World news | The Guardian

Lt Col Eleanor Taylor says in resignation letter: ‘On the issue of addressing harmful sexual behaviour, we have lost all credibility’One of the most senior female soldiers in Canada has resigned after a string of allegations of sexual misconduct among top brass, saying she was “sickened” by the military’s repeated failures to tackle the abuse.In a letter sent to her superiors, Lt Col Eleanor Taylor announced her resignation late on Tuesday, in the latestblow to an institution already in crisis. Continue reading...

Guardian readers on the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill and the threat it poses to civil libertiesYour leader (The Guardian view on policing dissent: Johnson plays politics with protest, 15 March) rightly notes: “Whatever pieties the government cloaks its proposals in, a partisan systematic reduction in civil liberties is a very dangerous thing for democracies.” Indeed, the words used by the home secretary and government spokesperson in defence of the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill, and of police action at the vigil, come straight from the PR coaching manual used by President Putin and his like in Hungary, Hong Kong, Myanmar and far too many places round the world.

Decision to pause use of AstraZeneca jab could lead to more deaths as new variant cases increase rapidly

Interior ministry’s proposed limit of 30% part of bill to crack down further on poor neighbourhoodsDenmark has announced plans to crack down further on disadvantaged neighbourhoods by reducing the number of “non-western” residents, scrapping the controversial term “ghetto” in its proposed legislation.In the bill – a review of existing legislation on combatting “parallel societies” – the interior ministry proposed that the share of residents of “non-western” origin in each neighbourhood be limited to a maximum of 30% within 10 years. Continue reading...

Forget sex and drugs: today’s hottest celebrity stories are far more humdrum. Here’s how gossip was replaced by anti-gossipName: Anti-gossip.Age: New. Continue reading...

UK foreign secretary tells US audience that EU is doing most to damage Good Friday agreementThe British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has accused the EU of trying to erect a border down the Irish Sea as he told a US audience that it was the EU that had been doing most to threaten the Northern Ireland protocol and damage the Good Friday agreement.His remarks came at the end of a setpiece speech at the Aspen Forum in which he extolled Britain as a force for good determined to build a broader caucus of nations ranged against a dangerous minority determined to ransack the international system. Continue reading...

Rodrigo Londoño led the leftwing Farc guerrillas, while Salvatore Mancuso was head of a rightwing death squad during the civil warTwo of Colombia’s most notorious warlords will appear together before a truth commission on Thursday, in the latest move to shed light on crimes committed during decades of bloody civil war.Rodrigo Londoño, better known by his wartime alias Timochenko, once led the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), in a bloody struggle against the Colombian state that left 260,000 dead. Continue reading...

Pandemic has wreaked havoc on legal process says campaign group Fair TrialsMore than 3,600 people – almost a third of England’s remand prison population – have been held beyond the legal time limit awaiting trials as the pandemic wreaks havoc on the legal process.The scale of the human backlog was revealed as some prisoners have been pleading guilty purely to avoid lengthy pre-trial detention and prompted calls for more remand prisoners to be immediately released. Continue reading...

Goats of Great Orme venturing even further into town, sparking fears for their safety as lockdown eased

His public health campaign at the height of the crisis saved countless lives. As a new generation learns about those dark days from It’s a Sin, the politician considers his legacyIn late 1985, Norman Fowler, who was then the health secretary in Margaret Thatcher’s government, sent a letter to the prime minister. He said that there had been 275 people with Aids in the UK that year. Of these, 144 had died. Without action, he added, a further 20,000 people would be infected with HIV by 1988. The UK was on the precipice of a public health emergency. Fowler encountered a lot of scepticism.“People at the time said that I was entirely taken over by the subject, and that I overexaggerated,” says Lord Fowler, now 83 and speaking via Zoom from his home in Fulham, south-west London. He looks composed, and every bit the lord in recess, wearing a pastel pink shirt underneath a green jumper. Behind him sits a glass cabinet stuffed with weighty texts and political memoirs. Continue reading...

Traumatised residents flee area as security forces fire at unarmed anti-coup protestersPart of Myanmar’s biggest city has turned into a battle zone, with burning barricades and security forces firing at unarmed anti-coup protesters.Traumatised residents have fled Hlaing Tharyar, an industrial neighbourhood in Yangon that has become one of the flashpoint sites in a nationwide uprising against the military’s coup nearly seven weeks ago. Continue reading...

Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group now numbers more than 2,800 as relatives seek answers over UK response

Foreign secretary has said deals should not be limited to countries with European-level standards of rightsDominic Raab has tried to fend off claims he told Foreign Office staff the UK intended to trade with countries with poor human rights records.In a leaked recording of a briefing by the foreign secretary, passed to HuffPost, he reportedly said: “I squarely believe we ought to be trading liberally around the world. If we restrict it to countries with European convention on human rights-level standards of human rights, we’re not going to do many trade deals with the growth markets of the future.” Continue reading...

Irish stout adds a delicious, dark richness to dishes from traditional stews and hearty pies to chocolate cakes and heady cocktails – St Patrick’s Day never tasted betterIt has been a whole 12 months: St Patrick’s Day 2020 was one of the first celebrations to be widely cancelled because of Covid, leaving a lot of people with surplus Guinness and no one to drink it with. Who imagined we would be in the same situation a year on?Clearly some people only drink Guinness on St Patrick’s Day. Pre-pandemic, an estimated average of 13m pints of the stuff were poured worldwide each year on 17 March. But if you once again find yourself with more Guinness than you know what to do with – and first and foremost, I suggest that you try simply drinking it – there are a number of recipes that employ the good Irish stout as a key ingredient. Here are 17 of the best for this 17 March. Continue reading...

The jabs will continue to be administered but the drug regulator will review the reports of anaphylaxisAustralia’s drug regulator is reviewing reports of anaphylaxis related to the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine after five people experienced an allergic reaction after taking the drug.Queensland health authorities reported that four people over the past two days potentially experienced anaphylactic reactions within 30 minutes of receiving the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Another case of allergic reaction was reported in Western Australia. Continue reading...

Essex police say 50-year-old man being held in connection with death in 2001Police have arrested a 50-year-old man in connection with the indecent assault and murder of Stuart Lubbock, who died at the home of the entertainer Michael Barrymore 20 years ago.Essex police said the man, who has not been named, was arrested in Cheshire and remains in custody where is being questioned. Continue reading...

People have stood at bars once again – but there remains a fine line between standing and dancing, which is still bannedNew South Wales residents are now allowed to stand with their drinks in bars, following the latest easing of Covid-19 restrictions.“This is what life is all about,” the New South Wales treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, said while holding a Guinness on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Mike Burgess says labels are ‘no longer fit for purpose’ as he reveals Asio removed ‘a nest of spies’ from Australia in 2020Australian spy agency Asio is overhauling the language it uses to talk about terrorism, dumping terms like rightwing extremism and Islamic extremism, arguing such labels are “no longer fit for purpose”.Mike Burgess, the director general of security, announced the changes as he revealed the average age of “ideological extremists” investigated by Asio was 25 and they were overwhelmingly male. He said a terrorist attack by such individuals in Australia “remains plausible”. Continue reading...

From Gus Van Sant to Maryam Keshavarz, Terence Davies to Andrew Haigh, film-makers and writers recall the charged scenes that moved and inspired them – and even helped nudge them out of the closetGus Van Sant, director of My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, To Die For, Milk Continue reading...

Sanaz Derikvandi fled Iran with her mother but has not been interviewed about her case for 19 monthsA blind asylum seeker says she has been left suicidal after the Home Office has failed to interview her about her case since she arrived in the UK 19 months ago.Sanaz Derikvandi, 33, was studying for a PhD in English literature in her home country of Iran when she says she had to flee because she converted to Christianity. Continue reading...

Studies have pointed to a gender gap and dating coaches agree – but researchers’ findings don’t always match stereotypesIt’s 2021, and despite some great advances in space exploration, we are no closer to really knowing whether men are from Mars and women are from Venus. In fact, the growing consensus is that we’re all from Earth, and people are more complex than we usually give them credit for.But what if there were a way of unlocking some of the hidden trends that exist among men and women, which reveal how they think, see themselves and communicate? And what if it were ... emojis? Continue reading...

Short-sailings around UK with dining and entertainment to restart but ships will not call at portsCruise operator P&O is to restart domestic holidays this summer, but only for UK residents who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.After its fleet has been grounded for over a year, P&O is dipping its toes back in the water by offering passengers short sailings on two of its ships around the UK coastline. Coronavirus restrictions mean the ships will not call at any ports, although there will be the usual onboard dining and entertainment programme. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Guardian poll reveals 47% of people support formal independent investigation while only 18% oppose

Comments come as US secretary of state and defence secretary begin visit to Japan and South Korea to discuss securityNorth Korea could be planning to flight test an upgraded inter-continental ballistic missile [ICBM] “in the near future,” a senior US military official has warned, in what would be the regime’s first serious policy challenge for Joe Biden.The warning, by Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, who as head of the Northern Command is in charge of defending the continental US, appeared to be based on North Korea’s unveiling at a parade in October of what would be its largest ICBM yet, and not on specific intelligence about an imminent launch. Continue reading...

