World news | The Guardian

The Coalition has been urged to abandon changes that would allow charities to be deregistered if a volunteer commits a summary offenceA group of not-for-profit and philanthropy experts have warned a planned crackdown on charities by the Coalition will muzzle the sector, restrict dissent, and stifle political advocacy.The federal government is currently pursuing regulatory change to allow for the deregistration of charities in cases where any of their volunteers commit a summary offence, the most minor of legal breaches. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson to welcome the Hungarian prime minister, a fierce critic of Joe Biden and ally of ChinaBoris Johnson will welcome his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán, a fierce critic of Joe Biden and an ally of China, to No 10 on Friday, only the second EU leader the UK prime minister has greeted since the the country left the bloc.Orbán is hoping to prove to Hungarian voters ahead of next year’s elections that he can forge influential alliances and that the departure of his governing Fidesz party from the European People’s party centre-right grouping does not usher in an era of political isolation. Continue reading...

Readers share what the celebrated children’s author and illustrator’s work meant to them

Retaliation over Belarus airspace row results in cancellation of flights from French and Austrian carriersRussia has retaliated against a ban on carriers entering Belarus’s airspace by refusing to grant permission to European planes flying to Moscow.In an apparent escalation by the Kremlin, Russian aviation authorities on Thursday forced Austrian Airlines to cancel its flight from Vienna to the Russian capital. Air France also cancelled its Paris-Moscow flight for the second day in a row, after it was denied permission on Wednesday to land in Russia. Continue reading...

Stephen Watson says officers will visit all burglary scenes in drive to improve ‘underperforming’ forceThe new head of one of England’s biggest and most criticised police forces has insisted it is not a failing organisation but vowed he will quit if it is not in a “demonstrably better place” within two years.Stephen Watson took over as chief constable of Greater Manchester police (GMP) this week after his predecessor was forced to step down over an inspection report that found the force had failed to record 80,000 crimes in a year. Continue reading...

Canada interned over 600 people of Italian heritage after Italy declared war in 1940, and labelled about 31,000 as ‘enemy aliens’Justin Trudeau has made a formal apology for the internment of Italian Canadians during the second world war, acknowledging that hundreds of people were denied due legal process.After Italy declared war against Canada in 1940, Canada interned more than 600 people of Italian heritage and declared about 31,000 as “enemy aliens”. Continue reading...

Thousands of people have fled the Congolese city of Goma, some picking their way across landscapes scarred with lava, after officials said a second volcanic eruption could happen at any time.Thirty-one people were killed on Saturday evening when Mount Nyiragongo, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, sent a wall of orange lava downhill towards the city, destroying 17 villages on the way. The lava stopped just 300 metres short of Goma airport, the main hub for aid operations in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

London attraction will tell stories of figures connected to courthouse and station from Oscar Wilde to Krays

School leaders write to Gavin Williamson amid growing number of closures caused by outbreaks

EU citizens stopped by Border Force officers tell of being detained and treated ‘like criminals’EU tourists coming to the UK have told of being fingerprinted, detained and treated like liars by border officials before trying to travel through the Channel tunnel or by ferry at Calais.Sergio D’Alberti, a 51-year-old Italian hotel manager currently out of work due to the Covid pandemic, told the Guardian he was held for seven hours at the French port after UK Border Force officials concluded he would be a potential drain on the benefits system. Continue reading...

The band have released only one album since 1991 classic Loveless, yet their influence remains undimmed. Their frontman discusses destroying buildings with noise, losing his mojo – and preparing new music

The Hobbit actor, who is back on TV in the sitcom Breeders, recalls sharp dressing on a budget, discovering Public Enemy and how Michael Caine got him into filmThe first music I latched on to was British punk – the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Jam. I just loved the power, the rawness and the rudeness. You had to turn it down when your dad came in the room; your parents were supposed to hate it. Bob Marley and the Wailers and Linton Kwesi Johnson became a religion alongside the Catholicism I was taught in school. From 17, I was a little hip-hop head, mad on Jungle Brothers, Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy. I was obsessed with politics in that way you are as a teenager – when you actually know nothing.

Authors from Julia Donaldson to Cressida Cowell pay tribute to the beloved author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, who has died aged 91

Spokesman says US president’s order to intelligence agencies is attempt to stigmatise Chinese government

Impact of thousands of wildcat goldminers shown as president Jair Bolsonaro is accused of trying to promote their illegal workRare and disturbing aerial photographs have laid bare the devastation being inflicted on Brazil’s largest reserve for indigenous people by thousands of wildcat goldminers whose illegal activities have accelerated under the country’s far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro.Activists believe as many as 20,000 garimpeiro prospectors are operating within the Yanomami reserve in northern Brazil using speedboats and light aircraft to penetrate the vast expanse of jungle near the border with Venezuela. Continue reading...

