Manchester United footballer was arrested on Saturday after a woman made claims on social mediaPolice have been given extra time to question the Manchester United footballer Mason Greenwood on suspicion of rape and sexual assault.The 20-year-old was arrested on Sunday afternoon after a woman posted images, a video and audio online alleging he had assaulted her. Continue reading...
France requires wet signatures on post-Brexit paperwork even though much is produced digitally, says BCCDemands by French customs officials over the type of signature they will accept on post-Brexit paperwork has been blamed by UK business leaders for causing long queues of lorries on approach roads to Dover.Two year after Boris Johnson smiled for the cameras, fountain pen in hand over the EU withdrawal agreement, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said a minor disagreement over signatures on customs paperwork had arisen between Britain and France. Continue reading...
War photographer David Douglas Duncan rang bell of artist’s home one day, leading to 17-year friendshipOne hundred photographs chronicling the private world of Pablo Picasso up to and after his death in 1973 at the age of 91 have been donated to the Musée de l’Élysée in Switzerland.The pictures are a sample of 25,000 taken of the artist by David Douglas Duncan, an American war photographer who first met Picasso in Cannes in 1956. Continue reading...
The west must stop dithering and reaffirm that all European states – including Ukraine – should be independent and freeAs Russian troops mass on the frontiers of Ukraine, threatening the largest war in Europe since 1945, the whole world is trying to guess Vladimir Putin’s intentions. But the strategic question the democracies of Europe and North America need to ask is: what are our intentions?Putin’s long-term goal in eastern Europe is, in fact, perfectly clear. He wants to restore as much as possible of the empire, great power status and sphere of influence that Russia lost so dramatically 30 years ago, with the disintegration of the Soviet Union in December 1991. It is only his tactics that keep us guessing. Since 2008, when he secured two secessionist chunks of Georgia by force, and most certainly since his seizure of Crimea in 2014, it has been evident that he is ready to use any and all means, from diplomacy and disinformation to cyber-attacks and outright war.Timothy Garton Ash is a Guardian columnistGuardian Newsroom: Will Russia invade Ukraine? Join Mark Rice-Oxley, Andrew Roth, Luke Harding, Nataliya Gumenyuk and Orysia Lutsevych discussing the developments with Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday 8 February, 8pm GMT | 9pm CET. Book tickets here Continue reading...
Law allows 65,000 federal workers to make themselves unavailable outside normal working hoursBelgian civil servants will no longer need to answer emails or phone calls out of hours after the country became the latest in Europe to offer workers the right to disconnect.The law, which comes into effect on Tuesday, means 65,000 federal officials are able to make themselves unavailable at the end of the normal working day unless there are “exceptional” reasons for not doing so. Continue reading...
Cypriot supreme court throws out case, acknowledging 21-year-old was not given fair trial two years agoA British woman found guilty of fabricating a claim that she was gang-raped in a holiday resort in Cyprus has been vindicated after the island’s supreme court overturned the conviction.Two years after the then teenager received a suspended four-month sentence for fomenting public mischief, the court threw out the case, acknowledging she had not been given a fair trial. Continue reading...
Below is the report into parties and ‘work events’ at Downing Street which are alleged to have broken the UK’s lockdown rules. Compiled by senior civil servant Sue Gray, it finds the social gatherings were ‘difficult to justify’ and highlights failures of leadership. It was published after the Met police asked for it to make ‘minimal reference’ to matters it is investigating
A mother and her daughters hole up in a Victorian conservatory, hiding from a devastating pandemic that lays waste to human memoryShot in a Victorian hothouse in South Africa with a mixed cast of local actors and the odd imported Brit – including Jessica Alexander, soon be seen in Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid – this tense dystopian horror-thriller feels geographically non-specific, almost as if it were taking place in some kind of dream world. That touch of hazy vagueness is just right for SA director and co-writer Kelsey Egan’s cracking feature debut (co-written with Emma Lungiswa De Wet) which imagines a family of survivors hiding out in the title’s botanical conservatory after a pandemic has ravaged most of the world’s population.The invisible threat here is an airborne virus called “the shred” which wipes out memories and leaves its victims in a bestial state, unable to remember even their own names. A matriarchal woman known only as Mother (Adrienne Pearce) guides her three female progeny – cautious Evie (Anja Taljaard), dreamy Bee (Alexander) and adolescent Daisy (Kitty Harris), alongside shred-infected brother Gabe (Brent Vermeulen) – by teaching them how to garden (they have to pollinate the plants themselves because the bees are all gone), to read, paint, and pass on the stories of the Before Times. Continue reading...
