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The World Health Organization chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has announced that a new vaccine against malaria will ‘change the course of public health history’ as its trial run concluded successfully in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.The vaccine RTS,S is expected to be used across sub-Saharan Africa and regions with high malaria transmission and has proved to prevent 30% of severe cases of malaria Continue reading...

Weather | The Archers | Conservative politicians | Lorry drivers | Lasting shoes and glassesI think several thousand of us have already factored in a dose of awe each day as prescribed by Prof Dacher Keltner (The wonder stuff: what I learned about happiness from a month of ‘awe walks’, 4 October). Some of the 270,000 of us who have joined the BBC Weather Watchers scheme and who go out every day looking for that picture which encapsulates today’s weather already feel it. Better still to get that top-up of joy (well, at least smugness) when the photo is chosen for the weather forecast.

Employees at the Westin in Leipzig investigated over claims made by Gil Ofarim in emotional videoGerman prosecutors have opened an investigation into employees at a hotel after a musician made accusations of antisemitism against them in a video posted on social media.The singer Gil Ofarim said in an emotional video published on Tuesday that two employees at the Westin hotel in Leipzig, in eastern Germany, had asked him to “put away” a Star of David pendant before he would be allowed to check in. Continue reading...

Far-right Brothers of Italy candidate is granddaughter of fascist dictator Benito MussoliniThe granddaughter of Benito Mussolini won the highest number of votes in elections for Rome’s city council as support for Brothers of Italy, the far-right party to which she belongs, edged up in northern cities held by the left.Rachele Mussolini secured more than 8,200 votes in the municipal elections on Sunday and Monday, an increase on the 657 received when she entered the council on her first mandate in 2016. Continue reading...

Russia rejects claim officers were secretly working as intelligence officers and warns of retaliationNato has expelled eight members of Russia’s mission to the military alliance, saying that they were secretly working as intelligence officers, and halved the size of Moscow’s team able to work at its headquarters.“We can confirm that we have withdrawn the accreditation of eight members of the Russian mission to Nato, who were undeclared Russian intelligence officers,” said an official, speaking under customary condition of anonymity. Continue reading...

Ministers planning to take Brazil, Mexico and South Africa off list but decision to axe PCR test requirement hangs in balance

Chef René Redzepi, famed for foraging techniques, claims first place for Copenhagen eateryCopenhagen has confirmed its reputation as the global dining destination of the moment after its top eateries finished first and second in the 2021 World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, widely considered the Oscars of gastronomy.The new Noma from the chef René Redzepi, famed for his foraging and fermenting techniques, was named best restaurant at a ceremony in Antwerp, Belgium, on Tuesday night. The old one topped the list in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014 and came second in 2019. Continue reading...

Latest updates and reaction to PM’s policy-lite Tory conference speech

IOPC is investigating potential errors in force’s dealings with Jake Davison, who killed five people in AugustThe investigation into the Plymouth mass shooting has placed one police staff worker under investigation for gross misconduct, meaning they could be sacked if allegations are upheld.Jake Davison, 22, shot dead his mother, a three-year-old girl and three other people on 12 August. He used a gun he had held a licence for since 2017, which had been taken away after he got into a fight in September 2020, only to be returned by police weeks before the killings. Continue reading...

‘The people of New Bern liked the fact my ancestor founded their town. But the atmosphere changed when they realised I was there to show reality, not promote a touristy vision’The guy on the left is Frank Palombo, the former chief of police of New Bern in North Carolina, a town I have spent the last 15 years photographing. In 2006, an organisation called Swiss Roots invited me to document New Bern as part of their mission to promote a positive image of Switzerland – my country – in the US.They approached me partly because my ancestor is the settler Christopher von Graffenried, who founded New Bern in 1710 after conflict with a Native American tribe known as the Tuscarora. I knew nothing about him and, initially, neither the project nor my family history interested me. But a month later, I changed my mind – it was a chance to find out whether Swiss-held prejudices about George Bush’s America were true. Continue reading...

