RNLI lifeboat charity experiences especially busy day after recent run of bad weather halted crossingsHundreds of people have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel, as several charities said the current humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan showed why people risk their lives to flee.It followed a first day of landings in more than two weeks on Sunday, after a run of bad weather put a halt to the crossings. A Home Office source said reports of 1,000 migrants entering the UK across the Channel in a single day is an exaggeration, and believed the figure will be between 800 and 850. Continue reading...
Anthony ‘AJ’ Elfalak released from hospital after being spotted by a rescue helicopter on Monday afternoon about 500m from the family home at PuttyA three-year-old boy who spent three days lost in rugged bushland has been released from hospital as police try to work out how he ended up half a kilometre from his rural New South Wales home.Anthony “AJ” Elfalak was reunited with his overjoyed family on Monday after being spotted by a rescue helicopter following a three-day search. Continue reading...
Relatives of 298 people killed when Malaysia Airlines plane shot down in 2014 give their testimonies at trial of suspectsThe families of 298 people killed when flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in 2014 have demanded justice from Russia as they testified in the Dutch trial of four suspects.People who lost close relatives in the crash of the Malaysia Airlines plane said they could not truly say goodbye to their loved ones until those responsible had been brought to account. Continue reading...
Marina LeGree claims group of Americans and at-risk Afghans prevented from flying for a weekJoe Biden’s administration is facing mounting pressure amid reports that several hundred people, including Americans, had been prevented for a week from flying out of an airport in northern Afghanistan.Marina LeGree, the founder and executive director of a small American NGO active in Afghanistan, said 600 to 1,300 people, including girls from her group, had been waiting near the Mazar-i-Sharif airport for as long as a week amid confusion involving the Taliban and US officials. Continue reading...
by Presented by Ellen Leabeater and reported by Melis on (#5P7KV)
Australia is in transition from having an elimination policy when it comes to Covid-19, to learning to ‘live with Covid’. But what could that look like, and what can we expect as the disease evolves? Melissa Davey brings us up to date with the latest science on coronavirus variants, vaccines and treatments Continue reading...
Clarence House says Prince of Wales supports investigation after he and trusted aide reported to policeThe Prince of Wales has “no knowledge” of the alleged honours and citizenship controversy, Clarence House has said, after Charles and his most trusted aide were reported to the police over the claims.At least two complaints have been made to the Metropolitan police over allegations that a wealthy Saudi businessman was offered help to secure an honour and British citizenship after donating to Charles’s charities. Continue reading...
The Friends star’s LolaVie range launches this week in an already overcrowded celebrity beauty field – so how does she make it stand out?Jennifer Aniston is to launch her own beauty brand, LolaVie, on Wednesday. But can the star of Friends and The Morning Show make it in the ever more crowded celebrity beauty space?The competition is fierce, with Ariana Grande, Hailey Bieber, Kim Kardashian and Harry Styles all rumoured to be following Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Jenner and Alicia Keys into the skincare market. Continue reading...
Six Palestinian militants have broken out of a high-security Israeli prison in what the prime minister, Naftali Bennett, called a grave incident.Israeli police and the military started a search after the escape from Gilboa prison in northern Israel on Monday.
by Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul, Akhtar Mohammad Mak on (#5P6TH)
Taliban fighters pictured outside governor’s compound, but Ahmad Massoud’s rebels deny province has fallenThe Taliban have fought their way to the capital of Panjshir, the last Afghan province holding out against their rule, and seem on the brink of total victory.The group posted pictures on social media showing Taliban fighters standing in front of the gate of the governor’s compound. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement, saying Panjshir was under the control of Taliban fighters. Continue reading...
Sortie by People’s Liberation Army air force includes fighter jets and bombers capable of carrying nuclear weaponsChina’s military sent 19 aircraft into Taiwan’s “air defence identification zone” on Sunday, including several nuclear-capable bombers, on the eve of Taipei’s annual war games exercises.The sortie by China’s People’s Liberation Army air force was one of the largest in weeks, and included 10 J-16 and four Su-30 fighters, as well as four H-6 bombers, which can carry nuclear weapons, and an anti-submarine aircraft. Continue reading...
In speech marking 20 years since 9/11 attacks, former British PM warns that non-state actors may turn to bio-terrorismThe west still faces the threat of 9/11-style attacks by radical Islamist groups but this time using bio-terrorism, Tony Blair has warned.Blair also challenges the US president, Joe Biden, by urging democratic governments not to lose confidence in using military force to defend and export their values. Continue reading...
