As the Killers release a new album, their frontman recalls his youthful love of Cheers, the Goonies and bonding over Bowie in Las VegasI grew up in Henderson, just outside Las Vegas. When I was eight, we moved to Nephi, this rural town in Utah. So at the same time I was falling in love with music, I was also being introduced to rodeos and farming. I didn’t realise the impact, but now if I hear the right song, I’m instantly transported back to the clouds, woods and mountains of the American west. Continue reading...
Speaking on LBC radio, when asked about sexual assault allegations against the Duke of York in a US civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre, the Metropolitan police commissioner said she would not 'talk about individuals'. Dick said she had asked officers to review the decision not to formally investigate allegations that Jeffrey Epstein had committed sexual crimes in the UK
Cressida Dick says force will be watching developments in US civil case brought by Virginia GiuffreBritain’s most senior police officer has said “no one is above the law” when questioned about allegations of sexual assault against Prince Andrew.Dame Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police commissioner, spoke after a lawyer for Virginia Giuffre, the woman who has accused the Duke of York of sexually abusing her while she was a minor, said he must not be allowed to hide behind his wealth and power to avoid the civil suit she has brought in the US. Continue reading...
Data still being collected for other vaccinated groups to determine if or when their protection goes ‘below a critical level’Dr Anthony Fauci says an additional Covid-19 booster shot will be recommended for previously vaccinated people with weakened immune systems.He told NBC’s Today show on Thursday that he expected the booster recommendation to come “imminently”. Continue reading...
Ghent authorities threaten to impound noisy vehicles, as residents protest about engines and exhaustsDrivers who play booming music, slam on the gas or screech around town have been put on notice by the Belgian city of Ghent: their vehicles could be confiscated for breaching noise limits.The Flemish city introduced a new regulation last month allowing police to impound vehicles whose drivers were causing excessive noise, either by playing loud music – dubbed boom cars – aggressive driving, or tampering with engines and exhaust pipes to make their vehicles noisier. Continue reading...
Party accused of trying to erase from memory Yvonne Dunlop, killed by bomb planted by Thomas McElweeSinn Féin is facing a political backlash for commemorating a dead IRA hunger striker but failing to acknowledge the fate of a young mother who burned to death in one of his bombs.Politicians from other parties and commentators accused Sinn Féin on Thursday of editing the past and romanticising IRA atrocities during Northern Ireland’s Troubles. Continue reading...
Fears grow that military presence and alleged restrictions on opposition campaign could tarnish reputation for fair electionsAs Zambia goes to the polls today, fears are growing that political meddling in the process could push its long-treasured democracy towards a “tipping point”.Zambia has long been considered a model of democracy for its neighbours. But today’s vote has been accompanied by a military deployment, while the run-up to the election has been marred by political violence and restrictions on opposition campaigning, analysts and human rights monitors have said. Continue reading...
Brett Armstrong says he was seriously injured when a jujitsu-trained police officer threw him to the ground during a traffic stopAn Aboriginal man who says he was seriously injured when a jujitsu-trained police officer threw him to the ground has settled his lawsuit against the state of New South Wales.Brett Armstrong was claiming damages for injuries including incomplete quadriplegia and lower limb spasticity with impaired balance and gait over the March 2016 Sydney incident. Continue reading...
by Akhtar Mohammad Makoii in Herat and Peter Beaumont on (#5N7TV)
Insurgents capture Ghazni city, given them control of main approaches to capital from north and southThe Taliban have tightened their grip on the approaches to Kabul, taking control of a key city on the main road south as the threat to several other major urban areas escalated.The fall on Thursday night of Ghazni, 90 miles south of the capital and which sits on Highway 1 connecting Kabul and Kandahar, means the Taliban control the main strategic approaches from the north and south after the fall of Pul-e Khumri two days ago. Continue reading...
Wine lists shouldn’t be terrifying but too often they make me feel like a second-class citizenIn matters of wine, I am not Withnail. I do not crave “the finest wines available to humanity”. I merely want something drinkable from the cheap end of the list which won’t get me in trouble with the editor approving my expenses. It is not only about avoiding confrontation. I also hold that, while paddling about in the shallower waters of that list, I should not be made to feel like a second-class citizen. The opening price should be welcoming.In my latest restaurant review (out on Sunday 15 August) I shine a spotlight on an egregious example of the exact opposite; on wine pricing that will punch the very breath out of any reasonable person. It is, thankfully, an outlier. But it does raise wider questions about the whole approach to wine pricing and more importantly, the entry point. In my reviews I always list the price of the cheapest bottle. You can tell an enormous amount about a restaurant from that one detail. Those which have bottles for around £20 or less are simply more welcoming than those where the cheapest starts at £30. Recently, I’ve noticed a significant increase in the latter. I loved the food at Humble Chicken; the £30 wine entry point, far less so. Ditto the £32 charged at the restaurant Sussex. Continue reading...