Simply going without meat and dairy isn’t going to cut it if you still turn to ultra-processed foodsDid you change what you ate or drank for January? The start of the year is an annual cue for a Pandora’s box of diet demons to be released; from meal replacements and super-keto diets to slimming teas. Alongside these trends live the regular and more ethical health-conscious messages of dry January and Veganuary, both of which have grown in popularity and have a much cleaner public image. Despite that, they are still not perfect. So this year I’d like to propose another idea that hopefully has longer staying power: call it the “real food revolution”.The premise of Veganuary is simple: use the pivotal month of January to make a big change to your diet, your health and the planet’s health by cutting out animal products. Veganuary is a not-for-profit charitable company that provides recipes and motivational emails to help you give up meat and dairy products for just one month, with, ideally, positive effects on your waistline and your carbon footprint. Overall, they do a great job, and there is plenty of evidence to support the efficacy of reducing animal-based foods for our health and our planet’s survival. We now know that agriculture is responsible for about 25% of global heating and the single most important action we as individuals can do to help address the climate crisis is not to give up cars, but to eat less meat. Continue reading...
Thousands held a loud but peaceful protest in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, against prime minister Justin Trudeau’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates, on the streets and snow-covered lawn in front of parliament. The so-called Freedom Convoy started out as a rally of truckers against a vaccine requirement for cross-border drivers, but turned into a demonstration against government overreach during the pandemic, with a strong anti-vaccination streak
My friend Peter Greaves, who has died aged 89, was a health and nutrition officer for Unicef whose work made a huge difference to children’s lives around the world. He was an early advocate of low-cost interventions including immunisation, oral rehydration and breastfeeding.While he was Unicef’s chief nutrition adviser in the mid-1980s, he managed to get Unicef and the World Health Organization to agree on the final draft of The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. This document helped transform global maternal care policies. Continue reading...
A distressing neurological condition has afflicted dozens in New Brunswick – so why has the investigation slowed down?For more than two years, dozens of people in the Canadian province of New Brunswick have suffered from a distressing array of neurological symptoms, prompting speculation that they had fallen victim to an unknown degenerative illness.Provincial authorities are soon expected to release a report examining whether the cases are linked, or simply the result of misdiagnosis and clinical error. But as the public awaits the findings, those enduring the extreme symptoms say they’ve been left to suffer alone. Continue reading...
Move will tighten security on passenger vessels, which are unguarded and seen as vulnerableArmed counter-terrorism officers will be deployed on British cross-Channel ferries for the first time this summer, though government sources said there was no specific threat to passenger vessels.Firearms police from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) are to be posted on ferries out of Dover, as well as on passenger ships between Newcastle and the Netherlands. Continue reading...
We would like to hear from those who have been without power and have been affected by storm damageAs Storm Carrie approaches with winds of up to 90mph, thousands of homes in Scotland and north-east England are still without power after being affected by Storm Malik. The areas mainly include Northumberland, County Durham and rural Aberdeenshire.If you have been affected by Storm Malik, we would like to hear from you. We are also interested in hearing from those who are still without power. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#5VKSX)
Bill Browder says hitting Russian president’s finances is most effective way to halt invasion of UkraineThe anti-corruption campaigner Bill Browder has called on Britain to target Russian oligarchs close to president Vladimir Putin with economic sanctions to halt any invasion of Ukraine when new legislation is unveiled on Monday.The US-born financier believes the most effective means of getting the Russian president’s attention is to target his finances and the finances of those closest to him, and that there should be no need for the UK to wait and see if a war ensues. Continue reading...
