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This week, horror everywhere: a failing eyesight fail, Roblox violence and a killer batBefore you can even get to the story, the numbers are staggering: there are 78,000 teachers in the New York City public school system, employed across 1,800 schools and with an annual operating budget of $38bn (£28bn). The substitute teaching pool is 9,000 people strong, beyond which there are a further 5,000 substitute teaching assistants who as of this morning, said the mayor’s office, were ready to step in should the Covid vaccine mandate for teachers lead to gaps in the system. Continue reading...

Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage shook the world – and spiked divorce rates. Could the remake, with Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac, be even more controversial? Its director Hagai Levi bares all

Australia will offer vaccine booster doses to severely immunocompromised people after a recommendation from the regulatorSeverely immunocompromised Australians will be able to get Covid-19 vaccine boosters from Monday, after Australia’s vaccine regulatory body approved the jab for the vulnerable section of the community.In advice released on Friday, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) recommended the third vaccine dose for all people aged above 12 who either have conditions that severely weaken their immune defences, as well as patients receiving cancer treatment and other therapies. Continue reading...

The road below was lined with tanks rolling out. Troops flooded the streets. The roof started shakingThe third of October 1993 was a beautiful day in Moscow. The sky was blue, the streets were busy and the air was chilly. I was a US paralegal living my best 23-year-old life, with a head full of dreams and a job at an international law firm.I grew up in New Jersey, then rural Pennsylvania. At university I did politics and Russian studies, and took a class in US and Soviet relations. I was fascinated by these two countries at odds. Continue reading...

Broadcaster ZDF targets international sales and will dub eight-part series for domestic audience⁸It topped Germany’s list of bestselling novels for eight months, and to great local excitement Frank Schätzing’s science-fiction page-turner Der Schwarm is being turned into an eight-part drama series for the German public service broadcaster ZDF. Continue reading...

So, today is the final Friday under (this) lockdown in NSW, with the state due to emerge from stay-at-home orders on Monday.But you’d be forgiven for losing track of what you can and can’t do once lockdown is lifted, considering the changes made and many, many annoucements. Continue reading...

In our new column, we air both sides of a domestic disagreement – and ask you to deliver a verdict.

Raids by the security forces leave at least one man dead, as official observers decry ‘inhumane’ detention conditionsMore than 5,000 refugees and migrants have been arrested by the Libyan authorities in the past week with some allegedly subjected to severe physical and sexual violence, before being held in increasingly “inhumane conditions” in detention centres in Tripoli.Many of those arrested escaped wars or dictatorships across Africa, and have already undergone years of detention. They were intercepted at sea trying to reach Europe by the EU-supported Libyan coastguard. Continue reading...

As Covid hit, thousands of Filipinos were left trapped in the capital without work. Many ended up on the street and are still waiting to rebuild their livesLike so many others before her, Michelle Sicat, a 28-year-old single mother from the province of Nueva Ecija, had come to Metro Manila to get a job to support her family. She left her daughter with her parents so she could work as a shop assistant in one of the city’s busiest commercial districts. Sicat’s sacrifice was one that many Filipinos from rural areas have to make.Despite missing home, Sicat was happy to have a job. But then the Covid-19 pandemic struck. The Philippine government placed the entire island of Luzon – where the Metro Manila region is located – under the strictest level of lockdown. The restrictions forced most businesses to close. Most people were ordered to stay at home.For many living on the streets, there is no shelter from the elements Continue reading...

When her daughter’s hair began to turn grey, Marsha Coupé decided she had to say goodbye to her own dyed locks. It was like being rebornFor her first 65 years, Marsha Coupé had dark hair. She wore it in a blunt pageboy style, with red lipstick. She was wedded to her look, she says. Six weeks ago, she got a No 1 shave. Afterwards, she looked at the floor of the salon in her home town of Davis, California. Seeing the black locks scattered, she put her hands to her head. “I could not believe how good it felt. Like a baby’s head,” she says, rubbing her scalp as she speaks. “Almost like you’re a baby who just got born.”It was Coupé’s daughter, Antoinette, 48, who suggested the cut. “She said: ‘Mom, hair is an accessory. Women make too big a deal. Every woman should shave her head at least once,’” Coupé says.Tell us: has your life taken a new direction after the age of 60? Continue reading...