Hospital staff assumed Joyce Echaquan was an opioid addict. She was dying of a rare heart conditionAn Indigenous woman who was taunted by nursing staff as she lay dying in a Quebec hospital would probably be alive today if she were white, a coroner has concluded.The death of Joyce Echaquan was an “undeniable” example of systematic racism in the province, the Québec coroner Géhane Kamel told reporters on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Within our own means, we are doing everything possible to assist, writes Janet K Museveni, the minister for educationYour article (‘I’ll never go back’: Uganda’s schools at risk as teachers find new work during Covid, 30 September) correctly states that during the Covid lockdowns in Uganda the government has continued to pay state school teachers’ salaries, but goes on to claim that “promises to assist private school teachers have gone unfulfilled”.

Greens and liberals say they are willing to enter formal coalition talks with Scholz’s Social Democratic partyOlaf Scholz has come a step closer to succeeding Angela Merkel as German chancellor after the Greens and liberals announced their readiness to enter formal coalition talks with his Social Democratic party.Scholz, who is also the serving finance minister, welcomed the agreement, triggered by an invitation from the Greens to the Free Democrats (FDP), for the three parties to start talks on Thursday. It makes the prospect of a centre-left government replacing the centre-right which has been in power after 16 years more likely than at any time since 26 September election. Continue reading...

With violent gangsters, a gentrification storyline and a hairdressing competition, this movie can’t figure out what it wants to beHere is a frantically overdone film that’s all over the place. The script feels weirdly undeveloped, as if it can’t figure out which of two different kinds of film it wants to be: gonzo violent black comedy or big-hearted romp about hairdressers saving their community from developers.The setting is the fictional north Dublin district of Piglinstown. It’s a bit rough, but local businesses are the beating heart of the neighbourhood, including the Deadly Cuts hair salon, run by the fearless Michelle (Angeline Ball). Like everyone else, she is bullied by odious gangster Deano (Ian Lloyd Anderson) demanding ruinous protection money or the place gets smashed up. When this horrible individual swaggers into the salon one afternoon, a chaotic confrontation leads to violence and then a bizarre Ortonesque plan to dispose of the body in a convenient incinerator. Then the hairdressers use Deano’s phone to text all the other gangsters to leave the area alone. (There are apparently no worries about mopping up the blood.) Continue reading...

Pontiff issues condemnation as adviser calls for inquiry into sexual abuse of children by clergy in ItalyPope Francis has said he is “shamed” by the Catholic church’s failure to deal with paedophile priests in France, as one of his closest advisers pushed for an inquiry into the sexual abuse of children by clergy in Italy.A landmark report on Tuesday found that at least 330,000 children were sexually abused by clergy and lay members of church institutions in France over the past 70 years. Continue reading...

Some travellers held on planes while others faced long queues, less than two weeks after similar failuresPassengers arriving at Heathrow have been delayed for several hours because of a problem with self-service passport gates.Some travellers at Terminal 5 posted pictures of long queues on social media on Wednesday morning, while others were being held on planes because of the congestion. Continue reading...

PM makes no mention of cost of living or supply chain issues in keynote address light on policy

Victorian premier insists he has behaved ‘appropriately at all times’ including in his dealings with the firefighters’ unionThe Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has rejected calls to stand down over reports the state’s anti-corruption body was probing his dealings with the firefighters’ union.The Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (Ibac) has been investigating the United Firefighters Union’s role in Victoria’s fire services reform since 2019. Continue reading...

Livanskiy’s operatic vocals and hazy beats put her at the forefront of Moscow’s underground club scene. Now she’s retreated from the city to the forest to nurture her imaginationYana Kedrina’s earliest exposure to music came in a wooden dacha in a pine-forested village 2,000 miles from Moscow. Kedrina’s grandmother, who built the summer cottage with her husband, would invite Kedrina and her seven sisters over to sing Russian folk songs and drink cherry leaf tea. The rustic surroundings and feelings of kinship nurtured in Kedrina an infatuation with her culture’s folklore and a devotion to community.“A large family, gathering to connect to its ancestral heritage, was an experience unique to a time that predated this individualism we live in now,” Kedrina says, speaking in Russian. Her grandmother never lived to see her blossom into an internationally recognised musician under the name Kedr Livanskiy (Russian for the Lebanese cedar tree). But Kedrina, 31, takes solace in the fact that her career has spiritually fulfilled her grandmother’s dream of travelling beyond her village in Russia’s Tomsk region. Continue reading...

