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Swedish Academy documents reveal debate over naming the dissident writer the 1970 literature laureate, four years before his exile from the Soviet UnionNewly opened archives at the Swedish Academy have revealed the depth of concern among Nobel judges for the consequences awaiting Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn if the dissident Soviet writer were awarded the prize for literature in 1970.The author of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, who revealed the horrors of Stalin’s gulags in his writings and was eventually exiled by the Soviet Union, was named the Nobel laureate that year, lauded by the committee for “the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature”. Continue reading...

A nun working in war-torn Tigray has shared her harrowing testimony of the atrocities taking place

Japan Pom Pom started with five people 26 years ago and now has 17 active members, all older than 55, who passed auditions to join Continue reading...

Judge rules medical staff can use minimum force on woman who has barely left home in four yearsMedics can use force to remove an agoraphobic pregnant woman from her home so she can give birth in hospital, a judge has ruled.Justice Holman concluded that it would be in the 21-year-old’s best interests to allow staff trained in restraint techniques to use minimum force if the woman refused to leave home. Continue reading...

From a guide to being an ‘ethical slut’ to Charlotte Roche’s disturbing Wetlands, historian Kate Lister picks the best books about the beauty, ugliness and joy of sexualityFrom sex history and modern erotica to self-help books and the art of penis origami, sex is a topic that spans every generation and culture in the world, so any “best” list can only offer the books that have meant the most to me, personally and professionally, as a historian of sex.Vénus Noire: Black Women and Colonial Fantasies in Nineteenth-Century France by Robin Mitchell is an impeccably researched history of how ideas of blackness and black women were appropriated by 19th-century white French culture as hypersexual, predatory and “exotic”. It opens with the story of Sarah Baartman, the so-called “Hottentot Venus” who was paraded on tour before white paying tourists, and Mitchell’s passionate rejection of the idea that historians should be objective and unemotional about their subject. The book is a triumph not only because it shows how narratives around black women’s bodies have evolved, but because Mitchell unashamedly makes the personal political. Continue reading...

Hazara community in mourning but defiant after more than 60 people killed in school bomb blasts

With international tourism frozen, families separated and expats feeling abandoned, the question of how to reopen is becoming pressing

Ethiopian nun speaks of widespread horror she and colleagues are seeing on a daily basis inside the heavily isolated region of Tigray

Howard Beckett, a member of Labour’s National Executive Committee, later apologised and deleted the tweet

Design Museum, London

International travel for Welsh citizens will also resume on Monday, the first minister has confirmed

Friday: Anthony Albanese promises 20,000 new properties in his federal budget reply. Plus: two dead on Mount EverestGood morning. It’s Friday 14 May and ,while budget week might be over, the analysis is just beginning. The sexual harassment conversation shows no signs of slowing in Australia’s halls of power. And violence continues to escalate in Gaza. This is Imogen Dewey with this morning’s main stories.Experts have suggested that Tuesday’s federal budget fails to address Australia’s housing shortage and homelessness – and in last night’s reply speech, Anthony Albanese pledged $10bn to a social housing fund if Labor win the next election. He also committed to creating 10,000 new energy apprenticeships, criminalise wage theft and make employers responsible for workplace sexual harassment. Continue reading...

Sources say government poised to approve jab for over-16s in worst-affected areas

Immigration Enforcement officials released two men after a day-long standoff with local residents. Hundreds of people surrounded the officials’ van in a residential street to prevent the detention of the men during Eid al-Fitr, chanting ‘these are our neighbours, let them go’

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Hundreds of people surrounded vehicle men were held in and chanted ‘these are our neighbours, let them go’Campaigners have hailed a victory for Glaswegian solidarity and told the Home Office “you messed with the wrong city” as two men detained by UK Immigration Enforcement were released back into their community after a day of protest.Police Scotland intervened to free the men after a tense day-long standoff between immigration officials and hundreds of local residents, who surrounded their van in a residential street on the southside of Glasgow to stop the detention of the men during Eid al-Fitr. Continue reading...

MPs grill former prime minister for four hours about his text message and WhatsApp campaignDavid Cameron was on Thursday told that his persistent lobbying of ministers, begging for favours on behalf of the controversial bank he worked for, had “demeaned” the position of the prime minister and left his “reputation in tatters”.The former prime minister was forced to deny that his text message and WhatsApp lobbying campaign on behalf of Greensill Capital was driven by fears that an “opportunity to make a large amount of money was at risk”. Continue reading...

