Mélanie Joly becomes foreign minister and Anita Anand defence minister in gender-balanced cabinetCanada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has carried out a major cabinet shuffle, naming women to the foreign affairs and defense posts in his gender-balanced cabinet.Trudeau named Mélanie Joly as foreign minister and Anita Anand as defence minister. Chrystia Freeland, widely considered a favorite to replace Trudeau at some point, retains her positions as deputy prime minister and finance minister. Continue reading...
Russia had sought to take control of ‘Scythian gold’ on loan to museum in AmsterdamAn appeals court in the Netherlands has ruled that Ukraine has legal control over a trove of artefacts from Crimea that was on loan to a Dutch museum when Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014.Russia had sought to take control of the historical treasures, often called the “Scythian gold”, which includes gold and ceremonial daggers used by the nomadic tribe, a golden helmet from the 4th century BC, amulets, jewellery, and other treasures, including a Chinese lacquered box that made its way to Crimea along the Silk Road. Continue reading...
Leaked draft reveals environmentally concerning products such as rubber and maize are excludedAn EU plan to limit the scope of a law to tackle deforestation is based on flawed data, according to scientists whose work was used by the European Commission.In a critique of the European Commission’s data shared with the Guardian, four researchers say a decision to exclude rubber from the scope of the EU’s upcoming anti-deforestation law “might be misguided”. Continue reading...
Fashion house hopes to entice new audience with rentals including cone brasserie corsets and cage-style dressesNothing to wear? Fashion fans have been invited to slip into a piece of history as Jean Paul Gaultier launches a rental service of some of its most iconic designs.In a move expected to position the French fashion house at the forefront of a new dawn for luxury retail, clients will be able to borrow from an archive spanning more than 30,000 pieces, created by France’s beloved “enfant terrible” during his 50-year career as a designer. Continue reading...
Reports that two passengers rescued and three missing after dinghy launched from France on MondayBorder Force officers are involved in a coordinated search and rescue mission in the sea near the Essex port of Harwich, the Home Office said on Tuesday.They are reportedly searching for a dinghy and its passengers, which was launched from France on Monday. The Coastguard is coordinating the operation, with RNLI boats also said to have been in attendance. Continue reading...
by Peter Beaumont and a reporter in Khartoum on (#5R5FA)
Abdalla Hamdok and other ministers have not been seen since Abdel Fattah al-Burhan took power in bloody coupThe Sudanese military leader who took power in a bloody coup on Monday has said he is keeping the deposed prime minister detained at the general’s personal residence “for his own safety”, as concerns mount over the wellbeing of senior arrested officials.The prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, and other ministers have not been seen since their detention and there have been international demands for their immediate release. They were seized by security forces loyal to general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in the early hours of Monday and remain missing. Continue reading...
Emperor Naruhito’s niece and her college sweetheart make announcement at press conferenceJapan’s Princess Mako has lost her royal status after marrying her “commoner” college sweetheart, Kei Komuro – a man she described as “irreplaceable” – while the couple voiced sadness over a scandal that has plagued their engagement.After years of criticism of their relationship that has left Mako struggling with her mental health, the couple announced at a press conference at a hotel in Tokyo on Tuesday that they had wed. They declined to take questions from reporters. Continue reading...
Duke must make himself available by 14 July in US lawsuit brought by woman who accuses him of sexual abusing herPrince Andrew must make himself available to answer questions under oath by 14 July next year in a civil lawsuit brought by a woman who has accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager.While not specified in the court papers, the Duke of York and his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, are both expected to answer questions under oath. Depositions must be completed on or before 14 July, said the district judge Lewis Kaplan, who serves in the southern district of New York. Continue reading...
