World news | The Guardian

Growing numbers of frazzled parents are paying a fortune to people who claim they can help them get a good night’s rest. Are they being taken for a ride? Plus a doctor’s top tips for children of all agesBy the time her baby was four months old, Zara, a psychologist and executive coach from Surrey, was able to open a bottle of wine and have “a bit of an evening”. He was sleeping in four-hour stints, waking twice in the night. Then, at four and half months, his sleep pattern changed: “It was five wakes, then six, then eight,” Zara says. She was so exhausted she ended up Googling “can you die from sleep deprivation?”.“I was broken, emotional, confused, sleep-deprived and catastrophising,” she says. “He wouldn’t be down for longer than 20 minutes, and I was losing my mind. Using a sleep consultant was the best money I’ve ever spent; £250 to give me the confidence to trust my child to get himself to sleep without me.” Continue reading...

Joseph, 24, release engineer, meets Beti, 25, doctorWhat were you hoping for?

Unidentified aerial phenomena are getting serious attention on TV and from Barack Obama and Marco Rubio and next month the Pentagon is set to release a major declassified analysisNick Pope spent the early 1990s investigating UFOs for the British ministry of defence. Sequestered in a rarely visited government office – the “metaphorical basement” – he well remembers how his field of work was regarded.“I would walk down the corridor and people would whistle the theme music to either Close Encounters of the Third Kind or the Twilight Zone,” Pope told the Guardian. Continue reading...

Pulitzer-winner Carol Leonnig anatomises an agency that has never truly lived up to its steely professional imageAt times, the US Secret Service has resembled a bunch of pistol-toting frat boys on a taxpayer-funded spring break. In the words of a drunken supervisor speaking to his men in the run-up to a 2012 summit in Cartagena, Colombia: “You don’t know how lucky you are … You are going to fuck your way across the globe.”Related: Trump family members got ‘inappropriately close’ to Secret Service agents, book claims Continue reading...

Two men were taken to hospital after the truck crashed into a tree south of MuswellbrookFive thoroughbred horses have died in a truck crash in the New South Wales Hunter region.It is understood the broodmares were recently purchased by a large racehorse stud at a major national auction. Continue reading...

Guards say their work for Australia has made them and their families targets for retributionThe Taliban have publicly threatened Afghan security guards who have worked for the soon-to-be-shut Australian embassy, circulating pictures of them online and warning they would be targeted for cooperating with a foreign government.The Australian government announced this week that it was shutting its embassy in Kabul, citing “an increasingly uncertain security environment” and saying its diplomats would not be safe “in light of the imminent international military withdrawal from Afghanistan”. Continue reading...

It is understood the former governor general no longer wishes to appear as a character referee for the former soldierDame Quentin Bryce, the former governor general who pinned Ben Roberts-Smith’s Victoria Cross to his chest, is understood to be seeking to withdraw from giving evidence on his behalf in his upcoming defamation trial.Roberts-Smith’s high-profile action against three newspapers begins in just over a week, and Bryce has been publicly nominated as having agreed to offer character evidence in his defence. Continue reading...

EMA says children aged 12 and over can be given the Covid vaccine; Authorities in India say reopening will happen ‘very, very slowly’

State’s health department adds more tier 1 exposure sites to the 150 already identified

Black Lives Matter activist, 27, remains in critical condition after shooting in early hours of SundayAn 18-year-old has been charged with conspiracy to murder over the shooting of Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson.The 27-year-old remains in a critical condition in hospital after being injured at a party in Peckham, south-east London in the early hours of Sunday. Continue reading...

Abuse survivors say Chiara Porro should be working to avoid a repeat of the child abuse scandal exposed by the royal commissionThe new ambassador to the Holy See told a Catholic publication that her aim was to change the Vatican’s “narrative” about Australia away from the child abuse royal commission and cardinal George Pell – comments that have infuriated abuse survivors.In an interview with Catholic Health Australia in September, the newly appointed ambassador Chiara Porro spoke of a recent audience with the Pope, during which she raised the work local Catholic groups were doing on health and education. Continue reading...

