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Will efforts at achieving peace be scuppered by those who would rather see the conflict remain frozen until one side takes all, asks Theo Kyriacou. Plus letters from Russell Caplan, Jill Read and Gary BennettGabrielle Rifkind’s point that a willingness to compromise by all sides is the only way out of an unfolding international crisis certainly holds true (I’m a conflict mediator. This is our way out of the Ukraine crisis, 9 February). The USSR did pull its missiles out of Cuba as Rifkind states, but the US reciprocated by withdrawing comparable missiles from Turkey and promised not to invade the island.In 2013 in Ukraine, in the midst of a worsening political crisis, France, Germany, Russia and Poland and the then Ukrainian government led by Viktor Yanukovych and most of the Ukrainian opposition thrashed out a peace plan to take the country forward. The more nationalist elements of Ukrainian society, backed by hawks in the US and elsewhere, rejected the plan and there followed a constitutional crisis, a Russian invasion and dismemberment of Ukraine. No nuclear annihilation for the world, but a real catastrophe for the people of Ukraine. Continue reading...

David Evans recalls Philip Larkin’s poem for the silver jubilee and his pastiche of what he imagined Ted Hughes might writeThe Queen’s reign was already being marked as extraordinarily enduring 45 years ago (Report, 4 February). Around the time of the silver jubilee, Charles Monteith, the editor at Faber & Faber of many great authors between the 1950s and 1970s, asked Philip Larkin and Ted Hughes to produce short poems to commemorate the occasion. They were to be inscribed in stone and placed in Queen’s Square, London, near the Faber offices. Larkin submitted:In times when nothing stood

Anis Hemissi shot Beqiri on the doorstep of his £1.7m London home on Christmas Eve 2019A hitman has been found guilty of murdering a reality television star’s brother in “a tit-for-tat rivalry” between two major crime gangs.Flamur Beqiri, 36, was shot dead on the doorstep of his £1.7m home in Battersea, south-west London, in front of his wife as she shielded their two-year-old son on Christmas Eve 2019. Continue reading...

It is increasingly clear that Brexit is doing enormous damage to Britain’s economy. And what for, exactly?Jacob Rees-Mogg reminds me of a kipper. A very specific kipper, resting on a plastic pillow of ice, which intruded into the public consciousness back in 2019, when Boris Johnson held it aloft, proclaiming it as an example of the absurd, pettifogging rules imposed by Brussels on the yeoman traders of Britain. Naturally, Johnson’s claims fell apart on inspection. There was no European directive mandating a cushion of ice for the sleeping fish. On the contrary, the ice pillow was demanded by a British rule, drawn up by British officials. Nothing to do with the EU.The episode came back to me when Rees-Mogg, newly appointed minister for Brexit opportunities and government efficiency, appealed to readers of the Sun to write in and tell him “of ANY petty old EU regulation that should be abolished”. That’s because Johnson’s kipper illustrated not only his serial dishonesty on matters European – already well-documented – but also a gap in the Brexiters’ arsenal. That gap was fairly well concealed in the 2016 referendum campaign, but Rees-Mogg’s plea in the Sun, like Johnson’s kipper, has exposed it. Continue reading...

Political rather than scientific choices lie behind UK decision to be first nation to lift restrictions, say specialists

Border requirements loosened for non-EU 12 to 17-year-olds in time for UK half-term holidaysSpain has announced it will loosen its border requirements, with children over 12 from non-EU countries no longer needing to be fully vaccinated.The Spanish government announced that it is relaxing its travel rules from Monday, which will be a boost for British holidaymakers planning to head abroad in February half-term. Continue reading...

Journalist, a second foreigner and Afghan colleagues held while on assignment with UNHCRThe Taliban have detained a British journalist, a second foreigner and some of their Afghan colleagues in Kabul while they were on assignment for the UN refugee agency, their employer and the family of one of those detained have said.Though the Taliban have detained and beaten Afghan journalists, the arrests earlier this week are the first time Afghanistan’s new rulers are known to have held foreign reporters since they took power last summer. Continue reading...

