Tsai Ing-wen says Taiwan will ‘do whatever it takes to defend itself’ against an increasingly assertive BeijingTaiwan is committed to defending its democracy against an increasingly aggressive China, the island’s president has vowed, warning of “catastrophic consequences” for the region should it fall.The comments from Tsai Ing-wen, in an essay published on Tuesday, came amid record-breaking incursions by Chinese warplanes into its air defence zone. On Tuesday Taiwan’s premier, Su Tseng-chang, said the “over the top” activity violated regional peace, and Taiwan needed to be on alert. Continue reading...
Labor, the Greens and crossbench senators including Jacqui Lambie, Rex Patrick and Stirling Griff have been highly critical of the CIC modelAfter years of the Coalition resisting the idea, in December 2018 the Morrison government announced it would create a commonwealth anti-corruption body to oversee law enforcement and public-sector integrity.In November 2020 the government released a consultation draft bill, disappointing many both due to delay and the softness of its approach to corruption. So what is a federal integrity commission and do we need such a body? Continue reading...
MEPs call for EU ban on all outsourced labour after Guardian investigation finds unequal pay and termsThe EU is facing calls to ban outsourcing in the meat industry, after a Guardian investigation revealed how agency workers were exploited by companies that took no responsibility for pay and conditions.Katrin Langensiepen, vice-chair of the European parliament’s employment and social affairs committee, said the EU should ban subcontracting across all economic sectors to ensure workers receive the same pay and conditions for the same work. Continue reading...
Families say hearings ‘mark a key step in their quest for accountability’ more than six years after murdersThe delayed inquests into the deaths of four young men who were victims of the serial killer Stephen Port open on Tuesday, as the lawyer for their families said the hearings marked a key step in their “quest for accountability”.Anthony Walgate, a 23-year-old fashion student from Hull, Gabriel Kovari, 22, originally from Slovakia, Daniel Whitworth, 21, a chef from Kent, and Jack Taylor, 25, a warehouse supervisor from Dagenham, east London, were killed between June 2014 and September 2015. Continue reading...
New additions highlight Korean culture wave as interest in the country’s food, fashion and entertainment spreadsThe Korean culture wave has swept through the editorial offices of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which has added more than 20 new words of Korean origin to its latest edition.The “definitive record of the English language” included words alluding to the global popularity of the country’s music and cuisine, plus one or two whose roots in the Korean language may be less obvious. Continue reading...
by Presented by Michael Safi with Harry Davies and Pa on (#5QBDA)
Fresh questions for the Conservative party today after it emerged one of its major donors was involved in structuring of a telecoms deal later alleged to be corrupt
Concerns about the toll a suppression approach may take have dampened excitement about loosened restrictionsNew Zealanders are grieving for the end of the country’s Covid elimination strategy and anxious about what the future holds, a day after prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced the country would switch to a suppression approach.“It’s kind of a grieving for what we are losing,” microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles, one of the pandemic response’s most prominent science communicators, said. “We are very clearly losing alert level one, and the freedoms and privileges that come with [it],” she said. Continue reading...
In the lead-up to the belated release of an apocalyptic yet hopeful final album, the late musician’s family open up about his talents and strugglesIn July 2020 a jubilant Mike Noga took to social media to announce the forthcoming release of a new solo album, Open Fire. “It’s been a long time in the making but I couldn’t be prouder of this one,” he wrote in a Facebook post.One month later news broke that the singer, songwriter and former drummer for the Drones – who played with the acclaimed Australian band over 10 years and three albums – had died suddenly at the age of 43. Continue reading...
Last week’s court decision affirmed the view that seabed mining is too dangerous, too risky and too harmful to the environmentThe decision by New Zealand’s Supreme Court last week against a giant seabed mining proposal in the South Taranaki Bight is a wake-up call for the world’s would-be seabed mining industry, both in the deep oceans of international waters and for countries contemplating such activities off their own coasts.The mining operation, proposed by Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR), would have dug up 50 million tonnes of the seabed every year for 35 years, targeting 5m tonnes of iron ore and dumping the remaining 45m tonnes back into the ocean. Continue reading...