Seen as Putin’s closest EU ally, his meeting with Russian president will be watched nervously in Europe’s capitalsHungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, will travel to Moscow on Tuesday in a visit that has drawn criticism from the country’s political opposition and is being watched nervously in other European capitals.Orbán, who has developed a reputation as Vladimir Putin’s closest ally inside the European Union, is due to meet the Russian president just as other EU leaders are trying to hash out a coordinated position on Russia’s menacing moves around Ukraine’s borders. Continue reading...
by Josh Taylor (now) and Matilda Boseley (earlier) on (#5VKC8)
CMO plays down risk from new Omicron subvariant; Victoria records eight Covid deaths and 10,053 new cases; NSW records 27 deaths and 13,026 cases; Qld records three deaths and 7,462 cases; SA records six deaths and 1,505 cases; ACT records 537 cases, Tasmania 504, WA 22; protesters in Canberra want all politicians ‘sacked’. Follow updates live
The first single she bought was by Queen and she belts out Joan Jett at karaoke, but what gets the presenter going at the Zoom disco?The last song I streamed
When Barry Harris retired after 40 years, his wife told him to find something new. Driving gave him fun, freedom and friendship – and the spur to start changing his lifeAfter Barry Harris retired, he was “hanging around the house, slipping into the daytime telly routine”. His wife, a midwife, must have felt troubled by that, because she told him: “Just find something to do! Volunteer or something.”Harris had spent 40 years as a graphic designer, working his way up from a paste-up artist after graduating from art school till he retired as a freelance in the packaging sector. All that time he lived in Warrington, Cheshire, where the couple’s four children were born. It’s a long time in one place and one profession, and perhaps why, when pushed to act, he popped into a local job agency. “I just asked: ‘What have you got?’ And they said: ‘Can you drive?’”Tell us: has your life taken a new direction after the age of 60? Continue reading...
Charlotte Bellis, a journalist, says she was forced to return to Afghanistan after her application was met with ‘clauses and technicalities and confusion’The New Zealand government has defended its strict quarantine system known as MIQ after a pregnant New Zealand journalist said she had to turn to the Taliban for help after her requests to get back to her own country were rejected.Charlotte Bellis discovered she was pregnant a short time after gaining international attention in 2021 for questioning Taliban leaders about their treatment of women and girls. She is due to give birth in May. Continue reading...
Omicron’s ‘close cousin’ has mutations that could alter how it behaves and has begun to surpass Covid’s most common variety in parts of Europe and Asia
England manager wants millions to take part in neighbourhood celebrations for ‘National Thank You Day’Gareth Southgate is hoping to help lead what could be the UK’s biggest ever appreciation party during the Queen’s jubilee celebrations.The England manager – alongside celebrities including Ross Kemp, Gary Lineker and Levi Roots – is aiming to encourage millions of people to take part in neighbourhood parties across the country in June celebrating community spirit and the Queen on what they have dubbed National Thank You Day. Continue reading...
The man behind Something Inside So Strong and It Must Be Love talks about his half-century in music, coming out in the 70s – and his menage a trois on a Welsh mountainBefore meeting Labi Siffre, I am intrigued by the varied reactions I get when mentioning his name. Many people I speak to have never heard of him. Some remember his 80s anthem Something Inside So Strong. Others are dimly aware of a solo career before that.And then there are those whose eyes light up – those who, like me, regard him as one of the key figures in British pop history, and wonder why he’s not celebrated as such. “Labi Siffre’s fingerprints have been on popular music for many decades now,” wrote the electronic musician Matthew Herbert in 2012. “But his actual voice is rarely heard.” Continue reading...
by Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies on (#5VKKF)
Pictures appear to capture the missile rising from its launcher and a shot looking back down on EarthNorth Korea has released images it claims show the test-firing this weekend of its biggest missile for several years, as it attempts to use launches of weapons capable of reaching US territories to pressure the Biden administration into restarting nuclear talks.The state-run KCNA news agency said on Monday the country had launched an intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile capable of reaching the US Pacific territory of Guam. The missile was the most powerful the regime has tested since late 2017. Continue reading...
