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Teacher, worker, carer, cook ... family life has gone back to the 1950s for many women. The Three Women author on why it’s time to let go of the tyranny of the ‘good’ motherNever in my life had I been so high.I’d just given a reading in Amsterdam after which the gracious hosts of the evening took me out for drinks. Three young women asked me questions about sex and love and desire as though I were an expert and it was nice but I was tired and unused to being considered an expert in anything but panic. Continue reading...

Coronavirus has been allowed to run amok by governors and the president, spreading inexorably into the rural heart of AmericaA letter landed on the desk of the governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, this week that given the public health catastrophe swirling all around him might give him pause. His state is one of 21 across the US that have been placed by the White House coronavirus taskforce in the “red zone”, indicating the disease is now so prevalent that immediate restrictions must be imposed to avoid dire consequences.Kemp, a Republican governor and Donald Trump ally, has adopted a controversial approach to Covid-19. Since early July the virus has roared across his state, with new infections rising sharply to top a devastating tally of 182,000. Continue reading...

It’s never been easier to track down your first love online, and during the pandemic many people did just thatDressed up for the first time in lockdown, and wearing a full face of makeup, Annabelle Richards went to meet her first love. The last time she had seen Junior St Clair was in the summer of 1992. She was 17, and on a bus bound for London. He was 20 and standing outside Ipswich bus station, bawling. “As the coach pulled away there were tears pouring down his cheeks,” Annabelle recalls, “and I cried all the way home.”In late March, after reconnecting on Facebook during lockdown, Annabelle met him for the first time in 28 years, outside an office block in Croydon, south London. “We sat on a bench two metres apart and talked nonstop for over an hour,” she says. “We were in awe of the situation. We made each other laugh, like no time had passed. After the meeting, we couldn’t stop messaging. I thought, do I still love this guy?” Continue reading...

Ida lost two brothers in 10 days, and Ken’s teenage sweetheart died at 44. Now, they’re looking for answersSir Oyaseh Ivowi sits in front of a poster of two of his three boys. Olume, the older brother, hovers over Isi; both wear traditional Nigerian dress. Underneath are the words: “Gone too soon, but not forgotten. Olume Godfrey Ivowi, 7 November 1973 to 10 April 2020. Isi Benjamin Emitsemu Ivowi, 17 November 1985 to 19 April 2020.”Olume, 46, and Isi, 34, died in Luton and Milton Keynes respectively. Their passing made headlines because it was so shocking: two brothers killed by Covid-19 in such a short space of time. A third brother, Osi, also caught the virus, but has recovered. Continue reading...

China’s most senior figure in Hong Kong defiant after US takes action against leaders over crackdown on freedom in cityThe head of China’s Hong Kong Liaison Office, Luo Huining, has mocked sanctions announced by the US over the crackdown on freedoms in the city, offering to send Donald Trump $100 so he can freeze the asset.Luo, whose statement appeared on the liaison office’s website on Saturday, is the most senior Chinese figure in the city. “Being put on the US sanctions list just means that I have done what I should do for the nation and Hong Kong,” it read. “Isn’t such a ‘sanction’ in vain as I don’t have any assets abroad? Of course, I can also send $100 to Mr Trump for freezing.” Continue reading...

Observers confused by unidentified men directing port cleanup as politicians’ excuses are shunned

The New Zealand politician has swapped twerking on TV for a more serious policy agenda. As the election looms, it seems to be workingHe went viral in an awkward campaign video that featured him repeatedly saying “hi” – with an emotionless, thousand-yard stare – at famous spots in his constituency. He twerked merrily on Dancing with the Stars wearing neon Lycra. He once proclaimed – with unintentional double entendre – in a news interview about national flags, that “the French, for instance, love the coq.”That was the old David Seymour. The New Zealand lawmaker is the leader and sole member of parliament for ACT – a minor, libertarian party that has at times in its history been plagued by the inadvertent comedy of its eccentric members. The 37-year-old wears a sober suit and a quiet, serious demeanour when he meets the Guardian at his parliamentary office in Wellington. Continue reading...

Staff at Estia’s Keilor Downs aged care home were tested four days after the company was told a worker had tested positive to Covid-19

Fire on Chobham Common covers more than 40 hectares and has spread to golf courseFire crews are tackling a wildfire in Surrey which is larger than 40 hectares and has spread to a golf course.Play at the Rose Ladies Series Grand Final had to be halted after a blaze which began on Chobham Common spread to Wentworth golf course. Continue reading...

