World news | The Guardian

It’s a Sin has been voted the Guardian’s best TV show of the year. Russell T Davies reveals why it took him 30 years to write, who the real Colin is – and why he just can’t keep away from Doctor WhoRussell T Davies doesn’t hold back. If he’s thrilled, he shouts about it. And sure enough, the 6ft 6in giant of a man is shouting today. “I’m gobsmacked. I’ve never come first in this. Ever,” he exclaims, admitting that he has always had his eye on the Guardian’s list of the best TV of the year. “If I’ve had a show on, I spend every December watching that countdown wondering if I’ll be on it – I think A Very English Scandal got to No 2.” He’s right, it did. Three years on, his wonderful Channel 4 mini-series It’s a Sin has been voted the Guardian’s best TV show of the year. “I’m ridiculously thrilled,” says Davies, who is Zooming from his home in Manchester.It’s 30 years since his first TV series – Dark Season, featuring a 15-year-old Kate Winslet – aired on the BBC. Since then, Davies has created any number of groundbreaking dramas (including Queer as Folk; Cucumber, Banana and Tofu; Years and Years) as well as breathing new life into Doctor Who. But he is particularly pleased to have won for It’s a Sin, the five-part drama about a group of young gay friends living – and dying – through the Aids era of the 80s and early 90s. This is the show he knew he had to write 30 years ago, and spent the intervening decades years putting off, because it was simply too personal and painful. Continue reading...

Activists lament that a safe, legal way into Britain has closed with Brexit, when stranded children need it as much as ever‘When I was a child in Afghanistan I loved to watch my uncle play chess. Now I have joined the local club here.” Samir is grinning as he talks about settling into life on England’s south coast. “I’m very happy here, just being with my family, going for walks to look at the Christmas lights. It’s really beautiful.”After arriving in Greece alone two years ago, when he was just 16, and spending many months homeless and terrified in the port city of Patras, Samir recently made a journey that most refugees can only dream about. He said goodbye to the friends he had made in a camp for unaccompanied minors – other teenagers from Somalia, Iraq and Palestine – and travelled safely and legally to join his father and sister in the UK. Continue reading...

The average house price on Tite Street in Chelsea is £28.9m, says mortgage lender HalifaxIt was once home to literary and artistic greats including Oscar Wilde, but now Tite Street in west London has a new claim to fame after Halifax named it the most expensive street in England and Wales, with an average house price of £28.9m.The mortgage lender said the top 10 priciest streets in 2021 were all in the capital, mainly in Westminster or the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where Tite Street is situated. Continue reading...

Residents begged Boris Johnson for help after no improvements made to rundown flats in Uxbridge and South RuislipDozens of asylum seekers are begging Boris Johnson to help rehouse them, claiming the Home Office accommodation in his constituency is not fit to live in.The 18 rundown flats in Uxbridge and South Ruislip have housed some asylum seekers for years without any improvements being made – despite repeated complaints. Each apartment has five tiny bedrooms and no communal space, besides kitchens and bathrooms left filthy from a lack of maintenance. Continue reading...

Officials privately accept legislation to counter Serb efforts to deny scope of 1995 Srebrenica massacre risks reigniting regional conflictSenior EU officials are working behind the scenes to “correct” a new law in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) that criminalises denial of the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica, after privately concluding it risks reigniting fresh regional conflict.Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the tripartite BiH leadership, has been accused in recent months of seeking to break up the country by withdrawing its Serbian part from state-level institutions. Continue reading...

Super Typhoon Rai destroyed the popular tourist island, that was about to welcome visitors again after domestic Covid restrictions easedResort and bar owners on a Philippine island popular with surfers and tourists were expecting a bumper Christmas holiday after Covid-19 restrictions finally eased. Then Super Typhoon Rai wiped them out.The strongest storm to hit the archipelago this year cut a swathe through Siargao, a tropical paradise known for its sandy beaches, big waves and relaxed vibe. Continue reading...

