Teaching was once her career backup plan, but now the innovative and inclusive Rebecca West is shortlisted for a major awardEveryone remembers their favourite teacher. Rebecca West still can’t bring herself to call hers by his first name, even though, 20 years on, she’s friends with Paul on Facebook. But she’ll never forget the example that her geography and legal studies teacher Mr Fields set her as a student, before teaching was even on her radar as a career.“He let kids have honest opinions,” West says. “We felt comfortable to air a conflicting argument in the classroom because he would let us have those conversations. It was very inspirational to have someone treat us like young adults.” Continue reading...
The legal battle had waged for more than a decade and raised questions over satire and the need to protect vulnerable childrenCanada’s supreme court has ruled that a comedian had the right to mock a disabled teen singer – including joking that he wanted to drown him – in a case that raised questions over satire and the need to protect vulnerable children.The 5-4 decision from the country’s top court ended a legal battle of more than a decade that had probed the limits of artistic freedom. Continue reading...
by Daniel Boffey and Aubrey Allegretti on (#5RA2X)
French and EU vessels could face ‘rigorous checks’ in British waters if Paris carries out threatsBoris Johnson vowed to do “whatever is necessary” to protect British fishers, with French and EU vessels put on notice of “rigorous” checks when in British waters and even tariffs on goods if Paris acts on its recent threats.As France prepared to act on its plan to tie up British goods in red tape at ports in a row over fishing licences, the prime minister said he intended to ask Emmanuel Macron to see past the “turbulence” in British-French relations. Continue reading...
Ryan Robert told court he had got ‘carried away in the moment’ during violence in Bristol in MarchA protester has been convicted of trying to endanger the life of a police officer during clashes following the “kill the bill” protests in Bristol last spring.Ryan Roberts, 25, was captured on camera pushing pieces of burning cardboard underneath two police vans, and placing industrial bins around an already partially burnt-out police car and setting them on fire, Bristol crown court heard. Continue reading...
by Patrick Wintour in Rome and Angelique Chrisafis in on (#5RA62)
American president moves to repair relationship after France was blindsided by security pactJoe Biden has moved to repair his damaged personal and political relationship with Emmanuel Macron by acknowledging that the announcement of a security and technology pact that blindsided France was a “clumsy” episode handled with a lack of grace.The US president and his French counterpart met at France’s Vatican embassy in Rome on Friday, ahead of the G20 leaders’ summit this weekend, for their first in-person discussion since an astonished Macron was left feeling betrayed and humiliated by September’s security deal. Continue reading...
Monarch can undertake ‘light, desk-based duties’ and aims to attend Remembrance Sunday serviceDoctors have advised the Queen to rest for at least another two weeks and not to undertake any official visits, Buckingham Palace has said.It means the 95-year-old will not attend the Royal British Legion’s Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on the eve of Remembrance Sunday, though she hopes to be at the Cenotaph for the Remembrance Day service itself. Continue reading...
Despite officials from New Zealand and the United Nations hoping that Tokelau would vote for independence, the islands have resistedIn 2006, two lacquered wooden chests and a crate of champagne were ferried 507km from Samoa to Tokelau, a collection of atolls scattered across the Pacific which are home to 1,500 people. Over three days the chests were carried between atolls to collect ballots in a referendum on whether Tokelau should move, finally, towards self-governance.Since 1946, Tokelau – one of the most remote places in the world – has been classed by the United Nations as a non-self-governing dependent territory: a colony. First colonised by Britain in 1877, in 1925 Tokelau was essentially given to New Zealand, which has administered it since. Continue reading...
Pope Francis has urged world leaders to offer 'concrete hope' to future generations. In a special message for BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day, before the Cop26 summit in Glasgow next week, the pontiff said climate change and Covid-19 had 'raised numerous doubts and concerns about ... the way we organise our societies'. These global crises could only be overcome through 'a renewed sense of shared responsibility for our world', he added
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#5R9QW)
Sense of chaos and trepidation, as well as excitement, permeates city ahead of opening of climate summitIt isn’t raining as Maria Azul flies into Glasgow airport from Buenos Aires, but there are so many clouds in the sky she knows it will pour down soon enough.It is Azul’s first visit to the city, as part of a Cop26 delegation of frontline activists from Latin America and the Caribbean and she has been duly warned the late autumn weather is “incredibly windy and rainy”. Continue reading...
Entire output including CBeebies will be constantly analysed for impartiality breachesThe BBC is to appoint external investigators to assess the impartiality of its coverage of contentious topics.The corporation’s director general, Tim Davie, announced on Friday the BBC’s entire output – including children’s programming, documentaries and educational material – will in the future be constantly analysed for any impartiality breaches as part of a series of rolling external investigations. Continue reading...