Fifth-generation agricultural show vendor Jesse McDonald has run foul of Brisbane authorities with his driveway food truck“It even smells like the Ekka,” a young girl calls to her mother as she races towards the red food truck.Brisbane’s annual agricultural show – the Ekka – was cancelled this year for just the third time in its 143-year history. It had been scheduled to begin on Friday. Continue reading...

Reasons for shortages are often unclear and substitutes, which are not subsidised by PBS, are prohibitively expensive

Reassuring people in the middle of a pandemic is all about instilling confidence in the government’s strategies

‘Not one official has been in touch to help,’ says family member, as Lebanon’s sorrow turns to anger

Footage appears to show the moments after an Air India Express passenger plane crashed in Kozhikode, India. The aircraft, carrying 190 passengers from Dubai, skidded off the runway on landing in heavy rain and broke in two

Special flight carrying 190 people skids off runway while landing in heavy rain and breaks in twoA special flight carrying evacuees to India who had been stranded abroad because of the coronavirus skidded off a runway and split in two while landing in heavy rain in the southern state of Kerala, killing at least 16 passengers and injuring 123 more.The Air India Express had flown from Dubai with 190 passengers and crew and landed at Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, on Friday. Continue reading...

On Tuesday evening, a massive explosion ripped across Beirut, killing at least 150 people and injuring thousands more. The scale of the damage was immense, with buildings miles from the port lying in ruin.The Guardian's international correspondent Michael Safi looks at the cause of the blast and the impact it has had on Lebanon, a country already on the brink of financial collapse

Canada to impose C$3.6bn in tariffs as Chrystia Freeland says: ‘Any American who buys a can of beer … will suffer’Canada has announced that it will retaliate dollar for dollar – to the tune of C$3.6bn – after the US announced a 10% tariff on Canadian aluminum.Donald Trump announced the new aluminum tariffs on Thursday at a campaign stop at a Whirlpool appliance plant in Ohio, accusing Canada of taking advantage of its trade relationship with the US. Continue reading...

Beaches and parks packed and emergency services stretched as temperature reaches 36.4C Continue reading...

City latest to face tougher measures; Sage experts say R value as high as 1 in England; Scotland brings in law to force pubs to take customer details

Exclusive: Former leader and allies say alleged diversion of funds in 2017 could be fraudJeremy Corbyn and his former leadership team have openly accused disgruntled Labour officials of potentially costing the party the chance of victory by sabotaging the 2017 election campaign in a factional dispute.In a joint statement that shines a light on the scale of continued Labour splits, Corbyn, the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and seven other former shadow ministers and aides have for the first time formally endorsed claims made in a party report leaked in April. Continue reading...

Home secretary tells MPs she obtained legal advice that sending in the navy would be permittedPriti Patel’s plans to use the navy to tackle the growing number of migrants crossing the Channel from northern France would be unlawful and dangerous, lawyers have warned.Thursday was a record day for small boat crossings, with 235 people identified in 17 separate incidents. More than 2,000 people are said to have entered the country by this route in June – more than four times the known total of 500 for the whole of 2018. Continue reading...

Police watchdog to interview officer who apparently knelt on teenager’s neck during arrest outside Leeds United stadiumA criminal investigation has been launched after a police officer was filmed apparently kneeling on a teenager’s neck during his arrest as Leeds United fans celebrated their club’s promotion to the Premier League.Investigators from the police watchdog will interview the West Yorkshire officer on suspicion of common assault and he will be investigated for gross misconduct. Continue reading...

Angry Lebanese plan major protest on Saturday, one day before team investigating explosion reports to cabinetDozens of bags of fireworks were stored in the same hangar as thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate at Beirut’s port and may have been a decisive factor in igniting the explosive chemical compound that fuelled Tuesday’s huge explosion, a former port worker and other sources have told the Guardian.As angry Lebanese plan a major protest in central Beirut on Saturday, scrutiny has focused on how 2,750 tonnes of the dangerous material could have been stored so close to residential neighbourhoods for years – despite repeated warnings of the risk it posed. Continue reading...