In 2018, Indian police claimed to have uncovered a shocking plan to bring down the government. But there is mounting evidence that the initial conspiracy was a fiction – and the accused are victims of an elaborate plotIn April 2018, a large group of policemen arrived at the Delhi flat of Rona Wilson, a 47-year-old human rights activist. They had travelled from Pune in the western state of Maharashtra, and appeared, accompanied by Delhi police officials, at Wilson’s single-room flat at 6am. For the next eight hours, they scoured the modest premises, searching the files on Wilson’s laptop and rifling through his books. Annoyed and short of sleep, he asked that they be put back in place after they had been scrutinised. When the police eventually left, they took away Wilson’s Hewlett-Packard laptop, a SanDisk thumb drive and his mobile phone.Seven weeks later, the police were back at Wilson’s flat, this time to arrest him. He was accused of conspiring to assassinate the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and planning to overthrow the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. Evidence of these crimes had allegedly been found on his laptop. Wilson was flown to Pune, charged under India’s anti-terror law and incarcerated. More than three years after the arrest, he remains in prison. Continue reading...
by Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent on (#5N80Y)
Ortega is sweeping up not just political rivals but a newspaper columnist and ‘election geek’ as wellIt has been a fortnight since Georgiana Aguirre-Sacasa last heard from her elderly father: a terse WhatsApp message in which Nicaragua’s former foreign minister said border guards had stopped him leaving the country and seized his passport, and that he was on his way home.
Russian counterpart tweets photo of pair in chairs sat in by Churchill and Stalin in 1943 when Iran was occupiedThe new British ambassador to Iran has landed himself in hot water by posing alongside his Russian counterpart in chairs sat in by Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin in the British embassy at the height of Iran’s subjugation during the second world war.The Tehran conference held at the embassy in the capital in 1943 is seen as a low point in Iranian independence, and the photograph tweeted by the Russian ambassador has been regarded by some Iranians as a serious misjudgment. Continue reading...
Fourteen questions on general knowledge and news trivia plus a few jokes – how will you fare?The quiz master is on holiday, but the moment has been prepared for. You still face 14 questions about nearly topical news and general knowledge – with some jokes and weird facts thrown in. It is just for fun, there are no prizes, but there are still anagrams, a hidden Doctor Who reference for you to spot, and always Kate Bush. Let us know how you get on in the comments. Enjoy yourselves, and be kind to each other.The Thursday quiz, No 16 Continue reading...
by Luke Henriques-Gomes (now) and Amy Remeikis (earli on (#5N7H1)
ACT begins seven-day lockdown; more restrictions for NSW as state confirms 345 new local cases and two deaths; high court declines to hear Murugappan family case; Queensland reports 10 new cases; Victoria records 21 new cases. Follow all the day’s news
Former Big Bang singer reportedly convicted of arranging sex services for potential business investorsA military court jailed the disgraced former K-pop star Seungri for three years on Thursday for arranging sex services and other charges stemming from a sex and gambling scandal, according to reports.The 30-year-old singer from the popular boyband Big Bang, who retired from showbusiness as the scandal mounted and later enlisted in the military, was found guilty on all nine counts against him, according to various media reports. Continue reading...
This romantic animation about a paraplegic woman’s relationship with a marine biology student suffers for its sweetnessThis gorgeous-looking, swooningly romantic anime feels like it could win over YA audiences: it’s heartfelt, unthreatening and rather lovely. Its representation of disability does feel a bit iffy in places, though: presenting a 24-year-old paraplegic woman, Josee, as fundamentally in need of fixing or rescue. Near the start she meets Tsuneo, a dreamily gorgeous diver and marine biology student, who saves her hurtling out of control down a hill in her wheelchair. She is a helpless victim – and not for the last time in the movie.When Tsuneo walks Josee back to her apartment, her grandmother hires him as a part-time carer. The job involves spending a couple of hours with Josee every day. The one rule is that he can’t take her outside. At first, Tsuneo can’t stand his petulant and demanding client, who calls him “my servant” and orders him around. But slowly he’s smitten and develops something worryingly like a saviour complex. It turns out that Josee’s overprotective grandmother has kept her confined at home to make sure she is safe. As a result, she is childish and emotionally immature, but a fiercely talented artist. Continue reading...