Amnesty International says private military firm in Cabo Delgado abandoned others to their fateSurvivors of a recent attack by Islamist insurgents in Mozambique have told Amnesty International that private military contractors prioritised white workers for evacuation as the extremists closed in during days of confused fighting.An estimated 220 civilians sought refuge in the Amarula hotel in Palma, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, during the attack in late March. Continue reading...

Emilie Tant from the Overseas Development Institute says solidarity in the international community is the only way to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territoriesWe don’t need the Israeli army to tell us that it is not particularly interested in a ceasefire (Israel-Gaza violence: death toll rises as UN envoy warns over escalation, 12 May) to recognise that these fresh UN warnings against escalating violence will not be heeded. For years the UN has been clear on Israel’s crimes against international law, yet the settler colonial project of successive Israeli governments has expanded unabated. Perhaps this is why the United Nations is referred to as the United Nothing by Palestinians across the West Bank.The balance of power in the occupied Palestinian territories is one of coloniser against the colonised, of the oppressor against the oppressed, and of perpetrator against victims. Only widespread solidarity from the international community, rooted in sustained strategies of digital and direct action, will force Israel to face the consequences of its crimes. To end the occupation, people around the world must mobilise together to draw a line in the sand. Mirroring strategies that built pressure against South Africa’s regime will do far more than diplomatic statements of condemnation that have so far failed to restrain Israel. Continue reading...

PM’s position echoed by president Reuvin Rivlin, who said a civil war would be ‘a danger to our existence’Israel’s political leaders have said violent street clashes between Jews and Arabs inside the country pose a bigger threat than the escalating military conflict with Gaza.The country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the town of Lod, where there has been rioting, burning of cars, destruction of property and violent attacks on individuals. Continue reading...

Senior Security Service figure says there was nothing it could have done to change the outcome in this case

Gaza health ministry says nine Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes after Palestinian groups fired rockets into IsraelTensions between Israel and the Palestinians escalated dramatically on Monday as militant groups in Gaza fired rockets into Israel and Israel responded with strikes on the Palestinian coastal territory following a police raid on the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem that left hundreds injured.The rocket attacks were launched just minutes after the passing of a Hamas-issued ultimatum for Israel to withdraw security forces from both the Jerusalem compound that is home to the al-Aqsa mosque and the Old City’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. Continue reading...

A series of events come together to inflame an already volatile situation in the holy city

Last week the United States became the latest country to declare its support for a vaccine patent waiver, which would allow cheaper versions of vaccines to be manufactured and sold. Many believe this measure will improve access to vaccines in developing countries and could significantly alter the global fight against Covid-19 – so why are so many countries still against it? Elias Visontay breaks down the case for a vaccine patent waiver, and how Australia continues to stand in the wayYou can also read: Continue reading...

Analysis: people have had right to hug whoever they want throughout pandemic - they were simply advised not to

‘Religious groups didn’t like Jesus wearing a Superman shirt or the lack of a resurrection. So we told them the curtain call was the resurrection – when Jesus runs on and takes a bow’Godspell opened in London in November 1971 and ran at the same time as Jesus Christ Superstar. It was the Rolls-Royce to our Ford Fiesta. I was 23, had just left the Bristol Old Vic company and was auditioning for everything. There were 30 of us lined up along the stage for the audition. I was on the end and taller than everyone else. I knew the Americans loved a level chorus line so I kept trying to sink down. I’d already done a few musicals including The Boy Friend and Oh What a Lovely War. But I’ve always said I sing like an actor and dance like a duck. Continue reading...

Open thread: the pandemic dragged even celebrities down so how were the rest of us mortals meant to hold it together?In the latest celebrity attempt to prove they had it just as hard as normal people in the pandemic, Gwyneth Paltrow has admitted she was driven to extremes during quarantine.Things got dark. She admitted to drinking as many as two cocktails a night during lockdown (quinoa-based whiskey cocktails, of course); and even sometimes eating bread and pasta – shock, horror! Continue reading...

More than 300 people reported injured as hardline Israelis prepare for parade through Old CityIsraeli police have stormed the sacred Jerusalem compound that holds the Dome of the Rock amid mounting international concern over the worsening violence in the city.Following the most serious clashes in the city since 2017, the Palestine Red Crescent reported 305 people had been injured after officers in riot gear clashed with Palestinian demonstrators in East Jerusalem. Continue reading...