Alleged attack came as former Tory leader walked to speak at party conference fringe eventFive people have been arrested after Iain Duncan Smith was allegedly hit on the head with a traffic cone during the Conservative party conference.Greater Manchester police (GMP) said it arrested three men and two women after reports that the former Tory party leader was pursued and attacked at around 4pm on Monday. Continue reading...
Virginia Raggi shown in third place behind far-right candidate and centre-left one, who could go to a runoffThe mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, is in danger of being ousted in local elections, according to exit polls, which showed a far-right candidate ahead in the race for Italy’s capital.Raggi was hoping to win a second mandate, but exit polls place her in third position with between 16.5% and 20.5% of the vote. Continue reading...
This early version of John Steinbeck’s most famous novel, written in less than 100 days, will be released by SP Books on 7 OctoberThe handwritten manuscript of John Steinbeck’s masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath, complete with the swearwords excised from the published novel and revealing the urgency with which the author wrote, is to be published for the first time.Written in under 100 days between May and October 1938, The Grapes of Wrath was Steinbeck’s effort to chronicle the migrant crossings that he had reported on as a journalist for the San Francisco News. The author, who at 36 had already published Of Mice and Men, felt a huge pressure, and responsibility, to get his story right, writing in his diary at the time: “This must be a good book. It simply must. I haven’t any choice. It must be far and away the best thing I’ve ever attempted – slow but sure, piling detail on detail until a picture and an experience emerge.” Continue reading...
Nicosia says an armed individual was arrested after crossing from Turkish-controlled northIsrael has accused Iran of orchestrating an attempted attack against Israelis in Cyprus after police on the Mediterranean island said an armed individual had been arrested.“This was a terrorist incident directed by Iran against Israeli businesspeople living in Cyprus,” Matan Sidi, spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, said in a statement. Continue reading...
The hair and makeup designer, who won for the Netflix show, was double-vaccinated and had no underlying health conditionsMarc Pilcher, the Emmy-winning hair stylist and makeup designer known for his work on Bridgerton, has died of Covid at the age of 53.News of Pilcher’s death comes just weeks after he won a Creative Emmy for his work on the Netflix hit. He was double-vaccinated and had no underlying health conditions, as confirmed to Variety by his agency, Curtis Brown. Continue reading...
Defence ministry says it detected at least 56 flights hours after US urged Beijing to cease ‘provocative’ activityChina sent a record number of military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defence zone on Monday, the fourth consecutive day of such air incursions by Beijing amid growing fears of further escalation.Taiwan’s ministry of defence said it had detected at least 52 flights during daylight hours on Monday, including 36 fighter jets, 12 H-6 bombers, two transport aircraft and two surveillance aircraft. Late on Monday it reported another four fighter jets crossing into the zone after dark. Continue reading...
Firm led by Tory donor admitted failing to prevent corruption by executives between 2011 and 2017A multinational firm that was headed by a Tory party donor has been fined £70m after admitting it used “systemic” bribery to secure large contracts.The fine was imposed on Petrofac on Monday after it admitted to paying bribes to land multibillion pound contracts in three Middle Eastern countries. Continue reading...
The holy grail of Japanese photobooks, Kawada’s Chizu was five years in the making and changes hands for £25,000 a copy. Now a new edition revisits his personal archeology of a nation’s painKikuji Kawada was 25 when he visited Hiroshima for the first time. It was July 1958 and he had been assigned by a Japanese news magazine to assist Ken Domon, a renowned photographer 14 years his senior. As Domon worked in and around the Hiroshima Peace Park, Kawada found himself drawn to the ruined shell of a once ornate, steel-framed building that had been badly damaged, but somehow remained standing, when America dropped the first atomic bomb on the city at 8.15 am on 6 August 1945, obliterating everything else within a mile radius.“That’s when I found them,” he would later recall, “the stains on the walls of the rooms beneath the dome.” The bomb had been dropped from almost directly above the building, which was then called the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. Alone in the dank ruins, Kawada realised that the stained walls held the only traces of some of the dead. “When the place was destroyed,” he told Aperture magazine in 2015, “there were about 30 people (who) had arrived for work and ended up vaporised. The place had a horrible atmosphere. Just looking at it was overwhelming.” Continue reading...