Experts consider possibility of rebuilding artist’s work, which was swept off a pier near NaoshimaExperts are determining whether it is possible to reconstruct one of Japan’s most recognisable works of modern art after it was badly damaged during a recent tropical storm.The sculpture, a giant black and yellow polka-dotted pumpkin by the celebrated artist Yayoi Kusama, has stood at the end of a pier on the “art island” of Naoshima in the Seto inland sea since 1994. Continue reading...
by Nick Evershed, Andy Ball and Josh Nicholas on (#5N7TR)
Here are the current coronavirus hotspots and Covid-19 public health exposure sites in Sydney, regional New South Wales and Canberra, and what to do if you’ve visited them. Our analysis and map shows where Covid cases are increasing, and a live data update tracks the daily case numbers in NSW
Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk gives tiles a special coating to stop bats slipping off as part of £6m roofing projectBats have probably been in the attics of Oxburgh Hall for centuries. But how can they return for a good day’s sleep when the National Trust puts new and unfamiliar tiles on the roof?The trust on Thursday revealed the lengths to which it has gone to keep the bat residents of a historic manor house in Norfolk happy during a £6m reroofing project – including specially adapted tiles which they can happily scoot up. Continue reading...
by Zainab Pirzad, Robaba Rezaie and Atifa Allizada on (#5N7SH)
Families fearful of what will happen to girls and young women as the Islamist militants gain ground are joining the tens of thousands of displaced AfghansIt was an exceptionally hot summer morning, on 13 July, when people in Malistan district, in the southern Afghan province of Ghazni, woke up to find that the conflict that had swirled around them for weeks had reached their small town and Taliban fighters were closing in.By noon that day, 22-year-old Fatima, seven months pregnant, was seeking shelter from bullets raining down on her home in the village of Qol-e Adam, which was caught in the vicious crossfire between Taliban militants and government forces. Continue reading...
The call of New Zealand's iconic kiwi has been captured in sites that were previously silent five years ago. The recordings come after the threatened bird has begun to return to patches of forest where the population had dropped.
Floods caused by heavy rainfall hit Turkey's northern coast on Wednesday, sweeping away cars and leaving villages without power. State broadcaster TRT Haber reported one person died in the Bartin province. The flooding comes as areas in the country's south have battled wildfires for two weeks Continue reading...
Kiwi watchers have recorded the sound of the bird’s song at many sites that were silent just five years agoIt’s a frigid, early-winter night, and across the forests and farmlands of Northland, people are crouching in the dark. They’ve timed this night for the waning moon, so moonlight doesn’t disturb any visitors. Scattered through the night, they sit, silently, and listen.The sound they’re all hoping for is a high-pitched, piercing cry, or guttural croak – a sign that Aotearoa’s threatened, iconic kiwi has returned to patches of forests that had fallen silent. Continue reading...
Gerry Layton, a royal supporter from Leeds, bought the cake topping and marzipan base for his collection of memorabiliaAn ardent royalist has bought the topping from a slice of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding cake for £1,850 ($2,565) at auction, more than 40 years after the couple married.The large piece of cake icing and marzipan base features a detailed, sugared design of the royal coat of arms in gold, red, blue and silver. It was given to Moya Smith, a member of the Queen Mother’s staff, who preserved it with cling film and dated it 29 July 1981. Continue reading...
Union wants workers to be protected against future disruptions by having 80% of wages guaranteed by stateThe TUC is urging the government to abandon plans to scrap the furlough scheme at the end of next month and instead build on the wage subsidy experiment to create a permanent short-time working scheme.Plans drawn up by the TUC would protect workers against recessions, a new wave of the pandemic or the transition to a green economy by having 80% of their wages guaranteed by the state. Continue reading...
James Markham is believed to have died after confronting a group of youths in Chingford on Monday eveningTwo 14-year-old boys have been arrested after a man was stabbed to death in Chingford, east London.It is believed that James Markham died after he confronted a group of young people on Churchill Terrace, Chingford, at about 6.20pm on Monday. Continue reading...
Jail term for Michael Spavor viewed by Canada as retaliation over Huawei finance chief’s detention – is a bargain likely to be reached?Hours after a court in China sentenced Canadian Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage, Meng Wanzhou appeared in a Vancouver courtroom, as final arguments began in her fight against extradition to the United States.The two cases, while not officially linked, are at the heart a geopolitical feud between the United States and China, which has left Canada suffering collateral damage. Continue reading...
Investigators have determined trip to Saskatchewan town was ‘not an emergency’A man’s cravings for a sweet treat have landed him in the hot seat with the police after he landed his helicopter in the centre of a small Canadian town to buy an ice cream cake.Residents in the town of Tisdale, Saskatchewan (population 3,000) watched in astonishment on 31 July as a bright red helicopter descended on the parking lot near the town’s only Dairy Queen restaurant, blowing up clouds of dust and debris as it touched down. Continue reading...
