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Three people arrested after seizure of drug disguised as charcoal in northern region of Castilla y LeónSpanish police have arrested three people after breaking up a ring that allegedly smuggled hundreds of kilos of cocaine into Europe by disguising it as charcoal and ridding the drug of its telltale scent to render it undetectable to sniffer dogs.Officers from Spain’s national police and Portugal’s judicial police began investigating at the beginning of 2020 after noticing that a trading company was using a variety of front organisations to carry out suspicious imports that did not tally with their supposed business operations. Continue reading...

As Imran Khan’s government moves to outlaw virtually any criticism, media figures fear ‘darkest era’ of press freedom

Researchers say industry practice should change to encourage workers to seek help when they need it

European budget airline says 2021 will be ‘transition year’ as travel curbs linger

This year, 331 entrants are vying for the title of Cuprinol Shed of the Year, including a Catholic oratory, a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang-inspired ‘inventor’s workshop’ and a haven for bats Continue reading...

President begins pre-election meet-the-people exercise with visit to Lot department in south-westEmmanuel Macron has set off on his six-week political tour de France aimed at “taking the pulse” of the country as it emerges from the coronavirus crisis.In the run-up to regional elections this month and, more importantly, the presidential battle next year, the French leader will make two regional visits a week until mid-July. Continue reading...

Nourn moved from Cambodia to the US as a child, and ended up in an abusive relationship that led to a man’s murder. After years in prison, she is now a powerful voice for those who face incarceration and deportationWhen Ny Nourn entered Central California Women’s Facility, the largest women’s prison in the world, there was every reason to believe she would never walk free on American soil again.She was just 21, and had been sentenced to “life without parole” for her part in a hauntingly brutal murder – a part she was forced into. Even if, at some distant date, a successful appeal commuted that sentence, her conviction made Nourn deportable – so when she had served her time, she was likely to be transported to another prison and ultimately to Cambodia, the country of her parents’ birth, a country she had never set foot in. Continue reading...

Questions need to be answered after broadcaster refuted claims made by minister, Sarah Hanson-Young says

National team lost 10-0 in Japan after mainstays including an experienced goalkeeper refused the head coach’s callSecond-division games in Malaysia don’t make many international headlines but that changed in March when the Myanmar under-23 winger Hein Htet Aung gave a three-fingered salute after scoring for Selangor II. Popularised by The Hunger Games film franchise, this gesture of resistance was adopted by pro-democracy protesters in Thailand and Hong Kong in 2014 and then by Myanmar, after the military took back power in a coup on 1 February.Before Myanmar’s 2022 World Cup qualifier against Japan last Friday, the goalkeeper Kyaw Zin Htet had called for players to copy Hein’s handiwork. “It would be good if some of them came out and gave the three-fingered salute to an international audience,” the 31-year-old told AFP. Continue reading...

The truth about mass-produced dresses - that everything is commodified and nothing is sustainable – did for me. I decided that if I really wanted a new dress, it had to be oldIt was April 2019. I was seven months pregnant and in Topshop, looking for something large in which to rehome my body.I was wearing a maternity dress that, if you had seen me pregnant, you would have recognised – a cheap, pleated wraparound in a red floral print that expanded as I expanded. I imagined Issey Miyake, but increasingly looked more like an armchair. It had served me well, but I was determined to buy something, anything, to see me through the next few months. Continue reading...

Restrictions in regional Victoria to ease from midnight Thursday, as six more Covid cases recorded

The artist’s latest work is the product of ‘hard physical labour’. She reveals her inspirations – from marine ecosystems and Flemish commodity painters to Black AtlantisTalking to Ellen Gallagher about her paintings is a multi-dimensional slalom ride: we swerve from the social lives of pictures to the sex life of coral and the transportation of slaves across oceans and centuries. Right now her latest works are all finished and singing to each other across a gallery floor before going their separate ways into museums or private collections.There are just five paintings on display at London’s Hauser & Wirth gallery, but they embody two years of “hard, physical labour” and decades of thought, plugging into a deeply personal mythology that she has developed from Afrofuturist fiction, marine biology, random song lyrics and the struggles of her artist forebears to give black people a proper place in the world. Continue reading...

Ben Roberts-Smith’s lawyers in his defamation action say they have been overwhelmed by new tranche of documents including the imagesThere are “hundreds” of photos of Australian soldiers drinking from a prosthetic leg – allegedly taken from a slain Afghan – at an unauthorised bar at Australia’s military base in Afghanistan, a court has heard.The existence of some photographs was previously known, and a handful had been widely broadcast and published. But the full extent of the photos from the Australian soldiers’ underground bar, the Fat Ladies’ Arms, was revealed before the federal court on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Concerns grow over fast-moving Melbourne Covid outbreak amid news positive case visited New South Wales south coast

Former political prisoner Daniel Bekele has made the commission more autonomous but critics claim he is biased on current conflictThere was a time when a report by Ethiopia’s human rights commission was a staid affair, its findings offering window-dressing for hand-wringing donors and legal cover to the government.Between 2013 and 2017 the commission systematically “whitewashed human rights violations through compromised methodologies, dismissing credible allegations”, according to a 2019 Amnesty International study that accused it of “brazen bias against victims”. Continue reading...