Hard work and creative friends from local youth club drove genre-defying rapper to mainstream recognitionWhen Little Simz invited her mum on stage to help collect her Brit award for best new artist this week, it quickly became the evening’s standout moment. “Look at what you’ve done, Mum!” she told her, kicking off a powerful acceptance speech that turned her journey from council estate to awards ceremony podium into an inspirational allegory. The 27-year-old said she was “living proof that if you work hard at something, no matter where you come from, your background, your race, you can be something extraordinary”.Yet fans of the rapper were confused by the prize for new artists. Having released her debut mixtape in 2010, Simz now has four critically lauded albums under her belt, including last year’s Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, a thought-provoking and utterly unique record that earned many five-star reviews and was widely considered a new high-water mark for British rap. It reached No 4 in the UK albums chart, the accomplishment that earned her Brit nomination – artists must have had a Top 40 album or two Top 20 singles to qualify. Before that, she had been endorsed by huge stars including Kendrick Lamar and Stormzy. In other words, the north Londoner, born Simbiatu Ajikawo, is far from a fledgling talent. Continue reading...

We get the body we get at birth. But I learned eventually that I didn’t have to accept it, that changes are within our graspWhen I was 16, I asked my best friend, Kerry, why she was so into piercings. Because I was young, naive and suburban, I did slightly subscribe to the “you’d be so pretty if you didn’t have all that metal in your face” attitude – echoing my mother, probably. Kerry explained that she refused to let her body be arbitrary. At the time, I didn’t know fully what “arbitrary” meant, but I did not want to appear dense, so I waited until I got home to look it up.For the most part, our bodies are arbitrary. We get the body we get at birth: our eye colour, our hair colour, our skin colour. We have no say in those things at the moment we are born but, talking to my friend, I realised that subsequent changes are within our grasp. We can go against the grain. My first act of defiance came in 1999, when I bleached my hair. Rather than platinum blonde, it turned the colour of Berocca piss. I quickly dyed it fire engine red instead; why would I want to look like my peers when I could look like Ginger Spice? Continue reading...

Shahi Exports, which makes clothes for the UK high street, has agreed to pay staff minimum wage and arrearsIndia’s largest garment company has paid out an estimated £3m in unpaid wages to tens of thousands of workers, after two years of refusing to pay its workers the legal minimum wage.Last month Shahi Exports, which supplies dozens of international brands, agreed to pay nine months of back pay to about 80,000 workers, with further payments expected in the coming months that will increase the total paid back to workers to £7m. Continue reading...

Tukwini Mandela launches augmented reality Snapchat experience that also brings grandfather Nelson’s statue to lifeNelson Mandela’s granddaughter has launched an augmented reality project to help people understand more about the stories of black Britons.On the 32nd anniversary of Mandela’s release from prison, Tukwini Mandela said the initiative would “make black history more visible, so it’s never forgotten”. The technology allowed her grandfather’s statue in Trafalgar Square in London to be “brought to life”, she added. Continue reading...

Campaign calls for citizenship route to be opened up to offspring of BNO passport holders at heart of protestsThe UK government has given its strongest indication yet that it will agree to calls to extend its visa lifeboat scheme to cover Hongkongers aged between 18 and 24 who were at the heart of recent civilian protests.The current scheme, opened a year ago, is available only to British national (overseas) (BNO) passport holders born before 1997, the date of the handover of the city to China and the ending of the BNO scheme. Continue reading...

Woman assaulted by stranger as she slept accused Greater Manchester police of failing to investigate properlyA homeless woman who was sexually assaulted by a stranger as she slept in a tent has been awarded damages by police after she accused them of failing to investigate properly.The woman was sleeping rough in Manchester city centre in August 2020 when she awoke to find a man in her tent with his hand inside her clothes while he carried out a sexual act on himself. Continue reading...

Paul Magnette, the Socialist party leader, describes e-commerce as ‘social and ecological degradation’The leader of a party in Belgium’s governing coalition has sparked a debate after proposing that the country abolish internet shopping to let its high streets thrive and reduce night warehouse work.Paul Magnette, the leader of the Socialist party and mayor of Charleroi, Belgium’s third biggest city, said he feared the current trends were hollowing out urban centres and driving down working conditions. Continue reading...