French president says his country bears a responsibility in the deaths of hundreds of thousands, but was not complicitFrance bears a “terrible responsibility” for the deaths of hundreds of thousands in the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, President Emmanuel Macron has said in a long-anticipated speech in Kigali, the capital of the east African country.Speaking at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where 250,000 victims of the massacres are buried, Macron said that France had not been complicit in the tragedy but had made errors of judgement that had appalling consequences. Continue reading...

Residency route was launched in response to national security law imposed by Chinese government

This month, the Irish singer turned 60 – but her popularity belies how radical her Celtic futurism really isWith the plinking, clipped synths and infernally moreish chorus, Orinoco Flow is the Enya song that everyone knows, yet it is arguably the least interesting moment on her breakthrough album, Watermark. Indeed, for years it seemed that its ubiquity obscured the stranger treasures in her discography. Continue reading...

Labor criticises the sluggish vaccination rollout, especially in aged care, and calls for a safe national quarantine system

The foreign minister, Simon Coveney, hailed motion as ‘clear signal’ of the depth of feeling in IrelandIreland’s parliament has voted to condemn Israel’s “de facto annexation” of Palestinian land in what it said was the first use of the phrase by an EU government in relation to Israel.Government and opposition parties united on Wednesday night to back a motion that excoriated Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Continue reading...

Aerospace giant predicts strong but belated Covid recovery amid move to raise A320 output to 64 per month by 2023Airbus has told suppliers it plans for record production of its bestselling planes within two years in a sign of the manufacturer’s hopes for a belated but strong recovery for aviation from the coronavirus pandemic.The European manufacturer on Thursday said it would increase production of A320 single-aisle aircraft to 45 per month by October, up from 40. Continue reading...

Envoy raps Beijing for failing ‘treaty obligation’ to allow consular access to author accused of spyingAustralia’s ambassador to China has labelled the treatment of Yang Hengjun “arbitrary detention” on the morning of the writer’s closed-door trial for espionage charges.The envoy, Graham Fletcher, was on Thursday denied entry to the Beijing court where Yang will be tried after spending more than two years in jail. Continue reading...

Covid variant travelling at a ‘super quick pace’, acting premier James Merlino says, as Melbourne cases grow to 26. Follow the latest updates

A blaze ripped through the overcrowded settlement of Susan’s Bay in Freetown in March, injuring hundreds. British photographer Henry Kamara, of Sierra Leone descent, documents the aftermath in this coastal community as people try to rebuild their lives Continue reading...

With people unable to get through despite booking requirement, some clinics across state begin accepting walk-in vaccinations for under-50s

Dr Eileen Reilly allegedly offered to prescribe ‘unproven and experimental’ treatment promoted by US anti-abortion activistsA UK-based doctor is under investigation for offering to prescribe abortion “reversal” medication, an “unproven and experimental” treatment promoted by US-based anti-abortion activists.The doctor allegedly offered to prescribe pessaries to an undercover investigator with the advocacy group openDemocracy. The undercover investigator was connected to the doctor after calling a US-based Christian hotline run by Heartbeat International, a large anti-abortion group. Continue reading...

Boxing must address the damage done in the ring and a new book by Tris Dixon lays out what’s left after the final bell ringsThe writer, the fighter, the doctor and the widow all look down into the darkness and damage of boxing. They understand the previously untold story of brain trauma in the ring and, as they talk to me, their moving testimony underpins a shared belief that change has to come. There is a measured urgency to their words for they love the fighters and they want to offer their knowledge to help make this brutal sport a little safer.Damage and death have always framed boxing. This harsh truth means that, despite the chaos outside the ring, boxing is shockingly real. It can maim and even kill but, in a strange paradox, boxing also makes most fighters feel more intensely alive than anything else. Continue reading...

Total and Chevron halt some payments to military in wake of coup but advocacy groups say more needs to be doneAdvocacy groups have called on French fossil fuel giant Total and US company Chevron to further cut ties with Myanmar’s military, after announcing they would suspend dividend payments to the junta from a large gas project in the wake of February’s coup.“Total condemns the violence and human rights abuses occurring in Myanmar and reaffirms that it will comply with any decision that may be taken by the relevant international and national authorities, including applicable sanctions issued by the EU or the US authorities,” the company said in a statement. Continue reading...

A new version of the much-loved kids show brings back beloved characters but with a new look that has been unsettling faithful fansPeople have a tendency to react badly whenever Hollywood remakes something from their childhood for the sole purpose of appeasing the dead-eyed gods of late-stage capitalism. And that’s probably why, upon seeing the trailer for the new CGI Paramount+ remake of beloved 1990s cartoon Rugrats, people generally acted as if they were watching a family member being firebombed.Related: The new ThunderCats film must revive TV show's psychedelic magic Continue reading...

