World news | The Guardian

As the Met Office issues rare red warning, a look back at some of Britain’s most devastating storms

If you have suffered travel disruption or been left without power because of the weather, we want to hear from youThousands have been left without power as Storm Dudley brought chaos to roads and rail services across Scotland and northern England. The worst-affected areas include the North East of England, Cumbria, Lancashire as well as Edinburgh and Glasgow.The Met Office has also issued weather warnings for Friday covering much of the country, with Storm Eunice expected to bring winds of up to 100mph in parts. Continue reading...

The prime minister’s performance, Brexit and mask-wearing: can two strangers agree over dinner?

Yes, we need to do something about obesity. But this new legislation seems unlikely to helpEverything I am, I owe to calories, as Sophia Loren never quite said. I have built myself, one edible unit of energy at a time. In truth I have more than built myself. I am over-engineered, in the way Mussolini’s Milan railway station is over-engineered, or Jason Momoa is over-engineered. See how deftly I compare myself to Momoa? We are exactly the same, him and me. Save that every calorie he consumes turns into a plank of rippling muscle, while mine turn into the greatest muffin top this side of the Greggs cake counter. But it’s all flesh, right?Ah, calories. Mostly I try to ignore them; to regard them as I do the isobars on a meteorologist’s map which in no way describe the experience of standing outside in a howling gale. I know that not all calories are equal; that calories from carbs impact the body differently to those obtained from protein, for example. I also know that we all process foods differently. I have a metabolism that suggests I may at some point have been gene-spliced with a sloth, and hence spend hours in the gym brutalising myself. I also like my dinner very much. I regard the diet book industry as a massive scam. If a single diet book worked there would be no need to publish another one ever again. But still they come. Continue reading...

Labor leader seizes on former spy boss’s claim that Scott Morrison is serving China’s interests by politicising critical issue

Serre Chevalier near Briançon is defying the sceptics with its solar, wind and hydro-powered shift towards building the ski resort of the future“Studies predict that with climate change, skiing will be able to take place here in its current form until 2050…” These profound words came not from an environmentalist, but from the lips of Patrick Arnaud, the manager of Serre Chevalier ski area in the French Alps. As I sat there, looking up at the snow-capped peaks behind him, with my 16-month-old son on my lap, all I could think was how close that date suddenly felt.Ask people if taking a ski trip is good for the environment and they’ll likely come back with a resounding no. First there’s the way people often access it – via short-haul, carbon-emitting flights. Then there’s the type of work that has to be done on the mountain to make it suitable for skiers – from deforestation and grooming pistes (using diesel-powered vehicles), to running chairlifts to get people back up the slopes (yet more greenhouse gas emissions). And then there’s the catch-22 in the form of snow production – with temperatures rising, more snow needs to be made artificially to keep the traditional areas open, but this emits more carbon into the atmosphere, exacerbating the problem. Continue reading...

Authorities regularly detain environmentalists, rights campaigners and dissidents to prevent them travelling or attending events, says Human Rights WatchThe Vietnamese government is routinely placing activists under arbitrary house arrest, employing tactics including stationing guards outside their homes, setting up roadblocks nearby and using superglue and padlocks to jam their doors shut, according to a report.The study by Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented cases involving 170 rights activists, bloggers, dissidents and their family members who were prevented from domestic and international travel between 2004 and 2021. The real number of those affected is likely to be higher, the report warned.

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Public safety minister speaks after arrest of extremists accused of plotting to kill police officers in Canada border town of CouttsCanada’s public safety minister has warned of ties between protesters occupying the country’s capital and a group of far-right extremists who were charged earlier this week in the border town of Coutts, Alberta, over an alleged plot to kill police officers.“Several of the individuals at Coutts have strong ties to a far-right extreme organization with leaders who are in Ottawa,” the minister, Marco Medicino, told reporters on Wednesday. Continue reading...

A breakthrough in the 2015 nuclear deal talks could be just days away, but key differences remainIran has reached a moment of truth and must decide in days, not weeks, whether to accept the text of a nuclear deal accepted by China, Russia, European powers and the US, the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, has said.His claim that the text was now agreed, not just between western powers, but also Russia and China, is designed to put maximum pressure on Iran to accept the attempt to revive its landmark nuclear deal, by which it agreed to limit nuclear activity in return for the lifting of some sanctions. Continue reading...

