World news | The Guardian

With a string of plaudits for portraying complex characters, the actor is now focusing her ‘quiet fire’ behind the cameras with a stunning debut filmFrom her breakthrough role in Secretary, wearing stilettos, a pencil skirt and manacles and attempting to operate a stapler with her chin, to her directorial debut which digs into the messy truths about motherhood, Maggie Gyllenhaal has always been attracted to what she has described as “troubled women. The ones that are a real challenge. They really need me.”It’s a quote that really gets to the heart of what distinguishes Gyllenhaal. An Oscar-nominated actor, and now– with her Elena Ferrante adaptation The Lost Daughter – an award-winning screenwriter and director, she is drawn to the kind of women whose stories don’t usually get told. She delves into the uncomfortable angles and sharp edges of her characters and found her niche by not quite fitting into the mould. Continue reading...

Large anti-vaccine mandate protests held in Sydney and Melbourne; Moderna Covid vaccines boosters approved by Atagi; wait time for vaccine booster shots cut from six months to five; NSW records 485 new coronavirus cases and two deaths; Victoria records 1,069 cases and two deaths; suspected Omicron case visited Newcastle nightclub; Follow all the day’s news

22 November 1966 – 6 September 2021

2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021

Analysis: After cocktail of home refurbishments, Christmas parties and Covid all eyes are on next week’s byelectionOnly two months ago, the talk among Tory MPs – echoing some newspaper front pages – was about how Boris Johnson wanted to “go on and on”, lasting longer than Margaret Thatcher’s 11 years in power.At that time, they dismissed the idea that he was a dilettante prime minister who really wanted to retire and write books, give after-dinner speeches on how hard the job was and make loads of money in the process. But that has all changed, with successive scandals over his handling of sleaze allegations and Tory insiders now opening questioning his future. Continue reading...

I wanted to stay and tell the world what it was like living in a city besieged by extremists, but as my neighbourhood fell I had no choice but to leave. Soon, I was being pushed across the border in a wheelbarrowI have bundles of cash stuffed into my socks, and my passport strapped flat against my chest. The passport has a dangerous word in it: reporter. This is the reason I am in disguise, holding a bundle of clothes and sitting in a wheelbarrow in the middle of a huge crowd trying to cross through a Taliban checkpoint into Pakistan. Dozens of people are arriving at the border town of Spin Boldak each minute from across the country. The main focus of the Taliban and international forces is Kabul airport where a chaotic evacuation is under way. Spin Boldak is the only other way to get out of Afghanistan.A Reuters reporter was killed by the Taliban in the same town in July. Taliban fighters with black turbans are beating people with pipes; they keep opening and closing their part of the border as people push each other to get out. Continue reading...

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie says UK a ‘lackey’ of US and journalism is not a crimeAustralian parliamentarians have demanded the prime minister, Scott Morrison, intervene in the case of Julian Assange, an Australian citizen, after the United States won a crucial appeal in its fight to extradite the WikiLeaks founder on espionage charges.“The prime minister must get Assange home,” the Australian Greens leader, Adam Bandt, told Guardian Australia on Saturday. Continue reading...

Foreign secretary says summit is a ‘chance to show a united front against malign behaviour’A new show of western unity against Russia and China is being lined up by the UK foreign secretary Liz Truss as she hosts a weekend meeting of G7 foreign ministers starting on Saturday.The G7 meeting, held against the backdrop of a potential invasion of Ukraine, tensions in the South China Sea and the potential collapse of the Iran nuclear deal, is being billed by Truss as a “chance to show a united front against malign behaviour – including Russian posturing towards Ukraine.” Continue reading...

Engineering technician was stationed at Faslane and worked on a vessel that carried UK’s nuclear deterrentA 25-year-old Trident submariner who died in unexplained circumstances at the Faslane naval base on Thursday has been named as engineering technician Stephen Cashman by the Royal Navy.Police Scotland is continuing to investigate the sudden death, first reported to officers at 12.30pm on Thursday, which is believed to have taken place in the barracks at the base for Britain’s nuclear deterrent. Continue reading...

Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House

Driven by his league title failure as a player, Aston Villa’s head coach has become a compelling prospect as a managerThere is an interesting, and no doubt very common phenomenon called parasocial interaction. This is where people feel they have an intimate, reciprocal relationship with a famous person, a belief that by consuming images of that person, by thinking about them, the mirror becomes a two-way glass; that they can see you too.We all get this to some extent, right down to the entry-level version where you glimpse a famous person in the street and, as you walk past, automatically say hello-all-right-how’s-it-going-bro-safe-see-you-later-ha-ha-ha-be-lucky-how’s-Tanya, because obviously you must know them, and then five paces down the road realise it was Howard from Take That. Continue reading...

Vicki Holland, from Newport, south Wales, pleads guilty to animal cruelty charges after videos found on phone

Exclusive: Health officials say urgent action needed to avoid mass hospitalisations and overwhelming the NHS

From next Saturday, all events will be operating as normal as the fun run ‘family’ reunites

Kate Griffiths, who succeeded her husband, supported journalists’ request to remove restriction on naming themThe disgraced former Conservative minister Andrew Griffiths raped his wife when she was asleep and subjected her to coercive control, a high court judge has concluded.The judgment, published on Friday, detailed alleged domestic abuse by Griffiths towards his wife, Kate, who is now a serving Conservative MP, during their marriage. Continue reading...

Milorad Dodik cites former UK PM’s attempt to renegotiate Britain’s EU membership termsThe Bosnian Serb leader accused of risking war by breaking up Bosnia-Herzegovina has likened himself to David Cameron and his efforts to renegotiate Britain’s EU membership terms before the EU referendum.Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the tripartite presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, said the country’s potential collapse and the exit of the Republika Srpska entity from it was only on the cards if he was rebuffed in his demand to take back control of tax administration, the judiciary and the army. Continue reading...

More parents in New Zealand are giving their babies indigenous names to foster links with their ancestry and cultureNine-month-old Ruataupare Te Ropuhina Florence Whiley-Whaipooti will grow up speaking the names of her ancestors. She will learn she comes from a line of strong Ngāti Porou women, and that her ancestor, who was a staunch tribal leader, is her name-sake. She will grow to understand that her Māori name links her to whenua (land), her whakapapa (genealogy) and her Māoritanga (culture).Ruataupare is one of an increasing number of babies in New Zealand to be given a Māori name. While Māori have never stopped giving their children indigenous names, there has been a marked increase over the past 10 years – a near doubling of Māori names registered since 2011. Continue reading...

Serial killer could have been caught earlier if police had not missed opportunities, jury findsFundamental failings by the Metropolitan police in the investigation into the deaths of the serial killer Stephen Port’s victims “probably” contributed to three of the four deaths, an inquest jury has found in its damning conclusions.Missed opportunities could have led to Port being caught earlier, and “basic” lines of inquiry were not followed up, the jury found, in investigations that families of the victims described as “one of the most widespread institutional failures in modern history”. Continue reading...

Robert Capa’s image taken during Spanish civil war continues to enjoy potent afterlife in Reina Sofia museumOn the second floor of the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, not far from Picasso’s huge and ever-livid Guernica, hangs a much smaller but equally eloquent testament to the civilian cost of the Spanish civil war.Robert Capa’s photograph of No 10 Peironcely Street in the working-class Madrid barrio of Vallecas in the early winter of 1936, measures just 29.4cm by 40.2cm. Three children sit on the pavement in front of a shrapnel-gnawed house, smiling amid the rubble left by the German bombers Hitler sent to support Gen Franco’s coup. Continue reading...