Claire Stephen was arrested following use of weapon on Millard Scott at their home in north LondonThe case against a black woman charged with obstructing the police when officers shot her partner with a stun gun in the family home has collapsed.However, Claire Stephen said she was still too traumatised by the incident to celebrate walking free from court. Continue reading...
by Aubrey Allegretti Political correspondent on (#5R54E)
Ex-minister could be suspended from Commons for 30 days after working as a consultant with two firmsThe Tory MP Owen Paterson faces a 30-day suspension from the House of Commons for an “egregious” breach of lobbying rules, raising the possibility he could lose his seat if enough constituents trigger a byelection.The former cabinet minister was found to have breached paid advocacy rules, two years after the Guardian published documents revealing how the former environment secretary helped lobby for two firms he was paid to advise – Randox and Lynn’s Country Foods.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...
by Harriet Sherwood Arts and culture corresponent on (#5R51J)
Launched in 1840, Sotheby’s says the stamp ‘is the most important piece of philatelic history to exist’It was less than one square inch and cost just a penny but it launched a revolution in communications. Now the first “penny black”, the postal stamp bearing an image of Queen Victoria’s profile, is expected to fetch up to £6m when it is sold at auction.The stamp was a runaway success when it went on sale in 1840, allowing people to send a letter weighing up to half an ounce to any destination in the country for a flat rate of one penny. Eventually more than 68m stamps were sold. Continue reading...
Zahra Mirzaei pioneered ‘groundbreaking’ maternity services in Kabul, but has been forced to flee. She says she won’t stop fighting for dignified care for Afghanistan’s women and girlsWhen Afghanistan’s first midwife-led birth centre opened in the impoverished district of Dasht-e-Barchi in western Kabul this year it was a symbol of hope and defiance.It began receiving expectant mothers in June, just over a year after a devastating attack by gunmen on the maternity wing at the local hospital left 24 people dead, including 16 mothers, a midwife and two young children. Continue reading...
Robert Largan has made one concession to safety after the death of Sir David Amess: a security guardAt least once a week, Robert Largan, Conservative MP for High Peak in Derbyshire, holds a surgery. It might be outside a supermarket or a train station in his enormous 200-sq-mile patch, but each runs the same. First come, first served, ask him whatever you like.As he stood in the darkness outside Hadfield station at 7am on Monday, there was one key difference: for the first time since his election in 2019, he had a security guard. Continue reading...
The all-women market appoints a ‘mother of wealth’ to pray for their good fortune – and in this recession-hit country the role is more important than everFolasade Ojikutu wears a traditional white lace dress for her work at the lagoon dock behind Oluwo market in Epe. The small town is home to one of the largest and most popular fish markets in Lagos – and almost all 300 traders are women. Many are from families who have sold fish here for generations, and Ojikutu, 47, is their “Iya Alaje”, meaning the mother or carrier of wealth.As she strides past a small waterfront shrine, dozens of women fishing waist-deep in the water chant and hail her, calling out “Aje”- in part a reference to the Yoruba goddess of wealth. Every day, hundreds of people travel, sometimes for hours, to buy fish at Epe market, as it is commonly known, where the spiritual and commercial merge. And the mainly women traders look to Ojikutu– who acts as an intercessor, praying for good fortune, alongside managing affairs at the market. Continue reading...
by Peter Beaumont, a reporter in Khartoum and agencie on (#5R4YB)
Criticism of the military mounts as the UN is expected to call an emergency meeting to discuss the crisisThe United States has “strongly” condemned the leaders of Sudan’s military coup as the United Nations planned an emergency meeting on the crisis and protests entered a second day.After clashes between pro-democracy protesters and security forces left at least seven people dead on Monday, demonstrators took to the streets of the capital Khartoum again on Tuesday morning chanting “Returning to the past is not an option”. Continue reading...