Covid-19 and floods in Canada force fast-food company to sell only small-sized friesA new kind of chip shortage has hit Japanese supply chains, with McDonald’s forced to ration fries as Covid-19 and floods in Canada squeeze potato imports.McDonald’s Japan said it would only sell small-sized french fries for a week from Friday to avoid shortages. “Due to large-scale flooding near the Port of Vancouver … and the global supply chain crunch caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there are delays in the supply of potatoes.” Continue reading...

What kills exercise for me is the knowing you are doing it, and the waiting for it to end. My pandemic project changed thatI have been working from home since 2011, long before the pandemic, and getting enough exercise without a daily commute to the office has proven a challenge. I exercise most effectively when it’s just built into my day, like cycling to work was previously.My home office is also my person-cave and it is rigged out with a small couch and a TV. At some stage I independently discovered the concept of “temptation bundling” before it became a thing. At night I was binging TV shows while doing what I called the Batman Workout – situps, pushups and pull-ups, which was all Christian Bale’s Dark Knight ever seemed to need. By the time all six seasons of The Sopranos were finished, I actually was on my way to getting slightly ripped. But then I must have hurt my back, run out of good TV shows, or got the shits with it or something because I stopped. Continue reading...

As the environmental benefits of casks become more important to new consumers, the quality of their contents is on the riseBoxed wine is one of Australia’s most extraordinary contributions to the wine industry, also known as cardboardeaux, bag-in-box or, more commonly, goon (from flagon).The Australian winemaker Thomas Angrove patented the design for a one-gallon polyethylene bladder in a cardboard box in 1965, inspired by the ancient method of storing wine in goat skins. The first model required drinkers to cut a corner of the plastic bag and reseal it with a special category peg (used to transport battery acid). Continue reading...

Archbishop of Canterbury hints at disapproval of gathering in interview with ITVThe archbishop of Canterbury has said that people will have felt “sorrow and sadness” seeing the photograph of Downing Street staff drinking together last May because it will have reminded them of what they sacrificed.In an interview with ITV, Justin Welby hinted at his disapproval over the gathering, saying that leadership involved setting an example. Continue reading...

Investigation into 24 November incident pieces together final hours of attempt to reach UK from FranceMost of the people who lost their lives when their flimsy dinghy sank in the Channel last month have been named for the first time in a new investigation.The BBC World Service has named 20 of the people who travelled to the UK in search of a better life but drowned in the early hours of 24 November. Continue reading...

The Brisbane author and academic talks about her new book, settler colonialism and the everyday-ness of ongoing dispossessionCelebrated Munanjahli and South Sea Islander academic and writer Chelsea Watego unambiguously wrote her book Another Day in the Colony for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readership.There’s nothing stopping you reading it if you’re not Indigenous. But if you do with an open mind – even if you’re the type of “progressive” whitefella who considers him- or herself conversant with the woeful and violent racism upon which Australia is founded – you might wander about for days afterwards with ringing in your ears. Continue reading...

Ryan Roberts set fire to police vehicles during a demonstration against the police, crime, sentencing and courts billA protester who set fire to police vehicles during a riot that followed a “kill the bill” demonstration in Bristol has been jailed for 14 years.Ryan Roberts led chants of “ACAB: all cops are bastards” outside Bridewell police station on 21 March before throwing cans, bottles and placards at officers, as well as verbally abusing and kicking them. Continue reading...

Analysis: It’s not Downing Street, it’s him, says a minister, amid fears the PM’s strengths have become weaknessesAsked on Friday whether he took personal responsibility for the disastrous North Shropshire byelection result, Boris Johnson suggested the problem was that everyone else was talking about the wrong issues. “My job as prime minister is to get the focus on to the things that matter for all of us,” he said.Yet after weeks of self-inflicted crises and the drip, drip of stories about lockdown-busting parties at the heart of Downing Street, many of his MPs believe it is Johnson himself who is the real problem – and some are warning he is now on borrowed time. Continue reading...