Stéphane Goël’s documentary merges the past and present of this small island off the coast of ChileIn an age of overconsumption and technological saturation, many yearn for an abstract “simpler” time in the past. Opening on a vessel bobbing on the ocean waves, Stéphane Goël’s Islander takes us on a journey that transcends both the past and the present, effectively dissecting and uncovering many contradictions and preoccupations dormant under this utopian ideal.At the centre of the documentary is Robinson Crusoe island, west of Chile, and one of the inspirations for Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel. Booming over the magnificent landscape of volcanic mountains is Mathieu Amalric’s evocative narration, as he takes on the role of Swiss aristocrat Alfred von Rodt who bought the island in 1877. Juxtaposed with these ghostly recollections are intimate interviews with Von Rodt’s descendants who are still living there. Also carefully observed are the inhabitants’ daily routines; at one point, a young boy is taught how to shoot a rabbit. Continue reading...
Addiction to pornography has been blamed for erectile dysfunction, relationship issues and depression, yet problematic use is rising. Now therapists and tech companies are offering new solutionsThomas discovered pornography in the traditional way: at school. He remembers classmates talking about it in the playground and showing each other videos on their phones during sleepovers. He was 13 and thought it was “a laugh”. Then he began watching pornography alone on his tablet in his room. What started as occasional use, at the beginning of puberty, became a daily habit.Thomas (not his real name), who is in his early 20s, lived with one of his parents, who he says did not care what he was doing online. “At the time, it felt normal, but looking back I can see that it got out of hand quite quickly,” Thomas says. When he got a girlfriend at 16, he started having sex and watched less pornography. But the addiction was just waiting to resurface, he says. Continue reading...
by Antonio Voce, Leyland Cecco and Chris Michael on (#5P71S)
Recent discoveries of mass graves have shed new light on the country’s troubled colonial legacyIn May, Canadians were shocked at the discovery of the remains of 215 children at the site of a former school in British Columbia. The bodies belonged to Indigenous children, some believed to be as young as three years old, who went through Canada’s state-sponsored “residential school” system. The schools, scattered across the country, were aimed at eradicating the culture and languages of the country’s Indigenous populations.The findings have brought the world’s renewed attention to this shameful chapter of Canadian history, left deep wounds in hundreds of communities and sparked fresh demands for justice aimed at the Canadian government and the churches that ran the schools for decades. Continue reading...
With the Pinter-penned 1963 classic The Servant back in cinemas, there’s a chance to reflect on the playwright’s less-acknowledged acting performancesLike an unhurried but dependable butler, The Servant is here again. It was only nine years ago that Joseph Losey’s crackling psychological drama, about the shifting power games between a toff (James Fox) and his manservant (Dirk Bogarde), was last doing the rounds in cinemas. But this is not a film that ever gets old.Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips Continue reading...
Former world leaders and public figures say nationwide marches are modelled on US Capitol insurrectionThe Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, and his allies could be preparing to mount a military coup in the world’s largest democracy, according to an influential group of former presidents, prime ministers and leading public figures on the left.An open letter claims rallies that Bolsonaro followers are staging on Tuesday represent a danger to democracy and amount to an insurrection modelled on Donald Trump supporters’ attack on the US Capitol on 6 January. Continue reading...
Buyer at small German auction house did not know bicorne had belonged to the French emperorA newly discovered hat with DNA evidence proving it belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte has gone on display at auction house Bonhams in Hong Kong.Described by Bonhams as the “first hat to bear the emperor’s DNA“, it is being previewed in Hong Kong before it moves to Paris and then London, where it will be auctioned on 27 October. Continue reading...
by Michael McGowan (now) and Matilda Boseley and Royc on (#5P6NN)
NSW premier says cases to peak in the coming week; 121 of Victoria’s 246 new cases linked to known outbreaks; 11 new cases for ACT, no new cases in Queensland – follow the latest updates live
The 25-year-old politician talks about taking time off to address her mental health, dropping out of university because of the cost – and why she’ll always give away a large part of her salaryNadia Whittome originally made headlines when she became the “baby of the house” in 2019, elected at the age of 23 as Labour MP for Nottingham East, in an election whose main take-home was how many seats Labour had lost. She was a firebrand or maverick – insert your favourite term for “disobedient” – from the start: hard-remain when Corbyn’s office was all about the lexiters, further to the left than Starmer has turned out to be (so far).So she was never going to be a quiet backbencher, working her way strategically through the party ranks, but her next headlines were a long way from politics. In May this year, she announced her decision to take time off because of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In a parliamentary culture in which even MPs who have to give birth or have chemotherapy are surrounded by endless discussion about whether they can still do their job, this was a momentous act, signalling to many that Whittome belonged to a new, more honest culture. Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said at the time that her colleague had “shown so much bravery and … will have helped so many other people”, a view shared by many Conservatives. But Whittome wasn’t thinking of the career angle. “My symptoms were getting worse rather than better. I couldn’t be the energetic, effective MP that Nottingham needs and deserves, and, also for my own health, I needed time and space to recover. I didn’t worry about my political future, I wasn’t thinking about that at all.” Continue reading...
