Nicaragua trumpets ‘ideological affinity’ with Beijing and seizes Taipei’s former embassy and diplomatic officesChina has opened an embassy in Nicaragua for the first time since 1990, less than a month after the central American country cut ties with Taiwan.The Nicaraguan foreign minister, Denis Moncada, said there was an “ideological affinity” between the two countries and thanked China for donating 1m doses of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine. Continue reading...
Most of young people were victims of knife crime and were killed by other teenagersLondon has recorded its highest ever level of teenage homicides in a single year after two boys were killed on Thursday.A 15-year-old was stabbed to death in a park in Croydon on Thursday night, while a 16-year-old died after being stabbed in Hillingdon. Continue reading...
More mayors and a shake-up of local government will not be enough to rebalance the economy and heal the north-south divideTwo years after Boris Johnson made “levelling up” the lodestar of his new administration, the public still struggles to understand what the prime minister means by it. A new YouGov poll has found that half of those questioned either had no idea what the phrase signifies, or were not completely sure. The government’s flagship domestic policy resembles a ghost vessel drifting in a mist of Whitehall obfuscation and procrastination.After a torrid period, Mr Johnson badly needs this to change in the new year. However fuzzy the follow-through, the political logic of his original pledge to level up England remains crystal clear: as it seeks to hold together the new electoral coalition forged in the 2019 “Brexit election”, improving the situation and prospects of voters in the north and Midlands is fundamental to the government’s hopes of re-election. The pots of money distributed piecemeal via the various levelling-up funds – described as a “drop in the ocean” by the Centre for Cities thinktank – will not cut it. Having promised to restore pride, regenerate places and deliver economic growth in the “red wall”, a convincing plan is urgently required to demonstrate how this will be done. The indications are that this will not be forthcoming, partly for fear of antagonising voters in the more prosperous south. Continue reading...
Records broken in Bilbao and Segovia, and avalanche warnings in Alps where it is too warm even for fake snowSpain registered record-breaking temperatures this week and areas of the Italian Alps are forecast to reach up to 15C above the seasonal average in the coming days as much of Europe experiences an anomalously warm start to the new year.In Bilbao, northern Spain, temperatures hit 24.7C, a high not seen since record-keeping began in 1947. In Segovia, near Madrid, 22.7C was recorded, the highest since 1920, and nearby Avila reached 20.2C, its highest since 1983. Continue reading...
Robert Hazell and Bob Morris think the statutory oaths that the new sovereign will have to make need to be revised and updated. Plus letters from Mark Flinn and Peggy ThomasAs your leader argues (27 December), the platinum jubilee will not only celebrate the Queen’s long reign but also start to raise questions about the next one.After accession, the new sovereign has to make three statutory oaths: to be a true and faithful Protestant; to uphold the Church of Scotland; and to uphold the rights and privileges of the Church of England. In our more secular and pluralist society, these oaths need to be revised and updated. But revision would require fresh legislation, which needs to be passed during the present reign to be in time for the next accession. Continue reading...
He became a stand-in for the family I couldn’t see – a paternal character who comforted me amid the loneliness and uncertaintyFor the past 20 years there have been a handful of constants in my life: my family, my best friend and Neighbours. Not neighbours like the people you borrow a cup of sugar from, but rather that sunshine-filled Australian soap you probably stopped watching once you left university.When I graduated, I carried on. First, out of habit (I needed to know the fate of Toadie’s mullet), but later for its nostalgic continuity and reassurance. Continue reading...
Attorney general says she believes sentences handed to Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes were too lowThe jail sentences handed to Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes, who killed six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, have been referred to the court of appeal for being too lenient, the attorney general, Suella Braverman, has announced.Arthur Labinjo-Hughes was left with an unsurvivable brain injury while in the sole care of his father’s “evil” partner, 32-year-old Tustin. Continue reading...