Devastation hampers relief efforts around city of Goma as people speak of losing everything after eruption on Mount Nyiragongo Continue reading...

Call comes after nearly 150 women made abuse claims against former partners in police forceAll serving police officers accused of domestic or sexual abuse should face misconduct hearings as well as criminal investigations, according to the most senior police officer for domestic abuse in England and Wales.Last month it emerged that nearly 150 women have come forward with claims of rape, sexual assault and domestic abuse by ex-partners in the police force. Louisa Rolfe, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s lead on domestic abuse, said she was “horrified” by the allegations and “doubly horrified” at reports they had not been properly investigated. Continue reading...

Community activists say months of school closures could lead to young people falling through the cracks

Wild herd has wrecked barns and munched its way through fields of crops after absconding from nature reserve in AprilA herd of 15 elephants have caused destruction in south-western China, including eating whole fields of corn and smashing up barns, after escaping from a nature reserve in April.Measures taken to keep migrating #elephants away from residential zones in #Yunnan.

The star of Good Girls discusses Mad Men, sexual harassment and squaring her glamorous reputation with her ‘weird, goofy’ personalityChristina Hendricks appears on our video call with the most dramatic backdrop. Art deco gold peacocks bedeck a black wall, making her look, as she has so often in her career, a bit too good to be human. Perfectly poised, perfectly framed, perfectly lit, she is more like a dreamy vision of what humans look like. “I, erm, like your wall,” I say, pointlessly. She flashes a smile, as if to say: “Obviously.”We are here primarily to discuss the comedy-drama series Good Girls, the fourth season of which will resume in the US this month after a midseason break. The elevator pitch would be Breaking Bad for girls: three suburban women, each hovering on the edge of bankruptcy, unite to embark on a life of cack-handed crime, only to discover they are good at it. The ensemble – Hendricks, Mae Whitman, who plays her sister, and Retta, their friend – works strikingly well, their pacey comic rapport instilling a sense of perpetual motion. You just can’t imagine Good Girls ending. Every time a plot line seems to be reaching its climax, something worse – and funnier – happens. Continue reading...

About a third have struggled with new cards issued by Home Office contractors, says charity

Messages flood in after tennis player withdraws from French Open saying press conferences worsen her anxiety and depressionAthletes and sponsors in Naomi Osaka’s native Japan have joined much of the tennis world in rallying behind the player after she withdrew from the French Open, citing struggles with anxiety and depression.The Japanese world No 2 left the grand slam tournament on Monday, days after she had been fined and threatened with expulsion for refusing to attend press conferences, saying she needed to protect her mental wellbeing. Continue reading...

Antony Blinken takes a shot at Beijing’s growing influence with rallying call for ‘international rules-based order’The US secretary of state has warned leaders of Pacific countries about “threats to the rules-based international order” and “economic coercion”, in what appears to be a veiled swipe at China’s growing influence in the region.Antony Blinken was addressing leaders and their delegates from 11 Pacific countries and territories including Fiji, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Palau and Marshall Islands as part of the Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders, which is held in Hawaii. Continue reading...

All eyes now turn to whether this makes an easing of England’s Covid measures on 21 June more likely

Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, has presided over a devastating civil war that has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Martin Chulov describes a man who came back from the brink of defeat to strengthen his grip on a country deeply scarred by warBashar al-Assad succeeded his father as president of Syria in 2000. He was just 34, had studied in London, and some hoped he would open up the autocratic country. Instead, following the Arab spring uprising he has cracked down harder than ever on the Syrian people. In the decade-long civil war that followed, more than 500,000 people are thought to have died.The Guardian’s Middle East correspondent, Martin Chulov, tells Anushka Asthana that as Assad lost control of vast areas of Syria following the uprising, he was at maximum vulnerability. But the intervention of Iran and Russia proved decisive. Now, after a widely discredited election victory with 95% of the vote, Assad begins his fourth term as president of a country deeply scarred by war. Continue reading...

Employees at public broadcaster RTHK voice fears for future amid gradual erosion of media freedomsNormally at this time of year Hong Kong media are bustling to prepare coverage of Friday’s anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre which, before Covid restrictions hit, usually included a huge vigil in Victoria Park. The event is illegal in China but had been proudly held in Hong Kong for decades.But this year journalists at the respected public broadcaster RTHK say they’ve been told to stand down. Continue reading...