Prime minister Antonio Costa says parliamentary victory ‘doesn’t mean absolute power’ but he will no longer need to negotiate to form a coalitionDefying all odds, Portugal’s ruling centre-left Socialists won an outright parliamentary majority in Sunday’s snap general election, securing a strong new mandate for the prime minister, Antonio Costa.The result, boosted by a higher than expected turnout despite the coronavirus pandemic, came as a surprise after the Socialists had lost most of their advantage in recent opinion polls. It means Portugal will have a stable government to oversee the application of EU pandemic recovery funds. Continue reading...
Extrajudicial killings allegedly carried out despite Taliban assurances of safety for those linked to previous leadership or foreign forcesThe United Nations says it has received “credible allegations” that more than 100 members of the ousted Afghan government, its security forces and those who worked with international troops have been killed since the Taliban took over on 15 August.Secretary general Antonio Guterres said in a report that “more than two thirds” of the deaths were alleged to have resulted from extrajudicial killings by the Taliban or its affiliates, despite the Taliban’s announcement of “general amnesties” for those affiliated with the former government and US-led coalition forces. Continue reading...
As the Winter Olympics nears, the Chinese capital has locked down some neighbourhoods and is setting up 19 testing pointsBeijing officials have sealed off several residential communities north of the city centre after two cases of Covid-19 were found as the Chinese capital prepares to host the Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.Another 34 cases were confirmed among athletes and others who have come for the Games, the organising committee said. In all, 211 people have tested positive among more than 8,000 who had arrived by the end of Saturday. They include a Swedish cross-country skier and a snowboarder from Slovenia. Continue reading...
We want to hear from readers in Aotearoa about how rising inflation is affecting them and how they are dealing with itInflation in Aotearoa has hit a three-decade high, and New Zealand households are facing an increase in food, petrol and housing costs. It’s showing no sign of slowing – inflation hit 5.9% at the end of 2021, and ANZ, New Zealand’s biggest bank, expects it to continue rising in 2022.We’d like to hear from readers in New Zealand about whether you’ve noticed increasing prices, and how you’re managing financially in this climate: have certain essentials become unaffordable recently? What are they? Are rising prices affecting the way you shop, or your cooking and budgeting? Where have you noticed changes the most? Are you pushing for more pay from your employer, or trying other strategies to cope with the pressure of rising living costs? What are your concerns for the year ahead? Continue reading...
Report says heightened dangers have prompted at least six to leave and many others to develop emergency exit plansThe Chinese government is finding new ways to intimidate foreign journalists, their Chinese colleagues and their sources, and harassment has reached such a high level that at least six have left the country, according to a key report.The methods include online trolling, physical assaults, hacking and visa denials, as well as what appears to be official encouragement of lawsuits or threats of legal action against journalists, “typically filed by sources long after they have explicitly agreed to be interviewed”. Continue reading...
City records coldest January day in nearly a decade while temperatures across month plummet 2-6C below normalIndia’s capital, New Delhi, is shivering through an unusually harsh bout of winter cold, blamed for killing scores of homeless people and leaving other hard-up residents struggling to keep warm.The sprawling city’s 20 million inhabitants are accustomed to year-round weather extremes, from blistering summer heat to torrential downpours and thick, toxic smog at the end of autumn. Continue reading...
Resolution Foundation thinktank report says third of ‘returners’ on temporary or zero-hours contractsYoung people who lost their jobs during the pandemic in the UK have returned to less secure work, often in gig economy roles, according to research from a leading thinktank, which also found almost 50,000 more men under the age of 24 are now economically inactive.A report by the Resolution Foundation published on Monday found young people had returned to work rapidly in late 2021, with unemployment now slightly lower than pre-pandemic levels, but a third of the 18- to 34-year-olds back in the workplace were now in atypical, insecure work. Continue reading...
by Jessica Elgot Chief political correspondent on (#5VKF2)
PM hopes to move on from parties scandal with plans to make it easier to scrap EU laws and tackle cost of living crisisBoris Johnson will attempt to seize back control of the government agenda this week with a policy blitz, a Brexit bill and flying visit to Ukraine, as Westminster remains in the grip of paralysis over the Sue Gray and police inquiries into No 10 parties.Amid frustration in No 10 at the uncertainty surrounding the report on rule-breaking parties in Downing Street, sources said Johnson was determined to deflect public outrage with a schedule of high-profile announcements and photo opportunities that he also hopes will show MPs he remains focused. Continue reading...
