Underwater 6.3-magnitude quake released ‘small tsunami’ with warning to avoid coastal areasA powerful earthquake, the second in just over two weeks, has rocked Crete, prompting “a small tsunami” in the south of the Greek island and an evacuation alert.The quake, which was felt as far away as Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, had a magnitude of 6.3, according to the Geodynamic Institute in Athens. There were no immediate reports of casualties or injuries although rockslides were widespread. Continue reading...
Pre-civil war, Yugoslavian musicians defied the limitations of technology to make superb electro-pop in an apparent socialist utopiaBell-bottomed revellers clad in shining shirts, dancing the night away, were a familiar sight in the party capitals of the world circa 1970. But in brutalist New Belgrade, it was a brand new experience: in the basement of a sports hall, the first discotheque in socialist Yugoslavia was born.The country no longer exists, having splintered into fragments following war in the 1990s. But before economic and ethnic fault lines appeared, and when the good times rolled, the country straddled the line between east and west – a successful socialist experiment, for a time, with an open society and vibrant cultural life. Yugoslavian disco, post-punk and electronic music thrived in the 1970s and 1980s – yet was mostly forgotten until recent efforts by hobby archivists and specialist record labels. Continue reading...
Lawyers’ report says bill will lead to multiple challenges under international human rightsPriti Patel’s controversial new borders bill breaches international and domestic law in at least 10 different ways, a report from a team of leading immigration lawyers has concluded.Four barristers led by the human rights QC Raza Husain claim that the nationality and borders bill, which is moving through parliament, will lead to challenges under international human rights and refugee treaties. Continue reading...
The Premier League may soon regret allowing the takeover, writes Joe McCarthy, while Michael McCarthy says it shows how little power fans have. Michael Herron believes money has rotted the game and Dr Chris Haughton suggests a visit to Saudi Arabia by the Toon ArmyBarney Ronay is right that “English football has reached a particular kind of extreme” by agreeing to the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United (Newcastle’s Saudi takeover will cause faux morality of football to collapse, 7 October). The Premier League, in its consideration of the Saudi purchase, has reportedly seen basic human rights and TV piracy with a bizarre equivalence. However, once the piracy issue was resolved, the deal was given the go-ahead.Most ordinary people have higher moral standards than the rich and powerful. Normally the rich are very good at navigating this dilemma and don’t rub their immorality too much in the faces of the rest of us. But the Premier League has got this one wrong. Amnesty has already condemned the takeover. By allowing the arrival of Mohammed bin Salman into football’s “billionaire boys’ club”, the football authorities have drawn much attention to the amoral ownership model of some of England’s biggest clubs. They may soon regret it.
Four people aged 18, 19, 25 and 44 declared dead at scene in Headcorn and 15-year-old taken to hospitalFour people have died and a teenage boy was left fighting for his life after a vehicle crash in Kent.They had been travelling together in Headcorn, Kent when they were involved in the collision. Continue reading...
Crossings take place as French minister accuses UK of failing to pay promised £55m to tackle the problemMore than 1,100 people made the perilous journey across the Channel in small boats on Friday and Saturday, as France accused Britain of failing to provide funds promised to tackle the problem.After 10 days in which no crossings were possible, 624 people reached the UK on small boats on Friday – the fourth highest daily tally recorded during the current crisis – and 491 did so on Saturday. At lest 40 boats landed over the two days. Continue reading...
Tsai Ing-wen condemns China’s plans for Taiwan and says island will continue to build its defencesNo one will force Taipei to take the path laid out by Beijing, Tsai Ing-wen has vowed on Taiwan’s national day, pledging to continue bolstering the island’s military defences.Responding to repeated threats from China’s leaders that it will one day take Taiwan – by force if need be – and overthrow its democratically elected government, the president said Taiwan had the resolve to defend itself and its future, which “must be decided in accordance with the will of the Taiwanese people”. Continue reading...