The Guardian has partnered with the Alycats, award-winning photographers who devote their time to fighting illegal wildlife hunting and poaching in Africa in support of the Singita Conservation Foundation. The Alycats have curated six prints exclusively for the Guardian Print Shop. As part of our collaboration, we will donate 50% of all print sales to support the foundation’s unswerving work
I knew the pandemic meant long-haul isolation, bringing back terrible teenage memories. But friends rallied round with two-hour calls and freezing park visitsI am sure I was not the only one, when lockdown was announced last March, to wonder if I was more scared of loneliness than I was of the virus. As a disabled person, I knew I was in for the isolation long-haul. Apart from my carers and my parents, I didn’t see another soul – not even a stranger in a shop – for eight long weeks.I’ve spent much of my adult life haunted by the spectre of a much longer period of loneliness. It has meant I am often frantically arranging meetups with friends, or other activities. At school, I was incredibly isolated; excluded, sometimes purposefully and sometimes not, from the social lives of my non-disabled peers. There was also a deeper sense – not of loneliness, really, but what I now think of as “aloneness”. I simply didn’t know anyone like me, which fostered a feeling of difference, shame and segregation that still lurks under my skin. Continue reading...
The smash hit survival drama has earned Netflix £650m. But the stress of making it cost Hwang Dong-hyuk six teeth – and he didn’t get paid any extra. He reveals the family catastrophe that inspired his hyper-violent capitalism satireHwang Dong-hyuk is laughing at me from his office in Seoul. I’ve just asked the creator of Squid Game, Netflix’s smash hit show, if its astonishing success has made him rich. In the dystopian survival drama, a mysterious organisation challenges 456 players from all walks of life – each deeply in debt – to play a series of children’s games. Win and they go home with 4.6bn won (£28m). Lose and they get a bullet in the head.Perhaps Hwang is now as rich as the contestant who wins the top prize? “I’m not that rich,” he says. “But I do have enough. I have enough to put food on the table. And it’s not like Netflix is paying me a bonus. Netflix paid me according to the original contract.” That seems unfair. After all, the 50-year-old South Korean film-maker has made hundreds of millions for his paymasters. Squid Game earlier this month overtook Bridgerton as the most successful Netflix show ever. According to leaked documents, the nine-episode run cost £15.5m to produce, which works out at £1.75m per instalment. Its return on that has been extraordinary. The series – which Netflix estimates has been watched by 142m households and boosted its subscriber figures by 4.4m – is thought to be worth £650m to the streaming service. Continue reading...
The arrest of a Tibetan New York city cop on spying charges plays into the community’s long-held suspicions that the People’s Republic is watching themIt was a pleasant, breezy day in late September 2020 when the FBI showed up outside the home of a man named Baimadajie Angwang. Angwang, who lived in Long Island with his wife and two-year-old daughter, was a community liaison officer with the New York police department, where his role was to build relations with the neighbourhood in the 111th precinct in Queens. He had arrived in the US in 2005, a 17-year-old asylum-seeker from a Tibetan enclave in Chinaw. He joined the marines in 2009 and served one tour in Afghanistan. And then, in 2019, he showed up at the Tibetan Community Center in Queens. He wanted to be part of the community, he told people. He was there to help Tibetan immigrant youth. He was also, according to the charges against him, in regular contact with two members of the Chinese consulate. “Let them know,” he had told a consular official sometime in November 2018, “that you have recruited someone in the police department.”Certainly, if he was a spy, as charged, by most measures he wasn’t a very good one. According to the documents that outline the charges against him, he contacted consular officials on his personal mobile phone, placing calls while FBI officials were listening in. In the recordings released to the court, Angwang flatters and brags. “I’m thinking, the whole world is promoting diversity,” he tells a man referred to as PRC OFFICIAL-2, suggesting they approach minority groups in the Tibetan community to recruit informants. Angwang tries to convince the official to get him a visa to go back and visit China. Other informants will want them, he says. They will think the PRC doesn’t appreciate them. Especially, he says, the “100%-type” – the real believers. “It is hard to find people like us,” he complains. “So enthusiastic.” Continue reading...