The Netflix series on ‘Soho grifter’ Anna Delvey is at once overlong and underwhelmingThere’s a recurring impulse throughout Inventing Anna, the nine-part Netflix limited series on the so-called “Soho Grifter”, to apply the scam logic of Anna Delvey – a broke twentysomething Russian émigré who posed as a wealthy German heiress in mid-2010s New York – to society at large. Capitalism is a scam. So is meritocracy. Rich people can skate by on the assumption of their wealth; men fake it till they make it all the time. There’s a point to this, however blunt and flattening it’s made in connection to Anna Delvey. Part of our evergreen fascination with scams – an amorphous zeitgeist that includes everything from Fyre festival to the Tinder Swindler to upcoming series on Elizabeth Holmes and WeWork’s implosion – derives from recognition. They’re extreme versions of dynamics with which we’re all familiar: exploitation, manipulation of trust, seductive performance, inflation of the self.Based-on-a-true-story television, like a scam, requires sustained disbelief; if done well, it’s a potent cocktail of truth and dramatic embellishment. There’s an implicit contract with the audience that some details will be juiced up, some facts changed. Inventing Anna, the first Netflix series created by Shonda Rhimes under her blockbuster deal with Netflix (2020 hit Bridgerton, produced by her company Shondaland, was created by Rhimes protege Chris Van Dusen), invokes this connection at the beginning of each episode with a cheeky reminder: “This whole story is completely true, except for all the parts that are totally made up.” Continue reading...

Scotland Yard looking into allegations that the Prince’s Foundation charity offered help in securing a knighthoodThe Prince of Wales is facing the prospect of being interviewed by police as a witness after Scotland Yard launched an investigation into an alleged cash-for-honours scandal.The Prince’s Foundation, Charles’s charitable body, is at the heart of a criminal inquiry into allegations that a Saudi donor was offered help in securing a knighthood. Continue reading...

Thursday: Secretary general of military alliance contradicts Vladimir Putin’s claim of a partial withdrawal of troops from Ukraine’s border. Plus: sadness as Bob Hawke’s watering hole set to closeGood morning. The Ukraine crisis is developing as Nato contradicts Putin’s claim of a troop drawdown, Australian economists warn of vastly unequal tax outcomes and Sydney’s first fatal shark attack in nearly 60 years has left the city’s beaches closed.Tax cuts planned to take effect in 2024-25 would pay male beneficiaries twice as much as women, separate analyses by the Australia Institute, the Greens and the Australian Council of Social Service have found. “Men in the top 10% of taxpayers [would] get almost 40% of the tax cut,” the Australia Institute said, with a parliamentary budget office report also suggesting the top 1% of earners would receive $11.8bn back, compared with $12.7bn for the lowest 60% of earners. The treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s office released “unpublished” data this month that said 5.2 million women had benefited from $14.4bn in tax relief across the past two and a half years. Continue reading...

After months of diplomatic crisis the departure will mark an end to a fraught nine-year missionFrance is expected to formally announce within days a phased withdrawal of its military forces in Mali after almost a decade, after months of diplomatic crisis between the two countries.The departure will mark an end to a fraught nine-year mission in Mali that French governments have argued is integral to regional security as well as prevent jihadist threats in Europe. Continue reading...

The French language guardian warns an explosion in the use of anglicisms by organisations risks social divisionThe centuries-old language watchdog, the Académie Française, has warned that growing use of English by public and private bodies risks poor communication and could even undermine social cohesion.A report by six members of the body, published online this week, warns that “today’s communication is characterised by a degradation that must not be seen as inevitable”. Continue reading...

The Galicia-based trawler sank off Newfoundland with just three known survivors from the crew of 24Spain was in mourning for its worst fishing tragedy in almost 40 years, as rescuers warned on Wednesday that it was unlikely they would find any more survivors from a ship that sank in rough seas off Newfoundland.Search teams have so far confirmed 10 dead and rescued three survivors from a life raft, and the search continues for 11 others who remain unaccounted for. Continue reading...

Confidence in force fell sharply during past five years, with 68% saying Met did a good job in 2017Public confidence in the Metropolitan police has fallen sharply in the five years Cressida Dick has been leading Britain’s biggest force, figures published on Wednesday show.Only 51% of those in London said they believed the Met did a good job in their local area, down 17 points compared with the last survey before Dick became Met commissioner in April 2017. Continue reading...