An ancient demonic skull mask wreaks havoc on São Paulo in a plot almost as messy as the omnipresent, scene-stealing goreAnyone who wanted more of the human-sacrifice scene in Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto will be overjoyed by this silly, uneven but strangely appealing slasher film that leaves no heart unripped from human thorax. A mystifying prologue sees Nazis unearth a grotesque pre-Colombian skull mask, which looks like Darth Maul’s Sunday best. The artefact resurfaces in modern-day São Paulo where, after chewing up the archaeologist who found it, it attaches itself to one of the crime-scene cleaners. He is transformed into a host for Anhangá, an indigenous demon who loves an old-school blood sacrifice.Here’s hoping the actor in the mask (Brazilian wrestler Rurik Jr) didn’t make any earnest thespian inquiries about Anhangá’s motivation, because this is a tough one to answer. It’s hinted he’s on a lumbering journey towards a church where a rival god’s femur is kept; Manco (Wilton Andrade) – a fruit-seller who is also part of some ancient order – is determined to intervene. Also following the entrails is detective Beatriz (Natallia Rodrigues), who is blackmailed into cooperating with a gaunt corporate CEO (Ivo Müller) planning to use the mask in a ritual involving abducted Bolivian children. Continue reading...

Judges rule that Uhuru Kenyatta, who claimed BBI plan was to end country’s cycle of post-election violence, overstepped his authority and can be sued

Nanaia Mahuta grew up surrounded by family fighting for Māori rights and has promised to bring her indigenous perspective to foreign affairsNanaia Mahuta is sitting in her office, on the upper floors of New Zealand’s parliament. It’s a squally autumn day, but the sun is bright outside the window. The bookshelf behind her is filled with artefacts and mementoes, many of them gifts from around New Zealand and the Pacific. “Ask about any of them,” she says. “There’s a story behind each.”On the lower shelf rests the carved walking stick that belonged to her late father, Sir Robert Mahuta. It was from him, and her mother, that Mahuta first learned the practice of politics. She says her earliest political memories are of her father battling the construction of the monolithic Huntly power station, when she was around eight years old. “I was grown and nurtured in an environment where tribal politics, and tribal aspirations, tribal development and opportunity through economic development was very much the norm,” Mahuta says. “[It was] the discourse that we had within our household,” she smiles, “and around the dinner table.” Continue reading...

Health secretary will appear in the Commons and host a press conference a day after incendiary claims from PM’s former aideThe health secretary, Matt Hancock, will face MPs on Thursday over allegations made by the former senior No 10 aide Dominic Cummings to a select committee that Hancock lied to colleagues and performed “disastrously” during the Covid pandemic.In incendiary testimony on Wednesday, Cummings singled out Hancock, saying he should have been fired for “at least 15 to 20 things – including lying to everybody on multiple occasions”. He said he had suggested this to the prime minister, as did the then cabinet secretary, Mark Sedwill. Continue reading...

Supporters of a new coalmine have argued that it will reduce global warming and create green jobs. How could such absurd claims have gained any credibility?It was in early 2019 that I first heard about the proposals for a new coalmine in Cumbria. It happened almost by chance. I was speaking with a local government officer who was developing the county’s economic strategy. As someone who has worked with governments on climate issues for many years, I had been asked to offer advice on how to make Cumbria a climate leader. We talked through the opportunities – investing in renewables, helping businesses reduce waste, developing Cumbria’s tourist industry.And then the government officer mentioned, almost in passing, that they had been helping a company with plans for a new coalmine, to produce coking coal for steel production. I didn’t know what to say. This would be the first new deep coal mine in the UK for 30 years, and the only active one: the last of the old ones closed in 2015. After a long silence I pointed out that digging up coal – the most polluting of all fossil fuels – is no definition of climate leadership. Yet just a couple of weeks later, Cumbria county council’s planning committee voted unanimously in favour of the mine. Continue reading...

A lot of talk around body image is just about awareness, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, and awareness and unlearning are very different stepsThere are two wolves inside me. One is a feminist. The other wants to be thin and beautiful. I am so tired of being caught between them.When I’m eating healthily, I feel good about my body; I can wear the clothes I love, I feel confident and attractive. But I dream of burgers and pizza, of baking cupcakes, whole milk and soft white bread fresh and warm from the oven, slathered in melting butter. And I feel guilty for being so pathetic as to deprive myself of these joys in the name of looking acceptable to a shallow, misogynist society. Continue reading...