Daphne Di Cinto’s period drama Il Moro focuses on the son of a servant who became the Duke of FlorenceWhen, on a hot day in July 1510, in the halls of a noble Florentine palace, a servant gave birth to a boy, no one ever would have imagined that the child would become Duke of Florence and heir to the Medicis, one of the most powerful Renaissance dynasties. Even more so as the boy was black.Five-hundred years on, Daphne Di Cinto, the African-Italian actor, writer and director, who appeared in the Netflix TV series Bridgerton as the Duke of Hastings’s young mother, is seeking to bring his story back to life and has launched the trailer for her debut short film, Il Moro, a period drama set during Italy’s Renaissance and based on the life of Alessandro de’ Medici, the first black head of state in modern western Europe. Continue reading...
She won a Bafta for Alma’s Not Normal – and that was just the pilot episode. As the full series launches, the ex-standup talks about growing up in care, getting the comedy bug in Ibiza and finally hitting the big timeEarlier this year, Sophie Willan went through an extraordinary run of extreme highs and lows. She was filming her sitcom Alma’s Not Normal, a project she started working on years ago, when her grandmother died. She had brought Willan up for part of her childhood and inspired a character in the show. The day after, Willan found out she had been Bafta nominated for comedy writing.A few weeks later, while she watched the ceremony on a laptop on a picnic bench outside the converted barn she was staying in, Willan was named the winner. Her response, posted on Instagram by castmate Jayde Adams, is the most joyous thing you may see all year: Willan takes off on a victory lap, magnificent red sequinned dress matching a tractor in the background, sprinting and shouting “What the fuck?” over and over. “I woke up all the kids that had been put to bed in the house next door,” says Willan, laughing. “It was fabulous. It was surreal.” Continue reading...
Barclays and HSBC among banks booking money equivalent to 14% of annual profits in offshore entitiesLeading European banks are booking around €20bn (£17bn) a year – equivalent to 14% of their total profits – in tax havens, with Barclays, HSBC and NatWest Group among those enjoying the lowest tax rates, according to a new report.The figures emerge from an analysis, conducted by the EU Tax Observatory, of 36 big banks required to publicly report country-by-country data on their activities. Continue reading...
Guinea's special forces soldiers surrounded the presidential palace in the capital, Conakry, after they appeared to have ousted the country's long-serving president. Videos shared on social media showed president Alpha Condé in a room surrounded by army special forces. Residents in the Guinean capital could be seen celebrating as lines of special forces soldiers drove through the city.
by Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspon on (#5P6TG)
General Angus Campbell believes fall was sped up by departure of Afghan president and ‘some interesting force deployment choices’The chief of the Australian defence force says he was surprised by the speed of Afghanistan’s collapse to the Taliban – but it was accelerated by “some interesting force deployment choices”.While conceding the “cascade collapse” occurred faster than anticipated, General Angus Campbell praised the ADF personnel who had helped airlift more than 4,000 people out of Kabul, saying the figure was “way beyond” initial expectations. Continue reading...
The National party’s opposition to the bill outlawing conversion therapy is anti-children – a ban would send a message to all queer people that they are validNew Zealand’s National party promised grassroots activists that they would vote in favour of banning conversion practices, but last month they were the only party to vote against a bill doing just that. We, the queer community, were blindsided by their new position and hurt by the numerous National MPs who had promised us we could trust them to be allies.National party leader Judith Collins maintains that the party supports a ban on gay conversion practices but is concerned that the current bill could criminalise parents who counsel their children and has labelled the proposed bill “anti-parents”. As a survivor of conversion practice, I believe National’s position is anti-children. Continue reading...