Nato secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said he sees no signs of de-escalation on the ground from Russia's military, while urging Russia to 'step back from the brink of war'. He also reiterated that Nato action was defensive and 'not a threat to Russia'.Nato defence ministers are in Brussels for two days to discuss Russia military build-up on the Ukrainian border

Officials often underestimate the dangers faced by failed asylum seekers who are forcibly sent home, writes Jackie FearnleyThe recent Human Rights Watch report on the harm done to Cameroonian asylum seekers, both while they were trying to make their claims in the US and when repatriated in a blaze of publicity, should be required reading for all asylum decision-makers (African migrants deported in Trump era suffered abuse on return, 10 February).From my experience of helping Cameroonian torture survivors over the past 14 years, I have noted that Home Office decision-makers, and many judges, can fatally underestimate the degree of risk attached to the forcible return process, particularly as failed asylum seekers are viewed as having brought the country into disrepute and can be punished with imprisonment. Continue reading...

Progress has been slower than in adults, with authorities blaming hesitancy among parents and some doctors as well as mixed messaging from experts

Festivals will not require vaccination, testing or masking while Coachella says ‘no guarantee’ attendees won’t be exposed to CovidIn a reversal of its previous policy, the Coachella music festival will not require Covid-19 vaccination, testing or masking when it resumes this April in southern California, the organizers said.The hugely popular festival saw up to 125,000 attendees leading up to the start of pandemic, during which it was cancelled three times. Continue reading...

Analysis: Duke’s tarnished reputation after Virginia Giuffre settlement leaves him with few options, say expertsThe price that Prince Andrew will pay for settling the Virginia Giuffre civil lawsuit will go far beyond the reported millions it has cost him financially.As he celebrates his 62nd birthday on Saturday, the duke will undoubtedly contemplate what a future without the red carpet and royal trappings he has enjoyed since birth will actually look like. Continue reading...

Government’s ‘trickle down disaster’ will further entrench inequality between men and woman, Greens say

Sadiq Khan and Marvin Rees call for action as major report launched during UN Migration WeekTwo of the UK’s leading mayors are calling for urgent action to prepare for mass migration to cities due to the climate emergency, as a major report into the issue launches at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday.Mass migration to some of the world’s cities due to the climate emergency is already under way and the World Bank has estimated that unless significant action is taken, 216 million people could be on the move by 2050. In 2020, 30 million people were displaced due to the climate crisis, and 70% of people internally displaced due to the climate crisis are living in urban areas. The World Bank predicts that more than 1 billion people are at risk of being driven from their homes for climate-related reasons. Continue reading...

Amber weather warnings issued across most of UK, with travel disruption and power cuts expectedAmber weather warnings covering most of the UK have been issued with the Met Office warning people to brace themselves for travel disruption, power cuts and heavy snow as back-to-back storms were forecast to bring gusts of up to 100mph .John Swinney, Scotland’s deputy first minister, said the coming days would be “very challenging” and urged everyone to plan their journeys in advance, exercise caution on the roads, and follow the latest travel advice. Continue reading...

Three people have moved back to Futaba, which aims to attract about 2,000 over the next five yearsLate last month, Yoichi Yatsuda slept in his own home for the first time in more than a decade.As a resident of Futaba, a town in the shadow of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, there was a time when simply spending the night in his family home had seemed an impossible dream. Continue reading...

Metropolitan police have launched investigation into allegations linked to Prince Charles charityScotland Yard has launched an investigation into cash-for-honours allegations linked to the Prince of Wales’s charity the Prince’s Foundation.In a brief statement, the Metropolitan police said it had launched the investigation after media reports alleging offers of help were made to secure honours and citizenship for a Saudi national. Continue reading...

Call for better labelling as research finds two glasses of some wines contain more calories than a hamburgerAdults can exceed their recommended daily limit of sugar by drinking just two glasses of wine, experts have warned.Drinks can also be packed with calories and in some cases two glasses of wine can contain more calories than a hamburger. Continue reading...