Anthony Albanese responds to the prime minister's announcement of the Australian government’s formal adoption of a net zero emissions by 2050 target. The opposition leader criticises the announcement 'marketing', saying 'Scott Morrison left if to the last possible minute to outline a scam that leaves everything to the last possible minute'.► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube
Identity in focus ahead of Beijing Winter Olympics after Hong Kong’s most successful summer Games inflamed old tensionsIn July, more than 5,000 people gathered along the sides of the APM shopping centre in Hong Kong on a Monday night. They waved flags and screamed “Hong Kong” at the TV. In a new, shiny mall in the industrial district of Kwun Tong, an enormous screen had been hoisted up into the centre of the main concourse, so people could watch the Olympics.Videos from the time showed people crowded against the railings, stacked up across multiple stories, as they watched fencer Edgar Cheung Ka Long win Hong Kong’s first gold medal in 25 years. Across the territory, throughout the Olympics, shopping centres became a kind of town square, kept open late into the evening. Continue reading...
In a rare show of anger from neighbouring nations, Min Aung Hlaing has been shut out of the regional sitdownA summit of south-east Asian leaders has begun without a representative from Myanmar after its junta leader was excluded for failure to follow a regional peace deal and the ruling military refused to send junior representation.Neither Brunei, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) chair, nor the bloc’s secretary-general made a mention of the no-show in opening remarks at the virtual meeting. Continue reading...
Trailing the bat in second place was the kākāpō – a large, flightless parrot and the competition’s reigning champ from last yearNew Zealand’s native birds have long been threatened by mammalian arrivals. Now, they are being thrashed by a mammal in the one arena that they might have expected dominance – the country’s annual bird of the year competition.The election, run by Forest and Bird, allowed a surprise entry this year from the pekapeka-tou-roa, or long tailed bat, one of New Zealand’s only land-based native mammals. On Tuesday, Forest and Bird officials confirmed to the Guardian that the bat is winning in current polls by a considerable margin. Continue reading...
Coroner investigating after the Chiefs, Bay of Plenty and Māori All Blacks player died in a car crashThe death of New Zealand rugby union player Sean Wainui is being treated as a suspected suicide, according to a coroner.The 25-year-old, who played for Super Rugby team the Chiefs, Bay of Plenty and the Māori All Blacks, died in a car crash at McLaren Falls Park in the Bay of Plenty on 18 October.In Australia, crisis support services can be reached 24 hours a day: Lifeline 13 11 14; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78; Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636In New Zealand: Lifeline Aotearoa’s suicide crisis helpline 0508 828 865; the Mental Health Foundation 09 623 4812 Continue reading...
Fabindia brand ad taken down after BJP claims use of Urdu was offensive to Hindu majorityReleased just as festival season is kicking off across India, it looked like your average advert for festive attire. Models posed, resplendent in red and gold, showing off the newest collection by Fabindia that was said to “pay homage to Indian culture”.Yet, in just a matter of hours, the poster had sent convulsions through India. A boycott was called against Fabindia, a staple brand in the country, and by the end of the day the advert had been taken down after it was deemed offensive to Hinduism by members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) and right-wing Hindu groups. Continue reading...
‘Widespread’ mistreatment linked to physical pain, fatigue, alcohol abuse and depression, research findsWomen are suffering serious and long-lasting physical and mental health problems from “widespread” emotional bullying, sexual harassment and physical assault in the UK military, research reveals.Those most likely to have experienced such treatment were younger personnel, those who have held the rank of officer or had a combat or combat support role, according to findings published in the BMJ Military Health journal. Continue reading...
Somber vigil charged with subdued rage over conditions that many lower-paid crew believe were linked to cinematographer’s deathA public vigil for the slain cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in Los Angeles on Sunday evening served both as an unofficial memorial event and an outlet for anger over working conditions in Hollywood that many lower-paid crew believe were linked to the 42-year old mother’s death.Several hundred colleagues gathered outside the local union office for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) which represents workers on film and TV sets, who had been poised to go on strike to protest about pay, long hours and dangers on sets just days before Hutchins was fatally shot by Alec Baldwin on the New Mexico set of the desert western film Rust last week. Continue reading...