Analysis: British government is not entirely innocent but Paris knows forceful rhetoric should only go so farIn January 2017, Emmanuel Macron, in third place in the race to be the next president of France and seen by some as an electoral bubble waiting to burst, staged a photo opportunity in the fish market of Le Guilvinec in Brittany. “Brexit will not go well because Brexit cannot go well,” Macron told fishers who had raised their concerns about the future. “But I’ll make [the fishing problem] a red line in our negotiations with the UK.”Macron’s seizing of the Élysée Palace later that year was hugely buoyed up by the turnout in the coastal region. Close to a third of voters in Brittany gave him their vote in the crucial first round of the 2017 contest, a greater proportion than in any other region of France. Continue reading...
A test that could predict your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia is beginning NHS trials. Readers share their reasons on whether they would take it or notA five-minute test that could predict your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia in up to 15 years’ time is beginning NHS trials.There are more than 850,000 people in the UK who have dementia, and the condition affects one in 14 people over the age of 65 and one in six people over 80. Continue reading...
Care company is suspected of cheating 90-year-old British woman out of her savingsSpanish police investigating a care company that allegedly cheated at least one elderly and vulnerable British customer out of her savings and property have arrested two women and seized €45,000 in cash.The women – one British and one Spanish – were arrested in the south-eastern province of Murcia last week on suspicion of aggravated fraud, falsifying documents and false administration. Continue reading...
‘Dad dos’, or ‘Dadchelor parties’ – one last blow out for a father-to-be – are on the up. Are they just an excuse for a bender, or a crucial celebration for the modern, hands-on father?‘Take a moment to say goodbye to your old life.” This is what Kit Harington said earlier this year, when asked what advice he’d give to fellow new parents. The actor, best known as the angst-ridden bastard prince Jon Snow in the fantasy series Game of Thrones, regretted not having held a proper celebration before the birth of his son in January.Harington said he would have liked to mark the occasion “with a kind of stag”. “You’re so prepped about gearing up for being a parent that you forget. And then it’s too late. It’s gone.” Yet it’s the kind of sob story that’s likely to invite eye-rolls from mothers, for whom this approach to having a baby is not a matter of negotiation. Continue reading...
The British author on isolation, community and writing a novel set during the coronavirus pandemicLast December, in the depths of lockdown, Sarah Moss picked up a copy of Winter Papers, an annual anthology of new Irish writing. The 46-year-old and her family had recently moved from Coventry to Dublin, and although Irish lockdown was less restrictive than the Britain version, Moss was feeling, she says, “completely frozen”. For nine months, the pandemic had been impossible to absorb, not only personally, but as a writer – until it showed up in Winter Papers. “It was only a glimpse of it in essays and stories,” Moss says, but for the first time she thought: “This is a thing we can write about. And it was such a relief.”The permission given in that moment triggered an extraordinary burst of activity. Moss’s eighth novel, The Fell, was written in a frenzied few months and centres on the story of two neighbours in a remote village in the Peak District. At the beginning of the novel, Kate, a single mother of a teenage son, and her elderly neighbour, Alice, are both struggling with lockdown, not just the logistics but the guilt of complaining when they are supposed to be grateful simply for being alive. It’s perfect material for Moss, who in previous novels has examined the interplay between human systems and the natural world – specifically, how seemingly small domestic manoeuvres can throw one up against the vast planes of history, in ways tragic and absurd. In The Fell, Alice wonders if “maybe she’ll die without ever touching another human”, but also whether it’s OK to put frivolous items such as Hula Hoops on the list when Kate offers to do her shopping for her. Kate, meanwhile, asks, “When did we become a species whose default state is shut up indoors?” and, in an action that triggers the drama of the novel, sneaks out of the house for a rule-breaking walk. The Fell is a funny, savage novel about the very recent past, and seems to do the impossible: hold a story that is still unfolding immobile enough to integrate into fiction. Continue reading...
Permanencia Voluntaria has rescued hundreds of films and is seeking to challenge attitudes towards its legacyFrom demons, ghosts and vampires to Martians, mad scientists and spurned lovers, the heroes and heroines of 20th-century Mexican popular cinema faced more than their share of enemies.Few foes, however, have proved quite as formidable as the combined adversaries of time, critical snottiness and oblivion – not to mention the odd earthquake. Continue reading...
