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In the beginning it only told small wallaby sized fibs – nobody really cared. Eventually people noticed and some of them got quite cross

Sylvester Stallone’s attempt to put a new sheen on his Cold War relic of a sequel is a ridiculous and largely pointless undertakingThere’s a tension in the Rocky series between two largely incompatible conceits: Rocky Balboa as the shy, humble, gentleman brawler from working-class Philly or Rocky Balboa as the cartoon avatar of America’s can-do spirit, intrepidly grinding through title matches against stronger, faster, more colorful opponents. The first type won a best picture Oscar for its young writer/star, Sylvester Stallone, who, in classic underdog fashion, was wildly overmatched against All the President’s Men, Bound for Glory, Network, and Taxi Driver. The second type dominated the next decade in ever-more garish and cynical vehicles, none dumber than Rocky IV, which pitted The Italian Stallion against Ivan Drago, a dead-eyed, machine-tooled robot of the Soviet empire.Now that Creed and its sequel have brought the vintage Rocky back — and, in Creed II, the surprisingly affecting return of Dolph Lundgren as Drago — Stallone has retooled Rocky IV to seem more like the original Rocky, at least insofar as such a feat is possible. His new Rocky IV: Rocky Vs. Drago is only a few minutes longer than the original cut, but there’s a significant amount of tinkering in this version, particularly toward the beginning, that’s intended to add depth to Rocky’s relationships to his friend and rival Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) and his wife Adrian (Talia Shire), and remove some of the sillier touches, most notably the infamous robot given to his brother-in-law, Paulie (Burt Young), as a birthday gift. Continue reading...

Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg says: ‘I don’t see why two-thirds should lose their freedom because one-third is dithering’

Expert say the bird’s presence is a reminder of the threats penguins face due to warming waters and changing habitatsAn Antarctic penguin has traversed 3,000km of icy waters to find himself far from home and on new and puzzling shores: the south-eastern coastline of New Zealand.The Adélie penguin in question, affectionately named “Pingu” by locals, was spotted looking somewhat lost at Birdlings Flat, a small settlement on New Zealand’s south island. Continue reading...

Australia’s prime minister was asked about lying allegations on Melbourne’s 3AW radio. We fact checked him

Former residents of the Paga Hill settlement in Port Moresby say their displacement has led to a range of problemsMany former residents of a settlement in Papua New Guinea who claim they were forcibly evicted nearly a decade ago say they are living without access to sanitation, electricity and water and some have faced homelessness, violence and community tension as a result of the move, according to a new report.In 2012 the Paga Hill Development Company (PHDC), a PNG registered company with significant ties to Australia, announced its plan to create the Paga Hill Estate, which would include a resort, casino, and an aquarium. In 2012 police, backed by bulldozers, began moving into the settlement of Paga Hill in Port Moresby, to clear the area. Continue reading...

Couple who met while WikiLeaks founder was living in Ecuadorian embassy given permission to wed by Belmarsh governorThe WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been given permission to marry his partner in Belmarsh jail.He has been held in the London prison since 2019 after the US took legal action to extradite him. Continue reading...

Memorial, founded in late 1980s, claims bid to shutter it under ‘foreign agents’ act is politically motivatedRussian authorities have threatened to shutter Memorial, the country’s oldest civil rights group, in a move that the celebrated NGO has called politically motivated.Prosecutors have filed a lawsuit to liquidate the human rights organisation for alleged violations of Russia’s “foreign agents” act. If successful, the NGO’s closure would be a watershed moment in the Kremlin’s assault on independent thought in Russia. Continue reading...

Mail on Sunday publisher says 2019 article had given duchess’s letter to Thomas Markle a ‘wholly misleading gloss’The Duchess of Sussex was “arguably” behind a “nasty and untrue” article about her father published in People magazine in the US, which he had the right to publicly address, a court in London has heard.On the closing day of a three-day appeal hearing brought by the publisher of the Mail on Sunday, lawyers representing Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) argued that Meghan had written a five-page letter to her father, Thomas Markle, “with potential public consumption in mind” and there was a public interest in correcting assertions made in the 2019 article. Continue reading...