Wilston Samuel Jackson, who died in 2018, dedicated his life to railway despite facing racism during careerA blue plaque has been unveiled commemorating Britain’s first black train driver at King’s Cross station in London.Wilston Samuel Jackson, who died in September 2018 at the age of 91 and had “dedicated his life to the railway”, was honoured during a ceremony attended by his relatives and industry leaders at the station on Monday. Continue reading...
The capture of Ontoniel has been called a landmark victory against the drug trade. But he is ‘just one node of a network’Colombia’s most wanted drug lord is behind bars awaiting extradition to the US, after what the country’s president hailed as the biggest blow against the drug trade in 20 years.Until his capture at the weekend, Dairo Antonio Úsuga – better known as Otoniel – headed Colombia’s feared Clan del Golfo cartel, a criminal empire that oversees the production and smuggling of unknown tons of cocaine, as well as extortion rackets, illegal mining operations and arms smuggling. Continue reading...
Recognition as ‘interested persons’ is a legal first in the US, allowing animals to have their interests heard in courtThe offspring of hippos once owned by Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar can be recognized as people or “interested persons” with legal rights in the US following a federal court order.The case involves a lawsuit against the Colombian government over whether to kill or sterilize the hippos, whose numbers are growing at a fast pace and pose a threat to biodiversity. Continue reading...
Force says investigation into deaths of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry was ‘below standard we should have achieved’The Metropolitan police failed the family of two black sisters who went missing and were later found murdered, but no officer should face a disciplinary hearing, the police watchdog has decided.Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, were reported missing on Saturday, 6 June 2020, the day after they were last seen at a birthday celebration for the older sister in a north London park. Continue reading...
President Erdoğan de-escalates diplomatic spat after declaring 10 envoys ‘persona non grata’Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has backed down from a threat to expel 10 ambassadors – including those from seven Nato allies – over their demands for the release of a prominent pro-democracy activist.In comments on Monday Erdoğan said statements issued earlier in the day by the embassies in question, reaffirming that they will abide by a diplomatic convention not to interfere in a host country’s internal affairs, “show they have taken a step back from the slander against our country” and “they will be more careful now”. Continue reading...
Rangi Wickliffe was one of many Māori children repeatedly abused in welfare institutions including the notorious Lake Alice psychiatric hospitalRangi Wickliffe’s body is a map and a history of New Zealand’s welfare and prison institutions, where the 60-year-old has spent about 45 years of his life.There are the scars the length of his inner left forearm that he slashed up with a razor blade when he was 16. That was in D Block in Paremoremo prison, the harshest wing in New Zealand’s maximum security prison. Continue reading...
The revealing of titbits once led to a chancellor’s resignation – these days details are trailed via press releasesThere was a time when budgets were kept secret until the moment the chancellor of the Exchequer stood up in the Commons to reveal the contents of his red box. For weeks leading up to the big day, the Treasury would go into “purdah” – a news blackout while officials quietly pieced together a package of measures.Transgressions of this code were rare and when they did occur they had consequences. Hugh Dalton, the Labour chancellor, had to resign in 1947 after revealing some budget titbits to an evening paper journalist on his way into the chamber, wrongly believing it was too late to get them into print. Continue reading...
by Richard Partington Economics correspondent on (#5R4HS)
The increase is being billed as a £1,000 boost for a full-time workerWith a severe cost of living squeeze hitting Britain this winter, Rishi Sunak is betting that an increase in the minimum wage will dispel criticism that the Tories are idly standing by.In the latest sneak preview of Wednesday’s budget, the chancellor has signed off on a 6.6% increase in the national living wage from £8.91 an hour to £9.50, designed to help Britain’s lowest-paid workers. Continue reading...