Swedish artist, who had been attacked and threatened, died in car crash along with two police bodyguardsPolice have said they have found no evidence so far of criminal intent in a car crash that killed two police bodyguards and the Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, best known for his 2007 portrayal of the prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog.“We want to completely exclude any external act targeting the car in which Lars Vilks found himself,” the head of the Swedish southern regional investigation unit, Stefan Sinteus, told reporters on Monday. “There is nothing to indicate that, but we want to be certain so we can rule it out.” Continue reading...
Judge says court will look at possible submarine links as to how fishing boat sank off Cornish coastThe families of a fishing boat crew who believe their deaths 17 years ago were caused by a military submarine becoming entangled in their nets off the Cornish coast have told an inquest they hope they will finally learn the truth of what happened to their loved ones.A full inquest began in London on Monday into the deaths of two of the five men lost when the fishing trawler the Bugaled Breizh sank off the Lizard peninsula in January 2004. Continue reading...
Creative director Matthew M Williams showed accessory at Paris fashion week, with many comparing it with Burberry’s noose hoodieGivenchy and its creative director Matthew M Williams have been called out after a “blatantly offensive” necklace, which resembled a noose appeared in their collection.The spring/summer women’s and men’s show, which debuted in Paris yesterday, featured an accessory that resembled a broken noose. Many online noted its similarity to Burberry’s ‘noose hoodie’, which appeared in their autumn/winter 2019 collection. At the time, Marco Gobbetti, the chief executive of Burberry, apologised saying he was “deeply sorry for the distress.” Creative director Riccardo Tisci, who was Williams’ predecessor at Givenchy, said it was “ insensitive.”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 at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org Continue reading...
by Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent on (#5QACZ)
Public can see tapestry with mysterious past at Montacute House in Somerset after 1,300 hours of conservation workA 15th-century tapestry with a mysterious history, the oldest owned by the National Trust, is returning to display after experts spent four years cleaning and conserving it.The tapestry at Montacute House in Somerset depicts a knight in armour parading his elegantly decorated horse against a dark blue background covered with a highly detailed flower pattern, called millefleurs, or a thousand flowers. Continue reading...
In 2005, a Bahraini prince welcomed the deposed king of pop and wrote a Hurricane Katrina charity single with him. But Jackson’s erratic behaviour sent plans off courseOmar Shaheen remembers the moment well. In early 2005, the young Bahraini was driving when he received a surreal job offer: the chance to work with Michael Jackson. “It was totally out of left field,” he recalls. “It is a pinch-yourself kind of moment when you get a call to say you’re going to be working with someone who you idolise and is the biggest superstar of all time.”The request came from Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain, who asked Shaheen to set up a state-of-the art recording studio on his grounds in anticipation of the star’s arrival. “There are so many adjectives to use,” Shaheen says of what was to unfold. “It was bizarre. It was crazy.” Continue reading...
When it comes to Melbourne now, by some counts, becoming the most locked-down city in the world, premier Daniel Andrews says he is proud of the sacrifices Melburnians have made over the pandemic.Yesterday he called on them to make a final push before lockdown ends in coming weeks, reports Callum Godde from AAP.We are going to get past this. We are going to end this lockdown and open up, and all that we will enjoy then will be a result of all that we have given.If we let it rip last year, we would have had severe mortality and morbidity. It’s just that we haven’t had the same luck as other place. Continue reading...