WWF report finds puffins, penguins and many other species will face issues such as habitat loss and food insecurityCorals will bleach, penguins will lose their Antarctic ice floes, puffins around the UK coast will be unable to feed their young, and the black-headed squirrel monkey of the Amazon could be wiped out if the world fails to limit global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.Beyond a 1.5C rise, many species will face increasing problems finding food or surviving, according to a report from WWF on the effects of climate breakdown on 12 key species across the world. Continue reading...

Government’s £1.4bn programme of tutoring courses won’t be enough, warns its education recovery tsar

So far nearly 45 million people fully vaccinated, 4.7% of India’s adult population; Sinovac is second Chinese vaccine approved as safe by WHO

Craig Zobel, director of Mare of Easttown, offered to show actor in a more flattering light but Winslet said: ‘Don’t you dare’Kate Winslet has said she refused a director’s offer to edit a sex scene in which she showed a “bulgy bit of belly” for her latest television series.The actor claimed Craig Zobel, the director of her new HBO series Mare of Easttown, had offered to show her body in a more flattering light. Continue reading...

Here are the current coronavirus hotspots and exposure sites in New South Wales and what to do if you’ve visited them

Wednesday: Victoria’s shutdown expected to be extended amid ‘fleeting’ contact transmission. Plus: how the ‘good’ war went badGood morning. The latest Covid outbreak continues to cause concern, with a potential lockdown extension in Melbourne and alerts in NSW. We also have the latest on the ABC v Porter case and news on conflicts around the world.A decision on extending the Victorian lockdown is expected today, with health authorities concerned that the virus is spreading differently than during previous outbreaks. Officials met last night to discuss extending the lockdown as the NSW health department issued an alert after an infected Melbourne patient visited parts of the state, including Goulburn and south coast. The Covid-19 variant in Victoria’s outbreak is seemingly being transmitted between people during “fleeting”, casual and limited contact, authorities said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Australians who have been vaccinated against Covid would be able to leave the country and return with less strict quarantine requirements under a plan that could be trialled within six weeks. And in Canberra, the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, was forced to correct the record after he wrongly claimed that only six aged care facilities across the country had not been visited as part of the national vaccination rollout. Continue reading...

West Midlands police refer themselves to police watchdog amid claims killing was racially motivatedPolice in Birmingham hunting for a group of men who chased then stabbed a 14-year-old black child to death have made six arrests and referred themselves to the police watchdog amid claims the killing was racially motivated.West Midlands police initially said there was nothing to support a racial motive in Monday’s stabbing, despite concerns raised in the community. However, on Tuesday evening the force changed that stance, saying they were keeping an open mind as to the motive. Continue reading...

Officials discuss extending lockdown as NSW health department issues alert for positive Melbourne case who visited Goulburn and south coast

Lockdown hobbyist painted 1m tiny cobbles for scale model of Yorkshire town’s demolished St Hilda’s district

The NSW government last week announced changes to laws around sexual assault and consent that could dramatically change how survivors experience the court system. Saxon Mullins, the director of advocacy at the Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy Initiative, and a sexual assault survivor, explains how these laws could work and why they are necessaryYou can read more from Saxon Mullins on this subject here. Continue reading...

As coalition troops prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan after 20 years, former soldiers, key officers and the public are asking what went wrong with some special forces“Whatever we do … ,” one Australian special forces soldier said of his service in Afghanistan, “I can tell you the Brits and the US are far, far worse.“I’ve watched our young guys stand by and hero worship what they were doing, salivating at how the US were torturing people. You just stand there and roll your eyes and wait for it to end.” Continue reading...

British biscuit maker believed to have been sold for £360m to family that controls chocolate empireJammie Dodgers, Viscounts and Wagon Wheels will be on the menu at the ambassador’s reception after the baker behind some of Britain’s most popular biscuits was snapped up by the family that controls the Ferrero chocolate empire.Burton’s Biscuits, which employs 2,000 people at six manufacturing sites in the UK, has been bought by a Belgian holding company controlled by Giovanni Ferrero, the Italian entrepreneur whose businesses include Kinder Surprise, Nutella and Ferrero Rocher hazelnut truffles. Continue reading...

Police say suspect is believed to be known to Tony Eastlake, killed near his Islington stall on Saturday

Giovanni Brusca was arrested in 1996 and sentenced to life for more than 100 murdersOne of the Sicilian mafia’s most notorious killers, believed to have murdered more than 100 people, has been released from prison after 25 years.Giovanni Brusca, 64, nicknamed “the swine” or “u scannacristiani” (the people-slayer), who set off the explosive that the killed anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone in 1992, is a now a free man. He also ordered the strangling of an 11-year-old boy, whose body was dissolved in acid. Continue reading...