Known for its beaches, surf breaks and social influencers, the holiday town on Australia’s east coast has recently earned a more sinister distinctionIn Byron Bay, a coastal town at the easternmost point of mainland Australia, there are rainbow lorikeets everywhere. They fly between postcard palm trees: small blurs of yellow, red, orange, blue and green against a backdrop of cloudless skies.It is almost too much – the colourful birds, the warm weather, the rolling hills, and of course, the Hollywood stars. Chris Hemsworth, Zac Efron and Matt Damon own property close to the town. Byron’s social media influencers – the murfers or “mum surfers”, in particular – are world famous, thanks to a profile in Vanity Fair. So potent are its charms that 2.2 million tourists visit Byron shire each year. Continue reading...

Husband of Jeanette Shields, 70, says she died after routine hip operation at the Cumberland Infirmary in CarlisleAn investigation is under way at a hospital in Cumbria after a woman died weeks after being “dropped” from an operating table.Jeanette Shields, 70, was dropped on the floor after a routine operation at the Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle, according to her husband, John Shields. Continue reading...

Collection was supposed to highlight inequalities, but anti-racism campaigners say it has backfiredSpain’s state-owned postal service has been accused of a damaging and counterproductive approach to equality after issuing a set of flesh-toned, anti-racism stamps in which the stamp with the lightest skin colour is worth more than twice as much as the darkest one.On Tuesday, Correos España unveiled the set of four “equality stamps”: a pale, €1.60 one, a slightly darker €1.50 one, a brown €0.80 one, and a black €0.70 one. Continue reading...

Probation service also contributed to deaths in terrorist attack at Fishmongers’ Hall, jury concludesFailures by MI5, the police and the probation service all contributed to deaths in a terrorist attack at Fishmongers’ Hall in London, an inquest has concluded.Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, were unlawfully killed in the attack at a prisoner education event at the hall in November 2019, the inquest jury at the Guildhall in London found. Continue reading...

Jayden McCarthy accused of attacks in 2019 on seven girls and one boy between ages of two and fourA teenage nursery worker has been found guilty of sexually assaulting young children he was employed to look after.Jayden McCarthy, now aged 18 but 16 at the time of the alleged offences in the summer of 2019, assaulted children at a family-run nursery in Devon. Continue reading...

Prime minister says system will be up and running before 1 July deadline and in time for tourist season

Health secretary says jab made by US firm’s subsidiary Janssen will play important role in British programme

AA says it does not expect ‘travel chaos’ but traffic is likely to grow on peak routes at peak timesSunny weather, the easing of Covid restrictions and the return of road traffic to pre-pandemic levels could combine to bring back traditional bank holiday jams in coastal areas, motoring organisations have said.The RAC said that about 11m journeys could be made over the weekend, the start of the half-term holiday for most schools. The AA said it did “not expect travel chaos”, but in the first long weekend since the last easing of lockdown, traffic was likely to grow on peak routes. Continue reading...

Viewers say scenes featuring Lady Gaga, boyband BTS and Justin Bieber are missing from Chinese versionFor many Chinese millennials, the US sitcom Friends was a window to the American way of life. Teachers would use the show to help students learn English. Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai have Friends-themed Central Perk cafes. So when news that the original cast were to hold a reunion special nearly 20 years after the show was first introduced into China, diehard fans were excited, and some of China’s biggest online streaming platforms bought the rights to broadcast the show.But eagle-eyed viewers complained on Thursday that some of the much-talked-about scenes in the original 104-minute runtime were missing. Continue reading...

You articulate it as worrying about his health, but I think it goes deeper than that, says Annalisa BarbieriI’m in my late 40s and have a brother who is a couple of years younger than me. He’s been happily married for almost 20 years and has a lovely daughter, who is in her early teens.Some years ago, he was treated for cancer (he has been in remission since), and I am happy he has managed to find his way in life. Our parents died two years ago, and we are all the family we have; we’ve had our differences, but in reconciling we probably understand each other better than ever. Continue reading...