Historians argue Roper’s story could have helped end US slavery earlier but supporters turned on himIn his day, the 19th-century fugitive from slavery Moses Roper was a well-known public figure who toured Britain and Ireland telling gripped and shocked audiences about his horrific experiences in Florida.Today he is largely overlooked but, two Newcastle University academics argue, the important story of this fascinating man represents a “lost opportunity” for the British abolition movement to have helped end slavery in the US earlier.‘I Am Not a Beggar’: Moses Roper, Black Witness and the Lost Opportunity of British Abolitionism is published in the journal Slavery and Abolition. Continue reading...

The 61-year-old scene-stealer and gay icon is back! She talks about her triumph over sexism, shame and self-doubtNot so long ago, Jane Lynch was walking her dog, happy as could be, and she paused and said out loud to herself: “God, I love being Jane Lynch.” She laughs at herself. “As if ‘she’ were something outside of me.” But things do seem pretty good: she recently finished her run of cabaret dates with her friend, the actor Kate Flannery. There’s a reboot of the underrated sitcom Party Down coming, and a fourth series of the Amazon show The Marvelous Mrs Maisel is about to start. Lynch won an Emmy for her role as Sophie Lennon, a bawdy superstar comic housewife from Queens (in reality, an upper-class Manhattanite, slumming it for financial gain and self-expression). This year, Lynch takes to Broadway, to be in Funny Girl, the fulfilment, at the age of 61, of a childhood dream. Last year, she got married for the second time. “I live in this really cute house in a little beach town,” she says. “I’ve got a beautiful dog, a fantastic wife.” She seems to marvel at it – she doesn’t sound remotely boastful, just grateful.Things haven’t always been so good. Lynch has been through divorce and alcoholism – giving up alcohol for the second time only fairly recently, after slipping back into addiction. As a teenager, she carried deep shame about her sexuality. Well into her 30s, she felt lonely and alienated, and it wasn’t until her 40s that her career took off. Lynch might be the perfect embodiment of the idea that It Will Get Better. Continue reading...

Analysis: Experts have little faith in announcement and say there are no signs of de-escalation on Ukraine’s borders

Law makes it an offence to perform so-called ‘therapy’ on anyone under 18 and comes with sentence of up to three years’ imprisonmentNew Zealand has banned conversion practices, with near unanimity, after all but eight National party members voted in favour of the law.Conversion “therapy” refers to the practice, often by religious groups, of trying to “cure” people of their sexuality, gender expression or LGBTQI identity. Continue reading...

Suddenly there was Kylian Mbappé once again. With 45 seconds left, just when it looked as if victory had evaded a Paris Saint-Germain side that could have won this match a lot earlier and three times over, he delivered the solution that they had sought all night. Dashing between Lucas Vázquez and Éder Militão, leaning one way and then the other, as smooth as he was swift, Mbappé dropped the shoulder and slotted through Thibaut Courtois’ legs.The release was immense at the Parc des Princes, where they could have been forgiven for becoming resigned to this moment never arriving, denied despite their dominance until that last magical moment. It took 22 shots, including a penalty that Lionel Messi had seen saved by Courtois, but at last the hosts had done it. It had been worth the wait and it had to be him: not just the man Real Madrid hope to sign but a footballer of rare gifts and the outstanding player here. Continue reading...

O’Rourke held a variety of roles, including editor-in-chief of National Lampoon and Rolling Stone’s foreign affairs desk chiefThe conservative writer and humorist PJ O’Rourke, whose acerbic wit and writings often won admiration on both sides of America’s political divide, has died, media reports and colleagues said. He was 74 years old.Peter Sagal, O’Rourke’s colleague and host of the NPR radio show Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, said on Twitter: “I’m afraid it’s true. Our panelist and my dear friend PJ O’Rourke has passed away.” Continue reading...

Agreeing a payout estimated to be at least $10m spares the duke from the risk of a poor performance on the witness stand

Out-of-court settlement in civil case means Duke of York is spared giving evidence at trial

ScotRail to stop running trains as country braces itself for Storm DudleyThe vast majority of train services in Scotland will end at 4pm on Wednesday as the country braces itself for the first of two storms.ScotRail announced on Tuesday its services would end early on Wednesday in preparation for Storm Dudley. The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for the north of England and the central belt and south of Scotland. Continue reading...