Judgment condemns ‘sexist, horrific’ workplace culture faced by Rhona Malone in force’s firearms unitA female firearms officer was victimised by Police Scotland colleagues within a “horrific” workplace culture condemned as an “absolute boys’ club”, an employment tribunal has found.The damning judgment accepted evidence of a “sexist culture” in the armed response vehicles unit in the east of Scotland, after the former officer Rhona Malone brought the tribunal alleging sex discrimination and victimisation. Continue reading...

Survey also finds three-quarters are comfortable talking about their own deaths in marked cultural shiftFor several years Alison lay awake at night wishing her husband dead. Trapped in a miserable marriage, her preference was for a straightforward heart attack or massive stroke. But she also fantasised about a car crash or a fishbone getting stuck in his throat.“I thought death would be a good outcome,” she said. “I’d be free, yet everyone would feel sorry for me.” Eventually the couple went through an acrimonious divorce, but both remain in good health. Continue reading...

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.This week, from 2018: Beijing is buying up media outlets and training scores of foreign journalists to ‘tell China’s story well’ – as part of a worldwide propaganda campaign of astonishing scope and ambition. By Louisa Lim and Julia Bergin

Brooke Castillo, the ‘queen’ of life coaching, has convinced her fans they can find meaning and money in the field – but is she selling them an unattainable fantasy?In November 2020, Olivia* was ready for her life to be transformed. She had just stepped away from her long career in business and paid $18,000 for a six-month program to become a life coach. “It was a big decision financially, but it felt right,” she said. “I wanted to start bringing the work I’d done on myself to see if I could help others.” The program, she believed, was the key to a career that would be both lucrative and emotionally satisfying.Throughout her life, Olivia had explored her inner world via spiritual retreats, therapy, and psychology books. But she’d been dismissive of life coaching, which she regarded as “bullshit” – until she heard about Brooke Castillo. Continue reading...

Spanish artist Pascual Sisto’s fable of a boy holding his family hostage is well made, but its twist is a tiresome cop-outSpanish artist and film-maker Pascual Sisto made his directing debut with this movie, written for the screen by Nicolás Giacobone, known for his script collaborations with Alejandro González Iñárritu: it was selected for the First Features section of the Covid-cancelled 2020 Cannes film festival. John and the Hole is well enough photographed and acted, but is really an oppressive and exasperatingly pointless piece of work, without consistency or the courage of its realist convictions.John (Charlie Shotwell), is a 13-year-old kid in a well-to-do American family (cue traditional tense family dinner scenes) whose main interest is tennis. He is clearly alienated from dad Brad (Michael C Hall), mum Anna (Jennifer Ehle) and elder sister Laurie (Taissa Farmiga). Moody, lonely John one day discovers a large, concrete-lined hole in neighbouring woodland, part of an abandoned construction site – so he drugs his family and puts them down there while they are out cold. Continue reading...

A lawyer for ex-cricketer’s de facto brother-in-law Marino Sotiropoulos tells Sydney court MacGill’s account seems to include exaggerations and inconsistencies

Fiame Naomi Mata’afa says Australia needs to come ‘come back to climate financing table’ at Cop26

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet says he has no plans to end lockdown early despite the state hitting its vaccination target for reopening; Victoria records 1,420 cases; Queensland confronts ‘code yellow’ hospital crisis despite recording no new Covid cases; immunocompromised people could start receiving booster jabs; ‘dozens’ of construction protesters have Covid, John Setka says; Brittany Higgins appointed to Global Institute for Women’s Leadership – follow all today’s news

As China ramps up its display of power, Taiwan’s leaders vow to do ‘whatever it takes’ to defend its independenceLast week, China sent about 150 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), in a massive escalation of its military activity directed towards the island. Over the past two years, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has increased its activity, with near-daily sorties into the ADIZ and frequent military drills in nearby maritime areas. Continue reading...

Lack of accurate information on 7,000 Afghans evacuated in August slowing process of finding them homesThe military has been called in to collect data on thousands of Afghan refugees currently living in hotels amid claims the Home Office is struggling to amass the correct details.Soldiers are visiting more than 80 hotels that are still being used as “bridging accommodation” to house more than 7,000 Afghans who were evacuated to the UK in August. Continue reading...