Former interior minister Fathi Bashagha claims ‘lazy’ UK failing in moral responsibility after 2011 Europe-led regime changeThe UK has been distracted by Brexit and “lazy” in fulfilling its moral responsibility to pull Libya out of the chaos that enveloped it after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, a leading presidential candidate claimed.The candidate, Fathi Bashagha, a former interior minister, who narrowly failed to become prime minister of an interim Libyan government in a UN process in February, said the UK had a special duty to come to Libya’s aid given David Cameron’s role in the country’s 2011 regime change. Continue reading...

President Sergio Mattarella forced to abandon dedication after officials noticed mistake on stone plaqueThe Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, was forced to abandon a ceremony dedicating a road in Rome to one of his predecessors, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, after officials noticed the name on the stone plaque was misspelled.Instead of “Azeglio”, the street marker said “Azelio”. Mattarella had already turned up to the event on Tuesday, alongside members of Ciampi’s family and the mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, before the embarrassing mistake was noticed, with the lettering showing up clearly through the translucent cloth covering the plaque. Continue reading...

Stsiapan Latypau carried out unconscious after claiming he was pressured to plead guiltyA Belarusian opposition activist stabbed himself in the throat with a pen during a court hearing after claiming investigators had pressured him to plead guilty or face the arrest of his family and friends.Footage from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty showed Stsiapan Latypau, who has organised protests against the country’s authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, lying inside a defendant’s cage as witnesses screamed in a courtroom in Minsk. Continue reading...

The show you’ve waited 17 years for aired at last – and could you BE any more emotional? But what did you rate and what did you hate? And why did Matt LeBlanc come out on top?Friends was a huge part of my life. Growing up, and realising I was gay but having nobody to talk to, I felt very alone and very isolated. Watching Friends got me through some really dark moments.

Scientists say UK faces ‘perilous moment’ as Delta Covid variant now makes up 75% of cases

Gunmen open fire on car carrying Gen Katumba Wamala in suburb of the capital, KampalaGunmen have opened fire on a car carrying a Ugandan government minister in an attempted assassination, wounding the former army commander and killing his daughter and driver, the military and local media have said.Four attackers on motorcycles shot at a four-wheel drive vehicle carrying Gen Katumba Wamala, the minister for works and transport, on Tuesday in the Kampala suburb of Kisaasi, the local television station NBS reported. Continue reading...

The New Yorker cartoonist’s debut graphic novel In follows an aimless artist who struggles to connect with others. He talks about his own experiences, and his love for drawing ‘characterful’ pigeonsOne morning this week, Will McPhail went out to buy a coffee. While fishing for his keys, he rested the takeaway cup on the roof of his car. A passerby spotted him.“Oof,” the man said, with a convivial, wotcha-cobber gesture at the coffee. “Don’t drive off!” Continue reading...

Ministry of culture claims Zara used a pattern distinctive to the indigenous Mixteca communityMexico has accused the international fashion brands Zara, Anthropologie and Patowl of cultural appropriation, claiming they used patterns from indigenous groups in their designs without any benefit to the communities.The culture ministry said in a statement that it had sent letters signed by the culture minister, Alejandra Frausto, to the three companies, asking each for a “public explanation on what basis it could privatise collective property”. Continue reading...

Armin Laschet, who hopes to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor, rules out cooperation with AfDArmin Laschet, the leader of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and her potential successor as chancellor, has insisted his party’s “firewall” against the far right will remain intact, as the CDU braces itself for a strong performance by the nationalist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Sunday’s state elections in Saxony-Anhalt.The AfD, which first entered the German parliament in 2017, is stagnant on about 11% of the vote in polls for the national vote in September, but has shored up its influential positions in several states of the formerly socialist east. Continue reading...

Rigorous testing and 20 million vaccinations a day might see Beijing ready to host the Winter Olympics 2022In March 2020, I wrote that life was returning to normal in China, but that other countries faced a longer wait. I did not imagine that this longer wait would extend until the summer of 2021. Meanwhile, China has returned to and maintained an essentially pre-Covid state – becoming a kind of parallel universe. In the last year, I have hiked in five provinces, organised a week-long in-person meeting in a tropical botanical garden involving scientists from 20 academic institutions, and attended scores of live music and dance events, featuring maskless musicians playing to packed, maskless crowds. GDP in the first quarter of this year grew 18.3%; in the EU, it fell 0.6%.China has achieved this success due to the effectiveness of its test, trace and isolate measures. There have been numerous outbreaks of Covid-19 since last spring, varying in size from single cases to hundreds, but all of them have been ended swiftly, with modest, generally localised disruption. The key to this success has been the rapidity and rigour of the measures taken to curtail community transmission. Continue reading...