An unusual partnership between an asphalt manufacturer and a green group has produced Australia’s first road surfaces made from the ubiquitous waste itemIn a secret location in an industrial area in western Sydney, a test strip of asphalt is being laid.But this is no ordinary road. Continue reading...
Inventor now worth $90bn, trailing Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Jeff BezosElon Musk has soared through the global wealth league this year and become the world’s fourth richest person, after a boom in the share price of the Tesla car company he co-founded and part-owns increased his wealth by more than $13.3bn (£10bn) in two days of trading.The Silicon Valley inventor and entrepreneur is now worth more than $90bn and has overtaken France’s richest person, the luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, chairman of Louis Vuitton, cementing the place of American tech plutocrats at the top of the world’s rich list. Continue reading...
by Jamie Grierson, Kim Willsher and Diane Taylor on (#572RS)
Shadow home secretary says UK response has lacked ‘compassion’ after teenager’s body washes up at SangatteA Sudanese teenager who disappeared at sea has been found dead on a beach near Calais as tensions rise over the British government’s approach to the unfolding crisis in the Channel.The French citizenship minister, Marlène Schiappa, said the body was found on the beach of Sangatte, near to the former site of the notorious “jungle” refugee camp, and was believed to be that of a 16-year-old boy, although some uncertainty remains over his age while authorities are continuing to investigate the matter. Continue reading...
Mali's new military rulers have vowed to restore confidence 'between governed and governors' after a coup on Tuesday that led to the president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, announcing his resignation, as well as the dissolution of the government and the national assembly. Keïta came to power in 2013 and won a second term in 2018. But there had been rising anger at government incompetence, endemic corruption and a deteriorating economy
St Mary’s church in Beverley commissions sculptures of CS Lewis characters to replace medieval carvingsNarnia’s mythical creatures and talking beasts, which have enchanted children for 70 years, have found a new home at a 12th-century parish church in east Yorkshire.Aslan the lion, the White Witch and Mr Tumnus the faun are among 14 handmade stone carvings being installed on the outer walls of St Mary’s church in Beverley to replace medieval carvings that have crumbled away. Continue reading...
by Jennifer Rankin in Brussels and Andrew Roth in Mos on (#572H1)
Bloc declares solidarity with protests against Lukashenko’s grip on power as it vows to press ahead with sanctionsThe EU has said it does not recognise Alexander Lukashenko as Belarus’s president and vowed to press ahead with sanctions on his regime, following an emergency summit in response to 10 days of protests that have shaken the autocrat’s 26-year grip on power.“The European Union stands in solidarity with the people of Belarus,” said Charles Michel, the European council president, who convened the last-minute meeting of the EU’s 27 leaders. Belarus’s presidential elections had been “neither free nor fair and did not meet international standards”, he said. “We don’t recognise the results presented by the Belarus authorities.” Continue reading...
Mother of 10-year-old from Acton, west London, was remanded in custody at Old Bailing hearingA 10-year-old boy allegedly killed by his mother died as a result of suffocation, a court has been told.The hearing at the Old Bailey was told that Olga Freeman’s son, Dylan, had died at his home in west London on 16 August. Joel Smith, prosecuting, said that the cause of death was found to be restriction of the airways. Continue reading...
‘Snow evokes the west, Europe, the far north – places that have historically been hostile to black people. So this is like an assertion: we’re going to take this place for ourselves’I shot this in Brooklyn in 2017. For four years, I had been working on a series about LGBTQ African immigrants in 10 countries, across North America, Europe and the Caribbean, but I had no group shots. I started thinking about how we interact with each other for support. I wanted to capture that.I already knew Mai’Yah, the woman furthest to the right, from a shoot two years earlier. She said there were three other women in New York she was in conversation with who were also queer and African. From the left, they are Badu (who is Ivorian), Yéwá (Nigerian) and Amadi (Nigerian). Mai’Yah is Liberian. Continue reading...
by Jamie Grierson Home affairs correspondent on (#572YA)
People have been struck by cars or trains, suffocated in lorries or drowned in the ChannelThe death of a 16-year-old boy found on Sangatte beach is not the first tragedy to arise from attempts to reach the UK.A significant number of people have died after being hit by cars in northern France as they make their way on foot to reach beaches or ports along the coast, and others have drowned in the Channel, suffocated in lorries or been hit by trains. Continue reading...
Minister to introduce law next year to ensure nation’s 9.4 million dogs get enough exerciseGermany’s dog owners will soon to be ordered by law to walk their pets twice a day.The country’s agriculture minister, Julia Klöckner, has said she is introducing the new law based on evidence that many of the nation’s 9.4 million dogs are not getting the exercise or stimuli they need. Continue reading...