France joins Germany in restricting travellers from Britain amid fears over spread of variant

Twenty-one runners died on Saturday when freezing temperatures, hail and high winds hit the racing route: a 62-mile (100km) stretch of mountainous trail about 3,000 metres above sea level in the Yellow River Stone Forest tourist site near Baiyin city, north-west China. Mountaineer Luo Jing comments on the conditions during the race.Family members and fellow competitors of those how died are seeking answers and accountability, as further accounts emerge of survivors’ harrowing experiences

Art historian aims to attract young people to world’s most visited museum and focus on contemporary themes

Belarusian authorities have released a video of Sofia Sapega, the girlfriend of the detained journalist Raman Pratasevich. The video appears to show Sapega confessing to being the editor of a channel on the social media site Telegram.Family members havesaid her and Pratasevich's confessionswere clearly coerced. An earlier video showed Pratasevich saying police were treating him well and confessing to organising anti-government protests in Minsk

Five people including three teenagers in custody on suspicion of attempted murderFive people have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in relation to the shooting of the activist Sasha Johnson in Peckham, south London, on Sunday.The Met police said officers based in Southwark and Lambeth stopped a 17-year-old on Tuesday and arrested him on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and possession with intent to supply class A drugs. Continue reading...

Acting premier says next 24 hours critical for determining whether tougher measures needed to contain Melbourne coronavirus outbreak

Alleged sedition and a royal family feud may have been driven by a broader plan to reshape the Middle EastThe phone call that shook the Jordanian government came in the second week of March this year. On the line to the General Intelligence Directorate (GID) in Amman was the US Embassy, seeking an urgent meeting about a matter of national importance. The kingdom’s spies were startled. Danger was brewing on the home front, they were told, and could soon pose a threat to the throne.Within hours, the GID had turned its full array of resources towards one of the country’s most senior royals, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, a former crown prince and half-brother of the king, whom the Americans suspected was sowing dissent and had begun rallying supporters. By early April, officials had placed Hamzah under house arrest and publicly accused the former heir and two close aides of plotting to unseat King Abdullah. Continue reading...

Appeal court ruling means people denied settled status or immigration visas can see records used in the caseEU citizens have won the right to get full access to records about them held by the Home Office or any other body after a legal battle by campaigners.Three judges at the court of appeal unanimously overturned an earlier high court decision that their case had no legal merit and ruled the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) unlawfully denied them access to their data through an “immigration exemption” clause. Continue reading...

Lack of cold-weather gear questioned as more harrowing accounts of survivors emergeLoved ones and fellow competitors of 21 runners who died in extreme weather during an ultramarathon in north-western China are looking for accountability, as further accounts emerge of survivors’ harrowing experiences.Twenty-one runners died on Saturday when below-freezing temperatures, hail and high winds hit the race track: a 100km stretch of mountainous trail about 3,000 metres above sea level, in the Yellow River Stone Forest tourist site near Baiyin city. A further eight people were injured. Continue reading...

Sales of items from celebrities such as Janet Jackson and K-poppers BTS are trending – and reframing what goes under the hammerIs celebrity merchandise the new Monet? Auction houses are in flux, with more and more pop culture items being sold under the hammer for six and seven-figure sums.Last month, Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills hosted a three-day auction of Janet Jackson’s personal belongings, including some of her most iconic stage outfits. Buyers included Kim Kardashian, who snagged Jackson’s outfit from the music video for her 1993 classic If for $25,000 (£18,000) and, on Instagram, said she was “such a fan” of the singer. Continue reading...

Local leaders say latest guidance – updated following criticism – was not what was agreed at meeting on Tuesday

Question time in federal parliament is, objectively, an abomination and Tony Smith has finally taken aim at the prime minister and senior colleaguesWhat set Tony Smith off?Had the Speaker of the House of Representatives spied Clive Palmer engaged in a performative lunch date with Craig Kelly in the parliamentary dining room and acquired a searing case of indigestion? Had a normally reliable aide failed to water his favourite pot plant? Continue reading...

PM questioned over quarantine system and vaccine rollout; Victorians urged to get tested after positive cases went to Collingwood game at MCG, Bendigo salon and more cafes in Melbourne inner-city suburbs

In a letter dictated from detention the democracy activist has urged a friend ‘don’t worry about me’Yang Hengjun, the Australian democracy activist who goes on trial for espionage in China on Thursday, says he is unafraid of the “suffering and torture” of a potential long prison sentence, and he wishes he could keep writing to “help China to understand the world”.In a letter dictated from detention, where he has been held more than two years and interrogated more than 300 times, he urged a friend “don’t worry about me”. Continue reading...

Defendants left in prison for months awaiting trial as staff strike over judicial system’s financial autonomyA nationwide strike of court workers in Nigeria is paralysing the justice system, resulting in extended prison remands for those awaiting trial or sentencing and lengthy delays for everyone else.In March last year, Taiwo Ebun*, 27, was arrested for alleged armed robbery in Lagos. Since then he has been in detention. Continue reading...