Trading halt sends markets Asian stocks falling amid speculation debt-laden group will sell off property management armTrading in shares of debt-laden China Evergrande has been suspended by the Hong Kong exchange after the enormous Chinese developer missed a key bond interest payment last week, its second offshore debt obligation in a week.Evergrande, which has $305bn (£225bn) of debts, said on Monday trade was suspended “pending the release by the company of an announcement containing inside information about a major transaction”, sparking speculation it could sell its profitable property management unit. Continue reading...
Small private plane crashed near a suburban subway station, killing all onboardA small single-engined plane carrying six passengers and a crew of two has crashed into the side of an empty two-storey office building in a Milan suburb, killing everyone onboard.Investigators opened an inquiry into what caused the private plane to crash shortly after take-off from Milan’s Linate airport en route to Olbia airport on the Italian island of Sardinia. A thick column of dark smoke rose from the crash site and was visible for miles. Several parked cars nearby went up in flames. Continue reading...
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Chhattisgarh on (#5QA23)
Christians in Chhattisgarh say Hindu nationalist BJP has revived claims to tarnish reputation of rival CongressIt was a stifling July afternoon when the crowd moved into the small district of Lakholi, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, and gathered outside the house of Tamesh War Sahu. Sahu, a 55-year-old volunteer with the Home Guard who had begun following Christianity more than five years previously, had never before had issues with his neighbours.But now, more than 100 people had descended from surrounding villages and were shouting Hindu nationalist slogans outside his front door. Sahu’s son Moses, who had come out to investigate the noise, was beaten by the mob, who then charged inside. Continue reading...
Tensions rise as Algiers imposes airspace ban in latest response to visa dispute and Macron criticismThe diplomatic discord between Algeria and France has deepened after Algiers banned French military planes from its airspace, its latest response to a row over visas and critical comments from President Emmanuel Macron.France’s jets regularly fly over the former French colony to reach the Sahel region of western Africa, where its soldiers are helping to battle jihadist insurgents as part of its Operation Barkhane. Continue reading...
Figure from head of commission investigating sexual abuse comes days before publication of reportThe head of an independent commission investigating child sexual abuse in the French Catholic church has said about 3,000 paedophiles have operated inside the institution since 1950.Days before publication of its report, Jean-Marc Sauvé said the commission’s investigations had uncovered between 2,900 and 3,200 paedophile priests or other church members, adding that this was “a minimum estimate”. Continue reading...
Business magnate who also turned his hand to sport, politics and acting, dies four years after cancer diagnosisBernard Tapie, the businessman, actor, former politician and one-time president of Olympique de Marseille football club, whose larger-than-life career and recurring legal problems made him one of France’s best-known personalities, has died aged 78.Tapie, who led Marseille to the Champions League title in 1993 and whose business interests also included a major stake in the German sportswear brand Adidas acquired in 1990, had been suffering from stomach cancer for nearly five years. Continue reading...
Further eruptions from Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma have blown open two more fissures, sending molten rock spewing towards the sea.Since Cumbre Vieja began erupting on 19 September, activity has "intensified" with earthquakes registered near the active volcano.Residents have been ordered to stay indoors to avoid worsening air quality, or to evacuate from nearby towns
The ongoing eruption in the Canary Islands has raised concerns over cancelled holidays and a potential tsunami. Here a volcanologist weighs the risksOn 19 September, after 50 years of magmatic quiescence, the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma roared back to life. Ash speckled the sky, and molten rock cooking at 1,075C (1,967F) oozed from several fresh fissures and cascaded down the volcano’s western flanks in the form of hadean rivers, ploughing through houses and farms with insouciance. Fortunately, thanks to the work of local scientists and emergency services, thousands of people were evacuated ahead of time, and no deaths have yet been reported.So, what happens next? What new threats will emerge from the volcano? How long will this go on for? And why would anyone want to live in the shadow of such a menacing volcano in the first place? Continue reading...
Questions mount over vetting of former Met officer, who had access to Houses of Commons and LordsThe Metropolitan police officer who raped and murdered Sarah Everard guarded parliament five times, it has emerged, as a senior Conservative criticised the force for appearing to have “overlooked” warning signs about his behaviour.Wayne Couzens, 48, worked in the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command and finished a shift guarding the US embassy hours before he carried out a false arrest of Everard on 3 March and abducted her. Continue reading...