Underground recalls brief but intense flowering of movement in city following death of FrancoWhen Spain’s repressive dictatorship finally came to a close with the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, the counterculture that had been bubbling away for years elsewhere in Europe arrived with a bang.“After years of repression there was an immense desire to do things; people were desperate to express themselves,” said Pepe Ribas, the curator of Underground, an exhibition that celebrates the intense but brief flowering of counter-culture of 1970s Barcelona. Continue reading...
by Jessica Elgot Chief political correspondent on (#5QJDC)
Source close to Rishi Sunak accuses business secretary of ‘making up’ talks over support for manufacturersTreasury sources have hit back at the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, after he suggested Rishi Sunak was involved in negotiations over aid for struggling manufacturers hit by soaring energy bills.In a highly unusual slapdown, which occurred during a round of broadcast interviews with Kwarteng, sources close to the chancellor cautioned the business secretary against making any promises to companies and said there had been no approach to the Treasury. Continue reading...
Taiwan will keep bolstering its defences to ensure nobody can force the island to accept the path China has laid down that offers neither freedom nor democracy, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Sunday, in a strong riposte to Beijing. Claimed by China as its own territory, Taiwan has come under growing military and political pressure to accept Beijing's rule, including repeated Chinese air force missions in Taiwan's air defence identification zone, prompting international concern
Whether it’s a love of lawnmowers or mustard pots, these enthusiasts have turned niche hobbies into full-time obsessions. Michael Segalov has a wander around six unusual collectionsThe British gardening machine industry was the biggest and best in the world for well over a century. Our engineering ingenuity was second to none. What we’ve set out to do is save these mowing machines from the scrapyard in an effort to preserve their history, which otherwise was destined to be forgotten for good. Continue reading...
PM pays tribute to ‘national icon’ who turned country into atomic power but later confessed to sharing technology on black marketAbdul Qadeer Khan, considered to be the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme and later accused of smuggling technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya, has died aged 85.The atomic scientist, who spent the last years of his life under heavy guard, died in the capital, Islamabad, where he had recently been hospitalised with Covid-19. Continue reading...
At least 119 inmates died in a Guayaquil jail after local gangs’ links with Mexican cartels brought a new level of horrorIt was in mid-morning when María Elena Villacís got a WhatsApp message from her brother Darwín, who was jailed in the Litoral penitentiary, a notorious prison in the coastal Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil.“They’re starting a war in [Wing] 5,” it read. “Call the law, tell them to get into [Wing] 5.” Continue reading...
On the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the tide is turning in west Africa against this tool of colonial repression and racismIn July, Sierra Leone became the 23rd African country to abolish the death penalty. Although its use across the continent has dwindled – thanks to concerted efforts from human rights organisations and governments – the death penalty remains on many more countries’ statute books due to its strong colonial legacy.During the colonial period, punishments that were being abandoned in Europe found fertile ground in Africa. Among them was the death penalty, which was deployed as a key element in the mechanism of colonial repression. Continue reading...
A project in western Canada lets former military service members put their skills to use tracking bears with wildlife experts and helps both groups overcome mental and physical woundsOn a recent crisp sunny morning, a small group of wildlife guides and British and Canadian military veterans, reached a ridge in the mountains of British Columbia and found themselves within 15 metres of a grizzly bear.“He knew we were there. He could smell us but he was just doing his thing,” said Joe Humphrey, a former Royal Marine. The bear walked past them and ambled further up the valley. Continue reading...
As a teen, Daniella Isaacs sneaked a peek at her mother’s private journal – and was surprised at what she read. The discovery sent her on a life-long journey questioning the meaning of trust, desire and, ultimately, loveI discovered my mum’s diary in her bedside drawer. I read it compulsively and in secret. I was 14, that despicable adolescent age when my friends were desperate to swap body fluids and I just wanted to stay home and do magic tricks. I found the sacred book one Saturday night when my parents were out. I’d had a craving to go snooping. They always locked their bedroom door – it was no wonder I wanted to mine the off-limits zone.The diary rocked my existence. A tome of secrets that revealed the inner sanctum of my parents’ marriage, it consumed me, and ripped apart the fairytale narrative I had been sold, instead revealing the jagged truth of their relationship. The pain was addictive. But soon, reading the diary wasn’t enough. I started hacking into their mobile phones (it was easier back then). And it was the days of the landline, so I was able to silently listen into their hushed phone calls. I was a pubescent Nancy Drew trying to crack the mystery of my parents’ marriage. Continue reading...