European negotiators issue warning as talks adjourned to allow Iranian envoy to return for consultationAttempts to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are “rapidly reaching the end of the road”, European negotiators have warned, as talks in Vienna adjourned to allow the Iranian negotiator to return home for consultation – a pause described by the Europeans as disappointing.“We hope that Iran is in a position to resume the talks quickly, and to engage constructively so that talks can move at a faster pace,” France, Germany and the UK said. “As we have said, there are weeks not months before the deal’s core non-proliferation benefits are lost. We are rapidly reaching the end of the road for this negotiation. Continue reading...

Rock star wins case against German woman who says her late husband bought the disc at a popular department store in the 80sEric Clapton has won a legal case against a 55-year-old German woman selling a bootleg live CD for €9.95 (£8.45), Deutsche Welle reports.The woman, known as Gabriele P, claimed she was unaware that she was committing copyright infringement by listing the CD titled Eric Clapton – Live USA, which contains recordings of performances from the 1980s, on eBay. She told the court that the listing was removed after one day. Continue reading...

Non-binding vote comes as the conservative party looks for new direction after end of Merkel eraMembers of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) have elected stalwart rightwinger Friedrich Merz as their designated new leader, as the conservative party seeks a new direction in opposition following the departure of Angela Merkel.Merz, who has twice come second to centrist candidates in previous leadership races, won a surprise majority in the ballot, beating Merkel’s former chief of staff Helge Braun and foreign policy specialist Norbert Röttgen with 62% of the vote, thus eliminating the need for a run-off vote. Continue reading...

Coalition headed by Petr Fiala vows action to tackle Covid, inflation, high energy prices and budget deficitA long post-election hiatus in the Czech Republic has ended after a new government took office, promising urgently to tackle rampant Covid-19 infection rates, inflation, energy prices and a ballooning budget deficit.Ten weeks after decisively winning a general election, a five-party coalition headed by Petr Fiala, the new prime minister, was sworn in by the Czech president, Miloš Zeman, who urged it do “something useful” amid dire warnings of an incipient crisis in the central European country. Continue reading...

Eleven years after the start of the Arab spring, those trying to survive rising prices, unemployment and a pandemic feel little has changedFor a decade, Tunisia’s revolution has been remembered on 14 January, the day autocratic ruler Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia and the political elite declared the revolution complete.From today, by President Kais Saied’s decree, the event will be marked on 17 December, the day street trader Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest at state corruption and the faltering economy. The self-immolation became a catalyst for Tunisia’s uprising and the wider Arab spring. Continue reading...

Jordan Monaghan smothered daughter and son in 2013 and gave new partner a fatal overdose in 2019A man is facing life behind bars after being convicted of murdering two of his children in 2013 and his new partner six years later.Jordan Monaghan, a construction worker from Blackburn, smothered to death his 24-day-old daughter, Ruby, on New Year’s Day 2013 as she slept in her moses basket while the child’s mother, Laura Gray, was asleep upstairs. Continue reading...

Smouldering buildup to attack on Sir Richard Sutton and Anne Schreiber began in Schreiber’s teenage yearsThomas Schreiber spent the morning of 7 April visiting his father’s grave – it was the eighth anniversary of his death – and in the afternoon worked on an abstract painting while downing gin and tonics. Art was Schreiber’s passion, firing his imagination and soothing his mind. Drinking regularly and heavily was another mechanism for trying to keep despair at bay.As the day wore on, Schreiber left his makeshift studio in the snooker room at Moorhill, the Dorset mansion he was sharing with his mother, Anne Schreiber, and her partner, the wealthy landowner and hotelier Sir Richard Sutton, and appeared in their part of the house. Continue reading...

Former justice minister would be first Black woman to hold position and has promised to unite the leftChristiane Taubira, the former justice minister and leading figure on the French left, has said she is considering running for president in the spring and will announce a final decision next month.In a video posted on social media she promised to “use all my strength” to unite the divided left. Taubira’s supporters had for months been calling on her to run to be France’s first Black female president to counter the rise of the far-right. Continue reading...