Human rights groups said the verdict was part of a troubling trend in Greece’s criminal justice systemAn Athens court has handed two prominent human rights defenders prison sentences, suspended for three years, after finding the pair guilty of “falsely accusing” a Greek Orthodox bishop of racist hate speech.The three-member tribunal sentenced the activists to 12-month jail terms after acquitting the bishop, Seraphim, the Metropolitan of Piraeus, of antisemitic rhetoric. Continue reading...

The image with ‘no innocent explanation’, showing Giuffre with the duke and Ghislaine Maxwell, was clicked by Jeffrey EpsteinIt was a simple photograph, taken late in the evening on 10 March 2001, that came to symbolize Virginia Giuffre’s case against Prince Andrew and eventually led to the astonishing settlement announced on Tuesday.The one with the Duke’s arm around the 17-year-old’s waist, with Ghislaine Maxwell beaming to one side, and the man behind the camera, clicking the shutter but hidden by the flash’s reflection in a window behind, being Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced late financier and sex trafficker. Continue reading...

Wednesday: Duke of York agrees to donate to Virginia Giuffre’s charity in remarkable turnaround. Plus: new film documents songwriters’ devotionGood morning! There is plenty of commentary this morning about Prince Andrew’s surprise settlement with Virginia Giuffre, as well as developments in the face-off between Russia and Ukraine.The Duke of York has reached a settlement in the civil sex claim filed by Virginia Giuffre in the US. In the unexpected development, Prince Andrew agreed to make a “substantial donation” to Giuffre’s charity and accepted that she “suffered as an established victim of abuse”. The move is a remarkable turnaround for Andrew, who had pledged to fight to clear his name in court. A document submitted to court on Tuesday said the prince also regretted his association with the financier Jeffrey Epstein, who took his life in prison while facing trial for sex trafficking. The prince “was never going to win”, writes former Guardian royal correspondent Stephen Bates: “And now his stupidity and arrogance have cost him almost everything he values.” Continue reading...

UK health agency notes research that also suggests jabs can improve long Covid symptoms among unvaccinated

Protesters against Covid-19 rules seem unfazed by possible police action as prime minister invokes emergency powersA day after Canada’s prime minister announced a dramatic escalation in his government’s fight against blockades across the country, protesters in the nation’s capital were scheduling hair cuts and receiving massages, apparently unfazed by the prospect of ramped-up police enforcement.Hundreds of semi-trucks which have been parked out front of Canada’s parliament since late January have become emblematic of the protests, but planning and logistics for the occupation is run from a second site in a hotel parking lot on Coventry Road, five kilometres east of the downtown area. Continue reading...

Move could be sign of de-escalation but western officials say there are no immediate signs of Russian drawdown

Conwy to Douglas pipeline ‘was shut immediately’ after the hydrocarbon release, reported on MondayAuthorities are monitoring parts of the north Wales coast for an oil slick, after hydrocarbons were released into the sea following a pipeline failure.The pipeline, which connects two oil installations in the Irish Sea, suffered a failure about 33km (20.5 miles) from the north Wales coast. According to Eni UK, the company which operates the pipeline, the incident – which involved “less than 500 barrels” – was reported on Monday. Continue reading...

Many in the Ukrainian capital are sceptical about an attack taking place, regardless of the exodus of diplomats

Three crew rescued from life raft as international mission combs icy seas for survivorsAt least seven people have died and 17 are missing after a Spanish fishing boat sank in bitterly cold seas off the north-east coast of Canada early on Tuesday morning.Spain’s maritime rescue service said an international operation was under way to locate the crew of the Villa de Pitanxo, a boat from the north-western Galicia region that went down 280 miles (450km) off the Newfoundland coast. Continue reading...

Analysis: recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk’s independence would be seen as considerable escalationRussian lawmakers have passed a direct appeal to Vladimir Putin to recognise the Russian-controlled separatist states of Donetsk and Luhansk, providing a way to up the ante in the regional crisis without launching an attack on Ukraine.Putin has said he will not immediately recognise the so-called republics but he is likely to wield that option as a bargaining chip as he continues to demand security guarantees from the west. Continue reading...

German chancellor Olaf Scholz said preventing war in Europe is the 'damn responsibility' of heads of state and government as he met with Russian president Vladimir Putin.Putin in turn raised questions about Ukrainian membership of Nato but was engaged in ongoing diplomatic efforts around military buildup on the Ukrainian border