Staff and tourists near the Mexican resort city of Cancún have been sent rushing for shelter after a group of armed men entered the beach outside a luxury hotel and opened fire. Two men were killed on Thursday in what state officials described as a confrontation between drug dealers at the Hyatt Ziva in Puerto Morelos, just south of Cancún
Clint Eastwood’s A Fistful of Dollars is the latest to be dubbed in the Indigenous language set to premiere on 16 NovemberManuelito Wheeler isn’t sure exactly why Navajo elders admire Western films.It could be that decades ago, many of them were treated to the films in boarding schools off the reservation decades ago. Or, like his father, they told stories of growing up gathered around a television to watch gunslingers in a battle against good and evil on familiar-looking landscapes. Continue reading...
Industry body head warns there is ‘no vaccine’ against climate change and winemakers must adapt with ‘urgent necessity’World wine production is expected to fall to one of its lowest levels on record after harsh weather battered vineyards in Europe’s major wine-producing regions.The conditions “severely impacted” production in Italy, Spain and France, resulting in “extremely low” production volumes, an international wine body has said. Continue reading...
Colin and Donna Craig-Brown have named the 17.4lb tuber Doug and have been taking him for walksA giant 7.9kg potato found in a New Zealand couple’s overgrown garden may set a new world record for the largest of its kind ever to be discovered.Colin and Donna Craig-Brown were doing a spot of weeding in their Hamilton back yard, when Colin’s hoe hit something below the ground. Continue reading...
Attack on mayor’s delegation adds to 530 already killed by jihadist groups in southwest Niger this yearGunmen killed 69 people including a local mayor in a jihadist attack in a remote area of south-west Niger, the country’s interior minister has confirmed, amid a wave of violence against civilians that has swept the country this year.A delegation led by the mayor of Banibangou was ambushed on Tuesday about 50 km (30 miles) from the town, near the border with Mali. The area is overrun by militants associated with a local affiliate of Islamic State that has killed hundreds of civilians in rural communities this year. Continue reading...
WHO chiefs have warned Europe is ‘at the epicentre’ of the pandemic after uneven vaccine coverage and a relaxation of preventive measures across the 53 countries in the region.Hans Kluge of the World Health Organization has said cases are again at near-record levels and 500,000 more deaths forecast by February
Lawyers expected to argue for dismissal of Giuffre’s lawsuit accusing Duke of York of sexual abuse when she was under 18A US federal judge in New York on Thursday scheduled a 4 January hearing where lawyers for Britain’s Prince Andrew are expected to argue for a dismissal of Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was under 18.US district judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan issued the scheduling order one day after saying he expected Giuffre’s civil case to go to trial between September and December 2022, provided it is not settled or dismissed. Continue reading...
Friday: Less than 2% of the barrier reef’s coral has escaped bleaching since 1998 in blow to site’s future. Plus: a visitor’s guide to a place of ‘quirky souls’Good morning. A 36-year-old man has been charged in relation to Cleo Smith’s alleged abduction. The United Nations says countries have failed to adapt for unavoidable climate damage. And less than 2% of the Great Barrier Reef’s coral reefs have escaped bleaching since 1998.West Australian police have charged 36-year-old man Terence Darrell Kelly in relation to the alleged abduction of Cleo Smith after the four-year-old was found alive and well 18 days after she disappeared. Officers found Cleo about 1am local time on Wednesday alone in a room at a house in Carnarvon, a town 900km north of Perth and just 75km from where her family was camping when she disappeared from their tent on 16 October. Kelly was taken into custody as officers rescued Cleo and he was later questioned about the suspected abduction. Police have said he has no connection to her family. Continue reading...