Inspired by Canadian truckers, motorists are protesting against Covid restrictions and Emmanuel Macron

Andy George praises outgoing commissioner, but says it was right that she stood downCressida Dick was “the most defensive and dismissive” leader of a British police force, with problems worsening under her tenure as Scotland Yard’s commissioner, the leader of the National Black Police Association (NBPA) has said.Dick announced her departure on Thursday after a falling out with London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, who lacked confidence that she could improve an allegedly misogynistic, racist and closed culture blighting Britain’s biggest force. Continue reading...

US secretary of state Antony Blinken says Russia’s actions could embolden other countries to pursue military aggressionThe stability of the Indo-Pacific will also be in danger if Russia is allowed to threaten Ukraine with impunity, the US secretary of state has warned during a visit to Australia.Antony Blinken said on Friday there were “very troubling signs of Russian escalation”, adding: “We’re in a window when an invasion could begin at any time – and to be clear, that includes during the Olympics.” Continue reading...

Onyeama became the first black person to complete his studies at the prestigious school, and a 1972 book, which Eton tried to quash, detailed the daily racist abuse he sufferedAs soon as Dillibe Onyeama was born, in January 1951, his father put his name down for Eton, the UK’s most prestigious and expensive public school. No black child had gone there, but his father, a senior judge in Nigeria who had studied at Oxford, wanted him to have the best education he could possibly afford.Onyeama did go on to receive a fantastic education – and made history as the first black person to complete his study at Eton College. But the personal cost was staggering. Continue reading...

After almost three decades, I still miss my daughter. But losing her taught me that grief is something to venerate, not denyGrief is not a medical disorder to be cured. Grief is not a spiritual crisis to be resolved. Grief is not a social woe to be addressed. Grief is, simply, to be felt in our hearts and our minds and our bodies.

The Chilean American author on the allure of Arabian Nights, the inspiration of Gabriel García Márquez and the heartbreak of Jack LondonMy earliest reading memory

I applied for the quiz show to get bragging rights over my pub quiz teammates. Then I found myself sweating in the famous chair. What had I done?In all honesty, I have no idea why I decided to go on Mastermind. I love pub quizzes, sure, and I’m good at them. Pre-Covid, I was part of a crack team called Quizlamic State, who regularly took home first prize in our local one. As team coordinator, I developed a reputation for ruthlessness, brutally ejecting friends and, on one occasion, my boyfriend, if I thought they were underperforming. At university, I was picked for our college’s University Challenge team, though we didn’t get on the show: too boring, apparently. (The producers picked a team of historical re-enactors and archers from a different college.)All of this stuff is what I say when people ask why I went on the show. But if I’m being honest, I don’t know why I did it. I don’t know why I do most things. I’m an incredibly impulsive person; always have been. To paraphrase Kim Kardashian West’s reply when asked why she filmed the sex tape that made her famous: because I was bored, and I felt like it. Continue reading...

(Mais Um)

The father of former NSW police minister was found guilty last year of charges including dangerous driving causing death

Peter Dutton confirms Scott Morrison was misled by Liberal MPs who crossed floor on religious discrimination bill; Martin Foley says code brown declaration for Victoria’s hospitals will end Monday; at least 49 Covid deaths recorded nationally. Follow all the day’s news

Thirty-five years on from the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, and despite the continued danger of radiation, Ukrainians displaced by the conflict in Donbas have come to settle in low-cost, dilapidated housing in border areas close to the exclusion zone. Photojournalist Gaëlle Girbes met the people who are trying to rebuild their lives in the most unlikely of places.On 26 April 1986, the core of reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant melted down, causing the world’s biggest nuclear disaster. About 130,000 people were urgently evacuated, leaving towns and villages deserted across 2,200 sq km in the north of Ukraine. The area became a ghost region, forming the forbidden zone – estimated to be dangerous for 24,000 years according to specialists – and its adjacent regions, free to access but also contaminated.Despite the danger of radiation, 35 years later Ukrainians are moving into dilapidated houses in the border areas of the exclusion zone. In 2014, the war in the Donbas region forced more than 1.5 million people into exile, fleeing the conflict that has been going on in the east of the country for almost eight years.Lydia is cut off from the world. Her dogs, found by chance, are her companions, her family that help her to bear the immense loneliness in which she now lives in the village of Bazar, Jytomyr region, Ukraine Continue reading...