Friday: Scientists tell policy makers at Cop26 to get a move on. Plus: Australian entertainer to be farewelled at state funeralGood morning. Scientists at Cop26 have sent a clear warning to policymakers: “We are not on course.” Surging fertiliser prices in Australia could disrupt the global food supply chain. And Australians looking forward to summer road trips face rental car prices up to double pre-pandemic rates.Scientists have told Cop26: get a move on, because every moment of delay, every extra fraction of a degree of global heating, will have dire consequences. New Cop26 pledges announced on methane, coal, transport and deforestation could nudge the world 9% closer to a pathway that keeps heating to 1.5C, according to a study by the world’s most respected climate analysis coalition, Climate Action Tracker. But this is dependant on governments keeping their climate promises, which almost none have done until now. Continue reading...

The former South African president FW de Klerk recorded a message to the nation shortly before his death on Thursday, in which he apologised for 'the pain and the hurt and the indignity and the damage' the apartheid regime had caused. De Klerk oversaw the end of white minority rule as the country's last apartheid president and shared the Nobel peace prize with Nelson Mandela, but was a controversial figure in the country. Many blamed him for violence against Black South Africans and anti-apartheid activists during his time in power

The UK firm’s big battery bet has flopped. The danger now is that a private-equity predator may swoopIt’s a perfect 180-degree strategic U-turn. As recently as April, Robert MacLeod, the chief executive of the FTSE 100 firm Johnson Matthey, whipped up the excitement about the group’s work on battery materials for electric vehicles – a very net zero venture and one intended to replace the looming decline in the company’s core business of catalytic converters for combustion engines.A new production plant would be built in Finland, in addition to the one under construction in Poland, and long-term deals to secure supplies of raw materials – nickel, cobalt and lithium hydroxide – had been signed. Johnson Matthey, declared MacLeod, had passed “important milestones on our journey towards developing a sustainable battery materials ecosystem”. Continue reading...

Thousands attend independence day rallies while troops block people trying to cross frontier from BelarusThousands have marched in Warsaw to mark Poland’s Independence Day, led by far-right groups calling for strong borders, while its troops blocked hundreds of new attempts by people to enter the country from neighbouring Belarus in a tense political standoff.Security forces patrolled the capital and other cities for the holiday rallies, which in recent years have seen some violent attacks by nationalist extremists. Continue reading...

Lukashenko responds to possible sanctions as thousands of migrants camp in freezing temperatures at Poland borderAlexander Lukashenko has threatened to cut deliveries of gas to Europe via a major pipeline as the Belarusian leader promised to retaliate against any new EU sanctions imposed in response to the crisis at the Poland-Belarus border.Backed by the Kremlin, Lukashenko has struck a defiant note after inciting a migrant crisis at the border, where thousands of people, mainly from Middle Eastern countries, are camped out as temperatures plunge below freezing. Continue reading...

Office issues posthumous video in which De Klerk apologies for ‘damage that apartheid has done’South Africa’s last white president, FW de Klerk, who with Nelson Mandela oversaw the end of apartheid, has died in Cape Town aged 85, with his office issuing a prerecorded posthumous video apology for the country’s discriminatory system of white minority rule.“I, without qualification, apologise for the pain and the hurt and the indignity and the damage that apartheid has done to black, brown and Indians in South Africa,” a gaunt De Klerk said in the recording. Continue reading...

John Murray making civil claim over 1984 murder of police officer outside Libyan embassy in LondonA retired police officer who is suing a man over the murder of PC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy has spoken of 37 years of pain, guilt and anger at the authorities over his friend’s death, in moving testimony at the high court.John Murray, 66, said he had been left with no other option than to launch a civil claim for the nominal sum of £1 against Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk because “the authorities were not going to act”. Continue reading...

Opposition leader Péter Márki-Zay says he will restore rule of law if he wins next April’s electionsThe opposition leader who hopes to topple Hungary’s autocratic ruler, Viktor Orbán, has vowed to introduce a new constitution and “restore the rule of law” if he wins next April’s elections.Péter Márki-Zay, a small-town mayor who became the surprise choice as prime ministerial candidate of six opposition parties, made the comments during a visit to Brussels, where he is meeting senior EU officials and politicians, with the message that his priorities are democracy and European integration. Continue reading...