Nicola Sturgeon says it would be premature to move city out of tier 3 while situation remains ‘fragile’

Ursula von der Leyen comes close to calling for regime change as she urges country to ‘change course’

Victorian authorities have identified more than 15,000 close contacts and 121 exposure sites in the latest coronavirus outbreak

Trade unions say they have lost control of protests over pay as employers cite impact of Covid for restraintA woman has died after being shot during violent clashes between factory workers and police in Lesotho as trade unions say they have lost control over angry protests over pay.Demonstrations spilled over into violence in what is the second week of industrial action, with looting and damage to several businesses in the capital Maseru. Continue reading...

Move widens campaign to name 30,000 ‘disappeared’ and murdered by military regime after 1976 coupThe Argentinian government has sent thousands of DNA testing kits to its consulates around the world in a groundbreaking effort to put names to unidentified victims murdered in the “Dirty War” waged by the brutal military dictatorship four decades ago.Last month, the Argentinian authorities, in collaboration with the National Commission for the Right to Identity, the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo movement and investigators from the Argentinian Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), launched its international Right to Identity campaign, committed to putting a name to every woman, man and child killed by the military junta in Argentina in the 1970s and early 80s. Continue reading...

Experts say case numbers in Tokyo need to be much lower to prevent another surge during the Games

The Philly punks on what it’s like teaching Mare of Easttown actors how to rock out, and writing about the ‘confidence and desperation’ of people on TikTokThere is a lot to admire about crime drama Mare of Easttown, from its gritty storytelling to the way Kate Winslet puffs on a vape. Punk fans, however, have been tuning in each week not to discover the identity of the murderer loose in the Pennsylvania suburbs but to catch a glimpse of the show’s fake band, Androgynous.Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips Continue reading...

Supermarket says it will investigate report on forced labour in Tamil Nadu garment chain and ensure improvements are madeTesco said it has found labour abuses in its garment supply chain in southern India after receiving evidence of widespread forced labour involving migrant women in cotton spinning-mills across Tamil Nadu.The supermarket said that one of its supply chains is linked to a spinning mill included in a new report by NGOs Somo and Arisa that found evidence across the region of multiple labour abuses including deception, intimidation and threats towards vulnerable female workers, abusive working and living conditions and excessive overtime. Continue reading...

From the priest who wears his collar on holiday to the tailor who suits up for absolutely everything, here are the people who have found their look – and aren’t going to change it for anythingI always wear Issey Miyake tunic dresses and shawls, in various colours, with leggings and boots in winter, secured with three vintage Bakelite brooches. I have been wearing this uniform for about 10 years. After I gained weight, I couldn’t find anything that looked good and was in my size. I discovered the Japanese designer on eBay, where I also discovered vintage handbags and briefcases, and Bakelite jewellery, to accessorise with. All of these items are reasonably priced on the secondhand market, and I like the sustainability: I have had some pieces for a decade, and they are still in great shape. It’s fun to have someone drive by and say: “I love your clothes!” That gives me a kick. I don’t have to spend a lot of money on clothes any more, and it takes me five minutes to get dressed. I know which clothes fit and look good, and being dressed in beautiful clothing helps to combat ageism and fat shaming. Leslie Dollen, retired, Minnesota Continue reading...

Doctors’ pleas receive little sympathy from government as critics say President Amlo favoring teachers – for political reasonsAna Sofía is radiologist at a state-run hospital in the Mexican city of Monterrey, not far from the Texas border. Her work often brings her into close contact with patients, but says she was denied a coronavirus vaccination as her superiors did not consider her to be a frontline worker.In despair, she attended a rural vaccination event for the elderly and asked for a leftover dose of the Sinovac jab – but she was again rebuffed, this time by political operatives who told her: “Wait your turn.” Continue reading...

Twenty-one competitors died in the freezing Chinese mountains, raising major questions about safety in the sportAt the starting line of the Gansu ultramarathon, it was cold but the sun was shining. One competitor struggled to warm up, even after jogging a quick 2km, and noticed some of the elite competitors were wearing shorts and shivering. In nearby towns, the temperature was reportedly already dropping and winds increasing, but the 172 runners didn’t know that.In a widely shared account of the horror that followed, published online, the anonymous runner described the conditions that led to the death of 21 competitors and the admission of eight others to hospital, and sparked major questions about the safety of the increasingly popular endurance sport in China. Continue reading...