Sergei Lavrov says Moscow may be forced to ‘eliminate unacceptable threats to our security’ following Biden-Putin callRussia’s top diplomat has warned the west that its “aggressive” approach to Ukraine and threat of sanctions could force Moscow to “eliminate unacceptable threats to our security”, after a high-stakes conversation between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden failed to deescalate the crisis.The remarks by the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, were published shortly after the Russian and US presidents held a 50-minute telephone call in which the two sides traded threats regarding tensions over Ukraine. Continue reading...
Local politician says statue is meant to inspire young people, but critics say it is inappropriateHe is idolised as one of the greatest footballers on earth, with his number seven shirt treasured by millions of youngsters dreaming of superstardom. But Cristiano Ronaldo’s astonishing success has not been matched by those seeking to immortalise his image.A statue of Ronaldo in action unveiled this week in Goa has triggered protests by some locals who say Indian players should be honoured ahead of one from the country that was Goa’s colonial ruler until 60 years ago. Continue reading...
Mourners queue in Cape Town to see casket of former archbishop, who requested a funeral without lavish expenseHundreds of mourners queued outside Saint George’s cathedral in Cape Town, waiting to pay their respects before the plain wooden casket bearing the remains of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died six days ago aged 90.Clerics, family members, close friends and dignitaries will attend a requiem mass for Tutu, the icon of the fight for freedom in South Africa, on Saturday morning. Their numbers will be restricted due to Covid regulations. President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to read a eulogy. Continue reading...
Mandy Jamieson accuses Ryan Connolly of sullying memory of son Daniel Gee-JamiesonThe mother of a teenager who was murdered in 2018 has demanded an apology from police after learning that an officer kept pictures he took of himself lying down at the scene of the killing.Mandy Jamieson, whose son Daniel Gee-Jamieson was stabbed to death aged 16, accused the officer, Ryan Connolly, of sullying the memory of her child. It came after the Guardian revealed Connolly had been caught with that picture and another of a man suffering a mental health crisis, as well as having sent “appalling” racist, homophobic and offensive images via WhatsApp. Continue reading...
Thespian says he doesn’t like the word actor, and he sees his art as ‘more like shamanism’Nicolas Cage has said he prefers to be called a thespian rather than an actor but acknowledged he risks sounding like “a pretentious a-hole”. The Oscar-winner likened his process to “shamanism” by “going into the imagination”.Speaking on Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, the Face/Off and National Treasure star discussed his career and his reputation for being “over the top” with his performances. Continue reading...
Clock face will be revealed for first time since 2017 to show conservation work and restoration of original colour schemeLondon’s public fireworks display may be cancelled, but Westminster’s new year revellers will be treated to Big Ben’s newly painted dials as the clock bongs 12 times to mark the end of 2021.The 96-metre clock tower above the Houses of Parliament, which houses the Great Bell known as Big Ben, has been mostly hidden from view since a £79.7m conservation projection began four years ago. Continue reading...
The nature collective was set up to encourage more people of colour to enjoy nature. Here, they take our writer on a spotting trip through the wildlands of north-east London
Number of killings of teenagers in capital has passed previous peak of 29 in 2008The Metropolitan police said a 16-year-old boy died after being stabbed in Hillingdon, west London, the 30th teenage homicide in the capital in 2021, surpassing a peak of 29 in 2008.The Met said the London ambulance service was called shortly after 7.30pm on Thursday to reports of an injured male at Philpots Farm open space, close to Heather Lane in Yiewsley, Hillingdon, west London. Continue reading...
I get to mark my birthday 24 hours before she does. But she’ll at least get an extra day in her 40s when I’m 50Mom went into labour on 31 December 1999, while playing cards with family. My sister and I had not been due until February; though twins are often born early, I don’t know if my parents had imagined us arriving so close to the new year. At the hospital in Indianapolis, a doctor came into the maternity ward at about 11.30pm and asked on which side of the millennium they wanted their babies to be born. Before Mom had time to respond, my dad piped up, “How about one of each?”We were delivered by C-section, which gave the doctors more opportunity to influence the outcome. The deliveries could hardly have been timed better: I emerged at one minute before midnight and Jordan joined me at one minute past. Worldwide, four other sets of century-straddling twins were reported that night, though I don’t think any of them were quite so close together as we were. Continue reading...
