned after former Blue Peter presenter John Leslie made a “solid grab” of her breasts at a Christmas party, a court has heard.The pair had just shaken hands when the star grabbed both her breasts and laughed, his sex assault trial was told. Continue reading...
Official and lawmaker filmed pledging to support application from fictitious investor with criminal recordCyprus has announced the suspension of a “golden passport” scheme to sell citizenship to wealthy investors following a sting by investigative journalists.Al-Jazeera’s investigative unit filmed high-ranking Cypriot politicians, including the parliamentary speaker Demetris Syllouris, promising to support the sale of a Cypriot passport to representatives of a fictitious Chinese businessman with a money-laundering conviction. Continue reading...
Prosecutors allege drivers paid €3 per delivery and suffered degrading work conditionsTen people, including a senior operations manager at Uber in Italy, are under investigation over the alleged exploitation of vulnerable migrant workers by the company’s food-delivery arm, prosecutors have said.According to investigators, the workers were “subjected to degrading work conditions, paid €3 per ride”, and had their tips confiscated. Continue reading...
Three children aged four to eight pronounced dead at the scene on Monday nightFour members of the same family, including three young children, have died after the people carrier they were travelling in collided with a heavy goods vehicle on the A40 near Oxford on Monday night.Thames Valley police said officers were called at 9.50pm to reports of the collision between a silver Subaru and the HGV near to a railway overbridge west of Oxford. Continue reading...
From Black Panther to Black Lives Matter, I’ve felt a new sense of identity and pride, that I will pass on to my childrenGrowing up, I envied those who understood their mother’s native language. Speaking it was admirable, but the very act of comprehension was a beautiful thing to witness. From afar it seemed like a love language, something intimate and secretive spoken between families – it suggested a bond, a closeness that seemed impenetrable.As a child, it didn’t necessarily bother me that I was unable to understand my family’s mother tongue (my parents are Nigerian, and the language they used in our household was robustly and loudly Yoruba). I was too busy navigating all the complexities of being an adolescent to really notice that my parents actively chose to only speak English to their five children. It’s also fair to say that when I was growing up in the late 1980s and early 90s, I had no friends of a similar background to me – most were from the Caribbean. Certainly, Africa wasn’t deemed a cool destination, so that part of myself was mostly folded away. Continue reading...
A 23-year-old worker has died after he fell 20 metres when a roof collapsed on a building being constructed at Curtain University in Perth, Australia.Two other men were taken to hospital, one with serious injuries, following the incident on Tuesday