Analysis: insiders say French belief that No 10 cannot be trusted has intensified amid Brexit, Covid, migration and AukusThe British embassy in Paris held a splendid James Bond soiree this week, guests in black tie and evening dress sipping Bollinger and Martinis shaken, not stirred, playing blackjack and admiring the gleaming Aston Martin DB5 in the courtyard.As projections of British soft power go, it was as potent as any could wish for. Except, as one experienced observer said: “There don’t seem to be many French policy people about.” Another wondered: “Were they not invited – or didn’t they come?” Continue reading...

When personal tragedy struck Roland Orzabal, he found solace returning to a band with its own fractious history. Now, with their first album in 17 years, he and Curt Smith say they’ve come full circleSome years ago, Curt Smith, the singer and songwriter best known as one half of Tears for Fears, found himself in Vancouver. He was filming one of several guest spots he made on the US TV detective series Psych, and after work that day he joined the rest of the cast at a local karaoke bar.There, before the stage, Smith was struck by the idea to get up and sing one of his band’s most famous hits, 1985’s UK platinum-selling Everybody Wants to Rule the World. How hilarious it would be, he thought, when people clocked that he was the actual singer of the song. “And no one paid a blind bit of attention,” he says now. “No one! They didn’t realise it was me.” Continue reading...

Report by centre-right thinktank will increase pressure on Boris Johnson to deliver on his ‘levelling up’ promiseWorkers living in northern England can access far fewer local jobs on public transport than those living in the south, according to a damning new report that will increase pressure on Boris Johnson to deliver on his “levelling up” promise.Those in the south can access up to seven times as many jobs by bus, train or tram, the report suggests. Continue reading...

Parents worry as cancelled jabs and a dearth of information hit the UK Covid jab plan for 12- to 15-year-olds

Surviving on oranges they’d packed, coconuts from the sea and rainwater they collected, they floated about 400km in the Solomon Sea before being rescuedTwo men from Solomon Islands who spent 29 days lost at sea after their GPS tracker stopped working have been rescued off the coast of Papua New Guinea – 400 kilometres away from where their journey began.Livae Nanjikana and Junior Qoloni set out from Mono Island, in Western province, Solomon Islands, on the morning of the 3 September in a small, single 60 horsepower motorboat. Continue reading...

Many people are too scared to confront the groups of middle-aged and older women who take over public parks and sports grounds to exercise along to musicAcross China’s public parks and squares, in the early hours of the morning or late in the afternoon, the grannies gather.The gangs, made up mostly of middle-aged and older women who went through the Cultural Revolution, take to a corner of a local park or sporting ground and dance in unison to Chinese music. Loud music. Continue reading...

Composer says one good thing that came out of the big screen version of his stage musical was ‘my little Havanese puppy’Andrew Lloyd Webber has admitted he hated the 2019 film adaptation of his smash-hit musical Cats so much he bought a dog.The composer has never shied away from expressing his distaste with Tom Hooper’s star-studded and much-maligned big screen version of the stage musical. Continue reading...

The rising Chao Phraya river has proved a unique drawcard as footage of diners dodging the wake of passing boats goes viralRiverside restaurant owner Titiporn Jutimanon feared that the floods afflicting many parts of Thailand could be the end of a business already struggling from the pandemic.But with the rising tide of the Chao Phraya river this week came an unexpected opportunity. Continue reading...

Health authorities have been forced to turn a stadium into a makeshift hospital while elsewhere essential services are closing

Lingering quarantine rules anger would-be travellers from seven targeted countriesEngland’s decision to maintain strict Covid travel rules for seven South American and Caribbean countries has prompted further fury and confusion in the nations which remain on the “red list”.Ministers announced on Thursday that restrictions would be lifted for 47 countries – including Brazil, South Africa and Thailand – allowing travellers to enter England without being subject to draconian and expensive quarantine restrictions. Continue reading...

England to scrap quarantine travel rules for 47 destinations; Italy increases maximum attendance capacity allowed at cultural and sporting venues

Defeat for western states as Bahrain, Russia and other nations push through vote to shut down investigationsBahrain, Russia and other members of the UN human rights council have pushed through a vote to shut down the body’s war crimes investigations in Yemen, in a stinging defeat for western states who sought to keep the mission going.Members narrowly voted to reject a resolution led by the Netherlands to give the independent investigators another two years to monitor atrocities in Yemen’s conflict. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Report from planning exercise in 2016 alerted government of need to stockpile PPE and set up contact tracing system

Riyadh will hope acquisition can not only improve kingdom’s image but also serve as a highly conspicuous display of wealthFrom heavyweight boxing to horse racing, from wrestling events to a grand prix; Saudi Arabia’s association with sport has become an integral, and contentious, part of its efforts to rebrand.But its latest play – taking a majority stake in Newcastle United Football Club – is the kingdom’s boldest move yet, placing it firmly on the world’s sporting stage, and squarely in the crosshairs of its critics. Continue reading...