Five decades after David Bowie’s seminal tour, our music writers reflect on the concerts that have left a mark, from Billie Holiday to Billie EilishCafé Society, New York City, early 1939

After years of disgust, I saw the possibility of beauty in my body just as it is. Now I am the happiest I have ever beenMy body is an accordion. Not because it sounds horrible. I mean, it does. It clicks and cracks and honks, and when I try to sing nicely my son screams from the pit of his soul, like I’ve brandished an axe. No, what I mean is, it’s like an accordion because, for 32 years I was squeezing her in. In and in, for a half-life.On a BMI chart, I’ve always been “obese” – technically, ill. So for decades I saw my body as defective, disappointing and disgusting. If I looked at it, I felt the kind of hatred and repulsion I normally reserve for racists or people who say “hashtag justsayin’” out loud. Continue reading...

Heber López, director of the online news site Noticias Web, was killed in the port city of Salina Cruz in Oaxaca stateA journalist has been shot dead in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, the fifth killed in the country this year, state authorities said.Heber López, director of the online news site Noticias Web, was killed leaving a recording studio in the port city of Salina Cruz, said an official with the Oaxaca state security agency, who requested anonymity. Continue reading...

The best thing about recovery plans is nobody pays any attention except for a few greenists and weary scientists

US president urges all Americans to leave Ukraine immediately, while British defence secretary heads to MoscowUS president Joe Biden has warned that “things could go crazy quickly” in Ukraine and again urged American citizens to leave immediately, as the UK’s defence secretary headed to Moscow in the latest round of diplomacy.“American citizens should leave, should leave now,” Biden said in an interview with NBC News. “We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. This is a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly.” Continue reading...

While many front pages say the Met chief was ‘forced out’, some cheer her departure after a series of ‘catastrophic blunders’The departure of Cressida Dick as Britain’s most senior police officer is the main story in most of the papers on Friday, although there is some difference in emphasis about whether she deserved her fate.The Guardian led with the line that the Metropolitan police commissioner had to leave because London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, lost confidence in her ability to reform the scandal-hit force. Continue reading...

Documents compiled by protest organisers give a glimpse into a conspiracy theory-drenched outlookLeaders of the Ottawa “Freedom Convoy” protest have warned fellow protesters that the risk of violence is growing, amid speculation the police may move to disperse the nearly two-week occupation of Canada’s capital.Daily “intelligence reports” compiled by protest leaders and seen by the Guardian – as well as public comments by the organisers – have grown increasingly alarmist in recent days. Continue reading...

Get Back and Lord of the Rings director made an estimated $580m last year, topping annual list that also features Bruce Springsteen, Dwayne Johnson and Kanye WestThe Lord of the Rings and Get Back director, Peter Jackson, has topped the Forbes magazine rich list as the highest paid entertainer of 2021.Jackson made US$580m (A$809m, £428m) last year, primarily through the sale of part of his visual effects business Weta Digital to Unity Software, for $1.6bn. Forbes estimates Jackson personally made about $600m in cash and $375m in stock from the deal, making him the third person in history to become a billionaire from making films, after Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...

Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge

Face coverings still required in indoor public spaces in Spain; UK records 66,638 daily infections and 206 Covid-linked deaths

Former Liberal prime minister says defence minister has undermined national security ‘purely for crass political advantage’

Dame Cressida Dick says she is to step aside as commissioner of the Metropolitan police after series of scandals damages trust in force

Chief to leave role two years early after London’s mayor accused her of failing to deal with misogyny and racism in the force

‘We could not accept that they get their hands on the president’s DNA’ a member of Macron’s entourage saidEmmanuel Macron refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian Covid-19 test when he arrived to see Vladimir Putin this week, and was therefore kept at a distance from the Russian leader, two sources in Macron’s entourage told Reuters.Observers were struck by images of Macron and Putin sitting at opposite ends of 4-metre-long (13 ft) table to discuss the Ukraine crisis on Monday, with some diplomats and others suggesting Putin might have wanted to send a diplomatic message. Continue reading...