The effects of Covid-19 continue to be felt, but in many places the fallout from civil war, displacement and natural disasters provide more pressing concerns. We look back on some of this year’s best shots from Global Development galleries and photo essays Continue reading...
Along with her female co-stars, Schumer speaks about how making The Humans – and having a baby – helped her reassess her life. And, perhaps, a previous review written by her interviewer …‘Talking about The Humans always becomes like a therapy session,” Beanie Feldstein says, a few minutes into a group chat about the oppressive and unsettling adaptation of Stephen Karam’s Pulitzer-nominated play about a family gathering at Thanksgiving. Karam’s haunting and quite brilliant directorial debut reimagines a quirky dysfunctional-family drama as an eerie, anxious horror movie set in the New York equivalent of a haunted house: a crumbling downtown apartment. It’s a place that forces his characters to confront the brutal realities of who they are, who they’re not and who they’re stuck with. It also forces us to do the same.Amy Schumer and Feldstein play sisters, and Jayne Houdyshell, who won a Tony for playing the role on stage, their mother. Richard Jenkins, Steven Yeun and June Squibb round out the cast. “It evokes so much emotion,” Schumer says of the film. “And it made me feel better about my own family, our trauma and struggles. If you can just keep your family speaking to each other, that’s a win. And sometimes it’s not doable.” Feldstein refers to it as a drama that “gets in your guts”, while Houdyshell agrees that “it makes you feel raw”. Continue reading...
I have always wanted to be a diver. So at the centre where Tom Daley once trained, I aim to graduate to a five-metre board – arms locked, bend, one, two, go …I’m standing on a five-metre diving board – about the height of a two-storey building – preparing to throw myself off, headfirst. And I’m terrified. I take a determined step towards the end, lock my arms above my head and begin to tip forward.I have always admired people who can dive, and secretly wished that I could do it. I watch them taking off from great heights, seemingly floating for a second, before arrowing smoothly into the water. How do they do that? When I get up there, the thought of leaping headfirst short-circuits my brain. Won’t my neck snap? So I’ve come to one of the world’s best diving centres, the Life Centre in Plymouth, the former training pool of diving superstar Tom Daley. Hopefully, with a little help, I can become one of those elegant, effortless diving types. Continue reading...
by Cait Kelly and Mostafa Rachwani (earlier) on (#5TGJN)
Scott Morrison announces change to isolation time; South Australia records 2,091 new Covid-19 cases and four deaths; NT introduces indoor masks after 60 cases; Queensland records 3,118 cases; NSW records 21,151 new cases and six deaths; Victoria records 5,919 cases and seven deaths; the ACT records 462 cases; and WA one case. This blog is now closed
Study of Robert Burns’s best-loved song connects joining of arms to masonic ‘circle of unity’Research has uncovered a masonic connection to why revellers around the world link arms when they sing Auld Lang Syne at new year.A study of Robert Burns’s best-loved song links the practice to Freemasonry, where singing with arms crossed and hands joined was a parting ritual in many lodges. Continue reading...
Who, at my age, truly starts over? But I did. I gave up booze, took up running and found the strength and stamina to fight for a better futureAt 42, I believed that my food and alcohol dependencies defined me. In my mirror, I would always be as I saw myself then: fat and drunk. I was over the hill and past the point of any meaningful change. Who, at my age, truly starts over? I had clearly missed the opportunity to be one of those healthy, mindful people I mocked on Instagram. I was who I was: destined to remain in those cycles of dependency and to be unhappy, discontent and stuck. Then disaster struck.The pandemic began as a drunken month of worsening depression, but I have since quit booze, taken up running and lost 7st (44kg). I am in the best mental shape of my life. It turns out booze – and a million social and work engagements – was covering up how unhappy I had become with myself and my life. I was hiding from spending time alone or thinking about who I had become: someone who regularly drank two bottles of wine a day, was medically obese and had done no exercise in four years. Continue reading...