The renowned musician makes history with his staging of Fire Shut Up in My Bones starting a new era for a historically white and staid New York institutionTaking his bow during a nine-minute curtain call, Terence Blanchard could see this was no ordinary night at the opera. The 4,000-strong audience at the Metropolitan Opera in New York was striking in its racial diversity.“There were so many faces of pride,” the composer recalls of last week’s premiere. “Obviously it was directed towards me but it was much bigger than me. Seeing themselves on the stage, seeing people that they knew, seeing the culture on the stage at the Met had people in tears.” Continue reading...

Hong Kong native Ted Lau’s new book tries to understand everyday life in the ‘dystopian utopia’ of a totalitarian country shrouded in mystery Continue reading...

The Taliban fighters who were once embedded in Afghanistan’s rugged mountains are now a feared urban police force. Felipe Dana joins them on patrol Continue reading...

Trial of robots to police ‘undesirable’ behaviour such as smoking or breaching social-distancing rulesSingapore has trialled patrol robots that blast warnings at people engaging in “undesirable social behaviour”, adding to an arsenal of surveillance technology in the tightly controlled city-state that is fuelling privacy concerns.From vast numbers of CCTV cameras to trials of lampposts kitted out with facial recognition tech, Singapore is seeing an explosion of tools to track its inhabitants. Continue reading...

Publisher BMG takes on shares of recordings and image management of ‘queen of rock’n’roll’ in its biggest single artist dealTina Turner has sold the rights to her music catalogue spanning six decades, including hits such as What’s Love Got to Do With It, and Private Dancer, to the music publishing company BMG.The “queen of rock’n’roll” sold her artist’s and writer’s shares of her recordings, as well as the management of her name, image and likeness, in the largest deal struck with a single artist in BMG’s history. The sums involved were not disclosed. Continue reading...

Rate hike puts New Zealand ahead of most other developed economy nations as central banks look to wind back emergency-level borrowing costsNew Zealand’s central bank has raised interest rates for the first time in seven years, signalling further tightening to come, as it looks to get on top of inflationary pressures and cool a red-hot housing market.The 25 basis point rate rise on Wednesday marks the start of a tightening cycle that had been expected to begin in August, but was delayed after an outbreak of the coronavirus Delta variant and a lockdown that is continuing in its biggest city Auckland. Continue reading...

Will Smith, now 24 years old, caught Covid-19 in March 2020 after returning to Melbourne from Boston. The young Victorian had spent four years on the Northeastern University's rowing team, training more than 12 times a week. Although being diagnosed with a ‘mild condition’ and not requiring hospitalisation, he has been battling long Covid ever since. ‘I still couldn't walk around the block without getting light-headed and needing to lie down, struggling to breathe,’ he told media at Victoria’s daily Covid press conference► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube

Ngātiwai tribal leaders formally listed as official naming authorities for the tiny creatureA tiny candy-stick coloured pygmy pipehorse, discovered in a small area off New Zealand’s north coast has been given a Māori name by the local iwi (tribe) – in what is believed to be the first time an indigenous group has formally named a new species of animal.The 6cm long fish is closely related to the seahorse, and inhabits the rocky reefs off the north-east coast. It is the first pygmy pipehorse discovered in the country. Continue reading...

Speakers address crowds at peaceful demonstration held in Eastbourne, where suspect was arrestedAbout 200 people gathered on Tuesday evening for a vigil in memory of the schoolteacher Sabina Nessa, who was killed three weeks ago.The vigil was held in Eastbourne, where the man suspected of her killing was arrested late last month. Continue reading...

Paris fashion week closes with a spectacular show in memory of the much-loved designer Continue reading...

Prime minister will tell Tory conference that despite the supply chain crisis a bright future lies aheadBoris Johnson will brush off petrol queues and empty shelves as evidence of a “change of direction” towards a high-wage economy on Wednesday, as he closes a Conservative conference at which supply shortages have barely been acknowledged.The prime minister channelled Margaret Thatcher on Tuesday to insist “there is no alternative” but to press ahead with the post-Brexit transition to a labour market less reliant on immigration. Continue reading...