Thursday: Italy records the highest temperature in European history; Australia’s Covid crisis moves west, Plus: meet the PM’s favourite climate protesterGood morning. Europe faces an unwelcome new climate record, Australia is urged to do more on emissions reduction by a top US climate aide and Covid-19 deniers fan the take-up of a fake check-in app across Australia’s east coast. Plus: meet Scott Morrison’s favourite protester.The chief executive of a Newcastle aged care facility has said “vaccine access” was a factor behind a Covid-19 cluster that has infected 14 people – 11 residents and three staff. Fewer than one in three staff at the venue had received vaccines, with two of the three infected workers awaiting a scheduled appointment. Anti-lockdown activists and Covid conspiracy theorists have been blamed for the rapid rise in circulation of a fake check-in app, with networks promoting spoofing software providing a “near identical” check-in screen to government-run apps in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. Melbourne has extended its lockdown by a week after recording 20 new cases, while NSW has extended restrictions across the state, with the north-west region around Bourke placed into lockdown after 344 new cases were recorded in the state. Continue reading...
Government wins vote despite losing majority after coalition partner walks out and widespread national protestsPolish MPs have passed a controversial new media ownership law that could lead to the country’s largest remaining independent TV station losing its licence, but at the cost of several key votes that put the government’s longterm future in doubt.After a night of protests in Warsaw and 80 other towns and cities against the bill, which opponents see as an attempt to silence an often critical broadcaster, the law passed on Wednesday by 228 votes to 216 in the 460-seat lower house. Continue reading...
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology says damage and aftershocks expectedAn earthquake of magnitude 7.1 has struck about 40 miles (63km) east of Pondaguitan in the Philippines, prompting a tsunami warning that was later cancelled.The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said on Wednesday that damage and aftershocks were expected, according to CNN. Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday North of England correspondent on (#5N721)
Fire services called to 1,032ft Bilsdale transmitter after engineer spotted smoke coming from its baseMore than 500,000 households in north-east England may have been left without television or radio signal after a fire at a TV mast.Fire services were called to the 1,032ft (315-metre) Bilsdale transmitter, near Helmsley in North Yorkshire, on Tuesday afternoon when an engineer spotted smoke coming from its base. Continue reading...
by Akhtar Mohammad Makoii in Herat, Peter Beaumont an on (#5N7AT)
Sarposa prison in Kandahar is latest site overrun by militants, with almost 1,000 prisoners releasedUS officials have warned that Afghanistan’s government could fall in 90 days, with Kabul isolated in as little as a month, as the Taliban overran the central Sarposa prison in Kandahar, the country’s second largest city, releasing almost 1000 prisoners.The fall of Kandahar – sometimes called the capital of the south – would be a devastating blow for the Afghan government after a week in which the Taliban have swept up provincial capitals around the country in a lightning offensive. Continue reading...
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has urged civilians to join the war against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The nation needs peaceCeasefires are normally cause for hope, bringing respite and perhaps even peace, if not a full resolution. In Ethiopia there has been no such relief. Just as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Nobel peace prize was soon followed by war with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), so it seems that the ceasefire will be succeeded, as many had predicted, by an intensification of the conflict. On Tuesday, Mr Abiy urged all eligible civilians to join the war.Nine months of conflict have resulted in thousands of deaths, created tens of thousands of refugees, and led to famine conditions for hundreds of thousands. They have seen war crimes committed by all parties, including massacres of civilians and widespread sexual violence; a report by Amnesty International alleges the systematic rape and abuse of women and girls by forces belonging or allied to the Ethiopian government. The prospect of an escalation is truly frightening. Continue reading...
The National Police Air Service south-west team has released footage of the moment a six-year-old girl was spotted by a police helicopter using an infrared camera after she had gone missing from her remote farmhouse home in north Devon. The child was found curled up asleep in the corner of a field. She had wandered more than half a mile from her home. She was checked over in hospital and reunited with her parents
Girl found in field after ‘every parent’s nightmare’ when she went missing from farmA six-year-old girl who went missing from her remote farmhouse home was found curled up asleep in a field after a police helicopter used an infra-red camera to pinpoint her in the pitch dark.The National Police Air Service south-west team released footage of the moment the child was spotted with the camera in the corner of a field in north Devon. Continue reading...
Sotheby’s to sell 11 works in Bellagio hotel and casino, in one of most valuable Picasso auctions yetLas Vegas: the city of sin, where you can gamble away your savings, get married on a whim, dine on an octuple bypass burger at the Heart Attack Grill – and soon, it has been announced, take part in one of the most valuable Picasso auctions ever staged.Sotheby’s has announced it is to sell 11 Picasso works owned by MGM Resorts, which have a combined value of about $100m (£72m). Continue reading...