Over 14,000 homes in Scotland and north-east England have no electricity, and await 90mph winds in fresh stormThousands of homes in Scotland and north-east England are still without power after Storm Malik hit, as northern parts of the UK brace for winds of up to 90mph with the arrival of Storm Corrie.Northern Powergrid, which supplies north-east England, confirmed 7,000 homes were still without power on Sunday evening. The Scottish government said that about 7,500 households are expected to be without power by the end of Sunday and warned they could be waiting until Tuesday before their service will be restored. Continue reading...
Exit polls suggest party led by prime minister António Costa could secure surprise outright majorityPortugal’s ruling Socialist party is on course to win the country’s snap general election and could even secure a surprise outright majority, according to three exit polls released on Sunday evening.The Socialists, led by prime minister António Costa, are projected to win between 37% and 42.5% of the vote, taking between 100 and 118 seats in Portugal’s 230-seat parliament. Continue reading...
Ex-minister ranked top, but others dismiss poll to find candidate with fighting chance of unseating MacronA four-day “people’s primary” has picked the former justice minister Christiane Taubira as the favourite to lead the French left’s presidential election campaign, but doubts remain whether she will be able to win wider support as a unifying figure.A total of 467,000 people signed up for the online vote, which started on Thursday. They where asked to rank five professional politicians and two civil society candidates on a scale from “very good” to “inadequate”. Continue reading...
Call comes after Nato stresses need for EU countries to reduce dependence on Russian natural gasKyiv has urged Moscow to pull back its troops from Ukraine’s border and continue dialogue with the west if it is “serious” about de-escalating tensions that have soared amid fears of a Russian invasion.“If Russian officials are serious when they say they don’t want a new war, Russia must continue diplomatic engagement and pull back military forces it amassed along Ukraine’s borders and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine,” Kyiv’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweeted on Sunday. Continue reading...
Readers on the fallout from the delay in Sue Gray’s report on Downing Street parties during Covid lockdownsWe find ourselves in the dreadful position that both those running the country and those in charge of our largest police force are accused of misusing their positions (Sue Gray report: redacted version is imminent, say government sources, 28 January).On top of a series of scandals – including the Sarah Everard murder, the mishandling of the vigil on Clapham Common, and accusations of institutional corruption – the speculation about the Metropolitan police’s recent decisions over the Sue Gray report are potentially devastating. It is unclear why the police initially refused to become involved, only then at the last moment to intervene, and to intervene in a way that seems destined to affect the political process. Continue reading...
Sylvan Adams, co-owner of the Israel Start-Up Nation pro cycling team, says his sports initiatives look to build bonds of coexistence and understandingJonathan Liew’s decision to attack my support for sports projects in Israel as “sportswashing” is perhaps the most ringing endorsement of why such bridge-building efforts are needed (Sportswashing is associated with certain countries – why not Israel?, 24 January).When our liberal and open country holds its massive annual Gay Pride parade – the largest (if not the only one) in the Middle East, Israel is accused of “pinkwashing”. When Israel leads in environmental issues and breakthroughs in climate change technologies, Israel is accused of “greenwashing”. When our generous and supremely capable NGOs like IsraAid or Save a Child’s Heart provide support to communities in need around the world, we are accused of “aidwashing”. Continue reading...
Cevian is seeking turnaround at telecoms firm whose share price has been falling for yearsVodafone has been targeted by the activist investor Cevian, prompting speculation that the telecoms giant will come under pressure to overhaul its faltering global business.The Swedish investment firm has built up holdings in Vodafone in recent months, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg, privately piling pressure on the firm to improve its performance. Continue reading...
Police say they have seen ‘social media images and videos posted by a woman reporting incidents of physical violence’A man in his 20s has been arrested on suspicion of rape and assault after Manchester United suspended the footballer Mason Greenwood, police have said.Greater Manchester police said on Sunday they had seen “social media images and videos posted by a woman reporting incidents of physical violence”. Continue reading...
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