Challenge of reaching vast, far-flung populations is combined with a lack of public interest

In a wide-ranging article for the Future Healthcare Journal, the prince advocates for bringing conventional and complementary medicine togetherPrince Charles has criticised those lobbying against coronavirus vaccines, saying the jabs can “protect and liberate” some of society’s most vulnerable members.In a wide-ranging article for the Future Healthcare Journal in which he called for an integrated approach to healthcare, the heir to the throne also denounced those speaking out against Covid-19 shots. Continue reading...

Aotearoa has a proud history of protesting human rights abuses on the world stage. Now that means pushing back against our traditional trade partnerToday a 15-year-old waits alone in a New Zealand quarantine facility, facing an uncertain future. Deported from Australia pursuant to the notorious 501 immigration policy, he is not ordinarily resident here, and government agencies normally engaged for child protection are making plans for his care. Although Australia was his home, he was not Australian enough to be simply sanctioned in that nation for whatever infraction he is deemed to have committed.This dehumanising treatment is what passes for necessary hard-line immigration policy in Australia. In its very high human cost, failure of binding child rights standards, and international criticism, it is very much in line with Australia’s longstanding approach to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Australia has been thought of as outside human rights norms and any moral standard of fairness for some time. In fact, our neighbour has been repeatedly found to be enforcing policy that amounts to literal torture on its offshore prison islands. Continue reading...

Klaus Dörr steps down with immediate effect after accusations including humiliating older actorsThe director of Berlin’s Volksbühne theatre has resigned after allegations of sexual harassment and the humiliating treatment of older female actors.The theatre said that Klaus Dörr would give up his post with immediate effect, after the intervention of Berlin’s culture senator, Klaus Lederer, whose office also confirmed the decision. Continue reading...

No claim of responsibility has been made, though Islamic State extremists are active where the attack took placeGunmen on motorcycles have attacked a group of civilians returning from market day in a volatile corner of Niger, leaving at least 58 people dead, and then burning granaries to the ground.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the massacres, though extremists belonging to the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara group are known to be active in the Tillaberi region where the villages were attacked. Continue reading...

A local councillor has been roundly mocked for advocating aerial deployment of sanitizer as coronavirus wreaks deadly havocA Brazilian politician has suggested using helicopters and planes to spray his town with hand sanitizer in a desperate and futile bid to obliterate the coronavirus from above.The mystifying proposal was floated in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul on Monday, as Brazil wrestles with the deadliest phase of its 13-month outbreak and the country’s Covid death toll rose to nearly 280,000. Continue reading...

Wednesday: Australia needs plan to tackle a ‘resurgence in racism’, says discrimination commissioner. Plus: new Dead Sea scroll discoveryGood morning. We’re halfway through the working week on Wednesday 17 March and today we have news about calls for Australia to tackle a resurgence in racism. The attorney general has delegated duties to avoid conflicts of interest, while Tanya Plibersek is urging Labor staffers to report sexual harassment. Continue reading...

Move to silence the app comes as China expands controls to shape public opinion and limit private discourseThe encrypted messaging app Signal appears to have been blocked in mainland China, the latest foreign social media service to cease working in a country where the government tightly controls the flow of information.As of Tuesday, users of the app within China had to connect to a virtual private network (VPN) that allows them to circumvent China’s so-called Great Firewall, a censorship system that blocks websites, services and apps deemed inappropriate by the Chinese government. Continue reading...

Dozens of Ethiopian migrants died after Houthi rebels fired missiles into the centre in the capital Sana’aThe UN has called for an independent inquiry into a horrific fire at a detention facility in Yemen’s capital Sana’a that left dozens of Ethiopian migrants dead and more than 170 injured.Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday that the fire on 7 March occurred after Houthi rebels fired missiles into the detention centre where the migrants were protesting over their cramped conditions. Continue reading...

Tool will play sounds so unbearable on your Zoom call that other people will want you to sign offCan’t stand being in another Zoom meeting? Fed up of staring at your stupid face? Wondering why so many things that used to be handled by, say, a phone call, or an email, now suddenly require everyone’s floating head to sit in a virtual room and nod for an hour?Well, someone clearly had these exact same frustrations. As originally reported by the Verge, a developer has now created the Zoom Escaper, a tool that will play sounds so unbearable on your Zoom call that other people will want you to get off the line. Continue reading...