Only a quarter of those who wrote Integrated Rail Plan rely on north of England’s sub-par servicesOnly a quarter of the government officials responsible for cancelling HS2 to Yorkshire and downgrading plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) actually live in the north of England and rely on the region’s sub-par trains, the Guardian has learned.Of the 24 officials in the Department for Transport (DfT) responsible for writing the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP), just six live in the north, the DfT admitted in response to a freedom of information (FoI) request. Continue reading...
Baz Luhrmann takes on the King with Tom Hanks, Jim Broadbent steals a masterpiece and Jessica Chastain plays an eccentric televangelist … all in 2022’s must-see movies• More cultural highlights of 2022Two newcomers become glorious movie stars in this comedy from Paul Thomas Anderson, set in 1970s Los Angeles. Cooper Hoffman (son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a fast-talking high-school kid with the nerve to start hitting on a 25-year-old woman – played by Alana Haim (of the pop band Haim), who has Barbra Streisand’s charisma and beauty. Their strange semi-platonic love affair plays out against this kid’s floundering dual careers as a child actor and waterbed salesman. Gorgeously made, with wonderful cameos from Bradley Cooper and Sean Penn.
by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#5TGVE)
The Hadrian’s Wall 1900 festival will run from January to December 2022 and incorporate art, craft, theatre and more“I said: wouldn’t it be a good idea to get people from all round the world to crochet or knit some Roman-themed bunting,” says Lynne Barber, recalling her pitch to organisers of a year-long festival celebrating Hadrian’s Wall. “They said: ‘That’s fantastic! Will you organise it?’”Barber, an undertaker, is smiling as she talks about the rather daunting challenge ahead of her. The bunting may not end up stretching all the 73 miles (118km) of the wall, but she is hopeful of managing to get a flag for every year that it has existed. Continue reading...
The director’s new film is a freewheeling romance starring two acting newcomers: the musician Alana Haim and Cooper (son of Philip Seymour) Hoffman. Anderson explains why their age gap matters, how they ripped up his rule book – and when he realised pitbulls were the best pets“I remember thinking as a kid: I can’t wait till I grow up,” says Paul Thomas Anderson. “I can’t wait till I get older and I can shed all this stuff, and all the answers will be there for me.”America’s best director is now 51: salt-and-pepper hair, still as loose-limbed as a student. Those answers are yet to materialise, he says, grinning. “No one sets you up for that. My dad never said: ‘Oh, by the way, it’s going to get a lot more complicated and a lot harder.’ Or: ‘Being in love and having a relationship is going to be the most difficult challenge of your life.’ I don’t know why. Maybe it was just my dad.” Continue reading...
Health officials in South Africa say its fourth wave has passed after a dip in infections; the US will see new Covid cases rise dramatically next month, an infectious disease expert warns
by Geoff Scollary for The Conversation on (#5TGT1)
The teaspoon myth persists, despite clear evidence to the contrary – but you can still preserve sparkling wine after it’s openAt a recent tasting, I was presenting some sparkling wines from the Limoux region of France, a region that produced sparkling wines at least 100 years before wines from the Champagne region were well known.Towards the end, I commented that if the bottle is not empty, seal it with a sparkling wine stopper and store it in the refrigerator. The response was: “Why bother to seal it? Just put a spoon in the neck.” Continue reading...
The teenage boy was killed in Ashburton Park in south London on Thursday eveningA murder investigation has been launched after a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Ashburton Park, Croydon, south London.Police officers went to the scene shortly after 7pm on Thursday. Continue reading...