On a day of rushed British diplomacy, military analysts estimate Moscow has now assembled a force capable of invadingBoris Johnson said he feared Europe stood “on the edge of a precipice” as some experts declared that Russia has now assembled a force on the borders of Ukraine that would be capable of invading.On a day of rushed British diplomacy, the prime minister said he hoped Russian president, Vladimir Putin, would “disengage and de-escalate” while the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, held frosty discussions with her counterpart in Moscow and announced further sanctions legislation. Continue reading...

Group allegedly transported hashish on boats from Morocco then simulated accidents and asked to be towed to SpainSpanish police have busted a drug ring suspected of simulating sailing boat accidents, including an attack by orcas, to smuggle hashish from Morocco to Spain.The group allegedly loaded drugs on to sailboats in Morocco and once in Spanish waters “would fake a breakdown or accident and request maritime assistance to be towed to port”, police said on Thursday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Labour leader affirms support for transatlantic alliance and attacks organisation in which Jeremy Corbyn is leading figure

International body calls on foreign governments to support journalists fleeing Hong KongThe fight for democracy and media freedom in Hong Kong feels like it has “entered its endgame”, after a year of crackdowns, arrests and forced closures of outlets, the International Federation for Journalists has said.In a report on the ongoing threats to the press in Hong Kong, titled Lights Out, the IFJ called on governments to offer support and pathways for Hong Kong journalists seeking to flee the city and find refuge to keep working. It noted “a clear and documented exodus and closure of both local and international media outlets, journalists and media workers that once earned Hong Kong a reputation as a bastion for media excellence in the Asia region”. Continue reading...

Finnegan Elder and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth sentenced to life in prison for murder of Mario Cerciello Rega, stabbed 11 times in 2019Lawyers and family of two young American men convicted of murdering a police officer in Rome said they are hoping for a better outcome in the defendants’ appeals trial, which began on Thursday in the Italian capital.Carabinieri Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega, who had just returned from his honeymoon, was hailed as a national hero after he was stabbed 11 times in the street while on a plainclothes mission in July 2019, near the hotel where the two US tourists were staying. Continue reading...

UK PM visits Nato’s headquarters as Russian forces continue military buildup on Ukraine borderBoris Johnson has said the Ukraine crisis has entered “the most dangerous moment” on a visit to Nato’s headquarters as Russian forces continue their military buildup on the borders of its southern neighbour.The prime minister said “our intelligence remains grim” but told reporters in Brussels that “I honestly don’t think that a decision has yet been taken” by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to order an invasion. Continue reading...

When three generations of my family were together, I realised how, wordlessly, we recalibrate each otherI found myself, during our strange, second Covid Christmas, sandwiched between my 22-year-old daughter and my 89-year-old mother. This year, more than ever, the umbilical connection between us tugged at me as I, Janus-in-waiting, observed, monitored and enjoyed the miraculous luxury of three generations together.My daughter has tattoos. I like them, which surprises me. I understand the urge to mark life’s more seismic events upon your body. They sear themselves into our brains after all, so perhaps tattoos are just the outer version of the inner burns. Continue reading...

Atagi’s new guidance reflects better protection against Omicron variant from booster shotAustralians will now need three Covid vaccine doses to be considered “up to date” with their shots, but it will be left to individual states to set their own rules on booster mandates.On Thursday, federal health minister Greg Hunt announced the government’s immunisation advisory body had now updated its guidance. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation’s new guidance states a third dose is required for someone to be considered “up to date” with their vaccinations. The terminology will replace the status of two doses being considered “fully vaccinated”, in recognition of booster doses being needed for better protection against the Omicron variant. Continue reading...

The Swiss artist spent two years studying the Engadine valley, using scientific data and historical research to produce these captivating, experimental images Continue reading...