As the bard of Barking tours a new album, he reflects on modern politics, his scraps with the Daily Mail and why he could do with listening a bit moreIn an Exeter pub on a wet Monday morning, Billy Bragg is talking about a day at the Glastonbury festival in 2000. The BBC had signed up an unusual guest for its coverage – Boris Johnson. In the footage (still online), Johnson – then a year from becoming an MP – forgets to get off the train, gets a comedy henna tattoo in Sanskrit, and growls the Clash’s Bankrobber to Bragg in the car: “It’s your philosophy, isn’t it?” he says. “Leftwing approval of theft from capitalists?”“He was trolling me the whole time,” Bragg remembers. “That’s what his MO still is. A wind-up merchant who became prime minister! How the fuck did that happen?” He shrugs. “Modern politics needs things he doesn’t have: accountability and empathy.” Continue reading...
UK environment secretary accuses France of using ‘inflammatory’ rhetoric in escalating disputeEmmanuel Macron’s hopes of being re-elected president may be driving the diplomatic row with France over post-Brexit access to Britain’s fishing waters, the UK’s environment secretary has claimed.George Eustice accused Paris of using “inflammatory” rhetoric in an escalating dispute over a shortfall in licences for French fishing vessels seeking to operate in the coastal waters of the UK and Jersey. Continue reading...
by Caitlin Cassidy (now) and Mostafa Rachwani (earlie on (#5R8ZY)
Search for Cleo Smith continues; Victoria records 1,656 cases and 10 deaths, NSW records 268 cases and 2 deaths; ACT records 10 cases; New Zealand records 125 new cases; Victoria storms leave 500,000 people without power – follow updates live
These holiday firms walk the talk when it comes to minimising their carbon footprints and promoting biodiversityRather than batting the carbon problem back to customers, Scottish minibus tour operator Rabbie’s taxes itself £10 for every tonne of carbon its trips produce. Since 2008, this has raised £120,000 for community and environmental projects, voted for by the team. Projects include the Staffin Community Trust, a charity improving economic prospects for the Gaelic heartlands of Skye; Rabbie’s team has provided hands-on and financial help to build walking paths and plant trees. Rabbie’s prides itself on meeting the balance between the carbon efficiency of coach travel but the nimbleness of self-drive – accessing rural communities that need income from tourism. An extensive environmental and leave-no-trace policy includes modern fuel-efficient vehicles, litter-picking along the way, and washing minibuses where runoff is controlled.
In study of 554 university students, 63 admit to rape, sexual assault and other aggressive forcible actsThe first survey examining sexual violence by male UK students has shone a light on misogyny at universities, with scores admitting to rape, sexual assault and other forcible acts.Of the 554 male students surveyed, 63 reported that they had committed 251 sexual assaults, rapes and other coercive and unwanted incidents in the past two years, according to researchers at the University of Kent. Continue reading...
The winners of the European wildlife photographer of the year awards, run by the German Society for Nature Photography, have been chosen, with a shot by Angel Fitor of Spain pipping 19,000 entries Continue reading...
by Aubrey Allegretti Political correspondent on (#5R9BV)
Equalities minister Liz Truss will consult on plans to allow counselling for non-vulnerable adultsConsenting adults should be able to undergo so-called conversion therapy, the government has recommended.Setting out proposals for how they plan to crack down on “coercive and abhorrent” practices that seek to change sexual orientation or gender identity, the Government Equalities Office said: “We recognise there is a plurality of experience in this area and that there are adults who seek counselling to help them live a life that they feel is more in line with their personal beliefs.” Continue reading...
The actor is an uncanny likeness, but – with its creepy equerries and mountains of pastries – director Pablo Larraín has created a gothic horror out of the princess’s life. They tell us how they made Sandringham her Overlook HotelSpencer, the new film about Princess Diana, is very definitely not The Crown. Not for director Pablo Larraín the comforting grandeur of Peter Morgan’s Netflix series, whose tapestried locations are the scene of inner turmoil as private desires hit the buffers of public duty. Spencer, the imagined story of which takes place over three ghastly days at Sandringham in 1991, veers far more gothic. The Norfolk stately home becomes a kind of Overlook Hotel from Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic The Shining, through whose endless, confusing corridors the camera harries and chivvies Kristen Stewart’s Diana as her psyche crumbles.Stewart and Larraín are with me in a Zoom room: the director has his camera off, a mere black square and a courteous Chilean voice; Stewart, a relaxed, enthusiastic presence in a depersonalised domestic space, wearing a baggy red top, her hair loose and blond. Continue reading...