Tech titans came to Ireland for its tax lures – but may now stay despite Dublin’s agreement to raise its rates

Country takes big step towards ‘legal Polexit’ against backdrop of rows between ruling nationalists and BrusselsPoland’s constitutional tribunal has ruled that some EU laws are in conflict with the country’s constitution, taking a major step towards a “legal Polexit” with far-reaching consequences for Warsaw’s funding and future relations with the bloc.The tribunal, whose legitimacy is contested after multiple appointments of judges loyal to the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, said some provisions of EU treaties and EU court rulings clashed with Poland’s highest law, adding that EU institutions “act beyond the scope of their competences”. Continue reading...

Small contingent of US special forces and marines training local forces in latest sign of rising US-China tensionsThe US has been secretly maintaining a small contingent of military trainers in Taiwan for at least a year, according to a new report, the latest sign of the rising stakes in US-China rivalry.About two dozen US special forces soldiers and an unspecified number of marines are now training Taiwanese forces, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The trainers were first sent to Taiwan by the Trump administration but their presence had not been reported until now. Continue reading...

Armin Laschet intends to oversee search for candidate to unite fractious centre-right partyThe leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has signalled he is prepared to step down after his party’s historic defeat at last month’s federal elections, but intends to oversee the search for a candidate to unite the fractious centre-right.Armin Laschet, Angela Merkel’s designated successor who ended up leading the party to its worst result in postwar history, said at a press conference on Thursday evening the time had come to renew the personnel at the front of his party. Continue reading...

Can Arslan, 51, accused of stabbing Matthew Boorman to death and attempted murder of another neighbourA man has been charged with the murder of his neighbour in Gloucestershire.Can Arslan, 51, will appear in court on Friday accused of stabbing to death father-of-three Matthew Boorman. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Queensland police will review fine issued by officer who pursued Sri for allegedly riding his bike through a yellow light

Former president urges Australia to drop case of former Witness K lawyer after court decision to overturn secrecy order

Ndakasi died in arms of her ‘lifelong friend, Andre Bauma’ in September, says Virunga national park in DRCNdakasi, a mountain gorilla that famously posed for a selfie with rangers at Virunga national park, Democratic Republic of the Congo, has died at 14 after a long illness, the park said.“It is with heartfelt sadness that Virunga announces the death of beloved orphaned mountain gorilla, Ndakasi, who had been under the care of the park’s Senkwekwe Center for more than a decade,” a statement from the park said this week. Continue reading...

Vote a boost for reformers and reflects desire to rein in super-rich after Pandora paper revelationsMembers of the European parliament have voted for tighter rules on the super-rich who move their wealth offshore, in a resounding vote that reflects widespread anger and exasperation in the wake of the Pandora papers revelations.Although the European parliament’s resolution does not bind EU member states who wield decision-making power on taxation, it puts wind in the sails of reformers, who say transparency changes introduced in the last decade have not gone far enough. Continue reading...

No welfare check was carried out on Spencer Beynon after his father raised alarm, jury in Llanelli is toldThe father of an ex-soldier who died after being Tasered warned police hours before the incident that his son, who had post-traumatic stress disorder, was “insane” and needed sectioning, but no welfare check was carried out, an inquest jury has heard.Police did not go to try to find Spencer Beynon, 43, or visit his father, Christopher Beynon, to obtain more details, but instead officers logged the call for intelligence purposes. Continue reading...

Group record message for UK officials as visa rules for dependants add to practical difficultiesMore than 60 British nationals who remain stranded in Afghanistan have criticised the government for abandoning them and their families in an increasingly dangerous situation.About 20 of the group met outside Kabul this week to record a message for UK officials calling for urgent assistance with evacuation back to Britain. Continue reading...

Ministers have decided to end strict hotel quarantine requirement for most countries, including Brazil

Between the ‘chitlin’ circuit’ and her new rave tunes, the soul diva even picked up praise from Elvis. In our new series where you ask the questions, this storied musician reveals a few untold yarnsWhy do you think that your early 70s classic albums (I’m Just a Prisoner, Stand By Your Man, Candi Staton etc) are less canonised than other ‘classic’ albums of that period by the Stones, the Beatles etc? mesmBack then I didn’t get on the same chart as those guys because Black artists on smaller labels were put in the R&B charts, not the pop charts. It was musical segregation. To cross over you needed a big label and money behind you. There was a lot of politics. In the UK there was one chart, which is how it should be. Continue reading...