In a lively and wide-ranging conversation, one of the most revered actors of his generation talks Hollywood rivalries, Scottish independence – and the future of the hit TV showOver the years, I have crossed paths several times with the Dundonian actor Brian Cox. In 2002, I interviewed him for the BBC about the controversial US indie film L.I.E., of which he remains particularly proud. We met again in Shetland, where I co-curate the annual Screenplay film festival, when he was campaigning for Scottish independence. More recently we did a podcast together in which he enthused about his love of Danny Kaye in the 1955 comedy The Court Jester, a film he rewatches every year. No wonder, then, that reading his hugely entertaining autobiography, Putting the Rabbit in the Hat, feels like catching up with an old friend.In his book he recounts being at the Golden Globes in 2020, where he won best actor in a TV series as Logan Roy in the scathingly satirical Succession. Among the attendees were Elton John and Al Pacino, both of whom pointedly praised Cox for his outstanding title role in the 2017 drama Churchill – a film that was overlooked at awards season in favour of Darkest Hour, for which Gary Oldman won an Oscar playing Churchill. Continue reading...
Turkey’s biggest city’s drivers caught in brutal power struggle between politicians, unions and wealthy licence holdersBeneath the minarets of Istanbul’s fabled skyline, an unusual turf war is simmering between the powerful taxi owners’ association and the city authorities.Being a cab driver in the metropolis spanning two continents and three waterways isn’t easy. Unlike other global cities, drivers don’t own their own cars – instead, Istanbul’s 50,000 cabbies rent the 17,395 licensed cars in operation, working in shifts. Continue reading...
First, it was a fad. Now, as meat consumption falls, it’s part of everyday life … the unstoppable rise of the plant-based dietIt says something about the gathering momentum of veganism that last week it breached not one but two bastions of British culinary culture. First there were complaints after that fanfare of eggs, butter and cream, The Great British Bake Off, was left with separated yolk on its face when its first vegan contestant, 19-year-old Freya Cox, was given animal products to use during a technical challenge.Then Cadbury announced that from next month there would be a vegan alternative to its signature confectionery, the Dairy Milk chocolate bar. The Cadbury Plant Bar substitutes almond paste for the “glass and a half of milk” said to go into every Dairy Milk bar. Continue reading...
Rock history has painted Paul McCartney as the man who broke up the band. Now he reveals that it was Lennon who was first to look for a way outIt remains the most analysed break-up in rock history: the one that set the template. When the Beatles split more than 50 years ago and Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr went their separate ways, it was McCartney who shouldered most of the blame.But now McCartney is setting the record straight for good. “I didn’t instigate the split. That was our Johnny,” he has insisted in a candid and detailed interview to be broadcast later this month. Continue reading...
Hollywood actor Selma Blair talks honestly and with refreshing humour about how her life has changed, her groundbreaking documentary – and the comfort of famous friends
The hit South Korean Netflix show, likely to become the most-watched TV series ever, is setting trends around the globeNot only is it likely to be the most-watched television series ever, but the South Korean series Squid Game is already having a global commercial and cultural impact.Fans have sent sales of the show’s signature green tracksuits and white Vans slip-ons soaring – up 7,800%, according to data provided by Sole Supplier – and South Korean dalgona biscuits are fast becoming a youth craze. Continue reading...
by Michael McGowan (now) and Justine Landis-Hanley (e on (#5QHXN)
Scott Morrison backs ‘fast-track’ of international travel for NSW; Victoria records 1,890 new cases and five deaths; NSW records 477 cases and six deaths; 30 new cases in ACT; NSW lockdown for those fully vaccinated set to lift at midnight. This blog is now closed
Zachary Horwitz ran a five-year scam that defrauded wealthy investors of at least $227m by claiming to be in licensing deals with Netflix and HBOIt’s a tale about a Hollywood grifter that reads like an outlandish movie script. But this real-life story has left Tinseltown asking how an unknown, peripheral player could have scammed millions from so many out-of-town investors hoping to cash in on the boom of streaming platforms such as Netflix and HBO.Last week, Zachary Horwitz, a B-movie actor with a taste for the high life, pleaded guilty to a single count of felony securities fraud, carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. But behind the dry legalese of his plea, something more – though not necessarily new – was learned about the hunger for content and profit in the enduring global capital of the movie business. Continue reading...