Suspect held after woman was found in bushes in Little Heath, Romford

Parliamentary standards watchdog says it is looking into a possible breach of MPs’ code of conductBoris Johnson is under investigation over who paid for his Caribbean holiday with Carrie Symonds during Christmas 2019.The parliamentary standards commissioner, Kathryn Stone, confirmed on Monday morning that she was investigating a possible breach of the MPs’ code of conduct. Continue reading...

Boris Palmer posted comment online about former footballer Dennis AogoThe leadership of Germany’s high-flying Green party is facing the first test of its authority ahead of national elections in September, after a prominent Green mayor posted a racial slur about a German national footballer on social media.Regional leaders of the party voted at the weekend to expel Boris Palmer, the provocative mayor of Tübingen, over a Facebook post in which he referred to the former Germany international Dennis Aogo as an “awful racist”, in reference to an unsubstantiated anecdote on social media that the footballer, who has a Nigerian father and a German mother, had once bragged about the size of his penis, using the n-word. Continue reading...

Passengers advised against travelling as routes from London to south-west and Scotland hitPassengers on Britain’s intercity rail services face a third day of disruption as engineers continued to check high-speed trains for cracks.Trains between London and the south-west and between London and Scotland on the East Coast line are affected. Continue reading...

Second letter from military staff says threat of punishment ‘quite perverse’ and repeats: ‘Civil war is brewing in France’Serving members of the French military have fired a second salvo at Emmanuel Macron’s government in an open letter accusing it of “cowardice, deceit, perversion”, just weeks after a first letter warned the country was heading for “civil war”.Like the first letter, it appears in the rightwing magazine Valeurs Actuelles. It was reportedly signed anonymously “by active military personnel” and is appended with a petition on the magazine’s website for others to sign. Continue reading...

Navigating an uncharted landscape, I found solace in an unlikely placeAfter my third consecutive miscarriage I began baking bread.This was 2019, a year and change before quarantine boredom ignited a sourdough craze that lit up everyone’s lockdown Instagram feeds with images of fresh and hot loaves. Continue reading...

From ADHD to alopecia and learning the alphabet at 28, the Happy Mondays singer has had a wild, eventful life. He discusses hedonism, parenting – and why he has to spend so much time correcting Bez

The Good Place star plays a free man helping slaves to escape in Barry Jenkins’ epic series. The actor talks about the trauma of re-enacting such violent times – and the need to face up to historyWhen he was a child growing up in Texas in the 1980s, William Jackson Harper went to a show at the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas. “There was some part of the programme where some guy, somewhere in the stands, screams out, ‘The south will rise again!’ Things like that just came up that I didn’t clock as major moments. But as I got older I was like, ‘Oh, that was messed up.’”He continues: “There’s a point in a lot of black people’s lives where, especially if you’re around a lot of white people, all of a sudden your race becomes a thing. For me, it was middle school. It makes everything that’s happening now seem like, ‘Oh well, nothing ever really changed. It just went underground and now it’s back on the surface.’” Continue reading...

Former Liberal leader and PM defends decision to support independent rather than National in NSW upper Hunter byelectionMalcolm Turnbull is not ruling in or out supporting more independent candidates in forthcoming election contests, noting he has resigned from politics “but I haven’t resigned as an Australian citizen”.With a New South Wales state byelection looming in the upper Hunter, Turnbull has urged voters to support independent candidate Kirsty O’Connell – who has been upfront about the inexorable decline of the coal industry as a consequence of climate change – rather than a National party candidate. Continue reading...

As the UK pours millions into security measures, migrants say the gangs who control the Channel just get more powerful“Sorry, my battery’s low because I drained it watching YouTube tutorials on how to assemble dinghies,” Abuzar says. He is speaking on a video call from the abandoned shed in Calais he calls home. “I want to join my brother for asylum in the UK, but I have to work for smugglers because I don’t have enough money to pay for the crossing.“They hide boat parts on the beaches for me to assemble at night, but I’m so scared– – if I mess it up, children could drown on the boat.” Continue reading...

Three leopards from Hangzhou Safari Park were spotted by villagers on 1 May, but the park only reported the missing leopards on SaturdayA search for the last of three leopards that escaped from a safari park in eastern China was ongoing, authorities said Monday, as the park came under fire for concealing the breakout for nearly a week.The three leopards from the Hangzhou Safari Park were spotted by villagers as early as 1 May, according to the state-owned Global Times newspaper. However, the safari park only reported the missing leopards and alerted the public on Saturday. Continue reading...