Daniel Snowman interviewed the former US president in 1963 and reveals what he was told. Frank Jackson thinks the bombing of Nagasaki was even more of a war crimeClifton Daniel is right about his grandfather’s bombing of Hiroshima (‘He felt he had to do it’, 4 August). “That was no decision!” Harry S Truman told me when I interviewed him in July 1963 in the presidential library in Independence, Missouri. I was a postgraduate student and had come to ask him about Hiroshima, the case study at the centre of my recently completed thesis on presidential decision-making. At a stroke, the very core of my research was undercut by the amiable old man.Truman, who had only become president a few weeks before Hiroshima upon the sudden death of Franklin D Roosevelt, told me how FDR’s advisers, notably the venerable secretary of war, Henry L Stimson, persuaded him that dropping the atomic bomb on people was the one initiative that might bring the war in the Pacific to a rapid end, without the need for a protracted invasion of the Japanese islands at the cost of a million more lives. When I asked Truman about the dangers of nuclear radiation, or whether the bomb was really used to impress or scare the Soviets, all this was dismissed as the dreamings of people who weren’t present at the time and were speculating about matters they weren’t competent to judge. “All the atomic bomb was,” said Truman, “was a big bomb to end the war. And it did end it too!” Continue reading...

Witness accounts pile on pressure for PM’s aide to show proof he did not visit Durham a second time in lockdown

Photographer who captured moment naked bather gave pursuit says he ‘gave it his all’

Experts fear sweeping public order proposals, including ban on loud talking, could be used to stifle protests

Police criticised for ‘rather martial’ response to protests over closure of Syndikat in German capitalDozens of people have been arrested in Berlin during demonstrations against the closure of a small bar with a strong leftwing following.Syndikat, described by its patrons as their “second living room”, was seized by a court official on Friday morning, bringing to an end a lengthy and bitter eviction fight. Continue reading...

Anger grows at president over economy, pandemic and plans for integration with RussiaBelarusians will go to the polls on Sunday in one of the most unpredictable elections in a generation, as longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko faces a spirited challenge from a united opposition that has gathered the largest political rallies since the days of the Soviet Union.Lukashenko, who has consolidated immense power over 25 years of rule in Belarus, is expected to claim victory over the opposition candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. But signs of vote rigging and growing dissatisfaction with his government, including among his base, may trigger protests in their wake and further embolden the opposition. Continue reading...

The American Song Contest will launch in late 2021 with rival musicians from all 50 statesNorth Dakota could soon find itself awarded douze points by television viewers, after the Eurovision song contest signed a deal to create a US version of the singing competition.The American Song Contest will launch in late 2021, featuring musicians from all 50 US states competing to be crowned champions in a series of televised competitions. Regional contests will be held in each state to choose a singer or musical group to progress into the nationally televised finals, with viewers whittling down the entries over three rounds of shows. Continue reading...

Streete dumped 20-year-old’s body in park then lied about what had happenedA “truly evil” former warehouse packer has been jailed for life for raping and murdering a “caring” would-be classroom assistant and friend.Wesley Streete dumped Keeley Bunker’s body face-down in a brook in a park before trying to conceal her body with branches on 19 September last year. Continue reading...

State media say several injured in protests as ambassador to Jordan resigns over ‘state negligence’

Former MP sentenced at Ipswich crown court to eight months in prison suspended for two yearsThe former Labour MP Eric Joyce has been handed a suspended sentence after admitting to making an indecent image of a child.The 59-year-old ex-army major, who served as MP for Falkirk for more than a decade, was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years, and also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work. Continue reading...

A holiday in Norfolk is a chance to spend time away from politics, and for my wife to spend less time alone with meMondayWhen I was a teenager, the FA Cup final was always a red letter day in the football calendar. The TV coverage would start in the morning with loads of chat and clips of the teams leaving their London hotels by bus and I would be watching every minute of it. Even my Dad, who had no interest in football whatsoever, would come inside at 3pm to watch the entire match. Sometimes he even managed to stay awake for the entire 90 minutes. Yet for the past 25 years or so, I’ve never bothered to watch the final on TV. Partly because Spurs have not featured since 1991, but mostly because I’ve just lost interest in the competition. This year was no exception. The weather was nice and a game between Tottenham’s two main rivals – Arsenal and Chelsea – seemed entirely missable. So it was only on the following day that I discovered there had been rather more riding on the match than I had thought. By winning and claiming automatic qualification, Arsenal had condemned Spurs to play at least three extra preliminary matches for the Europa League, a competition I had been rather hoping to avoid even before this new form of hell. Tottenham’s possible opponents hardly read like a roll call of Europe’s finest. In no particular order, they are Kesla FK from Azerbaijan, Torshavn from the Faroe Islands, Neftchi Baku also from Azerbaijan, Kaysar Kyzylorda and Ordabasy Shymkent both from Kazakhstan, Sutjeska Niksic of Montenegro, OFI Heraklion from Crete, and Lithuania’s FK Riteriai. These are all games that both Spurs and I would pay money to avoid, as their only real function is to make sure the players are exhausted by November. I’m just praying that further travel bans have been put in place by September and that Tottenham are forced out of the competition by the Foreign Office. Continue reading...