Analysis: some of the accusations levelled at the prime minister, from the Downing Street refurb to his handling of Home Office bullyingBoris Johnson has repeatedly been accused of riding roughshod over independent advisers and of mishandling the machinery of state during his time in No 10. Equally, a series of aides who were once very firmly in the tent have ended up either walking or being booted out.Here are some examples of the behaviour the prime minister’s critics say makes him unfit for such high office. Continue reading...

Filipina and Russian attend Oslo ceremony despite Ressa’s legal cases and are first journalists to win since 1935Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov were awarded the Nobel peace prize on Friday, at a ceremony that Ressa was almost blocked from attending because of travel restrictions related to legal cases filed against her in the Philippines.Maria Ressa, 58, the chief executive and co founder of Rappler, praised for exposing abuse of power and growing authoritarianism under Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, is facing charges that could lead to about 100 years in jail. She was granted permission to attend the ceremony earlier this month by the Philippine court of appeals, which ruled she was not a flight risk. Continue reading...

The ranch provides habitat for 4,000 elk, 800 antelope and 1,500 mule deer and a 28-mile-long creek stocked with troutIt is a truth universally acknowledged that a billionaire in possession of a sprawling media empire must be in want of a steady supply of bullshit. With the recent purchase of a Montana cattle ranch, home to 7,000 head, Rupert Murdoch now has access to more of the stuff than even Tucker Carlson could hope to shovel.The ranch, located in the south-west of the state, not too far from Yellowstone national park, was bought from Matador Cattle Co, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, for about $200m, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The ranch’s sale, between the two driving forces behind the conservative movement in the United States, is the largest in Montana’s history. Continue reading...

Helen Macdonald calls process ‘a farce’ after postmortem tests suggest Geronimo might not have had bovine tuberculosisThe owner of Geronimo, the alpaca who was culled because officials believed he had bovine tuberculosis, has launched a fierce attack on the UK government after postmortem tests suggested he might have been clear of the disease after all.Helen Macdonald said she felt betrayed and continued to grieve deeply for Geronimo’s ‘“senseless” loss. “It’s a rollercoaster. No two minutes are the same. I feel grief, traumatic grief.” Continue reading...

Justices are allowing the law, the strictest such regulation in America to date, to remain in effectThe supreme court ruled on Friday that Texas abortion providers can sue over the state’s ban on most abortions, but the justices are allowing the law, the strictest such regulation in America to date, to remain in effect.The decision is a mixed result for reproductive health advocates at a time when social conservatives seem on the march in America and the supreme court is leaning towards restricting or outlawing abortion nationally in the future with its conservative supermajority, engineered by Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Move from Miloš Zeman threatens to further delay the inauguration of the new coalitionThe Czech president, Miloš Zeman, has set the stage for a constitutional tug of war after rejecting the nominee to be the country’s next foreign minister on the grounds of his allegedly poor degree thesis.In a move decried as legally baseless by many constitutional scholars, Zeman refused to accept the nomination of Jan Lipavský, citing “low qualifications” and adding that he had only completed a bachelor’s degree, which he said was a lower qualification than those held by all other proposed ministers in the incoming coalition government. Continue reading...

Members of Red Command drug faction accused of crime that caused outcry across BrazilNearly a year after three young boys vanished near their homes in Rio de Janeiro’s rundown northern sprawl, police have accused members of the city’s largest drug faction of murdering the children in reprisal for stealing an ornamental bird.The boys – aged nine, 11 and 12 – disappeared on the afternoon of 27 December 2020 after leaving their homes in the Morro do Castelar favela to play. They were last seen in eerie security footage showing them walking towards a local street market. Continue reading...