Prince Charles said he was 'thrilled' that the Duke of Edinburgh had been discharged from hospital four weeks after he was admitted. Prince Philip was initially admitted to King Edward VII's hospital in London, before he was transferred to St Bartholomew's for a heart procedure.Charles made the remarks while visiting a vaccination centre at Finsbury Park Mosque in north London

Germans warned that Covid restrictions still apply as locals express frustration at Berlin’s move

The EMA is conducting an investigation into the safety of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine after Germany, France, Italy and other EU countries suspended its use over isolated cases of bleeding, blood clots and low platelet counts.Director Emer Cooke stated the EMA is "still firmly convinced the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine … outweigh the risk of these side effects." The investigative panel will meet again on Thursday when they will publish their findings to the public.

Latest updates: PM says UK’s greatest ally will be US as he makes statement to MPs on defence review

New research from the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre says treating asymptomatic men for mycoplasma genitalium is accelerating its resistanceGPs have been urged not to test gay men for one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections unless they have symptoms, with new research from the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre warning that treating asymptomatic men is accelerating its resistance to antibiotics.Mycoplasma genitalium, otherwise known as MG, is the second most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI) in many countries after chlamydia. When symptomatic, it presents burning or stinging when urinating for men, while pain during sex and bleeding afterwards are symptoms for women, which can lead to an infection of the reproductive organs and make it harder for women to get pregnant. Continue reading...

My friend and colleague Claude James, who has died aged 90, was the first black person to be elected to a railway trade union executive committee and the first black manager of Euston station. He fought for fairness and and against racism in the UK.The eldest of six, Claude was born in Guyana to Gladys and Cyril, and lived in Kitty village. His grandmother was influential in his early life, taking him to meetings to discuss current affairs. He enjoyed his time at Britain high school in Queenstown before starting work for the City Engineer Council. He sailed for Britain alone in 1954. Continue reading...

Agency says there are ‘no indications’ the vaccine causes blood clots, but the risk may be higher for some groups

This horror story about an MI5 agent and a gang supplying girls for ritual sacrifice is on a par with the monumentally terrible Plan 9 from Outer SpaceThere are bad movies, the kind of third-rate film-making we see all the time, and then there are transcendentally bad movies that can only result from deep, fanatical attachment to the material. Director, writer and producer Chris Sanders here achieves something on a par with Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space or Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. His Nest of Vampires is a little-England horror-thriller with a plot as over-larded as an Elvis sandwich, uniformly appalling acting, and the same almost beatific earnestness as those two legendary films.MI5 agent Kit Valentine (Tom Fairfoot) leaves his London stamping ground to shake down some unnamed English town for a human trafficking ring that – after his wife is murdered – has abducted his daughter. He needs to get a move on, because the network sells off the girls to moneyed clients to butcher in satanic rituals. Not racy enough? Some of the criminals are also vampires who like a “nibble” on the customers. And Valentine is further up against it when his bosses reveal they are in cahoots. Tied to a chair, though, he has news for them: “You’re not the only secret society that operates within MI5.” Then his own canines turn extra-pointy. Continue reading...

Despite no evidence of a link between blood clots and the vaccine, a cautious approach is spreading

Decision has led to vaccination centres closing doors and appointments being cancelled

Revised estimate of death toll follows the bloodiest day in the six weeks since the military takeoverAt least 149 people have been killed in Myanmar since the 1 February coup, including five in custody, a UN human rights official has said, as mass funerals were held for dozens of those shot dead by security forces in recent days.The revised estimate of the death toll follows the bloodiest day in the six weeks since the military’s takeover, with 74 protesters killed on Sunday followed by 20 people the next day. Continue reading...

Following the death of Lou Ottens, creator of the cassette tape, Guardian readers share the romances, friendships and discoveries his invention generatedIn 1992 I started a degree in civil engineering at the University of Surrey. I had no idea until the day I arrived that I would be sharing a room with Carol, also a civil engineering student. We had very different tastes in music. I loved the Cure and Led Zeppelin and Carol loved dance music. We created a mixtape of songs that we both liked – no mean feat, but we had to do something as I kept playing 29 Palms by Robert Plant and it drove Carol mad. Continue reading...

Draft legislation says a child under 15 cannot be considered to have willingly engaged in a sexual actFrench MPs have unanimously approved a long-awaited draft law to protect children from rape and sexual abuse.The legislation, drawn up after a series of scandals involving high-profile figures, establishes an age of “non-consent” at 15 under which a child cannot be considered to have willingly engaged in a sexual act. In cases of incest, the age has been set at 18. Continue reading...

EU regulator expected to make statement as Sweden and Latvia join countries suspending jabs

October date set for trial after Met police officer appears at Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh prison