Some of New Zealand’s anti-vaxxers say that the Covid vaccine is a form of 21st-century colonialism – it’s notOne thing that characterises the typical anti-vaxxer, other than being wrong, is their short attention span.In the space of a single conversation the enemy can range from 5G, the electromagnetic spectrum that can apparently spread biological matter as well as a phone signal, to Bill Gates, the Microsoft (“microchip”) billionaire allegedly at the centre of a nexus to command and control the world populace. In New Zealand, anti-vaxxers take this shopping list of modern hazards and foreign enemies and add their own local products. In one conspiracy prime minister Jacinda Ardern is part of an international plot to microchip New Zealanders using the Pfizer vaccine as the vector. Her reward? The UN secretary generalship. Continue reading...
by Jennifer Rankin in Brussels and Jon Henleyin Paris on (#5RH3M)
Brexit minister David Frost met Europe minister Clément Beaune in Paris but two sides remain at oddsTalks between the British and French governments to settle a post-Brexit fishing row have ended in stalemate as No 10 said it did not believe Paris would follow through on threats to slow down trade.The Brexit minister, David Frost, spent about 90 minutes meeting France’s Europe minister, Clément Beaune, in Paris on Thursday, but despite smiles for the cameras the two sides remained far apart. Continue reading...
by Presented by Gabrielle Jackson with Lenore Taylor on (#5RGY4)
When Scott Morrison left Australia to attend the global climate summit in Glasgow, he left prepared to defend Australia’s checkered position on global heating. But by the time he touched down in Europe, another diplomatic disaster was unfolding with the French.Lenore Taylor and Mike Ticher speak to Gabrielle Jackson about Scott Morrison’s leadership on the global stageRead more: Continue reading...
Woman quoted in piece later described trans women as ‘vile, weak and disgusting’The BBC has been forced to edit an article condemned as transphobic after a woman quoted in the piece described trans women as “vile, weak and disgusting” and it emerged she had previously been accused of sexual misconduct.Standing behind its decision to publish the piece online last week – headlined “We’re being pressured into sex by some trans women” – the BBC took the decision on Thursday to remove a contribution from a former porn star, Lily Cade, “in light of comments” she made following its publication, after a week of sustained pressure and criticism. Continue reading...
Despite inexperience and few allies, Jaha Dukureh is offering people change and a break with the past in December’s electionJaha Dukureh was a young mother of three with little campaigning experience when she started a movement in the Gambia to end female genital mutilation, backed by the Guardian.In the seven years that followed she advised Barack Obama in the US, where she was then living, helped have FGM banned in her home country, was nominated for a Nobel peace prize and became a UN ambassador. Continue reading...
Diwali is one of the most popular festivals in Hinduism and is celebrated by Hindus all over the world. It is also known as the festival of lights Continue reading...
by Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent on (#5RG7F)
Preet Chandi – or Polar Preet – hopes to inspire others by becoming the first woman of colour to voyage unsupported across AntarcticaWhen she returned from a trek across Greenland last year, Preet Chandi had a mild case of frostbite on her nose. “I remember somebody saying to me they’ve never seen an injury like that on somebody of my colour skin before,” she said. “I am an Asian woman, I’m not the image that people expect to see out there.”Later this month Chandi, a 32-year-old army physiotherapist, hopes to become the first woman of colour to complete a solo unsupported trek across Antarctica to the south pole. Continue reading...
Women’s rights activists fear for their lives as Afghanistan’s new rulers infiltrate, detain, beat and torture groups of protestersA month ago, Reshmin was busy organising protests against Taliban rule in online groups of hundreds of fellow women’s rights activists. Now the 26-year-old economics graduate must operate clandestinely, dressing in disguise and only demonstrating with a select few.“If things continue like this, there will be no future for women in Afghanistan. It’s better if the future never arrives,” says Reshmin, who spoke to the Guardian using only her first name, which means “silk” in Farsi, out of security concerns. “Each time we go out, we say farewell because we might not make it back alive.” Continue reading...
Suspected death happened after small boat capsized near Dunkirk while several people were rescuedAnother person is believed to have died attempting to reach the UK across the English Channel, government sources have said.The French authorities told UK officials on Wednesday that the latest suspected death happened after a small boat capsized near Dunkirk. Several other people were rescued. Continue reading...