Concerns grow that Boris Johnson has already decided to trigger article 16 of Northern Ireland protocolThe EU’s Brexit commissioner will tell David Frost that negotiations over Northern Ireland are doomed to fail unless he drops an “unattainable” demand over the role of the European court of justice.At a meeting in London on Friday, Maroš Šefčovič will warn the UK’s Brexit minister, Lord Frost, that Downing Street needs to “take a step” towards the EU for the talks to be “meaningful”. Continue reading...

The Earth Project, in collaboration with Nature Picture Library photography competition, aims to raise awareness of the huge challenges faced by nature, as well as the impacts of climate change on global ecosystems. Some of the world’s leading photographers came together to illustrate nature under threat, linking to one of the main goals of Cop26: to help protect and restore ecosystems in countries adversely affected by the climate crisis

Analysts say move is designed to put president on same level as Mao Zedong and Deng XiaopingXi Jinping’s grip on power has received a big boost after the ruling Communist party (CCP) passed a rare “historical resolution” praising the president’s “decisive significance” in the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.It is only the third resolution of its kind in the party’s 100-year history. The two previous resolutions were passed under Mao Zedong, who led the Communists to power in 1949, and Deng Xiaoping, whose reforms in the 1980s turned China into an economic powerhouse. Continue reading...

Uyghur representatives file third attempt to have international criminal court investigate ChinaChinese officials are operating in foreign countries to get Uyghurs deported back to China by creating visa problems and coercing them into becoming informants, evidence given to the international criminal court alleges.The submission by Uyghur representatives is the third attempt to have the ICC investigate Chinese authorities for alleged crimes against humanity and genocide, including the use of forced deportations of Uyghurs back to China. Continue reading...

Defence secretary Ben Wallace is to write to Labour and SNP over MPs’ behaviourThe defence secretary has accused three opposition MPs of disrespecting the armed forces by getting drunk on a trip to visit soldiers in Gibraltar.Ben Wallace is to write to Labour and the Scottish National party over the conduct of their MPs, which, he said, “put military personnel in a difficult position”. Continue reading...

They disagreed about statues, but not queer fluidity – can two strangers find common ground over dinner?

A renters’ movement in Catalonia is saving families from eviction and trying to fill the gap left by the stateEarlier this year, I found myself in the city of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat to the south-west of Barcelona. It lacks the fame and tourist hordes of the Catalan capital, but the two places are connected by the same dire housing crisis.Guided by Júlia Nueno, organiser of a grassroots tenants’ movement, I found a community of neighbours in L’Hospitalet who hold their meetings in a public park yet are managing to take responsibility for something the authorities are failing at: putting a roof over people’s heads. Their challenge is daunting in a corner of Spain that still bears the scars of the 2008 economic crisis and remains in the grip of the Covid pandemic. Continue reading...

(Transgressive)

We measured out the landmarks of our lives at London’s Y Ming. So long, and thanksMy family has suffered a great loss. We will still have our memories, of course, each one suffused with a warm glow. But the source of those memories? After 35 years, that has gone. We have lost our family’s restaurant: the one that was so much more than somewhere to eat out. It was where my wife and I went before the kids arrived, and when those kids were young, and when a treat was needed, and when a treat wasn’t needed, and in the last days before every Christmas, when gifts would be exchanged with the lovely staff. It was our restaurant. Farewell then to Y Ming, the brilliant, eclectic Chinese on Greek Street in London’s Soho which, after 35 years, finally closed its doors at the end of last month.Lots of families have somewhere like this, a place where generations of customers and generations of staff accompany each other down the years. Each navigates the vagaries of fashion. Because a restaurant where families grow up together is never really about what’s new. They are about what’s reliable and what’s familiar and what makes you feel cared for. They are an extra room in the extended family home. Continue reading...

Near Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat is one of the most densely populated cities in the EU and home to a large migrant community. Dedicated to protecting the most vulnerable members of this fringe society, a group of young volunteers set up Sindicat, a renters’ union that is working to counteract the housing crisis engulfing the often undocumented residents Continue reading...

Move reported by Israeli media comes after Biden administration said firm acted contrary to US security interestsThe chief executive officer-designate of NSO Group has resigned citing the Israeli spyware company’s blacklisting by the US Department of Commerce last week, Israeli media said on Thursday.NSO Group declined to comment. Continue reading...