Yippie-ki-yay! Here’s your ultimate festive film guide, from masterful classics and family favourites to starry new movies like Don’t Look Up and Last Train to ChristmasOn a train back to Nottingham on Christmas Eve 1985, Stringfellow-esque club owner Tony Towers (Michael Sheen) discovers that if he moves between coaches he can visit his past or future life. With his business and relationship with his brother Roger (Cary Elwes) in peril, Tony tries to rewrite history in his favour, only to make things worse for everyone. A smart, twisty reboot of A Christmas Carol from Julian Kemp, with Sheen sporting a series of wonderfully cringe-worthy hairstyles and clothes.

Oliver Dowden says voters are fed up, and a senior MP warns Boris Johnson ‘one more strike and he’s out’

Justin Welby says ‘we must all obey the rules’, as Met police to contact pair who attended event at Tory HQ

Opposition leader Chris Minns welcomes decision, claiming the removal of signs was about revenue raising not road safetyA leading road safety expert says the New South Wales government’s decision to reintroduce warning signs for mobile speed cameras is “populist insanity”.Prof Raphael Grzebieta from UNSW’s Transport and Road Safety Research Centre said on Friday the decision was “very disappointing” and would lead to more road deaths. Continue reading...

With his acclaimed performance in the Guardian’s 2021 film of the year, The Power of the Dog, the actor talks about feeling the pain of his macho character, working with Jane Campion and the struggle to do taxidermy in LAEarlier this week, Benedict Cumberbatch picked up his first nomination this awards season: best actor in a drama at the Golden Globes for The Power of the Dog. It will not be his last. In Jane Campion’s western, adapted from the novel by Thomas Savage, he plays Phil Burbank, a brilliant but vile cattle rancher in 1925 Montana.Trained at the start of the century by an iconic cowboy called Bronco Henry, Phil bullies everyone: men, animals, his brother, George (Jesse Plemons) – and, particularly, George’s new wife, Rose (Kirsten Dunst), and her delicate son, Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Continue reading...

Nomads’ herds are dying along with rare wildlife as the longest dry spell in memory edges pastoralists ever nearer starvationDahabley smells of rotting flesh. Bodies of starved cows lie in various stages of decomposition, after being dragged to the outskirts of the village in Wajir county, north-east Kenya. They are added to on a near-daily basis and fester in the heat amid multiplying flies.North-east Kenya is well used to spells of drought, but it is experiencing the worst in living memory. As the region’s short rainy season, which starts in October, draws to an end, parts of Wajir have only seen small showers and other areas have had no rain at all for more than a year. Continue reading...

Permits for UK and EU vessels will hinder efforts to protect marine life and may break habitats directive, conservation group warnsThe British government’s granting of fishing licences to more than 1,000 UK and EU vessels for 2022, which will permit bottom-trawling and dredging in marine protected areas, could be unlawful unless conditions to safeguard ocean habitats are imposed, the conservation group Oceana says.In a letter to George Eustice, secretary of state for the environment, parts of which have been seen by the Guardian, the group warned that licences expected to be granted this month could contravene UK law. This includes the habitats directive, aimed at protecting vital marine ecosystems. Continue reading...

The dish, originally cooked by slaves for their owners, has come to symbolise hope and dignity in the troubled Caribbean countryHaiti’s joumou soup, a symbol of hope and dignity for the world’s first black-led republic, has been awarded protected status by Unesco.The soup, made from turban squash and originally cooked by enslaved African people for their owners in Haiti, was on Thursday added to Unesco’s prestigious list of intangible cultural heritage. It is Haiti’s first inclusion on the list, and the country’s Unesco ambassador, Dominique Dupuy, cried as the announcement was made. The decision is expected to be officially endorsed by Unesco’s general assembly next year. Continue reading...