Joe Biden’s wavering over what to do about China’s ambitions are fuelling its president’s dangerous swaggeringChinese president Xi Jinping’s menacing declaration that reunification with Taiwan is a “historical task [that] must be fulfilled and definitely will be fulfilled” came at the end of a fraught week. Provocative sorties by Chinese combat aircraft inside the island’s air defence zone are at record levels. Defiant statements by Taiwan’s leaders “to do whatever it takes” to repel invasion have acquired a new intensity. The US and regional countries are uneasy. Is war coming?Most analysts think not, not yet at least. Unlike previous verbal broadsides, Xi’s speech in the Great Hall of the People avoided an overt threat of force to defeat those he calls “independence separatists”. The People’s Liberation Army navy is building amphibious assaults ships and landing craft needed for an invasion. Chiu Kuo-cheng, Taiwan’s defence minister, predicts Beijing will be ready to attack by 2025. Continue reading...
Interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, says negotiations should begin for migration treaty between UK and EUThe French interior minister has called for the start of negotiations for a migration treaty between the European Union and Britain.Gérald Darmanin also urged the British government to “uphold its promise” to finance the clampdown against migrants who gather on the northern French coast seeking to cross into England. Continue reading...
The prime minister has enjoyed huge support during the pandemic – but the country’s new course may force unpopular trade-offsThis week, New Zealand’s locked down cities woke to a brave new world of lifted restrictions: state-sanctioned picnics in parks, the prospect of reopening schools, a chance to reunite with friends and family. Infusing the visions of grass-stained blankets and beach-side beers, however, is a strong dose of Covid anxiety. Cases continue to circulate in the community, and the country’s long-held commitment to elimination is being been cast off.As New Zealand steps into the unknown with its Covid approach, so does its prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. Having brought the country through the pandemic largely unscathed so far, she was richly rewarded with political popularity and trust. Now, the prime minister faces the difficult task of guiding it through a new era of Covid suppression – and it could be the most significant political challenge she has faced yet. Continue reading...
Men say ‘just brilliant’ that the actor helped publicise charity walk in memory of their daughtersDaniel Craig has donated £10,000 to a fundraising challenge by three fathers who lost their daughters to suicide.Andy Airey, Mike Palmer and Tim Owen are undertaking a 300-mile walk in memory of their daughters Sophie, Beth and Emily. The Three Dads Walking trek will see them travel by foot between their homes in Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Norfolk respectively to raise money for the national suicide prevention charity Papyrus.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...
When the state fell, Ypi went from party Pioneer to traitor - in this extract from her acclaimed memoir she reveals the trauma of discovering the truth about her family and her country• Read an interview with Lea YpiEvery year on 1 May, portraits of Stalin were carried by the workers through the streets of Tirana to celebrate socialism and the advance towards communism. On Workers’ Day, TV programmes started earlier: you could follow the parade, then watch a puppet show, then a children’s film, then head out for a walk wearing new clothes, buy ice-cream and, finally, have a picture taken by the only photographer in town, who usually stood by the fountain near the Palace of Culture.The first of May 1990, the last May Day we ever celebrated, was the happiest. Or perhaps it just seems that way. Objectively, it could not have been the happiest. The queues for basic necessities were getting longer and the shelves in the shops looked increasingly empty. But I did not mind. Now that I was growing up I was no longer fussy about eating cheap feta cheese or old jam rather than honey. “First comes morality, then comes food,” my grandmother cheerfully said, and I had learned to agree. Continue reading...