In Guardian Australia’s online culture podcast, Michael Sun and Alyx Gorman bring in YouTube Asia-Pacific’s culture and trends lead Ashley Chang to discuss the best and worst of last year – and what to expect from 2022 across fashion, gaming and the internet. Then, writer Cam Williams joins Michael and Alyx to talk about why mortifying teenage email IDs are actually anti-capitalist

Concerns over equipment shortages, bottlenecks and hesitancy on continent with 7.5% vaccine coverage

Council says Bailiff Bridge tree has grown too tall, meaning it is unsafe to decorate higher sectionsThe Christmas tree in Bailiff Bridge is shining a metaphorical light on the West Yorkshire village, having been described as “the worst in the north” after it was decorated only a third of the way up.Council bosses say the issue with sprucing up the spruce is that the natural tree has grown too tall, meaning it is unsafe to decorate the higher sections “as they can’t be reached by any maintenance vehicles”, according to Calderdale council’s cabinet member for public services and communities, Jenny Lynn. Continue reading...

At least 54 people dead and 105 left injured after vehicle rolled over on highway close to Guatemala borderAt least 54 people have died and 105 been injured after a horrific crash in southern Mexico involving a lorry that was reportedly smuggling mostly Central American migrants towards the US.The disaster – one of the worst to affect migrants in Mexico in recent memory – took place as the vehicle travelled north from Comitán, a town close to the Mexico-Guatemala border, with as many as 200 people crammed into its container. Continue reading...

Fears families will be forced to choose who sees older relatives as government considers further Covid curbs

Alleged dishonesty over Downing Street Christmas party and flat redecoration join list of infamous controversiesWith the Downing Street Christmas party and flat redecoration controversies reaching crisis level this week, Boris Johnson has once again found himself explicitly accused of lying. Here we look at some of the most egregious examples of the prime minister’s alleged dishonesty. Continue reading...

WikiLeaks co-founder’s lawyers say they will seek to appeal, as Amnesty International says decision is a ‘travesty of justice’Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, according to the high court, as it overturned a judgment earlier this year and sparked condemnation from press freedom advocates.The decision deals a major blow to the WikiLeaks co-founder’s efforts to prevent his extradition to the US to face espionage charges, although his lawyers announced they would seek to appeal. Continue reading...

Ambassador says British officials visited Tehran last week for talks on historical debt from 1970s arms saleUK government officials were in Tehran last week discussing legal ways to pay Britain’s historical £400m debt to Iran, the Iranian ambassador to London has said.Mohsen Baharvand added that he was in live discussions with the Foreign Office, and said the issues were not insurmountable. Continue reading...

Intelligence committee found out through the media about Robert Hannigan’s link to disgraced priestParliament’s intelligence watchdog has said it was misled by the government when it failed to reveal that a former GCHQ boss had been allowed to resign quietly after it emerged he had helped a paedophile priest to avoid jail.The intelligence and security committee (ISC) said it had been assured that Robert Hannigan had quit for “family reasons” in 2017, only to discover from a media report two years later that the truth had been covered up with the approval of the then prime minister, Theresa May. Continue reading...

As a female physicist wins an unfair dismissal claim, why some women are viewed as strident or difficult when men aren’tFor quite a loud woman, it’s amazing how hard Judith Howell had to work to get heard. Howell, 49, used to be a government lobbyist, and she noticed a well-known phenomenon: “It’s incredibly male-dominated, and I’d find that if I said something it would get picked up by someone else in the meeting as if they’d said it. So I’d have to push a bit harder, be a bit more strident, literally interrupt and – not shout, but raise my voice. And some people found that very annoying.”Howell cheerfully admits that she has a loud voice. “I grew up in a family of boys,” she boomed. “And I learned to sing at a young age, so I know how to project.” As a rowing coach, when she gives instructions to her crew from the riverbank, she can be heard from nearly a mile away. Continue reading...

Actor mulls over returning to dancing roots while promoting latest Marvel instalmentThe Spider-Man star, Tom Holland, has revealed he is considering quitting acting at the age of 25 as part of a premature “mid-life crisis”.Holland, who was promoting the latest instalment of the Marvel series, said he was considering giving up acting to return to his dancing roots, after he played Billy Elliott on the West End as a child.