Residents wake up to first day of week-long shutdown to contain growing number of cases. This blog is now closed

A promising premise, involving an anxious British Asian guy finding peace in the Spanish city, is let down by cliched dialogueThe premise of Granada Nights, the directorial debut from Abid Khan, seems promising enough, in that it reimagines the tired subgenre of a sad white guy going to a foreign country and learning how to live, love and laugh. Unfortunately, while refreshingly centring a British Asian protagonist, Khan’s film is hopelessly bogged down by a thin plot and cliched dialogues.Square, Instagram-like framing opens this journey of self-discovery, capturing reserved 24-year-old Ben (Antonio Aakeel) en route from London to Granada, Spain, to surprise his long-distance girlfriend, Helen. The tight composition oozes anxiety, and Ben’s apprehensions are sadly proved right: Helen doesn’t even want to see his face. Heartbroken and sneering at hostels, Ben is persuaded by spunky backpacker Amelia (Quintessa Swindell) to stay and explore the city. One night turns into weeks and months as the formerly shy guy gets immersed in the buzzing international student scene. The aspect ratios gradually expand – reminiscent of Xavier Dolan’s Mommy – as the framing mirrors Ben’s newly acquired open-mindedness and inner peace. Continue reading...

The young star of Peter Murimi’s intimate documentary is as poor, religious and conservative as his peers – and fearful of a violent backlash, he saysSamuel Asilikwa grew up in rural Kenya. There was a strict template for masculinity, informed by centuries of tradition – and intolerance. In a new documentary about his life, we see his father, a pastor, question Asilikwa about why he is yet to find a wife. We then watch as he relocates to Nairobi in search of work and adventure. He finds community, friendship and intense romance with a man called Alex.Peter Murimi’s film I Am Samuel, shot verité-style over the course of five years, is at its most powerful contrasting city and countryside. Kenya’s farmland, clay roads, shrubbery and corn fields are evidence of a still, yet cyclical, pattern of life compared with the infinite noise and claustrophobia of Nairobi. But it is also a film about a shifting political landscape, where “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” is punishable by 14 years’ imprisonment. Continue reading...

Activists were shot and beaten at demonstration to stop property giant Bahria Town building on indigenous land they say was taken with forceMuhammad Anwar was not aware of any danger when he took the day off work to join his friends at a demonstration on a construction site of a powerful real estate company.When Anwar, 35, reached the west bank of Langeji river, near Karachi, earlier this month, he saw the bulldozers levelling land next to Bahria Town, a luxury gated development. Continue reading...

Warnings of brain drain from developing world as Covid adds to numbers of nurses leaving profession

The much-anticipated special brought back the stars of the long-running sitcom along with celebrity guests but was it worth the hype?Now that it is out in the world, it’s clear that the much-heralded Friends reunion is actually several shows in one. It’s a clip show, it’s an interview show, it’s a celebrity talking heads show. And, as you’d expect from a format this muddled, some of it worked better than others. For every moment that managed to be genuinely touching, there was another where it felt like everyone was simply letting the clock run out. Perhaps the best way to approach this is to break the reunion down into its constituent parts, from most to least successful. Beware: here be spoilers.Related: Friends: the Reunion review – The One That Is a Nostalgia Fest and No More Continue reading...

Independent senator Rex Patrick told attorney general treatment of former tax office worker would dissuade other whistleblowersThe attorney general, Michaelia Cash, says she will consider serious concerns raised about the prosecution of tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle, including that the case harms the public interest by scaring other whistleblowers into silence.The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is planning to forge ahead with its prosecution of Boyle, a former tax office worker who blew the whistle on his agency’s inappropriate and unethical use of garnishee powers to pursue small business owners for debts. Continue reading...