Years of brutal conflict have brought misery to an already impoverished country. There is no end in sightBy the end of this year, the United Nations warned recently, 377,000 Yemenis will have died from seven devastating years of war – in many cases killed by indirect causes such as hunger; in others, by airstrikes or missile bombardments. Seventy per cent of the fatalities are thought to be children under five.As 2021 began, there were hopes that Joe Biden’s arrival in the White House might bring progress towards peace. His administration quickly announced it was ending all support for offensive operations by Saudi Arabia, which spearheaded the US- and UK-backed coalition fighting for the internationally recognised government overthrown by Houthi rebels. It also revoked the Trump administration’s designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group. But Mr Biden’s team overestimated its ability to help resolve the crisis. The diplomatic push soon faltered. In October, Washington announced a $500m military contract with Riyadh which includes support for its attack helicopters, used in operations in Yemen. Continue reading...
Incident involved ceremonial Coldstream Guard who provide protection for royal palacesA soldier on a patrol march collided with a child who fell under their feet at the Tower of London.The incident involving a Coldstream Guard, a division with a ceremonial role of providing protection for Royal palaces and known for their no-nonsense approach to tourists, was filmed and has been widely shared. Continue reading...
Award-winning Canadian film-maker who directed Dallas Buyers Club and Big Little LiesThe Canadian film-maker Jean-Marc Vallée, who has died aged 58, apparently of a heart attack, handled serious subjects with bounce and briskness, earning prizes and respect in the process. His film Dallas Buyers Club (2013), starring Matthew McConaughey as a rodeo rider who illegally imports retroviral drugs for himself and his fellow Aids patients in the mid-1980s, was directed with great clarity. McConaughey and his co-star Jared Leto, who played an HIV-positive transgender woman, won Oscars. Moments in the film that might have been heightened or underlined – such as a sexual encounter that qualifies as carefree only because both participants have already contracted Aids, or a fantasy scene in a room full of butterflies – were instead folded nonchalantly into the mix.“It really comes down to the fact that I just don’t want to show off in any way,” he said. “I love telling these stories that feel real, and authentic, so I try not to get too ‘Hollywood’ with it all when I am shooting. I just say, ‘Let’s get rid of this, go handheld, use natural light.’” The critic Anthony Lane called him “a film-maker of considerable cunning, who takes predicaments that should by rights deflate the heart … and turns them into nimble entertainments”. Continue reading...
The former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani gave his first interview since fleeing Kabul when it fell to the Taliban in August. Ghani told the BBC he was pressured into fleeing Kabul by helicopter by his 'terrified' national security adviser and the commander of the collapsing presidential security detail.'They said the PPS [presidential protection service] has collapsed, [and] if I take a stand they will all be killed,' Ghani said. 'He did not give me more than two minutes'
Handful of local administrations are among the first in west to offer arrangement to their employeesA handful of local administrations in Spain have become among the first in western Europe to offer menstrual leave to their employees, in an attempt to strike a better balance between workplace demands and period pains.This year the Catalan city of Girona became the first in the country to consider flexible working arrangements for any employee experiencing discomfort due to periods. In June it announced a deal with its more than 1,300 municipal employees to allow women, trans men and non-binary individuals to take up to eight hours menstrual leave a month, with the caveat that any time used must be recovered within a span of three months. Continue reading...
While Duke of York largely escaped scrutiny in Maxwell’s trial, his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, is due in court next weekThough he largely escaped scrutiny in Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial, the Duke of York will not be able to dodge the spotlight in the new year when he is sued for alleged sexual assault.Prince Andrew will have been deeply relieved when his accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, was not called as a witness in Maxwell’s case. But next week she is due in a New York court for the next stage of her civil action against him – a lawsuit Andrew’s lawyers will do everything to get thrown out. Continue reading...
There were winners and losers as work patterns continued changing, with repercussions for city centres and society as a wholeOf all the predictions on your 2021 bingo card, who had employees being fined for going into the office? Workers in Wales now face that threat since the tightening of Covid regulations amid the spread of the Omicron variant, with a possible £60 penalty for failing to work from home.That is just one of many examples of how the pandemic has transformed the world of work this year – and perhaps for ever – for city centre employers, their staff and the service industry that depends on them for trade. Continue reading...
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