Ben Lister of West Yorkshire police tells court he thought woman’s body language indicated consentA police sergeant has denied allegations he raped a woman who was too drunk to consent after a night out, telling the jury he believed her body language had indicated her willingness.Ben Lister, 36, acknowledged he had sex with the woman when they were both drunk but said he believed it was consensual at the time and was not told otherwise. Continue reading...

LGBT group complains to Murcia government after teenager was given report that included line: ‘Current illness: homosexual’A family and an LGBT collective in south-east Spain are demanding answers and an apology after a 19-year-old gay woman who visited a gynaecologist over a menstrual condition was diagnosed with “homosexuality”.On Monday the woman went to an appointment at the Reina Sofía hospital in the city of Murcia. After being examined she was given a piece of paper that included the line: “Current illness: homosexual.” Continue reading...

Josef S, alleged to have worked at Sachsenhausen, is charged with 3,518 counts of accessory to murderA 100-year-old man has gone on trial in Germany accused of being an accessory to murder for serving as a Nazi SS guard at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin during the second world war.The trial of the defendant, who is charged with 3,518 counts of accessory to murder, is being held at the Neuruppin state court, which moved the proceedings to a prison sport hall in Brandenburg for organisational reasons. Continue reading...

Anthony Walgate, 23, found cross-legged in an unnatural position outside Barking flat, jury hearsA paramedic called to the first victim of the serial killer Stephen Port believed the death was suspicious after finding the body cross-legged and in an unnatural position, an inquest has heard.The body of Anthony Walgate, 23, a fashion student from Hull, was found outside Port’s block of flats after the killer made an anonymous early hours 999 call. Continue reading...

Declaration, part of the Business Leaders Against the Death Penalty campaign, first launched in March by Sir Richard BransonMore than 150 global business leaders have signed a declaration calling for the end of the death penalty around the world and criticizing capital punishment for perpetuating inequality.The declaration, part of the Business Leaders Against the Death Penalty campaign, was first launched in March at the virtual South by Southwest festival by Sir Richard Branson, one of the campaign’s founders. Initial signatories included the billionaire fashion mogul Francois-Henri Pinault, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s, Arianna Huffington, and the leaders of Unilever and Bayer. Continue reading...

Sussex police said a man in his 40s and a man in his 20s were arrested after the alleged incident at a Brighton venueA Brighton and Hove Albion footballer has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault after a woman was allegedly attacked in the East Sussex town.Sussex police said a man in his 40s and a man in his 20s were arrested after the alleged incident in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Both men have been released on conditional bail until 3 November while enquiries continue. Continue reading...

Maroš Šefčovič says bloc will issue ‘far-reaching proposals’ aimed at breaking impasse next weekThe EU has urged the UK to drop the “political rhetoric” in the row over Brexit negotiations for Northern Ireland, revealing it will make what it described as “far-reaching proposals” to break the impasse next week.The European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič told a conference in Dublin he had a good relationship with the UK’s Brexit minister, David Frost, but that his threats to pull the plug on the Northern Ireland protocol were “not helpful”. Continue reading...

Forty-four years after The Duellists, Ridley Scott draws swords again with his star-studded swashbuckler The Last Duel. But which one-on-one fight film is the champion? Let mortal combat begin …Inspired by Ridley Scott’s The Duellists, Gregory Widen wrote a screenplay about immortals trying to hack each other’s heads off with big swords. Former Olympic fencer Bob Anderson choreographed the showdown between Christopher Lambert and evil Clancy Brown, who is clearly having too much fun to live. “There can be only one!” Followed by a zillion sequels and TV spin-offs. Continue reading...

Women awarded in 10 of 16 award categories, while a STEM education program for remote Indigenous students was also recognised

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Which author will become the 114th literature laureate?

Adm Sir Tony Radakin is first chosen from navy in 20 years and reflects switch of focus to Indo-Pacific regionBoris Johnson has selected the head of the navy for the first time in 20 years as the next chief of Britain’s armed forces, a choice intended to reinforce the UK’s post-Brexit switch in focus to the Indo-Pacific region.The prime minister picked Adm Sir Tony Radakin for the £270,000-a-year position from a field of five to replace Gen Sir Nick Carter, who had been criticised over the messy retreat from Afghanistan. Continue reading...