A photographer captures moments as residents return: ‘I’m doing what I can, which is to take pictures and have the story be told’As some families in Greenville, California started to return home this week after the Dixie fire tore through this town of about 800 residents, they were confronted by burnt remnants of their former lives. Some returned to find a makeshift grave for a family pet. Others walked through debris which, just a few weeks earlier, they had planned to sell.Photographer Josh Edelson was at home, recuperating from a stretch of 20-hour days photographing the California wildfires, when he saw the alert from CalFire, the state’s department of forestry and fire protection, saying this week that residents could return home. The news came one month after the Dixie fire – which has burned 893,852 acres since erupting on 14 July – struck Greenville, and Edelson wanted to capture the moment. Continue reading...
Baker, sought for alleged murder, robbery and piracy, has eluded PNG police for nearly a decadeAs the sun set over the coast of Alotau, a town in the east of Papua New Guinea, on a Friday night in April, four boats zoomed from the beach into the night. Onboard the dinghies there were close to 100 men, fully armed with high-powered firearms, including the country’s most-wanted fugitive: Tommy Baker.Baker, who is wanted by police for alleged crimes including murder, piracy and robbery, has been on the run from police since 2013. He has twice escaped jail – one time by faking a knee injury and fleeing while he was being taken for medical treatment. Continue reading...
Saudi businessman who funded restoration of Ayrshire mansion allegedly received honour after lobbying ex-aide to Prince CharlesDumfries House, a stately home near Glasgow, has long been considered one of Britain’s most significant architectural jewels. It is now also at the heart of a crisis engulfing the royal family.Michael Fawcett, a former aide to the Prince of Wales, has stepped down temporarily from his role as chief executive of the Prince’s Foundation amid claims about an honour relating to the Saudi businessman Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz. Continue reading...
Party leader Adam Bandt says ‘people want Clive Palmer to send fewer texts and pay more tax’The Greens have vowed to push Labor to adopt a new 40% tax on the “super profits” of big corporations if the forthcoming federal election results in a hung parliament.The party’s so-called “tycoon tax” would target mining companies and other big corporations and would raise $338bn in revenue over a decade, according to costings by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) to be released on Monday. Continue reading...
For too many, the government encroaches upon their lives but cannot protect themIn his treatise Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes did not suggest that government was benevolent – only necessary. Without it, argued the philosopher, people would live in perpetual fear in “a war of all against all” and life would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”. His argument’s urgency reflected its context – the English civil war. But it recognised that the state had to be justified by a degree of consent from those it ruled.The Nigerian government has a democratic mandate. Though President Muhammadu Buhari was once a dictator, his return to power in 2015 was the country’s first transition between democratically elected leaders. Voters chose him to tackle corruption and curb Boko Haram’s violence. But the state’s ability to carry out its most basic function, providing the basic physical security of which Hobbes wrote, is crumbling by the day. For too many Nigerians, the government is a force that encroaches on or plunders their lives without offering protection, let alone support. Unemployment is among the world’s worst, the cost of living is rising, the pandemic’s impact has deepened frustration and an oil price slump hurt the petro-dependent economy; all threaten to worsen widespread violence. Continue reading...
Fans and figures from show business pay tribute to pop star who was diagnosed in August 2020 and wrote memoir during her illnessThe pop singer and TV personality Sarah Harding, who had 21 UK Top 10 singles as a member of Girls Aloud, has died aged 39 from breast cancer.Her mother, Marie, announced her death on Instagram, prompting a flood of tributes from fans and figures from showbusiness. Geri Horner, the Spice Girls singer and a judge on the TV talent show that created Girls Aloud, wrote: “Rest in peace, Sarah Harding. You’ll be remembered for the light and joy you brought to the world. X” Continue reading...
Tobacco shop owner in Naples allegedly snatched customer’s card and sped off on his motor scooterBorder police at Rome’s main airport have prevented a Naples tobacco shop owner suspected of running off with a customer’s winning game ticket from boarding a flight to the Canary Islands, Italian news reports said.The man did not have the filched card worth €500,000 (£429,000) on him, but he did have a plane ticket for Fuerteventura, the LaPresse news agency said on Sunday. Continue reading...