Thursday: Emissions pledges at Cop26 could limit global temperature rises to below 2C. Plus: Bee Gees star commemoratedGood morning. The world appears set to meet a major climate milestone, there is hopeful news for long Covid sufferers, and Labor is calling for more jobkeeper paybacks.The world’s emissions trajectory could be on the path to below 2C for the first time. India’s pledge to reach net zero by 2070, initially perceived as an unambitious target, could help keep emissions at a peak of 1.9C this century – though this is still not enough to reach the stated Cop26 target of 1.5C. The Climate Action Network has said the Cop26 summit would still represent “a failure”, unless it agrees concrete financial support to those already dispossessed by climate breakdown. Meanwhile, more than 20 nations and major financial bodies have pledged to halt all funding for overseas fossil fuel development from next year – but China and Japan have declined to sign. Continue reading...
A US defense department report says Beijing could have 700 warheads within six years and more than 1,000 by 2030China is expanding its nuclear force much faster than US officials predicted just a year ago, highlighting a broad and accelerating buildup of military muscle designed to enable Beijing to match or surpass US global power by mid-century, according to a new Pentagon report.The number of Chinese nuclear warheads could increase to 700 within six years, the report said, and may top 1,000 by 2030. The report released on Wednesday did not say how many weapons China has today, but a year ago the Pentagon said the number was in the “low 200s” and was likely to double by the end of this decade. Continue reading...
Brexit minister David Frost will defend current position despite hopes a more positive dynamic is emergingThe British government has downplayed hopes of a breakthrough in a row with France over post-Brexit fishing licences, despite European perceptions of a “constructive” spirit and “positive dynamic”.The French transport minister, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, said he had spoken to his UK counterpart on Tuesday evening. “The spirit is a constructive one,” he said, noting that French fishers had been granted 49 more licences on Monday. Continue reading...
Amendment to police bill would require home secretary to approve use of new surveillance equipmentTwo Labour peers have demanded greater parliamentary scrutiny of police plans to use surveillance cameras mounted on drones after it emerged that the technology could be deployed by forces across England and Wales.Shami Chakrabarti, the former head of the civil rights advocacy group Liberty, has tabled an amendment to the police bill that would require the home secretary to approve the use of new “weapons, surveillance equipment or investigatory technology”. The amendment was due to be discussed on Wednesday night. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#5RFHZ)
Rape Crisis Scotland report says officers’ ‘prejudicial attitudes’ leave survivors isolated and anxiousThere is a troubling inconsistency in the police’s response to rape and sexual violence complainers, according to a report from Rape Crisis Scotland, which highlights poor communication, outdated attitudes and lengthy, unclear processes that leave survivors feeling isolated and anxious.Among the “prejudicial attitudes” displayed by officers, one complainer reported that the detective inspector who dropped her case had told her: “You weren’t raped, it was consensual.” Continue reading...
Prix Goncourt judges praise ‘stunning energy’ of 31-year-old’s novel The Most Secret Memory of MenThe Senegalese novelist Mohamed Mbougar Sarr has become the first writer from sub-Saharan Africa to be awarded France’s oldest and most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt.The award, announced on Wednesday at the Drouant restaurant near the Opéra Garnier in Paris, was hailed as “symbolic” by the French literary establishment, 100 years after the prize – presented since 1867 – was first won by a Black author. Continue reading...
Man aged 80 fell or jumped seven storeys to his death, striking another attendeeSwedish pop group Abba have postponed the promotion of an upcoming show for 24 hours, after two people died in a dramatic fall at a tribute concert.On Tuesday night, an 80-year-old man fell or jumped seven storeys to his death at a concert hall in Uppsala, north of Stockholm, in a presumed accident, striking another attendee. Continue reading...
Online censors blocked Peng Shuai’s post on Weibo of Zhang Gaoli’s alleged assault over several yearsThe Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has apparently accused a former vice-premier of sexual assault, engulfing the highest echelons of Beijing’s ruling Communist party in a #MeToo scandal for the first time.Authorities scrambled to stop the allegations from spreading, with online censors even appearing to block the word “tennis”. Continue reading...