by Christopher Knaus and Michael McGowan on (#5R940)
Telling Maguire he was ‘family’ was a ‘turn of phrase’: Berejiklian; former premier denies she suspected Maguire was acting corruptly on airport land deals; a quick recap from earlier; the key question emerging from the Icac hearings – follow all the evidence live
New Zealanders react with amusement at travel guide’s optimistic ranking for 2022In further evidence that we all want what we cannot have, Auckland has taken out the top spot in Lonely Planet’s “best cities to visit” rankings – despite currently being in lockdown, the centre of a Covid outbreak, and off-limits to both the rest of the country and the world.The announcement generated some amusement in New Zealand, given anyone who now attempts to visit the locked-down city risks being slapped with a hefty fine or prison term. “It is kind of a lonely planet in lockdown level 3,” one resident wrote on social media. “Probably means the rest of the world is in a really bad place,” responded another. Continue reading...
Friday: Emissions reduction minister will tell leaders at Cop26 that Australian fossil fuel projects are a sound investment. Plus: what to do with cheap pineapplesGood morning. Angus Taylor is getting ready to spruik Australia’s fossil fuels projects at Cop26 next week, as the Biden administration announces record spending on climate change action. And Melburnians can enjoy new freedoms from later today.Australia’s emissions reduction minister, Angus Taylor, has declared he will promote Australia as a good place to invest in fossil fuel projects at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow. In a provocative statement on Thursday, Taylor confirmed he would attend the first week of the crucial summit and tell the world Australia was a “safe and reliable destination to invest in gas, hydrogen and new energy technologies”. It followed his announcement that the Morrison government had rejected a call to join the US and European countries in a global pledge to cut emissions of methane – a potent greenhouse gas released during gas extraction and transportation – by 30% by 2030. Meanwhile, Mathias Cormann, the former Australian finance minister and Senate leader, is calling for Australia to adopt a carbon price despite spending years in government fighting against the idea. Continue reading...
by Daniel Boffey in Brussels, and Dan Sabbagh on (#5R8SN)
Two Royal Navy vessels put in ‘high readiness’ to tackle potential port blockadesFrance’s ambassador in London was summoned and two Royal Navy patrol vessels were put on a state of “high readiness” to tackle potential port blockades by French fishing boats as the row over post-Brexit access to British waters escalated.The dramatic moves followed French threats to clog British exports in red tape over a lack of fishing licences for their fishing vessels and inflammatory claims that Downing Street had made a “political choice” to damage the country’s coastal communities. Continue reading...
Appeal court hearing for woman sentenced four years ago could change legal understanding of coercive controlA mother imprisoned for causing serious harm to her baby has told the court of appeal she lied at her trial because of the control her former boyfriend had over her.The woman, known as Jenny, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the appeal court it was her partner at the time who caused their son’s skull fractures and bleeding on the brain in June 2017. Continue reading...
Restoration effort on Hisham’s Palace in occupied West Bank was launched five years agoPalestinian authorities have unveiled one of the largest floor mosaics in the world in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho after years of restoration.Resembling a fine carpet, the vast mosaic covers 836 sq metres (8,998 sq feet) at the Hisham’s Palace, an Umayyad Islamic desert castle dating from the eighth century. Continue reading...
Benjamin Iliffe given suspended 15-week prison term for abusive message sent to Labour deputy leaderA man has been given a suspended prison sentence after admitting sending a threatening email to Angela Rayner telling her to “watch your back and your kids”.Benjamin Iliffe, 36, from Cambridgeshire, was sentenced to 15 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, after pleading guilty to malicious communications. Continue reading...
by Hosted by Jane Lee. Recommended by Steph Harmon. W on (#5R8NS)
Derek de Vreught runs the last video store in Melbourne. He’s sticking around as streaming takes over television and browsing for DVDs becomes a ‘decidedly niche experience’. Culture editor Steph Harmon recommends this story about a stalwart
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves says Resolution Foundation report shows this is an ‘out-of-touch, high-tax, low-growth budget’. This live blog is now closed – please follow the global Covid live blog for coronavirus updates
South Korean spies used advanced techniques to analyse why Kim Jong-un appears to have lost 20 kgNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un has recently lost about 20 kilograms (44 pounds) but remains healthy and is trying to increase public loyalty to him in the face of worsening economic problems, South Korea’s spy agency has told lawmakers.The National Intelligence Service gave the assessment during a closed-door parliamentary briefing on Thursday, it used artificial intelligence techniques, an analysis of super-resolution video of Kim and other methods to investigate Kim’s condition, said two lawmakers who attended the session. Continue reading...