Wife says Khet Thi, whose poetry inspired resistance to junta, died after being taken for interrogation on SaturdayMyanmar poet Khet Thi, whose works declare resistance to the ruling junta, has died in detention and his body was returned with the organs removed, his family said.A spokesperson for the junta did not answer calls to request comment on the death of Khet Thi, who had penned the line “They shoot in the head, but they don’t know the revolution is in the heart.” His Facebook page said he was 45. Continue reading...

In this extract, top atmospheric scientist Dave Lowe explains why despite political inaction he believes we can build a sustainable futureWhen it comes to the political will and leadership needed to drive the world towards a sustainable future, I’m a pessimist. Time and time again, I’ve heard rhetoric from politicians focusing on short-term goals at the expense of planning for the future. In 2021, the mainstream media promote responsible journalism and take a hard line with climate deniers. Many journalists hold governments to account over climate change goals. However, hard scientific data is often still manipulated and cherrypicked by politicians. I’ve spoken to many and liken the experience to walking through treacle.Does their bland decision-making have to do with the structure of democracy itself, with its short electoral terms and lack of incentives for incumbent politicians to make hard and binding decisions for the decades ahead? Continue reading...

Senior figures such as Andy Burnham are backing the deputy leader who is believed to be furious over treatmentKeir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour party was plunged into crisis on Sunday as a plan to demote his deputy, Angela Rayner, was derailed by a backlash from her supporters, leading to a prolonged standoff between the pair.Rayner was locked in negotiations with Starmer’s team for hours on Sunday after leaked plans to sack her as party chair and national campaigns coordinator triggered an outcry. Continue reading...

Emergency services attend scene on Grand Union near Park Royal as police cordon off areaThe body of a newborn baby has been found in the Grand Union canal in north-west London, police have said.The Metropolitan police said officers and paramedics were called at just before 1.20pm on Sunday to the body of an infant found in the water near Old Oak Lane. Continue reading...

Taliban deny responsibility after secondary school targeted in bloody attack in KabulDozens of girls were buried on Sunday at a desolate hilltop cemetery in Kabul, a day after a secondary school was targeted in the bloodiest attack in Afghanistan in over a year.A series of blasts outside the school during a peak holiday shopping period killed more than 50 people, mostly female students, and wounded more than 100 in Dasht-e-Barchi, a suburb of west Kabul populated mostly by Hazara Shias. Continue reading...

Honorary position challenged by Labour after Queen’s cousin allegedly told reporters he could be hired for £10,000 a day to contact Putin’s teamClaims that the Queen’s cousin was willing to use his royal status to sell privileged access to Vladimir Putin’s regime have raised questions over whether he should keep his honorary position in the British army, according to Labour.Prince Michael of Kent allegedly told undercover reporters posing as investors from South Korea that he could be hired for £10,000 a day to make “confidential” representations to the Russian president’s team. Continue reading...

More than 120 injured in continuing Palestinian protests over planned evictions in the Sheikh Jarrah areaIsrael’s supreme court has delayed a deeply contentious decision on whether Palestinians can be evicted by force to make way for Jewish settlers, after hundreds of Palestinians were wounded in confrontations with the police in some of Jerusalem’s worst unrest in years.A former Israeli defence official described the atmosphere as like a powder keg ready to explode at any time, after more clashes erupted outside the Old City overnight on Saturday. Continue reading...

The Guardian’s former deputy editor recalls his time reporting from Belfast during the TroublesPaul Johnson has a vivid memory of one of his most dispiriting moments as the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent.It was April 1986 and he was covering a Democratic Unionist party (DUP) conference. A warmup speaker for the party leader, Ian Paisley, electrified the audience with a suggestion. Continue reading...

Exclusive: US-owned warehousing and delivery company XPO Logistics has M&S and Asos among its clients

Rare exhibits on display for first time will reveal widespread impact of archbishop of Canterbury’s deathThe murder of Thomas Becket in 1170, cut down inside Canterbury Cathedral by knights of King Henry II’s retinue, sent shock waves throughout England and beyond – an act as scandalous, according to one of his successors as archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, as the assassination of JFK or Martin Luther King.The extent to which those ripples reverberated across Europe will be illustrated by a number of rare exhibits on display for the first time at the British Museum, as part of its forthcoming exhibition later this month about Becket, his murder and its powerful aftershocks. Continue reading...