Chileans go the polls on 19 December in a presidential run-off that threatens to turn the clock back decadesFor more than 70 years, 10 December has been celebrated around the world as Human Rights Day, a way of commemorating the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed on that date in 1948 by the United Nations. It has turned, in time, into an occasion for those who enjoy those rights to seek ways to amplify them and for those who suffer in lands where those rights are repressed to demand that they be respected.In Chile, my country, the date took on a special meaning after the 1973 coup by General Augusto Pinochet that overthrew the democratically elected government of socialist president Salvador Allende. During the 17 years of dictatorship that followed, 10 December was an occasion to publicly rally for those rights that were being egregiously violated, as the regime arrested, tortured, executed or exiled opponents, and abrogated free speech and the right to assemble peacefully.Ariel Dorfman’s most recent novels are Cautivos and The Compensation Bureau

Criticism on social media as administration attempts to tackle rubbish collection problemRome residents have been urged to curtail their use of Christmas wrapping paper as authorities in the Italian capital struggle with the perennial dilemma of waste collection.The city’s new leaders are under pressure to fulfil their promise to clean up the streets by Christmas and, alongside the wrapping paper appeal, are paying rubbish collectors a bonus to head off seasonal absenteeism. Continue reading...

City streets deserted during nationwide demonstration following massacre of villagers by soldiersThe streets of many towns and cities across Myanmar were deserted on Friday as the public held a “silent strike” to protest against the military government, days after a massacre of villagers that has provoked international condemnation.Reports of the killing of 11 villagers, including children, in Sagaing region on Tuesday, were described by the US as “credible and sickening”. A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned of an “alarming escalation of grave human rights abuses in Myanmar”. Continue reading...

Man who worked on boat carrying UK missiles found dead in barracks at Faslane naval base near GlasgowPolice are investigating the unexplained death of a man who worked on the Trident nuclear submarines at Faslane naval base on the Clyde.Officers were called to HM Naval Base Clyde, 33 miles west of Glasgow, at about 12.30pm on Thursday. Continue reading...

We air both sides of a domestic disagreement – and ask you to deliver a verdict

Firefighters in Western Australia arebattling two bushfires near thetourist hotspot of Margaret River. Hot and windy conditionsand accessibility issues havehampered efforts to control the blazes. More than 3,200 hectaresof the Leeuwin-Naturalistenational park burned already with difficult conditions expected to continue Continue reading...

Central American country becomes latest to switch allegiances to Beijing, amid escalating tensionsNicaragua has switched diplomatic allegiance to China, leaving Taiwan with just 14 governments around the world which formally recognise it as a country.The announcement, made on Thursday by the Central American country’s foreign ministry, also recognised Beijing’s claim over Taiwan as a Chinese province, a dispute which is at the heart of escalating tensions in the region. Continue reading...

Paintings, archives and other items worth £52m allocated by Arts Council England to museums across UKSir Anthony van Dyck’s Portrait of a Woman, JMW Turner’s Walton Bridge and LS Lowry’s painting of David Lloyd George’s birthplace in Manchester are among the dozens of items of cultural importance saved for the nation this year.Thanks to Art Council England’s cultural gifts and acceptance in lieu schemes, the paintings, archives and other items worth £52m have been accepted for the nation and allocated to museums across the UK. Continue reading...

Lead contamination scare and global supply chain disruption add up to recipe for Christmas disappointment, with dried fruit also in short supplyA mass recall of brown sugar in New Zealand, prompted by fears of lead contamination, has left home bakers scrambling for alternatives in the lead up to the festive season, while global supply chain disruptions have caused gaps on the supermarket shelves.The country’s only sugar refinery, NZ Sugar Limited, was forced to make four recalls of its sugar products after low levels of lead were detected in some of its batches. Food Safety New Zealand is investigating the handling of the recall, after three incidents where recalled products ended up back on supermarket shelves. Continue reading...

How China’s export ban could force diesel trucks that need the AdBlue exhaust fluid off the road and lead to higher food prices