Countries must close gap on funding target for developing countries says European Commission presidentThe European Commission president has urged wealthy countries to close the gap to meet a $100bn annual climate finance target for developing nations a year earlier than expected.Speaking before crucial meetings on the climate emergency at the G20, and at the UN Cop26 talks, in Glasgow, the president, Ursula von der Leyen, said rich countries had “to try harder” to close the shortfall in climate finance. Continue reading...
Decades of economic imperialism and conditional aid have inspired authors from Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o to Graham Greene to explore continued western controlThe nations of Africa waved a joyful goodbye to their European occupiers in the second half of the 20th century. But in many cases, their freedom was short-lived: for after the colonisers had left through the front door, they returned quietly round the back. And this time the US came, too – the new and hungry kid on the block, collaborating with big business and local elites to exploit Africa’s rich resources.This process underpins White Malice, my account of the CIA’s secret infiltration into the newly free nations of Africa. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, watched in dismay as new states became independent in theory, with “all the outward trappings of international sovereignty”, but their economic and political policies were directed from outside. This, he lamented, is the “essence of neocolonialism”.White Malice by Susan Williams is published by Hurst. To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply. Continue reading...
Sarah Buckle, a student at the University of Nottingham, believes she was spiked by injection while out clubbing with friends during freshers' week.She describes becoming aware of her surroundings in hospital the next morning with a 'black hole in my memory', with no idea of what had happened to her during the night. Medics told her she showed signs of having been spiked. It was then that she noticed a small pinprick on her hand, which was bruised and throbbing.
Airline, which even barred some people who sought redress, commits to refunds within five working daysRyanair has promised to start refunding customers for cancelled flights within five working days, after criticism of its reimbursements policy during the pandemic.The Dublin-based carrier, which has previously described itself as a “no-refunds airline”, has also announced significant improvements to the way it treats customers whose flights are delayed or cancelled. Continue reading...
With strong drinks and stronger music, rock bars are fiercely independent havens for UK metalheads, who have been donating thousands to keep them alive after CovidIt’s Friday night in north London’s Black Heart, a rock and metal bar tucked away on a Camden side street. The walls and ceiling are – inevitably – painted black, the beer taps are furnished with antlers, and the speakers are blasting out Metallica’s Enter Sandman. As the chorus hits, the whole bar breaks into song, and the bartender turns down the volume so all that can be heard is a room full of joyous metalheads belting out: “We’re off to never-never land!”As pints splash and voices echo, the scene feels poignant: pandemic lockdowns left rock fans wondering when they might have moments like this again, with the Black Heart nearly closing down until it was saved by a crowdfunding campaign with prize draws that raised more than £150,000 in seven weeks. Continue reading...
After three decades on the stage and screen, the star is still worrying about where his next job will come from. Meanwhile, at home, he frets about letting down his familyMark Strong has a good face for villainy – spare and inscrutable, with thin lips and “eyes like tunnels”, as Arthur Miller might have put it. On camera, he gives a sort of fractional disclosure, expressions altering in tiny increments, so that watching him perform is often an exercise in judging how much good can reasonably be seen in the bad. He specialises in antiheroes and authority figures, from gangsters (Kick-Ass, The Long Firm) to heads of intelligence (The Imitation Game, Body of Lies, Zero Dark Thirty). His latest incarnation – as a surgeon who operates in the criminal underground in the TV drama Temple, now in its second series – melds these roles as he crosses and recrosses the line between conscientious and cruel.Although highly regarded for his work across stage, film and TV, Strong is not a big winner of awards (though he earned an Olivier for his outstanding portrayal of Eddie Carbone in Miller’s A View from the Bridge in 2015). He comes across as somehow outside the system. He is reputable rather than starry, plays parts rather than leads and has retained the air of a jobbing actor. Surely at 58, after 30 years of nearly constant work and more than 100 screen credits, with a voice so sonorous and distinctive it draws you to the depths, he deserves a bigger breakthrough. Is he frustrated by the lack of leading parts? Continue reading...
Six-party grouping ahead by four points after choosing Péter Márki-Zay as prime ministerial candidateA six-party opposition alliance that aims to topple Hungary’s Viktor Orbán in elections next year has pulled four points clear of the authoritarian prime minister’s Fidesz party after electing a common leader, according to an opinion poll.The poll, published late on Wednesday, 10 days after the alliance chose a small-town mayor, Péter Márki-Zay, as its prime ministerial candidate, showed support for the united opposition at 39%, compared with 35% for Fidesz and 23% who were unsure. Continue reading...
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