Bus slid against hedgerows as it delivered children to nearby secondary schoolsSixty schoolchildren have been rescued from a doubledecker bus that has crashed on a country lane in Lincoln.A boy, 12, broke his arm during the incident and a girl, 14, was taken to hospital as a precaution. Continue reading...

To cast his gruelling war drama, Dénes Nagy combed Hungary’s farms for people ‘with exhaustion in their face’ – then shot it in the Latvian winter. The result? Awards, praise … and fierce criticismThe publicist from the film company won’t be able to make it to the hotel in Leicester Square to introduce me to the Hungarian film-maker Dénes Nagy, whose gruelling slow-burn war drama Natural Light recent won him the best director prize at Berlin. But he emails to say that spotting Nagy shouldn’t be too difficult: “In the nicest way, he looks like the director of Natural Light.” And it’s true. There is a man in the foyer with an unmistakably auteur-like air: small wire spectacles, intellectual high forehead and a haircut he could have snipped himself in front of a mirror.Natural Light is an unapologetically serious and beautiful piece of hardcore arthouse cinema. It’s set in the Nazi-occupied Soviet Union in 1943 and follows a unit of Hungarian soldiers, allies of the German forces. Bleakly inscrutable and with very little dialogue, it’s an intense watch. As one review put it, this is a film that “makes demands on its audience”. Continue reading...

Low confidence in government contributing to double-vaccination rates of just 34% and 22%

Fifteen questions on general knowledge and topical trivia plus a few jokes every Thursday – how will you fare?Thursday once more, and it is time to brave the triple challenge of some topical questions, some general knowledge teasers, and some very silly regular features. Will Kate Bush be the correct option this week? Will Ron from Sparks look disapprovingly at your answers? And will you be able to earn a bonus point by spotting a hidden reference to Doctor Who? No anagrams this week, but you’ll all be thrilled to know that the flag round is back. Have fun and let us know how you got on in the comments. I think it might be a tricky one.The Thursday quiz, No 29If you do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers, please feel free to email martin.belam@theguardian.com but remember, the quiz master’s word is always final, and you wouldn’t want him to cast a spell on you. Continue reading...

Chancellor’s comments come amid slew of sleaze allegations about Conservative MPs in wake of Owen Paterson row

State Emergency Service has received more than 250 calls for help and expects ‘significantly’ more requests

Former foreign secretary says practicalities not principles are holding back repayment of debtPracticalities, not principles, are holding back the payment of a £400m British debt to Iran, seen as a precondition of the release of British-Iranian dual nationals held in Tehran, the former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has said.He said the payment would not be the equivalent of a ransom payment but the settlement of an outstanding debt. “We are a country that pays its debts,” he said, adding that the money could be paid through a humanitarian channel to avoid any sanctions. He also said he could not foresee any US objections. Continue reading...

French adventurer revolutionised undersea film-making and sounded early alarm over oceans’ destructionHe was the French adventurer who plumbed the depths of the world’s oceans to introduce us to a magical and previously unseen universe under the sea. Commander Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the former naval officer turned inventor of the Aqualung and scuba equipment and then television explorer, became a hero to generations of children who were mesmerised by his adventures and groundbreaking films.Now a new documentary explores his life and legacy, showing how more than half a century ago Cousteau sounded the alarm over the destruction of the oceans, which he saw as vital to the future of the human race. Continue reading...

Rail firm withheld ¥43 (28p) on ‘no work, no pay’ principle, but driver says delay was not his faultA train driver in Japan is suing his employer after it docked ¥43 (28p) from his wages over a one-minute delay that he claims was not his fault.West Japan Railway Company (JR West) said it withheld the tiny sum by applying its strict “no work, no pay” principle over the incident, which occurred in June last year. Continue reading...

Former Labor minister has continued giving evidence to Victorian anti-corruption commission hearing into branch stacking

Despite talk of a Taliban ban, in Helmand’s poppy fields farmers and traders say they are not the only ones who depend on the drug to surviveThe Taliban’s announcement that it plans to ban the production of opium in Afghanistan does not faze seasoned dealer Ahmed Khan*.“They could not fund their war if there were no opium,” says Khan, who operates out of Baramcha, close to the border with Pakistan. Continue reading...