I had always smugly refused to engage with the kitschly sentimental show, but who was I kidding?In the creeping misery of post-summer, when dark, rainy days conspire with the grind of normal life to throw you into despair, Strictly Come Dancing dazzles like a glitter ball in the gloom. For nearly 18 years, avoiding Strictly’s omnipresence in the run-up to Christmas was a personal dogma. When asked for an opinion on who may be voted off or who would win, I’d respond with smug refusal to engage. I did not and could not watch the show.My strong reaction was in part founded on my inability to understand how watching people who already had money and got paid more to dance badly could ever be called entertainment. Adding insult to injury, the contestants would invariably huff into cameras, gushing about being grateful for the “journey”. No, thank you.Lola Okolosie is an English teacher and writer focusing on race, politics, education and feminism Continue reading...

Reconstruction after Covid: a new series of long readsWhile the rich nations focus on booster jabs and returning to the office, much of the world is facing devastating second-order coronavirus effects. Now is the time to build a fairer, more responsible international system for the future. By Kwame Anthony Appiah Continue reading...

Need some rest and some time with people you love or even better spend a quiet moment hiding alone in a tree

The shortening of booster intervals and spread of Omicron has created a huge demand for third jabs. We look at where and when can you get one

Helen Morgan wins seat the Conservatives have held for almost 200 years in a byelection called after environment secretary Owen Paterson resignedThe Liberal Democrats have won a stunning victory in the North Shropshire byelection, taking what had previously been a safe Conservative seat by a margin of nearly 6,000 votes, and capping a disastrous few weeks for Boris Johnson.Helen Morgan, the Lib Dem candidate, won 17,957 votes, ahead of the Conservatives’ Neil Shastri-Hurst, on 12,032, a majority of 5,925. Labour’s Ben Wood was third, with 3,686 votes. Turnout was 46.3%. Continue reading...

Premier Peter Gutwein says the tragedy at Hillcrest primary school is beyond comprehension as police investigate bouncy castle accident and one child is released from hospital

Investigators say there could be evidence on the star’s iPhone relating to the death of cinematographer Halyna HutchinsA search warrant has been issued for Alec Baldwin’s phone in the investigation into October’s fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the actor/director’s film Rust, according to New Mexico court documents.The search warrant and accompanying affidavit were filed on Thursday in Santa Fe county magistrate Court nearly two weeks after a New Mexico prosecutor overseeing the probe said some of the individuals who handled guns on the film set may face criminal charges in the death of Halyna Hutchins. Continue reading...

Kim Jong-un emerged onto the world stage as a virtual unknown in 2011, a young man thrust into power at the head of North Korea – a nuclear-armed state – after his father's unexpected death.In the decade since, he has ruthlessly purged alleged political opponents, extended his country's nuclear capabilities, and tightened his grip on power as North Korea's supreme leader.From diplomatic summits with Donald Trump to executing members of his own family and failing to stave off famine in his own country, Guardian correspondent Justin McCurry charts the highs and lows of Kim's first 10 years in office. Continue reading...

Some observers said he would survive a few months as the head of a nuclear-armed state but, a decade later, the North Korean leader has proved them wrong

Italy reports 26,109 new cases, its highest daily number since 12 March; experts warn Ontario hospitals could be overwhelmed

Brexit minister David Frost is seeking agreement on customs and imports to NI and could drop insistence on total exclusion of ECJThe UK is to change tack in negotiations over the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol and will push for an “interim” deal to avert any further deterioration of political stability in the region.Brexit minister David Frost is set to propose a new approach based on a “staged solution” with a deal on customs declarations and physical checks on goods a priority to address the immediate impact on people’s lives and livelihoods. Continue reading...

In many states, healthcare systems are already under strain due to an increase in Delta infections over the Thanksgiving holidayJoe Biden on Thursday warned of “a winter of severe illness and death” for those not vaccinated against Covid-19, amid a wave of Delta infections and as new Omicron cases are beginning to surge in America.The US president spoke as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned the Omicron variant could peak as early as January and states are scrambling to prepare for overloaded hospitals. Continue reading...