Son of Syed Ali Shah Geelani alleges police in Indian-controlled area snatched body and carried out burial without family presentPolice in Indian-controlled Kashmir have charged family members of the late resistance leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani under an anti-terrorism law for wrapping his body in the Pakistani flag and raising anti-India slogans, officials said on Sunday.Geelani, who died on Wednesday at the age of 91, was a leading figure in Kashmir’s defiance against New Delhi and had been under house arrest for years. Continue reading...
by Jessica Elgot Chief political correspondent on (#5P67C)
Nick Carter hits back at Raab’s suggestion of flawed intelligence, saying ‘it was entirely possible’ Afghan government would fallBritain’s most senior military officer, Gen Sir Nick Carter, has hit back at suggestions from the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, that intelligence was flawed about the strength of the Taliban.Significant tensions have erupted over intelligence failures between the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence, fuelled by comments made by the defence secretary, Ben Wallace. In an interview on Thursday, Wallace contrasted his department’s handling of the Afghanistan crisis with that of Raab’s embattled Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Continue reading...
by Nick Evershed, Josh Nicholas and Andy Ball on (#5P67D)
Guardian Australia brings together all the latest on active and daily new Covid-19 cases, as well as maps, stats, live data and state by state graphs from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT to get a broad picture of the Australian outbreaks and track the impact of government responses
As disgraced cardinal Theodore McCarrick faces trial in the US, an ex-priest tells of how he testified against the Scottish cardinalAs disgraced 91-year-old cardinal Theodore McCarrick stood in an American court last week, charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a minor, the spectre of the late Scottish cardinal, Keith O’Brien, hovered silently over proceedings. Two elderly men, who once donned scarlet robes and mitres, who reached the pinnacle of Catholic church power, stripped to civvies. McCarrick pleaded not guilty to the charges.O’Brien, the UK’s then most senior Catholic cleric, and a vocal opponent of gay rights, resigned in 2013 after the Observer revealed details of his sexually inappropriate behaviour with priests in his diocese. Continue reading...
by Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul, and Vera Miranova on (#5P657)
Women recruited as brides for terrorist fighters give rare insight into international network that bombed airportIn 2017, a group of senior Arab fighters travelled from Syria to Afghanistan, to cement the links between Islamic State cells in the two areas.They arrived in an international village, where the jihadi families included a blond German husband and wife and French, Russian, Chinese Uyghur and central Asian families, according to a rare testimony by an Uzbek woman who was a member the group. Continue reading...
A conscious decision to bring more joy into our lives can boost both mind and bodyAfter a year-and-a-half of loss, sickness and stress caused by the pandemic, burnout is high and morale is low. But in some positive news, according to Laurie Santos, Yale’s “happiness professor”, the way to feel better need not depend on restrictive diets, gruelling fitness regimes or testing mental challenges, but in something far more attractive: fun.The American psychology professor and Happiness Lab podcaster, who rose to international fame when her course “psychology and the good life” became the Ivy League university’s most popular course of all time, says that consciously injecting more fun into our lives – which she refers to as a “funtervention” – can not only improve mental health and help prevent burnout but also improve physical health. Continue reading...
Strategic thinking is required after a hit to profits in the pandemic left the group vulnerable to US activist investorsDefence industry executives and analysts are starting to grow weary of interventions from across the Atlantic. Meggitt, Ultra Electronics and Senior have all been subject to various degrees of bid interest. Last week another front opened, as a large US investor signalled its belief that Rolls-Royce, the most blue-blooded of British industrial champions, is in need of “fresh thinking” on its board.Officials are already “monitoring” the takeover bids, but the comments on Rolls-Royce from California-based investor Causeway Capital Management suggest the government should show that it has a long-term plan for UK industry. Continue reading...
The comedian talks about living out of a suitcase, kayaking, Cape Town and wishing she liked conformitySunday morning… Could be anywhere. My schedule is irregular. I might be in another country, at home in London, or in the tiny house outside Stevenage where I write and look at cows. I love living out of a suitcase, the thrill of not knowing where the bathroom is in the middle of the night.How do you relax? I meditate every morning, otherwise my mind is flooded: it doesn’t clear my head, but it helps. After that, I don’t like to be alone doing nothing. I’ll see a friend, ride my bike into the city to aimlessly stare at buildings, or kayak along the canal. Continue reading...
Stuart Robert says ‘nothing’s set in stone’ and leaves the door open for changes despite the Coalition’s hard push for states to stick to national plan
The historical oppression of Indigenous men has shaped perceptions of First Nations masculinity. A lovingly curated book of letters challenges stereotypesWhen Wiradjuri woman and Miles Franklin-winning novelist Tara June Winch met Torres Strait Islander author and activist Thomas Mayor at last year’s Perth writers’ festival, she implored the dad of five to write about fatherhood.With three adult children from his first marriage and two, aged seven and 10, from his ongoing relationship, 44-year-old Mayor, while “thinking about all my flaws as a father and as a man”, was a reluctant starter. Continue reading...
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