In the documentary Cusp, a group of teens share the highs and lows of growing up in modern-day Texas, from social media to sexual assaultIn summer 2018, photographers Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt were at the tail-end of a road trip from Montana to Austin when they were diverted to a gas station in a small Texas military town. It was two in the morning, but the truck that pulled up next to them was thrumming with energy — music blasting, a group of barefoot teenage girls spilling out of the cab, charisma free-flowing and uncut.The groups hit it off, and soon Hill and Bethencourt were careening down a dirt road toward a high school party of about 15. Cameras out, they asked the teens about their lives: what’s it like to be you? What are you dealing with? What do you want to talk about? Continue reading...

One hundred years after Anni and Josef Albers met, their work, philosophy and funding clout have made possible a stunning hospital that is saving lives in one of the hottest places on EarthWhen Anni Albers began weaving at the Bauhaus in the 1920s, little did she know that her geometric patterns would one day adorn the doors of a hospital in rural Senegal. Shadows play across the surface of the staggered wooden blocks set into the doors of Tambacounda’s new maternity and paediatric ward, creating a woven effect echoed by the pattern of dappled sunlight streaming in through the perforated brick walls. These are small details, but they go some way to lightening the ordeal of being here, poetic touches that make the clinical environment feel like a place of care.

Correspondents’ club said organisers were harassing journalists but Beijing says it ‘guarantees freedom of reporters’Beijing’s Winter Olympics organising committee has rejected accusations that journalists have been blocked in their attempts to cover preparations for the Games.Earlier this month the Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC) accused the Chinese authorities of “continuously stymying” attempts by foreign media to cover the Winter Olympics due to begin near the Chinese capital in February. Continue reading...

Arakan Army in Rakhine state suggests clashes broke out after junta troops entered ceasefire areaThe UN security council has expressed its “deep concern” about unrest in Myanmar and called for an “immediate cessation of violence” as well as efforts to ensure civilians are not harmed.Reports have emerged of clashes between junta troops and fighters from a major militant group in Rakhine state. The security council warned that “recent developments pose particular serious challenges for the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees and internally displaced persons.” Continue reading...

Nectarine, peach, plum and apricot among fruits on tree Victoria’s Hussam Saraf says provides message of ‘peaceful coexistence’Out the back of a suburban home on a leafy Shepparton street, a humble tree bearing 10 different fruits has just claimed a Guinness world record for most types of fruit on a single tree.The tree is the result of a decade of Hussam Saraf’s hard work, transforming his modest stretch of grass in regional Victoria into a tropical oasis bearing rare fruit trees and edible natives. Continue reading...

Labor’s support of low emissions technology fund critical as senators Matt Canavan and Gerard Rennick speak out against it

Brazil’s total deaths rise to 610,036; Russia reports 1,239 fatalities to take official death toll to 250,454

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has given her verdict on the taste of the Scottish fizzy drink Irn Bru. In an Instagram video of herself trying the drink for the first time after being handed a can by Scottish PM Nicola Sturgeon, the US congresswoman said: ‘Oh my God, love it, love it. This tastes just like the Latina soda Kola Champagne’

Duchess of Sussex apologises for misleading court, stating she forgot she had authorised PR chief to brief Finding Freedom authorsThe Duchess of Sussex has apologised in court for failing to remember authorising a senior aide to brief the authors of her and Harry’s unofficial biography.Meghan submitted a statement to the court in which she said she could not remember emails between her and her then press secretary, Jason Knauf, about the unauthorised book. Continue reading...

Brussels chief says US president agrees Britain should not ditch post-Brexit protocol

US congresswoman posts video of herself sampling the drink at Cop26 after being given a can by Nicola SturgeonCop26 is not short of controversial subjects, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has demonstrated she is not afraid to get stuck into the big questions: namely, would she like the Scottish fizzy drink Irn-Bru?The bright orange drink has become the surprise curiosity of Cop26, and is on sale throughout the SEC convention centre due to a deal between building’s owners and drinks manufacturer AG Barr. Delegates from all over the world have been sharing their thoughts on its unique taste, with mixed reviews. Continue reading...