The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, said on Saturday that reunification with Taiwan must happen and that it would happen peacefully, despite a week of tensions. Xi spoke at an official celebration in Beijing's Great Hall of the People that focused largely on the ruling Communist party continuing to lead China as the country rises in power and influence
The story of one of the world’s oldest carriers is told through photographs, posters and ephemera in Bruno Vandermueren’s book Aeroflot – Fly Soviet, published by FUEL Continue reading...
From Killing Eve’s assassin to Help’s broken care worker, the home-grown superstar has proved she can do anything. As she hits Hollywood, can she keep it real?Fist bump? Quick, slappy handshake? Standoffish salute? After a brief hesitation, the actor Jodie Comer abandons 18 months of professional caution around hellos, spreads wide her arms, and gathers me in for a big, swaying bear-hug. We’ve never met or spoken before. “But I’m quite a tactile person,” says Comer, who grew up in a suburb of Liverpool and whose scouse accent, which can sharpen or soften depending on the circumstances and her level of comfort, is in full, glorious evidence this afternoon.The 28-year-old has knocked off early from rehearsals for season four of TV drama Killing Eve, in which she plays a chameleonic assassin called Villanelle. She recently got back from an Italian film festival where her second proper Hollywood movie (an epic called The Last Duel) had its premiere. Her first proper Hollywood movie (a knockabout comedy called Free Guy) is still playing in cinemas, an ad for it plastered on the side of the bus I rode in to meet her today. By choosing a cafe quite close to her rented London flat, we’ve managed to confound her numerous competing obligations and come together for an actual tea and biscuit, instead of the video call that was originally planned by her diary-keepers. Continue reading...
William Friedkin peaked in 1971 with his thrilling crime drama, known for its show-stopping car chase, but elevated by so much moreThe advantage of shooting on location is that fiction films can have the texture of a documentary, preserving forever a specific time and place before it inevitably evolves or devolves or take a form that will render it unrecognizable. There are caveats that go along with it, like the details of set-dressing or camerawork that reinforce a film-maker’s specific impression – or, in the case of a film like Taxi Driver, a reflection of a single character’s twisted point of view. But the fundamental fact is that the camera is in front of real buildings and street corners and often actual residents. And when there’s a director of William Friedkin’s caliber behind it, the backdrop has a three-dimensional vividness to it.The street realism of The French Connection, perhaps the best film of Friedkin’s career, owes much to films like Gillo Pontocorvo’s The Battle of Algiers and Costa-Gavras’s Z, both fact-based political thrillers that used documentary realism to assert their own authenticity. (Friedkin had said he was particularly influenced by the latter.) That’s obviously a deceptive gambit, since none of these films are actual documentaries and deviate from history at their pleasure. But The French Connection, now 50 years old, remains one of the great New York films because it feels so much like a seedy backlot tour through a city that no longer exists. Continue reading...
It’s the first South Korean drama to top the US TV charts and its core message is ‘can I ever repay this debt?’Squid Game, a Netflix series made in Korea by Hwang Dong-hyuk, was released on 17 September and within 10 days was the platform’s highest ranking show in 90 countries. It’s the first time a Korean drama has ever been at the top of the US charts; 95% of the viewers are outside Korea, capsizing the idea that the younger generation won’t read subtitles. I managed to kid myself the other day that my 12-year-old daughter had watched so many episodes in a single session she was effectively reading a book.The premise: 456 people are catastrophically in debt, and they’re competing for untold riches in a series of feats that are sometimes whimsical, sometimes terrifying, usually both. They might have to carve round a honeycomb shape with a pin, or stay stock still while a giant robot shouts “red light” at them. Two downsides – if you lose, you get shot in the head. And there can be only one winner. Continue reading...
Nearly half of undergraduate tutorials are delivered by staff who lack proper contracts, research showsColleges at the University of Cambridge have been accused of using overworked and underpaid gig economy workers to provide the institution’s famous one-on-one tutoring system.Research by members of the University and College Union found nearly half of undergraduate tutorials, or “supervisions” as they are known, are delivered by precariously employed staff who lack proper contracts. One-third of supervisors are postgraduate students or freelancers, including those who have recently completed their PhDs. Continue reading...