Health experts say prime minister discussing coercive measures early risked driving hesitant Australians awayThe health minister Greg Hunt says the federal government will not “force vaccinations on any Australian” and Scott Morrison has clarified they would not be compulsory after experts expressed concern that earlier talk of “mandatory” vaccination might drive hesitant Australians away.The prime minister announced on Tuesday night that a letter of intent had been signed with the British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to supply Australians with the University of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine if it clears clinical trials. Continue reading...
References to ‘separation of power’ removed in some books, as well as illustrations of protesters holding placardsHong Kong publishers have been told to remove references to the separation of powers and protest slogans from school textbooks, in a move decried as censorship by the authorities.Six publishers voluntarily submitted eight textbooks to the education regulator for vetting and were asked to make revisions, reports in Hong Kong and mainland media said on Wednesday. Continue reading...
It was the late director Alan Parker’s most enduring hit, capturing what it was to be young and ambitious in the hot, gritty New York of 1980. The cast and crew reflect on the acting, fighting, flirting and fallout
Police in southern Japan reported more than 7,000 cases of ‘rojo-ne’ last yearJapan is largely tolerant of salarymen snoozing on trains after an evening out, but authorities on the southern island of Okinawa are taking a dim view of a worrying new trend in alcohol-fuelled somnolence.Local police reported more than 7,000 cases of rojo-ne – literally sleeping on the road – last year, a phenomenon some attribute to Okinawa’s balmy weather and enthusiastic consumption of a fiery spirit that has been made on the island for hundreds of years. Continue reading...
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta dissolves national assembly amid EU concerns that mutiny could destabilise whole regionMali’s president has announced his resignation and the dissolution of the national assembly on state television, shortly after he and the prime minister were arrested by mutinous soldiers in what the European Union described as an attempted coup.The president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, and the prime minister, Boubou Cissé, were seized on Tuesday evening after a day of confusion and chaos in a country already facing a jihadist insurgency and mass protests. Continue reading...
Fine particles dust the ground around Lindt & Spruengli factory in town of Olten after ventilation defectA real-life Willy Wonka would have been proud. But residents of a Swiss town got a bit of a shock when it started snowing particles of a fine cocoa powder after the ventilation system at a chocolate factory malfunctioned.The Lindt & Spruengli company confirmed local reports on Tuesday that there was a minor defect in the cooling ventilation in an area making roasted “cocoa nibs” in its factory in Olten, between Zurich and Basel. Continue reading...
With sanctions already in place against beef and barley, Beijing’s ‘anti-dumping’ investigation is designed to punish Canberra over political disputesIn recent months, Australian ministers have advised companies selling to China to diversify their export markets to reduce the risk of relying overly on a single buyer. As it turns out, China is doing the job for us.The decision by China’s commerce ministry, which handles trade policy in Beijing, to open an anti-dumping investigation into Australian wine imports is the latest in a series of measures designed to punish Canberra over political disputes. Continue reading...
Move to ‘reset’ government due to coronavirus comes amid committee investigations into WE charity affairCanada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, is facing accusations that his decision to prorogue parliament is little more than an attempt to cover up an ethics scandal – and walk away from his duties during a pivotal moment in the pandemic.On Tuesday afternoon, Trudeau asked Julie Payette, governor general, to prematurely end the current parliamentary session. He vowed to resume on 23 September with a speech from the throne, followed by a confidence vote. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Qatar Airways acknowledges prioritising more expensive tickets to remain profitable and comply with the flight arrival capPlanes flying into Australia are carrying as few as four economy passengers, as airlines frustrated with the government’s international arrival cap begin to acknowledge they are prioritising business passengers and more expensive tickets to remain profitable while complying with the limits.Some flights are restricted to as few as 30 passengers under the government’s restrictions on arrivals. Continue reading...
Wednesday: Australians will get the University of Oxford’s Covid-19 vaccine for free if it clears clinical trials. Plus, electric vehicle sales tripleGood morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 19 August. Continue reading...
Bipartisan intelligence panel says that Russian who worked on Trump’s 2016 bid was career spy, amid a stunning range of contactsA report by the Senate intelligence committee provides a treasure trove of new details about Donald Trump’s relationship with Moscow, and says that a Russian national who worked closely with Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 was a career intelligence officer.The bipartisan report runs to nearly 1,000 pages and goes further than last year’s investigation into Russian election interference by special prosecutor Robert Mueller. It lays out a stunning web of contacts between Trump, his top election aides and Russian government officials, in the months leading up to the 2016 election. Continue reading...
The English stage and screen actor, whose credits also include 2009’s Star Trek reboot and First Knight, died in Vienna from illnessBen Cross, star of stage and screen, has died at the age of 72.The actor, best known for his role in Oscar-winning drama Chariots of Fire, died in Vienna from an unspecified illness according to his daughter who confirmed the news on Facebook. Continue reading...