CoCo Ichibanya hopes locals will approve of its signature hot dishes as it opens near DelhiIt sounds like the culinary equivalent of coals to Newcastle. But a popular Japanese restaurant chain is banking on diners in India to acquire a taste for its signature dish: curry.CoCo Ichibanya, which has become a staple of the Japanese budget dining scene since it opened its first outlet in 1978, this week launched its first restaurant in India, near Delhi. Continue reading...

Duke of Sussex urges advertisers to demand companies do more to curb hate speech onlinePrince Harry has hit out at social media companies for creating a “crisis of hate” and called for “meaningful digital reform” after an unprecedented advertiser boycott of Facebook.In an opinion piece for the US business magazine Fast Company, the Duke of Sussex revealed that he and his wife, Meghan, had begun campaigning for change in social media “a little over four weeks ago”. Continue reading...

Researchers at Rome university compared portraits with a plaster cast of the artist’s skull

Countless young people are being pushed to Europe’s margins by hardline border and migration policies

A summary of the major developments in the coronavirus outbreak across AustraliaGood evening, here are the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in Australia. This is Naaman Zhou and it’s Friday 7 August. Continue reading...

Residents of the Texas city, home to tens of thousands of Lebanese people, say the blast left them feeling helplessHouston residents Leila Woheidy and her mother were on the phone with her grandmother back in Lebanon when they suddenly heard screaming on the other end of the line.Related: No lights, no glass, no money: Beirutis hamstrung in efforts to rebuild Continue reading...

Support package unveiled to help firms with bureaucracy of moving goods across Irish SeaThe UK government has announced a £355m package to cushion Northern Ireland businesses from the costs of trading with the rest of the UK because of Brexit.Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, said on Friday £200m would be spent on a trader support service (TSS) to help firms handle new bureaucracy to move goods across the Irish Sea, turning the government into a de facto customs agent for traders. Continue reading...

As Victoria reported 911 infected healthcare workers, Scott Morrison said rest of the country needed to heed lessons already learned

Lack of touch has impacted mental health during the pandemic, so experts suggest ways to embrace as safely as possible

Exclusive: People reportedly forced on to small boats at gunpoint as gangs move into tradeRefugees have told of increasingly brutal tactics used by people-smugglers transporting thousands across the Channel in small boats, as calm seas and the Covid-19 pandemic create a boom in the trade.The Home Office confirmed on Thursday evening that 6 August was a record day for small boat crossings, with 235 people identified. There were 17 separate incidents, 13 involving interceptions or encounters by Border Force officials and three separate incidents involving recovery by Royal National Lifeboat Institution. One boat containing 15 people landed at Dungeness beach in Kent. The Home Office has pledged to take tougher measurers to halt these crossings. Continue reading...

In July, the remains of nearly 250 migrant workers were repatriated to Mexico City. Two grieving families share their stories and loss

External review launched following collective resignation, which cited need for ‘profound organisational reforms’Five women Nobel laureates said this week they were “profoundly shaken and saddened” by the resignation of seven staff at the organisation created to promote peace, justice and women’s rights.Shirin Ebadi, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Leymah Gbowee, Tawakkol Karman and Jody Williams said while they were aware of challenges within the Nobel Women’s Initiative, they “deeply regret not recognising the depth of their broader impact on staff”. They have launched an external review. Continue reading...

Brands including Primark, Zara and H&M accused of failing to protect workers at factories in Asia from ‘union busting’Some of Europe’s biggest retailers, including Primark, Zara and H&M, are failing to stop Covid-19 being used as a pretext for union busting, human rights activists are warning.Millions of garment workers in some of the poorest parts of Asia have lost their jobs since coronavirus shutdowns hit the retail industry worldwide. Continue reading...

Temperatures could reach up to 38C during string of very hot days, say forecasters

Children with autism among those detained in England and Wales and left for hours in sometimes filthy cellsChildren with Down’s syndrome and autism were among those left for hours in court cells while they waited for legal representation or transport, a custody watchdog has revealed in a damning report.The treatment of some young people, including those with disabilities, was labelled unacceptable and a “matter of embarrassment” for the criminal justice system by the Lay Observers (LO), volunteers who inspect court custody conditions and transport arrangements for detainees in England and Wales. Continue reading...