Met Office says Scotland and Northern Ireland could still be hit by storms before the weekendHeavy rainstorms that have battered Britain throughout this week are forecast to give way to milder, drier weather on Wednesday.It comes after torrential rain hit large parts of northern England on Tuesday afternoon, while the south saw flash flooding the previous night. However, any lingering showers – predicted for Tuesday night in the east of England – are set to subside for dry weather, including some sunshine, by Wednesday. Continue reading...

Decision not likely to be reached in coming days – with any possible coalition likely to need a third partyGermany’s Green party and conservatives have described initial rounds of exploratory coalition talks as “constructive”.The comment came after the first formal meeting since last month’s election between the likely chief kingmaker in a future government and the second-placed Christian Democrats (CDU). Continue reading...

Israel prime minster tells Knesset of ‘bold’ mission concerned with fate of missing navigator Lt Col Ron AradThe Israeli spy agency, the Mossad, launched a complex intelligence operation last month to find information on the whereabouts and fate of an Israeli airman who was shot down over southern Lebanon in 1986.The existence of the operation to find Lt Col Ron Arad, a navigator on an Israeli jet whose plane went down during a bombing raid, was confirmed by the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, who told the country’s parliament on Monday that he could share no more details of the “courageous mission”. Continue reading...

Civil servant who chaired the Iraq war inquiry and gave a damning verdict on Tony BlairSir John Chilcot, who has died aged 82 of kidney disease, was the quietly spoken mandarin famous for his excoriating verdict on the conduct of the Iraq war, begun in 2003. It changed the perception of one of the most traumatic episodes of recent times.His seven-year-long inquiry into the conflict ruined the reputation of Tony Blair, Labour’s most successful leader since Clement Attlee, by exposing his subservient relationship with the US president, George W Bush, and confirming that the UK and the US had not exhausted the peace process when they went to war to topple the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Continue reading...

Diplomats visit Kabul to raise issue of ‘safe passage’ for Britons leaving Afghanistan and rights of womenBritish officials have gone to Afghanistan for the first time since the country fell to the Taliban, meeting the group’s senior leaders in Kabul to discuss the humanitarian crisis and safe return of British citizens.It marked the first open contact between the Taliban and western officials since the capture of the country in August. Continue reading...

Met Office forecasts 50mm of rain in some areas with flood alerts issued for parts of Wales and ScotlandHeavy rain has been forecast to hit northern England after flash flooding in the south.Dozens of flood alerts were in place across the UK on Tuesday, after commuters captured images of London buses ploughing through flood water on Monday night. Continue reading...

Big tech now encourages us to monitor everything from our heart rate to our glucose levels via smartphones and watches. How much privacy have we lost to the promise of self improvement - and is it time to stop?

Federal treasurer warned in 2020 about the revenues of hundreds of big businesses claiming wage subsidyLabor has attacked Josh Frydenberg over the handling of jobkeeper, after it emerged the treasurer was warned last year that 950 businesses on the scheme had made revenues during the pandemic that were “significantly” different from their projections.The Australian Tax Office also warned Frydenberg in July 2020 that big businesses and tax agents were “amending” prior sales records to potentially help them qualify for wage subsidies during the pandemic. It wasn’t until October that the eligibility criteria was tightened. Continue reading...

If it’s audio kink you’re after, there’s a podcast for that. Rhik Samadder picks out the best out of the horny bunchThe biggest noise on the audio porn scene is Dipsea, whose range of consensual, sex-positive stories are written by women, for women. The stories, all between 10 and 20 minutes long, are streamlined, yet grounded in character and situation. By the time things descend into panting, the idea is that attuned listeners will be, too. The app has more than 400 stories behind a paywall: straight and queer and diverse in content, with a few enticing freebies concerning military-style yoga instructors and massages between friends. Anyone whose primary erogenous zone is inside their head will find succour here. Continue reading...

Covid’s toll on mental health of children and young people laid bare in report citing fears about the future, family and lockdownsAlmost one in five 15- to 24-year-olds around the world say they often feel depressed, according to a new UN report.The children’s agency, Unicef, and Gallup conducted interviews in 21 countries during the first six months of the year. Continue reading...