Court hears that James Geoghegan told woman he thought she was ‘playing hard to get’ when she told him to stopA Metropolitan police officer accused of raping a woman told her he thought she was “playing hard to get” when she told him no, a court has been told.She said that she and James Geoghegan kissed consensually in her bedroom, but that he then pulled her pyjama shorts down. Continue reading...
by A reporter in Khartoum and Peter Beaumont on (#5R3JB)
Military declares state of emergency and gunfire reported as protesters flood Khartoum streetsSudan’s military has seized power in a coup, arrested leading civilian politicians including the prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, and declared a state of emergency as thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Khartoum in opposition.The Sudan Doctors’ Committee said late on Monday that three protesters had been killed and 80 people wounded after security forces fired on demonstrators. As night fell in Khartoum, witnesses described gangs of young men armed with sticks reportedly beating anyone found on the streets. Continue reading...
Germany embassy condemns El Mercurio for Sunday piece and says ‘no room to justify or minimise his horrific role’Chile’s main conservative daily newspaper has been accused of publishing “an apology for Nazism” after running an illustrated article commemorating the life of the German war criminal Hermann Göring.After El Mercurio published the article on Sunday, the German embassy in Santiago expressed its concern, highlighting Göring’s many crimes. Continue reading...
by Helen Pidd North of England editor and agencies on (#5R4A4)
Senior officer says two pieces of ‘highly relevant’ intelligence on Salman Abedi were received before attackA senior MI5 officer has told the Manchester Arena inquiry that the intelligence agency downgraded what turned out to be “highly relevant” evidence about the suicide bomber Salman Abedi.Speaking from behind wooden screens, the officer, named only as Witness J, said there were two pieces of intelligence received by MI5 about Abedi in the months before the attack which were assessed at the time to relate to possibly non-nefarious or non-terrorist criminality. Continue reading...
‘Jennifer W’ found guilty of crime against humanity for allowing enslaved five-year-old to die of thirstA Munich court has sentenced a German woman who allowed a young Yazidi girl to die of thirst to 10 years in prison after finding her guilty of supporting Islamic State militants in Iraq, aiding and abetting attempted murder, attempted war crimes and a crime against humanity.Prosecutors had accused the 30-year-old woman, identified as Jennifer W in court documents, of joining the militant group in 2014 and integrating herself into its decision-making and command structure . Continue reading...
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves says UK could fall behind in global race to exploit opportunities from tackling climate crisisRishi Sunak’s failure to spot the growth potential from greening the economy means Britain risks losing out in the global race to exploit the opportunities from tackling the climate crisis, the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said.Interviewed ahead of Wednesday’s budget, Reeves said it was clear the chancellor was “quite a sceptic” both about the climate threat and the ability of government to do anything to meet the challenges ahead. Continue reading...
Eitan Biran has been at centre of custody battle since allegedly being abducted by maternal grandfather and taken to Tel AvivA judge in Israel has ruled that a six-year-old boy who was the sole survivor of a cable car crash and has become embroiled in a bitter custody battle must be returned to Italy.Eitan Biran lost his parents, who were Israeli nationals living in Italy, and two-year-old brother in the aerial tramway crash in northern Italy in May. Continue reading...
Stephan Helpert’s doc highlights three white aid workers in DRC and asks who really benefits from their presenceThe history of NGOs in the global south is a complex one, riddled with palpable accomplishments as well as painful failures. Revolving around three white European humanitarian workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), this documentary by Stephan Hilpert examines not only their connections with the local people but also the broader relationship between so-called developed nations and countries whose precariousness is a direct result of imperial exploitation.Across Hilpert’s stories, good intentions coexist with frustrations. Raúl is a researcher conducting a study on the rebel groups in DRC. Speaking frankly about his arrival as a spontaneous decision, Raúl was confronted by dangers that are more than just facts and figures. At one point, leaders of a rebel group talk of whipping villagers to death and mutilating white political activists. Anne-Laure moved to the country straight after college with little humanitarian experience. After a horrific incident where police shot at volunteers working at a music festival, her Congolese boyfriend Fred became a vocal activist, resulting in his incarceration. Continue reading...
World news | The Guardian