Same group founded airline in 1932 before it was nationalised in 1953 and since fell into heavy debtIndia’s oldest and largest conglomerate, Tata Sons, will take over the country’s debt-laden national carrier Air India.Its winning bid of 180bn rupees ($2.4bn) beat India’s SpiceJet chief, Ajay Singh, who offered 151bn rupees. Continue reading...
Pillar of Shame to be taken down amid China-imposed crackdown, with its Danish sculptor ‘shocked’ at plan to ‘desecrate’ memorialThe University of Hong Kong has ordered the removal of a statue commemorating protesters killed in China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.The 8-metre-high (26ft) copper statue was the centrepiece of Hong Kong’s candlelit vigils on 4 June to commemorate those killed when Chinese troops backed by tanks opened fire on unarmed pro-democracy campaigners in Beijing. Continue reading...
Police have been investigating possible cases of ‘Havana Syndrome’ associated with the diplomatic mission since AugustGerman police are investigating an “alleged sonic weapon attack” against staff of the US embassy in Berlin, in the latest in a growing number of incidents of “Havana syndrome” around the world.The police statement, which said the investigation had been under way since August, was issued on Friday in response to a report in Der Spiegel, which said the inquiry into at least two cases had been opened on the basis of evidence handed over by the US embassy. Continue reading...
Discovery is one of biggest of US-bound migrants, with 90% Guatemalans and nearly 200 unaccompanied minorsPolice in northern Mexico have discovered more than 600 Central American migrants hiding in three long cargo trucks headed to the United States, in one of the biggest roundups of US-bound migrants by Mexican authorities in years.Video released by police showed officers prying off a lock from a truck’s rear door late on Thursday, and opening it to find migrants in heavy coats and hoods huddled close together on the floor, nearly all of them wearing face masks. Continue reading...
Was a royal family member once stuck in a manhole? Where is Australia’s first submarine? Test your nautical knowledge with our quick quizIt’s hard to fathom how far we’ve come since the first submarine, with greasy leather flaps, was rowed – yes, rowed! – under the murky water of the Thames. Now, hundreds of boats creep about in the ocean, armed with cruise missiles and nuclear warheads. Australia has six, ditched a plan to get 12 French ones, and now plans (well, plans to plan) to get “at least” eight from the US or the UK. These might be nuclear-powered motherships, home to fleets of drones. Or the entire idea could be sunk. Whether you’ve been adrift in Vigil or submersed in Australia’s political woes, it’s time to find out how much you know about these undersea boats. Continue reading...
Civil banning order applies to 14 locations around London after police arrest 35 climate activistsLondon’s transport network has been granted a high court injunction against Insulate Britain protesters aimed at preventing them from obstructing traffic.Transport for London (TfL) said the civil banning order, granted on Friday afternoon, applies to 14 locations around the capital including some of its busiest roads and it follows several previous injunctions against members of the group. Continue reading...
Video shows rapper C Tangana and singer Nathy Peluso grind against each other inside Toledo CathedralThe archbishop of Toledo has apologised to offended Roman Catholics after one of Spain’s most famous cathedrals was used as a location for a raunchy video that shows a couple grinding against each other in its hallowed precincts.The video for Ateo (Atheist) features the Spanish rapper C Tangana and the Argentinian singer Nathy Peluso dancing steamily in Toledo’s 13th-century cathedral, much to the fascination of onlookers, among them a priest. Continue reading...
by Martin Chulov Middle East correspondent on (#5QGRC)
Saud al-Qahtani, aide to Mohammed bin Salman, hailed as patriot on pro-government social mediaThree years after the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi royal court adviser accused of directing the murder is being quietly reintroduced by pro-government influencers as a patriotic figure who has served his country well.Social media accounts that back the Saudi leadership have in recent months been posting tributes to Saud al-Qahtani, a chief aide to crown prince and Saudi Arabia’s effective leader, Mohammed bin Salman, in a move that is seen as marking his gradual return to the seat of Saudi power. Qahtani vanished from public view in the aftermath of the gruesome killing in Istanbul that shocked the world and almost derailed his boss’s path to the throne. Continue reading...
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