Home Office repurposes women’s immigration removal centre to cope with increase in arrivalsYarl’s Wood is no longer being used as a women’s immigration removal centre and has been temporarily repurposed to house people who have arrived on small boats across the Channel to cope with the increase in arrivals, it has emerged.The privately run detention centre in Bedfordshire has been dogged by controversies including hunger strikes, damning inspection reports and allegations of sexual abuse. Continue reading...
by Shaun Walker in Minsk and Andrew Roth in Moscow on (#571SF)
Stories of abuse emerge as more than 7,000 people were detained after rigged electionPavel Daroshka was one of thousands of Belarusians to be arrested by riot police on the thinnest of pretexts last week, and then fall into a nightmare of brutal and demeaning violence.Now, he is determined to at least try to bring the men who beat him to justice, however unlikely it might be while President Alexander Lukashenko remains in charge of the country. Continue reading...
Dr Neil Redfern on the shameful and jingoistic celebrations of the victory over JapanThe complacent (jingoistic is perhaps a better word) celebrations of VJ Day shamefully overlook two matters. First, Japan surrendered after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where tens of thousands were maimed or killed. A matter apparently so trivial as not to merit, so far, a mention on the BBC’s Six O’Clock News. Second, far from restoring, as Boris Johnson claimed, “peace and prosperity to the world” (UK marks 75th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day, 15 August), it led to the restoration of colonial rule over millions.In Vietnam, while awaiting the arrival of the French colonialists, the British used Japanese troops to “restore order”, thus paving the way for 30 years of war. In Indonesia, British forces were used to quell those demanding independence from Dutch rule. And in Burma (now Myanmar) there was the forcible reimposition of British colonialism. On 14 August, local TV news for the north-west featured school children “learning” about VJ Day. I feel confident that they were not being taught about these matters.
People should not be blamed for wanting to live normal lives but no one is invincible to coronavirus, including younger people, the WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said on Tuesday. Her comments came in response to a question about photographs showing people in close proximity to one another at a pool party in Wuhan, China, where the novel coronavirus outbreak began. She said similar photos could be seen from every country in the world.
Going to the toilet used to be a public activity. Will Japan’s see-through stalls take us back to the days before the S-bend brought lavatories indoors?At the Happiness and Prosperity service station in the rural reaches of Sichuan province, I prepared to face the public toilet. We had been driving for hours, and my need was urgent, but I still hesitated. Not because the service station was unclean: the restaurant was pristine, and the food cheap and fabulous. It was because of the doors. There wouldn’t be any.I asked my translator if there was an etiquette. Where should I look? What is considered rude? I had no idea, because this was turning all my concepts of public and private upside down. I knew that some schools and institutions in the western world had doorless toilets, the better to foster compliance or – in the case of the military – to extract individuality. But I grew up in a culture that provided privacy abundantly and without question. I like doors. At the Happiness and Prosperity service station, I knew I would miss them. So how did I do it? By studiously not looking at the line of women who had graciously – or pruriently – let me go first, and by building doors in my mind. Continue reading...
Judgment follows Guardian investigation into case of boy who was adopted by American couple without parents’ knowledgeThe US has imposed financial sanctions and visa restrictions on two Ugandan judges and two lawyers over their part in an international adoption scam involving more than 30 children.
Exclusive: the most recent test data and information about changes made to the app have been released under freedom of informationThe makers of the Covidsafe app have had to overhaul the algorithm for determining close contacts to improve the functionality of the app on iPhones, Guardian Australia has learned, as new data suggests it is working only 27% of the time on some Apple mobiles.Since launching in April, the Covidsafe app has consistently struggled to work on iPhones when the app is running in the background, or the screen is locked, due to issues with ensuring the bluetooth beacons or “digital handshakes” are sent out to nearby devices of potential close contacts. Continue reading...
At the first day of a Democratic national convention unlike any other in history, Michelle Obama urged voters to head to the polls ‘like their lives depend on it’. She was joined by many other speakers attacking Donald Trump’s presidency. Speaking online because of coronavirus restrictions, the former first lady’s words were echoed by Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who likened Trump to tyrannical Roman emperor Nero. The first day of the convention was hosted by actor Eva Longoria and featured contributions by George Floyd’s family, voters and politicians from across the country and even a former Republican governor
Charles Ehikioya, who has served for 22 years, says he has no choice but to sue for racial harassmentA black police inspector has said he has no choice but to sue the Metropolitan police for racial harassment after two white officers stopped him while he was driving.Charles Ehikioya said he recorded the incident, which happened as he returned from work in south London on 23 May, because he could see that an officer’s body-worn camera was not switched on. Continue reading...
The communist government has been forced to allow citizens to spend US currency at special shops, formalising a split between haves and have-notsOn Paseo del Prado, a boulevard in Havana’s colonial district, dozens of people waited expectantly as the staff raised the shutters to open a tatty but revamped shop.Soon after, Alejandro Domínguez, 23, emerged, brandishing meatballs and a giant tin of chopped tomatoes he had just bought with US currency left as tourist tips at his family’s restaurant. “This is a way to get products you can’t find elsewhere,” he said. Continue reading...