Firefighters faced an ‘intense blaze’ throughout the ground floor of the property, said London Fire BrigadeFour children have died in a house fire in south London.The London fire brigade (LFB) said eight fire engines and about 60 firefighters were sent to Collingwood Road, Sutton, at just before 7pm on Thursday in response to reports of the fire. Continue reading...

First minister Mark Drakeford tells public to reduce Christmas socialising to stop spread of Omicron Covid variant

For opponents of the dictatorship Lucía Hiriart was a reviled symbol of the violent authoritarian regime and its bitter legacy

The Sex and the City actor claims that alleged assaults of two women were ‘consensual’Chris Noth, the actor best known as Carrie Bradshaw’s love interest Mr Big on Sex and the City, has been accused of sexual assault by two women who spoke to the Hollywood Reporter.The women, who do not know each other and contacted the publication separately as press swirled around the recent spinoff series And Just Like That, both describe similar alleged rapes by the 67-year-old actor more than a decade apart.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...

Friday: Experts encourage people to hold Christmas gatherings outdoors to help curb the spread of the Covid Omicron variant. Plus: writers and artists pay tribute to acclaimed author bell hooksGood morning. Governments around the world are bracing for a rise in Omicron cases with Australians being urged to hold Christmas gatherings outside to stop the spread. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson reportedly joined a Downing Street pizza party during the May 2020 lockdown.Experts are urging people to hold their Christmas gatherings outside during the day and to reduce the number of invitees, as Covid cases surge in New South Wales and Victoria. As both states ease restrictions heading into the Christmas break, there are growing concerns the spreading Omicron variant may jeopardise family gatherings. Prof Peter Collignon, an infectious disease physician, said that aside from getting a booster shot, the best way to keep gatherings Covid-safe was to hold them outside. “I think you’d get some protection, especially for your older relatives, if you tried as much as possible to hold your gatherings outside,” he said. As it becomes clearer that the variant is more infectious and more vaccine-evasive, how worried should we be? Continue reading...

Historian appears as expert witness at trial of four accused of criminal damage of Edward Colston memorialEdward Colston was “chief executive officer” of a company responsible for enslaving more Africans than any other in British history, the historian David Olusoga has told a court, as defendants argued they acted “lawfully” in toppling his statue.Appearing on Thursday as an expert witness in the trial of four people accused of criminal damage of the memorial to Colston, the presenter of the BBC’s A House Through Time series described the horrors of the trade. Continue reading...

Adele, Ed Sheeran, Abba, Lana Del Rey and Drake all found success in 2021 by delivering more of the same – a result of how our chaotic lives, on and offline, are informing our tasteThe biggest album launch of 2021 began with a social media statement tacitly assuring fans that nothing had changed. Adele was once more in a state of heartbreak – “a maze of absolute mess and inner turmoil … consumed by my own grief” – and that the contents of her album 30 would reflect that, as mired in romantic misery as its predecessors, 25 and 21. It was the musical equivalent, she said, of a friend who comes over “with a bottle of wine and a takeaway” to discuss the disastrous state of your love life.The second-biggest album launch of 2021 was preceded by its creators proudly announcing they had written it “absolutely trend-blind”. Abba had traversed a considerable musical distance over the course of their original career, buffeted by the shifting musical trends of the 70s and early 80s – from the clompy Europop of their debut album to the sophisticated, chilly electronics of The Visitors, by way of glam and sleek disco – but Voyage would offer them preserved in amber, exactly as they were in the late 70s, unspoiled by any musical trends from the 40 years since their split. Continue reading...

Rules due to come into force on 1 January postponed as act of ‘good faith’, says Brexit ministerThe UK has delayed the introduction of imminent trade checks on goods moving from the island of Ireland to Britain, as both sides sought to take the sting out of the rancorous talks over post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.The Brexit minister, David Frost, signalled his acceptance that the negotiations with the EU would continue into the new year, issuing a statement saying the checks due to come into force on 1 January would be postponed as an act of “good faith”. Continue reading...