Eitan Biran, whose parents, younger brother and great-grandparents were killed in the crash, has woken up and spoken to his auntThe five-year-old boy who survived last weekend’s deadly cable car crash in the Italian mountains that killed his parents and sibling is awake and will soon be moved out of intensive care, hospital officials said on Thursday.Eitan Biran has been in critical condition since the cabin plunged to the ground on the Mottarone mountain, killing the other 14 people inside, including his parents, younger brother and great-grandparents. Thirteen of the passengers died at the scene, while Eitan and another child were taken to hospital. The other child later died. Continue reading...

Belarusian journalist Hanna Liubakova examines why Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, apparently diverted a Ryanair flight in order to arrest 26-year-old blogger Raman Pratasevich. Guardian Moscow correspondent, Andrew Roth, discusses the fallout from Lukashenko’s actionAnushka Asthana talks to the Belarusian journalist Hanna Liubakova about the 26-year-old opposition blogger Raman Pratasevich and his 23-year-old girlfriend, Sofia Sapega. On Sunday their Ryanair flight, which was meant to be flying to Lithuania, was forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk and they were arrested. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Belarusian opposition leader, told the European parliament on Wednesday that Lukashenko was “turning the country into the North Korea of Europe: non-transparent, unpredictable and dangerous”.Anushka also talks to the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent Andrew Roth about the international reaction to what has been called a ‘state-sponsored hijacking’. The British government has told all UK planes to cease flying over Belarus, while the EU has imposed new economic sanctions. Kremlin officials have offered only muted support over the incident.

Friday: The federal government faces criticism over the vaccine rollout and quarantine arrangements. Plus: how rainbow bubblewrap became a playground must-haveGood morning. Melbourne is in lockdown, China and the US are at odds, and there’s more tension between the UK and the EU – it’s Groundhog Day Friday 28 May, and this is Imogen Dewey with the main stories to see out your week.Victorians are waking up in lockdown (again) after the government opted for tough measures to contain a growing Melbourne-based Covid-19 cluster. For those in the state, here’s a list of the latest rules and exposure sites. Amid mounting concern this wave could have become “uncontrollable”, the Morrison government is under attack over “failed” quarantine arrangements and the sluggish pace of the national vaccine rollout. Families of residents at an unvaccinated Melbourne aged care home were “flabbergasted” by comments from the aged care minister, Richard Colbeck, who claimed earlier yesterday that those not yet vaccinated had “chosen not to take the jab”. And Victoria’s vaccine hotline crashed for hours, inundated with calls after the state government’s decision to open up vaccinations to those aged over 40 (announced with the lockdown). Continue reading...

At least 43 protesters have been killed by police and 46 people have suffered eye injuriesAfter a month of protests in which 46 people have suffered eye injuries from police teargas rounds and rubber bullets, a Colombian politician has prompted outrage by saying that supporters of the anti-poverty demonstrations should “stop crying over one eye”.“Don’t fool Colombians and don’t fool the international community and stop crying over one eye,” said Paola Holguín, a senator from the ruling Centro Democrático party, to opposition politicians during a virtual floor speech on Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading...

Health secretary claims it ‘wasn’t possible’ to test all patients sent to care homes at outset of pandemic

US president likely to release report detailing the US findings on the origins of Covid in full; Germany to make vaccine available to children 12 and over

Boris Johnson’s former chief aide described ‘completely surreal day’ in his testimony to MPs on WednesdayBoris Johnson rejected a call from Donald Trump’s White House to participate in airstrikes in Iraq last March after an intervention by the UK government’s top legal officer, according to Dominic Cummings.The reasoning behind the attorney general’s advice was not spelled out by the prime minister’s former chief aide during his seven-hour testimony on Wednesday, although a human rights group said the US strikes were illegal under international law. Continue reading...

Analysis: Scientists agree with the former adviser’s claim, with one calling the estimate ‘conservative’

Jyrelle O’Connor, who performs as Loski, is accused of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger lifeA jury has been discharged after failing to reach a verdict in the case of the rapper Loski, who is accused of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and related charges.Jyrelle O’Connor, 21, who performs as Loski, has millions of views on YouTube and other social platforms. He was charged with various offences related to possession of a firearm, one with intent to endanger life, and possession of ammunition. He denies the charges against him and claims he was forced to hold onto the gun after a drug dealer made threats against his and his mother’s lives. Continue reading...