Taipei says Chinese jets and bombers crossed zone as Beijing marked the anniversary of the founding of the People’s RepublicA record 38 Chinese military jets crossed into Taiwan’s defence zone as Beijing marked the founding of the People’s Republic of China, officials in Taipei have said.The show of force on China’s national day on Friday near the self-ruled democratic island, which Beijing claims as part of its territory, came in the same week it accused Britain of sending a warship into the Taiwan strait with “evil intentions”. Continue reading...
by Hosted by Jane Lee. Written by Ben Doherty. Recomm on (#5Q8ZA)
Gifted as a cub by a maharajah to a young British boy, Singh lived at a house in Surrey before outgrowing his home and being driven in a black cab to the zoo. Head of news, Mike Ticher, recommends this surprising story by Ben DohertyYou can read the original article here: The lion in the London black cab: the remarkable story of Singh, and the boy who loved him Continue reading...
Cameras credited with crucial role in solving Everard case as public surveillance reaches new heightsThe crucial role of CCTV in solving Sarah Everard’s disappearance emerged on Saturday along with fresh details about how police caught one of their own.Detectives leading the search for Everard revealed that analysis of thousands of hours of CCTV footage enabled them to piece together the 33-year-old’s final moments as she walked home in south London – as well as helping identify her murderer. Continue reading...
Campaigners say the horrific killing by a Metropolitan police officer must prompt a debate about the culture of forces across the countryDame Vera Baird
by Hosted by Jane Lee. Written by Paul Daley. Recomme on (#5Q81A)
He has the most evoked name in Australia thanks to the Covid-19 modelling that bears it. Features editor Lucy Clark recommends Paul Daley’s profile on Peter Doherty, which ranges from politics to books, misinformation and that tweet
by Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson on (#5Q815)
In Australia’s dead heart, telling yarns about the many ways to die in the bush is practically a pastimeWe’re only part way through our first cup of tea and a series of anecdotes about goannas, when Karl Roth disappears. While we wait for his return, we chat to his wife Bobbie about the palms and frangipani in their garden. How have they managed to tame this harsh landscape into something so orderly and colourful, we ask. It’s a question that comes up every time we come here.We’re several years into our investigation of the disappearance of Paddy Moriarty from the 12-person town of Larrimah, 500km south of Darwin in the Northern Territory. It’s a strange case; the stuff TV shows are made of. On 16 December, 2017, 70-year-old Paddy finished his last drink at the bright pink Larrimah Hotel, also known as the Pink Panther. He and his dog, Kellie, jumped on his quad bike to ride a few hundred metres home on the other side of the Stuart Highway. Nobody has ever seen them again. Continue reading...
by Jamie Grierson and Alexandra Topping on (#5Q7X5)
Exclusive: England and Wales figures show ‘epidemic’ of flashing against women, after allegations against Wayne Couzens emergedWomen are facing an “epidemic” of flashing and other forms of indecent exposure, with police in England and Wales recording more than 10,000 cases last year but taking fewer than 600 people to court over them, Guardian analysis reveals.The findings come after Wayne Couzens was reported for repeated instances of alleged indecent exposure in the years and days before he raped and murdered Sarah Everard, but faced no action. Police accepted they may have had enough clues to identify the police officer as a threat to women sooner, amid fears that flashing is a gateway to other sex crimes. Continue reading...
Minister speaks of ‘devastating blow’ as Scotland Yard suggests actions to take if feeling unsafePolice will have to work hard to rebuild public confidence after the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer, a minister has said, as Scotland Yard said people stopped by a lone plainclothes officer should challenge their legitimacy and could try “waving a bus down” to escape a person they believe is pretending to be police.Wayne Couzens, who joined the Metropolitan police in 2018, was handed a rare whole-life sentence on Thursday for the kidnap, rape and murder of 33-year-old Everard as she walked home in south London in March. Continue reading...
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