Lady Gaga inhabited her role in upcoming drama House of Gucci off screen and on for a year and a half. Was the ‘psychological difficulty’ she suffered as a result worth it?A Star Is Born was both a blessing and a curse for Lady Gaga. A blessing because it put her at the centre of a commercially successful, Oscar-nominated film, thereby rocketing her to the top of a profession of which she had very little experience. A curse, too, because she was essentially just playing herself; a singer who went from performing in drag bars to commanding huge stages in very little time. Quick, without looking, tell me the name of the character Lady Gaga played in A Star Is Born. You can’t, can you? You’ve always just called her Lady Gaga.This means that she ultimately had two options after A Star Is Born. She could abandon her movie career in the knowledge that she had blurred the line between character and performer more successfully than any actor working today, or she could find another role. A role not so heavily steeped in her own biography. A role that would finally prove to the world that she was an actor of the highest calibre. Continue reading...
Joint investigation by UN and Ethiopia details accounts of torture and killing of civilians, and gang-rapesWar crimes and other crimes against humanity may have been conducted by all sides in the bloody year-long civil war in Ethiopia, according to a joint investigation by the UN and the country’s human rights commission.The most comprehensive report yet into the conflict, which has centred around the rebel province of Tigray, includes a string of first-hand accounts of massacres, torture and sexual violence in a war that began almost exactly a year ago. Continue reading...
Carmaker is ‘overcoming difficult situations’, including global shortage of computer chipsBMW earned bigger profits than expected in the third quarter of 2021 after a focus on more expensive cars and electric vehicles helped the German premium carmaker to ride out a global shortage of computer chips.Profits before tax rose to €3.4bn (£2.9bn) between July and September, a 38% increase compared with 2020 and a 52% increase on 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic hit, BMW said on Wednesday. Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#5RDK5)
PCs Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis admit misconduct over images shared on WhatsAppA police officer made degrading and sexist insults about two murdered women as he shared pictures from the scene where they were found with a colleague photographing their bodies and also sharing the images via WhatsApp.The two Metropolitan police officers pleaded guilty on Tuesday after sharing photographs from the crime scene they were supposed to be guarding in a London park, where two sisters, Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, were found stabbed to death. Continue reading...
Celebrity-backed funder pulls support from seven frontline charities helping migrants as winter approachesSeven charities working to provide food, water, blankets and other essential aid to refugees in northern France have warned that they might have to stop their work because celebrity-backed funder Choose Love is ending its financial support.The charities provide a lifeline to refugees who are hoping to seek sanctuary in the UK, often attempting Channel crossings by small boats. The deteriorating weather as winter approaches makes living conditions for the estimated 2,000 migrants in Calais, who are destitute and often forced to sleep outside, more precarious. Continue reading...
by Mostafa Rachwani (now) and Matilda Boseley (earlie on (#5RED2)
Prime minister Scott Morrison says he will ‘get the job done’ to mend relationship with France; Malcolm Turnbull slams ‘bullshit’ plan for nuclear-powered submarines; Queensland will only open international borders for ‘safe’ countries; Liberal MP Tim Smith will ‘never drink alcohol again’ while in public life; Victoria records 941 new Covid cases, NSW 190. This blog is now closed
Western Australia police release footage of Cleo Smith moments after she was found at a Carnarvon property. Detective sergeant Cameron Blaine, who was one of four officers to raid the house, said the four-year-old was energetic and 'very trusting and open' with officers Continue reading...
Experts say while party failed to win a seat they may have denied Boris Johnson a landslide by splitting voteNigel Farage’s Brexit party may have saved up to 25 Labour seats in the Midlands and the north at the 2019 general election, denying Boris Johnson a landslide majority of 130, according to new analysis.Farage’s party failed to win a single seat in December 2019 as Boris Johnson sought to hammer home the message that the Conservatives would “get Brexit done”. Continue reading...
As poverty and lost livelihoods fuel threats in the home, those who have found refuge still risk their lives walking miles in search of waterThe setting sun brings a warm glow to the huts in the village of Umoja in Samburu county, Kenya. Christine Sitiyan sits outside her home with her beadwork, carefully running the thin thread through tiny bead holes, hoping she can finish the colourful belt she is making before darkness sets in. The traditional belt can fetch 3,000 Kenyan shillings (£20), enough to cover her needs for a month.This tranquil scene is very different from her troubled past. Like many girls in her community, Sitiyan never finished school but was married off as a young teenager. Seven years later, with two children, she left her husband, unable to endure the beatings from a man she says could no longer fend for the family in an increasingly harsh environment. Continue reading...
It was my first day on a local paper when I went to visit a bereaved family with a seasoned reporter. It shaped all the values I took into my journalistic careerI was 19 when, in September 1987, I got a fortnight’s work experience on my local free newspaper, the Kingston Guardian, in south-west London. It was a small but dedicated team of reporters operating out of an office in Twickenham and they were incredibly generous, taking me under their collective wing and sending me out on all kinds of assignments. By the end of the two weeks, I had a handful of bylined pieces and had written my first investigative feature – a tug-of-love dog ownership dispute over a whippet. But the moment that changed me came on the very first day, on a story that I didn’t even write.The team had suggested I go out in the evening with an older reporter on a “death knock” – going to visit a family after a death. They didn’t call it a death knock and it wasn’t one of those notorious tabloid visits, when a reporter turns up out of the blue and confronts a bereaved family. It had been agreed in advance with the parents of the deceased, a 17-year-old schoolboy who had died in a car accident, not long after passing his driving test. It was the kind of awful, accidental death that happens regularly, all over the country. Continue reading...
Police release photo of Cleo Smith in hospital and have body camera footage of the moment she was found; a 36-year-old man is in custody but no charges have been laid; ‘We were looking for a needle in a haystack and we found it,’ acting WA police commissioner says; Carnarvon mayor says he never gave up hope – follow the latest news about her rescue
Gangs put aside their differences make video calling on the public to get the vaccine after Māori minister came up with the ideaSeven New Zealand gang leaders, representing four of the countries most well-known street gangs, have joined forces in a video urging their communities to get vaccinated, in a concept that was conjured up by a government minister.The video was commissioned by the minister for Maori development, Willie Jackson, after a discussion with gang leaders, who then provided footage that was edited by Jackson’s son, Hikurangi, the Herald reported. Continue reading...
Wednesday: French officials say confidence with Australia has been ‘completely shattered’. Plus: new projects in the pipeline could result in the equivalent of 5% of global emissionsGood morning. France is furious over the growing scandal of a leaked text message from the French president to Scott Morrison, and world leaders continue to make pledges to fight the climate crisis at Cop26.French officials have vented their fury at the leaking of a text message from Emmanuel Macron to Morrison, as the prime minister faces accusations he has put his personal political interests ahead of healing the rift. “Confidence has been completely shattered,” a close adviser to Macron said, calling the release of the text “a pretty crude and unconventional tactic”. “It is not the kind of thing that is likely to improve relations between France and Australia,” the adviser said. The message, in which the French president asked Morrison whether to expect good or bad news on the submarine project, was shared to reinforce Australia’s position that France wasn’t blindsided about the cancellation of the $90bn submarine deal, but France argued it showed that Macron “did not know what stage the discussions had got to”. Continue reading...
Ex-president, ordered to testify as a witness, says he is accountable to ‘the French people, not to a court’Nicolas Sarkozy has appeared in court as the first former French president to be ordered to testify as a witness – but refused point blank to answer any questions.“It is an essential principle of democracies known as the separation of powers, and as president of the Republic I do not have to account for the organisation of my office or the way in which I exercised my mandate,” he told the court in Paris on Tuesday. Continue reading...
by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#5RE1A)
Northumberland landmark, named Ascendant, is intended as tribute for Queen’s platinum jubilee yearFor its supporters, the 55-metre-tall turbine-blade-like sculpture jutting out of an isolated Northumberland hilltop will attract tourists and be a fitting tribute to Queen and Commonwealth.For opponents it will be “ecological vandalism” that spoils the landscape, an artwork that would not look out of place in communist-era eastern Europe. Continue reading...
The president of the Pacific island state of Palau has told the Cop26 summit that parallels could be drawn between the climate crisis and the traditional Palau story of a boy who grew into a giant and 'wouldn’t stop growing ... depleting all the natural resources'. Surangel Whipps Jr said the story was 'eerily reminiscent' of today’s climate crisis. Speaking about the environmental impact on island nations, he added: 'There is no dignity to a slow and painful death: you might as well bomb our islands'
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